From UEOKrieg@aol.comFri Jul 11 12:20:30 1997
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 1997 23:22:14 -0400 (EDT)
From: UEOKrieg@aol.com
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To: seaquest-ff@escapenet.org
Subject: (SQFF) Louder Than Words, Epilogue
Resent-Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 12:17:51 -0500 (CDT)
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[In case this reaches the list before any of the other parts, a quick
warning: it comes after Chapter 17.]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Louder Than Words
Epilogue
Jennifer Bradley

	"Hey, Darwin!"
	Lucas stepped towards the moonpool, careful not to get his 
bandage wet.  Unfortunately, he hadn't told Darwin about his 
"adventure"...yet.
	"What happen to Lucas?"
	He couldn't shrug the question off.  Besides, he owed Darwin 
an explanation.  "I got shot."
	Darwin calmed down immediately.  He knew what it meant to 
get shot, he had seen it happen before.  He swam over to Lucas, 
and Lucas was amazed at how careful he was not to splash.  Not 
even a drop of water spilled over the edge of the pool.  
	"Who shoot Lucas?"
	The question was the one he had feared.  He wanted so 
desperately to lie.  He could brush it off, and tell Darwin a 
lie. But Hudson had told him the truth, and he had to give Darwin 
the same courtesy.
	But he wished that he could avoid it, somehow.  Of course, 
he wouldn't.  Darwin deserved the truth.
	He took a deep breath.  "Bridger."
	Darwin didn't react.  He didn't splash, and he didn't accuse 
Lucas of lying.  Not like what Lucas had said to Hudson.  He felt 
horrible, knowing how difficult it must have been for Hudson to 
come out and give him the truth like that.  Now, he knew what 
Hudson had gone through.  Hell.
	 "I'm sorry..."  Damn it, he sounded like Hudson.  He didn't 
have anything to tell this dolphin, he didn't have anything to 
tell himself.  He didn't have anything to tell anybody.
	*So just shut up.*
	He watched as Darwin swam around the moonpool in circles, 
several times.  The dolphin didn't seem to be too upset.
	*Then again,* Lucas thought, *maybe he doesn't understand as 
much as I thought he did.*  Or maybe Darwin had the good sense to 
just accept reality as it was.
	Lucas knew that it would be a while before he could do that.
*
	As they walked through the station, Hudson noticed that 
Morse was becoming more and more tense.  Her eyes kept darting 
this way and that, watching everything, as though she was waiting 
to be ambushed.
	"Elaine?"
	She jumped about a quarter of meter in the air.  "What?"
	"Is something wrong?" he asked.  "You seem..."  *Scared out 
of your wits.*  He shrugged.  "...Nervous."
 	She smiled ruefully.  "It's just that, well,"  She pointed 
to a small cantina.  "You see that place over there?"
	"Yes."  Hudson was somewhat puzzled over her discomfort.  
"Are you hungry?  I suppose we've got time to--"
	"_No_!"  She shook her head.  "No," she said more calmly. 
"It's just, that was the place that Bridger introduced himself to 
me.  Where he told me he had an offer I couldn't refuse."  She 
laughed bitterly.  "I wish I _had_ said no."
	*Yeah, me too.*  "He would've just found someone else, 
Elaine. Someone who wouldn't have given a damn about us, and 
wouldn't have helped us escape."  
	She didn't respond immediately.  "I guess, that this whole 
thing has taught me one thing," she said eventually.  
	"What's that?" he asked, hearing the teasing note in his 
voice.
	"To never go home with someone I meet in a bar."
	Hudson chuckled at that.  "I'd have thought you learned that 
after we met."
	Morse smiled sadly at him.  "You'd think," she echoed.  
"But, right now, all I can think about is leaving this damned 
station, and never coming anywhere near here again."
	"I understand," Hudson said.
	He put his arm around Morse's shoulder and gave her a quick 
squeeze.  "It's okay."  She leaned her head on his shoulder and 
snaked her arm around him waist.  
