See Chapter 1 for disclaimers.

Triangles
Chapter 3

      Wandering through the corridors of SeaQuest, Captain Bridger smiled broadly at the crew personnel rushing past him, making last minute preparations for a final liberty before sailing. The brightly lit, bustling hallways were a decided improvement over those same passages a couple of weeks ago. Most of the people scrambling by had returned to their quarters within the past few days, as repairs progressed to the point that they could take up their duties again, with only a few late returnees still settling in.

       He looked around him with a sense of smug accomplishment. With the extra technicians sent by the UEO and having all the necessary parts waiting for them, the overhaul of the SeaQuest computer and sensory systems had been completed in record time, much to Captain Bridger's satisfaction. He'd had to lean on Dr. Smith a little in order to get Henderson and Adler released from the hospital in time and he felt vaguely guilty about that. But he needed Ens. Adler on board when they sailed and he had a feeling that if Lonnie had remained ashore after they left dock, she'd have been snapped up by another vessel. SeaQuest got the cream of the crop from both new recruits and seasoned officers and there were several unscrupulous captains who would do anything to get some of his people.

       With the vessel seaworthy again, all that remained was to pick up the new crewmember. In a few hours, Barlow would be here, and Nathan Bridger would know the price for the speed of the repair. He'd made arrangements to be the one to meet her and give her the tour of the boat, granting staggered liberties to the crew to clear some of the personnel during that time frame. It would do them good to blow off some steam after the rush to get SeaQuest back in the water. And maybe they'd be more willing to accept a new person in their midst. Besides, he wanted to get a good look at this woman, to form his own conclusions. But first, he needed to ensure that the person she'd spend the most time with was mentally prepared for her arrival.

       In his opinion, the progress review with Ens. Adler had gone well enough, if a trifle uncomfortably. The young officer had been overly stiff and formal, but that was better than being too familiar with superior officers. She seemed withdrawn, emotionally distant, and far too critical of her actions. He hoped that this formality wouldn't interfer with her welcome of the newcomer.

       According to the almost omniscient Ford, she and Ortiz had headed for the moon pool immediately after leaving the galley after lunch. In the weeks since the attack, both had recovered from their injuries sufficiently well enough to be assigned to light duties, specifically standing duty watches. And they'd been warned to avoid strenuous activity until permitted by Dr. Smith. From the sound of it, though, neither of them considered splashing in the pool with Darwin to be all that strenuous.

       Just before entering the moon pool room, Captain Bridger paused. An indignant female voice called out in a hoarse, ragged voice, "MIGUEL, blast your eyes!", making him wonder what he had missed. Putting a hand over his mouth, he eavesdropped shamelessly.

       "Well, you said you needed a towel." The handsome Cuban teased.

       "I meant a DRY one!" The listener winced at the parody of her normal, low, musical voice. According to Dr. Smith, the ensign was supposed to use her voice sparingly, but it didn't sound as if she intended to do so.

       "But it was dry when I tossed it to you," he protested laughingly. "I could..." There was a muffled sound as if the ensign were trying to say something, but was being physically restrained.

"NO!" she declared loudly,then started coughing. "Let me go, you ..." As the scuffling sounds continued, accompanied by a combination of sobbing coughs and uncontrolled female laughter, a suspicious frown wiped the grin from his face. Stepping into the room, Bridger cleared his throat loudly.

       Looking up from where he was helping Ari dry herself, apparently against her will, and tickling her immercifully in the process, Miguel Ortiz dropped the towel and jumped away. "Captain Bridger! Sir! I didn't see you there," he said. "We were just ..."

       "Obviously," Bridger interrupted drily, stemming the flow of words that might be regretted later. At the sound of his voice Ari, looking for all the world like a guilty teenager whose father has just come home unexpectedly, turned rapidly around, facing him, trying to simultaneously get her wet suit zipped back up and give a proper salute.

       The sight of their stricken faces was too much for him. Unable to control himself anymore, he burst out laughing. "At ease, both of you. Ensign Adler, I need a word with you."

