Teenage Mutiny —loosely based on Abalon—first season

Lucas cringed as another jar crashed to the floor. Sheepishly, he glanced at Dr. Westphalen who glared at him irritably.

"Uh, sorry," Lucas said, rising from his chair to clean up the mess. He heard her breath out a puff of air and return to her slides. The science team had been researching why the some of the area whales had been washed up on shore either seriously ill or dead. It had been a stressful week for everyone. On top of that, Captain Bridger and Dr. Westphalen had been working tirelessly doing classified DSL testing. Lucas was irritated to no end to be left out of the loop on those tests. It didn't help matters that the Captain and Dr. Westphalen were so extremely distracted and short-tempered with him; Lucas was feeling snubbed. He also was feeling weary as he had been working for over five hours straight without so much as a washroom break. His back ached from leaning over microscopes, and he was starving.

As Lucas began to clean up his mess, he bumped into another scientist and more jars went crashing to the floor. Kristin stood up and put her hands on her hips, annoyance written all over her face.

"That's it! Lucas, I think it's time you took a break. You don't appear interested in helping today anyways. Go find something else to do!" she snapped. Lucas' eyes widened at her outburst, and he felt his own temper flare.

"I've been 'helping' all day, Doctor!" he retorted with anger and hurt showing on his face. "Just no one appreciates it." He returned her glare. Kristin was momentarily taken aback as she stared at the teenager glowering at her. Her hands dropped to her side, and she sighed loudly.

"I know you have, sweetheart. I'm sorry." She apologized, reaching a hand out to pat his arm affectionately. "I really do appreciate all you have been doing. It's time you had a break anyways, dear. Now, run along. Go play one of your video games or something fun." Lucas frowned. He knew he was being brushed off like some annoying child.

"I'm not a kid," he grumbled. Kristin raised an eyebrow, wise enough to know where the conversation was leading. She patted his arm again and ushered him to the door.

"I never said you were, Lucas. Please, I have a lot of work to do before the end of my shift. Be thankful I'm letting you go early. Now, shoo!" She gave him a gentle shove towards the door and returned to her desk without another word. Lucas' shoulders dropped in acquiesce. It was obvious that he was being snubbed yet again.

"Fine, whatever," he mumbled as he exited the room.

Lucas wandered out of room and headed towards the moonpool glumly. His eyes grew wide when he glanced into the pool. Darwin was happily swimming around in what looked like an underground aquarium. The bottom of the pool appeared to be covered in various seaweed, rocks and other debris. Lucas scowled and flipped on the vocorder.

"Darwin, what are you doing?" he exclaimed in disbelief.

"Darwin house, Darwin decorate," chirped the mammal. Lucas thought he saw a smile on the dolphin's face. Lucas scratched his head, still scowling at the chipper dolphin.

"What do you mean?" Darwin dove down into the moonpool and brought up a colourful coral rock and tossed it to the floor. Lucas picked it up and held it in his hand as he stared in awe at the moonpool. "Uh, pretty rock Darwin. Why did you bring them to the moonpool?"

"That's my question."

Lucas turned to see Captain Bridger approach the moonpool. The captain groaned when he saw the cluttered, filthy mess of the moonpool. Lucas shrugged his shoulders in confusion.

"Your guess is good as mine, Captain," stated Lucas. Nathan took the vocorder from Lucas and spoke into it.

"Darwin, why did you bring all this into the moonpool?"

"Lucas decorate home. Darwin decorate home," chirped the cheerful dolphin, slapping his head in the water and splashing Nathan. Nathan chuckled as he wiped the water off his face. He stood up and looked at Lucas.

"Care to explain what he means?" inquired Nathan, placing his hands on his hips in that parental way that Lucas dreaded. Lucas rolled his eyes as he remembered the conversation he'd had with the mammal a few days ago. He had been giving his own room a new look, decorating the boring grey walls with some posters.

"Um, well I told him that sometimes people like to decorate places they live to make it feel more like home. You know, like a home away from home," explained Lucas, raking a hand through his hair nervously. Nathan smirked as he looked from Lucas to Darwin.

