It has been a couple of days since then and I am trying to relax however there is something preventing me. It is the fact that Dutchy and Kosov-Meyer are trying to pick up a couple of girls. The thing is I can understand Kosov-Meyer failing but not Dutchy. I put it down to the fact that Kosov-Meyer is glued to Dutchy's hip.
"You seem to be enjoying this too much," Charge remarks.
"Well, it's like watching a dog do tricks for treats," I reply. Besides it provides a welcome distraction from another problem which is too embarrassing to admit. Dutchy and Kosov-Meyer soon admit defeat.
"Boming out big time, boys," Charge remarks as they rejoin us.
"I'd be doing a lot better without Mini-Me here," Duchy remarks as I try to stifle a giggle. I get that Kosov-Meyer is acting as a wingman but the sight before me is kinda sad. After some back and forth, Kosov-Meyer points Dutchy in the direction of his next target. As Kosov-Meyer gets comfortable he turns his attention to Bird and I
"Bird, Hoppo, in twenty-five words or less what to woman want?" Kosov-Meyer asks.
"It will take more than twenty-five words to explain it to you," I respond. In fact we could be here all day.
"They want to be left alone," Bird adds her thoughts to the conversation as she turns the page. Kosov-Meyer seems deflated by the answers we gave. Before he has a chance to respond we are joined by Robert. I find myself throwing subtle glances at Robert as he covers himself. Hopefully, the others don't notice. It doesn't take long for Dutchy to come back with his tail between his legs. After some comments, Dutchy seems ready to go.
"I'm gonna go for a jog," Dutchy excuses himself.
"I'll go with you," Kosov-Meyer excuses himself as well. Charge soon turns his attention to me.
"I don't get how people like you, Bird and the X deal with men like them," Charge announces.
"Trust me, Men don't always think with their brains. Anyway, it could be a lot worse. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go back to the Hammersley. I've got work to do unlike some," I say as I get up. Unfortunately, I got stuck with the afternoon watch. Not that I am truly complaining as it will still be more relaxing compared to when we are at sea.
It is the day after and we are underway again. Everyone who is not on watch has gathered on the boat deck. Why? Charge and Bird decided that we were going to have a barbecue meal. In this case, it involves an Australian classic. With a few swift movements, Charge has the bread in my hand. The sausage soon follows.
"Thanks, Charge," I thank him before finding a spot to eat. I soon take the only free corner of the boat deck. I soon catch myself people-watching. Well, I am watching Dutchy and Kate. Kate seems unhappy. I know the exact reason why. Kate didn't get what she deserved.
"Are you ok? You seem like you've got something on your mind" Mike asks as he joins me.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just unfair that I got promoted over Kate. Apparently they felt that she wasn't good enough for a command which is stupid," I explain before finishing off my sausage. Bird and Charge did a good job. The sausage is one of the best that I've had in a long time.
"But you've been a sub-lieutenant for five years. I'm sure the promotion board know what they are doing," Mike tries his best to reassure me.
"Still. Kate deserves a change. Besides what would that mean for the Hammersley in terms of a new CO?" I ask.
"I'll be staying for another year," Mike responds.
It is the day after and I am currently holding a first-aid refresher for some of the junior enlisted officers. To be honest I think the only one here by choice is Bird. As for the others, they were probably ordered here by their COs. Right now I am making my way through the small group as they work their CPR technique. As I pace around the small group I notice one of the seamen struggling.
"Ok everyone that is enough," I call it quits on the CPR practice as it has been a minute since they started and I know from experience that CPR takes it out of you.
"I am never going to be good enough," I catch the seaman uttering.
"Let me explain why. You are putting your non-dominant hand over your dominant hand. You should be doing it the other way around. I also suggest interlocking your fingers but that is not as important. Now try again," I order. After a couple of seconds, he figures out what he means. After thirty seconds I notice a mild improvement. I quickly ordered him to stop. The odd thing is he was using this non-dominant hand in the first place.
"Thank you, Doc," The seaman replies. After thirty minutes I am happy to sign off on the refresher. After dismissing the group Bird joins me.
"That was brutal. I thought refreshers were supposed to be easy," Bird remarks.
