Chapter Six-
The trip back to port was uneventful. 2Dads was quiet and subdued, the sister he hadn't seen for over twelve years having just made an appearance. He wished they'd had a chance before this to catch up, to be brother and sister. Instead, they'd been separate, and Leo didn't know what to really make of her. Kate picked up on his mood almost instantly.
"You okay 2Dads?" She asked. He nodded.
"I'll be fine Boss. Just want to be back in port," replied 2Dads.
"Don't we all. White, how long until we're in port?" Asked Kate. Ryan consulted the instruments laid out in front of him, and made a few adjustments.
"I'd estimate about two hours ma'am," replied Ryan. Kate nodded.
"Sounds good. I'll be in my cabin. Dutchy, you have the ship," she said quietly.
"Dutchy has the ship," he replied. Kate left the bridge quietly, and Dutchy watched her retreating back. He knew something was up with her, but he wasn't sure what. Only time would tell. Nikki was watching her as well, and her gaze fell upon Dutchy.
"Do you think she's okay?" Asked Nikki. Dutchy shrugged.
"I think she just needs some time," replied Dutchy. Nikki nodded.
"Let's get her back to port, and we can go from there."
Buffer sat at his kitchen table, alone, a calendar and his bank statements spread on the table. Bomber had headed out for a check-up at the doctors, and then to visit RO. For now, Buff was alone. He looked at the calendar first; it was an older calendar, from the year that Bomber had started on the Hammersley. Her birthday was circled, as was the others from that years crew. He remembered that her 21st birthday was that year. He was thirty-three that year. He grabbed a calculator from his desk in the study, and returned to the kitchen. As he did the calculations, he realised that he was wrong. If he was Rebecca's father, he would have had to have been twelve. And that was impossible; he hadn't met Julia Robertson until he was seventeen. And that meant she already had already given birth to Bomber, and she would have been about five years old. Buffer slammed his fist against the table as he realised he'd been duped. He grabbed his most recent statement, the one that had come in moments ago in the day's mail, and scanned through the list. Mundane payments and small debits were the only things on the list, until he reached the last line. Ten thousand dollars' worth of his savings had been withdrawn; only thing was, it wasn't him that had made the withdrawal. He remembered handing Julia the details, because she had needed money. He didn't think she take that much though. He ran his hands over his head as he realised how ridiculous it had seemed.
Now he had to break the news to Bomber…
"CO to the bridge at the rush," called Dutchy over the intercom. Kate appeared on the bridge, tidying her hair as she walked up the stairs.
"What's up Dutchy?" She asked.
"Ma'am, I just wanted to let you know that we are almost back to port, and NAVCOM is on the line for you," said Dutchy. Kate nodded, and took the sat-phone from Dylan.
"Lieutenant-Commander Kate McGregor speaking," said Kate tiredly.
"Kate, it's Maxine again. Listen, I need someone to attend the hospital with Mike, Billy and Emilia to fill me in on the situation. I know Bird will be coming with them, but could you come down and debrief me on the situation?" Asked Knocker. Kate sighed for a moment.
"No Maxine. If it's not an order, then I'm declining. I don't want to talk to Commander Flynn if he wakes up, nor do I wish to discuss our personal history at this moment." Maxine knew she'd been found out. She wanted a reconciliation for Mike and Kate, not to drive them further away from each other.
"No, it's not an order. Send Dutchy instead then Kate. But you can't let this keep go…" Kate cut Maxine off.
"Please Max. Don't get involved," begged Kate.
"Right, I'm leaving it alone. Send Dutchy and Bird, and I will catch up with you later. NAVCOM out." Maxine hung up on Kate before she could say another word. Kate rubbed her head as it exploded; stress had this nasty habit of becoming a headache.
"Everything okay ma'am?" Asked Dutchy. Kate nodded, and took a deep breath.
"Everything is fine Dutchy. You are required to accompany Bird, Spider, Emilia and Commander Flynn to hospital when we get to port, and give a report of the situation to Commander White. Is that understood?" She asked. Dutchy nodded.
"Of course ma'am." They pulled in to port, and Kate let Nikki deal with everything. Her mind was a million miles away, and was not focussed on the task of docking a ship. Nikki handled it with ease, and the crew disembarked from the ship. Dutchy glanced at his fiancé, and she nodded.
"Go. I'll be fine; I'll take a cab back to our place, and I'll see you there. Say hi to Knocker for me," said Kate gently. Dutchy followed Bird off the ship, Emily, Spider and Mike being taken off the ship by ambulance personnel. Kate was looking forward to a quiet afternoon while Dutchy was occupied at the hospital. Nikki joined her as Kate headed down the gangplank.
"You coming to the pub with us?" Asked Nikki. Kate shook her head.
"Not tonight Nik. I want to get dinner made for Dylan when he gets home, and not takeaway; a real meal," replied Kate. Nikki laughed.
"Okay. But you're going to miss out on stories from Slinger and Dodger; I want the crew to get to know them. Even moreso, I want to get to know Dodger. He seems okay, but it still is a little weird to look at him and then realise that ET isn't back on the ship. He looks uncannily like ET, and it makes me miss ET even more," said Nikki sadly. Kate rubbed Nikki's back gently.
"You are strong Nikki. You can work through this," encouraged Kate. Nikki nodded.
"Thanks Kate. Enjoy cooking for Dutchy tonight!" Nikki waved goodbye and headed off as a taxi pulled up for Kate. She got in, gave the driver her address, and settled back. Her thoughts whirled around her, thoughts of Dutchy, of Nikki and ET and Dodger, 2Dads and Emily, Bird and Ryan. People involved in her life, people that made her complete. Then there was Mike; the problem. She couldn't work out if she wanted him, or wanted him gone. The taxi pulled up, and she climbed out of it, paying the driver, and heading to the door, pre-occupied…
If she hadn't have been so pre-occupied, maybe she would have noticed…
Noticed the broken window…
Noticed the muddy footprints in the house…
Noticed her father sitting in her loungeroom…
Mark McGregor was back…
Back with a vengeance.
Yes! Another episode over! Apologies for my slowness in writing; as well as writing here, I am an administrator on another forum where I also write quite a lot, so I'm balancing that and reality. I will try and update as often as I can, but no guarantees!
I hope you've enjoyed the two episodes so far, and there are definitely more to come!
So stay tuned for episode three "Love Hurts".
Love you all
Keep reviewing!
MissShawnaAlice (Nell) xoxo
