A New SeaQuest
Two
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A/N: Thanks to those that reviewed, I hope that I answer any questions you may have. As for the bother that Jim has, I guess it would be a baby born with him, and told it didnt servive. anyways hope you enjoy.
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Crysta stood looking over the giant frame her eyes sparkling as she watched her crew putting the SeaQuest back together. Of course it was going much slower then she thought it would.
"Hey boss," Miguel said stopping to stand beside her.
"How's it going?" Crysta asked unable to keep the excitement out of her voice.
"Hey I only retrieve; I have nothing to do with putting that together." Miguel replied shaking his head.
"I know that chief, but you just came from there," Crysta said as the head of the team nodded at her and headed their way.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Miguel asked watching the crew as they worked.
"Come on Chief, were making history here." Crysta replied looking up at the attractive Cuban.
"Yeah were making something," Miguel mumbled.
"Have you been talking to Ben again chief?" Crysta asked still amused.
"Yeah this morning, he's worried about you." Miguel replied his eyes returning to her face. He could see she was pondering what he had told her.
"Are you worried about me?" Crysta asked seeing the head of her team stop to go over something with another member.
"Me?" He asked seeing her looking at him expectedly.
"Yes you." Crysta said wondering what was it all of a sudden with her people.
"No, I guess not." Miguel replied smiling. "After all you know what you're doing."
"Yeah I do," Crysta replied. "He knows something Miguel, the UEO doesn't make you disappear and then try to kill you if you didn't."
"Yeah, but that was three years ago, boss. He may not even remember what he knows." Miguel said as the lead engineer finally stopped in front of them.
"Boss," The guy said.
"Well?" Crysta asked crossing her arms over her chest.
"It's coming along, slowly." He replied taking his cap off and wiping his head.
"How long?" Crysta asked anxious to get SeaQuest back into the water.
"Another two months, it would go faster if we had better plans or someone who knew SeaQuest." He replied. Crysta nodded her head, she had hopped that it would only take them a couple more weeks, and of course she did have something she could offer.
"What if I could offer you Lucas Wolenczak?" Crysta asked seeing the surprised look on the tech face.
"I guess I would have to do KP duty for a month." He said smiling; there was no way she could do it. Yeah she was good, but not that good.
"I hope you have rubber gloves," Crysta said walking away, with a shrug Miguel followed after her. As they stepped onto the elevator together he looked over at her with a smile. "What?"
"That wasn't nice, considering he doesn't know you already have Lucas here." Miguel said.
"Well he didn't ask either," Crysta said getting off the elevator and heading towards the mess hall. She saw that Miguel trailed after her, and hoped that he and Ben would give her at least an hour of peace to eat.
XXXXX
Lucas sat across from the doctor, it had been two days since the purging and she had completed his physical and blood work. He now waited patently for her to tell him the outcome of the test.
"Considering what you have been through, you did very well on the physical." Ann said laying the file on her desk. "The blood test came back clean also, with minor traces of a few drugs, but the purging cleaned most of that out of your system."
"OK." Lucas replied.
"How are you feeling?" Ann asked trying to gage the man sitting across from her. He had been in her med bay for the past three days.
"I feel restless; I would like to get out. At least for a little while." Lucas said.
"I'm not ready to let you out yet, but if you would like you can walk on the treadmill for about fifteen minutes." Ann replied.
"Well I guess that work." Lucas said really wanting to get out of Med bay, but at least he will be able to be up and using his legs regaining his strength. He stood when the doctor did and followed her out of her office. She showed him to where there was a treadmill that he could use.
"I mean it Lucas, only fifteen minutes. And no faster then this." She said reaching over to set the pace. Lucas started on the treadmill, his eyes on the wall in front of him.
"Hey doc, can I ask you something?" Lucas asked his eyes landing on the woman to his right.
"Sure." Ann replied watching him.
"How long has," Lucas paused trying to remember what Crysta had called this place. "This place been here?"
"Ten years," Ann replied. "But it's not something the public knows."
"And Crysta is the boss?" Lucas asked.
"Crysta is the owner, this is her baby." Ann said smiling at someone who came to stand on the other side of Lucas. "Hey Dagwood, you want to stand here and make sure Lucas doesn't get to tired?"
"OK." Dagwood said, seeing Lucas look at him.
