Chapter Three-
Emily took a shallow breath, and her heart beat feebly. Flash sighed in relief for a moment, realising how close he'd been to losing a sailor. Slinger rubbed his arm gently.
"You did good Flash. She's still alive," said Charlie quietly.
"But not out of the woods. Can you find the saline solution and some of the burn dressings? The burn up her arm will need to be dressed," said Flash quietly. Slinger nodded, and left him with Emily. She bumped into Jamie Patterson as she moved towards the supplies cupboard.
"How is she?" Asked Jamie.
"She's breathing, and her hearts beating. I've got to grab some dressings for her arm." Jamie nodded.
"I'm just trying to work out how it happened. There shouldn't have been any live wires back there; unless one's been stripped, and even then, it shouldn't happen," said Jamie, leaning against the wall. Charlie pulled out the supplies she needed, and closed the door.
"Then maybe you need to look at it Jay. I've got to get back to Flash and EK." Jamie nodded, and allowed his cousin to pass him. Something about the accident didn't sit well with him, and he was about to move away and investigate when alarm bells started ringing. He pounded his way to the bridge, straight to the marine-link console.
"Patterson, what the hell is going on?" Asked Nikki, moving away from the helm. Jamie swore under his breath as he found the problem.
"Fire in the engine room; and it's a big one. Looks like EK's short fuse has shorted out more than just the galley." Jamie sprinted off the bridge, pulling on his protection gear. He had no idea who was down in the main engine areas, but knowing his team, there would be at least three or four sailors manning the area. He skidded to a halt in front of the wardroom.
"Fire in the engine room; be prepared for casualties," he said breathlessly. Flash nodded, and Jamie left them, running down the stairs. He checked the whiteboard near the door; Mulholland and Noble had clocked in, and were the only two sailors listed as in the room. Jamie pulled on his oxygen mask, and barged through the door. The smoke was thick and unrelenting, stinging his eyes as he blinked rapidly.
"Dutchy! Noble!" He called, trying to see them. He felt a tap on the shoulder, and turned to see his cousin behind him, fire protection suit pulled on, oxygen mask over her own face.
"You can't do this on your own Jamie!" She exclaimed. He nodded.
"It's only Dutchy and Noble down here. I have no idea where they are," he replied, coughing a little, his eyes watering. Slinger followed him, and Jamie grabbed an extinguisher on his way past. The heat in the room was becoming unbearably comfortable, and Slinger hoped to find the two men soon. She spotted a small movement, and grabbed Jamie.
"What's that over there?" She called. He stopped and turned to see Noble pressed against a bulkhead, a head wound bleeding freely, his eyes glazed as he coughed hard. Slinger dropped down in front of him, and pressed an oxygen mask to his face. He didn't move to hold it on, and Slinger knew he was in real trouble.
"Jamie, help me move him into the corridor; Dodger's waiting there with Ryan to take out who ever we find. Get them to take Noble up, and then we can find Dutchy," called Charlie. Jamie returned, and together they helped Noble to stand. They helped him walk to the main door, and Dodger and White were waiting patiently.
"Take him up to Flash now; he's going to need treatment," ordered Slinger. Dodger and Ryan nodded, supporting the weak and injured sailor. They moved away, and Slinger turned back to Jamie.
"We need to find Dylan," said Charlie. Jamie nodded, and they moved through the smoky engine room. Jamie found the source of the fire; a loose wire that had caused a spark, and quickly extinguished the blaze.
"We won't be heading home; our engine is toast…" Jamie was cut off by Charlie's desperate scream.
"Dutchy!" Jamie whirled around to find his cousin on her knees next to their buffer, the man bleeding heavily, an arm clearly broken, head bruising, unconscious.
"We need to get him out Charls. We can assess him outside," said Jamie. He helped her lift Dutchy carefully, and they frogmarched him out of the engine room as a repair crew appeared. In what felt like seconds, they were in the wardroom, and Dutchy had regained some semblance of conscious. He pushed Jamie away as he started coughing hard.
"I can stand fine," he spluttered. He was quickly proven wrong when he tried to take a step forward; he fell heavily on his broken arm, hissing as the pain shot through him. He coughed again, his ribs complaining.
"Jamie, Slinger, can you move Dutchy to the seniors mess? He'll be more comfortable there. Noble's being treated in the junior sailors mess by Giordano. I'll be in to check Dutchy over in a moment," said Flash, giving instructions to Dodger about watching Emily. Slinger and Jamie struggled with Dutchy, but managed to get him to the senior sailors mess. He sat on the seat heavily, feeling every bone in his body complain. Flash dashed in, medi-kit in hand.
"Noble's taken a turn, and Giordano needs me to look after him. Can you patch Dutchy up? Splint the arm, cleanse the wounds, and give him a shot of morphine if he needs it." Flash disappeared, living up to his nickname. Slinger snapped open the kit, pulling out a small bottle of saline and some gauze.
"Dutchy, this is going to be uncomfortable, but I need to clean up your head wound, okay?" Said Slinger gently. Dutchy nodded, his eyes still closed. Slinger dampened the gauze, and wiped his face carefully, clearing away the drying blood. He winced as she knocked the cut on his eyebrow, but didn't move.
"Sorry," she apologised, and Dutchy waved it off.
"Don't worry about it," said Dutchy weakly. Slinger finished, and realised his shirt had blood on it.
"Dutch, I know this grey shirt is your favourite, but I need to cut it off so I can get a better look at your chest, make sure that you're not bleeding anywhere," said Slinger, pulling out a pair of scissors.
