A Question of Trust

Chapter 6

By Kiddo

In Loving Memory Of Jonathan Brandis

Disclaimer:

I don't have any rights to the TV show "seaQuest." I also don't own the different characters like Bridger, Lucas, or Darwin. I'm not making any money with this story; I'm just writing for my own pleasure.

A spezial „Thank You" goes to Jackie for beta-reading and to dolphinology, KatKnits00, Sammi, wolenczak2004, Swasti and kokomocalifornia for their reviews.

dolphinology: Thanks fort the review! Yes we all knew that Lucas likes electric stuff but I also thinks that he likes the nature. It wasn't so obvious like his love for thinks like computers but I think it was also between the lines. I just have to think of the Vocoder and that Darwin was kind of his best friend. Nobody would design a Vocoder if he wouldn't like dolphines.

KatKnits00: Thanks for your review. Again it is interesting to read your ideas to the story.

Sammi: Thanks!

wolenczak2004: Thanks. Yeah I got the idea.

Swasti: Thanks for your kind words. In one of the latter chapters you will read why Oliver is acting like that. I can't tell you now because if I would do this I would ruin my whole story. Your last sentence makes me turn red.

kokomocalifornia: Thanks! So this chapter is 10 pages long, I don't want to hear anybody complaining that this is to short!

The next two days weren't very pleasant for anyone on the crew. A tense atmosphere was permeating the whole submarine. The little crew knew that their captain and youngest crew member had had a serious argument, but no one knew what the argument had been about exactly.

Only Benjamin Krieg, Tim O'Neill, and Dr. Westphalen were totally convinced that Lucas had been innocent with what happened at the Moon Pool. The rest of the crew just didn't know what to believe. Their experiences with the blond teenager had shown him to be an honest person, but believing in Lucas' innocence also meant that they believed Oliver was a liar. On the other hand, Bridger's nephew seemed to be really friendly.

And besides that, they also realized that their captain had his doubts, and he was the person who knew the two teens the best.

The five scientists on board were convinced that Oliver was the one telling the truth. In their eyes, it was only a matter of time before Lucas lost it. It was clear to them that something had to be wrong with the blond boy. Why else had his father sent him as far away as possible if that wasn't the case? Lucas could very well have worked for Dr. Wolenczak's company. There had to be something wrong with the boy.

Dr. Westphalen could only shake her head about that theory. Pure jealousy directed at the young genius was coming through with their words.

Lucas had the feeling that the days were growing longer and longer. Under no circumstances did he want to speak with the captain. For one thing, he was still mad. He was also afraid that he would say something stupid because of his anger. And another thing was that he wasn't very happy about the argument with Bridger. The boy had said things that he hadn't meant and now he was embarassed about it.

The computer genius knew that he should talk about the argument with the captain and discuss the connected feelings, but he didn't want to talk and felt that he couldn't do it now anyway.

It was getting harder and harder for Lucas to keep out the captain's way. It was like Bridger had installed a locator on him. At one point, the blond teen had only been able to disappear before Bridger could find him by climbing into an air shaft.

Sadly, Darwin was also not around to talk to. The animal had met another pod of dolphins and wanted to swim with them for a few days. But Lucas also had the feeling that Darwin didn't like Oliver.

Since the argument, Nathan Bridger hadn't had the chance to tell his youngest crew member how sorry he was. Every one of his attempts had not worked. The boy always managed to go out of his way to avoid him. It was like Lucas could sense when the captain was near him and could immediately disappear. The genius knew the boat like the back of his hand; no hiding spot was cocealed from him. And his thin frame also made it easier for him to disappear.

Bridger just didn't know who to believe. Yes, Lucas had made a mistake by hacking into the World Bank, but Nathan realized that didn't necessarily mean that the blond teen had pushed Oliver into the Moon Pool. Normally, he felt like he knew Lucas and knew he could believe him. Had he only believed his nephew because he looked and reminded him of Robert? If Oliver had lied to him, then it was very possible that he had lost Lucas' trust forever. He really had to tell the boy that he hadn't seriously meant the comment about his father.

