Sorry that this took so long but I warned you that there'd start being a delay. Due to my busy schedule now, I am considering opening up this story to contributions. If you have any suggestions for plots or are interested in writing a part, feel free to contact me at devilrats@yahoo.com or through yahoo or AOL instant messengers under devilrats.
Thanks to Joxer, Katie, scificiton786, bbclarky, Murali Suriar, LoP, Vampy, and Gina for their reviews.
"Captain! The radar just detected a submarine two miles ahead. She's spotted us, sir. She's headed this way!" A small, innocent triangle blinked on the green screen. It grew closer as the image refreshed.
"Lieutenant O'Neill, try and contact them." Nathan Bridger paced in front of his seat watching the screen.
"They are not responding, sir," answered O'Neill worriedly.
"Captain, I'm reading more craft. I believe the sub is releasing fighters." The triangle was now surrounded by equally innocent looking dots. To the uneducated eye, the pictorial representations were hard to view as dangerous opponents.
"Lieutenant Brody, get down to the launch bay immediately. We need the pilots in the water now."
"Yes, sir," he said hurrying out the door.
"Sir, do you want me to suit up or to stay here?" asked Hitchcock.
"Here," answered Bridger immediately. "If they attack, we'll need you warding off any hackers. Lt. O'Neill, sound the alarms." The alarm sounded throughout the boat sending passengers scurrying to their quarters and crewmembers dashing to their stations.
"Dr. Westphalen, this is Dr. Levin from Medbay," came the call as Kristin was reassuring Lucas that everything would be fine. The boy looked a little pale in her opinion.
"Yes," she replied.
"We'd appreciate it if you would come down to medbay and lend your assistance. We do not know how many people will be injured and having another doctor here could be the difference between life and death for someone."
"I don't know," she said uncertainly glancing at Lucas. Lucas nodded and made shooing motions towards her. "All right," she eventually said. "I'll be there in a minute." She turned to Lucas sitting him down on the bed. "I'm going to go to medbay. You are going to seal the hatch behind me when I leave and stay in this room. Under no circumstances are you to leave. Do you understand?" Lucas nodded and she hurried out of the room.
[Scene Change]
"Captain! They are firing on us! Two torpedoes in the water!" stated Ortiz in as calm a voice as he could manage at the moment. He kept his eyes on the screen and his fingers dancing across the console ready to fire intercepts. He concentrated hard so that he would be able to hear the Captain's orders over the swishing sound of blood rushing through his veins.
"Ortiz, ready intercepts. Fire on my mark." He tensed counting off the seconds until the torpedoes would be in range. "Now!"
"Intercepts away. Collision in three, two, one." The force dispersed by the blast rocked the boat. Frightened passengers screamed in their quarters. Lucas ignored the movement as he concentrated on hacking into the ships communication so he could track the action. Crewmembers held onto the walls for support and loose paneling in the ceilings came tumbling down. The rocking only lasted seconds but like an earthquake it felt like much longer. When everyone looked around to assess the damage, they discovered that the paneling had dealt them a costly blow.
"O'Neill, get medbay up here. Ortiz, watch for any other torpedoes," snapped Ford bending down over his commanding officer. Bridger was breathing but a large piece of paneling had hit him directly in the head knocking him out cold. From the looks of it, he was not going to be resuming command any time soon. Briefly, he moved on to kneel beside Katie. She sat dazed in her seat bleeding from a cut on her forehead. She struggled to focus on his face but failed and he signaled to O'Neill to inform medbay that they had two for transport.
"Captain," started Lieutenant Brody. "We are going to be neck deep in enemy fighters in about thirty seconds. What are our orders?"
"The Captain has been injured, Mr. Brody. I am assuming command of Seaquest," answered Commander Ford.
"What are our orders, sir?" repeated Brody urgently.
"Protect yourself by any means necessary. They have shown beyond a doubt that they are a hostile target."
"Orders, acknowledged," answered Brody formally. "All right, men, engage."
[Scene Change]
"Medbay to the bridge," said O'Neill's voice through the speakers of Lucas's computer. "Captain Bridger and Lt. Commander Hitchcock need transport to Medbay"
Katie! Lucas paused his scan of the systems to listen to Tim's voice. He frowned slightly as Tim relayed information onto the medical staff. He learned enough to reassure him that Katie would be fine but he was well aware of how important she was to the Seaquest. Without her to keep hackers out of the ship's systems, there might not be a Seaquest left when she was well enough to help the fight. He glanced briefly at the door knowing that he could easily cover for her if he was on the bridge. Biting his lip, he shook his head trying to concentrate on what he could accomplish from here in his room. He shoved the hair that fell into his face back behind his ears. He wanted to be up there helping his friends defend their home but the doctor had told him to stay here.
