Kristin Westphalen pushed her coppery hair back up into its usual ponytail. It had been wonderful to get away from civilization from a while. She’d not even been near a TV, radio, computer for five days. Now she was ready to return to seaQuest.

As she stood in line at the airport, she heard a commotion near the TV. Lots of people were gathering around it. She heard “Who died? Never heard of her!” She asked the little blond lady in front of her. “Who are they talking about?” the blond replied “Some UEO doctor from the seaquest. Kristin somebody..” Kristin pushed toward the TV. There was a mistake. A big one.

She along with the rest of the people crowded around the TV, watched as Liana Hayes, the top reporter of the moment, came into focus.

“This is Liana Hayes, reporting live from Pearl Harbor, where at the UEO’s Peace Gardens, the UEO lays to rest one of its own. A doctor, tragically murdered on a mission of mercy. Dr. Kristin Westphalen died as a result of internal injuries Tuesday, when rebels attacked her party of doctors bringing a life saving vaccine to an island near Tahiti. Captain Nathan Bridger will give her eulogy.”

The screen was switched to a man looking shattered. As he began to speak, no one noticed the small redhead start to shake, or turn and run…

Kristin fought down a tide of emotions. Who wanted to kill her? Why did they think they’d succeeded? And, oh God how could they do this to Nathan. She had to fond a way to access the ‘Net. All answers would be there.

After long and stress filled hours, Kristin pushed herself up from her laptop. She ran a hand through her hair. She had to face the facts. As much as she loved Nathan she could never see him again. She would only endanger him. Never to feel his lips on hers, the way he touched her, like she was something precious and treasured. She wept, her shoulders shaking. No one to comfort her, ever. No one could know she’d lived. Not Nathan or Lucas, Cynthia or Katie..

Aboard the seaQuest
 

Nathan was lost in his pain. He couldn’t help Lucas or anyone to deal with this crushing loss. He was too far gone himself. Everything was dust and ashes. Never to see her, touch her, hold her… Her beautiful face, destroyed beyond recognition, smashed with a rifle butt. The signs of torture on her body. He tried to turn the awful images away but they kept coming. And worse, the happy memories assaulted him. The way her eyes would shine when she saw him, the graceful way she moved, how she whispered his name… That last message, that she was joining some friends of hers on a routine vaccine delivery.

The door to his cabin flew open. Katie Hitchcock marched in “Damn you Captain. I know you’re hurting but we all are! We all miss her. We have to make her sacrifice worth something. Get up and command this boat. Help your crew. Make her proud of you again! This would kill her to know how you are acting. Be the man she loved, not a child.” “What do you  know about what I’m suffering? You have no idea!” Bridger yelled, and then he saw the tears running down Katie’s face. “She was my best friend, too. And like Lucas’s mom. He’s lost both of you…” Nathan pulled himself up. He had to go on. For her…

Kristin eyed her new hair color. Blond wasn’t her favorite but… She headed into the dark streets to find out where the cabal who hated Nathan were. And how she could stop them…

The simple truth would be revealed, even if she had to live with the aching knowledge that the man she loved was lost to her forever. She walked on. Bravely, just as Nathan tried to pull himself together and command his boat, help his people, deal with his loss. He would never stop loving her. Never. And she would never stop loving him, He would be free of those who hated him, if she had to violate every oath she'd taken. For him, no sacrifice was too much...