Sorry for the wait on this chapter, but I did warn you they may take a while in coming. To CF Vici, you do actually get a chapter before I go away. I haven't even packed yet, but you do get your chapter, so I hope you appreciate my dedication!

Thankyou to everyone for your reviews and comments. You will get some of the backstory in this chapter so hopefully I've answered some of your questions and maybe raised a few more.

Chapter Six

A week earlier …

After Captain Bridger and the seaQuest had left, Samuel had decided to let Lucas get a good night's sleep before starting on the work they had called him in for. Early the next morning he had to rouse the groggy teenager who seemed rather unhappy at being woken before dawn. He thought that was strange as everybody on the colony rose early, including his young son. Micah was fairly bouncing with excitement as he followed his father into the visitor's tiny room and waited for him to drag himself out of the bunk.

After allowing him the privacy to get dressed and join them for a simple, but hearty breakfast, Samuel took Lucas for a tour around their community. Most of the people they passed were busy with various tasks and Samuel did his best to explain as they went. In a community such as theirs, everybody had a role to play and every job was considered important.

"Kinda like on the seaQuest," Lucas mused to himself as they walked. "But I can't see Commander Ford doing that!" he commented as they passed a cleaner. He almost laughed out loud at the image that went through his mind of the usually-serious XO wielding a mop through the endless corridors of the submarine.

Eventually they came to a door that was rather grandly marked "Control Room" and Samuel held the door open for Lucas and Micah to enter ahead of him. If Lucas was disappointed by what he saw, he managed to mask it very well. Two rows of consoles lined opposite walls and various monitors blinked out information at him.

Samuel observed without comment as Lucas touched each component of the computer setup. He ran his fingers gingerly over each piece as though it was somehow going to break. Samuel barely restrained himself from saying that their equipment could cope with being used and nothing adverse was going to happen.

Lucas looked up at him with an odd mix of reverence and disbelief on his face. "I, … um … I don't mean to be rude but … does this stuff really all still work?"

Samuel barely held back a smile as he nodded.

"But it's like … like … antique!"

"Well, I suppose it was made to last."

"But you don't understand. Computer components are obsolete almost as soon as they hit the shelves. Industry development is growing exponentially so anything that's a couple of years old has nothing to interface with anymore and is replaced out."

"Lucas, that only applies if you want to interface with anything else. We have no need to do that outside our own system and our system works just fine for us."

Lucas shook his head as though the man had just suggested that Dark Ages' medical practices were still acceptable and he briefly wondered what Doctor Westphalen would make of that. Maybe she'd like some leeches in the medbay!

"But what about when something breaks?"

"Well you just said it yourself. Most things get replaced because they are obsolete, not because they are broken. Most parts are actually pretty resilient and anything that needs fixing, well, that's what we have Jake for."

A young man with mousey brown hair had entered the room only moments before and had been watching as Lucas continued his way around the room. At the mention of his name, he tentatively smiled at the stranger.

"So this is your handiwork then?" Lucas looked over at Jake, trying to guess his age and wondering if any of the computer components were any younger than he was.

"Not really. I just maintain it, but most of it was set up by my father. He taught me all that he knew about computers."

Lucas just nodded as he continued on around the room. The jury-rigged equipment looked like one good sneeze could be the end of it, but Jake seemed quite proud of it all.

Samuel continued to explain various things, but for the most part Lucas was able to trail through things himself and pull out whatever he was looking for. The conversation drifted on as Lucas explored the system he had to work with. Some things Samuel could fill him in on and other parts Jake was eager to point out.

To his father's amazement, Micah had managed to sit relatively quietly and still for over forty minutes; fascinated by whatever it was that Lucas was doing. Something about the teenager had caught the boy's attention and he was content to just sit and watch. Eventually though, hunger got the better of him and he began to squirm.

"Time for a break, I think." Samuel lifted his son off the bench and turned to see if Lucas was coming. "I said, it's time for a break, don't you think? Fooood." He dangled the last word out as though he was holding out a bone for a dog, but Lucas wasn't biting.

"Huh? Oh sorry. I was just looking at these readouts here." He pointed to the screen in front of him and trailed his finger across behind the string of numbers. "What's this all about? It looks like seismic readings."

"It is." Jake jumped in before Samuel could answer. "We monitor the seabed from here but it's just routine. Nothing much ever happens."

Lucas looked slightly uneasy at the use of the word "much", but Jake continued on. "We get a few hiccups now and again, but nothing this old girl can't handle."

Samuel smiled at the idea of his home being referred to in such a manner, but it was true. "We may not have the latest technology here Lucas, but this colony was built to last. You don't have to worry. We are built onto solid rock and this just keeps us apprised of any activity that would impact on the local fish stocks."

Micah fidgeted beside his father; boredom having finally won out over curiosity. He tried to get his attention by tugging on his coat sleeve. Samuel leaned down and whispered something in his ear. Micah grinned up at his father before turning and tearing out the door.

"What did you just say to him?" Lucas wondered.

"I just told him that there might be some fresh doughnuts ready by now if he wanted to check at the bakery."

Lucas had noticed on their way through the colony earlier that there was something that looked like a town square, but hardly anybody was around. Given the confined space he thought he may have made a mistake, but as they left the Control Room and headed back in that direction he realised his initial assessment was right. More people had also headed into the area and Samuel explained that the colonists worked on a kind of shift rotation. Just like on the seaQuest, at the shift change most people headed for food. The various small shops that had been shuttered up earlier were now open for business.

Samuel pointed to a small table tucked away to the side and Lucas laughed as he spotted Micah, already seated and tucking into a very large powdered doughnut. His father headed over to the bakery and paid for his son's purchase and Lucas briefly wondered what it would be like to live in a place where credit was taken for granted by a six year old because everybody knew you.

