CHAPTER TWENTY
Early the next morning Mike received an urgent call from Andrea that the engine room was blaring with alarm. Something was wrong with the engine cooling system and the engines were overheating simply supplying power to the ship. Mike felt his gut clench. This was not great news at any point, but they were due to deploy at the end of the day.
"We really need more time in dry dock and to be able to test the engines before we push them," Andrea was saying into his ear on the ship phone. Mike sighed and closed his eyes. He could hear her frustration, exhaustion, and anger brewing in her voice.
"I know but we don't have the time. We're supposed to deploy as soon as the crew returns."
"I don't know, Mike, I just don't know if that's going to be possible. If we can't figure out where this leak in the coolant delivery line is, we may be cooked before we even get underway."
"Do your best," he said softly.
He wished he could go down there and hold her. Give her a hug and tell her she is amazing. But he needed to keep it professional. He would have to talk to her about the first name slip later as well. She had kept him informed over the morning, and felt that the repairs were going well, but no promises. It wasn't too much later that Tom came on the bridge. Tom seemed to notice Mike's off mood when he walked up.
"Issue?"
"Commander Garnett informed me a little while ago that the repairs are mostly on schedule," Mike said quietly.
"Mostly?" Tom asked and Mike could hear the worry in the captain's voice.
"Mostly. She explained that they are running into some trouble keeping the cooling system online. Something about a vacuum leak. She wouldn't know the extent of the issue until we had a chance to take the ship for test drive."
"Which isn't possible while we are still waiting on crewmen to return," Tom replied with frustration.
"Hence her frustration as well. She said all other repairs are going as planned and no other issues have arisen. But if we can't keep the cooling system functioning properly it will take us two months to get to St. Louis."
"Not acceptable," Tom sighed out. "Does she know what is causing the vacuum leak?"
"Possibly. But it's all over my head. There's a reason I was never in the engine rooms," Mike said with a shrug. Tom glanced at him and chuckled.
"Never my strong suit either," Tom agreed. "Keep me informed on the matter."
"Yes, Sir," Mike replied as Jeter joined them. He looked refreshed.
"Captain, XO," Jeter greeted them. Tom and Mike both acknowledged the man.
"Master Chief," Tom said. "Where are we on the crew?"
"Still waiting on a few stragglers, but they were informed that they had until this evening to be back on the ship."
"I wish we had a way to reach everyone," Tom mumbled. Mike nodded. It would have been nice to be able to recall everyone a little early.
"Would have made things easier. But from what I'm hearing from Commander Garnett we'd be waiting anyway."
"What's wrong in engineering?" Jeter asked. Tom glanced at Mike. Mike shrugged.
"Something wrong in the cooling system, losing the vacuum and shutting down the engines."
"Are we going to able to make this mission?" Jeter asked concerned.
"If anyone can fix it, Andrea and Chung can," Mike said. He saw Tom glance at him, but his friend didn't say anything. Jeter didn't seem to notice. Mike kept his face a mask trying not to acknowledge the slip he had just made.
"Anything else going on that needs our attention before we deploy?" Tom asked as he stared out the front bridge window.
"The crew had been working hard and everything is squared away," Mike replied. "Other than engineering I haven't had any reports that need attention."
"Just the ships engines, no big deal," Tom said with a chuckle. "Wouldn't be right if we didn't have a challenge I suppose."
"Seems about right," Mike said with a grin. "Nothing our crew can't muster."
"Crew is in better spirits since their break," Jeter nodded. Tom returned the man's nod. "You seem better as well, Captain."
Tom nodded at Jeter and Mike knew there was something more to that statement between the two. He wondered if it had to do with the captain's new relationship. He had noticed that Tom was much less distracted since he came back from leave.
"Did us some good," Tom replied. Mike felt the laugh bubble up and tried to cover it with a half cough. Tom glanced at him, and Mike had to work extra hard to keep the grin in check, until Tom turned away from him. The corners of Mike's mouth twitched briefly. "Prepare the ship for deployment. As soon as the last crewman is aboard, I want to be able to head towards St. Louis, provided the engines can handle it."
Mike had retreated to his stateroom and grabbed a nap mid-day then had checked in on Andrea in engineering a few times. He had pulled her out and ordered the rest of the engine room to get food, forcing them to take a break. He could tell this issue was stressing them all out as they raced the clock to fix the issue.
