Chapter 4


"Woah! Easy, Mike. We got the seeds. You can let go now!" Tom shouted over the noise as he caught his friend's hands with his own. Mike looked confused and panicked as he had reached up into the air for something but as he saw Tom and where he was his expression filled with anguish.

"He doesn't give a shit about your seeds." Naz shouted at Tom as she pushed at Tom to move back so she could treat Mike. She was right, Mike wasn't with them, he didn't care that he was safe as he looked completely traumatized being back in their reality.

"I wanna go back." Mike murmured in a grief stricken voice. Tears slid down his temples, as he shook his head and gave a shaky breath trying to escape his emotions and the pain of his injuries.

"I know, I know, just stay still, you'll get back there." Naz told Mike, in a soothing yet empathetic manner as she pulled one of Mike's arm's down and reattached the IV drip to his arm. Tom looked to Sasha who shared a concerned expression with him. Mike grew calm, as he turned his face away and slipped back into a twilight state.

"What's our ETA?" Naz asked Sasha, she held out her hand for more supplies as Sasha was closest to the med kit.

"Not much longer, med team is on standby." Sasha shouted to her over the noise, she pointed out the door. Naz looked to the ship in the distance before going back to looking after Mike. Padding his wound from the exterior as he'd bled through the gauze that had been packed inside.

Sasha pulled a headset from the roof and passed it to her. She watched as the woman deftly pulled the head set on one handed and held the other to Mike's wound.


Ten minutes,

The helo touched down on the flight deck of the Nathan James. Naz pulled the headset off her head, the woman to her right placed it back into a hook above their heads. The flight crew came out with stretcher a long with medics. A man rushed before them, he had kind face with a bald head and glasses.

"I'm Rios, I'll take over from here." he shouted over the noise, identifying himself as the man she spoke to on the radio.

Naz nodded and moved back to let the crew take over. She watched as they pulled Mike's body into the stretcher and took over his care, rushing him quickly into the ship. She sat back on her feet and blew out a breath as she had reached her limit. She was sweaty and woozy covered in blood, but it wasn't hers.

The cacophony of noise and activity was too much for her. The madness of the day, the Nostos in her blood and the ship was too much. She ripped off the surgical gloves she had been wearing. She pressed her hands to her face to block out at least one of her senses.

"Ms Khan?" a voice shouted over the noise, Naz took a couple slow breaths and pulled her hands away to see the American with the wildest blond beard looking at her with concern.

"Yes," She said, her stomach rolling as she felt all the blood drain downwards to her feet. She had over extended herself.

"Are you ok?" he asked, Nas shook her head.

"I need a minute." She told him, even if the location wasn't ideal, she just needed a moment to rest.

"Come on, we'll get you inside where you can sit down." He told her, he clipped his rifle to his vest and held out two hands to her. Naz took another deep breath and gripped his arms in a monkey grip. With his strength, he pulled her to her feet and helped her out of the helo. She wavered on her feet but he gripped her by the elbow to steady her.

"This your first time on a US Naval vessel?" he asked conversationally as they slowly made their way to Helo bay following the others. He released her elbow to allow her the dignity of getting there under her own steam.

"Yeah, Thanks." She told him.

"It's us, who owe you the thanks." He told her.


An hour later,

"What a mess." Meylan said, not mincing his words as he and the others stood around the wardroom table. James, Sasha, Kara and Jeter all exchanged looks like a silent shorthand that made Tom feel rather isolated as he stood alone at the other end of the table. Meylan looked pissed, he didn't look happy to see Tom at all, not that he said as much. Yet.

"We have the seeds and Mike will make it." Sasha said, racking up the wins of the day instead of counting the losses and issues they were now facing.

"Who is our new guest?" Meylan asked them, he knew the woman's name and scuttlebutt spoke volumes of Tom's appearance. But instead of dealing with Tom, he needed to question the woman. Her presence was more questionable than Tom's. He felt the crew's mistrust at his reappearance, the only person who'd saluted him was Jeter. The rest made themselves busy and looked away.

"Nasrin Khan, she's in medical under supervision. She's AFP-" Sasha started before Tom cut her off.

"Or Interpol." Tom said, speaking for the first time.

"She can be both, Interpol is all about facilitating international police cooperation." Sasha said feeling the need to defend the woman in question. Sasha passed the IDs to Meylan so he could inspect them. "Those IDs can be verified with a couple of phone calls." she added.

