William Noyce paced the spacious living area of his high class two storied home. A panoramic view of the Atlantic ocean spread out before great yawning windows that let the light pour in from the moon�s blue-white reflection on the constantly shifting ocean It was beautiful. It was serene.

          He hated times like these.

          It had been nearly two days since the SeaQuest had made any form of communication to the UEO concerning the pirates, or the leak, and he was seriously beginning to fear that something had gone wrong. But if it had, wouldn�t he have been notified? Nathan Bridger had never been late in reporting the outcome of a situation as serious as this, and the apprehension shouldn�t have taken more than two hours at most. The SeaQuest was quick, precise, and thorough--the main reasons it had become the jewel of the fleet. A day�s absence was inexcusable, let alone two days. Someone was always contacting the UEO from the ship for something--requesting more supplies, submitting reports, patching calls through to talk to loved ones--but in that amount of time, the organization had received nothing. Something was wrong. Noyce would have bet his weekly poker chits on it.

          Two feminine arms wrapped themselves around his waist from behind when he�d stopped pacing to gaze out the wall high windows. �Come back to bed, Bill,� a soft woman�s voice intervened like silk on his train of thought.

          Bill sighed as he rubbed his wife�s hands. �Something about this isn�t right. I know it.�

          �It�s two a.m., honey. I�m sure they�re fine. You need to relax.� she soothed, hoping to coax her stubborn husband back into the arms of rest. She�d sensed that this situation at work was giving him more stress than he needed, and with the SeaQuest missing in action, it was wearing down on him. �Let me make you some tea, hmm?� she smiled, kissing his cheek, then shuffled off into the kitchen with fuzzy slippers that shoofed along the tan carpet.

          Noyce knew his wife was right and resigned to accepting a cup of tea to help him nod off again.

          Without warning, his comlink beeped. He walked over to the desk and pressed the receive button...and nearly collapsed. �Nathan! My god! Where the hell are you? What happened?� Bridger�s image was constantly being distorted by static, but the link held, though Noyce thought it would be cut like a string at any minute.

          �We�ve been attacked. I don�t have much time on this channel, but we�re sitting in the Kermadeck Trench running on minimal power,� Bridger said hurriedly, his voice occasionally being interrupted by static. �You were right about the leak, Bill. He sabotaged the main computer and escaped with one of our sea launches. He was with the pirate faction �Winter�s Raid�, and it was Jeffries from Stone Temple Colony.� Nathan�s image paused, letting the information sink into to a shocked admiral before continuing with darker news. �They took the VRN specs and six kilograms of Kl-24p. We have a link to where they might have gone, but we won�t have engines back for at least another twelve hours.�

          �Give me the location and I�ll have someone out there by morning.�

          The view screen glowed a technical red from the lighting in the SeaQuest briefing room. �It�s not an exact location, but it�s a name. Edward Phalwell.�

          �Of Phalwell Industries?� Though Noyce thought he didn�t look shocked, Nathan caught it in his voice.

          �The same. We think that �Winter�s Raid� was just trying to get their hands on the system to sell it and the mineral to Phalwell, and we isolated the recipient of the coded message. It went to Eric Corvain.�

          Nathan sounded disappointed when he said the colonel�s name, and Noyce knew why. Bill had known the man strictly by reputation alone, and it wasn�t what you�d call a squeaky clean record. He�d also been one of Nathan�s students back then he was like much of his class--young and eager to prove themselves for power or fame. �This accusation is enough to put him behind bars.�

          �The SeaQuest is proof enough to take care of that.�

          Noyce nodded. �We�re on it. I�m sending you some help and putting our best on the hunt for Phalwell.�

          Nathan�s image shifted between static and clarity. �I owe you one. Bridger out.�

          The view screen went dead. Noyce shut off his screen and keyed in an alert to UEO headquarters then sat heavily in a leather chair. Behind him, his wife came carrying the cup of steaming oolong tea. �Is everything alright?�

          �Yes. Yes, it�s fine. Thank you, dear.� He took the cup and sipped at it idly, glad to know his friend was alright, but worried about the repercussion�s of the arrest of a man as powerful as Edward Phalwell.

* * * *

          Lucas tossed and turned in his bed, muttering softly and getting tangled in the sheets while he dreamt-- lost in a deep, exhausting slumber. After eating a short dinner, it hadn�t taken him long to fall asleep. Once he was sure Samantha was out, he allowed himself to doze off and quickly succumbed to the welcoming call of rest his body so desperately needed.

