CH 89
"Madeline Cruise didn't look happy," MacGyver said.
"I know. Are you on duty tonight?"
"Nope, so we can have our own private celebrations at home."
"And the crew?"
"I don't want them to see us doing what we are going to be doing," she said, chuckling.
"Like last night in your cabin?"
"Exactly," she said, smiling.
She noticed the look on Jim's face. "Jim, what's wrong?"
"The team and I went after a man Madeline wanted to interrogate. He knows nothing about any terrorism. He was just a shop owner. We had him under surveillance, and there was nothing suspicious."
"What happened to him?"
"He was killed after we dropped him off outside his store."
"Where was Ms. Cruise?"
"She showed up an hour later."
"Was this on an island?"
"Yeah."
"How long did it take you to reach this island?"
"Six hours. Captain Thomas did some checking. Madeline arrived on the island two hours before he died. The bullet came from a nine mil handgun. It wasn't any of my team; they still have all their bullets. Madeline carries a nine mil."
"So, she could be the one who killed him. But why?"
"I don't know?"
"Does Captain Thomas know about this?"
"Yeah, he does."
"OK, see if he can get a background on the guy, there must be a reason why he was murdered."
"Will do." Reaching the guardhouse, they kiss goodbye.
"See you at home tonight; I'll bring us dinner," Jim said.
"I love your surprises."
"I know you do." Kissing once more before Jim walks past the guard gate saluting the guards on duty. June returns to Hammersley.
When Jim walked in the door that evening, he was carrying a bottle of wine, a pizza box, and two different boxes on top. "June," he called out.
"In the laundry room, I'll be out in a minute."
"OK." He put everything on the breakfast bar then went upstairs to change.
June saw what was on the counter, and she got two wine glasses from the cupboard, putting them next to the bottle of wine. Jim returned to the kitchen. He gave her a kiss when she opened the three boxes.
"Garlic prawn pizza, spud bites, and garlic bread," she said with a smile.
"I know you love them," Jim said.
"So do you. I made chocolate moose for dessert."
"Woman after my heart."
"Well, you started it," she kissed him.
"Yes, I did," opening the bottle of wine and pouring it into the two glasses.
They sat at the breakfast bar to eat while they talked about different things. They had an early night.
The next day Mike called MacGyver and asked her to meet him at a coffee shop. Arriving, she saw Mike looking worried and confused. She got herself a drink, then walked over and sat across from him.
"Thanks for seeing me, MacGyver."
"What's wrong, Sir? Did you and X have a fight?"
"No, but it's something else that will affect Kate."
"What's wrong?"
"Maxine's ex-husband, Stewart's got cancer. He needs a bone marrow transplant. So I spoke to Sarah; she and Stewart haven't been getting on well since the divorce. Stewart asked me to talk to Sarah about having the test done. I told Kate this, and she suggested that I offer to go along to hold her hand."
"You did. So what's the problem?"
"I had the test done as well. No match"
"No match even if different blood type there still would be a match unless Stewart is Sarah's biological father."
"He's not."
MacGyver looked at him. "Oh no… your Sarah's father."
"Yes, perfect match."
"Oh, I see your problem. How do you feel about it?"
"Shocked. I can't believe Maxine lied to me years ago."
"Maxine… When she got pregnant, what did she say to you?"
"She told me that the timing wasn't right for it to be my child."
"She lied to you."
"Yes, it would seem so."
MacGyver reached for his hand. "Tell Kate. If not, she'll know something's wrong. Tell her everything."
"I don't know who she will cope with this."
"I'll make sure I have ice cream and wine at home tonight just in case."
"Thanks, but Sarah… I don't know how she's going to handle this either."
"It would be shocking for any teenager."
"I guess you're right."
"Go home and talk to her now. Don't put it off."
"OK, thanks for listening."
"That's what I'm here for."
