Chapter 51
Nathan made sure seaQuest was in tiptop shape. He also made time for each one of his co-conspirators for a word in private. Wendy was first on his list. She'd taken time off, like he'd ordered, but it really hadn't been long enough. "As soon as we're in the clear, you get shore leave," he told her.
"Assuming we don't get hijacked, you mean."
"Come on, have a little faith."
She sighed. "I know. It's just hard knowing I'm supposed to die."
Nathan's jaw dropped. "I thought you had that memory erased?"
She shook her head. "I don't remember anything Major Allen dumped in my head while he was under the influence of that Psysine drug, no. But you insisted I stay in the room to watch the video recording of your older self chewing you out. I didn't get that information from a mind-scan."
"God, Wendy, I forgot about that. I'm sorry." He took her hand. "So on top of everything else, you've been putting your affairs in order, haven't you?"
A guilty look crossed her face. "I couldn't rest until it was out of the way."
"And you had no one you could talk to either."
"You and Jonathan are the only other ones who know and you've both had your hands full."
"You could have come to me. We've not in any hurry." He consulted his watch. "1500 was an arbitrary departure time. I can delay it as long as necessary."
She smirked. "And do what? Try to make me feel better about my mortality? There's nothing you can say. Besides, I believe you're going to change history."
"I've been thinking about what Dr. Plodet proposed. I think I should let all the civilians off as soon as we get home."
"You're not suggesting going into combat without your CMO, are you?"
"I can't ask civilians to be at risk."
"Like hell you can't. Being on seaQuest at all is a risk. We all knew that when we came aboard. Look, I'll save you the burden. I'm volunteering to stay. Send everyone else off if you feel you must. But I'm staying."
Stubborn little thing. He smiled and shook his head. "Guess I can't talk you out of it. Are you sure you don't need more time before we leave? This is your one chance in a million when time has no meaning."
"Really?" Her voice dripped in sarcasm. "You don't think anyone would be disappointed if you tell them they have to wait another day?"
"Probably. But I can deal with that. Say the word and it's done. I mean it."
She smiled and leaned in to kiss his cheek. "I know," she whispered. "But it's really not necessary."
He watched her a moment to see if she'd change her mind. She could probably feel that his concern was real. "Okay, on the advice of my Chief Psychologist, I'm accepting that keeping the schedule is in everyone's best interests, including yours. You will tell me if that assessment changes."
"Fair enough, Captain."
He left Medbay and went to the bridge. Brody and Ford were both outwardly calm but he could see the fire behind their eyes. One didn't have to be psychic to recognize they were both itching to have it out with these marauding aliens. Only their military training and experience gave them that veneer of patience and restraint. His meetings with each of them were short and simple.
When Nathan pulled Tim aside, the first words out of his mouth were, "I don't have anything else on the alien language, sir."
"Tim, I thought we agreed there was no sense beating that dead horse anymore."
"Oh. Right."
"When we get back, you're going to be busier than anyone. SeaQuest has been missing for a week and we're going to materialize out of nowhere. The Galapagos Undersea Community will need reassuring that we weren't just testing some sonar stealth device. The UEO is going to want answers. Families will be anxious to talk to their loved ones. I'm going to want to speak to McGath and Admiral Noyce."
"I thought he was retired."
"Yeah, and I thought I was retired three years ago. If he can pull me out of retirement, turnabout is fair play."
Tim nodded. Bill's home vid-link number was already on file. Nathan had imposed upon their friendship before. And if Bill had come back just to take down Admiral Overbeck, he wasn't going to want to sit on the sidelines when the survival of the UEO was at stake either. It would be 0100 hours in Fort Gore when seaQuest showed up, but it wasn't like he'd never woken Bill up in the middle of the night before.
"You need to accept that it'll be a couple of hours before you'll have a free minute to look at alien recordings. You're going to have to trust Lucas to find what you need and sort through it so you're not wasting time when you finally get it."
"I do trust Lucas."
"But?"
Tim cringed. "But I've never learned a totally new language in under a week. Italian took me a month and it's heavily based on Latin."
"You learned Italian in a month?"
"I was taking a full course load at the Academy. I didn't have a lot of free time."
"That wasn't a criticism; it was a compliment."
He swallowed and nodded. His weak smile tried to imply he already knew that, but the relief in his eyes belied he hadn't.
