"Storm Clouds Ahead"
Author: Haruo Chikamori
E-mail: hhchikamori
Rating: M
Classification: Angst/Romance/Mystery
Spoilers: N/A
Summary: Harm and Mac have gone to London to start his new billet, however rough seas loom ahead an year into Harm's assignment.
DISCLAIMER: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., AJ Chegwidden, et al. belong (in concept if
not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. No profit is being made from this story, nor is
any infringement intended. Liandra, Animal, Metalman, Sarah and Harmony
(Lia and Animal's kids) are the property of Heather and Hugo Chikamori.
CHAPTER 1
Captain and Mrs. Rabb's Residence,
London England
June 16, 2006
0700 GMT
It wasn't what he had thought when he went to London. The supposedly happy marriage, the wonderful nights in the arms of the woman he loved more than life itself. Picking up his cover from the kitchen table where he had placed it, grabbing his briefcase, stalked out to his rental car. 1 year into his 3 year hitch with the Fleet Forces JAG Europe, headquartered at London, England, it was pretty apparent that he wasn't happy. His career was going well, but his marriage wasn't.
Mac was not happy with being the "wife at home" and let him know it. Blowups and arguments were frequent, most often blaming him for not being supportive, not taking time to be with her, letting his work consume his time. Often times they slept apart, Mac taking the bed, and thus relegating Harm to the couch. His demeanor had changed considerably from the happy go-lucky former naval aviator turned JAG attorney, to a harassed, henpecked and grouchy commanding officer.
Traffic in London was horrendous. As it turned out, Harm was 15 minutes late, as his already morose mood took an even lower turn. Mac was supposed to take Mattie into physical therapy.
/"I don't see why you can't take Mattie on the way in since you're already late." Mac snapped when Harm reminded her of the session that was set for 0900. The statement had degenerated into a major argument that had cost him time. As it was, he would be in the office at 0800 because the alarm had given up the ghost that morning and he was late. /
After countless arguments he had given up and maintained a stoic silence, picked up his cover and left. As he stomped in to the bullpen, he heard the yell "Attention, CO on DECK!"
FLEET FORCES JAG EUROPE
NCTAMS EURCENT DET
London, England
0819 GMT
PO1 Jennifer A. Coates looked up to see her CO come stomping through. Snapping to the position of attention beside her desk, she saw Captain Rabb give her a brusque "as you were" and stepped into his office, shutting the door. That did not bode well at all. This year had been a tough one for all at Fleet Forces JAG Europe. At the start, the novelty of the new positions that each had been assigned to, made it seem as though this posting was going to be a breeze. But an year in, things were not looking so certain.
PO1 Coates let loose a sigh as she turned back to her filing. She had seen Captain Rabb progressively turn more and more sullen. The work still got done and the office was going through cases with peak efficiency. However, the atmosphere was toxic. Jen was thanking her lucky stars that her re-enlistment hitch was ending. A year and a half left to her 6-year hitch and then she would be free and clear. As much as she admired her commanding officer and was thankful of his help when she had been on the burner for a certain stolen (later discovered to be misplaced) bracelet, she did not want to be anywhere near Captain Rabb when he would invariably combust. 'What was Mac, er. Mrs. Rabb doing to the poor man?'.
Rear Admiral Toshio Nakamura Residence
COMNAVAIRLANT
0400 EST
The phone rang in the Nakamura residence. "Are they ~bleep~ing kidding me?" Toshio "Animal" Nakamura growled as he stirred. "Somebody had better have died." Picking up the receiver he whispered, a menacing tone in his voice "Admiral Nakamura speaking, WHO THE HELL IS THIS?!"
"Animal?" was the tentative voice on the phone.
"WHO THE ~bleep~ are you?" Admiral Nakamura replied in a harsh whisper. "If you wake Liandra up, you're a dead man!"
"I'm sure I'm not going to wake her up over your yelling. Animal"
"Hammer, you sonofabitch…what are you calling me for at this ungodly hour?" Animal jolted up, recognizing his friend finally.
"It's 0900 in London".
"Well it's 0400 over here in Norfolk. What the hell?"
"It's Mac, Animal. She's unhappy."
"OK…so what the fuck do you want me to do about it at 0400 in the morning?" He whispered irately at Harm. "I'm trying to sleep here."
"I don't know what to do anymore."
Animal looked disgustedly at the phone receiver…then put it back to his mouth. "Then make her happy, dumbass!" and hung up the phone.
Liandra looked over at her husband. "Who was that?"
"Dumbass!"
"Dumbass who?"
"Dumbass from London!"
"Oh."
FLEET FORCES JAG EUROPE
NCTAMS EURCENT DET
London, England
0910 GMT
Harm took the receiver from his ear and looked at the phone with annoyance as the dial-tone buzzed at him with impertinence. "Damn it!" he said audibly to himself. He should have known that there was a 5 hour difference in time zones between London and Norfolk.
FLEET FORCES JAG EUROPE
NCTAMS EURCENT DET
London, England
June 26, 2006
1145 GMT
The relationship between Harm and Mac didn't get any better, if anything, it got worse. Usually it ended with Mac slamming the door to the bedroom locking Harm out. When she did come into the Fleet Forces JAG office, she was curt to the point of near-rudeness. The tension in the office was palpable when Sarah Mackenzie-Rabb was present.
