FRIENDSHIP
Bridger and Shep now walked into the room where Lucas had been working on the mainframe computer. Still no Lucas to be seen. Whilst Bridger had been a little more casual about the teenager's sudden disappearance, Shep had run all the way from their living quarters to here, trying to wrack his brain about what might have happened to his friend.
"Why isn't he here, where the hell can he be?" Shep now said in a strained voice. He was trying hard to disguise the worry he had about Lucas but was failing miserably. The words of threat that Woodcock had uttered only a few hours ago now seemed to shout back at him in side his head. He cursed himself for not having the guts to tell Captain Bridger about what the teacher had said or threatened to do.
It seemed that Woodcock had carried out those threats too. What had he done to Lucas in such a short space of time?
"I am sure he is around Shep," Bridger said, his own uneasiness starting to grow as he started to follow the younger man's lead. He didn't have any idea about Woodcock's possible involvement in all of this, but neither did he have a plausible explanation for Lucas absence.
"You don't understand but Captain, he was just here only a few minutes ago and now he is gone. I can't find him anywhere," Shep replied trying to demonstrate the urgency of finding his friend without divulging anything about what Woodcock had said.
"Okay, so if he was only here a few minutes ago, where could he go?" Bridger said calmly, trying to take control of the situation and get Shep to rationalise his thoughts and actions a little more. Being hysterical at a moment like this wasn't going to help anybody at all, least of all Lucas.
"Nobody else has seen him either Captain, I already checked with some other workers," Shep now informed Bridger.
"Let's go and talk to the rest of the crew for a few minutes and ask if any of them have seen Lucas in the last few minutes," Bridger said but could see the strain of frustration about time wasting, clearly evident on the boy's face.
"If they haven't then we will split up into a couple of search groups and organise a proper search in case he got lost wandering around the depot on his own. This is a very large facility and it could be easy enough to get confused down any maze of these inner corridors," Bridger continued.
Reluctantly, Shep did as Bridger suggested and followed him to find the other crew members. Most of them were split into smaller groups of two or three. After a few minutes they had all gathered together back at their quarters to discuss organizing a search for the still missing Lucas.
The other crew members were slightly concerned that the teenager couldn't be located anywhere within the depot. They were all a little puzzled at Shep's outward display though and just how worried Lucas's friend appeared to be about the whole thing. They couldn't help but wonder if there was something he wasn't letting them in on.
Bridger too had thought the very same thing, but for now they had to concentrate on finding Lucas. If he truly was missing like Shep said, maybe there was a totally reasonable explanation for his disappearance.
Bridger and Commander Ford took control of the search party and split people into groups of two or three. They had a lot of ground to cover through the maze of corridors of the depot.
Shep joined the group of Bridger, Kristen and Ben. He wasn't too keen on going off with any of the other crew members. All he was worried about was finding Lucas as quickly as possible. He wished there was some way of squeezing the information out of Woodcock without risking his friend's life any further.
After all the other groups had organized which areas each of them would search, Bridger decided to get as much information from Shep as possible so that they could find the missing teenager.
Shep was in a rush to get things started but Bridger held him firmly but gently by his shoulders, "We have to go about this the right way or we will just end up chasing our tails and getting nowhere and not helping Lucas at all."
Shep nodded his head in agreement. He knew what the Captain was trying to tell him was the best way to solve the problem was to have a plan.
"When was the last time you saw him?" Bridger asked, hoping it was a starting point.
"Right after the meeting with Admiral Noyce here," Shep said as he tried to think back so they had something to go on. "I stayed here to talk to you. Lucas said he wanted to keep going and get something to eat. He said he wanted to show me something important. He seemed a little edgy that about whatever it was.
"I think we are jumping to conclusions here," Bridger said seeing that Shep was letting his emotions get the better of him. "After you finished talking to me where did you go next?"
"I went to the main frame room thinking Lucas would have grabbed a snack by now and be already back at it," Shep Explained.
"Is there any where else you can think of that he might have gone before you got there? Maybe he thought of something else he had to do but just didn't tell you," Bridger now said trying to think of another plausible reason.
"No you don't understand. He just wouldn't go anywhere like this and not tell me. Something is wrong I can feel it and we have to find him now, Shep said, now on the verge of shouting. How could he make the Captain see that this was more serious than he could possibly tell?
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While Bridger and the Commander Ford worried about splitting people into groups for a search party, Lucas was dealing with matters of his own.
It had now been well over an hour since the door had been closed and locked behind Lucas, leaving him alone in his cold prison cell. And a prison cell was the only way to describe his surroundings at the moment.
The room was still pitch black from no light. At first Lucas had tried several times to get the door to release, despite the freezing conditions within. Another few occasions he had even tried breaking the lock on the door to get it open. His efforts turned out to be in vain though and all he got in return was a bruised shoulder and a soggy shirt.
For the first ten minutes or so Lucas had really believed himself to be on the receiving end of a late attempt at a practical joke from Ben Krieg. As the time wore on though and the room he was in became colder and his situation a little more serious, be knew that his friend would never have carried such a joke this far.
Lucas was still in no position to help himself though because of the lack of lighting in the room. He assumed that he must be locked away in some sort of cold room or freezer. There were icicles forming on the ends of his hair and he needed to continuously rub his bicep muscles and thighs to regain some of the heat and mobility he had already lost.
He knew that if he didn't find a way out of his predicament or someone didn't come to help get him out real soon then things would get even more peril.
"Boy it's really getting cold in here," he said to himself as the temperature seemed to plummet again and he shivered in response.
It was no secret aboard the SeaQuest that Lucas hated the cold. He was normally more grumpier than normal and the fact that he had to wrap himself up in two or three layers just to cope with such a miserable season only made him determined to hate winter more.
"Come on Wolenczak you have to help yourself here," Lucas chastised himself. As much as he hated the idea, he now walked carefully around the perimeter of the room, or as much as he could feel. Looking for the elusive light switch.
He thought it would have sensibly been put beside the doorway but even trying to navigate his way back to that position proved more of a task than Lucas first thought. He tripped over an unseen obstacle and swore loudly at the stinging sensation he felt in his leg as a result.
After what seemed like an incredibly long time and another obstacle, Lucas finally found what he sought and his shivering and trembling fingertips reached the light switch.
The room was not illuminated by a dull shade of yellow. The light bulb seemed to be objecting to the drop in temperature as well and was only giving off a certain portion of its light in protest.
From what light was offered, Lucas could now see that his assumptions had been right about his surroundings. He was indeed in some sort of cold room or freezer. There were cardboard cartons of frozen produce, some opened, some still sealed. The back shelves seemed relatively empty at the moment but that stood to reason as the depot was being prepared for demolition.
Lucas was now shivering violently and it didn't seem to make of a difference how much he rubbed at his limbs to try and get his blood circulating and keep himself warm. He was only clad in a pair of normal jeans and a fairly thinly made t-shirt with elbow length sleeves.
Lucas now started to walk around the room a little bit more to try and keep his muscles moving. He knew that he couldn't afford to stop for any extended length of time before he would succumb to the cold conditions.
Periodically he brought his hands together around his mouth and blew into them, trying to use his breath to try and keep his fingers moving. The thin layers of clothes he wore were no barrier against the cold conditions and he was starting to feel lethargic and sleepy at times.
At some point during his pacing around the room he found an old piece of Hessian bag. Like the ones that were often used for carrying large quantities of vegetables such as potatoes. He didn't know it was there but he tried in vain to use its material value to try and add warm to his body. It proved to be of little benefit though as the rough fibres were tattered in many places and frozen in others.
Lucas found that his leg muscles were now protesting about his constant movement efforts. The cold was seeping in to every nerve ending in his thin frame. His legs were becoming increasingly stiff and ached from the cold. After another ten minutes with no sign of help he now sat down by the door, huddling his legs and knees close to his chest in an effort to conserve as much body heat as possible.
Bridger and the search parties were trying there best to think of places were Lucas might be or have wandered off to and got himself confused and lost. It was becoming more and more apparent that Lucas had not just gone into another area of the depot.
Commander Ford and Ben Krieg had been searching a different part of the computer areas, but now found themselves meeting up again with the Captain's search party empty handed.
"Any luck yet Commander?" Bridger asked in a hopeful voice.
"No dice Captain Sir, not a sign of Lucas anywhere. We are running out of places to keep looking," he added, trying not to sound negative. Ford knew that Ben Krieg was as worried as much as Shep was. Ben had been unusually quiet and subdued whilst they conducted the search. Not something that was the norm with the morale officer.
"So what do we do now?" Kristen asked as he tried to put a reassuring hand on Shep's shoulder. The dark haired teenager was becoming more and more worried about Lucas as the minutes ticked by.
Back in the cold room, Lucas was barely able to keep himself awake now. The cold was taking an unmistakable toll. He knew that he had to try and let others know where he was. But how? The cold room itself would probably be constructed of an aluminium like alloy and be hard to penetrate with just his own voice.
Whilst Lucas was trying desperately of how to get himself out, a few more strands of his freezing hair fell into his eyes. He didn't have the energy enough to lift his head up properly and compromised with raising his eyes at the limp, wet locks as they fell over his forehead and into his eyes.
Suddenly his attention was draw to something further above him. He was looking upwards and now deliberately lifted his head, partially getting up from the floor with an idea in mind. His muscles ached in protest but he ignore it for the time being as a surge of adrenalin rushed through his system.
Just above head height was a series of metal pipes. They looked as though they ran the width of the cold room itself and continue on somewhere outside the room. Being made of metal, even if they contained frozen substances, any sound made on them should create a loud enough sound to travel down the length of the pipes and possibly out to someone to hear where the noise was coming from.
Lucas now looked quickly around the room to find something that would be heavy enough for his purpose. At first there seemed to be nothing of consequence that could be used. He was about to shout out in frustration when he spotted a red handle resting on one of the shelves right at the back.
He reached out with his hand and when he picked up the handle, found it belonging to a wrench. Probably used in the past to fix the pipes he intended to strike with it.
Lucas knew that he had to try and attract someone's attention as quickly as possible. He tested out his theory about the noise travelling along the pipes and was rewarded by the tinkle sound that the wrench made against the metal of the pipe. With renewed vigour he now struck the pipe continuously hoping that it wouldn't take too long to find him or the source of the noise.
Bridger and the SeaQuest crew were now all together, trying to come up with another strategy in searching for the still missing Lucas. Bridger was asking the other crew members if they had any other suggestions to add when Mr Biggs came bustling along the corridors, apparently looking as though he was in great haste.
