SeaQuest 1. Secret Mission

**WHISPERS ON THE WIND**

**By Jules**

**CHAPTER ONE - SECRET MISSION  
**

**(Location - Ward Room - SeaQuest - Closed circuit link conversation between Admiral**

**Bill Noyce of the U.E.O. and Captain Nathan Bridger and Doctor Kristin Westphalen)**

"What do you think about this idea, Kristin?" Noyce asked with some obvious signs of dubiousness about Nathan's idea.

"Personally, I think he's totally nuts," Kristin answered frankly.

"I don't think any of them are going to buy it. Especially Lucas. Can you imagine his reaction to this piece of news?"

"I can," Nathan answered with a hint of truth.

"That's why I need at least one other person on my team over this. I need to show the other crew members as well as Lucas that things will work out fine if they just give the idea a chance."

"Okay Nathan, I think my idea will work to get them all there. After that you are on your own to keep them there. I'll make all the arrangements for the equipment and supplies to be delivered on time. Make sure you take the Global Positioning Satellite Phone at least," Noyce added and then paused in the transmission to await the arrival of the other members of the SeaQuest crew.

**_(outside in the corridor aboard the SeaQuest)_**

"What do you think they are talking about in there?" Lucas now asked the others standing with him in the corridor. They all had been instructed to wait there until they were invited in for a briefing of some sort.

Apparently Admiral Noyce was about to address them all on their next mission but everything seemed to be on a hush hush basis for some reason.

"I don't like all this secrecy," Ben Krieg said in a huff. "Something's fishy about the whole thing if you ask me."

"Nobody is asking you, Lieutenant," answered Ford in an annoyed sounding voice.

"I'm sure the Captain and the Admiral will tell us everything we want to know when the time is right."

Only problem was that he too was just a little more than curious about what the mission was to be about. Any more importantly why he had been left out of the details. He was Second in Command after all. He too just leaned back against the wall and waited like everyone else.

Bridger finally ended their torment and poked his head out the door and gestured for them all to come in.

"Take a seat please gentlemen, Admiral Noyce will tell you all about our up coming mission in a minute. Please take careful note of what he has to say because it will involve all of you," Bridger announced.

The party inside the Ward Room consisted of Commander Jonathan Ford, Miguel Ortiz, Tim O'Neill, Ben Krieg and Lucas Wolenczak. Captain Nathan Bridger and Doctor Kristin Westphalen were also to be part of the impending mission.

Everyone turned their attention to Admiral Noyce on the Video Link screen and waited for him to speak.

"Gentlemen, and Kristin of course," Noyce greeted them all, "The mission I am about to tell you all about is to remain within the walls of this room. Only the people in this room at the moment will be privy to the information you are about to hear."

"This mission will only involve the seven people currently in this room. According to Captain Nathan Bridger there is some need for this crew to relearn some of the basic areas of their training. He tells me that there is a lack of comradery and co-operation towards each other's work routine that can no longer be over looked," Noyce continued.

"I've arranged it so that when you dock at Pearl Harbour, you will all be flown to New York City where your latest mission will begin. You will be restricted in the personal luggage you take with you. You are only allowed three changes of clothes and only essential personal items. Under no circumstances are any of you to take an form of electronic device," he said and lookeddirectly at Lucas when he said this.

"This mission is so top secret until you arrive at your destination that there cannot be the slightest risk that your movements will be able to be traced through any electronic devices."

"No portable radios, no computers, no mobile telephones or anything else that might be seen as potential giving off some sort of radio frequency," he added.

"That is about the most I can tell you for now about this until you get to New York. When you reach there, the Captain will receive further instructions as to your rendevous place and the actual details of the mission. All other supplies have been catered for as much as possible. The mission itself should last the duration of a week at the most, then you will all be free forsome relaxation time and shore leave," Noyce informed them.

"This mission is designed to test your survival skills and your team leadership skills. You will be expected to work as a team, work, eat, sleep and do everything together. Your objective and the outcome of the mission will depend on your ability to overcome difficult situations and come up with practical solutions as a team."

"If one of you fails to do your part, then you will be letting your fellow crew members down and the mission will not be a success. Do I make myself understood gentlemen?" Noyce said and saw them all nod in silence at the sternness of his warning.

He was pleased with their seemingly positive response and while most of what he had said had some relevance in the whole scheme of things. He just wished he could tell them that their dear old deceptive Captain knew a lot more about the mission than he was letting on.

It had been Bridger's whole idea from the start and he was just hoping that his old friend had the nous to carry everything out that he had planned.

* * *

"Well gentlemen," Bridger said as Noyce now terminated the transmission, "We dock in Pearl Harbour in approximately four hours so I suggest you all go and pack your bags as requested."

"Captain," Krieg said with a little apprehensiveness in his voice, "I don't want to put a dampener on the whole thing, but it sounds as if this mission is going to get a little hairy somewhere a long the way wherever we are going. Are you really sure that Lucas should going?"

Lucas was about to jump up in his own self defense but Bridger put up his hand and signalled that he would give the answer to Krieg's question.

"I appreciate your concern, Lieutenant," Bridger said in a quiet voice. "But this is something that will need to involve Lucas too. I am sure that I can count on all of you to look out for him if the need arises. Don't worry Kristin and I will be there as well. We won't be putting anybody's life at risk. Now go and pack," he said with a smile.

The crew started to walk outside to do as they were instructed. All of them still had that leading question of why everything was so secret. What were they about to be asked to do. They all secretly knew that they would watch out for Lucas as stated but they couldn't protect him from something that they weren't being told about.

Lucas waited for the rest of them to leave before talking on the quiet to Bridger. While he was grateful at being counted as one of the crew and actually going on some sort of mission with them all, he really did want to know more.

"Um, you know, Captain," he started using his most innocent sounding voice. "I really won't tell the others if you let me in on the secret. Come on, tell me where we are going. What are we being sent to do?"

"Lucas, Lucas, Lucas," Bridger said with a grin as he wrapped a arm around the boy's shoulder and starting leading him to the door, "If I knew myself, I still wouldn't tell you. Now go and pack. I want you ready and waiting by the launch bay on time for a change."

"Me late? the teenager said try to sound hurt at the accusation, "Never" he added and gave Bridger and Kristin a lop-sided grin as he left for his own quarters.

"You know he's going to kill you when he finds out the truth," Kristin said with half a smile. While she didn't question his motives about his crew and Lucas, his methods often left a lot to be desired.

"Yeah, but it will be worth it in the end if he and the others enjoy themselves half as much as I predict they will," Bridger said.

* * *

Back in his own quarters, Lucas had mostly complied with the requests for no computers. It almost drove him crazy to think of going for a week without his computer equipment.

He doubted that anybody would be able to trace their movements by using the weak signal the machines gave out anyway. But who was he to question orders.

At the last minute, he threw a little caution in the wind though and snuck a small portable walkman underneath his clothes and other stuff. He could see Darwin looking through the Aqua tubes at him seeing what he was doing and he put his fingers to his lips in a shushing action and hoped that the dolphin wouldn't betray his little secret to any of the other crew members.

After they disembarked from the SeaQuest at Pearl Harbour, they made their way by U.E.O. transport to the airport and boarded a privately chartered plane for New York City. The trip was mostly boring and so everybody was tired from the inactivity when the plane finally touched down on the tarmac at New York International Airport.

When they collected their small amount of luggage from the luggage bays, they all headed out to taxi's which had been instructed to take them all to predetermined hotels for the night. They would receive their next lot of instructions there about where they were to go tomorrow.

Bridger tried to keep the atmosphere relaxed as possible at the hotel. He, Kristin and Lucas were sharing a room. The other's were in the one next to them. They ordered take out dinner and watched one of the in-house movies for entertainment.

Lucas had pretended to be interested in the movie for Bridger's sake but halfway through, Kristin nudged Nathan in the ribs and pointed to the audience who was now stretched out and sound asleep on the couch beside them.

Bridger jostled up and down whether or not to move him into a bed, but after considering what conditions they were to spend time in over the next week, he ultimately decided that a nice soft bed would be the last one the boy would get until they returned.

Lucas made a few mumblings as he was helped from the couch and actually felt very stiff at first, but then seemed to relax at the Bridger's touch and allowed himself to be moved to a bed.

Bridger and Kristin bid each other good night and knew that the next week would be a long one for all involved, so they would need as much rest as possible.

* * *

The next morning, all of the crew were seated at the hotel's lobby waiting for the taxi's to reappear and take them to their new destination.

Bridger had made up the story that Noyce had telephoned him late the previous night with their new instructions. He told them that they were headed towards the docks and they would get further orders once there.

Lucas seemed to enjoy the sights from the window of the taxi. He could smell the salt of the sea as they got closer to the docks and wondered why they were headed back towards the ocean. If they were supposed to go back out on the water, surely they could have done so on the SeaQuest. His curiosity was getting the better of him again.

The taxi's had pulled up outside a large warehouse on the docks, but they would need to walk through the middle of the large building before they would be able to see the water.

They all got out and carried their luggage through as Captain Bridger lead the way. He was careful to make sure he could see Lucas at all times. The docks were always a busy place and somebody new to the area could get lost before they were even noticed missing.

The crew was getting some strange looks from people as they walked past with baggage in hand. Lucas tried to shrink back into the middle of the crew as he saw the staring eyes and cold hard looks he could see from many of the warehouse workers.

They walked out of the other side of the warehouse and now stood where they could see all of the boats berthed at the docks. They started to walk towards one in particular.

The crew thought that the Captain must have meant to walk past it at first. The Captain surely had made a mistake and this was actually the wrong direction or something they all hoped.

"There you are gentlemen," Bridger said as he looked at the monstrous vessel in front of them. "This will be your home for the next week."

All of them stared with mouths gaped open at the Captain's words. Surely he couldn't be serious.

"Tell me he's kidding, Commander," Krieg said as he tried to take in the massive ship standing before him.

Standing before them all, in her magnificent splendor was a Spanish Galleon. With her masts adorned with full sails and a crow's nest way up on top of the main middle mast, she certainly was a sight to behold. She had as long as she was wide. She seemed to stretch the entire length of the dock. Her sails billowed with the gentle breeze that blew.

On the front of the vessel there seemed to be a wooden carved mermaid that looked out onto the sea beyond. Just a few feet this side of the carving were four cannons. One could only assume that there was an equal number on the opposite side.

Commander Ford was also taken aback with what his Captain was proposing. All of his crew were adept at their various jobs, but trying to sail something like this fully rigged ship was something else all together. He didn't know if any of them knew how.

The first name that came into his mind was that it had to be a Pirate Ship of some sort. The ones he had read about in story books when he was a child.

Lucas was still trying to find his voice to make any sort of comment. Deep down inside, he was trying to hide one of his greatest weaknesses. Something he had never told the Captain or the crew about. Now it looked as though it was about to become public knowledge.

When he had first come aboard the SeaQuest he thought he might have problems with his weakness back then. But due to the smooth movement of the huge boat underneath the waves, he didn't feel sick at all. The thought of actually bobbing up and down on the ocean made his stomach tie itself up in knots already.

Ever since he was a little kid, he had always been seasick on water craft. When he was very young and times were different, his real father Lawrence Wolenczak had taken him out on fishing trips to various lakes and streams, only to find his young son bending over the bow of the boat most of the time losing his lunch to the movement of the water.

Sadly, Lucas had to admit, it normally didn't have to be rough either to set him off. Even just the gentlest action on the waves made him green around the gills. He just hoped that now he was older maybe the feeling wouldn't be so strong. He hadn't been on a boat above the water in many years, maybe the weakness had disappeared as he got older. He would just have to hope and pray.

Bridger turned around to the teenager and saw the paleness in the boy's face. He put his hand on the boy's shoulder and tried to bring Lucas out of the trance like state he seemed to be locked in. He thought that at first the boy must be awe struck at the sight of such a large and olden type of ship.

"Are you alright, Lucas?" Bridger asked.

Kristin was also concerned at the unnatural pallor of the boy's skin and waited for him to reply.

Lucas still couldn't find his voice above a whisper and now just nodded to indicate that he would be alright. He kept his weakness to himself still.

"This gentlemen, is the **_ANTONIO_**, or a replica of the same ship," Bridger started to explain.

"She is identical to the original in every sense and will need to be sailed in a similar manner. I hope you are all up to the task," Bridger said as he started to lead them onto the huge ship.

Bridger felt like a little kid again. He had dreamed ever since he was a little boy about sailing on a ship such as this. Now that he looked to be getting just that chance, he had to pinch himself just to make sure it was real. He knew that something like this was a huge shock to his crew.

He hoped that after they adjusted to their new environment, they would feel the same love and admiration for the sea that seemed to be in his veins.

Lucas made sure he was the last to board the ship and walked behind everyone else, hanging on to the wobbly gang plank with both hands and almost closing his eyes to the fear he felt as he ascended. His bag was slung over his shoulder and he gave the dock below one final glance before put his feet on the deck of the ship.

"This is going to be your home for the next week gentlemen," Bridger said as he saw Lucas finally make it aboard, "I hope you are ready for the adventure of your lives."

to be continued ...

**Author Notes: The ANTONIO is actually a pirate ship that sailed from New York so I borrowed her name and will make up the rest as I go along. Hope you are ready for the adventure to begin as well.**

Jules


	2. THE JINX

**WHISPERS ON THE WIND**

**By Jules**

**CHAPTER TWO - THE JINX**

For the next hour and a half Bridger started to take the crew on a tour of the huge Spanish vessel. It was awe inspiring and a little daunting to see how large the sails were and how tall the masts were up close.

Tim O'Neill kept his eye on the crow's nest with the secret hope of at least scaling the mast to the top once before they came home again. He had read about adventures on the high seas when he was a teenager reading pirate stories. To actually think that he might get the chance to climb up so high and see as far as the horizon was more than he could have ever hoped for.

The first point of call below was the sleeping quarters where they could stow their gear as well. All were dismayed that the quarters were very cramped. There was even less room on this boat then on the SeaQuest. If you rolled over in your sleep there was no doubt that you would wake up in bed with someone else.

Lucas stowed his small bag with Ben Krieg's until he was sure which bunk was his. The Captain hadn't allocated any particular bunk to any of the crew members. It would probably be just a matter of pot luck and the person at the end of the line would get whatever bunk was left vacant.

The next stop was the Galley kitchen where there was an old style wood stove for cooking, pots and pans of all shapes and sizes. Plates and cutlery were mostly made of metal or aluminum to avoid breakage during the long days at sea. There were a small number of cupboards that were really only meant for day to day cooking ingredients.

All of the substantial supplies of food including the long life stuff and dried products were stored in the ship's cargo hold.

"Let's head downstairs to where the supplies are going to be stored," Bridger said as he headed down the narrow stairways first. Lucas gulped a little and hesitated at the top of the stairs looking down into the darkness below.

Ben Krieg saw the teenager's apprehensiveness towards the rickety steps and promptly placed a good-natured arm around the boy's shoulders for support and literally started to lead him down into the belly of the ship.

When they finally managed to walk into the cargo hold they had hand held torches to try and shed some light in the dark void that was present. Krieg was trying to make jokes and perk up Lucas's spirits but seemed to be failing. The only thing on Lucas's mind at the moment was the slight nauseous feeling he felt in his stomach and the need to get out of the perpetual darkness real quick.

There were three block of a hard yellow cheese wrapped in a nylon fabric. The cheese sat on a large wooden barrel that had APPLES written on the side of it. Just like the days of old, Bridger wanted to make sure that the crew got their fair share of Vitamin C intake.

On board the SeaQuest there were tablet like supplements available, but here in the middle of the ocean they would have to do this the old fashioned way. Just like a lot of other things.

A lot of the food was in dried or powdered form to extend it's shelf life whilst they were on board. There were many canned goods. Anything fresh like fish would be caught over the side of the boat as they made their way down the coast of America.

