Ships in the Night
Chapter 1
Disclaimer: Yup, own nothing but original characters
Author's Note: I came up with this idea on a whim. Please don't forget to review. And yes, I am using characters that I created in Come For You, just because I don't have the energy to create new names. I honestly don't know much about Mike and Christine. I'm not sure if they are still married, if she was ever found. For the purpose of this story, they are and she was.
Like ships in the night
You keep passing me by
We're just wasting time
Trying to prove who's right
And if it all goes crashing into the sea
If it's just you and me
Trying to find the light
-Ships in the Night by Mat Kearney
June 3, 2017
The James was seven days into her travels to Venezuela. They would be arriving at their desired port in hours. They knew from intelligence that El Norte and their leader, Juan Rodriguez, had taken over the cities of Maracay, Valencia and Puerto Cabello as well as other smaller cities. Caracus was still standing. The President had activated the military and fortified the city. He wouldn't let El Norte take the city without a fight. The James and Michener would eventually head to Caracas, but due to the influx of supporters for El Norte and Juan around the country, his people began to suffer. He asked the United States to have the James and Michener to support his people prior to reaching Caracus.
Their first stop would be the Port of Puerto la Cruz. Kara ordered a drone to be sent over the port to get thermal imaging shots. When they were closer in, she stated she would send another drone to get a live feed. From the pictures, they were able to ascertain that a large settlement of people were approximately a mile from port. Close enough to get necessary supplies, but far enough away in attempt to remain safe.
It had been different for Tom and Mike stepping onto the James this time around. While they outranked Kara, as they were both admirals, this was the first time they had been back on the James and they weren't in charge. At times it was unsettling. Tom knew that there would be situations during the upcoming situation that he and Mike may have to overrule Kara, but right now he felt he needed to walk that fine balance.
The decision to join the James on the mission to Venezuela, had been a difficult one for Tom. He hated leaving Ashley and Sam again, as he could no longer leave them with his father. Ashley and Sam took their fathers leaving as well as could be expected. They were angry, but eventually realized that Tom needed to do this to keep them safe. Thankfully, Christine, Mike's wife, stepped up and offered to watch the kids for him. She understood what he and Mike needed to do to keep the country safe from the current threat and she wanted to help in anyway that she could.
The road to reconciliation wasn't easy. It has taken Christine months to deal with her grief over Lucas dying. She blamed Mike for his death. Once she came to terms with his death and Mike not being there, they were able to really begin communicating. Essentially, Mike began courting her all over again. Their daughters, Hillary and Bridget, also had anger to deal with. They too were angry over their father not being around. Mike had to start from scratch at being a father with the girls as well, but in the end the family persevered and they were stronger for it. When Mike was offered the promotion to admiral and essentially a "desk job" he immediately accepted. He needed to stop "flying around the world" and be home with his family. Hillary would be leaving for college and Bridget was a sophomore. He didn't want to miss anymore time with them.
When the cyber attack hit the United States, Mike had no intention of leaving. It was Christine and the girls who encouraged him to "get his feet wet" and go out there. They wanted to know that their husband and father was out there fighting for them and keeping them safe. With their blessing, he joined Tom on the James.
Tom was brought out of his musing with a knock at the door. Kara had offered her captain's quarters to Tom, while Mike took the Admiral quarters. Kara said she would use her at-sea cabin for the duration of the mission.
"Come" Tom said loudly
The door opened and Mike poked his head in, "The images from the drone will be coming in momentarily."
Tom nodded and followed Mike out of the room and down to CIC. The two men chatted about what they thought the images may show.
They arrived to CIC to find Kara and Granderson, her XO, at the table looking over the images, that had been printed. The two women nodded at Mike and Tom. Kara gestured at the prints, indicating for them to go ahead and look at them.
"It looks like some sort of refugee camp." Kara said.
"You can make out makeshift buildings" Alicia stated "this" she said pointing to a picture, "looks like a hospital of some kind."
