Chapter Four

Scarlett sat on Lucas' tiny bed and looked around the room, smiling to herself at his ever-growing collection of electronic gadgets that he would later take apart to make something new. There was nothing of himself in the room; no belated birthday cards from his absent father, no gifts from his estranged family, no old letters from her or any other lover. The door to the room swung open and Lucas walked in carrying a mug of hot chocolate for Scarlett, she thanked him and accepted the mug; drowning in the taste that she been missing for so long.

"So," he started. "I guess we need to talk about what we're going to do,"

"Can it wait?" asked Scarlett. "I want to look over what we brought back from The Wilde; see what I can do with it before we reach the plateau,"

She smiled at Lucas who nodded but looked obviously hurt by her instant rebuff of his attempt to discuss the baby. She had been so used to making her own decisions about the pregnancy that she never imagined Lucas would have anything to add. He sat beside her on the bed but remained awkward, his position tense and his eyes wandering the room, never fixing on anything for too long.

"I'm sorry, Lucas," she sighed. "We can talk about it if you want to,"

"I didn't mean to push you; I just meant that we need to discuss things about us. It was different when you were doing this alone but you're not anymore,"

"I know, it's just weird. To be honest, I didn't think you would ever want anything to do with me after the way I treated you, I'd kind of settled into the idea of being a single mother," shrugged Scarlett, placing the empty mug on the bedside table. "I want us to agree everything about the baby together,"

"Me too," he smiled, leaning forward and kissing her cheek. He placed a gentle hand on her stomach and grinned widely, he was going to be a father. He hadn't even stopped to consider how it would affect his life or if he was too young to be a father or how the crew would react, none of that seemed to matter to him at all.

"I really should check on the equipment," smiled Scarlett, she didn't want to abandon Lucas in the midst of their important discussion but she was still riled up at the idea of sabotage and wanted to get underway on her mission as soon as possible. "Do you want to come with me?"

"It's okay; I have stuff to do round here. The captain might want to assist you; I'll get him to meet you in the lab,"

"Thanks," she grinned and pulled open the heavy door, disappearing into the corridor.

Scarlett headed straight for the science lab without as much as a wrong turn. She knew her way around the SeaQuest almost as well as those who had lived aboard for the past year, her obsession with the already legendary submarine and Lucas' bizarre penchant for tours had served her well. Her small crew were already settled in the lab; Kyle was looking over the rescued equipment while Rich, Tom and Mona ensured it was all intact after the transportation. Various SeaQuest science personnel were lending a hand and Scarlett sighed with relief at the thought of everything being dealt with so quickly. Kyle looked up from one of the mineral analysis machines and walked over to greet her.

"Everything looks fine, how are you and lover boy?" he grinned; Scarlett rolled her eyes at Kyle's unstoppable quest for gossip and nodded. "Have you told him about Junior?"

"He's fine about it. He's been great actually, I was expecting a fight or something" she smiled, Kyle was about to reply when the doors opened behind them and Captain Bridger walked in.

"How's it coming along, Miss Rice?" he asked, casting an appraising eye over The Wilde's equipment. Scarlett turned to Rich and raised an eyebrow, begging him to answer for her.

"The equipment's sound, Sir," said Rich, smiling at Scarlett who looked even more relieved. "Once it's been attached to SeaQuest's computer system, the analysers will do the rest,"

"We're almost at the Rachin Plateau, I'd estimate another forty minutes. Do you need anything else, Scarlett?"

"No, Sir. I just need to brief your science team on the equipment usage and ensure it's set up correctly,"

"Well, the resources of the SeaQuest are at your disposal, use whatever you need," smiled Bridger.

"Thank you, Sir. Is it possible to see you for a moment after I'm finished here?" asked Scarlett, Bridger nodded and left the room.

Scarlett sighed loudly to herself and turned to face her own crew as well as the science team, this was the part she hated most of all. Just because the Ecological Foundation had seen fit to grant her captaincy of The Wilde did not mean she had the leadership skills of the role. She wanted so badly to delegate the responsibility to Kyle but she knew she had to take it herself. She cleared her throat and addressed the room, giving instructions on the use of the equipment and how to monitor the electrical charge of the geyser once the research was underway.

After giving her speech, she left Kyle to give the actual details and a demonstration of the machinery while she went to find Bridger; he needed to be made aware of just how important Rachin Plateau was to her as well as the rest of the world. She was on her way to his office when she bumped into a young Spanish officer who she hadn't seen since her last party in Miami.

"Miguel! Oh my God, how are you?" she squealed, throwing her arms around him excitedly, Ortiz accepted the hug awkwardly.

"I'm fine, Scarlett. It's good to see you again, have you seen Tim yet?" he smiled, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"No, why?"

"He's desperate to catch up with you. I think he's designed some new water purifier or something, I think I'll leave it to him to explain it all," he laughed.

"Well, I've gotta see the captain but I'll come and find you and Tim afterwards, I've got loads to tell you about,"

"Okay, I'll be around. See you later, Scarlett," he smiled, walking off down the corridor and leaving Scarlett to find Captain Bridger.

"Come in," called Bridger from inside the room. Scarlett heaved open the metal door and stepped inside, she hadn't been in this room for so long and a stream of memories poured over her as she did. "Miss Rice, sit down,"

"Thank you for all your help, Captain," she smiled as she sat opposite Bridger at his table.

"It's quite alright. I was able to contact the Ecological Foundation. They denied all knowledge of ignoring your transmissions and were quite grateful that we had picked you up," he reported, Scarlett furrowed her brow as she thought about the information.

"I don't know, Captain. I don't want to think that the Foundation would be capable of this kind of sabotage but with the amount of money involved; who wouldn't be tempted?"

"Enough of the official line. What exactly is at Rachin Plateau, Scarlett?"

"Okay, about a month ago a new underwater geyser sprung up at Rachin. The gas that the geyser is producing is non-toxic and highly saturated with electrical charge with I believe is from the Earth itself,"

"A natural energy resource, I assume this would be safer than oil?"

"Exactly, that's why the Ecological Foundation was so desperate to get people out there. They wanted to know exactly what we could do to harness the electricity and distribute it. But I think they've been paid off by the oil companies, oil generates a lot of money and this electricity source would remove their power,"

Bridger was about to reply when the SeaQuest began to shake, Bridger grabbed his communicator from the desk while Scarlett looked around, confused as to what was going on.

"Bridge, report," he ordered, there was a buzz of static before the reply. Scarlett recognised Commander Ford's voice but not the air of agitation in it.

"We're under attack, Sir," he reported. Bridger looked at Scarlett and ran out of the room, the look at told her everything. Whoever had disabled The Wilde was still after her and now they were here for her.