A Dolphin's tears

A Dolphin's tears

By Sheela

Disclaimer: I don't own them and no money is made. Furthermore, I virtually stole the basics of the plot and also some parts almost directly from the book The Music of Dolphins by Karen Hesse. I'm really sorry for that, but it's simply a great book and ever since I read it, the idea for this story was jumping up and down in my head and wouldn't disappear. The only way to get rid of it was to write this story. So I've you like my story you should really read this book!

Warning: This story was kinda hard to write because I had to translate some parts from the German book into English and English isn't my native language. Furthermore I couldn't find anyone to beta read it, so you'll just have to deal with the errors.

*~*~*

I'm swimming out to them, out into the murmuring ocean. As I reach them, their circle opens to let me in then closes again. The dolphins surface and take a breath, let themselves float half asleep, one eye opened the other one closed.

Full of joy about the new day I'm whistling and splashing towards the bright sun. The dolphins awake and whistle, too. Within a moment they are totally awake. Their sounds are filling the ocean. We whizzing through the waves of morning. We're laughing and laughing, clear the dolphintones are twirling in the sea.

My dolphinsister grabs a gull's feather which is swimming on the surface. She dives into the depth, comes up again and jumps through the air. She gives the feather to another sister who in turn dives with it and surfaces again. Their wild game is twirling me around in the waves.

While we are playing, the older ones are searching for food. They hurl their earsplitting whistling into a swarm of silver fish. While my dolphinfamily is swimming through the thick swarm with their snouts wide open, I'm climbing out of the sea.

I stand on the small beach when I hear a sound that is drowning out the whistling and clicking of my eating dolphinfamily. I hear a sound that is pressing the air. It sounds like a gigantic heartbeat. Airplane. I can see it far away in the sky. A distant, warning tone.

I turn away to eat shrimps, sappy roots and sea grass.

The airplane comes closer. The noise is roaring in my bones. My dolphinmother feels danger, my soft, beautiful mother with her wise eyes. I can hear her; she is calling me back into the sea. I want to go to her. I'm afraid of the airplane. But first I have to find water and drink and I have to give my mother more time to eat. Because of me she isn't eating enough.

I'm making my way to the other side of the reef. There are broad rocks where the rain is assembling in big, deep sinks. Today there is a lot of water. I'm cupping my hand and drink. The water is cool and somewhat salty. When I can't take anymore water with my hands I'm slurping the rest with my lips.

While I'm drinking the airplane comes closer. It's no longer a distant shape. It comes too close. It does not look like other airplanes, more like an ugly fish with rotating fin on its back.

Something is falling down from above. I want to hide. The wind coming from the airplane makes my long hair fly. The angry air is hitting me. The earth is trembling and sand is whirling around. I feel the desperate whistling of my mother, but the tone gets lost in the roaring of the airplane.

And then a man jumps out. He runs after me. I'm climbing deeper into the mangroves. But the man is too big, too fast.

I cannot escape.

~*~*~

"Tell me again what we are going to do in this area, sir." Commander Ford addressed Captain Bridger while they were walking down the hallway towards the canteen.

"We are on a research mission to examine the local plant life and microorganisms, Commander." The older man responded with a slight grin. They entered the canteen and lined up to get some food for lunch. "Relax, Commander. It won't harm you to have some free time. There's nothing bad about some quieter weeks."

They took their trays and went over to a table where Otiz, O'Neil and Lucas were sitting. O'Neil and Otiz were discussing heavily about which football team was going to win the next game, Chicago 2005 or Florida Alligators. Lucas was silent, staring at his food. The Captain and the Commander greeted them and sat down. Soon they joined the discussion, until Bridger noticed that Lucas so far hadn't said one word. The teenager only played with his food instead of eating it.

"Hey!" Bridger put his hand on Lucas'. "What's up, Lucas?"

"Nothing." The boy answered in a monotone way.

"Sure. And the seaQuest is an airplane. Now tell me, what's wrong, kiddo." Bridger insisted.

Lucas stared at his hands. Why did the Captain have to ask? But Lucas knew he wouldn't stop digging until he had his answer.

Bridger was still waiting. He knew when he would push the teenager to much, he would reach nothing at all. So he showed patience.

Lucas sighed and blinked back tears. "I was notified that an old friend of mine died a few days ago."

"Oh. I'm sorry, kiddo." Bridger put his hand on Lucas' shoulder trying to comfort him, but he shrugged it away.

"'s okay." He whispered. "It's just... she was like me, in a way..." He stood up and quickly left the room. Bridger could only look at his retreating back. He knew the boy needed some privacy.

*~*

Dr Kristin Westphalen sat in the moon pool area, bent over a sample of a newly found sort of alga. Lucas came in and began working on the vocoder. Well, he pretended to work but to Kristen it was soon clear that Lucas was only playing around with the equipment. His expression gave Lucas away. Normally when he was working really hard, he would shut out everything surrounding him and concentrate on his task. But now his attention was wandering around, he would look around in the room or go over to the pool to stroke Darwin every few minutes.

Finally Kristen decided to give the boy some real work to do and called him over to her.

"Lucas, come here." She shouted lowly. "I want you to take a look at this. I think it's going to interest you!" Obediently the teenager walked over to the doctor and looked at the sample through the microscope.

"It's a sort of alga." Kristen explained. "It seems to have about the same effects as penicillin. It kills all kinds of bacterium in its nearness. We are to examine it further. That's why we're heading to a group of islands near Cuba. What do you think? Lucas?" He was looking at the surface of the pool, his gaze was empty. Lucas seemed lost in thoughts. It was only when Kristen waved her hand in front of his eyes that he snapped back to reality.

"What?!?"

"Lucas what were you thinking of? You were miles away from here!" Kristen asked a little bit concerned. "Are you alright?"

"Huh?" Lucas simply couldn't concentrate. His mind kept wandering to Shay, his death friend. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just thinking."

"About what?" The doctor probed.

"Dolphins." She smiled; she should have known it. Lucas had seemed to have a special bond with Darwin from the beginning. "Do you think Darwin is happy aboard the seaQuest? We have no chance of really knowing. Do you think dolphins can cry?" he asked her silently. Kristen was about to answer when Lucas continued. "Actually it doesn't matter. Nobody would see a dolphin cry as they live in the sea. Nobody sees a dolphin's tears. But does that mean that they aren't there at all?" Without waiting for an answer Lucas walked away and left the area.