Nathan looked at the table in his cabin; lying on the desk was the book that the computer genius had left behind in the lab. Lucas was a bookworm; he read books of all different sorts. Because of the fact that no one had enough room in his or her cabin to own many books, the teenager often borrowed books from the other crew members. Lucas had already read each book that interested him in some way from the senior crew, and it seemed that there was no topic that the teenager wasn't interested in. The young man also read books that were published on the Internex. However, in spite of the fact that he was a computer freak, he preferred real books a thousand times over reading them on the Internex.

Bridger had read "The Gospel According To Larry" the day before, just out of curiosity. The book cover looked interesting, and it had turned out that way. The book was about a highly intelligent teenager, with the pseudonym Larry, who wanted to change the world. He had his own Web site on the Internet on which he ranted against consumerism, polluting the environment, materialism and obsession with celebrities, the ad industry and appeals for more tolerance and more open contact with other human beings. More and more people visited the Web site and became enthusiastic because finally someone was addressing a major problem out loud! With every day, the number of fans grew; people from all over the world were reading his message and were affected by it.

But no one knew who was really behind the Web site; no one knew Larry's real name and who he was. A few fans tried to find out who Larry really was, and after some time, one of them found Larry's real identity and made it public. Larry became a star and his whole life began to change because of the fact that everybody knew him. But that was exactly what Larry never wanted. He never wanted to become famous, he just wanted to change the world.

Finally, Larry saw just one way out and faked his own suicide. Larry's faked suicide reminded Bridger of the Regulator, who had also faked his own death. Lucas had said that he could understand that. Nathan had been shocked by that comment and still was. He just could hope that the teenager never felt forced to go to those measures.

The captain took the book in his hands and opened it. He flipped from one page to the next, and when he reached Lucas' bookmark, he stopped. It was a simple yellow piece of paper, and written on it was an address and a vidphone number. It was from a Nick. Bridger knew that that was the red-haired boy from Node 3 that Lucas had met there but also talked to via Internex, under the name of Wolfman, before.

Nathan looked at the vidphone number. He really wanted to know what exactly had happened at Node 3. Maybe he had treated Lucas unfairly. After all, he hadn't really listened to what the teenager had to about it. Who knew what had really happened there? But he wouldn't get answers from his youngest crew member now. After all, it wasn't possible to get a answer from a person that wouldn't even listen to you. And listening could only happen if he could catch the boy, and that was, at the moment, kind of impossible.

Nathan took a white piece of paper and placed it at the point in the book where Lucas had stopped reading. Then, he took the yellow one and dialed the number that the blond teen had written on it.

After a few moments, the face of a red-haired teenager appeared on the screen. His hair was shoulder long, and he was wearing sunglasses. "Yeah?"

Bridger recognized Wolfman. He had only seen him very briefly, but he was sure that it was Nick. "Hello, my name is Captain Bridger from the seaQuest. I don't know if you know who I..."

Nick took the sunglasses off. "I know who you are, Lucas has told me about you. Is everything okay? Is he alright? Has something happened?"

The older man smiled inwardly. Lucas had spoken about him! The teens had to be very good friends if the one was immediately worried about the other one. "No, no, something has happened but nothing like an accident or anything like that. Lucas is okay, so you can calm down. But I had a argument with him."

Wolfman looked disbelivingly at the captain. "An argument? With Frankenstein? If that happened, you really must have done something to make him see red. Are you sure that we're talking about the same person?"

Nathan Bridger nodded. "Yes, and I think I really did step on his feet. He hasn't spoken to me for the past two days, and he's avoiding me!"

Nick whistled through his teeth. "Wow. What was it about?"

"His hack into the World Bank."

Wolfman's eyes became big. "You know about that?"

Bridger nodded. "Yes, but only since about three days ago. Someone else told me about it, and I was mad!"

Nick looked inquisitively at the captain. "Were you mad about the fact that Lucas hacked into the World Bank or that he wasn't the one to tell you about it?"

