Chapter 4

Bridger was more than a little annoyed that Lucas had essentially hung up on him, and blatantly defied an order. It didn't help that Commander Ford wasn't answering his PAL. He was busy drumming his fingers on the Captain's navigation table when Lt. Henderson jerked him back to attention.

"Captain, the self destruct is down to two minutes and there's been no sight of our launch," she told him obvious fear in her voice.

"And Commander Ford is still not answering his PAL Captain, no matter how much I try," added Lt. O'Neill.

"One minute Captain," warned Henderson.

"Understood. Full reverse, get us out of blast range," he ordered. He had no choice, he didn't like it but there was nothing else he could do.

"Yes sir. Full reverse," confirmed Henderson as she began rapidly executing commands to pull the seaQuest back from the resort.

"What about Commander Ford and the others?" O'Neill asked, not that he didn't know the answer already, but well what else could he say?

"There's nothing else we can do Lieutenant. We'll send over a rescue team once it blows and hope we get lucky," Bridger told him, he looked very worn and taut. He had accepted that he was going to be calling several families in the next few hours. No one could survive that blast.

Ortiz had taken over watching the resort's self destruct count down. He began counting it out loud as it reached the bottom.

" Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One."

The whole bridge had gone silent, the last number hadn't been more than a whisper. Everyone held their breath as the resort blew, sending plumes of hot water ahead of the fire balls that issued from all over the structure. The only thing that could be heard on deck was the solemn beeping of equipment.

Suddenly Henderson was standing up, whooping and pointing at the vidlink.

"Look! Look! It's the launch! They made it!" she cried, as the launch came flying through a plume of flames, pushed along at top speed by the force behind the explosion. By now everybody was on their feet whooping and hollering right along with Henderson in relief. Bridger called for order trying to be heard over the roar of voices, though the temptation to join in was overwhelming.

"Alright, alright! Let's get them home," he said as Lt. O'Neill suddenly sat down and pitched his voice over the still loud contingent of voices.

"Captain, I've got Commander Ford," he said and punched the vidlink up. Ford's face appeared on the screen, and the whole bridge threatened to be thrown into another riot of cheers.

"Are you alright Commander?" Bridger asked. Just because Ford had gotten out alive didn't mean the rest had.

"We made it Captain, barely. All of us are okay. We have a survivor who's going to need life support as soon as we get there, she's not going to last more than a few minutes without it," the Commander told him. Bridger nodded.

"Understood, I'll have a medical team standing by in medical bay. See you there. And Commander, nice driving," he said with a smile. Commander Ford actually half grinned.

"Brody was the one driving not me," he confessed as he snapped off the vidlink and veered in for the docking bays.

#***#

As the medical bay doors opened, Lucas was latched to the medical bed rail as it trundled along. Medical staff and Dr. Smith descended on them like a flock of gulls and he lost his grip on the bed in all the jostling. Before he knew it Alexandria was being pushed away and he tried to follow, but Dr. Smith stepped in to stop him.

"You can't go with her Lucas. You'll just be in the way," she told him softly. She knew he knew the girl and the wave of emotion coming off him was so strong it was palpable.

"But I want to go with her!" Lucas begged, looked over the Doctor's shoulder as the medical team flitted around hooking Alexandria back up to a life support system.

"I know. But right now the best thing you can do for her is wait here. I promise I'll come get you as soon as I have her stable," she told him, gently squeezing his elbow and giving him a warm consoling look before heading toward the bed. Lucas started to follow, but Bridger caught him before he could.

"Hold on now. Wendy is right. You need to be out of the way for the moment," he agreed. Lucas looked sullen, stuffing his hands in his pockets and casting side ways glances at him. Bridger started to lead him a bit further away, for now they would just talk. Lucas was obviously not in any condition to be reprimanded for disobeying orders right this minute.

"Why don't you tell me exactly what happened down there while we wait?" he suggested, gently. The heart monitor suddenly began to whine steadily.

"Warning, Code One, Vital signs have dropped below acceptable limits." it squawked. Alexandria had flat lined.

"Get me a crash cart now!" Dr. Smith yelled.

Lucas tried to bolt past Captain Bridger to get to Alexandria but Bridger grabbed him firmly to stop him.

"Let me go!" Lucas shouted at him trying to wrench free. Bridger shook him to get his attention.

