Chapter 12 – The Prodigal Son
 

There was a knock at the door of Bridger's suite. Lucas was up and out of his chair answering the door even before whoever was on the other side had time to knock a second time. Disappointment showed on the boy's face when he saw Cassie, the Secretary General's secretary standing in the door.

"Oh, hi, …come on in," Lucas didn't quite manage to hide the frustration in his voice. "Captain, it's for you."

Bridger came in off the balcony where he was finishing his cup of coffee. "You don't have to be so put out, Lucas. Your father won't be here until about 11 and it's only 10 now. Mrs. White is a very important part of your day… she's got the paperwork."

"I'm sorry, ma'am," Lucas said in a chastised voice.

Cassie smiled at the boy. "It's alright, Lucas. I understand that you're rather anxious about this." She looked over at Bridger. "And Captain, I'm to stick around and notarize anything that needs it."

Nathan motioned to the balcony. "Would you like a cup of coffee then?"

Cassie and Bridger moved out to the balcony while Lucas resumed his fierce pacing. Cassie accepted the coffee that Bridger poured for her and looked over at him. "There a couple of other things I need to talk to you about, Captain."

Bridger sat down with his own cup. "What's that?"

"It appears that the prosecutors for the Court of Inquiry are rather upset with you for going to see Dr. Wolenczak yesterday."

Bridger shrugged, "Too bad."

"They're also upset because they said they didn't know where you were yesterday afternoon or evening… or for that matter the night before."

Nathan's face became rather expressionless. Cassie had seen that look before and she didn't really like being on the other side of it. "I didn't know that I was supposed to check in with the powers that be at the Court whenever I went anywhere."

Cassie's face held a look of sad understanding. "I don't know that what they want either, Captain. I just thought you should know that the Court has been letting the Secretary General know that they're not particularly pleased with your activities as of this date. For what it's worth they're not happy that you've taken yesterday and today off either."

A small smile curled at Nathan's mouth. "Too bad," he repeated. Then he relented some, "Look, Cassie, I know that you're only the messenger but I don't know that I could have done anything else… I don't know that I *would* have done anything else."

She leaned across and patted his hand. "I understand. I don't think I'd want you any other way."

Bridger smiled across the table at her and shook his head slowly. "Cassie, you are still making a move on me." He paused and looked down and then back up again with a more serious look on his face. "They're pissed off that I took today off to get the papers signed?"

"I'm afraid so."

Nathan leaned back and folded his hands over his chest. "Cassie, when you go back could you let Bill and Commander Ford know that I've decided to take the rest of the day off so that Lucas and I can go shopping for some more clothes?"

Cassie fixed him with a stern look, "They're really not going to like that."

Bridger allowed a smile to slowly creep across his face. "Too bad," he said once again.

Lawrence Wolenczak had arrived and he and Bridger sat down to sign the paperwork from the court that Cassie had brought along. There was an amazing amount of stuff that required signatures.

Lawrence smiled across the table at Bridger as he prepared to sign the guardianship forms. "You know what you're getting into?" he asked unconsciously repeating Kristin's question from last night.

"Yeah, I know, Lawrence," he looked over to where Lucas was fretfully standing. Bridger smiled a little, "But I figure if he can put up with me then I can put up with him."

Lawrence hesitated again. "You'll take care of him?" he asked softly.

"Like he was my own son, I promise."

Lawrence grinned a little. "Oh, little better than that I hope."

"My son, Lawrence… not yours." Bridger was still smiling taking the sting out of the comment.

"Then he'll be alright," Lawrence said reassured and he signed the paperwork.

Lawrence stood and walked over to his son. He put his hand up to squeeze Lucas' shoulder. "He's responsible for you now, Lucas. Behave yourself."

Lucas nodded his head and looked his father in the eyes. "Dad, thanks for taking me when you did," Bridger knew this referred to Lawrence demanding custody of Lucas during the divorce. "And thanks for letting me go now."

Lawrence patted the boy on his cheek too choked up to say anything.

Nathan broke in on the discussion, "Lawrence, you've got time. Why don't you two take a walk before you go… there's a nice beach out there."

Lawrence and Lucas walked the beach talking for almost a half of an hour before Wolenczak's guard started exhibiting a serious case of nerves and he knew it was time to leave. Lucas and his father said their last goodbyes and Wolenczak walked up to meet with his security detail without even a look back at his son.

Lucas was a little wound up by the events of the morning so he and Bridger then walked the beach for a little while discussing their plans for the future. They'd walked down to the old lifeguard station and back again and now they were just approaching the BOQ.

Lucas was talking excitedly. "So we need to build a new boat… and we need to move… and we need to find a place to live…."

"Yeah," Bridger broke in, "But first we need to go shopping for some more clothes."

"Then we're going to need suitcases."

"Yeah, we'll need those too… anything else you can think of?"

"How about a stereo?"

Bridger shook his head with a smile. "That'll wait until we get to New Cape Quest, smartie… for now you can pick up a portable with a headset if you want."

"I like the way you think, Captain."

Lucas and Bridger spent the rest of the afternoon at the mall purchasing all the little things they were going to need to live for the next few weeks and picking up some more clothes. They arrived back at the BOQ a little after 7:30 in the evening to find a good portion of the seaQuest crew sitting on the front steps of the building in civilian clothes.

Bridger shook his head as he approached the group which included Ford, Ortiz, O'Neil, Shan and, of course, Kristin. "Do I want to know what all of you are doing on our doorstep?"

Jonathan Ford was the one to answer back. "Well, Captain, we figured that today was a good day for celebrating and we thought perhaps you two wouldn't mind if we shared in the celebration."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Tony's Ice Cream Emporium."

"Sounds good to me," Lucas said with a grin.

The desk clerk from the BOQ stuck his head out of the door. "Excuse me, Captain." Bridger turned to him. "There's a lieutenant in the lobby who's been waiting to talk to you for a couple of hours."

"Thank you, I'll be right in," Bridger returned. He handed his bags to Miguel Ortiz, "Here hang onto these for me for a second… I'll be right back."

Bridger entered the lobby and the rest of them could see him begin a conversation with a uniformed lieutenant. The exchange seemed to start alright but after a short time the small talk between the crewmembers faded as they noticed that Bridger was becoming more and more tense talking to the lieutenant. The two men hadn't sat down but both remained standing during their entire talk. At one point they saw the lieutenant hand Bridger a piece of paper and a pen. Bridger appeared to ask a question and when the lieutenant answered it was obvious to anyone who knew Bridger that he was very angry… very controlled but very angry. Bridger signed the paper and accepted a small box from the lieutenant. He was then given a copy of another paper and the lieutenant turned and left. Bridger remained in the same angry pose staring at the corner of the lobby for a little while before returning to his crew.

Bridger was angry… to anyone who knew him the set of his jaw and shoulders would have told them that from a great distance.

