In Flanders fields
Author: Hundius
Type of story: multichapter
Rating: mainly 15+
Disclaimer: I own none of the SP characters.
Summary: The story starts six months after the death of Captain Jim Roth and Petty Officer Chris Blake (Swain). Both died during the terrorist action with Madeleine Cruise.
An underpowered undercover operation is going to have unforeseen consequences…
Main cast of characters : Kate, Mike, Nikki and Maxine.
Ch 1. Undercover
A small cargo vessel with the name Papua Trader was sailing in north-west direction on the Coral Sea during the afternoon. Joel Oakes, a short sturdy man with brown short hair was wandering nervously over the bridge. He has hired the vessel for his trade. Several years he had planned this trade and now it was going to happen. A sale of a complete F18 Hornet with according missiles and ammunition to a liberation organization like they proudly announced. He couldn't care who they were, as he got big money for his trade. Then he would disappear. The move of his life! And next? Paradise! But first he had to pick up the load at Mourilyan Harbour, a small, unknown harbor in Queensland. There was a jetty that was big enough for this barge and then? Sailing to a small bay between the islands of Indonesia and exchanging the crates for desirable US dollars. Next to that he was going to sell a suit case of opal, stolen from one of the mines of Australia. The Chinese businessman was going to pay a small fortune for that. But there was always a risk that they, the Feds or the Navy, were following him. Therefore he had ordered the blond captain of the vessel to make various course changes to check if someone was following them. The idea that at the last moment something could go wrong made him extremely nervous.
That nervous behavior irritated the blond female captain of the vessel. Initially he had been suspicious about her. A woman as a captain! But what else could he do? His captain has had an accident and a few days before sailing he had to find another one. The bosun of the vessel told him that he knew a captain who would do everything to get some money. Rumors went around that this captain had been bouncing with the owner of a shipping company and that it had turned out badly for her. An affair would damage his status and she was fired. The bosun Bruce Walker introduced him to her in a harbor pub. Oakes wondered if the director of the shipping company had been blind. A tiny filthy woman with greasy hair. Her t-shirt and jeans had known better moment. Oakes was a business man and he knew about navigation but he wasn't a skipper. Therefore he had to trust the bosun. He had asked her some questions about navigating and Walker had done the same about commanding a ship and she had given them amazingly correct answers. She seemed to be a good captain. But why was she fired? Only for a sex affaire? When he spoke her about the salary she hadn't made an objection. Oakes had proposed a lower amount than for the previous captain and she had agreed. Obviously she really needed the money otherwise she had been arguing. Nice, no time to loose! He had lost already too much time with that idiot of a previous captain who had broken his arm.
Oakes stopped pacing and looked at her back. A blond sloppy pony tail and still the same grubby t-shirt and trousers and bare feet in some awful worn out walking sandals. Not bigger than 170 cm, but a nice looking woman.
He smiled.
When this trip is over I can shake her in something sexy and I can have a good night with her. She doesn't care with who she's going to bed and the advantage is on my side. She will do it otherwise there will be no salary! Hehe.
In despite of her small size she knows her job and she can keep these bastards of a crew under her thumb. I've never heard a woman using such a dirty language like she does. Just a fisherman.
He looked at his watch.
Time for a course change.
"Captain Forbes!", he called her.
"Yeah!", she replied almost uninterested.
"Steer 0-0-9-0."
"Aye!", She replied.
"Harris, steer 0-0-9-0!", she ordered the swain.
Oakes left the bridge looking at his watch.
She wrote something on piece of paper and she handed it barely invisible to Walker who disappeared also from the bridge.
Captain Emma Forbes stuffed her hands in her jeans, took a deep breath and stared through the wind screen to the sea.
We're making eights, I'm really wondering where we're going to load the suspicious cargo. It can't be a big port and also not a small one otherwise this cargo vessel grounds. Walker is sending the latest course to Mike now. For sure he'll scratch his head as well bout this crazy course .
She did a step backwards.
Jeez, do I imagine this? It's just like I'm smelling myself! Jagh, disgusting, really!
She looked at her clothes and grimaced.
