FROM DOVER TO PLYMOUTH, AND BACK
Chapter 15
By Kiddo
In Loving Memory Of Jonathan Brandis
==
"Don't fix a broken heart. Who really wants to forget?" (Joseph Fiennes)
==
"I always will remember you by real good moments." ("Real Good Moments" by Christian Wunderlich)
==
"But in dreams - I still hear your name - And in Dreams - We will meet again." ("In Dreams"-Lord of the Rings)
==
"And there is never a day that passes by – I don't think of you." ("The Perfect Fan" by BSB)
==
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 Refur, dolphinology and Joxer for their Reviews. A big Thank You goes also to Refur and LizU for the songtext. You are my new heroes.
to Refur: I know that you hadn't meand a real car chase. I was just joking. You know my exam stress let me do crazy things. ;-)
to dolphinology: The second song is called „Rolling Home"but I don't know who wrote it.
Feedback and reviews are still the only thing I get for writing. So please review.
===================================================================
Lucas awoke, as if he had been frightened by some bad dream. They were only two days sail from Dover. However closer they got to Dover, the worse his nightmares became. He had never had nightmares on the seaQuest before. Only now, when they were near England, the dreams wouldn't let go of him.
Last night, he had screamed so loud in his dreams that the captain in the neighbouring cabin had heared him. Bridger had woken him up from his nightmare and had asked the boy what the dream had been about. But the teenager hadn't said anything about it; he said that he had forgotten it.
Lucas had seen in the look on the captain's face; he saw that Bridger hadn't believed him but he said nothing about it.
The blond boy knew that he couldn't just go back to sleep, not after such a nightmare. Lucas stood up and walked on deck. He stepped to the rail and looked into the water. He hoped that Darwin was around and that he could talk with him. But the dolphin was nowhere to be seen.
Apart from Lucas, Tim O'Neil, Manilow Crocker, and Miguel Ortiz were also on the deck. The three men had the night shift and were piloting the seaQuest. All the three had noticed when the teenager had stepped onto deck, but they had decided to give the boy space and not speak with him. Lucas looked like he wanted to be alone.
The whole crew had noticed a change in Lucas' behaviour over the last few days. He looked tired and closed off. He had nearly stopped talking and wasn't nearly as happy anymore. Not even Ben Krieg could get him to laugh.
And sometimes, the teenager had this strangest look on his face. There was something really wrong with the boy.
Lucas looked up at the mainmast. At the top was the now empty crow's nest. He remembered what Ortiz had told him about it. Miguel had said that the crow's nest was the perfect place when you wanted to be alone and think about something.
The blond boy went to mainmast and climbed up the rigging to the crow's nest. Lucas sat down and looked into the night sky. Ortiz had been right, the stars appeared to be so near now.
Captain Bridger stepped on the deck and searched for Lucas. Nathan had been sitting awake in his cabin, writing something in the logbook; therefore, he had heared when the teenager left his cabin. Bridger thought it was time to speak with the boy.
Nathan's glance wandered over the deck, but he couldn't see the teenager anywhere.
Miguel Ortiz walked over to the captain. "Are you looking for something, sir?"
Bridger nodded. "Yes, Lucas."
Miguel pointed with gestured with his head to the mainmast. "He's up there."
Nathan looked surprised at Ortiz. "What is he doing in the crow's nest in the middle of the night?"
The dark-haired man shrugged his shoulders.
"Then I'll just have to find out by myself." Bridger went to the rigging and climbed up to the crow's nest. In the nest, he sat down next to his youngest crewman.
Lucas had seen the captain for a short time as the man had climped up the rigging. After that, the boy had moved his gaze back to the stars. He didn't say a word.
Nathan was also silent for a moment. Then he decided to speak. "What are you doing here?"
"Thinking."
Bridger looked at the teenager who was still looking at the stars. "What are you thinking about?"
Lucas' only answer was silence. There was no way to explain it. How could he?
The older man tried again to get the boy to speak. "I've told you before, that you can tell about everything with me. That offer is still open."
The blond haired teenager was again silent.
The captain tried a different tactic. "You don't have a good life with the Wolenczaks, right?"
Lucas immediately looked away from the stars and looked startled into Bridger's face. He was speechless. How could the captain know about that? He had never spoken of the name Wolenczak with anybody on the ship.
It was like Nathan could see the question in the boy's eyes. "Hitchcock told us about your stepfather and his sons."
The boy had always thought that Katie hadn't told anyone about that.
Because the teenager still didn't say anything, Bridger tried again to get the boy to speak. Nathan said what he was thinking. "You're thinking about what will happen when we reach Dover. You're afraid of it, afraid of the Wolenczaks. You're afraid of what they will do to you. You fell into the harbour and nearly drowned because of them. Am I right?"
The tears that Lucas had held onto for so long sprang to his eyes. Silently they started to run down his cheeks. He just nodded as an answer to the captain's question.
Nathan Bridger took the boy in his arms and hugged him. He rocked the boy and stroked a comforting hand over the blond hair.
When Lucas' tears stopped, the captain let him out of the hug, but made sure that the boy was listening to him. "Lucas, I have spoken with the whole crew, and we all think the same thing. I want to offer you a place as ship's boy of the seaQuest. I will pay you the same wage every ship's boy earns. And when you get older, you can work as a seaman. You're learning to sail very quickly and I have gotten the impression that you have fun doing it. And therefore, I want to offer you this job. But if you don't want to do this, it's also okay if you say no. The whole crew would be happy if you decide to sail the next tour with us."
The teenager looked sadly at the captain. "You don't understand, I would love to... there's nothing I would like to do more... but I can't."
"Why can't you?"
Lucas bit down on his upper lip. Should he really say it? "If I go back to the Wolenczaks, there won't be a seaQuest for me. They wouldn't let me go. I'm not a human being to them. I'm just a thing, a slave, a prisoner. What I want or don't want isn't important to them!"
Bridger felt sad at the teenager's words. "Then we have to make sure that you never go back to the Wolenczaks."
Lucas looked confused at the older man. "What do you mean?"
Nathan smiled. "I meant it just the way I said it. When we get back to Dover, you will come with me. You can live with me."
The boy looked happy and hopeful. "Are you serious?"
Captain Bridger nodded and looked Lucas straight in the eyes. "I promise you kiddo, no Wolenczak of the world will ever raise his hand or voice to you. You don't need to see any of them again. That's a promise!"
===================
To Be Continued...In only one more chapter.
Written 2003 / Translated April 2004