Hauntings From The Pas

HAUNTINGS FROM THE PAST

Just a few notes from the author to explain a few things to non-SeaQuest fans. this story is the first of a trilogy – the others are completed and will be posted shortly – you do have to read them in order to understand the entire plot – although each can be read as a separate story.

The SeaQuest show ran for 3 series but true fans of the show totally ignore the 3^rd season as if it never happened. This is because they took Bridger away as Captain and that just ruined the show for a lot of people. My stories are use either the crew from the first season or the second season. The stories with Dagwood and Tony are second season. I always use Kristen Westphalen in my stories because I never like Dr Smith they used in Season 2.

To explain the Lawrence factor – Lawrence Wolenczak and Cynthia Wolenczak are Lucas’s real parents. They did appear in the last episode of the first season but were basically good guys in that one. Secretly, I think all of us fans out there wanted Lucas and Bridger to become father and son, and so in the fan fiction world most of us chose that story line and have used it ever since. This is how it works – Once upon a time, one of the fan fiction author wrote the story line that Lawrence abused Lucas physically and beat him over a number of years until the SeaQuest crew found out and that’s when Lucas separated from his real parents and became Bridger’s adopted son. Although none of us like the idea of child abuse in real life this idea seemed to work for our purposes and so there are now over 150 stories based on this plot for Lucas, Bridger and his parents. Most of the stories also include the idea that Lawrence still seeks revenge for his son Lucas’s disobedience. I too have used this idea in most of my stories and Lawrence is always the bad guy.

Sorry for waffling on but I didn’t think people who weren’t avid fans of the show and fan fiction would understand why we write about the child abuse subject and write Lawrence as the bad guy.

Hope you enjoy – this was the first fan fiction story of any description that I wrote. As I said there are two more chapters to this and I will post them shortly. Enjoy.

The deck known as “C3” was designated entirely to scientific research and development. The area was divided into a number of laboratories and work stations on which experiments could be conducted and results correlated together.

In one such work station, the blond head of a young 17 year old teenager was bent over the lens of a microscope looking intently at the contents of the slides he had just prepared. This room was quite large and had two exits, one on each side of the room. There were a number of small portholes which were turned into windows with the inclusion of glass panels. The room could be made sound proof and sterile by sealing off both doors in a matter of minutes if the situation rose. On one side of the room, a long rectangular tank came through the room on the right hand side and continued through to the left side of the room, completely dissecting the wall with images of light and water. This tank was specifically designed to house the most curious member of the crew and continued throughout most of the vessel where possible. Occasionally, when one was watching, they would see a shimmer of grey through the water before it disappeared into the next room. This most curious member of the crew was of course, Darwin.

The boy’s concentration did not waver from his project, and so, when the doors of the room sealed with a quiet hiss, he was unaware that he was locked in. A silent figure had entered the room and played with the panel beside the door until the doors were shut. Now his attention was focused on the boy poised over the microscope. In his pockets he possessed three items, firstly a small brown bottle with clear fluid and a gauze cloth, in the other, a syringe with a sharp point which held contents of a yellowish tinge.

The boy had just gotten excited over his findings and with a sudden shift in position, he had unknowingly switched on the Comm Link which was located on the side of the work bench. The Comm Link was linked to an intercom system which could be heard in all rooms if necessary and the Bridge. On this occasion, the link went directly to the Bridge.

Captain Nathan Bridger, and his senior crew which included, Commander Jonathan Ford, Chief Crocker, Lieutenant Ben Krieg, Commander Hitchcock, Tim O’Neill the communications officer and Miguel Ortiz, were all in the middle of their routine duties when the sound of static came over the main intercom speaker indicating that a Comm Link had been switched on somewhere in the boat. The crew were a little confused at first and waited for someone to speak when they heard the voice of Lucas Wolenczak.

“Damn, the Captain and the other’s will never believe this when they see it,” he said excitedly to nobody.

The Captain moved in front of Tim O’Neill from where he was standing and pushed a little red button with the letters RECORD in white lettering on it. He gave a sly smile to all that were watching, and put his fingers to his lips, ushering them to be silent for a moment.

The rest of the senior officers, had thought his odd, that the Captain wanted to record any Comm Link conversations, but upon seeing the sly smirk on his face, knew that he was intending to listen to the young wiz kid and record what he was saying, maybe to hold it over him later, jokingly of course.

All of the crew knew what the Captain felt towards the youngest members of the crew. Lucas was like a son to him, and a little brother to the majority of the senior staff. It was hard not to like Lucas, he was the most gentlest, kind hearted and good natured kid, any of them had encountered. Those feelings often led the crew to be most protective over their young charge, although he sometimes rebelled against the choking closeness he would feel.

“Fifteen hours at this and I am almost finished,” Lucas stated to himself. “Bridger will never know how many hours of sleep I have missed and how many meals I have been too busy to eat just to get this completed,” he continued.

Nathan Bridger silently rolled his eyes and scolded himself for not checking up on the boy earlier. He and most of the crew had been very busy over the last two days, trying to align the new weapons systems for the vessel, and had failed to note that the youngest member had been allowed to go unsupervised for so long.

Lucas didn’t need supervision for the reasons most teenagers did, but when it came to sleeping and eating and generally making sure he was okay physically, Lucas was the last person to notice. If left unchecked, the boy would go for hours without breaks and worst of all, without so much as a bite to eat for days on end. He was a poor eater to begin with, and needed constant encouragement to make the effort to eat with the rest of the crew in the mess hall.

Commander Ford and Kristen Westphalen almost began to say something to Bridger before he silenced them with a brief hand gesture, signaling he wanted them to remain quiet for a minute.

Kristen Westphalen was not entirely happy about this, as the subject of Lucas’s eating habits were most concerning to her, the ship’s doctor. She had a professional obligation to ensure that the crew were all healthy and happy. This concern extended to unofficial members of the crew like Lucas. She genuinely loved the young man more than she would admit openly to the crew.

**********

The dark figure hiding in the laboratory decided that he would make himself known to his victim before carrying out his assigned task. He slowly came out of the shadows of the room and stood where he knew the young man would notice him eventually.

Lucas stopped at the movement and ceased the conversation to himself to see who or what else was in the room. He eyes came to rest upon a large man who was wearing a black wet suit which appeared to be still damp and carrying a small waterproof backpack.

“Who are you and what are you doing in here?” Lucas enquired nervously. He knew that if this person was a member of his regular crew, then he would not have been sneaking around the laboratory and would be wearing an official SeaQuest Uniform, not a wet suit.

The Captain and the Bridge crew had heard the question, and now wondered in alarm why an unauthorized person would be lurking about the ship. Bridger started heading for the door, when he heard....

“My employer requests your personal appearance, Lucas, to discuss a proposal with you,” the person said. “My instructions were to ask you to come immediately and not to take “NO” for an answer,” he now added with a sneer just to frighten the teenager a little bit.

The unidentified person did not know the conversation was being recorded, and thought that the boy and him were alone. He saw no reason to think that his plans would be interrupted or altered in any way, he would take the boy, and it was his intention to take him by force. He also saw no reason why he couldn’t let the name of his employer slip, just to add to the uneasiness he knew the boy was now feeling. “Sanderson,” the man said with an uninterested tone to his voice.

Lucas’s reaction to the name was more than he had anticipated and he grinned devilishly and then started to edge his way closer to where Lucas was standing.

“Sanderson,” Lucas said with a sharp intake of breath. “No, it can’t be, he’s

dead. Who are you and what do you really want? It can’t be true, it can’t be true,” he repeated with obvious terror in his words. He had not heard that name in a long time, but the mere mention of it brought back haunting memories that Lucas had tried to bury deep a long time ago.

Lucas had failed to notice that the man was getting closer as he struggled with the name he had heard. The bridge crew were now collectively holding their breaths, as they waited to find out what was happening. All of them wanted to rush to the laboratory to make sure Lucas was not in trouble, but the conversation and the terror they had heard in Lucas’s voice, held them in their positions as if frozen.

