Chapter One: The Destruction

Explosions and thermal blasts tossed the seaQuest like a toy as the four men raced towards the launch bay. The temperature of the air inside the boat had started to rise and they knew they were sitting on a nuclear powder keg. Bridger and Ford had armed the boat's nuclear warheads just before they aimed it to dive into the river of lava created by the disintegration of the World Power Project. Crocker had managed to save Dr. Wolenczak and the other two project members still alive but now it was a race to save their own lives before the boat blew itself, and hopefully the river of lava, to kingdom come.

The other two scientists and Crocker had followed the crew of the seaQuest to the surface in an earlier shuttle but Wolenczak had stayed behind to help devise a way to seal the molten stream on the seabed floor. Now, their plan being set into motion, they were running through passageways even as the sea began to intrude inside the boat as the frame groaned and creaked from the severe heat outside. Arriving at the launch bay they scrambled down the access ladder. Ford, in the lead, punched the button to open the hatch of the last shuttle remaining on board and he and Chief Shan ran through the opening closely followed by Dr. Wolenczak and Bridger. Just as they cleared the hatch an alarm indicating a loss of the auto-pilot sounded.

Knowing the importance of getting the seaQuest to dive into the molten stream so that her nuclear warheads could seal the rift, Bridger turned back to take over control of the doomed boat. "We've lost the auto pilot."

Wolenczak grabbed his arm, turning him back into the shuttle. "No, wait! There's nothing more you can do."

Bridger pointed a finger at Wolenczak. "Tell Lucas he's the best," he said as he pulled his arm loose and headed back into the launch bay. Bridger punched the button to secure the shuttle's hatch and ran for the bridge.

Bridger hurried onto the bridge and struggled to get to the helm position. The rolling and bucking of the deck made it difficult to even keep his feet beneath him much less direct his path to the contoured helm seats. He finally managed to grab onto the main seat and pull himself into the control position. The lava below was heating the water causing waves of superheated water to push the seaQuest up out of position. Bridger knew the term 'fight with the controls' but now he really experienced it. The helm control on the seaQuest resisted his every effort. Where normally the helmsman had to use surprisingly little force to steer a boat as big as the seaQuest now the boat fought against him in every adjustment he tried to make. It took all of his strength to control the yoke and pedals to bring the seaQuest back to near its original glidepath. God, he hoped that Ford had managed to get the shuttle out of here before they got too close to the liquefied fire below.

As Bridger struggled with the helm controls he saw with surprise that the display for the autopilot first indicated 'correcting' and then 'engaged' as the autopilot came back on line. Bridger was up and out of the chair even before the computer completed its announcement and was fighting his way back to the launch bay.

All the shuttles were gone so he was going to have to see if he could make it to the Stinger. Bridger couldn't believe the heat as he ran through the passageways. The motion of the boat caused him to bounce off one wall and then another. If he survived this he was going to have a fine set of bruises. The air had gotten hot enough that it hurt to breathe. With each breath he took, Bridger could feel his lungs being seared by the hot air... and the boat was leaking like a sieve. It wasn't bad enough that the deck kept heaving first one way and then another but it was also wet. The non-skid deck could only handle a certain amount of water and the footing was hazardous indeed.

Cascades of hot water covered Bridger as he ran. The outer skin of the boat had to be destroyed by now. He'd be lucky if he managed to get the Stinger out of the boat before the boat itself was fried... and even if he did get the Stinger away, there was no guarantee that the Stinger wouldn't be burnt to a crisp as soon as it left the seaQuest.

After what seemed like an eternity of running through passageways, Bridger finally reached the launch bay again. He headed for the Stinger thanking God that they'd set it up for a one-man emergency eject. Struggling into the seat of the Stinger Bridger took the time to secure the restraints. This ride was going to be a rough one. He pressed the button to drop and seal the top of the cockpit. Normally the seal would be checked by someone on the outside before the Stinger was pushed into it's eject tube and propelled out of the boat but for this ride Bridger was just going to have to hope that Katie and Lucas had done their jobs well in designing the sleek craft. Bridger prayed as he reached for the eject button. He prayed that he was still above the actual lava river so that he had a chance to escape. If he ejected into the lava river he'd fry in seconds flat. Nathan realized suddenly that he really didn't want to die. As the Stinger was being pushed into the eject tube by the hydraulic ram he thought about his crew. He knew that they were waiting topside on the island they'd evacuated to just east of the power plant. Hopefully, Ford had gotten Shan and Wolenczak there too. Lucas should be up there and he really needed to have his father with him right now.

And Kristin was there. Nathan suddenly regretted the things that he never got around to saying to her. He suddenly regretted that circumstances had conspired to keep them from moving their relationship forward and... he suddenly realized that he was in love with her. He thought about the feel of her body in his hands and the touch of her lips on his and momentarily his heart cried out at the thought that they'd never get the chance to explore what might have happened between them.

Time seemed to be slowing down...  he could see the walls of the Stinger's tube beginning to change color as the metal heated up and knew he had to get out now. Bridger punched the eject button and the tube flooded with boiling hot water. He saw the hatch at the end of the tube open and beyond it saw the orange glow of lava. The water slug that propelled the Stinger out of the tube pressed Bridger back into his seat. The Stinger blasted from the side of what was left of the seaQuest. As he was ejected Bridger realized that the orange glow was a reflection of the lava which was just below him but he could see through the cockpit that the Stinger itself was glowing from the high temperature of the water that it was moving through. He pressed the throttle to the maximum setting and pulled back on the yoke to get away from the danger of that molten rock. The Stinger was buffeted back and forth as it sped through the superheated water away from the doomed boat. At one point it rolled over in a complete 360 degree spin before Bridger was able to control it again. He had thought that the air inside the boat was hot but traveling through this boiling water was heating the air inside the Stinger up so high that it was hard to even breathe. Bridger fought to control the Stinger and keep it heading away from the explosion that he expected to come from behind.

Chapter Two: Salvation

Fate was working in Bridger's favor as his path took him east towards the small island where his crew stared out across the water watching the smoke and explosions coming from the sea bottom. Just as he thought he might be out of the woods, Bridger felt a heavy rumble as the warheads of the seaQuest started to detonate. Wave after wave of turbulence struck the Stinger from behind and Bridger focused all his energy into keeping the Stinger moving away from the explosions as fast as he could.  Speeding through the water, the Stinger moved faster than Bridger ever thought it could. It was almost like the vessel itself knew the importance of rushing away from the danger that reached out to grab it.

Bridger knew that he was almost at the end of his strength. He could feel every muscle in his shoulders, arms and legs cramping up as he fought to keep the Stinger running from the blasts. The air inside had cooled some but it was still hot. A quick glance at his compass showed that he was heading east but Bridger wasn't sure if he could trust the instrument. He brought the nose of the Stinger up some to try to head for the surface. The electronics within the Stinger were showing the strain. First one system and then another blew out or fried from the beating the Stinger was taking. Nathan suddenly realized that the air supply system had failed. If he didn't make it to the surface soon he'd suffocate. Drawing on the last reserves he had, Nathan pulled back and headed for the light above that he knew was the surface. The Stinger raced upwards through the water and just as Nathan felt his strength give out, the battered, burnt craft slid onto the beach. He fell forward and, with his last effort, pressed the button to raise the cockpit cover.

Nathan found himself completely unable to move. His eyes closed, he gasped in the cool beach air. He could hear a thump in the sand as someone ran up next to the Stinger but he didn't register who it was. Then he heard Kristin. She was there, calling his name and her arms went around his shoulder and his waist. He felt his head fall back against her soft arm as he was overcome with relief.

"And now... for my next trick," he joked and laughed as Kristin pulled him close and kissed his forehead. The realization that he'd survived gave him strength and he leaned his head into the place between her shoulder and chin. Then the rest of the crew was suddenly gathered around the burnt Stinger. Bridger could feel Ford's hand grasp his left shoulder but he only had the strength to nod.

"Everyone alright?" Bridger gasped.

"Everyone's fine, sir," Ford responded, relief evident in his voice. His hands reached down and released the restraints that secured Nathan in the Stinger.

"We need to get him out of the surf area," Kristin said.

Bridger tried to stand but found that he couldn't even raise his arms. Still gasping for air he was only able to shake his head and whisper, "I can't." Nathan felt strong arms pull him up and was vaguely aware of two people helping him up the beach to a place under a palm tree where a blanket had been spread out. As he was gently laid down on the blanket Bridger opened his eyes to see Crocker smiling down at him.

"Quite a little carnival ride, wasn't it Cap?"

Nathan swallowed hard. "Oh yeah... could sell tickets to that one."

Kristin came up and kneeled next to him. She was all business. "If you two are done with your heartfelt reunion, I need to check him out."

