OUT OF THE BLUE - PART TEN
By Allegra
See Part One for disclaimers etc.
Ben had given up trying to cheer himself up. He had wandered the corridors of the seaQuest from port to starboard but nothing could steer his mind away from the kid in medbay. If it had been anyone else or maybe even just another time, the lieutenant would have put the matter down to Lucas' shabby diet or some equally solvable problem. However, the unprecedented recovery of the teenager's leg after the cave-in was a major cause for query. No action had been taken, principally because there was nothing anyone could do. Lucas was better and that was all that mattered. People never ask questions about why they are feeling fine, they only seek advice when they have an illness which can't be cleared up or a defect which needed attention. The kid was expected to roll over and thank his lucky stars that he didn't have to sit in traction any longer or even wear a cast. It was all too good to be true and now was payback time.
Ben rarely sought other people for any kind of comfort, considering himself the best shoulder to rely on in his own hour of need. For some reason though, spending time with Katie had been more therapeutic for him than he would ever have believed, even without that bonus kiss. Despite the differences which had torn them apart years ago, they couldn't deny that the attractions still remained. Krieg had always believed that once the physical aspect of their relationship had been laid to rest, when he no longer desired Commander Hitchcock in his bed, the conflicts of their marriage would be well and truly laid to rest. Since the incident at the MEDS station, he had learned that Katie still possessed a great many assets which he admired, not least her ability to quell his fears. If there was anyone he could honestly open up to, it would be her. Residual attraction aside, he needed her.
Setting his course in the direction of her quarters, he suddenly remembered that she was working a bridge shift. He wondered momentarily whether it would be wise to go to her room anyway, then thought better of it. She might have agreed to stand staunchly beside Ben through his crises, but even he didn't think the lieutenant commander was ready to find her ex-husband lying in wait in her private quarters. Oh, and of course there was that whole rule about consorting with officers in their rooms. He would just have to take his grief elsewhere. Wasn't Darwin supposed to be a good listener? Perhaps if he left the vocorder off...
"Lucas!" Kristin rushed into the teenager's room just as convulsions seized his body. "Nathan, hold him still!" Bridger swallowed back his horror and raced across to the bed, trying with difficulty to keep the boy's flailing arms at his side. "Kristin, what's happening to him?!"
At first, the doctor said nothing. She was too busy concentrating on preparing an anti-convulsant of sodium valproate, quickly injecting it into Lucas' IV line. After about five minutes, the seizure calmed into irregular twitching in his limbs until eventually the boy lay still. Kristin gently rolled him onto his side and began checking his vitals once again, a frown creasing her forehead.
Nathan waited patiently for ten minutes, allowing the doctor to do her job, but it wasn't long before the tension was too much to bear. "Kristin, what's going on? One minute he's fine and the next he's having an epileptic fit."
Kristin motioned him into silence with one finger. "Please, Nathan, I know you're worried but we need to run some more tests immediately so that we can decide on the best course for his medication." Her tone was brisk but the captain knew it only stemmed from maternal concern for Lucas and he sat back down, quietly. Calling in a nurse, Westphalen reeled off a list of tests for the teenager to undergo, including a scheduled CAT scan and blood samples. She took no risks, making sure that he got a full work up.
Eventually, the room was clear and Kristin leaned over Lucas, brushing a strand of hair from his cool forehead, glancing at the monitors in worry. Bridger ventured, "Kristin?"
Westphalen sighed and drew a chair towards the bed, her eyes never leaving Lucas' pale face. "I don't know what to tell you at this stage. Fits can start as a result of injury to the brain, but nothing showed up when he was brought in after the accident. There was minimal bruising with no inter-cranial pressure. Epilepsy occurs when the normal co-ordinated electrical activity of the brain's nerve cells is disrupted. The chaotic discharge of electrical activity usually results in loss of control over muscle and body movements. It could be a result of any number of factors. We'll just have to wait for the test results before I can tell you anything." She looked up at the captain, her eyes searching for some kind of praise or reassurance that she had done all she could.
Nathan moved over to her and squeezed her shoulders, affectionately. "Thank you, Kristin. He couldn't be in better hands."
"No! You don't understand! You never listen to anyone except Lucas and it's about time you acknowledged that there are other people on this boat who let you out to feed, you know. Perhaps you should start taking a few lessons in manners! You stupid fish!" Apparently that was the last straw and with a flip of his tail, splashing water all over his companion, Darwin disappeared from the moon pool. Ben cursed under his breath and wiped the ejected water distastefully from his face as if it were something scraped off the bottom of his shoe. "Typical!"
"Another victim of the incomparable charm of Lieutenant Krieg?" Ben whirled around, almost falling backwards into the moon pool with the exertion. "Tim! What, uh, what are you doing here?"
Tim stepped towards the water, a half smile playing across his lips. "Last I knew this was still a free country, or moon pool at least."
Ben emitted a forced laugh. "I was just, uh, just...I promised Lucas I'd pass on a message to Darwin for him. That fish could use some manners considering all the things we do for him. I mean, he has it so easy just swimming around seaQuest without a care in the world."