          He was home again, about eight years old, and hiding in a cupboard. He heard the familiar sound of his mother�s car pull into the driveway and then her warm voice as she called for her son. Filled with hope that his mom would make everything alright, that she would explain that the accident was just an accident and he hadn�t meant to spill the coffee on his father�s laptop, Lucas ran eagerly from the cupboard toward the waiting arms of his mother, but something in his dream was chasing him--something dark and forbidding that held a fearful, yet familiar presence. His small feet padded down the carpeted hall and his fingers had almost brushed the brass doorknob when the darkness seized him. His heart beat harder when he recognized the owner of the masculine hand, the brown eyes that burned down at him, and screamed as he was lifted and carried away.

          Immediately, he dream-shifted and found himself as a younger child in the back seat of a limousine screaming for a completely different reason.

          Samantha opened her green eyes to find herself standing on a white sandy beach in the middle of the night, barefoot. The ocean lapped peacefully at the shore while a warm breeze drifted through the spaced palm trees that edged the beach and wrapped around the right side of the lagoon in a beautiful, green, tropical fairy tale. To her left, a wooden path meandered up a sloping grass hill to an old oak perched at the top of the small peninsula that cupped around the beach like a lover�s arms. The sky was jet black and shone with stars that glittered like diamonds on the serenity of the private beach. A little cottage sat behind her on a small hill where sand met a boardwalk path safe up from the sea. She smiled, for she knew this place well.

          Happily, she let the sea water rush over her own feet--not Lucas�--and smiled as the sand swished from beneath them and made small, perfect foot holes the exact shape and size of her feet. She inhaled the sweet scent of the air dancing with the aromas of tropical flowers, sea water, and rain like just after a spring shower.

          She was dreaming, though she didn�t care. Her eyes drifted across the slope of the teal waters merging with the ocean beyond, to the oak tree�s wooden path and the familiar figure that was descending that path. She let her gaze rest on him for a moment, then turned back to immersing herself in the calmness of the breeze that swept its fingers through her loose brown hair.

          Lucas stopped just short of her and took in the surroundings, seeing her standing at the edge of the water, in the center of the beach--in the center of it all. �What is this place?� he asked softly, almost afraid the scenery would shatter around him like sugar-glass if he spoke.

          �Dolphin Cove,� Samantha wrapped her arms around herself. �It�s my place.�

          �Does it really exist?� He stepped up beside her, feeling the wind brush his face and hair, and the water lick at his bare feet.

          �Not to my knowledge, no, but I�ve always been able to come here.� Her words held no bite, no sting, just the sincerity and calmness to match the sea. �Ever since I was little, I would dream of this place in many situations, with many differences, but no matter what, it was still the same. It�s kind of like a sanctuary, I guess,� she said with an embarrassed smile at using that analogy to describe a dreamscape, and glanced to Lucas. �What are you doing here?�

          He shrugged, giving her a half-grin. �Spying on you.� Lucas stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked past the arms of the lagoon to the vast expanse of deep blue ocean beyond it.

          She glanced at him, not really believing him.

          �I just followed the path and...�

          �It lead you here,� she finished. She chuckled as Lucas nodded and responded with something that would have resembled a �yea� in another life. �Well, I�m flattered.� She knew that she�d been able to see his dreams the past few nights that he had dreamt, but had always wanted to stay as far away from him, and them, as possible. Whether he could see hers, she didn�t know until now.

          �This is nicer than some of the stuff you�ve dreamt of lately,� he added coolly.

          She regarded him coolly. �Thank you.�

          �Really. It�s better than that nightmare about the giant spider invading the ship,� he chuckled. �That one�s almost as bad as an old Japanese horror flick. All you�re missing are the Japanese.�

          �Well, there is Ensign Yamato, and Officer Chen.�

          �Who I recall were running in terror through the bridge.�

          Samantha sighed with exasperation and rolled her eyes. �Can we please not get into this?�

          �Why?�

          She bent down and picked up a handful of sand. �I hate spiders.�

          Lucas shrugged. �Ok. No more Arachnazilla,� he chuckled.

