Disclaimer: I don't know Seaquest…

Note: ok….I am having the worst minute right now…. This is the second time I will be writing this chapter. I finished it then it died on me ;.; no saves nothing…. This really bites but I guess it had to happen. Maybe that version wasn't as good as it should have been… well lets try this again shall we!

Fear Factor

Chapter 5 - In the Pit

By Faith Childrey

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Claudia stood behind the doctor, the glow of the screen shining off her slim features. She watched as the teens stopped to rest. The doctor may have seemed crazy, but his experiment seemed to be working quite well. If she stayed on his good-side there was a possibility of a higher position in her life. This mission was definitely paying back, ten fold. She sat back as the kids proceeded with the doctors little game, enjoying herself immensely.

Tippy woke to a pounding headache. It was nothing compared to before, but it was there none the less. She surveyed the group taking in how everyone was doing. Lucas sat to her left, rubbing at his eyes tiredly. Adam was on the other side, sitting against the wall, concern on his face as she looked to him.

"How ya feelin'?" He asked with a sympathetic grin.

"Better… heads killin' me, but nothing too bad." She gave him a tired smile and continued her survey of the room. Amanda was at the corner of the hallway where it turned right, looking down into what lay ahead. David was still asleep, tucked into the corner. According to her watch, it had taken a good hour for the medicine to clear up their illness, it wouldn't be long until they were ready to move again.

They only had to wait a few minutes until the weapons expert was shifting and opening his eyes. He sat up stretching and rubbing at his tired eyes. The others had gotten to there feet and Lucas was over helping David get to his feet. "How ya feelin'?"

"Like crap… but otherwise just peachy." He grinned. The others stood at the mouth of the new hallway. It seemed to stretch on forever in a dark void. They couldn't determine where the end was .

"Anyone here afraid of the dark?" Amanda asked. They all shook their heads no.

Sighing, Adam spoke, "Well looks like we're going straight. I'll lead, Tippy you follow, then Lucas, Amanda and David. Is everyone set?" There were nods all around as they got into their order.

Walking was pretty easy. The hall had ended a few feet into the darkness and taken a left. The visibility had grown so poor that the group had to link hands, Adam and David feeling there way along the walls. They hadn't gone far when Adam stopped.

"I think I found something," he called over his shoulder.

"What is it?" David asked.

"A button… I think."

"…Push it!" Came David's no-nonsense answer in response.

If it hadn't been so dark, David would have been able to see Adam role his eyes at the almost reckless answer. "…Ok, here goes." He pressed the button and waited for something to explode. Instead, they were all greeted by the flickering on of lights.

"Woohoo!" Came the enthusiastic call of David. The others gave a mental 'woohoo', because only 20 feet ahead of them was a drop off. It was a pit that squared with the walls: 10x10x10. They couldn't see how far down went. Tippy and Adam had moved out ahead of the others when they froze at the sound of metal grinding against metal. Everyone jumped back as a gate came sliding down from the ceiling, separating the group.

"What the-" The all spoke at once. Tippy and Adam were now on the side with the drop-off, while Lucas, David and Amanda stood stunned on the other side.

"Look for a switch or something to open this thing." Adam spoke quickly, searching the walls on his side of the room. He almost shouted for joy when he noticed the keys hanging on the wall. He quickly snatched them off and came back to the gate. There was one problem though. There was no key hole.

"Damnit! Now what?" David grumbled in frustration.

Before anyone could think of a solution there was another sound. It sounded like a rushing river, and they looked to one another in confusion. Their wondering was answered when a saucer sized hole opened up in the ceiling above the gate. They stepped back as the water began to pool around their feel.

"What now…" Tippy whispered, her eyes focused on the hole in the ceiling. A second sound joined the rush of the water, and Adam was the first to realize what was happening. He reached out, grabbing hold of the bared gate in front of him as the floor suddenly dropped into a steep slant.

"Help!" He whipped his head around to see Tippy sliding towards the pit. He tried to grab her hand before she went over, but she was already too far away and slipping over the edge.

"Tippy!!!" He yelled as he gazed at the edge in horror until he heard the splash as she hit the bottom.

The others had been trapped on the other side of the gate when the floor fell on the other side. From the cries coming from the other side, they had a good idea of what may have happened.

"What happened? Are you two ok?" Lucas called through the rush of the pouring water.

"Tippy went over the edge!" Came the response from Adam, who was still clinging to the bar. The were all surprised when the water began to let up and the floor started to level out. Adam was on his feet when the floor was finally level, and walked to the edge of the pit, only to fall back a scramble to the gate.

"What happened?" Amanda asked, panic in her voice.

"Nothing…" Adam spoke between gasps, "Just remembered… I'm afraid of heights."

