Thanks to Tyger Magick, Ahn-Li Steffraini, Teresa, Karel, Jewels03, K.
Presson, Sara, Kiddo, LilLeggs, Silentia, and anyone else who read the
previous chapter, and thanks to all those who've been reading and reviewing
all the way through.
Just to repeat the earlier disclaimer - I don't own anyone, or anything, and I'm not making any money by writing this.
I don't know if the ending will be what people are hoping for, but here goes anyway...
Chapter 16.
The Captain never let the radio out of his sight as he and Kristen rushed to and fro organising a new search party. In the thirty minutes it took for them to leave the boat, Kristen gathered as much information as she could about the extent of everyone's injuries - although she was unable to get a straight answer from Lucas as to who'd known how to treat then so well.
Chief Crocker grinned like the proverbial cat, when he realised that the radio he had given to the Captain may well be responsible for saving the lives of six of the crew. Shan knew that what ever happened in the future, when ever he made some comment about his friend obsession with tradition, the Chief was going to have the perfect come back.
It seemed to take an age for them to reach the airport that the rescue would be leaving from, and they only just managed to get there in time to jump on the helicopter. Over the noise of the blades, the Captain strained to hear Lucas's voice over the radio. It wasn't easy to make out his words, as the teen tried unsuccessfully to hide his shivers.
***** ***** *****
Lucas sat looking up at the sky, waiting for some glimpse of the helicopters lights, even though he knew it was still probably miles away. He knew he should try to keep awake, but somehow his eyelids kept drooping further and further down until his body gave in and Lucas him slip first into sleep, and then in to something much deeper and much more worrying.
He did not stir when Bridger spoke, then called, and then yelled through the radio, he didn't even stir when the helicopter finally came into view and hovered overhead. Nathan came down the rope first, closely followed by Kristen, and they rushed across to Lucas. He just lay there, and at first the Captain thought he wasn't breathing, but soon realised that although Lucas's breathing was shallow it was still steady.
Kristen called for a stretcher to be lowered down to them, and began checking Lucas methodically for any injuries. In the back of her mind, a note was made to thank whoever had splinted his arm - they'd done a good job, far better than even most doctors would have done considering the limited supplies.
Covering him with a blanket she pushed his hair away from his face, taking the opportunity to rest the back of her hand against his forehead - his temperature was running even higher than she would have thought. He mumbled something at her gentle touch.
"Lucas, everything's going to be Ok. We're taking you back to the seaQuest, you're going to be fine." She reassured him.
He tried to say something again, but she couldn't make out the words. "Hush, Lucas, you need to rest."
"West..." He finally managed to say.
"West?" Kristen asked, not understanding what Lucas was getting at.
"Go west... by the river... Ben... Katie... everyone... go west..." Lucas stuttered between shivers.
Nathan was standing on the other side of Lucas, and as the pieces of the puzzle fell together he said: "It's Ok, Kiddo, we'll find them, you don't need to look after anyone but yourself."
Lucas nodded, slowly. "I'm sorry," he said, before he slipped back out of consciousness.
The Captain looked at Kristen in confusion, but she was setting up an IV and didn't have time to worry about strange apologies.
***** ***** *****
"Hello, sleepy." Lucas heard someone talking to him, but turned away and tried to shut out the noise. He was warm, and comfortable and determined that no one was going to wake him up, until he was good and ready.
"Do you want some breakfast?" The voice asked. And Lucas's stomach rumbled at the mention of breakfast, and he amended - he wasn't going to wake up until he was good and ready, unless someone was offering him food.
Carefully he opened his eyes, and winced at the sharp lights of med bay. Propping himself up on his good elbow, and peering around the room Lucas saw that extra beds had been brought into the room from somewhere. He shot a questioning glance at Ben, who was lying sprawled out on the next bed.
"Dr. Westphalen decided she needed to keep an eye on all of us."
"How long are we going to be in here?" Lucas asked. Taking in the other beds.
"Another couple of days at least." Ben answered.
"Another?" Lucas prompted.
"You've been... asleep for three days. We've been whispering the whole time, because Kristen has made very specific threats about what would happen to us if we woke you up." Ben said after a pause, in which he wondered if he should tell Lucas that he'd managed, with great difficulty, to convince the Captain to wait for explanations until Lucas woke up.
