Howdy!
I guess you all thought I was just fibbing when I said I hoped to have the rest of this story done by the end of the weekend :o) Shame on you!
I really appreciate all the positive feedback I've gotten for this story. It's been a very good motivator.
So anyway, here it is! I've reached the end of the road, lucky Chapter 7. Of course, I could always be persuaded to do an epilogue, but that will depend on you, gentle readers. Remember, the disclaimer from Chapter 1 is still in effect.
For Grandma Rose...
Chapter 7
Katie opened her mouth and then paused before finally saying, "If anyone can find it, Ben, you can." She went to her desk, picked up the report she had come back to get, and turned to leave. Stopping at the door, she turned to face Ben once more. "Thanks, Ben, really. I'm impressed." Then, Katie left.
Ben smiled widely. He'd impressed two people. It seemed like the day was turning around already...
After Katie left the room, Krieg decided to suit his actions to his words and headed for the launch bay. He didn't know how he was going to find the necklace, but he was determined to do it. Katie had actually expressed confidence in him, and he wouldn't let her down!
Ben passed the science lab on his way to the launch bay. Through the open doors, he caught a glimpse of Captain Bridger and Dr. Westphalen talking about their shore leave plans. As he passed the doors, he saw Bridger say something and gesture to the corridor. Ben faced front and kept walking.
Footsteps hurrying to catch up with him alerted him to the fact that the captain and doctor had followed him. "Excuse me, Lieutenant," Bridger started, but Ben cut him off.
Turning around and walking backwards, he said to the captain and doctor, "Sorry, Sir, Doctor, I'm in a bit of a hurry right now. You know, some odds and ends to take care of before shore leave, not to mention that inventory! I'm really sorry I didn't start it when you told me."
And with that, he turned forwards and started walking normally again, leaving a flabbergasted captain and doctor standing behind him with their mouths hanging open and wondering how he knew they were going to tell him off for not starting the inventory earlier.
Entering the launch bay, Ben looked around, trying to figure out where he should start. After a moment's thought, he decided to start at the door and go around the room in smaller and smaller circles until he got to the middle where the ladder down to the launch was.
Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, he got down on his hands and knees, and started edging his way around the wall. He figured that this way, he'd also spot any vents that he could check, just like the one in Katie's cabin.
As he made his first circle of the room, he checked two air vents and the floor grating under three instrument panels, but he did not see Katie's necklace.
Very slowly, Ben worked his way around the room. So intent was he on trying to spot the necklace that he didn't hear the doors of the launch bay open. He didn't even hear the person there clearing his throat the first time. The second and louder time, Krieg looked up into the somewhat amused face of Security Chief Crocker. Blushing furiously, he jumped to his feet.
"Lose something, Lieutenant?" Crocker asked, trying very hard not to smile.
"Um," Ben started, wondering if he should just tell Crocker what he was up to. Deciding that the truth was best (Would Crocker believe any other story I come up with? Ben wondered), he said, "Yeah, Chief, lost something in here when the terrorists were on board."
"Uh huh," Crocker responded. "And looking for it requires crawling on hands and knees?"
"Well," Ben started, "it's pretty small, and it could have gotten lodged in the floor, or kicked under an instrument panel, or..." he trailed off. He'd told Chief Crocker the truth, that he was looking for something, but he didn't want to admit he was looking for Katie's necklace. No need to give the older man a reason to think he'd gone soft. "You know," Ben said with a bright smile, "you are looking so much better! How's the head?" he asked with enthusiasm.
Crocker couldn't conceal a snort of laughter as he recognized Krieg's obvious attempt to change the subject. He did believe Ben was looking for something lost, and it wasn't necessary that he find out what it was, so he just let it go.
Shaking his head, Crocker headed for the door. "As you were, Lieutenant."
As the door closed, Ben got back to his searching. An hour later, he knew the necklace was not on the floor or in an air vent. He stood up and started back around the walls, looking for anything jutting out that the necklace chain might have gotten caught on.
Not seeing the chain anywhere, his eyes were drawn to the last place in the room that he hadn't looked. The water.
Damn, he thought, time to go find a wetsuit.
Lucas was sitting down at a table in the mess, a lunch tray in front of him. He decided to wait for Ben before he started eating, but he was thirsty, so he took a sip of milk. He let his eyes wander around the mess, and he started to choke on his milk as his eyes took in the sight of Ben standing in the doorway wearing a wetsuit, dripping wet.
His coughing attracted Ben's attention, and the lieutenant hurried over to his friend's side, pounding him on the back to try and get him to stop choking.
After a few moments, Lucas got his breathing back under control. He took a napkin off his try and wiped up the milk that had dribbled onto his chin. He smiled widely at Ben and said, "What are you wearing?"
Ben looked down at himself and pretended to be insulted. "What, you don't like it? I hear it's all the rage these days!"
"Yeah, if your name is Scuba Steve, maybe," Lucas replied, still smiling. "Why are you wearing a wetsuit?"
"I'll explain in a minute, kid," Ben said as he headed for the lunch line to get his own tray of food.
