Please excuse mistakes. This was written without an editor, so there may be a few misspellings, etc., here and there. The story is rated PG or so.
* * * * Year: 2022 "And then-" Benjamin Krieg laughed. "And then I split soda all over her dress. By the time we left the restaurant, she looked liked a walking pile of garbage." His fellow fast food co-workers snorted and snickered as Ben told them of his last disastrous date. It was late at night and they were cleaning up after a long day's work of taking orders and cooking food. The TV in the corner was still on, the volume turned down and showing the ending credits of some old movie.
"Did you ever have a normal date, Krieg?" Helen Downings exclaimed, dipping the mop into a bucket of suds.
"I did have one, actually," he replied, hopping off his perch on the counter. "It was the time when... no, it was... wait." He rubbed his chin, going over all the dates he had in his head. "Nope."
"It's a wonder you got married," James Cooke stated, wiping the tabletops with a rag.
"She was mesmerized by my charming good looks," Ben defended himself, pretending to be hurt by what Cooke said. They laughed. Remarks like "Yeah, right" and "In your dreams" were shot in his direction. "You guys just don't have good taste."
"Hush. The news is coming on," Cammie Jones informed them, scurrying over to the TV set and raising the volume. Conversation lowered to a whisper, everyone intent upon hearing parts of what the reporter on the screen was going to say.
"Good evening everyone. I'm Tim Maddox." The anchor shuffled his papers. "Our top story tonight deals with the UEO's flagship SeaQuest." Everyone in the room froze. They all knew how Ben used to be an officer on the submarine; they'd all heard him talk about his adventures and friends. "Earlier today, the submarine was reported missing, with all of its crewmembers, after it entered a trench known as 'Christmas Tree.'" Krieg's mouth fell open in shock. "Several search teams have been sent into the area and haven't been able to contact it. In the words of one search team member, 'it's like it had vanished off the face of the earth.'"
Ben slid into a chair, not taking his eyes off the screen. "No," he whispered over and over again, shaking his head. "It can't be." He didn't try to stop the tears from falling as he wailed, "NO!" and slammed his fists on the table. The others just stood there, unable to move or say anything, as he covered his hands over his face and cried.
* * * * Year: 2024 She walked into the stuffy, smoke-filled bar, searching the crowd for someone she knew was there. She sighed when she spotted him at the far end of the bar, hunched over many empty shot glasses, staring off into space. Weaving her way around tables of drunks and card players, she approached him and laid a hand upon his shoulder. "This isn't healthy, Ben," Katie Hitchcock stated. Slowly, Krieg turned to look over his shoulder. His eyes were red and glazed over, his hair disheveled: clearly tired and drunk. "Nice t'see you, too," he muttered, downing the last of his drink. He turned back around and waved the bartender over. "Gemme 'nother."
The bartender shook his head. "I think you've had enough, pal." He picked up one of the shot glasses and walked away, scrubbing it with a rag.
Krieg slumped on his stool, staring down at his other empty glasses. Katie sighed again, seating herself on a stool beside him. "You can't go around living like this. You're falling apart! It's been two years since SeaQuest disappeared, and for two years you've been on my boat searching for her. Ben, she's gone. Let it go."
He slammed his fist onto the counter, glaring up at her. "I won't! A submarine that size just can't vanish out of existence!" He balled his fists and lowered his voice. "My friends were on that boat," he said, pointing to his chest.
"They were my friends, too," Katie reminded him calmly, "and I don't think they would be happy seeing you drinking yourself to death." Ben lowered his gaze to the floor. "What's done is done. You need to let go of the past and move on. Captain Bridger, Jonathan, Miguel, all would want you to." She paused. "Lucas would also."
Ben tightened his fists. Lucas' disappearance had hit him harder than any of the others. He'd felt like the kid's older brother; he could still remember all the trouble they'd gotten into together. To think that he was dead... he was just a boy!
