Chapter 9
Lucas spent the rest of the day helping Captain Bridger obtain every piece of information he could find on Ryan Sanborn. Apparently the captain had tried again, more than once, to get in contact with Admiral Noyce and still been rebuffed. So Lucas had proceeded to get the information he wanted. Illegally of course.
The work had let him bury his thoughts and feelings for a while. He didn't know if he wanted to rush back to Alex's quarters and beg her to forgive him, throw his arms around her and just hold her for hours. Or if he wanted to ignore her until she was ready to talk and apologize. He didn't know why he was feeling like this, they had always been close. But while they were good friends he had never felt like this. Why did he suddenly feel this overwhelming need to touch her, comfort her, make everything alright? His thoughts began wandering as he tried to figure it out, but the Captain drug him out of his contemplation.
"Lucas are you paying attention?" Bridger said. He had asked the same question four times and Lucas had sat there staring into space like he didn't hear him.
"Oh, Yes Captain. What was the question?" Lucas asked sheepishly, fidgeting with his computer keyboard to avoid being seen turning red again.
"Where is your head Lucas? I asked you what you had found on Dr. Sanborn," he repeated shaking his head at Lucas and assuming it was the result of him spacing out. Lucas shoved his thoughts to the back of his mind and began telling the Captain what he had found.
"Well, I found out a lot, but all it does is raise more questions. Dr. Sanborn graduated magna cum laude from Harvard at age twenty five with doctorates in biomedical engineering, psychology and parapsychology. He was considered one of the brightest minds in his field at the time," he said pulling up a screen that reflected what he was saying on the computer.
"Was?" Bridger asked. Lucas nodded.
"Yeah, apparently he believed that human behavior could be controlled through technological means for a better world. The idea has its merits but he took it too far. He was excommunicated from the scientific community in 2010 and his licenses revoked, when he tried to prove his theories by experimenting on his own research team against their will. Not only did it violate human rights laws all of his test subjects died. After that he just sort of dropped out of the public eye, by 2012 he'd disappeared altogether. Everybody speculated he killed himself or went off to some remote place unable to handle the embarrassment of his failure," Lucas told him. Bridger looked contemplative for a moment.
"So he's done this before? Or at least something like it? He was never tried for what he did?" Bridger asked. He couldn't understand why the man wouldn't have been. Those experiments would have been major violations of several human rights laws alone. Lucas shook his head again, he knew the captain was not going to like what he was about to tell him.
"No, not even a charge. He just went off and no one bothered to do anything about it. And I think I might know why," he explained leaning forward to pull up another file. Bridger was quiet listening.
"At first I didn't think anything of it. His parents aren't really anybody, but I got to checking and found out his grandfather was. Ryan Sanborn's grandfather is real estate czar and salvage industry tycoon Kenneth Jordan. When he died he left the company to his daughter, Kathryn Jordan. When she and her husband Dr. Gregory Sanborn died in 2011, the company fell to her son," Lucas told him. Bridger looked floored.
"Jordan Industries owns half the eastern sea board. Not to mention all the underwater salvage they do. No one noticed that Ryan Sanborn owns it now?" he asked incredulous. Lucas looked up at the captain apprehensively.
"Oh they know. The UEO leases any number of land plots and facilities from them, plus they sell salvage to them when they happen to have it. If they were to lose the land holdings they have it would displace hundreds of thousands of personnel at the least," he continued, Bridger's brow was taut and his jaw set in anger.
"So this is political. They let him get away with it just to keep from losing money? "
"Looks that way Captain. I did get a full listing of all Jordan Industries properties in real estate and salvage, but there are thousands of them. There's still no way to tell where Dr. Sanborn might have gone. He could have gone to any one of them," Lucas finished leaning back in frustration. Bridger shook his head.
"No, I don't think so. I'm betting he's underwater. It would be to easy to be found out on land," He said.
"Well that still leaves me with three hundred and seventy five listings, all over the world," Lucas said with a lost shrug.
"Keep trying, look for anything that might help, find out what is being shipped into and out of all of them if you can that might give us some idea. Maybe you can get Alex to look them over with you see if anything rings a bell."
"Uh, Captain. I don't think Alex really wants to talk to me right now," he admitted.
