Nathan looked at all the people in the wardroom. His crew. He felt a moment of pride swell in him. He knew that he commanded the finest crew in the fleet. He felt himself smile as he watched Lucas and Ben come bursting into the room. As usual, they were five minutes late. He saw Katie tense up at the sight of the two. He wondered what that was about.
"Well, now that we're all here, I can inform everyone about our new mission," Nathan said. "We are being ordered to the Eternal Light Mining Colony. Lt. Kreig, I need you to round up these supplies." Nathan handed him a sheet of paper. "I hope we have all of it in stock?"
Ben took a moment to look over the paper. "Yes, this won't be a problem. It's mostly medical supplies, antibiotics, the like. We have all of it. I'll have to check about this special computer chip, actually. I'm not sure about this."
"What kind of chip?" Lucas asked.
"Uh...the RX94," Ben said.
"I have one if you don't," Lucas said.
"Good," Nathan said. "Also, we need to investigate some strange happenings at the mine. Apparently there has been some sabotage going on with a science team that is present there?"
"Sir," Katie asked, "why is the UEO getting involved in this? I thought these mines weren't under UEO authority."
"They aren't, usually. This one seems to be a little different. The mine is privately owned by a Jeremiah Hart, but he agreed to allow the UEO to have a team of seismologists work at the sight to monitor the affects of mining on the seafloor. Plus, the UEO happens to be their largest buyer."
"What do they mine?" Ford asked.
"Diamonds," Nathan replied. "Apparently the mine is what you'd call the mother lode. Since it's creation six years ago they have become the world's largest source for them."
"Wow," Lucas said. "But why would someone be sabotaging a diamond mine?"
"Actually, the mine isn't being sabotaged. The scientists are the ones being sabotaged. Two days ago all their computers were infected with a strange virus. They were hoping that you could help to fix them."
"Sure," Lucas said.
"Good. We'll be there in about twelve hours. Also, the seaScape has been notified of our new assignment and will wait for it to be completed before arriving for their upgrades."
Lucas nodded his head.
______________________________________
Nathan finished his shift and headed for the science lab to see Kristin. He had noticed that she seemed a little preoccupied during the meeting.
He stepped into the lab and saw Kristin, Levin, and Lucas studying some geodes that had been gathered the day before. Lucas was helping Dr. Levin to saw one in half while Kristin was looking at samples under the microscope.
"Kristin," he said, "can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure," Kristin said. She pulled off her medical gloves and followed Nathan into her office.
Once the door was closed he asked, "Is something wrong? You seemed upset about something after the meeting."
"I'm not upset, just concerned maybe."
"About what?" Nathan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't like this new assignment."
"Why?"
"I wish it didn't involve Lucas. The last mission where he helped to look for a saboteur had a negative impact on him," Kristin said.
"Yes, but that was because the lab blew up. Lucas felt guilty even though it wasn't his fault."
"I know, but I worry about something like that happening again. He's just a boy, and works way too hard for a fifteen year old. Plus, he takes his work very seriously, along with failures."
"He's just going to fix a virus this time though. He won't actually be part of the investigating team," Nathan said.
"Good," Kristin replied.
"Kristin, I feel like I'm missing something here," Nathan said.
She sighed. "I just don't want him working so hard. He's been back for three days now and all he does is work around the clock. Now he's in there working in the lab even though I told him he doesn't have too, and I just know that when he's done in here he'll go and put in a couple of hours on the bridge. Last night I woke up at about three am and went to the bathroom and sure enough, Lucas was up, working on new ways to make his program even better. I made him go back to bed, but this is getting ridiculous. He's trying to make everyone proud of him, trying to make everyone happy, show that he can live up to the reputation he's earned."
"I guess you're right. I hadn't noticed, truthfully. I'll see what I can do about getting him out to have some fun as soon as he's done with the seaScape."
"That would be great. Also, I don't want him going to the mine. I know he has to help the scientists, but honestly, I don't want him around all the drunken hooligans that work at those places. Some of those men are dangerous."
"Don't worry," Nathan said with a smile, "I had no intention of letting Lucas anywhere near the drunken hooligans."
_________________________________
Katie stepped into the lab and saw Lucas working. She really needed to talk with him. Now was as good a time as any. She made her way to him and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Huh?" Lucas said, turning around. "Oh," he said when he saw her. He immediately felt his cheeks blush.
"Lucas, may I please speak with you?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah, sure." Lucas followed her into the moon pool. She sat down on the edge of the pool.
"Listen, Lucas, this is really embarrassing," Katie started.
"Commander, I swear, I won't tell anyone. Actually, it's kinda cool that you and Ben are back together."
"That's just it, we aren't back together," Katie said quickly. "What happened between us the other day was a mistake, one that won't happen again."
"I don't understand," Lucas said. "Ben loves you, and I kind of think you love him too, so why was it a mistake"?
"For one, I'm sort of seeing Jonathon, and second, it's a case of been there done that."
"Huh?"
"Lucas, I do care for Ben, but the fact of the matter is, I left him for a reason, and if we got back together it would only be a matter of time before that reason resurfaced. I won't do that to myself or Ben again."
"And you're idea of not hurting Ben was to sleep with him?" Lucas asked, feeling a little angry for his best friend.
"Like I said, that was a mistake. We were there, talking about old times, we were both feeling a little lonely I guess, and well, it just happened. Truthfully, it really isn't your business Lucas, I just need you to promise that you won't tell anyone what you saw."
"I won't tell," Lucas insisted, "but Ben is my best friend, and what you did was wrong, mistake or not. Have you told him this yet?" Lucas knew she hadn't. He had just talked to Ben about and hour ago and Ben was happier than he had ever been.
"No," she said, "but I'm going to go tell him as soon as we are finished here."
"Then you may as well go tell him, cause we're finished," Lucas said, and marched out of the moon pool.
Katie was surprised that Lucas had spoken to her that way. She couldn't remember Lucas ever taking that tone of voice with her, not that she didn't deserve it. She was about to break Ben's heart all over again. The funny thing was, her heart was also hurting. She did still love Ben, part of her always would, but they were no good together. Sure, Ben had grown up a lot as of late. He was responsible, kind, caring, and loyal. His relationship with Lucas was proof of that. Maybe it was this new maturity in Ben that had caused her to give in to temptation yesterday.
"Katie, when you screw up, you really screw up," she told herself.
_____________________________________
Lucas went to his room and slammed the door. He couldn't believe what was about to happen to Ben. It wasn't fair. Lucas knew how much Ben loved her, why couldn't she see that they belonged together.
He slumped onto his bunk. He was so tired, but he was due to be on the bridge in about twenty minutes. He dug under the covers and found R.B. He smiled at the bear. He looked up to see Darwin staring at him. He hit the button to turn on the vocorder.
"Hey Darwin."
"Lucas play," Darwin said.
"No, I have to go to work soon," Lucas said.
"Lucas always work. Lucas no play. Lucas no love Darwin."
"That's not true," Lucas said. "I just have a lot of things to do. This new job is very time consuming, and then I have to help Mom in the labs, plus I have to put in my training time on the bridge."
"Lucas no play. Darwin want Lucas to play. No work."
"Darwin, I'll play with you tomorrow," Lucas said.
"No. Darwin no play Lucas." Darwin swam away quickly, leaving Lucas alone once again.
"Great, I just ticked off a dolphin," Lucas said, running a hand through his hair. He laid back on his bunk to relax for a few minutes before reporting for his shift.
___________________________________________
Ford glanced at his watch. Lucas was twenty minutes late for his shift. He nodded his head. The Captain wasn't going to be happy. Lucas was supposed to run a sensors sweep today.
"Mr. O'Neill, please page Lucas' PAL," Ford said.
"Aye sir," Tim replied. He punched in the code and waited for Lucas to respond. "Sir, he's not responding."
"Fine, see if he's with the Captain."
Nathan was just finishing talking to Chief Crocker about some new security procedures when his PAL went off.
"Bridger," he said.
"Captain, we're looking for Lucas. He's not answering his PAL," Tim said.
"One moment," Nathan said. He closed his eyes and concentrated on Lucas. It only took a moment for him to know that Lucas was sound asleep in his room. "Lucas is fine, but he won't be reporting for his shift today."
"Yes, sir," Tim said.
Nathan put his PAL back in its case.
"I have to say that it still strikes me as slightly weird when you do that," Crocker said.
"I have news for you, it strikes me as weird too, but I've learned to accept it, and half the time I have to admit that it's very useful. It's because of this ability that Lucas and Kristin are still alive."
"Have you told the UEO or the rest of the crew about it?"
"No," Nathan admitted. "Just the senior officers know, and that's only because they were there when I used my ability to find Lucas. I don't want anyone else to know. I refuse to become some lab rat for the UEO. I remember how Savannah and her father were treated by the UEO, not that I know how to do what they do anyway, and I have no intention of learning."
"I can understand that," Crocker said. "Well, Cap, I guess we're all done here."
"Thanks Chief. I'll talk to you later."
______________________________________
Nathan stepped into his quarters and walked over to Lucas' room. He saw that Lucas was sleeping in his clothes, on top of the covers, R.B. resting in the crook of his arm. He shook his head. It seemed like Lucas only slept in his clothes anymore, passed out from exhaustion. Kristin was right, Lucas was pushing himself to hard.
He stepped over to the bed where he saw a pair of pajamas tossed onto the floor. He picked them up and gave them the sniff test and was glad to find that they were clean. He pulled off Lucas' sneakers and placed them on the floor next to the bed. Then he began to pull Lucas' jersey and turtleneck off.
"Mmm," Lucas moaned. His eyes began to slowly flutter open. "Dad?" Suddenly he sat upright and looked at the clock. "Oh no, I'm supposed to be on the bridge."
"Not today," Nathan said.
"No, really, I have duty today."
"Lucas, I've already informed Commander Ford that you won't be there. Now, come on, get your pajamas on and then I want you in bed for the night."
"For the night? Dad, it's only seven o'clock."
"I know, and I don't care. You're exhausted. I want you in bed and you're not to leave this room until seven am, understood. I haven't used this threat in a while, but if you try to get up or sneak out of here I'll have your mother sedate you."
Lucas was about to protest, but suddenly a giant yawn escaped his mouth. He helped Dad get his shirt off and then pulled on his pajama shirt. Lucas stood up and changed into his pajama bottoms. Nathan held up the blankets and Lucas crawled into bed. Lucas saw R.B. lying on the bed and he quickly grabbed the big bear and shoved him under the covers where Dad couldn't see him.
Nathan saw what Lucas did and suppressed a smirk. Maybe Lucas was too old to be sleeping with a teddy bear, but honestly, so what? It wasn't like it was harming anything.
"Dad," Lucas said.
"What?"
"I've been thinking about something, and something isn't right."
"What do you mean?" Nathan asked.
"There's something wrong about Fagan what he did. I've been thinking about his last screw up, and honestly, when you consider how many of the ships systems he managed to compromise, that was more than just a screw up. He would have had to have entered each of those systems and then tampered with them specifically."
"Are you telling me he sabotaged the boat?" Nathan asked, obvious alarm in his voice.
"I don't know," Lucas said. "I have no proof, and he doesn't actually seem to be that smart, but...but I just have this feeling. I can't explain it. I...I think I'm going to take you up on your offer to transfer him off the seaQuest."
"Fine," Nathan said. "I don't know why you put up with him this long."
"Well, I didn't want the UEO thinking I couldn't handle the job. It's not easy being the youngest employee the UEO has. Sometimes I feel like everyone is just waiting for me to screw things up."
"Is that why you feel the need to work yourself half to death?" Nathan asked.
"What?" Lucas said.
"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. Kristin and I have both caught you working in the middle of the night when you should still be asleep. Plus you're still putting in your time in the labs and on the bridge. You spend what little free time you have looking over sub schematics. You're not getting enough rest and you're forgetting to eat again."
"I eat," Lucas said defensively.
"Lucas, I just watched you change clothes. You've lost weight, don't try to deny it. This behavior has to stop. You're going to come down sick otherwise. You don't have to prove your value to us. We already know that you're great. The UEO knows your great. Your program is great, so stop trying to make it even better. Even if you did screw something up, you're fifteen. You're allowed to screw up once in a while."
"It's not that easy."
"Yes it is," Nathan said. "Lucas, no one expects you to be god for goodness sakes. Just be yourself and relax a little. Anymore you're always uptight, nervous, and cranky."
"I'm not cranky," Lucas whined.
"Anyway, like I was saying, your Mom and I are worried about you. We don't want anything to happen to you. Promise you'll start taking care of yourself?"
"I will," Lucas said, yawning once again.
"Okay then, off to sleep you go," Nathan said, standing up and starting to move away from the bed.
"Dad, I love you."
"I love you too son," Nathan said. "See you in the morning."
_______________________________________
Nathan sat at his desk doing paperwork when Kristin finally entered their quarters.
"Hi, done in the labs for the day?" he asked.
"Yes," she said. "Those geodes we found a couple of days ago have proven to be pretty interesting. There seems to be a new mineral component in them, something we've never seen before. Dr. Levin actually thinks that maybe they came from outer space," she tried to laugh it off, but her voice said that she was starting to think it too.
"So what's the theory? Crashed to the plant, followed a meteor?"
"Oh, we're no where near making theories yet. We're still trying to identify the compound."
"Well, if anyone can do it, I'm sure you can," Nathan said.
Kristin smiled. "Where's Lucas?"
"Sleeping."
"At nine o'clock? How did you do that?"
"Actually," Nathan said, "I put him to bed at seven, and I told him that if I caught him out of that room before seven am that I'd have you sedate him. You were right. He is working too hard, plus he's lost weight. We had a long talk tonight, and I told him that things are going to change."
"And what was his response to that?"
"Truthfully, it seemed to be positive. I think even he knows that he can't keep going like he's been. He's going to get burned out. I think he just needed a little reassurance that he's doing a great job, and not to worry so much. I'm working on his schedule right now. I'm cutting the hours that he's supposed to put in at the lab and on the bridge. From now on he works in one or the other, but no more will he be assigned to do both in one day. And from now on his days off will be a day off. I don't want him working on the program on those days anymore."
Kristin walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "You're a very good daddy."
"Actually, I'm feeling rather bad at the moment. I should have seen this sooner."
"Nathan, stop it. You're doing your best. Lucas can be very good at hiding things when he wants too. Over the past year and a half he's managed to fool all of us at one point or another. Remember, he's as stubborn as you are."
"I guess you're right. It's just that sometimes I feel like if I turn my back for too long he'll just disappear. So many things have happened to try and take him from me, and ever since the shuttle incident I feel more connected to him than I ever thought possible. He's my son in my heart as well as on paper, not that I didn't feel that way before, but...I don't know...I don't think I can explain it."
"You don't have to explain it. I understand, really I do. In your mind Lucas isn't a son that you've had for a year and a half anymore, but a son that you raised from birth. That's a pretty strong bond, and it's only natural to want to protect him and look out for him."
______________________________________________
The next morning Lucas woke up to someone shaking his arm. He opened his eyes to see that Mom was there.
"Hey sleepyhead," she smiled. "It's seven am, time to wake up. You have to get ready to go to the mining colony."
