It has been a couple of days since then I am watching the others on the EOD. They are trying to board a vessel that has been stolen. It feels like I am watching a chessy action show. The thing is it is anything but a cheesy action show.
"Sir we can't get over safely," Kate confirms to Mike's annoyance. After acknowledging Kate he turns his attention to Robert.
"Sir a signal from NAVCOM came in. It's been confirmed as stolen. Permission granted for disabling fire," Robert announces. It is at that moment I notice the look on Mike's face change.
"Thank you very much. Charge, Jump on the typhoon. Train it on their engine," Mike gives his orders.
"With pleasure sir," Charge confirms as he flicks a few switches to arm the weapon. After confirming that the RHIBs have moved back Charge fires the typhoon. With a couple of hits, the vessel that we are chasing comes to a stop. The boarding party soon gets aboard the boat. However, the boarding doesn't go smoothly. I notice Dutchy collapse to the ground. I assume that a bullet must have hit him. After what feels like an eternity the boarding party made it back to the Hammersley. I quickly intercept Dutchy.
"Ditch your gear then get checked out," Kate orders as we head to the armoury. After making sure his gear is stowed safely Dutchy reluctantly follows me to the wardroom. I quickly close the door behind us.
"Sit down and take your shirt off," I order.
"But I'm fine. The kevlar stopped it," Dutchy begins to protest.
"The bullet still had enough force to knock you over which means it had enough force to bruise a couple of ribs. So sit down or take off your shirt," I respond as I prepare a couple of things. I can feel Dutchy's death glare as he sits down. Once his shirt is off I get to work. To my surprise, there is only slight bruising where the bullet made contact. After a couple of minutes, I am satisfied that the only injury that Dutchy sustained was the bursing.
"Am I good to go?" Dutchy asks.
"Yes. Take some ibuprofen if the pain gets too much," I reply as I pass him some. After getting his shirt back on he leaves.
It has been a couple of hours since then and I am watching on as the others escort the perpetrators off the ship. It is at that moment I notice that Kate seems a bit off. I put it down to the fact she killed someone while trying to protect Dutchy. As soon as the prisoners are handed to the feds I turn my attention to Kate.
"X I need to talk to you," I announce as I intercept her.
"Not now. I'm busy," Kate says. I quickly block her path.
"Ma'am I may be ranked below you but as the ship's medic, I can declare you unfit for duty if I see that you are a danger to the crew. I can tell by the look on your face that you are replaying the events of that boarding in your head which means you will be distracted," I respond. I don't like using my position in this way but something is wrong with Kate. There was something about the victim that had Kate rattled. In the few months that I've had to get to know Kate I know she is a hard woman to rattle.
"We will talk in our quarters but promise me you won't tell anyone," Kate responds.
"Of course not. It will stay between us," I say. The thing is I know Kate isn't stupid enough to do something that would risk her life or the others of the crew. After a couple of minutes, we made it back to our quarters.
"So tell me what's got you so rattled," I remark.
"The girl that shot Dutchy must have been young. She probably had her whole life ahead of her. I made a split-second decision to fire back which resulted in the loss of life," Kate explains as she takes her seat.
"The way I see it is the girl could have killed Dutchy if you hadn't fired back. What I am saying is that it was an unavoidable accident. You were unlucky," I counter.
"It's not that. This is the first time that I have taken someone's life. To add to the guilt the girl's brother threatened me," Kate reveals the problem that is bugging her. The truth is Kate may never fully get over what she has done but I know I will be here to help her through.
"I want you to get some rest. I'll let Mike know that you are feeling unwell so he can organise a replacement for your watch," I announce.
"Thank you Hoppo," Kate responds.
"Sorry if I overstepped but I could see you were struggling," I find myself apologising.
"Never apologising for caring," Kate counters as she removes her uniform's outer layer. Now that I am happy I leave Kate. I sigh as I head to the galley. Once I am there I help myself to a cup of tea. Despite the fact that I talked to Kate I still can't shake the feeling that there is more to the situation. I shrug it off as there is nothing that I can do. Once I have my cup of tea I head to the comms room. Robert wanted me to double-check some reports.