          She stood, dropping the sand. �Thanks.�

          For a moment, both remained silent until Lucas spoke again. �Did it have to eat Ensign Mayweather?�

          Samantha sighed. �Dammit, Lucas.�

          �Because that�s a little clich� if you ask me.�

          �Ok, let�s have it. Lets let the accusations fly. I know they�re in there,� she ranted, tapping a finger against his forehead.

          �Ok, let�s. Every chance you get it�s �Lucas, don�t do that.� or �I know I�m right,� or even when you�re taking control of my body. My body. Not yours.� He met her exasperated sigh with his own and combed his fingers through his blond hair. �Sometimes I just wish...�

          �Wish what?� she faced him. �That I�d sit quietly in the back of your head and watch you live my life?�

          �It�s my life!� he jabbed a finger at himself, drawing closer to her.

          �It�s mine, too!� She didn�t back away. �Don�t you think I hate watching what�s going on around me and having nothing to do with it? Hell, I might as well be dead!�

          �I never asked to have your...your...soul trapped in my head!�

          �Neither did I! But like it or not, we�re stuck together and we�re both going to have to deal with it.� She turned away from him and folded her arms.

          Lucas stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned away from her, growling. �It�s not a gift, it�s a damned curse.�

          �Oh, blow it, Wolenczak,� she threw the words like tiny rocks.

          �Switching to insults. Very big of you,� his ammunition came just as quickly, laden with sarcasm.

          �There�s only so much one can say before they come up against a brick wall. You say this ability is a curse in your family, well let me enlighten you, Einstein. No one gives a shit!�

          �Makes no difference to me, alright? You�re family�s just as screwed up as mine!� he yelled. Clearly she had struck a nerve. �You expect me to care what people say? The minute I set foot on this boat I knew no one cared That was my dad saying �see ya, son. Hope you have fun without me,� he paced, angrily. �I�ll tell you what you are,� he pointed accusingly. �You�re just some dirt digger�s egotistical daughter who happened to know more than five digits in the numerical sequence of Pi. You care about no one but yourself, Samantha.�

          �That is not true!� Her voice rose though a metal spike rammed itself through her heart. �You take that back!�

          Lucas pressed nearly nose to nose with her. �You first.�

          A tense breath held between them. �It�s not my fault your dad cut out on you.�

          �Take it back or you�ll find yourself crossing over the hard way,� he growled.

          She threw her arms in the air and stomped away from him. �Fine. I take it back. I take it all back! If you don�t want me here so bad, then push me out. Go on! Maybe then you�ll be happy.�

          �I probably would, but you�d die,� he matched her animosity perfectly.

          �It�s one less person for you to worry about. You hate me anyway, so just do it!� She lunged at him, slamming her fist hard on his chest.

          Lucas reeled and grabbed her wrist, dodged the second fist and spun her around to keep from getting hit again.

          She used the spin to throw them both off balance. They fell to the ground and grappled, hitting, kicking, biting, all out wrestling. Lucas pulled her hair when she shoved her knee into his ribs. She caught his shirt and yanked, rolling them both over, and kicked out. He instantly caught her foot and rolled her over twice until she was on her back and he was straddling her waist. He pinned her arms to the ground to save his own face from becoming a target. �No, Sam!�

          �Get off me!�

          �I know what you�re going to do next anyway, so don�t even bother.� He locked his knees to keep her from pushing him off.

          �Why not?!� she struggled against him.

          �Because I�m not in the habit of killing my friends!�

          That one phrase hit like someone had dropped an ice cube down the back of her shirt. She stopped struggling, waiting for the ice cube to melt as she looked in his face, searching for the lie, but for all she could see in the blues of his eyes, she couldn�t find one. �What?� she whispered.

          He let her go and wiped at his lip. �You�re my friend, Samantha,� he said, looking at this dark haired Scottish woman and taking in the fact that he could look at her, touch her, and not be a sensory part of it. �All this time we�ve been forced together like this has made me realize it.�

          Samantha didn�t know what to say. She�d been all prepared, and even tried to fight him, but here he was, turning her normal fight-it-out plans upside-down, and she didn�t have a script for this one. She sat up. �Why,� she stuttered, �why haven�t you said anything before?

