It was about 11:30 at night as Captain Nathan Bridger and Dr. Kristin Westphalen were reviewing samples of bacteria they had isolated earlier in the week.  The two had been working most of the afternoon and evening in the lab on seadeck.  For the past three hours they had hardly spoken to one another.

Nathan was amazed at how adept Kristin was when he needed something, pretty much anything.  She had known exactly what he was looking for and handed it to him accordingly.  It was almost eerie that she knew what he wanted or needed.  It could be anything, a slide, a certain reagent, or even a glass of water to drink.  And he knew when she needed certain things like solutions she needed.  They had been working that way for hours now.  Neither one had spoken in the longest time. Just concentrated on their work.

Nathan thought back to when he did research with his wife as his assistant.  Carol was an able-bodied scientist, just as much as Nathan was but they had never worked so seamlessly as he and Kristin were now working.  It amazed him and he wondered if Kristin could work this way with anyone. She didn’t seem to notice how well they were working together. Was she this adept at working with her assistants?

Nathan took a moment to look at the woman working at his side.  She was wearing her white lab coat over a T-shirt and jeans.  Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail exposing her slim neck.  She was bent over the microscope viewing a slide she had just prepared.  ‘She really is a beautiful woman,’ he thought.  He was brought out of his observation of her as she brought her head up from the microscope and called to him, “Nathan you have to look at this, it’s amazing.”

Those were the first words either one had spoken in over an hour.  Kristin’s eyes held a spark as she looked at him.  He stepped to the microscope and looked at what had excited her.  What he saw under the scope was spectacular.  Tiny blue and green lights seemed to flash at him.  “That’s amazing.” He said never taking his eyes off the microscopic light show.

“I know, I’ve never seen microbes put on such a show like this.  The solution they are in is the closest to their environment as I can get.  Next I am going to try to see the effects different waves lengths of light have on them.”  She said this as she removed her lab coat and laid it over the stool next to her.

“This is so cool, you’ve got to see this.” Nathan said as he moved over and pulled Kristin closer to look under the scope again.  “Amazing.” She whispered.  Nathan looked at her as she looked at the microscope.  He was standing so close to her he could feel the heat from her body.

He felt his heart increase in beat as he watched her looking through the microscope.   He was so close to her.  He could smell her hair, the light fragrance of her shampoo filling his nostrils.  The soft curls of her hair lay gently on her neck moving slightly as his breath caressed her neck.

Kristin was having trouble concentrating on the slide before her.  Nathan was standing so close to her she could feel his breath on her neck.  Her heart was racing in her chest and she had to literally make herself breath normally.

Before he knew what he was doing he brought his head down and brushed his lips lightly over the back of her neck.  She gasped and raised her head turning to look at him.  As she turned his lips travel across her cheek until he reached her lips.  He reached out his hand to her face and before she could protest his lips were over hers kissing her.  The kiss started slowly but passion between the two quickly escalated.

‘I can’t believe Nathan is kissing me.’  Kristin thought as the kiss deepened her own desire for him mingling with his for her.  All of a sudden Nathan broke the kiss and stepped back from her as quickly as though she were on fire.  A look of shock was on his face as he said “God, Kristin, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened. I’m sorry.”  He watched her face change from confusion to disbelief then to anger.

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  He had been the one to kiss her and now he was pulling away from her as quickly as he had pulled her to him just moments before.   She was angry for his reaction and angry with herself for letting the kiss escalate.  “Sorry?  You kiss me like that and then you say ‘sorry’?”  She stormed out of the seadeck before he could say anything more.

Nathan watched her leave.  He couldn’t believe how confused he felt.  Yes, he had wanted to kiss her so badly but he was the captain of the flagship of the UEO Navy not some lovesick teenager.   He also wasn’t sure he was ready to deal with the feelings he had for Kristin.  He left seadeck and headed to his quarters for what was sure to be a very restless night.

The next morning Kristin was having breakfast with Katie Hitchcock, the seaQuest’s chief engineer.   “Kristin, you’re doing it again.  What in the world has gotten into you this morning?” Katie had caught her friend staring off in to space again.   It wasn’t like Kristin to be so distracted unless she was working at her lab bench on seadeck, then she could tune out the whole world it seemed.

“I’m sorry Katie I don’t mean to be so distracted this morning.” Kristin said as she rubbed her forehead with her hand.  “I was working late and didn’t get very much sleep last night.”

