Slow Burn – Chapter 4
Rachel stared at the furious man in front of her, staggered at the anger coming at her. What had happened to the man who'd held her as she'd wept over Michael's loss, who'd hugged her and told her they'd defeat this enemy with such certainty? Rachel barely recognised Tom these days, the hunt for the Achilles, their submarine nemesis, and perhaps his fear over the threat it represented seemed to be consuming him, turning him into someone totally removed from the Tom Chandler she'd been falling in love with. She was very much afraid that Master Chief Jeter had been right, that Tom was indeed becoming the Captain Ahab to the Achilles' Moby Dick. Eventually she'd had enough, tired of being Tom's whipping boy, she shouted back at him.
"Captain, have you forgotten why we're here?" Rachel roared "Find the cure, save the World? Remember?"
She just wanted to shake him senseless till his teeth rattled; hating the anger he was making her feel. Tired of the argument raging between them and of feeling like she was bashing her head against a brick wall, Rachel turned and marched out of the ward room without another word. Tom watched her go, hating the shock, anger and defeated sadness he'd seen reflected back in her expressive brown eyes, knowing he was the cause. The fear that his children, the crews families could be wiped out by these Immunes and their ballistic submarine, that he'd be helpless to stop their destruction as he had that of the labs left him shaking with a fear he'd never known before. That coupled with the loss of the chain of command, a resource he had relied on his entire professional life, and his confusion over his growing feelings for the woman who'd just frogmarched herself out of the room had Tom reeling with uncertainty and helplessness. He hated it, hated feeling so out of control, and hated the gut wrenching fear that was almost paralysing at times. He hadn't meant to take it out on poor Rachel, she had enough on her plate, trying to create more of the cure, and of coping with the fact she (and Milowsky when he got to grips with what Rachel had accomplished so far) was now the world's only hope again.
She'd just happened to walk in on him at one of his weakest moments, demanding, not unreasonably he thought with hindsight, that they go to Florida, to her mentor's lab in Palm Beach. He wanted to hunt down Achilles, eliminate the threat they represented, but Rachel had seen things differently. That the two other men in the room, Mike and Jeter, had backed Rachel hadn't surprised Tom. Their concerns over his pursuit of Achilles he knew had been succinctly put by Hugh Jeter, who hadn't minced his words; Mike had also quietly expressed his concerns, and had been far more supportive of Rachel and her mission of late. Hours later, Rachel walked back into the ward room, her back stiff with anger, eyes red from crying, clutching her laptop. She hadn't wanted to bring out the video of Julius's death, it had been unbearable watching it the first time, but if the grim footage would convince Tom to go to Florida, then she'd sit through it again. As the gruesome footage finished, Rachel looked up to see compassion in Tom's eyes and felt relief. He looked over at Slattery and Jeter, who both nodded their approval to his and Rachel's unspoken request; perhaps it was time to go to Florida. Watching that footage couldn't have been easy for Rachel, he knew from talking to her that Julius Hunter had been like a father to her, taking the young Rachel under his wing and teaching her the skills she'd needed to become the brilliant scientist and doctor she'd become. If Rachel Scott were the student, Tom mused, then Julius Hunter must have been a formidable teacher to have produced such a brilliant protégée – it was time to listen to her, he owed her that much.
The carnage they found in the Palm Beach lab was worse than anyone had expected, even for an experienced crew like the Nathan James's. It wasn't the violence that bothered them as much as the indiscriminate nature of it, and the fact that it was Americans killing Americans. The horrors of Baltimore were still fresh on everyone's minds, and it drove home once again how isolated they'd been aboard from the lawlessness, the almost total breakdown of law and order. They'd seen such things overseas, in warzones around the world – but none of them had ever expected to see it in their own backyard. That these people had been helpless scientists, not soldiers capable of defending themselves and putting up a fair fight bothered the crew still further. It was inconceivable to them that anyone would want to destroy the cure –if you were immune, fair enough you didn't need it, but why destroy it? Why prevent those who weren't fortunate enough to be immune from getting the cure? Such a concept was beyond their comprehension, and the fact that this group of anti-cure immunes existed troubled everyone in the landing party.
Rachel walked through the ruins of the lab, marking things she wanted taking back to the ship. This lab was finished, but maybe some of their equipment could be put to good use by herself and Milowsky in their search for a more efficient version of the cure. When she walked into Julius's lab, saw his slain body lying in an undignified heap on the floor, Rachel sank to her knees in grief. Behind her, Tom could just about hear the almost imperceptible moan of distress Rachel made; only the presence of the other crewmembers stopped him from pulling her into his arms to comfort her.
"He was a giant amongst men" Rachel whispered, barely able to contain the sadness and rage she felt swirling like a hurricane inside her. Slowly she stood and turned to face Tom, and pinned him with a piercing look he'd never seen in her eyes before.
"When you find the people who did this Captain" Rachel hissed furiously "Kill them".
With that rage filled statement, Rachel turned and began photographing the white boards Julius had scribbled his research on in his final hours. Somewhere in this chaos was Julius Hunter's last gift to her, to mankind – he'd given his life for it, Rachel wasn't about to let his legacy end like this. Tom watched her work, admiring her drive and fierce desire to make something good come out of this carnage -she was truly remarkable. If Julius Hunter had been Rachel's teacher, then the man must indeed have been the giant Rachel called him to have produced such a gifted student as she was; Tom found himself wishing they'd been able to arrive that much sooner, he'd liked to have met the man.
"Sir? Sir, it's time to go" Burk said quietly "We don't know if the hostiles are still in the area, XO Slattery feels it would be safer for Dr Scott to be back aboard"
Tom nodded, now more than ever they needed to guard Rachel Scott like a hawk, especially with the loss of the lab network. She was now their most precious resource and no chances could be taken with her well being or safety. Rachel would hate the restrictions on her freedom – there'd be explosions aplenty, and he felt regret that he would be leaving Mike to face the onslaught of Rachel's temper. These immunes seemed to always be one step ahead of them, and Tom hated the fact they always seemed to be reacting not acting. He'd come to the decision that they needed to track these rats back to their lair, they had to have a land base nearby – their findings amongst the ruins of the lab supported that conclusion loud and clear. Just as Rachel and her escorts were about to return to the Nathan James, Rachel approached him, motioning him to step out of sight of the helo crew.
"I know you feel you have to do this, chase these people back to whatever hell hole they came from, but promise me one thing" Rachel said softly, reaching a hand up to caress his face, sadness filling her eyes. In that moment, Tom would have promised her anything to remove the pain and sadness from her chocolate brown eyes.
"Name it Rachel" He replied, his fierce blue gaze never leaving hers.
"Come back to me, there's so much more we need to say to each other you and I, but I know this needs to be done, so please ...be safe!" She whispered, placing a kiss at the corner of his mouth, lingering just as he had that night in his cabin. Tom pulled her into a quick embrace, holding her tightly for a brief moment, before releasing her slowly.
"I'll do my best, I promise, and yes when I get back, we do need to talk – don't give Mike too much grief ok?" Tom said, smiling at her slightly rueful smile.
Rachel nodded and walked away, scrambling into the waiting helo before looking back at Tom as he stood with the rest of the hunting party. She raised a hand in farewell, noting Tom's return gesture and the amused look on Tex's face as he noted their unspoken exchange; she just prayed they all made it back safely.