by Aura Thundera
deonii@yahoo.com
Disclaimer:
The characters of seaQuest DSV do not belong to me. I'm not profiting, just having fun.
"Nothing," Kristin said. "I'm just taking proper precautions. After all, no living divers have ever explored the Mynah before."
"Well, there's a simple explanation for that," Nathan said. "Until we perfected the DSL and a small air recycler, no one could go down there. It's just too deep."
"Exactly how far down are we going?" Kristin asked.
"Over one thousand feet," Nathan replied. "It's near the deepest part of the channel that leads out to sea."
"Why can't they let an old shipwreck rot in peace?" Kristin asked grumpily.
"Because the Mynah was carrying a museum exhibit of Egyptian treasures. They were packaged in extremely good watertight containers in case of such an occurrence as a shipwereck so that they could be retrieved," Nathan said. "Of course, they never counted on the Mynah going down in a thousand feet of ice water."
"Couldn't they have retrieved the cases with minisubs a long time ago?" Kristin asked, sounding even grouchier.
"No," Nathan said. "The Navy's minisubs and ROV's are all too big. There was no way one of them could have made it to the cargo hold without cutting and running the risk of damaging the cases. And Ballard refused to let the would-be salvors use JASON."
"Why isn't Jonathan doing this? He's the one who's spent the extended time periods in these things," Kristin asked, still grouchy.
"Because Jonathan is up north," Nathan said, "investigating the remains of the Titanic."
"Why couldn't that wait?" Kristin said.
"Because Ballard put in a special request for a DSL diver before the Metropolitan requested one to salvage the Mynah," Bridger said, wriggling a little to get his body into a comfortable position inside the heavy metal suit.
Kristin sighed. "I just think that these suits could be put to better use investingating undersea life. What are we doing here but mopping up someone else's mess?"
"Kris," Nathan said, "We're here to retrieve the mummy of Hapshetsut and her treasure. It had only been discovered for a few months when it was lost. It has never been studied," Nathan said. "Surely that appeals to your sense of inquisitiveness?"
"Well, it would have been studied well over the last eight years had it not been for the stupidity of the people who sent the Mynah out into a storm!" Kristin said, lifting the helmet of her suit.
There was the sound of a footstep behind them. The Metropolitan's salvage director, Reynard Tsarkoye, had come onto the aft deck of the large salvage vessel. The ship was Tsarkoye's pride and joy. It was a large fishing trawler refitted to be able to winch up large objects off the seabed. She was called Skyfire, and it was the best possible salvage ship available in the area of the New Jersey Barrier Islands.
And as for when storms blew up, Tsarkoye had a boat slip in Ocean City. Tsarkoye's house was on the north end of the town. It was a huge, solidly-built Spanish style stucco place. Tsarkoye had wanted Nathan and Kristin to stay with him in the huge house.
They had made it through last night there before deciding to rent the last available space on the small island town that morning. Nathan was suprised that there was space at all left during peak vacation season, but decided not to complain about the small apartment with its one bedroom with the ocean view.
And as for why they were in the apartment with its one bedroom and one large bed, that was not something pleasant. The had hated being in separate bedrooms at Tsarkoye's house, since they were used to spending the nights cuddled together. But lonelieness was not the reason they had rented the last available unit at the Sea View.
Their night at Tsarkoye's home had been almost totally sleepless. It was no wonder that Kristin was on the crabby side today. The memory of the incident came unbidden back to Nathan.
Nathan had woken in the middle of the night. A black shadow hovered at the foot of his bed. Nathan's long years of military training had screamed at him to stay still and pretend to sleep: both to learn about the unwelcome presence and to gain the advantage of suprise.
The shadow rose with a cackle and stretched out a bony claw of a hand to caress Nathan's exposed leg. Nathan was about to pounce on the figure to stop the claw-hand from reaching his shorts, when there was a sound from out in the main room of the house, rather like the hiss of a pot boiling over on the stove. The figure darted out the door.
After that Nathan could not sleep. He heard the hissing sound stop, then he heard a strange voice singing a tuneless song. Nathan did not want to sleep, but it took evey bit of will he had to keep from leaping out the window and heading for the nearest motel. Later, he heard voices, one of which was surely Tsarkoye, the other unfamiliar. Then Nathan heard Tsarkoye go back to bed, and there was silence.
Nathan's body clamored for rest, but his mind refused. There was something strange, and very wrong in this house. Nathan reached off the side of the bed to grab his pocketknife. He flipped out the longest blade, then hid his hand and the knife under the sheets.
Several minutes later, Nathan heard sounds. He could hear the protesting squeaks of floorboards under feet, coming from the direction of the main room. Nathan could hear the squeaks of the floorboards growing closer. A foul smell drifted through the door. Nathan choked and desperately tried to remain silent, although the smell was suffocating him. Whatever it was, it smelled of cat urine and rotting garbage.
The squeaking was louder. Whoever it was was outside his door, in the hallway between his room and Kristin's. The smell was overpowering, and Nathan choked down the bile that rose in his throat. Across the hall, he could hear Kristin gagging.
