"Did either of you have any problems getting aboard?"
"No, sir."
"When will you be shipping out?"
"One hour. I'll contact you again when I am able to get a secure connection."
"You have everything you need to take care of the senor crew?"
"Yes, sir."
"And the other?"
"Sir..."
"You aren't thinking of backing out are you?"
"No! No, sir... it's just that... he's just a kid."
"A kid who can and has messed up plans for other people."
"What if it kills him?"
"It won't, we tested it enough times. And if it does... deal with it."
"Yes, sir."
"Don't forget, we are changing the world. You will both be heroes when this is done."
"Yes, sir."
"If you are caught…"
"I know, we are on our own. No one can help us."
Lucas Wolenczak glared at the new arrivals. Twelve people in all. Twelve people he would have to prove himself to. Twelve people who would stare at him and ask why such a young person was on a UEO sub. And twelve people who would mispronounce his name again and again.
He was brushing his blonde fringe of hair out of his very blue eyes when he saw her. She was standing in the loading dock adjusting a large duffle bag, looking around uncertainly as the other new crew wandered off to find their rooms. Long straight ash blonde hair, lighter than his own, framing a pale and beautiful face. Green eyes so light they looked like chips of malachite. And most importantly, she was his age. "Oh, um… hey." Lucas flushed and reached for her bag. "Let me help you with that."
A wide smile crossed her face. "Thanks, I'm Jayde...Tasker" She looked at him quizzically, "forgive me for saying, but you seem pretty young. I thought I'd be only teen here."
"Um, yeah. I'm a special case. I'm Lucas by the way... Wolenczak"
"Well, thank you again Lucas. I'm supposed to report to the science lab, can you show me where it is?"
He shouldered her bag, "yeah, of course. You'll be working there?"
Jayde nodded, "technically I'm an intern, and only for a few weeks until I go back to school. This is my last semester and I need some hands-on credits before I can get my master's."
"Oh? What's your major?"
"Inter-species communication and cooperation, with a specialty on marine life." She chuckled, "I know it sounds pretty lame, but it can be very interesting."
Lucas swallowed against his dry mouth, "no, that's awesome. I… um, I work in the labs too… most of the time."
"What else do you do?"
"Oh… um, pretty much anything to with the computers." He explained, staring at the floor and blushing. He had never learned to talk to girls with ease, especially not about what he could do with a computer. "I kind of design the programs and fix any software or hardware issues."
Her light green eyes widened, "wow, you must be a genius or something."
"Uh, yeah… something like that." Lucas shuffled his feet and came to a stop outside of the science labs. "I'll introduce you to Dr. Westphalen. You'll probably be working with her most."
They entered the doorway together. "I actually know Kristin, she's been friends with my father for years. That's why I was able to work here."
"Jayde! It is so good to see you." Kristin exclaimed when she saw them. "It's been so long." She smiled at the girl and took her in a hug. "How is your father?"
"Good, he says hi, and to thank you for allowing me to work here."
"Oh, of course. We are happy to have you." She spared a smile for Lucas, "and I believe Lucas will enjoy having someone here that is his age."
Lucas fought the new blush spreading over his face. "I… um, yeah, it's great." He set her bag on a stool. "I have some stuff to do, but I have time to introduce you to Darwin. You'll probably be working with him… unless…" he looked to Kristin. "You wanted to?"
Kristin hid her smile behind a well-placed hand, "I wouldn't dream of it."
"This is Darwin." Lucas explained as they approached the tank.
"Oh, I heard you had a dolphin on the ship. It's really cool. Does he know sign language?" She asked, making a few signs to Darwin.
"Darwin doesn't need hand speak." The vo-corder informed her indignantly. "Darwin talks!"
Jayde was stunned nearly speechless. "How… what? I…"
Lucas smirked and looked down into the tank. "Yeah fish-face, you talk." He turned to Jayde, "one of the programs I… um… made."
"You made this?" She took the vo-corder off the side of the tank and inspected it. "This is the most amazing thing I've ever seen."
"Oh, yeah, thanks." Lucas chewed his lip and offered a flirtatious smile, trying to think of something clever to say, he failed and stayed silent.
"Lucas?"
"Yes, Captain?" Lucas turned to see Captain Bridger with an older man entering the sea deck.
They both walked to the side of the moon pool, "this is Bruce Hardwick, you'll be training him on the computer systems for the next few weeks."
Lucas stared at his captain in shock. "I'm training some one? Since when?"
"Yeah, Kiddo, sorry. It was kind of a sudden change. He'll be aboard the new UEO sub, and their computers are very similar to ours." Hardwick was scrutinizing Lucas closely, and didn't look impressed.
"The Atlantis? I thought they already had a computer guy. He's emailed me about a dozen times with questions." Lucas responded, rolling his eyes.
Hardwick spoke up, "I will be replacing him. He left the ship, I believe something happened with his wife." He stared at Lucas, "this is who will be teaching me about the computers? You have got to be kidding me..." He muttered the last part of his statement under his breath but the three gathered clearly heard it.