Tim nodded, indulging the lieutenant's rant. "So Lucas wanted to pass on a message about your relationship with Commander Hitchcock? That fish has a big mouth, lieutenant. I'd be careful what you impart to him if I were you."
Krieg shot his companion a warning glare. "If you so much as breathe a word..."
Tim raised his hands in mock surrender, "Hey, your secret's safe with me, I swear." The two men stood in silence for a while before O'Neill added, "A word of advice though - don't get involved, Krieg. It's a bad idea."
Ben looked up at him in surprise. "I'm not. That's just the thing. We're good, we're fine, we're ...friends. It's just sometimes there's that old spark, you know, the spark that brought us together in the first place." Tim eyed him, warily. "But hey, don't worry. We've talked about it and it was all just a mistake...and I am happy about that. I just wish things didn't have to get so complicated all the time."
Tim nodded, sympathetically. "You know, Ben, you just have a habit of making things difficult for yourself. Maybe you should start looking at the way you handle situations sometimes."
Patting his friend on the back, O'Neill decided he had said all that could be said and headed back to his own quarters. He was tired and sleep was first on the agenda. If he dwelt on Krieg's problems for too long he'd be up all night. With the number of dilemmas that man managed to get himself embroiled in at once, it was a wonder the guy's conscience was ever clear enough to let him rest.
Having been banished from medbay for the remainder of the afternoon, Bridger set about trying to find something useful to do which didn't require making any important decisions. Given his state of mind, he found himself wandering towards mammal engineering and sat down on Lucas' bed. It was the one place where the captain could still find some semblance of the boy who had left seaQuest for that MEDS station two weeks earlier. That had been a completely different teenager, the Lucas everyone knew and loved. Who could have foreseen the gnarled and twisted path his life would have taken within a few short days? It felt as if the boy had befallen one catastrophe after another only to end up back in hospital with yet another setback. When was it going to be enough?
Nathan lay back against the pillow, calmly recalling how he had woken up in this exact spot that morning, but that had been aeons ago. Now, the child who had rested so peacefully on his shoulder was fettered to a medical bed to endure countless tests. Nobody could say for sure if they would ever get the old Lucas back. What was he saying?! They had lost the old Lucas the moment God had chosen to spare him but not Cleo. There was no changing the fact that the youngster had lost someone he cared deeply for and whom he would never see again. From personal experience, Nathan knew it was just another step away from innocence.
The vidlink suddenly burst in action and Dr. Westphalen's serious face came into focus. "Nathan?"
"Yes." The captain sat forward on the bed, his stomach mysteriously tying itself into tight knots of fear.
"Lucas' test results are back. I think you should come to medbay immediately."
Nathan nodded, "I'm on my way."
Bridger's feet flew over the decking as he exited the Maglev with speed he barely even knew he possessed. The expression on the doctor's face and the severe tone in her voice worried him more than he cared to admit. He relied on Kristin as his gauge when it came to knowing how much trouble Lucas was in. Calming his jangling nerves and his laboured breathing, Nathan stepped into medbay and went directly to Kristin's office. He half expected to find nobody there, to hear the whining squeal of an EEG flatlining and shouts from concerned doctors and nurses trying to save the teenager's life. In the chaos of his mind, Nathan found it disconcerting to see the relative calm which had descended over the entire medical facility.
Kristin tapped him on the shoulder as she tried to squeeze into the office where he blocked the doorway. "Nathan, sit down and I'll explain the situation. It's complicated to say the least."
Nathan reluctantly sat, really wanting to pace around some more and burn off the excess energy. "What's wrong with him?"
Kristin perused the notes she had been clutching, trying to think of the clearest way to tell the captain everything she had found. "The tests we ran show a variety of symptoms which don't add up. Lucas is suffering from anaemia and an irregular heartbeat, both of which are indicative of low potassium levels. However, the medicines we are giving him to counteract that are having no effect whatsoever. His seizure, on the other hand, appears to be a result of low sodium. He is also suffering from low blood pressure and low glucose, neither of which have improved despite our efforts to balance it out. As for the cut on his finger, it has continued to bleed without any signs of healing due to a fibrinogen deficiency." She took a deep breath, noticing the blank expression on the captain's face. "The problem we face is that we can ascertain what's wrong with Lucas but no drugs have been having any effect in resetting his body's balance."
She placed an X-ray showing a portion of Lucas' torso on the portable viewer and held a pencil in front of one of his arteries. "I took an arteriogram. See here, that dark line running along the entire length of his arteries?"
Nathan nodded.
"Well, it appears to be some kind of unidentified agent coating the insides. Whatever it is seems to be affecting all of Lucas' blood cells, hence the symptoms of anaemia. There is a decrease in the transport of oxygen and carbon dioxide through his tissues, iron loss and both the spleen and bone marrow are growing ineffective. It is infiltrating the plasma and destroying the fibrinogen which is a clotting protein. I suppose we should he thankful for small mercies that Lucas' leg was healed before this began or we'd be dealing with an open wound as well. Now, I took a sample which my team are analysing as we speak. Hopefully, they'll have some news for us within a couple of hours. In the mean time, all we can do is try to make Lucas comfortable to the best of our abilities."
"How could we have missed all of this coming?"
