It has been a few hours since then and I am currently at the base hospital. I am looking for answers while the rest of the crew loads more supplies. At least I had a chance to send a report to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
"Well Doctor Hopper I am impressed by your work but until we get the test results back there is not much that we can do," The Doctor confirms.
"I know. Is there any way that I can get those results sped up?" I ask. The annoying thing about being a Naval officer is the fact that you always have places to be.
"Look the crew's samples are being tested as we speak I noticed some anomalies as I am sure you did. If we don't get the results back before you set sail I will get the boys at NAVCOM to pass them on to you," The Doctor reassures me.
"Thank you. I am sorry to bother-," I am cut off by the sound of footsteps.
"Sir the preliminary results came back. Inconclusive," the new commer announces. Odd. The only good thing that has come out of this is the fact that the crew we found are responding to the hydration the hospital Doctors have given the crew. I quickly check my watch.
"Look I have to go. Please get NAVCOM to send me any updates," I say excusing myself.
"Of course," The Doctor replies as I leave. Well, that was a wasted trip. After five minutes I arrive back at the Hammersley. It is still a hive of activity. I am soon intercepted by Mike. I quickly salute him.
"Sir," I greet him.
"Word from the hospital?"
"The men are responding to rehydration. The doctor at the base ran some tests. The preliminary results came back inconclusive, which makes me doubt Doctor Wallace's theory. Still, I recommended that Fisheries further testing on the waters around Stokes Island just to be on the safe side," I give him my report.
"Boss the visitor is on his way," Dutchy announces having spotted the fisheries officer.
"That must be Jason Merrit," I respond.
"Well at least we know Fisheries took your report seriously," Mike says.
"At least he is the guy that is going to get me my evidence," I counter. After a brief introduction, we boarded the Hammmersley.
It has been an hour since then and Jason and I are going over a few things in relation to Stokes Island. Jason is currently explaining to us that there has been a rise in algae blooms.
"Hoppo can the cyanobacteria explain the illnesses that we see?" Kate asks.
"It does explain what happened to the fishermen but not Barry or Rose. I reckon the cyanobacterium is a symptom of what the problem is rather than the cause," I reply. After an intense debate with Jason, I decided that the best way to settle the debate is to collect our evidence.
It has been a couple of hours since then and I am currently on watch. Thankfully the only thing of note is the fact that Robert left Jason to his own devices. In fairness to Robert marine biologists are not the most fun people.
"Hoppo I've got Doctor Wallace on the phone for you," Robert announced.
"Ok. Put it on speaker," I confirm getting a stink eye from Robert.
"Are you sure about that ma'am? He seems fairly umm…intoxicated," Robert responds.
"Go ahead," I counter. He can embarrass himself in front of the crew. Robert quickly follows my order.
"Go ahead Doctor Wallace,"
"I heard about the fishermen," Doctor Wallace gets to work. Robert is right. He is definitely drunk.
"They had algal poisoning," I explain the situation.
"Don't you believe it. It's rubbish," Doctor Wallace counters.
"Are you alright? You seem a little…tired," I ask just to make sure he actually has a purpose for the call.
"I'm…fine. Come and see me, Lieutenant. I have evidence for you," He responds. Finally.
"What kind of evidence?" I ask even though I have a hunch as to what he is going to say.
"Heavy metals in the water. That is what is causing the cancer," Doctor Wallace announces. He seems quite proud of himself.
"Come and see me. I'll prove it to you," Doctor Wallace adds causing Mike to throw a concerned glance in my direction.
It has been an hour since then and we are finally back on Stokes Island. As soon as I reach the end of the pier I am intercepted by Doctor Wallace. He still seems a little drunk. Well, I will have to follow him if I want to find out what is going on.
"I've got the data ready to show you. Come on," He urges me to follow him.
"Can you tell me about the evidence you have?" I ask as jog to catch up to him.
"I've got data on arsenic, mercury and beryllium. I've done the tests myself," Doctor Wallace seems confident. The thing is I want to believe him however the evidence is lacking at best. Not only that but even if he was right where would minerals like that even come from?
