Chapter 3
"That'll work. Get me to the plane," AJ ordered.
"But, Sir, you're the JAG!" Rushford exclaimed.
"Look Rushford, we don't have time to argue, call the SECNAV. In the meantime get me suited up!"
Rushford placed the call, "Sir, I have a problem. Admiral Chegwidden wants to volunteer for a no-return mission."
"Chegwidden, has his reasons. He's your volunteer," stated Sheffield, with a mixture of pride and sadness in his voice.
"Yes, Sir."
All suited up AJ inquired, "Well?"
"Congratulations, Admiral, you win. You must have been a HELL of a SEAL!" He looked AJ right in the eyes before continuing, "There are a couple more things that you should know, we will be sending you in with Cyanide capsules to give all of you quick deaths. You will need to blend in with the staff already there, that's why we can't give you a haz-mat suit."
"Understood, Captain. One more thing before I go…I want you to have the families of the men and women in there brought to a videophone system, so once the threat is over they can say goodbye to them. Then I would like my staff at JAG to be asked to come to the office so I can say my goodbyes as well."
The news media had picked up the story when a visitor had used his cell phone to call out about not being allowed to leave because of a terrorist holding the hospital hostage. That was how Mac had heard about it. She had been in AJ's office with the television on in the background as he always left it, reading his letter of resignation for the third time trying to figure out why….when the news mentioning Bethesda Naval Hospital caught her attention. Mac looked up just in time to see AJ get out of his Escalade and enter the command center.
She didn't know why he was there, but when the call came in eighteen minutes later, her heart sank. Rushford told her that Admiral Chegwidden was taking the place of his SEAL volunteer on this no-return mission. He told her of AJ's request to say goodbye to his JAG family.
He was going to die, and he had known it before he left! That was why his goodbye sounded so final! Forcing herself not to cry, she gathered the staff with phone calls ordering them to get to the office as fast as possible. Making a heartbreaking decision, she asked Bud and Harriett to bring little AJ with them. She would explain when they got there.
AJ was given a pack that contained a lab coat, and a canister. "This is liquid foam. Release it before the inner seal in the vent shaft is opened. It will stop the agent from escaping. That my friend is the point of no return for you," he explained.
Nodding, he climbed into the plane. High above the hospital, AJ jumped. It had been sometime since he had made such a jump, but he did it with ease, landing on the roof and weighing down his chute. He then pried open the top of the ventilation shaft and crawled inside. He paused a moment, Dr. LeSieur had said he had six to eighteen months left to live, he shook his head, what may have been doesn't matter now, he had a mission to do, and lives were at stake. He released the ripcord on the liquid foam canister and it completely sealed the shaft, he pried opened the inner seal. He had passed the point of no return.
Although he moved as quickly and quietly as possible, it was still slow going. He dropped out of the shaft and into the janitor's closet. AJ stripped off the jumpsuit and put on the lab coat and glasses. He straightened the nametag with a wry grin, glad that the rather large lady they got it from had been named Frances and not Nancy. After applying some baby oil to his forehead to give the appearance that he was developing a fever, he entered the hall with a slight shuffle to his walk.
To be continued….
