Thanks again for those who have been kind enough to review. We are nearly there with probably one more chapter to go I think.

Chapter Thirteen

Having made sure that Daniel Aroro was secured in the brig, Ford headed back towards the bridge. As he walked through the clam doors he caught O'Neill trying to stifle a yawn. It was all he could do to hold back one of his own.

"Lieutenant, you are relieved of duty."

Tim looked up with surprise and hoped that he hadn't been caught out yawning. "Aye, Sir."

Lucas was back and now the captain was too. It was only a matter of time before their team came back from the colony and there was nothing else he really needed to stay for. Well, nothing that somebody else couldn't handle. As he climbed out of his seat and placed the headset on the console he glanced up to see Ford watching him intently.

"Don't bother reporting back for your next shift." He raised a hand as Tim looked ready to object. "You need to sleep."

Tim just nodded vaguely while trying not to rub at his eyes. The dark smudge underneath each one betrayed the fact he had been on duty for at least … … how many hours was it? Or had it become days? He couldn't actually remember. Sleep sounded good and he focused on placing one foot in front of the other so he wouldn't embarrass himself by stumbling while leaving the bridge.

"I think that advice might apply to you too."

Ford had been watching O'Neill leave and was surprised to realise Katie was right. He did need to sleep. But not yet. He still had things he needed to do and he didn't feel like having to explain any of it to anyone. Instead, he just nodded at her. "First I have something to deal with and then I'll sleep. You have the bridge."

He turned and walked out through the clam doors, knowing that she would have everything taken care of that needed to be followed up. Including one very annoyed UEO lead investigator. This was one of those times he didn't feel bad about delegating a job and he smiled slightly as he thought about what Beckman would say to her. Well, what he would try to say.

Miguel was on his feet before Ben had even powered down the shuttle's engines. He was anxious to get back to the seaQuest and find out what was going on. Nobody he had dealt with at the colony seemed to really know much, but he suspected some of them knew more than they were letting on.

Crocker was leaning over to haul Pederson to his feet and Miguel stepped over to the other side of the man. Officially he wasn't a prisoner, but that didn't mean any of them thought he was innocent. The colony's security chief made no move to argue with any of the three men and quietly allowed himself to be escorted off the shuttle.

He didn't comment as a junior officer informed them that Commander Ford had ordered he be escorted to the wardroom and for them to see to their guest's needs. The euphemism for being guarded didn't make it any easier to swallow.

Crocker had a hand on his "guest's" elbow as he pointed the way towards the wardroom. It didn't escape his attention that the two officers with him were both casting glances towards the far door instead.

"Ben, why don't you go down to medbay and get us all an update? We can handle this."

Krieg looked momentarily torn as he knew what he should be doing, but it only took seconds for him to latch onto what was being offered. He grinned at Crocker before practically running for the door. Miguel just nodded as they headed out in the opposite direction.

Walking stiffly between them, Mark Pederson looked like a man being led to the gallows.

Julianna stood just inside the doors to medbay, tucked out of the way of any medical personnel. She had been watching for some time but could not bring herself to move any closer. There were few times in her life where she could say she had wished away her superior intellect, but this was definitely one of them. Being able to not just play dumb, but actually be ignorant would have been bliss right about now. Instead, her mind kept replaying ideas that just refused to be silenced. She was ensnared in an ugly train of thought and completely unaware that somebody was barreling down the corridor towards her.

As Ben rounded the corner he couldn't pull up in time to stop himself from running into the nurse leaning against the wall. "Sorry, sorry, not looking where I was … Julianna?"

She stared at him as she tried to regain her composure. "Um, I'm sorry, I can't remember …"

He held out a hand towards her. "Ben, Ben Krieg. Are you OK?" The question was out of his mouth before he stopped to think and he immediately wanted to kick himself. Of course she wasn't OK. Any idiot could see that just by looking at her face.

"Yeah, sorry, I remember now. Lucas talks about … "She swallowed hard and tried to stop herself from allowing the tears to start again. Sucking in a breath and focusing on the ceiling may have just stopped the tears but it didn't make her feel any better.

"Um, why are you over here?" Ben didn't really think he wanted the answer to that question, but it seemed strange that she was hiding across the room.

"I can't … I just … I …," The tears that had barely been held back suddenly broke loose and she found herself sobbing uncontrollably.

