Chapter 37

The hours passed unbearably slow for Mike and they still had another 2 days of watching the trial. His eyes felt dry and itchy, his head ached from drinking too much coffee and lack of sleep and right now he was questioning why they had to sit here and watch the trial. He knew the reasons but it was hard to feel why they were still relevant give that he hadn't slept more than a 10 minute powernap in over 24 hours.

He looked down at his watch and noted that it was 7am and it would another half an hour before breakfast would be served to those in quarantine and he could slip away. He really needed another 10 minute powernap with Kate followed by a cold shower and a shave.

The interior door to the Helo bay opened and Mike frowned as it was too early for breakfast. Much to his surprise Kate stepped into the room and walked straight up to the makeshift lab. He sat up straighter taking note of her as she was still walking in a hobbling fashion like her muscles were still stiff. In fact she looked like she rolled out of bed and only brushed her hair before coming down. She hadn't even put on her shoes but then he remembered the issues she was having with tying her laces.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Kate asked Tex as she slowly walked up to the plastic wall to stare through it at him. The man who had smiled and stood up from his bed to greet Kate through the plastic reared back at her dark mood.

"Language, there's a child in the room" Tex told her, gesturing to Bertrise who like everyone else in the room had perked up at the fresh face in the room. Kate gave him a droll look. Everyone was watching them to see what would happen.

"Yeah and I'm looking at him. You know I was halfway through breakfast when I learnt that you're in this trial and that's funny cause usually before you do something stupid you come and tell me in great detail about it. But apparently I had to learn through listening to scuttle butt about you going into the Bubble of Doom" Kate told him as she gestured to the tented room.

Mike looked to Tom for direction but his friend looked unsure of what to do. So Mike decided to sit back and let it play out.

"I prefer to think of it as the Tent of Hope" Tex said correcting her as he gestured to the room he was currently inhabiting. His tone light as tried to not anger Kate any more than she already was but knew it was a losing battle give the dark look she gave him.

"Whatever, you should have told me beforehand and apologised to me" she told him.

"Apologise for what? For being a beacon of hope?" Tex asked being purposefully obtuse as he found her anger amusing. It probably hadn't helped that she was walking like an old woman.

"No for being an overbearing asshole who thinks he has the right to tell me what to do and assumes that I'm incapable of making good choices" Kate told him.

"I'm sorry about that, you're right." Tex said in earnest and it took the wind out Kate's sails as she had been prepared for a long argument. She also just wanted to shout at him just to vent her own frustration as she had no outlet due to her injuries but it was now gone.

"Oh- Ok well, apology accepted" Kate told him in an awkward manner as she felt slightly put in her place. Tex smiled as he knew he had beaten her to the punch and she had no reason to shout at him yet but she would get one in less than 10 seconds.

"Good, also I tried to see you but I couldn't find you. I even went by your quarters to see you yesterday to talk but you weren't there. I took your book by the way" Tex told her as he lifted the book to show he had it. Kate narrowed her eyes at him and pursed her lips in displeasure.

"You stole my book" Kate said as she wasn't about to say that she had been comatose in Mike's stateroom or that she would have gone back to bed if she hadn't heard that he was in the trial. He was for better or worse the only family she had left. Right now he was the annoying older brother who no concept of privacy or personal boundaries and she remembered her book being locked up in her cupboard in her shared quarters with Rachel.

"I prefer the term 'borrowed' and I would have asked but you weren't there. In fact you've made yourself rather scarce." He said thoughtfully, Kate gave him nothing as she knew he was fishing for information. "But don't worry, you'll get it back after I've finished it" Tex said with a smile as Kate narrowed her eyes at him.

"So tell me are you enjoying Don Quixote?" Kate asked snidely, she cupped her right elbow with her left hand wishing she could fold her arms. As she was sure she looked like a joke right now trying to look angry with her busted up body. Tex gave a shrug not taking interest in her annoyance she chalked it up to him being tucked away 'safely' away from her in the quarantine tent.

"Not really, I can't believe you paid good money for this book it's not even in English" Tex told her, he made a face that was a mixture of annoyance and confusion. Kate fought the urge to roll her eyes and inform him that the book was originally published in Spanish but she didn't as he offered up a nice soft spot for her to attack.

"I didn't buy it, it was a gift from Anna" Kate told him, she smiled as Tex dropped the book like it was diseased which was funny given the situation and she would have laughed except that she didn't have many personal items. So the mistreatment of her book kind of annoyed her even if it was amusing to see him get all squirmy and uncomfortable at the mention of Anna.

