Their Little Secret

by starfoxtwin

This story takes place the same day that the Captain, Dr. Scot and the extraction team return successfully from the Vyerni at the end of episode 8 of the TV, Show, The Last Ship.

21. Chapter 21 Goodbye Baltimore-Hello Panam

*******Note: I posted this Chapter within 2 days of Chapter 20, The Afternoon after Baltimore Part 2 Some of you may not have read chapter 20 yet. Be sure you do so before reading Chapter 21. It contains what Zack tells Tom about what the Navy is expecting of him and the Nathan James and also the conversation that Rachel has with Tom about what Darien said to her about their relationship. It is a pivotal chapter to understand what is happening from here on out.

Chapter 21 Goodbye Baltimore- Hello Panama

Over the next few days, Captain Chandler and the crew of the Nathan James had to deal with the services for those who had died in action to defend the ship against the forces of Amy Granderson and this was not easy for any of them. Thorwald's people were also included. The memorial for Darien was also performed in the ships Chapel with her immediate family and those who had known her, which included Mike, Zack, Rachel and the Chandler Family. The Captain had a picture of her from his office. Rachel, Tom and Jed comforted the children. It was not an easy thing for any of them to say goodbye. The crew also went one by one to extend their condolences to the Captain.

Rachel had been taking the time to check on the children and Jed at least twice a day. It had not been that long since they had the virus and they still needed to rest. Rachel herself needed to rest and to take care of the burns on her body, as well as Alisha's.

Alisha was still on limited duty and had found a time to come to sickbay to meet with Dr. Hayden, who was working with her on clearing her feelings of guilt about her mother.

Zack was also working on both Alisha and Rachel with the frequency technology which had helped the Captain recover both physically and mentally from the trauma of his torture. It helped to heal their burns much faster and there was no scaring. This technology also works on the brain and emotions which were effected by the torture that Rachel and Alisha went through.

When Zack tried to explain to Rachel what he was doing on the computer, she tried to take it in. He showed her the basics, but it would take more training to really get her up to speed to use it. Rachel seemed a bit preoccupied, which Zack knew was normal considering the trauma she had suffered.

After the Captain had tied up loose ends with Thorwald and they had worked on some way for them to get more vaccines to him, Thorwald spoke to Rachel privately and took her hand. He told her that he had the greatest respect for her and he certainly wished she would stay with them in Baltimore and he would find a place for her to make the vaccine. He told the Captain of this suggestion, but the Captain let him know that he had new orders from the Navy, that Dr. Scott was needed in another location and that they would have a location for her to make the vaccine there. He also told him that he hoped that they would have a way to fly vaccine back to Baltimore shortly and that he was very interested in helping Thorwald expand his safe zone there. As it was, Thorwald had been invaluable to him and the Nathan James, by letting them know where the stores of fuel for the Nathan James and the helicopters were stored. They also had food and other medical supplies for the ship, not to mention all of the stores that Granderson had for all of her forces. Thorwald was very generous to the Captain.

Thorwald kissed Rachel's hand as acknowledgement to the fact that he was also attracted to her. He brought flowers to her as well. He told her that should she ever want to return to Baltimore, he would personally invite her to have a land base there for any medical work she would like to do. He said he would also like to personally give her the royal treatment, should she decide to return.

Captain Chandler watched all of this with a frown, but again, he could not be impolite to Thorwald, who had shown his loyalty to him and his family. The Captain could not blame any man for wanting Rachel, but he did not have to like it.

Rachel was very gracious and thanked him for all he had done for the Nathan James and the children of the Captain. She explained that her duty was to the Nathan James and she also had orders to complete her mission with them.

Thorwald nodded his disappointment and took his leave, telling them that he would be looking forward to their return and if ever there was anything he and his people could do to assist them, to let him know.

