Chapter Twenty Nine

On the Big Fish: Sailing the Ocean Blue

They sailed until the sun set and then switched to the motor. Ziva and Ducky relieved Gibbs and McGee at 1400 and the two men headed to the galley for coffee and lunch. Tony and Mitas took the third shift at 2200 and Gibbs and McGee again at 0600. They thought they would move to one person shifts once everyone had more experience but wouldn't make a decision until they had a few days of real experience under their belts.

The days and the miles went swiftly. The chickens were quite happy on their "deck range" and the goats did quite well too. Nanny and the hens kept producing their products, much to the relief of the humans. Those humans were busy maintaining the animal pen as well as the ship, not to mention daily fishing for meals for all of them. The plants fared well with the grow lights and Ducky was quite happy with everyone's consumption of Vitamin C bearing foods. By the time the first four days had passed, every living thing aboard had settled in nicely. The weather cooperated so that the solar panels were always fully charged. Still, they traveled under sail for a few hours each day, to give everyone practice and to preserve the charged batteries. Although they had had to sit out the winter storms on the island, it was still early spring and they knew the good weather wouldn't last forever.

They ran into unsettled weather on the 6th day which continued off and on for two days. It wasn't stormy enough to be concerned but now they stuck to the sail. Everyone was sure a larger storm was on the horizon and didn't want to use their batteries unnecessarily. They also kept close watch on their radar system, but had not seen any other vessels. If anyone did approach, they would raise their American flag. If no one approached, they'd likely wait until they drew close enough to the longitude and latitude of US waters to raise it.

They didn't run into the big storm they had expected until halfway through the second week of their voyage. By then they had adapted to life on the ocean, working and eating in shifts, rolling with the ship in the waves. The animals were not only doing well, they seemed to be thriving and GG had given birth to two baby goats, who were named Tilly and Alfie by popular vote.

Tim's seasickness remedies continued to work well. Other than the hours he and Gibbs worked together, they had very little private time. That is they had the time, but there was very little privacy on the ship. The toilet room, the storage compartments and the plant nursery were really the only private places and none of those was conducive to a romantic tryst. However, knowing they were on their way home to a new life helped their attitudes considerably. All of them aboard turned out to be good sailors; Mitas did an occasional turn at the helm but he enjoyed cooking so much for his very appreciative shipmates that he didn't worry when he wasn't scheduled. As a group, they continued their nightly gatherings, sometimes using the fire pit, sometimes not, for reading or a movie presentation from Tony. Tim continued his 'Chronicles' and the others contributed bits and pieces as they thought of them.

It was now the 4th day of their second week and it dawned quietly with an ominous cloud cover. Ziva was on early morning piloting duty; she took one look in the dim light and called down to Gibbs. He was in the galley having coffee and came up that way, across the upper deck. He noticed the increase in the wind as well as the dark clouds. Tony followed him up and pointed out that the clouds didn't resemble the ones Tim had seen on the island before the hurricane. Gibbs nodded; he was glad for that distinction. He gave the order to 'batten down the hatches', meaning the animals and everything loose needed to be secured. Then he noticed that none of the chickens were out and about. That was a strong clue right there. Even during the recent unsettled weather, the chickens and goats had not shown any reluctance to be on deck. He called down to Mitas in the galley to secure everything there and make sure Tim, who had had the shift before Ziva last night, was secure in his bunk. They'd added strong netting to each bunk to ensure none of them would be thrown out during rough weather.

They were pretty well secured when the storm kicked in. Gibbs and Tony had relieved Ziva and sent her below through the interior hatch. Mitas had saved her a plate of breakfast and she sat in the galley and ate that along with a cup of tea. She realized how rough it had become when her tea started sloshing back and forth in her mug. Ducky came through and gave them each a piece of ginger root, suspecting this storm was going to make even the strongest sailor green.