When this undercover operation is finished, I'm going to take a very long bath and I'll use an entire bottle of shampoo! Then I'm going to dress up for an entire week and use a lot of make up, something what I barely do, just to forget my grubby appearance!
She looked at the compass and snapped at the swain, "Hey, nutcase, watch your course, you're a degree out of course!"
I can't get used to it! Using rough language, that's not my style. When the Hammersley guys discover what language Lieutenant McGregor is using, then they'll fall from their bar stool.
Walker walked back onto the bridge and nodded slightly to Kate.
Several miles to the east at the bridge of the Hammersley.
Nikki who was replacing Kate as XO walked to Mike who was sitting in his chair.
"Sir, message from the Papua Trader, they've changed their course again, they're sailing straight to the east now. Course 0-0-9-0", she said.
Mike lifted startled his eyebrows, "Damn, that's straight to us! Steer south, 0-1-8-0. They may not see us", he said.
"That's right! They're making a bow to the east", Dutchy said as he was looking at the radar.
"Harp! Steer 0-1-8-0!", she ordered.
"Aye ma'am, steer 0-1-8-0", he repeated and he had the Hammersley make a u-turn.
"They are sailing in circles.", she said to Mike.
"Why are they doing that?", Sergeant Gallagher of the team of Feds asked who walked to them because he noticed the course change.
"That's just the intention. They want to fool us", Mike replied.
"Uh? Do they know about our presence?", Gallagher asked surprised.
"No, if that was the case then they would have escaped on a course straight to somewhere. Now they're making diversions to confuse suspicious eyes", he said.
"From the moment that they have their cargo on board, we'll intervene", Mike said.
"I know", Nikki confirmed confidently.
Mike turned to look at that determined face and smiled.
Of course she knows! I don't have to tell Nikki and Kate things twice.
"Are there some others of us on board, except for Kate and the bosun?", Dutchy asked.
"No, just the two of them", Mike replied.
"Thus no one else to cover her back?!", Dutchy said baffled.
"No", Mike said coldly.
"And she couldn't say 'no' to that undercover operation?", he said annoyed.
Mike looked at him irritated, "No, there wasn't an alternative. It was a direct order from the Commodore!".
"Hmm", Dutchy mumbled as he looked disapprovingly at Mike.
"Don't look at me like that! It was not my idea!", Mike grumbled.
"Ok, okok", Dutchy mumbled again as he looked at radar once more.
"Do we know already how the bosun looks like ?", Nikki asked slightly irritated.
Mike sighed, "No! Can I help it that we don't get info? The only thing is that we don't fire upon people without weapons.", he grumbled again.
"Ok, what about the captain, Forbes, how does she look like? You don't talk about her?", Sergeant Gallagher asked concerned.
"Tiny and blond!", all three replied in chorus so that the poor man lifted his eyebrows.
"Hmm, do I sense something more, not?", he dared to ask.
"Yes!", Mike grumbled again.
Damn, I don't like to see her in this kind of undercover operations.
"Sergeant?", they heard back them and they all four looked at the owner of the voice.
They saw how Brigadier Grantley walked to them. He passed Leading Seaman Oliver Lake, nicknamed Swan by the crew. Grantley didn't sidestep him and he walked straight thru bumping with his left shoulder to Swan's right, without apologizes.
Swan mumbled something like "asshole", but it was too faint to understand it.
Mike threw a questioning glance at Nikki who lifted her eyebrows as response.
"Something about a woman", she whispered to him.
The Papua Trader
Oakes had finally decided to sail to a port. Kate had asked where they were going to, but he had snapped that it was none of her business. Some sailors had chuckled when they heard that that bitch of captain got some blows around her ears as well. Kate had raked her brain about the destination. she had calculated mentally the distance they had sailed, the eight turns they had made, all starting from the port where they left from. There were a tad of harbors, but only a few were capable to allow a cargo trader like the Papua Trader. She eliminated already some because they were ports for super bulk vessels. He needed a quiet, rather unknown port. Mourilyan Harbour maybe?
When they entered the harbor she recognized it. Mourilyan Harbour!
She had passed to name to Walker so that he could send it to the Hammersley.
When all the crates were loaded, the Papua Trader left the port and steamed in north-east direction. Kate passed again the course.
