Many thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I still don't own anyone in the stories.


Chapter 4.

Ford hesitated. Was it really his place to interfere? Bridger appeared to read his thoughts.

'If you have any information to share, commander, I want to hear it.'

'It's not really information, Captain, more a gut feeling,' Ford confessed.

'Go on, commander,' Bridger said.

'I don't think Lucas's relationship with his father is all good,' Ford said, taking great care over his choice of words.

'Has Lucas said anything to you?' Westphalen asked.

Ford shook his head. 'It's just that, when he's with his father, Lucas is, well…' he sought for the right word, '…obedient.'

'And you think that is a bad thing, Commander?' the emphasis Westphalen put on his rank was clear, 'I thought that is what you wanted Lucas to be, maybe your just jealous because you can't get the same reaction from the boy?'

Ford ignored the last part, and also tried to ignore the Captain's muffled laugh that was hurriedly covered with a cough.

'Maybe obedience isn't the right word,' the hesitation was much shorter this time, if he was going to do this, he might as well do it properly. 'I think Lucas is afraid of his father.'

Bridger and Kristen were silent for a moment as they each took the information in.

'Perhaps they don't know each other enough well enough and Lucas is just nervous around him?' Bridger hazarded the hope that he was right quite clear in his voice. Ford understood the emotion, even though he wasn't close to Lucas, Ford could feel his blood run cold at the idea of his father hurting him.

'I didn't notice much nervousness from him when he came aboard seaQuest,' Ford pointed out, 'I'm sure you know Lucas better than I do, sir, but his reaction to his father does make me wonder if there isn't more to it than that.'

'You think Dr. Wolenczak may be violent?' Bridger asked.

'I don't know, sir. But from what I've seen of Lucas he doesn't follow orders willingly, even from you. His reaction to his father does make me concerned.'

'Then I'm not going to risk it,' Bridger said, 'we'll send you the co-ordinates and collect you all as soon as possible.'

Ford nodded and was soon looking at the blank screen. He was glad, not to mention more than a little bit relieved, that they were leaving the Dome. All he had to do was get the shore leave party into a launch and to the rendezvous point and he could stop being a baby sitter and start being a UEO officer again.

Sometimes you just had to start with the easiest job and work your way on from there. O'Neill was sober and tended to react reasonably well to being woken up in the middle of the night. Ford looked at his watch, it was actually six in the morning, but it still felt like the middle of the night because he had managed to get to his bed yet.

The young officer reacted just as Ford had expected him to. Being woken up after only just dropping off to sleep was a common enough thing on a UEO submarine, O'Neill took it in his stride. If his eyes were a little bit bleary behind his glasses and he hid a yawn behind one hand at least he made no complaint at the trip being cut short – if only he could rely on the same from the rest of them. A moment or two later the two men had their bags packed.

'Lucas?' Tim suggested looking at the boy's door.

Ford nodded, 'Then he can wake Krieg up.' The Commander had no wish to undertake that particular mission.

Failing to wake Lucas up by knocking on the teenager's door they went to the door opposite where Lawrence was supposed to be staying. The knocking failed to elicit a response there either. Ford tried the handle, just in case it was still unlocked, and the door swung open.

Lucas was fast asleep, his chin propped up by an elbow on the desk. Next to him the computer ran numbers and calculations. As the two officers watched the computer reached the end of its programme and an alarm beeped. The teenagers head was right next to the speaker. Lucas groaned, and rubbed his eyes as he tried to focus on the streams of numbers that had been produced.

Ford cleared his throat. Lucas spun around, but relaxed as he saw who was there. 'Commander, what's wrong?' Lucas asked.

'We have to go back to seaQuest we're being sent out of the area.'

'Now?' Lucas asked, already turning back to the computer and starting analyse the date.

Ford nodded, 'Where's Dr. Wolenczak?' he asked, 'we need to tell him that you are leaving.'

'Um, he just stepped out for a few minutes,' Lucas said, keeping his attention on the computer.