However she was not present the day that a rather short fire-hydrant of an Asian-American admiral wearing gold naval aviator wings came barreling through the two swinging doors with a stentorian bellow "Where the hell is Rabb?" The loud exhortation caused two LN3s with equally high stacks of files in their arms to nearly collide; a Seaman Apprentice to duck under his desk wondering if the world had suddenly come to an end and LN1 Jennifer Coates to look up, smile then roar "Admiral on DECK!", causing Captain Harmon Rabb to peer out the door of the Fleet Force JAG CO's office wondering what the ruckus was.
"Hammer!" The admiral yelled at him "What the hell were you calling me at 0400 hrs last week for? You know the difference between Greenwich Mean Time and Eastern Standard Time."
"Admiral" Harm replied snapping to.
"As you were!" Animal growled, the admiral's command letting everyone in the bullpen breathe a sigh of relief and find places to go to (preferably to disappear and not be found again till 1700 hrs). "Jen." Animal nodded in acknowledgement.
"Admiral, sir." She nodded her head and went back to doing what it was she was doing.
"Walk with me, Captain!" Animal snapped. That was an order thinly veiled as a request. "We're going to go get something to eat. I presume the Limeys have actually managed to learn how to cook fish properly? Their fish n' chips leave something to be desired. When you get fries that look like they've been cut from a planksaw…" he grumbled.
"I'm not sure, sir, if they tend to douse their fish n' chips with wasabi, sir." Harm replied. Animal glowered at him.
They walked out of the office and onto the London Streets after taking the elevator to the main floor. "Saw a fish n' chips place somewhere around here." Animal muttered. It was still a pretty cool day with a stiff breeze and the two officers hurried along the street looking for the storefront that Animal had seen. Finding the fish n' chips restaurant they entered. Placing their order and sitting down, Animal looked at Harm. "So…Captain. What caused you to call me at 0400 hrs, proceed to wake my wife up from a restful sleep when she had to go into JAG in 3 and a half hours?"
For the next hour, Harm unburdened himself to the fireplug admiral. About the mess with Mac and the fact that he wasn't happy with his billet any longer. As long as he tried to make the marriage work, he was driving himself into the ground because he ended up with a pile of work left undone at the end of the day. Facing facts, the billet was short-staffed, the attorneys worked nearly around the clock and they were months behind on several cases which would cause problems in the judiciary administration of the case-load. "I can't talk to Cresswell. I don't know where Keeter is any more since he's working for the Company. And Sturgis, I don't even know if he's a friend anymore. We haven't talked for ages. You're the only one I can turn to, sir."
"Well, don'tcha have a shit of a pickle, you found yourself in, Rabb." Animal said, keeping up appearances as an admiral would not appear to other officers as though he was all too emotionally invested in the personal lives of other officers. "Your career is going to take a hit if you short-term your billet and scamper home to Momma."
"I know that, Admiral." Harm replied, looking down at his fish n' chips that he had barely touched.
"You had your eyes open when you went into this marriage thing with Mac." Animal pinned Harm with a hard look. "You were given the command and you went into it with your eyes open, knowing the stresses that a new marriage would endure." He sighed as he stabbed his fork down on a piece of fish smeared with tartar sauce. "From what I can tell, Mac isn't emotionally invested in your career and has come to the conclusion that she doesn't want to or is expected to support it and you're going to have to make a hard choice. Do you want your flag rank?" Again he pinned Harm with another glare. "It's come down to either your marriage or your career. My read on this is Mac is resentful because you took her away from…" Harm tried to interrupt. "Shut it, Captain, I'm not finished." He continued as Harm shut up. "You took her away from her career. My advice is you need to bring this whole thing to a crossroads. In my books, you're already at one. You can either cut her loose or cut your career loose. Either way you're going to lose something."
They split after Animal mentioned that he was conducting an unannounced inspection of the naval aviation assets in the European theatre and would only be doing a quick swing-through. He declined an offer of dinner with the Rabbs and departed for his own duties.
Captain and Mrs. Rabb's Residence,
London England
June 26, 2006
1900 GMT
"Lower Altitude, Sailor", Mattie said as she wrapped her arms around Harm's neck when he finally got home that night.
"How's the therapy going? Mattie" he was met with two thumbs up.
"The therapist says I did really well on the treadmill today. I'm starting to get a lot more muscle reaction." The smile on Mattie Grace Rabb's face lit up the entire living room. But Mac sat subdued in the corner of the living room and didn't say much. It had pretty much come to a point where Mac and Harm were not talking to each other.
The animated conversations from months ago when they first came to this billet were gone; replaced by a less than friendly atmosphere while they ate. Most of the time Mac had eaten before Harm came home and retired to her bedroom by 2000 hrs leaving Harm to curl up on the couch and read by himself. But tonight was different. Mac spoke up after dinner. "Mattie. You have homework, I would like to speak to your father alone." Evidently, they had talked before as Mattie didn't complain and went to her room.
Harm turned to Mac. Mac gulped once. "Harm, I don't want this to turn into an ugly fight. I'm not happy, and I never thought I'd feel this way." Harm could see what was coming from a mile away. "Over the last few months I've been feeling less and less useful. A chauffer, a therapist, a child minder." Harm looked shocked as he had thought that Mattie was a part of their family as a whole. "I don't think I can do that any more. Harm, when I married you, I didn't think I would be saying this, but I want out."
