Here and Now.
Part Twelve.
This chapter turned out to be a little longer than planned, and it's not my best work, but I hope it's still good.
Reviews are loved and appreciated, thank you for all other feedback! Enjoy part twelve.
Disclaimer – I own nothing.
The sun was just coming up over the horizon as Kara, Danny and Andrea stood on the landing deck. Using the doors to the loading bay as something to lean on, the three of them watched as the flight crew prepared the chopper.
"What's the difference between fixing a ship and fixing a helicopter?" Kara asked, breaking the silence.
Andrea looked at Danny who was trying not to laugh before looking at Kara.
"You mean apart from the size and the fact that one is airborne and the other is made for the sea?" Kara glared only slightly before nodding.
"Yeah, I mean if you can engineer the ship, surely you can engineer that," Kara gestured to the helicopter.
Andrea took a breath, thinking for a moment. "Yeah, I could technically work on it, but I prefer the ship, I know what everything does,"
Kara seemed happy with the answer as she went back to observing.
The three of them had been stood in a comfortable silence for a while, Danny was on a break, and Kara and Andrea still hadn't been cleared to go back to work, so they spent a lot of time watching others or catching up on what had been happening while they were going through the trials.
Things for Kara and Andrea were going well, they were no longer exhausted, and slowly getting their strength back, they could now eat again, and gradually learning how to walk past sickbay and not cry.
"I, we all know that this ship is amazing, and this crew doesn't fail," Kara started, folding her arms over her chest, a coping mechanism. "But, can I have a baby on a destroyer?"
Andrea heard the younger woman's voice break and had to swallow hard before she answered, hoping her own voice would hold. Turning slightly, she reached out to touch Kara's arm, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"We will do whatever it takes to make sure you and the baby are okay, even if that means changing a cabin into a nursery, we will do it." Andrea paused, looking at Danny, hoping he'd have something else to add.
"Sweetheart, I get you're scared, I am too, and I know I will never fully understand what you're going through, but nothing will happen without your consent, nothing will happen without someone speaking to you first and above all, you're not going to have to do any of it alone." Danny gave her a smile, before pulling her into a side hug, as much as he wanted to, he knew he couldn't break protocol.
"No matter what, you and the baby are a top priority. No one knows what we're going home too, but Danny is right, it doesn't matter if it's home, here, or some other country, you won't be alone, and we will make sure that the baby is safe," Andrea added, her own hand's shaking slightly as she told Kara that no matter what she wouldn't be alone.
It was something everyone would have to come to terms with. No one knew what home was anymore. Or if that country even existed, nothing was certain about what was happening on land, but out at sea, Andrea was sure that the 200 men and woman onboard the Nathan James would stick together, and that no one was going to have to face hell alone.
"I'm happy, I think deep down I always wanted to be a mum, but, we're in hell right now, and I don't want to bring a life into, whatever we're going back to," Kara admittedly honestly.
Both Andrea and Danny shared a look, neither of them knowing what to say. Andrea knew what it was like to have a child, she knew all the worries and the small things that she would overthink, she knew that right now Kara was experiencing all of those worries, but on a much larger scale. It's one thing to worry about your child's future when you're home, with your husband, with a fully finished nursery, with a hospital five minutes away and a midwife on the other end of the phone, but to have to worry about that on a ship in the middle of the ocean while the rest of the world was suffering, Andrea was sure Kara was at breaking point.
"There are ways…" Danny began, but stopped himself, looking down at Kara.
"No, no, I won't get rid of it…" Kara said after a moment when she realised what her boyfriend was about to say.
"Okay, well, if we're certain we're going to have this baby, then, I think now would be a good time to start making some plans, for every possibility, so that you know for sure that when he or she gets here, they're going to have the best start in life we can give them," Danny suggested.
"Kara, in a hospital, or on this ship, that child will be loved and not just by its parents. I know at least 200 other people who will love that child unconditionally," Andrea said giving her a smile before Kara turned to hug her, maybe it wasn't right, but neither of them had been cleared to work yet, and Kara seemed to really need some comfort.
"I hope so, I really, really hope so."
"Any update on that submarine?" Mike asked walking in sync with the Captain, heading down to CIC.
"Dr Scott gave the theory it could be those immune to the virus, but, we managed to intercept eleven seconds of audio from the vessel. They sound Russian to me." Tom explained.
