I'm back! Pesky work got in the way again, I hope if your still reading this story that you are enjoying it. I do realise just how different it is and I am letting my imagination run away with me slightly. I claim poetic licence and I will now continue with the madness.

THE STORM PT 1

Mickie stood up and walked over to the helm, placing her hand on Cody's shoulder she leaned down to him and spoke softly.

"I would like to see you in my ready room Lieutenant." Cody snapped his eyes up at Mickie but there was a soft tone in her voice and her eyes were smiling as well as her face. Nodding curtly at her he stood up and followed Mickie in to her small room.

Standing as straight as possible and watching as Mickie walked around her desk and sat down Cody was unsure as to why he was here.

He had never been in this room before, he couldn't believe just how small it was. It was almost a glorified broom closet with a desk and a coffee pot.

"Please Mr Rhodes have a seat." Mickie said pointing at the chair opposite her and Cody sat down quickly and placed his hands in his lap.

"This is your third assignment is it not Mr Rhodes?" Mickie said poring herself a cup of coffee and offering Cody some which he declined.

"Yes ma'am, this was my first posting as a Lieutenant though." Cody said as he glanced out of the window as the rain began to fall in small spots against the glass.

"I know and why do you think out of all the candidates you got this assignment Cody?" Mickie said slipping in Cody's name to help him relax around her.

"I guess because I was the best candidate, I would like to think I was very prepared for the original mission Ma'am." Cody said trying not to squirm in his seat and failing miserably.

"You were Cody, and not only that, a spotless service history and excellent sailing and navigational skills. However if you have any doubt that you can not pilot this ship though this storm I give you my complete understanding. If you are willing I have no objection to you taking the helm as every Mr Rhodes, but do not feel ashamed if you wish to defer this task." Mickie said keeping her voice soft so she did not influence his decision at all. Mickie just needed to know that her young helmsman was up for this task, she had seen him at his best on the UAN ship but in that situation you had little time to think, this storm could give them too much time and sometimes that could be more dangerous.

"I can do it Captain, I have ridden out hurricanes before, maybe not so large but in much less capable ships, with your permission Ma'am I would like to take the helm." Mickie didn't hesitate she stood as Cody followed her example and stood to attention.

"Granted Lieutenant, well done Cody." She added as he stepped back out on to the bridge. Before the door could close properly John and Jeff walked in and gave Mickie what could only be described as the evil eye.

"Captain when I said lets go to Japan I did not want to get there in a hundred pieces." John said placing both his hands on her desk and leaning forward. Trying to make himself imposing to the small woman who just looked up at him with an arched eyebrow.

"Mr Cena I can assure you I know what I am doing, this crew has to be one of the finest I have ever worked with and this ship is the best the US Navy has to offer." Mickie said sitting in her chair and allowing both men to loom over her in what she was sure was a pressure tactic.

"Your US Navy means squat to me, we have a right to a say on this ship do we not, and we want to turn back now before we are fish food." John said seeing that shouting was not going to work he tried lowering his voice and sounding threatening.

"We can not go back Mr Cena the hurricane has pushed in behind us and has closed that route off, the only way out is forward and it's the only way you will be leaving this ship, not as fish food. As for whether you have a say on this ship I will consider you position here after we have dealt with this crisis, but I can assure you Mr Cena if you wish to travel on the Legacy you will have to aquatint yourself with the US Navy and its rules, threaten me again on my ship and I will have you placed in the brig and dropped off at the nearest land mass, do I make myself clear." Mickie said standing up now to emphasise her point and earning herself two sheepish looks back in return.

"Yes Captain." Jeff said first he looked slightly uncomfortable but not as much as John who had gone slightly red.

"Yes Captain." He finally said between gritted teeth as Mickie came around from behind her desk and opened the door for them.

"I am sure you both might feel better if you spent some time in your cabin, sometimes sleeping though these storms is the best policy, the rocking always helps me to sleep." Mickie said going to stand by her command chair as Randy stood up next to her and looked at the pair of rebels as they made their way to the lift.

