*See Part 0 or 1 for disclaimer and warnings.
Author's Notes: Okay, I am SO sorry I took forever to get this part out. But here it is. I hope you enjoy it. It's not exactly funny, but it does meet Karel's challenge for April fools (even if it was a coincidence). I always appreciate feedback. Enjoy!
Rediscovering Lucas
Part 5
By: Victoria May
"Oh Nathan, it's beautiful!" Kristen whispered as she stepped into the quiet room. Shadows cast by two golden candlesticks flickered upon the walls, dancing with the eerie blue ripples of light emanating from the aqua tube. Kristen stood in silent awe, allowing her eyes to float over the elegantly set table, coming to rest on a bouquet of white roses.
"White roses; my favorite," Kristen murmured as she buried her nose in their delicate petals, inhaling their sweet aroma. "What did I do to deserve such a wonderful surprise? It's not my birthday. It's not a holiday. I haven't discovered the cure to any tropical diseases or won the Noble Prize for medicine."
Nathan slid his arms around her waist from behind and gently brushed her hair away from her neck. He lightly caressed her soft skin with his lips, leaving a trail of kisses up the exposed skin to her ear. Nipping at her earlobe he whispered, "You agreed to have dinner with me. That was enough. A woman as beautiful as you are deserves more than what I can give you. What are a few white roses and a bit of candlelight compared to your radiance?"
"Oh Nathan, you know just what to say to a lady." Slipping out of his embrace, Kristen turned to face Nathan and wrapped her arms around his neck. As she gazed into his eyes, she ran her fingers through his hair, slowly pulling him closer. Parting her lips slightly, she raised her face and greeted his lips with her own. Her eyes drifted closed and she could feel her body reacting to the kiss. The feel of his soft lips pressed against hers, his hand at the small of her back holding her tightly against him, and the occasional tingle of tongues touching sent shivers down her spine. Finally, the kiss ended and Kristen took a deep breath, flushed from the intensity and the desire of the kiss. She kept her eyes tightly closed, reveling in the afterglow of something so special, shared between two people embarking on something exciting and new. She could feel Nathan's hand brush away a stray tendril of hair that had fallen across her pink cheeks. Nathan. What soft hands. So gentle. So loving. Kristen sighed happily and pulled her heavy lids apart, eager to gaze into Nathan's eyes.
"Nathan! What, what . . .I'm shocked! I never expected, I mean, I . . . Nathan! How could you?" Kristen exclaimed as she pushed Nathan away, her eyes focused over his shoulder onto the wall behind him.
"Kristen? What are you talking about? How could I what?" Nathan quickly turned to see what Kristen was so focused on. "What? I . . . I didn't! I mean, I don't know how that got there!" Nathan sputtered as his eyes took in the scene in front of him. The vidscreen glowed silently, seductively. A large bed filled the screen; two naked bodies lay entwined, writhing in sync to an unheard beat.
Nathan turned to face Kristen. "Kristen, I swear. I don't know how that got there. I don't own any vids like that."
Cocking her head to the side, Kristen squinted at the screen. "I hope not Nathan, because if you think I'm trying out that move, you've got another thing coming. I mean, is that even safe? Just look at her! There is no way the human body can contort like that without causing some damage. It's just not natural!"
"I'm sure this is just someone's idea of a joke. That looks like something Krieg would have in his 'private stock'." Chuckling quietly, Nathan grabbed his PAL off the table to call for some sort of answer. Instead of an open communication to the bridge, Nathan was greeted with a popular jazz tune, drifting out of his PAL.
"Nathan?"
Setting the PAL aside, Nathan grabbed his jacket and pulled it on. "We'd better get to the bridge and find out if this a harmless prank, or if we need to start worrying."
The short walk to the bridge became a trip to the carnival, with strobe lights and wild, piping music. Finally reaching the bridge, Nathan hurried through the clam doors.
"Jonathan, what's going on?" Nathan hurried to his second in command's side, pulling him subtly away from the other crew.
Letting out a staggering breath, Jonathan ran a hand over his short hair, letting his hand linger on top of his head for a second. "Captain, I can't explain it. We've run every diagnostic I can think of. I can't find a problem. But . . ." Jonathan gestured at the main view screen, which was now featuring the classic, Dumbo, "it's obvious that something's wrong. Maybe we should have Lucas take a look."
Sighing deeply, Nathan looked around the busy control room. "You're right. I'm sure he just loves this. Probably laughing his head off."
Jonathan looked at Nathan, his eyes wide. "You don't think . . .."