"Okay, I'm up," Lucas said.
"Come on and have breakfast with me and Nathan. I want to make sure your eat before you leave."
Lucas rolled his eyes. Obviously Dad had told her about his weight loss, not that he had lost that much. Great, now Mom would be even worse than usual about making sure that he ate.
_________________________________________
Nathan and Lucas walked into the launch bay where Crocker, Shan, Ford and Ben were waiting for them. Nathan had wanted a little extra security along for this trip. He remembered the last time he went to one of these mining colonies. It was where he had the misfortune of meeting Frank Cobb, which started a long and nasty chain of events. He wasn't going to take that kind of a risk again, especially since Lucas was coming along.
Lucas took a good look at Ben and he knew that Katie had had her little talk with him. There was absolutely no statement on Ben's face. It was completely void of the mischievous little grin that forever seemed to be on his face. Ben looked like he had lost his best friend, and Lucas guessed that in a way he had.
"Everyone ready to go?" Nathan asked.
"Yes sir," Ford replied.
"Good, then let's move."
They all entered the shuttle but before they had the chance to leave they were paged by Lt. O'Neill.
"Captain," O'Neill said.
"What is it Lieutenant? We're getting ready to leave," Nathan said.
"I just received a call from the mine and they are requesting medical assistance. Apparently a woman is giving birth and there are complications."
"Fine, page Dr. Westphalen and have her report to the launch bay with her medical equipment."
"Aye sir."
The men had to wait about ten minutes for Kristin and a nurse to come hurrying into the launch bay carrying several medical bags.
"What is the condition of the patient?" she asked.
"I'm afraid I don't know, we'll find out when we get there?"
Kristin was very impatient during the ride to the mine, glancing at her watch constantly. As soon as they docked she was the first one off the shuttle. They were greeted by several people.
"Thank goodness, she's real bad off," a woman said. "She's screaming and in so much pain. The labor has been going for almost twenty hours."
"The baby is probably breech," Kristin said. "I'll need to do an emergency c-section immediately."
Nathan and Lucas watched as Kristin and the woman, along with the nurse took off running down a corridor. Nathan turned to see a middle aged man approach them. The first thing he noticed was the way the man was dressed. The clothes reminded him of something he'd seen before.
"Hello and welcome to Eternal Light Mine. I'm Reverend Jeremiah Hart, the owner."
"Reverend?" Ben said.
"Yes, I was ordained many years ago. I hope you gentlemen won't mind, but while you stay here there is no drinking, smoking, gambling or cursing permitted. Also, I don't mean to offend you or insult your person in any way, but I would appreciate it if you didn't try to tarnish the young ladies who live here. You see, we are a religious community here and usually we are shielded from outsiders, so I ask that you not try to take advantage of us."
"I assure you, Reverend, that we won't have a problem following your rules," Nathan said. "I am Captain Nathan Bridger, and this is my crew: Commander Ford, Lieutenant Krieg, Security Chief Crocker, Chief Shan, and my son, Lucas."
"How do you do?" Jeremiah greeted. "I must thank you for bringing your doctor to help us. My wife usually midwives for the families here since babies are rare, but she's not equipped to handle emergencies. Our Doctor recently left us and we are still trying to find a replacement."
"It's no trouble. Dr. Westphalen is very capable and will do her best to help."
"Well, then, if you'll follow me I'll take you to the science team. They are really looking forward to having their computers fixed."
"Do they know how they contracted the virus?" Lucas asked.
"I'm afraid that I really can't tell you that. I don't even know how to turn one of those things on," Jeremiah told them. "The scientists operate outside of the mine. We only see them for meals."
"I must say," Crocker said, "that this mine is a little different from the ones I've been in before."
"I take that as a compliment. Those other places are down right barbaric. You'll find that we are a large family here. About two hundred people live and work here. Most have been here since the beginning. We try to model ourselves after the Shaker way of life. We grow our own food using hydroponics, we work hard and are self-sustaining, and we honor the Sabbath and spend that day in prayer and reflection. The mine provides for other needs that we may have. This place works well for us since it allows us to live peacefully and be removed from the temptations and evils that would plague us up world."
"Not everything up world is evil," Ben said.
"True, but still, we want to be able to raise our children the way we see fit, not having to compete with pop cultures influences."
"Children?" Lucas piped up. "There are kids here?"
"Yes, but I'm afraid that right now they are all in school. I must say, young man, why aren't you in school?"
"Lucas has finished his academic studies," Nathan said. "He has earned a Masters degree from Stanford, and he will actually be the one to fix the scientists computers."
"My, that is impressive. Do you attend Sunday school?" Jeremiah asked.
"Uh, no," Lucas said.
"Tisk, tisk," Jeremiah said. "That's a shame. You may have all the academics you need, but your soul still needs to grow. It's important to have faith and believe in god. He can be a source of great inner strength, and he will lead you to know the path of right and wrong."
"Uh, yeah," Lucas replied, a little uncertain of what he was supposed to say now.
Ben and Shan just sort of looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
"We should have brought Tim along," Ben said. "He would have fit right in here."
"Show some respect, Lieutenant," Crocker whispered.
"Yes sir," Ben replied.
Nathan just shot all of them a look that said, 'Behave or else.' They continued to follow Rev. Jeremiah until they reached the lab.
"Well, here you are. Good luck with your work. Lunch will be in about two hours. Please do join us. The dining hall is down this corridor and then to the left. The children will all be there for their recess before going back to school. Lucas will be able to spend a little time with boys his own age."
"Thank you," Nathan said. "I believe we'll take you up on your offer." Nathan could see the excitement on Lucas' face.
"Good, see you then." With that he turned and went back the way he had come.
"Okay, that is the strangest guy I've ever met," Ben said.
Crocker had to agree, "No smoking, no drinking, no gambling, and no swearing. Just what on earth do they do for fun?"
"I think the whole point of the life style is that there is no fun," Ford said.
"At least he didn't invite us to attend Sunday services," Lucas said.
They stepped into the lab and saw three scientist, two men and one woman, working inside.
"Oh, hello," a man said, stepping up to shake Nathan's hand. "I'm Dr. Abraham, chief seismologist, and this is Dr. Mark, and our assistant Ruth Jacob."
Nathan went about making all of the necessary introductions once again, ending with Lucas.
"Lucas Wolenczak, well I'll be. How have you been?" Dr. Abraham asked.
"Just fine, Doctor," Lucas said curtly. Nathan and the other noticed immediately how tense Lucas had become.
"Actually, he is now Lucas Bridger. I adopted Lucas about a year ago."
"Yes, I recall hearing about that. I believe Dr. Wolenczak is currently in prison for child abuse. Very shocking to say the least," Dr. Abraham said.
"But you weren't really that shocked now were you?" Lucas said.
"Excuse me?" Dr. Abraham said, smiling strangely.
Lucas shook his head. He couldn't believe this man was about to stand there and pretend like he had known nothing at all about what had happened. He saw every eye in the place staring at him and decided to let it drop. He didn't want to create a scene here. No, all he wanted to do was fix the damn computer and get the hell away from Dr. Abraham.
"Lucas, is something the matter?" Nathan asked, concern written all over his face.
"No, everything is just fine," but Lucas couldn't keep the ice out of his voice. He quickly walked to one of the computers, demonstrating that the show was over.
"So what's the problem?" Lucas asked.
"Uh, I'm afraid we don't know," Dr. Mark said. "We were in the middle of analyzing our data and putting it into a workable table when we seemed to have contracted a nasty virus."
"Why haven't you simply reformatted the hard drive?" Lucas continued.
"Because," Dr. Mark told him, "all of our information and data is in there, over two years worth."
Lucas looked shocked. "You mean no one bothered to keep back up copies?"
"Uh, no. I know, it was stupid of us, but do you think you can fix it?"
"Well, I'll see what I can do, but depending on what type of virus it is, I might not be able to save all of your data. Are all of the computers networked?"
"Yes," Dr. Abraham said. "So they are all infected I'm afraid."
"This seems to be the same mistake you made back at Stanford," Lucas accused.
"What can I say, I'm not very computer savvy."
"You were at Stanford?" Nathan asked, trying like hell to figure out what the past was between Lucas and this Doctor.
"Yes, yes I was. I was Lucas' professor. If I remember correctly I was the only one who ever gave him a B," Dr. Abraham said.
Lucas just glared at the man before sitting down and starting to work on the computer.
"You all might as well leave, since this is going to take a long time," Lucas informed.
"I guess we can look around the mine," Ben said.
Ford nodded, "And we need to talk to you doctor about this supposed sabotage."
"Sabotage is a strong word," Abraham said. "It just seems that as of late we've run into some strange events. Honestly, we have no proof that we're being sabotaged. The people who work here would never do that."
"Well, we'll need to discuss what's been happening none the less, right Captain?" Ford said.
Nathan snapped his head around to look at Jonathon. Honestly, he didn't know what the Commander had been talking about. He had still been staring at Lucas, trying to scan him and figure out just what had him so upset. It was obvious that the doctor and Lucas had a pat history, and what ever that history was, it wasn't a good one.
"Why don't you gentlemen go find a seat some where. I'll be there shortly."
"No problem, Cap," Crocker said. "We'll head on down to the dining hall, down the corridor and to the left." He could see that his friend was preoccupied at the moment.
Nathan waited for all of them to leave before saying to Lucas, "What was all of that about? You absolutely hate Dr. Abraham. Why? What did he do to you?"
Lucas stopped typing and looked at his Dad. He sighed deeply and then told him. "I trusted him a long time ago. When I was ten and at Stanford, I took two of his classes because I thought he was really interesting and he seemed to enjoy teaching me. I mean, I really trusted him."
"Trusted him with what? What are you getting at?"
"I told him. I told him about Lawrence and showed him my arms and legs and chest. I told him everything and begged him to help me."
"I take it he didn't believe you?" Nathan asked.
"Oh no, he believed me. He got in his car and went straight to Lawrence's house. He confronted my father, and then he proceeded to blackmail him for $500,000. He told Lawrence to pay up or be exposed to the tabloids. As you may have guessed, Lawrence was furious. He paid the money, and then proceeded to beat me and beat me and beat me. I almost died from that beating. I mean, I was soooo bad off after that one that they wouldn't even take me to the hospital. They were afraid.
"They called a private doctor and paid him an outrageous amount of money to treat me and keep it quiet. I actually over heard Lawrence telling Cynthia that if I died, they would frame Dr. Abraham for it. Make it look like he kidnapped me and the $500,000 would be the ransom they paid to get me back, but that once Dr. Abraham got the money he killed me anyway. Luckily for all parties involved, I pulled through." Lucas was seething anger. "After that incident, I never tried to ask for help ever again. I figured there was no point. Trying to get help would only get me killed."
Nathan could feel his own blood boiling. That bastard had not only 'not' helped Lucas, but had used him too. He was no better than Lawrence was as far as Nathan was concerned.
"Lucas, I would understand if you don't want to do this. If this...situation...is too difficult for you then we can have another computer expert come out here to fix their system."
"No, I can handle this, just so long as that jerk stays far away form me I'll be fine," Lucas replied.
"Fine," Nathan said. "I have to ask, you mentioned something about this being like what happened at Stanford. What were you talking about?"
"The year I was at Stanford Dr. Abraham was working on a project that was grant funded. Well, literally two days before he was due to turn in his results a computer virus got into his hard drive and wiped out all of his data. Since the data was a collection of seismic activity over the course of like three years, the information was irretrievable."
"You'd think someone who screwed up that badly before would be ready the next time," Nathan said.
"Some people never learn I guess."
"Maybe," Nathan replied, feeling very suspicious of the doctor suddenly. "Do you think you can retrieve the data?"
"I won't know till I try."
"Fine, get to work. I want to make sure that you are never left alone with Dr. Abraham, though. Ben or someone else will be with you while he is in the lab. I'll see you for lunch in a couple of hours."
_________________________________________
Lucas walked down the corridor that led to the dinning hall. For an underwater mine the place was surprisingly nice. The walls were painted with large murals that the children obviously worked on. Sun lamps were placed strategically so that little areas of greenery were arranged to provide a comfy feel and help freshen the air.
Lucas entered the dinning hall just as the students were arriving. He saw about a two dozen kids ages five through ten, and then there were about a dozen kids that were teenagers. Lucas had never been with this many kids his own age in his entire life. He stood there watching them but he didn't know what to do or how to approach them. Finally, someone made the move for him.
"Who are you?" a boy asked.
"Uh, I'm Lucas Bridger. I'm here to fix the computers for the scientists."
"Cool, we almost never get to meet other kids," a girl said. "My name is Sarah Hart and this is my little sister Jessica."
"Nice to meet you," Lucas said. "Hart? Is Reverend Hart your dad?"
"Yeah."
"I'm Josh, and this here is Michael, Noah, and Bobby."
"Hi."
"So where do you live?" Bobby asked.
"I live with my family on the seaQuest. It's a submarine for the UEO."
"Wow," Noah replied. "That must be cool. Has to be better than this place."
"You don't like living here?" Lucas asked.
"Are you kidding? We live in an underground hole with no sunlight, no grass, no stores, no television, no music. Gee! What's not to like?" Josh said.
"Uh oh," Noah said. "Walking disaster at two o'clock."
"What?" Lucas asked.
"Derek is coming," Sarah said. "He's something of a trouble maker. He's basically here to beat up on the little kids."
"Which is just about all of us since he's almost six and a half feet tall and about two hundred and fifty pounds," added Bobby. "Word of advice, stay the hell out of his way."
"Best not let your dad hear you swearing," Jessica said. "He'll skin you a good one."
"Yeah, well he isn't here to hear me is he? And you're not going to tell, or I'll tell the Reverend about you collection of magazines," Bobby said.
"You aren't allowed to have magazines?" Lucas asked. "Why on earth can't you have magazines?"
"Reverend Hart says they're evil," Noah said. "He thinks anything from up world is evil."
"That sucks," Lucas said. "If you really want I can get you some new magazines, just don't tell anyone."
"Oh wow, that would be so wonderful," Sarah said. "The ones Jessica and I have are almost six years old."
"Sure, it'd be no problem at all. There are a whole bunch of them in the exercise room on seaQuest. I'm sure no one would miss it if I took a couple."
"Oh you're the greatest," Sarah said and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, causing Lucas to blush almost instantly.
"Sarah!" a voice rang out.
All the kids jumped and turned to face Reverend Hart. Also present was the Captain, Dr. Westphalen, and the seaQuest crew.
"Daddy!" Sarah said.
"Young lady, I am surprised at you. You have no business acting that way. How can you shame your mother and me like that?"
"She didn't do anything," Lucas said nervously.
"And you! You are a guest here. I remember distinctly asking that you not partake in this kind of behavior. I'll not have you corrupting my daughters. Sarah, Jessica, I want you to go home right now."
"We still have to eat," Jessica said softly.
"No, I don't think you do. Home! Now!!"
"Yes sir," the girls said. Both hurried out of the hall.
"You stay away from my girls."
Nathan saw that Kristin was on the verge of exploding and he quickly placed a calming hand on her arm.
"Reverend, he didn't do anything, really," Noah said.
"Reverend Hart, there seems to be a misunderstanding taking place here," Nathan said, trying to calm the situation.
