========================================================================== BENEATH THE SEA Roberto & Gills ========================================================================== Timeline: Misc, spoofs, ... Author's E-Mail: ========================================================================== AUTHOR'S NOTES: The R's were written by Roberto, the G's written by Gills. The whole thing started innocently enough, but through a series of back and forth emails, evolved into the utterly silly story below. ========================================================================== R: Let me ask you a question. G: what if I say no? *eg* R: I'll send the Avatar after you! bigger *eg* G: OH NO!! Quick I've got to get Wendy to get that amplifier.. *YOUCH* I just got beaned by a Koosh.... Things are a little crazy in the office now. R: Uh... Wendy's missing. Remember? You can't escape! G: HA! that's what you think.... Wendy's psychic energies were returned to earth with everyone else, and are hanging around inside Dagwood's head..... R: Yes, but Wendy's psychic powers have morphed into... PSYCHOTIC powers inside Dagwood's head!!! The whole crew is in jeopardy from the crazed mind of Wendy in Dagwood!!! AAUGH! Roberto hurls a Koosh from Texas at Gills... G: *gills deftly ducks the Koosh going at MACH1* Dagwood roams through the boat, looking for Bridger so Wendy can influence his mind.... R: Dagwood, Crazed by Wendy's mind, grabs Bridger and carries him into his cabin. The door closes and... <> <> ...O'Neill could have sworn it wouldn't be here until at least Tuesday... He eagerly ripped open the package... G: Henderson looked over Tim's shoulder as the contents of the package became visable... "Hey Tim, whatcha got there? Package from home?" R: Tim looked up and blushed. "Loni! How'd you get in my cabin? Get out!" Shoves her back out the door as he tries to block the view of the package... G: "Hey Tim, there's no need to get rough! Must be something interesting in that package, if you won't let me see it..." Her voice took on a playful tone that Tim remembered all too well... R: Suddenly Henderson de-pants Tim and runs into the corridor with his pants. "If you won't show me what you got in the package..." G: Ford comes down the hallway and narrowly avoids crashing into Henderson. "Hey Loni, watch where you are going...what's that?" R: Suddenly the door closes and locks behind an un-panted Tim. The hallway begins glowing brightly from the glare of his legs. Ford covers his eyes. G: Tim's face turned bright red. Piccolo passing by on his way to the mess comments "Hey Tim, didn'tja know better'n to bet Loni yous pants? She always wins, youse know.) R: Tim grimaces. "It wasn't a bet. Loni wanted to know what I got from mom." Ford pulls a set of keys from his pocket. "well let's go see what you got. And Loni, dear, give him his pants back." G: Ford opens the door, and heads straight for the package lying on the bed. Loni hands Tim his pants, who quickly puts them on again. "Tim you should spend some time in the sun... get some color" hinted Loni R: Tim gently nudges her for her comment. She nudges him back, harder. Ford lifts a small object from the package. Piccolo squeezes between the nudging match and snatches the item from Ford's hand. "Wouldja lookit this!" G: Ford stumbles over his question "Where, what...How did you get a hold of that Tim?" "It isn't against regulations, Commander." Tim was now on the defensive. Belatedly, he tried to get the packaging out of Henderson's hands. "Hey Tony, check this out - the return address is from..." Henderson was cut off as the intercom blared to life. "All on-duty personnel to the bridge. All on-duty personnel to the bridge." R: They all scatter. Tim inconspicuously puts the non-regualtion item in his pocket and Henderson gives him a peculiar look. "You gonna take that to the bridge?" Tim smiles back sarcastically. "I don't need you people putting your grubby little hands on it." Moments later, they enter the bridge and go to their stations. Unknown to Tim, Tony has brought along the packaging with the return address. G: Bridger quickly briefs the crew on the situation. "We are going to be participating in some manuvers with the other parts of The UEO navy. THis was sprung on me just the way I was ordered to spring it on you. O'Neill, sound battlestations. Ortiz, get me WSKR view. Ford, ahead one-half." Ford relayed the command to Piccolo, who surreptiously stuffed the tell-tale return address from the package into his back pocket. R: But Bridger spies Tony's movements and wanders over to see what kind of trouble he's causing. "What's that in your pocket?" Tony, looking innocent, removes the return address from his pocket. "What? This?" G: Bridger