2. Maiden trip

The next day Rebecca was waiting at the docks when Kate arrived, her car stuffed with a huge amount of equipment for the boat. The Southern Cross was painted in the same way as the other one. They started to unload and to put on it on board. A couple of hours later they pushed off to the sea.

"May I ask who's Stephanie? A couple of days ago you mentioned her."

"You are really curious, aren't you?" Kate answered with a smile.

"Sorry, I just can't help myself."

Kate looked at her. "She's my daughter."

"Oh. Are you married? "

"No," Kate said dry.

Rebecca frowned.

What has she figured out?

"How old is Stephanie?"

"She's six now."

"Uh, who's the father?"

"Mike," Kate answered, looking straight forward through the windscreen.

"Mike Flynn?" Rebecca asked surprised.

Kate turned her face towards Rebecca.

"Yep. But he doesn't know. I see at your face you don't believe it, but it is."

Rebecca didn't know what to say and looked startled at Kate.

What the hell? I need to know more, there's something very weird going on.

After a few minutes, she worked up the courage to ask. "Kate, why are you here? The Navy, that was always your thing, wasn't it? So, you and Mike have a daughter, and he doesn't know? I think you have a lot to explain, don't you?"

Kate stared blankly at the horizon. "Indeed, it's an complicated story. And yes, the Navy is still my passion, but I'm discharged from it with a record." She said while looking sadly at Rebecca.

"But how ?"

"They found out I had a relationship with Mike and I had to leave."

"How long was it ago that you were discharged?" She asked prudent.

"About six years ago."

"What?" Rebecca yelled. That was during the same time as I was with 2Dads. And you both pulled us up on it," she spat at Kate.

"Sorry Becca, we had no choice. Really. If I had found out about you both, I would have given you dressing down, and left it at that, because I was in the exact same situation. I knew how hard it was for me, and I knew how hard it was from Nikki and ET's situation."

Rebecca looked at Kate, startled.

"I see you're surprised by that. I didn't always do everything by the book. I made my own decisions. And yes, I knew about Nikki and ET, and I told her that I knew, but I didn't say anything to Mike. They followed the rules and kept if off the boat. It was only when ET died that I told Mike. But you had bad luck, and it was Swain who caught you, and he reported it to the CO. So Mike couldn't do anything other than take the official line. If you had both been more careful, then probably nothing would have happened. Moreover, if we hadn't said anything, someone else would have brought it up, and then it would have been worse."

Both were silent for a while.

"And you?" Rebecca asked very quietly.

"We did nothing on board. The fact that we were together and that we couldn't express our feelings was extremely frustrating. On shore we were together, but one night we were seen in a restaurant, and we were seen when we both entered my place."

"Who brought it up?"

"Another officer from the base."

"Maxine?"

"No, certainly not. She knew about us, but she turned a blind eye. In the end, she couldn't help us either, it went straight to the Brass. Captain's table, and over and out," she said sadly.

"Sorry for my reaction," she murmured, as she touched Kate's arm.

"It's ok."

"So they fired you?"

"Yes," Kate said husky.

"It still hurts, doesn't it?" Rebecca asked softly.

"Damn yes!" Kate said fiercely while she wiped a tear from her eye.

"And Mike?"

"He wasn't fired because they took into account his service record. He was demoted to leading seaman and transferred to Darwin."

"Ouch. Did you see, or hear from each other after that?"

"Nope, nothing. We both stuffed it up. We were so disappointed and angry at ourselves that we started to blame each other and it ended in a fierce fight with slamming doors and it was over." Kate was grabbing a few tissues now.

"Do you have still contact with the guys from the Hammersley?"

Kate continued after she blew her nose and had pulled herself back together."Not really. It wasn't a pleasant situation. One day you're their executive officer and the next you're kicked out … "

Rebecca put her arm around Kate's shoulders to comfort her. Kate swallowed a lump and rubbed her eyes with the tissue. She took a deep breath. "Sometimes I'll get a cute email from Dutchy, and even from Nikki, but that's all. And there's Maxine, who's turned out to be a real friend," she said with a smile.

"And how did you start this business?"

"My father passed away shortly after it all happened. He was a big land owner in England. The notary found me at least, and I travelled to England to sell the land. That wet, foggy and cold England is not a place for me. With the money I bought the Southern Star and started the company. That was a big comfort, because I could sail again," she said with a smile.

"Ok, but I still don't understand something. Stephanie, you said Mike is the father, but you didn't see him …"

"…And he doesn't know. Yes, that's right. It happened probably that night when they saw us."

"That's cruel! How could you do that?" Rebecca sounded disappointed.

"Becca, it was a couple of weeks later before I knew for sure and I was still pissed off at him. Moreover I don't know if he's still in Darwin."

"If you bumped into him now, would you tell him?"

"Don't know. He has to make the first move," Kate said with a raw voice and shrugged.

"Hmm, there are still some serious issues between you both, aren't there?"

Kate stared sad to the horizon and grabbed another tissue.

Rebecca looked concerned at Kate.

She's still serious upset about what happened. There's more to this than she's saying, just look at her body language.

"But, how do you manage it with her while you're at sea for a couple of days?"

"Maxine takes care of her. She felt guilty that she couldn't do anything to help us back then and she proposed me to help me like that. Stephanie goes back and forth between my place and hers."

"Does Stephanie like that?"

"Yeah, Maxine is very nice to her. It works."