"I don't need you to be able to recite the Constitution to them. I just need you to tell them to back off or else. Does that make it any easier?"
His military mask slipped and he rolled his eyes, but he caught himself and replaced the mask quickly, pushing his glasses up his nose to hide his nervousness over the breach. "Yes sir. It helps a lot."
"I'm sorry I made the task seem harder than it had to be."
"I don't want you to get your hopes up, Captain. If we find any samples at all, it may be so different that even a simple message might be beyond me."
"I know that. I just want you to remember something."
'What's that?"
"Actions speak louder than words. Commander Ford and I have a message of our own we'll give them. Professor LeConte said his people were aggressive conquerors. I have a feeling they'll understand our message even if we can't put it in their words."
This seemed to be a relief to him. Nathan would have to remember that he couldn't just ask the impossible from some people. Faced with a tall order, most of his crew would just give it their all and then feel proud that they'd done their best. He didn't have a reputation for being unreasonable. But Tim and Lucas both had enough insecurity in their characters that they'd feel like failures just for having limitations, even though most people would see their limitations as extraordinary. With Lucas, Nathan had just been lucky that he hadn't found the kid's limitations yet.
"I have one more thing to ask from you, off the record." Not like 'the record' would make one wit of difference to Tim.
The communications officer looked back, fully ready for Nathan to add another impossible task to his already incredibly steep workload.
"Say a prayer for us, will you?"
A genuine smile lit his face. "You got it."
Nathan returned the smile and patted Tim's back before he took off in search of Lucas. The teen wasn't in his quarters but Piccolo suggested the moon pool. Sure enough, he was there, talking to Darwin.
Nathan walked in and picked up the vocorder. "Hey, pal, you ready to go home?" He wondered if Lucas would buy the feint he'd come here to see the dolphin instead of him.
"Darwin ready. Bridger play?"
"Not for a while. I'm going to have to take seaQuest very deep, my friend. If you come with us, you'll be trapped onboard again. But if I let you out, it may be a few days, even a week before I can come back for you."
"Darwin wait for seaQuest."
Nathan breathed a sigh of relief. Leaving Darwin in the ocean was the safest thing for him. No matter what happened to the sub or any of the humans, at least he wouldn't have to worry about his dolphin friend. "Good plan."
Lucas looked up from the tank. "Wow, I'm surprised he didn't want to stay with us."
Nathan kept staring at the water even as he answered, "How long has he been stuck in tiny tanks, both on MR-3 and skyQuest? Even the moon pool isn't very big and he's been stuck here all the time we've been in the Black Sea. He's got to be stir-crazy by now. The Pacific is going to be the best place for him."
"Yeah, I know."
Nathan cleared his throat lightly and lifted his gaze to the teen. "I didn't really come down here to talk about the best place for Darwin."
Lucas looked up and met his gaze. "Please don't send me away, Captain. SeaQuest is my home, too." For once his tone wasn't whiny. He was really trying to be mature.
"I'm torn, kiddo." He turned to face the teen and gently directed his shoulders so he was facing back. He held both shoulders and looked him direct in the eyes as he spoke. "I need you. No one else is going to have the time or your talent to dig up vid-files on the Hyberion language. I've come to count on you as part of my bridge crew. All of our chances are better when you're on the team."
"Then let me stay." Those big blue eyes of his were hopeful.
Nathan held up his index finger and made his voice firm. "One condition."
"When you say it's time to evacuate, I don't put up a fight," Lucas blurted out.
"That's right. You give me your word that you won't delay or argue, no matter who tells you it's time."
"I swear, Captain. I don't want to go to Hyberion."
"Neither do I. Commander Ford and I have to program missiles. But we're not planning to stick around. The Stinger can really only carry two and still be fast. I can do my job better if I don't have to worry about your safety."
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For not treating me like a kid."
"Thanks for not acting like one."
He still felt a bit guilty for exploiting the teen's talents at the expense of his safety, but he hadn't been lying. He no longer thought of Lucas as some stowaway passenger thrust upon him to babysit because his rich, influential father didn't have the time to be a parent. Nor was he just a member of the science contingent, someone who stuck to the labs and didn't mix much with the military. Lucas was his chief computer analyst and he was a member of the bridge crew. He'd paid an extremely high price for that association when Beauregard chose his victims and he was only three months away from being a legal adult. He'd earned the right to make an adult decision.
And he'll keep his word, Nathan reminded himself.
