Working through the unexpected interruptions including Captain Chandler's want for her to give a big and rounding lecture for the whole ship's crew was not something she expected to have to do. Then again, none of this was exactly expected. So she worked through the unexpected mishaps with the virus.
She had heard through the grapevine that Captain Chandler's stunt with shining the light on the isolating darkness had worked. No one took him up on his offer to leave the ship and instead, they were all staying with them. It was inspiring to be sure and more than that, she was glad that Captain Chandler, Tom, had finally come around to fully trusting her when she talked to him about the vaccine. It had taken a lot of work to get to where they were but they were finally seeing eye to eye.
She had a fondness for the Captain. Not like her fondness for Tex, but certainly a fondness. In the intervening days, she no longer had to work and dump at night, because of the light shone on their situation. She was now fully allowed to work during normal hours and that meant eating at normal hours too. Which meant that she and Tex had time to read at night. She would sail off to sleep while he read and he would leave before she woke up, always a little disappointed not seeing him there.
In just two days, she realized what it was.
"Remember I told you that I had found an extra gene in the virus?" She asked him. When he nodded, she continued on, "All this time, I've been struggling to figure out where it came from. It turns out that it's a human gene," She told him softly.
"Someone added a human gene to the virus? Why?" He asked.
"No idea," That really was the question. Why someone would do such a thing, it didn't even make any sense, but it was worse than that, "No matter what I try, the virus seems to be one step ahead of me. It's outsmarting whatever I throw at it," The matter of factness in her voice did not express the true seething rage she had. "What's more is that it's made the original virus ten times more lethal and virtually indestructible,"
He looked to the lab, "How many monkeys you have left?" He asked, "Three?"
More bad news, "Two,"
He gave her a deep sigh, "Well, then I need to inform the XO," He told her and he left before she could hand him even worse news.
She was allowed to work in peace all day, when she heard her stomach growl. Tex would kill her for this, but when she looked at the clock, at least it was dinner time. She guessed it was good for something. She exited the lab, following all protocol and made her way to the wardroom for dinner.
Luckily enough, it was late enough that no one else was there, like it had been on their very first night. "You know, if you don't come get meals more often, I'm going to have to come serenade you and your guard at meal times, make sure you come out. I'm sure he'd love it," He winked at her and pushed his plate toward her.
She slumped in the chair next to him and picked up his utensils and started putting small bites of his food in her mouth and practically melted. Bacon, Quincy had informed her of his work, was excellent at his job, so was everyone else in the mess she thought. "I promise I'll set an alarm," She told him.
He didn't believe that for a second. "So out of your fortress, you out for the night or just for the meal superdoc?" He asked.
"For the night," she poked him in his side and he giggled a little. "I could use a little time away from the lab. I think I need some time away from the problem," She told him as she continued to eat off the plate. "Do you just wait up, hoping I'll come later than everyone else?" She asked him.
He laughed, "No comment, doc."
She nodded. "Mhmm." She said. The food was almost done. She'd eaten most of it. Though, she suspected that this was probably the second plate of food that he normally got. And he ate the first one with everyone else.
It was just easier to get her to eat his food. She never wanted to be a bother and so when she came for her late night food. He was sitting there with a warm meal which he always happened to eat maybe three bites out of and then she was welcome to the rest of it. It was never hard to get her to eat any of it either. She always just started as she sat in front or beside him.
When she was finished they made their way to her stateroom, fingers brushing as she lead him down the P-way and opened the door for him. They had done this several times now and the routine didn't bother him. He loved that she trusted him so much to change while he was in the room and trusted that he would wait till the time was right to look at her.
She tapped him on the shoulder and then cozied up in her blankets. He looked at the books, "What should we read tonight?" He asked, looking over his shoulder to her.
She shook her head. "Can you just come and hold me?" She asked quietly.
She swore she heard his breath hitch when she asked, but they didn't say anything as he came, taking his rough jeans and his hat off, but other than that stayed fully clothed, and got into bed with her after turning the lights down low. He got comfortable in the bed with her, these beds never intended to have two people on them, but they made do. She rested her head on his chest and gently closed her eyes.
