As everyone is filing into class on Monday morning, Brad has a smile on his face. Kate and Mike are also in a happy mood. Bill notices the grin Mike is wearing and has been trying to get the information out of him since they arrived in class thirty minutes ago to set up. But so far he is refusing to tell him.
Back in Cairns, Steve has just finished firing up his laptop and is opening up his emails to download as he did not do them yesterday. As they all come in he scans who they are from, when he spots one is from Mike the subject line gets his full attention, he then opens it straight away.
As he reads through it a grin spreads across his face. About bloody time, he says to himself.
Back in the classroom in Sydney, Nikki is pressing Kate for information, which she just sits there and ignores, but does smile the whole time.
"Lieutenant Caetano, enough for now please," Mike says to her, and he watches as Nikki fold her arms and tries to sulk at him. Mike just shakes his head at her.
About an hour into class Captain Jarrod Patterson enters the classroom, walks up to the front and quietly whispers to Bill and Mike. They say a few things between then quietly and Jarrod shows them a picture via a folder before Mike addresses the class, introducing Jarrod to them.
"It has come to my attention over the weekend that someone took it into their own hands to spread around a photo of two highly respected naval officers. From the information I have been provided with so far, it points back to someone in this class. Now rumour mongering is a chargeable offence within the Navy." A student then puts their hand up.
"Yes, Lieutenant?" Jarrod replies noticing her stripes.
"Sir, the picture I was sent would suggest that it is not a rumor and there is something between the two of them. Would they not be breaking the non-fraternisation rules?" Nikki and Kate now click to what is going on. That prick. How dare he. I knew he was up to something. Great way to dampen a good morning.
"I will want your phone please. And no, they are not breaking any rules. Their relationship has gone through all the proper channels and has been approved."
"Sir, but wouldn't that give her an advantage in the classroom, with him being her teacher?" Brad says without waiting.
"Lieutenant, next time ask before you speak. No, it would not give her an advantage, simply because he does not mark her work. Their private life is that, private," he emphasizes the last word.
"Now, once I find out who started this, there will be consequences for your actions. When and if you suspect these sorts of things, you are meant to go to the Commanding Officer of the base or ship, not take it into your own hands and spread it around without knowing all the facts first. Do yourself a favor. If you started this I want you in my office by 1300 hours. If you are not there and I have to come looking for you, your punishment will be worse. Thank you, Mike, Bill," Jarrod says before leaving class.
"Now, you all have heard the Captain," Bill says to the class and a round of 'yes, sir' is heard before he gets back to business.
Nikki and Kate are sitting down eating lunch when Nikki starts begging her for information.
"Nope, not giving," Kate replies with a smile.
"Not giving what?" Mike says as he comes up behind them and sits down beside Kate.
"The details that led to this," she replies wiggling her fingers. Mike smiles.
"Nikki, she'll tell you when she is ready ok?"
"Nope, not ok. Sorry, Sir," Nikki replies with a grin. Mike just shakes his head.
"Well, maybe wait till the end of the week. After you have both finished the course."
"Thursday night. Yes, good idea. We can go celebrate. We could take Phil, Bill, and Lucy with us and have a night out." Mike sits there shaking his head smiling
"Nikki, so what is going on with you and Phil?" Kate asks, thinking this might get her off the topic.
"Nope. No info for you till you spill."
"Fine with me. Mike, what was going on this morning with the Captain being in our class?"
"Someone took a photo of us together in bed, and going by the photo, it was on Monday night."
"Oh and I bet I know who did it too."
"Who?"
"It'll be Brad. He's had this smug look on his face since Tuesday; like he knew something we didn't. I knew he wasn't to be trusted."
"Well, I better go inform the Captain about it," Mike replies as he gets up from the table and heads off. Nikki and Kate keep talking for a little longer before heading off back to class.
Everyone has assembled in class and Bill is waiting for Mike. He looks up at Kate seeking a reason for his absence, but she says nothing.
Bill decides after five minutes of waiting for Mike that he will start the class without him. Though he is worried, Mike has never been late for class before.
As Bill is handing out case studies for the students to work on, Mike and Jarrod enter the classroom. They walk over to Kate and then all three head outside.
"Kate, are you sure that Lieutenant Moyes would have done this?" Jarrod asks
"Yes, Sir. He used to be in my class at ADFA. He gave me the nickname of Princess Perfect, but he also loved to make fun of me in a number of ways. It would not surprise me at all if he took the photo."
"Do you think he is linked to what Maxine is doing?"
"No, Sir, I don't think so."
"Mike, make sure at the end of class that Lieutenant Moyes is brought to my office. Oh and congratulations you two." Mike and Kate stand there stunned.
"Come on, you two. There is no way this was going to get past me," Jarrod replies while picking up Kate's left hand.
"By the way, Mike, lovely choice."
"Thank you, Sir. But can you please not say anything about it at the meeting tonight?"
"Sure, if that is what you want. Anyway, I better let you get back to class, and thank you for letting me know this information too."
"No problem, Sir," Kate replies. Jarrod heads off and Mike and Kate head back into the classroom. Kate goes back to her work. The room is quiet as everyone is working on the case studies that Bill has given them.
