Thanks for all the encouragement. I can really relate to Lucas staying up all night because this story is just demanding to be finished! It's a good thing I don't have to go to work tomorrow :-)

Chapter Five

As Lucas pressed the remote destruct button he tried not to focus on what would be playing out on the bridge. He had to put a dispassionate face on this and treat it like an experiment. It was the only way he could keep going, knowing what he was doing to his friends. He grabbed the laptop and bag of tools and squeezed further into the duct, heading for a place where nobody would find him and he could work undetected.

The engineering tubes were well insulated and he knew that nobody on the outside would be able to hear him crawling through but he tried to move silently anyway. Every nerve was stretched as he prayed that this was all going to be worth it.

On the bridge the search party from the seacrab was reporting in.

"Sir, there's nothing left here that's bigger than a dinner plate. There's debris everywhere but the main pieces have already sunk. I'm sorry, Commander but he couldn't have survived that and there's no indication that he made it out beforehand. Do you want us to head down any deeper?" asked the lieutenant with a grim face. He liked the kid and this was no way for anyone, let alone a 16 year-old to die.

Commander Ford was unable to keep the shaking out of his voice as he replied, "No, bring it in, Lieutenant. We'll send a shuttle down for the wreckage."

The commander turned to face the bridge crew, acutely aware that every eye was on him. He had just announced Lucas was dead without having to actually say it. Ben Krieg stood before him, his face ashen but resolute.

"Permission to pilot the shuttle, Sir?" Krieg was shaking but determined that he would be the one to bring his friend's body back. He at least owed Lucas that much.

"Permission granted. Take Watts with you. Commander Hitchcock will assist you with the Hyper Reality Probe from here. Ford watched as Krieg and Watts stiffly walked out the clam doors. Nobody else moved. The air was thick with unspoken grief and Ford only then remembered Bridger. He turned back to his captain to see that he hadn't moved from the chair he'd been placed in. His eyes were unfocused as he stared at the WSKR view in front of him.

At that moment Kristin Westphalen came running onto the bridge.

"Nathan, tell me it's not …" she started but pulled up as she looked at the captain. His face was enough to tell her the report was accurate.

"Oh my God! Nathan!" she gasped as she crumpled into his arms. The sound of her voice had jolted him out his thoughts and now as he held her while she sobbed the instinct side of his brain kicked in. He had a job to do and there would be time for grief later. His captain's face slipped into place. It seemed a lifetime ago that he had gone down to the Stinger to talk to Lucas and now he was gone. That just couldn't have happened. There had to be an explanation and come hell or high water, Nathan Bridger was going to find it!


Lucas had found a section of conduit where he could get access to an electrical panel. It would only take a bit of rerouting to avoid detection from the bridge. As he worked away at the wiring, sweating slightly in the close conditions, he tried not to think about his friends and what they were doing. Looking for his body no doubt.

"I wonder who drew the short straw on shuttle duty?" he mused.

Having finished the rewiring, Lucas plugged in his laptop. The first job was to monitor any communications from seaQuest that might hopefully reveal the traitor's identity. Setting that program to run by itself Lucas turned his attention to finding the proof he needed to nail Admiral Rogers to the proverbial wall. After exhausting all the regular avenues for information Lucas began to run some basic hacking programs he had developed. He smiled to himself as he wondered what Bridger would have to say about that. The thought pulled him up short and his breath caught in his throat. What would the captain be thinking right now as he thought Lucas was dead? Lucas pushed the uncomfortable thought aside and refocused on the laptop. He didn't have an endless amount of time to find the answers he needed.

Hours later Lucas was beginning to feel the effects of sitting in cramped conditions too long. His leg muscles ached and his neck was killing him. He knew every square inch of space was precious on a submarine and these tunnels had only been intended for access, not camping trips! Frustration was beginning to get the better of him as nothing was coming through from any of his hacking attempts. Damn, this guy knew how to cover his tracks! Deciding that it was time for a short break, Lucas started off down the access tube towards his quarters. The ration packs were still sitting in the duct where he had left them earlier. Crawling carefully and as quietly as possible, Lucas rounded the corner to his quarters. He could see the ration packs further down the tunnel but stopped suddenly as he heard voices below him. He held his breath as he realised someone was in his quarters! Had they heard him? Who was it and what were they looking for?

