Well, here's my first attempt. I'm not happy with it, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. Like I said, if enough people (say… two) actually like this, I'll re-write it to reach my current standards. Take Care!
This story takes place five months after Bad Dreams*. It mainly involves Lucas, Ford, and Krieg with very few instances of other characters such as Bridger, Westphalen, Ortiz, and Crocker.
*This is copyrighted to E. Casale and can be found at http://web.ukonline.co.uk/i.casale/sqmainpage.html
You don't really need to read it to understand this, but I still recommend every story on that page!
Disclaimer: _seaQuest_ and anything related to it does not belong to me in any way. This story was not written for profit, only for entertainment. The characters and places in this writing piece are purely fictional and are in no way meant to resemble any person, living or dead. ::chibi Firesinger says "Lucas is MINE!!! You can't have him! Mine! MINE!!!" she is promptly dragged away by the nice men in white coats to join the rest of her harem::
Warnings: Before reading this, you might want to know that this story contains very graphic violence and mild swearing. I would not rate this story a G … in fact, it would probably be rated a PG-13 if not R for violence. Now, if that doesn't scare you off…
PS - *…* Symbolizes someone's thoughts.
Lieutenant Benjamin Krieg, supply and morale officer, walked onto the bridge and stood at attention, waiting to be acknowledged. Finally Captain Bridger turned and strode up to him. "Can I help you, Mr. Krieg?" he asked with only a slight hint of coldness in his voice. Watching the bridge, Lieutenant Commander Katie Hitchcock followed the unfolding scene with ice blue eyes that missed nothing.
"Yes, Sir. Lucas would like to know if he is allowed to come with me to Computers Galore. It's a -"
"I know what it _is_, Lieutenant. And just why do you think that I would let him go with you? _Again_?" Bridger couldn't help but snap. The bridge crew exchanged glances when Krieg, and Katie though Bridger didn't notice her, cringed slightly at the accusations.
"I promise nothing like that will happen this time, Sir."
"How can you promise that when you didn't even know that something was going to happen last time!" Bridger stopped and took a couple of deep, calming breaths before walking off the bridge. "See me in my office, Lieutenant," he called over his shoulder, marching off before Krieg could answer.
The two walked down the corridor in silence until reaching Bridger's office. Once the door was closed behind Krieg, the captain whirled on the unfortunate supply officer, picking up where they had left off. "How can you promise that when you didn't even see it coming the last time!?" he repeated.
"Actually, Sir," Krieg didn't even bat an eye at his captain's tone, "I believe that the boy needs a little fresh air considering he has been confined to this boat for the past five months and is getting extremely stir crazy." Krieg held up a hand to forestall the outburst that looked imminent. "And further more, _Sir_, I don't really think that if we continue to treat Lucas like he's made out of glass that he's gonna do real well in the real world, dontcha think? _Sir_." Towards the end of his impassioned speech, Krieg lapsed back into the slang that he used when he was off duty.
"You have no right to talk to me that way, _Lieutenant_," Bridger hissed. "I am your superior officer and I can have you-"
"Respectfully, _Captain_, I don't think that it's right for you to keep that young boy locked up in this boat for all eternity and not let him see the light of day ever again, no matter what your over-protective feelings may be." Krieg shut his mouth with a snap and it was clear that he had _not_ meant to say that.
"What was that, _Lieutenant_?" Bridger growled dangerously.
"Nothing, Sir." He hung his head.
Bridger turned and stared into the swim tunnels while trying to calm himself. He frowned into the blue light, mentally separating his emotional and analytical sides. Realizing that Krieg was right, he fought to keep a blush from coming over his face. *Since when do captain's blush, anyway?* He turned back around, now that he was calm again, and spoke quickly, feeling the anger trying to rise to the fore. "Get out," he finally stated. "Get off this boat and take Lucas with you."
Krieg's head came up with a jerk. "Sir?"
"You heard me, Lieutenant. But there are two conditions: one is that you check in with me every half-hour. And the other is that you take Commander Ford with you." The captain smiled grimly.
Krieg's face darkened slightly, but he nodded. "Yes, Sir."
***************
Lucas lounged back on his bed and sighed. There was a soft thumping on the swim tube and the young civilian turned slightly to watch Darwin swim by in the tube. He smiled softly at the grinning dolphin then sighed again when he heard a pounding on his hatch. "It's open!" he called.
"Hey, Lucas," Ben walked into the crowded room, stepping over computer parts and clothes that were scattered haphazardly on the floor.
"Hey, Ben. What's up?" Lucas propped his head up on his elbow.
"So, kid, how would you like to see the outside world for a change?" Lucas opened and closed his mouth once or twice. Ben grinned at the look of utter amazement on the youth's face. "A yes or no would do; you don't have to show me your fish impression."
Lucas gave a short burst of disbelieving laughter that better resembled a bark. "I didn't believe that the Captain would let me leave this boat until the tour ended and I would've thought he would still want to keep me on this boat longer than that after -- after what happened…" Lucas looked away as he trailed off.
"Hey, kid, it's gonna be okay. Just count your blessings and come on!" Krieg, burying his own feelings and a putting on a front of happiness, tugged on the youth's arm. "I actually got you to be able to go to a computer store, you computer freak."
"Oh yea!" Lucas clapped his hands sarcastically. "I'm so happy! Thank you, Daddy!"
"Okay, wise guy, I get your point." Lucas grinned. "Now are you gonna go or not?"
Lucas gave him a 'Uh, duh!' look. "What do you think?"
"I think that you're gonna have to stay here because I don't want to take you any more." Lucas pretended to pout.
"But, Be-en . . ."
"Okay you two, cut it out." Ford walked into Lucas's quarters, the mood broken. As soon as Krieg realized Ford was there, the room seemed to grow about ten degrees colder.
Krieg turned to Lucas. "I'll see you in launch bay." With barely even a nod to his superior officer, the Lieutenant strode out of the room.
Ford watched him leave. He turned back to Lucas. "What's up with him?"
Lucas glanced away, unable to meet his eyes. "How should I know?" Ford gave him a funny look, but let it go.
"You ready to leave?" Lucas looked up and nodded.
"Just give me five. I'll meetcha in the launch room."
*****************
Ben Krieg stood impatiently outside the launch doors waiting for the final member of their party to show. Lucas waited beside him, staring off into the swim tubes. Krieg started to pace in front of the airlock door. Finally he threw his hands up into the air and turned to Lucas.
"Aren't you even the _slightest_ bit aggravated with him?" Ben whirled to face Lucas.
"Huh . . . who?" Lucas turned to face his friend. "Oh, the Commander. No, I'm not mad at him. I'm just happy to finally get off this boat." He turned back to the tube. "But now I don't know if I want to go," he whispered under his breath.
"Did you say anything?" Ben turned back to Lucas.
"No. No, I didn't say anything."
Ben looked at him strangely, and opened his mouth to comment, but Ford walked up just at that moment. Ben whirled on his commanding officer. "_Finally_," he muttered under his breath. "Thank you for coming, _Sir_." Despite his attempt at a respectful tone, the words still came across sounding slightly sarcastic.
Ford narrowed his eyes but didn't otherwise react other than to say, "I was receiving some last minute instructions from the captain that's all. You should be lucky that he is even allowing you to take Lucas out after what happened last time," he commented with a coldness that not many had seen very often. Krieg jerked like he had been slapped, but Ford didn't notice. He had already turned and walked into the shuttle.
Lucas sighed. He knew it was going to be a long trip.
*****************
"Yes, base control, this shuttle MR-7 requesting permission to dock." Ford spoke into a speaker positioned on his head.
"This is base control, permission has been granted. Enjoy your stay, MR-7." The static filled voice of the controller came back.
"Thanks, base control. MR-7 out." Ford severed the connection and steered the launch into the bay, sliding it up to the docking rings. "Docking procedure is complete," he announced formally.
"Great!" Lucas exclaimed, breaking the tense silence. "I can't wait to get to that computer store."