Meylan passed them over to Kara, silently making it her task. She gave a nod as she picked up the IDs but she barely took a step away from the table when James spoke up.

"Actually, I can vouch for her identity." James Fletcher said somewhat reluctantly.

"You know her?" Tom asked, suspicious of the man vouching for a complete stranger. Wondering why he wouldn't mention it before when he heard the woman's name over the radio.

"It's been a while, I didn't make the connection until I saw her picture in the IDs. She had been in a better state last time I saw her." James said, it was clear he was choosing his words carefully and defensive at Tom's clear disdain for him.

"How do you know her?" Meylan asked James, needing clarification.

"She was conscripted into the Coalition forces during the Immune wars." James told the room.

"Conscripted." Meylan said, not liking the word. He'd heard it being bandied around briefing back home. Not that the US considered it for their people. But the issue was that the EU and UK had used it to supplement their armed forces. Meylan while disagreed with the practice of Conscription, he understood it was necessary evil of the post pandemic world. Without those people, the EU and UK could've potentially lost the war which had begun to bleed into the US. He knew the US had been lucky in that respect.

"Not our finest hour, all stranded foreigners of good heath between the ages of 18 and 45 from allied countries were conscripted into service. In return, their families were given protection, shelter and food. When the war was over, they'd be given free passage home." He explained, he could see the judgement in their expressions. "We conscripted our own citizens as well, it was wartime and done so out of necessity to win the war." He added.

"So you served with her?" Sasha asked him, James shook his head.

"No, I've met her once very briefly at an award ceremony. She was one of our highly decorated soldiers. Hero for an hour and promoted with others to show international cooperation in taking down the Immunes and stopping the spread of the Immune cult. After we won and our victory lap was had. Everyone wanted to forget about the bloody wars and what we'd lost." James said with a shrug.

"Why didn't she go home to Australia?" Sasha asked him.

"Our Air Force and Navy were decimated. We had no way of getting her and the others stranded like her back to their country of origin. They either stayed in the UK or drifted away into the continent as the benefits dried up in the famine" James told them, he ignored the judgement of those in the room as he was used to it. He also knew they would never understand the depth of the situation as the US had been incredibly lucky. He did his best not to resent them for it.

"Mike said she could come aboard. But he was injured and any deal he made shouldn't be honored as it was made under duress. Just my two cents." Tom said, everyone looked at him with mixed expressions. Meylan and Sasha looked annoyed at him, Jeter looked disappointed while Kara and James were doing their best to stay out of it.

"So, you're suggesting that we drop her off at the next port?" Sasha asked Tom, not that it was his decision to make. But he seemed to believe it was his place.

"Yes." Tom said plainly.

"Even though that would go against Maritime and International law?" Sasha asked.

"It's not-" he started but James cut him off.

"She's a refugee, who got caught in the middle of our operation and joined our side. We're lucky we even stumbled across her, let alone that she would even go out of her way to help us. That should mean she deserves some consideration." James told Tom. He really didn't like the man as he seemed intent on tearing any sense of group cohesion.

"She knew the risks. If she's a soldier, she can look after herself. We should send her on her way with some supplies and continue on." Tom argued, he knew he sounded like an asshole but he just didn't want to risk the seeds or the crew by taking the woman with them.

"I guess you're expecting the same treatment." James told him with a smarmy closed lip smile. Tom looked ready to bite at James' bait.

"Hey- cool it." Meylan said as he could see a fight brewing.

"Omar's men saw her, Mike left a blood trail to her place and locals will sell her out for food in a heartbeat. We drop her off anywhere along the way, she's dead." Sasha said, her tone brokered no argument as she stated the facts. She didn't need the woman on her conscience after what happened to Mahmoud.

"She could be a spy. We shouldn't be keeping her on board." Tom said firmly, he knew the hypocrisy of his words but no one could call him on it.

"A decision that is not yours to make." Meylan told Tom, ending the argument. He looked to Kara, "Make the calls, I want that ID confirmed and any information you can get on Ms Khan." he ordered.

"Yes, Sir." Kara said leaving the room.

"I'll talk with Ms Khan and make my own assessment. We'll reconvene in an hour." he said dismissing them.


