"Hey CAG, we're approaching the engagement area, you get any readings from the painters on the ground?" Priest called through the radio as he and Harm led the Black Aces in a troop support mission into the mountains of the area southeast of Kabul.
"Nothing, we should be getting readings on the ground targets by now." Harm checked the instrument panel in front of him. "You getting anything back there, Skates?"
"Not a thing, sir." Skates replied promptly.
"How far out from the target area are we?" Harm checked in with his RIO again.
"No more than a minute-ten, sir." Skates answered again.
"Alright, if we don't start seeing readings in the next thirty seconds, I'm gonna scrub this and take us back to the ship." Harm decided as the planes descended below Angels 10. There should have been something, either readings on targets from the painters on the ground or an order from Captain Rice aboard the Nimitz telling them to return home because the mission had been scrubbed. That led Harm to the conclusion that someone on the ground somewhere had screwed something up. On the ground, the Marines and the Canadians were running a night time fire-fight against some Taliban fighters in the mountains near the embattled territory of Waziristan. "Anything, Skates?"
"I've got something, CAG." Priest's voice took over the radio. "Couple of close together surface targets, heading one-four-niner. I'll take them."
"You see them, Skates?" Harm checked in with his RIO.
"Maybe." Skates answered. "It's faint but it looks as though there might be something there."
"Alright, Priest, you take them and I'll wait for the next set of readings to come in." Harm ordered and he watched as Priest dove away to make his run. The younger pilot pulled up and returned to formation a few moments later.
"Looks like they were targets, sir. The signal's gone from the radar." Skates told Harm.
"Good to hear." Harm exhaled hard. "Nice shooting, Priest. Any more readings, Skates?"
"None that I make, sir." Skates took a breath herself.
"I make us mark plus 22 minutes, what about you, Skates?" Harm looked in the mirror that allowed him to see into the backseat.
"I make it mark plus 23, sir" Skates' eyes met his in the mirror.
"Alright, let's head for home, boys and girls." Harm turned his Tomcat around and rode the afterburners for a while to make it back to the Nimitz. Everyone made it back aboard without incident, Harm and Priest were still dead level in their competition to be King of the greenie board. The pilots headed toward the squad bay when they were intercepted by the Skipper. "What's up, Skip?" Harm stopped at the head of the group.
"Sorry to kill the party, CAG, but I just got off a call with the NATO Commander, seems like that target that Priest lit up wasn't Taliban fighters, it was the Canadians involved in the exercise." Skipper shook his head. "Sorry to say kid, but the NATO Commander wants a JAG inquiry into the incident and I've got to go along with him. Commander Pike will investigate, Lieutenant Roberts will defend you."
"Sir, if it's alright with you, sir, no." Priest jumbled his response.
"No what, Commander?" The Skipper turned on his junior officer.
"Due respect to the Lieutenant, sir, but I want the CAG defending me." Priest explained.
"That's your right, Commander, but I'd think that the CAG's testimony might be more valuable to you as a character witness." The Skipper offered.
"The man has a point, Priest." Harm looked to the young aviator he had come to see as a friend.
"Sir, I want you as my defence counsel." Priest re-affirmed.
"Fine, the NATO Commander wants this incident thoroughly prosecuted, so I'll assign Roberts to aid Commander Pike and I'll talk with Admiral Chegwidden about having someone from his office sent out to assist with the defence." The Skipper nodded. "Pending the outcome of this investigation though, Commander, you're grounded."
Priest hung his head. He loved being behind the stick Having his wings clipped was arguably punishment before any determination of guilt. "Understood, sir."
"Alright, I suggest you all get some shut eye." The Skipper examined the faces of the Black Aces in front of him. "Because this three ring legal circus is going to get an early start tomorrow.
0330 ZULU
USS NIMITZ
SOMEWHERE IN THE INDIAN OCEAN...
Mac hated the International Dateline. Flying into the time zones in the CENTOM Theatre created more jet lag than the cases were often times worth. But today was something different. She was going to be working with her old partner in defence of Lieutenant Commander Fanelli who was involved in a friendly fire incident with some Canadian NATO troops a few days earlier. By the time her COD had landed for a final refuel in Okinawa, she looked up at a television tuned to CNN to find that Senator Latham had already launched a parallel armed services committee investigation into the incident. Her committee had jurisdiction, given to them by the Majority Leader over the Foreign Relations committee who also had some interest.
