part four
"Lucas Walenczak." Captain Mitchell turned as Lucas entered the room. He nodded to the Sergeant who had escorted Lucas off the mini-sub and he unhooked the handcuffs around Lucas' wrists. "Sit down." Lucas rubbed the red circles around his wrists that had been worn raw by the handcuffs and took the chair that was behind the table.
"How do you know my name?"
He smiled. "I make it my business to know. Once my country was in charge of the seas. Nothing went on under the surface that we didn't know about. No one dared defy us." His smile faded. "We were so close to the top and then you people came along, with your human rights and peace talks. The UEO put ideas of revolution into my people's heads and split my country apart!" He paused to regain his composure. "But now they're going to pay." He looked Lucas right into the eyes. "Lucas, war with the UEO is inevitable, and the only thing standing in the way of my nation's superiority is the seaQuest. Without their flagship, the UEO is powerless against New Australia. And that's where you come in."
"Me?" Lucas had no clue where this guy was going. "Look, sir, I don't know who you think I am, but-"
"You have seaQuest's security codes."
"What?"
"You know what I'm talking about. With those codes, I can control the seaQuest from any computer consul."
"I don't have them."
"Don't lie to me, Lucas. I know all about your role on seaQuest. 'Chief Computer Analyst' is the official term, I think?" He paused and let a smile creep onto his lips as Lucas' face fell. "I told you I make it my business to know what's going on in my sea."
Lucas paused. "Do you actually think that I would just hand over control of seaQuest?"
"Of course not. So I'm giving you two choices. Either I have control of seaQuest, or nobody does. Get me?" The full reality of his situation washed over Lucas like a wave. He felt sick. "The Peacetime Acts of 2005 let tons of nuclear weapons loose on the black market. I have stocked five on this ship. I could easily destroy the seaQuest and all of your friends on it. It's up to you, Lucas."
"You can threaten me all you want, but I'll never betray the seaQuest or the UEO. You're insane if you think you can take on seaQuest my yourself."
"No. I'm not insane. I just believe in the future of my country. Human nature is not peace, Lucas; it's war! The world cannot stay at peace forever; it goes against the laws of the universe. You will see, Lucas. Trust me. You will see."
Bridger walked into his quarters and closed the door behind him with a sigh. He didn't know how to feel anymore. He was too exhausted to cry and too upset to sleep. His stomach was constantly churning. He felt guilty for letting Lucas go but even guiltier for not telling him the one fact that would have kept him there. But Bridger felt something else, too; a strange, scared prickling at the back of his neck like something was going to happen. He knew Lucas was in trouble but he felt like he couldn't help him without alienating him forever. If only he had told him... A knock at his door disrupted his train of thought.
"Enter." He walked over to hid desk and at down.
"Captain," Commander Ford poked his head through the doorway. "Can we talk for a minute?"
"Sure, Jonathan. Come in." Ford closed the door quietly and sat down in front of his captain. "What did you want to talk about?"
"Captain, is there something going on that I should know about? The crew can sense that something is wrong, and they're getting worried about you. Frankly, so am I."
Bridger paused before responding. "Jonathan, have you ever been so ashamed of something you did that you couldn't even bring yourself to tell those you love?"
"Yes. I think everyone feels that way at some point. Most of the time, though, it's for no good reason."
Bridger smiled. "Thank you for that, but not everyone has done what I've done."
"Sir, forgive me for being foreword, but what have you done? Whatever it is, it can't be that bad."
Bridger was quiet for a moment, making Ford think that maybe he had pushed his captain too far. "Jonathan, have you ever loved a woman?"
Ford smiled sadly at the memories that surfaced at his captain's question. "Yes, sir."
"Did you truly love her?"
"With all my heart."
"So did I, so did I... do you think it's possible to love more than one woman that way in your life?"
"Well, I guess so. Just because you love another doesn't mean your love for the first one dies."
Bridger smiled. "Yeah. I guess you're right."
"Sir, about Lucas... He'll come back, I know he will. You don't have to worry."
"Thank you. Jonathan."
Captain Mitchell pawed through the black duffel bag with the seaQuest logo in his quarters without much interest. He was looking for any clue as to how he could get to the kid. He had thought that a bluff would be good enough, but the boy was tougher than he had expected.
He sure looked familiar, too. Those eyes...they reminded him of... He struggled to push the thought away. It was so long ago, and he had come so far since then... He hadn't thought about her in so long that it shocked him how fast the memories came back. Why, suddenly, did this boy bring up these thoughts? Because he has blue eyes? He had reconciled his actions with his god long ago. What right did this boy have to make him feel guilty again?
He threw the duffel bag across the room. It fell with a crash against the wall and dumped its contents onto the floor. Among various other objects, a rectangular frame flew out and landed a few feet from the angry man. The face that peered back at him confirmed the sinking feeling in his stomach.
"Oh, god..."