"Oh why's that? I thought you two were good friends." Bridger ventured.
"We are. We sort of had a disagreement," he confessed keeping his eyes on the computer so he wouldn't have to look as sheepish as he felt.
"Uh huh," the Captain observed. Before he could ask anything else the comm system beeped and Lt. O'Neill came over the speaker.
"Captain, you have a call from Admiral Noyce," he advised. "Put him through on a private channel Mr. O'Neill," the Captain replied and turned to the vidlink in Lucas' room. The vidlink flickered on and Bridger stood looking back at Noyce angrily.
"Nathan where are you?" Noyce asked looking around the captain at the banks of computers and general mess that was Lucas' quarters. Lucas popped his head into view briefly in answer.
"Oh. I see," Noyce observed with disdain. Bridger cut him off.
"You have been deliberately avoiding me Bill," he accused. Noyce looked affronted.
"No I haven't Nathan, I've just been very busy," he argued
"Yes you have. You took so long getting back to me about Dr. Sanborn I decided to find out about him myself and now I know why," Bridger shot back. Noyce puffed up in anger.
"Nathan you'd have to have gotten in to sealed files for that," he told him looking around him at Lucas accusingly.
"Oh no don't look at him. I'm the one who told him to do it Bill. Is money really worth that much to the UEO? That they'd let Sanborn kill who ever he wanted so they wouldn't lose a little?" he demanded. Noyce's face screwed up into a scowl.
"No Nathan it's not like that!" he defended again but Bridger was on a roll now.
"Yes it is. Don't try that with me Bill. I know better. That's exactly what this is. It's about politics and money and the people involved in this can go to hell. You knew he'd done this before and yet you did nothing," he raved at Noyce.
"Nathan, we had no way of knowing he was still conducting experiments. You can't even be sure he still is and all the test subjects he had at El OrquÃdea Jardines are dead," Noyce shot back.
"You should have tried him when he did it the first time. What about the people he killed? And no all them aren't dead Bill. One survived and she's on my boat," Bridger railed. Lucas was sure anyone within two decks of them could hear the captain's angered voice by now. Noyce looked surprised and a little afraid.
"Who is she?" he asked suspiciously. Bridger shook his finger at the screen.
"Afraid she might tell Noyce? I don't think I'm going to tell you who she is," he informed him. Noyce sat forward glaring into the vidlink.
"Nathan, you stay out of this. That's an order, this is a very sensitive political matter, let the UEO handle it," he yelled at the captain.
"Oh like you handled it the first time. I don't think so. Court martial me," he spat. Noyce started to protest but Bridger hit a button and disconnected him without another word. Straightening his uniform he made to leave then turned back briefly.
"Good work Lucas, keep looking we'll find him. And try to talk to her. Couples quarrel she'll get over it," Bridger said as her stepped out.
"Yes sir, Captain we aren't..." Lucas began to protest but Captain Bridger had already swung the door shut behind him with a clang. Lucas sighed reluctantly and went back to work. Why did everyone insist they were a couple?
#***#
Lucas had slept the night away and gotten back to work first thing the next morning. When Lucas finally took a break from trying to track down Sanborn, he decided to take a walk and before long he had meandered down to sea deck. He thought he might ask Darwin to play a little football. He was surprised to find Alex there struggling to get a wetsuit on, Darwin was no where in sight. She didn't notice him she was so busy fighting with the neoprene fabric. The way she moved caught his eye and he didn't enlighten her, instead he stood near by leaning on a bulkhead quietly watching.
She had trimmed the ends of her hair so that now it fell in golden waves to her shoulders, rather than a tattered mass. Her green eyes were bright with frustration against her pale skin. The black and dark blue of the wet suit, what of it she had managed to get on over her bathing suit, just added to the effect.
He thought she was beautiful and he didn't know why he hadn't noticed it before now. Was that what had been bugging him for the last couple of weeks? That he didn't see her as just a friend anymore and hadn't realized it? Was that what everybody else was seeing and he had been too head strong to see? She broke him out of his revere with a frustrated growl. Lucas couldn't help but laugh and that gave him away. She snapped around wide eyed.
