Date: Wed, 04 Mar 1998 18:42:36 +0000 From: loeffler@istar.ca Subject: [seaQuest-ff] Dagger Island - Part 5 To: seaquest-ff@stgenesis.org Reply-to: seaquest-ff@stgenesis.org X-Mailer: Pegasus Mail for Windows (v2.53/R1) Priority: normal Delivered-to: mailing list seaQuest-ff@stgenesis.org Mailing-List: contact seaQuest-ff-help@stgenesis.org; run by ezmlm Comments: Authenticated sender is Well no one has said anything about my story so I'm sending another part out. I do need to know though if it was only Leigh and Karel who had problems with the story. I don't want them getting garbled in the process of sending them out. Please let me know if you receive this part garbled and I'll have to try something else. I have gone over this whole part and it is fine right now. If you receive it garbled, please let me know. Thanks Sherry All disclaimers are in the first part. Tony and Lucas stepped out first. They looked around. Then Tony nodded to Tim and Tiffany, who walked out next. "I feel like some kind of celebrity or something. There's no need to be this formal guys." Tiffany whispered to them. "Yes there is. Captain Hudson said to treat you like royalty." Lucas informed her. Tiffany's eyebrows went up. "Royalty? No thanks. I like being myself." She stopped and looked around. They docked at an outside docking area. The weather was nice and warm, so Commander Delmont had suggested it. Ahead of her was the compound. Three men were walking toward them. On her right was a large fenced in area. There were some children playing there. They stopped when the UEO people came out and stared at them. Behind it was a row of houses with a large apartment building at the end of it. Behind the houses were the fields the women worked in. They could see some women in the fields. "Ambassador Rose, it's such a pleasure to meet you." That had to be Commander Delmont. He stopped and reached out a hand. Tiffany took it and shook hands with him. "Commander Delmont. How nice to meet you. I've heard a lot of good things about you." She smiled and then noticed a familiar face. There was a Dagger standing about twenty feet behind the three men. She was sure it must be Matthew. She could see the family resemblance with Mariah and Matthew on the ship. "Ambassador, please come this way. Oh, this is Lt. Potter and Lt. jg. Conlon." Tiffany smiled at the two men and purposely looked over at the Dagger. She started to walk past the men to the Dagger. "Oh, and this is Matthew. He'll help us show you around the facilities. He's a very knowledgeable Dagger, who knows everything there is about this place." Tiffany smiled at him and held out her hand. He didn't take it. Instead he stiffened up. "Matthew, how nice to meet you. I've been looking forward to this for a long time. We have a mutual friend, who I ran into last week. She told me ..." The Commander cut her off. "We really must be getting along now. You have a lot to see and I think it would be wise of you to take your tour of the compound only. You see we have a sickness here. Um, it seems to be only Daggers who get it and it seems to be under control now, but one never knows with these things." He smiled. Tim was curious. "We weren't told anything about a sickness. All is supposed to be well." "Sorry Commander, I didn't introduce my escorts. This is Lt. Tim O'Neill, Ensigns Lucas Wolenczak and Anthony Piccolo." "Yes, well we didn't want word to get out. We figure we can control it here and as long as none of the Daggers leave here, then we can control it. None have died from it and I believe they are actually getting well." Tim persisted though. "We have excellent medical facilities on SeaQuest. Dr Perry can come and take a look and ..." "Oh, no need for that. As I said they're improving so we do have it under control." "What precautions have you taken?" Lucas asked. "We've isolated the sick ones. They're all in the last five houses. We've also taken the children and keep them in the compound so they won't get sick." "Well, that sounds feasible. It seems you have things under control. As long as they're being looked after." Lucas looked around. "Why the big apartment building? Why not just have houses for them?" Tim asked. "The single Daggers wanted it that way. Families live in houses and singles live in the apartments. Right now though the men whose wives are sick are in the apartments too." "But shouldn't the children be with their fathers?" Tiffany asked. "They can't be with them. The men work in the mines for at least eight hours a day. Sometimes more than that. The children need supervision. We have a couple of mothers with young children who are looking after the children. They're comfortable there and it's safer for them. We don't want to take a chance on them getting sick." "I see." Tiffany smiled at Matthew. "I would really like it if Matthew would show me around. He would know more than anyone here and I'd like to hear about how they started building and planning after SeaQuest left the last time she was here." Matthew stiffened again. He didn't like this woman. He was sure she would be just like the others. Female or male, it didn't matter. They all tried to suppress the Daggers. He had hoped it was Mariah coming back with an army of Daggers. They could overthrow these people and just take their island back. "I don't think that's wise. Matthew is, well, um, he's not too happy. His wife has been very sick and he hasn't been able to go and see her. He never has time to see his children since he's so busy helping us keep order. He has other things on his mind. I'd be pleased to show you around." "Well, this would keep Matthew's mind off his troubles. He can at least show us one of the houses. Maybe your own, Matthew. I'd love to see it. Where is it?" "Um, over there. The first house." He pointed to the house. "Good place to start." Tiffany started walking and took Matthews arm so he would come too. When she was sure the Commander couldn't hear her, she whispered. "Matthew, we've come from Mariah." He was started. He didn't expect help from SeaQuest again. How did Mariah do that? "Don't speak. I'll try and buy us some time alone." She looked around. Out loud she said. "This is such a beautiful island. Perhaps when you figure out this sickness, I could come back and visit with your family, Matthew?" "Perhaps." He still wasn't sure what to do. Again she whispered. "Let the others know that all the women and children are safe on SeaQuest. We'll get your island back for you. Just be patient." She turned to him and smiled. For the first time in a long time, Matthew smiled too. He led the way into the house. They didn't have locks on the door. How nice, Tiffany thought. They walked into a large foyer which had some exquisite tile on the floor. Matthew explained that someone from a far land donated the tiles for them. They had a lot of free offers when they started to build their island. They had contractors come out and plan things and they got a lot of free stuff sent to them to help them. The living room was off to the left and it too was simply beautiful. The soft colours used, managed to show off the living room furniture. Across the hall was a den with a large oak desk in it and some soft leather chairs. This was Dad's room. Down the hall, past the stairs was the kitchen and dining room area. It was a large kitchen with plenty of room in it for ten cooks if necessary. Tiffany was amazed at it. "Boy, if you could see my kitchen at home. This one is a dream kitchen. I love it." Tony leaned over to Tim. "Watch it buddy, she's getting the homey look in her eyes. No more submarines for you." Tim nudged him with his elbow and shook his head. The back of the kitchen had an open area with a counter. It looked out into a large family room. There were toys around but no vid-links. Tiffany had noticed that even in Matthew's den there wasn't a vid-link. No communications at all by the look of it. Mariah was telling the truth about that. "I bet your children miss this place." Matthew nodded and Tiffany walked over to the fireplace. On the mantel was a picture of the family. "Your wife and children?" He nodded again and looked over at the Commander as if afraid to say anything. "Well, I'm sure you'll be back together again." She smiled. The two Lieutenants were outside the house waiting for them, as if they were guarding them. Tiffany smiled at the Commander. "I'd love to see the upstairs and the two Ensigns here were supposed to check out wiring and that sort of electrical stuff that I know absolutely nothing about. Please show them where to find everything." "Oh, I don't think you need to see up there. It's just a couple of bedrooms. Nothing much." "Commander," Tiffany tried to put on her best smile. "I'll just be a minute upstairs and you can save some time by showing them that stuff now. Please." "Yes, I suppose. Through this door behind you and down the stairs. It's not much down there. Kind of musty, but there's some boxes ..." The three of them went downstairs. Tiffany looked around. She had a bugging detector in her pocket. She moved around slowly with it. There was a bug here. She put a finger to her mouth. "Matthew, please lead the way." He nodded and they went upstairs. Tim came with them. In the hallway she could see a small round thing. It was supposed to look like it was a part of the design on the wall, but she could see that it had glass over it. Probably a camera. Matthew led them into the master bedroom. She couldn't see a camera anywhere. She passed her detector around. Nothing. Decent of them not to bug the bedroom. "OK Matthew, we haven't long. Is what Mariah told us true?" "Yes, they make us work in the mines and they