"Mr Morrison, Mr Mizanin would you like to make sure they get there." Mickie said keeping her voice light whilst the two young men entered the lift with John and Jeff and the doors closed behind them. Mickie let out a small breath and allowed her body to relax a moment.

"You ok?" Randy said squeezing her upper arm and Mickie felt a small shiver run down her spine at the contact. Glancing down at where his hand was she looked back up at him and offered him a smile.

"I'm fine, now Mr Orton we have a hurricane to navigate. Mr Rhodes keep our stern to the largest waves, Mr Debasie keep an eye out for anything larger than twenty feet, I want good warning this tug is slow on the turn, Mr Orton make sure all crew that is not required is locked down in a safe place and make sure Melina has enough staff to help her out." Mickie said as she sat back into her chair and her crew sprang to work around her. Just as Randy was about to leave for engineering Mickie caught his wrist and he turned to her smiling down as she let go of his wrist.

"Come back as soon as you're done Randy I want you on this bridge when the going starts getting rough." Mickie said allowing him some knowledge of just how much she was relying on him, but not too much she knew that the line she was walking with randy was a dangerous one and she had already seen glimpses of something other than friendship in his eyes.

"Aye Ma'am you can count on me." With that he almost ran up to the lift eager to get his task over and done with so that he could return to the bridge to be by Mickie's side.

Randy entered engineering and it was unusually quite. "Melina!" Randy called out as he couldn't quite find the Latino woman.

"Over here commander!" She called back crawling out of a repair tube followed by her second in command Ensign Kingston, one of the few coloured men on bored Legacy.

"Just making final checks then we are going to lock it all down, it will be too dangerous to be in here when the storm hits. If a repair is needed it will either have to wait or be patched up." Melina said wiping grease off her hands and throwing the dirt towel on to a nearby railing.

"OK well if you need any staff to help you out just let me know and I will send them right down."

"Thanks' sir, but we will be fine, like I said we won't be trying to fix anything whilst the ship is being shaken like a pair of dice at a craps table." Melina said as they walked towards her office which was in the corner of the large engine room and provided a little piece and quieter from the drone of the engines.

"Vey well Lieutenant, I will leave you too it, don't get yourselves killed down here though as long as she is floating we will be fine." Randy said as he turned for the exit and paused for a second.

"The Captain has a lot of faith in you Melina, I can see why now." With that Randy left the pair of engineers and road up in the lift to start his deck by deck check.

The ship pitched and rolled as waves battered the front windows and Mickie knew this was only the beginning. She kept glancing at the door, Randy had yet to return and she knew he had left Melina over fifteen minutes ago yet he still was not here.

"Mr Rhodes change course 6 degrees and half power keep her bow low this one is going to hurt." Mickie said as she checked her read outs and saw the large wave gathering of their port side. Following his Captain's orders Cody's hands flew over the controls sure and steadily, he did not feel as though he was out of his debt and he knew that Mickie was trusting him and that made him even more confident.

Mickie took hold of the arms of her chair as the large wave caused the ship to almost stop as it forced the stern up into the air and the ship was almost at a 45 degree angle as the wave crested and then the ship plummeted downwards.

"Slow the engines Mr Rhodes get ready to engage them once we level off." Mickie said as she cricked her neck after her head was slammed back into her chair from the impact, she just hoped that Randy was laying low whilst the storm had intensified.

"Captain the lift doors are stuck and I think someone is in there." Ted said as his monitor beeped for the third time. He had not noticed before because there had been such a lot going on but now he saw that the lift alarm was on.

"Damm it we need to get them out of there, it is probably Randy trying to get back to the bridge." Just as Mickie finished her sentence a pair of hands were prizing open the lift doors from the other side.

"Get your hands in here guys!" Randy called as Ted and John came across to help him out of the lift shaft.

"All hands brace for impact!" Mickie called suddenly as a smallish but sudden wave came upon them from the port bow and rocked the ship into the air once moor. Randy dived out of the lift and took cover with Ted behind his station.

"Thanks for the warning!" Ted called to Mickie who couldn't help but grin at the sight of Randy and Ted huddled together under Ted's desk.

