Chapter 2

Elysium Colony

Several minutes later, when he decided it was safe, Jonathan shifted his weight off of Kristin and looked down at her. "Are you all right?"

She was stunned, but she nodded. "The others?" she whispered.

He stood and raised his voice a little. "Everyone all right?"

A chorus of yeahs and yeses followed.

Kristin finally pushed herself up and looked around. She didn't quite understand how an explosion of that magnitude didn't breach the outer section…that was until she noticed it was enclosed and sealed off from the rest of the colony with glass at least several inches thick, a detail she'd missed before. She placed her hand on one of the walls. Not even the slightest crack or dent. She peered through the glass, trying to make out the lighted dome of the main part of the colony. She couldn't see anything now, however. The water was too clouded from the dust of the explosion. "Do you think the inside of the colony is safe?" she asked worriedly, not speaking to anyone in particular. "The captain?" Her heart sank at the thought.

Jonathan took out his PAL and tried Nathan's unit once again. "Captain…can you read me?"

Static.

"Captain?" Jonathan tried again. He tapped on his PAL unit with his other hand as though it was going to help.

"No!" Kristin said. "It can't be…" The panic in her voice was evident.

Crocker put his hands on her shoulders. "Just calm down, Doc. We can't be jumping to conclusions yet. It doesn't mean anything."

At that moment, Jonathan's PAL beeped, causing them to jump a little.

Chief Crocker gave Kristin an "I told you so" look. She let out a sigh and turned her attention toward Jonathan, hoping to hear Nathan's voice on the other end.

"Ford," Jonathan said.

"Oh, I'm so glad to hear your voice," Katie replied.

"Likewise," Jonathan replied, trying to sound enthusiastic. "We were hoping you were the captain, though."

"You mean he isn't with you? I'd been trying to contact him myself as soon as we'd heard the explosion. What happened down there?"

"We're not exactly sure; we're trying to figure that out. We actually haven't been inside the colony yet. We're waiting for an affirmative from the captain before we proceed…but the explosion…"

There was a slight hesitation.

"What?"

"The colony…" Katie began. "It's gone. Where are you?"

"We're in the outer section. It's separated from the main colony…and apparently shatterproof." Then he had a sudden realization as Katie's words sunk in. "Wait…what do you mean gone?"

"I mean gone as in it's not there anymore. The explosion came from inside. You guys are all okay…aren't you?"

"Oh, my God," Kristin breathed, placing a hand over her mouth. Chief Crocker put his arms around her. Ben and Tim were speechless.

"No…we're not," Jonathan told her. "I…I don't know how to say this, but the captain was inside."

Katie breathed in sharply. "You…you're sure? Perhaps there was a launch…"

Jonathan sighed. "I don't think so," he said gravely.

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seaQuest

Chief Ortiz used the WSKRS to search through what was left of the rubble. No bodies were found. The colony was literally blown to smithereens…along with everyone and everything in it. What was left of the structure lay at the bottom of the ocean floor in bits and pieces. What had actually happened inside in the moments before the explosion remained a mystery.

The senior staff, minus Lucas, met around the ward room table immediately after the launch had returned. It was decided that Lucas shouldn't be told just yet.

"This is such a shock," Katie muttered, her voice trembling. She looked at the empty chair at the head of the table and let out a sigh. She wiped at her eyes with a tissue.

"You can say that again," Chief Crocker replied, placing an arm around her shoulders, his own eyes glistening with tears. "I can't believe it."

Quiet tears slid down Kristin's cheeks as she listened to the others' comments. They were all taking the news hard. When they'd woken up this morning, none of them ever expected this. A hand on her shoulder caused her to jump.

"I'm sorry," Jonathan muttered. He knelt next to her chair. "I was just noticing how quiet you were. Are you all right?"

She turned to look at him; even his eyes were red-rimmed, which she found surprising, showing how much Nathan had impacted each and every one of their lives. She nodded. "I'm fine."

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and stood in the front of the room. "I…I gathered you all here because…well, this is obviously not going to be easy for any of us. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but first things first; we need to inform the admiral. I, uh…I don't think I can make that call alone, so I was wondering if you'd mind if we did it together?"

No one uttered any protests, so Jonathan dialed the number and patiently. When the admiral answered, however, he wasn't alone.

"Commander," the admiral greeted. "This is a surprise." He noticed the senior staff in the background. "You all look as though someone died. Is everything all right?"

"You might want to remind that captain of yours that he's running out of time on the Bourne situation," the general barked.

Jonathan had to force himself not to give any snarky retorts. "We were handling it, sir. Unfortunately, we…we ran into a bit of a snag." He took a deep breath and looked back at the rest of the senior staff.

Chief Crocker stood and placed a hand on Jonathan's shoulder in a gesture of support.

Jonathan gave him a grateful look and turned back to the screen. "The captain's idea was to organize a small group to go into the colony."

"Damn it. That's exactly what I said not to do," the general said angrily.

"You knew full well that's what he was going to do anyway," Bill said to him. He turned back to the screen. "What type of snag, Jonathan? Where's Nathan?"

