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Marty was in Doc's lab helping Doc on his latest project. The fatigue was starting to catch up with him. It felt like they had been working on the invention for an eternity and truth be told it wasn't far from the truth. They had started this project late the previous afternoon and judging by Doc's determined face, it looked like Doc was planning on an all-nighter.
"Did you call your parents and ask permission to stay late?" Doc asked as he adjusted a setting on the device.
"Yeah, I called them a few hours ago. They didn't mind," Marty replied, stifling a yawn.
"That's good," Doc replied sounding preoccupied. He was tooling around with a couple of tiny wires when suddenly something in the mechanism popped and it started smoking. Marty, who had been holding the object steady as Doc made his adjustments dropped the device like a hot potato and it hit the floor with a resounding crash. Surprisingly, the machine didn't immediately short out as Doc had expected, but instead, an intense white light shot out missing Marty by inches. Both stared in bewilderment at the sight before them.
"Doc, what is that?" Marty asked softly.
"Call me crazy, but I believe we are looking at a portal in time," Doc whispered.
Lucas Wolenczak was pulling another late night on his computer when he felt the submarine lurch violently to the left. He grabbed the edge of his desk to keep himself from landing ungracefully on the floor. The ship eventually steadied itself and a very confused Lucas decided to go to the bridge to investigate.
He had expected everything to be utter chaos and was pleasantly surprised when he found just the opposite. The atmosphere appeared calm. However, appearances can be deceiving.
"What in the world was that?" Lucas asked to no one in particular. "And why doesn't anyone else seem to be bothered by it?"
"We are bothered by it Lucas. In case you didn't notice we?re trying to figure out the same thing," replied Captain Bridger. ?There was a tremendous flash of light and a blast that knocked us off course. Now the SeaQuest seems to be navigating itself. We have no control over the direction we?re heading.
"Captain!" called O'Neil "It looks as though we're going through a tunnel of some sort only I'm not picking up anything on the other side." He had barely uttered the words when a strange light appeared on the bridge.
"What the hell is that?" Bridger asked.
The only response he got to his question was a series of shrugs from his crew. Even Lucas, who usually had some knowledge or even a snide comment to provide, was silent. He stood there as baffled as the rest of them.
Lt. Commander Hitchcock ran a diagnostics check. "I?m not picking up any malfunctions sir. However, we seem to be in a strong electromagnetic field. That must be the cause of this?"
Hitchcock cut her speech short as the bright light suddenly dissipated leaving two strangers in its wake. One was an older man in a lab coat and the other looked to be no older than a teenager. They appeared dazed and confused by their surroundings and a look of panic was beginning to appear on the younger man's face.
Captain Bridger found himself unable to utter a word to these newcomers. However, Commander Ford had recovered from his initial shock and addressed the duo with his usual stern military demeanor.
"As Commander of this vessel I demand to know what you are doing on this ship!" he barked. Nathan was a little insulted that Jonathan had so quickly assumed command over his ship, but he knew that the man was just doing his job as the Captain seemed unable to do it himself. Commander Ford's attitude, on the other hand, wasn't making a very positive first impression on this pair of strangers. The older gentleman looked peeved at having been barked at while the young man looked about a shade paler than he had a moment ago. Captain Bridger decided that this would be a good time to find his voice and get some answers from these two.
"I am Captain Nathan Bridger of the SeaQuest which is owned and operated by the United Earth Oceans Organization. Under regulations imposed by the UEO I am required to know who you are and how you managed to get on board this submarine. If you do not comply I will be forced to detain you in the brig."
The younger man nearly choked. "Submarine!" he exclaimed. He looked at his companion with wide questioning eyes hoping that he could find some answers. The older man sighed in agitation and ran a hand through his frizzed hair.
"I wish I could tell you how we got here Captain, but that is a mystery to us as well," The older man replied.
"Can you at least tell us who you are, then?" Bridger asked, trying to keep his patience in check.
"I am Doctor Emmett Brown and this is my friend, Martin McFly." The teenager made a face at the use of his full name and it didn't go unnoticed. "He prefers to be called Marty," Doc said.
"You don't know how you got here," Bridger asked.
"No," Marty replied. "We were in Doc's lab when his invention malfunctioned and this light appeared. At first it was small, but then it seemed to surround us."
"A black hole," Doc said as an unsettling feeling washed over him.
"Lt. Commander Hitchcock, didn't you say that we were in the middle of an electromagnetic field?" Bridger said as he directed his attention to the woman.
"Yes, sir," she replied hesitantly. "Only now there is no trace of any electromagnetic energy."
"Sir, our tunnel is gone," O'Neil reported from his station. "It looks like nothing ever happened."
"Captain Bridger, I need to asked you something," Doc asked. He looked very uneasy and it took a moment for him to voice his question. "When are we?"
Bridger was taken aback by this question, but he answered the man anyway. "Why, June 21, 2020, of course," he said assuming that the information was common knowledge.
Apparently, he was wrong. The panicked expression returned to Marty's face as he took in this information. "The future?" he asked in the softest of whispers.
Doc didn't hear his friend or see the startled look on the crew's faces as he mulled over his own theory in his mind. He paced a length of the bridge as he thought out loud. "It seems that there may be a temporary rift in the space-time continuum, though at this point I am unsure of what triggered the appearance of the portal," Doc spoke to no one in particular as he rattled off his hypothesis. He stopped pacing suddenly and whirled around to face Bridger, who was again at a loss for words. "How was this electromagnetic field created?" he asked.
"I wish I knew," Bridger replied. "It seemed to disappear as suddenly as it appeared."
"Damn!" Doc said, the curse escaping from his lips before he could stop it. Marty looked at him and knew that this would be the toughest scrape they had been in yet.
