Disclaimer: I think we all know this part. If not, read the first chapter!
Thanks to Zev! Love ya man! Great idea! To all Sup!
Meaning of Life
By the untalented JOxER
Chapter 2
It was exactly 7:15 am when Captain Nathan Bridger looked at his watch as he stood at
the entrance of UEO headquarters. Accompanied by Dr. Kristen Westphalen, the captain
and the doctor greeted the officers, as they entered inside the building. Of course, the
first to arrive was Commander Jonathan Ford, not at all surprised; he was a dedicated
man and took his job very seriously, maybe a little too seriously. Lt. Katie Hitchcock
came five minutes later, laughing as she got out of the car. She was being accompanied
by a loud Lt. Ben Krieg, no wonder. Later, Sensors Chief Miguel Ortiz was arguing with
Chief of Security Crocker on the recent game they saw. One by one, they greeted the
captain and entered the building. . The meeting was to start at 8:00 am sharp and the
captain ordered every member of his crew to be early. Nathan looked at his watch again
and gave a big yawn.
"You look tired Nathan" Kristen said when she noticed the bags over his eyes.
"I am, I was preparing the speech, that I am giving out today, last night that I didn't get a
chance to rest." Nathan brought his hand over his mouth as another yawn took over.
It was 7:45am. Tim O'Neil was the last person to enter the building; he was embarrassed of
his "late" arrival and just gave a small wave to the Captain as he entered the doors.
Every one that was supposed to attend the meeting has shown up. Everyone, except
Lucas. It was near 7:50 am and the teen had not shown up. Kristen noticed a worry look
had replace Nathan's greeting smile.
"Captain, what is it?"
"Lucas, he was supposed to attend the meeting, I told him to be early."
"Don't worry about him, he is probably running late." Still notice that this statement was
not helping the Captain, "he is a teenager, what do you expect." Kristen was running out
of excuses for the boy and hoping the captain would buy this.
"You are probably right Kris. But if he is late, he will be grounded once we get back to
the boat!" The tone of his voice made it seem that Lucas was never going to leave his
quarters!
"Sounds harsh Nathan"
"I know, he would be lucky if he ever sees the sun again!" Bringing his watch to his eyes
again. "Come on, it is 7:55 and I don't US to be late!" Nathan extended his arm around
Kristen's shoulder and walked towards the entrance doors. Giving one last look behind
him, hoping the teen was running out of a cab half dressed running late like Kristen said,
he entered the building. *It might be just like Kris said; Lucas is running late, yeah. That
is it, no need to worry about this. Lucas should be the one worrying! * Nathan kept
assuring his instincts that Lucas was ok as he entered the room. But somewhere, deep
inside, he knew something was terribly wrong.
As the meeting began Nathan had toned out everyone and was lost in his thoughts. The
meeting was about another tour planned for the seaQuest in the fall. The UEO invited
some speakers and some media for this big occasion. The meeting was not that important
but just another way to show off the seaQuest. The meeting was in its 2nd hour and the
teen had not shown up. Nathan's worry was started to fill his mind with evil thoughts, he
didn't even notice when he was called to give out his report. Nor did he feel a gentile tap
on his shoulder.
"Captain..."The voice did not registered into Nathan's mind. All his energy was focused
on Lucas. *What the hell could be delaying him? Maybe he is stuck in a ditch
somewhere. Maybe he had engine problems. Maybe he just forgot. Maybe...* A nug,
more like a mild shake, awoke Nathan from his war with is mind.
"Captain, you need to give your report"
Nathan notice Kristen's worried look on her face. He gave out a fake smile "Oh, thanks
Kris, I must of fallen asleep." He turned as he felt eyes scanning him. The seaQuest
crew had the same worried look that Kristen gave him. He apologized to the guests and
started his report. Nathan gave out a small brief report on his job as captain and how
honored he was. The other part of his report was just some test he was proud of and how
the seaQuest is more that what he dreamed. Whenever Nathan paused to move on to
another subject, he quickly glanced at the door, hoping an embarrassed teen would just
walk in any moment now. No such luck! He sat back down after giving his speech only
to return to his thoughts of Lucas. By the end of the meeting, everyone was giving their
thanks and started to leave slowly. It was 12:00pm and the only people remaining in the
room were the seaQuest senior crew. They all noticed that something was troubling the
captain, so they all stayed to figure it out. They all figured that is had to do with Lucas'
absence.
"Ok, this joke has gone long enough, now does anyone know where is Lucas?" Nathan
almost focusing this idea to Ben Krieg. Almost at once, the whole crew turned and
followed Nathan's suspicion.
"Hey, don't know what you all are thinking, I have not seen Lucas since we left for shore
leave." Ben defended this accusation. No one seemed to buy it, Ben and Lucas were a
couple of pranksters and this was not the first time that Lucas had played a joke on the
crew. "It is the truth Captain, Honest!"
"Sorry Krieg, I just had to make sure it was... something else than...But what can be
keeping him. Krieg, call Dr. Wolenczak and get this figured out!"
