Chapter 11

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To Andrea it seemed just like any other day, as far as she knew everything was going fine with Nathan James' mission back in Vietnam. Mike still hadn't answered to her playful email about breaking the curfew. Not that she expected him to write a message to her when he would have gotten back to the ship from the celebratory party, but somehow she thought he would do it just because he wanted to. But as she opened her email on the morning hours, there was no mail from him. The disappointment made her feel slightly blue, that or it was the pregnancy hormones kicking in for the hundredth time.

She closed her eyes for a moment, to think back at a time when she was with him.

She still remembered the warm touch she felt on her skin as he caressed her body with his rough hand ever so slightly on the morning of his departure back in May.

Letting out a sound of contentment, she smiled and turned her head slightly to see his face as he was holding her.

He had smiled back at her and the whole situation had made her feel happy. An emotion she hadn't felt for a long time.

Happy and guilty at the same time, she thought as the memory was suppose to make her feel good, but it brought back thoughts of Lily and Bill. Her mind going even more blue as she thought about her family, they weren't present anymore, but she couldn't help but wonder what would they think of her now? Was she moving on too fast? The rush of emotions brought tears in her eyes as she thought about them. Letting her hand reach to her swollen belly, she felt Lucy kick against her hand. A smile was forming on her face as she was reminded of being alive, soon she would have a baby in her arms again. But the aching hole in her chest was not going away as her thoughts were dominated of the family she had lost.

After she had taken a refreshing shower and dressed herself, she left for a walk. Hoping her mind would come more clearer. Before leaving the safety of her hotel room she checked her email, still no joy from Mike. She couldn't help but feel somewhat letdown that he hadn't answered her email, but she knew he had other pressing matters to attend to.

It was just after midday when she got a message from Debbie stating that Kara was going to come home later than usual that day, giving an vague explanation that something had come up and she was needed at Michener's Office. So Debbie was wondering if Andrea could lend a hand to help her with buying groceries. It wasn't easy to shop with a few weeks old baby that mostly did sleep but usually tended to wake up at the wrong time and wrong place, almost immediately screaming as whatever he required had to be there at that second and not later. So she was more than happy to get her mind off from Mike's absent emails and from the haunting thoughts of her family.

The day went by fast and it was already evening and she was still at Kara and Danny's place. Debbie had insisted that she would stay for dinner, since Kara was a no show. They had gotten another message from her, saying that it was likely that she didn't come home for dinner. Debbie had wondered what on earth was so important that she would stay away from her baby the entire day, but Andrea gave an excuse for Kara, telling Debbie that it might be some conflict in Asia that kept her busy that day, since both Hayward and Shackleton were in Japan as they spoke, and the Nathan James had joined them on the cure spreading tour, starting from Vietnam.

But she couldn't help but wonder if Mike's absent emails and Kara's sudden need to work were related. She texted Kara and asked what was going on, but Kara failed to reply to her.

It wasn't until she got a call from an unknown number that made her more suspicious about the state of things.

"Hello, this is Andrea Garnett." She answered to the call and walked to the living room from the kitchen.

"Andrea.. Hi.. It's Christine." Stunned to hear Christine's voice on the other end of the call, she was speechless as she didn't know what to say.

"I know we haven't spoken for a while, but I wondered if you had heard from Mike? He was suppose to call to the girls and didn't."

"Ahm.." Taken aback by the sudden question, and information that Mike had indeed skipped a phone call to his daughters, she had a hard time of finding an answer to the question. She didn't have any answers.

"No. Last I heard, he was attending a celebratory party in Vietnam." She hoped she hadn't given out too much information. She didn't know what or when Mike had talked to Christine.

"So you don't know anything?" The thought behind the question suggested that she might have more intel than she was telling Christine about, but this time around she wasn't on top of things.

"I'm sorry, but I can try and hear if Kara knows something. She works closely with the President." She tried her best to reassure Christine (and herself).

After hanging up the call, she decided to wait for Kara to come home. It was no point in calling or texting her as she would most likely not reply. Suddenly Mike's absent emails and now a phone call, made her feel more uneasy as she caressed her belly, a gesture that made her feel more calmer.

"I'm sure daddy is okay, Lucy." She whispered to herself and looked out the window at the rainy weather they were having now.

Debbie had gone to bed and Andrea sat on the couch, nervously glancing at the clock. 2230 hours. It wasn't unusual for Kara to be gone the entire day, so she hoped there was an explanation to it. An explanation that had nothing to do with Mike's absent emails and a phone call.