Kristin shook her head. "It has all begun in the last twenty four hours as if it has been incubating. Lucas was given the utmost care while he was in medbay. If there had been any one of these symptoms then, we would have caught it."
If there was one thing which Bridger understood in all of that, it was that there were no guarantees. What Lucas was suffering from was a mystery and even if they did figure out what was in his arteries, there was no telling if an antidote would be found. "Can I see him?"
Kristin pursed her lips, her eyes dark and urgent. "Nathan, there's more." The captain said nothing, inwardly bracing himself. "Because the drugs are only having a minimal effect, more like a drop in the ocean really, Lucas is gradually deteriorating. He is unconscious and the chances of him slipping into a coma are quite high at this point. We are doing everything we can to prevent that, but until we know more about what's wrong with him, there's little more we can do."
Nathan ran a hand over his chin, despair nagging at the corners of his mind. "Things couldn't get much worse, could they?"
Kristin said nothing. It tore her apart to see Bridger like this, to see Lucas in such a state. She felt frustrated and helpless for being a doctor who had no choice but to stand by and watch that leeching poison slowly and painfully destruct that boy from the inside out. Nathan was no more than a shadow of himself and Kristin wasn't sure if she could hold out much longer. Days of torment had now become weeks, the situation growing steadily worse until she was forced to wonder if there would ever be a bottom to this torturous well of despair.
When he had first accepted the position of captain of the seaQuest two years ago and had met Lucas for the first time - an obnoxious kid with an unhealthy degree of self assurance - Nathan could never have perceived such impending misery. Not in his wildest imagination would he have believed that kid to have been so mercilessly abused by his father, neglected by his mother, flung onto a deep sea military vessel without a friend in the world, only to be confronted with this. In those first months, Bridger had honestly felt like a father again. Sometimes he enjoyed the role and at other times he wondered how he had ever been roped into the situation.
Whichever way he viewed it, Lucas had made a profound impact on him and had started to make him feel like a real human being once more. After years of hollowness brought about by Robert and Carol's deaths, Nathan was forced to see the genius teenager for who he was, a sensitive boy with no guidance or love. Now more than ever, the captain was forced to see how two way that relationship had become. He relied on Lucas as much as the youngster relied on him. He couldn't see his way past the medbay, what lay at the other end was a complete mystery. Nathan feared this more than anything because it was a sensation he was all too familiar with. With Carol's impending death, he had been inconsolable, convinced that there would be no life beyond her. And for a long time he had been right. Compared to his marriage, Nathan's time with Lucas seemed almost insignificant, but it wasn't. He felt exactly the same way because Lucas deserved so much more than his lot. There was so much more to see of the world and it wasn't right that the boy's life should end here, that this ageing man should be allowed to live past his prime and into old age in the teenager's stead.
Nathan had been impatiently awaiting the science team's finds. Kristin had gone off to join them and see how much progress had been made. Eventually she returned, her face completely unreadable which was never a good sign. "Nathan, there are some strange anomalies..." She brandished a complex graph in front of his face, then said, "From the evidence we have here, I think it would be best to let everyone else involved with the cave-in hear."
This wasn't the first response he had hoped for. "Kristin, what about Lucas?"
Kristin's face soured again. "I won't lie. What I hold here is sketchy at best. We are making all kinds of assumptions..." She stopped herself. "Look, Nathan, there's no point in me repeating this to everyone. I think it would be wise to call a meeting and we can discuss this together. Lieutenant Krieg and Commander Ford might well have some information which will help us make a few certainties at least." Bridger desperately wanted to snatch the documents from the doctor's hands as if he honestly believed they held the key to Lucas' cure. The answers were in there and she was withholding them in her medical codes. The captain's frustration was reaching an absolute snapping point. Perhaps fortunately, self-restraint held him back and he quickly reached for his PAL to summon the appropriate crew members to the ward room.
Within ten minutes, Krieg, Ford, Hitchcock, Westphalen and Bridger were all seated around the ward room table. Bridger quickly filled them in on the turn Lucas had taken and immediately handed over to Kristin to explain the rest. Ben found it hard to concentrate at first as his mind kept wandering back to the image of that poor kid lying in bed, getting worse and worse with every passing moment. It was difficult to focus on tactics and medical jargon when his best friend was at death's door.
Kristin began uncertainly. She knew that as Lucas' life hung in the balance, the information they managed to gather here was the difference between living and dying. With every second she wasted, it was another second of deterioration in that weakening body and every one of the faces around this table would hold her accountable.
"From the medical tests I have conducted, whatever this substance is coating Lucas' arteries, it is creating a higher liquid pressure than the pressure in his cells, effectively causing hypertonic osmosis. Currently, it is restricted mainly to his red blood cells and making them crenated. There has been some plasma effects, namely the reduced fibrinogen which means that it is spreading. Now, given the rapidity with which this was occurred, there is no telling how long it will be before this deposit affects other parts of Lucas' body more seriously. His spleen is not effectively destroying old blood cells and his bone marrow is not producing new red blood cells quickly enough to compensate." Kristin felt her voice beginning to waver and she persevered, knowing that this information had to be imparted and only her lips could do it. Looking around the table at the affrighted faces of her colleagues, she felt an overwhelming desire to cry. Here she was, talking to them as if she had been drafted in to give a presentation on mammalian osmosis when every technical word issuing from her mouth was not about some anonymous body, it was about a boy whom they all cherished and loved like a brother, a son, a best friend.