Then came the loud creak of Kristin's door. Tsarkoye and Kristin had joked about it earlier. Now it was a warning, a herald to his love's danger. Nathan flew out of bed, not caring that he was only clothed in boxers, and yanked open his door.
The shadow figure was in the hall, the door to Kristin's room pushed open by one of its clawlike hands. The other hand clutched a pot from which the stench had come. Kristin sat upright in bed, her face dead white and her eyes huge. The figure turned to face Nathan as he attacked. As Nathan's body struck the wraith, the pot fell from its hand, the contents splattering on the floor. As the pot fell, Kristin was splattered by the fluid that spewed from it.
Shocked and scared as she was, Kristin managed to flip on the lights just as Nathan got his knifeblade across the thing's throat. In the sudden wash of light from the bedside lamp, Nathan saw the black wraith to be a small, fat woman of Indian descent. The pot was actually a black iron thing that bore a resemblance to the witches' cauldrons of children's stories.
Nathan pinned the woman to the wall with his knifeblade against her throat. The woman's hands with their long, clawlike nails struck out as she attempted to gash his face and free herself. Nathan pressed the blade closer to her throat and the woman stilled.
Kristin had fainted from the smell of the brown fluid that spattered her nightgown and puddled on the floor. Nathan bellowed for Tsarkoye. He wanted an explanation, and he wanted it now.
Tsarkoye appeared in the door, with a look of total shock on his face. He gazed around the room, taking in the foul puddle on the floor, then Kristin where she lay on the bed, roaming finally to Nathan and the still woman.
Tsarkoye finally spoke. "Let her up, Nathan. She won't do anything as long as I'm here," he said.
Nathan reluctantly let his catch go. The woman stood up and looked insulted.
Tsarkoye was obviously not happy. He paced what little of the floor was clean, and lashed the woman verbally.
"Maneiki, I followed my mother's last request. She asked of me that I take you in and protect you. When I did that, as I recall, you agreed to live by my rules, given the fact that I have the power of life and death over you," Tsarkoye stated.
Nathan gave Tsarkoye a puzzled look at the last statement, but decided that removing Kristin from this environment would be a better choice. He lifted Kristin's still body and carried her out. In his own room, he slipped off Kristin's nightgown and wrapped her in his own robe before carrying her out onto the deck at the front of Tsarkoye's house.
Later, Tsarkoye came out, looking exhausted. Nathan turned toward him, giving Tsarkoye a questioning look.
"I owe you an explanation-and an apology," Tsarkoye said. "That old woman you saw is Maneiki Ramon. I pass her off as my housekeeper, but she isn't. She's an old friend of my mother's. Maneiki has a cloudy history; all I know about her is that she practices voodoo. One of her potions supposedly allowed my mother to get pregnant, producing me. Personally, I'm a skeptic, but my mother was eternally grateful to Maneiki.
"So, when Mother was dying, she commanded me to take care of Maneiki. Seems that when she was younger, Maneiki used voodoo on behalf of the wrong cause. I don't know what she did, but now she is hunted. As long as she stays my housekeeper, she is safe. This house, she claims, is situated upon a site of power, and as long as she is welcomed by the owner of the property, she is beyond her pursuers' power."
"In other words, if you throw her out, you are signing her death warrant," Nathan said coldly, his tone betraying the thought that throwing Maneiki upon the mercies of her hunters might not be a bad idea.
"Yes," Tsarkoye said. "My home is her last refuge. She claims that several of the hunters are hanging about the property at any given time. She can't run from them anymore."
"And her insane belief that she is hunted gives her the right to harass your houseguests?" Nathan asked.
"I'm afraid that she's not supposed to, but she does anyway. This was the last chance I gave her. The next stunt she pulls, she's not welcome anymore, and as far as I'm concerned, the next time they can just come and get her," Tsarkoye said. "But if it's a stunt like this and harm actually comes of it, I'm tying Maneiki to the front gate with a sign on her head that says COME AND GET IT on it."
"What do you mean, 'a stunt like this'?" Nathan asked, his tone dangerous.
Tsarkoye sighed. "Maneiki was convinced that Kristin was carrying your love child, Nathan. The potion she spilled on the floor would supposedly have killed the baby and given Maneiki the child's life force, if she had managed to pour it on Kristin."
"Why isn't that old woman in a mental institute?" Nathan said savagely, not liking the idea that someone would want to kill his child.
Tsarkoye shrugged. "Loyalty to Mama, I guess. Look, even if she had poured it on Kristin, I doubt anything would have happened, beyond Kristin maybe getting burned and smelling bad."
Nathan had glared at Tsarkoye and carried Kristin out to the car. They had spent an uncomfortable night in the car, before driving to the Ocean View to see about renting an apartment for the two weeks required to salvage the Mynah.
Now Kristin was glaring at Tsarkoye, daring him to say one word in Maneiki's defense. Tsarkoye realized that he had erred in defending the insane old woman, and wisely kept his mouth shut.
