Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 00:00:44 -0400 (EDT)
From: Athena9054@aol.com
Subject: Making New Beginnings: Part 1
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Ok, this is my first fanfic, but it's been in my head for a while. It takes place at the beginning of the second season. The season one characters are still there, I still have Wendy Smith (except she can't be a doctor doctor since Westphalen's still there, right?), Piccolo, Dag but no Henderson. Or I might kill her off just for the brunt of it. Don't know yet. Anyway. Here's part 1:
P.S. Please give me feedback!! :-)
P.P.S. I might bend chronologics (like Robert's age and how long it's been since he died). I hope no one minds.
                             Making New Beginnings Outside Al's Cyber-Barroom, at the telephone booth that smelled like dried excrement, stood 2 teens, a boy and a girl. The girl had skin like hot cocoa, sharp brown eyes, and her hair was in long braids that came up to her waist but that now she had tied up. She wore a cropped Betty Boop top and khaki cargo pants. She looked 16 but her posture, her gestures, everything made her look much older. The boy had milky-white skin, with soft blue eyes and bleached-blond haired, wearing baggy black jeans, a black t-shirt and a blue silk shirt over it. His face was "open" and it was clear to see his mind was on a different level. The girl was hunched over the SEAPOC that she snatched from Node 3 during her brief visit there, before Microft had been replaced.
She still remembered the day they were going to take the World Bank, and a nuisance by the name of Lucas Wolenczak had stopped their plans. Well, he was going to get his now, wasn't he? 
"Bec, are you sure--" the boy started, but the Rebecca interrupted him before he could attempt to dissuade her. "Don't tell me you're going to back out now," she said, laughing a bit at the thought. Then her face got softer. "You aren't, are you?"
"Nah," he said, smiling. "I've always wanted to know what it would be like to command seaquest for a day."
"We're not going to just command it, Scott," Bec said, "We're sinking that thing!" 
"But why can't we just play with it, sis?" Scott asked, with mock innocence and a stupidity that masked, in fact, a very sharp mind. "What if we kill someone?"
"I hacked into Mom's memos," she said without a hint of conscience. Rebecca and Scott's mother was running for Secretary General of the UEO. The man to beat was General Thomas, who had been appointed 6 months ago, about the time when constructions started on a new seaquest. She was lobbying to turn over the election because Admiral Noyce had had no care for the election. It was no secret that little love was lost between Admiral Marie Butrell and General Scott Thomas. "The only ones onboard are a few bridge folks and Captain Bridger. And I want him dead anyway."
"He didn't kill Robert," Scott said, for he had read Bec's mind and he knew what she thought of Bridger.    
"But he pushed Robert into it. He pushed him into the military." "If he hadn't wanted to do it, he wouldn't have done it. He was old enough to do what he wanted without giving a damn as to what other people thought." Bec sighed and decided not to argue further. Nathan Bridger, despite the close friendship their family once shared (and Admiral Butrell and Captain Bridger still kept), was the bane of her existence. She and Robert had been close friends until she had been put under cryo at the age of 11 and Robert had been 15. Despite the age difference she had loved Robert like a big brother. When she woke up 7 years later to find him dead, she was heartbroken. Then her mother had brought her home and she saw Scott, who she had not seen since he was 3. Her mother had found him on the doorstep and raised him as her own. He was 10 and so they grew side by side.
But now, she was a 23 year-old in a 16 year-old's body, which she used to her advantage. She had been experimented using a memory chip in her brain that had fed her knowledge and so when she woke up she was 11 and had just started college-type work. So she had gone to military school, along with Scott who had turned out to be a genius in his own rigth, which some snide folks attributed to his being telepathic. Afterwards, she and Scott had had a short stint in Node 3, which of course turned into failure.
She typed in the last codes, and smoothed her sweaty brow. So many codes, so many more than she had last encountered! The letters seemed to have tripled, the keys quadrupled. "There," she said. "Done. We have half an hour to kill before we run."
"So," Scott said in a faux Fonzie smoothie voice (so ancient!), "you want to go for something to drink?"
Bec laughed. For Scott it would be milk. For her, since she was mentally 23 and therefore able to drink alcohol, anything she wanted.
The linked arms and headed into Al's Cyber-Barroom.

TBC--- hope you enjoyed the first part!! :-)

                        Johanna

Date: Sun, 02 Aug 1998 16:55:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: Athena9054@aol.com
Subject: Making New Beginnings: Part 10
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                                 Making New Beginnings: Part 10
	They started when Nick went to greet Juliana at the launch bay, with 45 minutes to roll. They got out of the cell and walked quickly to the room. And there, for everyone to see, was a stopwatch. "My God," Rebecca said. "That b***h was planning to set Nick up!"
"Huh? But how'd she get the program to appear on the computer?" Lucas asked.
Rebecca looked for the e-label---a special encoding which had all the information on how's and why's of the program, and where the program went through. It was so difficult to find that few people looked for it. But Rebecca was one of the enlightened few who knew how to find it quickly. 
"She rerouted the program through a lot of computers--from the federation of New Zaire to UEO's own headquarters in New Cape Quest," Rebecca said. "She used a sweeper to delete the traces of the program from those computers, but she stopped when she got to this one."
"Why did she need to do so much work?" Lucas asked.
Rebecca looked at him as though he had grown two heads. "Are you kidding me?
When the seaQuest ran aground, it would be directly traced to her. And it couldn't be a direct connection to this computer, because it would have only taken one step to track her, no matter what kind of sweeper she used. It had to be a complex web of computers, much like--" "When Mycroft tried to take over the world bank," Lucas finished.
"Exactly," Rebecca said, "except he had a system so complex, we hardly knew we were using it. But it's the only way we could have gotten as far as we did." "Enough chatter, kids," Scott said. "We need to stop the seaQuest from sinking."
Rebecca started, then grinned at Lucas. "I don't know the codes," she said.
"You take over." She stood up from where she was sitting. Lucas shook his head.
"No," he said. "You obviously have more skill than I have." He had been thrown aback by her knowledge. He knew she was in a league of her own. 
Scott was amused at this show of humility on both parts, and kept quiet.
"Naw, we'll have work it together," Rebecca said. "You give me the codes, I'll type and do the magical hacker stuff."
Rebecca sat down again, and Lucas took some boxes and balanced his fanny on them so he wouldn't fall. He kept a hand on the chair though, just in case.
Rebecca rerouted the requests, with the deftness and skill of someone much older and devious than she. Lucas looked at her, and realized she wasn't as young as she looked. Her face was set in a stubborn line, her eyes showed a maturity beyond her physical form. But she was beautiful. He shook his head.
She might have bowed down to his knowledge of the UEO codes, but he doubted this ferocious woman would ever give him the time of day after this whole ordeal was over. When she was done making the global loop she needed, she started on the codes that he dictated to her. 
Scott looked at his watch. 25 minutes to go.
Rebecca de-activated the last request for autopilot, and reactivated what she needed to. Thank god there was no lapse for the abortion of autopilot She breathed. "We did it," she said.
Scott laughed, saying, "and with 5 minutes to go." "Now what do we do?" Lucas asked.
"You go back to the brig, that's what you do," a voice said, and they looked at Nick at the doorway. At that point Lucas lost his balance on the boxes, and brought Rebecca down with him.
"What have you guys done?" Nick ran over to the computer, but Rebecca tripped him. She stood up and held him to the ground. "Now listen for your own good, Wolfman," she said.
Nick looked up at her, and nodded.
"You know what your "friend" was going to do to you?" Rebecca asked.
Nick shook his head.
"Tell me, DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR FRIEND WAS GOING TO DO TO YOU?!" she yelled.
"No I don't, Bec," he said quietly.
"She was going to make it look like you pulled the trigger. Like you were the one that got the great idea. You know how?"Rebecca said.
"How?" Nick said.
"She was going to leave us in the brig, take Lucas of course, but she set the program to show up on the screen as the UEO barged in here!" "But the launch--" he started.
Rebecca growled. "Launch? Launch! She wasn't going to provide a launch, because she needed someone to take the fault, and that person was you! She knew the only way she was going to get away with this for good was to provide a fourth accomplice, in the flesh."
Rebecca let him go, and went to stand by Lucas and Scott.
He sat up, and looked at them. "It can't be true," he said. "Juliana promised--"
"Believe it Nick," Bec said. "Juliana doesn't care about anybody. The only one she cares about is--"
"Me," Lucas said. He looked a bit glum. "I'm the reason why we're all in this mess."
Scott patted his arm. "Man, the general would have gotten us anyway." "How do you guys know about the general?" "We heard you talking to Juliana," Bec said, "but that's not the point now.
The point is that Scott and Lucas were right. You can redeem yourself. Help us fight the real bad guys."
Nick looked at the three, and realized if he didn't, he'd go to jail for nothing. For stupidity. "Fine," Nick said. "I'll do whatever you ask. I have no choice."
Scott clapped and Lucas helped Nick up.
Nick looked at Rebecca, a look pleading forgiveness. She smiled at Nick, and she opened her arms to him. They hugged for a brief instant. Then Bec let go, saying, "Now let's go save the seaQuest." The guys cheered, but as Bec opened the door, there stood a girl with shoulder-length brown hair, brown eyes, and big gun. "Going somewhere?" She pushed them back into the room. This was going to be harder than they thought

