CHAPTER SIX
Fifteen minutes later Mike was standing with Lt. Green discussing the plan. Green assured him that Vulture team was good to go and ready for what was to come. Mike signed off and watched as the team piled into the helicopter, settling around the boxes of vials already packed.
As soon as the helicopter was in the air, Mike made his way to the bridge. He walked towards Chandler as he was announced. Tom glanced over his shoulder at him and nodded.
"Morning, XO," Chandler greeted him.
"Morning, Captain," Mike replied. "Vulture team is in the air."
"Good," Tom replied, his eyes lingering on Mike. Mike gave him a questioning look and Tom just shrugged and smiled at Mike. They took their chairs on the bridge, each settling in with a pair of high-powered binoculars.
Mike was still in his chair, watching Vulture team secure the dock, while Tom paced back and forth along the bridge, binoculars against his face. They watched as the men moved with precision securing the dock. Once it was secure, they started to unpack the helicopter.
"Nathan James, this is Vulture One," crackled over the comms. "Port is secure. I repeat port is secure. We will be unloading the bird and sending her back to your whiskey."
"Copy that, Vulture team," Chandler replied into the mic. Tom turned to Mike. "XO, you have the bridge."
"Ay, ay, Captain," Mike replied and took the binoculars from him.
Mike put a pair of binoculars to his eyes and watched as Vulture team unloaded the last of the boxes and the helicopter lifted off again. He looked around at the bridge crew and smiled.
"About to spread some hope today," he chirped and was rewarded with smiles all around. The day progressed with little issue as Mike continued to watch the crew ashore spread the cure and vaccinate the masses. He had watched most of the day through the binoculars. His focus had been on Tom as he watched him work with Dr. Scott. Mike could see his best friend relaxing. He watched Tom as Tom watched the doctor and Mike couldn't help but smile to himself. Things seemed to be going well on that front now.
They were nearing mission completion. Vulture team and the medical staff on the ground were cleaning up and packing the helicopter. Motion in the background caught Mike's attention and he shifted the binoculars to the left. What the heck was that? As his brain registered that it was armed men storming onto the dock the comms lit up with Vulture team.
"We have a situation," Green's voice came over the comm. "Put your weapons down!" he shouted to someone on the ground. Mike picked up the mic but didn't respond. He then heard Tom's voice come over the comms.
"Vulture team, what's your status?" Tom asked. Mike swung the binoculars over to where Tom and Rachel were. He saw Tom moving towards Rachel. Then they heard the eruption of gun fire and Mike swung the binoculars back to Green.
"Shit," Mike breathed out. He grabbed the phone and rung CIC. Told them to be on alert in case they were needed. He swung the binoculars along the dock and saw Tom and Rachel down in a heap. Green's voice sounded over comms.
"Captain, Vulture One. All clear. All hostiles are secure."
"Affirmative, secure the area," Tom's voice responded back. Mike worked to calm his heart.
"What the hell just happened," he breathed out to no one in particular. Mike was still looking at Tom through the binoculars when he saw Tom stand and attempt to pull Rachel to her feet. She collapsed and Tom immediately dropped to one knee next to her. "Oh no, this isn't good," Mike whispered as Tom's voice boomed over the comms.
"I need a corpsman to my whiskey, now!" Tom was yelling into the mic. His voice was strained and pitched. Mike felt helpless standing on the bridge. He just hoped that Chandler could hold it together through this. As the minutes ticked by Tom was shouting into the comms again. "Where's my corpsman!"
Mike watched as Rios skidded to a stop next to Tom and placed a hand on his shoulder. Mike watched until they were moving Dr. Scott towards the helicopter before he dropped the binoculars into his chair and turned towards Granderson.
"Lt. Granderson you have the bridge. I'll be in the hanger bay."
"Aye aye," Granderson replied.
Mike hurried to the hanger bay and was waiting there when the helicopter landed. As soon as the helo was on the deck Tom and Rios had Rachel and were moving towards the infirmary. Mike followed behind them, watching Tom, taking in his state. It became very obvious to Mike that Tom was not going to be returning to command anytime soon.
He watched from the doorway as Rios worked on removing the bullet from Dr. Scott then stitching her up. He listened as he told the captain that they needed to transfuse her. He kept his mouth shut when Tom offered his own blood to do it with. He watched silently as Tom's blood pumped into Dr. Scott's veins. He watched Tom sink into a desperate darkness as Dr. Scott still hadn't woken up. He sighed and stepped into the room. He caught Rios and pulled him aside.
"What are we looking at, Doc?" Mike asked quietly. Rios looked over his shoulder then back at Mike.
"She's okay. Bullet didn't hit anything vital, no organs, no arteries. She did lose a lot of blood, hence the transfusion. But she should make a full recovery. It's just going to take time," he said with a nod. Mike nodded slowly.
"And the captain?" Mike asked. Rios made direct eye contact and Mike shrugged his shoulders a little.
"He's concerned," Rios replied with a sigh and a sad smile. Mike nodded.
"Probably more than you realize," Mike breathed out. Rios seemed to think about his words then nodded slowly.
"I suggest you ask for command…at least until she wakes up."
"I plan on it. I know Chandler and he isn't leaving her side," Mike agreed. Rios nodded and walked away, and Mike made his way next to Tom. He reached out and placed a gentle hand on Tom's shoulder. Tom looked up, recognized Tom, and then nodded slowly as his eyes went back to Rachel.
"I suppose you want command," Tom breathed out.
"I'm asking, not telling," Mike replied. He felt that distinction needed to be made. Tom looked up at him and nodded.