          �I didn�t know what to say before,� he shrugged, then shifted his gaze to a shell on the sands. �I thought you hated me, too. And I guess--well-- I got jealous.�

          �Jealous?� she nearly laughed. �Of what?�

          Lucas turned his attention back to the still calm seas, as if they held the answers. �Nah, It�s stupid.�

          �No, Lucas. Tell me.�

          Lucas let out a breath. �It�s just that when I see you and the captain, it seems he�s closer to you than he was to me--even though you�re here, using my voice,� he gestured non-chalantly to her. The captain was becoming more to him than just a captain. He was the father figure Lucas greatly needed, and deep down, wanted.

          �The captain didn�t want me here in the first place except for the fact that he trusted Malcolm�s judgment,� she tried to console, picking up that sense of need from him.

          �At least you wanted to come here. My father dumped me on this boat because he thought I was out of control and he wanted to teach me discipline,� he snorted. �Get me out of his hair is more like it. When the captain found out I was living here, he wasn�t exactly thrilled. I don�t fit in here, Sam. You do.�

          �Funny, I thought it was the other way around,� she answered softly, looking away.

          Lucas blinked at her curiously.

          �I�ve seen the way the captain acts around you--how everyone acts--and it�s not just because you�re a teenager. I think you remind him of something he�s lost,� she paused a moment, but held his gaze. �I can see exactly what you see, but I don�t understand how you could miss that.�

          Lucas looked guiltily away and stood. He knew she was right.

          She paused, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, then she chuckled. ��Lucas Wolenczak, the boy genius.� How could I compete with that?� She dug her toes in the sand.

          The only sounds he could hear were the gentle swish of the breeze through the palm trees, and the sweeping of the sea as the water moved undaunted before them. He thought perhaps she was joking. Perhaps?

          �Is that what you think?�

          �What else could I think? After a while I realized I couldn�t compete, so I gave you a hard time and tried to convince myself to hate you.� She glanced at him, then back at the hands of the lagoon forced apart by the intrusion of the ocean. �It didn�t work.�

          �I guess we made each other�s lives pretty miserable,� he allowed.

          �Guess so.�

          Lucas kept the silence a second longer, brushing sand from his cloths. �I�m sorry for saying I hated you.�

          Samantha felt calmed and warmed from the genuine truth and let him know. �Apology accepted.�

          He let that calm relax him from the confessions. �It was only natural that we�d fight for territory.�

          �True, yea,� she agreed, letting this go and brushing off her own cloths as she stood. �We�re both stubborn, you�re a bit arrogant.�

          �It didn�t help your I.Q was nearly as high as mine.�

          She caught the self-pride in that and laughed. �Oh, I see how it is,� she chuckled. �Twenty-two points off. So I wasn�t some child prodigy who graduate Magna-cum-laude from Stanford,� she mocked.

          �Hey, I least I didn�t graduate from Berkley,� he smirked.

          She laughed. �So sue me,� a small smile creased her lips. �Now I really feel sorry for the captain.�

          �What for?�

          �Because now there�s two kids on this boat who can beat him at chess in less than two minutes,� she quipped. The one thing she wanted from her experience here was to be normal like everyone else--to belong--so joshing about her intelligence had remained simply jokes that could be laughed off and forgotten.

          Lucas agreed. �Ok. But I�m not a child.� No matter what, he still had to defend that for some reason.

          �So I�ve noticed,� she uttered automatically.

          Lucas quickly looked at her, cleared his throat, and narrowed his eyes.

          Samantha cringed. �Oh, sorry. Did I say that out loud?�

          First he was embarrassed, but laughter quickly replaced that. �I was wondering how long it would take before you made some remark. It took longer than I thought.� He ran his fingers through his hair and gazed out over the crystal clear waters.

          �As if you could do better if this were switched. I slipped, that�s all.� She tucked hair behind her ear, forcing herself not to blush.

          �Again,� he added loosely. He wasn�t intentionally provoking her responses, but he prepared himself to be berated from getting a kick out of them anyway, and was surprised when she didn�t reply. For a moment, he thought something had gone terribly wrong.

          Samantha turned to him and glanced to her feet, then to him. �Look--I�m sorry for what I said earlier today, Lucas. We, um, we kind of got off on the wrong foot--literally. I was an idiot back in med bay.� She wrapped her arms around herself, wishing they�d grow into a cocoon and envelope her. �I shouldn�t have taken over like that, but I panicked. I was afraid,� she looked up at him, then away, �afraid that I�d never get out of this and be stuck here forever--In you.�

          �No, no, we�re gonna get you back. I promise,� he assured. He placed his hands on her shoulders and squeezed lightly. Knowing through sense more than words that she was being honest, he understood, as he�d felt that way himself and expressed it before in the past.

