Author's Note: Disclaimer remains the same, as always. I said I'd post this after Chapter 22 was complete, but I lied. I haven't made headway on that one, but I figured I'd get this up anyway. Hope you enjoy. Thank you to everyone who has review/commented so far. I love the feedback.

Chapter Three

John Harrington eased himself into the hard wooden chair and flipped open the file in front of him. The Macronesian military intelligence was nothing short of thorough when it came to digging out details; even those hidden well within the enemy's depths. The file was thicker than he anticipated and contained information dating back to the early 21st century. While Intelligence had done a comprehensive assessment, he knew that there was information missing from that file; information that he could gather faster and far more effectively by using his own resources.

He did not doubt that this assignment was going to be grueling and generally unpleasant, but he had not reached this position within the Macronesian government by luck and good fortune. He had worked hard to gain the trust and respect that he currently garnered. The fact that General Stassi and President Bourne had approved of his credentials enough to bring him as the lead of this operation, and to run it with little interference, was satisfying.

It had taken a long time to reach the point where he had closer access to the leader of the Macronesian Alliance and it was worth everything he had to forfeit to get there. He'd given up his life, his family, everything but the constant pursuit of professional advancement. At this point, he felt as though he could justify those sacrifices because he did it for his country. At least that's what he had to tell himself just to be able to sleep at night.

Harrington closed the file again and pushed himself away from the table. He and his small team were heading out to the facility first thing in the morning to double check that their specifications had been met. Without doubt, they would have to make some adjustments to serve their needs. However, he knew that President Bourne was adamant that this operation succeeded, regardless of cost and time - within reason of course. If anything was missing, or additional resources needed, Harrington knew that he would just have to ask.

***

Lucas sat on the metal platform, his legs dangling over the Moon Pool. It was late, but he wasn't quite ready to return to his quarters. After the briefing earlier, he'd come directly to Sea Deck to call Darwin back to the boat. He'd been surprised at how quickly the dolphin responded. He had imagined that Darwin was enjoying his "time off" as much as the rest of the crew.

Even though cetacean numbers had dwindled to levels that placed them on the world's most endangered species list in the past decade, the dolphins of the Atlantic appeared to be an anomaly. Their numbers had remained relatively robust and Lucas was still digging through recently published biological studies searching for answers.

Darwin had found a healthy population of bottlenose dolphins to swim with for most of the day, yet still did not hesitate to return to seaQuest when called. Lucas watched the animal swim lazily around the tank, stopping to lift his head and chatter on occasion. The dolphin seemed to sense that he really wasn't in the mood to talk and had kept his questions and observations to a minimum. Lucas had set the handheld vocorder next to him on the platform, but he hadn't had much use for it this evening.

Lucas and Darwin had developed an especially close friendship starting almost immediately from when they'd first been introduced so many years before. Despite this close bond, Lucas was still somewhat surprised the Darwin had opted to stay with the boat and crew, rather than return to the Caribbean waters with Captain Bridger. He'd tried asking Darwin why he didn't leave, but either the concept was too complex for the vocorder to translate – it did have a limited vocabulary base – or Darwin's reasoning was not as easy to interpret. What he'd gathered from the conversation was that Darwin felt as though the crew was family and the seaQuest was home, much like he did. What he thought he could grasp from their discussion was that Darwin also was suffering the effects of being gone for an entire decade and returning to a changed world.

Lucas continued to watch Darwin swim, only half contemplating whether or not to head back to his quarters. Before he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, he heard footsteps. Lucas looked up to see Tim walking towards him.

"Hey, Tim."

"Hi Lucas."

Tim walked onto the platform and sat next to him. They'd found themselves in this same position more than once before. It was the preferred place for them to sit and think, knowing that it was very unlikely that they would be disturbed. Ever since the science and research component of the boat had been cut, and all civilians dismissed, the Sea Deck and former science wing were practically abandoned. Even Lucas had fewer opportunities to visit Darwin here these days. He was too busy with his mandatory bridge rotation as well as other duties assigned to him as the Chief Science Officer. More like only science officer, Lucas scoffed quietly. This did not go unnoticed.

Tim glanced up from staring at the water. "What?"