"How's everyone else?" Lucas said eager to turn the attention away from him self.
"Fords making sense again, and everyone else is healing well, you gave us a scare though." Ben decided that Lucas not to worry Lucas but telling him how things had gone after he'd left. Five cold, hungry, people do not make good company for each other. It had only been about two days before the temper tantrums and name-calling began.
Lucas seemed unsure about what to say next, but he finally took a deep breath and asked the question that was troubling him.
"Is everyone mad at me?" He asked in no more than a whisper.
"Of course not. We weren't happy when you left on your own, but, after the rescue party arrived, Katie told us about the pilot not being able to radio, we know you did what you thought was best. I just wish you'd let me come with you."
Lucas looked down at his lap and said nothing.
"There's something else I wanted to ask you about." Ben told him. Lucas braced himself for questions about his past, about his family. But Ben pulled a rather crumpled piece of paper out from one of his pockets and passed it over to Lucas.
Lucas recognised it as the last page of his thesis. "It wasn't anything that important." He hedged.
"Lucas, I may not understand this programming language, but I know you, and if you wrote a programme and it was special enough for you to keep a paper copy of it - I'd bet any money that it is important to you."
"Earlier on, you mentioned breakfast." Lucas said, blatantly changing topics.
Ben sighed. "I'll go find Kristen and ask her if you're allowed to eat." He said, knowing that was the closest Lucas would come to giving him an answer.
***** ***** *****
Five minutes later Kristen was examining Lucas, and telling him in no uncertain terms that there was no possibility of him getting out of sick bay for at least another week, not matter how many computer systems on the ship broke down. Ben was sitting in Lucas's room, in front of one of the computers putting inter-nex message through to Node 3.
"Hi, Frankie, how come you're not on the secure system?" Said, a small hairy picture with rather impressive fangs.
"I'm not Lucas, I'm a friend of his and I don't know the pass word for the other system. I was hoping you could help me with something." Another small picture, - this one with greenish skin and stitches around his head replied.
"Who are you?" Nick asked from the other end of the line.
"I'm Ben Krieg - the supply officer on seaQuest." Ben replied.
"What you did on April fool's day - that was so awesome." Nick typed, obviously recognising the name.
Ben couldn't help but smile at this, but he continued. "I need your help, Wolf man."
"Is there something wrong with Lucas?"
"No, Lucas is fine - I need to know if this means anything to you." Ben pressed send on the computer and a scan of the paper Lucas had been burning winged its way across the nex to Nick.
There was a pause when Ben assumed Lucas's friend read through the page. "This is amazing." Finally came through.
"So this was something important then?"
"Important - If this programme does what the conclusion says it does, this would revolutionise the whole Artificial Intelligence industry. What do you mean was?"
Ben wasn't sure what Lucas would object to his friend being told, so he hedged around all the other questions Nick posed. But while one part of his brain was busy hedging, another part was thinking of a solution to another problem.
"Wolf man, how difficult would it be to hack into a computer, and by-pass secretaries, and keep the line open even if the person on the other end of the call tried to cut you off?" He asked.
"Is there a security programme on the system?" wolf man asked, now all business.
"Um, probably."
"Did Lucas design it?"
"I don't think so." Ben said.
"Then I can hack into it, and do what ever I want." Wolf man said, with just a small touch of pride.
"In that case, could you put a call through for me?"
***** ***** *****
Lawrence Wolenczak was sitting in his office, putting the finishing touches to the piece of research he'd been working on for the last six months, when the vid-phone sprang into life for no apparent reason.
Not wanting to be interrupted, Lawrence leaned over and disconnected the call. Or at least he tried to disconnect it. But something was stopping the computer recognising the command.
A face appeared on the screen, of a man probably in his thirties, with dark hair and a UEO uniform.
"Who are you? What is the meaning of this?" He demanded.
"Dr. Wolenczak? We need to talk. My name is Benjamin Krieg; of the UEO flag ship seaQuest. If you want my serial number so that you can make some sort of complaint against me, I'll be happy to provide it along with the contact details of the appropriate disciplinary board. I'm calling you about your son, Lucas - about sixteen years old fair hair, a lot of healed bones - maybe you remember him?"
