Thank you so much for your beta reading, Refur!!

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Chapter 2

"You surrendered our flagship peacefully to the Alliance?" McGath yelled at Captain Hudson, who was sitting in front of him. But the captain seemed unaffected by the angry mood of the general secretary.

"With all due respect, Sir, there was no other way. That man would have killed the whole crew, if he'd had to. After that they would have got the boat and the thing which used to be Wolenczak. If I know the UEO, that would have been a serious blow."

McGath seemed a little mollified by this. "Nonetheless, I am deeply unhappy about this situation. Do you know I'll standing in front of the chief of staff later? My advisers are urging me to begin a radical re-armament of the fleet."

"That sounds like a sensible strategy," Hudson said.

"To retake seaQuest by force, and risk losing as many more lives as necessary?" Nathan Bridger objected. Up until now he had been sitting on the couch in the general secretary's office, listening indifferently.

McGath gave a sigh. "We have to think about how to move forward in this case. I'll talk to our technical department. Maybe we'll able to regain control from the outside and bring the boat back safely to the home harbour."

"And if not?" Hudson put his head on one side.

"Then I see no other way than to give the order to destroy seaQuest. Up until then, you and your crew will await further orders on the Hercules." These words were not easy for the general secretary.

"Isn't that one of your newest boats? I thought they were still in the testing phase," said Bridger, standing up and going over to McGath's desk.

"For somebody who isn't on active duty any more, you're very well informed. Regrettably. You should've warned us earlier, Nathan. The seaQuest wouldn't have fallen into the hands of these barbarians!" said McGath.

"No one regrets it more than me. You know it."

"Mr. Secretary." Captain Hudson stood up from his stool. "If that is all, then I would like to inform my crew of the new orders."

"I'll let you know as soon as I have any new information."

Hudson left the office. Bridger looked like he was going to leave too, but he didn't move. McGath had started working on the files on his desk. "You want to talk about Wolenczak?"

Bridger sat down on the stool, the one Hudson had vacated moments before. "I want to know what action you're going to take in this matter."

"I'm going to charge him with desertion."

"You can't do that. He's not a soldier!" Bridger shouted. He was angry with the way McGath pronounced this sentence. He knew Lucas very well, and he knew that he was very talented. He couldn't let him be sent to prison, or worse, when they finally found him.

"That's not what his file says. We don't know where this thing comes from, but if the real flesh and blood Wolenczak is walking around somewhere on this planet and letting this machine do his job, which he has to do according to his contract, then he will be handled like any other officer who leaves his post before his duty ends."

"The personal file only contains a contract for after seaQuest reappeared. Are you still going to shoot him if it turns out his signature was forged by the android?"

"I have no reason to doubt that signature. If Wolenczak had built this copy of himself before seaQuest disappeared, I'm sure the media would have found him by now. A scientist with his talent can't hide for long."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"But I am. His actions were irresponsible. If it had been him and not his copy on board, things might have turned out differently." He was right, and Nathan knew it. If Lucas had still been on board, he would have been able to use his talents to prevent the Alliance taking over.

"Does that mean you're planning to blame Lucas for this?" Bridger was outraged.

"That's right. Now will you let me get on with my work? I have to send out an announcement about a missing person, and try to prevent us from losing more innocent colonies to the Alliance now that it's stronger."

Bridger thought about continuing to argue, but he decided to let it be. What good would it do to argue with McGath? If he was about to send out his missing person's report, then Bridger would have to start his search as well, before the UEO found the computer genius. Unlike them, he thought he might have a lead, provided that the thing in his pocket was what he hoped it was.

Fortunately, the Macronesian boats had let Bridger's tanker go after taking seaQuest. Having left UEO headquartes, Bridger went to his private rooms. His crew would not disturb him for the next few hours.

To be sure of no disruption he bolted the door. He took off his leather jacket and threw it on his bunk, then fished in his pocket and pulled out the thin metal plate. It was shaped like a jumping dolphin, and looked like a present that he had given to Lucas to his seventeenth birthday; but that dolphin had been made of glass, and had emitted light when you pushed its fin. At that time Lucas had lived on Bridger's island for a little while, and had complained constantly about the defective bulb in his room. He said the bulb was so bad that he wasn't able to read in there before going to sleep, and he wanted to read in his own bed, not in the living room. Bridger hadn't understood what was wrong with the living room; in the beginning he had thought it was something to do with him, but later he had come to the conclusion this was one of Lucas' peculiarities, which he was gradually discovering at the time.