Slowly inching forward Lucas strained to hear who was speaking. The clipped British tone that floated up to him was obviously Doctor Westphalen.

She sounded strange. Finally Lucas realised she sounded like she had been crying. A sudden pang of guilt rose in his chest as he knew he was the cause of her tears.

"Nathan, he never would have known what hit him. He wouldn't have suffered, I promise."

"I know that. It's just that I could have stopped him from going out. Damn it, I almost did! He just seemed so keen to try out his upgrade and you know how hard it is to say no when he turns that enthusiasm on you. Kristin I could have prevented this …" His voice trailed off as the captain struggled with his guilt.

"You are NOT to blame here, do you hear me? It was an accident. If there is any comfort to be drawn from it at least Lucas died doing what he loved. I'm sure he dreamed about that blasted contraption in his sleep!" she smiled slightly but it quickly faded. No, there was no comfort in any of that She just sat on Lucas' bunk with her hand resting on Nathan's hoping he could at least draw some comfort from her presence.

"Thanks, Kristin. I just think I need some time alone if you don't mind."

She nodded at him and slowly rose from the bed and walked to the door.

"If you need me you know where I am," she replied. What she didn't say was that she needed him at the moment too.

As the door closed Nathan's mask finally fell. The gut-wrenching anguish he had been holding in finally broke loose. He picked up a photo frame with a photo of him and Lucas beside the Stinger. The blonde teenager who smiled back at him seemed so very young and fragile. What had he been thinking to let Bill Noyce talk him into having a kid on board?

"I'm so sorry, Kiddo. I failed you. I never should have let you stay here. If I had been more insistent you would have been sent back upworld where it's safe. It was selfish of me but I just couldn't think of seaQuest without you and now look what's happened."

Lucas held his breath and tried not to betray his presence. He couldn't have come this far and blow it all now.

The captain paced the small cabin, trying in vain to release the pain in his chest.

"I already lost one son and that nearly destroyed me. I can't do this again!" The words came out in choked off bits.

Lucas couldn't believe his ears. "Again?" What was that supposed to mean?

Bridger continued to walk back and forth, talking as though Lucas was in the room with him.

"I never got to say so many things to you that I should have. Why do we always delay in telling the ones we love what we want to say? I just presumed you knew how I felt. Now it's too late." Bridger dropped to his knees beside the bed and let the shakes come. He had been holding on so tightly and now his whole body shook with convulsions. He was completely unaware that Darwin was floating in the aquatube watching his every move.

Lucas lay in the duct listening as his friend poured out his heart into the emptiness of the room. So he felt the same way! In spite of the circumstances, Lucas' heart soared with joy. Somebody loved him as much as he loved them! Then reality came back with a start as he realised that the captain was still in danger and he still had to solve this puzzle. He listened through the vent for any sign as to what Bridger was doing now. The captain had dragged himself off the floor and onto Lucas' bunk. Exhaustion had claimed him and he couldn't think of anywhere else he wanted to be right now. This was as close as he could get to Lucas and he wasn't leaving. He grabbed the discarded baseball shirt that lay crumpled up on the bed and hugged it as though somehow he could make contact with the second son he had lost. He laid his head on the pillow, vaguely aware that Darwin seemed to have placed himself on guard duty in the aquatube.

Lucas bit his lip as he debated what to do next. He couldn't risk discovery but he needed to get back to his laptop and the search. The ration packs were just too close to the air duct so Lucas slowly and quietly inched his way back down the way he had come. He wasn't going to have any dinner as long as the captain remained in his cabin.

At last he arrived back at the laptop and quickly checked up on his search. Still nothing! Lucas decided to try another tack with regards to the admiral's files and set the computer off on another search. Multiple threads ran through the man's UEO files and into his personal computer. There had to be something there he could use! There just had to be.

Hunger pangs were gnawing at the teenager as he realised he hadn't eaten since breakfast yesterday. He'd been too concerned with other things when he returned from HQ and then today he'd been too anxious to even think about eating. Now he couldn't get to his food supply but dehydration was going to be an even bigger problem than hunger if he couldn't get to the ration packs soon.