Well I thought I was on the last chapter, but it seemed there was more to wrap up than I thought. And I just couldn't resist tormenting Lucas a little bit more! So I'm thinking now the next one will be the end.

Thankyou as always for the kind reviews.

Chapter Fourteen

The darkness was all-consuming as it enveloped him. It took away all sensation and was totally disorientating. He had no idea how long he floated in the darkness, but it could have been weeks or even years for all he knew. There was nothing to indicate the passage of time and his mind recoiled from the total lack of stimuli.

Gradually he became aware of a rhythmic echo that wafted through the darkness. It had a familiarity to it that his mind just couldn't define. His thoughts floated off again, but the echo stayed. He couldn't pinpoint the direction it was coming from. It just seemed to be all around him. He strained to make sense of it and finally a chink of memory welled up in his mind.

It was a sonar ping!

No, it wasn't.

That was too mechanical.

Artificial.

It was something less regular and precise.

The effort of trying to make it out was exhausting, but he couldn't let go of it. Somebody was dangling a lifeline out of the darkness and he felt compelled to reach out for it.

It was a heartbeat! Somehow he could feel it.

It was as though he was wrapped up inside someone else as the heartbeat's rhythm gently echoed through his head. His mind latched onto that idea, but it didn't help. Other muffled noises began to filter through the darkness, but he couldn't define any of them.

"Lucas? Can you hear me?"

He knew that voice. He just didn't know how he knew.

He tried to respond, but couldn't think how to do that.

His mind hurt. Strangely enough, nothing else hurt. He wondered how his mind could be floating free, all by itself.

Where was the rest of him?

"Lucas, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand."

How?

As his mind struggled to obey the instruction, the effort overwhelmed him and the darkness rolled back in to envelop him once again.

Bridger leaned back into his chair with a sigh of frustration. He was still holding Lucas' limp hand in his while silently willing the fingers to curl around his own. He was sure Lucas had been waking up, but obviously it was just wishful thinking.

"C'mon, Kiddo. I know you are in there somewhere."

His mind drifted off to another place where he had sat helplessly and held another hand. The last hours he spent with Carol she had been completely unaware he was even there. As he struggled to shut out the emotion that slammed into him, he was surprised at how raw it felt. It had been years and yet right now it felt like it was only days ago.

He forced the image aside and glanced down at his watch. Somehow it was morning already. His body felt stiff and achy as he stood up to stretch. The wound on his forehead was throbbing, but he ignored it. As he stretched out his hands he flexed his fingers to try to ease the stiffness in them. The bruising across his knuckles was now coming out and his hand looked a mixture of colours.

He silently clenched the fist again and thought about going down to the brig. He still had enough self-restraint to keep out of the UEO investigators' way, but if Lucas didn't come through this then … …

He eased himself back down into the chair and buried his face in his hands. Hadn't he just told Daniel the day before that he couldn't ever see that murder was an answer to anything? And yet, right now, he wanted nothing more than to rip the man to shreds.

Kristin had spent so many years in medical facilities that she could move almost silently and Bridger never heard her coming. He jumped as she laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry. I just thought you might like a coffee." She smiled as she held out the mug.

He rubbed at the back of his neck as he reached out to take it. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours."

It didn't matter how long it had been. Somehow it felt like he'd failed as he'd fallen asleep while Lucas needed him.

Kristin sat down beside him and answered as though she could read his thoughts. "I would have woken you if he needed anything."

"Have you had any sleep?" he looked over and saw the same tiredness etched into her features as he felt in his own.

"A little. Joshua came in during the night and I slept over there." She pointed to another bed nearby that had crumpled bedding still strewn across it.

When he didn't answer she continued on. "The good news is that his temperature is coming down a little. It seems the antibiotics are finally starting to take effect."

The captain glanced across at the monitor and saw it for himself.

105.1.

Still way too high but at least it was finally moving in the right direction.

"I thought … it seemed like he was waking up before."

Kristin smiled and nodded. "He will. Just as soon as he's ready to."

