Ch 114
Buffer walked down to his apartment, he had the night off, but he had to report back at eight am. He opened the door and saw the envelope.
Groaning he picked it up and closed the door behind him and walking to the kitchen, he opened the letter and took it out. He sat down as he read the letter and sighed. He knew what he needed to do and went straight to do start it by making some calls.
The next morning, Buffer walked into Steve's office knowing he would find Mike and Kate there.
"Buffer, we thought you would be on the Hammersley?" Mike said when he saw him.
"I will be, sir. I've come to ask for personal leave when we return from our next patrol, sir," Buffer said stepping inside and giving him the documents.
"Petty Officer Tomaszewski, may I ask what's the reason for your leave?" Steve asked
"My mother, sir. She has stage four cancer. The doctors have given her three weeks. She's in Cairns hospital, sir."
"Buffer, I'm sorry I didn't know," Kate said. Buffer turned to her.
"No one knows, X."
"Steve, is there a chance of getting a temporary replacement for Buffer?" Mike asked
"I'll see what I can do for you Petty Officer."
"Thank you, sir." Buffer clenched his jaw. "Sir, ma'am, I don't want the crew to know."
"We understand," Mike said.
"I'm sorry for interrupting your briefing. I'll see you on the Hammersley," he stood at attention and saluted which Steve did in return before Buffer walked out of the office.
When they returned two weeks later, the Flynn's said their goodbye to Buffer before he walked away from the Hammersley. Three days after, once the shore leave was over, the crew noticed a strange with Kate.
"Morning, X," Swain said, and Kate grinned.
"Morning. Swain, Charge, this is Bull. He will be replacing Buffer for a couple of patrols."
"Is something wrong with Buffer?" Charge asked concerned.
"Nothing wrong with Buffer. But I can't tell you the reason why he won't be joining us."
"Ok, nice to meet you Bull," Charge said sticking out his hand
"Charge, Swain," he said before walking past them.
"I hope we don't have any problems with him," Charge said as he and Swain walked up.
A couple of hours later, they left for three weeks. The crew did their best on warm up to Bull, but he wasn't interested.
After the first mail delivery, Bomber found herself in the com room, helping RO to sort the email. He gave her a box, and she opened, while he recorded it.
"What is it?" RO asked when Bomber's reaction was a frown.
"It's a bracelet," she said picking it up and showing it to ET. "It's from my mother."
"Then why aren't you happy?"
"I haven't spoken to her in four years since I left to join the Navy," RO helped her with the bracelet. She looked at it before she grinned at RO.
"Thanks, I'll better go and get breakfast on," she said before grabbing the rest of her mail and walking away.
"Spider what are you doing here?" She asked when she reached the kitchen.
"Ah...making coffee." She nodded and picked up a bucket.
"I'm going to get rid of this"
"I'll come with you."
"What about your coffee?"
"I'll get it later," they walk out of the kitchen and up to the bridge where Bull was on duty.
"Bull we will be on the back of the boat."
"To do what?"
"Throw this," Bomber said showing him the bucket.
"And you?" he looked at Spider
"I'll be there to make sure she doesn't fall overboard." He said Bull raised his eyebrow before waving them away.
"Oh no!" she said stopping throwing the scraps into the sea. She removed the railing and lowered the bucket.
"Bomber, what are you doing?" Spider asked when she walked down the steps.
"My bracelet," she said and picked it up. There was a sudden rise on the boat speed, and it turned sharply, making them both end up in the sea.
"Oh great."
They watched the Hammersley slowly move away from them. Kate and some of the crew were in the junior mess when they noticed the speed pick up and turn.
"What the hell?" Kate muttered running towards the bridge.
"What's going on Bull?" She demanded.
"Nothing, X." He shrugged. Kate walked checking things for an explanation.
"Nothing? Then why you are we on two two zero when we are meant to be two zero zero? And why did you turn twentry degrees off course?" Kate questioned slowing back as Mike ran up onto the bridge
"X, what going on?"
"Bull changed speed and altered course by twenty degrees without consulting you or me, sir."
"Petty Officer Bullen, care to explain?"
"I got none, sir."
"Get off my bridge! You are confined to the lower decks until further notice."