“Stay away from me,” Lucas shouted as he tried to retreat away from the man approaching him. “Don’t you touch me, I am not going anywhere with you. How did you get on board?” Lucas kept asking the questions, but wasn’t getting any answers. The man continued to come closer and closer.

“You can’t take me away from here without anybody knowing, they know where I am, they will not let you hurt me, they will not let you take me away from here.” His voice was now cracking with small sobs in between what he was trying to say. He continued to back away, but then realized he was up against the door to the laboratory.

The man now reached into his pocket and pulled out the bottle and gauze, letting his young victim see what he had with an evil gleam in his eyes. He soaked the gauze with the liquid from the bottle and placed the both back in his pocket for a moment. He then went into his other pocket, making sure he had Lucas’s full attention, and pulled out the syringe.

Lucas had gotten a whiff of the fumes from the bottle and knew what it was. His eyes wide with fright, he tried to cry out for help but his voice was temporarily lost. His gaze now fixated on the man’s right hand and what it held, A syringe. What could be in it? What did Sanderson intend to do with him? Lucas’s was sure after the last time, he couldn’t go through it again, he wouldn’t go through it again. The nightmares and pain had been too much.

The man was approximately half way across the room now, fast approaching.

Lucas tried to grab the door handle and open it in one movement, but the action didn’t work and the door wouldn’t open. He was too afraid to note that the door was probably locked.

Help, somebody help me, Captain Bridger, Ben, Captain, help me please!” Lucas was begging and pulling on the door handle. He was screaming for somebody to help him.

Captain Bridger’s heart was in his throat, he was now yelling back into the Comm Link, “Lucas, Lucas, who is in there with you? Hold on we are coming, Lucas”.

No answer. In his efforts to get away from his attacker and his own screaming, Lucas’ had failed to hear the voice of the one person he was so desperately trying to get to help him.

He suddenly felt a strong arm grip him around his chest, pulling his arms back from the door handle, he continued to yell for help. This was immediately cut off by the man placing the retrieved gauze cloth with the pungent fumes over the mouth and nose of the young man. Lucas tried to struggle, he so desperately wanted to get away from this man, he couldn’t go back to Sanderson. Sanderson was supposed to be dead. He was trying to reassure himself that this was a bad dream and at any moment he would wake up safe.

The fumes now began to overpower his senses and he felt his arms go weak, he no longer seemed to have the strength to release the man’s grip. Slowly, his thoughts were clouded and within moments he felt his knees buckle.

The man felt the teenager collapsing, but continued to hold onto him with the cloth still placed firmly over his mouth and nose. After a few more minutes, he then removed his hand from the boy’s face, but continued to hold onto him. The boy’s body sagged and went very limp.

“Nightly night, sweet prince,” he said cruelly as he started laughing at the boy’s plight.

That comment was the one that seemed to release Bridger and his crew from their frozen state and now they were all running at full speed to help Lucas. Bridger was not a young man anymore, but the thought of Lucas’s in the grips of a madman, made his running feet look like to 100 meter final’s race at the Olympics.

Krieg closely followed his Captain, and silently swore to himself that if anybody hurt Lucas, then there would be hell to pay. Commander Ford and Kristen Westphalen’s thoughts were along similar lines as they struggled to keep up with Bridger and get to Lucas.

Back at the Laboratory, he was supposed to make it look like he was trying to take the boy from the boat. Firstly though, he had to make sure he carried out his main task, the syringe. He thought briefly where would be the best place to inject the drug without any tell tale signs of the injection site. He wanted to inject the substance into the young man, but let it remain a secret until it’s effects started working. It would take approximately 48 hours for the effects of the yellow liquid to start showing. In the mean time, he didn’t want to let on to anybody, especially the boy, that something was wrong.

When his employer had asked him to take on the job of killing Lucas Wolenczak, he thought the task would be simple enough. That was until Sanderson insisted that he wanted the death to be drawn out and painful.

Initially, he would make it look like someone else had interest in the boy. Wanted to kidnap him for ransom or use his genius mind for some hideous crime.

The fact was that the drug was intended to make the boy sick for a few days, just make him sick long enough for him to become very weak, too weak to fight off any other attack he had in mind for him. Then slowly, very slowly, he would kill him. He wanted the crew of the SeaQuest to see their young squire in a lot of pain, he wanted to inflict both physical and emotional pain. And then, when it suited him and only when it suited him, he would kill Lucas Wolenczak.

The man’s thought’s were abruptly interrupted with the sounds of violent banging on the locked door. He could see faces trying to peer through the porthole window. He could hear them shouting the teenager’s name. With the door’s securely locked for a few moments, he could afford to take his time a little.

Quickly, without any resistance from his victim, he placed the syringe inside the slack jaw of Lucas and injected the virus into the boy’s mouth. The boy involuntarily swallowed the substance. The boy did not even flinch at the small sting from the needle.

Once he was satisfied that the syringe was empty, he placed the empty needle back in his pocket.

With that completed he know bent down slightly and picked up the unconscious boy and placed him over his right shoulder. The boy seemed to weight little more than a piece of paper and was no extra burden to the big man.

He went across to the other side of the room again, and stood at the door and the control panel he had tampered with upon entering. He once again played with the controls and waited for the doors to release with a loud escape of air. He placed the unresponsive boy on the floor just inside the air lock. He placed his fingers on the boy’s neck briefly just to be sure the boy was still breathing.

Good, the boy was unconscious; the dose he was given suggested he would be for quite some time to come, but at least he was still alive. He dreaded to think what his employer would do if he had to relay the message that the boy was dead before Sanderson’s little game of cat and mouse begun.

Then in haste and before he could be caught, he climbed through the air lock into the corridor that led to the launch bay. He retrieved his face mask, oxygen tank and goggles from their hidden location and proceeded to swim out of the launch bay into the vast sea outside.

**********

Five or six people then almost fell through the door to the laboratory onto each other as the door released. Once inside, all eyes surveyed the room for one thing - Lucas. Once their eyes grew accustomed to the room, they spotted what they were looking for.

Commander Ford and Ortiz took on the task of trying to go after the attacker. They had heard the door to the launch bay open and close and proceeded in that direction.

O’Neill took it upon himself to call to the Med Bay and call for a medical team and anything else that might aid the situation.

Ben and Nathan were the first to reach the fallen boy.

Lucas lay on his side facing away from them, with his left arm tucked up underneath him. Bridger gently touched him, calling his name, beseeching that this boy be alright. No response. Lucas continued to lay in the drug induced coma.

Ben had also started to call the boy’s name, when Kristen finally pushed her way past both of them, and said “Let me take a look at him.” Her stare at both of them read “Don’t mess with me at the moment”, and they reluctantly let her by.

Kristen called upon all of her professionalism to stop the tears as she gently tried to turn Lucas over. “Lucas, can you hear me? Lucas, please wake up.” Her eyes now glistened with tears. Lucas never heard their pleas, his mind was far, far away, in the midst of past memories which seemed to pull him into the darkness and wouldn’t let him go.

Behind the trio, the medical team had arrived with a stretcher and first aid kit. “What’s wrong with him, Kristen? Why won’t he wake up, what did he do to him?” blurted out Bridger.

“I don’t know yet Nathan; let’s get him back to Med Bay and let me do a full examination on him. There doesn’t seem to be any physical injuries just at the moment. Why he is unconscious remains a mystery for the moment, until I can take a better look at him.” She then proceeded to placed her fingers on Lucas’s neck where the unidentified attacker had, to feel the steady and continual throb of his heart.

The medical team wanted to place the unconscious boy on the stretcher, to take him back the medical lab, but Bridger wasn’t haven’t any of that. “I’ll carry him,” he said with a little venom in his voice. Enough for the medical team to back off slightly and look to Ben with questioning looks.

“Let Bridger take him,” Ben repeated. “If he doesn’t I will,” he added. The medical team just looked at each other and sighed, they were not going to win this argument.

