THE LAST SHIP

ABANDON MISSION

Kara kept her gaze on Mike who had a far away expression on his face as he gazed out onto the ocean. "You seem to have a lot on your mind this morning sir."

"I have a thousand questions running through my mind right now."

"Anything in particular we should be aware about captain?" Kara asked concerned.

"It's personal." The somewhat intimate encounter with Jolene Mitchell was playing on his mind the entire morning. At that precise moment she stepped onto the bridge and walked up to the front standing right next to Mike's chair.

"Good morning captain Slattery. I hope you slept well," Jolene greeted him somewhat aloof.

Mike turned his head to look at her. "Like a baby."

Danny turned his head to look at the entrance to the bridge as Brandon Smith stepped onto the bridge too. "Captain Smith's on the bridge."

Brandon held up his hand and gave an approving nod and walked up to Mike and Jolene. "Miss Mitchell, good morning."

"Good morning."

"Is there something going on that I and my refugees and crew should be aware of?"

"No, nothing why?"

"I saw you leaving the captain's quarters just past one in the morning."

Kara and Danny overheard Brandon and looked at Mike confused as Jolene dropped her gaze embarrassed. "It's personal."

"Personal? Oh."

************

Mike was standing outside on the front deck of the ship having a smoke break and smoking a cigar when Danny walked up to him and went to stand next to him. "Sir."

"Lieutenant Green."

"I couldn't help but overhear this morning. Sorry if I'm out of line, but I hope what happened is not what I think happened. Last time I checked fraternizing was off limits," Danny said holding Mike accountable for his actions.

"Just leave it."

"It happened, didn't it? You're the captain of this ship. You're supposed to lead by example dammit! You're the one who always kept us in line. What happened now?" Danny replied upset.

"We didn't go all the way..."

Danny gave Mike an unconvincing look. "Sir..."

"Fair and well, I overstepped the boundaries and things did go a little further than it should have, but we didn't... I did not sleep with her, if you must know. And I apologize for breaking the rules of this ship. It won't happen again. I'm human just like anyone else and I made a mistake. Can I just ask you one favor?"

"Certainly. But then you need to end this straight away."

"Not a word of it gets out. Understood."

"Aye."

**********

Tom was about to leave for home when one of the National Security advisors ran up to him from behind. "Admiral! Sir!" She ran up to him as fast as her legs could carry her.

He turned around to look at her. "Samantha."

"Sir, there's a phone call for you. You have to come quick."

Tom rushed back to his office with her and answered the call from his office line. "Chandler."

"Admiral."

"Who is this?"

"Jacob Nelson. I'm a South African refugee in your country. I was granted refugee status six months ago by your government. I have your children Admiral."