put the mentonium out on the black market. Are you sure Sarah and my children and the others are all OK?" "Yes, they're fine. They're on SeaQuest and Dr. Perry is checking them out. They're having a ball with Uncle Dagwood, but they do miss their fathers. Matthew keeps asking for you. This disease is fake isn't it?" "Yes it is. It explains why not everyone is here. Thank you for looking after them. I was so worried. I thought it might be worse out there for them." They could hear the others downstairs. Lucas and Tony should know enough to keep him occupied for a while longer. Tim was looking around and went out into the hallway. "Well, I think this is just lovely Matthew." Tiffany said as she walked out the door. "Let's see the other bedrooms. Is this one your daughters?" It had a canopy bed with pink ruffles and dolls on the bed. "Yes, she loves her dolls. She's been wanting to collect dolls. This is the best she's done though." "How nice. They look lovely and so well looked after." She tried the detector again. Nothing. "OK what else can you tell us Matthew?" "The men and single women are forced to work in the mines. One woman was killed in there." Tiffany nodded. "We work from dawn to dark. There's no rest periods and little time for lunch. They feed us enough to keep us going and that's it." Tiffany walked over to him and put a hand on his arm. "Don't worry. You'll have your freedom. We'll make sure of it. Let's go." She walked out and looked in the boy's room. Out loud she said. "Did your wife do all this decorating?" "Yes, she did. She discovered she had a talent for decorating. She did a lot of the homes here too. We got fabric and wall coverings and such given to us and she just had a ball with it all." "She does a lovely job of it. I can't believe how comfortable this home feels." They were going downstairs to the first floor to meet the others. Commander Delmont looked a bit edgy. "You know I was thinking of doing something with my condo. Maybe I could arrange for your wife to do it. I'd pay her of course. It would be so nice to have her come and see what she can make of it." Tony nudged Tim again. "That, um, would be nice. I'm sure she'd like it." "We'd have to make sure all the sickness is gone before she left the island. It might be a long time before that happens." Commander Delmont said. "Oh, that's alright. I have lots of time. I'm on a sub a lot of the time anyway. I can wait." They walked outside and around the back. There was a field with lots of different foods planted. "I see you grow most of your own food too. That's good. It seems to be self sufficient here." "Yes, the women are great at looking after the fields. They do a good job. They even feed us. We never have to worry about food around here, do we Matthew?" Matthew smiled. "Now let's get you inside the compound and I'll show you around there." They walked toward the enclosed area. Tiffany went over to the gate and opened it. "Oh, you really shouldn't do that Ambassador." But Tiffany was already inside it and walking toward some older children who were playing with a ball. They were kicking it back and forth and soon it headed toward Tiffany. She ran to kick it and fell on the grass. "Oh, I'm so sorry." A little boy about Matthew's age had been rushing to the ball. The others stopped and watched them. He slipped on the grass as well and fell. Tiffany laughed. "It's alright honey. A little grass stains won't hurt." She leaned over to him. "Don't tell the soldiers, but we've come to help. You're going to be alright." She smiled. The boy looked up in surprise. "Tell the children, everything will be alright." She nodded her head and he smiled too. By then the men were over to her. Out loud she said. "How clumsy of me! Dear, I'm going to have fun getting these stains out." Commander Delmont helped her up. "Are you OK? Geordie, you should be more careful." "Yes, I'm fine and it wasn't the boy's fault. I just wanted to watch the children for a while. They look like they're having so much fun." Geordie was looking down as if in shame. "Oh, dear now, I've got this little one upset. I'm sorry Geordie. Everything's alright. Don't worry." He looked up and then over to the Commander who had a stern look on his face. "Geordie, you are very good and very polite and I'm sure the Commander thinks so too." She turned to the Commander. He relaxed a bit and almost smiled. Tiffany bent down and hugged the boy. "I'll tell Matthew you said HI." She whispered in his ear. He looked at her and nodded. Then he whispered back. "Is Matthew OK? I miss him." She nodded and smiled. "Go and play now. Have fun and remember, everything is going to be alright." He smiled and ran back to the others. "Let's have a look at your compound Commander. "You shouldn't have gone in there. You don't know if the children have got the sickness their parents have. You don't know." The Commander was very stern now. "Commander, it's my business to talk to everyone and to go everywhere. I respect your wishes when you don't want me going into a quarantined area, but these children. Loosen up. Maybe some of your men and you should be in there playing with them. It may help moral somewhat." She looked him straight in the eye. He didn't falter but just stared at her. Finally he looked away. Tim came beside her. "Are you alright? You took quite a fall." She looked at him and then back at the children playing. She stopped so the Commander got ahead of her and Tim. "This is the first time in a long time that they've been out. I thought they looked pale, but when I saw that little boy up close. He's far too pale. He needs more sunlight and fresh air." She looked up at him and he realized she had done that on purpose. The Commander was over at the door, talking to Lt. Potter, who had assured him that they had watched the second floor of the house and everything seemed to be alright there. They didn't think Matthew had said anything to her about what was going on. The Commander nodded and came back over to the group. He was more relaxed now and smiled at them. "Let's just continue this tour, shall we?" He was sweet as sugar now. Tiffany looked at the others and nodded. She wasn't planning on being so sweet. She smiled. Matthew came in with them. They took a tour of the compound. It didn't seem to be anything different from what they had seen on the plans for the place. Tiffany stopped when they came to the cages that used to be the home for the Daggers. At least now most of them were in other accommodations. But now it was the children who were in these cages. Just like their parents had once been. That was upsetting. Those children shouldn't even know what it was like for their parents. She looked over at Matthew. He was sad too. She knew that he was remembering too. His memories would be painful though. "I think we've seen enough here Commander. We should be going now." He seemed very relieved that she wanted to go. "This colony is working out well. I'm really please with what I see here. You're doing a good job." They went back to the main area. Tiffany looked around at the security cameras. Commander Delmont went over to the desk to let Potter know they were going. Tiffany leaned over to Tim. "Keep him over there for a few moments for me." She walked away. Tim nodded. Tiffany walked over to Matthew. She whispered under her breath. "Get me maps, blueprints, anything that will help us figure out how to get back in here. Can you do it and leave it somewhere for us?" He nodded and turned his head away from the camera. "Mariah will know where to pick them up. After midnight." Out loud Tiffany said. "Thank you so much. This has really been nice to see the island and what you've done and please give your wife my best. I'll be in touch." He smiled and nodded. Tiffany was watching Tony and the Commander. They seemed to have made friends. The Commander had his arm around Tony's neck. It looked strange. He was almost rubbing his neck. The shore party of four left the island in good spirits. On the sub they talked. "Looks like a nice place to live, doesn't it?" Lucas commented. "Yeah, if you like that sort of thing. I don't like to be confined." Tony added. "Then why are you on a sub?" Lucas asked. "Hey, it was either that or stay in that prison with everyone yanking at my gills. Besides I get to go out and swim around a lot. Darwin's good fun too, sometimes." They all laughed. "Well, Tony I vote we give Dagger Island an A. It's ideal." The others were confused. "Why in the world ..." Tiffany put her hand over Tim's mouth and motioned him to be quiet. "Well, this is my first inspection and I guess I have to have some sort of list of things, but for now I don't see anything wrong with it." She went up front with Tony. He looked back at her in confusion. She put her hand on the back of his neck and felt along the collar. "Hey!" He yelled. "Tony be careful where you're going. You could have an accident someday. And no more of your antics in this thing." She pulled something very small out from his collar. It was so tiny, you could hardly see it, but it was a bug. She held it up. Lucas came over with his eyes wide open. He took it carefully from her. "Tony I think your shirt could do with a washing. You got a stain on it. Doesn't look good." She smiled. They had small talk the rest of the way back. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: seaQuest-ff-unsubscribe@stgenesis.org For additional commands, e-mail: seaQuest-ff-help@stgenesis.org Date: Fri, 06 Mar 1998 16:54:23 +0000 From: loeffler@istar.ca Subject: [seaQuest-ff] Dagger Island - Part 7 To: seaquest-ff@stgenesis.org Reply-to: seaquest-ff@stgenesis.org X-Mailer: Pegasus Mail for Windows (v2.53/R1) Priority: normal Delivered-to: mailing list seaQuest-ff@stgenesis.org Mailing-List: contact seaQuest-ff-help@stgenesis.org; run by ezmlm Comments: Authenticated sender is When Mariah got back to the ship, there were a lot of sighs of relief and a couple of surprised faces. Ford didn't think that Mariah would come back. Tony and Kimura came after her. She handed the papers to Captain Hudson. He went to his office to look them over. Tiffany had gone in to see him and then came out a few minutes later. "What's going on?" Tim asked her. "I just wanted to suggest something. We'll see how he feels about it soon. He said to give him a half hour and then meet in the wardroom." She answered. "Let's go for a walk." She took his hand. They walked around the ship and down to sea deck. Dagwood was there with Darwin. "Where are the kids?" Tim asked, but before Dagwood could answer, Tiffany told him. "It's a bit late for them to be up, Tim. It's after 2 am." She smiled. He wasn't used to children being around. "Oh, yeah, I tend to forget the time. Sorry." Dagwood had his hand in the water and was swishing it back and forth. "Comes from being on this sub." Tiffany watched Dagwood. "You're going to miss them, aren't you Dagwood?" He nodded. "I think we should get back to the wardroom now. It's almost time." Tim pulled her away from the pool. Darwin watched them. He seemed sad, almost as if he knew something important was going to happen. Then he swam away. Tim, Tiffany and Dagwood were the last to get there. "Hey, thought maybe you two took a little break there." Tony smirked. Tiffany glared at him. "Okay, now we can get started on this." Hudson began his instructions. "We have to go ahead this morning with our plans. I wanted to let Matthew know when we would make a move, but considering they saw Mariah in there, we should act now. They'll probably have that vent and maybe others plugged up soon. If we start now we'll have the advantage on them. We'll have two mini-subs drop off eleven people on the other side of the island." He had the map out and pointed to a small alcove near the mining area. "They'll make up three teams headed by Ford, Henderson and Kimura." He took out three papers with drawings on them. One he handed to Ford. "Commander, this is the map of the mining area. I want you to take three others with you and be down inside the mines before the men come to work. Matthew says there are usually only three guards with the men when they come to work. You will be ready to overcome them when the guards bring the men. You'll have to be careful though. I don't want any riots. Anyone starting a riot will have to be arrested too. Understand?" Ford nodded. "Henderson, you'll have three people with you also. You'll take them into the fields. The crops are high enough that you can hide in the fields. There will be three guards again, supervising the women in the fields. You'll hide in the fields until it's time to attack and you'll take over the three guards there. This will be a long waiting period for all of you. I want the attacks to be at exactly 07:00 hours. Everyone will attack at the same time. That way there will be no one to back them up. But you'll have to be in your position before 06:00 hours. So you'll have a long wait." He looked around. Kimura, you'll have the other two people with you. You'll take them to the apartment building. In there are the women who are expecting and any who are not feeling well. There should be only two men guarding them. Tiffany noticed there wasn't a lock on the door to Matthew's house. What about the apartment building, Mariah?" "No, we didn't have any need for locks, until now that is." She sounded bitter. "Good, then we'll assume there still isn't one there. You can go in through here. Come around the building here." He pointed to the area he was talking about and to the door. "Now, once you get in, there's a laundry room over here. You can hide in there until it's time to come out and take over the building. Just remember not to scare the women too much. We don't need one going into labour over this." There were a couple of snickers around as people imagined Kimura delivering a baby. "There may be a slight problem. Matthew has indicated that guards patrol the area every hour. At a quarter to the hour, they're due to be at the apartment building. That gives you from 05:45 to 06:00 to get in there, unnoticed. All of you have to be in place by 06:00 hours. Please remember that. The people there get up at that time and there will be too many people moving around, especially Delmont's men, so you have to be hidden away before they get moving around." He handed her the plans of the apartment building. "Do you three have any questions?" They looked from one to another and shook their heads. "Captain Hudson, what about me? Where do I fit in? I want to be in on this." Mariah had been patient until now, but was quickly getting impatient. "I'm getting to that. OK then. Tiffany will be above ground. I want Wolenczak and Dagwood to escort her. Our Ambassador has a gift for Matthew's daughter and that's her excuse to get back on the island. She'll be arriving approximately 06:45 hours. According to Matthew, the compound is left with Delmont and his two lieutenants only. You three will have to distract them while all these others are taking over the island. The take over should run smooth and then we only have to arrest Delmont and his men." He paused. "However, we have the children to consider too. If they get wind of what's happening, they may try and do something with them. Possibly as hostages. Piccolo, that's where you're going to come in. I need you to find an opening that hasn't been plugged up. It can be a vent or tunnel or anything. O'Neill and Mariah will then take the mini-sub, equipped with Chameleon, and get the children out of there. They will have to be out before 07:00 hours. Take a look at this map." The three of them came over and looked over the map. Matthew had marked on it the vents or openings which should still give them access. Hudson was concerned though, that now they know Mariah tried to get in, they would no longer be accessible. He needed Tony to find out. Since Tony didn't need any equipment to swim around, he would show up on the sonar as a big fish. Delmont would have no reason to suspect someone was around the vents. "Matthew says there are only two men guarding the women and children, but they may have more now if they think Mariah was there to get them out. You two have to realize if you're discovered, we won't have any back up for you. I want you to understand that. You'll have to get them out, into the sub and away from there. It's very important." He seemed overly concerned about them. "Captain, there's more to it, isn't there?" Tiffany sensed his concern. "Yes, there is. Matthew wrote some notes for us. There's a self-destruct system in place, which Delmont had installed. That's going to be your area Tiffany. Make sure he doesn't press the button. If he does get to it and presses it, you'll have five minutes to vacate the compound and get to safety. There is no margin for error. That doesn't give you enough time to get all those children out, so they have to be out before anyone knows what's going on." Hudson paused. He looked at Mariah. "I also want you to understand that O'Neill is the senior officer. That means you have to obey him. I realize that you know the compound better than anyone, but if he gives an order, obey it. I don't want you going off and doing your own thing. Also I cannot give you any more people to help. That sub will be filled as it is. You two are on your own. We just have to hope there are still only two men there. Do you understand?" Hudson looked very stern. He wasn't sure she would be able to follow Tim's orders. Mariah looked around. "Yes Captain I do. I want my people freed and I want as few casualties as possible. I'll do what ever I have to in order to free them." She looked over at Tim. He was the one she once kidnapped and threatened. Now they were going to work together. Hudson looked over at him also. "O'Neill. You will work together, right?" Hudson could feel the tension. "Yes, sir. We will." Hudson knew he was a good soldier and would obey his order to work with her, despite past problems. "OK, Piccolo I need you out in the water now. Let me know as soon as you find out something. I'll also need you to be out there later in case O'Neill and Mariah have any problems getting in. The rest of you will leave here at 05:00 hours. Let's hope they aren't paying attention to their radar. Dismissed." People started to leave. Ford, Henderson and Kimura each had a list of people they were to take with them so they contacted them and gave them instructions to be ready by 04:45 hours. Tiffany wouldn't be leaving until 06:45, so she had the longest wait. Tim and Tiffany left together. "Come with me." He took her hand and lead her down the corridor. They ended up in his quarters. "I figure this is the only place we can have some time together." "Timothy O'Neill! I hope your intentions are honourable." "You know I'm not like that Tiffany." "Just joking, Tim. I know." He had his arms around her and pulled her close. He kissed her and then just held her. "I was serious, Tiffany. I do love you. I don't want to let you go. I don't want anything to go wrong between us. Not now. I wish I was with you instead of Lucas." "I know Tim, and I love you too. But it's better this way. Although I thought you'd choke when Unc paired you up with Mariah." She looked up at him. "I almost did. I didn't expect that." "Maybe now you'll see she's not that bad. She can be very