Kristin was stunned. She hadn't expected this – how could she have? Never before had she seen the boy so... pensive, lost in thoughts, so down!

Captain Bridger entered the room from the other side and stepped to Kristin's side.

"Hey, was that Lucas?" he asked.

Kristin turned around to face him, still thinking about the strange conversation. "Yeah..."

"What were you talking about?"

"I'm not really sure." Bridger gave her a quizzical look so she tried to explain. "I was showing him some samples and informed him about our next research mission and suddenly he asked me, if dolphins could cry. Then he said something strange, he said: Nobody sees a dolphin's tears. Do you understand what he meant?"

"In a way, yes; I think." He responded. "Lucas told me at lunch that an old friend of him died a few days ago. I think it's his way of dealing with his feelings. To talk about dolphins. Don't worry, Kristen. He'll come out of it soon. Especially when he hears about our new mission."

*~*

Lucas entered his small room and locked the door. He never locked his room, not even when he left it; he didn't think it necessary. But today he locked his door. He didn't want anyone to come in unexpectedly and see him cry. Nobody sees a dolphin's tears.

And cry he did. He threw himself on his unmade bed and took out an old photo. It showed two young kids, a boy and a girl, of about eleven years sitting next to each other on the floor of a room. The boy was smiling, his blue eyes were gleaming and he looked directly at the person who had taken the picture. The girl, however, wasn't smiling and didn't look to the camera. She seemed totally off and lost in her own world.

*

I'm going to meet another girl.

The girl is small.

The girl is different, not like Doctor Beck and the others.

The girl is different like me.

I tell the girl my dolphinname.

The girl looks at me.

I say my dolphinname once again.

The girl makes a laughing tone.

Doctor Beck and Sandy and the others like the laughing tone.

Doctor Beck tells the girl: Shay. That is Milan.

Doctor Beck says: Milan. That is Shay.

I say the word Shay.

Sandy writes in a book: Milan says Shay.

Doctor Beck says: Shay is like you, Milan. Shay learns how to talk. Shay and you, you can learn together. Who can show me things that we are wearing?

I show a picture with boots. I say: Boots. I have got boots. Doctor Beck says, boots are only for rain. My ears like to hear my boots all the time. I let my good boots talk like dolphins talk.

Doctor Beck says: Good, Milan.

Shay does not show. Shay does not speak.

Doctor Beck says: Who can tell me, what you do with a fork?

I show a picture with food.

I say: Eat.

Doctor Beck says: Good, Milan.

Shay does not show. Shay does not speak.

Doctor Beck says: Who can tell me, what you do when you're cold?

I look at Shay.

I go to Shay.

I show Shay a gentle hand.

Shay is a soft hair girl.

Shay is a big eyes girl.

Shay is a small small girl.

I look at the face of Shay.

Shay does not show. Shay does not speak.

But I hear Shay, without a word.

*

"Oh, Shay." Lucas sighed. Tears began running down his face. One tear dripped onto the picture, on the boy's face. Lucas groaned. He missed her. He felt the taste of his tears on his lips. Saltwater. It tasted like the ocean. He missed it. He missed it so much that it hurt!

He cried a long time before he noticed Darwin in the aqua tube. The dolphin was watching him. Lucas flicked on the vocoder in his room.

"Lucas sad." Sounded the electronic voice in the small room.

"Yes, Darwin. I'm very sad." The boy agreed. "I miss my friend."

"Lucas miss pod more." Darwin diagnosed. "Lucas go back to pod?"

"Some day. At least I hope so!" Lucas said sadly.

"Lucas tell of pod!" Darwin demanded. Lucas face lit up as he began to speak.

The vocoder's error light blinked as it couldn't translate the following whistles and clicks.

*~*

The next morning Lucas was working on the vocoder again, sitting at the moon pool. Darwin was swimming around. Suddenly the dolphin gave a short whistled warning.

"Don't even try it, Ben!" Lucas advised the older man without even turning around. Ben Krieg, the Support and Moral Officer of the seaQuest, was disappointed that his attempt of sneaking in and startling the boy had failed so miserably.

"How did you know it was me?" he asked curiously.

"Nobody else tries to sneak in in such a pathetic way, Ben." Lucas gave the mischief answer.

"Hahaha!" Ben's ego was truly bruised. So he tried to change the subject as fast as possible. "What are you working at?" he asked.

"On improvements for the vocoder." The fifteen-year-old responded. "I want it to be able to translate any dolphin's clicks and whistles, not just the one he is programmed for. The only problem is I don't have any other dolphin's here to test it and see if it works."

"Maybe that'll change soon..." Ben muttered.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, forget it. Come on, I was supposed to pick you up for a senior staff meeting. Just image the icy look Commander Ford will give us if we're late again!"

"You mean, if you are late again!" Lucas teased.

"What ever! Now come on!" They quickly walked towards maglev.

*~*

The two of them entered the staff room. Of course they were the last ones to come in and Ford sent Krieg his famous look. The senior staff consisted of Commander Ford, Lieutenant Commander Hitchcock, Security Chief Crocker, Lieutenant O'Neil, Lieutenant Otiz, Doctor Westphalen, Ben and Lucas. And of course Bridger.

When everybody was assemble and the talking had stopped Bridger began.

"As you all know we are heading to a group of small islands between Florida and Cuba. We are to examine the local plant life. But that's not our main mission."

From here Kristin took over. "About six years ago a little boy was found in this area, living with a dolphin pod. I've got an old article from a newspaper." The doctor began to read out:

"On an island near Cuba: Wild human child found

MIAMI, Florida, December 23. "At first I thought, he was a mermaid." Lieutenant Monica Stone says. "His hair fell to his knees and he was covered in sea grass." But then, after further reflections the crew of the coastguard helicopter noticed that they hadn't discovered a mermaid, but a human child.

It happened on a routine-observation-flight in the area between Florida and Cuba, over the Cay Sal Bank. The team, consisting of Monica Stone, the pilot Nicholas Fisk and the mechanic Gary Barnett, has never before had flight like this particular one.

After they had seen the child for the first time, they radioed to Miami and waited for permission to land. Already in the air they videotaped the boy. "Gary let a rescue box fall down on a parachute. In rescue boxes there are food, blankets and dressing material. Most people run directly towards it. But this boy ran away, hid in the mangroves. He moved in a very strange way as if the ground was moving under his feet. Gary got out and ran to him with his hand outstretched."