The sail was down; they would rely on their solar powered batteries for the duration of this storm. The two pilots struggled at times with the wheel as the ocean tried its best to wrest control from them. Tim, having woken with the first few rolls of the ship, climbed up the interior hatchway ladder after a couple of hours to give each pilot a break. Gibbs went below for a coffee, he only stayed for a few minutes before heading back up and letting Tony have a turn. Tony hadn't been drinking coffee, he'd weaned himself off during the winter storms on the island when he and Tim decided to revert to their original plan, but tonight he treated himself to a coffee with cream and sugar.

Tim hadn't had any ulterior motives in coming up to give the guys a break, but it was nice to spend some time with his lover. Not having any idea how long DiNozzo would be gone, they kept the conversation general and their hands and lips to themselves, but they did enjoy the unexpected time together. Tim and Ziva were both doing well enough at the helm to stand a watch alone, although one of the other more experienced sailors seemed to be awake during most of their watches. And they were only a WT call away, none of them slept heavily enough to miss the squawk.

Tony stayed below long enough to enjoy his coffee and use the head. Feeling refreshed, he headed back up, ready to battle Ol' Poseidon once again. He climbed up the ladder to the tower, finding Probie and Boss driving the boat while deep in a discussion of the demotion of the planet Pluto to a dwarf planet. He was surprised, having not realized that the boss's interest in astronomy extended to planets and stuff like that. If the boss hadn't been the Boss, he would have thought he was a geek, but he knew better than that.

The storm had calmed a bit when Tim went below with a warm feeling from spending time with his favorite guy. Mitas had made oatmeal for breakfast and left it in a warming pot, Tim helped himself to that and a piece of cinnamon toast. While he wasn't feeling sick, he decided to treat his stomach with caution. Oatmeal and toast would be bland enough and the cinnamon and sugar on top wouldn't hurt. He avoided the orange flavored juice but had a bit of the apple juice he found in the fridge. One of the last finds in the cove before the hurricane had been a carton of juice boxes and most of those were apple juice, although some were grape and some the orange flavor which only DiNozzo seemed to like. He added a little sugar to his oatmeal and sprinkled some raisins on top then poured a little milk fresh from their goats. He ate slowly, enjoying his food and knowing that eating too fast could cause upset for him. He spared a thought for his favorite sprinkled doughnuts and then realized he didn't miss them at all. He'd made himself a cup of ginger tea and sipped that slowly, savoring the warmth. Once he finished eating and washed his dishes as well as the coffee mugs left behind by Gibbs and DiNozzo, he decided to go back to his nice cozy warm bed. He'd only had three hours sleep and Ducky wouldn't let him work if he didn't get at least six hours.

The doctor was a lot stricter here than he was at home and Tim, Tony and Ziva had come to the conclusion that the older man was enjoying really wielding his authority. There was no disappearing home at the end of the work day and escaping the doctor's vigilance. On the ship, as on the island, he knew exactly what each of them had eaten and how much sleep and exercise they'd had. Tim knew from what Jethro had told him that Ducky paid even more attention to his habits than the younger ones, but he didn't seem to mind. In reality, Tim thought they were all healthier than they had been when they stepped foot on the Chimera all those months ago. They ate three healthy tasty meals a day instead of takeout or vending machine food, they got plenty of exercise, fresh air and sleep. Tim and Tony were no longer coffee addicts, although Tim did occasionally enjoy a cup of Ducky's tea, which had plenty of caffeine. Gibbs had by no means quit drinking coffee but his consumption was down to approximately a third of his pre-Chimera habit.

Tim wandered back to his bunk and crawled back under his still warm blankets and was asleep as soon as his head hit the bundle of clothes he was currently using as a pillow. He was awakened three hours later by a scraping and bumping sound and he jumped out of bed, throwing his clothes and shoes on and running into the galley. Mitas was there, eyes wide.

"Did you hear that, feel that?"

"Yeah, felt like we scraped something. I'm going to check the forward sections and then go below." As he started forward, Ziva came into the galley, "I will go with you, Tim. Two pairs of eyes are better than one, yes?"