“Oh, I thought the captain was helping you with your research.”

“He was but there were a lot of samples to go through.” Kristin stated matter-of-factly.

“Uh huh.” Said Katie with a hint of amused suspicion in her voice.  “Okay tell me what happened.”

Kristin’s head came up as Katie asked her question. “Nothing happened.”

“Oh come on Kristin you guys were working in there almost all day and all night and nothing happened.  I don’t believe you.”  Katie said keeping her voice down so others in the room couldn’t hear what she was saying.

“He kissed me.” Kristin said quietly.

“Oh my god he kissed you?” Katie said in an excited whisper.

“Everything was going fine.  We had been working on the samples and the bacteria started to luminescence. I was looking through the microscope and he kissed the back of my neck.  I brought my head up and then he pulled me to him and kissed me.  Then he pulled back almost immediately and apologized.” Kristin said in an angry whisper.

“Why did he apologize?”

“I have no idea.  I can’t believe what an idiot I am.”

“Why are you an idiot?”

“I kissed him back.”

“So? That would probably be my reaction if a guy I liked kissed me.”

“I don’t know, I just feel very foolish.”

“Oh crap, captain at one o’clock.” Katie said and nodded her head in the direction of Bridger and Commander Ford as the two men enter the mess hall.

Kristin didn’t even look up.  “I’m going to go to the lab. I’ll talk to you later Katie. Thanks for the chat.”  Katie watched as her friend left the mess hall.  She noticed as the captain watched Kristin move through the room never taking his eyes off the doctor until she was no longer in view.  ‘What in the world is he thinking?’ she thought as she stood up to leave.

Everyone on the ship could see how well the captain and the doctor got along.  They were good friends and most people thought it was inevitable that the two would one day become romantically involved.  In fact, some people even thought they already were romantically involved.

It seemed to ease the crews’ mind that their captain was able to care for someone after losing his wife and son.  It assured the crew that he wasn’t a man who had lost all ability to feel.  He had changed a lot since he had come aboard and most felt it was due to his relationship with the good doctor.

It had been three days since Nathan had kissed Kristin and he was missing her.  The study of the currents in the area had kept everyone busy and Nathan hadn't had time to talk to Kristin alone.  They hadn’t spent more than two minutes in each other’s company since that night and when they were together Kristin was all professional.  She never called him by name only captain.  She barely looked at him and when she did her eyes were unreadable.  He wished he could erase that night in the lab.

Even the crew was a bit tense when the two were in the same room.  Lucas had brought up the subject to him earlier.

“So what did you do?” Lucas asked innocently.

“What do you mean what did I do?”

“To the doc.  You two, well you don’t seem angry at one another just, maybe sad or hurt.  I don’t know.  Did you two have an argument?”  Nathan thought about Lucas words.  ‘Sad or hurt. I probably hurt her.’  He thought dejectedly.

“We had a misunderstanding I guess you could say.”

“About what?”

“Nothing you need to know about.”

“Oh.”  Lucas had something of an idea about what.  “Did you say you were sorry?”

"How do you assume it’s my fault?”

“Well usually when we’re talking about a girl, the guy is to blame.  It’s the logical choice.”  Lucas said knowingly.

Bridger just shook his head.  ‘I said I was sorry but that may be the problem.’  “I haven’t had a chance to talk to her yet.  How do you know so much about it?”

“I don’t, just guessing.” He said with a big grin.  He had been right.  “You need to go talk to her.”

“Don’t worry I will.”

Nathan’s shift had ended and he decided he needed to go in search of Kristin.  He wanted to talk to her.  He had no idea what he was going to say to her or how well he would be received when he finally found her but he needed to talk to her.  He had only seen her once during the day and that had been in the mess hall this morning. He had only seen her for a couple minutes and he deemed that it had not been long enough.

Nathan entered seadeck in the hopes of finding Kristin but instead he noticed Manilow Crocker sitting on the steps by the moonpool.  “Good evening, cap.  Just relaxing a bit down here since it seems to be unoccupied at the moment.”

“Hey Gator, how are things this evening?” Nathan said as he sat down on the steps next to the chief.

“Things are fine cap.” Crocker said as he eyed his captain and friend.  “Something wrong cap?”  Crocker had notice that Nathan had been particularly quiet for the past few days.

“Not enough sleep last night chief.” Nathan said as he rubbed his eyes with his hands.   He looked over at the moonpool and saw Darwin swimming and smiled.