"Their security is shit, a monkey could pick that lock." Elias told her as he pointed to the tiny fridge that the seeds were stored in. Naz sat on the bunk watching him move around the room, "There's not even a guard at the door. You'd think given the amount of people they killed for a tube of chickpeas, they'd at least pretend to put a show." He added.

"Shut up." Naz murmured at Elias, he was such an busybody which had made him an exceptional cop. Even she could connect the dots in her state with what she knew from her time on Sardinia to her past like as a cop herself.

"You say something?" Rios asked as he looked up from the clip board he was writing on to look at her.

"The humming." She said tiredly as she gestured to the air vent in the room, he gave a kind smile.

"Ship's engine and air conditioning system. You'll get used to it." he assured her, she pushed up from the bed and walked into the main room; dragging her IV with her. The fluids had helped quite a lot and the jerky bar she'd been given. She couldn't remember the last time she ate meat. She was savoring the food given to her in case it was the last.

"How is he?" she asked as she moved to Mike's beside. He was sleeping fitfully, a side effect of the Nostos.

"Stable, the drug you gave him seems to have quite the grip on him." Rios remarked as he made some final notes on Mike's chart.

"Nostos tea, it's made a weed that was evolved by the virus. It has hallucinogenic effect." Naz told him.

"You going to tell him about me?" Elias asked Naz as he stood beside her with his arms folded.

"I may have overdosed him." Naz said ignoring Elias' comment. Rios looked up from his notes with a surprised expression.

"You're a habitual user." Rios stated, there was no hiding that fact given the state she was in. She saw no point in lying, Mike was important to these people, they needed him. She however wasn't, so the least she could do was help them until the promise asylum was reneged on.

"He has you pegged." Elias quipped.

"Yes, started over a year and half ago. I gave him enough to take away his physical pain but it's not exact science for me. I also just didn't take into account that my blood might have affected him." She told him, Rios shook his head as he knew about her blood transfusion. He'd taken some of her blood for testing to make sure she pass on something nasty to Mike.

"Should be negligible but I can't say for sure. I've never encountered Nostos before, do you know how long the effects last?" he asked her, Naz gave a shrug as she couldn't help but think Mike was the lucky one. He was surrounded by people who cared for him.

"He'll be out of it for a couple days, his moods will be..." she tried to find a word to fit what she felt. "Fine, I can't explain it. It's like feeling nothing yet feeling at peace and then it will be over." Naz lied by omission. She couldn't explain the docility she felt, how it numbed her but underneath it all she felt the deep undercurrent of her emotions brewing but trapped behind a wall. She just wasn't sure if it was the Nostos or if she had compartmentalised her emotions so extremely to the point she could no longer truly feel or experience them.

"Have you tried to get clean before?" Rios asked, she shook her head.

"It was the only comfort I could find after everything..." she drawled to a stop not finishing her sentence as she drifted into her thoughts.

"I'm not judging." Rios assured her in a kind voice, she gave him a small smile.

"I don't care if you do." Naz assured him, she truly didn't.

"Ms Khan." A man stated, as he stood in the doorway, Naz noted his rank and name on his uniform as he came into the room. He paused to look at Mike for a moment before he turned to her. "

"I'm Captain Meylan." He said introducing himself as he held out his hand to her.

"You may call me Naz, Mrs Khan was my mother in law and she was a horrible woman." Naz told him, the quip made him smile.

"He looks official." Elias said at Naz's shoulder but she ignored him.

"How are you?" Meylan asked her.

"Better for the medical care of your Doctor. Thank you to you both." Naz said sincerely.

"I wanted to speak with you, I'm wondering what our CO agreed to." Meylan said as he gestured for them to sit in the other room.

"Asylum to America." Naz said as she moved to the bed and sat down as Meylan pulled up a stool. She sagged down placing her elbows on her thighs as she felt a bone deep exhaustion that came from never getting her way and knowing there was a fight before her.

"He doesn't have the power to grant asylum." Meylan told her.

"What happened to honouring a deal." Elias said with disgust. He rolled his eyes and left the room. Naz kept her mouth shut as she looked to Meylan. She knew the reneg on her deal wasn't personal but it felt like it was. Yet she couldn't be angry, her past tended to ruin her future.

