Authors Note – I do apologise for taking so long to post this! I'm in the process of setting up my own website and working in the real world, so sometimes my writing has to take a backseat for a week or so. Hopefully I'm back on track soon!

MissShawnaAlice

Chapter Five-

Dutchy scooped Nikki up and carried her off the bridge carefully. She came to in his arms and groaned softly.

"Wh… what happened?" She asked softly.

"You collapsed," said Dutchy quietly.

"Put me down; I think I can walk," said Nikki. Dutchy tilted her towards the floor, and she felt her stomach heave. She put a hand on her stomach as a knife of pain shot through her.

"You can't stand Nikki. Let me take you to the wardroom," pleaded Dutchy. She nodded in pain as Dutchy lifted her up.

"What's going on?" She asked tearfully.

"We don't know Nik. You're not the only person to have collapsed; Kate's already gone down. Flash is trying to work out what's going on, but he's not having a lot of luck." Nikki moaned.

"You're in charge Dutchy. You need to get us back to port," whispered Nikki. She lost consciousness as Dutchy slipped into the wardroom.

"Not the X as well," said Flash.

"I'm turning this ship around now and getting them all back to base. I'll get Fleet Medical on the line for you, give you as much help as they possibly can," said Dutchy.

"What I need is to find out what this is and stop it in its tracks before it takes down anyone else," muttered Flash.

"Have you got any ideas?" Asked Dutchy.

"Nothing. All I know is it is affecting everyone differently, and that's what makes it so hard to treat!" Flash moved to deal with Kate as she threw up, and Dutchy left him to deal with what was left of the crew. He was never one for making decision before, and now everyone relied on him.

And it could all go horribly wrong in minutes.

"Alex? Alex, talk to me, what's going on?" Asked Kelly urgently. Charge rolled him over, checking vitals.

"He's got a pulse, and he's not seizing," replied Charge.

"So… cold…" whispered Alex.

"We'll get you below deck and Bird can look after you. What happened?" She asked gently.

"I felt sick, and then… Then… I fell to the deck. I couldn't move, I couldn't call out for help. I'm so cold," said Alex, his teeth chattering.

"He's got a laceration on his forehead," commented Kelly, smoothing aside Alex's hair. Bird appeared, medi-kit in tow.

"What happened?" She asked.

"He thinks he collapsed. We only noticed he was missing a few minutes ago. I thought he was acquainting himself with the ship, but after we realised that Toby had collapsed as well, we started searching for him. We found him like this, and he can't stop shivering," said Kelly.

"Sounds like a virus, but I can't be sure. Charge, 2Dads, can you two lift him down to the wardroom please?" Asked Bird. Charge and 2Dads lifted Alex carefully, and moved slowly towards the wardroom.

"Jess, what's going on?" Asked Kelly quietly.

"I have no idea, but just before 2Dads showed up, Romano staggered into the wardroom and collapsed. She's hooked up to oxygen, but unless we get some medical help for them soon, I just don't know what the outcome will be," said Bird tiredly.

"I'll get Logan onto Fleet Medical, see if they can assist you. We'll forget the FFV and steam for home, get these people the help they need," said Kelly softly. Bird nodded, and the pair split. Kelly headed for the bridge.

"Did you find Taylor?" Asked Mike, still focussing on the FFV.

"Yes sir, we did. Do you have a moment?" Asked Kelly. He glanced at her and nodded.

"Hunt, you have the bridge. I would like it still in one piece when I come back," commanded Mike.

"Yes sir. Navigator has the bridge," she said meekly, taking Mike's recently vacated seat. Mike followed Kelly down to the ships office, and pulled the door closed behind them.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"We found Alex collapsed on the deck. Bird's not sure what exactly is wrong with him, but I don't think it's a simple virus," said Kelly hesitantly.

"That's not all, is it," stated Mike. Kelly shook her head.

"Spider and 2Dads found Toby in his quarters seizing. He's stopped now, but Bird can only watch as he seizes; she can't do anything for him. Romano's in the wardroom as well, and she collapsed. Bird is stretched to her limits trying to cope with this, and we could do with some extra hands. Better yet, if we could get to port, we have a better chance of getting them the help that they need," said Kelly quietly. Mike looked torn, wanting to chase the FFV and apprehend the illegal fisherman, but he needed to make sure his crew were okay.

"Alright. We steam for home; let Victory know what's happened, and maybe they can meet up with us somewhere and help us out," suggested Mike.

"I'll get RO to get onto them now. You should get back to the bridge; I'm not comfortable with Hunt being in charge," said Kelly. Mike gave her a brief smile before leaving the office and heading back to the bridge. Kelly headed to ComCen and knocked on the door twice. RO opened it quickly.

"Ma'am? What can I do for you?" He asked.

"I need you to radio Victory if you can, see if they can rendezvous with us somewhere. I'd like to talk to Lieutenant Commander McGregor or Lieutenant Caetano if possible," said Kelly.

"I'll see what I can do ma'am," said RO stiffly. He pulled his headphones closer, and flipped through the radio signals until he reached a secure frequency.

"HMAS Hammersley to HMAS Victory. Do you read me?" Asked RO.

"HMAS Hammersley, this is HMAS Victory. We read you loud and clear. How can we help you today?" Asked Dodger.

"Our X wants to speak to your CO or your X. Is that possible?" Asked RO.

"I'll put on our commanding officer," replied Dodger. RO passed the headphones to Kelly, and then busied himself with paperwork.

"Petty Officer Mulholland speaking," answered Dutchy.

"Dutchy? Where is Lieutenant Commander McGregor or Lieutenant Caetano?" Asked Kelly, surprised.

"Ma'am, we're currently steaming for home with four sick crew members," said Dutchy stiffly. Kelly pulled a headphone off and turned to RO.

"Go and get Commander Flynn now," she ordered.

"But protoc…" started RO.

"I don't care. Get him. Now!" RO left, and Kelly focussed her attention on Dutchy.

"We've got the same problem over here Dutchy. We were radioing for assistance," said Kelly.

"I'm sorry we can't be of more assistance, but we're already stretched to our absolute limits," said Dutchy. Mike slipped into ComCen and pulled on the secondary set of headphones.

"What's the situation Dutchy?" Asked Mike. Dutchy relayed the chain of events to Mike, who swore.

"What is it?" Asked Kelly and Dutchy in unison.

"Do you remember the old Italian naval ship, the Giuseppe Garibaldi? Was originally the Borbone when it was commissioned by The Kingdom of Two Sicilies? There was an incident in 1874 when members of their crew appeared to fall sick, and they all believed it was the work of an il veleno? It turned out to be poisoned water. It's a scenario that's happened for centuries, on the American naval ship USS Arizona in 1917, on the New Zealand naval patrol boat HMNZS Kiwi in 2005, on the French frigate La Fayette in 2009. In every case, it was deemed to be an act of sabotage. Someone was trying to poison crew members," said Mike earnestly.

"So you're saying someone is trying to poison us? As in, trying to kill us?" Asked Dutchy incredulously.

"That is exactly what I'm trying to say," said Mike triumphantly. On the other end of the line, Dutchy was interrupted by Flash.

"Sir, Lieutant Caetano has just started bleeding, and I can't get it to stop. Please tell me we're near home port."

They were still an hour away…

"Mike, I've got an emergency on my end. I've got to go," apologised Dutchy.

"Look after Nikki. We can't lose her," said Mike.

"In all honesty sir, we can't lose anyone."