A few days later, Hammersley left for patrol with June now a Chief Petty Officer. The crew was away for three weeks doing maydays and FFV.
That night MacGyver talked to Mike and Kate in Mike's cabin. "You wanted to see me, Sir?"
"Close the door."
She saw them sitting on the bed next to each other. She sat down on the chair and wheeled it close to them.
"I'm listening."
"I did what you suggested. I told Kate everything."
"Kate, how do you feel about all of this?"
"I knew Mike slept with Maxine once years ago and that Sarah is his goddaughter. But finding out that he is her biological father. It's shocking."
"It would be for any couple. The question is, does this change how you feel for Mike?"
"No, I still love him despite finding out about this."
"At least he told you and didn't keep it to himself."
"True."
"One day, you two will have a family of your own."
"Yeah," Mike said, picking up Kate's hand.
"Now, what are you going to do now, Mike?"
"Talk to Maxine about Sarah."
"The next step. Good luck".
"Thanks."
"Does Jim know?" Kate asked.
"No, unless you want me to tell him."
"You can," Mike said.
"Thanks, Mike. Are there any other questions?"
"Yes, where's the chocolate?" Kate asked, making MacGyver laugh and Mike grin.
MacGyver pulled the bar out of her pocket and passed it to her.
"Thanks. Where have you been hiding them?"
"Not saying," she grinned as she stood up and pushed the chair back.
"I'll leave you two to talk and munch on the chocolate."
"Thanks, MacGyver," Mike said.
"Any time, Sir, X." she walked out, closing the door as she heard…. "Can I have a piece, Kate?"
"Kiss me," which made her smile when she heard Kate giggling, knowing everything was going to be OK between them.
On the way back to Cairns, they stop off at Stoke Island to pick up a prisoner. Kate and MacGyver were appalled with the way the young guy was man-handled. When they got him in austere, he went crazy and had to be restrained by tying him to the bed.
"I've never seen anything like this; it's not drugs," Swain said.
MacGyver took her penlight out of her pocket and stepped forward. The guy looked at her, and she flicked the light into his eyes to see what sort of reaction she got. When he went crazy
"Easy, calm down, it's OK," she said softly to the guy.
She stroked the top of his head while talking softly to him till he closed his eyes as he relaxed. Swain, Kate, and Dutchy step forward, ready if they should be needed. MacGyver notices his chest isn't rising.
She checks his pulse. "Swain!" she yells as she starts chest compressions. Swain grabs the breathing mask and handheld pump.
"What"s going on?" Kate asked.
"Don't know. He just stopped breathing." A couple minutes later, MacGyver put her hand on Swain and looked at her watch. "Ten twenty-three am."
Swain looked at his watch, "I agree."
MacGyver turned to see Mike there. "What happened?"
"He went crazy. MacGyver managed to calm him down, then she checked his pupils. Then he went crazy again. She managed to calm him down again, then he stopped breaking. We started CPR, but we couldn't get his heart started. I've never seen anything like this," Swain said, distraught.
"MacGyver," Mike turned to her.
"It's hard to say, but my guess is that with the way he acted and being sensitive to bright lights, I think it might be a brain tumor. Remember what happened to Lieutenant Commander Freemen. Remember how he acted when X relieved him of his command, his mood swings. That is what happened here. But, if it is a brain tumor, I've never seen anything like this before. I need to do some research. Hopefully, it might tell me what sort we are dealing with."
"OK, I'll contact NAVCOM; you both have done your best."
"Thank you, Sir," Swain said
"Sir, when are we leaving port?"
"In a few minutes. Why?"
"I would like to talk to the doctor. He might have an idea what caused this young guy to go crazy."
"Alright, I'll give you ten minutes. Swain, you go with her."
"Yes, Sir."
They took care of the body then went to see the doctor to let him know that his patient had died.
Swain and MacGyver left Hammersley and went to the doctor's clinic. Walking into the clinic, they saw a man behind the desk. "Doctor John Wallance?''