Mike then left them and made his rounds around the ship, making sure everything and everyone was ready for their next deployment. It was late afternoon when Jeter reached him on the portable and informed him that all crew were accounted for and onboard. Mike went in search of Tom and found him just leaving engineering.
"Captain," Mike said and tilted his head for Tom to come towards him. They walked a little way until they had enough space to stand out of the way.
"What's up?" Tom asked.
"The last crewman has checked in and is on board. The Nathan James is ready for deployment and a waiting your orders."
"All right. Let's head to the bridge and see if this bucket of bolts will get us where we need to go," Tom replied with a sigh. Mike grinned at him. He prayed that Andrea was able to fix the issue.
Once on the bridge Tom gave the order to leave port and called down to let engineering know it was go time. Mike took his XO seat as Tom climbed into the captain's chair, as the big ship eased its way out of the port and into the open ocean.
"Truth time," Tom mumbled. He gave the order for their heading and asked for twenty-five knots. Mike just hoped the ship could do it. He was a little concerned with the amount of stress Andrea had been under all day.
"Well, if we would have had time to take her on a test run before taxing her," Mike quipped from his chair. Tom nodded.
"I know. Well, it's not like we didn't have to make adjustments on the fly before."
"Best crew a captain could ask for," Mike said with a wink. Tom chuckled. Mike felt the ship speed up as they reached the open ocean. The ship made it up to twenty-five knots as it sliced through the open waters. Mike felt maybe they had figured it all out but then the on-board phone chirped. Mike heard Tom sigh as he reached for the receiver, but Tom waved him off. Tom picked up the receiver himself.
"Bridge, Captain," Tom said into the phone calmly. Mike watched as Tom's face fell as he listened to the other end. "What can we do?" He asked determinedly then listened again. "Understood. Backing down the engines. What's a safe knot to travel at, Commander?" Tom replied and then listened again. Mike felt his gut twist. This wasn't going well. "Understood," Tom answered.
Mike took in a deep breath and bounced his fist off his leg. He grabbed a cigar and put it unlit into his mouth. He knew the frustrations were high in the engine room. Tom relayed his new orders and Mike felt gut punched when he announced a five-knot speed. He then looked at Mike.
"Leak in the vacuum system for the coolant. I'm heading down to engineering to see. You have the bridge."
"Aye, aye, Captain," Mike said with a sigh. He really wanted to go down to engineering himself and make sure Andrea was okay. "We might make it to St. Louis."
It was a little later when the on-board ship phone rang, and Mike answered it. He heard Chandler tell him to take them back to twenty-five knots. Mike relayed the orders to his OOD. The ship sped up again. When the phone didn't ring again, and the ship was holding a steady twenty-five knots Mike exhaled and chewed at his cigar.
It was much later when Tom finally reappeared on the bridge. Mike was still camped in his chair, cigar still in his teeth. Mike looked over at Tom, as the captain sat down in his own chair.
"Smooth sailing?" Mike asked.
"Please don't jinx us," Tom groaned, and Mike couldn't help but laugh.
"Why don't you get some shut eye in the cabin. I can take the watch for now," Mike replied. He felt fine with the nap he had caught earlier in the day. Tom nodded at him.
"I think I will. Wake me if something else comes up."
"Aye, Aye, Captain," Mike replied.
Just over an hour later the on-board phone rang again and Mike had an instant bad feeling. He picked up the receiver.
"Bridge, XO," he said.
"Engineering, Commander Garnett," Andrea said into his ear, and he could hear the straight frustration and exhaustion in her voice. Mike sighed.
"More issues?"
"We just lost engine three, not sure what happened. The drive shaft is not firing. Back down the knots to ten and we'll start trouble shooting. I also had to take engine two offline because it's not turning at the right speed. I'm not sure what the hell is going on but it's not great."
"Do what you can."
"I'm working on three. Chung got two's issue.
Mike hung up the receiver and relayed the order to cut the engines back to ten knots. He sighed and hated to wake Tom up, but he knew he needed to. He walked to the at sea cabin and stepped inside.
"Tom," Mike called out. "Wake up."
He waited and watched as Chandler struggled to wake himself up. He finally sat up and worked to clear his head and Mike shifted. Tom looked over at him.
"Captain, we've hit another snafu," Mike said with a sigh. Tom groaned as the words registered but then nodded.
"I'll be out in a minute," Tom replied with a yawn.
Mike nodded and headed back out to the bridge as Chandler got himself together. He got a cup of coffee ready. He looked out the window at the dark ocean as the first tendrils of light broke over the eastern horizon in front of them.
