SquidgeWorld Archive

Anger
By Debbie S.

It's a sunny early morning and Mac is lounging on the deck of the Vast Explorer getting some sun as Gabe tries to fix the underwater camera. He's got numerous parts spread out on a towel next to him and as he carefully picks one up and begins to install it they hear footsteps approach.

Mac looks up and says, "Hey Judson! Where'd you disappear to this morning?"

Judson leans against the rail and replies; "I got a call from an old friend of mine, Carl Walker. He wanted me to meet him in town for breakfast. Sorry you guys had already turned in before he called and I left pretty early."

Mac looks at Gabe and says, "Guess he forgot about the invention called a pen and paper?" When Gabe doesn't say anything Mac sarcastically says, "Earth to Gabe, anybody home?"

Gabe doesn't look up but says, "I heard you! I'm trying to get this fixed, do you mind! Maybe he forgot? You know some people have a tendency to do that when they get older!" Gabe continues to concentrate on the camera but now has a big grin on his face.

Mac chuckles at this and Judson says, "Watch it junior! Uh are you gonna be able to fix that or are you just fiddling with it?"

Gabe looks up at him and sternly says, "I'm working on it! You know I wouldn't of had to take this apart to fix it if a certain somebody hadn't decided to chase a turtle around last week."

Judson smiles and says, "I was bored! Besides you enjoy taking that stuff apart so stop complaining."

Gabe shakes his head at Judson then looks back at the camera and once again begins to install some parts.

Mac laughs some more than says, "So what did this Walker guy want?"

Judson looks at her and says, "Well his ship went down last month and he wanted to know if we'd help salvage it?"

Gabe looks up suddenly interested and says, "Really where'd it go down?"

Judson grins and says, "About a day out, they got caught in a bad storm and had some engine trouble. Before they knew it she was going down and they had to abandon ship. He's got the co-ordinates for their position where the coast guard picked them up and where they started having trouble. So with a little luck it shouldn't take us long to find the wreck."

Gabe nods and says, "Okay, when do we leave?"

Judson looks at them then says, "Well we need to get some supplies loaded. I figure if we load on enough for 2 weeks we should be able to find the ship and get some of the stuff recovered before we come back in for a re-supply and a little rest. Carl has a couple of things to finish up here so how about the day after tomorrow?"

Gabe nods and says, "I should have the camera fixed by lunch but we're gonna have to test it. Do you want me to start getting the list of supplies ready?"

Judson shakes his head and says, "No you finish that I'll get it started. I'm gonna go talk to Charlie and the guys and let them know the plans. Mac make sure he gets that fixed will ya?"

As Judson walks toward the ladder Mac grins and says, "You heard the man, fix that camera!"

Gabe glares at her and says, "You know this is partly your fault!"

Mac looks shocked and says, "Excuse me, he was operating the thing not me!"

Gabe looks back at the pieces and as he grabs one says, "Yeah but you were sitting next to him and cheering him on. Don't deny it! I heard you."

As Gabe continues to work on the camera they continue to bicker back and forth about how the camera got broken and various other things.

*******

2 days later, Gabe is sitting in a lounge chair on deck eating a bowl of cereal while Mac is sunbathing beside him. They're casually discussing some aspects of the job they are about to start when Judson comes up onto deck.

"Hey guys! Carl will be here in a little bit. Gabe did you get that camera tested?"

Gabe nods his head and continues to eat his breakfast. Mac smiles and says, "You'll have to forgive him Judson he's not exactly in the talking mood. You know him the food comes first!"

Gabe swallows the last of his cereal and says, "Hey, watch it. When you were eating I was checking out the engines, now your sunbathing and I'm eating."

Judson laughs and says; "Okay you two don't start."

They hear a car door slam and Judson looks up just in time to see a gray haired man coming across the gangplank carrying a duffel bag and says, "Hey Carl welcome aboard!"

The man nods and says; "Judson thanks. When are we gonna be heading out?"

Judson shakes his hand and replies, "In about a half hour." Judson points toward Mac and says, "This is Mackenzie Previn, she'll be helping me with the retrieval."

Mac smiles up at Carl and says, "Nice to meet you. Guess I better go get changed. I'll let Charlie know you're here and when we'll be heading out!"

Carl smiles at her and says, "Don't change on my account young lady. Nice to meet you as well, wish I had a crew member like you!"

Judson smiles at his comment and as Mac stand up Gabe politely says, "Mac could you take this down to the kitchen for me?"

Mac glares at him but takes his bowl while saying, "Sure but I'm not washing it!"

As Mac walks toward the stairs Judson says, "Carl this is Gabriel Patterson he's in charge of keeping track of everything we bring up, he'll take photo's and document everything. Plus he'll keep an eye on us while we're down just in case."

Carl looks down at the young man and says, "Sounds like you get the easy end of the job."

Gabe stands up and replies, "Not really, I also have to keep everything running around here. Judson has a habit of breaking things so I usually land up fixing whatever he abuses while taking care of the other stuff. I'll take your gear down to your cabin for you!"

As Gabe takes Carl's bag and heads toward the stairs Judson says, "Yeah but you love it so don't complain."

Carl looks at Judson and says, "Gabriel Patterson as in Senator Patterson's kid?"

Judson nods and says, "He prefers Gabe and yes the Senator's his father."

Carl shakes his head and says, "You've got to be kidding me. Come on Judson what's he doing here a kid like him isn't cut out for this type of job?"

Judson looks at him and replies, "Carl Gabe's worked with us for years. He knows what he's doing and he's very good at it."

Carl shakes his head but says, "If you say so but I'm still not so sure about him. Let's get on with it!"

Judson grins and says, "Carl by the time we get back you won't have any doubts about him so relax. Let us do the job you hired us for. Why don't you head downstairs Gabe will show you to your cabin and I'll go get us underway."

Carl nods his head and heads toward the stairs as Judson heads toward the stairs that go up to the wheelhouse.

*******

3 days later the Vast Explorer is out at sea slowly moving along. Carl is leaning against the rail and he doesn't look very happy.

Judson walks up to him and says, "Hey Carl look don't worry we're gonna find it. Gabe's got the camera down and he'll let us know as soon as anything shows up."

Carl glares at him and says, "Judson we've been searching for 2 days now, we should have found her by now. Maybe I should go down there and see if I can get the kid moving a little faster."

Judson shakes his head and says, "Carl let Gabe do his job, he'll find the ship soon."

Carl walks away and heads toward the stairs while saying, "I'm just gonna go give him a hand. Be back in a bit."

When Carl steps into the sitting room he sees Mac heading toward him. Mac smiles and says, "Hey Carl where's Judson at?"

Carl points back over his shoulder and says, "He's up on deck."

Mac walks toward the stairs and he heads down the hallway toward the instrument room.

But suddenly the ship stops and Gabe comes out and starts toward him. He grins and says, "Carl I think we finally found your ship. Have you seen Judson?"

Carl shoves Gabe against the wall and angrily says, "It's about time. You may have all the time in the world but I don't. This may just be a field trip for you but it's costing me money!"

Gabe grimaces when he pushes himself away from the wall and says, "Carl I know that, look you didn't have the exact co-ordinates you know, so it took a little time, take it easy."

Carl points at him and angrily says, "I'll take it easy when this job is completed. Judson and Previn are up on deck."

Gabe backs away from him and heads toward the stairs while saying, "Okay thanks. Look we probably won't start the dives until tomorrow morning. Why don't you; uh go take a look at the video I downloaded. Laptops on just click on one of the Dive icons I have on the screen."

As Gabe approaches Judson and Mac at the railing he's rubbing the back of his right shoulder where he hit the wall earlier and says, "Hey guys I think we found her."

Mac looks at him with concern and says, "What's the matter?"

Gabe shrugs and says, "Oh nothing just spent too much time sitting in the same position at the computer." He drops his hand and leans against the railing and looks down at the water.

Judson puts a hand on his shoulder and says, "Well now that we found her you won't be doing that as much."

Mac smiles and says, "Yeah now you can get up and move around, like the rest of us."

Gabe grins at her and says, "Yeah now you guys get to do some work. I downloaded some video files. Carl's looking at them now, at least I think he is?"

Judson looks at him and says, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Gabe shrugs and says, "Well he wasn't too happy when he came below deck. I mentioned them to him but he just walked away."

Judson nods and says, "Well he's a little tense, he didn't think it would take so long to find the wreck. If we give him some stuff to do tomorrow his mood will change. Come on let's start making some plans for tomorrow."



Part 2

The 5th day of the job starts out as usual Judson in the kitchen cooking as Mac and Gabe set the table. As they finish Carl walks up and takes his seat.

Judson comes out of the kitchen and puts a platter of eggs and sausage down in the middle of the table and says, "Okay everybody dig in. Eat it while it's hot."

Mac and Gabe take their share and begins to eat as Carl says, "So where do you plan on starting today?"

Judson swallows some coffee and says; "Well I thought we'd start retrieving the items that are visible near the aft. If that's okay with you?"

Carl replies, "Okay you're in charge whatever you think is best."

Mac looks up and says, "You're the client though so you do have some input Carl. Is there anything specific that you want us to keep our eyes open for?"

Carl shakes his head and says, "Nah, it really doesn't matter at this point. You guys handle this your way."

Gabe finishes his breakfast and as he takes his dishes into the kitchen says, "I'm gonna go get your gear up on deck. Judson do you want me to keep the camera down today?"

Judson finishes the last of his eggs and replies; "It's up to you. If you need to do something else we'll be fine, we're not gonna enter the ship until tomorrow."

Gabe comes out and says, "I'd like to finish touching up some of the paint on the forward rails this morning but this afternoon I'll send it down so Carl can have some video of the recovery."

Carl looks up at him and says, "Hey if you have something else to do don't worry about me."

Gabe shakes his head and says, "It's not a problem really, it's gonna be too hot to paint after lunch anyway so it's not a problem."

As Gabe heads to get the gear, Mac takes her and Carl's dishes into the kitchen closely followed by Judson.

A half hour later Gabe is up on deck helping Mac and Judson get their tanks on. Once their all ready Gabe says, "Okay guys be careful down there. Send up a buoy if you need help."

As Mac begins to descend the ladder Judson nods and says, "No problem. Try and get some of the paint on the rails."

Gabe glares at him and says, "Very funny."

After Mac and Judson carefully slip into the water and are preparing to go down Gabe waves at them then heads toward his painting project. A little over an hour later Gabe returns to help them bring the items they retrieved on board.

Judson carefully hands over a bag and says, "Here be careful a few of the items are already cracked."

Gabe nods and replies, "Okay I got it. How's it going down there?"

Mac smiles and says, "Great so far the currents pretty light and the visibility's good."

As Gabe walks away carrying the items he says, "Okay, do you guys want fresh tanks for a second dive or are you gonna take a break?"

Judson nods and says, "Sure we can do one more dive this morning. We'll only do one this afternoon though."

Mac smiles at him and says, "Sounds good to me."

Within a few minutes Gabe returns with fresh tanks for both of them.

Judson looks up and says, "Thanks Gabe look we got it from here. How's the painting going?"

Gabe grins and says, "Pretty good I should be done soon. See you guys later."

As Gabe walks off Judson and Mac get on the fresh tanks and once again head down.

Lunchtime found the four of them once again around the table.

As Judson reaches for another sandwich from the platter in the middle of the table he says, "So Carl while Mac and I are down this afternoon how about you take a look at the stuff we already brought up. You could start the documentation for Gabe while he operates the camera."

Gabe was reaching for a sandwich but stops and says, "Judson I can do that later after you guys come up."

Carl glares at him and says, "What's the matter don't you trust me with your computer?"

Gabe grabs a sandwich and replies, "That's not what I meant. I just thought you'd like to watch the recovery, maybe learn how to operate the camera."

Mac finishes her sandwich and after drinking some of her ice tea says, "Yeah Carl, you'd probably find that more interesting than working on the computer. Gabe loves the techie stuff he can get that done in no time."

Judson smiles and says, "Well it's up to you Carl whatever you want to do."

Carl raises an eyebrow and replies, "I think I'll leave the computer stuff to the KID but I think I'll take a look at the things you brought up. Then maybe the KID can show me how the camera works."

Mac smiles at Gabe and says, "Come on Gabe why don't you help me clean up the kitchen then we can get the gear topside."

Gabe stands and grabs several items off the table and follows Mac into the kitchen. Judson and Carl head toward the lab where Gabe had put the recovered items.

Mac puts a hand on his shoulder and says, "Don't let him get to you."

Gabe looks at her and replies, "What?"

Mac puts some of the left over sandwiches in containers while saying, "Don't pretend you didn't notice. Look compared to him you are a kid. Heck even Judson and I refer to you as the kid sometimes. Your younger it's natural."

Gabe takes the container and as he puts it in the fridge says, "Yeah I know, it's just the way he says it."

Mac puts an arm around his shoulders and says, "Come on kid lets get the gear. Maybe he'll lighten up now that we've got some of his stuff on board."

Gabe grins and says, "Yeah, you're probably right."

10 minutes later Judson joins them on deck, "Hey guys. We ready to go Mac?"

Mac smiles and says, "Ready, camera's already in the water so lets get going. Hey Gabe try to get my good side when you're taking video."

Gabe smiles and says, "And which side would that be?" he quickly ducks and Mac smacks Judson in the head instead.

Judson looks at Mac and says, "What'd I do?"

Mac replies, "Nothing but consider yourself safe the next time you say something stupid."

Mac quickly begins to descend the ladder and Gabe walks away laughing.

As Judson begins to descend he yells, "You're gonna get it when we come back up, you know that right?"

Gabe turns around and while grin broadly replies, "Yeah but it was worth it."

Meanwhile below deck Carl is checking out the items that were retrieved during the morning dives. He doesn't look very happy at the condition of some of the items.

Gabe enters the instrument room and takes a seat at the underwater camera's controls. Once he gets the camera up and running he slowly moves it toward the area that his friends are working. Suddenly Gabe hears someone stomping down the hall and before he can turn around Gabe feels hands grab him and he's being hauled out of his seat.

Once Gabe is standing he is able to see Carl and says, "Hey what's the big idea I'm trying to work here."

Carl pushes Gabe out into the hallway and against the wall while angrily saying, "What did you do to my things you little runt?"