Getting up Randy wobbled over to his command chair as the Legacy was thrown about like a toothy pick buy the storm.

"Sorry I am late Captain minor problem with the lift." He smirked at her and Mickie couldn't keep the smile off her own face.

"I could see that Mr Orton, are you ok?" She said the last part quietly as she did not want everyone to here the concern she had for her first officer.

"Yeah nothing a little antibac won't clear right up." Randy said looking at his scraped trousers and surely scraped knees underneath. Mickie looked slightly concerned for him for a second then Ted's voice interrupted her reprieve.

"We have a big one Captain, it's about thirty feet coming in off the Starboard side, we are not going to out run it, I suggest we head straight for it full throttle." Ted said as Mickie swivelled in her chair and looked at her old friend as if he had just told her he used to be a woman.

"Ted I know that seemed like a good idea in the films but believe me with a ship this heavy we will just be turned over." Mickie said finding the wave on her radar and she saw that as it approached them it was gaining in size and there was no way to avoid it.

"Options?" Mickie said knowing they had five minutes tops. Randy was scanning the wave and he was secretly agreeing with Ted going at it seemed to be the best option, but it was dangerous.

"We could let it hit us side on, put the engines on hard to Starboard and roll all the way though." Cody said finally as he turned to the command team sitting in the chairs behind him without a hit of irony in his voice. Mickie thought for a second, allowing the sip to roll 360 degrees was dangerous, but less so than being flipped end over end by going straight at the wave.

"Do it Mr Rhodes." Mickie said picking up the radio and called Melina.

"You what!" Melina said at the other end as Mickie finished explaining what they were about to do.

"Just buckle in down there" Mickie said she did not have time to argue with the woman and right now she had to help out Cody.

"Keep her still Mr Rhodes on my mark full Starboard engines, not before don't get twitchy on those controls or you could send us spinning off into the depths of the ocean." Mickie said as she lent forward and spoke to Cody in as much pricy as she could.

"Captain to all hands, please brace for impact." Mickie said on a ship wide announcement as every crew man and woman in their cabins on the bridge in the mess hall or where ever they were made sure they were holding onto something that was bolted to the floor.

Mickie felt as though time slowed down, she could feel the pull of the wave as it dragged the ship towards it. Feeling her hand start to shake she suddenly felt fingers slip into her own as she glanced over at Randy who was not looking at her but out at the ocean which seemed to have grown impossibly dark and Mickie clenched her own fingers around his and held his hand tight.

Legacy was rocked on to her side, the ships belly was pulled against the wash of the wave and its crew were thrown to the side of the ship. Randy tried his best to hold on to his chair and stop himself from landing on Mickie but his efforts failed as the ship tilted again and was now fully laying on its side in the water. His fingers slipped from Mickie's as she plunged down and into the side of the ship almost landing on the oops consol and landing in a heap next to Ted. Randy kept hold of his chair as the ship started to rock on to its top, he glanced over at Cody who was holding on to his chair for dear life, he could not afford to loose his grip or they might all end up at the bottom of the ocean.

Mickie shook her head trying to keep herself conscious as she realised she was almost sitting on an unconscious Ted, Mickie hoped that her falling on him was not the caused of his problem but she had no time to worry about that now. Randy and Cody were still at their chairs and that was the important thing, she knew the ship must wash though the wave to right itself again, they could not end up upside down or they would have no way of righting her again. As Mickie pulled herself up using the oops consol she felt the ship start to roll once more as the back of the wave pushed into them. Looking up she noticed that Randy was trying to climb down to help them out.

"No Randy help Cody someone has to be there to start that engine!" She shouted as the crunching of the ceiling of the bridge started as it began to take the strain of the titling ship. Mickie allowed herself to roll with the far wall, almost pushing herself up along the ceiling as it groaned under the weight of the rest of the ship. Mickie knew that it was not designed to take this kind of pressure and she was preying that it wouldn't buckle under the pressure.