Lawrence Wolenczak's mouth opened and closed and then formed the words. "How dare you talk to me like this?" Although the broken bones comment raised a warning flag in the back of his mind, he was not going to stand for check off a mere Lieutenant.
"I dare, because I care about Lucas, I don't just pretend to care when I want him to do something, or when I want to impress investors, but full time. I dare because I'm not the kind of monster who could ever make a child thing they deserve to be beaten, and I dare, because Lucas deserves better then you." Ben spat out.
"I'll have you commission for this!" Lawrence shouted at the screen.
"I'm sure Captain Bridger would been very happy to listen to your complaint against me, and I'm sure when he hears why I called you he'll see someone locked up for life without parole. That someone won't be me Lawrence Wolenczak."
"What makes you think you're wonderful Captain will believe you over me?"
"Lucas, has a broken arm" Ben said with icy calmness. "Dr. Westphalen is very protective of Lucas, I wonder how difficult it will be to convince her that Lucas needs a full body scan - just to check for any injuries she's missed. What do you think that scan will show?"
"Lucas is my son, I'll get him off your stupid little boat before the end of the day! I know what's best for my son, not you!" Maybe Dr. Wolenczak, really believed that what he was doing was best for Lucas, Ben thought, and in a way that worried him even more.
"No, you won't Doctor, because any man who's victim of choice is a little kid, is a coward, and if you come any where near this boat, you'll find me - and I'm not a coward, but I'll be standing in front of Lucas, and I don't doubt, the rest of this crew will be there too, if I tell them what I know."
Lawrence seemed to reconsider his tone at this point. "How much do you want?" he asked, the model of a calm businessman. He knew better than most every man had his price and he guessed that Ben's co-operation wouldn't be too expensive a thing to buy.
Ben froze. "Money? I don't want money, you stupid little..." With effort Ben reigned in his temper.
"Then what do you want, Lieutenant?"
"This is what I want, you're going to start being a proper father to your son." Lawrence half nodded when he thought of what he would have to say to Lucas about involving other people in family business, but his face froze when Ben continued. "But from a distance - you're going to write Lucas a nice little letter every week, and when the Captain contacts you, your secretary will be under orders to put the call straight through. Understand?" Lawrence nodded stiffly, so Ben continued, "But, you're not going to be able to see you're son on shore leaves are you, Lawrence - you'll be unavoidably out of town, so Lucas will stay with me, or the Captain, or whoever he wants, but not with you."
"Do you have any other demands?" Lawrence asked.
"No." Ben said, "No demands, just a warning - I know what's going on now, so if anything happen to Lucas, if you so much as say one word out of place to him, let along lay one hand on him - you'll die. I have contacts in every seedy business there is - so don't think I won't be able to arrange it." Ben said, almost happily, as if he couldn't wait to call one of those contacts and put a price on the good doctors head.
"Why should I believe that you wouldn't do that anyway?" Lawrence asked, the sheen of nervous sweat beading on his forehead.
"Because, as worthless as you are, Lucas loves you. And that means you get one more chance - just don't blow it." With that the connection cut out, and Lawrence sat back in his chair, too shocked even to wonder how the call go though in the first place.
***** ***** *****
Ben sat back and stared into space, wondering if he'd done the right thing. Probably not, he decided. But it was as right a thing as he could think of. Maybe when Lucas had recovered from all that had happened recently, Ben thought, he would try to talk to Lucas again, and if that didn't work, maybe he would drop a few hints to the Captain.
If push came to shove, he considered, he could point Dr. Westphalen in the right direction - she was possible even more stubborn than Lucas, and her glare was famous on the boat for it's ability to keep Lucas in check.
Either way, one day, Ben was sure, Lucas would be able to look back and know that things with his father had been bad, but they were also all in the past.
***** ***** *****
The End.
***** ***** *****
Finished! I don't know how well the ending worked, but like it or loath it, that's what popped into my head, so that's what I wrote. Please let me know what you thought. Good? Bad? Indifferent? All comments, flames, and major credit cards accepted on the review board.