Gabe looks confused and as he pushes himself away from the wall replies, "Carl I don't know what you're talking about. Calm down."

Carl glares at him and says; "Some of the things in the lab are damaged. Do you know how hard I worked to find them? You should be more careful with other peoples things."

Gabe looks into the instrument room and takes a quick peek at the camera monitor then says, "Carl I know what you went through to find those artifacts. But Judson told me they were damaged when he found them."

Carl doesn't look convinced and angrily says, "Yeah so you say. When Judson gets back on board I'll just have to discuss this with him. I'm gonna operate the camera this afternoon you go find something else to occupy your time."

Carl turns to enter the instrument room and Gabe says, "Carl look the camera's a little touchy I think you should let me handle it, but you can watch then give it a try later."

Carl turns around and grabs Gabe by the left shoulder and slams him sideways into the wall while saying, "I'm the client, you're the hired help. You do as I say. Now go away."

As Carl walks into the room Gabe slowly moves away from the wall and rubs his right shoulder. Realizing it could damage some sensitive equipment if he tried to confront Carl in the instrument room Gabe stands out in the hall and watches from the hallway until he is satisfied that Carl could control the camera. Then Gabe goes to the lab and quickly documents the items they have already recovered. Once that is done he grabs an ice pack and goes to his cabin. Gabe lays down on his bunk figuring he'd just lay down for a little while, then go up on deck to help Judson and Mac with their equipment when they came up but in a matter of minutes Gabe falls asleep.

30 minutes later Judson and Mac break the surface and begins to ascend the ladder.

Judson yells, "Hey Gabe give us a hand here."

When Gabe doesn't appear at the railing Mac says, "Judson he's probably still playing around with the video files."

As Judson takes off his tank he says, "Yeah well he better have a good explanation for constantly putting the camera in our way. He knows better than that."

Mac smiles and says, "Judson take it easy. He stopped it before it actually hit your head didn't he?"

Suddenly Carl walks up and says, "Hey I'm really sorry about that Judson. The kid didn't tell me it was so sluggish."

Mac looks up and says, "What? You mean Gabe wasn't running the camera?"

Carl shakes his head and replies; "No I took over for him. He wasn't feeling so good so I told him to go lie down and I'd keep and eye on you guys."

Judson looks at Mac and says, "Gabe seemed fine to me before we went down." Then Judson turns to Carl and says, "Is he all right? What's wrong?"

Carl picks up some of the equipment and says, "Judson take it easy, the kid will be fine just needed some rest."

As Carl walks away Mac says, "Judson don't worry I'll check on him before I change."

Judson doesn't look convinced but says, "Okay, I'll take this stuff down to the lab. Let me know how he's doing."

Mac smiles at him and quickly walks away headed toward Gabe's cabin.

A few minutes later Mac is slowly entering Gabe's cabin and she notices a bottle of Advil sitting on his desk next to an empty glass. Mac carefully walks up to his bunk and sees Gabe lying on his back. His eyes are closed and it only takes Mac a few seconds to realize by the rhythm of his breathing that Gabe is sound asleep. Mac carefully takes the blanket from the bottom of the bunk and slowly covers him then begins to leave the room.

Once Mac quietly closes the door to Gabe's cabin she goes to hers and quickly changes. Then Mac heads to the lab to talk to Judson.

Judson looks up when Mac enters the lab and says, "How's Gabe?"

Mac grins and says, "He's sound asleep, there was a bottle of Advil on his desk, he probably had a bad headache."

Judson doesn't look convinced and says, "Mac he wouldn't hand over the camera controls if it was just a headache."

Mac shrugs her shoulders and says, "Well I guess you're just gonna have to ask Gabe later when he wakes up. Look I'm gonna go relax for a while."

Judson nods then goes back to taking care of the half dozen items they had brought up. After finishing the job Judson heads up to the sitting room and finds Mac playing cards with Carl at the table.

Carl looks up and says, "Hey Judson you want to join us?"

Judson shakes his head and as he walks into the kitchen says, "Nah you guys have fun." He grabs a beer then comes out and says, "Hey isn't it Gabe's night to cook?"

Mac looks up and says, "Yeah. Look Judson I'll take care of it let him sleep."

Carl looks at Mac and says, "Hey if it's his turn to cook then he should do it not you."

Mac looks like she is getting angry so Judson quickly says, "Carl it's not that big a deal besides Gabe doesn't stop working unless he's really feeling bad. We'll let him sleep for as long as he needs. Okay Mac you cook tonight Gabe can cook some other time."

Mac folds her cards into a small pile and says, "Okay dinner in a half hour guys. Judson you're in charge of setting the table."

Judson nods and begins pulling out the dishes. Mac in the meantime begins cutting up some vegetables and chicken.

Carl walks into the kitchen and says, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Mac smiles and says, "Nah go relax. Chicken stir fry coming up in 30."

Carl grabs a beer and then goes out to the sitting room and begins to talk to Judson. 35 minutes later the three of them are sitting at the table eating and making small talk. Occasionally Judson or Mac glance down the hallway toward Gabe's cabin but he never comes out.

As Judson and Mac clear the table Carl asks, "Judson I took a look at the stuff from this mornings dives. Some of it was a little damaged. Did you find it that way?"

As Mac comes out of the kitchen she says, "Yes it was."

Carl looks at her and says; "If you don't mind Mac I was asking Judson."

Mac glares at him but before she can say anything Judson comes out puts a hand on her shoulder and says, "Carl look you know how rough the seas were when you ran into trouble of course some of the stuff got a little damaged."

Judson squeezes Mac's shoulder then says, "Mac why don't you go check on Gabe see how he's doing. Carl lets you and I go look at the stuff from this afternoon."

Mac nods her head then walks down the hallway towards Gabe's cabin. She knocks gently on the door then slowly opens it and cautiously walks toward the bed. Mac notices that Gabe has moved a little but he's still sleeping so she begins to leave the room. But before Mac shuts the door Gabe begins to move so Mac goes back to the bed and gently places a hand on his left shoulder.

Gabe slowly opens his eyes and still half asleep says, "Hey!"

Mac smiles at him and says, "How ya feeling, sleepy head? Is your headache gone yet?"

Gabe looks a little confused but softly replies, "Yeah." He slowly begins to sit up while quickly covering the ice pack and says, "How long was I asleep?"

Mac sits on the edge of the bed and replies, "Well we finished dinner a little while ago. Are you hungry I could get you something?"

Gabe looks down and says, "What? But it's my night to cook you should have woken me up."

Mac puts a hand on his shoulder and says, "Hey you were sound asleep and Carl explained that you weren't feeling well. Don't worry about it I cooked and you can take my next turn. Okay?"

Gabe nods and replies, "Okay! Where's Judson and Carl?"

Mac ruffles his hair and replies; "Judson was taking him to check out the stuff we brought up this afternoon. You hungry?"

Gabe grins and before he can say anything Mac says, "Okay stupid question. Come on I'll warm it up for you."

Gabe follows Mac out to the kitchen and sits on the counter while she re-heats some for him.

As Mac takes the dish out of the small microwave she says, "You know you shouldn't be sitting there."

Gabe smiles as he jumps down then takes the plate while saying, "Yeah, thanks Mac it looks good."

Mac smiles and says, "Go sit at the table I'll get you a drink. You want a beer?"

As Gabe takes his seat he replies, "No! I'll take a soda though."

Mac comes out carrying a Pepsi and puts it down in front of him while saying; "Here you go. Are you sure you're okay?"

Gabe continues to eat and nods but Mac doesn't seem convinced since Gabe won't look at her so she says, "Hey take a breath."

Gabe looks up and grabs the soda can while saying, "Fine. How'd the dive go?"

Mac leans back in her chair and replies, "Good we found some more items. The camera kept getting in our way. Carl nearly rammed the thing into Judson's head."

Gabe finishes his food and as he takes his plate into the kitchen says, "So how pissed is Judson?"

When Gabe comes out of the kitchen Mac replies, "Well he was pretty mad until Carl said it was him and not you. Don't worry about it."

Gabe nods and says, "I'm gonna turn in. Are you guys still planning on going into the ship tomorrow?"

Mac nods and says, "Yep that's the plan. Go get some rest, I'll see you in the morning."

Gabe nods and heads down the hallway. A few minutes later Judson and Carl return to the sitting room and find Mac lying on the couch reading a magazine.

Judson sits down in one of the chairs and says, "How's Gabe?"

Mac looks up and replies, "He's fine. I got him to eat some dinner but he was still pretty tired so he turned in already."

Judson frowns at this and says, "Mac are you sure he's okay that doesn't sound like him?"

Mac looks back down at her magazine and says, "Well he ate okay. I asked if he was okay, he said he was and you know what a bad liar he is."

Judson still doesn't look convinced but lets it drop. Carl sits down in the other chair and for the next few hours Judson and Carl discuss the many jobs they have had. After a couple of hours they turn in for the night.


Part 3

The 6th day of the job starts out as usual Judson is in the kitchen cooking but this morning only Mac is setting the table.

As Mac finishes Gabe walks up to the table and says, "Sorry Mac."

Mac smiles at him and says, "That's okay now you owe me two."

Judson comes out and puts a platter of pancakes down and says, "You keep this up Gabe and Mac will have you doing all of her chores."

Gabe just shrugs his shoulders as he takes his seat then puts two pancakes on his plate and begins to eat.

Mac stops in mid reach and says, "Judson leave him alone." After glaring at Judson for a few minutes she takes a few pancakes and begins to eat also.

Judson looks stunned and says, "Hey I was only kidding. What's gotten into you today?"

Before Mac can reply Carl takes his seat and says, "Morning. So everybody ready for a busy day?"

Mac looks up and glares at Judson still mad about his earlier comment while saying, "Yeah I guess."

Judson looks up and sheepishly says, "Look I'm sorry alright. Morning Carl."

The rest of meal is eaten in silence and after everyone has finished Judson says, "Okay I think we all deserve a break. So we're only doing one dive this morning and then we're taking the rest of the day off."

Carl looks up and angrily says, "What? Why?"

Judson calmly replies, "Carl we did 6 dives in 2 days we need a break. Don't worry we've got plenty of time till we head in."

Gabe stands up and takes his empty plate into the kitchen while Mac says, "Sounds like a good plan to me." Then she gets up and also goes into the kitchen.

Mac and Gabe begin to clean up some of the mess Judson had made making breakfast.

Meantime Carl angrily says, "Judson you'd be able to make more dives if you had a third diver instead of having that kid working an underwater camera."

Judson stands up and calmly says, "Carl we don't need another diver, Gabe is our safety backup and technician he does more than operate the camera."

Carl stands up and practically yells, "Judson I could do what that KID does. You need another diver on your team."

Gabe and Mac can't help but hear the conversation and she doesn't look too pleased when they walk out of the kitchen.

Mac clears her throat but before she can say anything Gabe says, "I'm gonna go get your gear up on deck." Then he quickly walks down the hallway.

Judson yells out to him, "Gabe wait." But Gabe doesn't stop and Judson looks at Mac and says, "Mac could you please leave us alone for a few minute. I'll meet you up on deck in 30."

Mac nods and while glaring at Carl replies, "Sure."

After Mac leaves Judson looks at Carl and says, "Carl that was uncalled for. Mac and I need a break and we're gonna take one after the dive. Don't worry we will get the job done one afternoon off isn't gonna put us back that much."

Carl seems to calm down a little and says, "Judson you're right you and Mac deserve a break I'm sorry but I still think you should have another diver on your team."

Judson shakes his head and replies, "Carl you knew the make up of my team when you hired us. If you want another diver I can look into it when we go back but since that wasn't part of the original deal I'm afraid your gonna have to cover the extra expense."

Carl shakes his head and replies, "I can't do that, I'll be lucky to break even as it is." Carl walks away and heads toward his cabin.

Judson goes to his cabin and gets into his wet suit then heads up onto the deck and finds Gabe and Mac waiting at the lounge chairs.

Gabe doesn't look up but Mac does and she says, "Judson did you get him straightened out?"

Judson nods and says, "Yes I did. Come on lets get going. Let's get this dive started then we can relax for the rest of the day."

Gabe helps Mac get her tanks on then grabs Judson and as he helps Judson get it on he says, "Gabe, Carl didn't think the job would go this slow. He's a little frustrated right now."

Gabe nods his head and says, "Not a problem. Look I'm gonna send the camera down after you guys. If you have any problems inside just give me the signal and I'll come down."

As Mac begins to descend the ladder she says, "Sure thing, but the ship looks to be in pretty good shape. So we shouldn't have much of a problem."

Judson slowly follows her and replies, "Yeah but you never know. See you in an hour Gabe."

After Judson and Mac slip into the water Gabe carries the camera down the ladder and carefully places it in the water. Then Gabe goes back down to the instrument room and gets the camera up and running. He carefully maneuvers it to were Mac and Judson are beginning to enter the ship and positions it so he can keep an eye on his friends. Fortunately Carl remains in his cabin for the entire length of the dive. When Gabe sees Mac and then Judson come back out of the ship he begins to pull the camera back and slowly returns it to the dive platform then he shuts it down and quickly heads up on deck to help. Judson and Mac break the surface and begin to ascend the ladder.

Gabe leans over the rail and yells, "Hey guys how'd it go?"

As Judson begins to get off the ladder he replies, "Great! We found some of the artifacts Carl wanted us to retrieve."

Mac reaches the top of the ladder and as she smiles says, "Yeah and the inside of the ship isn't that bad off. So we shouldn't have any problem searching the rest tomorrow."

Gabe helps them get the tanks off and says, "Okay look I'll get the gear downstairs you guys go change."

Judson smiles and says, "Okay but I'll take this stuff down to the lab then let Carl know how it went. Is he still in his cabin?"

Gabe stops at the top of the stairs and says, "I don't know. Haven't seen him since breakfast."

As Gabe heads down the stairs Mac says, "Judson you really should have a talk with Carl about his attitude towards Gabe."

Judson looks at her and replies, "Mac look I already talked to him. Come on let's get changed."

Judson picks up the bag of items they retrieved and the two of them head towards their cabins.

20 minutes later Judson and Mac are lounging on the deck of the Vast Explorer. Gabe is in the lab documenting and photographing the artifacts.