The Captain tried to keep the atmosphere as positive as possible, trying to make jokes where he could and generally trying to make sure the crew would begin to relax once the journey was underway.

"Let's make way to the Captain's quarters," Bridger said with an obvious grin. He had failed to tell the others that the Captain's quarters were often much more decadent than other parts of the ship.

As they all entered the Captain's quarters all of them gasped out loud at the sight before them.

Everything was made either of solid walnut timber or covered in a plush red coloured velvet. The room looked like the penthouse suite of one of New York's finest hotel's.

They all thought about how cramped the crew quarters and bunks were below and couldn't believe that Bridger was about to flaunt this scene of luxury in front of them.

"How come you get to stay in here in all this luxury?" Ben asked with a hint of sarcasm but not in a vindictive manner.

"Um correction, Kristin Lucas and I will be staying in here," Bridger said and he immediately saw the teenager's face open up into a grin like a Cheshire cat.

Lucas started walking around the room and admiring the luxuriousness and spaciousness whilst occasioning looking backover his shoulder at the crew and giving them his best cheeky grin.

"But...but...but," came the reply in unison from the rest of the crew as they all thought about the small narrow bunks waiting downstairs for them.

Lucas found the single bed he thought would be meant for him and spread himself over the plush fabric and tried to take in all the softness all at once.

Kristin was secretly pleased as well at the sleeping arrangements as well. While she pitied the others to a certain degree, she wasn't really used to roughing it very much. She had rarely been on camping trips or anywhere that meant you had to share accommodations.

Lucas had his eyes closed and so failed to see the rest of the crew sneak up towards him and then proceed to pounce on top of him on the bed and pin him to it. Four of them gently restrained his legs and arms while Ben Krieg was given the envious task of tickling the teenager.

Lucas laughed and laughed with the rest of the crew as he tried to roll away from Ben's unending prods and pokes into his ribs. He laughed until his sides began to hurt from the effort and he begged to be let go. The crew thought that they had had enough fun for now and released Lucas but kept up the jovial mood for quite a few minutes more.

"Okay everyone, let's move outside into the breeze ready to set sail shall we?" Bridger said as he took in the crew's laughter and smiles. It was truly the first time he had seen them all relax since boarding the huge vessel.

* * *

Everyone took various positions on the small slightly raised decking outside the Captain's quarters ready to hear the speech Bridger was about to make. No one seemed to notice both Lucas and Miguel make their way secretly towards the bottom of the small staircase.

Miguel was unwilling to admit that he too sometimes suffered from the same affliction as Lucas. He wasn't quite as bad as the teenager, but he wanted to hide his weakness just as much.

"Okay people" Bridger started to announce. "This trip is a little unexpected I know, but what Admiral Noyce said is somewhat true. I want this adventure to make you all come together as a team to attain your objectives. You will each be assigned a particular position, just like on a real Spanish Galleon."

"You will all be expected to pull your own weight and work to the best of your ability. It may seem daunting at first, but sailing is an art form. And I am hoping a little instruction from me and your good hard work we can actually make this thing work and we actually will be able to sail this ship down the coast of America to our destination."

"There is enough food aboard to last a month, so we will not go hungry. Hopefully you will gain some new skills and learn to enjoy the open ocean some more. The wind blowing through your hair and the sea salt filling your senses, nothing can beat that feeling," Bridger continued.

"The first thing we need to assign before we set sail is the various positions and who will occupy them," Bridger announced.

"I have taken the liberty of doing up a quick list of who I think would best suit the various roles. Please let me know if any of you strongly disagree to your assigned posts."

"Firstly, the Captain, that would be me as usual. First Mate, I think you would fill that position nicely Commander Ford. Ship's Look Out, Lieutenant O'Neill, I suspect you'll like the idea of climbing up the top of the main mast to the crow's nest?" Bridger said and saw Tim's face light up with appreciation at his assignment.

"Miguel you can be in charge of navigation, for which you will be needing this instrument to guide us by," Bridger said and proceeded to hand Miguel an old style Sexton which used the night-time stars as reference points in the sky to plot a course by.

"What do I do with this, Captain?" Miguel asked trying puzzled by the gold looking half-semi circular tool he had been handed. This was supposed to guide them through the treacherous seas he thought to himself.

"I'll give you some one on one instructions after we are safely out of the habour, Mr Ortiz," Bridger answered. "Don't worry it's not as hard as it looks to use."

"Kristin will be the ship's doctor of course," Bridger said as he continued to assign them all a position on the boat.

"Mr Krieg, I think you would be best suited to the Chef position on this journey. And you will in control of all the essential food supplies stored in the cargo hold," Bridger stated.

"You mean I have to actually cook on a stove?" Krieg asked incredulously. He had gotten a quick glimpse of the wood stove whilst they toured the galley but he didn't have any knowledge of how to cook on one of them. Maybe there was a secret switch at the back that turned the thing on. He knew that there wouldn't be though.

Back on SeaQuest all of the cooking was done for them and if it wasn't then all you did was re-heat it in the microwave. Cooking something from scratch was almost unheard of now a days.

Bridger looked as though he was about to move onto the next part of his description of the journey ahead. Everybody else, but especially Lucas was aware that there had been no mention of his name to a particular position for the adventure. He didn't know if this was a good or bad thing.

Maybe the Captain didn't have any other positions to assign, or maybe the thing about Bridger's son was about to come into the picture.

Lucas decided to be brave and speak up as he could feel everybody's gaze on him, "What job could I do?"

"Well, Lucas" Krieg started before Bridger could reply, "I don't believe the position of Cabin Boy has been filled yet," he said and playfully jabbed at the teenager's upper arm.

"Oh that's just great," he said and walked off apparently in a huff. Secretly he needed to start walking away from the rest of the crew towards the edge of the ship anyway. His stomach was not doing so well and he needed to be a little prepared.

* * *

The Captain saw the teenager walk off and promised himself to talk to Lucas once he was finished speaking to the rest of the crew. He didn't really think of a job for Lucas when he was assigning the various tasks. He had wanted Lucas along just to enjoy the scenery and hopefully gather a hearty liking to the open ocean that he had gained as a young boy.

Nobody seemed to notice that Miguel Ortiz had taken his chance to separate himself from the rest of the crew when Lucas did. He was not feeling too great with the bobbing up and down action of the huge Galleon..

For the next ten minutes Bridger explained the rest of his idea for the journey to Kristin and the others still present.

"Now is there anything else that you think should be brought up before we head out of the harbour and out into the open ocean?" Bridger asked without realising the implication that could be drawn from his choice of words.

"Um Captain, speaking of bringing up things...," Krieg said as he glanced at either side of the boat and saw his two travelling companions standing as close to the edge as possible.

While Miguel was looking a little worse for wear, Lucas just looked plain white. His face had changed from a natural skin colour to almost translucent. The kid looked as though he would be sick over the edge of the boat at any moment.

Captain Bridger immediately went over towards Lucas, kicking himself mentally for not knowing about Lucas's weakness on boats. Commander Ford and Tim O'Neill took care of Miguel. Kristin was worried about Lucas's loss of pallor and spoke gently to the boy and coxed him into laying down in the Captain's quarters for a while.

While the trip was supposed to be authentic in every sense of the word. Kristin had made sure that she had all of her most important medical supplies with her. Bridger had lead a very pale looking Lucas into the luxurious room and helped him to get as comfortable as possible on one of the beds.

The kid really did look sick and he was beginning to wonder whether or not this trip was a bad idea for Lucas.

Kristin dug around in her bag and then pulled out a syringe and a funny coloured liquid from a small bottle. Lucas must have really been sick because the kid who normally baulked at the first sign of a needle, didn't even seem to notice the slight sting on his upper arm as the injection was administered.

While Lucas closed his eyes and tried to forget about the nauseous feeling that plagued his stomach, Kristin went and injected Miguel with the same substance. She informed the rest of the crew that the best medicine for the two of them now was rest for the majority of the day.

While the injection would help to contain the nauseous feeling, she couldn't guarantee that the remedy would work completely and they would probably need subsequent doses when they were out on rougher water.

Kristin came back and told Bridger the same thing about the medicine she had given Lucas. The boy was now asleep and they hoped they he would sleep for a few hours and wake up feeling much better.

* * *

Lucas and Miguel actually slept longer than anybody first thought due to the injections. The boat had not only sailed out of the harbour and out into the mouth of the open sea, but the sun was just starting to droop in the sky when Lucas emerged from the Captain's quarters rubbing his eyes.

Whilst Lucas and Miguel were sleeping, Bridger had taken great care and consideration in showing the crew the correct style of knots that they would need to tie during the trip. He demonstrated how to set the sails and other rigging devices. Although everything couldn't be learnt in one day, they needed to get the basics of sailing underway before they reached the open sea.

Krieg had tied the knots back to front on a couple of occasions and Tim had torn a small hole in one corner of a sail, but apart from these minor accidents and set backs, Bridger was quite pleased with their efforts and the crew's attempts at making the whole thing work.

They were really pulling together as a team under Commander Ford's leadership and he too was learning from the experience.

Bridger had taken Commander Ford below deck and shown him how sailors from the 15th century went about making bilge pumps for the ship in case the huge ship started to take on water at any stage during her journey.

Although her hull was made of solid oak, it was possible for water to violate the out layers and start flooding the cargo hold. Large flat rocks were used to stop the flow of water until more permanent repairs could be carried out.

Back on board if such a thing was to occur, you could just simply push a button to get the bilge pumps working. But on this ancient style vessel, if a leak did actually start, the primitive style pumps would have to be working continuously to cope with the rate of flow.

By the end of the demonstration, Commander Ford admitted that it was still a little beyond him how such a primitive and simple idea worked in such deep waters. He too knew that it would take more than one lesson to learn all the tricks this old girl had in her.

Soon, Bridger was telling everyone to join him at the table for the evening meal that Krieg had been preparing for some time. On occasions they had heard colourful words coming from the ship's kitchen and aromas had blown towards them on the breeze but they were still all in the dark as to what was on the menu.

Everyone had to keep a hold of their cutlery and cups. Although the sea was not overly rough at the moment, even the gentle bobbing up and down motion caused the table to tilt on an angle and plates to slide down the other end if allowed to.

Everyone took their places, Commander Ford and Tim O'Neill sat closest to the wall. They would need to wait for everyone else to get up from the table before getting out of their chairs. Kristin sat about midway and there was a spare chair opposite her that had been left for Ben.

Bridger and Lucas sat opposite each other at the very end of the table, closest to the kitchen's door. Although a small amount of colour had returned to Lucas's cheeks, the boy remained almost sullen and rarely spoke unless necessary.

Bridger hoped that after a good night's sleep, the teenager would feel a little better and start to enjoy the trip.

Ben Krieg struggled through the door with a plate held in either hand. He dumped a plate in front of O'Neill and Ford before looking around at the crew seated at the table.

Everybody stared at the stew looking concoction Krieg had placed on the table and looked up with enquiring expressions on their faces.

"Don't even bother asking what it is," Krieg said in an annoyed voice, "And if you even think about making a negative comment about it, you'll be doing the cooking for the rest of the trip,"he warned.

"It tastes better than it looks" he said in a gentler tone and made his way back to the kitchen to bring back meals for the rest of them at the table.

Everybody who had tried it had to admit that it did taste pretty good. Lucas however didn't even get the chance to sample his friend's culinary expertise. No sooner had the plate been placed beneath him on the table when the aroma started invading his nostrils.

His stomach immediately began to protest even though it was exceedingly hungry and he dove out the door to the edge of the deck to gulp large amounts of fresh air in order to stop himself from being nauseous again.

Kristin apologized to Ben for Lucas and promised the Lieutenant that it wasn't his cooking that was making the teenager feel this way. She again made sure that Lucas was settled back in the Captain's quarters and she gave him a second dose of the medicine from earlier.

Hopefully with this one being a larger dose it would not only last longer, but it would start to build up in the boy's body and would start to truly relieve the nauseousness he felt all the time. By tomorrow morning he should be able to stomach some food again and begin to feel a little normal.

Miguel's nauseous had only needed the one injection and he told everyone that he felt fine. He was given the job of night-watch to make sure the ship stayed on course while everyone else got some rest. He would be relieved in the morning by O'Neill and Commander Ford.

Bridger stayed out on deck late into the night admiring the starry sky. He drank in the smell of the salty ocean and knew he could never get that smell out of his system no matter how far away from the sea he got. He hoped that Lucas would be able to spend a few nights looking up at the night sky like this too.

He retired to bed about midnight. Kristin and Lucas were sound asleep already and with the gently rocking motion of the ship it didn't take him long to drift off to sleep either.

* * *

The next morning, everyone had a leisurely breakfast before O'Neill and Ford took their positions on the front deck and allowed Miguel to go to bed for the day.

Kristen and Bridger had both checked on Lucas before leaving for breakfast but decided to let the teenager sleep as long as he wanted. They were all rewarded about 9.00am when the teenager came out of the room and declared that he felt 200 better this morning than yesterday.

He ate a moderate breakfast but was mindful not to over do it and then started to look out over the sea. At one stage he slipped into the Captain's quarters without being seen and dragged out his little portable walkman. He was about to slip the small device into his pocket so that only the earphones were visible. Hopefully if nobody looked too close, then they wouldn't see them either.

For the next couple of hours Lucas was just content to lean over the edge of the boat with his walkman blaring in his ears. The breeze ruffled his hair and the smell of the ocean didn't make him feel sick for once. Maybe this trip wouldn't turn out so bad after all.

The sky was filled with fluffy white clouds that floated away with the wind. Lucas day-dreamed the morning away and tried to make out various shapes by using the clouds in the sky.

He had been day-dreaming so far away that he failed to hear anybody walk up behind him. Commander Ford hadn't meant to scare the teenager, but he had seen the teenager seemingly transfixed to the one spot for some time now and just wanted to check that he was still feeling alright.

With the fright he had received, Lucas had accidently lost the earphones from his walkman over the side of the boat into the deep blue waves below. It almost looked as though Lucas would dive in and grab them until he felt a sharp tug on the back of his shirt preventing his fall.

"WHAT?" he demanded from the Commander behind him. He was ticked off at losing his earphones and a little embarrassed about jumping from the Commander's approach to him.

"Sorry Lucas, I didn't mean to scare you," Ford said apologetically.

"Just wanted to make sure that you didn't do anything silly like dive 30 feet into the water to retrieve something so minor as a set of ear-phones. I remember what happened last time we lost a radio into the ocean," he added as he recalled having to dive in after the teenager when they had been lost out to sea in a raft one time.

The teenager had resurfaced okay but then got dragged back down under and it was Commander Ford diving in to rescue him. Both Lucas and Ford had failed to hear the Captain approach either of them. The incident about the rescue on the raft had remained something secret between the four of them until now.

"What happened last time, Commander?" Bridger asked in a mock stern voice.

"And what were earphone's doing aboard anyway, Lucas?" he added now staring intently at the teenager looking for an answer.

"I thought it was made quite clear that no radio equipment was to be brought on board," Bridger said trying his best to sound annoyed.

"Um-um but but," Lucas stammered trying to find the right answer. "It's was only a walkman, Captain," he said finally and now looked at the floor trying to avoid the man's intent staring. He felt like a little kid getting told off about running through the house.

* * *

"Lucas, why don't you come over here and help me a minute," Tim O'Neill said trying to get the young man out of a tricky situation.

Lucas was glad at first to oblige the Lieutenant's request, but on approaching Tim and finding out exactly what he wanted Lucas to do, the teenager had rathered that he be back in the Captain's firing line.

It didn't seem to matter where Lucas went on this ship, every nook and cranny seemed to bring out the worst of his weaknesses. Lucas tried very hard to hide his fears from his fellow crew members to try and gain some equal ground. But when things such as motion sickness and the dark were placed at his every turn it was very difficult to hide such things.