The COD had landed just before 0900 a few days after the incident with Mac aboard. She was anxious to work with Harm and Bud again. Taking her first steps out of the COD Mac looked up and saw Harm standing there just outside the hatch in his khakis. With that new mustache coming in, she had to do a double take, her mind flashing instantly to that old picture of Harm's dad that used to be in his office. He really was the spitting image. Well, he was wearing a pair of Eagles on his collar instead of Lieutenant's bars but the resemblance was still scary.
"Colonel MacKenzie." Harm greeted with a smug smile.
"Captain Rabb." Mac came to attention in front of him.
"Stand easy, Mac." Harm shot her a flyboy grin. "Been a while, Mac."
"Little more than a month, Harm, you miss me that much?" Mac grinned a little as well.
"Everyday, Mac. Twice a day on the weekends." Harm commented as they stepped into the interior of the ship.
"That's very sweet, Harm." And an odd personal admission, Mac added to herself silently. Harm and her had always been masters of not saying enough in their dealings with each other and always keeping their feelings supremely well hidden. "I've missed you, too. Without you and Bud in the office, I've become the bearer of most of the Admiral's bad moods. I've considered using Tiner as a human shield on several occasions."
"Not a bad strategy." Harm laughed. "Speaking of strategy..."
"Ah yes, our case." Mac tried to figure out something to do with her hands before simply letting them hang at her sides. "I can't believe that the NATO Commander let you serve as defence counsel."
"I can't believe it either but Priest was able to retain me as counsel before Kate had the chance to label me as a witness whose testimony would be integral to the investigation of the facts in this case." Harm answered. "He needs someone in his corner."
"Well now he's got two of the best, right?" Mac joshed as they moved into his stateroom. "Done any interviews yet?"
"Talked to Skates, the Air Boss, the AWACS boys and Demon in the last few days." Harm answered.
"Demon?" Mac questioned.
"Lieutenant Damian Heller." Harm responded. "Our client's RIO."
"Alright, you get anything damning or otherwise out of them?" Mac sat in a chair in the stateroom.
"Demon says the kill was good, Air Boss says that Priest operated by the book. They'll both make good witnesses for our case." Harm leaned back in his chair. "The AWACS guys are a little less certain."
"What was the nature of the mission?" Mac was intrigued.
"We were doing a troop support run. Basically, the Marines on the ground have a scope that paints a target and relays the signal through the AWACS to our birds so that we can target it and kill it." Harm explained, this time leaning toward Mac. "AWACS sends whatever signals they get on their radar through to us during the exercise. Now, the AWACS boys say the signal they got from the ground was unclear but they patched it through anyway. Priest says he saw it and Demon says he saw it, too. But Skates and the AWACS guys aren't sure if it was a genuine target or just static."
"Well, what would cause static?" Mac's voice began to carry that hint of soft intrigue that he had so missed.
"Could be anything, a solar flare, a flock of migrating birds, even a really bad cumulus cloud has been known to play games with the radar." Harm looked over her shoulder, an attempt to avoid her molten brown eyes. "A solar flare is unlikely considering it was night mission and I think we're outside whatever rainy season Afghanistan gets."
"Doesn't leave us with a lot of options." Mac twiddled her thumbs. "I think you might have waylaid me a little too long, I should probably check in with the Skipper."
"I'll take you to him." Harm got up out of his chair and guided Mac to the hatch. Mac had never been one for sea duty, her time on the Guadalcanal not withstanding, it was one of the many advantages she believed the Marines had over their Navy counterparts. But somehow, being on a carrier with Harm made everything feel natural and it took her back to the many carrier investigations that they'd handled early on in their partnership. They made their way up to the bridge and Mac came to attention before the Skipper.
"Colonel MacKenzie reporting, sir." Mac rhymed off and the skipper turned to face her.
"Your COD landed twenty minutes ago, Colonel, did the CAG decide to give you the extended tour?" The Skipper questioned as he turned around.
"You know the CAG, sir." Mac responded, pleased to see the face of Captain Rice, now a skipper but once a Lieutenant Commander she'd known as 'Karma'.
"Indeed I do, Colonel." The Skipper smiled. "You're here to aid him in defending Commander Fanelli, I trust you'll do that to the best of your capabilities."