Date: Wed, 05 Aug 1998 16:49:57 -0400 (EDT)
From: Athena9054@aol.com
Subject: Making New Beginnings: Part 11
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Rated PG for language                       
                 Making New Beginnings: Part 11 Rebecca tried to think as Juliana pushed them far into the room, and as she grabbed Lucas and put her gun to his head, all she drew up was a blank. 
Instead Nick cried, "Tell me the truth!" Juliana looked at him innocently. "What truth? Truth is what you make it." "Don't give me that shit," Nick said. "The truth is that you lied about the launch, you lied about my involvement in this whole thing." "If I had told you the truth, would you have done it?" Juliana said.
"No way!" Nick exclaimed.
"Well, there you go!" Juliana said triumphantly. "So I had to lie to you. It was nothing personal."
"You manipulative bitch," Rebecca said calmly, hiding her thinking patterns (which had finally kicked in) under a thin veneer.
Juliana laughed. "Look who's calling the kettle black!" "AHHH!!" and Rebecca tried to hurl herself at Juliana, but Scott held her back. 
"I don't think you'll find that cooperating is a much better plan," Juliana said, "unless you want me to blow Lucas to Kingdom Come!" "You wouldn't dare," Scott said, "if you do what's the point of the whole thing?"
"I'm willing to die for Lucas," She said calmly. "Correction, with Lucas." "Oh fuck," Lucas said, "oh fuck."
"It's over Juliana," Rebecca said.
"It's not over till one of us is dead, and I'm the one with the gun, " Juliana said.
Nick looked at Rebecca and Scott, and called them over to him. They stood in a tight huddle. "Okay there are three of us," Nick whispered, "and one of her." "But she's got the gun," Scott said.
"Please!" Rebecca said. "The probability is that only one of us likely to get shot if we run. And whoever that is, I owe them ok?" "So if you get shot, keep running," Nick said.
Rebecca nodded.
"What are you 3 hobnobbing about?" Juliana asked. 
All 3 lunged towards Juliana, knocking her over and letting Lucas go. She shot at air as they ran, and got Lucas in the leg. Rebecca yelled at him as he got up painfully and turned around. She ran after him and saw him grapple with Juliana until he got the gun. 
"We need her as evidence," Lucas said, "or else they'll never believe us." Rebecca nodded. Yes, this was true. Rebecca got the gun and got Juliana in a headlock and started to run. Juliana yelled, "Bitch, bitch!" and Rebecca wished for a sedative. She started to run, dragging Juliana with her. Then she saw Lucas go down, one of his pant legs wet with blood. "Ugh," Rebecca muttered. She stopped, and she said, "Lucas, crawl over here and you can lean on me."
Lucas crawled slowly, looking at her with grateful eyes. He watched as Juliana tried to wriggle out of the headlock, but Rebecca stuck the gun deeper into her hip. When he got to Rebecca, he used her shoulder to get up, and put his arm around her shoulder. "If you make any 'first date' comparisons I'll knock you down," Rebecca said as she tried to walk faster. Which was kinda hard considering she had a girl in a headlock, a gun in her hand, and Lucas on her shoulder.
	After what seemed like decades they got to the launch bay. She found the 2 launch operators bound and gagged outside, and Nick and Scott setting the coordinates of seaQuest. As soon as they got in they locked the hatch.
'Does the launch have UEO clearance?" Rebecca asked Juliana, who was still struggling. 
Juliana spit in her face. 
Rebecca released Juliana for a nanosecond before knocking her against the wall of the launch. She shoved the gun in her face. "Who's got the gun now, huh?
Who's got it?!"
Scott was fiddling in the first aid kit, looking for a tranquilizer that would suit the purpose. He looked at a blood-red vial. Yes, he thought, that one! He filled the needle with it, and went over to where Rebecca was laughing in Juliana's face. Rebecca saw Scott with the needle, and let her go. She headed straight to the control dashboard. Scott pushed her back, and smiled. "Sweet dreams girlfriend," and jabbed the needle into her arm.
				*                *                     * They let out a breath when they found out they were cleared to dock. When they emerged, Captain Bridger was waiting for them. They looked a sight: Lucas having to be carried on a stretcher, Juliana unconcsious, Nick looking down guiltily, and Rebecca and Scott looking smug like they had gotten away with something.
	They explained everything in Medbay, as Dr. Westphalen treated Lucas's wounds and monitored Juliana. Nick added the bits he had kept from the rest, in a rant that did not allow Scott to react to the General kidnapping him. 
"It's extraordinary," Dr. Westphalen said. 
"No, it's quite ordinary," Nathan said. "Political corruption has always been commonplace."
"Sir," Nick said, "Sir, am I going---"
Nathan looked at him. "You did the right thing, but the truth is you abetted a crime. I'll put in a good word, and you might not get a lot of time in jail." Nick nodded.
The pal chirped.
"Captain," Lt. Commander said through the PAL, "I have the general on the line."
             *                      *                     * "Hello General," Captain Bridger said.
"Nathan," Thomas said. "My troops have been kidnapped by those kids. You must take the seaQuest and bomb that place--" "That won't be necessary," Bridger said. "I have the 'kids' right here." Thomas said innocently, "Oh really?"
The door opened, and out came Lucas in a crutch, Scott, Nick, Rebecca, and Juliana, still unconcious in a wheelchair.
Thomas started to sweat. He was in trouble

to be continued------FEEDBACK!

Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 12:10:28 -0400 (EDT)
From: Athena9054@aol.com
Subject: Making New Beginnings: Part 12
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Finally---the conclusion!! :-)
						Making New Beginnings: Part 12
	The trial dragged on for months, as most trials with men of power do. This one was rather short in those terms actually. 3 months. 3 months for the true horror of what Thomas had done to Scott to truly sink in. 3 months and the Admiral rounded up an epic amount of witnesses, for she still remembered what the General had done, and that was the force that had governed her entire turnover campaign. 3 months of testifying and re-testifying for Rebecca, Scott, Lucas, and Nick. Juliana was the first one to drop. She had been committed to a mental institute after she had attempted to "float on the wings of love"--from a 7th story window. Now she babbled incoherently, drooled and made a most charming mental patient.
	Finally, with the surging tide of the Admiral's witnesses, General Thomas was found guilty of 1st degree sabotage, 1st degree kidnapping, aiding and abetting instances of sexual abuse, obstructing justice and just being a low- down dirty prick. He got life imprisonment with no chance of parole. Nick was charged with aiding a sabotage but his testimony and, let's admit it, lost- little-boy good looks got him a year's probation.
	For their help in preventing disaster and the deaths of the crew of the seaQuest, Rebecca and Scott re-received their ranks and medals, all in a very simple but elegant ceremony on the bridge of the seaQuest. After the ceremony, the congrats and wow's and the oh-my-god-guys-isn't-this-great's, Rebecca said to Scott, "Now li'l pardner, I reckon it's time to make our new beginnings."
	Scott knew exactly what she meant.
		*                       *                      * "Dr. Westphalen--" he started as she turned around.
"I meant to congratulate you, for your successes," she started, "but I'm still shaky you see. I'm scared."
"You don't need to say anything," Scott said, patting her shoulder. "I know." "Oh, but I have to, or else it'll stay buried forever," she blurted out.
Scott sat down and nodded towards her to continue.
"It's hard, I want to say so much, I don't know where to start," she took a deep breath.
"Begin it then," he said, "we have so much time now, enough to tell the whole story 10 times over. Just begin right now and tomorrow you can tell me more." "Okay," she grimaced slightly, as if squinting to see blurry letters that were too far away. "Scott, I am truly your mother......"
                                     *                           * *
"Rebecca," Bridger said, with a look of amusement. "What brings you here?" For Rebecca this was going to be so much harder. Scott didn't have any hidden daggers for his mother. Heck, he didn't even know her. This was so different.
"I'm not going to pretend," she finally said. "I'm not going to pretend that I don't think you're even partly responsible for Robert's death. But I'm not going to hold it against you or try to mess up your ship or the order you keep here. Not anymore. I've learned that kind of stuff only leads to jail or the asylum, and I don't intend to see the inside of the former for the rest of my life." 
Bridger nodded. "Thank you for at least trying to make a valid attempt at giving me a second chance."
"I don't know what it'll take to dissuade me from this Anti-Bridger campaign, but I can promise you I will try under every power I have to be your acquaintance." 
"I appreciate your perseverance. I'm sure it will be valuable asset in the tour to come."
She grinned and left the room. When she was out she let out a long sigh.
"What are you so happy about sis?" Tony said.
"I made amends with Bridger, at least the beginning of the process." "Hey, there's a whole tour to figure out this whole thing." "But time flies like the wind--" Rebecca started.
"And fruitflies like bananas!" Tony added.
They erupted in cackles of laughter.
                *                     *                   * Lt. Tim O'Neill decided the best time to ask them was lunch in the mess hall, when the atmosphere was relaxed and if they said no he could play it off as no big deal. The truth was he and his buddies were absolutely fascinated with those 2. They had seen their first appearance in prison uniforms with prison guards at their sides, then they had disappeared for a period of time, after which they had returned with Lucas in a stretcher. Now they were uniformed and had rank. Yet they looked like a couple of kids! Obviously there was something special about them. That and the fact that Rebecca Butrell was pretty hot was all the reason to ask the two to join him, Ortiz, Krieg, Hitchcock, Lucas and Piccolo for dinner and drinks on their leave. Now the only thing was the actual asking. The thing was that since they were so mysterious they made Tim nervous. And there was something about Ensign Butrell's eyes that troubled him. They seemed as if they knew you even before you opened your mouth.
Which is why the others had chosen Tim, because he was so damn dull ("Or so they think," Tim said under his breath), that even if  Ensign Butrell could read his mind he'd get bored with it and see the invitation for what it was: just a friendly gesture.
"Um, hi," Tim said, putting his tray down at their table. They always sat alone, as if they were observing the crew members from afar.
"Hi, who are you?" Rebecca said sweetly. They had been on seaQuest for a week since they had been let out of the trial, and she didn't know that many people.
"I'm Lieutenant Tim O'Neill," He said, putting out his hand to Rebecca.
"I'm Lieutenant JG Rebecca Butrell," she said, shaking his hand, "and this is my brother, Ensign Scott Butrell." 
Tim shook his hand as well, and then he said, "Listen, I know you guys have leave the same day as me and some of my friends, so we were wondering since you two haven't really had time to meet a lot of people onboard, maybe you'd join us for dinner and drinks  and just plain mirthful good fun." God, why did he have to say mirthful? That was such a medieval word. He might as well have been inviting them to the feast of Samhain by the old mother Tree. Lame, Tim, really lame.
	Rebecca looked at Scott, who gave her a nod. She smiled at Tim and said, "Sure, we'd love to hang out with you guys."
	"Really? Wow!" Great, now he sound like such a desparately loser. 
	"Why are you surprised?" Scott asked.
	Tim shrugged and continued to eat. Shut up Tim, before you say something lamer than mirthful.
                       *                              * *
 	That night was extremely fun for all involved. The crew members realized just how interesting the two were. They were funny and witty and even made Tim feel comfortable. This was unexpected from the duo who had attempted to kill them 6 months ago. They definitely did not fill the loner stereotype. Quite the opposite. They seemed to enjoy people's company. Scott knew their surprised and didn't take it the wrong way. 
	The night nearly culminated in being kicked out of the bar in the French restaurant for being "too rowdy". After that they drifted towards a juice bar a few blocks away. That's when Lucas asked Rebecca to dance, and she said okay.
"Someone have a camera?" Krieg asked.
"Why do you want a camera?" Hitchcock asked.
"This is a momentous occasion," he replied. "It's not everyday that Lucas gets some."
Katie hit Ben jokingly. "Leave him alone." Suddenly Scott came up to the two. "Lt. Hitchcock, would you like to dance?" Scott asked.
She raised an eyebrow, then said, "Sure." When they got to the dancefloor, Ortiz said, "Whoooo, I think someone's got a schoolboy crush. Aren't we jealous now Krieg?" Piccolo let out a whoop.
"Guys, guys, she's my ex," Krieg said, laughing it off. "I have no feelings for her that could not be platonic."
O'Neill snorted audibly.
The music changed to a slow balld. "Mona Lisa," sung by Wyclef and the Neville Brothers.
Instead of pulling away, Rebecca kept dancing with Lucas, so close he could feel her cool breath on his face. He hoped she didn't notice he was sweating and shaking.
She smiled at him, her lips seeming to beckon him to kiss them. He brought his face closer and closer, and then she turned her head. The kiss landed on her cheek, but she hardly noticed because Nick had entered the juice bar. He walked over to her, took Lucas's arms off of her, and cut in. "You mind Lucas?" he asked, meaning both did he mind he was cutting in and would he mind and go away. Lucas shook his head and left. 
The last thing he saw was Nick whispering in Rebecca's ear, and her listening intently and smiling.
As Lucas sat down away from the group, Krieg looked at Tim, Piccolo, and Ortiz triumphantly. "And as you'll see from this painful experience, the ex always wins over the new guy, if he wants to." His left eye though, lingered on Katie and Scott laughing and whispering in each other's ears. 

