Semper Paratus

Nikki secured the weapon and beamed in pleasure with the compliment.

Chief was on the radio with HQ and putting the mic down she says, "their sending a cutter to meet with us to take our guests. They want us to wait until the yacht stops burning then to tow it to deep water and make sure it sinks."

Nikki nods still watching the survivors. She had a strange feeling about them, but she didn't know why.
 
"They have an ETA Chief?" Hollis asked. He started to pull out a thick tow cable with Tyson's help.

"Should only need to head out another two or three miles before we hit some pretty deep waters Chief!" Tyson mentioned referring to a chart on the bridge.
"Your thoughts Chief?" Tyson asked wondering what the his commanding officer had in mind with probable drug runners aboard her boat.

KC
 
"ETA on the cutter is 45 minutes. She looks over at the hulk. That Yacht looks pretty burned out. Lets rig it for tow," she says loud enough for the survivors to hear. "Tyson when you get aboard to rig the tow cable. Look around. Look for signs of.... you know what to look for." she tells him quietly. "If you find anything let us know.

"Reagan take the helm and do exactly what Hollis tells you. I want to go talk to the survivors."

Shief says and walks off the bridge.
 
"Aye Chief!" Tyson said when the tow cable was secured to the boat he had Hollis guide Nikki so she could get along side of the yacht. Tyson Climbed aboard and had a look around where he could. He thought it all looked weird, they seemed to make no attempt to put the fire out no signs that an extinguisher was used, nothing. Then he saw on in the pilot house that there were many signs that the exact location down to the meter was known. Yet they didn't give that information with their mayday! "I wonder if this location will be visited again?" Tyson thought. "Might not be a bad idea to have Hollis take a little dive to see if they dropped anything!" After he secured it he climbed back to his boat and waited for the Chief to finish with the survivors.

"Nikki slowly pull away and let the line get taut, if you go to fast you risk breaking the line or damaging the boat!" Hollis told Nikki.

KC
 
"Tyson," Nikki says. The there's something about these people.Their clothes are too nice. It's eleven hundred, and their in suits and cocktail dresses while on a boat. Somethings not right here." she tells him. NOt sure if she should hav ementioned something to the chief.
**********
Chief walked to where the survivors were sitting. She watched them for several minutes and they all sat their with dour expressions on their faces, 'NOt the usual survivors' she thought. "So who's the captain?" she asked the group. They all remained silent.
 
Tyson took what she said in to consideration. "Good eye! Now this is just a thought. Maybe they had an all nighter! Though the area's I could get to didn't have any signs that they were partying all night. And I couldn't get to the lower state rooms or the hold aboard her. They also didn't try and fight the fire. The fire safety gear was still secured to the walls." Tyson filled her in. "I wish you hadn't stored the MP5 I have my glock but that isn't enough. Is the Chief carrying?"

Hollis had his eye on the yacht while the others talked. "I'm with Nikki on this one. Something is rotten in Denmark here!"

"I'm going to check on the Chief. you two stay put!" Tyson ordered.

KC
 
THe chief was standing there looking at the group, a sinking feeling in her stomach. These weren't survivors she thought. Their body language was all wrong. Then she noticed one mans shoes. They were patent leather Italian loafers. Looking at the rest of the people she noticed that they were all wearing expensive designer clothes. While people on a yacht like this could afford these clothes, they didn't wear them while at sea. In all her years she had never seen anyone wearing a tie on a boat, except for late night corporate parties.

Taking a deep breaths she asked again, "I know you speak English, I heard someone on the radio. Now who is the Captain. I need the name for my report."

They all sat there not even reacting to her words.
 
Tyson went to stand with the Chief keeping his hand free but exhibiting no threatening signs asked the chief for a word. When they were out of ear shot but could still see all the survivors. "I don't know what's going on here but this whole situation stinks. I say we cut the yacht loose and make for the cutter at high speed. Right now she's trying to catch us because we are moving to deeper water to scuttle her! I also would like a better look at her hold if she stays afloat! What do you think Chief?" Tyson hated being in these situations and wanted nothing more then to throw them all back on the life boat and have the cutter with it's large crew and armament deal with it! But he kept it to himself! "Still nothing from them?"

KC
 
"Break out side arms for everyone, and either you or Hollis is in sight of them at all times with a shotgun. I'm going to release the tow and then head toward teh cutter at high speed. Once they're not our problem we do a through search of the hulk, adn maybe send Tyson down to see what he can find."

Just as Chief finished speaking a Helicopter could be heard flying overhead and then a heavy gun was firing and the Party Crasher was taking hits.

