17. What happened?
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"Sir, the boat is empty." Danny said to the comm. When Kara and Mason said they had heard Alisha's voice in that distress call. He thought it was a miracle. She had managed to sail her way over the Atlantic. But now he wondered whether Kara had just wanted to hear her voice so badly that she had imagined it. He knew Alisha was her best friend and she wanted to know she was okay. But then again Mason had also confirmed what they had heard.
"Gather everything you can find and bring it back to the ship." He heard the order.
"Yes, sir." He began to look around. Not much to find, he saw a small backpack which he took and gathered some of the items lying around. A women's shirt, a pen and a couple of papers that were empty. He didn't quite understand what they possible could learn of the items, but he took everything with him.
As he and Taylor got the RHIB secured back up to the ship he saw her coming towards them. Studying her face as she did seem to appear puzzled by the finding they had made, the boat had been empty. He had noticed that she had been a little off the last few days. Perhaps it was all the stress she was going through, she had been more tired lately and the pressure of running the CIC short staffed might be too much for her to handle. He was worried. And now this.. What if she was going crazy?
"This is all I could find." He gave the backpack to her, knowing she would want to see everything with her own eyes. But as she took the backpack he saw her losing her posture. She was crying. He took a step forward to hug her.
"It's Alisha's." She managed to say. Sighing as he hold her in his arms. So she had been on the boat. But where was she then? Had she been rescued already? Puzzled by the revelation.
"You are certain this belongs to Granderson?" Chandler stared at Kara as they were standing in the wardroom.
"Yes, sir. This is her shirt." He saw her point towards the shirt placed on the table.
"We checked the boat. There was no one there." He said glancing at Kara. She still didn't seem to be okay.
"We have no idea what happened, it can be that someone else beat us to the rescue." Chandler stated.
He saw her look sadden a bit. There was nothing they could do. They had to continue on their mission. To get back home.
And then there was a knock on the door. Mason appeared.
Chandler eyed the young man.
"Sir, I'm not getting any contact from the base." Mason said.
"What?" Chandler asked.
They had last been in contact after their mission to Nicaragua, reporting that they were heading to Gitmo and then continuing towards Norfolk. This was starting to sound bad.
"Should I keep trying?" Mason wondered.
Noticing that Chandler was thinking the situation over and seeing Kara's posture, she must worry about her mother.
"No. If there is no reply from the base that means they have evacuated. We stay in EMCON." Chandler issued the order.
"Heading to North Carolina then? That is the evacuation plan for the base." He heard Kara ask.
"No. We travel back to Norfolk. Keep the Nathan James far from the coast. Take a RHIB and scout the place." Chandler said.
"Sir?" He asked as he met the Captains gaze. Puzzled by his decision. If the base really had been evacuated, there was a good reason for it.
"Something's not right. I want to see it for myself." Chandler gave as an excuse. Seeing for the first time that he seemed afraid, slight hesitation in making this decision to go back even though the base was most likely evacuated.
"Yes, sir." He nodded and left the room. Hearing that Kara came after him.
"Danny.." He heard as he turned around to face her.
"His wife and kids were there. He wants to know." She had then said.
"And Frankie." She added. He hadn't even thought of his friend. But he knew Slattery would have had a plan.
"Doesn't he trust Slattery?" He met her eyes.
"It's not about trust, you never know what might go wrong." She then said.
He only nodded to her. He didn't have it in him to argue on this.
As the Nathan James was in position they were preparing for the mission to go back to the base. They would leave as soon as it would be dark. He still wasn't sure about this, but there was little he could do about it. Chandler, Burk, Taylor, Bivas and himself would be on the mission. Commander Garnett had wanted to as well, but Chandler stated it firmly, they needed her on the ship. In case something went wrong.
"Hey.." He was holding her in his arms in the corridor before leaving. He sensed she was worried about him.
"I'll be fine." He tried to reassure her.
"Just come back to us." She then said meeting his eyes. And before he realized any of what she had said, she guided his hand on her lower belly. Us?
As he gave her a surprised look, he quickly began smiling. Was she pregnant? It was like she read his mind as she nodded to him.
"Is it true?" He asked glancing downwards to her belly.
"It's early, but I'm sure of it." She told him.
"Is it okay?" She had then asked him. Of course it was okay, but he couldn't help but think about the future and what would it held for them and their baby. Would they survive? Without a vaccine it would be hard. He was even more scared of the thought now, would she survive through childbirth? But even though it was scary to not know what would happen, he felt joyful about the thought that they were having a baby, he would become a father.
"Yeah, it is." He answered as he smiled at her and then kissed her soft lips. So this had been the reason why she hasn't been herself lately, he thought. He should have figured it out himself.