"We're in some serious shit this time, aren't we?" he asked.
Doc didn't reply, but clenched his teeth in frustration. Marty knew he had his answer.
"Just what are you talking about?" Bridger asked, addressing Marty.
Marty hesitated, not knowing quite how to answer the Captain. Fortunately, Doc spoke up, breaking the awkward silence. "I am afraid that we?ll need your help Captain Bridger," Doc said softly. "You already know this much, so I assume it is safe for me to tell you the rest."
"The rest of what?" Bridger asked, on the verge of losing the last shred of patience he had.
"We seem to have fallen through a rift in the space-time continuum," Doc said. Marty's eyes grew wide and he started to speak, but Doc shushed him with a stern look. Marty was clearly worried, but he held his tongue while his friend continued. "I am afraid that this rift could somehow have been created by disruptions that we have caused by our own past trips through time."
"Great, here come the men in the white coats," Marty muttered to no one in particular.
"Do you honestly expect me to believe that?" Nathan sputtered. "Time travel does not exist."
"I beg to differ," Doc countered. "I know that you have the technology to prove our identities through DNA. Run a check on us and you will see that I am telling the truth."
Bridger wanted to protest, but what did he have to lose? If they were lying, he could just put them in the brig until they dry docked. If they were telling the truth?
He would cross that bridge when he came to it.
He had Dr. Westphalen lead the pair to Med Bay so she could draw samples of their blood for testing. He figured it didn't hurt to pull out all the stops on this one even though a fingerprint scan would have sufficed.
Doc and Marty were then ordered to wait in the wardroom while the samples were being analyzed. The room was being guarded by Chief Crocker who kept a close eye on the door just in case someone wanted to try something stupid. The time travelers had the room to themselves since Bridger was supervising the DNA testing. Marty wasted no time in voicing his opinion of the whole matter.
"I can't believe you told them," Marty said shaking his head in disbelief. "After all those lectures about blending in and not screwing up the continuum, I would've thought you'd be the last one to crack."
"This isn't like our other trips, Marty," Doc replied calmly. "I think a whole new set of rules apply here."
"How are we going to get out of this mess?" Marty asked glumly.
"We need to recreate the circumstances that caused the rift in the first place. Even then, however, there is no guarantee that we'll return to our own time."
It was at that moment that Bridger returned to the wardroom with Dr. Westphalen and Lucas trailing closely behind. Lucas carried his laptop with him and regarded the strangers with a mix of curiosity and apprehension. Marty and Doc returned it ten-fold.
"We have finished the tests," Dr. Westphalen said. "They checked out. You two certainly weren't lying about your identities."
"I ran your names through the Internex search engines," Lucas interjected. He typed some keys on his laptop and suddenly the vidlink came alive with profiles of Doc and Marty. The two sat stunned as their personal information was being broadcast to the other members of the room.
"You must be telling the truth, because I for one can't think of another reason behind the discrepancies in your information and the results of the tests, especially in your case, Marty."
"Excuse me?" Marty said.
"According to the information in your profile you were born on April 28, 1968," Lucas stated. Marty nodded his head in confirmation. "But it's obvious that you are nowhere near fifty-two years of age."
"And the sample that I drew from you, Marty, certainly backed that information," Dr. Westphalen said. "However there is no denying that the genetic fingerprints are a perfect match. Since our current technology still hasn't acquired the knack for cloning human beings one would have to believe you are who you say you are."
Captain Bridger kept a steady gaze on the two and had not said a word thus far. Boy, he hated eating crow, but this time he knew, he had been wrong.
"Well, we might as well get you two settled in," said Captain Bridger, coming as close to agreeing with them as possible. "Marty, I believe Lucas has an extra bunk in his cabin, and Doctor Brown, you can stay with Lieutenant Krieg."
"Captain, I'm sure that there are other cabins available," Lucas said as he cast a sideways glare toward Marty. Marty returned the glare with one of his own.
"No, Lucas, there aren't any other cabins available," Bridger replied with a certain amount of emphasis. Lucas took the hint and shut up.
Doc and Marty exchanged looks but no words as they were led out of the wardroom. Neither of them looked too thrilled about their roommates, but they figured that it wouldn't help their situation if they voiced how they really felt.
Krieg mumbled something to Lucas as they parted ways, and Doc knew this was going to be a very long stay on the SeaQuest. Things only got better as they entered Krieg's cabin and Doc got a glimpse of Krieg's personality. Sitting in the middle of the bottom bunk was a small pile of fake dog poop.
"You take the bottom," said Krieg, trying to suppress a grin. "Make yourself at home."
Not one to be easily put off, Doc simply moved the dog poop and sat down to think about how he was going to get out of this mess.
Meanwhile, Lucas and Marty were having fun of their own. Bridger had deposited the both of them in Lucas' cabin and had quickly bid them a good night, as he didn't want to be caught in the middle of whatever might ensue. Things went downhill from his departure.
"Well, Martin, you might as well take the top bunk," Lucas said. Marty didn't look too impressed at being called by his full name and he certainly wasn't impressed with the pompous brat that stood smirking before him. However, he kept his temper in check and climbed to the top bunk where he proceeded to turn his back on his new roommate. He didn't see Lucas nearly laughing at him.
"Boy, he's going to get a surprise in the morning," Lucas thought. Lucas sat down at his computer and resumed the game he had been playing when the chaos had erupted on the bridge. The game was nothing short of annoying with all the high-pitched noises and computer generated lights. Marty gritted his teeth and prayed for strength. He was going to need all he could get.