"Yes sir" Ben started the connect when he turned and spoke to the captain "You'll see
Captain, Lucas is probably had one too many beers and asleep on someone's back
porch."
" I hope you are right Ben, I hope that is it."
As Ben brought up the vid link, Nathan was not surprised that a security answered his
call. She was too busy painting her fingernails to even look up.
"Dr. Wolenczak office, this is his secretary, may I help you sir?" she spoke, rehearsed,
but never looking up to see who was the caller.
"Yes, ma'am, this is Captain Bridger from the seaQuest, I need to talk to the Doctor."
"I am sorry but he is busy right now, if you like I can take a message and will give it to
him as soon as possible. Is this an emergency?" She said trying to blow her nails dry.
"Of course this is an emergency! It is about his son, Lucas. I cannot seem to locate him
and I need to talk to Dr. Wolenczak and I will not leave a message."
"His son had been checked into a hospital sir."
"What! Why?...Never mind, which one?"
"The Buffalo Bay Hospital in Buffalo, NY, sir and now if you don't mind, I must get
back to work."
"Do you even care? It is not important, good-bye ma'am. Oh by the way, that is an ugly
color on you, next time try cold heart blue!" Nathan quickly turned off the link before
the secretary could react. How could someone be so cold hearted? Nathan quickly
reached for his PAL and ordered a shuttle to transport him to the hospital. As he turned
to apologize to the crew for leaving, Sensor Chief Miguel Ortiz held him back.
"We would all like to accompany you sir, if you don't mind. We are all worried about
Lucas." Miguel was speaking for all the crew and Nathan turned to see that they were in
agreement.
"Alright, thanks you all. Come on."
As they all aboard the shuttle, Nathan sat at the seat closest to the launch door. He did not
realize that Dr. Westphalen sat next to him, trying to comfort the captain. The whole
crew had a special bond with Lucas and could not bear the thought that Lucas was hurt.
The Captain however bonded with the kid more than anyone knew. He did not replace
his son Robert with Lucas but it did help the Captain to get over his loss. Lucas had
brought life back into Nathan's life and if it was not for him, Nathan knew that he would
be back at his island, giving up on a thing called life. Now, if something happened to
Lucas, Nathan knew that he would not be able to handle this blow to his heart, not again.
************-****************
Sorry it took too long, studying for FINAL!!! But manage to squeeze this in between trig
class! Chapter three and the others will not take this long, so sorry ya'll! Oh, my beta
was off for vacation. Maybe rewrite this chapter later, first will try to finish this story!
Thanks to Zev! Love ya man! Great idea! To all Sup!
Meaning of Life
By the untalented JOxER
Chapter 2
It was exactly 7:15 am when Captain Nathan Bridger looked at his watch as he stood at
the entrance of UEO headquarters. Accompanied by Dr. Kristen Westphalen, the captain
and the doctor greeted the officers, as they entered inside the building. Of course, the
first to arrive was Commander Jonathan Ford, not at all surprised; he was a dedicated
man and took his job very seriously, maybe a little too seriously. Lt. Katie Hitchcock
came five minutes later, laughing as she got out of the car. She was being accompanied
by a loud Lt. Ben Krieg, no wonder. Later, Sensors Chief Miguel Ortiz was arguing with
Chief of Security Crocker on the recent game they saw. One by one, they greeted the
captain and entered the building. . The meeting was to start at 8:00 am sharp and the
captain ordered every member of his crew to be early. Nathan looked at his watch again
and gave a big yawn.
"You look tired Nathan" Kristen said when she noticed the bags over his eyes.
"I am, I was preparing the speech, that I am giving out today, last night that I didn't get a
chance to rest." Nathan brought his hand over his mouth as another yawn took over.
It was 7:45am. Tim O'Neil was the last person to enter the building; he was embarrassed of
his "late" arrival and just gave a small wave to the Captain as he entered the doors.
Every one that was supposed to attend the meeting has shown up. Everyone, except
Lucas. It was near 7:50 am and the teen had not shown up. Kristen noticed a worry look
had replace Nathan's greeting smile.
"Captain, what is it?"
"Lucas, he was supposed to attend the meeting, I told him to be early."
"Don't worry about him, he is probably running late." Still notice that this statement was
not helping the Captain, "he is a teenager, what do you expect." Kristen was running out
of excuses for the boy and hoping the captain would buy this.
"You are probably right Kris. But if he is late, he will be grounded once we get back to
the boat!" The tone of his voice made it seem that Lucas was never going to leave his
quarters!
"Sounds harsh Nathan"
"I know, he would be lucky if he ever sees the sun again!" Bringing his watch to his eyes
again. "Come on, it is 7:55 and I don't US to be late!" Nathan extended his arm around
Kristen's shoulder and walked towards the entrance doors. Giving one last look behind
him, hoping the teen was running out of a cab half dressed running late like Kristen said,
he entered the building. *It might be just like Kris said; Lucas is running late, yeah. That
is it, no need to worry about this. Lucas should be the one worrying! * Nathan kept
assuring his instincts that Lucas was ok as he entered the room. But somewhere, deep
inside, he knew something was terribly wrong.
