Chapter 11 Intervention
Cairns
In Cairns, Rebecca stood in front of the window of her small cottage looking at the garden while holding her cell phone.
Kate answer me. Where are you? You ought to be back by now. Normally you give me a call or a text when you're back again. I didn't even get a delivery report for my text. I'll go to the quay.
It was dusk.
She drove to the quay, but found only the Southern Star, securely moored. She tried again to reach Kate, but without results. Then she went to the harbour captain to see if there had been a problem at sea, but nothing happened. Rebecca paced back and forth, moving things from one place to another just to try and distract herself as she waited for word from Kate. Meanwhile it was becoming dark.
If they're not at Maxine's, then there's something wrong. I'll go there and if they're not there, I'll make a final check at the quay.
Rebecca drove to Maxine's apartment, but no one was at home. Back again to the quay. Nothing.
Damn, where are they? Things went bad. Absolutely. This was not her doing. Just before sunrise, I'll leave for Woody Island and then I'll see, but first I need to prepare myself.
She drove home and went to the loft. The cottage was initially handed down from her grand-father who lived in Cairns while she lived in Melbourne. But since she was stationed in Cairns and he passed away she lived in his house. Rebecca threw everything out and brought in things of her own taste, but she had kept a few things. One of those things was a big case. On the lid was stuck a yellowed paperwith the words 'Capt. Charles Brown'.
Her granddad had fought in the jungles of New-Guinea against the Japanese in World War II.
She opened it and saw things familiar to her : his battle dress, the famous slough hat, his medals, but this was something else she needed. She took the heavy plastic bag and the webbing belt. She opened the bag and the greasy brown paper to take out his hand gun, a heavy Webley Mark VI, calibre .45 on a lanyard. His words still lingered in her head.
Rebecca, this is a family piece. My father used it in Passchendaele in 1917. He told me he used it to clean out a German bunker. It's called a man-stopper, by its powerful bullet.
She closed the case and took the gun, belt, and extra ammunition downstairs. In the kitchen she checked the gun for dirt and dust, but it was clean. It looked like it came straight from the armoury. She opened the small carton boxes and filled the drum of the gun with bullets. Then she went to her bedroom to change her clothes for olive green cargo pants and a similar colour t-shirt. Finally she took some food and put the belt with the gun in a sport-bag and left the house to go the Southern Star.
She slept a couple of hours in the skipper's cabin and left during the night because she wanted to arrive at Woody Island just before dawn, under the cover of the darkness.
WoodyIsland, Mike
The satellite phone at the cupboard next to the rack of Ronald Meagan rang at dawn. He grabbed the phone and listened. On the other end he heard a very nervous and fearful voice.
"Meagan!" He answered grumpy.
"They got the boss! Get away. Quick. They're heading in your direction, for sure!
"Who the hell is 'they'?" He replied.
"The Feds of course. They arrested the whole team, but I got away. Bye."
The man at the other end hung up. Ronald stared at the phone, waking up bit by bit and trying to analyse what was just said.
"Damn!"Immediately he dialled the Coral Sea via the local communication line. After several rings he got the sleepy voice of Mike on the phone."Mike, come up at once. We have a situation."
About 15 minutes later Mike arrived at Meagan's container in the lab he entered the container he found Meagan in a very nervous temper.
"Ah, you're here. You've taken your time! It sucks man. It's over. The Feds got the boss and we're next."
"Do we have to get away with the Coral Sea?"
"No, we will have no chance with it. For sure the Navy is just under the horizon and we will be caught in no time. No, no, I've a better idea. Is one of your crew capable of steaming away with it?"
"Yes, the Swain can handle that."
"Splendid! Call him and order him to leave to the north. And you, you will sail the boat of those women. I can't. You will take us to the mainland and there we will disappear into the creeks." He grabbed the key for the Southern Cross from his pocket and gave it to Mike.
"And the others?"
Meagan shrugged. "Not my problem. They were the problem of the boss and he's arrested. They will hold up the Feds and they can leave with the motor boat at the main jetty."
"Hmm, and the women?"
"We leave them here. They will be found by the Feds and by then we will already be[are already] miles away. But first we need to destroy everything here."
At the Hammersley.
"Swaino, we're approaching Woody Island, and I don't know what we have to expect. These bright sparks with the Feds are telling me nothing. So give Bird extra medical equipment when she goes ashore. You never know," Nikki said to Swain in the corridor next to the wardroom.
She turned her head when she heard someone coming. It was Dutchy. "And for you Dutchy, the same as for Swaino, take extra ammo when you go ashore."