"Captain, I must put forward my strongest opposition to this intolerable noise you are creating," Biggs said in his best official sounding voice.
"What intolerable noise Mr Biggs. We are not making any undue noise and at the moment have a missing teenager to find that is more important," Bridger said in an annoyed voice at the timid man before him. "Mr Woodcock protests strongly about the infernal tapping sound that has been echoing through some of the corridors for the past ten minutes or so," Biggs now said, sounding a little dubious that the Captain didn't know what noise he meant.
"Mr Biggs, you can go back and tell your Mr Woodcock that I really don't give a .....," Bridger started to say but pulled up in mid sentence. "When did you say this noise started?"
"About ten minutes ago and it hasn't stopped since," Biggs replied indignantly.
"What does it sound like?" Bridger now said with a little anticipation in his expression.
"Come and I will show you," Biggs suggested, not really sure why he was showing these people when they were clearly responsible, or so he had been informed by Woodcock.
The teacher and his assistant were unaware of Lucas's attempts to signal someone for help. Woodcock had assumed that the cold room would have been relatively sound proof from the surrounding areas of the depot.
The crew proceeded to follow Biggs as quickly as possible to the area that the noise could clearly be heard. They now all cocked their ears towards the sound, trying to work out what was making it and where is was coming from.
"Sounds like something metal," Commander Ford replied after a few seconds of uninterrupted hearing.
"I think your right Jonathan," Bridger agreed. "Mr Biggs my crew and I are not responsible for this noise but we have a missing crew member, Lucas and it is possible that he is lost in this maze of corridors somewhere. Just maybe he has found a way to try and let us know where to try and find him."
"Oh you mean the other young fellow," Biggs replied, looking directly at Shep. He hadn't really given the teenager's much though since the heated meeting between the two youths and his boss Mr Woodcock.
"Yes, Lucas has been missing for well over and hour and we have been looking everywhere to try and find him," Bridger informed him.
"It is possible to try and locate where the sound is coming from. It might be coming from behind a wall or something," Ford now suggested, thinking that Lucas had merely been caught up in the maze of endless corridors. Like a niche.
"Let's find out," Kristen now said as she led the way with Shep following close behind her. They weren't waiting around for any more chit chat until they found Lucas.
At first they had headed in the wrong direction. They could hear the tapping still, but as they went in one direction, the noise seemed to fade somewhat. They paused briefly as took more steps the other way, then hearing the noise becoming a little clearer and more defined.
Back in the cold room, Lucas was growing incredibly tired again. The endless tapping with his arm slightly raised above his head became monotonous to the point where he could barely hold his arm over his head any further. He found himself pausing from time to time and the breaks in between were becoming more frequent and longer each time.
"It's getting closer," Ben Krieg said with a positive attitude as he now took over the lead of the group in search of the tapping source. He was sure that it was Lucas doing the tapping, telling them where he was. He just hoped that he was alright when they finally found him.
Bridger and the searchers now came across the unused galley that they had been shown when they first arrived. The sound had been followed all the way to this very area. The sound itself had become fainter and fainter until stopping altogether just a few short seconds ago.
Bridger saw the cold room door and felt a pang of fear run through him at the thought that this was where Lucas was trapped inside. He put his hand on the handle and could already feel the coldness that was coming within.
"Lucas?" Bridger now shouted at the door. The others now joined him at the door, hoping that the Captain was not right about Lucas being inside. "Lucas are you in there, can you hear me?"
There was no response to his calls. He tried pulling on the handle a few times but knew that it would take a lot more force to open the door completely.
"Get something to get this door open now," Bridger shouted at Biggs in a tone that didn't want excuses or explanations but quick and decisive action.
"Right away," Biggs now said as he scurried away to find something as he was told. He had no idea of what his boss had done to Lucas and was not of a cold- hearted nature to see such a fate inflicted upon anybody, accidentally or otherwise.
"Give me a hand here," Bridger now instructed Ben and Commander Ford. He wasn't about to rely on the likes of Biggs to come to Lucas's rescue if he was indeed inside like they thought he might be.
Ben and Shep had continued attempting to call out Lucas's name, hoping for a response. They too were disappointed when their calls went unanswered.
"Katie you and I need to prepare some blankets and other essential items. If Lucas is inside that freezer, we have no idea about what condition he might be in when we finally get that door open," Kristen said.
The only confirmation that Ben and the others got that Lucas might be trapped inside the cold room was the resounding tapping that they had been hearing for the past few minutes. They were not as consistent as earlier and were much softer than before.
Just as Kristen and Kate went back the way they had come to gather what they thought would be needed, Biggs returned with a heavy looking tool box and two long handled levers. He didn't know what would be needed and could not find too many other people about to help due to the moving of the depot's residents.
"Got what I could find, I hope it is enough," Biggs offered as he handed Bridger and Commander Ford each one of the levers.
Ben you and Shep try and see if there are screwdrivers or something to get the door hinges off. Jonathan and I will use these to try and jar the door open if that doesn't work. We will probably have to work in tandem rather than all together.
Inside the freezer, Lucas was now sitting slumped against the wall as he had been earlier. His leg muscles no longer held the strength to hold him up and his arm could no longer be raised high enough to tap the wrench against the pipes. The wrench lay discarded a short distance from him on the floor.
All he could do was hope that the noise he made was enough to alert someone to his whereabouts. At one point he thought he heard voices outside the door, but he told himself that the room was too thick to allow any voice to be heard and it might be a while yet before someone came to his rescue.
As these thoughts entered his head, Lucas's energy levels dropped dramatically and he found himself almost laying on the cold, hard concrete floor. He could no longer fight off the cold or the overwhelming need to close his eyes and sleep. He was unconscious by the time his face touched the cold cement floor.
Bridger and the others were steadily making process on opening the door as Lucas found himself falling asleep.
They were all too wrapped up in their task at hand to see the shadowy figure of Woodcock sneak passed what was happening. He could see their attempts to open the door and released the teenager. There was no telling whether or not the boy was still alive but given the vigour with which they were attacking the door, they all obviously thought he was.
When he had locked the door, he had used a large metal frying pan to disable the locking mechanism. It would make any attempts to open the door that much more difficult and delay their response time in helping the teenager inside.
The time was probably too short for his desired result. He would just have to make sure he didn't fail next time he told himself as he withdrew himself from view before someone could spot him.
"Alllmosttttt...." Commander Ford uttered through clenched teeth as he leaned even harder on the lever to try and release the door. Their progress had been tediously slow and everyone was on edge about getting it open quicker.
Without warning, the door's lock finally gave into the force being placed on it. Commander Ford had not been prepared for the kick back from the lever and now nursed a probably bruised hand as a result of his slow reaction time.
He didn't have time to think much about him though as Bridger and Kristen, followed by Shep pushed passed him to get inside the cold room.
Their hearts seized with fear as they came upon the site they were hoping not to find: Lucas laying inside the cold room. He was still unconscious and the cold had taken all of the colour from his face.
"Katie, the blankets quickly," Kristen signalled as she took them from her and began placing two of them directly over Lucas. She wanted him out of here as quickly as possible but had to assess that he was okay to be moved first.
As the warm of the blankets began to fight of the coldness of his body, Lucas now began shivering uncontrollably. His limbs were trembling from the cold as Bridger took his hand and tried softly calling his name, hoping for a response.
"Is he alright?" Shep asked in a voice that clearly showed the worry he held for his friend.
"He should be," Kristen said, trying to give Shep some reassurance. "He is just incredibly cold after being in here for who knows how long. We just have to get him warmed up, both on the outside and the inside," she added.
Lucas remained unresponsive during the entire brief examination by Kristen. "Okay I think we can safely move him," she announced, signalling for Ben and Bridger to lift him between them and carry him back to their quarters where she would assess his condition more accurately.
Whilst the SeaQuest crew were doing that, Biggs was trying to find a way to shut the cold room down. His efforts were more like putting the cart before the horse had bolted, but his concern seemed genuine enough to those around him so they didn't tell him that it was a waste of time.
Kristen informed Biggs that the SeaQuest would be able to adequately see to Lucas's medical needs for the remainder of their stay. There was less than two days remaining before they would all be leaving anyway. Biggs seemed satisfied with this arrangement and promised to check up on Lucas's condition later on and left to continue his other duties aboard the depot.
When everyone arrived back at the rooms, Kristen instructed Lucas to be taken into the room that he and Shep were sharing. She allowed Bridger, Ben and Shep to stay during the examination but everyone else waited out in the living room for news about how Lucas was doing. Lucas was still shivering violently as she attempted to place more warm blankets over his body. She could see the icicles forming on the boy's hair and gave Bridger a heated towel, instructing him to dry Lucas's hair as much as possible to prevent him becoming even more chilled than he already was.
"Told him he should have cut his hair," Bridger joked as he used the towel.
Shep and Ben gave the Captain half a smile but were too concerned with their friend's lack of response to reply.
By now Kristen had a thermometer in Lucas's mouth to see just how cold his body temperature was whilst she assessed the rest of his body for further possible injuries. She had Ben assist her in stripping of Lucas's damp clothes and replace them with warmer, much drier ones.
"How did he get locked in such a place in the first place is what I want to know?" Bridger asked to no-one in particular. At this point in time he had no indication that what had happened was more than an accident. His brain was ticking over about the cause of that accident, but he had no idea about Woodcock's involvement.
Shep on the other hand, kept a stoic look on his face the whole time Kristen was examining Lucas and attempting to get him warm again. He could think of nobody else but Woodcock and how the man had promised to hurt Lucas only a few hours earlier.
How could he tell Bridger and Kristen what was going on without putting Lucas's life at further risk until they left the depot. Would Lucas know that it was an accident or something more sinister.
Shep's second thought seemed to be answered temporarily as Lucas began turning his head from side to side on the pillow, signalling that he was regaining consciousness. He was muttering in his sleep, caught up in what he thought was a dream.
"Ben.....Ben..let me out," Lucas now said in a hoarse voice.
Bridger and Kristen looked at the young Lieutenant at the mention of his name. They already knew that there was no way Ben would have had anything to do with the cold room door being locked and damaged the way it was.
"It's cold in here..... please let me out," Lucas mumbled again as he relived the time he was in the cold room. "Ben let me out," he said again and then seemed to relax back into a deeper sleep. The moving about and words stopped.
Ben couldn't have felt worse if he tried. He knew that what happened wasn't his fault. He knew that the crew would tell him exactly that. But somehow Lucas had come to the belief that his being locked in the cold room was part of Ben's pay back practical joke.