nice." "Yeah right." He kissed her again. They stood there for a few minutes, not talking, holding each other and then kissing. Then Tim was called back to the wardroom with Mariah. Tony was back from his excursion and had some news. When Tim met Tiffany later in the mess hall he told her that not all the vents were closed and it looked like they could get in. Everything was going according to plan. The three groups were dropped off. Ford had no problem finding the mines and getting into the main shaft. They positioned themselves so they could see the opening. They were behind some large metal containers used to store the mentonium. Once the men went past them with the guards, they would be able to overcome them and take the mine shaft back for the Daggers. Henderson wasn't happy about her area. They got to the fields and each person took a spot to sit in until the women came. At 06:30 hours the women started arriving. Lonnie was almost trampled on by one. She gave out a gasp and the woman looked down. She just stared at Lonnie, so Lonnie put her finger to her mouth and the woman nodded. Matthew must have told them something would happen soon. The woman went over to another section to begin taking the corn of the husks. Lonnie sat there, waiting for the time to come. Kimura had gone on to the apartments. They stood on the north side, away from where the soldiers would come. She looked around and saw no one. Just as she was going to step out, she heard voices. It was two men, joking around and laughing. They were walking her way. She didn't think they would come around the building, so she stayed where she was with her two men behind her. The soldiers came over to the corner and stood there. They lit up some sort of smoking device and took some puffs, then they put it away. It was getting on to 06:00 hours and the others in the apartment would be getting up. They had to get in there soon. The soldiers walked away slowly. Kimura motioned to the men with her and they came out of hiding. They walked up the three stairs to the door. The soldiers were still laughing and walking away. She quietly opened the door and they went in, They found the laundry room and set themselves up in there to wait for an hour. They could hear people coming down the stairs. They heard some soldiers come in and hurry them up. One Dagger yelled that he had left something in the laundry room the day before. He came over with a soldier. There wasn't any place to hide in there. Kimura looked around. Her and the men were behind the door, against the wall. The Dagger came in. He stopped and looked behind the door. He turned to the soldier and apologized. He said he was mistaken and closed the door. Kimura heaved a sigh of relief. Tim and Mariah were ready to leave at 06:30 hours. Tiffany saw them off and gave Tim a good luck kiss. They got in the sub and left. Tiffany was waiting for her turn to leave. Lucas and Dagwood came down with the Captain. "Everyone's got away with no problems sir." She reported. "Good, we have to keep radio silence. I'm sure they'll be monitoring everything we say. I'll get on the vid-link to Delmont after you three leave. That way we'll take him off guard. Are you ready with everything?" Tiffany nodded. She had a doll which represented Scotland, her father's country. She thought young Mariah would like it for her collection. They got ready to leave and left on time. "Captain Hudson, I don't think it's wise for the Ambassador to come back. We find we have to isolate another five people and we just can't have her wandering around here." Delmont was upset with Hudson for sending her without clearing it with him first. "Oh, I assure you Commander, she will not leave the compound. She just thought she'd give Matthew the doll for his daughter. It's a good will gesture, you know how it is. We want them to be at ease with the idea of one of us coming around. Besides, I've found out that when Ambassador Rose gets an idea into her head, she follows through with it and doesn't let anyone deter her. She'll be there soon, Commander. She won't stay long." "Yes, Captain, well thank you." Delmont signed off. He turned to his lieutenants. "Get over to the docking bay and make sure she doesn't go anywhere. I don't want her in here." They nodded and left. "Matthew!" Delmont yelled. "That woman is coming back again and I don't want her staying. She has some sort of present for your daughter. You make sure she leaves right away and doesn't stick around. Do you understand me?" Matthew nodded. "Let's go to the door and greet her right away." This left the compound empty upstairs. Downstairs Tim and Mariah got in through a vent. Mariah knew exactly where they were going so Tim let her lead. They rushed quickly along the vent until they came to a corridor. There were no noises in the corridor so they took off the cover and jumped down. "Come this way. They keep the children in our old cells." Mariah told him. Tim nodded. They rushed along. By now Tiffany should be landing at the dock, Tim thought. He hoped it all went smooth. Tiffany had to keep their attention until the takeover was finished. They didn't want Delmont to consult any radar and find out their island was inhabited by new people. Tim had to concentrate on what he was doing. Mariah didn't say anything to him in the sub. He wondered how she felt about this. They came to another hallway. They could hear the children talking. Some were complaining. They wanted to go outside and play again. Slowly Tim and Mariah made their way down the hall. They stayed against the wall. Tim was on one side and Mariah on the other. Tim poked his head around the corner. He could see the children. They were eating something. One of the men shoved a girl with his gun. A woman came up to him and pushed him. He pushed her back. Then his friend called to him to quit it. The first man laughed. The two men had their backs to where Tim and Mariah were. Mariah poked her head around too. She watched for a few seconds, then the woman with the children walked around the girl. She looked up and saw Mariah. She smiled. It looked like she recognized her. "What are you smiling at?" The soldier asked her. He turned around but Tim and Mariah had both gone back around the corner. "Nothing, just thinking that you two men may want something to eat yourselves. We have some left over if you want it." She offered. "I don't want your grub! Eat it yourself. I got better upstairs." He yelled at her. She went over and took some food and sat down. She was facing the hall where Tim and Mariah were. Tim looked around. He saw a small stone on the ground. One of the kids must have brought it in the day before. He picked it up and poked his head around again. He motioned for Mariah to go over to the other side while the men's backs were turned. She rushed over and hid in a small alcove. There was another caged room across from where the men were with the children. Tim threw the stone into the room. The two men turned around and walked toward the other cage. They were looking into the cage when Tim and Mariah jumped out at them at the same time. They banged the men with their guns before they could turn back around. Both men lay on the floor, unconscious. "Mariah!" A little girl called. "Shhh! Don't talk. Don't say anything. Come with us." Mariah cautioned. "We can't. Our daddies and mummies. We need them." "No, not right now. Don't worry, they'll be safe. We have other people looking after them. We have to hurry." She noticed there was about five more minutes before 07:00 hours. Tim was motioning for them to come. The they heard the shot. Someone had got a shot off. They heard rushing upstairs and someone yelled. They didn't have much time now. Upstairs Tiffany had arrived on time. She came out of the sub with a big smile on her face. "Commander! I really didn't expect to see you again, but I really want to give this doll to Matthew for his daughter. Actually, maybe I could give it to her myself?" "I'm sorry, Ambassador, but she isn't well enough to have visitors." He stopped and looked at Dagwood. "He's a Dagger." "Pardon me? Oh, you mean Dagwood. Yes, he is. He's been on SeaQuest a few years now. He's part of the navy you know. The first Dagger in the UEO navy." "Well, well, that's interesting." He was still looking at Dagwood in surprise. "I'll take that." "Oh, no, Commander, please let me give that to Matthew myself." Delmont turned and nodded to Matthew who was still at the door. He came out. "Um, that's so nice of you. Thank you. I'm sure Mariah will love it." Matthew took the doll. "Commander, please, let's go inside. The sun is hot and I don't have a hat with me." "Um, no we are just ..." But Tiffany pushed her way past them and walked inside. Dagwood and Lucas followed her. Delmont rushed up to the door. As he was coming inside with the lieutenants, they heard a shot. It took them all by surprise. As 07:00 hours approached Lonnie was getting a bit restless. She was uncomfortable and getting impatient. She couldn't see anything. She started to move through the stalks of corn. As she moved the corn moved also. One of the men was curious and wondered what was in there, so he wandered into the field. He came close to Lonnie and when he saw her, he drew his gun and shot at her. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: seaQuest-ff-unsubscribe@stgenesis.org For additional commands, e-mail: seaQuest-ff-help@stgenesis.org Date: Sat, 07 Mar 1998 18:06:46 +0000 From: loeffler@istar.ca Subject: [seaQuest-ff] Dagger Island - Part 8 and end. To: seaquest-ff@stgenesis.org Reply-to: seaquest-ff@thelists.org X-Mailer: Pegasus Mail for Windows (v2.53/R1) Priority: normal Delivered-to: mailing list seaQuest-ff@stgenesis.org Mailing-List: contact seaQuest-ff-help@stgenesis.org; run by ezmlm Comments: Authenticated sender is It seemed like all hell was breaking loose. There were shouting and people were confused. In the apartment building, Kimura and her men heard the shot. She motioned for them to follow her and they ran out of the laundry room and down the hall. They were in time to see two men come out of a community room. Kimura's men rushed them and brought them down to the ground. They handcuffed them. Kimura went into the room and saw four expectant ladies, two mothers with newborn babies and another two women lying on couches. The women looked scared. Kimura had to assure them everything was alright. "We're here from the UEO to help. Mariah sent us." The women looked relieved. Kimura and her men took their captives out to the front of the building to see what was going on. Jonathan heard the shot in the mines. Most of the Daggers had gone into the shaft. A couple of them had turned around and saw Jonathan so they knew something would happen. There were a couple more Daggers to go down and then the three guards when the shot rang out. Jonathan rushed out and managed to grab a guard, but the other two ran back to the opening. The other three men and two Daggers chased them and caught them. The Daggers were vicious. They kept hitting the men, Jonathan came out with his captive and yelled at them. "Stop it! Now! We won't have any violence! In the name of the United Earth Ocean, I demand you stop now or you will be arrested!" That seemed to get through to them. They stopped and came off the men. Jonathan's men picked up the guards and handcuffed them. The Daggers were scowling at the men, when another Dagger came over. "He's right. This isn't the way to do it. Let the UEO look after them. They'll get what's coming to them." He turned to Jonathan. "My name is David. I went into the laundry room at the apartments and saw some of your people there. I knew something was going to happen. Matthew warned us about it. Thank you for coming and helping." "Don't thank us, it's Mariah you have to thank. She's the one who told us what was happening and she convinced another young lady to help out." Jonathan turned to the men coming out of the shaft. "If anyone tries to hurt these men or cause a riot, they will be arrested. We're here to arrest them and give your island back to you, not to convict and punish them. Do you all understand?" They were all nodding. "I'm sorry about Daniel and James." David interjected. "They're just upset about the women and the way we've all been treated. They miss their families, especially the children. Please forgive them." "It's alright. I can understand the feelings. I just want to warn everyone first." Jonathan assured them. "This was supposed to be an easy takeover, but I think something went wrong somewhere. I think we should find out what's happening in the fields. I think the shot came from there. We weren't supposed to start this until 07:00 hours." They headed to the fields. The men were happy that this was going to be over now. They had something to look forward to. They could be a community again. Then they heard the explosion. In the field Lonnie rolled over to avoid the bullet. He missed. One of the men with her ran over and jumped him. The other two guards were coming to his aid, when the other two men with Lonnie jumped out of the field and rushed them as well. A woman screamed. Another woman called to them to get out of the field. They went back to the area behind the houses and watched. The UEO people were struggling with the guards. Another guard got another shot off. The corn was being squished. Lonnie tried to grab the man's gun but got pushed aside. The struggles lasted a few minutes. Finally one man got his captive on the ground and managed to handcuff him. He pulled the man up and took him over to where the women were watching. Lonnie shot her gun in the air. It made them stop. The SeaQuest people got their captives up and handcuffed and they went over to the side. Lonnie followed them. "You men are under arrest by order of the United Earth Oceans. Davidson! Read them their rights. I'll see that no one was hurt." Lonnie went over to the women. "Is everyone alright here?" They all nodded. They were scared at first but now they were relieved. "I'm sorry about that. It was supposed to be a smooth takeover, but it just didn't go that way. At least we got them." She heard some people coming and looked to see Jonathan with the Dagger men and his captives. Then she heard the explosion too. "What happened?" Jonathan yelled at her. "It wasn't supposed to start until 07:00 hours." "It's OK. Just a slight alteration. Everything turned out alright." Lonnie pouted. "Yeah, here it did, but what about Tiffany and the children? Let's get over there and find out. That explosion came from there." He started to lead the way. Kimura was coming with her captives. One of her men stayed with the women in the apartment. They heard the explosion too. "What happened? The timing was off." She asked. "I don't know, but I just hope ..." Jonathan was cut off. He heard some yelling and then another explosion. The air was thick with smoke. It was covering the island. They were far enough away not to be hit by anything, but they could see the whole compound went sky hight. It was demolished. They ran toward it. No one knew if anyone had got out of it before it went up. Mariah and Tim both stopped when they heard the shot. Tim yelled. "Everyone get down the hall now. We don't have much time. Go on." The two men started to groan. They were coming around now. Tim grabbed two babies from the two ladies so they could run. "I'll take them. It's OK. You just get down the hall." They ran down to the vent and Mariah was helping the children go in. When she saw Tim coming she jumped up herself so she could direct them which way to go. "Down that way! Keep to your left. Just keep going to the end. Go on! Get going!" She pushed them along. Tim helped the ladies get up and then handed them the babies. He stopped and looked back. He wanted to help Tiffany. Mariah yelled at him. "Come on. We have to get out of here." He looked up at her. "No, you go on. I'm going back to help." "You can't go back. Get up here." "No! This is an order! Get them out of here. Tony'll be there to help you. Go!" Tim ran back to the stairs. The two men were gone. He could hear them running up the stairs. He started after them. He could hear yelling and running upstairs. Someone called Dagwood's name. Mariah kept the children going. Many of them were able to run almost upright since they were so short. The women and Mariah were on their hands and knees. Mariah had one baby who couldn't walk yet in her one arm and one of the women had the other one. They managed to make it to the sub. Mariah started to open the vent when they heard the noise. "What was that?" One of the women asked. "I think the compound is being blown up. Here, get in here. We'll be safe out in the water." Then she saw the porthole opening. Tony was in there waiting for them. He helped the children in. The vents and tunnels were collapsing with the bomb. Mariah got the women in and the babies, then she jumped in. Tony closed the porthole and Mariah started the sub. They were being thrown around in the water and she couldn't control it. "I think we're going to have to go with it and wait til the shocks are over before leaving. Just get us away from the wall here." Tony told her. Then he saw something come out of the compound in the water. "That's the escape pod. Someone's getting away. It's the same type that Brody used when he got out." Mariah told him. "OK let me look after this." Tony went to the airlock and let himself out through it. The sub was still thrown around from the blast and so was the pod. Tony swam over to it and grabbed it by a railing on top. He could see who was inside. "Not this time buddy." He told himself. On the ship, the explosion was felt. Hudson looked at his watch. It was only two minutes past 07:00 hours. It was too early. Something must have gone wrong. He was worried. He had no way of contacting them. Then Mariah called in. She told him she had the children and that she was towing in Tony with an escape pod. That was one group heard from. The two subs which had dropped off the groups earlier had come back to SeaQuest so they wouldn't be discovered. All he could do was wait to see who made it and who didn't. In the compound the others were surprised as well. It wasn't 07:00 hours yet. Something went wrong. Tiffany composed herself first. "Oh, was that thunder? Maybe we're due for a storm Commander." "I don't think so. Something's wrong." He replied as he looked around. From where he was he couldn't see anything. He stood still. "Oh, do come in Commander, please." Tiffany didn't want him to see anything. It looked like someone jumped the gun. They heard yelling. The two lieutenants had gone in as well as Matthew. Tiffany looked at Lucas and Dagwood who were still outside. Suddenly Delmont rushed in, pushing Tiffany aside. He ran over to the console. Tiffany yelled at him to stop. Dagwood came in and ran over., but it was too late. The damage was done. One of the lieutenants ran to the stairs and stared down them. Tiffany yelled to Dagwood to get him. Dagwood ran over to the stairs and picked him up by his collar. Lucas was over at the console. Delmont tried to get back outside but Matthew stopped him. "It's too late now. I'm saving myself." He ran to the stairs. Matthew ran over and grabbed his legs as he ran up the stairs. The two men from downstairs came