His voice was calm although it contained a definite undertone that wasn't pleasant. "And if I refuse to sign this, lieutenant… what then?"

The lieutenant in question straightened up and took a deep breath. "I really hope that you don't, sir. If you refuse to sign then I have orders to place you under custody."

Bridger raised his eyes from the paper and looked at the lieutenant sharply. The anger in his eyes was such that the lieutenant literally took a step backwards. Finally, in a barely controlled voice Bridger responded, "You know, lieutenant, your job sucks."

"Sometimes, sir," the officer responded nervously.

Bridger took a deep breath and then turned back to the paper lying on the table in front of him. He contemplated it for a moment before hastily scrawling his signature on the bottom. His eyes came back up to meet the lieutenant's as he handed the paper back.

"Sir, I'm sorry about this." Bridger didn't say anything, he didn't dare to say anything as the lieutenant handed him a small black box with a clip on it. Bridger stared at the box momentarily before returning his gaze to the uncomfortable officer in front of him.

"Any thing else, lieutenant?"

"Yes, sir, one more thing." With nervous hands the lieutenant handed Bridger another piece of paper. "You're to report at 0730 tomorrow morning."

Bridger inhaled deeply and then exhaled while staring at the paper in his hands. He nodded slowly. "Any thing else?"

"No, sir."

Bridger slowly turned his gaze to the lieutenant, "Then I'd suggest you get the hell out of my face, lieutenant."

Bridger stood there a moment in anger looking at the two pieces of paper before folding them quickly and placing them in his pocket. Then he irritably tossed the small black box in the air and caught it before attaching the device to his belt.

Nathan was rubbing his chin as he returned to where the crew was sitting. He didn't look at them as he approached but just as he got to them he raised his eyes to Jonathan's. "Look, um… why don't you go ahead and get the ice cream. I've got to stay here."

"You're not coming with us, Nathan?" Kristin asked.

Bridger looked a little uncomfortable. "No… I can't come with you." Kristin frowned at him. "I've been confined to the base."

Astonished protests were voiced by everyone and Bridger held his hands up as he explained. "Apparently, the Court got upset that they couldn't find me a couple of times during the last few days and this is how they solve it."

"Is that a locater?" O'Neil asked quietly.

Bridger reached up and touched the black box that he had attached to his belt and sighed. "Yeah. I either agreed to wear it or I ended up in custody."

"That isn't fair, sir," said Ortiz.

"It doesn't make any sense," that was Shan.

Bridger rubbed the back of his neck, "It's not like I have much of a choice." He hesitated a moment. "Oh, Jonathan, could you give Lucas a ride to work tomorrow? I've got a doctor's appointment."

Ford looked at his commanding officer with concern. None of this was logical to him. "No problem, sir."

"Great." He gathered his bags back from Ortiz and then took Lucas' bags too. "Look, why don't you guys go out for your ice cream." He grinned a little, "I'll be here when you get back."

"Sir…" started Lucas before Bridger cut him off.

"Just go… honest I'll be alright. I'd rather went and enjoyed yourself."

"Alright, sir," Lucas said reluctantly. He turned with most of the group to go. Most except Kristin who gently relieved Nathan of a couple of the shopping bags.

"I'm staying too, we need to talk."

Chapter 13 – A Bridge over Troubled Waters

Kristin looked over at Nathan as they slowly walked down the beach behind the BOQ. He hadn't said a word since they'd stowed his and Lucas' shopping bags up in his rooms. She saw that he had his gaze fixed on the surf as it climbed the beach. It hadn't taken her long to realize that watching the waves roll up on the shore was something he used to calm himself down when he was upset. Occasionally she even saw him close his eyes and imagined that he was listening to the sound of the surf at those times.

They had walked wordlessly for a good ten minutes before Kristin broke into his silent thoughts.

"Are you alright?"

Nathan seemed to come out of his reverie some and pulled her close, slipping his arm around her waist. "Yeah… yeah, I'm okay." He gave her a feeble smile before once again looking at the surf.

"No you're not," she said softly.

Nathan stopped walking and turned to her. He put his other arm around her waist and dropped his head onto her shoulder. Kristin slipped her arms around until they met at the small of his back while she leaned her head against his.

"No, I'm not," he said in a voice barely above a whisper. She felt him shake his head a little. "I'm confused." He pulled his head back up until he was looking her in the face. She could see his perplexed expression. "I don't know, Kris. Something just doesn't feel right… there's something…." His voice trailed off.

He shook his head again and released one hand as they started walking back towards the front of the BOQ. There was a small wall with a grassy area on top on the north end of the building and Kristin brought him to a stop there. "Sit." Nathan flashed her a small smile and sat. Kristin sat next to but facing him crossing her legs. "What are you confused about?" She reached out and took his hand in hers.

He shrugged. "The attitude I guess." He looked across the parking lot as he continued, "I knew that the Court was upset with me because they didn't know where I was at times. I was warned about that." He looked at her and shrugged again before looking away again. "And I intentionally took off with Lucas this afternoon knowing it would piss them off even more… but I didn't quite expect this kind of reaction." He was quiet for a little while as he sat there absently running his thumb across the back of her hand. "I thought that I'd probably get chewed out pretty good tomorrow when I went back to work but I'm used to that. This…," he fingered the black box on his belt, "is not a good omen. This makes me think that someone is taking major issue with the sinking of the seaQuest."

"Nathan, there was nothing else you could do," she protested.

He still wasn't looking at her. "I know that…." He shook his head again. "But there's always someone there to Monday morning quarterback ….but you'll always have that… it only becomes a problem when people who count either are the Monday morning quarterbacks or they're listening too hard to them."

"So what do you do?"

"Roll with the punches for a little while, I guess… do what the Court says to do… and see what happens."

Kristin put her other hand over the one that was holding hers. "Is the doctor's appointment related to all this?"

"Um hmm," he nodded.

"What kind of doctor?"

He finally looked over at her. "A psychiatrist. I'm to report for a psychiatric evaluation at 0730 tomorrow."

"Whatever for?" Kristin asked in an offended tone.

"I don't know… actually it probably should be a standard practice. Like going for stress debriefing when you're involved in a shooting. When you sink your boat you probably should have to see a shrink."

"I suppose," Kristin relented. "I've heard that when a Captain loses his ship it's almost equivalent to the stress relating to losing a child."

Finally, Nathan smiled a little. "It's not quite that bad." He hesitated and then spoke a little more seriously. "Although I think that if any of the crew had been lost at the same time it would have been much worse. Right now, I keep telling myself that I did the only thing that I could."

"You did."

"Yeah, I know… but there's this little voice that's sitting inside my head asking me if I'm sure… if I truly considered all the options… if there wasn't some other way…." His voice trailed off. "And sometimes I'm not really sure how to answer him."

"Nathan, you did the only thing possible at the time… and that damned Court should recognize that… that and the fact that you were willing to sacrifice seaQuest to do it."