"I seem to be getting one surprise after another," Lucas said smiling at his friend. "So where is she hiding Piccolo?"
"Tony's not here." Dagwood said with his smile. Lucas just shook his head and concentrated on walking.
"So Dagwood how long have you been here?" Lucas asked.
"I just got here." Dagwood said tilting his head to the side.
"I mean how long have you been here with Crysta?" Lucas asked.
"Oh the Commander, two years." Dagwood replied.
"The Commander?" Lucas asked haven't heard anyone call her that yet.
"Yes, she is Commander Anderson." Dagwood said with pride.
"Oh, what do you do here?" Lucas asked finding out that he wasn't up to walking that much on the treadmill.
"Lots, I work with the recon team." Dagwood said as Lucas stopped.
"Isn't this a hospital?" Lucas asked stepping off the treadmill and starting back towards his bed.
"No, only this floor." Dagwood said stopping beside the bed as Lucas climbed back in.
"Oh what is this place?" He asked looking up at Dagwood whom looking liked he didn't know what to tell him.
"It's Castlestone, it's safe." Dagwood said his smile coming back. Lucas just nodded; it would seem that he wasn't going to get the answers he wanted out of Dagwood. "You should sleep, you look tired."
"Yeah I am." Lucas said lying down. Dagwood nodded and turned and left the med bay. Lucas was sleeping when Ann checked on him a short time later, with a quick check of his chart; she left the med bay and headed towards the mess hall.
Entering she grabbed a salad out of one of the refrigerators and went to get some coffee. Then went to sit at the table with Miguel and Ben.
"Hey doc." Ben said in greeting.
"Hey." Ann said nodding to each as she started in on her salad.
"How's Lucas?" Miguel asked.
"He is getting better, stronger by the day." Ann replied her eyes going to Ben. "Maybe you could come down later and take him on a tour?"
"Yeah I can do that," Ben said. "Right now I have inventory to take, I'll be down when I am done with that."
"OK." Ann said as Ben got up and left.
"Has Crysta been in to see him today?" Miguel asked her as he picked at the sandwich he was eating.
"No she hasn't been in since the purging although she has been checking on him a lot. I sent up his physical and blood works a little while ago." Ann said.
"Yeah Crysta was down yesterday with the techs working on SeaQuest." Miguel said pushing his food away.
"Don't worry about her Miguel; you know she has a plan." Ann said hearing the underlying currents in his voice.
"Yeah a plan only she knows, Ann. It makes me wonder." Miguel said looking over at her.
"Well don't, I know Crysta and when its time she will explain it all. She'll tell you what you need to know. I know that Lucas was one of her biggest risk Miguel. Her initial orders three years ago where to kill him." Ann said seeing Miguel turn very surprised eyes to her.
"But she didn't." Miguel replied quietly.
"No, she didn't." Ann said reaching out to cover his hand with hers. "She told me it wasn't even a decision she had to make, once she received orders she told them no."
"Oh." Miguel replied. He knew that Crysta didn't believe that three years ago Lucas had betrayed the SeaQuest and was killed trying to escape. He knew that a lot of her down time had been spent trying to find him.
"Miguel, Crysta does everything for a reason. And maybe sometimes we can't see it, but she can. There's more at stake here then SeaQuest or even Lucas." Ann said
"Like what?" Miguel asked, when Ann didn't answer he looked over to see that she wasn't going to. For the past four years he had been working at Castlestone and still he was left out of a lot of it. But then he figured that most of the crew here was.
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Crysta was working when she heard the elevator in her office ping, looking up she saw that Lucas and Ben stood there. She stood and coming around her desk she raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry boss, but he wanted a tour." Ben said looking between Lucas and Crysta. Lucas had walked over to the large window that took up most of one wall.
"It's all right Ben," Crysta said. "If you would like I can show him around."
"Yeah, I have stuff that needs to get finished." Ben said retreating back into the elevator. As the doors closed Crysta walked over to where Lucas was still standing by the window.
"How are you feeling?" She asked seeing that he had showered and changed into jeans and a sweatshirt.
"Not to bad, I still get tired easily." Lucas said having a hard time taking his gaze from the expanse of the ocean. He could see no land from where he was, and saw that the ocean was not that far below the window, which meant most of this faculty, was submerged.