XXXX

The Captain also took this time to have an official ceremony, in front of the assembled crew of the Nathan James. This was to give a battlefield commission to Bacon so that he would be elevated to the rank of Lieutenant due to his outstanding service to the Nathan James and it's crew in the planning and commanding the operation of taking back the Nathan James from Granderson's men and capturing the invaders without the firing of one shot. The captain also stated that it was the wish of this new Lieutenant that he keep his job as the Cook. The Captain stated that he would only approve of him staying in that position, if he would take his place in time of need, as part of his tactical team and would report to him, when called upon; with the rank of Lieutenant at whatever time the Captain was in need of his expertise. Bacon agreed to accept the battlefield commission under those circumstances. All of the assembled crew members cheered and clapped. The Captain gave him his insignias for his uniform, officially making him an officer. Bacon stood at attention as he accepted this from the Captain, with his sincere appreciation.

XXXX

The Captain saw very little of Rachel during these few days, though she was with his children and father in his quarters at least 2 times a day. He did drop by sickbay a couple of times, but she was usually busy with those still healing from Baltimore and working in her lab to make sure the vaccine cultures were continuing to grow. Dr. Hayden and Rios were helping, though Zack was also working on Rachel and Lt. Granderson with the frequency technology. Rios made Rachel get at least a short nap in order to give her a chance to recover sooner. They gave each other a brief hello when they were in the wardroom, but it was like ships passing in the night. They both were so busy getting ready to get underway, which they finally accomplished. The Nathan James left the Baltimore harbor with Thorwald's people giving them a big send-off.

All of the crew were lined up in their dress whites in honor of Thorwald's men who had fought for them, many of whom had given their lives in the effort. Both The Captain and Commander Hayden were saying a final goodbye to their wives as well. It was an emotional moment for everyone.

XXX

Now the Captain needed to get some of the vaccine to various locations on the East Coast but needed to be heading south. Thorwald had told them of a safe haven off the Florida Keys. They did manage to get there safely and make contact with Thorwald's people. The Crew tried to reach other family members and they were able to pick up a few, but he told those who had not made contact that they would come back, possibly with aircraft and more of the vaccine as soon as they could find a land base where more could be made.

They next needed to check out some of the ships near Panama. Zack told the Captain that he had been given coordinates for radio with a so-called safe area there in the jungles, but they knew of where to get more gasoline and he hoped it would be enough to get his ship to the Island in the South Pacific where Zack said was the location of the Navy command.

They were able to locate, by radio, the base in Panama and to arrange for a RHIB to get into the jungle area. The Captain would not give permission for Rachel to go on the mission, but Zack stepped in and said he would go in with the Seal team, with the vaccine. The operation went smoothly at first and Zack was able to get enough vaccine to the safe area to cover all of their people, plus some extra for who they could inoculate in the surrounding area. In return, this group led them to another Ttanker which had been stranded due to the crew contracting the virus. The Nathan James had gone to the ship and was refueling and picking up the few things aboard, like fuses etc. that they could use.

Zack spent a good part of the day giving injections at a tent which had been set up in the village. After this was done, the villagers invited them to have a late lunch. On the pathway back to the meeting place where they would return to the ship, Zack had leaned up to a tall jungle tree to get some water from his canteen. Suddenly he felt a stabbing pain in his upper right thigh area. He yelled and struck the huge hairy spider that had crawled up his pant leg and had bitten him when he moved his leg. One of the seals killed the spider which was a big as a man's hand. One of the villagers pointed at the spider shaking his head. He said "Very Bad, Very Bad. Doctor be very sick," He pointed at Zack.

The villager ran back to the village and brought some kind of herb or leaf. It was wrapped in a cloth. He said," Boil this and make a tea, a very strong tea. Drink it every 2 hours. This spider is bad. We are so sorry." Zack asked the villager what kind of a spider it was, but the villager didn't have a word for it in English. The villager looked very grave and shook his head. Zack did not like this one bit and he was beginning to feel very dizzy and his leg was extremely painful. Danny saw that the Commander was starting to be unable to stand up straight. He asked Zack if he would like to sit down and that they would radio the ship and see if they could get the Helicopter. Zack had slumped to the ground and was no longer coherent. Danny made the call. He gave the bridge the coordinates and the helicopter was above them in about 30 minutes. They had to put the Commander in a sling dropped from the helicopter and they got him onboard. Danny and Burk were also lifted into the helicopter by sling. The bridge had been notified that Commander Hayden had been bitten by a spider and was dangerously ill.