Ensign Carrilon appeared out of the main cabin of the Skyfire and sharply saluted Captain Bridger. "All of the monitoring equipment is set up and ready to go, sir," he reported. He had been brought along to monitor the situation in the Mynah through the cameras mounted on the DSL suits and also to regulate any emergency ascent required.
"Very well, Ensign," Nathan said. "Let us seal up the suits and we'll go."
Carrilon nodded and returned to his controls inside the cabin. Nathan nodded to Tsarkoye, and Tsarkoye lowered the platform into the water. Before Nathan and Kristin left the platform, they each grabbed a winch line to raise any of the watertight containers.
As Nathan began his descent into the watery world of the estuary, he called to Kristin, checking to see if the communicators in the suits operated.
Kristin gave a soft laugh. "Nathan, as long as it's you, I'm listening," she said.
"Well, that's nice to know. We'll be spending about half an hour going down, so what do you want to talk about?" Nathan asked.
"Mmm, let's talk about us," Kristin said.
"What about us?" Nathan asked her.
"About things like that I think you look sexy in your jumpsuit," Kristin said, enjoying Nathan's shocked gasp.
"You think that I look sexy in seaQuest uniform?" Nathan asked, still a little dubious.
"Didn't I just say that?" Kristin said, batting her eyelashes at him, although she knew he couldn't see. "I just love the way you look. The jumpsuit clings to your muscles so nicely."
"My whaaat?" Nathan said, wishing that he could cut the audio link.
"Your buff muscles," Kristin said, enjoying Nathan's discomfort. "Especially your gluteus maximus."
Nathan squirmed uncomfortably inside his DSL suit, thankful that Kristin could not see how badly he was blushing. She's been going around looking at my *butt*? he thought. I hope it wasn't obvious.
"Oh, and, Nathan, I do believe that Petty Officer Riley saw me eyeing you up that day you were in front of me in the line to get ice cream..." Kristin added, not just for the shock value, since the statement was entirely true. It had started the most amazing number of rumors about them. Of course no one had ever had the guts to mention the rumors to Nathan.
"You didn't..." Nathan said with a sinking conviction that Kristin had been exactly that indelicate, in front of Riley, no less. And if Riley saw something like that, he assumed romance, and from Riley, everyone on the ship knew.
"I did...I'm sorry, Nathan. I didn't see that Riley was right there, and I never could resist looking at handsome men," Kristin said.
"I suppose that I should thank you for the compliment," Nathan said, "but couldn't you have looked for Riley before doing that?"
"I said that I was sorry!" Kristin said. "Like I didn't have problems with the rumors!"
"Oh no," Nathan said, thumping his forehead into the front of his helmet. "So Riley really did assume..."
"Riley assumed that we were in love. And, to make it worse, told the whole crew," Kristin said. "The crew had us watched, Nathan! They made sure that if we were alone together, everyone knew! Plus, they had a betting pool going as to exactly when they would discover us spending the night together in your quarters-which doesn't sound like a bad idea, given that you have a bigger bunk."
"And what you're saying is that it's only fair to share?" Nathan asked, a teasing tone tinting his voice.
"Of course," Kristin said. "But if you really want to enjoy yourself, I suggest you indulge now."
"Ah," Nathan said. "Because when we go back, we'll be watched, is that it?"
"Precisely," Kristin said. "But I don't really mind going back...Hey, Nathan, I've got an idea..."
"What is it, Kris?" Nathan asked, suspecting that it was a plot to pay back his over-inquisitive crew.
"Well, what do you say to pulling the wool over the eyes of your little military voyeurs?" Kristin asked, unable to resist the temptation to pick on Nathan's military side.
Nathan laughed at Kristin's attempt to get at his grumpy captain side.
"I say that we pretend that we had a big fight," Kristin said, "and we avoid each other until the crew has enough of it and Kreig decides to play matchmaker."
"You realize that having me grumpy continually is going to flush crew morale down the drain," Nathan replied.
"What do I care?" Kristin said. "Actually, little Navy boys are easier to manage when they're not cocky."
"Hey..." Nathan said. "Who are you calling a little boy? As I recall, the last time I was a boy was a long time ago."
"Not that long," Kristin said. "You were just balancing a ball on your forehead this morning. And don't try to play the innocent. I know you dipped that ball into lead before trying to hand it to me."
Nathan muttered something about females being too observant, turning his head as far away from the microphone in his suit as possible.
Kristin pretended she hadn't heard. Nathan was still a little boy inside. After all, who else but a little boy would balance a rubber ball on his forehead, then secretively dip it in powdered lead to leave a big black mark on her face when she tried it?
"Come on, Nathan," Kristin said. "Try to have fun, will you?"
Nathan gave a low chuckle.
"Not like that!" Kristin said. "The last thing that I'm going to do is let you have your way with me."
"Oh really?" Nathan said, enjoying teasing Kristin.
"Yes, really," Kristin said, gazing down at the spot where the Mynah loomed out of the gloom of the seabed.
"Looks like we're here," Nathan said as his feet touched down on the Mynah's ghostly deck. They both dropped their grappling hooks.
Kristin looked around. "Let's get this done," she said. "This place gives me the creeps."
"Aye aye, sir," Nathan said.