It has been a few hours since then and I am listening to the radio. It seems a little too quiet given the events of the past few hours. My attention is soon drawn to a radio message from the coastwatch. After transcribing it I turn my attention to Mike.
"Boss I've just received an alert from Coastwatch. They've spotted what they believe to be a burning boat at those coordinates," I announce as I pass the piece of paper to him.
"ETA to target X?" Mike responds.
"Thirty minutes," Kate confirms. After thirty minutes we made it to the wreckage of the boat. As soon as Mike calls hands to boarding stations I head over to the RIHBs. After a couple of minutes, we reach the wreckage. I soon came to the conclusion that no one could have survived unless they jumped overboard. Kate soon confirms what I am thinking.
"There are no survivors down here Sir," Kate radios in.
"Given the debris, it looks like there was an explosion," Mike responds. Odd. The thing is the only boat in the area at the time was the one that picked up the prisoners.
"It's got to be the federal police launch that was transporting our prisoners. It was the only boat in this area," Dutchy reads my mind. After giving his orders we continue our search.
It has been three hours since then and we are back at base. I am currently catching up on some medical journals. Unfortunately, they are relatively boring. Don't get me wrong it is good to keep up to date but the higher-ups could at least give me journals related to trauma medicine. The feeling of someone watching me soon strikes me. I look up to find Swain closely followed by Kate, Bird, Dutchy and Mike. The first thing I notice is the fact that Kate is looking a little dishevelled for someone who is wearing her dress uniform.
"What happened?" I ask as I up.
"I fell on my wrist," Kate responds as she takes the seat that I was sitting on.
"She was struck by a car," Bird adds. That explains the dishevelled look. I soon get to work on making sure Kate is ok. After a minute I get to work on checking Kate's wrist.
"Ok flex it back," I say. Kate does as instructed. Nothing feels out of place so far.
"And forward," I give her the last of my instructions. Again nothing feels out of place.
"Any pain?" I ask my last question.
"No pain. It's fine. I told you Hoppo. I fell on it. That's all," Kate tries to worm her way out of the situation. It seems to me that Kate is lucky. After a comment from Dutchy about the state of Kate's uniform Mike turns his attention to getting some information about what happened.
"Make and model of the car?" He asks.
"It was blue," Both Kate and Bird say at the same time.
"I got a rego as he was driving away," Bird adds quickly to Mike's satisfaction. With a few swift movements, Dutchy has a notebook in his hands. After taking note of the registration number Mike dismisses Bird and I. After thirty minutes I am done with Bird. I am impressed with how much she could recall.
"Hey Hoppo I was thinking you could help me with something," Bird remarks.
"Sure. What do you need help with?" I ask as I make sure I have everything ready to leave.
"I was considering becoming a Navy medic and I was hoping you could help me at some point," Bird responds as we leave.
"I'll show you a few things when we next go on patrol," I respond. It has been thirty minutes since then and I am out with Robert. To my surprise, he wanted to get a coffee out before we start the guts watch. I should be relaxing however there is something that is bothering me. Bird said the guy driving the car deliberately tried to run over Kate. The reason why it bothers me so much is because the guy who wants Kate dead is dead himself. Well, I say dead but for all I know he could have escaped.
"You seem distracted," Robert remarks.
"I'm sorry. There is something that is bothering me. That's all. You don't have to worry," I reply as my grip on the cup becomes tighter.
"We can go back to the Hammersley if you want," Robert is quick to suggest leaving.
"No. It's ok. I talk to Commander Flynn when we start our watch. I just want to try and relax," I counter. Even though Robert is a little weird at times there is something about him that makes me feel comfortable around him. With that Robert quickly changes the topic.
It has been a few hours since then and I am currently lounging in the Captain's chair. I already told Mike about my concerns. Luckily for me, the evidence seems to support my theory.
"Are you alright?" Swain asks turning his attention to me.
