Ch 83
An hour after they reached the port, two federal agents and Steve showed up. Mike and Kate were walking down the Hammersley to welcome them.
"Steve"
"Mike, Lieutenant, these are Agents Murphy and Thomas."
"I already know Murphy."
"Lieutenant Commander Flynn, I hope you don't interfere with our investigations."
"You know me, Murphy."
"I do, and that is why I'm warning you before you do."
"Alright, that's enough. Mike, where is Dr. Homes?"
"Here she comes, sir," Kate said.
They turned to see Swain and Chefo pushing a body bag on a stretcher and walked towards the Hurst.
"Sir, are they taking Dr. Homes to the hospital?" Mike asked
"Yes, they are."
"Lieutenant and I will be there."
"Mike"
"I told her we were going to be there."
"Alright," Swain turned to Mike and gave him a slight nod before they returned to the ship after delivering their cargo.
"You can come with us; we are going there now, Lieutenant Commander, Lieutenant."
"Thank you, sir," Kate said
"Mike, Lieutenant come and see me when you are done at the hospital."
"Yes, sir." Kate saluted Steve. He returned her salute before he turned around to walk to NAVCOM.
"Lieutenant, you saw the bottles?" Murphy asked once they were in the car on their way to the hospital. Kate nodded. "How many do you think there are?"
"About ten thousand."
"Not enough to kill all of Australia."
"Doctor Homes said that if you were to drink a glass of one mil of the toxin diluted to 1.5 liters of water, you would be slowly killed. A bottle of 1.5 can be divided into up to ten glasses. So, each of the ten people would be paralyzed; then the larynx will start to swell until breathing was not possible."
"And there's an antidote?" Mike shook his head.
"As far as we know the toxin is new and unknown," Mike said
They walked into the hospital to find where Doctor Homes was place. When they reached there; they found someone talking with the Doctor.
"Doctor," they called, the man turned around before excusing himself with the woman.
"Agent Murphy, you are here to see Doctor Homes body?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"Well then, Agent Murphy. This is Doctor Ursula Morrell; she's here to identify the remains."
"Oh, really? And did you know her well?" Murphy asked
"We shared the lab for five years," Ursula explained.
"And by any chance, you know what she was doing on Bright island?"
"She was researching some antidotes for a toxin."
"Shall we?" the doctor said, pointing towards a door. They walked into the next room and soon he was rolling a covered body in front of them.
"Can you identify this woman?" he asked uncovering the face.
"Yes," she blanched. "That's Lisa Homes," she squeaked out before her legs gave way and Mike was quick to catch her
"I'll take her outside," Mike helping Ursula walk out side.
"It's safe now, Dr. homes," the agent said, and she inhaled deeply. She opened her eyes and sat up clutching the sheet, she looked around and relaxed when she saw Kate.
"Dr. Homes, I'm Agent Murphy," he offered his hand, and she took it.
"What happens now?"
"You can get dressed, and we will take you to a safe location."
"What about my work?"
"We've mounted a lab for you. If we failed to provide something you needed, then we will provide it for you."
"Thank you," she said as they left the room.
"This way, Doctor Homes," the doctor said pointing towards the other side.
She wrapped herself in the sheet and followed him. Before she entered, she turned around and smiled at Kate.
"Thank Lieutenant Commander Flynn for me."
"I will, ma'am and good luck."
"Thank you." They both nodded to each other and walked in the opposite direction.
"Agents Murphy and Thomas are staying until they get the Doctor's report." Kate said when she walk over to mike
"Alright."
"Mike?" Ursula called.
"Can you stay with me, please?"
"I'm sorry, ma'am. Commander Marshall is waiting for Lieutenant Commander Flynn and myself to report before we have to sail again."
"Oh... ok."
"Will you be ok, ma'am?" Mike asked
"I will be, thanks." She stood up and walk away from them. Mike turned to Kate with a smirk.
"What? Commander Marshal is waiting for us," she answered defensively. He grinned
"You are jealous," Kate rolled her eyes and walked away from him. Mike chuckled and followed her.
