The last couple of months have taken their toll on Kate and the crew have noticed she has lost some weight. Nikki is the only one who knows what has been going on with the brass, and today is the day Kate finds out what is going to happen regarding her job. She has struggled with the fact Mike wants no contact with her at present.

Kate heads off to see Marshall to find out what is going on, having been called in for a meeting about it at 1100 hours.

"Kate, have you been eating?"

"Yes."

"You sure? Because you've lost some weight. You don't look too well."

"How would you look if you had to deal with what I've have for the last six months?"

"Yes, it can't be easy."

"No, it's not. More so when Mike's not here or talking to me."

"Give him time, Kate."

"How much time does he need?"

"I have no idea. Anyway, the reason for this meeting is about the inquiry the brass has been doing."

"What have they decided?"

"Well, they have decided that most of the allegations are false." There is silence for a few seconds while Steve lets Kate digest this.

"Now the ones that they found to be true are the ones you admitted to doing. The others, they decided, were based on the actions of your mother.."

"So what does that mean for me and my job?"

"Well it means that everything stays as it is for you."

"What about Maxine and Brad?"

"Well, Maxine is being transferred back to Canberra. She is not going to like the job she is getting, but they found this is the only time she has done this so they giving her some leeway. Brad has been discharged, as this is not the first time he has done this sort of thing."

"So who will become the Commanding Officer here in Cairns with Maxine gone?"

"Me. They are transferring me back for the time being, till they decide what to do. So how do you feel now, Kate?"

"Ah, better to know I still have my job."

"Good. Now go home, eat some food and relax. You guys have a week shore leave, with no crash sailings."

"Thanks, Sir."

"No problem, now go," he says and she leaves his office to head home.

Once home, she emails Mike. A few moments later she receives a phone call that leaves her in tears.

Later in the evening, back on HMAS Anzac, Mike is checking his emails when he receives one from Kate. He not sure about opening it but the subject line makes him decide he should.

Dear Mike

I know you said not to email or contact you, but I felt that you deserved to know the outcome of the inquiry with the brass. I will keep this short and sweet for you.

I was cleared, I still have my rank and job.

Maxine has been transferred to Canberra, Steve is staying on in Cairns for now and Brad was discharged.

I hope all is going well for you.

I miss you, and I love you too

Kate

Mike sits there and rereads the email a few times.

The following day Mike is on the bridge when his RO gets his attention.

"Sir, I have your father on the phone. Do you want me to patch to the bridge or your cabin?"

"My father?" Mike asks.

"Yes, Sir. He said it was urgent and that he needed to talk to you."

"Ok then, put it through to my cabin. X, you have the ship." Mike then heads to his cabin. Why is dad ringing me out here? What is so urgent that he can't just email me like has been doing?

Once in the cabin, he picks up the phone and the RO puts his father through to him.

"Dad, what's so urgent that you had to ring me?" he asks, sounding not at all impressed that is father has rung him.

"Mike, don't use that tone with me. I am your father, not some sailor you can boss around."

"Sorry."

"Yes, you should be bloody well sorry, and I am not at all impressed with you right now son."

"What have I done this time?"

"What have you done? Bloody hell, Mike. You damn well know what you have done to Kate."

"Dad."

"No, you don't dad me. Your mother is in Cairns now, with Kate. She got worried when you stopped emailing with replies regarding Kate, so she rang her yesterday and Kate broke down on the other end of the line. If I had known yesterday that it was because of you, I would have called sooner. Where do you get off doing that to her, Mike? She needed you and you just cut all ties with her. Your mother is worried sick about her."

"Dad..."

"Son, I damn well hope you've got some good reason for doing what you did. Telling her you love her then asking someone else to tell her not to contact you; that is not nice boy."

"Dad, let me explain," Mike says crossly.

"Mike, I told you not to speak to me like that."

"Well, you won't let me explain." They snap back at each other.

"Stuff happened when we returned back home. We had a fight, she left..."

"Ok, I get that. But why is she in the state she is in? Your mother has told me she's lost weight and not eating properly. Why take a frigate posting when you know she needs you with this inquiry?"

"I had no choice with the posting, dad."

"That is not what you told us."

"Well, I left out some other information; important information."

"You'd better bloody well explain, mister, because right now you are not in your mother's good books for this, or mine for that matter."

"We had a fight over something small and it turned into something big. She put her walls back up on me and we had a big fight. She walked out after I asked not to."