Crocker smiled and put his hand on Kristin's shoulder. "No problem, Doc. Take care of this guy... he looks like hell."

"Thanks so much," was the weak reply from the blanket.

Kristin turned towards Nathan and shut out all the others around her. "How do you feel?"

"Wiped... tired," was the weak reply as Nathan closed his eyes.

"Don't go sleep on me yet, Bridger," Kristin said forcibly. "Does it hurt anywhere?"

Nathan appeared to consider this for a while. "Kinda hurts to breathe... The air was really hot down there."

Kristin smoothed his hair off of his forehead. Nathan was amazed by the coolness of her touch. "Anything else?"

"Shoulders some... I bounced off the walls."

Kristin nodded. She looked up at Crocker who had only backed off a little and hadn't left the area. "Chief, could you give me a hand here?"

Crocker helped Kristin raise Nathan up so that she could remove his khaki shirt to check for any injuries on his arms or chest. She checked Nathan's throat and noticed that while there was no blistering, his throat showed evidence of burns that were probably causing some swelling. That would account for the difficulty breathing. Kristin also noted that it must have been hot indeed down there. Besides the bruises on Bridger's arms and shoulders his upper torso had several red places where the hot water leaking into the boat had inflicted mild burns. A quick survey didn't show any other injuries. Kristin looked up from her assessment to find Joshua Levin standing in front of her with an oxygen bottle.

"Thought it looked like he was going to need this," Joshua said putting the tank down and setting up an on-demand mask. Kristin nodded and Joshua went to put the mask on Bridger's face. He was lying with his eyes closed and jerked away as Joshua touched his head. "Easy, Captain. Just a little O2 to help you breathe easier." Bridger opened his eyes and nodded, allowing Levin to put on the mask.

Just as Levin put the mask over Bridger's mouth and nose Bridger looked up at Kristin and said, "Jonathan."

Kristin was firm. "No... you need to rest."

Despite his weakness Bridger got a resolute look in his eyes. He brought his hand up to pull the mask away from his face. "After I talk to Jonathan," he said firmly.

Kristin knew she wouldn't win this argument and signaled for Jonathan to come over to the blanket. She looked down at Nathan.  "Only for a few moments... and I mean it," she said resolutely. Bridger only nodded and let the mask fall back onto his face.

Ford kneeled next to where his commanding officer was lying.  "Yes, sir?"

"Report," was Bridger's quiet and simple request.

Ford nodded and paused a moment to gather his thoughts. "The whole crew is on this island along with Doctor Wolenczak and what's left of his team. You're the only injury we have... oh and we got Darwin into the water before we came up here and we've seen him swimming out there." Ford let his eyes quickly glance over the island. "We've got enough provisions for about 5 days. Food and water. We haven't seen any other ships or aircraft around yet. They're probably holding off due to the seismic activity."

Bridger nodded wearily. "Radios?"

Ford shook his head. "Negative, sir. Electronics all fried."

Bridger nodded again. "We wait."

"Nothing much else we can do, sir," said Ford placing his hand on Nathan's shoulder. "Why don't you try to get some sleep?" Bridger nodded and closed his eyes. His breathing evened out and his face cleared as he fell asleep almost instantly. Jonathan covered him with another blanket and then stood and turned to the two doctors. "How is he?"

Kristin turned her gaze to Nathan's sleeping form. "It looks like he breathed in some super-heated air and probably has mild burns to his lungs." She looked up at Jonathan. "The biggest worry there is infection setting in." Ford nodded and she turned her eyes to watch Nathan. "Besides that, he's got some mild burns on his head, back, shoulders and chest, he's banged up a bit and it looks like he's suffering at least a mild case of shock." She looked back up at Ford, "Altogether, I'd say his luck is holding out so far."

Ford looked out to where explosions were still spewing from the ocean and grimaced. "Let's hope that some of his luck rubs off."

Chapter Three: Ride to the Promised Land

Jonathan assigned different department heads to take charge of getting the seaQuest crew bedded down for the night. Just before sunset a helicopter could be seen circling the area of the ocean blasts. As it left the area it swooped low over the island where the seaQuest crew were marooned and headed off.

Kristin bedded down next to Nathan so that she could check on him throughout the night. While his sleep was mostly peaceful, he awoke twice during the night. Once to ask weakly for a drink of water, which Kristin supplied and even got him to drink down a protein drink and then once he woke anxiously, not knowing where he was. Kristin spoke softly to him, stroking his face and comforting him and he fell asleep again with his head leaning against her shoulder.

Morning dawned clear and still. The rumbling from below the ocean had subsided and the occasional high waves caused by underwater explosions stopped. Shortly after dawn the crew of the seaQuest was awakened by planes and helicopters circling the area of the ill-fated power project. One smaller helicopter broke off and headed for the island. The swirling prop blades blew up a large cloud of sand as the helicopter landed just up from the beach. A helmeted woman in a lieutenant's uniform climbed down from the co-pilot's seat and crouching, made her way to where Ford was standing.

Taking off her helmet the woman smiled at Ford, "Good morning, Commander. I'm supposed to apologize first for the helo from last night. He was at the tail end of his fuel and couldn't land to check up on you. Also, I'm supposed to tell you that we've got ships on the way to evacuate you and your crew but it'll be at least a day until they get here."

Ford nodded. "That's okay, we've got enough provisions for a few days so we'll be alright."

The helo pilot squinted in the bright sunshine. "Sir, I'm also supposed to ask where Captain Bridger is."

Ford pointed over to the palm tree where Bridger lay. "He was our only injury. Some burns, bruises and a case of shock."

"We thought you might have at least one person to evacuate. We're prepared to take him out to the hospital."

Ford nodded again. "Do you mind if our doctor comes with him?"

The lieutenant grimaced. "Actually, sir, that would put us over our weight limit." She pointed back to her helicopter. "My crewman is a fully trained paramedic and should be able to keep an eye on the Captain until we get to the hospital."

Jonathan looked over at the helicopter and then without looking at the lieutenant again said, "Alright. Let me just go let him know." He turned and went up to where Bridger was lying. Ford knelt next to the Captain. "Sir, the helo is going to take you off the island to a hospital."

"No," came Bridger's reply from under the oxygen mask.

Jonathan looked down at his Captain, noting that he was still having some difficulty breathing and taking in the paleness of his normally tan skin. "Yes," he said firmly. Cutting off Bridger's retort he continued. "You're still having trouble breathing and if you get an infection from the burns in your lungs there's nothing we can do for you here." He stopped a moment and smiled. "Besides, you're not going to be much of a help to us here right now... heck, you can't even play right field."

Even Bridger had to admit to the logic of his arguments.  "Alright," he nodded.

Kristin squatted on Nathan's other side. "I'm going with him, right?"

Ford took a deep breath. "No. Their crewman is a paramedic and can keep an eye on the Captain until they get to the hospital. They said carrying you too would put them over their weight."

Kristin looked prepared to argue until Nathan chuckled under the mask. "They come prepared, don't they?" Ford made a face and nodded. "Don't argue with them, Kristin. I'll be alright until we get to the hospital. You're needed here."

Kristin also knelt next to him and put her hand down to squeeze his shoulder. "No, I'm not," she said quietly.

Nathan brought his hand up to cover hers. "Stay anyway. It'll be alright... honest." Kristin bit her lip and nodded.

Ford looked back towards the helo. "They're bringing the stretcher now, sir."

"I can manage," said Bridger as he started to sit up. He made it almost half-way up before he stopped. Hastily, Kristin and Ford put their hands behind his back and helped to lower him gently back down. Bridger was breathing heavily. "Alright, maybe I can't quite manage."

Jonathan patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, sir." He looked up as two helo crewmen appeared next to him with a foldable stretcher.

Between Crocker, Ford and the crewmen they got Bridger secured to the stretcher. As he was lifted for the short walk to the helo, Nathan looked up at Kristin. He winked at her. "See you in Pearl." Kristin just nodded and squeezed his shoulder. The helo took off in another cloud of sand and headed out to sea. Crocker, Ford and Westphalen watched it until it was out of sight.

Crocker was standing with his hands folded across his chest. Still watching after the helo, "You know why they wanted to take him off, don't you, Commander?"

Ford turned back towards the island and patted Crocker on the shoulder. "I know, Chief."

"Would you mind filling me in?" asked Kristin.

Crocker still watched the sea. "Court of Inquiry."

"What?"

Ford answered, "Court of Inquiry. The Captain will have to face a Court of Inquiry for losing the seaQuest."

Crocker interjected, "So they separate him from his crew to insure that there's no collusion on stories before the Court can sit."

Kristin was appalled. "Are you serious?"

"Yup," answered Ford. He looked over at the doctor, "I never said it made sense."

"Damned Navy," said Kristin as she turned away from them and walked back to where the rest of the crew stood.

