ABL was in need of a leader, and Captain Nathan Bridger volunteered. He was then greeted by a man that he'd seen on several worlds that he'd previously been to during his sliding adventures...the man's name was Hunter. Hunter suggested that the ABL have not one, but a group of leaders, and this idea pleased Bridger very much. The organization was getting back on its feet.

...and then came another man. A brave and fearless leader; he stepped out of the mist. BritSlider had returned to command his legions once again. This, too, made Bridger happy. The ABL was not only back on its feet, but very much back in the game.

Something was a miss, however, with the captain. The things he had seen...the brave people that had died....he did nothing in the first Beret War of this world; he decided to make up for that this time. He pulled his vo-corder timer out of his jacket, and as it hit zero, the portal opened, and Captain Bridger slid to the next world with a plan in mind.

Bridger landed just outside of the UEO Headquarters in New Cape Quest, FL. It looked normal enough to him, but he didn't count on it being his homeworld. He'd been fooled way too many times for that. This did, however, look like a world in which the seaQuest existed....there was still hope.

He walked into the lobby; it was normal enough. He looked at the pictures on the walls...looking for some sign that the seaQuest existed on this world. He saw nothing...no posters, no pictures...nothing. It looked like a dead end..

Then he heard the television in the background.

"...when Nathan Bridger mysteriously vanished from the SeaDeck onboard the seaQuest DSV a little over a year ago."

Could this be? Was he...yes! He was! He was home!!

Bridger ran up to the officer at front desk in the lobby. He looked at her uniform; she was an ensign.

"Ensign," he said, "What is the current location of the seaQuest?"

"Excuse me, sir," the ensign replied, "but I need to see some authorization."

"Authorization!? I'm Nathan Bridger! I designed the damn thing!" he shouted. The ensign looked at him a little bit, and then recognized his face. She'd seen it on TV before. Her eyes widened, and she leaped from her chair and stood at attention. "At ease, ensign. Where's the seaQuest?"

The ensign returned to her seat, and looked at her monitor, "Sir, the seaQuest is currently en route to the North Sea."

"Get on the line. I want them back here immediately. I'm going to talk to the Secretary General..." he said walking off, but turned around, "It's still McGath, right?"

"Yes, sir. And welcome back sir!" the ensign said, saluting again. Bridger smiled, returned the salute, and went to find McGath.

Nearly an hour later...

"What do you mean I can't have the seaQuest back!?"

"I'm sorry, Nathan, but you went AWOL. We gave her to someone else." said Secretary General McGath.

"I was pulled into an interdimensional vortex! I didn't have much of a choice!" Bridger said, getting up from his chair. "Who did you give my boat to?"

"We promoted Oliver Hudson to captain and gave her to him." McGath said.

"Everywhere I go it's Hudson..." Bridger said under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing...." he said, as he racked his brain trying to think of a way to get his boat back, when an idea popped into his head, "Bill. Bill!" Bridger shouted, remembering his old friend, "Get Admiral Noyce in here!"

"We're sorry, sir, but Admiral Noyce is at Pearl."

"Then get him on a VidLink!" Bridger said, reaching for the console and dialing the number for Pearl Harbor himself before anyone else could do anything to stop him. He placed the call, and a few seconds later, one of the lieutenants answerd.

"Bridger Memorial Naval Base, Pearl Harbor. This is Lieutenant Mahon. May I help you?" the ensign said over the screen, as Bridger looked around at McGath after hearing the words "Bridger Memorial".

"We thought you were dead, Nathan." said McGath.

"I thought you said AWOL..." Bridger replied. McGath looked at the floor scratching his head, and Bridger's gaze returned to the VidScreen.

"Yes, put me through to Admiral Noyce, please." Bridger said in an irritated tone.

"Right away, sir. May I ask who's calling?"

"Nathan Bridger, captain of the seaQuest." he said as the corners of his mouth began to lift slightly.

"Uh...patching you through now, sir." the ensign said. Moments later, her image was replaced by the visage of a bald, old man.

"Look, pal, I don't know who you think you are but..." Noyce said, angered by the fact that someone would call a UEO naval base while impersonating his best friend, but then he saw who it was he was talking to, "NATHAN!?"

"Bill...glad to see you haven't lost any more hair."

"Nathan, is that really you?"

"Yes, listen, we'll talk about what happened later, but right now, I need my boat back."

"What for?" Noyce inquired.

"I'll tell you as soon as I'm on the seaQuest. Give me a launch; I'll meet them halfway."

"I'll do you one better. The U.S.S. Potempkin is docked at Cape Quest. I'll assign you to her, and I'll have her meet with the seaQuest in the North Atlantic. Deal?"

"Thanks Bill, I owe you one." Bridger said, "Oh, and one more thing. I'm not dead, so feel free to change the name of your base." he said. Noyce smiled.

"Good to have you back with us, Nathan." said the admiral. Bridger forced himself to smile back, but it was hard. He knew he wasn't going to be able to stay.