Later, Marty was woken out of his slumber by a light tapping. It sounded like someone was knocking lightly on his bedroom window. Then, in his half awake state he realized that he wasn't at home. Curiosity woke him the rest of the way and he opened his eyes. What he saw was a face full of dolphin.
Marty screamed long and loud, more from being startled than from being frightened. He was so startled, he almost fell off the bunk. His screaming woke Lucas, who sat up too quickly and whacked his head on the bottom of Marty's bunk. Marty leaned over the edge of his bed to address his roommate.
"Why the hell is there a dolphin in here? How did a dolphin get in here? Why the hell didn?t you warn me?" Marty asked heatedly.
Lucas was too busy massaging his head to answer Marty right away, but when he looked up at the peeved young man there was more than a hint of amusement in his eyes.
"I see you?ve met Darwin," he said.
"Darwin," Marty repeated. He looked back at the window and at the dolphin behind it. He could have sworn that the animal was laughing at him. He frowned and turned back to Lucas.
"Why?"
"He's a member of the crew," Lucas replied.
"A crew of nuts," Marty mumbled under his breath as he climbed down from his bunk.
"What was that?" Lucas asked.
"Forget it," Marty said and he left to see how his friend was faring.
Doc slowly awoke to a noise coming from above. In his groggy state he finally realized that it was Lieutenant Krieg, snoring louder than anyone he had heard before. Looking around for a clock, Doc groaned to see that it was only 5:30a.m. Sitting up carefully to avoid hitting his head, he swung his legs over the side of the bed only to step directly onto a whoopee cushion. As the air whooshed out, the noise that came with it made Krieg stir, but not awaken. Doc got to his feet and quietly left the room. "Good morning to me," he grumbled under his breath. "I can only imagine what the rest of the day will bring."
On his way down the corridor, Doc met up with Marty. "Sleep well?" the scientist asked
"I slept fine," Marty answered. "It was the wake up call that I didn't appreciate. Were there any dolphins swimming by your bed this morning?"
"Dolphins?" Doc asked. "Marty, what are you talking about?"
"It seems that one of the crew members is a dolphin named Darwin. First thing this morning we met face to face, and I nearly fell out of bed."
"Well, this submarine is full of surprises isn't it?" Doc said cynically.
"What do you mean?" Marty asked.
"It seems that my temporary roommate has a fondness for novelty items going so far as to decorate his quarters with whoopee cushions and fake dog poop. I was under the impression that this was a military vessel not a day care."
"Is there a problem gentlemen?" asked a voice from behind them.
Marty and Doc turned around to find themselves facing Captain Bridger who did not look at all happy to see them out of their rooms without his say so. "Is there a problem with your sleeping arrangements?" he asked coolly.
"Do you want an honest answer to that?" Marty said sarcastically.
Bridger directed a glare his way that could have melted ice. "I have had just about enough of your smart mouth, young man," he replied. "Now if these rooms aren't adequate enough for the two of you, I'm sure that you would find the brig rather cozy."
"No, Captain, that won't be necessary," Doc said for the both of them.
"Very well," Nathan said. "I expect to see you in the wardroom at 0700 hours."
"Fine," Doc said and with that Captain Bridger left for his post.
"Man, could that guy be any more uptight?" Marty asked.
"I don't want to find out, Marty," Doc replied with a frown. "So, could you find a way to keep your sarcastic commentary to yourself?"
"I will when my new roomie does," Marty replied as he left for his room. Doc sighed in defeat and returned to his bunk.
When Marty returned to Lucas' cabin, he found the teenager again in front of his computer.
"Do you ever take a break from that thing?" Marty asked.
"Couldn?t sleep," Lucas replied. "Something woke me up."
"You should have warned me there was a dolphin on board," Marty said.
"So, did Bridger find you?" Lucas asked.
"How did you know?" Marty asked suspiciously.
Lucas held up his PAL and smiled mischievously. "I gave him a call. Wow, he really hates being woken up early."
"You little twerp," Marty hissed.
"Look who's talking," Lucas countered.
Marty opened his mouth to fire off some scathing comment, but promptly decided against it. Doc's words were still fresh in his mind. Instead, he climbed back onto his bunk and tried to ignore the teenager sitting below him.
"What, no sardonic remark from the peanut gallery?" Lucas chided.
"Are you always this pleasant?" Marty muttered.
"Only when I'm stuck with a roommate," Lucas replied.
"I'm not happy about this arrangement either, so suck it up," Marty threw back. "Look I know you really don't want us here, and believe me, we really don't want to be here but we can't exactly go anywhere else right now. Let's make a truce and get this figured out so you can get back to your life and I can get back to mine. Do we have a deal?"
Marty got of his bunk and extended his hand toward Lucas. Eying it warily, Lucas took it and they shook.
"Deal," he said "What do you want me to do?"
"Ask Doc," Marty replied. "He's the expert."
Meanwhile Krieg sat watching Doc pace his cabin. "Why don't you sit down?" he said. "You're making me nervous."
Doc shot an exasperated look his way "This is how I think the best, so unless you have any better ideas, pipe down."
"Excuse me!" Krieg replied "Do what you want, I'm going for breakfast."
After a light breakfast of military fare, Doc and Marty met up in the wardroom where Captain Bridger and Lucas were waiting for them.
Not being one to beat around the bush, Bridger got things started as soon as everyone was seated. "What can we do to help you two get home?"
"Well," Doc started, "I've been thinking that if I make a device exactly the same as the one I was working on at home, and drop it on the floor. That might create a black hole that will allow us to travel back to 1986."
"Might?" Marty said looking skeptical.
Ignoring him, Doc continued. "The only problem that I foresee is that we won't be able to control where or when we are going."