Several hours later, she awoke with a start from a nightmare, and she felt Tex's arms squeeze her tighter to his chest and she settled down, a little shocked that he was still in the room so late. She smiled as she looked up at him, completely different than he was when he was awake. And in a way, completely the same, but his brow had completely relaxed with her and she closed her eyes and went back to sleep as well, feeling secure in his arms.
When she woke up again, this time at a normal hour, he was gone. He had turned into a pumpkin after all. She didn't blame him, but she did find that the morning was not so hard to greet today. In fact, it was rather a good day, she thought. Maybe he always turned into a pumpkin, but one day, she would figure out how to keep him there.
Tom came back to the lab with one of the enlisted men, a man called Wayne, "We're being summoned," He told her, "Must be important,"
She grinned and they made their way to the CIC, where Mason informed them of the specifics. A young jamaican girl had been on a boat for several weeks, a boat that had definitely seen a sweep of the virus as he had heard her multiple weeks.
"So if everyone on her boat has died from the virus, and she's the only one alive, it could be that she's naturally immune." She told Tom matter of factly, not bothering with any of the other people gathered around in the CIC, who surely had their own things to do, but were also distinctly interested in their conversation.
"You want us to find her?" He asked.
She shook her head, "No, I need you to find her," She told him. She thought about how her experiments had failed so badly after she realized that there was a human gene in this virus, "If I can take a look at her DNA, I might figure out a way to beat this thing," She told them. She was not keen on giving him deliverables, but this is one she was pretty sure on. Someone with a natural immunity would give her a wealth of information she didn't have at her disposal.
Slattery wasn't so sure. She didn't blame him. After all the things that they had been through, someone with some natural immunity, it was convenient, but that didn't mean that they didn't take it when the opportunity presented itself and she argued for that just as fervently.
Luckily, the Captain seemed to agree, with the help of Mason and Gator, he was leaning towards her decision. Course, it was Mason who sold it for her, appealing to humanity that the girl was out there alone and running out of the necessities of human life. Slattery seemed sympathetic, but he also had to make sure that the Captain knew all of the facts, something that while it wasn't on her side, she did have to appreciate his situation. She had been there before.
Mason's call to humanity worked though, and Tom Chandler was donning a pair of headphones and calling out to Bertrise. Bertrise, that was this woman's name.
"Bertrise, this is Joe Brown, I'm on a fishing boat and I might be in your area…"
They got the coordinates of the boat and Bertrise's humble description of her boat being 'has a blue octopus painted on the side' and then they had work. And Rachel was dismissed from the conversation.
There was no arguing that the Captain should go to try and find the girl. He had heard her voice and would be a big boon in trying to find her. Mason wasn't going to be able to go. Last time he had been out and about, he had gotten poisoned and his leg rattled. He was still not quite up to it, who knew what kind of people could be out there in the open sea?
Tex came to the lab, "I'm leaving to find Bertrise," He said.
"Oh," She said, and then looked down at what she was doing. "I didn't realize the Captain had asked you. It makes sense though," She told him.
He nodded. "Yeah, we're going to make sure that she gets to you safe and sound," He told her as he looked at her from the other side of the plastic, "Should be fairly simple," He promised.
She nodded back, "Come back safe," was the only thing she could think of to say. And it felt off, but she said it anyway. It got her a grin from Tex who chuckled at her and he left the lab and she was alone again, waiting for Tex and Tom to bring her back a girl who could hopefully help her figure out what the hell she needed to finish this vaccine off.
They found Bertrise. That was the good news. The bad news was the Russians had found them. Tom had decided to contact Bertrise and have her give him exact coordinates and it wasn't that far from Cuba. It was a gamble coming always. But they knew this might happen and they were ready for it. Everyone else sailed one way and the Tex and Chandler went the other way.
The Russians were so intrigued with the Captain that they pretty much took the bait right away. They had left the other RHIB alone and came chasing after them. Tex was trying to shoot them as best he could, but the waves were bouncing both boats in such a way that it was impossible to hit them with a regular gun.