Ford stared at the radio given to him by the lieutenant and gathered his thoughts before calling in.

True to their word a ship showed up off the west side of the island about 18 hours later. Ford and the seaQuest crew got a real taste of the usefulness of a landing ship as the crew was taken off via helos and landing craft. Ford was the last one to leave the small island that had been their salvation from the blasts and he looked around once before climbing aboard the helo. This small, inconspicuous bump of sand that had been their port in this very violent storm.

Chapter Four: It's No Place Like Home

Bridger opened his eyes as Bill Noyce entered his room at the Pearl Harbor Hospital. The last day or so was only a blur. From the small island he'd been airlifted to a hospital near Sydney. After spending a night there he was taken again by stretcher to a plane and flown to Pearl and dumped in the hospital here. Nathan didn't like hospitals to begin with and no one had been doing much of a job of answering any questions. He was beginning to get pretty irritated. If he'd had the strength, he would have been out of here in a flash but he'd only just graduated to going to the head on his own.

"Please tell me that you're going to talk to me, Bill."

A knowing smile split Noyce's face. "How about if I ask how you're feeling first?"

Nathan sighed. "Tired... and a bit banged up but I'd be a lot better if someone would tell me how my crew is."

"Relax, Nathan. They got picked up today by the Tarawa and should be in Sydney tonight. Everyone's just fine."

"Thanks... no one seems to want to tell me anything. It gets a bit frustrating. I can't find out how my crew is, what happened with the World Power Project, or what's going on in the world... They've even turned off the vid-link here. Kinda makes me feel like a pariah."

Noyce pulled a chair over to sit next to the bed. He looked over at his friend and noted the paleness of his skin and the exhausted look on his face. "Well, the world is doing surprisingly well. Raleigh Young's team is out in the area of the Power Project right now trying to determine what happened and whether you managed to get the lava river completely sealed off."  He shifted in the uncomfortable, straight-backed chair. "I can tell you that the temperature of the water in that area has almost returned to normal. The whole seabed there is a mess but it looks like the damage was pretty localized." He stopped with a thoughtful look on his face. "The seaQuest must have been quite a way into the lava before her warheads cooked off... the radiation level down there doesn't appear to be very elevated." He shook his head. "I don't know... maybe the lava sealed any contamination in. It's almost too much to hope for."

Bridger had been watching Noyce intently as he worked through his soliloquy. He leaned his head back on the pillows. "And how about the rest of the world?" he asked quietly.

"Well, the rest of the world is handling it. We were able to get the power on line almost everywhere. We've still got some remote places with problems but as a general rule... the old systems came up pretty well." Noyce paused for a moment and grinned a little ruefully. "I can't say that it's an exercise I care to repeat anytime soon though."

Nathan chuckled quietly. "I think I can say the same thing for my last couple of days." His face turned serious. "What happens to my crew now?"

Noyce smiled and patted him on the arm. "Nathan, I can always depend on you to be watching after your crew." Nathan just looked back at him waiting for the answer. "After Sydney most of them will be flown back here. The military most certainly but I don't know that we'll require that all the science team come back here if they'd like to go home from Sydney." He looked down at the floor. "They'll need to give statements, of course, and there'll be an investigation." The room door opening cut short any other comments Noyce might make.

Nathan got a little smile on his face as Admiral John Shannon, the Commanding Officer of the Pearl Harbor base walked in. Noyce stood and shook hands with Shannon as he came over to Nathan's bed. "Well, you don't look too bad, Nathan... I'm surprised you've agreed to stay."

"Trust me, John. If I had my way I'd be outta here." He grimaced. "Unfortunately, I don't have much to say about it."

Shannon patted Nathan on the shoulder and turned a concerned look his way. "Best that you take it easy for a while anyway. I talked to the doctors and it looks like they'll cut you loose tomorrow morning unless you do something to irritate them."

"Oh, in that case I'll be a good boy."

Shannon smiled and then got a very serious and embarrassed look on his face. "Nathan, I don't like doing this but I've got a few formalities that have to be handled here."

Nathan nodded... he knew what was coming.

Shannon took a deep breath and glanced over at Noyce before looking again at Nathan. "I'm afraid that I've got to relieve you of command, Nathan, pending a court of inquiry."

Nathan just nodded again. "Considering that my command is molten mass on the bottom of the ocean, I don't know that it makes much of a difference. But I understand."

"You're also required to report to UEO Headquarters immediately upon being released from this facility to begin the investigation into the sinking."

"Okay, John... I'll be there... it's not like I have a lot of places that I can go to now."

Shannon looked down at the floor and shrugged. "I know... I just hate having to do this to you. I imagine that losing your boat has been pretty upsetting."

"Well... there weren't a whole lot of options, John. Nothing that can be changed now."

"Well, I've got to get going. It's not that easy to come by three admirals in one place and that's what's going to be needed for the court of inquiry. I expect that I'll be a member so I'd better not talk to you anymore."

Nathan shook hands with Shannon. "Thanks for coming by, John. It's a little easier getting that kind of stuff from someone you know."

Noyce and Nathan watched Shannon as he left. Noyce turned back to Nathan. "I'll bet that wasn't the easiest thing to do."

Nathan was still watching the closed door with a pensive look on his face. "Nope," he said softly. "Not for either one of us."

Noyce suddenly remembered something. He picked up the gym bag he'd put on the floor when he entered and put it on Nathan's bed.  "Hey, I almost forgot. You left your gym bag with a couple of changes of clothes at our house the last time you stayed. I thought you might be able to use them."

Nathan grinned and gratefully accepted the bag. "Thanks, Bill. That uniform of mine is beginning to look pretty raunchy and I sure don't want to be wearing whatever this place can scrounge up."

This time, a nurse entering the room put a quash on more discussion. She held a tray with a filled syringe on it. Nathan eyed the syringe warily... he knew that they had to stuff him full of antibiotics to ward off any infection from the burns in his lungs but his posterior was getting tired of all the attention it was getting. He supposed he should be grateful they hadn't decided on an IV. The nurse cocked a disapproving eye at Noyce. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave for a bit."

Noyce nodded at the nurse and turned a sympathetic face to Nathan. "I've got to get going anyway. Look, you need anything, let us know. Oh, and Janet said to say 'hi'."

"Thanks, Bill. Tell Janet, 'hi back'."

At 9:30 the next morning Nathan Bridger was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed dressed in a denim shirt and jeans. Thank God Bill had thought to bring these clothes by... he didn't even want to think about what the hospital would have dressed him in. There was a soft knock on the door and a cheerful looking young ensign came in.

"Good morning, sir. Headquarters sent me over to give you a ride." He walked over to Nathan and put out his hand. "Ensign Mark Doubleday."

Nathan shook the offered hand and then indicated the chair next to the bed. "Have a seat, Mr. Doubleday. We've got to wait for the doctors to give me the final once-over."

Just as Ensign Doubleday sat down the door opened again and Nathan's doctor came in with a med-slate in his hands. "Good morning, Captain. I just wanted to make sure that you knew what the rules were for you." Nathan gave him a half-smile. "Try to take it easy... and I know that's going to be next to impossible. I've given you some prescriptions for antibiotics and an inhaler in case you start to develop any problems breathing... be sure you take all the antibiotics." Nathan nodded. "Other than that... try to avoid people with colds and such for the next week and if you have any problems breathing at all get back in here ASAP... understand?"

"I understand."

"Do you know where you're going to be staying yet?"

Nathan got a quizzical look on his face. "Not really."

Ensign Doubleday piped in, "Captain, we've made a reservation for you at the Bachelor Officer's Quarters. We figured it would be close to everything you need right now."

Nathan nodded, "Yeah, the BOQ will work just fine for the moment." He looked up at the doctor. "I guess that's where I'll be staying."

The doctor made a notation on the med-slate. "Got it. I'd like you to come back in a week and check in with sick call."

"Okay."

"And that's about all, Captain." The doctor put his hand out. "Take care of yourself."

Nathan shook the doctor's hand and tendered his thanks. He was especially pleased that the doctor hadn't decided he needed to be wheeled out of the hospital but instead let him leave on his own power.

The ensign had parked the duty vehicle just outside the front entrance to the hospital and he held the door for Nathan as he got in. They pulled out from the hospital and headed across the base to UEO headquarters. Nathan leaned his head back against the headrest.

The ensign looked over at him. "You feeling alright, sir?"

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, just a little tired." He wasn't looking forward to the next several hours. He could guarantee that he was going to be a lot more tired after the interviews.

Chapter Five: Joining of Old Friends

Nathan checked in at the front desk of the headquarters building and was taken to a small office on the fourth floor. There he was met by a very proper Navy Commander who was the first of five people who would interview him that day. Each interviewer took him over the sinking and the events leading up to it and by the time late afternoon arrived Nathan was beginning to feel like a broken record... and he was having serious doubts about the ability of the Navy to purchase a decent chair. He was beginning to feel like this one was attached to his back end.