As the doorknob finally twisted around and Kara stepped inside, taking off her high heels immediately so she wouldn't wake up Frankie, Andrea walked to the hallway from the living room and looked at her.

"Kara?" She asked softly and as Kara turned to meet her gaze, the tough exterior was shattered as Kara burst out in tears and rushed to hug her. Baffled by what was happening she took her in her arms and leaned her head on top of hers.

"What's wrong?" She asked, thinking all the possible reasons why Kara was crying right now. A feeling of distress was creeping over her.

Kara's voice was muffled against her chest so all she heard was that something or someone was missing.

"What?"

"They're missing." She heard Kara's words this time around and suddenly everything made sense. They were missing. Mike was missing. And the answer to Kara's crying - Danny was missing. Kara managed to fill her in on what was happening even when she wasn't allowed to speak of it, but Kara couldn't keep this from her, they had after all endured so much together.

But the news got even more devastating as she learned that Tom was dead. A statement that didn't really go into her head even if there was proof of it. Their own Air Force Captain had confirmed the voices on the plane Tom was on.

Andrea stayed awake most of the night, she was too tired to return to the hotel, and too scared to run into Christine, because of the situation she was in right now, she knew Christine could read from her face that something was wrong. Michener hadn't spoken about the missing crew or Tom's death in public just yet. He was hoping to buy time to find some information before he would talk to the press. Get some facts as the press could be ruthless.

Her thoughts wandered during the night - Tom. A fellow sailor, a friend. She has been on the James under his command for a few years now, it was hard to think that he wouldn't be there anymore with his humor filled voice as he would tell her to put down the engineering report, as he had done so for quite a few times in the past.

The Nathan James crew had become a tight knit family after the Arctic, and she couldn't help but feel a weight on her chest, a worry over her shipmates, her new family. She had already lost Lily and Bill, the thought of losing more was frightening. She could still see Andy Chung dying right in front of her back in New Orleans. Hear Ravit and Burk's conversation as they both knew what would happen, both finding the strength to avoid the obvious.

Tears came to her eyes again as she thought about the one person who was missing. One that especially mattered to her. Mike. The logical part of her brain knew that since they hadn't found any bodies, there was no proof that they were dead. A hope was lingering as there still might be a chance. A chance that Mike would come home. Home to her and Lucy.

The rest of the night was only a few bits of sleep, followed by tossing and turning on the narrow couch that reminded her of the cramped quarters on the James. She was awake when Kara left for work early the following morning. She knew Kara must be anxious to find answers, get news that everyone was okay. That this whole thing was just an misunderstanding, although a coordinated attack as they called it, meant it was planned and executed by professionals.

Debbie had to almost force her to eat something as she felt herself mostly nauseous, probably due to lack of sleep, but as Lucy gave her a good kick on her ribs she got the message that she had to eat. It didn't do any good if she would completely go off the wagon, psyching herself up like she had done many times before to her colleagues, she could handle the situation.

It wasn't until later in the morning that she felt a little better, it was hard to say whether it was the food, or the nap that she had managed to take after breakfast.

But one thing was clear, she couldn't hide at Kara's place forever, she would have to return back to the hotel. She just hoped she had some answers. Something to tell Christine.

She had almost reached the hotel when her phone rang. Almost afraid to take the call, she looked at the screen. Kara.

"Hi." She walked to the side of the entrance and glanced around.

"Any news?" Her voice was rushed, it was hard to keep her feelings at bay right now. She was holding her breath as she waited for Kara's reply. From her voice she could tell that some of the news was joyful, and some were not. She let out the breath she was holding and prepared herself to hear the news.

She closed her eyes as she learned that Tom was still alive, the aching on her chest easing a little as she wasn't grieving for a lost friend anymore. Danny and Carlton were okay too, although Carlton was rushed to the medical bay.

But as far as the good news went, that was it. The bad news.. Mike was still missing along with few others.

After the call she stood a while in front of the hotel and stared at people passing by. Her thoughts were all jumbled. She was happy that Tom had survived and she was happy that Danny would hopefully get to see his son, but the other side of her couldn't help but feel crushed. She caressed her pregnant belly and wondered about the future, a future where exploring a new found relationship might not happen. A future where she would be alone with her child.

The not knowing was eating at her and for the first time she could imagine what everyone had experienced when the pandemic first hit. What Lily and Bill went through before their untimely death. The worry of not knowing where she was, if she was safe, if she had survived.

She glanced at the hotel behind her, she had to tell Christine. It was better that she heard it from her and not from the news.