Kristin wanted to swat him right across his captainly arm.
Nathan lead the way into the bowels of the Mynah. The dark, rusty corridors loomed overhead, but at least Nathan knew that there would be no bodies aboard, since all of the Mynah's crew had escaped. He did not envy Jonathan, roaming the corridors of the Titanic, where he knew the dead lay.
Nathan slowly drifted down a set of rusted metal stairs, not trusting the weight of his suit to the eroded metal. The pair came to rest in a huge open space that lofted above them like a cathedral. The cathedral-like space was ornamented with the strange sculptures that Mother Nature had carved out of rust and mollusks. Nathan looked up at the ceiling thirty feet above.
"Are these the treasures?" Nathan asked, looking at a milky plastic form shrouded with the blackish scum of algae.
Kristin rubbed at one with the fist of her suit, careful not to damage the plastic of the case. "Yes," she said. "This one is labeled as the mummy."
"Good, because then they aren't in the secondary hold like the schematic says," Nathan said. "Here, we can cut straight out the top instead of cutting through the side and having to haul the containers around."
"But if they weren't in the secondary hold like it says, then why are they here?" Kristin said, turning so that she could see Nathan's face through his faceplate.
"Either the secondary hold was too small," Nathan said, "or we've stumbled on something very bad."
"What do you mean?" Kristin asked. "Do you think Tsarkoye deliberately mislead us?"
"No," Nathan said. "Tsarkoye gave us the best info he had. But maybe it was best that the ship sank."
"What?" Kristin asked, totally lost.
"Do you remember when the Mynah went down?" Nathan asked. When Kristin shook her head no from within her suit, Nathan continued. "Many archeologist groups had fits because the ship used to transport the treasures was from a small, fly-by-night company. They didn't trust the company with such valuable things."
"I think I remember now-sort of," Kristin said.
"The ship that rescued the crew of the Mynah-the Allegory-was owned by the same small company and was sailing toward the Mynah. Like a rendezevous, now that I think of it. And one of the things the two ships were designed to do was to link their main cargo bays together. It was a revolutionary concept in the late nineties, but it didn't last long," Nathan said. "So, maybe that was why all the treasure was placed here."
"What are you getting at, Nathan?" Kristin asked.
"What I'm getting at is that the hatch through which the Mynah would have connected to the Allegory is up further toward the bow. They would have connected the two ships, moved the treasure into the hold of the Allegory, abandoned the Mynah, and detonated the explosive charges that I've seen," Nathan said. "Either way, the Mynah was doomed. But the treasure here in this hold is worth fifty of the Mynah."
"So you're saying is that their plan backfired?" Kristin said. "The Mynah began sinking before they could offload the treasure and steal it."
Nathan nodded. "It doesn't really matter. The shipping line went bankrupt not long after the Mynah went down. They couldn't afford the loss without some recompense."
"Let's start retrieving. I don't feel too good," Kristin said.
"In what way?" Nathan asked sharply.
"I don't really know," Kristin said. "I just don't like it down here."
Nathan turned his attention to the task at hand. He adjusted the buoyancy of his suit until he was floating just below the ceiling. He activated the cutting torch and began to cut into the rusted steel. Eventually, the jagged piece of corroded metal drifted to the floor of the hold and Nathan could see the grapples laying on the deck above. Before he could grab them, he heard Kristin moan.
"Kristin?" he asked, dropping quickly to her side.
"Nathan, help me..." Kristin moaned. "It hurts, stabbing into me..."
"Carillon! Bring Kristin up as quickly as you can!" Nathan bellowed into his communicator.
"Aye sir," Carillon responded, and the two DSL suits began their ascent toward the surface.
Twenty minutes later, the pair were being hauled up onto the deck of the Mynah. Kristin was hovering on the edge of unconciousness. Assorted crewmen began opening up the suits and freeing Nathan and Kristin of the bulky metal encumbrances.
As soon as Nathan was free, he dashed to Kristin's side. While being pulled form her suit, she had fallen unconcious. Blood soaked her clothes.
"What happened?" Nathan asked, nearly panicking at the sight of Kristin's blood.
"I don't know," Carillon said. "I was only trained to deal with illnesses relating to diving. And this isn't one."
Tsarkoye looked at the blood flowing onto the deck of his ship and headed for the wheelhouse, tossing over his shoulder as he went: "I'm heading to the dock. I suggest that you call 911, and have them waiting when we get there."
Nathan nodded and followed Tsarkoye. Inside the wheelhouse, he picked up the radio and put the call through. After he was done, he turned to head out to Kristin's side when Tsarkoye's curses drew his attention.
A large swell had broadsided the Skyfire, knocking them off course. The wind had picked up and was whistling eerily around the ship. Black clouds were billowing in off the mighty Atlantic. Nathan knew that they would soon be in for a storm.
Carillon lugged Kristin into the wheelhouse. He had not managed to stem the bleeding, and Kristin was surely growing weak. She would die if this was not stopped. Fortunately, the Skyfire was pulling into the dock. The paramedic team stood waiting as Nathan and Carillon lifted Kristin's limp body on a stretcher and carried it to the quay.