Carl walks out on to the deck and says, "Judson, Mac how did it look when you went in?"

Judson looks up and replies, "Well everything was tossed around but that's normal. Ship wasn't too badly damaged so we shouldn't have too much of a problem sweeping it for the rest of the items."

Mac smiles and says, "Yeah the next few days shouldn't be too bad but the hard parts gonna be finding the stuff that got tossed outside."

Carl nods and says, "Yeah I know. Look I'm gonna go take a look at the stuff you brought up. If that's okay with you?"

Judson grins and replies, "Carl you know it's not a problem. Gabe should still be down in the lab. I think he was gonna get all the photos taken and update the documents. Tell him I said to take a break when that's done."

Carl nods and walks away while saying, "Sure thing!"

Gabe is so engrossed in downloading the photos to his laptop that he doesn't notice Carl enter the room.

Carl walks up to him and angrily says, "Judson said to tell you to take a break when you're done what you're doing."

Gabe slowly turns around and says, "Uh where is he?"

Carl walks forward and menacingly says, "Far enough that he can't save your hide."

Before Gabe can move Carl grabs his left shoulder and throws a fist into Gabe's rib cage. Gabe doubles over and falls to the floor gasping for breath.

Carl stands over him and angrily says; "Listen to me good kid, if you know what's good for you, you'll stay out of my way and keep your mouth shut."

Gabe looks up at him, gasping for air and sees that Carl's face is red.

Carl then says, "Judson may think you're needed around here but I don't. Get in my way and I will see to it that he changes his mind."

Gabe has finally gotten his breath back and as he holds his left side he slowly begins to stand up.

Carl then moves to stand in front of him and says, "Do I make myself clear?"

Gabe nods his head but doesn't say anything. Carl glares at him again and then slowly backs out of the room and goes down the hall.

Once Carl has left Gabe carefully moves over to sit on the stool by the wall and as he leans against the wall Gabe closes his eyes and breaths slowly. After about 10 minutes Gabe slowly begins to move away from the wall and then carefully leaves the lab.

Meanwhile up on deck Mac sits up and says, "Judson I'm gonna go down and get something to drink do you want anything?"

Judson doesn't look up at her but replies, "Sure I'll take a bottle of water."

As Mac heads toward the stairs she says, "I'll be back in a few minutes. I hope Carl's not giving Gabe a hard time down there. Should I go check on them?"

Judson continues to lounge with his eyes closed and says, "Mac I'm sure their fine."

Mac doesn't look convinced and shakes her head at his comment then goes down the stairs headed toward the kitchen.

Meanwhile Gabe has come up the back steps and slowly makes his way toward Judson.

Judson hears the footsteps and says, "Carl is that you?"

Gabe slowly sits down and replies, "No it's me."

Judson doesn't open his eyes but smiles and says, "Hey Gabe! Did Carl give you my message?"

Gabe calmly says, "Uh, what message?"

Judson still has his eyes closed and a smile on his face when he replies, "Take a break, relax!"

Gabe carefully leans back in the chair and says, "Uh Judson can I talk to you for a minute, about Carl?"

The smile is slowly replaced by a frown and Judson replies, "Look Gabe I know he's been giving you a hard time and I'm sorry about that. But he's been under a lot of stress since losing his ship. So could you give him a break?"

Gabe carefully stands up holding his left side and replies, "Yeah okay! I'm gonna go read in my cabin for awhile."

Judson nods and says, "Sure thing, just make sure it's for pleasure and not work."

Gabe slowly walks down the stairs, when he enters the sitting room Mac comes out of the kitchen and as she walks toward him says, "Hey Gabe. Are you okay? You look a little pale!"

Gabe nods and as he walks toward his cabin says, "Yeah I'm fine. I'm gonna go read in my cabin. Go enjoy the sun while you can."

Mac smiles as she walks up the stairs and heads toward Judson. As she sits down Mac says, "Here's your water. Was Gabe up here?"

Judson takes the bottle of water and replies, "Yeah, but he went to his cabin to do some reading."

Mac looks at Judson and says, "Did he look a little pale to you?"

Judson sits up and while he looks at her says, "I didn't notice, I had my eyes closed, I was enjoying the sun. Why do you ask?"

Mac shakes her head and replies; "He looked a little pale to me when I saw down below. He didn't stop to talk, just went to his cabin."

Judson drinks some of his water and replies, "Maybe he's still getting over whatever was bothering him yesterday. I'll talk to him at lunchtime and make sure he's okay. Now relax and enjoy your time off, tomorrow it's back to work!"

Mac smiles as she leans back in her chair and replies, "Okay, sounds good to me!"

For the next hour Judson and Mac relaxed on the deck enjoying the sun and occasionally talking about the current job or something else. Then they get up and go below.

Mac heads toward the kitchen to prepare sandwiches and Judson goes to check on Gabe. He softly knocks on Gabe's cabin door and opens it. Gabe is sitting at his desk working on his laptop and at the sound of the door opening his head instantly shoots up.

Judson walks in and says, "Sorry didn't mean to startle you."

As Judson walks up to him Gabe shrugs his shoulder and says, "It's okay. I thought you were up on deck enjoying the sun?"

Judson puts a hand on his shoulder and replies; "We got hungry so Mac's getting lunch ready. She mentioned earlier that you looked a little pale so I thought I'd come check on you. You alright?"

Gabe looks down at his computer and replies; "I'm fine."

Judson doesn't look convinced and quickly says, "Gabe you do remember our previous discussion about you being a lousy liar don't you?"

Gabe nods but continues to type away at his laptop and doesn't look up at him.

So Judson squeezes Gabe's shoulder and says, "Okay then you know I know your not tell the truth. Are you sick, should we head in today?"

Gabe shakes his head and replies, "No I'm not sick and we don't have to head in early. There's no reason for you to change the schedule."

Judson looks closely at Gabe and says, "Then why are you avoiding looking at me?"

Gabe looks up and says, "I'm not. I was just trying to finish this program."

Judson nods and says, "Okay, you know where to find me if you want to talk. Right?"

Gabe nods and replies, "I'm not really hungry right now. I'll get something to eat later."

Judson frowns and replies, "Okay now I know there's definitely something wrong if you're not hungry. What's wrong?"

Gabe looks back down at his laptop and replies, "Nothings wrong. I'm just trying to finish this program. I'll grab something to eat when I'm done."

Judson looks at the computer screen but can't seem to make head or tails out of it so he says, "Okay but you're supposed to be relaxing not working. Remember?"

Gabe continues to type away and says, "Yeah but I happen to like programming so it's not all work. Beside if this works it will make operating the camera easier."

Judson shakes his head and as he walks out of the room says, "All right I give up. Just don't forget to eat something."

Gabe nods and continues to type away. Judson gently closes the door to his cabin then heads back out to the kitchen. When he gets there he finds an angry Mac confronting Carl.

Mac looks like she is ready to kick Carl's butt so Judson quickly moves to stand between the two and calmly says, "Okay calm down here. Mac what's going on?"

Mac tries to move toward Carl but Judson continues to block her way so she says, "I'm gonna kick this guys butt that's what's going on here. Get out of my way!"

Judson continues to block her path and says, "Carl go up on deck!"

Carl quickly makes his way around them and goes up the stairs.

Judson then turns to Mac and says, "What has gotten into you!"

Mac glares at him and says, "Judson you better have a talk with him about his attitude. I mean it. If he so much as makes one more negative comment about Gabe I'm going to throw him over board."

Judson takes a deep breath and says, "Okay Mac calm down! What happened?"

Mac points toward the stairs and says, "That man was trying to convince me that Gabe wasn't needed and that we should replace him with another diver. Look Judson I know he's an old friend of yours but he's been riding Gabe since we started this job and I don't like it one bit."

Judson leans against the table and says, "Mac just take it easy. Look I'll talk to him again and you're right he is an old friend so I can honestly say this isn't like him. I talked to Gabe, he's busy working on some program, he'll get something to eat later and before you ask he seems fine to me. Gabe's willing to give Carl a break so could you just follow his lead."

Mac looks down the hall toward Gabe's cabin and says, "Judson the fact that he's your friend is the only reason he hasn't gone overboard already. But I mean it one more incident like this morning and I won't hesitate to throw him overboard. He knew darn well Gabe and I were in the kitchen, if he had problems with the way the recovery was going then Carl should have talked to you in private."

Judson puts a hand on her shoulder and says, "Mac I promise I'll make it clear to Carl that I don't want that to happen again. Sit down and eat some lunch. I'm gonna go talk to Carl and straighten this out. Okay?"

Mac nods her head but she still doesn't look happy when she sits down at the table. As Judson leaves Mac puts several sandwiches on her plate, grabs two bottles of water and heads toward Gabe's cabin.

Mac knocks softly and not getting any response she knocks again with a little more force and says, "Gabe open up, my hands are full!"

The door opens and Gabe stands out of her way while saying, "Hey what's that?"

Mac smiles and replies, "Lunch for two. Judson said you weren't hungry but I figured you were just trying to avoid Carl. Figured you wouldn't mind the company."

Gabe motions her toward the desk and chair and says, "You're right I was and I could. What happened?"

Mac puts the items down on the desk and as she sits down says, "What do you mean?"

Gabe crosses his arms and as he looks down at her says, "Heard some loud voices. What's going on?"

Mac hands him a sandwich and as she takes one for herself says, "Nothing much. Carl tried to convince me to talk to Judson about getting another diver. I was gonna kick his butt but Judson stopped me. Look I told Judson to get Carl to back off or he's gonna take a swim. You don't have to hide out in your cabin."

Gabe stops chewing, swallows then says, "Mac I'm not hiding. I was working on a program for the camera."

Mac takes a drink of water then says, "Yeah, well you finished that sandwich pretty fast for someone who wasn't hungry."

Gabe grabs another and sheepishly replies, "Must be the company. Look, just don't do anything rash. After all Carl is an old friend of Judson's. I'm okay. When you're the son of a Senator you develop a pretty thick skin for this type of stuff."

Mac doesn't look convince but lets it go and they continue to eat their lunch while talking about anything but the current job.

Meanwhile up on deck Judson is staring out at the calm water telling Carl, "Look I know this is tough on you but I really need you to try and relax. Let us do our jobs. Mac is pretty defensive when it comes to the people she cares about. You keep it up and she's gonna toss you overboard."

Carl frowns and says, "All right look I'll apologize to her and the kid."

Judson shakes his head and says, "Carl his name is Gabe. You could start by using that instead of kid, he's an adult, all right?"

Carl nods and replies, "Yeah! Sorry about that, force of habit, I always called the youngest one of my crew the kid."

Judson nods and says, "I can understand that but uh Gabe doesn't. Look after we head in and get a little rest we can go over a few things. Maybe find a way to get some help on the recovery and keep the cost down."

Carl shakes his head and says, "Nah that's okay. You're doing a good job, I guess after not doing any recovery jobs for awhile, I'm out of practice. Didn't mean to cause any trouble."

Judson smiles and while putting a hand on his shoulder says, "Don't worry about it. I smoothed it over with Mac and Gabe. Now lets go get some lunch then we can take a look at the stuff in the lab."

As they walk toward the stairs Carl says, "But it's your afternoon off. Shouldn't you be relaxing, not working in the lab?"

As Judson heads down the stairs he replies, "I'm relaxed. Working in the lab's better than lounging around doing nothing."

Carl and Judson sit down at the table and begin to eat some sandwiches and exchange small talk about some of the things they have recovered since last seeing each other.


Part 4

A couple of hours later Judson and Carl return to the sitting room from working in the lab and find Mac relaxing on the couch reading a book.

As Judson walks into the kitchen he calls out to Mac, "Hey you want a beer?"

Mac looks up and replies, "Yeah sure." She then sees Carl sitting in the chair and says, "Has Judson talked to you?"

Carl nods and replies, "Yes and I want to apologize. Look I didn't mean to upset you or Gabe I was just a little frustrated with the way the recovery is going. Do you forgive me?"

Mac takes the beer Judson hands her and replies, "Apology accepted. You may be frustrated but I wish you wouldn't take it out on Gabe. You need to talk to Judson or myself we're doing the retrieval not Gabe."

Judson sits down in the other chair and as he sips his beer Carl says, "I guess I should go apologize to him."

But Mac quickly says, "He's kind of busy right now, working on a program. You should wait until later."

Judson looks a little surprised about how fast Mac spoke up but doesn't show it when he says, "Yeah Carl it can wait. You can talk to him after dinner."

Carl shrugs his shoulder and nonchalantly replies, "Okay I sure wouldn't want to interrupt him if he's in the middle of something."

Once again Carl and Judson start discussing some of the jobs they've been on and Mac tunes them out and continues to read her book. A couple of hours later Gabe leaves his cabin and heads toward the kitchen.

Judson hears him coming and when he comes into view says, "Hey Gabe! How's the program coming?"

Gabe stops and replies, "Okay but it's probably gonna take some more time to get it tested. But hopefully it should be up and running in a couple of days. Are you guys ready for dinner?"

Mac gets up off the couch and replies, "Sounds good. I'll give you hand."

Judson nods his head and says, "So what's on the menu for tonight?"

Gabe shrugs and says, "How about spaghetti and meatballs?"

Carl looks up and says, "Sounds good to me Gabe. So what's this program you're working on gonna do?"

Gabe looks a little stunned that Carl actually used his name but replies, "Well if it functions properly than it will allow us to send the camera down and then it will maneuver itself around the dive area. That'll allow me to leave the instrument room and do some work in the lab."

Carl looks at Judson and raises an eyebrow while saying, "That doesn't sound to safe what if they get into trouble?"

Gabe looks right at him and replies, "I'm working on that. I should be able to put in an audio alarm to alert anybody on the ship of trouble. I'm still working on it."

Judson looks up and replies, "Sounds like you've been busy today!"

Gabe grins and replies, "Not a problem. I'm gonna go get dinner on. Shouldn't take more than 35 minutes."

Gabe and Mac walk into the kitchen leaving Judson and Carl to continue their discussion.

As Gabe starts making the meatballs Mac begins the spaghetti and sauce while saying, "Maybe Judson actually got through to him. That's the first time he's actually called you by name."

Gabe continues to make the meatballs and replies, "I hope so."

Mac smiles at him and says, "Come on cheer up it could be worse!"

