part five
Six months later, Hudson glared at Lucas as he opened the ward room door and walked in.
"Mr. Walenczak, does it always take you this long to get to a meeting with your captain or am I just lucky?"
"I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again." Lucas felt his face flush as he took his seat.
"You seem to be saying that a lot lately. You'd better be ready to let me collect."
"Yes, sir." Hudson glared for a few moments before addressing the rest of the senior staff that had already been seated when Lucas walked in.
"As most of you know, the original seaQuest was equipped with a hyper-reality probe." He hit a few buttons on the table and schematics for the seaQuest 4600 I flashed across the screen on the back wall. "Run by Lieutenant Commander Hitchcok, the HR Probe was able to go places that were unsuitable for a crew member to go." Hudson hit the button again and the screen went black. "When the seaQuest 4600 II was built, that feature was left of the re-design."
Lucas knew the answer to this one. Good lord, he had helped build her. "That was because the design was too difficult to maneuver around and maintain control."
"That may have been, ensign, but in ten years that sort of technology had improved ten fold. Our orders are to proceed to New Cape Quest and re-wire this ship for its new HR-probe."
Lucas couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did the UEO understand what kind of manpower and time that kind of project would take? Not to mention training the person to use it, and... the problems were endless. "Sir, what sort of time table are we talking about?"
"The UEO is giving us two weeks to get operational."
"What?" This time Henderson spoke up as well. As an engineer, she was also aware of the complexity of the task they were undertaking. "With all due respect, sir, they can't be serious! Two weeks? That's barely enough time to wire the ship let alone run tests to make sure it's operational."
"I'm well aware of that fact, Henderson, but we are on the brink of war. The UEO needs us out patrolling and Ôkeeping the peace.' Two weeks. Dismissed."
"So... are you proud of her?" Henderson asked, smirking as she handed a tool to Lucas who was sprawled out beneath a consul on the bridge. They were ahead of schedule by almost three days. Together, they had been working night and day for the past week trying to install the new program. The entire crew was off on shore leave, except for the twenty or so engineering personnel they needed.
"Proud of who?" His voice was distorted, almost seeming disembodied coming from under the station. But Henderson knew that he was well aware of who she was talking about.
"Juliana. Her company has done pretty well. I mean, they designed this HR probe that we're installing."
"I hadn't forgotten, Henderson. With the way people are carrying on, you'd think she'd won the Nobel peace prize or something."
"Ooh, is that jealousy I sense?"
"What?!" Lucas was caught so off guard by her comment that he tried to sit up, but the only ended up smacking his head on the bottom of the consul. "Ouch!"
Henderson giggled as he wriggled out from underneath the consul and accepted the cloth she gave him to wipe his hands clean.
"I'm not jealous, Henderson. I'm very happy for her."
Her smile broadened. "Sure you are, Lucas."
He glared at her and powered up his consul. "Okay. We're on-line and ready to begin the tests." He gestured to the equipment lying on the deck. "You want the honors?"
"Sure." While she readied herself for the probe. Lucas used his PAL to inform the crew stationed at various points around the ship that the trials were commencing. After hearing enough "Aye's," he looked over to see if Henderson was ready. He burst out laughing at the spectacle in front of him.
Henderson sat in the chair, gloved hands raised as if she were surrendering to the police. On her head sat a square-ish headpiece that made her look like a demon from some old twentieth century B movie.
"Ensign Walenczak, if you are laughing at me, I just might have to resort to the chain of command."
"I wouldn't dream of it, sir."
"I thought so," she responded with more than a hint of a smile. "Now let's get this show on the road."
"Powering up now." Lucas' hands flew over the consul and a hum began to emanate from the equipment on Henderson. "Initiating program now." With a final push of a button, Henderson was plunged onto darkness. After a few moments, she started to make out textures in the water. Then, the sea suddenly exploded around her as the probe burst from the seaQuest and into the ocean. She was filled with awe. It was as it Lonnie herself was swimming out there. She turned her hands and the probe turned with her. After a few seconds, the awesome sight of the seaQuest filled her vision. It truly was magnificent.
"Okay, Henderson." She recognized Lucas' voice in her ear. "Take it for a spin." She balled her hands into fists and suddenly she was off, traveling at an incredible speed through the water. A smile fell uncontrollably onto her face. "Whoa, HendersonÑ not that fast."
