FROM DOVER TO PLYMOUTH, AND BACK
Chapter 4
By Kiddo
~*~ In Loving Memory Of Jonathan Brandis ~*~
~**Don't fix a broken heart. Who really wants to forget? (Joseph
Fiennes)**~
~**One by one / Only the good die young / They're only flyin' too close to the sun / And life goes on - / Without you... /One by one / Only the good die young / They're only flyin' too close to the sun / We'll remember -Forever... /One by one / Only the good die young / They're only flyin' too close to the sun / Cryin' for nothing / Cryin' for no-one / No-one but you ( No One But You - Only The Good Die Young by Queen**~
Disclaimer:
I don't have any rights to "seaQuest DSV" or "seaQuest 2032" and I am not making any money with this story.
A big Thank You goes to my wonderfull beta-reader Jackie and KatKnits00, Kas7, Meisalliam and Joxer for their kind Reviews. Thank you so much for your so nice words.
Feedback and reviews are still the only thing I get for writing. So please review.
***************************************************************************
The next afternoon, Captain Bridger was sitting at his desk in his cabin, writing in the logbook. The unknown teenager hadn't awoken. The crew was wondering who the boy was and where he had come from. It wasn't every day that a dolphin brought them a person.
Where was the boy from? There was nothing but water around them. The closest land was England. But nobody could swim that far, even with the help of a dolphin. Maybe the teenager had fallen off a ship and was now horribly missed.
Bridger and Westahlen hadn't told the others about the bruises that were covering the boy's body.
All were surprised about the dolphin's behaviour. He hadn't left the ship since he had brought the teenager to them. He always swam nearby and it didn't look like he would be leaving them soon. Maybe the blond boy and the animal had been good friends for a long time?
Captain Bridger lifted his glance from the logbook and looked at the boy. It seemed like the teenager had moved a bit. Nathan watched him for a few minutes, but nothing happened. Maybe his mind had played a trick on him. Bridger turned back to the logbook, but noticed that he couldn't focus on it.
The Captain lifted his head again. Now he was sure that the teenager had moved. Nathan stood up and closed the book. He took his chair and put it next to the bed, then, he sat down on it and watched the boy. It didn't take long before the blond teenager moved again.
Bridger thought about going to look for Kristen Westphalen, but than decided against it. The boy might wake up the moment he was away and would get frightened because he didn't know where he was.
The boy's eyelids began to flutter, and then two sleepy blue eyes opened.
Captain Bridger moved forward a bit.
Lucas saw something moving out of the corner of his eye. He was frightened and tried to get away from it. But he didn't get far because the bed was positioned next to a wall. Panic was rising in the teenager. Where was he? The last thing he remembered was a dolphin. How had he gotten here? The room was rising up and down, so he figured that he was on a ship. Had he landed on another pirate ship? What would they do with him?
Captain Bridger saw the fear in the boy's wide open eyes. His whole body was tense. It was like he wanted to jump away at any moment. Bridger tried to calm the boy down and take away the fear by speaking in a kind and calming voice. "You don't need to be afraid of me. I will not harm you. No one on this ship will do anything to hurt you. You're safe."
It took Lucas a moment to understand the man's words. When he understood what the man had said, he wondered: was this man telling the truth? His face was full of mistrust.
Nathan Bridger realized what was going through the teenager's mind and understood. He felt unsure himself too. It wasn't his daily routine to fish a live person out of the water. The dolphin made him unsure too. The captain hoped that he could take away a bit of the fear the boy was feeling so he could introduce himself. "I'm Captain Bridger and this ship is the seaQuest. The seaQuest is a merchant vessel. We serve under the order of the English King, Jakob." Bridger saw that the teenager was still afraid and tense. "And what is your name?"
It took a few seconds for the blond haired boy to answer. He looked uncertainly at the captain. "Lucas...Lucas Holt."
Captain Bridger smiled warmly at the boy. There had to be a way to get the boy to relax. "Okay Lucas, now you know who I am and I know who you are. You really don't need to be afraid. I will not harm you and nothing bad will happen to you here. You are not in any trouble for being on the seaQuest."
The friendly words of the captain calmed the teenager a little bit, but his fear couldn't go away so easily; not after all that happened to him in life and on the pirate ship.