The first Commander who had interviewed him came back into the room. "It's been kind of a long day for you, sir." Nathan could only nod and voice his agreement. "Well, I think I have someone who'd like to see you." He stuck his head out the door again and motioned for someone in the hallway. The door opened further and Lucas came into the room with a quizzical look on his face before he noticed Nathan and a smile broke out across his face.

Nathan was on his feet in a second and had pulled the boy into a big bear hug. To Nathan's surprise it was returned just as vigorously by Lucas. Nathan pulled back from the boy and ran his hand across the side of Lucas' head. "You alright?"

Lucas nodded and softly answered, "Yeah... I'm okay... how about you?"

Nathan patted the boy's cheek. "I'm okay... better now."

The Commander broke into the reunion. "Captain, if you'd like to come this way I think some more of your crew has been waiting for you."

Bridger and Lucas were led down the corridor to a door just across from the Men's head that Nathan had been allowed to use earlier. The Commander opened the closed door and Nathan motioned Lucas into the room. Sitting around various small tables in this room were many of the seaQuest's senior staff.

Across the island another meeting was in progress. The calmest person in this meeting was Kevin Doran, Vice-President of GeoGroundTech Corporation. His patronizing attitude as he regarded the other two members of the meeting was beginning to irritate them.

The man in the suit expressed his frustration. "This doesn't worry you at all, does it, Doran?"

Doran leaned casually against the back of the restaurant booth.  "Nope."

"They're going to find out." This from the third man in the booth. The older man with a decidedly military air about him.

"Not if you do your part."

That was a surprise. "What do you expect me to do?"

Doran leaned forward, his steely blue eyes drilling through the man. "It seems to me that we've got a built in diversion with Bridger and the seaQuest."

The older man straightened and looked at Doran doubtfully. "What kind of diversion?"

Doran's eyes seemed to drill right through the older man. "We need to divert the attention from the power plant to Bridger's actions. You'll be part of that Court of Inquiry."

"Yeah... so?"

"Make it dramatic. Nail Bridger to the wall."

Chapter Six: Picking up the Pieces

They'd finally been released by the various parties asking multitudes of questions and most of the seaQuest crew had headed for home. Lucas, Kristin and Nathan were standing out on the front steps of the UEO Headquarters building.

Nathan glanced at Lucas who was looking a little unsure of himself. "So what are you doing this evening?"

The boy looked up at him and then down at the ground. "Ummm, well I've got to go over to Security and they'll drive me to where my dad is." He glanced up at Nathan again. "I... I guess I'll just head back there."

"To do what?"

Lucas shrugged. "I don't know... I guess I'll just hang around the house for the night. Dad's been busy in meetings every night so far and I don't expect that tonight will be any different."

Nathan looked over at Kristin who gave him a surreptitious nod.  "Why don't you go to dinner with us tonight?"

Lucas frowned. "I'd just be in the way."

"No... actually, we'd kind of like to have you around... and there's something I think both you and I need to do."

"What's that?"

"We need Kristin to drive us over to the Exchange so we can buy some new clothes." Lucas grinned. "I don't know about you, kiddo, but just about everything I owned went down with the boat and since I don't even have enough skivvies to go around I'm going to be in desperate straights pretty soon if I don't get something to wear."

"Yeah... I kind of have the same problem myself. All the clothes I have at my dad's house are too small for me."

Nathan grinned over at Kristin. "So how about it, lady? You willing to give a couple of tramps a ride over to buy some clothes?"

"Anything for a good cause," she grinned back as she laced her arm through Nathan's. "The thought of you running around the base without your skivvies or anything else on is a little more than what I care to imagine."

When they arrived at the Navy Exchange Lucas got out of the car  with a frown on his face. "Umm... I can't buy anything. I don't have a card."

Bridger glanced over at the boy and smiled a little. "You don't need a card, Lucas. One of the few things I did save was my wallet. We can use my card."

"Might get kind of expensive for you."

"I wouldn't worry about it, Lucas. If it gets too expensive we'll just make Kristin pay for dinner." That earned him a punch in the arm from Kristin.

When they entered the Exchange Nathan suggested that Kristin and Lucas head off to pick out clothes for him while Nathan was busy in the uniform section. They split up and Kristin and Lucas spent the better part of the next forty-five minutes selecting various pieces of clothing. Kristin left Lucas trying on some of the clothes and went to check up on Nathan.

Finding him in the uniform shop she was surprised at the pile of clothes and various uniform parts he had filled his cart with. "I never considered it but you lost all your uniforms, didn't you?"

Nathan sighed. "Everything but that one pair of khakis... and to tell you the truth they're in pretty darned bad shape after the last few days." The clerk came out with several pairs of pants that had been marked for hemming.

"These should be ready in five days, sir."

Nathan grimaced. "Rats, it takes that long, huh?"

"I'm afraid so, sir."

The tailor, who had just come out from the fitting room area, had overhead the conversation. "You're Captain Bridger, aren't you?"

"Yes," Nathan nodded.

The tailor grabbed up a couple of the pants. "Captain, if you come back in 15 minutes I'll have one set of khakis and one set of whites ready for you. For that matter if you leave one of each shirt I'll press them up for you quick."

Nathan took two shirts from the cart and handed them over the counter. "I really appreciate this. I'm afraid I'm little short on uniforms these days."

The tailor just shook her head. "No, Captain. We really appreciate what you did," and she disappeared into the back with his uniforms.

Nathan looked over at Kristin who asked, "Are you planning on getting some real clothes too?"

Nathan started wheeling the cart towards the main part of the store. "Yes, I'll get some real clothes too."

They spent the next 15 minutes selecting some civilian clothes for the Captain. While Nathan leaned towards chino pants and denim shirts, Kristin kept trying to convince him into something a little more exciting. They ended up with six different shirts and four pants that could be mixed and matched although they did tend towards the conservative. Nathan returned to the uniform shop and picked up his now hemmed and pressed uniforms and added them to his cart after again thanking the tailor.

"Where's Lucas?"

Kristin looked over at the section where Lucas had been trying clothes on but saw no sign of him. "I don't know. He had been right over there."

"Alright, he's got to be here somewhere." Nathan indicated the direction of the sporting goods and shoes departments. "I'll look over this way."

Kristin went to check out the various clothing and housewares sections while Nathan walked down the main aisle looking up each row to see if he could find the boy. In a very short time Nathan found Lucas in the sporting goods department staring at a baseball glove he had on his hand. He walked up behind the boy unnoticed.

Nathan reached over Lucas' shoulder for a glove that caught his eye and tried it on his own hand. "Did your glove go down with the seaQuest too?" he asked softly. Lucas looked over at him and nodded. "Mine's on the island. It's been a while since I used it though." Lucas didn't say anything but just kept fingering the glove he had on his hand. "I think we both need new gloves... what do you think?"

Lucas looked up at Bridger again and a smile split his face. "That would be great." He stared at the glove he had chosen again. "I'll have to break it in some... but it's even nicer than the one I had."

Bridger grinned and grabbed a couple of baseballs and two containers of glove oil. "If we're going to do it... we should do it right."

"Yes, sir," Lucas said kneading his glove as they walked out onto the main aisle. Kristin spotted them and looked curiously at the gloves they both had. "We both needed new baseball gloves, Doc... and the Captain said we could get them." He held his black Rawlings glove up to show her. "Neat, isn't it?"

"It's lovely, Lucas." She glanced over at Nathan who was smiling at Lucas' enthusiasm. "Are there any other toys you two need or are you just about ready to get something to eat?"

Lucas grabbed his cart and started pushing for the checkout lane.  "Oh, eat, Doc... we're definitely ready to get something to eat." He looked over at Nathan. "I don't know about you but they gave me this really awful pizza for lunch and I'm starving."

Nathan grinned at him. "Lucas, you're always starving."

When they checked out, their purchases took up ten full bags. Lucas helped carry the bags to Westphalen's car and put most of the merchandise in the trunk but he held onto his baseball glove. Kristin looked across the car at Nathan who was rubbing his eyes.

"Nathan, you look like you're about ready to fade away on us here."

Nathan yawned. "It's been kind of a long day, I'm afraid."

"Where are you staying?"

"I've got a reservation over at the BOQ but I haven't checked in yet."

Kristin looked at him surprised. "You're not going to tell me that they just let you out of the hospital this morning?"

"Yep."

She'd now picked up an offended tone to her voice. "And then they spent the entire day grilling you?"

Nathan turned an impassive face to her. "It didn't matter to me... I didn't have much else to do."

Kristin backed the car out of the space and headed out of the Exchange parking lot. "Well, tell you what. Why don't we just go over to the Officer's Club to eat? That way we won't be taking up a lot of time with the travel."

