QUARANTINE

Chapter 4

By Kiddo

Disclaimer:

I don't have any rights to the TV show "seaQuest DSV," and I am not making any money with this story.

A big "Thank You" goes to Jackie for beta-reading.

Three days later, Lucas left the bridge completely exhausted. Because they were so severely understaffed, everyone who could work had to work longer and harder. It had an effect on everybody. The teenager longed for his bed, as his next shift was scheduled to begin in 6 hours. No body was getting enough sleep these days.

The computer genius was just glad that Tony had a bed in medbay and couldn't stay in their cabin. Under normal circumstances, Piccolo and he got along fine as roommates, but at the moment, a chicken pox-plagued Tony would be too much to handle! The guy was whining and complaining all the time. Lucas could understand quite well that Piccolo wasn't feeling good, but nobody else was making as big a fuss as the ex-con.

Having the cabin to himself for the moment felt like luxury to the blond teen. He also realized that he definitely hadn't appreciated it enough during the last tour. Now Tony couldn't leave his stuff lying around the cabin, and he couldn't keep Lucas awake with his snoring. Tony always claimed that he couldn't snore because of his gills, but Lucas knew better. Maybe he should record the sound one day and play it back for Tony the next morning...

Before heading for his cabin, Lucas turned in direction of the Moon Pool naturally. Even a chicken pox epidemic couldn't ruin his daily ritual of doing something with Darwin. That it meant he would get less sleep didn't cross his mind. Wild horses couldn't stop him from visiting his best friend.

Seven days later, nearly everything was back to normal again on the seaQuest. Only 10 crew members were still sick, and Dr. Smith could finally breathe easier.

She was now sitting in her office, going through the crew members' medical files. She really had a lot updates to make.

Lucas Wolenczak was sitting in front of the computer in his and Tony's cabin. He had worked very hard during the outbreak of chicken pox, and now, as a reward, he got some extra free time.

At the moment, he was reading a few interesting articles that he had found and saved while researching if Darwin could get infected with chicken pox. Unfortunately, the headache that he'd had for the last few hours was getting worse and worse. It had to come from all the work he'd been doing and the lack of sleep.

The computer genius scratched his armpit. Somehow, a mosquito had managed to get on board the submarine, and it was just his luck that it had chosen him as the victim. Great, just great!

Suddenly, the boy's pal began to beep. The teenager grabbed it, hoping that there weren't any big computer emergencies; he really had no patience for them at the moment. "Yeah, Lucas."

"It's me, Dr. Smith. I just went through all the medical files, and I discovered that your vaccination for chicken pox has run out. It's already been three years. Come to me as soon as you feel that you might be sick, but I'm hoping that maybe you are one of the lucky ones that won't get them."

The teenager could only get a slightly shocked "Okay" out.

"That was all I wanted to tell you. I hope I didn't disturb you. Smith out." And with that, the doctor ended the call.

Lucas pulled up the sleeve of his plaid shirt and looked at his supposed mosquito bite. Hmmm... actually, if he really looked at it, it didn't look like a mosquito bite at all...

The End

Written August 2004 / Translated December 2005

Information:

Normally the incubation period for chicken pox is a bit longer. But, I used my artistic license and changed it. I just found it more interesting if everybody got sick faster and without more time in between. But hey, this is just fanfiction.