A/N: Thanks goes to a few people on this chapter:

- Vici for her help and input on O'Neill's cameo.
- Giry for her help with Noyce's cameo.
- Beta goddess Darkin for her help with the chapter's end and teaching me about perspective changes. :)
- And last but certainly not least, beta goddess Cam for her extensive help with many elements of dialogue.

Chapter 5 ~ That Certain Fury

Bering Sea

It was quiet on the bridge of the seaQuest. Jonathan paced a slow circle past each station, occasionally glancing over a crewmember's shoulder. They had been making good time since they'd left Anchorage in the wee hours of the morning; they were nearly past the Aleutians. Pausing in front of the navigation table, he noticed that they were also about two hours from the Russian Confederation's border.

Hearing the com link chirp behind him, he returned to his chair and keyed the audio link on. "Bridge, this is Ford."

"Commander, Doctor Levin here. Is Doctor Westphalen up there, by any chance?"

Surprised by the question and the urgency in Levin's tone, it took the first officer a moment to respond. "No, Mr. Levin. At least I haven't seen her." Jonathan raised his voice so the whole bridge crew could hear him. "Anyone seen Doctor Westphalen this morning?" Quizzical looks and a chorus of negatives was the answer. "Check her quarters, Mr. Levin, and keep asking around."

While he waited to hear back from Levin, Jonathan pulled up the security logs from the day before. He noticed that it showed Kristin having checked back onboard at 1709 hours. Curious, he ran a quick diagnostic on the log file to ensure it had not somehow glitched or been tampered with. When the diagnostic came back clean, he took a closer look at it, noticing that Lieutenant Phillips had checked in before her, with Charli Barrett and Ensign Williams having been right behind her. That meant at least one of them had to have seen her...

The chirp of the audio link distracted him and he tapped it on again without even looking at it. "Bridge."

"Commander, may I speak with you, please?"

"Certainly, Doctor. Meet me in the ward room." Jonathan glanced behind him to Katie. "You have the bridge." Katie nodded in response and stepped down from her station.

A few minutes later, Jonathan met Joshua Levin outside the Mag-Lev on deck B. The look on the young doctor's face gave him his answer, but he gestured for him to step into the ward room.

"Every corner of the labs, medbay and sea deck has been checked. And she wasn't in her quarters, Commander. It looks like her bed hasn't been slept in either."

"Then it's time we tell the captain." Jonathan stepped back out into the corridor, Joshua following, and tapped on the door of the captain's quarters. When they were told to enter, they found Nathan perusing a stack of paperwork. He looked up and nodded in greeting.

"Commander, Doctor Levin. What can I do for you?"

"Sir, Doctor Westphalen seems to be..." Joshua hesitated. "...missing."

Nathan took off his glasses and stared at the younger man in disbelief. "What do you mean 'missing'?"

Joshua repeated to the captain everything he had told the first officer, ending with, "I've kept it as quiet as I can, sir, but I'm not the only one who's noticed that she didn't show up this morning."

"We couldn't have left port this morning without all crew accounted for. How could this be possible?"

Jonathan shook his head. "And that's the odd thing, sir. I double-checked the logs and the computer shows that she checked back in at 1709 yesterday evening."

"When was the last time you saw her, Mr. Levin?"

"Yesterday morning. We bumped into each other in the launch bay on my way out to take shore leave. That was about 0930."

Nathan tapped his audio link on. "Chief Crocker, please report to my quarters."

"On my way."

While waiting for Crocker's arrival, Nathan got out his PAL and keyed in Kristin's code. Silence was the only answer and he frowned. It wasn't like her not to answer her PAL, much less not show up for her shift at all.

Crocker's entrance disrupted his train of thought. "What did you need, Cap?"

Nathan closed his PAL with a sigh. "We have a situation, Chief. Doctor Westphalen is apparently missing. The log shows she came back onboard, yet she hasn't been seen since yesterday morning."

"Checked her quarters?" At the nods he received, he added, "Anything out of place in them?"

