33. What now?
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"We have a vaccine and a cure for the Red Flu." Rachel said with a happy tone in her voice. Kara wasn't sure whether she had ever seen the woman smile, but today was the day. She saw the relief on her face. She had succeeded in her task, finally. Tex had made it through although it had been a close call.
"So what happens now?" Burk gave a look around the table.
"I'm trying to produce as many doses as it's possible, but we do not have endless amount of supplies." Rachel told them.
"So we need to figure out a plan for mass production of the cure." She heard Danny say from beside her.
"The Russian ship holds the laboratory that was on the base in Norfolk. But we do not have the supplies to run it." Slattery continued.
"Are we leaving the island, sir?" She asked and looked at Slattery as he glanced quickly at Chandler who was sitting quietly at the end of the table. He hasn't been himself after Darien's death. She was at loss of words to describe how the Captain must be feeling right now. The thought of losing Danny.. She already thought she had lost him once, but losing him now, she couldn't even bear the thought. She glanced towards him and placed her hand on his as his hand was resting on the arm of the chair. She saw he was little puzzled by her action but didn't resist.
"No. We are not." Chandler finally spoke.
"Slattery and I made the conclusion that if Dr. Scott was to discover a vaccine, our next stop would be New Orleans. We need to distribute the cure, start spreading the doses around the world so that the mass production of it can begin." He continued.
"But we do not know what the situation on land is." Slattery sighed.
"We don't know if there are more Russians out there, there has been no communication attempts to the ship, so the obvious conclusion to make is that there might not be any threats." Chandler stood up and walked around the table slowly, glancing at everyone.
"But we also need to take in count the people that were after Green's group." Slattery continued.
She gave another look towards Danny and Frankie who was sitting beside him. She saw that they still felt the fear of whoever it was that had been after them.
"Why New Orleans?" Ravit asked the obvious question on their minds.
"After Katrina the officials made preparations for the worst, so it's the place to go." Slattery said.
"We need to make sure New Orleans is safe. I suggest we gather a team and scout the place." Chandler met Slattery's gaze and she saw they wanted to be absolutely sure that the next stop in their plan would be safe. It was now over three months since they had left Norfolk. Who knew what the situation at land was. What would be waiting for them?
"Lieutenants Green and Burk. Make preparations for the upcoming mission." Slattery gave the order. She noticed Danny and Carlton nod.
"Everyone participating in the mission will receive the vaccine." Rachel said as she saw the uneasiness on Captain Chandler's face. She wondered if it was because of the dear loss he had gone through in discovering the cure or was it that he had his doubts whether the vaccine would actually work.
After the meeting she saw Chandler and Rachel discussing about something in the corridor. The situation looked a little tense and she wondered what it was about. In the end Captain Chandler had left Rachel standing alone and she saw he had seemed rather upset.
"I'm not on the team." She heard Ravit's frustrated voice behind her.
"Apparently it was Chandler's decision." Ravit stated as Kara turned to face her.
"It's probably for the best. Burk doesn't need any distractions out there." She explained. But it wasn't usual for the Captain to make a decision like this. They were after all in on this together. It must have been because of Darien. He doesn't want Burk to lose Ravit.
"I can handle myself and it shouldn't matter whether Burk and I are involved or not." Ravit raised her voice and she saw that the woman was upset about it.
"You afraid that Carlton might get hurt?" She asked. She knew the look Ravit had. She might be upset that she was pulled off the team, but she was also afraid because of Burk.
Ravit nodded at her and she nodded back. Recognizing the same feelings inside of her. Danny would be gone too.
"Danny, Frankie, Wolf, Javier and Mike will have his back." She tried to say reassuringly. Wanting to hear the words herself.
Ravit then reached to hug her and she was glad she had her as a friend. She was glad that from the start of this nightmare Ravit has been there for her and she has been there for Ravit. Now they would be keeping company to each other while their partners would be gone.
Then they heard someone clearing their throat from beside them and as they broke off the hug they saw Danny and Carlton followed by Frankie and Javier.
"We interrupting something?" Frankie gave a look at the two of them and they glanced at each other and burst out smiling. Wanting to keep the secret of their conversation to themselves.
"Just girl talk." Ravit said.
"Yeah.. Something about how good the package is." Kara said chuckling and glanced at Ravit who then smiled even more. And then Frankie whispered something to Javier and the only ones who weren't smiling were Burk and Danny. Puzzled by what was going on around them.
"You're all crazy." Burk stated as he left to walk towards Rachel's laboratory. They were suppose to get their shots now.
She felt his arm on her shoulder and she turned around. The rest of the group had followed quickly after Burk.
"Are you okay?" She heard his tender voice and she met his gaze.
"No. But there's not much to do about it." She answered.
"I'll be alright." He said as he hugged her. It was comforting to feel his strong arms around her.
But then they were reminded of a more joyous thing happening in their lives. Their baby kicked and both she and Danny felt it. They were both looking at her round belly and smiled.
"I hope that you'll get the vaccine soon too." He said and she heard his worry from his voice.
"Dr. Scott is prioritizing the women and children first and equally distributing the vaccine between the enlisted and the civilians." She explained.
"But I do worry whether it might hurt the baby." She met his eyes. Wanting to know if he felt the same fear as she did.
"It's too risky if you don't take it." She heard his voice, it was calm and firm. She knew he didn't want to lose her nor the baby.
She nodded and they continued towards the laboratory.