"He…he wanted to go on ahead. He wanted to be sure it was safe for the rest of us." Jonathan lowered his voice. "There was an accident."

For the first time, the admiral looked at the faces of the crew members behind Jonathan; he noticed tears. Tears. His voice caught in his throat. "What…" He cleared his throat. "What sort of accident?"

"Elysium Colony is…it's gone, sir. There was an explosion."

There was a long moment of silence as the words sunk in.

General Thomas' voice cut through it, however. "What about Bourne and his team?"

"I don't know, sir. We were never allowed inside the colony," Jonathan replied, quite shocked that he was more concerned about Bourne than the captain at this moment.

"If he'd have just done what I'd told him in the first place, this wouldn't have happened," Thomas stated. "We might not even be any closer to-"

Bill looked at him. "Frank, for once in your life, will you stop thinking about orders and protocol? You've just been informed one of our finest…and might I remind you, one of my best friends…is dead. Have a little respect. We can worry about Bourne later."

The general frowned; he wore a look of disapproval, but he turned towards the screen. "My apologies. I am sorry to hear of the unfortunate news. Captain Bridger was a great man." He turned back to Bill. "I'll leave you alone for now. I'll speak with you later." With that, he left the view of the camera, shutting the admiral's office door loudly behind him.

Bill gave the others a sympathetic look. "You…you're sure about the captain?"

Jonathan gave a nod. "I wish we weren't, but there really is no other explanation."

The admiral sighed wearily. "I'll organize an NCIS team to investigate; maybe they'll find something…and they'll be able to figure out what happened exactly. You'll take over command until the brass and I can discuss something more permanent. Set a course back to Pearl for now."

"Aye, sir."

"Try to stay strong and support one another for now," the admiral added. He then cut the link, the screen going black.

Jonathan turned to the others. "Thank you for that, everyone. As for us, business as usual as best as you can. I know it's going to be difficult, but if the captain were here…" He paused as a few sobs were heard. "If the captain were here, I'm sure he would expect nothing less. Also, I'm not sure how to go about informing the others about the news. Under the circumstances, this isn't something I want to blurt out over the PA. I…I know the doctor wanted to talk to Lucas personally. Would you all mind telling people as you see them?"

"I think we could do that," Ben replied, looking around the table at the others, who nodded in agreement.

"Very well. All dismissed."

Everyone started to file slowly out of the room; Kristin, however, made no attempt to get up yet. Jonathan approached her. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

She wiped at her eyes with her hands, turning to him, giving him an expectant look.

"You sure you're going to be able to handle talking to Lucas? If you think you can't do it-"

She held up a hand. "No, I'm fine," she assured him. "Everyone knows he loved Nathan like a father. I…I feel responsible…like I should be the one to tell him. I'll be fine. Um, Joshua is handling things for the moment, and afterwards-"

"I think right now, you shouldn't push yourselves. Of course, do what's required for the day. But when I said business should continue as usual, I didn't mean we had to ignore what just happened."

She nodded. "I have to admit, I'm not even thinking about anything else right now."

"I'm not going to raise a fuss if you take the rest of the day off," he told her.

"I'll see what happens," she replied.

"Well, I need to be on the bridge. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." He gave her arm a gentle squeeze. "Hang in there."

She offered him a small smile. "You, too."

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UEO Headquarters, Pearl Harbor

After leaving Bill's office, General Thomas knew he had to inform the secretary general of the situation right away. He barged into her office without knocking.

"Frank, what the hell is the meaning of this?" Andrea Dre chided angrily. "Is that how you treat your superior?"

"I'm sorry, but this is urgent. It's about the situation at Elysium Colony."

"Very well; just let me finish this e-mail." She typed quickly for a few minutes before turning back to him. "Okay, this better be good. Did Bridger handle the situation as you said he would?"

"I can't say; he's dead."

"What?"

"He organized a team to into the colony, and-"

"After you advised him not to?"

"You know how Bridger is…um, was; he was never very military. He was always more worried about his morals than anything. Anyway, there was an explosion. Elysium Colony is no more."

"What about Bourne and his cohorts?" she asked.

He gave a shrug. "No one knows yet. As you can imagine, it's waterworks on that boat now. And Admiral Noyce is no better."

"Well, Nathan was a dear friend of his."

"I thought you should know what was going on."

She nodded. "I appreciate that. Don't worry; I'll handle this. You'd better think long and hard about getting another team to take Bourne down if he didn't perish in the explosion. We don't want our little secret getting out."

"Exactly my worry," he replied. "Don't worry; I'll handle it. Keep me informed."

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seaQuest

Kristin watched Jonathan leave the ward room and let out a heavy sigh. Her legs felt like lead as she started toward the science lab. She couldn't help but notice the empty feeling of the submarine now. Funny how the presence of one person could make the place feel like home. Knowing that Nathan would never grace the corridors of the seaQuest again made it suddenly feel like nothing more than a hollow shell.

As she passed other members of the crew, she noticed somber and sympathetic looks. Word had apparently traveled fast, and she had the sudden fear that Lucas might have heard about it already. She'd only had about five minutes with Joshua before the meeting in the ward room; she'd told him the news and then asked him to keep Lucas sheltered from it. As she entered the lab, her eyes searched for him.