Thanks again to all those people who've reviewed, and especially those who have been patiently following all the way through.
Cadi.
Just to repeat the earlier disclaimer - I don't own anyone, or anything, and I'm not making any money by writing this.
I don't know if the ending will be what people are hoping for, but here goes anyway...
Chapter 16.
The Captain never let the radio out of his sight as he and Kristen rushed to and fro organising a new search party. In the thirty minutes it took for them to leave the boat, Kristen gathered as much information as she could about the extent of everyone's injuries - although she was unable to get a straight answer from Lucas as to who'd known how to treat then so well.
Chief Crocker grinned like the proverbial cat, when he realised that the radio he had given to the Captain may well be responsible for saving the lives of six of the crew. Shan knew that what ever happened in the future, when ever he made some comment about his friend obsession with tradition, the Chief was going to have the perfect come back.
It seemed to take an age for them to reach the airport that the rescue would be leaving from, and they only just managed to get there in time to jump on the helicopter. Over the noise of the blades, the Captain strained to hear Lucas's voice over the radio. It wasn't easy to make out his words, as the teen tried unsuccessfully to hide his shivers.
***** ***** *****
Lucas sat looking up at the sky, waiting for some glimpse of the helicopters lights, even though he knew it was still probably miles away. He knew he should try to keep awake, but somehow his eyelids kept drooping further and further down until his body gave in and Lucas him slip first into sleep, and then in to something much deeper and much more worrying.
He did not stir when Bridger spoke, then called, and then yelled through the radio, he didn't even stir when the helicopter finally came into view and hovered overhead. Nathan came down the rope first, closely followed by Kristen, and they rushed across to Lucas. He just lay there, and at first the Captain thought he wasn't breathing, but soon realised that although Lucas's breathing was shallow it was still steady.
Kristen called for a stretcher to be lowered down to them, and began checking Lucas methodically for any injuries. In the back of her mind, a note was made to thank whoever had splinted his arm - they'd done a good job, far better than even most doctors would have done considering the limited supplies.
Covering him with a blanket she pushed his hair away from his face, taking the opportunity to rest the back of her hand against his forehead - his temperature was running even higher than she would have thought. He mumbled something at her gentle touch.
"Lucas, everything's going to be Ok. We're taking you back to the seaQuest, you're going to be fine." She reassured him.
He tried to say something again, but she couldn't make out the words. "Hush, Lucas, you need to rest."
"West..." He finally managed to say.
"West?" Kristen asked, not understanding what Lucas was getting at.
"Go west... by the river... Ben... Katie... everyone... go west..." Lucas stuttered between shivers.
Nathan was standing on the other side of Lucas, and as the pieces of the puzzle fell together he said: "It's Ok, Kiddo, we'll find them, you don't need to look after anyone but yourself."
Lucas nodded, slowly. "I'm sorry," he said, before he slipped back out of consciousness.
The Captain looked at Kristen in confusion, but she was setting up an IV and didn't have time to worry about strange apologies.
***** ***** *****
"Hello, sleepy." Lucas heard someone talking to him, but turned away and tried to shut out the noise. He was warm, and comfortable and determined that no one was going to wake him up, until he was good and ready.
"Do you want some breakfast?" The voice asked. And Lucas's stomach rumbled at the mention of breakfast, and he amended - he wasn't going to wake up until he was good and ready, unless someone was offering him food.
Carefully he opened his eyes, and winced at the sharp lights of med bay. Propping himself up on his good elbow, and peering around the room Lucas saw that extra beds had been brought into the room from somewhere. He shot a questioning glance at Ben, who was lying sprawled out on the next bed.
"Dr. Westphalen decided she needed to keep an eye on all of us."
"How long are we going to be in here?" Lucas asked. Taking in the other beds.
"Another couple of days at least." Ben answered.
"Another?" Lucas prompted.
"You've been... asleep for three days. We've been whispering the whole time, because Kristen has made very specific threats about what would happen to us if we woke you up." Ben said after a pause, in which he wondered if he should tell Lucas that he'd managed, with great difficulty, to convince the Captain to wait for explanations until Lucas woke up.