The survivors jumped up as one and ran some heading to the bridge, the rest heading for Chief and Tyson.


Nikki had seen the help approaching, and from watching war movies with her dad, she recognized when an aircraft was on a strafing run. As soon as she saw the flashes from the chain gun she swerved the boat to throw off the gunners aim.

The sudden movement caught the attackers off guard, and many of them fell to the deck in a heap.
 
"You got it Chief!" Tyson said. He looked at Hollis. and was about to tell him to go get the shotgun when the Boat swerved and bullets began to fly. "Mother fuckers!" Tyson spat. He instinctively pulled his side arm. When he saw what were now enemy's of the state running for them Tyson took aim and fired off several rounds. The crews sea legs were so used to sudden movements that they hardly moved when Nikki took action. "Hollis the Bridge they are heading for the bridge!" Tyson yelled to Eric. Who jumped down and ran into the main hold knocking one of them off their feet and kicking a woman in the head who was trying to get back up off the deck.

"Oh no you don't!" Hollis said as his shin made bone crushing contact with her face. Blood sprayed out of her nose as it shattered. With careful aim Tyson fired and took out another. He looked to the Chief to see if she was going to fight here or go and give Nikki cover or take over driving as Wolffe was the best marine pilot on the boat.

KC
 
CHief drew her gun and fired several rounds into the air. The prisoners stopped moving and looked at her, realizing at least three were dead and two more were injured. "Anyone moves shot them in the head she commands as she heads to the bridge."

When she got there she saw Nikki was on the radio saying "I say again we are under air attack. We have taken fire. Damage and injuries unknown at this time.

Hollis was manning a machine gun and firing at the chopper as it made another pass firing on the bridge.

The bridge speaker crackled to life, "This is kingfisher-14 I have two repeat two mavericks locked on the target. Waiting for permission to fire, stand by.

"Nikki go back up Tyson and draw an MP% and Shotgun from the armory. IF one of those fuckers move shoot them." Chief orders taking the helm after the bullets stop flying.

Nikki runs to help her crewmate as chief grabs the radio "Roger 14 hurry the fuck up or we'll be matchsticks."

"Roger that Coast Guard. FOx 2, Fox 2."

Several seconds later the helicopter was nothing but a large fireball in the sky.
 
After the action died down and with Nikki covering the prisoners Tyson zip cuffed all the prisoners that were still alive. Putting them all on their bellies and hog tying their hands and feet. "Well thanks for the wake up call mother fucker. I am sure now that when we search that hulk and the waters below we will find what you left! That and the fact that you attacked government officials and government equipment you should be looking at the death penalty." Tyson said to the last person he put down.

Turning to Nikki. "Great job spotting the danger rook! Glad to have you aboard!" Tyson smiled and put his fist out for a bump.

KC
 
The adrenelin was still coursing through her veins and she wanted to waist these fuckers, but Tysons words made her smile and helped her calm down. As their fists touched, she collapsed, blood oozing out from beneath her life vest.
 
When she dropped Tyson called to the others. "We have a soldier down. Call the cutter let them know we have an injured sailor. Tyson opened her vest and pulled her shirt up looking for the wound. When he saw it he pulled his shirt off and pushed it against the wound. "Hollis the first aid kit get it for me! GSW right side. Through and through. No major organs hit as far as I can tell. She will bleed out if we don't get her proper help!" Tyson called out. Enraged that Nikki was shot he turned to the prisoners and in a low voice threatened them all. "She dies you will meet with an accident yourselves. These seas can be very unforgiving should you fall in trying to escape!" Anger was starting to grab hold of him.

Hollis came running with the kit, he pulled out a proper bandage to pack the wound. The men worked quick and did everything they could to stem the bleeding.

KC
 
The cutter arrived while the men worked on Nikki. This particular cutter was undergoing a health and safety evaluation and had several medical personal aboard including two Doctors. They quickly came aboard with several of the crew who took command of the prisoners.

Doc Johnson, as he was known, looked at Nikki's wound and said that's not a bullet wound, that's a fragment. Pulling out a pen light he looks in the wound. Can't see anything in there. Either it all came out or its too small to see.

He clamped a blood vessel that wouldn't stop bleeding and then checked her vitals. Looking at the men, he said, "She'll be fine boys. She just needs a few stitches and a bit of blood. She'll be back with you in two weeks tops. Good job on the first aid." He directs the corpsman with him to load her into a stokes litter for the chopper back to the mainland, then goes to the bridge to let Chief know.

when and they just happened to have a medical officer on board who was getting qualified for sea duty.
 
