CH 74

Hammersley was close to the town when they attended a mayday. RO tried to get out of helping out. Thinking that this was odd, MacGyer went to talk to him.

"RO, what's going on? You know that you're on the recovery line team."

"I know, but I can't do it."

"Why not? You had better have a good enough reason."

"I had surgery the day after we had shore leave."

"What sort of surgery?"

"My appendix, I was in a lot of pain and went to the hospital, even though I hate the hospital. It was my appendix."

"Let me take a look."

"You don't you believe me?"

"I want to make sure that there's no infection."

"Oh, okay." RO lifted his shirt and showed her his scar.

"It's a bit red; let's go into the wardroom."

"What? Now?"

"Yes, now."

Once in the wardroom, MacGyver put on some gloves so that she could check the wound properly. "It does look inflamed; I'll keep an eye on it. If you experience any plan, fever or chills, let Swain or me know straight away."

"Ok. Do you think there might be infected?"

"Not at this stage, no, but I want you to take things easy. You're on light duties until further notice. Okay?"

"What about the captain and X?"

"Leave it to me, alright?"

"Ok."

"You should have told them, Swain or me straight away. If we had known, we wouldn't have let you carry those boxes on board. RO, you have to open up more, be a team player, and not hide and keep things bottled up. OK?"

"Ok."

"You can return to your duties for now."

"Thanks, MacGyver."

MacGyver saw Swain in the galley getting himself a brew and made him aware of RO's surgery. Then, she talked to Mike and Kate and took RO's place on the recovery line as Hammersley rescued the people in the water. Once everyone was on board, Mike and Kate went looking for RO.

"Sir, X, are you looking for RO?" MacGyver asked them.

"Yes, he was supposed to be on the recovery line; where is he," Mike said.

"Sir, I took RO's place. I haven't had a chance to talk to you both. While on shore leave, RO went to hospital; he had appendicitis and had his appendix removed. I noticed that he was in a bit of pain, talked to him, and he told me about the operation. Don't worry, I already spoke to him about not telling you, Swain, or me about it before leaving Cairns."

"Is he ok with him having lifted the boxes?" Kate asked.

"No, but Swain and I will keep an eye on him. Part of the scar is red and inflamed because he was doing things, like lifting boxes, too soon. He's on light duties until Swain or I release him to return to full duties."

"Alright, but I'm still going to have a word with him," Mike said.

"I know you will, Sir."

When they docked, Dutchy split the crew between doing different duties. Over the next couple of days, the crew worked hard.

It was the second day of shore leave, and as MacGyver returned to the ship to prepare lunch, she noticed Bird talking to some guy. Bird looked afraid and nervous. She walked over to find out what was going on and saw the man getting angry.

"Hey," MacGyver said as she approached. "Bird, are you ok?"

"I better get back to work," Bird said.

"Hey, we haven't finished talking," he snarled.

"You heard her," MacGyve said to him. "Why don't you leave her alone and walk away."

"Who the hell are you?" he said, stepping forward and up to her face.

Cool and calm, MacGyer looks him in the eye. "You don't scare me," she didn't move a muscle or blink once.

Taking a step back, he turned Bird, "We will talk later, Jess," and walks away.

" Bird, you ok? Who was that guy?" MacGyver asks her.

"Yeah, I'm okay. That's Daryl, my ex-boyfriend."

"Come on, let's go and get lunch started."

" Alright, what are we having today."

"Food," she said with a grin, making Bird smile.

As they walk on to Hammersley and down to the galley, they talk about what happened on the wharf. Mike comes along and overhears Bird telling MacGyver about Daryl.

That night the crew got some short leave and went to the pub for a drink.

MacGyver spoke to Dutchy. "Dutchy tomorrow, will you keep an eye on Bird?"

"Problems? I saw her with that guy."

"Yeah, she told me that she thinks he might be involved with the cattle rustling that been going on here."

"Huh...sure."

"Thanks."

Daryl showed up on the wharf the next day. Dutchy watched for a moment before stepping in.

"Daryl, I told you I don't love you. I don't want to be your girlfriend, and I don't trust you."

Bird starts to walk away and toward Dutchy when Daryl reaches out and grabs her arm. Dutchy, Two Dads and RO were amazed when she managed to remove his hand from her arm and twisted it, stepping back before letting go.

"Leave. Me. Alone!" turning, Bird stomped towards Dutchy and the guys.

"Who taught you that move?" Dutchy asked her.

"MacGyver did last night."

"Good on ya!"

"Thanks."

Hammersley had left port when they got word to check out a barge that is in their area. When they found it pulled up to shore, Mike ordered a boarding. The boarding party found the captain and his crew tied up. Once the captain and his crew were untied, they told them about the cattle they were hauling. The team followed the tracks from the barge and were led to the cattle rustlers. The rustlers were arrested, including Daryl.

The rustlers were brought to Hammersley. Hammersley thenwaited for someone to take control of the cattle and the police to take care of the cattle rustlers. Once the cattle and rustlers were squared away, Hammersley returned to patrol.

MacGyver and Bird were talking and laughing in the galley while cooking the meals.

Back in Cairns, the crew got some shore leave.

While MacGyver was on shore leave, Jim got a day off work. He and June went on a dive charter with a group. While on the boat, June turned towards a familiar voice.

"Two Dads!"

"MacGyver! Captain! Are you two going on the dive?" He said, surprised to see them.

"We are. Where's Charge? I thought he was coming with you."

"He said he's got a cold."

"Ahh...Who's your friend?"

"This is Elke Anderson, Elke, and this is my crewmate MacGyver and her husband, Jim Roth."