'You need to find him and let him know what's happening. Do you know where he went?'

'He'll be back in a few minutes, I'll just finish off doing this while I wait for him to get back.'

'Lucas, we're leaving now. The Captain won't enjoy being kept waiting.'

'This won't take long…' Before he finished the sentence Lucas's attention was already back on the figures and he showed no sign of knowing Ford still stood next to him.

Commander Ford decided it was time to get serious. After a quick inspection he found the power outlet on the wall near the desk. He put his finger on the switch ready to press.

'Lucas.' He repeated the teenager's name until he looked up. 'I'm going to press this switch when I reach ten.'

'Commander, you can't…' Lucas began, but he saw the look on the XO's face and was already shutting down programmes and saving the contents as he went, before the men reached two. The last programme saved its contents on Nine. Lucas wasn't sure if the Commander would have switched off the power if he had reached ten, but experience had told taught him that the Commander rarely made idle threats. Lucas did not want to see his father's face if he came back to the room to find that his son had nothing to show for the last couple of hours work.

'Get your stuff packed, and get Ben up. Then find your father and let him know what's happening. I'm piloting the launch away from this place in exactly fifteen minutes if you are on it or not.'

This threat probably was idle, Lucas thought, as he crammed the paperwork he needed to continue his father's work into his holdall. The chances were that Ford wouldn't go back to the seaQuest without him. Part of Lucas liked to think that the Captain wouldn't be too pleased with the XO if he did. On the other hand if they were departing for an important mission, and that mission didn't involve computers, perhaps the Captain wouldn't care either way. You couldn't hold up a UEO flag ship for a teenage kid, right? Lucas reminded himself, not for the first time, that he shouldn't get too attached to the Captain.

Ben, and a hung-over Ben in particular, was a heavy sleeper. Lucas pounded his fist against the door. Finally he heard movement inside. After several seconds of listening to someone fumble with the lock on the other side of the door Lucas saw the door open, and in the darkness beyond Ben was holding his head and leaning against the wall for support.

Ben opened his mouth but all he could manage was a groan. Lucas reached into the room and switched the lights on in there. Ben removed his hands from his temples and put them over his eyes.

This time, when he opened his mouth he managed to speak. 'Is there any particular reason why you're torturing me, or do you just enjoy it?'

'I just enjoy it,' Lucas agreed, gently his friend to one side so he could get into the room. As the teenager moved around the bedroom grabbing clothes, and whatever random things Ben had thought it necessary to bring with him on the trip, and stuffing them into Ben's bag the older man collapsed face down on the bed.

'What time is it?' Ben said into his pillow.

'No idea,' Lucas said, pulling a shirt that had been kicked half way under a chair out from it's hiding place and shoving into the bag with the rest.

'Why did you wake me up?' Ben said, if anything the words were even more muffled this time.

'SeaQuest is picking us up.' A quick inspection of the room showed it to be empty of everything Krieg owned. Lucas dropped Ben's bag outside the door and went back in for Ben himself.

The supply officer was snoring. 'I don't have time for this,' Lucas muttered to himself. It already had to be way more then five minutes since he'd left Ford. Lucas grabbed one of Ben's arms and, putting all his weight into the action, pulled Ben so hard he fell off the bed onto the floor. It succeeded in waking the man up. While Ben was still trying to work out what was going on, Lucas dragged the men to his feet and led him to the door.

Ignoring Ben's complaints, Lucas picked up Ben's bag and tucked it under Ben's arm. As the walked down the corridor Lucas saw Tim propelling Miguel out of another bedroom a little way away with one hand.

'Tim! Catch!' Lucas pushed Ben in Tim's direction. Tim O'Neill turned in time to see Ben stumble to a halt a few steps away. Fielding Ben into line with Miguel he nodded to Lucas and pushed his two hung-over crewmates towards the launch.