          �I want to go back,� she uttered simply. �I just...I wanna walk with my own two feet again.�

          �You will.�

          �I�m a parasite to you,� she stuttered, her emotions heightening. �I�m using you to survive. Lucas, without you,... I�m dead.�

          �I won�t let you die.�

          Samantha found so much in that one phrase that it forced her to stop and think. With apprehension, unsure of just how to act with him, she let his hands remain on her shoulders.

          He felt the warmth and smoothness of her skin beneath his own, though knew all this was just a dream--just a memory of what use to be reality.

          Yet he was still halfway expecting her to throw the comfort aside and yell at him for simply touching her. But she didn�t move. She just quietly accepted it, even leaned into it. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close in an embrace of comforting understanding.

          It had been so long since anyone had hugged her, she feared she�d forgotten what to do, so she simply rested her head on his chest, doing nothing to push him away. Oddly enough, she felt soothed, and found that she liked it. She could hear his heart faintly beating and realized the same rhythm pulsed in her own chest. It struck her suddenly that she trusted him, more so than anyone else. It felt like the game used in improvisation classes where you fell backwards into your partner�s arms. Falling had never been an option, but now she didn�t have much choice. Giving in to that feeling, she allowed the tears she�d been hiding to fall.

          What Dr. Levin had described as a gift, Lucas had immediately appointed a curse. But the more he was getting to know her, the more that curse idea was crumbling away like the grains of sand on this beach. It was his fault that she was caught between life and death, yet it was only him that was keeping her from death.

          For an instant, he let her fear steep with his own guilt, let it swirl and mix until he understood just how afraid she was, and how much of that fear belonged to him. Yet there was something else there he hadn�t noticed strongly before, or even expected--something bordering on completeness.

          Slowly she pulled away from him and wiped at her damp eyes. �I�m sorry.�

          �For what?� he asked softly.

          �For this,� she gestured loosely at the dreamscape, �for crying. I should be stronger than that.� She walked over to sit on a broken log and wiped more tears from her eyes. He followed and sat beside her.

          �It�s not completely horrible,� he allowed, leaning forward and clasping his hands.

          Samantha gave him a confused look and laughed lightly. �Excuse me?�

          �Ok, so at first it was,� he admitted. �But look what we�ve done since then. The vocorder�s nearly fixed, and we�ve managed to repair bits and pieces of the computer faster than either of us could alone. Aside from using the same pair of hands, we make a pretty good team.�

          She blinked at the multiple use of the term �we� and shifted slightly. �You really think so?�

          �Yea. Well, It�s not like I can ignore you.�

          Samantha smiled and took a long look at this person who, not more than five days ago, was mostly a stranger to her. �So we�re even.�

          �Yea, I guess so.�

          The pause held a little longer. �Sorry about the lip.�

          He dabbed at his split lip where her nail had connected in the fight. �It�s ok. It�ll heal.�

          She knew when she woke up her reality would change drastically, and she wouldn�t be able to look at Lucas as she now did--without having to look in a mirror. �You�re ok, Lucas.�

          �Thanks,� Lucas grinned and glanced at her a moment, holding her there in his memory, then looked back to the smooth moon lit lagoon.

          They held the silence for a moment longer, watching a seagull soar across the water toward the cottage. �So,� she began, testing new waters known as conversation. �Tell me about this thing with the car and the bear.�

          �hm?� he raised an eyebrow and looked at her curiously.

          �You were dreaming about a limo and a stuffed bear before you wandered into mine,� she explained, her demeanor more casual like a--well--a friend to a friend.

          �You saw that?�

          She nodded.

          �Oh, uhm, see, when I was little, my mom gave me this bear I called Ridley--ya know, the kind that ended up with only one eye and half the original stuffing. I drug that thing with me everywhere I went...�

          She smiled, listening to him tell one of his brighter childhood memories. Though he kept going on about driving all the way back to the airport to find a missing bear, there was something else about his previous dream that had caused her to question the barriers he never let down, and to wonder what would give him such a dark nightmare that was strong enough for him to subconsciously shut out.

          She�d ask about it later. For now, the adventures of a little Lucas and a Ridley bear would do just fine.

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