Now that it's off and running again I can't get this story out of my head! Who needs sleep anyway? Only slightly obsessive I think, but my imaginary friend says I'm fine, so don't worry.
She also says to thank you very much for reviewing.
Chapter Ten
Julianna sat in the back of the shuttle with Micah curled up on her lap. She still hadn't managed to coax him to eat anything and it had been a relief when the seaQuest shuttle arrived. At least they could hand Micah over to Doctor Westphalen and she would know what to do for him.
Nick leaned over and squeezed her hand. There still hadn't been any word on Lucas. She didn't notice when the shuttle began to change course, but when Lieutenant Jansen started climbing out of his seat and coming towards them she suddenly sat up to take notice.
"Don't give me bad news, just please, don't!"
Jansen was smiling as he stopped in front of them. "We are changing course to rendezvous with the seaQuest. She's gone to pick up Lucas."
"Oh thank, God!" Julianna let out the breath she had been unconsciously holding and Nick reached out to hug her. Micah got squashed in the middle and he just clung on tighter to her neck.
Lucas was unaware of Darwin floating past him in the water; even when the dolphin began to tap on the glass again with his beak. The water overhead darkened as the seaQuest moved into position above the Stinger. He didn't even stir as the grappler snaked out and wrapped itself around the tail of the Stinger. He finally awoke when the Stinger rolled onto its side and his head hit the console.
Hovering off to one side, Loner was flashing images back to the bridge, but so far all they revealed was that somebody was inside the Stinger. The fact that Darwin was swimming rings around it was enough to confirm to everybody on the bridge that it was, in fact, Lucas inside.
Ford felt like he was holding his breath as he watched the Stinger being dragged unceremoniously by the tail through the water. It just seemed so insulting, but time was more important than manners.
"You have the bridge, Lieutenant O'Neill."
"Aye, Sir."
"And when I get back, you are off duty."
"Yes, Sir." Tim glanced at his watch and realised he couldn't remember when he had actually started this shift. He watched enviously as Ford headed for the launch bay because he wanted to be sprinting after him.
Miguel decided that this was why Bridger always won if he ever played poker with them. Being able to hold all your cards to your chest and give nothing away was a skill that took years to develop.
Daniel had sat silently while Miguel explained how they knew the footage had been corrupted. Pederson seemed to hang back out of view, but Daniel just looked unconvinced.
"How do I know that this hasn't been done at your end? That you aren't trying to cover your own tracks?" He seemed rather smug as he asked the question, but Miguel almost laughed as Bridger quickly deflated him.
"This is what was sent to us. If you think the UEO has tampered with it then show us the original footage."
Daniel shifted uncomfortably, but stayed defiant. "I don't have to prove anything to you. And I have no intention of turning evidence over to you."
Crocker shifted slightly behind them and Miguel turned to look at him. His face looked like thunder and Miguel could already guess why. He had dealt with too many liars in his time and they only ever delayed justice. He just hoped that this little timewaster was giving Ben time to track down somebody who would talk to him.
Before anybody could say anything further, they were interrupted by an urgent knocking on the door. Daniel looked across at his security chief and frowned. Pederson quickly moved to intercept whoever it was that was stupid enough to interrupt their meeting. He opened the door and stepped out into the corridor so the seaQuest crew couldn't hear what he was about to say. Only moments later he re-entered the room and awkwardly tried to make eye contact with his boss.
"I'm sorry but there's an urgent maintenance issue you need to deal with."
It didn't escape anybody's notice that Daniel hesitated for a minute before replying, "Can't it wait?"
"Uh no, Sir. It's urgent."
Daniel reluctantly excused himself and headed out into the corridor before roughly closing the door behind him.
"What is it, Mark?" he hissed.
Pederson looked uncomfortable to be the one delivering the news. "The seaQuest has gone."
"Gone! Gone where exactly?"
"We don't know, just a north-east heading. They left half an hour ago."
"And I'm just being told this now!" Daniel glared at both men before dismissing the messenger. He turned back towards his security chief and looked like he was going to explode.
"They must have found something. If they were going west I'd say they had found the test site, but they must have found the Wolenzcak kid. It won't be long before the truth is out."