"Aww, Lucas. Come on; you used to be so much fun."
"Slow it down, Lonnie." Sighing, she complied. Un-balling her fists, she felt the probe slowly come to a halt in the water. "Okay, now take it down." Arching her hands so that they were angled downwards, she saw the sea floor rushing at her.
"Okay, Lonnie. You're deep enough. Pull up." She didn't move a muscle. "Pull up!" Again, there was no response, but was that a smile hinting on the edge of her mouth?
"Henderson, you're gonna hit the floor! Pull up!" Lucas watched as the depth gauge on his screen plummeted. 100 feet.. 70 feet... 50 feet... 30 feet... 10 feet...
"Henderson--" and she pulled up then, the smile spreading across her face.
"Lonnie," Lucas warned, unable to keep the smile completely off his own face. "Don't you dare do that to me again..." He trailed off, noticing that the smile was gone from her face, replaced by a frown of concentration. "What is it?"
"I think the probe is picking something up... I'm seeing some colors in the water."
Now all business, Lucas looked over Lonnie's shoulder at the video feed the probe was sending back. From around the corner of a rock wall, a thin line of pink streamed into view like horizontal smoke. "That's one of the probe's new features. It has sensors that pick up heat signatures or pollutants in the water and then displays them as colors. Pink means that there is something contaminating the water. It looks like it's coming from right around that rock outcropping." He pointed on the screen. "Go around there and let's see what's up."
Lonnie ignored his blatant insubordination, too caught up in her curiosity to even give it more than a moment's notice. She moved her arms and guided the probe around the corner.
"Oh my god..." Imbedded into the rocks was a small shuttle. At least, it had been a shuttle; there wasn't much of it left. Pieces of metal floated in the water, creating a hazard for the probe. Frustrated, Lonnie wrestled with the controls, trying to make her way to the damaged shuttle. Struggling, she finally made it to one of the cracked windows. They weren't so deep that the pressure would've crushed the shuttle completely, so a small air pocket was left inside. Lucas peered closer to the screen, trying to make out an image, hoping someone was still alive.
What was that; a shoulder maybe? Yes, and there was the arm! He followed along down to the fingers when he saw movement... yes, the fingers were twitching. He was alive!
"Lonnie--"
"Yeah, I saw it, Lucas."
Quickly running to the ensign at communications, he assumed his most commanding voice. "Ensign Thomas, what's the fastest mini-sub still docked?"
"Uh, there's a shuttle docked in docking bay three, sir."
"Lucas--" Lonnie had already disentangled herself from the HR equipment and was zipping up her uniform jacket when he turned around. "Call Picallo. Tell him to get in that shuttle and bring those people back."
"Yes, sir." Lucas pulled out his PAL from his uniform and spoke into it.
"Picallo."
There was no response.
"Picallo, this is Lucas. Respond." He banged the device with his hand in frustration. "Why isn't he responding?"
"Here." Henderson handed him hers. "Try mine." He went through the same routine, still without a response.
"Ensign Thomas," he called out. "Contact Seaman Picallo and tell him to report to Docking Bay three."
"Yes, sir." There was a moment's silence before he went on. "Sir, communications aren't working. I can't raise him on his PAL."
"Damn it."
"Lucas, you have a little bit of medical training, don't you?"
"I learned a thing or two under Dr. Westphalen, yeah."
"Okay. You stay here and get a med-kit ready. I'll go get the sub."
"Lonnie, I can't let you do that. You're the highest ranking officer, and--?"
"That's an order, Ensign."
"Just... be careful, Lonnie." She smiled reassuringly at him before walking out the clam doors.
Lonnie's heart was beating a mile a minute as she drove towards the wreckage. She hoped she was going to get there soon enough. The trip seemed to take forever. With each second she took she knew that it meant one less second for he people in the sub. In reality, it had only been a few minutes before she turned the corner and came upon the sub, but it had felt like hours.
Her eyebrows raised in confusion, Lonnie slowed the shuttle to a halt and stared at what lay in front of her.
"What the hell..." Sitting on the ocean floor was a sub like she had never seen. Sleek in shape, the black metal almost blended into the rock wall behind it. It was shaped almost like a small version of the seaQuest, and it was definitely not the wreckage she had expected. Suddenly, its lights came on and her consul beeped "INCOMING MESSAGE."
