Chapter 18 - Righteousness on the Information Highway
 

"You think you can pull this off?" the man in the uniform asked Commander Trina Coslow.

The trim looking officer turned from the window she had been looking out.  "I don't see any problems," Coslow said.

"The Court's counsel is supposed to be impartial.  How do you figure you can maintain impartiality if you're burying Bridger?"

"It all keys on what information you allow to get admitted.  You take care of keeping the evidence geared towards Bridger only and I'll take care of the tone of the proceedings."

The older man's smile was cold.  "It's amazing how many enemies that Bridger has managed to collect over the years, isn't it."  He saw the woman's answering smile.  "Why you?"

"Just consider me a woman spurned," she said bitterly.

"Then I also question Bridger's taste," the man said gallantly.

"It wasn't so much that he didn't want me... it was his damned condescending attitude when he told me."

"He certainly can pontificate when he's so inclined," the man said knowingly.

"Oh, Lord, that's putting it mildly.  He's insufferable.  I don't know what Noyce was thinking, bringing him back.  He would have served the world much better if he had stayed on that damned island of his."

Hennessy and Lucas were still bent over the computer at Bridger's desk.  Nathan had left them on their own saying that he needed to get a haircut and warning Lucas not to get caught in his wanderings. Lucas leaned back and watched the recording of the E-band transmission play for Hennessy.  "That what you needed?"

Hennessy nodded.  "Well, that took you all of five minutes to pull up," he said amazed.  "Is everything as open as that?"

"Nah, this one was easy.  The rest are going to be a bit harder."

"So you'll have trouble getting them?"

Lucas looked at the screen and then back at Hennessy.  "Nope.  It might take me a bit longer but I'll get 'em."

"How about the communications problems?"

"I can get through to my Dad but I'll almost guarantee that the transmissions will be monitored.  We'll have to get a little creative with that and with contacting Doctor Young."

"What about Bridger's mail?"

Lucas' fingers tapped the keyboard and he shook his head.  "You're right that it's blocked but it's hard to tell at what level and going through each level to find the block would take a hell of a lot of time."  He leaned his elbow on the arm of the chair and then leaned his chin on his hand.  "Except....," he said thoughtfully and then started typing again.  He leaned back with a grin.  "Except that it would be logical that the blockage would be occurring closest to the reception point so it's probably somewhere within the UEO mail system."  He smiled at the screen and then looked over at Hennessy with a knowing grin.  "And it was.  The Captain's gonna have a hell of a lot of mail next time he checks his computer."

"But then the people who blocked it will know that we've freed it up."

"Not the way I do it," Lucas grinned.  "His mail will still show as collecting in his UEO mailbox but he'll be able to access it.  We're just going to have to warn him that he can't reply to or acknowledge any mail he gets."

"Why?"

"Because if they're collecting it I can betcha that they're reading it too."

Hennessy was beginning to really like this kid.  He nodded and Lucas turned back to the computer.

Nathan scratched the back of his neck where the remnants of his haircut were making it itch.  He smiled slightly as he noticed Kristin in the sitting room of the BOQ waiting for him.  "Hi there."

"Hello, sailor," she said in that warm, melodious voice of hers.  "How about dinner?"

"Oh, gee, you want to go to the O Club?" he said facetiously.

"No, actually, I brought dinner with me," she said pointing to the bag on the floor next to her feet.

"Really," Nathan said curiously.  "What's for dinner?"

"Fried chicken.  Why don't you change and we can go have dinner on the beach?"

"Sounds good to me," he smiled.  "I'll be right back down."

They had finished their dinner and decided to take a walk along the beach.  Kristin squeezed the hand that she held.  "Did you hear that Jed Cassen and Nancy Wolski are getting married?"

Nathan frowned a little and looked at her.  "I thought that they got engaged a month ago."

"They did," she said leaning into him a little.  "But they've decided to move up the wedding.  They're getting married on Saturday."

"Why the rush?"

"Seems that they've both decided that life can be a little unpredictable so they're getting married as soon as possible."

"Makes sense to me.  I can even sympathize with that," he said with little humor.

"We're both invited."  Nancy and Jed were both lieutenants in the UEO.  Nancy had worked in medical with Kristin and Jed was a promising young engineer.

"Where are they getting married?"  He slipped his arm around her waist and she snuggled closer.

"St. John's."

Nathan shook his head.  "That's off-base.  I can't go," he said softly.

"Could you ask the Court, perhaps?"

He looked over at her and nodded.  "Sure.  Worst they could say is no."

They continued to walk down the beach, past the old lifeguard station and towards the edge of the base.   The further they walked the more introspective Nathan seemed to get.  By the time they reached the fencing that extended down into the water he had gone completely silent.  He stopped, staring at the fence for a little bit and then turned to put both arms around Kristin's waist.  Still not saying anything he dropped his head onto her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" she asked softly.

"Oh, sure," he said in a totally unconvincing voice.

She brought her hand up to rub the back of his head.  "You really needed to walk, didn't you?"

Nathan raised his head and looked at her.  "No, not really.  I was just trying to drive them crazy."

"Who?"  He nodded his head towards the road where a security vehicle could be seen idling.  "You aren't going to tell me that they've been following you," Kristin said in an offended tone.

"Oh, yeah," Nathan said looking out at the water.  "Besides the damned locator they've had someone following me for the last two days."  He sighed and Kristin pulled him a little closer.  "It's not like they even try to hide it.  It's like they're slapping it in my face."

Kristin leaned her head into his shoulder.  "You know, you're taking all of this very calmly.  Much better than I would have expected."

"You think so, huh?"

She pulled her head back to look at him in the fading light.  She could see the clenching of his jaw muscles and feel the tenseness in the muscles of his back.  "You're not are you?"

"It's getting to me," he said simply.