"He doesn't realise what he is saying Ben," Kristen said as she continued to fuss over the sleeping teenager.
"I swear I will never play another practical joke as long as I live," Ben muttered and then excused himself to join the rest of the crew outside in the living room. All of a sudden it felt very crowded in the room.
"I hope he understands that this wasn't his fault," Shep said as he watched Krieg leave. Although he was carrying around a great deal of guilt on his own, he knew Krieg's ability to make them all laugh would be sorely missed if Ben kept true to his word.
Shep had to admit even though the Lieutenant's upbeat personality rubbed off onto most people he came into contact with. He had even been fortunate to see the same result in Lucas.
It was normally no easy task to get Lucas to laugh along with you and show everyone the real Lucas that was often hidden beneath a hardened outer shell. Ben seemed to do it exceptionally well despite it occasionally being at inopportune times.
Shep couldn't help but notice how quiet the Captain had been since they brought Lucas back to his room.
Ben seemed to display his worry and concern through frustration and much more vocal outbursts.
Bridger did exactly the opposite. He went incredibly quiet and seemed to withdraw into himself and a period of deep thought. Although they were not blood related, Shep couldn't help but see some similar traits in Lucas.
"I think all we can do is wait now," Kristen said as she stood away from the bed but still observed from a distance.
"Is he going to be alright?" Bridger said asking the obvious question.
"Well his body temperature is steadily beginning to rise which is a good sign," Kristen now informed Bridger and Shep.
"He is still shivering," Bridger said, explaining the slight trembling he could feel from the teenager's body as he held onto Lucas's hand.
"Yes and considering the coldness of that freezer, I expect that to keep up for a few more hours at least," Kristen stated.
"Do you need somebody to stay with him tonight?" Bridger asked. "Do you know of any volunteers that might be up for the job," Kristen responded, poking partially in fun.
"The Captain and I could do it in turns," Shep now interjected.
Kristen smiled at Shep for his offer to help. She had already guessed who the volunteers would be. She knew from previous experience that there would be no way of dragging Bridger away from Lucas's side tonight.
"So long as it is a team effort," she responded, trying to at least sound as if she had a say in the discussion.
"We will take good care of him," Shep announced.
There was still a couple of hours left before nightfall so Bridger suggested that Shep be left to keep an eye on Lucas. That way he could be reasonably certain that Shep wouldn't wear himself out by remaining awake all night and Bridger could still see to some of the final preparations for the evacuation of the depot. The Captain would also be able to catch up on a few hours of sleep before taking over from Shep.
Kristen would also be on hand to assess Lucas's condition throughout the night in case there were any sudden changes. She wanted to be on alert in case Lucas showed any signs of succumbing to any adverse symptoms from being so cold for such a prolonged period of time.
For the remainder of the afternoon, Lucas's condition remained for the most part unchanged.
Kristen had given strict instructions to both Shep and Bridger about gently trying to arouse Lucas from his deep sleep. The doctor knew that he slept because his muscles had been so drained of energy from the cold. But she needed to assure herself that the deep healing sleep was nothing more than that.
Lucas had regained consciousness about an hour after being wrapped in the warm blankets. While he seemed coherent at first, it was also clear to those around him that he was somewhat confused about what had happened.
Bridger had tried his best to answer the boy's vague questions when he asked them. Lucas's voice sounded quite hoarse initially and it was barely above a whisper.
Lucas's eyelids began drooping almost immediately again though and Kristen nodded her agreement in allowing him to go back to sleep. She seemed satisfied that it was the best course of medicine she could offer for the time being.
The doctor would need to keep a close eye on his breathing and chest over the nest couple of days. A chest infection could result if she wasn't diligent enough before it really got a chance to take hold.
There was very little other than that she could do for the time being. It was mostly up to Lucas's body to overcome any weakness that resulted from the cold.
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Up until about 11.00pm that night, Lucas seemed content enough to remain cocooned in his blankets to get over his ordeal.
Earlier in the night as he slept and Shep kept a watch, the other crew members had tried to find out how Lucas had been locked in the cold room.
The reality of what had happened to Lucas as a direct result of Woodcock's threat hit Shep hard as he watched over his friend. He wasn't prepared to put Lucas's life in any further danger by telling the other crew members what he knew about Woodcock's involvement.
Part of him knew that keeping what he knew as a secret was betraying the trust of the Captain and his crew. But the other part of his subconscious couldn't risk something more happening to Lucas.
As Shep looked on, Lucas turned onto his side, making himself more comfortable. Shep knew that sometime in the not so distant future he would have 2 reveal what he knew.
He was determined that he would talk to Lucas first though and between them they would find a way to overcome Woodcock's threats.
"Whatever we do Lucas, we will do it together," Shep said as he continued his late night vigil.
It was dead on the stroke of midnight when Bridger gently tapped on the door and then opened it and walked in.
He couldn't help but grin at the sight before him. It appeared that at some stage, young Shep had lost his battle with sleep and now was joined in slumber with Lucas. Shep was still sitting slumped in a chair beside the bed.
Bridger awoke Shep with a gentle shake of his shoulder. The dark-haired teenager seemed somewhat embarrassed that he had fallen asleep but the Captain assured him that it was okay.
"I can take over now for a few hours. You go and get some proper sleep in a bed because Lucas will be looking to talk to you when he wakes up in the morning," Bridger said, trying to remain positive for Shep's sake.
Something about Shep's demeanour since finding Lucas in the cold room told Bridger that the teenager had something else on his mind other than just worry. He knew from experience with Lucas that the more he pushed, the more Shep was likely to rebel against being questioned though.
"Okay but wake me if there is any change or you need me for anything," Shep said as he got up from the chair and retreated to his own bed. True to her word, Kristen had come in on several occasions to check on Lucas's temperature. She frowned a little when she felt a slight fever on one such visit. It wasn't too high and was most probably only his body's defences trying to get back to normal after being shocked by the cold.
She wasn't prepared to become too worried just yet and opted to keep most of the blankets still over Lucas's sleeping form.
Lucas seemed to notice the presence in his room and the touch of Kristen's hand on his forehead. As she finished checking him over, he opened his eyes and made a brief attempt at a wan smile.
"D-drink please," Lucas whispered, his voice sounding a little croaky and hoarse. Kristen complied with his request and brought a glass to his lips, allowing him to sip at the refreshing contents until he put his hand up signalling that he had his fill.
"How are you feeling?" Kristen asked, knowing that Lucas was probably more interested in going back to sleep than answering any questions about how he felt.
To her delight and surprise though the sleepy teenager managed to utter back an answer before drifting off into the land of nod again.
"Warm," was the mumbled response and it was said with a slight smile on his face.
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By early next morning Shep was much more alert after a good night's rest. He was surprised to see a hive of activity in the living room with most of the senior crew gathered for the last minute instructions on the evacuation that was being prepared for in about 16 hours.
Shep had informed Bridger about Lucas's assessment of most of the computer database being difficult and of very little value after leaving the depot.
Although Bridger was a little disappointed that the carefully planned mission was quickly becoming tattered at the seams, he also knew that there was no blame that could be attributed to any one person.
They seemed to have had problems of some sought from the minute they arrived. These problems rapidly gathered momentum and grew in number within just a few days.
Bridger certainly knew that Lucas and Shep had tried to save as much information as possible from the computer banks. But if the information was useless, then he knew that there was little point in continuing with that exercise.
Bridger looked a little tired first thing that morning as the crew left to carry out their various tasks. Kristen has noted the same but refrained from making any comment until the business end of things had been taken care of. "How is Lucas this morning?" Shep asked Kristen. He had wanted to go into the room when he first awoke this morning but had yet to do so.
"He is already asking to see you," Kristen said as she saw the relief clearly visible on Shep's face.
"Is he okay?" Shep asked before turning towards the room and going in.
"Well his temperature seems back to normal. His voice is still rather hoarse and croaky so I don't know if he is coming down with a bout of influenza or a more serious complaint. But other than that he seems remarkably in good spirits," Kristen replied.
"Does he know what happened yesterday?" Shep found himself asking.
"Some, but not all of it. We haven't gone into the reasons of why he was in there yet," Kristen said.
"I can talk to him if you like," Shep offered, seeing the unasked question in their facial expressions. "I will take it nice and slow at first," he added, trying to reassure them that he would not get Lucas all worked up about it so close to it happening.
Shep left the conversation at that point and now entered Lucas's room to see how his friend was doing for himself.
"Hey Shep," Lucas greeted his friend, in the voice that Kristen had mentioned.
"Hey yourself," Shep answered in return. "Are you okay?" he then asked, taking up a seat on the chair he had been using the night before.
"Yeah," Lucas replied, pulling the blankets up a little bit further on his chest. He was sitting up with his back against the wall the bed was on.
For the first time that either of them could remember, they both seemed to have trouble finding the right words to say to each other.
"Silly place to get myself locked into wasn't it? Lucas said poking fun at himself.
Shep didn't respond right away. He looked a little nervously and awkwardly around the room, avoiding the one topic he didn't want to talk about with Lucas but knew he had no choice to.
"Um Lucas.... there is something I need to tell you," Shep began, tumbling over the words as he went.
"You know me and you have never had secrets from one another up until now," Shep said, beginning the conversation from a different angle.
"And I don't want us to start now," Shep quickly added before Lucas could draw an inference from such as statement. "You look kinda tense Shep," Lucas now said honestly. Truth be known Shep was more serious than he had ever seen him. He didn't quite know how to take it or what Shep was trying and finding so hard to say.
Shep now forced himself to take a deep breath. He wasn't going to beat about the bush any more....
"Lucas what happened to you yesterday in the cold room was no accident," Shep said with barely a pause between any of the syllables.
"I knew Ben would get me back somehow, guess he really did huh?" Lucas said with a false laugh. He was only hoping that Shep was trying to tell him that it had been a practical joke gone wrong.
"Oh please don't think that Lucas and don't say anything to Ben because he already feels bad enough for both of you," Shep said.
"It wasn't?" was all Lucas could find the courage to say in return.
"I don't have any proof at this stage Lucas but I think Woodcock was somehow involved," Shep said and found a lump forming in his throat at such an open handed accusation against their former teacher.
To his surprise though Lucas now held a thinking expression on his face instead of one of fear or anger.
"Makes sense you know," Lucas commented casually with his mind still thinking away.
"What does?" Shep asked, hardly believing that Lucas could remain so calm after what he had just been told.