"What now?" Tom asked as he emerged from the cabin and stopped next to Mike, rubbing his hands over his face. Mike picked up a cup of coffee and handed it to Tom. Tom thanked him.
"More engine trouble. We've lost one of them right now and engineering is frantically trying to figure out what's wrong."
"Damn it. I thought they fixed this stuff when we were in port at Norfolk."
"It was rushed, Tom, they never took the ship out and tested the engines," Mike replied feeling Tom's frustrations. Tom nodded.
"Right. Do we know what's wrong?"
"Commander Garnett said the drive shaft is not firing on engine three. It shut down completely. We've slowed the ship to ten knots per her request as she also took engine two offline to check why the prop isn't running at the proper speed as well."
"I'm tired of the obstacles, Mike," Tom quipped as he rubbed his face then drank so of the coffee.
"Aren't we all," Mike replied with frustration. Tom nodded.
"How much time?"
"She didn't know. She and her crew are working feverishly to fix the issues. She's working on the drive shaft on three while Chung is tasked with figuring out the speed difference in two."
"At least we have parts this time to fix things."
"For the moment," Mike said under his breath. He saw Chandler look at him.
"You get any rest?"
"Nope, but I was well rested two days ago," Mike replied with a smile. Tom nodded at him.
Throughout the day Tom and Mike had taken turns checking in on engineering. There was a delicate balance of motivating their people, but not seeming to hover. Each time Mike had seen Andrea she had looked more and more ragged. He wanted to order her to take a break, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. He knew everyone was running short on sleep and he just hoped they fixed the issues soon.
Eventually Andrea was able to get engine three up and running again and then she dug into the problem with Chung on engine two. Late in the afternoon they were able to figure out the problem there and the ship was eventually back up to twenty-five knots. They had lost a lot of time, but the ship was running again, and they were heading towards St. Louis.
Mike was able to catch an hour nap in his room before he was back in action. He wasn't sure if Andrea ever left the engine room, and he was worried she wasn't getting any rest. Mike was summoned on the portable to CIC. He met up with Tom as he reached CIC, and they walked in together.
"Sorry, to disturb you, Sir," Lt. Foster said. Tom waved it off and looked at her to continue. Mike stood back with his arms crossed over his chest. "We're picking up some readings and we're not sure what we are hearing."
"Is there a danger?"
"We're not sure. We were informed that no one had any ships out this way, but it seems that maybe there is something."
"Keep me informed when you know more."
"Aye, Aye, Captain," Lt. Foster replied and returned to her station. Tom looked at Mike.
"Just what we need," Tom said. Mike nodded a grim look on his face. The pair headed back to the bridge and Mike noticed the sun had risen. The phone on the bridge was chirping again and Mike just wanted to crawl into a hole and never resurface. Tom grabbed the receiver and Mike watched him.
"Bridge, Captain," Tom ground out. Mike cringed a bit as he heard the frustrations in Tom's voice. Tom was listening and his face was not telling a pleasant story. "What's the issue, Commander." He listened again and his face fell. Mike felt his guts twist again. This was a mission from hell he thought. Tom sighed. "I know, Commander. What's the issue now?" Tom asked more calmly. He listened with his eyes closed and then he made eye contact with Mike, it was downright depressing Mike thought. "All right, ten knots sufficient again?" Tom replied and Mike's shoulders slumped. "It's not your fault, Commander," Tom said softening his voice and Mike wanted to head straight to engineering and wrap Andrea in a hug. Tom hung up the receiver. Tom relayed the order to slow the ship to ten knots.
Mike felt the ship slow down again and stopped the groan from slipping past his lips. He raised an eyebrow at Tom silently asking…what now? Tom pursed his lips and then rolled his neck before he said anything.
"Problem with engine two again," Tom said. Mike frowned. "Timing issues. Hopefully it's fixed soon. Have we had any more word from CIC on the strange readings?"
"No," Mike said. Tom nodded. A couple more hours passed, at the rate they were traveling they'd be in St. Louis in twenty-one days Mike thought. Messages had been sent to St. Louis about their delay and unknown engine status, but nothing had been returned. Mike felt eyes on him and glanced over, seeing Tom staring at him.
"Hungry?" Tom asked. Mike nodded and they headed towards the wardroom. They had just sat down with their meal when the on-board phone chirped. Mike stood up and answered it.