Crocker noticed the smile on Bridger’s face.  “I think that’s the first time I’ve seen you looking relaxed all day cap.  You sure there ain’t nothing wrong?”

Nathan looked at his hands for a few minutes and Crocker didn’t think Nathan was going to answer the question when he heard Nathan quietly answer, “I kissed Kristin the other night.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” Crocker asked slowly.  The chief wasn’t surprised at what his friend had just said.  He knew that Nathan cared deeply for Kristin but he wasn’t sure how deeply or if Nathan was ready to admit how much he cared for his CMO.

“No, yes, I don’t know.” Nathan said as he buried his face in his hands.

Crocker couldn’t help but smiled at his friend.  “Well which is it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you want to kiss her?”

Nathan thought about the question.  ‘Yes he had wanted to kiss her.  “Yes.” He said quietly.

“Well then what’s the problem?” asked Crocker.

"I don’t know.  I care about Kristin very much but I don’t know if I’m ready for more.”

“But you kissed her. Why did you do that if you don’t think your ready?”

“I don’t know.  Things the other night were, I don’t know.  I just don’t want her to be angry with me and I’m sure she is right now.”

“Why would she be angry with you?”

“I apologized after kissing her and she didn’t like that very much.”

“Huh, can’t say I’ve ever apologized for kissing a woman.  Why did you?”

“I caught her off guard.”

“Did she act like you should be apologizing?”

“I don’t know.  I just knew that I was kissing her and then I wasn’t.  Damn it I sound like a teenager.  I’m 56 years old not some 16 year old.”  He let out a sigh as he ran his hand through his hair.  “I need a drink.”

Crocker chuckled at his last statement.  “I think you should figure out how you feel about the doc before you go talk to her.”

“Yeah, maybe your right.” Nathan got up to leave.  “Goodnight chief.”

“Goodnight cap.”

Nathan made his way to his cabin.  He really didn’t know what to do with himself.  He wasn’t all that tired but he lay down on his bunk still in his uniform.  He lay there for several minutes trying not to think about the kiss but about how he felt.

It didn’t work though his mind always drifted back to the kiss.   He closed his eyes as he remembered his lips on her neck, the smell of her hair.  He inhaled deeply as his breathing became shallow as he remembered her lips as he captured them with his own.  Her lips were so soft and sweet.

‘Why the hell did I have to kiss her?’  He thought. ‘Because you wanted to taste her lips.’ Said a small voice at the back of his mind.  ‘Stop it.’ He thought and jumped off his bunk and started pacing.  He jumped as he heard a page for him to report to seadeck.  ‘Good. A distraction.’ He thought and left his cabin.

He got to seadeck to find the lights dimmed to about half the normal brightness.  He could make out about five people in the lab.  As he got to the door he could see Lucas and three lab technicians bent over flasks of solutions containing bacterial cultures.   Nathan watched as the four continued on their tasks.

His heart seemed to stop as he watched as Kristin walked into the room.  He had been hoping that she wouldn’t be here but knew that she would.   He wondered why he had been called.

“Excuse me but why was I called down here?” he asked as he stood just inside the door.

“Oh good Nathan. You have to see this, this is amazing!”  Kristin said excitedly as she brought a lamp over to one of the samples.  She was so excited at what she was about to show him she was almost jumping up and down.  He just had to smile at her.  ‘She looks so cute,’ as he moved closer to the bench.

“Okay you know the luminescence we saw the other night and I told you I was going to look at the effect of different wavelengths of light on the cultures well I have and it’s amazing. You have to see this.” She turned to the others in the room.  “Okay Alex get the lights while Lucas and Shelly turn on the lamps.  Each lamp is set at a different wavelength and will give us a different result.” She explained to Nathan.  “Okay now.”

The room was temporarily dark until the lamps were turned on.  The flasks of bacteria seemed to glow each one a different color.  One was red the other blue and one was green.  They all were amazing.

“It’s amazing.  How is it possible?” Nathan asked in an awed voice.

Kristin went on to explain the response was due to differing wavelengths of light.  Nathan watched as her excitement overwhelmed her.  She was like a child on Christmas morning.  Her eyes seemed to dance with energy.

Kristin had stopped talking and was just looking at the glowing flasks.  Nathan walked up to her.  “Thank you for calling me.” He said quietly.