He pushed his computer to its maximum capacity trying to catch and deflect the feelers that the enemy hacker was threading into Seaquest's system. His fingers flew across the keys so fast that the break between clicks was indistinguishable. Every so often he would have to pause and wait for the computer to catch up with him. He felt like a sprinter with a broken leg. The computer was a handicap that was going to make this race impossible for him to win. The only reason he had not lost yet was because he had spent the last week slowly plugging the more obvious holes in the system's security. He was able to go straight to the only places left and put up temporary barriers but with each barrier the hacker broke he was one step closer to defeat.
Alarms sounded as flags he had placed around key systems were activated. He jumped then began pulling up the windows until he found the system that was being attacked. His face lost all color as he spotted the attack. In an instant, he went from worried to terrified that they were going to lose the boat. He slammed his hand down on the panic button he had programmed. Before his last chance at delaying the attack began to run, Lucas was darting down the corridors that led to the bridge. His worse nightmare had come true. A second hacker had joined the first hacker. The ship was not just content with taking control of the weapons' system. They were trying to shut off life support. Lucas knew that if they took out the primary life support then they would be able to wipe out the backup programs as well and Lucas was the only person who could stop them.
[Scene Change]
"They're weakening on the left flank!" shouted Brody as he twisted his fighter between two lines of enemy fire. He let off a brief burst of ammunition piercing the fuel tank of the nearest fighter. The fighter exploded enveloping Brody in the cloud of fire and debris. His fighter bounced but he held onto the controls and battled his way through hoping that the heat and flying parts were not doing too much damage to his fighter. He wondered briefly how much air the fighter must have been carrying for the fire to be able to exist under water.
Two of his men attacked the weakening in the line of fighters. The first fighter took out two of the enemy as he flew down the line twisting out of the way of the return fire. The second fighter was not as lucky. His run down the line removed three of the enemy fighters from the equation but he forgot to pull up at the last minute and rammed nose first into the last fighter. Both Brody's man and the enemy fighter exploded.
"They've got reinforcements coming," came the scared shout of one of the men. Brody glanced down at his screen cursing at the fresh squadron of fighters coming in from the east.
"Commander! I need more men out here now!" shouted Brody forgetting all protocol.
"Lieutenant, there are no reserve fighter pilots left. We do not have anyone to send you."
"We're outnumbered! We are going to be slaughtered if we do not get some help!"
"We've lost control of weapons," replied Ford solemnly. "Right now you and your men are the only thing keeping us from being blown out of the water. I'm sorry, Lieutenant, but you are on your own out there."
Lonnie Henderson imagined her commanding officer's bleak face as he heard the words that spelled his death. She knew he would fight to the last man to protect Seaquest. She could not stay safe on Seaquest while her fellow pilots made the ultimate sacrifice. She snapped on her helmet and began keying her systems. As she navigated her fighter out of the boat, she whispered to herself. "I'm coming, Jim. Hang on. I'm coming."
[Scene Change]
The bridge was deathly silent. A feeling of defeat hung in the air after the Commander's last statement. While people were hurrying to try and bring weapons back online, the actions on the bridge seemed muted. The only discussions were silent ones passed on through glances and the hesitant last touches of comrades. The chaos of the battle outside was unable to permeate the sealed doors.
It was the opening of those sealed doors that broke the oppressive blanket. At the sound of the doors sliding open, Tim whipped around in his seat leveling the barrel of his gun at the doors. Whoever was on the other side of the door had exactly two seconds to prove that they were not hostile before Tim eliminated them. He almost dropped the gun when Lucas burst through the doors. The boy's face was gray and he was soaked in sweat. He looked like he had been running for his life. Ignoring the rest of the bridge, Lucas rushed to Hitchcock's console and began activating things. Tim watched as the Commander marched to Lucas's side prepared to forcefully remove the boy from the bridge. Lucas threw Ford's arm off of him never looking of from his work.
"Don't, Commander," said Tim in a voice that he barely recognized as his own. "He's a hacker. Let him do his job." Tim raised his eyes to meet Ford's eyes and saw the comprehension dawn there. Ford nodded uncertainly and moved back to Bridger's chair.
