Notes:
I wanted this story to read like a novel instead of like an episode which is how 'Hostile Waters' and 'Prelude to Disaster' were meant to read. Which means the construction of it has taken a long time, and there is far more attention to detail - I hope . . .
You'll have to tell me if I've succeeded.
MUCH thanks goes to Mal4prez on this site for the beta. The woman is a saint to beta read a fic for a show she's never seen.
Synposis: Six months into the newly rebuilt seaQuest's second tour, Bridger is ordered to escort a team of scientists from a highly classified underwater facility located 20,000 feet beneath the surface to New Cape Quest, Florida where they will testify in a highly publicized trial. Little does he know, an old friend is one of those scientists that he and his boat will need to protect with their lives.
I welcome and encourage constructive criticism and feedback. The more you leave, the more chapters I will post. . . The story is finished and is 14 chapters and an epilog long . . . How quickly I post them will depend on you, the readers . . . :)
An Explosive Situation
Prologue
Nathan Bridger, Captain of the United Earth Oceans Organization's flagship, rolled over and draped an arm over his eyes.
It was still dark. His alarm hadn't yet sounded or turned on the lights in his cabin. It was still too early, but he wasn't asleep. He was just lying there - remembering the day his life had changed - and not for the better.
The picture in his mind was clear as day. He stood on the bridge of the seaQuest giving a short but sweet farewell speech to his crew as the end of their tour loomed. Less than a day later, he realized he should have addressed that farewell speech to his beloved boat, too.
He'd sacrificed the greatest and most powerful seafaring vessel ever built to save the world. A noble sacrifice, he'd tried to convince himself. But what, exactly had it cost him?
Nathan scowled at the time as he hurried toward the temporary quarters that had been set up for the crew of the seaQuest. He was late. That damn inquest meeting had run over because some insignificant mid-west Senator who supported the World Power Project wasn't happy with the events leading to its destruction. Only at the end, after overwhelming testimony in support of Bridger's decision to sacrifice his ship and prevent the worlds oceans from cooking at an alarming rate, did the man relent and throw in his reluctant support to spend untold millions to rebuild seaQuest instead of a new World Power facility.
Now, Nathan was hurrying toward the restaurant, already thirty minutes late. He was still in his military uniform, but returning to change would have made him later, and he didn't want to keep her waiting any longer than necessary.
When he arrived, he scanned the tables before the maitre'd indicated that his party was sitting on the balcony. He nodded his thanks and walked out the large double doors and back into the fresh, if somewhat humid, Florida air.
He could feel the smile spread across his face when his eyes fell on Kristin Westphalen delicately taking a sip of wine. She was elegantly dressed in a thin dark dress that hugged what he could see of her curves and sloped enticingly low down her pale back.
"I'm sorry I'm late," he said as he willed his feet to move. She smiled at him over the rim of her glass. "Jumping through the bureaucratic hoops this week has been enough to make me consider retiring again."
"And you wonder why I dislike the military." Her eyes sparkled and he simply chuckled. He knew well her opinions on the subject.
He nodded briefly at the waiter when he arrived to pour an additional glass of wine.
"You look lovely, Kristin," he said with a bit less reservation than the last time he'd said those words – when they'd attempted their first private dinner aboard seaQuest.
She smiled shyly at him, if anything the woman did or said could be considered shy. "Thank you."
He glanced down at his uniform. "The inquest ran far longer than I expected." He felt odd explaining himself. It wasn't as if they were dating. It was simply a dinner with a friend. A very close friend. "I didn't want to keep you waiting."
Her eyes scanned his before they dropped to scrutinize his uniform. "You look fine, Nathan." He found himself following her gaze as she looked around the balcony. "This is a military town. Uniforms aren't exactly out of place here."
He chuckled. "I suppose not."
During dinner, the conversation turned toward the future and how the approval, at the end of a long, irritating inquest, had been given to build a bigger, better seaQuest.
"I'm a little concerned about the work load, but, it's not something I haven't taken on before," he explained. "I'll put together my own team. Lucas is ecstatic that he'll get to be a part of it."
"His father's too busy, hmm?" The disappointment in her voice was evident. It matched his own.
"Yeah. But, I'll keep him busy."
Kristin smiled and he knew at that moment something was wrong. She should have been more excited. Outwardly, she was happy for him, but there was something else in her demeanor that Nathan couldn't quite put his finger on.
"You've really been more of a father to him than his real one, you know."