The others just stared in shock. How were they going to get to Tippy if the only one who could was afraid of heights.

"…Adam..?" Tippy's voice floated up from below.

"Tippy! Are you ok?" Adam called back, as he got to his feet.

"… ya I'm ok… but there's a problem…" She was trying to keep the panic out of her voice.

"What's wrong?"

"… A gate closed after I fell… I can't get back up, and the water is rising."

"oh great…" Adam muttered to himself. He still held the keys he had found. "Hey Tippy, is there a lock you can see on the gate?"

"…Ya!"

"Ok, just hold tight… I'll c-come down to get you…" He said shakily as he edge closer to the drop-off. Everyone was watching him as he crouched down, and slowly peered over. She was about 50 feet down, the water up to her shoulders. The was a latter that led down to the closed metal gate.

"What's wrong?" She called up.

"Height problems…"

She grinned playfully, "I don't think now's a good time to be worrying about how tall you are." He gave her a wiry smile at her attempts to lighten the mood.

"C-comin' down." His head disappeared and was replaced my his gunk covered sneakers. Slowly, he placed them on the wrung. He let out a shaky breath before lowering to the next, until his hands came over and grabbed the top bar.

"Just don't look down.." he whispered to himself as he slowly began to climb down.

The water was now up to her chin when he made it to the halfway point. She was forced to cling to the gate to stay afloat. "You're doing great, Adam… Not to rush you or anything, but this waters rising fast…"

At that moment, Adam chose to look down. Big mistake. Still not as high as before, the vertigo was too much and he froze, clinging to the bar.

"Adam?" Tippy called up.

"…I-I l-l-looked down-n…" He had stopped moving, now glued to the latter.

Tippy thought frantically about what to do and finally spoke, "Adam, I want you to look at the wall, ok?" There was a slight nod from the frozen teen before his head moved up and stared straight ahead. A few seconds past and he started moving again.

The water was eye level now, and she had to float on her back to keep her mouth above the water. Adam hit the gate, breathing heavily, hands and knees shaking from the effort. He crouched down to the lock, pulling the keys out of his pocket. There were 6 of them on the ring, and only one of them was going to open the lock. Adam grabbed the first one with a shaky hand, pushing it into the key hole and twisting. Nothing. He quickly pulled it out and moved to the next key. His hands were shaking uncontrollably now and the keys slipped from his grasp. "Shit!" He cursed and he tried to reach for them as the slipped underneath the surface of the water and disappeared. "Nonono noNO!!!" his frantic eyes finding their way to her pale face. He wanted to say something, but before he had the chance, she took a deep breath and pushed herself under the water.

He didn't know how long it had taken her to resurface, but by the time she came back the water was almost to the gate. She was pressed against it, forcing her way to the air, before reaching her hand through, holding out the lost keys. He grabbed them and began the process over again.

He pulled out the fourth key, cursing to himself as the water had now reached his wrists, and Tippy was stuck under the water running out of air. Two more keys left, he grabbed one and shoved it into the key hole, twisted and nothing happened. He quickly turned it back and pulled, but the key wouldn't move. Dumbfounded, it took him only a second to regroup his hazy mind. He tried pulling again with no success, seconds ticking by that Tippy didn't have. He pulled again with all his strength, straining his muscles before the key came flying out. As quickly as he could he grabbed the last key, jammed it into the key hole, twisted and the lock popped open. He ripped the lock out of the gate, throwing it aside, then grabbed the gate and letting it crash against the wall as he hurled it open. Hands shot up from the water and grabbed on to his as he pulled Tippy from the cold, dark water. She gasped for air as her head broke the surface, coughing out what little water had made its way into her lungs. She collapsed on the gate, breathing heavily, half of her still submerged. Adam sat breathless beside her.

"…thanks…" she spoke in between breaths. He gave her a tired smile before helping her the rest of the way out of the water. Overhead, they could hear the gate being raised into the ceiling and the footsteps of the other group members as they came to the edge of the pit, relief evident on their faces. The two teens sat there a while longer, catching their breath before climbing the later to the top.

Dr. McAlivin sat in front of the screen, giddily watching as the kids regrouped after the frightful event. The keys had made the incident even more exciting. He'd made sure the last key who open it, but the factor of the stuck key had been sheer brilliance on his part. He let out a cackle as he opened the door to the next room.

Tbc…((HELP!- Lucas's phobia is coming up soon and I cant decide what it should be! I have Fire, suffication and possibly his father, but I don't know. If yall have any ideas PLEASE email them to me or leave them in your review! THANKS))

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Ok I saved it so many times now its not even funny, at least this time I wont lose it!

Hope yall enjoyed it ^_^

Thanks for reading!!