"Sounds good to me." He leaned back and said to Lucas, "They've got great burgers there if you want to try one."

"Cool." Bridger noticed that the boy was still working on the glove.

When the arrived at the Officer's Club all three of them got out of the car. Lucas glanced longingly at his new glove as he put it on the back seat. Kristin smiled over at him. "You can bring the glove with you if you like, Lucas." The boy grinned and snatched up the glove.

By the time they had finished dinner Bridger was definitely beginning to fall asleep on them. Kristin offered to drop him off first and then take Lucas over to Security. When they pulled up in front of the BOQ Nathan and Lucas got out to sort out the various bags from the trunk. Bridger had four bags, the uniforms and the carrying bag that Noyce had brought him.

"You going to be able to handle those by yourself?" Lucas asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I've got them. Thanks for the thought though. I'll probably see you sometime tomorrow, okay?"

Lucas nodded. "Okay, sir," and went to get into the front seat of the car.

Bridger leaned down in the driver's window. "And I'll probably see you tomorrow too."

"I would think so." She looked over at Bridger's face so close to her own and if on their own, their lips met in a short but passionate kiss. Both of them ignored Lucas' groan.

"Goodnight," said Nathan as he pulled away.

"Goodnight, Nathan," Kristin said as she put the car in gear and pulled away.

Lucas sighed from the other side of the car. "Okay, so I didn't blow it completely for you two."

Kristin smiled over at him. "No, Lucas, you didn't blow it completely." She fixed him with a mock stern look. "You put a bit of a speed bump in our relationship... but you didn't blow it."

"That's good. I think he really likes you."

"Well, I really like him... we'll just have to see what happens." They pulled into the parking lot of the Security  Department and both of them got out while Lucas recovered his bags from the trunk of the car.

Lucas had bags in both hands and his glove was securely tucked under one arm. Kristin looked over at him, concerned. "You'll be okay, right?"

Lucas nodded. "Yeah, I'll be okay, Doc," he said softly. "Thanks for caring."

"My pleasure, Lucas. You know how to get ahold of me if you need me."

Lucas nodded and Kristin watched the boy walk into the Security Department for his ride home.

Chapter Seven: Sorting out the Pieces

Nathan felt a little more normal the next day dressed in his whites as he entered the vestibule of the UEO Headquarters building. As he checked in with the guard at the desk Nathan noticed Lucas standing off to the side of the room staring out the window.

"Hey, kiddo. How's it going?"

Lucas spun around surprised. "Sorry, sir. I didn't see you come up behind me."

Bridger looked out the window in the direction that Lucas had been looking. "Must be something special out there to hold your attention so well."

Lucas shook his head. "No... nothing out there... I guess I was just daydreaming."

"Uh huh... so what are you doing now?"

"Nothing much to do," Lucas shrugged. "Dad's tied up in meetings all day and it looks like there's not much for me to do here."

"How's your dad doing?"

Lucas shrugged again. "From what I've seen... okay." He let out a heavy sigh. "To tell you the truth it's almost like living at home with him. I've probably seen him three times in the last two days... and that was only in passing. He's always in some meeting or another." He hesitated a bit and looked out the window again. "And let me tell you that house gets pretty darned boring."

"Do you know what's going to happen with your dad yet?"

"It's beginning to look like they're going to be moving him in the next day or so."

"What happens to you then?"

Lucas scowled and looked up at Nathan. "Captain, I'm only a kid. Why should they tell me what's going on with my life? It's not like it's any concern of mine."

Nathan put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Well, tell you what.  Let me try to find out what they've got planned for you. Meanwhile, do you think you could find Kristin? I know there's a load of things that she could use your help with... and at least that would keep you busy today."

They both approached the desk where the guard was waiting with Nathan's building pass. "Yeah, I can find the Doc." Bridger patted the boy on the shoulder and turned to the guard but Lucas called his attention back. "Sir?"

"Yeah?"

The boy looked uncomfortable. "If the question comes up... I mean I'm hardly seeing my dad at all where we're at and I'm having to get rides to and from with those super secret security  guys."

"Um hum."

"And quite honestly, they sure don't pick those guys for their conversational ability." Bridger grinned. "If the subject of me just staying somewhere on base comes up... I wouldn't have any objection to it."

"Okay, Lucas, I'll keep that in mind." He ruffled the boy's hair. "Meanwhile, you go and bother Kristin for the day."

Lucas grinned back. "You got it, sir," and he turned towards the hallway to the science wing of the building.

Nathan turned back to the guard at the desk who handed him his pass. "Captain, the Secretary General asked that you come by his office whenever you're available."

Bridger took the pass and clipped it to his collar. "Petty Officer Becker, I'm nothing but available."

Bridger walked into Bill Noyce's outer office and greeted the secretary cheerfully. "Cassie, how are you doing today?"

"Captain Bridger... I'm doing well. It's really nice to see you looking so good though."

"In which case I look a little better than I feel."

She indicated the row of chairs on the wall in front of her desk. "Why don't you have a seat, sir? The Secretary General is in a meeting right now but I know he wanted to talk to you at your  earliest convenience." Bridger sat and put his hat on the seat next to him. "Would you like some coffee, Captain?"

Bridger leaned his head back against the wall. He'd slept last night but it hadn't been a restful sleep. "Oh, Cassie, just about now I'd kill for a cup of coffee."

"Oh, we won't make you do that." She left and returned a short time later with a large cup of coffee and a bagel with cream cheese spread on it. "Here... I figure you probably missed breakfast this morning too."

"You're getting to know me too well, Cassie," said Bridger as he gratefully accepted the coffee and the food.

About a half of an hour later the door to Noyce's office opened and an aide escorted several people out and down the hallway, closing the door behind him. Cassie picked up the phone and had a short conversation that Bridger didn't pay attention to. Shortly after that the door to Noyce's office opened again. Bill Noyce stood in the doorway and motioned Bridger in.

A genuine smile covered Noyce's face. "Nathan, come on in." He slapped him on the back as he came through the door. "How are you feeling?"

"Besides the fact that I'm tired and my throat is a little raspy... okay, I guess... oh, that and I'm a little sore from the burns."

Noyce quickly lifted his hand from Nathan's shoulder. "Oops, sorry about that. I forgot about the burns."

Nathan smiled and took the seat that Noyce indicated. "That's okay. They're like having a medium to bad sunburn right now. More of an inconvenience than a real pain."

Noyce sat down in a chair opposite Nathan. "I had a couple of reasons I needed to see you, Nathan. Do you want the good stuff or the bad stuff first?"

Nathan kneaded the back of his neck with his hand. "Oh, you may as well go with the bad stuff first... I think I've got a corner on bad stuff these days."

"Okay... we've got the makeup of the Court of Inquiry. The members are going to be John Shannon, Admiral Maria Montoya and Admiral Dale Siddle."

Nathan stared out the windows for a short time without comment. "Well, I suppose that Shannon will balance out Siddle... and I don't think I've ever had any real dealings with Montoya... but she's got a good reputation." He looked back at Noyce. "No submariners, huh?"

"Nathan... it's not that easy to come by submariners who are Admirals." He shrugged, "Actually, we were lucky to get these three freed up for the Court." He frowned as he thought about something Nathan had said. "Do you have a history with Siddle?"

"Yeah, kind of. When I was commanding officer of the Intrepid I fired his son."

"Hmm, I think I remember hearing about that. He was your engineering officer."

"Yup. He was a great engineering officer but he had the people skills of a rock... I'm pretty sure he ended up getting out of the Navy."

Noyce straightened up. "Then he should excuse himself from the Court."

Nathan shrugged. "I don't know. I really never had any dealings with Siddle himself. I've never even met the guy. I only dealt with his son... and that was a long time ago."

Noyce nodded. "Well, they're making pretty fast progress with the investigation. They expect to be able to enumerate the charges sometime before the end of this week and they're talking about convening the Court at the end of next week."

Bridger leaned forward a little and leaned his chin on his hand. "That's pretty quick."

"No one does anything slow these days, Nathan." He got a little grin on his face. "You want the good news now?"

"Sure... I could use some."

"About four months ago we started work on a new submarine at New Cape Quest."

"That's where you're moving this headquarters, right?"

"Yup... The submarine we're building is going to be a follow-on to seaQuest."

Nathan just nodded his head slowly. "I'd heard rumors that something big was getting built but I didn't know that was it." He hesitated a moment. "How are you managing to hide the construction on it?"

Noyce shrugged, a little disappointed that Bridger didn't seem more surprised. "Actually, it's not that hard. It's not like the days when the first thing you did was put down some tremendously long keel in a big dry dock. The seaQuest is all modular so the construction on the pieces of it are spread out all over the area." Noyce looked over at Nathan. "I've got a bit of a dilemma though." Bridger cocked an inquiring eyebrow at him. "A project like this needs a coordinator who is familiar with the whole boat. Someone who knows more about the way she works than anyone we have on staff at the shipyard."