She didn't know what to do. She had never seen a sub like that before, so she didn't know if she could out run it. By the look of the sub she severely doubted it, and even if she could, she couldn't lead them back to the seaQuest, whoever they were. Her shuttle didn't have any weapons, save lasers, so she couldn't very well start a fight.
Weighing her options, she decided that she had no choice and pressed the button to receive the message.
"UEO shuttle, this is the Macronesian vessel Leviathan. Stand down and prepare to be boarded. I repeat, stand down and prepare to be boarded."
Nononono... this couldn't be happening. Not again! Sweet Jesus, not again...
"UEO sub, stand down or else we will fire."
Her hysterics growing, Lonnie's mind kept flashing back to that day... children screaming... the cold barrel of a gun... the even colder face of the Macronesian dictator...
"S-standing down." Oh God...
Rising off the sea floor, the Leviathan glided over to where the shuttle floated like a snake curling around its prey. Lonnie barely heard the clank of the docking arm through her numb mind.
A young boy... the scent of burnt flesh as the laser pierced through his heart... Brody, lying limp in her arms as they raced back to seaQuest...
She did hear the click of the pistol being cocked, though, as a figure came up behind her and pointed it at her head.
"Take us to seaQuest."
Pacing the floor of the bridge, Lucas checked his watch. 25 minutes. Something had happened. She'd been gone too long. Damn it, he thought. I knew I should've gone.
"Thomas."
"Yes, sir."
"Do you have a lock on Lieutenant Henderson's position?"
"Yes sir, she's--" he paused, listening to something coming in over his headset. "She just asked for permission to board, sir."
Huh? Why would she have asked permission... "Well, grant it and ask if anyone needs medical attention." He had a bad feeling about this.
"Sir, she's not responding. I think communications are messing up again."
Damn it! Grabbing the med-kit he had prepared, he started to head towards docking bey three when an alarm sounded, stopping him in his tracks. Oh shit...
Blood was everywhere, staining even her very soul. Brody looked at her with weak, scared eyes. "Lonnie..."
The scene flashed in her mind. Memories surfaced that she had never wanted to think about again; memories full of pain, hurt, and anger.
One of her captors pulled her up by the elbow as soon as she had finished docking procedures. Ramming his pistol into her back, he whispered into her ear, "Don't try anything."
Convulsing, Brody ripped off his dog tags and shoved them into her palm...
The docking doors opened and she was led out into the deserted bay. Several men filed out behind her and moved quickly over to the computer terminals, knowing exactly what to do. Their familiarity with the system scared her more than she would have liked to admit.
"Don't move," the voice whispered in her ear. "I'll be watching you." The gun was removed from her back as he slithered away to help one of his men.
Struggling, Brody's pain-filled voice croaked out his last words as his body gave into the pain. "With your shield... or on it..."
Suddenly, Lonnie's head became clear. She knew what she had to do. Glancing at her captor, she inched towards the far wall, one step at a time. She held her breath until she reached it. Reaching down with her hand, she closed her eyes briefly and pushed the alarm.
Lucas dropped he med-kit, spilling its contents all over the floor. He ran over to a terminal and started barking orders.
"Seal the clam doors and get me the security video feed from docking bay three. I need a sensor scan run over this entire ship ASAP so we can find out what the hell is going on!"
Lonnie had little time to celebrate before the gun went off. The force of the bullet hitting her body threw her into the wall and she slid down to the floor. She glanced down at her chest and placed a hand to her stomach. When she looked at it again, it was red. Blood. I've been shot. Wow.
Then the pain hit. She gasped and doubled over, sweat beading out onto her forehead. From somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that it would all be over soon, and she would be able to melt into the blazing pain...
In that moment, Lenore Ellen Henderson knew she was going to die, and she accepted it. She had always been afraid of death, but when faced with the certainty of it, she was calm. All she could do was hope that her life had made a difference. She surprised herself that, in these last few moments of her life, it wasn't Jonathan's face that came to her, or Tony's. It was Jim's. She saw the image that had haunted her dreams, but now it gave her the courage to face her death with dignity.
Lying on the cold hard floor, Lonnie Henderson, of Fortsmith, Wyoming, closed her eyes as she felt a warm glow on her face.
She used her last breath to whisper the words, "On it, Jim." She smiled one last time, took her last shaking breath, and gently closed her eyes.