The Turbulent Road Ahead
By SigmaStar79
A/N: Please remember I have no Beta, so all mistakes are mine! Hope you all enjoy XD
Chapter 9
As Mike and Pete made it to the Bridge, they found Ryan at the EOD, Dutchy in front of the Captain's chair, and RO at the Radio and Charge at the controls for the engines. Dutchy was asking about the coordinates given by the Mayday caller and Ro confirmed them. Bird was at the radar and Swain was in the second Chair also with binoculars.
"Sitrep Dutchy"
"Sir, we received a Disturbing Mayday call. While Ro was taking it, Ryan sent Bird to get me since he thought you were already asleep. We are heading towards a luxury cruiser called the 'Angel's wing' where there is a mother and three children, two under the age of eight, the older one being twelve. The older child called in the Mayday, said a strange boat pulled aside theirs about two hours ago and asked where they alright. The mother said yes and they went away. Then about thirty minutes ago, both the mother and oldest daughter noticed the boat coming back at them, but instead of going slow, they were coming at them fast. The mother ran to grab her gun while the oldest girl ran and grabbed her little sister and brother and hid them somewhere in the boat, then sent us a Mayday call that they were being boarded against their will. We all heard gunfire at that point and the girl hid the radio under a child's blanket, but said she was putting a rubber band around the mic to keep the button down so we could hear everything. We heard several men come into the cabin and remove the screaming girl"
"Damnit" said Mike. "How far are we from their last known position Bird?
"About ten minutes Sir"
"There is more Boss"
Mike looked at Dutchy and saw he was trying to control his temper. That was not a good sign and Mike felt his stomach drop at the possibility of what Dutchy might say next. What he heard made him angry as well and also see blood red.
"We heard one of the men say he was going to have fun with the young girl and show her how a real man does things"
"Bloody Hell" muttered Pete. "She's just a child"
"I don't think those men care X" replied Mike.
Everyone looked shocked at Mike when he called Pete X. Mike ignored it for a bit and went to work. Walking up to the Radar, Mike looked to see if anything was in range. He asked Bird and she showed him the blimp they believed to be the ship in question. Mike nodded his agreement and told Bird "Good Work". He then turned around to address the crew, who were at the moment, all giving him confused looks.
"Listen guys, I miss Kate too, but Pete here is our new XO now, so he is the X from now on. Kate will be glad to see you all as soon as we finish this up, but until then we have a job to do. Is that understood?"
A chorus of 'Yes Sirs' are heard and then everyone goes back to work finding the 'Angel's Wing'. Just then Ryan pipes up from the EOD.
"Sir, I have a visual"
Mike and Pete look on the screen and see the boat is indeed the Angel's Wing. Mike gives the order and Pete piped the call for boarding stations as Mike turned to RO and asked for information about the owner of the 'Angel's Wing'.
On the RHIB; Pete, Dutchy, Ryan, 2Dads, and Swain approached with caution. Boarding the Angel's Wing, the crew proceeded with caution. Pete and Dutchy searched above deck while Ryan and 2Dads searched below deck. Swain looked around and found slight traces of blood and showed Pete, confirming what Dutchy heard on the radio.
2Dads and Ryan were searching the boat, but were not having much luck. That was until Ryan remembered something. Back when his dad was alive; His dad, Mike and he used to play hide and not seek on their old yacht. The purpose was in case the boat was boarded under duress and he wouldn't be taken as leverage. The one place no one seemed to look was between the mattress and the framing. Ryan started ripping up the mattresses until he upturned the one in the master bedroom. There he found a very scared 7 years old boy and a crying 5 year old girl.
"It's ok, my name is Ryan and I'm with the Royal Australian Navy. I'm here to help you. Did you big sister hide you here?"
"I'm not *sniffle*suppose to *sniffle*talk to strangers" said the little boy between sniffles.
"That's ok; you're supposed to talk to me. Your sister said some bad people were coming onboard and I came here to get you off the boat and to bring you to safety. Can you and your sister come here please?"
2Dads seeing the children ran and yelled for Pete and Swain. Both men made it down to him just in time to see Ryan come out of the room by 2Dads carrying two small children. Ryan looked at Pete and shook his head, indicating that no one else was below decks. Pete nodded his understanding and radioed Mike.
"Sierra 82 to Papa 82 over"
"Papa 82, what is going on X?"
"Sir we have the two small children, but the older sister and mother are currently nowhere to be found. Swain found blood in the wheel house and in the salon. There are several signs of a struggle and the children are both scared"
"OK X, bring the children back here and leave Ryan and 2Dads on the boat to follow us back to port"
"Got it Boss" Pete then turned to Ryan and 2Dads.