She nodded not looking at him.  “This was your project as well captain.  I thought you’d like to see what all these little bugs could do.”

He was a bit disappointed that she didn’t look at him when she spoke to him but decided it was better than nothing.  “Thanks again.  I’ll see you later.”  With that he left the lab and headed to his quarters.

Nathan changed out of his uniform into a T-shirt and a pair of shorts.  He still wasn’t in the mood to go to sleep so he thought he might try and read a book to see if it would help him relax enough to sleep.  He sat down on his bunk but after ten minutes of reading he threw the book down on his desk with disgust.  ‘What am I going to do? I can’t stop thinking about her.’

He was brought out of his musing by a knock on his cabin door.  “Come in.,” he said as he lifted himself off his bunk.  His breath caught in his throat as Kristin Westphalen stepped into his cabin and shut the door behind her.  She didn’t take a step into the room but just leaned up against the door.  Nathan couldn’t think of anything to say. He hadn’t thought she would come to see him.

He just stood and looked at her.  She was wearing khaki shorts and a T-shirt.  Her hair was no longer in a ponytail but loose around her shoulders.  Nathan couldn’t help thinking how beautiful she was.  His heart had started beating faster as she had entered the room.

“Hi.” She said.

“Hi.”

“Why did you kiss me the other night?” she said her gaze on the floor.

“I haven’t figured that out yet.” He said truthfully.  His feelings for her were still confusing for him even after three days.

Kristin nodded her head as if she understood and a small part of her did understand why Nathan was having such a hard time dealing with his feelings.

“Look Nathan, I can understand that you’re confused. I accept that.  It’s just you can’t toy with me.  I’ve been hurt enough over the years and I can’t go through that again.  I care about you a great deal and your friendship has been invaluable to me these past few months.  And that’s why I came here to talk to you.  I think maybe we should just be friends.”

“You’re dumping me even though we never dated?” Nathan asked incredulously.

“No.” she said exasperated.  “I’m… trying to define the boundaries of our relationship.” ‘Yes that sounds good.’  “Your still in love with your wife and I’m still a little bruised from my last relationship and I don’t want you to have to feel that our relationship has to become more than it is.”

Nathan wasn’t sure he liked where this conversation was heading.  “What if I want more?”

Kristin half smiled at his question not really believing he would allow anything more.  “I don’t know. Maybe we’ll talk about that if the time comes.”

‘If, what does she me if?’

She turned to leave but Nathan ran to the door and put his hand on the door stopping her from leaving.  “I kissed you because I didn’t want the connection we had to end.  The other night when we were working in the lab whenever I needed something you handed it to me. I never asked for anything, you just knew what I wanted.  I’ve never worked with anyone who I had such a connection with.  Hell I was beginning to wonder if you could read my mind.”  Kristin smiled a little when he said the last sentence.

“Not even my wife knew how to do that, not even after thirty years together. I just didn’t want to stop feeling like that.  Just being with you.  I don’t know if I meant to do what I did.”  He let out an exhausted sigh.  “I’m sorry.  I’m not making very much sense.” Nathan said as he leaned his back against the door.  Kristin had had her eyes fixed on the door while he had talked but now she turned and looked at him.

“You look as tired as I feel right now.” She paused and returned her gaze to the door.  “I know what you mean about a connection, I felt it too.” She said quietly.

Nathan’s heart seemed to jump out of his chest as he heard her words.  The connection hadn’t been broken.  “Stay with me tonight.” He said as he looking into her eyes.  She looked away quickly.

“I can’t do that.”

“No not that, I wouldn’t ask that of you.  I just want to hold you tonight.  I’ve missed being near you and I don’t want to give you up tonight.”

She was quiet for a moment.  He slowly moved behind her and laid his hands on her arms.  His hands felt so warm and strong on her arms.  She wanted to stay with him but was afraid.  She wanted nothing more than to belong to him but if he found he really didn’t want her she would be lost and Kristin wasn’t sure she would find her way again.

Nathan slowly pulled her to him resting her back against his chest.  He brought his head down so his head was next to hers.  “Please stay.”  He said in her ear.

“Okay.” She said. She couldn’t say no to him.  If he had wanted her on the lab floor the other night she wouldn’t have been able to resist him.  He led her over to his bunk and sat her down on it.  He knelt down and removed her shoes.

