Chapter 26:

Before he goes further down to reach the X's cabin, Mike makes a detour to the wardroom and asks Buddy to get his bag and to come with him. Immediately Buddy grabs his bag and follows his Captain. One deck lower they make their way to the cabin of the X. Mike knocks softly on the door. Hearing her quiet "Come in", he opens it and goes right over to her rack, sitting down on the edge of it. Taking her hand in his, he asks "What's wrong with you Kate? I'm worrying about you." Behind him, Buddy clears his throat and speaks up "Maybe I should just check her out, boss. Then we'll know more, alright?" Mike nods, but stays right where he is, having no intention of leaving Kate's side. He squeezes her hand lightly "You'll be alright Kate." He even smiles encouragingly at her. As Kate tries to smile back, she is overcome by a caughing fit that brings tears to her eyes. Hearing this, Buddy just puts his hand to her forehead. Feeling the heat there, he looks to Mike and says "I think she has the flu. Her caughing fit, congested nose and her fever are clear signs for that. I'll give her something for the fever, as well as something for her stuck up nose."

Turning to Kate, Buddy tells her with a slight smile "That means you have to stay in your rack for the next days, Ma'am. No running around the ship and especially not leading any boardings." Seeing Kate's shocked face, Mike runs his hand soothingly up and down her arm. "No worries, Kate. I'll take over the boardings for you. Nav will take the ship during those times and you. You my dear, you will only concentrate on getting better and that's an order. Understood?" Gazing into his serious and worried face, Kate knows that he means every word he just said. So she just nods weakly and only whipsers to him "Stay safe out there Mike. I love you." Leaning down, Mike gives her a gentle kiss on her forehead, feeling the warmth that radiates off of it and replies softly "I love you too Kate. And I promise, I'll be careful." Kissing her once more, he says "Rest now."

Just then a call comes over the PA system. "CO to the bridge at the rush! CO to the bridge!" Knowing it's his time to go, Mike takes one last look at Kate, before he exits her cabin and runs up to the bridge. Up there he goes over to Nav "You called for me Nav?" Startled Nav looks up from her radar screen and turns around to face her CO. She replies "Yes Sir. We have two radar contacts. Both are not more then ten minutes away from our position. Could be those smugglers we are looking for, boss." Thinking about his options, Mike goes over to Spider, who is manning the EOD. "Have you got them on the EOD, Spider?" Smiling proudly, Spider shows his boss one of the boats. Seeing some men on the deck, Mike says "Zoom in on that." Doing as he is told, Spider watches surprised, how those men are packing bags full of drugs into wooden boxes.

Knowing that the intel from NavCom was indeed correct, Mike turns to Nav "Pipe boarding stations Nav." With those words, Mike walks away and is about to exit the bridge, when he remembers something important. Over his shoulder, he shouts "And Nav! You have the ship!" Nav confirms the last words "Aye Sir! On the bridge! Navigator has the ship!" Then she turns to the PA system and speaks up "Hands to boarding stations! Hands to boarding stations! Hands to boarding stations!"

In a hurry Mike runs down the stairs. To be faster, he jumps down over the last steps and lands with a soft thud on the floor below. Ignoring the astonished faces of his crew, Mike carries on his way to the boarding room. In there he meets up with Dutchy, 2Dads and Buddy. Dutchy is surprised to see him there instead of the X. "Shouldn't the X be leading us, Sir?"

With a shake of his head, Mike answers "The X is down with the flu. So over the next days, I will lead the boardings. Or do you have a problem with that Dutchy?" A bit shocked Dutchy replies "Of course not Sir. It's good to have you with us boss." 2Dads pipes up "And I bet, it's a nice change of routine for you too, boss. Must be a thrill to be in on the action once again, right?" Smiling over to his crewmember, Mike says "You are right 2Dads. It's a nice change of routine for me and it gives me the chance to prove that I can still do this. – Now we'll go out there and catch those buggers, before they offload their goods." A chorus of "Aye Sir" is heard and then they all get into their boarding gear, consisting of the Kevlar vest, the tac-vest and their gunbelt. Lastly they grab their helmets and holster their guns. Afterwards they all go out on deck and into the starboard RHIB.

Moments later the RHIB is in the water and heads in the direction of the smugglers boat. Shortly before they reach their target, Mike gives his crew mates a sign and they all ready their weapons. Mike and Dutchy are at the front, 2Dads and Buddy in the rear. The moment they get alongside, Mike jumps in one swift move onto the target vessel, directly followed by Dutchy, Buddy and 2Dads. With his gun at the ready, he starts to search the boat, sending Dutchy and Buddy below, while he orders 2Dads to follow him. As they are near the wheelhouse, shots are being fired at them. Without any place to take cover, 2Dads has to watch on in horror, as his CO is gunned down right in front of him. Instinctively he goes down, fires a few shots back and grabs his still stunned boss by the collar of his vest and pulls him to relative safety at the back of the boat.

Seeing that his boss' eyes are closed and that he is unresponsive, 2Dads grabs the radio and tries to reach Dutchy, without success. About a minute later Dutchy and Buddy return from below deck and talk quietly to one another. "That was a waste of time. No one was down there." Dutchy agrees "They must be all somewhere up here. Let's see where the boss is. Maybe he has an idea what to do now." Buddy nods and they walk back to the stern of the vessel. Turning around the corner, they come to a halt, shocked at what they see before them. 2Dads kneels by his boss, who lies completely still on the floor and still tries to raise him.

While Buddy runs over and starts checking the boss out, Dutchy asks 2Dads "What happened?" With a concerned look to his CO, he answers "We were about to check the wheelhouse, when suddenly shots were being fired at us. The boss had no time to duck and was hit. I fired back at them and pulled the boss to safety. Since then I tried to wake him up, but he isn't responding." Dutchy goes over and kneels down too, wanting to know how his boss is faring. Buddy sees the question in his eyes. While pulling down the zipper from the CO's tac-vest to open it, he explains "Looks like he got lucky. All four rounds were caught by the Kevlar. And the extra plates inserted slowed the bullets hopefully down far enough to prevent any lasting damage to his torso. The impact of those bullets just knocked him out. He'll be up in a few minutes tops."