"Lucas, I've got to get going, I have to meet Dr. Gravel in a few minutes in the Launch Bay. Are you ok staying here and finishing your breakfast with Tony?"
Lucas looked up from his meal of pancakes, syrup all over his mouth. "Uh huh", he said, nodding.
"When you're done I want you to go straight to Medbay. Dr. Gravel and I will be there shortly. Got it?"
Lucas didn't look up this time; he was too busy making happy faces with the syrup and pancakes. "Go to medbay. 'kay."
Nathan stared at his young charge for a few more seconds, and then left with a smile and a quick ruffle of Lucas' hair. He reached the Launch Bay, but Dr. Gravel's shuttle had yet to arrive, and from the last radio communication, it would be several more minutes before it arrived.
Bridger paced back and forth in launch bay, thinking about what Lucas revealed the night before. It was still early in the day and he had felt his pulse and anger rise so many times. Lucas, on the other hand, besides his comment about being sent away, seemed to have bounced back rather quickly. But Nathan wasn't fooled. The emotional fall-out of revealing the abuse would have long-term consequences, and it seemed to him that Lucas was already experiencing the emotional effects. He suspected that his regression in speech was one symptom – clearly his IQ was the same. But on the other hand, maybe it was just a sign that he trusted the Captain, allowing himself to be the little boy he had never been allowed to be. Nathan suspected that in the Wolencazk household one small slip in grammar – saying "stolded" instead of "stole" would result in a beating. Now was Lucas' chance to be his age instead of his IQ.
He had to make a move, that was clear. This could not happen again, to the 6 year old, or the 16 year old. He would be damned if his parents got a hold of Lucas ever again. But there were steps to take. Wendy would have to examine the boy thoroughly, and authorities would have to be notified – starting with the UEO. They needed to know the situation aboard the Seaquest, and the long-term consequences if it couldn't be fixed.
His thoughts were interrupted as one of the crewmen announced the arrival of Dr. Gravel's shuttle. Dr. Gravel smiled instantly upon spotting the Captain, striding over confidently and reaching out to shake his hand.
"Captain Bridger, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine, Dr. Gravel. We really appreciate you coming all this way to help us out."
Dr. Gravel smiled wider. I consider it a challenge. It's been quite sometime since anyone has asked me to work on the FOY machines. I did a lot of research and development on them, but they got away from me. I'm glad to help out now."
"Glad to hear it, we need all the help we can get. Three of my crew lost approximately ten years of their lives." Bridger paused. "Would you like a quick tour of the Seaquest before heading to meet Dr. Smith?"
"That would be lovely, Captain."
"Now the next area we are coming up on is Mammal engineering. This area is where we work with a dolphin – Darwin – to try and…"
As they reached the door of Mammal engineering and Seadeck, Nathan was forced to stop his speech. There was Lucas, clad only in his underwear beginning to climb over the edge and into Darwin's pool. Alone. Nathan's heart leapt into his throat.
"Lucas! Not one more step!" Nathan said, anger and sternness creeping into his voice in spite of himself.
Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard Dr. Gravel chuckle. "You weren't kidding when you said Mammal engineering, were you?"
Upon hearing the Captain's voice Lucas froze. Nathan could see the colour drain from the small boy's face, and his body start to tremble. Bridger forced himself to take a deep breath and count to ten before approaching Lucas.
"What are you doing here, Lucas?"
The boy's voice was quiet when he replied "I was gonna go swimmin' with Darwin."
"Did I say you could go swimming? Did you ask me to go swimming?"
Lucas couldn't speak, he just shook his head.
"And what did I ask you to do?"
There was no response.
"Lucas, look at me." The boy looked up, clearly terrified. "What did I ask you to do?" Nathan repeated.
"Go to Medbay after my breakfast." Lucas said.
"So why did you disobey me, son?"
Lucas just shrugged. "I dunno. I'm sorry." Lucas exclaimed, wrapping his arms around Nathan's neck. In spite of his anger, the Captain scooped the small boy up in his arms. "I'm disappointed Lucas. You need to listen to the grownups around you. But we can talk about this later." Nathan's voice lowered so that only Lucas could hear him. "There is something more important and you have you listen to me. You are never to go swimming alone ever. You're not old enough or big enough. You could get hurt and I don't know what I would do if something happened to you. Promise me you'll never go swimming alone."
"I promise sir."
"Good, now go get dressed and get to Medbay!" Nathan said out loud, setting Lucas down.
"Is that your son, Captain? I didn't realize the UEO was allowing children on their vessels."
"They don't. Lucas was my chief computer expert. He had gone along to the abandoned ship and was checking out the – what did you call them? – the FOY machines. He was very much a teenager, and now he's just a tiny boy. If we can't fix this, Lucas won't be able to stay on the Seaquest."