replies, "Yes, that. What is that?" Tony hands it over to the captain. Tim flinches when he recognizes the paper, and he tries to act *very* nonchalant at his station. All attention on the bridge now focused on the paper Bridger held in his hand. R: "Well, Tim" Bridger says while eyeing the paper in his hand. "I guess there are still some things I didn't know about you." Tim blushes. Henderson pipes in, "You don't know the half of it. You oughtta see what he has in his pocket." Everyone looks at Tim. "Omigod!" Ford screams. "Tim! Your pants are on fire!" G: Lucas rushed forward with one of the regulation fire extinguisher Ford insisted be on the bridge at all times, and sprayed Tim's pants with the fire retardant foam. Tim's face colored, embarassed at having his pants catch on fire, in front of the captain. Henderson arched an eyebrow slyly, "Too hot to keep in your pants, eh Tim?" R: "Yeah, well, none of this woulda happened if you'd minded your own business!" Tim angrily retorted. "Whoa! Tim!" shouted Bridger. "What's got you so worked up? And what do you have in your pocket?" Ortiz leans forward in his chair. "Yeah, what's up?" Tim begrudgingly removes the item from his pocket... G: A noise from his console stays his hand. "Captain, a vidlink for you from UEO HQ. It's McGath." "On screen O'Neill. And don't think this gets you out of reveal what's in your pocket...." Fixing Tim with a glare, he turned his attention to the vidscreen. "Nathan.... R: ....we have reports that someone on your boat has been Receiving... *ahem* questionable materials." Bridger's eyes grow wide. "Oh? Who?" "Mr. Timothy O'Neill." Tim shrinks smaller into his seat. Bridger looks sternly at him. "Tim, I think--" "Help! Shark!" Everyone turns to Darwin's moonpool. G: Darwin is butting his head against the wall. Tim runs over to the moonpool and opens the cover. Lucas rushed over and tried to calm a frantic dolphin. "Shark in Darwin's tubes, Shark in Darwin's tubes" "Ortiz," Bridger commanded, "where is this shark?" "Bridger!" McGath called from the viewscreen. "This is more important than that dolphin!" R: Bridger is angry. "What do you mean? Darwin is a member of this crew! We have a threat on board! You, sir, are an ass!" McGath is angry. "Hey! You can't speak to me like that!" "I just did." Bridger answers. He reachs out and cuts communications. Tony stands. "Hey, Tim! Give 'at to me. I knows hows to gets this shark." Tony grabs the item from the hand of a surprised Tim and dives into the moonpool. G: All eyes followed the handoff, trying to get a glimpse of the unusual, questionable material in Tim's hand. Fortunately, Tony's checkered past allowed for a clean handoff, sparing Tim a possible embarrassing moment. Bridger muttered to himself, and then his voice rose to give an order to Darwin. ""Darwin, stay with Tony and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." "Captain.." Bridger turned toward the voice.... R: It's Krieg! "Sorry, sir. This is all my fault. You see, Tim's mom came to me and asked me if I could *acquire* something for him. I did and well..." Bridger looks at the paper in his hand. "Well, that explains the return address. But how did you acquire that!?" He points to the moonpool as Darwin and Tony vanish down a swimtube. G: Krieg flashed his innocent look at the captain. "With all due respect sir, do you really want to know?" Bridger stopped to consider this, briefly. "I think in the light of what has happened I really should know..." Krieg's cocky grin vanished from his face. Henderson, Oritz, and Lucas all watched the uncomfortable morale officer. A half grin crept across Lucas's face, while he watched his friend squirm. "Captain!" Tim broke the silence. "Piccolo wants you down in the moonpool." Bridger turned to leave the bridge, but not without some last words. "Krieg, come with me. Ford you have the bridge. Lucas, you might as well come with me." The trio left the bridge. R: Lucas comes running back to the bridge. "Tim, the captain sez he wants you to come with us since you seem the be the cause of all this." Tim stands and his tattered, torn, burned, and fire retardant soaked pants sag on his body. "He sez you might wanna change your pants first..." Tim and Lucas leave. Later, Tim is in his cabin changing pants when he hears a ruckus outside. He runs into the corridor, sans his pants, and sees the shark, Darwin, and Tony in a desperate struggle in the swim tube. G: Tim completely forgets his state of undress and runs to the moonpool. Activating the intercom, he yells frentically for the bridge to acknowlegde his transmission. "Inform the captain that the shark is winning in the tubes!!" On the bridge, Brody and Ford exchange looks. "What?!?! Tim, repeat.. what the