Chapter 6: quarantine + pregnancy = problems

Kate was the last person to enter the ship's office. There was something wrong with the patient they had brought on board and she already knew what it was even though Mike was officially going to inform them right now.

Kate had been in her cabin, changing into some dry clothes, when she had first heard about the woman suffering from TB. One of the sailors had walked passed her cabin, talking to another sailor and Kate had overheard them.

If it really was true they had to go back to port as soon as possible but when the engines stopped Kate realised going home wasn't an option. She didn't know all the rules and regulations by heart but TB would surely keep them in quarantine for a while.

Kate looked around the office and saw the worried faces of the officers. They had to act quickly before the junior sailors went crazy. All Kate wanted to know now was how long they would have to stay in quarantine.

"I'll cut to the important information right away," Mike started when he saw everyone was there.

"The woman we've picked up has tuberculosis. We're obliged to report this to the authorities. As you might know tuberculosis is very contagious. I've just informed Commander White about the situation. She'll start the process to get everything organised from her end while we'll have to get a few things done here," Mike said, looking at the three people present in the room.

"If it's very contagious wouldn't it be better to get the woman off our ship?" Charge asked.

Mike laughed cynically. "It is because it's so contagious that we're placed into quarantine. We're not allowed to enter Cairns, or any other port, for the next twelve weeks."

"Twelve weeks!" Kate exclaimed.

"You're not serious sir," Charge said almost simultaneously.

"I'm afraid so," Mike replied, trying to calm them down.

"How sure is this new guy that it's really TB?" Dutchy asked calmly.

Mike shrugged. Lieutenant Howard had seemed pretty sure about his diagnosis. He had explained why he thought it was this particular disease and what they had to do to prevent the others from getting it too.

"Look," Mike said, motioning with his hands, trying to get back the attention. "he's a doctor and knows what he's doing. He needs some tests to be a hundred per cent sure but until then we're shunned from port. He wouldn't say she had this disease if he wasn't certain. So I guess we have to take him seriously."

Kate bit her lip. This was not happening. It couldn't. She had been in close contact with this woman when she had entered the boat and later when she had helped her get onto the RHIB.

"How do we know we haven't already contacted it from her?" Kate asked a bit scared.

Mike took a deep breath and looked at Kate directly. "Howard is arranging tests for us all. We will all get vaccinated and when we're in or near the wardroom we're going to wear masks," Mike answered.

"Sir, wouldn't it be wise to get the Lieutenant up here? Bird could look after the woman for a while. I mean, if we're stuck out here anyway he'll need a break some time and someone else has to take over. Bird is second medic," Dutchy said looking around the group of people. "The Lieutenant could answer a lot of our questions. If we know what's going on we can keep the other sailors calm as well," he continued.

Mike had thought about that as well. Howard hadn't been too keen on leaving his patient but Dutchy had a good point. It seemed that Charge and Kate were more than a bit concerned and Lieutenant Howard was the one who could explain all the medical details a lot better than he ever could.

"Charge can you find Bird? Bring her to the wardroom and let Howard instruct her on what to do. Then you two come back here," Mike ordered.

"Aye sir," Charge said before he left the room.

"In the meantime we can start doing some logistics," Mike said to the two remaining sailors in the room.

"As soon as we've arranged everything we'll go back to port as close as we can. We'll need daily supplies brought to the ship and they'll collect all our waste. Kate, I want you to find out what we're still able to do while being in quarantine. I'd hate to waste twelve weeks. What kind of training can we offer our sailors and what do we need for that?" Mike started.

By the time Charge and Lieutenant Howard had come back Mike, Kate and Dutchy had gone through some protocols and made lists of what needed to be done. Kate thought it was a bit premature to do all this when there was still a chance they could be home tonight, but she said nothing; better to be prepared.

The thought of having to stay out at sea for twelve weeks frightened her enormously. The only way she was coping with it now was because she made herself believe it was all a very bad joke or one big training session. It all became reality again, however, when Charge walked back into the room, wearing a mask, and followed by a foul looking Lieutenant.

"I hope there's a good reason for dragging me away from my patient, Captain," Lieutenant Howard spat at Mike.

"Tim. Can I call you Tim?" Mike asked calmly.

"Timothy. My name is Timothy and I'd rather have you call me doctor," Timothy continued his annoyance.

"Well doctor, you are the one person on this ship who can tell us what we can expect medically. If you can answer our questions we can keep the other sailors calm. We need to know a few things about the woman. We also need to know exactly what we'll have to do to protect ourselves," Mike said.

Timothy realised his superiors were all trying to do their best and this situation wasn't their fault. He had just never expected to come across a case of TB and although he was a doctor he wasn't a specialist in this field. If a whole crew was going to rely on him for medical support he hoped he would get help from fleet medical to back him up.

"The woman, we don't have a name or age yet, is most certainly suffering from tuberculosis or TB as most people call it. She's in and out of consciousness and while conscious she keeps coughing, sometimes she coughs up blood. It's different from a pneumonia because her lungs sound clear," Timothy sighed.