"He was behaving strange" said Barnett. "More like an animal than a human."

As soon as the boy was aboard the helicopter he was wrapped in a blanket. "He gave shrill screams, like a gull", said Stone. "His breathing was strange, every time the air burst out of him, as if he was controlling his breathing consciously."

Monica Stone, academic for communications speaks English, Spanish and French. But the child wouldn't or couldn't react on any of these languages.

Regarding the height and physical appearance of the boy, it can be said that his age lies between eight and eleven years, said Stone. He weighs about forty kilos, while his hair makes about ten percent of the weight.

"Most refugees we're finding look like they have been to the sea for days. They are dehydrated. But they still look like humans", said Barnett. "This boy, however, had real salt crusts. Taking the state of his skin – everywhere on his face and body he had circular scars – he must have been living in the sea for a very long time."

"Milan (that's what the team of the coastguard named the boy; Milan means miracle) is doubtlessly a human, but in a way he is different, he has something of nature about him." Said Stone.

During the short flight to the mainland the desperate boy was hitting against the window of the helicopter with his cheek and screamed. Barnett put his hand as a pillow between the boy's head and the hard helicopter's wall. The screaming drowned out the noise of the motor, was shrill like the screams of an animal.

"It seemed as if he wanted to shout something to someone down there." Said Stone.

Stone poured water into a cup and offered it the boy.

"He touched the water with one fingertip, then he put the finger on his tongue." Said Stone. "Slowly he stretched his open hands to me which he had formed to a watertight vessel. I poured the water into it and he drank it."

"He had something special about him. From the first moment I saw him, I felt the urge to be there for him, to care for him. When we landed in Miami he was obviously exhausted, but at least he had understood that we didn't want to harm him. Before we handed him to the authorities, he bent forward and regarded me with one eye, then he turned his head slowly and looked at me with the other eye. Every time I think of it, I'm stunned by the way he searched for contact to us, how he reacted to us. I have never before seen anything like that."

The boy is now to come to the care of a private institute for psychical health that researches cognitive abilities and nervous system."

The room was silent. Everybody was touched by the story. Most of them remembered having heard of it, but after the child had come to a private institution nothing had been published about him anymore.

Finally Captain Bridger spoke up again. "Our mission now is to find the pod the boy has been living with and study it. The UEO has got great interest in how it was possible for the boy to survive in the ocean and if he could communicate with the dolphins. The institution he is in is private and therefor it denies to give the UEO any details. So the UEO has decided to find them out themselves."

Doctor Westphalen's eyes were sparkling. "Just imagine the possibilities!" she said. "Maybe we could really learn how to talk with the dolphins. We wouldn't need the vocoder anymore!"

"Do you want to make me unemployed?" Lucas asked wryly. All heads turned in his direction. "What?" he asked unnerved.

"I had expected you to react a little more enthusiastically, Lucas." Bridger said. "Aren't you impressed?"

"About what?" Lucas asked. "It's just another wolf's child. It's not the first case and probably not the last!"

The senior staff was virtually stunned by Lucas' new attitude. But Bridger stayed calm and patient, blaming the boy's behavior on his loss.

"The boy must be about your age, Lucas." Katie Hitchcock stated.

"Yeah, he and about another 80 million boys on this planet!" Lucas grumbled.

"Still I want you to find out as much as possible about this case. Go and take a look at their files and make some copies for the UEO." The Captain ordered him. Lucas was about to protest, but Bridger silenced him with a wave of his hand. "I'm making this a direct order." He said. Then he addressed the whole crew. "We are finished for now. You have your orders. We'll reach the area in about seven hours. Dismissed."

Lucas quickly left the room and practically ran to his quarters. Nobody had noticed how pale the boy had gone during the discussion.

"Lieutenant Hitchcock, please wait a moment." Captain Bridger stopped the woman when she was about to leave the room with Commander Ford. She stopped and came back.

"Sir?" she asked awaiting his orders.

Bridger waited until everybody else had gone out before he continued. "I have some more orders for you. I want you to work on the computers and see what you can find out about this boy Milan, the institute and the results concerning the boy."

"But, Sir", Hitchcock was stunned. Could it be that the Captain was becoming slightly senile? "You just ordered Lucas to do so!"

"I know, I know. But I think you noticed that Lucas isn't in his best form. He might be rather distracted now and maybe miss something on his search. So I would like to make sure that we don't miss anything important."

"Aye, Sir." Lieutenant Hitchcock hesitated before she dared to ask. "Sir, what is it that distracts Lucas?"

The old man sighed. "I guess I can as well tell you the few I know. Yesterday Lucas was informed that an old friend of him died. I don't know anything else about it. I trust, you understand now and treat Lucas with some caution."

Aye, Sir." Hitchcock went out. She felt for the young boy. It was always hard to loose someone you cared for. She made her way to the Bridge to begin working on the computers wondering who Lucas's friend might have been.

*~*

Lucas dropped on the bed in his room like a stone. Why? Why now? He asked himself. It had all been going so well during the last months, since he came aboard the seaQuest. Why had this to happen now? It would ruin everything! Maybe he could keep them from finding out, he mused. If they didn't get the information they needed they wouldn't reach anything and soon give up. It was worth a try! But still he ached inside. They were going to the Cay Sal Bank! He felt a huge wave of homesickness crashing over him. He tried to suppress it with all his might – nostalgia never help him; never had and never would he told himself.

Lucas flicked on his computers. After half an hour he had all the information that was available. He picked out two or three files that held almost no new information and sealed the rest with a password.

He would give the Captain some pieces that wouldn't really help them and pretend not to be able to get anything else. It could work, even if it felt like betrayal. Lucas prayed it would work...

*~*

About eight hours later Lucas stepped on the Bridge with the disc that held the selected information. He had spend the last few hours playing around and working further on the vocoder, trying to prepare himself mentally.

He took a deep breath before he addressed Bridger. "Captain..."

The man turned around and smiled. "Ah, Lucas! What did you find out?" he asked.

"Not much, I'm sorry." The boy said. "There's almost nothing published about the research of the center about Milan. And their computers have one of the best security systems I've ever seen. I'd would take days to hack into them, I'm sorry. All I have is this:" With that Lucas inserted the disc into Bridger's terminal and called up the articles.