"Lucas is the best computer annalist anyone could hope for. That is why he's here." Nathan informed him, not bothering to hide his anger.
Hardwick quickly back peddled, verbally and physically. "I'm sorry, that didn't come out right. I was... just surprised." He addressed Lucas properly for the first time. "Please accept my apology young man." Lucas nodded in reply.
"And you must be Miss Tasker." Nathan said the teen girl who was standing awkwardly to the side.
"Yes, um, sir... Captain Bridger... I'm sorry, I'm not sure how to address you." She stammered, offering her hand. "And please, call me Jayde."
Nathan took it with a kind smile. "Whatever you are comfortable with. The science personal behave a bit different than the Navy here." He glanced to where Dr. Westphalen was working. "And it depends on how annoyed they are with me."
"Thank you... sir. I'm looking forward to working with you." Jayde yelped and jumped back when Darwin shot a jet of water at them.
Nathan was able to avoid it smoothly from years of experience. "Hello Darwin, were we ignoring you?"
"Swim!"
"Not right now, we have work to do." Nathan said, shaking his head. "Maybe Lucas and Jayde will be able to later."
Hardwick was eyeing the dolphin, "did it just say that?"
"Yes, Darwin can speak using this." Lucas told him, in a slightly smug voice as he waved the vo-corder. "A little something I whipped up."
Hardwick's face started to redden when he realized he was being mocked by the youth. Captain Bridger stepped in, "Bruce, if you are ready, we can head to the bridge next."
"Yes, yes, let's go." He turned and started to the door.
"Lucas, a word before you join us?" Nathan used a commanding tone and Lucas' shoulders slumped.
"I'll talk to you later, Jayde."
She nodded, "of course. Maybe at supper?" He gave a halfhearted smile and followed Nathan.
"Something you whipped up?" He asked smirking slightly, there was obvious mirth dancing in his brown eyes.
Lucas picked at a spot on his flannel shirt. "Um, yeah, sorry about that. I guess he irritated me a little."
Nathan clapped a hand on his back. "I can see that, Kiddo. I'm not angry with you, but try to stay civil with him. I don't want any problems while he's here."
"Yes, sir."
"So," Nathan started, trying to lighten the mood. "What do you think of Jayde?"
Lucas flushed darkly and hesitated before responding. "I... uh... she's... nice?"
"Nice? Hm, interesting way to describe her." Nathan teased.
"Yeah, well... uh... very nice?"
Reaching the bridge, Lucas saw a few of the new faces that were added to the crew. Sensor Chief Miguel Ortiz was in deep discussion with a young man, whom was distractedly induced to Lucas as Ensign Jarrod Bentley. He too, was from the Atlantis and was learning the proper usage of the WSKR's. Lieutenant Tim O'Neill was stuttering through an explanation of the communications relay for woman in her mid-twenties. The back of his ears turned a bright burning red when ever she leaned closer to inspect the console. Lucas made a mental note with himself to ask if she was staying on or leaving with the others.
"Why don't you show Bruce the probe?" Nathan suggested. "Katie should be running diagnostics on it right now." Lucas nodded and led Hardwick to Lieutenant Commander Hitchcock's post. She was wearing glasses and gloves, guiding the prob through it's paces before they left dock.
"Hey Katie, this is Bruce Hardwick, he's going to be training with us for a few weeks before he goes to the Atlantis." Lucas explained.
"Hello, what area are you in?"
Hardwick fluffed himself up importantly at the sight of the good looking officer. "I'll be in charge of all the computer systems."
"Oh, like Lucas is here. He can teach you a lot." Although Katie was looking directly at them, she was concentrating on the picture shown in her glasses. She missed the deflated expression she received from Hardwick.
"So I'm told." He responded dryly.
She pulled the probe into the dock and pulled off her glasses. "He's the best, that's why we have him."
"Thank you Katie," Lucas mumbled. "Would you mind explaining some of the hyper reality probe? I... think Tim needs me by communications for minute." He turned and escaped without waiting for an answer.
"Hey Tim, what are you working on?" Tim jumped at the sound of his voice and flushed guilty. The woman looking over his shoulder turned and gave a friendly smile.
Tim adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat. "Oh, um, this Rylie, she'll be working the relay when I'm off duty."
Lucas offered his hand. "Lucas, I'm to computers what Tim is to languages."
Rylie smiled and tucked a piece of short black hair behind her ear before shaking his hand. "Well then, you must be very good with computers because I've never heard anyone speak in so many languages so smoothly." Both men blushed with pleasure as she continued. "I can't believe I was sent here. It's been a dream of mine since I first heard about it." She fidgeted with her uniform and paused to gaze at her name patch, 'LTJG Tyson' was spelled out in block letters. "This is the best ship in the fleet, I'm still not sure if this is real!"
She laughed lightly, "yeah, I get the same feeling sometimes." Lucas repeated her laugh.