"Well," Harm said, numbly. His heart felt like it wasn't beating any more. But his head said coldly 'There was nothing for the past 7 months. The marriage was a sham, a pretense. To let higher-ups know that there was a whole family. The command structure was intact'. "I don't know what to say, Mac, what's been said has been said. The past 7 months, we can't take that all back and start fresh. And frankly, I'm getting to the point where I don't want to either."
It was Mac's turn to be just as shocked now. "How did it come to this?" a lone tear slipped from the corner of her eye.
"Don't bother, we've done this dance-around for the past 7 months. You know how it came to this. Complaint after complaint. As an former officer in the Marine Corps you should have known that the reason they sent me out to London was to straighten out the problems there. That it would take time. And frankly the lack of support from your end other than the minimum things that needed to be done were going to take up a lot of my hours. But I'm through mentioning all that. It's done. It's over." Harm said coldly as he went to pour himself a glass of water. "If you want to leave, then do so. Just don't bother ripping Mattie's heart out while you're doing it by making a scene. Give her that much at least. I'll give you till Friday to make arrangements to get yourself moved to different quarters. I'll get the attorney to draw up divorce papers. You can do your packing while Mattie is at therapy. I'd suggest you pack up enough things to get yourself a hotel tonight. I'll take Mattie to therapy tomorrow and this week while you're packing yourself out."
"You're summarily throwing me out?" Mac's eyes glinted with anger as she digested Harm's words.
"You said you wanted out, that's what I'm giving you. As a matter of fact, Mac, I don't care what you do. I'd also phone Cresswell tomorrow, if I were you, and see if you can get back in your beloved Corps." Harm's voice turned to ice. "Now, if you will…do what you have to do and get out! Because I need some sleep if I have to take Mattie into therapy tomorrow."
FLEET FORCES JAG EUROPE
NCTAMS EURCENT DET
London, England
June 27, 2006
1115 GMT
Harm came in through the doors dragging his cover and his briefcase with him. He looked horrible. LN1 Jen Coates looked up at him. "Are you alright, sir?"
Harm barely looked up as he went past her desk. "No, Jen, I'm not. Mac left." Opened his door to his office, went in and shut the door.
Jen stood for a long time, mouth open. She had gotten the phonecall earlier from Captain Rabb stating that he was going to be seriously late and then having to leave again in 4 hours to pick up his daughter at school. This was not good. Not only was Captain Rabb doing the work of 3 attorneys caseloads, but he was also doing the work of what a commanding officer should be also doing. In effect, with the addition of reduction of his hours, it meant that more lawyers were going to receive an herculean addition to their already overloaded caseloads.
Captain Rabb's Office,
FLEET FORCES JAG EUROPE
NCTAMS EURCENT DET
London, England
June 27, 2006
1145 GMT
"General, I'm going to have to increase staffing at my command, sir."
Cresswell sounded rather annoyed. "What's going on. I received a call from your wife indicating that she was going to go back on active duty!?"
"Sir, I don't want to burden you with-"
"Spit it out, Rabb!" the Marine Major General sounded highly pissed.
"Well, sir, we are separating. It seems that she wasn't as supportive of the move to London as I thought."
"And she thought she could come back easily and fit back into the Washington office? I filled the position in JLSO San Diego that she was supposed to take over. If she does come back she's going to be doing gruntwork until I can find her another position. Are you sure that this is what she wants?"
"Yes, sir. For 7 months, I've had nothing but cold-shoulders and slammed doors to my attempts to communicate with her. It all came to a head last night when she stated she wants out. I'm not going to jeopardize my career and short-term my billet. I came to do a job here and I intend to complete it, sir." Harm said firmly. "Right, now, sir, I just want some stability in the home atmosphere so that I can improve on the atmosphere at work."
"Alright, Rabb. I'll call Sarah back and tell her so you don't have to." MGen Biff Cresswell said. "So far, Captain, you've been doing a good job, even though your caseload is behind. It's improving, do what you think you need to do to increase the production and distribution of the caseload of your current staff. Bring in some attorneys if you have to, you have my permission." Cresswell hung up.
"Thank you, sir." Harm raised eyebrows as he had responded into a dead phone. "Legalman Coates!" he barked.
"You called, sir?" the petite, pretty brunette LN1 stepped into his office.
"Legalman, find me the best 3 lawyers that we can bring into from the Joint Legal Services Offices around the CONUS and see if we can divvie up the caseloads that we currently have and pare them down. Call judiciary and say that we're going to add an hour to everyones time schedule. We need to get some results. I'd like to see the additional lawyers files on my desk by the time I get in tomorrow morning." Harm looked at his legalman.
"Aye aye, sir." LN1 Coates turned to exit the door, but then turned around, "Sir?"
"Yes, Coates."
"If I may, sir. Are you going to be working through lunch. If you are, sir, I can get the galley to send something up, sir."
Harm smiled, for the first time in a long while, "What would I do without you, Legalman Coates. Yes, please, do that, and thank you."
"Aye sir, with pleasure, sir." She beamed at him. That smile made her weak in the knees, but she managed to hold it together and get herself out the door to do the tasks requested of her.