       The third member of group decided it was time to make his presence known. Arcing out of the water and splashing back in, the wave of water drenching Miguel and Ari anew, Darwin squealed, "And Darwin, too?" his voice full of expression despite the artificial tones of the computer vocoder. Bridger laughed again.

       "And Darwin, too," he agreed.

       Dripping wet, Migel bent down to grab his things, preparing to leave, "I guess thats my cue to exit stage right," he suggested. "I'll see you later, Ari. Bye Darwin."

       "Bye Miguel. Ari, Miguel swim again tomorrow?" the dolphin added hopefully.

       With a quick, questioning glance toward the handsome, half-dressed and dripping young man, the very subdued Ari responded for them both, "OK, yeah. I guess we can tomorrow, sometime. That is, if your shoulder's not giving you too much trouble, Miguel? I noticed you've been favoring that arm."

       "It's a little sore," he admitted, grimacing and putting his right hand up to his left shoulder to rub it, as if trying to work out some stiffness. Ari's face softened, her tender feelings for the man clearly evident in her eyes. She made a move toward him, then aborted it with a quick, sideways glance at the Captain and shake of her head.

       Instead, she merely advised matter of factly, "Better put some heat on it, or you'll be sore and sorry tomorrow. Later Migel."

       "Later." With a quick wink to her and a nod in the captain's direction, he left the room.

       Bridger watched him leave before speaking, noticing the air of stillness about the young woman now that the man was gone. "He really didn't have to leave, you know," he said, sitting down on the rim of the pool and scratching Darwin's head. Ari went to get another, drier towel and began the process of drying herself again.

       "He had to leave, sir. It wasn't you. We're meeting later for a final liberty before sailing. Henderson, O'Neill, Ortiz and myself." The last part was spoken with the merest hint of bravado.

       The captain nodded thoughtfully. He squatted down beside the water, trailing his hand in. "I've just received word that Ensign Barlow will be on the landing slip at 2300 hours. Are you ready for her?"

       Ari smiled coolly, putting the towel down. "I guess I had better be, hadn't I?" Then the fact that the arrival time was in the middle of her planned liberty struck, and a look of dismay filled her eyes. "You want me to be there to meet her." She stated calmly.

       He was impressed. She'd managed to say that with no inflection at all. If he hadn't been watching for it, he would have missed the expression, or misinterpreted it. Hiding a smile behind his hand, he answered. "No. No, I intend to meet her and give her the grand tour. You go on with your plans." He glanced toward the empty doorway. Ari lowered her lashes, hiding them from his gaze. Apparently she was aware of her self-betrayal.

       "Thank you, Captain. And, sir. I read the reports and proposals you left for me, and I do recognize the need to do this by the numbers. An anthropologist would be invaluable in assessing what we do have here. I also checked out Dr. Barlow's dissertation and doctoral defense and her records to date. She is well suited for this project, sir. And I intend to do everything I can to make her feel welcome."

       Looking at her with approval, the captain had stopped scratching the opportuning dolphin. But the animal wasn't going to tolerate that. He butted his head against the fingers until they began moving again. Contented, the cetacean asked, "Darwin help Ari. How Darwin help?"

       Relaxing her stance, Adler joined the two of them, kneeling at the edge. With a glance toward the captain for permission, granted in a simple nod, she took a deep breath. "Darwin, we need to welcome somebody new. Someone who will be playing with you as I do, as Miguel and Lonnie and Tim do. Can you do that?"

       Nodding enthusiastically, he blew a raspberry. "Easy!" he responded forcefully. "Darwin like to play. Who somebody?"

       "Her name is Treysa Barlow, and she will be here soon."

       "TreysaBarlow," he repeated thoughtfully. "Darwin remember." Slipping under the water, he disappeared through the hydropressure tubes.

       "Oh, dear," she worried. "I meant to caution him not to tell anyone, not yet."

       "Don't worry about it, ensign. There aren't many who listen as closely to Darwin as you do." She nodded, acknowledging the truth in the statement.