They lay down together on his bunk.  Nathan lay on his back with his arms tightly holding Kristin.  She lay with her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest.  She could feel the beating of his heart underneath her hand and it comforted her.  She felt herself begin to relax and finally drift off to sleep.

Nathan lay awake as she fell asleep.  He felt content right now with Kristin in his arms.  He kissed the top of her head.  His heart knew he loved this woman in his arms but his mind just wouldn’t admit it.  Soon though his heart would overrule his head.  A peaceful sleep soon found him and his dreams were filled with what his heart wanted.

Nathan woke the next morning to knocking on the door to his cabin.   A soft sigh drew his attention to the woman lying in his arms.  She looked so peaceful while she slept.  Her left leg was draped over his.  It was so natural waking up next to her.  It was like coming home after a long journey.

He was brought out of his reverie by another knock on the door.  He quickly extricated himself from Kristin hoping not to wake her.   He slid down from his bunk and walked over to the door and opened it.  Lucas was standing there looking anxious and before Bridger could say anything Lucas bolted into his room.  He stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Kristin asleep on his captain’s bunk.  Bridger for his part quickly closed the door and turned to Lucas motioning for him to be quiet and to come over to the holo-imager.

“Sorry sir.” Lucas said as he saw the doc then with a perplexed look on his face he asked.  “Why does she still have her clothes on? And why do you?” which he received a light cuff on the back of his head for as Bridger walked over to his desk.   A red blush tinged his cheeks as he said, “I’m sorry captain but we have a problem.   A virus seems to have infected the seaQuest computer.  It’s nothing major so far but it’s awfully complicated and it’s dug itself a nice hole in the system.”

Nathan nodded as Lucas spoke.

"I’ve been working on it most of the night.  When I found it, it didn’t appear to be that big but now it’s huge.  I don’t know how it got here or how it was able to just explode all over everything but it has.”

“Alright, keep working on it and let me know if it gets into anything important.”

“I think you should get something to eat first.”  The two men turned quickly to face Kristin who was now sitting up on the bunk looking at them.  “Good morning gentlemen.”

“Good morning doc.” Lucas said nervously.  “I think I’ll go get some breakfast and then hit the computer again.  See ya later.”

Lucas opened the door and stepped out of the cabin.   As he was about to walk away Bridger called his name.  Lucas turned around and made a zipper motion over his lips letting the captain know that what he saw was not to be made common knowledge.  “Thanks.” Bridger said as he closed the door.

He turned around to see Kristin pulling on her shoes.  “Good morning, sorry Lucas and I woke you.”

“It’s alright I have a meeting with Joshua in about thirty minutes so it was good timing.”

“Sorry about Lucas.”

She smiled.  “Well at least it wasn’t Ben.”

Nathan laughed.  “How about lunch?”

“I’d love to.  I’ll see you later.”  She walked up to him and kissed his cheek. Her lips on his cheek were enough to send Nathan’s senses into a tailspin.  His arms quickly encircled Kristin and he captured her lips.  Their passion ignited and the kiss escalated quickly.

Nathan’s hand quickly found its way under Kristin’s t-shirt caressing the skin of her back.  He couldn’t believe how much he wanted her, how much he needed her.  His hand caressed her stomach and she let out a moan, which only increased his need for her.  His lips left hers and start to travel down her neck.  He heard her whisper his name and a thrill went through him as it always did.

He brought his lips up to her ear and whispered her name.  As he spoke he slowly moved his hand up to caress her breast.  He felt her shudder and gasp for breath.  Nathan moved to capture her lips only to be stopped by his PAL sounding.

“Damn it.” He said as he stopped his assault on Kristin.  He took a deep breath before releasing Kristin and walking over to his desk to retrieve his PAL.  Kristin quietly opened the door and slipped out with one last glance at Nathan as he talked to Commander Ford.

Kristin was finding it difficult to concentrate on pretty much anything.  Her thoughts kept drifting back to that morning in Nathan’s cabin. She was so confused she didn’t know what to think. If it had not been for Commander Ford interrupting them who knows what would have happened.  ‘I know exactly what would have happened.’ Thought Kristin.

She leaned back in her chair in her office.  Rubbing her hands across her forehead.  ‘I’m in love with him, damn it. How could I have let that happen?’  She knew exactly how it had happened.  She thought he was safe.  He wouldn’t fall for her because of his feelings for his wife so she had let him in.  She had felt safe befriending him and being herself around him.  And he in turn liked what he saw when he looked at her and he let her see him for who he was. She was Kristin not Dr. Westphalen and he was Nathan not Captain Bridger.