Gabe looks up and says, "Yeah how?"

Mac shrugs and replies, "You could be cooking by yourself!"

Gabe tosses a meatball at her and says, "Very funny! Move over I gotta start browning these."

Mac tosses the meatball back at him and says, "Yes sir, what ever you say sir!"

With a lot of fooling around dinner finally gets finished and Mac takes the spaghetti out to the table while Gabe carries the sauce with the meatballs.

Mac cheerfully says, "Dinner is served, come and get it!"

Judson and Carl join them at the table and to Gabe's amazement Carl actually pays him a compliment about the meal and he continues to be polite for the whole meal.

As Gabe is taking some of the empty dishes into the kitchen Carl follows him in and says, "Listen Gabe I want to apologize for what I said this morning. I know you do an important job for Judson and Mac, I didn't mean to imply you didn't I thought another diver would just move it along faster."

Mac and Judson come in carrying the rest of the dishes as Gabe puts the dishes in the sink and says, "I understand Carl it's not a problem."

Mac however notices that Gabe is avoiding looking at Carl and is obviously uncomfortable so she says, "Hey Carl how about we play cards and relax for awhile. Judson and Gabe can do the dishes."

Judson looks like he is about to complain but before he can Gabe says, "We got it, go relax."

Mac smiles at him, puts her arm around Carl's shoulder and practically has to force him out of the kitchen.

Judson moves to stand next to Gabe and says, "Gee thanks for volunteering me!"

Gabe shrugs his shoulders and softly says, "I'll take care of it. Go do what ever you want." He turns on the water and starts to fill the sink as he puts in some soap.

Judson shakes his head and says, "That's okay, I'll give you hand."

It only takes them about 20 minutes to get all the dishes done and as they leave the kitchen Gabe says, "I'm gonna go work on that program some more. Good night!"

Mac and Carl look up from their game of cards and wish say good night as does Judson who takes a seat at the table with them. Mac deals him in to the next hand and the three of them play cards for awhile and make small talk.



Day 7 to 10

These 4 days are uneventful for the team as they continue to recover items from the ship. Gabe pretty much avoids Carl whenever he can except at meals and nothing unusual happens.



Day 11

Judson is in the kitchen preparing breakfast when Mac walks in.

As he looks up Mac says, "Good morning. Hey where's Gabe?"

Judson walks out of the kitchen and says, "Morning Mac. Gabe will be out in a minute, he's taking a quick look with the camera."

They hear footsteps approaching and when they look up say in unison, "Morning Carl."

Carl takes a seat at the table and says, "Good morning. Food looks good as usual Judson. Where's the kid?"

Mac and Judson take their usual seats and Mac says, "Oh Gabe will turn up in a minute."

Judson takes a sip of his coffee then says, "He's taking a quick look with the camera so we know which way to head today."

Carl swallows some of his eggs and says, "Don't know why? You guys will be down there soon and you'll be able to figure out which way to go then."

Gabe takes his seat just as Carl finish speaking and quietly says, "Morning."

It obvious to Mac and Judson that he heard what Carl said and to break the tension Mac says, "So Gabe anything new going on down there?"

Gabe swallows and replies, "It looks a little murky today, you guys might have a hard time down there with the current."

Gabe eats some more eggs then gulps down his coffee and as he takes his dishes into the kitchen Judson says, "Hey slow down. What's the rush?"

Gabe comes out and says, "I need to get some more pictures and write up what you guys found yesterday."

Carl makes a grunting noise and Mac glares at him while Judson says, "Don't worry about that right now. You can catch up on that tomorrow as we head in."

Carl looks up suddenly and says, "What?"

Judson gets up and begins to take his dishes into the kitchen and says, "Carl I told you we would only stay out for 2 weeks at a time. I'll take us almost 24 hours to get back so we need to start back tomorrow."

Carl looks like he is about to start arguing but Mac gets up and says, "Fine by me. I could use a break after all this diving. It'll feel good to get back onto dry land and relax for awhile."

Judson smiles at her and says, "Yeah I know what you mean. Uh Gabe while we're down today could you take a look at the starboard engine. It sounded a little rough the other day."

Gabe nods his head and says, "Sure no problem. Look I'm gonna go get your gear up on deck."

Gabe heads out of the room and as Carl takes his dishes into the kitchen Mac softly says, "Judson is it just me or has Gabe been acting, I don't know different lately."

Judson shrugs and replies, "Mac he's fine, probably a little tired; it's been a busy couple of weeks. Why don't you go get suited up."

Mac heads toward her cabin and Carl comes out of the kitchen and says, "Judson why don't we stay out a little longer. A couple of more days and you could be done."

Judson shakes his head and replies, "Sorry Carl but we agreed to 2 weeks. We'll head back tomorrow and come back for the rest after we relax for a couple of days. I'm gonna go get suited up. If you want you can keep an eye on us with the camera today. That'll give Gabe all the time he needs to work on the engine."

Carl nods, but doesn't look very happy when he walks away. Judson watches for a minute then heads toward his cabin to change into his wet suit.

*******

20 minutes later Judson joins Gabe and Mac on deck. Gabe has just finished helping Mac get her tanks on.

Judson smiles and says, "Okay kids, today's an easy day. One dive this morning and then one after lunch."

Mac grins and says, "Somebody's in a good mood but some how I don't think Carl's gonna like that."

As Gabe helps Judson get his tank on he says, "Judson, Mac's right about that. He seemed surprised when you said we were heading in tomorrow."

Judson replies, "I talked to him after you guys left, don't worry about it. Gabe Carl's gonna work the camera while we're down there so why don't you focus on that engine."

As Judson and Mac head down the ladder toward the dive platform Gabe says, "Okay, you guys be careful down there. I'll see you in a couple of hours."

*******

After working on the engine for 40 minutes Gabe decides to take a break, so he heads to the bathroom to get cleaned up. After cleaning all the grease off his hands and arms Gabe walks into the instrument room of the Vast Explorer and sees Carl struggling to operate the underwater camera.

Gabe takes a quick glance at the view screen and sees Mac and Judson carefully scouting the ocean floor along the outside of Carl's sunken ship.

Carl angrily says, "Piece of junk." He continues to yank the stick around but doesn't seem happy with the results.

Gabe takes a hesitant step toward him and says, "Here let me give you a hand."

Carl turns and glares at him while angrily saying, "Listen here kid I know what I'm doing. Aren't you supposed to be working on that engine?"

Gabe looks shocked at the venom in the man voice but calmly says, "Yes I do but I'm responsible for this equipment. Let me give you a hand, maybe the stick is stuck again."

As Gabe begins to reach for the stick Carl shoves him away. "I'm not gonna tell you again. I know what I'm doing now get out of here."

Gabe stands up and takes a step back than says, "Look I'm the one responsible for this equipment. If it's not operating correctly let me take a look at it and see what's wrong. It'll only take a few minutes then I'll get back to the engine and leave you alone."

Carl continues to yank the stick around and as the camera heads toward the sunken ship Gabe says, "Look I already fixed the camera before we left and I don't have any more parts. If you break it now we won't be able to keep any eye on Mac and Judson for their last dive after lunch."

Gabe once again makes a move to take over but this time Carl turns and throws a bunch at him. Unfortunately Gabe was looking at the view screen and worrying about saving the camera and never saw the fist coming. It connects with his right cheek sending him backwards until the back of his head strikes the edge of the doorframe and Gabe falls to the floor unconscious. Carl continues to wrestle with the camera controls and after a few minutes seems satisfied when the camera begins to go in the direction he wanted.

Carl watches Mac and Judson for a few minutes then turns and sees Gabe lying on the floor. He seems shocked to see him as if he doesn't remember what happened earlier. Carl slowly gets up and moves to kneel beside the motionless Gabe, he checks for a pulse then looks up at the camera's view screen then back down at the motionless young man.

Carl shakes his head and softly says, "Damn it." He then stares off into space for awhile, as if contemplating what to do now, knowing that if Judson and Mac find Gabe lying there they will surely know that the only person that could be responsible was him.

Carl suddenly shakes his head, grabs Gabe under his shoulders and begins to lift him, once he gets the unconscious young man over his shoulders Carl looks at the view screen to check on Judson and Mac. Satisfied that they won't be coming up soon he walks out of the room carrying Gabe.

*******

20 minutes later Judson is climbing up the ladder from the dive platform followed closely by Mac. Once they get to the deck they slip out of their tanks and just as they turn around Carl emerges from the stairs.

Judson runs his hand through his hair and says; "Carl we found some more of the things you wanted us to retrieve. But I'm afraid it's gonna take at least a half dozen or more dives to get the rest of it."

Mac smiles at him and says, "The currents gotten hold of some of the stuff and it's pretty well scattered."

Carl shrugs his shoulders and says, "Yeah I kind of figured on that. Here let me give you a hand taking care of this stuff." He reaches out to grab Mac's dive gear.

Mac smiles at him and says, "That's okay I got it. Where's Gabe at, I need him to take a look at this pressure gauge? Is he still working on the engine?"

Carl shrugs his shoulders as he walks away with the bag of stuff they had brought up and sarcastically says, "Your guess is as good as mine. Kid never does what you tell him. We're in the middle of the ocean so he's gotta be somewhere on the ship, unless he fell overboard."

Mac looks at Judson and says, "Where did that come from?"

Judson raises an eyebrow and watches his friend walk away while saying, "I don't know. It certainly doesn't sound like him but he's been pretty upset since his ship went down. Doesn't sound like Gabe either, he usually checks in on us with the camera when we're down for so long. Let's go get changed if he doesn't turn up by the time we're done then I'll look for him. We can take care of this stuff later."

Mac and Judson leave their gear on the deck and head toward the stairs.

*******

Mac comes out of her cabin still towel drying her hair and heads toward Judson's but before she reaches the doorway he comes out.

"Hey Mac. I haven't heard or seen Gabe what about you?"

Mac drapes the towel around her shoulders and says, "No I haven't. Judson this isn't like him. Even if he was busy working on something he would take a break and check to see how we were doing."

Judson nods his head and says, "Yeah I know. Look why don't you go topside and see if you can find him I'll check around here and below."

Mac steps into the instrumentation room and grabs 2 walkie-talkies and says, "Okay but take this with you it's better than yelling."

Judson grins at her and takes the radio before heading aft and she heads toward the stairs.



Part 5

Judson has finished checking all of the rooms and is heading to the last storage compartment when he hears Mac yell over the radio, "Judson starboard engine compartment Gabe's down, hurry."

Judson immediately runs toward the stairs and takes them 2 at a time and within a minute he's reached the engine compartment. Judson finds Mac kneeling down next to Gabe's prone form and immediately he notices she's got her hand and the towel under his head

Mac stares back at him and with a lot of concern in her voice says, "He's out cold. His pulse is steady but a little weak. He's bleeding pretty bad from the back of his head."

Judson starts down the ladder and says, "All right let's get him out of here. Can you lift him up and put his arms over my shoulders. If I can grab his arms and keep them together than I can walk him up on my back. You come up behind us and make sure he doesn't hit his head on the rim of the hatch."

After some maneuvering Judson and Mac manage to get Gabe out of the engine compartment. Judson tries to keep Gabe standing up right until Mac can get off the ladder but finds it difficult. "Come on Mac this is killing my back."

Mac finally steps onto the deck and grabs Gabe under his shoulders; "Okay I've got him."

Judson slowly lets go of his arms, turns around and then they slowly lower Gabe to the deck.

Mac once again applies the towel to the back of his head, while also checking his pulse and says; "His pulse hasn't changed. He's got a pretty nasty bruise on his right cheek, he must have slipped coming up the ladder."

Judson quickly checks Gabe's for any other injuries and says, "Luckily he doesn't seem to have broken anything. We better get him to the infirmary."

While Mac continues to apply pressure to Gabe's head wound Judson carefully lifts Gabe up in his arms then slowly carries him toward the stairs.

*******

As they near the infirmary Carl steps out of his cabin and immediately stops, "Judson what happened?"

Judson shakes his head and as he enters the infirmary says, "We found him unconscious in the engine compartment."

Mac quickly pushes her way past Carl and rushes to pull the blankets down on the bed then helps Judson lay Gabe on the bed. She sits on the edge of the bed and once again begins to apply pressure to the back of Gabe's head.

As Judson pulls the blanket up to cover Gabe he says, "Carl could you go tell Charlie to start pulling up the anchor. We've gotta get Gabe to the hospital."

Mac pushes some stray hairs off of Gabe's forehead while she looks at his cheek.

Carl stands in the doorway and says, "Judson it'll take at least 24 hrs to get back to Beau Harbor by then the kid will be walking around like nothing happened."

Judson looks at Carl and says, "Carl he was unconscious when we found him and he's bleeding pretty bad."

Mac glares at Carl while saying, "Not to mention we have no idea how long he was out before we found him."

Suddenly they hear a low groan and both Judson and Mac turn their attention back to Gabe.

Mac uses the fingers of her right hand to gently caress his cheek while saying, "Easy Gabe, we're here."

Judson sits down on the edge of the bed by Gabe's chest and says, "Gabe can you hear me? It's Judson, come on open your eyes for us buddy."

Gabe's eyes flutter open but he doesn't seem to focus on anything. After only a few seconds his eye lids lower once again and he groans.

"Easy buddy, you're gonna be fine. We're gonna get you to a hospital and you're gonna be just fine." Judson slowly rises and when he notices Carl is still standing in the doorway says, "Carl I told you to get us underway."

Carl takes a step into the room and says, "Judson come on the kid's fine. A bump on the head isn't worth wasting the rest of the day."

Suddenly Gabe starts to move his head and Mac has to use her right hand to try and keep his head from moving away from her other hand and the towel keeping pressure on his wound. Mac leans forward and softly says, "Easy Gabe, everything's okay. Sssshhhh it's okay." Mac turns her head and angrily says, "Judson get him out of here and get us moving."

Judson looks at Gabe and seeing that he's starting to settle down softly says, "Mac stay calm, I'll be right back."

Judson walks toward Carl and pushes him out of the room while saying, "Carl your ship isn't going anywhere. It'll still be here after we get Gabe to a doctor and make sure he's okay. Besides we were gonna head in tomorrow any way."

Carl shakes his head and angrily says, "But we haven't finished recovering everything yet. We can't leave."