The look of frustration on his face made her explain further. "He's not just asleep. He's unconscious and there's a difference. His body has shut down areas that he doesn't need in order to focus on healing. His senses are all suppressed and it takes a while for someone to come back out of that. It doesn't happen like waking up from a nap. Just give him some time, Nathan." She reached out and squeezed his hand.

He took a sip from the mug and felt the scalding liquid slide down his throat. He felt his own senses coming to life as the warmth flowed through him. Everything about him ached and as he looked himself over he realised just how bedraggled he looked. His uniform was missing buttons where Daniel had grabbed hold of it and flecks of dried, brown blood were splattered across his chest. He rubbed a hand across his face and felt the scratchy stubble along his jaw line.

"Why don't you go and have a shower? You'll feel better." Kristin hoped he wasn't going to argue with her.

He looked over at Lucas and she quickly jumped in. "He isn't going to wake up in the next twenty minutes. And when he does I don't want him being scared by the sight of you."

"Thanks very much!" he muttered. But she was right. "All right, but I'll have my PAL with me. Call me immediately."

She nodded at him before shooing him out of the seat.

Dennis Beckman had seen a lot in his years as an investigator. He frowned on anybody who took the law into their own hands and he had seen more than enough suspects who had been beaten. As he looked across at Daniel Aroro he was amazed the man could even speak to him. His eye was swollen shut and his lip was split in several places. Two teeth dangled precariously in his mouth and he suspected they would need to be pulled out.

He tried not to be jumping ahead of the evidence as the job required impartial observation and recording, but it was hard not to make assumptions. Somebody had beaten the man viciously and he was determined to find out the truth of the matter. Regardless of whom he was up against. Nobody in the UEO was exempt from the law.

"Mr Aroro, my name is Dennis Beckman. I'm the lead investigator sent out by the UEO to determine what, if any crimes have been committed here and who is responsible for them. At this stage you are free to seek legal counsel before speaking with me if you wish."

Daniel held up his hands to show the restraints that bound him. "Free!" he spat out. "I've never been free!"

"Mr Aroro, do you wish to engage legal counsel or not?"

"I've got nothing to say to you or anybody else."

Beckman had come up against this before and it didn't faze him at all. "I am here to determine the cause of death of your brother, among other things."

Aroro stared at him, but refused to speak any further. Finally Beckman was forced to call the guards back over and have the man returned to his cell. Maybe he'd have better luck with the other one.

Thomas walked around the office and picked up the last chair. It felt sacrilegious to see Samuel's normally well-ordered office in such disarray. Harold was trying to pick up the waste reclamation unit, but it was too heavy for him on his own. He called Thomas over to help and the two of them lifted it upright before setting it back on its stand. As he stepped away from the wall, Thomas leaned down to pick up a piece of paper that had fallen out of the unit. He could see handwriting on the paper and stopped himself from throwing it in.

"What?" Harold wondered what he was doing. "It's just rubbish."

Thomas couldn't quite explain it himself. "He was in here working. Just another day."

Harold frowned at him.

"Samuel. The last time he was in here it was just another work day. I wonder if he had any idea what was coming."

Harold sagged into the nearest chair. "I don't think anybody could have seen it coming. I mean, this Zalco group. How exactly did Daniel ever get mixed up with them?"

"Dunno." Thomas stared at the piece of paper that was scrunched up in his hands. He couldn't bring himself to throw it in the bin. As stupid as he felt, he just couldn't toss aside something that belonged to a man he had greatly admired. He walked over to the desk and hesitated before finally putting it down. It would be up to the Council to decide what to do with Samuel's effects and he was grateful that he didn't need to decide those things.

Harold watched him closely, but didn't say anything further.

"Have they been picked up yet?"

Noyce leaned forward in his chair and nodded. "Hans Jaco and Eduard Zalerman are currently trying to explain why their company was involved in an illegal mining operation. So far they are both blaming the other, but it's only a matter of time before the local investigators get something concrete to bring down both of them. They've been at this for too long and it seems we've finally got them where they should be."

Ford nodded towards the viewscreen. At least one investigation was going well.

"And I've got a team already working on a way to safely seal that cinnabar and prevent any kind of contamination for the colony."

"That's good news, Sir."

"How are things at your end, Jonathan?"