Ben assisted the Captain in helping get Lucas into his arms. Just like for the attacker, Lucas was no burden to Bridger, and he proceeded to hold the boy firmly in his arms, the boy’s blond head resting on his shoulder, Bridger then started back towards the Med Bay. He wanted reassurance that Lucas was all right; he had still been calling the boy’s name to no avail. Somehow he thought he had failed in the role of protector. Lucas had gotten hurt and he hadn’t been there to prevent it.

Once back at the Med Bay, Bridger reluctantly and cautiously laid Lucas down on a waiting bed, to enable Kristen to do her job and help him.

Commander Ford and Ortiz had closely followed the medical team. They had not been able to capture the intruder, but had picked up a clue as to what happened outside the airlock.

“Lucas, can you hear me, Lucas?” Kristen was still trying to arouse the unconscious young man before her, whilst looking over his body for obvious signs of injury. They removed his sneakers, his trousers and then t-shirt to leave him in his boxer shorts underwear.

“What’s wrong with him Kristen?” Nathan asked impatiently.

“To tell the truth. Nathan, I don’t know, He’s got no evidence of physical violence, no contusions to the head, no bruising to his body. His body temperature seems to be a little low, so I will cover him with two or three warm blankets while he is in here, just to keep his body heat up. His blood pressure seems to be normal.”

Just as she proceeded to place the blankets around Lucas to stop his chills,

Commander Ford entered the room holding a small white gauze cloth some distance away from him.

”I think I know why Lucas is unconscious, Doctor Westphalen,” he stated as he handed her the cloth.

Upon bringing the cloth closer to her nose, she abruptly held it away from her as Ford had immediately. CHLOROFORM. “This is absolutely soaked in the liquid. No wonder he doesn’t respond. I can safely say that he should probably remain asleep for a great many hours given the amount of the drug on this cloth. There is enough on here to bring down an Elephant, if they still existed,” Kristen said. ”Now that we know he was drugged, we should let it work through his system, and let him sleep it off. Just keep him warm, and watch him for any nasty side effects”

“We should probably move him to his room or somewhere a bit more comfortable than the Med Bay, given the number of hours he is probably going to remain unconscious,” Kristen continued.

“Will he be all right?” Ben and Bridger chimed in together

“He should be all right, once the chloroform has worn off. I just don’t know when that will be. I would suspect that he would sleep through most of tonight anyway,” she answered.

“Let’s move him into my quarters,” Nathan suggested. “I can keep a good eye over him.”

Nathan saw that the others were looking at him sympathetically and knew that he wanted this for both his benefit as well as for Lucas.

”All right, Captain, but just for tonight, and you keep a good eye on him,” she said. “Call me if anything changes or he begins to wake up, immediately”.

“Yes, doctor,” he said with a sheepish grin.

Ben said his goodnights to the Captain, the doctor and fellow crew members before walking over to where Lucas lay sleeping and gently placed a hand on his forehead, and affectionately brushed the hair to one side. Lucas didn’t even blink. Ben tried to give a wry smile, but knew that he was hurting inside to see his friend like this. “See you in the morning, Luke”, and went back to his cabin.

Captain Bridger, then tucked the woollen blankets around the boy, generally acting like a mother hen, and then hoisted the young man back into his arms and went to walk to his own quarters. “Goodnight, Kristen,” he said without looking back. His only thoughts for the moment were for the still form snuggled in his embrace.

*********

Bridger kicked the door open with his foot and entered his cabin still carrying his precious cargo. He gently laid the young man down on his own bunk, making sure that his efforts were slight and not enough to jostle the unconscious youth too much.

The Captain would cheered for joy if he could only get a response from Lucas. He would be happy with a grunt or a groan, a movement of his eyelids....... anything. But to no avail; Lucas remained enclosed in his cocoon unaware of the outside world.

The time seemed to tick by ever so slowly for the remainder of the night and Bridger reluctantly fell asleep on a hard chair seated next to Lucas. His shoulders were slumped and his head was bent forward towards his chest, he was emotionally drained.

A few times during the night, he had awoken with a start and thought for a moment that Lucas had made a sound or noise, but the boy remained deeply asleep and oblivious to the concern shown by the Captain and the crew.

***********

Bridger’s alarm clock suddenly whirred into life at 6:00 am, jolting Bridger from what had been a peaceful hour’s sleep. He slammed his hand down angrily on the top of the clock until he remembered that Lucas was still in the room. His gaze shifted and his mumblings about the clock soon evaporated.

Lucas seemed to be in the same position he had been in all night. The blankets remained securely about his shoulders probably from the lack of movement throughout the night.

Bridger stood up and tried to stretch his muscles from the position they had become knotted in.

Just as he was about to walk out of the room to find Kristen and a cup of coffee, a noise from the bed made him stop.

Nathan quickly grabbed Lucas’s sleep limp hand and watched with great anxiousness to see if he had heard the young man beginning to stir. His patience was rewarded with the eyelids of the youth starting to flutter.

“Lucas, please wake up,” Bridger said soothingly. “Please let me know you are all right, son.”

Lucas could hear a familiar voice, but it seemed to be a long way away and he couldn’t quite hear what it was saying. He tried to open his eyes, but they seemed to be bolted down and refused to open.

Lucas now tried to use what little strength he had, and pooled all of his thoughts into one. With a mammoth effort, he managed to get his eyes open to very thin slits. They quickly closed again in protest to the light that stabbed into them from the fluorescent lights.

He tried to use his voice to ask the other presence in the room to ask him what happened and what the license plate number was on the truck that ploughed into him.

He tried to reopen his eyes, but only managed them to slits again. This time they seemed to tolerate a small amount of light. His throat burned from thirst and for one strange moment he thought he could taste blood in his mouth.

He tried to gesture with his hands for a drink of water and found a cup placed gently under his chin with a hand lifting his head from the pillow allowing him to swallow.

“Lucas, are you all right? Please let me know how you are feeling,” Bridger continued to asked a steady stream of questions to the boy, but they went unanswered.

Lucas’s head felt like someone was on the inside trying to get out with a sledge hammer. Any movement he made with his head only resulted in shocking stabs of pain through his skull. He winced aloud at the pain and once again found his throat very dry and unable to form any words.

Even though he had only just opened his eyes, these efforts seemed to be overwhelming and his short burst of strength was now totally spent. With the continual pounding in his head, the burning sensation that the light in the room brought to his eyes and the residual effects of the chloroform, his eyelids once again closed and he seemed to be losing his slim grasp on consciousness.

“No, Lucas, stay with me please. Stay awake, Lucas,” Bridger was now shouting at the boy without realizing it. However, his beseeching had been in vain as he watched the youth before him once again fall into the darkness and beyond the reach of the people who loved him.

Lucas had heard the requests, but was unable to stop his slide into unconsciousness, the boy’s head now fell to the side and his jaw became slack, his breathing evened out signaling that he was already deeply asleep.

The captain was just about to run down to Med Bay and get Kristen, when the very person who he was looking for came into his quarters.

“Kristen,” he began, “Lucas just woke up, but only briefly. I tried to keep him awake to come and get you, but he just seemed to stare at me and then went back to sleep.”

Kristen Westphalen now walked over to the bed, looking down at her young patient and then said “Good morning, Nathan. I was just coming to see if he was awake. Don’t worry; he is bound to be tired for the rest of today anyway until the effects of the drug work out of his body.” She proceeded to place her stethoscope to Lucas’s chest and listen to his heart beat and then placed her fingers on his wrist to check his pulse. She smiled when she saw how innocent Lucas looked while he slept and she shuddered a little when she thought how close they had come to losing him to some madman.

“Let’s keep him here just until he wakes sufficiently to know he is safe. Tell the rest of the crew to keep the noise down a little around your quarters, Kristen said. “I will check up on him regularly just to make sure he’s all right, but other than that, it’s all up to Lucas now. Who was the person in the laboratory that tried to kidnap him?” she asked.

“Commander Ford and Ortiz said that after they tried to follow him, the person escaped through the launching bay. He must have had scuba gear and there was no sign of any craft to take him away from the SeaQuest,” Bridger answered.