Rachel told Dr. Rios, who was in another area of the ship, that she would handle this. She had worked in the jungle before. She had some experience in spider bites. When the helicopter landed on the deck of the Nathan James, the medical team transferred the Commander to a stretcher and he was taken immediately to sick bay. Danny and Burk lifted Zack onto the examination table and stood back as Rachel asked them where he had been bitten.

Danny told Rachel that Zack had been bitten on the right upper thigh. She started to unbuckle his belt, then she told Danny to get his pants off and she started unbuttoning his BDU jacket. Burk helped her get this off of him and got his T-Shirt off so she could check his heart rate. It was erratic and he was burning up with fever. She pushed up the leg of his boxer shorts and could see the distance between the two puncture wounds which showed her that it had been a very large spider that had pumped the venom into his leg. She asked to see the remains of the spider. She did not recognize it at all. They handed her the greens that the villagers had sent and Danny told her what they had told them to do with the tea. She told Burk to get her a pan and they would see about making the tea. She could tell this was very bad. She had no idea what she could do for him, except to try to get his temperature down. She told Bertrice to go to the galley and get her as much ice as they could spare. She looked at Zack and he was not coherent at all. She'd gotten his boxers off and she covered his privates with a sheet, but had to try to do as much as she could at the site of the bite, which was high on his thigh. She got disinfectant and bathed the area. At this point Commander Chandler arrived on the scene and took one look at the condition of Zack and said to Rachel, "How is he? For God's sake, what happened?" He could see the large discolored place on his leg and the remains of the spider.

Bertrice arrived with ice. Rachel said, "Captain, get me that towel and wet it." Tom did exactly as she said and brought it back to her. She put her hand to Zack's temple and said, "He is burning up. I have to get his temperature down." She took the towel from Tom, put several pieces of ice in it. She started mopping his forehead with it. Tom got another towel, wet it and put ice in it. He gave it to Rachel and she started bathing Zack's chest with it. Zack reacted violently to the cold being applied to his body. The Captain had to grab one of his arms as Zack tried to stop what was being done by Rachel. His arm would have knocked her over with the force. Zack was yelling in his delirium, fighting the cold, "Cynthia…. Cynthia…..no, it is so cold, No, don't do that! Cyn…please." Rachel asked the Captain and Danny to hold Zack down, while she attached the restraints to his wrists.

Tom tried to talk to him, since he was holding one of his shoulders to the table. " Zack, easy now….. You are going to be alright…. Dr. Scott has to get your temperature down….. Easy now." She got restraints on his hands on both sides. She would now be able to get the iced towel applied to his chest and to the wound itself, without interference from him. She knew if it had not been for the Captain and Danny, she would not have been able to treat him. He was too strong for her. After Zack was restrained, Rachel put ice on the bite. Zack yelled out in pain. He yelled "Cynthia... No! God Damn it!"

Rachel was very worried. She had no idea how to treat him, except with the tea. Then she suddenly remembered the advanced technology that Zack had been working on with her or at least trying to explain to her. She knew now, this might be the only chance she had to save him. Rachel started trying to speak to him. She said "Zack…., Zack … Can you hear me? It is Rachel. Open your eyes, Zack." She tapped his cheeks and bathed his face with the ice water.

Zack said, "…Cynthia?" His eyes blinked open and she could see how disoriented he looked. She knew she had to get him conscious.

Rachel said, "No Zack... This is Rachel… Now stay with me Zack….Listen to me! Zack. I need to know how to use the Frequency Treatment computer…. Your scanner Zack! Zack! Focus….stay with me. This is Rachel…"

She tapped his face, sharply, on both sides at once.

Zack blinked and opened his eyes, breathing very fast. "Rachel? I'm so cold … Rachel… the spider… my...leg."

Yes Zack., I know it hurts, but I need your help … Does the frequency machine have the capability to scan for spider bites? Zack! Don't you dare go out on me…. now stay with me!" She screamed at him, slapping his cheek sharply, again...

He blinked and said "Yes, spider bite…. Scanner … SEARCH spider bite"

She said "Zack, can it treat the spider bite?"

