Chapter 5: 21 crew + 1 found = 12 extra weeks
"I want to welcome everyone back to work. Our loss is still very recent and this, being the first patrol after losing Swain, will be hard on all of us. That's why I want to ask each and every one of you to keep an eye out for each other and respect feelings. I will not tolerate jokes or teasing," Mike said, glancing towards the most obnoxious prankster on the ship.
Three weeks had gone by since the bombing but they had to go back to work sometime and today seemed to be it. 2Dads returned a serious nod after Mike's warning look. Mike hoped it was enough but he was confident enough 2Dads wasn't going to break his trust.
"I also want to welcome our new Coxswain, Lieutenant Timothy Howard. He'll join us until we've found a permanent Coxswain so Lieutenant Howard can return to working at the hospital," Mike continued. He was trying hard not to mention the word 'replace' or 'Swain'. Chris Blake had been their Swain and, although it was a job, no one could ever replace him.
"Try and make him feel at home and help him get around as much as you can," he ordered everyone.
All of Hammersley's sailors were gathered at the back of the boat, waiting for him to give them the order to prepare for departure and Mike had to admit he was glad to be back on Hammersley himself. It was hard losing a good mate but that shouldn't stop them from doing their job.
"Coast watch has spotted a small boat drifting out at sea. They want us to check it out. X pipe specials and close up. That's all," Mike ordered before he left for his cabin.
Not much later they were well on their way and Mike decided to go to the wardroom to see how Lieutenant Howard was doing. He found him checking the medical cupboard.
"Everything up to date?" Mike asked. Apart from the lists they had to carry he had no clue what they had on board. He had always trusted Swain but seeing all the medical equipment spread on the table it felt like Swain had never done his job properly. It was a bit strange. The medical supply list had been checked before they had left. Everything they had to have on board was there.
"I never realised how few materials there would be on a patrol boat. How can I do my job properly?" Howard wondered while he lifted boxes and read some labels to check what he had in his hands.
"That's patrol boats for you. We don't have a full equipped medical ward. It's not in our job description to supply medical assistance," Mike started to explain.
"I get that," Howard said, sounding a bit frustrated.
Mike noticed the frustration and motioned him to sit down for a second.
"I know you're a doctor and that your main interest is with medicine. Being placed on a patrol boat probably wasn't your choice but we've got to make the best of it. The Brass obviously placed you here for a reason. You'll find we're a good bunch of people and occasionally we come across a case that needs a real doctor. You might be lucky and if not," Mike tried to cheer up the guy. "you can put your time with us down as good experience."
Timothy Howard smiled and returned to his task. Mike wasn't so sure his little pep talk had worked. The new Coxswain kept muttering under his breath and although he probably didn't mean for Mike to hear, Mike could hear him say: "I hope that doesn't happen."
There wasn't much more Mike could do down in the wardroom so he excused himself and went back up to the bridge. There everything seemed almost normal. RO was working at the radio behind the console. 2Dads was at the helm with Kate sitting in the Captain's chair.
"Who has the ship?" Mike asked the obvious question.
"I do sir," Kate replied, looking at him with questioning eyes, wanting to know if she should step down or not.
"Anything to report?" he asked, not yet demanding to take back his ship.
"We're currently half an hour away from the coordinates given by coast watch. They've informed us there's one POB on board but he or she is not responding. RO keeps trying to make contact but so far no luck. The boat hasn't come up on radar which is odd because it should have a long time ago," Kate stated.
Mike nodded and stepped towards the chair she was sitting in. "I'll take over now," he said.
Kate had hoped she would be able to stay seated for a little longer. She was a bit tired and wanted to save all the energy for the boarding.
"How was your shore leave X?" Mike asked while he took his place in the Captain's chair.
Her shore leave was the last thing she wanted to talk about. There was a good reason why she had gone away for the greatest part of the three weeks they were given.
"It's OK to say you were grieving. The guy who wanted to marry you died and…" Mike started.
"His name is Jim and would you stop patronising me," Kate snapped. "Now, we're only half an hour away from our destination should I pipe boarding stations or not?"
By the time she was finished she felt sorry for the tone she had used. It was just that she didn't want to talk about the past couple of weeks and especially not at the bridge right now.
"Yes, pipe boarding stations X," Mike answered a bit baffled. "And get yourself a brew or something. We'll talk later, OK?"
Kate used the intercom to announce boarding stations and wanted to turn around to go down when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry. I should have realised you missed Jim. You're doing great and you've earned yourself a little break. Get yourself five minutes. The others know what to do in the meantime," Mike said to her in a friendly tone.
Kate smiled and left. When she walked into the boarding room, after her little break, everyone was ready. Dutchy was explaining something to their new Coxswain about procedures but the others were calmly waiting until they could get out on the water.