Two of the paramedics quickly took the stretcher from the two Navy men. Carillon stood helplessly by, but Nathan rushed to Kristin's side. The paramedics attempted to push him away, but Kristin wakened enough to gasp out a few words.
Words that meant the world to Nathan.
"Let him stay...please...I love him-" Kristin got out before she was silenced with an oxygen mask.
One of the medics nodded and pulled Nathan into the ambulance as they left the docks and headed for the medical center. There, Nathan was left in a waiting room as Kristin was taken into surgery.
The doctor appeared in the waiting room and called him. "Your, um, friend should be ready to go home in two hours. She's in the recovery room now."
"Can you take me to her?" Nathan queried.
The doctor nodded. "Do you know what happened?"
"What?" Nathan said, jolted out of the complacent mood that he had gained upon hearing that Kristin was safe.
"She had a miscarriage," the doctor said quietly.
"How old was the child?" Nathan asked in a rather strangled voice.
"She was about three months pregnant," the doctor said. "Do you know who the father was, by any chance?"
"I suppose...I was," Nathan said, anger welling up inside him. Kristin had thought herself too old to have children. Anyway, they had wanted their marriage next summer to be for them alone.
But that did not matter. What mattered was that Maneiki Ramon had stolen something incalculably precious from him and Kristin, even if they had not intended to have it.
Tears dripped from Nathan's cheeks. Was he doomed, then, to lose his children? He could remember the events of nineteen years ago. Carol had gotten pregnant, something both of them had wanted. But it was not to be.
The birth of their son, Robert, had been a long, difficult one. It had left permanent scarring on Carol's uterus that they had not known about at the time.
When Carol got pregnant with what was to be their second child, their joy was short-lived. Carol's gynecologist informed her, after a few tests, that Carol's uterus was too fragile to support a growing fetus for more than one or two months. If the fetus grew too big, Carol's uterus would not stretch-it would simply split, killing both her and their child.
Nathan and Carol had been left with a terrible choice between the life of the baby and the lives of both child an mother. Ultimately, a third option presented itelf.
Carol read of a doctor who was practicing a procedure that allowed a fetus from one woman to be implanted into the uterus of another woman. Carol refused to have an abortion if another option was available.
The doctor arranged for a surrogate mother, and the surgical procedures went off without a hitch. Eight months later, a healthy baby boy was brought into the world.
Then the complications started. The surrogate mother refused to let Carol or Nathan anywhere near the boy. Nathan was angry, and Carol spent many nights crying her eyes out for her child.
The surrogate sued for the right to keep the child she had carried, and, she claimed, become emotionally attached to. The mother battled the Bridgers all the way to the Virgina Supreme Court. The bleeding-heart-birth-rights judge (In Nathan's opinion, at least) declared Nathan and Carol's child to belong in the custody of the surrogate, denying Nathan's appeal.
They never saw or heard of their second child again. The court decree hurt Carol deeply. From that moment on, Carol became weak. Nathan always attributed her illness and eventual death to the loss of both of their sons.
Nathan shook off his reverie. "Was there enough to tell if it would have been a boy or a girl?" he asked.
The doctor sighed. "We did genetic tests on the fetus that Doctor Westphalen aborted. It would have been a son."
Nathan bowed his head. It seemed that he would never have a son to carry on the Bridger name.
The doctor left Nathan by Kristin's side. Kristin was muttering softly in her anaesthetized sleep.
Nathan thought of his three sons, two of them gone from this world, the third lost to him forever. Robert, his firstborn, determined to follow in his father's footsteps. Nathan Hale Junior, (a name he had battled long and hard with Carol over, his choice being James) the living son who he had never seen. And now this unnamed boy, never known until too late.
He clutched Kristin's hand tight in his. Someday, he would track down his living son. But not now. All that mattered was Kristin and her life.
Kristin came out of the anesthesia without a problem, and Nathan took her back to their suite. They lay on the bed, watching the lightning from the storm cut across the sky. Kristin was still weak, but very much awake.
Nathan got up to stand by the window. Rain lashed down outside, although the window was sheltered by the balcony above. Lightning flared in fascinating shapes.
Kristin watched. A purple bolt much in the shape of a jellyfish burned in the blue of the sky. Storm blue, like Nathan's eyes, Kristin thought. Nature's neon signs...
Nathan watched, glad to see Kristin doze off. He joined her on the bed and fell soundly asleep.
Later, they were both wakened by an especially loud crash of thunder and shouts. The roar of the ocean sounded much closer. Lightning like a green octopus flared to life over the whitecaps.
Suddenly, there was someone pounding at the door. Nathan ran, wrapping his robe about himself as he did, and pulled open the door. The drenched figure shook back its hair, which hung in rats' tails, and looked at Nathan out of burning eyes.
"We're flooding! Head to higher ground!" it cried. Nathan recognized the voice as that of the desk clerk. Nathan did not stop for questions, but waved the clerk on and went to waken Kristin.
Kristin grabbed their bags and let Nathan lead her down to their car.