Kristin pulled him close and rubbed her hands along his back.  She felt him relax just a little as he silently held onto her.  Then she felt him start a little as a bright spotlight suddenly lit them up. The security guys must have gotten nervous when the sun went down. Nathan uttered a short but succinct curse and kept his hold on her. Now he was tense again and his breathing had speeded up too.

"Bastards," he muttered.

"What do you want to do?" Kristin asked softly.  "You want to stay like this, sit or walk back?"

Nathan looked out towards the water again.  "What I want to do is to swim out into that water and drive them completely crazy," he sighed heavily.  "But what we'll do is walk back."  He turned her back towards the BOQ surreptitiously flipping the security guys the bird as he did and they started slowly walking back.  Nathan's arm rested comfortably across her back and he returned to his quiet introspection.

The security car had turned its light off as they walked back and Kristin supposed that they were watching them reflected against the moon on the water.  As they approached the old lifeguard station Kristin started to pick up on a raspiness in Nathan's breathing and decided he needed to rest a little.

"Why don't we sit a while?" she asked gently.  Nathan looked at her silently and nodded.  They sat down on a short wall on the beach side of the building and Kristin leaned against his shoulder while she rubbed her hand along his back again.  She saw Nathan look to one side and grin humorlessly.

"Looks like we made them actually get out of their damned squad car."

"We did?"

"Yeah," he motioned back to the left with his chin.  "One of them is standing over at the corner of the building watching us."

Kristin pointedly looked over at the security man and waved to him.  "You're right, they're bastards."  Nathan didn't say anything but just kept staring out at the water and absently rubbing he hand.  She watched the clenching and unclenching of his jaw for a while and then decided to change the subject.  She brought her hand up again to rub the back of his head.  "You got a haircut."

"Yeah," was all he said still looking away.

She grinned at him.  "I don't like it.  I liked your hair longer."

His sharp response surprised her.  "Well, that's too damned bad, isn't it?"  He expelled a quick irritated breath, looked at her and continued in an annoyed voice.  "Because I'm in the Navy and the Navy likes their people to have short hair... and day after tomorrow I get to go in front of three admirals who get to decide if I have any career left at all and I thought it just might be a good idea if I managed to get my hair into Navy standards before I go up before the court."  He stopped abruptly and turned his head back to the water.

Kristin stared at him a moment in shock.  Then she relented.  "I'm sorry.  You're right.  I'm wrong."

Nathan seemed to deflate some.  He shook his head disgusted.  "No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't yell at you."  He stopped for a moment.  "I'm sorry," he repeated mournfully.

"Nathan, it's alright."  She said calmingly and brought her right hand up to caress his cheek.  "I think you needed to have someone to yell at a little and if it's me that's okay.  I understand."  He just shook his head morosely.  "Nathan," she said guiding his head until he faced her.  He brought his eyes up to look into hers and their gazes locked for just a moment before he lowered his lips to gently caress her lips.

Their embrace wasn't the desperate one that might have been expected but instead they gently held each other while they kissed.  A kiss that was as gentle as their embrace.  After long moments they broke the kiss and leaned their foreheads together before sliding their heads to the side so that they were holding each other cheek-to-cheek.

"I don't know what I'd do without you here," Nathan whispered into her hair.  "You and Lucas.  You're the only thing keeping me sane."

Chapter 19 - Hiding the Evidence

Hennessy toyed with the remnants of the dinner that he'd brought back from the cafeteria for him and Lucas.  He watched the speed of Lucas' typing in amazement.  Hell, he'd just managed to pass keyboarding before going to law school.  He couldn't imagine being able to type like this kid could.  And not only did he type fast, the kid was getting results.

"Question for you," Hennessy said to the boy.

"Go ahead," the kid responded still typing and never even looking at him.

"Are they gonna know that you've been in these files?"

"Nope," this time the kid looked over at him with a saucy grin.  "They'll never have a clue."  He looked back at the screen, "I'm an expert at hiding my tracks and nothing you've needed so far has been that difficult."

"How about storage?"

"Hmm?" Lucas asked staring intently at the screen again.

Hennessy leaned over Lucas reading the screen in front of him.  "If we store the stuff you've found couldn't the system guys find out that we've gotten this info and turn us in or purge it on us?"

"Only if we store it where they would expect to find it."

"So where are you going to store it?"

Lucas leaned back in his chair and smirked at Hennessy.  "Where do you want it?  I could put it in a hidden directory under Noyce's account," he shrugged, "or one under Commander Coslow's account?"

"You could hide it in Coslow's account?"

"Yeah, piece of cake."

"Won't she see it?"

"Nah, it'd be in a hidden directory.  We'd be the only ones able to see it."

Hennessy leaned forward with a perplexed look on his face.  "Wait a minute... are you telling me that you could get access to Coslow's account and everything in it?"

"Oh, yeah," Lucas said confidently.

Hennessy leaned back again and thought a while.  Finally he rubbed his chin and frowned towards Lucas.  "Hold that thought and hide the stuff in Noyce's account."  Lucas shrugged at him again.  "We may go visit the Commander's account eventually but let's see where we get
on our own for right now."

Kristin and Nathan still sat on the low wall in front of the old lifeguard station with their arms around each other's waists and leaning quietly against each other.

"Could I ask you something that you don't need to explain if you don't want to?" Kristin asked softly.

"Sure."

"What could happen?"

Nathan sent her a quick glance.  "Happen with what?"

"With the Court of Inquiry."

"Oh, that," Nathan sighed.  He stopped for a moment while he collected his thoughts.  "This kind of Court doesn't convict anyone. A Court of Inquiry can be, and this one has been, directed to assess fault if there is any and then recommend actions from that finding. It's more of an investigative body.  It goes over all the evidence gathered by the Court's counsel and any testimony from the witnesses that are called."

"Um hmmm.  I've heard you called a 'party' to the inquiry.  What does that mean?"