"I see. Well, as much as we love your decorating Darwin, we can't have the moonpool so, uh, cluttered. Lucas, help him clean it up," replied Nathan as he patted the friendly dolphin on his melon head and turned to walk away. Lucas frowned.

"Me? Why me? I didn't drag it all into the boat," he exclaimed in frustration. Nathan stopped and turned on his heel to face Lucas.

"No, but you gave him the idea. Get it cleaned up," repeated Nathan firmly and walked away. Lucas groaned and tossed the rock back into the moonpool in annoyance. He looked at the mess with a sour expression on his face. It looked like the dolphin had been dragging things in all night to "decorate'.

"This is going to take hours," grumbled Lucas morosely.

"Lucas, play with Darwin,"

"Not now, fishface. You heard the captain, let's clean up." Darwin clicked and chirped some more and disappeared from the moonpool. Lucas groaned as he watched the dolphin swim away. He already knew that he wouldn't be getting any help from the playful animal.

"Thanks a lot, Darwin."

An hour later, Lucas dragged himself out of the water feeling tired, cold and wrinkly. He glanced around at the much tidier moonpool and sighed with relief. It wasn't completely finished, but he'd managed to clean up most of the mess quicker than he anticipated. He'd never know how he managed to get himself into these situations. He never dreamed that Darwin would take what he said so literally. Honestly, it seemed like Darwin was much like a young child sometimes. He looked up to see Darwin swimming in with more seaweed in his mouth.

"Oh no, you don't," he scolded at the dolphin. He grabbed the weed out of the dolphin's mouth and set it on the side of the pool. "No more seaweed, Darwin. That's enough decorating." The dolphin looked at him playfully and swam away again. Lucas shrugged his shoulders wondering if the animal understood or if he was on his way back to get more 'decorations'.

"I need a break," muttered Lucas, pulling himself out of the pool. He stood dripping on the floor and surveyed his work. At the very least, the water wasn't murky anymore. He'd come back and vacuum the rest later. Lucas grabbed a towel off the rack in the change room and took off running to his room. Hopefully he could grab something to eat at the mess hall before the supper rush.

Lucas entered his room and pushed the door partially shut with his foot. His hands were full of snacks, a few magazines and his wet towel. He dropped the towel on the floor in a heap and tossed the snacks and magazines on his bunk. A quick glance at his watch told him he had a nice long evening ahead of him. He switched on some music as he munched on some cookies and flipped through some car magazines. Ben had given them to him as a gift. Lucas hoped to save enough money to buy a car or a motorcycle when he turned sixteen. It had been a long day. Heck, it had been a long week with too much to do and not enough time to just relax. Just as he was engrossing himself in the magazine, Lucas heard his vid-link chirp notifying him that he had an incoming call. He tossed the rest of his cookie on the bed, wiping his hands on his shirt as he answered the call. He blinked his eyes to see his friend, Jayson Pickering on screen. The guys at Stanford had just called him Biff, but Lucas could never quite bring himself to call him that. Lucas preferred to call him Jay, and Jayson never seemed to notice who called him what. He was too busy playing practical jokes and getting into trouble. Still, the guy was brilliant just like most of the other kids Lucas had graduated with.

"Hey there Lucas, how are ya?" Lucas smiled at the friendly face. It had been a few months since he'd talked to Jayson, and it was good to see him. Albeit, whenever Jayson called, usually trouble followed. Lucas knew this time would probably be no different. However, after the week he'd had, he'd welcome some adventure.

"Besides bored and overworked? I'm fine. What about you?"

"Well, I have just the ticket for your overworked, bored self. I'm throwing a party this weekend, and I'm inviting you," replied Jayson gleefully. Lucas chuckled at his friends self assurance. The guy acted like Lucas should be honoured to be invited.

"Oh no, no, I can't," stated Lucas, shaking his head. He remembered the parties Jayson threw, and he wanted no part of them. They generally consisted of too much booze, too much weird music and too many scantily dressed girls and no parental supervision. It was a simple recipe for disaster.

"Why not?"

"Because," stated Lucas simply. There was no use trying to explain anything to Jayson. For a brilliant guy, he just didn't have much common sense.

