Chapter 11

"They've adjusted course 20 degrees to port, now heading 1-2-0." Jeter announced to the Bridge, he turned the screen to show Mike and Tom just as much. It confirmed their suspicions, the Greeks were pushing the Nathan James where they wanted them.

"No doubt about it, they want us to round that island." Mike said as he moved back to the front of the bridge, his adrenaline was starting to kick in as the game was on. He had to admit it felt good to have the A-Team back together. Everything seemed to just feel the right mix of skills, chemistry and ingenuity.

"Gator, options?" Tom asked the man.

"Sir, we can't continue along this bearing for much 's a rocky outcropping of shallows. It'll tear us apart." Gator informed them.

"Rocks in front of us, enemies around us, and a storm closing in from behind. We're trapped." Jeter told them, Mike remembered a familiar training exercise in his early days of training as a bridge officer and he thought it was a good idea to read up on the history of Naval warfare. He knew Tom was a fan of history so he had to know where he was going.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" he said looking at Tom, the man looked straight at Mike for half a second before the same thought came to him too.

"Trafalgar." he said, Mike nodded, it was a dangerous manoeuvre but the pay off would be worth it. "Turn and charge, break through their line." Tom stated, making sure they were on the same page. Mike gave a nod.

"Lose them in the storm." Mike finished, before he turned his attention to the bridge crew. "Never mind the maneuvers, boys. We're going straight at 'em!" he ordered as he moved to the back of the ship and pulled out the receiver for the P.A. system. He didn't bother to wait for the whistle as there wasn't time. "General quarters, general quarters. All hands, man your battle stations. Make ready for heavy seas." Mike ordered, he hung up the receiver and moved back to stand next to Tom.

James heard the call for 'General Quarters' as he ran through the ship and tried to avoid notice as much as possible as it was nearing 1800 hours. But it was to rendezvous with Harry and make sure the man got the seeds and off the Nathan James as soon as possible. James couldn't wait to get the man off the ship, he just hoped the rest of the plan fell into place and Sasha never knew what he'd done. But most importantly, he wanted it all to be over and soon it would be; one way or another.

"CIC, Bridge. TAO, fire defensive measures only." Mike ordered as he was perched in his chair, holding on the phone reciever, the rain was coming down in heavy sheets making visibility poor. But he could just make out the ships in the distance, they were carving through the choppy water just as fast as the Nathan James. If they were off even the slightest in their course. It would get messy and not the fun kind.

"TAO, aye. Switching weapons to CIWS, defensive posture ALPHA." Kara said, her voice carrying confidently over the line as she acknowledged his orders.

"Steady, Helm. Steady." Jeter said to Diaz in the background.

"Bridge, CIC. Range 1,000 meters and closing." Kara announced over internal comms, Mike looked out the front window waiting for a sign that the other ships would attack as they didn't have any other option. His heart was doing flip flops as they were going to be able to look at the faces of their enemy and literally flip them the bird.

"She won't fire." Tom assured Mike as the ships closed the space between them. He knew they were far from a collision course with the ships but damned if his heart wasn't pounding from the excitement and tense moment as their ship sailed straight between two Greek ships without shooting off a single round or incurring any damage themselves. While he knew it was a small feat worthy of a victory dance he held off as he didn't want to jinx them.

"We may have one this round but we now have to face the storm." Mike said in a low voice, before he rose from his chair and started giving orders. He needed to make sure the crew and ship were prepared for the next challenge.

Rios was glad Naz was finally asleep as he wasn't ready to restrain her to the bed. He knew he should given the storm but he was afraid of her waking up and hallucinating she was a prisoner. That kind of fear in his mind made him imagine that it could put her into cardiac arrest. That was worse than broken bones and concussions in his mind.

"Rios, we have injured in the Helo and I need help." Heggen told him as he leaned through the door frame. Trying not to fall over in the rocking of the ship as it traversed the storm.

"Ok, on my way. Be careful in the p-ways, it can be rough." Rios reminded him, the man nodded as he tried to make his way out the infirmary. He had to fight gravity to not smack into the doorway going out of the infirmary as the ship rolled steeply down a wave. He looked to Naz's vital monitor and checked her temperature that was still incredibly high.