"Well, at the moment I'm the only party.  A party is someone who's conduct is the subject of the inquiry in such a way that disciplinary action can result or the findings or recommendations of the Court could reflect questionable or unsatisfactory conduct or performance of duty.  Parties can be in the court throughout the proceedings and can have counsel represent them.  That counsel can examine witnesses and evidence and object to it if they feel it's necessary.  They can introduce evidence and either testify on their own behalf or refuse to testify."

"So it's like being the defendant in a trial."

"Except that the Court can't convict me of anything."

"Then what can it do?"

Nathan sighed again and hugged her a little closer.  His voice had a certain fatalistic quality in it that upset Kristin.  "They could find that there was or wasn't fault involved.  Of course that also depends upon how they look at the issue."

"What do you mean?" Kristin was beginning to get a little more concerned about all this.

"Well, if they decide that their purpose is to find fault in the loss of the seaQuest that's an easy decision."  Kristin frowned up at him.  "I'm at fault," Nathan said positively.  "I was the one in command, I was the one who ordered the crew to abandon ship and I was the one who crashed the boat into the seabed."

"But there was nothing else you could have done," Kristin objected.

"Perhaps," Nathan said calmly... again more calmly than made Kristin comfortable.  "However, if the Court decides that its purpose is to determine whether I was justified in crashing the seaQuest into the seabed that's another matter.  In that case they could decide I did the only thing possible, I suppose they could decide that I should have backed out and assessed the situation more before reacting or they could decide that my actions were totally unjustified and reckless."

"But it worked."

He shrugged.  "It looks like it did... but was there an easier or less destructive way?"

"You're second guessing yourself, Nathan," Kristin said severely.

"I know.  I have to... because now I've got everyone else second guessing me."  He smiled a rather humorless smile.  "This is going to be the king of all Monday morning quarterbacking opportunities."

"You still haven't said what could happen," Kristin said softly.

Nathan leaned his head towards hers again and rested his forehead against hers.  "They could find no fault or could find that I couldn't do anything else," he said quietly.  "On the opposite side of the scale they could recommend that I be court martialed for offenses up to and including endangering my crew, intentional sinking of the seaQuest, destruction of UEO property, entering a hazardous area with undue haste and any number of damage to the ecology charges."

"They couldn't do that," Kristin exclaimed.

"Sure they could."

She was beginning to truly see why he was so quiet and introspective lately.  "And in between?"

Nathan shrugged again... he was shrugging a lot these days.  "Lesser charges, reprimand, I don't know."

"Then what happens to you?"

"I'm hoping that I end up going to New Cape Quest to work on the new seaQuest but of course that depends upon what happens with the Court."  He shook his head a little.  "And my status if I do end up going."

"What do you mean your status?"

"The Court could recommend that I be dismissed from the Navy or that I be given the opportunity to resign."

"Then you wouldn't be building the new boat?"

Nathan expelled a deep but raspy breath.  "No, I'd probably still go."

Kristin looked up at him again.  "How could you do that?"

"As a civilian project manager.  From what Bill has said he wants me to build the boat one way or the other and I suppose it's the egotistical part of me that thinks I can do the best job of building it so I'll go whether I'm doing it as a civilian or as a Navy captain."

"And then you'll take her out to sea again," Kristin said in a slightly hollow voice.

Nathan was looking out at the water again and his voice was just as hollow.  "Only if I'm cleared of all charges."

Kristin pulled back and observed the slightly lost look on his face.  "What do you mean?"

He kept facing the water but Kristin could see that now he had lowered his eyes to the sand in front of them.  "If I have to leave the military I obviously won't be taking her out but even if I get to stay in, if I'm found guilty in any way or even reprimanded I'll never command again."  He looked at her with a slight, humorless smile.  "At least I'll never command anything larger than the tugboat in my tub."

"Nathan, that can't happen," Kristin was shaking her head.  "I can't imagine that happening."

"I hope not," he said quietly.  Nathan looked out at the water again and then sighed softly.  "I'm worried about Lucas though."  Kristin turned a confused face to him.  "With his connection to me if things really go wrong he might end up being kinda persona-non-grata, I'm afraid."

She took his free hand in hers.  "I don't think Lucas is particularly concerned about that."

"He's just a kid... he doesn't know to be concerned."

"No, I think he'll be happy to be with you no matter what happens."

"Yeah," said Nathan sadly.  "I hope he doesn't come to regret that."

Chapter 20 - Blessed are the Healers

Nathan and Kristin stood in the parking lot of the BOQ next to her car with their arms around each other just holding on.

"I suppose I should get inside.  Lucas is probably wondering what happened to me," Nathan said softly.

"Plus you need to get some rest, Nathan.  You're not sounding very good at all."

"I've got a doctor's appointment in the morning."

"Be sure you tell him about the raspiness."

"Yes, mother," Nathan grinned and jumped a little as she pinched him in the side.  He squinted as the lights of a car pulling into the lot swept across them and then the car pulled up next to them.

"Hi Cap. Hi Doc," Lucas said from the passenger seat.

"Good evening, sir," Toby Hennessy said with a sheepish grin.

"You're bringing him home now, Commander?" Nathan said looking at his watch.

"We got a little involved in our research, Cap, but, trust me, it was worth it," Lucas grinned opening the door and slipping out of the car.

"I really am sorry about that, sir," Hennessy said.

"That's alright, Commander.  As long as it was for a good purpose and you were keeping an eye on him."

"I was, sir... and he's fascinating to watch especially when he gets going."

"Yeah, I know," Nathan said ruffling Lucas' hair.  "Good night, Commander."

"Good night, sir, Doctor, Lucas," Hennessy waved as he pulled away.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Nathan said giving Kristin a quick kiss.

"Give me a call when you get back from the doctor's.  Good night, Lucas," she called as she put her car in gear.

"C'mon, kiddo, bedtime."