Judson shoves Carl toward his cabin and says, "Carl you know we only had enough supplies for two weeks. This isn't up for debate. Gabe's hurt and my crew comes first, we're heading in now whether you like it or not."

*******

10 minutes later and the Vast Explorer's heading back to Beau Harbor at top speed and Carl is stewing in his cabin. Judson has just returned to the infirmary after talking to Charlie and getting them under way.

Judson enters the infirmary carrying a small flashlight and then grabs the first aid kit out from under the sink and moves over to stand beside Mac.

Mac looks up at him and says, "Judson we better take a look at his head. I can't tell if the bleedings stopped."

Judson nods and says, "Look why don't you move and sit next to him and I'll lift him up into a sitting position. You'll be able to hold him up then I can get a look at it with the flashlight."

Mac nods her head and carefully slides her left hand out from underneath Gabe's head and moves to sit on the edge of the bed at his side. Judson carefully lifts Gabe up and with a little help from Mac he is soon able to get a close look at the back of Gabe's head. Judson carefully uses 2 fingers to part Gabe's hair and finds a bad gash, that's bleeding slowly.

Judson looks down at Mac and says, "He's got a pretty bad gash back here. The bleedings slowing down though. Hold onto him Mac I gotta clean this up before we bandage it."

Judson puts the flashlight down, takes out a small alcohol wipe and carefully begins to clean the wound.

Gabe flinches when he makes contact and Mac whispers in his ear, "Easy Gabe just a little bit longer. Judson's almost done." As she rubs his back with her right hand Mac looks at Judson.

Judson nods his head at Mac and says; "Okay I think it's cleaned out now. I just need to get it covered with this gauze pad then we can lower him back down."

After Judson gets the packet open he gently places the pad against Gabe's head and says, "Okay Mac let's lower back down. I'll keep my hand here until we can get a bandage around his head."

Mac slowly shifts Gabe and they lower him back to the bed. Judson holds his head slightly above the pillows as Mac gets out a roll of gauze and begins to wrap it around his head. When she reaches Judson's hands he carefully removes it as she rolls the bandage over the sterile pad then continues to circle Gabe's head a few times until she reaches the end of the roll. Judson cuts a piece of tape and secures the bandage, then Mac gently places Gabe's head back onto the pillows.

Judson takes the first aid kit and flashlight over to the small sink and puts them down, then pulls a chair up to the bed. Mac is still sitting on the bed next to Gabe and brushes a stray hair off of his forehead.

Judson puts a hand on her left knee and says, "Mac look I'll stay with him for a while why don't you go get something to eat."

Mac shakes her head and as she continues to watch Gabe says, "I'm not hungry. I'll stay you go eat."

Judson stands up and puts a hand on her shoulder then says, "Mac he's gonna be okay."

********

20 minutes later Judson is sitting in the chair watching Gabe while Mac is getting something to eat. Gabe's eyes begin to flutter and Judson immediately gets up and moves to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Gabe can you hear me?" Gabe moves his head a little but his eyes don't open. "Take it easy buddy, I'm here, you're gonna be fine."

Gabe's eyes flutter a little more but he stops moving his head and moans softly. Judson reaches out and feels his forehead.

Mac walks into the room at this moment and says, "What's wrong? Is he running a fever?"

Judson turns to look at her and says, "No fever. His eyelids were moving and he was moving his head around again but now he's quieted down again."

Judson moves back to the chair and Mac sits on the edge of the bed and brushes an imaginary strand of hair from his forehead.

Gabe remains quiet for the next few hours and Judson and Mac are still sitting close by and watching him.

Judson looks at Mac with concern and says, "Mac look I'll stay with him for a while why don't you go lie down and get some rest. You can spell me in a couple of hours."

Mac shakes her head and continues to watch Gabe. Judson knows Mac can be stubborn so he gives up on trying to get her to go to bed.

"Mac I'm gonna get a couple hours sleep then I'll come spell you. Don't argue with me, you know I'm right about this. I'll start the coffee before I turn in."

Four hours later Judson walks into the infirmary with a cup of coffee in his hand and finds Mac sitting in the chair with her eyes closed.

She opens her eyes instantly and says, "I'll be back in four hours so don't get too comfortable."

But before she gets out of her seat Gabe groans and his eyes flutter. Judson puts his cup of coffee down and immediately moves to sit on the edge of the bed. "Easy Gabe. We're here."

Mac gets up, moves to stand beside Judson and says, "Gabe can you hear us?"

Gabe slowly opens his eyes but he doesn't seem to be able to focus on them. He blinks a couple of times then squints while saying, "Jud ... son? Mm ... ac?" Judson smiles and says, "Yeah we're here kid, take it easy. We're heading in. We're gonna get you to a doctor and you're gonna be fine."

Gabe's closes his eyes and Mac says, "Just rest we're not going anywhere."

Judson looks up at Mac and says, "You are. Go to bed."

Mac frowns at Judson but knows he's right and slowly walks out of the room.

*******

Judson and Mac continue to alternate shifts so Gabe is never alone, Carl would occasionally look in the infirmary but he never offered to sit with Gabe, instead he kept to himself in his cabin or up on deck.

When they were only about a half-hour out of Beau Harbor Mac and Judson carefully moved Gabe from the infirmary up to the main deck, while Charlie called ahead on the radio and arranged to have an ambulance meet then at the dock.

4 minutes after the ship reached the dock Gabe was being loaded into the ambulance by the attendants. It had already been decided that Mac would accompany Gabe and Judson would take the car and meet them there after he made sure the ship had been secured and the rest of the crew had been given their assignments.

*******

An hour later Judson and Mac are sitting in the ER waiting room, waiting for word on Gabe. Mac gets up and impatiently begins to pace the room, she only makes 2 circuits of the room before a nurse opens the door and says, "Any one here for Gabriel Patterson?"

Judson jumps up out of his seat and joins Mac while saying, "Yes we are. How is he?"

The nurse looks at them and sternly says, "Follow me please, Dr. Connor wishes to speak to you in his office."

She immediately turns around and begins to walk down the hallway. Judson and Mac have to walk quickly to keep up to her and before they know it they are stopping at an office door. The nurse opens the door and motions them in.

Judson and Mac enter the room and find a doctor sitting at the desk, he looks up when they enter and motions to 2 chairs. As they sit down they introduce them selves and inquire about Gabe.

The doctor looks at them and says, "Mr. Patterson has been stabilized and is currently getting a CAT scan. I've examined him and I have a few questions."

Judson looks surprised and says, "Okay anything we can do to help."

"Well according to the paperwork that was filled out when he arrived you say Mr. Patterson fell and suffered a blow to the back of his head and the bruise on his cheek."

Mac looks at him and says, "Yes that correct, I filled out the forms when we got here. I don't understand what the problem is."

The doctor looks directly at Mac and says, "The problem is Ms. Previn there are a couple of bruises on Mr. Patterson's back, one on his right shoulder and a rather nasty looking bruise on his left rib cage. Now as you indicated on the forms you found him at the bottom of a ladder roughly a little more than 24 hrs ago."

Judson nods and says, "That's right. We headed back shortly after we found him and it took us that long to get back to port."

Dr. Connor looks down at a file and says, "That may be but the bruises are in various stages of healing so they had to have happened some time ago. The bruise on his side concerns me the most since it is roughly the sized of a fist. Do you have any explanation for these injuries?"

Judson looks at the doctor and says, "A fist? Doc are you implying somebody deliberately injured Gabe?"

Dr. Connor looks at Judson and says, "Yes Mr. Cross I am. There is no way Mr. Patterson suffered these bruises in the same fall that caused his head injury. And the fact that there are numerous bruises make me suspicious about how he received this latest injury."

Mac looks at the doctor and says, "The bruise on his shoulder, how long ago could it have happened?"

The doctor leans back in his chair and says, "I'm not really sure. There's really no way of knowing for sure, everybody heals differently so it's not an exact science but compared to the bruise on his ribs it is lighter so I assume it happened before that."

Judson looks at her and says, "Mac what is it? Do you know something about this?"

She looks at him and says; "I don't know how it happened but a week ago Gabe and I were horsing around on deck. He made some wise crack as I walked by him and I smacked him on the shoulder."

The doctor looks at Mac and says, "Just how hard was this blow?"

Mac looks shocked and says, "I hardly touched him. It wasn't done in anger and it certainly wasn't hard enough to cause a bruise."

Judson puts a hand on Mac's knee and says, "Doc look we kid around a lot with each other, give the occasionally tap at the back of the head or shoulder, but it's never really physical contact. Mac what made you ask that question?"

She looks at Judson and says, "Well Gabe kind of jumped a little when I did it. I turned around and said something like; hey I hardly touched you what's the matter? He said I startled him. I thought it sounded kind of funny but he smiled at me and started in on me about making something decent for dinner. I made a face at him and walked away. I didn't think anything about it after that, he seemed fine."

Judson nods his head and says, "I know, that's what I don't understand. He seemed to be fine, a little quiet at times and spent a lot of time in his cabin but nothing that indicated there was trouble. Doc could there be some other reason for the bruises? I don't know like some medical condition that's suddenly showing up?"

Before the doctor can answer him the phone rings and he picks it up, "This is Dr. Connor," he listens to the caller then says, "Okay, I want Mr. Patterson admitted to the ICU and notify me the minute there's any change."

The doctor hangs up the phone and looks at Judson while saying, "No there is no other reason for the bruises. His blood work came back perfectly normal in that respect, I already had those circumstances ruled out before you were brought back here. Your friend's CAT scan has come back negative for any skull fractures or bleeding in his brain so in that respect we are fortunate. He does have a severe concussion and due to the lack of immediate care he is also suffering from severe shock. As you heard I've had him sent to the ICU, there he can be monitored around the clock. Do you have a number for his family? They'll need to be notified."

Mac looks at Judson then says, " Do you really need to contact them? Gabe's a legal adult and he doesn't see his family much, between our traveling and their busy schedule it's hard to manage. "

The doctor looks at her and says, "Given the fact that he is still unconscious and I have concerns about how he was injured, yes I think it is necessary that we contact them."

Judson looks at the doctor and says, "Doc I have written authorization from Gabe to make any medical decisions on his behalf, pull his records there's already a copy on file with the hospital. Unless this is life threatening then I'm afraid you don't have the authority to call his parents."

Dr. Connor looks at Judson and says, "I'm not so sure about that Mr. Cross at the moment you and the rest of your crew could be responsible for Mr. Patterson's injuries. So I think it best to contact his parents and get their input."

Mac glares at the doctor and says, "That wouldn't happen to be fueled by the fact that you know who his father is, so you want to cover your backside, now would it?"

Judson puts a hand on her shoulder and says, "Doc you have a legal document from your patient in your files that says I make the decisions and his parents are only to be notified if his condition is life threatening. If you contact them you'll be breaking Doctor/Patient privilege. If your worried about being sued by the Senator than you should also be worried about being sued by Gabe, because I can assure you he will sue you if you break that privilege."

Mac nods her head and says, "Darn right and I'm a witnesses to this conversation doctor. So you can't very well deny later that Judson never informed you of the documents existence. Now if you don't mind we'd like to see Gabe now."

Dr. Connor folds his arms and says, "Very well, I'll hold off notifying his parents but I do have a problem with your seeing him. I am not willing to risk further injury to Mr. Patterson by letting you in the room with him. I'm afraid until he regains consciousness and absolves you of any wrong doing you will have to stay away from him."

Judson stands up and says, "I'm afraid that is unacceptable. We will not simply leave Gabe here alone in a hospital room by himself, because you are suspicious. When he wakes up we will be there. You can assign a security guard to his room and add the expense to the bill."

Dr. Connor looks at the obviously angry Mac and Judson then clears his throat and says, "Very well. You may stay with Mr. Patterson but I will have the nurses checking regularly. If I hear one report of anything suspicious I will have you barred from entering his room again. The ICU is on the 4th floor. I'll call ahead and tell them you're coming."

As the doctor picks up the phone Judson and Mac quickly leave.

Part 6

As Judson and Mac exit the elevator on the 4th floor they immediately notice the nurse's station and walk toward it. There is a nurse on the phone when they approach and she motions them to wait.

They patiently wait for her to finish her phone call and as she hangs up the phone Judson says, "Gabe Patterson's room please."

The nurse looks down at some papers then says, "I have a Gabriel Patterson in room 4," she points to the left and says, "It's right there. Dr. Connor has already given us instructions. So we'll be keeping an eye out."

The nurse goes back to her other duties and Mac sarcastically says, "Gee thanks."

Judson grabs her by the arm and practically has to yank her shoulder out of the socket to get her away from the nurse's stations. As they walk toward Gabe's room Judson whispers, "Mac don't tick them off, we have to be here for Gabe when he wakes up, if you get us thrown out then he'll be here alone."

Judson and Mac slowly enter Gabe's hospital room and walk up to his hospital bed.

Mac reaches out and takes a hold of his left hand and says, "Gabe it's Mac. Judson and I are here. We talked to the doctor and your gonna be just fine."

Judson puts a hand on his leg and says, "We're here buddy and we're not going anywhere. Hang in there."

Judson and Mac pull the chairs in the room closer to the bed and sit down to keep watch on their unconscious friend.

*******

Several hours later Judson and Mac are still sitting in Gabe's room, watching him and wishing he would open his eyes. Occasionally one of them had gotten up and left the room to get a drink or go to the restroom. But mostly they had sat quietly and watched Gabe wishing he would open his eyes and talk to them.

Suddenly Gabe's eyes begin to flutter and a soft moan escapes his lips. Mac and Judson immediately stand up and move to stand by his bed. Mac picks up his left hand and says, "Gabe can you hear me? Come on open your eyes."

Gabe's eyes slowly open and he struggles to focus on his friends.

Judson leans down and says, "Gabe, its Judson can you hear me?"

Gabe softly says, "Yeah. Where?"

Mac squeezes his hand and says, "It's okay, you're in the hospital at Beau Harbor. Your gonna be okay?"

A nurse walks in and says, "Excuse me, you're gonna have to wait outside. I need to check Gabriel's vitals. Dr. Connor will be right in."

Mac looks at the nurse and says, "We're not leaving him. Do what you need to but we're staying."