"Would you like a tour, or did you come up here for something specific?" Crysta asked going back to her desk. Sitting down she watched as he crossed the floor to sit in a chair across from her.
"I'd like a tour, and maybe an explanation of why I am here." Lucas replied. His eyes scanned the contents on her desk. He noted that she had his medical report.
"You're here because as of right now it's the safest place for you." Crysta replied. Shutting down her computer she stood, and walked around her desk. "Ready?"
"Yeah," Lucas said standing and following her towards the elevator. He nodded towards a door to the left. "What's in there?"
"My sleeping quarters." Crysta replied as the doors opened and she stepped onto the elevator. Lucas followed her in, and she turned to him as the door started to close. She pushed a button and waited.
"Ben said this floor was off limits." Lucas said seeing the floor they stopped on. Crysta smiled as they stepped off the elevator into what looked like the reception area of an office building.
"This is our communications center," Crysta said. "Hey Marcie."
"Boss." Marcie replied nodding to them.
"All communications are routed thought here." Crysta said seeing the interested look in Lucas's eyes. "You'd be hard pressed to hack my system Lucas, even if you weren't three years out of practice."
"Really?" He asked looking unconvinced.
"Yeah, didn't you look through the file I gave you?"
"Some, I didn't go into the funeral for me, I didn't want to see it." Lucas said turning away from her.
"Why not?" Crysta asked looking at his back.
"I don't want to know how lonely it was." Lucas whispered.
"You should see it, you'd be surprised." Crysta said hating that he felt so alone. "Would you like me to watch it with you?"
"Here?" He asked turning to her, seeing her nod. He nodded his head unable to voice the words.
"Marcie will you pull up the file please." Crysta said leading Lucas to a large screen. Lucas took a deep breath as the screen came to life. His eyes glued to the screen as he saw the group of people.
"Bridger," He said seeing Nathan standing with Kristen Westphalen. His eyes scanning the people, there was Tony, Ford, Henderson, Dagwood, Hudson. His eyes stopping on a woman he figured he wouldn't see. "Mom."
Crysta was quiet as he watched the file, the entire crew of the SeaQuest past and present had turned out at the funeral. That how she knew that whatever they had said he had done was a major lie.
"You were there." Lucas said seeing Crysta hug Nathan and Kristen.
"I was." Crysta said as the file ended and he turned to him.
"Why?" he asked curious at what would bring a woman he didn't know to his funeral.
"It was a place I needed to be." Crysta said heading towards the elevator again. Lucas followed.
"So tell me what is this place, Military?" Lucas asked as the doors closed.
"No, it's private research." Crysta said as they moved down.
"Oh," Lucas said as the doors opened to what looked like a jungle.
"Hydroponics." Crysta said, "We do research here, on a lot of different things, next floor down is our science labs, and research faculties."
"OK." Lucas said as he started to walk through the plants. Crysta was quiet as she watched him; he stopped every so often to smell one of the flowers. "What else do you have here?"
"A lot, there is a weapon and training floor, our med floor, which you've seen, and all the way down is where we keep our submergible and docking bay." Crysta replied walking over to a dwarfed lemon tree.
"So have I been cleared? Can I leave?" Lucas asked looking at the tree; it sat in a large pot that was colorfully painted with the name Vern across it.
"You can, but I again recommend you stay." Crysta said reaching out to touch one of the leaves.
"Why?" Lucas asked seeing the way she touched the plant. Gently as if it would break and she was afraid to damage it.
"They still have people out there looking for you with orders to kill on sight, and I have a project I was hoping you would help with." Crysta said turning from the plant to him.
"What kind of project?" Lucas asked seeing her smile.
"Come on, I'll show you." she said walking back the way they had come.
"Can I call Bridger?" Lucas asked.
"Right now Lucas it would be best if as few people as possible knew you were up and walking around." Crysta said stopping at the elevator.
"If security is such a big thing, why don't any of the people here wear badges?" Lucas asked having noted that no one seemed to wear uniforms or security badges. "Anyone could waltz in and you wouldn't know it with no uniforms, no security people."
"We have security people Lucas, and besides every one who is here is suppose to be here." Crysta said as they got into the elevator. "No one can breach our system."
"Kind of confident aren't you?" Lucas asked.