"Oh very funny Lucas. Ha ha watch the poor land lubber try and fit herself into a wetsuit that despite saying it's her size has got to be four sizes too small." she groaned. Lucas grinned dashingly at her and stepped forward.
"I liked your hair longer." he said suddenly, not sure why he had said it. But it was true, when he had last seen her before she had disappeared it had fallen nearly to her waist, he realized now he had loved the way it looked. Alex looked exasperated.
"I'm turning myself into human pretzel and all you can think of to say is you liked my hair longer?" she squeaked. The look on her face was so disbelieving and comical he laughed again. She screwed her face up into a scowl.
"It's not funny!" she insisted.
"Yes it is. Here let me help," he offered looking the mess she'd gotten herself into over.
"For one thing you don't zip it until you have everything else in it," he told her humorously.
"I figured that out, but now it's stuck. I can't get it to unzip. You try it if you think you can," she shot back. He wasn't sure he exactly wanted to try unzipping clothing off her, that was altogether too suggestive. But trying to get her arms through the sleeves was going to be near to impossible otherwise. Gingerly he took hold of the pull at her throat and tugged. It didn't budge, he tried it again with more force and it came loose. He was about to let go, but she placed a hand over his, stopping him. Lucas looked up from the zipper at her face, afraid to meet her eyes least he give himself away.
"Lucas about earlier. I'm sorry. I did think about it, but I just can't talk about it yet. I will but just not yet. I'm sorry I was such a jerk. I don't mean to be," she said. She tilted her head slightly to catch his eyes, being a full head shorter than he was it wasn't very hard. He glanced away and stepped back.
"It's okay. I know you didn't mean it," he said shoving his hands in his pockets. Then a thought occurred to him.
"What are you doing down here anyway?" he asked.
"Oh. Well Dr. Smith did say I need physical therapy still and this was one of her suggestions so I thought I'd try it. The water doesn't look all that deep, should be about right," she answered.
"Want me to join you?" he offered. She smiled brightly at him. A genuine smile and nodded. "Yeah. I'd like that," she said. Lucas smiled back at her.
"Okay just wait right here and let me change," he told her grabbing a wet suit off a hook and disappearing behind a wall partition. He was half way into his suit before she spoke again.
"Lucas?" she called. "Yeah?" he called back fighting his way into it.
"The nightmares are the worst you know. I wake up screaming in the middle of the night. I keep seeing all these images of all these horrible things. The surgery, murdered children. Wars, Horrible crimes against humanity, individuals. Things no one has been able to do anything about. The only way I know to deal with it is to block it out," she admitted in a sudden rush, as if, if she didn't say it now and quickly she never would.
Lucas zipped up his suit and peered around the corner, she had finally managed to get hers the rest of the way on. His hands went instinctively to where his pockets should be but there were none so he let them drop awkwardly. "I'm sorry Alex. I wish I knew something to do to make it stop," he said. She smiled wanly at him.
"I know. You can actually. Just... be patient with me. I know I must be the most hardheaded person on the planet. I just... it's really hard for me to open up. That's all," she said shyly.
"I know. Always have. I've known you for years remember? I'll be here. I told you that already," Lucas offered. She smiled at him again. He loved the way she smiled, when it was genuine it lit up the whole room.
"I know. Thank you," she said and paused, walking along the side of the pool aimlessly. "I asked Dr. Smith about the children. Whether or not any of them could be mine. She said no," she told him. He nodded.
"Well at least that's good news," he said, he was nervous without a reason to be and picked at the hem of his sleeve absently.
"Yeah," she answered. An awkward silence ensued. Finally he couldn't take it anymore. "Ready?" he asked. She nodded and turned toward the pool. Lucas saw it an instant to late. A puddle of water on the edge, her foot hitting in and slipping sending her flying backward into the pool. She sank like a rock then came up sputtering and struggling. He realized she couldn't swim and dove in after her.
Saving a struggling drowning person wasn't as easy as it looked. You had to keep their head above water without letting yourself drown at the same time. While they tried their best to send you both back under. When he had her head above the surface he tried to calm her. Once he had gotten his footing he had just stood up, the pool wasn't all that deep for him, but she was just short enough she couldn't get a good purchase.
