Ch. 43 Good try, bad luck
"Here! If you mean this asshole", they heard Charge say as he pushed a dizzy looking pirate with a huge reddish bump on his head. The man's hands were tight with nylon fasteners. "He ran into my monkey wrench", he said.
Then, two events occurred simultaneously. They heard the sound of a helicopter and a shot fired by Rebecca's machine gun. They all rushed to the bridge wing.
Rebecca stood up. "Easy. He raised his head to look at the helicopter", she said deadpan.
"Well done!", complimented Dylan.
"Well done guys. That was close", Kate said looking at the helicopter go round in circles around them, "It's a Navy one".
"Boss! The helicopter for you!", RO yelled outside. Hearing this Kate hurried inside.
She took over the headset from RO and listened.
"This is the helicopter from HMAS Sydney, Australian Navy. What's your situation? Over".
"This is Captain McGregor from the MV Katherine. Everything is under control. Six pirates shot down, one prisoner No casualties. Over", she replied.
"Good news captain. Our frigate will be there in about two hours."
"Can you see if there are any other adversaries?", she asked.
"No, except for one small vessel that changed course away from yours. I guess she's the mother vessel. I'll keep this line open, if there's a change, call us", the pilot replied.
"Understood, loud and clear", Kate replied.
She closed the call and joined the others at the bridge wing.
"Ok, guys, collect the bodies and put them on the deck. The Navy will take care of them and of our bugger here. Put the machine guns next to them", she ordered.
"Hey Bec, if you want your meat chopper back, you'll have to remove it from his skull yourself. It was your joke", Harpie grinned.
"What?", Kate questioned with disgust.
Rebecca shrugged, "I had to do something. It was me or him", she said dryly which earned her an indignant look from Kate.
Becca put her hands in the pockets of her jacket and felt something. She pulled it out and smiled, "Does anyone want a nut?"
Two hours later, the frigate came alongside. A boarding team under LT's command came aboard and the sailors were greeted by Kate and Dylan. "You again?", she said.
"Yes ma'am, I'm the boarding officer. Are you all safe? No injuries?", he asked.
"No lieutenant, we are all safe, except for a pirate with a terrible headache", she said dryly.
"Ok, do you know if they left explosives?", he asked.
"No, they didn't. They just had guns. They're there", Kate said pointing to the row of bodies.
"Oh shit!", he said as he saw the meat chopper. "You watch too much bad movies", he remarked with disgust.
"LT, the CO is coming!", announced the petty officer of the team.
"Shit!, what's he looking for?", LT wondered.
Mike stepped aboard while Kate looked at him suspiciously.
He straightened his back while walking to her.
"I wanted to check the situation,... captain", he said haughtily.
"Everything is under control,... commander", Kate replied icily.
"Oh, by the way, you can take over some packages and a prisoner", she subtly added.
He went to the corpses and looked at them. He nodded slowly as he saw the meat chopper. "Your cook still hasn't lost her temper", he noticed.
"Don't make her angry", Kate said deadpan.
He turned to Kate and looked at her frowning, "I'm just wondering how you've shot these pirates? Civilians are not supposed to have weapons. And I count six Kalashnikovs. Weren't there seven pirates?", he said simply.
Kate looked daggers at him, "We don't have a meat chopper anymore, but we have got a big axe, if you catch my drift!"
Mike made a face.
"Mike, did you just pop over to nag at me about weapons and regulations? God damn, you were the cowboy, while I stuck to the rules. Would you have become a saint nowadays?", she replied bitterly.
His mask cracked. He grabbed her arm and pulled her away so no one could hear them, "No Kate, I came over because I was extremely worried. I had to say something", he said disarmingly.
She looked at him angrily, "And that gave you the right to accuse us of possession of illegal weapons?"
"No no, not at all, I was concerned about you and it was a kind of cover", he said.
"You'd have better worried about me a few years ago. You could have saved me from a lot of misery", Kate answered.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, I already had words with Nikki about it. She told me everything. You were pregnant with me?", he tried.
She raised her hand, "Stop! I miscarried and that's the last thing I want to talk about. I have a new life now and I want to forget the past...", she said, but she was cut off by Dylan.
"Honey, are you OK? Troubles?", he asked walking towards them.
"Darling, I'm fine. Mike was just worried, that's all", she replied.
"Ah, OK", he said looking at both of them.
"Kate, I'm sorry for what happened at the time. Okay?", Mike said.
She looked at him, "Sorry, that's it? Forget everything and smile again? Like that? Well Mike, that was the first move. I have to deal with", she answered slightly irritated.
A few minutes later, Kate and Dylan looked at the boats that were sailing towards the frigate. She turned to him. "Dylan, Mike scored a run. He only counted six Kalashnikovs. Where's the seventh?"
He scratched his head, "Well uh, we miscounted the pirates and we had an extra machine gun. It would have been a pity to throw it overboard or give it to the Navy. I thought it might be useful one day and I've put it in our armoury with the ammo", he said deadpan.
"I was already afraid that it would go in that direction. But nevertheless, it's a good idea! Today's events have proven it", she replied.
When Mike came back to the Sydney, he met Nikki's questioning look . "How was it?", she asked.
"Okay. No casualties. They fixed the problem like Navy people, although I don't know where their weapons came from", he answered.
"That's good, but my question was about another person", she replied with a smile.
"Well uh...", he mumbled with a nod to the bridge wing.
He waited until they were outside, "I said sorry, but she didn't seem to accept it", he said.
"It happened like that? You said sorry and that's it? Straight out?", Nikki asked baffled.
He looked irritated, "No, I had to start with something, so I started talking about the possession of the weapons...", he said.
Nikki rolled her eyes, "Oh Mike! How could you? Is this really a topic to address when you want to apologize for your mistake? Of course, she didn't accept that. Something that happened years ago can't be soothed by the only 'sorry' word. Okay, the weapons were certainly illegal, but without them, we probably would have recovered six of ours. Is that what you would have wanted?", she replied disappointed.
"No! Certainly not. I was concerned about her and the others, of course", he said in his defence. "So, now, what's next?", he asked.
"As far as know her, she will give you a kick in the pants too and then there will be a truce", Nikki said.
"Nice forecast! Is that the way?", he replied indignantly.
"Oh, I want to make an agreement with you. If there are personal issues aboard, I'll fix them, because from what I've seen from you, the results will not be positive", she said decisively.
Mike shrugged, "Ok, if you like".
To be continued