"Yeah, kid." Krieg unstrapped himself and turned to the doors. "But you don't know what it took to get us in there. It cost me and arm and a leg plus all of my good rep to get a kid in there." Lucas halfway stuck his tongue out at him and the supply officer laughed. "Then I told them that it was Lucas Wallenchezak and they couldn't wait to get you in there!" He paused for dramatic affect. "Not."
"Hey!" Lucas punched him lightly in the arm before turning toward the door. "I just think that they didn't want someone as infamous as you in their store. I bet they were afraid that you would swipe something important or steal one of the new design specs."
"Now that was totally uncalled for," Krieg complained good-naturedly as he too climbed the ladder that led up to the docking port above.
Ford followed after them, saying, "Can you two stop bickering for a moment? We have to find this computer deal in the first place."
Krieg glared sideways at him. "Yes, Sir. I know where it is and it's in walking distance. Actually, it's only two blocks thata way." He jerked a thumb in the direction of some tall buildings.
The small group walked in silence, the light, bantering air broken by the Commander's seemingly foul mood. There was no sound until they reached the building itself, where Lucas let out a small whistle. "That is one _big_ building." He stared at the white one story building that seemed to stretch on forever; although it only equaled a about a house-length in width, the building stretched out almost endlessly before stopping when the ground met the sea. Lucas turned to his friend. "Ya sure that it's all for computers?"
"Yep," was the confidant answer.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Lucas grinned and rushed to the doors.
But, as he tried to open them, a metallic voice told him, "Voice confirmation and password please."
"Huh?" Lucas turned around to Krieg who grinned.
"I got it right here." He held up a piece of paper. "But first we better call into the _seaQuest_. It's about time." He looked over to Commander Ford who nodded.
"Good idea." He took out his PAL unit and brought it up to his mouth. "Ford to _seaQuest_."
After a slight crackle, Tim O'Neil's voice came over the speaker. "_seaQuest_ here. How can I be of service?"
"I need to talk to the Captain, Tim."
"Sure, no problem. Transferring now." There was a slight pause before Bridger came onto the PAL.
"Bridger here."
"Hello, Captain. This is Ford. Just calling in as per instructions."
"Very good, Commander." Bridger's formality was painfully obvious. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything is fine, Sir. We are just entering the store now."
"Very good, Commander," he repeated. "Bridger out." Ford snapped off his PAL and slipped it into his pocket where it wasn't noticeable. He nodded at Krieg.
Krieg didn't acknowledge the nod as he stepped up to the speaker, reading out the password. "P44H26."
"Voice code confirmed. Password confirmed. Enjoy your stay at Computers Galore." The doors swooshed open softly. Lucas looked at Krieg and mouthed 'It needs a password?' Krieg shrugged and mouthed back 'I did what they told me to do.' Lucas rolled his eyes and nodded.
The trio stepped inside. And was it an inside. Computers and computer parts lined the walls. Top of the line equipment was everywhere. Lucas turned in a full circle, eyes wide and staring. "This . . . is very cool," he finally got out. White-green fluorescent lights cast their soft hue over everything and signs with information as to what each isle contained hung blinking overhead. Only three other people were in sight. One of them, a beefy young man, walked up to them. He was wearing the store's logo on the front of his shirt and also wore a huge, fake smile on his face.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
"Um," Krieg looked after Lucas, who was starting to wander away, oblivious to everything except the shelves. "No, we're just looking for now, but we'll let you know if we need any help." The sales clerk nodded and walked back up to the desk. Krieg turned to Ford. "Okay, Commander, I'm going to go hang out with Lucas and keep and eye on him. You can do whatever, but I would really . . . " Krieg paused, as if searching for a suitable word, " . . . _appreciate_ it if you stayed away, all right. I really don't want you breathing down my neck."
Ford stared at him for a moment, almost as if he were shocked by Krieg's audacity, then nodded. "All right, Lieutenant. But understand this, I am only doing this for Lucas's sake. So that we don't argue the whole time in front of him and therefore ruin it for him, understand." Krieg gave a crisp nod and started out after the boy.
Ford sighed and turned to the shelves in front of him. They were covered in different communication devises, ranging from something that resembled a desk type answering machine to a handheld PAL type instrument. He was so busy studying them that he didn't notice a young, nice looking man come up behind him until he said something.
"You interested in them, or you 'just looking'?" Ford whirled at the sound of his voice and the man grinned. "Names Mitchell. Author Mitchell." He stuck his hand out. "And you are . . . ?"
He took the man's hand and shook it, replying, "Ford. Jonathan Ford." The Commander took into account that he and Krieg weren't in uniform and for some reason decided not to tell this man that he was with the UEO. He didn't feel like dealing with the hassle of the 'Yes, Sir. Whatever you need, Sir. Is there anything else I can do for you, Sir?' attitude. Besides, something about this guy just rubbed him wrong; maybe it was the big, fake smile pasted on his face…
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Ford." Mitchell studied Ford for a second more before nodding and, without further adieu, turned and walked back to the register.
"Likewise, Mr. Mitchell." Ford frowned at his retreating back and turned to go find Lucas and Krieg. Just as he was reaching the first isle, a gunshot was heard. He ducked into the open space between shelves and whirled around. Author Mitchell stood by the register, gun in hand.
"You might-as-well come out of there, Mr. Ford. I have you covered." He raised his voice, "And that goes for anybody else who's hiding too." The Commander of the _seaQuest_ stood up and walked over to the terrorist along with two other people.
*****************
Krieg froze when he heard the shot go off, but soon leapt into action and pulled Lucas to the ground with him. A voice rang out in the now silent store, but it was indistinguishable from where they were. Lucas had moved so fast through the shelves, that they now stood at the back of the store, almost ready to start on the other side. He thought that he made out a few words that sounded like " …out … Ford … anybody … too…" but he wasn't sure, so he stayed put.
Lucas looked up at him, wide eyed. "What are we going to do?" he whispered.
"Nothing right now. That guy doesn't know that we're back here and we're going to keep it that way. If he does find us, I don't want you to say a word and hopefully he'll ignore you, okay?"
"Okay," Lucas muttered.
"Good. Now, we have to find a way to contact the outside world and get everybody out of this mess. But," Krieg held up a hand, "the first priority is not to be seen by this guy."
Lucas nodded again and looked around. "Hey!" he exclaimed quietly. "I could get into the electrical repair tunnels and cause havoc with the lights and such. During the confusion, you can grab the gun and rescue everybody."
Krieg looked dubiously at the youth beside him, his mind replaying all the hot points of the last time Lucas went off the ship. "I don't know, Lucas…. That could be awfully risky … and that's not exactly what I meant when I said I didn't want anybody to see you…"
"Trust me," he assured his friend.
Krieg sighed. "Ford is going to _kill_ me."
"Great!" Lucas said, ignoring that last comment. "I need a boost up to the shaft though. If we do it back here, the guy won't be able to see us." Lucas got out of his crouch and turned to go. He saw that Krieg wasn't following him and came back toward his friend. "Come _on_, Ben. We have to go _now_." He pulled on his friend's arm. "If we don't go now, we'll increase our chances of being found, so _come_ _on_!"
Krieg got up with obvious reluctance and followed Lucas to a shaft opening that was about a foot over his head. Lucas continued on with his soft, explanatory chatter. "Okay, I need you to give me a boost so I can pull off the grate and get into the shaft. On three . . . one, two, three!" Krieg braced himself and let out a soft grunt as he lifted the light boy to the grate. Lucas did his part and popped the grate off, crawling into the small space. "Okay," his soft whisper came out of the nearly complete darkness, "hand me the grate and I'll connect it back."
Krieg complied, almost as if he was in a daze. "You better be careful up there, Lucas, or the crew will have my head … not to mention the rest of my body," he finished to himself.