Nathan looked down at their linked hands and seemed to perk up a bit. "It's a nice change by the way."

"What is?"

"Having someone to talk to." He smiled a little. "It's one of the problems that a ship's captain faces… and the reason we came up with the professor's hologram… by the nature of the job we don't usually have someone to talk to." He hesitated a moment. "It helps."

Kristin raised one hand to gently stroke his chin and Nathan allowed her to pull him in until their lips touched tenderly. As they were kissing the headlights of a car flashed across them as it pulled up to the curb.

"There you guys are," yelled Lucas from the front seat. Kristin patted Nathan's cheek quickly as they broke the kiss.

"Ya know, he's getting really good at that," Nathan mumbled.

"We brought you back some ice cream," Lucas said getting out of the car with two cones in his hands. The rest of them exited the car too and Miguel was also holding a second ice cream cone. Lucas offered one of his to Kristin. "Rocky road for you, Doc."

Miguel handed his second cone to Nathan. "Captain, we took you for abutter pecan type."

"Perfect," said Nathan licking the ice cream.

Ford, Lucas, Ortiz and O'Neil joined them on the wall. "We couldn't have the celebration without you two, Captain," said Tim.

"Thank you, Mr. O'Neil, I appreciate that," Nathan acknowledge and grinned across at Kristin.

The three men met in a park this time. Doran glanced at the military man with a somewhat disgusted look on his face.

"So, you're going to be able to keep an eye on where he is. How does that help?"

The man sighed and explained like he was talking to a child. "Two good things. One, Bridger is confined to the base. That limits his ability to get places and see people… and for that matter pretty soon he'll find out that his ability to contact people is rather, shall we say, constrained." He smiled a rather humorless smile. "And secondly, it's upsetting him. He doesn't understand why he's confined and that has him off balance."

"Isn't that going to make him more wary?"

"It won't help him," said the man confidently. "We've started that ball rolling downhill… and it's going to take Bridger along with it."

The third man had sat silently with his arms folded across his chest. "And people will forget to ask why the seabed failed?" he asked quietly.

The man nodded his head. "Yup… the world will be too busy talking about Nathan Bridger and how he managed to destroy a billion dollar boat for no reason at all to even think about what happened beforehand."

Chapter 14 - The Righteousness of the Law

Nathan Bridger arrived at his office finally a little after one in the afternoon. He had just sat down at his desk and started pouring over the waiting reports when Cassie called him and asked him to stop down to see the Secretary General. Cassie looked up at him as he entered the office and gave him a rueful smile.

"Nathan, I'm sorry."

"Ah, Cassie, not your fault at all. You warned me." He returned her sad smile. "I was the one who had to get pig-headed and take yesterday afternoon off too."

Cassie inclined her head towards the office door. "He's ready to see you."

"Thanks," Nathan said as he walked over and knocked on Noyce's door before opening it.

Bill Noyce was sitting in one of the comfortable chairs at the end of his office. Sitting next to him was a young Navy Lieutenant Commander who stood as Bridger entered.

Noyce was all smiles. "Nathan, come on over and meet someone. Captain Nathan Bridger, this is Lieutenant Commander Toby Hennesy." He indicated seats for both of them. "Commander Hennesy is with JAG and I thought you just might be needing a lawyer."

"Yeah, I'm afraid I do." He looked over at Noyce. "Do you know the latest developments?"

Noyce frowned and nodded his head. "I had nothing to do with that, Nathan."

Bridger smiled reassuringly. "I never imagined that you did, Bill... and honestly that made it a bit more disconcerting."

"Latest developments?" asked Hennesy.

"I've been confined to the base, required to carry a locator and I just got done with a five hour psychiatric evaluation," Bridger commented evenly.

"Oooh... not good. Why the confinement, Captain?"

Bridger made a face. "The Court couldn't find me a couple of times they wanted to so this is their way of ensuring that I behave, I guess."

While Nathan had talked, Noyce had stood and went over to his desk. He returned with a paper in his hand. "And I think you probably want to see this, Nathan."

Nathan quickly read over the document and then glanced at Noyce who had his eyes glued to the floor before reading through it again. After reading it through the second time Nathan straightened in his chair and cleared his throat. He held the paper out for Hennesy. "You might want to read this before you decide to take on this case, Commander."

Hennesy took the sheet and he also read it through once before glancing up at Bridger and then looked down to read it again with a frown on his face. He thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "Interesting set of charges, Captain. Wanton & willful destruction of UEO property, unjustified hazarding of your vessel, intentional and needless sinking of a vessel in your command, endangering your crew, unwarranted endangerment of your shuttle crew, failure to exercise due care, failure to prevent ecological damage, and entering a hazardous zone with undue haste." Hennesy stared at the paper for a moment before looking up at Bridger. "Who did you piss off, sir?"

Bridger shook his head slowly. "I have no idea, Commander... I have no damned idea." Bridger took the sheet back from Hennesy. "However, in light of this, I'll give you the option of reconsidering agreeing to be my counsel."

Hennesy stared at the paper in Bridger's hand and then looked up at the man. "Captain, in light of that... I'd be honored if you'd let me represent you."

Bridger's mouth curled into a smile and he leaned towards Noyce. "Has he always been this crazy?"

Noyce grinned back at Bridger. "Yup. He's a nice kid... but a little crazy."

Nathan moved his smile over to Hennesy. "Sounds like you'll fit in just fine, Commander." He stood and shook hands with Noyce. "Thanks, Bill." Then he turned towards Hennesy. "Commander, if you want to wander down to my office, I've got copies of all of our reports you can review."

Two hours later Hennesy rubbed his eyes and turned towards where Bridger was making notations on reports about the building of the new boat. "This is everything, Captain?"

Nathan looked up at him. "Um hmm. That's all of it so far."

Hennesy leaned back in his chair and thoughtfully rubbed his chin again. "It doesn't look to me like you had much in the way of options."

"Nope," Bridger simply said.

"Is there any more that you're not telling me?"

Nathan put his reading glasses on the table and also leaned back in his chair. "Not on my side. I think the only thing that isn't in the reports that you should probably know is that Dr. Westphalen and I are... um... seeing each other."

"I see," said Hennesy noncommittally. "And this relationship began before or after the seaQuest was sunk?"

"Before... the evening before."

"Um hmm," Hennesy was obviously debating about how far to take this questioning. He took one more step. "Is this an intimate relationship, sir?"

Bridger leaned his elbows on the arms of the chair and then rested his chin on his hands. A small smile crossed his face. "No... not yet."

Hennesy nodded slightly. "Alright. Sir, I've read your report but what I'd like you to do is to walk me through it... from beginning to end."

"Define beginning."

"Where were you when you first heard about the problem at the power project?"

"In the wardroom. Commander Ford called me to tell me. He had reached Noyce on E-Band and conferenced us."