"The boy was raised and educated by Dr Elisabeth Beck and Sandy Orlev. With them was another wolf's child, they named her Shay. Obviously Milan developed very good, learned a lot more than "usual" wolf's children. But more I couldn't find out."

Bridger sent Hitchcock a knowing glance. There was surely more to find out. "It's okay, Lucas. We'll..." The Captain said but he was interrupted by Otiz.

"Sir! There's a dolphin pod directly in front of us. It should be the one we're searching for." Otiz announced.

"On screen!" Bridger ordered. And the W.S.K.R.S. transmitted the pictures a pod of dolphins, swimming and playing around. Their whistles and clicks filled the room.

Lucas couldn't seem to get enough air when he saw the dolphins who were joyfully greeting the big something in their waters and tried to get W.S.K.R.S. to play with them. Lucas turned around and fled from the Bridge.

He couldn't hold it back any longer – he had to see them! Lucas ran to the Moon Pool and changed into his diving-suit. He didn't bother taking any diving equipment like oxygen or flippers knowing he didn't need them. Lucas entered his code into the terminal to open the aqua tube's exit to the ocean. He climbed into the pool and swam out. Home! Was his only thought. No longer did he care what or who he was leaving behind; his mind was focused on the task of leaving the seaQuest as fast as possible. His body adjusted quickly to the familiar feeling of extreme free diving.

Meanwhile on the Bridge Hitchcock called to Bridger. "Captain, I'm in the center's systems!"

"Very good! Can you give us some of the highlights for now?" Bridger asked.

"Sure, Sir, one moment please." Hitchcock briefly read some of the reports. "Lucas was right so far. Milan seems to be really smart. He was obviously very gifted with computers and soon understood everything he was told or what he read. Hmm, ah... finally the people of the institute decided to let him go to college; at the age of twelve! Just imagine! The boy has to be a real genius! They held the opinion that it would be best for him and his "integration into society" to live in a normal family. So he was given in the care a couple, both scientists. Milan was given a new name, a name he choose himself. He named himself Lucas! And the couple's name was Lawrence and Cynthia Wolenczak!" Hitchcock shouted in surprise. The Bridge's activities stopped abruptly. The whole crew that was on the Bridge was stunned. Various comments were heard, mostly along lines like "What!?!" "Lucas?" "No way!" "Impossible!"

Bridger turned around to face Lucas, but the boy was gone. Maybe he should have expected that. Obviously Lucas had done so far everything possible to keep his past as a secret. But why?

At least they had an explanation for the teenagers odd behavior during the last days.

"Mr. O'Neil, call Lucas on his PAL. I think we need him on the Bridge to explain several things." Bridger ordered.

O'Neil typed on his terminal trying to reach Lucas's PAL without success. He tried three more times before he turned back to the Captain.

"He's not answering his PAL." He informed the man. Actually he informed the whole Bridge as everybody was eagerly observing the events unfolding before their eyes.

Dr Westphalen entered the Bridge and was surprised to see everybody staring either at the Captain or the screen which showed a report written some years ago.

"What's going on?" she asked nobody directly. When she got no response she addressed Bridger directly. "Captain? What happened?"

Bridger scratched his head turning to her. "Well, this dolphin-boy, Milan, that we are searching for; obviously we found him." Kristen gave him a quizzical look. "Lieutenant found out that Milan got a new name and went to college. Milan was named Lucas. Lucas Wolenczak." Dr Westphalen heavily sat down on a pair of stairs, taking the amazing new information.

Bridger hit a button on his terminal and made a call via loudspeaker. "Lucas to the Bridge! Lucas to the Bridge and fast!" his voice sounded through the boat.

"Lucas no seaQuest!" came Darwin's mechanic voice from the vocoder as the dolphin surfaced in his small pool on the Bridge.

"WHAT!?!" All eyes turned to the animal and Bridger rushed to its side.

"Lucas no seaQuest." Darwin repeated. Bridger stroked his head reassuring and asked:
"Lucas no seaQuest?" What do you mean my friend?"

"Lucas leave seaQuest! Lucas go back to pod! Lucas love pod!" The dolphin's whistles sounded through the Bridge. He seemed very content with what he had just told them.

Bridger and Dr Westphalen were trying to get over the heard and to think about what to do when the next bombshell came crashing down on them.

"Captain, you should see this!" Otiz shouted pressing several buttons. The main screen flickered before he showed the pictures the W.S.K.R.S. was taking.

It was Lucas. He was diving in a depth of about 50 feet without any diving equipment. He neared the pod. As soon as the dolphins had seen him, they came swimming towards him.

"What the hell does he think he's doing!?" Dr Westphalen shouted. "He's going to kill himself! He'll drown any second if he doesn't surface soon!"

But nothing like that happened. The crew watched in amazement as Lucas smiled and gentle stroked some of the animals swimming around him. Others of them bumped softly in his side with their snouts, greeting and welcoming him. Their whistles and clicks filled the ocean and were also transmitted to the Bridge. However, what was the most strange thing about the situation was that Lucas seemed to be talking to the dolphins directly! He whistle through his nose. Finally he began moving towards the surface to take a breath. One of the older animals swam under him and began effectively to bring him up more quickly by pushing against his foot. The pod surfaced and continued to whistle and click. Several of the younger dolphins began jumping through the air tempting Lucas to join their game.

*~*

Lucas was more than happy. He was finally home again! His pod had welcomed him willingly, happy to have their lost member back. They hadn't forgotten him after all this time! He felt their sonar going through his body. His brothers and sisters were eager to play with him but he put them off for a while. Then Lucas got a very familiar, wonderful feeling and turned around. There she was: his beautiful mother with her wise eyes. And next to her was a new face. His mother had got a new child, a sister to him! Lucas quickly swam to their side and began stroking them. His mother welcomed him back in their pod and introduced him to his sister. Then she gently pushed him upwards indicating he had to get some air. Lucas smiled – his mother always knew exactly what he needed and was watching out for him. He broke the surface and took a deep breath, savoring the feeling of the fresh and clean sea air. He was truly home!

*~*

Back on the Bridge Lucas' friends weren't so content with the current situation.

"What are we to do now, Captain?" Hitchcock spoke everybody's thoughts.

"Honestly, I don't know." Bridger sighed. This whole situation was giving him a headache. Why hadn't Lucas told him?

"Well, we can't very well leave him out there for very long! He would die!" Dr Westphalen declared.