“Why would someone try and hurt Lucas?” she repeated. “Lucas never hurt anybody in his life. It’s not fair to see him like this, Nathan; it just isn’t right,” she now said angrily.

”I know how you feel Kristen; believe me, the rest of the crew and me feel the same way. Ben is ready to go on a hunting expedition, and everybody else has just been just as angry about this as you and I,” Bridger continued, placing a reassuring hand on the doctor’s shoulder.

“You’d better get some rest yourself, Nathan,” she now added and she walked towards the door. “Let me know the minute there is any change.”

“You know I will”, he said with a tired smile.

**********

Bridger decided that before he tried to get some more sleep, he would indeed help himself to that elusive cup of coffee, just to make him feel a little human again. He closed that door ever so quietly and then headed towards the mess hall.

His entry into the mess hall only succeeded in bringing looks from his crew that seem to bore right into his soul looking for the answers. He tried to avoid the looks at first, pretending he didn’t see them and went about pouring the coffee into a small china cup. He looked at the food offered for breakfast and decided against it; his stomach was still twisted into knots and probably wouldn’t appreciate genetically engineered eggs or bacon. He sat down at the table with his senior crew and looked into the curious faces of Chief Crocker, Benjamin Krieg, Commander Ford and Katie Hitchcock. It may well as been the entire crew of the SeaQuest, for the looks were intense and anxious.

“He’s all right,” he started to say. “He woke up for a minute, but is now resting again. Kristen has taken another look at him and said just to let him rest for as long as he needs.” The crew seated with him collectively relaxed slightly. “Commander Ford, you have the bridge today, I’m going to try to get a few more hours of shuteye. Please inform the crew to keep the noise down around my quarters, to avoid waking Lucas,” Bridger stated.

“No problem Captain, Sir.” Ford answered, “Anybody waking Lucas before he is well enough will have to answer to me. Do you think a guard outside you door would be prudent, Captain, under the circumstances?” he asked.

“No, let’s not go that far just for the moment, Commander. I know you are worried about security on this boat since this event, but it may only serve to make Lucas more nervous after his ordeal, should he see people watching him all the time. Let’s just take it slow, and try and treat Lucas as normally as possible over the next few days. I’m sure we would all like to know what he is feeling and find out more about his attacker, and the conversation we overheard, but for now, let’s just concentrate on getting Lucas well again and being there for him. He may not be willing to give much information about the attack. Lucas tries harder than anybody I know to hide his feelings and emotions, especially when he is frightened. Lucas has to make the first step,” Bridger continued to say to his crew reassuredly. He knew they were all worried about Lucas, but confronting him too soon or the wrong way may be more harmful than good.

With this, Bridger now yawned loudly and said excused himself from the table and went back to his quarters. The coffee cup was still full; somehow it tasted more bitter than ever this morning.

**********

It was approximately 11 am before Lucas gave any indication that he was waking again.

Bridger had returned to his quarters and laid down on the visitor’s couch and proceeded to fall into a deep, dreamless sleep. He did not hear the sounds that showed Lucas beginning to stir.

Lucas slowly became of his surroundings, and opened his eyes. At first, he seemed to forget where he was and what had happened. He looked about him and saw that the Captain, was asleep on the couch in the room. He wondered at first why he was in the Captain’s bunk. He thought at first it might be that he had been talking to the Captain and just fallen asleep.

Then, with horrific speed, the events of the previous day suddenly became very real in this mind. His eyes suddenly were the size of saucers from fright and he remembered the man who had attacked him. His head still protested at any movement with a pounding headache, but at this particular point in time, with his senses on full alert, Lucas forgot all about his physical pain, his weakness from the drug and lethargy he felt from being asleep for so long.

He suddenly jumped off the bed, looking around wildly in the room for his attacker, unsure if the man was still around. His thoughts about what had happened, his last desperate feelings of having to escape somehow were rekindled.

With a rush of adrenaline, he tried to run to the door of the cabin. Dizziness plagued him from getting up too quickly, but didn’t prevent him from staggering to the steel, air locked door.

Bridger who had been blissfully unaware that his young friend had awoken with such fright, was jerked awake from the sound of Lucas’s strangled cries to flee the room.

Lucas managed to get the door open before the Captain could make a grab for him.

The Captain hadn’t been thinking about Lucas’s mental state, just the fact that the boy was awake and out of bed, when he should be resting. He proceeded to place a hand upon the boy’s shoulder as the young man tried to take flight. Lucas’s reaction to the hand on his shoulder was immediate and devastating. The boy let out a scream that could be heard all over the ship and somehow willed his body to try and move even faster.

Lucas was trying to run with everything he had, but only ended up barreling into a very confused Doctor Westphalen, sending both of them tumbling onto the floor outside the Captain’s quarters.

“Lucas, what are you doing out of bed?” she asked scoldingly, until she saw the look of absolute terror that was coming from the boy’s features. She tried to grab a hold of him also, but was not quick enough and Lucas was once again on his feet, trying to flee for his life.

“Wait, Lucas, stop, were are you going?” Kristen continued shouting at the disappearing shape of Lucas. Bridger had just managed to make it outside his door when he saw what had happened.

He also had tried to grasp the frightened boy before he could run again, but also was not quick enough.

Got to get away, the thoughts kept telling Lucas. If you stop running, he is going to get you. Sanderson will get you. Sanderson ......... SANDERSON.

The Captain had helped the doctor stand and they both now were trying to follow Lucas before he could hurt himself any further. They knew he was terrified. They were trying to run after him.

Lucas had managed to make it a further 50 meters down the decking corridor, before diving into a undisclosed cabin to hide. He shut the door and was too busy getting his breath back to notice who’s cabin he had run into.

The adrenaline rush was gone and he was quickly tiring again. His breathing was coming in short and raspy gasps. He couldn’t seem to get enough oxygen into his lungs.

The person who was in the cabin, stared at the back of the young man for a minute. Lucas has unbeknowningly entered the cabin of his best friend Ben Krieg. Ben saw Lucas enter and was alarmed at the pale, sweating face of his friend and noted how the boy was trembling.

Ben startled Lucas by doing the same action as Bridger, placing his hand upon his shoulder, and the reaction was the same. This time however, although there was the blood chilling scream, Lucas didn’t have the strength to run, his body just wouldn’t move and he was forced to curl up into a tight ball on the floor, hoping to be swallowed up.

“Lucas, oh, I’m sorry buddy, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” Krieg said soothingly to his friend. “What are you doing out of Med Bay? Are you all right now? Has the doctor seen you yet?”

Krieg’s questions went unanswered. The only sounds that came from Lucas was sobbing . Ben felt useless, and knelt down beside the still shaking boy and try and comfort him a little.

Ben pulled Lucas away from the doorway, and started to lead him to his own bunk to sit down. He managed to signal to Bridger and Westphalen outside in the corridor, where the young man was. Lucas continued to cry softly, now exhausted from the running, the crying and still not being very well.

********

Lucas looked up at the two people entering the cabin, and then looked at the person who had been comforting him, instantly recognizing them and now feeling very stupid and foolish for running like he had.

“Sorry, Captain, I’d didn’t mean to run, it’s just that ............” and left the sentence incomplete. “Doc, I’m sorry I ran into you, are you hurt, sorry .......... Ben, thanks Ben, I’m sorry I reacted the way I did when you touched me, and you Captain,”

Lucas said. His crying had now ceased, but his eyes were still red and swollen. His face was still pale, his heart was still slamming into his rib cage, but he relaxed a little, knowing that people were there he knew and trusted.

“You don’t have to be sorry,” Ben said to Lucas, trying to convince that young man that every thing was all right.

“Do you want to talk about it, Lucas?” Kristen asked, already knowing the response.

“No” came the curt reply. He did not want to talk about it because that meant he had to remember Sanderson and he dreaded that. He couldn’t hold in his fear and anxiety when he thought about that man.

