CH 73

Two Dads was on the bridge waiting for MacGyver.

"MacGyver, would you care to tell us what all the yelling was about?" Mike asked from the Captain's chair.

"Two Dads, care to tell the Captain?"

Mike turned around in his chair and looked at Two Dads.

"Two Dads?"

"It was a joke, Sir."

"What it was? I'll be the judge of that," Mike said.

Two Dads told them what happened with Bird and what he said.

"Two Dads, you shouldn't talk like that to a junior member on this ship or any other ship. Joke or no joke. Bird wants to learn, and you make a joke about how bad her shooting was. I would guess you were a bad shot when you first joined the Navy."

"Yes, Sir."

"Then you shouldn't pull someone else down like you did."

"Sorry, Sir."

"Get off the bridge and out of my sight," Mike said.

MacGyver steps forward to Mike's side, and he turns to her. "How's Bird?"

"Upset, but I spoke to her about sticking with the brownie for now. Until she feels confident to try again. Dutchy's willing to help her."

"It's good to know that she's trying."

"Yes, Sir."

When they returned from their patrol, Hammersley's crewenjoyed their night off. All except for Two Dads. He had to stay on board for duty watch as part of his punishment for his comments to Bird.

Two days later, Hammersley left for its next patrol. While out on patrol, they boarded a boat where they found bottles of homemade whiskey. MacGyver was with Mike on Hammersley, watching what was happening during the boarding.

When the boarding crew went and picked up Kate from the sea and returned to Hammersley to notify an unhappy Mike. After looking at the recording of the boarding from RO's camera, they headed for the nearest port. MacGyver noticed that things were tense between Dutchy and Kate. Curious, she went and had a look at the boarding recording herself. She paused at an image.

"What's going on, Dutchy? You could have taken that guy out. Why didn't you?" MacGyver said to herself out loud.

When she went to shore that night, she saw Dutchy and noticed that he seemed to be following someone; so she followed Dutchy. As she watched him, she saw him get set upon by four men. Running over to him, she attacked two of the men knocking them out. Then moving on to the next guy while Dutchy beat up the fourth.

Grabbing Dutchy's hand, she pulled him towards her. They ran as three more men ran towards them. Once they were safe, they stopped. MacGyver confronted Dutchy. "Oi! What were you thinking, Dutchy, going alone without backup, aye!"

"I thought it was only the two men from the truck. When I saw the whiskey in the back of the truck, I followed to see what was going on."

"The whiskey from the boat?"

"Yeah, I wanted to find out where they were keeping it."

"Let's head back and tell the Captain. Something about this is not right."

"Why's that?"

"This is a dry town; no alcohol and bottles of whiskey are being sold. I saw three men drunk before I saw you, so much for an alcohol-free town."

"Yeah, we should tell the Captain. Good idea."

MacGyver called the ship, and a RHIB was sent to pick them up to return to the ship. Back on board, they went and told Mike and Kate about what had happened.

The next day, Mike and Swain went to talk to the only cop in town while the rest of the crew had a look around. MacGyver and Dutchy went into the building where Dutchy saw the truck from the night before and found it to be gone. Suddenly Dutchy was attacked from behind.

MacGyver managed to restrain the attacker, and Dutchy recognized him from the attack the night before. In the light of day, he remembered the guy from the boat that they had boarded. When they questioned him, they learned that he is an undercover agent and was getting close to the scheme's main man. Returning to the ship, they fill Mike and Kate in on what they had learned.

Later that afternoon, Hammersley left to attend to a mayday call that turned out to be from the boat they had boarded the day before. Upon boarding, they found the agent dead. They headed back to the town. MacGyver was thinking about the events that had happened, she had some questions, so she spoke to Mike.

"MacGyver, what are you thinking about?"

"Something's not right. Someone had to have known about the agent and had him killed."

"Well, it's up to the Sargent now."

Turning to Mike, "Sir, did you tell the Sargent about the groggy runners?"

"Yes…"

"And the agent?"

"I did; why? He was going to get it confirmed."