The two men looked at each other, trying to weigh up their next move.
"C'mon, Daniel. It's over and you know it is. The only question is, how quickly we can get out of here before the seaQuest comes back."
The ugly look that crawled over Daniel Aroro's face made Pederson flinch.
"I'm not going down without a fight. We are too close to lose it all now."
"Daniel! You can't take on all of them. I say we cut our losses and run."
Without answering, Daniel headed back through the door into his office and closed the door in Pederson's face. He stopped to lean on the door and briefly looked like he was going to be sick.
Bridger looked up and wondered what kind of maintenance issue could have brought about the abrupt change in Daniel's demeanor.
"Captain Bridger, I have one last thing I'd like to show you. It will only take a few minutes if you would like to come with me."
The group of officers rose together, but Daniel waved them back. "Actually, I … I'm sorry, Captain but I'd really like to have a word with you alone. Something has just come to light and I'm embarrassed to admit that … well, somebody here may … the truth is, I think you may be right about the footage."
Bridger watched as the man seemed to crumple before his eyes. All of the bravado seemed to have been propped up by the man's belief he knew who killed his brother. Now he just looked deflated.
"Captain, please. I'm new in this leadership role and I'd appreciate your insight."
Bridger just nodded and looked back towards his men. "Wait here. We won't be long."
Daniel smiled slightly in appreciation as he led the captain out through another doorway and closed it behind them.
Several minutes later Mark Pederson came back through the other door and was surprised to find the two seaQuest officers standing in the room in a huddle. They stopped talking the instant he walked in and he glanced nervously around the room.
"Where's Daniel? And your captain?"
Miguel thumbed towards the far door. "He went for a walk with Captain Bridger to talk about something."
Pederson blanched at the words and Crocker was across the room in seconds. His instincts for trouble were usually spot on and being able to read people had saved his skin on more than one occasion.
"What?" he demanded to know.
When the man refused to answer him he reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt. "What?"
Pederson looked wildly at the two faces in front of him. It seemed as though he was weighing up options before Crocker tightened his grip.
"We have to find them, now!"
Ford arrived in the launch bay in time to see Kristin issuing orders. A gurney stood to one side and several medbay staff were waiting expectantly. The grappler had roughly hauled the Stinger inside and dumped it in the shallow water but it was leaning heavily to one side. No doubt the rough handling had done some hull damage and it was taking on water.
He waded into the water as other crewmembers swung into action, trying to right it and force open the canopy. It was evident that Lucas couldn't open it from inside and Ford hoped that they weren't too late. Finally the hatch was released and pulled back out of the way. The smell of stale blood mixed with sweat drifted up and he nearly gagged.
The commander got his first look at the teenager and he almost staggered back. His shirt and a makeshift bandage around his waist was soaked with blood and it was only the sound of his ragged breathing and the burning glow of his face that confirmed he was even still alive.
Somebody reached in from the other side as Jonathan leaned over from his side. Together they managed to manhandle their unconscious patient out of the tiny space before Ford wrapped an arm under Lucas' legs so he could carry him over to the gurney. Kristin quickly moved in to check his vitals and whisked him away while the other men were still dragging themselves out of the water.
An ensign moved over to the Stinger and Ford quickly reached out to him. "Don't touch anything! That's all potentially evidence."
"Ah, Sir, there appears to be a log entry in here."
As Ford moved back over to see for himself, he too, noticed the tiny light on the console. "All right, get that off there and send it through to the bridge. But don't touch anything else."
He didn't wait for an answer before heading off to the medbay.
Ben leaned against the shuttle door and seemed intently interested in cleaning his fingernails. Bridger had taken Ortiz and Crocker back to follow up on the footage and left Ben "guarding" the shuttle. Daniel's men seemed less inclined to hang around since he had taken the others away and they had wandered off into the corridor. Ben managed to keep his head down, while every so often scanning the area for any sign of Miguel's contact.
Finally he saw movement from behind a storage crate and nodded slightly to the man wedged in behind it. Checking to see that nobody was watching him, he sauntered off in the direction the man was pointing. If anybody questioned him, he figured he could claim he was looking for the bathroom.