Long experience when he was younger had taught Lucas that it was practically impossible to find his father in the maze of bars and clubs in the dome. Looking at his watch, Lucas knew he only had a few minutes before he would need to run for the launch. He didn't waste time looking for his father, but slipped back into his fathers room, switched the lap top back on and, opening a new document typed as coherent an explanation as possible.

All the hours he had spent typing programming ment, even then, his fingers could fly over the keys, Lucas just wished he was in a fit state for his brain to think as quickly as his fingers moved. It took too long to make the words make sense, in the end he had to admit that the explanation wasn't going to get any better. Turning the screen towards the door and leaving the screen switched on so his father would see it when he came into the room Lucas grabbed his bag and ran from the room.

His father wouldn't approve of the note, come to that Lucas was pretty sure that neither Ford nor Bridger would be thrilled if they found out about the method either, but it would have to do. All he wanted to do was get back to seaQuest and crash out for a few hours. When he woke up he'd be able to think more clearly and he could sort everything out then. Everything would be OK once he got some sleep.

When Lucas arrived at the hatch that led to the launch Ford had his hand on the handle of the hatch and was about to close it. The Commander was looking at his watch. Slightly out of breath Lucas ran up.

'Congratulations, Lucas, seven seconds to spare. You told your father?' Lucas nodded, it wasn't really a lie, Ford closed the hatch behind them and went back to pilot the launch out.

The rear cabin the launch consisted of two rows of seat, one set against each wall. Miguel and Shan sat on one side, each cradling their heads in their hands and muttering things about giving up drink for ever. The seats next to them were taken up by all the bags.

Ben lay across all the chairs on the on the other side. Occasional groans from that direction implied that the man wasn't actually dead – but corpses had been known to look healthier.

Moving anything off the seats was too much effort. Lucas dropped his bag on the floor and lay down with his head resting on it. The paperwork he had taken from his fathers room rustled and crackled as he tried to push the overstuffed bag into a comfortable pillow. He gave up, it would do. Lucas was pretty sure it didn't matter how uncomfortable he was, sleep would come quickly. He was right.


The rendezvous site was not far from the dome and the launch was soon within radar distance of seaQuest. Tim peered through the hatch that separated the front and back portions of the launch. Lucas was lying in the middle of the floor, eyes closed and apparently not at all disturbed by either the noise of the engine directly below his head or the, now slightly more coherent, curses and complaints from the other three occupants.

'We're almost there. I'm pretty sure Dr. Westphalen and the Captain will be waiting in launch bay so you might want to try to look sober when you get there,' Tim advised.

Ben groaned loudly, and Tim hushed him, pointing to Lucas, fast asleep on the floor. The supply officer looked down and noticed the teen for the first time.

'Do you think "so exhausted he's sleeping on a cold metal floor" fits in with Dr. Westphalen's orders of bringing Lucas back fit, well and in one piece?' Ben asked Tim.

'At least he's in one piece,' Tim said, 'and I'm pretty sure he's sober.'

Ben flopped back onto his seat. 'She's going to kill me. I don't want to die hung-over!' he protested.

Tim O'Neill glanced at the screens over his shoulder. 'We're approaching seaQuest now, you'd better wake him up.'

Doing his best to keep his head still, and his vision focused Ben knelt down by Lucas and gently shock Lucas's shoulder. 'Wake up, kid. We're almost home.'

Lucas turned in his sleep and pulled his shoulder away from Ben's hand. Ben called his name again and Lucas woke up with a start, sitting up quickly enough to make Ben's head spin.

'I just dropped off for a second while the programme ran the numbers…' Lucas trailed off as he opened his eyes and focused on the men around him.

'What programme?' Ben asked, holding his head again and sitting back on one of the seats that had earlier made a make shift bed for him.

Lucas ran a hand through his hair, bidding for time as he tried to remember where he was. 'What programme?' he asked.

'That's what I wanted to know. You said something about falling asleep in the middle of something.'

Lucas dragged himself to his feet and flopped into the chair next to Ben. 'I must have been dreaming,' he dismissed the idea casually enough.

'Kid, has anyone every explained to you that teenage boys are not suppose to dream about computer programmes?'

