Chapter 2: Search and Rescue and…..

"This is ridiculous! Just about every time we get a break, something happens!" exclaimed a slightly drunken 2Dads, as if it was the most unjust thing ever to occur in the universe.

"Yeah, well, you wanna do your job; you take your orders, get on the boat, and get on with it." Replied Dutchy calmly. Charge and Swain nodded their heads in half-drunken agreement.

"So, what did the X say this was about?" asked Bird curiously. Bomber answered her question.

"Something about some guns and ammo getting stolen. We've gotta get it back, the weapons are for military purposes, so it must be important."

"Yeah, as if nothing the military does is important." Remarked R.O. sarcastically. He was secretly kinda glad they could get back to work. He needed something to get things off his mind.

"Well, whatever it is, the CO will probably give us the low-down any minute now." said Charge, saluting as he and the others walked back onto the ship."

Mike had briefly explained to the crew in the mess room what the situation was, telling them, they probably wouldn't find anything until first light. He ordered most of the crew to get a couple of hour's decent sleep to recover. A few hours later, He, Kate, R.O., Bird and a few other crew members went up to the bridge in uniform to start the first watch. First light was slowly creeping up on them, turning the sky into a pattern of orange and red. After about 20 minutes, Mike asked:

"Any sign of boats in the region X?" she looked at the blank radar.

"Negative sir, there's no sign at all."

"Sir, we have a distress signal coming in!" said R.O. urgently, all eyes went to him.

"Put it through R.O." he flicked a switch, and took his headphones off. They all listened.

"Mayday, mayday! This is Silver Comet calling a mayday! Can anyone hear us? Please? Anyone?" exclaimed desperate male voice. Mike immediately picked up the receiver.

"Silver Comet, this is Australian Warship Hammersley. What is your situation?" he asked calmly.

"We're on the boat that's stolen the ammo, the Indo's have us hostage! Please! They don't know I'm using the radio and-"

"It's okay, calm down." said Mike professionally. "What's your name?"

"J-J…Joel…." came the hushed and slightly terrified reply.

"Sir! There's something on the Radar!" exclaimed Bird frantically. Kate was immediately at her side.

"It's the Silver Comet. They're just within our reach." Said X quickly, nor daring to take her eyes off the screen. Mike spoke into the radio.

"Okay Joel. Don't worry, we have the vessel on our radar screen, we can see you. You said 'we', how many people are being held hostage?"

"Two! Just me and my sister! Please! We need help! My sister, she's….."

There was a scuffling sound, a shout, and then silence. Everyone on the bridge remained in stunned shock.

"Silver Comet, this is Hammersley. Do you copy?" said Mike.

Nothing.

"Silver Comet, do you read us? Hello?" pressed Mike more urgently.

"Signal's dead sir, we've got nothing." said R.O. looking round from his desk. Mike sighed in frustration. Kate looked up.

"Sir, we've still got them on the Radar. Here's the coordinates." Mike looked down at the radar screen. He turned to the man at the steering controls.

"Blachford, steer 4902, both engines."

"Steering 4902, both engines sir." Replied Blachford, as he turned the ship to the west.

"Bird, can you go wake up Dutchy, Swain, and 2Dads." said Kate to the Gap Girl.

"Yes X." Bird replied.

"Oh, and Bird!" called Kate, as Bird turned to leave. "Tell Bomber some of the crew will be late for breakfast."

"Ok." said Bird, as she rushed off. Kate took the PA mike.

"Hands to boarding stations, hands to boarding stations, hands to boarding stations."

"R.O. - get Commander White on the line will you?" Mike said, turning to his Radio Officer.

"Yes Sir, right away."

A few minutes later.

"Commander White on the line for you Sir." R.O. said plainly. Mike picked up the phone.

"Maxine, what've you got for me?"

"Well, we've found out who your caller was. A Mr. Joel McIntyre, 22 years old, works at the Armed Forces Supplies Centre, near the Docks. It was reported when the weapons were stolen, he was kidnapped when others tried to retaliate. He's got a sister who was also taken aboard for no apparent reason. She's 19, her name's Rosa; she's been living with him since he got the job."

"So those are our two hostages. And completely innocent." Mike said, as the others looked around in horror at the statement. He sighed, rubbing his forehead in thought. "So, what do we do?"

"Have you got them on the Radar?"

"Yes M'am, their on the edge of tit, but we've just set a direct course."

"Get a boarding Party ready."

"Already doing right now."

Maxine paused, admiring Mike's efficiency.

"Good. We need you to retrieve as much weaponry as possible. Its Military equipment and we need to get it out of the wrong hands."

"Any idea why these pirates have stolen all this?" Mike inquired.

"They're Indonesian pirates; we suspect illegal trade on the Black Market. Just to tell you what you're dealing with Mike; these guys are dangerous. They seemed well trained, so tell your team to watch their backs."

"Will do Maxine, thank you."

"Good luck Mike." And with that, she hung up. Kate looked worriedly at her CO.

"What did she say?" Mike frowned.

"Indonesian pirates. Trading on the Black Market. Their two hostages are Joel and Rosa McIntyre, 22 and 19, brother and sister. Joel, the one who called us, worked at the Supply Centre. Tell your boarding party to be ready, these guys are very dangerous."

"Yes Sir." said X.