"You picked the perfect time to fall asleep. Just stay asleep for my sake." he quipped wryly. He pulled an oxygen mask and placed it on her face. He doubled checked everything that could be tacked down was secure, once he was satisfied, he looked at Naz's sleeping form; satisfied that she wouldn't wake up, he headed out of the infirmary.

Less than ten minutes later, the Nathan James was taking a thrashing from the storm. They had barely had time to get into their wet gear, crew were scrambling the ship, sealing all the frames they could and securing the ship best they could. Mike and the others on the bridge, leaned their weight forward, rolling with the waves so they didn't lose their balance and fall but it was a struggle to stay upright.

"OOD, come to 12 knots. Make bear steerage way." Mike said as he held onto the arm of his chair for support as the ship climbed up and then took a steep dip. His stomach dropped with the ship, then the prow of the ship crashing through a hard wall of ocean and Mike felt nauseous but it had more to do with ship's progress and if they'd get out the storm as he was not prone to seasickness. Water splashed across the front windows, submerging it completely before the ship buoyed up again. While the water drained away, rain pelted the windows as visibility was nonexistent beyond the prow. That was when the ocean wasn't splashing into the window.

"Aye, sir. Helm, come to 12 knots. Make bear steerage way." Granderson shouted over the noise of the storm and the alarms of systems that were blaring making them away of the hell they were currently enduring was not good for the ship or them.

"Helm, aye." Diaz shouted, Mike had to admire the kid as it was his first time steering in rough seas and he wasn't falling to pieces like men his age would; instead he was getting the job done. Mike's stomach dropped as the ship was belted to the side, but that didn't concern it. It was the fact that the horizon disappeared.

"We're coming up on another one!" Tom shouted, he like Mike wore a pained expression as this one was going to hurt.

"Brace! Brace! Brace!" Mike shouted, anything loose that hadn't ended up on the floor went flying as the ship crashed into the wall of water. Mike grunted he felt the bruising force reverberate through his joints as he was nearly yanked out of his seat. Water blocked out the view and he looked behind him to see Tom pick up Jeter who had fallen.

"I'm all right." Jeter assured Tom as he went to find a better place to stand. Mike wished he had time to be concerned but it would have to wait as window cleared and the prow of the ship was visible through the front windows. He was glad they had had time to bring in the crew from outside as they would've been washed out to sea by now.

"Captain, we're approaching the navigable semicircle of the storm now!" Gator told him.

"If we don't lose them before the wind shifts, we never will." Mike told Tom as they had two Greek Naval vessels on their ass. It was only luck that the storm hadn't found a way to crash them closer to the Greeks. But so far, they had distance, enough to know collision wouldn't be an issue but the storm was more than enough to contend with.

"Captain, she's pulling hard to port! I can't hold her steady!" Diaz shouted from the back.

"Fuel's already been redistributed." Mike said, as he tried to place where the weight was being unevenly distributed to make the ship pull.

"It's our live ballast!" Tom shouted, he moved to helm and pulled the phone reciever off the console. "M-A-C, Bridge, get the live ballast against the starboard bulkhead! M-A-C, Bridge!" he called, Mike picked up his phone to call down to CIC only to find the lines down. "Shit! Internal Comms are down!" Tom said.

"I'll go!" Sasha shouted, she raced off the bridge. She'd been racing around the ship helping where she could. She had never been on a destroyer in a storm but it was much wilder than on larger vessels. She knew she'd have bumps and bruises for the next week from how she was being thrown around but she wouldn't be alone.

She headed down to M-A-C, and slammed straight into a wall as the ship took a harsh tip. She groaned as her shoulder complained at the hit but she didn't stop as she ran down the stairs to the next level as she could check her injuries later.

Naz smiled as she rolled out of bed, feeling the heat of the sun. It was going to be a scorcher of a day. Her mobile phone pinged, she looked at the clock at saw it was nearly 7:30am. She groaned and whimpered as it was supposed to be her sleep in day.

"That better not be work." Elias told her sleepily. She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled. He looked so incredibly sexy; all roughed up with sleep and looking at her like she were a perfectly brewed coffee.

"You know I can't say 'No'. It's a heatwave, all the crazies come out in the heat." she said as she looked at her phone. She gave a sigh as it was work calling her in. "I have to go." she told him.