"Yes, there is a mistake here. I should never have agreed to have your son join the other children. He's obviously filling their heads with ideas we don't approve of here."
"I'm s-sorry," Lucas stammered. He noticed that every person in the room was staring at them.
"Reverend, Lucas is a good kid, I'll not have you treating him this way," Nathan said.
"Then you can all stay away from us." With that the Reverend turned and left the hall.
Lucas was feeling very nervous. The Reverend was so angry that he might actually ask them to leave. He looked at his dad. "I swear, I didn't do anything."
"I know, but perhaps you should go back to the lab. I'll bring you a tray in just a minute," Nathan said.
"Nathan," Kristin said, "you're not serious?"
"Sir, that's not fair," Ben immediately spoke up. "Lucas just wanted to hang out with the kids for a bit."
"Lieutenant, I understand, but we are guests here. We don't want to cause trouble," Nathan said.
"I'll go," Lucas said. He didn't wait for anyone else to say anything. He shoved past everyone and took off running down the corridor back to the lab.
He entered the lab and sat down at his computer trying to figure out just why god saw fit to curse him. Was he never supposed to have friends? Yeah, he had Ben and the crew, but it wasn't the same. He wanted real friends, kids. He wanted to know what it felt like to just hang out, go to a dance, or see a concert with someone who wasn't an adult.
"Lucas," Nathan said, entering the room. "I brought your lunch."
"Thanks," Lucas said, not bothering to look at him.
"I'm sorry about that kiddo. I know you didn't do anything, but I don't have any authority here."
"Yeah, that's okay," Lucas said nonchalantly. "No big deal. I probably wouldn't have had anything in common with them anyway. Well, you best go so I can get back to work. I'm sure Reverend Hart will want us out of here as soon as possible."
Nathan could see that Lucas was putting on a big act, pretending that he was just fine. He knew the boy was hurt about being sent away from the other kids, but he also sensed that now was probably not the best time for them to have one of there heart to heart talks. Lucas' feelings were just a little too raw at the moment.
"Well, kiddo, I'm going to go and have lunch with the others. I'll see you soon."
Lucas didn't reply, he just continued to type on his keyboard. Nathan was about to tell him to stop and eat, and then suddenly thought better of it. He decided to just leave quietly.
Lucas was glad that Dad left. To hell with this whole place, he figured. Abraham was here, Reverend Hart was here, there were kids that he couldn't talk to. What else could possibly go wrong? He just wanted to fix the computer and go back home.
"Hey...Lucas," came a voice.
Lucas turned around to see Bobby, Noah, and Michael standing there.
"Mind if we join you?" Bobby asked.
"What are you guys doing here? Won't Rev. Hart flip out if he catches you?" Lucas asked.
"Let him flip," Noah said. "We can't stand that guy."
"Yeah, our parents might have chosen to live the Shaker way, but most of us can't wait to turn eighteen so we can get out of here and go back to the real world," Michael told him.
"Still, I don't want you to get into trouble on account of me," Lucas said.
"Are you kidding? We live for trouble," Bobby told him.
"Come with us," Noah said. "We have a special place were we hang out. We go there when the adults around here start to drive us crazy."
Lucas wanted to go, but he had work to do. "I don't know if I should."
"Don't be a chicken," Bobby replied.
Lucas thought it over for a minute and then nodded his head. "Okay, let's go."
Michael took the lead and looked into the corridor to see if the coast was clear. Seeing that it was he motioned for everyone to follow. Lucas was led down several long tunnels that led deeper into the mine. After a couple of minutes the tunnels took on a more jagged and rugged look to them. He saw that this part of the mine had been abandoned since the lights were shut off here.
Bobby and Noah each grabbed a lantern and lit them. Then they went even further into the tunnel.
"You guys are sure we won't get lost, right?" Lucas asked.
"Just stick with us," Noah told him. "We'd know our way around these tunnels blindfolded."
Finally the tunnel opened into a large cavern that had hue stalactites and stalagmites.
"Cool," Lucas said.
"Yeah, that's what we thought of it too," Bobby said.
"Smoke 'em if you got 'em," Michael said. He pulled out a canvas bag from behind a rock. He emptied the bag onto the ground.
Lucas saw several packs of cigarettes, a bunch of candy bars, some old and worn magazines, and a small music player.
"Where did you guys get this stuff from?" Lucas asked.
"We're pretty self sustaining around here, but because of a lack of space and the inability to purify the smells, we can't raise our own live stock, so once a month we get frozen meat delivered. Well, one of the supply guys keeps us stocked. We slip him a small diamond in exchange for smokes, junk food, and what ever else he can get us," Noah informed.
"You give him diamonds for junk food. I think you're over paying him," Lucas laughed.
"Whatever, it's not like we care," Bobby said. "Reverend Hart is basically a slave driver anyway. He has our parents believing that all their hard work is a service to god, I have news for you, the only person being serviced is Reverend Hart. I bet that man has millions and millions of dollars put away somewhere. I wouldn't be surprised if one day he just up and leaves everyone here high and dry, and then he can take off and live the good life somewhere else."
"Do you really believe that?" Lucas asked.
"You bet we do," Bobby said. "I even tried to tell my parents what I thought, all it did was earn me a whippin."
"Your parents whip you?"
"Oh yeah, spare the rod, spoil the child. It's one of Rev. Hart's favorite quotes," Michael said.
"Doesn't your Dad hit you?" Noah asked.
Lucas wasn't sure how to answer that question. He didn't really know these guys well enough to tell them his life story. He decided on a half-truth.
"No, my Dad, Captain Bridger, he never hits me, neither does my Mom."
"Wow, you're lucky," Noah said, taking a long drag off his cigarette. He went to hand it to Lucas but Lucas waved it away. "Last whippin I got I couldn't sit down for a week."
"Same here," Bobby agreed. "Quit hoggin the cigarette." He quickly took it from Noah and started to puff away.
"Do you guys really like those things, or do you just smoke them because it would piss everyone off if they found out?" Lucas asked.
"Hey, you're a smart one," Michael said, taking his turn on the cigarette. "What's the point of doing something if it doesn't make someone else angry in the process," he laughed.
"Hey ya twirps," a loud voice boomed. Everyone jumped.
"What are you doing here, Derek," Noah demanded.
"Just came to get my candy bars," he said menacingly.
"Those are ours," Bobby said.
"Yeah, I don't see your name on them anywhere." He reached down and started to collect all of the chocolate bars.
"Damn it, Derek, leave us a couple at least," Noah said.
"Or what? You'll tell your Daddy? I don't think so. He'd beat you silly if he caught you with this stuff."
"You could still share," Lucas said to the bully.
"Who the hell are you?" Derek said.
"He's Lucas," Michael said. "He's cool. He lives on a submarine and fixes computers."
"Big whoop," Derek said. "I saw you kissin Sarah. Stay away from her. She's my girl."
"In your dreams," Bobby said. "She can't stand you. Besides, her Dad would never let a low life like you get anywhere near her."
"Shut up, you little faggot," Derek shouted. He raised his hand back to strike Bobby. Bobby stood his ground. He was a big guy but still at least six inches shorter than Derek, and he weighed a lot less than Derek did.
"Whoa," Lucas said, stepping between the two. "He didn't mean it. Right, Bobby. It was just a joke...right!"
"Uh, yeah, just a joke," Bobby said. "I'm sure Sarah thinks you're just swell."
Derek grabbed Lucas by his shirt front. "Who asked you? Don't ever get in my way!" Derek still held Lucas' shirt with one hand and proceeded to punch him in the eye with the other. Lucas went sailing to the floor. "And you need to learn better jokes," Derek said to Bobby, who had been distracted when he watched Lucas fall, and then punched him in the stomach. He also crumpled to the floor. With that done Derek turned and left the boys alone.
Michael went to help Bobby up and Noah helped Lucas into a sitting position.
"Lucas, man, you okay?" Noah asked.
"Uh! Yeah, I hope someone got the license number of that truck," Lucas groaned.
"You're either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid," Bobby said, clutching his stomach.
Lucas shook his head, trying to come back to his senses. "I think it's the latter one," he moaned.
"If you remember, I warned you to stay out of his way."
"Yeah, but what's the point of doing something if it doesn't piss someone off," Lucas laughed, which also got the others laughing as well.
"We best get some ice on that eye of yours," Noah said. "It's already swelling. Michael, get our stuff back in the bag and under the rock."
"Sure thing."
Lucas followed the boys back through the tunnels back into the habitat.
"Let's take him to my place," Noah said. "Dad's working in the mine and I know Mom will be with Mrs. Smith since she just had the baby."
"Oh, did the baby live?" Lucas asked.
"Yeah, how did you know about that?" Noah asked.
"My Mom is the doctor that delivered it this morning."
"Let me get this straight," Bobby said. "Your Dad is the Captain of a sub, your Mom is a doctor, and you're a computer expert. Wow, that's one pretty exciting life you got there."
"Yes and no," Lucas said. "It's exciting, but there aren't any other kids on the sub, so I live with over two hundred grown ups. Do you have any idea what it's like having two hundred people telling you what to do? Uhg!"
"Yeah, I could see where that would suck, but you do get off the sub sometimes don't you?" Michael asked.
"Yeah, I do."
"We haven't seen the sun in almost six years. I'm not even sure if I remember what it looks like anymore," Noah said.
"Wow, that would be harsh," Lucas agreed.
They got to Noah's and he quickly let them all in. Lucas sat down in the big room that served as living room, dining room, and kitchen. Noah went to the fridge and put several ice cubes in a cloth.
"Here, put this on your face. Man, you look awful."
"Gee, thanks. It should be interesting explaining to Mom and Dad how I go this, especially since I'm technically supposed to be in the lab working."
No sooner had the words left his mouth his PAL went off.
"Oh shit!" Lucas gasped. "Lucas here."
"Lucas, where are you?" Kristin asked.
"Um, Mom, I'm with some of the kids. Why?"
"No reason really, I just went to the lab and you weren't where you were supposed to be. I'll let your father know that you're okay, but you best get back to the lab in about a half an hour. You do have work to do, remember."
"I remember. I'll be there in a half an hour," Lucas said.
"Alright, have fun," she said.
"Thanks, Mom." Lucas put his PAL away and looked back at the guys.
"Your Mom sounds nice."
"She is. She's great, so's my Dad."
_________________________________________________
Lucas hurried back to the lab at top speed. He told Mom he'd be back in a half an hour but it was now about forty five minutes later. He'd had fun though, black eye and all. Noah had invited him to come back over later that evening to play some board games with them. He hoped Mom and Dad would let him go.
He burst into the lab and saw Mom and Dad were there waiting for him.
"Hi, sorry I'm late," Lucas said. "I met some really cool kids."
"Lucas, what on earth happened to your eye?" Mom asked.
"Who hit you?" Nathan asked.
"Oh, it's nothing," Lucas said, grinning.
"Nothing! Lucas it's practically swelled shut," Kristin said.
"Did Abraham do that?" Nathan demanded.
"Uh, oh, no. This was a present from Derek, the local bully. He was about to pound on Bobby, but I tried to break it up. Earned this for my efforts, and Bobby got punched in the gut anyway. Oh well."
Nathan and Kristin were both a little thrown. Lucas looked almost happy to have a black eye. Actually what they noticed the most was that Lucas was just plain happy. There were no signs of tension or stress to be seen.
"Dad, Noah invited to come to his house later and play board games. Can I go?" Lucas asked.
"After you work on the computers you can go," Nathan said, "but I want to meet these kids when you go. I won't stick around, I just want to know who your hanging out with, and make sure you have your PAL."
"Lucas," Kristin spoke up, "why do you smell like smoke?"
"What?" Lucas said, feigning ignorance.
"Lucas, you smell like cigarette smoke."
"I wasn't smoking, honest?"
"Then who was?" she asked.
"The other guys were, but I swear, I didn't. You can even x-ray my lungs if you don't believe me," Lucas insisted.
"I don't think that will be necessary," Nathan grinned.
"I can still go, can't I?" Lucas asked, afraid that now they might think badly of the guys and not let him.
"Yes, you can still go," Nathan said. "But I don't want you smoking, got it?"
"Got it," Lucas sighed. He hurried over to the computer and got to work.
__________________________________________
Lucas stood up and stretched his back. He looked at the clock. Cool, it was only another hour before he could go to Noah's. This was one day when he wouldn't lose track of time. He had made some progress in fixing the computers, but he had to admit, it was a nasty virus plaguing the system. At least he had retrieved about a fourth of the files inside and saved them to disks.
He needed to stretch his legs a bit. He decided to walk around the lab and just look around at what they were doing here. He had been pretty much left alone in the room. Apparently the scientists were done with their research and only needed to analyze their findings, but with the computers down there was nothing for them to do. That worked out well for him since he didn't really want to be in the same room as Dr. Abraham.
The lab consisted of one large workroom and then four smaller rooms that branched off the central room. He saw that each room contained a specific type of equipment to record data. At present all of the equipment was turned off. He entered one room and flicked the switch to turn the machine on. Immediately the seismic display started to show lines on paper as the needle moved slowly. Lucas found himself wishing he had maps of the seafloor and knew where the devices were located. All of this was pretty interesting.
"Damn it, you promised," a somewhat familiar voice said.
"Will you be quiet!" another voice hissed.
Lucas heard the footsteps as the two people entered the lab. He saw Dr. Mark and the local bully Derek standing in the central room. He instinctively dropped down below the glass in the door and moved to hide. The two were obviously upset and Lucas had no intention of getting in Derek's way yet again. That was all he needed, for Derek to punch him in the other eye.
"You have to take me up world," Derek insisted.
"I know I said I would, but I thought you'd be eighteen by the time I left here. I can't take you, you're still a minor. I can be arrested," Dr. Mark said.
"I can have you arrested now. Last time I checked it was against the law for an adult man to have sex with a minor," Derek said.
"Now you listen, you consented to all of it," Dr. Mark said, his voice raising.
"Only because you said that you'd take me out of this hell hole," Derek replied. "With all due respect, I don't like men. Now you are going to take me with you when you leave next month. I haven't been letting you screw me for the past two years for nothing. You will either get me out of here or I'll tell. I tell everyone what kind of a sicko you are!"
"So what! You'll tell. There is no law out here. This is open waters. Do you think Jeremiah is going to lock me up and keep me here? No. You're telling will result in one thing and one thing only, letting everyone know that for two years you've been getting it up the butt by another man. Gee, I wonder what the religious community will think of you then?"
Lucas found that he was actually shaking. He couldn't believe what he was over hearing. He really wished he wasn't hearing this. He had no doubt in his mind that if Derek caught him here he'd break him in two. Dr. Mark might even let him, since Lucas knew that if Derek told there would be a lot more repercussions than Dr. Mark was letting on too. The scientific community didn't exactly look highly on child molesters, just like they didn't like child abusers. Plus, the UEO could arrest him out here. Dad had been able to arrest Cobb after all.
"Fine, I won't tell," Derek said, "but you have to get me out of here. Hide me in the shuttle when you leave, stick me in a crate, I don't care. Just so long as I leave here."
"I'll think about it," Dr. Mark said.
"Man, don't play games with me," Derek told him.