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VA
JULY 5, 2006
0630 EST
"Lieutenant Colonel Mackenzie, is it?" MGen Gordon "Biff" Cresswell glared at the trim Lieutenant Colonel in Marine Class As standing in front of him. "Figured out that you were better off back in the service?"
"Yes, sir." Mac replied, not looking at the General, but staring straight ahead, knees locked tight, standing at the position of attention, her fists and thumbs locked at her skirt-hem. Cresswell was not looking very happy. After all she had resigned to go after Harm, and in his books that was pretty much a death sentence to any chance of promotion, perhaps maybe a last promotion to eagles. Then coming back because she was dissatisfied was not a good sign for the longevity of her career.
"So, just what do you expect out of your career after you decided to spread your wings for romance? Last I heard you were doing alright in London in your civilian capacity." The last two words fairly dripped contempt. "Or were there problems there that you were incapable or not willing to overcome? Because that puts serious doubt in your capacity to problem-solve, as far as I'm concerned. All of my billets are full, Colonel and my Chief of Staff is Commander Roberts. He just was frocked for three stripes just this week. Even though he was setback in Afghanistan, he found a way to be useful to this office. You're the extra wheel around here, Colonel." MGen Cresswell prided himself on being a straight-shooter and he wasn't going to pussy-foot around with the erstwhile LCol Mackenzie. "As it stands, you're going to be stuck behind a desk for a while. We've had a pile of "Legal Information Request Files" that need processing from our JLSO stations. You can finish off those. I've had LN2 MacCready and LN1 Simmons working on them for the past three weeks. Maybe with three heads on this paperwork, it can get cut down within a suitable timeframe. After that, we will assess how far you've gotten back on your feet with legal-work."
Mac's face was impassive as she said "Yes, sir." but deep-down her heart plunged to her feet. She knew that this was punishment detail.
"Dismissed" was the brusque response out of Cresswell. "Report to the Chief of Staff for further instructions; that would be Commander Roberts."
"Yes, sir," Mac said and about-faced, striding from the General's office.
The former Harriet SIms no longer worked at the office as she had reserved her commission back when Harm and Mac were making plans to get married and move to London. So there wasn't the camaraderie that she could turn to there. LN1 Jen Coates had gone with the Rabbs to London as had several others like Lt. JG Jason Tiner, now a pretty capable lawyer in his own right, a far cry from the lanky Legalman who was practically terrorized by RADM AJ Chegwidden.
The only person she could see in the office that she remembered was Bud Roberts who had now inherited Harm's former office as the Chief of Staff. Through the open door, she could see his head bent over a set of open files. He was dressed in summer whites and her mouth opened in shock when she saw the mill rinde insignia with the shoulderboards of a full commander. According to Gen. Cresswell, he was now equal in rank to her and as Chief of Staff he technically had no equal and reported directly to the JAG.
She stepped to the door, stopped, pounded the pine and said, "Commander Roberts, permission to enter your office? Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Mackenzie reporting."
Commander Roberts looked up. Evidently he had lost some weight. His jaw line was more pronounced and he looked a lot more harried. There was no more "Ma'am", no more stumbling or awkwardness coming out of full three-striper Commander Bud Roberts. As a senior officer who had his cover festooned with one row of "scrambled eggs" sitting on top of his filing cabinets. All in all, he looked a lot tougher than he used to be. Gone was the bumbling Lt or LCDR Roberts; he was all business. "Colonel," his demeanor was all-business. "I see you're reporting in. I'm sorry your stint in London didn't work out. Our workload has practically tripled here. So there isn't a lot of time to socialize and chit-chat about old times. Frankly our info requests have more than quadrupled and we need them processed ASAP. Are you up to the task?" As was Cresswell, CDR Roberts was all-business and brusque. No talk about old times, no "glad you're here". This office was clamped down tighter than a seal on a SSBN.
"Colonel Mackenzie, all I care about is that you can do the job here," At this, Sarah Mackenzie was shocked. There was no reference back to the good times that they shared, no invitations to come over for dinner with Harriet and Bud. Was one year that much of a difference in their relationship as friends? "We don't have time for staff who aren't willing to pull their weight in this office. We need those files done and out of here within three weeks. I suggest you get at them. Dismissed." What had Cresswell done here to make everyone around here so uptight? And she was stuck on information request punishment for even daring to set foot in this office again. The friendly, homey atmosphere that she used to remember was gone.
"Yes, Commander." Mac replied.
"Oh, Colonel. You have your old office back again. The JOs have the bullpen. It's only senior officers with offices now, from LCDR up." Bud was looking back down at his files.
"Yes, Commander." No 'welcome back' or anything. This place wasn't the friendly JAG office from past times. The old saying "Things Change" kept repeating in the back of her mind as she headed to her old office.
Captain Rabb's Office,
FLEET FORCES JAG EUROPE
NCTAMS EURCENT DET
London, England
July 6, 2006
1140 GMT
"Commanders Kate Pike, Traci Manetti and Meg Austin reporting for duty, sir." the three Commanders chorused as they snapped to the position of attention. Captain Harmon Rabb Jr. looked up to see three very familiar faces. The rather pretty brunette Commander to the far right looked up at him after announcing their presence. "Reporting in, sir."
Glancing at each of them. There was another knock on the door. "Sir, their personnel files, sir." LN1 Jen Coates came in and placed the files on the table.