Putting his hand up to stop the commander from continuing his line of thinking, Nathan said, "No I don't think. This may look fun, but essentially we're crippled and defenseless. Even Lucas knows where to draw the line. He would never take it this far. And Commander, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't entertain that thought with any of the crewmembers. Lucas has been having a hard enough time without being blamed for this."
"Yes Sir," Jonathan acquiesced. "Shall I call him to the bridge?"
"Yes. And the sooner the better; I don't think Mr. O'Neill can hold his own much longer against those ghosts over there."
Hearing his name, Tim turned away from his controls, his face burning. "Sorry Captain. I couldn't resist. PacMan is a classic. You can't find this anywhere. Who ever is responsible for this went to a lot of trouble. I mean, who would have thought I'd be sitting here playing the most classic video game ever created, and at my station no less." Turning back to his screen, Tim steered his yellow PacMan, swallowing a bunch of wild cherries. "Yes!" His voice floated through the chaos, eliciting several giggles from around the room.
Nathan shook his head and turned in time to see Lucas scurrying onto the bridge. Rather than the amused look he had expected to see, Nathan was greeted by a scowl and narrowed eyes.
"Lucas! What's the matter? I would have thought that you of all people would see the humor in all of this."
"I did Sir, at least until Darwin's vocorder started spewing piglatin. I mean, I can understand it no problem, but try talking to a dolphin in piglatin all afternoon. The entire science staff thinks I've gone off the deep end!"
"They're just now coming to that conclusion? I've known that since you came on board," came an amused voice from behind him.
Lucas spun around. "Hardy har har, Ben. You're a real comedian; you know that? In fact, you're so funny I'm splitting my side laughing. Oh wait, I'm not laughing. Guess that means you're not funny. Don't quit your day job man."
"All right, all right," Nathan interjected. "We've got a real problem on our hands. We can't access any of the main controls. Luckily, whatever has taken over the SeaQuest has left the power and life support alone. Lucas, I need you to find out what's going on. Run whatever diagnostics you have to, but fix this thing. We can't be dead in the water like this for much longer."
"Yes Sir. It's probably some sort of computer virus. I'll get right on it. You have to admit it though, this is one impressive virus. I've never run across anything this advanced."
Nathan reached out, his hand closing around Lucas' arm. "Lucas, you can fix this, can't you?"
Lucas's eyes grew wide as the severity of the situation settled home. "I hope so Captain," he whispered. "I'll do my best-I promise."
*****
"I've found it Captain," Lucas exclaimed as he rushed onto the bridge, eleven hours after Nathan's romantic evening came to a screeching halt.
"Lucas, you look terrible," came the captain's tired response, as he took in Lucas' rumpled and dusty appearance.
"What? Oh, yeah. I guess I do. I've been crawling around in the innards of the ship the last couple hours. I don't think it gets cleaned very often. But I found it. I was digging around in the main controls and was able to access the mainframe from the life support subprogram. I remembered what you said about it not affecting life support and thought that if I could just access that, I could work my way through to the mainframe. And it worked. I found the parent directory of the virus buried, get this, in the internex cache memory. I think that it was triggered when an, as of yet, unidentified site was accessed."
"Good work Lucas. Now, do you think you can fix it?"
"Oh, I can fix it all right, but it will take some time. I'm going to have to write a program to track all the subprograms the virus launched and then delete them all." Lucas slumped into the chair next to the captain. "You don't mind if I just sit here for a bit first, do you?"
"Actually, Lucas, I have a better idea. Why don't you and I go and grab a bite to eat and then you can take a nap. I think you've earned it. I've alerted the UEO as to our status and they have patrol boats keeping an eye on the area. We're not expecting any trouble. Sound good to you?"
"Sownnndss gwate Capan," Lucas yawned as he pulled himself warily out of the chair.
Putting an arm around the teen's shoulder, Nathan gently steered him towards the clam doors. "Nice work Lucas," he whispered as he gave the tiny body a gentle squeeze.
Lucas' tired eyes sparked as he smiled shyly at the captain. "Thanks Captain," he replied quietly.
Fourteen hours, a full stomach, and one nap later, Lucas opened his vidlink to receive a call from Admiral Noyce.
"Hello Lucas. I hear congratulations are in order," the admiral said, smiling at the source of many a sleepless night recently.
"Thank you Admiral," Lucas replied, smiling at his own success. "I don't know where it came from, but that was one mean virus. I thought it had me beat for a minute when the toilets all began flushing at once."