"What do you say to crashing with Carillon?" Nathan asked. "The Flanders condos where he is renting is on higher ground."
"It's better than going to Tsarkoye's house," Kristin said.
"We may have to. His house is on one of the highest points on the island," Nathan said.
Kristin shuddered.
"Come on, Kris," Nathan said, vaguely exasperated, as he wound his car through the flooded streets. "You don't believe that that loony old woman was responsible for your miscarriage."
"The point is that she knew. She knew that I was pregnant with your child," Kristin said.
"Leave it, Kristin," Nathan said. He pulled into a parking space that was not yet awash.
The pair grabbed their bags and dashed into the ornate white stucco building. By the time they had entered the lobby, they were soaked to the skin.
Kristin pushed a wet lock of hair out of her face. "Now what, Sherlock? How are we going to find Carillon in this maze?
"By remembering that he told me the number of the condo he was in," Nathan said.
"Oh," Kristin muttered, as she miserably followed Nathan. Nathan tried to hurry to Carillon's condo, but the elevator was amazingly poky. He could see that Kristin was not feeling well, and after all, she was still weak.
Nathan strode to the door of Carillon's condo and knocked. There were sounds of scuffling within, and the door opened.
Nathan nearly burst out laughing at the sight that presented itself. When separated from the rigor of military discipline, Ensign Carillon was not exactly the tidiest housekeeper. There were clothes scattered about, and the scuffle and thump Nathan had heard had been the sound of Carillon tripping over a large duffel bag that lay in the floor.
"I hope you don't mind us crashing, but the south end of the island is flooding," Nathan said. "We were told to evacuate since the first floor of our building was under six inches of water."
"Well, we may have to clear out of this place too, if the rain keeps up. They had thirty inches of rain in Atlantic City. And that's only the next island up," Carillon said. "Anyway, it's no skin off my nose if you guys want to stay here. We just need to figure out sleeping accomodations."
Kristin stirred herself and gave Carillon's condo a quick once-over, while Nathan and Carillon discussed whether the retrieval mission would be on again tomorrow.
"Okay," Kristin spoke up. "We've got one double bed and one couch. I propose that you two share the bed. I'll sleep on the couch."
"But Kris," Nathan complained, "you were just sick. You should have the bed. Carillon can take the couch, and I'll sleep on the chair."
"Oh, no, Nathan," Kristin said. "The couch is plenty big enough for me. You two share the bed. There's no need for more of us to be more uncomfortable than necessary."
The two men looked at each other, realizing that this was not a fight that they could win, and headed for the bedroom. After the bedroom door shut, Kristin turned to her suitcase.
Kristin rummaged through her clothes, quickly bypassing the silk and lace nightgown for a plain, oversized T-shirt. The silky gown was okay when she was alone or with Nathan, but Carillon didn't need to see it. His eyes were big enough already.
The next day, rain was falling in steady sheets. Beyond the window, the gray sea roared and crashed against the vacant beach. Early on, Tsarkoye called and informed them that they would not be sailing out to retrieve any of the cases; the sea was too rough.
The three inmates of the small condo passed the day playing cards. But there is a limit to how many times one can play poker, or even Go Fish.
Nathan boredly wiggled in the chair. The TV was tuned to an old movie, and Kristin and Carillon were avidly watching. Nathan held no interest in watching a large, hungry shark scoff up unsuspecting swimmers.
However, he was also growing a bit irritated. Kristin was showing a bit too much interest in one of the lead actors for his taste. It wasn't that the man was bad-looking; it was just that Nathan was jealous.
Nathan decided against getting closer to Kristin. Carillon didn't need to start any rumors when they returned to seaQuest. Nathan leaned back in his chair and began the eternal buisness of captains: worrying about his ship and crew.
After the crew finished the field work that the UEO had found for them, the crew would reassemble for their next mission. Nathan had hoped that Petty Officer Riley would be reassigned after the break, but no such luck. Two days before, Nathan had recieved the new crew manifests. None of the crew were leaving, save for a few lowly engineers and seamen who never did any harm. Riley was still going to be around, distributing the latest gossip along with the food.
In a way, Nathan supposed that the limited crew rotation onboard seaQuest was a good thing. It indicated to him that he had the best officers that the Navy had to offer. Plus, they worked well as a team. He knew that he would be sorely pressed to find replacements for Commander Hitchcock or Ortiz, should either have decided that they wanted to leave the ship.
But, they didn't want to leave seaQuest. Nathan was surprised that his dream could be an undersea utopia for so many others. That the dreams of others were inspired by what he had dared to dream and build.
The only problem was that Petty Officer Riley's highest ambition was to distribute seaQuest's gossip. Nathan sighed and decided not to worry over Riley.
Kristin noticed that Nathan was looking a little put out over her interest in the actor on the television screen. She supposed that Nathan deserved to know that she thought he resembled the actor.
There was a terrific whomping noise outside the window, right as both Nathan and Kristin were getting up. The floor seemed to shake under her feet, knocking her off balance. With a slight scream, she fell against Nathan. Luckily, Nathan managed to keep his balance and hold her up.