"Immunes?" Mike questioned, probably focusing on the wrong part of Tom's sentence.
"Mike,"
"I know, head in the game, but there are people out there immune to this?" Tom nodded.
"According to the good doctor, yes, but I think right now, we need to be more focused on the Russians." Tom sighed, he understood knowing that people could be immune to the Red Flu was going to give everyone a little bit of hope that someone they knew, someone they loved would be immune, and would live to fight another day.
But even with that in mind, they needed to focus on getting home, so that even those who were not immune still stood a chance.
Walking into CIC both men took a moment to catch up with all the activity.
"Captain, XO, we're getting some kind of communication from home, we're not sure who or what it is, and it does sound garbled, but I think you should take a listen," One of them said.
"Well, it can either be good news or bad news, either way, it could give us a clue as to what we're dealing with back on the mainland." Mike put in, he wasn't sure if it was helpful or not, but he was being honest.
From where he stood, he knew that word from home was a good thing, but he also knew the world was fighting the Red Flu, and from the TV footage he'd seen, he had to be cautious, they all did.
"I can't make much of it out, other than 'send help' and something about most of the President's administration has succumbed to the virus," Tom sighed, pulling off the headphones, passing them to Mike to see if he could make out anything else.
"Have you isolated where it's coming from?" Tom asked to anyone who could give him an answer.
They all seemed to shake their heads. "I would have thought D.C, but right now, all we know for sure is that it's from America."
Again, Tom sighed, as much as he wanted to say it was something, he knew it was also nothing. Dr Scott had already told him how eighty percent of the world population was dead, and he had seen first hand how deadly the virus was, both in the tent on the Nathan James and when they picked Tex up from Gitmo.
"I can't make out much more than you, something about an Amy, I think. It sounded like a name, but I could be wrong." Mike pulled off the headphones, nodding the sailor who gave them to him, a way of thanks, before turning to Tom. "If they're still alive and still needing our help they could send out another message, we should keep listening,"
"I agree. Burk, keep your ears open, make sure any communications coming from the US come straight to me."
"Ay, aye, Captain."
"What are you thinking?" Mike asked, again walking in sync with the Captain.
Tom shook his head, "I don't know. I'm going to speak to Rachel, see how she's doing with mass producing the cure, seeing how it needs to be distributed. Even if we don't have a fully functioning government, civilians still need us."
"And the Russians?"
"We keep an eye on them. In the meantime, I think our best course of action from a Military standpoint is to keep our eyes and ears open and try and get in touch with other US Military vessels."
"Aye, Aye."
"Why just you and Dr Tophet, surely some other scientist would want to be in on this project?" Tom asked Rachel.
He was stood on the outside of her lab, talking to her through plastic sheeting while she worked on one of the machines. He'd gotten past asking what it was she was doing, he had done, in the past, but admittedly, it had all gone over his head.
But, in his defence, he did have bigger things to worry about.
"I'm sure they would now, but this time last year not many of them believed this would happen," Rachel explained without looking up.
"And by 'this' I assume you mean the end of the world?" Rachel nodded, again, not making eye contact.
Tom wanted to make some sarcastic comment about how he assumed they'd all be regretting that now, but he knew it would go down well. After all, people were dying.
"So, why did you fight so hard for it? I mean why fight so hard for anything, if you knew this virus was going to take out everyone, why try and be a hero, you could have just stayed home," Tom began, only be interrupted.
"And watch the world burn?" Rachel put it, finally making eye contact with him. "Captain, I love my job, and because I love my job, when I found out about this virus, it was either save the world or die trying. Believe or not, I am not that different from you. You'd die for your country?"
The captain nodded. It was a no-brainer for him.
"Well, I'd die for the citizens of the world. So, there you have it, something we have in common." Her voice was firm, and Tom picked up on the harsh tone, the way her face hardened when talking about death.
He'd seen that before, in the men he served with, in the higher up's back at the academy, and once or twice in his own reflection. She was hurting, there was something there, a reason, the reason. Tom had learnt early on in his career that everyone had a reason, something that drove them, something that pushed them, even when all else failed everyone had that one thing. He knew his own was pissing off his dad.
He'd joined the Navy to annoy him, and ever since making that decision, whenever times got tough he asked himself 'do you really want your dad to be right?' or 'do you really want to hear I told you so'. He knew his father wouldn't say either of those things, and despite joining the Navy, Tom knew he had a father who was proud of him, but in those moments, it helped and kept him alive.
