Chapter 1

It was early morning and the sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon, shining its light into the bridge of Hammersley. It had been a long and frustrating patrol for the crew, who were all looking forward to arriving in port in time to be at the pub for lunch.

Between the FFV's that managed to just get back into international waters before the Hammersley found them, the Ice Boat they shadowed for 3 days only to be called away to a fake mayday in time for the Kingston to strike and a suspected drug smuggling operation which resulted in four boarding's and no proof, it was fair to say that morale was low.

To top it all off, their new XO had gone down with a mysterious tropical virus that required him to be taken in a medivac back to Cairns.

Charge, Swain and Dutchy had all made their way to the bridge for the morning watch joining RO and 2Dads.

"Morning all." Kate said as she entered the bridge, trying to at least sound positive, which wasn't all that hard given she was thinking about seeing Mike later that day.

"Morning Ma'am," was the collective groan from the crew, none even trying to match her enthusiasm.

"Come on lads, you can do better than that – just think we'll be back in port in a few hours and you'll all be down at the pub!" was Kate's response, trying to end the patrol on a good note.

"What's going on Ma'am, it's almost like you have something to look forward to when we get back in..." Dutchy responded with as he smiled, referring to the reunion he knew she was planning with Mike. He wasn't quite sure if that comment was going to earn him a laugh or one of those stares. But it was the end of the patrol and he figured it was worth a shot.

Everyone on the bridge fell quiet at his comment and just waited for the response – no-one too sure which way it would go, but the juniors figured Dutchy, Swain or Charge were probably the only ones that would get away with that sort of comment. Everyone knew about Kate and Mike, it's just that no-one ever spoke about it.

Kate might have let Dutchy get away with a comment like that in private, but on the Bridge in front of the crew was a different matter. She was about to pull him into line when she decided that it was the end of the patrol so the best course of action was no action. She rolled her eyes and turned to Swain, "Swain, you must have some plans?"

Trying to hide his smile at Dutchy's last comment, Swain replied "Well, Chloe has a recital on, but that's in 4 days so I can only go assuming we don't get called back early from leave." Charge had picked up on the light-hearted conversation and decided to join Swain at the helm. He figured if Kate didn't crack at Dutchy's comment then she must be in a good mood which meant he could have some fun.

"You know what we need Swain," Charge started, "Is someone who has a vested interest in Hammersley staying in port for all of its 6 days leave. Someone who holds some influence over a second someone who works at Navcom." he finished with turning to look straight at Kate.

Dutchy and 2Dads were already trying to stifle their laughs, when Swain followed up with "And ideally, the second someone at Navcom would have a vested interest in the first someone staying ashore for some time." At that comment, everyone had a bit of a chuckle, trying not to draw too much attention to themselves.

"You know what, you boys are lucky this is the end of our patrol, and not the beginning." Kate responded with, taking a deep breath, rolling her eyes again and starting to chuckle a little herself. She certainly didn't like where this conversation was headed, but was happy that the crew seemed to have been bought back to life. That was, until Bird entered the bridge carrying a tray of coffee's and announced that breakfast was ready.

"Great, what are we having?" asked 2Dads, regretting his question as soon as Bird spoke.

"Muesli, left over chicken meatballs, or toast with no butter." was the glum response from Bird that was met with a round of growls from the crew. "Well it's not my fault; we were out here for longer than expected and have virtually no food left. Anyway, I figured no-one would eat so I bought these up." She said delivering the coffee's to mixed responses.

As Bird handed out the coffees, RO accepted a call from Navcom. "Ma'am, Commander White on the line for you." If the fun hadn't been sucked out of the room before with Birds breakfast offerings, it certainly was with that comment. Everyone was holding their breath watching Kate, hoping against all hope that their patrol was not about to be extended. They weren't too sure what to make of Kate's initial response to the Commander.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but is this some sort of joke?" Kate asked laughing, regretting the comment almost instantly. Apparently the light-hearted mood she had tried to create on the bridge had not filtered back to Navcom and Commander White was in no mood to be messed with. Kate had to pull the phone back from her ear as Maxine responded.

