"Morning, Captain," Secretary McGath greeted Bridger as he read over briefs.
"Morning, sir," he replied, sipping his coffee. "What can I do for you this morning?"
"The seaQuest is conveniently in the area for a quick rendezvous with a cargo ship. We need you to arrange a short meet with them and pick up the cargo," he said. "Then when you cross through the Caribbean, she'll be able to drop it off at the dock station."
Bridger sensed something was wrong; the tense look on McGath's face confirmed it. "What cargo is this?"
"It's classified – we've been working on a new security program, and the hard copy needs to be transferred," McGath cleared his throat. "Lucas should be interested in it; in fact, we even considered having him recode it."
"Considered."
"We don't want to take any risks with the mind-reader on board."
"Mind reader!" Bridge balked, shaking his head, "You're the one who decided she'd be safer here."
"I believe Miss Dorchester will be. Once she's learned it, she'll be of great use to us, if she wants the position we're willing to offer her," McGath admitted. "In the meantime, she needs to learn to control herself."
"I see. Have you discussed this with her, or is she here on a ruse?" Bridger suddenly seemed to think he was trapped. It wasn't that he didn't like having this girl here, but if she were to pose a security threat – a major one – then his crew's safety was certainly more important.
"Free will, Nathan. She's a little vulnerable, and with a tool like that, we don't want her to fall into the wrong hands," McGrath said, "We have this under control."
"Can you change liquid into ice?"
"No."
"Have you ever tried?"
Vanessa hesitated. It was the third day on the ship, and Dr. Smith was already getting on her nerves. If she lied and said yes, would this woman leave her alone? She eyed Lucas to see if he was paying attention. He wasn't, from the looks of it.
"No."
"Would you mind trying?"
She closed her eyes and concentrated on a tumbler of water. She could feel her body tensing, straining, but it was as though she were watching it – not experiencing it. She took a sharp breath and pressed her thoughts forward.
Lucas stopped working on his improvements to the Stinger and watched. Vanessa looked as though she were in an awkward, uncomfortable trance. He put his pencil down and waited. He opened his mouth, but Wendy silenced him with a look.
"Keep trying," Dr. Smith watched her stopwatch and tapped her pencil. Terse lines had begun to form around her mouth; she seemed oblivious to the attempt Vanessa was making. Vanessa's hands were in tightly made fists as she gritted her teeth and concentrated. Lucas noted that she looked constipated, and they both broke into giggles.
"I'm sorry," she coughed, suppressing a smile. "I lost my concentration."
"Lucas, this is important," Dr. Smith snapped, "if she can do this, this is going to change the way people think of psychics forever. Can you please-"
Lucas nodded and turned back to his analysis. He shook his head to himself; Wendy was incredibly uptight today. Vanessa smiled at him shyly, and he couldn't help but smile back.
"Are you ready to try again?" Dr. Smith asked Vanessa. The doctor reset the glass of water on the table and waited.
"I can't do it, I've never done it," Vanessa insisted. She pulled her dark sleeves down for another try. She concentrated so hard that tears formed. Lucas watched her face contort in pain. He stood up, slowly, walking towards her. He'd never seen so much hurt before. He reached towards her shoulder, but withdrew at a sudden flinch.
Within a second, the glass shattered as though it'd been shot with a small bullet. Vanessa jumped and winced at the sound, her panic causing another empty beaker to slam to the floor. "I'm so sorry-"
"It's okay," Dr. Smith said calmly. "Dagwood will help us clean up. In the meantime-"
Vanessa put her head between her hands. "I'm sorry. I-" she dizzily tilted her head back and sat down. "I can't do this." Lucas sat next to her and instinctively put his arms around her. Hot tears formed at her eyes.
"Lucas," Dr. Smith said, not looking up from her board, "why don't you take Vanessa to the mess hall for lunch? Get her out of here so she can regain herself. We'll try again after lunch." She left the science lab with a brisk turn and disappeared down the corridor.
"You don't have to," Vanessa said, stopping Lucas before he had a chance to even suggest it. She moved away from him tried to regain control of her emotions. "I think I'm going to lie down."
"I'll walk you to your cabin," Lucas feebly said. He held his hand out for her, but she insisted on standing alone.
As they walked down the hall, Lucas scanned his mind for something they could talk about. It was difficult to concentrate; what if she were reading him while he was trying to come up with something clever? He helped her into the maglev and sat next to her.
"You're afraid of me," she said softly. She raised her eyes to meet his, and he saw a little piece of familiar loneliness. "The reading in the science lab was an accident. I didn't mean to, it's just that I was trying so hard to latch on to anything else-"
"Hey, it's okay," he said, forgetting his attempt at something clever. He leaned forward to look at her again. "I'm not afraid of you, either. You're not scary or anything."
"Thank you," she said, looking at the floor, "I've been so nervous-"
"I can't imagine," Lucas admitted. He ran his fingers through his hair. "I remember when I first came on board – I've been on forever – it felt so weird being the youngest one here, and the smartest." He eyed her from the side to see if he could read her face. He took her interest as an encouraging sign. "I mean, it's hard being the youngest anyway, but then to be new…everyone expects you to be something amazing."
"And I'm not."
"I bet you are," he said, smiling. "Besides, it takes a bit to get used to it here. It's probably hard to be here when everyone wants to experiment with you. Our last psychic encounter really didn't go so well…"
"That's what Jim said," Vanessa replied. She couldn't help but see Lucas visibly flinch at the name of his superior. "I didn't want this. I didn't want to develop this. But people think I can do incredible things, and I need to learn to adapt to it before I get into-"
"Thank you for riding maglev," the computerized voice interrupted. Lucas waited for Vanessa to finish her sentence, but when she wobbly stood up, he abandoned the idea. He walked with her to her dorm. Suddenly, it felt like the ending to an imaginary date.
"Um, so, I guess I'll see you around," she said, breaking the awkward silence. "Thanks."
"Hey," he said, catching her arm. He surprised himself sometimes, he realized, as he tried to cover his shock with a smile, "I'll be by to check on you. Maybe we'll talk then, huh?"
"Sure," she said, smiling slightly. She looked exhaustedly into her room. Lucas watched her close the door to her room as he realized that he might have to avoid her for the rest of his life. He had this tendency for developing a crush on every woman who ever set foot on seaQuest.