"Let's back up the beginning a little more. What were you doing in the wardroom?"

Bridger smiled again. "Trying to have dinner with Dr.Westphalen... we're not very good at that... people keep interrupting us."

"Alright, sir, let's move ahead from there."

Nathan leaned forward in his chair and for the next two hours went through the events preceding the sinking step by step. Hennesy stopped him occasionally for a question or clarification and at the end he was contemplatively nodding his head. "What caused the break-up of the seabed around the project?"

"I don't know, Commander. Doctor Raleigh Young has a team out there right now trying to figure that out. The assumption I'm hearing is that there was what's called a magma infusion chamber under the windmills." Hennesy looked confused and Bridger explained. "Normally, magma flows up through weak spots and cracks in the seabed until it comes out either in a volcano or possibly a hot smoker but the theory is that sometimes there can be horizontal weaknesses in the bedrock where the magma flows sideways essentially creating a river of lava below the surface. They're calling that a magma infusion chamber." Hennesy nodded his understanding. "When the windmills were started up they naturally created a harmonic vibration which was transferred down into the seabed through their towers. Since the vibration was harmonic and not discordant or off-beat it created a rippling of the seabed. Similar to the films you see of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge just before it fell into the river. That rippling of the seabed caused it to crack and expose the river of lava below the surface."

"Strangely enough, sir, I understand," Hennesy said with a little smile.

"The hard part is that the currents which made that particular place on the seabed a good place to put the windmills were probably influenced by the heat of the magma just below the surface."

Hennesy nodded again. "So what made the area good for the windmills also was what destroyed it when the windmills were turned on."

"Exactly."

There was a knock on the office door and Kristin stuck her head in. "Excuse me... but are you planning on spending the whole evening here? ...because, if so, Lucas and I are going to go find someone more interesting to eat with."

Nathan smiled and stood, motioning Kristin into the room. "No we're almost done. Kris, I'd like you to meet Lt. Commander Toby Hennesy, he's going to be my mouthpiece. Commander, Dr. Kristin Westphalen."

Kristin's face lit up in a genuine smile. She liked the look of this young attorney and was very glad that Nathan had finally gotten some legal help. She put her hand out for a handshake. "Commander, it's very nice to meet you."

"Same here, Doctor." Hennesy looked over at Bridger. "Captain, sometime, if I can I also need to interview your staff to get a few other perspectives."

"Not a problem, Commander. Although I think you might have a bit of a problem finding them over the weekend..," Bridger grinned, "for some reason they've got it in their heads that they really deserve these two days off."

Kristin was frowning at Nathan, she had picked up on the raspiness of his voice and broke in on any comment the Commander might make. "Nathan, you sound like you've been talking all afternoon."

He smiled that infuriating smile at her. "Yup, and all morning too for that matter."

She slipped her arm into his and looked over at the Commander. "Commander, I'm sorry but he's outta here, now," she said insistently.

Hennesy smiled back at her. "Sounds like a good idea, Doctor." He looked at Bridger as he slowly shook his head at Kristin. "Where do I find you if I need you this weekend, sir?"

Bridger grinned over at him. "Oh, I'm not going anywhere. Probably here or at the BOQ."

"You're not working all weekend," Kristin insisted quickly.

Nathan grinned knowingly at her. "We'll talk about it," he said as he piloted her through the door tossing his goodnight to Hennesy.

Chapter 15 - Fires Alight Again

Lucas plopped down into a chair on the balcony checking out the weather and the view. From the looks of it, this was going to be one nice Saturday. "Nice day."

"Yeah," Nathan said taking a sip of coffee from his cup. "I thought you were going out with the guys today."

"Maybe," Lucas shrugged. "I'm not sure yet."

Bridger glanced over at the boy. "You feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't really want to spend your whole day sitting around here, do you?"

Lucas shrugged again. "It just doesn't feel right leaving you alone all day."

Nathan smiled over at him reassuringly. "Trust me, Lucas, I'll find something to keep me busy."

"Probably planning on spending your whole day at work, I bet," Lucas frowned.

"Actually, after you left I was going to lie down and take a nap."

"Really?"

"Uh huh. I figured I could use the sleep." He raised his cup and took another drink of coffee. "So if you stick around here, you're going to keep me awake."

Lucas frowned again and got up as he heard a knock on the door. He went in to the living room and returned with Miguel and Tim behind him.

"Good morning, Captain. How're you feeling?" Tim asked.

"I'm getting there, Mr. O'Neil," Nathan sighed. "What are you guys going to do today?"

"Well, we thought we'd check out that new water park they just opened up and then see what we can find in the way of places to eat."

"Ah, that's Lucas' favorite sport... eating," Nathan teased. He was rewarded with a genuine smile from the boy. Nathan got up and walked towards the door with the young men.

Lucas picked up his gym bag on the way through the living room. "You sure you're not going spend the whole day at work?" he asked Nathan.

"I'm going to take a nap, Lucas" Nathan reassured him.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Alright," Lucas said heading for the door.

"Have a good time," Nathan said to them as they walked out.

"Have a nice nap," Lucas countered.

"I will," Nathan said and shut the door. "Then I'll go to work," he said to himself.

Shortly after noon Nathan Bridger walked into the office he had been assigned at the Pearl Harbor UEO Headquarters building. In one hand he held a cardboard tray with the sandwich and carton of milk he'd picked up from the cafeteria and in the other he had the hard copy of several recent reports relating to the building of the new seaQuest. He was only a little surprised to see Lieutenant Commander Toby Hennesy sitting at his desk and frowning at the computer terminal in front of him. Hennesy looked up at Bridger as he came into the office and started to stand up. Bridger shook his head at him.

"Stay there, Commander. I don't need the desk." He shouldered the door to the adjoining conference room open and put the papers and his lunch down on the table in that room. He returned to the office and regarded the young lawyer busy at work. "So... you don't have life either, Commander?" he teased.

"I'm afraid not, sir," Hennesy smiled. "I figured that this would be a good time to get some work done and not be bothered by the rest of the world."

"Sounds good to me," Bridger said leaning over the desk to grab a tube leaning against the wall. He returned to the conference room and Hennesy saw him slide a packet of blueprints out and spread them on the table.

"That looks pretty primitive, sir."

Bridger looked up from the blueprints and grinned. "It is, Commander. They figured that there wasn't much point in putting a DDT into the room for the month or so that I'll be here."

"DDT?" Hennesy asked.

"Digital Drafting Table. It interfaces with the computer and projects the drawing onto the table then it allows me to make changes right from the table."

"That's cool."

"Yeah, but for now, and since I won't be making any real changes until we get to New Cape Quest, this will work." Bridger busied himself inspecting and making notes about the plans for the new boat while Hennesy returned to the work he'd been doing.