"But to me it doesn't look like Lucas intends on coming back any time soon." Ben said indicating to the screen. It showed how the pod slowly but clearly began putting distance between themselves and the seaQuest.

"We have to bring him back!" the doctor stated. Everybody looked at Captain Bridger expectantly. The old man sighed and nodded.

"You're right." He took a deep breath. "Commander Ford, Lieutenant Krieg and Lieutenant Chan, get yourself diving equipment and then go out and get Lucas back on the seaQuest. But don't in any case hurt him or any of the dolphins!" the Captain ordered.

"Aye, Sir!" As the three rushed out of the room he heavily sat down on his seat. Dr Westphalen handed him a glass of water which he gulped down quickly.

"Take some deep breathes. There you go!" She advised him. "We don't need our Captain breaking down now in such a situation."

Bridger rubbed his eyes and groaned. "I think I'm becoming old. But I've never before seen anything like this"

"How could you have?" Dr Westphalen asked. "I think nobody of us ever has or ever will seem something like this again!"

"Captain! They are out now and on their way, Sir." Otiz announced. The W.S.K.R.S. view showed the three officers diving towards to the pod which didn't seem to notice the danger until the three humans were to close.

Ben grabbed Lucas leg and pulled him down. The boy whirled around to see what was going on. His friends were giving him hand signs, indicating he should come back into the seaQuest. Lucas shook his head violently, showing clearly that he didn't want to go, and tried to break free of Ben's grasp. But the older man was too strong. Lucas lashed out with his hands and feet trying desperately to come free. He gave a strangled sound coming deep from his throat and suddenly all the dolphins began attacking the three intruders. They didn't bite or otherwise try to seriously hurt the humans but bumped into them to drive them off. The three of them fought hard to keep the angry dolphins away, but they were fighting a lost battle. Finally Ford pulled out a small instrument and pressed a button. The dolphins squirmed as the ultra-sound tone hit their sensitive ears and finally swam away from the humans. Only one of the dolphins still tried to defend Lucas but this one too had to give up eventually and made its retreat. Lucas still was dashing around, trying to escape. He succeeded in kicking Ben in his stomach. In pain the man let go off him and Lucas quickly took off. Ford gave his group a short sign and they rushed forward to the boy at the same moment. Ford grabbed his arms and twisted them behind his back while Chan grabbed Lucas's legs and tied them together, stopping the boy's kicks effectively. At the sudden pain that shoot through his arms Lucas threw his head back and screamed. Well, he tried to scream but as he still was underwater only bubbles of air emerged of his mouth and he swallowed a lot water. Lucas coughed heavily. Ben took out a small oxygen cylinder and held it to Lucas's mouth. The boy took some deep breathes before he spat out the instrument again and started to try and lash out again. But it didn't help him much now. Against all his struggle the three brought him back to the seaQuest.

Seeing this Bridger jumped up. "Commander Hitchcock, you have the Bridge!"

"Aye, Sir!"

The Captain and the doctor rushed out and quickly made their way to the Moon Pool for this was were the group would emerge.

They had just reached the pool when movements in the water signed the return of their men. And right the next second the group broke the surface. Lucas was still fighting violently against his friends. He struggled and tried to break free.

"Lucas, please calm down!" Ben shouted but it didn't help at all. Lucas began to scream shrilly. The tone he produced hurt in his friends ears. Among the screams were also some whistles as if Lucas was speaking like a dolphin. He tossed his head from side to side, trying to get away. It hurt Bridger to see his protégé like this.

"Captain, help us!" Commander Ford addressed Bridger as they pushed and pulled the struggling teenager to the edge of the pool. "I don't think we can hold him much longer."

"Bring him here!" Dr Westphalen ordered pulling out a syringe. "I'll give him a sedative to calm him. Otherwise he's going to hurt himself or one of us." The man brought Lucas to were the doctor and the Captain were standing and she injected the boy directly through his diving suit. Lucas struggled some more and kept on screaming. Then he whistled and automatically the vocoder sprang into action. It could only translate one word that Lucas repeated again and again.

"Mother! Mother!" It sounded through the room and even though the vocoder didn't give the word any special accenting or loudness it was clearly the sound of a fearful child shouting for his mother.

Finally the sedative began working and Lucas body went limb. Soon he was asleep, but even then his face seemed troubled and the trails of his tears could be seen.

Dr Westphalen felt her own tears on her cheeks at the sight of the young boy. He seemed so lost and helpless, tied up and held by three strong men.

"Let's take him to Med Bay." She said. "Is anybody of you hurt?"

The men shook their heads. "Not really, though he was kicking out really hard. We maybe got some bruises, nothing serious." Commander Ford said.

They heaved the sleeping boy out of the pool and Bridger lifted him up in his arms to carry him to Med Bay. To the Captain it seemed he had aged about ten years today.

*~*

Hours later Lucas still hadn't woken up. He was lying in a bed in Med Bay with his hands and feet tied to the beds frame. Captain Bridger sat at his side and watched the boys sleeping form. His sleep was troubled, he tossed and turned as far as his bonds would let him and mumbled in his sleep. Bridger could only make out a few words sounding like "No! No don't! Mother!!!"

Bridger turned to Chief Crocker who entered the room to look after his old friend and the young boy. Midnight had passed hours ago and the Captain still refused to leave Lucas.

"Chief, are those bonds really necessary?" he asked for about the twentieth time hoping to get a different answer this time.

"Hell, Cap, you know I hate this as much as you do! But I can't change it! We have to keep some security regulations. And there's a high chance that Lucas will try to escape or do something even more stupid when he wakes up."

Bridger sighed. He had been doing this a lot lately. "I know, I know, you're right Chief, sort of. But still I simply hate it!"

"Can I do anything else for you, Cap?"

"No, thank you. Go back to the Bridge now and tell the crew that Lucas's condition hasn't changed yet. Oh, and tell Krieg to come in. He's been sitting outside the Med Bay ever since Lucas was brought in here. He can as well come in..."

Crocker gave a short salute and after a last glance on Lucas left the room. Ben Krieg came in a few moments later, happy to be finally allowed to see Lucas. The boy had become one of Ben's best friends aboard the seaQuest. Ben regarded him almost as a younger brother. And now he was more than concerned after seeing Lucas's behavior. Ben stared at the boy a long time, his eyes lingering on the bonds that held the boy. Sighing he took a chair and set down on Lucas bedside at the opposite of Bridger. The two men were quiet for a very long time. Finally Ben spoke up:

"I can't believe we didn't know of... this. I mean, why didn't he tell us? Didn't he trust us? How could we not see this?" he asked.