Mickie heard a loud thump as Cody hit the floor in front of her, he was stunned as the ship was exactly upside down now and he had lost his battle with his chair, with nothing left to hold on to the back slipped from his grasp as not only was the ship flipped over but also knocked and bumped about.

"Shit Captain!" Cody called to the woman who had only taken a brief second to look at him before her instincts kicked in.

Randy was scrambling holding on to the arms of his chair but he couldn't let go until the ship was pushed back on to its side. He saw a flash out of the corner of his eye as the ship began to sink to the side once more.

He thought about how he was going to get to the console in time now as it would be above him when the ship finally started to turn. Pulling himself up so that he could get an arm over the side of the chair so that he could possibly stand on it as the ship rolled Randy huffed for breath at not only hauling his own body weight up on just one arm but at the sea sickness that was kicking in. this was not like normal rocking and being thrown around this was like being a sock in a washing machine and his stomach was retreating its breakfast.

Finally the ship plunged back on to its side as it did Randy scooted on to the side of the chair and made a grab for the arm of the helm. Just as his fingers closed around the chair Randy noticed a figure leap from the comm. Station and Mickie landed right on the edge of the helm.

Mickie was having to hold on for dear life, she had come up a little short on her jump, she had been so afraid of over shooting it and sliding off the other side she had under shot it and now her hands were slipping along the sheer side of the station. Pulling herself back with all her strength Mickie tried to find purchase for her feet but there was nothing but air below her and a twenty foot drop to the bow of the ship.

Not looking down Mickie watched as her fingers dug into the side of the consol without much use. Just as she was bout to give up and aim for her chair a strong pair of hands grabbed her under the arm pits.

"Randy!" Mickie said as he pulled her up from the edge of the helm chair and parched her on the edge.

"When?" was all he said as she scanned the sensors for readings. Mickie was amazed how even in this carnage the Legacy was working as well as ever apart from the fact she was flat on her starboard side and her crew had been standing on her ceiling.

"Now!" Mickie said as they hit the engine together and the starboard engine roared to life and the ship began to right itself as the last of the wave helped them along.

Ted was beginning to wake up as Cody pulled him along with him as the ship began rolling slowly back on to its belly.

"The console Mr Rhodes." Ted said groggily as he caught hold of his own station which still looked like it was coming out of the far wall.

At first Cody didn't get it be he caught on as he felt his stomach take a plunge as the ship reached a critical weight point and flipped itself back up right.

Mickie was not ashamed for having hung on to Randy for dear life and when the ship finally righted its self she watched as he hit the off button for the engine.

"Report!" Mickie bellowed as the crew started scrambling to their stations. Mickie was amazed that everyone seemed to be ok, but that had to come later she needed to know what was in front of them now, they had to be prepared for anything now, Mickie was sure this was now a mark 10 storm and she knew there was only so much pounding like that the ship could take before the structural integrity became a problem.

"Seems to have settled down somewhat, no swells that we can't avoid at least for a little while." Ted said keeping his hand on the side of his head as the blood flowing from his cut started to dry up. Cody climbed back into his chair obviously with a leg injury as he sat down on his left side and scanned the area.

"Keep on this heading Mr Rhodes I don't want any more surprises."

"Aye Ma'am, me either." Cody said throwing her a wink over her shoulder and Mickie couldn't help but smile.

"We made it." Randy said coming to sit next to her, grateful that everything was the right way up once more.

"Not quite yet Commander, but we are ok for now." Mickie said turning to the man she had clung to so tightly only a moment ago and already she could feel her command protocols slip back into place.

"Let's not count our chickens before they have hatched a Randy." She said with one more smile before she stood up to go and check on the rest of her crew.

Oh for part two of the storm just hit that review button.

I have to admit I have not ever written a story without having the last chapter sorted in my head, I like to know where I ultimately want to take the story with maybe some minor adjustments, it how I like to work, but with this story I have no idea.

Adventures a plenty in this one, but I have several options as to the ending, I would appreciate any suggestions if you have any otherwise I will carry on and just see what feels right when and if I get there. Once again thank you for reading, oh and from now on I think I might come up with titles for my chapters but I haven't decided.