He said breathlessly, obviously in pain, "Yes….. My computer…..Rachel."

Bertrice ran and brought his laptop and opened it. She turned it on.

Rachel kept tapping Zack's face to keep him conscious. She said "tell me what to do Zack, Do you hear me… Zack! Now focus! ….. Zack!"

He said breathlessly, "Rachel…... NAME box, drop down to… my name, ..Zack… top box,"

The Captain took over from Bertrice. He found the NAME box and hit the drop down arrow. He saw a whole list of names, his own, Rachel, Tophet. Alisha Cynthia, Darien, his children, Zack's Children, Mike, Mike's family and many more until he scrolled down to the name "Zack", near the bottom. He clicked that name into the box. He yelled at Rachel, "Okay, his name is in the box."

She said "We have your name in the box, Zack…. Don't you fall asleep on me." She smacked his face.

His eyes opened again. He said "SEARCH box….. Type….spider bite. Then, hit SCAN button."

Tom did as Zack said and 5 types of spiders came up, but 3 of them were the same Tom told Rachel what came up. She told Zack and he said "Now, click TREAT button."

The computer started calculating. The Captain yelled out, "It rectified to 62%."

Rachel was having trouble keeping Zack conscious. She was slapping his face again to get his attention. "Zack, stay with me, it rectified to 62%"

He said, "No, must be over 100%. Keep hitting TREAT button until over 100%."

The Captain kept hitting the TREAT button, It went to 72%, then 42%, then 80% and finally to 109%. Tom yelled to Rachel. "It went to 109%, now what?"

Rachel said, "Zack...… Zack… It went to 109%, you are doing it. What do we do now?"

Zack said, "Repeat. Hit SCAN… button… again. It will give you 5 new items, Treat until it goes to over 100%. …..Keep …repeating ….. SCAN …TREAT….. First 109% …neutralized … spider venom. Next …. Treats... damage done by … venom. Rachel, water, please… water…. Need…. hydration, intravenously…. and to drink. Toxins have to come out as treatment….continues."

Rachel told Bertrice to bring her a glass of water with a straw. She held the straw to Zack's lips and he drank gulps of water, as she lifted his head up.

Rachel said "How long do we do this Zack?"

He said "Until… all functions ….normal."

He then passed out, but his heart rate was sounding better She took his temperature and though it was still high, it was going down gradually. She knew they had the upper hand. She gave a sigh of relief. She looked down at Zack's body. Fortunately he was a very healthy man, in top physical condition. She checked below the sheet to check on the bite and could see that a great deal of the dark redness was calming down, though she knew that it would take some time before it would go back to normal. She pulled the sheet up to cover his muscular chest. His hands were still restrained, but she would take off his restraints later, after she was sure his temperature would not spike up again. She pulled the bottom part of the sheet down covering his legs. She placed her hand on his forehead and could tell he was much better.

She said, "Boy, that was close."

She looked up at the three men standing there and Bertice. She told Danny and Burk that they had done a good job and she told Bertrice to watch Dr. Hayden for a few minutes while she spoke to the Captain,

Tom had turned the computer back to Dr. Rios when he came back a few minutes before. He had heard what Zack said needed to be done. The Captain had been involved directly form start to finish and had helped Rachel, where he could. Zack was one of his crew and his friend and he had been as fearful as Rachel when he'd seen him at first. The Captain knew that if they had not had Zack's advance medical device that he probably would have died, unless they had any luck with the tea. He had wished that Rios had treated Zack, but he knew Rios would not even have thought to force Zack to stay awake so he could use that technology. It had saved Zack's life. The Captain also realized that this technology had saved his own life when Zack had used it on him at an earlier time. He also realized that Zack was using this technology on Rachel and Alisha, and also Dr. Tophet. He had to admit after seeing it in action, he was very impressed. The more he had treated Zack, the better his condition was getting.

Rachel took the Captain aside, after Danny and Burke had left "Tom, thank you so much for helping me with him. No one with a high fever likes to have ice put on them. I could not have handled him alone."

