AN: Okay, so some of you have been telling me that Kate and Mike met five years ago and not seven as I have put them... that is my fault for not getting my facts right and for wanting to make Ella older than she would be for this story. I just hope that all of you still want to read it regardless of that fact.

Furthermore I want to apologize for any grammar or language mistakes I make, because English is not my parent language.

Chapter four

Somewhere in the Arafura Sea 10.00 hrs.

Mike had not been on watch for very long when Nav got something on the radar. It was a FFV and Mike made the call to sail to their position to find out what kind of FFV it was. It hadn't been long since he had sent Kate down to get some sleep so he was hoping that this FFV would just go back over the line and they could move on. They approached the FFV and Mike tried to call them over the radio.

"Vessel on my port bow side, this is Australian warship HMAS Hammersley, what are your attentions in our waters?" Mike asked. He didn't really want to board them, but if they don't answer him he will send a boarding team over there. The vessel is not answering his call and Mike tries again.

"Vessel on my port bow side, this is Australian warship HMAS Hammersley, what are your attentions in our waters?" When he still didn't get an answer he took the in ship radio and called for Kate.

"XO to the bridge, XO to the bridge"

"Vessel on my port bow side, heave to I attend to board you" Mike didn't want to wait anymore. They clearly didn't want to listen and now he really wanted to see what was on the boat. Because they must have something otherwise they would have answered their radio.

"Sir they are not stopping…. It seems that they are increasing their speed" Nav said while looking at the boat through her binoculars. Just as Nav said this, Kate appeared on the bridge a little tried but ready for some action.

"Vessel on my port bow side heave to I attend to board you" Mike tried again, but it didn't seem to work as the boat increased their speed again.

"Charge make the typhoon ready" Mike said and turned to look at Kate. They didn't have to talk really because they could have this silent conversation between their eyes without talking which always made people around them curious. After only a few minutes Kate knew what Mike wanted and walked over to the in ship radio and took it up.

"Hands to boarding stations, hands to boarding stations" Kate said into the radio and walked out of the bridge to get ready.

This left Mike with on last chance of getting the ship to slow down so the boarding station could get on without it being too dangerous.

"Vessel on my port bow side, heave to or you will be fired upon" Mike said to the other boat. This still didn't make them slow down so Mike gave to ok to Charge to shoot five rounds 100 yards in front of the boat. This made the Vessel stop and Mike gave to order to the boarding party to move in.

The boarding went well nothing much to claim on the boat. They were fishermen that hadn't caught any fish yet so they only had to make them sail over the line again and give them a warning of not wanting to see them again today. But they all knew that the boat would come back when they had sailed away. It was always like that out here. They tried to keep these foreign fishermen out of their waters, but they couldn't. When coming back onto the Hammersley the boarding party got out of their gear and went back to the task they had before being called for the boarding. For Kate that meant trying to get some more sleep, but first she had to report to the CO about the boarding. Lucky for Kate that went quickly and soon she found herself back on her rack and closed her eyes.

An hour later they have found another FFV that they need to look at. Kate has once again returned to the bridge and Mike has been keeping an eye on her, because he thinks that she look tried still. So when the time comes for a new boarding Mike makes the decision to keep Kate on the Hammersley.

"Okay, I want the Buffer to run this boarding" Mike says when looking at his crew and he can see that Kate is not happy about this.

"Excuse me Sir, but this is my boarding and I want to run it" Kate says while looking Mike straight in the eyes. Everyone around them can see that the X doesn't want to give this up and they can see that a fight might start between them on this.

"I'm sorry X, but I think Buffer is better for this job" Mike states and can see that Kate is really angry at him on this. "And you look tired X. I don't want anything to go wrong" After saying this Mike can see that Kate is about to explode.

"I'm sorry what?" Kate says when hearing this. She can't believe that he would say something like this to her. She looks around them and can see the others looking at them and she knows that they can continue this argument in front of their crew. "Sir, can I have a word in private?" Kate asks.

"Yes X. We can talk in my cabin" Mike says "Nav you have the bridge" And they walk down to his cabin and closes the door. Up on the bridge Nav look at Swain with a look that says I think the X is mad to which Swain just nods his head. Then Nav turns to look at Buffer that just stands there looking to where their leaders just went.

"I think he will feel her anger now… she looked so mad just then. She hasn't been here long I know that, but man she can stand up to the CO don't you think?" Nav said to the two others and they just agreed with her. The X hadn't been there long, but they knew she was so much better than the others they had had before. She could and would challenge the CO on some of his ideas and that was what made them so good these last couple of weeks.