"I appreciate that. You have the command until further notice," Tom breathed out. Mike nodded, squeezed his shoulder and went to walk away. He stopped, turned back and looked at Tom.
"She's going to be fine," Mike replied. "Take as much time as you need. We have your back." He watched Tom nod slowly his eyes fixed on Dr. Scott. Mike walked away and headed off to find Lt. Green to find out what exactly happened out there.
He found Vulture team checking their equipment in. He told Green to meet him in the wardroom in fifteen minutes for a debriefing and Green nodded. Mike then walked towards the wardroom. He was halfway there when he saw Garnett walking towards him down the p-way. He stopped and watched as she walked up to him. The look of concern on her face was a little bit painful to his heart. He wanted to hug her and wash it all away, but he stood stiff as she approached him.
"I heard Dr. Scott got hurt," she asked in a low voice. Mike nodded as he sighed.
"She was shot. Doc Rios says she'll be okay but she's still unconscious."
"How's Chandler?" she asked. Mike was always intrigued with the relationship between Tom and Garnett. She was a little less formal with him and he called her Eng.
"In the infirmary until she wakes up, I suppose. He gave her blood."
"Really?"
"Yeah, transfused straight from him into her. Listen I have a debrief in the wardroom and I have command until further notice."
"Okay," she said, and Mike thought he could hear a little disappointment in her voice. "So, you'll be busy for a while."
"Unfortunately. But I'll still have down time," he mumbled quietly. He looked around but no one was within ear shot.
"Keep me posted on Dr. Scott," she said half question, half statement. Mike nodded and smiled.
"Okay, I'll see you later."
Mike continued to the wardroom and was just settling in when Lt. Green walked in with Lt. Burk behind him. The two men came in and sat down. Mike took a deep breath.
"So, what the hell happened out there?" Mike asked. He held the anger he was feeling in check. Of all the people to get shot, Dr. Scott was the worst-case scenario with the mental health of their great leader.
"We're not entirely sure, Sir," Green started. "We were cleaning up after the masses were inoculated. Then all the sudden from the north we were overtaken by four men with high powered hunting rifles."
"At that point, Green, Miller, and myself broke away from the helicopter and approached the men with the weapons," Burk replied. "Lt. Green ordered the men to lower their weapons, but the men were shouting about us keeping the cure away from them."
"At that point I yelled that they were welcome to receive the inoculation if they would just put their weapons down and they open fired on the crowd. It started with one guy firing and the other three panicked and joined in," Green picked up.
"At that point, Miller and I rushed them from the right and were able to take them down and relieve them of their weapons. Two were shot, two were not," Burk supplied.
"The two that were shot were tended to by medical personnel from the ship but refused further treatment. All four received an inoculation and then they left," Green broke in.
"Wonderful. Dr. Scott our only injury?" Mike asked.
"Yes, sir, she was hit by the initial burst," Green replied softly. "Sorry, sir, we let our guard down. Won't happen again." Mike pursed his lips and then nodded at the two men.
"Dismissed. Get some rest."
"Ay, Ay, Sir," they both said at the same time then the two men got up and left.
Mike took the night watch that first night and sat in this chair in the dark wishing he was in his stateroom with Andrea. That scared him a little. He wasn't sure where this was going, but he was a little excited to see where it went. It had been a long time since he had felt what he was feeling.
When morning finally rolled around Mike was exhausted. He had pulled a twenty-four-hour shift. With a little bit of disappointment, he had left Andrea in charge of the ship so he could go catch a few hours of sleep. He checked in with Doc Rios and found that Rachel was still unconscious, and that Chandler was in the process of providing round two of a blood transfusion. Doc had assured him that Dr. Scott would be fine. He stepped into the infirmary and stopped next to Tom.
"How are you?" Mike asked quietly. Tom looked up at him.
"Woozy," he replied with a half-smile. Mike smiled. "How's my ship?"
"Doing well. On course, men are ready, and everyone is trained and ready to make port later today. If all goes well should be at fifteen hundred hours."
"Good to hear."
"She'll wake up, Tom," Mike said softly. Tom sighed and nodded.
"So, Doc says," Tom whispered. "Hey, Doc," Tom called out. "I'm feeling this."
Mike stepped back and gave Rios room to remove the line from Tom. Tom stared; his eyes locked on Rachel's face. Mike reached down and squeezed his friend's shoulder. Tom looked up at him.
"You look like shit, Mike. Go get some sleep."
"Gee, thanks," Mike said with a laugh. "I assume you're taking another day?"
"The morning at least," Tom said, his hand slipping into Rachel's. Mike smiled as he nodded.
"Okay. I'm off to get a few hours then I'll be on the bridge."
"Thanks, Mike," Tom replied softly.
"Anytime," Mike replied. He squeezed Tom's shoulder one last time before he walked out of the infirmary.
Mike then went to his stateroom, pealed his uniform off and collapsed into his bed. He sighed as he tried to find the most comfortable spot and found himself thinking that it would be so much better if Andrea was there to wrap himself around. He smiled as he wrapped his arms around his pillow instead and slowly felt sleep overtake him.
Four hours later Mike was up. He grabbed a quick shower, shaved, and got into his uniform. He left his stateroom still feeling exhausted but knew he needed to be up, at least until Chandler took command back. He stopped by the infirmary and was happy to hear that Dr. Scott had woken up while he was sleeping. He ended up back on the bridge and coordinated the distribution of the cure at the newest port. This time it went without a hitch and Mike was exhausted as he made it back to his stateroom later that night. Tom had taken back command just after the mission had completed and told Mike to take a day off. Mike sunk into his bed and fell into a fitful, restless sleep.
To Be Continued…
