WHISPERS ON THE WIND

By Jules

CHAPTER ONE - SECRET MISSION

(Location - Ward Room - SeaQuest - Closed circuit link conversation between Admiral

Bill Noyce of the U.E.O. and Captain Nathan Bridger and Doctor Kristin Westphalen)

"What do you think about this idea, Kristin?" Noyce asked with some obvious signs of dubiousness about Nathan's idea.

"Personally, I think he's totally nuts," Kristin answered frankly.

"I don't think any of them are going to buy it. Especially Lucas. Can you imagine his reaction to this piece of news?"

"I can," Nathan answered with a hint of truth.

"That's why I need at least one other person on my team over this. I need to show the other crew members as well as Lucas that things will work out fine if they just give the idea a chance."

"Okay Nathan, I think my idea will work to get them all there. After that you are on your own to keep them there. I'll make all the arrangements for the equipment and supplies to be delivered on time. Make sure you take the Global Positioning Satellite Phone at least," Noyce added and then paused in the transmission to await the arrival of the other members of the SeaQuest crew.

(outside in the corridor aboard the SeaQuest)

"What do you think they are talking about in there?" Lucas now asked the others standing with him in the corridor. They all had been instructed to wait there until they were invited in for a briefing of some sort.

Apparently Admiral Noyce was about to address them all on their next mission but everything seemed to be on a hush hush basis for some reason.

"I don't like all this secrecy," Ben Krieg said in a huff. "Something's fishy about the whole thing if you ask me."

"Nobody is asking you, Lieutenant," answered Ford in an annoyed sounding voice.

"I'm sure the Captain and the Admiral will tell us everything we want to know when the time is right."

Only problem was that he too was just a little more than curious about what the mission was to be about. Any more importantly why he had been left out of the details. He was Second in Command after all. He too just leaned back against the wall and waited like everyone else.

Bridger finally ended their torment and poked his head out the door and gestured for them all to come in.

"Take a seat please gentlemen, Admiral Noyce will tell you all about our up coming mission in a minute. Please take careful note of what he has to say because it will involve all of you," Bridger announced.

The party inside the Ward Room consisted of Commander Jonathan Ford, Miguel Ortiz, Tim O'Neill, Ben Krieg and Lucas Wolenczak. Captain Nathan Bridger and Doctor Kristin Westphalen were also to be part of the impending mission.

Everyone turned their attention to Admiral Noyce on the Video Link screen and waited for him to speak.

"Gentlemen, and Kristin of course," Noyce greeted them all, "The mission I am about to tell you all about is to remain within the walls of this room. Only the people in this room at the moment will be privy to the information you are about to hear."

"This mission will only involve the seven people currently in this room. According to Captain Nathan Bridger there is some need for this crew to relearn some of the basic areas of their training. He tells me that there is a lack of comradery and co-operation towards each other's work routine that can no longer be over looked," Noyce continued.

"I've arranged it so that when you dock at Pearl Harbour, you will all be flown to New York City where your latest mission will begin. You will be restricted in the personal luggage you take with you. You are only allowed three changes of clothes and only essential personal items. Under no circumstances are any of you to take an form of electronic device," he said and lookeddirectly at Lucas when he said this.

"This mission is so top secret until you arrive at your destination that there cannot be the slightest risk that your movements will be able to be traced through any electronic devices."

"No portable radios, no computers, no mobile telephones or anything else that might be seen as potential giving off some sort of radio frequency," he added.

"That is about the most I can tell you for now about this until you get to New York. When you reach there, the Captain will receive further instructions as to your rendevous place and the actual details of the mission. All other supplies have been catered for as much as possible. The mission itself should last the duration of a week at the most, then you will all be free forsome relaxation time and shore leave," Noyce informed them.

"This mission is designed to test your survival skills and your team leadership skills. You will be expected to work as a team, work, eat, sleep and do everything together. Your objective and the outcome of the mission will depend on your ability to overcome difficult situations and come up with practical solutions as a team."

"If one of you fails to do your part, then you will be letting your fellow crew members down and the mission will not be a success. Do I make myself understood gentlemen?" Noyce said and saw them all nod in silence at the sternness of his warning.

He was pleased with their seemingly positive response and while most of what he had said had some relevance in the whole scheme of things. He just wished he could tell them that their dear old deceptive Captain knew a lot more about the mission than he was letting on.

It had been Bridger's whole idea from the start and he was just hoping that his old friend had the nous to carry everything out that he had planned.