Even with the computing power of the Seaquest, Lucas knew that he could not over take the two hackers with the head start that they had had. Instead, he chose a different path. Latching onto one of the hackers, he began to follow it back to the enemy ship's computers. The enemy hacker was like a worm. He could slip behind the hacker and follow its path back through the tunnel it had dug. Once inside the enemy system, he released a couple of relatively harmless but annoying viruses. As he had hoped, the hacker that had been attacking Seaquest's life support was called off the attack to fix the viruses.
Using his time wisely, he concentrated on building a wall around the enemy's backup life support system. He did not want to take the chance that what he planned to do would wipe out all life support killing everyone aboard the enemy ship. Once the backup life support was safe, he activated a shield that would protect Seaquest from any rebound back through the connection. Finally it was safe to unleash his weapon. He sent a magnetic pulse along the connection bouncing it through the enemy ship's computer systems. All of their programming was erased sending their computers and the ship crashing to a halt. Conscious of the danger the fighter pilots were in, he did not pause to celebrate his victory. He immediately began keying the programs that would release the weapons' controls.
[Scene Change]
Lonnie sped out into the fight headless to any danger. She pulled her fighter up out of the way of an incoming missal. Laughing, she spun around searching for an enemy target. She got lucky with her first one hitting it dead on sending it careening into the ocean floor. Yes!
"Fighter, identify yourself," ordered Brody with a sinking feeling that he knew exactly who was piloting the fighter.
"It's me, Henderson," answered Lonnie not expecting the string of curses that greeted her.
"Return to the ship immediately!" he demanded. "You are not ready for this."
"You need me out here, sir."
"I am ordering you to return to Seaquest!" he shouted before another enemy fighter was demanding his undivided attention. Moments later, he twisted around to find her still out there dancing around the deadly fire. Shaking his head, he turned to provide her cover. She took out another fighter never noticing how narrowly she managed to clear the fighter in front of her. She was flying high on adrenaline and her attentiveness was wavering. Brody threw caution aside and sped up to keep up with her. One of the enemy fighters dropped back behind her. She twisted and turned trying in vain to shake her tail. Brody ducked under an on-coming fighter and shot the one following Henderson. He was so intent on keeping her safe that he never noticed the fighter behind him. He did not even have time to register that he had been hit before the blackness reached up and swallowed him.
Henderson spun around to thank Brody for helping her with her tail. She saw the missal hit his fighter. She could only watch in horror as it spiraled down to crash into the sandy bottom. As she moved to circle the craft, another enemy fighter dropped down behind her. The pilot had her in his sights and was ready to fire when Seaquest blasted him into pieces. Lonnie was forced to leave Jim as she helped corral the fighters that the Seaquest was not currently decimated. The only thing she could think about as she labored on was that she hoped he was alive.
[Scene Change]
"You did it!" congratulated Tim patting Lucas on his back. The boy gave him a shy grin and shrugged.
"Lucas!" exclaimed Dr. Westphalen rushing onto the bridge the second the doors unsealed. An expression of fear flickered across Lucas's face before his face became blank. Tim frowned slightly wondering at the cause of the fear. "Why didn't you stay in your room? You could have been hurt or even killed! How could you do such a thing? I was worried sick about you."
Lucas bowed his head, twisting his arms together to hide their trembling. Kristin reached down to brush the hair back from his face but he flinched and she slowly moved her hand back. She studied him for a moment. "Come on," she said. "We need to get you to MedBay to check you out."
"Doctor Westphalen," began Tim hesitantly. "I think maybe it would be best if you gave Lucas some space."
"Nonsense," she stated glaring at Tim. "I am not the one who allowed him to remain in a dangerous situation." She reached down and grabbed Lucas's arm prepared to remove him from the bridge. She paused in surprise when Lucas whimpered in response to her touch. Tim placed a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from leaving the room.
"Ma'am, you're frightening him," he said gently.
"But why would Lucas be frightened of me?" she asked in horror. She released her hold on his arm and moved to embrace him but Tim squeezed her shoulder gently causing her to look back up at him.
"I think perhaps you should leave. Your being here is just going to upset him more."
"But."
"He's right," interjected Jonathan. "Look, Tim can take him to your quarters. Come, I'll walk with you to medbay."
"I'll take care of him," promised Tim. Kristin looked between the two men and down at the young boy and realized that she did not have a choice.
