DISCLAIMER: I do not own SeaQuest or SeaQuest 2032 or any of the characters affiliated with the show.

CHAPTER 1

"Williams, Kaia A"

It took a moment to recognize her name. How funny was that? Someone not knowing their own name when it was called across a room. She couldn't help but smile sadly to herself, too many memories rushing in to remind her of why her name seemed unfamiliar these days.

"Williams, Kaia A"

There it was again, but now said with a little more force and less patience. She grabbed her duffel and headed towards the source. It wasn't hard to find him, the darkness of the Commander's skin stood in contrast to the solar lighting of the launch bay.

"Commander…" she called out as she approached. He lifted one dark eyebrow from the tablet in front of him and eyed her coolly. She felt it was more a matter of first impressions than actual animosity.

"Williams…"

"Dr. Kaia Williams," she broke in, her green eyes meeting his brown. Her tanned hand extended, "Chief Science Officer" She raised to her full height, fought the urge to smooth back her raven hair, and tried to convey more confidence than she truly felt.

His hand met hers in a firm shake, "Commander Jonathan Ford" he paused briefly, finding a slight smile. "Welcome to SeaQuest"

"Thank You Sir"

"Here is your room assignment and ship's briefing" he handed Kaia the tablet he had been intensely studying only a moment ago. "We put to sea at 1800, I trust that you can get your team settled." His gaze was now directed to the people milling behind her, a sea of blue jumpsuits grabbing bags and moving equipment crates. "Just a reminder that each sailor is allowed only one bag" he nodded toward David Junse, her right-hand man, who at the moment was carrying a duffel on his shoulder while balancing two small lab crates in his hands.

"Understood, Sir. I checked to make sure my team followed the guidelines. We do have a few miscellaneous crates that were needed for the Sea Deck Labs. Apparently, they were left at port when our original launch was re-scheduled." Kaia knew from the frown that crossed his face that she had said the wrong thing. Two weeks prior her team had been ready to board the Flagship of the United Earth's Oceans Organization (UEO) fleet when they were informed that the SeaQuest had to make an emergency departure. From the news feeds she assumed it had something to do with the uprising on GILF Island, but the Science Officers were always the ones to be last or never in the know. Four of the oxygen turbines providing Earth's breathable air had been destroyed, although more of an annoyance than a health impact, it would not look good on a sub's record to have even one destroyed.

His voice brought her mind back from its wanderings, "The Captain sends along his apologies that he was not able to formally meet you but looks forward to meeting you tomorrow at the Officer Briefing scheduled for 0700." This was a surprise. Kaia knew that her face was not made for poker, this was confirmed when the Commander spoke next, "Captain Bridger likes to do things differently than the rest of the UEO. He takes the SeaQuest's status as a science and research vessel very seriously and expects both his Chief Science and Medical Officers to join the weekly briefings."

"Well that is slightly refreshing," Kaia couldn't help her smile of appreciation, very often the Science Staff also known by various other, non-flattering, terms throughout the fleet were expected to make themselves scarce. "The Ex-O at my previous posting wouldn't even permit the science staff to eat outside the lab, let alone sit in on officer briefings, 'never seen nor heard' was his motto." She heard a small laugh from Commander Ford, which he quickly tried to stifle. Kaia wasn't offended, it made her happy to know that there was some humanity inside the Officer.

"Commander," she adjusted the duffel on her shoulder, growing tired under its weight. When would she learn to pack light? "I'm sure you have a lot of pressing duties that don't include acting the Concierge to my staff and me, so if you could provide me with a ship schematic, I will get everyone settled and things stowed."

He seemed relieved that her expectations of him did not include a personal tour of the sub. He quickly pointed to the tablet, "The SeaQuest's schematic is included in the briefing." Kaia watched as he touched the screen and a 3-D schematic popped up, a red light indicating their current location. She was not ignorant of the SeaQuest's size or the reason for its status as the UEO's Flagship, but still found it impressive none-the-less. "Well then Doctor, seeing as you are set, I will see you at tomorrow's briefing." He departed with a nod and made his way to the nearest exit, side stepping members of her team on his way.

"Alright everybody," Kaia called out, gaining their attention. "See me for your rooming assignments and no complaining about who you're stuck with" She heard a few chuckles. "I want everyone settled and the labs up and running by Officer's briefing tomorrow morning at 0700." Now she heard a few groans. We are putting to sea at 1800 so double check yourselves to make sure you haven't left anything behind." She knew even if something had been left the possibility of getting a jumper back to mainland was nil. She also knew that she was expecting a lot of her staff. "We are the best Scientists in the ocean, let's prove it." People started moving, grabbing up bags and crates, slowly making their way to her.

