Ch 103
"Mike?" Kate called him when they were having dinner. "Mike, what's wrong?" He lowered his fork and sighing looked up at Kate. "That bad, huh?" she tried to light it up.
"I'm staying on the Hammersley until a new replacement can be found," Mike said at once, and her eyes widened.
"What happened with the replacement they found for the next patrol?"
"Medical discharge," Mike sighed. "He found out he has cancer."
"That's awful."
"Yeah. It also got me thinking about the letter."
"What part of the mystery letter?"
"Ray Walsmen, Samaru island. All the clues it gave us added to the whole bunch of things that are coming in our way."
"We can work out the clues, Mike." She said placing her hand over his and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Just like we did last year with Bright island."
Two days later, they meet up with HMAS Melbourne because the Hammersley was getting a new temporary electrical technician. No one knew who it was except for Nav; it was in her letter.
"Missed me already?" He asked with a big grin when he joined the Hammersley crew.
"ET! Why didn't you tell us?" Spider yelled out.
"And miss the shocked look on your ugly faces?"
"I guess the gang is back together," Mike said before turning around to return to the bridge. "Oh, Nav?" he called as he walked beside her.
"Yes, sir?"
"I would like a word with you in an hour in my cabin."
"Yes, sir."
An hour later, Nav was entering Mike's room and found Kate on the bed reading some documents.
"Ah, close the door, please." He smiled, Nav nodded and found a place to sit.
"Nav, I'm pretty sure you are aware of the no relationships on the ship rule, right?"
"Yes, I do."
"Nav," Kate said lowering the documents. "Nikki, Mike knows about your relationship with ET." Nav sighed.
"I knew you would tell him." Kate bit her lower lip.
"Nav? Have you and ET had this relationship when he was on this boat?"
"Sir?" Nav asked in shock.
"Just answer the question, please."
"We dated, yes. And that was it. We both know the rules, so nothing happened until he was posted on Melbourne," she confessed.
"And you know what you will have to do, right?" She nodded.
"I'll talk to him."
"You do that," Mike grinned.
"Is there anything else, sir?"
"That's all; you can go."
"Thank you, sir."
As Nav closed the door, she noticed that ET was waiting for her outside. She nodded for him to follow her until they were on the back of the boat alone.
"Nikki, what happened?"
"They know about us."
"They know?"
"That we were dating when you were transferred to Melbourne," she continued.
"Oh," he exhaled. "I thought for a moment they knew we are married."
"No. They don't, but we need to set some rules, Josh."
"Shoot," he grinned.
Back on Mike's cabin, he was pacing.
"What's wrong?" Kate asked once she got tired of his walk.
"I'm not sure; I think Nav is keeping something from us."
"Whatever it might be, all we can do is keep an eye on them," Kate shrugged.
"I just wish my gut would stop. I know there's something else," he groaned. She stood up and embraced him from behind.
"Listen to me, Mike's gut," she started making him chuckle. "Whatever it is that Nikki is hiding from us, she will tell us in time." Mike turned around in the embrace. "She's shocked, Mike. And you and I both know what she might be going through; just take a moment to place yourself on ET or her place."
"I guess you are right, but still," she stepped out of the embrace and placed a finger over his lips.
"I know, rules are rules," she grinned turning around to grab a couple of pages. "Now, if you are done, Mike. Can you sign these, sir?"
"Yes, ma'am!" He grinned.
The next day, they were sent to Samaru island to rescue aid workers attacked by insurgents. Once they were there, the crew managed to catch some of the insurgents and handed them over to the authorities. The aid workers were moved to the Hammersley for their safety.
Once they were on their back to Cairns, Mike stopped by Kate's cabin to check her; she was shot by one of the insurgents. When she walked out of the bathroom after her shower, he was there waiting for her.
"Are you ok?"
"I will be," she smiled. And Mike couldn't help but pull her into his arms and allow her to cry. Once she composed herself, they went to talk with the people they rescued.
Once they reached Cairns, they went to NAVCOM. They informed Steve about what transpired on Samaru island. Then they continued going through all the other things they did until now.
"Oh, Mike. I've received the engineer report about the blown piston on the 'Sexy Beast.' Your chief engineer was right; it was deliberate sabotage. There was some background check, and we found out that it's not the first time for them."
"Really?"
"Yes, there are around twenty other reports about the same problem in the past two years." He said passing Mike a folder.
"Wow, Darwin, Perth, Broome, Carnarvon, Fremantle, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Townsville, Stanley, Hobart, Coff's harbor. They've been around Australia," Kate whistled.
"Yes, and they have been hitting on the female personal on each of the ships."
"Let me guess, flirting and asking out to dinner?" Kate said
"Yes"
"Sounds like we stopped them from doing that to my crew Steve."
"Well, your crew is a tough one, Mike. As Lieutenant McGregor, all of the other women said no to them."
"Well, I have a great crew," Mike grinned.
"That you have, Mike."
"What going to happen to them, sir?" Kate asked.
"Sadly, they left yesterday after their piston was fixed."
"You will be sending them our bill, I presume?" Mike asked
"They will get it, but they don't care. One hundred and twenty thousand dollars is nothing to them," the Flynn's exchanged shocked expressions.
"Wait, are you saying they are millionaires?" Kate asked
"Their combined inheritance goes over the billion dollars." Mike whistled.
"Sir, can I suggest something?"
"Of course, Lieutenant."
"Can we send a warning message to all of the patrol boats and ships around Australia about the men and their boat. This way the Captains will know and be able to warn their crew."
"Excellent idea, Lieutenant. I'll talk to the fleet command about it."
"Yes, sir."
After five days of shore leave, the crew meet up again on the boat.
"ET, what did you do on your leave?" Charge asked
"Swain, Buffer, and I went fishing," ET grinned.
"Did you catch anything?"
"Yup, we had what a barbeque at Swain's place with what we caught," ET said
"And you didn't invite me?" Charge pouted.
"Hey! we tried calling you, but you must have been hung over from all those guava mojo's" Swain said making everyone on the bridge laugh.
"What about you, sir?" Charge asked
"X and I spend five wonderful days with our kids," Kate heard him as she walked up the steps to the bridge.
"I bet you spoiled them rotten, sir," Charge said knowingly.
"He totally did," Kate said.
"Did he get you anything, X?" Nav asked
"No."
"What? You spoiled your kids but not your wife, sir?" Charge asked
"Well, if you all must know, I'm planning on spoiling her over our two-week shore leave once we finish this patrol." They turned towards Kate.
"Hey, don't look at me, I have no idea what he's planning."
A week later, Spider was teasing Bomber, and that ended up with her throwing him an egg. The weapon ended up crushed against the wall, missing Spider and almost hit Buffer instead. He frowned when he also noticed ET and RO on the room and learned soon that it started as a bet.
So, after that, Buffer organized training. During it, Spider continued teasing Bomber which ended up with her pushing him almost over the side of the Hammersley. Buffer yelled at Bomber, and training was over when they finally spotted a boat drifting away and not answering the hails.
The boarding crew reached the ship and found a man dead on the floor dead. Buffer, Spider, and Bomber remained behind with the body and head back to Cairns; while the Hammersley headed to a dingy spotted by coast watch.