THE END
I know this'll be hard since I sent the previous chapters a month ago, but if you can please send me feedback. I appreciate it.

Johanna

Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 18:49:04 -0400 (EDT)
From: Athena9054@aol.com
Subject: Making New Beginnings: Part 2
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                                  Making New Beginnings: Part 2
	Lucas Wolenczak sat at the juice bar, sipping a non-alcoholic pina colada and thinking murderous thoughts---towards Lt. Ben Krieg who had dragged him to this place. Why, why had he vid Krieg at Westphalen's place to suggest they meet? He should have known that Krieg would drag him someplace cartoony like this. The walls were a mural of Japanese anime characters, including those lovable gals of Sailor Moon. The computers were Mock-IBM, and speakers bounced off the walls in rhythm to Smash Mouth's, "Can't Get Enough of You Baby." 
	The place held no nostalgia to Lucas, 17 and bored with the past. It was annoying. He wished he were somewhere else: even Dr. Westphalen's bridge club seemed more interesting than watching Krieg mackin it to one woman after another. The truth was he was bored. He had no one to talk to, and no friends his age. He thought of Juliana, who had vid him in the room he had had in Westphalen's house since the beginning of summer. 
She had seemed lovely and luminant and he was glad to see her, for he hadn't seen her since that disastrous event that was Biff's party. Maybe now was the time....? 
"Hi Juliana," he had said.
Her mouth turned down at the corners and worry lines crossed her forehead.
"Hey."
"You know, I meant to call you to see if-" "It's over," Juliana said. Just like that. She had wrenched his heart out with 2 words.
"Huh?" He had looked down at the carpet; wine-colored, the color of drying blood.
"I've met someone," she said. "He lives across the street from my mother's house."
With that loaded sentence. He knew the problem: distance, not just physical but emotional. Work had kept him from answering her vids. They had stopped abruptly before the explosion on seaQuest. Now he knew why. 
"If that's how you feel," Lucas said, trying to mask his disappointment. Then he had hung up on her.
She left a message while he was out with Westphalen inspecting the new seaQuest before it went through testing, just 4 hours ago. It was the usual "This is for the best" speech, and he had recorded it to his seapoc and now he played it over. At least it was conversation.
	Rebecca and Scott came through the door, still arm in arm. Rebecca immediately recognized Lucas. How could she not remember him? She pretended not have seen him, and ordered her beer and Scott's raspberry smoothie a few feet away. They sat drinking, when Lucas recognized her.  Right from the start he knew who she was, though Scott's face was a bit muddy. He remembered her from the blur of people he had met at Node 3. She was distinct because Juliana had told him she was brilliant, but nothing could compare to him. Damn her!  
	Despite his shyness, he decided to approach her, even though Scott was probably her boyfriend. She was sitting down in front of a computer. He sat next to her. He didn't notice her flinch. He noticed her type "Minerva" instead of "Medusa", her normal handle. "Hey, that's not your handle," he said, as to break the ice.
	Rebecca attempted a pinched smile. "And how would you know what my handle was?" she said, not even looking away from the computer. What was she supposed to tell him, that "Medusa" was about to sink his ship?
	"You don't remember me," Lucas said, more of a statement than a question.
	She looked him up and down. "Nope," she shook her head, "can't say that i do."
	"Then let me introduce myself," he said. "I'm Lucas Wolenczak. You're from Node 3, aren't you?"
	This was exactly what she needed, right? For someone to recognize her in this dump. 	She forced her look of placidity and said coolly, "I don't think I've ever been there."
	"Sure you were," Lucas said, thinking he was sounding more and more like Krieg. 
	"If I was there, I would know wouldn't I?" 
	Lucas decided to play along. "So what is your name?"
	"I'm Ensign Kathy Grunwald," Rebecca said, lying without a hitch.
	"Ensign? You look too young to be enlisted."
	Rebecca shrugged. She really wanted to get this monkey off her back.
	Suddenly Scott dragged her away before she could log off. Scott recognized Lucas and played it cool. He said, "Hey sis, it's on!"
	"Gotta go," Bec said. "Nice meeting you  Mr. Wallen---chalk." She savored deliberately mispronouncing his name. She ran along with Lucas. 
	Something fishy was going on. He looked over at her computer and realized there was a stopwatch on it. Something was going to happen in two minutes.
"Krieg!!" he yelled across the room, where he was clucking some girls under the chin. Krieg came over and without a word followed Lucas to where he was running.
	He spotted her at the telephone booth, along with the other boy. They started running as they saw Lucas and Krieg. Krieg ran after them, but Lucas looked at the SEAPOC. Seaquest was---
                      *          *          * "--dead in the water. Mayday mayday, seaQuest is dead in the water," Lt. Tim O'neill communicated it, then started speaking in his acquired languages. 
Suddenly the PAL chirped and the vid came on. Lucas was sweating and flustered.
"Lucas!" Captain Bridger said. "What's wrong? You're not supposed to have this--"
"Captain I know who did it," he said. He caught his breath. "I know who took the power. But it's ok now. I'm putting you guys back online." "Hold up hold up hold up," Commander Ford said. "Who did it?" "Rebecca Butrell and her friend."
"Rebecca who?" Cmmndr. Ford asked.
"I met her at-"
"I know who she is," Captain Bridger said. Lucas gave him a strange look.
Captain Bridger paused and said slowly, "She's Admiral Butrell's daughter. And that 'friend' of hers is probably her adopted son, Scott." "Kids!" Ford exclaimed. "Rebecca and Scott Butrell are just kids!" "Correction, Ensign Scott Butrell is a kid," Bridger said, "but Lt. J.G.
Rebecca Butrell is 23."
"Huh?" Lt. O'neill said. "But she looks--" "Nevermind how she looks," Bridger said, then realized that Lucas was still on vid. "Lucas, get us back online, and make sure they're caught." "Already taken care of," Lucas said, and signed off.
"Mr. O'Neill, stay online, Commander Ford, come with me. We're going to make phone calls."
As they walked to maglev, Ford slapped his head. "You don't mean---" "Well, someone's going to have to tell Admiral Butrell her kids are terrorists," Bridger said, and with that they boarded the maglev.
TBC---heehee
Feedback wanted please!! :-)

Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 23:07:19 -0400 (EDT)
From: Athena9054@aol.com
Subject: Making New Beginnings: Part 3
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BTW: I loves feedback!! :-)                         
                    Making New Beginnings: Part 3 Lt. Krieg had to keep himself from feeling sorry for her as he accused her on the witness stand. Really, she looked so young and defiant at the defense's table, no one would ever have deemed her dangerous unless there was evidence.
She kinda reminded him of himself, back then, except he had never tried to sink a ship.
He had had no trouble chasing her and her partner down an alleyway. The problem was using brute force to capture her. She was pretty and young; he'd expected a 40ish old maid wearing army fatigues that were too small for her.
And the boy, with his skin that looked as if he'd never done a thing in his life, looked innocent. He submitted weakly, saying strangely, "I know you won't hurt me, Lt. Kreig." 
It was the girl, also, that had given him the trouble. He ran with his gun poking the boy's back as he chased her---right into a tree. The whiskey that Rebecca had drank affected her at last, if not sooner. 
When he left the stand, having exhausted his knowledge and lack thereof of the crime, they took a recess. When the jury came back, they found them guilty of 3rd degree sabotage, which was kind of a "duh-duh" sentence since they would have had to have the codes before hand to pull it off. They sentenced Scott Butrell to 7 years since he was a minor and deemed a mere accomplice, and a minimum of 20 for Rebecca Butrell. They were stripped of their military decorations, and their ranks. They were back to square one.
As she left the courtroom, she kept her head high, but Rebecca didn't try any tricks. There was a difference between fighting back and making yourself look like a fool, and right now looking like a fool was the last thing she needed.
                                  *               *            * 3 months later:
"We're finally ready to roll General," Captain Bridger said. "All the bugs and kinks have been straightened out, all the codes changed in the least probably combinations. I don't think we'll have another case of sabotage for a long time."
General Thomas acted as if he hadn't heard this effort. He cleared his throat.
"I need to, um, er, ask you a favor."
Bridger was amused. Thomas was not one to beat around the bush.
"Go on," Bridger said, interested.
"I know you already have a prisoner on exchange arriving, but I'm in a bind here and I was wondering if you could handle 2 more." "2 more?" Bridger asked, wondering. "But UEO reg--" "I know I know, not more than one prisoner on exchange. But this is a.....special case."
The captain didn't like the sound of that. "Who are they?" "They're-um, military students. Really efficient." Bridger could see Thomas was sweating at having to tell him who they were. Thank god for the Vid!
"Who are they?" he asked again.
Gen. Thomas looked defeated and finally murmured, "Rebecca and Scott Butrell." "Are you joking?" 
Thomas shook his head sheepishly.
"But, what will they do onboard? They can't use computers, or work on the bridge--"
"I just need you to, um, hold them for a while. They can't exactly be in jail right now."
"Hold them?" Bridger asked. "The seaQuest is not a nursery." "Please Nathan."
Bridger raised an eyebrow. Gen. Thomas was not on such pal-pally terms as to call him "Nathan". This guy was scared.
"Ok, what kind of trouble have you got in this time?" Bridger asked.
"Cripes, Nathan. It's that woman---Butrell. You know she's after my job." Bridger raised an eyebrow. Gen. Thomas was not on such pal-pally terms as to call him "Nathan". This guy was scared.
"She's been lobbying for my goddamned election to be overturned. And if I leave her kids in jail, you know she'll be lobbying about that." Bridger was perplexed. "But they're in there for a good reason. They're dangerous."
"Not neccessarily. Rebecca Butrell has been in counselling. Her problem wasn't the seaQuest itself. She did this for personal reasons, not political." "She blames me for Robert's death. I know that already." Gen. Thomas looked interested. This he didn't know, but this he could use.
"Well, this experience might mend the bad blood---" "Ok, before you go into brownnosing and psychology. And what of the boy?" Gen. Thomas winced but recovered. "He'll do whatever she tells him to, to get along. But he's a spyer, of that there's no doubt, but he doesn't seem to do his, um, spying very well."
"Great, we're going to have a defective and a teenager after my blood. This tour should be fun."
"I thought you were friends with the Admiral?" Gen. Thomas asked, obviously probing for political weakness.
Nathan looked down. "Yes I am, but after my wife and Sam Butrell died, then Rebecca went under, and afterwards Robert died, my relationship with the rest of the family became strained." He straightened himself out. "No more. Send them if you must."
Secretary General Thomas looked relieved. "You can always return them if---" "You talk of them as if they were defective batteries," Captain Bridger said, "but I'll take heed. Goodbye." And he hung up.
              *                   *           * "Sis! Sis!" The happy cry came from down the hall. Rebecca was on the top bunk in her cell. Her mate had left the day before, and Rebecca was glad to see her leave. All her mate had done was howl after the moon. Rebecca had lost hope a month ago, because she was sure her mother's strings had failed. Now she had gills, which she had volunteered for in hope of getting out of jail. But she heard they had taken her friend Tony Piccolo instead. She wished him the best.
Now she heard a voice that sounded extremely like Scott. But it couldn't be.
Scott was in the men's facility across the courtyard.
"Sis! Sis!" It got closer. She jumped off the bunk and poked her head as far as she could out the bars. She saw Scott, his hair a bit longer and gills outlined in his blue prison shirt, walking down with a warden at his sight.
"Scott!" she cried, shedding her usual coolness and poking her hands furitively out of the bars.
"We're out, babe!" Scott cried as the warden opened the door to her cell. She ran out and hugged her brother. "But how?" she said, detaching herself, and regaining her dignity. 
"We're a threat to Secretary General Thomas's campaign!" "Son of a--"
"Yeah, he's scared to death of mom. So scared he's putting us on seaQuest." Rebecca looked at him, frowning. Scott went over to her and gave her a hug.
"Hey, it's ok. Nathan Bridger approved of us. And Lucas--" She pulled away, haughtily, "I ain't scared of him." Scott raised his eyebrow. Rebecca said, "I'm scared I'll get myself in more trouble...by kicking his ass!" She laughed and Scott, the warden, and Rebecca walked out of the jail and into a UEO hummer.

TBC: Hope y'all love it! :-)

Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1998 16:16:36 -0400 (EDT)
From: Athena9054@aol.com
Subject: Making New Beginnings: Part 4
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                     Making New Beginnings: Part 4 Lucas Wolenczak emerged from the shuttle, bags in hand and his ear stud out.
He sniffed the fresh air of the new boat, but it seemed stale to him. Another tour. Time to work his butt off. Captain Bridger was there to meet him.
Obviously he had something to tell him. "Captain," Lucas said as Bridger patted his shouder.
"There's a change in your room, or should I say your roommate," He said immediately.
Lucas raised an eyebrow. Him? A roommate? Great. "Captain, I figured I would have---"
"We were going to give you a roommate anyway, a prisoner on exchange, but now we're even more cramped. We have two more prisoners on exchange coming in." Suddenly a man who was all wet ran by their side. "And I'm figuring that was the first one," Lucas said.
Bridger nodded. "You know, Lucas, that you're like a son to me, and I was talking to Westphalen about you the other day, and I think...." Lucas could only imagine what the doctor had said about him. Moping about the house, whining about having nothing to do, not inviting friends or girls over.
"....I think you need more contact with people your age, on a daily level." "So my roommate is my age, Captain?"
"There's one thing I haven't told you," Bridger said as they entered Lucas's new room. "He's Scott Butrell." 
"What the--????"
Bridger slowly closed the door, saying, "I'll give you time to think about it."
                    *                   *           * Captain Bridger, Dr. Smith, and Lt. Commander Hitchcock were waiting for Rebecca and Scott Butrell. Lt. Commander Hitchcock was going to be Rebecca Butrell's roommate. Lucas should have been there but Bridger had heard him going at one of his computer games, obviously angry. Dr. Smith was there to hopefully scan Scott, even though she said that he would likely have a wall as most telepaths do.
The hatch opened, and out came Rebecca first, then Scott. They walked side by side, each noticing the gawking of the 3 strangers. Scott's face hardened, but Rebecca knew he was probing for someone "open", with nothing to hide. He nudged Rebecca and gestured at Lt. Comm. Hitcock. Rebecca nodded. She cracked a smile at last and said, "Um, hi."
Dr. Smith looked flustered. She was working hard but both didn't not seem to want to let her in. She tried to smile and came up with only half.
Bridger decided to take the lead. "Welcome to seaquest." This was the most awkward thing he'd ever done. Why hadn't he brought Krieg along for some humorous edge? He could have cracked something about Seaman Butrell having better hair than Lucas. He looked at the 2 other women, and Hitchcock extended her hand to Rebecca and said, "I'm Lt. Commander Hitchcock, and you'll be my roommate. Shall I show you where your room is?" Rebecca smiled and they went away. All Bridger could think was thank heavens she hadn't take the spot on the supercruiser. 
This left Bridger with the less hostile sibling. He could breathe. "So, Scott, how's everything?" Bridger said.
"It's good to be free, Captain," Scott said formally. He didn't like the front Bridger was putting up, a front he couldn't get through. Dr. Smith saw his dislike, and said, "I'm Dr. Wendy Smith. I'm new here as well. If you get lost I can't help." And she smiled. Scott smiled wanly, and said, "I'd like to be shown my room, Captain. Dr. Smith, thanks but no thanks for your pity. I'm not lost, I'm not weak, and I don't need psychological help." Dr. Smith sighed. This was going to be hard. But suddenly there was a scream in the hallway. The three ran towards it, and they saw Rebecca hugging Tony Piccolo and yelling at the top of her lungs.
"Bec! I haven't seen you since you went under!" Piccolo exclaimed. Then he saw Scott and went over to him. "And little Scott. Who woulda thought we'd be reunited on this tug, huh guys?"
"We heard you'd gotten in by the experimentation program," Rebecca said. "You took the spot I wanted actually."
"You mean--"
"Yep, yep," Rebecca said, and raised her shirt ever so slowly, "I got gills too."
"And so do I," Scott said.
Piccolo yelled, "Well what do you know guys? We're gill bro--um,siblings." "Ehem, Seamen," Captain Bridger said. Rebecca and Scott straightened up out of habit, but Piccolo laughed. "He said--" "We'll talk later, Tony," Rebecca said. "We gotta find our rooms." Tony smiled. This was going to be some fun trip.
Bridger slapped his hand against his head and wondered how he'd ever let Gen.
Thomas get him into this.
               *               *             * Lucas had calmed down considerably since he had first been told about Scott Butrell. He actually started to think about the upsides. There'd be a teenager on board---two in fact. They could talk, about teenage things. Maybe he'd have a best friend for once. And then there was Rebecca--well, who knew what might come about with her!
Then his idealism took a rest and cold reality set in. He'd put them in jail, after all. Maybe they were out to kill him. They were, after all, terrorists, not petty thieves like Tony Piccolo. Perhaps there was conspiracy onboard--perish the thought. It was all so idiotic. He went back to his computer game. The door opened. Bridger decided to let Scott go in himself.
That way the two could do whatever 2 teenage boys did these days to bond.
Bridger himself didn't know.
Scott decided to at least try to make friends with Lucas. His energies were spent on scanning half the crew, and he couldn't take another mind. Some of the crew's thoughts were idiotic, like one woman's fear of leaving her stuffed teddy bear behind. Then there was the panic in one man's mind over being crushed with a piece of machinery. The simple, innocent thoughts of a kind janitor. Scott sighed. "Hey Lucas," he said.
Lucas turned around, and saw Scott. One of his worst fears were realized.
Scott had better hair than he did. "Hi," he said.
Scott took the discarded upper bunk, and started to unpack. Lucas saw him take out his clothes, precariously folded. Then he took out the strangest items. By the sill of the dolphin tube, he set a new-fangled incense burner that didn't use any fire. The musky smell of lilac filled the air. Then he took out a slim book with a black leather cover; this he put under his pillow. After that, he took out adhesive hooks, which he put on the ceiling. He hung up  windchimes and 2 half-moon-and-star ornaments. Suddenly, Scott stopped and looked at him.
"You don't want me here."
Lucas looked at him, at his clear blue eyes with some sort of innocence in them. "To tell you the truth," Lucas said, "I would rather have a room of my own like I did in the original seaQuest." "Understandable," Scott said, studying his face harder. "You're too solitary.
You need to communicate with people more. Maybe this is your chance." Lucas sighed. He would have preferred a murderous criminal that hung up posters of near-naked women to this gentle boy, who hung up windchimes and arcane symbols,  looking through him and seeing truths he didn't feel like sharing right now. "I have to talk to the Captain," Lucas said, and left the room. He let out a breath as he emerged. That incense was suffocating.
                    *                  *                 * Rebecca rested on the bottom bunk of her room. Much more comfortable than a prison cell, but with only a bit more space. She had hung up her clothes, piled up a few of the books her mom had sent her, and had made her place habitable. She liked Katy Hitchcock. Just as Scott had gestured, she had nothing to hide, and was very sweet and open, and at the same time strong. She wouldn't howl after the moon. Suddenly, there was knock at the door. She could tell right away it was Scott. She opened the door and closed it after her.
"How's your roommate?" she asked.
"He thinks I'm strange, wishes he had Tony in his room instead of me. He ran away saying he was going to talk to the captain." "So how do you think it'll go?"
"We're going to have some wild time," Scott said, laughing. "Ok, we're supposed to meet this-this Dr. Westphalen. We're going to be working for her now." His face frowned a bit.
"What's wrong Scott?" Rebecca asked.
"She's closed."
Rebecca decided to help him shrug it off. This spying was a true curse sometimes. "Don't worry," Rebecca said. "Let's go meet her."
                    *                  *          * Westphalen paced up and down as she was about to meet the 2 Butrells. "Oh please let them be some other Butrells," she thought anxiously, "please let it not be who i think it is." This was futile. It had to be them. She saw out of the corner of her eye a tall black girl dragging along a white blond-haired boy towards her. The doctor took a deep breath, and went to meet them. "You must be my interns," she said, smiling.
Rebecca smiled too. This woman gave her good vibes. "I'm Rebecca Butrell," she said, pointing to herself, and then she yanked Scott towards Westphalen, "And this is Scott."
Westphalen gasped as she saw the boy's lopsided grin, his sparkling blue eyes, and his white-blond hair. Why, he was the very image of----