"You should go get ready."

"Right away Sir." X went to leave. Mike then remembered.

"And X… Good luck."

"Thank you Sir." Kate said, unable to hold back a smile.

The sun had started to rise fully now, and the sleepy boarding party were being slowly woken by the harsh breeze that brushed their faces while the small sea boat cut across the water. The Hammersley followed not far behind. 2Dads let out a large and loud yawn. Dutchy and Swain rolled their eyes.

"Now remember! We're looking for a large supply of guns and ammo, plus two Australian hostages! Make sure you check the whole boat!" cried Kate, so she could be heard.

"Yes M'am." came the grouped reply. 2Dads let out another yawn. Dutchy slapped him over the back of the head.

"Wakey, wakey Sleeping Beauty! Stay alert!"

"Do we know anymore about the hostages X? Their conditions?" shouted Swain over the noise.

"Sorry Swain, not even that!"

"There they are X!" cried Dutchy.

They all turned to see a boat, about a third the size of Hammersley cruising steadily along the water about 300 metres away. It read: Silver Comet. There were a few people visible on deck. They saw the boarding party and picked up speed. Mike and Kate thought exactly the same thing. He called out using the speaker from Hammersley.

"This is Australian Warship Hammersley. Halt your engines, we intend to board you."

The boat tried to go faster. The sea boat tailed them closely. Mike knew there was no chance of them slowing down.

"Charge, fire 3 shots across their bow." He ordered Charge, who was now at the EOD controls.

"Yes Sir, 3 shots across the bow. Target engaged. Fire!"

He shot accurately. The vessel immediately slowed to a near halt. The boarding party caught up, and the crew leaped onto the boat.

"Australian Navy!" came the cries from the Hammersley crew. There was no one to meet them, but a second later, 3 Indonesian men with rifles jumped out, one of them attempting to tackle Dutchy. It was a poor move. Dutchy grounded him in no time. X, 2Dads, and Swain shouted: "Drop your weapons! Drop them now! Put your hands on your head! Get down now! Drop your weapons!" until one of them lowered his gun, and dropped it. The other did not.

"Who is the master of this vessel?" ordered Kate.

"I am!" answered the one with the gun. He looked furious. "What you doing here? Get off my boat!" she shouted with his thick accent.

"Sir, please lower your weapon." Said Kate once again. The man wasn't showing signs of giving in.

"Now listen here, I-" but Dutchy held his gun close to the man.

"You really should put your gun down sir." He said icily. The man dropped the gun gently, and obeyed Dutchy and Swain by getting down with his hands on his head. X grabbed the guns and moved them. She then addressed the master of the boat.

"We have reason to believe you are hiding Australian weapons and two hostages."

"What rubbish is this? We are fishing!" the man spat angrily. Kate glanced around.

"Well, you don't appear to have any necessary equipment, and you are in illegal waters."

"We are fishing!" the man retaliated. "We no hide nothing!"

"Search the boat. 2Dads, down below. Swain, the inside level deck. Dutchy you stay here. I'll cover the rest of the deck."

They all moved to their assigned positions.

As 2Dads moved carefully below, he kept looking around him. There was no one there, but there was something that felt…sort of creepy. The boat groaned. He turned around, gun pointed, he thought he heard something. Nothing. He sighed in relief. He then turned around, he heard again. A dull thudding sound. He turned a corner, following the sound. It was getting vaguely louder. There were 3 doors, they looked like cupboards.

He opened one- empty. He wrenched open the second. A stack of handguns fell out. These people weren't very good hiders. The thumping sound was getting louder, so he decided to open the 3rd cupboard, knowing there would be more gins in there. He forced it open with one hand. What he saw next, he did not expect. There was a muffled scream, and a body fell out, hands, and ankles tied. It was a young woman. Her tangled brown hair was tied back. She wore a simple t-shirt and knee-length shorts. But the dominant colour she bore was red. It was blood. She had bruises and cuts everywhere, and what looked like a bullet wound in her side. Her scared blue eyes looked at 2Dads in sheer terror and fear as she gasped loudly. He immediately came to her side.

"Whoa!" he cried in surprise. "Hey! Hey! It's ok! I'm Navy! It's okay! Swain! Swain!" he shouted behind his shoulder, trying to untie the girl. She didn't seem to understand what he was doing and weakly tried to resist, still gasping in pain.

"Listen to me! I'm trying to help you!" 2Dads said to her. Swain found them and rushed to them."

"Hey! What's going on?"

"I found her locked in the cupboard, I think she's been shot, she's not listening to me!" Swain moved closer to the girl.

"Listen to me, I'm not gonna hurt you. Are you Rosa?"

The girl paused for a moment, looking into Swain's eyes. He repeated the question. She seemed to understand him. She mouthed: Rosa? Swain nodded his head. "Yes. Are you Rosa?" the girl nodded. She then indicated her ear, copying the shape, and then shaking her hand as if to say No! Swain and 2Dads looked at her confused. She looked desperate to tell them something. She then did more actions, and mouthed:

I (pointing to herself)

CAN'T (shaking her hand to say no.)

HEAR! (Tracing the shape of her outer ear.)

Swain and 2Dads finally seemed to get the message.

"She can't hear. She's deaf!" said Swain quietly.

"Oh my God." muttered 2Dads, under his breath.