This latest request from Tim O'Neill was no exception. It was probably the most obvious and well known of his weaknesses. _HEIGHTS_.

Tim O'Neill had been standing in front of one of the main sails when he called Lucas over to help him. He had a little knowledge of Lucas's fear of heights, but wasn't quite sure how bad it was. He hoped that if he could get the kid actually doing some of the duties aboard the ship, then he might begin to enjoy himself a little more.

Bridger and the other's on the other hand including Lucas were very aware of the teenager's fear of heights. It was more than a fear, bordering on phobia. Lucas couldn't bear to be more than about ten feet above the ground before he would begin to panic and start breathing shallowly begging to be back on solid ground.

On the occasions that Lucas was required to look at some wiring in the higher compartments of the SeaQuset, his fear became a little more noticable. He usually gripped onto the side rails of the ladder until his knuckles were white from holding on too tightly.

What Tim O'Neill seemed to be proposing was absolutely ludicrous in everybody's eyes.

"I thought you might want to help me adjust the sail up there on that first out-rigging, Lucas," Tim said trying to sound as though it was a piece of cake.

Lucas had swallowd hard and tried to hide his fear but his small footsteps backing away from the mast and sail made it obvious to others of his apprehensiveness.

"Maybe we could find something else for you to do, Lucas," Kristin suggested not wanting to state what was already known.

Lucas however stopped dead in his tracks and then set his face into a mask of concentration. He had only been on this ship about 24 hours and already during that time he had been babied by the entire crew for the majority of the trip.

He secretly needed to prove his own worth to the rest of them. To prove that he was capable of overcoming his weakness. And climbing up onto this out-rigging about 20 feet off the deck was one of those challenges.

"No, I will do it, Tim," he said in calm voice. Everybody could tell that he was doing it for his own self pride but they said nothing to embarrass him any more.

Tim went first and used the large cargo net style ropes at the bottom of the mast to show Lucas how to climb the large imposing structure.

Lucas grabbed a hold of the ropes at the bottom of the net and almost backed out there and then as the net moved to and fro already without even any of his weight on it. He bit down on his lip however and put his foot on the first foot-hold.

He pushed himself through the first five and made sure that he didn't look back down at the others. He knew that if he looked down then he would be had it. The trick to this was to keep going and tell himself that there was nothing to worry about.

Tim had already scaled the large rope ladder and was sitting up on the first out-rigging trying to gently coerce the teenager up to his vantage point. Lucas was actually doing very well, but it was only Tim looking down from above that could see the exertion on the boy's face and eyes squeezed tight from the fear that laced through the teenager.

Tim managed to grab a hold of Lucas's hand as he reached the first out-rigging point. Everybody down below had been secretly hold in their breath, too scared themselves to utter words of praise and encouragement.

Tim pulled the teenager to safety up on the large horizontal beam but could see that Lucas's knuckles had turned white and his hands actually trembled slightly from the fear.

"It will be okay, Lucas," Tim said trying to reassure his young friend. Tim was about to explain about how the roping system worked on the sails and what they had to do up here when Lucas made the fatal mistake of looking back down onto the deck below.

He hadn't meant to do it, he had been trying to keep his gaze out front like Tim told him to do. But at some stage he had accidently looked down and it was then that the fear now multiplied in force and threatened to overwhelm the boy once again.

Lucas now pressed his back hard back up against the main mast as vertigo threatened to spill him to the hard wooden deck below.

Bridger had been watching the whole time with his heart in his mouth and now gasped out loud as he saw the utter terror etched on Lucas's face. He was about to climb up there himself to rescue the teenager when he saw Tim reach out a hand to try and help the boy.

Lucas tried to push his fear aside and started to reach out towards Tim's hand. As he reached forward, his left foot left the safety of the huge wooden beam that he had been standing on.

The dizziness set in again and now Lucas found himself wobbling about with his balance. At the last minute he saw a thick rope hanging down from up higher on the rigging and he grabbed a hold of it with both hands and held on for dear life.

This was when the real danger was. Lucas was now dangling some twenty feet above the deck holding on only to a rope. Tim had desperately been trying to grab a hold of the rope or the teenager as he was swung to and fro in the strong breeze. Nobody told Lucas that the higher you went in the sails, the stronger the breeze.

Lucas had forgotten all about being brave and was now praying that somebody would soon be coming to get him down.

Ben Krieg had been busy in the ship's galley trying to get lunch prepared when he heard his friend's brief plea for help. He dashed out onto the deck and could only gasp out loud with worry like the rest of the crew as he saw the boy swinging around in the wind like Tarzan.

Bridger and the others on the deck below were now running around in circles underneath the out-rigging ready to catch the frightened teenager should he lose his grip on the rope and fall. Because of the swinging action of the rope, they couldn't be exactly sure just where the teenager would land if he did indeed fall.

The next gust of wind that buffeted the teenager was a bit stronger than the others and Lucas found himself being propelled painfully into the main mast. A sharp pain then ran down the length of his left arm as it struck the large wooden mast. It was the pain that made him lost his grip on the rope and before he could cry out for help, Lucas found himself falling from a great height.

Bridger and Krieg had seen the teenager fall and now dashed towards him together without realising the other man was there. Just before Lucas landed on the hard deck, Bridger and Krieg banged into one another and landed in an untidy heap on the deck just in time to receive the teenager's full force of weight on the pair of them.

"OOOOOFFFFFF!" came the exclamation from Bridger and Krieg and Lucas literally fell into their laps.

Lucas tried to apologize for falling on top of them and Ben was trying to apologize to the Captain for knocking him over. Kristin had reached the fallen trio first and immediately started to check Lucas over for any obvious signs of injury.

Lucas managed to get to his feet okay but grimaced slightly when Kristen probed his bruised upper left arm. The area was already starting to discolour and would probably be a dark purple within a few hours.

Krieg got to his feet and then pulled the Captain to his. Both of them declared that they were alright. Both of them were more worried about Lucas's fall than themselves.

Lucas told the others that he felt okay apart from his sore arm and that he was sorry for falling in the first place.

"I think I have been a jinx this whole trip," he said dejectedly and started to head to the Captain's quarters while the others watched on after him.

"He really hasn't had anything to be cheerful about yet has he," Kristin said with concern about the dark mood that threatened to over take the normally outgoing teenager.

Miguel Ortiz had been looking at the sky for the last few minutes while Kristin looked over Lucas and he now started to voice his own observations to the rest of the crew.

"Is it me or has the sky gotten a little darker over the last hour," Miguel asked the others, trying not to sound too worried. Inside, his own stomach was beginning to twist in knots, but it wasn't from any sickness. Over the last hour or so, the large white fluffy clouds that Lucas had been day-dreaming about had turned into dark ominous black ones that were rapidly growing in numbers.

A storm was brewing to the north. The others looked up at the sky and now noticed the dark clouds forming ever so fast together.

"I think we had better start getting prepared people," Bridger said as he tried to hide his own concerns about the storm that was approaching.

to be continued...

Jules


	3. SHIPWRECKED

**WHISPERS ON THE WIND**

**By Jules**

**CHAPTER THREE - SHIPWRECKED**

That night was a scary one for all. The huge ship had only been out to sea for a few miles when the storm threatened. The ship had seemed big enough to them all, but once out on the open ocean at the mercy of the huge sea and the swell of the waves, the boat seemed that much smaller.

The strong winds hit the wooden craft from all sides and tossed the ship around as though it were a cork. The terrified people inside were thrown from one end of the room to the other as the ship lurched from side to side in time with the waves.

The crew had managed to roll up and secure the canvas sails before the storm had started. The ship looked very skeletal without it's full adornment of sails. The lightening that streaked across the dark sky light up the window in the Captain's quarters.

Both Kristin and Lucas huddled next to Bridger for security and reassurance. Kristin didn't like the storm any better than her younger charge. There would be a brief reprieve in the ship's perpetual motions before the wind would once again pick up and cause the ship to pull either to the left or right, depending on the direction of the wind gusts or the waves.

The rocking motion of the ship didn't do Lucas's stomach any favours but he was too scared from the thunder and lightening to notice anything else too much. At some point he had laid down on the bed that he currently shared with the Captain and Kristin.

He didn't know when he had fallen asleep and had vaguely remembered somebody rubbing his back soothingly before his eyelids and mind became too heavy from the pull of sleep.

The crew below had the rougher end of the stick as their cabins where built into the belly of the ships. Miguel was a little green again from the rocking action just like Lucas but all of them were too anxious in watching and waiting for the storm to pass.

* * *

The next morning, everybody woke to the same clear blue pristine sky that had greeted them the day before when they had set sail. The sky looked very different from the night before and if anybody told you that a storm would come by evening, you would probably have given them a questioningly and confusing look.

The warm sunshine did wonders to improve everybody's. It gently kissed the faces of the crew as they emerged from their cabins and made their way towards the meal room.

Kristin and Bridger had also made their way to the breakfast table. When they had awoken, Lucas had not been in his bed. They both thought this odd but dismissed any potential problem and thought that the excitement of the adventure might have gotten the teenager out of his bed earlier than usual.

Bridger and Kristin walked into the meal room expecting at least to see the teenager sitting at the table and chatting to his fellow crew members. Both of them had secretly kept an eye for him as they walked from the Captain's quarters, but had failed to see any sign of him.

Bridger's curiosity was getting the better of him, "Has anybody seen Lucas this morning?" he asked trying to sound as casual as possible.

Everybody either shook their heads in a negative response to said a verbal "No" to the question. None of them could shed any light on the teenager's whereabouts.

Ben Krieg had just come from the ship's galley into the meal room carrying two metal coffee pots and some metal cups. He had laid everything he had in his arms on the table and proceeded to walk back towards the galley ready to present the morning's breakfast.

The tranquillity of the morning was quickly forgotten as Ben came racing back into the room seemingly out of breath:

"CAPTAIN, come quick!' Ben shouted as he tried to forcibly drag the Captain out of his chair towards the door.

"That fool kid is going to break his neck this time," he added. And Bridger cottoned on that whatever had Ben worked up had to do with Lucas.

Suddenly everybody was following the Lieutenant to see what the commotion was all about. As they got closer to the main mast of the ship, Ben abruptly turned around and told them all to keep quiet and to walk softly along the wooden decking.

It had been Ben himself who had come into the kitchen yelling at the top of his lungs and the other crew members were just a little perturbed that they were the ones being told to be quiet. Bridger was just about to announce his annoyance when he saw Ben pointing up towards the outrigging where Tim and Lucas had been standing the day before.

Now looking at the same place everybody did as they were told and held their breaths as they could scarcely believe their eyes. Not only could they see Lucas but he was perched up on top of the outrigging with his back against the main mast, feet stretched out to full length, his head leaning back and eyes closed. He looked to be relaxed and enjoying the warmth of the morning sun.

"What is he doing up there?" Bridger asked Ben in a whisper. "I thought he was afraid of heights?"

"I can't understand it either Captain. I just came out here and saw him sitting up there," Ben explained.

"Maybe he feels a little more at ease because he hasn't got everybody looking at him and making him feel nervous," he deduced.

"Well whatever the hell we do, don't startle him or he is likely to fall off like yesterday" Bridger said as he kept his eyes on Lucas.

Bridger forced himself and everybody else to go back into the meal room without disturbing Lucas. They were rewarded for their patience when Lucas appeared at the door ready for breakfast. He seemed unaware that the others had seen him up on the rigging.

"Where have you been Lucas?" Bridger asked in a casual tone trying not to betray the worry he had been hiding.

"Oh nowhere in particular" Lucas replied. "Just out enjoying the sunshine.

It's really nice outside this time of morning. What's for breakfast Ben?" he added as he sat down beside Bridger at the table. He hadn't the slightest idea about the heart attack he had almost caused his friends and they weren't about to reveal their knowledge of his secret to him.

* * *

The rest of the day saw the crew going about their routine deck duties and spending time off just enjoying looking over the vast expanse of ocean. The movement was rhythmic and very calming to the soul just watching the small waves form and then disappear again.

Lucas had been watching the waves late that morning when he spotted a pod of dolphins riding the bow wave. He called to the others and they all laughed and joked as they watched the playful animals enjoying the water. Secretly it caused Lucas to feel just a little homesick as he thought of his own dolphin Darwin who he already missed after only a few days away from him.

By mid afternoon the sky had already taken on a dark and ominous appearance. The dark clouds had already begun forming in great numbers and looked as though they were rolling in on top of one another. The crew had managed to secure a few of the sails but the very top ones had to fend for themselves against the buffeting gales.

The conditions had changed from calm to very treacherous in only a few hours. Where the seas had been calm and tranquil, now they were dark and angry with the waves growing in size and lapping harshly against the wooden side of the ship.

The crew had started out with the same arrangements as the day before with Bridger, Lucas and Kristin in the Captain's quarters and the rest of the crew secured in the belly of the huge galleon.

Lucas had sat between Bridger and Kristin frightened by the clash of thunder that seemed to echo every five seconds. The lightening would follow and reach out across the night sky like bony fingers almost looking as though they were looking to touch something.

The arm of the lightening bolt would spear the rain filled sky and then four or five fingers would explode from the end of that bolt and reach for the ocean and the waves.

Bridger had told Lucas that as long as they stayed inside they would be relatively safe from the storm. The teenager didn't really believe him but put his trust in Bridger enough to know that he promised to keep him and Kristin safe.

Kristin had reached out and tried to massage the frightened boy's shoulders like the previous night hoping secretly that it might help him to relax and drift off to sleep. Her efforts were to no avail though. The more she massaged and the longer the storm raged outside, the tighter and more tense the muscles in the boy's body appeared to become.

Suddenly there was an almighty crack of thunder followed by a lightened bolt bigger than they had seem so far. Lucas had literally jumped out of his skin and Kristin was not able to stifle back the yelp of fright that escaped her own lips at the horrific noise.

Without their knowledge, a lightening bolt had struck the crow's nest at the very top of the main mast and had sent sparks and splinters of wood out in all directions from the driving rain and the wind gusts that persisted.

Now without warning, a large section of the crow's nest and mast had been sent spiralling down towards the wooden deck of the boat.

* * *

Inside the Captain's quarters, the three figures huddled together trying to figure out what the loud rushing sound coming towards them could be. Bridger had deliberately pulled Lucas and Kristen away from the windows in the room. He didn't know why his instincts told him to do this but he was grateful for the insight.

No sooner than the three of them moved to the centre of the room, the sheared off section of mast crashed into the roof and rear window of the room.

Shards of glass and large chunks of wood from the walls were sent hurdling towards the three people in the centre of the room. Kristin had tried to shield Lucas with her body and Bridger the both of them with his but somehow they all seemed to be caught in the middle of the barrage of debris that showered them.

Lucas felt a few splinters strike the back of his shirt and a few stings as the fine slivers of glass stabbed at his skin through the fabric. The cuts only felt minor. The next thing Lucas remembered was being knocked to the floor of the room by something.

He thought at first it must have been Bridger or Kristin trying to get him out of the way, but he soon realised a large heavy pressure on his right calf and right ankle. He pulled and tugged to get his foot free while he kept his eyes closed in case of more debris.

Lucas finally forced himself to open his eyes and view the surroundings. He could hear the wind whistling through the large hole in the roof and where the wall used to be. His clothes and body were now being soaked by the heavy driving rain and this too made visibility poor.

He looked up and could see Kristin and Bridger moving about okay. Bridger looked as though he had coped a few cuts from the glass and splinters but other than that he looked okay. Kristin was trying to ask Lucas through the deafening noise of the storm if he was okay. He started to nod his head but then started to indicate the fallen mast on his leg and foot.

Bridger was trying to talk to Lucas but he could see that the wind made hearing his words impossible. He bent over and tried to pull the heavy mast off the boy's leg. It budged slightly but refused to lift up enough to free Lucas from it's grasp.