"Well I have been doing a little bit of delving into the source of the sabotage on the computer systems that I showed you. I came to the conclusion that the only benefit of doing something like that would be financial profit and the discrediting of others who worked here at the time it was happening," Lucas explained, letting Shep know what he was going to show him anyway before being locked in the cold room.
Lucas was about to continue his explanation to Shep about what he thought had been going on at the depot for some considerable time. He stopped in mid-sentence as a small slip of paper was seen to be shoved under the room door.
They were not aware that Bridger and Kristen had departed the quarters just a few minutes earlier to get some breakfast. Somebody else had noted their departure though and took the opportunity to put the next part of his plan into motion.
Shep looked a little nervously at Lucas before getting off the chair and picking up the note. He was in time to hear the distinct sound of footsteps walking away. Whoever had delivered the message had been bold enough to stick around to make sure that he and Lucas knew it was there before leaving again. "What does it say?" Lucas asked as he watched Shep unfold the small piece of paper and read the contents to himself. Lucas felt a pang of fear hit him as Shep's face became slightly paler as he read the words written.
"I-it s-says," Shep began, hardly knowing how to read aloud the words he saw. "It says that if we want to live, we are to being any and all of our notes and computer disks to the computer room within an hour."
"Is that all it says," Lucas asked not really thinking about the words.
"All it says," Shep scoffed, hardly able to think that what they had read was already enough to scare them.
"Does it say who it is from?", but Lucas already knew the answer to that question. They had just been talking about the man before the note had been slipped under the door. Clearly he had been paying more attention to what Lucas and Shep were doing than the boys thought.
Lucas felt incredibly guilty because although he knew the identity of the saboteur and had evidence to back up his claims. For the most part he had acted alone, only showing Shep initially when the backup looked strange and just now as they discussed the threat upon Lucas by locking him in the cold room.
"What are we going to do Lucas?" Shep asked.
"Well I don't know what you think, but despite that note, I think we need to expose him for the fraudster that he is and let everybody else see what he has been up to all this time, including the authorities. That way he won't be able to relocate to another depot like this after we leave and start all over again," Lucas replied.
When Lucas looked at Shep's face, he could see a conflict waging within his friend. Somehow he knew that Shep felt threatened by this man, even more so than himself. But why he asked himself silently until the answer hit him.
"What did he say to you?" Lucas now asked Shep directly. There was only one explanation as to why Shep felt so threatened and that had to be that Woodcock had actually done so to his friend without anybody else knowing.
"H-how, no he didn't," Shep began to say but knew that he had already gave away the truth and not wanting to lie to Lucas anymore.
"What did he say?" Lucas still wanted to know, not blaming his friend, but determined that Woodcock wasn't going to get away with standing over Shep and letting the boy feel that he couldn't tell anybody else about the threats.
"The other day after the meeting," Shep said, lowering his head as well as his voice in shame that he hadn't been totally honest with Lucas from the start. "I still don't think we should go against him though," he added, trying to get around coming right out and repeating the threats the teacher had made about Lucas.
"What is he holding over you to say that Shep?" Lucas now wanted to know. "You have always said that people who do wrong should get what is coming to them. What did he threaten to do to you if you told somebody. If you didn't come to me as a friend, you could have gone to the Captain or Kristen. Anyone of the crew would have listened to you Shep."
"I couldn't go to the Captain or anybody else for that matter Lucas, because if I did....." Shep said, leaving the sentence unfinished.
"If you did what?" Lucas said and also stopped mid-sentence as he looked at his friend and the real reason for his friend's secret struck him.
As if to confirm what Lucas already thought Shep answered the question "You. Woodcock told me that things could happen to people who didn't keep their noses out of other people's business."
"And he said that something would happen to me if you said something to anybody else about the threats," Lucas now said, trying to work out the full extent of what Woodcock said.
"But it did happen Lucas, don't you understand," Shep said, his eyes welling up at the guilt that had suddenly returned with force that he had not had the guts enough to prevent Lucas being the target. "He said that and then you went missing. We looked everywhere for you. I was going out of my mind with panic because I knew he had done something but I still couldn't tell anybody."
"I still say we have to bring him out in the open to let others see him for the creep he is," Lucas said, a little scared about what might happen if they challenged Woodcock again but determined not ignore what he had been doing illegally. It seemed that Woodcock had changed from the cynical and bitter teacher that they had come to know in college and crossed the line to add criminal activity and bully to his list of character references.
"You still want to do that even after all that has happened?" Shep asked, unable to hide the scepticism that he clearly felt.
"I still want to do that," Lucas said in a determined voice and put his hand on Shep's shoulder to strength the bond of friendship that they held. "Are you with me?" he asked. He would think no less of his friend if he still didn't want any part of it.
Shep however, was willing to back Lucas 100% of the way with whatever plan they could come up with for nailing Woodcock. A great burden had been lifted from his shoulders as a result of his admission of the threats and what he knew. They would solve this problem together.
A few minutes later, despite Kristen's advice that Lucas was to remain resting in bed for as long as possible until they were almost ready to leave the depot, the two teenage boys were putting their plan together for when they met with Woodcock.
Lucas had explained to Shep that the only way to get people to understand what had been happening was to get Woodcock to make a confession of his actions or at least admit to his involvement in the tampering of computer records for his own benefit.
Shep had raised the idea of just showing somebody like the Captain and Kristen the computer disks that Lucas had already made and avoid the possibility of a conflict altogether.
Lucas said that he didn't really have a lot of information stored yet to point the finger at Woodcock. He had only been part of the way through recording the data that would incriminate the former teacher. Plus the data that was being recorded would not look as though it had been altered to the untrained eye. It had taken somebody with Lucas's considerable talent and skill to pick it up in the first place. Another reason why they had to try and exact an admission from Woodcock.
Lucas had quickly wired together a small recording device which he then taped securely and invisibly underneath his clothing. Woodcock shouldn't be able to pick up that his every word was being secretly recorded for later examination and production to the authorities about his illegal activities. Lucas and Shep planned to hand over what appeared to be the computer disks he had made to date. In actual fact they were only substitutions that held no information at all.
They both knew they were taking a large risk in exposing Woodcock in this manner, but they also knew that there would be no conclusive evidence of the man being responsible to any wrong doing unless he actually admitted to it.
As a precaution to what might unfold, Lucas quickly scribbled a note and left it in plain view on a table in the front room. It was very basic and to the point:
NEED HELP - COME TO THE COMPUTER ROOM - HURRY
The hour time limit was almost up when Shep was seen to peak his head outside the door of their living quarters and see if the coast was clear along the corridor. They didn't need Captain Bridger or Kristen or indeed any other member of the SeaQuest crew coming along and asking awkward questions about what they were doing.
Lucas was supposed to be in bed resting and everyone knew that. Kristen would be very hard to convince that what they were doing was important enough for him to be out of bed when she had said otherwise. He just had to hope that everything went smoothly and according to plan and then if absolutely necessary he could add a touch of acting like he was suffering again.
The Kristen was a woman and most of them were suckers for people they cared about feeling sick or injured. Lord knows that she had fussed over Lucas enough when he had been genuinely sick or hurt. He just had to add a few more groans to his voice when they got back to the room and she would be too worried about him to be cross at him for being out of bed. That was his theory for now anyway.
Lucas was a little bit more lethargic than he would have like to admit today but somehow he and Shep managed to make it undetected from their room all the way towards the computer room.
Just before they entered the hallway, Lucas make a final check of his equipment to make sure it was working correctly. They would not be able to adjust anything once the transfer was underway. Shep was carrying the blank computer disks and a few pages of hand-written noted Lucas had scrawled.
Both of them were unaware of what Woodcock had been contemplating for most of the night and morning. He too was afforded little sleep after he saw the SeaQuest crew rescuing Lucas from the cold room. He knew that the crew would be leaving the depot the next day and that he couldn't afford for the two teenagers to have copies of any of the data that they had recorded. He had worked too hard to try and conceal his true activities up until now for these two upstarts to come back and cause him to caught out.
Woodcock had told himself that all he needed to do was get hold of all the material the two boys had in relation to the computer banks for the depot. He knew that Lucas was the more knowledgeable of the two and he had been the one to discover what had been going on in the first place. That is why he had been the main target in the first place. The teacher had hoped that the cold room would be enough to put a stop to their meddling in his affairs.
When it became clear that the boy was still alive, and for the most part unharmed, that he would need to take a stronger hand into the matter. He thought he had done well enough to scare the Shepherd boy with the threats but he still couldn't be certain that the Wolenczak kid would remain silent.
When he arrived at the computer room that morning ready to exchange the computer disks as he instructed, he had convinced himself that he was also ready to take a step across the line of what was right and if necessary prevent the boys from ever revealing anything about the information they had knowledge of.
Whilst Lucas had a recording device concealed underneath his clothes, Woodcock on the other hand also concealed something from the two teenagers. His secret was of a much more deadly intent in the form of a hand held pistol.
********************************************************
About the same time that Lucas and Shep were standing in the same room as their former teacher Woodcock, Bridger and Kristen were only just discovering about their disappearance from the suite.
Kristen went straight into Lucas's room, expecting that the teenager would at least be where she told him to be.
"Nathan they are not here," she said, a little demanding in her voice about why the two boys would openly defy an instruction about the importance of Lucas resting.
Her temper quickly dissipated though when she saw Bridger pick up a note he had found laying on the table. Neither of them had seen it when they first walked into the room.
Bridger looked at the brief words scrawled on the piece of paper and then held it up for Kristen to read.
"Come on," Bridger said as he exited the room and headed down the corridor. He wasn't running but walking very quickly, all sorts of ideas running through his head about why Lucas would write such a message.
Just as they rounded the final hallway towards the computer room, they could hear an argument coming from down the far end. They couldn't have missed it and neither could anybody else that was in the nearby vicinity. Voices were clearly very loud and in a very threatening tone.
Bridger could hear Lucas's voice as well as that of Shep's but they were being drowned out by another deeper angry male voice.
Before Bridger and Kristen could take another step forward, all of the shouting seemed to stop dramatically. A few seconds later they both felt the blood drain from their faces as they heard the distinct sound of two gun shots being fired.
Then there was nothing but deafening silence........
TO BE CONTINUED........
Yeah I know, you all hate me and you are going to hate me even more in the next chapter. Some of you might have worked out what is going to happen, others may not. The next chapter won't be as long but should pack a definite punch.
Sorry so long to update - I don't know if this is even going to upload properly - having major computer problems and might be the end of next week before they are fixed and you finally get to see the end and conclusion of this story.
Almost there.