"You sound like hell, sir."

"Too much night air," Nathan said as they headed into the elevator. He saw the concerned look on Lucas' face as they stood on opposite sides of the small cubicle.  "I left my damned inhaler upstairs," he said shrugging.

"And you have a checkup with the doctor tomorrow, right?"

"Right."  He headed straight for the inhaler sitting on the coffee table and breathed the medicine in deeply as he pressed the cylinder.  Lucas was watching him closely.  "I'll be fine, Lucas," he reassured the boy.

"You better be.  I figure that the two of us are stuck with each other for at least the next year," he said grinning.

Nathan grinned back.  Already, Lucas could hear that he was breathing easier.  "For the next year at least.  I'll see you in morning, Lucas."

"Good night, sir," the boy said heading for his bedroom.

Nathan sat in the waiting room at the Pearl Harbor hospital with his head leaning back against the wall.  Sleep had eluded him again last night just as he suspected that it would.  God, he was getting tired of that damned nightmare.

He opened his eyes and raised his head as he heard a nurse at the end of the room call out, "Captain Bridger?"

"Bridger, aye," he responded and got up to follow the nurse down to one of the examining rooms.

"Captain, if you'd take off your shirt and have a seat, the doctor will be with you shortly."

Nathan sat on the edge of the examining room table swinging his legs while he waited.  He really wished that they'd told him to lie down. He could use another little nap.  Not that it was really possible to nap in a room that was as cold as this one was.  One of these days he was going to figure out just why doctor's examining rooms were kept so cold.  Must have something to do with keeping your patients alert... either that or they were all frustrated cold storage locker employees.

A short knock was heard on the door before it opened to admit a young lieutenant wearing a white coat.  She looked up from the med-slate in her hand and smiled at Bridger.  "Captain, I'm Doctor Wetonk.  How are you feeling today?"

"Better than I did a week ago."

"I can imagine."  She looked over the burns on his chest, back and arms.  "It looks like your burns are healing nicely.  Are you putting some moisturizer on them?"

"Yeah, I've got a friend who's a doctor and she came up with something with aloe and an antiseptic in it."

"That should work very well."  She took a stethoscope from around her neck.  "Let's listen to your lungs."  The young doctor frowned as she moved the stethoscope around while having Bridger breath in and out, returning several times to place the stethoscope on his chest then she looked critically at him.  "Your lungs don't sound so good, however.  Are you taking your antibiotics regularly?"

"Yup."

"Are you using the inhaler much?"

"Not much and I seem to have misplaced it, right now."

"Misplaced it?"

"They've had me move three times in the last week and sometime during the last move, which was a couple days ago, the inhaler got put somewhere and I haven't been able to find it."

The doctor regarded him disapprovingly.  "You should have come in right away to get a new prescription, Captain.  Even though you shouldn't be using the inhaler very much it can be an extremely important medicine when you experience difficulty breathing."

Nathan shrugged.  "That's only happened once in the last couple days and it really wasn't too bad.  I just took it easy a while and it went away."

"Yes, but that's wearing your body out and at this point your body has had enough of getting worn out.  You really should have the inhaler around to use in case of any respiratory distress."

"Can I get another prescription?"

"Yes," the doctor said making a note on the med-slate.  "I'll set it up so that you can get one at the pharmacy on your way out today and I'll note that the other one was lost."  She glanced up at Bridger.  "You need to use it sparingly, Captain.  If you start needing it more than a couple times a day you need to come back in here immediately."

"Why?"

"If you're having to use the inhaler too much it's an indication that there's some other problem with your breathing.  It could be an infection or a reaction to some medication or perhaps an indication that your body is in need of resting a bit more but in any case you should come in to see us if you need the inhaler too much."

"Alright, I understand," Nathan said nodding.

"You can put your shirt on, Captain.  You're probably freezing," she grinned.

"They do keep these rooms cold," he said slipping his t-shirt over his head.  The doctor noticed his wince as he raised his arms.

"Your shoulder hurt?"

"Yeah, the left one got a little bruised.  It's not bad."

Doctor Wetonk had a look at Bridger's records on the terminal in the room.  "I see that they x-rayed it last week when you were in the hospital and no breaks or anything."  She got up and moved back towards him.  "Let me have a quick look at it."  After a couple minutes of manipulating the shoulder she stood in front of him again.  "You separated it just slightly.  I'd just take it easy on that shoulder for a little while.  It should be just fine."

"Thanks," Nathan said putting his khaki shirt back on and buttoning it up.

"It looks like you're doing about as well as expected, Captain.  Your burns are healing well but I am a little concerned about your lungs. They really should be sounding better than they do."

"I've been a little short on sleep lately.  That might be affecting it."

"It most certainly would.  You need get some rest, sir.  I'll need to see you this time next week and quite honestly if there isn't a marked improvement I'll probably have to put you on light duty."

Nathan nodded with a frown.  "I understand.  I'll take care of myself."

"Alright, sir.  If you stop by the pharmacy on the way out your inhaler should be ready," she looked again at the med-slate, "and it looks like you've got enough antibiotics to last until next week."

"Right," Nathan said slipping off the table.

"Take care of yourself, sir."

Chapter 21 - Mentoring the Young

Nathan squinted as he walked out of the hospital into the sunlight. For just a moment he considered walking back to UEO Headquarters but then realized that he really wasn't in any shape to walk that far. God knows, that the walk he and Kristin had taken last night had certainly taken enough out of him.  A small smile crossed his face as he saw his shadow waiting in the parking lot and he walked up to the squad car.  The two occupants had the grace to look a little embarrassed when he leaned down into the window to talk to them.

"Tell you what, gentlemen.  You're supposed to be keeping an eye on me, right?"

"Yes, sir," the driver said.

"I'm going back to UEO HQ but I don't have any wheels.  Now I could call for a duty driver and all of us would waste at least 30 minutes while I waited for him or you two could just give me a lift back to the headquarters building.  What do you say?"