Bridger stood and walked over to the windows. He looked out over the palm trees to watch the water as it caressed the beaches.

Noyce watched the tense set of his back. "So, Nathan... do you have any plans for the next year or so?"

Nathan looked back from the window surprised. "You think you can build a new seaQuest in a year or so?"

"Yup. With double shifts and as much collateral work being done at the same time as we can... I think we can have it in the water in 18 months or so."

"That's going to be one hell of a job."

Noyce stood and leaned against his desk. "I know... do you feel like taking on one hell of a job?" Bridger turned back to the window with a frown on his face. "Nathan... we don't have a choice with the time schedule. Just the presence of seaQuest was enough to keep some of the more volatile personalities in this world in line... and now that she's gone we need to replace her as soon as possible." He took a couple of step towards Bridger. "I'd like you to build her and then take the new seaQuest to sea."

Nathan straightened some at the window and his voice was soft when he talked. "You're forgetting one thing, Bill. If that Court finds me guilty... or even reprimands me on any of the charges that might be placed..." He hesitated. "I'll never skipper anything bigger than the toy boat in my bathtub."

Noyce stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at the floor.  "I didn't forget that, Nathan," he said gently.

Bridger half-turned towards Noyce. "So you're asking me to build a boat that I might have to turn over to someone else?"

"Yes, I'm afraid I am."

Nathan turned back to the window and was silent for a while. Then he slowly nodded his head. "Alright, Bill. I'll build your boat... and it'll be the best damned boat that the UEO has ever put in the water." He glanced over at Noyce.

"I wouldn't expect anything less of you, Nathan." He walked around his desk and looked at some papers on it. "Look, Nathan. It seems to me that we could improve the production line if we really put people who knew what they were doing to work on building the new boat."

Nathan turned towards Noyce and leaned back against the window with his arms folded over his chest. "Yeah?"

"Sooo, the next assignment for the majority of your senior staff is going to be in New Cape Quest helping build the new boat."

Nathan nodded slowly and got a small smile on his face. "That just might work, Bill." He stopped. "There is the question about one of my crew though."

Noyce looked up at him. "Which one?"

"What happens to Lucas?"

Noyce frowned. "What do you mean what happens to him?"

"Well, you're moving his dad out of his safe house in a couple of days... I was just wondering what you were planning on doing with Lucas."

An astonished look covered Noyce's face. "How the hell did you know that we were moving Wolenczak out in two days?" he sputtered.

"I didn't... I guessed... but now I know."

Noyce turned around disgusted. "I hate it when you do that."

"Bill, the question still remains... what happens to Lucas? ...You're not thinking of sending him along with his father, are you?"

"No... we've talked with his father and he doesn't seem to think that would be a particularly good idea."

"I wouldn't think so."

Noyce shrugged. "I suppose the boy could go back to his mother."

Bridger's response was quick and sharp. "No." Noyce glanced up at him in surprise. "That's not an option, Bill."

"Well, she is the boy's mother."

"His father has custody. He doesn't go back to his mother."

Noyce turned to Nathan frustrated. "Then what do you think we should do with him?"

Nathan took a deep breath and expelled it. "I think that I'm going to go visit Doctor Wolenczak and ask that I become Lucas' guardian."

Noyce was shaking his head. "It's not a good idea for you to go see Wolenczak."

"I don't care if it's a good idea or not. Besides, if you want that boat built fast, Bill... then I need Lucas with me."

"Nathan, why in hell, at this point in your life, would you want to take on the responsibility for a teenager?"

"Because he's Lucas." Nathan walked closer to Noyce. "And I'm going to see Wolenczak whether you approve of it or not."

"You really care about this kid, don't you?"

"Yes, Bill, I do."

Noyce looked over at him. "How do you figure you're going to get guardianship assignment through in two days?"

Bridger grinned. "Well, I'm going to need a little help on that end, Bill."

Chapter Eight – As We Gather at the River

After spending another two hours closeted with Noyce as he was brought up to date on the production status of the new seaQuest, Nathan left the office intending to head for the cafeteria.  Given the hour of the day he was hoping to find Kristin and Lucas eating lunch.  As he started to leave, Nathan was stopped by Noyce's secretary.

"Captain, I've managed to find an office for you if you're interested."

Bridger regarded her with amazement.  "Cassie, you're a magician... I didn't think there was such a thing as free office space in this building."

"Well, normally you'd be right but we've sent a few offices ahead to New Cape Quest so every once in a while we get some free space.  For that matter I managed to grab up an office with a small attached conference room for you just down the hallway here.  It's room 542 and 544.  I thought that you might need some extra room for your production team to work."

Nathan leaned his hands against her desk and shook his head seriously.  "You know, you take care of me way too well."

She leaned over and patted him on the hand.  "That's because I've got a crush on you."

Bridger smiled fondly at the woman who was easily 10 years his senior.  "Cassie, I fell for you years ago."

"Look, don't tell Art.  He gets jealous, you know."

"Your secret's safe with me," he said winking at her and straightening up.

"Are you going to need anything else?"

"You know of any way for me to contact my crew?  I suppose I better tell them about what we've got planned for our futures."

"I can handle that, Captain.  Why don't you go and grab some lunch and I'll make sure your crew is in the conference room at 1300 for your meeting."

Nathan glanced around the crowded lunchroom searching for russet and blond hair.  It didn't take him long to pin down Kristin and Lucas at a small table on the far side of the room.

"You two have room for one slightly damaged sailor at your table?"

"Absolutely," smiled Lucas.

Nathan placed his hat on the unoccupied end of the table.  "Let me go grab something to eat and I'll be right back."

"Make sure you get something that's easy to swallow," called Kristin to his back.

Nathan glanced back over his shoulder and grinned.  "Yes, Doctor."

Shortly after Nathan returned with a plate of fruit and cottage cheese.  "That fit the bill?" He asked Kristin as he took the seat next to Lucas.

"That will do just fine.  You're still sounding a little raspy," Kristin nodded in approval.  She took a bite of her chicken stir fry and glanced up at Nathan.  "I have to thank you for sending this out of work computer specialist my way."

Nathan nodded towards Lucas.  "Oh... he's not out of work... he's only between assignments."  He looked over at the boy.  "So she did have something for you to do, huh?"

"He's been invaluable," Kristin responded.  Lucas dropped his head and Nathan could see a slightly embarrassed tinge begin to cover his neck.

The boy slowly shook his head and looked over at Nathan. "She's got files everywhere, Cap.  You can't imagine the mess."

Bridger grinned.  "Oh yes, I can.  I've done that disaster evacuation of all my records before.  There's no way to keep things organized when you do it."

Kristin glared pointedly at Lucas.  "There, see, I told you that it wasn't my fault that the records are all messed up... it's the evacuation's fault."

"Okay, Doc... if you say so," a grinning Lucas said in a less than believing tone.

Nathan figured it was time to change the subject before the two of them started fixating on the condition of the records.  He looked over at Lucas again.  "So what do you say to a change of your home base?"

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning we've talked to your father and he agrees that its kinda dumb to keep moving you back and forth between the safehouse and here."  Bridger shifted his glance to the middle of the table and shrugged his shoulders slightly.  "I've got the BOQ to move me to a suite so if you'd like, you can come and stay with me."

Kristin had seen the relieved look that crossed Lucas' face before he broke out in a smile.  "Yeah, I'd like that."

Nathan nodded and smiled at him.  "Okay... the security guys are picking up your things from the house and they're just going to leave them in our rooms at the BOQ so that'll be taken care of." He looked over at Kristin.  "Um, I need to steal him after lunch for a little while."

"Actually, we're almost all done so if you can find something to keep him occupied that would be wonderful."

Nathan ate a forkful of cantaloupe and glanced quickly at Lucas again.  "Oh, I've got something that'll keep him occupied for quite a while."

Lucas looked at him suspiciously.  "That sounds unpleasantly like a very grown up statement.  What do you have in mind."

"Don't worry, Lucas.  You'll like it," Nathan said as he licked the last of the cottage cheese off his fork.  "Trust me."

After lunch Lucas followed Nathan up to the fifth floor where he checked out his new office.  The sparse office was furnished with a desk that had a terminal, a small table next to one wall and a couple of chairs.  Lucas opened the door to the adjoining conference room and they saw that this room held a decent sized table with chairs all around it and another small table in the corner also with a terminal on it.  To make things better both rooms had nice views of the marina.

Shortly before one the various members of the seaQuest command team began showing up in the conference room.  The door between it and the office was still open and while Lucas was milling around in the conference room with them they could see that Bridger was intently reviewing some files on the terminal on the desk while he made notes to himself on a pad of paper.  Just as the clock reached one p.m. Bridger glanced at his watch and came into the conference room with the pad of paper.