up and tackled Matthew so he had to let go of Delmont. "Lucas, what did he do? Dagwood get Delmont. He has no where to go up there." "Yes he does. There's an escape pod there. He'll get away." Matthew said. Dagwood was up the stairs fast. Tiffany had a gun out and had it on the remaining lieutenants. The other two men rushed her, but Matthew stopped them. Tim came up and grabbed one of them. They struggled but Matthew helped him and they soon had them down. "We gotta get out of here. It'll blow any minute now." Potter told them. He was trying to wriggle out of the cuffs Tiffany had put on him. Lucas was looking over the console and then went under it. "I think he's right. We can't get into it. It's a fail safe device." He moved a panel and some wires and looked again, hoping to find a way to stop it. "Mariah should have got the children out. I came back to help." Tim said. "Lucas we'd better get out of here. Come on." She motioned to Tim and Matthew to take the men out. Dagwood came downstairs. "I am sorry Tiffany. He got away." "It's OK Dagwood. Tony's in the water anyway. We have to move fast now. Help Matthew and Tim with these four. Lucas! Let's get out of here!" Lucas was still poking around under the console. "If I could only ... Ack! That didn't work. I gotta ..." "Lucas! There isn't time. Come on. Let's go!" The others were all outside now. Tim held the door open for them. Tiffany went over and grabbed Lucas by the arm and got him up. She pulled at him to come. "Tiffany and Lucas. Get out of here. It'll blow any time." Tim yelled at them. "Tiffany, if I can only ..." Lucas wanted to disarm it, but Tiffany thought better. "There isn't time! Get out of here!" She pulled at him, so he finally gave up and left with her. She thought it must be close. They got outside and started running. The captives were awkward with their hands cuffed, but Dagwood and Matthew helped them if they stumbled. They were ahead of the others. They ran and didn't look back, then they heard the explosion. They felt it too. the ground shook. Tiffany fell. Lucas helped her up. The force of the explosion pushed them all and they all ended up on the ground. They all just lay there, waiting for it to end. There was a second explosion and then a third. The air was thick with smoke. Tiffany lay on the ground face down. She had fallen and scraped her arms. Her head hurt. She wondered if the others were alright. She wanted to get up, but couldn't. She heard voices, but they seemed to be far away. She tried to open her eyes. Slowly they opened, but the air was so think with smoke she couldn't see. She rolled over on her back. This time she wore slacks instead of a skirt. Smart move. The pants weren't in good condition, but her legs were just dirty. Nothing serious. Her left arm hurt. Tim had been closer to the blast and was lying face down. He had been knocked out. But was slowly coming back. Matthew and Dagwood seemed to have been the ones who didn't suffer as much. They both were alert and made sure their captives didn't try to get away. Dagwood came over to Tiffany and helped her up. "Oh, my leg hurts. Maybe a sprain. How's everyone else?" "Hey there, did everyone get out?" Jonathan was the first to reach them. They were in front of the docking area. "Yeah, I think so." Tiffany put her hand to her side. "Oh, great, my PAL, it got scrunched." Dagwood was helping Tim up. Tim was limping as he came over with Dagwood's help. "You OK?" he asked. "Yeah, I'm fine. I lost our communications though. Tim, would you try and get the ship from the sub please?" "Sure thing." The sub Tiffany had come in was still there, although it was still moving quite a bit with the waves. Hudson was relieved. No one was seriously hurt, not even Delmont's men. He also got a surprise when Mariah came and Tony opened the escape pod with Delmont inside it. 'Well, now Commander, where do you think you're going? You don't really want to desert that nice paradise you've set up do you?" Hudson smiled and ordered him to be put in the brig. He also sent three other subs out to pick up the other captives and the crew. The subs carried the women and children from the ship. Tony took the children back to the island. On the island the Daggers were happy and shaking hands with the SeaQuest crew as they waited to be picked up. "We can't thank you enough. Last time SeaQuest was here, we were left to build a community and we had it going good too. Now we're going to start again. This time nothing will stop us. I'm glad the compound got blown up. We don't need it. We have everything we need." "Well, you know, you need friends and other people too, Matthew. Don't segregate yourselves from the outside world. You need them and they need you." "Yes, you're right. We won't." "Tiffany?" Dagwood was looking sad. "I cannot play with the children any more, can I?" "Dagwood, when we get back to the ship, why don't you ask the Captain if you can take a few days off and stay here a while? I'm sure you could." Dagwood's eyes lit up. "You think so?" "Dagwood can stay with us. We have an extra bedroom. How about it Dagwood?" Matthew asked. "I would like that. I will ask." Matthew smiled at him. Then he saw something over at the side. He went over and picked it up. It was the doll. "Tiffany, this belongs to you." It wasn't too damaged, but a bit dirty. "No, clean it up and give it to Mariah. I'd really like her to have it." Matthew smiled and nodded. The subs came with the other women and children in them. They were happy to be back on the island. The children ran around a bit, chasing each other and chasing Dagwood. Matthew looked around puzzled. "Where's Mariah? We owe her so much." He asked. "She won't be able to leave the ship. She's still a fugitive and if she leaves we legally have to arrest her as soon as she steps foot on this island." Tiffany told him. "What will happen to her then?" "I don't know. We'll find out soon. I do know that McGrath will be fair." Matthew nodded. Once the subs were empty the crew took their prisoners back. They got cleaned up and met in the wardroom again with Mariah. Hudson already had McGrath on the screen. They all had serious faces. "I want to thank you all for getting things straightened out on Dagger Island." "Thank you sir. Does this mean I get to keep the title Dagger Ambassador?" Tiffany smiled. "Actually it was really only for this mission, but in thinking it over, I realize that it was a good idea. We need a representative from the UEO to be in touch with the various Dagger groups, so yes, you do get to keep it. That is, if you want it." "Sure, as long as no one actually calls me Ambassador. It makes me feel silly." There was laughter and snickers around the table. "On to other things. Mariah, I have looked over your record from before on Dagger Island and also from the prison. I have also reviewed the ship's logs from their last encounter with you. In addition to that I have talked to various people about the work on Dagger Island. Matthew speaks highly of you. I am deleting your identity of Mary Jones and there will be no charges against you under that name." Mariah's face was serious and she nodded. "However, you do still have to atone for what you previously did. In looking at the records, I realize it was not your intention that you were taken out of jail the way you were. Someone else controlled that. But you were responsible for lives in that incident. It was under extenuating circumstances. Considering your change of attitude, your concern for your people and your intentions in this incident, especially the fact that you sought help instead of bombarding the island yourself, I have changed the original sentence." He paused. "Mariah, you were sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole. Your sentence has been changed to 20 years imprisonment with time off for good behaviour. You have only served one year. You will have to serve the other nineteen years, but you may get time off, as I said." Tiffany looked over at Mariah. She had no expression on her face. She expected to go back to jail. That was the price she paid for helping her people. "However," he continued. "You were on Dagger Island during the occupation by Commander Delmont. It was a sort of imprisonment in itself. That knocks eight years off your sentence. You still have eleven years to serve. You will have to serve it, however, since you have been invaluable on the island, you will serve the other eleven years on Dagger Island. Matthew and Sarah have consented to be your guardians. I have approved this and you will start immediately." Tiffany smiled. She knew he would be fair. "Mariah, have you anything to say to this?" "No, it's fair and I thank you for it. Captain Hudson, thank you for believing in me and helping my people. We really do owe SeaQuest a lot. Tiffany, thank you and I hope we'll meet again." "We will. Actually, I guess it's my duty to see that you start your sentence by taking you there." "Yes, and you can drop Dagwood off too. He's taking a little vacation." Hudson added. "I'll sign off now, but thank you again. Tiffany make sure you visit Dagger centers whenever SeaQuest is in the area." Tiffany nodded and McGrath signed off. People came over to say goodbye to Mariah. She seemed happy with the turnout. Tim and Tiffany took her and Dagwood over to the island. Dagwood was like an impatient child. It made Mariah laugh to see him that way. "Don't you forget to write to Rachel and tell her everything, Dagwood. Matthew will help you with the letters." Tiffany reminded him. "I will Tiffany. I will write her and you too." "Great, I'd like that, although, the way the mail is, you'll probably be back on