When they reached Navcom and were directed straight to Commander Marshal's office.
"Mike, Lieutenant, how did it go at the hospital?"
"It went good, Steve. Did you manage to find out about the bunkers?" Steve picked up a folder and passed it to Mike.
"Yes, I did. Lieutenant, you were right about the bunkers, there's one on Creek island," Mike opened the file and Kate moved closer to read it too.
"Creek island is three hours away from Bright island." Mike pointed.
"And Bright island is two hours away from territorial waters," Kate added.
"What do you think of this?" Mike gave her the sheet of paper and pointed to one part. Kate frowned.
"Oh, my! If the size of the bunkers is correct, what we found on Bright Island is only a quarter of what's available. If there are bottles on Creek island," Kate calculated and looked at Mike in horror. "If I'm right, there's enough toxin to kill six times over the Australian population. Sir, if those bottles get into international waters, they can be sold to the highest bidder."
"Does agent Murphy know about this?" Mike asked Steve
"No, not yet. And Mike, you are not going to do anything about this. It is a federal matter now."
"Steve," Mike started, but Steve only raised his hand to stop him.
"Mike, I mean it." Mike stood up. "And I know you won't want to stop, Mike. But it is an order," Mike nodded and walked out of Steve's office. The moment his door was closed, Steve huffed.
"You are afraid he's going to go after this, right?" Kate said before she realized she was talking with her Commander. "Sir," Steve grinned.
"Yes, but this time if he crosses the line, I won't be able to help him."
"I know, sir. And he probably knows it too. But he does have a point, sir."
"I am not saying he doesn't," Kate stood up, with a grin lowering the file on Steve's desktop.
"Sir? Can I ask you something?" Steve frowned.
"Ask away, Lieutenant."
"Can you check out a barge called Pacific Mariner? It was spotted on the radar when we were on Bright island, and it was moving away from Creek island."
"Sure, I'll look for it."
"Thank you, sir," Kate saluted before turning around and going to find Mike.
She found him leaning against the rails and the moment he heard her footsteps he turned around. She smiled. "Let's go home."
He grinned back and nodded before they walked to their car.
The next morning, they were called into NAVCOM. Two federal police officers were waiting for them at Steve's office.
"Murphy," Mike said when he recognized one of the men.
"Lieutenant Commander Flynn," he nodded.
"Steve," Mike greeted
"I'm sorry, Mike. The orders came from the fleet command. Your orders are to take Agents Murphy and Turnball to Bright Island and show them the bottles."
"What?"
"I'm sorry, Mike. After that the Hammersley is to finish its patrol," Mike clenched his jaw before he nodded.
"When do we leave?"
"In two hours. The Hammersley is being stocked as we speak." Steve affirmed giving Mike the required papers. "Fair winds." He added, Mike and Kate saluted Steve, and he saluted them before they left the room with the agents behind them.
Two hours later, Mike was on the bridge of the Hammersley with Swain, and Nav. Kate was down below having words with some sailors who were partly drunk or suffering from a hangover from the night before. When the agents entering the room opened the door to the bridge, all the people in the bridge could hear Kate's voice reprimanding the sailors.
"Lieutenant McGregor sure has a temper," Murphy commented making Swain, Nav and Mike grin.
"Yes. She's one hell of a taskmaster," Nav said.
"I almost feel sorry for those sailors she's yelling at," Turnball grimaced.
"You shouldn't, she's good at what she does, ma'am and she wouldn't be doing it if they followed orders," Swain explained.
"How so?"
"X warned the crew about not getting drunk. They didn't listen, and now suffering the consequences," Mike added.
"How many are there, sir?" Swain asked out of curiosity.
"Spider, Chefo and Spike."
"Well, we will have very clean toilets, sir." Nav grinned making the other two laugh. The agents frowned. "Ah, it's one of the punishments around here. Cleaning toilets with a toothbrush."
"That's horrible!" Turnball said
"It's effective," Mike added. "Once they experience it, they will do everything in their hands to avoid being in that place again."