"Who did you lose?" Tom took a chance on asking, knowing the Doctor well enough now to know he probably wouldn't get a straight answer.
Rachel looked over at him again, but this time instead of answering before carrying on with her work, she put the equipment down, and moved out of her lab, taking off the bio-hazard suit, and taking a few steps forward to stand in front of Tom.
"Who said I lost anyone?" Rachel folded her arms across her chest.
"You did. The way you talk about dying, the way you tell yourself that you'd sacrifice your life for the rest of humanity. It's too easy, you say it like it's nothing, so, who did you lose, what part of you left to make you the person you are today?"
Dr Scott nodded a little, she wasn't expecting him to say that, but even so, it made sense. She talked about death and sacrifice like it was nothing, but then again, that's all she'd been taught.
"My father brought us up as Catholics, we travelled the world, so he could preach. He had some beliefs that I didn't, and, in the end, we lost a lot of people." Rachel said simply, leaving out the key details, but hoping it would be enough for Tom.
"Hm, seems to me like there's more to that story. You've worked with the CDC, WHO, trained in some of the best trauma hospitals in the world, you worked in Camp Bastian, studied at Yale, Oxford, and Cambridge, that's not the resume of someone whose father just had a strong set of beliefs,"
"Why isn't it?" Rachel shot back, her voice raising slightly.
"Can you just be honest for once?" Tom's voice sounded done, like he was done trying, and had jumped right to begging her to just answer one question.
"My mother died." She didn't shout it like she thought she would, instead her voice sounded defeated and lost. "My father didn't believe in vaccinations, we travelled the world, so it was bound to happen at some point. My mother got malaria, she died. That was it, I wanted to save people. I was nine."
Tom stood in silence for a moment, unsure of what to say next. He could tell she'd lost someone, he just didn't know it would be at such an early age, and something that really had shaped her into the person she was today. Losing a parent at nine, and then dedicating your life to curing the viruses of the world always knowing you couldn't save your own mother. It made sense now, or at least some of it did.
Rachel was dedicated, and now Tom knew why.
"Is that the part of the story you were looking for, Captain Chandler?" Rachel asked, her voice harsher than it was, her eyes slightly glazed over with unshed tears.
"I didn't mean to upset you, I was just,"
"You just wanted to know who you were working with." Rachel shrugged, giving him a reason.
"Captain Chandler, I know we're going to have to trust each other, but surely my job history, education and the fact I have found a cure for this virus, should give you a good idea as to how good of a person I am."
Tom again found himself speechless but did take a step forward.
"I don't doubt you're a good person, Rachel. But, we said we would learn to trust each other and to do that, I need to know you, not who you say you are on a sheet of paper." Tom explained, a part of him standing by his reasons, the other part feeling awful because he'd clearly bought up memories and feelings that he shouldn't have.
"I apologise, Captain. Ask whatever questions you like," Rachel sighed.
Tom knew the conversation had gone too far, gotten a little bit too deep, and he couldn't tell if Rachel was being sarcastic or not, but in the moment, he was torn, between making light to the situation, or pushing her even further, but from what he'd seen of Rachel Scott, she was not a woman who liked to be pushed.
"Okay," Tom had always considered himself a literal man. "Question one, why drink that awful tea?"
Rachel couldn't help but smile.
"Heading to see the Captain?" Mike's voice made Andrea physically jump as he came up behind her in the passageway.
"Don't do that, Mike!" Andrea almost shouted back before answering his question. "And yes, the Captain wanted all three of us, plus Dr Scott."
Mike nodded, he knew that and it was a stupid question to ask, but it was a way to start a conversation.
"You know anything?" Mike asked as they carried on walking. Thankfully, with it being the middle of the night most sailors had retired to their cabins, so there wasn't many of them to avoid.
Andrea shook her head. She had ideas as to why the Captain wanted to see them, and she knew it wasn't because of good news. If it was, it could have waited until morning, and the fact the world was dying, and Dr Scott's presence had been requested, made Andrea feel more like this was bad news than it was anything else.
"Probably a planning meeting. We're running low on food, water, and other supplies. We need to get the ship into dry dock for a few maintenance checks, and Dr Scott needs a better equip lab. If I was to guess, I think the Captain wants to talk about options, where we go from here, and what happens when we get there." Andrea slowed down, still getting used to the fast pace of the ship again.