"Good idea, Zi. Mitas, I think Ducky's still asleep. If you'll stay here, we'll check things out as best we can." Mitas nodded, feeling a little calmer now. McGee and David worked their way forward checking each compartment and finding no damage. The goats were bleating and the chickens nearly screeching as the sound and movement had scared them, but their compartment showed no visible internal damage. The plant nursery/storage room next door also showed no visible damage although that took them a bit longer to determine as a bag of potting soil had spilled and they had to move the dirt aside to check for damage. After checking the forward section they went back through the galley letting Mitas know the lower deck was next on the list to be inspected. First they took a close look at the hatchway up to the pilots' tower and found nothing amiss. Climbing cautiously down the ladder to the lower deck, they found no water leaks, but there was a bulge in one of the walls of the interior hull. Since part of the hull was a piece of metal from a shipping container, they could only imagine what the outer hull, made of teak, would look like. They took a photo of the bulging wall and carefully searched the rest of the lower deck, not finding any other visible damage.

Ziva remained below while Tim once again climbed up through the interior hatch to the tower. He found his shipmates with four hands on the wheel, although the winds and current had died back a bit.

"Boss, I have a damage report."

"Go."

"We found a bulge in the inner hull on the lower deck, section D5. No seepage, it seems to be holding. We haven't found any other damage."

"Ok, D5 is the section with the shipping container material, right?"

"Yes, Boss."

"Damn, if that's affected, I don't want to think about the outer hull. Ok, Tim, alert the others, we'll need to find somewhere to hunker down for repairs."

"Aye, Captain." Tim hadn't done it deliberately but his experience as the son and grandson of naval officers had kicked in, and his response had been instinctual. DiNozzo started to smirk but Boss's demeanor hadn't changed so he lost the smirk.

"Boss, it's almost time for your relief."

"Ducky and Ziva…I don't think so Tim. In fact, we could use your muscle power up here with us." Tim swallowed, this was worse than he'd thought. First the damaged hull and now Jethro admitting they needed help.

"Ok, let me call down then." He called the galley to find Ducky and Ziva there with Mitas. He updated them on the situation and let them know Gibbs and DiNozzo would be staying on duty and he was joining them. Ziva started to protest but he heard Ducky cut her off, having understood very well what was happening.

He ended the call just as the wind and waves returned with a vengeance and he spent the next few hours helping keep the ship afloat. By late afternoon, the storm had blown itself out – or gone on to torture some other part of the world – and they started looking for a suitable piece of rock to anchor off of for repairs. During the brief breaks in the storm, Ducky, Ziva and Mitas had alternated checking on the damaged hull and still reported no water seepage.

Luck was with them as before nightfall they found a suitable island with a deep bay. Motoring in, they anchored and the exhausted trio was ordered by their doctor to stand down. Ziva, Ducky and Mitas stood watch during the night as their shipmates slept soundly.

By 0900 the next morning, everyone was awake and fed. The first order of business was to inspect the damaged hull and the rest of the ship. Since the part that was damaged was below water level, Ziva, Tim and Tony would be diving to do the inspection. They suited up, carrying their tanks and spear guns to one of the lifeboats. Mitas would be their spotter. They lowered the boat and then climbed the ladder, passing their tanks down to Mitas who had hopped in the boat first.

Once they were in the lifeboat with him they helped each other with the tanks and then motored around the ship to the damaged section. Since they had no underwater camera, they'd have to rely on their own eyes, trained for observation. They also had a measuring device with them. One by one by one, they slid into the water. As the water was still murky from the storm they turned on their headlamps to better view the damage. It was not extensive but it was severe. Looking at it, Tim thought the whole section would probably have to be replaced. Ziva reached out to touch the outer portion which was scrunched quite badly and pulled her hand back quickly. Tony saw she'd been cut and let their red buoy pop up, meaning diver injured. As they were swimming Ziva to the surface, she was bumped by a dark shadow in the water and Tim knew; he just knew it was a shark. Ziva was twisting, clearly she'd been injured. With one hand each on Ziva, Tim and Tony readied their spear guns. Mitas reached for Ziva just as the shark latched onto her, closing its massive jaws around her leg.