A shudder from him, drew the attention to the adults in the room, and they knew that the young man was not wanting to remember anything of what had happened yesterday.

“Okay, Lucas, you don’t have to talk. If you are feeling alright, I will just give you a quick look over to make sure you feel fine and you can go and have something to eat,” Kristen said in a very gentle voice. She knew that Lucas was far from well, but forcing him to rest would only make things worse. They needed to get some normality back on the ship and getting Lucas to start eating would a good step in that direction.

Bridger was about to protest about not talking to Lucas more about his attacker. One look at the good doctor, claws out, ready to strike down any person who dared to tell her different, told him to keep his comments to himself for the time being.

“Come on, kiddo,” Ben said trying to sound a little cheery and lighten the mood in the room” “I’m starving; how about you?”

“Yeah,” Lucas said, “I could eat a little.” “His stomach was protesting and told him he could probably eat a lot.

“Just take it slow, Lucas,” Kristen warned him. “That chloroform will still be wearing off.”

Lucas didn’t even want to acknowledge that he had been drugged with chloroform, and just gave the doctor a curt nod to say he heard her words. Before any more uneasy scenes started to play out, he quickly got up from Ben’s bunk and gestured to Krieg to follow him for breakfast. Bridger and Westphalen were left in the Lieutenant’s quarters to ponder.

“He’s clamming right up, Nathan,” she said. “He doesn’t want to even acknowledge that he was attacked. Did you see how frightened he was?” she continued in a sad voice.

“Yeah, that was partly my fault,” Bridger explained. “I should have known better than to come up behind him like that, but all I saw was him trying to leave. He is still not very well, but he won’t admit it.”

With that, the two of them also left the cabin. The two of them decided it was best that they left Lucas alone with Ben for awhile. Even though both were very worried, at least Lucas seemed to relax a little in the Lieutenant’s company. They would let him have breakfast in peace and try to sought out his problems later.

*********

When Ben and Lucas entered the mess hall for breakfast, they too felt all eyes upon them, inquisive and intense, just like it had been earlier with Captain Bridger. Ben glared back at the crowd wanting them to leave Lucas alone. He knew they were all worried, but Lucas had also seen the looks, and wanted to back track and not entertain any notion to talk to his fellow crew members. It was only due to the fact that Ben was standing directly behind him, almost propelling him forward that prevented Lucas from taking off in a run again to escape.

Breakfast tasted like cardboard to Lucas. It seemed to have no meaning other than keeping Ben happy by watching him eat it. His eyes still held a haunted look. The puffiness had subsided, but dark rings of fatigue had started to reappear underneath the boy’s sky blue eyes.

Trying to break the ice a little, Ben tried to inject some form of normality back into Lucas’ world with trivial conversation about who was seen with who aboard the boat, what new contraband Ben was able to obtain from his contacts if Lucas wanted. He offered new computer components, dates with girls, tickets to sporting events and of course, more girls.

Finally, trying anything, he started asking for Lucas’s assistance to plan a bash for the other members of the crew. Drinks, party food, old movies, popcorn (microwaved after being freeze dried) and plenty of fun. ”You pick out the movies, Lucas.” Ben said trying to sound excited. “I’ll get O’Neill to pick out the music and Ortiz to organize some tables and chairs in the senior staff lounge for tonight. If we are lucky, we might even be able to drag Commander Ford away from his mundane existence for a few hours. Lord knows he could use a good night on the town. How about it Luke?”

Lucas raised his head to look at Ben for a moment, and Krieg thought he had failed until he saw the shadow of a smirk on the young man’s face.

“You’re going to let O’Neill pick the music, Ben?” Lucas stammered. “What did we all do to deserve that?” he laughed. The laugh was very false but Ben Krieg though it was the best sound he had heard in his life.

With breakfast over, Lucas tried to shut out the events of yesterday by throwing himself into the task of helping Ben plan this party. He knew that if he stopped to think, even for a brief period of time, ghosts and demons from the past would soon interrupt his mind once again. He hadn’t forgotten what had happened, just the opposite, he couldn’t forget, but he also didn’t think that he had the right to burden any of his friends with it.

***********

The day dragged on, and it seemed everywhere Lucas turned, he saw people looking at him. He knew that they were watching him, waiting for him to break, waiting for the first tear to fall. He was determined that he wouldn’t do that in front of the people he considered a second family.

Lucas’s own family had deserted him a long time ago and from then on, the boy knew that he had to rely on himself and only himself to get through this world. If he let himself trust too many people, even close friends, then all he was doing was setting himself up for more heartache.

Commander Ford had tried to keep Captain Bridger’s mind off Lucas during the day as well, and decided that the best way was to get the Captain heavily involved with what was happening on the bridge.

“Captain, Mr. Ortiz and Chief Crocker are making sure that all security measures are now at full operating capacity,” Ford started to say. “We have checked all the weapons decks, the restricted areas, the staff living quarters and bridge just to make sure that all is well. Nobody should be able to get in or out of this vessel without us knowing now, Captain,” Ford continued.

Captain Bridger had listened to Ford’s speech, trying to sound interested. Upon hearing the final sentence, he remarked with disgust, “Pity that these measures could not have worked properly yesterday Commander.” He was not unhappy with Ford, although, Lord knows, that the young Commander often took over when Bridger found himself unable to cope.

********

As afternoon began to turn into evening, most crew members aboard the SeaQuest were looking forward to the party to end all parties that Krieg had been planning.

Lucas had done his assigned task and picked out a few old movies: oldies but goodies. The tiredness that he had felt earlier now grew tenfold and he feared that if he stood still for more than a few moments, he would be asleep on his feet.

Over the last few hours, his headache had returned with venom and his throat had been so dry at times that he found himself drinking water as though he were a camel. His skin had become very itchy and chalky and irritating. His eyes now burned and looked like road map they were so bloodshot. His condition had not gone totally unnoticed, especially by Doctor Westphalen, but he found himself continually telling those concerned that he was okay and would soon take to his bed to get a good night’s sleep. The little white lie seemed to taste bitter sweet in his mouth. Sleep was the first thing he probably needed, but the last thing we wanted.

By 9:00 pm the party was in full swing. Everybody who attended seemed to be enjoying themselves. Only the senior crew members, and those thought necessary had been informed about what happened to Lucas the previous day, so most of the crew were just out to have a good time. Parties were very rare aboard the SeaQuest, and so they were making the best of it.

Bridger and Kristen Westphalen had attended about an hour ago, sampling some of the weird concoctions that Krieg and Ortiz had laid on the tables. Devilled eggs, cheese, crackers and various other finger foods adorned the checkered table cloth.

Both the Captain and the Doctor had only really attended the party just to keep things under control. They knew what Ben’s intentions had been when he suggested the party, and inwardly thanked the Lieutenant for taking things into his own hands concerning Lucas.

Upon surveying the room, they saw Lucas perched on a couch next to Krieg, watching a movie called “Terminator”. The movie had been made many years ago, but an action flick was called for tonight and all who were watching, seemed to enjoy it.

The party seemed to be going quickly and soon a number of the partygoers started says their ‘goodnights’ to everyone and making excuses of having be on duty early the next morning.

The room was almost empty with the exception of Bridger, Westphalen, Krieg, O’Neill, Ortiz and Hitchcock. All had forgotten about a certain blond headed boy for a few minutes due to the continual stream of well wishers.

Bridger suddenly wanted to know where their young friend was. He surveyed the room and his eyes soon rested upon a most heart wrenching site.

On the couch, curled up, with his knees almost up to his chest and his arms wrapped protectively around his legs was Lucas. His blond head rested upon the arm of the couch and his face was poised in deep slumber.

The other people in the room soon saw what the Captain had been looking at, and each of their hearts also missed a beat at the scene. The boy looked so alone, too young to have gone through something like a kidnapping attempt.