The room quieted as he took his place at the head of the conference table.  Nathan took his reading glasses off and glanced around the table at the men and women who had been the integral part of his command over the last year, noting the absence of one or two who had moved on to other endeavors.  He smiled slightly as he began.

"Thank you all for coming so promptly.  First, I want to talk about the past some."  Nathan took a deep breath and moved his glance around the table.  "I want you to know how exceptionally proud I am of the way that the seaQuest and her crew handled the crisis that we've just been through... The teamwork and extraordinary devotion to duty shown by each and every one of you was nothing short of remarkable."  He paused and leaned back in his chair.  "What you did wasn't easy.  The uncertainties and danger of the  circumstances made for conditions where things could have easily gone  wrong but through your professionalism and tireless efforts we came  out of this with no loss of life for the seaQuest crew and managed to save not only the survivors of the power plant but it appears that we may have managed to seal up the magma infusion chamber opened up on the seabed."

"As you may know, Doctor Raleigh Young and his team are currently inspecting the area of the power plant."  He grinned a little at them.  "And I may note that he's having a much smoother ride of it than we had."  Bridger enjoyed the grins that appeared on the serious faces of those around the table.  "Hopefully, he and his team will be able to give us a better understanding of just what went wrong and how we might be able to prevent it next time."

"You're probably all wondering just what's going to happen to you now."  Nathan looked around as the serious faces returned. "Well, the seaQuest is gone."  Nathan got a slightly wistful look on his face.  "She's about as gone as any boat has ever been gone."  He sighed and got a less serious look on his face.  "So... what do you people think about helping to build a new boat?"

Chapter Nine – On the Seventh Day God Created Baseball

They'd been excited, just as Bridger expected they would be.  So excited at the prospect of building the new boat that none of them thought to voice a complaint about getting moved all the way across the country to do it.  Fortunately he was going to be able to give them a little time to get the move done.  He wouldn't be able to leave for New Cape Quest until after the Court of Inquiry reported out and there wasn't much point in having his senior staff out there without him.  They'd already identified a couple of crew members who would act as the point persons and let them know just what was going on with the building.

It was late by the time Bridger sorted out all of the details and now he and Lucas were standing on the UEO headquarters steps again.  Nathan took a quick look at his watch and glanced over at the boy.

"It's almost 6:30.  How about we stop for dinner before we head to the BOQ?"

Lucas quickly nodded his head.  "That would be great, sir.  Whatever you want to do."

"You feel like sit-down, pizza, fast food or what?"

"Pizza would be terrific."  His voice took on an air of conspiracy.  "You know, eating with the Doc… she makes you eat that healthy stuff.  Not that it's bad," he hastily added.  "It's just that it's so….."  His voice trailed off.

"Healthy," Nathan supplied.

"Yeah, exactly," he said with a disgusted look.

"I know."  They'd reached the car and Nathan looked across the hood at the boy.  "How about Perrino's.  They're just off-base and their pizza is pretty terrific."

A grin covered Lucas' face.  "Sounds good to me."

Nathan and Lucas were standing at the front desk of the Bachelor Officer's Quarters as Bridger checked in again to the new room.  While he took care of the paperwork Lucas had a look around the foyer.  This place really looked like a hotel.  He didn't know what he expected but this sure wasn't it.  The furnishings were soft, pastel, well-stuffed chairs and sofas and the walls had a Hawaiian motif around them.  The BOQ was right on the ocean and the doors opposite the main entrance provided access.  He'd also noticed that the ocean side of the building had balconies for each of the rooms.  This was a lot more luxurious than he anticipated.

Bridger turned from the front desk with two keycards in his hand.  He gave one of them to Lucas.  "We're on the top floor in 610.  I guess they already moved all my stuff into the room and security dropped your things off about two hours ago."

Lucas looked around again as they walked over to the elevators.  "Are all the BOQs like this, sir?"

Nathan chuckled. "No… not quite.  Because of its location this one has a tendency to get a lot of VIPs so I think you'll find that it's considerably fancier than your average BOQ."

They exited the elevator on the sixth floor and found their suite just to the right.  Using his keycard to open the door, Bridger held it open while Lucas went in and then followed him.  They'd gotten lucky and their suite was on the beach side of the building.  The suite consisted of a small living room with an alcove efficiency kitchen and two bedrooms, one to either side of the living room.

Nathan nodded his head.  "Not bad.  Especially when you consider that we'll be here for at least a few weeks."

Lucas was standing at the door leading out to the balcony.  "Will I be?" he asked quietly.

Nathan came up to stand next to the boy.  He noticed the tension evident in his shoulders and neck and the way that he kept his eyes averted.  "I'm working on that Lucas.  Give me a day or so and I'll have an answer."  The boy looked up at him quickly and then stared out at the water again.  Nathan tried another tact.  "Look Lucas… how about if we toss our stuff into our rooms, you let me change into something decent and then we go test out our new baseball gloves?"

The two of them spent the better part of two hours on the beach throwing the baseball around.  In the beginning Nathan started out slowly expecting that Lucas would be pretty lousy with the ball but he had a surprisingly accurate throwing arm.  After tossing the ball around a little more and getting more warmed up Nathan was even more surprised when Lucas' throws became, not only more accurate, but considerably more powerful.  The concentration that Lucas was putting into each throw was exceptional and totally unexpected.  It didn't take long before Bridger got his answer to why Lucas threw so well.  He had just rolled a bouncing ground ball to the boy which he fielded easily.  Lucas was pivoting to throw even before he got the ball in his glove.  Just like someone who had played the game for quite a while and just like an infielder would normally do, Lucas threw the ball across to Nathan right on target and with considerable force.  Enough force that Nathan's hand was stinging through his glove.  After catching the ball Bridger took his glove off and shook his hand to try to dispel the stinging.  Lucas came running over with a shocked look on his face.

"Oh geez… Captain, I'm sorry… I didn't mean to hurt you," he said anxiously.

Bridger blew on his palm and grinned at the boy.  "Not your fault.  I should have caught it in the webbing instead of in the palm of the glove.  You just threw a really good ball."   He paused a second as he looked at the boy's concerned face.  "Let me guess… you're a pitcher by trade."

Lucas smiled in relief, the Captain wasn't angry at him.  "Yeah, baseball was the only sport I got to play when I was a kid and it turned out that I was a pretty good pitcher."

"Little League?"

"Uh huh."

"What?? Your dad take you to the games?"

Lucas snorted but with a smile.  "Get real, Captain… his staff took me to my games."  He got a little wistful look on his face.  "He never even came to see one game."

Bridger put his hand on Lucas' shoulder.  "I don't know about you but I'm thirsty.  Let's go get something to drink."  They turned back towards the BOQ and as they came through the door the desk clerk called Bridger over.

"Captain, the Officer of the Day was trying to get ahold of you.  He left this number."

"Thanks, I'll give him a call."  He and Lucas went to hit the vending machines to get their drinks and then went up to the room where Nathan called the number on the room vid-phone.

A neat looking petty officer appeared on the screen.  "Pearl Harbor Duty Office, Petty Officer Randin, can I help you, sir?"

Bridger grinned.  Every duty office he ever called always sounded the same.  "Petty Officer Randin, I'm Captain Bridger.  The duty officer was trying to contact me."

An ensign in whites appeared behind the petty officer.  "Good evening, Captain.  I'm Ensign Kujama, I was asked to let you know that your appointment is set up for 10 a.m. tomorrow."

Bridger nodded his understanding.  "Thank you, Mr. Kujama.  I had told them earlier but could you put a note in your log that I won't be in tomorrow?"

"Will do, Captain.  Have a nice evening, sir," he said as the connection was terminated.

Nathan sat at the chair in front of the vid-phone and rubbed his face tiredly.  Lucas looked over fondly at the man.  He'd had more fun in the last couple of hours throwing around a baseball than he figured that he'd had in years… and he thought that the Captain had enjoyed himself too.

"Sir, you look like you could use some sleep," Lucas said softly.

Nathan smiled over at him.  "Yeah, not quite up to my normal endurance level just yet I'm afraid."  He stood and stretched and then patted the boy on the shoulder again.  "Good night, kiddo."

"Good night, sir," said Lucas as he also headed for his room.

Chapter 10 – Battling with Demons

Lucas nudged the door to the suite open with his hip.  In his hands he was carrying a tray with a cup of coffee, a glass of milk and four breakfast pastries.  He frowned as he looked across the living room to see that Bridger was still in the same position he'd been in when Lucas had volunteered to go down and get them something to eat.  He was sitting at the table on the balcony with his elbow leaning on the table and his hand rubbing his forehead.  There was no doubt that the Captain had a terrible headache.  Lucas gently put the tray down on the table, trying not to make too much noise.

