AN: The year is 2018 and the world has been at war for the past 15 years. The future that we saw in Seaquest does not exist. In this universe, the seaquest is a war vessel. Her crew contains familiar names and faces but they are changed and hardened from the years of war. While everything else has changed, she is still the world's greatest hope for peace.
Reviews are welcome but flames about how I've changed things are not. The subject of homosexuality arises but it is not mentioned to any great length or described in any manner. If you still have a problem with the subject, do not continue reading.
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Captain Nathan Bridger could not stop a sharp intake of breath at the sight of his new ship. The Seaquest was gorgeous. She was more than he had ever imagined. Having helped with the design, he knew this boat intimately but to see her, to see his boat, it took his breath away.
"Quite a sight, isn't she?" asked Admiral Noyce from behind Bridger.
"She's magnificent, Bill."
"See that you take care of her. She's going to be very important for us."
"I'll guard her with my life." The admiral nodded sadly knowing that it was likely that his friend would lose his life on this boat.
"Nathan, this is not going to be like any mission you've been on before. If you lose men, you are going to have to keep going without their skills or find someone to replace them. You are not always going to be able to replace them with men on the boat. We are giving you the power to employ non-military and non-Americans on this boat. Just make sure that they are trustworthy people. We can not afford to have any spies on her."
"I understand, Bill."
"Listen to me, Nathan. This is little more than a suicide mission. We've given you the best that we have to help you survive but the likelihood of you surviving is slim. Most likely every man on this boat will be dead within the next three years. I wish to God, I were not sending any of them out on this mission especially you. I don't want to lose my best friend but you're all we have. You're our only hope in this mission. Do what you have to do to succeed, Nathan. Whatever you have to do."
"I promise." The two friends shook hands and gave each other a brief hug. Once on the boat, there would be no time for goodbyes.
"Sirs, we've finished docking. Shall I have them open the gate?"
"Yes, Lieutenant Smith. That would be fine," answered Admiral Noyce. "Come along, Captain. Let us go have a look at your boat."
"Admiral Noyce, Captain Bridger, welcome aboard."
"At ease, Commander. Captain, this is your second in command, Commander Ford. You could not ask for a better man for the job." The commander was a large black man with a muscled build and a no-nonsense attitude.
"Thank you, sir," replied Ford shaking the Captain's hand. "Do you wish to see the bridge first?"
"That would be fine."
"We're still bringing in supplies but she'll be ready to embark within the week."
"Eager to be underway, Commander?"
"No, sir. This will be a difficult mission. I do not look forward to it."
"A wise man," replied Bridger. He was observing his boat as they walked along the corridor. The deck was clean and people moved about in an orderly fashion. He knew that every available space would be filled with men and supplies. They would not be able to return to port whenever they needed supplies so everything was bought in triplicates. They passed a storeroom where beach music was being played from a portable stereo. Bridger stopped in the doorway. "Who is responsible for this?" he asked.
"That would be me, sir," replied a man coming from behind a locker. "Lieutenant Benjamin Krieg, sir. I'm your morale officer as well as being in charge of supplies."
"Morale officer?"
"Yes, sir. The men are going to need whatever help they can get to help them deal with what we are going to go through out there. It's my job to bring them what I can." The lieutenant looked Bridger in the eye. His eyes were serious and shadowed by a lifetime of experiences. Suddenly, he smiled and there was a glint of mischief in his eyes. "I was a class clown, sir. It makes me real good at my job."
"I see. Make sure you don't disrupt the workings of the boat and you're welcome to do whatever you can to boost morale." He patted him on the shoulder and moved on with the Admiral and the Commander.
"If I may, sir?"
"Yes, Commander?"
"Lieutenant Krieg can be rather unorthodox but he gets results. In the past, him and I have had our differences but he is very good at his job and he takes it very seriously. I respect him for that."
"Thank you, Commander. See to it that should any new differences arise between the two of you, you deal with it quickly and quietly. I do not want there to be any disharmony on my boat."
"Yes, sir." The three of them walked onto the bridge. "Admiral on the bridge. Captain on the bridge."
"At ease, gentlemen," stated the Admiral. He began to lead Bridger around the bridge introducing him to his officers. "Captain, this is Lieutenant Commander Katherine Hitchcock. She is probably your most versatile crewmember. She has been trained to pilot Seaquest as well as the smaller launches and fighter craft. She also runs the computers here on the bridge."
"I am glad to have you on board, Lt. Commander. You will be a valuable asset." He looked over the woman for a second. She was beautiful but her features had a hardness that made her look dangerous. This was not a woman to be underestimated. She would do her job and do her job well.
"Thank you, sir. I am glad to be here."
"This is Lieutenant, j.g. O'Neill. He mans communication. How many languages do you speak, Lieutenant?"
"Forty-six fluently, sir. Ten others passably well," replied the mousy bookish little man.
"A pleasure to have you aboard, Lieutenant."
"Thank you, sir."
"How does he hold up in a fight?" asked Bridger softly.
"He holds his own just fine or he wouldn't be here. He's not much in hand-to-hand combat but he's a great shot. He's also the best communications officer in the navy. He's talked his way out of more than one tight spot. And this is Lieutenant, j.g. Miguel Ortiz, your sensors specialist," he continued in a louder voice. "Lieutenant Ortiz is also one of your best leaders out in the field."
The curly-haired Hispanic man smiled at the Captain as he saluted and shook his hand. "It is an honor to meet you, Captain. I fought with your son at Charleston."
"Ah, and did Robert tell you what a horrible father I was?" asked Bridger with a smile.