Mike slowed down alongside her, not wanting to ask if she was okay. Right now, she was still upright a breathing, so he took that as a good sign.
"We need to head home. Let people try and find their loved ones, and for Dr Scott to finish mass producing the cure, then, because we seem to be the only US warship in the ocean, we will probably start some kind of mission to spread the cure, recruiting people, ships, planes and submarines as we go." Mike shrugged, it wasn't the best plan, but it was almost an overview.
From what he'd heard and basic common sense, it seemed like the easiest thing to do. At the very least, Dr Scott needed a better lab, and members of the Nathan James needed answers as to the fate of their loved ones.
Again, Andrea slowed down, coming to a stop just before the Captain's stateroom.
"Do you need me to get you anything?" Mike asked, this time not being able to help it.
"No." Andrea smiled. "I just need to prepare myself for this." She finished.
Mike moved to stand next to her, both leaning against the wall. Mike took a chance, reaching out to hold Andrea's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"They could all be gone by the time we get home,"
"But they could also still be fighting, hanging on and waiting for us," Mike said almost immediately, both of them needed to stay positive. Everyone did.
"I hope you're right, Mike."
Mike hoped he was right too.
Entering the Captain's stateroom, Dr Scott and the Master Chief was already there, looking between the open folders on the table and the flat screen that showed news clips of various countries who'd been hit by the virus.
"Looks like hell on earth," Mike commented, taking a few steps further into the room, Andrea just behind him.
"I'm sorry to pull you away from your rooms, but we need to talk. We need to establish a plan and look at our options." Tom explained, gesturing for them all to take a seat.
Once they were all sat down it was clear that nothing they discussed would be good. As much as Dr Scott was making progress it wouldn't make up for all the lives already lost.
"We need to make course for the United States. Today, we received a clearer transcript of the message that came through to the ship this morning. Amy Granderson is now running things, as of yet I haven't spoken to Alisha, but I will." Tom paused, making sure everyone was following along with him.
"Dr Scott needs a better lab, and we need a chance to find our loved ones, but we need to make it clear now, and we need to make it clear to the crew that there is a big possibility that we will be redeploying," Tom tried to be firm, but a part of him couldn't be.
This wasn't going to be easy for any of them, himself included.
"I am calculating that it should only take around two weeks to get through the final stages, then, if all goes well, we should have a cure that can hopefully be spread by air as well as through an actual syringe." Rachel put in, looking down at her notebook.
"That means the crew has around the same time to find loved ones."
"It also means we only have two weeks to do all the maintenance needed. Sir, I understand I am not back to my workstation yet, but I trust the team in the engine room, and I trust their judgement. We're good, but we're not that good, two weeks is certainly pushing it. Plus, I think their minds might be elsewhere." Andrea put in. She didn't want to ruin the Captain's plan, but at the same time, it was better he was aware now.
"No, Andrea is right," The Master Chief said. "We can't expect some people to work on this ship while others try to find their loved ones. It's not fair, Captain."
Tom nodded, thinking for a moment.
"Captain, the whole crew is vaccinated, which means they are now immune to the Red Flu. I understand I need to spread this cure worldwide, but if we do need to remain in the U.S longer than two weeks, I can focus more on making the cure airborne, and once that happens, it can be loaded onto planes and helicopters and spread across the country," Rachel tried to explain, understanding that even if the rest of the world needed them, for them to serve the rest of the world, they needed a fully functioning ship.
"We make course for the U.S. Once we are there, we do a damage assessment on the ship, then we plan. Until then, what do we tell the crew?" Tom looked at Mike to see if he had any ideas.
"We keep them in the dark," Mike said, before adding. "It's harsh I know, but with that Russian submarine close by we need everyone to be focused. Once we get closer to land then, we tell them our plans, but here and now, our focus should be making it home in one piece."
"I agree with the XO." The Master Chief said.
"Me too, Sir. As sad as it is, if the Russian's take us out, it's game over." Andrea said.
"Dr Scott?" Tom said, surprising the other three in the room.
"I," Rachel paused. "I need a better lab, so going back to the states is the best choice, and from a psychology standpoint, the crew need to be focused, telling them our plans could disrupt that." Her voice sounded uncertain, but she didn't know what else to say, she didn't think she'd get asked.
"Okay. That's our plan. Stay alive and head home."
Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you thought.