"Well normally they would be however with the exception of you no one seemed to care. Anyway, are you heading to goat central or back to the Hammersley?" I ask the least I can do since either place is along the route I take back to my apartment.
"Goat central, please. I told Ryan I would help him with a few things," Bird remarks. After a couple of minutes of walking, we made it to my car. After seven minutes of driving, I drop her off at the enlisted officers' apartments.
It is the day after and I am doing an inventory of my supplies. At least this time I managed to rope Bird into it. I am using this as an excuse to get Brid familiar with the equipment that she may need as a medic. Of course, there are things that I have that would be overkill for a medic to use but I might as well expose her to a variety of things. After a few minutes, I hear some voices. They soon join us in the wardroom.
"Sorry if we are interrupting you Hoppo. 2 Dads and I are conducting a tour at the moment.," Dutchy fills me in on what's going on. He is not too happy about the idea of showing two civilians around. I can't blame him but there is more to the story. There is an unusual amount of tension between Dutchy and the woman.
"No problem. Welcome to the wardroom. My name is Eden," I introduce myself.
"So the wardroom?" Our guest asks.
"Unfortunately, the Armidale class doesn't have enough room for a sickbay so we use the wardroom," I explain. After answering a few more questions the group leave. As they do I notice the tension disaptes.
It is the day after and we are underway again. I am about to leave the bridge as my watch is done however my attention is soon caught by something.
"Sir we're receiving a mayday on VHF channel sixteen," Robert announces.
"Put it on speaker," Mike orders. With the flick of a switch, a woman's voice fills the bridge.
"Mayday! Mayday! This is the Calypso. I have an emergency. I need help," The woman's voice sounds vaguely familiar. Before I can say anything Dutchy speaks up.
"That's Don and Laurel Andrews' boat," Dutchy remarks.
"Calypso this is Australian warship Hammersley what is the nature of your emergency over?" Mike gets to work on getting the information required to make a plan.
"The winch is jammed. Don's down in the diving cage. Please. He is running out of air," Laurel is desperate. Mike is quick to gesture for the boarding party to get ready. After a couple of minutes, we have the Calypso in sight. Luckily for Laurel, we are able to get to her boat quickly. As soon as we set foot in the vessel Charge gets to work on fixing the winch. Our plan soon hits a snag.
"You can't send anyone down," Laurel says as she tries to stop Kate from enacting her plan. I find myself being annoyed because of the fact that if we waste any more time her husband will not make it.
"Why not? If the winch is jammed-,"
"There's sharks," Laurel cuts Kate off. There is something off by the way she spoke. After some back and forth Charge has the winch working. The cage soon surfaces to reveal Don's body. As soon as Laurel catches sight of his body she breaks down. After a few seconds, the cage is back on board. With a few swift movements, I open the cage. The first thing I do is check Don's pulse.
"I'm sorry. He was in the water too long. There is nothing that I can do," I confirm. Even if I tried CPR there is no guarantee that Don would make it. After making sure everything is secured we head back to the Hammersley. After dumping my gear I turn my attention to Laurel.
"I need you to come to the wardroom," I say as I carefully lead her there.
"I'm sorry. I just…thought…," Laurel whispers.
"Hey, it's ok. Accidents happen," I get to work on reassuring her as we make it to the wardroom. Of course, the feds will be investigating. Luckily for me, Laurel seems physically ok. As for her mental state, I will have to keep an eye on her.
"Take these. They should help you sleep. If you have any issues or concerns feel free to talk to me or anyone else," I say as I offer a couple of sleeping tablets.
It has been a couple of hours since Laurel came aboard and something is bothering me. I chose to ignore it at the time because we were affecting a rescue. When she cut Kate off it sounded vaguely like she was trying to hide something. I find myself in the Comms room.
"Ro, when did we get the Mayday from Laurel?" I ask.
"1606. Why?" Robert responds.
"Ok. It took us six minutes to get there. Another two minutes to reach the Calypso in the RIHB… Sorry Ro. There is a small detail that is iterating me. It took us a total of eight minutes to reach the Calypso. Then it took us another minute to get the cage out of the water. I realise that it sounds stupid but I don't think someone with Don's experience would simply drown," I get to my point. The thing is someone with Don's experience would prepare for something such as a failure of equipment.