"Lucas, where are you from?"
"Dover."
Bridger nodded. "All right and how did you end up in ocean? Did you fall off of a ship?"
The blond boy nodded; how should he explain everything? "I...I fell into the harbour. It was so foggy that I couldn't see where the land was. I tried to find it, but everywhere I swam there was only water. Then suddenly, there was this ship in front of me. It had dropped its anchor in the open water and not right in the harbour... The water was so cold and I was so exhausted. I climbed up a rope on deck. I climbed into a lifeboat to just rest for a moment. I hadn't planned on actually sleeping there... Please, you have to believe this. I didn't do it on purpose. I was so tired that it just happened." The teenager stopped his story.
Captain Bridger had listened the whole time, very interested in the boy's story. It was clear that it was hard for Lucas to tell him everything. It was like the boy was afraid of getting into trouble for this. "And what happened then?"
With his left hand, Lucas brushed a strand of blond hair out of his eyes. When the hand touched his face, he winced. The scratches were still hurting. "I woke up the next morning when two men pulled me out of the lifeboat. More people were standing around the boat looking at me, including the captain. She asked me after for name and what I was doing on her boat."
Nathan Bridger raised his eyebrows questioningly and interrupted the boy. "She?"
Lucas nodded; the hair he had just pushed back fell into his face again. "Yes, it was a blond woman." The teenager waited a moment, but when Bridger didn't asked any more questions he continued with his story. "The captain ordered two sailors to throw me overboard." The boy looked down. "I begged and pleaded, but it didn't help. They threw me off the boat."
Captain Bridger was speechless. No wonder that the boy was afraid. Lucas was afraid that something like that would also happen on the seaQuest. Nathan was thinking. He only knew one woman who held the position of captain. Captain Marilyn Stark. But he didn't know for sure if she was at sea at the moment, or even which ship she had under her command. The last he had heard of Stark, she was sitting in prison, waiting to be killed for her crimes. Now it seemed like she had broken out. "Was it a pirate ship?"
Lucas just nodded.
"Were you able to read the name of the ship?" Nathan wanted to know which ship she was on.
The teenager shook his head and looked down. "I can't read. Nobody ever taught me how."
Captain Bridger gave him an encouraging smile. "No problem. What happened after they throw you over?"
"The pirate ship sailed away and I tried to keep swimming. When I got weaker, this dolphin suddenly appeared next to me. I held onto his fin and the next thing I can remember is waking up here." He had decided that it was better not to say that he had heard the dolphin in his head. The captain would probably think that he was crazy.
Bridger nodded in understading. "That dolphin brought you to the seaQuest. Miguel Ortiz, one man of my crew, was the one who spotted you two. He and my first officer, Jonathan Ford, jumped into the water and brought you on board. Have you seen the dolphin before?"
The teenager shook his head in confusion. "No, why do you ask?"
Nathan smiled at the look on the boy's face. "Because he's been following the seaQuest ever since he brought you here. That animal must really like you. Otherwise he wouldn't do something like that."
Lucas cheeks turned a little bit red. "Maybe he's just going the same way."
"I don't think so. I think he's following us because of you," said Bridger, shaking his head. "Why did you fall into the harbour?"
The boy pressed his lips together and was silent.
Captain Bridger saw what the teenager was doing. "You don't want to tell me, right?"
Lucas nodded slightly and tried to get away from the watchful look of Nathan.
"Okay, you don't need to tell me." He didn't want to force the boy to doing something he didn't want to. He would just scare the teenager by doing that. He would try to save that question for later. "Did you lose your shoes and jacket in the water?"
"Yes, I lost my shoes in the water, but I didn't have a jacket."
It surprised the captain to hear that. It wasn't really warm outside. It was much too cold to go without a jacket. "How old are you Lucas?"
The blond haired looked Bridger in the eye. "I'm 14."
The captain nodded. He had thought that the boy was around that age. "I'm sorry, but I have to tell you that I can't turn the seaQuest around right now to bring you back to Dover. We are sailing to Plymouth. But as soon as we meet a ship that is sailing to Dover, we will ask if they can take you back with them. And if that isn't possible, we will give them a message for your parents, so that they don't worry too much about you and that they know where you are. But until then, you will stay with us." During his speech, Bridger watched the boy. It bothered him that the boy didn't seemed too sad about any of this. In fact, it was just the opposite. He seemed almost relieved.