Lucas laughed and leaned back in the uncomfortable chair, resting his head against the bulk head behind him. His eyes began to drift closed again.

'When was the last time you slept, Lucas?' Tim asked, still in the hatchway.

'Last night,' the response was instant and automatic. Lucas didn't even open his eyes let alone engage his brain.

It was the reply he expected. Tim shook his head and went back into the front section, saying over his shoulder, 'Good luck getting the doctor to believe that!'


There was a welcome party waiting for them when the men stepped off the launch. Kristen Westphalen cast an analytical glance over each man as he emerged from the hatch. The expression on her face when she saw Miguel, Shan and Ben told them exactly what she thought of the hang-overs they still couldn't quite manage to hide.

Tim and Ford received slightly more friendly glances when they emerged sober and apparently healthy. Lucas was the last out and one look at the dark shadows under his eyes and his pale face told her quite enough to put both her mothering instincts and her doctors instincts into overdrive. Still not quite awake, Lucas stumbled on the threshold of the hatch which did nothing to ease Kristen's feelings.

As she was observing the others Ford made his reports to Bridger. The Commander was just about to leave the launch bay when Kristen called him back.

'Don't run away, Commander, you all have appointments in med bay. No arguments!' she turned her attention back to the others.

Ford cast an almost pleading glance back at the Captain. Bridger smiled but shook his head. 'You heard the lady, no arguments. You can report to me afterwards, and then I'll brief you all on the mission.'

Ford sighed. He knew that there was no way of getting out of this. He wasn't the fondest of doctors at the best of times and this didn't feel like the best of time – not at all.


Kristen herded them all towards med bay. While she itched to ask Lucas about his shore leave she had learnt not to ask him too many questions, or rather learned that asking him lots of questions didn't do any good. The answers were always automatic and exactly fitted in with whatever you wanted to hear. To find the truth was harder. You had to watch the boy, little details in his expression, what he didn't say, when he didn't look you in the eye. It was pointless to ask him anything when you couldn't give him your full attention, you'd learn nothing that way.

'Commander, you're first.' She saw Ford's jaw tense as he forced himself not to say anything. He walked into the examination room and she followed him, closing the door behind her.

'Is this strictly necessary?' Ford asked as the doctor took out of a draw what she needed to take blood samples.

'No,' she said, 'but the easiest way to get Lucas in here is to make him part of a job lot.'

'If I'm just here to make up the numbers,' Ford pointed out, 'you don't really need to take blood.'

'Well, it's a pity to waste the opportunity, since you're here anyway,' Kristen bit her lip and didn't laugh at the expression on the commander's face. 'And, while you're here you can tell me a bit more about Lucas and his father.'

'There's not much to tell you. It just seemed wrong.'

'You've going to have to do better than that, Commander. Think of this as a practice round before you explain it to the Captain.'

Ford stared at nothing for several moments. 'If we were all in a…' he tried to think of the best word.

'A strip club, Commander? I am familiar with the term.' Kristen knew she shouldn't tease him, but Ford did make it difficult to resist sometimes.

'If we were in a bar,' Ford said, 'and the Captain walked in and ordered Lucas out of there, what do you think Lucas would say?'

Dr. Wesphalen thought about her answer before she spoke. 'Probably that he isn't a child, or that he has as much right to be there as anyone else, or something sarcastic if he was in one of those moods.'

'And if someone else, other than the Captain, ordered him?'

'Definitely some sort of sarcastic response. Why?'

'So, what would you think if he just did as he was told without saying anything?'

'He didn't say anything?'

'He just got up and went to follow his father out of the room, no back talk, no arguing, nothing.'

'It does seem out of character,' she confessed.

'He didn't even do what he was told when the people telling him were terrorists who had taken over the boat. What kid is more afraid of his own father than of terrorists?' Ford asked.

Kristen didn't answer; she was too busy asking herself the exact same question.

She took the blood samples from Ford and completed the basic check up on auto-pilot, not expecting to find anything wrong with the Commander and finding just what she had expected.

