Chapter Twenty-Four;
Water Water

"What up mopey?" Scruffy grinned as she sat down beside Luke Haynes in the Junior Sailor's Mess. But he didn't return her smile. "You alright?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess, just feeling a little bit… what's the word?"

"Useless?" Scruffy suggested unhelpfully.

He frowned at her. "You have a way with words don't you?"

Scruffy grinned. "The crew are headed over to a little boat called The Reginald, she's taking on water." Luke frowned, not getting the suggestion. "Just saying…" she smiled and continued in a sing-song voice. "You could help them…"

Luke stood up. "You know, I think I might ask Swain if I can join the boarding party."

Scruffy grinned. "Good idea. You're so clever." Giving her a quick kiss on the forehead, Luke left. Casting her eyes skyward and shaking her head, Scruffy stood too. "Seriously Haynes, what would you do without me?" Then she headed back to the bridge.

***

"Hands to boarding stations, hands to boarding stations." Radar called over the pipe as Nav looked down on the little ship beside them. She didn't seem to have taken on too much water, but a call for help was a call for help and couldn't be ignored.

"Swain?" Swain had just appeared at the top of the stairs. He gave her a slight smile. "What's happened?" Nav frowned. She hadn't expected Swain to come see her before a boarding, they both know that once a boarding was called he was in charge.

"No problems ma'am, just telling you Haynes has joined the boarding party if that's okay with you."

Nav nodded. "Of course. Look, call me superstitious, but I don't like the look of this little runabout. Just stay on the radio okay and tell me anything you see, no matter how small, got that?"

Swain smiled. "Of course ma'am." He left the bridge. Five minutes later the RHIB had touched the water and was headed off towards the little boat. Nav sat in the CO's chair and watched with interest.

***

"Hey!" A young blonde woman waved to them from the deck of the boat as the RHIB got closer. "Thanks for coming so quick."

Swain jumped out of the RHIB first, followed by Buffer, Spider and Haynes. "Where's the problem?"

The girl pointed downstairs. "Down there. We got up this morning and noticed water everywhere, about this deep." She held up both hands, indicating a depth of about 30 centimetres. "Mainly in the lower cabin. My niece stays down there so she's not happy."

Swain gave a smile. "I understand, no one likes wet cold feet in the morning." He glanced at the others. "Okay, let's go see what we're dealing with." He smiled back at the woman. "Want to lead the way Miss…"

"Mrs. Connelly. It's right down here."

***

The problem wasn't damage to their hull, and certainly not enough to bring the ship down. It was Spider that spotted it. A hole in the wall of the cabin, barely larger than a baby's fist, just above the waterline. It appeared to have been caused by the niece's alarm clock, the wind-up part at the back smacking away a hole as the ship rocked in the ocean. After a few laughs at their own stupidity, the crew of The Reginald stated they could fix it themselves and thanked the crew. Nonetheless, Swain insisted they let Haynes and Spider fish the water out of the cabin and try and fix the hole. Meanwhile Swain and Buffer headed upstairs, Buffer to check everything else was okay and Swain to radio back to the Nav.

"Everything's fine ma'am, there was a hole in one of the bulwarks and water was splashing inside when a wave hit. I've got Webb and Haynes down there now cleaning it all up."

Nav gave a soft chuckle. "Okay, good. Anything else? Have they told you how they manage to keep a boat during these times?"

"Yeah, it's a special occasion, their niece's 18th birthday. They say they're from Darwin and this is the last time they'll be using the boat. Last of their fuel too by the looks of it, I passed two cans in the owner's cabin but that's all they have I think."

"Great. Well, as long as it's enough to get them home." She frowned to herself and Swain could hear it in her voice. "Checked their licenses and ID?"

"Course ma'am." Swain smiled at Nav's slightly controlling checks. For the last few days Nav had been on edge, something that Swain hadn't missed, but he still couldn't work out why. He guessed ET's injury and left it at that, but still a little voice in the back of his head told him there was more to it than that. "The boat is owned by Mr. Nicholas Connelly and his wife Annabel. As well as that Mrs. Connelly's niece Sascha is onboard. They seem like a nice couple. She's an Australian citizen, he's British but with a permanent visa. The boat was originally in the name of Sascha's father who she tells me passed away in 2010. He passed it on to Annabel and she to her husband. They have all the papers ma'am, as well as receipts of where they got the last of their fuel. Looks like they've been planning this trip for a while, they bought the fuel back in January 2011."

"Okay, well, when you're done Chris just leave them to their trip." She put the radio down and Swain turned away from the Hammersley and towards a small pile of boxes in the corner of the deck. He went to them and had a closer look.

"Thanks again for this. You can tell we're not sea folk." Annabel Connelly appeared on the deck holding a mug of tea. "You thirsty?" She held it out to him but Swain ignored it, just motioning to the pile of boxes.

"Are these fireworks?" He'd just recognised the symbols on the outside with a frown. "Where'd you get these?"

Annabel smiled. "From Darwin. Sascha loves fireworks. They were meant to be a surprise but, as you can see, we're not great at hiding things."

"What are they for?" Swain frowned at her as Buffer joined them on the deck.

"Oh it's Sascha's birthday in two nights time. We'll be firing them then, for a bit of a show. It might be the last chance she gets to see some." She finally noticed Swain's frown. "Is something wrong? I mean we paid for them and everything. I know they're probably illegal but right now surely a little thing like a few crackers isn't going to hurt anyone is it?"

Swain glanced at Buffer who looked about ready to grab his radio and call the Nav, but Swain decided to stay human. "Of course not." He glanced up as Spider and Haynes appeared at the top of the stairs as well. "I think we're done here. Have a nice party Mrs. Connelly, we'll keep an eye out for your fireworks." Then, motioning the RHIB back to meet them, he saw Buffer frown. "What?"

"Maybe we should have one last check of the ship, just in case."

"In case there's more fireworks? Buff, it's fine, trust me." Buffer shrugged in agreement and hopped over the side and into the RHIB. Swain gave Mrs. Connelly one last smile and then the crew went on their way.