He took a detour between sea deck and the bridge long enough to stop at his quarters. He changed into a khaki uniform, since he expected to be making a lot of official contacts, telling unbelievable stories and calling in favors. He considered shaving but rejected it. He looked a little older with the beard and some equated age with wisdom. He was going to need all the help with credibility he could muster. Nathan opened his safe and removed the #2 Mobius Hole Initiator and took it with him to the bridge.
"Captain on the bridge," Brody called when he walked through the clamshell doors. Everyone came to attention, including Lucas, although he'd need posture lessons and some serious wardrobe aid to pass a military inspection. It was enough that he stood still and kept respectfully quiet.
Nathan took a deep breath and strode forward, leaving everyone frozen. He surveyed the stations and his crew for a full minute before he released them with a casual "As you were." They relaxed and breathed again, but no one said a word. His eyes fell on his executive officer. "Status, Commander?"
"All systems running at optimal, Captain. All stations manned. She's ready at your command."
"Thank you. Mr. O'Neill, put me on shipwide."
"Aye, sir." A press of a button and the green light lit. O'Neill nodded.
"Attention. This is the captain. In a few seconds, I'm going to activate the Mobius Hole Initiator device. It's a bumpy ride, but we've all done it before. I don't know when we'll face the alien attack, so everyone be prepared for anything. In case I don't get a chance to tell you later, I've been amazed at the incredible accomplishments achieved by both civilian and military personnel in the past few months and I'm supremely proud of the way you've worked together. No matter what happens in the coming hours or days, I count myself privileged to have been your captain."
He paused briefly to catch his breath and switch gears. "Last chance for anyone to get off."
The bridge crew chuckled. He imagined others all over the boat doing the same. If they were going to run into a trap, at least they'd do it with smiles on their faces. "Okay, everyone grab hold of something. This is it." He nodded to O'Neill to cut off the shipwide mic and then he sat in his chair and waited for the seat to glide into position at the readout console. A quick look left and right to confirm everyone had braced themselves and then he pressed the button.
A flash of blue light preceded the familiar swirling pattern on the forward screen, looming directly ahead of them.
"Mr. Ortiz, make sure all WSKRS are beneath us and matching our course and speed. We don't want Loner's name to become self-fulfilling prophecy."
"Aye, sir. Bringing all WSKRS into close formation, holding at ten meters below seaQuest."
"All ahead one-quarter. Let's take it slow and steady."
"All ahead one-quarter," Brody repeated softly to the helmsmen.
Nathan felt the gentle hum of the engines as they were coaxed gradually into the speed he'd ordered. The sleek hull of seaQuest slid effortlessly through the waters of the Black Sea for the last time and then hit the turbulent barrier that divided 1504 from 2022.
It was not unlike driving a motorcycle over a very rocky path. Everything shook and rattled intensely for several seconds and then the rumbling faded aft. The end of the vibrations was abrupt as the hull cleared the turbulent plane.
"Captain, multiple contacts on sonar," Ortiz called.
"Where are they?"
"Everywhere!"
"Full stop. We don't want to hit anyone."
"Full stop, aye," Henderson confirmed.
"I've got Internex, Captain," Lucas said. Nathan could hear the joy in his voice.
"Great. You know what to do."
O'Neill was next to report: "I've got about twenty vessels hailing us, sir. Half of them on the surface. Whom do you want to talk to first?"
"Acknowledge all hails and put me through to whoever has the biggest ship or the highest ranking commander."
O'Neill nodded. He checked his computer readouts while his fingers pressed buttons seemingly independent of his attention. "I've got Admiral Noyce on the Ronald Reagan, sir."
Nathan grinned from ear to ear. An aircraft carrier! Bill had already brought exactly what he wanted and he didn't even have to wake him up. "Put him through, Mr. O'Neill."
The communications officer nodded and flicked the switches that caused the vid-link image to iris into full screen. Bill Noyce looked like he hadn't slept for a month, but he wore a wrinkled uniform and stood next to an American Navy captain, presumably the Reagan's CO. "Nathan! Where the hell have you been?"
The captain did his best to remain calm and professional. Just hit the high points. He drew a deep breath and dove in: "We've been time-traveling, Admiral. SeaQuest got stranded in the Black Sea in the year 1504. My bridge crew was taken captive by a madman who imprisoned us on If Isle in the Mediterranean. Ensign Darwin and Chief Kendall led a rescue mission via shuttle and sailboat. Then the bridge crew and the rescue team got sucked into 2165 without seaQuest, but an agency called the Temporal Guardians helped get us back to 1504 to collect seaQuest and then get back here."
