-CHAPTER EIGHT -

- ESCAPE -

Lucas tried to make his escape as stealthily as possible. Eventually someone was bound to notice he was gone, but he had to get off of the ship before that happened. If he stayed any longer, Ghost Man would find him and he didn't want the crew to be in danger.

If Ghost Man knew where he was, he had to leave, it was as simple as that, even if Cynthia had told him to stay on the Seaquest. The problem was, Cynthia didn't believe him. She said the Ghost Man was still in jail, but Lucas would have recognized that voice anywhere.

Pulling the Stinger up, he made his way to the one place that he knew was safe. The crew didn't know about, neither did the Captain or even Cynthia. He'd only ever told Laura where it was. This was safe. For him and for the Seaquest.

As the search wore on, the Captain became more and more scared. Hours of searching and a missing stinger forced them to come to the conclusion that Lucas was nowhere on the ship.

Bridger sat heavily in his chair on the main deck, running his hand over his face to steal himself for what he had to do next. "Lieutenant O'Neill, open the channels to Admiral Noyce' office."

"Yes, sir. Channel open."

Noyce immediately saw the strain on Bridger's face. "Nathan, what's wrong?"

"We can't find Lucas."

"What you mean, you can't find Lucas?"

"Exactly that, Bill. We searched the entire ship and he isn't on board. I'm sending a search party up top." This was his fault. It was Bridger's duty to keep Lucas safe, to know where he was. Lucas was more than just a member of his crew or his responsibility, he was a friend and the closest thing to a son Bridger had.

After a minute, Noyce nodded, "I'll contact his mother, see if she has any idea where Lucas might have gone. Stay in touch, Nathan."

With the transmission cut, Bridger stood up and turned to his crew. "Chief Croker, yo know what to do."

"Yes, sir." Croker stopped mid-step and caught Nathan's eye. "I'll find him, Captain."

Bridger forced himself to smile, "I hope you're right, Chief."

Kristine crossed her arms over her chest, "Nathan, I need you to come with me. We have to discuss how to deal with Lucas when he gets back."

Lucas sat on the bench, looking at the old house. He had so many memories in that house and all of them good. He closed his eyes and he could still see the house behind his lids. He could hear the sound of laughter in his head. He just wanted to forget Ghost Man. He wanted to stay hidden and keep Cynthia alive, not dead like Lawrence. His uncle was dead because of him.

He had to make sure Ghost Man didn't hurt anyone else.

Pulling his feet up, he put his chin on his knees. The captain would have noticed he was missing by now. Bridger would probably have everyone scouring the ship for him. He should call the captain, let him know he was okay.

Lucas wrapped his arms around his legs, whispering to noone, "Please, just... let him understand."

"Captain, we have an incoming call from an unidentified source."

Bridger looked up from the spot of floor he'd been studying. There was still no sign of Lucas and the longer it took to find him, the more likely that something was seriously wrong. He wanted to be out with the search party, looking for Lucas, but he had to stay on the bridge, he had to be the captain.

With a sigh, he nodded, "On screen, O'Neill."

For a moment, Bridger was convinced he was seeing things, because the face on screen looked exactly like Lucas. Then, Lucas spoke, "Hello, Captain."

"Lucas, where are you?" He didn't even realize he had stood up at first.

Lucas shook his head and bit his lip, "I can't, sir. I don't want to put you in danger."

"Lucas..."

"Don't try to find me, sir. You won't be able to."

"We know about your father. I know it hurts, but you have to let us help. You have to let me help."

"You can't help me, Captain. If you know about Lawrence, then you know he was killed, and if you try to help, he's going to kill you too, just to get you out of his way. You don't understand."

"Help me understand, Lucas. What are you talking about? Who is 'he'?"

Lucas' eyes glazed over and looked down, "Ghost man. He killed Lawrence. He'll kill Cynthia and all of you next, if that's what it takes to get to me. I... I can't let that happen. I can't have anymore innocent blood on my hands." Lucas looked up, finally meeting the captain's gaze. "Take care of yourself."

"Lucas, wait!" The screen went black and Bridger slammed his fist down on his armrest. "Damnit! O'Neill, get him back online!"

O'Neill tapped at his keyboard and finally turned an apologetic glance at the captain. "I'm sorry sir, the signal is untraceable."

Damnit! Lucas wasn't a genius for nothing, of course the damned signal couldn't be traced. "I want to talk to Noyce. NOW!"

"Yes, sir."

While O'Niell patched him through to the Admiral's office, Bridger tried to pull himself together. Who the hell was this Ghost Man and why was Lucas so scared of him? What had this man done to make Lucas think the Seaquest couldn't protect him?

However, when Noyce picked up, all of Bridger's efforts to be calm went out the proverbial window. Standing up, Bridger leveled Noyce with a glare, "Who the hell is Ghost Man, Bill?"

"Wha...?" Noyce's face drained of color. "That's classified information. How did you hear about him?"

"Lucas commed. He said Ghost Man killed Lawrence, seemed to think Cynthia was in danger, too. He said the Ghost Man would take us all out, too, if that's what it took to get to him."

"He said that?"

"Pretty damn sure, Bill. He said he had to hide to keep us safe. I can't protect him if I don't know what I'm protecting him from. I need information and I need it yesterday."

Noyce laced his fingers together and shook his head. "I don't know much beyond his existence, Nathan. It's highly classified and I'll have to petition Section Seven for access to those files."

"Section Seven is involved?" Section Seven was bad news. Section Seven was secret government projects, assassination, coverups and god-only-knew what else. "Please tell me that isn't true, Bill."

"All I know is Section Seven had business with him. That and..." Noyce f altered. "Look, Nathan, whoever this guy is, he's dangerous. The only word I've ever heard about him is to stay the hell out of his way if you want to live. I'll call my contact, see if he can help me. Don't do anything rash, Nathan, give me time. Please, for just once in your life, listen to me and wait. We need more information on him before you go gallivanting off."

Bridger didn't like it. He didn't like the idea of sitting around and waiting while Lucas was out there alone, but it wasn't like he knew where Lucas was and until he had more to go on, waiting seemed to be his only option.

"Alright, Bill, I'll wait. For now, anyway, but promise me you'll hurry. That's Lucas out there and he's in danger."

"I promise."

TBC

I want to thank my beta EskimoSatan for her great work. I thank you for the review. It's encouraging me to continue.