Kristin was shouting that she would help Bridger with the beam of wood but just as she started to shout into the wind they both turned around to see the rest of the crew barging through the doorway and surveying the damage.

Ben Krieg was the first of the crew to notice that Lucas was lying on the ground and immediately went over to see if his friend was hurt. Bridger used his hand to indicate the fallen mast on the boy's leg and Krieg knelt down and gave Lucas a brief and comforting hug whilst he tried to come up with a solution.

Ben then turned around and motioned to the others to come and help. With the six of them each having a grasp on the obstacle, they all gave each other a nod and easily lifted the heavy weight off Lucas.

Kristin and Bridger were immediately kneeling back beside the teenager to see what sort of injury had been sustained. Lucas winced a little at Kristin's prodding and poking but for the most of it just gritted his teeth and bore the pain that encompassed his leg.

The area already showed some signs of bruising and there was a significant amount of swelling around the ankle area, but for the most part Lucas had been very lucky that it wasn't more serious.

With the driving rain and the buffeting wind and streaking lightening in the sky, Kristin fought against her doctoring skills and promised Lucas that she would attend to his leg and ankle more properly once the storm was over.

They needed to get everybody to safer and out of the elements as quickly as possible. Ben Krieg and Bridger both helped Lucas to stand and then allowed him to use them as supports while they made their way out the wrecked quarters.

Ford had screamed at the Captain that it was probably safer for everybody in the belly of the ship. Bridger had nodded his agreement to the idea and they all started to make their way out onto the deck and eventually back down into the crew quarters for shelter from the storm.

Lucas's steps were plagued with a limp from his bruised leg and swollen ankle, so the movement was deliberate and slow. He bit back the whimper he had on the tip of his tongue on a couple of occasions knowing that he didn't need to add his complaints to an already dangerous situation.

* * *

By the time they all made it to the stairs leading to the crew quarters, the rain had soaked both them and their clothes. Water dripped from their faces, from their clothes even from their eyelids as they tried to make out their way through the teeming rain.

They could feel the boat getting tossed about in the ocean and hard to fight hard on a number of occasions on the way just to keep their balance and remain upright. Bridger and Krieg had the added problem of trying to keep themselves upright in addition to Lucas who was already unsteady on his own two feet.

Suddenly the ship lurched violently to one side as a huge wave hit the side with tremendous force. The wave washed over the side and flooded the wooden deck so that the area was made slippery. Bridger and Krieg felt themselves loose their grip on Lucas as all of them were thrown around the deck like rag dolls.

Bridger felt himself thrown roughly and painfully against the side of the boat and then knew no more. Lucas looked over towards the Captain just in time to see him hit the side of the ship and loose consciousness.

Bridger now had a small gash just below his hairline. The other crew members also had similar bumps and bruises, though not as serious as the Captain and Lucas. Kristen was trying to rouse Bridger when a scream could be heard from just about everybody on the deck.

Lucas and Kristin looked up just in time to see a huge wave tower over the ship and hang there like a stain. It was easily ten feet high and half the width of the ship. They couldn't run anywhere. They couldn't hide anywhere.

All they could do was look up into the dark blue wave of water and see their own lives ending. All they could do was look up and pray to God himself.

The sound of the wave as it came crashing down was almost deafening. They all put their arms over their heads, trying to defend themselves from the approaching onslaught. A few of them had tried to grab onto each other and hold on fruitlessly so that they didn't get separated.

Lucas and Kristin had both tried to support the unconscious Bridger enough so that he would have some sort of chance against the freak wall of water.

As the wave hit though, their various grips and attempts to hold on to each other were ripped apart from the force of the water as they were submerged. The salt went up their noses and filled their mouths with an awful saline taste. They all came up gasping for air and tried to get their bearing on where they were on the ship and what had happened to the others.

Commander Jonathan Ford could see from his vantage point that the ship was getting closer and closer to some sort of coast line. He couldn't exactly work out how far away they were, but he wondered about the reef below the huge ship and hoped that her hull wouldn't be ripped apart from both the storm above and any hidden rocky obstacles from below the ocean's surface.

Just as the first wave hit, another came and yet another. The crew had barely surfaced from the torrent of water when they were assaulted again and found themselves floundering around in the briny water.

Most of the crew were now up against the side of the boat. Bridger was now semi-conscious but he and the others fought to hold onto the side of the boat and stop themselves from being tossed overboard from the wind and waves.

The sails of the ships had long since been torn apart and various parts of the minor masts had been sent falling to the deck as the wind broke then off like match sticks.

Lucas was more scared than he had ever been in his entire life. His nauseousness had returned with avengence due to the violent lurching of the ship from one side to the other, but at the moment his fear and rush of adrenaline just took over and put his terror as a priority over his stomach. He tried to help the others but hung onto the side of the ship himself too afraid that he would be washed into the darkened seas below and never be heard from again.

Lucas looked over at the Captain and saw that he too was having a difficult time. The Captain was fading in and out of consciousness and seemed barely able to support his body against the walls of water. Lucas forced his own fears aside for the moment and decided that it was up to him to help Bridger out and through the treacherous conditions.

Lucas made himself inch along the deck towards Bridger whilst still holding onto the railing. The waves had not stopped, but the last two had been smaller and not so high. Lucas made it close enough to the Captain and tried to assess his condition. Kristen had been hurled across to the other side of the boat and was taking a brief look at the other crew members for any signs of injury thanks to the wind and waves.

"You okay Captain?" Lucas asked unable to hide the fear or worry in his voice.

Bridger couldn't find his voice and had barely understood the question, but he nodded his head thinking that he had a fifty-fifty chance of getting the answer right to whatever the question had been. His head hung low and he was trying to stop his head from spinning like a top.

* * *

Only after a few minutes of brief abating in the wind, the onslaught once again picked up in severity and started to send high waves back over the decks of the ship. The assault this time didn't look like easing and the crew was tossed about and fought to hang on for their lives.

Without warning, a monster wave hit the ship. It flooded the boat and people fought to the surface to get a breath of air. The force of the water was enough to tear the crew's grip from the railings of the ship.

Before they could stop themselves, Lucas and the others looked on in absolute terror as their bodies were now washed overboard the ship with the receding wave.

Lucas could feel himself going over the edge. He tried to stop himself. He tried desperately to grasp the hands of others and prevent them going over as well. He could see his friends bobbing about in the water but he could do nothing to help them.

Lucas fought to get to the surface and get a breath of air. He was in the ocean now and he could feel the cold water on his body. The rain had been cold enough but the ocean was worse. He could feel his lungs burning from the salt and his chest heaved as it tried desperately to draw breath.

The teenager kicked his legs and come to the surface of the water. His right leg and ankle felt numb from the kicking action and felt like an extra added dead weight. He found himself treading water for what seemed like eternity. It probably in reality was only a few minutes. He tried to look over the water and see the ship or any signs of the other crew members.

There was nothing. At one point he thought he saw something but then it was gone and he wasn't so sure anymore. His legs were getting tired. He was still fighting the swell in the waves and his body was going up and down with the tidal motion. The lightening still flashed angrily across the night sky.

He started to feel himself falling beneath the waves. He would kick his legs harder to try and stop himself from going under, but at the end the fight was too great. He felt his head go under the water and he now puffed out his cheeks trying to hold onto his one and only breath.

Lucas started to feel himself drift away and knew he was losing the fight to survive. His chest was almost at bursting point. His nostrils were on fire from the salt water and his hair fanned out around him under the waves like a blond halo. It soon started to grow dark inside his mind.

He didn't know where he was drifting off to, but he didn't seem to be able to stop it either. Maybe he was drifting to that higher plain between life and death. He didn't really know, he didn't really care. He closed his eyes and let the waves take him to his unknown destination.

* * *

Early the next morning, on a small deserted coastal island, a large and broken wooden ship could be seen just off the reef. There was a massive gaping hold in her side and some of her cargo could be seen strewn all over the shallow sand bar that she rested upon. She had been totally stripped of her masts and sails. She looked almost naked. She would never sail again.

This island would be her grave forever.

On the beach itself, a few bodies had been sprawled in the sand, but now appeared to be moving slightly.

One, a silvery haired, middle-aged man slowly started to move his arms and legs only to wince out at the stabbing pain in his head that the movement caused. Finally the figure pushed himself into a sitting position and put his hands to his head to stop the resounding headache that had resulted.

The man tried to get his bearings and survey his surroundings. He had very little recollection of how he had gotten here or even where _"here"_ was. He started to look beside him on the sand and he could now see a red-haired woman laying but a few metres to the left of him.

His mind kicked into gear at seeing her and he soon forgot all about his own injuries and worries and scrambled over to her side and started to try and rouse her.

Kristin started to stir after a few rough shakes from Bridger. She opened her eyes slowly and squinted into the bright morning sunlight only to see a man bending over her and asking her if she was alright. Her senses came back to her all at once and she immediately tried to sit up and see where the hell they all were.

She looked at Bridger and tried to assess his injuries. The gash on his head was only minor and apart from the pale complexion of his skin, he looked basically okay.

She looked hurriedly over to her right and saw four figures on the beach in various stages of waking up. They were the rest of the crew. They all seemed to be trying to sit up and take account of their aches and pains and see were it was that they had all ended up.

Bridger and Kristin got shakily to their feet and walked over to Ben Krieg and the others. Commander Ford complained of a sore shoulder and Ben appeared to have a cut on his arm. Miguel Ortiz and Tim O'Neill seemed to have come out of the ordeal the best with very few visible injuries to report.

Kristin noted that they all looked a little haunted from what they had just come through. There were probably a few hidden bruises to be discovered.

All of a sudden they were all looking about at each other. At first it looked as though they were surveying each other and gauging their physical well being. Then reality hit them all like a freight train. They all looked back at Bridger and could see the naked terror written across the man's face.

One of them was still missing. Where was he?

They all started to look around their immediate area. They scanned the stretch of beach were they had all just awoken from. Nothing.

Bridger couldn't hide his emotions. He felt like somebody had punched him in the stomach. Where was Lucas?

"We'll find him," Ben Krieg said as he saw the unwritten question on his Captain's face. The crew then broke into two different search parties. One headed right, one left. They all knew what their objective was and who they were looking for.

The beach was a long stretch of water and sand. At one end there was a mass of rocks and boulders. Bridger and Ben found themselves drawn to them for some reason. They had scanned the beach up towards the palm trees hoping that Lucas had maybe awoken first a little dazed and confused and had simply wandered up the beach towards the trees.

As they rounded the first set of rocks, Bridger thought his heart would stop right there and then. He could hear his own voice yelling back to the others that he had found something. He couldn't hear the words he was yelling back at them.

His vision was only focused on one spot at the moment. The others had heard the yell from Bridger and were now running along the beach to catch up to Ben and the Captain.

Bridger seemed to stand still in the one spot for a while, finally breaking his own trance were he started running to the figure he could see lying motionless on the other side of the rocks. The figure was hard to miss.

Lucas had been wearing a red shirt with a black vest over the top and blue jeans. The red shirt was in stark contrast to the sand on the beach as it lapped at the boy's water logged tennis shoes.

The teenager laid face down on the sand. He didn't appear to be moving in the slightest. Bridger and Ben had run their hardest to get to the fallen boy. Ben's emotions were just as erratic as the Captain's. He too was hoping and praying that his friend would still be alive.

Bridger knelt down on the wet sand and gently turned the unconscious boy over. Lucas's wet and limp blond hair fell over his face and the Captain's brushed it away with his hands. Bridger started to softly call the boy's name whilst gently stroking his cheek trying to rouse him.

Nothing.

The boy didn't seem to be able to hear them at all.

to be continued...

Jules


	4. GILLIGAN'S ISLAND !!!

**WHISPERS ON THE WIND**

**By Jules**

**CHAPTER FOUR - GILLIGAN'S ISLAND  
**

"Let's move him out of this sun before it gets any hotter," Kristin suggested as everyone held their breath waiting for the teenager to show some sign of regaining consciousness.

Between them, Bridger and Ben carefully lifted Lucas underneath his shoulders and his knees and carried him up the sandy beach to the shade of the palm trees they had spotted earlier.

Just as they were laying Lucas on a grassy patch underneath one of the palm trees, the teenager gave a small moan as he started to come to his senses.

Lucas gave a few more groans as he tried to wake himself up. He opened his eyes slowly and tried to get a fix on where or when he was. He could feel the gentle breeze ruffling his hair and drying his sodden clothes.

Once his vision was a little more focused, he looked up and gave a wan grin at Bridger and everybody else he could see near him. Then suddenly the events of the previous night seemed to come back to him all at once. He tried to sit up in a hurry and work out where they were.

That was a big mistake. It was only now that he was fully awake that the real pain had become noticed. He had tried to support himself in a sitting position whilst leaning on his hands, but when he tried to put his weight on his left arm, his wrist gave way and he collapsed back onto the sand whilst grabbing a hold of his wrist and crying out in pain.

"Let me have a look, Lucas," Kristen said gently as she tried to pry the hurt hand away from the boy's chest.

Even without medical knowledge, the skin around his wrist appeared swollen and slightly bruised. The bruising would probably darken at a later stage as the swelling subsided. Lucas had to turn his head away and hide the tears of pain that threatened as Kristin probed the swollen area with her fingers.

"I think it's broken, Lucas," Kristin said. "I'm sorry but I don't have much to give you for the pain. I will try and get somebody to find my medical bag and see what is still okay to use. I for now I think we will just use a strip of cloth and support your wrist in a sling to give it some time to heal. How else do you feel?" she asked trying to gauge if there were any further injuries the boy was hiding.

"I ache a little all over but I think that's because I was tossed around like a rag doll back on the ship and my chest still hurts from all the salt water I swallowed, but other than that I'm okay." Lucas admitted. "How's everyone else?"

"Some minor scrapes and bruises like you, but I think we have all come through this remarkably well," Kristin replied.

"You young man, scared ten years off everybody when we found you," she said as she looked at Bridger who only now was beginning to regain some of the colour back in his face. Lucas could only reply with his best sheepish look in apology.

"What now Captain?" Commander Ford asked.

Bridger now stood up and started to scan the local area to see exactly where they had all ended up. From where they stood it looked as though they could salvage some of the supplies and equipment from the hull of the ship.

"I think our first priority Commander, is to split into teams. One team to salvage what we can from the ship and get it stored securely before nightfall. The other team needs to try and look for fresh water and built some sort of temporary shelter using both the local trees and what wood we can from the ship."

"What do you want me to do, Captain?" Lucas asked.

"I really don't want you doing much at all Lucas, especially with your broken wrist," Bridger started to say when he saw the scowled look on the boy's face. Bridger knew that Lucas hated being treated like an invalid even when he was hurt or injured.

"How bout you try your best to gather some fire wood from the beach?" he finally suggested. It would be a slow process with one hand, but at least the boy could feel as though he was putting in an effort in some way.

Lucas seemed to be happy with his assigned task and everybody else split up into the two needed teams as Bridger had requested.

Commander Ford had gone to the ship first and retrieved her medical bag as soon as they split into their groups. Kristin wanted to make sure that Lucas's wrist was supported enough before he started trying to help out at all.

Ford found the bag and brought it to the doctor just as he had found it. Kristin opened it and grimaced when the cavity was half-filled with water. There were a few vials of medicine and pain killers that would have been useful, but now being water-logged they were totally useless. There were a few bandages but not much else.

Kristin did her best with Lucas's wrists and used two small twigs as immobilizers and then wrapped them with the bandages to act as splints. It wasn't the best solution, but it would help the displaced bones from moving around even more. Hopefully somebody would notice them and they could get to medical attention before too long.

It was obvious to Kristin as she wrapped the wrist that Lucas must have been in considerable pain, but at the moment she didn't even have an aspirin to offer him.

"You going to be okay?" Kristen asked as Lucas tried to put on a determined face and go about his assigned task as if there was nothing wrong with him.