"Any excuse to get my shirt off," quipped Dutchy quietly. Slinger laughed as she neatly cut the shirt away, finding minor shrapnel wounds on his chest. She patched them up as best she could, and then moved to his arm. She glanced at it, hanging awkwardly, and then turned to Jamie.
"Hold him down," she instructed. Jamie pinned Dutchy down carefully, being mindful of the injuries Dutchy already had.
"Dylan, this will hurt, but I need to set it a little better than what it is." Dylan braced himself as the agony hit, and he groaned. Slinger splinted his arm carefully, and then prepared a shot of morphine.
"This will ease the pain for a while. Until we can get medical assistance at least," said Slinger. Dutchy nodded, barely feeling the prick of the needle as she injected the painkiller. After a few minutes, he started to relax, leaning against the wall and Jamie heavily.
"I'll grab a pillow and a blanket; he'll probably sleep for a while," said Slinger quietly. She ducked out for a moment, and returned with the bed linen. Jamie extracted himself carefully from underneath Dutchy, and Charlie tucked the pillow under Dylan's head, then covered him with a blanket.
"What's our chances of getting out of here?" Asked Slinger, standing with Jamie outside the senior sailors mess.
"No chance. We need a complete checkover before we even restart the engines; we don't want a repeat of today. I'm going to tell the XO that we need to radio NAVCOM for assistance," said Jamie. Slinger nodded, and moved back inside. Jamie walked briskly up the corridor to the bridge, where Nikka Caetano was pacing.
"Patterson! Report," she exclaimed.
"Engines are toast; we're not going to be able to get back. I'm not going to be able to fix it. It'll be a job for marine tech if we can get back," said Patterson, crossing over to the marine link console. It was lit up like a Christmas tree, lights flashing. Nikki sighed.
"NAVCOM will love this."
Spider was a little frightened of 2Dads' reaction.
"Mate, you haven't even seen her in nearly fourteen years, and now you want to start caring?" Asked Spider incredulously.
"She's my sister!" Exclaimed 2Dads.
"Your half-sister, and until a month ago, you had forgotten she even existed!" Shouted Spider.
"That's not my fault!" Exploded 2Dads.
"And you've got Rebecca! You won that, you got the girl, and I lost out. I'm supposed to be happy about this engagement, not enduring some crap argument from you! I love Emilia, more than you could imagine. I want her in my life, and if it upsets you, I don't care." Spider stood up abruptly, upsetting the chair. He stormed out, slamming the office door behind himself, leaving 2Dads to hold his head in his hands.
"Do you hear, this is the Captain speaking. We have just been contacted by NAVCOM and HMAS Victory, and will be rendezvousing with them at 1600 hours to give them assistance to get back to port." Spider smiled as he realised what that would mean; he could see Emily again. Buffer appeared in front of him, and to Spider's tired brain, it seemed like Buffer had just materialised.
"Buff! What are you doing here?" Asked Spider.
"I've been trying to talk to you for almost an hour; you blanked out there. How many of these spells have you had?" Asked Buffer, concerned. Spider shook his head, and realised how dizzy he felt.
"I… I don't know Buff." Spider looked scared, and Buffer could understand why.
"Come on, we'll get Bird to check you out," said Buffer gently, leading Spider towards the wardroom. Bird was counting up medical supplies when Buffer and Spider entered.
"Hey boys, what can I do for you?" She asked, smiling.
"Spider, sit down for a moment. Listen, can I talk to you outside for a moment?" Asked Buffer. Bird nodded.
"Sure. I'll be back in a moment Spide, just wait." Bird followed Buffer out into the hallway.
"What's up?" She asked, noting the concerned look on his face.
"He's losing time. I spent an hour trying to get his attention; I think he might have a concussion. Can you keep him here?" Asked Buffer. Bird nodded.
"Of course. Listen, can you do me a favour then? Can you check with Hunt and find out what time we're supposed to be meeting up with Victory?" Buffer nodded.
"Sure. Keep me posted about Spider, okay?"
"Sure thing Buff." Buffer headed to the bridge, finding Mike Flynn pacing the bridge.
"Sir, is everything okay?" Asked Buffer.
"The Victory is dead in the water; they had a fire in their engine room. It's injured two of their crew, and a wiring problem nearly killed another. We've got to get them back to base for urgent repairs, and their charge has requested our Charge go and have a look at the engines," responded Mike, still pacing.
"Sir, that doesn't explain why you're pacing," said Buffer.
"Because we just missed the call-out to an FFV because of the Victory, and instead the Kingston gets to go. It's so frustrating! We used to get all the good assignments; Knocker used to palm them off to us on the Melbourne instead of the Hammersley, and now we've been reduced to babying a ship home. We should be out there chasing the bad guys!" Exclaimed an agitated Mike. Hunt interrupted Mike's ramblings.
"Sir, I have the Victory on EOD," she announced. He came around behind her, peering over her shoulder. The Victory had smoke billowing lazily from it, and was clearly not in a good way. Mike sighed.
"Get Charge to the bridge, and…" Mike was cut off by Bird's voice over the intercom.
"Bird to the bridge, I need fleet medical on the line, and Buffer down here right now." Buffer glanced at Mike, and then sprinted from the bridge. Romano was just behind him, carrying a headset.
"Bird, what's going on?" Called Buffer just before he entered the wardroom. Romano was right behind him, securing the headset around Bird's neck. She was struggling with Spider's flailing limbs.
"He's seizing!"