"Not that I could tell," Joshua replied. "But I've only been to her quarters once before, so I couldn't say for sure."

"Hmm, I could disguise the search as a surprise inspection. That way, it gets done without letting the entire crew know what's really going on. We'll also make sure that the doc is the only one we can't account for." The security chief looked to Ford. "What time's the log say she got back on the boat?"

"1709 yesterday. Phillips checked in about five minutes before her. And after her, it was Barrett at 1711 and Williams right behind her."

"Talk to all of them. Also talk to any others who saw her leave that morning besides you, Doctor," Nathan added. "We have to establish a timeline."

"You got it, Cap." Crocker left first, followed by Joshua.

"Sir, do you want me to order helm to turn around and take us back to Anchorage?"

Nathan shook his head. "Not yet, Commander. Better to keep this quiet for now." Where could she be?

"Attention, all hands, we are running a surprise inspection. Please remain where you are until further notice. Thank you."

Lucas looked up from his monitor at the sound of Ford's announcement. "What the heck?" he mumbled.

"What's going on, Lucas?"

Lucas turned back to face the monitor with a shrug. "Some sort of inspection. And since they said stay where you are until further notice, I guess that means you're stuck with me," he finished with a grin.

On the other end of the vid link, Shannon Noyce laughed. "I could think of worse places to be."

Down on sea deck, the science team looked up in curious surprise at the announcement as well. A few minutes later, a four-man team from security led by Chief Shan stepped in.

"Everyone can remain at their workstations," Shan announced. "We only need you to have your ID cards ready, please." He gestured to Ensign Crenshaw, who was holding a portable ID scanner.

Tapping in her passcode to save her work, Charli took her ID card out of her workstation drawer. She watched the security officer circle the room with wary eyes. A pat on the arm distracted her and she realized that Alisha Williams was by her side.

"It can be a little unnerving the first time, I know," Alisha said, pushing her glasses up with the back of her hand. "But it's nothing to worry about unless you hear a call for battle stations. The military half of the crew has to do these exercises now and then."

"But maybe there's something else going on?" Charli asked, keeping her voice low. "I heard one of the nurses saying Doctor Levin seemed upset. Something about he needs to talk to Doctor Westphalen and can't find her."

"Well, she's around, I'm sure," the dark-haired ensign shrugged. Seeing Crenshaw headed their way, she fished her ID out of her jumpsuit pocket and held it out for him.

Crenshaw ran the scanner wand over Alisha's ID, waited for the confirming chirp, and did the same with Charli's. He glanced between it and a printed page he held in his other hand each time, then nodded to himself. "That's everyone, sir," he said to Shan, who was standing nearby.

Shan flipped open his PAL and punched in a code. "Chief, sea deck is secure."

"Proceed to D deck, then."

"Aye." Shan pocketed his PAL. "Thank you all for cooperating." He led the security team out.

"See? Nothing to worry about." Alisha patted Charli's arm again, then got up from the stool she'd been sitting on. "And now back to the grind. Inventory, yay," she added in a fake cheery voice. "I hope we get to one of your glaciers soon. At least testing water samples could prove to be a little more exciting."

Charli smiled slightly and turned back to her console. "Me, too."

Nathan had tried to return to his paperwork while waiting for the results of the search, but could not find his focus and eventually found himself in the ward room, pacing the length of the room. How could the log show that Kristin had returned from shore leave, yet no one had seen her since the day before? More importantly, why wasn't she answering her PAL?

He was circling his desk for the tenth time when he heard footsteps in the corridor. Abandoning any pretense of patience, he met Crocker's gaze the minute Crocker entered. "Well?"

"We've gone stem to stern, Cap," Crocker replied. "Only one unaccounted for is Doc Westphalen; everyone else is right where they should be."

"How is this possible?" Nathan demanded, more to himself than Crocker. "And if she's not onboard, why does the log say she is?" A quick tap on the door preceded William Shan's entrance.

