The Search for One's Self- Chapter Two
Taylor Kane
Disclaimer: I do not own SeaQuest or Stargate, etc.
I want to say thank you to my two wonderful betas.. Sara and Lori.
I couldn't do anything without the both of you.
Any mistakes left are purely my fault. Thanks Taylor K.
Warning: This is AU and will eventually be a crossover with Stargate.
It takes place in the SeaQuest (Season Two) timeframe. I've just jumped Stargate (Season Five) a ew years into the future. It suits my purposes.
Chapter Two
Flashback:
The weeks that followed were filled with research, phone calls, net searches, hacking and some face-to-face visits. It was actually one of Captain Bridger's contacts who had finally found a copy of Lucas' real birth certificate.
No father was listed, only his mother: Rose Carthway.
Had he been an unwanted pregnancy? An accident? Had his mother remarried? For that matter, did he have any brothers or sisters?
After a quick net search and a little hacking, Lucas had collected some information on his mother, Rose Carthway.
Rose Carthway
Born: 4th March, 1988
She had been sixteen when she gave birth to him.
Parents: Collin Carthway (deceased)
Mary Thompson (deceased)
Education: Middleton Elementary and Middle School.
(New York)
Burshmore Secondary School (New York)
New York University (Early Graduate Program)
Qualifications: Doctorate of Linguistics.
Marital Status: Single
Death: 12th April, 2012
Buried: Burshmore Cemetery, New York.
Lucas had been devastated when the last two facts had been revealed. His mother was dead. His family was gone before he had even had a chance to meet her.
She had died not long after completing her university degree. It had been an accident. She had been out to dinner with her parents to celebrate her graduation. Her father, Lucas' grandfather, had been driving.
Drunk driver, the report had stated. No survivors.
Captain Bridger had accompanied Lucas to Burshmore Cemetery so he could pay his respects to his mother and grandparents. The trip had left Lucas depressed...
He had sulked in his room for three days before the Captain had taken him aside and straightened him out and convinced him that there were, in fact, ways to track down his unlisted father.
They had started with Burshmore Secondary ...Lucas's mother had been 16 when he was born. She would have been in high school. School records were pulled (or hacked)... a mention of a pregnancy and a noted four-month absence for said pregnancy were found.
No mention of his father.
Upon checking the school website, Lucas had found links to previous online yearbooks. A quick search for Rose had produced several pictures. According to the caption on one photo, Rose Carthway, Tom Borris, Sally Frenchfield, Kelly Sore, Callen Collins and Maggie Wield had been life long friends. Two possible suspects for Lucas's father.
The Captain had called both men and requested a meeting to ask about Rose Carthway. Both men, who were still in New York, agreed to meet at a popular restaurant in Manhattan.
Having arranged for three days leave, made possible by Commander Ford's presence on the SeaQuest, Lucas and the Captain had flown to New York for the meeting.
Both men had been surprised at meeting Lucas but neither had any doubts about who he was. They had said he was the spitting image of his mother.
The afternoon had been spent sharing stories about Rose Carthway and about Lucas himself. It wasn't until several hours later that Lucas had brought up the question of his father.
Lucas had liked both Tom and Callen and had been disappointed to hear neither was his father. However, they did have the name of his father.
Callen had explained that his father was a foster child, who had been constantly bounced around the system. When he had arrived at Burshmore Secondary, Rose had instantly gravitated towards him. They had been together 4 months before his father had been once again been shoved off to another home. It wasn't until two months later that Rose had discovered she was pregnant. With no contact details, she could not inform Lucas' father... and had considered it might have been for the best.
Tom had continued on, explaining that it had been a joint decision by Rose and her parents to put Lucas up for adoption. Rose was too young and her parents were getting old, neither Rose nor her parents could raise a baby.
Tom and Callen had promised Lucas that they would be in touch and that next time they met they would have some photos to share.
Armed with a name, Lucas and the Captain had gone back to the hotel, where Lucas's laptop had been left, to do some research on Lucas' father
It had only taken Lucas ten minutes to find the location of his father... Colorado Springs. Further research had provided an interesting profile of the man.
An orphan at age eight, Lucas's father had bounced from foster family to foster family. It wasn't until he had turned 13 that he had finally found a family in the Branons.
Two years later, adoption papers had been requested. The adoption had never been finalized. The court records had shown that the Branons had been killed in a plane accident. The adoption papers had been withdrawn and Lucas' father had been sent back into the foster system.
He had continued to bounce through foster homes until his 18th birthday, at which time he had been release from the foster system, an independent. He had graduated from higher education with a Doctorate of Linguistics and a Doctorate of Archaeology at age 25.
He had then proceeded to build a respected reputation through a series of Egyptian digs, lectures and published papers. A reputation that his last recorded lecture had proceeded to destroy.
Lucas had not been able to find a copy of the lecture notes or proposal, but whatever the topic, it must have been controversial.
Following the lecture, Lucas's father had lost his reputation and had been left homeless.
The records then had seemed to disappear... and then just as suddenly, 12 months later, he had reappeared on the employment roll at a military base in Colorado Springs.
What would a military base want with a Linguist/Archaeologist? But then again, what would a military vessel want with a 16 year old scientist/computer genius... if he did say so himself?
Further records were classified and an unsecured connection was not the recommended for hacking. Lucas had decided to wait until he returned to the SeaQuest, to his encrypted connection, before he hacked the classified network
Lucas and Captain Bridger had spent some time discussing their next step. Since they had 2 days remaining leave, they decided to fly to Colorado Springs.
The Captain had suggested that Lucas contact his father and suggest a meeting. Lucas had argued, stating that he would rather have the conversation face-to-face and that he would take a chance that his father was home.
Secretly, Lucas hadn't wanted to warn the man that he was coming. After all, Lucas had had no warning about him.
Present:
The house was an ordinary house, in a normal suburb and on a normal street. Nothing extraordinary about the house... Well, except for the fact that his father was in there. There was a car in the garage, the lights were on and someone was obviously home.
Their rental car was parked across the road from the house.
"Well," interrupted Captain Bridger, "do you want me to go in with you?"
"No... no, I think I need to do this by myself," replied Lucas. "Thank you for coming with me." he continued as he stared at the house.
"You could stand here all night... or you could go into that house and introduce yourself. You have nothing to lose, Lucas. Be yourself," the Captain.
So... here he was about to come face-to-face with his father. He was the first one to admit he was nervous... he hadn't had much luck with family or fathers to date. What if the man didn't want to know him? What if he was thrown out before he could explain? What if the man didn't believe him?
"Go."
His footsteps were uneven and his hands were shaking.
He tentatively stopped on the doorstep and rung the bell. The seconds ticked by, it seemed liked an eternity.
"Hello! Can I help you?" said the voice on the other side of the door.
......to be continued