Tim was ordered into the room next. As Kristen drew blood, and went through the basics of blood pressure and temperature she asked the young officer what he thought about Lucas and his relationship with his father.

'He was acting strange,' Tim admitted, 'But, if I'm honest, doctor, I don't know how much is down to meeting is father, and how much is just exhaustion. The kid just doesn't get enough sleep.'

Kristen nodded. Of course, convincing the boy to have eight hours solid sleep every night had been a long standing battle, but she hadn't realised she was losing by so much. If only this could all be explained and cured so easily.


Krieg was not looking forward to his check up. Kristen hadn't looked to be in a good mood. If his head would stop throbbing maybe he would be able to handle it better, but the drumming on his temples was echoing around his skull and setting off little bursts of light behind his eye balls.

When his turn came, he walked as carefully as he could into the exam room and sat down, gently so as not to make any noise. Kristen closed the door with a bang, Krieg was sure she did it on purpose. He looked pitifully at her.

Kristen smiled to herself and rolled her eyes. 'Let's find out how much blood you have in your alcohol stream, shall we, lieutenant?'

She took the samples, and if she made a little extra noise when she used the equipment Krieg wasn't quite stupid enough to complain.

'Did you enjoy your leave?' she asked as she finished taking his temperature.

'What I can remember of it,' Krieg hazarded. He took a deep breath, 'before you say anything else, doctor, I would like to point out that Lucas spent most of the time with his father – I cannot take any responsibility for anything he may have got up to when I wasn't there.' It wasn't a bad speech; Ben had spent a lot of the time in the waiting room practicing it, and he was quite pleased with how sober it sounded.

'Don't worry, Krieg, you're off the hook. For this at least - I'm sure you'll find something else to get yourself back in trouble for soon enough. All you have to do now is survive the briefing and your next shift while you're hung-over.'

Ben groaned.

Miguel and Shan managed to elicit very slightly more sympathy from Kristen, but only very slightly. Lucas was the last one to be called in. Ushering Shan out of the room, Kristen called Lucas but he didn't appear around the door.

'If that boy has ran off again…' she muttered the words under her breath but they trailed off when she walked back into the waiting room and saw Lucas sitting where she had left him once more fast asleep.

It was a shame to wake him but it had to be done. She knelt down next to him and gently nudged him awake. 'Five more minutes,' he muttered.

Kristen sighed. 'Come on Lucas, you can sleep more comfortably in here.' With some gentle encouragement Lucas moved himself from the waiting room onto the bench in the exam room. The doctor wasn't even sure he woke up entirely at any point. He lay down on the bench and within seconds his breathing had evened out and he was in a deep sleep.

In some ways it would make the check up easier. He probably wouldn't have been too keen on the idea of some of the tests she wanted to carry out. Kristen started by doing the same tests she had carried out on the other men. Lucas didn't even wake up when she took the blood. A few minutes later when she started up the body scanner she was sure the noise would rouse him, but Lucas slept on.

He was still sleeping when Kristen switched all the machines off. Before she walked into the lab next door to read through the print outs of information Kristen took a blanket from the hospital stores and tucked it around Lucas, brushing a lock of hair off his forehead. The boy looked too young, closer to ten than sixteen, as he snuggled under the soft wool in his sleep.

Kristen closed the door quietly behind her and opened the lab door. The doctor in her said that whatever the results said wouldn't change if she put it off, but the rest of her, all the parts of her to which Lucas was far more than a patient, hesitated. She wasn't sure what she would do if they showed the history a lot of Lucas's friends were beginning to expect. 'Pull yourself together, woman,' she ordered herself under her breath, 'you're a doctor, start acting like it.'

All the test results were in a pile in the printer tray, they made quite a bundle. Kristen picked them up and sat down at her desk to read them.

To be continued…


If anyone has any comments, criticisms or anything else to say, please do review. I'm trying to update at least one of my stories every week so the next part should be up before long.