"Confirm the operation, or have the guy killed? It's been staring at us the whole time. It's the cop. Didn't Swain say he remembered the Sargent from a few years ago? Something about grog running and drugs, but it wasn't proven."

"Swain told me about it. But proving it will be the hard thing to do."

"That's true; I think we should be careful about what we say to him, Sir."

"Good point."

An hour later, Kate was heading to shore. "Hey! Going into town?" MacGyver asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to find Dutchy. I want to talk to him."

"Okay… here," she pulls out a lighter size tracker and passes it to Kate. "Push this red button; it will activate it and let me know if you're in trouble."

"Your new emergency beacon?"

"Yep. After what happen to Dutchy last night, I think that it's a good idea."

" It is a good idea, thanks."

"And take this, it's small, but be careful, it's sharp." She gave Kate a small knife, which was an inch long and Two millimetres wide. Kate put it in her pocket.

"Be Careful who you talk to."

"I will," Kate said.

MacGyver walked back to the hatch while Kate climbed into the RHIB.

Kate found Dutchy and went to talk to him when he saw the truck from the night before. They followed; when the truck stopped, they managed to get close enough to see three men on another boat. Kate went to call Mike while Dutchy went to sneak on board.

Not being able to get a signal, Kate pulled out the beacon, pushed the red button, then put it back into her pocket. She ran down and onto the wharf and got on the boat without being seen as it was leaving port. Going down below deck, she saw Dutchy get knocked out. As she crouched down beside him to see if he was okay, she was knocked out too.

On Hammersley, MacGyver was in the galley with a Bird making muffins when her phone buzzed. Looking at her phone, she exclaimed, "Oh no!" then ran out of the galley and up into Mike's cabin.

"Sir, X is in trouble."

"What do you mean?" He said, turning in his chair to face her.

"She's activated the emergency beacon."

"Where is she?"

"I'll get my laptop!" Running to her cabin, she unplugs the computer and returns to Mike.

Opening the laptop, she accessed the beacon's application. "She must be on a boat," she said, showing Mike the laptop.

He saw the red dot indicating Kates location. "Go! Get Swain, Two Dads, RO and JJ and take a RHIB!"

"Yes, Sir. Let us know which way they are heading."

"Find her!"

"I will, Sir," leaving Mike, she went and got the others.

Ten minutes later, both Dutchy and Kate came to and realized that they were tied up. Dutchy broke down as he relived what had happened to his previous XO. He told Kate about it. While listening to Dutchy, Kate managed to get the beacon out of her pocket and open the knife that MacGyver had given her.

She slowly used the small knife to cut the rope bindings until she was free. Then she untied Dutchy. When Dutchy was free, she looked up at him since she was crouching down in front of him. They talked for a couple of minutes before they managed to escape through a hatch, only to find that they had been in a floating container of some sort.

They saw the RHIB heading towards them then stop. "Are you two okay?" MacGyver asked.

"Yes, we're good."

"MacGyver, there's a boat heading towards your location," Mike calls over the radio.

"Copy that, Sir."

"How would you two like to catch a big fish?" MacGyver asked them.

"How?" Dutchy asked.

Turning to Swain and grinning, "Swain, you're going for a swim."

"I am?"

"Yep, remove your vest." Swain looked puzzled but did what MacGyver asked; she told them her plan.

When the Sargent showed up on his boat, he saw Dutchy and Kate on top of the container. Stepping onto the container, he pulls out his gun and points it at them. Dutchy asked him questions about what was going on. They learned that he killed the agent after Mike told him that the guy was undercover.

"Now you do know that you both are going to die…" then he heard the sound of a gun being cocked.

"I don't think so, Sargent." Turning around, he sees a wet Swain with a gun pointing at him.

Dutchy stepped forward and disarmed him. Kate pulled out the beacon and turned it off.

"It's over for you," she said.

The RHIB pulled up to the container; Swain and the cop got in while Kate and Dutchy boarded the cop's boat and returned to the town.

They put the cop in austere. Swain got changed then a team went to shore to arrest the other people involved and waited for the police to arrive from Darwin to take over.