"How's everyone else?" Lucas said eager to turn the attention away from him self.
"Fords making sense again, and everyone else is healing well, you gave us a scare though." Ben decided that Lucas not to worry Lucas but telling him how things had gone after he'd left. Five cold, hungry, people do not make good company for each other. It had only been about two days before the temper tantrums and name-calling began.
Lucas seemed unsure about what to say next, but he finally took a deep breath and asked the question that was troubling him.
"Is everyone mad at me?" He asked in no more than a whisper.
"Of course not. We weren't happy when you left on your own, but, after the rescue party arrived, Katie told us about the pilot not being able to radio, we know you did what you thought was best. I just wish you'd let me come with you."
Lucas looked down at his lap and said nothing.
"There's something else I wanted to ask you about." Ben told him. Lucas braced himself for questions about his past, about his family. But Ben pulled a rather crumpled piece of paper out from one of his pockets and passed it over to Lucas.
Lucas recognised it as the last page of his thesis. "It wasn't anything that important." He hedged.
"Lucas, I may not understand this programming language, but I know you, and if you wrote a programme and it was special enough for you to keep a paper copy of it - I'd bet any money that it is important to you."
"Earlier on, you mentioned breakfast." Lucas said, blatantly changing topics.
Ben sighed. "I'll go find Kristen and ask her if you're allowed to eat." He said, knowing that was the closest Lucas would come to giving him an answer.
***** ***** *****
Five minutes later Kristen was examining Lucas, and telling him in no uncertain terms that there was no possibility of him getting out of sick bay for at least another week, not matter how many computer systems on the ship broke down. Ben was sitting in Lucas's room, in front of one of the computers putting inter-nex message through to Node 3.
"Hi, Frankie, how come you're not on the secure system?" Said, a small hairy picture with rather impressive fangs.
"I'm not Lucas, I'm a friend of his and I don't know the pass word for the other system. I was hoping you could help me with something." Another small picture, - this one with greenish skin and stitches around his head replied.
"Who are you?" Nick asked from the other end of the line.
"I'm Ben Krieg - the supply officer on seaQuest." Ben replied.
"What you did on April fool's day - that was so awesome." Nick typed, obviously recognising the name.
Ben couldn't help but smile at this, but he continued. "I need your help, Wolf man."
"Is there something wrong with Lucas?"
"No, Lucas is fine - I need to know if this means anything to you." Ben pressed send on the computer and a scan of the paper Lucas had been burning winged its way across the nex to Nick.
There was a pause when Ben assumed Lucas's friend read through the page. "This is amazing." Finally came through.
"So this was something important then?"
"Important - If this programme does what the conclusion says it does, this would revolutionise the whole Artificial Intelligence industry. What do you mean was?"
Ben wasn't sure what Lucas would object to his friend being told, so he hedged around all the other questions Nick posed. But while one part of his brain was busy hedging, another part was thinking of a solution to another problem.
"Wolf man, how difficult would it be to hack into a computer, and by-pass secretaries, and keep the line open even if the person on the other end of the call tried to cut you off?" He asked.
"Is there a security programme on the system?" wolf man asked, now all business.
"Um, probably."
"Did Lucas design it?"
"I don't think so." Ben said.
"Then I can hack into it, and do what ever I want." Wolf man said, with just a small touch of pride.
"In that case, could you put a call through for me?"
***** ***** *****
Lawrence Wolenczak was sitting in his office, putting the finishing touches to the piece of research he'd been working on for the last six months, when the vid-phone sprang into life for no apparent reason.
Not wanting to be interrupted, Lawrence leaned over and disconnected the call. Or at least he tried to disconnect it. But something was stopping the computer recognising the command.
A face appeared on the screen, of a man probably in his thirties, with dark hair and a UEO uniform.
"Who are you? What is the meaning of this?" He demanded.
"Dr. Wolenczak? We need to talk. My name is Benjamin Krieg; of the UEO flag ship seaQuest. If you want my serial number so that you can make some sort of complaint against me, I'll be happy to provide it along with the contact details of the appropriate disciplinary board. I'm calling you about your son, Lucas - about sixteen years old fair hair, a lot of healed bones - maybe you remember him?"