Both senior men didn't respond and looked at her unhappily.
"Hey guys, I'm a human being. You can talk to me. Yes ma'am, no ma'am, you know?" She said to them with her hands on her hips.
"Uh, ma'am, I packed the whole stock already," Swain said hesitantly.
"Me too," Dutchy added.
Nikki lifted her eyebrows. "Howso? Normally we have a large stock. Especially ammo."
'Uh, no we don't have anymore." Dutchy replied.
"You did fill in the request forms didn't you?" Nikki started to get annoyed.
"Oh yes we did!" Both men chorused.
"What then? So there might not be a problem after all?" She was now clearly irritated.
"We couldn't get them," Swain admitted. "The forms were not signed off."
Nikki closed her eyes, clenched her fists and jaw.
Then she turned her head towards the staircase to the bridge and yelled. "Wilkinson! Here! At the rush! Now!"
Both men took one step back, clearly surprised. How was it possible that a small woman could produce such a noise?
Wilkinson arrived from the bridge. "You wanted to ask me something ma'am?" he smiled smugly, convinced his expertise was required once more.
Nikki fumed. "Why, XO, do you insist on acting like you know everything? Oh, never mind," she added, cutting off his opportunity to answer. "I have just discovered we're running out of ammo and medical supplies. Did you know about that?" she asked, trying to remain as calm as possible.
"I was not aware." He looked at both men. "Did you fill in the forms?"
Both men looked at him with a glance like 'you-deserve-a-couple-of-blows'. "Yes sir, we did, of course," they said again, in chorus.
"I gave you the forms before we returned to base at the end of the previous patrol," Swain added.
"Oh, yes, indeed. It's still a 'to-do' on my desk. I was too busy with the training of the crew," he said, trying to get away with it.
"Training, you say?" Nikki replied. "You mean the organisation of the soccer game between the divisions on the beach, or the barbecue the day after?"
"Uh." The XO felt the ground under his feet disappearing.
"You call that training? The men liked that, but I'm wondering if the men would keep on liking it when they discover they've run out of ammo in a gunfire fight somewhere in the bush? Do you expect them they to start throwing coconuts or what?"
Both men did their best not to laugh. Swain concentrated to the tip of his boot while Dutchy was looking at a corner of the ceiling in the corridor.
"Uh, no ma'am. I'll fix it right now."
"Too late, my dear XO, too late. Who do you expect Navcom to send it to us? By Flying Squirrel? You know what your problem is? You cannot prioritise. Just separate the important jobs from the less important ones. You have to learn that, you know, but not anymore on my ship! Understood?" she said angrily.
"Captain to the bridge," the speaker announced throughout the boat.
Nikki turned and hurried to the bridge, followed by the XO. Dutchy and Swain looked to each other and they laughed. "Pfft, that was heavy. She's changed since she took over the command. Initially, I didn't have a very good feeling, " Dutchy said.
"Yeah, I known her for longer. She has changed enormously. If I compare her to the Nav from then and with her now, you don't recognise her anymore. I would say she's even harder than Kate," Swain added.
"True. Kate was more diplomatic. Nikki is straight, no mercy. Like a commander has to be."
"I guess. She'll end up as a commander of a frigate one day."
Then they were interrupted by Nikki's shouting voice in the corridor coming from the bridge. "Hey guys, what are you waiting for? This isn't the pub here!"
"We're coming ma'am!" They shouted back.
"You see?" Dutchy whispered to Swain.
2Dads was waiting for the CO to show her something on the radar. "Boss, something strange. I have here two contacts on the radar. One is the Coral Sea who's steaming away from the island, and a smaller one is approaching the island. The smaller one is the Southern Star."
"That's one of Kate's boats. What does that mean, at this time of the day? That's not a tourist trip. Anyhow, the Coral Sea is the one we need," Nikki said frowning.
"Sorry to interrupt you, but our main target is the lab on the island," the sergeant of the Feds interrupted.
"But..." Nikki reacted irritated. These Feds were wearing her nerves and the incident with the ammo had not made anything better.
"Navcom has assigned me your full cooperation," he continued without noticing that she wanted to say something. "We need to be there, but on the other hand, I do need that vessel too. I'll send my brigadier to the vessel with a small team, and then I will go with the constable and another team to the island.
Can you speed up?"
Nikki took a deep breath, swallowed and threw an angry glance at the sergeant. She turned to Swain. "Swain, full speed to the island. XO, split up your boarding teams, but take the best men to the island. Pipe boarding stations."