"What happened?" Kristin asked nervously.
"Lightning strike," Nathan said, heading toward the window.
"Bad lightning strike," Carillon said upon joining Nathan at the window and viewing the scene outside.
"How bad?" Kristin asked, feeling left out of the men's conversation and hurrying to the window.
"Bad," Nathan said, pointing toward the south end of the island. Although difficult to see through the lashing rain, it was evident that the strike had started a fire. Fire engines raced through the streets and some slight commotion could be seen.
Then, with unexpected suddenness, the power cut. Nathan sighed and turned away from the window. The water had obviously not stopped rising and the ground floor of the old building was surely awash by now.
Carillon got the message. He scrambled about, picking up bits of his posessions and stuffing them into bags.
"Does this mean that we're going to Tsarkoye's house?" Kristin asked, getting a death grip on Nathan's arm.
"'Fraid so, Kris," Nathan said, gently freeing his arm before Kristin cut off his circulation.
Kristin shuddered violently. "Do we have to?"
"Kristin, it's the safest place on the island," Nathan countered. "Besides, Tsarkoye keeps a generator."
"I don't want to go," Kristin said, fading. She was still certainly not well after her miscarriage. And going back to Tsarkoye's house was not going to help matters.
"It's okay, Kristin," Nathan said. "I won't leave you this time."
"But what about..." Kristin gestured at Carillon.
"I don't care about rumors, Kristin! I care for you," Nathan said, fed up with hiding their closeness. "I won't hide it anymore. I love you and I don't care who sees!"
"No," Kristin said, defying Nathan's heartfelt statement. "You didn't spend two hours undergoing surgery because of what that crazy woman did to you."
Now Nathan grew angry. He had humbled himself for her, declaring his feelings before a subordinate who was sure to start rumors. Easygoing people often have the worst tempers; Nathan was one. Although they do not lose control often, when they do, you had best start running.
"Kristin Westphalen, for once obey orders! I am not asking you to leave, I am ordering you with all the power of the Captain of the seaQuest! If you do not obey me, I can have you removed form the UEO!" Captain Bridger raged, then softened. "Please, Kristin? Understand for once that maybe someone else does know best? Do you really want to be left here alone?"
"No," Kristin was forced to admit. "But that doesn't mean that I want to go..."
"Come on, Kristin!" Nathan said, literally dragging her. "The water is rising every minute that you make us wait! I promise that I will not leave your side the whole time that we are there!"
Kristin let herself be pulled down the stairs to the lobby. The lobby of the building was not on ground level and so was not flooding yet. But the streets were covered in six inches of water that had not been there before.
The three fleeing seaQuest crewmembers piled into the station wagon in which Nathan and Kristin had arrived. They drove toward the higher North End of the island. As they did, Kristin grew silent and more morose as they drew nearer to the house that reeked of black magic.
In the end, the Spanish-style stucco house loomed up before them on its large plastered piles. Nathan held Kristin's hand as the three walked up the stairs to the deck. Carillon knocked on the door.
Tsarkoye answered swiftly, pulling open the door. "Hey, guys. Come in out of the rain!"
Without ceremony, Nathan announced, "The south end of the island is flooding."
Tsarkoye shrugged. "Ocean City is a barrier island, it floods often. That's why I have a generator."
"What about your housekeeper?" Kristin asked, slightly afriad.
"Maneiki is in bed. She claimed that one of her enemies risked his life to slip a poison spell into this house," Tsarkoye said. "She may be ill and mad, or she may be faking."
"I don't care, as long as I don't have to face her..." Kristin said.
"You shouldn't," Tsarkoye said. "Maneiki is dying, slowly. Her kidneys are failing-" he was cut short by an abrupt and loud pow from the attic.
"What was that?" Carillon asked, since he had never been in Tsarkoye's house before and therefore did not have a clear picture of what it probably was.
"She was faking!" Tsarkoye exploded.
"That's right, sweet cheeks," Maneiki said, barreling out of the door to the attic. "You've brought me all that I need to cure my kidneys and live for thirty more years. For that, I will work all I can to make sure of your success."
"What?" Kristin asked, not quite wanting an answer. "You already killed Nathan's son."
Maneiki turned her uncaring eyes on Kristin. "There is another way. I will be healed, given life by this ritual. It is the oldest, the very power that kept the Pharohs of Egypt alive long and long, so that they might build great pyramids and stoneworks. After this, I will live long and long as well, as you might say, immortal."
"And what does this ritual involve?" Nathan said, his voice dangerous.
"Why, it's simple. All I need is a pair of true lovers. When they are killed by thrusting a blade through the heart, the blood of their hearts is mixed together. With the right additive, the blood confers the immortality of their love," Maneki said, brandishing a knife and suddenly lunging at Nathan.
That was a mistake. Nathan was combat-trained and easily knocked the knife from her hand. Maneiki shreiked and flung herself at Nathan.
Carillon grabbed at Maneiki as both she and the Captain fell to the floor, tearing at each other with their hands. Maneiki lashed out at Carillon, catching the side of his head and flinging him into the wall.