"I've done what I thought was best with his situation. I highly doubt he thinks of me in that roll." He'd come to love Lucas as a son but he'd also struggled very hard to make sure he didn't use Lucas as a replacement for his own lost child.
When Kristin leaned forward and covered his hand with hers, he smiled and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I think you might be surprised."
He leaned forward and took a deep breath. He'd been afraid to ask before now, but he needed an answer. He'd be putting his design team together starting tomorrow. "So what do I need to do to convince you to help me design the science section of the new boat?"
His eyes searched hers when she hesitated. "I –"
He continued quickly. "The UEO will put you up here or, you're welcome to stay with Lucas and I at my place."
"Nathan –"
He chuckled and raised his hands. "Ok, ok, not at my place. We don't need to move so fast. But –"
"I've taken a job elsewhere."
Nathan closed his mouth and stared. It was an answer that he'd considered, but didn't expect it to already be a done deal. She was an incredibly talented and smart woman, far more than qualified to be the head medical and scientific officer aboard the UEO's flagship.
He expected to be able to try and talk her out taking any other position. It was difficult to mask the disappointment on his face and he knew she'd seen it.
"Where?"
"I can't talk about the specifics." He could see the apology in her face.
"A classified assignment?"
"It really is the job of a lifetime and I – couldn't pass it up."
He could see the sadness in her gaze, the wish that she didn't have to tell him.
"I see." He reached for his glass and took a long sip of wine. "The new boat will take a while to build. Maybe after –"
"I'm not certain how long I'll be gone. Where we're going –"
"- is classified," he finished for her.
"I wanted to tell you sooner, but there just hasn't been any time. We've both been so busy." He could detect the regret in her voice.
"When do you leave?"
"Tomorrow."
His chest clenched tightly and he resisted the urge to say anything and everything to get her to stay. Music began in the background, light, airy and romantic. Nathan pushed his chair back suddenly and stood. When he held out his hand to her, she stared at it uncertainly. " I guess we'd better make the most of tonight then, hmm?"
He smiled at the briefly visible look of relief that passed across her face as she stood. She walked around the table, her elegant dress hugging every curve, and slipped easily into his arms.
Nathan sighed heavily and removed his arm from his eyes. He stared at the ceiling of his cabin for a long, long minute before rolling onto his side and punching his pillow.
That conversation had been over two years ago. He'd gotten a few sporadic messages over the course of the next year, but then there had been nothing. He made a few inquiries but when they'd come up empty, he mourned the loss of what could have been and buried himself in his work.
The new seaQuest had been built and her crew staffed in a very short period of time. She'd been sailing for the last six months. The most impressively beautiful ship he'd ever seen.
He just wished he could get thoughts of Kristin Westphalen out of his head. It did him no good, and it certainly had hindered him from so much as looking at another woman – until Wendy Smith came along, anyway. He had been quickly attracted to her, but there was an emotional wall that stood between him being willing to take another chance. He'd mourned his dead wife Carol for so long, until his friendship with Kristin had slowly drawn him out of that shell he'd been living under. He'd taken a chance with her and gotten hurt in the process.
Nathan closed his eyes and scowled at the vid-screen when it chimed to indicate an incoming call. He slid out of bed and donned a robe before tapping the command to accept the call. "What is it, Commander?"
"Sorry to disturb you, sir." Commander Ford actually did look apologetic and Nathan wondered if he'd actually finally broken the younger man from a little of his military rigidity. "But we've got a call coming in for you from Secretary General McGath."
Nathan yawned and nodded. "Put him through, Commander."
The lights from the submerged dome flickered rhythmically in the darkness of the deep. The water that flowed around them was dark and black, and the lights barely penetrated a few feet into it.
Inside, scientists moved around their lab with precise, expert motion. There were rooms of specimens of all kinds sitting on shelves. Mostly sea life, though some were humanoid in shape. Tables of medical equipment filled the center of the rooms. A hyperbaric chamber was set into the east side of the facility, to the west was a room containing nothing special, though its doors were several feet thick.
In a private conference south of the main dome sat two scientists, their white lab coats hanging open as they stared at the large vid-screen attached to the wall.
"We're going to secure a different avenue of transportation."
"A safer one, perhaps?" the woman asked, her expression skeptical.
"It will only hurt the UEO's position in the trial if we're assassinated on the way there," Doctor Devon Tye, a young man in his thirties with jet black hair and piercing green eyes, responded.
