OIL AND PRINCIPLE
Disclaimer: I do not own SeaQuest or it's characters. I'm just borrowing them for fun.
Jonathan Ford surveyed the area after stepping off the mini-sub, which had transported the four man shore team onto the island. There wasn’t very much beach on the island, only about half a meter of sand before the ground was enveloped in thick shrubs. Jonathan pushed his way through the same distance of very green plants before coming to an opening with what looked like a dirt track surrounded by more plants. He pushed aside the trees and looked back at the rest of the shore team as an indication that it was safe to continue.
“Doesn’t look like there’s anyone around,” Tim commented as he came through.
“Good observation, Sherlock,” Tony teased.
“What I meant was, if this place is so well known, where is all the other surveillance equipment? You’d think an island that was rumored have an unclaimed oil field located somewhere…” he trailed off, “I mean this place hasn’t been bordered off or anything.”
“The oil field is actually several thousand feet below us,” Lucas trivialized, “The only vehicle that can submerge that deep is the SeaQuest. Most people that have come here probably just realised there was nothing on the island,” Lucas mused, ignoring Tim’s caution and advancing forward in front of Jonathan to look around.
Tony shrugged, “Looks like we’ll be going home early,” a hint of pleasure in his voice.
The rest of the team followed Lucas further along the dirt track, looking at their surroundings.
“I don’t get it,” Tony stated, a little too loudly, “If the UEO just wants possession of this supposed oil why don’t we just submerge straight down to where it’s meant to be?”
Jonathan answered him, “Because we probably won’t be able to find its location down there. We need to do that up here. Also, we need to check that no one who may have superior rights to the oil is inhabiting this place.”
“Of course,” Tony said, “Possession is nine tenths of the law.”
The shore team continued to walk along, oblivious to the fact that they were being watched.
A black glove lay in the dirt and Lucas moved forward to pick it up.
“Lucas,” Commander Ford ordered, “Try not to stray too far,”
“Yes, sir,” Lucas responded, his back to the Commander, “But with all due respect, I think this island is relatively unpopulated.”
“The scan back on Seaquest said it wasn’t,” Tim pointed out.
Lucas bent down to look at the glove, “The scan picks up all signs of life, Tim,” Lucas informed him.
“Yeah, but we can’t be too careful,” Jonathan stated.
“What do you think this is?” Lucas asked.
The others moved over to take a look, “You were looking at this whilst you were arguing that this island was unpopulated?” Jonathan asked.
“Well, I didn’t actually say…” Lucas cut off as they heard a crunching noise behind them. They all spun around, only to find they faced 8 or 9 plain clothed men holding large guns and crossbows at their sides.
“Who are you people?” A man toward the front asked.
“We’re from the SeaQuest,” Jonathan responded, “We were sent here to check that everything was safe.”
The men smiled, “Told you they were from the SeaQuest,” one of the men said.
The front one nodded. Their smiles turned into smirks.
“Get on your knees,” the man ordered.
Jonathan cocked his head to the side, not sure if he heard right. The crew looked at each other nervously.
“On your knees!” The same man repeated.
The crew hesitantly put up their hands and slowly began to sink to the ground.
“Can I ask who you are?” Jonathan asked.
An arrow whooshed passed Tim’s arm and struck into Lucas’ shoulder.
Tim hissed just as Lucas gave a short cry.
“Lucas!” Tony cried. He immediately got up to go over to Lucas, only to be tackled viciously by one of the gun man.
“Stop! Stop!” Jonathan cried, still on his knees with his hands up.
The leader nodded at the man who was holding Tony on the ground. The man released him and Tony sat up slowly, brushing the dirt off his uniform.
The four men heard a rumbling sound as a grey truck back through the shrub towards them. Lucas sat hunched over in pain, holding his shoulder.
The doors to the truck opened and another lot of men wearing balaclavas jumped out.
“All of you, put your hands behind you’re heads!” The leader ordered them.
Tony and Ford complied. But Tim and Lucas obviously couldn’t. The balaclaved men rushed up over and grabbed them roughly, dragging them towards the open van.
“Wait!” Jonathan called, “Tell us what’s going on here!”
The man who looked like the leader slapped Jonathan hard in the face, shutting him up. Once, the Commander and the two older men were in the van the leader walked over to Lucas, who was being held between to other men.
Lucas grunted loudly as the man roughly grabbed his shoulder and the arrow.
“Let us help him!” Jonathan called.
The balaclaved men moved forward to hold the three SeaQuest men back as the leader slowly pushed the arrow in through Lucas’ shoulder, smiling sadistically.
Lucas gritted his teeth and squirmed in agony. He focused on the callousness in the man’s eyes and humiliation of being in full view of his friends to stop himself from yelling out.
But the pain was too much and too unexpected. Lucas cried out as though his vocal cords would stop pain, his legs as useless as jelly underneath him.
“Put them all in the back,” Lucas barely registered the leaders voice as he was roughly lifted and tossed onto a wooden floor. He immediately felt warm hands around him and his friends calling to him.
“Lucas, talk to me,” it was Tim. Lucas’ eyes fluttered open and he realised he was lying on his back in what felt like the back of a truck. He could feel the engines humming underneath him.
His arm hurt like hell, but Tim’s face comforted him, “Yeah,” he whispered, consciously trying to keep his voice strong.
Jonathan’s hand had been around his wrist checking his pulse. The boards on the floor of the truck moved as Tony scuttled over.
Lucas felt the dried salt water on his cheeks, and felt humiliation seep through him. He swallowed quickly and shut his eyes, “You okay?” Tim asked quickly. He touched Lucas’ head, “You feeling nauseous?”
“Uh… no..” Lucas stammered, “I’m fine.” He tried to turn away and wipe the stickiness from his cheeks.
Jonathan realised what was wrong and tried to consul him, “No one could go through that and pretend they weren’t in pain.”
Lucas nodded.
Jonathan continued, “We concerned you might go into shock so we’re going to keep you warm. Do you mind snuggling up?”
“No,” Lucas told him, surprised by the fact that he didn’t.