“He seems awfully happy these days.” Remarked Ben Kreig as he spied the captain entering the mess hall.  “I wonder if he and the doc made up?”

“Give it a rest Ben.  They are just friends, leave them alone.” Said Katie Hitchcock.

“It’s none of our business.” Replied Jonathan as he watched the captain head towards the three.

“Good afternoon captain, won't you join us?” Katie asked.

"Why thank you Katie.”

"So has Lucas figured that little virus out yet?”  Asked Jonathan.

“Yes and no.  He gets it cleared from one set of systems but then it seems to pop up somewhere else.  It’s driving him crazy.”

“Speaking of which here he comes now.”

The foursome turned their heads to the door as they saw Lucas being led into the mess hall by Kristin.  Katie watched Nathan and saw a small smile grace his lips as he saw the doctor.  She smiled to herself and hoped he would come to his senses about her friend.

Lucas and Kristin emerged with their trays and sat down with the senior staff.  They were still in conversation as they sat down.

“I can’t sleep now doc or this thing will infect more and more systems.”

“Lucas you haven’t slept for any good length of time in four days. You are not working on this thing any longer until you get a good night's sleep.”

“But doc”

She cut him off before he could continue.  “Lucas, you can either go to sleep on your own or I can sedate you for twenty-four hours.  Which is it?”

Lucas turned his head to Bridger.  “Captain.”

“Hey don’t look at me.  That virus will still be here when you wake up, kiddo.”

“Thanks a lot sir.”  Lucas eyed the captain and the doctor with a twinkle in his eye, which both adults saw.

“Don’t you dare make me sedate you for the rest of your teenage years, Mr. Wolenczak.”  Was the reply he got out of Westphalen.  He smiled at the doctor finally giving in; he was tired after all.

"Okay, okay. But you have to promise to wake me if it gets into something serious like life support or the weapons systems.” Lucas said as he addressed his captain.

“I promise, if it gets into anything important I won’t hesitate to call you.”

Kristin was working in medbay when her computer screen went dead.  “What the hell?” she asked as she tried to turn the computer back on.  It wasn’t responding.  “Westphalen to Wolenczak.”

“What’s up doc?” asked Lucas.

“Lucas my computer seems to have died.”

“Yeah, I think the virus has gotten to medbay.  I’m working on it so it may be an hour before I have you back up again.”

“Alright I really didn’t want to work anyway. Thanks.”  Kristin ended the communication and headed out to seadeck to work on her research.

"Lucas how are things going?” asked Nathan as he entered the boys cluttered quarters.

“Just fine cap.  I’ve got it pretty much cleared from most systems.  It’s weird though.”

“How so?”

“I think it is looking for a particular system or data.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, once I have it cleared from a system it doesn’t reinfect even if it is exposed to that system again.  And I let it go in one of the nonessential systems while I was sleeping and it stopped.”

“What do you mean it stopped?”

“It just stopped.  It was like what ever it was looking for wasn’t there so it didn’t need to keep propagating itself.”

"Can you find out what it’s after?”

“I don’t think we will know until it infects that system and starts wreaking havoc.”

“What systems has it not infected yet?”

“Weapons, life support, and navigation.”

“Those are the only ones it hasn’t infected?”

“Well those are the important ones that you are worried about.”  Nathan nodded.

“Okay, let me know when it has and hope to God you can stop it before it does any damage.  Thanks, Lucas. I’ll see you later.”

“Cap?”

“Yes?”

“Are you in love with the doc?” asked Lucas.

“I don’t know.” Said Bridger with a shrug of his shoulders.

“I think you are.” Said Lucas with a sly smile.

“Really? And why is that?” asked Nathan with a roll of his eyes.

"Because you make such cute couple.” Said Lucas and then made kissing noises as Bridger turned to leave.

“I can’t believe I am trusting you with the computer systems of the flagship of the UEO.” Lucas’ only reply was laughter as Nathan left for his cabin.

Nathan smiled softly as the image of his late wife floating over the clouds of the
 holo-imager.  He knew he was falling in love with Kristin, he had been for a while.  Yes he felt guilty but he couldn’t stop what he felt. He hoped Carol would understand that he had to live a life, a life with love.

A knock on the door sounded and Nathan quickly walked over to the imager and switched it off as the door opened and Lucas came barreling in with Kristin right behind him. Nathan hoped she hadn’t seen Carol’s image before he had turned off the imager.