"Ok but where do you think the toxins are coming from?" I ask.
"My guess is mining tailings from ocean dumping," Doctor Wallace says. I am about to reply when a loud explosion rips through the air. The force of the explosion forces us to the ground. As soon as I get up I spring into action.
"Is there anyone in there?" I ask as we get to work on putting out the flames.
"No. The clinic was closed for lunch," Doctor Wallace soon turns his attention to his makeshift distillery. I quickly get in the way as there is no point in him hurting himself over some alcohol.
"That distillery has been tampered with," Doctor Wallace announces. I catch myself sighing.
"Well tell that to your insurance company," I snap. The truth is without the appropriate evidence my hands are tied. Dutchy soon joins us to add to the firefighting efforts.
"You alright Hoppo?" He asks.
"I'm fine. Just see if you can save the rest of it," I confirm. I am about to leave when Doctor Wallace speaks up.
"Somebody wanted to destroy the evidence. Somebody knew it was behind the still," Doctor Wallace seems to be convinced that there is something going on. I quickly turn around to face Doctor Wallace.
"Look we have a fisheries officer on board and they have found nothing to support your claims," I say looking directly into his eyes. After going on about what happened to Barry and Ruby his body language changes.
"And you are sure that the only explanation for the tumours are the toxins in the water?" I ask to make sure we are on the same page. Something tells me that I may be taking over.
"I am certain. Look I can't do anything more. Not with someone trying to kill me," He says as he throws his hands in the air. He soon walks off. I start to feel a little guilty as there is nothing that I can do until I get enough evidence and that is not looking good. After grabbing something from the supply room he turns his attention back to me.
"What is that?" I ask as I take the object from him.
"It is a basic water tester. I picked it up from eBay. It should be easy to use," Doctor Wallace confirms. It seems to me that he is giving up.
"You can't be giving up. What about Ruby?" I counter.
"Look I'm sorry Hoppo but Ruby's best chance is with you," Doctor Wallace says as he storms off. With that exchange out of the way, I head back to the Hammersley. I soon find myself on the bridge even though I am not on watch.
"Are you ok Hoppo?" Mike asks as I sit down at the helm
"No. Doctor Wallace has put me in a hard spot," I reply. Hopefully, Mike will be able to get me out of my hole. I soon brief Mike on what happened to Doctor Wallace's distillery and what I believe is going on. It doesn't take long for Dutchy to join us.
"Look if we discuss this further I wish to do so in the wardroom," I say as I get up so much for relaxing. Thankfully the trip to the wardroom is quick. As I explain what is going on I realise that I am beginning to sound like Doctor Wallace. Luckily for me, Swain joins us.
"Sir, Doctor Wallace has put in a request for emergency transport to Cairns Hospital. Apparently Ruby has taken a turn for the worst," Swain announces.
"Ok. Hoppo I want you and Swain to organise for Ruby to be aboard. X get in touch with Jason. Let him know if he wants a ride should leave now," Mike gives his orders. After what feels like an eternity Ruby is finally aboard. Right now I am making sure she and her parents are comfortable. Well as comfortable as they can be in a situation like this. With a few swift movements, I have a fresh cannula inserted into her arm. After making sure it is secured I hook her fluids up.
"Doc is there anything that we can do for you?" Ruby's mum speaks up.
"Other than being here for her there is not much that you can do, unfortunately," I reply. I hate to admit defeat however there truly is nothing that I can do as a trauma doctor. Swain and I can only work to keep her comfortable.
It has been a couple of hours since then and I am at my witts end. I need to talk to Jason because I know something isn't adding up.
"Hey, I got you something to eat. Are you ok?" Swain asks as he offers me a plate of food. He also offers some food to Ruby's parents. They take their food however I hesitate.
"The more I think about Ruby and Barry the more I start to believe Doctor Wallace. The challenge is we have no evidence for ourselves…," I soon trail off as a thought soon comes to mind.
"Swain, can you check on Ruby? I need to talk to Jason," I say. Thankfully Swain nods. After a couple of minutes of looking, I find Jason on the bridge. He is looking intently at his data.