"But the beach." Elias pouted.

"Tomorrow." She promised.

"It's storming and 21 degrees tomorrow." he said with a pout. She put her phone to the side and crawled over to him with a salacious smile.

"Perfect, we'll stay in all day and I'll make it up to you in all your favourite ways." she said before she kissed him. He tried to pull her in for more but she pulled away and scrambled off the bed with a laugh as Elias groaned. "I have work, the City needs me." she joked as she pulled her police uniform from the wardrobe and headed to the bathroom.

"I need you!" he told her.

"You'll survive." She assured him with a laugh.

The ship took a hard fall to the starboard side, everything loose that Danny and the others hadn't had time to secure slid right at them. Women and children screamed as the lights blinked on and off. Thunder sounded so loudly, they could feel the crackling of air around them. Danny, Wolf, Azima, Burk and the crew members made a protective shield stopping the debris from hitting the refugees.

"All right, let's get ready to move!" Danny shouted over the noise, Wolf and Burk grabbed rope and started making their way to the other side of the room. It was a hard climb due to the ship being nearly on it's side. But they made it and tied off the rope.

"We're gonna go one by one! We have to balance the weight together." Danny shouted, Azima and Sasha shouted out Danny's orders letting the refugees know what they were they doing. He just hoped they understood as they didn't need anyone panicking anymore than they already had.

"Ready?" Danny asked Wolf, the man checked the rope.

"Yeah! Good!" Wolf said, Burk gave a thumbs up before he motioned at Rios to start pushing Refugees his way. It was hard to get them moving as they were scared out of their minds but as the crew moved out with them; not using the rope they slowly gained confidence and started moving more quickly.

"She's got a child." Wolf told Danny pointing to the woman coming up to him. She was starting to lose her footing. They both moved to her, helping her across so she wouldn't drop the child.

"You hold on to that baby, okay? Hold on to that baby." Wolf told the mother as he helped her get to the other side.

Sasha held a small child to the open door, shielding him from falling back into the wall behind them. It was a mess in here and if the ship didn't balance out soon; they'd be in a whole new level of trouble.

"I'm scared, are we going to die?" the boy asked her in Arabic.

"No, we're not going to die. Don't be afraid. Now, move. Get Moving." She said as she pulled him out from the wall and pushed him up to Burk who moved to grab the boy. "Keep moving." she told him, Burk grabbed the kid by the back of his life jacket and pulled him to the rope and helped him to halfway to Miller who got the kid to the other side.

She shouted at the others to keep moving when she noticed a man break from the wall clutching his chest. Azima was on him, he didn't look good. "Rios! Heggen." Sasha shouted, the men looked her way and she pointed at where Azima was, both turned just in time to see the man drop to the floor.

"Corpsman!" Azima shouted.

"Go!" Rios shouted at Heggen as he was closest. The man jumped into action and slid under the rope and rushed the other side of the man. He helped open the vest as he tried to assess what was happening as the refugee groaned in extreme pain.

"It's okay. Take it easy, sir." He told him, not able to get a good read, Heggen made the call "Let's move him to medical." he told Azima, she gave a nod as she started to gather men and gear to help them.

James headed down the p-way with some control as the storm seemed to ease and the ship had balanced out enough to allow him to stop crashing into the walls like a drunk man. He was halfway to the infirmary when he saw Miller, Wolf and Azima come his way carrying a person.

"It's all right. I got him!" Miller said.

"Make way, Commander! Coming through." Wolf told James, he stepped back and out of their way as they turned the corner to head into the infirmary.

"Can I help?" James asked, he looked down and saw it was Harry laying on the stretcher. He looked up at James daring him to say something. But James kept silent as he knew they were behind schedule and in a right mess. As they were no where near Asteris which meant Harry would have to jump off with the seeds in a storm and survive until the Greeks picked him up. Something James knew he wouldn't struggle with as the man was like a cockroach, he'd survive anything. And clearly, Harry was not giving up the plan as he played the act of being injured.

"No, we just gotta get him to medical." Miller said as he and Wolf carried Harry towards the infirmary. James gave a nod and watched them go before he kept on his way. He'd circle back when it was safe and meet Harry in the infirmary. He pushed out a nervous breath as he turned a corner and nearly smacked right into Naz.

