Bridger worked feverishly on the re-design plans until 5:00 a.m. Everything was so clear to him. The ideas exploded in his brain like fireworks, each brilliantly illuminated plan sparking others, all fitting seamlessly together. He could hardly write fast enough to capture them.
If Lucas was still here helping him, he could accomplish twice as much. He snorted in irritation at having to send the boy to bed. Hours were being wasted while the boy slept!
He headed for the stairs, his irritation growing with each step. At the boy's closed bedroom door, he paused and listened for sounds of stirring inside the room, but heard nothing. He flung the door open, sending it crashing against the wall.
In the pre-dawn light, he saw the boy startle awake, sitting bolt upright in the bed, his hair tousled with sleep, his eyes wide. "C-C-Captain?" he stammered, rubbing his eyes.
"Get up!" Bridger said harshly. "You're wasting time! We've got a lot to accomplish today!"
He saw the boy's eyes glance toward the clock. "Captain, it's only 5:00! Why are we starting so early?"
Bridger felt a rush of anger. How dare the boy question him! Striding toward the bed, he reached down and grabbed Lucas's t-shirt front, yanking the boy out of the bed and sending him sprawling onto the floor. "I brought you here to work, not sleep half the day and play the rest! I don't want a repeat of yesterday, do you understand me? You get up and get dressed and be downstairs in five minutes."
Glaring down at the wide-eyed boy on the floor, he turned and left the room, slamming the door behind him.
Lucas stared at the door, his mind in turmoil. Oh, my God, something was definitely wrong with the Captain. No matter how upset Bridger had ever been at Lucas, he had never laid a hand on him.
Lucas quickly threw on his clothes, then crept quietly down the stairs. Peeking into the kitchen, he saw Bridger's back was to the open door, so he swiftly raced past it and headed for the small room beyond it where the radio was kept. He needed to call someone - Dr. Westphalen, Commander Ford, anyone he could reach.
As he reached the radio room, he tried to turn the doorknob, but it didn't move. Surprised, he tried again, but the door was locked. What was going on? There were never any locked doors on the island. He hadn't even realized the doors could be locked.
Frustrated, he tried again, rattling the knob, but with no success. Suddenly he froze, the hairs on his neck standing straight up as he had the distinct feeling that someone was behind him. Turning slowly, he saw Bridger.
The Captain was even more disheveled than yesterday. He hadn't shaved or combed his hair, and his clothes were rumpled. But it was his eyes that shocked Lucas. His pupils were fully dilated, and the expression on his face was like nothing Lucas had ever seen. The only word he could think of to describe it was crazed.
"What do you think you're doing?" Bridger asked, in a calm manner made menacing by the low tone of his voice.
"I - I - I was just going to use the radio," Lucas stammered.
"To waste time with some of your useless friends, I'm sure," Bridger retorted. "There will be none of that today, Lucas! You've wasted enough of my time. I expect you to focus on your work today, and by God, I had better see results! Get in here now!"
He reached for Lucas, but Lucas slipped by him and headed into the kitchen, where he sat down at the table, waiting fearfully for Bridger. Bridger followed and sat at the table, facing him. He threw a handful of handwritten notes across the table. "This is what I worked on after you quit last night," he snarled. "Get these put in order and written up neatly. And hurry up! There are so many more ideas in my head, I just need to get them down on paper!"
He turned away from Lucas and stalked out of the kitchen, heading into the living room. Lucas stared down at the notes in front of him, and his heart sank even further.
The scrawled words and figures on the paper made no sense at all.
Lucas looked nervously over his shoulder. He hadn't heard a sound from Captain Bridger in ten minutes. The day had been rough. The Captain's mind was all over the place on the seaQuest redesign. Some of his ideas made sense, but as the day went on, he had become increasingly illogical and irrational. Lucas just tried to agree with him and acted like he was writing everything down, trying not to trigger another outburst of anger.
Lucas quietly got up from the table and tiptoed over to the door. Looking into the living room, he understood the silence. Captain Bridger had finally crashed and was asleep on the sofa. Stepping cautiously into the room, Lucas looked at the Captain carefully, making sure his breathing was all right. He seemed to just be deeply asleep. This was his chance. Lucas knew he needed the key to the radio room, but where would Captain Bridger have put it?
Holding his breath, Lucas gingerly patted the Captain's pockets. Nothing. He looked around the room. Maybe the Captain's desk? Trying to be as quiet as he could, he searched the top of the desk. Again, nothing. But as he opened the narrow center desk drawer, bingo! A set of keys.
Still scarcely daring to breath for fear of waking up Captain Bridger, Lucas swiftly went to the radio room door and began trying keys. Finally, one fit. He turned the key and quietly opened the door.
He could not control a small involuntary gasp when he saw what was inside. The radio had been smashed to pieces. The hammer which was obviously the weapon used to inflict the devastation lay in the middle of the shattered shortwave.
Now what? The Captain needed help, and he needed it fast. Lucas was afraid for the man. He obviously had a serious head injury.
Suddenly, Lucas thought of the boat that they had used to reach the island. It had a radio that he could use!