"No! Wait!" he command forcefully. Lucas wasn't listening, he continued to struggle as the crash cart came rolling in and the medical team tried to resuscitate Alexandria, it was in vain, Bridger had too firm a grip on him and he couldn't get loose.

"200, clear!" Dr. Smith shouted, and the defibrillator crackled as it discharged. There was a stagnant pause before she tried it again.

"300, clear!" she shouted and the defibrillator whumped as it was used again. Again that dreaded pause.

"We've got her back!" Dr. Smith called, knowing Lucas was in a panic just outside and able to still see everything that was going on.

Lucas went limp with relief and it turned out to be a good thing that Bridger already had a hold on him, or he might have slid to the floor. His heart was pounding and he really wanted nothing more than to be with Alexandria at the moment and couldn't. Briefing the Captain on his little adventure was not the first thing on his mind.

"Come on, let's sit down and we can talk. It'll help keep your mind off things," Bridger assured him, some how Lucas doubted it, but let him lead him to a chair and all but sit him in it. The medical team was moving around at a brisk but normal pace now, so he figured Alexandria must be somewhat stable. At least he could see what was going on.

Lucas spent the better part of an hour telling Captain Bridger what had happened since he had disappeared. Tony, Henderson, Ortiz, and O'Neill had all poked their heads in at one point or another to check on him and say they were glad he was safe. Someone on the medical staff came by and checked him over, giving him something for his head ache and what might turn out to be a black eye. He barely noticed. Commander Ford had disappeared off some where along with his team, probably to take over the bridge while the Captain was talking to him. Lucas guessed the Commander would give his report later.

By now the medical team had begun to break up, leaving only Dr. Smith and two others to assist her. Lucas had begun to relax a little, the doctor cast reassuring glances out to him from behind the glass occasionally as she worked so Lucas thought things must be going okay, even if he hadn't been told he could go in yet.

"Alright, now then. Who is she? And how do you know her?" Bridger asked nodding in Alexandria's direction. Lucas sighed in frustration and leaned back in his chair.

"That's Alexandria Northman. We went to college together. I was her math tutor part of the time she was there," he told him, not offering anything else. His emotions were so muddled right now he wasn't sure he could deal with telling him more about her.

"Alexandria Northman? Why does that name sound familiar?" Bridger wondered aloud.

"It should Captain, she's the person that invented the synthetic pancreas. Effectively eradicating diabetes and other pancreatic diseases altogether," Lucas said.

"She's that Alexandria Northman? She's no older than you!" Bridger exclaimed. Lucas nailed him with a look.

"Alright, I get it. She's like you. You were just her math tutor?" Bridger continued.

"Actually she's a little over a year older. She graduated at fifteen almost sixteen, she would have graduated at fourteen like I did, but after she finished her biomedical engineering degree she went back for another in forensics. I think it was her way of dealing with her parent's deaths. We were friends," Lucas told him.

"Friends? Must be pretty good friends. You nearly got yourself, Commander Ford and his team killed to save her," Bridger observed, letting the last part sound like the reprimand it was. Lucas' eyes slid away and he looked uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry Captain. I had to do it. I couldn't just leave her there. Yes, we were close," he defended. Bridger nodded in acceptance patting his arm.

"I'd probably have done the same thing but don't do it again," the Captain told him sternly.

"Yes sir," Lucas consented as he fidgeted in the chair.

" Her parents are dead? Was she your girlfriend?" Bridger pressed on. Lucas was beginning to get annoyed, the Captain wanted to know way too much about his relationship with Alexandria. Why was it any of his business anyway? This was dredging up old feelings he'd buried years ago.

"Yeah, they died the same year I started college. Her father was a marine scientist, her mother was a marine veterinarian, they died on a research expedition. Foul play was suspected but could never be proven. Their bodies were never found," he told him, pointedly ignoring the part about her being his girlfriend. Why was he avoiding it anyway he thought to himself, they hadn't been so why did it rankle him to be asked about it? Lucas stamped on the notion until he didn't have to admit anything to himself.

"Well, what happened to her? Somebody had to have noticed she disappeared. I asked if she was your girlfriend," Bridger asked again. Lucas shot him an annoyed look that time. Why couldn't he just let it go?