Ben felt his stomach twist into a knot. Were things worse than they'd been told? Without really thinking, he reached out to the girl and she crumpled into his arms. The front of his shirt was quickly soaked and he could feel her trembling as she tried to stifle the sobs. Not knowing what else to do he just allowed her to cling to him and cry. For a brief moment he felt awkward that a teenage girl was crushed against him, but he quickly pushed it aside and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. If he was the one who could help relieve her pain, then he was happy to do it.

It didn't do anything to relieve his own anxiety though and he looked over her head to see Doctor Levin coming towards him. The usually cheery doctor looked far too serious for his liking.

"Hey, Doc. What's the news?"

Joshua looked at him for a moment as though he was considering what to say in front of Julianna. She pulled back from Ben, looking slightly embarrassed by her outburst. "I'm sorry. I just, um …"

"It's OK, don't sweat it. I'm worried about him too." He reached out to squeeze her hand before turning back to Levin.

"Doc?"

"His fever is causing some problems. Each time they think they are getting it down, it spikes again."

Julianna looked up at Ben and he just squeezed her hand again.

"But what about treatments? Drugs, that kinda thing?"

"They're working on it. But deep tissue infection isn't always easy to treat."

"What aren't you saying?" Ben knew he wasn't getting the whole picture and wasn't sure if he was being fobbed off or Levin was just trying to protect Julianna.

Levin sighed before deciding it wasn't worth trying to hide anything. "He lost a lot of blood and he went into shock before we got to him. His whole system is severely weakened and I honestly don't know that he has the strength to fight off this infection."

Ben felt his hand being crushed as Julianna sucked in her breath. He knew it was taking all her strength to stop from crying again. Now he understood why she was hiding by the door earlier, but the doctor's dire words suddenly made him feel that he needed to see for himself.

He knew it was irrational but he had been working on the assumption that once Lucas made it back to the seaQuest he would be alright. It felt almost like that childlike sense that nothing bad could cross the magic threshold and he shook his head at his own superstitious nonsense.

Joshua misread the action and looked away uncomfortably. Kristin always said the worst part of being a doctor was delivering bad news and she truly hated it. Right now he knew exactly what she meant. "He's young and healthy." He felt as though he was clutching at straws, but it was better than nothing.

"And don't forget, stubborn," Ben added in; a forced grin plastered on his face.

"Oh yeah!" Joshua smiled slightly before turning serious again. He looked at Ben, but was watching Julianna as well as he spoke. "Are you ready to see him?"

Ben squeezed her hand for encouragement, but as he looked across he could see she was struggling to keep calm. Trying to speak would have brought on a fresh flood of tears so she just nodded. He gently tugged her hand and together they moved across the medbay. A place that generally seemed so small, suddenly seemed cavernous.

Ford paused on the far side of the wardroom door to take a moment to gather his thoughts. From what he understood the man on the other side of that door was responsible for the shoot-to-kill order against Lucas. How deeply he was involved with Aroro remained to be seen, but that one charge was enough. He drew in a deep breath before confidently striding into the room.

Crocker and Ortiz were both within a few feet of the door and he noticed Pederson sat at the table. The man looked to be only a few years older than he was.

He quite deliberately closed the door and slowly turned to face the other man. With his hands on his hips he appeared to be weighing something up. He knew exactly where his legal authority started and ended, but making a good impression was always worthwhile. To his credit, Ford noted that Pederson barely moved as he looked up at the officer.

"You don't have any right to hold me here."

"Really?"

"I'm a UEO citizen and I know my rights."

Jonathan barely contained a snort. "Oh, so now you want to claim citizenship?" Slowly and deliberately he walked over to the table and placed his palms far enough apart that he could lean directly into the other man's face. "Let me assure you that the UEO is very interested in you right now. In fact I have a team of investigators here who will be very keen to talk with you. Shooting an unarmed minor will be at the top of the list. That's called attempted murder. Assuming he survives. Not to mention an actual murder and …"

"I had nothing to do with that!"

"Well, luckily for you, the investigators will be digging to the bottom of that one and not us. Because if it was up to me you'd be loaded into a torpedo tube and blasted out again." The last words were a barely concealed whisper but Pederson heard them clearly and visibly bristled at them. He looked over at the other two officers to see if they had heard.

"He's threatening me! Did you hear that?"

Crocker and Ortiz glanced at each other before Ortiz just shrugged. "Hear what?"

"You're all gonna stick together aren't you?" Pederson spat out angrily. "What about my rights? You can't threaten me and get away with it!"

Ford stood up and crossed his arms. "You are lucky that you are aboard a UEO vessel where we don't carry out our own justice. Because there are a lot of people here who could quite happily see you fed to the sharks."