"Yeah," he mumbled and stood up to walk away before she could scrutinize him any more. Truth was the pain was very bad but there was little anybody could do about it. He just hoped that it would ease somewhat over the next few hours.

* * *

Over the next hour or so, the crew worked autonomously as they tried to get things prepared for the long night ahead.

Lucas had started to collect twigs and sticks for the fire they would need. Half way through wandering along the beach, the idea struck him to make some sort of signal fire along the beach in case anybody was flying over head or sailing past.

He planned it out and finally decided on making a series of signal fires that could be lit as needed and hopefully somebody would see the signal and they could be rescued.

He didn't tell anybody what he was doing. He could see the others were very busy trying to salvage what they could off the ship. Miguel and Ben had wandered off through the trees to try and find fresh water. Kristin was clearing a large area underneath the trees for their camp site and checking the viability of supplies as they were brought back from the sunken ship.

Lucas had wandered a short distance from the others in order to make his signal fires. It had been a tiresome effort and at times very painful. He had found a few fallen limbs from trees, and although they were only about a metre and a half in length, it took all of his strength to drag the limbs one handed from the tree line down to the beach and stand them up in the sand.

On a couple of occasions, the limbs had fallen over in the soft sand and Lucas had swore viciously as it caused him more pain to stand them back up again. Luckily nobody was in earshot to hear his long stream of colourful extremities.

After what seemed like an eternity, Lucas dragged the final limb into position and then sat down on the warm sand to look over his efforts. There were now three pyramids of wood approximately a metre apart and over a metre tall. All that was needed at the right time was for the pyramids to be lit by fire and then they would be able to be seen from quite a distance in the sky or out on the ocean.

Lucas grimaced again as his wrist reminded him of being broken. He forced himself into a standing position and walked to under the shady trees a few metres back up the beach. He sat himself down and leaned against a large palm tree and let the gentle breeze blow on his face.

The pain in his wrist was increasing and it was becoming difficult to focus on any one thing. He looked towards the others and saw them still trying to set up a make shift camp site. He meant to go and tell them about making the signal fires but before long, without even realising it, Lucas's head started to bow forward as he drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

The efforts of making the signal fires together with the pain from his hand made him very tired.

* * *

Bridger and the others back at the camp site had also made an enormous difference. They had been quite surprised upon arriving at the sunken ship as to just how much they had been able to salvage from the wreck. Ben and Miguel had successfully been able to find a fresh water hole about a mile inland.

They came back to the ship and emptied out some of the spoiled food barrels and then filled them with the water. They had been very heavy to get back to the campsite and they had to do it one at a time, but now the crew had about four full barrels of fresh water that should last them quite a number of days if they weren't rescued in a hurry.

Some of the bedding from the ship had been laid out in the sun to dry and now it was possible to make some temporary beds in the shade of the trees. Bridger wanted to build some better temporary shelter, but for tonight they would have to be content with sleeping under the stars.

If they weren't rescued by tonight, then tomorrow they could all go about building a more sturdier structure out of the ship's timbers. The timbers were now drying out along the beach in the sun.

The biggest problem the crew faced was food supply. With the sinking of the ship, most of the edible stuff had been spoiled or water logged. They had been able to rescue a few floating apples, but apart from these slim pickings, they would have to find an alternative food source on the island for tonight's supper.

"Anybody want an apple?" Ben offered as he passed the now slightly salty pieces of fruit to each member of the crew. As he got to Tim O'Neill, he realised that he had only given out six pieces of fruit. Somebody was missing again. Lucas? Where was he?

"Where's Lucas?" he asked, voicing his concerns about the teenager's whereabouts.

Everybody naturally started to look around for any signs of Lucas.

"I saw him walking along the beach a short time ago," Kristin said, trying to dispel everybody's fears.

"He can't be too far away. He was bringing fire wood here just like he was asked to," she added pointing to the small heap of twigs that Lucas had put there some time ago.

"Let's go look," Bridger said not wanting to alarm anybody.

The Captain got up from the sand and started walking down towards the area where Kristen had last seen Lucas collecting wood. After walking only about 100 metres further down the beach, Bridger and Ben spotted the teenager against the tree.

He was in the same position, asleep with his head bowed forward. Bridger and Ben walked up to the boy quietly. Nathan knelt down beside him and tried to look him over without disturbing the boy.

The boy was deeply asleep, whether from exhaustion or pain Bridger didn't know, but suspected that Lucas's hand was hurting a lot more than the teenager was admitting. He had seen the extent of the swelling and the bruising. Kristin had told them that the hand was broken.

Without the aid of pain medication, it was anybody's guess about how much hurt the boy was trying to hide from them.

Bridger didn't want to disturb the boy's slumber too much, but he needed to try and wake the boy enough to move him back to the camp site with the others. He started to put his hand on the boy's shoulder and rouse Lucas when Ben tapped him on shoulder.

"Will you take a look at that, Captain," Ben said as he looked down the beach and surveyed the work that Lucas had managed to do on his own. Bridger and the others had suggested about making some sort of signal fires, but they all agreed and planned to do it later in the day.

Bridger stood up briefly and took a few steps forward to get a better look at what Lucas had achieved. He could scarcely believe that the boy had managed such an effort on his own. No wonder the boy was asleep. It must have taken a lot out of him to achieve such a feat on his own and one could only guess at the pain it would have caused his injured hand. He didn't know whether to wake the boy and hug him or give him a stern lecture.

Bridger now walked back to Lucas and shook the boy gently until the boy's sleepy eyes opened.

"Hi" he managed to say in a thick sleepy voice. He was still half asleep and winced out loud as he tried to move his hand towards the Captain and Ben.

"I think it's time for you to get some proper rest, Lucas," Bridger said. He had no intentions of uttering harsh words to this boy that he loved almost more than life itself. He helped a unsteady Lucas to his feet and they started to head back to the main camp.

Ben had gone down to the signal fires to take a closer look at the teenager's work.

Kristin had been a little concerned as she saw Lucas being helped onto a blanket by Bridger as they returned to the camp. Bridger put two fingers to his lips to signal that he would explain where they found the boy once he was settled and asleep again.

It didn't take but a few minutes for the teenager to fall back asleep once his head laid down on a folded up blanket under the shade of a tree.

Kristin had knelt beside him and inspected his bandaged hand to check the splints were still in place and the bandages were still tight enough. Bridger had then proceeded to tell her and everybody else about what Lucas had been doing for the majority of the morning.

The crew was both alarmed and shocked as Bridger and Ben had been.

Ben had returned to the camp a few minutes later only to confirm the boy's excellent job with the signal fires. They all looked back admirably at the slumbering boy and reminded themselves all to thank him when he woke.

"I think he will sleep for a while," Kristin said as she checked Lucas over while he slept.

"He is still in a considerable amount of pain and I don't have anything to give him. Sleep is the only healer he has at the moment so we'd best let it work as best it can for him."

* * *

Sleep is exactly what Lucas did for the majority of the afternoon.

Bridger was beginning to worry about the length of time Lucas was sleeping, but Kristin reminded him that the more he slept, the more he didn't feel any pain.

The next chore that needed to be achieved before nightfall was finding enough food for a meal that evening. Although they had apples, that would not be enough to sustain them all for very long.

Ben and Commander Ford fashioned fishing lines out of what they could find and went down to the shore line to try and catch some fish for dinner.

Miguel Ortiz and Tim O'Neill decided to try there luck in the small rock pools along the coast line. Miguel and Tim didn't really know what they were expected to find. They started out looking for small fish in the rock pools. What they found took them by surprise.

There were dozens and dozens of small muscle like polyps attached to the rocks along the shore. The little marine creatures proved to be quite a battle to remove from the rock faces, but after about half an hour, the duo triumphantly returned to the camp site with about half a bucket full of salt water muscles.

When Miguel and Tim returned with their prize catch, everyone was eager to sample the taste of the delicate looking shellfish. Lucas still remained asleep until the smell of the muscles over the fire caught his senses and made his stomach growl with hunger.

"How do we know when they are ready?" Ben asked as he continued to stir the pot of barnacle covered shells.

"They are ready when they open up, Ben," Miguel told him. "We used to cook these type of things all the time when we spent the holidays with my grandparents on the beach. They are really good. A little salty perhaps but very tasty."

"They smell really good, Miguel," came a voice from behind them all.

The crew all turned around at the voice and smiled as they saw a much more alert looking Lucas sitting up on the blanket. He still held his broken wrist protectively against his chest, but he certainly looked a lot better than this morning.

"How are you feeling now?" Kristin asked as she knelt beside the awake teenager.

"Like I could use something to eat," Lucas said with a sheepish smile. It wasn't very often that Lucas admitted to feeling hungry, but at the moment he really did feel like he could eat, even if it was Ben's cooking.

"Well let's not keep him waiting any longer," Ben announced and placed a steaming bowl of shellfish in front of the teenager. Lucas had to wait a few minutes for the meal to cool, but after that he had to admit that they tasted quite good. Everybody else had a serving as well and commented on the pleasant salty taste of the small animals.

After dinner, they all sat in a group on the sand wondering what to do next.

"What are we going to do now, Captain?" Lucas asked Bridger "What if nobody finds us?"

Bridger moved himself over to the teenager's blanket and put a comforting arm around his shoulders. "Don't worry, somebody will find us soon. I promise"

Ben Krieg decided that right about now was a good time to cheer everybody up. "So now let's work out here who's going to play what part," he said with his usual cheekiness.

"Work out what, Krieg?" Ford asked with an inward groan. He didn't know what Ben was thinking about and his head ached just thinking about what Krieg might be up to. The man was a good enough crew member, but sometimes his antics back on the ship were legendary.

There wasn't a week that went past on SeaQuest when Ben wasn't cooking up some new scheme, usually including a reluctant Lucas in the whole affair until the idea blew up in their faces and got both of them into trouble.

"Well I figure because we are marooned on this island for who knows how long, then we sort out the various roles right now. Now of course the Captain can play the part of the skipper, although I'm afraid he doesn't have the same waist line. Doctor Westphalen over there has the right coloured hair and looks to match to play the part of Ginger."

"Tim over there with all of his brains and glasses easily fits into the part of the professor even though there is a big age difference. I guess that only leaves poor old Lucas there the part of our good little buddy Gilligan. I think it suits him though don't you. He's the goofy looking one that we all have to look out for." Ben said with a chuckle.

The charades got a laugh out of everyone else as well. "And I suppose, Commander Ford and Miguel there will just have to partner up and become Mr and Mrs Howell. I don't know who wants to play the part of Mrs Howell, but I'm sure you two can work that out between yourselves." he added and then ducked behind a tree to dodge the handful of sand that was tossed his way.

"So if we've all got our part's Ben, who are you going to play?" Lucas asked.

"Well, Lucas,", Miguel and Tim said as they moved closer to a back stepping Ben, "I think there's only one part that hasn't been filled yet. I think Ben's just right for it too don't you?" Miguel asked as he and Tim playfully grabbed a hold of Ben and sat on him in the sand.

"You ready with the accessories Lucas?" Tim asked with a laugh. Kristen and Bridger were enjoying the best of a bad situation and were happy enough for the crew to work off a few of their concerns with some playful moments.

Lucas now got up and knelt down beside Ben and started to add the costume he and the others had in mind.

"What are you doing Lucas?" Ben asked as he could feel the teenager doing something to his hair.

After a few minutes, Tim and the others allowed Ben to sit up so the others could get a look at Lucas's handy work. They all started to laugh hard as they saw Lucas had created crude pig-tails in Ben's short black hair with some bits of left over string.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please make welcome, our very own Mary-Anne," Lucas said laughing at the sight of his friend. The pain in his hand was still present but had lessened to a sharp ache now.

Kristin and Bridger thought that the laughter was a good release for the crew's emotions at the moment and besides, Ben looked very funny with his little pig-tails.

to be continued...

Jules


	5. THE SHARP ROCK

**WHISPERS ON THE WIND**

**By Jules**

**CHAPTER FIVE - THE SHARP ROCK**

That night was a restful one for some and an endless one for others.

Poor Tim O'Neill had enjoyed the small shellfish for dinner as much as everyone else, but now only a few hours later, he was deeply regretting his full belly. His stomach had started cramping up about half an hour after everyone retired to bed.

At first the cramps had been mild and tolerable. Now almost an hour and a half after later, the cramping had turned into bouts of nauseousness. He had tried to hide his pain from the rest of the crew for as long as possible but now he was groaning softly as his shifted about in his bed, trying to roll away from the sick feeling in his stomach.

It was a very sleepy looking Lucas who was first alerted to the groans coming from Tim. Lucas crept over towards his friend and put a hand on his shoulder trying to see if he was alright.

"You alright, Tim?" Lucas asked as he tried to become more awake. It was only after Tim let go a few more groans of pain that Lucas truly became concerned.

Tim rolled over towards the voice that spoke to him. He looked up through his haze of nauseousness and could just make out the form of Lucas bending over him in concern. He cursed himself inwardly. If there was one person on this island he hadn't meant to wake at all with his sickness, it was Lucas.

Lord only knew that the kid needed to rest and allow his wrist to heal. Tim knew that the kid had enough pain of his own without worrying about him as well.

"I'll be alright, Lucas," Tim managed to say. As soon as he had uttered the words though, his stomach began protesting much louder and the cramping became even more fierce. Suddenly without warning, Tim shoved Lucas out of his pathway and ran towards a palm tree a few metres away from the main campsite and violently began throwing up the contents of his stomach.

"Kristin, Tim is real sick," Lucas said in alarm as he walked up behind Tim and tried to be of some help to him.

Lucas had to turn his own head from the retched smell though when he got too close.

Lucas was somewhat relieved when Kristen and Bridger appeared at Tim's side and tried to help the man overcome his sudden illness. Tim had continue to throw up until there was nothing left in his stomach. Then just to be cruel his stomach then went through the same motions even with nothing else left in Tim's stomach.

The dry retching continued until the young Lieutenant was driven to his knees by the exhaustive effort. Kristin was at his side telling him to remain calm. She was telling him to take deep breaths and try to relax as much as possible.

By now the other members of the crew were also awake from the sound of other voices. Someone handed Kristin a canteen of water which she then proceeded to give Tim. Tim took small and slow sips at first but the nature of his thirty throat as a result of the heaving soon had him gulping the water down greedily.

He soon regretted his avarice though as the walls of his stomach began twisting again and he soon brought up all the water he had just consumed.

After what seemed forever, Tim was led back to his bed on shaky feet by Miguel and Kristin. The man lay down on his bed and didn't even both to open his eyes. He mumbled something that sounded like "Thanks" and drifted in an uneasy sleep as he tried to rest his weary body.

Bridger was beside Lucas now who was having trouble keeping his own stomach down after being so close to Tim. Lucas told the Captain that he was okay, but the boy looked awfully pale to Bridger.

"Is he going to be okay?" Lucas asked. He saw that everybody else had to the same question in the back of their minds. Lucas sat back down on his own bedding and waited for Kristin's diagnosis.

"I think so, Lucas," she said but then glanced around the rest of them so they also heard her reply. "Sometimes people react very badly to shellfish to seafood. I am sure he will feel much better after he wakes up and has had enough time to rest." Kristin assured them.

"Well one thing's for sure," Commander Ford said in a disappointed voice. "We are going to come up with an alternative for dinner tonight after those shellfish made Tim so sick." Everybody just nodded there heads in agreement.

* * *

Bridger was suddenly putting his leadership qualities to use and trying to plan out the agenda for the day ahead of them. He stood up and started to address the group as a whole. He had readjusted the schedule from last night so that Tim wasn't included.

"Commander, I want you, Miguel and Ben working on a much more secure dwelling for tonight" Bridger said.

"I think everyone would benefit from a roof over our heads, especially Tim there."

