========================================================================== JOINING SEAQUEST Kate (the other one) ========================================================================== Timeline: SeaQuest DSV Author's E-Mail: da180@alumni.csufresno.edu ========================================================================== AUTHOR'S NOTES: Slightly before To Be Or Not To Be. :) any comments address to me: da180@alumni.csufresno.edu ========================================================================== Joining seaQuest Kate (The other one) 7/20/97 Lucas glanced around his room and sighed. In a few days he'd be on the seaQuest, and Lord knew what would happen there. The big duffle bag that served as his suitcase was only partially full with the clothes his mother had bought him that day. The clothes weren't his style, but how do you tell your mother you don't like them? Especially, when you'd have to leave the message with her secretary. Oh yeah, tell Mom I love her and her taste in clothes sucks. Mom would go off into a case of the vapors which only he, her ungrateful son, could send her into. Mom was, if anything, an overly dramatic Social Butterfly. He'd walked into his room after a fairly decent day working on his program, and there they were. A pile of baseball shirts, pants, underwear, and socks. A post it note stuck to the top of the mound read, "Hope these fit you. Can't remember your size." Lucas had glanced at the tags and grunted to himself. They'd fit. Mom always did think of him as bigger. Lucas couldn't decide if it was her way of saying, why are you so small or her just being unfeeling. After crumpling up the note, he started to stuff the clothes into the bag, then stopped. SeaQuest was going to be the biggest drag. No kids, no girls, no fun. Adults everywhere. And not just adults; military adults. "I HATE the military." Lucas snorted in disgust, and sat down on his bed. The only up side was that he'd be a part of the science team and finally get a chance to work on his vocorder program with a live subject. Noyce had dangled the fact that a dolphin might be available for the project like a carrot in front of a donkey. Although Lucas was pretty sure Noyce didn't think of him as an ass. Just stubborn. "Lucas?" Lucas glanced at the partially open door as one of his father's assistants, Martin, came walking into the room. "Yeah?" Martin was pretty cool, but Lucas wasn't about to let anyone talk him out of bad mood. "You ready?" Martin asked looking the kid over. Lucas looked absolutely disgusted with life, and a small muscle in his cheek flexed as he ground his teeth. Martin smiled, "Don't be so glum. It'll be great." "How?" Martin shook his head, "You'll get to see things others only dream about. You get to work on your little project. Things like that." "It's not little. It an interface for communication with a whole different species of intelligent beings." Lucas stood up and began to stuff more things in the duffle bag. "You sound just like my father. Where is he, by the way? He said he'd see me off." "Lucas, your father is busy with the geothermal project. You know that." Martin motioned to Lucas's desk. "You want anything from here?" "No. I already packed all the good stuff. My clothes are all that's left." Martin watched Lucas wad up a couple of shirts, "Didn't your parents ever teach you to fold your clothes?" He knew it was the wrong thing to say immediately. Lucas glared at him, "No. The maid did. Or rather one of them did. She was the same maid that taught me how to make my own peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Who was just after the maid I mistakenly called mom one day." Lucas pulled up the duffle bag and yanked the chord tight. "Mother fired her for that one." Martin simply stood in the doorway and nodded, not knowing what else to do. Lucas glanced around his room for a few moments and then sighed, "I guess that's it." He grabbed his duffle and motioned for Martin to lead the way down the hall. Martin sighed, and led the way downstairs to the front hall. Standing next to the door was the newest maid, Rose. She smiled broadly at Lucas, "I made some cookies for you to take with you." She was a small woman, who managed to fill up whatever room she was in. Lucas counted his lucky stars that his mother had hired her. Usually any woman who entered the house with any ability to mother someone was bounced out the door immediately. Lucas suspected it was because Rose made even his mother feel babied. Mom was always one for attention, especially focused on her. "Thanks." He smiled and hugged her. She squeezed him especially tight for a moment, then released him. "I think you'll find it's the best thing for you Lucas." She dabbed at her watery eyes briefly before continuing. "You know I care for your Mom and Dad, but they aren't great parents. You need to be somewhere you can be appreciated for what you are." Lucas shook his head and hitched his duffle bag up higher on his shoulder, "Yeah, but what am I?" Rose grinned at him, "A talented, intelligent teenager with way too much time on his hands." She picked up a big bag off the hall table, "Here, don't eat all of them at once." She reached out and handed them to him. Lucas took the bag, and stepped out the front