“Please come in,” said Nathan dryly as the two entered.

“Sorry captain.” Said Kristin and she actually looked contrite Lucas however was too excited to stop.

“Sorry sir but I’ve found out what this virus is after.” Said Lucas.

“What?” asked Nathan when the boy didn’t elaborate.

“It’s after the research I’ve been doing on the equatorial current survey.” Said Kristin.

“Why?”

“The source of the virus is the Stratton World Systems.  They drill for oil and natural gas under the ocean floor. They own a number of oil rigs off the coast of South America.” Supplied Lucas.

“We think they are trying to destroy my findings or change them to allow the drilling of oil near the coast of northern Brazil. The effects of which would be catastrophic with the methods they have been using. The damage would be wide spread over the southern Atlantic Ocean.” Said Kristin.

“Lucas can you get proof that Stratton is responsible for the virus and the attack on the doctor’s research?” Nathan asked.

“Yep, I’ve already got it all on a disc.”

“Good job, kiddo.” Said Nathan. “Why don’t you get it to Commander Ford and tell him to send it to the proper authorities.”

“Aye sir.” Said Lucas with a smile and he turned and left the two adults alone.

“Is your data intact?” asked Nathan.

“Yes. I store my research on discs so nothing was lost when the virus attacked my computer.” Nathan watched as Kristin wandered over to the holo-imager where Nathan had been leaning against it. She looked at the machine then reached over and flipped the machine on.

She watched as the image of Carol Bridger appeared. Nathan ran his hand through his hair. He was about to say something when Kristin spoke. Her voice was soft as she said, “she’s very pretty.”

Nathan didn’t trust his voice so he nodded. He didn’t know what to say.  He felt guilty, like he had been caught with another woman.  He was afraid of what Kristin thought of him.

He heard her take a deep breath and she flipped off the imager.  She turned and walked towards the door. He didn’t want her to leave. He started after her but her voice stopped him.

“I’m sorry Nathan but I can’t compete with that. I can’t do this anymore. I’m sorry.”

“Kristin don’t leave, please.”

She couldn’t look at him. Kristin wanted to leave the room as quickly as possible but his hand wrapped around her arm stopping her from leaving.

“Let me go Nathan.” her voice was soft and tired. Nathan didn’t know what to say but he felt if he let her leave she would walk out of his life forever. The fear of losing her spurred his next action.

Nathan pulled her close bring his hand to the back of her neck pulling her lips to his.  He kissed her with all the passion he had been suppressing for the past several months. It surprised him how much he wanted her, his body reacting almost instantly to her body pressed up against his as she responded to his kiss.

He brought his right arm around her shoulders as his left encircled her waist bringing her as close to him as possible. One of her arms went around his neck as the other went around his waist. His tongue pressed her lips and she allowed his tongue to enter her mouth, her tongue mingling with his.

Kristin brought her hands to his chest and pushed him away as she broke the kiss.  Nathan panicked as Kristin pushed him away.  He held her close as he spoke whispered in her ear. “No, Kristin.  Please don’t push me away.  I’m in love with you.  I have been for a while now.  I will always love Carol but I am in love with you.  I need you.  Please don’t push me away.”

Tears sprang to Kristin’s eyes as he spoke.  She knew she was in love with him and hearing that he was in love with her made her heart soar.  She couldn’t believe it.

Nathan brought his lips down to hers once again and was relieved when she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.  She allowed all the passion and all the love she had for him to flow through the passionate kiss they now shared.

What little control Nathan had was lost as Kristin kissed him with a passion he had never known.  His hands roamed up and down her back as he turned her towards his bunk.

Kristin brought her hands down to his chest but instead of pushing him away she worked to unbutton his shirt of his khaki uniform. Nathan drew away from her and pulled his shirt and t-shirt off him.  As soon as the shirts were removed he captured his lips again.

Nathan gently lowered Kristin on to his bunk.  He pulled his lips from hers trailing kissed along her jaw and down her neck. His hands found the hem of the blue polo shirt she wore and he pulled the shirt over her head.  Her hands snaked around his neck bringing him down to her again.

He lifted his face to look into her eyes.  “I love you.” He whispered to her.  He caressed her cheek with his hand as she whispered back to him, “I love you.”  He brought his lips down to hers once again kissing her with new passion and new love.