"I never doubted you for a second Lucas. You're too smart to let a little bug get the better of you. Which is why I'm calling. I've already spoken to Captain Bridger about this and he's granted you permission to leave the SeaQuest for a bit to come and, well-we seem to have contracted your little bug. We need your help son. Bring that little antivirus program of yours and see what you can do about clearing the UEO's databanks of the bugger. I have to admit it, it's got all of our best computer experts stumped. You're the only person who has managed to contain this thing. Of course you'll receive a stipend which will be deposited directly into your trust account. This won't be an easy task. There are quite a few more hiding places in our databanks than there are on that ship of yours. So what do you think? Can I count on you?"
Lucas grinned at the older man on the vidscreen. "Of course Admiral. I'll be there as soon as I can get a transport. I don't suppose you talked the captain into letting me off my restriction while I'm on land, did you? I could use a little downtime after all this excitement."
Noyce laughed at the pitiful face Lucas made, his blue eyes wide and pleading. The epitome of innocence. "I'll see what I can do Lucas. I won't make any promises."
"Thank you Admiral! You won't regret it."
"I hope not Lucas. You've been giving everyone a run for their money lately. It's time to settle down and stay out of trouble." Noyce waggled his finger at Lucas as he spoke-his words were light, but the warning was clear.
"Of course Admiral." Lucas paused and looked intently at the older man in front of him. "Um, Sir? Have you heard from my mother recently? Has she made the arrangements yet for me to move off the SeaQuest and live with her? She should have contacted you a few weeks ago to begin the arrangements."
Noyce looked puzzled as he tried to remember if he had received any communications from the boy's mother about removing him from the SeaQuest.
"I'm sorry Lucas. I don't believe your mother has contacted my office. I'm sure I would remember if she had. Are you sure she was going to contact me? Perhaps she was going to make arrangements with your father." Noyce felt his heart tear as disappointment, followed by a flash of grief, then a spark of anger quickly glimmered in Lucas' eyes.
Lucas sighed and looked away. His voice was muffled as he quietly said, "I'll be there are soon as I can to fix the problem Sir." Before the admiral could respond Lucas had cut the link. Blinking back tears, he stumbled over to his bunk and sunk his hand deeply under the mattress. The pain he felt in his chest threatened to overwhelm him. His lungs labored to drag in each breath and his head began to pound unmercifully. Several sharp pains flared within the swirl of raging emotions, and Lucas could feel his heart slow, the throb of his headache ease. He could get through this. He always did.
-tba
Author's Notes: Okay, I am SO sorry I took forever to get this part out. But here it is. I hope you enjoy it. It's not exactly funny, but it does meet Karel's challenge for April fools (even if it was a coincidence). I always appreciate feedback. Enjoy!
Rediscovering Lucas
Part 5
By: Victoria May
"Oh Nathan, it's beautiful!" Kristen whispered as she stepped into the quiet room. Shadows cast by two golden candlesticks flickered upon the walls, dancing with the eerie blue ripples of light emanating from the aqua tube. Kristen stood in silent awe, allowing her eyes to float over the elegantly set table, coming to rest on a bouquet of white roses.
"White roses; my favorite," Kristen murmured as she buried her nose in their delicate petals, inhaling their sweet aroma. "What did I do to deserve such a wonderful surprise? It's not my birthday. It's not a holiday. I haven't discovered the cure to any tropical diseases or won the Noble Prize for medicine."
Nathan slid his arms around her waist from behind and gently brushed her hair away from her neck. He lightly caressed her soft skin with his lips, leaving a trail of kisses up the exposed skin to her ear. Nipping at her earlobe he whispered, "You agreed to have dinner with me. That was enough. A woman as beautiful as you are deserves more than what I can give you. What are a few white roses and a bit of candlelight compared to your radiance?"
"Oh Nathan, you know just what to say to a lady." Slipping out of his embrace, Kristen turned to face Nathan and wrapped her arms around his neck. As she gazed into his eyes, she ran her fingers through his hair, slowly pulling him closer. Parting her lips slightly, she raised her face and greeted his lips with her own. Her eyes drifted closed and she could feel her body reacting to the kiss. The feel of his soft lips pressed against hers, his hand at the small of her back holding her tightly against him, and the occasional tingle of tongues touching sent shivers down her spine. Finally, the kiss ended and Kristen took a deep breath, flushed from the intensity and the desire of the kiss. She kept her eyes tightly closed, reveling in the afterglow of something so special, shared between two people embarking on something exciting and new. She could feel Nathan's hand brush away a stray tendril of hair that had fallen across her pink cheeks. Nathan. What soft hands. So gentle. So loving. Kristen sighed happily and pulled her heavy lids apart, eager to gaze into Nathan's eyes.