"Wonderful," Marty mumbled. Then in a normal tone, asked Doc "What happens if we are sent to another time or place?"
"We won?t be," Doc answered, not knowing how else to respond, or what they actually would do should that happen.
Marty almost groaned. That response sounded frighteningly familiar. He knew that they couldn't screw this up no matter what.
"What I will need from you, Captain Bridger, is the same components that I used to create the other device. I'll compose a list for you, I just hope all these parts are still around in 2020."
"I sure hope so," said Bridger. "Lucas, why don't you help Doctor Brown find what he needs. I'll be on the bridge if you need me."
"Wait a sec, Captain," Lucas said. Bridger hesitated at the door and turned to face him. "We're forgetting a very crucial detail."
Three pairs of inquisitive eyes turned his way waiting for him to get to the point. "What's that?" Marty asked.
"The electromagnetic field," Lucas answered. "My theory is that we hit that field at some point relative to when you had your accident, Dr. Brown."
"Why would that make a difference?" Bridger asked.
"The device that I created could have somehow channeled that energy field, though I can't understand how it was able to transverse time," Doc said.
"Where was this so-called energy field?" Marty asked.
Lucas shrugged and the Captain drew a blank. "You don?t know?" Marty asked.
"It disappeared when you arrived here," Bridger responded.
"Perfect," Marty mumbled.
"An electromagnetic field cannot physically disappear," Doc said.
"Well, this one did," Bridger said.
"Could it have moved?" Marty inquired aloud.
Everyone turned his way with a look of disbelief. At first, Marty thought he'd said something incredibly stupid. "What?" he asked humbly.
"Amazing, but he might be on to something," Lucas said. "It's more likely that it's still in the same place. We never stopped moving when we hit the field, we must have navigated right through it."
"So what you're saying," Marty responded, "is that we need to turn the SeaQuest around in order to go through the magnetic field again."
"We might just have to do that," answered Lucas. "Captain, how far away are we?"
"If you could let me leave, I'll go find out Lucas," Bridger replied and left the wardroom.
"I'll ask Krieg to hunt down those parts for you Dr. Brown," Lucas said
Doc sighed inwardly at the thought. "Just make sure he doesn?t sneak any fake dog poop in there," Doc said.
Lucas grinned and Marty gave Doc the strangest look. Doc waved him off. "I?ll explain later," Doc said.
"I don't think I want to know, Doc," Marty said as the three of them exited the wardroom.
Krieg made short order of obtaining the supplies for Doc's device. Like Lucas, Krieg wanted his cabin back and Doc and Marty returned to the wardroom to piece the components together. Lucas was in the lab, assisting Dr. Westphalen with an experiment. Captain Bridger was in his private quarters, explaining the situation as best he could to Admiral Noyce who had called him via vid link.
"Nathan, what have you got your crew doing out there? You are supposed to be following coordinates to New Cape Quest for supplies and an overhaul."
"I know, Admiral," Nathan lamented. "We ran into a situation down here that we need to correct."
"What kind of situation?" Admiral Noyce asked.
Captain Bridger reluctantly told Admiral Noyce the details of what had transpired leading up to their present situation. When he was done, the Admiral didn't look the least bit impressed.
"Is this supposed to be your idea of a joke, Nathan?" the Admiral barked. "Now, I want to know the truth about why there are two civilian stowaways on the boat."
Nathan sighed in exasperation. There was just no talking to the man sometimes. "Goodbye, Bill," Bridger said as he shut down the vid link on a very peeved Admiral. At that moment, he received a call over his PAL.
"What?" he snapped.
It was Commander Ford. "Sir, we have approached the area where the electromagnetic field was first spotted."
"Excellent!" This was the first good news that Bridger had heard all day. "I'll let our visitors know."
"Sir," Commander Ford reported, "there is no field out there."
"That's impossible!" Nathan sputtered.
"Apparently it isn't, sir," Ford replied dejectedly.
"Keep searching. It couldn't have vanished into thin air," Bridger barked into his PAL before shutting it off.
"Damn, the kid was right," he muttered. He sighed wearily and went to the wardroom to tell the time travelers the bad news.
"That is utterly impossible!" Doc yelled as he slammed his fist down on the table he and Marty had been working on.
"Doc, it isn't hopeless. That thing's gotta be out there somewhere," Marty said, trying his best to be optimistic. Actually, Marty was indeed dreading the worst.
However, Doc wasn't paying any heed to Marty's optimism. "Marty, we don't have an eternity to search for this thing. The longer we stay here, the more irreparable damage is made to the space-time continuum."
"I know, Doc," Marty said trying to placate his friend. He rubbed his tired eyes. He was in no mood for a lecture right now.
"Do you?" Doc said in an accusing tone. "You don't seem to be taking this seriously at all."
Marty forced himself to bite back the retort that was on the tip of his tongue. "I think it's time for a break, Doc," Marty replied speaking for the both of them. "This is starting to get to you."
"If you want to leave, Marty, be my guest," Doc snarled. Marty gave Doc a long look and stormed out of the wardroom before he could fire any nasty comments in Doc's direction.
Doc had briefly forgotten about Bridger being there until he heard the Captain clear his throat. "Your friend may have a point," Bridger suggested. "A small break can't hurt, can it?"
Doc looked at Nathan as if the man had just said the most moronic thing. "There is no time. I don't even want to think about what could happen to us if we spend a prolonged period of time here."
Bridger decided that any discussion with this man was currently impossible and left Doc to his project and his temper. He thought it might be easier to talk to Marty, instead.
Bridger walked to Lucas' cabin and knocked on the door. He wasn't surprised to not get an answer. He tried the latch and found that the door was unlocked. He opened the door hoping that Lucas would forgive this invasion of his privacy. Marty was sitting on his bunk with his head in his hands. Bridger didn't know how to approach him, but it turned out to be a moot point.