TBC: heehee
Hope y'all love it. Feedback please? :) 
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1998 23:16:23 -0400 (EDT)
From: Athena9054@aol.com
Subject: Making New Beginnings: Part 5
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                  Making New Beginnings: Part 5 This was futile. It had to be them. She saw out of the corner of her eye a tall black girl dragging along a white blond-haired boy towards her. The doctor took a deep breath, and went to meet them. "You must be my interns," she said, smiling.
Rebecca smiled too. This woman gave her good vibes. "I'm Rebecca Butrell," she said, pointing to herself, and then she yanked Scott towards Westphalen, "And this is Scott."
Westphalen gasped as she saw the boy's lopsided grin, his sparkling blue eyes, and his white-blond hair. Why, he was the very image of---- Tobias Laconte. She remembered. 15 years ago, he had came into her life right after Mr. Westphalen had left. He was sweet, sensitive, nurturing, and he wasn't always caught up in his work. Like her husband had been. Like she was.
They broke it off--she broke it off, mainly because he was too distracting.
But she became pregnant. She despaired. She was 37. She had already gotten 2 girls through their childhood, and she was ready to really concentrate on her career. She couldn't get an abortion. In 2004, they were still illegal. When she had the baby, she didn't know where to turn. She took a laundry basket and put him on the doorstep of Dr. Samuel and then-commander Marie Butrell, who were her colleagues at the time. She left a note but nothing to make them suspect it was her baby. After that she spoke to them but only in a strained tone. After Dr. Butrell died, it was the perfect chance to discreetly stop talking to the Admiral.
She looked at the boy, now, though, and pangs of regret filled her heart. He was so handsome, so healthy, and even though she hadn't spoken a word to him she could see he was kind and sweet. Why had she been so selfish as to sacrifice a real relationship with her son? Now all she would ever have, if she tried, was another broken heart. Westphalen decided then and there that she would never breathe a word to Scott that she was his mother. 
There was no need for words, and as Dr. Westphalen gripped at her desk, she let her guard down too long. Scott knew everything now, knew why she was closed. The thing she had to hide was him. He was filled with a strange hatred. Ever since he was old enough to have conscious thoughts he knew he was different. He only had to look skin-deep to see it. He had hated her, this woman that had abandoned him and left him to be an outcast in everything he did. He wanted to know who she was,  but he knew if he asked his mother--the mother who raised him--her being would fill with so much pain that it would rip him to shreds.  Like he was being filled now, because even though he didn't know her an hour ago, she was his mother. His womb. How could he not feel anything but love even while he felt hate?
Dr. Westphalen walked over to the 2. Time to play dumb. "Migraine," she lied.
"I have severe migraine."
Scott looked at her and realized she wasn't going to say anything. Time to play dumb. "You really should take medicine for that migraine, Dr," he said.
"Those migraines can kill you."
"Rest assured that I take sufficient medicine and---" "Not good enough," Scott said, "if you have migraine when you're not even under stress. Or are you?"
Westphalen caught her breath, and noticed she was trembling and sweating heavily. "It's the new ship, I was onboard when the last one exploded and now..." she couldn't control her shaking, she felt tears in her eyes. For the first time in her life she was having a nervous breakdown. Suddenly she couldn't control her body anymore, and she collapsed on the floor. Beautiful release. "Doctor!" Rebecca cried, but the Doctor could no longer hear her. She was floating ethereally. She was flying.
                 *                *        * "Kristin," Bridger said when she regained consciousness. 
"Are you ok?" Rebecca asked.
She found she was on a cot in medbay. Scott was nowhere to be seen, but his sister was there, watching her slowly. She wondered how much the girl knew.
She signed, shivering. "I'm fine Nathan," she said, forcing a smile. Bridger patted her hand. "Seaman Butrell--"
"I think that would be Seawoman, Captain," Rebecca said, relieved that nothing was wrong with Dr. Westphalen and letting down her cool dignity.
Bridger laughed. "I'm not as PC as I should be, Rebecca," he said. "Seawoman Butrell, can you please leave us?"
"Sure, Captain," Rebecca said, stiffening up again and leaving the room.
"I know there's something wrong," Nathan said. "Dr. Smith did a---" Damn that woman! First she comes and hogs her position, now she's doing parlor tricks on her. "Nathan--" she started, but Nathan said, "I was worried. She said there's something eating you, and whatever it is, she doesn't know. Can you tell me?"
She saw this caring man, who obviously cared for her, and it reminded her of Tobias. She started to cry, cry the tears she hadn't let herself release in years. She sobbed incessantly, and Nathan took her in his arms. "There, there, Kristin," he said, "It's going to be all right." But all she could do was cry and cry.
                     *                  *                * Rebecca Butrell knocked on the door to Lucas's and Scott's room. Scott opened the door. He looked at her sullenly and let her in. 
Lucas looked up from his reading and said, "Rebecca, you shouldn't---" "Get lost Wolenczak," she said harshly, "And it's Seawoman Butrell to you, and don't ever forget it."
Lucas bolted from the room. Now he was getting kicked out of his own dormitory. Perfect. Rebecca shut the door, and looked hard at Scott. Finally she spoke. "Scotty," she said, using his pet-name whenever she felt like being sweet.
"Bec," Scott said, and started to play with the pewter moon that hung on his ceiling.
"What happened out there?" she said. "You ran out the room when Dr---" Scott looked low, his face was long, and his voice cracked as he said, "She's my mom."
"Oh, Scott, how can you be--"
"I've never been wrong, have I?" Scott said. "And just before she broke down I saw him."
"Saw who?"
"My father. And now I know why and how I ended up on mom's doorstep."He paused, and Rebecca pressed him to go on.
"I can't right now, sis," Scott said. "I can't. It's so hard." Rebecca climbed up on the bunk, and held her brother's head near her chest. And he cried, cried so hard like she'd never heard him cry before. She stroked his fine blond hair, buried her face in it, smelling it lovely smell from standing too close to the incense. So this was her soft side. What a new innovation. 
There was a sudden whump that shook the entire hull of the boat. It shook Rebecca and Scott off the bed and on the floor. Another whump. Then the lights went out. Tick tock tick, and Rebecca looked over to the SEAPOC and saw a stopwatch. "What the---"
"Lucas couldn't have done it," Scott said. "He was playing a game when he left." Rebecca went online and tried to figure out the problem. Just then Commander Ford opened the door, "Hey guys, you know what the regs say about--" Suddenly he spotted Scott on the floor, Rebecca at the computer and a giant stopwatch on the vid.
"What the---?" Comm Ford said and he saw the spectacle.
"It's not what it looks like Commander," Rebecca said.
"I know exactly what it looks like," Ford said. "It looks like you guys want to get sentenced for 3rd degree sabotage again." Rebecca slapped her forehead. Oh great.