Kristin drew back, not wishing to enter the fray as the battling pair on the floor rolled over, Nathan temporarily gaining the upper hand. But then Maneiki rolled fircely, bringing them both out the door and onto the deck. Kristin and Tsarkoye followed, wanting to see, but not wanting to get involved. They both feared Maneiki, Tsarkoye more than he wanted to admit.
Abruptly, Nathan lashed upward with his arms and legs, flinging Maneiki off of him. Maneiki flew upwards and nearly off of the deck. As she fell, she managed to grab the rail.
"Help me," Maneiki moaned.
"Miserable witch!" Tsarkoye raged. "You would have killed any of us for your spells and now you want us to save you?"
"Please..." Maneiki moaned, her eyes wide with terror. "Please help me!" Her hand slid on the wet railing as the rain lashed down, loosening her grip.
Nathan stood up and reached out his hand to her.
"Nathan, no!" Kristin wailed. "Your son, Nathan! She murdered your child-think about the child who never had a chance to live!"
"She deserves a chance to live and change," Nathan said. "We all do."
Maneiki reached toward Nathan's hand and the redemption he offered her. As she reached, lightning struck the steeple of the church across the street. The sharp clap of thunder seemed to rock the entire island loose from the seafloor for a second. Kristin stumbled, catching herself on the doorframe. Tsarkoye took a tumble to the boards of the deck. Only Nathan, who had had a firm grip on the railing, saw Maneiki Ramon lose her grip on the rail and fall.
Only Nathan saw fear and the realization of death finally impress itself on her features as she fell. Only Nathan would ever know how full Maneiki's awakening in her moment of death had been. He would be the only one to know what she had whispered in death.
Fully heartfelt, she had whispered-"Your son-I am sorry."
Neither Kristin nor Tsarkoye would ever believe the old woman's parting words. They were his alone, to remember.
Kristin rushed to his side. Following behind her were Tsarkoye and Carillon. The quartet looked down at the still form crumpled on the rocks in the yard below.
"I'm free," Reynard Tsarkoye said softly. "Somehow, it doesn't feel as good as I thought it would."
"You really did love that vile old woman, if for no better reason than that your mother did," Nathan said. "And there is no crime in loving someone, or in mourning a death."
Tsarkoye nodded. Tears mingled with rainwater flowed over his face.
"If anybody cares," Carillon said, "I'm calling the police to inform them of the death-" He faded and vanished into the house at his Captain's nod.
"I have my own child's passing to grieve," Nathan said. "His life was taken before it had begun. And I have my wife of twenty-one years-and both of the sons born to us to grieve."
"Why does it hurt?" Tsarkoye said, turning anguished eyes toward the captain. "I hated her with all my soul-for years!"
"I cannot say. But you must have loved her somehow," Nathan said. "It is a thousand times worse to lose family that you love with all your heart. Then you cannot cry. There are no tears to release."
Tsarkoye looked into the captain's eyes, stormy blue like the sky, and saw clearly that they were dry. The water that flowed on his face was rain and no more.
"One thing to know is this-there is no magic that can defeat human love," Nathan said. "Kristin came near to bleeding to death because of Maneiki. Kristin came near to losing me, because of Maneiki's harebrained spells. But Maneiki did not defeat us, because together we are stronger than we could be alone."
Tsarkoye nodded his concurrence, and followed Nathan back inside the house.
The next day, Kristin and Nathan were recalled to the seaQuest. seaQuest was ordered to defuse a potential undersea war between two separate companies with a disputed boundary.
After the situation had been resolved-to Nathan's pleasure, without bloodshed-something began to bother Nathan. He returned to his quarters, finding them empty and desolate. Kristin was playing Lady Chastity around him lately, and he felt it. She was still his friend, but she never came to his stateroom after they got off duty anymore. When he attempted to give her a light, discreet kiss, she pushed him away. All told, Nathan Bridger was getting frustrated.
Nathan decided that something had to be done about the situation. He was tired of being pushed away when he wanted to be cuddled. He headed for the seadeck.
Kristin was there, her back turned to the door. She was looking into a microscope and did not see him enter. Pleased at having the element of surprise, Nathan put his arm around her waist and blew into her ear.
Kristin jumped at the sudden contact. "Nathan, you scared me!" Her arms settled into a willing embrace about his neck.
"We need to talk," Nathan said. "You've been pulling away from me ever since we came back from Tsarkoye's salvage team. You don't come to see me after we get off duty anymore. Why?"
"I don't know," Kristin whispered. Other than her and Nathan, seadeck was empty, and so was as safe a place to talk as any. "It didn't feel right anymore, loving you while you were here."
"Why would that ever be wrong? The military can't nail either of us for fraternization since you are a civilian," Nathan said. "I missed you so!"
"I'm sorry," Kristin said softly, into Nathan's shoulder.
Nathan dipped his head and brushed his lips lightly against hers. "What do you say to having dinner together?" he whispered. "Then maybe spending some time just talking."
"Sounds good," Kristin said. "Let's go."
Nathan grinned and put his arm around her waist before leading her out of the seadeck and into their future...together.