"Wardroom, Commander Slattery," Mike said. Andrea's voice filled his ear.
"Engineering, Commander Garnett," she said, the exhaustion clear in her voice. "Engine two is cycling correctly for now. We can try twenty-five knots again."
"Glad to hear it. Understood. Good job," Mike replied. He hung up the receiver and turned towards Tom. "Engine two ready for service," he said. Mike picked up the phone and relayed the information to the bridge. Mike felt a weight lift as the ship accelerated. He sat back down and started to eat his lunch. The door opened and Mike noticed Rachel come in.
Tom motioned for her to sit next to him and once she had her food she settled into the set.
"Hi," Rachel said to Tom with a smile. He saw the smile come out of Tom. He was happy his best friend was finding something positive in all this mess.
"Hey, you doing, okay?" Tom asked quietly. Mike nodded a hello to Rachel, and she smiled at him before she focused on Tom.
"Yes, I'll be working in my lab later today. How is everything going after getting the crew back?"
"It's going," Mike said with a sigh without really thinking. Tom gave Mike a look and Mike fought the urge to laugh. He shrugged instead. "Well, it is," he replied before he finished eating.
"We're managing," Tom scoffed. Mike took his last bite of food.
"I'm heading to check on engineering. Hopefully the snafu won't hinder our ability to fulfill the president's request," Mike said dryly. Tom grunted at him and nodded. Mike figured Andrea would be less angry with him than Tom at the moment. Mike headed for the p-way.
"Keep me informed," Tom said after him, Mike tossed a hand up in acknowledgement before he exited the wardroom and headed down the p-way to the engine room.
When he got to the engine room Andrea was talking with Chung. She saw him and a small smile flitted across her face. She dismissed Chung and stared at Mike. He fought the urge to hug her. This was going to be hard in public he thought.
"Can I tear you away from the engines long enough to give me a full report of our situation?" Mike asked as he looked around.
"Uh, yeah," Andrea said, the corners of her mouth twitching. She looked over her shoulder. "Chung, I'm stepping out. Need to debrief Commander Slattery on our status in here."
"Aye, Ma'am," Chung hollered back as his attention was on the panel with the gauges. Mike was worried again.
Once they were in his stateroom with the door closed Andrea all but collapsed into his arms. He held her tight as her arms snaked around his torso and she buried her nose in his chest.
"You, okay?" Mike asked as he wrapped her in his embrace and held on tight.
"I am now," she breathed out, her voice muffled against his shirt and body. He walked them over to his couch and crashed down, pulling her into his lap. She sat with her head on his shoulder, her arms around his middle. He stroked his hand up and down her arm.
"What the hell happened in there?" Mike asked.
"That you're official inquiry?" Andrea asked laughing. Mike joined her, before he kissed her temple.
"Sure," he said with a smile.
"I don't fucking know," Andrea breathed out. "It's been a shit show since we fired them back up. We needed to do test runs so we could put her back in dry dock and fix this properly," Andrea continued frustrated.
"I know. But we just don't have that kind of time."
"Well, we might before we actually reach St. Louis. I honestly don't know if it's going to work or not, Mike," Andrea said as she buried her face in his chest again. "Mmm, you smell good, Commander Slattery."
"I smell like I need a shower," Mike laughed.
"Not as badly as I do," Andrea groaned. "I want sleep."
"I know, Babe, I know. I'm running short on it too," Mike whispered. He felt her shift and then her lips were on his jaw.
"Or we could relieve some frustrations," she whispered before she nipped at his skin. One of her hands skimmed his chest as the other one traveled down to his crotch. Mike felt his breath hitch as she squeezed him through his pants.
"We don't have much time," he whispered as she shifted so she was straddling him.
"We can be quick," she whispered and then she was kissing him hard and fast and as her hands worked his pants open. He returned the kiss and slipped his hand under her uniform top and found her breast. Her hand was now wrapping around him.
He clawed at the fastenings on her pants and pushed down. She stood, still kissing him, and worked her pants down. He lifted his hips and shoved his pants and boxers down around his ankles. She straddled his lap again and then lined up and took him in a single thrust.
It was hard and fast. Once they had both climaxed, she slid from his lap and laid stretched out on his couch. He worked to catch his breath and closed his eyes. He opened his eyes and looked down at Andrea on his couch and smiled.
"Feel better, Shortie?" He asked as he pulled his boxers and pants up. She laughed.
"Yes, actually. I'd love to get some sleep, but I need to monitor the engine room for a while."