the ship before I get the letter. But do that anyway Dagwood. I'd love to have a letter from you." They waved good bye. The UEO would send people to make sure there wasn't structural damage when the bomb went off and the tunnels underneath collapsed. Dagger Island was back to being a community again. Soon they would have vid-links and would be a part of the world again. THE END. Sherry --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: seaQuest-ff-unsubscribe@stgenesis.org For additional commands, e-mail: seaQuest-ff-help@stgenesis.org Date: Thu, 05 Mar 1998 10:46:52 +0000 From: loeffler@istar.ca Subject: [seaQuest-ff] Dagger Island - Part six To: seaquest-ff@stgenesis.org Reply-to: seaquest-ff@stgenesis.org X-Mailer: Pegasus Mail for Windows (v2.53/R1) Priority: normal Delivered-to: mailing list seaQuest-ff@stgenesis.org Mailing-List: contact seaQuest-ff-help@stgenesis.org; run by ezmlm Comments: Authenticated sender is Thanks to all of you who responded to my story. I even got some good constructive criticism. I really appreciate that. I'm sorry that some of you don't get it with the paragraphs indented, but it must be your mail system. When I get it back on the list it's exactly as I send it out. I know if I print from my email the message comes out without indentations. Afraid I can't help you out there. One response did suggest putting a space between paragraphs. I could do that or put a space between different sections. I'll have to experiment with it and see how it turns out. Sherry They arrived at the sub in good spirits. Captain Hudson was there to meet them. He was surprised at their attitudes. It was as if they weren't taking this seriously. He had a puzzled look on his face until Lucas held up the small bug from Tony's collar. Hudson nodded, smiled and welcomed them back. "What happened to you, young lady?" He noticed the grass stains and dirt on her skirt. "Oh, that was just a little mishap. I'm alright. Nothing serious." She smiled. Lucas wanted to study the bug for a while, so Hudson mouthed to them to meet in the wardroom in a half hour. A half hour later saw them in the wardroom with different faces. They were very serious. Mariah was anxious to hear about what happened. Tiffany had asked that the other women and children join them for just a few minutes at the beginning. Most of them were standing around the walls. Young Mariah and Matthew were sitting on Dagwood's lap. Some of the other children were around him also. It was a nice picture to see Dagwood with the children. Most of the SeaQuest crew were smiling at the scene. "Ahem, let's get going on this. I believe Commander Rose has something to say first." Captain Hudson was back to his military personality. Tiffany looked over at the mothers and their children. "Yes, I just wanted you all to know that everyone on the island is well. Matthew assures me that no one has been hurt and they're still being looked after." There were a few gasps of relief from the mothers. "Also the children seem to be fit, however they are being kept inside most of the time. I could tell from their paleness. I think it's probably been hardest on them. They don't have the freedom they need. Oh, and I have a message from Geordie to Matthew. He misses you very much." Matthew smiled. "He's my best friend. I miss him too. I want to play with him." "Don't worry, we'll have you guys back together soon. I promise." Tiffany smiled. "Yeah, Captain. I think Tiffany missed her calling. She should have been an actress. You should have seen the act she put on with the kids." Tony spoke up. "An act?" Hudson looked over at Tiffany. "Nothing much. I just had to get close to the children, so I put on my best slipping routine and managed to get a few seconds with Geordie. It wasn't anything much." "Yeah right." Tim added. "You had us all believing you had slipped accidentally and might even be hurt. I thought Delmont would jump out of his skin when you went down. He must have been thinking he didn't want you getting hurt on his precious island." Tiffany laughed. "Yes, nothing like having a dignitary hurt on your turf, to get the UEO here investigating. It wouldn't have done him any good." Mariah was getting impatient. "That's all well and good, but how are we going to get our island back? We need action." "Yes, it's time to discuss things. We can let the women and children go now." Hudson nodded. They all left. The children were reluctant to leave Dagwood. "Um, maybe Dagwood can play with you later. I will try." Dagwood told them as they were leaving. He was sad to see them go too. "Well, the first thing we have to do is have an excuse to stay here, sir. One that won't arouse suspicions with Delmont." Lucas said. "That's already been taken care of Ensign." Hudson had been prepared for staying. "While you were on the island, we developed some engine problems. We can't leave here until it's fixed or we may blow the engines completely. I, um, had to send a sub back to base to pick up some very much needed parts and at the same time he'll report what's happening to McGrath." "Well, aren't we getting to be the devious one. I thought I had the market on that in this family." Tiffany nodded her approval. "That's great then. Also when I talked to Matthew, he confirmed what Mariah has told us, so it's true. And from what I've seen of the children, they have enough nourishment to keep going, but that's about it. They aren't outside nearly enough. Their skin is pale and their eyes looked shallow and sunken in. They aren't getting the rest they need either." "Well, is there any plans then for what we can do? We have to get in there." Mariah showed a concern that the crew of SeaQuest had never seen in her before. She really did want to help. It was a surprise that she was willing to do it their way. "Mariah, Matthew told me that you know a secret place where he could leave some stuff for us. He just told me to tell you to come after midnight and he would have everything for you. Do you know where he means?" "If it's where I think, hmmm." She paused. "Yes I think I know where. When I was coming out of the underground tunnels, there was a niche in the wall. Matthew used to leave messages there for me so I'd know if it was safe to come up and get people. I would have thought they'd block that off somehow. I don't know if it's still there, but it's the only place I can think of." "OK, well, we'll have to take a chance that it's still there. Now, how can we get you in there to pick up the stuff? He's going to get any plans, blueprints or anything that will help us figure out something. There's not much else we can do until we get them." "I know a way to do it, if I can borrow one of your fighters. It'll have to be one with your Chameleon in it, Tiffany. I know where I can dock underwater, that is if they haven't blocked it off. If I have your Chameleon, they won't detect me coming in." "What about once you leave the fighter? Do they monitor the tunnels?" Hudson asked. "Crumbs! I didn't think to ask Matthew about that. I should have. But he wouldn't have suggested you get the stuff from there if they did monitor them. He's helping them in the compound so he should know what they do and don't do. Maybe he'll plan on being there so you don't get detected." Tiffany was thoughtful. She should have asked him more questions, but it was hard without the others knowing. "Matthew will do what he can. I know him. He'll be there to help in whatever way we need him. There's always been a bond among my people." Mariah looked at them all in defiance. "Yes, Mariah, I've seen that bond. It's often stronger than the ones that my people have." "OK then, we'll have to wait til later to make plans. Ensign Wolenczak, what did you find out from our little find?" Hudson queried. "Yeah, and I want to know how Tiffany knew that was in my collar. I didn't even feel him put it there. What made you suspicious?" "That was easy Tony. He was being too buddy, buddy with you when I was talking to Matthew. I saw his arm around your neck and he didn't seem like the kind of man who was that friendly with other men. I figured he had to have an ulterior motive for it. I wasn't sure if it was a bug or just a locator bug." "Gee, and I was hoping you had an ulterior motive, but I should know better with Tim there." Tony winked at Tim while both Tim and Tiffany turned red. "That's enough Ensign Piccolo. Wolenczak?" "Um, yes sir." Lucas was smiling then he became more serious. "Well, that thing, which I left in a glass of water in my room, by the way, is very state of the art. I wouldn't think the UEO issued it to him. They are never up on what's going on in the electronic world. They're far behind in that way. It must have been the newest development. I haven't even seen it before. It's so small, but seems to have a range of at least 300 feet. It can pick up anything. They would have known all about us and SeaQuest if Tiffany hadn't found it." "Are you sure there aren't any others around?" Lonnie spoke up. "Yes, we are. Tiffany asked me to scan everyone when they came in here, even the women and children. No one has any bugs on them. She also had me do a scan of everyone who was on the island and their quarters in case they carried something we didn't find, but there was nothing. And I scanned the whole ship as well. We are clean sir." "Very good then. Anything else?" Hudson looked around. Tiffany spoke up. "Yes, one other thing sir. I'll have to get Mariah familiar with our fighter and Chameleon. I can do that before she leaves, but I would like to request a meal break. They didn't even offer us anything to eat or drink while we were on there. Maybe I should deduct points or