Tom looked deep into her eyes. "Rachel, you found a way to save his life. I know if Rios had been taking care of him, he would have died. Rios would not have even thought of the high tech frequency machine. He certainly would not have kept slapping Zack awake until he gave him the information on how to use it." He just shook his head "You are the most amazing woman I have ever met, Dr. Rachel Scott."

Rachel put her hand on his arm saying that she had missed seeing him the last couple of days. She said perhaps they could make a time that they both knew to be some place like the wardroom or his quarters. He nodded and smiled. It was good to know; even as busy as she was, she had missed him. He certainly had missed her. He suggested that they meet at 2030 at the wardroom. He said, "If someone is there, we will sit and have tea and coffee until they leave." She smiled up at him and they parted company until later.

Rachel returned to Zack. She got a couple of crew members to move Zack to a bed in the sickbay so she could take care of him easier. She started treating him more thoroughly on his laptop. She could see him getting better, as his numbers were changing on the scans. This type of medicine was fascinating to her and she could see Zack getting better and better. He still needed to recover, but it was exciting to see how much better he was, as she worked on him. She needed to know more about this technology for sure. She had never seen anything like it. She also wondered what the treatments that he had been giving her and Alisha was doing. She realized her burns were going away and there were no marks on her skin. She also felt not so fearful and shaky, as if some of the trauma was wearing off. She needed to ask him about that. She felt not so tired. In fact, she felt more energy. She actually felt good. Alisha looked much better as well.

It made her realize that she had a whole arsenal of information she could get. This could tell her what type of virus someone had or if they had viral or a bacterial infection and then how to treat it. It could tell her if a particular organ was the problem or if someone was pregnant. It had most of the known diseases like Pneumonia, Ebola Diabetes, all kinds of Cancers, Allergies, and Autoimmune Diseases. There were thousands of things in the data bases. She really needed to work with Zack and learn as much as she could, once he was recovered. She knew they could do so much more, even though they did not have some of the medicines they needed. They had many frequencies for those medicines which she could use to treat things.

She could not wait for Zack to regain consciousness, so she could ply him with questions.

She went over to his bed and touched his forehead and his temperature was still high, but he was no longer delirious. When she touched him, he opened his green eyes, which were bright with fever, but he was conscious. He smiled and said, "Rachel, I want to thank you for saving my life. That spider venom would have killed me, without your intervention. All I remember is you kept slapping the hell out of me."

Rachel said softly," Zack, I am sorry I had to slap you so many times, but I had to keep you awake and coherent so you could tell me what to do to use the frequency machine on you. It worked. You were able to tell me what to do. If it took slapping you into the middle to next week, I would have done it to keep you focused enough to tell me what to do. Bottom line is it worked."

Zack said, "I am grateful for that, but I want you to get me out of these restraints. Who the hell put me in these anyway? "

He was struggling with his wrists being restrained by straps to the bed.

Rachel released his wrists, "You were totally delirious and with an extremely high fever, Zack. It took the Captain and Danny to hold you down so that I could put these restraints on you. I had to use ice packs in towels to get your temperature down. You were fighting me all the way. Of course no one likes to have ice put on them when they are burning up with fever and I also had to put ice on the spider bite and that was very painful."

"You say, "Tom helped you restrain me? That is a switch. I hope you never have to restrain him. He has a real thing about it. If you think I was fighting you. I guess it goes back to when he was tortured."

Rachel asked " Zack, who tortured him?"

Zack said, kicking himself mentally, "Classified, Rachel. I should not have said anything about it. Rachel, promise me you will not ask him about it."

She changed the subject. "The way you were talking in your delirium, it sounded like you were trying to get to Cynthia and you were pretty close to making it happen. If the Captain hadn't started you frequency treatment when he did, you would not be here."

Zack looked startled. "You mean Tom treated me? How did that happen?"

Rachel said, "I was trying to get your temperature down and keeping you conscious. He was following your instructions on your computer. He kept telling me what numbers were coming out and then Scanning and treating again."

Zack let out a breath, "I guess he saw some things he might have questions about."

Rachel looked up and said, "Zack, do you have more secrets you have been keeping from him?"

Zack turned his head to the side. "He will eventually know about all of them, but he couldn't handle everything at once, believe me."

