Deep Blue Blackmail
Chapter 6
By Kiddo
In Loving Memory of Jonathan Brandis
"Don't fix a broken heart. Who really wants to forget?" (Joseph Fiennes)
"I always will remember you by real good moments." ("Real Good Moments" by Christian Wunderlich)
Disclaimer: I don't have any rights to the TV show "seaQuest DSV," and I am not making any money with this fanfiction. Mike Erikson is my own creation.
A big "Thank You" goes to my beta reader Jackie and everybody who reviewed.
Reviews and feedback are always welcome.
A short while later, Darwin appeared in the pool on the bridge, Lucas clinging to his dorsal fin and breathing heavily. Everyone looked shocked.
Bridger was the first one to react and hurried over to them. "Lucas, are you out of your mind?" He helped the boy out of the water. "You shouldn't be in the cold water in your condition."
"Nice to see you too." Sarcasm was his default response. "I thought you needed me here quickly." Water was dripping off of him.
"Of course, but not like this." The captain just didn't know what to say.
The teenager threw up his hands. "I can swim back." He wasn't really serious, but nevertheless, he turned back to the pool.
Nathan Bridger gripped the boy's arm. "Don't you dare." He was shaking his head, stunned. "Oh god, Kristen will kill me!"
At that, Lucas became serious. "I think you'll have enough time to escape since she'll be busy hunting me down first." He really feared his next meeting with the doctor.
"Don't worry, she won't do that. At least not immediately. She'll be extremely angry with you, but just remember, you're sick, and that means she'll mother you first and take her anger out on me. It will be your turn later when you're well again."
"I'm really sorry, Captain." Water was still dripping off of him.
"It's alright, we can't do anything about that now." He unbuttoned his uniform shirt and took it off. Now Bridger was only wearing a T-shirt. "Take your T-shirt off." He held out his shirt for the boy to take.
"Captain, you don't need to…"
But before Lucas could finish his sentence, Nathan cut him off. "This isn't an offer, Mr. Wolenczak, it's an order." He was still holding his uniform shirt in front of the boy. As wet as he was, the teenager would catch his death. He wished that he could offer more than just his shirt. Why weren't there any kits with blankets on the bridge in case of emergencies?
Now the teenager took off his T-shirt and pulled on Bridger's shirt. "Thanks." He had to cuff the sleeves once or twice, otherwise they'd be too long. The whole shirt was actually a bit too big, but at least it was something dry.
Finally, Lucas took a look around the bridge. The lights were flickering, and the doors where shut. But, he also remembered that Bridger had said that some of the other systems were also acting up. He decided it was time to find out about that. "What other systems besides the lights and the doors are not working properly?"
"A few of the computers have totally shut down, and our communications system is also not working. We were able to contact a few people by Pal, but not everyone. Oh, and we can't connect to anything outside of the seaQuest; no contact to the UEO, no Vidphone, no Internex, nothing. We're totally isolated," explained the captain worriedly.
Lucas thought for a moment. It was clear to him that there was either a glitch in the computer system, or this was caused by a virus. In his opinion, nothing else could cause all this. Now he could only hope that he could help the crew and not disappoint them. "Can I take a look at the computer system?"
Bridger nodded immediately. After all, he had called the boy for just that purpose. "Of course." He led the teen over to one of the still-working computers. "I really hope that you can help us with this. None of us is able to understand the information that the computer is spitting out."
Lucas nodded and sat down. "I'll give it my best."
Nathan smiled and briefly put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "We know that."
For a moment, the teenager just looked at everything currently on the screen. Then, he started to type and looked at one part of the system after the other.
Ten minutes later, Lucas was sitting motionless in front of the computer, staring thoughtfully at the screen.
Bridger didn't miss that and stepped next to the teenager. "Everything okay? Have you found something?"
The young genius now turned his eyes away from the computer. "Do you have any information about Erikson?" Mike Erikson was the computer expert that had made the updates to the seaQuest's system.
The captain wrinkled his forehead. "No, not really. Only that what the admiral has told me, and that was almost nothing. Bill just said that there were a few updates that needed to be made and that Erikson was the best man they had for the job. Why do you ask?"
Lucas glanced back at the computer screen. "The changes he made don't help us at all. In fact, it's just the opposite - they hurt us. And to top it all off, we also have a virus in the system!"
Bridger was speechless for a moment. "You don't mean that…"
"Oh yes..." The teenager nodded. "He sabotaged us."
"But how could he have done that? Why is it only now that we are having all of these problems?"
"He put the virus in the heart of our system and installed something like an alarm clock." Nathan raised his eyebrows questioningly. The blond teen was aware of his confusion. "It's not as complicated as it sounds. He uploaded the virus and kind of let it nibble away at a few minor systems, but it did it in such a way that we wouldn't have noticed it immediately." He thought about how he could put this into simple terms. "What he also installed is something like a real alarm clock, and when the pre-programmed time came, the virus really came alive. The result of all that is what we are seeing now."
The captain was not happy about this news. "Can you destroy the virus?" He really hoped that the teen would have a positive answer for him. Otherwise, they were screwed. Sometimes it was really scary to see how much they depended on the computers.
Lucas looked thoughtfully at the screen, then shrugged. He looked Bridger in the eye. "I'm not sure. It looks like Erikson did a real good job creating the virus. I don't know if I'm better than him. I only can hope so."
Nathan began to feel uneasy. The boy had appeared much more confident with the whole Stark virus. That meant that this virus had to be much harder and more complicated. The captain knew one thing for sure - he would never let Noyce foist a so-called computer expert onto him again. From now on, he would only let Lucas work on the system. At least then he would know what was happening, and there wouldn't be any nasty surprises like this one.
On the other hand, he already knew that the boy was really good with computers. Why hadn't he told Noyce that he trusted Lucas enough to let him handle the changes in the first place? And why hadn't he allowed the teen to install one of his self-written anti-virus programs? And why hadn't he allowed the boy to take a look at Erikson's work?
"Any idea how long this could take?"
The blond teen shook his head. "No, sorry."
"Okay, but could you first try to take care of the system that will allow us to open the doors?" asked Bridger. It would be good if they could get to the other sections of the submarine again, and he was also thinking about the fact that the boy still had wet jeans on, and his hair was still damp. Dr. Westphalen would read him the riot act! He really didn't want to think about that…
Lucas shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. I don't think the virus was created that way."
"Shoot!" Bridger had another word on the tip of his tongue, but he wouldn't say it aloud. Nathan took a deep breath and patted the teen encouragingly on the shoulder. "Do what you can, and let me know if you need anything."
The young genius nodded and started to work on the problem, a highly concentrated look on his face. He had to beat this thing!
To Be Continued…
Written 2005 / Translated Spring 2006