       When Ari Adler had first been assigned to SeaQuest, she'd been fascinated with the concept of communicating with the dolphin. Using her childhood training in sonar sound identification, an artifact of a submariner father, she had begun teaching herself to understand Darwin's language, without the computer interface. This had proved useful when TSUNAMI had knocked the computer off-line. In the course of her studies, she had been joined by Tim O'Neill, Lonnie Henderson, and, of course, Miguel Ortiz, swimming with Darwin while he directed them in various seek and find games.

       Captain Bridger suspected that Darwin had come to think of the four young people as members of his pod, a community of swimming mammals, with himself as the leader. While the animal loved Bridger, of course, as a child loves his parent, it was different from his relationship with the others, whom he considered to be his children, or younger siblings for whom he was responsible. The thought of an addition to that family had obvious excited him too much for him to stay still, and so his departure.
br>        He turned his gaze from the moving water to the silent junior officer beside him, noting the way she sat still, eyes focussed on the water, as if divining the future in the waves. He wondered if she had come to the same conclusions about the dolphin that he had, and what she thought about it. Feeling his eyes upon her, she looked up, the ripples in the water reflected in her own eyes.

       "Thank you for letting me tell him, sir. I appreciate the courtesy. He gets bossy enough as it is." Gracefully, she stood up. "That's not all, is it, sir?"

       "No, not entirely. He paused, studying her face. At her expression of polite regard, he shook his head. Clasping his hands behind his back, he began to pace, pausing from time to time to try to get a feel for her reactions. "Ensign Barlow will be focusing with especial interest on those crewmembers who have the most contact with Darwin; you and your fellow 'Usual Suspects', Lucas, Piccolo and myself. This is in addition to the work she'll be doing with you on your language research. The better she understands Darwin, the more accurate her conclusions."

       "Yes sir," Ari replied patiently, clearly wondering why he was belaboring the obvious.

       "See if you can ease her into a relationship with Darwin. Something separate from your own. I don't want her to think of him as just a smart animal, but as a person. I know that you consider him a friend, so you can help her get to know him as an individual intelligence, who just happens not to be human." As Ari nodded thoughtfully, indicating her understanding of the point, Bridger stopped pacing, and fixed her with a stern look. Sighing inaudibly, he shook his head.

       "Look, ensign. ... Ari. We both realize that this is not an ideal situation. I'm not entirely comfortable with this idea, but I didn't really have any choice in the matter." Looking her dead in the eye as she looked calmly back, he continued, "This is to go no further than this, but I have some questions, on my part, about this woman's fitness for duty. Now, I know that you've been through a lot recently, its an additional burden to lay on your shoulders, but I'd like you to keep an eye on this ensign Barlow for me and let me know if you see any behavior that might be considered questionable." He stopped in surprise. Ari was shaking her head, gently but definately no.

       "I'm sorry, sir. But I won't spy on any of my crewmates," she responded regretfully but firmly.

       He stiffened. "I apologize for giving you the idea I wanted that. I just want you to be aware that ensign Barlow might have some trouble adjusting to conditions here on SeaQuest, and that she may have some emotional issues to work out as well. Things that you can relate to and help her resolve."

       "I'm aware of the potential problems, sir. And I will, of course, do what I can to help." She pressed her lips into a tight line and shook her head once, emphatically. "But I will not spy on anyone."

       "All I want if for you be open to her, be willing to act as a friend and and give her any help she may need until we can determine if she has what it takes to be a bubblehead. Can you do this?" Ari nodded.

       "I'll do my best, sir. Except ... If I gain her friendship, or, more especially, her trust, I will keep it. I'm not that good an actor."

       "That's all the Navy can ask of you, ensign. And thank you." Turning to leave, he smiled to see Darwin returning, his race around SeaQuest compleat. With a flip of his tail, Darwin signaled to them before darting into another of the tubes, heading who knows where. Looking up at Ari one more time, Nathan Bridger reminded her, "And Ari, one last thing, as one friend of Darwin's to another. Remember that SeaQuest is a very small community. You don't want it brought to the Captain's attention that you and a member of the crew, oh, say CPO Ortiz, are behaving inappropriately."

       To his delight, he surprised a slight flush out of her as she murmurred indistinctly, "Ummm, no, I wouldn't. Thank you." Smiling again, he finally left the pool room, confident that she understood what he intended her to.

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