Lucas laughed softly as he placed the grate on, slightly crooked. "Don't worry about me, Ben. The only thing that I'm worried about is the Commander getting hurt, with him being in the line of fire and all." He paused, a sudden thought coming to him. "Do you think that he, whoever this terrorist guy is, knows that we are from _seaQuest_?"
"I hope not, 'cause if he does, then he has more leverage over the UEO then I care to think about. But, since we're not in uniform, I hope that he doesn't realize that we're in the military."
"Yeah," Lucas was silent for a little while longer. "Well, I guess I better get going."
"Yeah, I'll go cause a distraction or something." Krieg stalked back down the corridor slowly, almost in a kind of shock. He just kept repeating to himself *This is not happening. This cannot be happening.* Finally he stopped for a second and whispered, "Oh God, it is happening!"
Lucas watched him for a moment and then crawled down the tube, squinting in the dim light. "Now," he muttered to himself, "I just have to find a place where I can cause the most damage." He crawled along on the narrow corridor until he found a raised panel where the lighting was slightly better than the rest of the corridor. "Well," he looked closely at the buttons and dials that covered the panel, "this seems to be the right place."
He stared down at the instruments in front of him. Sighing, the young computer genius settled down to work.
Ford scanned the aisles in front of him, watching for the rest of his party to show themselves, like he knew that they would. "So, Mr. Ford, what are you staring so intently at over there?"
Ford's head snapped up and he cast a startled look over at his captor, cursing himself for getting caught. "Just staring … why?"
Mitchell narrowed his eyes at the innocent look. Innocent did not suit the rigid-looking man. "You were looking much too intently at the aisles for comfort. Hoping for some sort of savior or something? Because I can assure you, it's not going to come. My, um . . . goons, as you so eloquently call them, have thoroughly combed this store from top to bottom. There is absolutely no one in this store that could possibly appear out of the depths to save you. And," he grinned fiendishly, "even if they did, they wouldn't survive long enough to get anywhere. My men have -" he cut himself off as all the lights went out. The emergency lighting cast an eerie red hue over everything.
"What the hell is going on here!?" Mitchell turned to his goon that stood stupidly beside him. "Don't just stand there, find out what's happening!" The goon nodded and went off with his partner.
Upon reaching the aisles, they split up and went their separate ways so that they could cover more ground. The smaller one went to the left and the larger to the right. Krieg sent a silent thank you to Lucas for the quick action and watched as the idiot went straight past his hiding place. Slipping silently out of the shadows, he grabbed a pipe like object from the aisle he was standing by and stalked the slowly moving hulk in front of him. Just before the goon turned to go back down the next row, Krieg slammed the pipe down onto his head. He crumpled without a sound. Krieg quickly stripped the uniform off the guard and knocked him on the head again for good measure. When he was sure that the goon was not going to wake up any time soon, he tied his arms and legs, placed a gag in his mouth, and hid him behind some of the larger boxes. Continuing on the guard's mundane walk through the halls, he decided not to say anything if possible and to act as stupid as he could.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the complex, the other, larger goon was finishing his rounds and was returning to his employer. "Did you find anything?" Mitchell asked impatiently. Shaking his head, the goon took his place at his boss's side. Mitchell sighed, "Do I have to do everything myself?" Shaking his head, he again turned to second in command. "Don't let any of the 'guests' escape. I need them for my 'television debut', which I can't do until the power comes back on. So, you have your orders. And tell that stupid partner of yours to guard them with you when he gets back." Turning to another guard, he simply stated, "You're with me," then strode off into the darkness.
Ford watched his captor leave and soon after, the second goon appeared. "Did you see anything?" the first asked gruffly. The second shook his head. "Good. The boss wants you to help me guard these idiots, got it?" The second guard nodded. "Good," he turned around and a pipe appeared out of nowhere to land on his head with a crack. He fell with a soft grunt.
"That takes care of that," Krieg said softly, then turned to the prisoners. "Anyone up to escaping?"
"Krieg," Ford breathed. Looking around, he went on, slightly louder, "Where's Lucas?"
"He's up in the ducts, fooling with the electrical system." Krieg knelt by his commander and started cutting the ropes. Ford opened his mouth to say something, but a voice that was really starting to get on his nerves cut him off.
"Not anymore, he's not," Mitchell's voice rang out. He came into view, holding a struggling Lucas by one arm, the gun pointed loosely at the boy. "And if anybody moves, he'll have a new hole in his head besides the one he already uses all to much." He turned to Krieg. "You were smart, very smart, but now I know your plan. The boy can't help you anymore, now can he? Drop your weapon and the knife." Krieg complied. "Now stand up and move away from the prisoners." Krieg again complied. "You are so stupid." He looked at all three _seaQuest_ personal. "So you three are working together. I never would have guessed." He laughed and threw Lucas roughly to the ground near Krieg. "So how do you know each other? Military? Friends? Family?" He looked hard at Ford and Krieg. "You two look like you could be in the military, but the boy … I don't think so." Lucas glared, but kept silent. "He doesn't look more than seventeen, and I didn't think that the UEO was accepting them that young. No, it's got to be something different." He thought for a few seconds, then turned to Lucas. "I know, I'll let you tell me. You will tell me, won't you?" Mitchell smiled dangerously.
Lucas stared wide eyed, but silent at the mad man in front of him. *This guy is not going to get a thing out of me, * he decided then and there. *I won't let the Commander and Ben down. *
"So, Mr. . . . what's your name anyway?" Lucas just glared at him until Krieg nudged him with his foot.
"Luke," he muttered sullenly.
"Luke _what_?" Mitchell demanded.
Lucas thought widely. "Luke Jones."
"Well, Luke," Mitchell started pacing while his remaining goons kept their guns trained on the group. "Where did you three meet?" Lucas glared again. Mitchell stopped pacing and turned on Lucas. "Look kid, I'm not playing around. I want to know where you met!" Lucas stayed silent while Krieg and Ford exchanged helpless looks. "Fine then. If you want to stay quiet, that's fine by me." Mitchell turned away, then suddenly whirled back around and lashed out with his leg to hit Lucas in the upper rib cage with two kicks in quick succession. Lucas fell back and cried out. Ford strained against his bonds while Krieg dropped to the floor beside the youth.
"You okay?" Krieg looked worriedly at him.
"Yeah." Lucas sat back up, holding his side.
"I'm waiting." Mitchell stood tapping his foot. He frowned as Lucas still just stared sullenly at him. "Okay, this is getting to be really old, really fast. I am just going to pretend that none of this happened and I will also pretend that I have no idea of how you met. But when I find out, there will be hell to pay." Krieg shot a confused glance over at Ford and he shrugged slightly in return. "Hey, you!" Krieg snapped out of his musings and concentrated on Mitchell as he called to the second guard whom Krieg had knocked out and had just woken up. "Go get the radio sender while I get the power back on." The guard nodded and went off. "Now that I've taken care of that," he turned back to Lucas. "You and I are going to go for a little walk, kid. Namely to the power source that you turned off."
Their captor grabbed Lucas and roughly hauled him to his feet. Lucas winced slightly and held his ribs, but kept silent. Krieg watched worriedly as Mitchell dragged a slightly resisting Lucas after him. "Oh, and one more thing," Mitchell turned halfway around to face the group. "You try anything and he will suffer considering you both look like you care about him." He grinned evilly. "First rule in a hostage situation: never let the captor see your feelings. Remember that." With that last piece of 'advice' he turned and continued to the service passageways. Ford and Krieg exchanged a last helpless look as one of the two goons that the first had sent over started to tie Krieg up.
*****************
Ford sat up when the lights finally came back on. Then, not five minutes later, Mitchell came out of one of the aisles, holding onto a no longer resisting Lucas. The youth's face had already formed two large bruises that were deepening in color where it looked like a gun-butt had slammed across his temple and cheek and a long cut through the middle of one of the bruises. Lucas was thrown down among the other hostages and winced as he landed on his right arm. "Now that wasn't that hard, was it?" Lucas cringed away from the laughing voice.
