"Is there something you'd like to share?" Nathan studied Ben evenly.
"Sir…" Ben hung his head in shame. "I never thought he'd go this far. I think he snapped. I had it under control, then suddenly I didn't." He stretched out his fingers plaintively. "I'm sorry."
Nathan sighed, "just tell me what happened."
"You needed the supplies so quickly, Leslie is the only one I know that could deliver. But, he wanted double payment for the rush. And right away. I told him I would pay as soon as we were done. He wanted to keep tabs on me, and I was ok with that. After we lost communications… He thought we did it on purpose to skip out on the bill." Ben dissolved into a fit of coughing at the end, holding his throat in pain.
"That's enough, stop talking if it hurts." Nathan advised gently. "We'll deal with him."
Ben shook his head, catching his breath. "No, it's my fault, I'll talk to him. He'll listen to reason."
"When has the Regulator ever listened to any reason?" Crocker growled. "The man's never played with a full deck. By now, he's just got a joker and the two of spades."
Nathan nodded, his angry expression turning to one of concern when Ben started coughing again. "Maybe Kristin should check your throat again. That sounds pretty bad."
"I'll ask her when she gets back." Ben rasped with some difficultly.
"Back? How long has she been gone?" Crocker looked around the medbay, realizing the doctor wasn't buzzing around her patients as usual.
"About a half hour." Ben answered after some thought. "She's with Hans though, remember? They should be able to deal with Vern if they come across him."
Nathan scowled, "now that he's learned to strangle people, I don't want him around anyone. Shan, find them please, they need to be warned."
"I've never seen Vern do anything like this." Ben sighed after Shan left the room.
"Leslie may have taught him, or he's doing it on his own." Nathan said darkly. "He still is a wild animal, no matter what's been done to him."
"What?" Lucas' blue eyes went wide, searching Hans' grey ones for a hint of teasing. "That's a bad joke... Right?"
Hans scoffed, "come, I have much to do before your captain's reinforcements arrive."
"No, wait. Tell me what's going on. I don't understand." Lucas hedged desperately.
"I thought were supposed to bright." Hans snarled, coming menacingly close. "It's simple, Icarus. You are holding a bomb. If you set it down or change your grip, it will explode."
Lucas flinched, a stepped back, trying to distance himself from the man's frightening expression. "So for last two days, all that time we were working together, talking together, kidding around... You were building this bomb right next to me?!" He started to breathe hard, more from anger than anxiety. "You were planning to betray me? Betray all of us?"
"No, forgive me, you misunderstand. I finished that particular device the first day, the other two took longer."
The air seemed to rush out of Lucas' lungs. "Other two? There are more?"
"Yes, of course." Hans clarified with exasperation. "This one is remotely linked to the others. One bomb could hardly take out the entire ship."
Lucas felt numb, he couldn't believe his friend would doing something like this. "Why?"
"We should have won the war." Hans shrugged, as if it was a simple answer.
"That was eighty years ago, people don't think like that anymore." Lucas edged around closer to the tank. The hand holding the bomb was starting to shake from the weight, and pure stress.
"Oh, but they do. I was able to find many likeminded groups on your tablet computer. After I had my email address, it was simply a matter of finding the one that could pay and truly believed." He snorted dismissively. "Most only claimed to see the vision of a strong Germany. They didn't want to get their fingers dirty."
"Neo-Nazis." Lucas said with disgust. "You know they hate gay people almost as much as the original Nazis, right?"
"Do you agree with every policy your government has?"
"Well, no, of course not."
"Neither did I. I knew what I was, but I also believed in the cause. If I could, and still can further it, I will."
"They wanted to kill people like you!"
Hans watched him with calculating eyes. "My death means little, but my life I have dedicated to the glory of Germany."
"But... You said you hated fighting."
"I did at first." Hans admitted. "You got use to this ship and you believe in what they do. I did too."
"I won't let you do this." Lucas forced out harshly. "I don't believe you about this thing being connected to others, and I'll kill both of us before I let you hurt my crew." He was pleased to see the hand holding the bomb and his voice had ceased shaking.
Hans looked at him sharply, trying to read his face. Lucas kept very still and stared back. After a few moments, Hans laughed softly, shaking his head. "Actually, you won't."
Guilt and shame twisted deep in Lucas' gut. He knew what the German had seen. The one thing he had never learned to hide. Although Ben often teased that his bright blue eyes could make girls swoon, they also showed every emotion. He knew they were now laced with fear and doubt.
"You will do everything I say, you will come with me to the bridge, and you will help me take over this ship."
"Please don't do this... I... I trusted you. I defended you. Even though you were..."
"Yes, yes, remember that part. I am a spy, this is what I do."
In his agitation, Lucas took another step closer to the pool. Hans smiled coldly. "Go ahead, throw it."
"What?" Lucas froze in his spot.
"Come now," Hans said softly, "do not play games. You are thinking of dumping it in the water. Maybe you'll have enough time that it won't kill you. Maybe you won't. Are you ready for that gamble?"
"I... I wasn't..." Lucas stammered, knowing he had been caught.
"I already know you do not have experience with explosives, Icarus, but tell me, do you know what happens when something detonates underwater?"
"A shock wave. It'll blow some of the tubes, but it won't damage most of the ship." He swallowed, the small piece of confidence Lucas was able to gather quickly shattered when he saw Hans' smug expression.
The German nodded, and stepped back, folding his arms over his chest. "If I may give you some advice, I'd like to show you something before you decide. It will be your choice, I will not stop you. Honestly, I am rather curious, I don't know how the salt water will affect the remote trigger. It very well may block the signal all together."
Hans turned his back, and walked to the laptop. After starting a program, he flipped it around so Lucas could see. "This face to face chatting is truly remarkable. No waiting to show people what you plan to do."
"What are you talking about?" Lucas asked hoarsely, as the program connected.
"Am I correct in my calculations that your room is closest to us, and will the most damaged by the shock wave? Even if it is only, say, knocking your furniture over?"
Lucas could only stare in horror. There, standing on the balls of her feet on the seat of his rolling chair stood Kristin. Tape covered her mouth and her hands were bound behind her back. Twisted and braided wires were tied nose style around her neck, stretching up to an overhead pipe.
"It would be a shame if she slipped, no?"
*Author hides from Tracy in a snowbank...*