Chapter 6 The Captain

2 Weeks Later

It was Kate's last day of leave and she was slightly upset, tomorrow she had to back to her professional self onboard Hammersley and that was going to be hard for her this time around. She had gone seeing mike almost everyday to seeing him 3-4 times every couple of weeks, but now that she was engaged she didn't feel so alone and she knew Mike would be there for her no matter what.

Kate assembled all of the clothes she needed, ironed her whites and made dinner for herself and Mike. Mike and Kate made the most of there last night together, Kate rested her head on mikes chest as they discussed their future.

"Have you ever thought of having kids ?" asked Kate.

"Yeah I have actually" replied Mike.

"How many" Kate asked jokingly.

"Well, 1 so we could spoil him or her" he added quickly bringing a smile to Kate's soft face, he ended the conversation there pulling Kate in for a short kiss.

Mike got up and walked into the bathroom as Kate laid there thinking and listening when she heard the sound of water, mike poking his head out.

"Care to join me ?" asked Mike.

" I'll be in, in a minute " replied Kate getting some clothes out of her drawer.

They sat in the bathtub as Kate started to drift off to sleep with the warmth of the water and the comfort of Mike.

Kate woke up with the sound of the alarm ringing in her dream and the sound of mikes voice.

"Hey wake up sleepy head" he said softly.

Kate had gotten used to sleeping in and she didn't want to get out of bed. She reluctantly got out of bed, had a shower with Mike as usual when he was home and put on her whites ready and out the door by 0830.

They reached Hammersley by 0920 ready to sail by 1000 hours, Kate finished unpacking her gear when Nav poked her head in noticing the ring on Kate's finger and how happy she was, Nav stepping inside their cabin.

"When did this happen?" Nav asked quietly.

"About 2 weeks ago", Kate replied. Smiling as she looked down at her ring once more.

"Congratulations Hun" Nav replied giving Kate a hug as she was called to the bridge.

Kate made her way up onto the bridge when she spotted Mike, smiling as they walked up to the bridge together he pinched her hip as they walked up the stairs everyone welcoming Kate back. Taking her position in the captains chair, as she was in control of the ship Nav and Kate took her out of port and into the Arafura sea, the start of a 4 week patrol.

2 weeks passed slowly when Hammersley received Intel from Navcom about large shipments of Heroin coming into Australia and it was Hammersley's job to find the drug dealers.

They approached a vessel coming into Australian waters, they were about to board when Mike pulled Kate aside as he whispered into her ear.

"Be careful, please I don't want to lose you " he said sweetly but concerned.

Kate nodded and hopped into the Rhib as they sped after the vessel. Mike was almost on the bridge when he heard gun shots as he thought to himself "not again" as he ran to the bridge grabbing a pair of binoculars frantically looking out onto the water for any sign of the Rhib, when RO's voice blasted over the radio.

" Hammersley this is bravo 82 do copy?''

" This is Hammersley go ahead" Mike replied pinning for his fiancé voice, as he could hear her moaning in the background.

"X and Buffer have been hit, the X has a stomach wound and Buffer is unconscious" replied RO.

The drug dealers were detained on the ship and Spider and 2Dads were to follow Hammersley under there own steam to cairns.

The Rhib was lifted up onto Hammersley with the injured Buffer and X.

Swain moving between the two of them Buffer was in a more severe way then Kate as bomber stabilised her, still moaning as she held her Co's hand in pain.

It took Swain 2 hours to stabilise Buffer and with only 2 hours until they reached port, Swain moved Kate to a separate room so she had some privacy, Bomber coming in to check on her ever half an hour.

Mike sat beside Kate as the morphine kicked in as she drifted of to sleep as he closed the door behind him a he gave Kate a kiss when no-one was noticing. Nav interrupted Mike to see how Kate was as he stared down at the diamond ring.

Nav sat down beside Mike placing her hand on Kate's when she piped up.

"Sir RO said he needs to talk to you and he said its urgent"

Mike nodded in reply, "she told you didn't she ?" he asked.

" yeah she did and she is so happy, she loves you" stated Nav.

Mike kissing Kate on the forehead as he left the room, leaving Nav with Kate he didn't want her to be alone, not again.

Mike addressed his jobs he had to do before he headed back down to the wardroom to check on Buffer, Kate relieving Nav as it was time to dock, Mike and Bomber got Kate ready for her trip to hospital once again.

At least this time Kate was only on medical leave for a week as she headed back out onto Hammersley. Kate was on restricted duties but that didn't stop her, she wanted to be on the boarding parties she missed it so much and it was thanks to Buffer that she wasn't dead. Kate recommended Buffer be nominated for a bravery award as she told Mike, tears pooling in her eyes as she tried not to think about the past 2 weeks, reaching out for hug at least they had a little bit of privacy for now that is.

2 weeks later Buffer returned to Hammersley eager to get onboard and back out to sea.

"After 3 weeks in that hospital bed I was ready to rip someone's head off" joked Buffer as they settled down for a brew laughing and joking the crew was glad to have there Buffer back, the ship felt empty when he was gone and it wasn't the same with out him.

Spider was especially happy to have Buffer back he was like a big brother to Spider and since Chefo was posted to another ship buffer and Spider were there own sources of there amusement.

Mike was on the bridge when a phone call came through from fleet medical wanting to speak to Kate, Mike summoning her to the bridge when her Dr gave her some good news she was pregnant 8 weeks to be exact.

Kate hung the phone with a big smile on her face as she looked down at her flat stomach, Mike looked over at Kate as he noticed how happy she was handing Nav the ship they headed down to his cabin.

"I'm pregnant" whispered Kate, Mike shocked not knowing what to say he stood up pulling Kate in to hug her, he whispered into her ear.

"I love you so much" kissing her as they were interrupted by the Nav over the pa system (" co to the bridge at the rush" ) Mike focussing back on Kate.

"Duty calls" laughed Kate.

Mike stepped up on the bridge with a smile on his face when Nav walked over to him.

" Is she ?" asked Nav.

"Yes Nav she is" replied Mike.

"Congratulations sir" replied Nav, "Sir we have an emergency Eperb that was activated about 15 minutes ago registered to a Tim Lawrence on the Mystic mirage" said Nav.

" Alright Nav get us there" replied Mike.

"Sir we will be going through a storm to get to him, at this rate it will hit us at approximately 1845 hours" replied Nav cautiously.

As they approached what appeared to be the Mystic Mirage they noticed a considerable about of debris in the water, parts of yacht were missing surprisingly it was still floating. The towed it back to the nearest port bringing all the debris with them.

After weeks at sea they were granted 3 days shore leave every one had there plans and Kate and Mike had a wedding and among other things to plan, and with Nav being the only one that knew Kate was pregnant her secret was safe for now, at least from Navcom.