Chapter 13

Three days later, they arrived at Cairns airport. A petty officer was waiting for them in the arrival hall holding a paging board with her name, Cdr McGregor.

She walked over to him and the man was relieved to have found his passengers. He had hoped to see the new commander in uniform, but Kate travelled in civvies. He stared at her composed outfit being a T-shirt, some ripped jeans in fashion, a pair of loafers and tried to gauge their new CO. His mates were certainly going to ask him what kind of person their new leader would be.

"Welcome to Cairns ma'am. I'll lead you and your son to your flat. Here are the keys, ma'am. It's one for senior officers with a nice view of the esplanade and not far from the base, ma'am", he said to soften the mood and see how she would react.

"That's fine petty officer. Take us there", she replied.

"I'll take your luggage ma'am", he said taking her suitcase.

"Nice, thank you", she replied, taking her son's suitcase.

During the drive to her new flat, she looked around and memories came flooding back. Coles, her favorite bookshop, the grocery shop, her favorite clothes shops, restaurants, pubs.

The petty officer stopped the car. "It's here ma'am, number 17, box 3", he said before getting out of the car. He accompanied them to the flat and then took his leave saying "Enjoy your stay ma'am".

"Thank you", Kate said and watched the man close the door. She looked around and nodded. It was a nice flat, reserved for senior officers. Chairs and furniture looked brand new. There were even modest wall decorations, not quite her style, but more what you would expect in hotel rooms. Nah, it was only temporary.

Kate sighed. Finally arrived! She took off her loafers and walked around to inspect everything, Duncan being at her heels. They entered the kitchen and saw a note on the table next to a couple of glasses : 'Welcome to Cairns. A chilled bottle of wine and water are in the fridge'. She opened the fridge and took the bottle. Kate smiled, a sauvignon blanc, her favourite. She opened the other cupboards to inspect their content.

"I'm going to see the bedrooms", Duncan said.

"Yeah, me too", she replied, following him.

"What now?", he asked as he stood in his bedroom.

Kate looked at her watch, "First, we go to the car leasing company to pick up our car, then to the shop to get you a school uniform, and finally Coles to buy some food for tonight and tomorrow morning. Then unpacking our things and you go to bed. It has been a long day", she said.

The next morning.

"Mum! I'm ready!", Duncan yelled.

"I'll be with you in a minute!", she answered.

Kate had already put on her white shirt and was staring at her bed, trying to decide what to wear, the skirt or the trousers. She wanted to create a good impression. Her first serious command, a naval base! She wanted to make a statement. She was a woman and she didn't want to hide in a man's uniform. But the skirt could be seen as too feminine and lacking in authority. She grabbed the trousers and put it on. For the feminine touch, she took her white pumps and put them on. She had bought the shoes in Sydney. The pumps were more stylish, with a higher heel and they would make her look taller.

"Duncan! Let's go!", she said leaving the bedroom.

After dropping Duncan off at school, she drove to the base. After showing her ID card to the guard, she drove to the parking area. The guard called her assistant to announce her arrival.

When she arrived at the main staircase, her assistant, Lieutenant William Coughan was waiting for her with Warrant Officer Pete Tomasewksi.

"Commander McGregor? Welcome to the base", he greeted her with a military salute.

"She in turn saluted, "Thank you lieutenant. Hi Pete. I'm glad to see you again", Kate replied to both men.

"Welcome back ma'am", Pete replied with a radiant smile.

"Uh…I'm Lieutenant William Coughan and I am …uh I was the Commander Turner's assistant and your assistant now, ma'am. I actually replaced the commander, but it looks like it's going to be a while before he comes back….uh…if he comes back to Cairns", Lieutenant Coughan said hesitantly and realised that he might have chosen the wrong words.

"Fine, so shall we go inside?", Kate asked.

"Ah yes, of course. If I understood correctly, you know the base", he said, climbing the staircase with her.

"Yes, I do. I was XO and CO aboard a patrol boat here. But, I guess you already know that, no?", Kate replied, smiling at him.