"Why did you have to bring her up?" Tex asked her, his reticence to talk about her friend got everyone's attention as it was pretty rare for Tex to share personal information about himself let alone show actually dislike for another person especially a woman.

"You brought her up by 'borrowing' my book. Anna who is also my friend and she understands the concept of personal boundaries unlike you" Kate told him knowing he'd hate the comparison.

"I don't get how you can compare with that humourless she-de-" Tex started but Kate cut him off. She knew Anna and Tex didn't get along and while she enjoyed watching Tex get antsy about it. She didn't enjoy or appreciate him insulting her friend.

"hey, be careful of what you say Seppo. You're not going to be in your little tent of hope forever. I wouldn't want to have to kick your ass for insulting one of my oldest and dearest friends" Kate warned him. He opened his mouth to argue or maybe poke fun but she wasn't having it. Not now that her friend was probably dead."I'm serious mate, do not mock the dead" she told him in a serious tone.

"Ok, Ok" Tex said backing down first. "Anyway the book is better in English" he informed her in a petty manner.

"Gee, maybe you should have flicked through a few pages before stealing it to take into your 'tent of hope' "Kate drawled sarcastically.

"Well you were right about Tex being the entertainment for the next three days" Mike said to Tom, as they watched Kate and Tex have their animated conversation. He had been concerned for a moment when Kate warned Tex not to mock her friend 'Anna' but the two mellowed out and now having an animated discussion about Indiana Jones movies. It only came up because Miller had asked politely if they could stop referring to the make shift lab as the 'tent of hope'.

"It's a regular double act with Kate on the outside and Tex on the inside" Tom replied as most of the people in quarantine were talking with Kate and Tex or listening in and smiling at the antics of the two. He didn't blame them as Kate and Tex's friendship was rather amusing given the sibling dynamic they had going on.

"It's an amusing distraction" Mike commented, his radio crackled to life and Tom watched as Mike stepped out of the room to answer it before he turned back to watch Kate and Tex.

"You don't get a say in this" Tex told Kate as they had started a conversation that everyone was participating in now.

"Why not?" Kate asked him.

"Because you're Australian" Tex told her in a tone that equated to the petty argument of 'you're a girl and you wouldn't understand boy stuff'. Kate made a derisive noise and rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh my apologies, I forgot my nationality completely makes me incapable of understanding the complexities of American Pop culture" Kate deadpanned.

"Lassiter, a word outside" Tom said before Tex could give her a witty reply but she was grateful for the escape as she was already getting tired. The walk down to the Helo Bay had been enough to sap most of her energy and as amusing as it was to argue with Tex. It was also draining.

"Well, leave you all to it" Kate said with a mock salute she turned on her feet and followed Tom out of the Helo bay, he closed the doors behind them before he gestured towards Helo Bay two.

"I guess you want to have that 'talk' with me that we didn't have yesterday" Kate said in a casual tone but really she was steeling herself for another round of ego bruising and fighting. He opened the door to Helo Bay two and Kate stepped into the room feeling slightly disorientated as the Helo was gone and the room was filled with boxes and a long table surrounded by chairs.

"Yes, there's no sense in putting it off." Tom told her as he closed the door behind them.

"Why does that make me uneasy?" Kate asked him as she moved to the table and took a seat. She knew she was giving Tom the advantage by sitting down but right now she just wanted to get off her feet.

"Because you're suspicious by nature and decided to lump me in with your dead husband and Ruskov" Tom said casually as he took a chair on the opposite side of the table and sat down. She could see he was insulted at being lumped into the club of men who had insulted or irreparably damaged her ego. In fairness it's a pretty exclusive club with very few members. She half thought about telling him that he should feel honoured but decided it best not to be completely .

"Can't blame me for drawing the conclusions when you haven't exactly warmed up to me even when I've given you my all" Kate said, she looked straight at him not even blinking or letting her eyes waver as she was tired taking shit from him.

"I know but understand my position. I can't just-" Tom started but she didn't give him a chance to continue before she interrupted him.

"Save the speech. I not asking to join your meetings or weigh in on command decisions, all I've ever asked was that maybe you give me the courtesy of acting as though I'm a friend and ally or is that too hard?" She asked somewhat scathingly.

"Maybe if you were a little less abrasive" he suggested.

"Talk about the pot calling the kettle black" Kate scoffed.