"How old are you? Two?" groaned Jayson. Lucas glared at his friend's remark and rolled his eyes. Jayson had a way of making him feel like a goody two shoes with no sense of adventure. Jayson also was much more persistent than Lucas which probably wasn't the best combination for a friendship.

"Where is it?"

"The Sanger Institute. The janitor gave me the keys. He owed me." Lucas's brows rose in surprise as he stared at his friend. How on earth?

"For what?"

"The IRS wanted some dough, so I hacked in, tapped his file, and now he's getting a refund," smirked Jayson, looking very pleased with himself. Lucas' mouth dropped open in mock astonishment. He wasn't really all that surprised, but he thought he should play it on the safe side around Jayson.

"Oh, great, so you guys are felons? Nice," commented Lucas, unimpressed. Jayson shrugged his shoulders in indifference. Lucas shook his head. Leave it to Jayson to lack a conscience.

"Oh, give me a break, Lucas. The guy's a working stiff. Look, I told my old man that I'm staying on SeaQuest this weekend. You tell Bridger that you're staying at my place. Tell him we're studying for some grad school courses or something."

"Jay, that would be a lie, and I always tell Captain Bridger the truth," replied Lucas, staring his friend straight in the eye. Jayson rolled his eyes and looked painfully at Lucas, trying to understand Lucas' hesitancy.

"Why?" asked Jayson, baffled. Lucas paused and thought about it a few seconds. He hadn't ever lied to Captain Bridger in all the time he'd been on board SeaQuest, and he didn't intend to start now. It just didn't feel honourable, plus he was a terrible liar.

"Because it's the easiest thing to remember," retorted Lucas, shrugging his shoulders. It was obvious to Lucas, but the information seemed lost on Jayson.

"Truth is a flexible perception based on need, Lucas. Besides, Julianna is gonna be there, and Roberta told me that Julianna wants to go all the way with you. So don't wimp out. Ok?" Lucas swallowed hard at the information being shared with him. He hadn't seen Julianna in four months. They talked now and then, but it never worked out for them to see one another in person. Lucas groaned audibly. Figures Jayson would know exactly the right bait to set. He really wanted to see Julianna. He missed her. They had gone through a lot together at the Node. They had somehow formed a bond. Lucas chewed on his bottom lip nervously.

"I can't lie to Captain Bridger, Jayson," insisted Lucas.

"So tell him it's a conference then. Come on, Lucas, don't let me down. Tyler, Drew and Nick are coming. Maybe I could even arrange for Cleo," Lucas eyes widened at Cleo's name. Lucas had confided in Jayson about Cleo and his mixed feelings for her.

"Oh no, one girl is enough," exclaimed Lucas, holding up his hand like a white flag. "Ugh, you're killing me, Jayson. Julianna is really coming?" A big grin broke out across Jayson's face as he saw Lucas get all glassy eyed. The bait had been set and the sucker fish was hooked.

"Sanger Institute buddy, see you at 7pm. Best. Party. Ever." With those final words, Jayson ended the video link, leaving Lucas gaping into space.

Several hours later, Lucas found himself waking from an unintended nap. He had fallen asleep thinking about Julianna. The situation was scary and exciting all at the same time. Getting some time away from SeaQuest and prying quasi parental eyes sounded blissful to him. Lucas sat up and stretched deep in thought. How was he going to ask permission to go to one of Jayson Pickering's parties? There would be no way in hell Captain Bridger would let him go. He'd made a big mistake in sharing some escapades of his from Stanford. The captain had already mentioned on numerous occasions that he thought Jayson was a bad influence on him. Lucas suddenly wished he hadn't been so open in sharing all those stories.

Lucas stood up, glancing at his watch and rubbing sleep from his eyes. 11:00pm might be a little late to be searching out the captain. But perhaps, catching a drowsy captain was better than an alert one. He knew that Captain Bridger and the doctor had been burning the candle at both ends during the DSL testing. Lucas hadn't seen or heard the captain go to his quarters before midnight in weeks. Lucas groaned as he thought of what he was going to say to the captain. He hated lying to him. He just couldn't see any other way around it. Short of telling the truth and blowing his chances of going at all, lying or 'creative embellishment' was the only option. Lucas scratched his head and walked out the door towards the Captain's quarters.