Kristen was the first person to approach the sleeping form. She gently checked him over with her eyes and with her hands where she could. She did not want to wake the poor boy, and so went about doing her doctoring duty as best she could with a most unwilling patient. “Let’s get him to a nice warm bed for the night,” she said to the others. “Nathan, I hate to impose for another night, but it would be best if someone could keep an eye on him.” She knew that the Captain would have jumped at the chance, but also saw that the Captain was looking somewhat peaked himself.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, doctor,” he announced.

They pondered how best to pick up Lucas, to avoid waking him, but decided any way they did it probably wouldn’t make the boy stir very much. Exhaustion was etched on the young face, the dark circles had become darker and his skin seemed awful pasty in color.

Once again, Bridger found himself nudging his cabin door open with Lucas nestled in his arms. He didn’t mind one bit. He would not have been able to sleep anyway if Lucas were put in his own bed.

********

Approximately 1am that morning, Bridger was awoken to low moaning sounds from Lucas. The boy seemed to be entangled in the bed clothes and had a fine sheen of sweat about his brow.

Bridger gently laid a hand on the boy’s forehead and almost pulled it back in haste when he felt the heat radiating from the boy. The Captain’s own heart was now missing a beat, hoping and praying in vain that whatever demons sought Lucas were not about now.

He quickly went to his desk and pressed his PAL communicator, attempting to page Kristen. A sleepy and annoyed voice answered the Captain’s plea to answer at such an ungodly hour of the morning.

“Nathan, what in the world possesses you to wake up good honest people at this hour,” Kristen said to her own PAL communicator.

“Kristen, I think we have a problem. Could you please come in here,” he said. He did not add what the problem was, but hoped the urgency in his voice was enough to get Kristen’s attention.

The doctor’s attention was now alerted, “Lucas,” she blurted out suddenly, with a sudden intake of breath. “What’s wrong, is he having nightmare’s already?” she asked.

“No, I think it’s a little more urgent than that Kristen. Please come immediately.” Bridger stated.

Bridger felt he had only finished his sentence when he heard the knock on his steel door. Kristen hadn’t waited for Nathan to open the door, and proceeded to barge into his quarters without even blinking. She rushed over to the sleeping young man and noticed immediately that his disposition had changed considerably from when she had last seen him.

The young man was now very restless in his sleep, moaning and fighting with an invisible enemy, tearing at the bed sheets. His entire body was now burning hot to the touch. She tried to rouse him from his slumber, but moaning only got louder to her attempts.

“No, get away from me,” Lucas said. “Sanderson ........... No he can’t be alive.. ................. I can’t go back .......... Sanderson .. ............ You’re supposed to be dead ..........Nooooooo.”

Kristen took the young man’s body temperature and gasped aloud at the reading ........ 101 degrees. She showed the thermometer to the Captain who also paled when he read the results.

“This fever shouldn’t be the result of the chloroform, Nathan,” Kristen said to him clearly concerned. “There has to be another cause to this high temperature,” she continued.

“What can we do?” Bridger said hurriedly. “We have to cool him down, he is going to cook at this rate.” He placed his hand once again on the boy’s forehead to confirm his theory.

“I’ll need to take a blood sample and analyze it. I can’t remember any strains of flu going around the ship lately, have you?”

“No, not that anybody has mentioned,” Bridger answered.

Their thoughts about the cause were temporarily interrupted from another moan from Lucas, who continued to struggle against an unseen enemy. Kristen raced to her surgery to obtain a vial of medication and two empty syringes and sample tubes. She returned to find the situation the same as she had left it, a very sick young man and a very worried Captain Bridger.

She moved in front of Nathan and proceeded to prepare Lucas’s arm for the sample of blood to be taken. She swabbed the area with a small cotton ball and alcohol, then without seeing if there would be any objections, inserted the needle into the boy’s white skin.

It took a few seconds for the blood to collect in the sample tubes, but when she was satisfied that she had sufficient samples from the two tubes, she removed the needle carefully and asked the Captain to hold a cotton ball over the injection site until the blood flow stopped.

Kristen then placed a small amount of liquid in the second syringe and the injected this substance into the other arm of Lucas. When Bridger looked at her questioningly, she stated, “It’s an antibiotic, to help fight whatever is making him sick. Until the fever is down, we need a few people on roster to help get his temperature down. Know anyone who might volunteer?” she asked.

Nathan didn’t even need to be asked, but Kristen insisted that there be more than one person to help. The Captain then proceeded to wake Commander Ford, Katie Hitchcock and Benjamin Krieg to ask for temporary nurses.

***************

Ben Krieg took the first watch with the Captain. They proceeded to make up cold compresses as instructed by the doctor and place then on Lucas’s brow and over the rest of his body.

“How much more can he take?” Ben said bitterly. “How could this sweet boy, and the best damn friend I ever had, be so sick and hurt?”

Kristen laid a comforting hand on Ben’s shoulder, trying to reassure the Lieutenant that Lucas would be all right. “He needs time, Ben.” she said. “With all that has happened over the last two days, the kidnapping attempt, the stress, the terror, the lack of food and sleep: his body just cannot take anymore at the moment. He is exhausted, both physically and emotionally. He has hit rock bottom.”

‘But,” and she made sure she held Ben’s attention to say this, “He needs all of us to be strong for him. Be the crutch to lean on until all of this ugly mess if over. Can you do that for him, Ben?”

”Sure doc, I am sorry for the way I sound. I’m just angry and afraid for him right now.”

“We all are” Kristen said with her own eyes getting moist.

**********

Kristen had left Lucas in the capable care of Ben and Nathan for the remainder of the night. Now as dawn approached, she went about joining Katie for their turn at helping their young friend.

Katie and Kristen laughed softly at the sight they came across. Nathan and Ben were seated on opposite sides of Lucas’s bed, both with their heads on the bed, both snoring loudly, both very tired and sound asleep.

Their attention was drawn to Lucas, who was awake, looking at his two nurses, trying to laugh, but making a lousy attempt.

His eyes came to rest of the two girls as they walked over to him. His eyes were still very hazy looking and his color seemed to be worse if that were possible.

Kristen took the fact that he was conscious as a good omen, but frowned when she leant forward and placed her hand on the boy’s forehead. The temperature had not gone down at all. It didn’t seem to be higher, but sweat was pouring off Lucas, making his skin look very glossy and very sickly.

“How are you feeling, Lucas?” she proceeded to ask.

“Tired ............. doctor. Tired and very hot,” was the answer from Lucas.

“I’m not surprised,” she answered. “I wish there was something more I could do for you to ease the discomfort.”

”Do you know why you got sick?” she asked just on the off chance Lucas knew the cause.

“No,” he said simply. ” I still felt tired all of yesterday, but it was only after the party started, that my throat began to burn and my eyes began to sting. “Can I have a drink of water?” he asked.

“Of course.” Katie Hitchcock said, jumping to fill a glass from the pitcher that was sitting on the Captain’s night stand. “Here you go, Lucas,” she said gently.

Lucas thought that the water tasted great, it seemed to quench the thirst he felt and appeared to douse the flames that rose from inside his body.

“Thanks” was his response along with a candid smile.

He now tried to lay back on the pillow. He wanted the merry-go-round that his brain was on to stop and let him off. He wanted to be swallowed up by the darkness and let the headaches, the stiffness in his joints and the heat from the fever leave him alone.

His eyelids drooped, although he tried to stay awake. He was fighting a losing battle. He didn’t feel the second shot of antibiotics that the doctor injected once again into his arm.

Nathan and Ben had awoken just as Lucas was drifting off again. They were both surprised to see Kristen and Kate standing beside the bed and wondered how long they had been asleep.

“Why don’t you two go and get some proper rest,” Kristen said. “He will probably be asleep for a few hours again.”

**********

The next two days and nights were a blur to the senior crew as they tried to juggle their duties to the ship with the need to help with the roster helping Lucas.

Lucas’s temperature remained high, and his moaning and thrashing only seemed to abate when the boy was totally exhausted and had nothing left to give. It was very painful for his friends to watch, not able to help more.