"But we're so good at games. I think we should play a game right now."
"Not now," Derek said.
Lucas wondered just what they were talking about now. He didn't have to wonder for too long.
"Do it. I want you to do it right now or you can stay here and rot."
"Fine, you pervert."
Lucas spied a look through the glass to see that Dr. Mark was dropping his pants and so was Derek. 'Oh god!' Lucas thought. He did not want to be in here. He absolutely positively did not want to be here for this. If they caught him...? He didn't even want to think about that.
He wondered about making a run for it. He was in the room closest to the door. Maybe he could wait for them to get...get preoccupied...and then sneak out undetected.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard grunting sounds. He looked over and saw that they were now going at it. 'Ewww,' he thought to himself. He ducked down again, afraid of being seen. He decided the best choice he had was to simply stay hidden and wait them out. Surely they would leave once they were done. He positioned himself between the machine in the room and the farthest wall, this way even if they looked in they wouldn't see him.
Luckily it only lasted about five minutes. He heard them talking again but he couldn't hear what was being said. Finally all was quiet. Lucas was still afraid to move. Just because it was quiet didn't mean that they weren't still there. He waited a few more minutes before he ventured out of his hiding space. Still in a crouching position he moved slowly up to the glass to take a peek. He looked into the central room and didn't see anyone. 'Thank god,' he thought. It was time to get the heck out of here.
He opened the door and stepped into the large room. He almost made it to the door to leave when he heard another door open behind him. He looked back to see Dr. Mark stepping out of one of the smaller labs like the one he had just hid in.
Lucas stood frozen to the floor. He locked eyes with Dr. Mark.
"Lucas, what are you doing here?" Dr. Mark asked. His face was calm but his voice was anything but.
"Uh, I uh just got here. I was going to take a quick look at the computers real fast before going to hang out with the guys." Lucas fought to keep his voice steady.
Dr. Mark just stared at him. "You just got here?" he asked.
"Y-yes," Lucas stammered.
"Then why are you walking in that direction if you just got here?"
Lucas tried to think of an answer but one just wouldn't come. For the first time that he could remember he couldn't think of a response to give. He couldn't even think of a good smart aleck remark to toss out.
"Uh, I have to go. People are waiting for me." Lucas hurried out of the lab. He didn't run, but he walked as fast as he could. 'Smooth, Lucas, real smooth.' He thought to himself. It was obvious that Dr. Mark knew he had been there all along. At least Derek hadn't been there. Thank god for small miracles.
"Lucas!"
Lucas stopped dead in his tracks and practically jumped out of his skin. He looked back to see Dad and Mom coming towards him.
"Lucas, you look like you just saw a ghost," Nathan said.
"No, I'm fine, you just startled me."
"Well, you ready?" Kristin asked.
"Ready for what?" Lucas asked.
"To go to Noah's place," Nathan reminded him. "You were still going to go weren't you?"
"Uh, yeah. Let's go," Lucas said.
"Fine, Kristin and I just want to meet his parents, and then we'll get out of there and leave you alone," Nathan said.
"Okay." Lucas was about to turn to head to Noah's when out of the corner of his eye he saw Dr. Mark step out of the lab. The man just stared at him for a moment before stepping back inside.
"Lucas, is something wrong?" Kristin asked. "You're acting very strange."
"No, everything is just fine," Lucas said. "I'm just anxious to see the guys."
Kristin and Nathan both exchanged a look but said nothing. Nathan was tempted to scan Lucas but decided not to. Lucas really didn't like when Nathan went in his head.
"Well, we best go, or we're going to be late," Kristin said.
_____________________________________________
Lucas sat in the back of the shuttle. The evening had been a nice one, letting Lucas forget about things for a bit. Noah's parents had insisted that Mom and Dad stay for dinner, so the four adults talked and had coffee while Lucas, Noah, Bobby, and Michael all went into Noah's room to play checkers and chess.
They didn't really play checkers or chess, but they set the games up to make it look like they were. What they actually did was read Sarah Hart's diary. Somehow, Bobby had managed to snatch the leather bound book without Sarah knowing that he was the one who had done it.
Lucas had a feeling that if he could have known Ben as a kid, he would have been a lot like Bobby. Bobby was almost crazy in his risk taking.
However, now that the night was over and they were going home, Lucas found himself thinking back to the information he had accidentally learned earlier. He had a feeling that he should do something about what he knew, but he honestly didn't know what.
Derek might not take kindly to his getting involved. Besides, Derek was a big guy, more than capable of taking care of himself. It wasn't like Dr. Mark was holding a gun to his head demanding sex. But then, he had bribed Derek for it, making promises he probably wouldn't keep in the long run.
Still, he had a feeling that he should just stay out of this. It's not like Derek was a friend or anything. Most likely Derek would beat him up the next time he saw him again just for the fun of it.
The shuttle docked with seaQuest and they all got out. It was late so they headed to their quarters to call it a night.
Nathan noticed that once again Lucas was being very quiet. It had been a strange day for Lucas. On the one hand he had been happy to make friends and hang out with them. He even seemed strangely proud of his black eye. But then at other times he was quiet and with drawn. It was obvious that something was on the boy's mind and it was getting harder and harder for him to resist not just popping into his head and getting the information he wanted.
Lucas went in to his room and changed into his pajamas. Then he went into the bathroom to brush his teeth. It was the first time he'd seen his own reflection since this morning and he saw that his eye was deeply bruised and swollen pretty good. He shrugged his shoulders and left the bathroom.
"Good night," he said to his parents.
"Sleep well," Mom told him.
"I will, I'm beat," Lucas said. He went to his room and closed the door, but he didn't go to his bed. Instead he went to the computer and began to look for information on Dr. Mark. At first his search was turning up just the standard stuff, name, degrees, universities he taught at. But then about a half an hour later he found what he had been looking for.
It was a news article that was five years old. Dr. Mark took a summer position at a high school and two of the male students accused him of inappropriate touching. No charges were ever filed but the school dismissed him anyway.
Lucas wondered to himself just how many boys Dr. Mark had done this too. He knew enough to know that you didn't just become a child molester on a whim. That kind of thing went on for years. Heck, he'd been molesting Derek for two years now. Then another thought struck Lucas. Was Noah or Bobby, or maybe Michael having sex with Dr. Mark too? Were they also being manipulated and bribed into it? He certainly hoped not, not that he'd be able to find out anyway. What was he to do, walk up to them and ask, 'hey guys, so are you screwing Dr. Mark?'
Lucas printed out the story on Dr. Mark before reaching over to shut of his computer. Suddenly another thought entered his head. Something the guys had said earlier. That Rev. Hart was scamming everyone, using them as slaves. He decided to do one more search. He typed in Jeremiah Hart and hit search. He was tired so he figured he'd go to bed and see what results the computer came up with in the morning. He crawled into his bed and fell asleep holding R.B.
_____________________________________
Nathan was just about ready to go to sleep. He'd had a few things he needed to take care of first. He turned off the small lamp on his desk and started towards his room where Kristin was already sound asleep, when he saw some light coming from under Lucas' door.
He pushed the door open lightly and saw that Lucas was indeed asleep in his bed. Darwin was in the aqua tube as if he were keeping guard of his friend. Nathan stepped over to Lucas' desk to turn of the light when he saw that the computer was still on too, not that that was unusual. He saw that there was a list of items, all with the heading Jeremiah Hart on them. His curiosity got the better of him. He clicked on the first item and began to see just what Lucas had found. He found some basic information about the man, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Nathan continued to look at some more of the findings. He didn't even want to ask how Lucas had managed to get into the man's bank records. The man had a good amount of money in his account, but nothing that would draw attention.
He was about to shut off the light and leave when he saw the papers sitting in the printer. These he found much more disturbing. He read the article on Dr. Mark thoroughly before putting it back in the tray of the printer. He wondered what had prompted Lucas to look up this information. Had Dr. Mark made a move on Lucas? Was that why the boy was so quiet and withdrawn? Nathan decided that he had waited long enough.
He moved over to Lucas and placed a hand on the boy's head. Instantly he found himself going into Lucas' dreams. The images formed in Nathan's mind and he found himself looking at a five year old Lucas sitting in their kitchen. The boy was finger painting with Carol.
"Hi, daddy," Lucas said. "Want to paint with me?"
"No thanks, kiddo. So what did you do today?"
"I played in the caves."
"What caves?" Nathan asked. "Can you show me?"
"Sure," the little Lucas said. Instantly the scenery changed to that of the tunnels in the minds.
Nathan felt more apprehension grow. "Lucas, did you play with Dr. Mark in the caves?"
"No, I was with Noah and the boys."
"Did they play with Dr. Mark?"
"No, only Derek. Derek doesn't like Dr. Mark."
"Derek?" Nathan asked. "Isn't he the boy who gave you a black eye?"
"Uh huh."
"Did Dr. Mark touch Derek?"
"Uh huh."
"Did you see it?"
"Uh huh," the little boy said. "I was scared. I couldn't get out or they would have seen me, but Dr. Mark saw me anyways. He knows I know. What do I do now?"
"It's okay, son. I'll fix it. You don't have to do anything at all, okay."
"Okay." Lucas climbed out of his chair and hugged Nathan, getting finger paint all over him. Lucas laughed at the sight of Daddy being all dirty. Then he took his paint covered hand and put a hand print on Nathan's cheek. Nathan smiled at him. He played with Lucas for a few more minutes before finally leaving him to his own dreams again.
At least he knew what had happened today and why Lucas was acting so weird. Lucas was going to be upset with him in the morning, but Nathan needed to know about this. There was no way he would send Lucas back to the colony with a man who got his kicks having sex with teenage boys.
________________________________________
Lucas woke the next morning with a memory in his head that he couldn't seem to access completely. He had this feeling that he had talked to Dad, but he couldn't remember what about, or when it was exactly. He got out of his bunk and went into the family room. He was surprised to see Mom and Dad up and waiting for him.
"Did I do something wrong?" Lucas asked. "You only have that look on your face when I'm about to be grounded."
"Technically you didn't do anything wrong," Nathan said.
"Technically? What does that mean?" Lucas asked.
"Lucas, how could you not tell us that Dr. Mark was a child molester?" Kristin said.
"Huh."
"Lucas, I saw the printout in your room," Nathan said.
"You went in my head! I remember you in my dreams now asking about him," Lucas accused.
Nathan sighed. "Yes I did. I was worried. Yesterday you weren't acting like yourself, and when I saw that article, I...I thought that maybe...he..."
"You thought he had sex with me?" Lucas asked, shock apparent in his voice.
"Well, maybe not sex, but I thought that he might have tried to do something to you," Nathan admitted.
"He didn't touch me," Lucas said.
"I know. You told me last night, in your dream. But he is molesting Derek, isn't he?"
"Yeah, he is."
"How did you see that?" Nathan asked.
"I was in one of the small labs when they came into the central room. Before I could make myself known they were...you know. I just hid until they were done, but then after Derek left Dr. Mark caught me sneaking out."
"And you didn't think it was necessary to mention this to us last night?" Kristin asked.
"I didn't know what to do," Lucas defended. "I didn't know if telling was really the best thing for Derek. He's a big guy, bigger than Dr. Mark. If he didn't want to he could stop him from doing it."
"But last night you said Derek hates Dr. Mark. That doesn't sound consensual to me," Nathan pointed out.
"Dr. Mark bribed him. Said he'd get him out of the mine in return for it. But from what I heard of their conversation, it sounds like he isn't going to fulfill his part of the bargain now."
"Even if they did make an agreement, it's still illegal what they're doing. Derek is a minor, at the least it's statutory rape," Kristin said.
"But I got the impression that Derek doesn't want people to know. If you take legal action then his secrets are going to be put out for public viewing. Believe me when I say that Derek doesn't want that."
"And just how do you know that?" Kristin said curtly.
Lucas felt himself getting frustrated. "Because...I sure as hell didn't want anyone knowing mine! And don't give me that psycho babble, the one that says it's not your fault, don't feel bad, you didn't do anything. Technically I know I didn't ask to be beat, but honestly, there are still days when I find myself wondering just what I could have done differently. If only I'd been better, if only I had scored higher, then maybe it wouldn't have happened."
"Lucas," Kristin interrupted.
"Please, let me finish," Lucas said. "I know it's not my fault. I do. But that knowledge isn't always comforting. Think about Derek. The guy is six and half feet tall, two hundred and fifty pounds. Trust me, he isn't thinking about the fact that Dr. Mark manipulated him. All he's thinking right now is that if people find out no one will believe that he didn't want it. And do you really want to know that sad truth. Most people are going to think exactly that. That he did want it and now he's just embarrassed that he got caught. He's going to be eighteen soon. Dr. Mark is leaving in a month. Maybe you should just leave it be."
When Lucas was finished he looked up to see two stunned adults looking at him. He waited for them to say something but neither did. After a minute the silence was starting to become awkward.
"Well?" Lucas asked.
"Lucas," Nathan started, "first off I think we need to talk about some of your unresolved issues..."
"Daaad!"
"Now let me finish," Nathan continued. "We definitely need to talk, but I don't think right now is the best time. I listened to what you said, I really did, and I even agree with most of it. He is almost eighteen, Dr. Mark is leaving, and Derek definitely would not want people to know. However, you may have not wanted people to know your secrets, but I think it's safe to say that you're now glad that I found out. I want to give this boy the same option. I'm going to go see him today and talk to him. I will ask him what he wants done, and then I will do exactly as he wishes."
"He does have options other than silence," Kristin said. "Yes, he needs to get away from Dr. Mark, but it also sounds like living at the mine is harming him mentally and emotionally. Maybe he needs to be taken into protective custody and put in a foster home up world. If he has literally prostituted himself for two years on the promise of getting out of that place, he might actually jump at the idea of a foster home."
"I guess," Lucas said. "Will you take me with you when you go?"
"No, I don't want you anywhere near that place as long as Dr. Mark is there," Nathan said.
"Dad, nothing is going to happen between me and Dr. Mark. Besides, I need to be there. I want to talk to Derek. I think I may be able to get through to him better than you can. Nothing personal, but I would imagine he's not too crazy about adults."
Nathan seemed to be thinking this over, and finally he agreed. "You can come, but you are to stay with me. No going off on your own today. Remember, Dr. Mark knows that you know his secret. I'm not taking any chances with your safety."
"I'm coming too," Kristin added.
"Fine," Nathan agreed.
_______________________________________
Nathan, Kristin, Lucas, Crocker and Ben docked at the mine. Today no one was waiting to greet them when they arrived.
"Let's go on down to the labs. Lucas can work on the computers some while Crocker and I look for Derek," Nathan said.
They went down the corridor and entered the lab. No one was there.
"Nathan, you and the Chief go on. We'll stay here with Lucas," Kristin said.
"Okay, we'll be back shortly," Nathan replied.
Lucas watched Dad leave and then turned on the computers. Kristin and Ben had a seat at a small table to wait. Lucas was surprised to see that all the computers started right up with no problems. He hadn't expected that. He started to look through the systems and saw that they were functioning just fine. In a moment he understood why. The computers were empty of all files. They had been reformatted.
"Why would they do that?" Lucas said aloud.
"Do what, Lucas?" Mom asked.