"Think maybe some breakfast will help, sir?" he asked softly.

Bridger raised his head and gave the boy a pained smile.  "I certainly hope so, Lucas."  He reached over and took the offered cup of coffee and then gingerly took a sip of the hot liquid.  Nope, he better let it cool down some, his tolerance for hot things wasn't up to normal levels yet either.

The boy sat across from Bridger and grimaced a little at his appearance.  It had surprised him last night… that strangled cry that he had heard about an hour after they'd both gone to bed.  Lucas had lay in his bed for a little while staring at the ceiling until the cry came again and he'd gotten up to investigate.  It was a pretty scary thing to have happen the first night that you were in a strange place.  When he'd gone into the living room he had realized that the cries and indistinct words were coming from Bridger's room.  The door was partially open and Lucas had gingerly pushed it open some more. He could see Bridger in the bed, lying on his back and moving restlessly back and forth as he fought the demons in his dreams.  Lucas had stood there for a while watching him, unsure about what to do.  Finally he'd decided to try to wake the man but he hadn't wanted to get too close …he had no idea how Bridger would react so he called out to him.

"Captain…." No response.  "Sir.." He had said just a little louder.  He thought there was a slight hesitation in Bridger's thrashing but then it continued.  Moving further into the room Lucas had finally raised his voice. "Captain Bridger, sir," he had almost shouted.

Bridger had suddenly sat up in the bed, eyes wide open, with a confused look on his face.  Lucas could swear that he'd stopped breathing for a little while until at last he gasped in several deep breaths of air.  Bridger had blinked a couple of times and then curled over like he was in pain.  Lucas had been at his bedside in a flash.

"Sir, are you alright?" he'd asked, concern heavy in his voice.

Bridger was still gasping for air but he had raised his head and looked over at the boy with a bewildered look on his face.  Then he had seemed to come into focus some and nodded his head.  "I'm alright," he gasped.

Lucas had dared to put a hand on Bridger's shoulder.  The muscles under his t-shirt had been tense, almost like iron.  "You sure?"

Bridger had closed his eyes and worked a little on controlling his breathing before answering the boy.  "I'm sure, Lucas," he had said in a more normal tone.  "Just had a nightmare."  He had reached over, patted Lucas on the side of the neck and given him a weak smile.  "Thanks for waking me up but you can go back to bed now."

Lucas had stood, not quite sure about what he should do.  "Are you sure, sir?"

Bridger had swung his legs out until he was sitting on the side of the bed.  His elbows had been on his knees and he rested his forehead on his hands.  "I'm sure… thanks."

"Alright, sir," Lucas had said hesitantly as he turned back to his own room.  "Good night."

Lucas knew that Bridger hadn't had a good night.  Lucas had woken several times to hear him pacing in the living room and once when Lucas had decided to use the bathroom he saw that the Captain was sitting at the table on the balcony staring out at the waves breaking below.

Lucas looked over at the man now as he took a bite from a cheese Danish.  He wasn't sure if he should bring up the night's adventures.  Finally, Bridger did it for him.

"Sorry about waking you up last night."

"Oh, that's alright, sir," Lucas said and then hesitated.  "Do you get those nightmares often?"

Nathan looked across at the boy for a moment in silence and then seemed to come to a decision.  "No," he shook his head ruefully.  "I didn't really get any at all until the last week."  He dropped his eyes to the middle of the table.  "I'm sorry, I probably should have warned you about it but that was only the second time it's happened."

"Same nightmare?" Lucas was curious.

"Yeah, …I suppose it should be expected.  I seem to be sinking the seaQuest in my dreams these days."  He looked over at the boy again.  "So… do I look as bad as you do?"

Lucas grinned, "No, actually you look worse.  I at least got a little sleep… even if it was only a little."

Nathan smiled at him and Lucas was glad to see that it was closer to his normal smile than he'd seen this morning.  "Tell you what, Lucas… You don't really need to go to work today if you don't want to.  Why don't you take the day off too.  I've got an appointment at 10 and then you and I can go to lunch."

Lucas smiled back at him.  "That sounds like a good idea to me."

Chapter 11 – Go Tell it on the Mountain

Kristin Westphalen sat patiently in the lobby of the BOQ waiting for Lucas.  She looked over at the man leaning back in the chair next to hers.  His eyes were closed and he wasn't saying a blasted thing.

"You're not going to tell me what this surprise is then?"

Nathan didn't even open his eyes.  He just swung his head back and forth lazily.  "Nope… it's Lucas' surprise.  He gets to tell it."

The elevator door opened and Lucas came out.  Kristin thought that the boy looked happier than she had seen him ever since she'd known him.  Lucas looked around the lobby quickly before spotting the two adults.  He headed their way with an even bigger smile on his face.

"You guys ready for dinner?"

Bridger opened his eyes and squinted at Lucas.  "We've been ready for twenty minutes, kiddo," he said in mock irritation.

Lucas didn't let it phase him.  "Yeah, well, I decided you could do with a little beauty sleep."

"Very funny," said Nathan as he uncoiled his body from the chair.

Kristin shook her head at their easy exchange and looked over at Lucas.  "So what's the big surprise?"

Lucas shook his head a little.  "At the restaurant, Doc, I'll tell you at the restaurant."

She looked over at Nathan who just shrugged his shoulders and headed for the parking lot.

They had taken Nathan's rental car and a short time later they pulled up to the valet in front of Cheri's, a rather up-scale restaurant.  The valet held the door for Kristin as she got out of the car.  She waited on the curb until Nathan had given the keys to the valet and gotten his ticket.  He came up next to her and gently taking her elbow turned her towards the door with Lucas right behind.

"My, aren't we eating fancy tonight?"

Lucas was the one who spoke, "The Captain said it was a good place to go for something special… and today is special."

Kristin looked inquisitively over at Nathan who just held the door and said, "You'll find out."

They made it all the way through getting seated, perusing their menus and ordering their meals before Lucas couldn't take it any longer.  The boy excitedly looked over at Kristin.  "Doc, guess who the Captain went to see today?"

Kristin looked over at Nathan who had his gaze directed at the salt shaker on the table and an infuriating smile on his face.  "I have no idea."

"He went to see my father."  Lucas was smiling even more now.

"Whatever for?"  Kristin was totally confused by the turn of this conversation.

Now Nathan looked across the table at Lucas with a gentle smile on his face.  The two of them exchanged glances before Lucas finally spoke again.  "He asked my dad if he could become my guardian."

Kristin was now focused on Lucas.  "And what did he say?"

"He said yes… this time tomorrow all the papers will be signed and I'll get to live with the Captain until I'm an adult."  The boy paused a moment and his voice was a little choked when he continued.  "A real home."

Kristin smiled and leaned over to give Lucas a hug.  "Oh, That's wonderful.  I'm so happy for you, Lucas."  She pulled away as the boy dropped his head and blushed.  "I'm happy for both of you."

"Yeah, us too," said Nathan softly and Kristin saw that gentle look exchanged between the two of them again.

They'd finished their dinner amid talk of what Nathan and Lucas were going to do now.  How after the court they'd move to New Cape Quest and maybe find a house on the water somewhere.  They both wanted a house on the water.  They'd driven back to the BOQ after eating and after parking the Captain's car they were getting ready to walk Kristin over to her car.  Lucas turned and looked at the two adults standing there hand in hand and decided he should leave them alone.

"Sir, I'm going to go back up to the room now, if that's alright."

Nathan smiled softly at the boy, "Yeah, that's alright with me."

Lucas turned to Westphalen, "Good night, Doc," and then he put up with the hug that Kristin gave him.

"Good night, Lucas… and congratulations again."

Kristin watched after the boy until he went through the doors to the BOQ and then turned to Nathan.  "Do you know what you're getting into?" she asked seriously.

Nathan nodded, "Yeah, I know… probably more frustration than I can imagine."  He took Kristin's hand again and they started walking towards the beach.  "But to tell you the truth, I think I need him as much as he needs me."

"Oh, I don't doubt that… I think you two are good for each other."

"And on the positive side, it gives him something to do."  Kristin frowned at him uncomprehendingly.  "It probably means he'll be working on the new boat.  Which is good for him, good for me and good for the new boat."

She leaned against him as he slipped his hand around her waist.  "Yes, I imagine it will be."

"What's going to happen to you?" Nathan asked softly.

"I don't know just yet.  I've still got a load of work to finish out my records from the seaQuest.  That should keep me busy for at least a couple of weeks but after that…."

She turned towards him as her words faded away and suddenly she was very aware of him, very aware of the man that stood across from her with his hands resting gently on her hips and his eyes gazing into hers and she brought her hands up until they felt the strong muscles of his back.  She pulled him closer and he ducked his head so that their lips could meet in a long, satisfying kiss.