After an hour and a half Oaked gave her the order to change the course again, north this time.
Oakes left the bridge and Kate wrote the course on a small paper and slit in Walker's hands.
Some minutes later she heard someone loudly stumbling onto the bridge and she turned to see where the noise came from.
Kate wasn't a little surprised to see that Oakes pushed Walker forward. Oakes was poking a hand gun in his back. Blood was dripping from Walker's nose.
Crap we're toast!
Oakes gave Walker such a fierce punch that he tumbled in front of Kate's feet.
"Here's your little friend again!", he snapped as he pointed his gun at Kate and Walked who stood upright again with a painful face. "He was texting our new course to someone, the Navy, I assume. And from who does he know that course huh?", he said sarcastically. "From Captain Emma Forbes of course! You're Navy, of course. No one else could answer the questions in that pub so perfectly. Now I understand why you didn't discuss your salary. You would have done it even for nothing!", he ranted.
"I don't know what you're talking about! Put that bloody gun away and let me do my job!", she replied arrogantly.
All of a sudden he swayed with his gun to Kate's face and hit her hard with the barrel on her upper lip, causing a deep cut. Blood was pouring down immediately. "Shut up bitch!", he yelled furiously.
Walker did a few steps in his direction but he swayed his gun to him. "Stay where you are, bastard!".
"Within no time the Navy and the Feds will be here. Stop the boat and start again after 15 minutes on course 0-0-4-5! I'm going to dump these rats in a boat", he said at the swain who showed him a huge smile.
"Down!", he ordered Walker and Kate. He poked Walker with his gun but Kate didn't move. She gave him her fabulous stare but quickly he grabbed her pony tail and yanked her in the direction of the door. He pushed them to a cabin where Kate had to take a suit case and then he hurried them to the quarter deck. At the deck he ordered to lower the motor boat. When the boat was in the water he ordered Kate to climb into the boat. Following he turned to Walker, lifted his gun and shot him between the eyes!
Kate stared in chock at the scenery.
No, this can't be true! This is a nightmare! My god, I'll be next! Mike?! Jeez, he'll never know it!
Oakes jumped in the boat as well with his suit case and gave a fierce poke with his gun between Kate's shoulders.
"Move! To the coast! As quick as you can! And no tricks otherwise you're dead!", he yelled pushing the gun in her neck.
Kate blinked tears of anger, panic and frustration away and started the boat to the coast.
How, for god's sake, can I get away from here? Diving over board? He'll shoot you within a minute. What else?
Meanwhile the sun stood low above the horizon and they could see the purple-blue line of the shore.
After a while the boat grounded on the beach and Kate cut the engine. She felt how the barrel of the gun poked in her neck.
"What's your real name?", he snapped.
As she didn't answer immediately he poked a bit harder with his gun.
"Kate… Kate McGregor", she stammered and closed her eyes for what was going to come.
At the same moment he knocked her down with his gun.
"Good night!", the grumbled.
He threw his suit case on the beach and he took a jerry can, shook with it and nodded. He opened the cap and poured the petrol out of it. He grabbed a rag and a screwdriver and jumped from board leaving Kate on the bottom. He wrapped the rag around the screwdriver and lighted up with his lighter. Oakes did a few steps backwards and threw the burning rag in the boat. It started burning immediately. He picked up his suit case and started running towards the trees. He remembered that they were not that far from Mourilyan Harbour and that he would reach quickly some houses. When he was struggling through the bushes he stood all of sudden in front of a pair eyes in a camouflaged face under a green slouch hat.
"Where are you going to mate?", the soldier asked.
"Ah? Some troubles with my boat", he said innocently as he noticed that there were ten soldiers next to him, all well armed with Steyr automatic rifles.
The officer who spoke to him lifted all of sudden his gun because he had noticed Oakes gun between his belt.
"A tourist with a gun? Interesting! Drop everything and hands behind your head rascal!", he said and this men pointed their gun at Oakes as well.
"Sergeant, watch this bloke, I'm going to inspect the beach because I'm smelling something that I don't like. Marty, Albert, Lee, on me!", he said.
A few minutes later they heard an explosion on the beach and an instance later the four men appeared again…
To be continued