"Well all the computers have been reformatted to make them work again."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Ben asked.
"No, it isn't. That means all of their data, two years worth of research, is all gone."
"What?" Kristin exclaimed. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. There's no doubt about it. The computers are fixed, and the data is gone. I wonder who did this?" Lucas rubbed his chin in concentration when he noticed something on the floor coming out from under the door. He stared at it for a minute. It looked familiar to him. He walked over to the door to the smaller lab and slowly pushed it in.
Lucas couldn't believe what he was seeing. Lying in the floor was Dr. Mark. The familiar thing that Lucas had seen was blood. A lot of it. It was everywhere. Dr. Mark's chest was covered in it as was his clothes. The blood had seeped out of him and now made a giant pool that surrounded his body. Lucas looked at the man's dead blue face. His one eye was still open, as was his mouth, frozen in place. The other eye was something different. A small knife was plunged deep into it and more blood covered that side of his face.
He continued to stare in silence, slowly backing away from the sight. He looked down and saw that he had been standing in the blood and was now leaving bloody footprints as he backed away. Lucas placed a hand over his mouth but he knew it would be a futile gesture. He hurried over to the wastebasket and began to throw up. Instantly Kristin was next to him asking what was wrong. Ben answered for him.
"Oh my, Doctor," Ben exclaimed.
Kristin left Lucas still by the wastebasket and went to stand by Ben.
"Dear God!" Kristin exclaimed. She instantly grabbed her PAL and called Nathan.
"I'm on my way," Nathan told her.
It was obvious that Dr. Mark was way past the point where medical help would save him, so Kristin left the body and went back to Lucas who was sitting in the floor next to the wastebasket, still looking a little green.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"I'm fine," Lucas said in a less than convincing voice. "There's so much blood."
Kristin was afraid of Lucas going into shook from what he had seen and she rubbed his arms comfortingly, trying to keep him calm. He still looked like he wanted to throw up again. "I'm going to have Ben take you back to the seaQuest."
"No, I'm okay, really. We still have to talk to Derek about getting out of here," Lucas said, starting to act a bit more like his self again.
"Lucas, there are going to be a lot of people who'll want to talk to Derek today," Kristin said gently.
"Why?" Lucas asked, then his face showed that he understood. "Wait a minute, you think that Derek killed him. Why?"
"Lucas, I'm not saying he did, but you have to admit that he's going to be a suspect for sure," Kristin told him.
Just then Nathan, Crocker and Jeremiah entered the lab, along with several other men that Lucas didn't know. Then Lucas saw Dr. Abraham enter the lab too. Kristin left him to go talk to Nathan and the others. Everyone went to take a look at the body.
"Who would do such a thing?" Jeremiah asked.
"I think we both know the answer to that question," Dr. Abraham said.
"Who?" Crocker asked.
"Why Derek of course," Dr. Abraham replied. "He and Dr. Mark have been lovers for almost two years."
"You mean you knew and you didn't do anything to stop it?" Kristin hissed. "That boy is still a minor."
"That boy is as big as Goliath. No one forced him to do anything he didn't want to," Dr. Abraham told her.
"You were blackmailing him, weren't you?" Lucas suddenly spoke up.
Dr. Abraham jumped. He hadn't been aware that Lucas was in the room since the boy was in the floor.
Lucas stood up and walked shakily over to everyone else. "Well?" Lucas said. "Weren't you? You knew Dr. Mark was doing....doing that...and you decided why bother turning him in when you could profit off the situation, right?!?!"
"I don't know what you are talking about, and I suggest you be careful not to make implications like that. I was not blackmailing Dr. Mark," Abraham insisted.
"Why did you reformat the computers?" Lucas asked. "All the computers have been reformatted and everything in them has been deleted."
"What!" Dr. Abraham exclaimed. He immediately rushed over to one of the machines to check for himself if it were true. "What in the hell! All my research, two years worth of data, I don't believe it!"
"You did this, didn't you?" Dr. Abraham suddenly accused Lucas. "You decided to get even with me and you did this! Do you have any idea what you've done! I'll prosecute you I swear!"
"Huh!" Lucas gasped. "I didn't reformat the computers. They were like that when I got here."
"It's true," Kristin said. "Lt. Krieg and I can both verify that."
"That doesn't mean he didn't do it yesterday," Dr. Abraham continued.
"Just why would Lucas want to get even with you? What did you do to him?" Nathan asked, knowing that the man couldn't tell since he would be admitting to a major crime.
"I...I...I gave him a B while at Stanford," he finally stammered.
"So let me get this straight, Lucas got a B, and for that he destroyed two years of your work?" Nathan said as sarcastically as he possibly could.
"Fine, so maybe he didn't do it. Who did?" Dr. Abraham demanded.
"This is just speculation on my part," Kristin said, "but maybe it was the same person who killed Dr. Mark. I understand that this computer stuff is important to you, but may I remind everyone that there is a dead body in the other room."
"Crocker, contact seaQuest and have a security team come out here to investigate the scene and have the body taken back to med bay for an autopsy," Nathan ordered.
"Aye, Cap."
"Wait a minute," Rev. Hart interrupted. "The UEO does not have authority here. This is my mine. I'm the one who makes these decisions."
"So what are you going to do?" Nathan asked. "Have your wife, the mid-wife, perform the autopsy? I don't think she's qualified."
"Why do we need an autopsy?" Rev. Hart asked. "The man is dead. We should simply return his body to his family so they can make arrangements."
"Reverend, forgive me if I'm intruding on your authority, but you have a murderer loose in your mine. Maybe he won't kill again, but maybe he will? Isn't it in your best interests to protect your flock?" Nathan made a show of addressing the other men gathered in the room. They were all nodding their head in agreement with the Captain. They were afraid, and wanted the killer caught, now.
"Fine, go get Derek and take him to prison if you need to," Rev. Hart said.
"We don't know that Derek did it," Nathan reminded. "No one has even spoken to him yet."
"Fine, then let's find him and talk to him," Jeremiah said. He turned and left the lab.
"Nathan," Kristin said softly, "we need to get Lucas out of here. He shouldn't be here for this."
"I can take him to my place," a man said. They turned to see Noah's father, Mr. Ross, standing there. "I need to go back to work, but my wife will be there and I can even get Noah out of school to keep him company until you are finished."
"Thank you," Nathan said. "I would appreciate that very much. Lucas," he called.
Lucas walked over to him. "Yes?"
"Son, you're going to go to Noah's for a while. Noah and Mrs. Ross will be there with you, okay?"
"Okay," Lucas replied.
"I want you to stay there. Don't go anywhere else."
"Yes sir."
_________________________________________
Lucas sat in Noah's room. Noah wanted to play checkers or something, but Lucas wasn't much in the mood for games. His mind kept drifting back to what he'd seen earlier. Something just didn't seem right to Lucas. He felt like he was missing something.
Derek might be the prime suspect, but he really didn't think Derek killed him. Dr. Mark was Derek's only chance of getting out of here before his birthday. Why kill the one person who might be able to help him?
________________________________________
Nathan was frustrated. He had been with Crocker while they talked to Derek. All the kid insisted was that he didn't do it. He wouldn't admit to the abuse or that he was even with Dr. Mark yesterday. His lying wasn't making it look good for him, but Nathan wasn't sure that he actually committed the murder. The only thing he was sure of was that the kid was scared. He might be a giant, but he was still seventeen.
"Why won't you believe me," Derek yelled. "I didn't kill him."
"Derek, you said you weren't with Dr. Mark yesterday, but someone saw you and him together," Nathan informed.
"Who? I kill that lying son of a..." and then he stopped when he realized that saying he was going to kill some one might not be the best thing to do at the moment.
"Well, he certainly sounds guilty to me," Rev. Hart said. "He's lying and he just threatened to kill again. Derek, I am ashamed of you. You've been here for six years, and in all that time you failed to learn anything about our ways."
"Your ways! I think I learned plenty about your ways. I know who you are," Derek said, grinning at the Reverend.
Jeremiah stepped back a second, an uncertain look on his face.
"Something you need to tell us, Reverend."
"No. I've had enough of this. You have my permission to take this murderer." Then Jeremiah turned on his heel and left.
"Derek, what did you mean about the Reverend? What do you know?" Nathan asked.
"Go to hell," Derek told him.
Nathan sighed. This was getting nowhere. Maybe if Derek spent the day in the brig he might be a bit more cooperative.
"Chief, please arrest him and take him to the brig. Then get a team to search his room for any evidence."
"Aye Cap."
Nathan watched as Derek was handcuffed and led away to the shuttle. The security team had already left along with Kristin so she could begin the autopsy so at least they didn't have to ride back with the body.
He had one thing left to do. Go get Lucas. He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. That was another problem. Lucas had rehashed a lot of painful stuff this morning, and then he found the body, which had been a grizzly sight to behold, actually making the boy ill.
"Ben, please go to the shuttle. I'll be there with Lucas in just a bit."
"Yes, Captain."
Nathan started his way to Noah's place. At least Lucas hadn't been left alone during this time.
It took several minutes to get there, and Nathan tried to keep going over the events of the last two days in his mind. They had come for sabotage, which they still didn't know who had done that, now Marks was dead, the computers had been further tampered with, Jeremiah seemed to be a man with secrets, which he didn't know, Abraham had blackmailed Lawrence Wolenczak, and Lucas had seen one of the bloodiest crime scenes ever. So many twisting plots, and he was no closer to solving any of them.
He arrived at Noah's and decided to not worry about any of them for the moment. Right now he wanted to be focused on Lucas. He knocked on the door and after a few seconds Mrs. Ross opened it.
"I've come to get Lucas. Thank you for letting him come here," he said gratefully.
"It was no problem. I understand how terrible that must have been for him," Mrs. Ross said.
"Is he okay?" Nathan asked softly.
She seemed to think for a second before saying, "He's real quiet. Didn't want to play checkers or anything."
Nathan just nodded but he didn't reply since Lucas came to the door.
"Hi, son, ready to go home?"
Lucas nodded his head.
"Are you going to be leaving for good now?" Noah asked.
"Well, probably not for a day or two," Nathan said. "We are in the middle of an investigation."
"Cool, can Lucas come over tomorrow? There's no school tomorrow, and I know that the guys would like to hang out one more time. Plus, Lucas you still have to get us those new magazines you promised."
Lucas looked up at Dad expectantly.
Nathan smiled. "Yeah, sure. Lucas can come over."
"Great! See you tomorrow," Noah said.
"See ya," Lucas replied.
Noah closed the door.
"How are you handling this?" Nathan asked immediately. "And don't say fine!" He could see Lucas' mouth already making the "ffff" sound.
Lucas stopped and said, "I'll be okay, but that was without a doubt one of the sickest things I've ever seen. There was so much blood."
"If it makes you feel any better, I felt the same way you did," Nathan said. "No matter how many horrible things you see in this life nothing prepares you for something like that."
Lucas nodded. He didn't fuss when Nathan hugged him tight, patting him on the back. Lucas hugged him back just as tightly, feeling safe in his Dad's arms.
____________________________________________
Lucas waited for Dad to get out of sight before he quietly followed behind. Dad had told him to go to their quarters, but Lucas needed information, and he had a feeling Kristin wouldn't put the autopsy results in the computer because she knew Lucas would just hack them.
He stepped up to the door to the med lab and made sure no one was around. Then he crouched down so that he wouldn't be spotted as he eavesdropped.
"So what have you learned?" Nathan asked.
"Nathan, this was brutal, absolutely brutal. Dr. Marks has seventeen puncture wounds in his chest, there are deep cuts on his hands and arms from where he tried to fend off the blows, and then there is the major wound to his eye. This wasn't a simple murder. Who ever killed this man hated him fiercely. I also don't think this was a premeditating murder. The repeated stabbing suggests a crime of passion so to speak."
"That doesn't sound good for Derek," Nathan said.
"No, I don't suppose it does," Kristin agreed.
"I swear, though, I don't believe that Derek killed him. He had the motive, and he's more than strong enough to over power Dr. Marks, but I just don't think he did it."
"Well, I can tell you that Dr. Mark fought back. There is bruising on his knuckles from where he punched his assailant. If Derek killed the man, he is bound to show evidence of a struggle on his body."
"You're sure about this?" Nathan asked, hope ringing through his voice.
"Positive. Dr. Levin and myself should examine Derek immediately. If he's mark free, then that will help to rule him out as a suspect, maybe not completely, but it will provide for a margin of doubt. Also, have you checked out Derek's home? The murderer would have been as covered with blood by the end of the struggle as the victim."
Lucas shuddered involuntarily as Kristin's mention of the blood brought back a mental picture in his head, but at least he was getting the information he needed.
"Derek's house is being searched right now as we speak. Security has found nothing so far. No blood anywhere, no torn clothing. Did you have the knife checked for finger prints?"
"Yes, but you can see the smear marks where the murderer used something to wipe the handle of the knife. I don't know why he didn't bother to just take the knife. I'm guessing once the killer calmed down and saw what he'd done he was just to sickened to try and pull it out of Dr. Mark's eye, but he was still calm enough to think to cover his tracks."
"Fine, then lets go now and check Derek for bruises," Nathan said.
That was Lucas' cue to leave. It wouldn't do well for him to get caught right outside the door as Dad and Mom came out of the room. He hurried as quietly as he could down the corridor back to his room. As he walked he tried to make sense of all the facts. He was sure that Derek hadn't killed Dr. Mark. He was positive that somehow Dr. Abraham was involved in this. Maybe he wasn't the killer, but there was no way he was just an innocent bystander in all this. No, he knew about the molestation, which means his hand was in the cookie jar somehow.
Lucas wished he could have read the files in the computer before they had been reformatted. Something had been in there. That virus was no accident. Who planted it? Dr. Abraham? Maybe Dr. Mark? Dr. Abraham seemed truly surprised that the computers had been reformatted today, but that could have been an act. Who ever reformatted the computers must have been afraid that he would have succeeded in getting rid of the virus and therefore saving the files in the computer. Dr. Mark wouldn't have known just how good Lucas was at computers, but Dr. Abraham would have.
Then Lucas thought of a flaw in his line of thinking. He was working on the presumption that Dr. Abraham was blackmailing Dr. Mark, but where would Dr. Mark get the money to pay the blackmail?
"From a diamond mine of course," Lucas said out loud. Maybe Dr. Mark was stealing form the mine. Who would be ticked about Dr. Mark's stealing? Jeremiah Hart, that's who. If Jeremiah murdered Dr. Mark that would explain why he didn't want an autopsy, and why he was so quick to hand over Derek.
"Lucas, you're accusing a Reverend of committing a murder," he told himself. But then, what did he really know about Rev. Hart? The kids all thought that he was a crook, using their parents as slave labor to make him rich. Would his getting rich be worth killing for?
Lucas stepped into his room and flicked on his computer. It was time to learn about Rev. Hart, and he needed more than just the basic information.
_______________________________________
Nathan walked to the bridge feeling a bit better than he had been earlier. He had just witnessed Kristin and Dr. Levin examine Derek in the presence of Rev. Hart and the boy's parents. Thank god there hadn't been a mark on him. Based on the results of the exam, and the fact that they had obtained no evidence of guilt, Derek had been released into the custody of his parents and allowed to go home.