Lawrence Wolenczak's mouth opened and closed and then formed the words. "How dare you talk to me like this?" Although the broken bones comment raised a warning flag in the back of his mind, he was not going to stand for check off a mere Lieutenant.
"I dare, because I care about Lucas, I don't just pretend to care when I want him to do something, or when I want to impress investors, but full time. I dare because I'm not the kind of monster who could ever make a child thing they deserve to be beaten, and I dare, because Lucas deserves better then you." Ben spat out.
"I'll have you commission for this!" Lawrence shouted at the screen.
"I'm sure Captain Bridger would been very happy to listen to your complaint against me, and I'm sure when he hears why I called you he'll see someone locked up for life without parole. That someone won't be me Lawrence Wolenczak."
"What makes you think you're wonderful Captain will believe you over me?"
"Lucas, has a broken arm" Ben said with icy calmness. "Dr. Westphalen is very protective of Lucas, I wonder how difficult it will be to convince her that Lucas needs a full body scan - just to check for any injuries she's missed. What do you think that scan will show?"
"Lucas is my son, I'll get him off your stupid little boat before the end of the day! I know what's best for my son, not you!" Maybe Dr. Wolenczak, really believed that what he was doing was best for Lucas, Ben thought, and in a way that worried him even more.
"No, you won't Doctor, because any man who's victim of choice is a little kid, is a coward, and if you come any where near this boat, you'll find me - and I'm not a coward, but I'll be standing in front of Lucas, and I don't doubt, the rest of this crew will be there too, if I tell them what I know."
Lawrence seemed to reconsider his tone at this point. "How much do you want?" he asked, the model of a calm businessman. He knew better than most every man had his price and he guessed that Ben's co-operation wouldn't be too expensive a thing to buy.
Ben froze. "Money? I don't want money, you stupid little..." With effort Ben reigned in his temper.
"Then what do you want, Lieutenant?"
"This is what I want, you're going to start being a proper father to your son." Lawrence half nodded when he thought of what he would have to say to Lucas about involving other people in family business, but his face froze when Ben continued. "But from a distance - you're going to write Lucas a nice little letter every week, and when the Captain contacts you, your secretary will be under orders to put the call straight through. Understand?" Lawrence nodded stiffly, so Ben continued, "But, you're not going to be able to see you're son on shore leaves are you, Lawrence - you'll be unavoidably out of town, so Lucas will stay with me, or the Captain, or whoever he wants, but not with you."
"Do you have any other demands?" Lawrence asked.
"No." Ben said, "No demands, just a warning - I know what's going on now, so if anything happen to Lucas, if you so much as say one word out of place to him, let along lay one hand on him - you'll die. I have contacts in every seedy business there is - so don't think I won't be able to arrange it." Ben said, almost happily, as if he couldn't wait to call one of those contacts and put a price on the good doctors head.
"Why should I believe that you wouldn't do that anyway?" Lawrence asked, the sheen of nervous sweat beading on his forehead.
"Because, as worthless as you are, Lucas loves you. And that means you get one more chance - just don't blow it." With that the connection cut out, and Lawrence sat back in his chair, too shocked even to wonder how the call go though in the first place.
***** ***** *****
Ben sat back and stared into space, wondering if he'd done the right thing. Probably not, he decided. But it was as right a thing as he could think of. Maybe when Lucas had recovered from all that had happened recently, Ben thought, he would try to talk to Lucas again, and if that didn't work, maybe he would drop a few hints to the Captain.
If push came to shove, he considered, he could point Dr. Westphalen in the right direction - she was possible even more stubborn than Lucas, and her glare was famous on the boat for it's ability to keep Lucas in check.
Either way, one day, Ben was sure, Lucas would be able to look back and know that things with his father had been bad, but they were also all in the past.
***** ***** *****
The End.
***** ***** *****
Finished! I don't know how well the ending worked, but like it or loath it, that's what popped into my head, so that's what I wrote. Please let me know what you thought. Good? Bad? Indifferent? All comments, flames, and major credit cards accepted on the review board.
Thanks again to all those people who've reviewed, and especially those who have been patiently following all the way through.
Cadi.