"Although TB is contagious it's also a treatable disease. As soon as we get the right antibiotics I'll start her treatment. To protect ourselves we'll need to wear these masks for the time being," Timothy said as he put a box on the table, opened it and gave everyone a white mask.

"We'll all have to take antibiotics preventively and I'll take blood samples from each and every one to check if we've been contaminated," he continued.

Mike sighed. This was not what he had expected to go through on the first patrol but it looked like they were going to have to stay away a long time. Being away wasn't unusual but they had always had the opportunity to visit a port to let off some steam on shore.

"We'll all have to make the best of the next weeks. It's going to be hard but I know we'll get through this. We're a close family and I know we can all rely on each other," Mike tried out his pep talk.

After Mike made sure everyone understood the full implications he let the officers go and prepare for the briefing of the junior sailors. Timothy went back to the wardroom to see if Bird was doing OK. The medic seemed a little bit more relaxed but Mike was sure they hadn't heard the latest from him. They had a potential life threatening disease on board and the wardroom was not a suitable substitute for a hospital.

Dutchy had left just as calm as he had come in. He was the last person Mike expected trouble from. Charge was too busy with his work right now to think about problems that might eventually evolve into conspiracy theories. The only one Mike was really worried about was Kate.

She had been tired ever since she had come back on board. She was snappy and really seemed to have a problem with staying on board for the next three months. He'd better have a quiet talk with her before they went to tell the bad news to the others. The last thing he needed was a grumpy XO.

"Kate?" Mike asked after knocking softly on her door.

"Come in," Kate answered.

Kate couldn't think of a reason why Mike would want to talk to her, at least not professionally. They had just gone through a long meeting and everything that needed to be said was said so the only reason why he would want to come in for was to check up on her personally.

"Can we talk?" Mike asked while he closed the door of her cabin.

Kate knew that even if she didn't want to talk she soon would have to and Mike wouldn't give up until she had. With nowhere to run it was better to save the energy for something else so she sighed in a response and looked at him.

Mike came closer but he didn't say anything as if he didn't know what to say or where to start. Kate tried to lock eyes with him but he was too busy scanning her cabin stopping only when he came to a picture of Jim. Kate looked at it as well and picked it up as if to protect Jim from any harm Mike would give him.

"You didn't seem to be too happy about going into quarantine," Mike finally said.

Kate looked at him in disbelief. "Are you surprised about that? Who would be happy about going into quarantine?" she asked.

"No, sorry. That's not what I meant," Mike tried to correct himself.

Kate shrugged. "I can't stay in quarantine for three months. I need to go back to port and…"

"Nobody likes to be put in quarantine but we can't change that now. Come on Kate. You've worked on frigates. You've stayed on a ship for longer than three months. That's the life you like, isn't it?" Mike said, cutting her off mid-sentence.

Kate stood up and tried to pass Mike but he didn't let her so she turned around and faced her rack. "You don't understand. I can't stay here for three months. If you won't let me go I might consider swimming back or…"

Kate turned around again but moved so fast that she let the picture of Jim fall down on the ground. It glided close to Mike's feet. He bent down and picked it up. Instead of giving it back to her he placed it back down on her desk.

Mike wanted to give Kate a rational answer to her irrational threat to swim back to port. She would be court marshalled if she did. They wouldn't let her go home even if she did make it to land. It was far more likely a shark or crocodile or some other sea creature would attack her long before she reached land but all those thoughts were gone when he saw a white handkerchief with a gold ring laying on the desk.

"Is that the engagement ring?" he wondered out loud.

Why would she still have the ring when she was never going to marry the guy? She couldn't have given it back to Jim but his parents were present at the memorial. She could have given it back to them.

"Yes," was Kate's simple answer.

Mike looked at her, confused. "Why would you still have his ring?" he said out loud. "I mean I can understand you haven't had the time to give it back to his family but why would you bring it on board?" Mike said before he looked at Kate.

It was her turn to look at him confused. "That is none of your business but why wouldn't I?" she asked him.

"You weren't going to marry him. I would think you wanted to give the ring back to his parents and keep it in a safe place until you'd found time to do so," Mike answered.

"What gave you the idea I wasn't going to marry Jim?" Kate asked, astonished at his question.

"You did!" Mike answered.

"I did? I never said I wasn't going to marry him," Kate snapped.

Mike was totally confused now. When he had been at her place she most definitely had said she wasn't going to marry him. She had even said she could only see herself getting married to him, at least she had looked at him while she said it.

In all those weeks he had thought there was finally some hope to get back on track with their relationship.

"I don't remember exactly what I said, but what I meant to say was that I couldn't get married to Jim because…"

Kate stopped and closed her eyes.

"Because I didn't want to rush into a marriage and I couldn't wait months and prepare the perfect wedding. I'm not getting married while looking like a whale," she finished her sentence.

Mike didn't understand it. Kate was the last person he would compare with a whale so he laughed and shook his head.

"You…"

"I'm eight weeks pregnant Mike," Kate whispered.