Disclaimer: see first chapter.

Warning, for those of you who didn't get it the first time – this is not a fluffy fic! That is all.

Endless crisp, sunny autumn days for: pari106, kas, Helen88216, KatKnits00, Nina-Maree, Teresa, dolphinology, sara and Diena. Thanks, you guys :).

Oh, a little announcement – I've set up a C2 community for seaQuest fics – you can get to it by following the link on my profile page or by clicking on the C2 communities link at the top right of the sQ page. It's basically an archive of all the sQ fics on that I and my two collaborators, Teresa and Diena, think are really damn cool. I'm slowly working my way through the back catalogue, so I'll continue to add to it as and when I find fantastic new stories. So, if any of you fancy reading a new/old story but are daunted by the idea of sifting through 25 pages of archive, join today! /end pimpage

Oh yeah, and I've sort of set myself the challenge to update this every Thursday, so hopefully if you stop back in here next week there'll be a new chapter :).

Enough wittering. On with the show!

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Cabin Fever

Chapter 6

Bridger awoke after what seemed like only a few minutes to a hammering sound on his door. Rubbing his face, he looked at the clock on his bedside table; his shift wasn't due to start for another two hours. For a moment, he lay still, groggily hoping that it was all a dream and that he could sink back into the comfort of sleep; but the hammering continued.

Bridger sighed and hauled himself out of the bed, pulling on his bathrobe as he crossed to the door and opened it. Standing on the other side was a member of the science crew whose name, he found to his chagrin, he couldn't quite remember. He was pretty sure that last time he had seen the man he hadn't looked quite so terrified, however.

"Can I help you?" Bridger asked.

The man did not reply, but simply stood, breathing hard, his hand still raised as if to continue beating against the door, staring at Bridger. His face seemed somehow distorted, both his eyes and mouth stretched in horror. Bridger waited, feeling the hairs rising on the back of his neck. Something was very wrong. But the man seemed trapped in a moment of abject fear, and didn't seem able to break the spell and tell him what it was.

Bridger felt a sudden urge to back away, to close the door against this apparition. Instead, he stepped forward, putting a hand on the man's shoulder and offering up a silent prayer of thanks for UEO standard-issue nametags.

"Jensen," he said gently. The man seemed to slump slightly, and his arm fell to his side, as if an invisible wire that had been holding it up had been cut. He turned his head to look at the captain, and now his face seemed human, although still frightened.

"Captain," he said, and his voice cracked slightly. "I think you'd better come with me."

------

Marks strode through the still-opening shuttle-bay doors with a face like thunder and stood toe-to-toe with Captain Bridger. He noticed she was slightly taller than him, so that he had to look up to meet her eyes.

"Captain," she said coldly. "I thought we discussed the importance of preserving evidence as quickly as possible last night. Clearly you failed to understand my reasoning."

As if this day wasn't bad enough already, Bridger sighed inwardly, but he did not step back; instead, he inclined his head slightly in a contrite way without taking his eyes off her face. "I do apologise, Ms. Marks," he said in a placatory tone. "But I'm afraid we have a situation here which requires your immediate attention."

Marks raised one eyebrow. "I fail to see what could be more important than doing my job," she said.

"If you would be so kind as to follow me, I'll explain on the way," Bridger said.

------

"There are two possibilities here," Bridger said, leaning against the corridor wall outside the science lab. "Either whoever was responsible for that massacre on the base stowed away aboard one of our shuttles and came here, or we have a copycat killer on our hands."

Doctor Westphalen pursed her lips and frowned. She still looked shell-shocked. Bridger didn't blame her. But before she could respond, another voice interrupted them. "I think we can discount both those theories, captain."

They turned, surprised, to see the male member of the investigation team lounging in the doorway, a half-smile on his long features. "Oh?" Bridger asked, raising an eyebrow. "How so?"

Ryder shrugged, and stepped forward into the corridor, gesturing at the scene inside the science lab, where his two colleagues were examining the room inch by inch. "The victim was stabbed. Of the six victims at the base, two were killed with blunt objects, one had his throat cut and three were shot, one of those most likely self-inflicted. If this was a copy-cat, we'd expect to see a similar MO."

Bridger frowned. "What about the stow-away theory?"

Ryder shook his head. "All the evidence at the base points to an incidence of insanity, probably brought on by the isolation. The different methods of the killer, the apparent suicide, the fact that the victims were simply killed, rather than interfered with in any way... It's just not serial killer material. If the guy who did that were still alive, and on this boat now, he'd be more likely to be spraying the bridge with bullets than killing a single victim in the dead of night."

"So what are you saying?" Westphalen asked, her face pale but composed.

Ryder thought for a moment, then said: "This seems to me like plain old premeditated murder. Someone with a grudge against the victim. Someone who knew her personally."

Bridger shook his head slowly. "It seems like a pretty big coincidence that this would happen now."

Ryder shrugged again. "Maybe the killer has been waiting for an opportunity for months, and it just happened to come along now. Maybe they thought if they acted now, you would jump to the conclusion that it was connected to what happened at the base and thus overlook them in the investigation. Either way, I think the connection is slim to non-existent."