Gabe weakly says, "Mac's a black belt so you better not mess with her."

The nurse glares at Judson and Mac then sternly says, "Very well. I'll come back later."

As she exits the room Dr. Connor walks in and says, "Ah Mr. Patterson, how are you feeling?"

Gabe looks at him and says, "It's Gabe, Mr. Patterson is my father. My head hurts. What happened?"

Dr. Connor begins to shine a small flashlight in his right eye. Gabe closes it and immediately turns his head away from the doctor while saying, "Judson, Mac what's going on? What happened? How'd I get here?"

Seeing that Gabe is getting upset the doctor says, "Mr. Patterson please calm down, you need to remain calm. Your friends will answer your questions but right now I need to finish examining you." He once again tries to get a look at Gabe's eyes but the young man refuses to co-operate and continually moves his head and clamps his eyes shut until the doctor is completely frustrated.

Gabe has had enough and says, "I told you, it's Gabe. Stop shining that light in my eyes, my head hurts enough. Just leave me alone."

Judson reaches out and puts a hand on the doctors shoulder and says, "Look Doc you're just upsetting him. Let us talk to him for a while. Maybe after we answer all of his questions then he'll let you do what you need to do."

The doctor looks at Judson and says, "Mr. Cross I have had just about enough of you and Ms. Previn interfering in my handling of Mr. Patterson care. Now if you don't mind stop interfering or I will call the authorities."

Gabe looks at the doctor and says, "Are you deaf I said call me Gabe and stop talking about me like I wasn't here. Why are you calling the police? What's going on?"

Mac puts a hand on Gabe's shoulder and softly says, "Easy Gabe. Dr. Connor has some questions about the bruises he found."

Gabe looks at her for a few seconds then closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

As Gabe slowly lets it out Judson says, "Gabe just take it easy. Doctor you can call the police if you want. We're not going to stop you or them from talking to Gabe but right now all you're doing is upsetting him."

Dr. Connor puts away his penlight and storms out of the room and heads immediately to the phone at the nurse's station.

Mac lowers the bed rail and sits down on the edge of Gabe's bed and says, "Gabe do you feel up to talking to us for a few minutes."

Gabe slowly opens his eyes and seeing that the doctor has left looks relieved, then says, "What's going on? How'd I get here?"
 
Judson calmly replies, "Mac found you unconscious in the starboard engine compartment. Carl said he hadn't seen you in a while so we were concerned and had started looking for you."

When Judson pauses Mac continues, "We headed back into port and had an ambulance meet us at the dock. You've been out for quite awhile. You've had us pretty worried."

Gabe looks at them and says, "Sorry guys. I don't remember working on the engine."

Mac squeezes his hand and says, "Don't worry about it. You have a pretty nasty bump and gash on the back of your head. We thought you slipped going up the ladder but?"

Gabe looks at her and says, "But what?"

Judson replies, "Gabe can you tell us how you got the bruises?"

Gabe looks at both of his friends and says, "Look I'm okay. Can we just drop it?"

But before either of his friends can says anything they hear, "I'm afraid not Gabe. Dr. Connor called it in, so I need to file a report."

Judson and Mac turn around and see Lieutenant Costa and Dr. Connor enter the room.

Gabe closes his eyes and says, "Lieutenant."

Judson looks shocked and says, "You got here pretty fast."

Costa grins and says, "Actually Dr. Connor called me over an hour ago."

Costa walks over to the left side of Gabe's bed and says, "Do you think you could answer a few question for me? If you prefer Cross and Previn can wait outside?"

Gabe opens his eyes but looks at the ceiling while saying, "Yes and No."

Judson and Mac look at him with concern, but Gabe continues to stare up at the ceiling and never looks at any of them.

Costa raises an eyebrow at this but continues, "Okay. Can you tell me what happened in the engine compartment?"

Gabe simply replies, "No."

"Can you tell me how you received the bruises on your back? Was Cross or Previn responsible?"

Gabe continues to stare up at the ceiling and replies, "Yes, but I'm not going to. No and No."

Costa looks over at Judson and says, "Somehow I get the feeling I'm not gonna get any real answers right now. Cross do you know what's going on here?"

Judson shakes his head and says, "No Lieutenant I don't, but I wish I did. Look Gabe's obviously been through a lot. Can you give him some time and come back tomorrow?"

Costa closes his notebook and puts it into his coat pocket while saying, "All right, I'll come back tomorrow. Gabe please consider this, who ever did this should be charged with assault they don't deserve to get away with it."

Gabe closes his eyes and doesn't say anything as the Lieutenant leaves the room.

Dr. Connor walks up to the bed and says, "Gabe I really do need to check your eyes?" When Gabe doesn't reply or open his eyes he says, "I'm going to schedule another CAT scan. Just to make sure there hasn't been any change in your condition."

As the doctor leaves the room he motions to Judson and Mac to follow him. When they enter the hallway he says, "Look I'm sorry about the way I've treated you. When the Lieutenant arrived he seemed rather adamant that there was no way the 2 of you could be involved. So if you don't mind I'd like to start over on this. I was just trying to do what was best for my patient."

Judson nods at him and says, "It's all right doc we understand, no hard feelings. Right now we're concerned about Gabe. This isn't like him."

Dr. Connor nods and says, "So you've said. That's why I want to repeat the CAT scan. This could be a symptom of a change in his condition. Why don't you sit with him for a while? It shouldn't take long to get the second scan set up and we should get the results pretty quick."

Mac and Judson look extremely concerned when they walk back into Gabe's room. His eyes were closed but they knew Gabe wasn't asleep since he turned his head away from them when they entered the room.

Judson sits down in one of the chairs while Mac carefully sits on the edge of the bed and picks up Gabe's left hand.

"Gabe we know you're not asleep, please talk to us." When he doesn't respond Mac looks over at Judson and says, "Judson why don't you go get something to eat. I'll stay with him."

Judson slowly gets up and says, "Okay, do you want anything?"

Mac shakes her head no and Judson says, "I'll be back in a little bit."

After Judson leaves the room Mac squeezes Gabe's hand and says, "Hey, look it's just me and you now. Come on look at me, I know you can hear me and I really don't like talking to the back of your head."

Gabe slowly opens his eyes and turns to look at her.

Mac smiles at him and says, "That's better. How's your head feel?"

Gabe shrugs his shoulders and says, "Okay I guess. Hurts a little but not like before."

Mac squeezes his hand again and says, "That's good. Do you want to tell me what's going on?"

Gabe looks away and says, "Mac I'm fine can't we leave it alone?"

Mac softly says, "You're not fine. Somebody punched you in the ribs and you've got other bruises that we knew nothing about. It's not like you to keep things from us. Judson and I are worried about you."

Gabe closes his eyes and says, "I'm fine. Just drop it."

Realizing she wasn't going to get anywhere Mac decides to leave it go for now.

*******

15 minutes later Judson returns to Gabe's room to find Mac sitting in a chair and the bed empty.

Judson kneels in front of Mac and says, "Mac where's Gabe? What happened?"

Mac looks at him and says, "They took him for the CAT scan a few minute after you left. He'll be back in a little bit."

Judson gets up and sits in the other chair and says, "Did he talk to you at all after I left?"

Mac nods her head and says, "A little. But he wouldn't tell me anything about the bruises. He just repeated he was fine and to drop it. Judson I don't know what to think. This isn't like him."

Judson reaches out takes her hands in his and says, "I know but what really scares me is it was just the 6 of us out there. I can't, no I don't want to believe that any of the crew could do this."

Mac looks at him and says, "Judson didn't you forget somebody. It wasn't just us and the crew there was also Carl."

Judson looks her in the eyes says, "Mac there's no way Carl would do something like this."

Mac looks surprised at this and says, "Even with the way that he acted toward Gabe. But you think that one of the crew could?"

Judson shakes his head and says, "Mac yes I admit Carl's attitude toward Gabe at the beginning wasn't the best but he did turn around. And No I don't think any of the crew could do this. Look this isn't getting us anywhere. I don't get it, maybe the doctor missed something in the blood work?"

Mac looks down at the floor and says, "Then why is Gabe being so evasive? Unless he knows he's sick."

Judson shakes his head and says, "Mac I doubt it. He's hasn't been to a doctor since his snowboarding accident."

Mac is about to say something but then she sees 2 orderlies returning with Gabe and stands up instead. Judson stands up as well and watches quietly as the orderlies' transfer Gabe back to his bed.

When the orderlies leave the room Mac carefully sits on the edge of the bed and picks up Gabe's left hand, but he doesn't move or react at all.

Judson stands next to Mac and says, "Hey buddy how ya doing?"

Gabe shows no signs of hearing him and Judson looks at Mac and says, "Why don't you go get something to eat. I'll stay with him while he sleeps."

Mac slowly leaves the room and Judson takes a seat in one of the chairs and watches Gabe sleep. He's still in the same position when Mac returns and takes a seat next to him.

*******

An hour later Dr. Connor walks into the room and says, "Mr. Cross, Ms. Previn I have Gabe's CAT scan results. Why don't we go out into the hall."

Judson and Mac both stand up and follow him out into the hall then Mac says, "Well? Spill it don't keep us waiting?"

Judson smiles at her and calmly says, "Doc did something show up?"

Dr. Connor looks at them and says, "I'm afraid there's been no change since the last scan."

Judson looks through the glass wall at the sleeping Gabe, then back to the doctor and says, "Okay. That's good right?"

The doctor nods and says, "Well yes but as you've said he's not acting like himself. I've arranged for Dr. Watts to see him tomorrow maybe he can get some answers as to what is going on."

Mac looks at Judson then at the doctor and says, "Who's Dr. Watts?"

Dr. Connor looks at his sleeping patient and replies, "He's a psychologist and he might be able to get your friend to open up."

Mac shakes her head and says, "Doc look I don't think that's a good idea. Gabe's already resisting the Lieutenants, and our efforts to get some answers. He's a smart kid, he'll figure out what this Watts guy is and believe me it's just gonna make it worse."

Judson nods and says, "Doc I know you mean well but just give it a little more time. I'm sure we can get Gabe to open up and talk to us. If you push this psychologist thing he's just gonna clam up even tighter."

Dr. Connor looks at both of them than at Gabe and says, "Very well I'll cancel the consult, for now. But if he doesn't start talking soon I will have to reschedule it."

As the doctor leaves the room Mac and Judson return to their seats and continue their silent vigil.

Part 7

The early morning sunshine begins to filter into Gabe's hospital room and wakes up Judson and Mac, who've stayed the night and slept in the chairs by his bedside.

Judson stands up and stretches then walks over to the window and looks out. Mac also stands but she moves to sit on the edge of Gabe's bed instead.

As she carefully brushes some stray hairs off of his forehead Gabe's eyelids flutter. Mac softly says, "Judson I think he's waking up."

Judson turns around and approaches the bed as Gabe slowly opens his eyes.

They give Gabe a few minutes to wake up some more then Mac says, "Hey there, glad to see you finally decided to wake up."

Gabe looks at her for a second then asks, "Did you 2 sleep here last night?"

Judson lowers the handrail on his side of the bed and carefully takes a seat then says, "Yeah, we didn't want you to be here alone. Gabe you told Costa you didn't remember what happened in the engine compartment, is that the whole truth?"

Gabe looks at him and replies, "Yes. I don't remember being in the engine compartment at all."

Judson and Mac exchange looks and both know he's telling the truth so Judson says, "Okay but you do know how you got the bruises, Gabe I know you want us to forget about this but we can't. We need to know how you got them."

Gabe refuses to look at either of his friends but says, "Look guys your making a big deal out of nothing."

Mac looks at Judson then sternly says, "Somebody bunched you in the ribs, that's not nothing."

Gabe looks at her and says, "Mac it was one punch nothing to get all bent out of shape over, nothings broken. It doesn't even hurt, can't we just forget it."

Judson puts a hand on his arm and says; "Gabe there was only the 7 of us out there. I know I didn't do it or Mac so that leaves only 4 people who could have done it. You may be willing to let it go but I'm not. Nobody on my ship hurts a member of my crew and gets away with it."

Gabe looks down at the foot of his bed and quietly says, "How long do I have to stay? I hate hospitals."

Mac reaches out a hand and gently grabs Gabe's chin and slowly makes him turn his head toward her. When she is able to look him in the eye Mac says, "Gabe you were unconscious for almost 2 whole day. The doctor isn't gonna release you until he's convinced your gonna be okay. And he definitely isn't going to release you until you explain the bruises."

Gabe blinks and says, "I'm fine really. I just want to get out of here and forget this whole thing ever happened."

Judson shakes his head and says, "No you're not fine. You're keeping something important from us and that's not like you."

Mac release his chin and says, "You know we're right about this and we're not gonna let this drop. Please talk to us."

Gabe looks away from her then says, "Fine but it's not gonna make you feel any better to know the truth."

When Gabe doesn't say anything else Judson finally says, "Gabe who did this?"

Gabe refuses to look at him but stares at the foot of his bed and softly replies, "Carl."

Judson looks at Mac obviously shocked and says, "Carl did this?"

Gabe continues to stare at the foot of his bed and replies, "Judson I tried to talk to you about him a week ago. You told me to give him a break."

Mac looks at Judson and says, "What? Judson he talked to you about this?"

Judson looks confused and says, "Wait a minute. Gabe I have no idea what your talking about when was this?"

Gabe looks up and replies, "The afternoon you guys took off. You were up on deck and Mac was in the kitchen."

Judson thinks back and then says, "Okay but I thought you were talking about what happened after breakfast. You never told me he was doing anything physical."

Gabe looks at him and says, "Judson what was I supposed to do, walk up to you and say Judson your friends got a temper and seems to enjoy slamming me into the walls. I don't think so."

Judson quickly replies, "He may have been an old friend of mine but that doesn't give him the right to do this. Mac you stay here with Gabe I'm going back to the boat for a bit."

Gabe looks at him and says, "Judson don't, I'm okay."

Judson walks around the bed and says, "Gabe he could have killed you. If Mac and I hadn't of found you when we did?"

Gabe looks at him and says, "Guys you said you found me in the engine room. Carl was keeping an eye on you guys at least he was supposed too."

Mac looks down at Gabe and says, "Gabe we were down below and the rest of the crew was busy. Carl could have been anywhere on the ship. How do we know Carl wasn't responsible for your head injury."