As happy as he was that a boy's life was about to be spared a lengthy prison stay, it left him with a new problem. Who was the murderer?
Something struck him as odd in how Rev. Hart was acting today. The man was too eager to dispose of the body, to give up Derek. When Derek and his parents agreed to the examination of Derek's body for bruises Rev. Hart was the only one to say that Derek had a right to privacy.
Just how was the Reverend involved in this, and what secrets did Derek know? He was tempted to ask Lucas to get on the internex and see what he could fine, but he really didn't want Lucas to be a part of this mess. The whole thing was just to sick. A murdered child molester, Derek's past, a possible blackmail plot that was far to similar to Lucas' own experience with blackmail, Dr. Abraham being there. No, Lucas needed to be kept out of this one. He'd let Lucas visit with his friends tomorrow, but the lab and everything else was off limits.
______________________________________
Lucas had been searching for several hours now. At first it bothered him that he wasn't finding any information other than the basics, and then it dawned on him that there was very little information on Rev. Hart. He started to look at dates more closely and he realized that everything he had on the Reverend other than his birth certificate only dated back about seven years, approximately six months before the mine was opened.
Lucas pulled up Rev. Harts Diver's license picture and proceeded to do a photo search using the UEO's criminal and personal files. It took him a few minutes to hack into the system and start the search. The computer informed him that his search would take about two hours to be complete. He watched as mug shots ticked by on the computer screen. They went to fast for the human eye to see, but the computer could search fifty pictures a second.
Lucas' stomach growled loudly and he realized that he hadn't eaten since breakfast, and breakfast hadn't stayed in his stomach for very long for that matter. He stood up and left for the mess. Hopefully by the time he got back he would have something.
He entered the mess and saw that Ben and a few others were there. Ben had opted not to sit with Tim and Ortiz, however, and instead sat at a table on the other side of the mess all by himself.
Lucas grabbed a tray and filled it with a bowl of re-hydrated chicken soup, some crackers, and something that looked like a ham sandwich, and then he went to sit with Ben.
"Hi," Lucas said.
"Hey kid," Ben said in a less than cheery voice.
"You okay?"
Ben forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine, just feelin a little tired is all."
"You're thinking about Katie," Lucas said.
Ben chuckled. "That obvious?"
"Uh huh. I'm sorry about what happened. That really sucks. I can't believe she did that to you."
"She didn't mean to hurt me on purpose. It all just sort of happened. I know, I was there, and even as my brain was saying stop, my heart just didn't seem to get the message. I just read more into the situation than she did is all."
"I don't get it," Lucas said. "You two love each other. As different as you and Katie might be, somehow you fit."
"That's what I always thought too, but apparently Katie doesn't agree with us, and since you can't force someone to love you, there's really nothing I can do about it."
"But that's just it, you don't have to force Katie to love you, she already does."
"Sometimes love isn't enough," Ben said sadly. "Katie wants an equal, and I guess I fail to measure up to what that means. Apparently Commander Ford is more her type."
"I'm sorry," Lucas said.
"I'm a big boy, I'll get over it," Ben replied. "I did it before, I can do it again. Listen kid, don't take this personal but I'm gonna go. I'll talk to you later."
"I understand," Lucas said. "Take it easy."
"Yeah, bye." Ben tossed his tray quickly and left the mess.
Lucas had a feeling he had failed to cheer Ben up. He saw Katie enter the mess and he tensed. He knew he shouldn't be angry with her. Truly she hadn't done anything, and certainly not to him, but he was angry none the less. Ben was really hurting. He shoved a few more bites of soup into his mouth and then stood up to leave himself, taking his sandwich with him. Katie saw him and flashed him a smile, which he didn't return. He walked out of the mess and went to visit Darwin at the moon pool.
He beat on the side of the pool and soon Darwin was there, chattering happily. Lucas smiled at his friend. He put on a wet suit, turned on the vocorder, and hopped into the water with him. It was time to play some dolphin football.
Lucas played with Darwin until his limbs grew so tired that Darwin had to tow him to the edge of the moon pool so he could get out.
"Thanks pal," Lucas panted.
"I win," Darwin said.
"Yeah, you win," Lucas laughed.
He got dressed again and headed back to his room. It had been almost two hours, hopefully the computer had found something by now.
He arrived at his quarters and crossed his fingers, hoping Mom or Dad wasn't in there. He was relieved to see he was alone. He hurried into his room and closed the door.
"Yes!" he exclaimed as he saw the computer had made a match. He pulled up the file and quickly learned who Jeremiah Hart really was. His real name Bo Feldman and he was an ex-con. Bo Feldman, or Jeremiah Hart as he was called today had served four years in prison for theft.
He had also been brought up on charges before for misdemeanor assault, petty theft, and possession of drugs, but had managed to avoid prosecution on technicalities, but when he conned an elderly widow out of $2 million dollars, the law managed to catch up with him that time.
"Well, it looks like Rev. Hart just got bumped into being the prime suspect," Lucas said to himself. Lucas had to admit though, that he still didn't know why Rev. Hart killed Dr. Mark. Maybe Dr. Mark had found out who Rev. Hart was, but was that reason enough to kill him. Even if the miners found out about Rev. Hart's shady past Lucas doubted it would have made that big of a difference. Rev. Hart could have simply said that he had changed and they could all attest to that since they had lived with him for the past six years.
No, if Dr. Mark was killed to silence him then he would have had to have known something worse than this. Once again Lucas found himself wishing he could have seen what was on those computers before they had been reformatted.
"That's it," Lucas said, snapping his fingers. He just remembered that he had some files on disk in the lab. Maybe what he was looking for was there. Tomorrow when he went to the mine he'd have to sneak into the lab and grab that disk. Right now, though, he had to go find Dad and fill him in on everything he had learned so far.
Lucas hit the print buttons and waited for the file to print out so he could take it to Dad. This was too important to wait for his shift to end. Lucas knew that Dad really wanted to prove Derek's innocence. Lucas didn't understand why it was so important to him, but then he didn't understand why he had been so important to the Captain at first either. Lucas grabbed the papers and headed to the bridge.
When Lucas walked in he saw that Dad was talking to Secretary Noyce about the situation.
"Thanks for the information," Dad said.
"No problem. I'm glad to see that the situation there seems to be well in hand. Good luck with your investigation." The screen went blank and Noyce was gone.
Nathan turned and saw Lucas standing there.
"Lucas, do you need something?" he asked.
"Actually I need to show you something."
"Fine, let's go to the wardroom." Nathan led the way with Lucas following close behind. Nathan closed the door behind them and asked what was up.
"I found out some pretty interesting facts about Rev. Hart," Lucas said. He handed Dad the papers and watched as he looked through them.
"Well this confirms everything that I learned from Bill," Nathan said.
"Huh?" Lucas asked.
"Bill just finished telling me all of this a few moments ago," Nathan said.
"Oh," Lucas said.
"Lucas, I appreciate what you did, but how many times do I have to ask you not to hack into the UEO's systems. I know you're good, but one day you're going to get caught, and if you do, even I won't be able to help you out of that mess."
"You don't seem to mind me hacking into their systems, or anybody else's for that matter, when you need me to," Lucas pointed out.
Nathan cringed. It was true, he'd asked Lucas to break the law for him on more than one occasion. "You're right, and maybe I shouldn't do that anymore, all though I think we both know the day will come when I'll need your talents again. I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I want you to stay out of 'this' one. I've come to the conclusion that the Eternal Light Mining Colony is full of some really sick people, not to mention at least one killer. I don't want you getting involved in this. I just want you to stay safe."
"I can still see my friends tomorrow, can't I?" Lucas asked.
"Yes, but I want a PAL on you at all times, and I want you to stay with the group. No going off alone. Truthfully I don't like the idea of you going back over there at all, but I know you never get to see other kids your age."
"Thanks, Dad."
"Just promise to stay out of trouble," Nathan insisted.
Lucas crossed his fingers behind his back and said, "I promise." After all, all he was going to do was grab a disk from the lab and then high tail it out of there. He'd be in and out before anyone had a chance to notice him.
________________________________________
That night Nathan lie sleeping, Kristin snuggled comfortably in his arms. Even in his sleep he recognized the familiar feeling of leaving his mind, being pulled towards Lucas'. The boy was calling him into a dream once again. Nathan had learned to not be afraid of this anymore, especially since it happened at least once a week. It really wasn't Lucas' fault. He couldn't stop it from happening. Nathan waited for the picture to come into focus.
When it finally had he found himself standing in the dimly lit tunnels of the mine. He seemed to be alone, but he could hear Lucas crying near by. The boy was sobbing violently. He hurried in the direction of Lucas, working his way through the tunnels. Finally he turned a corner and there was Lucas, on the floor of the tunnel cradling someone to him. Lucas rocked back and forth as he cried.
"Please don't leave me," Lucas wailed. "You can't leave me too...I need you...please stay..."
Nathan couldn't see who was in Lucas' arms since Lucas had his back to him. Nathan walked closer to Lucas to comfort the boy and get a better look. As he approached he realized that the person in the floor seemed familiar to him somehow. Finally he came up behind Lucas and looked at the person Lucas was holding, crying over.
Nathan was shocked to see his own face staring up at him, but this face was different. It was blue, stiff, and lifeless, and in one eye was the handle of a knife sticking out. The next thing he noticed was all the blood. The body was covered with it, as was Lucas as he continued to hold and rock the dead body. His body.
"Dad...don't go," Lucas cried again.
Nathan panicked at the site before him and before he knew what he was doing he had pulled himself out of Lucas' dream and sat up gasping for air in his own bed.
"Nathan, my god, what's wrong?" Kristin asked, sitting up next to him.
Nathan couldn't answer, he still breathed deeply trying to calm himself down. Then the quiet was broken by Lucas' screams from the next room. Nathan and Kristin were both out of bed in a flash.
Nathan burst through Lucas' door and started to grab for Lucas' flailing arms, but the boy was incredibly strong as the terror pumped adrenaline through him.
"NOOO!" Lucas yelled.
"LUCAS, WAKE UP!" Nathan yelled. "LUCAS!"
Kristin stood back, watching Nathan struggle to wake him up, all the while Lucas struggled against whatever was terrorizing him in his dreams.
"DAAAAAD!" Lucas yelled and sat up in his bed. In a split second all was calm in the room and Lucas stared at his parents, his face a mask of confusion, and they just stared back at him.
"Dad?" Lucas said quietly, "you...I saw...the blood..."
"It was a dream. A nightmare. I'm alright," Nathan said.
Lucas reached out a hand slowly and touched Dad on the cheek to convince himself that he was really alright and that this wasn't the dream. When his fingers brushed Nathan's face he pulled them back quickly as if he had been shocked. The next second Nathan found Lucas holding him tightly, squeezing the air out of his lungs.
"Lucas, it's okay," he said as he held the boy comfortingly. Lucas didn't say anything, he just held on like his life depended on it.
Kristin finally came over and sat on the bed next to them. She ran a hand through his hair.
"He's soaked in sweat," she said. Then she felt the pillow and the sheets. They were also wet and clammy from where Lucas had sweated them up. "Nathan, take him to the bathroom so he can throw some water on his face and cool down and I'm going to change his bed."
"Sure," Nathan replied. Lucas still hadn't let go of him yet and Nathan pulled Lucas' arms off of him. "Come on, kiddo, you heard Mom." Lucas nodded and got out of the bed. Nathan grabbed some clean pajamas from Lucas' drawer and handed them to him. "Go to the bathroom and change and wash your face," Nathan ordered. He saw that Kristin was already stripping the bed.
The minute Lucas left the room Kristin asked, "Just what on earth did he dream about? He hasn't had a nightmare like that in a long time."
"He saw me murdered like Dr. Mark was. Knife in the eye and everything."
"Oh my," Kristin said. Then she realized something. "You saw it too, didn't you? He pulled you into the dream. That's why you woke up so suddenly in bed."
"Yeah, I saw it," Nathan admitted. "Scared the hell out of me. Lucas was holding me in his lap begging me not to leave him all alone."
They stopped talking when Lucas entered the room again. He went to the shoot and tossed in the dirty pajamas. Kristin finished making Lucas' bed.
"I can't go back to sleep right now," Lucas said. "I...not yet." The images were just too fresh in his mind. He didn't want to close his eyes and see that again.
"No problem, kiddo," Nathan said. Truth was he wasn't sure if he could go back to bed right away himself.
"How about we go play a few hands of poker," Kristin suggested. Lucas smiled at her and nodded his head.
_________________________________________
Nathan was the first to wake up the next morning. He looked at the clock and saw that the alarm was due to go off in three minutes. He reached over and shut it off. He looked across the bed and smiled. "Should have had Bill put in a bigger bed," he chuckled to himself. Nathan and Kristin were both in bed, and sandwiched between them was Lucas. Since it was only a full size bed it had made for a cramped fit, but they had managed somehow. 'This was easier when Lucas was four,' he thought to himself.
Nathan quietly got out of the bed and decided to let the other two get a little more sleep. After Lucas' nightmare none of them had gotten much more rest. No sooner had he vacated the bed did Lucas roll over and stretch out. He just grinned and shook his head, then went to the bathroom to get cleaned up.
____________________________________
Lucas held on tightly to his bag. Inside were the magazines he'd promised everyone, plus some new music for the guys to put in their player, and his laptop, which he'd use to read the disks after he swiped them from the lab. When Dad had asked him why he was taking his laptop he told him it was so he could show the guys some of his computer games and Dad had believed it.
Lucas didn't like sneaking behind Dad's back but he knew that Dad didn't want him involved in this at all, and if he had asked for the disks Dad probably would have told him no and then had someone else look through them.
The shuttle docked several people were waiting for them as they exited the launch. Standing there was Rev. Hart, along with Noah, Bobby, and Michael. All of them looked nervous.
"Has something happened?" Nathan asked Rev. Hart.
"Actually, yes," Rev. Hart said. "About...about an hour ago we found Derek in one of the mine shafts."
"Found him?" Nathan asked.
"Yes, he's...boys, why don't you and Lucas go play, but stay together. I don't want any of you going off alone," Rev. Hart ordered.
"Yes sir," the boys said.
Lucas stood still for a moment. He wanted to know what was going on. He had a feeling that Derek had been murdered but no one had actually come out and said that yet.
"Lucas, go on," Nathan said.
"But Dad..."
"No buts, go on, and like the Reverend said, stay together."
"Fine," Lucas said. He left the docking bay with the guys after a quick greeting.
Nathan waited to be sure Lucas was out of ear shot before finally asking, "Is Derek dead?"
"Yes, I'm afraid he is. It seems last night after his parents went to sleep, Derek must have snuck out of their quarters. We don't know why or if he even had a reason other than wanting to get out for a bit. Then this morning he was found by several miners in Tunnel 4."
"How was he killed?" Nathan asked.
"He was stabbed, just like Dr. Mark. I warn you, it isn't a pretty sight."
"I'll need to examine the body," Kristin said.
"I expected as much. He's been placed in our med lab. It's nothing fancy but you should find the basics you'll need," Reverend Hart said.
"Thank you, I'm sure it'll do just fine," Kristin said.