"I'm just overthinking about what's going on," I reply as I grab the binoculars from the station in front of me. I quickly scan the area to see if there is any action. I soon notice someone walking towards the Hammersley. I thought Kosov-Meyer would be on shore leave. Odd. Unless. No, I'm overthinking again. After radioing in my report I lean back in my chair. After a minute of weighing up my options, I decided that I am going to check on Kate.
"Hey Swain I'll be back. I'm going to see how Kate is doing," I quickly excuse myself. As I head down from the bridge I notice that Mike is also looking for Kate.
"Hoppo have you seen the X?" Mike asks. The worry is plastered on his face.
"No, but I thought she would be in our quarters by now," I respond. After asking Dutchy the same question we head to our quarters. Our attention is soon grabbed by the sound of bodies hitting metal and a series of grunts. Mike springs into action. As soon as Kate's attacker realises that he is outnumbered he makes a run for it.
"I'll make sure Kate is ok. Go after him," I give Dutchy my orders as Mike calms down Kate. Dutchy goes after the perpetrator. At least I know it is not Kosov-Meyer that came aboard.
It has been a few hours since then and we have successfully identified the person that attacked Kate. We are currently getting the Hammersley ready to sail. NAVCOM have given us the go-ahead to chase the people who are threatening Kate. I am trying to keep a straight face as Kosov-Meyer tries to explain what happened.
"You do realise that your ID may have been used by the man who attacked the X," Mike snaps in a rare fit of anger. With a few swift movements, he has the picture that the police sent over in his hands.
"Have you ever seen this guy before?" Mike shows Kosov-Meyer the piece of paper. It doesn't take long for us to get an answer.
"I know that guy. That's Corey. He must have drugged me then taken my uniform and ID," Kosov-Meyer fills us in. That explains why I saw someone different at the docks last night.
"Who's Corey?" Mike asks again.
"The Thundercat guy. Bird's friend," Kosov-Meyer replies. After a few more questions we come to an interesting conclusion. Corey must have taken Bird as a way to get to Kate. After what feels like an eternity we are finally underway. Luckily for us, the journey is only going to take thirty minutes. After clearing some things up with Robert I head down to the wardroom. I need to be prepared for the worst. After yet another eternity we made it to Harewood Island. After a tense wait, the RIHB crews come back.
"Bird, X make sure you get checked out by Hoppo," Swain orders as they pass the wardroom. After some protest from Kate, she finally joins Brid and I. Thankfully the checkups don't take long.
It is the day after we rescued Bird and I have been summoned to NAVCOM. Weirdly not by my Dad but by his second in command Commander Maxine White. As I reach her office I notice Mike is there as well. He seems annoyed. I tentatively knock on the door.
"Come in," Maxine responds. Mike quickly excuses himself. I assume he has said what he wanted to say.
"You wanted to see me, Ma'am?" I ask as I enter.
"Yes. I wanted to discuss your next promotion. I would personally like to offer you a promotion to Lieutenant. I thought you would be more inclined to take it if the offer came from me," Maxine explains the situation. That can only mean one thing. The selection board chose me over Kate.
"With all due respect Ma'am the board chose the wrong person. Kate deserves the promotion over me," I respond. I realise that it is not Maxine's decision to make but there is a reason that I am not already a Lieutenant. After some back and forth Maxine finally talked me into taking the promotion however I have decided to take it with a couple of conditions.
"I will take it with two conditions. One, Kate is given better consideration for the next round of promotions. Two I get to stay on the Hammersley," I give my conditions.
"Look Kate has a lot to learn in terms of being a leader but I will see what I can do. As for you staying on the Hammersley, you are in luck. The only other vessel looking for an executive officer is the ANZAC and given past events you don't want to go back," Maxine responds.
"Thank you," I thanked her before leaving. The thing is I know I should have taken the promotion the first time but I knew I wasn't ready. As for the second time…well my Dad was trying to prove a point so I said no. The annoying thing is Kate is going to be mad at me. As she has the right as she should have been promoted over me. Anyway, what is done is done. There is nothing that I can do about it.