"Good to see the three of you again, Commanders," Harm said brusquely as he looked at each of the commanders in turn. "The reason I've called you three in on a permanent basis to this office is that we're are woefully understaffed. We have case-files that are threatening to be judicially released due to time spent dormant. I have heard from JAG HQ that we need to step up the pace. I have three cases here that require your immediate attention." He paused for emphasis as he gave the three commanders another hard look. The first is a fraternization case between a CT3 Billy Watson and a Crypto Lieutenant Samantha Forrest, the second being a homicide of a civilian by a AB1 William DeSouza outisde of a bar and a third is a sexual harassment case by..." He paused for a moment as he looked over the file. That couldn't be right, was it poetic justice in play?
He let loose an evil chuckle and looked at Commander Austin, "I'm sure you're going to enjoy this one."
"Sir?" Commander though she was, Meg still had that same cheerful chirp she had when they had first met going out to an investigation almost 11 years ago when they had run down a civilian contractor who had set up a program to route a torpedo at a cruiseship. That was their first investigation together and Harm had missed seeing her when she suddenly left JAG after the murder investigation of Diane Schonke.
"Evidently, there is a sexual harassment case involving the erstwhile Captain Allison Krennick. Evidently she got a little too familiar with a Lieutenant Commander Mitchell Erickson who was a little too uncomfortable with her forward advances and decided to file charges. I'm sure that's going to be interesting." Harm grinned evilly. Meanwhile Kate, remembering what Krennick was like, snickered.
"Commander Pike. Are you mocking a senior officer?" Harm gave her a mock-glare; the seriousness of which was belied by the mile-wide grin on his face.
"No, sir..." That statement was accompanied by hysterical laughter from Commander Austin. Meanwhile poor Commander Traci Manetti had absolutely no idea who this particular Krennick person was and was wondering why the Captain and the other two commanders were trying to breathe after laughing their heads off.
"You've got a lot of stuff to get on with, Commanders" Captain Rabb said once he could breathe again without the mirthful looks setting off another round of laughter. "I leave those three files in your capable hands. When you are done the investigations on those three cases, we'll fill you in on the rest of the things that need doing here. I'm sure a week will suffice."
"It's good to be here, sir. Looking forward to these cases, sir." Meg said as she bit down another spasm of laughter.
"Good to see you three here...too." Captain Rabb said. "Dismissed".
"Aye, sir." the three chorused as they about-faced and exited his office.
"Sir." the door opened and LN1 Jen Coates stepped into the office. "I couldn't help but hear the laughter. Is everything alright? Sir?"
Harm looked up at her. "I think it will be, Coates. I think it will finally be."
NS Rota
Rota, Spain
July 10, 2006
0900 CET
A VP-26 "Tridents" P-3C Orion patrolled the waters of the Mediterranean Sea searching for Soviet submarines. In contact with the USS Theodore Roosevelt, CVN-71, carrying the VF-213 and VF-31 F-14D Tomcats on their last cruise aboard. Lieutenant Jeff "Beast" Hummel and Lieutenant jg Craig "Honker" Danforth were at the controls of that big sluggish beast of an aircraft. Reaching the tail end of a long patrol heading back into NAVSTA ROTA. As they did their last final turn over the Rock of Gibraltor and set their final course for Rota and home they noticed a red light come on illuminating their instrument panel.
"Beast, I'm getting a fire-light on engine 3"
"Shutdown 3, feather the prop."
"Rota Control. Trident 916 inbound, declaring one engine out, heading inbound."
"Trident 916, Rota, are you declaring an emergency at this time?"
"Negative. Props 1, 2, and 4 are still working. We've shut down 3 for fire."
"Trident 916, Rota Control you're cleared for a straight-in approach, Runway One-Zero. Trucks on side, full-stop landing."
"Affirmative. Rota Control. Full stop landing. Runway One-Zero." Runway One Zero meant that they would be approaching the runway from the north west. The Orion banked towards the runway. "Damn, the bird's feeling really sluggish. Something's wrong with the flaps and we've got a hydraulics light." Honker replied as he looked out at the incoming runway. "I can't seem to pull out of this turn."
The P-3 Orion slowly steepened it's turn, while the two pilots struggled with the controls, fighting to right the big turboprop aircraft. That failed as the P-3 impacted the ground at a forty-five degree angle and turned into a rolling ball of flame.
COMNAVAIRLANT
Weyanoke Bird & Wildflower Sanctuary
Norfolk, VA
July 10, 2006
0600 EST
Carrying a Nikon D2x and Nikon 600mm f/4 lens equipped with a Nikon TC-17EII 1.7X teleconverter on a Gitzo Systematic tripod, RADM Toshio "Animal" Nakamura made his way through the trail at Weyanoke Bird & Wildflower Sanctuary. At his last physical, he was told that he needed to find a hobby or risk serious high-blood pressure due to the stress-levels (his last blood pressure cuff reading measured 139/96) applied by the constant running around inspecting airfields, being notified of accidents in his command, making sure that all units were operating up to maximum capacity and efficiency. This was his day off that he gave himself. He was hunting for bald eagles. Maybe he would be able to get a nice photograph of his favorite bird to hang up on his study.