Westphalen rubbed her hands over her face. "I can't believe this," she said quietly. "I can't believe anyone would do this."

Ryder looked at her sympathetically. "Well, we're going to find out who it was, don't you worry." He took a notepad out of his pocket. "Is it ok if I ask you a few questions?" Westphalen nodded. "Did the victim have any enemies that you know of?"

"No," Westphalen said, shaking her head. "She was very well-liked."

Ryder nodded, writing something down. Then he opened his mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by the appearance of Lucas from around a bend in the corridor. The boy looked surprised to see the three of them standing there.

"Captain," he said. "I'm glad you're here. I wanted to apologise—" Whatever else he had been planning to say was lost when Westphalen suddenly started shouting.

"Lucas Wolenczak! What on earth do you think you're doing? I told you to stay in bed until I gave you permission to leave!"

Bridger turned to stare at her in astonishment, and saw that her face was turning red with anger. He turned back to look at Lucas; the boy was staring at Westphalen too, mouth slightly open, frowning in surprise.

"Uh... Well, I thought I was only supposed to be there overnight," he started, stammering slightly. "And I waited for you... But you didn't turn up, so..."

"No excuses, young man," Westphalen's voice had a shrill note to it now. "Back to bed this instant! And don't you dare disregard my orders again!"

For a moment, Lucas just stared at her, a flush creeping over his cheeks and neck. Then, abruptly, his mouth snapped shut and his face became tight with anger. "Yes, sir," he said sarcastically, and turned sharply, disappearing back round the bend again.

"What was that all about?" Bridger asked incredulously, turning to stare at Westphalen once more, only to discover that she looked like she was on the verge of tears. She shook her head miserably.

"I just didn't want him to see..." she gestured at the science lab. "Not after what happened last time..."

"Last time?" Ryder interrupted, looking curious, although also slightly embarrassed to have witnessed the scene.

Bridger nodded. "Lucas was down in the base before the power was on. He had a... catatonic episode when he saw one of the bodies."

"Interesting," Ryder muttered, and wrote something down. But Bridger wasn't paying attention to him. He stepped forward, putting a hand on Westphalen's shoulder.

"Kristin, I understand why you did what you did," he said gently, "but do you really think it was the best way to go about things? You were pretty unfair."

Westphalen leant against the corridor wall as if all the strength had gone out of her. "I know," she said quietly, a tear sliding down her cheek. "It's just... With all he's been through. And this time it was someone he knew." She looked up, wiping her face and seeming to get a grip on herself. "I'll go and apologise. I don't know what I was thinking." She took a step forward, but Ryder grabbed her by the arm.

"I know this is important to you, but if you wouldn't mind just answering these questions first," he said. The doctor stood still for a moment, staring at the bend around which Lucas had disappeared a few moments before. Then she sighed, and turned back to Ryder.

"Of course," she said.

------

In the event, it was over an hour before Westphalen finally managed to make her excuses and hurry towards the med bay. The feeling of guilt inside her had turned to a lead weight in her stomach by then. Her thoughts seemed muddled up in her head, and somehow she kept having to force down an urge to laugh.

Someone had killed one of her staff.

She had screamed at Lucas.

Nothing seemed to make sense any more. She longed for a cup of coffee, but first she had to go and apologise to Lucas, the poor child. She rounded the corner into med bay and stopped short, staring through the glass wall of the office into the main room. He wasn't there. She turned quickly to the orderly on duty. "Where's Lucas?"

The orderly looked up in surprise. "He left about twenty minutes ago," she said. "He waited for you for a while, then he said to tell you he'd see you around."

Westphalen stared at her, and suddenly a new thought entered her head.

The killer is still out there somewhere.

"Oh my God," she whispered, and flipped on her PAL.

------

Bridger was on his way to the ward room to apprise the UEO of the situation when his PAL went off. "Bridger here," he answered.

Westphalen's voice came over the channel. "Nathan. Lucas isn't in med bay. He's wandering around the boat somewhere."

Bridger understood immediately what she was getting at. He flipped the PAL channel to call Lucas, but before he could, he received another incoming call.

"Captain, this is Krieg. I think you'd better come down to the science deck right away."

Bridger started to run.

------

The scene in the science deck corridor was chaotic, but Bridger homed in on one element immediately: Lucas was there. He was sitting on the floor next to Lieutenant Krieg, his face pale, staring at the wall. Krieg had his arm round the boy's shoulders and seemed to be talking to him gently. Bridger forced a way through the crowd of scientists and security team members towards them, and crouched down in front of Lucas.

"Hey Kiddo," he said gently. "What's going on?"

Lucas looked up at him and pointed at his feet. "There's blood on my shoes," he whispered.

Krieg hugged him tighter and indicated the doorway around which the crowd was thickest with a nod of his head. "He found the body," he said.

Body, Bridger thought. He stood up and made his way towards where he could see Crocker standing blocking the doorway.

"Cap," Crocker acknowledged him sombrely. Then he stood aside and Bridger stepped up to the doorway. Inside, Joshua Levin, his eyes wide and blank, lay sprawled face-up on the floor in a pool of blood.

Well, I guess the serial-killer theory is back in play, thought Bridger grimly.