hell are you talking about?" "The shark's getting the upper hand!! Just tell the captain that Tony and Darwin are in trouble!" Brody hits the all-call switch. "Captain Bridger, contact the bridge..." R: Dagwood comes running into the moonpool area after hearing what's happening. The trio in the water are now thrashing about in the moonpool. "Dagwood wants to help!" A shocked (and still pantless) Tim watches as Dagwood jumps into the water. Bridger, Krieg, and Lucas come running into the room as Dagwood gets the shark in a big dagger hug. He pries open the shark's jaws. "Tony! Throw it in!" G: Tony fires the mysterious object directly into the gaping maw of the shark. Surprised at being fed, the shark's mouth snaps shut, and he heads out, looking for the exit. Tony and Dagwood pull themselves out of the moonpool, and grab towels to dry off. Bridger reaches the moonpool with Kristin hot on his heels. After taking one look at Darwin's bite marks, she grabs a first aid medkit and heads to the side of the pool. Bridger turns to look at Tim, opens his mouth to say something, but notices Tim's state of dress... R: "Tim? Where's your trousers?" Tim blushes. "Well, sir, I..." Tim is interrupted by Darwin, "Darwin don't feel good." "How is he?" asks Bridger. Kristen is checking out his wounds. "Well, he's got several severe bite marks but..." A massive explosion nearly knocks everyone to their feet. "Captain Bridger!" Ford calls from the intercom. "The shark just left the ship and... exploded! What did you do?" G: Bridger ambled to the intercom, and pressed the talk button. "I didn't do it, Commander. Piccolo did." Ford, baffled by the redirection, then asked "Ok, what did Piccolo do?" "I think we better meet in the ward room to discover what all this is Bridger released the talk button, and walked over to Kristin's side. R: "Uh, Captain?" Bridger looks up and sees Kreig standing with a concerned expression on his face. "That's... not the only one on board..." "What do you mean?" asks Bridger, angry. "I... uh... acquired one for someone else about a month ago." "Okay, who has it?" Suddenly Jim Brody comes running across the room, his pants on fire, and dives into the moonpool to put out the fire. "Him." answers Krieg. G: Bridger heaves a sigh, and returns to the side of the moonpool. "ok, Brody, do YOU want to tell me what made your pants go up in flames?" Brody shook his head. "I can make it an order.." Brody still refused. "Captain?", the intercom buzzed to life again. Bridger answered the call; it was Ford, concerned about Brody> "Captain, did Brody make it to the moonpool?" "Yes commander, he did. Can you tell me what happened?" "Well, sir, Brody's pants just burst into flames, I tried to use the Flame retardent on them, but we had used all of it on Tmi's pant's fire, and the cover to the pool on the bridge wouldn't open, and well, Brody took off like a screaming banshee. Did he make it to the moonpool?" R: "Yes, he made it. He's okay, except his pants are incinerated." "And my butt's a little singed." added Brody. Looking sad and embarrassed, he pulled his wet and now pantless body from the moonpool to stand beside the pantless Tim. They both had difficulty meeting Bridger's gaze. Dr. Wendy Smith arrived and offered to help Kristen look over Darwin. Meanwhile, Bridger looked angrily at the two. "Now do you two mind telling me what's going on?" "Isn't it obvious?" asked Kristen as she came over to check on Brody's rear end. He winced as she prodded his tender skin. "I want to hear it from their own mouths." said Bridger. G: Tim and Jim shared a guilty glance. Bridger stood in front of them, arms crossed. "I'm waiting, gentlemen. "Captain, could we, maybe..", Tim stuttered an explanation that Jim finished. "Could we explain in your quarters?" "NO!" Bridger exploded. "I want an explanation as to why two of my officers had their pants catch on fire, why one of them ran from his duty station on the bridge and why whatever this mystery thing was managed to make a shark explode!!" Those present in the room shared expectant looks, and the on-duty personnel on the bridge also waited. "hey Commander," Loni whispered, "shouldn't you tell the captain that the intercom button is stuck again?" Ford turned to her with the widest grin anyone had ever seen on his face. "What, and miss this explanation? Not on your life." R: "COMMANDER FORD!" someone shouted as they entered the bridge. All eyes turned to the new person. When they realized who it was, they all snapped to stiff attention. It was Admiral Katherine Hitchcock. "Yes, sir!" he said authoratatively. "As you were." she commanded. "Ooh, my legs are cold..." could be heard coming through the intercom. "I take it that O'Neill and Brody have