"That's no problem. Nobody will miss me in Dover. It's really nice of you to let me stay on board."
Captain Bridger's forehead wrinkled. "What do you mean that nobody will miss you? Your parents are probably sick with worry!"
Lucas shook his head sadly. "No, my mother is dead. She died 6 years ago."
Nathan Bridger looked at the boy, sympathy in his eyes. "I'm sorry to hear that. What about your father?"
The teenager shrugged his shoulders. "I never knew my real father. He died before I was born."
Bridger had the feeling that Lucas had said the words 'real father' in a special way. It sounded like maybe there was someone, maybe a stepfather or something like that. "Where are you living at the moment?"
The boy acted like he hadn't heard the question and looked away from the captain.
Bridger watched Lucas, and now he knew the boy was avoiding it. But, Nathan was sure that he would get the answer one day. "Okay Lucas, you will stay the next few days in my cabin. When you are feeling better, you take the hammock and I get my bed back. Later, we will see if we can find you a cabin of your own. But at the moment, I want you to really rest. I will go now, but I will send Miss Westphalen to see you. She knows a lot about illnesses and wounds, and she wants to take a look at your hands." Captain Bridger gave the boy an encouraging smile; then he stood up and left the cabin.
Lucas was left alone. He wasn't sure what he should think about the captain. It had been a long time since anyone had been so friendly to him. The last person who had been that nice was his mother, and then his grandmother. But both were dead.
It didn't bother him that he would be staying on the ship for the time being. He didn't want to go back to Dover. He didn't want to go 'home.' It was really possible that the Wolenczaks thought that he was dead, that he had drowned. But Lucas was also afraid of the seaQuest crew. He didn't know them and sailors weren't known for being friendly or trustworthy. If he thought back to the people on the pirate ship, he felt that his ideas had been confirmed.
**********
To Be Continued...
Written 2003 / Translated April 2004
Chapter 4
By Kiddo
~*~ In Loving Memory Of Jonathan Brandis ~*~
~**Don't fix a broken heart. Who really wants to forget? (Joseph
Fiennes)**~
~**One by one / Only the good die young / They're only flyin' too close to the sun / And life goes on - / Without you... /One by one / Only the good die young / They're only flyin' too close to the sun / We'll remember -Forever... /One by one / Only the good die young / They're only flyin' too close to the sun / Cryin' for nothing / Cryin' for no-one / No-one but you ( No One But You - Only The Good Die Young by Queen**~
Disclaimer:
I don't have any rights to "seaQuest DSV" or "seaQuest 2032" and I am not making any money with this story.
A big Thank You goes to my wonderfull beta-reader Jackie and KatKnits00, Kas7, Meisalliam and Joxer for their kind Reviews. Thank you so much for your so nice words.
Feedback and reviews are still the only thing I get for writing. So please review.
***************************************************************************
The next afternoon, Captain Bridger was sitting at his desk in his cabin, writing in the logbook. The unknown teenager hadn't awoken. The crew was wondering who the boy was and where he had come from. It wasn't every day that a dolphin brought them a person.
Where was the boy from? There was nothing but water around them. The closest land was England. But nobody could swim that far, even with the help of a dolphin. Maybe the teenager had fallen off a ship and was now horribly missed.
Bridger and Westahlen hadn't told the others about the bruises that were covering the boy's body.
All were surprised about the dolphin's behaviour. He hadn't left the ship since he had brought the teenager to them. He always swam nearby and it didn't look like he would be leaving them soon. Maybe the blond boy and the animal had been good friends for a long time?
Captain Bridger lifted his glance from the logbook and looked at the boy. It seemed like the teenager had moved a bit. Nathan watched him for a few minutes, but nothing happened. Maybe his mind had played a trick on him. Bridger turned back to the logbook, but noticed that he couldn't focus on it.
The Captain lifted his head again. Now he was sure that the teenager had moved. Nathan stood up and closed the book. He took his chair and put it next to the bed, then, he sat down on it and watched the boy. It didn't take long before the blond teenager moved again.