It was a strange kind of economy where everybody seemed to be employed by the colony in some capacity and yet they still operated with money. He sighed as he realised he didn't have time to try to figure out the inner workings of the place. He already had enough on his plate to get his brief done before the seaQuest came back to pick him up in a couple of weeks.

As the day progressed, Samuel found that Micah had become a mini shadow of the teenager and it was quite comical to see Micah trying to stalk Lucas through the hallways while Lucas pretended to be entirely unaware of his presence. As a father, Samuel truly appreciated that a complete stranger would take the time to accommodate a small boy's fantasies, while trying to work on a complex job. Most people would have just dismissed his son as a nuisance, but for some reason, Lucas seemed to enjoy his company. He had no idea how much Lucas related to being the youngest one around, but he liked what he saw.

Three days later …

Samuel sat at his desk and absently twisted a pen between his fingers. He could have typed the information into the computer system, but there was something he still enjoyed about writing it all down; the tactile sensation of his hand gliding across the page. He would have preferred it to be real paper that still had that faint smell of cellulose, but that was a long-gone luxury and he would just have to make do with the syntho stuff instead.

He smiled slightly as he read back over his notes. He knew their computer system was aging, but Lucas had called it antiquated. To his mind, the teenager's first sight of their admittedly basic setup had been hilarious. He frowned again as he quickly realised it wasn't a laughing matter at all. Daniel had made sure of that.

Despite his need to keep an accurate record for the colony's files he wasn't sure what he should write next. He grabbed the pen firmly in his palm and vaguely felt his nails bite into his palm.

"How did this get so complicated?" he muttered to thin air. Finally he released his death grip on the pen and began to write again; slowly at first and then more quickly, as if the details would dissipate if he didn't get them down quickly enough. Gradually he began to ease up and he leaned back in his chair to consider what he had written.

The words stared back at him from the paper. What had been only a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach was now apparently a fact. By writing it down he had made it a fact. Or at least it was now open for others to interpret and decide for themselves. Did he really want his doubts to be known amongst the colonists yet? Was he ready to open up a buried family feud to outside scrutiny?

He glanced back down at his report and hesitated briefly before dropping the pen onto the desk and picking up the paper to screw it up.

"Not yet!" he scowled at the wad of paper in his hand. As if it was suddenly burning his hand he looked around for somewhere to throw it. The waste reclamation unit was across the room and he leaned back to lob the offending paper over to it. A fraction less force behind the lob would have made it a three-pointer but the paper skidded across the top of the metallic unit and fell to the floor behind it.

Samuel sat at his desk and shook his head. "You're getting old, Sammy boy!"

Before he could get up to do anything his comm unit crackled to life.

"Papa? Are you there?"

Samuel smiled in spite of himself and he felt his dark mood beginning to lift. He glanced at his watch and instantly realised why Micah was calling him. He was late for dinner.

"I'm here, Son, and yes, I'm on my way."

"Right now? Cos Lucas is already here and Mrs Berriman said we can't start supper until you get here."

Samuel could hear the insistence in his son's voice. Whatever was being served was obviously to his liking. Mrs Berriman did her best to make sure his son ate a nutritious diet and there were times when Micah would dig his heels in about what she had made. At least tonight wasn't going to be one of those times when he would sit at the table, staring down his six year old in a battle of wills about whether or not he would eat the stone cold food in front of him.

Those were the times he missed his wife the most. The times when she would have known what to do to deal with a child's issues that seemed far too vague and unfathomable. He knew his housekeeper did her best, but it just wasn't the same.

"Papa? Did you hear me?"

Samuel started at the sound of his son's voice. He rubbed at his eyes and quickly moved to answer. "I'm on my way, right now! I promise. So what are we having for supper tonight?"

"We've got pineapple upside-down cake!"

The eagerness in his son's voice made Samuel burst out laughing. Never mind the main course! Just skip to dessert. And a luxury one at that. Pineapples were a topside item and as such, were hard to come by. Lucas must have done something to impress Mrs Berriman for her to splash out and use something so extravagant.

"I'm out the door already. See you in a few minutes."

"You can't be out the door and still talking on the comm!"

"OK, Mr Smartypants! Start counting. Three hundred and twenty seven."

He didn't wait for an answer, but secured the comm unit back in its cradle and bolted for the door. He knew Micah was already counting and it was something of a game between the two of them for him to try to beat his estimated time. He was also counting in his head as he ran and could always tell when Micah cheated on the count. Many times he had stood outside the door to his quarters silently counting off the numbers so his son could declare victory when he stumbled through the door.

"You're late!" Micah launched himself at his father as he breathlessly burst through their doorway.

"I am not!" Samuel retorted. "Three hundred and six."

"Was not! It was six fousand and ninety two."

Samuel scooped up his son and marched over to the dining table. Lucas was already seated and Samuel pretended to up-end his son before depositing the squealing boy next to Lucas.

"Maybe you can ask Lucas to teach you to count while he's here."

The shuttle powered down as the docking clamp connected with the colony hatch. Aside from Ben at the controls, the rest of them were already on their feet. Captain Bridger looked across at the men before him and waited for the hatch to pressurise. As Ben stepped up beside Ortiz, they glanced at each other. All of them were wearing side arms but none of them knew what to expect.

"Commander, we are ready to enter the colony."

"Understood, Sir," Ford's voiced came back over the PAL.

"Remember, our priority is to retrieve Lucas without escalating this any further."

Each of the men nodded before turning towards the hatch. Crocker turned the seal and pushed the hatch to swing outwards. He began to move out, only to find a rifle muzzle pointing directly in his face.

Bridger couldn't see who it was but he certainly heard the command for them to come out with their hands in the air. He hoped that Ford had heard what was taking place over the PAL before he pushed it deep into his back pocket.