As the meeting began Nathan had toned out everyone and was lost in his thoughts. The
meeting was about another tour planned for the seaQuest in the fall. The UEO invited
some speakers and some media for this big occasion. The meeting was not that important
but just another way to show off the seaQuest. The meeting was in its 2nd hour and the
teen had not shown up. Nathan's worry was started to fill his mind with evil thoughts, he
didn't even notice when he was called to give out his report. Nor did he feel a gentile tap
on his shoulder.
"Captain..."The voice did not registered into Nathan's mind. All his energy was focused
on Lucas. *What the hell could be delaying him? Maybe he is stuck in a ditch
somewhere. Maybe he had engine problems. Maybe he just forgot. Maybe...* A nug,
more like a mild shake, awoke Nathan from his war with is mind.
"Captain, you need to give your report"
Nathan notice Kristen's worried look on her face. He gave out a fake smile "Oh, thanks
Kris, I must of fallen asleep." He turned as he felt eyes scanning him. The seaQuest
crew had the same worried look that Kristen gave him. He apologized to the guests and
started his report. Nathan gave out a small brief report on his job as captain and how
honored he was. The other part of his report was just some test he was proud of and how
the seaQuest is more that what he dreamed. Whenever Nathan paused to move on to
another subject, he quickly glanced at the door, hoping an embarrassed teen would just
walk in any moment now. No such luck! He sat back down after giving his speech only
to return to his thoughts of Lucas. By the end of the meeting, everyone was giving their
thanks and started to leave slowly. It was 12:00pm and the only people remaining in the
room were the seaQuest senior crew. They all noticed that something was troubling the
captain, so they all stayed to figure it out. They all figured that is had to do with Lucas'
absence.
"Ok, this joke has gone long enough, now does anyone know where is Lucas?" Nathan
almost focusing this idea to Ben Krieg. Almost at once, the whole crew turned and
followed Nathan's suspicion.
"Hey, don't know what you all are thinking, I have not seen Lucas since we left for shore
leave." Ben defended this accusation. No one seemed to buy it, Ben and Lucas were a
couple of pranksters and this was not the first time that Lucas had played a joke on the
crew. "It is the truth Captain, Honest!"
"Sorry Krieg, I just had to make sure it was... something else than...But what can be
keeping him. Krieg, call Dr. Wolenczak and get this figured out!"
"Yes sir" Ben started the connect when he turned and spoke to the captain "You'll see
Captain, Lucas is probably had one too many beers and asleep on someone's back
porch."
" I hope you are right Ben, I hope that is it."
As Ben brought up the vid link, Nathan was not surprised that a security answered his
call. She was too busy painting her fingernails to even look up.
"Dr. Wolenczak office, this is his secretary, may I help you sir?" she spoke, rehearsed,
but never looking up to see who was the caller.
"Yes, ma'am, this is Captain Bridger from the seaQuest, I need to talk to the Doctor."
"I am sorry but he is busy right now, if you like I can take a message and will give it to
him as soon as possible. Is this an emergency?" She said trying to blow her nails dry.
"Of course this is an emergency! It is about his son, Lucas. I cannot seem to locate him
and I need to talk to Dr. Wolenczak and I will not leave a message."
"His son had been checked into a hospital sir."
"What! Why?...Never mind, which one?"
"The Buffalo Bay Hospital in Buffalo, NY, sir and now if you don't mind, I must get
back to work."
"Do you even care? It is not important, good-bye ma'am. Oh by the way, that is an ugly
color on you, next time try cold heart blue!" Nathan quickly turned off the link before
the secretary could react. How could someone be so cold hearted? Nathan quickly
reached for his PAL and ordered a shuttle to transport him to the hospital. As he turned
to apologize to the crew for leaving, Sensor Chief Miguel Ortiz held him back.
"We would all like to accompany you sir, if you don't mind. We are all worried about
Lucas." Miguel was speaking for all the crew and Nathan turned to see that they were in
agreement.
"Alright, thanks you all. Come on."
As they all aboard the shuttle, Nathan sat at the seat closest to the launch door. He did not
realize that Dr. Westphalen sat next to him, trying to comfort the captain. The whole
crew had a special bond with Lucas and could not bear the thought that Lucas was hurt.
The Captain however bonded with the kid more than anyone knew. He did not replace
his son Robert with Lucas but it did help the Captain to get over his loss. Lucas had
brought life back into Nathan's life and if it was not for him, Nathan knew that he would
be back at his island, giving up on a thing called life. Now, if something happened to
Lucas, Nathan knew that he would not be able to handle this blow to his heart, not again.
************-****************
Sorry it took too long, studying for FINAL!!! But manage to squeeze this in between trig
class! Chapter three and the others will not take this long, so sorry ya'll! Oh, my beta
was off for vacation. Maybe rewrite this chapter later, first will try to finish this story!