Katie slipped off the stool and draped an arm over her ex-husband's shoulders. "Come on. We need to get back to the Clinton."
* * * * Ben sighed and pushed the charts off the table. Angrily, he slapped the control to the vidlink and changed the frequency to get the news. "Yet another massacre has occurred in Macronesia," the reporter announced. "Peaceful student protests in New Australia ended in bloodshed today. The government had decreed a few days ago that all Macronesian boys and girls had to be enlisted into service at age eighteen. The teens protested to this, marching outside one of the many military stations in the area with signs and chants. The nation's military sent out troops to end the showing and opened fired on the crowd, killing ten and injuring hundreds more.
"To show their dislike to the act of violence and disrespect for human rights, the UEO formed a trade embargo to-" Krieg switched the vidlink off. How could the Macronesian government kill children? Even worse, how could the UEO just ignore it? The Macronesians had fired upon teenagers, killing some of them, and all the UEO was going to do was place a trade embargo on them? Ha! That wasn't going to help much; it would barely faze the Macronesians.
His eyes lit up as an idea came to him. Katie said he had to move, and here was his chance. Snatching a pen and a pad of paper, he quickly scribbled down his plans.
* * * * Year: 2028 "I think you really lost it this time, Ben," Katie exclaimed. "An 'Eat-Peace' platform? Do you really think you're going to win the election with an idiotic policy like that?"
Ben was pacing in front of her with a tumbler in his hand, anxiously looking up at the screen on the wall every few seconds. The screen showed the number of votes each candidate running for president was getting in each state. So far, he was in last place. "I can win. There's still time."
"Ben, most of the states are voting for the former senator. He already has the majority in Texas and California. There's no way you'll win." Ben ignored her, walking over to the bar to get yet another glass of alcohol. She sighed. He wouldn't believe he'd lost until the votes said so. "Fine! Don't listen to me!"
She dropped herself into a chair and turned her head, not wanting to look at her ex-husband and future psychotic therapy patient. Katie was convinced that Ben had really lost his mind. Where did he come up with the idea of running for president?
Someone came in with the election's total number of votes. Ben rushed over to the little man and looked over his shoulder, staring at the results. His face hardened and he turned away. He'd lost. Katie had said he would, but he did not listen.
Ben trudged over to get himself another drink, which he downed in one gulp. "There, you happy? You were right," he said, getting another drink and sitting down on the sofa. "As usual, my plans go up in smoke." He watched with little interest as he swirled the liquor in the glass.
It was then that Katie turned around, watching him as he drank the rest of the glass's contents. "Oh, Ben," she whispered, reaching out to lightly touch his arm. "Why did you do this?"
He stared at the tumbler in his hands for a while, acting like she had not said a word. Then he lifted his head, his bloodshot eyes full of unshed tears. "I'm not going to let it happen again," he breathed. "Never again."
"What? What are you not going to let happen again?" Katie questioned. He was zoning out on her and she shook him. "Ben, tell me."
"I lost my friends when SeaQuest disappeared. That's too many good people. I'm not going to let anyone else die aimlessly." Ben shrugged her off and stood up, his back towards his ex-wife. He sighed, lowering his head, then swung around, a determined look on his face. "I'm not going to give up. No, they wouldn't want me to. I must keep trying so no one has to go through what I did."
"Ben, you're talking irrationally," Hitchcock accused him. "Who are 'they' and give me your drink." Katie reached out to take the glass from Krieg, but he pulled away.
"They? You don't know? Have you forgotten already?!" He started pacing again, always avoiding Katie when she came close. "'They' are SeaQuest's crew: Commander Ford, Captain Bridger, Ortiz, O'Neill, Lucas..." He trailed off, stopping his pacing. Katie took that moment to snatch the tumbler from his hands.
"I haven't forgotten about them, Ben," Katie stated calmly, "but I haven't ruined my life because of what happened either. You don't need to forget about them, Ben. You keep them close to your heart and keep moving forward. You're holding on to the past. Release your grip and keep going!"