The captain was surprised; this young man was really smart. "Both! But to tell you the truth, I don't really know why he did it. He kind of avoided my questions at the time, and then I didn't really give him the chance to defend himself. Could you maybe tell me what really happened at Node 3?"

Nick hesitated. Should he really tell the captain everything? Lucas probably had a good reason for why he hadn't told the man himself. "I don't know if I can tell you about it."

"Please, it's very important. I have to know why Lucas did it. I have to know if I've done something very wrong! And besides, there's something else he's been accused of."

Wolfman thought for a moment, and then he made his decision. "Would it help Lucas if I told you now what really happened?"

Bridger nodded slightly. "It's very possible. The truth would help me a lot."

Finally, Nick nodded. "Okay, but I'm only telling you because it will probably help Frankenstein. Do you remember why we contacted the seaQuest?"

"Yes, you needed modules," said the captain.

The red-haired teenager shook his head. "That's not quite the truth. We lied to you about that. We contacted the seaQuest for one special reason, and that was Lucas!"

It was clearly visible how surprised Bridger was. "But why?"

Nick smiled. "Because we needed the best hacker in the world!"

Bridger was speechless. He knew that Lucas was good, but was he that good? "Lucas is the best...?"

"Yeah, at the moment, Frankenstein is the best you can find. He's a legend, a myth, even if he won't admit it. But that's typical for Lucas Wolenczak. I'm sure that he's never told you how good he is. He knows that he's very good, but he won't admit it to himself." Nick smiled mischievously.

Bridger nodded. "Everyone on the seaQuest knows that Lucas is good. He also has a healthy amount of confidence at the computer. But he's really never said that he's the best." Nathan thought about it for a moment. "Does the UEO know how good he really is?"

Wolfman shook his head, strands of his long hair falling into his face. "Of course not. I'm sure they would have told you if they knew. Most of the time, only the hackers know who among them is the best. Frankenstein is the only one who was ever able to hack into the World Bank."

Nathan thought about what the teenager had just said. "So you contacted us so that Lucas would hack into the World Bank?"

The boy confirmed this with a nod. "Yeah, that about sums it up. We had all tried to hack into the World Bank, but not even Mycroft was able to do it. Until then, he had called unbeatable at the computer. The only person we could think of that might be able to do it was Frankenstein, so we tried to find out who he really was and where he was. After we cracked the UEO codes, we knew that he was on the seaQuest."

Bridger looked angry. "You cracked the UEO codes?"

"Shoot, I shouldn't have said that. But we really didn't do anything bad there, that's a promise!"

"I hope so. I always thought that the UEO codes couldn't easily be broken."

Nick shook his head slowly. "Oh, believe me they aren't, but nothing is impossible. You really should let Lucas take a look at those codes. I know that if Frankie designed the system, then nobody would have the chance to break into it. Just like the seaQuest. Since Lucas created the anti-hacker sytem for the seaQuest, nobody has been able to break into it." Wolfman grinned proudly. "The best anti-hacker systems are written by the hackers themselves!"

The captain found this interesting, but what he really wanted to know was what had happened at Node 3. "What happend after the seaQuest left?"

"Mycroft showed him a little bit more of the computer system and what he could do with it. For example, how he could change the world for the better and how he could prevent election fraud. Mycroft did some pretty impressive things. First, he took Lucas into his confidence and demonstrated the nature of our work by transferring humanitarian funds that were stolen by a defense minister to a hospital in China. Then, he gave Lucas an assignment to monitor election fraud in South America. A little bit later, he told Frankie why he was really asked to come to Node 3, because of the World Bank. He tried to convince Lucas to hack into their system, because that was our only chance to get into the World Bank. Mycroft told Frankenstein that we could help the world by gaining control of the World Bank, that we could change the world. And, he said that Lucas could end some of the world's pain with his hack. For example, that he could prevent war."

Nathan hung on every word that Wolfman said. He could understand that Mycroft's words could make a strong impression on someone young.