"Uhm, yes, You're..uh..not a stranger here, you see", he stammered and they reached the top of the stairs.

"I expected that. I assume the offices are still the same?", she asked.

"Yes, indeed. I'll lead you to your office. Pete will take note of anything you need ma'am", he said, opening the door for her.

Kate took a step inside, stopped and looked around. There was no longer any sign of the former occupant of the premises.

How time flies! Looks like that Knocker bitch is sitting there. Could it be that I still hear her taunting voice?

"Ma'am?"

.pulling ranks on me, to keep me away from Mike. And finally she succeeded. I was so blind that I believed Mike….

"Ma'am? Is there something wrong with the office?", William asked.

"Huh? Uh? No, no, not at all. It's perfect", she hastened to say.

Kate walked around the desk, sat down and looked around. "Yes, there's something you can do for me".

"Yes ma'am?", William asked.

"I would like a monitor on my desk as my laptop screen is a bit too small and I would also like an espresso machine if possible?", Kate asked.

"Absolutely. Pete, you've heard the commander. A seventeen-inch monitor and an espresso machine", the lieutenant ordered.

"Of course sir", Pete said, taking note.

"Uh ma'am, what kind of model ship do you want in your office? We have the Solway Lass sailboat or the HMVS Cerberus monitor."

"Hmm, I've always had a thing about old armoured ships, so Cerberus please", Kate said.

"Okay, ma'am, I'll take care of it", Pete said.

"Anything else, ma'am?", the lieutenant asked.

"Yes, I want you to brief me on our current situation with a coffee", she said.

"Right! Pete, you can carry on with the requests and bring us coffee", he said.

"Aye sir", Pete replied and left.

William sat down, "Where to start ma'am?"

Kate took her laptop and her spectacles, "Pretty easy. What are our assets? Where are they now? Are there any ongoing operations? Are there any upcoming operations? Who are our contacts with the Feds, immigration etc".

He nodded, "Right.

"We still have four Armidale-class patrol boats, the Kingston, the Broome, the Launceston and the Hammersley. We also have the newest patrol boats, the Cape class with two ships, the Byron and the Nelson. We have our two hydrographic Leeuwin-class survey ships, the Leeuwin and the Melville and finally four Paluma-class survey motor launches.

In fact, the Kingston left yesterday, two Palumas are in it and our two biggest ones are busy with the northern part of the reef. The Byron is out too, but so is the Melville for maintenance. Oh, I was going to forget, Hammersley is coming this afternoon", William said.

Kate was taking notes, nodding occasionally, questioning him and finally he leaned back, "That's all, ma'am".

She put down her ballpoint pen, "Yes, thank you".

"William, I want to talk to every CO and head of division, as well as the XO's. Can you send out an order?"

"Of course ma'am. Well, now you know all about our little world", he said after writing down her request.

"Indeed, that was it for the official part, but what about the off the record situation?", she asked.

"Huh? What do you mean, ma'am?"

"Well, anything that goes around and that doesn't show up on the official reports. What you hear on the grapevine", Kate said, raising her eyebrows.

William chuckled, "Yes, I understand. Well uh…the catering. There are a lot of complaints about the catering, uh.. it's in fact the daily subject like the weather and traffic jam. Ship's cooks don't always get what they want in terms of quality and quantity. Here too. Lots of people bring their own food or go out for lunch, mostly officers, because the quality of the cooking is … uh average. This is in fact the main dark cloud above the base".

"What's the reason for that?"

He shrugged, "Various reasons. The main responsible is retired, no decent replacement, budget restrictions and a cook whose skills are coming from the training barracks", he said with a sigh.

"Nah, that's in fact the most important piece of information this morning. When people aren't well fed, morale drops and so does the quality of work. I'll see what I can do. Any there other human resource bottlenecks?", she said.

He made a face and sighed, "Everywhere in fact. We lack manpower. When someone is on holidays, there's no one to do the job. We need to use experienced technicians. Engine maintenance and repair and a radio specialist. There's always a problem or a broken part somewhere and then it takes too long to fix and then the CO's complain again", he said unhappily.