The two security officers looked at each other before the driver finally grinned a little at Bridger.  "Hop in the back, sir.  We'll give you a ride."

"Thanks."

When they arrived at the headquarters building the guy in the passenger seat got out to let Bridger out of the locked back door of the squad and he thanked them before heading up the stairs towards the building.

"Captain!" he heard someone call from behind him and turned to see Lieutenant Nancy Wolski approaching.

"Good morning, Lieutenant," he said as he returned her salute.

"Sir, could I talk to you a moment?"

"Sure.  Inside or out?"

"How about if we take a walk, sir?"

"A walk sounds good to me," he said turning to head back down the stairs.

The lieutenant got down to business right away.  "Have you heard that Jed, I mean Lieutenant Cassen and I, are getting married on Saturday?"

"Doctor Westphalen told me last night.  Congratulations."

"Thank you, sir."  She hesitated just a moment before continuing.  "You know, sir, that my parents have both passed and I don't really have any family to speak of...."  Bridger looked over at her and nodded.  "What I was wondering, sir, is if you might agree to give me away at the wedding?"

Nathan stopped walking and when he spoke Lieutenant Wolski heard a small catch in his voice.  "Lieutenant, I'd be honored to give you away, if I can."   He sighed just a little.  "However, I've got to ask the Court if I can be allowed to go off base to attend the ceremony."

The young lieutenant shook her head in disgust.  "It's really stupid to confine you, sir.  We're on an island.  It's not like you can run away anywhere.  As if a man like you would," she spat out.

"I know, but it's not our choice," Nathan said in a placating voice.  "Tell you what, I'll see if we can ask the Court today and get an answer back to you.  If they agree, I'll be more than happy to give you away."  They turned to head back to the headquarters building and Bridger smiled just a little at the sight of the squad car which was traveling slowly down the road following them.  He waved at the officers as they passed him and again walked up the stairs into the headquarters building.

Bridger stopped in the conference room attached to his office to check with his crew on any progress and to pick up messages.  One of the yeomen filled him in.

"Sir, Lieutenant Commander Hennessy said that he'd be around after lunch to see you and Commander Traylor from New Cape Quest called. He said he'd be tied up in meetings and would try to call you back later."

"Light morning, huh?" Nathan asked taking the messages from her.  He turned to Jonathan and they spent several minutes going over the day's progress before Nathan headed for his office.  He sighed in relief as he found that, for a change, his office was empty and closed the door behind him.  Sinking into the chair behind the desk and putting the bag with his new prescription on the desk, he leaned his head back on the headrest, one hand coming up to lightly grip his chest.  He concentrated hard on breathing slowly and deeply before shaking his head and reaching into his pocket to take out the inhaler he had used last night.  He shook the cylinder a little before breathing in the medicine and resting his head again while it took effect.

A few moments later the gripping tightness in his chest and the feeling of being held underwater eased up and breathing became much easier.  After ensuring that he wasn't wheezing at all he pulled the vid-phone over and dialed a number.

"Personnel Support, Petty Officer Ramos, how may I help you?"  This was the office that Kristin was working in for the moment while she got the various medical records of the crew straightened out.

"Good morning, Petty Officer Ramos.  Would Doctor Westphalen be around?"

"Good morning, Captain," Ramos smiled at him.  "The doctor said you might be calling.  She asked me to apologize to you.  The Secretary General called and asked her to have lunch with him so she said she'd have to stand you up."

 "That's alright.  I'm used to it," Nathan grinned back at her.  "Could you just leave a message for her that I called and everything went alright?"

"Will do, sir."

"Thanks."  A short knock sounded on the door and Lucas stuck his head in.

"Thinking about lunch yet, sir?"

"As a matter of fact it was on the top of my list right now," Nathan said getting up to follow the boy out as they headed for the cafeteria.

As he was walking back from the cafeteria all the faces in the hallway seemed to meld into one until Nathan heard a familiar voice call out from behind him.  Turning he ended up looking at the beaming smile on Bill Noyce's face.

"Nathan," he exclaimed cheerily.  "Where have you been hiding?"

"Bill, get real... I can't hide anywhere.  Everywhere I go someone knows where I'm at.  Hell, I can't go to the head without some tracker or security guy keeping an eye on my whereabouts." he said in a slightly rueful voice.

Noyce looked slightly embarrassed.  "Yeah, sorry about that.  I kinda forgot.  I just wanted to check and see how you were doing."

Nathan leaned against the wall and shook his head a little.  "Well, I do have to admit that I've had better weeks but everything's coming together, I guess."

"Tomorrow, right?" Noyce asked.

"Yup, 0800 in the big meeting room on the fifth floor."  He pushed off the wall and the two of them started walking towards the elevators.  "To tell you the truth, I'd rather be just about anywhere else than there."

"You're prepared, right?" Noyce asked a little nervously.

"As well as we've been able to," Nathan hedged.

Noyce and Bridger got onto the elevator, thankfully alone.  "Nathan, I don't like that kind of answer... especially from you.  What's going on?"

Nathan shrugged.  "I wish I knew, Bill.  We're just having a hell of a time getting any information.  It looks like our communication with Raleigh Young and with Lawrence Wolenczak has been blocked...."  He hesitated a moment and then grimaced a little.  "And then there's always the restrictions on me... things just don't look right."

Noyce nodded.  "What can I do?"

"Nothing at this point, Bill.  If it gets really messed up I'll let you know but right now I don't want to risk having you contaminated by whatever is going on here."

"Don't go sacrificing yourself, Nathan," Noyce said in a low, serious voice.

"I won't," Nathan reassured him and grinned a little.  "I've still got that boat to build."

Noyce patted him on the shoulder and they stepped off the elevator and started to walk down the hallway.  "Let me know if I can do anything at all."

