THE LAST SHIP 7

BLACK GOLD

Mike Slattery was standing in what appeared to be some kind of warehouse he was unfamiliar with. He looked around scanning the place hoping to find something he would recognize. He then turned his focus to a woman crying behind one of the steel doors on the other side of the storage room. He frowned and walked closer. Why did she sounds so familiar? It couldn't be. When he reached the door he pulled on the handle and pulled the door open. It was another room. Much smaller. Probably an office of some kind. The lack of windows and light made it hard for him to see who was the woman in front of him. There was a musty smell in the air due to a lack of ventilation. He stared in front of him for a while until he realized who the woman in front of him was. Her hands were tied to the steel pipes that were suspended from the ceiling and she had a cloth over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. Behind her stood a man with a mask holding a knife in his hand. "Captain Slattery...you came just in time."

He wasn't sure who the person was or how he knew his name. He did something and then Julia started screaming regardless of the cloth over her mouth. "Julia!" Mike sat up straight in his bed and looked around him.

Jolene woke up too and looked at him confused. "Mike, what's wrong?"

Mike looked at Jolene alarmed. "It's my daughter. She's in danger."

"Mike, she's on a navy ship. She'll be fine. I know she would. It was just a bad dream, back to sleep."

"I hope you're right. It felt so real. Like I was literally there."

"Do you want me to go and get you something to sleep better?"

Mike shook his head. "No, I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Jolene asked concerned.

"Yes, I'm sure."

She laid down again with her back towards Mike and he draped his arms over her before he gave her a kiss on her shoulder."

**********

Somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico a group of engineers were on board a new oil rig extracting oil that was recently found off the coast of Texas. One of the engineers was writing something on a piece of document he held on a clipboard. In the distance the sound of planes approaching filled the air and he looked up into the sky to see where they were coming from. It was a group military aircraft. The next moment they started to open fire on the rig. "What the hell?" A sudden explosion rocked the rig.

"Get off the rig!" Someone shouted from somewhere in the distance.

"Where did they come from?" Someone else also shouted from somewhere on the rig. "Why are they attacking our rigs?"

********** 

Mike and Jolene left for work just before eight after Jolene's nanny arrived to look after the baby and Julia's boy. Jolene noticed that he was somewhat distracted while driving her car. "Mike, you're not yourself today. I'm worried about you," Jolene said concerned.

Mike looked at Jolene and gave a skewed smirk. "I'll be fine. It's nothing."

"Are you sure? Maybe you should take a break for a short while. Talk to Tom. He'll understand."

"I'm just paranoid. It's the first time Julia is going on a mission without me. And as a father my protective senses are a little in overdrive. It will pass."

"Yeah. I hope so. She'll be fine Mike."

Mike kept his gaze on an old VW Bug that approached them from the front. He could swear it was Julia's car. "Isn't Julia supposed to be on the ship?"