In Between
Chapter 1
Written by Yury, Kiddo and Samusa
In Loving Memory Of Jonathan Brandis
13.04.1976 - 12.11.2003
As the rainbow faded,
The Albatross came
And he carried me with gentle wing strokes
Far away over the seven oceans.
He carefully put me at the edge of the light.
I went inside and felt safe.
I haven't left you.
I'm just a few steps ahead.
Disclaimer:
We don't have any rights of the TV-show "seaQuest DSV" and we don't make any money with writing this.
Season: between I & II
Genre: general
Rating: K+
Translated by: Kiddo
Beta: Anarore
"How did it go?" asked Bridger.
"Okay, I guess. Dad said even though he's going to be really busy, he promised to show up for my birthday next year. But I doubt it." answered the teenager after coming back to the Captain.
"Don't worry, Lucas. Next year's going to be great." insured Bridger.
"What're we going to do?" he asked, when they started walking along the beach.
"Well, first of all there's the small matter of building a new boat." said Nathan.
Lucas didn't answer. Even if he never admitted it out loud, he was sad that the meeting with his Dad had been so short. He would have loved to spend much more time with his father. He walked quietly next to Bridger who had his arm around his shoulder.
"And what are we going to do now?" asked Lucas after some time when he couldn't stand the silence any longer.
"We will go to my place, eat something and start with the planning for the new boat." suggested Bridger enthusiastically.
Lucas knitted his eyebrows. That wasn't the answer he had expected. "I hoped to have a few free days before this."
The Captain smiled. "Okay, then we will have a bit of holiday beforehand. I have nothing to lose. If there is a new boat I haven't worked on, the UEO will come to me sooner or later. After all they need a Captain who fulfills their expectations."
„Are you really so sure about this?"
"Of course." said Bridger confidently and led the boy to a little motorboat.
Together they drove to the captain's island, where a delicious lunch was waiting for them.
"I already thought that you wouldn't come in time." said Kristin Westphalen when they both stepped into the kitchen.
"Lucas didn't want to leave his father." claimed the Captain and went promptly out of the reach of the computer genius.
"Great, just great! Like it is my fault that my father suddenly realised that he has a son and that he has to hold him in his arms as long as possible." Lucas rolled his eyes. He sat down at the dining table and unfolded the napkin. With that the teenager tried to hide his inner restlessness that had seized him barely after Bridger had mentioned the thing with his father. Now that he had spent such a short time with his dad, he missed him more than ever.
The doctor didn't pay any more attention to these words, and filled something on to Lucas' plate so that they could start the dinner. Afterwards she wanted to go outside in the sun, with the exclusive company of a good book and Nathan.
Lucas on the other hand went to the guestroom where all of his few things were that he had managed to save during the evacuation. When he stepped into the room he closed the door, leaned with his back against it and sank down. A deep sigh left his throat. He took a completely crumpled envelope out of his trousers pocket. His father had slipped it to him in one of his many hugs. Again money should solve everything. It was thick enough to show this. At least he was able to see him in real and talk to him from face to face. This was really worth something when you considered that they had mostly communicated over the Vidphone in the last years, because even writing letters was too time-consuming for the great scientist.
He sighed again and put the envelope back in his trousers pocket. What he wanted to do with it, he didn't know yet. Maybe it was a good idea to go to the city this afternoon and to leave the two adults alone. And anyway he also had to call his mother to let her know where he was. His father had in fact said that he wanted to do it, but Lucas thought it would be better to call her himself.
Slowly his gaze scanned the rather barren room. The Captain had said he could decorate it to his heart's content and see it as his own room. If there was something missing, he would put things right. The teenager felt more than awkward about this. He didn't want the Captain to care so much about him. He still wasn't totally lost in the world and he still had both of his parents. Okay, this argument didn't work so well.
Opposite the teen was the window and a writing desk, on the wall right beside it was the bed where clean folded up bed linen was lying on top of it. Before being too tired this evening, he should put the clean sheets on it, but first he needed more light in the room. He stood up, tripped over the nasty rug and pulled the weird white curtains apart. His next hand movement was to open the window. The oppressive midday-heat spilled into the room, but it didn't bother him much. Everything was better than the stuffiness that had built up over all the months where nobody had been able to let fresh air inside.