"What did you do to him, Mitchell?!" Krieg demanded.
"Just taught him how to behave, that's all. We had fun didn't we?" Mitchell laughed again when Lucas winced. "Now, for my demands." He turned to the guard carrying his portable vid link. "Is it ready?" At the guard's nod, he smiled. "Good. Then connect me directly to the Secretary General. Audio only. You know the tap." The guard nodded again.
"Yes?" the Secretary General's face appear on the screen. He was looking down at a few papers and didn't notice that there was no picture, figuring it was one of the few people that could bypass his secretary and go straight to him. "Can I help you with something?"
"As a matter of fact, Mr. Secretary, you can." McGath's head snapped up at the sneering tone. His face registered shock for about a second before he put his mask up.
"Look, whoever you are, I don't know how you got my private line, but I want you to know that I can have you brought up on - "
"Oh I don't think you want to do that, now, do you? You see, Mr. Secretary, I have some people here who really want to get out of this alive."
"The UEO doesn't deal with terrorists, especially if I can't see them to find out if they are telling the truth or not." There was a slight pause before Mitchell replied.
"All right. I'll prove it to you." The screen before the McGath came on to show Mitchell holding a gun pointed at the three out of uniform _seaQuest_ personal plus two other middle age men. McGath gasped softly, more at the revelation of the three UEO members than the showing of the hostages. Ford shook his head quickly, trying to warn him, but to no avail.
"Commander?!" McGath demanded. Ford hung his head down in defeat. *This guy just never learned,* the XO of the _seaQuest_ thought to himself. "Lieutenant! What are you doing there?!" The Secretary General caught sight of young Lucas and gasped again. "Wallenchezak!" Mitchell turned to see who he was talking about and saw Lucas's eyes raised heavenward. He smiled insanely.
"I'll be right back, Mr. Secretary," he stated, trying to make it sound if this was how he planned it all along. "In the mean time, think about your men' predicament." He reached forward to turn the screen off, then turned to the three friends. "So," he started to circle the group, "you _are_ in the military." Pausing to look at Ford, then Krieg, he went on "and at a pretty high rank as well. And now I have even greater leverage over the UEO. Come to think of it, that's probably why you didn't tell me, right?" Silence met his ears. "Am I right?" he growled as a foot lashed out to kick Lucas's left arm out from under him. He fell, hard, onto his right arm and choked back a soft cry. Mitchell smiled.
"Yes," Krieg quickly put in. Ford glared at him, but Krieg motioned to Lucas, his eyes indicating that he was not going to watch that again. Ford nodded his own understanding.
"Good, I like being right. Now, what division are you from?" He looked calculatingly at the group. "As far as I can tell, I would say you are part of the sub division. And," he grinned at Lucas, "since your name is Wallenchezak, I would say that you are from the _seaQuest_, am I right?" Mitchell raised his foot slightly. Krieg gave a sharp nod. "Good. Well then, let's have some fun with this. But first, I have to find the codes to tap into _seaQuest's_ COM line, now don't I?" He turned toward Lucas, knowing that he would be able to get the codes out of the officers if he took it out on the boy. Grinning, he approached him.
Krieg figured out what was going on and sucked his breath in sharply. "You can't!"
"Watch me." Nodding his head toward Lucas, he waited until the guards got him up and held him tightly. Despite his struggles, he could not get free of the burly men who held him. "You can tell me the codes any time you like," he sneered. Krieg and Ford watched helplessly as Mitchell brought his fist up to smash it into Lucas's gut. The boy grunted, but let out no cry. Mitchell frowned at his silence and again brought his hand up to hit Lucas's gut, but changed its direction at the last minute and slammed it into his hurt ribs. Lucas did cry out at this and doubled over as much as the goons' grip would let him. "So, what are those codes again?"
Lucas looked directly into Mitchell's face and growled, "Go to hell." With that, he spat into his face. Mitchell frowned and backhanded him with a closed fist before Lucas knew what had happened to him. He staggered backwards until the guards caught him and held him upright. A small trickle of blood trailed out of one corner of his mouth as he glared up at Mitchell.
"Stop!" Krieg's voice rang out in the silence. "I'll tell you," he said sullenly, his face pained.
"Good," Mitchell didn't sound surprised; it was clear that he expected to get his wish.
"It is - " Krieg was cut off by Lucas' shout.
"Don't, Ben!" Lucas's eyes pleaded with him.
"I have to." Ben glanced toward Lucas, then away. If it was possible, he looked even more sullen than he did before as he turned back towards Mitchell. "The _seaQuest_ code is - " Again Ben was interrupted but this time, it was not by Lucas. Ford's hidden PAL unit beeped insistently. Krieg turned toward his commander as he shrugged.
"I did what Lucas wanted. I didn't give him a way to contact the ship."
Krieg stared for a second in horrified astonishment. It took a while for it to register that Ford had had the PAL the entire time but hadn't given it to their captor. It didn't matter to Krieg that Ford had been doing what Lucas had wished, he was still furious. "You bastard!" Krieg launched himself at Ford despite his bonds. He came within a hairs-breath away from kicking him in the stomach when he was thrown to his side. He looked up in surprise at the guard that stood over him. The PAL beeped in the background.
"You better take that call, Mr. Ford." Mitchell grinned. Ford nodded cooperatively and reached for his PAL with his tied hands. Mitchell looked over to the communications controller. "Trace the tap so that we can use it again." The goon nodded.
"Ford here."
"Commander!" Bridger's voice rang out over the speaker. "You have missed your check-in time by fifteen minutes! What's going on?"
"Well, you see, Sir . . . we have a slight situation on our hands. In fact, I'm surprised that McGath hasn't called yet."
"Well, he - " Bridger stopped as someone talked in the background to him, " - just called," he finished. "What's going on?" he repeated.
"Well, Sir," he began again but stopped as Mitchell took his PAL from him.
"Hello, Captain." Mitchell grinned. "So nice to finally talk to you. You see, I would have called earlier, but I was unable to get the codes from your men. Such uncooperative people."
"Who are you?" Bridger demanded, hating not being able to see anything.
"Uh, uh, uh. I don't think so. My name is not important - "
"It's Mitchell!" Lucas shouted. "Author Mitchell!"
"Shut up, you," the person in question growled, backhanding Lucas across the face again. Lucas glared slightly, but it was with a satisfied grin on his face. "Well," he turned back to the PAL, "it seems that you now know my name. But that is of no real importance. You see, Captain, all I really want is safe passage out of UEO waters and money. If you can talk McGath into giving me those things, I might think about letting your men, plus the other two hostages, go. But that is only if you cooperate. Otherwise," he motioned Lucas forward. "You will not like the results." He quickly took Lucas's right arm and twisted it hard. Lucas started to cry out but bit back most of it. Mitchell frowned, and, oblivious to the protests of Bridger and Krieg, twisted the arm harder while the other hand, with the PAL in it, snaked forward and struck Lucas in his injured ribs. At this, he did cry out loudly.
"Leave him alone, Mitchell. I'll see what I can do." Bridger was growling, hating being put in this position once again.
"You do that, Captain." He grinned maliciously and twisted the arm harder, evicting another cry. "You do that." Cutting the PAL off, he released Lucas who almost collapsed to the floor despite the men holding him up. "Now we just have to wait. But, in the mean time . . . " He turned back towards Lucas and grabbed the front of his shirt, hauling him to his feet. "Do you know the penalty for going against me?" He carelessly flung the boy away just to for him to be caught by the guards. "It is severe punishment chosen by me." Mitchell approached Lucas slowly, reveling in the frightened look in the boy's eyes. When he was just an inch away from his face, he turned suddenly and walked away. Lucas breathed a sigh of relief when it appeared that he had escaped the threatened punishment.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a knife flew and embedded itself in Lucas's right arm near the shoulder blade. He cried out loudly, trying to flinch away from the blow, but the grip on his arms restrained him. Mitchell came up closer to him and smiled as he shoved the blade deeper into his arm, breaking out in a grin when Lucas' scream of pain echoed in the previously silent building. Just when Mitchell was going to continue with the torture, the COM panel beeped at him. He sighed and turned, carelessly taking the now bloodied knife with him, causing a new rip in Lucas's tender skin. He flipped the unit on, ignoring the cry of pain, not surprised when McGath's face appeared on the screen.