"OK," she agreed unhappily. Tim waited a moment as Jonathan led her from the room then knelt down beside Lucas.
"Are you ok?" he asked the boy softly. Lucas paused uncertainly still refusing to look at Tim. He finally shrugged. "I'm going to take you back to your room now. Can you walk?" Lucas stood slowly waiting to see if his limbs would stop shaking before shaking his head no. "I am going to pick you up," said Tim moving slowly to scoop the boy up into his arms. Lucas stiffened but did not protest. Tim shifted the boy surprised at how little he weighed. It horrified Tim even more to realize that Lucas had been putting on weight in the weeks he had been on Seaquest. He must have only weighed around eighty pounds when they rescued him. Tim set the boy down gently beside the door then keyed the door open. Lucas wobbled over to his bed flinching again when Tim sat down beside him.
"She's not mad at you, you know," started Tim. Lucas sighed and curled in on himself trying to escape the conversation. "She is not your new owner. She is not going to beat you or starve you for disobeying." Lucas shivered again. Tim smoothed down Lucas's hair pulling him closer to him. "She's just upset because she cares for you. She was afraid that something bad might have happened to you while you were on the bridge. She loves you. Didn't you know that?"
Lucas pulled back searching Tim's face for any sign that he was kidding. His eyes filled with tears and he shook his head. It had never occurred to him that Dr. Westphalen might view him as anything other than her responsibility. Her property.
"What? You don't think you are worth being loved?" asked Tim gently. Lucas glanced down, ashamed. He nodded his head slowly. Tim placed a finger under Lucas's chin forcing him to meet Tim's eyes. "You're wrong," said Tim gently but firmly. "There is a lot about you to love and none of it has anything to do with you being a hacker. You have made a lot of friends on this boat in the short time you've been here and we all love you. We love you for you because you are Lucas and that makes you special. Dr. Westphalen loves you most of all. She does not love you like a friend. She loves you the way a mother loves a son." Tim noticed the slight apprehension in Lucas's eyes at the mention of a mother. "Not like that. Like a real mother. One who loves and cherishes and protects her son." Tears began to pour down Lucas's cheeks. Tim hugged the boy's frail frame close to him as it shook with sobs. Weeks of fear leaked out with the tears and by the time he was finished crying, Lucas was relaxed enough to drift off to sleep in Tim's arms.
[Scene Change]
"You did a very brave but incredibly stupid thing," began Captain Bridger entering the room. Lonnie leapt to her feet saluting the captain. She realized that he expected an answer to his statement and glanced down at Brody lying bruised and bandaged in the bed beside her.
"Yes, sir," she answered finally.
"He was injured trying to protect you because you were not ready to be placed in that kind of situation. He could have died and it would have been your fault. How does that make you feel?"
"Ashamed," she whispered. "Guilty. I wish I had listened. I wish I had stayed on the boat. It's just that they needed more fighters and Seaquest could not help them. I couldn't let them fight when I was the only person available to help them," she finished fighting tears.
"But you did not help them. You got in the way and your mistake almost cost Lieutenant Brody his life. Do you understand now why you were kept on the boat?"
"Yes, sir," she replied wiping a tear from her cheek. She bowed her head to hide any more tears that threatened to fall.
"I am docking you for a month's salary as punishment."
"Yes, sir."
"You are also stripped of all pilot's privileges. You will join Commander Hitchcock's class when she resumes teaching it. You will not set foot in a fighter or any other vehicle until both Commander Hitchcock and Lieutenant Brody clear you. You are also subject to any further punishment as Lt. Brody sees fit to administer. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir." She did not look up from her inspection of the floor until the Captain had left the medical room. She wiped the tears from her face again. "I'm sorry," she whispered to Brody's motionless figure.
[Scene Change]
"Hello, Lucas," greeted Captain Bridger seeing the boy seated on an examination table in the Medbay. Dr. Westphalen was still checking him over to make sure he was fine after the rough day yesterday. Lucas looked up smiling shyly at the Captain. "I wanted to tell you how thankful I am that you were here to save my ship." Lucas just shrugged clearly saying in his own way that it was nothing. "Thank you. I don't suppose there is any way we can convince you to stay on Seaquest is there?" asked Bridger with a grin. Lucas grinned back and nodded to Dr. Westphalen. "Oh, we'd find her a place to stay too." Lucas looked at her pleadingly. She frowned warningly at the Captain and smiled sadly at Lucas.
"We'll see."