Because of this, Bridger was absolutely sure the little object was intended for him. A message from Lucas. The dolphin had been hidden behind some cables at the connection between the android's neck and body. It hadn't been easy to get it out without being noticed -- none of the crew had been able to tear their gaze away from the metal body for long. After several attempts, he had managed to slip the dolphin into his pocket.

He examined the little piece from all sides. Could there be something hidden in it? It was extremely thin, and there was no external sign of any mechanism. His idea of pressing the fin yielded no results. Carefully, he pressed each part of the tiny dolphin's surface. Suddenly a bright light began to shine from the object's eyes. Frightened, Bridger let it fall from his hand.

The beam of light unfolded upwards like a fan, and in the next instant a picture of Lucas appeared. Nathan inwardly jumped for joy. He knew it! Lucas had not been on board for a long time before Hyperion. This projection showed him as he had looked at the beginning of the second tour.

The projection took a deep breath. "If this thing has been activated, I guess my stand-in is no longer operational." The projection sat down, legs crossed. His hands slid nervously through his short, thick hair. "Uhm, where should I begin? Unfortunately I don't know who activated this recording. That's why I made two. I can think of a lot of ways that someone could abuse my stand-in, so to avoid this I made a second recording. That just leaves the question of how either of them can be activated. I chose something quite simple for the purpose: voice-identification. OK, just say something to me and the message will continue."

A smile flitted over Bridger's face. Yes, this was Lucas at his favorite passtime: showing others how smart he was. "Hello Lucas," he said.

The projection of Lucas looked at the ground. "Just the person I left this for. The recording would've cut off if anybody else had answered. I guess you're hoping for a few answers, Captain?"

He was right. But Bridger hoped there would be more than a few.

"To begin at the beginning, we need to go back to an event that you can't remember. At least, that's what they told me. Everything I'm about to tell you now never happened in your memory. Especially the strange encounter at the beginning of the tour with the new boat. Can you remember how excited everyone was? Particularly the new crewmembers. Who would have imagined meeting extraterrestials on a submarine? The UEO took every security precaution, and finally we met them. In all, it was an unforgettable event." He paused briefly.

Bridger did remember. Scott, his old friend, had been pretty offended that they had disappeared without a word during their second landing. But what was Lucas saying about a meeting?

"You shouldn't know this, if what I was told is true. But they were there and we contacted them. One more than the others. We tried to learn from each other. There were moments during these meetings when it seemed like the whole situation was going to escalate. But that isn't important right now. What I have to say now is that I went with them. They asked me to find a new home for them – their own was destroyed, for the same reasons which will destroy our own planet some day, too.

"The decision to go with my new friends wasn't easy. How could I, when seaQuest needed me more? Where was the UEO going to find someone quickly enough to replace me? The computer system was built according to the design of my father's programme from the first seaQuest, but with some new tricks of my own. I hadn't been able to complete it yet, and I wrote some files to help out. But this wasn't a problem for my new friends: before I was able to ask about it, this android was standing in front of me which was able to store up all my knowledge. There was a holographic projector in it which allowed it to look like me. It was even able to produce human warmth. Please don't ask me how this works. I hope to find out about the secrets of their technology soon.

"It's unbelieveable. To develop something like this must have taken centuries. But you've already seen it for yourself. Anyway, after they had given me a good solution to my problem, I still wasn't sure about leaving you all. I thought about what the Earth had to offer, and what they could give me; unfortunately, the latter won out."

Lucas stood up and began to pace nervously up and down. "So now you know that I went with them. Hopefully the android is working the way it should, and seaQuest won't have collapsed into a pile of ashes the moment I left." He smiled. "Neverthless, I don't regret anything at the moment. Maybe I will some day, when I'm old or get terrible homesickness. Right now I'm happily looking forward to the future. I'd like to thank you for being there whenever I needed you, Captain. If there are any problems, if you urgently need my help, you can contact me by the same method as we used to invite our friends from outer space to visit us."

The message ended and the projection of Lucas disappeared.

Shaking his head, Bridger sat down on his bunk. "That's funny, Lucas. I don't know how you sent that invitation. You're our computer genius, not me." He rested his forehead in his hands. "You and Scott did the only right thing, and left this planet. There's nothing left here to make you happy. During an age of war." He took a deep breath, and stood up to listen to the message a second time.

Afterwards, he paced up and down in his cabin, unable to take any action. In his head thoughts whirled around. At last, his own selfishness won. Determined, he went to his bunk. In a niche at the end of his bed he pushed aside the pictures of Carol, his wife and Robert, their son, as well as the one of his grandchild. He opened a little plate in the wall and pulled out a black, oval object which was about twice the size of his thumbnail.