"Lieutenant, you know Lucas as well as I do, I'd say; so you should know that Lucas isn't very open with his feelings or telling about himself. And if he didn't want us to find out about his past we would have almost no chance of doing so." Bridger paused. "But that's no real excuse. It's justified to say that here on the seaQuest I'm one of the closest people to Lucas, together with you and a few others. And today I had to discover that I'm hardly knowing anything about the boy really. Maybe..."

Bridger was interrupted as Lucas began to move again. He tossed his head from side to side and moaned.

"Lucas?" Ben asked hopefully and took his hand into his.

"Come on kiddo, it's time to wake up!" Bridger put a hand on the boy's shoulder.

Suddenly Lucas's eyes snapped open. His gaze was empty. He stared up and looked around in the room, trying to remember where he was and what he was doing here.

"Kiddo? Are you alright?"

Lucas tried to lift his left hand and found he couldn't do so. He looked at his hands and saw the bonds. That second everything came crashing back on him, all the events of the last few hours. Mother! He began to struggle and pulled on the bonds trying to get free. But the bond was too strong. Lucas started to panic; he wanted desperately to get away. He screamed shrilly and tossed from side to side.

Bridger and Krieg were shocked to see the boy's reaction. The Captain grabbed his shoulders and tried to hold him down and calm him, but in vain. Lucas only struggled even more. He was pulling on his bonds so hard that his wrists began to bleed.

"Call Dr Westphalen!" shouted to Krieg while he fought to kept Lucas from hurting himself any further. Krieg ran to the door shouting for the doctor.

"Doctor! Dr Westphalen! You must help us! Quickly! It's Lucas!"

Even with his hands and feet tied down Lucas put up a heavy fight. The Captain didn't see any option and in an attempt of waking the boy from his freaking state he slapped him across the face. This often helped people who were in shock or unconscious to come out of it. But Lucas only screamed even louder and fought harder to get away.

Only a few seconds later Kristen came rushing in and pushed past Krieg to Lucas's side. Her hair was ruffled and her clothes crumpled as she had fallen asleep sitting at the table in her bureau.

"What happened?" she asked taking the situation.

"I don't know! He woke up and started to scream and fight." The Captain responded still trying to calm Lucas.

Soon Kristen was sure that they wouldn't be able to calm him down. Afraid that he would hurt himself further she injected him more of the sedative she had given him earlier. Lucas struggled some more before off again.

Relived they let finally go off him.

"Shall I tell the crew of the Senior Staff, Sir?" Ben asked.

The Captain hesitated, then he nodded. "Yeah, tell them. I'll come to the Bridge in a few minutes, too. It's best if we set course and leave this area, I think."

Krieg left quietly. Bridger stood at the end of Lucas's bed and stared down on him. Could it really be? Was this really the young genius he had learned to respect for his brilliant mind and to love him for his gentle nature? The boy who had made fun of him when they had first met because he talked to Darwin using hand signs? The boy who played with mathematics that gave the Captain a headache by only seeing them? Could it really be that this boy, this normal teenage boy, had grown up living with dolphins in the ocean? That he called a dolphin mother and seemed to talk with them?

Bridger jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to face the doctor.

"You should get some sleep." She advised him.

"Soon... Kristin?"

"Hmm?"

"I think I did something very, very wrong." Bridger said staring at his hands.

"What?"

"I... I slapped Lucas..."

"WHAT? When? And why?" Dr Westphalen was shocked. This wasn't like the Bridger she knew to be so... so violent!

He sighed. "Just a few minutes ago. When Krieg was fetching you. I... I really thought it might help him to come out of it. But he only screamed even more. I feel terrible!"

"Well, I can't say that I approve what you did. But I do understand why did it. You didn't want to hurt him but to help him. It wasn't the wisest thing to do, but what is done is done. Stop torturing yourself and try to get some rest. You will need all your strength when we're dealing with the boy when sobered up."

"Aye, you're right, as usually. But before I try to sleep I'll go to the Bridge and set course." Bridger looked at Lucas a last time. The teenagers face was wet with tears, and even now that he was sleeping tears were forming under his lashes. Fighting hard to control his own feelings Bridger turned around and left the room.

*~*

By lunchtime the following day every member of the Bridge crew had made at least one short visit to look after Lucas. But the teenager hadn't woken up again, yet. Bridger was very reluctant to leave him, but he still had to captain a submarine.

Now Dr Westphalen was sitting in the boy's room watching over him while she was reading some of the reports that Commander Hitchcock had dug up about Lucas/Milan on her laptop. With everything she read her eyes became bigger and bigger. Obviously this Dr Beck had been more interested to learn how to communicate with dolphins rather than to educate Lucas – but with that she had had few success so far. It was only thanks to Sandy Orlev and Dr Beck's daughter that the boy had finally come in the care of the Wolenczak couple.

Dr Westphalen looked up when Lucas shifted his position, but he still seemed to be sound asleep. So she returned her attention to the reports.

When she sent a checking glance to the boy a few minutes later she was stunned: His eyes were wide open and he stared off into the distance. He didn't look at her nor moved he at all when the doctor slowly stood up from her seat. Automatically she reached for her PAL and called Bridger.

"Captain, please come to the Med Bay quickly. Lucas is awake."

This message brought quite some anxiety to the Bridge as everybody was eager to see if their young friend was alright. The Captain lifted his open hands in a gesture of silencing.

"Please calm down. I know you all want to see how Lucas is doing. But it would do him no good if the whole crew came rushing in on him. I promise I'll inform you of his condition as soon as possible. Commander Ford, you have the Bridge."

With that he left the Bridge, leaving Ben Krieg staring after him longingly. His ex-wife Katie Hitchcock walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder in a friendly gesture. She knew he was longing more than anybody else on the Bridge to see Lucas. "He'll be fine, Ben. You'll be able to visit him and make up new pranks with him soon enough." She promised him. Ben nodded gratefully and turned back to his terminal. When Hitchcock was walking back to her place she heard him whisper "Thanks, Katie." and she had to smile.

*

Back in Med Bay Kristen Westphalen was carefully stepping into Lucas's view as he still hadn't turned to her so far.

"Lucas?" she tried to keep her voice as calm and soft as possible. "Lucas, how are you feeling?"