Cautiously, barely trusting her voice, she continued. "Now, cells cannot function if there is continuous fluctuation in osmotic pressure, but this substance appears to be constantly evolving, altering its properties and..." No sooner had the words left her lips than Kristin stopped short. Like déjà vu, she instinctively knew that she had heard those words somewhere before, recently. Somebody had been saying that exact thing about...about the rock. It had been Lucas. The rock had been mutating in the cave when he breathed on it.
Nathan insistent voice probed, "Kristin?"
Hitchcock queried, "Doctor, are you all right?"
Kristin suddenly looked up, her previously fretted eyes suddenly lit with fiery passion. "Lucas." She snapped her fingers at the group as she tried to gather her scattered thoughts from the MEDS station. "It's the rock! It's the polychromatite! It has to be!"
Krieg frowned, uncertain where this followed on from what Westphalen had been saying only moments earlier. "What do you mean? What about it?"
"When Lucas and I were working in the cave, he breathed on a sample of the rock and it changed colour. It was reacting to carbon dioxide levels."
Nathan shook his head. "But people were working in there all the time, weren't they? Why didn't the rock change when they breathed in there?"
Kristin shrugged, "I don't know. Perhaps it needed to be in closer proximity. I don't know, but the point is that Lucas and I believed the rock was mutating, altering its properties. Those were Lucas' exact words!"
Hitchcock glanced at the other blank faces, reassured that she wasn't the only one completely lost in all this. "I still don't understand what this has to do with anything."
Kristin suddenly grew more animated as a possible link began to unveil itself. "Well, given the bizarre uses of this rock, seeing its effects on sea life, isn't it possible that what Wagner and Olafsson created was more complex than we ever thought? We know it is organic, that it is living."
Krieg butted in, "Yeah, but Kristin, we've already agreed that Wagner must have been lying."
Nathan pointed out, happy that some kind of progress was being made, "But we still haven't heard from our lawyers. We don't know whether he has pleaded guilty or is still standing by his claim of inventing polychromatite."
Kristin was on a jag now and there was no stopping her. "Any organic substance has the ability to mutate, to evolve, no matter how unlikely. Given the dubious uses for the rock, isn't it even remotely possible that it somehow mutated itself and entered Lucas' bloodstream? I mean, think about the fish. They obviously absorbed nutrients of some kind from it, making them faster and larger. What if the same properties have had a different reaction to the human system? What if it mutated inside Lucas' body, lying dormant for a few weeks before finally affecting his system?"
The group sat quietly for a while, trying to digest what the doctor was saying. It all seemed so far-fetched, it couldn't possibly be true. However, they didn't have any better alternatives at the moment. Nathan leaned forward. "If what you say holds any water at all, Kristin, we don't have any other option than to get Wagner back here immediately to help us find a solution."
Commander Ford looked at him sceptically, "He'd never agree to that. We shut his project down and shipped him to Pearl. I'd say he'll be more likely to consider what's happened to Lucas as justified payback."
Ben jumped in, "Yeah, well he doesn't get a say. He's claiming responsibility for this rock so he can damn well reap the consequences!"
Kristin took a deep breath, trying to diffuse the tension around the table. "Wagner is our best hope but it won't do us any favours if we charge in there and forcibly bring him to seaQuest."
Hitchcock calmly asked, "So what are you suggesting we do? He's not going to welcome us with open arms."
The doctor sat back in her chair, waiting for the imminent shouts of disapproval or jeering laughs at the very least. "I suggest we appeal to his better nature. He is human after all."
Ben scoffed, "Kristin, I think you missed the part where he basically hates our guts. He doesn't care whether Lucas lives or dies! Appealing to his better nature as you put it will only make him realize how desperate we are and then he'll be even more likely to refuse."
Nathan had been fighting back his irritation and growing impatience with the situation. Thumbing through the muddled results of the science team's tests, he knew that within those biro etchings was the key to a cure. It was insufferable to know that they were too stupid or not advanced enough to find it. Every letter, every number was an arrow in neon lights pointing them towards the exit, but there wasn't a thing he could do to help. They were just figures to Nathan, patterns which were beyond his comprehension. Human beings simply weren't clever enough to solve this...except humans like Dr. Wagner. "I have a solution."
All faces turned towards their captain with eager anticipation. Bridger knew they weren't going to like what they heard. "We make a deal. Provided that Wagner leaves this project alone forever, his co-operation in Lucas' case will nullify everything else. The UEO will overlook his involvement in illegal experimentation, pollution of the seas, everything."
Silence ensued. Nobody knew what to say. More than anything, they wanted to save Lucas' life and every one of them would be willing to sacrifice their lives in his stead, but could this really work? Always judicial and logical, Commander Ford piped up, "Captain, I'm not sure the UEO would overlook a crime like that. I mean, there have been some underhand dealings in the past, but look where they've got us. Ultimately, the UEO have a duty to themselves and the public to stay clean and legitimate. Absolving a criminal who, in the blink of an eye, might have wiped out water supplies and food sources across the globe, is not the same as a few dirty dollars passing hands under the table." Pausing for breath and hating himself for having to point this out, he continued, "Lucas is very important to all of us...but he is just a number in the bigger picture. He is one person over millions who might have suffered."