"June," MacGyver said as they shook hands and said 'hi' to each other.

"Why did you call Leo 'Two Dads'?" Elke wondered.

"We're in the Navy. That's his Navy nickname," MacGyver replied. "We all have one."

"Ahh... And what is your nickname, Jim?"

"Jim's in the army," June said.

They have been talking for ten minutes when MacGyver noticed that something didn't look right.

"Two Dads, a word in private?"

"Sure. What is it?"

June walks them over to a private corner.

"Two Dads, we're going the wrong direction."

"How do you know?"

"The reef we were supposed to go to is south."

"Yeah, that's right."

"Then why are we heading north? Look at where the sun is. If we are heading south, the sun would be on our port side, not starboard."

" Should we tell them?"

"No, but be on alert."

"Are you going to tell Jim?"

"I will, but for now, act normal."

"Right." They return to Jim and Elke.

When the boat stopped, everyone got ready for the dive. Jim and MacGyver help each other with their dive gear.

"Jim, we're at the wrong reef."

"What do you mean?"

"The reef we were supposed to dive is south."

"We're not south?"

"No... we went north. Look where the sun is; if we were south, the sun would be on our port side."

"Then why did they lie to us?"

"I don't know. I told Two Dads to he keep on alert."

"Ok."

When they and others were ready, MacGyver went over to Two Dads.

"Here, put this in your wetsuit." MacGyver passes him a sealed plastic bag. He notices that it is an emergency beacon, and he tucked it away in a safe place.

"You think that they're up to something?" he said quietly.

"Yeah, I noticed that cargo ship five miles from here; it looks like it stopped."

"Perhaps it has broken down."

"Or waiting for another boat."

"So, what are you thinking, drug smuggling?"

"Could be."

A few minutes later, everyone jumped into the sea, and they dived down in pairs. Jim and June enjoyed the dive, seeing different fishes and corals. MacGyver felt a tap on her shoulder, and she turned around to see two Dads and Elke.

He gave her hand signals which she returned, then turned to Jim and gave him the same hand signals as Two Dads and Elke started to surface. Then they followed suit. Two Dads and Elke surfaced near the back of the boat. Two Dads removed his dive gear, put it on the back of the boat, and then helped Elke with hers. When he climbed up onto the boat, he saw that something was going on. Crouching down, he put his finger to his lips signalling Elke to be quiet.

"What wrong?"

"Shhh... stay there, don't make a sound." Jumping on board, he quietly makes his way to where several men talked as they looked over the drugs. He watches as they put the drugs in a sealed container and then put them on the bench. When they had their backs turned, Two Dads picked up the container and took it to the back of the boat where Elke was standing on the deck.

"Leo, what are you doing?" She said, causing the drug runners to turn around

"Hey! Give that back!" And then he heard gunfire.

"JUMP! He yelled as he saw Elke get shot and fall backwards into the water.

Two Dads jumped after her; the engine started up, and he just managed to pull Elke away from the propellers. Jim and June saw Two Dads and Elke underwater without their dive equipment and swam over them. Removing their mouthpieces, they gave them to Two Dads and Elke to give them some air, and it allows them to pull them away from the boat and then surface.

"Two Dads, what happened?"

"Elke's been shot!"

"What? why?"

"Because of this." showing her the container.

"What's in it?" Jim asked.

"Drugs," Two Dads replied.

MacGyver examined Elke's shoulder. "It's gone, though."

"Elke, try not to move your arm too much."

"Do you know what you are doing?"

"I'm a medic," taking off a belt and fastening a sling for her. "There, that should help."

"Thank you."

"June! Behind you!"

Turning, she sees a boat heading towards them.

"Dive!" MacGyver put goggles on Elke and herself; they all dive down to the bottom.

MacGyver gave hand signals moving everyone to a spot where they wouldn't be seen by those in the glass-bottom boat. They stayed down, sharing air until it ran out two hours later. They had no choice but to surface. After surfacing, they looked around and saw the boat off in the distance. It was heading back towards Cairns.

"What do we do now?" Elke asked nervously.

MacGyver and Jim lose their tanks but keep the straps. MacGyver took off her goggles then pulled a plastic bag out from under her wet suit.

"Two Dads, your tracker... still got it?"

"Yeah," pulling it out, he showed it to her.

"Good. Remove your goggles, activate it, put it in your goggles, and put your goggles on your head."

Doing as MacGyer said, then MacGyver did the same.

"Now, all we need to do is wait for Hammersley or another patrol boat to come and rescue us," MacGyver explained.

On Hammersley, Kate was on her way to her cabin when she heard music coming from one of the cabins. Following the music, she found herself outside MacGyver's cabin. Going into the cabin, Kate realised that the music was coming from MacGyver's laptop. She turned the volume down, and when she did could hear a pinging sound coming from the computer, and opening it, she saw an icon blinking.

She clicked on it. Kate noticed that the emergency beacon had been activated. There was something familiar in the music, she listened carefully and recognised the song; 'S.O.S'. Kate brought up the beacon's location. She could see that it was actually two beacons. She wrote down the coordinates then ran rushed to Mike's cabin where he was doing some paperwork.

"Mike! MacGyver's in trouble!"

Turning towards her, "what kind of trouble?"

"Two of her emergency beacon's have gone off. I heard MacGyvers laptop playing music, and the song that was playing was 'S.O'S'."

"You're sure?"

"Absolutely positive. She told me yesterday that she and Jim were going diving today. Something must've happened."

"I'll call NAVCOM and ask for a crash sail. You go and cancel everyone's shore leave and get them back."