"Have you talked with Bridger?" He wasted no time getting to the point.
"Yes, and I am sorry, but the UEO doesn't deal with terrorists. That is final." McGath followed the terrorist's example of frankness.
"Oh really. It seems that you don't realize what I can do. You see, I really want out of this territory and a few measly people that I am not afraid to kill - one by one and very slowly if need be - are all you have until I turn to a larger scale . . . say, mass genocide by a poisoned water source. But in the mean time, I can bargain with the resources I now possess . . . namely two innocents and three of your men. One of these people has already felt my wrath when he failed to cooperate." McGath's eyes visibly searched for the injured one that Mitchell talked of. Seeing that it was no one in the group of hostages, his eyes lit in realization.
"You didn't," he breathed. When Mitchell didn't answer, he went on. "He's just a child, Mitchell. How could you do that to a child?"
"Very easily. Here," he motioned to the goons holding a nearly unconscious Lucas to come forward, "I'll prove it to you." When McGath saw the battered boy, he gasped. This was not going to be pretty when he told Bridger. "You see, Mr. Secretary, I don't mind hurting someone to get my way." He took the bloody knife and slashed it across Lucas's cheek so that it made a shallow, but painful, mark that soon welled up with blood. He grinned again.
"I'll see what I can do." With that, McGath signed off.
Mitchell nodded. "Good. Now that he knows that I mean business, I can relax a little." He glanced over to where Lucas was breathing shallowly. "Get me some rope," he ordered. Once someone had complied, he motioned for the guards to let Lucas go. They did so, and Lucas fell to his knees without the support of their arms holding him up. Mitchell smiled, and walked around to the back of him. Ford and Krieg looked at each other, mutual horror against their captor drawing them together.
Without any sign or warning, Mitchell bent down to Lucas's limp arms and drew them sharply behind him. The boy bit back a cry as he was tied tightly and securely. Krieg just couldn't help making a snide remark about this.
"What, Mitchell, afraid that an injured boy is going to get the better of you?" he sneered. Mitchell looked over at him, smiled slightly, and only pulled the bonds tighter. Krieg sighed and wished that he had never opened his mouth.
Lucas did cry out at this new torment to his body and broke down into short, broken sobbing, his breathing too pained for much else. This was just too familiar: the pain, the evil laughing, uncaring people. He drew into himself and forced himself to become silent, even though his shoulders still shook slightly. He was crying not only from the hurt, but also because he had let his friends down whenever he had made a sound. His internal berating of himself were interrupted when he involuntarily sucked his breath in through his teeth as Mitchell drew him to his feet by his injured arm and then threw him to the middle of the hostage pile. Twisting his body, he managed to land on his left side and slid to land near Ford and one of the other men. Ford immediately bent down to check on him, but Lucas brushed him off as tried to sit up, but failed miserably.
"How could you do this! He's just a boy," Ford growled.
Mitchell laughed. "You people are _so_ pathetic. Do you think, since I want to get out of here, that I would really care if a stupid little brat is the one I chose to exploit instead of some older guy?" He laughed again. "This boy," he lashed out with his foot to kick Lucas in his ribs, ignoring him when he cried out, "is just my ticket out of here." Lucas cringed away from the laughing maniac. Ford stared at the unfeeling man as he turned away to confer with his men.
Krieg sidled up from the back and, as well as he could, tore a piece of cloth off of his long shirt. Turning around so that his tied hands faced Lucas, he whispered comforting things as he picked up his injured arm. Lucas squirmed in pain, but allowed Krieg to wrap the cloth around the gaping wound. Once he was finished, Krieg again turned back to face Lucas and took his head and upper body into his lap. Mercifully, Lucas had fallen unconscious during this last ordeal and was not awake now. Krieg looked over to Ford, who looked back with pain in his eyes. Suddenly his PAL beeped, making all the hostages jump. Lucas stirred in Krieg's arms.
"Oh look." Mitchell turned back around. "It appears that the dear Captain has learned of his dear boy. Let's not disappoint him." He picked up the PAL while the hostages looked at one another, trying to figure out Mitchell's cryptic message. They were interrupted by Mitchell speaking into the PAL. "I believe that you do not know the code to call me on my vid-screen. Here it is." He had hooked up the PAL into the vid unit and transmitted the codes to the _seaQuest_. "Call me on that. Mitchell out."
He waited by the vid-screen, having turned it so that the hostages were not shown. In a few minutes it beeped softly and he answered it. "Hello, Captain, so nice to talk to you again."
"Where are my men?" Bridger demanded.
"Oh, they're fine, Captain. For the moment. Right now I want to know if you have talked to McGath about my demands."
"I have and he doesn't agree, as you have most likely found out. Now I want proof that my men are safe." Bridger glared at Mitchell.
"Very well then," Mitchell motioned Ford forward and stepped back from the screen. "Are you satisfied?"
"Where is Lucas?" Bridger tried to peer around the two, but saw nothing. When Mitchell grinned, he became more insistent. "Where is he, Mitchell?!"
"Are you sure you want to see him?" Mitchell looked closely at Bridger. "He's not in very good sh-"
"Where is he?" Bridger growled.
Mitchell motioned again and Krieg came forward, supporting a partially conscious Lucas. "Here he is, Captain." He continued as Bridger stared at the nearly unconscious boy, noting his torn clothes and the makeshift bandage that blood was even now starting to seep through. "As you can plainly see, I don't think that he can stand much more. Personally, I would really try to convince the Secretary General that it would be a good idea to let me go free." Mitchell stepped back into the vid link's view. "And I would do it now." He cut the link, turning back to the small group. "Well that was certainly fun, wasn't it?"
*****************
Bridger stared at the blank screen, silent alarms going off in his head. *I _knew_ I shouldn't have let them go. This is all my fault. I can't believe it is really happening again.* Those seemed to be the choice phrases of the day, which repeated incessantly in his mind.
"Captain? _Captain_," he heard someone say from behind him. He turned and saw Lieutenant Commander Katie Hitchcock standing behind him "Are you okay, Captain?" She gave him a concerned look, knowing that, since it was hitting the rest of the crew hard, it _had_ to be hitting the Captain hard for he always had had a soft spot for the boy.
Bridger nodded. "I'm fine," he told her in a low voice, then turned to his crew. "Okay, people. We know where they are, now we need a plan of action while the political idiots up top take forever to decide on a plan. So," he looked a his crew, "let's find out how can we get to them, all right?"
Bending down over their stations or leaning over to other crewmembers, each person tried to think of the best plan to get the hostages out of there. Bridger watched for a few seconds more, then turned to the ship's intercom. "Dr. Westphalen to the bridge please," he spoke into the mike. Then, turning to the communications officer, he walked over to the 'command' part of the bridge. "Tim?" he asked softly.
Lieutenant Tim O'Neil looked up from where he was working. "Yes, Sir?"
"Did you record that last transmission?"
"Yes, Sir. I also recorded the audio. May I ask why?"
"Yes. I need Dr. Westphalen to look it over to discern any injuries that Lucas may have so that he can be treated as quickly and as effectively as possible." Tim nodded and pressed a few keys.
"It's downloaded onto this log disc, Sir." He removed a disc from the computer console and handed it to Bridger.
"Thank you, Lieutenant." Tim nodded as Bridger turned away and waited for Dr. Kristen Westphalen to come onto the bridge. When she did, he walked up to her and handed her the disc, explaining the situation. Kristen paled visibly and took the disc.
"I'll get right on it."
Bridger smiled at her. "Thank you, Kristen."