He turned to walk towards the door and nodded to Crocker "Chief, take him to the brig and make sure he has no contact with Aroro. Let the UEO team know he's there."

"Aye, Sir."

As Jonathan walked out the door it was all he could do not to slam a fist into the wall. This was the man responsible for nearly killing Lucas, not to mention a whole host of other crimes and all he was concerned about was his rights. Some days Justice seemed to be a whole lot less than just.

As they approached the far end of the medbay, Ben could see the captain sitting beside the bed. He had his back to them, but he didn't miss their footsteps behind him. He looked up to see Ben and nodded in acknowledgement. He was surprised to see Julianna standing beside him and realised he hadn't even thought about whether or not Micah was aboard. Right now, the only kid he was concerned about was the one who was struggling to draw breath in front of him.

Kristin had assured him they were doing everything they could, but it didn't seem to be making any difference. As Bridger watched, Lucas was still shivering uncontrollably. As soon as the nurse sponged cooling liquid onto his burning skin it seemed to evaporate before his eyes. He was acutely aware that Lucas' earlier, fever-induced rambling had mostly subsided. It wasn't a sign however that his fever was dropping. Rather it showed his body was weakening further.

Ben nudged Julianna towards the bed. It was obvious she had been crying and the captain was struck by how much younger she looked than the last time he had seen her. Just another kid really. Except this one had managed to break through Lucas' reserve and it was obvious to all who knew him how much Lucas cared for her. Only a handful of people knew the real depth of their relationship and he watched her now with a wave of sympathy.

She tried to find the words for her questions and silently mouthed a couple of words before clamping her mouth shut again. Ben leaned around beside her and took over where she couldn't bring herself to go.

"How's he doing?"

Bridger hesitated before answering. "Not good."

He nodded toward the monitor across from him and both Ben and Julianna could see for themselves.

"106.2," Ben half whispered. "Isn't that …" Before he could finish the question, Kristin reappeared. She whispered an instruction to the nurse before taking over from her.

"Dangerous? Yes." She looked across at Julianna and smiled. "Did Micah's carer get here already?"

Julianna looked surprised at the sudden change of topic and nodded vaguely. "Um, her name's Mrs Berriman, I think. Somebody put the two of them in some guest quarters." She looked away and realised the doctor already knew that. Micah had only been discharged from medbay into the care of somebody he thought of as family.

"And weren't you and Nick assigned some quarters as well?"

She just nodded. "I couldn't sleep. I thought that …" Ben squeezed her hand again as she struggled to keep an even voice. "Is he going to be all right? I mean, I don't know much about medicine, but I know that high temperatures can cause brain damage."

Now that the question had been voiced she wished desperately to be able to take it back. Kristin looked at her for a moment before answering.

"You're right; they can. We really have no way to determine that until Lucas wakes up."

"When will that be?"

Kristin shook her head. "I don't know. It probably won't be for some time though." She tried to muster a smile for the terrified girl in front of her. "And when he does he's going to want to see you, but for now you need some rest."

She looked across towards Ben. "Lieutenant, perhaps you could escort Julianna back to the guest quarters. She may not remember how to get there."

Ben frowned slightly as he really wanted to stay put, but he quickly put on a smile. Kristin was right. Julianna needed to rest and this wasn't the place for that. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and steered her towards the door.

Kristin looked back towards where the captain was still sitting. She would have liked to send him off to rest as well, but knew that wasn't going to happen. Instead she pulled over another chair and sat down beside him. She noted the dark marks that raked the top of his knuckles as he grasped Lucas' hand in his. Her medic had reported back on the condition of the prisoner in the brig and she shuddered. It didn't go unnoticed and the captain turned towards her.

"What?"

When she didn't answer he tried again. "Kris, what's wrong?"

Tears began to well in her eyes and she tried to blink them away. "I thought I had lost both of you today."

He shook his head angrily. "No!" He was surprised at his own tone and he looked across at her apologetically. "I'm sorry, but no! Neither of us is going anywhere."

When Kristin didn't respond he leaned in towards her. "What are you thinking?"

She took a deep breath before answering. "What will you do if we don't get Lucas back? I mean … Lucas, as we know him?" The tears glistened in her eyes again.

He felt his chest constrict at her words. She hadn't spoken in front of the others, but here and now, with just him to hear her doubts, she couldn't keep them in. He looked up at the boy lying on the bed and gripped his hand tighter. He wanted to shout at her. To drown out the unthinkable idea she had just given voice to. Instead he found himself unable to speak.