Part 5
Nathan nor Lucas could find it in themselves to enjoy the rest of the conferences and thus were not very upset when they were recalled to the SeaQuest for an emergency.
Upon their arrival, Commander Ford, and several other members of the crew met them. The formalities were barely over when Lucas raced out of the launch bay, bag slung over his shoulder. Ford gave Nathan an inquisitive look. The boy, while not overly friendly with Jonathan, was never rude.
"It's a long story Jonathan, just leave him for now," the Captain spoke in a resigned tone as he watched his son.
"Yes sir," the commander responded, noticing how tired the captain looked. What could have happened?
"Give me a few minutes to get squared away, then I want a full report on the current situation in the wardroom," Nathan ordered.
"Aye sir!" Ford responded with military perfection before dismissing the assembled crew.
Time went on aboard the submarine, and while never being normal, things were fairly routine in all cases, the biggest exception being Lucas. His friends and crewmembers became concerned with his increasingly anti-social behavior.
Nathan knew that his son was still dealing with issues brought on by meeting the Grantvins, but he was unsure what he could do to help the boy. Before it had, in many was been easier, as it was Lucas' past as the primary target to work on and console in an effort to heal. This time however, the teen was reliving and obsessing through the misfortune of another, one Alexia Grantvin. Nathan had great sympathy for the girl's plight, however he felt he'd done what he could and the rest would work out in time.
Had Nathan known how truly obsessed his son had become, he might have paid a bit more attention when members of his crew came to him reporting the teen's odd behavior. Lucas apparently never left his room unless threatened with physical removal or having the power to his quarters cut off. His meals, infrequent before, now were almost non-existent. Trays brought to him by concerned friends remained untouched, and he would barely speak more than monosyllabic words. Several members noted that he didn't seem to sleep much either, if the fact that Lucas' music seemed to blare at all hours gave any indication
His friends, among them Tony, Miguel and Tim, reported that Lucas also seemed to be extremely jumpy too. Those that had known him from the beginning recognized the signs of when the boy had been dealing with the issue of his natural parents. They were just as disbelieving that the captain seemed to shrug the behavior off, suggesting that they leave Lucas alone. If the teen wanted them to know he'd have told them.
The projects that Lucas had been involved in were left unfinished, the only thing he seemed to be interested in anymore was the internex. The words 'he's going to kill me' echoed through Lucas' mind like a broken record. He desperately had to find out what happened to her, make sure she was okay. A part of Lucas' mind questioned as to why this girl, of all the abused children in the world, why was this one so important? He knew his own past clouded his reasoning, but he didn't care. Lucas had created a program that would actively search the nex for anything about her. The wait was pure agony, it was as if she'd dropped off the face of the planet. At first, all that came through was nothing but gossip bits speculating why such a well-respected scientist would back out of several commitments at the last minute.
Finally after almost four weeks a news article placed Alexia at a summit in Eastern Asia. The vids on the conference were brief, but Lucas just sighed with relief, she was alive. The cast also reported that she would be leaving with a team of scientists to conduct experiments in a remote location for up to six months. Most of the details were vague but Lucas almost shouted for joy when he discovered that Bruce Grantvin was not among the other scientists on the expedition. She would be safe, at least for a while. That night was the first in what seemed an age that Lucas wasn't plagued by nightmares.
His friends began to relax when Lucas began to slowly come out of his self-imposed shell. He didn't talk about what happened, but that didn't matter anymore, Lucas was returning to himself again. Albeit immersing himself in his long neglected projects.
Dr. Smith kept trying to get Lucas to open up, but he flatly refused. She even resorted to attempting a scan on him, only to find that she was blocked at every turn. It was almost as if he was shielded, but she hadn't come across anything previously that even suggested he had such capabilities.
Tony, of everyone, seemed to be the happiest about this turn of events. While they were no longer roommates, Tony missed being able to talk to and goof around with Lucas. They seemed to be made for causing trouble together. Almost as easily as Lucas and Ben Krieg could. Tony finally met the Lieutenant when Commander Ford, of all people, arranged for Krieg to visit the SeaQuest, hoping it would bring the boy around.
He could see why the kid liked Krieg, however he was a little put out that the Lieutenant was brought aboard. Those feelings were soon set aside as Tony saw how deeply Krieg cared for his friend. They both tended to think of Lucas as a kid brother and to see the teen so unlike himself was heart-wrenching for them to watch. Of course, being the way they were, they reeked havoc on the rest of the crew, rather than admit their feelings.
Nathan was secretly glad Lucas was out of sorts during Ben's visit. He wasn't sure he could have handled anything the three of them might have concocted.
