With Michael snoring softly in one of the double beds, Lucas sat at the table, peering at his laptop screen. The tv, with the sound down, and the light from the computer were the only light in the dark room. Lucas had found a hotel with suites - a fancy name for a room with a small refrigerator, sink and microwave. He wasn't sure how long they would be here and he thought it would be easier and cheaper to eat some meals in their room. While he had plenty of money stashed away in various accounts, it would take time to access most of it and cash on hand was meager. The boy would need some clothes and toys. And he still had to decide what to do about seaQuest. He could see it now. "Hi, Captain Hudson. This is my son and he'll be living on the boat with us." A small snort of amusement escaped. Hudson hated civilians on the boat. How many shades of red would he turn over a small boy?

A small rap on the door startled him. Quickly he glanced over to see that Michael was still asleep on the bed. Thinking it was the manager, he opened the door and was surprised to see Kristin standing on the other side, holding a bag and a small suitcase. A mask of cold disdain slipped over his face. "How did you find me?"

Choking back a laugh because she knew that it would not be appreciated, Kristin reminded him, "You still have a PAL with you. We asked Tim to trace it for us." She held up a hand to stop his protest. "No, we didn't tell him anything and you know Tim will keep our call quiet. Surely, you didn't think we'd just let you walk off with him?"

Having the grace to blush slightly, Lucas opened the door wider. "Come in."

Walking in, Kristin's eyes swept over the room, taking in the few toys that were scattered on the floor, clothes thrown across various pieces of furniture finally coming to rest on the small boy sleeping in Lucas' oversize T-shirt. " We thought it would be better if I came when he was sleeping. Here are some of his clothes and a few of his favorite books and toys." Pulling out a scruffy looking stuffed dog, she laid it on the bed next to Michael, taking a minute to place a hand on the boy's cheek. Her eyes were wet as she looked up at Lucas. "How did you find out?"

Lucas took the bags from her. "Thanks for bringing these things," he said grudgingly. "We bought some toys and I thought we'd shop for clothes tomorrow." He cleared some things off a chair and indicated that she should sit down and he sat in a chair opposite of her. Remembering her question, he told her about the letter from Federal Social Security and his computer search.

"I'm very sorry you had to find out that way, Lucas. We wanted to tell you many times but...it's not something that you drop casually into conversation. Do you want to know how Michael was born?" At Lucas' nod, Kristin gathered Lucas' hands in her own and waited until he made eye contact and she knew he was ready to listen. "When you were three years old, you had an operation to take your appendix out. Your father was working at Boston University and some of his colleagues talked him into taking some of your genetic material. They wanted to do a study on higher intelligence by breaking down the cells and examining your DNA but the research never developed and your cells were frozen and stored in the university freezer. Five years after seaQuest disappeared, your father went to the university to reclaim the genetic material. Call it regret for what he missed out on, an emotional reaction to losing his only child, but your father let his colleagues talk him into another research project. But in this study, they wanted to use your cells to see if they could 'clone' your high IQ."

Springing out of his chair, Lucas started pacing, trying to digest everything he was hearing. He wanted to yell at Kristin to leave, to hide his head under a pillow so he wouldn't have to listen. One glance at Michael sleeping on the bed made him determined to see it through.

Kristin continued, "They inserted your DNA into an egg , implanted it in a volunteer, who had a normal pregnancy and Michael is the result." She watched the young man, ready for anything, from an explosive outburst of anger to a tearful breakdown.

To her surprise, Lucas did not react, keeping a tight control on his emotions. He walked over to the window and looked out into the darkness. Kristin wanted to go to him, wrap her arms around him to comfort him but she knew Lucas well enough to know his 'leave me alone' scowl. She could only imagine what he was feeling towards his father. Her own anger was still close to the surface when she thought of the immoral behavior of the scientists involved. And to think Lucas' own father had agreed to it. As a scientist and as a woman, it disgusted her.

After what seemed liked hours, but in reality was only a few minutes, a subdued Lucas came back to his seat. "How do you know all this?" His voice was quiet, depressed but accepting. He had never, in all the years he had known them, heard a lie out of Nathan and Kristin. If they said it was true, then it must be.

Kristin was silent for a long time and Lucas was afraid she would not answer. Finally, she continued her story. "Your father called me." She smiled a bit when Lucas reacted in surprise. "I know. I was startled myself. As you know, he was not on the top of my people I want to see again list, after the little 'conversation' we had after the whole World Power fiasco." She would always remember the look on Dr. W's face when she told him exactly what she thought of his parenting skills. "He was having regrets over what he had done and told me all the details. I guess he thought I'd understand, or be sympathetic because I had known you. He wanted me to take the baby, that he couldn't care for him anymore. I hung up on him. Six months later, he died in the accident and I couldn't stop wondering about the fate of that baby. I found him with living at the house with a nanny. Michael was three then, and the moment I laid eyes on him, I knew he was your son. Not by his looks, but his personality, his spirit. I became his guardian, because he had no one else."

"My mother?" Lucas wondered, dreading the answer.

"She doesn't know. Your father never told her and I kept it that way. To his credit, your father had a change of heart and after initial testing for the research project, decided to take the baby away from it." She patted Lucas' hand, her voice softening a bit. "I think, Lucas, that in his own way, your father loved his grandson. Maybe he was attempting to do things better the second time around. We had no idea what had happened to the seaQuest and had pretty much given you all up for dead." Once again, her eyes filled with tears and she noticed that Lucas' looked suspiciously bright. "Your father did his best to conceal the baby's identity and keep him away from the media. If they knew the circumstances of his birth, all hell would have broken loose." Sitting back, she sighed as if telling the story had unburdened her.

Emotionally drained, Lucas sat back in his chair. "But why did the Captain lie to me?"

Kristin stretched and got up, dropping a kiss on Lucas' head. "You'll have to take that up with him." Walking over to the bed, she gently kissed Michael, and went to the door, preparing to leave but suddenly turned around. "Lucas, this was not something we did on a whim, that he has not thought over a million times. He could be relaxing on the beach, not wiping dripping noses or giving baths or reading endless bedtimes stories. Think about that." With that she was gone.

Getting up, Lucas closed down his lap top, turned off the tv, and went through his bathroom routine. Slipping out of his blue jeans, he crawled on the covers and finally permitted himself to cry. His last thought before he fell into a restless sleep was why couldn't he love me when I was here, instead of needing a duplicate to do that?

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