The rest of the crew also knew that Bridger was secretly thinking of Lucas as well. Bridger just left the teenager's name out of the conversation deliberately so as not to give himself away.

"Kristin here will probably be needed to check on Tim throughout the day," Bridger said and then glanced towards the doctor looking for her approval of her assigned task. He got it with a smile.

Lucas found himself asking the Captain the same question as the day before, "What do you want me to do?".

Bridger thought for a moment. He still didn't want Lucas doing anything too physical that would hinder the healing of his wrist or cause it to become even more painful. He fought with his thoughts in his own head for a few seconds trying to come up with a plausible plan that would not see Lucas throwing a tantrum for being left out again.

"How bout I scour the area for some food?" Lucas suggested. He knew that Bridger wouldn't let him do any of the physical work involved in building the temporary shack. He relished the idea of sitting down and "resting" for the entire day even less.

He wanted to help out as much as possible so that the work was evenly shared around. With Tim now sick, that left one more person unable to help with the tasks that needed to be done.

"I don't think that's such a good idea honey," Kristin said to Lucas before Bridger could answer. She could see the words about to fall of Nathan's lips about all the possibilities that could happen if Lucas was allowed to wander around unsupervised. She was trying to stop a fully fledge war between Lucas and Nathan erupting.

Kristin's words however did not sit with the teenager as people guessed. Lucas was immediately jumping to his feet ready to retort back about being old enough to take care of himself and being allowed to do things without someone constantly holding his hand all the time.

"So I am just to be an invalid here now am I?" Lucas spat out without meaning for his words to sound so condescending.

"Lucas I'm sure the Captain here is just trying to look out for you," Commander Ford added trying to calm the agitated teenager.

"If you wait until later on in the afternoon, I am sure we will have finished the shack by then and somebody would be willing to go with you then."

Everybody saw the boy's normally happy blue eyes turn an uglier shade as the anger and frustration at being constantly confined bubbled to the surface. Together with the dull ache in his hand and the helplessness that they all felt on the abandoned island only caused the boy to fight for release from his invisible bonds.

"Uh-oh," Ben said as he looked at the boy's pale face take on a slight red tinge due to his embarrassment and anger. "This isn't going to be pretty," he whispered to Miguel standing beside him.

"Thank you very much, Nurse Nightingale," Lucas shot back at Ford. Ben could barely hold back his giggle at Lucas's choice name for the normally strictly military-like man. His soon zipped his lip when he too got an angry look from the less than impressed teenager.

"If everybody doesn't mind, I am quite capable of carrying out a few minor chores around here on my own without all of you watching over my shoulder every minute. I promise I will be a good boy. But with Tim sick we really don't have much of an option but for me to pitch in where I can and try and find some food for tonight. I will not wander too far away from the campsite. Is that all right with you, Captain?" he added meaning for the words to be an order rather than a question.

Without waiting for a reply from anybody in the group, he quickly gathered his vest and stomped off across the sand towards the palm trees and where the other's had found the fresh water hole.

"I'm sure he will be okay, Captain," Ben said trying to ease the man's fears. Bridger still stood shocked at the boy's sudden outburst. He knew that the boy's nerves were on edge due to his discomfort and the situation they found themselves in. But he didn't mean for the boy to become so visibly upset and he certainly didn't mean for the boy to think that he was nothing but a burden on the group.

* * *

"Come on gentlemen, let's get that shelter built," Bridger now said, all the while looking in the direction that the teenager had walked off in. He kept his eyes on the boy's movements until he could no longer see him through the dense canopy and even after that he kept glancing back to the spot again.

For the best part of the next hour, Commander Ford and the others worked non-stop on their planned temporary shelter. They felled four of the largest and straightest palm trees they could find. It had taken longer than they thought due to the rust that had already formed on the blade of the axe due to it's submersion in salt laden water.

The four tree trunks were now sunken into the soft sand about three feet in depth. These would become the main supports for the walls of the shelter. They now used some of the dried out planks of wood from the ship to lay down as a wooden floor. At least this would kept them all from sleeping in the sand again tonight.

The remaining planks of wood were then secured to the four supports with some rope that had been salvaged. These began to form the four outside walls of the crude structure, but halfway through the construction stage, they realised that they wouldn't have enough planks of wood to go very high.

They had formed a wall of about five feet high. They then secured what spare timber they had to the top of the support poles to act as a framework for the roof. The roof itself was made of as many palm leaves lying on the sand as they could find.

The structure when mostly complete was about 8 feet in total height. Tall enough for even the very lofty Commander Ford to walk under without touching the roof. They would just have to use some spare linen and bedding to make up the gap between the wall of ship's timber and the roof. It might be a little bit draughty at night, but it was better than nothing.

Bridger had tried to act as foreman during the entire construction of the temporary shelter, but his attention kept wandering towards the tree line. On a number of occasions he was caught looking down at his watch. The crew knew without a doubt that Bridger would know precisely just how long Lucas had been away.

"He'll be back shortly," Kristin said as she saw Nathan look back at the trees for the hundredth time. She had kept an eye on Tim as requested, but the Lieutenant seemed to be over the worst of his nauseousness and was now just sleeping off his stomach cramps. Hopefully within a few hours, he might be more alert.

"If he doesn't show up in ten minutes," Bridger warned……

He was stopped in mid sentence by the sight of Lucas walking back towards the campsite. They could see that he was carrying a few items but they couldn't quite make out what they were.

Lucas approached them and held out a smallish bunch of yellowish wild bananas. He had two small coconuts tucked up under his right arm as well. He gave the bananas to Bridger with a sheepish smile.

"I'm sorry but that's all I could find, " he said. He had wanted to prove to them that he could carry out the task he assigned himself, but to his disappointment he had returned almost empty handed.

"I don't know what you're going to do with these Ben, but there are loads of them back through there," Lucas said indicating the area he had just walked from. "We won't run out of coconuts for a while that's for sure."

Lucas could feel everybody's gaze upon him as they tried to check if he was okay. He had lost his anger almost as soon as he had walked from the camp but he didn't want to admit that to anybody.

"Captain I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier," he said as he reached out his right hand hoping to regain Bridger's friendship. "I'm just a little out of sorts that's all. You know how it is with us teenagers." he added trying to put his antics into a light-hearted view.

"Well………. I don't know," Bridger said hiding the smile he felt. He cautiously reached out his hand as if to hesitate at first, then quickly grabbed a hold of Lucas's hand and pulled the boy into a loose headlock and ruffed his hair whilst grinning back at the others.

"Yeah I know, and next time you act like that you can expect to be grounded for a week," Bridger said in mock sternness.

"Grounded!" Lucas said in astonishment. "And just where to you think I would be able to go anyway?"

* * *

Ben Krieg sighed inwardly that everything was patched up with Bridger and Lucas. Needless to say that he knew everyone's nerves where on edge. He needed to come up with a plan for relieving some of the tension. He knew that involving Tim was out of the question.

He looked around and counted how many of them there were - six he told himself. He then looked down at the two coconuts that Lucas had handed him and instantly had an idea about having some fun.

"Right, let's have two teams here," he started to instruct as he lined everybody up facing him.

Everybody looked at Ben as though he was crazy at first, but they could see the mirth reflecting in his eyes and knew that Ben was up to something.

"Okay here are the rules girls," Ben started to say.

"GIRLS!" Ford said out loud to the others as he laughed, "Did he just call us all girls?" he asked.

"The game is called touch football. You can't tackle anybody and you only score a goal when a player from your team crosses the scoring line with the ball" Ben said as he made up the rules of the game.

"Where's the ball, Krieg?" Ford asked. He knew that Ben was trying to improve everyone's morale. That was normally his job back on SeaQuest. One that he did rather well.

"Here," Ben said holding up the coconut and hoping that everyone would support his little idea of fun.

"Okay, I make the teams then if you don't want to. Lucas you can have the doc there and the Captain of course," Ben said.

Lucas had visibly started to join in with Ben's antics, "Oh just great Ben, give me the has-beens why don't you" he said while laughing.

"HAS-BEENS!" Kristin said with a little attitude of her own in her voice. "Let me tell you a thing or two young man she said as she pointed a finger at him, "When I was in school, I played touch football and I was pretty darned good at it too," She couldn't help but smile at the laughter that Ben had been able to create out of nothing.

Kristen had briefly looked in on Tim before all six of them headed down towards the beach and marked out some boundary lines and score lines in the sand.

They lined the teams up facing each other, Ben's team with the ball first. He knew that everyone would make a mental note not to be too rough with Lucas's injured hand. That was why he had come up with the idea of _"touch football"_.

"Ready," Ben asked as his team faced their opponents. Everybody had removed their shoes and left them under the trees until after the game.

"Ready," came the reply from a determined Kristin. Lucas and Bridger stood behind her waiting for the Doc to make the first run at the opposition.

"Let's play ball," Ben shouted as he saw Ford and Miguel move to his opposite sides. He had seen Kristin coming at him and just before she could lay a hand on him, he threw the coconut over his head towards Miguel.

Miguel caught the ball and was trying to pass Bridger before getting caught. The Captain was getting awfully close so Miguel let go the of the coconut and it went flying into the hands of Commander Ford on the far side of the makeshift field. Ford couldn't go very far due to Kristen standing directly in front of him so he passed the ball back to Ben in the middle of the field.

Lucas had worked out a ploy he just knew would work on his friend Ben. Krieg came running towards him with the ball, but instead of trying to physically touch him, Lucas just stood there and started to give his most pitiful look of pain whilst clutching at his injured hand.

He had his eyes closed the whole time Ben was running at him, but he was able to sneak a few looks to see where Ben was without being spotted.

Lucas had let Bridger in on his secret so when he let out a few moans, Bridger knew that the kid was faking at least part of it. Lucas didn't need to act to much with the pain part, his hand was still aching, but now it was time to use all of his boyhood charm for the efforts of his team.

Ben had fallen hook, line and sinker for the moans of pain coming from Lucas as had Miguel and Ford. Ben now paused directly in front of the teenager and was looking very concerned at his friend. He still had the ball in his hand, but at the moment he had completing forgotten about it being there and focused on Lucas's grimaces of pain.

"Lucas are you okay buddy?" Ben asked with genuine worry in his voice. "Tell me what I should do," he added.

He was inwardly kicking himself for choosing such an activity for them when he knew that Lucas had an injured arm.

Before Ben even realised what was happening, Lucas now snaked his hand forward and snatched the would-be ball out of his friend's hand and dashed in between Ben and Miguel, taking off at a run to get to the other end of a field.

"I think you should be a bit more careful when taking on Lucas Wolenczak," the teenager said at the other end of the field. He had a very large grin on his face and when Bridger and Kristen joined in, Ben and the others knew that they had been totally had.

"Why you……..," Ben said as he made as if to start chasing after the teenager.

Miguel and Ford had also joined in the laughter and help their team mate even the score.

* * *

Lucas turned around as if to run, but his laughter and that of everybody else was quickly brought to an abrupt halt as the sound of an engine filled the sky. They all looked up trying to see the reason for the sound.

"There it is," Lucas shouted excitedly as he spotted the small plane above the island. Without worry about anybody else at the moment, the teenager started to run towards the fire signals he had made. He had a few matches in his pocket.

When he reached the pyramids of wood, he pulled out the matches and tried to light some of the palm fronds in the middle of the mounds. The matches had spilled all over the sand and in his rush to try and signal the plane, his hands found picking up the small items from the sand difficult.

Lucas cursed out loud as he picked up one match only to drop it in the sand a second time. He was running out of time if he wanted the fire lit in time for the plane to see it. If he didn't hurry, the plane would be too far away to even see the signal.

This time Lucas managed to pick up the match, but as he struck it alight and held it near the pyramid of sticks, the breeze extinguished the small yellow flame and the match was now useless.

"God damn you!" Lucas cursed out aloud. By now the others had almost reached him and could hear his frustration at getting the signal's lit in time. Lucas lit another match and although he was successful in the flame being kept shielded from the breeze, when he held it close to the fronds, the flame was once again doused.

By this time the engine was barely audible in the sky and Lucas knew that their chance at somebody rescuing them was lost. The actions of trying to strike the matches and light the fire had caused the dull ache in his hand to become a more sharper and noticeable pain. Despite his pain, the now distraught teenager punched at the soft sand with his clenched fists in anger and frustrations.

He couldn't stop the flow of anger and uselessness that he now felt. Bridger immediately sat down in the sand and tried pulled the boy into an embrace. At first the boy had tried to push him away and resist his comforting actions. But now as the boy finally let out his feelings of being abandoned on the island and the pain that was burning in his hand, he collapsed back against Bridger.

Bridger was too taken back by the sudden change of mood of the boy to say much. One minute Lucas was angry at being held back, the next he was back to his normal self and laughing alongside Ben. Now upon failing to signal the first real chance they had at being spotted, the boy angry and frustrated and cursing himself no end.

"I tried Captain, I really tried," Lucas said dejectedly as he pounded the sand with his good hand.

"The match would light and then when it did the wind just blew it out."

"It's okay, Lucas," Bridger said trying to assure the depressed teenager.

"We all know you tried your best. Don't worry we will be rescued soon, I promise."

Lucas now pulled himself away from the Captain's embrace. He was a little more than embarrassed now at having acted like a baby in front of his fellow crew mates. The crew members didn't even let the idea cross their minds. They all had similar frustrations and fears about being rescued. Lucas was just the first to voice them to anybody.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to fall apart like that," he said sheepishly. "I guess it just all built up in me and I couldn't let it out any other way. I hope your right about there being another plane or boat to rescue us."

"I am sure there will be," Bridger said. "Are you okay enough to head back to the camp now?" Bridger asked.

The game had now been long forgotten.

* * *

"If it's alright with you, I think I might take a walk along the beach for a few minutes, just to clear my head," Lucas said looking up at Bridger.

Bridger was a little reluctant to let the teenager go alone but he also didn't want a repeat performance like this morning, "Are you sure you want to be on your own?"

"Yes, but I wouldn't be gone lone and I promise not to go to far," Lucas said as he got to his feet. "Just want to put my toes in the water for a few minutes."

"See you soon then," Bridger said as he too stood up and forced himself not to get too worried as he watched Lucas head towards the water's edge. He looked at Kristen and the others and then motioned for them all to return to the main camp and check on Tim. There were still a number of things to be done before they could rest tonight.

* * *

Lucas squelched the wet sand through his toes as he walked along the beach. He watched as the wave broke over a meter away from the shore line but then reached his bare feet and washed away what sand was between his toes. The water felt so refreshing. Watching the tide move in and out was very relaxing and almost hypnotising.

Lucas forced himself to keep walking. He only had to go another few metres along the sand before he reached the shallow rock pools that covered this end of the beach. The water was so clear in the pools that he could see the bottom of each one as he stepped into it.

He had walked a little farther than he had promised but failed to realise that he was now completely out of site of anybody at the main camp. His thoughts were on other things and in other places at the moment so he didn't notice how far away from the others he was getting.

As he moved further along the beach a few of the larger rock pools got deeper. He had stepped into one without realising the depth and cursed out loud when he sunk almost up to his knee in the water. He pulled his leg out and shook off the excess water. He reminded himself to stick to the shallower pools after that.

All of the rocks looked the same as he walked along. There were a number of little shellfish attached to some of the rocks and a few little fish swimming inside the rock pools. Other than that Lucas didn't think there was anything dangerous about what he was doing.

The next rock that Lucas stood on made the young man pull up in a hurry and grasp at his leg as he felt a stab of pain at the base of his foot. He lifted his foot off what he thought was another rock. The top of this rock looked to be covered in similar shellfish to the other rocks. He couldn't see anything sticking up that would have caused him to feel such pain.

Maybe there was a sharp edge he couldn't see due to the ripples on the water caused by the small waves.

