Authors Note: Well, here is the 5th Chapter. What do you think? I didn't
get any response for the last chapter, so I am not sure if ya'll hate it or
not. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!
True to her word, Mariah returned within the half-hour, with Lonnie in tow. Lonnie seemed fine from Jonathan's casual inspection, so he didn't see any need to say anything to Mariah. The Dagger was cool and aloof as she approached the still unconscious Jim. Tim sat on the ground near the bunk Jim was laying on and glared at Mariah as she got close.
"Nervous Tim?" her voice was taunting. Tim didn't reply but moved to let her get close to Jim. She touched his forehead, feeling for a fever of any sort and Jonathan was surprised at the tender look on her face as she did so. "I told you I would help him Commander. I really don't want to argue with you, so I'm telling you now that to help the Lieutenant, I'm going to have to take him to our medical facility. Please don't argue with me."
Jonathan considered her request for a few moments and then nodded his ascent. "I don't like having to trust you Mariah, but I won't let Jim die."
"I didn't think you would. You may regret this trip Commander…I know you already do. Just remember that no one has to die," with that final statement, she stood and lifted Jim into her arms with ease. Jonathan had previously forgotten her strength and was momentarily amazed that she could lift the physically fit security officer. Then remembering the unnatural strength all Daggers had, he stepped out of her way. Watching all of them closely, she left with an odd look on her face.
"I don't like the way she looks at him," Miguel growled, still watching the door. "Its like she thinks of him as a conquest…like she wants something from him…"
Jonathan was about to reply, ready to affirm that he had also noted Mariah strange interest in Jim, but Lonnie spoke up, silencing all of them.
"Love," her voice was soft but certain.
"Excuse me?" Tony found his voice first and was incredulous. "You're kiddin' me right?"
"Not at all. I know that look. She wants to own him. She wants him to love her. She's always had that look when it comes to Jim. I know…I noticed the first time Jim came aboard the seaQuest. When we had to talk with her…her eyes always drifted to him. Even with that situation with you Tim…she was always searching for Jim," Lonnie shrugged as she finished. "Call it woman's intuition. I know that look when I see it. I'm sure I've looked at some guy the same way."
"I think she's right," Tim said, nodding. "I'm not saying Mariah's in love with Jim, but I certainly think she wants something from him and that she's a little bit more than casually interested in him."
"This all makes me a little sick," Miguel muttered.
"Well, I hope you're wrong," Jonathan said firmly, wondering to himself if they could be right. "Look, let's not speculate, ok? Lonnie, where did you go? What did they make you do?"
"They didn't hurt me at all sir, but I had to call Captain Bridger. He was very worried sir. They had me explain the situation to him. The official stance is that we are being held hostage until a certain amount of money is paid to a certain bank account. They had me tell him Jim was wounded, it was almost like Mariah wanted him to know and feel guilty. Anyway, I had to tell the Captain that if so much as a launch or a diver came up onto the beach, one of us will die instantly, and then every ten minutes after that we'll be executed one by one. I was also required to tell him he had eight hours to get the money wired to the account, and then we'd all be dead. He didn't look too happy but told me he would see what he could do. He also warned me to tell them that the UEO didn't deal with terrorists and that he doubted that they would get what they wanted. I told him we understood. He was obviously upset,"
"So they want money."
"I don't think so, sir," Tim said from the floor. "Remember, Mariah's been taunting us that her employers had something in store for us. This is a scientific research center. She kept using the term 'subjects.' I doubt she would idly threaten us. I have a feeling the hostage situation and ransom is to buy time, for what I don't know." Tim's deduction left all of the seaQuest crew silent. Jonathan felt miserable. He knew they were trapped and things continued to look worse. He had just let Mariah take Jim to who knows where, which he was regretting since Lonnie had muttered the word love. The Captain believed that they were being held hostage, but if what Tim had said was right, then he was merely being distracted. And here Jonathan was, trapped in the confines of a small cell with no power to do anything.
"Look guys…" Jonathan was about to try to at least comfort his officers when the door opened and Mariah reappeared with Jim. She was followed by two guards and Jonathan's muscles tensed.
"He'll be fine," Mariah said certainly, laying Jim back on the bunk. His uniform shirt was missing, revealing his upper body. His shoulder was freshly bandaged and the blood had been cleaned up. Mariah turned as if she was ready to leave, but reached out and grabbed Tony by the arm. "Let's go Piccolo."
"Hey!" Tony cried out in surprise. One of the guards grabbed his other arm.
"Mariah!" Jonathan took a step forward to stop Mariah, but the other guard lost no time in getting in between Jonathan and the dagger. Jonathan angrily shoved him and was rewarded with a sucker punch to the gut.