For the next several hours Hennesy noted that the Captain was turning the blueprints back and forth and making copious notes. For his part, Bridger noticed that the young lawyer was flipping through the rather large pile of papers he had already accumulated and making entries in his computer. He noticed that the young man was frowning more and more as he worked. Finally, Bridger's curiosity got the better of him.

"Is it that bad, Commander?"

Hennesy looked up sharply from the computer that he'd been staring at. "Sir?"

"From the looks of your frown, I'm in serious trouble," Nathan smiled.

"Honestly, I don't know yet, sir," Hennesy said still frowning at the computer. "I'm just trying to sort some things out really." He leaned back in his chair and finally looked at Bridger. "There's just a few things that don't seem to be what I'd expect."

"Like what?"

"Like I've been trying to contact Doctor Young's team and I'm coming up with either no response or the mail to them or us is being filtered."

Nathan frowned and got up to come into the office. "What do you mean 'filtered'?"

Hennesy shrugged. "I can't tell if they're not answering us or if our mail to them isn't getting to them."

"That's a disturbing concept."

Hennesy shrugged again. "Then again, maybe it's just that it's the weekend... I don't know... it's just a little unsettling."

"What's unsettling?" Kristin asked coming through the office door.

Nathan grinned over at her as she walked up and slid her arm around his waist. "This whole mess is unsettling." He gave her a little squeeze around the waist. "Hi."

Kristin placed a quick kiss on his lips. "Hi there. How did I know that I'd find you here?"

"Probably because you checked the BOQ first and I wasn't there and there isn't a whole lot of places for me to go these days."

"Well, yes, there is that. I figured I'd check and see if you wanted to go to dinner."

"Sure... let's see," Nathan said factiously. "How about we go to the Officer's Club."

Kristin played right along with the game. "Oh, what a concept... we haven't been there for... what? ...24 hours," she grinned.

"Yeah, it's either that or the bowling alley."

Kristin wrinkled her nose, "I think I'll go for the O Club."

Bridger looked over at Hennesy. "Care to join us, Commander."

"Thanks much, sir, but I've got a date," he looked at his watch, "in about one hour."

"Have a nice time," Kristin told him and then turned to Nathan and her voice got a severe tone. "Time to go, Bridger."

"Yes, ma'am," Nathan said with a grin and a wink to Commander Hennesy. "Have nice a nice evening, Commander."

"You too, sir, Doctor," the young man smiled after them as they left the office.

Nathan held open the car door for Kristin and then went around to take his seat in the passenger side. She noticed how he rubbed his back on the seat when he sat and looked at him curiously.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Nathan said sliding his back on the seat again. "It's just that everything itches."

"That means that your burns are healing... don't scratch."

"I know... it still itches though."

"What kind of lotion did they give you to put on it?"

Nathan looked over at her with a little frown. "They didn't give me any kind of lotion."

Kristin shook her head and turned the key to start the car. "Alright, first stop is the store to pick up some lotion."

After a quick stop at the Navy Exchange to purchase the lotion, Nathan and Kristin went up to Nathan's rooms at the Bachelor Officers Quarters so she could put it on his burns.

"This is nice," Kristin said looking around the suite.

"Yeah, Lucas and I each have a room and we've got a place to cook if we want and a balcony to sit out on. What more could you ask for?"

"Where's Lucas?"

"He, Tim and Miguel went to a water park and then just wandering around. I don't expect they'll get back until 9 or so."

"Good for them. He can probably use getting off the base for awhile."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

Kristin pointed over to the couch. "Why don't you sit on the couch and I'll get this stuff on your burns."

Nathan walked over to the couch and started unbuttoning his shirt. "What's in that stuff?"

"Oh, it's got aloe to moisturize the skin and an antiseptic to help with the healing."

"Oh, goody," Nathan said slipping his shirt off and sitting sideways on the couch.

Kristin sat behind him and squirted some of the lotion onto her hand as she inspected his back. "For what it's worth, it looks like you're healing nicely." Nathan just nodded and then jumped a little as she started to spread the lotion on his back. "Sorry," Kristin mumbled. "Did that sting?"

"No, it was just a little cold." Nathan tried to relax as he noted that the initial coolness of the lotion had been replaced by a definite warm feeling as Kristin's hands gently soothed the lotion into his skin.

"Is it alright now?" Kristin asked tilting her head a little so she could look around his shoulder.

Nathan looked back at her and took a deep breath. "Yeah, it's fine... much better now," he said shortly and then closed his eyes and just concentrated on the luxurious feeling of Kristin's hands caressing his back.

Because of the burns to his lungs Kristin had been keeping note of the general state of Nathan's breathing and she was listening for the occasional raspiness and light wheezing that he'd developed. What she noted now was that his breathing had speeded up as she touched him and he gasped slightly as she slid her hands down his back. Her fingers passed gently over the strong muscles of his shoulders and his upper arms soothing the lotion into his skin that still was tinged a little red from the burns. Absently she noted that her own breathing had also increased and become a bit more labored.

"If you turn around I could get the burns on your chest," she said softly.

Nathan nodded and turned until he was facing her. Kristin steadfastly refused to look him in the eyes but instead focused her attention on applying the lotion to his chest, shoulders and the front of his upper arms and neck. For his part, Nathan kept his hands resting on his legs although Kristin noted that he slid them under his legs as she continued like he needed to control them. As she smoothed the lotion on his neck she saw that he was lightly biting down on his lower lip. She moved down to his shoulders and arms and then she squirted some lotion on her hands to apply to his chest. She rubbed it between her hands first to warm it up and then listened to his small sigh as she moved her hands along the firm muscles. She finally looked at his face and saw that he'd shut his eyes.

As if he knew she was watching him, he opened his eyes and looked at her. Kristin quickly dropped her gaze to where her hands were gently smoothing in the lotion. Nathan brought one hand up and he used the back of his fingers to stroke her cheek. She slowly raised her eyes to meet his and then held her breath as his lips slowly came down to meet hers.

The touch of his lips, first lightly and then again with more pressure caused a feeling almost like an electric spark to course through her body. She slid her hands around to again caress the muscles of his back as she felt his arms encircle her and pull her tight to him.

Her mind slipped back to a week ago. 'Good Lord,' she thought, 'was it only a week ago?' And the passionate, almost desperate embraces that they'd shared in his quarters aboard the seaQuest. She leaned her head back as his lips traced the curve of her jaw and traveled down to the base of her neck. She felt the almost burning touch of his hand slip up under her shirt and move over her back. His lips moved back up her neck and chin and their lips met again, in a kiss even more passionate than the first. She moaned a little as she felt the touch of his tongue on her lips and she opened her mouth to accept his touch, to weave her own tongue with his and deepen their kiss. She felt his hand slip between them and loosen the buttons of her shirt before sliding around in a gentle caress as it joined his other hand on her back and he pulled them closer, skin to skin. He leaned into her and lightly pressed her down onto the couch with him lying next to her. Lying next to her kissing her cheek, nuzzling her ear, moving his lips down to anoint her neck with light kisses and then moving down to the valley of her chest as she wove her fingers through his hair and stroked his shoulders and back. Their breathing became faster and more desperate as their touches became more intimate. Kristin closed her eyes and moaned as Nathan's hand gently brushed her breast.