"I will, sir." Mac nodded.
"Good, because I just got this communique from Commander Pike and Lieutenant Roberts in Kabul. It seems they've finished conducting interviews with the personnel in country that were a part of the incident in question and are referring charges to an Article 32 hearing." The Skipper handed Mac the piece of paper. "I'd suggest you inform your client of these developments."
"Aye, sir." Mac nodded to the Skipper.
"Skipper, I'd like the chance to go ashore and interview the witnesses that Commander Pike and Lieutenant Roberts have spoken to, sir." Harm interjected.
"I understand that, CAG, but it'll have to wait. I've gotten order from the SECNAV to accommodate two members of the Senate Armed Services Committee who are on their way out here to conduct an investigation of their own. One of them would like no doubt accompany you, Captain, so we'll wait for them to arrive tomorrow." The Skipper moved toward the helm.
"Aye, sir." Harm answered. "Will that be all, sir?"
"Yes, dismissed." Karma nodded and with that the two former partners headed off the bridge.
"Pike as in Kate Pike?" Mac questioned, a little bit of the green monster showing through in her voice as Harm guided her to her temporary quarters aboard ship.
"Yeah, she's the NATO Force JAG afloat for this cruise." Harm tried a nervous smile. "Did I forget to mention that in an email?"
"Uh, yeah." Mac answered simply. "Have you two had fun catching up?" Mac's tone was sarcastic enough to cut like a knife.
"A little." Harm answered, trying to hold his cards close.
"Uh huh." They stopped in front of Mac's quarters.
"What does that mean?" Harm tried to feign shock.
"I just know how much....fun Kate can be." Mac answered before stepping into her quarters and closing the hatch behind her.
0217 ZULU
USS NIMITZ
SOMEWHERE IN THE INDIAN OCEAN...
Being on a carrier took Nate back to his time with the 15th MEU out of Camp Pendleton during the Gulf War when he'd been assigned to the USS Belleau Wood, a part of the Ike Carrier Battle Group. He knew the stink of jet fuel and the uncomfortable feeling of having to pull a helmet off your head as you got off the COD certainly didn't help matters. He was at least dressed for the occasion, someone should have told Bobbi Latham that a carrier was not the environment for a pant-suit. "That's what a trap feels like?" Bobbi shouted as they stepped off the COD.
"Yup." Nate's answer was simple.
"Why the hell would anyone want to do that on a regular basis?" Bobbi shouted again.
"It's thrilling, Bobbi." Nate answered as he smiled over his shoulder. The two of them were greeted by the ship's Public Affairs Officer who had taken them to the bridge straight away.
"How the hell could you sleep on the plane?" Bobbi asked as they made their way toward the bridge.
"I'm a Marine." Nate laughed as they navigated another knee-knocker.
"That's your answer?" She pressed disbelievingly.
"I've found it usually works." He chuckled again as they stepped through the hatch on to the bridge.
"Senator Ross, Senator Latham, good to have you two aboard." The Skipper extended the pro forma greeting.
"Somehow, I doubt that, Skipper." Nate answered for the two of them. "But we'd like to just get down to work and get out of your hair as soon as possible."
"Well, I'd like to get a little sleep first." Bobbi chimed in. "It's been almost thirty hours."
"In that case, Senator Latham, you'll share Visitor's Quarter's down in female officer country with Colonel MacKenzie. You can sit in on her interviews today with everyone but her client, because of privilege. Senator Ross, head down to the CAG's stateroom and grab a flight suit. You and Captain Rabb will head ashore and conduct interviews with the personnel on the ground who were involved in the incident." The Skipper explained. "Any complaints?"
Bobbi was about to chime in when Nate interrupted her. "None, Skipper."
"Good." The Skipper nodded and the two Senators headed off the bridge with the ship's PAO.
"What the hell, Nate? Why did you cut me off?" Bobbi demanded.
"This is the Skipper's boat, his own private fiefdom. If we want any co-operation at all, we need to keep him happy and pissing him off is not conducive to that." Nate answered with a no-nonsense look on his face. "Ensign," Nate addressed the PAO, "show Senator Latham to her quarters, I can find the CAG's stateroom on my own."