Bridger thought about going to look for Kristen Westphalen, but than decided against it. The boy might wake up the moment he was away and would get frightened because he didn't know where he was.
The boy's eyelids began to flutter, and then two sleepy blue eyes opened.
Captain Bridger moved forward a bit.
Lucas saw something moving out of the corner of his eye. He was frightened and tried to get away from it. But he didn't get far because the bed was positioned next to a wall. Panic was rising in the teenager. Where was he? The last thing he remembered was a dolphin. How had he gotten here? The room was rising up and down, so he figured that he was on a ship. Had he landed on another pirate ship? What would they do with him?
Captain Bridger saw the fear in the boy's wide open eyes. His whole body was tense. It was like he wanted to jump away at any moment. Bridger tried to calm the boy down and take away the fear by speaking in a kind and calming voice. "You don't need to be afraid of me. I will not harm you. No one on this ship will do anything to hurt you. You're safe."
It took Lucas a moment to understand the man's words. When he understood what the man had said, he wondered: was this man telling the truth? His face was full of mistrust.
Nathan Bridger realized what was going through the teenager's mind and understood. He felt unsure himself too. It wasn't his daily routine to fish a live person out of the water. The dolphin made him unsure too. The captain hoped that he could take away a bit of the fear the boy was feeling so he could introduce himself. "I'm Captain Bridger and this ship is the seaQuest. The seaQuest is a merchant vessel. We serve under the order of the English King, Jakob." Bridger saw that the teenager was still afraid and tense. "And what is your name?"
It took a few seconds for the blond haired boy to answer. He looked uncertainly at the captain. "Lucas...Lucas Holt."
Captain Bridger smiled warmly at the boy. There had to be a way to get the boy to relax. "Okay Lucas, now you know who I am and I know who you are. You really don't need to be afraid. I will not harm you and nothing bad will happen to you here. You are not in any trouble for being on the seaQuest."
The friendly words of the captain calmed the teenager a little bit, but his fear couldn't go away so easily; not after all that happened to him in life and on the pirate ship.
"Lucas, where are you from?"
"Dover."
Bridger nodded. "All right and how did you end up in ocean? Did you fall off of a ship?"
The blond boy nodded; how should he explain everything? "I...I fell into the harbour. It was so foggy that I couldn't see where the land was. I tried to find it, but everywhere I swam there was only water. Then suddenly, there was this ship in front of me. It had dropped its anchor in the open water and not right in the harbour... The water was so cold and I was so exhausted. I climbed up a rope on deck. I climbed into a lifeboat to just rest for a moment. I hadn't planned on actually sleeping there... Please, you have to believe this. I didn't do it on purpose. I was so tired that it just happened." The teenager stopped his story.
Captain Bridger had listened the whole time, very interested in the boy's story. It was clear that it was hard for Lucas to tell him everything. It was like the boy was afraid of getting into trouble for this. "And what happened then?"
With his left hand, Lucas brushed a strand of blond hair out of his eyes. When the hand touched his face, he winced. The scratches were still hurting. "I woke up the next morning when two men pulled me out of the lifeboat. More people were standing around the boat looking at me, including the captain. She asked me after for name and what I was doing on her boat."
Nathan Bridger raised his eyebrows questioningly and interrupted the boy. "She?"
Lucas nodded; the hair he had just pushed back fell into his face again. "Yes, it was a blond woman." The teenager waited a moment, but when Bridger didn't asked any more questions he continued with his story. "The captain ordered two sailors to throw me overboard." The boy looked down. "I begged and pleaded, but it didn't help. They threw me off the boat."
Captain Bridger was speechless. No wonder that the boy was afraid. Lucas was afraid that something like that would also happen on the seaQuest. Nathan was thinking. He only knew one woman who held the position of captain. Captain Marilyn Stark. But he didn't know for sure if she was at sea at the moment, or even which ship she had under her command. The last he had heard of Stark, she was sitting in prison, waiting to be killed for her crimes. Now it seemed like she had broken out. "Was it a pirate ship?"
Lucas just nodded.
"Were you able to read the name of the ship?" Nathan wanted to know which ship she was on.