"Ok, go on. What happened after that?"

"I'm not proud of what I did next, but I got out the scotch and drank myself to sleep."

"Mike, that is not a wise thing to do."

"No, but what is worse is the next day I just kept on drinking."

"Bloody hell, is stupid."

"Yeah, I know. That afternoon Captain Steve Marshall, Commanding Officer for Navcom Cairns, came to my house and found that I had gone through two large bottles of scotch, and was a quarter of the way through my third."

"Mike, you will never find the answers in the bottom of a bottle."

"Yeah, I know, Dad. I just didn't want to feel, it was making everything numb. I just couldn't deal with her walking out like she did, when I was trying so hard, when I asked her not to." Mike starts to cry.

"Bloody hell, Mike. Sounds like you're both hurting, but why not email her?"

"Because each time I try, I go back to those few days and the way I acted towards her. What she did and then what I did afterwards, then I have to pull myself together again. Steve sent me here so I was away from everything; to give me time to sort myself out and find whatever answers I need to find."

"Have you?"

"No, I'm just very confused right now. I want to be with her but as I told you before, dad, I can't be with her if she's going to react like she does and not let me in. I don't expect her to tell me everything about her childhood, but when we cross certain things I need to know she's not going to run on me; that she will stand by me and we do it together. And that day showed me she can't or just won't, I'm not sure."

"God, Mike. It is a mess, isn't it?"

"Yep, I love her, dad. God, do I love her more than I have loved anyone before. She has my heart, but.." Mike doesn't finish.

"I understand, son, I understand." There is silence while they think.
"Listen to me, son. We will deal with Kate. We'll her get back going again for you. When you return in three months, we will get you whatever help you need and also whatever help you both need together to get through all this."

"Thanks, dad."

"Look, son. I'm going to have to go, another call is coming in and I bet it's your mother. I'll let her know what you've told me, ok?"

"No problem, dad. Bye."

Oh God, what have I done to her? She can't afford to lose any weight. She is petite as it is, any weight loss is going to look bad.

Mike heads back to the bridge and George, who is the X, asks if everything is ok. Mike replies with a yes, but his mind is elsewhere, thinking about Kate and what his father has said to him about getting some help.

By the end of the week, Kate is starting to look and feel better. Having Megan around to talk to and help to work through her issues, fears and worries has been helpful. She's had more help from Megan than from the counsellor she has been visiting. By the time Hammersley is due to sail again she is feeling a bit more upbeat within her normal self and has manged to put on a little weight again.

When Hammersley sails the crew notice the positive changes in Kate. Nikki knows the outcome of the inquiry and she's pleased that everything turned out well for Kate in the end.

The next six weeks go by fast for Hammersley. They were kept on their toes and Nikki was getting tired, so Kate was taking on some of the boarding duties to allow Nikki to rest.

It is six weeks before Anzac is due to return to Sydney. They are being kept busy by the duties they are undertaking while in the gulf. Mike may not like frigates, but he is finding it interesting to be doing something different. He is enjoying having fun with George as they tell stories to the others about their time at ADFA, and when they first were posted to Hammersley.

Two and half weeks later, Nikki is on the bridge of Hammersley watching Kate and the boarding team when the radio cracks into life.

"Bomb! Get into the RHIB, there's a bomb!" Kate is heard yelling to the crew via their headsets.

Thirty seconds later there is a loud explosion. The RHIB is sent flying and everyone is thrown out by the impact of the explosion.

Kate and Dutchy are both unconscious in the water. 2Dads is with Kate, keeping her head above water, and Charge is with Dutchy. Halfy is swimming towards the RHIB and Bird is floating on the surface waiting, while Nikki is on the bridge ordering the launch of the other RHIB.

2Dads is yelling at the other RHIB team to pick the boss up. He can see she is injured by the blood that is showing in the water and is well aware that sharks could turn up. With all his yelling, the team come to him first and pull her out before heading to Dutchy and Charge. After seeing that Halfy made it into the other RHIB, they collect Bird last.

Bird, 2Dads and Charge are sore and bruised but got off lightly compared to the boss and Dutchy. Bird helps as much as she can with treating the two sailors, but once that is done the shock starts to set in on her. The reality of what just happened hitting home.

Thirty minutes later, as Hammersley is sailing towards HMAS Melbourne to transfer Kate and Dutchy, Nikki is thinking to herself Mike is going to kill me when he finds out what happened. Kate better wake up and pull through.