"After we completed the search, I took the liberty of stopping by the doctor's quarters," the assistant security chief began. "As Doctor Levin stated, her bed appears untouched. The only things I noticed that might be considered out of place were half a cup of tea and an open book on her desk. Her personal console shows her last activity ending at 2245 hours two days ago."

Shan's report only added to Nathan's frustration. Nothing was adding up. "We need to run the logs through another diagnostic. Make sure there are no errors or evidence of tampering. Then interview anyone who checked back in around the time the log has her returning within a ten minute window."

"Captain to the bridge."

Now what? "On my way."

"Lieutenant Phillips is being interviewed now, sir." Shan stepped out the hatch first, since he was closest to it. "I'll be retrieving Ensign Williams and Miss Barrett shortly."

"Thank you, Shan." Shan nodded and headed down the corridor as the two senior officers stepped into the waiting Mag-Lev.

Nathan hurried up the steps to the bridge's main floor. "Status."

"We're receiving an odd transmission, Captain." Tim O'Neill was the first to speak up.

"Origin?"

"Unknown. And that's not the only odd thing about it." The communications officer was busily entering commands on his console and only looked up again when Nathan came to look over his shoulder. "The transmission has a refracted pattern disbursement. Whoever's sending it has a masking program in place that not only disguises the originating source, it's also bouncing it across several different communication networks. Now, the good thing is, the disbursement is occurring within a limited radius, but it's still going to take me some time to pinpoint it."

"Go ahead and put it through, but keep at it."

The main screen lit up briefly with static and then slowly focused. The room that appeared was shadowed, the only source of light seeming to come from the monitor itself as it cast a bluish glow over the face of the brunette staring back at them. Her pale blue eyes flickered quickly over each crewmember before finally settling on Nathan. When their gazes met, hers narrowed slightly before she spoke.

"Captain Bridger. So nice to finally make your acquaintance."

"It would seem you have me at a disadvantage," Nathan replied evenly, schooling his expression to remain calm, even while his sixth sense was ringing alarms in the back of his mind. "And you are?"

"You may call me Len."

He didn't recognize her, yet there was something about her bearing that seemed eerily familiar and sent an unwelcome chill down his spine. "And what is this regarding?"

"I have something of importance that belongs to you. Or should I say...someone."

The words seemed to hang in the air, adding to the tension on the bridge. Apprehension curled in his gut; he knew without a doubt that this woman was behind Kristin's disappearance. "How do I know that what you say is true?"

Len made a gesture over her shoulder to an unseen person. "Show him."

The camera's view went momentarily black and then refocused, revealing an unmoving figure bound to a chair. Even in the dim lighting, there was no mistaking the flash of auburn hair and the familiar curve of her face and, for an instant, Nathan's heart stopped. "What the hell have you done to her?"

"Nothing...yet." The camera's view had returned to Len. A cold smile formed. "She's merely sleeping off a little chloroform."

"Mr. O'Neill..."

"Trace initiating at fifty percent..." Tim was keying in one command after another so fast, his hands were nearly a blur. He ignored the first error message that appeared on his screen, and the second. It was immediately followed by a third error, stating that the back tracing of the signal had failed. Glaring at his monitor, he grumbled under his breath. "Restarting trace-this may take a few minutes."

"Try all you want, Lieutenant O'Neill, but you're just wasting your time. You see, one of my people is a hacker who's just as good...probably better, than you or the Wolenczak brat." Len smirked at the dark looks she received in return. "I'm sure you can connect the dots. And as for what I will require in order for the good doctor to return to you in one piece, I have yet to decide. It's not something that should be decided in haste, after all. I'll be in touch." She gestured over her shoulder again and static enveloped her image for a brief moment before the "transmission terminated" message replaced it.

The bridge crew was left staring in silent disbelief at the now-blank screen. It was a trilling buzz from communications and Tim's frustrated growl that finally broke the silence.