JULES
Bridger and Shep now walked into the room where Lucas had been working on the mainframe computer. Still no Lucas to be seen. Whilst Bridger had been a little more casual about the teenager's sudden disappearance, Shep had run all the way from their living quarters to here, trying to wrack his brain about what might have happened to his friend.
"Why isn't he here, where the hell can he be?" Shep now said in a strained voice. He was trying hard to disguise the worry he had about Lucas but was failing miserably. The words of threat that Woodcock had uttered only a few hours ago now seemed to shout back at him in side his head. He cursed himself for not having the guts to tell Captain Bridger about what the teacher had said or threatened to do.
It seemed that Woodcock had carried out those threats too. What had he done to Lucas in such a short space of time?
"I am sure he is around Shep," Bridger said, his own uneasiness starting to grow as he started to follow the younger man's lead. He didn't have any idea about Woodcock's possible involvement in all of this, but neither did he have a plausible explanation for Lucas absence.
"You don't understand but Captain, he was just here only a few minutes ago and now he is gone. I can't find him anywhere," Shep replied trying to demonstrate the urgency of finding his friend without divulging anything about what Woodcock had said.
"Okay, so if he was only here a few minutes ago, where could he go?" Bridger said calmly, trying to take control of the situation and get Shep to rationalise his thoughts and actions a little more. Being hysterical at a moment like this wasn't going to help anybody at all, least of all Lucas.
"Nobody else has seen him either Captain, I already checked with some other workers," Shep now informed Bridger.
"Let's go and talk to the rest of the crew for a few minutes and ask if any of them have seen Lucas in the last few minutes," Bridger said but could see the strain of frustration about time wasting, clearly evident on the boy's face.
"If they haven't then we will split up into a couple of search groups and organise a proper search in case he got lost wandering around the depot on his own. This is a very large facility and it could be easy enough to get confused down any maze of these inner corridors," Bridger continued.
Reluctantly, Shep did as Bridger suggested and followed him to find the other crew members. Most of them were split into smaller groups of two or three. After a few minutes they had all gathered together back at their quarters to discuss organizing a search for the still missing Lucas.
The other crew members were slightly concerned that the teenager couldn't be located anywhere within the depot. They were all a little puzzled at Shep's outward display though and just how worried Lucas's friend appeared to be about the whole thing. They couldn't help but wonder if there was something he wasn't letting them in on.
Bridger too had thought the very same thing, but for now they had to concentrate on finding Lucas. If he truly was missing like Shep said, maybe there was a totally reasonable explanation for his disappearance.
Bridger and Commander Ford took control of the search party and split people into groups of two or three. They had a lot of ground to cover through the maze of corridors of the depot.
Shep joined the group of Bridger, Kristen and Ben. He wasn't too keen on going off with any of the other crew members. All he was worried about was finding Lucas as quickly as possible. He wished there was some way of squeezing the information out of Woodcock without risking his friend's life any further.
After all the other groups had organized which areas each of them would search, Bridger decided to get as much information from Shep as possible so that they could find the missing teenager.
Shep was in a rush to get things started but Bridger held him firmly but gently by his shoulders, "We have to go about this the right way or we will just end up chasing our tails and getting nowhere and not helping Lucas at all."
Shep nodded his head in agreement. He knew what the Captain was trying to tell him was the best way to solve the problem was to have a plan.
"When was the last time you saw him?" Bridger asked, hoping it was a starting point.
"Right after the meeting with Admiral Noyce here," Shep said as he tried to think back so they had something to go on. "I stayed here to talk to you. Lucas said he wanted to keep going and get something to eat. He said he wanted to show me something important. He seemed a little edgy that about whatever it was.
"I think we are jumping to conclusions here," Bridger said seeing that Shep was letting his emotions get the better of him. "After you finished talking to me where did you go next?"
"I went to the main frame room thinking Lucas would have grabbed a snack by now and be already back at it," Shep Explained.
"Is there any where else you can think of that he might have gone before you got there? Maybe he thought of something else he had to do but just didn't tell you," Bridger now said trying to think of another plausible reason.
"No you don't understand. He just wouldn't go anywhere like this and not tell me. Something is wrong I can feel it and we have to find him now, Shep said, now on the verge of shouting. How could he make the Captain see that this was more serious than he could possibly tell?
*********************************************************************
While Bridger and the Commander Ford worried about splitting people into groups for a search party, Lucas was dealing with matters of his own.
It had now been well over an hour since the door had been closed and locked behind Lucas, leaving him alone in his cold prison cell. And a prison cell was the only way to describe his surroundings at the moment.
The room was still pitch black from no light. At first Lucas had tried several times to get the door to release, despite the freezing conditions within. Another few occasions he had even tried breaking the lock on the door to get it open. His efforts turned out to be in vain though and all he got in return was a bruised shoulder and a soggy shirt.
For the first ten minutes or so Lucas had really believed himself to be on the receiving end of a late attempt at a practical joke from Ben Krieg. As the time wore on though and the room he was in became colder and his situation a little more serious, be knew that his friend would never have carried such a joke this far.
Lucas was still in no position to help himself though because of the lack of lighting in the room. He assumed that he must be locked away in some sort of cold room or freezer. There were icicles forming on the ends of his hair and he needed to continuously rub his bicep muscles and thighs to regain some of the heat and mobility he had already lost.
He knew that if he didn't find a way out of his predicament or someone didn't come to help get him out real soon then things would get even more peril.
"Boy it's really getting cold in here," he said to himself as the temperature seemed to plummet again and he shivered in response.
It was no secret aboard the SeaQuest that Lucas hated the cold. He was normally more grumpier than normal and the fact that he had to wrap himself up in two or three layers just to cope with such a miserable season only made him determined to hate winter more.
"Come on Wolenczak you have to help yourself here," Lucas chastised himself. As much as he hated the idea, he now walked carefully around the perimeter of the room, or as much as he could feel. Looking for the elusive light switch.
He thought it would have sensibly been put beside the doorway but even trying to navigate his way back to that position proved more of a task than Lucas first thought. He tripped over an unseen obstacle and swore loudly at the stinging sensation he felt in his leg as a result.
After what seemed like an incredibly long time and another obstacle, Lucas finally found what he sought and his shivering and trembling fingertips reached the light switch.
The room was not illuminated by a dull shade of yellow. The light bulb seemed to be objecting to the drop in temperature as well and was only giving off a certain portion of its light in protest.
From what light was offered, Lucas could now see that his assumptions had been right about his surroundings. He was indeed in some sort of cold room or freezer. There were cardboard cartons of frozen produce, some opened, some still sealed. The back shelves seemed relatively empty at the moment but that stood to reason as the depot was being prepared for demolition.
Lucas was now shivering violently and it didn't seem to make of a difference how much he rubbed at his limbs to try and get his blood circulating and keep himself warm. He was only clad in a pair of normal jeans and a fairly thinly made t-shirt with elbow length sleeves.
Lucas now started to walk around the room a little bit more to try and keep his muscles moving. He knew that he couldn't afford to stop for any extended length of time before he would succumb to the cold conditions.
Periodically he brought his hands together around his mouth and blew into them, trying to use his breath to try and keep his fingers moving. The thin layers of clothes he wore were no barrier against the cold conditions and he was starting to feel lethargic and sleepy at times.
At some point during his pacing around the room he found an old piece of Hessian bag. Like the ones that were often used for carrying large quantities of vegetables such as potatoes. He didn't know it was there but he tried in vain to use its material value to try and add warm to his body. It proved to be of little benefit though as the rough fibres were tattered in many places and frozen in others.
Lucas found that his leg muscles were now protesting about his constant movement efforts. The cold was seeping in to every nerve ending in his thin frame. His legs were becoming increasingly stiff and ached from the cold. After another ten minutes with no sign of help he now sat down by the door, huddling his legs and knees close to his chest in an effort to conserve as much body heat as possible.
Bridger and the search parties were trying there best to think of places were Lucas might be or have wandered off to and got himself confused and lost. It was becoming more and more apparent that Lucas had not just gone into another area of the depot.
Commander Ford and Ben Krieg had been searching a different part of the computer areas, but now found themselves meeting up again with the Captain's search party empty handed.
"Any luck yet Commander?" Bridger asked in a hopeful voice.
"No dice Captain Sir, not a sign of Lucas anywhere. We are running out of places to keep looking," he added, trying not to sound negative. Ford knew that Ben Krieg was as worried as much as Shep was. Ben had been unusually quiet and subdued whilst they conducted the search. Not something that was the norm with the morale officer.
"So what do we do now?" Kristen asked as he tried to put a reassuring hand on Shep's shoulder. The dark haired teenager was becoming more and more worried about Lucas as the minutes ticked by.
Back in the cold room, Lucas was barely able to keep himself awake now. The cold was taking an unmistakable toll. He knew that he had to try and let others know where he was. But how? The cold room itself would probably be constructed of an aluminium like alloy and be hard to penetrate with just his own voice.
Whilst Lucas was trying desperately of how to get himself out, a few more strands of his freezing hair fell into his eyes. He didn't have the energy enough to lift his head up properly and compromised with raising his eyes at the limp, wet locks as they fell over his forehead and into his eyes.
Suddenly his attention was draw to something further above him. He was looking upwards and now deliberately lifted his head, partially getting up from the floor with an idea in mind. His muscles ached in protest but he ignore it for the time being as a surge of adrenalin rushed through his system.
Just above head height was a series of metal pipes. They looked as though they ran the width of the cold room itself and continue on somewhere outside the room. Being made of metal, even if they contained frozen substances, any sound made on them should create a loud enough sound to travel down the length of the pipes and possibly out to someone to hear where the noise was coming from.
Lucas now looked quickly around the room to find something that would be heavy enough for his purpose. At first there seemed to be nothing of consequence that could be used. He was about to shout out in frustration when he spotted a red handle resting on one of the shelves right at the back.
He reached out with his hand and when he picked up the handle, found it belonging to a wrench. Probably used in the past to fix the pipes he intended to strike with it.
Lucas knew that he had to try and attract someone's attention as quickly as possible. He tested out his theory about the noise travelling along the pipes and was rewarded by the tinkle sound that the wrench made against the metal of the pipe. With renewed vigour he now struck the pipe continuously hoping that it wouldn't take too long to find him or the source of the noise.
Bridger and the SeaQuest crew were now all together, trying to come up with another strategy in searching for the still missing Lucas. Bridger was asking the other crew members if they had any other suggestions to add when Mr Biggs came bustling along the corridors, apparently looking as though he was in great haste.