Kate put her vest on and checked her gun before placing it in her holster. 2Dads handed her a helmet and radio. She was ready.
"I've done the training. I know what to do and how to do it, but it feels strange walking around with a gun. Normally I save people, not hurt them with a firearm," Lieutenant Howard said when he passed her.
"It's mainly a precaution. Most of the time we don't have to use them," Kate said a bit uneasy.
What was this guy doing in the navy if he didn't want to work with weapons?
"Dutchy explained to you what you've got to do?" Kate asked, wondering if it could be as simple as touchy nerves.
"Yes he did," Lieutenant Howard answered confidently.
"Good," Kate said relieved. The last thing she needed was a guy who didn't know what to do or how to do it.
"I don't have a problem with guns Lieutenant McGregor. Actually I'm excited to get some action. I've done all the training and refreshment courses and now I can test my skills," he said.
Kate frowned. "I don't want you to go heroic on me. Follow orders and check if the person needs medical assistance. Nothing more," she warned him.
"Yes ma'am," he replied.
"I'm going up to see how close we've come to the coordinates. You can either wait here or down at the RHIB," Kate explained before she went back up to the bridge.
Mike was looking outside through his binoculars. Bird was outside on the look-out, also looking through a set of binoculars.
"Sir, 500 meters green 45 degrees," Bird yelled, pointing in the direction where she saw the boat bobbing in the water.
Kate walked outside to see for herself, followed by Mike.
"That's not a boat," she said aghast. "That's nothing more than an upgraded dinghy."
A wooden boat with some sort of a tent construction was drifting not too far away from them. A small engine was attached to it but it didn't seemed to be working.
How had this thinggotten so far out to sea? Why had coast watch spoken of a 'boat' when it was clearly something else? There was no time for any of those questions so Kate walked back inside to hear the final order.
"Go and check it out X," Mike said to her.
The RHIB got as close to the dinghy as possible but even the RHIB was bigger.
"Australian navy. If anyone is in there, show yourself," Kate yelled.
There was no reaction and Kate decided to go on board. From the side of the RHIB she jumped onto the wooden 'boat'. That was the easy part. Getting back on the RHIB was going to be a lot harder, but she didn't want to think of that yet.
Kate pushed away the tent fabric. A woman was down on the floor and she was most definitely ill.
"Lieutenant Howard, I need you on board here," she ordered.
The Lieutenant also came on board and gave the woman a quick look-over.
"We need to take her back to Hammersley where I can give her a better check-up," he said, sounding concerned.
"Do you know what's wrong with her?" Kate asked, as she assessed the situation to determine how to get the woman onto the RHIB.
"Lieutenant McGregor how can I answer such a question without the right equipment available to me. I can only tell you what you and I can see. She's a very sick woman who needs treatment. That's all I can tell you right now," he answered.
Kate sighed. She hadn't expected him to give her a detailed description of her symptoms but he was a doctor after all, he should be able to say more about the woman than she would.
"OK, we'll get her back on Hammersley," Kate shrugged.
Kate walked up to the bridge to report back to Mike. Lieutenant Howard was looking after the patient in the wardroom. The woman was badly dehydrated and had bloodstains on her shirt. How she had gotten those was still a mystery since she didn't have any obvious wounds.
Mike listened to her and then turned towards Charge who was at the helm.
"Steer for home," he ordered. "It sounds like she needs urgent treatment in a hospital."
"Aye sir," Charge replied.
"She's lucky we have a real doctor on board," Kate said.
Mike nodded, although, remembering the scene earlier that day in the wardroom he wondered if Lieutenant Howard was thinking the same. There was a real doctor on board of Hammersley but with limited possibilities it was still very vital to get her back to port as soon as possible.
"I'll go and check downstairs," Mike stated and while he walked downstairs he said: "The X has the ship."
In the wardroom he found Lieutenant Howard pacing up and down. He had his hand up on his forehead and he was mumbling to himself. He was so deep in thought that when Mike spoke he jumped just a little bit.
"How is she?" Mike asked.
"We've got a problem sir," Howard spoke slowly.
Mike gave him a quizzical look. He probably was going to get some sort of a lecture on the limited medical capacity of this ship and how it stopped Howard from treating the woman but Howard suddenly stopped and looked at the woman before he looked back at Mike.
"She has tuberculosis," he said.
Mike didn't know much about it and he needed a second to dig up the information he did know. It was a disease which affected the lungs but nothing else about it came to mind.
"It's highly infectious," Howard stated when he saw the CO looking blank.
"We can't go back to port," he added.
Mike really lost his train of thought now and shook his head.
"Why can't we go back? I thought she needed full medical treatment," he asked.
"She does but we'll be in quarantine," Howard answered. "For the next twelve weeks."