The foot felt okay for the moment so Lucas decided to take a few more steps forward. He didn't get very far though. Upon trying to put his foot on another rock, a sudden wave of agonizing pain started at the base of his ankle and now gradually made it up his calf muscle and eventually into his thigh.

Lucas knew that something was now dreadfully wrong. He told himself that if he just took it slow back to the camp he could get Kristin to look at his foot. He tried to tell himself to relax and calm down.

His leg felt like it was on fire. Lucas had not felt anything so agonizing before. He had tried to call out but the instant pain and literally taken his breath away.

The next step Lucas tried to take didn't even get halfway. Lucas soon found that apart from the agonizing pain, his leg had become somewhat numb at the base of his foot and just wouldn't obey want he wanted to do.

Lucas found himself kneeling on the sand due to his unsteady balance and it was now that the first wave of dizziness hit him. He put his hands to his head and tried to stop the swaying action he body had taken on.

He felt as though he might pass out, but instead of doing that, his body began reacting violently to the toxin in his body once more and the pain became that much more intense. Now at least sound could escape his lips and Lucas found himself screaming at the white hot pain that was shooting up and down his leg.

Lucas couldn't stop the screams because the pain wouldn't relent. It felt as though his leg was getting hotter and hotter and the pain just kept getting more and more intense.

to be continued ...

JULES


	6. HEAT TREATMENT

**WHISPERS ON THE WIND**

**By Jules**

**CHAPTER SIX - HEAT TREATMENT**

Back at the main camp site, the first thing that alerted the rest of the crew to the fact that something was very wrong was the scream that they heard. It made them all stop dead in their tracks and pause from whatever they had been doing and look in the direction of the beach.

The dreadful pain and agony that came within that scream made their blood run cold. What had happened? All of them had guessed that the scream had come from Lucas.

Bridger was the first to start off at a run in the direction of the scream. Kristin followed him but soon they both were overtaken by Ben who raced down the beach towards the rock pools to see what had happened to his young friend.

At they rounded the bend in the beach and got closer to the location where Lucas was, they all spotted Lucas laying on the soft sand clutching at the lower part of his right leg. He was still screaming at full volume and he seemed oblivious to anybody approaching him.

"Lucas," Ben said as he knelt beside the fallen teenager and tried to work out what was causing him so much pain. Ben tried to pry the teenager's hands away from the leg to get a look at the injury, but Lucas's hands kept pushing his hands away in an attempt to deal with the pain.

Lucas briefly opened his eyes and looked at the shadowy figure that was beside him but then closed them again and continued to scream at the fire that seemed to be burning him from the inside out.

Ben could see Lucas's eyes were clouded with the extreme pain. What scared him even more was the trickle of fresh blood running down the side of the teenager's mouth. The intense pain had been so much that Lucas had accidentally bitten the soft inside of his cheek as the pain rippled through him.

Kristin now pushed Ben out of the way roughly and made no attempt to make excuses for her harsh treatment. She was very concerned by what she saw. The boy's skin pallor was not good and his body seemed to be continually assaulted by the pain.

"Hold his leg still, Ben," Kristen said tersely as she now tried to pull Lucas's hands away from the injured leg. She was having an uphill battle and it took both Bridger and Miguel to hold Lucas's hands away from the area long enough for the doctor to have a good look.

Bridger was truly scared by the condition they found Lucas in but nothing could prepare any of them for what they were about to witness.

As Bridger and Miguel restrained the still struggling boy, all at once it seemed as if Lucas's muscles were contracting and retracting in spasmodic fashion. Lucas's eyes rolled back in his head and his whole boy trembled with effects similar to an epileptic fit.

"KRISTIN!" Bridger shouted out as he and the others watch on in horror at the boy's seizure.

Kristin knew she couldn't stop the seizure from occurring but she needed to help the boy as much as possible. She spotted a small piece of drift wood beside her on the beach and quickly picked it up and gave it to Bridger.

"Place this between his teeth so he doesn't bite his tongue," Kristen ordered.

Bridger had a tough job prying the teenager's mouth open. Briefly the seizure seemed to pass and Lucas's tormented body stopped the muscle spasms. Bridger didn't want to take any chances and gently put the piece of wood between Lucas's teeth.

The boy's body just seemed to be getting over the first seizure when he was assaulted yet again. Bridger this time, not knowing what he could do to help, gently placed his hands on either side of the boy's head just above the ears and tried to prevent his head from tossing about from side to side.

The second seizure passed a little quicker this time and once again were replaced by soft tremors rippling through the boy's young body. Lucas was almost unconscious by this time and he barely seemed able to lift his eyelids.

"Let's pick him up gently and take him back to the main camp," Kristen said in a gentler tone, urging the other crew members to move forward so that as many people as possible were there to cradle the boy's limp body back to the camp.

"What do you think happened?" Ben asked as his own face started to regain some colour after what he had just witnessed.

"Time for explanations later, Mr Krieg," Kristen said. "I want to get him back to the camp and start the first aid and get him settled before I can made an accurate diagnosis."

Between the five of them excluding Tim O'Neill, the SeaQuest carried Lucas back to the camp as requested. The distance was only about 200 hundred metres, but by the time they got there it felt more like 200 miles. During the whole time they could all feel the small quivers coming from Lucas and wondered if he was about to have another seizure.

He made briefs groans of pain at the jostling movement but his breathing was now shallower and that only seemed to worry them more. He no longer seemed to have the breath to scream like he had earlier. They all doubted that the lack of screams meant that the pain had decreased any.

By the time they laid him gently on one of the bed of blankets, the boy had lost total consciousness and no longer aware of the efforts being made to help him by the crew.

* * *

"Mr Ford, get that pot boiling on the fire now please," Kristin said as she started to rattle of her list of priorities to help the injured teenager.

"I want to you pull it from the fire just as it is getting to hot to put your finger in," she added.

"Pour about half of it into this large container and bring it to me when it's ready." she said as she handed him a large plastic bowl and then turned her attention to the other crew members for their assigned tasks.

"Ben I want you and Miguel to tear some of the spare bedding into large towel size pieces of fabric. Once Commander Ford says the water is ready, I want you to soak the towels in the remaining water and then wring them out until they are moist and damp but not dripping wet."

"Nathan, I need your help to make Lucas more comfortable and hold him still while I examine his leg," Kristin said as she now spread out a large sheet beside Lucas and knelt on it.

"Just hold his hands gently in case he wakes up due to the pain," Kristin said as she started to probe Lucas's reddened lower right calf. She tried to explain what she was doing to Bridger as she went.

If she had the time to spare she would have been concerned about Bridger's own physical condition. The man looked deathly pale with worry as he watched Kristin go about her doctoring.

"Some sort of toxin has gotten in his leg," she started to say. "See these veins are standing out?"

Nathan nodded as he watched Kristin run her fingers along the motley coloured purple and blue veins that ran up and down the length of Lucas's leg. The colour was more severe towards the ankle and part of his ankle had even started to turn a touch blacker.

Kristin now moved herself towards Lucas's foot and upon lifting it up she now could see what sort of toxin they were dealing with.

"Lucas has stood on a stone fish," she announced loudly. "See the three little puncture wounds in the bottom of his foot" she said and pointed to the area she was talking about.

"Those three little marks are the unmistakable marks of the barbs on the dorsel fin of a stone fish. Lucas probably didn't even see it when he was walking through the rock pools. They live in shallow coastal areas like this and are very well camouflaged to their environment."

"Are you sure?" Nathan said.

"I had a hunch back at the beach when I saw the wound but I wanted to get him back here and take a better look. That's why I asked for the hot water and the towels. The only known first aid for stone fish venom is hot water."

"It helps to wash away any of the toxin that may be lying on the surface of the skin or just under it. It unfortunately won't help with any of the poison that has already made it into his system. I want the hot water to pour over the area and then I will keep his leg wrapped in the hot towels and elevated. Hopefully that will let the blood stream dilute whatever poison has made it into his system." Kristin explained.

"The water is about ready, Kristin," Ford said as he walked over with the bowl of steaming water.

Kristin took the bowl of water from Ford and put her finger in it just to test the temperature. "The water has to be hot enough to work on the area for treatment, but we don't want to cause any scalding to the area as well. Now this is going to be very uncomfortable for Lucas, so I need you to try and hold him down between the two of you."

"Hopefully he won't wake up at all, but I doubt it. The hot water may cause some further reddening of the skin also." she said.

Ford now knelt beside Lucas and held his upper body down firmly. Bridger moved down towards his leg and placed one hand just about the right knee and the other on his left leg to prevent as much movement as possible.

"Ready," Kristin enquired. Bridger and Ford nodded grimly as the bowl of water was suspended just above the area.

Kristin started to pure the water onto Lucas's leg. She forced herself to maintain focus on her job at hand. Lucas had been unconscious, but as predicted the heat of the water made the young man stir again and once his foggy brain recognized what the discomfort was, he tried to start sitting up and moving his hands down towards his leg and stop the pain.

"Stop it please," he said through clenched teeth. "Please stop, its too hot. Your hurting me," he said in a very tired sounding voice. His pleas tore at Bridger's heart but the two men kept their minds focused also.

"Captain, please make it stop," Lucas begged once again. By this time, the bowl was almost empty. Unfortunately the burning sensation was still present long after the water container was empty. After even this short period awake, Lucas seemed more tired than ever and despite the pain in his leg was unable to hold his eyes awake again.

The three adults around him seemed to relax just a fraction as they watched the injured teenager fall back into a troubled sleep.

* * *

Bridger knew that it would take a long time to forget the desperate pleas from Lucas to go out of his mind.

"You two go and help Ben and Miguel now," Kristin said gently as she watched the worried expressions on the two men beside her. "I'll wrap his leg in the towels make sure he's sleeping okay and then I will come and talk to you all".

Bridger and Ford got up from the ground and walked away to leave Lucas in Kristin's capable hands.

Commander Ford ran his hands through his short black hair and let out a series of loud sighs. He had never experienced something like that before. He was all military but when it come down to one of his fellow crew members being injured, it just proved to everyone else around him just how vulnerable and human he was.

Bridger looked worse. The older man looked like a harrowing wreck and truly looked twice his age at the moment. He didn't have the slightest idea of how to explain his feelings right now. Everything he loved in life was lying back on the rough bed with Kristin.

He had never felt so scared and helpless in his whole entire life. He sat on a large rock underneath one of the trees and looked out to sea with many thoughts plaguing his mind.

Tim O'Neill had remained at the camp when the others went to help Lucas. He had awoken as the chaos that happened when they brought Lucas back to camp. The man had felt a little better after some rest and was almost back to normal.

He paled at the story that he heard from Ortiz and Krieg about Lucas screaming at the top of his lungs when they found him and them going into fits and seizures. He went over to the fire and made a black cup of coffee for each of the crew members. He handed one to Commander Ford with a smile and then let Miguel and Ben know that there was one of them waiting.

He left Kristin's by the fire so that she could have it when she was finished tending to Lucas. He picked up the fifth cup of strong brew and carried it over to the large rock under the tree.

"Captain," Tim said as he handed the steaming cup to the haunted looking Bridger, "Thought you could use this," he said not knowing what else to say to comfort the man who thought his very life was being torn apart at the moment.

"Thanks," Bridger said as he looked up at the young Lieutenant with genuine gratitude. "Did you put a little something stronger in it for me," he said jokingly and went back to his gazing out over the waves.

"Sorry Captain, I wish I had something to do just that," O'Neill said frankly.

"You know Tim, you don't know what the ocean really sounds like unless you sit here and just listen for a while," he said reminiscently. "Lucas loved the sounds of the sea."

This statement really scared Tim. Bridger was starting to talk in past tense and that wasn't good in anybody's books.

"I heard that, Nathan Bridger," a voice said almost angrily behind Tim. The younger man was startled for a moment and looked back to see a very cross looking Kristin Westphalen walking towards Bridger.

"Don't you dare do that to him!" she shouted at him. Kristin now walked around so that she was facing the depressed looking Captain.

"Do what?" he said casually and without much tone in his voice.

"Don't you think of letting him down. There is no reason to think that he is going to do anything else but make a full recovery. That boy is laying over there now, very sick yes. But when he wakes up he is going to be in a lot of pain and very scared. I am not going to let him think that you don't care anymore because I know you do." she yelled at him.

"That boy needs you now more than ever and I suspect that you need him just as much so you just stop feeling sorry for yourself and get your act together because you are going to be needed in a few hours," she added.

Everybody was a little taken back at Kristen's harsh sounding words. They all could see that the Captain had been affected by Lucas's injury, but nobody had the actual guts to tell him off the way she had just done.

"What do you want me to do?" Bridger asked with a faint smile on his face. Kristin's slap in the face was just what he needed to get him going again and start caring about the one he loved. He had never really stopped caring, but maybe he needed to be reminded of what was expected of him.

Hell it wasn't only Lucas being sick. He had a whole crew at the moment that was shipwrecked on a deserted island and he needed to show that brand of leadership and invincibility that he was renowned for.

"That's better," she said with a small smile of her own that her plan had worked. Truth was she was just as scared and worried about Lucas as he was, but she was determined not to let the worry overwhelm her and stop her from performing her necessary role. They all needed to stick together.

"For the moment nothing," she said as the others now gathered round her to hear about the strategy.

"I have wrapped Lucas's leg and hopefully after a few hours we might start seeing a difference. In the mean time all we can do is take it in turns to watch him while the others get some rest. We are going to need it too because from what I know about stone fish venom, our fight for Lucas has only just begun."

"We have washed away as much of the poison as possible, but like I said there is some that would have already been absorbed by his body." she explained.

"What else do we have to look forward to," Ben said grimly knowing that it was no laughing matter.

"Unfortunately not much," Kristin said answering his question "Lucas's body will start to fight the toxin in his body. He will probably start to develop a fever in the next few hours. It will be our job as a team to make sure that it doesn't climb to high. We will have to keep him cooled down with cool compresses and keep renewing the hot towels on his leg to prevent it swelling any further."

"As for what else we might come across, I couldn't be sure. I have only read up on the subject of toxins and have not actually witnessed anybody with this sort of injury."

to be continued ...

**Author Notes: I did a little research for this topic and when I looked up the actual first aid treatment for stone fish it was believe it or not - hot water like I said. **

JULES


	7. THE RESCUE

**WHISPERS ON THE WIND**

**By Jules**

**CHAPTER SEVEN - THE RESCUE**

After what seemed forever but was actually closer to two or three hours, Kristin carefully unwrapped the towels that surrounded Lucas's leg. The fabric was now cold and she had asked someone about heating some more with hot water and wringing them out again.

She was a bit apprehensive as to what she might find when she took off the wraps. When she did force herself to look finally, she was both pleased and a little disappointed at what she saw.

On one hand the leg didn't seem to be swelling anymore than before, and that was a blessing. But secondly and more worrying was the deep blue veining that she could see all over Lucas's lower leg. The dark lines started just below the knee area and travelled down his leg in a criss-crossing pattern.

There were patches of pale almost normal skin colour and then right beside it a deep darkening navy blue showing the path the venom had taken up his leg.

Lucas had been asleep most of the time although how much of it had been restful Kristin wasn't quite sure of. The teenager had spent a good time of that moaning in step with the ripples of pain that assaulted his body. There were no more signs of seizure like before but the fever that Kristen had spoken about earlier had started to set in now.

She didn't know how much longer she would be able to use the hot wraps for around his leg. Although the heat seemed to be slowly helping to minimise the body's absorption of the foreign toxin, it didn't help in reducing the overall body temperature. She couldn't allow the body's core temperature to climb more than 40 Celsius before other organs in the body started to be affected.

Lucas had started to move about again on the bed as Kristin continued to monitor his condition. She moved to the head of the bed and gave a warm smile as the teenager opened his eyes slightly. The eyes were unfocused and clouded with fever and pain.