"In the ten years that Castlestone has been here, no one had breached her. My superiors, who said they were with a mile of the place, weren't even with in a hundred miles of her. People don't know where she is, half of them don't think she exists." Crysta said heading off the elevator and down a corridor.
"Oh." Lucas said following her. They stepped into a large room, his eyes widening at what he was seeing. He had read that SeaQuest had been dismantled and destroyed for reason not given, and her crew had been scattered among other navy boats. Yet here he was standing here looking at her, or at least what they had managed to put back together.
"I'm hoping to have her wet in two weeks, but my crew is having trouble." Crysta said.
"They said they destroyed her." Lucas mumbled.
"Greatly exaggerated, kind of like your death." Crysta replied. "So will you help?"
"Do what?" Lucas asked looking down at her.
"Put her back together, get her sea worthy?" Crysta asked seeing him arch one eyebrow.
"Why do you want SeaQuest?" Lucas asked suddenly not like being here. He looked around and saw a man coming towards them.
"Lucas, she needs to be back in the water, she needs her crew back. And you can help do that. Something is going on and well I think SeaQuest is our best chance of stopping it." Crysta said.
"What is going on?" Lucas asked.
"You know, you may not realize it, but you know." Crysta said. "Somewhere inside of you is the answer to that."
"I don't think so." Lucas replied once again turning his attention to the boat.
"Why were you meeting Tony in that bar the day you disappeared?" She asked him. Lucas glanced at her then back to the boat, why had he wanted to meet Tony that day. It was something urgent he remembered that. But he couldn't grasp what it was about.
"I don't know." He finally replied.
"Give it time," Crysta said turning to the man who joined them.
"Boss." He said looking between her and Lucas his eyes were a bit wide. "I guess I will have to go buy those gloves."
"Lucas, Eric is head of our team trying to put SeaQuest back together." Crysta said.
"Trying?" Lucas said still not looking away from the people working.
"Yeah, it would be easier with plans," Eric replied looking over the kid. He looked ruff, his hair a bit long. There was slight bruising around his face, some of it fading. "And with someone who knows her, helped with her before."
"I have been working on getting the plans, but I was hoping you would take a crack at it Lucas." Crysta said seeing him finally look at them.
"You mean to give me outside access?" Lucas asked.
"Yeah I do, I believe you won't do anything to endanger yourself or your friends." Crysta said.
"Yeah OK, I guess I can help." Lucas said seeing Eric nod and walk away.
"Lucas?" Crysta said moving to stand in front of him. He looked down at her, his eyes sad. "You'll see them soon, I promise. Let me get a few more plans worked out and I will have you and Bridger back together."
"Can I trust you?" Lucas asked on a whisper, he wanted to trust her but was unsure.
"Yes you can, I won't let anything happen to you." Crysta replied. Lucas just nodded; she smiled as they headed back towards the elevator. "You've been cleared, would you like me to show you to your quarters?"
"Sure." Lucas said as they rode the elevator up again. He followed her down a hallway she stopped outside a room.
"I had them move your stuff here." Crysta said as she opened the door. Walking in Lucas was surprised to see that some of his stuff from SeaQuest was in the room. He turned to look at her, but she only smiled and left the room.
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Lucas watched, as Crysta finished welding something together, in the two weeks since he had started on SeaQuest he had found that the crew had easily turned to him for answers. He had found plans they were old, but they got it going, and now she would be sea worthy in another week.
He saw her turn off the torch and raise the welding mask to admire her work. He walked over to her as she stood. She looked up at him and smiled; he couldn't help but smile back.
"We haven't gotten the bio-skin done yet but I think we'll have it by the end of this week." Lucas said nodding to the mostly finished boat. "Have you been inside yet?"
"Yeah, I was in working on the stealth system a little while ago." Crysta said. "I upgraded her sensors, and linked them with my system."
"Stealth?" He inquired with a raise of an eyebrow.
"Yeah, you can try her out when we launch." Crysta said looking at her watch. "I have a meeting, I'll see you soon."
"OK," Lucas replied watching her walk away. He turned back to the boat and with a shake of his head walked down the gangplank to the entrance.
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Crysta entered her office from her quarters, going over to her desk she picked up the file that was left. Sitting down she opened it, a smile coming to her face. Yeah it was all here, the listing for all the SeaQuest crew. Reaching for a pen, she started to fill out the party inventions.
