I want to thanks my beta EskimoSatan for her great work. Thank you for review my fic.

- CHAPTER NINE -

- SECTION SEVEN -

In a small office in a building that didn't exist, Mario looked at his vidlink, a surprised, if vaguely tight smile on his face, "Well, it isn't every day I have Admiral Bill Noyce on my line. It's not like you to contact Section Seven, Admiral, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Noyce didn't return the smile, "Ghost Man."

Mario's heart fluttered in his chest, "I... Look, Bill, just stay out of this."

He made a move to cut the line, but Bill spoke again, staying his hand. "He's after a member of the Seaquest and I take it personally when someone goes after one of my boys."

That was... impossible. "What makes you think he's after anyone from the Seaquest?"

"Because Nathan Bridger told me so and that's good enough for me. I need information, Mario. I need to know why he's going after this person and for what reason."

Mario sat back in his chair and shrugged, "I'll need a name. Who, exactly, is he supposed to be gunning for?"

"Lucas Wolenczak."

His heart did that funny flutter again, "Oh, god, please not again."

"What do you mean? What's going on?"

Mario reached for his keyboard and began typing out a message. "Bill, please tell me Lucas is onboard the Seaquest."

Noyce shook his head, dread making his stomach heavy, "No, he ran away this morning, told Bridger this Ghost Man killed Lawrence and he's afraid that Cynthia and the Seaquest are in danger."

"Shit!" Mario hit send and leaned forward, clenching his hair in his hands. "Shit, shit, SHIT!"

Finally, he looked over at Noyce, "I need to get with my superior on this, Bill. Call the Seaquest, tell them they'll be getting a call from us shortly and you'd get onboard the ship, too. We'll need your help with Bridger."

"What are you going to do about Ghost Man? Who is he?"

"Bill, just do what I say if you want to stay alive. Get to the Seaquest. Wait for our call."

Mario cut the line and Noyce stared at his screen. In all the years Mario had been his contact in Section Seven, he'd never seen the man react that way. They're conversations had always been a game of who could remain the calmest, but that... Mario hadn't even tried to hide his worry and that wasn't good. In fact, that was very, very bad.

Buzzing his secretary, he told her to call the Seaquest and let Bridger know that he'd be coming onboard. It would take him at least an hour, but Mario would have known that, so he'd give him plenty of time to get there before calling. Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't going to hurry.

General Mario Davenport entered the office of his superior, a serious frown on his face and dread in his chest. This wasn't good news, this was, in fact, the worst kind of news, the kind that was going to put his boss out of his mind. As much as he dreaded it, though, it was his duty to inform him of the situation - the death of Lawrence Wolenczak and the threat to Cynthia and the Seaquest.

"Mario, come in. We were just finishing our meeting."

Mario nodded respectfully, standing before the seven top ranking members of Section Seven. Six of them stood, preparing to leave, but he stopped them. "I'm afraid it might be better for everyone to stay."

The highest ranking of the members, Mario's boss, nodded, curiosity clear in his raised eyebrows. "Go ahead, we're listening."

"I received a call from Admiral Bill Noyce in the UEO Headquarters..." he faltered and his boss nodded, coaxing him to continue. Taking a deep breath, Mario plunged ahead, determined to get it out and over with. "Lawrence Wolenczak had been murdered, sir, Admiral Noyce says it was Ghost Man."

His boss chuckled, though there was tension behind it. "Impossible. Ghost Man knows better than that. Any attack against the Wolenczak's would get him thrown back in prison."

"Lucas Wolenczak is sure that it's him. In fact, he was sure enough to tell Captain Bridger."

There was a long pause and any humor, however forced, left his boss's face. "Where's the boy now?"

"They don't know. He ran away. He's sure that Cynthia and the crew are in danger."

The other six men exchanged glances, while his boss stood up, "We have to protect them. Send a team to escort Cynthia to the Omega Safehouse. If anything happens to her, that boy will bring us down. Mario, take a shuttle and board the Seaquest. You'll be our contact there."

"Sir, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know, but I need to figure that out before Ghost Man makes his move and I need to find Lucas. Now."

At the same time, Lucas was laying on the bench, his eyes tightly closed, trying to block out the past. Closing his eyes wasn't doing any good, though, the past was in his head, it was all around him and he couldn't escape it. Like the blackness of sleep closing in around him from all sides.

Flashback

Lucas lay curled on the floor in the smallest possible ball. He had no idea why he was there, but his family had been killed and he could hear their deaths, see their eyes staring forward blankly in his head. He wanted to join them.

The door opened suddenly and two men entered the small room, looking down at the cowering boy. One of them stepped forward, a repulsive smile on his face, "Hello, Lucas. You can call me Ghost Man." Lucas tried to curl even tighter into himself as the man knelt down. "You are a very intelligent boy, Lucas, and we need you for some very important experiments."

Standing up, Ghost Man turned to his associate, "Take him into surgery," he spared another glance for the shaking child, "and hurry, the good doctor is getting impatient."

"Yes, sir."

The other man leaned down and Lucas backed himself further into his corner. "Stay away from me." His voice was barely a whisper, choked with fear. The man grabbed him, his hand tightening like a metal band around Lucas' arm. "No! Stay away from me! Let me go!"

He was forced to stand and dragged out of the room, tears making wet tracks down his cheeks. "Let me go! Let me go!"

The door across the hall was open and Lucas doubled his frantic efforts when he saw the table in the middle of the room, straps hanging off it. "Please? Please, let me go?"

A doctor stood next to the table, inspecting the cleanliness of his tools. He looked up as Lucas was pulled into the room, taking in the struggling boy before going back to his task of preparing for the operation.

End Flashback

Lucas woke from his nightmare in a cold sweat. The back of his neck throbbed. The scar had faded over the last ten years, but he reached up and rubbed at the source of the phantom pain. How could he possibly forget everything Ghost Man had done to him?

Taking a deep breath, he pulled his communicator out of his pocket again. He had to call Cynthia, he had to do something and do it fast if he wanted to save the others. He dialed the number and waited. When the line opened, cold fear washed over him at what he saw.

Ghost Man.

TBC