	"I wish I could say the same."  She looked up at him, and 
for the first time, he realized that her eyes were shining with 
sorrowful tears.  "But even if you've put what happened behind--"
	He stopped her, holding her by her upper arms, and stared 
into her deep, strangely joyless eyes.  "God, Elaine...don't say 
that." He couldn't bring himself to say what he really wanted to 
say--that he still loved her, and no matter _what_ she did, he 
always would.
	But somehow, she seemed to know what he meant.  She hugged 
him tightly, burying her face in his shoulder.  This time, there 
was no cautiousness in her embrace.  He let his own arms encircle 
her, and they held each other close.
	"If it isn't Elaine Morse."
	The sudden speed with which Morse pulled away from him was 
startling.
	He looked at the figure who was leaning, arms crossed over 
his chest, in a nearby doorway.  Hudson saw Morse tense, almost 
immediately, her jaw setting as she greeted the new arrival with 
an attempt at emphasized neutrality.  She backed into him, and he 
once again put his arm around her shoulder.  This time, however, 
the gesture was more protective than provocative in nature.
	"So Elaine, is that where you've been?  Getting hitched?"
	Morse glared at him.  "Is that any of your business?"
	He shrugged, left the doorway and took several steps towards 
them, stopping a foot or two away.  "Probably not.  But you 
haven't introduced--"
	Hudson could see how uncomfortable Morse was with the new 
situation.  He glared at the scruffy-looking man right along with 
her.  "Captain Oliver Hudson, UEO Navy, _seaQuest_.  And you 
are?"
	"Matthew Parker."  Parker gave him a suspicious glare, as 
though expecting Hudson to recognize him.  "I'm the owner," he 
continued, as though that would make it any easier for Hudson to 
place him.  
	"You're a pain in the ass," piped up Morse's voice.  "And I 
don't recall anyone asking you to stick your nose into my 
business."
	Parker's glance slid off Hudson in an instant, shifting to 
Morse.  Hudson felt himself bristle.  "Maybe not," he agreed, 
"But even though Bridger got you off the hook last time, I just 
want you to know that I'm keeping an eye on you."
	He turned on his heel and sauntered away before either 
Hudson or Morse had a chance to respond.
	"Since when has he _not_ kept his eyes-- both of them-- on 
me?" Hudson heard Morse mutter.
*
	"So, here we are," Morse said as they reached the airlock.
	"I guess so."
	It was an awkward moment.  Hudson hadn't removed his arm 
from her shoulders, and, quite honestly, she wasn't sure that she 
wanted him to.  It reminded her of their first date, _after_ 
they'd met in the bar.  Back then Hudson had made the first move.
	She figured that it was her turn.
	Morse turned slightly, reached up, and kissed him on the 
cheek.  "I'll see you around," she said, after she broke away.
	Hudson was still a bit startled, but managed a lopsided 
grin. "We always seem to run into each other, don't we?"
	She smiled, but before she could answer, the airlock closed, 
and she was left alone.
	With a sigh, she entered the ship, and went to the cockpit. 
After a bit of a hassle, which ended when, to her amusement, a 
cowed and very respectful Matt Parker came on the radio to grant 
her clearance to leave.
	"Good riddance," she said under her breath as she departed. 
She'd be damned if she ever went anywhere _remotely_ near Neilson 
Rift again.
	_Bang!_
	Morse turned at the loud sound from the back.  She drew her 
pistol, and aimed it at the cockpit's door.  After a moment, 
though, she realized what had made the sound.
	"A crate," she said with a disbelieving laugh.  "A damned 
_crate_ falling scared me!"
	It was common, Morse knew, for cargo to shift around in the 
hold when a ship docked or undocked.  It was ridiculous for her 
to jump when it happened.
	But she had the feeling that she was going to be jumping at 
_any_ little sound, for a long, _long_ time...

THE END