The teenager shook his head and looked down. "I can't read. Nobody ever taught me how."
Captain Bridger gave him an encouraging smile. "No problem. What happened after they throw you over?"
"The pirate ship sailed away and I tried to keep swimming. When I got weaker, this dolphin suddenly appeared next to me. I held onto his fin and the next thing I can remember is waking up here." He had decided that it was better not to say that he had heard the dolphin in his head. The captain would probably think that he was crazy.
Bridger nodded in understading. "That dolphin brought you to the seaQuest. Miguel Ortiz, one man of my crew, was the one who spotted you two. He and my first officer, Jonathan Ford, jumped into the water and brought you on board. Have you seen the dolphin before?"
The teenager shook his head in confusion. "No, why do you ask?"
Nathan smiled at the look on the boy's face. "Because he's been following the seaQuest ever since he brought you here. That animal must really like you. Otherwise he wouldn't do something like that."
Lucas cheeks turned a little bit red. "Maybe he's just going the same way."
"I don't think so. I think he's following us because of you," said Bridger, shaking his head. "Why did you fall into the harbour?"
The boy pressed his lips together and was silent.
Captain Bridger saw what the teenager was doing. "You don't want to tell me, right?"
Lucas nodded slightly and tried to get away from the watchful look of Nathan.
"Okay, you don't need to tell me." He didn't want to force the boy to doing something he didn't want to. He would just scare the teenager by doing that. He would try to save that question for later. "Did you lose your shoes and jacket in the water?"
"Yes, I lost my shoes in the water, but I didn't have a jacket."
It surprised the captain to hear that. It wasn't really warm outside. It was much too cold to go without a jacket. "How old are you Lucas?"
The blond haired looked Bridger in the eye. "I'm 14."
The captain nodded. He had thought that the boy was around that age. "I'm sorry, but I have to tell you that I can't turn the seaQuest around right now to bring you back to Dover. We are sailing to Plymouth. But as soon as we meet a ship that is sailing to Dover, we will ask if they can take you back with them. And if that isn't possible, we will give them a message for your parents, so that they don't worry too much about you and that they know where you are. But until then, you will stay with us." During his speech, Bridger watched the boy. It bothered him that the boy didn't seemed too sad about any of this. In fact, it was just the opposite. He seemed almost relieved.
"That's no problem. Nobody will miss me in Dover. It's really nice of you to let me stay on board."
Captain Bridger's forehead wrinkled. "What do you mean that nobody will miss you? Your parents are probably sick with worry!"
Lucas shook his head sadly. "No, my mother is dead. She died 6 years ago."
Nathan Bridger looked at the boy, sympathy in his eyes. "I'm sorry to hear that. What about your father?"
The teenager shrugged his shoulders. "I never knew my real father. He died before I was born."
Bridger had the feeling that Lucas had said the words 'real father' in a special way. It sounded like maybe there was someone, maybe a stepfather or something like that. "Where are you living at the moment?"
The boy acted like he hadn't heard the question and looked away from the captain.
Bridger watched Lucas, and now he knew the boy was avoiding it. But, Nathan was sure that he would get the answer one day. "Okay Lucas, you will stay the next few days in my cabin. When you are feeling better, you take the hammock and I get my bed back. Later, we will see if we can find you a cabin of your own. But at the moment, I want you to really rest. I will go now, but I will send Miss Westphalen to see you. She knows a lot about illnesses and wounds, and she wants to take a look at your hands." Captain Bridger gave the boy an encouraging smile; then he stood up and left the cabin.
Lucas was left alone. He wasn't sure what he should think about the captain. It had been a long time since anyone had been so friendly to him. The last person who had been that nice was his mother, and then his grandmother. But both were dead.
It didn't bother him that he would be staying on the ship for the time being. He didn't want to go back to Dover. He didn't want to go 'home.' It was really possible that the Wolenczaks thought that he was dead, that he had drowned. But Lucas was also afraid of the seaQuest crew. He didn't know them and sailors weren't known for being friendly or trustworthy. If he thought back to the people on the pirate ship, he felt that his ideas had been confirmed.
**********
To Be Continued...
Written 2003 / Translated April 2004