And the vid-phone chimed.

"God damn it," Nathan said in a heartfelt voice.

The vid-phone chimed again.

Nathan raised his head and glanced at Kristin with a resigned look before getting up off the couch and going around it to get to the phone. He took a quick look back at the couch and noted that Kristin had stayed lying down so she wasn't visible to the phone.

"Any bets on it being one of those assholes from security?" he said in an irritated voice. He heard her light chuckle as he pressed the connection button.

Lucas' face filled the vid-screen as the boy first looked at him expectantly and then with a concerned look. "Hi, sir. I didn't disturb your nap did I?"

Nathan smiled a little and shook his head. "No, you didn't wake me up. What's up?"

"I wanted to let you know that we're going to go see a movie after we eat so I won't be back until about 10:30 or 11."

"You've got a key, right?"

"Yes, sir. I've got a key."

"Alright, no problem. Thanks for letting me know." He smiled at the boy again. It looked like he was enjoying his day off. "Have a good time."

Lucas smiled back at him. "Thanks, sir. See ya later." The vid-phone connection terminated as Nathan saw Lucas reach towards the connection button.

Nathan walked back to the couch where Kristin had now sat up and was grinning at him. "He is really getting good at that, isn't he?" Nathan said with a sigh sitting down next to her.

"Umm hmmm," Kristin nodded with a small smile.

A pensive look covered Nathan's face as he slid one hand over her thigh and then he looked up at her. "Let's not do this right now."

Kristin brought her hand up to stroke the side of his face. "We're not ready yet, are we?"

He shook his head ruefully. "No."

She chuckled, "Lucas saves us from ourselves once again."

"Yeah," Nathan said reaching for his shirt. "Feel like dinner?"

"I feel like a cold shower," Kristin grinned at him as she buttoned up her shirt, "but I'll settle for dinner."

Kristin and Nathan had walked over to the Officer's Club for their dinner and a little over an hour later walked back to the BOQ where Kristin had parked her car. They stood talking at the car unaware of the two men in another car across the parking lot watching them intently.

The man in the passenger seat took a sip from his coffee cup and frowned at the couple. "What the hell does she see in him?"

The driver shrugged. "I don't know... I've heard he has a bunch of bucks. Maybe she's after him for his money."

"I suppose," the passenger groused. "Holy Christ," he mumbled as Bridger and Westphalen moved closer and shared a passionate kiss. "They keep that up and he's gonna need new dental work."

The driver chuckled and then became more serious. "Might be useful, though."

"What?"

"Obviously they're more than just friends. She could be another chink in Bridger's armor."

"Hmm?"

The driver tore his gaze away from the kissing couple and looked over at the passenger. "We might be able to use her against him... you know, put some more pressure on him by using her."

The passenger grinned. "Yeah, I bet we could come up with a way to do that....." He also chuckled a little. "Might be kind of interesting," he said in an ominous voice.

Chapter 16 - Swimming Among God's Creatures

"So what time did you finally get in?" Bridger asked from his normal morning position sitting on the balcony drinking coffee.

Lucas got a slightly panicked look on his face. "Um... a little after 11." He glanced nervously at Nathan. "Was that alright?"

"Yeah, we talked about this. You're curfew is midnight on Friday and Saturday and 11 the rest of the week. So you were fine." He noted that Lucas visibly relaxed. It was almost painful to watch how the boy did his best not to upset him. "Did you have a good time?"

A beaming smile lit up his face and Lucas nodded. "Yeah, we did. It was fun." He hesitated a moment, "I kind of expected to see you up when I got in last night."

"Well, you were with Tim and Miguel. I don't think I'm going to worry about you too much when you're out with them." He stretched his back a little. "Believe it or not, I fell asleep a little after 10 last night and I slept like a rock all night."

That brought another smile to Lucas' face. "Good, you needed it."

Nathan nodded. "So what's on your plate today?"

Lucas sat down in one of the chairs around the balcony table. "Do you mind if I hang around with you today?" he asked shyly.

"Only if you *don't* want to go into work... because I don't plan on getting anywhere near the place if I can avoid it." Lucas nodded with a grin. "I don't know about you, kiddo, but at the moment I'm hungry."

"Is the O Club open on Sunday mornings?"

"I don't know," Nathan said getting up and motioning the boy to follow him as he headed out of their suite. "Either way, it's not the best place to get breakfast in the morning anyways."

"Where's the best place," Lucas grinned.

"The Galley," Bridger pronounced as they exited the elevator.

"The mess hall?"

Nathan fixed him with a slightly offended frown. "In the Navy we call it a Galley... not a Mess Hall."

"Alright, in the Galley?"

"Yeah, they make a great breakfast." By now they were walking across the parking lot towards the Galley which only a couple of blocks away. "It's either that or the cafeteria at Headquarters, and I don't know about you but I'm getting tired of that particular building."

"But are they gonna let us eat at the Galley? I mean I'm a civilian and you're an officer."

Nathan leaned a little towards the boy. "Lucas, they'll let anyone eat there as long as you're willing to pay," he said conspiratorially. He pulled the door of the Galley open for Lucas and followed him in. After going through the check-in line and then the serving line, Lucas and Bridger found a table to themselves at the edge of the room.

"So what are we going to do today?" Lucas asked around a forkful of scrambled eggs.

Nathan speared a few pieces of pancakes and smiled over at him. "Well, how about after we get done here we head back and get our gloves and throw a ball around for a while."

"Sounds good to me," Lucas said with an excited grin.

"Then I can take a nap," he smiled at the boy's approving nod, "and you can take one too if you want. Then after that how about we go swimming and see if Darwin finds us."

"That would be great, sir."

"Alright, that's our plan for the day then."

They spent the better part of two hours tossing the baseball around with Bridger becoming more and more impressed with the natural ease and accuracy that Lucas had when throwing. It was a shame that he'd never been on a team above Little League since Nathan was sure any high school or college would have loved to get their hands on a kid who could pitch like Lucas could. They only stopped when Lucas started to notice that Bridger was slowing down.

"I think it's time for your nap, sir," Lucas said coming towards the older man with the baseball in his hand.

"Yeah," Nathan nodded discouragingly, "it's hell getting old."

Lucas smiled over at him as they walked back to the BOQ. "Ah, you're not old.... but you are still hurt."

When they got upstairs to their rooms Lucas decided that a nap didn't sound like a half-bad idea and both he and Bridger headed to their room to catch some sleep. An hour later Lucas was awake but Bridger slept for another hour and it was probably only the squawking of a rather loud sea gull on the balcony that eventually did rouse him from his nap.

