AN: When I originally wrote "A Whiter Shade of Pale", I had intended it to be the first in a series of seaQuest tales that retold the crew's tale from the second season on while salvaging the better characters of the second and third seasons. I was in eighth grade at the time of writingit and now I will be entering my last year of college, so needless to say, I've learned a lot since starting this whole thing. I'm not satisfied with the current state the story is in, so I've decided to rewrite it, changing it quite a bit. Why? Because my mind is like a banana tree filled with monkeys all clamoring for attention, and the first season of seaQuest is out on DVD, and I've been reading the sQ novel, and I recently watched an "Outer Limits" episode and a movie with Michael Ironside.

Confused yet? Lol

The "Outer Limits" and "Maximum Velocity" reminded me of what a talented actor Michael Ironside is and how unfair it was that he got stuck in command of a boat that really had no hope of being saved. Pity he wasn't involved in the first season of sQ. And then the wheels began to turn... Not always a good thing... lol.

Rewriting was essential to flesh things out and make new characters stick. So please bare with me as I get this story back underway. To all my reviewers of "A Whiter Shade of Pale", thank so much for your reviews and kindness. You are awesome. I'm leaving the original story up as a sort of archive, but I'll be rewriting it here. Again thank you!

To any of my Pretender readers: The story's not over yet! I've just run into a roadblock- Jarod has been very elusive recently and I must get his part written first and correctly before the story can go on. I'm hoping this will get me back into writing and generate some ideas.

seaQuest DSV: The Saga Continues

Story #1: Tell No Secrets, Tell No Lies (Formerly "A Whiter Shade of Pale")

Prologue: To Catch A Captain

The second tour of seaQuest had begun two months ago under pestilent conditions. After finally being rebuilt in early 2021, the tour had been delayed for five months due to an extortion scandal within the UEO that had temporarily halted funding. Adding to the UEO's internal problems, a new Secretary General, Adam Corbin, had been sworn in, and had placed people with questionable pasts in positions of great power. While the public and most politicians could find nothing wrong with him personally, the UEO's high ranking officials didn't trust him. This was due to the fact that there was circumstantial evidence linking Corbin to the Communist movement within the Southeast Asian Confederation of Refugees-SEACOR. SEACOR itself was posing problems for the UEO. Formed after the 2010 Wars, SEACOR had slowly evolved into a major player in world politics and had been in conflict with the UEO since 2015. Rumor of war with SEACOR had set the citizens of the UEO on edge.

With increased tension and unrest and with the ocean becoming a more dangerous place, the UEO was anxious to get the seaQuest back in the water, even without the vessel being fully staffed, in hopes that her presence alone would quelled some of the commotion Corbin and SEACOR had agitated.

If Bill Noyce thought he had to work hard to get Nathan Bridger to take command of the seaQuest the first time, he wasn't quite prepared for the struggle it had been to get Bridger back for the second. Though, no longer Secretary General, Noyce still had considerable clout and standing with his former colleagues, and of course his long-standing friendship with Bridger made him the obvious choice to coax the captain back to his ship. Noyce knew that part of his friend's reluctance to come back was due to his concern that seaQuest might end up becoming more of a military arbitrator than a research and exploration vehicle, and Bridger had no desire for that. Noyce also believed that part of Bridger's reluctance was also due to a nightmare he had been having since the first tour ended. It was a strange dream Bridger had told him of, not reoccurring but consecutive, each different than the last, but all dealing with two subsequent tours of the seaQuest. Bridger told him of bizarre, surreal events surrounding his crew, most of whom he didn't know. There were alien abductions, man-eating plants, a different captain during the third tour, even something about the seaQuest in a cornfield. Laughable, to Noyce at least; Bridger seemed worried that it might have actually happened. Impossible, Noyce pointed out, there had been no other tours and only one captain, but Bridger didn't seem completely convinced. Yet he dismissed the dream long enough to give Noyce a "list of demands" so to speak; things he wanted before he would consider returning. The most important of those things was that he wanted his original crew back, all of whom had gone on to other pursuits after the first tour. Clearly, Bridger did not think that Noyce was capable of getting his old crew back and considered himself off the hook. However, he had forgotten that the new Secretary General wanted seaQuest back in the water more than anyone else and was willing to do whatever it took to see that it happened with Nathan Bridger at the helm.

It was not so difficult after all, Noyce discovered,to lure the bunch back to serve under their former captain again. Benjamin Krieg, Timothy O'Neill, and Miguel Ortiz were all back at Pearl before they finished receiving the requests it seemed. Jonathan Ford returned as first officer afterquite abit of resistance- he did not want to appear overly eager for the position or let anyone know he had been waiting anxiously for such a call.

Unfortunately, the return of five of his original crew was still not enough to get Bridger on board. His requirements were specific, particularly where the science and medical staff was concerned, and even with Corbin's resources, Noyce was having difficulty locating many of them. While still cajoling others to return, Noyce had no choice but to actively seek crew to fill the slots that were going to stay empty. Somehow in the process, one of the originals got overlooked.

Lucas Wolenczak was more than a little wounded that he had not been asked back for the second tourand his disappointment was clearly evident on his face at all times while he ran system checks on the new computers of the seaQuest. While he may have grown physically, he was still struggling to reach the maturity that the adults around him expected him to have. Eventually, his pouting got to those working with him who complained to their superiors. Noyce got wind of it and suddenly realized that the number one person on Bridger's list was not a part of the new crew yet. The situation was quickly rectified and, at last report, the youth's attitude was remarkably upbeat- almost annoyingly so.

With Brigder's approval, certain positions on his senior staff were filled by new recruits. James Brody stepped in as head of security as Bridger's old friend, Crocker, was serious about staying inretirement.

A problem arose while searching for someone with the ability to pilot the HR probe. Several candidates tried out, but for one reason or another were unable to fill the position vacated by Katherine Hitchcock who had declined the invitation to return. With time running out, the last candidate left who was available to begin the tour was a Lenora E. Henderson who not the most desirable in the position. Noyce was incredibly uncomfortable with the novice, but had no other options and was forced to give Henderson the position on a trial basis as he told her. Somehow word was leaked to Katherine Hitchcock about the situation and she showed up at UEO headquarters in Pearl saying she had reconsidered the offer after realizing that being the captain of a tanker wasn't as fulfilling as she thought it would be. Then as quickly had it had begun, Henderson's stint on the seaQuest was over. Noyce suspected Ford to be the leak, but Hitchcock would not give him up and the commander fervently denied having anything to do with it. The gleam in the young man's eyes told Noyce that he was the culprit, and the admiral thanked him anyway.

All of the importantpositions except one were filled by the day Noyce needed Bridger's confirmation that he would return. He dreaded informing his friend that the number two person on Bridger's list was not on board. He knew that without that person it was very likely that Bridger would call the whole thing off.

"It's all set then?" Bridger asked as the two men gazed at the drydocked seaQuest resting stately in her magnificence.

"Almost everything is as you wanted it."

"Almost?"

Noyce drew in a deep breath before delivering the bad news.

"I'm afraid Dr. Westphalen isn't returning."

"Oh." Bridger didn't seem overly surprised the news. "Did she say why?"

"No, Nathan, we haven't even been able to reach her."

When there was no response to his explanation, just a distant look in Bridger's eyes, Noyce plunged on, uncomfortable with the silence.

" As it stands Dr. Wendy Smith will stand-in as CMO. Temporarily, of course. It's just until we can locate Kristin."

Bridger remained stoically facing his reconstructed vessel for a moment more before shoving his hands in his pockets with a shrug.

"Let's get that boat back underwater where it belongs okay?"