something for that. I don't know about the rest of them, but I'm starved." "OK, it's 20:00 hours now anyway. You have four hours. Grab a bite to eat and then show Mariah what to do. You're dismissed now." Mariah went with Tim and Tiffany to eat. Ford hadn't said anything throughout the whole discussion, but he hung back to talk with the captain. He waited til Dagwood had left also. There was just Lonnie, Lucas, Kimura and the Captain in the room before he voiced his opinion. "Sir, I need to talk with you." He felt uneasy about it. "Why didn't you say anything before?" "Sir, I'm not so sure it's a good idea to trust her. She isn't trustworthy, at least, I don't trust her yet anyway. I, um, I just feel that, ah, well." "Speak up Commander, what's on your mind?" "Yes, sir, I don't think she should go alone. I think there should be someone else there, to watch and make sure she won't just take off." "Commander, she wants to free her people. She came to us, remember?" "Sir, with all due respect, yes she came to us, but by kidnapping one of our crew. She could have done it legitimately, without all the fuss and worry she caused." "I think Commander, that she did it the only way she felt was safe. Remember that technically she's a fugitive, under two names now, and she's on the run. I tend to believe her. Besides Tiffany said she wasn't kidnapped, she went willingly." He raised his eyebrows and looked at the others. "I'm on the Commander's side, sir." Lonnie spoke up. "I remember the fear she put into me the first time I was on this ship. And I remember the fear that she would kill Tim and us too. I don't trust her either. She may just want a Chameleon fighter." Kimura nodded her head. "I don't know her sir, but the Chaudai didn't get where they are by trusting people. I don't think she should be alone either. Tiffany may be over her head in this one sir. I know she means well, but she may be too concerned about the Daggers on the island than she is in whether Mariah is legit or not." If nothing else, Kimura was truthful. She said things as she saw them. Hudson looked at Lucas. "Well, sir, I, um." He felt awkward but went on. "I don't agree with the Commander. I know what we went through with her before and I remember the fear too, but Matthew is trusting her. He's depending on her to do something for them. The only way something can be done is through us. If Matthew trusts her, then I think we should too. It's his life that's at stake. If she does take off on him and us, then it's the ones on the island who are going to suffer not us. We can just sail away if we want. Besides that, you can't get two people in one of those fighters. A mini-sub would be too big to manoeuvre around if they discover what we're doing. We have to trust her, just like we had to trust her that she was going to release Tim." "I appreciate all your feelings on this." Hudson paused. He was thoughtful. "The only precaution we can take, as far as I see it, is to have Piccolo and Kimura take Chameleon fighters out and stand by. Then if she does try to take off, we can get her, or, if they do discover her, then we have some back up for her. We're letting her go alone, Commander and we will have to trust her. That's it. You are dismissed. We'll meet back in here after Mariah gets back." Hudson turned and walked away. Then he changed his mind. He turned around. "And, as you know, anything said in here stays in here. It does not leave this room. Understand?" They all nodded. Ford was still uneasy. "Well, at least he has a back up plan. It's better than nothing." "Yes it is. I'm getting back to the bridge." Lonnie agreed. Tiffany showed Mariah how to use Chameleon and shortly after midnight she left for the island. Hudson waited for ten minutes and then Tony and Kimura left the ship in their fighters. Lucas was keeping track of the three of them. They were all on the bridge now, watching the screens, but they couldn't see anything. Lucas was the only one able to track them. Mariah, in the meantime, was slowly approaching the underwater vent she had used to escape. She didn't know if it would still be open. As she approached she saw a small one man sub come out from the compound. She held her breath. She hoped that what Tiffany had said about Chameleon was true. She closed her eyes, expecting to be shot out of the water, or at least, to be captured. She opened them again after a few seconds. It was approaching her, then it went right past her as if she wasn't there. Mariah smiled. Chameleon did work. What could she get for this on the black market? The thought passed through her mind, then she realized she was reverting to her old days. That was over. She didn't want anything to do with those days. She approached the vent, latched on to it and went inside. As she was going down the vent on her hands and knees, she remembered how she had helped the others escape. She remembered the last time, when she was chased and thought this was the end. She stopped. Why was this vent still open? Did they really think that someone wouldn't use it eventually? She couldn't understand why they wouldn't have some way of detecting her. Maybe they did and Matthew didn't know that. Well, she was here now. She had to continue. She kept on her hands and knees until she reached an opening to the compound itself. She stopped and listened. She could hear people on the other side. She must be near where the children were. If only she could go in and get them out. At least they would be safe. She pondered, but decided she had better follow the plan they had discussed. She kept going. Finally she came to an unused corridor. She opened the vent here and looked out. There was no one. She jumped down cautiously. No one seemed to be there. She walked along until she came to where the corridor turned to the right. Long ago Matthew had made a small compartment to hide messages for her. She reached up. They couldn't have found it when she escaped cause it was still there. She pulled at the brick and pulled it out. She could feel some papers inside it. Hudson had given her a waterproof bag to put them in so if there was a problem with her getting out, they would be safe. She sealed the bag and then put the brick back again. She looked around and started to walk back to the vent she had come out of. As she got near to the vent, she heard voices. She quickly pulled off the opening and climbed back in. It was too late. They saw her. She heard yelling. No time to close up the vent. She crawled as fast as she could back to the fighter. She could hear others in the vent. She was going as fast as she could. There were curves and turns in the duct system. It was hard on her hands and knees, but she kept going. She got to the opening. Her fighter was still there. They were getting close now. She could see one of the guards as she climbed into the fighter. She closed the hatch and looked around. There were two small subs there waiting for her. They had to know she was there even if they couldn't see her. She started the fighter up and as she did, the subs both turned slightly so they were fixed on her. They both fired, but Mariah had known that they would so she suddenly dove down. One of the subs nicked her wing, but she could still fly. She was afraid Chameleon wouldn't work, but it seemed to be alright. She had to remember how Tiffany had said she could fire. Press the Chameleon button. Fire. Then press Chameleon again. She got ready. She had her sights on the one sub, pressed Chameleon, fired and pressed Chameleon again. Her shot was off but it did hit the tail of the sub. He started to loose control. The out of nowhere a shot came. She turned around. It must have been someone from SeaQuest. The shot got the sub which Mariah had wounded. It went down. The other sub looked around. He couldn't see anyone. He fired wildly. Mariah took advantage fo his confusion to get out of there. She had to get these papers back to SeaQuest. Tony had fired the shot. Kimura came up on the other side and fired at the remaining sub, but one of his wild shots hit her. She backed off. They didn't want anyone to see them. Mariah had got safely away and Kimura had to go too. Tony followed her. The sub moved around looking for them and finally gave up. There was no way to tell where they had come from or how many there were. In the compound Delmont was confused. He yelled at his men. "What happened there? Who was that? Where did he come from?" "Sir, it was Mariah. I got a look at her. We think she was trying to free the children, but we interrupted her. She won't try that again." "I want that vent closed off for good. I should have done that when she escaped before. We have enough vents around here, we won't miss that one. Get it done tonight so she can't come back." "Yes, sir!" The Lieutenant rushed off with a couple of men to get the task done. Back on the ship, Lucas had been keeping track of the three fighters. There was a lot of tension when the subs came out, but it all worked out. Hudson was relieved. Mariah returned to the ship with the papers and they all met in the wardroom again to go over them and the plans of the compound. They knew they had to move fast now. Delmont was aware that someone had broken in again and he would be very cautious about anything they said or did. They thought he wouldn't know where Mariah had come from, but the fact that SeaQuest was sitting only a few hundred feet away would arouse his suspicions. They didn't have much time left. They would have to move in the morning. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: seaQuest-ff-unsubscribe@stgenesis.org For additional commands, e-mail: seaQuest-ff-help@stgenesis.org