He still didn't look at her directly. He seemed to be thinking of something.

"Lucas?" the doctor probed again. "Are you okay, honey?"

Lucas didn't look up. But suddenly he mumbled unexpectedly: "You're so much like them... So very much like them..."

Dr Westphalen was surprised by these words but nonetheless she was happy that he talked at all. So she tried to follow his trail of thoughts.

"Them... you mean Dr Elisabeth Beck and Sandy Orlev and the other people at the institute?" she asked trying to make him say more about what he meant.

Lucas looked up at her abruptly as if he had just woken up from a dream. He lifted his arms as high as possible in their tied state. His sore wrist were bandaged now but he was still tied to bed frame with broad leather straps.

"Why did you tie me down?" Lucas asked, changing the subject totally. "You aren't you afraid of me, now are you?"

"Ah..." Dr Westphalen struggled to find an answer that wouldn't hurt the boy's feelings to much. Maybe he didn't remember clearly what happened yesterday?

Bridger stopped outside the Med Bay to catch his breath. He had been running the whole way to get here as fast as possible. Now he tried to cool down a bit before he entered the room. He just heard Lucas question when he was about to step in. He stopped dead in his tracks. What were they about to tell him? 'Sorry kiddo, but you were a security risk?' Very sensitive!

"Well, Lucas, you see... ehm..." Dr Westphalen couldn't seem to find anything appropriate to say. So she was very relived when Bridger stepped in.

"Hey kiddo, how are you?" he asked in a forced light tone. He tried to smile encouragingly at Lucas – the heavy subjects would come soon enough. But the boy only stared at his bound hands and refused to look at the Captain or to answer his question.

"Why?" he asked quietly after some time. "Tell me why..."

Bridger guessed that he was still referring to the bonds that held him down. He sighed but decided to be honest nonetheless. "Well kiddo, listen; when you came in here you were lashing out and trying to hit everyone and everything that came near you. Do you remember?" Lucas showed no reaction to what he heard and so Bridger simply continued. "And then Chief Crocker said that you had to be tied down due to some security regulations. I'm truly sorry about that Lucas. But I h..."

"Why had you me brought back to the seaQuest?" Lucas interrupted him in mid sentence. "Why? Why couldn't you leave me out there?" he accused them. His voice was monotone and he was still looking at his hands.

"Lucas, how could we have left you out there?" Kristen tried to reason the teenager. "First of all, we are responsible for you and you can't simply leave the seaQuest because you want to swim with some dolphins. You have some duties here aboard, too. And then, you would surely have died out there within a few days or even hours!" Had the doctor thought that her arguments would make Lucas understand their actions, she was surely proven wrong. Lucas jerked his head back and stared at the two adults in his room with a furious glare.

"What on earth brought you to the conclusion that I would die? I've been living in the ocean for more than nine years without any problems! Those were the best years of my life! It's just ever since you damn humans found me that my whole life basically sucks!" he shouted, his eyes flashed in anger.

Captain Bridger and Dr Westphalen were taken aback.

"Lucas, you can't be serious!" the old man asked unbelievingly. The boy just couldn't mean what he had said!

"I am totally serious!" he responded forcefully. "Ever since I've been living among humans I have been wishing that those helicopter team had never found me, that still could be with my family, could be happy! I hate all of you and I hate being human!" Then Lucas fell silent again and looked down. He hadn't wanted to let his anger take control over his actions react like this, hadn't wanted to show any feelings at all. If people know what you feel they can hurt you; he had learned that the hard way in his time he spent with the humans. They were so different from his family, the dolphins! Humans always seemed to only hurt each other – ironically because they didn't want to get hurt themselves. But, Lucas had to admit to himself, not all humans seemed to be like that. The friends he had made aboard the seaQuest seemed to really care about one another, to care about him, even though Lucas couldn't quite understand why. Actually the boy was sorry for yelling at Bridger and Dr Westphalen. He knew he might have truly hurt them and he didn't want to do that – first because he didn't want to be like all those other humans and then, and even more important, because he somehow loved them in a strange way. But it was too late now...

"Lucas..." Captain Bridger began but he fell silent again as he really didn't know what to say. Sadly he looked at the young boy and sighed.

Finally Dr Westphalen interrupted his musing and said in the best doctor tone she could find in this situation: "I think you should try to get some more rest, Lucas. We'll leave you alone for now."

When Lucas wouldn't acknowledge the said anyhow she took the Captain's forearm and slowly dragged him out of Med Bay. Lucas's bonds stayed attached.

The teenager sat alone in silence. There, it had happened again. His life was a total mess. This always seemed to happen to him when found a place or someone he liked to stay with. He had really enjoyed his life on the seaQuest: He had been 'normal' here. Well, as normal as a fifteen-year-old aboard a submarine could be. But now everything would change again, it already had. Lucas had seen it in the doctor's and the Captain's eyes: No longer was he Lucas, the computer genius and friend, but Milan-Lucas, the dolphin-boy who was only worth for making researches on him and his behavior.

Lucas heard a strange sound and it was only after a few moments that he recognized it as his own sobs and he felt the hot tears on his cheeks. Damn, he hated to cry when anybody could walk in on him and see him like that. Nobody sees a dolphin's tears. But then, it didn't matter anymore he mused; nothing mattered anymore.

*~*

Captain Bridger and Dr Westphalen sat in the MagLev on their way to the bridge.

"What are we going to do now, Nathan?" The doctor asked him quietly.

He sighed and put his head into his hands. "Honestly, I don't know..." he murmured. "I guess I have to inform Admiral Noyce and see what the UEO has to say to this. And we'll have to tell the crew, or at least the Senior Staff. Would you assemble them in the ward room? They need to know about this."

Dr Westphalen nodded and then left the MagLev when it came to halt in the direction of the bridge while Bridger made his way directly to the ward room. There he heavily sat down on a chair and heaved a deep sigh. An aggressive headache had begun throbbing in his head, caused by the intensive worrying about Lucas and the situation at hand. Bridger massaged his temples trying to concentrate on the task that lay ahead of him.

Soon the members of the Senior Staff entered the ward room. Their last meeting had been only a day earlier but to the Captain it seemed like it lay years behind them. So much had changed in this short time for them.