His traveller bag was still standing in front of the bed and waited to be unpacked. With two steps he was next to it and kneeled down. He opened the zipper and first took the computer out, placed it on the mattress of the bed and reached for his wash bag. The advantage of this room was that he had his own little bathroom. It wasn't very big and spacious, but it was really nice to have his own shower.
Quickly he brought his wash bag into the bathroom, when he left it again he left the door open so that the fresh air could also get in there. He would decorate more in the next days, but this had to be enough for now. Next, he put his things into the closet, which was standing against the wall with the door that led to the hall. After he was done with that, he thought again about what to do... He didn't feel like getting creative and decorating a bit more. It was probably the best if he went to the city. Lucas just changed his sweat clothesand it didn't take two minutes until he was in front of the house and searching for the adults to tell them of his plans.
After a short time of looking around, he spotted the two. Dr.Westphalen was sitting on a deckchair and had a book in her hands. The captain, on the other hand, had a few pieces of paper in front of him, and was drawing a few sketches for a new seaQuest. When he heard the boy next to him he looked up. "Hey, what do you think of a new bridge design? This time nearly all work stations could be adjusted to the middle, so that it would be easier for the crew to look at each other and easier to communicate."
Lucas groaned shortly internally, had the man never heard of a vacation? He leaned forward to take a look at Bridger's sketches. "Mh…looks nice." However it reminded him of the bridge of a spaceship from an old TV-show. "I wanted to ask if I could take the boat and drive to the mainland."
Bridger gave him a short searching look. "Do you know how to handle it properly?" After all he was responsible for the teenager at the moment.
The teenager nodded. "Yeah, that isn't a problem."
Finally the older man nodded. "Then you can take it. Have you planned something special?"
"I need some things. The few clothes I have won't last much longer. And I don't plan to do the laundry daily."
The captain nodded understandingly. "Do you need some money?" He could remember clearly how Robert had been always short of money at that age.
The computergenius shook his head. "My father left me a thick envelope with money." He grinned and held a plastic card in the air. "And a credit card." Since the whole Node 2 incident he earned his own money, but when his father felt the need to fork out something, he definitely wouldn't say no. It was more than clear to the boy that Dr. Wolenczak only wanted to calm his bad conscience.) After all it had always been this way…
"Okay. But be back before it gets dark so that I can bring Kristen back to the mainland." The Captain and Dr. Westphalen had agreed to see if a relationship between them could have a future. But for the beginning the red haired woman wanted to stay in her little stylish apartment, living together in the same house was still too early. And on the other hand they also worried about what kind of image they presented otherwise to Lucas.
Some time later Lucas was on the mainland. The way over the water had only taken 20 minutes with the boat.
The teenager had already bought a few things, when he was nearly knocked down by a man in a suit. "Wow!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't …. Lucas! Nice to see you."
The blond boy, on the other hand, had to take a second look. He had never seen the former moral officer in such an outfit before. "What are you wearing?"
Ben turned around in a circle."Stylish, right? I'm just coming from a job interview."
The computer genius still looked at him confusedly. "For what?"
"As a manager for a fast food franchise."
Yeah, that suited Krieg, but there was also the danger that he would become his best customer. "How did it go?"
The former officer shrugged his shoulders. „No idea. But I let my whole charm play. If they don't want me then it's their loss and not mine." He looked at his watch. "Sorry kid, but I have to go. I have a second job interview."
Lucas nodded and ignored the kid remark. „Okay."
Ben turned around again. „Hey, where are you staying at the moment?"
"On Bridger's island. He offered me his guestroom."
Krieg smiled and waved goodbye for the last time. "Great. Then I know where to reach you in the next weeks." He honestly was happy for the teen. He had feared that Lucas would be dumped somewhere, but with Bridger he was in the best hands. Of course a lot of people saw only a superficial guy in Ben, but this wasn't the whole truth…
Lucas gazed a moment at the dark haired man, what a coincidence that he met someone of the crew here. There had been times on the seaQuest when he hadn't seen some crewmembers in days and here he immediately ran into somebody. Kind of weird…
The blond haired teenager looked around, somewhere there had to be a sports-store. He urgently needed swimming trunks so that he could go swimming with Darwin. And if he already was at this subject an electronic-store would also be nice. He planned to install a vocoder on Bridger's pier. He would definitely not wait until a new seaQuest was built so that he could speak with Darwin again…
To Be Continued...
Written March/April 2006