"Put the kids into the RHIB and then you two follow us on the boat to port"
When the little boy and girl heard this, they clung to Ryan tighter and started crying more. Pete took one look at Ryan and sighed. Seeing the problem, Pete called Mike.
"Boss we have a situation"
"What's wrong X?"
"The children don't want to leave Knocker Sir"
Mike and the rest of the bridge laughed at Ryan's misfortune. Leave it to Ryan to gain not one shadow but two.
"Ok X, have 2Dads stay there with the boat and I'll send Bird over there to stay with the boat with 2Dads when they take him the rat packs. Bring Ryan and our guest back here"
"Ok Boss" Pete turned to 2Dads "Your staying here, Bird is coming over with the rat packs for you both and she is staying on the boat with you"
"Got it X"
Everyone got back on the RHIB but 2Dads and returned to Hammersley as the second RHIB carrying Bird and the Rat packs went past them.
Once again on Hammersley, Mike met up with Swain and Ryan who had the kids with them in the officer's mess getting them something to eat. Ryan stayed with them while Swain filled Mike in.
"Boss, the boy heard a man say that they must have been wrong about another girl and to leave to boy behind. Apparently they were going after them because there were females on the boat"
"Sounds sex traffickers then"
"I agree. Sir, we have to get them back, the boy said his father is in prison and there other family is in America"
Mike ran his fingers through his hair. The children had nowhere to go. Just then RO walked in with info for Mike. The woman who owned the boat was one Patricia Parris. She was a divorcee with three children and worked for Government on the local RAAF base in Cairns. Her ex husband was put in prison for murder and rape right before their youngest daughter was born, which she devoiced while he was incarcerated. She was currently the personal assistant to the head of the RAAF Base Bowen.
"Ok, notify Base Bowen command that Miss Parris has been kidnapped with her oldest daughter. We might get some information there RO"
"Yes Sir" RO said as he rushed back to which he came. He had a lot of work to do. Just then Dutchy came in the mess.
"Sir, 2Dads thinks he found something we missed while our first search. He is on the radio now"
"Ok Dutchy, I'm on my way up now" Said Mike as he rushed to the bridge. 2Dads was proving more and more useful at the moment. When Mike reached the bridge, he was handed the radio from RO.
"Ok 2Dads, what did you find?"
"Apparently our missing girl is a military fan Boss; she had a small recorder hidden in the entrance salon with a RAAF sticker on it. It was recording from the time her mum told her to her to hide herself and her siblings. It caught five male voices entering the ship, and one voice talking about a possible drop off point for the 'females' they were acquiring"
Mike smiled at 2Dad's find. He was becoming more and more proud of the lad.
"Good work 2Dads, I'm sending the X and Dutchy over for the recorder. You and Bird head straight to port and while you're there check on Kate for me"
"With Pleasure Boss" replied 2Dads and Mike sent Pete and Dutchy to retrieve the evidence and called NavCom to let them know of the newest developments.
Kate was in a foul mood. The entire time since she had been up from getting sick, she couldn't find a comfortable spot so she could go back to sleep. She was sore all over form the effect of the medicine they had her on to clean out her blood and now she had to go to the bathroom again. Not to mention her new soon to be sister in law Carol was as bad as Mike about treating her as if she were made of glass. Every time Kate went to move, the woman was calling a nurse. It was getting on her nerves.
"I don't mean to be a pest Kate, but if something were to happen to you and the baby, whoever was on watch would be in a world of hurt due to my brother Mike. It's bad enough my sister Mellissa can't help because she just had the baby, that is why she is helping Dad and Mum watch Mike's house"
Mellissa was the sister she had meet after Mike had left. She had come in initially, but had to leave due to her new baby. She had come back after all the headaches and hassle and learned of the troubles, problems and headaches she had missed out on before. Kate liked the little female version of Mike a lot. She was the one who took over if someone had to leave early and let her do as she pleased. She wished Mellissa was here now.
"It's no problem Carol. If you want, you could call Mellissa to come and sit here with me if you have anywhere you need to go. I love holding on to her new son, he is the cutest little thing"
"I know, he is a blessing from the heavens considering the doctors told her years ago she would never have any children. Little Thomas is a blessing from the heavens, just like Little Catherine is. A fighter just her father she is, but from what I have seen, she has her mother's spirit"
Kate had to smile at that and thanked Carol for the compliment. She explained she wasn't used to all the attention she was getting, and was actually easy to get along with as long as she was mobile, which Carol said she couldn't blame her for. They decided to look online at baby clothes, which actually brightened Kate's spirits. The thought of her little girl wearing all the little dresses and outfits her and Carol were looking at made her smile. Her little girl! A beautiful little girl that she had made by the love of the one and only man who would ever hold her heart.