"You should tell Commander Flynn about your suspicion," Robert replies.
"I know but I need proof before I make accusations like that. The only way I will get proof is through the autopsy," I counter. At least I told someone about it. I decided to let it annoy me as I am not authorised to conduct the autopsy.
It is the day after and I am heading back from NAVCOM with Mike. Like me, he wanted to find out what was going on. What we discovered came as no surprise to me. Based on the bloodwork the tanks were contaminated. I quickly excuse myself as Mike fills Kate in. After thirty minutes I am joined in the wardroom by Mike, Swain, Dutchy and a police officer.
"I'll give you guys some privacy," I remark as I pause my report writing. A part of me wants to stay but whatever is happening should remain between them for now. It doesn't take long for me to reach the bridge. I take a seat at the comms station. I know Robert will be in the comms room but listening to the radio is the only thing I can think of to keep me occupied. After a few minutes, I find myself unable to concentrate well enough.
It has been thirty minutes then that I found out the reason why there was a cop with Dutchy, Mike, and Swain. Apparently Dutchy killed Don because he was stalking Laurel. I know that is a load of BS because Dutchy is one of a few men that actually knows what respect is. After a few minutes, I notice Dutchy leaving the Hammersly. Weird. After a few minutes, I am soon struck by a stupid idea. Kosov-Meyer joins me on the bridge. He seems a little worried about something.
"You seem worried about something 2 dads," I turn my attention to him.
"It's Dutchy. He was acting strange before he left," Kosov-Meyer responds. After a few minutes, our attention is grabbed by Mike. He is not happy.
"Have either of you seen Dutchy?" He gets to the point.
"I saw him leave. He said he had something to find," Kosov-Meyer responds.
After fifteen minutes of looking, we all regroup to see what we have discovered.
"I've had no luck at NAVCOM, sir," I announce as I join him. Charge soon follows with a similar report in regards to where he would be if he is not on base or at NAVCOM.
"Sir! I think I know where he might be," Kosov-Meyer finally speaks up.
"Where?" Mike asks.
"Laurel Andrerws' boat, the Calypso," Kosov-Meyer responds. After getting an explanation Mike gives the order to get ready to sail. After six minutes we are underway. The annoying thing is the Calyspso has a headstart. Luckily for us dive tenders are usually slower than the Armidale class. After giving Robert and Kate their respective orders Mike turns his attention to be.
"I'll get my gear ready just in case," I remarked before leaving.
It has been eleven tense minutes since then and Kate has pipped all hands to boarding stations. With a few swift movements, I have my bulletproof vest and life jacket on. I hope we will be able to get over to the Calypso soon enough.
A minute later we made it over to the Calypso. As soon as our boots hit the deck Kate gives us our orders.
"Get the cage up, Charge. Swain, Hoppo restrain them," Kate barks. After some protesting Swain and I have Laurel and her accomplice. Charge soon turns his attention to Kate.
"X, this is cactus. The winch won't hold the cage for much longer," Charge confirms. The cable soon snaps. With that Kate gives the order for Kosov-Meyer to get ready. As Swain helps Kosov-Meyer get ready I notice bubbles rising.
"2 Dads wait," I call out. The second I do Dutchy bursts from the water. It doesn't take long for Kosov-Meyer and Charge to bring Dutchy back aboard. After a couple of minutes, we are back aboard the Hammersley. I am giving Dutchy his mandatory checkup.
"You are a lucky man. You will be feeling the effects of the adrenaline for a while however you came out of this unhurt," I announce.
"I don't feel lucky," Dutchy responds. It sounds like he is blaming himself.
"You know none of this is your fault. If you had to blame anyone I'd blame 2 dads. He was the one that put you in Laurel's path. Anyway, you are good to go. Just let me know if anything changes," I respond as I place my stethoscope back in its spot.
"Ok," Dutchy responds before leaving. I catch myself sighing. For some reason, the Hammersley seems to be the patrol boat where all of the action happens. A knock soon rings out.
"Come in," I respond. To my surprise, Robert is the person that comes in. He quickly makes sure no one else is coming.
"The answer is yes. I know a place where the others won't be," I beat Robert to it. He seemed a little surprised that I knew what he going to ask. The thing is I could do with some relaxation after the whirlwind of a week we had.