Gabe looks at her then Judson and says, "I don't know. The last thing I remember was watching you guys go down, then nothing until I woke up here."

Judson looks at Mac and says, "Stay with Gabe, I'll be back in a little bit."

*******

25 minutes later Judson parks his car near the Vast Explorer and gets out. He looks up at the ship and angrily slams the door then quickly boards and goes down the stairs.

Once Judson enters the sitting room he yells, "CARL?"

Carl walks out of his cabin and heads toward the obviously angry Judson and says, "Hey, what's the yelling all about?"

Judson glares at the man and says; "You know darn well what it's all about."

Carl begins to walk past Judson and says, "Judson I don't know what's got you so angry. How's the kid?"

Judson grabs Carl's arm and says, "Think about it Carl. Did you honestly think the doctors wouldn't notice the bruises."

Carl looks at him and says, "What bruises? Judson I have no idea what you're talking about."

Judson angrily says, "Stop it Carl. You were my friend how could you treat Gabe that way?"

Carl wrestles his arm out of Judson's hand and calmly says, "I've worked my whole life and the only thing I had to show for it is now sitting on the ocean floor. Do you have any idea what it's like to loose everything and I mean everything in one stupid accident."

Judson stares at his friend and says, "It's not the end of the world Carl. We can retrieve most of the items. What does that have to do with Gabe? You never even met him until you hired us."

Carl glares at him and says, "You have no idea do you? That kid has had everything he's ever wanted. He's never had to worry about a thing. So what if I occasionally pushed him into a wall, a couple of bruises give me a break Judson. Everything I own is on the bottom of the ocean and you want me to worry about how I treat a spoiled little rich kid."

Carl was practically in Judson's face so he shoves him back and angrily says, "It's a big deal to me Carl, Gabe's part of my crew, heck he's part of my family. It's not Gabe's fault who his parents are or how influential they happen to be. He pulls his weight around here and Gabe never flaunts his family's connections. He's always willing to help and has never done anything that justifies what you did to him."

Carl begins to walk away but Judson blocks his way, "The man I used to know would never do this. Carl what happened to you? How could you do this?"

Carl glares at Judson and says, "Get off your high horse Judson. Kids got a couple of bruises, heck he could have gotten them a million different ways on this tub. You can't prove a thing, it's all speculation."

With a lot of anger in his voice, Judson says, "Don't bet on it."

Carl begins to walk toward the stairs but before he gets there Lieutenant Costa steps out and says, "Carl Walker you're under arrest for assault and battery."

Judson smiles at the Lieutenant and says, "Just in time Lieutenant. Get this guy off my ship."

Carl glares at Judson and says, "You've got to be kidding. You don't have a thing on me."

As two police officers begin to handcuff him, Costa says, "I have a written statement from Gabriel Patterson, Mr. Walker and he has identified you as the person who assaulted him. Officers take him away."

Judson looks at Costa and says, "When did you get that?"

Costa looks at him and replies, "I got to the hospital just as you were leaving. I have an officer there now getting Gabe's statement."

Judson looks confused and says, "But you told Carl you already had it."

Costa grins and says, "By the time he's booked I will have it in writing. Previn told me you were headed here so I didn't want to wait and take any chances. I know how you feel about the kid and I didn't want to take the chance you would do something stupid like try and teach Walker a well deserved lesson."

Judson looks at him and says, "Me do something stupid, Lieutenant, I'm insulted." Then Judson gives Costa a grin; "Your right it did cross my mind but I doubt it would have done any good. If you don't mind I'm gonna head back to the hospital."

Costa looks at him and says, "Actually I do mind. The head injury that put Patterson in the hospital was quite serious. Now you and Previn weren't on board so that leaves your 3 regular crew members and Walker on board when it happened. The doctor says Patterson may never be able to remember the event that caused his head injury due to the severity of the concussion. So he can't testify about it which means I need to find some evidence that we can use."

Judson looks at Costa and says, "Lieutenant this is a big ship it could take you days to search all of it and I doubt Carl is going to tell you anything."

Costa nods and says, "I'm aware of that but we have 2 starting points, the starboard engine compartment and the last place you saw Walker."

Judson replies, "Okay you know where the engine compartment is. Carl was supposed to be operating the underwater camera, but he could have been doing anything."

Costa nods his head and says, "Okay were would he operate the camera from?"

Judson leads him down the hallway and shows the Lieutenant the instrument room and says, "Right here. Look do you need me any more I'd like to get back to the hospital?"

Costa nods and says, "Okay I'll have the lab technicians check out both places and I'll get back to you with the results."

Judson nods and quickly begins to leave the ship.

*******

20 minutes later Judson walks toward Gabe's room in the ICU but stops in the doorway when he sees neither Mac or Gabe in the room. He turns around and sees a nurse heading toward him.

Judson frowns and says, "Uh nurse, my friends were in this room earlier has something happened?"

The nurse smiles and replies, "Mr. Patterson was moved to the 3rd floor. Dr. Connor upgraded his condition and he was moved to a regular room. If you go to the 3rd floor nurses station they can give you his new room number."

Judson turns around and quickly gets on the elevator. Finally after having to practically tackle a nurse on the 3rd floor Judson is walking toward Gabe's new room. When he reaches the room Judson softly knocks on the door then cautiously opens it and peeks his head in.

Mac looks up and waves him in. Judson smiles at her and quickly enters the room. He looks toward the bed and when he sees Gabe's eyes are closed he softly says, "Hey. How's he doing?"

Before Mac can reply he hears, "I'm fine, just resting my eyes."

Judson looks back toward the bed and seeing Gabe's eyes are open he walks over and stands beside the bed then says, "Hope I didn't wake you?"

Gabe looks at him and replies, "I wasn't asleep really I was just resting my eyes, trying to get this headache to go away."

Judson looks at Mac and with concern in his voice says, "Does the doctor know about this headache?"

Mac gets up and walks over to stand on Gabe's right side and says, "Judson take it easy. Yes the doctor knows about the headache. They have to be careful with the pain medication because of the severity of the concussion. Take it easy."

Gabe looks at her and says, "You know I can talk for myself. It's my head."

Mac smiles at him and says, "Don't I know it, you practically talked my ear off after Judson left. Now behave or I'll get the nurse in here and have her give you another sponge bath."

Gabe glares at her and sticks his tongue out. Judson can't help but laugh at this then says, "Okay somebody's feeling better. Look Mac I'll stay with him for awhile why don't you head back to the ship, get cleaned up and get some rest."

Mac walks around the bed and says, "If I so much as see Carl he's gonna regret everything he's done!"

Judson puts a hand on her shoulder and says, "You won't Costa showed up and Carl's already been arrested and removed from the ship."

Mac looks a little disappointed by this but nods and says, "Okay, I'll be back in a couple of hours and I'll bring some clean clothes for Gabe when I come back. Doctor says if he continues to improve then they might release him tomorrow."

As Mac walks toward the door Gabe says, "Mac, Judson can get them later. Stay out of my drawers."

As Mac opens the doors she smiles and says, "Don't worry I'll keep my eyes closed."

Judson starts to laugh and Gabe suddenly realizes what she meant and as the door closes he yells, "Come on that's not funny. You know exactly what I said. Mac!"

When Judson finally stops laughing he finds Gabe glaring at him, Judson grins then says, "Sorry kid. I couldn't help it. You have to admit it was kind of funny."

Gabe continues to glare at him and says, "Ha Ha. So what happened back at the boat?"

Judson shrugs and says, "Not much, I had a little talk with Carl then Costa showed up and had him taken away in handcuffs. Look Gabe I'm really sorry about all of this. If I had known what he was doing I would have locked him in his cabin and headed right back."

Gabe looks away and says, "Judson it's not your fault. I didn't tell you the whole story when I came to you. He was your friend so I thought if I stayed away from him then everything would be all right."

Judson shakes his head and says, "Gabe I still should have realized something was wrong. You were kind of quiet the last week I should have talked to you then. But I was too busy with the job and catching up with Carl that I just ignored it."

Gabe looks away and says, "Look Mac and I already went through this after you left. You didn't know anything cause I kept it from you. It's not gonna do you or Mac any good to blame yourselves for something you didn't know anything about. And before you say it Mac already threatened to kick my butt if I ever kept anything like this from either of you. Can we just move on and forget it?"

Judson leans back in his chair and says, "Yes we can move on but it's not gonna be forgotten. Gabe from now on if anybody even threatens to hurt you we better hear about it ASAP. As far as Carl goes Costa's checking into some things."

Gabe looks shocked and says, "What? I already gave them a statement about the bruises."

Judson nods and says, "I know. But you were hurt pretty bad when Mac and I found you. The doctor says you may never remember what happened so Costa is gonna check out the boat and see if he can find anything."

Gabe looks confused and says, "But you guys said I slipped?"

Judson shakes his head and says, "Gabe we don't know exactly what happened. Carl already admitted taking some of his anger out on you. So for all we know he attacked you again and then put you in the engine compartment to cover it up."

Gabe looks away and says; "Did he say why?"

Judson nods and replies, "Sort of. He's ticked off about working for so long and then having all his stuff lost in the accident. But he also said something's about you that I really don't want to repeat."

Gabe looks at Judson and says, "Let me guess basically he didn't like me because of what my last name is, and what he thinks it's gotten me?"

Judson finds it hard to look at Gabe but replies, "Yeah, unfortunately."

Gabe calmly replies, "Judson it's not the first time. I've dealt with a lot of people like him since I was a kid. I'm used to it, don't worry about it. He couldn't have said anything I haven't already heard a dozen times or more. Thought I got away from that but I guess I never will."

Judson looks up and says, "Gabe it's still not right. If he had taken the time to get to know you he would have known what he was saying was completely wrong."

Gabe nods and says, "Unfortunately not everyone takes the time. Look I'm kind of tired, I'm gonna sleep for awhile."

Judson nods and says, "Okay, I'll be right here if you need anything."

Gabe nods his head and as he closes his eyes says, "Okay, when the orderly brings in my lunch tray could you send it back. The food really stinks."

Judson chuckles and says; "I'll see what I can do about that."

*******

Four hours later Mac walks into Gabe's room and finds him and Judson playing cards. Mac casually places a paper bag on the table and says, "I hear somebody doesn't like the hospitals food?"

Gabe looks up at her and says; "Gee I wonder who that could be?"

Mac laughs and replies, "Smartie, I made you a sandwich eat it before a nurse comes in and catches you." She ruffles his hair and takes a seat then says, "Judson why don't you go back to the ship and get cleaned up. Bring some clothes for Gabe when you come back. After you called I kind of forgot to grab them."

Gabe hungrily chews his sandwich and smiles at her. Mac notices and then says, "You might want to bring him something to eat too. Gee you'd think he hadn't eaten in a week."

Judson gets up and stretches while laughing and says, "I don't blame him Mac you should have seen that stuff on his tray, yuck."

Gabe swallows and says, "Yeah Mac it was gross. You can eat the stuff they're gonna call dinner. Anything Judson brings has got to be better."

Judson grins at her and says, "I'll be back around 5. Mac do you want me to bring you anything?"

As he opens the door Mac says, "Nah, I'll grab something from the cafeteria later, I'm not as picky as some people."

As Judson leaves the room he hears Gabe begin to describe the food and smiles to himself, obviously happy that his friend is beginning to act more like himself.

*******

When Judson returns to the Vast Explorer he finds Lieutenant Costa waiting for him.

Judson gets out of his car and says, "Lieutenant what can I do for you?"

Costa puts his window down and says, "I just came by to tell you what we found"

Judson leans against his car and says, "Okay shoot."

Costa pulls out a notebook and says, "Well when we checked out the engine compartment we found several sets of prints. The majority of the prints were Gabe's. We also found yours, Previn's and Walker's. You and Mac found him so that explains those prints. Is there any reason Walker's prints should be there?"

Judson shakes his head and says, "Wait a minute how do you have Gabe's prints?"

Costa replies, "Judson he's the son of a US Senator, his family had all the kids documented in case of a kidnapping."

Judson nods and says, "Oh I never thought of that. As far as Carl goes he didn't have a reason to be in the engine compartment so they shouldn't have been there."

Costa nods his head and then says, "Okay, the lab guys also found blood on the door frame of the instrument room. We've already contacted the hospital and gotten a sample of Gabe's blood. They're running some test now to see if it matches."

Judson nods his head and says, "Okay Lieutenant. Look I just came back to get a little sleep and get cleaned up. I'm gonna be heading back to the hospital around dinnertime. So if you hear anything by then could you come over and let us know?"

Costa starts his car and replies, "All right. Walker's been booked and since it's Friday he won't be arraigned until Monday morning. Hopefully we'll have the lab results by then. If it confirms what I suspect then we'll be able to charge him with attempted murder."

Judson looks shocked and says, "Attempted murder that seems kind of extreme."

Costa sternly replies, "Not if Gabe was assaulted in the instrument room and then moved to a concealed location. The doctor says Patterson's head injury was pretty serious and the delay it took you to get back already but him at risk. So by concealing him in the engine room Walker made you look for him thus taking more time. It's up to the prosecutor's but I'd say it definitely deserves more than an assault charge. I better get back, try and stay out of trouble."

As Costa drives away Judson heads toward the ship pondering what the Lieutenant had said.

Part 8

A couple of hours later Judson returns to the hospital carrying Gabe's backpack with some clean clothes and a small brown bag that contains 2 sandwiches. When Judson reaches the door to Gabe's room he knocks quietly then enters the room to find Mac sitting in a chair reading a magazine but no Gabe.

As Judson put the bags down he says, "Uh Mac where's Gabe?"

Mac looked up and replies, "He's in the bathroom. Take it easy he's taking a shower."

Judson looks at the door to the bathroom and with concern in his voice says, "How long has he been in there? Did the doctor say he could be up?"

Mac smiles and says, "Yes the doctor knows. He was here a half hour ago and Gabe asked him about it, take it easy."

Before Judson can say anything else Gabe slowly exits the bathroom but instead of wearing the typical hospital gown he has on a pair of scrubs.

Mac raises an eyebrow and says, "Hey you look good in those maybe you should consider being a doctor."

Gabe grins at Judson and says, "No thanks I hate hospital. Hey Judson when did you get back?"