Kristin shook her head, vehemently. "But until we know exactly what is in that cave, what happened to Lucas is an unconfined hazard. We don't know how it spreads, whether it will kill him or not..." She trailed off at her disgustingly clinical assessment of the teenager's death. "The point is that the UEO has as much duty to make sure the public are not at risk from that rock even now. Wagner is already under their surveillance. He has a duty to clear up his mess."
Katie quietly added, "If it is his mess, if you and Lucas were wrong and he honestly did have something to do with the mutation of that rock."
Kristin sat up, sharply. "Well, there's only one way to find out. We can't waste any more time."
Nathan stood up, dismissing his crew. "I'll get on to Admiral Noyce immediately."
Dr. Eric Wagner had been on release from UEO custody for over a week now and he tried to forget the fact that he had been instructed not to leave Pearl Harbour until further notice. The board of lawyers brought in to survey the evidence for the station to be shut down had been close to useless. Wagner took a discreet pleasure in the sure-fire certainty that they hadn't had a clue what was going on, opting to let him go rather than draw attention to their own incompetence.
The charges pressed by Captain Bridger about contaminating sea life amongst other misdemeanours had left him furious for many days. However, it was eventually replaced with other, more pressing fears. If his project was shut down once and for all, Wagner knew that he could lie low for a while, dipping into other research, until he could get back to the station. It would take a few years but eventually he would get there and continue where he had left off. However, any of those plans were quickly put aside when Olafsson's oafish, slovenly execution of the cave-in had brought much more significant problems. seaQuest would never leave peacefully with a simple padlock on the door of the MEDS station while the two scientists slipped away unnoticed. Now there would be a full inquiry and it would quickly come to light that the polychromatite was about as natural as the bald pate he spent hours trying to hide. They would track him down again, looking for answers, demanding that he show them proof about how he had created it.
Eric suddenly found his palms sweating profusely, unwelcome wet patches staining the underarms of his dark shirt. He had felt this way during the first day of his detainment at the UEO headquarters.
There was only one solution. If they found him, imprisonment was a certainty and Wagner knew he could never endure that, he was too weak. The only way to avoid their questions was to go beyond even the UEO's long arm of jurisdiction. Suicide.
"Nathan, what can I do for you?" Despite years of friendship, Bridger steeled himself with the most military, professional tone he could muster under the circumstances. It was going to take a lot of convincing to force Admiral Noyce to comply with his wishes. "Bill, what's the situation with Dr. Eric Wagner at the moment?"
Bill's face fell suddenly. "It's a complete mess, but we're handling it."
"How?"
The admiral shifted uncomfortably in front of the monitor. "Well, in all honesty, there wasn't a great deal we could do beyond restrict his research to more mundane projects for a few years."
Noting Bridger's thunderous face, Bill hastily adopted a little more decorum. "Nathan, in my position, I can't be seen to take unnecessary action against aggressors unless there is good reason. There simply wasn't the concrete evidence to shut him down."
"What do you mean?! He couldn't prove he created polychromatite. Surely that was enough evidence."
Bill shook his head. "Neither could we prove he didn't. The whole process just came to a stand still. We made the best decision we could at the time."
Nathan nodded, emphatically, silencing his friend and superior. There was always some convenient reason to take the easy option and save a few extra UEO credits. "Perhaps you'll revise that decision when you hear the latest offerings."
"And what might those be?"
"One of our science team who had been working on the station has been struck with an unidentifiable illness. He is deteriorating rapidly due to a substance coating his arteries. Dr. Westphalen has been directly involved with research on this rock since the beginning of the project. She believes that the crewman's ailment is a consequence of Wagner's self-proclaimed creation."
Noyce's face darkened. "Nathan, before you go any further...who is this scientist?" Of all the questions, Bridger had hoped to avoid this one. "Lucas Wolenczak."
"Oh, Nathan, come on...I know you care for that kid and I'm real sorry to hear that he's sick but..."
"But what, Bill?! Because he's a kid he doesn't count?!"
"Of course not. That's not what I'm saying..."
"It sure sounds like it." The admiral opened his mouth in defence but Nathan cut him off before he could utter a single syllable. "This isn't about Lucas. This is about an unidentified substance which has been contracted almost certainly from use of Wagner's polychromatite. We don't know how it spreads or if it is contagious. Hell, every person on this boat could be at risk from contamination!"
Bill put a placating hand up to silence his comrade. "I get the picture, Nathan...but, what do you want from me?"
"I want you to hand Wagner over to me, give us a chance to figure out what's going on."
"I wish I could but Wagner committed suicide outside Fort Lauderdale last night." Nathan could barely believe his ears. After all this, Wagner had been their last hope. "What?! How?"
"It looks like he took some pills and drowned in a lake nearby."
"Have you got his body?"
"No, it hasn't been recovered yet, but he left a note."
"And you bought it? He's probably hiding out somewhere laughing at us right now."