Lucas took a careful sip of his milk as he contemplated the possible reasons for his best friend showing up in the mess wearing a wetsuit and dripping water all over the floor. Each reason that came to mind seemed as unlikely as the last, so he just waited for his friend to get back and explain himself.
Ben returned a couple minutes later, setting his own tray down before sitting. Lucas looked at him inquiringly before digging into his food.
"Ok," Ben started, "you want to know why I'm in a wetsuit, right?" Lucas nodded. "If you must know, I was looking for something in the launch bay, and when I couldn't find it in the room, I thought maybe it was in the water."
"How would something of yours end up in the water in the launch bay?" Lucas asked incredulously.
"Well," Ben started before taking a bite of food, "I'm looking for something that got lost during the attack. And," he continued, almost mumbling, "it's not exactly mine..."
"Not yours?" Lucas wondered aloud. "Why would you be looking for something that's not..." He paused, as if sudden knowledge had come to him. "Wait! You're looking for Katie's necklace aren't you?"
"Yeah, I'm looking for her necklace," Ben answered quietly. "And keep your voice down, I don't want these people around here to think I'm whipped."
Lucas snorted. "Whipped? Ohhhh, I get it, you don't want the crew to think that big strong Ben is out there looking for his ex's jewelry? But it's so sweet!" Lucas said, drawing out the last word sarcastically.
"Careful, kid," Ben said with a smile, "or you're going to be wearing my mashed potatoes."
Looking at the thick, lumpy white mound on Ben's tray, Lucas shuddered. "Now there's a threat and a half."
Ben just shook his head and continued eating. After a few moments of silence, he asked, "So how you doing?"
Lucas looked up in surprise. "I'm doing ok," he answered.
"You sure?" Ben asked. "Nothing you need to talk about?"
Lucas smiled. "I'm sure, Ben."
"Ok," Ben replied, "But if you ever do, you'll tell me, right?"
"Yeah," Lucas answered. He paused a moment before speaking again. "So, why didn't you change out of your wetsuit before you came to the mess?"
"Well," Ben started, somewhat reluctantly, "there's one more place I have to look, and I'm going to need it..."
After leaving the mess, Ben headed for the Moon Pool. He wasn't going to look for Katie's necklace there, but it would be an easy way to get to where he would look without completely humiliating himself.
Looking around the Moon Pool, Ben grabbed a breathing unit and the vocorder before moving over to the water. He set down the breathing unit and switched on the vocorder. "Hey, Darwin," he said into the yellow box, "can you hear me?"
He waited a couple of minutes, and sure enough, there was Darwin's dorsal fin visible in the water. It headed towards him. Breaking the surface of the pool, Darwin spouted some water playfully in Ben's direction. "Darwin hear!" said the dolphin in a chipper-sounding voice, or as chipper as the vocorder's processor allowed.
"Good to see you, fish-face," Ben said, stroking Darwin's head. "I need a favor."
"What favor?" Darwin asked.
"I need you to take me to the pool on the bridge," Ben told the dolphin.
"Use legs," Darwin responded.
"Very funny," Ben said with a smile. "I need to look for something in the water, and it'll be easier for me to search if you can just take me there. Plus, I don't want to disturb any of the people on the bridge. Can you help me out here, pal?" he asked.
The dolphin bobbed his head up and down a couple times. With a satisfied smile, Ben put on the breathing unit and got in the pool. Grabbing onto Darwin's dorsal fin, he took off through the water, heading for the aqua tubes.
This is amazing! Ben thought as Darwin pulled him through the aqua tubes. This is so much better than the mag-lev!
Ben looked through the windows of the tube as Darwin pulled him along. Thankfully, he didn't pass many crew members along the way, but those he did pass, he waved at cheerfully. If he hadn't had the breathing unit in his mouth, he would have had a smile a mile wide stretched across his face.
After about five minutes, they arrived at the pool on the bridge. Ben was grateful that the top of the pool was closed. That would minimize the chances of someone on the bridge seeing him. He hoped fervently that nobody would see him so that he wouldn't need to provide any explanations.
Patting Darwin's side, he released the dolphin's dorsal fin and began his search of the bridge pool. The sides of the tank that weren't made of glass were lightly colored, and he realized with a sinking heart that the necklace would show up pretty easily. If he didn't spot it right away, which he didn't, then it probably wasn't there. That would mean he'd have to search the entire bridge!
As he moved through the water to where Darwin was waiting for him by the entrance to the pool, he spotted a grate in the floor. Of course! he thought. The filter!
He wanted to smack himself for not thinking of the filter earlier. If Katie's necklace had fallen in the bridge pool, it would have been sucked into the filter.
Ben swam to the floor of the pool and pulled up the grating covering the filter. There it was, plain as day!
After grabbing the necklace from the filter, Ben pumped his arms upward in victory. As he did, he heard a strange humming sound coming through the water. He looked up, and his eyes opened wider as he realized that someone was opening the top of the pool. With an inward groan, he swam upwards.