Several days after Ben had to return to his assignment, Lucas was in the mess hall trying to finish his breakfast when Tony, Tim and Miguel approached. "Hey Luke, mind if we join ya?" Tony asked, seating himself in the process.
"Only if you stop calling me Luke." The teenager fired back lightly as the long-standing joke/argument reigned. The older men chuckled, some things didn't change and they were both glad of it. "By the way Tony nice shiner, where'd you get it?" Lucas asked pointing to the fading bruise.
"Well, um there was this big, I mean really big…aw c'mon guys. Stop laughing its true," shooting daggers at O'Neill and Ortiz. "…well sorta… anyways…" Lucas began to chuckle with the infectious laughter. "Heck, it don't matter where, just did," Tony finished. Blushing and flustered, avoiding eye contact.
Their crewmate, Dagwood, who'd been cleaning nearby, piped in with "the Dr. Lady from the labs gave it to him" he grinned broadly as he told Lucas.
O'Neill and Ortiz went into hysterics as Lucas looked on in puzzled amusement. "A girl? What did you say to her that made her do that?"
"Nothing. Just asked her if she wanted to go out," Tony mumbled.
"That's all?" Lucas turned to the others just knowing there was more to the story.
"Well from what I heard he was doing okay until he describing the plans for the date." Miguel fairly choked out the words. "Apparently they included a roller derby, chilli corn dogs and I quote 'someplace quiet to get to know each other if ya know what I mean.'" The whole table, except for Tony, who's blush deepened with embarrassment, doubled over with laughter.
"Hey, I tried to introduce her to some class, her loss." Tony responded indignantly, setting off a new round of laughter.
"Some class,,Tony, I did warn you. How come you didn't go after the other one? The brunette?" snorted O'Neill.
"Nah, I know jail bait when I see it, at least from what I have seen of her, uptight gal that one. 'Sides I figured I'd give ol'Luke here a chance ya know, she looks like she's more his type anyway." Tony chuckled.
"Huh?" was all Lucas could say. "Did I miss something?"
"Where ya been? Hiding in your room or something? Oh yeah, that's right you were!" Tony quipped. Giving Lucas a light punch in the arm. It was rare he knew things the kid didn't so he tended to rub it in.
Looking more confused then ever Lucas just stared at his friend. Finally taking pity on him, O'Neill explained, "we've been playing host to a group of scientists for some uder water research." Lucas mouthed 'Oh', but not really under standing.
"No one knows how long they're going to be here. Could be several months, depending on the kind of data they collect."
"Yeah, but to they have to take over the entire Sea Deck?" grumbled Ortiz. "The techs are complaining they can't get to the equipment on that level."
"True. They did seem to take over," O'Neill agreed. "But, it's the best place for them. The hyper-baric chamber and the moon pool are critical to their experiments." Tony and Miguel just rolled their eyes.
"But they're making it so a guy can't swim in peace" the ensign whined. "And when that one found out I had gills all of a sudden she wanted to add me to her list of 'volunteers' when it comes time to try out that new suit of theirs."
Lucas observed the exchange. Had he been so withdrawn he'd failed to notice the extra people in the science labs. It was possible, he guessed. Aloud, he said ,"So what're they like?"
"Pretty average I guess as scientists go," O'Neill started, "friendly enough as long as you're not in the way. Tony's right though, the younger one is sorta elusive."
"How so?"
"Well when they first came on board, Captain Bridger was there to greet them, and he seemed to know her. Well, from what I've seen, she's the team's leader, yet she's not the one who's liaison with the captain or commander. In fact, he hasn't been able to get near her since that first day." Miguel chimed in. "Seems they always have an excuse as to why she's not around when he is. Come to think of it, the only ones who've seen more than a glimpse of her are Henderson and Dr. Smith." The silence that followed became eerie as each pondered what Ortiz said.
His curiosity peaked, Lucas asked, "So who is she any way?"
"Alexia…? Alexia Grandal, Grantville, something like that," Tony supplied. "I overheard one of the others call her that."
"Alexia Grantvin?" a stunned Lucas asked.
"Yeah, that's it. She's the brains behind it, not unlike you eh?" Tony's arm wrapped around Lucas' shoulder giving a playful squeeze, not noticing that the teen had paled considerably.
Pulling himself out of Tony's embrace as he jumped to his feet, Lucas knocked his chair over. "I…I…uh I just remembered, I need to see my dad about a program he wanted me to design." He stuttered, backing away from the table. "'Scuse me guys," and with that, Lucas fled the mess hall.
Tony gaped after his former roommate before turning to the others, "Something I said?"
On to part 6