"Take a seat; I'll be with you soon," he said as he continued to write.
"Doctor Wallace, I'm Chief Petty Officer June Roth. I need to ask you some questions, please, Sir. " He looked up to see Swain and MacGyver there.
"Questions about what?"
"The young man we've got on Hammersley. Can we talk in private for a minute, Sir?" Swain said
"Can it wait?"
"Sorry, Sir, we don't have much time before we sail," MacGyver explained.
"Alright," they follow him into the next room.
"OK, what is it?"
"The young man that we've got on board died a few minutes ago."
"What? How?"
"He went crazy when we got him down in austere where he would be staying. We had to restrain him to the bed. When I used my penlight to check his pupils, it caused him to become agitated again. I managed to calm him down, but then he stopped breathing. We did CPR but couldn't get his heart beating again. Have you any idea what might cause something like this to happen?"
"I do, from what you told me. The people here think that he was a nutcase and that he was on something. I told them I didn't think that was the case, but no one was willing to listen to me."
"It's cancer," MacGyver said.
"An unusual type of brain tumor. There have only been forty-three known cases worldwide with the same symptoms. The Stoke Island Monster, as they called him, is the seventh one with identical symptoms here on this island in the past five years."
"Seven! Are any of the others alive?"
"One, a seven-year-old girl. All the others died over the past four years. There's something in the water and seafood."
"What is?"
"A poison that's causing all of this cancer."
"Are you sure?" Swain asked.
"Yes, positive. Ten years ago, over two thousand people were living on this island today, just over six hundred."
"What was the birth and death rate like back ten years compared to today?" MacGyver asked.
He walked over and pulled out a drawer from the filing cabinet, removed a file, and passed it to them.
"Ten years ago, there would be three deaths to seven births. Today no births and twenty-two deaths so far to date, and it is only March; it's all in there. Nineteen of those deaths were from cancer."
MacGyver opened the file and read it. "My gosh… have you contacted the authorities about this?"
"I have sent samples of the water out. I've tested the waters and left them with the samples. It's all in there. They keep saying that there is nothing wrong with the water".
"When did you start noticing this happening?" Swain asked.
"Six years ago when a family came into the clinic thinking it was food poisoning from the fish they brought from one of the locals. I gave them something and sent them home. Within two hours, more people showed up with the same symptoms.
The next day, even more showed up after eating seafood. I called for outside help, and one of the Navy ships showed up with supplies; they helped me out. I had over a hundred cases of food poisoning. They did get better, but others started coming in with the same thing.
I tested the remains of different fish; they were all poison. Three months later, one by one, they started coming in feeling sick with headaches or being unable to keep things down. I did several blood tests and have sent them to Cairns. Out of seventy blood samples, twenty-one came back positive for cancer. The others were inclusive. I repeated the test a month later again, they all came back positive.
I've recorded everything. The youngest child on this island is almost five years old. Twenty-nine couples went to Cairns when they tried to start a family, all twenty-nine all infertile. Fifteen of the women had to have a hysterectomy when the scans revealed ovarian and vaginal cancer. All the men, we're sterile."
"Have you told the authorities this?"
"Of course. They didn't listen. They believe some young expecter that's saying that it is not the water or seafood."
"With readings like this, it should have set off alarms bells," MacGyver said.
"They don't seem to care, but I do. Someone's dumping poison into the sea. If this isn't stopped, everyone on this island will be dead in the next five years or less. You've got to find out who is doing this and what other islands also experiencing the same thing."
"We will look into it, Doctor Wallace, because of this," MacGyver holds up the file.
"It's alarming, and we will look into it when we return to Cairns."
"Thank you, you are my only hope."
"Can we take this?" MacGyver said, indicating the file.
"Yes, of course, if it will help."
"Thank you for talking with us."
"Thank you for listening."
MacGyver and Swain head back to Hammersley.