Bill shrugged, "I know, but until we can track him down, we have to treat the matter seriously. There's an alert out already. If he is out there, hopefully we should have him within a couple of weeks."
"Lucas doesn't have that long! He needs help now."
Admiral Noyce watched his friend with a sinking heart. He honestly wished he could do more, alleviate Nathan's troubles somehow. Knowing it would make him unpopular with his peers, he couldn't help offering, "There's still Olafsson. I can haul him back over to you tonight. He's back in his research centre outside Anchorage."
Bridger looked up, hardly believing his ears. "You mean he isn't even incarcerated?! He killed two of our men."
Bill shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Sometimes, he hated talking to Nathan more than anyone else. The captain could always make him feel as if he were doing a terrible job, accusing all the wrong people and endangering citizens with crude decisions. "The bodies were never recovered, Nathan. It is our word against his and until there is some evidence, we can only request that he remain where he is until further notice." Quickly dismissing the point, he continued, "He could be very valuable to your cause, Nathan."
Bridger nodded, solemnly. "Fine. Give us Olafsson. I'll reset our course immediately. Thank you, Bill."
Nathan moved slowly along the belly of his brainchild, a hulk of indestructible, bio-engineered technology. What a cruel joke that it should be so comparably easy to build, that money should be the greatest obstacle, yet no such blue prints existed for a human being. The UEO would never fork out such huge sums to save a single life. Lucas' survival had rested on the co-operation of a man whose career they had effectively ruined and now only his sidekick remained. It was hopeless but every muscle of the captain's body strained to believe that the kid would pull through, that with a few strings pulled, the old Lucas would be restored to them.
Arriving back in medbay, Nathan's heart almost stopped when he entered the teenager's room only to be confronted with empty bed sheets already replaced for the next unwitting patient. No. It couldn't be true, not so soon. He wasn't ready. Lucas wasn't ready.
As if in a dream, he found himself stumbling towards Kristin's office, praying that she would offer an ulterior explanation to the one his brain kept foisting on him. "Kristin, what's going on?...Lucas?" The doctor looked up at him, unshed tears welling in her hazel eyes. She wiped at them in embarrassment, turning away from him until she had collected herself. "Oh, Nathan, I wasn't expecting..."
"Kristin, what's wrong? Is it Lucas?" Determined not to let himself believe the boy dead, he tried to sound casual. "I went to his room and they've remade the bed."
Kristin nodded, vigorously, shaking herself back into doctor mode. "Yes, he's been moved. He's in the ICU now." A tremor entered her voice and one hand flew to her mouth. Nathan pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. "Kristin, what's the matter?" At first she said nothing, her shoulders shaking with sobs as she clutched him tightly.
Finally, she spoke. "He's getting worse, Nathan. We don't know anything about this thing and it's killing him...and I don't know what else to do. I should be able to do something!"
Nathan stroked her hair, trying to calm her. "No, no, you're doing everything you can."
Kristin pulled roughly away from him, "But this is what I was trained for! The only thing I excel in, that I should be able do better than anyone else, is saving people's lives. I can't even do that, Nathan. I can't even save that poor boy's life and I have no idea what is causing him such pain or how to relieve it or..."
Nathan grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to focus on his face. "No, listen to me. Kristin, you are the best doctor I have ever seen. I know that, this crew knows that, Lucas knows that. Only God can give us a miracle and nobody is asking you to provide it."
"But I am. It shouldn't be like this. I just want to do more. I can't keep sitting in this office achieving nothing...!"
Cutting her short, Bridger said, "Kristin, take a deep breath and stop for a minute. Okay? Try to look at this rationally. You've tried all the conventional treatments and O'Neill is close to tracking Dr. Olafsson down. He'll be able to shed some light on this, but right now you need to rest. Get some sleep and give yourself a chance to recuperate. Isn't that what you've been saying to me all week?" He managed to squeeze a small smile from behind the doctor's frown.
Recollecting herself, Nathan was relieved to see an inkling of the old Kristin again. "Well, I could do with a few hours' nap."
"Good. Now it's my turn to shoo you out of medbay. I'll oversee everything here. As soon as I've spoken to Olafsson, I'll sit with Lucas for a while."
Emory Olafsson was enjoying a hard-earned whiskey in front of the wide-screen television at his favourite bar. It was like molten gold down his throat as he sat joking with the other regulars, a reminder of the simple pleasures in life. There were tiny chinks in his days when the doctor completely forgot about the polychromatite project he had been forced to abandon. Then the bitterness would resurface, all the turmoil and fear of what might happen to him if he didn't come up with a solution pretty quickly.
He had seen the bulletin on the news earlier that day stating that the prestigious Westview Biochemical Facility was facing a change of hands after the death of its founder, Dr. Eric Wagner. The newsreader went on to catalogue the scientist's lengthy achievements in various fields. Of course nothing was made of his recent involvement on the MEDS station. It was not surprising. Both men had been careful to conceal any of their private work...although it was a relief to Olafsson to hear proof that nobody had discovered them.