Swearing under his breath, Tim yanked his headset off and rubbed his ear, glaring at the readout on his console. "The second trace fell through. I'm going to have to try a different method. Sorry, Captain."

Nathan didn't even hear the apology; he was still staring at the main screen, the image of Kristin slumped over in that chair burned into his mind. Despite the dimness, he hadn't missed the bruising on her face.

"Cap?"

Nathan blinked and turned to look at Crocker. Seeing the concern in his old friend's eyes was enough to shake him out of his shocked daze, though he still felt numb inside. He glanced in Jonathan's direction. "Get us back to Anchorage." Without waiting for a reply, he turned and left the bridge.

"Helm, reverse course," Jonathan ordered automatically. He turned and watched the captain's retreating back until the closing clam doors blocked his view. The return trip would take almost eighteen hours, plus it was quite unlikely that her captors were even still in the Anchorage area; they would know that seaQuest would return to port the moment they discovered one of their number missing. He could only hope that they would find the doctor sooner rather than later.

Nathan found himself pacing the ward room without even realizing he had returned there. He knew it would take until tomorrow, even at top speed, to reach Anchorage again. And from there, where? Wherever Len was keeping Kristin, it wouldn't be in the city because she would know that would be the first place they'd look. Until O'Neill could crack her hacker's code, there was no way to know in which direction to begin the search.

This is my fault. He didn't know why that thought suddenly came to mind, but he knew deep down it was the truth.

"...wake her up. She's been faking it long enough."

The unfamiliar feminine voice sounded miles away. Kristin struggled to open her eyes, fighting a fatigue she hadn't felt since her university days. As soon as she opened her eyes completely, she quickly closed them again because the blurring of her vision only exacerbated the dull, pounding ache in her temples. She tried to lift a hand to rub her eyes and realized that she couldn't.

A sudden blow made the dull ache bloom into a piercing agony. She bit back a moan and, this time, forced herself to open her eyes and combat the spinning she now recognized as a light dizziness spell. Blinking rapidly eventually brought the room into focus around her. The lighting was dim, but she could make out what looked like a bank of computers against the far wall. Some of the equipment looked almost ancient, which was further puzzling. What was this place? More importantly, where was it?

She tried again to move her hands and, when she couldn't, discovered that she was bound to the chair she sat in. A shudder of fear crept down her spine. She searched her memory in hopes of recalling how she ended up here, but came up blank. The lack of recollection made her fear increase. She had to force herself to take a couple deep breaths and closed her eyes again, willing herself to remain calm. Panicking would only make things worse.

The tap-tap-tick sound of computer keys caught her attention. A man sat in front of the computer setup, but his back was to her and he was busily tapping away at his keyboard. She was about to get his attention and demand an explanation when another person stepped into her line of sight. Looking up, she found herself face to face with the dark-haired man she'd met in Katya's shop and recognizing him brought the memory back with vivid clarity.

"You..." She glared at his smirk. "What happened to the man who was having the heart attack? Have you taken him hostage too, or did you murder him?"

"I assure you, Doctor Westphalen, I'm unharmed." Kristin turned in the direction of the new voice, and found the younger man leaning casually against a nearby wall. "A mere bit of acting on my part to garner your attention and sympathy."

Ignoring him, she turned back to the first man. "Well, what is it you want?" she demanded. "Given your unethical methods thus far, I'm not inclined to believe your reasons are benign."

"Quite a mouthy little bitch, aren't you?" was the sneered response. He advanced on her, leaning in closer. "How about I teach you a little lesson in resp..." His threat was cut off when Kristin kicked him hard in the shin.

The man howled, leaping back and almost falling down. He kept his balance, but was half hunched over, holding the leg that had been kicked. "You're going to regret that!" A laugh cut off his tirade and he whipped around in the direction of it in a hobbled stumble. "What the hell are you laughing at?" he demanded.

"Your own stupidity, Walt." Kristin realized it was the same voice that she had first heard when coming to. Its owner was a brunette woman with her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. Her eyes were a light color and, when her gaze settled on Kristin, reflected pure malice.