"I'll try to do my better. Speaking of, you and Mike-"

"Are you testing me already?" She asked him, she narrowed her eyes at him as she was not in the mood to argue about Mike.

"No, I said I'd stay out of whatever is going on between you two until it disrupted the ship" he told her.

"You talking about how he offered his stateroom?" Kate asked as she couldn't believe that Tom would question his best friend's ability to keep his pants zipped and be a gentleman.

"I've sensed a shift between you two. You're less hostile-"

"And more friendly and respectful of one another?" she finished for him.

"Yes, what changed?" he asked and suddenly she realised he wasn't doubting Mike's character but was jealous of her. She didn't blame him as Mike was a private man which meant they both knew two very different sides of the same man but for her. She saw a side of Mike, Tom didn't know or didn't understand. He probably thought she had some kind of magic pull on Mike that would make her a distraction. Something Tom couldn't afford.

"That's between myself and Mike" Kate told Tom, feeling just a little smug because she wasn't under his command thus didn't have to tell him anything if she didn't want to.

"I can't condone fraternisation on the ship especially when it's my XO" Tom warned her, Kate laughed at him because she couldn't help it but find the conversation ludicrous and completely unnecessary.

"We're not fraternising. Trust me, Mike's top priority is getting back to his family and the only way that will happen is when the mission is over and you give him leave. Do you really believe he would muck that up for a quick shag?" Kate asked him. She would have laughed if it wasn't so pathetic as she would love to distract Mike for a few hours and 'fraternise' the man into a coma but it wasn't going to happen. At least not until they were off the ship and even then she had to concede that he would probably want to find his kids first.

"No" Tom said, he was still maintaining his steely demeanour of being the offended and superior party of the conversation.

"Exactly, so stop suspecting everyone of doing something 'wrong' or 'evil'. It's really annoying and it's going to drive me mental" she told him, by 'everyone' she meant herself and Mike.

"Bit late for that" he said with a faint quirk of his lips and even she had to admit it was a bit of joke for her to try and claim she had any sanity to begin with. She gave a sigh and leaned back in the chair wishing it were cushioned as the steel was hard and unforgiving against her sore muscles.

"Yeah well I've decided that I'm going to loosen up a little and try to give you the benefit of the doubt" Kate told him.

"Give me the benefit of the doubt?" he scoffed in disbelief.

"Yeah, cause it must be difficult for you to have to deal with me considering I'm the only one on this ship who doesn't believe that the sun shines out of your ass" Kate told him.

"Ok, let's take a breath and calm down" He said.

"I'm calm which let me tell you should scare you more than when I'm yelling at you" Kate told him.

"I'm trying to reconcile with you here" he said and for some reason his words pissed her off.

"I recommend starting with a 'thank you' or an apology not telling me that you don't condone my actions or lack of action in regards to your XO." She told him in a dark tone "I was military, I know the how this world works and the rules and it's just insulting that you think I'd -"

"Ok, I get it" Tom said cutting her off. They both looked away from one another for a moment as the tension between them was tight enough to snap. Kate gave a sigh of aggravation and rubbed her hand down her face.

"I'm tired of being on the defence here and you got more important things to do than chastise me" she told him.

"I know but we need to find a way to talk without it becoming cut throat." He told her.

"Was this all you wanted to talk about?" she asked him thinking perhaps if they moved to a different topic it might make for safer ground.

"No, I wanted to talk about the intel" he told her. Tom noted how she stiffened at the mention of the intel or her own last name and wondered what trigger he had accidentally set off or how they even became triggers to begin with.

"What about it now?" she asked suspiciously but he didn't read too far into it as he knew like he; she was preparing for yet another argument. It seemed that there was no topic they could talk about without one of them becoming insulted or overly sensitive about.

"There is apparently a map you showed with Lassiter Industries facilities that are still active" he said, he remembered Mike talking about it but couldn't find it to save his own life. There was just too much data to sift through but Kate apparently knew her way around the system on her phone.

"I prefer the term 'secure', I wouldn't know if they are still active but there are too many unknown variables for me to give you any indication on if they are 'safe'. Why do you want to mass produce the vaccine in one of their labs?" Kate asked him.

"It was an idea but we first need a vaccine" he said, he felt his stomach twist anxiously as he needed this trial to be successful but so far it felt like a bleak exercise in futility.

"Well, I can find the map again but I wouldn't hand over anything to Lassiter Industries" Kate told him.

"Why not? It's your company" he said, stating the obvious.

