Lucas stared at the gun and his brain slowly processed the information he just heard. Keep him talking! Help will be coming! It has to. A voice in his head told him. "H... how did you get here?"

Watermann sneered, "there will be enough time for all that later. Don't worry son, everyone will want to talk to me." Lucas' skin crawled at the casual nickname.

"Now, take these and tie up this welcoming community. They didn't seem very friendly." Watermann handed him several sets of thick black plastic zip-cuffs.

Lucas did as he was told, conscious of the gun pointed at the back of his head. He carefully checked each crew member for injuries as he worked. No one was moving but everyone seemed to be breathing, only the Captain was bleeding from a minor wound above eye. He must have taken the full blast head on after pushing me he thought angrily.

After cuffing Nathan, Ben, Ford, and Katie he turned to the security crew. Lucas' hand was drifting towards Shan's gun when he felt another pressing into his skull.

"Don't be stupid Mr. Wolenczak, I'm still here. Take it out with two fingers and toss it over against the wall." Again Lucas did as he was told but started sneaking peeks out of the corner of his eye at the doctor. The twisted man was a little over average height for a man with a closely shaved head. He had dark small eyes that darted over everyone and everything in the room. There seemed to be fresh burn marks on one side of his face.

After a few minutes everyone was immobilized and there was a small pile of sidearms against the wall. Lucas stood, expecting to be cuffed next. "On your knees, son." Watermann said from behind Lucas.

The teen failed to control the whimper that escaped from his lips when the man took hold of his hair and forced him into position. The whimper was echoed by a groan from Nathan and Lucas' blue eyes darted to the Captain.

"Oh, good they're waking up. I really do hate waiting around."

The first thing Captain Bridger saw, when he was finally able to open his eyes was Lucas' terrified face looking back at him a few feet away. The second thing was the man standing behind the teen holding him firmly. "Watermann. What do you want?"

The man laughed coarsely, "everyone is always so full of questions. How did I get here? Where am I? Oh dear god why does it hurt so badly?" Nathan bristled and attempted jumping at him, only succeeding in sliding on the floor a few feet. He struggled against his cuffs, but they only cut into his wrists.

"What do you want?" Nathan repeated angrily.

"Now, Captain, all I require at the present, is for you to call your crew. You will tell them to abandon ship. You and your men here will obey me, unless you want Mr. Wolenczak to suffer."

Nathan nodded and slowly stood. He knew that allowing someone to gain control of the SeaQuest could possibly get him court marshaled, but he also knew enough about Watermann that he would not ever cross him.

He walked to a wall intercom and punched it with his shoulder; the crew around him started to stir but stayed silent, watching the scene unfold around them. "Attention all crew, you are ordered to abandon the SeaQuest immediately. Take nothing from your quarters and go to the escape pods now, this is not a drill. Thank you."

Watermann released Lucas, and clapped his hands like a teacher getting the attention of young children. "Good job! Now, if you'll all come with me, I believe there a recreation room just around the corner we can all wait in while everyone gets off."

"No," Ben said hoarsely, as he struggled to stand. "We won't play your damn game. If you want to kill us, do it here and now." Katie looked like she was in shock but managed to nod, agreeing with her ex-husband.

"Why Benjamin, if you don't play, you can't win. Remember?" Dr. Watermann gave a cold smile. Ben flinched as if he had been slapped and stepped back. Watermann took hold of Lucas by the back of the neck and pushed the gun into his back. "If you would be so kind son, pack up those guns in the little lady's bag and bring them along."

He gave Lucas a shove, and the frightened teen picked up Katie's bag and dumped it out on the floor. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the gun now pointed at the Captain's forehead. "Quickly son, and stay as smart as they say you are."

Lucas gritted his teeth and gathered the guns into the bag. He handed it to Watermann while attempting to stare the man down. But he only snorted and hung the bag on his shoulder. Taking a handful of Lucas' hair again, he pulled the teen directly in front of him. "Ok folks, you know where to go."

The crew stood and strode to the rec room with Bridger leading. Watermann was in the back with Lucas and no one dared to make a move. At the door, they paused. It was locked with a keypad and no one could open it while cuffed. Watermann came forward with Lucas, "open it son."

Obeying, Lucas typed in the code and the door popped open. "Ok, boys and girls, inside and take a seat. Stay with me, son." He froze a few feet from the maniac. He hated being so submissive to the man, but he truly felt that he no choice.

The crew awkwardly sat on the couches with their arms behind their backs, and watched Watermann as he locked the door, and then took Lucas's arm to move the young man directly beside him. Moments later they heard the rest of the crew running by, and their confused voices filled the room. There were shouts as O'Neill and Ortiz tried to organize the chaos as the highest ranking officers around.

"They need someone to lead them. They are in a panic." Ford spoke up, in an authoritative tone.

"Oh, the sheep need a leader do they? Fine, Mr. Ford, go to them. Tell them it is a drill, tell them whatever they need to hear to get off my ship." He paused to glance at the name tag of the young security officer near Bridger. "Mr. Jenson, join him."

The Commander stood and advanced to the door. Watermann pulled out a jackknife from his pocket. "Son, cut the good Mr. Ford and his friend loose." Lucas took the long thin jackknife and opened it. With a chill, he saw it was filed down into the shape of a wickedly sharp fillet knife. His earlier conversation with Nathan flew back to his mind. Swallowing tightly, he sliced both sets of the plastic cuffs off.

