Thank you so much for the follows and the reviews.
I'm carrying on with this story irrespective of the events in the finale. And I've absolutely no idea about Navy protocols and longitude/latitude points etc so all completely wrong, apologies to anyone who knows that stuff.
(12 hours later)
"How could this happen?" Tom rounded on Green. "How could you let this happen?"
"Sir, we tried to stop her, you know what she's like, she just..."
"You were the officer in charge!"
"Enough!" Mike interrupted, "Bickering and assigning blame will get us nowhere and we need to figure out our rescue plan for Cooper and Burke."
"Where did you last see her? Them?" Tom asked, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible.
"In the lab sir. we tried to sneak in quietly but there were just too many of Georgio's men and they made us quicker than we anticipated they would. Next thing we know, Wolf saw Cooper make a run for one of the interior doors. Burke followed suit to retrieve her but they had us pinned down within minutes. Our only option was to fall back or we'd all be dead now."
"Damnit Sasha!" Tom swiped at the table in front of him, sending maps and stationary flying with his hands.
"You did the right thing." Mike told alpha team. "Now we have to concentrate on getting them back."
"Before Vellik turns them into vegetables," Wolf pointed out.
Tom clenched his fists so tight he was sure he drew blood. He didn't feel a thing. A strange numbness had spread throughout his body as he thought about Sasha in Veliks grip and even worse, her as one of those mind controlled soldiers obeying every whim and command. It might very well be the thing that had gotten her into this mess in the first place and right now Tom hated it, but he knew unequivocally that what made Sasha cooper Sasha cooper was her fire and enthusiasm and without those things, well the thought made him feel sick to his stomach...
"We have to find them," he was strangely calm all of a sudden. He knew they needed a plan and a good one at that. "We are not losing anyone else we care about. Not today."
Wolf was the first to speak up. "Sir, i suggest we go in hot. A full frontal assault, they won't be expecting that and now we know their numbers we-"
"Captain, incoming call from the enemy ship," the Commander interrupted.
Mike locked gaze with Tom, drew in a deep breath and picked up the transmitter. "This is captain Slattery of the Nathan James."
"You know what we want," the reply was instant. Vellik himself.
"So much for niceties," Mike quipped before pressing the receiver on the radio. "We are not handing over the seeds so you-"
"Are you really in any position to negotiate here Captain? I have two of your crew and unless those seeds are on my boat in the next hour, the next time you see either of them… well, let's just say they won't be exactly how you remember them."
Mike glanced around the room, seeing nothing but the despair he felt himself reflected back at him. He sighed and bowed his head.
"I assume you're proposing a straight swap?"
"That would seem like the best option."
"Fine. The seeds for our people. We'll-"
"No." Lucia's voice came across the radio.
"Sorry?"
"Not just the seeds. I want Tom Chandler."
Mike looked up at Tom. "Not gonna happen."
"Listen up, we have two of your people here so we get two things in return for their homecoming. The seeds and Captain Chandler. Unless you just want to save one of your friends?"
Mike knew what was coming next and he tried to stop it. "Tom, there's-"
"I'll go." Tom stated.
"Hang on, there's no way to know they'll even keep up their side of the bargain." Green chipped in.
"Tom, she wouldn't want you to give yourself up for her." Mike continued pointlessly.
"She'll keep it. If it means getting the seeds and me, Lucia will keep her word. Trust me."
"Damnit!" Knowing no-one would change Tom's mind, Mike got back on the radio. "We'll send a rhib out in 30 minutes with the Captain and the seeds. I suggest you do the same and make the exchange at…"
Gator pointed to spot roughly halfway between their locations. "234-552."
There was a short pause. "29 minutes and counting Captain Slattery."