recieved their items and have successfully completed the mission?" she asked Ford. Ford looked perplexed, "Mission? Sir?" She smiled at his confusion. "I've had them on special assignment." "Who knew about this?" "Only the three of us. Even Captain Bridger wasn't aware." She turned to activate intercom mike. "Captain Bridger! This is Admiral Katherine Hitchcock. I think I can offer you an explanation if you'll return to the bridge... and bring O'Neill and Brody with you." Bridger called back. "Can they change clothes first?" Hitchcock smiled evily. "No. I need them up here right away." G: No one could contain the smiles that covered their faces as the group entered the bridge. Tony, still drying from his swim in the moonpool, had several bandages here and there. Bridger fought to keep his frustration at not knowing what this was all about and his joy at seeing Hitchcock again in balance. Hitchcock now outranked him, and he certainly couldn't give her a dressing down for putting his crew's pants in danger, with a straight face. The next two entering the bridge were quite a sight. Ford and Loni felt their mouths drop to the floor. Tim, still dripping, stood in his shorts while Brody had wrapped a towel around his lower half. Both wore their uniform shirts, but their regulation jumpsuits were nowhere to be seen. Hitchcock looked each one over; Brody and Tim blushed furiously. "Jonathan.. I didn't think Jim _could_ blush." R: Kristen and Wendy were the only ones not smiling. Their eyes were shooting daggers at each other. She whispered, "Don't forget. I'm telepathic. I can read your amorous thoughts for Nathan. Leave him alone. He's mine." Kristen whispered back. "Listen you little--" Someone coughed loudly and drowned out the word. "Nathan has a lot more class than to be interested in you." Meanwhile, Admiral Hitchcock explained what was happening with the item. "Captain. Commander. I secretly recruited O'Neill and Brody for a covert mission. They were to recieve the--" Someone again coughed loudly. "--through Krieg. I knew if anybody could get it, he could." Krieg smiled bitterly. "Ha. Ha. Very funny, Kate." She simply smiled and went on. "They were to--" Someone coughed VERY loudly and again drowned her out. "--with it. I think it's safe to say that the mission was successful." Bridger shifted on his feet, embarrassed. "Well, why wasn't I informed?" G: "Because we don't want others to know about this yet. It's very sensitive information, and could be used inappropriately. By the way, do you have a flu bug around the ship?" Bridger looked slightly mollified by the explanation, but was taken off guard by the final question. "no, why do you ask?" Hitchcock replied, "Well, there seems to be a cough going around." Kristin spoke up, "We could use some shore leave, Admiral. Everyone has been a little cooped up recently." Kristin silenced Wendy with a look and a thought. *Don't even think about getting cozy with Nathan. HE'S MINE* The admiral thought about it, came to a decision, and announced shore leave for the entire crew. "Brody, Tim, Ford, I want to see you in the ward room in 20 mins. And for God's sake, gentlemen, get some clothes on." R: "Darwin get leave too?" Ortiz quickly went and opened the cover of the moonpool. The multi-bandaged dolphin swam there. Everyone laughed at the sight. Admiral Hitchcock offered, "Yes, Darwin. You get leave too. Though I guess it won't be shore leave. It'll be water leave." Tony whooped with delight. Everyone laughed and took off. Bridger grabbed Admiral Hitchcock by the arm and said under his breath, "McGath is supposed to have us making manuevers right now. Do you think you can *fix* that little situation?" G: Hitchcock replied "You did make manuevers, Captain. You picked me up!" Bridger still didn't drop his stare. "Ok, Captain. I had McGath order you here so we could pull a surprise visit to see how the devices were working. Turns out they backfired, and we are headed back to the drawing board. We didn't want anyone getting wind of this visit or the reason for it." *If I have timed this right*, Katie thought, *I can get some time alone to catch up with Jonathon.