The captain's quarters were quite literally a hop, skip and jump down the corridor from his own. Lucas approached the door hesitantly, rehearsing in his mind what he was going to say. Bravely he reached out and knocked on the door. When no answer greeted him, Lucas felt his resolve weaken. It amazed him how much energy it took him to muster up the courage to tell a little white lie. Lucas knew he was a terrible liar. It was one of the reasons he never lied to Captain Bridger. The man was far too intelligent to fall into the trap. Lucas envisioned himself being utterly humiliated being caught in the lie and being punished afterwards. He also envisioned himself getting away with the lie and then having to face Captain Bridger later. Neither scenario appealed to him. Why any kid even bothered lying to parents was a question that lingered in Lucas' mind as he pondered doing it. He sighed and nervously balled up his fists as he paced outside the Captains room.

"A conference at the Sanger Institute…grad school course…uh, this weekend," muttered Lucas, rehearsing his spiel as he paced.

Nathan wearily trudged to his room. He was completely exhausted. He also felt a little irritated. After finishing some late night work with Kristin, he had decided to wander past the moonpool on c-deck to see how Lucas had made out cleaning. It had appeared that Lucas had managed to clean up the worst of it, but Darwin had continued his decorating most of the evening. Nathan had tried to convince the aquatic animal that more decorations weren't needed, but Darwin had remained unconvinced. Eventually Nathan just ordered that Darwin be confided inside the boat for the night. He and Lucas would need to have a compelling chat with the dolphin as soon as possible, otherwise Darwin would need to be grounded on SeaQuest until they could persuade him. Nathan also felt annoyed that the teenager hadn't completed the job in the first place and that he had left Sea deck in such disarray. Buckets, pails, scrub brushes, and other remnants of the clean up still remained where Lucas had left them. Normally Lucas was more attentive to his work.

Nathan rounded the corner and was surprised to see the subject of his thoughts pacing outside his door. Surprise showed on his face as he greeted the boy.

"You're up kind of late," stated Nathan, opening the door to his quarters and bidding the teenager inside. Lucas obliged and walked in the room. He plopped himself on the captain's bunk and made himself at home. Nathan closed the door and tossed remnants from the pockets of his pants on his desk. He plunked himself down in his desk chair and leaned back with a groan.

"How's it going with the DSL tests?" asked Lucas, staring at the Captain expectantly, all the while hoping to get some kind of real answer this time around. Any time he had asked about the tests, all he got was the cryptic answer that it was classified.

"Still classified," came the terse reply. Lucas groaned audibly showing his annoyance which caused Nathan to smirk despite himself.

"All the good stuff is," moaned Lucas.

"I'll let you know as soon as I get clearance," assured Nathan, glancing at the teenager. Lucas seemed genuinely put out about not being in the know. Nathan didn't like to see him so miffed.

"NO, it's ok. I mean, big deal, right?"

"Yeah, it is a big deal. Sorry, you're not in the loop," finished Nathan, trying to be firm but also understanding. Lucas shrugged his shoulders in a feeble attempt to brush off his hurt. Nathan knew the boy well enough by now to know that Lucas was putting up a brave front. Unfortunately, for now his hands were tired.

"So, why are you up so late?" asked Nathan, deciding to change the subject. Lucas shrugged again and sprawled out on the bunk, resting his head on the pillow. Nathan inwardly smirked at the boy's comfort. Lucas was quite at ease just sprawling out on his bed, and it warmed Nathans heart to know that the teenager felt comfortable enough to be himself.

"Well, I was on the computer looking at some grad courses with Jayson."

"How is the Biffer?" commented Nathan, inwardly cringing at the mention of the boy's name. Nathan didn't exactly like the boy. Trouble seemed to lurk around every corner with that kid.

"Still Biffing," mumbled Lucas, suddenly sitting up. "Captain, there's gonna be a conference this weekend at the Sanger Institute. I know a lot of the guys who are going." Lucas felt his mouth go dry as he urged himself to speak.

"Uh huh, ok, I'm listening," replied Nathan, noticing that Lucas suddenly appeared uncomfortable.