"Can I help you?" Marty asked sarcastically not bothering to look up.
Nathan hid his smile. He acts just like Lucas, he mused. He quickly became serious as he decided that laughing at the young man would probably just piss him off even more.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Just wonderful," came Marty's scornful reply.
"Could you look me in the eye when you say that?" Bridger asked.
Marty finally looked up. The expression on his face was a mix of hurt and anger. More the former than the latter, Bridger observed.
"Is that all?" Marty asked, clearly uncomfortable.
"Your friend seems to be a little paranoid about this situation," Bridger said.
"That's nothing new," Marty said, losing the sarcastic edge to his voice. "When he gets like this it usually means that things look pretty bad."
"So I gathered," Bridger replied. "What do you think?"
"I don't know," Marty said. "Doc?s the scientist."
"It was you who guessed that the energy field could have moved," Bridger said.
"The word is 'guessed'," Marty said. "If you came in here thinking that I could give you any answers about this, I think you're going to be really disappointed. I?m just Doc's assistant. I help him with the mechanics not the theories behind them." Something in the way Marty had voiced that last part caught Bridger's attention, but he decided not to pursue it at the moment. "If you need information, talk to Doc."
"I tried," Bridger said. "It was a lost cause."
"Give him some time to cool off," Marty said. "He'll come around."
Bridger nodded a silent reply and left the cabin and Marty was once again alone with his thoughts. He hated fighting with Doc, but it seemed that ever since Doc had moved back to his present with his family, that was all he and Marty ever did. In the back of his mind, Marty knew that was an exaggeration. However, he and Doc did disagree a lot more than they used to. Doc had changed a lot in the ten years he lived in the past and Marty was technically an adult now. That kind of change was inevitable he guessed. Still, this wasn't the time for a dispute. They needed to work together to get out of this scrape. Marty decided that if and when they returned home, they would need to sort out their friendship.
After having dozed off, Marty was suddenly jolted awake. The SeaQuest pitched violently to one side and Marty was slammed into the window beside his bunk. Grabbing onto the sides of his bunk, Marty held on tightly as the SeaQuest rolled the other way and eventually evened out.
"What the?" Marty mumbled as he climbed down from the top bunk. "The SeaQuest must have hit something," he thought. "Or rather something hit the SeaQuest." He immediately headed for the bridge to see what was going on.
Marty hadn't taken more than a few steps down the corridor, when he saw Lucas running his way.
"Get back in the cabin!" Lucas shouted. "Now!"
"What?" Marty sputtered.
"Just do it!" Lucas yelled as he grabbed Marty's arm and pulled him back into the room.
"What?s going on?" Marty yelled back becoming frustrated. "I can walk on my own. You don't have to drag me!"
"The SeaQuest has been attacked," Lucas answered sitting down at his computer and switching it on.
"By who?" asked Marty.
"We don't know yet," Lucas was already typing away on the keyboard.
Not sure of what to do, Marty just stood and watched as different images came on the screen. He decided not to ask any more questions for the moment and let Lucas do his job.
"You better sit down somewhere secure in case we get hit with another torpedo," said Lucas.
Marty sat down on the lower bunk and draped his arm over the bedpost, not taking any chances. He really didn't want to be slammed into anything else today. He could already feel the bruises forming from the first hit.
"Do you really think we'll be hit again?" Marty asked quietly.
"It's quite possible," replied Lucas, not taking his eyes off the computer screen.
Captain Bridger came over the vid link. "Lucas, how are you and Marty doing? Are either of you hurt?"
"We're both fine," replied Lucas. "How are things on the bridge?"
"Everyone will be fine, only minor injuries here. Someone should check on Dr. Brown though. I think he's still in the wardroom."
"Yes, Sir," answered Lucas, and the vid link shut off.
"Marty, I can't leave my station right now, so you'll have to go check on him."
"Great," Marty mumbled under his breath.
Doc groaned and sat up slowly. He had been knocked to the floor on impact.
"Great Scott!" he whispered reaching up to gently touch his forehead. It was already swelling but fortunately, there was no blood. This wasn't the first time he had banged his head while working on a new invention but at least this time he hadn't further disgraced himself by falling asleep on his toilet, then falling off and hitting his head on the edge of his sink. This however is not what he told everyone else.
He stiffly stood and looked around the room. Parts were scattered everywhere except on the table where he was working. Miraculously, the apparatus he had been working on appeared unharmed. A quick examination of the piece proved the point.
His first thought was that they had reached the electromagnetic field, but his theory was quickly refuted by the shouting that he could hear echoing from the hallway. He cautiously made his way over to the door and opened it slightly. He could see various crewmembers scurrying to their battle stations and he could hear someone bellowing commands. He closed the door and walked back toward the table. As tempted as he was to search for Marty, he knew it would be more sensible to stay put. At that moment, the door to the wardroom flew open and Marty ran inside, slamming the door behind him.
"Are you okay?" he asked, breathlessly.
"Not bad," Doc replied as he pointed to his head. Marty could see the bruise developing already and he didn't think it looked as fine as Doc was saying. Doc somehow read his concern and brushed it off.
"It isn't as bad as it looks," he said simply.
"It looks like you fell off your toilet again," Marty replied suppressing a grin. "By the way, how does one manage to do that?"
"I told you I was hanging a clock," Doc said defensively.
"Sure," Marty said.
"Drop it," Doc said. "We have more important things to worry about. Do you know what happened?"
"Lucas said the ship was attacked," Marty replied.
"If it isn't one thing, it's another," Doc muttered through clenched teeth. "We don't have the time for this."