door, "Thanks, again." "Don't gulp them down either. You'll get sick." She called out the door. "Oh, and Martin! Make sure he gets on the boat. You remember what he did last year when his father signed him up for summer camp; it took everyone a month to find out he wasn't supposed to be home!" Her voice gradually raised in volume as they walked to the car until her last sentence was screamed across the front yard. Lucas grinned and waved at her, "Man, she has a set of lungs." He turned to Martin who was just getting into the driver's seat. "So, you really gonna drop me off at the sub?" "Yes, Lucas. As Rose so eloquently put it, I do remember how long it took everyone to figure out you weren't where you were supposed to be last year. If your father hadn't gone home that day and caught you in the kitchen..." Lucas snorted, "He'd never have known I didn't go to camp. He would have said `hi' the next time he saw me and walked away after asking me how the camp was." Martin turned to Lucas, "That's not the point. Your parents expected you to be someplace and you weren't there. Your mother had fits when she found out." "Yeah. There was an audience." "Your mother was worried about you." "No. My mother has never been worried about anything except her symphony season being interrupted." Martin started the car, "Your parents love you. They want the best thing for you." "That's a lie. They had me because it was the thing to do. They got married, then life wasn't so rosy. They looked around and realized the next logical step after marriage was to start a family. They had me." Lucas sat fidgeting in the front seat as Martin pulled out of the driveway. "They never should have gotten married, much less had a child. Once they realized that they weren't suited, they decided to stick it out anyway. A commitment is a commitment. The one thing keeping them together is me. Neither have time for a child in their careers or extracurricular activities, but a child can't be left a home. See, one of them has to take care of me. When Dad's busy, Mom has to. Lately, they only see each other when they pass each other in the garage. They toss me into each other's car whenever they can just to get rid of the hassle. "You don't know that most of the communication between my parents last year was conducted through big post it notes on the adjoining door between their offices. Mom's are pink; Dad's are yellow." Lucas was practically snarling now, "You know how I found out I was being sent to seaQuest? The same way I found out I was being carted off to camp: two post it notes on my door. One from each of them." He slumped back into the car seat and watched as the scenery blurred by. "Lucas. Just give the seaQuest a chance. Not for your Father, Mother, Rose, or even me. Do it for you." Lucas snorted, but a small part of him wondered what lay ahead. ***** Lucas looked around the docking bay scowling. A man stepped in front of him. Irritated, Lucas looked up to read the name on the left breast pocket. Ford. Oh, great; The Commander. "Where are your parents, son?" "Home." I hate military jarheads, Lucas thought, his mood not improved by the pointed reminder. "At least that's where I left them." "This is a military vessel..." The man began impatiently. Lucas ruthlessly interrupted him, "No, it's a research vessel. Complete with a science team." Take that you, narrow minded grunt, he thought. "That still doesn't explain what you're doing here." Ford crossed his arms, impassive and determined looking down at the boy. "I'm part of the science team." Lucas smirked at the disbelieving look on Ford's face. "Wolenczak, Lucas." "That's impossible." He glanced over to another soldier standing just off to the side. "Ortiz. Hand me the roster." The other man handed Ford the clipboard, having already seen the listed bithdate, and grinned a greeting at Lucas as Ford shook his head. "There a problem, Commander?" Lucas asked facetiously. "Yes. It says here you have a Master's degree." Ford looked at him, "You're what, 15?" Ford glanced back at Ortiz, who just shrugged. When he turned back, the boy had an unholy look of glee in his eyes. "Yup. The University let me out early. Good behavior. " "Right. And I'm supposed to believe that?" Ford shook his head, "Do you have any identification?" Lucas rolled his eyes, pulled yanked his wallet from his back pocket, and pulled out his ID. Ford, still frowning slightly, took it from the boy's hand and studied it. When he handed it back to Lucas Ford shook his head one more time in disbelief as he waved another seaman over to where they stood, "You're in mammal engineering; seaman Mann will show you to your quarters." Lucas glanced back with a slight smile at the two officers as he walked along behind the seaman. Commander Ford and the one named Ortiz were shaking their heads and talking quietly to each other. *** "Tell me that someone didn't assign a child to a military vessel." Ford asked. "With a Master's degree." Ortiz piped in, he glanced at the clipboard, "Noyce signed him in, too." He grinned, "Should be an interesting tour." "Westphalen is the head of the science team; she can have him. Make sure she knows he's her responsibility." Ford frowned. "Hopefully, he'll keep her off my back." "She still making life difficult?" Ortiz asked, already