Bridger stood at the head of the long polished wooden table alone in the briefing room. The image of Admiral William Noyce filled the majority of the view screen, and his aged expression didn�t look welcoming. He and Nathan Bridger had been friends for many years since Bridger�s days of teaching at the Academy, and both owed each other a line of favors that they�d call to collect every now and then.

          �Bill. Nice to see you again.�

          �I wish this could be a courtesy call, but...� Noyce began.

          �What�s the news?�

          Noyce took on the air of leadership and confidence that had been a main contributor to reaching his respected military status. �We�ve received some reports of a renegade sub transporting munitions to the pirate factions in the pacific.�

          �And let me guess; You want us to chase them down,� Bridger wagered.

          Noyce nodded once. �We need the best, Nathan.� He�d always known how quick Nathan was at the game, and he�d no reason to doubt otherwise. Nathan Bridger had more than proven his worth time and time again. Even when he retired to that little island in the Yucatan, the UEO had made it a point to keep tabs on one of their most valuable assets. �We�ve been given a general location of the next transaction, but it�s risky. We�ve already lost a patrol sub and three mini-subs to these madmen.�

          �How much time?�

          �72 hours.�

          Bridger let out a breath. �72 hours. Gee, Bill, you didn�t give us much of a window.�

          �We only received the communiqu� a few hours ago. I�m sending you what intelligence we�ve gathered.� As he spoke, an encoded message scrolled down the right side of the screen. �There�s something else, Nathan.�

          Bridger arched an eyebrow. Somehow, he�d expected this.

          �We lost those subs from a pervious convoy sent to intercept them. I�m afraid we may have a leak.�

          �A leak?� Bridger repeated, his attention piqued.

          �It�s the only way they could have known our position.�

          �Am I entitled to know when you found out about it?�

          �A week ago from a coded transmission sent from the Stone Temple Colony.�

          Bridger furrowed his brow thoughtfully and walked around the right side of the table. �That was our last stop for supplies and personnel.� He pointed a finger at Noyce�s image. �I know what you�re thinking, Bill, and don�t tell me you think the leak is here.� �It�s a possibility we have to consider. One of the personnel you picked up may be the leak. You know it�s not impossible.�

          �It is on my boat,� he responded in sharp defense.

          �If he is there, then he might try something before, or even when you reach the rendezvous point.�

          �If he does, we�ll just shoot and ask questions later.� The humor was dry, if anything.

          Noyce took serious note of Nathan�s demeanor and knew this wasn�t the normal joking he would pull. Something else was wrong, and it seemed to strike deep in his friend. �What�s gotten into you, Nathan?�

          Bridger thought he may as well tell him, as he trusted Noyce. �There�s been an accident and two of my crew were hurt.�

          �Who?�

          �Samantha and Lucas,� Bridger relinquished.

          �That girl Landsdowne sent you?�

          �The same. She and Lucas were working on a science experiment when it happened.�

          �I�m sorry to hear that. They�re good kids.�

          Bridger nodded, taking his friends sympathy as real. �We�ll start the hunt for your leak and get under way immediately,� he said, regaining his composer and silently berating himself for the unchecked display of emotion.

          The admiral�s face softened as he looked at his friend through the vidcom. �Be careful, Nathan.�

          Bridger knew that none of these hunt and capture crusades the UEO sent him on were ever easy, so he gave the admiral a reassuring grin. �We�ll bring them home to you, Admiral. Bridger out.�

* * * *

          Lucas picked absently at his hash browns. He�d eaten the eggs--to Samantha�s distaste--and downed the orange juice, but at her request, he�d allowed himself a cup of coffee. He was never a coffee drinker before, and he couldn�t see how she liked it. He always thought it smelled better than it tasted, and in this case he was right. The cook had made it thick enough to stand a fork in. And leave it there. Leaning on his elbows, he slowly sipped the coffee. The din of the morning breakfast rush had dulled to a low rumble of people sifting in and out of the mess hall, while most of the chatter came from a small table in the corner harboring three science personnel and an ensign.

          *I wonder what they�re talking about?* Samantha mused.

          ~Hm. Don�t care. ~ Lucas looked up...and froze in mid sip. For an instant, he thought he�d gone clinically nuts. There she was, as clear as if she were actually sitting across from him at the table. Her head was leaning on one hand, and she was staring at the other patrons in longing. He blinked, unsure of what to make of this.