He came into the living room to find Lucas watching a ball game on the vid-screen. "Who's playing?"

"Red Sox and the Giants. Sox are winning."

"Good." Nathan stood and watched the game for just a little while. "You wanna try to go swimming?"

Lucas jumped up from the couch. Only then did Nathan notice that he was already wearing his swim trunks. "Ready anytime you are."

"So I see." Nathan headed into his room and emerged a few minutes later in his trunks and a t-shirt with a towel over his shoulder. He was holding his locator in his hand. "I wonder if this sucker is water-resistant."

Lucas frowned. "I wouldn't expect so, to tell you the truth."

"Me neither," he shrugged. "What the heck, we'll ask the experts." Nathan wandered over to the vid-phone and dialed a number. In a short time his call was answered by a serious looking young sailor.

"Pearl Harbor Security, Petty Officer Brysom, can I help you, sir?"

"Petty Officer Brysom I'm Captain Bridger. Is there a security duty officer available?"

"Yes, Captain. Lieutenant Ahns has the duty today."

"Could I speak with him or her?"

"Let me see if he's available, sir." The petty officer turned from the screen and Bridger could see her having a quick discussion with someone off camera. Shortly afterwards another young security member, this time a tall black man wearing lieutenant bars came in front of the camera.

"Good afternoon, Captain. How can I help you?"

"Lieutenant, are you aware of my locator situation?" Bridger held his locator up.

"Yes, sir. I've been briefed on your confinement."

Nathan smiled shortly. That was a more than indelicate way to put it. "I want to go swimming. Do you know if this thing is water-resistant or do I need to do something with it?"

A genuine look of puzzlement covered the young lieutenant's face. "To tell you the truth, sir, I'm not actually sure. If you could hang on a moment while I check with someone else...."

"Sure," Nathan said as he leaned back on the couch and folded his arms. He glanced quickly over at Lucas. The boy was watching him with a look that mixed curiosity and incomprehension. A few quick moments passed before the lieutenant reappeared on Bridger's screen.

"Sir, I've checked with a couple of other people and the locator should be just fine in the water."

"Good," Nathan pushed himself up off the back of the couch. "Just in case it doesn't work like it should I'll be in the water right off of the BOQ."

The lieutenant nodded. "Alright, sir." His face faded as Bridger pressed the disconnect button and then glanced over at Lucas again. The boy noticed that he had a small smile on his face.

"Um, sir," Lucas started uncertainly. "There's no way that locator is water-resistant."

Bridger grabbed his towel again and slipped the locator over the waistband of his trunks. "Yeah, I know."

"Then why did you call them?"

"Because I checked, Lucas. So when this thing breaks when I go in the water it's not my fault."

Lucas shook his head as he followed Bridger out of the suite. "You have a very convoluted mind sometimes, sir."

"Yeah, I know," Bridger grinned back at him.

They'd only been in the water for about 15 minutes when Nathan felt a bump on his back. He looked around behind him and was greeted with Darwin's smiling face chattering up at him. He and Lucas played with the dolphin for a while before the children who were at the beach started coming over to see if they could join in the fun. A rousing game of keep-away developed with Lucas' shirt taking the place of a ball. The crowd played for almost an hour before Lucas noted that if Bridger didn't get out of the sun he'd end up with burns on top of his burns. Reluctantly the participants said their goodbyes to Darwin and everyone started to leave the water.

"Uh oh," Lucas said as he spied four uniformed security personnel on the beach including Lieutenant Ahns.

"You think they want to see me?" Nathan asked factiously.

"I don't think they want to see Darwin," Lucas answered saucily.

Bridger walked up out of the water. "You looking for me, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, sir," Ahns said with a serious look on his face. "Do you still have that locator?"

"Right here," Nathan said pulling the black box off of his trunks and showing it to him.

Ahns took the locator from his hand. "It would appear that it wasn't as water-resistant as we thought."

"Really?" Nathan noticed that Lucas was having a hard time keeping a straight face.

"Here," the lieutenant handed Bridger another black box. "Use this one, sir."

"You sure that's okay, Lieutenant?"

Ahns nodded impatiently. He wasn't quite sure if Bridger was playing with him or not but he had a suspicion that the Captain had known all the time that water would fry the locator. "It's all set up for you, sir. You're still confined to base."

"Okay," Nathan said cheerfully. "Anything else?"

"No, sir."

"Great," Nathan grinned as he walked by the lieutenant and his crew. "Have a nice evening."

"You too, sir," Ahns said watching his retreating back suspiciously.

They made it all the way to the elevator before Lucas and Nathan broke up in laughter.

"That was great," Lucas managed to choke out.

"Did you see his face when we got out of the water? ...gotta love it," Nathan grinned. The two of them changed their clothes and went in search of decent food on base on a Sunday night.

About a half hour later they returned to the BOQ with discouraged looks on their faces.

"Well, unless you're up to the chicken surprise at the Galley, we're out of places to eat," Lucas grumbled.

Nathan stopped at the door to the building. "How about Perrino's?"

"They're off base, sir."

"I know."

Lucas shook his head. "I'm not helping you break confinement, sir."

Nathan grinned back at him as he headed for the vid-phone at the front desk. "Who said anything about breaking confinement? I bet they deliver."

Chapter 17 - Rules of the Proceedings

Lucas and Bridger grabbed their breakfast from the cafeteria at Headquarters Building before heading up to work the next morning. By the time they arrived many of the seaQuest crew were already hard at work in the conference room. The various sections had split off and were in serious discussions or were intently reviewing the many production reports.

"Good morning, Commander," Nathan said patting Jonathan Ford on the shoulder.

"Good morning, Captain. How was your weekend?"

"Much better than the last one, Jonathan. How was yours."

"It was great, sir," the younger man grinned. "I did absolutely nothing all weekend. It was wonderful."

"I bet," Nathan smiled. He nodded towards the reports lying all over the table. "Anything exciting here?"

For the next couple of hours Bridger went over a review with each crew member in the room about their assigned areas of interest. Then he sat down with Jonathan and several other people and reviewed the notes that he'd collected on Saturday when he'd come into work. Alight knock was heard on the door of the conference room and Ortiz opened it to a commander who was asking to see Bridger.

"Cap, there's a Commander Zout here to see you."

Bridger looked up from the other side of the table where he was standing reviewing blueprints. "Yes, Commander?"

"I'm from Security, sir."

"Okay," Nathan nodded and pointed to the side. "My office."

They went into the office where Lucas was busily pounding away on the terminal. He looked up as they came in. "Can I use the office for a moment?" Nathan asked.

Lucas stood quickly, shutting down his screen and moving towards the conference room. "Sure, no problem." The boy shut the door as he left.

Fifteen minutes later the door to the office opened again and the Commander left without saying a word and a short time later Bridger came out of the office with a pensive look on his face.