Kaia was please to find that in no time at all, twenty people knew which rooms were theirs, had assignments in hand, and with crates and bags in tow were on their way out the door. Kaia looked up the last of her team, David Junse had worked with her for several years, becoming more friend than colleague a long time past. She couldn't help but laugh as he still juggled the two crates in his hand and tried to keep his duffel from sliding down his arm. David was as uncoordinated as a Scientist came and met the stigma of Science Geek to the "t", from his wildly out of control brown hair, thick glasses, and unkempt uniform to the tips of his converse shoes.

"So boss," it was a nickname, not a note of respect. "Who am I with? I'm really hoping not Johnson, you know he snores." Yes, she was aware of Darren Johnson's snoring as she had the displeasure of rooming with him several times in the past. "Well David, you drew the short straw…you're with me." She picked up her own duffel, grabbed one of the crates from his hand, and started for the hatch. "What?" he questioned as he followed her, "you're the Chief aren't you supposed to have your own quarters?" Kaia smirked and tossed him a look before answering, "Chief SCIENCE Officer, I'm lucky to have a bed at all." As they spoke, they did not notice the man in the hallway before them and it surprised none of the three when David walked right into him, scattering his luggage. What was surprising was the "who." Kaia felt her breadth stop as shock ran through her body.

Lieutenant James Brody was a tall, well-built man, his longish sandy blonde hair was combed back, his skin tanned, and his blue eyes sparkled as he peeled away the man who currently blocked his path. "Geez David, still never watching where you're going."

David looked up, surprise written on his pale face. He quickly turned his gaze to Kaia, noticed the paralyzed shock she seemed to be in and tried to find words amidst his awkwardness, "Jim…Brody... Lieutenant…ugh… how nice to see you." David wanted to stop, but just couldn't prevent the babble. "We…I mean I… I mean… I …didn't realize you were stationed on the SeaQuest."

Jim knew from past experience how rattled David Junse could get, even in non-awkward situations, which he acknowledged - this situation was definitely awkward. His gaze had moved to Kaia, who was now rooted in place, her tan skin a few shades lighter than it had been when he watched her walk towards him, oblivious of his presence. She looked almost frail to him, he noted that she had lost weight since he had last seen her, her eyes had lost some of the shine they used to have, her always put together black shiny hair now just hung in a limp pony tail. Life, their life, had been hard on her and he knew his being on the same sub with her wasn't going to make the next few months of their lives any easier. At some point Jim realized that David was still rambling, "Listen David, " he broke in, "it's nice to see you again and I want to catch up, but there are a few things I need to discuss with Kai…"

David quickly looked to Kaia, who still stood motionless and quiet, he didn't want to go, his loyalties to Kaia clear, but knew that this moment would be better without his presence. "Sure," he quickly reclaimed his gear. "Boss, I'll meet you in the lab." He registered a small nod from her direction and started on his way. Jim watched him go, making sure he was out of ear shot before he turned to Kaia, who appeared to be stirring to life.

"Kai…" he was quickly corrected with her, "Dr. Williams…" Jim raised an eyebrow surprised by the formality. "Dr…Williams is it?"

"It seemed time," was her response, knowing he would be angered by it.

"The papers aren't even signed and submitted," she was right, he sounded angry, but she couldn't be worried about that. She shrugged before answering, "it seemed like it was better in the long run, less questions, new start…" She realized that she was justifying herself, time to turn the tables "Which what are you doing here anyway? Last I heard you were mainland."

He squirmed a bit, "I was on GILF Island. I was barely able to escape before being taken hostage. SeaQuest answered my SOS." Kaia felt concern and a million questions tumbling in her mind. Questions at a different point in time and relationship she would have asked but knew were no longer appropriate. Instead, she chose to go the straightforward, less heart involvement route, "I'm glad that you were able to get out, but from what I understand the UEO holds the outpost again, when do you go back?"

Jim raised his eyebrow at her question, not used to such bluntness from her, "Captain Bridger offered me a position here and I accepted." He knew her response would not be good but was still hurt and surprised to see her visibly blanch. Kaia Williams literally looked like she was going to throw up. "Look Kai…" her eyebrow shot up, causing him to back track. "Dr…Williams…" that was taking so much to get use to. "When I accepted, I did not know that you were the Chief Science Officer, when I boarded Dr. Smith was already here, I had no idea she was only medical support. Yesterday I saw your picture on the Captain's boarding list. That's why I was coming to launch docking, I wanted to let you know of my posting here before we just ran into each other" He looked around sheepishly, "like we ended up doing."

Kaia took a breadth before speaking, hoping to keep the irritation from her voice, "Listen Ji…Lieutenant…You deserve to be on the Flagship," Jim breathed a little sigh of relief at her words, until she continued "but so do I. This was my posting. I worked hard for this. This is my new start." She glanced away from him, Jim noting for the first time the tears gathering. "I need this." The last part was spoken as a plea.

Jim knew that this was hard for her. "Listen," he resisted the urge to grab her arms. "There is no reason we can't both be here. We are two professional, hardworking people. We are good at what we do and we've always been able to keep our personal lives private. Now with your name change and the papers soon to be filed, no one needs to know that we are…were married."