They sat down quietly. Everybody's gaze wandered to the empty chair where Lucas had sat just yesterday. Nobody said a word for a long time, simply looking at the Captain. The old man knew he should tell them how Lucas was and what he had told them, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Finally Ben couldn't stand the tension any longer and voiced everybody's question. "Captain...? How,... how is Lucas?" Various silent sighs of relief that the silence was broken were heard. And everybody turned to the Captain expectantly again.

He sighed deeply before he spoke up. "Not so good, I'm afraid." As the crew drew simultaneous breaths he continued. "Physically he's doing fine, I can assure you. But, somehow he's no longer the Lucas we knew." And he told them what happened in Med Bay when they went looking for the boy.

When he was finished the men and women remained silent. Next Dr Westphalen told them what she had read in the reports about Milan – no, Lucas. How he had lived in the institute, watched by doctors, scientist and people of the government. How they had tested him time and time again in order to find out how he communicated with the dolphins. How he had been educated. And finally how Sandy Orlev and Justine Beck had managed to get him into a 'normal' family. Which in turn had made him go on a submarine after a few years – the seaQuest. The doctor then pushed a few buttons and a vid began playing on the big screen. It showed a woman of about forty years in a white coat and a boy of about ten years; Dr Beck and Lucas.

*

Dr Beck was showing pictures to Lucas. She showed him the picture of a boy and asked: "What is that?" Lucas didn't say a word. "Milan, what is that?"

"Boy." He answered.

"Good. Good, Milan. What is that?" She showed him the picture of a girl. "What is that?"

"Girl."

Dr Beck showed another picture, a picture of a dolphin. "What is that, Milan?"

Lucas grew agitated. He said: "Dolphin, dolphin! Dolphin good, dolphin good!"

"Very good, Milan. Now tell me. What are you? A boy or a dolphin?"

Lucas showed one of the pictures. The one of the dolphin. "Dolphin."

Dr Beck said: "No, Milan." He held up a mirror, reflecting Lucas's face. "Now, Milan. Tell me, what are you? A boy or a dolphin?"

Lucas looked into the mirror. He looked at the picture. Quietly he said "Boy."

Dr Beck smiled. "Yes, boy. Good, Milan. You are a boy."

Lucas didn't smile. He looked at the picture of the dolphin. His eyes were distant and sad. Boy

*

The vid ended. Nearly no eye in the ward room had remained dry.

Captain Bridger took some deep breaths to gather his strength before he spoke again. "So, that's all so far. To be honest, I don't know what we do now. I'm going to call Admiral Noyce. But for now I must recommend that you try to treat Lucas as normal as possible. He's quite tense right now as you can possibly imagine."

That was too much; Ben burst out. "Treat him normally?" he almost shouted. "How shall we be able to do that? I mean... everything's changed!"

"He's right, Sir." Hitchcock agreed. Most of the assembled members nodded affirmative.

Bridger sighed; had he done anything else during the last day? "I know it's hard. But we have to try and not make it any worse. I have nothing else to say. Dismissed." Slowly the officers got up and left the room talking quietly. Only Ben Krieg stayed behind. "Can I see him, Sir?" he asked, almost pleadingly.

"Kristen?"

"Okay. But promise me, if he's asleep not to wake him."

"Aye, doctor!" with that Ben took off and hurried to the Med Bay.

*~*

Half an hour later after drinking a much needed cup of very strong, very black coffee, Dr Westphalen found him standing in the room at Lucas side, staring down at the sleeping boy. Ben seemed to be deep in thoughts. The doctor gently put a hand on his shoulder but still he jumped.

"Get some rest." She advised him. "You need it."

After a last look at Lucas pale form the man obeyed wordlessly. His shoulders were slumped and his head hung down.

Dr Westphalen took a seat next to Lucas's bed and began reading some more of the reports on Lucas from the institute. Soon she was so deep in concentration that she didn't notice what was going on around her. She didn't hear as Lucas began to shift lightly in his bed and she didn't see him slowly opening his eyes.

For a moment Lucas had to remember why he was in Med Bay and what had happened. But then everything came back to him, the whole nightmare that was his life. Lucas sighed inwardly. He noticed Dr Westphalen sitting next to him. So he could as well try and get some sort of 'regular' life back; even though deep down inside he knew nothing would ever be normal again probably...

"Let me go." The voice was not very loud and totally calm but it startled Dr Westphalen nonetheless. She jumped up, dropping the laptop to the floor, not having expected Lucas to wake up so soon.

"Let me go." He demanded again in a small voice, his gaze meeting hers directly.

"What?!?" She exclaimed unbelievingly. He couldn't have said what she'd just heard.

"You heard me. Let me go." Lucas repeated. Dr Westphalen sighed sitting down and pulled the chair closer to the teenager. How could she make him understand?

"Lucas, I can't..."

"Look, knowing the UEO and Captain Bridger in particular, I assume that the seaQuest left the area of the Cay Sal Bank and is headed as far away as humanly possible. And I'm not so stupid to try to escape again and swim all the way back, only to be caught and brought back again. I know I'm stuck here until someone decides to place me somewhere else. But until this inevitable thing happens you could take these bonds off of me and let me get back to work." Lucas said, showing only capitulation at his situation. Dr Westphalen understood that he meant every word he had said – he was sure that they would also dump him sooner or later. The realization of how Lucas really thought about them hurt. The doctor tried to find an answer, tried to contradict him. But she found she couldn't stand to look in his eyes. Those deep, blue pools that spoke of trust and betrayal, anger and fear at the same time. She simply couldn't find the strength to look into the eyes of the very boy, she had been working with almost everyday for months without knowing the most important fact in his young life. For her, this wasn't Lucas anymore, this was a stranger to her.

"I... I'm going to ask Captain Bridger..." She practically fled from the room.

Lucas looked at his hands. He had seen it. It had been only for a brief second, but it had been enough. He had seen it in her eyes. The look. The way people used to look at him then. The way they used to look at what he was, not who. He had hated it ever since. And now Dr Westphalen wore that look. That mixture or curiosity, interest and pity. He hated it. But still he knew he would have to get used to it again. Get used to the look, the way people talked to him, treated him, observed what he was doing.

Lucas sighed and tried to prepare himself for it when they would come back.

And come back they did.

To be continued

*~*~*~*

Okay, that was part one out of two, or maybe three. I don't know yet. Please tell me what you think of it. Got any ideas where this is leading, 'cause I'm not sure if I have...

So, is anybody willing to beta read the next part? Please!