"Right, thank you for this valuable piece of information. I'll process them all and anyway you know where to find me, okay?", Kate said.

"Yes, ma'am, absolutely", he said and left her office.

While William briefed Kate, Pete went to the quartermaster to get her espresso machine. While he was waiting, he texted Nikki.

Hey baby, you know what? Kate's back, as our CO. Great, no?

Nikki was sitting on the bridge when the message came in. She read it and turned pale. Dylan saw it from the corner of the eye.

"Uh, X, you have the ship. I go to my cabin. Paperwork, you see", she mumbled and left.

"XO has the ship", Dylan said and sat down in the captain's chair.

After a while, 2Dads entered the bridge and saw Dylan in the captain's chair.

"Hey Dutchy, you're here. I expected the boss", he said.

"Hey 2Dads, she's in her cabin doing some paperwork", he said.

"Hmm, isn't that strange? She never goes to her cabin when we approach the base and it was a classic patrol. So, I can't imagine her having a lot of paperwork to do", 2Dads said.

His sentence intrigued Dylan and he looked at 2Dads warily. At the same time, their RO brought him a message. "X, a message for each CO".

"Thanks Johnny", Dylan said and started reading. "Jeez!", he mumbled.

"What? World War Three?", 2Dads asked.

"No, Kate's back and as our CO", he said looking at 2Dads.

"Wow! That's news!".

"Damn! Nikki. Just before she left, she got a text, probably from Pete with the same message. Go get me Bird !", he said.

"Okay, I'm running", 2Dads said, he turned on his heels and left the bridge.

Moments later, he was back with Bird, "Sir?", she asked.

"Bird, can you check the CO? She's in her cabin", Dylan said.

Bird rolled her eyes, "Oh no, not again!".

"I dunno, but you're the only one who can enter her cabin without creating an incident", he said.

"Okay, okay, I'm going", she said and left.

Bird knocked on Nikki's cabin door and waited, but there was no answer. She made a face opened the door and peered inside.

"Shiiiit!", she mumbled, entered and closed the door.

Nikki sat at her desk, her head resting on her arms, an empty bottle of port and a half-full glass next to her.

"Come on Nikki, what the hell are you doing again? We'll be in port in no time", she said gently shaking her shoulder.

"Aaah Birdddddd, It suuuuucks. K…Kaaaate's back. I caaaaan't", she slurred.

"Damn you! Do you really want to be kicked out? I'll bring you some strong coffee and then you go to sleep. Make sure you're sober when we get to port", she said, guiding Nikki to her bunk. She laid her down and took off her boots.

"I'll be right back", she said and went to the galley to make her some strong coffee.

When Bird returned with the coffee, she saw that Nikki was sleeping and snoring in her bunk. She looked at the cup and made a face.

She won't need it right now and if I leave it here, it will get cold and lose its effect. Go back where you came from, Birdie!

She looked at the cup again.

Why not?

She drank it and left Nikki's cabin with a disappointed sigh then went back to the galley to put the cup in the sink before heading for the bridge.

"And?", asked Dylan when he saw her arrive.

"As you feared. She got drunk on port wine and now she's sleeping", she said and saw that he was somewhat crestfallen.

He rubbed his face, "Yeah, thank you Bird. You're an angel".

2Dads had heard the conversation and walked over to Dutchy. "Again?"

Dylan looked at him from the corner of the eye, "Again".

"Jeez Dutchy, why don't you take action? It can no longer last", an irritated 2Dads commented.

Dylan looked daggers at him, "Do you like stabbing a friend in the back? Would you have done it with Charge back then? Or with me, or Harpie, or Bird?".

2Dads rolled his eyes, "No, of course not".

"Well then? It's so bloody difficult and complicated. I know it's wrong, but it's going to kill her", Dylan answered.

"Getting drunk will kill her too", 2Dads replied.

"I know mate. Do you have a better idea, huh?"

2Dads sighed, "I understand your point of view".

To be continued