As he broke the surface, Ben saw that every head on the bridge was turned his way, the expressions on the faces ranging from shock to amusement.
He swam to the edge of the pool and took off his breathing unit. "Hey, everybody!"
Ben could see O'Neill and Ortiz sitting at their stations with smiles on their faces, their shoulders shaking with stifled laughter. Even Captain Bridger looked like he was fighting to conceal how entertaining he found Ben's antics.
Commander Ford did not look happy as he marched across the bridge. "Are you out of your mind, Lieutenant Krieg?! What are you doing in the Moon Pool?"
Ben hoisted himself out of the water and stood at attention. "Just looking for something I lost, Commander!"
"And did you find it?" Ford asked, the frown on his face deepening.
"Aye, sir," Krieg said.
Ford glared at him. "Then I respectfully suggest that you leave the bridge and change back into your uniform."
"Aye, sir," Krieg repeated with a salute. Then he smiled brightly at the other crew members on the bridge, turned, and headed back to his quarters.
Ben stepped out of his cabin. His hair was still damp, but now he was wearing his uniform once more.
Before doing anything else, he pulled out his Pal to see if he had gotten the lists from the other members of the crew. He knew that there were 212 crew members on the seaQuest, and it looked like in the hours he'd spent looking for Katie's necklace, he had gotten lists from 190. Not bad, he thought, I guess more people needed stuff than I realized. He would check in with the remaining 22 crew members that night.
He checked his watch and knew that Katie would still be in engineering. He headed in that direction, his hand moving to his pocket to make sure the necklace was there. He would ask Katie if she could come to the mess for a quick snack, and he would quietly give her the necklace.
He made his way through the corridors, nodding politely to people as he went. He received a few smirks from people who had clearly heard about his escapade in the bridge pool.
Ben soon reached engineering and went inside. Katie was standing near one console, speaking to one of the crew. He waved at her, and she threw a brief smile his way before continuing her conversation.
Ben waited several minutes, and when it looked like Katie was done speaking, he made his way over to her. "How about a short snack in the mess?" Ben asked, hoping Katie would just come along easily.
"Sorry, Lieutenant," she replied, but without the usual sarcasm she used when speaking to him. "Bit busy at the moment." Katie became distracted by the readouts at another console and headed over there.
Ben followed her. "But I have something for you."
"Ok," Katie said, sticking her hand out but keeping her eyes glued to the screen, "just give it to me here."
By now, Ben's presence had drawn the attention of several of the engineering crew. "Um, it's kind of personal."
"Ben," Katie said in exasperation, "I don't have time for a snack. Either give me what you have to give me now or just wait for my shift to be over."
At this point, all eyes were on Ben. Oh, what the hell, Ben thought. He slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace. Walking over to Katie, he undid the clasp. Stopping in front of her, he put the chain around her neck and fastened it.
Katie looked down and fingered the ring hanging on the chain. She looked up at Ben in surprise. "You found it?"
Ben smiled widely, ignoring the grins on the faces around them. "I told you I would."
Completely forgetting all sense of decorum, Katie threw her arms around Ben's neck and hugged him tightly. "Thanks, Ben," she whispered in his ear.
"You're welcome," he replied, his arms tightening around her waist.
A chorus of "Awwwwwws" echoed around engineering. Katie stepped back and looked around at everyone.
"The next person I hear a sound out of will be scrubbing out the bedpans in Med Bay for the rest of the tour. Back to work!" Katie then turned back to the console she'd been standing at before Ben gave her the necklace.
Before Ben could turn around to leave engineering, Katie's eyes met his. She winked.
Smiling brightly, Ben turned and left engineering.
Yep, he thought, this day has definitely turned around.
BEEEEP! BEEEEP! BEEEEP!
Ben groaned as his alarm went off. Reaching out an arm, he silenced the machine, but he kept his eyes closed. He was worried that if he opened his eyes, he'd find himself stuck on the same day once again. Had the good things he'd done the day before been enough to break the loop? He was afraid to hope.
Eyes still closed, Ben threw off his blanket and sat up. He stretched his arms up in the air, his back and shoulders making small popping sounds. He finally opened his eyes.
Ben cautiously made his way over to the computer to check the date. As he remembered doing before, he hesitated for just a moment before clicking on the computer's clock to bring up the calendar. Also as before, just as his finger clicked, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath and held it.
Opening his eyes, a smile spread across his face and he released his breath. Yes! he thought. He'd done it!
Just then his Pal beeped. "Krieg, here," he answered.
"Ben, it's Lucas," the teenager's voice came through the speaker.
"Hey, kid, what's up?" Ben asked.
"We just got word from the National Weather Service," Lucas began. "The storms around Pearl have passed. The weather system has moved over the Pacific towards the coast of California. You ready to get off the boat and have some fun?"
Ben couldn't keep the silly grin off his face. "You bet I am, kid, and have I got a story to tell you on the way to shore..."
The End
So did you love it? Hate it? Tell me what you think!
If five people ask me to do an epilogue, I will do one. It's not really needed, but I could come up with something humorous, just for you guys ;o)