"Mr. Ford, lead your crew, but understand this, after the escape pods are gone I will run a scan from the bridge. If I see anyone here I don't want to be here, I'll... get creative." He plucked the open knife from Lucas' hand and ran the side of the blade down the teen's cheek.

When he felt the cold metal caressing his cheek, Lucas stopped breathing, and tried his best to stop thinking. He wasn't successful.

"Yes sir." Ford hissed and left the room with Jenson.

The remaining crew could hear Ford taking charge of the situation in the hall. Soon there were the sounds of escape pods undocking and leaving the ship. After a few minutes, there was silence. Watermann smirked, "ok everyone, lets head to the bridge, shall we?"

They struggled to stand, and Watermann clicked the knife closed with one hand. Chief Crocker was the closest to the two, and bent at the waist running at Watermann. He pushed Lucas aside and speared the Doctor with his shoulder. Lucas flew against the door, slamming his back and head against it. All the air in his lungs, shot out in a ragged gasp.

Watermann landed near him and jumped up almost immediately. He brought his gun up in and with a savage blow hit Crocker upside his head. The older man slumped to the floor and didn't move.

Lucas was still trying to breathe, and rid himself of the spots in front of his eyes when Watermann grabbed him by the hair again, and pulled him upright. "Now, let's try that again." He gave Crocker a brutal kick that rolled the unconscious man away from the door.

Nathan led the silent group to the bridge, and again Lucas was forced to punch in the code to open the large clam doors. "Everyone take a seat."

Watermann took a deep breath and released it with a smile. "So, I'm sure you all have questions. After my little scan we'll have plenty of time to talk." He propelled Lucas to one of the stations and typed a few commands. In a few moments the vidscreen blinked on and showed the outline of the SeaQuest. There was a cluster of dots in the bridge but nowhere else. "Hm, thank you Mr. Ford. Always following orders, I see." He crossed to the captain's chair and engaged the autopilot. The ship started cruising in whatever direction the man chose.

Nathan sat at one of the higher seats attempting to watch all of his people at once. Ben and Katie sat on the floor leaning against Darwin's tank. Shan placed himself as close to Lucas and Watermann as he could without attracting attention.

He turned to the people around him and for the first time left Lucas alone. The teen found himself standing beside Chief Shan at a console. He angled his body to hide one hand and began typing with it. Shan watched his progress from the corner of his eye and turned to block it further from Watermann's view. Between the two bodies, the sound was muffled and unheard by anyone else on the bridge.

"So," began Watermann. "I believe there were questions?" He looked expectantly at everyone.

The Captain was the first to speak. "Why are you here?"

"Oh, that is a wonderful question. You see, my investors have been working on a way to get me out of that jail cell for years. They obviously succeeded and wanted something for compensation. They suggested I gain control of the SeaQuest. They get the ship, I get to play with my old friends Benjamin and Katie. Oh, and if I can, they would love to get a hold of Mr. Wolenczak. From what I hear, there are a lot of people out there who will pay quite a bit of money for the boy."

Lucas stopped his typing in time to hide his work when Watermann turned to him. He kept his face blank and stared back. It wouldn't be the first time someone had tried to unkindly use him for his skills.

"How did you escape?" Katie spoke for the first time, but avoiding looking at anyone.

"Ah, yes. That too is a wonderful question. For years, my investors tried to get me out. They gave substantial bribes, but nothing happened. After some time, a man was convicted of a terrible murder and sent to my prison. He was placed in the cell next to mine." He grinned at his own private joke.

"The prior inhabitant killed himself after talking to me for a few weeks. I guess I'm not very good company. Well, it was no trouble to convince him to swallow a small explosive device. He was promised money for his family, and he didn't want to die in some nasty shower room brawl. At the agreed time, I stood near my door as did he. He called for the guard and... poof. Little meaty bits came raining down all over. The guard was dead, I was injured but not badly. I managed to switch clothes with the guard and laid on the floor moaning. They took me to the hospital and I simply walked out."

"How do you know Ben and Katie? What did you do to them?" Lucas ventured. He knew he had to keep the doctor talking. The man's own ego was going to be his downfall if the teen had anything to say about it.

Watermann smiled and looked wistful. "Well, I guess I was very foolish on that front. I didn't question why my investors sent me two new employees when I hadn't asked for them. They mostly did ... well... clean up after I finished with my subjects. After only a few days I knew I had to watch them, but sadly, I was too late. The UEO came storming in and took away my pet projects."

He looked over at the couple, "they must have bonded over the experience or some such nonsense. At the trial I saw them together, holding hands, hugging blah blah blah. After I was free, I wasn't surprised to see they had broken up. People who start relationships under such stresses rarely can keep them going after everything is done." Lucas saw Ben's face redden and knew the doctor was right, or at least close.

As he finished speaking, the ship lurched to the port side. Since he planned it, Lucas was the only one prepared and jumped at Watermann. The thin teen punched and grappled with the larger man desperately but just wasn't strong enough. Watermann easily overpowered him and started to strangle him. Lucas could see dark spots in front of his eyes and knew he was about to die.

"No! Stop this! You said yourself you want to sell him!" Screamed Ben.

"You are right, Benjamin." He loosened his grip but still held tight and dragged Lucas back to the console as the teen gasped in air. "You were such a good boy before son, why the sudden change?"

He pulled out his knife and flicked it open. Slamming Lucas's right hand on the console, he drove the blade of the knife through it and into the metal. Lucas screamed in agony, and fell to his knees but couldn't free his hand. Watermann stepped back laughing as the crew watched helplessly. "Punishment will always come quickly from me son. You will learn that."