Commander 'Mighty' Mike Flynn.
They were so caught up they never noticed the nurse come in the room to check her vitals. Before long the nurse was even looking at the cute little clothes the two women were looking at. After she checked her vitals, she told her a police officer was there to speak with her. The officer happened to be the one who caused the problem at her house and after explaining that yes she was moving and she was stuck in the hospital for a unknown period of time, decided to give the man a piece of her mind about the trouble and hassle he had caused. But what the officer said next about set her blood a boil.
"I do apologize Ma'am, but the woman who called us said you were out of town and that she was your Superior Officer. Because of that, we took her word. I do apologize for the inconvenience"
"Wait, you said my 'Superior Officer' called you?"
"Yes Ma'am" said the Officer. "A Commander Maxine White"
Kate pinched the bridge of her nose and said for the man to put that in writing. The police officer didn't understand until he heard Carol call the Admiral on the phone and asked him to come to the Hospital.
"I don't understand, I..."
"It's ok Officer, I just need you to tell the Admiral what you just said about my 'Superior Officer' and you will be free to go. She is the reason my stay here is 'Classified'"
The officer just nodded and when Steve and Susan showed up, the officer told Steve everything he had told Kate and then left after Kate signed a few papers. Steve didn't look to happy when the officer left.
"Kate, I think I need to call Mike on a Video call as soon as I see him online. He needs to know if you are released from the hospital that you can't go home or to his place. We need a secure location for you. I am quite surprised you haven't signed yourself out yet to be quite frank about it"
"If it wasn't for Catherine, I already would have. My baby is more important than my privacy or my comfort. She is me and Mike's everything"
Steve and Susan smiled at that comment. When Steve's cell went off, he answered it and gave short and simple response and then hung up with a sigh. Kate knew that was not a good sign.
"What's wrong Admiral Marshal?"
"Mike might be out there longer than a week. My person at NavCom said Maxine is desperately doing everything she can to give Mike whatever he wants on this mission, while looking for more work to send Hammersley out on"
Kate groaned and lay back in the bed and Carol had to suppress a giggle. Steve smiled knowing Kate wished she was out there, but knew that was no longer possible.
"He will be fine and I sent my spy to place a few roadblocks in Maxine's way. A certain American ambassador was called last night while I was helping Mike do something via yahoo chat. He knows what is going on and was requesting Mike come to a party as a guest of his. That way he has at least one day shore leave to spend with you. There is no party, but the ambassador does want to meet the woman that stole Commander Flynn's heart"
Kate blushed at that and Carol sighed thinking everything was so romantic at the moment. She wished she could find a man like her brother to love and save her; her own knight in shining whites. Steve laughed at that and when Kate mentioned she knew a certain 'Buffer' on her ship she thought she would like, Carol squealed in joy. Kate just smiled and so did Susan. Susan had to admit, she thought Carol and Dutchy would make a marvelous pair.
Back on Hammersley, Mike was going over the recorder that 2Dads had found. One of the men had mentioned Bright Island, and the thought of that place made Mike personally cringe. That was one place he really didn't want to go too. He also didn't want Kate to know he went there either. The last thing he wanted at the moment was to remind Kate of his ex girlfriends when they were having problems with Maxine and Kate was bed ridden in the hospital pregnant with their daughter. But of course, as per usual, Fate had turned the tables on him and was sitting back laughing its bum off at his oblivious discomfort of things.
"X"
"Yeah Boss"
"I think Kate is going to kill me"
It took Pete a moment to figure things out but when he did, he couldn't help but smirk. Mike was right; Kate was going to kill him.
"Should I give the order so she doesn't tan your hind Sir?"
"Please X"
Pete laughed out loud this time but gave the order to sail to Bright Island. The sound of Mike groaning behind him just made him laugh more. There wasn't many things that made Mike Flynn groan in displeasure, but thinking back, Pete had to agree. An Angry Kate McGregor was an unpleasant Kate McGregor.
"What's our ETA?"
"2 hours Sir" replied Charge. He remembered what had happened because of Bright Island and wasn't looking forward to being back there. But he did want tickets to see their 'old X' rip into their Captain. And knowing Pete, the 'new X' would want to record it for future viewing.
Two hours later, the Hammersley was approaching Bright Island. Calling a meeting in the wardroom, he made sure the children were asleep before letting Ryan in on the operation. He had to admit he was surprised on how well Ryan handled the children, but then again, it really wasn't that many years ago when he and Ryan's dad would all go on fishing trips together.
