Chapter Eight

Disclaimer - I own neither Thunderbirds nor seaQuest. I do, however, own two psychotic cats who have the warped idea that chasing a live mouse INTO the house and across my foot is a good idea. Anyone want a cat? Harry and Hermoine - get off the kitchen table NOW!!

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Hitchcock pounded on the door once more, venting the fury that had built up at being locked in the small room for more than an hour. Ben remained seated on the floor, his back resting on the metal shelves that lined the room. He had tried to discuss the matter with his ex, only to have her snap at him once more. Katie was a very smart woman; she would eventually come to the same conclusion as he had: they were stuck until the crew came back. Even though much of the crew would be on shore leave, Ben knew a group of maintenance workers were to meet the sub at it's return and begin to try and hack away at the long list they had waiting for them.

"Why," Katie sputtered, "is there no handle on that door?"

Ben studied his nails and responded, "Removed as part of a failed repair attempt. It seemed they needed more parts that were not on board."

"So why didn't you order them? You are in charge of supplies."

"I did. Two weeks ago. Expedited them four days ago when one of Crocker's men got stuck in here, but luckily he had a co-worker right outside." Picking at a nail, he queried, "I did notice that the first complaint of a problem with the door – and the reason nothing is being stored in here at the moment – came almost a month ago. But no one put in a supply requisition for the parts so no one could ever replace the item. It wasn't until the comm relay in this part of the sub went on the fritz that someone decided to say, oh, and by the way, we need parts for a door to get repaired."

Katie shrunk at the slight glare that Ben threw at her. Part of her duties was to oversee and ensure all repairs to keep the seaQuest running. If she dug through the stack of repair orders on her desk, she had no doubt there would be a reference somewhere to the door. Ben didn't say anything directly to her but continued on. "Luckily, O'Neill mentioned to me about the door when he discovered his PAL wasn't working for a thirty foot radius. Small area but significant. And since this is actually an attached area to a larger storage room, there is no other comm unit." Ben hid a small smile; he didn't want to have Katie see his slight amusement at the predicament.

"There has to be a way out." Hitchcock grumbled, looking around.

"One door, no handle; since this is part of a larger store, the other door, due to this room's compromised nature, had been sealed. No getting in to that room to get out and forget the ventilation system. The Old Man did too good a job designing this boat. So…" Ben mused, "since we are stuck here, for at least another hour or so, with nothing else to do, I have an idea. Why don't you tell me what has been bugging you since the conference and I can tell you how much it has hurt to lose your friendship." Katie looked at Ben in shock. "Katie, we were always better friends than lovers, and I have felt like since we were both assigned here that we had reclaimed that friendship. And I missed it. What have I done to lose it again?"

Sliding to the floor and leaning against the racks opposite Ben, Hitchcock hung her head and muttered, "You were going to leave me." Raising pain-filled eyes to her ex-husband, Katherine Hitchcock admitted to him what had been eating at her for months. "You nearly died! Ben, you weren't armed and you jumped a guy with a gun. What were you thinking?"

Irritated, Ben stood and shouted, "That I couldn't let those guys grab Lucas and Alan! That I had given my word that I would protect them and I was damned if I was gonna fail!"

"So you let yourself get shot!"

"I would have rather been shot than have anyone say I didn't fight to save them!"

"So you would have rather died than let anyone say you didn't try!"

"Yeah!" Ben stilled, failing to notice Katie had as well. Sliding back into his position on the floor, he nodded and repeated, "Yeah. I would have rather been dead than fail to protect Lucas. He's all I have these days. My family is all dead, the family I had hoped to have with you never happened, but with Lucas, I am this funny, clever big brother and I would rather be dead than lose that. He's all I have."

Edging her way across the floor Katie took her ex-husband's hands in her own, surprised when he raised anxious eyes to her own. "Your not alone Ben. You never were. And you are right. We were better friends than lovers. So…can my friend tell me why he didn't mention the door problem to the second officer? You know - the person in charge of repairs on this tub?"

Ben smiled weakly. "Because, my friend the second officer has barely spoken to me in months and when she does, all she does is criticizing me and it was getting to me. So is my friend gonna stop snapping at me constantly and save her gripe sessions for when I really screw up?"

Katie moved to sit next to Ben and placed a hand on his arm in a comforting gesture. "I think your friend and your second officer can manage to do both."


John longed to turn around and belt Jackson a good one. Having a gun stuck in your back as you were pushed along was not how he had planned to spend the day. He couldn't even reach his watch to signal his father and Alan that something was wrong, since his captor had twisted his arm tightly against his back. Looking over at Tim, John was concerned. His friend was nervous and disturbed. Both men were awash in the helpless feeling they were having.