"No, everyone thought she was dead. She went on vacation right after graduation. I was supposed to go with her but my Dad said no. Her shuttle hit a sea mount on the way from Palo Alto California to Dublin Ireland. The navigational controls malfunctioned, when they crashed, the engine blew and took the shuttle with it. Her body was never found. I guess now we know why. No. She was not my girlfriend, we were just good friends," Lucas told him, stressing the word no in the hopes that the Captain would drop that part of the conversation. Bridger gave him an odd look but didn't say anything.

"So she has no family to notify we've found her?" he asked. Lucas looked relieved that was all he asked then shook his head.

"No, she filed for emancipation right after they died. So there's no one. Just her," he told him. Before the conversation could go any further Dr. Smith interrupted them.

"She's stable. You can see her now if you want," she told Lucas and cast a concerned glance at the Captain. Something was not right. Lucas nodded and headed toward the bed as fast as he could without actually running. Bridger rose to follow along behind the doctor.

Lucas took one of her hands in his and squeezed it gently, her skin was cold to the touch, and she was white as a ghost. Her chest rose and fell in a shallow rhythm but she looked like a husk. His eyebrows knit together in worry.

"Is she going to be alright?" he asked Wendy. Wendy looked sorrowful and shook her head.

"I don't know Lucas. The coma is drug induced and until I know more I have to keep her in it. I don't even know if I can wake her up like she is. I've never seen anything like it, her entire brain is covered inside and out with wires, there's a computer chip in her brain stem. I'm not sure what to do. I have no idea how to get her unhooked from this system. And until I do, I can't try anything else. If I do I can tell you she'll die. The chip seems to have some kind of self destruct on it. When she flat lined all we had done is hook neural monitors to her. If what you told the Captain is true, she's been this way for six years. I might not be able to wake her up even if the chip wasn't there. I don't know how she survived the surgery to implant it. The only good news is she's stable for now and the chip doesn't seem to have affected her brain function at all," she explained. She looked very sorry to have to even say it. Lucas gripped Alexandria's hand tighter with both of his and gazed down at her desperately. He couldn't find her only to be told he was going to lose her all over again!

"You have to do something! She woke up back on the resort. If she hadn't they'd have gotten me too. There has to be something!" Lucas demanded fervently. Dr. Smith looked sympathetic and her large blue eyes were wide with empathy.

"I would if I knew what to do Lucas. It's not unheard of for someone to wake from a coma for hours even days and then relapse. We still don't know exactly what someone in a coma experiences. She may have known you were there and acted on it. Your presence may have given her just enough incentive to fight it for a moment. She's in there, I can feel it, but it's this confused muddle almost like she's dreaming. Unless I can get that chip out of her head I can't do anything else," she said in as consoling a tone as she could manage. She knew it wasn't doing anything for Lucas but she tried anyway. Bridger who had been listening to the whole thing spoke up.

"Do you have any idea what could be done? More than her life and Lucas' feelings are at stake here. From what Lucas told me we have to find Dr. Sanborn soon, he has another installation somewhere and God only knows what he's going to do before we find him. We need to know what she knows, if we are going to find him. We haven't been able to track him. Escape shuttles went in all directions when they left and we have no way of knowing which one he was on," he told her. Wendy shrugged looking lost.

"If someone was good enough they might be able to get past the self destruct and disable the chip, that is if I can keep her alive during it," She confessed. Lucas jumped at the chance.

"I can do it!" he said, eyes wide and pleading.

"Absolutely not! What if it doesn't work Lucas? You'll blame your self for the rest of your life," Bridger told him shaking his head.

"It's the only chance she has Captain! Please! I'm the best there is, no one else has a chance at cracking it," he was begging again, seemed he'd begged a lot for one day.

"He's right Nathan. I hate to say it but he's the only one who might have a chance. If we work together we might be able to do it. But Lucas I can't promise anything, even if we get the chip out she still might never wake up," Wendy interjected. The Captain looked apprehensive, he stood there for a moment considering but to Lucas it felt like he was taking forever.

"Alright. I guess we don't have any other choice. But first you get some sleep and eat something Lucas," Bridger assented reluctantly.

"But Captain..." Lucas started to object.

"That's an order," Bridger said and it was obvious he would brook no argument about it. Dr. Smith nodded her agreement beside him and Lucas knew there would be no point in arguing.

"Yes Captain." he replied dejected.