Kristen had spent long hours when not with Lucas, at testing his blood samples for a clue as to the cause of his fever and a probable cure. She analyzed the samples over and over again, checking and rechecking. It wasn’t until she was about to give up totally that she spotted something very unusual in the last sample.

She now hit the Comm Link in the laboratory and summonsed the Captain to view her findings.

Nathan had hurried to see what the results could mean. He was reluctant to leave Lucas, but he desperately wanted to know how to help the young man some more.

Upon reaching the laboratory, he spotted Kristen gesturing for him to come and look at the sample she had just tested. He peered into the lenses trying to look for a clue, trying to see the virus that was making Lucas sick.

“You see those small yellowish cells on the slide, Captain?” she asked. The Captain nodded and waited for her to explain more. “Those cells are contaminated,” she continued. “Contaminated by a substance that is very rare and not well known any more."

Bridger’s curiosity and impatience was getting the better of him. “Just tell me Kristen,” he said curtly.

“The contaminate is a strain of virus that was around long before you and I were born. This particular strain of virus had been around since the 1950’s and 1960’s. It used to reek havoc on populations about thirty years ago. But with the advancement of medicine through the years, a cure was thought to have been found. A vaccine was invented and proved to work for a great number of years. It seems that somehow, someone has gotten hold of this particular virus and altered it slightly. Just enough to make it immune to any of the antibiotics that I have been using.” Kristen waited to see what the Captain’s reaction was to this information.

“How does a seventy year old virus appear on my ship out of nowhere, Kristen?” he asked skeptically.

“I don’t know, but I am sure of the test results,” she replied.

Their conversation was interrupted with Katie appearing at the door to the lab, asking that they come back to check on Lucas.

They all raced back to the young man, fearful of what had happened. Their worries were quickly dispelled when Kristen examined Lucas’s heart and pulse, checked his temperature and noted his skin color.

Lucas’s skin was no longer a sick pasty white. His temperature was just a little above normal, signaling that the fever had broken, his pulse was steady and his breathing now regular and quieter. They all sighed aloud with thanks to the gods.
“He’s seems to be a lot more at ease now,” Kristen began. “His fever seems to have broken and his body is now taking time out to replenish and rejuvenate.”

Kristen rubbed her tired eyes and relaxed for the first time in almost a week. She noted that the Captain now had the slightest hint of a smile upon his face as he realized that the person he show dearly cherished, was going to be better.

Katie had a smile also and quickly added, “I’ll go tell the rest of the Bridge and Ben that he’s better.”

“Thanks, Katie. I appreciate that. Let’s all get some much needed sleep and let our young patient get some rest too.” She continued to beam down at the sleeping form who seemed to defy all obstacles placed before him.

**********

When Lucas awoke this time, the first thing he noticed was that his head was not pounding and he could move a little without fear of stabbing pain. He gingerly opened his eyes, tried to move his stiff joints, and tried for the first time in days to sit upright on the bed.

“Whoa,......... where do you think you going, young man?” Bridger said to Lucas as he attempted to restrict his movements.

“I feel better this morning, Captain,” he said. “I need to get up and stretch, I feel as if I have been lying down for days,” he continued.

This brought an astonished look from his friend, surprised the boy didn’t know how sick he had been over the last four days. Had he not been aware of the fever burning within him.

“You don’t remember the last few days,” was all Bridger could manage to get out once he got over the initial shock.

“No, should I?” Lucas asked innocently. ”The last thing I remember is going to sleep on the couch at Krieg’s party last night,” Lucas stated.

“Lucas, it has been four days since Krieg’s party,” Bridger told him.

“What ......... How, When .........” Lucas stammered, not believing what he had heard.

“You have been a very sick boy, Lucas,” the Captain said. “The crew has been very concerned about you. We had a roster of nurses scheduled each night just to take care of you. “

“Glad to see you awake again, kiddo,” Ben Krieg announced loudly with a grin.

The captain’s door burst open, and in stepped Kristen, followed by Katie, Ben and Commander Ford. All were relieved to see Lucas sitting upright and talking to Bridger.

“How’s it going, Luke?” Ben said, not being one to hold back.

“Fine, Ben, just fine,” Lucas answered. “Have I really been sick for four days, Ben?” he asked sheepishly.

“Yeah, kiddo, but you are going to be all right now,” he replied. “Ain’t that right doc?”

“Let me do the diagnosis please, Lieutenant,” Kristen said dejectedly. “Even if he says he feels better, his body has been through a lot and needs to rest.”

This brought a over exaggerated groan from Lucas, but a smile from Bridger and the others.

“Can’t I please just sit up for a while, doctor?” he pleaded. “I feel like a dried up piece of toast that somebody forgot to throw out. I really need to have a shower and something to eat. “

Kristen couldn’t have been happier at this statement, and reluctantly said that as long as he took things easy, he could have his shower and then sit down to a nice big meal.

*************

Lucas found himself improving health wise for the remainder of the day. He was acutely aware again that his shadows were doing their best to follow him without being noticed.

Kristen and Katie were hopeless at the task, trying to look inconspicuous, but if Bridger and Krieg were trying to be spies for a foreign country, Lucas felt sure he would be defecting.

Bridger had made more open attempts for the rest of the day to see how Lucas was fairing, trying to gauge any stay feelings, any signs of relapse. But anything Lucas didn’t want to share, he managed to keep under his hat. He could truly be a master of disguise if it suited him, and due to the dark thoughts that had been surfacing during the day, he made extra sure that his feelings remained locked away.

Kristen had come up to him throughout the day, checking his temperature and pulse. While he appreciated their efforts and concern, it really was beginning to annoy him just a little.

Late in the afternoon, he had sought the sanctuary of his cabin for some solitude. Away from the prying eyes and the poking fingers. His body was beginning to show signs of fatigue again. He flatly refused to go back to sleep upon various requests, but now was running out of excuses and steam.

Lucas had managed to keep himself entertained for the majority of the afternoon and had been very happy surfing the Internet, trying to find out what had been going on in the world since becoming sick. He even came across some great scientific seminars that were being advertised during the time of the next shore leave. He was trying to think of an excuse to tell the Captain in order to attend, but his mind was getting fuzzy and thick from lack of sleep.

Bridger lightly tapped on the door to Lucas’s quarters less than 15 minutes later, when making one of his umpteen visits for the day. The Captain found Lucas sound asleep over the top of his keyboard. He silently sighed to himself and proceeded to place the boy in his bed, tucking him under a warm blanket. He looked back at the teenager on his way out, content with that thought that at least for one night, Lucas may get some sleep.

***************

Over the next few days, things seemed to return to almost normal. Routine seemed to betaking over the SeaQuest once again. But then, just when they thought it was safe to assume that there was no longer any threat ...............

Lucas had been sitting at the keyboard of his console on the bridge for eight hours now. With the last few weeks of illness behind him, his body tolerance to lack of sleep continued to increase gradually.

He had almost daily checkups from Doctor Westphalen, but he didn’t mind the attention. If he let her fuss over him a little, maybe she would miss how tired he was getting.

He still insisted to himself that he wasn’t going to let the dreams tamper with his head at night. He had been getting approximately two hours of sleep roughly each day and that included short naps he stole while on duty that nobody seemed to notice.

“How you feeling today, Lucas?” Kristen had asked him this morning at breakfast.

“Great now doc,” he lied. “Even slept a little more last night without the dreams.” he said cheerily, trying to put on a mask to hide his real pain.

The logic was simple enough, Lucas thought: If he slept Sanderson would come, if he avoided sleeping for longer than an hour at a time, then Sanderson was kept at bay.

The demons that threatened to overwhelm him were somehow kept at arms length when he tried to concentrate on his daily duties and kept working himself without stopping. If he stopped, he would start thinking and thinking was not good.

On the bridge that morning, the normal humdrum of almost ritual-like mock maneuvers were put into action. Trying to assimilate the “What if” scenario, Lucas thought these exercises were a waste of time and effort, but Commander Ford thrived on them and made sure that every one knew he was in command.