"Crocker and I will need to talk to the miners who found him. Plus I want to post Chief Shan at the lab to keep guard."
"Do what ever you have to do, Captain. I admit, I'm not equipped here to handle a situation like this. I leave it in your hands. My people are scared and we just want the killer found and removed as quickly as possible."
Nathan was taken aback by this new contrite attitude of the Reverends. Maybe he had misjudged the man. Maybe.
________________________________
Lucas followed his friends back through the old tunnel where they hung out the first time. No one had talked about what had happened yet, sticking to the basics like 'How are you?' and such.
Finally they got to the cavern and Michael pulled out their bag of contraband. He dumped the bag out and grabbed a pack of cigarettes.
"God I need one of these," Michael said.
"Amen to that," Noah agreed. He also grabbed a cigarette.
"So what's going on now?" Lucas asked.
"Derek has been murdered. He was stabbed a bunch of times just like that Doctor guy was," Noah said.
"God, I'm sorry," Lucas said.
"Why should you be sorry?" Bobby said. "You didn't kill him."
"I know, it's just that...well, I just am is all," Lucas stammered.
"I don't get what the big deal is," Bobby said. "Derek was a bully who got his rocks off by beating the tar out of us. As for the Doctor guy, he also got what he deserved," Bobby said. "He was screwing Derek, that's just plain sick I tell ya."
"It's still no reason to be murdered," Noah said. "Especially like that. I mean, I've heard about the bodies, what they were like when they were found."
"I have to ask," Lucas said, "Did Dr. Mark ever try to make a move on you guys?"
"Hell no," Michael said. "Ain't no man going to do that to me. Now if Dr. Mark had been a woman, well that would have been a different story."
"What about you two?" Lucas asked.
"No, he never tried anything funny with me," Noah said.
"Me neither," Bobby said quietly. Bobby picked up a cigarette and lit it. Lucas noticed that Bobby's hand was shaking just the slightest bit.
"I swear, I'm down right scared to live here anymore," Noah said.
"Same here," Bobby agreed. "My folks were talking last night that if the killer wasn't found soon, or if one more person died, then we were moving out of here."
"I overheard my parents talking about the same thing last night," Michael added. "I think Rev. Hart is worried that people are going to start leaving soon. I think that's why he was nice to your Dad today," he told Lucas.
Lucas could tell that all of the guys were nervous, but Bobby seemed to be even more stressed out than the others. It was unusual to see him being so quiet since he was usually the crazy one of the bunch. He had been the one to stand up to Derek the day he stole their candy bars.
"Guys, I hope you don't think me a coward, but would you all mind if we went and hung out at my place?" Noah asked. "I just don't want to be so cut off from everyone else right now."
"Actually, that'd suit me just fine," Michael agreed.
"Here," Lucas said. "You might want to leave this stuff here. I brought you some new magazines, well almost new, they're a few months old, and here's some new music, oh, and some candy bars to replace the ones that Derek...um...well, anyway, here."
"Cool, thanks man," Bobby said. He stuffed the new goodies into the bag along with the old items and then hid the bag under the rock once again. As he bent over to place the bag Lucas saw Bobby's shirt lift up and expose a small area of his back. There was a big bruise there.
"Hey man, what did you do to your back?" he asked.
"Huh, what?" Bobby asked, pulling his shirt down quickly.
"You hurt your back?" Lucas said.
"Oh, that, it's no big deal, I pissed my father off yesterday and earned a kick for it," Bobby shrugged like it was something that happened everyday. Then he took off walking.
As Lucas followed the guys he had the feeling that something was bothering Bobby, but he obviously didn't want to talk about it. Maybe it was just the stressed caused by the murders.
"Guys, on the way back can we swing by the lab, I need to grab something," Lucas said.
"Sure, no problem," Noah said.
They went back, each seemingly lost in their own thoughts. Lucas was surprised to see Chief Shan standing guard in front of the lab.
"Hey," Lucas said casually, "I need to pop in there are grab something."
"Sorry Lucas, Captain said no one goes in. He actually mentioned you by name. He said under no circumstances were you to go in there," Shan told him.
"Come on, please. I just need a couple of disks that are on the table next to the second computer against the wall. They're my special virus programs. I really need to get them back. Those are the programs I used to find the virus that Stark left on board seaQuest." Lucas couldn't believe what a whopper of a lie he had just told, or how easily it had come out of his mouth.
"I'll tell you what," Shan told him. "I'll grab your disks for you, and then after the Captain has a look at them you can get them back."
"No," Lucas said quickly. "Can't I just have them now. I mean, Dad won't know what he's looking at anyway. All it is, is lines and lines of computer code."
"Lucas, it's nothing personal, but I have to follow orders. This room is a crime scene and I can't let you in, and I'm not going to remove anything without getting authorization first. If you want I can call the Captain right now and ask if I can remove the disks if they're that important."
"No, don't do that," Lucas said. "I mean, Dad's real busy. I guess it's not that big of a deal anyway." He turned back to his friends, "Come on, let's go."
He took off with his new friends close behind.
Once they were some distance away Noah asked, "Just what was that about?"
"Nothing," Lucas said.
"Oh yeah, I really believe that," Noah said.
"I was hoping that those disks might have something on it that could help me catch the killer," Lucas admitted.
"Are you serious?" Bobby asked.
"Yeah, I am. The computers were reformatted for a reason, to hide something. But what was that something? I managed to save some of the files though before hand, and I doubt the killer would have known about that. The disks aren't labeled, so he wouldn't have thought to destroy them, at least that's what I'm hoping."
"Why don't you just tell your Dad?" Michael asked.
"I wanted to look at them first," Lucas replied. "Dad doesn't want me involved with all of this. He's being overprotective."
"Can we help you to get them?" Noah asked.
"Are you crazy?" Bobby said. "That's a crime scene. We could all get into serious trouble if we get caught. I'm not going to risk getting into trouble for Derek or Dr. Mark."
"This coming from Mr. Daredevil himself," Michael teased. "Remind me again, how did you get Sarah's diary."
"This is different," Bobby said. "This isn't a diary or filching a small diamond. This is murder."
"Damn Bobby, when did you turn into a giant chicken?" Michael asked.
"Just shut up," Bobby said.
"Guys, calm down," Lucas interrupted. "We don't need to fight. I'm not going to involve you in this. It's my problem. I'll get the disks somehow, by myself, even if I just have to tell my Dad to go get them. Most likely he'll need my help to decipher what they say anyway, so I'll get to see them."
"Whatever," Bobby said. "I've had enough fun for one day. I'll see you guys later. Lucas, it was nice meeting you. Have a nice life." Bobby turned and stormed off.
"Jesus, what the hell is his problem?" Noah asked.
"Beats me? I've never seen him get so riled up," Michael replied.
Lucas just stood and stared at Bobby's retreating back. He hadn't known Bobby very long, but the little he knew about him told him that something was very wrong with him. He shifted his laptop strapped to his shoulder and a new thought popped into his head.
"Guys, I have to go to," he said. "I'll be sure to see you again though and say good bye before we leave."
"You have to go already. You haven't even been here an hour," Noah said.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, but I have to do something. Talk to you later," he called as he was already jogging away from them. He went down two corridors to where the scientists rooms were. They had been rooming just around the corner from the labs.
Lucas breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that no one was standing guard in front of Dr. Mark's quarters. He hurried over to the door. Yellow tape was across the door. Lucas peeled the tape back. He saw that he needed the code to enter the room. He pulled the panel back exposing the wires inside. He connected them to his laptop and began typing. It only took him a minute to break to four-digit code. He put the panel back into place and then punched 4,8,3,4, into the keypad. The red light turned green and the door opened.
As Lucas stepped into the room he didn't realize that he was being watched. He placed the tape back across the door so anyone passing by wouldn't realize he was in there, and then he closed the door.
He looked around at the dwelling. It was nicely furnished and had lots of personal mementoes belonging to Dr. Mark. He looked around the main living area but he didn't see what he was looking for. He went into the small bedroom and there was a little desk with what he needed. Sitting on top of the desk was Dr. Mark's laptop computer.
Lucas crossed his fingers and said a little prayer as he walked over to the laptop. He turned it on and waited for it to boot up. He began to search through the different files. There wasn't too much stored in the small hard drive. Lucas opened the desk drawer and found a pack of disks.
He popped in the first disk. It contained maps of the seafloor for this area. It outlined the area of seafloor belonging to Rev. Hart. Rev. Hart's property consisted of about 1.5 square miles of land. Lucas saw that the laptop was connected to a printer. He printed out the map. He removed that disk and put in the next one. This showed another map of the seafloor, but this one showed where all of the seismic devices had been placed. Lucas printed this one as well. He moved to the next disk. This one showed the seismic activity for the devices for the past three months. He saw that there were eight devices, and six of them were fairly quiet, but device number four and five showed a high amount of vibration.
He looked back at the map to see where four and five were placed. He found them on the map and was confused. He put the map next to the one that showed the boundaries for the mine.
"This makes no sense," Lucas said to himself. The two devices were outside of the mines boundaries. If the purpose of the experiment was to monitor the vibrations caused by the drilling of the miners, then why were four and five so far away, and why were they showing so much activity.
He looked back at the patterns of activity and noticed that the vibrations happened during working hours, and on Sundays, the Sabbath, there were no vibrations. Lucas was really confused, because if these readings were accurate, then it meant that Rev. Hart was actually mining his diamonds from land that didn't belong to him. The workers might not know this, but Dr. Mark certainly did, and he guessed that Rev. Hart did too.
Lucas looked through the desk drawer again and found a small key. He picked the key up and looked at it. He searched the desk but there weren't any places on it where a key would go. He looked around the room searching for something with a lock on it. He got in the floor and looked under the bed. Bingo, he found a locked box, the kind people used to keep important papers in.
He pulled the box out and inserted the key into the lock and turned it. He opened the box and began to look through the contents. He found Dr. Mark's financial records.
"Oh wow," Lucas gasped. Dr. Mark was loaded. He had been making deposits into his foreign bank account of $25,000 a month for the past year and a half. "Of course," Lucas said, "he's been blackmailing Rev. Hart."
He had to get this stuff to his Dad. This would definitely point the finger at Rev. Hart. He stood up to go when he saw that a disk was still in the locked box. He reached down and picked up the disk. He wondered what was on it. He went to the laptop and put it in.
Lucas saw a bunch of file names that didn't make any sense. D1, D2, D3, and so on, and then it started B1, B2, etc. He clicked on D1 and saw a photo pop up on the screen. He recognized Derek immediately, and he was doing things that Lucas would rather not see.
He closed the picture and was about to pop out the disk when he decided to click on B1. A new picture came on, and Lucas gasped. This wasn't a picture of Derek. It was a picture of Bobby and he was tied to a bed. Lucas looked at the bed in the room and realized that he had been tied to that bed. He clicked on B12 and saw a now undressed Bobby still tied to the bed.
"You couldn't just leave things alone could you?"
Lucas practically jumped out of his skin. He stood up and saw Bobby standing there in the room. Bobby took his eyes off of Lucas long enough to look at the picture on the computer scene.
"Bobby, my Mom and Dad can help you to deal with this."
"Oh, I highly doubt that. Besides, there's nothing to deal with," Bobby said. "Dr. Mark is dead. Problem solved."
"You killed him," Lucas whispered. "I thought it was Rev. Hart, but it was you." Lucas found himself mentally kicking himself. He should have realized. Bobby's change in behavior, the weird things he had said in the cavern, the bruises. It all made sense now.
"I killed him alright. He deserved it too. He asked me to come here a couple of days ago. Said he had some new music for me to have. He knew about our supply guy and our little music player. I didn't know about Derek, I swear. I came to get the music and he invited me in. Said he had to find it since he'd miss placed it.
"I came in, the next thing I know I'm being injected with something. I pass out and when I come to I'm tied to the bed. He may have asked Derek, but I wasn't given that option. That bastard raped me, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let anyone find out."
Lucas started to make his way slowly towards the door. "Did Derek do it too? Is that why you killed him?"
"No, Derek didn't do anything, but he knew it was happening. He actually came here while I was tied to the bed. I asked him to help me, and he just laughed. He actually had the nerve to call me a faggot that day in the cavern. He was the faggot. He was the one who let it go on for two years. But I took care of that problem too. I know how to take care of myself, and how to fix my problems."
"Bobby, I can help you," Lucas said.
"Shut up!" Bobby yelled. "You can't help anything. You see Lucas, you just became a problem, and I know how to fix my problems."
Bobby reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small knife. He clicked a button and a two inch blade popped out.
Lucas watched Bobby slowly approach him. He was blocking the way to the door and there was no other way out of the bedroom. Lucas prepared to fend off the blow. Bobby charged Lucas. Lucas managed to grab Bobby's wrist and hold the blade away from himself but Bobby was bigger than he was and his momentum sent them both to the floor.
The two rolled back and forth, both struggling to control the knife in Bobby's hand. Lucas held Bobby's wrist with one hand and managed to punch him in the face with his other, nailing him in the eye. Bobby rolled off of Lucas. Lucas was instantly on his feet heading for the door. He got out of the bedroom but Bobby was right on his heels. He stepped to the side just in time to avoid a knife in the back.
"Damn it Bobby, don't do this," Lucas yelled.
Bobby didn't answer, he just turned to strike again. Again he lunged and again Lucas avoided getting stabbed. He picked up a small chair to keep Bobby at bay while he tried to make it for the door.
Bobby was like a wild animal as he continued to wield the knife. Bobby grabbed the chair legs and started to run, pushing Lucas backwards into the wall. Lucas' back connected with the wall and he gave a grunt. Bobby was able to rip the chair from his hands. Lucas put his hands up to protect himself and cried out in pain as the knife sliced him down the length of his arm. Blood immediately began to seep from the wound. He sank to the floor clutching his arm to himself.
Bobby advanced on him again but Lucas was ready this time. He raised his leg and rammed his foot into Bobby's groin. Bobby dropped like a rock and groaned. Lucas got up and went for the door. He was halfway there when Bobby literally threw himself at Lucas and knocked him down.
Bobby lost his hold on the knife and it fell to the floor a few feet away from them. Lucas struggled to fight Bobby but his one arm was useless. Bobby punched him hard in the face and then repeated the action. Lucas felt his nose start to bleed. Bobby got off him and walked almost casually towards the knife.
Lucas pulled himself up and managed to stand. He saw Bobby lean over and pick up the knife. Lucas grabbed a college trophy that used to belong to Dr. Mark off the table near him and lunged at Bobby's head. He managed to smack Bobby in the head with the trophy just as Bobby turned and plunged the knife into Lucas' stomach.
Both boys crumpled to the floor and lie motionless. Lucas fought to not pass out from the pain. He looked and saw that Bobby was laying unconscious, a trickle of blood seeping from his scalp. Then Lucas looked at his stomach and cringed. The knife was still in him.
"Oh shit," he groaned, "this is going to hurt." He reached down with both hands and griped the knife. "AAAHHHH!" he screamed as he pulled the knife out of his stomach. He saw all his blood spilling out of him and he knew he needed help and fast.
___________________________________
Nathan was still talking to the miners with Crocker when he felt it. Lucas was in trouble. He grabbed his PAL and called for his son.