At first the news of Wagner's death had shocked him greatly, leaving him wondering what would become of his own involvement. Of course, he had quickly seen past his so-called friend's deception and put himself in the same position. Emory had to give it to him, Eric was quick off the mark. It was only a matter of time before one of them came up with the genius idea of a faked suicide. As scientists with a passing knowledge in forensics, they could generate a suitably convincing death scene. There would be all the inevitable suspicions but ultimately nobody would have a hold on them and that was all that mattered.
Assessing the situation over a whiskey, he started to feel like a fool. Wagner had been investigated for days, all of which had proven fairly fruitless, but had instantly put a plan into motion which would free him from the tethers of prison or any other punishment. In contrast, Olafsson was a sitting duck, returning to his post at Anchorage without so much as a leg to stand on should the UEO come looking for him. He'd better come up with a plan of his own...and quickly.
A gust of wind alerted him to some more frequenters of the bar as the door swung open. Olafsson glanced in their direction and was horrified to see three UEO representatives heading directly towards him. That plan had better happen fast or this duck was going to be dinner.
"How is he?" Katie Hitchcock hovered in the doorway of Lucas' room, bearing a bunch of flowers and a bulging paper bag. Nathan opened his mouth to speak then glanced back at the monitors beside the teenager's bed. "Right now this minute, not too bad. Goodness knows how long we've got before the next phase starts, whatever that is."
Seeing Bridger so dejected made the commander wish she hadn't asked such a stupid question. It was quite obvious how Lucas was. He was hooked up to three IV lines, an EKG monitor and a respirator linked to a tube running down his throat. Although the beats were steady and regular, the very fact that the boy needed so much assistance was not promising. Shifting over to the bed, she gazed down at the small form, pale and lifeless against the starched sheets. "Can he hear us?"
"I don't know. I've been talking to him anyway."
Katie plunged the flowers into the water jug beside the bed. "Sorry they're a bit wilted. They didn't have very careful handling on the way down. Still, at least they've still got petals on them..." She spoke too soon when, with a slight knock, a cascade of white and red confetti sprinkled onto the table. Nathan stifled a laugh when he saw the commander's angry expression. Anyone would have thought she had been unjustly demoted from the way she glared at the miserable flowers. It was hardly surprising that her marriage to Krieg had been so short lived. With his thick skin and her temperament, overstepping the mark into argument territory would not have taken long. "They're lovely. I'm sure Lucas appreciates them."
Katie's eyes melted a little. "Well, I know guys aren't into flora much, but it's tradition, right?"
Hastily moving on from that unsuccessful present, she opened the bag. "Anyway, the guys have had a bit of a whip round, not to mention the number of cards Lucas has got."
Pulling out a wad of envelopes, she handed them to Bridger. The captain felt his heart swell with happiness at the huge number of people who had taken the time to order cards and show the teenager how much they cared. "That's nice."
Between the two of them, within fifteen minutes the room was looking more like a carnival with brightly coloured greetings cards adorning every flat surface. Nathan would read the messages aloud and occasionally recite a joke from the cover.
Finally, Katie took her cue to leave, allowing the captain some more time alone with Lucas. "So, kiddo, you see how many friends you've got here. It's not time to check out just yet. Besides, you've got a ton of chocolates to get through and I'll never manage them all myself."
He took the boy's hand in his own. It felt strange, as if the hand didn't belong to Lucas at all. It was hard to believe that they could be the same fingers which typed furiously, flying over a keyboard with lightning speed. "Lucas, I know you're fighting this thing, that you're doing your best. We think Dr. Olafsson will know what's wrong with you and then he'll bring you back to us. But, whatever you do, don't give up." Reflexively, he squeezed the hand, hoping that if words couldn't reach the boy, touch might.
He was just in the middle of explaining to Lucas what had happened to Wagner when there was a sharp rap at the door and Tim O'Neill's face appeared.
"Captain Bridger? Dr. Olafsson's shuttle has just arrived in docking bay."
Nathan glanced at his watch in surprise. He had been expecting speed and efficiency from the UEO but not from the scientist. Noyce had sent the order barely a few hours ago and yet they had already tracked Olafsson down. He was impressed but perturbed that he hadn't been given longer to prepare. There were still a lot of medical and technical points which Nathan was unclear about and he had been hoping to clear them up with Kristin. He would just have to rely on her to ask all the right questions when the doctor arrived. The quicker they got started, the quicker Lucas would be back on his feet. "I'm on my way. Call Dr. Westphalen, too."
Turning back to the teenager, he whispered, "Hang in there, kiddo."
He was not looking forward to this meeting one bit. They barely had any hard evidence to hold against Olafsson at the moment. The captain's tactic currently consisted of bluffing, assuming that the doctor was involved with Wagner all the way. Hopefully, his surety would break a full confession from him.
Emory Olafsson set foot in the docking bay with trembling hands. He prayed that Captain Bridger would not choose to shake his hand, probably not, considering what they must think of him. The scientist was disgusted with his own weakness, the fact that he felt physically nauseous with the prospect of what the UEO had in store for him. What game were they playing now? Why had they brought him back to seaQuest, tracked down and accompanied by soldiers? If they had uncovered the truth, that he knew nothing about that damned rock, why would they bother with such precautions? It wasn't as if he were dangerous, just foolish perhaps. Olafsson wasn't given the opportunity to dwell on it any longer as Dr. Westphalen and Captain Bridger strode into view.