"I will," Nathan said stopping in front of the conference room where his crew was working.  "Oh, there is one thing you can help with, Bill."

"What's that?"

"Do you know any good lawyers in New Cape Quest?"

Noyce frowned in thought.  "Criminal or civil?"

Nathan tilted his head with a grin.  "Bill... get real.  You're talking to me."

"Oh, traffic."  He thought a moment longer.  "Yeah, as a matter of fact I do know a decent traffic lawyer in New Cape Quest."

"Do me a favor and send the info over to me," Nathan said opening up the conference room door.  "Oh, and send it by paper... my mail isn't working at all."

"You got it," Noyce said resuming his trip down the hallway.

Nathan was again sitting at his desk pouring over various production reports that had been forwarded from the current production site at New Cape Quest when he heard a knock on the edge of his open door.

"Good afternoon, Lieutenant," he said to Tim O'Neil who was looking in the door nervously.

"Sir, could I talk to you for a moment?" he asked hesitantly.

"Sure.  Come on in."  O'Neil came in the room shutting the door behind him.  "Have a seat," Nathan said indicating the chair in front of the desk.

O'Neil sat down in the chair and hesitated a moment before pushing his glasses up on his nose and starting to talk.  "Sir, something kinda strange happened last night that I thought maybe you should know about." Bridger leaned back in his chair and folded his hands on stomach as he watched the young man.  "The apartment building where I live doesn't have a laundry room but there's a laundromat right across the street so every Monday night I take my laundry over there to do it."  Bridger nodded with a small smile.  "Well, last night there was another guy there doing his laundry too and he noticed my seaQuest shirt and started to talk to me."  Tim frowned a little.  "He wanted to talk about the seaQuest and what happened.  I thought at first that he was just striking up a conversation but pretty soon his questions got a little specific.  He was asking some things about what happened that day but I kept putting him off since we're not really supposed to be discussing the crash and I thought for a moment that he might be a reporter."  Tim dropped his eyes to the center of Bridger's desk and looked more uncomfortable.  "But then he shifted his questions and started to ask about you and Doctor Westphalen."

Nathan sat up a little in the chair and leaned his elbows on his desk.  "What kind of questions?"

Now Tim looked at him again and his voice was earnest and sure.  "He wanted to know about your relationship.  Like if I knew if you two had been seeing each other before the crash and if I'd ever seen you together off the seaQuest.  Then he was acting like he knew all about some extensive affair between the two of you and hadn't I ever seen anything like that when I saw you together."

"What did you tell him?"

"Nothing, sir.  I just said I'd never seen any indication of anything other than a friendship between you two and that he'd been watching too many soap operas."

Nathan nodded thoughtfully.  "Thank you, Lieutenant.  I wonder what they're up to."

O'Neil stood and paused.  "I don't know, sir, but I thought you should know about it."  Nathan nodded still frowning in thought.  He looked up as the young lieutenant continued to stand in front of his desk.  "Permission to speak freely, sir?" O'Neil asked.

"Certainly, Lieutenant," Nathan said.

"Sir, I've been on the seaQuest a long time.  Through Captain Stark and then the refit and now the last year with you and I wanted you to know that during the last 13 months I think I've grown more both professionally and personally than I have in any other tour I've ever been on and that's all because of your leadership."

A small smile crossed Bridger's face.  "Thank you, Lieutenant.  I appreciate that."

"And I'm not alone, sir," Tim said with feeling.  "All of us feel that way, sir.  Ortiz, Ford, Shan, Obatu... all of us and we think this restriction on you and this Court is damned unfair."

Bridger shrugged a little.  "Perhaps, but it's something we've just got to get through.  Meanwhile we keep our focus on building the new boat."

"Yes, sir," Tim said in a more subdued voice.  "I just wanted you to know," he said turning towards the door.

"Lieutenant," Nathan said softly and O'Neil turned back to him.  "The opinion of you and the crew mean more to me than any court and whatever happens... it's been one hell of a ride," he said with a smile.

O'Neil smiled back at him.  "Yes, sir, it has... and I figure that we're going to have a great next tour too."

"I hope so, Lieutenant... ...I certainly hope so."

Chapter 22 - Getting the Ducks in a Row

The distinguished looking older man in a uniform looked over at Commander Trina Coslow.  "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I need to be," she answered confidently.  "That kid has been trying to get some information for Bridger but he hasn't had much in the way of any luck so they should never know what hit them."

"You've been tracking him?"

Coslow grinned maliciously.  "He hasn't made a move on that computer that we haven't seen... and he's only getting connected to places we want him to be at."

"Isn't that going to make him suspicious?"

"What's he going to do about it? ...Complain to the Court?"

The older man chuckled.  "I don't suppose that would do him any good at all."

"No, I think his complaint might just fall on deaf ears," she smiled and then became serious.  "But I think this should be the last time that we meet."

"I agree," the man said standing and walking over to Coslow.  "From now on you and I don't know each other."  The woman nodded and the man held out a card to her.  "Here."

Coslow cautiously took the card.  "What is this?"

"Oh, a little token of our appreciation.  It's your account number for a bank in Switzerland.  I think you'll find that we've been more than generous for your services."

"I wasn't looking for any payment," Coslow said primly.

"I know," said the man with a small smile.  "You'd do this just for pleasure of destroying Bridger.  Just consider this a bonus."

Coslow stared at the card in her hand for just a moment before slipping it into her pocket.  "Alright," she said finally.  "I may as well make a little profit on the bastard too."

Bridger had spent the better part of an hour staring out the window of his office before settling down to work again when there was another knock on his door.

"It's a damned conspiracy," he muttered.  "Come in," he called in a frustrated voice.

Lieutenant Commander Toby Hennessy stuck his head around the door.  "Am I interrupting, sir?"