"In name only. It doesn't give me any authority over who is still working for the company. The people who are possibly running those places don't know me from Eve. They won't take orders from me and since I know you read my file and spoke with Rachel, well you should know I don't trust them to do the right thing" Kate said.

"It shouldn't be ruled out just because you mistrust them" he said and he saw anger flash through her eyes for a brief moment before she gave a shrug.

"It's your decision but I suggest going for a military owned lab. At least you guys might actually uphold higher moral and ethical standards when it comes to distributing the vaccine" She told him.

"My first choice is Fort Detrick, it's an army base up north but I want back up options" he informed her.

"You think Ruskov has been hitting up the east coast of American making his mark?" she asked, he quirked a questioning eyebrow as he wondered if Kate knew something he didn't. He hadn't wanted to pry too much into what happened on the Vyerni given their first conversation about it hadn't gone so well.

"I don't know" he replied as there was no better answer than that. He had no clue what Ruskov had been doing in the months the Nathan James had been in the Arctic besides nuking France and probably a few other places in Europe.

"He boasted to me about how he felt Geneva was no longer necessary for the new world. So it had to go" Kate said in a blasé fashion, he gave a nod as he remembered Ruskov saying the same to him.

"When we sailed past the east coast a few weeks ago there had been no signs of a nuclear weapons having been used and Ruskov wouldn't have enough armament to take out every military installation on the East Coast" Tom said thoughtfully but it didn't rule out home terrorism given the panic that had overtaken the world when the virus became a pandemic.

"If you say so, I'm not exactly savvy on the Naval ships or their capabilities" Kate said, he could see she was flagging as her face over the past 10 minutes had become paler which only emphasised the dark circles under her eyes. He'd have to let her go so she could go get some rest.

"What else did Ruskov tell you?" he asked out of curiosity. Kate looked down at the table for a long moment not answering him. He would have been suspicious if it weren't for her looking so despondent and beaten.

"Nothing you need to know" she told him in a dull tone.

"You know if you want to talk about it-" he started but she cut him off with a shake of her head.

"No offence but if I wanted to cry about how much of an idiot I've been these past 4 years by playing the 'ignorance is bliss' card" she gave a sardonic smile "Well you wouldn't be the first person I'd want to talk to about it" she told him.

"Fair enough" he said. It was out of habit that he had offered to listen to her but he figured she would shoot him down.

"But I appreciate the offer" She told him. "Now if you don't mind, I would like to continue this conversation another time"

"Sure, do you want me to escort you back to your quarters?" he asked her.

"No, I'm good. But I wouldn't mind you opening the door" she told him with a somewhat rueful smile.

"That I can do" Tom said, he rose from his chair and went to the door. He opened it for her and noticed her bare feet not for the first time. "and next time try to put on your shoes" he told her.

"Tying my shoe laces is a challenge at the moment" she said and he gave her a sympathetic smile.

"I know but I'm sure no one would mind helping you and I'd prefer you swallow your pride than stub your toe or take off a toenail" Tom told her.

"Fair call, I'll keep it in mind" Kate told him as she passed through the door and walked away.

"Hey Lassiter, you come from the Helo bay? How's it going down there?" Burk said, Kate practically jumped out of her skin when he stuck his head out of the crew lounge just as she slowly passed it. She had been deep in her thoughts when Burk had freaked her out. The pain meds and her injuries were really dulling her edge as she wouldn't have flinched from Burk appearing out of the doorway.

"Well, no one was bleeding from the eyeballs yet" Kate assured him as she continued her slow trek through the ship.

"You ok?" he asked her as he felt into step beside her.

"Fine why?" she asked, she was not fine. Her body was on fire with muscle aches and stiffness as her body was telling her it was time to lie down. In fact it was screaming at her. She wished she could exercise but given the amount of bruising and given her level of fatigue she wasn't willing to risk further injuries by over stretching or worse tearing a muscle or dislocating a joint. It was known to happen and right now she wished she had taken her pain meds at breakfast she thought it would be better for her to be conscious during the day hours. Boy was she paying for that mistake now.

"You're walking slow" Burk said stating the obvious.

"I overstretched my hamstrings" Kate grumbled as she was trying not to be a smart ass.

"I doubt that since I haven't seen you in the gym" Burk said in good humour. Kate turned and looked at him suspiciously.

"You stalking me Burk?" she asked him.

"Wouldn't dream of it Ma'am" he told her.