TBC----Hope y'all love it!! FEEDBACK! FEEDBACK! BEEFCAKE---no, just feedback please :-) 

Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1998 21:03:29 -0400 (EDT)
From: Athena9054@aol.com
Subject: Making New Beginnings: Part 6
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                 Making New Beginnings: Part 6 Rebecca wondered what Captain Bridger, Commander Ford, and Lt. Commander Hitchcock waited for as she and Scott sat in the conference room. She wondered subconsciously, but in her mind floated only the words, "Oh great. Oh great.
Oh great." She stopped wondering and thinking when Lt. Krieg brought a handcuffed Lucas to the conference table. Krieg looked around and said, "Well, I never would have thought I'd see this. At least not today." Bridger didn't appreciate his musings. "Dismissed, Lieutenant," Bridger said crisply.
When the door was closed, he vid General Thomas. When he got through, all he had to do was gesture at the 3 teens and give him a "See-what-happens-when-I- give-in-to-politics?" look. Gen. Thomas slapped his forehead. "Oh, great," he said.
"Exactly what I said," Rebecca said, forgetting her ettiquette.
"I think these 3 are involved in a sabotage ring--" Commander Ford started, but Lucas said, "That's a bunch of--"
"Do you want to incriminate us further, Wolenczak?" Scott said. "Let the man speak."
Commander Ford said, "Well, I saw Lucas in the hallway, and I asked him what he was doing outside his room, and he said that Ms. Butrell kicked him out to talk to Mr. Butrell."
Gen Thomas turned prosecutor and said, "What was the look of him?" "Kinda distraught. But anyway, it's again UEO regs to have a member of the opposite sex in your quarters. So I went in and I found Ms. Butrell on the computer setting up a  stopwatch--"
"Commander," Rebecca said, "I was attempted to put seaQuest back online after it lost power."
"You will have your chance to defend yourself, Scott Butrell, and Lucas Wolenczak," Gen. Thomas said. "So why do you think young Mr. Wolenczak is involved?"
"Because he's the only one in that room that could have known the new codes.
And it takes more than the 10 minutes that Ms. Butrell was in the room to disable the seaQuest."
"But Lucas doesn't have a motive!" Lt. Commander Hitchcock exclaimed.
"Wait for the commander to finish. And when did the seaQuest lose power?" "It lost power in the bridge about 5 minutes after Ms. Butrell entered that room. But we were able to get back online---" Thanks to me, bucko, Rebecca thought to herself.
"---and that's it."
"Until they strike again," Rebecca murmured to herself.
"Seaman Butrell, I ask you clarify," Gen. Thomas said.
"Whoever did this wants to bring the seaQuest down. And you guys are wasting your time with us, because we didn't do it." "Seaman Butrell---"
"Sir, I think we should listen," Hitchcock said.
"Go on," Gen. Thomas waved his hand as if it wasted his time.
"First of all, with first-hand experience, it takes at least an hour to set up the hacking codes, then there's a waiting period of at least half an hour before it goes off."
"Well, hypothetically, Lucas set it up," Commander Ford said.
"But why call me in 10 minutes before it went off? Wouldn't it have made me suspicious."
"Then why did you enter Scott and Lucas's quarters in the first place?" Hitchcock said, with faith in the answer.
"Because Scott ran off when Westphalen fainted and I wanted to see what was wrong."
"Well, maybe only Lucas was involved," Gen. Thomas said.
"If you check the log-ons on the mainframe, Lucas wasn't on long enough to set up the code. It wasn't even enough time to do it if he could type at light- speed."
Lucas smiled at her gratefully.
"Lt. Hitchcock, is there a way to divide the time if you work the codes on two computers?"
"Time isn't affected at all, and there's no way to put half the codes in one and half the codes in another, not even if they're linked." "We were with Dr. Westphalen while Lucas 'hypothetically' set up the codes," Scott said.
Gen. Thomas winced looking at Scott. He wondered how much he remembered.
"I suggest you all check the logon codes," Rebecca said, "then you'll see there's no way we could have done it."
"That leaves the stopwatch," Captain Bridger said. Finally he had spoken.
"And the loose end of Lucas's involvement," Commander Ford said.
"Unless there's some sort of romantic entanglement," Gen. Thomas said.
Rebecca paused, then laughed. Lucas laughed a bit too, and said, "I haven't spoken a word to Seawoman Butrell since that night 3 months ago." "General, we have to verify what these 3 have said here. This is not going to turn into witchhunt. Not on my boat." 
The general said,  "You will keep them in a cell, won't you?" "Until we verify what we have to verify," Bridger said. He turned off the vid and said to the 3 kids, "We have to keep you jailed for a while, and if you're telling the truth, you're free."
"You're wasting your time, sir. We were framed," Rebecca said.
"Then you have nothing to worry about," Commander Ford said. 
            *                         *                    * She had left a jail to be imprisoned in another jail, and now it was cramped in with 2 other people. They were in a cell inside a room, and they sat against the wall facing the chamberpot."Thanks for sticking up for me back there," Lucas said.
"Don't mention it," she said. "Anyway, if I hadn't we all would have been in trouble."
"You're a quick thinker, Seawoman Butrell," Lucas said.
She said, "Now that we're both mixed up in this, you can call me Rebecca." Scott smiled at Rebecca for making amends.
"Scott, you've been so quiet," Rebecca said. "What's wrong?" "I'm just distracted," Scott said. "Going back to jail is the last thing on my mind."
"You can't find out if they believe us?" Lucas asked.
"I'm not up to it," Scott said. 
Lucas nodded. "So I guess we'll have to wait huh?" "Guess so," Rebecca said.
Then the door to the room opened, and Lt. Hitchcock stepped out. "You were right about the logons," she said, "and Gen. Thomas is raving about how there must be a third accomplice. He's really got it out for you guys." "So that means we're out?" Lucas asked.
"You're out of the woods," Lt. Hitchcock said, "but not out of the cell until the captain give the order, which will be soon since there's no evidence that you guys had any involvment."
Rebecca and Lucas cheered, but Scott stood up and said, "Well, if we're innocent, then who's responsible?"

TBC---heehee. Me need feedback! :-)

Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1998 23:13:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: Athena9054@aol.com
Subject: Making New Beginnings: Part 7
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              Making New Beginnings: Part 7 In a dark submarine in a room with very little light, white delicate fingers were working tirelessly at the computer. Yet she was tired. Only her diligence kept her from giving up. Nick had tried to convince her not to help him at making it seem as if Rebecca and Scott Butrell were committing sabotage on the seaQuest, but she saw it as a great opportunity. Why pretend that the seaQuest was losing power? Why not leave it dead in the water?
       It was the only way now that she could get Lucas back.
Always she had been second to his work. There was always a mainframe to sweep, UEO officials to save. If it hadn't been for Biff's party, she might never have got him in bed---or anywhere else. And she had wanted him to, wanted it so badly she had been sweating, but his morals sounded off like an alarm, as hers didn't. Because she wasn't a good girl, not at all. She had wanted to take the World Bank, she had wanted the power, but there went Lucas again. 
	And when she had broken up with him, and made up the lies of the boy next door sweeping her off her feet, he had agreed. Not at all what she had expected. She had expected him to ask why, to plead, to beg, to ask for a way to appease her. No such thing. Just a hangup. And now he was probably with Rebecca Butrell in the cell that held them, because they had found the stopwatch on his computer, and now he was being hauled in as an accomplice.
Or so she had heard from General Thomas. He was the one who had chosen her, knew that she had a bee sting in her ass that she wanted to alleviate.
	He had explained his motives in a rant, how it would ruin his career if that woman (Dr. Smith the spyer, Juliana wagered) discovered about Scott, about how he had kidnapped him for a ransom when he was 5 as leverage when the Admiral had attempted to run for the nomination of Secretary General for his party. He had made her give the "kidnapper" (a guy tough on his luck who needed cash, a puppet like Juliana) a large ransom, but the coup de grace was that the kidnapper threatened her that if she ran for secretary general he would pull the plug on her husband and her daughter, who were, at that time, in cryo due to Ryder's disease, of which there was no cure. The kidnapper was allowed to torture the boy to his delight, for he was a repeat sexual and child abuse offender. His screams were recorded and sent to the Admiral. It was enough, and he was let go. But due to that his telepathic abilities were not as powerful as they could be, that energy used to repress the memories of his kidnapping.
	Now he was under a double threat. First it was the Admiral lobbying for a turnover, and then there was the fact that any day now Scott's repressed memory might come back, and put General Thomas in jail. Now if he could put Scott (and Rebecca for he knew Scott would tell her all about his experience) in the wrong by making it look as if they had attempted to sink the seaQuest again, it was a double offense. Now he would be trialed as an adult, and given perhaps life. Whatever time he was given, it would be long. And who knows what might happen in 20 years?
	What Juliana didn't know was that at that moment, General Thomas was attempting to convince the Captain of the seaQuest about a 4th accomplice.
Should he need one, he could produce one. Juliana. He had the logon records just in case, either for the shredder, or for the courts. He would say she was in cahoots with Rebecca, Scott, and Lucas. All pals from Node 3, which they all knew was the hotspot for many an illegal activity. They had all been there in Mycroft's time. Who knew what secrets he had taught them? And if Juliana mentioned any of the plan, well, he might be going to hell, but he was taking her with him.
	But, ah, Juliana did have an ace up her sleeve. General Thomas had said to leave seaQuest dead in the water (for a while), hadn't he? Well, he was going to give him that and then some. Not only was she going to leave them dead, she was going to pilot them to run around--slowly, so there'd be time to let the launches out and abandon ship. After that, there'd be a good lengthy period of time before the seaQuest was built. And she could get Lucas back, because somehow (in that fantasy world that only those who have gone to the edge could imagine), they'd realize her baby hadn't been involved. It had been that mad witch-with-a-weave Rebecca, and her sickly "brother" Scott.
	The PAL chirped. Gen. Thomas was vidding her. 
"Red Baron," he said. He was so glad he had found her name when he had looked through the Wolenczak boy's files. A b***h with a vengeance was exactly what he needed. 
"Yes, General?" she said.
"I've run out of scenarios about the 4th accomplice," he said. He was sweating. 
"4th? But you have to get my---I mean, Mr. Wolenczak off the hook." "Damn you!" General Thomas said. "We'll be lucky if we can actually get this plan off the ground the way things are going." Juliana sighed, and thought devious plans, exaggerated and farcical, until she hit on paydirt. Yes, that one! "Sir, I think I have a plan that will get us off the hook and Scott and Rebecca off the boat, without using myself as the 3rd accomplice." She knew that was the way things were going to go if she didn't think fast. It's what usually happened to puppets.
"I'm listening, Red Baron," General Thomas said.
Juliana knew exactly who she could get to help her now.