"Your President can. You wouldn't give me the time of day unless you checked my creds. So why can't I have asylum? Is it that America isn't taking refugees? or is that you won't temporarily allow me a visitor visa because I an ex-soldier? You're afraid that I'm so damaged I'm a threat to your people?" Naz asked him, in a pragmatic tone, she just wanted answers and was glad her emotions were so deeply buried she couldn't tap into them.

"Why didn't you return to Australia?" he asked, Naz ran a hand through her hair as she hated this question.

"I tried, the UK and EU's resources were decimated during the war. I even tried the US Military bases in Naples and Rota when they reopened but they wouldn't assist me." she told him.

"Why?" he asked with a frown.

"I'm not a US citizen, Australia is too far away and what does America get out of helping some people go home? Nothing but gratitude and that won't feed anyone or refuel the airplane. It's an extravagance no one can afford at the moment." Naz informed him, there was no bitterness or anger. Just a resignation to facts. She had given up the anger and hate a long time ago.

"So, you resent US?" Meylan asked, he wouldn't blame her as he knew she was right. It was cold but a lot countries including America had dwindling resources. So it meant they couldn't help everyone, it was one of the reasons America had pulled completely out of Europe and UK when the Pandemic started and never returned to help with Immune wars. They just didn't have the man power or resources to assist the war efforts. It hadn't sat well with the US allies but there was nothing they could do.

"That's laughable." Naz said snorting a laugh. "You think I want to waste what little energy I have hating strangers especially ones who could potentially get me home one day?" she asked him with a smile.

"A lot do." Meylan said, Naz shook her head and looked down at her hands. He had to admit there was quiet and peaceful quality to her presence. She carried a lot of darkness but he couldn't see any signs of anger or aggression in her.

"Not me, the world has gone to shit, everybody is struggling and I've had enough bloodshed and cruelty that I just want to live peacefully. The US is the only country left with the resources and infrastructure to actually get me back to Australia even if it takes a few years. I also need to get out of Med because helping you, I've put a target on my back." She told him.

"I doubt Omar and his men could identify you." Meylan said, she quirked an eyebrow at him.

"You're a fool if you think that and you don't look like a fool to me, Captain." She told him, Meylan gave a closed lip smile. She pointed to the fridge. "Omar and Giorgio are going to be looking for those seeds. Giorgio is back by the Greek Navy are you prepared for that?" she asked him.

"What do you know about the seeds?" He asked out of curiosity as he sat back in chair looking at her. He made mental notes of the information she was giving him.

"Not much, I'm not botanist. But what I know about Dr Paul Vellek, his son; Giorgio and Omar could fill a book. Omar would be the shortest chapter though," Naz informed him, she was purposefully obtuse as what she knew was valuable intelligence.

"You were investigating them?" Meylan asked casually as he tried to make heads and tails of her.

"I'm a cop, those skills don't switch off and when you drink Nostos long enough, you build an immunity to the hallucinogenic side effects that you have to keep drinking more for it to work. Omar and Giorgio don't hide their dealings. Why would they? Everyone is high on Nostos watching men beat the shit out of one another." Naz told him.

"But you did." Meylan stated.

"Of course, like I said I'm a cop and not everyone liked how the Immune wars ended. When you're touted publicly as a hero? Life can be a hairy let's say. So I was staying under the radar to avoid detection, I have-"

"To know what and who you're hiding from." Meylan finished it made sense to him.

"Exactly, and I was one of very few foreigners on Sardinia. My house is covered in your CO's blood and I had photos and personal belongings, they are as well connected as you. So by now they know who I am and that I could know where the seeds are." Naz told him.

"That's a lot of supposition." Meylan said.

"You think it's going to stop Omar from flaying me alive?" She asked him, she took a deep breath and exhaled, "Look, I'm smart, I have value even if my intel isn't enough. I'm an experienced officer, a field medic, I speak 5 languages and I will do whatever job you throw at me on this ship. I won't be the fat on your bone. I'll earn my keep." She promised him.

Meylan looked at her for a long moment, it hard not to take her at face value. He understood Tom's reservations but he also agreed with Sasha. They couldn't drop her off at a random port. He could tell she holding back a lot of information and it was on purpose. His gut told him that she wasn't being vindictive, nor could he see her working some hidden agenda, she was just trying to survive, something he couldn't begrudge her.

"I'll talk to my Commander in Chief to consider your case. I'm going to have someone come and talk to you about what you know about Vellek and any relevant information you can share will help us would be appreciated." He told her.