"Good" She replied but she didn't feel reassured at all as she started walking again. Walking was a very loose term for what she was doing in fact she was pretty sure in about ten minutes time she would be crawling down the passageways to get back to Mike's stateroom. Her sanctuary.

"But ah from the way you're walking I'd say you probably pulled a few muscles probably from when you fought with the Russians which is stressing your frame" Burk remarked, Kate raised her eyebrows in slight shock as she didn't remember asking him or giving him permission to assess her 'frame'.

"Excuse me" she said in a warning tone as she hoped he wasn't hitting on her as she liked to think he was a smooth operator when it came to picking up women or men or both.

"You should do light PT" he advised her.

"I'm walking right now. That's light PT and I'm pretty sure I shouldn't do anything more than that until the bruises have cleared up" she told him.

"True but muscle stiffness-" Burk started only for Kate to turn on her feet to face him and cut him off.

"Did Commander Slattery order you to follow me around?" Kate asked him as she really didn't need a lecture on what she should do for her body right now as it was currently torturing her.

"No, why would he do that?" Burk asked.

"Cause I'm slow and without shoes" Kate stepped to the side to allow a crewmember to walk past her. "Getting in the way" Kate added.

"No, but Tex did ask me to keep an eye on you as a favour and I tried to find you earlier but it was like you disappeared" Burk said, Kate kept a neutral expression on her face but was inwardly frowning as he should of known where she was given that Burk was supposed to be sharing his quarters with Mike.

"I was around" Kate answered as she wasn't going to get Mike into trouble or start rumours.

"So out of curiosity, where were you?" he asked her.

"Did Tex ask you to interrogate me as well?" she asked as she continued walking again. She was trying to remember which way would take her to the stairs that would lead to the upper decks but with Burk talking to her and her body screaming in pain it was difficult to remember. She just hoped she was going the right way.

"No" he answered his tone casual.

"Don't have guns to clean or weights to lift?" she asked

"No" he replied with a smile as he now knew she was trying to give him the brush off.

"You could read a book or play poker instead of looking out for me. I'll tell Tex you acted like the annoying little brother I never had" Kate told him with a mocking smile.

"Little?" he questioned her.

"You're younger than me and right now I just want to sit down and put my feet up" Kate lied. She wanted to lay down but she wouldn't be able to go to Mike's stateroom with Burk following her around.

"I assume you were going to the wardroom right?" he asked.

"Yeah for lunch" Kate lied as she really didn't want to but now knew she would be given the smug look Burk was giving her.

"You'll want to take the stairs" he told her.

"I was going to do that" she told him as she pointed in the direction she thought the stairs were.

"You'll want backtrack and hang a left" he told her with a helpful smile, Kate glowered at him before she gave a sigh and walked past him to go the direction he had said.

"Anything I should be aware of?" Tom asked Mike when the man returned to his side a couple of hours later.

"No, just the usual. I also put in some face time on the bridge and checked in with temporary department heads. Everything is going fine" Mike answered casually as he stood in a relaxed military stance clasping his hands behind his back. "Where's Kate?"

"I told her to go and rest. Where are her boots again?" Tom asked he didn't miss the fact that Mike had called Kate by her first name after months of calling her 'Lassiter'. It was probably a slip up on Mike's part which was why he decided for now to leave it alone.

"On the Vyerni along with her wedding ring before you even ask" Mike told him.

"I wasn't going to but we can't have her walking around the ship with bare feet" Tom told him.

"What do you want me to do about it?" Mike asked him.

"I don't know" Tom said with a sigh as he could only ask so much before he felt like he was helping create situations for the two to be together. He was still deciding whether to believe the two at face value that they weren't fraternising or just let it go and accept that the two would be together and just hope the two were so discreet he could overlook it. But for now he annoyingly sat on the fence with the issue.

"How's it going in there?" Mike asked nodding his head in the direction of the Quarantine Tent.

"Not well, they're getting worse" Tom said, he didn't want to admit it but at the same time he had to acknowledge that there was a very good chance everything would go south.

"What do you want to tell the crew?" Mike asked him.

"Right now? I think it's best to say it is going as anticipated. Dr Scott said there would be side effects. This is just the side effects, I don't want them thinking the worst yet" Tom told him.

"So vague details with a positive outlook" Mike said for clarification.

"Yes" Tom said but inwardly he felt like he was going back on his word about being open and honest about how the mission was going but he didn't want to call the trial a failure prematurely but he also didn't want the crew to lose faith either just because the reality was looking rather bleak.