TBC---Heehee! Send feedback please!! :-) 
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 00:44:40 -0400 (EDT)
From: Athena9054@aol.com
Subject: Making New Beginnings: Part 8
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                           Making New Beginnings: Part 8 He cursed under his breath as he played with the buttons on his uniform. He decided he really looked like a UEO stiff. Maybe he really could play this off and get away with it.. If they went with him. If they believed him. If General Thomas had given him clearance. Doubt gnawed in his stomach, or was that the pretzel he had been eating when Juliana had vid him?
"Nick," she had said, playing with her hair, sweating and her glasses crooked on her nose.
Right then he had known that she had given in to General Thomas's pleas. "What do you want?" he growled. Perfect, and just when his break from doing shitwork for the UEO L'enant was up.
"Nick, I need your help," she had said.
"What?" he asked impatiently, hoping she was dictating an inscription for her tombstone and be done with it.
"You have to be the 3rd accomplice," she said, without skipping a second.
"Third? What about Luc-"
"He's getting out, he's getting off the hook," Juliana said quickly. 
God, she was delusional. "Why do you need me?" he asked.
"Things aren't going well and they're not believing that Rebecca and Scott really did do it. So we need a 3rd accomplice, someone they could have given the code to to work from the outside."
"No way!" Nick exclaimed. "I'm not going to jail just to save your boss's ass!"
"It's to save me too," Juliana said. Then, in a whisper as if someone was going to hear her, "If I don't find someone to play the 3rd fiddle, it's going to be me, and it'll be on a witness stand." "I can't believe this. I can't believe you're asking me this," Nick said, and he started to pace around the room.
"If we get caught, you're going down with us, I'll make sure of that," Juliana said through gritted teeth. "You knew about the plans. I can get you as an accomplice."
She was insane. She was nuts. He had just shaken his head.
"You won't go to jail," Juliana said, "General Thomas wouldn't let you slip up like that. You'll go to a secure but obscure location. And then you can take a launch and hightail it out of there."
He looked at that pleading face, that desparate face. He knew if he didn't help they would both be screwed. And anyway this General guy probably had loops around the whole system. Maybe he would get away with it without a scrape. He sighed. "I'll do it," he said. And then she had connected his vid to General Thomas, who had explained Juliana's plan to him. 
	Now he was appearing before the captain of the seaQuest, explaining that the general had decided that he was going to being in Rebecca and Scott for a cross-examination. "And Lucas?" Captain Bridger asked.
Nick was such a bad liar that to keep from shaking he had to say, "Yes, and Lucas too."
"Surely there is no more evidence of their involvement--" Captain Bridger started
Nick interrupted saying, "There is always the 4th accomplice, sir. We have been looking for leads and have a few that may be it." "Who are they?" Bridger asked. Gosh, this kid looked familiar. But from where?
"Just some people that were previously affiliated with the accused." Maybe not, Bridger thought. He talked too much like a Harvard attorney. "But there's no evidence to connect them anymore--" Bridger started but the slick young man with the red hair interrupted, "When there is a threat to the flagship every aspect of the crime must be studied, every suspect brought in for examination. The criminals of this age are sneaky and can erase their tracks well. And they were, after all, once associated with Mycroft and the illegal activities of Node 3."
Node 3! Why did that suddenly feel so key here? Bridger was flustered by his intuition, but he pushed on. "They're not off the boat until I get authorization from the General."
"I have authorization from the General," Nick said, and produced the papers from his uniform. 
Bridger read them. Yes, they all had the special seal. So why did he doubt this boy, who he had never met before? 
Nick could read faces, and Bridger's was obviously in doubt, so he persisted, "If you do resist the imprisonment of the accused, you will face a penalty." Bridger looked at him hard, and decided he had to have faith in Lucas, Scott, and Rebecca. "Take them," he murmured. "You obviously have the papers and the backing the general." He led Nick below decks.
			*                   *                * The 3 in the cell counted the seconds for the moment when the General would stop his ranting and let them out. Every creak, every step towards the door made them jumpy. Then finally, the door opened, and Bridger let Nick "Wolfman" inside. Bridger closed the door without getting in the room. He couldn't face them now.
"Nick!" Rebecca cried. How could she forget her old boyfriend from the Node 3 days?
"Hey guys," Nick said, smiling. 
"I didn't know you were a UEO stiff," Scott said, looking him up and down dubiously.
"I'm not," Nick said, "but I know who's behind your being framed, and who's trying to sabotage the ship. Dressing up like this is the only way I could tell you."
"How did you know we were in here?" Lucas asked.
"The dude who's doing this knows everything," Nick said, "he, like, is 'in' with the UEO. But now you have to come with me. Bridger thinks I'm taking you to jail, but I'm taking you to a secure location where I can explain the rest and you can catch him in the act."
He unlocked the door, and looked how gullibly they went into the trap. This was horrible. How could he be lying to his friends? How could he be telling them that he was their savior, when in fact, he was their destroyer? Lucas patted him on the back. "You did good, Wolfman," he said.
Rebecca gave him a kiss on the cheek. And he felt like he could explode at any minute.
Scott gave him a look. Something about Nick wasn't right, but he didn't know what. As the 3 walked down the hall trying their best to look like they were going to jail, Scott's intuitions got stronger. None of this was right. It was all too easy. They got to launch bay, and Nick got in, helping Rebecca and Lucas inside the launch. When it was Scott's turn, he started to get in, but then he looked at Nick's face, and he knew, not everything, but enough.
"You're not the good guy," Scott said lowly, so only Nick could hear, "you're working for them."
"Scott," Nick said, nervously patting his back, "don't be delusional. I'm here to help you."
"You lie," Scott said throught gritted teeth.
Nick shook his head, but he knew the game was up.......
                 *                              * *
"General, I hope you're happy," Bridger said.
"About what?" he was trying his best to look befuddled.
"You just brought in 3 teenagers that probably have nothing to do with this sabotage and unjustly," Bridger said, angry.
"Nathan, I don't know what you're talking about," General Thomas said. "I haven't drawn up warrants for them."
"But they left 5 minutes ago."
"That launch was fake," General Thomas said. "A trick, probably done by the 4th accomplice." 
Nathan looked up at the General and a glimmer of doubt started to form.

TBC--heehee FEEDBACK!


		

Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 23:48:32 -0400 (EDT)
From: Athena9054@aol.com
Subject: Making New Beginnings: Part 9
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                Making New Beginnings: Part 9 That's when Scott started screaming, just as they jetted out of the launch bay and into the sea. They didn't know why he yelled. They were almost in earshot of each other. But he did. He exlaimed, "He's not our savior!!!!! He's taking us to our deaths!!"
Nick was aggravated. This is exactly what he didn't want. "Shut up! I'm not taking you to die." He was flustered and he took out the pistol General Thomas had gave him. "Ok, the Irish jig is up, I'm through being Lord of the Dance." The others looked at him as if he had lost his last brain cell. "It's a setup.
I'm not taking you to capture the real dude. I'm taking you to a secure location so it'll look like you guys tried to sabotage the seaQuest, and I'm the fourth accomplice." 
Rebecca looked up at him, from where she sat, with utter hatred. "I can't believe you," she said under her breath. "I can't believe you." Nick glanced at her, putting down the gun and going over to her. He tried to put his arms around her, but she shoved him down.
He lay in the fetal position, and he would not move voluntarily. 
"You can redeem yourself, Nick," Scott said, kneeling near him . "It's not too late."
"Help us," Lucas said, helping him to his feet.
Nick looked at them, looked at Rebecca, and looked at the 2 guys near him, their arms on his shoulder. Then he looked at Rebecca again, and he remembered the love he had once felt for her, the love that had engulfed them both in flames. He sighed."I can't guys. I promised," he said as if he were conspiring to steal a butterscotch candy instead of sinking a ship and putting 3 of his friends in jail, "but I'll tell you who it is. That much I can do." Bec kept a stiff upper lip, and asked the question that was on all their minds. "So, who is it?"
Nick licked his lips........
		*                                  *                                  * "It doesn't make sense," Dr. Westphalen said as her, Nathan, and Dr. Smith thought over the events of the past hour. She had been out of medbay and was feeling quite fine."Why would they make such a conspicuous exit if they truly wanted to sabotage the seaQuest?"
Captain Bridger nodded, saying, "Exactly what I was thinking, doctor. It fits General Thomas's idea of it a bit too well. I mean, how on the mark can you get without--"
"Without being psychic, sir?" Dr. Smith asked, a bit too friskily for Dr.
Westphalen's taste. Actually she quite felt like pulling out the tail feathers of this young bird. 
"You said the logon records showed there's no way the ship could have been shut off from inside the seaQuest," Dr. Westphalen noted, changing the way the discussion was going. "So how could Lucas, Scott, and Rebecca have done it?" "Supposedly by Lucas feeding the codes to an outside accomplice," the captain said.
"But what motive could this accomplice have?" Dr. Westphalen asked.
"There's no need for an accomplice. Think about it," Dr. Smith said. "We have 3 hacker masterminds on the boat, and they can't do it from the inside? I mean, Lucas has the codes, and Miss and Mr. Butrell have brainpower. There's no need for an accomplice when an easily-constructed sweeper program could have done the job."
"You're right," Nathan said, "and how does Lucas fit? I don't think he would give the codes to anyone, especially not 2 criminals." "So that means--" Dr. Smith said.
"General Thomas is lying," Dr. Westphalen said.
Nathan and Dr. Smith looked at her skeptically.
"Why is he so insistent that the Butrells and Lucas have anything to do with it, when there's no evidence that the 3 have ever met before. And they had no time to figure out a plan."
"Only General Thomas could give that high a security clearance. You can't hack a UEO vessel," Dr. Smith noted.
"So it's a conspiracy!" Nathan cried. "But why?" The 2 women looked at him with puzzled faces.
					*                          *                    * Nick told them who it was---at least who had asked him anyway. That part it was okay for them to know. The part about the general, and the plans, he knew he couldn't say.
The 3 had been quiet afterwards, although a million questions swam in their mind.  They got an underwater colony that had been abandoned 6 months before.
There was a brig, and that's where he put the 3. Then he vid Juliana in the adjacent room, closing the door tightly. Rebecca took a bobby pin out of her hair and scroonged it together. She said, "Scott, push me," and Scott pushed hard until her head and part of her shoulder were through the lower bars, a daring feat. Bec took the bobby pin and stuck it in the locked drawer. When it opened, she one-handedly put the drawer down slowly as to not make a sound.
She couldn't get back in, so she told Lucas, "Find the goddamned key," and he stretched his arm and found the one he thought he saw Nick carrying. "Can you reach the keyhole from there?" Lucas asked, handing her the key.
Rebecca stretched her hand to the limit. "No way." "I'll do it," Scott said, and Lucas watched in amazement as the boy dislocated his shoulder to fit it through the bar. He turned the key and they were out.
Scott popped his shoulder back in and pushed Rebecca out of the bars. "Scott, you stay here," Rebecca said. "Lucas and I will eavesdrop." They kneeled by the door and heard the conversation.
"Juliana, I couldn't separate Lucas from the rest without giving him away," he told her.
"Couldn't you just have explained to the captain--" "Are you insane?" Nick asked. "You wanted me to blow the cover?" "I don't care," she said. "I want Lucas." "You can get him," Nick said, "if you come down here. The UEO launch left us until further notice from the General." "But I have to complete the codes---"
"F--k the codes!" Nick cried. "You've got what you want. Now come and get him cuz I'm through babysitting."
"I'll finish them in 5 minutes. I have an hour's lapse before the seaQuest sinks to the bottom."
Lucas almost yelled, but Rebecca clamped her hand over his mouth. 
"I'll be waiting," Nick said, and Rebecca and Lucas rushed over to the cell, where Scott locked them in and hid the key in his shoe. But Nick didn't come out. So they set to working their plan. "It's too easy a predicament," Scott said.
"Or just a complex predicament made out of many easy predicaments," Lucas said.
"Or that," Rebecca said, nursing a bruise on her neck from the bars. "How's the general involved?"
"I don't know, but first we gotta get Juliana. Then we have leverage," Scott said.
And so they got to talking and planning in rushed voices. They only had an hour to move. 
TBC--FEEDBACK!
+OK IUPOP3 server at tferi4.uni-mb.si signing off.

Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 23:48:32 -0400 (EDT)
From: Athena9054@aol.com
Subject: Making New Beginnings: Part 9
Sender: owner-tales@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu
To: tales@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu
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X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Windows 95 sub 170

                Making New Beginnings: Part 9 That's when Scott started screaming, just as they jetted out of the launch bay and into the sea. They didn't know why he yelled. They were almost in earshot of each other. But he did. He exlaimed, "He's not our savior!!!!! He's taking us to our deaths!!"
Nick was aggravated. This is exactly what he didn't want. "Shut up! I'm not taking you to die." He was flustered and he took out the pistol General Thomas had gave him. "Ok, the Irish jig is up, I'm through being Lord of the Dance." The others looked at him as if he had lost his last brain cell. "It's a setup.
I'm not taking you to capture the real dude. I'm taking you to a secure location so it'll look like you guys tried to sabotage the seaQuest, and I'm the fourth accomplice." 
Rebecca looked up at him, from where she sat, with utter hatred. "I can't believe you," she said under her breath. "I can't believe you." Nick glanced at her, putting down the gun and going over to her. He tried to put his arms around her, but she shoved him down.
He lay in the fetal position, and he would not move voluntarily. 
"You can redeem yourself, Nick," Scott said, kneeling near him . "It's not too late."
"Help us," Lucas said, helping him to his feet.
Nick looked at them, looked at Rebecca, and looked at the 2 guys near him, their arms on his shoulder. Then he looked at Rebecca again, and he remembered the love he had once felt for her, the love that had engulfed them both in flames. He sighed."I can't guys. I promised," he said as if he were conspiring to steal a butterscotch candy instead of sinking a ship and putting 3 of his friends in jail, "but I'll tell you who it is. That much I can do." Bec kept a stiff upper lip, and asked the question that was on all their minds. "So, who is it?"
Nick licked his lips........
		*                                  *                                  * "It doesn't make sense," Dr. Westphalen said as her, Nathan, and Dr. Smith thought over the events of the past hour. She had been out of medbay and was feeling quite fine."Why would they make such a conspicuous exit if they truly wanted to sabotage the seaQuest?"
Captain Bridger nodded, saying, "Exactly what I was thinking, doctor. It fits General Thomas's idea of it a bit too well. I mean, how on the mark can you get without--"
"Without being psychic, sir?" Dr. Smith asked, a bit too friskily for Dr.
Westphalen's taste. Actually she quite felt like pulling out the tail feathers of this young bird. 
"You said the logon records showed there's no way the ship could have been shut off from inside the seaQuest," Dr. Westphalen noted, changing the way the discussion was going. "So how could Lucas, Scott, and Rebecca have done it?" "Supposedly by Lucas feeding the codes to an outside accomplice," the captain said.
"But what motive could this accomplice have?" Dr. Westphalen asked.
"There's no need for an accomplice. Think about it," Dr. Smith said. "We have 3 hacker masterminds on the boat, and they can't do it from the inside? I mean, Lucas has the codes, and Miss and Mr. Butrell have brainpower. There's no need for an accomplice when an easily-constructed sweeper program could have done the job."
"You're right," Nathan said, "and how does Lucas fit? I don't think he would give the codes to anyone, especially not 2 criminals." "So that means--" Dr. Smith said.
"General Thomas is lying," Dr. Westphalen said.
Nathan and Dr. Smith looked at her skeptically.
"Why is he so insistent that the Butrells and Lucas have anything to do with it, when there's no evidence that the 3 have ever met before. And they had no time to figure out a plan."
"Only General Thomas could give that high a security clearance. You can't hack a UEO vessel," Dr. Smith noted.
"So it's a conspiracy!" Nathan cried. "But why?" The 2 women looked at him with puzzled faces.
					*                          *                    * Nick told them who it was---at least who had asked him anyway. That part it was okay for them to know. The part about the general, and the plans, he knew he couldn't say.
The 3 had been quiet afterwards, although a million questions swam in their mind.  They got an underwater colony that had been abandoned 6 months before.
There was a brig, and that's where he put the 3. Then he vid Juliana in the adjacent room, closing the door tightly. Rebecca took a bobby pin out of her hair and scroonged it together. She said, "Scott, push me," and Scott pushed hard until her head and part of her shoulder were through the lower bars, a daring feat. Bec took the bobby pin and stuck it in the locked drawer. When it opened, she one-handedly put the drawer down slowly as to not make a sound.
She couldn't get back in, so she told Lucas, "Find the goddamned key," and he stretched his arm and found the one he thought he saw Nick carrying. "Can you reach the keyhole from there?" Lucas asked, handing her the key.
Rebecca stretched her hand to the limit. "No way." "I'll do it," Scott said, and Lucas watched in amazement as the boy dislocated his shoulder to fit it through the bar. He turned the key and they were out.
Scott popped his shoulder back in and pushed Rebecca out of the bars. "Scott, you stay here," Rebecca said. "Lucas and I will eavesdrop." They kneeled by the door and heard the conversation.
"Juliana, I couldn't separate Lucas from the rest without giving him away," he told her.
"Couldn't you just have explained to the captain--" "Are you insane?" Nick asked. "You wanted me to blow the cover?" "I don't care," she said. "I want Lucas." "You can get him," Nick said, "if you come down here. The UEO launch left us until further notice from the General." "But I have to complete the codes---"
"F--k the codes!" Nick cried. "You've got what you want. Now come and get him cuz I'm through babysitting."
"I'll finish them in 5 minutes. I have an hour's lapse before the seaQuest sinks to the bottom."
Lucas almost yelled, but Rebecca clamped her hand over his mouth. 
"I'll be waiting," Nick said, and Rebecca and Lucas rushed over to the cell, where Scott locked them in and hid the key in his shoe. But Nick didn't come out. So they set to working their plan. "It's too easy a predicament," Scott said.
"Or just a complex predicament made out of many easy predicaments," Lucas said.
"Or that," Rebecca said, nursing a bruise on her neck from the bars. "How's the general involved?"
"I don't know, but first we gotta get Juliana. Then we have leverage," Scott said.
And so they got to talking and planning in rushed voices. They only had an hour to move. 
TBC--FEEDBACK!
+OK IUPOP3 server at tferi4.uni-mb.si signing off.