Down in the COs cabin

"Sir, I don't think it is fair that Buffer runs this boarding. I'm fine and can do my job if you just let me" Kate said to Mike when he closed the door.

"I know that, but I want to make sure that there isn't going to be any mistakes on this boarding. And you just looked tired and wanted to make sure that nothing will go wrong" Mike defended while looking at her to see her reaction.

"I can do it, if you will just let me. Sir" Kate said and turned to walk out of the door to the boarding room to get ready for this boarding. Mike just looked after her for a couple of sections before walking back to the bridge and calling hands to boarding stations over the radio. Soon the RHIB was in the water and the boarding party was on the FFV. From the bridge Mike could see that Buffer was the first man on board followed by the X and then the rest of them. They soon have all the fishermen on the quarter deck and his men went to search the vessel.

"Charlie-82 like is Xray-82" Mike heard Kate say over the radio

"What is it X?" Mike asked

"Sir, nothing suspicious onboard. Everything seems to be in order here" Kate replied

"Okay X. Return to the Hammersley" With that Mike could see that Kate told the boarding party to go back to the RHIB and return to their boat.

The bridge 13.40 hours

After the last boarding it had been quiet, no mayday calls or other FFV that they had to look at. The people on the bridge were quiet mostly doing their work or looking out on the water to pass the time. The quietness was quickly interrupted of a mayday call.

"Mayday mayday. This is Caitlin, we need help" Came over the Radio. Mike immediately went to the radio to talk to the person calling.

"This is Australian warship HMAS Hammersley. What seems to be your emergency?" Mike asked

"Our motor broke down"

"Okay do you know where you are and how many are on your boat?" Mike asked the caller

"We are about two hours northwest of Thursday Islands. And we are about 20 people on board. Four adults and 16 kids. It's a school trip and the kids are 1st graders" When hearing this Mike noticed that Kate stood up more and looked at him with a terrified look but only just for a second before she turned her gaze to the water in front of them.

"Okay can you give my radio operator your coordinates so we can find you? We are the only ship in the area and we will be there in about three hours. Please call back if anything changes" Mike replied before hanging up and turning to Nav who had just gotten the coordinates.

"Okay Nav, set a course"

"Yes Sir"

Kate didn't pay attention to what was going on around her. She could feel that the ship changed its course and that it speed up. The only thing she could think about was that call and her little girl. What if Ella was onboard that ship? How would Mike react to seeing his daughter for the first time? She had to tell him about Ella before they got there, just so that he wouldn't be mad… oh well she knew he would be no matter what. But he didn't really have the right to be mad. He left her not the other way around. And she didn't know that she would see him again and when she did how was she going to tell him that he had a six year old daughter? Oh by the way Mike you have a daughter, just thought you should know no she couldn't do that. But know she had to.

As they got closer to the boat that needed help Mike noticed that Kate became more quiet and she started to look really scared. He didn't know why and he really wanted to know. He couldn't stand seeing Kate like this. She looked like she could break down at any moment.

"X are you okay?" Mike asked and laid a hand on Kate's shoulder. She didn't seem to hear him so he asked again and this time squeezed her shoulder a little to get her attention.

"Yes Sir I'm fine" was Kate's answer and Mike knew that she wasn't. He could still read her after all these years and something was on the mind. Just then the radio started again.

"Mayday Mayday. This is Caitlin. We are now taking in water" came from the boat they were about to rescue. Mike quickly went to respond to them.

"This is Hammersley. We are on our way and will be there in about 15 minutes."

"Be quick because the water is coming fast and I don't think we will make it" With that the radio went silent and Mike tried to get them on again but with no luck. He made RO try every 2 minutes but so far nothing.

Nav had noticed that Kate had taken her hand up to her mouth when the call came in and went over to her. She looked lost and in her own world.

"X are you okay?" Nav asked but didn't get a respond. Mike and the others had heard her question and had turned to them. Mike walked over and laid a hand on Kate's shoulder to get her attention.

"Kate are you okay?" Mike asked. He knew if he used her name she would look at him and tell him not to use that name here on the boat. But he hadn't expected to see what he saw in her eyes when she turned to face him.

Okay, that was it for this chapter. A little cliffhanger, I know I'm evil. I really want to say thank you for all your reviews they are really great to read and is was makes me want to continues so keep it up Hope you still like my story and the way it is heading and want to keep reading it. Just let me know what you think.