YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW
Chapter 3
By Kiddo
Disclaimer:
I have no rights to the TV show "seaQuest DSV," and I am not making any money with this story.
A spezial „Thank You" goes to my wonderfull beta-reader Jackie and to Forgottengargoyle, Lynnp, wolenczak 2004, KatKnits00, Delphinius, Jessica, dolphinology, Roses, Blue Eyed Dragon Girl and JOXER, Angeldickens for the Reviews. You made my day.
Forgottengargoyle: Thank you soooo much for you kind and wonderful words.
Lynnp: Thanks! I also liked the hair coulor part ;-),too bad that there aren't any pictures of Ben ;-) If I remember right I only wrote two stories which played in the second season and one in the third season. Personally I like the season one characters the best so I write in this season.
wolenczak2004: Thanks! Yep, I just had to do a little cliffhanger.
KatKnits00: Thanks! I also think that Seamon Peterson is absolitely right. Interesting thoughts that you have at the end.
Delphinius: Thanks! Yes, there is really an information on the internet that says that „seaQuest DSV" will come out on DVD. But the last news from Universal Studio say that it will not happen so soon. Unfortunatelly I can't post the link where I have the information from.
Jessica: Thanks! I hope the waiting wasn't too long.
dolphinology: Thanks! I can promise you that Ben didn't wrote the letter.
Roses: Thanks! I hope the update is soon enough.
Blue Eyed Dragon Girl: Thanks for your long Review. I see that you thought about the chapter. Here is the update.
JOXER: Thanks fort he long review! Of course I wrote a cliffhanger, where would be the fun if I wouldn't do this?
Angeldickens: Thanks! Here is the next chapter…
A short time later, Captain Bridger and Lt. Krieg were pacing in the waiting room outside medbay. Neither of them said a word, each lost in his owns thoughts.
In the meantime, Dr. Westphalen was taking care of the unconscious teenager, and Chief Crocker was checking over Lucas's cabin. Everybody was convinced that their youngest crew member had been attacked. But what had really happened, only Lucas could tell them when he woke up.
Bridger and Krieg both jumped when Dr. Westphalen stepped out of medbay and walked towards them.
"How is he? What's his condition? Has he woken up?" asked Nathan immediately. His worry about the young computer genius was written clearly on his face.
Kristin smiled calmly at the captain. "First things first, Nathan. Lucas has taken a heavy blow to the head. He will have a headache for the next few days. I stitched the wound on his temple and covered it so that no dirt will get in the wound." The doctor paused briefly so that both men could take in the new information. "And to answer your last question, no he hasn't woken up yet. But I'm sure that he will very shortly."
"But otherwise he is okay?" asked the supply officer.
Kristin nodded. "Yes. He has been unbelievably lucky. There is no swelling in the brain or anything like that. He just has a concussion and the wound on his temple."
Bridger swallowed; the red-haired woman was right. It could have been much worse... No, he could't think about that. "Can I go see him?"
Westphalen nodded, smiling warmly. "Of course, but at the moment I can only let one of you see him."
Krieg nodded. "Don't worry about me, Captain. Go to him." Ben knew how much Lucas meant to the captain, and vice versa, and he had no problems stepping back. Krieg knew how good it was for his young friend to have an adult who cared about him.
"Thanks. Could you please arrange for the senior crew to meet me in one hour in the wardroom? If anyone's looking for me, I'll be with Lucas."
Ben nodded. "Of coure, that goes without saying."
About an hour later, the captain reported to the senior crew what Dr. Westphalen had told him. "And at last, I have good news for you. Lucas has woken up."
Relieved breaths could be heard around the room. Nobody had been left in the dark about what had happened to their youngest crew member.
"Has he said anything? Could he identify his attacker?" asked Commander Ford.
Bridger shook his head. "Unfortunately not. The only thing he could tell me was that he heard a noise behind him, and at the moment he turned around to look, he felt something heavy hitting his head. Apart from that, he can't remember anything."
Ben Krieg buried his face in his hands for a moment, then ran his hands through his hair before he leaned back in his chair. "This is all my fault. If I had been there on time, this wouldn't have happened."
"You can't know that Ben. Who knows how long Lucas was like that before you got there?" Katherine Hitchcock tried to calm her ex-husband down.
"But at least I would have found him earlier."
Bridger shook his head. "Self recriminations won't help us." Then he looked at Chief Crocker. "Could you find anything?"
Manilow Crocker shook his head. "Unfortunately not. But from the way his cabin looked, I would say that his attacker was looking for something in particular. The other possibility is that somebody wanted to scare Lucas."
Every remained silent for a moment. Then Bridger began to speak again. "Who could have a motive to attack Lucas and go through his things? Any ideas?"
"Maybe the attack wasn't meant for Lucas but for Dr. Wolenczak. Maybe he thought that in hurting Lucas, he could scare his father. We all know that the Wolenczaks have a lot of money," was Jonathon Ford's first thought.
"To tell you the truth, I think that is unlikely. But nevertheless, we should consider all possibilities. And it doesn't matter how absurd it sounds," said Captain Bridger.
