Chapter Six
Scarlett didn't really know what she had planned to do after running out on Lucas, she hadn't meant to lose her temper so spectacularly but she had been infuriated that Lucas could think she would just give up on such an important mission. She wanted to talk to Miguel, he had been such a good friend to her when she and Lucas had split up and he always gave advice when she needed it but she knew he would be on the bridge, especially after the attack. She didn't really know anyone else aboard the SeaQuest; Miguel, Tim, Jonathon and Bridger, she didn't know where to go. She didn't want to talk to Kyle about it; she wanted to talk to someone who knew Lucas. As she rounded the corner, Captain Bridger was walking towards her, they both stopped awkwardly in the corridor.
"I was just on my way to find you, Miss Rice," he said. "Let's go to my quarters, I've got quite a lot to tell you about," Scarlett nodded and followed him back to his room. Right now, she couldn't care less about the attack, her mind was still on her fight with Lucas and she now felt doubly guilty for being so vocal in front of Tim.
Bridger held open the door for her and she entered silently, sitting at the desk she had only left an hour or so earlier. He closed the door and sat opposite her again; she had started to feel sick and hoped she wasn't going to start crying on the Captain about her relationship problems, she had hoped she would be stronger than that.
"Well, Mr Ortiz was unable to find any sign of the sub so we've continued on course and we should be arriving at Rachin Plateau in less than fifteen minutes," Scarlett sighed with relief at the news, she so desperately wanted this nightmare over. "The Ecological Foundation has admitted to accepting donations from Huntleigh Enterprises but deny any idea of these donations being a payment for services rendered,"
"They are so weak," she growled, her anger refusing to subside now. "How could they do this to us? This is one of the most important discoveries ever made; especially in the field of ecology, this is just unbelievable,"
"I know it must be infuriating for you, Scarlett but we're almost at the Plateau, you can complete your work no matter what," smiled Bridger, Scarlett attempted to smile back but she was too worked up, she could almost feel her hormones going into overdrive as she burst into tears and hid her face behind her hands. Bridger frowned and walked around the table to comfort her, putting a fatherly arm around her shoulder. Scarlett wiped her face with her hands and sniffed the stray tears away.
"I'm sorry, Sir," she whispered, feeling a little embarrassed. "I didn't mean to cry on you, I'm just feeling a little emotional right now,"
"Scarlett, I know that you and I aren't exactly close but I'm always here for anyone who needs help while they're aboard SeaQuest; even if it's just a shoulder to lean on. Do you want to talk about it?"
"I… I mean, Lucas…" she started, feeling a little embarrassed. "I don't know how to say this; I'm pregnant, I'm three months pregnant and Lucas thinks I'm putting my work before the baby but it's not true. I need to get this job over with before I start settling down, my work is very important to me but that doesn't mean that I'm not looking after myself and the baby," She knew she was babbling now but it seemed to be the only way she could get it all out, Bridger was listening politely despite the news of Lucas' impending fatherhood reeling around his head. "And I know he's just worried about me and the baby but I got so mad at him and I feel so awful about it. Why can't he see that I can't just leave the project when we're so close to finishing? I wish he understood what I'm going through but I just left him without even giving him a chance to understand. God, what's wrong with me?"
"There's nothing wrong with you, Scarlett. It's like you said, you're just feeling a little emotional right now. It's normal to feel like this when you're pregnant," soothed Bridger. "And I'm sure Lucas does understand your feelings about your work; he may be headstrong but he's very understanding underneath all that youthful exuberance,"
"You mean you're not mad at me… at us?" she sniffed, smiling a little.
"Of course not, it's the way of the world," he smiled, she was about to thank him when the intercom clicked on; airing static and then the voice of Commander Ford.
"Captain, we're arrived at the co-ordinates,"
Bridger looked at Scarlett and smiled, she felt a lot better getting it off her chest and now she could finally finish her work and start her normal life that, despite evidence to the contrary, she actually wanted.
"I guess I should get Kyle and everyone ready. I want this done as fast as possible, we don't want another attack while the equipment is out there," said Scarlett, standing up and smoothing down her jeans. "Thank you for listening, Sir. Sorry I was in such a bad mood,"
"Nonsense, it was nothing," smiled Bridger. "Get down to the lab, they need you down there; you need to take charge now,"
"Thank you," said Scarlett and walked out of the room, heading down to the laboratories to find Kyle and the rest of the crew. She just wanted the analysis of the geyser over and done with so life could get back to normal, so she could have a stress-free pregnancy and settle down with Lucas; live the dream, live happily ever after.
It had only taken ten minutes to set up the equipment for the geyser analysis, Scarlett sat at her control panel as the information came filtering through; electrolytes, charge output, current voltage. She couldn't help smiling as she processed each figure and fact; it was actually going to work, there really was going to be a way to safely power the world. She tapped away on her panel, ensuring all the relevant data was being constantly saved to two separate disks. She was so busy working that she hadn't heard the door behind her open.
"How's it looking?" asked Lucas, Scarlett spun around on her chair. Lucas walked towards her and looked over the information; it didn't mean a thing to him but at least he looked as if he knew what he was doing.
"Absolutely amazing," she beamed, completely forgetting the argument she had been so upset over. "There's enough power here to actually work this thing; all we need to do is find a viable coupling to ensure the distribution is safe and we're set. This is the first ever natural energy resource that is safe for the environment and won't ever run out, can you believe that?"
"That is amazing," he said, his voice a little distant, Scarlett frowned and reached out her hand to his. She studied his face with her questioning eyes, Lucas knew what she was doing but he wasn't in the mood. "I'm fine; don't look at me like that,"
"I've known you too long, Lucas. What's up?" she asked, getting up from her chair and walking away from the machine. "Look, leaving my work for you so spill it," Lucas laughed at her; she always managed to make his smile when he was trying so hard to maintain his anger.
"Nothing," he shook his head. "I was just thinking about before, I know how important all this is to you but I don't understand how you could put all of it before the baby," Scarlett frowned and started to answer but he put his hand up in front of her face to stop her. "Please listen. Just because I don't understand it doesn't mean I can't see that it's important to you so just do what you have to do but promise me that you will start taking it easy once you've finished your work here,"
"Lucas, I love you," she grinned, standing on her tip-toes and kissing him lightly. "Once I am finished at this control panel, I am finished until our baby is all growed up, okay?"
"Thank you," he whispered, she smiled and went back to her panel but her smile fell as she saw her monitors. They were all blank, there was no information feeding into the machine, no information being saved to disk. "What's going on?"
"I don't know," she said, running from the room and rushing to the bridge, she ran in to the room without waiting for the Captain's permission. "What the hell is going on?"
"Scarlett, calm down," ordered Bridger, ushering her to where Ortiz was sitting. He pointed at the screen, Scarlett breathed in deeply and sharply, the air catching in the back of her throat as she caught sight of the huge submarine on the screen; armed to the teeth and heading towards SeaQuest.