"Nothing."

"You can talk to me, Lucas. You know that."

The communications officer was being sincere. Of all of them, Lucas and Tim were the two that probably had the most in common. At least, they were dealing with similar issues under the new captain. Tim felt as though he was under constant scrutiny and had countless times proven to Hudson that he was not worthy of his post. While he knew he was good at his job and was one of the best the UEO had to offer in terms of officers with such a vast knowledge of languages, he was convinced that Captain Hudson didn't think much of him as a soldier.

From what Lucas had seen over the past few months, he could tell that Tim was starting to adjust to the pressures of their new lives. Not only had he actually broken orders and taken a launch to meet Kimura, but he had also made the snap decision to save her life. Tim just wasn't aware of these changes and was frequently bogged down by self-doubt.

Lucas also felt as though he was constantly being scrutinized. This led to an overwhelming urge to prove himself a good soldier; one worthy of his post. Both he and Tim had lost a lot in the transition after Hyperion. He knew that the others had lost a lot too, but Tim had lost his best friend, Miguel, and Lucas had lost the best thing in his life: his relationship with Captain Bridger.

"It's nothing. Really." Changing the subject, he added, "how come you're not at the poker game?"

Tim gave a half-attempt at a laugh. "Not in the mood, I guess. How about you?"

"Me either."

They both sat in silence for a few moments, before Tim spoke again. "They're not the same, the poker games. You know, without Miguel and Wendy."

And Lucas did know. It was strange returning to seaQuest and finding that their two former crew mates hadn't made it back. It was even stranger having no memory of where they'd been, what had happened and how Miguel and Wendy had died. All they had was Captain Bridger's vague explanation of events and the knowledge that their memories – and the boat's memory databanks – had been erased for a reason.

That day, the day that Captain Bridger had told them the truth – had been the beginning of the end. The end of everything he had come to rely on. That was the same day he'd learned that Captain Bridger, the one constant in his life, the one person he could always trust, was leaving and he didn't ask Lucas to come with him. That hurt.

He knew he and the captain weren't family, but he had thought they were close; closer than he had ever been with his own father. The captain had abandoned Lucas when he needed him and left him to deal with Hudson alone. He'd been left with a difficult decision that day; one he will always question if he'd made the correct choice. Leave seaQuest, the only place he knew as home, and his friends, or sign on with the UEO Navy. Since he had no one and no place to go, he'd felt there really wasn't much of a choice. Unlike his parents and Captain Bridger, he wouldn't abandon his "family."

Lucas rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hand. He was tired, but there was thing he needed to do before he headed to bed for the night. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a wrinkled legal-sized white envelope. He held it in his lap for a while, not quite sure if this was an appropriate moment.

Lucas looked to the man at his right and saw that he was looking at the envelope.

"Tim, I need you to do something for me."

O'Neill sat straight and looked across the water at Darwin's sleek form. "Why is it I think I don't want to know what you are going to say?

"Because you're a pessimist?" Lucas' mouth turned up at the corner with the hint of a smile.

"Very funny, Lucas. I prefer to think of myself as a realist." Tim adjusted his position towards his friend and nodded at the envelope. "Is that what I think it is?"

"It's for Captain Bridger. I need you to take it and hold onto it for me, Tim." Lucas held the envelope out to O'Neill, who did not move to take it.

"I'm not taking your death letter, Lucas." Tim looked away again.

"It's not a death letter; it's just an explanation for the captain if anything happens to me."

"Lucas, how many missions have you been on in the last 10 months? Not once have you asked me to hold onto that before. What's going on?"

"I don't know how to explain it. I just have a bad feeling about this one. I just need to know that you'll give this to Captain Bridger. You know, in case I don't come back." Lucas pulled his legs up and put his chin on his knees, still holding onto the letter.

"Fine, but I'm giving it right back as soon as you return." Tim took the letter and slipped it into his own pocket.

"Thank you." He pushed himself to standing and Tim followed suit. "I think I'm going to head to bed." He glanced at his watch. It was late.

"Yeah. Me too."

The two junior officers walked silently across the platform and out of Sea Deck. They both were on watch first shift, in seven hours.