"Stay out of my way Commander," Mariah's tone was light and mocking as Tony was dragged from the room arguing and thrashing. Miguel quickly moved to help Jonathan up.
"In the name of…" Jonathan started to yell, banging his fist loudly into the bunk above Jim. The metal cut his hand and a trickle of blood slid down his arm.
"Jonathan!" Lonnie was trying to get his attention forcibly and grabbed his arm. "Stop! They're gone and there's nothing you could do about it… Tony will be ok…just calm down."
Jonathan was about to spit out a nasty reply to her that he would have regretted shortly after there when all of them were distracted by a groan from Jim. The handsome Lieutenant seemed to be waking up and he rolled onto his uninjured shoulder, coughing and groaning. Jonathan hurried to be next to him, pushing Tim slightly aside.
"Jim? Jim can you hear me?" Jonathan's voice was somewhat desperate, hoping Jim would respond. The young Lieutenant continued to cough and spit up a little blood. Miguel reached out to steady his shaking body and Lonnie put her hand on his head, lightly rubbing his forehead in a soothing matter. "Jim?"
Slowly, the coughing died down to a hoarse wheezing noise and Jonathan feared Jim was going to slip back into unconsciousness. He was proved wrong though when Jim's eyes fluttered open, revealing a myriad of emotion. His blue eyes had dulled to gray and were filled with pain, confusion, and discontent, as if he had just awoken from a nightmare.
"Hey there," Lonnie said softly, catching his eye. He opened his mouth to speak, looking like he was exhausted beyond the point of caring.
"No…don't talk," Jonathan's voice was friendly and worried, but commanding. "You're too weak. Mariah told us you were going to be ok." With those words, energy flared in Jim's eyes, anger and disillusionment filled the gray depths and his body seemed to tense, resulting in a soft groan of pain. "Jim, don't be angry. I made the call. It was my decision. Now go back to sleep." It looked as if Jim wanted to argue, but he seemed to have used up too much energy in his emotional upheaval and he finally nodded, still looking argumentative. He closed his eyes again and was soon breathing softly and evenly. "Well, that didn't go as well as I had planned, but at least he didn't argue."
"Yeah, and that's a relief in itself," Miguel said with a grin. "I hate to hear the two of you argue. You both always think you're right and never stop to listen. If you did you would realize how stupid you sound."
"Mr. Ortiz, you're still on duty…"
"Oh. Sorry sir. I mean sirs. Do I have to apologize to him? He's sleeping."
Miguel was answered when Lonnie hit him upside the head.
True to her word, Mariah returned within the half-hour, with Lonnie in tow. Lonnie seemed fine from Jonathan's casual inspection, so he didn't see any need to say anything to Mariah. The Dagger was cool and aloof as she approached the still unconscious Jim. Tim sat on the ground near the bunk Jim was laying on and glared at Mariah as she got close.
"Nervous Tim?" her voice was taunting. Tim didn't reply but moved to let her get close to Jim. She touched his forehead, feeling for a fever of any sort and Jonathan was surprised at the tender look on her face as she did so. "I told you I would help him Commander. I really don't want to argue with you, so I'm telling you now that to help the Lieutenant, I'm going to have to take him to our medical facility. Please don't argue with me."
Jonathan considered her request for a few moments and then nodded his ascent. "I don't like having to trust you Mariah, but I won't let Jim die."
"I didn't think you would. You may regret this trip Commander…I know you already do. Just remember that no one has to die," with that final statement, she stood and lifted Jim into her arms with ease. Jonathan had previously forgotten her strength and was momentarily amazed that she could lift the physically fit security officer. Then remembering the unnatural strength all Daggers had, he stepped out of her way. Watching all of them closely, she left with an odd look on her face.
"I don't like the way she looks at him," Miguel growled, still watching the door. "Its like she thinks of him as a conquest…like she wants something from him…"
Jonathan was about to reply, ready to affirm that he had also noted Mariah strange interest in Jim, but Lonnie spoke up, silencing all of them.
"Love," her voice was soft but certain.
"Excuse me?" Tony found his voice first and was incredulous. "You're kiddin' me right?"
"Not at all. I know that look. She wants to own him. She wants him to love her. She's always had that look when it comes to Jim. I know…I noticed the first time Jim came aboard the seaQuest. When we had to talk with her…her eyes always drifted to him. Even with that situation with you Tim…she was always searching for Jim," Lonnie shrugged as she finished. "Call it woman's intuition. I know that look when I see it. I'm sure I've looked at some guy the same way."
"I think she's right," Tim said, nodding. "I'm not saying Mariah's in love with Jim, but I certainly think she wants something from him and that she's a little bit more than casually interested in him."
"This all makes me a little sick," Miguel muttered.
