Chapter 7: Playing God with Atoms
Present day
"Mom?"
Only the beep of the cut line answers.
"What was that noise?" asks Gibbs looking at Joy, who is frozen in place.
"That wasn't static." She looks horrified at McGee, and he can see the growing panic in her eyes. "That's radiation, Tim."
For a moment, one could hear a pin drop on the floor, as the agents stare at Buchanan who is looking forlornly at the telephone.
"Please tell that wasn't what I think it was, because if it was, I…" Jimmy stops, as he thinks of the possible implications of what he has just witnessed, even if it was just by a phone connection.
Joy shivers and seems to regain her control, as she puts the phone slowly back on the cradle and closes her eyes, breathing deeply trying to think what to do to help her mother several states away and several yards under the ground.
"Call Faith," finally she says in a quivering voice, lifting worried eyes to McGee, "tell her ... tell her that there was an explosion in Mom's lab, and tell her to try to find Dad."
She turns her phone again and starts dialing out at the same time that McGee runs to his desk to make his own phone call. Gibbs approaches her and sees that her hands are shaking as she dials a new phone number.
"Who are you going to call?"
"I'm trying to call the upper floors on the base. The connection to the lower levels was cut, but maybe, just maybe, I might still be able to reach the ground floor."
She gulps, and waits for the call to connect.
"Maybe she's fine and you're just worried for nothing … maybe that was just a minor explosion," says Tony in a hopeful voice, trying to dispel the tension in the air. Gibbs, Jimmy, Tim and Ziva turn to stare at him, and he lifts his hands in surrender, "Hey, it's just a thought; it might be nothing, you know."
Joy returns her phone back into its cradle with fury after hearing the busy tone, stands up and stares at Tony.
"Tony, you really don't get it, do you? There is no such thing as a minor explosion when you are playing God with atoms which are colliding in hyper speed inside nuclear reactors several floors underground."
Tony gulps at her fury, but he's aware that she's just venting because she's worried with her mom. She looks at him and says softly, "Tony, my mom build weapons of mass destruction, and radiation is never good, under any circumstance."
"The base?" asks Gibbs, and Joy looks at him as the same time she runs a shaking hand on her face.
"Nobody is picking it up on the ground level. Communications are down overall."
McGee talks softly on the phone as he goes around his desk and offers the phone to Joy, "Faith is on the line."
Joy grabs the phone from his hand and talks to her older sister.
"Joy, what is that McGee is talking about? Mom's lab exploded?"
"Faith, listen, do you know if dad is anywhere close to Nellis Air Force Base?"
"I don't know. I haven't spoken to him in a while."
"Well, try to locate him and tell him that I was with mom on the phone when her lab exploded. If he's around, he can contact the correct authorities on Base to deal with that on their side."
"Okay, what are you going to do?"
"I'll…" she glances at McGee, who is patiently waiting for her to finish the call, "I'll try to track down Uncle Jack, he must be informed of what happened and he will also know who to contact in the project to organize a rescue."
"Where are you right now?
"At NCIS headquarters, I'll call you after I talk to Jack."
"Okay, keep me posted."
The two sisters disconnect and McGee looks at Joy's face who is barely keeping her worry under wraps. She sniffles a little and wipes a stubborn tear running down her face.
"What now?"
"Now we call the Pentagon and try to find General O'Neill," Joy says in a low voice, as she gets the phone and starts dialing.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
The secretary was taking a gulp in a glass of water on General Jonathan "Jack" O'Neill's office of Homeworld Command in the Pentagon when the phone rang. She gulps hurriedly, wipes her mouth and rushes to answer the phone.
"General O'Neill's office, how can I help you?" she says cheerfully on the line.
"Hello, may I speak to General O'Neill, please?"
"I'm sorry, he's unavailable right now. He's on a meeting." She looks at her perfectly manicured nails, and looks at the time on her computer. It's seventeen oh hundred hours.
"Well, then interrupt his meeting and tell him that Joy Buchanan is calling. Tell him it's an emergency."
"I'm sorry, can't do it. May I take a message?"
"Listen, it's an emergency. I need to talk to General O'Neill."
"He's in a closed door meeting, ma'am. May I take a message?"
The person in the other side of the line sighs loudly, and the secretary goes through her desk drawer, looking for her nail clipper. She had seen it somewhere down here…
"Listen, just… Can you locate him and just pass him the following message: There was an explosion at the Sierra Lima 37 in Nellis Air Force Base. Just tell him that, and I assure you he will take my call."
"Ok, ma'am, please hold."
She clicks something on the phone, and starts dialing out.