"Captain, I must put forward my strongest opposition to this intolerable noise you are creating," Biggs said in his best official sounding voice.
"What intolerable noise Mr Biggs. We are not making any undue noise and at the moment have a missing teenager to find that is more important," Bridger said in an annoyed voice at the timid man before him. "Mr Woodcock protests strongly about the infernal tapping sound that has been echoing through some of the corridors for the past ten minutes or so," Biggs now said, sounding a little dubious that the Captain didn't know what noise he meant.
"Mr Biggs, you can go back and tell your Mr Woodcock that I really don't give a .....," Bridger started to say but pulled up in mid sentence. "When did you say this noise started?"
"About ten minutes ago and it hasn't stopped since," Biggs replied indignantly.
"What does it sound like?" Bridger now said with a little anticipation in his expression.
"Come and I will show you," Biggs suggested, not really sure why he was showing these people when they were clearly responsible, or so he had been informed by Woodcock.
The teacher and his assistant were unaware of Lucas's attempts to signal someone for help. Woodcock had assumed that the cold room would have been relatively sound proof from the surrounding areas of the depot.
The crew proceeded to follow Biggs as quickly as possible to the area that the noise could clearly be heard. They now all cocked their ears towards the sound, trying to work out what was making it and where is was coming from.
"Sounds like something metal," Commander Ford replied after a few seconds of uninterrupted hearing.
"I think your right Jonathan," Bridger agreed. "Mr Biggs my crew and I are not responsible for this noise but we have a missing crew member, Lucas and it is possible that he is lost in this maze of corridors somewhere. Just maybe he has found a way to try and let us know where to try and find him."
"Oh you mean the other young fellow," Biggs replied, looking directly at Shep. He hadn't really given the teenager's much though since the heated meeting between the two youths and his boss Mr Woodcock.
"Yes, Lucas has been missing for well over and hour and we have been looking everywhere to try and find him," Bridger informed him.
"It is possible to try and locate where the sound is coming from. It might be coming from behind a wall or something," Ford now suggested, thinking that Lucas had merely been caught up in the maze of endless corridors. Like a niche.
"Let's find out," Kristen now said as she led the way with Shep following close behind her. They weren't waiting around for any more chit chat until they found Lucas.
At first they had headed in the wrong direction. They could hear the tapping still, but as they went in one direction, the noise seemed to fade somewhat. They paused briefly as took more steps the other way, then hearing the noise becoming a little clearer and more defined.
Back in the cold room, Lucas was growing incredibly tired again. The endless tapping with his arm slightly raised above his head became monotonous to the point where he could barely hold his arm over his head any further. He found himself pausing from time to time and the breaks in between were becoming more frequent and longer each time.
"It's getting closer," Ben Krieg said with a positive attitude as he now took over the lead of the group in search of the tapping source. He was sure that it was Lucas doing the tapping, telling them where he was. He just hoped that he was alright when they finally found him.
Bridger and the searchers now came across the unused galley that they had been shown when they first arrived. The sound had been followed all the way to this very area. The sound itself had become fainter and fainter until stopping altogether just a few short seconds ago.
Bridger saw the cold room door and felt a pang of fear run through him at the thought that this was where Lucas was trapped inside. He put his hand on the handle and could already feel the coldness that was coming within.
"Lucas?" Bridger now shouted at the door. The others now joined him at the door, hoping that the Captain was not right about Lucas being inside. "Lucas are you in there, can you hear me?"
There was no response to his calls. He tried pulling on the handle a few times but knew that it would take a lot more force to open the door completely.
"Get something to get this door open now," Bridger shouted at Biggs in a tone that didn't want excuses or explanations but quick and decisive action.
"Right away," Biggs now said as he scurried away to find something as he was told. He had no idea of what his boss had done to Lucas and was not of a cold- hearted nature to see such a fate inflicted upon anybody, accidentally or otherwise.
"Give me a hand here," Bridger now instructed Ben and Commander Ford. He wasn't about to rely on the likes of Biggs to come to Lucas's rescue if he was indeed inside like they thought he might be.
Ben and Shep had continued attempting to call out Lucas's name, hoping for a response. They too were disappointed when their calls went unanswered.
"Katie you and I need to prepare some blankets and other essential items. If Lucas is inside that freezer, we have no idea about what condition he might be in when we finally get that door open," Kristen said.
The only confirmation that Ben and the others got that Lucas might be trapped inside the cold room was the resounding tapping that they had been hearing for the past few minutes. They were not as consistent as earlier and were much softer than before.
Just as Kristen and Kate went back the way they had come to gather what they thought would be needed, Biggs returned with a heavy looking tool box and two long handled levers. He didn't know what would be needed and could not find too many other people about to help due to the moving of the depot's residents.
"Got what I could find, I hope it is enough," Biggs offered as he handed Bridger and Commander Ford each one of the levers.
Ben you and Shep try and see if there are screwdrivers or something to get the door hinges off. Jonathan and I will use these to try and jar the door open if that doesn't work. We will probably have to work in tandem rather than all together.
Inside the freezer, Lucas was now sitting slumped against the wall as he had been earlier. His leg muscles no longer held the strength to hold him up and his arm could no longer be raised high enough to tap the wrench against the pipes. The wrench lay discarded a short distance from him on the floor.
All he could do was hope that the noise he made was enough to alert someone to his whereabouts. At one point he thought he heard voices outside the door, but he told himself that the room was too thick to allow any voice to be heard and it might be a while yet before someone came to his rescue.
As these thoughts entered his head, Lucas's energy levels dropped dramatically and he found himself almost laying on the cold, hard concrete floor. He could no longer fight off the cold or the overwhelming need to close his eyes and sleep. He was unconscious by the time his face touched the cold cement floor.
Bridger and the others were steadily making process on opening the door as Lucas found himself falling asleep.
They were all too wrapped up in their task at hand to see the shadowy figure of Woodcock sneak passed what was happening. He could see their attempts to open the door and released the teenager. There was no telling whether or not the boy was still alive but given the vigour with which they were attacking the door, they all obviously thought he was.
When he had locked the door, he had used a large metal frying pan to disable the locking mechanism. It would make any attempts to open the door that much more difficult and delay their response time in helping the teenager inside.
The time was probably too short for his desired result. He would just have to make sure he didn't fail next time he told himself as he withdrew himself from view before someone could spot him.
"Alllmosttttt...." Commander Ford uttered through clenched teeth as he leaned even harder on the lever to try and release the door. Their progress had been tediously slow and everyone was on edge about getting it open quicker.
Without warning, the door's lock finally gave into the force being placed on it. Commander Ford had not been prepared for the kick back from the lever and now nursed a probably bruised hand as a result of his slow reaction time.
He didn't have time to think much about him though as Bridger and Kristen, followed by Shep pushed passed him to get inside the cold room.
Their hearts seized with fear as they came upon the site they were hoping not to find: Lucas laying inside the cold room. He was still unconscious and the cold had taken all of the colour from his face.
"Katie, the blankets quickly," Kristen signalled as she took them from her and began placing two of them directly over Lucas. She wanted him out of here as quickly as possible but had to assess that he was okay to be moved first.
As the warm of the blankets began to fight of the coldness of his body, Lucas now began shivering uncontrollably. His limbs were trembling from the cold as Bridger took his hand and tried softly calling his name, hoping for a response.
"Is he alright?" Shep asked in a voice that clearly showed the worry he held for his friend.
"He should be," Kristen said, trying to give Shep some reassurance. "He is just incredibly cold after being in here for who knows how long. We just have to get him warmed up, both on the outside and the inside," she added.
Lucas remained unresponsive during the entire brief examination by Kristen. "Okay I think we can safely move him," she announced, signalling for Ben and Bridger to lift him between them and carry him back to their quarters where she would assess his condition more accurately.
Whilst the SeaQuest crew were doing that, Biggs was trying to find a way to shut the cold room down. His efforts were more like putting the cart before the horse had bolted, but his concern seemed genuine enough to those around him so they didn't tell him that it was a waste of time.
Kristen informed Biggs that the SeaQuest would be able to adequately see to Lucas's medical needs for the remainder of their stay. There was less than two days remaining before they would all be leaving anyway. Biggs seemed satisfied with this arrangement and promised to check up on Lucas's condition later on and left to continue his other duties aboard the depot.
When everyone arrived back at the rooms, Kristen instructed Lucas to be taken into the room that he and Shep were sharing. She allowed Bridger, Ben and Shep to stay during the examination but everyone else waited out in the living room for news about how Lucas was doing. Lucas was still shivering violently as she attempted to place more warm blankets over his body. She could see the icicles forming on the boy's hair and gave Bridger a heated towel, instructing him to dry Lucas's hair as much as possible to prevent him becoming even more chilled than he already was.
"Told him he should have cut his hair," Bridger joked as he used the towel.
Shep and Ben gave the Captain half a smile but were too concerned with their friend's lack of response to reply.
By now Kristen had a thermometer in Lucas's mouth to see just how cold his body temperature was whilst she assessed the rest of his body for further possible injuries. She had Ben assist her in stripping of Lucas's damp clothes and replace them with warmer, much drier ones.
"How did he get locked in such a place in the first place is what I want to know?" Bridger asked to no-one in particular. At this point in time he had no indication that what had happened was more than an accident. His brain was ticking over about the cause of that accident, but he had no idea about Woodcock's involvement.
Shep on the other hand, kept a stoic look on his face the whole time Kristen was examining Lucas and attempting to get him warm again. He could think of nobody else but Woodcock and how the man had promised to hurt Lucas only a few hours earlier.
How could he tell Bridger and Kristen what was going on without putting Lucas's life at further risk until they left the depot. Would Lucas know that it was an accident or something more sinister.
Shep's second thought seemed to be answered temporarily as Lucas began turning his head from side to side on the pillow, signalling that he was regaining consciousness. He was muttering in his sleep, caught up in what he thought was a dream.
"Ben.....Ben..let me out," Lucas now said in a hoarse voice.
Bridger and Kristen looked at the young Lieutenant at the mention of his name. They already knew that there was no way Ben would have had anything to do with the cold room door being locked and damaged the way it was.
"It's cold in here..... please let me out," Lucas mumbled again as he relived the time he was in the cold room. "Ben let me out," he said again and then seemed to relax back into a deeper sleep. The moving about and words stopped.
Ben couldn't have felt worse if he tried. He knew that what happened wasn't his fault. He knew that the crew would tell him exactly that. But somehow Lucas had come to the belief that his being locked in the cold room was part of Ben's pay back practical joke.