The afternoon is spent going through more drills, and what paperwork would be required for the drills that they were doing. At the end of class Mike takes Brad to see Jarrod.
The following day they are all in class, including Brad. No one is sure what happened the evening before, as no one saw him once class was dismissed. Brad wants to say something to at lunch time but she is surrounded by other officers so he waits.
In the afternoon, Jarrod enters the class like he normally does on the last week of the course. He sits right at the back, and as he entered quietly before class started again no one really notices him.
The class starts with Mike and Bill firing off questions for the class to answer.
Bill starts off with a case study they normal use.
"You are dropping off a person to a set location and there are three of your people plus this person in a RHIB. You head towards the beach designated for the drop off. Your sailors are unarmed and as they land, they are ambushed from all around. What would you do? McGregor and Caetano, you can wait to answer please," Bill says to them. He sees the 'we're not happy look' on their faces.
He goes through several of the students, all giving different opinions of what they would do.
"Ok, McGregor, Caetano. You can give us your answer," Bill says.
"Thank you, sir. We have a few questions for you. Is there a CO on board is the XO acting as CO?"
"Excellent question, ladies. Mike, what do you think?"
"The XO is acting CO of the ship at the time," Mike replies.
"Another question, Sir. How long has this XO been on the boat, and have they had experience dealing with this sort of thing before?"
"And why do you ask these questions?" Bill asks.
"Because they would then determine the outcome. An experienced XO who has dealt with this type of situation would read it and act differently to an XO who has not been in that position before. I need to be able to provide the best possible answer to the right set of circumstances." Mike shakes his head.
"Ok then, here is more information for you. The CO is not on the boat; they have been transported off to another vessel. The XO has not been in command of this boat without having the CO there to correspond with. This is the first time they have had to deal with this type of circumstance and so are having to make all the decisions on their own. Also the XO has only been with this crew for approximately twelve months. So, what would you do if you were in this situation McGregor," responds Bill.
"Are they armed?"
"Yes the ambushers are armed, your men aren't."
"How many hostiles?"
"Two in a boat and eight on shore."
"Are they after the person that we are dropping off?"
"Yes."
"That is easy to answer. I would get my crew to hold their position to start with. I would assess the situation in front of me. Depending on what is happening in front of me and what demands the group has, I would then let them know that we are an Australian warship and that they need to clear their craft or we would fire upon them. I would repeat then get my buffer to close up the 50cal, while I wait for my Nav to say something because, going by her look, she's not happy with my decision," replies Kate, who nudges Nikki. Nikki knows it is her turn to talk and so they start their normal tag-teaming of answers. Mike listens with interest.
"X, are you serious about firing on them?"
"If that's what it takes."
"But Ma'am, what about the rules of engagement." Both trying to keep a straight face
"Good point there, Nav. I am aware of our obligations but my priority is to protect my crew. I would ask the person we are dropping off some simple questions. If they are not answered truthfully, I would then pipe the same thing as before; 'move your vessel or we will fire upon you'. If that does not work, I would then get them to fire a short burst from the 50cal, just shy of the vessel. Now, if they still not moving I would get one of my crew to train the typhoon on the vessel and I would then re-pipe to them that the next shot will be on their vessel."
"While all the crew on the bridge stand in shock when you say 'Just give me one excuse and I blow you out of the water'." The whole class cracks up laughing.
"Lieutenant Commander, would you not think that this is an unorthodox way of doing it?" asks Jarrod from the back of the class, and everyone turns to face him.
"It may be, Sir. But it got a result, no one was injured or hurt. We often use that warning system with FFVs, so I would use the same method."
"And I take it from the comment at the end that you have been in this type of situation before?"
"Yes, Sir. I have."
"And Lieutenant, I take it from your answers you were involved that day?"
"Yes, Sir. I was."
"And what were your feelings about how she did things?"
"Well, I was shocked. Princess Perfect, the hard task master, was um, acting more like our CO Flynn than the McGregor I had known."
"And did you think this was a bad thing at the time?"
"At the time we were processing a lot of information. I thought she was being to bold, but after I had time to think about it, we broke no rules. And I think the crew started to like her more, knowing she wasn't as strict as we all thought she was."
"Lieutenant Commander McGregor, if you were put into the same situation again, how would you do it differently?"
"First, my crew would go armed. I would not delay my orders to the crew or be second guessing myself. Today if I did it, I would choose a more open area for the drop off. I would also deploy the second RHIB with more personnel, also armed. I would still pipe the same thing about firing on them and I would have my team more prepared to leave and not muck around talking too much, bar finding out what they want, then getting my crew and the person out of harm's way." Jarrod asks the group several more questions before it is the end of the class. Once it is all over with Kate heads to the front.
"Remind me why I am allowing you to command my baby again," Mike says to her.
"Well, you see, you decided that there was someone more important to you than your boat. And anyway, she's my baby now, thanks."
"And I bet you won't let me forget it either."
"Nope, not even in your dreams, mister."
"So Nikki, did that really happen when I was off the boat?"
"Yes, Sir. It did."
"I'd say, Mike, your cowboy ways have been rubbing off on her," replies Bill.
"And I told you we'll need to step it up with these two in the class. I feel sorry for the poor person who gets Nikki as their XO."