Crysta looked up as Devin Belington entered her office; she smiled at the attractive man as he came to sit in front of her. Sliding the stack of invites she leaned back and folder her hands.
"I want these delivered within the next twenty fours hours." Crysta said.
"OK Boss," Devin said picking up the stack and leaving the room. Crysta turned to the window, the ball was rolling now, and there was no turning back. All she had to do was convince them that she was right.
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Nathan Bridger looked up from what he was doing as a boat stopped at his dock. Stepping out onto his porch he wondered what they wanted. They didn't look military, so he waited for one of them to approach.
"Nathan Bridger?" One asked.
"Who wants to know?" Bridger asked looking between the two men.
"We have an invention for Nathan Bridger." The first replied.
"Invitation for what?" Bridger asked stepping forward. The first held out the invitation to him, taking it Nathan quietly read it. "Thanks."
"You're welcome." They replied watching Nathan turn and go back into the house. He wasn't sure if it was real or not, but he knew the woman who had sent it. He also knew that if there was any chance that she knew what had happened to Lucas he had to find out.
He packed quickly and with invite in hand left the island to head to where it told him to meet the launch. Making the main land he hailed a transport telling them where to go. The ride was quite; they dropped him off at a hotel.
Entering the hotel he was surprised when he saw several of the people he knew. Setting his bag down he walked over to Jonathan Ford, now a UEO captain. "Jonathan?"
"Nathan, I'd say I was surprised, but considering I'm not." Jonathan said indicating the people around them.
"So do you have any idea of what's going on?" Nathan asked his eyes running the crowd; he stopped as he saw Kristen Westphalen talking with Tim O'Neil.
"Not a clue, we all got invites to come here, something about SeaQuest and her missing crew members." Jonathan replied.
"Yeah, but mine said something about Lucas." Tony Piccolo said walking over to them. He stopped beside them.
"Mine too." Bridger replied, he saw someone enter the room bring their attention to him.
"Welcome and thank you for coming." The man said. "There has been room prepared for you stay here tonight, tomorrow we will leave here and catch a launch to our destination."
"Where is our destination?" Bridger asked stepping forward.
"That will be explained later, Mr. Bridger." The man said indicating the staff to show them to their rooms. "Dinner will be served in a half hour."
They were shown to their room and told where to go for the dinner. Nathan stood in his room quietly looking out the window. He was confused, yet he got the impression from the woman at Lucas's funereal that she didn't believe he was dead. Yet he searched for the boy, everywhere, through every channel, and nothing.
Hearing a knock on his door he went to answer it. He wasn't surprised to find Kristen on the other side, but was surprised to see Admiral Noyce. He stepped aside for them to enter then closed the door behind them.
"Kristen." He said hugging the doctor. She hugged him back, her face was sad.
"I was told to come to find out about Lucas's death, Nathan." She said looking up at him.
"Me too." Nathan replied again hugging her.
"Nathan, any idea of why we're here? Other then that." Noyce asked.
"Not a clue, except this woman was at Lucas's funereal." Nathan said going back to the window.
"So you're here to find out about Wolenczak?" Noyce asked.
"Yeah, I'd like to find out what she knows about Lucas's death. Maybe bring an end to it." Nathan said turning to Noyce. "Why are you here Bill?"
"Me? I'm here for the show." Noyce said walking towards the door. Nathan and Kristen looked at each other and followed him out. They walked into the dinning room, taking a seat Nathan listened to the conversation around him.
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Crysta stood outside of the submergible, her nerves were stretched beyond their limit and she was very cranky. She already knew that they had all showed up, every last one of them. Now all she had to do was convince them. She looked over at Ben standing next to her.
"Here they come." he said still looking strait ahead. Crysta didn't comment, she quietly took deep breaths and cleared her mind. She waited for them to stop; with a small smile she watched them disembark.
"Welcome." Crysta said taking a step forward. "I am Crysta Anderson and I want to thank you all for coming. Please board the submersible and we will be on our way to our destination."
"All right Ms. Anderson where is our destination?" Bridger asked coming forward.
"Now Nathan, you of all people should know that I couldn't tell you that until we are on our way." Crysta said standing to the side to let people board. Noyce was the first to head towards the submersible he looked back at them.