"He doesn't realise what he is saying Ben," Kristen said as she continued to fuss over the sleeping teenager.
"I swear I will never play another practical joke as long as I live," Ben muttered and then excused himself to join the rest of the crew outside in the living room. All of a sudden it felt very crowded in the room.
"I hope he understands that this wasn't his fault," Shep said as he watched Krieg leave. Although he was carrying around a great deal of guilt on his own, he knew Krieg's ability to make them all laugh would be sorely missed if Ben kept true to his word.
Shep had to admit even though the Lieutenant's upbeat personality rubbed off onto most people he came into contact with. He had even been fortunate to see the same result in Lucas.
It was normally no easy task to get Lucas to laugh along with you and show everyone the real Lucas that was often hidden beneath a hardened outer shell. Ben seemed to do it exceptionally well despite it occasionally being at inopportune times.
Shep couldn't help but notice how quiet the Captain had been since they brought Lucas back to his room.
Ben seemed to display his worry and concern through frustration and much more vocal outbursts.
Bridger did exactly the opposite. He went incredibly quiet and seemed to withdraw into himself and a period of deep thought. Although they were not blood related, Shep couldn't help but see some similar traits in Lucas.
"I think all we can do is wait now," Kristen said as she stood away from the bed but still observed from a distance.
"Is he going to be alright?" Bridger said asking the obvious question.
"Well his body temperature is steadily beginning to rise which is a good sign," Kristen now informed Bridger and Shep.
"He is still shivering," Bridger said, explaining the slight trembling he could feel from the teenager's body as he held onto Lucas's hand.
"Yes and considering the coldness of that freezer, I expect that to keep up for a few more hours at least," Kristen stated.
"Do you need somebody to stay with him tonight?" Bridger asked. "Do you know of any volunteers that might be up for the job," Kristen responded, poking partially in fun.
"The Captain and I could do it in turns," Shep now interjected.
Kristen smiled at Shep for his offer to help. She had already guessed who the volunteers would be. She knew from previous experience that there would be no way of dragging Bridger away from Lucas's side tonight.
"So long as it is a team effort," she responded, trying to at least sound as if she had a say in the discussion.
"We will take good care of him," Shep announced.
There was still a couple of hours left before nightfall so Bridger suggested that Shep be left to keep an eye on Lucas. That way he could be reasonably certain that Shep wouldn't wear himself out by remaining awake all night and Bridger could still see to some of the final preparations for the evacuation of the depot. The Captain would also be able to catch up on a few hours of sleep before taking over from Shep.
Kristen would also be on hand to assess Lucas's condition throughout the night in case there were any sudden changes. She wanted to be on alert in case Lucas showed any signs of succumbing to any adverse symptoms from being so cold for such a prolonged period of time.
For the remainder of the afternoon, Lucas's condition remained for the most part unchanged.
Kristen had given strict instructions to both Shep and Bridger about gently trying to arouse Lucas from his deep sleep. The doctor knew that he slept because his muscles had been so drained of energy from the cold. But she needed to assure herself that the deep healing sleep was nothing more than that.
Lucas had regained consciousness about an hour after being wrapped in the warm blankets. While he seemed coherent at first, it was also clear to those around him that he was somewhat confused about what had happened.
Bridger had tried his best to answer the boy's vague questions when he asked them. Lucas's voice sounded quite hoarse initially and it was barely above a whisper.
Lucas's eyelids began drooping almost immediately again though and Kristen nodded her agreement in allowing him to go back to sleep. She seemed satisfied that it was the best course of medicine she could offer for the time being.
The doctor would need to keep a close eye on his breathing and chest over the nest couple of days. A chest infection could result if she wasn't diligent enough before it really got a chance to take hold.
There was very little other than that she could do for the time being. It was mostly up to Lucas's body to overcome any weakness that resulted from the cold.
***************************************************
Up until about 11.00pm that night, Lucas seemed content enough to remain cocooned in his blankets to get over his ordeal.
Earlier in the night as he slept and Shep kept a watch, the other crew members had tried to find out how Lucas had been locked in the cold room.
The reality of what had happened to Lucas as a direct result of Woodcock's threat hit Shep hard as he watched over his friend. He wasn't prepared to put Lucas's life in any further danger by telling the other crew members what he knew about Woodcock's involvement.
Part of him knew that keeping what he knew as a secret was betraying the trust of the Captain and his crew. But the other part of his subconscious couldn't risk something more happening to Lucas.
As Shep looked on, Lucas turned onto his side, making himself more comfortable. Shep knew that sometime in the not so distant future he would have 2 reveal what he knew.
He was determined that he would talk to Lucas first though and between them they would find a way to overcome Woodcock's threats.
"Whatever we do Lucas, we will do it together," Shep said as he continued his late night vigil.
It was dead on the stroke of midnight when Bridger gently tapped on the door and then opened it and walked in.
He couldn't help but grin at the sight before him. It appeared that at some stage, young Shep had lost his battle with sleep and now was joined in slumber with Lucas. Shep was still sitting slumped in a chair beside the bed.
Bridger awoke Shep with a gentle shake of his shoulder. The dark-haired teenager seemed somewhat embarrassed that he had fallen asleep but the Captain assured him that it was okay.
"I can take over now for a few hours. You go and get some proper sleep in a bed because Lucas will be looking to talk to you when he wakes up in the morning," Bridger said, trying to remain positive for Shep's sake.
Something about Shep's demeanour since finding Lucas in the cold room told Bridger that the teenager had something else on his mind other than just worry. He knew from experience with Lucas that the more he pushed, the more Shep was likely to rebel against being questioned though.
"Okay but wake me if there is any change or you need me for anything," Shep said as he got up from the chair and retreated to his own bed. True to her word, Kristen had come in on several occasions to check on Lucas's temperature. She frowned a little when she felt a slight fever on one such visit. It wasn't too high and was most probably only his body's defences trying to get back to normal after being shocked by the cold.
She wasn't prepared to become too worried just yet and opted to keep most of the blankets still over Lucas's sleeping form.
Lucas seemed to notice the presence in his room and the touch of Kristen's hand on his forehead. As she finished checking him over, he opened his eyes and made a brief attempt at a wan smile.
"D-drink please," Lucas whispered, his voice sounding a little croaky and hoarse. Kristen complied with his request and brought a glass to his lips, allowing him to sip at the refreshing contents until he put his hand up signalling that he had his fill.
"How are you feeling?" Kristen asked, knowing that Lucas was probably more interested in going back to sleep than answering any questions about how he felt.
To her delight and surprise though the sleepy teenager managed to utter back an answer before drifting off into the land of nod again.
"Warm," was the mumbled response and it was said with a slight smile on his face.
********************************************
By early next morning Shep was much more alert after a good night's rest. He was surprised to see a hive of activity in the living room with most of the senior crew gathered for the last minute instructions on the evacuation that was being prepared for in about 16 hours.
Shep had informed Bridger about Lucas's assessment of most of the computer database being difficult and of very little value after leaving the depot.
Although Bridger was a little disappointed that the carefully planned mission was quickly becoming tattered at the seams, he also knew that there was no blame that could be attributed to any one person.
They seemed to have had problems of some sought from the minute they arrived. These problems rapidly gathered momentum and grew in number within just a few days.
Bridger certainly knew that Lucas and Shep had tried to save as much information as possible from the computer banks. But if the information was useless, then he knew that there was little point in continuing with that exercise.
Bridger looked a little tired first thing that morning as the crew left to carry out their various tasks. Kristen has noted the same but refrained from making any comment until the business end of things had been taken care of. "How is Lucas this morning?" Shep asked Kristen. He had wanted to go into the room when he first awoke this morning but had yet to do so.
"He is already asking to see you," Kristen said as she saw the relief clearly visible on Shep's face.
"Is he okay?" Shep asked before turning towards the room and going in.
"Well his temperature seems back to normal. His voice is still rather hoarse and croaky so I don't know if he is coming down with a bout of influenza or a more serious complaint. But other than that he seems remarkably in good spirits," Kristen replied.
"Does he know what happened yesterday?" Shep found himself asking.
"Some, but not all of it. We haven't gone into the reasons of why he was in there yet," Kristen said.
"I can talk to him if you like," Shep offered, seeing the unasked question in their facial expressions. "I will take it nice and slow at first," he added, trying to reassure them that he would not get Lucas all worked up about it so close to it happening.
Shep left the conversation at that point and now entered Lucas's room to see how his friend was doing for himself.
"Hey Shep," Lucas greeted his friend, in the voice that Kristen had mentioned.
"Hey yourself," Shep answered in return. "Are you okay?" he then asked, taking up a seat on the chair he had been using the night before.
"Yeah," Lucas replied, pulling the blankets up a little bit further on his chest. He was sitting up with his back against the wall the bed was on.
For the first time that either of them could remember, they both seemed to have trouble finding the right words to say to each other.
"Silly place to get myself locked into wasn't it? Lucas said poking fun at himself.
Shep didn't respond right away. He looked a little nervously and awkwardly around the room, avoiding the one topic he didn't want to talk about with Lucas but knew he had no choice to.
"Um Lucas.... there is something I need to tell you," Shep began, tumbling over the words as he went.
"You know me and you have never had secrets from one another up until now," Shep said, beginning the conversation from a different angle.
"And I don't want us to start now," Shep quickly added before Lucas could draw an inference from such as statement. "You look kinda tense Shep," Lucas now said honestly. Truth be known Shep was more serious than he had ever seen him. He didn't quite know how to take it or what Shep was trying and finding so hard to say.
Shep now forced himself to take a deep breath. He wasn't going to beat about the bush any more....
"Lucas what happened to you yesterday in the cold room was no accident," Shep said with barely a pause between any of the syllables.
"I knew Ben would get me back somehow, guess he really did huh?" Lucas said with a false laugh. He was only hoping that Shep was trying to tell him that it had been a practical joke gone wrong.
"Oh please don't think that Lucas and don't say anything to Ben because he already feels bad enough for both of you," Shep said.
"It wasn't?" was all Lucas could find the courage to say in return.
"I don't have any proof at this stage Lucas but I think Woodcock was somehow involved," Shep said and found a lump forming in his throat at such an open handed accusation against their former teacher.
To his surprise though Lucas now held a thinking expression on his face instead of one of fear or anger.
"Makes sense you know," Lucas commented casually with his mind still thinking away.
"What does?" Shep asked, hardly believing that Lucas could remain so calm after what he had just been told.