"Did you get hit in the head, Nathan? You've only been gone a week."
Nathan rolled his eyes. "No, Bill, I got the tar beat out of me and I had to watch all my officers get tortured before my eyes. But I did not hit my head. I'd love to acquaint you with the finer points of time travel and why we've all experienced more than two months passing while you only perceived us missing a week, but I don't know how much time we have."
"How much time you have? What are you talking about? What's wrong with seaQuest?"
"She's fine. And we're all fine now too, thanks for asking," he snapped with more than a hint of annoyance. He'd mentioned kidnapping, imprisonment, and torture and all Bill cared about was the boat.
Chagrin played heavily on the admiral's weary face. "I'm sorry, Nathan. I'm glad everyone's all right. We've been looking for you for days. You just vanished without a trace."
"Well, I hope you missed us, Admiral, because we're not out of the woods yet. Those Temporal Agents I told you about revealed that seaQuest is going to be stolen by a big alien mothership in the next twenty-four hours. If you think one week is bad, try to comprehend a decade. You get NASA on the horn and have someone fire up those big fat telescopes we invested so much money in. If it looks like the coast is clear, I'll send my civilians to safety."
"An alien mothership? Do you realize how that sounds? For godsakes, Nathan, they'll be locking you up in a little rubber room."
"You asked me where I've been and I told you, Bill. If you want to get on a shuttle and come down here, I'll show you my proof. Otherwise, you're just going to have to trust me."
"Maybe I will come down there."
"I'll put on the tea. Oh, one more thing. If anyone hears from Commander Scott Keller, ignore it. The aliens are using him to get to us."
Noyce sighed and rolled his eyes. "That astronaut who disappeared? You're saying Scott Keller is part of this alien plot?"
"Yes, and Tobias LeConte too. Look, I know how crazy all this sounds, but it's true. Bring some more of your psychics if you don't believe me." Bill had been the one to unleash Dimitri Rossovich's little band of spies on the crew when they were uncovering the Library of Alexandria. This was ten times more serious than selling their location to some military magazine.
"You've already got Dr. Smith. She's the best the UEO has."
"You want to talk to her? I can arrange that."
Bill scratched his chin. "Yeah, put her on."
"Mr. O'Neill, pipe the admiral down to Medbay on a secure line."
"Aye, sir."
Nathan waved and mouthed a quick, "Bye Bill" before the image of his old friend blinked off the screen, replaced by the UEO crest. "Who's next in line?" he asked O'Neill.
"Governor Juan Sanchez of Galapagos Undersea Colony. His English is broken, but he'd like to speak to you in person."
"All right, but stand by in case he gets stuck."
"Aye," O'Neill said as he flipped the switch.
A brown-skinned man with sleek black hair and a neatly trimmed mustache came into view. He was dressed in a bright yellow tunic with simple yet sharply tailored lines. Nathan dipped his head in a nod. "Governor Sanchez?"
"Sí. Capitán Bridger, no?"
"Yes. I apologize for our sudden, unannounced arrival."
"No, no. Está bien. Do you require assistance? La Colonia Submarina de Galápagos is… ¿cómo se dice? …a su disposición."
O'Neill translated in a discreet voice, "at your disposal."
The governor nodded. "Sí, at your disposal."
Now this was more like it. "Gracias, Señor Sanchez. I accept your kind offer. Do you have room for some temporary guests? I have a little over a hundred scientists I need to get to safety. The UEO could arrange to pick them up. It would only be for a short time."
Sanchez nodded emphatically. "They are most welcome here, Capitán."
Nathan inclined his head. "I thank you for your hospitality."
"De nada. Call us if you need anything more." The call irised out.
"They were helpful," Ford observed.
"Yes, they were. We'll have to return the favor sometime," Nathan remarked absently. "Mr. O'Neill, put me on shipwide again."
A nod and a flip of the switch. "You're on, sir."
