Chapter 26

Nathan knew there was still some necessary tasks to be taken care of. Francois LaPierre still had to be stopped before more scientists died, but that was a matter Ford was handling. Nathan was grateful for that, although Ford informed him that no one could find LaPierre at the moment; Nathan told him and the senior crew to keep trying because he had other matters to attend to, and Nathan was dreading it: he had to contact Cynthia and Jasmine. Nathan knew the two women were angry with him, but he was hoping they may be able to forgive him.

Nathan received a knock on his cabin door. It was Lucas.

"Uh, did you want to call them or should I?" Lucas asked. He had intended to call Jasmine anyway-they were dating, but he also knew how Jasmine felt about Nathan. Cynthia may be more accepting of a call from Nathan.

Nathan thought for a moment. "What do you think?" he asked.

"I think you should let me speak to Jasmine first, but Cynthia might talk to you," Lucas said.

Nathan nodded. "Alright, I'll call Cynthia, and you call Jasmine. Make sure you tell her we'll send a launch to bring her to see Kristin."

"I will," Lucas said. "Um, I guess I better go."

"Right. Uh, Lucas?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"No problem."

Lucas, however, wasn't looking forward to calling Jasmine. He knew she was going to be upset, obviously. And, he knew from their conversations that Kristin hadn't told her any of the dangers of working at the Manifest; she had told Lucas that she was going to do so and asked him not to say anything. He did just that, but he knew Jasmine wasn't going to take any of it lightly. But, he swallowed his pride, and dialed her number.

"Hi," Lucas said when she answered.

"This is a surprise. I was the one who was supposed to call you next," she said. Normally the two did switch off, taking turns calling one another.

"Yeah, I know, but I have to talk to you," Lucas said.

"Uh oh," Jasmine said. "This sounds serious."

Lucas nodded. "You'd better sit down," he said gently.

"Lucas?" Jasmine asked with worry and confusion. She didn't like the way he was acting and knew that whatever he was going to tell her, it was going to be bad.

"Um, this isn't easy for me to say. But, I guess I should start at the beginning. For the past several months, your mother has been working on some controversial research...some dangerous research," Lucas began. "She'd been telling me about it. I-I wanted to tell you, but she told me not to. She said she was going to tell you."

Jasmine could feel tears sting her eyes; she was anticipating some horrible news about her mother, judging from the way Lucas spoke. "What happened," she asked quietly.

"The Manifest was attacked," Lucas said gently, almost in tears himself. He loved Kristin as well, and the situation hadn't really sunk in yet until now. "S-she was shot; she's in our medbay right now. We'll send a launch for you so you can come here."

Jasmine sobbed silently. Lucas felt helpless because he couldn't physically comfort her. All he could do was try to console her with words. "She's doing better," he added.

"Is she going to be alright?" Jasmine asked through her tears.

"Dr. Smith thinks she will be, " Lucas said.

This seemed to help Jasmine calm down a bit. "When can the launch be here?"

"This afternoon," Lucas answered. "The Captain is calling your sister as we speak."

"I should have known he had something to do with this," Jasmine muttered as she wiped her eyes.

"Jasmine, that's not fair. He saved your mother, you know," Lucas said in Nathan's defence.

"Lucas, that doesn't change what he's done in the past."

"Are you going to keep blaming him?" Lucas asked. "You know, there's a lot you don't know."

"Like what?" Jasmine asked.

"Like, that they're still friends."

"She never told me that," Jasmine admitted. "I guess there's a lot she hasn't told me," she added quietly.

"She's just trying to protect you."

"That might be, but she and I need to have a long talk," Jasmine said.

"I'm sure she'd like that," Lucas said. "I'll see you later?"

Jasmine nodded as she cut the link. She wasn't particularly fond of seeing Nathan, but perhaps she'd been too hard on him.

"Standing calmly at the crossroads

No desire to run

There's no hurry anymore

When all is said and done"

~ABBA

Later that afternoon, Jasmine arrived at the seaQuest. Lucas was waiting to greet her; he hugged her gently.

"How is she?" she asked.

"I don't really know; I haven't seen her. I don't think she's awake yet. Cynthia's on her way as well. She won't be here for until tomorrow though. She had to take care of some things at the orphanage before she could leave," Lucas explained.

Jasmine nodded. "Yes, I know. She called me before I left."

"Oh, well, let me show you to your room. You and Cyn will be sharing a room together, if that's alright. We have a lot of guests at the moment. All the scientists that worked at the Manifest are here as well." He and Jasmine began walking to the guest quarters.

"Oh? Perhaps I'll get to meet some of them then. Um, after this, you'll take me to see her, right?"

"Of course," Lucas said as they arrived at the corridor leading to the guest quarters. They practically bumped into Carly and Hannah, who were walking in the opposite direction. However, the two immediately recognized the young woman.

"Jasmine?" Carly asked.

Jasmine was confused but nodded. "Yes," she said.

"Sorry," Carly said, "I'm Carly Harris, and this is Hannah Jenkins. We're friends of your mother. She's told us all about you and your sister. I want you to know she's a wonderful woman." She extended her hand.

"Nice to meet you," Jasmine said. "And, thank you."

"You're quite welcome. I guess we'll see you around?" Hannah asked.

"Sure," Jasmine said as the two continued on their way to the guest rooms.

After Lucas showed her to her room and she put her bag away, Lucas asked, "Are you ready?"

Jasmine drew in a deep breath and nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be." But she could feel herself trembling with the fear of seeing her mother in a hospital bed once again. She hugged herself to try and calm her emotions as they walked to medbay.

Jasmine had been wondering why she hadn't seen a glimpse of Nathan yet. Although she was still angry with him, she knew that eventually, they would have to confront one another. As they entered medbay, Lucas saw Wendy. He waved to her and motioned for her to come over to the pair. "Dr. Smith, this is Jasmine Nelson, Dr. Westphalen's daughter."

Wendy held her hand out to the young woman. "Nice to meet you. I suppose you're wondering about your mother."

Jasmine nodded, a bit overwhelmed by the situation and not really in the mood to talk. Wendy sensed this and placed an arm around her shoulders. "I want you to know that your mother received a single gunshot wound to her diaphragm. However, we've given her surgery. So far, she's doing well, and we expect her to continue doing well. Providing that we can monitor her very closely, there is no reason not to expect a full recovery." Wendy gave her a reassuring smile.

Jasmine gave her a small smile back. "Thank you, Doctor," she managed to say, although she was close to tears.

Wendy said, "Lucas, I'll handle it from here."

Lucas nodded. Dr. Smith wasn't allowing many people to see Kristin yet, and Lucas respected that. Besides, he really didn't need to see Kristin that way. He wanted to remember her the way she was, and had no desire to see her until she was awake and coherent. "I'll see you later?" he said to Jasmine, placing a gentle hand on her arm.

Jasmine nodded as Lucas left medbay.

Wendy led Jasmine to her mother's room. To her surprise, Nathan was there, sitting in a chair next to Kristin's bed. "You?" she said in surprise. "What are you doing here?" Jasmine had told herself she was going to give Nathan a chance, but seeing him drudged up supressed anger that she could not hide.

Nathan stood up. "Please, Jasmine, let's not fight right now." He motioned towards the sleeping form in the bed. "Let's concentrate on what's really important."

Jasmine felt tears fall as she saw her mother. She said nothing, but Nathan came over to her and placed an arm around her shoulders. Jasmine looked away from him, but didn't pull away from him either. "We can talk later, if you want."

Jasmine nodded. "Good, because it's not over, not by a long shot," she said through her tears. Wendy and Nathan left her to be alone with her mother.