Kristen gave him a reassuring smile in return. "Of course, Nathan. I'll get right on it," she repeated. Bridger nodded, as she walked away, and turned back around to wait.
Krieg sighed as he shifted Lucas in arms. The boy moaned softly and winced in his stupor. Krieg rested his head on the wall behind him. It was now late in the afternoon; they had been stuck in the same situation since earlier this morning. Everything had been quiet for a while until Mitchell had gotten word that McGath still wouldn't accept his terms. Now one of the other hostages had been shot and killed in his temper tantrum that followed. Luckily, now, he was calm and again everything was quiet as the UEO Joint Chiefs debated whether or not to accept after that last demonstration. Krieg came out of his musings as Lucas stirred again and awoke.
"Ben," he whispered hoarsely.
"Yes, Lucas," he whispered back, glancing up to see if Mitchell was listening.
"I'm," he swallowed noisily, "I'm so thirsty." Leaning his head back again, he closed his eyes. His breathing was shallow and labored. Krieg watched him for a few seconds and then, gently lifting him from his lap, he set his head on the floor while moving away from him.
"Mitchell!" the spunky officer called. The terrorist turned to his captive. "You know, I was wondering if I could possibly get a drink of water. There is a water fountain over there," Krieg pointed to the corner of the building where a restroom and water sign hung. Mitchell glared suspiciously at him while Krieg gave him his best 'I'm innocent' look.
"Why should I get _you_ anything?" Mitchell spat. "I'm not here to make you comfortable, you know." Mitchell watched him for a few more seconds, then turned back around. "If you get McGath to agree to my demands," he sneered, "then I'll give you all the water you can drink."
"Come on, Mitchell," Krieg knew he was whining, but if this got him the water…
"Fine!" Mitchell threw his hands up in the air without turning. "Someone get him some water so I don't have to listen to his aggravating voice anymore! But," he turned to the goon that was going over to haul Krieg to his feet, "use one of those dispensable cups. I don't want our guest to try anything."
Krieg couldn't help but smile as Mitchell played into his hands. He tried to keep from smiling again as the goon came up with the drink in his hands and thrust it at him, a contemptuous look on his face. He turned to Lucas who at first resisted the liquid, then seemed to realize that it was just Krieg and relaxed.
Once the glass was mostly empty, he took it from Lucas's mouth and drank half of what was left, then passed to Ford. He waited for his superior to take it, but when he didn't, Ben turned to see what was wrong with him. Krieg couldn't believe what he saw; Commander Ford was _asleep_! He frowned and drank the rest of the water down himself, then leaned back against the wall to wait again.
*****************
Lucas groaned as he came back to consciousness. It did not come back as a friend. Ribs ached with a fierce intensity and the cuts on his face stung because his had gotten some kind of dirt in them. Twisting slightly, he forgot about his arm and bit back a cry as his injured shoulder hit the ground. *_That_ was stupid,* he berated himself. His gash caused a new intensity of pain to come to the fore. Resting his head, he tried not to fall back into that blackness where his fears lay awaiting him.
Someone was trying to pour something down his throat. He began to struggle, then heard Ben's voice telling him it was okay and felt the soothing coolness of water cover his throat and relaxed. God, he just wanted this to be over. Opening one eye, he peered over to where his captors were discussing whether or not to kill someone else if McGath said no again. Mitchell turned around suddenly and saw Lucas looking at him. He smiled and came over.
"And how are you doing, oh defiant one?" he sneered. Lucas didn't answer, only opened both eyes and stared angrily at him. "What, have nothing to say?" As Lucas again said nothing, he could feel Krieg's worried eyes on him, but he had already decided that he had had enough of this crap. Mitchell watched him sideways for a moment, then grabbed the front of his shirt and hauled Lucas to his feet. Dragging the bound boy forward, he turned back to his men. "Get _seaQuest_ on the line. Tell their Captain that I want to deal. _Now_." As his men scurried to do his bidding, he turned back to Lucas. "You are a very lucky boy. You get to decide whether or not McGath says yes or no. If he says yes, you live." Mitchell grinned. "If says no, you die a very long and painful death. You get to help me convince them, too. I'm sure your screams will suffice." He grinned again.
Lucas looked at him, then back at Krieg apologetically and helplessly. He hated being used against his friends. Krieg gave him an encouraging smile right as Lucas was jerked back around. The screen flashed back on with a UEO symbol, then Bridger's face filled the screen. "What do you want now, Mitchell?" Bridger then saw Lucas in his arms and paled noticeably. "Let him go," he growled.
"Oh, ho! So the mighty Captain has a weak spot. I would get your Secretary General on screen as soon as possible if you want your little pet here to live. You see, I am not a patient man." He took Lucas's injured arm in his hands and gave a small, sharp twist. Lucas bit his lip. He was not going to give this stupid man the pleasure of his cries. It just was not going to happen.
"I'll see what I can do." Bridger turned away as the screen blanked out. Mitchell blanked his out as well, setting it to beep when Bridger came back on.
"So, Lucas, you aren't going to say anything, are you?" Lucas glared. "That's what I thought." Mitchell backhanded him across the face, then pulled Lucas right up next to his face. "You are going to make some noise, you little bastard, even if it's your dying screams echoing throughout this room. I am fed up with your attitude." He released the quaking boy and turned back to the screen. As he was waiting, Mitchell took out the long, slender knife he had used before and began to sharpen it against a long metal rod. Lucas couldn't help but watch the knife go up and down. Up and down. Up and down…. He tore his gaze off the infamous knife blade as a beep sounded and back to the screen as Bridger's face appeared in a split screen with McGath's.
"What do you want, Mitchell?" McGath asked indifferently.
"I want you to give me passage out of here, McGath. And I want money. My demands have not changed over the last four hours or so." Mitchell smiled at the screen. "You see, Mr. Secretary, this boy has been through a lot. I would really hate for him not to come out of this alive." The knife blade inched closer to Lucas's neck.
"My answer is still the same. We do not deal with terrorists. If you let my men go, I will think about letting you go." Mitchell glared at McGath who smiled smugly. Suddenly, a shot rang out. The other hostage fell, mortally wounded. His screams were abruptly cut off as a second shot came and hit him in the head. Mitchell turned back around, a smoking gun in his hand.
"You see, Mr. Secretary, I mean business. That is the second man's blood on your hands. Do you want to add a child's as well?"
"You wouldn't." It came out as a statement.
"You're right." The gun lowered. "At least not yet. But," he turned to a sleeping Ford and leveled the gun. "He is not so high on my list right now." The trigger finger tightened. Just before the gun was going to go off, Lucas kneed Mitchell in the balls and slammed his uninjured shoulder into his captor's. The shot went wild and Mitchell doubled up, covering himself, and knocking the screen over in the process.
Lucas took advantage of Mitchell's inability to act and the guards' confusion by grabbing the knife and tossing it behind his back to Ben, shouting, "Ben, watch out!" Krieg twisted, avoiding the knife blade as it plunged into the tarmac and placing his tied hands against the blade, quickly sawed off the ropes. Once his hands were released, he turned to Lucas who had his lower body resting on the table to steady himself while he recovered from his earlier actions.
"You okay, kid?" Ben looked glanced at the boy's face, noting the pallid color as he sawed through his bonds. "You don't look so hot."
"Well, you wouldn't look great if you had lost a lot of blood either, now would you? And shouldn't you be watching the guards?" Lucas snapped, hiding a grimace. "Here, give me the knife. You get the guns and I'll cut the Commander loose." Ben spared Lucas another glance, then suddenly whirled and slammed his elbow into the closest guard who was shakily bringing his gun up to shoot Krieg. This shook the other goons out of their daze. All three of them, including the one Krieg hit, converged on Krieg and proceeded to strike at him repeatedly with their gun butts. It never occurred to them to turn the guns around to actually try and shoot at him.