The second RHIB chased down and boarded the boat where Dutchy and Kate had been held hostage. The crew was arrested. The guns that had been taken were recovered. Mike was relieved that none of the guns was used in the killing of the agent.

The following day, Hammersley returned to sea to finish their patrol and then return to Cairns. MacGyver was on the side deck looking down at Kate and Dutchy as they talked in private on the aft deck.

That night MacGyver was on duty when Dutchy walked upstairs and onto the bridge, and he handed her a brew.

"Thanks, Dutchy. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why shouldn't I be."

She took a sip of her drink. "I saw you and X talking this afternoon… on the back of the ship."

"Being noisy, aren't you?"

"Concerned."

He turns and looks down the steps, checking that they were alone, then back to MacGyver. "X and I talked about what happened in Irag. I broke down when we were tied up in that container."

"Your XO…"

"Yeah, I felt like I failed again."

"What happened?" she asked as she took another sip.

Taking a deep breath, he told her about what had happened to his XO over in Iraq. How he was killed because he didn't watch his XO's back. When he finished telling her, she stepped forward, put her mug down on the table, put her hands on his arms, and pulled him into a hug as he cried.

"Now I understand what you're going through and why you froze after what happened to the X onboard that boat a few days ago." They pulled apart. "No one's perfect Dutchy; we all learn by our mistakes. You did save X's life. She's here and well and most probably in the Captain's cabin making out with the Captain." He chuckled and grinned. "But the most important thing is that the wall you had up the past few months has cracked and fallen down. I'm pleased it has, and with you talking to X and talking to me about what happened to you, we can now understand why you've been acting like you have. Hopefully, we will see you smiling more often."

"X, she said if I need someone to talk to, that I should come to you."

"You don't have to if you don't want to."

"Thanks." The radar beeped, so she walked over to check it out and then turns to Dutchy…"Are you ready for some action?"

"Yeah, why?" Smiling as she is picking up the phone and presses two numbers.

"A prize… Sir, sorry for disturbing you and X's paperwork or whatever you two were doing…" she said, smiling, giving Dutchy a wink. Dutchy had seen what she saw on the radar.

"We got ourselves a mother ship on radar… yes Sir… over the line, yes Sir." Hanging up, she then grabbed up the microphone and called out the Captain's orders. Dutchy was heading for the stairs to leave the bridge. "Dutchy!" MacGyver called, stopping him.

"Check for swollen lips and messy hair…"

"Meaning?"

"X," she said, smiling. Dutchy caught on and then grinned as he was walking off the bridge.

The boarding teams boarded the mothership and arrested the ten men on board. The mothership's engine had seized and Charge wasn't able to repair it. Hammersley set up a tow, and they slowly return to homeport.

When Hammersley docked the following morning, the crew left for their shore leave. By returning early, they had five days off.

That night when Jim arrived home, he went upstairs to change. Walking into their bedroom, he was pleasantly surprised to find MacGyver waiting for him in bed.

"Surprise!" she said, smiling. Walking around to her side of the bed, he bent over and kissed her.

"This is a surprise. I thought Hammersley wasn't due in until tomorrow."

"We had to tow a mothership back to port."

"Ahhh, so you decided to surprise me," he said, looking up and down her naked body and seeing her covered in different foods.

"Yup. Why? Did you have plans tonight?"

"Well… Yes, I did. I was going to video chat with you, but this is so much better," kissing her once more.

"Well, then, I guess you must be hungry."

"That I am," he removed his clothes and started eating from her body.

Sharing his dinner with her while they drink wine she bought on the way home. Afterwards, they made love in the shower and then again in bed.

MacGyver enjoyed her shore leave. Then Hammersley left for a six-week patrol. The crew returned to their duties.

Upon returning from their six weeks at sea, Hammersley's crew was given a much needed two-week shore leave while Hammersley was inspected by the marine techs.

That first weekend they went down the coast on his bike and stayed at Castaway Resort in Mission Beach for three days. She and Jim enjoyed their time together.

Unfortunately, after ten days the crew received a text message cancelling shore leave. They were to report to Hammersley the following morning. Most of them had seen the news about the storm that hit a community up north. The Navy was being sent to help out.