Krieg sighed. "It's not that easy, Katie." He turned around to face her, taking her hand in his. "I can't live my life not trying to stop what happened from happening again. And it's happening again; do you see? The people in Macronesia are losing their friends and their family. I'm not going to let them feel the pain I've felt losing loved ones. No one deserves that. No one." Ben pushed her aside and stormed out of the room.
* * * * Year: 2032 "Set it down here!" a man shouted over the machinery. With a loud thud, a large, plastic box came to rest on the concrete floor. Stickers were slapped on it here and there, one of which held the Deon Enterprises symbol. "Let's go get the others!"
The workers left to retrieve more cargo from the hauler. After a moment, the container's top cracked open and a pair of eyes from inside it scanned the room. Certain that no one was watching, Krieg pushed the lid up further and climbed out, closing and resealing it once again. Taking another quick glance around, he slipped into the shadows.
* * * * Jack Capella, head of the Macronesian Liberation Movement, sighed, propping his feet on the table. "Let's go over this again. We don't want this to mess up."
Sarah King nodded. She circled a spot on the wall map with her laser pointer. "Our objective is to get into this prison and free the captives there. Most of them will be women and children, families of disobeying officers. The plan we've come up with is to enter from the roof at night, working our way down as silently as possible," she explained, switching the pointer off. "Once we reach the final level, we plant explosives at the indicated points and evacuate the building. We'll then take the refugees to our awaiting launch and head for the border."
"That won't work." The room's occupants jumped at the new voice and turned towards the door. Ben was leaning against the doorframe, staring back at them with a hard gaze. "For one thing, the prison is going to be too heavily defended. You wouldn't reach the roof. Even if you did, you'd all be dead before you released one prisoner."
"Who are you?" Jack demanded, swinging his feet off the table and sitting forward in his chair.
Krieg shrugged. "Someone who wants to help." He moved around the table and held out his hand to Capella. "The name's Krieg. Benjamin Krieg," he introduced himself.
The head of the movement ignored the outstretched hand. "Well, Krieg, since you know so much, what do you think we should do?" His gaze was hard, watching the newcomer, expecting him to pull a gun on him.
"Well, from the sound of it, you don't have any fire power; only a few bombs. Correct?"
King folded her arms across her chest. "Perhaps," was all she said. "Anyway, I've got the fire power you'll need for this little operation." He gave a small smile when he saw all the stunned faces.
"So, you're suggesting that we go blasting our way in," Jack said, waving a hand in the air.
Krieg nodded. "It'll get you in and out of the building, plus show the Macronesian government that you mean business," he explained. "That's one of your primary goals, isn't it?" King nodded.
"Where did you get the weapons?" Jack asked.
"There on loan from Deon Enterprises," Ben answered. "He gave us twenty-five troops, fully armed, and five launches. He even found a place for us to go once we've got the refugees."
Murmurs floated around the table and Ben smiled. He'd convinced them; he was sure of it.
Jack nodded his head approvingly. "This is good. Give our thanks to Deon and say we accept his help. Welcome aboard, Krieg."
* * * * The operation was more complicated than they had expected. The security was much stronger: twice as many guards and more back up systems. By the time they evacuated the building it was already day.
The movement had heavy casualties, one of them being Jack Capella, and the number was still climbing as they rushed to the shoreline. Krieg, now the one in charge, was shouting, "Hurry! We're almost there! Go, go, GO!" pushing the refugees down towards the waiting launches.
A mother, holding her child as she ran, was hit in the back. She collapsed into the sand, dead. The child unwrapped himself from her limp arms, looking down at his mother with wide eyes. Ben snatched him up and ran towards the ocean with the child tightly hugging his neck. He paused to take one last look behind him and then dashed into the waves, heading for safety. All the while, Ben was repeating over and over again in his head, "Never again."
The End
Copyright: Kirsten S. 1999