Chapter Twenty-Eight;
Fragments

"Luke!" Haynes turned at the sight of Scruffy running towards him. "The Nav needs you to round up all the family members and make sure they're safe in their cabins. We're under attack from The Reginald."

Haynes glanced up as a light flickered above them. "Okay, leave it to me."

He turned towards the stairs down to the cabins as Spider jogged past him, back towards the bridge. He made a mental note of the family members and the layout of the ship. He knew Julie Webb and Oscar Drake were sharing the Lieutenant's cabin on the second level. They were the only family on this level. He went to them first. On his way there he passed ET who was holding Cass. Thrusting Cass into his arms, ET rushed off without a word towards the engine room with Sparks in close pursuit. Haynes paused for a second, watching them and hoping the engines were alright, before he was shunted aside by Seagull who was passing him to get to the bridge. He awoke from his thoughts, remembering his job, and headed back to the Lieutenant's cabin. Inside Julie Webb was seated at the desk wringing her hands and Oscar Drake was seated in his bunk, headphones in his ears clearly trying to avoid the noise. As he handed Cassie over to Julie, Spider's mum taking the girl in her lap rather protectively as the three-year-old just giggled and continued to play with a stuffed giraffe she'd been given by her father when he left to get back to work, Haynes made a note of where the cabin was. It was in the interior of the layout, surrounded by a hall on one side and the cabin's private bathroom on the other. Only the Officers' cabins had bathrooms and most of them had been given to family as the officers went back to sharing sailor's cabins with the plebs.

"What's going on?" Julie asked and even Oscar looked up at this. It seemed the young man hadn't been listening to music at all, just attempting to.

"Nothing we can't handle ma'am." He gave her a smile, but no one believed it, and then motioned to the door. "Lock this when I go. Until you get the all clear from someone in the crew, DO NOT come out. You got that?" Julie nodded and stood up, leaving Cassie on the desk as she followed Haynes to the door.

She lowered her voice. "You can tell me Corporal. Are we in trouble?"

Haynes glanced at the kids then back at Mrs. Webb and gave a small nod. She put her hand to her mouth. "It'll be okay, I'm sure, just stay here okay?" He shut the door behind him and heard it lock. Satisfied they were safe, he turned towards the stairs. Now for the rest.

***

"Luke? What's going on?" Sally Blake, clutching little Chloe's hand tightly, found him as he descended onto the third level. He glanced behind her at the open door of the third level Lieutenant's cabin, a room she shared with her husband. He motioned her back towards the cabin.

"Mrs. Blake, please, get back to your cabin." He ushered her back towards it then followed her inside. Like Julie Webb's cabin, this one was shielded from the heat of the external walls by the bathroom. "Everything's under control Sally, really, just stay here and lock the door. And don't go into the bathroom, the external walls are a bit hot and I don't want you to burn yourself."

"Is Daddy okay?" Chloe spoke up, looking up at him with big round blue eyes.

Haynes crouched down to her level. "Your daddy is up there now," he pointed to the roof and Chloe looked up as if trying to see Swain. "And your daddy is going to make sure you and mummy and everyone else onboard is okay. But he needs you to be brave and stay here and look after your mum, okay?" She gave a big smile and a nod. He ruffled her hair. "Good girl." He stood and backed up to the door. "Lock it and don't come out until either myself or an officer come get you, okay?" Sally nodded and shut the door behind him, locking it securely.

Haynes stopped. The Carlisles? Where the hell had they put the Carlisles? He started towards the other end of the third level. Down here everyone was pretty much safe. This level partially below the waterline, there were no doors down here. But still it was best to keep the families locked in their cabins just in case…

Just in case what he wasn't sure, but after passing the cabin Spider and Buffer shared, then the cabin ET shared with Radar, he came to the figure of Jessica Carlisle standing in the doorway of her cabin, eyes scanning the hall. She stopped when she saw Luke. "Luke, oh thank god, Alex has gone."

Haynes gaped. This was the 'just in case'. He frowned. "When did you last see him?"

Jess sighed. "About five minutes ago. Something hit the wall of our cabin and he got scared and ran off. Thomas has gone after him."

Luke swore under his breath. Two civilians out in the open. It was the last thing he needed. He knew he should've gone to the Carlisles first. "Where did Tom go?" Jess pointed towards the stairs to the second level. Haynes swore again. "Okay, stay here Jessie, I'll find them." He rushed up to the second level that was now surprisingly empty. It seemed almost everyone had gone to the bridge. Rushing past the bathrooms and the garbage room, he stopped at the sound of something metal clanging on metal nearby. At first he thought it was just the fireworks, the noise of them drowning out just about everything else in the place, but then he stopped. It was coming from the galley. Shoving the galley door open roughly, his eyes fell on young Alex sitting in the middle of the room hitting a ladle against a saucepan. In the attack the galley cupboards had burst open, showering the room with Bomber's precious gear. Haynes knew she wouldn't be happy, and made a note to mention it to her if he passed her, but for now grabbed the child – ladle and all – from the mess and rushed him back downstairs to his mother. Jessie was so relieved to see the boy she almost hugged Haynes, but stopped when she realised Thomas wasn't with them.

"You said he went upstairs?" Luke asked.

Jessica nodded. "To find Alex. You haven't seen him?"

Luke frowned. "Get back inside and lock the door, I'll find your husband." She obeyed and Luke turned back towards the stairs just as a god almighty boom thundered through the ship. He briefly heard a yell from upstairs, it sounded like it was coming from the bridge, as he took the stairs two at a time. As he reached the top he saw what had happened. The starboard side door swung open and, in it's place, exposed to the rough seas and brilliant lights outside, stood Thomas Carlisle.

"Tom, over here." Luke yelled, standing in the stairwell.

Tom looked at him just as something small arched through the air from The Reginald and landed just in front of the stairwell. Luke saw it clearly and fear raced through his veins. Subconsciously he registered his feet backing down the stairs but his mind screamed at him to save the civilian. Tom had no idea at the horror he was facing.

"TOM! GET BEHIND SOMETHIN…" Luke's voice was lost even to himself as he ducked back behind the corner of the stairwell. His last sight of the civilian was his wide-eyed look of fear as he finally recognized the danger of the small, olive-green bulb.

A second later the fragmentation charge exploded…