„Our mission is to drop off two Federal Agents on Bright Island," ET told me while I followed him to the bridge. That didn't appear too odd to me, but most of the crew did think something seemed off about it, considering a woman had just died of sort of poisoning there.

ET had brought me to the bridge to explain Hammersley's navigational systems. That was until suddenly there was a noise as though we hit something. But the depth here was 15m, as Nav said. And there was nothing on radar. "We need to take a look. Whatever it is, it shouldn't be there," the CO said, "ET, suit up." "Sir," ET replied, "Why don't I take Red with me? She needs some experience. And she's a diver, right?" I nodded. The CO hesitated mustering me for a few seconds, but then gave his okay. "Thank you, sir!" I saluted. I was a little surprised but definitely happy that I was going to dive. I quickly put on my wetsuit and got ready.

ET was already waiting for me. "You don't have to worry about sharks," he said before I even asked, "There's gonna be a gunner to look out for us." I just nodded. "Ready?" I nodded again. I was a little nervous. Not about diving. But about messing something up. ET gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder before he jumped in the water. I followed.

We dove down and found some sort of buoy underwater. ET found something attached to it and I helped him get it free, before we surfaced again. "We got a sudden high frequency signal," the CO called from the ship, "What have we got there?" "Looks like some sort of transponder unit, Sir," ET answered, "Pretty high quality stuff." It took the CO a few moments to respond again, "Leave it there, come back on board!"

I looked at ET. He motioned for me to follow him. He helped me back on board and then I quickly changed back into my uniform. "What do you think's in there?" I asked ET as we walked to the galley. "Drugs, probably," he replied.

"Red! I heard you went on your first dive just now," Chefo greeted me in the kitchen. "Yea," I nodded. "Catch!" ET threw me a muffin which I barely caught. "So why are we dropping the Feds off at Bright Island?" Chefo asked then. "Got to do with the marine biologist that died," Buffer answered. "So you think she was murdered? Wouldn't surprise me," Charge reckoned, "Bright Island." "I didn't say that," Buffer retorted, "You know, could be anything, chemical reaction…" "Bullocks!" Charge cut him off, "It's a suspicious death." Chefo mocked him. "Maybe she just ate something poisonous?" I threw in but was completely ignored. "You can laugh all you like. The fact the Feds are involved means foul play for sure," Charge said. These guys seemed to really like conspiracy theories. It could just be a poisonous plant or something like that. "It's probably some kind of poison, ey Charge?" Spider replied and Charge nodded agreeing. "Yea, just like in these muffins," Buffer said while taking another one. "Ah, they're good, as good as my mom's Chefo," Spider reckoned. "You're lucky to have any. The skipper stops engine without asking permission of the chef." Chefo was obviously irritated. "The new X ran into something on the high seas," Buffer laughed. "Woman driver," Charge added. I was about to say something when the XO walked in. "Don't let the presence of a woman driver stop you fellas," she said and I had to hold back a laugh, seeing the guys' expressions. Chefo tried to make an excuse, but the XO had heard everything. She quickly left and I decided to follow her. "Ma'am," I called and she briefly turned around. "What is it, Seaman Taylor?" she asked. "About the guys…" I started. "It's fine," she said. "No, it's not," I differed, "You see, Chefo was just a little irritated and you haven't given us much chance to get to know you. I'm sure it wasn't meant as something personal." "Thank you, Seaman, now if that's all…" I understood and went back to the kitchen, leaving her alone. The X kept to herself, . She wasn't letting any of the crew get to know her, even though she did seem like a nice person to me and definitely very capable of her job. Others seemed to differ apparently.

The guys were still in the galley when I got back. I couldn't help but shake my head at them. "What?" Chefo asked. "Why are you giving her such a hard time? She's as new to all of this as I am," I said. "Yea, but," ET started. "No buts," I interrupted, "And she's our superior as well, isn't she?" The guys sighed in defeat. "Great," I grinned.

"Come to speak of new, you're the only newbie who hasn't been seasick yet," Buffer said. "Really?" I asked surprised. "You haven't been seasick?" Spider looked at me with big eyes. "Um, no… And I don't think I ever will be," I said, "I was practically born at sea, actually, I was born on a ship." "Are you serious?" "Yea." They didn't seem to believe me, so I told them the story that my parents had always told me: They were on a fishing trip when my mom's contractions started and when they wanted to get back to port, the engine gave out. So I had to be born on the boat.

After that I went back to the bridge with ET. We were guarding that buoy from before to find out what was in there and who would pick it up, but when the vessel that was nearing it suddenly turned around again, the CO ordered that we'd take the buoy instead. "ET, Red, time to suit up again." "Sir," ET and I replied simultaneously and went to change back into our wetsuits. Then I stepped foot onto one of the rhibs for the first time. Buffer and the XO brought us to the buoy and back in the water we were.