"Glad everyone is here" said Mike in serious mood. "2Dads found evidence that our preteen left behind. A recorder, that has led us to Bright Island. We are dispatching two RHIBS, which are to be code named 'Thunder' and 'Lighting'. We are going to float up there and take them by surprise. By the way the boats look on radar; everyone is asleep on the ships. To be safe, I want you are in Kevlar, extra plates and to proceed with extreme caution. We know they have two hostages, but with there being two boats, they might have a lot more. Any questions?"
When no one said anything, Mike told them to suit up and head out. The RHIBS were loaded and left down softy, and then rode out until they were unsure if anyone would hear them and then cut the engines and floated in. when they reached the ships, everyone had their guns at the ready. 'Thunder' took one ship and 'Lighting 'took the other.
On Lighting team was Dutchy, Swain, RO, Hiccup, and Smudge. On Thunder team was Pete, Charge, Ryan, Dodger, and Pony.
Lightening had it fairly easy. Dutchy quickly secured the wheelhouse, taking out the captain. Hiccup and Smudge checked upper decks and secured them while Swain and RO went below decks. They took out two armed hostels and found three underage girls from 12 to 17. They quickly brought them up top secured them in the salon before securing the crew members of the boat that where being taken into custody while Dutchy notified Mike that the first ship was secured and taken care of with three hostages.
Thunder was not so lucky. Pete took out the captain in the wheelhouse but out of nowhere, a man came up from behind Pete with a knife. He was quickly taken down by Charge but then had to help Pony who was having problems securing two more suspects. When Ryan and Dodger went below decks, they also meet hostels. Six of them and shots were fired. Dodger was hit in the upper right arm but still took out three while Ryan behind him took out the other three. Looking through the rooms, they found five adult women in the first room, six underage girls in the second. In the third, they found the mother and daughter from the Angel's Wing. Both had been sexually assaulted and the mother had been beaten.
Ryan carried the girl while Charge came down and carried the mom. Pete called it in the Mike and told him Dodger had taken a bullet to the arm but all hostels were in custody, the ship was secured and all hostages were accounted for. Pete told Dutchy to take his crew and hostels first and leave the hostages with them. The second RHIB started taking hostages over to the Hammersley. When Dutchy came back with his RHIB, they filled it with the rest to the hostels and when his own RHIB came back again, they put as many hostages as they could on it.
Once all were back on Hammersley, Pete gave a Sitrep to Mike and told him all the hostels were secure in their steer did they get a surprise. From the island, two RPG's were fired and blew up the two ships in question. The alarms started going off form the force of the blast, but thankfully they were far enough away not to sustain any damage. Mike quickly got RO on the Sat phone to NavCom to notify them what had just happened. He was glad no one had been left on the boats yet for tow, but it was still a bad situation.
"Boss, Commander White on the phone for you"
"HMAS Hammersley, Commander Flynn"
"Mike, what is going on?"
Mike explained what was going on and requested coast guard and AFP assistance due to the situation. He was assured that the HMAS Kingston was 45 minutes away and turning around to meet them, but was not all surprised to learn Coast Watch was already being notified and that they needed to stay there to help with the AFP operation. Mike agreed but the look on his face said he wasn't happy. He wanted to be back to port, for once.
"Alright Maxine, we will stay to assist"
"Alright Mike, stay safe. Fair winds"
Mike hung up the sat phone and everyone knew then not only was it going to be a long patrol, but they now also now had a very grumpy CO to contend with. It was not destined to be a pleasant patrol. The only person who could calm their CO down when he was like this was the old X Kate. But that was only because she usually took all the brunt for the crew and then Mike had to apologize later.
"Ok guys, orders from NavCom, we are to help assist Coast Watch and the AFP when they arrive. Kingston should be here shortly"
"But if Kingston is going to be here, why are we staying Sir" asked Ro. He knew that wasn't usual procedure.
"I don't know RO, but since it was Commander White that said so..."
"She is trying to keep you from Kate" spoke up Ryan. Mike shook his head and everyone snickered at Ryan rolling his eyes. But they all busted out laughing when they heard his response.
"Bloody hell, can't my mum mind her own and stay out of yours. So glad I take after my dad and you Uncle Mike"
Even Mike had to give a laugh at that response, which was a good thing as it revealed the anger inside of him due to Maxine's orders. He was glad Ryan was onboard and on his side of things. He was shaping up to be a fine officer one day.
Maxine sat in her office and smiled. She knew the Kingston wouldn't need any help, but she wanted to keep Mike out there as long as possible. Even if she missed Mike and Ryan, it was better than knowing Mike was with Kate. She smiled to herself thinking that almost everything was in place. Picking up the phone, she dialed an old number of a friend. It was time to find Kate McGregor.