After flying F-14 Tomcats throughout his career, racking up 7 combat kills over the skies over various parts of the world, and leading the world renowned VF-41 Black Aces for a record 3 tours (under CDR Hank Kleeman's command as Animal was a Lieutenant, a fellow lieutenant and the squadron CO first blooded the Tomcat) he was ready to hang his wings up. The lowlight of his career being shot down over N. Korea and having to damned near rescue the SEAL Team that had rescued him when they were attacked by a company of troops. The resulting firefight had earned him recognition by the Congress "above and beyond the call of duty" - Animal smirked at the memory - he hadn't done it for the recognition. If he hadn't done anything they'd all have been sitting in nice neat coffins lined up while the N. Korean propaganda machine had a field day.
This had nominated him for the "blue-button" which he had received from President George W. Bush at the White House while he was a commander. Now restricted from flying duties except for the occasional press flight over Norfolk in an F/A-18F Super Hornet thanks to the Navy opting to retire the F-14D Tomcat. Animal had first balked over this, but being a recipient, made it an easy decision for the Chief of Naval Operations to restrict him to non-combat duties. Animal didn't think he was going to be able to rise above the rank of commander without a command tour of a carrier battle group or air wing, however, the CNO surprised him by giving him a position on his staff and upon arriving at the CNO's office in the Pentagon, promptly telling him he was out of uniform, "attention to orders" and presenting him with a navy blue jacket with 4 stripes and a line star. Surprisingly Animal's jaw didn't impact the floor. A staff tour for a naval officer was a sure-route to flag rank, however that still didn't sit very well with Animal. There was the constant looks of "what did you do to get stuck here?" Most line officers who were flag-rank headed up positions that required them to get on the front line. And Animal still felt like he was being punished for doing the right thing until the CNO sat him down and said to him that he was being considered for deep-selection flag rank due to his accomplishments and that his 3 tours of commanding the Black Aces were pretty much tantamount to a XO tour, CO tour and a CAG tour and that he was just fulfilling his customary staff tour which was a prerequisite for flag rank. Until then he had just thought that he was being left behind.
During this time while on staff, he had been privy to the CNO staff's close relationship with the JAG HQ at Falls Church and he had been expected to liaison with JAG on a frequent basis. This was during RADM AJ Chegwidden's tenure as Judge Advocate General. This brought him into contact again with an old friend from flight school days when he was an instructor and this young upstart, a kid named Rabb had lit up the skies over Pensacola. He had heard about the kid's ramp-strike through the Navy Grapevine. But nothing since and he was pleasantly surprised to see Hammer stepping through the JAG Office doors as he was coming out of the Admiral's office. This resulted in several get-togethers with the JAG crew over beers at McMurphy's reminiscing with Hammer over old times and getting caught up to date with the news on Hammer's Flight School Class. Beers were drunk in toast to Luke Pendry and his memory.
And during that time he had run into a very attractive young petite redheaded JAG lawyer by the name of Lieutenant Commander Liandra Gracen. Harriet the pre-eminent office "matchmaker" had immediately pounced on the idea of putting the grizzled Navy Captain and the young attractive Navy Lieutenant Commander together. Animal grinned while shouldering the tripod and lens as he strode towards his favorite spot in the whole bird sanctuary as he remembered. Liandra had not liked being "handled" by the eminent office matchmaker and had told her so, that she was perfectly capable of handling the affairs of her own heart and that she was not the slightest bit interested in said Navy Captain, that dress whites and gold wings were highly over-rated. Then seeing that he was standing there rather dumbfounded at her adamant stance, she had the need to demonstrate definitively to Harriet that there was not a single spark of interest by "kissing him". Needless to say, that sparked a whirlwind romance that left both Lieutenant Commander and Navy Captain wondering just what the hell had happened. They were married one year to the day they had met and to this day, she was still the love of his life. Now a Navy captain herself and in the Judiciary, Liandra was known to be a tough as nails, no-nonsense judge, and still as much of a spitfire as he had remembered from when he first met her. What was that they said about "redheads"?
Having reached his target area, he set up his tripod with the 600mm lens attached to the gimbal, he braced the hefty tripod. Seeing his target, a bald eagle spreading his wings as he alighted on the perch of a tree capable of supporting its weight, Animal grinned and looked through the viewfinder of his professional grade Nikon camera. 'Ah, this was the life.' Maybe he could do this all day, perhaps professionally, when he retired. Sighing at the sight he was viewing through the 600mm lens, he slowly depressed his camera's shutter button, it was set to continuous high, snapping off several frames. As he was shooting another bald eagle came into frame and alighted on the branch next to the first bald eagle. "Perfect" he said as he reviewed the frames seeing a crisp image of the bald eagle talons extended just before touchdown, it's wings in classic landing position, a perfect shot for the office.
Just as he was about to set back down behind the camera, his cell-phone went off. Cursing as the ring call startled the two bald eagles into flight, he looked at the phone. Seeing as it was the office, he growled "Admiral Nakamura!"
"Sir, We're sorry to disturb you," his yeoman. Command Master Chief Yeoman (CMCYN) Leon Trebalos sounded a bit wary. "But there's been an incident. We need you back at the office, sir."
"Alright, Master Chief." Animal growled menacingly. "You know I just found a bunch of bald eagles. Somebody is going to pay for this."
CMCYN Trebalos' voice was resigned, "Yes, sir, I'll let the staff know that the excrement is going to hit the ventilator."