"Dr. Olafsson, please step this way."
Nathan's voice was serious and unforgiving, but Kristin managed a small smile at the doctor. She knew that Bridger was only trying to prevent Olafsson from squirming out of any responsibility, but she felt that a more congenial approach was in order. Careful not to undermine the captain's work, she tried to make the doctor feel a little more at ease.
They settled in the ward room, Nathan taking his place imposingly at the head of the table with Kristin at his side. "I assume, doctor, that you have been informed of Dr. Wagner's disappearance?"
Olafsson shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Uh, I have heard of his unfortunate suicide, yes."
Nathan raised his eyebrows, sceptically. "Well, that is what he would have us believe, but I'm sure you are party to the truth." Emory suddenly realized what all of this was about. They had figured out that he was in collaboration over the cave-in but the UEO had misinterpreted how far their alliance went. Neither man had spoken to the other since before the incident at the station. He laughed nervously. "I'm not quite sure I understand you, captain."
Kristin could see Nathan's customary diplomacy falling away, cords of tension tightening in his neck and sending an unhealthy flush of colour to his cheeks. She knew what he was thinking, that every precious second wasted playing mind games with this man was another step towards the brink of oblivion for Lucas. "Perhaps you are aware, doctor, that seaQuest is home to some of the most advanced research for quite some time. It follows that it should also house some of the nation's best marine biologists, many of whom have spent a significant amount of time in other fields before accepting a position with the UEO."
Olafsson attempted a wan smile. "Yes, they are greatly coveted by laboratories around the world."
Nathan barely heard what the man said, already forming his next point.
"The cave-in which you so carefully planned with your colleague failed in every way, Mr. Olafsson. Not only did you fail to kill our scientists but you only alerted us to the fact that there was something to hide. Now, our research team has been looking into this polychromatite and all our results are conclusive. There is absolutely nothing in it's constitution which coincides with what Wagner claimed, leading us to believe that you have been lying all along."
The captain looked to Kristin to back him up and she passed some notes towards Olafsson. "This rock is the result of extreme pressure and heat, pressed beneath layers of glacial rock for possibly thousands of years. I think if you look through those results, we have been very thorough. We have left no room for error or assumptions."
Olafsson thumbed through the pages, his mind blankly gazing at the equations and numbers written there, but not seeing them. His mind was racing with questions as to which direction this interrogation might go next, what they were ultimately trying to winkle out of him.
Nathan was growing more impatient with each passing second. He wanted to get Olafsson out of this room and into a laboratory where he could finally do something useful. "I'll get straight to the point, doctor. Whatever my personal opinion, the UEO is currently forced to assume that Eric Wagner is dead. That leaves you as our only source of information concerning polychromatite. Respective of the illegal operations you have been carrying out to transform this rock set against our belief that there is no evidence to support your work, I want to hear the truth from you. Is this rock just a naturally occurring phenomenon which you are hoping to make commercial profit from or have you honestly outwitted our entire science team and UEO lawyers?"
Olafsson opened his mouth to speak, then paused, prompting Nathan to add, "Tell us the truth and your punishment will be significantly lighter...but if you lie, the law will come down on you harder than you believed possible. You'll start wishing you had followed Wagner's example."
Olafsson tried to push his own fear to the back of his mind and give way to rational thought. He had to weigh up the pros and cons of every scenario, try and work out what they wanted from him in all of this. Why had they brought him back to seaQuest? Bridger had said nothing which couldn't have been said in a court of law. There had to be a better reason than just wanting to do this face to face. There must be something they needed him for here. He couldn't keep up this farce any longer. If he lied, he would only be forced to explain how polychromatite was made and he didn't know.
"It is naturally occurring." He watched the faces with marked interest, afraid yet intrigued as to how they would respond. He was met with blankness.
Nathan felt his heart sinking in his chest. There went Lucas' only real chance. He looked to Kristin and the earnest expression on her face. He had seen that look before; it asked him to give the man a chance, to offer him the deal, regardless.
"Dr. Olafsson. You've had a long time to think about the legality of what you have done. I doubt I have to remind you of its consequences should you be tried in a court of law. So, I'm going to offer you a deal. Lucas Wolenczak is currently resting in the ICU due to an unidentifiable substance infiltrating his bloodstream which is causing significant damage to his body. In light of recent events, Dr. Westphalen believes exposure to polychromatite to be a direct contributor to his condition."
Things were looking up. Okay, so there was pressure to save the boy's life, but if he could escape imprisonment for the MEDS project, anything would be an improvement. Olafsson nodded, seriously. "You want me to find a cure."
Kristin tried to hide the warm smile which matched the feeling of relief washing over her. "With my help, of course. My team are still working on blood samples as we speak. Will you assist us?"
Emory's mouth twitched into a wary smile. "Of course. You have a deal, captain. I will do my utmost to save Wolenczak."
Nathan stood up to shake hands with the doctor, despite the hatred still coursing through his veins. Olafsson might be helping them now but, were it not for him, Lucas would never have been in hospital in the first place. Cleo would not be dead and none of this would be happening. Kristin hastily withdrew Olafsson from the room, heading directly to the laboratories, leaving Nathan alone again.