"No, not at all," Nathan relented.  "Come on in, Commander." Hennessy came in and sat in the chair in front of the desk and watched Bridger as he tiredly rubbed his hands over his face.  "It's just been a bit of a long day," he said with a sigh.  "Any luck with the question about if I can go to the wedding on Saturday?"

"Not yet, sir.  The Court requested that we bring the question up tomorrow instead of today."

Nathan sighed.  "Why doesn't that surprise me?"  He looked over at the earnest looking young lawyer.  "So are we ready?"

"Honestly, sir? ...Probably not, but we're going to work on being as flexible as we can.  We've prepared for all sorts of contingencies and we'll just have to see where the Court goes."

Nathan gave a resigned nod.  "Alright," he said and then tapped his finger against his lips.  "So do you want to hear today's development?"

"What would that be, sir?" Hennessy asked cautiously.

"It would appear that there are people out there trying to pump my crew about my relationship with Doctor Westphalen."

"Oh, really," Hennessy said tenuously.  "Tell me about it."

Nathan went through what O'Neil had told him earlier in the day and then leaned back watching the young attorney.

"Well, that may give us a hint of where the emphasis might lean," Hennessy said thoughtfully.

"It also means that I stop seeing Kristin until this farce is done."

Hennessy looked up sharply at Bridger.  This was the first time in all this mess that he'd heard the man sound angry.  "I don't know, sir," he said cautiously, "I don't think you should stop seeing her."

"I'm not tainting her with this, Commander.  I won't risk her career getting damaged."

"Oh, I don't think that will happen, sir.  Besides, any damage that may happen has already been done."  Bridger looked at him sharply and the young man strove to explain.  "They've already caught on to the fact that you've been seeing each other since you've been ashore but they'll never be able to prove any relationship between you two before that."

Bridger leaned over the desk towards Hennessy.  "That's because there wasn't any relationship before that," he said firmly.

"I know, sir," Hennessy said calmly.  "If you suddenly stop seeing Doctor Westphalen now, just before the Court convenes, you'll just solidify their belief that you two have an affair going."  He paused a moment and then asked carefully, "You don't have an affair going on, do you, sir?"

"No, Commander," Nathan said calming down a little.  "We're dating but we haven't done anything serious yet."

"Could you try to keep it that way for a little while?"

"Sure," Nathan said finally smiling.  "We'll make sure we behave ourselves."  Another knock on the door sounded and Nathan shook his head.  "It's like Grand Central Station in here, Commander... Come in," he called.

"Hi," Lucas said from the doorway as he came in.  He looked over at Hennessy.  "I was looking for you."

"I'm right here," Hennessy grinned.  "Anything in particular?"

Lucas plopped himself in the other chair in front of Bridger's desk.  "Yeah, we're gonna get ahold of my Dad tonight."

"How?" Hennessy asked cautiously.

"I've arranged to get my signal rerouted so the bad guys will never detect that it's us coming in."

"How are you going to hide it on this end?" Nathan asked concerned.

"No problem, sir.  I've set up a sheepskin program to run in the background.  Anyone monitoring what your terminal is doing tonight will just see what looks like me surfing around trying to find information and getting blocked out... meanwhile we'll actually be talking to my Dad."

"You can do that?" Hennessy asked amazed.

Lucas grinned over at him.  "If you're a good enough hacker you can do just about anything.  You don't think I've let them see where we've been the last couple of evenings, do you?"

Hennessy shook his head a little and then glanced over at Nathan.  "He's kinda useful to have around occasionally, isn't he?"

"Oh, yeah," Nathan said in a heartfelt voice.

Chapter 23 - Feeding the Needy

Kristin watched Nathan stare at his plate as he pushed his food around the plate.  He hadn't said more than a dozen words since they'd sat down in the Officer's Club.  Finally, she couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Where's Lucas tonight?"

Nathan glanced up at her quickly and then back down at his plate.  He continued making a little mountain of his peas.  "He's with Toby messing around with sheep," he mumbled.

"He's what?" Kristin asked in an astonished voice.

"Inside joke," Nathan smiled just a little.  "They're surfing."

"Oh, I see," she said doubtfully watching as he made his mashed potatoes into a little berm around the mound of peas.  "So, do you want to hear about my lunch with Bill Noyce?"

For a moment Kristin thought that perhaps he hadn't heard her but then he looked up at her trying to present a neutral face.  "Yeah, what was that about?"

"It seems that David Roylin, the head of the Department of Biological Oceanography is having a problem with moving to New Cape Quest."

Nathan frowned a moment, trying to see why it should concern her and then glanced quickly up at her again.  "How come?"

"I gather that his wife is seriously ill and is currently in a care facility here.  He doesn't want to leave her, of course, and she can't make the move to New Cape Quest."

"Yeah, so?" Nathan said shrugging a little.

"So... they need someone to take over the Department of Biological Oceanography," she said matter-of-factly.

Nathan stopped torturing his food and slowly looked up at her.  "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"And?" he asked tentatively.

"And Noyce asked me if I'd like to take over the department."

"The Department of Biological Oceanography?"

"Yes," she said with emphasis.

"That department is moving to New Cape Quest," Nathan said hesitantly.

"Yes."

"Does that mean that you're moving to New Cape Quest?"

Kristin smiled tenderly at him.  "I was wondering how long it'd take you to get there... Yes."

Finally she saw a soft smile cross his face.  "You're coming to New Cape Quest?" he asked softly and she nodded with a smile.  "That's great," he said smiling broadly looking back down at his food.  "That's the first good news I've had all week."

Kristin watched him for a moment and then also looked down at his plate.  "Are you going to eat that food?" she asked curiously.

"Hell, no," Nathan said looking up with a grin.  "I hate peas."