As he rounded the last corner he felt a hand clamp over his mouth. "Follow me and don't say anything 'til I speak."
Ben nodded and followed as he'd been instructed. The first man had appeared from behind him and quickly caught up with them. They finally walked into a small side room and one of them shut the door behind him. Feeling a little foolish and wondering if he had just walked into a trap, Ben scanned the room for another exit. There was nothing but the one behind him and two men in the room with him. He was wondering if he could take both of them down when the first one spoke up.
"Something is very wrong here. We need your help."
Ben looked over at the other one who was nodding vigorously. "We don't have much time before they find you're not at the shuttle, so we need to be quick."
"I'm Thomas and this is my cousin, Harold. We were on duty in the launch bay the night Lucas took Micah.
Harold nodded and looked slightly sheepish as he continued on. "Smart kid! He made us think the bay was flooding and we shut the watertight doors. By the time we'd figured it out, he was gone."
Thomas shook his head. "At first they told us Lucas had killed Samuel and kidnapped Micah and there was a shoot-to-kill order. Then they said after he escaped that Micah was dead too. Mark issued an order to blow Lucas out of the water. Said he didn't want the UEO interfering in the service of justice."
Ben sucked in his breath at this news. They all knew Micah was with Lucas, so did Mark Pederson know that too?
"All the search teams came back empty handed. The kid just disappeared. And now Daniel's been telling your captain that he has Lucas here in custody, but he isn't here at all."
Ben decided he wasn't yet ready to tell them that Lucas had been picked up by the seaQuest.
"The thing is, something is very wrong and we think Daniel may have something to do with it."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, my nephew, Jake, works with the computer system. He told me that Lucas was digging up records for something and when he asked Samuel about them he didn't know anything about them. The next day Daniel arrived and blasted Lucas for sticking his nose into something he shouldn't have. Jake said Daniel was particularly angry that the UEO was spying on our business."
"Spying? You asked us to come!"
Harold leaned in closer. "The thing is, there isn't anything about our colony that the UEO would want. We run a mostly self-sufficient place and keep out of other people's way. We like it that way."
"Well, most of us do."
Ben looked at Thomas as he made the last comment. "What do you mean by that?"
Thomas shifted uncomfortably before answering. "Some of our younger ones are talking about being more open to the outside world."
"And I guess that's causing friction," Ben noted.
"Some, but the Council is working on it. We have always prided ourselves on working for the benefit of all of us. Compromise is the only way that ever works."
"OK, I need to get back before I'm missed and report this information. Thanks for your insight and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. In the meantime, just lay low and stay off the radar."
Both men nodded solemnly before escorting Ben out the door and back down the corridor. As they arrived back near the shuttle, Thomas went ahead to distract the others while Ben slipped back into his position of slouching near the door.
After what he thought was a reasonable amount of time, Ben stepped back into the shuttle and discretely shut the hatch. He flipped the radio and impatiently waited for the seaQuest to respond.
O'Neill's voice came back at him in seconds.
"I have some new information for the Commander. It doesn't add up to a whole lot yet, but this is what I've got so far." He rattled off the details he had just been informed of while Tim noted it all down at the other end.
"OK, I'll pass it on as soon as he's back to the bridge."
"How's Lucas?"
Tim was surprised he hadn't asked that first but then he realised that Ben was probably afraid of the answer he might get. "I don't know yet. They pulled him out of the Stinger and he's in medbay. Sorry, but I don't have any more details yet."
Ben nodded to himself and frowned. Good news would have made it through the boat already.
"But you can let the captain know that Micah is safely aboard. Their shuttle docked a few minutes ago."
"I'll let him know. Thanks." Ben flicked the radio off and stared at the floor. His fists were clenched before he knew it. "The second kid they tried to kill! Somebody is gonna pay for this!"
Ford stood just inside the medbay doors and watched as the team there moved in some kind of unspoken dance. They each knew their roles so well that they somehow managed to move around and do the things they needed to without once running into each other. He was vaguely aware that he was dripping a puddle of water onto the floor, but right now he didn't care.
Kristin seemed intent on what she was doing and only glanced up to issue directives. Lucas had already been hooked up to an IV and desperately needed blood was being pumped back into him. Monitors beeped out a heart rate that still seemed far too erratic.