"Is everything alright, sir?" Lucas asked quietly.

Nathan roused himself a little. "Yeah, ...yeah, it's alright," he said in an absent voice.

"No more locator, sir?" O'Neil asked hopefully.

Bridger looked down to where he'd been wearing the small black locator box. "Not exactly." He sighed and then shrugged his shoulders and brought one foot up to rest on the seat of a chair. When he pulled his pants leg up they could see that the locator box had been replaced with an ankle locator that was permanently attached.

"That's the kind of locator they put on criminals, sir," Lucas exclaimed in an offended voice.

Nathan shrugged again as he lowered his leg. "At least the damned thing is waterproof." He looked over at Lucas and put his hand on his shoulder. "Nothing much we can do about it, Lucas." He shook his head. "Come on... let's go find some lunch."

The afternoon was spent working more on the new seaQuest and in vid-conference with Commander Del Trailor who was the project manager in New Cape Quest. Shortly after three Lieutenant Commander Toby Hennessy showed up.

"Got some time for me, sir?" he asked Bridger.

"For you I have all sorts of time, Commander, let's use my place." They moved into Nathan's small office and sat down. Hennessy looked
a little nervous.

"You know the Court starts the day after tomorrow, sir."

"I know. Are we ready?"

"No, sir," Hennessy said frankly.

"Why not?"

"I can't get anywhere, sir. Every time I try to contact anyone or get any information I'm running into brick walls."

Nathan leaned back a little in his chair. "What kind of information are you trying to get?"

Hennessy sighed. "I'm trying to contact Doctor Young's team and I can't get through. I try to contact Doctor Wolenczak and I'm told that he can't be reached. I try to get a copy of your ship's log for period in question and I'm told that I'm not authorized to see it. I try to get it in your name and I'm told that you can't see it either."

"How can I not see it? It was my boat and I signed it," Nathan said more calmly than Hennessy expected.

"I don't know, sir. It doesn't make sense to me. And let me ask you something. Have you received any mail in the last few days?"

Nathan thought for a moment. "No, now that you mention it, I don't think I have."

"I didn't think so," Hennessy leaned forward a little. "I think your mail's being blocked, sir."

"Isn't that illegal?"

"It's supposed to be, sir," Hennessy said in a frustrated voice.

Nathan stared out the window a moment. "Let me try to get my ship's log." Nathan leaned forward and signed onto the computer. As he was typing he was also talking to Hennessy. "What else are you trying to get?"

"Copies of the transmissions between you, the Secretary General and Commander Ford on E-Band. The records of the construction of the power plant. Maintenance records on the seaQuest and the shuttles. The information on the power plant and the seabed area around it that the seaQuest transmitted before you abandoned ship."

"Why the info on the construction and the maintenance records?"

"Just trying cover all bases. I'm not sure what tack the Court is going to take but considering the list of probable charges I figured it would be better to be prepared."

Nathan frowned at the computer and punched some more buttons. "You're right. I can't get to the log... and I can't get access to the maintenance records either." He leaned back again and stared at the computer a moment before looking at Hennessy. "You really need these records?"

"Yes, sir."

"Have you asked the Court for access?"

"Yes, sir, I did that this morning."

"And?"

"And at this time the Court has refused my request saying it wasn't relevant." Hennessy watched Bridger for just a moment before checking on something. "Sir, do you understand the nature of a Court of Inquiry?"

"I thought I did. Perhaps you should enlighten me."

Hennessy nodded. "It's not court in the way you're used to... it's administrative.... really an investigative body. They can, and this one has been directed to, recommend if any charges should be placed against the parties involved in the inquiry." Hennessy stopped and chewed on his bottom lip. "You're the only person who has been designated as a party to this Court... I didn't expect that."

"Why not."

"In the case of a loss of a ship I would expect that at the least anyone who had command of the bridge during the time would have been named as a party which would have included Commander Ford and you. For that matter, from the looks of what I've heard you two never officially transferred command of the bridge so it could be argued that he still was in command for the whole time but he hasn't been named at all." Hennessy stopped for a moment and sighed. "For that matter, an argument could be made that Doctor Wolenczak could be named a party but he hasn't. They're keying on you... and only you."

"What's the significance of being named a party?"

"It makes your conduct the main focus of the investigation and while it affords you the services of a counsel..."

"You," Nathan grinned.

"Yes, sir, me. While it affords you a counsel it also looks like the focus of this court will be to collect evidence to use against you in a court martial. It'll allow us the luxury of seeing at least some of the evidence but at the same time it can skew public opinion and the evidence itself against you pretty severely... and honestly sir, that's what it looks like right now."

"Who collects the evidence?"

"The counsel for the Court. That's Commander Trina Coslow."

"Oh really?" Nathan said with raised eyebrows.

"I have this feeling that you know the Commander," Hennessy said cautiously.

Nathan stood and went to look out the window. "Ummm hmmm. I was one of her instructors at the Academy."

"Any problems?"

"Other than the fact that I refused her rather obvious advances... no."

"She made a move on you?"

Nathan turned to Hennessy and grimaced. "She made several of them."

"And you didn't do anything about it?"

"No. She was having some problems. Her father had just died," he leaned back against the window and crossed his arms. "And I'm not so sure that I didn't," he hesitated, "accidentally encourage it." Hennessy raised his eyebrows and Nathan shrugged. "I didn't quite catch what was going on in the beginning and it wasn't until someone pointed it out to me that I understood what she was doing. She was pretty upset when I let her know in no uncertain terms that I didn't mess around... especially with mids."

Hennessy grinned a little. "If her advances were so obvious, how come you didn't notice them?"

"Cause I'm kinda naive that way," Nathan said with a disparaging tone.

Nathan stared at the floor in front of him. After a while he seemed to rouse himself and again looked at Hennessy. "How bad do you need the info that you can't get?"

Hennessy shrugged. "I'd consider it essential, sir."

"Okay, I bet we can get it for you," Nathan nodded. He headed for the conference room door as Hennessy frowned at him questioningly. Opening the door he stuck his head out. "Lucas?" Hennessy saw him motion the boy over and stand back from the door.

"Yes, sir?" Lucas said coming into the office. Bridger shut the door behind him.

"Have a seat," Nathan said motioning him to the chair at the desk. Lucas sat hesitantly. "The Commander here is having some trouble contacting people and getting ahold of some records," he grinned at the boy. "I figure you might be able to help."

Lucas rubbed his hands together and looked at Hennessy with a little grin. "Let me know what you need, sir."

"How's he gonna help?" Hennessy asked Nathan.

"Commander, you are in the presence of probably the best hacker in the world. If Lucas can't get the information you need, no one can."

"You tell me what you want and I'll find it," Lucas said confidently. Hennessy glanced quickly up at Bridger, nodded and pulled his chair closer to the boy.