"Come on, Tex,"
"It's not as easy as it looks," He grunted as he took more aim at the Russians, trying to make the best out of a bad situation. These sneaky Russian bastards, they came out of nowhere.
Commodore had come up with a different plan though, "Enough of this shit," Tom said, at the helm of their RHIB, "Tex, Get to the fifty cal, when I break hard starboard, light 'em up," Captain Chandler shouted over the gunshots and the waves.
Tex took to that plan like a fish to water. He saddled up on the fifty and indeed when the Captain banked it was easy to light 'em up. And they took out the Russians. He felt pretty good about it, cheering when he looked at the commodore.
He did not look happy, the commodore looked down, and then back to Tex, "We took a lot hits. We're sinking" like it wasn't obvious.
Tex laid out the next part that was obvious too. "And those Russians, they're going to be coming back for us," He told Chandler.
Tom nodded. That was exactly what they would do. He was sure of that part. The Russians weren't stupid. They were looking for leverage to get the vaccine again. They didn't know what Rachel knew and they wanted it. "You dive?" He asked.
There wasn't a whole lot of option other than to dive and that was exactly what they did. "How far do you think we are from that fishing boat?" He asked Tom.
"With the currents?"
"Yeah," Tex rolled his eyes. For someone who thought Rachel was obtuse, Tom could be the exact same way at times.
"Ten miles, maybe fifteen. I don't know if they picked up on our or radio transmissions or intercepted my call to Bertrise. Either way I'm pretty sure they're closer to us than the Nathan James is."
"Good thing we got beacons in those suits then," Tex said thinking out loud.
"I took 'em off in case the Russians were around,"
The waves rocked them away from their boat and Tex looked at Tom, "Oh, good plan" He mumbled realizing the situation they were in. Middle of the ocean, no beacon, Russians, and casting away as they spoke.
When asked about the radio, Chandler got cagey and Tex pushed him on it. Maybe he shouldn't have considering the speech that Tom gave about bravery and cease and desist all rescue operations. What was that?
"Nathan James sends a helo, the Russians can hone in on and track it back to the ship. I can't allow that," Commodore rattled in a logical sailor sort of way. He was always thinking about the team. Never thinking just about the people that were there.
This time Tex fumed, "Oh, great. So you're martyring yourself and you're taking me along for the ride, thank you very much"
"I am sorry Tex,"
"Sorry?"
They argued back and forth a few more minutes before, Tex stopped. It was wasted breath. "Okay, so what is your plan? Drown out here? Or maybe we swim back to the Octopus, hang out with those fine people till our eyeballs start bleeding out?" He asked. He realized he wasn't actually quite done, but it had mostly gotten out of his system.
To his credit, Chandler seem to take his lickings without any pushback. He simply told him, "There's a reef, North northeast of here, start swimming,"
Tex looked up at the sky and his watch and knew that he was probably not going to make it for dinner or cuddles with Rachel tonight and gritted his teeth. The sooner they started, the sooner they would be back on the Nathan James and the sooner that he would be able to put his arms around Rachel again.
She had been called out to the open air to meet Bertrise who looked so scared, Master Chief did everything that he could to help her calm down, but there was only so much you could do in a time like this to help. Her eyes softened as she looked at Bertrise. Master Chief introduced her and she nodded to him for, grateful for the introduction. As far as Bertrise knew at this moment, she was just another normal person.
She looked around though, seeing the other men milling about the deck waiting to get debriefed and then decontaminated. They were all safe from the virus, even though they had all kept their suits on, they all got a quick test to find out. Naturally, they were all safe.
"Where's Captain Chandler?" She asked. "And Tex?"
Master Chief simply looked at the ground. She gulped. She knew that they meant that they had not gotten home. They had not gotten back safely. She knew that it would have been too easy to go off with no hitches at all. She nodded to him and smiled. "Well, I guess I should take Bertrise, let's see if we can find you some clothes. And then we'll get started on a few blood tests, okay?" She asked Bertrise, who timidly nodded.