Animal grinned evilly. He knew just how to keep his staff on his toes. By the time he got to the Navy base after walking back to his car for fifteen minutes, he would have cooled off enough to deal with whatever required him to depart his favorite location in the first place. But at least it would increase efficiency in his office in the short-term. Command Master Chief Trebalos had been his yeoman for as long as he could remember. From the time that he was a commanding officer in the VF-41 Black Aces, the only yeoman he could remember was Trebalos. He was calm, cool, collected and efficient. And kept the office running as efficiently as possible. And naturally when Animal was deep selected for RADM (2 stars) bypassing Commodore or Rear Admiral (LH) and was posted as the Commander Naval Air Forces Atlantic (COMNAVAIRLANT), he called for then Senior Chief Yeoman Leon Trebalos to his command. Looking ahead to his future, he was hoping that COMNAVAIRFOR, a three-star vice-admiral position would be looking in his direction. That was provided his command as a two-star was up to acceptable parameters.
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VA
JULY 10, 2006
0630 EST
The CNO came through the office with a resounding "Attention on Deck!" following him as everyone snapped to.
"MGEN Cresswell!" the CNO growled, as MGEN Gordon Cresswell stepped out. "It has come to my attention that you, a two star general, are in a 3-star position. Now how do we remedy this problem?"
"Sir?" MGEN Cresswell was confused.
"It's very simple, Major General. The post that you, a two star, are currently occupying is a 3 star position. The question that I am asking you is: How do we remedy that particular inaccuracy?"
"This Major General does not know, sir. That is beyond my pay-grade, sir." Major General Gordon Cresswell said. Commander Bud Roberts hearing this was resisting cracking a grin. "But I will tender my resignation if the Chief of Naval Operations so desires to remedy this situation."
"No, Major General, that is the incorrect solution to this problem. I appear to have a better solution to this problem since you appear to be rather flummoxed by the whole situation. Attention to Orders!" The 4-star admiral growled as Major General Gordon Cresswell snapped to attention.
"On July 10, 2006, Congress and the office of the President of the United States hereby authorizes Major General Cresswell to be promoted to the office of the Judge Advocate General at the rank of Lieutenant General. This Officer will therefore carefully and diligently discharge the duties of the office to which appointed by doing and performing all manner of things thereunto belonging. And I do strictly charge and require those Officers and other personnel of lesser rank to render such obedience as is due an officer of this grade and position. And this Officer is to observe and follow such orders and directives, from time to time, as may be given by me, or the future President of the United States of America, or other Superior Officers acting in accordance with the laws of the United States of America. This commission is to continue in force during the pleasure of the President of the United States of America for the time being, under the provisions of those Public Laws relating to Officers of the Armed Forces of the United States of America and the component thereof in which this appointment is made. Congratulations, Lieutenant General Cresswell."
"Commander Roberts, would you do the honors of pinning the new three-star pins on the Uniform since Mrs. Cresswell is not present here?"
"Yes, sir, Admiral, but I sure as hell won't kiss him, sir." Bud smirked.
Cresswell gave him a look as if to say 'You'd better not commander or you'll be sweeping and mopping the head'.
COURTROOM 3
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VA
JULY 10, 2006
0630 EST
Captain Liandra Gracen Nakamura leveled a glare that if it were munitions would have fried LT Greg Vukovic and Commander Alan Mattoni on the spot. "Councillors, approach the bench." she growled as she slammed the gavel, the loud sound echoing through the chambers. When the two had approached the bench, she glared at them. "In my chambers, now!" She stepped away from the bench as everyone rose. When the two councillors had followed her into her 'luckily soundproofed judge's chambers' she whirled around on the unfortunate subject of her ire. "Lieutenant. Are you aware that a) you are leading the witness, b) you -" she said pointing at Vukovic. "You are badgering your own witness and c) if you do not cease this line of questioning, I will be forced to bring this whole gong-show to an absolute standstill by having your second chair become the primary chair and throwing your sorry tail-end out the door of this courtroom?"
"Aye, ma'am." Lieutenant Greg Vukovic replied.
"Mr. Vukovic..." Liandra hissed, her voice arctic cold, "If you so much as sneeze the wrong way in my courtroom, I will have you stripped, tarred and feathered and hung up on the yardarm outside the Judge Advocate General's office, am I clear?! You will cease this line of questioning or there will be hell to pay, AM I CLEAR!? MISTER!
Normally, Lieutenant Greg Vukovic was a smart-ass and usually had a comeback for everything. Alan Mattoni winced as he heard the young Lieutenant getting chewed a new rectal cavity. He was certain that Captain Owen Sebring wasn't as much of a hardass as this spitfire of a judge. Even Captain Stiles Morris, who didn't give too much leeway to councillors, wasn't this much of a hard-ass. Captain Liandra Gracen Nakamura, Judge, JAG Corps was a tough customer and not inclined to any hijinks in her courtroom. He remembered a certain young lawyer now a Navy Captain who emptied a HK in the courtroom ceiling at one point. If Captain Nakamura had been judge, she would have tossed Harm in the brig, drawn him up on charges and drawn and quartered him.
"Make sure you don't do it again! Vukovic or your ass is grass!" snarled Liandra. "Out of my chambers and back in the courtroom."
After getting a strip torn off his backside, LT G. Vukovic, JAG lawyer, got his act together and finished his examination of his witness under the auspices of the guidelines set by the judge.