* Bridger dropped Katie's arm and headed to the ward room. "The way this day is going, who knows what's going to happen next," he wondered. He already had a full day's worth of surprises, and he wasn't even halfway through his shift.... R: Moments later, Bridger, Hitchcock, O'Neill, Ford, and Brody sat together in the ward room. Hitchcock purposfully sitting beside Ford and O'Neill and Brody now wearing pants. "It's good to see you again, Jonathan." whispered Hitchcock. Ford absolutely beamed. "It's wonderful to see you again. Looks like you've done really well for yourself after the H. R. Clinton." "It's been a long hard ride, thanks. So... have you ever settled down?" Ford grimaced. G: "No," he replied. "You?" Hitchcock's answer went unheard as Bridger called upon Tim and Brody to explain themselves. Both reddened and tried to stammer an explanation. Tim tried first to explain, "Captain, I got a package from Krieg who used my home address so that no one would think of anything of it, but Henderson looked over my shoulder, and then when I wouldn't let her look at it, she depants me. I slipped it into my pocket when we were called to the bridge and well, captain, you know the rest. It was supposed to be top-secret, and I didn't want to leave it in my quarters for someone to find." "Loni and Tim??" Hitchcock whispered to Ford. "It's a loong story. I'll catch you up later." Bridger turned to Brody "Ok, now I know how Tim got his. How did you get yours?" Bridger's eyes held a challenge "Go ahead, make my day." R: Brody squirmed and put forth his best little-boy-hurt look. "Well... I had the... device in my pocket. I was supposed to--" Admiral Hitchcock coughed loudly. "--with it. But it kinda... well... caught fire in my pocket. Ford and Ortiz tried to put it out, but they couldn't. The cover for the moonpool on the bridge was stuck so... you saw me run into the... other moonpool." He shrank into his seat (which was hard to do with his rear end singed). "Captain." said Hitchcock. "I think I might be coming down with that bug you've got going around. I seem to have a bad cough too." "Well then, maybe it's for the best that we're getting shore leave." he responded. Hitchcock continued, "Well, in the meantime, both O'Neill and Brody will be recieving the Medal of Honor for their brave actions. Lt. Brody will also be recieving the Purple Heart for the injuries he's sustained." G: "Well, I guess that's it." Bridger adjourned the meeting, and left to find Kristen and get some perspective on the day's events; who knows, maybe he'd even find out what all those looks passing between Kristen and Wendy were all about. Ford and Hitchcock remained alone in the ward room. Both Brody and O'Neill went to MedBay to seek medical attention (and in Brody's case, some female attention.) "So... JOnathon, what are you going to do with your shore leave?" Hitchcock thought she'd end the silence between them. R: "Well, I thought I might go see my father and brother. They might have some more problems with prehistoric creatures. But now that you're here..." For paused and left the comment dangling. Hitchcock leaned in close, *very* close, and said "Yes?" Ford sweated. "Well, I uh..." *Oh, hell.* he thought. *Go for it!* He grabbed her by the back of the neck, pulled her face toward his, and gave her a big, fat, wet kiss. They tumbled out of their chairs and onto the floor, causing a loud clatter. Then they <> ... <> Bridger heard the noise as he followed Brody and O'Neill into medbay. What he saw when he rounded the corner startled him. Kristen and Wendy were tangled in an all-out cat fight and Ortiz was desperately trying to pull them apart. Kristen pulled out a rather large shank of Wendy's hair when Bridger shouted, "Ladies! Stop this right now!" G: Both women ceased moving the second they heard Bridger's bellow. Slowly turning their heads, Kristen and Wendy looked at Bridger and then each other. Kristen managed to get to her feet first, and hurried to Brody and O'Neill to attend to their medical needs. Wendy fired a nasty look at Kristen's back and then simpered over to Bridger. "We were just having a discussion, when you so rudely interrupted. And I can certainly do without any comments from YOU!" The last was spat directly at Kristen when Wendy brushed past her on her way out. Brody leaned to Tim to say... R: "Hey, have you seen Krieg around?" "No, I haven't." responded Tim. "I wonder what--" "You two heroes doing okay?" asked Bridger. Brody smiled a crooked smile. "Oh, we'll survive, sir. Say Captain, me and Tim were just wondering where Krieg disappeared to." Bridger, knowing his former supply officer, rolled his eyes upward. "I'd better--" Wendy walked into the medbay carrying Krieg in her arms. Only the charred remains of his pants remained covering his legs. "What happened?" asked Bridger. Wendy responded, "I found him hobbling down the corridor like this. I could sense his pain. Apparently his pants caught fire." G: Bridger's first thought was that Krieg had "acquired" another of the little devices for his own personal use, and it backfired like the others. Wendy announced that Krieg was unconscious, apparently from the pain, and immediately began to treat his burns. Kristen went to Krieg's bedside to assist in his treatment. "I want you two to promise me that you will never test