"After some hesitation, Lucas tried to hack into the Word Bank, and as you already know, he succeeded. We were so excited about it. Frankie had given us access to their computer system. But, we enter it immediately; we wanted to do it later. Some time later, Julianna, Lucas, and I talked about Mycroft. We realized that we didn't really know anything about Mycroft's life before Node 3. As you can imagine, Frankie and I decided to do a little bit of research about it. The answers that we found shocked us quite a bit. Mycroft had worked for two sides, for both NORPAC and the CIA, and he also killed a man. Mycroft noticed what Lucas and I were doing. He explained to us what he had done in the past but couldn't convince us that what he had done was right or okay. He said something like the World Bank was his apology to the world. Later, Julianna, Lucas, and I spoke again about everything. Frankie was convinced that Mycroft's real reason for obsessing over the world's evils was his guilt over the murder and that Mycroft had lost touch with reality. Lucas also thought that we shouldn't hack the World Bank, that the system was much to unstable and that we could create some big damage there. We could cause financial chaos and a lot more."

Nathan felt pride that Lucas had realized his mistake.

"I think after that, he talked to you on the vidphone. I think that's when he decided what to do."

Bridger could clearly remember the conversation. He'd had the feeling that the teenager was preoccupied and that something was wrong.

"When we went to enter the system, Lucas shut the link to the World Bank down. Mycroft got really angry about it, but Frankie was great. He explained that the world's problems could only be solved when people came to know each other, one by one, and that the World Bank wasn't some kind of computer game. Mycroft attacked Lucas and tried to strangle him. I think he would have really killed Frankenstein if I hadn't pulled up the pictures from his first murder. Only when he saw the pictures did he realize what he was just doing, that he was about to kill a second person. Lucas said that hiding behind machines, photons, and computer controls was no solution and ultimately sparks violance. You had to know who to help to be able to help. Finally, Frankie managed to convince Mycroft to let go of the World Bank. You would have been proud of Lucas!"

Bridger nodded. He was very proud of the boy. Yes, he had made a mistake when he hacked into the World Bank at first, but after that, he had reacted well and done everything right. He should be proud of his youngest crew member. He felt almost a fatherly pride, even though Lucas was not his son. He would do a lot to have a son like Lucas and couldn't understand how the Wolenczaks could care so little about their son. Unfortunately, having a child didn't immediately turn you into perfect parents, and it didn't matter how much money you had. "Nick, I'm really thankful that you saved Lucas from Mycroft's attack. Who knows what would have happened if you hadn't done that. And thank you very much for telling me everything. You can't imagine how much you have helped me. I have really treated Lucas unfairly. I really need to tell him how sorry I am!"

Wolfman looked at the captain curiously. "I have no idea what all of this was really about, but whatever you do, it will probably be exactly the right thing."

Nathan had to smile about the teenager's last comment. Wolfman and Lucas were really meant to be each other's friends. "Okay. Goodbye, and thanks again for telling me!"

Nick grinned. "No problem, Captain, but there is something else that I have to tell you."

"What is it?"

"You already knew that Lucas realized his mistake, but he also did something else. He contacted the World Bank and told them that he had hacked into their system. Frankie was unbelievably lucky that they didn't immediately call the police. Instead, they made a deal. Lucas improved their system and in exchange for that, the World Bank didn't call the police!"

Bridger nodded appreciatively. "Wow, that's good to hear. Anything else?"

Wolfman shook his head. "I don't think so, and I really have to go now. I have a date in a few minutes, and I don't want to be late."

The older man smiled. "Have fun, and thanks again for telling me everything."

The red-haired boy nodded. "That goes wihout saying, Captain, anytime! Bye!" And with that, he ended the call.

For some time, Bridger sat looking at the black screen. Then, he put the yellow piece of paper back into Lucas' book. After that, Nathan took a second sheet of paper and wrote a few lines on it. Then he took the paper and the book, "The Gospel According To Larry," stood up, and walked out of his cabin.

To Be Continued …

Written Spring 2003 / Translated Winter 2005