"Well I have been doing a little bit of delving into the source of the sabotage on the computer systems that I showed you. I came to the conclusion that the only benefit of doing something like that would be financial profit and the discrediting of others who worked here at the time it was happening," Lucas explained, letting Shep know what he was going to show him anyway before being locked in the cold room.
Lucas was about to continue his explanation to Shep about what he thought had been going on at the depot for some considerable time. He stopped in mid-sentence as a small slip of paper was seen to be shoved under the room door.
They were not aware that Bridger and Kristen had departed the quarters just a few minutes earlier to get some breakfast. Somebody else had noted their departure though and took the opportunity to put the next part of his plan into motion.
Shep looked a little nervously at Lucas before getting off the chair and picking up the note. He was in time to hear the distinct sound of footsteps walking away. Whoever had delivered the message had been bold enough to stick around to make sure that he and Lucas knew it was there before leaving again. "What does it say?" Lucas asked as he watched Shep unfold the small piece of paper and read the contents to himself. Lucas felt a pang of fear hit him as Shep's face became slightly paler as he read the words written.
"I-it s-says," Shep began, hardly knowing how to read aloud the words he saw. "It says that if we want to live, we are to being any and all of our notes and computer disks to the computer room within an hour."
"Is that all it says," Lucas asked not really thinking about the words.
"All it says," Shep scoffed, hardly able to think that what they had read was already enough to scare them.
"Does it say who it is from?", but Lucas already knew the answer to that question. They had just been talking about the man before the note had been slipped under the door. Clearly he had been paying more attention to what Lucas and Shep were doing than the boys thought.
Lucas felt incredibly guilty because although he knew the identity of the saboteur and had evidence to back up his claims. For the most part he had acted alone, only showing Shep initially when the backup looked strange and just now as they discussed the threat upon Lucas by locking him in the cold room.
"What are we going to do Lucas?" Shep asked.
"Well I don't know what you think, but despite that note, I think we need to expose him for the fraudster that he is and let everybody else see what he has been up to all this time, including the authorities. That way he won't be able to relocate to another depot like this after we leave and start all over again," Lucas replied.
When Lucas looked at Shep's face, he could see a conflict waging within his friend. Somehow he knew that Shep felt threatened by this man, even more so than himself. But why he asked himself silently until the answer hit him.
"What did he say to you?" Lucas now asked Shep directly. There was only one explanation as to why Shep felt so threatened and that had to be that Woodcock had actually done so to his friend without anybody else knowing.
"H-how, no he didn't," Shep began to say but knew that he had already gave away the truth and not wanting to lie to Lucas anymore.
"What did he say?" Lucas still wanted to know, not blaming his friend, but determined that Woodcock wasn't going to get away with standing over Shep and letting the boy feel that he couldn't tell anybody else about the threats.
"The other day after the meeting," Shep said, lowering his head as well as his voice in shame that he hadn't been totally honest with Lucas from the start. "I still don't think we should go against him though," he added, trying to get around coming right out and repeating the threats the teacher had made about Lucas.
"What is he holding over you to say that Shep?" Lucas now wanted to know. "You have always said that people who do wrong should get what is coming to them. What did he threaten to do to you if you told somebody. If you didn't come to me as a friend, you could have gone to the Captain or Kristen. Anyone of the crew would have listened to you Shep."
"I couldn't go to the Captain or anybody else for that matter Lucas, because if I did....." Shep said, leaving the sentence unfinished.
"If you did what?" Lucas said and also stopped mid-sentence as he looked at his friend and the real reason for his friend's secret struck him.
As if to confirm what Lucas already thought Shep answered the question "You. Woodcock told me that things could happen to people who didn't keep their noses out of other people's business."
"And he said that something would happen to me if you said something to anybody else about the threats," Lucas now said, trying to work out the full extent of what Woodcock said.
"But it did happen Lucas, don't you understand," Shep said, his eyes welling up at the guilt that had suddenly returned with force that he had not had the guts enough to prevent Lucas being the target. "He said that and then you went missing. We looked everywhere for you. I was going out of my mind with panic because I knew he had done something but I still couldn't tell anybody."
"I still say we have to bring him out in the open to let others see him for the creep he is," Lucas said, a little scared about what might happen if they challenged Woodcock again but determined not ignore what he had been doing illegally. It seemed that Woodcock had changed from the cynical and bitter teacher that they had come to know in college and crossed the line to add criminal activity and bully to his list of character references.
"You still want to do that even after all that has happened?" Shep asked, unable to hide the scepticism that he clearly felt.
"I still want to do that," Lucas said in a determined voice and put his hand on Shep's shoulder to strength the bond of friendship that they held. "Are you with me?" he asked. He would think no less of his friend if he still didn't want any part of it.
Shep however, was willing to back Lucas 100% of the way with whatever plan they could come up with for nailing Woodcock. A great burden had been lifted from his shoulders as a result of his admission of the threats and what he knew. They would solve this problem together.
A few minutes later, despite Kristen's advice that Lucas was to remain resting in bed for as long as possible until they were almost ready to leave the depot, the two teenage boys were putting their plan together for when they met with Woodcock.
Lucas had explained to Shep that the only way to get people to understand what had been happening was to get Woodcock to make a confession of his actions or at least admit to his involvement in the tampering of computer records for his own benefit.
Shep had raised the idea of just showing somebody like the Captain and Kristen the computer disks that Lucas had already made and avoid the possibility of a conflict altogether.
Lucas said that he didn't really have a lot of information stored yet to point the finger at Woodcock. He had only been part of the way through recording the data that would incriminate the former teacher. Plus the data that was being recorded would not look as though it had been altered to the untrained eye. It had taken somebody with Lucas's considerable talent and skill to pick it up in the first place. Another reason why they had to try and exact an admission from Woodcock.
Lucas had quickly wired together a small recording device which he then taped securely and invisibly underneath his clothing. Woodcock shouldn't be able to pick up that his every word was being secretly recorded for later examination and production to the authorities about his illegal activities. Lucas and Shep planned to hand over what appeared to be the computer disks he had made to date. In actual fact they were only substitutions that held no information at all.
They both knew they were taking a large risk in exposing Woodcock in this manner, but they also knew that there would be no conclusive evidence of the man being responsible to any wrong doing unless he actually admitted to it.
As a precaution to what might unfold, Lucas quickly scribbled a note and left it in plain view on a table in the front room. It was very basic and to the point:
NEED HELP - COME TO THE COMPUTER ROOM - HURRY
The hour time limit was almost up when Shep was seen to peak his head outside the door of their living quarters and see if the coast was clear along the corridor. They didn't need Captain Bridger or Kristen or indeed any other member of the SeaQuest crew coming along and asking awkward questions about what they were doing.
Lucas was supposed to be in bed resting and everyone knew that. Kristen would be very hard to convince that what they were doing was important enough for him to be out of bed when she had said otherwise. He just had to hope that everything went smoothly and according to plan and then if absolutely necessary he could add a touch of acting like he was suffering again.
The Kristen was a woman and most of them were suckers for people they cared about feeling sick or injured. Lord knows that she had fussed over Lucas enough when he had been genuinely sick or hurt. He just had to add a few more groans to his voice when they got back to the room and she would be too worried about him to be cross at him for being out of bed. That was his theory for now anyway.
Lucas was a little bit more lethargic than he would have like to admit today but somehow he and Shep managed to make it undetected from their room all the way towards the computer room.
Just before they entered the hallway, Lucas make a final check of his equipment to make sure it was working correctly. They would not be able to adjust anything once the transfer was underway. Shep was carrying the blank computer disks and a few pages of hand-written noted Lucas had scrawled.
Both of them were unaware of what Woodcock had been contemplating for most of the night and morning. He too was afforded little sleep after he saw the SeaQuest crew rescuing Lucas from the cold room. He knew that the crew would be leaving the depot the next day and that he couldn't afford for the two teenagers to have copies of any of the data that they had recorded. He had worked too hard to try and conceal his true activities up until now for these two upstarts to come back and cause him to caught out.
Woodcock had told himself that all he needed to do was get hold of all the material the two boys had in relation to the computer banks for the depot. He knew that Lucas was the more knowledgeable of the two and he had been the one to discover what had been going on in the first place. That is why he had been the main target in the first place. The teacher had hoped that the cold room would be enough to put a stop to their meddling in his affairs.
When it became clear that the boy was still alive, and for the most part unharmed, that he would need to take a stronger hand into the matter. He thought he had done well enough to scare the Shepherd boy with the threats but he still couldn't be certain that the Wolenczak kid would remain silent.
When he arrived at the computer room that morning ready to exchange the computer disks as he instructed, he had convinced himself that he was also ready to take a step across the line of what was right and if necessary prevent the boys from ever revealing anything about the information they had knowledge of.
Whilst Lucas had a recording device concealed underneath his clothes, Woodcock on the other hand also concealed something from the two teenagers. His secret was of a much more deadly intent in the form of a hand held pistol.
********************************************************
About the same time that Lucas and Shep were standing in the same room as their former teacher Woodcock, Bridger and Kristen were only just discovering about their disappearance from the suite.
Kristen went straight into Lucas's room, expecting that the teenager would at least be where she told him to be.
"Nathan they are not here," she said, a little demanding in her voice about why the two boys would openly defy an instruction about the importance of Lucas resting.
Her temper quickly dissipated though when she saw Bridger pick up a note he had found laying on the table. Neither of them had seen it when they first walked into the room.
Bridger looked at the brief words scrawled on the piece of paper and then held it up for Kristen to read.
"Come on," Bridger said as he exited the room and headed down the corridor. He wasn't running but walking very quickly, all sorts of ideas running through his head about why Lucas would write such a message.
Just as they rounded the final hallway towards the computer room, they could hear an argument coming from down the far end. They couldn't have missed it and neither could anybody else that was in the nearby vicinity. Voices were clearly very loud and in a very threatening tone.
Bridger could hear Lucas's voice as well as that of Shep's but they were being drowned out by another deeper angry male voice.
Before Bridger and Kristen could take another step forward, all of the shouting seemed to stop dramatically. A few seconds later they both felt the blood drain from their faces as they heard the distinct sound of two gun shots being fired.
Then there was nothing but deafening silence........
TO BE CONTINUED........
Yeah I know, you all hate me and you are going to hate me even more in the next chapter. Some of you might have worked out what is going to happen, others may not. The next chapter won't be as long but should pack a definite punch.
Sorry so long to update - I don't know if this is even going to upload properly - having major computer problems and might be the end of next week before they are fixed and you finally get to see the end and conclusion of this story.
Almost there.
JULES