"Do we have any extra medical supplies that we can give to the doctors?" Mike asked.
"I've spoken to Doc Rios and asked him to take an inventory and see what he can spare." Kara responded.
"What is the plan commander?" Tom asked Kara.
She smiled hesitantly at him, this was the first mission the James had gone on with her as it's captain. "I want to send a two team with supplies to them. One team will deliver the supplies and be of assistance to the doctors. The second team will do some recon, speak to the refugees, find out as much as they can about El Norte."
"Admiral" Kara said addressing Tom, "If you would be agreeable, I'd like for you to lead the team that will be of assistance to the doctors. The crew members I'm sending are all medics and this will be one of their first...missions. They need a leader."
Tom nodded his acquiescence.
"Admiral" Kara said turning and addressing MIke, "If you are also agreeable, I'd like you and Danny to lead the recon team."
Mike nodded his acquiescence.
"When will we be at the port?" Tom asked.
"We should reach Puerto la Cruz in approximately an hour." Alicia answered.
"Understood, we'll be ready to leave within the hour."
The doctors at the refugee camp in Puerto la Cruz were overworked and exhausted. They were part of Doctors Without Borders. They had been sent to Venezuela only two weeks ago. News had come out that a terrorist group by the name of El Norte was wreaking havoc across the country. People were fleeing their homes for safety. Many went to Caracas, others to port cities in attempt to flee the country via ship.
Kevin Richardson stood back and watched as she fluttered around the tent. She went from patient to patient, working effectively. He marveled at her resilience. She was brilliant at what she did, and as a recent graduate from medical school, he was thrilled to work with a doctor of her caliber.
"Doctor Richardson, are you going to stand there and stare or are you going to get back to work?" she asked him, not even turning to look at him.
"Of course." Kevin went to the nearest patient and began examining them. One of the nurses helped to translate the patient's chief complaints. He ordered a blood draw and an antibiotic. He moved onto the next patient when he felt a whiff of the outside heat and humidity enter the room. He turned to see a group of United States Navy standing behind him.
"United States Navy, how can we be of assistance?"
"For one you can close the bloody door behind you." Kevin heard her shout from the end of the room.
"I apologize" the man stated and indicated for one of his men to close the door.
The man who spoke began walking towards her, "We've brought medical supplies." he stated.
Kevin watched as she stopped what she was doing and stood. Her back going rigid. She turned slowly to face the man who was speaking to her.
"Tom" she said so quietly that Kevin barely heard her.
Kevin watched as the man she called Tom, took a step back, shock on his face, "Rachel"
Author's Note
So this brain child came to me for a couple of reasons. The first being that I found an article written by TV guide right after the season 3 premiere (I posted part of what the author said in another story). Essentially the author was livid that Rachel's death was so callously ignored. That we go no closure, no funeral, not even a body. Nothing. This person felt that this was done on purpose and that maybe Rachel is still alive. Then fact that TNT has done very little promotion for season 5. I got to thinking, what if they are doing very little promotion on purpose because they don't want to give away details from season 5. What if they are trying to redeem themselves to those fans who were/are still livid over Rachel. I know that the producers and even Rhona herself stated "she's dead". But the producers were more like "we wanted to see them deal with all this without Rachel." Rhona herself stated on her twitter account (and I'm paraphrasing here) that Rachel is dead and only she can decide whether or not to come back. It is a very open ended and curious statement and can be interpreted different ways.
Plus, let's think about it. If Rachel was in some sort of protective custody and is let out after Tom takes off, she may just give up as well. I know that isn't like her, but people change after tragic circumstances. What if she tried looking for Tom but just gave up and took off just like he did? She could easily go to another country and people would probably have no idea who the hell she was. Communication was knocked out due to the virus and the James was only in the United States. Michener only gave his speech about Rachel to the citizens of the United States. Yes, the leaders of other countries would probably know of her but the layperson probably wouldn't.
But I'm a hopeless optimist even when I know the reality of something happening is .001%.