Disclaimer: Seaquest doesn't belong to me, more's the pity.
A/N: These stories are being written (very, very slowly) for the 50 Passages challenge on LJ. The seaQuest disappeared at the end of the second season. However, Lucas wasn't onboard. Katie Hitchcock and Ben Krieg were. Kristin Westphalen was left behind, as per series canon.
You can just see a little peep of the passage in Looking Glass House, if you leave the door of our drawing-room wide open...it's very like our passage as far as you can see, only you know it may be quite different on beyond.
He watched the cityscape pass outside his window, the tall buildings a blur of motion as the taxi sped through New Cape Quest. He'd spent the last three months on assignment; three more months of mind-numbing, exhausting work, shoring up remote UEO security systems. Several of the other officers on the base had complained, saying that the tour of duty was unnecessary, that the rumors of rising hostility in Macronesia were just that and nothing more.
He knew better. He'd heard the same whispers his comrades had, but, unable to either accept or dismiss them on face value alone, he'd looked deeper. He'd hacked his way into secure Macronesian databases, and after what he'd found there, he'd hacked into his own government's databases. The UEO intelligence files confirmed the information in the Macronesian ones: the Macronesians were quietly amassing a navy to rival the UEO's. They were also funneling money into dummy companies that were fronts for weapons research projects, and they'd started purchasing high-tech equipment that would give even the systems at HQ a run for their money. There would be trouble – big trouble, and soon – and the UEO's computer network needed all the security reinforcement they could give it.
"Hey, Buddy," the cabbie said, interrupting his musings. "We're here."
Lucas handed the man a credit chit, shouldering his seabag as he stepped out of the cab. The cabbie paused, recognizing the UEO symbol on the bag.
"You a Navy man?"
Lucas gave him a curt nod, and the cabbie grinned.
"I was a Navy man myself. Petty Officer Third Class, retired." He handed the chit back to Lucas, giving him a jaunty salute. "No charge, brother. Non sibi."
"Sed patriae," Lucas replied, the response automatic. With one last wave, the cabbie drove away, leaving Lucas standing on the curb. He sighed, looking up at the weathered brick building, and began the long climb up the stairs to his apartment. He could've lived in base housing, but he disliked the easy familiarity shared by the officers in the bachelor quarters. He'd lost enough friends over the years. He didn't have any desire to make more.
His key stuck in the lock, as usual, and he gave it a sharp tug to free it. He stepped inside and found that the foyer was as dark and uninviting as it had been when he'd left, filled with shadows and silence. He drew a deep breath. "Well, I'm back", he said, and did his best to ignore the way the words echoed in the empty room.
(Non sibi sed patriae – Not self but country; unofficial USN motto. In my universe, it's the official UEO Navy motto.)