part six
Lucas fell back into his chair, numb. God, no... He had just watched the security vid feed from the docking bay, and he was having trouble accepting what he saw. That couldn't be real. Lonnie couldn't be... Stop it, Lucas. You can grieve later. Right now you have a boat to save.
"Sir?" Lucas gave no response, and the Ensign at sensors had to repeat himself to catch his attention. "Sir."
Shaking the grief off for the moment, Lucas got out of the chair and walked over to the consul. "Yes."
"Sensors are picking up ten life signs in docking bay three, one near the moon pool, three on C-deck, four on B-deck, three in med-bay, and three in the engine room, plus the three of us here on the bridge."
Damn... "Seal off the docking bay."
"Too late, sir. They're starting to move." Damn it all to hell!
Lucas turned towards the communication consul. "Get me Captain Hudson."
"I can't, sir. Communications are completely out."
"Let me in." The ensign moved away and Lucas took his place. Stretching his fingers before getting to work, he racked his brain to try and figure out anything that might work. Start with the basics, Wolenczak, he told himself. He typed in the command for e-band, and a beep told him that it wasn't going to work. Forget simple. He could use the whiskers to triangulate their signal and then bounce it off a couple of satellites back to New Cape Quest. His hands flew and he muttered incomprehensible words under his breath as he worked. He watched as lines on the satellite map were drawn from one, then the other, until finally the words "LINK-UP COMPLETE" flashed across the screen.
"Yes!" He stood up as Captain Hudson's Neanderthal-like image appeared on the screen.
"Ensign, what is going on here?" He ordered.
"Sir, I don't have much time." He took a deep breath and readied himself for his captain's anger. He knew Hudson wouldn't be happy with him after he learned that Lucas had managed to get seaQuest boarded by hostile terrorists. "seaQuest has been breached by persons unknown. Lieutenant Henderson is dead and there are ten life signs making their way towards the bridge right now. I need your orders, sir."
Hudson seethed for a few moments before he answered. "Ensign, use any force necessary. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir."
"ANY force, Wolenczak. seaQuest is better off at the bottom of the ocean than in the hands of terrorists."
Lucas took a deep breath. "Yes, sir."
Hudson's face softened and he opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could get any sound out, the vid-screen went black.
"No! Damn it!"
"No! Damn it!" Hudson's voice echoed through UEO headquarters.
"Captain Hudson, keep your voice down!" Secretary General MeGath quietly commanded.
Hudson glared angrily at the man. "My ship has been boarded by terrorists. One of my best officers is dead, leaving command to my science officer, and you expect me to be quiet?!?" He raged.
"Oliver, if the seaQuest has been breached, we need to keep it quiet." He put up a hand to stop Hudson's tirade before he began. "Don't, captain. Listen to me for once in your career. President Bourne's propaganda machine has been working overtime as of late, and we're losing in the polls. If this war starts, I promise you that we will be seen as the bad guys. And if word gets out that we let our flagship get taken over--"
"They're not in control yet."
"Face the facts, Oliver. Ensign Wolenczak is a good science officer, but he is just that-- a science officer. He has no tactical training. seaQuest is lost, captain."
Piccolo was bored. He had been sitting by the moonpool for half and hour now, waiting for some communications from Henderson or Lucas on the bridge. He had been taking calculations and other observations down here at Lucas' request, though he had to admit that he didn't understand half of the data coming in from the probe. But thirty minutes ago, it had returned to seaQuest and he had expected some sort of message from the bridge about the next set of tests. Yet he had heard nothing, He had tried using his PAL and the vidlink, but he had been unable to contact the bridge, and he was starting to get scared.
He peered out the hatch and into the hallway, checking both directions for any signs of life. Something felt very wrong. He heard footsteps coming down the hall and saw the barrel of a gun aim around the corner. Before they could turn into the hallway, he ducked back into the room and grabbed a few re breathers off the shelf. Just as he heard voices approached the doorway, he dove unto the moonpool and swam towards the bridge.