          He saw her look back at him and lower her hand. *What?*

          Lucas swallowed. �Um, I can...see you.� A surge of hope flared through him--that she had finally left, that he was alone again in his life! Oh the joy!

          *Nope, I�m still here.*

          He could still feel the tingle and that surge dwindled like a puff of smoke.

          She wanted to scratch her neck, and as she though it, the image Lucas saw did the same. *It must be your mind making sense of what�s happened. It�s created an image of me as a way of dealing with this so you won�t go insane from a neural overload.*

          �Too much information--it makes sense.�

          *Looks like your big brain can't hold everything after all,* she smirked.

          "Oh hahah." He looked around in case anyone else had noticed. �It would also stand to reason that no one else can see you.�

          *Stands to reason. As far as their concerned, I�m just a figment of your imagination.* She was still adjusting to the oddity that was living as a part of Lucas Wolenczak, and wanted anything to distract her rather than dwell on their situation. Even eating had been an obstacle to get by.

          Lucas ran his hand through his hair. �Great. Now I�m hallucinating.�

          Samantha�s hallucination shrugged. *Could be worse.*

          �Not unless I start seeing flying monkeys, I don�t see how,� Lucas muttered, stuffing more hash browns into his mouth as someone walked by.

          *This just started. I get all the thrills of living as you, but with no breaks.* She leaned back and folded her arms, then suddenly hacked. *Yuck! When did they start burning the hash browns?*

          ~They didn�t, ~ Lucas thought as he chewed the food and held back her reflexive gag. ~It always tasted like this. ~

          *How can you eat this stuff?* she cringed.

          He swallowed. �Very carefully.�

          *It�s like toxic waste.*

          �Yea, well at least it�s food.�

          *Barely. I recall them being more agreeable.*

          ~You recall your own taste buds, too. [Note to self: get salt next time. Lots of it.]~

          *This is not right. Nothing about this is right. I don�t think I�ll ever get use to this.* Samantha�s head fell into her hands. *Please tell me you at least like chocolate.*

          Lucas nodded.

          *Oh, thank God.*

          After only a few hours of having someone else paired with his life, Lucas learned quickly that they shared the same sensory perception. She could hear, smell, taste, see, and feel everything he could. And it wasn�t the most comfortable feeling in the world.

          Lucas bit into the hash browns again and noticed how burnt they really did taste. It brought on another thought. ~Can you hear everything I�m thinking? ~

          *No, not unless you put it into words like you just did.*

          ~Oh. Well, that�s a relief, ~ he thought. He didn�t want any more invasion of privacy than was necessary.

          And as it went both ways, she thought so, too.

          Her image straightened. *Uh-oh. Don�t look up.*

          ~Too late. ~

          Ben Krieg sauntered over to the small table and set his tray down with a light clink, taking a seat right where Lucas had seen Samantha. �Hey, pal, where ya been? Ya look a little blue.�

          �I�m thinking,� ~Go away. ~ Lucas took a bite of the hash browns, noticing Samantha had materialized in the chair to his right.

          �Thinkin� pretty deep there. I heard what happened to you and Sam.� He saw the kid�s face change from contemplative to intent surprise. �It�s gotta be hard for ya,� Ben added as he stuffed a forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth.

          �How do you know?� Lucas quickly asked. ~How did he know that? There�s no way he could have found out. No way. ~

          Samantha continued to stare at Ben, looking for a vulnerable place to deck him, should the need arise. Lucas felt his left hand clench into a fist beneath the table.

          �Come on, kid, the whole boat knows what happened.� Ben�s statement was as calm as if reporting the morning news.

          Lucas paled as if someone had just signed his death warrant.

          �Sam is a good kid. A little on the heated side, but most women are. Shame about that VR experiment though. I know Katie wanted to get her fingers in that pie.� He took a slug of coffee. �You ok?�

          Lucas took a larger gulp of the coffee than he�d intended, feeling the hot liquid burn all the way down. He coughed. �Yea, yea, fine. Why you ask?�

          �You, uh, look a little distracted.�

          �Distracted?� ~Crap. ~ Uh, no, no. Just thinking about what went wrong and how to fix it.� He wasn�t lying, merely not telling the whole truth.

          *You lie horribly.*

          Lucas shoved a forkful of hash browns in his mouth to keep from verbally responding to Samantha. ~Shut up, Sam. ~

          �Well, we�re all pullin� for her. Yup, she�s one tough cookie,� Ben reminisced as he finished off the eggs.