"Lieutenant-Commander McGregor, I don't know if there is some sort of practical joke going on, but when I give an order I expect it to be followed, not to have two of my senior officers ask if I am joking. Reminiscent Wharf is almost on your direct route back to port, so you are to call in there and pick these boys up, is that understood?" By this point Kate was holding her palm to her forehead and closing her eyes wondering if anything was going to go to plan today.

"Yes Ma'am," was all she could respond with, before she registered what Commander White had just told her. "Um, sorry Ma'am, you said two senior officers?" Kate Asked

"Yes, apparently Commander Flynn found this amusing as well, why is that?" Maxine responded, a little calmer now.

Chicken is all Kate could think – what a chicken, he should have been the one to call this through. Well, two could play at that game, "I'm sorry, Ma'am, you would need to ask him that." Kate didn't want to have this conversation with Maxine at all, let alone with half the crew listening in. Maxine was frustrated by the conversation and wanted to know what was going on, but had bigger things to worry about so said farewell and hung up the phone. Kate handed the phone to RO and started shaking her head, rubbing her forehead with her fingers.

"Ma'am?" Dutchy asked. From the conversation they heard, the crew knew a something was happening, and were thinking the worst. 2Dads and Bird were muttering about a lack of food if the patrol was to be extended.

Kate took a deep breath before responding "Dutchy, set a course for Reminiscent Wharf, we need to pick up some passengers." Kate only gave as much information as was needed, she knew the rest would come out, but wanted to delay it as much as possible. "It's on our way so should only cost us an hour or so." The rest of the crew were relieved and let out an audible sigh.

This was only a short detour and Dutchy couldn't understand Kate's reaction. "Ma'am, is there any reason why the Navy is being used as a taxi service?" Dutchy asked. Kate thought about ignoring the question and just ordering him to do it, but knew the morale was almost back to where it was when she first walked onto the bridge, and she really wanted to end the patrol well.

"The passengers are Army, they were on the island doing some training. There was supposed to be a chopper to pick them up, but it was called away, and we are in the area." She responded with, hoping that would be the end of it. And for Dutchy, it was. He seemed to accept the answer and went about plotting the course.

Swain and Charge were still standing together and exchanged a knowing look, "Army, hey Charge," Swain said, "What do you think the chances are that they are SAS?" At this comment, Kate knew the gig was up and slumped back in the Captains chair pinching the top of her nose.

"Well..." Started Charge "Given the current body language, on top of the prior conversation where our fearless leader asked her CO if she was joking after being given an order, I'd say the chances are pretty good." Kate wanted to be anywhere else right now, even on board a smelly, rotten fishing boat. But worse was still to come. She hadn't realised that half of the crew on the bridge didn't know the story, and Charge and Swain were already starting to chuckle.

"What's the SAS got to do with it, those blokes are alright aren't they?" Dutchy asked. 'Oh god', Kate thought. She wanted this conversation to stop, and fast, but the mood the crew were in, there was only one direction this conversation was going in. There was only one option; she had to get off the bridge.

Standing from the Captain's Chair and straightening herself "I'm heading down to get some muesli." she announced, "And when I come back I trust everyone will be focussed on their tasks?" She said looking at Charge and Swain. It was said seriously enough, but not a in her this is a direct order tone, hoping they would take the hint and get it out of their system before she came back. It seemed to work as they responded with "Yes, Ma'am," even if it was with a bit of a smirk and chuckle.

Kate half smiled and left the bridge. As she closed the door, she could hear Charge and Swain laughing. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath then smiled while shaking her head and walked to the galley. At least the mood had improved, even if it was at her expense. She knew the crew respected her, and even liked her. This had been a bad patrol and she knew they all needed a bit of relief. These weren't just her crew they were her friends as well, and she knew when things turned serious there was no-one else she would rather have with her. Except maybe for Mike.