"Yes, sir!" He said walking away.
"Bull." He turned to Kate, "is there anything else we should be aware?"
"No, X." Kate thought about it and then she went to the PA. "Bomber to the bridge, Spider to the bridge."
"X," she turned to Mike.
"Bomber was throwing the scraps off the back of the ship; Spider was going with her."
"How do you know this?"
"I was hiding. It's Bomber twenty-first birthday."
"Today?"
"Yeah."
"Bomber to the bridge, Spider to the bridge," she tried again. But they only got ET, Swain, and Charge.
"What's going on?" Charge asked
"Bomber and Spider are missing, search the boat," Mike ordered.
"Check the back first," Kate added.
They rushed around the boat and ET went to the back first; he spotted the bucket and lack of safety chain.
"Oh no!" he said running back to the Bridge.
"Sir, X, I think Bomber and Spider have fallen overboard."
"What?" They said at the same time.
"Are you sure ET?" Mike asked
"Yes, sir. The scrap bucket is on the deck, but the safety chain is down."
"ET change course to one eight zero," Kate said. ET changed course while Kate called for all duty watch to the bridge.
"Listen up; we've got two crew members possibly overboard. We need everyone on the look for them."
"Sir, who's missing?" Nav asked
"Spider and Bomber" Kate answered.
She handed out binoculars to the crew that quickly scattered around the ship looking for them. What they didn't know was that someone had already picked them up.
An hour had passed since they fell overboard and they talked while drifting out on the sea to keep themselves at least entertained. They spotted the boat and waved their hands, and soon it was turning towards them.
"Boy! We are glad you came by!" Spider grinned as two men helped them into their boat, and a woman quickly gave them towels as they got rid of their overalls.
"What happened to you?"
"Our boat sank when it caught fire, and the raft leaked," Bomber quickly lied. Spider frowned, but he trusted her, so he nodded.
"What about life vests?"
"They caught fire with the boat," Spider added.
"Come, lets' get you down and hopefully I'll be able to find something for you two to wear. Why were you doing out here?"
"Our honeymoon," Bomber added quickly and the woman looked at their fingers. "We've lost everything there, including our rings," she sighed.
"I hope the boat was insured."
"Yeah, we too. It was a wedding gift from our parents."
"They seem nice," Spider said once they were left alone to change. "So, why?"
"I recognized one of the men." Bober said
"Really? From where?"
"I saw him on the papers last week; he is a drug dealer named Finn McLean."
"Oh! Crap! What should we do now?"
"We keep acting like a married couple, while we hope the crew finds us soon. Get your dog tags off," she said, and he did it quickly. She placed both tags on her bra when she heard steps coming down.
"Are you dressed?" the woman asked
"Yes, thanks." They answered tugging bigger clothes as they walked up.
"Here, I'm pretty sure you'll need this."
"Thank you," Spider nodded grabbing the water bottles. Another half an hour went by when one of the men stood up looking out.
"Shit! It's the Navy," he said.
"What's going on?" Bomber asked when Finn brought out his gun
"Get down and be quiet."
The other guy also grabbed his gun. As they walked the steps Bomber pretended to trip and pushed the guy using his distraction to throw their dog tags on two separate places.
"Watch out, sweetheart!" The man said, "Move."
The boarding team reached them in minutes; everything seemed normal until ET spotted something shining on the floor. He crouched and picked it up, frowning he stood up.
"X. I found Spider's dog tags," he announced and their guns were drawn.
They arrested the woman and Finn easily, and after securing them, the crew went to check the rest of the ship. ET and Swain found the man pointing at Spider and quickly got him arrested.
"Geez, you guys took your sweet time!" Bomber said
"
Well, Charge will be happy to see you Bomber," ET smiled.
"How did you know where we were?" Spider asked
"Your dog tags, mate." They walked back to the deck, and Kate passed her dog tags to Bomber. "Just found them."
"Thanks, X."
"X. This is Finn McLean, the feds want him for escaping prison."
"Alright, lets' return to the Hammersley."
"Yes, ma'am."
The whole crew greeted them, and four hours later the feds showed up to take the three of them back to the mainland while the Hammersley's returned to their patrol.