Bridger had let his younger Commander take over the helm and play his mock war games. He knew the dark skinned Commander was good at his job, but sometimes felt like the youngest crew member, that the efforts were often overkill to the pretend situations.

Lucas’s mind was starting to wander. He was trying to stay focused on the task at hand.

Then, without warning, the crew were startled by a large thud that echoed in the room.

Lucas had fallen asleep at his post, but instead of laying over the top of the keyboard as was customary, on this occasion he had been leaning back on his chair. He felt the chair start to topple backwards, but was too slow in stopping in time to right himself.

Bridger and Ben were immediately at his side, trying to ask too many questions at once whether or not he was alright. All Lucas could do was give a very embarrassed and lopsided grin. His face was now bright red underneath his shock of blond hair.

Kristen Westphalen had been entering the main doors to the Bridge to consult the Captain on a scientific matter when she saw Lucas fall backwards.

She too, took no time in going to the young man’s side. However, where the Captain’s voice had been gentle and full of concern, the doctor’s was full of nothing but remarks about taking care of himself, what was he doing on the bridge in the first place, who was responsible for Lucas being irresponsible: the list went on and on.

Upon hearing the comments, Kristen and Bridger expected the young man to jump up in anger and give a torrent of rebuttal. Instead, Lucas’s shoulder seemed to slump from fatigue and his face seemed to fall even further in embarrassment.

Kristen’s mood changed suddenly when she looked at Lucas and saw for the first time, that he had tears streaming down his face. She knew that Lucas was a very private person and the fact that he had showed such emotion in public was a total shock to her.

Captain Bridger just became more worried and the bridge crew more concerned about Lucas. He knew that emotionally, Lucas had been on a roller coaster the last few weeks, and now it seemed that he was at the end of his rope.

Kristen looked at Lucas with very motherly intentions and put a comforting arm around his trembling shoulders. She knew that this open display of weakness, by falling asleep at his post and then opening crying in public was the straw that would break the camel’s back.

She whispered in the teenager’s ear, making sure that only the two of them were privy to the topic of the conversation.

Lucas looked at her with a tear stained face, and slowly nodded to her suggestion.

Kristen looked at the rest of the crew to signal that they should return to their duties to avoid and not place any more stress on Lucas by the stares and words of concern.

Bridger let the doctor do her part, and did not try to stop the two when Kristen helped Lucas to his feet and started to exit the Bridge’s doors.

He desperately wanted to know what was going on. To take the sobbing young man and let him know that everything was going to be alright. To help his overcome his deepest fears. He started to follow them to Kristen’s office.

Kristen looked back over her shoulder, and a simple curt shake of her head told the Captain that he wouldn’t be needed. She knew that Nathan wanted to help Lucas, but right now, too many people was not a good idea.

Lucas had not bothered to look back at his fellow crew. He just wanted the floor to swallow him up and let him die in peace.

How could you cry like a baby in front of those people, you idiot. You are supposed to be an intellectual genius and here you are sobbing on the floor. At the first sign of a problem, you just cave in. You really are worthless with a capital USELESS Lucas Wolenczak. He continued to talk like this silently to himself as they made their way back to the Med Bay.

********

Half an hour later, Kristen made her way back to the Bridge to let the crew’s concern over Lucas come to rest.

She walked over to the middle of the room and starting speaking in a soft and low voice. Not that she thought Lucas would be able to hear her, but just out of respect for the young man’s pride and feelings that he had not meant to show openly.

“I suggested a mild sedative to help him get some rest,” she began. “I gave him the pill and told him to go back to his room and sleep for awhile. He is very upset that he cried in front of you all.”

“Keep it quiet around his quarters today, and for goodness sake, when he wakes up and roams the ship, just carry on as normal as possible,” she pleaded . “Please let him know you are still his friends. He really needs to know you care about him”.

**********

The crew did as they were asked and keep their goings on as quiet as possible for Lucas.

It was mid afternoon when the Kristen asked the Captain if he could check on Lucas for her. She of course, already knew the answer, she didn’t even need to ask the question.

Bridger knocked on the steel hatchway to Lucas’s quarters. When he didn’t get any response, he thought one of two things: Firstly, the boy was still soundly asleep due to the mild sedative: Secondly, he was actively ignoring the knock at the door.

The captain knocked a second time and this time when he didn’t get an answer, entered without an invitation.

He also gasped out aloud when he noticed that Lucas’s bunk was empty. He looked about the room, trying to locate him, but all he saw was the normal chaos Lucas called home. Clothes were still on the floor were he had left them, his computer was still switched on, books laid in various conditions over the decking and an a half full glass of water sat upon the desk beside the bed.

Bridger was still muttering some colorful words under his breath when he rushed in Kristen’s office.

“He’s not in there,” he stammered, trying to catch his breath after running.

“That’s strange,” Kristen answered, not wanting the knots beginning to form in her stomach to grow any bigger. “I told him when I gave him the pill to make sure he was in his quarters when he took it. It is only a mild sedative, but acts quickly once ingested,” she commented. “I wonder where he is?”

”I knew somebody should have been with him,” Bridger said sounding very annoyed with the doctor. “He needs somebody to keep a close eye on him at the moment, Kristen”.

Westphalen knew that the Captain was only worried about Lucas, she didn’t take his remarks personally. When it came to talking about Lucas, Nathan was just about impossible to get messages through to.

“He also needs time, Nathan,” she said gently. “After his very public display this morning, the last thing he needs is somebody hovering over him, trying to watch his every move.”

“I’m sure he hasn’t gone very far, especially if he did indeed take that sleeping pill,” she stated. “Let’s have a quiet look around for him between you and me, before you decided to call in the entire UEO search and rescue team”.

“Where would he go, Kristen?” Bridger asked genuinely. “Would he be hiding someplace, do you think?”

The doctor thought for a moment; where would I hide if I was a very tired, very frightened teenager on a boat of 300 crew she asked silently.

Then with a smile she then got a notion of where he might be and gestured the Captain to follow her.

The Captain was confused, where did Kristen think Lucas would be hiding out. His logic had all but disappeared when concern had taken over.

Bridger was most surprised when the journey ended and he found himself standing outside the doorway of his own quarters.

“Do you really think he would come back here?” he asked.

”Well, there is only one way to find out, Nathan,” she replied. And proceeded to open the door to the Captain’s quarters very cautiously.

Inside his own private sanctuary, they found who they were looking for. But the way they found him, only made their worry double over the young man.

Lucas lay curled up in as tight a ball as he could get on the Captain’s bunk. The boy was still asleep. He was nestled underneath the blankets and held the pillow close to his chest, in between his knees. He looked like he was trying to shrink up as much as possible, to avoid anybody. Anybody, the Captain, the Doctor, His Parents, Himself.

Bridger was then overcome with the feeling of being a fool in front of people. He seemed to have a rush of color to his cheeks as he looked at the doctor nervously. “Sorry, just worried about him I guess,” he managed to get out.

“It’s all right, Nathan,” she answered. “When you stop worrying about him, that’s when I will begin to worry about you.” She decided to return to her surgery to allow the Captain some time alone for himself as well.

*********

Bridger walked over to the bed and couldn’t get enough of looking at Lucas as he lay sleeping. He also noticed the position Lucas lay in, and tried to untangle the young man into a more comfortable sleeping posture.

He quickly stopped his efforts, when Lucas began moaning softly at his touch. The boy was trying to curl up even more and was grasping at the sheets, almost tearing at them.

A frown had crossed over Lucas’s face when the Captain had touched him. Bridger withdrew his help and sighed aloud........

“How can I help you, Lucas?” he asked the sleeping figure. “Please let me in.

“I want to make the pain go away. I promise that I will not let anybody hurt you again,” he continued.

He then looked over a the visitor’s lounge and thought about the back ache he would have in the morning. With his mind continually ticking over, about Lucas, about his crew, about why he ever came back to the SeaQuest, he also fell into a dreamless sleep.

*************

When Lucas appeared on the Bridge late the next morning, looking a lot better, but still a little nervous, the crew was trying their best not to let the young man see their concern.