Tim O'Neill felt that frustrated was both a perfect word and utterly inadequate to describe the situation he now found himself in. In the moment that John had been held hostage, Tim found himself unable to act. Kicking himself mentally, the officer repeatedly berated himself for not realizing something was up. Was this how Ford and the others had felt when Schrader and his men had boarded the seaQuest? But Crocker had gotten off the alarm – something O'Neill had been unable to do. The alarm sounding had bought time. Time in which Ford was able to use to establish himself, time for Katie to seal the bridge (something that hadn't lasted), time for Ben to get Lucas away…

Lucas! That guy, Cobb, had said there were four of them and five with Cobb. Originally, it was supposed to be John, Tim, Bridger and Lucas. Alan and Jeff had been last minute additions. They would discover Jeff once they got to the bridge. But since they knew Lucas was supposed to be on board, the teenagers were as much at risk as ever.


Up on the bridge, Jeff was concerned by the silent alarm that had shaken his wrist a short time earlier. Alan had set off the alarm; John had yet to acknowledge receipt. Was something wrong with either or both of his blonde sons? Jeff longed to go check on his sons, but how to explain that he knew something was wrong?

"Nathan, can you check with O'Neill and see how much longer they'll be?" Jeff didn't explain his reasoning and he breathed a sigh of relief when Bridger didn't ask.

"O'Neill. O'Neill?" Bridger called into his PAL. "Tim? Do you read me?" Raising concerned eyes to Jeff, he tried the comm system. "Bridge to docking bay, come in." Shaking his head, the Captain looked concerned. "I don't like this. I want you to stay here on the bridge; I need to go check this out. I'll seal the bridge behind me, it will only reopen for me – understand?"

Jeff shook his head. "Nathan, my boys are out there. If something is going wrong, I am not going to sit back and wait."

Bridger raised a placating hand. "Jeff, I understand. Lucas may as well be my son and Tim – well, that young man grows on you. I want to protect them, too. But if something has gone wrong, it makes this a military situation and I am responsible here. And one thing I am responsible for is making sure no civilians are harmed." Saying that, he punched in a code and began to head towards the doors.

Approaching the doors as they began to close, Bridger barely heard O'Neill's shout of "Captain, get back!" when the butt of a rifle slammed into his head. Dazed and bleeding, Nathan was stunned to look up and see Cobb leaning over him, holding a gun to his head.

"Ah, Nathan Bridger – surely you remember ya ol' pal, Frank Cobb? Because I never forgot you."


Having tried a variety of methods to communicate with the bridge, Lucas was becoming nervous. "Alan, something is really wrong here." He turned to see Alan grabbing laptops and comm equipment. "What are you doing?"

"I think I am getting us out of here."

"What are you talking about?"

Alan looked harshly at his friend. "You can't reach anyone. Neither can I. Something is wrong and we need to be somewhere that people don't expect us to be. We need to stay one step ahead. If I am being paranoid, fine. If not, you can thank me later."

"What do you mean, you can't reach anyone? Cell phones don't work on board a sub. And I haven't seen…"

Opening the door and motioning to his friend, Alan shook his head, gesturing to his wrist communicator. "Panic button on the watch - I set it off, low setting. More of an "I'm kinda nervous here; tell me I am being an idiot. No one has, which means, I'm not. And if you can follow all that, you really are a genius."

Grabbing some communications equipment he thought might come in helpful, Lucas followed Alan out of his quarters. Alan's father must have added the panic alarm to the watch after his kidnapping. Too bad he didn't have it back then - could have saved us a lot of trouble."

Once in the passage way, Lucas grabbed his friend's arm. He had the perfect place for them go if they were to see what way the wind was blowing. In his head, Lucas tried to be logical. Some worse case scenario couldn't be happening again, could it? But in his heart, he knew Alan was right. And the safety he had found aboard the seaQuest with Bridger was definitely at risk. It was time to get the information they needed to get out of whatever situation they now found themselves in.

Following Lucas, Alan bit his lip, scared and nervous. He couldn't use his wrist communicator to contact Thunderbird Five or Tracy Island. Not without revealing themselves to be International Rescue. But he would do whatever it took to protect Lucas and rescue his family. Alan had done it before. And whatever they were up against, nothing could be scarier than the Hood – right?

a/n - Ah, so the bad guy are assuming position. Alan and Lucas are making plans. And things might just get a tad dicey and dangerous. Gave Ben and Katie a chance to talk things out (thanks for the feedback on their conversation S!) and they will get involved again at a key point. Just mmay not see them for a few chapters. As always...reviews make my world go round. - CC