"Nathan! What, what . . .I'm shocked! I never expected, I mean, I . . . Nathan! How could you?" Kristen exclaimed as she pushed Nathan away, her eyes focused over his shoulder onto the wall behind him.
"Kristen? What are you talking about? How could I what?" Nathan quickly turned to see what Kristen was so focused on. "What? I . . . I didn't! I mean, I don't know how that got there!" Nathan sputtered as his eyes took in the scene in front of him. The vidscreen glowed silently, seductively. A large bed filled the screen; two naked bodies lay entwined, writhing in sync to an unheard beat.
Nathan turned to face Kristen. "Kristen, I swear. I don't know how that got there. I don't own any vids like that."
Cocking her head to the side, Kristen squinted at the screen. "I hope not Nathan, because if you think I'm trying out that move, you've got another thing coming. I mean, is that even safe? Just look at her! There is no way the human body can contort like that without causing some damage. It's just not natural!"
"I'm sure this is just someone's idea of a joke. That looks like something Krieg would have in his 'private stock'." Chuckling quietly, Nathan grabbed his PAL off the table to call for some sort of answer. Instead of an open communication to the bridge, Nathan was greeted with a popular jazz tune, drifting out of his PAL.
"Nathan?"
Setting the PAL aside, Nathan grabbed his jacket and pulled it on. "We'd better get to the bridge and find out if this a harmless prank, or if we need to start worrying."
The short walk to the bridge became a trip to the carnival, with strobe lights and wild, piping music. Finally reaching the bridge, Nathan hurried through the clam doors.
"Jonathan, what's going on?" Nathan hurried to his second in command's side, pulling him subtly away from the other crew.
Letting out a staggering breath, Jonathan ran a hand over his short hair, letting his hand linger on top of his head for a second. "Captain, I can't explain it. We've run every diagnostic I can think of. I can't find a problem. But . . ." Jonathan gestured at the main view screen, which was now featuring the classic, Dumbo, "it's obvious that something's wrong. Maybe we should have Lucas take a look."
Sighing deeply, Nathan looked around the busy control room. "You're right. I'm sure he just loves this. Probably laughing his head off."
Jonathan looked at Nathan, his eyes wide. "You don't think . . .."
Putting his hand up to stop the commander from continuing his line of thinking, Nathan said, "No I don't think. This may look fun, but essentially we're crippled and defenseless. Even Lucas knows where to draw the line. He would never take it this far. And Commander, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't entertain that thought with any of the crewmembers. Lucas has been having a hard enough time without being blamed for this."
"Yes Sir," Jonathan acquiesced. "Shall I call him to the bridge?"
"Yes. And the sooner the better; I don't think Mr. O'Neill can hold his own much longer against those ghosts over there."
Hearing his name, Tim turned away from his controls, his face burning. "Sorry Captain. I couldn't resist. PacMan is a classic. You can't find this anywhere. Who ever is responsible for this went to a lot of trouble. I mean, who would have thought I'd be sitting here playing the most classic video game ever created, and at my station no less." Turning back to his screen, Tim steered his yellow PacMan, swallowing a bunch of wild cherries. "Yes!" His voice floated through the chaos, eliciting several giggles from around the room.
Nathan shook his head and turned in time to see Lucas scurrying onto the bridge. Rather than the amused look he had expected to see, Nathan was greeted by a scowl and narrowed eyes.
"Lucas! What's the matter? I would have thought that you of all people would see the humor in all of this."
"I did Sir, at least until Darwin's vocorder started spewing piglatin. I mean, I can understand it no problem, but try talking to a dolphin in piglatin all afternoon. The entire science staff thinks I've gone off the deep end!"
"They're just now coming to that conclusion? I've known that since you came on board," came an amused voice from behind him.
Lucas spun around. "Hardy har har, Ben. You're a real comedian; you know that? In fact, you're so funny I'm splitting my side laughing. Oh wait, I'm not laughing. Guess that means you're not funny. Don't quit your day job man."
"All right, all right," Nathan interjected. "We've got a real problem on our hands. We can't access any of the main controls. Luckily, whatever has taken over the SeaQuest has left the power and life support alone. Lucas, I need you to find out what's going on. Run whatever diagnostics you have to, but fix this thing. We can't be dead in the water like this for much longer."
"Yes Sir. It's probably some sort of computer virus. I'll get right on it. You have to admit it though, this is one impressive virus. I've never run across anything this advanced."
Nathan reached out, his hand closing around Lucas' arm. "Lucas, you can fix this, can't you?"
Lucas's eyes grew wide as the severity of the situation settled home. "I hope so Captain," he whispered. "I'll do my best-I promise."