"Do you want to go out there and tell the people attacking this ship to please reschedule for a later date? Call me crazy, Doc, but I don?t think they'll be very impressed."
Doc was rather agitated at his friend's tone, but he knew he was right. Still, the timing couldn't have been worse.
The ship was rocked with another huge jolt sending the two time travelers crashing painfully into the table. Marty was sure he was going to be feeling this trip for at least a week, maybe two if the attacks continued.
The submarine righted itself once more and Doc and Marty stood up warily. "I'm getting too old for this," said Doc.
The vid link clicked on and Lucas's face appeared, right next to Marty. "Whoa!" he shouted, jumping to the side and nearly taking Doc out. "Don?t do that!"
"Sorry," said Lucas "Just checking to see how you two fared this last hit. Obviously, you haven't been killed."
"Thanks for caring so much," replied Marty. "So, is the SeaQuest fighting back, or are you just going to let them blow us up?"
"We could send you out in an escape pod and hope they take the bait," Lucas shot back. "Now can we please get serious for a minute? You both should get back to the cabins, immediately."
"Aye aye, Captain," Marty saluted and turned to leave the room.
Doc followed Marty out of the room and toward the cabins. As they were about to enter their respective quarters, the SeaQuest shuddered. Thankfully, it wasn't a direct hit, otherwise they would have been on the floor again.
Doc entered Krieg's cabin just as Krieg arrived. Krieg immediately shut and locked the door. "Brace yourself. We're under heavy attack!"
"I hadn't noticed," Doc said bitterly as he grabbed onto the bed rail. Krieg made a similar move and the both of them hung on for dear life.
"Who's attacking us?" Doc asked.
"Don't know. They wouldn't identify themselves. We don't even know how we provoked this onslaught."
"Wonderful," Doc muttered. He just hoped that they all survived long enough so that he and Marty could return home.
Marty sat on his bunk, against Lucas' advice that he position himself closer to ground level in case of another attack. Marty's response had been to climb up to the top bunk, regardless. Lucas had just shrugged and resumed his relentless task of regulating the ship?s systems. Then, without warning, the entire system seemed to shut down and the two found themselves in the dark.
"What happened?" Marty asked softly.
"Someone has hacked into the SeaQuest's hard drive and disabled her," Lucas replied. Marty could hear the clacking of keys as Lucas tried in vain to restart the systems. "It's no use. I can't get us back online." The generator kicked on at precisely that moment illuminating the room with a soft red glow. "The life support back-up system is on, but it only buys us so much time. I have to figure out how to override this foreign signal."
Lucas' vid link came to life showing a distraught Captain Bridger. "Lucas, we seem to have been taken over by a renegade sub. They are getting ready to board as we speak. I need you to figure out how to get us out of this mess, but be subtle about it. Don't leave a trail that can be traced back to you."
"I'm on it Captain," Lucas replied nervously.
"Another thing, no matter what happens, I don't want you to leave your cabin. Is that understood, Lucas. I do not want to see any stunts from either of you. This situation is too dangerous."
Lucas nodded his reply. "Good. Now get to work-" Bridger was unexpectedly cut off and the vid link went dark. A feeling of dread washed over Lucas as he realized their attackers were now on the SeaQuest.
"Shit," Marty mumbled as he climbed down from his bunk and stood behind Lucas. "This is heavy."
"More than you know," Lucas replied as he began typing codes into his computer. Marty watched as Lucas tried algorithm after algorithm with no success. Each time the teenager got close; he was bombarded with a block of some kind. Lucas typed in every code he could think of offhand. Finally, he stopped and sat back in his chair, frustration clearly written all over his face.
"These people are good," Lucas said. "They have set up traps all over the place."
"What do we do?" Marty asked.
The vid link came on again. This time Lucas and Marty found themselves looking at a strange man who incidentally had a laser gun aimed at Doc's head. Doc was keeping his fear hidden for Marty's benefit, but Marty was scared anyway.
"This can?t be happening!" Marty thought. A quick glance told Marty that Lucas looked just as panicked as he felt. The man on the vid link regarded the two with a gaze that Marty could only describe as anger bordering on psychotic.
"Well, well look what we have here," he mused to someone that Lucas and Marty couldn't see. He pressed the gun harder against Doc's skull as he glared at the two teenagers.
"You would be well advised to stop now," the man hissed. "We don't want any accidents." The vid link abruptly died and Marty and Lucas were again alone.
"I don't know how he traced me," Lucas said quickly. "He knows where we are."
"He's got Doc," Marty said, unable to keep his voice from trembling.
"If he's taken over the bridge, he's got the Captain too," Lucas said softly.
"Shouldn't we be trying to stop them?" Marty asked.
"What do you think I'm trying to do?" Lucas countered.
"I don't mean by computer," Marty said. "I mean more personally."
"What do you suggest?" Lucas asked sardonically. "These people have fire power that could vaporize us where we're standing."
"We can't just stay here and do nothing, either!" Marty shouted. "We need to at least make ourselves scarce. You know those jerks will be breaking down the door any minute."
Lucas bit his lip anxiously as he weighed his options. Bridger had been adamant about him not leaving the cabin and he felt uneasy about disobeying his Captain. On the other hand, Marty had a valid point, also. They couldn't allow themselves to be sitting ducks for these people.
"So, what's your plan?" Lucas asked Marty.
"Is there some kind of ventilation shaft that leads to the bridge?" Marty asked as he looked around the room.
"Not from here," Lucas answered as he dragged his desk chair to the middle of the small room. He stood on it and pried the wire cover off the hole in his ceiling.
"Where does this lead?" Marty asked.
"The moon pool, I believe," Lucas answered.