"Come on people." Bridger said following behind him. After they boarded Crysta followed behind with Ben. After everyone who was sitting Crysta walked over and hit a button.
"Bring us out and engage stealth." She told Ben. Once they were underway Crysta turned back to the group. "We will be arriving in about ten minutes, any questions?"
"I have one." Ford said.
"Yes Captain Ford?" Crysta said turning her attention back to him.
"What do you know about the incident that happened three years ago?" Ford asked. "And how do you know us?"
"I know that all was not as it seemed, Lucas was not killed in a shuttle accident like the report said, and in fact he was forcibly removed from the bar he was meeting Tony at." Crysta said. "And as for knowing you, it is my job to make sure I know who I come in contact with."
"He never showed up." Tony replied looking at the woman.
"He did, don't worry every thing will be explained and answered." Crysta said hearing Ben say they were landing. As soon as the doors were opened Crysta escorted them out, she stopped in the hallway. "Welcome to Castlestone."
"You mean it does exist?" Noyce said looking around.
"Of course, now Devin here will show you to your rooms, and then we can meet in the conference room in about ten minutes." Crysta said walking away. She went to where Lucas was working, her nerves settling as soon as she saw him. He turned to her and smiled.
"You're back." Lucas replied walking over to her, he was excited they had getting the bio-skin finished.
"Yeah just got back." Crysta replied seeing his smile.
"We got the skin done, and part of it on." Lucas said his smile fading slightly. "What's going on?"
"I need you to do something for me." Crysta said looking up at him.
"Ok." Lucas said nodding to her.
"I have a call coming in, in about fifteen I'd like you to be present, yet you would have to stay quiet until I tell you." Crysta said as they moved away.
"Ok." Lucas said following after her.
"Good because this is going to be hard." Crysta said as they stepped into the elevator to go up to the conference room.
"Hard for whom?" Lucas inquired as they entered, she pointed to a chair by a wall. Walking over he sat down.
"For both of us, just sit there, and remember what I said." Crysta replied walking to the door of the room, she stopped and looked back. "I'll be right back ok, stay there."
"Ok." Lucas said. Crysta walked out of one conference room and into the other. Inside was her guest she smiled at them.
"I have two reasons that I wanted you to be here, the first is in regards to a call that I should be getting in about five minutes, then I would like to sit down with you all and discus a plan." Crysta said. She could see that several of them wanted to argue. "Please just give me the time, listen to this call."
"Alright." Noyce said as Crysta turned to a screen.
"You can watch the call here." Crysta replied leaving the room to go back to the conference room that Lucas was in. She started to pace back and forth; her eyes briefly going to Lucas then back to the screen.
"Crysta I have Admiral Nelson." Marcie said breaking the quietness in the room.
"Patch him through Marcie." Crysta said stopping by the end of the table her attention on the vid-link.
"Admiral." Crysta said leaning back against the table and crossing her hands over her chest.
"Crysta I have a job for you," Nelson said getting right to the point.
"Haven't you realized Admiral that I no longer take orders from you." Crysta replied. "As of two and half weeks ago I went A.W.O.L. or did you forget."
"What that little stint at the prison?" Nelson asked leaning forward in his desk. Crysta nodded her head as she started to pace.
"Little stint? I waltzed into a maximum security UEO prison, and waltzed out with a level one prisoner, scheduled for execution." Crysta said sounding quite proud of herself.
"I don't know what you had wished to accomplish." Nelson said sitting back.
"Sure you do Admiral." Crysta replied stopping her pacing to lean once again against the table.
"I know what you were trying to do, but not even you could have saved him." Nelson replied smiling.
"You don't know that." Crysta said seeing his smile fade.
"There is no antidote." Nelson replied crossing his arms over his chest. Crysta sat waiting to see what else he would say. She waited a smile on her face. "I gave him that shot myself, Lucas Wolenczak is dead."
"So you keep saying but did you stay until he stopped breathing Admiral?" Crysta asked seeing the surprised look on Lucas's face.
"No but I didn't have to, he was given a lethal dose." Nelson replied.
"I see," Crysta said nodding her head. "You're saying that for the past three years you've had Lucas Wolenczak in prison?"
"Yes, and now he is dead. So no matter what you were planning it won't happen." Nelson said.
"Can you be so sure?" Crysta asked seeing Nelsons eyes narrow.