Secretary General McGath dismissed the doctor's concern with a wave of his hand. "You're going to be brought in by the most powerful boat in the water. No one in their right mind will attack them to get to you."
Tye glanced at his companion, a petite, flame-haired woman in her mid-forties. She sighed heavily and shook her head. "Nathan Bridger isn't going to be happy about playing taxi."
McGath chuckled. "Those were almost the exact words he used. But he's got his orders and is obligated to follow them whether he likes it or not. He can't as easily get away with disobeying orders like he could with his old pal William Noyce."
"So he's been briefed on our situation?" Doctor Tye asked, concern creasing his otherwise smooth features.
"No. Your research is classified."
The petite woman closed her eyes and groaned. "Oh, I bet he liked that news even less than being informed that he will be using his boat as a taxi service."
McGath ignored her comment. "SeaQuest is scheduled to dock at 0800 tomorrow. I've already had your aliases transmitted to Bridger. He's assured me you'll be met and escorted to a secure part of the boat by hand-selected members of their security."
"Are you sure seaQuest is the only way?" the woman asked, clearly hesitant.
"After what happened the last time we tried to fly you here? They are going to be the only way to insure you reach this trial alive to testify."
Kristin Westphalen leaned forward, her hands clasped in front of her. "There is no alias you can give him that will keep my real identity a secret."
"That's why your people are being segregated from the crew, Doctor." McGath said with confidence. "Those aliases are to protect you as much as anyone else who comes into contact with you."
The vid-screen blinked off and Kristin leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.
Devon Tye leaned over her, concerned. "You ok?"
"I haven't seen him in over two years, Devon. I'm not sure we're going to get a very warm welcome."
President of the South American Confederation Salvador Vargas sat behind his polished mahogany desk, his thick fingers clasped together atop it.
Beside him, his military General Cesar Marquand smiled happily as they watched the vid-screen in front of them. A helicopter with the United Earth Organization's symbol emblazoned on the side sailed low over a large expanse of crystal clear ocean waters.
Vargas turned slowly toward his General. If he hadn't been the one in charge, the man's girth would have intimidated him. "I trust all will be taken care of?"
"As you've ordered, Mr. President," Marquand responded with an eerie enthusiasm. "The charges are set to detonate in a few short minutes. You will have a ring-side seat, sir."
Vargas leaned back in his chair and smiled. "Most excellent, Marquand. What about our other project?"
Marquand pointed a small remote toward the vid-screen and the picture blinked away to reveal a small tributary, not more than a wading pool, really, surrounded by an expanse of trees and wild-life. There were a few small thatched huts surrounding it, the only indication that human life existed in the area.
Marquand's chest puffed out proudly. "As you can see, the testing is going well."
Vargas turned to his General, an excited awe plainly visible on his face. "You're sure this can be contained?"
"We're working on containment capabilities now, sir."
"See to it that before this weapon is used outside of this Confederation, that there is no way that it can be carried by wind, rain or earth, back to our borders." Vargas turned his attention back to the vid-screen. The picture zoomed from its wide angle to focus on different parts of the area.
Every living organism, whether it walked on land, sailed through the air or floated through the water, lay dead. The ground was littered with bodies of all shapes and sizes and as Marquand clicked the remote to give the President a closer look at the devastation, a call crackled over the communication device on the large mahogany desk.
Vargas depressed a button to receive the call. "Yes, what is it?"
"Sir, we've got a problem," came an uncertain voice from the other side of the unit.
Vargas exchanged a look with Marquand. "What kind of problem?"
"The transport just exploded."
Vargas exchanged an amused look with his General. "Wasn't that the intention?"
"Yes, sir, of course, sir, but it exploded before it reached its destination." There was fear in the man's voice. This clearly wasn't news he was happy to be delivering.
The smile vanished from Vargas' lips and he leveled an angry gaze at Marquand. "What do you mean?"
"They're still alive, sir."
Vargas launched himself to his feet. "What?!"
"I don't know what happened, sir."
"You'd better find out before I have you terminated for failure to carry out my very explicit instructions." Vargas terminated the call before the man could respond and then glanced up at Marquand. "If those scientists reach the United States alive, I will see to it personally that you are dropped into the center of our next testing ground."
Marquand's jaw tightened and he nodded curtly to the President. "I assure you Mr. President, they will not reach UEO headquarters alive, and neither will their evidence."
TBC