"Damn!" Marty shouted. "We need to get to the bridge!"
"Relax," Lucas said. "We can swim through Darwin's water way. It runs the length of the ship. There is an opening on the bridge."
"Do you have a flashlight or something so we can see where we're going?" Marty asked.
"Somewhere," Lucas answered as he hoisted himself up into the shaft.
"Great," Marty muttered as he eyed the messy room. He looked around the perimeter of the cabin, his eyes coming to rest on the flashlight. It was in the jumble of stuff on Lucas' floor. He grabbed it and followed Lucas into the shaft.
Lucas took the flashlight from Marty and turned it on. "Which way are we going?" Marty asked in a low voice.
"Straight ahead," Lucas answered as he started crawling slowly through the space. Marty followed, glad that Lucas knew where he was going. Marty was still having trouble finding the bathroom on this maze of a ship.
Lucas stopped suddenly and Marty almost plowed into his back. He stopped just in time. "What?s wrong?" Marty whispered.
"I thought I heard something," he said. Both strained their ears, briefly listening for any strange sounds, but heard nothing. "Must've been my imagination," Lucas whispered. "Sorry."
"No problem," Marty replied and the two resumed their trip through the shaft. They had been crawling through the space in a tense silence for what seemed like forever when Lucas noticed a dim light illuminating the shaft's interior. When he got close enough, he realized that the light was coming through another grate.
"Are we at the moon pool?" Marty whispered from behind him.
"Possibly," Lucas answered. He crawled to the spot and peered down. He saw the familiar face of Darwin in his pool being held at bay by two rough looking men wearing simple disguises made up of hats and bandanas. They had their laser guns drawn. Lucas turned back to Marty with a grim expression.
"We're there, but we have a problem. There are two men standing guard and they're holding Darwin as a hostage."
"Why?" Marty asked sardonically.
"I?ll explain later, right now we have other things to think about. Like how to get past these two idiots." replied Lucas.
"What if we drop the flashlight on one and jump on the other," Marty suggested.
"We might have to," replied Lucas. "You go down first and I'll follow right behind you. There is some rope on the shelf over there. If one of us can get to it, we can tie these guys up and make our way to the bridge."
Lucas gently pried the grate from the opening, making sure not to make any noise. Picking up the flashlight, he glanced at Marty who had an "Oh crap" look on his face. Looking back down, he positioned himself so the flashlight would make a direct hit to one of the guys.
The flashlight spiraled down and Marty was immediately falling through the air to land on the next man. As soon as Marty was through the opening, Lucas jumped out and landed next to the man who had been hit with the light. He was on the floor holding his head and groaning. Lucas quickly grabbed his weapon and while Marty was scuffling with the other person, he ran to get the rope.
Marty somehow managed to knock away his guy's weapon and proceeded to punch him in the face, pushing him into the moon pool. He looked over to see Lucas with his man bound and gagged. The man in the pool was now standing with his back to the wall and Darwin was pinning him with his snout.
Marty grabbed the second man's weapon and joined Lucas who was standing at the edge of the moon pool. "Are you sure that this leads to the bridge?" Marty asked.
"Yes," Lucas replied. He lowered himself into the pool and started to swim away, but was stopped by another question from Marty.
"Shouldn't we disguise ourselves or something?" Marty inquired. "They know what we look like."
Lucas glanced at the two men they had incapacitated. "We?ll have to make do with the hats and bandanas, I guess," he replied. Marty made short order of confiscating the items and gave a set to Lucas. They hurriedly put on the garments, careful not to place the bandanas over their faces and Marty climbed into the moon pool. The water was cold, but there wasn't one thing he could do except grin and bear it.
"It's a long swim, so conserve your energy," Lucas said. "When we reach the end, we'll put our masks on."
"Sounds familiar," Marty mumbled.
"What?" Lucas asked.
"It's a long story," Marty replied. Lucas took a deep breath and dove under the water's surface. Marty followed suit, neither coming up for air until they reached the outside water way. From there, they took it slow and kept watch for anyone who could spot them through the glass. Luckily, for them, the corridors of the ship appeared clear.
When they neared the end of their swim, Lucas held up his hand signaling Marty to stop. They put on their "masks" and swam up to the bridge entrance.
There was a glass dome covering the opening. Lucas knocked and Marty could see someone approach. The dome was removed and the two found themselves staring at the man they had seen on the vid link. The man had an evil glare plastered across his face and Marty was certain they were done for.
"Well, did you find them?" the man barked.
Marty blinked in surprise. The rouge didn't seem to recognize them.
"I told you to find them!" the man shouted as he stepped away from the opening. He paced the bridge, not paying much attention to whom he was addressing. "One simple task and you can't even do that right!"
Marty and Lucas hoisted themselves out of the water to find several people patrolling the bridge. In addition, they found the key crew personnel and Doc being held hostage. A couple attackers regarded them with a stern glance as their leader continued to rant.
"I want you to find that kid!" he yelled. "I want him brought here! Is that too much for your tiny brains to comprehend?"
Marty and Lucas remained silent, as they didn't want to blow their cover. The leader sighed in frustration and threw his hands into the air. "Never mind!" he yelled as he stomped off the bridge. "If you want something done right, do it yourself!" He yelled for several of his henchmen to follow him and they disappeared from the bridge.
Marty sized up the situation before them. Only a couple of men remained guarding the hostages. They motioned for Lucas and Marty to join them.
"Take over for us will ya? Larry's been workin' us ragged. We need a break," one of them said.
"Yeah," the other chimed in. "Just a short break. We'll be back in two shakes of a dog's tail."