Bertrise was given some basic clothes from the Ship's laundry, stuff that previous owners had left on the boat and would occasionally be used by people on the ship if they were desperate. Bertrise was shown to a changing room, out of earshot of Rachel, who was racked with sobs. She couldn't seem to get them to stop. They just kept coming. He said he would come home safe. Even Chandler, her fondness for him, he was gone too. They were the two she knew believed in her.
When she heard the door open and Bertrise come out, she straightened up and wiped her eyes. She would just have to be strong. Just like Bertrise. Who had been through so much to get to her. "I'll show you to the lab," Rachel said with a smile. "It's where I'll do the blood tests,"
Bertrise said nothing. Not even when they got into the lab and the tourniquet was put on. Even when she was poked with the needle, she said nothing. The blood flowed and Rachel watched the blood go straight into the vials which she collected.
She looked up at Bertrise on the last vial, "This is the last sample I'll need while we wait for the results from your first test, I promise," She told the girl with a smile. They were quite a pair. She could tell that Bertrise had been crying too, but neither of them talked about the other's slightly puffy eyes. "You're being very brave. I do apologize." She knew what it was like to be poked and prodded like this. It wasn't fun.
"How far do you figure to that reef?" Tex asked when they took a break from swimming.
Chandler was in full helping mode. Tex doubted if he knew anything else. "Gator said it was roughly twenty miles from the Octopus. He was only sixty percent sure of that," Well, not all information was helpful Tex thought. Knowing that this reef that they were looking for, it could be anywhere, that didn't necessarily inspire hope.
They talked for a little while, before Tex looked at Chandler with some determination in his eyes. "Hey you wanna know something." When Chandler nodded, he felt compelled to tell him, "The only reason I came out here today was to impress that Doctor Rachel,"
Chandler heartily laughed at that. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me,"
"Yeah, I'm sweet on her. You know?" He asked.
He was actually trying to have a good moment here. Let the Captain know, especially because if he ever came back from this, he was holding onto Rachel and never letting her go. He would sleep in her stateroom every night, he didn't care. This, basically drowning in the middle of the ocean, brought perspective.
The centrifuge ran the analysis fairly quickly, it would take about an hour for it to fully analyze the serum and bring up the chart. In that time, she talked to Bertrise. "I was in Negril once. My parents took me to the Black Cliffs to watch the jumpers. Never seen anything quite like it," She smiled at Bertrise, while she cleaned up the lab, making sure everything was back in its proper place.
"My father ran a hotel. I helped him. It was a small place. Right on the beach. The sickness came first for the larger resorts in the north. Within a couple of weeks, it was with us," Bertrise said.
Rachel looked in awe of this girl. She couldn't have been more than twenty years old but here she was and she had seen so much of the worst of the world. And yet, she was still kind and soft. Rachel thought that was admirable, to keep your heart open in this world.
Bertrise continued, "We turned our hotel into a hospital, but after my mother died, my father, he took me and Dominic away," She said looking down at the floor.
Rachel nodded. "Dominic's your brother?" She asked.
It was Bertrise's turn to nod. "He died on the boat."
"I'm so sorry,"
"When we left Jamaica, there were 51, within a few weeks, there was fifteen. And then there just me. Why didn't I die?" Bertrise's voice broke.
It was obvious the pain that she was in. It was a terrible loss that she had suffered, but she was still here, working that out, meant accepting things about the world that weren't easy. That it wasn't fair and equitable in anything was a hard thought to bear. Even worse, when you could do nothing about it.
But the computer alerted Rachel that it had the charts ready, and she gasped. "Because you're immune, Bertrise. To every single strand of the virus," She told the girl.
"So what does that mean?" Bertrise asked in her shaky little voice.
Rachel sighed and nearly wanted to give the girl a kiss on the forehead, an attempt to make her feel more at home and better about the situation, but she restrained herself. She supposed that attempt at affection was a little bit of Tex rubbing off on her. "It means, we have a chance,"