A new, stronger fear wrapped Kristin in its hold. Meeting the other woman's stare was like being under the spell of a cobra ready to strike; being the first to look away could be a major mistake. She still had no idea what was going on, but instinctively knew that this woman was the one in charge of the situation she'd found herself in.

The brunette turned back to the man, Walt, with a smirk. "You're the one who didn't tie her feet."

"How was I supposed to know she'd try to break my leg?" Walt growled.

"That's your problem; you don't think. But I suggest you start using your brain a little more often. I will not have my plans screwed up by your incompetence." Ignoring the glower she received in return, she turned back to Kristin. "Now, Doctor, to answer your question...you're here as leverage. Once I have what I require from Captain Bridger, I'll consider letting you return to seaQuest."

"And by 'consider', you mean not at all," Kristin replied skeptically.

The younger woman suddenly smiled; a cold, calculated smile. "You could be a little more gracious. At least you're still breathing."

For now. "I don't suppose you're going to introduce yourself."

"You may call me Len." She turned to Walt, who had straightened up and was glowering at Kristin. "You and Kamik take her below until I decide what to do with her. And keep your hands to yourself, Walt. Maybe next time you'll think."

Walt's grip on her arm was going to leave bruises, she knew. After untying her from the chair, he almost dragged both her and the younger man down the tunnel, pausing only long enough before a closed door to tap in a quick code on the access panel. The door slid silently open, revealing that the tunnel continued on a downward slope. It was much dimmer here than above, and Kristin could feel the damp chill in the air the moment they crossed the threshold. It felt like being on sea deck, except for the temperature. Catching a momentary glimpse of what appeared to be a layout map on the wall confirmed her suspicion that, wherever this place was, this part of the structure was quite likely built underwater.

After several steps, the corridor leveled off and, up ahead, branched off in three different directions. It was hard to see much of anything due to the low light levels; and trying to concentrate on any details only made her head ache more fiercely. They paused again and she heard a metallic creaking sound before they pushed her through another doorway. It took her a moment to realize that they had finally released their hold on her.

The door slammed shut behind her and she winced at the echoing throb in her skull. Closing her eyes helped, since it also shut out the light. Having her hands free helped even more and, reopening her eyes, she shielded them for a few minutes until they adjusted to the light levels. A look around the room made her recognize it for what it was: an old-fashioned isolation chamber, usually used for experiments requiring strict containment. Except for the cot against the far wall, it was completely empty, no doubt having been stripped before the facility was abandoned.

The floor shook beneath her and she gasped, startled, but the mild tremor was over as quickly as it had begun. Breathing a faint sigh of relief, Kristin gave herself a quick once-over. Nothing felt broken, though she suspected bruises were developing in a few different places. And, of course, there was the lingering headache. That was likely to disappear completely if she could manage to get any sleep. Crossing over to the cot, she settled down onto it and shivered. This end of the room felt colder and she contemplated getting up and moving the cot, but fatigue was beginning to settle in. At least she had dressed warmly when she'd left for shore leave; it would help keep the possibility of hypothermia at bay for the time being.

Laying down, she curled one arm under her head for support and closed her eyes with a sigh. Nathan and the crew had surely noticed her absence by now. She could only hope it wouldn't take them long to find her.

"And she didn't tell you what she wanted?" On the other end of the vid link, Bill Noyce was watching Nathan pace the ward room and trying to absorb the shocking news.

"She said she 'had yet to decide'. Whatever that means." Nathan raked a hand through his hair. "What it likely means is she's going to kill Kristin whether or not she gets what she wants."

"Nathan, you know as well as I do that the UEO doesn't deal in hostage situations..."

"Oh, don't give me that line! I'm not going to just sit here, Bill; we have to find her!"

"Do you know where to start looking?"

"Besides Anchorage, no. Lieutenant O'Neill is still working on narrowing down the origin of the transmission," Nathan sighed. "He's been trying to crack their masking code for the past four hours with no luck. Every time he gets close, the trace terminates."