He tried to use his voice to talk but found his throat rather raw from the screaming he had down earlier. Instead he slowly mouthed the words silently so that Kristin could read what he wanted. She was certain he was asking for a drink of water. With the fever he had she couldn't blame him and gently held a hand behind his head to offer him the refreshing liquid that he desired.

"Thanks," he mouthed silently again and closed his eyes to try and concentrate on the pain in his body.

Although it was no longer as sharp as before, now it seemed to have spread over his entire body and sapped whatever strength he had. He doubted he could have moved off the bed even if he wanted to. Kristen stood for a moment and brushed his hair back in a soothing motion, eventually seeing Lucas drift off into another short spell of restless sleep.

It was these short cat naps that also made him weak. He needed decent rest for hours at a time if he was to start the healing process.

Kristin now walked away from the sleeping boy, rubbing at her own tired and aching muscles. She looked over at the rest of the crew and smiled at the site of most of them sleeping. Nathan had been forced to get a few hours rest only on the promise to relieve Kristin herself shortly.

Commander Ford and Ben were the only two others awake. Tim O'Neill was getting some much needed rest himself to recover after his bout of vomiting. Miguel was snoring loudly behind him and seeming sleeping better than anybody else at the moment.

All they could do was wait now and see what changes there were to Lucas's condition over the next few hours. They all hoped and prayed for a quick rescue so that he might be able to seek urgent medical assistance but they all knew that the real chances of that were slim if non-existent.

Kristin had a few quiet word to Ben and Jonathan about leaving Bridger sleep a little longer and then checking on Lucas again. The Captain was almost at collapsing point himself, no matter how much he tried to deny it and hold up the rest of the crew. They both promised to keep an eye on Lucas and waken either one of them should there be any dramatic change during that time.

Kristin settled herself up against one of the walls of the temporary shelter and grimaced again at the sound of Ortiz's snoring before closing her own eyes and trying to rest. It was eventually the calmness and sound of the waves that Bridger had talked about that lulled her into a restful pose.

* * *

It was the look of the sky above that caused Jonathan Ford to remain alert. The sky had darkened quickly over the last two hours and a tropical storm now threatened the island and it's inhabitants. Ford didn't want to alarm anybody unnecessarily. Lord knows that they had enough trouble on their hands at the moment with Lucas.

He knew however that their temporary shelter was just that. When they had erected it only this morning they were unaware that it would have to withstand the effects of wind and rain. It was doubtful that the structure would remain standing if the wind was strong enough.

They couldn't go too far on the island with Lucas in his current condition. The young commander found himself needing to use everything that the military had taught him and come up with a solution if the storm did eventuate. He looked up at the threatening sky and prayed that the storm would somehow go by them.

Commander Ford's worries became reality though by late afternoon as the wind started to gust through the palm trees and the rain started to fall on the sand. The thunder was loud and it was this that startled most of the sleeping crew from their resting places.

Bridger now stood beside his leading hand and he too feared for the safety of his family and crew if the storm really got started. Kristin had awoken with a start, but rather than worry about the noise and rain outside, her first priority was to check on Lucas.

She knew that with the storm around they wouldn't be able to keep up the heat packs on his leg. They needed to keep the shelter as dry as possible. Thankfully the boy's sleep seemed to have deepened enough for Lucas not to hear the storm and cracks of thunder.

Kristin was a little more concerned though about his rising temperature. It was now noticeably warmer from when she went to sleep. Lucas's forehead was now beaded in sweat and the rest of his body was perspiring out the small amount of liquid he had been able to drink earlier. They would have to somehow cool his body down and get as much liquids into him as possible, by force if necessary.

Bridger now went over to where Kristin and Lucas were and knew that there were more problems at the moment than just the storm outside. Kristin told him about the rise in Lucas's temperature, but one feel of his hand on Lucas's forehead told that to Bridger himself. He grimaced a little at the heat that seemed to radiate from the teenager's body. The fever had gained momentum in only a few hours.

The winds outside were picking up strongly and the crew were now all forced to huddle inside the temporary shelter. Kristin had cried out loud on a couple of occasions at the ferociousness of the thunder and the bolts of lightening that illuminated the sky every few minutes. With no torches and no other means of lightening, it was this illumination that allowed them to keep check on Lucas's ever rising fever.

The boy had begun to stir over the last few minutes with the loud crashes of thunder now reaching into his sub-consciousness. He moaned and tossed his head about as the fever coursed through his body.

Lucas's body tried to rest, but with the onset of fever his mind started to play tricks on him and make him see thing that he didn't wish to see. He was beginning to become trapped within his own hellish nightmare. The aching from his leg and body only seemed to make the images seem even more real to him.

He knew he must have been dreaming. He kept telling himself that dreaming was the only plausible explanation for the image that now stood before him. Or stood rather over him he reminded himself. He knew that it was a face that he had come to fear all his life: His real father Lawrence Wolenczak. Lucas found himself now laying on the floor in front of his father's looming presence.

"You can't be real," Lucas said out loud in his mind. "You can't be here," he whimpered again and tried to shy away from his father.

"Oh but I am here, Lucas," Lawrence's image now said calmly back. "See you are still the snivelling little brat you have always been, aren't you Lucas? Crying from a little pain are we? You did always take after your pathetic mother Lucas. Never could stand up and be counted as a man could you?" said the image.

"I don't have to hear what you have to say," Lucas said as the pain in his leg suddenly increased and so did the sound of his own voice in his ears. For years he had been hearing that he was worthless, useless and nothing but a blotch on the good Wolenczak name.

He had come to believe it too a long time ago until a man came along by the name of Captain Nathan Bridger and changed his way of thinking. Bridger taught him that he was worth something. That others respected him for who he was and what he did.

They weren't ashamed to be with him like his own parents were, they didn't put him on display and parade him around like a trick parrot in a cage like his father had done at business dinners in the past.

Bridger had shown him love and unconditional love at that. Lucas didn't even need to love the man back to receive it. It came free and was always there for him when he needed to reach out to someone.

The sound of the thunder outside had turned itself into his father's deep baritone voice full of hatred and contempt. The lightening seemed to be the words that came out his mouth and pierced through Lucas's self esteem.

Lucas found his dream self pulling himself into a sitting position in his dream, trying to stand up to his father that saw him as nothing. "I'm not listening to you. I don't have to listen to what you say anymore. Captain Bridger is my father now. He is the one who takes care of me and loves me."

Lucas's words turned into the audible moans that the rest of the crew where forced to hear during the abatement of the thunder and lightening. To them, the moans were not from any nightmare the boy might be having, but rather the heat that plagued the boy's body.

Lucas now felt as though he were standing in his dream, facing his father with all the strength he had to muster. In reality he had begun to throw his arms around and move about more on the makeshift bed in the shelter.

Kristin and Bridger both joined up to try and calm the sick boy and try and stop him from moving about on the bed so much.

Back in his dream, the figure of Lawrence Wolenczak seemed to take a step closer to his son Lucas. The teenager's dream self immediately took a step of retreat back. Kristen and Bridger had sighed in relief as it looked as though the boy had finished his thrashings for the time being.

In his dream Lucas felt himself turn and start to run. All the strength and confidence that he had mustered to face his father now vanished in an instant and Lucas was now running out of pure fear.

He told himself that he had to run or his father would catch up with him. He told himself about what his father Lawrence would do if he could him. He started making his legs move. The movement seemed sluggish and the dream self couldn't really work out why his legs wouldn't moved the way he wanted them to.

Back in the shack Bridger and Kristin along with everybody else gasped out loud with shock and amazement when Lucas suddenly sprung up from the bed and started moving as if to run out of the shelter into the storm.

All were too shocked and slow to prevent the kid hobble into the pouring rain and flashing lightening. Bridger dived out the door a second after him but had to shield his eyes from the driving rain enough to see in which direction the boy had taken off.

The entire crew were trying to catch up with the kid as he moved. The kid movements were awkward to say the least and all of them wondered how he was able to move on his injured leg at all. He seemed to be trying to get away from something. But what.

He seemed oblivious to the rain an storm around him. He was headed towards the beach and the shoreline.

Bridger could now make out the sand and the surf and knew that he had to make a desperate effort before the kid reached the water's edge. The boy had slowed up some and seemed to be almost stumbling along in the sand now. Lucas could feel his leg trembling from the movement and it felt like it was on fire.

In his dream driven state though, he didn't see himself trying to run along the beach during a storm. The only thought going through his pain racked body at the moment was that if he stopped, Lawrence would get to him.

Bridger quickened his pace and actually stumbled himself on a couple of occasions in the soft sand that was quickly turning into sloshy puddles. He cursed out loud knowing that the sound of the storm would cover his words.

Lucas was about fifty metres from the shoreline when he was suddenly tackled from behind by Bridger. The kid ended up face down in the sand but as soon as he landed, he was again trying to get up and get away again. His mind told him that it was his real father that had hold of him so he kicked and struggled with all his might.

Bridger didn't know where this sudden burst of energy had come from for Lucas. He knew that the kid must be close to collapse due to his leg and the fever. He now used both arms and wrapped them around the struggling teenager to try and hold him in place.

"No I won't give into you again," Lucas now shouted out loud, in a very croaky voice. "You can't hurt me anymore," he added and it was for the first time now that Bridger realised that the boy must be trapped within one of his own dreams.

It didn't take an Einstein to work out who Lucas was talking to in his nightmare. There was only one man Bridger knew of than instilled this much fear into the boy. It was now very obvious why Lucas was so desperate to get away.

"Lucas, he's not here anymore," Bridger now shouted at the trembling boy. The kid was still trying to get loose, but the attempts were getting weaker and weaker by the second. The kid was close to breaking point.

"Lucas it's me Bridger, I won't let him hurt you I promise," he said soothingly while still holding tightly onto the boy. The rest of the crew were now standing nearby but watched the scene being played out without interfering. By now they were all completely soaked with the storm still raging overhead, but at the moment all that seemed of little significance.

Bridger's voice had somehow broken through the barriers and reached Lucas trapped inside. He heard the voice and recognized it. He stopped his struggling and now looked back towards Bridger with a seemingly questioning look.

"Are you really sure he's gone," Lucas asked as the rain soaked his hair and ran down over his face.

"I'm sure, kiddo," Bridger said and hugged the boy tight to him. "I won't let him hurt you again" he repeated.

* * *

The sound of the storm overhead was now interrupted by another strange noise. Commander Jonathan Ford and the others standing on the beach in the rain looked up and saw themselves staring back at blinding lights from some sort of craft.

Captain Bridger and Lucas were stilled locked in their embrace seemed to show little sign of knowing about the lights. Lucas's strength was now totally gone and as much as he fought it, his body just gave out to the pain and exhaustion and he fell unconscious in Bridger's arms. The Captain now looked up at the commotion, but firstly signalled Kristin to come and look at the boy.

Kristin came over with a large smile on her face and started shouting something to Bridger about the lights being from a U.E.O. rescue helicopter. She was shouting this while gently trying to check Lucas over.

Before Bridger could even get off the sand, the familiar face of his old navy buddy Admiral Bill Noyce was now standing in front of him in the pouring rain. The thunder seemed to be still rolling, but the storm had moved around to the sound leaving the sounds echoing from a distant on the other side of the island.

"Thought you could use a lift, Nathan," Noyce said as he surveyed the scene. He motioned for two seamen to come forward and help take Lucas from the Captain to the waiting helicopter and medical treatment.

Ben and Miguel had gathered the crew's meagre possessions and they were all now making their way to the rescue helicopter. Bridger was almost fighting the seamen about taking Lucas from him, but in the end, he was just as exhausted from holding onto the boy and he gratefully allowed the boy to be taken from him so that he could be treated properly.

"You always fly around in weather like this, Bill?" came the sharp reply from Bridger as he stood up from the sand and tried to dust himself off. It was a losing battle however as the sodden sand just seemed to stick even more to him from his efforts. He would be washing sand from his body for the next month.

"Couldn't let you and your crew just take a holiday when you wanted it Nathan. Look what you got here, relaxation, peace and quiet, a deserted island. What more could you have asked for," Bill asked with a grin.

"Home is the only place I want to be right now Bill. After I make sure that Lucas is going to be alright first," he added. Bill smiled again. He knew that Bridger would not rest himself until Lucas was out of the woods again.

* * *

Within 25 minutes, the tired and injured shipwrecked crew of the SeaQuest were seated in the rescue helicopter and taking off for U.E.O. headquarters. Some medical assistance had been given to Lucas as they took off.

Enough to make him stable enough until they could get him to a hospital and have proper treatment for his leg. As they flew overhead, the crew was given a last minute glimpse of their sunken ship and their temporary shelter as the lightning briefly lit up the sky further away.

Whilst flying back Bridger looked about the rest of the crew and saw them all laying back against the head rest with their eyes closes. It had been a trying time on them all. All of them were exhausted and in need of good food and minor medical treatment.

Bridger looked back at his old friend across the seats, "How did you find us in this weather, Bill?" he asked honestly. The signal fires that Lucas built would never have lit in this weather.

"Remember that satellite phone you had back on the ship before it went down?" Bill asked.

"When you didn't contact us after a week we knew something was wrong. It took us a while to track down the signal due to the wreck but it was there in the end. Faint but enough for us to get a fix on."

Bridger was surprised by this piece of information. After the ship wreck he had thought very little about the satellite phone. He had lost trace of the thing and thought it to be swimming around with the fishes in the shallow waters of the island.

* * *

It would be a very long wait that night at the U.E.O. hospital. Ben and the other's where almost asleep on their feet waiting for word about how Lucas was doing.

At the moment Bridger and Kristin were the only one's allowed in there with him. Ben kept pacing the floor. Miguel was sitting on one of the uncomfortable sofas and was snoring lightly with his head resting against the wall. Tim O'Neill took off his glasses every few minutes and tried to rub some of the tiredness from his eyes.

They all had been offered accommodations for the night and told that they could be contact when there was some word. None of them took this seriously though and would wait until they knew that Lucas was going to be alright before heading to bed themselves.

Finally Bridger and Kristin emerged together smiling slightly at the approached the rest of the crew.

"He's going to be okay," Bridger announced. "It's going to be a week or so before he can walk around on that leg. Especially after his stunt of trying to run across the sand. The swelling is down considerably and his fever is currently just above normal."

"They have pumped him full of antibiotics and every other thing imaginable. He's been asleep the whole time since the helicopter and the doctor's think he will be that way until late tomorrow. Gives his body time to rest before he wakes up anyway," Bridger explained.

"Well I don't know about all of you, but I'm starving," Kristin said to everybody. "I know we are all dog tired, but how about we all get something to eat at the hospital cafeteria and then head to bed ourselves," she asked. She got a rousing reception at this idea and the six of them started to walk towards the meal room at the hospital.

Upon arriving at the cafeteria, they were pleased to see that due to it being so late at night, the room was almost empty. There were a couple of doctor's and nurses working the graveyard shift but other than them, the SeaQuest crew had the place to themselves.

Once they were all seated Ben got up from his own chair and announced that he would buy for everybody. Of course everybody sat there for a minute with their mouth's agape.

It was very rare that the Krieg wallet was shown in public at all and the fact that Ben was offering to pay was a rarity in itself. Ben was rather known for his misery ways when it came to money. Obviously the good news about Lucas had affected the Lieutenant to all sorts of new heights.

Ben promised to pick something appetizing but light and went to order their meals. They were surprised to see him back within a few minutes carrying a single tray with six bowls on it.

"What did you order, Krieg" Commander Ford asked suspiciously.

"Seeing as I was the morale officer and cook aboard our doomed ship, I think it fit that we have something authentic to remind us of our misfortunes at sea, don't you all?" he started to say, "Therefore after perusing the menu I selected a meal that I believe suits the occasion" he added and then placed the tray in the middle of the table for everybody to see.

Ben almost wore the entire contents of the bowl on the table when the crew spied what he had selected.

"Coconut Cream Pie served with Banana on the side."

THE END

JULES


End file.
