OK this chapter is partly JOXER's fault. Thanks for your help and I hope you like it. Thanks again to everyone for your reviews. This was too much fun. Gotta write another one as soon as I get another idea. But first I need some sleep!
Chapter Eight
Bridger pulled out his PAL, frantic to get to Lucas to warn him. "Krieg! Come in Krieg!"
Nothing.
"Lieutenant, where are you?"
"Bridge, send a security detail to Lucas' quarters NOW! I'm on my way there." Bridger and Crocker were already half way down the corridor as he was barking out the order.
Lucas and Ben had already made it back to Lucas' quarters. Ben kept staring at Lucas as though he was some kind of apparition that was going to vanish if he looked away.
"I'm so sorry, Ben. I know I hurt everyone but there was no other way. I couldn't risk the captain…." his voice trailed away. He had been running on a mixture of fear and adrenaline and now as he finally allowed himself to ease up, the full impact of events began to bombard his thoughts. What if?
Ben moved over to his friend and started to speak when the door opened behind him and someone burst in. He caught the blur of a uniform beside him before his vision exploded into stars and he hit the floor. An angry welt was forming over his right eye where the butt of a gun had connected. Lucas ran to kneel beside his friend as he saw the gun being waved in his face. Ben's PAL began to beep and the urgent sound of Bridger's voice could be heard. Lucas watched in alarm as Edwards stomped on Ben's PAL and silenced it.
"Get up!"
He looked down at Ben and realised that he was regaining consciousness. If he could just stall a few minutes longer….
"I said, get up!" The gun was still waving before his eyes and Lucas slowly and carefully stood up, never taking his eyes off it.
A groan from the floor drew their attention and before he knew it Ben had kicked Edwards' legs out from under him. The gun discharged as it flew through the air and Lucas scrambled to find it while Ben leapt onto Edwards and pinned him to the floor. All his grief and anger let rip as he smashed his fist into Edwards' face. It seemed the logical part of his brain that would have stopped him hitting a fellow officer had just turned off. He couldn't get a hold of Rogers but he sure had a hold of this mongrel!
Edwards wasn't going down without a fight and he grabbed Ben's hair and slammed his head into the bunk. Before he could take another shot, Lucas had the gun pointed at the back of his head.
"You really don't want to do that boy."
"Don't … call … me … boy!" Lucas was seething with anger. Ben was still conscious but his eyes were starting to glaze over. "Get away from him!"
As Edwards carefully started to stand up Bridger and Crocker ran in. It only took seconds to take in the scene and see what had happened. The security detail was only just behind them and soon the small room was full to capacity. Bridger stepped over to Lucas and gently eased the gun out of his hands.
"Better let me take care of that. Chief, get this piece of garbage out of here."
Turning his attention back to Lucas he quickly ascertained that he was unharmed. Breathing a sigh of relief he knelt down beside Krieg who was struggling to keep his eyes open. Blood was streaming down the side of his face.
"Sorry ... Sir, didn't see him coming."
'It's all right, Lieutanant. Med team's on the way. Just try to stay with us until they get here, OK?"
Lucas kneeled beside his friend watching with alarm as Ben's eyes lost focus.
"Don't think you can get away with sleeping on duty! The captain's watching. Come on man, stay awake." Lucas gently shook his friend while Bridger held a towel to Ben's head, hoping to slow the bleeding. As he looked at the two Lucases that floated in front of him, Ben finally lost the battle to keep his eyes open.
Doctor Westphalen hurried into the room with her team and quickly sized up the situation. Her relief was obvious as she looked at Lucas. She had been fearing the worst when she got the call. Moving with authority she quickly had the lieutenant on his way to medbay with Lucas and the captain following closely behind. As they came through the doors she quickly went into doctor mode and shooed them out of the way. Ben was whisked off for scans to determine the extent of his injuries and Lucas was left to contemplate just how badly his miscalculation had cost his friend.
"I thought I had it all figured out. Never saw that coming though. I thought I was just so smart and now Ben's hurt because I'm an idiot!"
The captain gently eased Lucas into a chair. They both had dried blood on their hands and Lucas seemed to be intently focussed on it.
"How did I miss that!" Lucas asked, still shaking his head at his own stupidity. "I mean, I hacked into so many files and I never found that Anderson had worked for the admiral. And then I completely missed Edwards as well! And now Ben's in there because of me!" He looked up at Bridger with guilt in his eyes.
"No, Lucas. Ben is in there because of Edwards, not you."
"And it's not your fault you missed their connection to Rogers." Ford had walked in but neither of them had noticed. Bridger stood up to hear what his XO had to say.
"Their records were falsified before coming on board. You only found out about Anderson because I'm guessing you weren't doing a ... um ... conventional search. And you only had reason to believe there was one traitor on board, not two. Captain, Admiral Noyce just called in. It seems that Rogers was part of a conspiracy to seize control of the UEO but it's going to take some time to unravel the leads. Hopefully Edwards will decide to co-operate and help with the investigation."
Bridger nodded in agreement but Lucas didn't seem to be listening. He was still staring at his hands.
"Lucas, I think you need to come with me and get cleaned up. We'll check back on Ben as soon as we're done." Bridger wanted to get Lucas out of there and remove the blood he seemed so fascinated with but Lucas wasn't going to budge.
"No, Sir. I can't leave until I know he's going to be all right. Please?"
Understanding the need to be as near as possible, Bridger reluctantly agreed and sat back down to wait. It seemed like an eternity before Doctor Westphalen came back through the medbay doors. She looked relieved as she briskly walked over to them.
"Well I always knew he was thick-skinned but now I have medical proof that Lieutenant Krieg has a thick head as well," she smiled. Lucas let out a sigh of relief as she continued. "He doesn't have any skull fractures but he did need some sutures and he will need close observation as he has a nasty concussion. He also has a broken hand."
"Can I see him?" asked Lucas, impatient to see the proof for himself.
"Well he's been asking for you but I want you to keep it short." The doctor led the way to where Kreig was being monitored.
Lucas was shocked to see that the whole side of Ben's face was swollen and starting to show an ugly bruise. A bandage covered the stitches and one eye was swollen shut. Another bandage was swathed around his right hand.
"Hey," was all he could manage to get out as he looked guiltily at his friend. "I'm so sorry, Ben."
"Lucas, you got nothin' to be sorry for. I'll be fine. But, there is just one thing…" he gestured for Lucas to come closer as he whispered, "you need a shower man, cos you stink!"
Lucas stood back up and grinned at his friend. Yeah he was going to be just fine!
While they were talking Commander Hitchcock had come in to check for herself just what state her ex-husband was in. As much as he drove her crazy at times there was no denying she still cared. She walked around the bed so she could take hold of his good hand.
Bridger decided now was a good time to get Lucas out of there and he steered his young friend towards the door. Katie looked up at them as they were leaving. "Hey Lucas. I hope you get a good sleep tonight … because we've got another Stinger to start building."