While Krieg fought with the guards, Lucas pulled himself over to Ford, who was just awakening. "Commander," he whispered, glancing over to the fight and then to the still doubled over Mitchell. He allowed himself a quick smiled at that one. He turned his wandering attention back to the task at hand and turned the groggy Commander over so that he could cut his ropes. Wincing as his shoulder and other numerous bruises protested the strenuous treatment after he had just strained them, he sawed through thick ropes.
"Lucas?" Ford asked softly. "Is that you?" The Commander tried to shift to get a better look and Lucas had to exert force to keep him still so that the knife wouldn't slice his friend's wrists. He bit back a cry as he felt something rip in his shoulder, adding to the pain that was already there. Blackness threatened to overwhelm him as spots clogged his vision. Ford's voice continued to call his name, but Lucas couldn't make his mouth obey the commands of his brain. The only part of his body that continued to function was his hands, which finished the job of releasing the Commander. Ford turned and caught Lucas as he collapsed, the knife clattering from his nerveless fingers. Shaking his charge slightly, he called fearfully in Lucas's ear, "Lucas. Lucas, wake up. Don't do this to me, Lucas…"
"My, my. Isn't this a cute picture." Ford snapped his head up and stared at Mitchell who had sufficiently recovered although his voice still sounded about half an octave higher. Looking out the corner of his eye, he saw that Krieg had been beaten into submission and he now sported a black eye plus many other bruises still forming. He was being held despite his struggling by two of the beefy goons, the third training a gun on Ford and Lucas. "I just hate to break it to you, but you navy idiots are not going to escape that easily." Mitchell turned to the table where the vidlink had been knocked off the table and righted it. "Mr. Secretary. Captain." He gave a hatred filled fake smile to the confused officials. "If you didn't have the pleasure of witnessing that spectacle, it was just your men trying to escape and failing. As a consequence, I will only accept top of the line transportation and," Mitchell stopped to consider raising his price then deciding to do so, "another five and a half million dollars. Think about it because," Mitchell turned and motioned to where Lucas was being held by Ford, "I don't think that this boy can stand to loose much more blood. I hope to hear from you soon." He cut the link, smiling maliciously.
*****************
Bridger slumped dejectedly in his chair in the wardroom, barely hearing McGath outlining his next plan to get the hostages out of there. *Lucas!* his mind screamed. *What are they doing to you? It's all my fault. I never should have let you off the boat again. I knew something like this was going to happen!*
"Captain?" McGath looked concernedly at the CO of seaQuest from the vid-link. "Nathan, are you alright? You're looking rather pale."
Bridger glanced up. "We have to get them out of there."
"I know, Nathan, but that place is sealed up tighter than UEO headquarters. You know that. I don't know how to get in there. The only thing that we can do is give into Mitchell's demands and the rest of the UEO won't let me do that. We've run out of options."
"Let me send a team," Bridger spoke from inside a think haze that clouded his mind, dampening everything so he seemed to be witnessing it, not directing it. "We can penetrate the building and extract our men."
"Nathan, I can't let you do that -"
"Why not? Why can't we get our own men out of there? I bet the ventilation shafts can get us in there just fine and then we can leave by the front door after subduing Mitchell and his goons," Bridger blurted out a half-formed idea. "That plan sounds better than any you have thought up, so why not?" He paused for a moment then added, almost as an afterthought, " _Sir_."
"Nathan," McGath ignored Bridger's severe breach in rank, "if your plan fails then Mitchell is going to have more of our men and he won't hesitate to use them."
"Respectfully, Sir, you haven't thought of anything better. This is the most sound plan that we have come up with yet and I believe that we should use it." Bridger mentally shook the haze out of his mind and stared straight into McGath's eyes. "We need to get them out of there."
"Are you sure that this isn't your emotions talking, Nathan?"
"No, Sir, I'm not sure, but this the best plan that anybody has come up with yet and I would like to use it."
"Very well. But make it a small team. Brief your men and I would put a doctor on the team as well. It looks like Wallenchezak could use it."
"Thank you, Sir." Bridger turned to go.
"Just bring them all back alive, Captain." Bridger gave a curt nod and walked out to brief his team.
*****************
Krieg glared at Mitchell as the terrorist slowly walked around the group of hostages, a small smile on the cruel man's face. Ford held the slightly recovered Lucas in his lap while the boy strove to calm his heaving breaths. The spots had cleared from Lucas's vision once he had settled down and he now watched in subdued terror as Mitchell walked up to him.
"That was very stupid." Mitchell spoke in a calm detached tone. "You can't possibly believe that one injured and two uninjured people could possibly escape from four uninjured people. Especially when they have guns and one of the uninjured ones is asleep." A smile threatened to cross his face. "I'm curious. Why did you try?"
"We'll always try to escape from you and we'll never let you use us against our friends," Krieg spat, trying mostly to distract Mitchell from the injured boy that lay helpless on the floor.
Mitchell turned towards him, still speaking in a monotone. "I think it is too late for that. You will decide whether or not McGath gives us the money, even if I have to kill you two first and leave the boy for last as much as I'd rather kill him now." The three seaQuest crewmembers exchanged glances. It was becoming increasingly clear that Mitchell was developing more and more instabilities and reverting to the well-known cliches that all villains use.
"You're crazy," Krieg finally got out, gambling that this would push Mitchell over the edge. "You are most definitely, undoubtablely nuts. You know, I bet that you are the craziest - UMPH!" Krieg tried to double over in the guards' grasp as Mitchell's fist connected with Krieg's gut.
"I am _not_ crazy!" the terrorist hissed. "Don't you _ever_ call me crazy again, you got that?"
"Oh sure," Krieg quipped. "I won't go into all the different times that you have acted in a way that could be determined as extremely insan-." Krieg was cut off as Mitchell's hand shot forward, a closed fist backhanding him hard across the face and knocking his head backwards. With a resounding crack, the plucky moral officer's head hit the gun that was casually held behind him causing Krieg to slump forward, unconscious.
"I said not to call me crazy," Mitchell said conversationally to the slumped figure. He turned to the guards, "Bind him and throw him over with the other two. That way we can watch all three at once." The terrorist turned to the vid-link, waiting for the call that would signify that McGath had finally learned his lesson and had decided to give in.
*****************
Bridger stood in the docking bay waiting for the rest of his team to show. He mentally ticked them off in his head: Kristen Westphalen was coming as the doctor. Migel Ortiz and Chief Crocker were chosen to be the other to fighters of their small strike team. Katie Hitchcock and Tim O'Neil were furious about being left behind, especially Katie, but someone needed to watch the boat while they were gone and there was no way in hell Bridger was staying. He turned to the launch that would take them the short distance to the docking port as his people started to arrive. He hoped they weren't too late . . .
"Nathan!" Kristen's voice snapped at him. He turned again, and frowned at her face. It was plain by her expression that this had not been the first time she had called him. "Captain, if you are not going to hear us calling you, maybe you should stay behind in order not to risk the other members of our team." Bridger's face darkened further as he glanced around the room to confirm that there were no other people in here. It would not due to diminish their confidence in him.
"That is out of the question, _Doctor_. I am _not_ staying behind on this one." With that, he whirled about again and stormed into the launch to begin the pre-launch warm-up. Kristen stared after him, then started when Crocker put his hand on her shoulder.
"Are you all right?" he questioned, his eyes soft and concerned.
"Yes, I'm fine, but I'm worried about the Captain." Crocker raised an eyebrow at her formality, but did not comment on it.
"Why?"
"He didn't hear me when I called to him in the bay and then he nearly took my head off when I confronted him on it. I think we should keep an eye on him just in case he doesn't hear us during the - the mission." She choked out the last, remembering why they were going. *How could I forget _that_?!* she berated herself.
"It'll be alright," Crocker soothed. "We'll get them back." Kristen nodded and they entered the launch where Ortiz and Bridger awaited them.