"Sorry." he said to her, but she looked straight through like he wasn't there. He frowned as he waved a hand in front of her face. She didn't blink or acknowledge him at all.

She was sweating profusely and her eyes were glazed over. He half expected her to talk to him but she was off in her own world. He moved slowly and carefully out of her way. She walked right past him. He knew he should get her help but figured her roaming the hallways would serve them as an easy distraction.

"We got a big one coming portside." Jeter announced to the bridge. Mike had hoped they had reached the eye of storm as the ocean seemed calmer and the rain had eased off but it looked like no such luck

"OOD, I have the conn." Mike ordered as they'd have to do some quick steering to make sure this one didn't hit as bad as the last.

"Aye, Captain has the conn." Granderson said acknowledging the change of command structure on the bridge. Mike leaned on the arm of his Chair and analysed the ocean looking for the best course.

"Helm, hard left rudder!" Mike ordered.

"Hard left rudder, aye!" Diaz repeated as he performed his orders. Tom reached for the phone as he had been eyeing radar and noticed a change but wanted confirmation. Luckily, internal comms had been restored once the ship righted itself and crews were able to rectify the issue.

"CIC, Bridge. I'm showing a single contact on radar." he said to Meylan, he held onto the consol before him as the wave hit and the ship rocked from the force of the collision.

"Copy and confirmed, Captain Chandler. We lost Alpha in the storm." Meylan confirmed.

"We got one left." Tom said glad that they had lost one in the storm. It evened out their odds if the storm passed and they were left with having to fight. But it did make him question where the third vessel from before had gone to.

"Captain, the storm is pushing us back toward Asteris island!" Gator told them.

"How far?" Mike demanded before he shouted another course adjustment to Diaz.

"8 nautical miles!" Gator informed him, they had been so entirely turned around trying to avoid being rolled over by the ocean that they had unwittingly come full circle.

"If they've set an ambush, we're heading right for it." Tom told him, Mike looked up at the screen that showed radar and weather system. He couldn't help but snort a laugh.

"Good luck to 'em. Storm's coming for all of us now and the Hydra class is top heavy." Mike said, glad they weren't the Greeks and glad that the Arleigh Burk was built to take a beating that this storm could kick out.

"I have a visual on the island." Jeter told them, Mike looked to the portside and could barely make it out as the rain had started pouring down in heavy sheets again. He looked out to the ocean trying to judge what the best path was as he knew the water was going to get shallow. He didn't need them scraping the hull or worse.

"We gotta ride the troughs, get between the waves. Hard right rudder, all ahead two thirds! " Mike ordered, as it was the only option he could see at this point.

"Hard right rudder, aye! All ahead two thirds!" Diaz replied.

"We're gonna put our beam to the seas until we lose that last contact." Mike told them all. The phone reciever before him rang, Tom picked it up before Mike had to contemplate how to pick it up without busting a stitch.

"Comms, Bridge, keep looking. It's out there." Tom said, he held onto the phone and looked to Mike. "Comms, has lost comms for the other ship. She may have something." he told him.

"Good." Mike said, as it meant they were out of range, he was going to take the respite until the ships caught up with again. He looked to Granderson, "OOD, you have the conn." he told her.

"Aye, sir." She replied.

"Come to course 2-1-5. Keep us zigzagging until we hit the navigable side of the storm." Mike ordered, Granderson piped out the orders and Diaz did as he was instructed, Mike looked to Tom and they both knew this was the only time they might get to step off the bridge and find out what comms had for them.

Harry stood up from the medical officer's dead body, he'd been easy to incapacitate but he was sure it would be the only easy part of this mission. He moved the fridge and pulled on the door and found it aggravatingly locked. He didn't have time to search for a key, so he pulled a couple paper clips from file and quickly used them. The lock popped open and smiled as he lifted the canister of seeds out of the fridge.

"Easy as pie." he remarked, he heard the sound of shuffling and fighting just before the door opened and James pushed two dead bodies of the sailors who were supposed to be guarding the seeds into the room. "Bout time you showed up." He joked, James gave him a dark look.

"Come on. Let's get this over with." James told him.

"Show me to the air tanks and I'll gladly jump off this ship." Harry joked but James found nothing funny about it.