NAVSTA ROTA
ROTA, SPAIN
July 14, 2012
1300 CET
The COMNAVAIRLANT stepped off the USAF C-17 that had brought supplies to Naval Station Rota. Saluting the navy captain who had come to meet him, he said. "OK...I want all particulars on this accident with the Orion. You can get me up to speed on the accident file on the ride to squadron headquarters.
Evidently, the office had been warned of his arrival as the CO of VP-26 Tridents was waiting for him, accident file in hand. "So, you say that this is a massive hydraulics failure due to fire cutting off the hydraulic lines that led to the flaps? Wasn't this bird in maintenance two days prior to the incident?" Animal growled.
"Yes, sir, but they didn't find any problems with the bird prior."
"There couldn't be a mistake anywhere, a screwdriver or tool putting a nick in the hydraulic line due to a maintenance tech dropping a tool in the works?" Animal fixed a glare at the commander who looked like he was about to internally shrivel. "Even a simple mistake like that could contribute to such an incident."
"I don't think so, sir." the CO replied.
"Commander, I'm not an idiot. And 6 years away from the controls of an F-14 Tomcat have not atrophied my braincells to the point that I've forgotten everything I've learned in flight-school! Something caused this accident and I'm assigning JAG to find out." Pulling out his cell-phone he put in a call to JAG.
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VA
July 13, 2012
0700 EST
"Good morning, General." Animal's voice was pleasant through the receiver as LGEN Cresswell picked up the phone.
"I'll be damned. Animal". LGEN Cresswell replied. "What's going on, what can I do for you?"
"I need to a couple of investigators from your office in London to investigate a P-3 Orion crash. The talking head here says that it's a simple hydraulic problem. My gut says that it isn't cut and dried." Animal sounded pissed on the other end of the phone line.
"Sure, no problem. I'll notify Captain Rabb and let him know you're looking for investigators who will get to the bottom of it." General Cresswell looked at the files that had crossed his desk.
FLEET FORCES JAG EUROPE
NCTAMS EURCENT DET
LONDON, ENGLAND
1315 GMT
"Captain Rabb, Fleet Force JAG office." Captain Rabb answered his phone.
"Good Afternoon, Rabb." LGEN Cresswell's cheery voice was on the other end. "Need a big favor from you. I need your top investigators on this. P-3 Orion crashed in Rota, COMNAVAIRLANT Is over there right now, investigating and his gut-feeling is that it's not merely a simple hydraulic failure. You got anyone from a antisub aircraft background over there or a WEPS type?"
"Yes, sir, WEPS, but no "whack-a-sub" types here." Harm replied with a droll tone in his voice. "COMNAVAIRLANT? I presume that's Admiral Nakamura?" recalling his recent meeting with the admiral.
"Yes, Rabb and he's hot to trot on this investigation. He wants answers. I think his eyes are set on the COMNAVAIRFOR position, now that VADM McIntyre is thinking of retiring."
"Scuttlebutt, sir, just scuttlebutt." Harm stated his position. "He is up for his third star and considering his experience, he'd be right for the position."
"You'll send your investigators on the assignment? If not, you might find Animal beating down the door to your office."
"Understood, Admiral. I'll send Commanders Pike and Austin on the assignment. They just finished tying down the Krennick case." At he said 'Krennick', Harm's eyes rolled.
"Well, that must've been an interesting one, Captain." the wry tone in Cresswell's voice was evident. Captain Allison Krennick's reputation preceded her and not in a good way. "I presume the outcome was rather satisfying?"
"No comment, sir." Harm opted to take the safer route than disparage a "former" officer. As it was, Krennick was slammed down and slammed down hard, with a conduct unbecoming, a reduction in rank to Lieutenant Commander and forced into a separation with the Navy. Harm opted to give her that much because otherwise she would have lost her pension.
RABB RESIDENCE
LONDON, ENGLAND
1825 GMT
"Mattie". Harm dropped his cover on the kitchen table and headed over to where Mattie was trying to work on her walking on the treadmill. With a harness attached to the ceiling and the treadmill set on a very slow pace, she was slowly moving her feet, with the assistance of the physical therapist that he had managed to obtain for her, rather than her going to therapy outside of the house. The therapist had taken on the role of chauffer as well taking her to school and back.
"Dad." she said shortly, paying more attention to her self-administrated therapy, than on Harm's return from work.
"How is it coming?"
"It's frustrating, Dad. A little bit of progress and then nothing. Makes me wonder if I'm gonna ever be able to walk again. I hate it!" she said, tears in her eyes. "I'm persisting but I'm starting to wonder why."
"Molly...How is she doing?" Harm spoke to Mattie's home physical therapist, "Is she progressing?"
"She is starting to put weight on her feet and managing to make a few steps but she still needs support from this harness. I have to say, she is one of the most motivated patients I have ever had. Captain." Ms. Molly Baker stated calmly as she had listened to her patient's frustration for most of the day. "She is determined, Captain Rabb, to make the most of her situation and strive for a full recovery, though according to her file, the damage and shock to her spine was quite severe."
Harm closed his eyes, trying to keep the onset of emotion from coming on. He blamed himself for letting Mattie go with Tom that day. If he hadn't, she wouldn't be in this painful agonizing position to begin with of having to do rehabilitation therapy.