"No, sir. He loved you very much. He told me the last time I saw him that his only regret about joining the navy was that he would never be as good as you, sir. He was proud to have you for a father."
"Thank you, Mr. Ortiz. You do not know what it means to hear that from you." Bridger blinked rapidly to disperse the moisture that had gathered under his eyelashes. Admiral Noyce gripped his friend on the shoulder and steered him away from the sensors specialist. "Did you bring him on because of Robert?"
"No. I knew that they served together but it did not play a part in my decision to include him. Mr. Ortiz is one of our best if not the best at retrieval operations. He has a knack for getting his team and the target out of sticky situations alive. He is also very good at his job on the boat. Besides," smiled Noyce. "If the rumors are true, how could I break up the pairing of Ortiz and O'Neill?"
"They're a couple?" asked Bridger incredulously as they left the bridge.
"So the rumors say. Fact is it doesn't matter. They're a good team and they work best together."
"But this is the navy!"
"Nathan, I'm not going to tell you how to run your boat but this is an impossible mission. If Carol was alive and in the navy, wouldn't you want her here with you?" When Bridger did not answer, he nodded his head. "See what I mean? Let them be, Nathan. If the rumors are true, let them spend what time they have left with each other."
"I can't say that I completely agree with you but I won't press the matter as long as I do not have any evidence of unprofessional behavior."
"That's all I ask. You have two more officers off making patrols. Ensign Henderson is fresh out of Academy. She has good scores on piloting but she's young and naïve. I don't suspect that she'll survive long but her father pressured for her to be assigned to the boat. The other is Lieutenant Brody. He's an excellent fighter pilot. He works in security. Chief Crocker is in charge of security on the ship with Lt. Brody working under him but as you know Crocker is getting up there in years and he's agreed to led Lt. Brody be in charge of security on-shore. It's not the most orthodox arrangement but I feel it will work out well. You can, of course, make changes later if you feel they are necessary." They entered into a large room with an open pool of water in the center of it.
"The moonpool!" exclaimed Bridger happy to see the invention that he had lobbied so hard for it to be installed.
"Yes, complete with a dolphin." The admiral pressed a button on the side of the tank and soon the sleek, gray form of a dolphin swam rapidly into the pool. The dolphin surfaced and chattered at them. "Communication with the animal is still rudimentary at best but they've proved useful at scouting out an area. This one is named Darwin. He knows over 65 words in sign language."
"Hey Fish-face!" called out a voice as the man entered the room. "Excuse me, sirs. I did not know that there was anyone in here," apologized the seaman saluting to the pair.
"You are Seaman Piccolo, are you not?" asked Admiral Noyce.
"Yes, sir."
"Ah, I thought I recognized your face. Piccolo came to you from the X-alpha project."
"I see," replied Bridger scrutinizing the young man. The X-alpha project was well known in the upper echelons of military command. It was an experiment to alter the human form through grafting and cloning of parts. Their first successes dealt mainly with creating people with four arms or with cat eyes or similar projects. This man before him had no obvious alteration. Many of the experiments were never released from the headquarters of their agency. None were allowed back into mainstream society. He wondered what about this young man warranted him being placed on Seaquest.
"I got gills, sir," said the young seaman answering the unasked question. "A submarine is a logically place for me. They promised that if'n I do real good and come back alive then I can be released from my service. I ain't gonna jump ship," he continued softly but firmly.
"Gills, huh. That's a useful attribute to have on a submarine. Welcome to seaquest, Seaman."
"Thank you, sir." The seaman relaxed and saluted again.
"Shall we visit medBay before I have to depart?"
"Yes, and a stop by my quarters. Carry on, Seaman Piccolo."
"Captain, this is Dr. Levin, your head surgeon. This is his assistant, Dr. Wendy Smith. Dr. Smith also has a degree in psychology."
"It is a pleasure to meet both of you," replied Bridger shaking hands with the serious looking doctor, and the smiling Dr. Smith. "I hope that we do not keep the two of you very busy this tour."
"I wish that were so," replied Dr. Smith. "We are under no illusion that this is going to be an easy assignment. We'll do our best to provide the best care possible for our patients."
"That is all that I could ask of you. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to speak with the Admiral before he leaves."
"They're tougher than they look. All of the key personnel are proven veterans. We've done our best to push the balance in your favor. You'll need all of the help you can get."
"I'm not going to be able to bring all of them home. I doubt I'll be able to bring myself home."
"We're not expecting miracles. We gave every man on this boat the opportunity to decline this assignment. Most of them agreed. No one declined that was not easily replaceable with someone just as competent. Every man on this boat made the choice to stay. They know what they are getting into, Nathan. It will not make their deaths any easier to deal with but it was their choice."
"Thanks, Bill."
"No, Nathan. Thank you. Now these are your quarters." He opened the door into the Captain's Cabin. "Most of what you need should already be here. Make a list of anything that is listed and Lt. Krieg will see that it is brought aboard before you set sail." He paused for a moment to stare at his oldest friend. The years had not been kind to either of them but Nathan was still fit and more than capable for this position. He memorized the wrinkles that had begun appearing after Carol had died and the laugh lines that were a legacy of a forgotten youth and the fiery determination to succeed that burned deep in Nathan's eyes. This was his friend and he had to grab hold of this moment now because it might be the last time they ever saw one another.
They moved without talking towards the launch bays. Silently they saluted each other not daring to voice their goodbyes. To voice them would be to make them more real and increase the risk that they might be the final goodbye. Such logic was flawed, a fact that they both recognized, yet neither would speak the words for fear that it might be true. In a space of time void of sound, they watch as the doors slid closed between them. Then they were shut and the farewell was finished but the journey had yet to begin.