I checked in on Lucas for those of you who wanted to know what he was up to. I've gotta tell you he isn't having much fun. But isn't that what you want?

Chapter Five

Lucas had lost all sense of time. His body was numb and his mind wanted to be as well. The longer he stayed there the more sure he was that the captain was dead. When the raft hit the reef and tore apart they had both been thrown into the water. He hadn't seen Bridger since.

He knew how much not knowing his son's fate had eaten at the captain and Lucas began to get an understanding of how it felt. Despite fearing the worst he knew he had to have an answer.

He clung to the rock face and stared out into the darkness that seemed to have swallowed his friend. Gradually the black faded to gray but he didn't seem to notice. Eventually he could make out vague outlines and he realised it was nearly dawn.

As the sun began to rise Lucas finally got to get a good look at his surroundings. He was stuck to a rocky stretch of reef that seemed to hug the shoreline of an island. Since he was on the ocean side of the reef he was still being battered by the relentless surge of water against the rocks.

He knew he had to get off the reef and over to the island but he didn't think he had the strength to do it. His hands were raw from clinging to the rock. His legs were so cold they were numb. Every time he tried to take a deep breath his lungs burned and he started to cough.

The first thing he needed to do was get over the reef. Now that he could see the rock face above him, Lucas slowly began to pull himself up.

Jonathan Ford was an ambitious man who dreamed of commanding the seaQuest one day. The three days as acting captain had just served to strengthen his resolve to make that dream a reality. Right now he would happily give up his dream if it meant that Captain Bridger was standing here on the bridge again.

He stared at the viewscreen which showed the images coming from the Hyper Reality Probe. The battered shuttle lay on the seafloor and Katie was using the probe to confirm that the life raft had actually been deployed. They were relived to see that it had been.

Darwin had swum down to the empty shuttle with the probe and was now swimming around nearby. He reminded Ford of a bloodhound trying to get a scent to follow. He knew that wasn't possible but he also knew there was a strong, undefinable bond between the dolphin and both the captain and Lucas.

All of the seaQuest's shuttles and sea crabs were currently out looking for them. Every one of them had two members of the medical team aboard as Ford knew it was highly likely they would be needed. Ortiz and O'Neill had run the numbers three times to make sure they were covering the right area. The problem was the earthquake had temporarily messed up water currents in the area and they could only use computer simulations to make an educated guess.

What complicated things even more was the area they were in had dozens of uninhabited islands. Ford prayed they had made it to land but there was still an awful lot of coastline to search and even more ocean in between.

Lucas sat on top of the rocks trying to rub some feeling back into his legs. He felt like he had just climbed Mt Everest. He tried to estimate the distance across to the island and decided that it was too far to swim but maybe he could try survival backstroke. If he floated on his back he wouldn't have to waste energy lifting his head to breathe.

He looked down at the swirling water and baulked at the thought of getting back into it. "If our places were reversed Captain Bridger would come looking for me."

With that in mind he edged down the rock and slid back into the icy water. Rolling over onto his back he pushed off from the rock and started to kick. His leg muscles refused to work properly so he resorted to a kind of frog kick. Every few minutes he had to stop and tread water as his leg muscles cramped up. More than once he found himself going under.

What should have been a five minute swim seemed to go on forever before he felt himself being caught up in the breaking waves. He rolled over to face the shoreline and allowed the momentum of the waves to carry him ashore. Lucas dragged himself up the beach away from the waves and collapsed onto the sand. His lungs were burning and his leg muscles were in spasms. He lay back on the sand and closed his eyes.

Sounds and images kept playing over and over in his mind. That same face from before. Blue eyes. Blonde hair. He clenched his fists in frustration and pounded the sand. Sitting here wasn't getting him any answers. He had already worked out that something catastrophic had happened and whoever this blonde kid was, he was involved. Maybe he was hurt. He could have washed up somewhere along the beach too.

"I have to find him."

When he tried to stand up the man felt the throbbing in his head increase. He had gotten used to looking at the world through blurry eyes but he was finding it difficult to focus on what he needed to do next.

Forcing himself to take one step at a time he slowly walked along the sand towards a small rocky headland. By the time he got there he was having serious trouble keeping his thoughts straight. He had to sit down and he leaned back against the rocks and closed his eyes.

A voice beside him made him open them again. Robert!

Krieg and Crocker scanned the shoreline for any sign of life. They had circumnavigated the small island twice already as UEO procedures said they needed to do. This was the third one so far and they hadn't found a thing. Doctor Westphalen and Ensign Johanssen ran the search data through the computer and checked off another grid. All of the shuttles were feeding their data to one another and they could see just how little of the search grid had been covered.

Kristen looked at the coloured section on the grid and tried to keep a scientific point of view about it. This was a mathematical process and they just needed to keep going. Sooner or later one of the search vessels would turn up something. They had to.

Lucas opened his eyes and realised the sun had risen significantly. He had been asleep for at least three hours. The temperature had risen a little but he was still wearing wet clothes and they clung uncomfortably to his skin. He slowly sat up and tried to ignore his aching muscles. It still hurt to breathe and he had to force himself to take slow, shallow breaths.

Looking down the beach he noticed debris along the tideline. Something caught his eye and he realised it looked like the life raft! Forgetting how sore he was he stood up and headed down to where the object was. If the raft had made it to shore then maybe the captain had too.

As he got nearer Lucas saw that it wasn't the whole raft. It was much too small. Upon closer inspection he found it was just a piece of the raft. It seemed to have been torn apart and he felt the anxiety rising again. The rocks had shredded it. He knew how battered he was. What had they done to Bridger, especially if he couldn't do anything to protect himself?

Lucas hurried on down the beach looking for any more signs of his friend. A few more pieces of the raft littered the shore. As his eyes wandered around the shoreline he could see that this beach was part of a large bay with a small rocky headland jutting out ahead of him.

He looked at the rocks before him and was immediately overwhelmed with mental images of the previous night. His breath caught in his throat and before he knew it he was coughing again. As he had done before he had to force himself to breathe slow and shallow. Finally he felt ready to go on and he gingerly climbed up onto the first rock.

The outcrop wasn't very big and Lucas made it to the top in a few minutes. He looked around to find the best way down and nearly fell over with shock. Only a few feet below him was the captain! He scrambled down the rocks and dropped to his knees in front of him.

"Captain?" he gently shook him but got no response. "Captain, can you hear me?"

Bridger slowly opened his eyes and stared at the boy in front of him.

"Robert?"