This made Rachel angry, "Zack, you seem to be able to handle all of the secrets. Why do you think the Captain can't? He didn't have a problem treating you with your own machine and he is no doctor, at least I don't think he is. I keep finding out more about things I did not know he could do."

Zack said, "Rachel, as time goes on both you and he will find out more about what he can do. He has enough on his plate right now, getting the vaccine to as many safe areas as is possible and to try to find as many crew members family members as we can, not to mention keeping the ship supplied. His is not an easy job, Rachel, but in the mean time, I will be able to teach you how to use this technology and I know you will be fascinated by it."

Now that his restraints were off, Zack realized he didn't have a thing on under the sheet. He said, "By the way Rachel, do you think you could get me a t-shirt and some boxer shorts. I guess I don't have any secrets from you, now, do I?"

She grinned "Dr. Hayden, if you don't want your assets being on display, I would suggest next time, you make sure the spider doesn't bite you two inches from your privates. I would say that you are very lucky, you didn't have a far more painful wound."

XXXX

Later, Rachel walked into the wardroom at 2025. She looked around the room and saw Mike with a cup of coffee bent over some report. He looked up and said, "Well, hello Dr. Scott. You wanted a cup of tea? I guess you had a rather exciting day, with Dr. Hayden and the spider. How is he doing?"

Rachel said, "Dr. Hayden is doing much better. He still has a fever, but he is making excellent progress. He should be up and around in another few days. He is in good spirits and it certainly proved how important his high tech medical device is to the ship. He is going to teach me how to use it. The Captain also got a chance to actually use it on Zack, while I was treating him directly."

Mike was surprised. "Well, he didn't say anything about doing the treatment himself. He just said that Dr. Hayden was doing well the last he had seen. Oh, and here he is right now."

The Captain had just walked into the wardroom. He nodded to Mike and to Rachel, though his eyes met hers directly for an intense moment of welcome, as a smile passed over his lips. None of this was missed by Mike, nor did he miss the flush and the smile which passed over the face of Dr. Scott, in response. Mike got up from the table as the Captain was getting a mug of coffee for himself.

Mike said he had some work to do and left Tom and Rachel sitting in the wardroom alone. Tom set his coffee mug down on the table and placed one of his hands over one of hers, covering it. He said softly, "Rachel, I missed you so much over the last few days. It was good to be with you, even though you were treating Zack."

She laughed, "Captain, you were the one treating Zack. It was what you were doing that actually neutralized the poison. Thank God, you were with me. It meant so much for you to be with me. God, how I missed you, Tom. I wish we could be together much more than we are. I have seen more of your children and your dad than I have you. It was probably only because of a life threatening situation that you were even in sickbay."

Tom said, "Actually I came down to sickbay a couple of times over the last few days, but it is like when you come to the bridge when I am in charge. We both have our duties and that comes first. We might be able to say hello, but that is about it. You were very busy with treating patients, the lab and training with Zack, not to mention the treatments he has been giving you in order to get your healthy again after your trauma. By the way, how is that coming for you?

She turned the hand he was holding up and she clasped his fingers with her own and squeezed them together. "The frequency treatments seem to be working so well on both Alisha and me. The burns are almost all gone and there are no scars on either of us. The feelings of being shaky or afraid seem to be much better as well. That technology is really something to see and experience, isn't it?"

Tom said "It does seem amazing when you see someone who is almost dying start responding in front of your eyes. I do have some questions for Zack when he is better. I saw some things when I was treating him that I want to know about."

Rachel said, "Yes, he said you might have some questions, when he found out that you were the one who had done the treatments on him. He did not seem too happy about that."

Tom said, "No, and I don't think he will like my questions, but he is going to get them, whether he likes it or not and he is going to give me the answers whether he likes it or not."

At this moment, the door to the wardroom opened and Rachel and the Captain, released their united hands and stood up, knowing that their time together for tonight was over. They both said goodnight and left separately from the wardroom. Kara and Alisha came into the room to get coffee and a late snack. They were both on duty and this was a break for them.

XXXX

Hope you liked this Chapter. Drop me a line to let me know what you think about where the story is going.

Thanks to MorningGlory 2 for her help in Editing this Chapter.