"The UEO team are preparing to charge Aroro and Pederson and then remove them from the seaQuest. It's a bit of a process to get through the necessary legal hoops to keep them in custody, but there's no way either of them are leaving here unless they are in cuffs."

Noyce didn't miss the tone behind the words and he couldn't say he blamed the young man on the screen in front of him.

"Jonathan, I want this one to be as clean as a whistle. I don't want either of them to have one inch to move with legal arguments and technicalities. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Is there anything else you need as far as the colony is concerned?"

"No, I think their Council is pulling together and trying to work through this all. I'm not sure there's anything we can do to help with that process."

"Possibly not, but I want the seaQuest to stay put for the moment. They may have been peaceful up 'til now, but this has got to have left major instability in its wake. Be prepared to step in if more civilians are at risk."

Ford nodded slowly.

"How's Lucas doing?"

Ford heard the hesitation in the question. "He came through surgery in one piece. Doctor Westphalen is treating the infection, but … … he's in pretty bad shape."

He heard Noyce suck in his breath and he glanced away.

"And Nathan?"

Ford couldn't quite suppress a grin as he looked up. "The other guy looks a whole lot worse."

The admiral just smiled as he shook his head. "Why am I not surprised?"

Sounds drifted past. Time no longer had any meaning for his mind. The only thing he found he could actually hold onto was the heartbeat. Something about it wasn't quite right, but it was the only constant he could sense. Somehow it made the darkness a little less threatening.

The sounds gradually began to resolve into something more intelligible. The heartbeat still echoed in his ear and he finally understood what was wrong with it.

It sounded fake.

His mind strained to make sense of why he could hear an artificial heartbeat.

"Lucas?"

A voice whispered across his mind. It didn't fit the mechanical heartbeat.

"Please, you have to come back."

Back?

Back to where? Somewhere that had machines with hearts?

The darkness pressed in around him and his mind tried to push against it.

"Do you remember the day I met you?"

I don't even know who you are.

"You managed to both irritate and impress me all in the space of ten minutes."

The tone behind the words was warm and he tried to latch onto them. Someone was dangling that lifeline again and he reached out to grasp it.

"Kristin! Did you see that? He moved!"

The doctor rushed back over towards the bed and tried to keep calm. It wasn't the first time that Nathan had thought Lucas was waking up, only to be disappointed.

He felt the line in his hand and he grabbed it with all he could muster. It felt warm and somehow it wrapped itself around his hand. Were ropes supposed to do that?

"There! I told you!" Nathan felt Lucas' fingers curl and squeeze his hand. It wasn't much and the grip was far from strong but it was enough.

"Come on, Kiddo. You're nearly there."

The voice echoed in his mind and mingled with the heartbeat. Now the machine had a voice as well as a heart. The darkness tugged at his mind but something about the voice was stronger.

Kristin leaned over the bed and watched Lucas' face intently. Slight twitches preceded what they had all been waiting for.

"Welcome back," she whispered as he struggled to open his eyes.

The monitor beeped out a steady stream of bleeps and he tried to turn towards it. The heartbeat that had kept him company in the dark turned out to be his own.

His senses reeled as he tried to take in the sudden influx of information. The darkness was receding under the brightness of the lights but his head was still spinning.

"Lucas?" The captain leaned in as the teen just stared at him.

A swarm of questions flooded into his mind, but his mouth refused to give voice to any of them. His tongue felt dry and thick inside his mouth and he tried to make them understand he needed water. He opened his mouth again, but nothing came out.

"It's all right Lucas; take it easy." Bridger placed a calming hand alongside his face. He could see the panic rising in his eyes and rushed to head it off. "You're safe. You're in medbay."

Safe.

For now it was enough. The questions could wait.

Without any warning the darkness enfolded him again and he drifted away.

Bridger looked up at Kristin with alarm. "What just happened?"

She laid a hand on his arm and smiled calmly. "It's all right. I told you it could take a while for all his senses to come back. Don't worry, Nathan. He'll wake up again."

He glanced across at the monitor and noted the temperature readout was still dropping.

103.9.

Kristin hadn't been wrong about anything so far so he just had to trust she was right about this too.