"Attention. This is the captain. In order to avoid a rushed emergency evacuation, I have arranged for all non-medical civilian personnel to leave seaQuest in one hour. Please use that time to gather what you wish of your work and your personal belongings and report to the launch bay. Shuttles will transport you to Galapagos Undersea Colony where you may make further arrangements, or wait, if you so choose. It's been a pleasure having you all aboard and it is my sincere wish to see many of you again in future tours, assuming there's a seaQuest left at the end of this week." He gave O'Neill the cut-throat gesture.
Ortiz flashed Lucas a sad smile and pushed his shoulder, prodding him to move, presumably before there was a confrontation. Lucas had been so glued to his computer that he didn't understand what Miguel was prodding him for.
Nathan used his official tone and announced to the whole bridge: "Mr. Wolenczak is staying aboard for now. We need his talents and he's old enough to volunteer to assume the same risks we all are."
Lucas beamed a smile and accepted back pats and high-fives from those who were near. But he only spared a few seconds on acknowledgement before his attention dove back into his computer screen.
"Captain, I've got Secretary General McGath calling," O'Neill said.
"Perfect timing. Put him on." He hoped Noyce had already talked to him so he wouldn't have to recite the entire journey log again.
"Nathan, thank God you're alive. Is everyone all right?"
"We've had a very rough time, Mr. Secretary, but we're fine for the moment. Has Admiral Noyce had a chance to fill you in?"
"Yes, I just spoke with him."
Nathan waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't. The captain filled the pregnant pause. "And now you're going to send someone with a straightjacket to haul me off and have me committed." His voice was sarcastic, but he was only half-kidding.
McGath was not amused. His face was set in a stern posture. "Yesterday, I might have. But this morning, we got some curious readings on the Pioneer 13 deep space probe. No one wants to speculate, but there have been whispers about prelude to invasion."
"Not invasion. Hijacking. They want seaQuest. In one version of history, I fell for their trap and they got her. They're not getting her this time." Nathan's voice was as firm and resolute as he could make it. He meant it with every fiber of his being.
"What do you need from me?"
"After I off-load my civilians, I'm taking seaQuest as deep as I can get her in the hopes that seawater will act as a barrier to whatever means of grappling they might have. If you can get a fix on our raiding bandits, that would be helpful. Lucas is trying to dig up anything he can on Tobias LeConte. I suggest you give him carte blanche across all security protocols."
"Consider it done."
"Do we have anything that can challenge a mothership in the air?"
"How big is it?"
"Those who lived to tell about it either never saw it or can't remember. But it's big enough to grab seaQuest, stow her in a hold, and take off in our atmosphere without the slightest bit of trouble."
McGath gasped. "It's got to be enormous. Maybe we can't challenge it in the air, but we can be a fly in their ointment, so to speak."
"Good. Even if all they do is recon, that's better than nothing. Our best guess is—" Nathan consulted his watch. Had it really only been fifteen minutes since they arrived? "…within the next 23 hours and forty-five minutes. But that's the outside limits. It could be anytime."
"Understood. Good luck to you all." McGath's image faded into the trident symbol of the UEO.
"More support than I expected," Nathan muttered.
"Being gone that week shook them up," Ford said. "I think it was better than having an extra week to prepare."
"And we have Dr. Smith to thank for that. Somebody make sure we nominate her for a Nobel peace prize when all this is over."
A/N: I just wanted to take a moment to recognize a couple of seaQuest anniversaries.
Yesterday, September 12th, was the 17th anniversary of "To Be or Not To Be" (the pilot) first airing in 1993. I pulled out the DVD to see if they ever mentioned Helmsman Carlton's or Weapons Officer Phillips' first names or ranks (they didn't), and happened to see the airing date on the episode details. I can't believe it was 17 years ago. I can still watch with rapt attention and a sense of awe and wonder that gives me goose pimples. And I still feel that gnawing sadness whenever I remember how short-lived the series was. I know it's corny to say that the show meant something special to me, but it did and still does. I only hope that my scribblings here are true to the characters and the original spirit of the show and that sharing my scribblings help, even if only in a very small way, to keep its memory alive.
And speaking of scribblings—- today is my one-year anniversary of the first time I posted a chapter here. I'd like to take the opportunity to say "thank you" to all of you for your wonderful support.
And how cool is it that the date I randomly picked for the alien showdown in my story was September 10th? The only way it could have been any cooler was if this was actually 2022 instead of 2010. But then I would have been really upset I couldn't get this chapter posted by Friday. I'm writing as fast as I can. Bear with me. It won't be long now.
Thanks for reading.
CFV
