Chapter 15: Kate = strong
"She was here," Dutchy said to Commander White. He recognised Kate's mobile phone which was on the floor of the motel room.
"We know she was here," Commander White replied irritated. "She told us that herself remember?" she added in annoyance while they moved back outside.
"Where did she go?" Dutchy muttered as he looked around the car park. The two federal cops who had barged into Commander White's office earlier were sealing off the area but since he and Commander White had come along they were allowed to stay.
As soon as the phone connection with Kate had disappeared the four people had jumped into a car and had gone to the motel but, as suspected, the area was deserted. The motel owner was being questioned. Did he see who had come to the room and in what way they left?
Luckily the owner could give a good description of the car in which he had seen the women and two men leave. It took the rest of the day to track the car down to a shed where they found the lifeless body of Regina Simpson but Kate was nowhere to be found.
The cops started to look worried the more they saw of what was inside. One of them walked towards Maxine and Dutchy.
"Do you have any idea what Kate was bringing back to Regina?" he asked.
Maxine shrugged. "She never said," she answered.
"I don't know what she could have that belongs to Regina," Dutchy added.
"Kate did talk about formulas a while ago. Regina had been mumbling numbers and letters. This looks like a professional lab. I hope it isn't linked," Maxine said. She was scared she was right and while she told this to the cops she started to believe it couldn't be anything else.
"Oh God," the cop sighed. "Madelaine Cruise has told us some names of men she was working with. The leader of the group operating in Australia is a Mehmet Orbani. We suspect him of killing Madelaine. He was waiting for a formula and if Regina had it in her possession than I'm fearing for Ms McGregor's life," he said, shaking his head.
"I won't believe she's dead," Dutchy protested. "These guys must have taken Kate with them for a reason. They wouldn't take her body if she was dead," he added vehemently.
"Mehmet has a boat. Let's assume he has the formula right now. He would want to skip the country. The question is; has he been able to produce whatever the formula was for and is he using Ms McGregor to get away or has she prevented him and is she paying the price for doing so?" the cop wondered out loud.
"Why would he leave the lab if he has the formula but not produced anything?" Maxine wondered. "Wouldn't it be more realistic that Regina has been killed after producing whatever she made and, like you said, that this guy took Kate with him as an insurance," she continued.
"We could look for this boat if you could give us a name," Dutchy suggested.
The cop nodded and took out his note pad. "I can count on the navy's discretion. This information shouldn't get out," he warned.
Maxine and Dutchy both agreed and after receiving the name of the boat they went back to Navcom.
Kate was awakened by a rocking motion. She opened her eyes but closed them again. Her head was pounding and it was hard to focus on one point. For a moment she just lay there hoping she could make the pounding stop.
The movement caused her stomach to make somersaults and before she could even think about where to empty the contents of her stomach she felt it come up. Quickly she sat up, leaned over the side of the bed, and threw up.
It took all her energy to try get back on the bed. Her muscles ached and felt like they were made of lead but she had to because on the floor, right underneath her nose was a bowl filled with what looked like vomit.
The smell was horrendous and Kate had to fight against the urge to gag again, knowing that her stomach was empty and the next time she would only produce gastric acid. With a new found energy she hauled herself back on the bed.
The world was spinning even faster now. Kate wanted it to stop. She wanted to remember how she got to be so sick. Remembering what had happened was hard. Fragments of thoughts fluttered through her brain but nothing substantial.
Headache. Stomach. She couldn't remember what she had done to get this ill. With her hands she touched her belly and more as a surprise she felt something moving inside. My baby!
"My baby!" Kate whispered. It didn't matter how she had gotten so ill, she needed to see a doctor to help her to get better!
"Where am I?" she wondered as she tried to get up. She looked around and realised she had to be on a boat.
Hammersley, she thought. This wasn't the Hammersley. This boat wasn't as big and they had returned home. She didn't have to be on a boat anymore. They had come home with their patient.
Regina. Slowly it all came back to her. The diary, the formula, the men, the powder. Those men probably were somewhere nearby which meant she was still in danger. Now, if she could get to the wheelhouse she could turn the boat around and steer towards a harbour.
With the best of her ability Kate tried to walk towards the door. Boats were all very much alike and the wheelhouse would be on the top deck so that was where she had to go. After just a few steps Kate felt exhausted. She needed to hold on to something on her way and the straight line she was aiming for wasn't nearly reached but finally she made it to the railing of the ship.
