Nathan thought over Wendy's concerns, as he got ready to settle in for the night. She thought there might be something more going on with Lucas than just the ramifications of the machine – that maybe Lucas himself was directing some of his behaviour.

"So you think he's purposefully acting younger on his own? That the machine isn't responsible for all of his regression?" he had asked her, eyebrows raised in puzzlement.

"I don't know Captain, it's really difficult to say at this early juncture. It's just a feeling I have."

"Well," Nathan said with a sigh, "I'll keep an eye out for any troubling behaviour. But I have to admit that I fail to see the problem, even if your concerns are founded. Lucas' has never really been a child. His parents have neglected him, only paying attention when it served their purposes. He went to college so young, and is surrounded by adults on this sub every day. He had been forced to grow up so fast, that I can understand why he'd embrace a chance to be a kid."

Dr. Smith had just pursed her lips and nodded thoughtfully. "I'll leave you two to your sleep." She said. And of course now that he had been left to his sleep it turned out to be very elusive. He couldn't help but get stuck on the events of the evening and kept rolling the problem around in his head looking for solutions until the wee hours of the morning.

He must have drifted off at some point, because he jerked awake to the sound of a loud thud. Had Lucas fallen out of bed? He glanced over to the cot – empty. ::thud::

"Morning Captain," came a chipper voice from his other side. There was Lucas, hanging from the bookshelf, tossing books from the top shelf onto the floor.

"Lucas, what are you doing? How'd you get up there?"

"I climbed up. It's not there far – technically I'm only three feet off the ground." He pointed to where his feet rested on the edge of the middle shelf. "I wanted to get at some of your science books, see if I can find any information that can help us fix this – hey!" he protested, as the captain grabbed him around the waist and set him down on the floor.

"I'd feel a lot better if you didn't scale the furniture, Lucas."

"Well I need to get at the books!"

"What else do you need?"

"That black biology text up top."

Handing it to the boy, Lucas added it to the pile he had on the table. "I figure these ought to keep me busy for a while."

"At least for today," Nathan said with a smile. "What do you say we go get some breakfast, we can drop these off at the lab on the way and you can go there to read them after we eat. Sit with Dr. Smith for a while?"

Lucas nodded in quiet agreement, and the Captain fought to keep the look of surprise off of his face. What, no argument about being babysat?

oooooooooooo

They reached the mess, and Lucas darted off into the crowds ahead of him. It was difficult to keep track of him amongst the crew now that he was so short. After a few minutes he caught sight of the blonde head at a table with Tony, Lonnie and Dr. Smith.

A few moments later he approached the table himself with trays for him and Lucas, setting it down in front of the boy, and grunting negatively at Piccolo and Henderson when they attempted to salute.

"Birds of a feather..." he mumbled quietly, glancing quickly at the three changed members of his crew around the table. Dr. Smith shot him a rueful smile.

"I'm not hungry." Lucas announced, pushing his tray away with authority.

"You need to eat, kiddo."

"I don't want to!" That was quickly approaching a whine. Goody.

"Why not?"

"It looks like throw up." Lucas said, swirling his spoon around and letting the food fall with a distinct ::gloop:: noise. He shot the Captain a look that clearly said, See?!

"Thanks for sharing that thought, Lucas." Henderson said, staring at her plate forlornly. The boy smiled sarcastically.

"Look, Lucas, eat at least half and then maybe Tony will take you to Seadeck and you can go for a swim with Darwin?" He couldn't believe he was negotiating with a 6 year old. Had it been like this with Robert?

Lucas looked hopefully at Tony. "Sure thing Luke." Once the deal was made he dug into his breakfast, shovelling it into his mouth with one hand while the other pinched his nose closed.

The captain rolled his eyes and gave Tony a grateful smile.