knowing the answer. Westphalen had done little else but station her workers under protest and harangue Ford for his military way of handling things. "Yes." Ford shook his head. "I'm still trying to get seamen stationed, and she's harping about space. I've got to figure out what to do with my men before I can solve her problems. It's all I can do to avoid her." "Ah." Ford smiled slightly. "That's why you're going to go down and tell her about the new addition to her team," he said and waved Ortiz on his way. "Thank you, Sir." Ortiz rolled his eyes, but then grinned at the Commander, "I'll make sure she knows you're trying to correct her problem." "Don't even think it, Ortiz." Ford warned. "You're doing a favor for an old friend, right now. Think of it that way." Ortiz just smirked and casually strolled away, whistling. ***** Kristin Westphalen had no idea why a child had been stationed on seaQuest. Figures an old reprobate like Noyce would go behind her back and put in some military bigwig's precocious, spoiled offspring on her team; the last thing she needed right now, considering how Commander Ford was acting. Come to think of it, the commander and the newest science team addition probably had a lot in common. They'd both be pains in the proverbial arse. Castigating herself for not finding out the youngster's name, she marched down the hall, pausing outside the child's room, she debated whether to knock or not. The door flew open. A lanky teenager stared at her in surprise. Oh Lord. 15 or 16 if he's a day. Just what I need. Hormones. "Who are you?" The teenager asked belligerently. "I'm Dr. Westphalen." She began reciting her semi rehearsed speech while compiling a mental list of things she could have him do just to keep him out of her hair and out from under foot. "You are part..." "What are you here for?" He interrupted. She stopped, "Normally it's polite to wait until someone is through speaking before you start talking. In the event that you do interrupt, it's polite to apologize for the insult." "It's also polite to answer a question." The teenager shot back. Kristin glared at him for a moment, "I'm waiting for an apology." The boy raised his eyebrows then shrugged, "Okay. I'm sorry I interrupted you." "Right. I'm Dr. Westphalen..." "You already said that." He drawled as he leaned negligently against the door frame.. She crossed her arms, and just looked at him. "Well, you did." He crossed his arms. "Fine," he acknowledged. "I apologize for interrupting...again." "Apparently, You are part of my science team. Who are you?" "Wolenczak, Lucas." She opened her mouth and then abruptly shut it. She stared at him for a moment, before she spoke again, "The Wolenczak that wrote the program designed to translate dolphin speech?" He smiled enjoying her discomfiture, "Yup." "Well." She thought furiously about all the things she had heard about Mr. Wolenczak. Not one of them mentioned the inventor was this young. "I was lead to understand that you were interested in geothermal energy?" "That's my father. I'm into artificial intelligence." She nodded, "I see. I had been curious why you'd deviated from your particular area of research. I had no idea Dr. Wolenczak had a son." Much less one also in research, she thought. "Sometimes neither does he." Lucas muttered. What do you say to that? She asked herself, and immediately made a mental note to pull this young man's file when she got back to her office. "I'm pleased to meet you, and look forward to working with you." She held out her hand and watched him stare at it for a second before he reached out to take it almost shyly. "Thank you." She smiled, beginning to warm up to him, despite the unwelcome problems she forsaw. "Well, your equipment is all down in the lab. It just needs for you to set it up." She watched his eyes light up, and he leaned forward. "Where?" "I'm headed there now. Come on." He reached out to shut his door and then fell into step next to her. When they reached the science lab, Lucas immersed himself in the various science equipment set out, barely noticing when Dr. Westphalen tugged on the sleeve of his t-shirt. When he finally glanced up, she pointed to a technician who was attaching one of the components into the large moonpool. "You might want to make sure everything's where it's supposed to be for the trial runs. The dolphin will be here soon." Lucas gaped at her, 'Dolphin?!" "That's what Noyce said. He was rather adamant that we'd be getting one soon." Dr. Westphalen answered. "YES!" He grinned like a fool, and zipped off to monitor the installation of his pet project. Kristin smiled to herself, went to check on Lucas's personnel file. A sixteen year old was a handful in almost any situation, but one who managed to be as creative as this one obviously needed to be supervised. A part of her felt put upon, yet she couldn't help but be intrigued by the boy's evident intellect. Immediately, she made a mental note to pull this young man's file when she got back to her office. She suspected Noyce had banked on exactly that response. "Fine," She sighed, resigned to the inevitable. "I'll call Noyce after I go over the boy's files." But, a part of her knew Noyce had already won. END ==========================================================================