__________________________________
Lucas flinched when his PAL went off. He had forgotten that he had it. He reached for the device and turned it on.
"Lucas, Lucas what's happening?" he heard his Dad asking.
"Dad, help," Lucas moaned.
"Lucas, where are you? What's wrong?"
"I'm in Dr. Mark's room. Bobby's the killer. He's st-stabbed m-me."
"Hang on son, we're coming."
____________________________________
Nathan motioned for Crocker to follow him. He called Kristin on her PAL and told her about Lucas being stabbed.
"I'm on my way," she gasped.
Next Nathan called for Shan to also go to Dr. Mark's quarters since he was the closest.
"On my way," came Shan's reply.
Nathan, Crocker, and Jeremiah ran through the corridor towards Lucas. When they got there they found Kristin and Shan standing outside of the room.
"Nathan we can't get in, the door's locked," Kristin said.
"What's the code?" Nathan asked Jeremiah.
"I...I don't know. Only Dr. Mark would have known the code. That's why we had yet to inspect his room."
Nathan grabbed his PAL again. "Lucas, Lucas what's the code for the door? We can't get in."
"4,8,3,4," came the whispered response.
Nathan punched in the numbers but nothing happened. "Damn it, why isn't it working?"
"The room must be locked from the inside," Jeremiah said. "The locks can be programmed so that if you're inside, someone outside with the code can't get in. Lucas will have to enter the code on the other side and then push the yellow security button."
"Lucas," Nathan said into his PAL. "Lucas can you get to the door? You have to open the door from your side. Punch in the code and push the yellow button."
"Okay," Lucas said. Nathan and Kristin could hear that he was breathing hard.
Lucas gritted his teeth against the pain and managed to sit up. He used the table to push up on so he could stand up. Once on his feet he swayed for a moment, but the dizziness passed. He was losing blood fast. He began to hobble his way towards the door.
Bobby grabbed at his head and opened his eyes. God his head hurt. He looked to his left and saw the trophy lying next to him. He knew he was in trouble now. Lucas was probably already gone to his Dad. They'd be coming for him. He had to hide. He sat up and was shocked to see Lucas was still there. He was walking slowly towards the door, swaying from side to side as he moved. He still had a chance he realized. He saw the knife lying on the floor. It was covered in blood as was just about everything else.
He grabbed the knife and slowly began to sneak up on Lucas.
Lucas placed a hand on the door to keep from falling. He had no idea that Bobby was behind him. He punched in the numbers and then reached for the yellow button. As soon as he pushed the button everything seemed to start happening in slow motion. He saw the door open, he saw his Mom and Dad's face as a look of panic crossed over them, and then he felt the pain. A white, hot searing pain radiated though his back. The next thing he knew he was falling, and then only blackness.
"Lucas," Nathan gasped. He stumbled as he caught his son and they both fell to the floor, Nathan at least cushioning the fall for Lucas. Blood, so much blood, could Lucas still live after losing all this blood? He felt it soak though his uniform.
Crocker and Shan raced into the room and in a matter of seconds they had Bobby pinned to the floor. The boy was in a rage, screaming, kicking, biting, anything that would allow him to break free. Shan managed to cuff the boy but he was still going wild. Kristin pulled out a needle and quickly injected the boy. In seconds the drug took affect and he was out cold.
She was back next to Lucas in a flash. Nathan was clutching the boy too him, trying to apply pressure to the stomach wound without disturbing the knife still stuck in Lucas' back.
"Nathan, I have to remove the knife," she said.
Nathan nodded to her and watched as she pulled it from Lucas' flesh. As soon as that task was done she went into full doctor mode.
"Chief, I need you to apply pressure to his stomach, Nathan, you take the back and be ready to calm him down if he wakes up. Mr. Shan, I need you to run to the med lab, get a stretcher here as fast as you possibly can."
Shan nodded and took off running.
"What can I do?" Jeremiah asked.
"Stay out of my way," she replied in her no nonsense voice. She pulled out her stethoscope and began to listen to Lucas' heart and his breathing.
"It doesn't sound like any blood is in his lungs. That's good. His pulse is getting a little erratic, he's losing too much blood." She turned to Rev. Hart, "Do you have a blood supply here?" she demanded.
"Yes, we do. We have a few bags of each type in the med lab."
"Thank god," she said. "He needs them now, he won't make it to seaQuest." She continued to monitor him. "Where the hell is that stretcher!" she practically yelled.
Just then Shan came running around the corner, stretcher in tow. He tried to lower it but he didn't know how.
"Don't bother," Kristin said. "Chief, grab his legs, Nathan you get his shoulders. Lift him quickly and then get pressure back on those wounds."
Nathan and Crocker got Lucas in the stretcher as ordered and started to race towards the med lab. On the way Lucas began to come too.
"Dad," he whispered.
"Lucas, you're going to be okay," Nathan told him.
"Hurts, bad."
"I know, but we're going to get you fixed up. You're going to be fine," Nathan insisted.
They entered the med lab and Kristin ordered Rev. Hart to fetch three bags of B positive. Kristin started an IV line in Lucas' arm and hooked up the heart and oxygen monitors to him. As soon as Rev. Hart brought the blood she got two bags of that going into him too.
Lucas felt himself slipping away. He saw the pained look on his Dad's face. The man was fighting to hold back the tears.
"Dad...love...you," Lucas said softly. "Thank...you."
"Lucas?" Nathan called as he watched the boy's eyes flutter closed. "Lucas, stay with me," he begged.
Suddenly a high pitched beeping started to screech from the heart monitor.
"Mr. Shan! Bring me that cart!" Kristin yelled. "Push the button at the top left to turn it on." She grabbed a bottle of gel and smeared the paddles. She set the dial and yelled, "Clear!"
Lucas' body jerked as the current flowed into him. Everyone watched the monitor and saw that it was still flat line. Kristin adjusted the dial again and once again administered a charge.
"Lucas, don't you die on me," she hissed. She upped the voltage once more and placed the paddles on Lucas' chest. "Clear!" Again Lucas' body jerked and they were rewarded with a heartbeat. It was faint, but it was there.
Everyone in the room said a silent prayer. Kristin ordered Shan to put the gas mask on Lucas and turn on the anesthesia to the proper amount. Nathan was too out of it to be much help, and Crocker didn't seem to be much better at the moment.
"Chief, call seaQuest, get a med team here now," she ordered.
"Yes, ma'am," he replied.
Kristin pulled up a tray of fresh surgical tools and went to work on Lucas' stomach since it was the most severe of his injuries. She went inside and after assessing the damage set about to repairing it. Once she had sutured his stomach she began to close the wound on his belly. Without even stopping she went right to work on Lucas' arm since it was actually bleeding worse than his back.
Nathan stood and watched as Kristin worked to keep Lucas alive. 'God, please don't take him,' he prayed. 'Please, please don't take him. He's all I have left. You have Carol and Robby, just leave me Lucas, I beg you.' He went to wipe at the tears in his eyes when he saw his hands were covered with blood. Actually, he had Lucas' blood all over him, as did everyone in the room except for Rev. Hart.
He felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder and he looked to see Crocker looking at him.
"Cap, maybe you should sit down, you don't look so good."
"I'm fine," Nathan muttered.
"He's going to be okay," Crocker told him. "You'll see."
"He wasn't supposed to be a part of this. I told him to stay out of it. Why didn't he listen to me?"
"Lucas is too much like you. Stubborn to a fault and always wanting to help make things right."
"Chief," Nathan said, "we need to get Bobby to the brig, I just realized that we left in him Dr. Mark's room. Then have a team search the room and see what it is that Lucas found in there. Also, notify the boy's parents."
"Aye Cap," Crocker replied. He gave Nathan's shoulder a quick squeeze and went to carry out his orders.
Kristin had almost finished suturing Lucas' arm when Dr. Levin ran in with a med team.
He had Kristin inform him of Lucas' stats and then took over from there. She was about to protest, but she saw Nathan. He looked scared to death. Lucas was in good hands. Right now it looked like Nathan needed her more.
She pulled off the surgical gown and tossed it in the bin and then she went to Nathan.
"How is he?"
"He's critical, but stable. Once he gets blood in him and the wounds are closed I think it's safe to say he'll make a full recovery. His stomach was punctured, but I repaired it. All his other organs are fine. The wound in his back didn't get to do much damage since the knife hit the shoulder blade. It was a close call, but he's going to make it."
"I told him to stay away from the investigation. I told him over and over I wanted him to stay safe. He was supposed to be playing with his friends for god's sake."
"Nathan, calm down before you put yourself in a stretcher next to his. We'll deal with Lucas' actions later, right now just be glad that he's alive. Come on, let's go have a seat in the waiting area."
"I want to stay here," Nathan insisted.
"Nathan, I am ordering you to come sit down. The crisis is over. Dr. Levin is simply closing the cut on his back. Then Lucas will be left to rest for an hour before we move him to the shuttle for the trip back to seaQuest."
Kristin pulled at Nathan's arm, dragging him out of the room.
______________________________________
Once back on seaQuest Commander Ford was put in charge of the investigation so Nathan could be with Lucas. The investigation was basically over, now it was just a matter of tying up loose ends. Fortunately, that wasn't going to be a problem since Lucas had uncovered all of the evidence in Dr. Mark's room.
Katie and Tim reviewed the disks and quickly discovered the same thing Lucas had. That Rev. Hart was stealing his diamonds from the mine next to his and that Dr. Mark had discovered this fact and was blackmailing him. Rev. Hart admitted his guilt and then informed everyone that Dr. Abraham had also been part of the blackmail scheme, and that he was aware of the fact that Abraham was also blackmailing Mark for the molestation.
The most shocking information was about Bobby, however. It seems that Bobby had been a normal, happy go lucky kid, until Dr. Mark got his hands on him several days ago. From what Nathan had seen, Bobby was suffering some sort of mental breakdown that had literally pushed him over the edge. The boy was now guilty of two murders plus the attempted one on Lucas.
Nathan just shook his head. Mark and Derek were dead. Hart and Abraham were going to jail. The mine would probably be shut down once it was discovered that they were mining someone else's diamonds, so all he people living there were about to lose their home, and Lucas had almost died on the operating table.
Nathan squeezed Lucas' hand a little tighter. Except to change his clothes he hadn't left Lucas' side since they returned to seaQuest. He wanted to be there when Lucas woke up. He needed to be there when he woke up.
He replayed in his mind the words Lucas had spoke to him just before his heart stopped. 'Dad, love you. Thank you.' Lucas had said good-bye to him. He thought he was going to die, but together they had cheated death once more.
"I told you son, we're going to be together for a long time. That's a promise," Nathan said as he brushed the hair from Lucas' brow.
He sat up and stretched his back a little. He looked through the glass window to see Ben sitting in the hallway. The Lieutenant had been there the whole time, also waiting for Lucas to wake up.
________________________________________
Ben tapped his foot anxiously. He just wanted Lucas to wake up and say hi. Then he'd be sure the kid was okay. It was strange, here he was in his thirties, and his best friend in the whole world was a fifteen-year-old kid. But he loved that kid dearly, as much as he did Katie. So lost in his thoughts was he that he didn't notice her come up to him.
"Ben," Katie said.
"Wha...oh, hi," Ben said.
"How's Lucas?" she asked. "I've been stuck on the bridge while Jonathon ran the investigation."
"He's going to make a full recovery Doc says."
"Well, that's good to hear." She sat down next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Stop," Ben said and stood up out of the chair.
"I'm sorry, I just thought you needed a friend," she said.
"Katie, you aren't my friend," Ben replied. "You are my ex-wife, and the woman I am still very, very much in love with, and you know what, I can't do this right now. I don't want to fight with you, I don't want to listen to your mixed up sense of logic. I don't need to hear how we are all wrong together and that it's for my own good that we're apart. If we can't be together, then fine, we can't be together. The end. Now please, just...just go away."
Katie stared in shock over what Ben had just said. In all the years she had known him he had never spoken to her this way, not even when she had left him.
"Katie, don't look at me like that."
"I'm sorry," she said and quickly lowered her eyes. "I never meant to hurt you."
"Well you did," Ben said. "I know this may come as a shock to you and probably everybody else around here, but I do have feelings. I feel pain as well as the next guy. Jonathon puts on military airs to deal with the stresses of daily life, I put on a smile, and because of that I'm considered to be something of a joke around here."
"People don't think you're a joke," she interrupted.
"Yes, they do. Even you do. That is why you left me after all, isn't it. I was the class clown, Mr. Happy. Didn't matter that my scores at the academy were as high as yours. I was just a lucky idiot, right. Well, guess what, right now I don't feel like smiling. For once I don't feel like pretending that life is just fine, because it isn't. My best friend was brutally stabbed, almost died, and you're back here to torture me once again by pointing out in inadequacies."
"Ben, I didn't come to fight, I came to help."
"Katie, the only way you can help me is to love me, but you can't do that. So there really isn't anything you can do here, so you may as well go."
Katie saw in Ben's eyes just how serious he was. She stood up and began to walk away.
"Katie," Ben said softly.
She turned to look at him once again.
"I just wanted to let you know that once Lucas is well, I'm going to put in for a transfer. I think it's time you and I had a little space between us."
Katie nodded her head at him but didn't speak. She didn't trust her voice not to betray the pain she was feeling at the moment. She turned and continued to walk away, tears falling down her face.
____________________________________________
Nathan had fallen asleep still holding Lucas' hand. He rested his head on the side of the bed. A soft moaning pulled him from his nap. He sat up and looked at Lucas. He could see that Lucas was trying to wake up.
"Hey, kiddo, that's right, open your eyes," Nathan coaxed.
Lucas finally opened one eye and then the other. He looked at Nathan for a second before saying, "I'm alive."
"Yeah," Nathan smirked, "you're alive. How do you feel?"
"Like I've been stabbed," Lucas said.
"Smart aleck," Nathan laughed. "It's probably a good thing you're in a hospital bed, it's the only thing saving you at this moment from scrubbing this boat top to bottom with a toothbrush."
"I'm sorry I disobeyed you," Lucas said.
"Don't you know by now how important you are to me? I told you to stay out of this one."
"I know, but I thought I had figured everything out. Actually, I sort of did, except for Bobby. That piece of the puzzle caught me off guard."
"That's not the point. You should have come to me with your information, or even your theories. Have I ever failed not to listen to you?"
"No, but I thought this time would be different. You didn't want me involved, period. I figured if I tried to come to you, you would have told me to stay out of it."
"Maybe I would have, but at least you wouldn't have been stabbed. Lucas, I know you're smart, but you don't have to solve every problem that comes our way. Last time I checked I was the Captain here, and I'm actually pretty good at my job, even if I'm not a genius."
"Yes sir," Lucas said.
"I'll be right back, I'm going to tell Kristin you're awake, and Ben too, he's been real worried about you. Everyone has. You gave us one hell of a scare."
"I'm sorry," Lucas said.
"That's okay," Nathan replied. "The toothbrush will be waiting for you once you've recovered."
"But I solved the murder," Lucas said. "You wouldn't really make me clean toilets with a toothbrush after that?"
"Lucas, you didn't solve the murder, you were almost murdered. There's a big difference there," Nathan replied and left to get Kristin.