After making sure that the Captain was still asleep, Lucas quietly exited through the outside door, closing it behind him. Once outside, he set off at a run for the dock.
He felt a rush of relief as he saw the small red and white boat still tied to the dock. Reaching it, he jumped aboard and headed for the cabin. But his relief turned to dread when he saw a repeat of the scene inside the house – the radio smashed into pieces.
Although he hated to take the chance that the Captain's condition might worsen while he was gone, he decided that he might have to leave Captain Bridger behind and go for some help in the boat. The key was still in the ignition, so he turned it to start the engine.
Nothing happened.
Lucas crossed the deck to the engine, and frowned when he saw that the fiberglass engine cover was on the deck beside the engine. Then he saw the engine - or what was left of it. Every wire and engine piece that could be removed easily, or even not so easily, had been. There were tiny brown grains around the open gas cap. Looking around, Lucas saw a bucket turned over on its side nearby, with beach sand spilling out of it.
As Lucas stood there staring in disbelief, he heard a familiar sound behind him and turned to find a chattering Darwin splashing in the lagoon. Lucas hadn't seen the dolphin since early yesterday morning. Climbing out of the boat, Lucas knelt at the edge of the dock and stretched his hand out to rub Darwin's head.
"Hey, buddy," he murmured. "I'm glad to see you, too. Were you here when the Captain did this? What am I going to do now? The Captain needs help!"
Without the vocoder, Lucas couldn't understand Darwin's reply, but from the dolphin's agitation, Lucas felt that he knew something was wrong. Who knew what else the Captain had done during the night?
Lucas continued to caress the dolphin, his mind racing as he tried to come up with some kind of idea to get help. But the island was so isolated. They had stocked enough food for the next month, so they weren't expecting any supplies. No one expected Lucas and the Captain back anytime soon, so no one would be checking on them. From the extreme damage the Captain had done to both radios, Lucas highly doubted he could salvage enough to put together any kind of working communication device.
As Lucas continued trying to think of something he could do, Darwin suddenly began to chatter loudly and splash. Lucas jumped up, but before he could even look around, there was a yell from behind him, hands grabbed him, and he and his attacker went into the water.
Lucas gulped a mouthful of water as he went in, and desperately started struggling to reach the surface. But someone was holding him down! He finally managed to break free long enough to break the surface and gasped a lungful of air.
He frantically tried to back away from Captain Bridger, who surfaced next to him, reaching out to grab him again.
"I know what you're doing!" Bridger yelled, lunging toward Lucas. "You've always wanted the seaQuest! You're trying to steal all my ideas, and then you're going to take the seaQuest, too! But you can't! It's mine!"
He reached out a hand and managed to grab hold of Lucas's arm, pulling the boy toward him. Suddenly Darwin was there between them, chattering frantically and causing Bridger to lose hold of Lucas. As Lucas made a frenzied effort to get away from the Captain, Darwin moved with him, pushing him away from Bridger. Bridger's eyes narrowed as he tread water, then he suddenly lunged toward Lucas again, screaming, "And now you want my dolphin, too! But he's mine, and you can't have him!"
He managed to get hold of Lucas again, while Darwin swam in frantic circles around the struggling pair. With a cry of rage, he pushed Lucas under the water and held him down.
Lucas grabbed the Captain's hands and tried to make him let go, but he was so strong! He twisted and turned, but the Captain's hands were like a vise, pressing him down. Lucas struggled and struggled, but the Captain seemed unnaturally strong. He kept pushing Lucas under until finally Lucas was starting to run out of air. He made one last frantic movement, and felt the last of his breath leave him. I'm going to drown, he thought despairingly. He was still moving feebly, but his lungs were burning and his vision was starting to gray.
Suddenly, Darwin was there. He swam directly at Bridger and rammed into him, causing the Captain to release his hold on Lucas. Then Darwin was under Lucas's arm and was pushing him toward the sunlight.
Lucas's head broke the surface of the water and he took a breath of air, choking and spluttering. He tried to swim, but his arms and legs wouldn't seem to work. He could dimly hear Bridger thrashing behind him, still yelling, and he knew he had to get away.
Darwin nosed under his arm again, and Lucas tried to hold on as Darwin started swimming away from Bridger, parallel to the beach. As the boy and the dolphin moved away in the water, Lucas could hear Bridger screaming, "You and Darwin both! You both want to take everything away from me! But I won't let you! Do you hear me? You'll never have what belongs to me! Never!"
Darwin kept swimming and Lucas kept holding on, trying to stay conscious as the Captain's voice faded into the distance.
Bridger watched the dolphin towing the boy further away from him, knowing he could never catch them. But how far could they go? The dolphin would need to bring the boy back to land soon, there was nowhere else for them to go.
Bridger swam to the dock and crawled out. He couldn't believe that he had actually asked Lucas to help him with the seaQuest. It was so clear now. The boy was obviously trying to steal all his ideas. And now his dolphin, too! But Bridger was too smart for both of them. They would be sorry they had messed with him.
Striding back toward the house, Bridger began making his plans. Oh, yes, Lucas would be sorry he had double-crossed him. He would be sorry indeed.