Judson takes a seat and replies, "A few minutes ago. How'd you manage to swing those duds?"

As Gabe gets into bed he replies, "I asked."

Mac chuckles and says, "Yeah you should have seen the cute puppy dog eyes he gave the nurse Judson. It was so cute, wish I had a camera for that."

Gabe glares at her and says, "Hey you try wearing one of those gowns and see how much you like it. What's for dinner?"

Judson smiles at him and tosses the brown bag while saying, "Take a look."

Gabe opens it, pulls out a turkey and cheese sandwich then quickly thanks Judson and begins to eat.

Mac laughs and says, "You're gonna look like a turkey sandwich soon if the doctor doesn't release you tomorrow."

Gabe swallows and says, "Gobble-Gobble!" Then he takes another bite and begins to chew.

Within 10 minutes Gabe has finished the first and is started on the second sandwich. Mac has gone down to the cafeteria and Judson is casually reading a magazine. Before Judson can finish the article he was reading Gabe has finished the last bite of his sandwich and is slowly drinking a glass of water.

Judson looks up from his magazine and says, "Was that enough? I can always go get you something else!"

Gabe puts his glass down and replies, "Nah, I'm full. Thanks!"

Judson puts his magazine down and says, "So how are you feeling?"

Gabe shrugs his shoulders and says; "I'm okay, really. I wish you guys would stop asking me that."

Judson gets up from the chair and moves to sit on the edge of the bed then says, "Look you gave us quite a scare so you're just gonna have to put up with Mac and I asking how you're feeling. Got it!"

Gabe doesn't look very happy but he replies, "Yeah I got it!"

Just then the door opens Mac stands in the open doorway and says, "Hey guys! Guess who I found in the elevator?"

Judson looks up and replies, "The Easter Bunny?"

Gabe laughs and says; "Nah he's not Mac's type I'd say it's Santa Claus!"

Judson and Gabe begin to laugh at Mac as she glares at them from the open doorway and replies, "No, you'll just have to settle for Costa. Come on in Lieutenant. Maybe you can get these two to behave for awhile."

Mac and Costa enter the room and the laughter immediately stops. Judson stands up and Mac takes his seat on the edge of the bed.

Costa takes a seat, "Sorry but that's not in my job description. I came by to fill you in on a couple of things."

Gabe looks down at him and softly replies, "What's happened now?"

Judson calmly replies, "Take it easy Gabe. I ran into the Lieutenant when I went back to the ship earlier. He said they were working on a couple of things and I told him to come by if they had any answers."

Costa nods and replies, "Well we got the lab test back. The blood from the doorway of the instrument room matches Gabe's however DNA test would take about a week to confirm 100% that it's his."

Mac looks at him and replies, "But?"

Costa looks a little uncomfortable and says, "I'm afraid that's not gonna happen."

Judson glares at him and says, "And why not? Has Carl confessed?"

Costa shakes his head and refuses to look at Judson when he replies, "No he hasn't. Two hours ago Walker got into an altercation at the jail with his cell mate."

Mac glances at Judson while saying, "What happened?"

Costa looks her in the eye and replies, "His cell mate didn't like his attitude and they got into a scuffle. By the time the guards got in to break it up Walker was down on the floor in pretty bad shape. He was brought to the hospital but I'm afraid it was to late."

Costa looks at Judson and says, "He died about 20 minutes ago."

Judson looks stunned but doesn't say anything as he moves to stand by the window and looks out at the parking lot.

Mac looks at Gabe and notices he's a little pale and says, "Lieutenant we appreciate your coming to tell us but could you leave us alone for awhile?"

Costa nods his head and says, "Certainly, I'm sorry about this but there really wasn't anything we could do. You know how to contact me if you have any questions."

Gabe leans back and closes his eyes while saying, "I'm sorry Judson. If I had just kept quiet then this wouldn't have happened."

Judson turns around, moves to stand by Gabe and says, "Carl's death wasn't your fault. What he did was wrong and he deserved to be punished. All of this was his doing and you definitely are not to blame for his death."

Mac puts a hand on his leg and says, "Judson's right Gabe you did the right thing."

Gabe opens his eyes and says, "Then why do I feel like crap?"

Judson grins and replies, "Because you have a severe concussion, were unconscious for almost 2 days and have been stuck in the hospital. It's about time you admit to feeling like crap."

Gabe looks up at him and says, "That's not what I meant and you know it!"

Mac smiles and replies, "Gabe it's gonna take time but trust us your not at fault here."

Judson steers the conversation away from recent events and the three of them pass time watching TV. When the orderly brings in his dinner Gabe makes a face and insists he take it away immediately.

Several hours later a nurse enters and says, "Sorry but visiting hours are over, you're gonna have to leave. Dr. Connors will be releasing Mr. Patterson in the morning so he needs his rest."

Mac and Judson stand up and after saying good night to Gabe leave him to watch TV alone till he falls asleep.

*******
 
As soon as the sun comes up Mac and Judson are up and about. They both get showered and after eating breakfast they decide to do a quick clean up of Gabe's cabin in preparation of his return.

As Mac puts new sheets on his bunk she says, "Judson you better get his laptop from the instrument room and you might want to shut the door to the quest cabin."

Judson looks up from pile of magazines he was organizing on Gabe's desk and replies, "He's not gonna need the laptop for awhile. You know if he has it in here he's gonna do some work and not rest. But I'll definitely shut that door as we leave. I guess I better call Costa and see what we should do about Carl's things."

Mac completes making up the bunk and replies, "Are we gonna finish with the recovery or just leave what's left down there."

Judson leans against Gabe's desk and replies, "I don't know. Carl paid up front for the whole job so I guess we could complete it. But since Gabe's gonna need to rest we'd have to take turns diving. I'll call Costa later today and see if he can put me in touch with Carl's next of kin. We'll let them decide what to do."

As they begin to leave Gabe's cabin Mac says, "Sounds good to me. Well we better get over to the hospital. Gabe's probably already raring to go."

Judson smiles and says, "Yeah, we'll probably have to sit on him to get him to stay till the doctor signs him out."

As they pass the guest cabin Judson shuts the door and then they head up the stairs and quickly walk across the gangplank.

As they get in the car Mac says, "We could always bride him with breakfast."

Judson laughs as he starts the car and says, "It's worth a try."

30 minutes later Judson and Mac enter Gabe's room and find him dressed in his clothes sitting in one of the chairs flipping through the channels on the TV.

When Gabe looks up Mac smiles and as she hands him a Dunkin donut's bag says, "Breakfast is served but you have to be a good boy and behave till the doctor gets here."

Gabe grins and replies, "Ha Ha! Thanks for the donut's they tried serving me oatmeal this morning. Yuck!"

Judson laughs as he sits on the edge of the bed and says, "Well oatmeal is very good for you. Did you at least try it?"

As Gabe chews on a donut he shakes his head and makes a face. After he swallows he says, "No way, but you can have it if you want. I put the tray in the bathroom, help yourself."

Mac laughs as Gabe begins to eat another donut and Judson says, "No thanks I already ate. So when's the doctor supposed to release you?"

Gabe continues to eat the donut and shrugs his shoulders.

Before Mac can say anything the door to the room opens and Dr. Connors enters carrying a chart. He smiles at Mac and Judson and says, "Good morning! I see you brought something for him to eat again. Doesn't like our food much does he?"

Gabe swallows and impatiently says, "Your right I don't. It's not very appetizing looking. So can I get out of here or what?"

Mac and Judson begin to laugh and Dr. Connors gives Gabe a stern look while he says, "Well I'm not sure about that. Maybe we should keep you for the rest of the weekend? See if we can improve your eating habits a little before we release you."

Gabe glares at the doctor over the rim of his orange juice and the doctor also begins to laugh.

Gabe puts the glass down and says, "Not funny. Seriously can I go?"

Dr. Connors grins and replies, "Yes, but I want you to take it easy for the next two weeks, nothing strenuous. You might experience some dizziness for a couple of days. I want you to come back if it gets severe or doesn't go away by Thursday."

Mac glares at Gabe and says, "Don't worry doc he's gonna behave whether he likes it or not. We'll keep a close eye on him and if we have to we'll drag him back here."

The doctor grins and says, "What ever it takes as long as he doesn't experience another blow to the head. The nurse will be in shortly with the wheel chair."

Gabe immediately stands up and says, "I don't need a wheel chair I can walk!" But he had moved to quickly and immediately gets dizzy.

While Judson grabs him he says, "Yeah sure you can."

Gabe sits back down and says, "I got up too fast that's all. Look I'm fine I can walk to the car."

Dr. Connors sternly says, "Its hospital policy young man no exceptions. Stay put until the nurse gets here."

Judson grins and says, "Don't worry doc he will. Thanks for everything!"

The doctor nods as he opens the door and says, "You're welcome and good luck."

Judson stands up and says, "I'm gonna go get the car. I'll meet you guys out front." He grabs Gabe's backpack and quickly leaves the room.

Gabe slouches in his chair, he doesn't look too happy and Mac can't help but laugh at him.

Gabe glares at her and says, "You're not helping you know!"

But before Mac can say anything the nurse enters pushing a wheel chair and with a lot of cheer in her voice says, "Your ride's here!"

Gabe reluctantly takes a seat in the wheel chair and after Mac opens the door the nurse pushes him out of his room and as they approach the elevator says, "Well you take care of yourself, Gabe. We don't want to see you back here anytime soon, okay."

Gabe nods his head and says, "Don't worry I'm in no hurry to come back."

When they reach the main entrance Mac quickly passes them and opens the car door for Gabe and he says, "It's gonna a be a long two weeks, isn't it?"

After Gabe gets in the back Mac takes her seat and closes the door while saying, "That depends on how well you behave yourself."

A half-hour later they pull up to the Vast Explorer and after Judson parks the car they begin to get out and head toward the ship.

As they begin to walk towards the stairway Judson says, "Okay Gabe we have some rules for you."

Gabe walks down the stairs and says, "Great! What rules?"

Mac replies, "Stay in bed and relax. No working at all and behave yourself or else."

Gabe mumbles to himself as he heads toward his cabin, and Judson says, "Sorry I didn't catch that?"

Gabe quickly enters his cabin and shuts the door while saying, "Nothing!"

Judson and Mac stand outside the closed door, they know there's nothing for him to do but lay down and read. So they head back to the sitting room, Judson gets on the phone with Costa and Mac goes to the kitchen and begins to clean it up.

*******

2 hours later Gabe comes out of his cabin and heads toward the kitchen.

Mac looks up from her position on the couch and says, "What are you doing out of bed?"

Gabe continues into the kitchen and when he comes out replies, "I was just getting something to drink if that's okay with you?"

Mac glares at him over her magazine and says, "I would have gotten it for you."

Gabe sits down in the chair and says, "Mac I'm okay! Where's Judson?"

Mac puts her magazine down and says, "He went to town for a bit, he needed to get some things taken care of."

Gabe sips his orange juice and then says, "About Carl and the job?"

Mac nods and then says, "Yes, but you're supposed to be taking it easy. So forget about it and get back to bed!"

Gabe glares at her and replies; "I'm fine, really. Look I spent most of the last week in my cabin avoiding Carl, believe me I'm sick of looking at the walls and magazines. I'm gonna go up on deck and get some air."

As he stands Mac also rises and says, "Fine but I'm going with you."

Gabe shrugs his shoulders and heads up on deck closely followed by Mac. They sit down in the lounge chairs and Gabe sips his orange juice while looking out at the water.

Mac watches him for a minute then says, "Gabe I meant what I said in the hospital. If you keep something like this from us again I am going to kick your butt from one end of the ship to the other."

Gabe looks at her and says, "Mac enough already I already promised both you and Judson I'd speak up. Beside even I know you wouldn't actually do it."

Gabe gives her a big smile and Mac sternly says, "Don't bet on it buster and if you don't wipe that smile off your face I might just tack on tossing you over board to that threat."

Gabe's smile turns into a frown and he returns to looking at the water. Mac is satisfied that he finally believes her so she opens her magazine and begins to read while occasionally glancing at Gabe.

After watching the calm water for a half-hour Gabe stands up and says, "I'm gonna go back to my cabin. Call me when lunch is ready."

Mac smiles and says, "Okay but you better be resting down there or else."

Gabe nods his head and proceeds to head down the stairs.

*******

2 hours later Judson returns and finds Mac sitting in a lounge chair.

As he approaches Judson says, "Where's Gabe? Is he resting?"

Mac looks up and as she closes her magazine says, "He's resting in his cabin. Don't worry he's been adequately warned."

Judson smiles then leans against the rail and as he stares out at the water says, "I talked to Carl's lawyer he says the next of kin isn't in a hurry so their gonna put off the rest of the retrieval for awhile. We're off the hook and they said to keep the fee we were paid."

Mac nods her head and when Judson continues to stare out at the water and doesn't says anything else she moves to stand by his side and says, "Okay now what's really bothering you?"

Judson doesn't look at her but replies, "Mac this is all my fault, Gabe could have died."

Mac turns to look at him and says, "Judson look the doctor says he'll be fine and you weren't the only one on board. I should have talked to him and I didn't. So I'm also partly to blame."

Judson looks at her and says, "Carl hired us because I was his friend and I gave him a lot of slack because of that. Plus I'm the captain of this ship it's my responsibility to look out for my crew."

Gabe comes out on to the deck and says, "Judson we already went through this. You didn't know everything because I didn't tell you. So there is no way you could have stopped it. I wish you guys would stop beating yourselves up about this."

Judson and Mac turn around and watch him sit down then Judson says, "It's gonna take some time that's all. I thought you were resting."

Gabe shrugs his shoulders and says, "I got bored, sue me!"

Mac smiles at him and says, "Well that's out of the question. Okay so now what?"

Judson grins and says, "Well since Gabe's gotta take it easy for two weeks I say we all relax and enjoy ourselves."

Gabe grins and says, "The only way I'm gonna relax and enjoy myself is if you two mother hens find somebody else to cluck after."

Judson and Mac look at him and begin to make clucking noises until all three of them are laughing so hard tears begin to form in their eyes.

After they catch their breath Judson mentions a phone call about a possible job. It's still in the planning stages on the clients end so they won't get any definite information for a couple of weeks but it gives them something to look forward too.

end