*****
"I've found it Captain," Lucas exclaimed as he rushed onto the bridge, eleven hours after Nathan's romantic evening came to a screeching halt.
"Lucas, you look terrible," came the captain's tired response, as he took in Lucas' rumpled and dusty appearance.
"What? Oh, yeah. I guess I do. I've been crawling around in the innards of the ship the last couple hours. I don't think it gets cleaned very often. But I found it. I was digging around in the main controls and was able to access the mainframe from the life support subprogram. I remembered what you said about it not affecting life support and thought that if I could just access that, I could work my way through to the mainframe. And it worked. I found the parent directory of the virus buried, get this, in the internex cache memory. I think that it was triggered when an, as of yet, unidentified site was accessed."
"Good work Lucas. Now, do you think you can fix it?"
"Oh, I can fix it all right, but it will take some time. I'm going to have to write a program to track all the subprograms the virus launched and then delete them all." Lucas slumped into the chair next to the captain. "You don't mind if I just sit here for a bit first, do you?"
"Actually, Lucas, I have a better idea. Why don't you and I go and grab a bite to eat and then you can take a nap. I think you've earned it. I've alerted the UEO as to our status and they have patrol boats keeping an eye on the area. We're not expecting any trouble. Sound good to you?"
"Sownnndss gwate Capan," Lucas yawned as he pulled himself warily out of the chair.
Putting an arm around the teen's shoulder, Nathan gently steered him towards the clam doors. "Nice work Lucas," he whispered as he gave the tiny body a gentle squeeze.
Lucas' tired eyes sparked as he smiled shyly at the captain. "Thanks Captain," he replied quietly.
Fourteen hours, a full stomach, and one nap later, Lucas opened his vidlink to receive a call from Admiral Noyce.
"Hello Lucas. I hear congratulations are in order," the admiral said, smiling at the source of many a sleepless night recently.
"Thank you Admiral," Lucas replied, smiling at his own success. "I don't know where it came from, but that was one mean virus. I thought it had me beat for a minute when the toilets all began flushing at once."
"I never doubted you for a second Lucas. You're too smart to let a little bug get the better of you. Which is why I'm calling. I've already spoken to Captain Bridger about this and he's granted you permission to leave the SeaQuest for a bit to come and, well-we seem to have contracted your little bug. We need your help son. Bring that little antivirus program of yours and see what you can do about clearing the UEO's databanks of the bugger. I have to admit it, it's got all of our best computer experts stumped. You're the only person who has managed to contain this thing. Of course you'll receive a stipend which will be deposited directly into your trust account. This won't be an easy task. There are quite a few more hiding places in our databanks than there are on that ship of yours. So what do you think? Can I count on you?"
Lucas grinned at the older man on the vidscreen. "Of course Admiral. I'll be there as soon as I can get a transport. I don't suppose you talked the captain into letting me off my restriction while I'm on land, did you? I could use a little downtime after all this excitement."
Noyce laughed at the pitiful face Lucas made, his blue eyes wide and pleading. The epitome of innocence. "I'll see what I can do Lucas. I won't make any promises."
"Thank you Admiral! You won't regret it."
"I hope not Lucas. You've been giving everyone a run for their money lately. It's time to settle down and stay out of trouble." Noyce waggled his finger at Lucas as he spoke-his words were light, but the warning was clear.
"Of course Admiral." Lucas paused and looked intently at the older man in front of him. "Um, Sir? Have you heard from my mother recently? Has she made the arrangements yet for me to move off the SeaQuest and live with her? She should have contacted you a few weeks ago to begin the arrangements."
Noyce looked puzzled as he tried to remember if he had received any communications from the boy's mother about removing him from the SeaQuest.
"I'm sorry Lucas. I don't believe your mother has contacted my office. I'm sure I would remember if she had. Are you sure she was going to contact me? Perhaps she was going to make arrangements with your father." Noyce felt his heart tear as disappointment, followed by a flash of grief, then a spark of anger quickly glimmered in Lucas' eyes.
Lucas sighed and looked away. His voice was muffled as he quietly said, "I'll be there are soon as I can to fix the problem Sir." Before the admiral could respond Lucas had cut the link. Blinking back tears, he stumbled over to his bunk and sunk his hand deeply under the mattress. The pain he felt in his chest threatened to overwhelm him. His lungs labored to drag in each breath and his head began to pound unmercifully. Several sharp pains flared within the swirl of raging emotions, and Lucas could feel his heart slow, the throb of his headache ease. He could get through this. He always did.
-tba