Tyson was happy to hear that his original thought was not correct. He let the men do what they needed with the prisoners, while always keeping an eye on them, if just one had made a bad move he would have shot them. As Nikki was being loaded on to the litter Hollis and Tyson stepped back. Then they went to the bridge, eager to hear what was to be done next!

"Fuck me! This is not how I saw this day turning out my man!" Hollis said to his friend. "A little unloading, a little cleaning, then I would be snorkeling with the sea life and working on getting Nikki naked! None of this shit!"

Tyson gave a laugh. "I don't think any of us could have predicted this day!"

KC
 
"Okay horndogs stow that shit." Chief says with a smile on her face. "First things first. the cutter is taking the hulk under tow to port so it can be thoroughly inspected. So let's get that done. Then we need to check for flooding and damage to the engines and other critical gear, radar, lifeboats, all the essentials. I don't want another surprise hole fucking us up."

She takes a breath then says "Then we need to get a diver down to see if there's anything on the bottom someone might want to recover. We got four hours to finish up and be underway. Otherwise we are going to ride out a tropical storm, and I really don't want do that with Swiss cheese for a bridge. Any questions?"
 
Both men nodded, "I'll check everything in the engine room and the holds. I am sure the damage is superficial but we will find out!" Tyson said not waiting and heading below.

"Chief I'll comb over the nav, steering and the electronics of the bridge. The closed bridge as far as I could see is fine though. Then when we are in position I will be happy to dive on the sight. it's only 10 meters deep so I can run the area fast and clean do to the clear water!" Hollis offered. "What are we going to do being a body short now?"

KC
 
"Let's get it done." she says starting a mental catalog of the repairs she needed to make, watching as the cutter was retrieving the debris from the helicopter.

She watches as a helicopter lands on the cutter and a stretcher is loaded onto it and a few seconds later it takes off.

Sitting down she began the paperwork that would take the rest of her career.
 
As Tyson checked the engine room and the lower holds over happy that the damage was not to bad and the engines by some miracle sustained no damage at all.

Hollis who was checking on the upper section of the boat was not so lucky. "Ah man they fucked her right up Chief. The nav system up here will need replacing, the seats, the deck plating, the wind screen, all the fucking instrumentation. Here's what I think! We should send the Crasher in for an overhaul and we go to the Bahama's for a week and get good and fucked up! That's what I think, now who's with me?" Hollis yelled in frustration. This would also delay the new dive gear he had requested.

KC
 
"Fuck fuck fuck" she said as she heard their nav gear was FUBAR. The cutter was just leaving so she decided that she would foloow them back to base and report on the damage in person, then she culd go visit Nikki in sickbay.

Radioing both the cutter and HQ, they promised to send out a dive team to check the bottom for anything of interest.

The cutter was moving just fast enough to be able to steer the vessel, driving chief crazy. But without nav gear, and out of sight of land there was no way she would ever be able to get back to base with the fuel that was left.
 
The two men busied them selves while the Chief followed the Cutter, this was fast becoming one of the shittiest days either man had endured in the Coast Guard. They were used to the threat of danger and the possibility of danger but actually being shot at by high caliber weapons and watching a team mate go down and really all of the team almost dying was a little hard to take. Especially when neither man had been shot at like that before. Hand guns a few times Tyson had even had an angry husband unload a shot gun at him as he jumped out a window after a night of lust with a married woman, whom in his defense lied about being married.

Hollis was now pissed off because not only would his request most definitely be denied, but now he would not be diving where they though the criminals dropped stuff overboard. "After we visit Nikki we are going to cause trouble at the pier with the young ladies! Want to come along?" Hollis asked sitting next to the Chief. Tyson was still checking on the engines just in case he missed something and a bullet hit them.

KC
 
"I could stand to get a bit drunk tonight. Just promise me no strip joints," she saysshaking her head in rustration at teh 5 knots they were making.
 
Hollis laughed at her request. "You know we can all swim faster then this!" Hollis laughed, then he called into the hold. "Banks the Chief's getting shit faced tonight! wooooooo!"

"YEEESSSSS!" Was all he yelled back. He was going to watch the engines all the way back to port he didn't want any surprises!

KC
 
Soon they were in sight of land, and the chief opened it up to 15 knots no that she could see where she was going. Giving the cutter a goodbye toot of the horn, she drove the boat hard and pulled up to the pier, they had left just a few short hours ago.

There was a ton of brass waiting and as soon as the boat was tied up. She was whisked away in a staff car as photographers began to take pictures of the damage, the blood and anything else that seemed important.
 
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