"Keep those damn engines in line so we can get some sleep tonight."
"I'm trying, big guy, I'm trying," she sighed as she retrieved her pants. Mike watched her redress and then stood and pulled her up with him. He cupped her jaw and then leaned down, kissing her slowly, putting all the love he felt for her into the kiss.
"Time to get back to work," Mike whispered. They parted ways, Andrea heading back to the engine room and Mike heading to the bridge.
Mike knew there was a smile on his face. He knew he couldn't hide it. But at the moment, he didn't want to. He was happy. Truly happy for the first time in a long time. He walked onto the bridge and headed towards Tom.
"Well, the good news is that the repairs seem to be holding," Mike said. Tom stared at him for a long moment.
"And the bad news?" he finally asked.
"No idea how long that's going to be the case."
"Great. What does Commander Garnett think?"
"She thinks the repairs her and Chung did will hold and we should be able to make twenty-five knots all the way to the Mississippi River."
And you're thoughts?" Tom asked.
"I trust her judgement," Mike said with a non-committal shrug of his shoulders. Tom smiled.
"I do as well. Well, hopefully that's one issue that's squirrelled away. Keep your finger on the pulse down there for a bit," Tom said.
"Will do," Mike said suppressing the laugh inside him. He'd do more than that he thought to himself as memories of Andrea and him flashed through his mind. He turned and walked to his own chair. He was just settling into his chair when the phone chirped again, and Mike heard Tom groan. He couldn't blame the man.
"Can't anything just go right?" Tom mumbled under his breath as he answered the phone. "Bridge, Captain." He listened for a moment. "What is it Lt.?" he asked, softening his tone a little. He listened again. "Excellent. Continue to monitor and let me know if anything changes." Tom hung up the receiver. Mike was staring at him expectantly when he finally turned to face him. "Finally, some decent news. CIC reports no more readings. We are in the clear of whatever they heard."
"Excellent," Mike quipped as Tom nodded at him. The day progressed with only a few minor mishaps, but everything was ironed out fairly quickly. The Nathan James was still chugging along at Twenty-five knots towards St. Louis.
With all the engine troubles they had lost about a full day's worth of time, but they were on track now. Tom had ordered Mike to send a message to St. Louis explaining everything, that all the problems were corrected, and that they were now on a new timeline for arrival. It was almost time to hand over the watch to Jeter when the on-board phone chirped again. Mike reached over and grabbed the receiver, giving Tom a wink.
For once the issue was minor and Mike was able to deal with it quickly and efficiently. He was feeling that exhaustion work over his body and knew he was burning down fast. He was never so happy to see Jeter as he was in that moment. Tom handed off the watch.
"I'm going to check in with engineering and then tell Garnett to get some sleep," Tom replied. "Hit the rack, get some shuteye, and hopefully tomorrow is a better day."
"Aye, aye, Captain," Mike replied a little disappointed Tom was heading to the engine room. Mike split off and headed towards his stateroom, hoping that Andrea would show up eventually.
He stripped to his boxers and climbed into his bed, feeling his body ache and his brain slow. He was not going to make much longer and he struggled to stay awake. He wanted to see Andrea again. But it wasn't long before Mike was sound asleep.
Mike woke sometime later in the night and smiled. Andrea had come to his room and crawled into his bed with him. At some point he had wrapped his arms around her. She was sound asleep her back nestled into his chest. He kissed the side of her head gently and then let himself drift back to sleep.
The next morning, he woke first, his alarm waking him. He turned it off and slowly got up from the bed, trying hard to not wake Andrea yet. He showered, shaved, and dressed. When he stepped out of his bathroom Andrea was sitting on the side of his bed looking around. She smiled when she saw him.
"Morning, Shortie," Mike said with a smile.
"Morning," she breathed out. "I needed that sleep."
"We both did," he replied. She stood and walked towards him, naked. His mouth twitched…and something else did too. She kissed him.
"Ready for another day of fun?" Andrea asked with a sigh as she wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his chest.
"Join the Navy it's not just a job, it's an adventure," Mike quipped, and Andrea laughed.
"Well, at least they didn't lie," she chuckled.
"I'll see you later today, I need to get to the bridge."
"I've got an engine to figure out," Garnett sighed. Mike leaned down and kissed her one more time.
"I have all the faith in the world you can do it."
"Thanks, Mike," she smiled. With that Mike left her to head to the bridge.
To Be Continued…