Chapter 24 - Preparing for the Worst

Lucas came out of his bedroom the next morning and glanced quickly out to the balcony.  He knew that he'd see Bridger sitting out there with a cup of coffee.  He'd heard him walking the suite again last night and at about 1 a.m. he'd even heard him leave the rooms.  Then he ended up staying awake listening for him to come back.  He finally came back in a little after 3 but Lucas was betting that he didn't get much sleep at all last night.  Hell, Lucas frowned to himself.  I didn't get much sleep either listening to him wander around all night.

Bridger was in his summer white uniform and was staring at his coffee cup fixedly as Lucas wandered out to the balcony.  "Good morning, sir."

Nathan looked up quickly.  He looked even more tired than Lucas expected.  "Good morning, Lucas."  He looked at his coffee cup again.  A coffee cup that Lucas suspected held cold coffee.  "You ready to go?"

"Yup, that'll give us time to grab breakfast from the cafeteria," Lucas said as Bridger stood up and straightened his uniform.

"Yeah," Nathan said softly following Lucas to the door.  They walked out of the BOQ and turned towards the Headquarters Building.  Nathan frowned unhappily as he saw the security man who was leaning against the stone wall stand up and follow them.  At least the bastard didn't follow too close.  "How's your dad?" he asked Lucas.

The boy smiled.  "He's doing alright.  Still trying to figure out what happened and how to keep it from happening again."

"Not having it happen again would be a good idea," Nathan said drolly.

"Yeah," Lucas grinned humorlessly.  He glanced behind quickly to see how far back the security guy was.  "He's sending me a bunch of info he had about how the plant was built."

"Why?"

"I just don't understand how it could have happened, sir," he looked over at Bridger and shrugged.  "The ground shouldn't have come apart like that."

"Obviously," Bridger said in a flat voice.

"Yeah, well, I just wanted to have a look at it, that's all," Lucas said a little disheartened.

Nathan put his arm across the boy's shoulder.  "Don't mind me, Lucas.  Lack of sleep doesn't improve my disposition, I'm afraid."

Lucas smiled softly. "I understand, sir.  When does this farce start?"

"Zero eight hundred," Nathan said flashing him a disapproving look. They had reached the steps of the headquarters building.  "Now change our topics of discussion."

"Why?" Lucas asked concerned.

Nathan stopped for a moment on the stairs.  "I'm a little uncomfortable discussing things inside buildings."

"What about our suite?"

"I'd be very uncomfortable discussing anything in our suite," Nathan said with a frown.

Lucas nodded.  "I'll keep that in mind."  He got a pensive look on his face.  "How about your office?  The Commander and I talked a lot there last night."

For the first time that morning Lucas saw a small smile on Bridger's face.  "The office is clean."

"How do you know?"

"Because I cleaned it."

"You mean you checked for any bugs?" Lucas asked quietly.

"I mean that there are bugs but you're not the only one with sheepskins out there.  They couldn't have heard anything that you said."

"You're sure?" Lucas asked doubtfully.

"Trust me," Nathan said smiling secretively.  "In that matter I know what I'm doing."

Lucas smiled back, "Okay, sir.  How about we hit the cafeteria?"

"Sure," Nathan said without much enthusiasm but heading up the stairs.

About 20 minutes later Kristin walked in the cafeteria and glanced around.  She nodded as her eyes alighted on the table where Nathan, Lucas, Jonathan and Toby sat.  Then she frowned a little as she saw that the last three were in an animated discussion as they ate their breakfasts but Nathan was sitting silently staring into a coffee cup that sat in front of him.

Lucas looked up and smiled as Kristin approached the table with a tray.  "Good morning, Doc."

"Good morning, Lucas," she said slipping into the chair that Jonathan had pushed up to the table next to Nathan.  She put the tray down and started taking the items off it.  First, she placed the small plate with a bagel and a bowl of mixed fruit in front of her place and then she put a plate of toast and a bowl of Cheerios in front of Nathan.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Your breakfast."

"Thanks," he sighed, "but I'm not hungry."

"I don't care," she said firmly and Nathan looked up at her.  "You need to eat something, Nathan."

To the surprise of the other three at the table, Bridger just shrugged, pulled the cereal bowl close to him and started to eat... without much enthusiasm but at least he was eating.  Kristin watched him eat as she absently listened to the conversation around her.  At first she didn't think that he was listening at all but then she saw a small smile cross his face as Jonathan related his first vid-phone discussion with the current project manager of the new seaQuest.  He'd been on the phone for two hours yesterday getting the low-down on the progress of the building.  The project manager, Commander Del Traylor, had proved to be a rather dry person who appeared to be in serious need of a sense of humor and Jonathan was in the process of doing a rather accurate and definitely funny impersonation of Traylor.

As Jonathan completed his performance Hennessy glanced at his watch.  "We ought to be getting up there, sir."

Nathan took one more bite of his toast and nodded.  "Okay," he said pushing away from the table.

"Can I come along?" Lucas asked.

"If you want to," Nathan shrugged.  "Today shouldn't be too exciting, to tell you the truth."

"Yeah, mostly admin stuff and getting set up," Hennessy agreed.

Lucas looked over at Bridger who still looked really tired.  "I'd just feel better if I was there," he said softly.

"Alright," Nathan said smiling a little.  "I'll be kind of glad to have you there."  He looked over at Kristin.  "And you'll be talking with Roylin, right?"

"Yes, but I'll be thinking about you," she said leaning forward and placing a quick kiss on his cheek.

"I'll see you this evening," he said standing and quickly running his fingers down her cheek.

"Good luck," she smiled at him as he, Toby and Lucas left the cafeteria.

The three of them stood in front of the elevator and Hennessy noted how Bridger was impatiently tapping his foot.  "Are you alright, sir?"

Nathan smiled humorlessly over at him.  "Do you want the truth or my normal lie?"

"How about the truth for a change, sir."

"Okay.  No Commander, I'm not alright... but that doesn't matter.  I just need this to be over with," he said stepping into the elevator.