Joshua approached her immediately. "What did you find out?" he asked, his voice lowered.

She shook her head. "Not much. Um, business should continue as usual. The bare minimum today, though. I'm not going to force anyone to work if they don't want to."

"What about you?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I can't leave you alone. You're just as shaken up about it as I am."

"If you need the rest of the day, take it."

"I'll see," she replied. "Um, where's Lucas? He doesn't know, does he?"

He shook his head. "He's been out by the moon pool all day working with Darwin and that list you gave him. He's actually been having a good time, too. I checked on him earlier. He's very excited about what Darwin has learned."

She sighed. "So I get to kill his good mood. Wonderful," she said flatly.

"I think it's best he hear it from you; you two are close. It'll be fine."

"I hope so. I guess I'd better get it over with."

"Don't worry about us; we'll be fine. Good luck."

"Thanks, Joshua," she told him as she headed through the lab doors toward the moon pool. She stood at a distance, watching Lucas for a few minutes. Joshua was right; he looked so happy.

Lucas held up a black and white flashcard for Darwin to see. "Okay, smarty fins, you've been impressing me all day. What's this?"

"Pig," Darwin's voice sounded through the vocoder.

Lucas smiled. "Okay, you got that right." He wiggled his eyebrows. "Now extra credit if you can tell me what sound it says."

"Pig can't talk, not like Darwin talk," the dolphin answered.

Lucas laughed as he happened to notice Kristin's presence. "I think he's gotten too smart for his own good," he told her.

She walked to stand next to him and gave Darwin's snout a pat. "That is very impressive, Lucas. I'm so proud of you."

"I know I doubted you before about this, but I thought about what you said this morning and I realized you were right. I just kept at it, and I tried a little different approach with Darwin. It really only took me a few hours to teach him, once we got going. Now you can show your research university that we've done it…and maybe they'll be willing to give us funding for more projects with Darwin," he said, the excitement in his voice evident. "I can't wait to show the captain. Do you think he'll be impressed?"

Kristin hesitated. "I'm sure if the captain were here, he'd be very proud of you and Darwin both," she replied quietly.

Lucas didn't seem to notice the fact she was speaking in the past tense and glanced at the clock on the wall. "You're back earlier than I thought you'd be. Is the captain on the bridge? Do you think he'd have a free moment to see?"

"I don't think…" She sighed. "Lucas, we need to talk."

He studied the features of her face for a minute. His smile faded. "You look like you've been crying," he noted.

She reached over and shut the vocoder off. "Your room or mine?" she asked shakily.

"Mine's closer," he replied.

She put her arm around his shoulders and ushered him down the hall.

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Lucas closed the door behind them as they entered his cabin. "Uh, have a seat," he told her.

She sat in the chair in front of his desk while he sat on his bunk.

"Doc, what's this about? I saw the way people look around here. I'm not blind, and you have tears in your eyes again. What's going on?"

It was true, tears had crept up again. She swallowed hard and choked them back, however. "Well, um, something awful happened at the colony."

"Someone got hurt?" he asked worriedly.

She nodded, her hand covering her mouth as she tried to stifle the sob that threatened to escape.

Lucas waited patiently for a few brief moments for her to compose herself.

She took a deep breath and willed herself to continue. "I'm sorry," she muttered. "This is... There's no easy way to say this. Um…when we arrived at the colony, the captain…he wanted to go on ahead to make sure it was safe. He…he didn't want anyone getting hurt." She let out a soft sob. "Lucas…there was an explosion. The captain…he's…gone."

"What? No! He can't…he promised."

"Lucas, it was an accident. No one planned for this." She tried to put her arms around him, but he pushed her away.

"Lucas, there wasn't anything anyone could do," she said, letting her tears flow freely now.

"He promised everything would be all right. You promised me you'd take care of him," he accused angrily.

"Lucas, I tried. So did Commander Ford. The captain insisted on going on ahead instead. There wasn't anything we could do. This isn't exactly the time to analyze it now. We can't go back and change it."

Lucas didn't answer her. Instead, he turned from her and leaned up against the aqua tubes, his face buried in his hands.

After a few minutes, Kristin placed a gentle hand on his shoulders. "Lucas, it's okay to be sad. We're all sad. And it's okay to cry. I'm here for you…for anything you need…day or night. If you'd like, I-"

"I want you to go," he told her, not bothering to look up.

"And it's okay to be angry. I'm angry, too."

He turned to her then, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I don't need you to tell me what I should or shouldn't be feeling."

"Lucas, that's not what I meant. I…I want to help you. I-"

"I told you to leave."

"Lucas…please."

He walked to the door and opened it then. "Go."

Kristin sighed. "Lucas, I think… If the captain were here, he-"

"Well, it's a little late for that now, isn't it?" he said bitterly. "Now please leave!"

Kristin stepped through the door, but it didn't stop her from trying to talk some reason into him. "Lucas, I just want to help you," she offered weakly.

The only response she received, however, was the slamming of the door in her face.