"I hope you've finished your testing," Mike says as he turns his attention to Jason.
"I can confirm that there is no more mercury in the fish than the fish you would find in a fish and chip shop. As for the other minerals, there were only trace amounts. Not enough to cause any issues," Jason proudly confirms. Odd. I don't know what I was expecting. After some back and forth I finally snap.
"Jason if you would come with me. I would like to show you something," I say as I begin the journey back to the wardroom. Luckily for me, Jason is smart enough to follow me without any drama.
"Her name is Ruby. She is being treated for a rare form of cancer and if it isn't bad enough her cancer will cause seizures and psychotic episodes. Only fifty-nine people in the world have been diagnosed with the same type of cancer. Two of them are from Stokes Island. If you are anything like me you don't believe in coincidences," I fill him in on what I believe to be happening.
"Look I am truly sorry Eden but the data is conclusive. There is nothing going on," Jason tries his best to reassure me. After ripping into him Jason soon leaves. I take a deep breath. There is nothing that I can do. Unless…no Eden that is a bad idea. Getting Robert to look into Jason is a bad idea. The next thing I know is the fact that I am in the communications room.
"Ro, I need you to do me a favour," I remark.
"Of course. What do you need me to do?" Robert asks.
"I need you to dig into Jason's background. I want as much dirt as you can find. I also want a list of vessels that have been through the waters around Stokes Island in the past five years. I also want any overlapping vessels to be noted," I basically order. I know I shouldn't be asking but I really cannot shake the feeling that there is something going on.
"Ok, I will but does Commander Flynn know what you are doing?" Robert counters.
"I will talk to him once I am done here," I snap catching Robert by surprise.
"We'll talk about what's bothering you when we get to port," Robert reacts in a rather surprising manner.
"Of course," I confirm. After clarifying some things I leave. With that, I turn my attention to heading back to the wardroom.
"How is she doing?" I check as I sit down.
"Ruby is as stable as we are going to get her. It's just a matter of keeping her comfortable," Swain confirms. I find myself sighing. Sometimes you have to deal with sad endings.
It has been thirty minutes since then and we are finally back in Cairns. The good thing is transferring Ruby was easy. Even though I know it is not going to end well I hope she can find some comfort at Cairns hospital. Now that Ruby is gone I turn my attention to find Mike so I can update him on my plan.
"Boss I need to talk to you," I announce as I find him.
"What can I do for you Hoppo?" He responds.
"Well…there is something bothering me. Even though Jason didn't find anything I am convinced that something is going on," I explain.
"I thought I told you to leave Doctor Wallace's ocean dumping theory alone," Mike seems confused by my explanation.
"I know but I don't buy Jason's results for one second. The coincidence is too strong for me to ignore," I counter. After some back and forth we finally reach an agreement. If I can find enough evidence during our latest patrol we will pursue whichever vessel is dumping the water. If not I will drop it and forget it ever happened. It is an annoying conclusion to make however I think it would be better for me to trust Mike's judgment.
It has been a couple of hours since then and I am checking the charts for our latest patrol. Thankfully it takes us close enough to Stokes Island for me to get a sample. As the thought crosses my mind Robert joins us on the bridge. Based on the look on his face it seems as if he has found something.
"I've got something for you Hop. I found six vessels that transit Stokes Island that were also transiting six years ago. One of which is currently transiting through the shipping lane now. It's a foreign-flagged palm oil trader. It's ten kilometres from Stokes Island," Robert announces.
"Thank you, Ro," I reply. I soon notice Mike giving me a concerned glance. After a couple of seconds of consideration, he allows the boarding. I find myself watching the boarding through a pair of binoculars. Everything seems in order but it is hard to tell without being there. I will have to ask when the others come back. Thankfully it doesn't take long for them to arrive back.
"So what is the verdict?" I ask as Dutchy, Kate and Kosov-Meyer join us on the bridge.
"Everything seemed to be in order," Dutchy replies. The thing is he doesn't sound convinced. I guess I will have to wait and see.