drive or be human guinea pigs for anything that coulc cause you to catch fire." Bridger fixed both Tim and Jim with a hard look while simultaneously jabbing a finger at each of them. "Do either of you know what's happened to Krieg?" asked Bridger. O'Neill shrugged uselessly. "Uh... his pants caught fire?" offered Brody. Bridger now looked angry. "I know *that*! *Why* did his pants catch fire?!" Brody glanced at Krieg and shrugged. "I didn't know anything about it, sir. Apparently he got a--" Kristen coughed loudly. "--too. But as far as know, he wasn't supposed to have it." Bridger grimaced. "Maybe I'd better call Admiral--" Wendy coughed loudly, followed by O'Neill. Kristen looked up in alarm. "Nathan, I think this whole thing may have another unfortunate side effect. It's making everyone sick. That's why everyone's coughing so much. We've got to evacuate the boat immediately." G: Bridger gumbled, and hit the all-call. After giving the evacuation order he made his way back to his quarters, tagged by Kristen. Each was compiling a mental list of the items to take from the boat. "How long do you think we will have to be off the boat, Kristen?" R: "The sooner the better Nathan." "I'd better contact the admiral." said Bridger. He side stepped into the conference room where he'd last seen Admiral Hitchcock. "What's going on?" she asked upon seeing him enter. Bridger noticed her and Ford's clothing was quite desheveled. Beads of sweat was rolling off their faces. He ignored it and answered the question. "That--" Ford coughed loudly. "--you brought on board is making everyone sick." "Nothing like that showed up in the testing phases." she responded. G: Bridger continued. "The only action I see is to surface, open all the ports, let the ship air out and get everyone some shore leave." Hitchcock slowly nodded her head in agreement. "Ok", she replied. "Carry out your plan. Organize the shore leave parties, Ford, and we will head for the nearest base." Bridger turned and left the conference room, abruptly bumping into Kristin. Kristin quickly tried to wipe the smirk off her face. "What?!" R:"We're evacuating the boat." said Bridger. Kristen knocked her hand to the side of her head. "Nathan, I can't hear you!" "What do you mean? Are you okay?" "Huh? I can't hear a thing! I think it's making everyone lose their hearing too! We have to get off this boat!" "WE'RE EVACUATING!" he shouted. She only gave him a confused look. Bridger stuck his head back into the conference room, "Admiral, we have another problem..." Moments later, Bridger entered the bridge. Chaos ensued as everyone was shouting at each other. Ortiz approached Bridger. "CAPTAIN! MY HEARING'S GONE!!" But Bridger couldn't hear him either by then. G: Bridger shoved everyone toward the Mag-lev, and hurried the remaining crew off the bridge. Using large hand signals, he communicated the urgency of the situation. Once alone on his bridge, he tapped into the computer orders for all ports to open upon surfacing, and for the ventilation system to vent the stale air on the boat. Meanwhile in the launch bay, organized chaos ruled the day. Department heads funneled people into launches that made run after run to the shore. The crew was shouting to each other, but no one could hear... R: Suddenly someone appeared on the bridge who looked alien in a full body radiation suit, complete with respirator. "Wha...?" said a startled Bridger. He peered through the clear faceplate and realized it was his old friend Manilow Crocker. "WHAT'RE YOU DOING HERE?" Bridger shouted. Crocker pulled forth a pad of paper and a pencil and wrote a quick message. Handing the pad to Bridger, he read it. "Adm. Hitchcock called. The..." here the writing was obscured "was found to be dangerous and defective. My team will take care of boat. Leave immediately." Bridger handed back the pad and gave Crocker the thumbs up sign. Crocker returned it and set about to fix the seaQuest. Bridger began to leave the bridge but glanced back at Crocker and noticed his pants were on fire. He quickly shoved Crocker into the now open moonpool and doused the now perplexed Crocker. "Whadja do that for, Cap'n?" he asked. Bridger pointed to the blackened hole in Crocker's pants. Embarrassed, Crocker said, "Oh, that." Bridger asked "You going to be okay?" "Yessir. I'll take the risk. I'll be fine." Bridger left the bridge in his capable hands, found Kristen just as she was boarding a transport, and they left together. Wendy looked jealously through the window of her transport at them in each others arms. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>THE END!!!<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< ==========================================================================