"So she could be anywhere in Alaska," the secretary general pointed out.

"At least. O'Neill has determined that, despite the masking code, the disbursement is occurring within a limited radius. The problem, of course, is narrowing it down to an exact location." Nathan rubbed his forehead, mentally cursing the headache that was beginning to manifest itself. "Once we get back to Anchorage, we'll begin the search there. But I'm concerned about word getting out...I'd prefer to keep this quiet for as long as possible."

"Me, too. God forbid the press get wind of this." Noyce rolled his eyes at the thought.

"The other problem is most of my crew doesn't know the Anchorage area that well..."

"I have the feeling I know what you're going to ask, and unfortunately, the answer is no."

"You know I wouldn't make such a request if it wasn't an emergency. I could use assistance from the NCIS contingent at Elmendorf-Richardson, but I have the feeling Captain Tillman would turn me down."

"You know he would, because he would have to," Noyce pointed out.

Nathan pushed down his frustration and forced himself to count to five before responding. "You realize I'm working against the clock here. It's already been almost twenty-four hours; hell, it's probably past twenty-four hours by now."

"Look, Nathan. I understand where you're coming from. And I know Doctor Westphalen is important to you and your crew, but I cannot authorize the use of extra personnel to look for one person."

"Bill, I'm not asking for more personnel in the long-term. I'm only requesting their help for canvassing the city. Anything beyond that will be handled by Chief Crocker's people."

Noyce was silent for a long moment before he sighed. "All right, I'll speak to Tillman. But, if he agrees, you better make damn sure you adhere to that limitation."

"I will. And thank you, Bill."

"You're welcome, Nathan. I hope you find her."

They shared a look of understanding before Noyce ended the transmission. Nathan stared at the now-blank screen for a long moment before the quick footsteps approaching just outside the door and the loud double rap that followed reminded him that the hardest part was yet to come. "Come in."

The hatch swung inward and Lucas bounded through. "Hey, Captain. What did you need to talk to me about?" he asked, pushing the door shut again with a foot and flipping the catch without looking.

Nathan sighed inwardly. He was not looking forward to this conversation. "Have a seat, Lucas." He ignored the creaking protest of the chair as the teenager flopped into it and crossed one leg over the other. His mind was in too deep of turmoil. How was he to explain this? Kristin had become almost a mother figure to Lucas in his time onboard seaQuest; this could potentially devastate him, especially if they somehow failed to rescue her...

No. Nathan shut that train of thought down before it could gather speed. He could not allow himself to think of failure on that scale, or even entertain the thought of losing Kristin.

"Captain, whatever it is, you can tell me." When Nathan didn't respond, Lucas prompted, "I can see it in your eyes."

"I suppose it would be easier to explain if you saw for yourself." There was no going back now. He tapped the key to bring up the replay on the vid link and braced himself for Lucas' reaction.

Nathan watched Lucas' expression as he stared at the replay intently, a puzzled look on his face. His eyes widened when he realized exactly what the dark-haired woman was implying. When the image cut to Kristin's bruised, unconscious form, he went pale. The replay ended a moment later and the screen returned to the UEO trident, but Lucas continued to stare at it in blank shock for several moments.

"We...we have to get her out of there..." He finally turned to Nathan, eyes filled with a mix of fear and desperation.

"We will, Lucas." Nathan hoped he sounded as confident as he thought he did. "That is the other reason I called you here, to ask if you can help O'Neill break the hacker's codes. I don't know what this Len will say or show us when she contacts us again, so if at any point, you feel it would be too difficult to concentrate, I understand."

Lucas shook his head adamantly. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, Captain, but I can handle it."

"All right. But if you change your mind, you let me know."

"I will." Lucas met Nathan's gaze again. "What if...what if we can't find her in time?"

Nathan put an arm around Lucas and, when the boy leaned in, finally wrapped him in a hug. "We will find her, Lucas. I promise."