She held on so tightly that her knuckles started to turn white. With all the concentration she had she started to move towards the front of the ship, but she hadn't moved that far when she heard voices coming from inside.
Don't think about the men. Come on. Go on. Go to the wheelhouse and sound the alarmat home, she encouraged herself.
Step by step Kate came closer and was amazed that there was no one in the wheelhouse. She didn't have time to think about that. Those men could realise she was gone any minute and they wouldn't allow her to reach the radio if they knew what she was doing.
"Mayday, mayday, this is Kate McGregor. Does anyone hear me?" she panted.
Kate repeated her words but in her head it sounded so much louder than in real life. She was sure that they would hear her.
Kate turned around and leant against a table with a map on it. Exhaustedly she bent over it, not even registering what was underneath her hands.
"Ms McGregor, this is HMAS Larrikia. What is the nature of your mayday?" the radio crackled.
Kate turned towards the radio but because of the sudden movement everything turned black momentarily.
"This is HMAS Larrikia. What is your position?" the radio operator said when Kate didn't respond straight away. "Come in please."
"This is Lieutenant Kate McGregor. I've been kidnapped," Kate said. After every word she needed to take a deep breath of air. She knew she had to look for the GPS but it was still black in front of her eyes.
"Kate, what is the name of your vessel?" the radio operator asked again.
Kate shook her head. How should she know that? The only thing she knew was that she was at sea with no landmarks to recognise. She looked around the wheelhouse and saw the GPS.
"We're 10 degrees south, 1.310 east," she read the numbers. "I don't know the name of this boat. I think I've been taken by two men," she continued with a trembling voice. "Please, they'll kill me," she urged.
A long silence followed in which Kate started to worry. Why didn't they respond? Were they too far away? Wasn't anyone closer than a patrol boat which was stationed in Darwin? She surely wasn't that far away from Cairns?
"Kate, we're seven hours steaming away from you. We'll try and send someone else to assist. Can you tell us your heading?" the radio operator finally came back.
Kate looked around the wheelhouse. "North," she whispered. She would scream it if she could but the conversation had drained her completely. Now she needed to get back before the men realised what she had done and hope that someone would come and rescue her.
On her way back to the room where she had been before Kate heard voices coming closer. She grabbed the railing and looked at the water passing underneath her. It made her head and stomach turn so badly that she leaned forward and threw up the little content she still had inside.
"Here she is," Phil said while he ran towards her. "What were you doing?" he asked as he pulled her away from the railing and tried to make her look at him.
Kate immediately missed the support of the railing. Her weak body couldn't support its own weight. She collapsed in Phil's arms. He picked her up and threatened to throw her overboard.
"No," Kate protested while she got hold of his shirt.
"Let go of me," Phil said angrily.
"Phil! What are you doing?" Mehmet rushed at the scene. "We need her," he explained.
Phil put Kate down on the floor and pointed at the wheelhouse. "She's a burden to us. The only thing she does is throw up and I'll bet she has used the radio and contacted her navy friends," Phil voiced his concerns.
"No," Kate said as she shook her head to make her words more clear. "I'm too…" she couldn't finish her sentence. She was so tired.
"Look at her. She's a pile of shit. She can't even stand on her feet. How do you think she…"
"Precisely! She's no good to us. Even if she didn't get through to her friends they're looking for her. I don't want to be around when they find her. We used to have Madelaine telling us of the whereabouts of the navy but since you've killed her we're on our own," Phil interrupted.
"Who says we're going to keep her?" Mehmet replied. "She helped Regina. She knows the formula. She's going to give it to us and then we'll get rid of her."
Kate realised they were talking about her and all she could do was curl up on the floor, hoping that Mehmet could convince Phil not to throw her in the ocean. She had no chance of surviving if they did.
"We don't need her. We'll go back to the Eliki islands and start all over," Phil tried again before he picked up Kate and held her above the waves.
"Wait!" Mehmet yelled. "OK, OK, we'll dump her if she can't remember anything. Give me an hour. You can throw her in the ocean if she hasn't reproduced any of the formula. Don't you think even a part of the formula is better than nothing?" he finally convinced his partner.
Phil pulled Kate back on board and almost threw her in Mehmet's arms. "One hour," he said. "You've got one hour."