*****************
Mitchell paced in front of the vid-link, waiting for the rely from either _seaQuest_ or UEO headquarters that didn't seem to be coming. Lucas watched from under half-closed eyes, just managing to keep a smile from his face. His energy was slowly seeping out of his body and he knew that his control and ability to keep quiet was going with it. His eyes started to slip closed as he slid into oblivion, but Ford shifted at that moment and Lucas was again wide awake.
He sighed softly when he heard Krieg groan as the still unconscious man moved slightly, starting to wake up. Mitchell glanced over at the three hostages, but otherwise ignored them. Lucas watched him pace for a second more then again let his eyes slip closed. Again, Ford jostled the boy right before the void closed over his head. Lucas sighed again, this time drawing some unwanted attention from their captor.
Mitchell stared a long while at the barely conscious lad as Lucas shifted in Ford's lap and sighed yet again. Blood had thoroughly coated the bandage, but no one moved to change it. Mitchell noted absently that the boy's overly pale face made for a stark contrast against the Commander's dark skin. The terrorist's eyes shifted to look at Ford who was leaning back against the wall, his eyes closed, but not asleep. Another groan from Krieg caused Mitchell to shift attention to him.
Mitchell didn't quite smile. *Three to choose from. Now let's see . . . the outspoken one first . . . then that one holding the boy . . . then the boy if they still don't cooperate.* A sneer spread across his face. *Maybe I'll kill that god-forsaken boy anyway. Yeah, that's what I'll do . . .* Mitchell stopped pacing and leaned against the wall, a smile that bore more resemblance to a grimace crossing his face. *Perfect.*
*****************
Bridger started as the vid-link beeped in the shuttle. Kristen leaned forward turned on the screen. "Yes?" she frowned. "What is it? We're supposed to be on radio silence, Tim. Why did you contact us?"
O'Neil pushed his glasses up his nose. "We ran the name Author Mitchell through the computers and found out some information that we thought you should have."
"Well . . ." Bridger demanded, snapping out of it. "What is it?"
O'Neil shifted his gaze to his Captain. "It's Mitchell, Sir. He is a well-known terrorist that broke out of prison a couple of weeks ago. UEO has tried to keep his works, capture, and escape quiet. Apparently he was a drug runner that ran out of money and so he broke into a high tech mansion but was caught in the process. When the police came to pick him up, he took some hostages but he was still caught. He's classified as extremely volatile and dangerous. We couldn't hack into anything else on him. It was all too locked up on nearly a section-seven type security system. The only other thing that we could find on him is that he escaped from prison three and a half weeks ago and hasn't been seen since. It was thought that he went over the Macronesian side a while back."
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Bridger out." The screen went blank except for the end transmission signal.
"Cap'n?" Crocker glanced at Bridger. "You okay?"
"Yes, what gives you the impression otherwise, Chief?" Bridger softened his glare to look at his friend.
"I believe that you're just be'n a bit to hard on the crew, Cap'n. They're just as worried as you are."
Bridger appeared thoughtful for a moment as the launch sped through the waters, nearing the shore. "You're right as usual, old friend. I am sorry, Ortiz, Kristen. I'll just have to apologize to the rest of the crew when we get back. Right now we have to concentrate on getting our men out of there."
The team answered in unison, "Yes, Sir."
Bridger took a deep breath and turned to the computer screen. "Good, here's the plan. First, we go in through a air duck, here." Bridger pointed to a small square on a map he pulled up on the launch's computer. "There will be no talking in the ducks because sound travels farther on account of the metal walls. We will talk only by hand signals. Once we reach here," Bridger pointed to another small square on the inside of the building, "we will split up to take each side of the room. Chief and Ortiz take this side. The doctor and I will take this side. We learned that they are in the front of the building from the imagery we received from the vid-link.
"We think that there are only three guards and Mitchell. All the goons have guns and Mitchell has at least a knife, if not a gun as well. Kristen," he turned to the doctor, "I want you to release Ford and Krieg then tend to Lucas. Once we have defeated the terrorists, we can leave via the front door. Everyone understand?" After receiving affirming nods from all of them, he continued. "We are going to approach from the back of the store because it borders the sea-line and doesn't have any security cameras back there due to the salt water corrosion. The vent is on the left side of the building. Now, let's get our gear together, we're almost there." The other three went to the back of the launch to get the gear while Bridger landed the vehicle. "Let's move out!" he hissed softly. Four shadows left the launch and, after sloshing through shallow surf, flattened against the wall, always moving towards their destination.
*****************
Mitchell ceased his pacing and turned to face the barely conscious Krieg, staring intently at him, then shifting his gaze to the boy peering back at back at him and the exhausted Ford. Impatience caused the terrorist to become nervous and a twitch had developed beneath his left eye. "Why aren't they answering?!" he demanded of the haggard trio. "I want to talk to someone right now!"
Lucas' worn voice floated up to him, "They'll talk to you when they make the decision, already. How is a person supposed to stay unconscious when his captor is constantly ranting and raving?" Lucas gasped and stuttered softly, "I - I didn't say that out loud, did I?"
Mitchell whirled about in time to see the boy flinch backwards against the expected blow of either words or fists. He let a slow smile spread across his features instead.
"Oh, will they? Well, does it matter that I want to talk to them NOW?!" Mitchell jumped forward and grabbed Lucas by the front of his shirt. Lucas let out a cry as his face contorted into a mask of pain. Mitchell brought his face even with the boy's. "Now listen up, you. I am tired of you mouth. I want you silent now, got it? I don't give a rat's ass about you or your group and if you don't close your mouth and keep it closed, there is going to be one more dead body on the floor there, got it?"
Lucas nodded, terrified. His blue eyes were wide and stark against his pale skin. The terrorist thrust the boy away from him and ignored the half cry the fell silent once the youth fell unconscious.
Mitchell whirled back to the goons by the vid-screen. "Alright now, I want you people to-" he was cut off by a loud crash and suddenly the sound of gunfire split the air as his goons started to fall before they could even lift their guns. "What!" he exclaimed. "What is going on here?!"
A very ticked looking Cuban appeared before him. "You are being shut down."
Mitchell ducked the fist that swung at him and tried to make his way over to one of the hostages so that he could get out. A sudden pain flaring in his chest made him look down. Blood spread out over his shirt and he could feel his heart start to flutter and skip. He looked up and caught an older-looking man's eye; he was holding a smoking gun. "It was all so perfect," he whispered. "So perfect." Mitchell collapsed onto the floor, dead from a direct shot to the heart.
*****************
Bridger shook himself out of his reverie and rushed over to the doctor's side. "How is he?"
"Do want all the facts?" she asked. At Bridger's nod, she continued. "From what I can tell, he has numerous bruises and lacerations to his face and upper body. I would say at least one fracture in his arm, maybe more as well as the obvious gash in his shoulder." Kristen was working as she talked, prepping Lucas for transfer. "He probably has at least a mild concussion, so if he wakes up, try and keep him awake. I think two of his ribs are cracked, one broken. The broken one appears to be putting some pressure on his lung so that would account for the difficulty breathing that he is experiencing. I don't think that the lung is punctured, so that is a good sign." She noticed Bridger's pale complexion. "You wanted the full diagnosis," she accused.
"Yes, but I didn't think that it would be this bad. What about the others?"
"Ford is fine, but Krieg has a mild concussion as well as other bruises from what appears to be a brawl."
Bridger nodded. "Let's get them back to the ship. I am never letting this boy off ever again."
Kristen smiled in understanding and agreement, then turned back to her patient. "His back isn't injured so it is okay for you to carry him, just be VERY careful with his ribs, arm, and head." Bridger nodded and lifted the precious bundle up into his arms. Lucas stirred awake.
"Captain," he rasped out.
"Yeah, kiddo, it's me."
"Are we going home?"
Bridger sniffed back tears. "Yeah, we're going home."
Lucas closed one eye and peered up at him with the other. "I knew we shouldn't have taken MR-7." Bridger grinned down at his charge as he carried him to safety.