Chapter Ten-

"You mean it?" Asked Mike. Kelly hid her face in her hair, and nodded. Mike stretched up with a little difficulty, and tucked her hair out of the way.

"Kelly. Kel, that's incredible news. I've always wanted to be a father; well, more than I father than I ever was to Ryan. When did you find out?" Asked Mike.

"Two weeks ago. I'll be transferred to a shore posting in four to six weeks; Commander White already approved the transfer. She's been keeping this quiet for me," admitted Kelly.

"You and Maxine managed to keep a secret from me? Well done," said Mike.

"It's not that hard; you're rather blind when it comes to the women in your life."

Kate was trembling on the inside. On the outside though, she was stoic. She wasn't going to let whoever was holding have the pleasure of seeing her terror.

"Revenge? Revenge for what?" She asked, glad that her voice didn't shake.

"Do you remember Seaman John Jaffah?" Asked the male voice.

"Of course I do. He was a good sailor," replied Kate.

"But you let him die," said the voice.

"I didn't let him die. I had no control over the situation! I stayed with him as much as an XO can; I still have to make sure that the ship runs. Spider stayed with him until John told him he could go and assist his shipmates. It was John who made sure he was by himself," explained Kate.

"That doesn't fix anything," said the voice angrily. Kate felt the knife move from her throat, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Too soon.

The knife was plunged into her side, and she bit back a cry of pain.

"I've done a lot of research on Irukandji poisoning, and they say that the first few hours of pain feel like a knife to the stomach. Pretty painful I'd say," said her attacker. He held her upright despite the pain, and plunged the knife in again.

"After that, eighty-five percent of victims felt like they were on fire. Have you ever been burnt?" Asked the male voice. Kate shook her head; other than the odd incident in the kitchen where she forgot about how hot a pan was, she hadn't ever been burnt. Her attacker released her, letting her fall to her knees, and pulled out a lighter.

"At least now you'll know," he said, a hint of a smile in his voice. Kate heard the door open behind her, interrupting him, and hoped that someone was coming to save her. Unfortunately not; she heard the sound of a kiss behind her.

"Ah, my pretty little woman. I'm glad you're here babe. This is all for John," said the male voice warmly.

"Don't hurt her too much; if she's dead, we'll be court-marshalled. At least make her pass out and slip her an amnesiac; then she can forget what we did, and everything will be right. Her family will lose her just as we lost John," said the female voice.

"What would you prefer?" Asked the male voice.

"Burning will set off every alarm in this ship; don't do it. Perhaps a couple more stab wounds, and she should pass out from pain or blood loss. We'll be in the clear," said the female voice.

"No you won't," whispered Kate.

"And why not?" Demanded the female voice.

"Because I'm a commanding officer; if I don't return to the bridge, they'll know something's wrong. They'll come looking," said Kate, resisting the urge to cough. The male kicked her square in the ribs, and the little air she had in her lungs was expelled. The pain was even worse than it had been a moment ago, and Kate knew that he had to have broken a rib or two.

"And how will they know? I'll tell them I've seen you elsewhere on the ship, and they'll stop worrying. This is going to work, and you're going to pay for what happened to John. We've taken down nearly every original Hammersley crew member; Commander Flynn and Charge nearly drowned, Robert was knocked out, Toby was knocked out with one of his own pans, Pete was injected with a dose of adrenaline that stopped his heart, Nikki's heart is slowly starting to shut down, and now you will join them. You let John die, and that should have never happened! Dear Spider is safe; he was the only one who ever really got along with John. This plan has been almost five years in the making; we have every angle and outcome covered." The female kissed the male again, and left.

"Guess I've just been given free rein to make you hurt," said the male. He unzipped his pants, approaching Kate. She whimpered and rolled over, trying to escape him.

"Lachlan? How did you get involved in this?"

Flash returned from Nikki's room; her heart was slowing down, and he couldn't work out what was doing it. He did know that he needed to give her a shot of adrenaline to kick start it, and she was probably going to have to be checked out when they returned to shore. He pulled the door closed, and headed for the wardroom. He passed Dutchy and Taylor on the way past.

"How are Thorpe and Flynn doing?" Asked Flash.

"They're awake at the moment. We're going to head to the bridge and steam for home; I'm gathering that Nikki's not well?" Said Dutchy. Flash shook his head.

"Her heart is slowing down. I'm dealing with it now though. Can you let me know when we're close to shore, and let Fleet Medical know we'll need quite a few ambulance and patient transports to get everyone to hospital?" Asked Flash. Dutchy nodded.

"Sure. I'll keep you posted." Dutchy surged forward again, heading to the bridge, Taylor still behind him.

"I don't understand any of this," said Dutchy, rubbing his damp hair.

"What do you mean?" Asked Alex.

"Think about it; half the crew are incapacitated, and the ones that are, are old Hammersley crew. What does that mean?" Asked Dutchy.

"I think it's got something to do with Seaman Hunt," said Taylor.

"What makes you say that?" Asked Dutchy. Alex pulled out the camera with the photos of Alexei's room on it, and scrolled through the evidence.

"And you think she's involved?" Said Dutchy.

"I think she's got a lot to do with what's going on," replied Taylor. Dutchy shot up out of his seat.

"She was in Kate's cabin," he said quickly, heading for the stairs.

"What? When?" Asked Alex, following him.

"When we were coming up here! She only just left," said Dutchy, heading for Kate's cabin.

"Wait! Let me check," requested Alex. Dutchy hesitated, then nodded.

"What do you want me to do?" Asked Dutchy.

"Find Alexei Hunt."