"There is no way he could have survived." Nelson replied.
"Again Admiral can you be so sure?" Crysta said seeing the anger in Nelsons face.
"Lucas Wolenczak is dead, I killed him myself." Nelson hissed.
"You did?" Crysta asked making the admiral angrier.
"There is no way he could have survived." Nelson said practically shouting.
"Couldn't he? Care to make a wager?" Crysta asked. She saw that Nelson looked ready to have a heart attack.
"You don't have the medical technology." Nelson finally said.
"I have the medical technology Admiral." Crysta replied matter of fact. "I know that only ten minutes had passed since the shot was given. I also know that given the antidote within one half hour the chances of survival are great."
"There is no way you could have saved him." Nelson said fear coming to his eyes.
"You know admiral I was never good at poker." Crysta said with a shrug. Looking at Lucas she motioned him over. Lucas stood and walked to stand beside Crysta his eyes on the Admiral. Crysta watched as Nelson went from surprised to rage. Now here was the clincher, neither Lucas nor the Admiral knew of the others that were watching.
"It doesn't matter he is still branded as a traitor." Nelson said.
"No he's not, Admiral. He's listed as deceased. Killed in a tragic accident while piloting a submergible. Your report said that, nowhere does it say he was a traitor." Crysta said laying a hand on Lucas's shoulder. "Tell me, was it because he had information about you and your little operation? Was that why you ordered him to be killed?"
"You're grasping Crysta. You haven't a clue as to why he was in prison." Nelson replied.
"You may be right," Crysta said as she started to pace again. "Then again what would you say if I told you I had SeaQuest?"
"I'd say you're full of shit." Nelson replied smugly.
"Were you there when they destroyed her too?" Crysta asked her eyes going to the man standing in the doorway to the conference room.
"No, but as I said there is no way." Nelson said. "I have the report that she was dismantled and destroyed."
"Sorry Admiral, but after seeing Lucas can you be so sure." Crysta asked walking over to stand beside the table. "I do know what you have plan, and yes I know why he was in prison, you don't think I would have taken on job without doing a little checking myself do you."
"But you didn't take on the job, you chickened out." Nelson replied.
"No, I chose not to end a young man's life." Crysta said.
"You have no proof on me Crysta, and even if you do have SeaQuest you can't run her, not with just the two of you." Nelson said smiling at her. "So my dear all you have are a pair of aces."
"You know me better then that Admiral, I wouldn't come to the table with a pair of aces." Crysta said her hand stopping over a button as a smile came to her face. She made sure that Nelson saw what she was about to do. "I have a full house."
Crysta pushed the button and the wall between the rooms opened showing Nelson the crew of the SeaQuest and Admiral Noyce. Nelson went pale slightly then rage took over again his eyes going back to Crysta. Lucas turned around to see the room filled with people.
"I'll get you, remember that." Nelson replied bringing Lucas back to what was in front of him.
"Maybe," Crysta started. "Mr. Ortiz show the Admiral the little surprise we left for him the last time we were there."
"Yes sir." Ortiz replied pushing a button on the box he was holding. The Admiral's building shook slightly as sirens went off and the sprinkler system started to rain down on nelson.
"Have a good day Admiral." Crysta replied reaching over and ended the transition. She then turned back to the table and the surprised people at it. "Miguel assemble the rest of my team please."
"Yes sir." Miguel replied leaving the room.
"As you can see Lucas's death was given in false pretence." Crysta said as Nathan stood and walked over to Lucas. He pulled the young man into his arms barely believing he was here with him.
"So that was you who broke into the UEO prison?" Noyce asked.
"Guilty." Crysta said as her team started to arrive. "I'd like to introduce you to my team; most of you know Ben Krieg and Dagwood, and Miguel Ortiz, This is Jake Brody."
"Oh my god." Lieutenant Henderson said standing.
"I assume most of you understand that Jake is Jim's twin brother." Crysta said seeing Henderson sit back down looking quite shaken. "And this is Devin Belington."
"Why was Lucas in prison?" Nathan asked as he pulled away from Lucas slightly.
"If you would take your seats again, I will explain that." Crysta said as they nodded and sat down. She noted that Nathan kept his hand on Lucas's shoulder. As she sat down she looked around at the faces that were looking expectantly at her. Here it was, the moment of truth.
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