"I'd really like to attend," finished Lucas, trying to keep his voice calm.

"I gathered that. What's it on?"

"Uh, it's on um," hesitated Lucas, searching his mind for a believable topic.

Nathan raised a brow at the boy's hesitation. It wasn't like Lucas not to be forthright with him. Nathan felt like he was being forestalled, and he was wracking his brain to figure out why.

"Yes," prompted Nathan.

"Well, it's on uh…"Lucas sighed. Nathan sat up in his chair looking at Lucas expecting a reasonable answer to his question. When none appeared to be coming, he decided to intercede with his own observations.

"Lucas, I'm sensing the topic of the conference isn't what's drawing you to it. I think I may know what's going on," stated Nathan. Lucas looked up in surprise and also with relief. He couldn't think of a plausible conference topic, and he was beginning to feel a great deal of tension trying.

"You do?" Lucas gulped in trepidation, not entirely sure what the captain was thinking.

Lucas looked up as the captain stood and walked over to his bunk. Lucas made room for the captain to sit beside him. Captain Bridger patted his knee gently.

"I know it can be tough for someone your age to be trapped on a sub full of adults 24/7 with no other kids for companionship. I imagine it gets really lonesome for you sometimes. So, I get that attending any conference with your friends would be a welcome change," replied Nathan, leaving a comforting hand on Lucas' knee. The teenager nodded but didn't offer anything to the conversation. Nathan glanced at him again with an inquiring eye. "Am I close?"

"Kinda, I guess," mumbled Lucas, squirming nervously.

"Ok, kiddo, here's the deal. You can go to the conference, but please promise me that you will spend time with some of your other friends and not just Biff Pickering." Lucas smirked at the captain's face when he said Jayson's name. Captain Bridger definitely did not like Jayson Pickering. There was no denying that fact. Suddenly a big grin spread across Lucas' face as the captain's words sunk in. This was one promise he planned to keep. He really didn't want to spend time with anyone else but Julianna.

"I promise."

"Good, now who else is attending this engrossing conference?" inquired Nathan, stifling a yawn.

"Nick, Drew and Tyler."

"Ah, nice. Ok, sounds good. Leave me a number where I can reach you."

"Uh, could I take the Stinger? I-I know how to drive it," stammered Lucas, not sure if he was pushing the envelope too far. He felt like fate had granted him a huge favour, and he feared he might have shot himself in the foot by not leaving well enough alone.

Nathan's eyes widened at the question. He silently debated saying no because the kid was known for hot-dogging in the contraption. It made him extremely nervous every time Lucas got behind the wheel of that sub. The look of pleading in the kids eyes melted his heart. The teen had been through a lot in the past few months and had shown how responsible he could be when he wanted to be."

"Ok, but be careful. No hot-dogging! Got it?" Lucas nodded happily. At this point, he would have promised anything to keep Captain Bridger so agreeable.

"Yes, sir."

Nathan patted the teen's knee again as he stood up. He stretched and raked a hand through his hair. Nathan felt completely wiped. He turned to see Lucas fading as well. It wasn't unusual for the kid to crash in his quarters so Nathan left him be and wandered into the bathroom to brush his teeth. When he came out, Lucas was still awake but quiet.

"Tired?" asked Lucas.

"Yeah. I don't think I've had 8 straight hours of sleep in several weeks." Lucas nodded and stood up to leave. "You don't need to leave, Lucas," stated Nathan stretching out on the sofa.

"You need your sleep, Captain," replied Lucas. Nathan nodded. He felt whipped and didn't argue further. He just knew that he hadn't spent much time with the teenager, and he missed him.

"Sorry I've been so busy, kiddo. Once these tests are done, we'll go up world for a few days."

"I'd like that, Captain. Good night," Lucas turned to leave the room.

"Uh, Lucas?"

"Yeah?"

"Darwin was still decorating when I went off duty tonight," mumbled Nathan, on the verge of sleep. Lucas groaned.

"Lovely. I'll take care of it, Captain." Lucas turned to see Captain Bridger had drifted off. He picked up a blanket and gently covered the older man. Lucas stood staring at the captain for several minutes while he slept then left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.