Chapter Three-

Nikki helped Mia off the boat, her two children shaking. Toby met them up top on the boat deck, to check them over.

"My name's Toby, and I'm the assistant medic. Can you tell me your name?" He asked of the youngest girl.

"Sophie," she whispered.

"My names Oliver," butted in her brother.

"Well Oliver, I'll be with you in a moment; just let me finish checking over your sister," replied Chefo, checking the girls vitals. She looked at her mother.

"Mummy, where's Simone? Is she happy?" Asked the five-year-old. Tears welled in Mia's eyes.

"She's in a better place now Soph. Daddy didn't mean to hurt her," said Mia, kissing her daughters blonde head. Nikki overheard their conversation.

"Ma'am, what happened on that boat?" Asked Nikki, hunkering down in front of the woman.

"It's nothing; he didn't mean to hurt her. She wouldn't stop crying; she knows she's not supposed to. She knows she's supposed to stay quiet. He didn't mean it, I swear," said the woman, rocking on the spot. Nikki could feel the knot of dread growing in the pit of her stomach. She glanced at Toby.

"Can you get 2Dads down here? Get him to take Sophie and Oliver down to the galley with you, get some scran together for them. Get Kate to contact HMAS Kingston and see if they can rendezvous with us urgently," said Nikki, taking a seat next to Mia. Toby nodded, and disappeared.

"Mia, you need to tell me what's going on. I've got three officers on that ship, and if they're in danger, I need to know," said Nikki. Toby returned with 2Dads.

"So who wants to see the rest of the ship?" Asked 2Dads, rubbing his hands together. Nine-year-old Oliver jumped up.

"Me! I want to see it! Please Mum, can I go?" Begged Oli. Mia nodded her assent. 2Dads got down in front of Sophie.

"What about you Sophie? Do you want to see the ship?" He asked the shaking five-year-old. She shook her head. 2Dads feigned disappointment.

"Naw. Why not?" He asked. Her piercing blue eyes looked up at him.

"I'm hungry," she whispered.

"Then let's go find something to eat. I'm pretty sure Chefo here has some muffins left over from breakfast. Shall we go and find them?" asked 2Dads. Sophie lifted her arms up, and 2Dads lifted her up. Oliver trailed after them. Nikki glanced up at Toby.

"Can you go check in with the boss, see if the Kingston is on its way?" Chefo nodded, and headed off, leaving Nikki with Mia. He walked briskly to the bridge, entering whilst CO and White were in the midst of a conversation. They stopped immediately.

"Ma'am, X wants to know if you've contacted the Kingston yet. She thinks we're going to need medical assistance, and Dutchy's expertise," said Chefo.

"I asked RO to fix the link to NAVCOM, and I haven't seen him since then. We've been trying to radio out, and the system is down." Kate glanced around; they were still trailing the boat that had Bomber, Buffer and Charge still trapped on it.

"Jones, White. Can you two go check on him? I don't want to find out he's holed up in ComCen trying to crash another website again," said Kate. Ryan left the navigation station, and followed Toby down to ComCen.

"I reckon he's just listening to some unused frequencies again," said Ryan.

"Probably, but he never misses a chance to use his fancy radios to contact the outside world," said Toby, knocking on the closed door. After waiting a few moments, he still didn't hear anything.

"Have you seen RO at all?" Asked Toby. Ryan shook his head. Seaman Lexie Hunt walked past on her way to the bridge.

"Hey Lex, have you seen RO?" Asked Ryan. She nodded.

"He went in there earlier, but I haven't seen him come out." Lex continued on to the bridge.

"Something's wrong," said Toby.

"How do you know?" Asked Ryan. He hadn't known RO as long as the others, and didn't have the personal knowledge of RO like the rest of the crew appeared to.

"Because it's not like RO to just ignore duty," said Toby, pushing open the ComCen door. He found RO lying on the floor, his head bleeding, still unconscious. Toby stepped around him carefully, and Ryan grabbed the intercom radio.

"Boss, we found RO. He's unconscious. Chefo's making an assessment now; we'll keep you updated," said Ryan.

"Thanks White." Chefo finished his assessment, and looked up at Ryan.

"Pulse is thready, he feels like he's running a temperature, and I wouldn't mind betting he has a concussion. I would have preferred Bomber to look him over first, but we don't have that option," said Chefo, checking over Robert.

"So what do we do?" Asked Ryan.

"We take him to the ward room, and we deal with it from there. Help me lift him," said Toby. Together he and Ryan lifted RO and carried him to the ward room. That was where 2Dads found them next.

"What's going on with RO?" Asked 2Dads.

"No idea 2Dads, but if you leave me alone, maybe I can deal with it!" Exclaimed Toby, frustrated.

"2Dads, why are you here?" Asked Ryan.

"Because I need someone to watch those two kids while I fix the radio," said 2Dads.

"Ryan, go watch the two kids. 2Dads, get back to work and inform the X we're going to need someone to replace RO for a while; I don't think he's going to be up on his feet too soon."

"Come on Bomber; don't give up on me now!" Said Buffer, teeth gritted. Charge was next to him, keeping up the compressions on her chest.

"Don't do this Bomb; not here, not now," said Charge, counting in his head. Buffer didn't want to lose her, and was throwing all his efforts into saving her. Charge felt her heart beat under his hands.

"Wait!" He said urgently. Buffer pulled away, and watched as Bomber's chest rose and fell gently. She was breathing again, but Buffer was concerned about what damage had been done when Hardaker had kicked her. He leant back against the wall, cradling Rebecca's head in his lap.

"What did you find Charge?" Asked Buffer quietly.

"I found a little girl who never had a chance," said Charge soberly.

"What do you mean?" Asked Buffer.

"Hole straight through her head. We could never have saved her, even if we tried," said Charge, leaning his head back.

"What do you make of this Hardaker guy?" Asked Buffer, trying to get a handle on the situation.

"I don't know, but he's heading for International Waters. We need to hope the Hammersley gets to us soon, or we're toast."