"Well gentlemen," Bridger said as Noyce now terminated the transmission, "We dock in Pearl Harbour in approximately four hours so I suggest you all go and pack your bags as requested."

"Captain," Krieg said with a little apprehensiveness in his voice, "I don't want to put a dampener on the whole thing, but it sounds as if this mission is going to get a little hairy somewhere a long the way wherever we are going. Are you really sure that Lucas should going?"

Lucas was about to jump up in his own self defense but Bridger put up his hand and signalled that he would give the answer to Krieg's question.

"I appreciate your concern, Lieutenant," Bridger said in a quiet voice. "But this is something that will need to involve Lucas too. I am sure that I can count on all of you to look out for him if the need arises. Don't worry Kristin and I will be there as well. We won't be putting anybody's life at risk. Now go and pack," he said with a smile.

The crew started to walk outside to do as they were instructed. All of them still had that leading question of why everything was so secret. What were they about to be asked to do. They all secretly knew that they would watch out for Lucas as stated but they couldn't protect him from something that they weren't being told about.

Lucas waited for the rest of them to leave before talking on the quiet to Bridger. While he was grateful at being counted as one of the crew and actually going on some sort of mission with them all, he really did want to know more.

"Um, you know, Captain," he started using his most innocent sounding voice. "I really won't tell the others if you let me in on the secret. Come on, tell me where we are going. What are we being sent to do?"

"Lucas, Lucas, Lucas," Bridger said with a grin as he wrapped a arm around the boy's shoulder and starting leading him to the door, "If I knew myself, I still wouldn't tell you. Now go and pack. I want you ready and waiting by the launch bay on time for a change."

"Me late? the teenager said try to sound hurt at the accusation, "Never" he added and gave Bridger and Kristin a lop-sided grin as he left for his own quarters.

"You know he's going to kill you when he finds out the truth," Kristin said with half a smile. While she didn't question his motives about his crew and Lucas, his methods often left a lot to be desired.

"Yeah, but it will be worth it in the end if he and the others enjoy themselves half as much as I predict they will," Bridger said.

Back in his own quarters, Lucas had mostly complied with the requests for no computers. It almost drove him crazy to think of going for a week without his computer equipment.

He doubted that anybody would be able to trace their movements by using the weak signal the machines gave out anyway. But who was he to question orders.

At the last minute, he threw a little caution in the wind though and snuck a small portable walkman underneath his clothes and other stuff. He could see Darwin looking through the Aqua tubes at him seeing what he was doing and he put his fingers to his lips in a shushing action and hoped that the dolphin wouldn't betray his little secret to any of the other crew members.

After they disembarked from the SeaQuest at Pearl Harbour, they made their way by U.E.O. transport to the airport and boarded a privately chartered plane for New York City. The trip was mostly boring and so everybody was tired from the inactivity when the plane finally touched down on the tarmac at New York International Airport.

When they collected their small amount of luggage from the luggage bays, they all headed out to taxi's which had been instructed to take them all to predetermined hotels for the night. They would receive their next lot of instructions there about where they were to go tomorrow.

Bridger tried to keep the atmosphere relaxed as possible at the hotel. He, Kristin and Lucas were sharing a room. The other's were in the one next to them. They ordered take out dinner and watched one of the in-house movies for entertainment.

Lucas had pretended to be interested in the movie for Bridger's sake but halfway through, Kristin nudged Nathan in the ribs and pointed to the audience who was now stretched out and sound asleep on the couch beside them.

Bridger jostled up and down whether or not to move him into a bed, but after considering what conditions they were to spend time in over the next week, he ultimately decided that a nice soft bed would be the last one the boy would get until they returned.

Lucas made a few mumblings as he was helped from the couch and actually felt very stiff at first, but then seemed to relax at the Bridger's touch and allowed himself to be moved to a bed.

Bridger and Kristin bid each other good night and knew that the next week would be a long one for all involved, so they would need as much rest as possible.

The next morning, all of the crew were seated at the hotel's lobby waiting for the taxi's to reappear and take them to their new destination.

Bridger had made up the story that Noyce had telephoned him late the previous night with their new instructions. He told them that they were headed towards the docks and they would get further orders once there.

Lucas seemed to enjoy the sights from the window of the taxi. He could smell the salt of the sea as they got closer to the docks and wondered why they were headed back towards the ocean. If they were supposed to go back out on the water, surely they could have done so on the SeaQuest. His curiosity was getting the better of him again.

The taxi's had pulled up outside a large warehouse on the docks, but they would need to walk through the middle of the large building before they would be able to see the water.