Neither Marty, nor Lucas had time to even reply before the two rouges ran off. Marty rolled his eyes and wondered how people like that could even be smart enough to hijack a ship. He looked at the group of people huddled together on the floor and his focus shifted to Doc. Doc was wearing a look of uneasiness, not the grimly determined expression he often wore in situations as dire as this.
"Now's our chance," Marty said to Lucas. "What should we do?"
Lucas looked at him skeptically. Since when did he become the one in charge of getting everyone out of this? Shrugging he looked around the room, and then back at Marty. Lucas took off his mask and Marty soon followed suit.
Bridger looked up, "Lucas, what are you doing? I specifically told you and Marty to stay in your cabin."
"Well, Marty and I kind of took on the two goons guarding Darwin and swiped their disguises. Captain, this may be the only chance we get to take over this situation. While I get everything back on line, you guys can take care of Larry and his sidekicks."
"Lucas," said Bridger with a slight grin "You should never disobey an order but just this once I'll let you off the hook. That goes for civilians too, Marty." Turning to the rest of the group, "Come on, we don't have a lot of time."
Lucas sat down at the main computer and started typing away, while everyone else headed off the bridge. Marty and Doc hung back, not sure what else to do without getting in anyone's way.
"Aren?t you two coming?" Bridger asked.
"Are you serious?" Marty replied. "I didn't think you were the type to allow mere civilians to assist in this kind of thing."
"You can always go back to your bunk," Bridger said.
Marty and Doc weighed their options such as they were and decided to accompany the gang on their "mission".
Marty and Doc came to an abrupt halt as they rounded a corner. Several SeaQuest crewmembers were at a complete standstill, weapons drawn and aimed at Larry and his cohorts.
"Put your guns down and your hands up!" barked Commander Ford. "Slowly!"
As soon as they complied, two officers cuffed them and started to lead them away. Suddenly Marty remembered the guys he and Lucas had taken out by the moon pool.
"Commander Ford," he offered, "Darwin is keeping an eye on the other two."
Ford nodded his thanks and the group separated. Some headed for the moon pool and the others took the captured villains to a holding cell.
Captain Bridger turned to address Doc and Marty. "Shall we see how Lucas is faring?"
They nodded in agreement and followed the Captain back to the bridge. Lucas turned when he heard footsteps. "Captain, all systems are up and running but I'm getting some weird readings. I think I've found the energy field."
"Great Scott!" exclaimed Doc, remembering what he had been doing before all the chaos started. "The device is almost ready, as long as it hasn't been damaged during the attack."
Marty paled. "Doc?"
Noticing Marty's worried expression, Doc continued. "I'm sure it's fine. When I left the wardroom, pieces had been scattered but the component looked to be in good shape."
The quartet raced back to the wardroom to find the device precisely where Doc had left it. Doc performed a brief inspection of the piece to make sure that nothing had been tampered with during his absence.
"Thank goodness!" Doc said, relieved to find that the device appeared fine. "Let's return to the bridge. Time is of the essence!"
Once back on the bridge, Marty and Doc resumed their previous positions each standing in the same spot where they arrived. Doc gripped the small device in his hand shortly and silently prayed for it to work as it should. Then, before he could wimp out, he hurled the mechanism to the floor. The device broke apart on impact as a bright light shot up from it.
"Here goes nothing," Marty said as he took a step forward. The two cast a final look at their new friends as they stepped through the portal and vanished.
The light evaporated and Lucas and Bridger looked on in awe. They looked at each other with the same question in their eyes. "Did they make it home?"
Marty and Doc stepped through to the other side of the portal just as the light dissipated to find a very familiar sight greeting them. They were in the interior of Doc's lab. Marty had to restrain himself from dropping to his knees and kissing the floor.
"Boy, Doc, let's never do that again!" Marty said.
"I concur," Doc replied. "If we ever run into another random portal, we won't let our curiosity get the better of us."
"Besides, we have the DeLorean for that," Marty quipped.
Doc grinned as he picked up what was left of the original device. He threw the pieces into the trashcan. "Better safe then sorry," he said.
"What a long strange trip that was!" Marty said. "I think it cured me of time travel for a while."
"Me too," Doc agreed. "Perhaps we should call it a night. You probably want to go home anyway."
Marty nodded. Their trip had scared him with the ever-present possibility that he might never see his home again. "I'll see you tomorrow," Marty said as he headed for the door.
"All right, I'll see you then," Doc replied as Marty left. Doc took a good look around and let out a tremendous sigh of relief.
It was good to be home.
Lucas Wolenczak retired to his cabin, ready for a long uninterrupted rest. The events of the last couple of days had drained him. He was about to climb into his bunk when he heard his vidphone beep, indicating an incoming call.
"Oh great, must be Mom or Dad," Lucas thought sullenly as he switched the vidphone on.
It wasn't either of his parents, but someone else. This person looked older than when Lucas had last seen him, but there was no doubt in his mind as to who it could be.
"Marty!" Lucas exclaimed. Lucas grinned as he regained his composure. "Couldn't stay away?" he teased.
Marty rolled his eyes. "I think the time ripple just caught up with my memory," Marty replied. "It's kind of weird. I just thought you would like to know what happened to us."
"Captain Bridger and I were worried about that." Lucas admitted. "We were hoping that you wouldn't end up in some random spot in time."
"Thankfully, we didn't," Marty replied.
"So, tell me," Lucas said as he sat back in his desk chair. "How have the last thirty-four years treated you, Marty?"
Marty smiled as he filled Lucas in on all that he wanted to know. They talked for over an hour before Marty announced that he had to go. They hung up and moments later, Lucas was settling himself into his bed for the night.
"What a long, strange trip it's been," Lucas thought as he drifted off to sleep