Chief Crocker looked at everone around the room. "Does anyone know if Lucas has had any big arguments or problems with anyone?"
Everyone answered with a shake of the head. Miguel Ortiz looked at Ben. "The only real fight that Lucas has had recently was the one with Ben. And they made their peace weeks ago."
O'Neill suddenly looked up. "I just remembered something. When we were eating lunch yesterday, Lucas got a letter from a computer company. In the envelope, there was also a check for quite a large amount of money. Maybe he was attacked because of that."
Crocker nodded. "That does seems the most logical motive at this point. Who knows about the check?"
"I don't know exactly," said Tim and shrugged his shoulders. "Seaman Peterson brought the letter, but he was already gone when Lucas opened it. Except for me and Lucas, it was only Miguel and Ben at the table. But it's also possible that a few others around us heard what we were talking about. After all, we weren't whispering. And I don't know if Lucas told anyone else about it."
Lt. Cdr. Hitchcock tried to lighten up the situation. "Be careful, Ben, you're slowly becoming the main suspect."
The supply officer flashed an angry look at Katherine. "That's not funny! Can you hear anybody laughing? Or do you really think that I could do such a thing to Lucas?"
Hitchcock looked down. "Sorry, Ben, I didn't mean it."
Captain Bridger was lost in thought and ignored the bickering. "Everything about the check seems to fit. You can cash it in from any computer; you just scan it with a normal scanner and confirm it with a code. Not a very safe system."
The next half an hour was spent theorizing about different motives. Finally they decided to follow the trail of the check.
Three hours later, Lt. Krieg was sitting next to Lucas's bed in medbay, talking about different things.
Meanwhile, the security team and a few others assisting in the investigation had found out that the check really had disappeared from Lucas's cabin, so everyone was following the trail.
Two and a half hours before, Ben had also tried to help with the inquiries, but had then decided to keep the teenager company and make sure that the boy wouldn't be attacked again.
The computer genius was telling Ben the details of the computer game he developed when Captain Bridger, Chief Crocker, and two members of the security team entered medbay with grim faces.
Lucas looked questioningly at the little group. "Anything new?"
Nathan gave a short nod as sign for Crocker.
The chief turned to his two team members. "Place him under arrest."
Before Krieg could react in any way, he was violently pulled up from the chair and a pair of handcuffs were placed around his wrists. "Whoa! What is going on here?"
Chief Crocker stood up to his full height in front of the moral officer. "You're under arrest, charged with theft and assault on a minor!"
Lucas now sat up in his bed, his gaze moving from one person to the other. "Are you pulling my leg?"
Krieg looked confusedly at the captain and the chief. "What is going on here? I haven't done anything! I would never attack Lucas or steal anything from him!"
Bridger looked sadly at the lieutenant. "There is no sense in denying it; we found the check in your cabin."
Ben's eyes were getting bigger and bigger. "You what? That's not possible! I'm innocent!"
He turned to the teen in despair. "Lucas, you have to believe me, I didn't do anything to you!"
Nathan's impatience was growing slowly. When it came to Lucas, nobody played games with him. "Don't make this worse than it already is, and leave Lucas alone. You have already done enough!"
Ben tried to pull away from the muscular security men, but he had no chance against them. "I swear to you that I didn't do it! Why don't you believe me?"
"I always knew that you didn't belong in the UEO," said Manilow and with a shake of his head.
"I'm innocent! Someone must have put it in my cabin." Krieg's voice was sounding more and more desperate.
Crocker nodded at his two security officers."Take him away!"
But before they could start to move, Lucas sprang out of his bed. Nathan saw that the boy was staggering and had problems standing up straight, so he grabbed him under the arm to support him. The blood loss, the concussion, and now this was taking its toll on the teen. "You can't do that, he's innocent. I would lay my hand in the fire for Ben!"
Crocker felt pity for their youngest crew member. "Then you have just burned yourself, my boy."
The blond teenager looked pleadingly at the captain and the chief. "Please, just give me a computer, and I'm sure that I can prove that Ben's innocent. If the true perpetrator has already cashed the check, then I'm sure that I can trace it. Something like that always leaves a trail. It won't take more than 10 minutes for me."
Nathan Bridger looked at Lucas for a moment. The boy had earned his chance. But not to prove Krieg's innocence, just to see for himself that Ben was the perpetrator. Otherwise, the genius would probably never believe it. "Okay, there will be a meeting with the senior crew in the wardroom in half an hour, and then you can try your luck with the computer." He looked at his security chief. "What are you waiting for? Take him to the brig."
Before the security team disappeared with the moral officer, Lucas tried to give his friend an encouraging smile. "Don't worry, Ben, I'm sure that everything will be cleared up."
Ben sighed. It was easy for Lucas to say; he wasn't the one who was being taken away in handcuffs, accused of a major crime.
Bridger looked closely at the boy. He could feel that Lucas was shaking slightly. Maybe the meeting in the wardroom would be too much for the boy. "Is everything okay?"
Lucas looked disbelievingly at the older man. Did he really mean that question seriously?
To Be Continuied…..
Written Summer 2004 – Translated Summer 2005