They all got out and carried their luggage through as Captain Bridger lead the way. He was careful to make sure he could see Lucas at all times. The docks were always a busy place and somebody new to the area could get lost before they were even noticed missing.

The crew was getting some strange looks from people as they walked past with baggage in hand. Lucas tried to shrink back into the middle of the crew as he saw the staring eyes and cold hard looks he could see from many of the warehouse workers.

They walked out of the other side of the warehouse and now stood where they could see all of the boats berthed at the docks. They started to walk towards one in particular.

The crew thought that the Captain must have meant to walk past it at first. The Captain surely had made a mistake and this was actually the wrong direction or something they all hoped.

"There you are gentlemen," Bridger said as he looked at the monstrous vessel in front of them. "This will be your home for the next week."

All of them stared with mouths gaped open at the Captain's words. Surely he couldn't be serious.

"Tell me he's kidding, Commander," Krieg said as he tried to take in the massive ship standing before him.

Standing before them all, in her magnificent splendor was a Spanish Galleon. With her masts adorned with full sails and a crow's nest way up on top of the main middle mast, she certainly was a sight to behold. She had as long as she was wide. She seemed to stretch the entire length of the dock. Her sails billowed with the gentle breeze that blew.

On the front of the vessel there seemed to be a wooden carved mermaid that looked out onto the sea beyond. Just a few feet this side of the carving were four cannons. One could only assume that there was an equal number on the opposite side.

Commander Ford was also taken aback with what his Captain was proposing. All of his crew were adept at their various jobs, but trying to sail something like this fully rigged ship was something else all together. He didn't know if any of them knew how.

The first name that came into his mind was that it had to be a Pirate Ship of some sort. The ones he had read about in story books when he was a child.

Lucas was still trying to find his voice to make any sort of comment. Deep down inside, he was trying to hide one of his greatest weaknesses. Something he had never told the Captain or the crew about. Now it looked as though it was about to become public knowledge.

When he had first come aboard the SeaQuest he thought he might have problems with his weakness back then. But due to the smooth movement of the huge boat underneath the waves, he didn't feel sick at all. The thought of actually bobbing up and down on the ocean made his stomach tie itself up in knots already.

Ever since he was a little kid, he had always been seasick on water craft. When he was very young and times were different, his real father Lawrence Wolenczak had taken him out on fishing trips to various lakes and streams, only to find his young son bending over the bow of the boat most of the time losing his lunch to the movement of the water.

Sadly, Lucas had to admit, it normally didn't have to be rough either to set him off. Even just the gentlest action on the waves made him green around the gills. He just hoped that now he was older maybe the feeling wouldn't be so strong. He hadn't been on a boat above the water in many years, maybe the weakness had disappeared as he got older. He would just have to hope and pray.

Bridger turned around to the teenager and saw the paleness in the boy's face. He put his hand on the boy's shoulder and tried to bring Lucas out of the trance like state he seemed to be locked in. He thought that at first the boy must be awe struck at the sight of such a large and olden type of ship.

"Are you alright, Lucas?" Bridger asked.

Kristin was also concerned at the unnatural pallor of the boy's skin and waited for him to reply.

Lucas still couldn't find his voice above a whisper and now just nodded to indicate that he would be alright. He kept his weakness to himself still.

"This gentlemen, is the ANTONIO, or a replica of the same ship," Bridger started to explain.

"She is identical to the original in every sense and will need to be sailed in a similar manner. I hope you are all up to the task," Bridger said as he started to lead them onto the huge ship.

Bridger felt like a little kid again. He had dreamed ever since he was a little boy about sailing on a ship such as this. Now that he looked to be getting just that chance, he had to pinch himself just to make sure it was real. He knew that something like this was a huge shock to his crew.

He hoped that after they adjusted to their new environment, they would feel the same love and admiration for the sea that seemed to be in his veins.

Lucas made sure he was the last to board the ship and walked behind everyone else, hanging on to the wobbly gang plank with both hands and almost closing his eyes to the fear he felt as he ascended. His bag was slung over his shoulder and he gave the dock below one final glance before put his feet on the deck of the ship.

"This is going to be your home for the next week gentlemen," Bridger said as he saw Lucas finally make it aboard, "I hope you are ready for the adventure of your lives."

to be continued ...

Author Notes: The ANTONIO is actually a pirate ship that sailed from New York so I borrowed her name and will make up the rest as I go along. Hope you are ready for the adventure to begin as well.

Jules