"Alex. Alex. I've got you!" he shouted. It took her a moment to realize she wasn't sinking anymore and she stopped struggling. She sputtered a bit more and laughed nervously."I thought the water was a little shallower than it is."
"I didn't know you couldn't swim," he said keeping a firm hold around her waist. In the heat of the moment he hadn't realized he had both arms around her and hers had gone around his neck instinctively. Her body was pressed so closely to his he could feel her heartbeat. It tied his stomach in knots.
"I thought you knew. Didn't you notice I never went to any of the pool parties in college?" she asked, tossing her wet hair behind her shoulders, she had to tilt her head to look up at him.
"I just thought you were too busy studying or didn't want to go," he answered. She smiled.
"Well there was that and the fact I can't swim. Never learned. Yeah I know parents were marine scientists you'd think I would," she told him. He chuckled and started to let her go but she clutched at him when he did so he held on.
"No, no don't let go please," she pleaded eying the water warily. "I won't," he promised, he really didn't want to anyway. He liked how she felt resting there. He liked her arms around his neck. She was still looking up at him, right in the eye and there was something there, this look he couldn't place. He grinned nervously but didn't look away.
"I could teach you," he said softly. Her eyes were still locked with his. "I'd like that," she whispered back. Their faces were drifting closer together by what seemed like no force of their own, they were so close their lips were almost touching, he could feel her breath, it sent chill bumps all over his skin. "Okay," he muttered.
The word made his lips brush hers, suddenly he had slipped one hand under her hair cupping her head and he was kissing her. At first she stiffened not expecting it and he almost pulled away, but then one of her hands was twined in his hair and she was returning the kiss, deepening it. She relaxed into it, his heart was pounding so hard he could hear it in his ears and her heart beat matched his. When they finally broke apart it was reluctantly, slowly. He didn't think he could breathe. They floated there, both of them not breathing. It was Alex who finally broke the silence.
"I've waited years to do that," she said breathless. Lucas didn't think his ears had heard her right. He shook his head in disbelief.
"What?" he asked his voice low and husky.
"I said I've waited years to do that," she repeated. Lucas still wasn't sure he understood, he couldn't be hearing her right. Years? To what? Kiss him?
"I don't think I understand," he said unable to believe what he was hearing. She chuckled softly, her hand still twined in his hair, he realized his was still twined in hers.
"Well since you want me to be honest and confide in you...Lucas, I've had feelings for you for years. You don't think I invited you on vacation, just because I was bored and wanted company?" she asked. Her voice held a tinge of surprise. Lucas' mouth was moving but no words were coming out. She searched his face for some sort of recognition. Finally he managed to force sound out.
"I didn't know. Why didn't you tell me?" he whispered. Why hadn't she? They had know each other for three years before she had disappeared, why never let him know she cared about him?
"I was afraid to. I was afraid to let myself admit it. I loved my parents, they died. It seemed to follow at the time, if I admitted to loving you I'd lose you too. At least as friends I'd still have you in my life." she confessed. Lucas held on to her, keeping her from sinking with one arm, he ran his free hand through his sodden hair and tried to think of what to say.
"I don't know what to say. Love?" he blathered. Alex's face fell.
"I'm sorry I shouldn't have said anything," she choked, disentangling her hand from his hair. Lucas stopped her, keeping it there and shook his head vigorously.
"No, no that's not it. I just didn't. I just...Oh God," he couldn't come up with words to express himself so he did the only thing he could think of, he pulled her close and kissed her again, fiercely. When he pulled back, he searched her eyes a moment.
"Is that answer enough?" he asked. She smiled at him nodding, and they both broke into laughter. They simply enjoyed each others company for a while in silence, one's lips finding the others when the moment was right. Finally they abandoned the pool and sat on the deck .
Lucas had his back braced against a bulkhead, his arms wrapped around Alex as she leaned against his chest. It was like that one moment had broken barriers nothing else could have. They had been talking for a few hours about the past, about what had happened, her fear of Sanborn and the horrors she had seen while she was in the coma. It had opened a flood gate and years of dammed waters were pouring through it. When Lucas thought they couldn't possibly talk anymore Alex dropped another bomb on him. She tilted her head back and looked up at him.
"Lucas... I know where Sanborn is."