          �You�re just saying that because she refused to introduce you to her sorority the last time we were in Hawaii,� Lucas chuckled.

          Ben pointed his fork at the boy. �Hey, it was one lousy �hi, how ya doin.� I didn�t see the harm in a little chit-chat.�

          �And pinching Tiffany�s butt was your way of saying hello?�

          �She fell down.�

          �It was a volleyball game.�

          �Yea, and come to think of it, how do you know about that? As I recall, I never told you,� he shot an accusing stare, pasting on that famous smile of charm that could get almost anyone to talk. That�s why he was so good as his business--whatever it was at the time he was also acting as the supply and morale officer.

          �I, uh, I talked to Tim,� Lucas covered.

          �I never told Tim.� His answer was so smooth, glass would be jealous.

          Lucas floundered for an answer. He saw Samantha glance questioningly at him, and felt the shift in his mind. �Then, I must have heard it from Sam.�

          *I never told you that. Lucas, just how much access to me do you have?* She realized that it was her memory he�d repeated, and she grew more demanding. *Lucas...*

          �Why would she talk to you about it? Scuttlebutt is that you hate her.�

          *You hate me?* She felt a growing hurt despite how she�d always reacted to Lucas in the past.

          �I was in the same room when she told Lynn. It couldn�t be avoided,� Lucas answered, his eyes shifting to the empty seat wherein the illusion sat.

          �hm. Right,� Ben shoved another forkful of food in his mouth. �Anyway, I think you�re right for not liking her. She�s bossy, she pushes you around, you guys just butt heads too much.�

          �Well, she does kinda get on my nerves,� Lucas agreed.

          *You ass,* Samantha clenched Lucas� fist harder. Lucas fought for control, banging his hand against the underside of the table. Quickly he hit the table top with his other hand to cover up the mistake.

          Ben raised an eyebrow, but continued as if he hadn�t noticed and picked up his coffee cup. �Just don�t tell Katie about the Tiffany incident, ok?�

          �Why?�

          �She still has feelings for me.�

          �She doesn�t love you, Ben.�

          �Oh, she�ll deny it, but I know she still wants me. She can�t resist me for long.�

          Lucas believed his friend was soothing himself more than anything. �Just keep tellin� yourself that. See ya later,� Lucas said as he tossed the contents of his tray into the garbage and walked out of the galley.

          *Thu umpaidh! {You blockhead!}* Samantha cursed.

          Lucas� head throbbed and he cringed. �Do you have to yell?�

          *I have a right to,* Her voice was as heated as the anger he felt from her. He saw her cross her arms.

          ~Whatever happened to working something out? ~

          *With someone you hate?* she spat.

          �I don�t hate you.� Someone passing by gave him a quizzical look, but he just grinned, then raised his eyebrows as they walked through Samantha--who seemed oblivious. ~I never did. ~

          *Then why did Krieg say it?* the image he saw gestured angrily back at the galley, *It might as well be announced over the comm system.* He could feel her pacing the confines of his mind like a caged tiger, and as such, she paced in front of him.

          ~Yea? So if rumors are true, then that means the hate is shared? ~ He moved away from sight just in time to be slapped across the face by his own hand, sending him reeling. �Ow!�

          *You�re a hateful man, Lucas Daniel Wolenczak! I never hated you! You irritated the hell out of me, annoyed me, even made me laugh, but not enough to hate! And now I�m trapped in your body, forced to constantly live with you, and I find out that you told everyone you hated me and you can�t even say you�re sorry!?* Samantha forced herself to ignore the stinging pain in Lucas� cheek and withdrew as far away from him as she could get.

          Lucas felt like he wanted to split in half and bolt down the hall in opposing directions to the far corners of the globe.

          Hot tears welled in his eyes--either from her swirling emotions or his own tingling face--and he closed them, getting for the first time a small image of Samantha in her civilian clothing curled up and hugging her knees in a round empty room with blue walls that coursed with electricity. She was crying. Yet as he�d finally found her hiding place--her way of dealing with this--he�d never before seen her cry. �Sam, I�m...I�m sorry,� he uttered.

          Lucas opened his eyes and leaned against Darwin�s tube with a breath as a tear came despite forced efforts to blink it back. He felt horrible. So much had happened that it had them both treading that thin line of stress, cringing when it wavered. For her, that line had finally snapped.

          Her voice came soft as a sad breeze. *Just leave me alone, Wolenczak.*

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