Dutchy sat in Maxine White's office, waiting for news. The Larrikia had had contact with Kate which was good. She was still alive but not out of danger. He would rather go out himself but that would not help. Those guys who had taken Kate were armed and dangerous. Luckily another patrol boat was in the vicinity and now on its way to the rescue.
Meanwhile Commander White tried to keep him occupied by giving him endless papers to fill in. Dutchy didn't even know if he wanted to go back to ADFA or not but what else could he do right now?
To keep himself occupied Dutchy tried to imagine him as an officer. Kate had thought he was ready for it but was he really? In the past twelve weeks he had had extra practice since he had taken over a lot of Kate's tasks and although they had all gone well he hadn't thought he had done anything special. Was it enough to make him an officer?
Dutchy looked up and saw Maxine White working behind her desk. She too was waiting for news about Kate. Dutchy had been looking at Maxine for almost a minute when the phone rang and they both almost jumped up from their chairs.
"Commander White," Maxine stated.
She listened to what the other person had to say and nodded as if that person was sitting in front of her.
"Approach with caution. Let me know as soon as the boarding party has boarded the vessel," Maxine ordered.
She hung up the phone and smiled at Dutchy. "A few more minutes," she said.
"N=(45 + 60/Z) + (∑ x 5.7/ 14) x ∏ +ų. That's the formula?" Mehmet demanded to know. He looked at the piece of paper on which Kate had written down what she remembered.
"Yes," Kate panted. She was hanging on the table, unable to give any resistance. "Please," she continued. She touched her belly. "I'm pregnant."
Mehmet didn't care. He didn't have time to think about babies. Ever since Madelaine Cruise had started talking to the police things had gone wrong. Maybe even before that. The cell of their network on the Eliki islands had killed the five remaining scientists without realising that without them they had no chance of re-making the formula.
When it was on the news that one of the patrol boats had picked up a person out at sea and were placed into quarantine he knew it had to be Regina. She was alive and would, eventually, be brought back to Australia.
Madelaine had already been arrested but nobody believed she would talk. Why would she after being a double agent for so long? They had trusted her so when the news came out she had talked he had no other option than to kill her.
Regina came back to Australia but claimed not to have the formula anymore. Too bad for her it was presented to her by lovely Kate and now Kate had given back the formula. The circle was complete and they could get rid of her.
"This is the Australian Navy. Show yourself," someone yelled.
Where had they come from? They hadn't heard or seen anyone approach the boat. Mehmet grabbed the piece of paper with the formula and folded it to put it in his pocket.
"You," he frantically yelled at Kate. "Get up!"
He tried to get her on her feet but she collapsed like a sack of potatoes.
"Step away from her," a navy man ordered. He had his gun pointed at him and would shoot if necessary.
Mehmet stepped away, hoping no one would notice the formula. As long as he had that he could pass it on and continue their work. Maybe not himself but someone in the organisation would.
A sailor stepped closer to him and cuffed him before he was guided away.
At the same time someone else kneeled down next to Kate and helped her up. "You're safe now," he said to her.
Kate whispered something but she had no energy to produce a sound. She was taken back to the patrol boat which had come to the rescue and she was taken to hospital. She was safe and she had survived.
Dutchy, Maxine and Mike, who had heard the news and had come down to the base, all waited for the patrol boat to dock. It was late and dark and a chilly wind had started to blow but none of them would miss the return of Kate McGregor.
"There she is," Maxine said happily when she saw two sailors carry a stretcher off the boat. A third one was walking alongside and held up an IV bag.
The Coxswain followed the group and handed his paperwork to the ambulance personnel before he came to the group of sailors who were eagerly waiting.
"She's going to be fine. She's badly dehydrated and needs lots of rest but she's going to be fine," the Coxswain said.
"The baby?" Mike wanted to know.
"As strong as an ox. He or she is having a party inside. I could hear a strong heartbeat so I don't foresee any problems," he answered.
The CO of the ship joined them. "That woman has willpower. Imagine being as ill as she is and still being able to solve crimes. She stopped the terrorist threat and gave us statements concerning the two men who had kidnapped her. I recommend a promotion if she wasn't up for one yet," he suggested.
Maxine nodded. "I'll take that in consideration," she replied before she looked at Dutchy. "You too," she whispered.
The stretcher with Kate on it was wheeled into the ambulance. They drove off but everyone knew it was going to be OK. Finally things would go back to normal.