"Entry wound here." Kristin gently eased Lucas onto his side to examine his back. "But there's no exit wound." All right, we need to get him into the OR. This bullet has already been in there far too long."
Ford watched as the team wheeled the gurney out of his sight. The last thing he could see over the nurse's retreating head was the IV bag swinging against its pole. As he stood there staring after them, his PAL began to beep.
"Ford here."
"Sir, it's Lieutenant O'Neill. I think you need to hear the news I've just had from Lieutenant Krieg and also the log from the Stinger is ready."
"I'm on my way just as soon as I get changed. Are the search teams all back yet?"
"All but three and they are due in the next fifteen minutes.
"Oh, God, that hurts!"
Ford visibly flinched as he listened to the agony in Lucas' voice. Directly across from him Katie was trying to keep a calm face, but failing miserably. It seemed hours before Lucas spoke again and each one of them couldn't help but imagine what had been going on inside the Stinger.
"Somebody … … they shot Samuel ... in the head and Micah … he … I couldn't stop him in time. I had to … he … he couldn't stay there … not with a dead body … … … get out."
Tim closed his eyes as he realised that a small child had been forced to witness such a horrific thing. No wonder Lucas was trying to get him out.
"Had to get out … … somebody sent guards after us. Still don't know why but … … Nick … …"
"Samuel … he ah … he … … asked to check seismic readings … … something was off … … weird … … um kinda … … kinda just … … all clustered … … Daniel got … … stick to my job … … don't like that guy"
"Seismic readings?" Ford leaned over towards Blacker. "Get me the records for this area for the last twelve months."
"Yes, Sir."
The words were fading, but the pain in Lucas' voice was still evident.
"Inventory! … … checked supply records … … weird stuff to bring in … … asked Samuel … … didn't know but … … checked records … … all erased … … gotta find them … gotta … … before … … before he … … all in danger … … "
Nothing further could be heard on the recording except for the sound of strained breathing. Ford stepped over to turn it off before asking for more details.
"Records … … he talked about inventory. And those two told Ben about records as well. Something was being brought into that colony that shouldn't have been and Lucas found it. Probably accidentally by the sound of it. Something that was serious enough to get Samuel killed."
"What do you suppose it was?" Katie asked.
"No idea, but that last part … … Lucas said they were all in danger."
"What would a peaceful colony want with something that would endanger them all?"
"Maybe they didn't all know about it. Ben said that his informants said Daniel was behaving strangely."
"Samuel's brother? Do you really think he could have killed his own brother?" Tim looked incredulous at the idea.
Ford nodded slowly. "Stats say most victims are murdered by somebody they know. Often it's a spouse or family member."
"Crime of passion kind of thing?" Katie had often joked about strangling Ben, but now it wasn't so funny to her after all.
"Maybe. But if Daniel is the one, then we need to get back there, now! Our people only have four side arms between them."
Katie raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing.
"I did try to get the captain to take more, but he said he didn't want to storm in and endanger Lucas."
"Who, it turns out, wasn't even there!"
"Yeah, well hindsight is twenty/twenty isn't it?"
"Ah, Commander?" Blacker leaned over from the rim of his console. "You might wanna see this. Those seismic reports you asked for."
Ford climbed up onto the platform and checked over the readings. He frowned as he looked, but asked Blacker to confirm what he was looking at.
"Yes, Sir. Not much more than the odd hiccup until six months ago and then clusters of major tremors just started for no apparent reason."
"And they all have their epicentre in this area here?" He circled a spot on the map while Blacker nodded. "That's too much of a coincidence to ignore."
He climbed back down to the floor and considered his options for a moment. "Tim, I need to speak to the captain first, but I think we need to go and check out those co-ordinates. Something is going on there and I have a feeling it's got to be connected to those inventory records."
O'Neill frowned as he tried the captain's PAL again. "I'm not getting through, Sir."
"Well keep trying. It's probably just interference from the colony's poor shielding." He looked over at Hitchcock. "I'm going to check in on Lucas, but let me know as soon as you have the captain. You have the bridge."