What was it he'd said about how to activate this thing? Then Bridger remembered, and activated the transmitter. Now he could only wait. Hopefully they were not too far away.

And they weren't. In the evening one of his crewmembers knocked at his door and told him there were two men who said he was expecting them. Bridger told him to bring them to his quarters.

"Thanks. I didn't expect you so soon, but I'm glad of every extra minute."

"What's going on, Nathan? Have you missed me that much?" Scott laughed as he hugged Nathan. Behind him, Tobias entered the cabin. Without a word he shook Bridger's hand in greeting.

"No, but I have something that'll interest you for sure." said the former captain of seaQuest, looking around his cabin. Then he went and got the little dolphin from the secret niche.

"I'm sure you remember how we sent an invitation to those aliens after we found their old spaceship at the bottom of the sea, and they left at the last moment before meeting us."

"Of course. I was rather offended. We made the effort to invite them, and after ringing our doorbell they turned and ran away. I'd always thought that was only a funny game for human kids."

"They have a sixth sense for curious species. They knew you wouldn't let them go once they were under your microscope," Tobias laughed. "That's the way I feel, too."

Nathan laughed as well. It was true, whenever Scott got curious he had more questions than it was possible to answer. "But after they rang, they entered. They were here, Scott."

Scott looked questioningly at Bridger.

"Look at this. This morning fate showed me a little secret." He took the dolphin and showed it to them before activating it. The message started again straight after Bridger's voice had been identified.

Scott starred at the little dolphin incredulously. "This is a joke, isn't it?"

"No, I'm convinced by it," said Nathan.

"What kind of a species was it?" asked Tobias.

"We don't know much about them. They flew away without answering our questions." After exchanging a look with Bridger he added: "Or rather, I don't know anymore, because they did something to us which makes no sense to my mind. Nathan, the boy's playing a trick on you. Have you checked your calendar? Maybe today is the first of April and you haven't spotted it yet. If I know him, he can do such things with no problem at all."

"That is fundamentally impossible," Tobias said. He sat down in the armchair beside a big yucca palm.

"Don't work against me," Scott groaned.

"Is the android here on board?" Tobias asked Nathan.

"Unfortunately not. The UEO has it, and is trying to find out for itself what it is. They've started a search for Lucas. As far as they're concerned he's just a deserter."

"Doesn't he have to be enlisted for that?" asked Scott sceptically. He too sat down in an armchair.

"A lot's changed since we came back. He had to enlist so that he could stay on seaQuest. Hudson doesn't like civilians on board," Nathan explained.

"He already explained that. The android would take his place on the boat, and at once it was no longer needed, it would become redundant." Tobias leaned his elbows on the armrest of the chair.

"That's exactly what I thought. Lucas is not one for the military. He's a scientist." Bridger nodded towards where the dolphin lay on the table. "And we've just seen how good a scientist he is."

"Who exactly is this Hudson?" Scott asked.

Nathan smiled. "You wouldn't get on with him very well. He's a real military man. His order for all civilians to leave seaQuest was as smooth as a punch in the face."

"Nathan? What happend that revealed Lucas' secret?" asked Scott, voicing the one question that up until then had remained unspoken. Bridger gave them a brief account of what had happened only a short time ago.

"Lucas must come back to earth to save seaQuest and bring it back into the right hands," Tobias said. Thoughtfully, he rubbed his hand over his chin. "It needs to be done as soon as possible. But the signal that he spoke about in his message is no good. It tooks months for them to answer last time." Scott gave a nod of confirmation, and Tobias continued. "We could search for him, but where would we search for someone who is with a species that have the technology to manipulate time?"

"We have to try. Lucas is our only hope at the moment. If we can't get the seaQuest back, a terrible war will start within the next few days. This one will be worse than any other before."

"Don't you think you're overreacting, Nathan?" Scott laid a sympathetic hand on Nathan's shoulder. "You see something in this boy that isn't there. In your imagination it seems he's a saint."

"No, that's not how it is. He can do it, I'm sure."

"I could go and listen to see if there are any hints. I don't have much hope, but if a species has settled on an uninhabited planet, it won't have gone unnoticed," said Tobias.

To be continued...

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Thank you very much for all the nice reviews, Ano, Yellowvaley, dolphinology, sara, Refur, Teresa and Zoe!!!

Sara, you see, you were on the right track.