ET and I dove down to the ground to see what the buoy was attached to. But suddenly the lights on the metal boy started flashing. ET hastily signaled to get back up again and so I did. Whatever that box was, the flashing couldn't be a good sign. I swam back to the rhib as fast as I could. And we got out of there as fast as the rhib could carry us. I barely got in before the bomb went off. "You alright?" ET and I were asked when we got back on Hammersley. "I am, but Red was still half in the water when the bomb went off," ET said. "I'm fine," I reckoned. And I felt fine. A little shook up maybe because of the shock. I had never been near a bomb that went off before, other than that I felt fine. But Swain stopped me before I could leave to change. "Tell me your name and how many fingers I am holding up," he said. "Ruby Ann Taylor. And three fingers," I said, "I really feel fine." "Buffer, escort Red to her cabin, just to make sure," the CO ordered and didn't let me protest. So I just started walking with Buffer following me. "Are you sure you're alright? You could have been killed down there," Buffer asked. "I'm just a little spooked, that's it, really." We reached my cabin and Buffer left me, hesitating at first, so I could change.

Just when I finished, someone knocked on my cabin door. "Red?" "Come in," I called and Spider entered, "What is it?" "ET told me to tell you that we're following the vessel that was approaching the buoy, but it's gonna take a while to catch up," Spider said. He was shifting from one foot to the other as if it was awkward for him to be in my cabin. "Okay, thanks Spider," I replied, trying to contain a grin. "Then… I'll go now." Spider quickly left my cabin. I shook my head at him, laughing. It was pretty cute how awkward he was sometimes.

But now that I knew that we were following that vessel and that it would be a while until we caught up to it, I decided to get some sleep. I was on First Watch duty after all and I felt a little exhausted.

But when I got up for my watch I was even more tired than before. I got myself a strong coffee from Chefo and took one for my watch partner as well. I handed Swain the coffee when I got to the bridge. "Thanks," he smiled at me, "How are you feeling?" "Tired," I yawned and took a sip of my coffee. I barely got through the watch. But Swain kept me awake by telling me about his wife and how she was pregnant. He even showed me a picture of an ultrasound. I couldn't really identify the baby there, so I just nodded and smiled as Swain proudly showed me the head, arms, legs everything you could supposedly see. He would make a great father.

I went straight back to sleep after watch was over. But I was awakened when boarding station was called. I got up and made my way to the deck to see what was going on. We had closed in on the vessel as it seemed. Hammersley changed course shortly after the vessel was boarded. I went up to the bridge to find out what was going on. "There is a second buoy," ET explained to me, "And another guy is going to make a pick-up." The CO posted me as lookout on the deck. I took a pair of binoculars and started looking. I was joined by some others.

It took some time until I spotted something. And I wasn't the only one. But it wasn't just debris that we found. There also was a body in the water. I started to get anxious. Were we too late? Or could we still save that guy's life.

I couldn't help but go to the ward to see. Swain noticed me as I entered. "Is he…?" I asked. "No, he's alive." Swain smiled at me, "But could you go get him some water?" I nodded eagerly and quickly got water from the galley. I stayed with Swain and the guy, Julian, until boarding station was called. Swain was on it, but he hesitated. "I'll watch Julian," I promised. Swain smiled thankful and then left.

I waited patiently. Julian was unconscious, stable, so there was nothing I needed to do. It didn't take too long for Swain to get back. When I went to get something to drink for myself and for Swain as well I found the ET, Buffer and Chefo. "Hey Red," ET called me. "We're going to the pub when we get back to shore," Buffer said. "Do you wanna come with?" Chefo asked. "Ah, thanks guys," I smiled, "But I'm gonna spend the evening with Noah, sorry." "Noah?" "Your boyfriend?" "No," I laughed, "Noah's my brother, I told you before." "You did?" ET asked confused. "Yea."

I left the guys again and went back to Swain and Julian. It wasn't long before we reached Cairns.

I said my goodbye's to the guys and then quickly made my way home.

"I'm home!" I called. "Just in time," Noah's grinning face appeared from the kitchen door, "Dinner's almost ready. You can set the table." "Okay." I put my stuff down and set the table. We had a really nice dinner together, Noah was a great cook. He told me about his diving trip today. Noah wasn't really fond of me being in the Navy. He didn't complain about it, but he didn't really want to hear anything about it either. Josh wasn't too happy about it either, he said it was too dangerous for me. But they both accepted that I had chosen this for myself. Knowing what they thought, I definitely wouldn't tell them about the bomb that set off. There really wasn't a lot that I could tell my brother's without strengthening their opinion that the navy was too dangerous for me.