"Well, I hope you're wrong," Jonathan said firmly, wondering to himself if they could be right. "Look, let's not speculate, ok? Lonnie, where did you go? What did they make you do?"
"They didn't hurt me at all sir, but I had to call Captain Bridger. He was very worried sir. They had me explain the situation to him. The official stance is that we are being held hostage until a certain amount of money is paid to a certain bank account. They had me tell him Jim was wounded, it was almost like Mariah wanted him to know and feel guilty. Anyway, I had to tell the Captain that if so much as a launch or a diver came up onto the beach, one of us will die instantly, and then every ten minutes after that we'll be executed one by one. I was also required to tell him he had eight hours to get the money wired to the account, and then we'd all be dead. He didn't look too happy but told me he would see what he could do. He also warned me to tell them that the UEO didn't deal with terrorists and that he doubted that they would get what they wanted. I told him we understood. He was obviously upset,"
"So they want money."
"I don't think so, sir," Tim said from the floor. "Remember, Mariah's been taunting us that her employers had something in store for us. This is a scientific research center. She kept using the term 'subjects.' I doubt she would idly threaten us. I have a feeling the hostage situation and ransom is to buy time, for what I don't know." Tim's deduction left all of the seaQuest crew silent. Jonathan felt miserable. He knew they were trapped and things continued to look worse. He had just let Mariah take Jim to who knows where, which he was regretting since Lonnie had muttered the word love. The Captain believed that they were being held hostage, but if what Tim had said was right, then he was merely being distracted. And here Jonathan was, trapped in the confines of a small cell with no power to do anything.
"Look guys…" Jonathan was about to try to at least comfort his officers when the door opened and Mariah reappeared with Jim. She was followed by two guards and Jonathan's muscles tensed.
"He'll be fine," Mariah said certainly, laying Jim back on the bunk. His uniform shirt was missing, revealing his upper body. His shoulder was freshly bandaged and the blood had been cleaned up. Mariah turned as if she was ready to leave, but reached out and grabbed Tony by the arm. "Let's go Piccolo."
"Hey!" Tony cried out in surprise. One of the guards grabbed his other arm.
"Mariah!" Jonathan took a step forward to stop Mariah, but the other guard lost no time in getting in between Jonathan and the dagger. Jonathan angrily shoved him and was rewarded with a sucker punch to the gut.
"Stay out of my way Commander," Mariah's tone was light and mocking as Tony was dragged from the room arguing and thrashing. Miguel quickly moved to help Jonathan up.
"In the name of…" Jonathan started to yell, banging his fist loudly into the bunk above Jim. The metal cut his hand and a trickle of blood slid down his arm.
"Jonathan!" Lonnie was trying to get his attention forcibly and grabbed his arm. "Stop! They're gone and there's nothing you could do about it… Tony will be ok…just calm down."
Jonathan was about to spit out a nasty reply to her that he would have regretted shortly after there when all of them were distracted by a groan from Jim. The handsome Lieutenant seemed to be waking up and he rolled onto his uninjured shoulder, coughing and groaning. Jonathan hurried to be next to him, pushing Tim slightly aside.
"Jim? Jim can you hear me?" Jonathan's voice was somewhat desperate, hoping Jim would respond. The young Lieutenant continued to cough and spit up a little blood. Miguel reached out to steady his shaking body and Lonnie put her hand on his head, lightly rubbing his forehead in a soothing matter. "Jim?"
Slowly, the coughing died down to a hoarse wheezing noise and Jonathan feared Jim was going to slip back into unconsciousness. He was proved wrong though when Jim's eyes fluttered open, revealing a myriad of emotion. His blue eyes had dulled to gray and were filled with pain, confusion, and discontent, as if he had just awoken from a nightmare.
"Hey there," Lonnie said softly, catching his eye. He opened his mouth to speak, looking like he was exhausted beyond the point of caring.
"No…don't talk," Jonathan's voice was friendly and worried, but commanding. "You're too weak. Mariah told us you were going to be ok." With those words, energy flared in Jim's eyes, anger and disillusionment filled the gray depths and his body seemed to tense, resulting in a soft groan of pain. "Jim, don't be angry. I made the call. It was my decision. Now go back to sleep." It looked as if Jim wanted to argue, but he seemed to have used up too much energy in his emotional upheaval and he finally nodded, still looking argumentative. He closed his eyes again and was soon breathing softly and evenly. "Well, that didn't go as well as I had planned, but at least he didn't argue."
"Yeah, and that's a relief in itself," Miguel said with a grin. "I hate to hear the two of you argue. You both always think you're right and never stop to listen. If you did you would realize how stupid you sound."
"Mr. Ortiz, you're still on duty…"
"Oh. Sorry sir. I mean sirs. Do I have to apologize to him? He's sleeping."
Miguel was answered when Lonnie hit him upside the head.