Chapter Thirty;
You and Me (And All Of The People)

The sky the next morning was a brilliant fiery pink, suggesting bad weather was on the way, but Nav knew enough to know it wouldn't rain. It had been a very long time between even showers in Australia and so didn't even bother to register that part of the superstition. What she did register was how late it was. The day before the morning sky had been a beautiful mix of purple and blue, suggesting a gorgeous day, but today she awoke to a mess. The Reginald, now under her control after being boarded and seized only thirty minutes previous, was trailing behind the Hammersley as she steamed back to HMAS Cairns. Her crew, only two left behind after the Arctic Princess had made her escape, were cuffed downstairs and under the constant guard of Buffer and Spider. Bomber was with her sister, trying to avoid the grisly clean up that had been left in the very capable hands of Swain and Luke Haynes. RO and Kasey, finally working together, were up top with Sparks trying to fix the Comms. tower and the others had disappeared to help the civilians cope with everything that had just happened. So now, standing on the bridge with only a very silent Radar and forlorn Halfy with her, Nav stared into the sunrise.

"You did well today ma'am."

Nav turned and saw ET watching her from the top of the stairs. "Thanks ET. How's the engines?"

ET shrugged. "They'll keep for a little longer." He glanced at Halfy and Radar then lowered his voice. "Can we talk?" Nav nodded and they left the bridge. They stayed silent until they made it to her office, then ET spoke again. "Cass is with Sally Blake by the way." Nav nodded and pushed open the door, going to her desk and propping open her computer. ET shut the door behind him and leant on it. "You did well out there."

"You already said that." Nav didn't turn in her seat, just pulling up some files on her computer and staring at them, lost in thought.

"I think we need to talk." ET didn't move from his position on the door and so, when Nav turned to look at him, she noticed first the space between them. The large gaping space where their relationship should've been. She only felt worse at the sight of it and turned back to the computer.

"There's not really a lot to talk about. I think we've covered just about everything." ET didn't respond, just standing there in silence. Nav stayed silent too, waiting and hoping he'd say something, anything, to break the tension. Eventually realising that wasn't going to happen, she gave a small scoff. "I love our relationship," she glanced up at him. "You pretend you don't hate me and I pretend I believe you."

"I don't hate you Nikki."

"No, maybe not, but you certainly don't think I'm a good captain," she lowered her voice. "Or a good mother."

"I don't th…"

Nav spoke over him. "Yes you do Josh, you think that, you told me that in less than uncertain terms." She shook her head. "The problem is you're probably right. In fact, you're most definitely right. I've been neglecting Cass, dumping her on everyone else. I woke up the other night realising I had no idea where she was. Do you know how that feels? For a mother that is the worst possible feeling in the world. Cassie is everything to me – and I don't know where she is." Her voice shook. "And the only thing that could put me back to sleep… do you know what it was?" ET shook his head slowly. "The knowledge that she was with you." Her eyes dropped to the floor. "I'm a bad mother but I'm a worse captain. I let the Arctic Princess get away." She turned, pulling a piece of paper out of a pile on her desk, then handed it to ET. "The skipper of the Arctic, he works for someone who wants us dead. Wants to sink the Hammersley. And I let him go!" Her voice rose sharply with the strong emotion in it. It was pretty obvious to ET that she was down on herself right now. He knew he should do or say something to make her feel better but, with disgust, he realised he agreed with everything she was saying. Their CO had let the crew down and Nikki had let her family down. To comfort her would be to lie to both of them. He could do a lot of things, but ET wasn't about to do hypocrisy for the allusion of normality. He stayed standing in the doorway, his eyes skimming and re-skimming the sheet in an attempt to keep them off Nav. "Aren't you going to say anything?" She finally asked what ET had been trying to avoid.

"It's not an easy job."

"That's underestimation of the century. It's impossible. One mistake and… bam, six-year-old with a dead father. A family ruined."

"Thomas Carlisle wasn't your fault."

Nav shook her head. "I don't think you get the captain position Josh… it's always my fault!" She snatched the piece of paper back from him and turned back to her computer. "I have a report to write so if we're done…"

ET nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think we're pretty close." He pulled open the door and, with one last look at Nav, left. Nav ignored him, furiously hitting the keys as she took her anger out on them. Neither of them noticed the single tear splash onto the keyboard.

THE END

Coming in August;

The Price We Paid: Vantage Point

The crew of the Hammersley have the advantage of hindsight when it comes to seeing the end for the small island nation of Australia. When America gets involved in Australia's water shortage problems, is there an ulterior motive? Are Australia's water borders, which the Hammersley protect, hiding something more valuable than any of them could have imagined?