"Yes, sir." The PAO nodded and directed Bobbi toward where she was to be quartered. Nate had heard from AJ that Mac was aiding in the defence on this case, so he knew she was aboard. He just hadn't had the time to tell her that he would be as well. He'd been practically born into the Marine Corps and had even done a tiger cruise on board an amphibious assault ship at 10 years old. Navigating knee knockers and knowing aft, stern, starboard and port were just a part of his upbringing. He got to the CAG's stateroom and tapped on the hatch.
"It's open!" He heard a familiar voice call from inside.
"Well, if it's going to be unlocked, at least it's in a good neighbourhood." Nate joked as he stepped through to find Harm and Mac sitting there with the man he presumed was their client. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."
"Hey, Nate....uh, I mean Senator." Harm got up out of his chair, walked over and shook his hand.
"It's Nate to you, Harm." Nate grinned as he shook Harm's hand. "Hey, sweetheart." His eyes met Mac's.
"Hey." She leaned forward and pulled him into a hug. "What are you doing here?"
"Me and Bobbi are running the Armed Forces Committee's investigation into the incident." He answered. "I just got off the COD but I got pretty good sleep."
"They sent you two?" Mac questioned. "Experience with the JAG lawyers involved?"
"They figured we might actually get the whole story, yeah." Nate nodded. "Speaking of which, Skipper says you're headed ashore in a few minutes." He looked to Harm.
"Yeah." Harm nodded.
"He told me to suit up because you're taking me along." Nate informed Harm.
"You realize we're taking a Tomcat, right?" Harm inquired.
"I figured that when he told me to get a flight suit." Nate answered.
"Flying a Tomcat's a little different than flying commercial, Nate."Harm goaded him just a little bit which caused Mac to role her eyes.
"I did a few supersonic hops to get place to place when I was on active duty." Nate gave a quick countering grin. "Just tell me when to be ready and where I can go to get ready, CAG."
"Make it about twenty minutes, head down to the squad bay and open up the storage locker, there'll be some spare gear in there." Harm pointed aft down the hall. "Head down one flight and start traversing aft, you can't miss it." Nate ducked out of the stateroom and headed toward the squad bay. "Well, that was interesting, huh?"
"You get stuck with Nate and an F-14 ride while I get to do follow up interviews here?" Mac shook her head in disbelief. "Where do I sign up for that kind of luck?"
"Luck nothing." Harm laughed. "I get rewarded because my heart is pure."
"Pure coal maybe." Mac joked and Harm looked wounded. "Just don't crank the heat up in the cockpit, alright? Everyone knows that you're a pilot and he's not, there's no need to try and prove it by pulling a juvenile stunt."
"Yes, mom." Harm and Priest laughed while Mac tried to stare them down.
"Lieutenant, you're dismissed." Mac looked at Priest who snapped to before ducking through the hatch. "So, what do you think about the case?"
"Mac, that kid is the best damn driver I have ever flown with. I'm his CAG, he's my wingman and he's also my friend. I take him at his word." Harm answered, a seriously expression overtaking his previous lighthearted smile.
"That's good because Bud and Commander Pike are going to come at him with everything they've got." Mac found it easier to refer to Kate as Commander Pike, she also found that every time she did, Harm got this guilty expression on his face which made her curious. Her desire to wring Kate's scrawny neck had hit its peak earlier, her own want to avoid awkwardness and personal confusion had kicked into high gear the second her boyfriend appeared through the hatch to Harm's stateroom.
"I think I've got to kick you out." Harm motioned toward the hatch with a tension breaking laugh. "I've got to get ready to head ashore."
"Yeah, yeah, I think you just want to get rid of me." Mac joked as she headed out of his quarters. "We'll commiserate on the best strategy when you get back?"
"Yeah." Harm answered simply before breaking off from Mac and heading down to the squad bay. He and Nate both put on flight suits, grabbed helmets and headed for the flight deck. Harm climbed up first and Nate got into the backseat before the canopy was brought down. As the experienced pilot, Harm went over the pre-flight checklist to make sure everything was in order before the plane was moved into position on the catapult. He gave the thumbs up to the plane captain on the deck.
Up on the bridge, Mac was standing with Bobbi Latham, Kate Pike and Bud Roberts watching the plane ready itself to go up.
"Nimitz tower, this is Sea Monster 2-4-6, pre-flight checklist complete." Harm called in.
"Roger that, Sea Monster 2-4-6. The pattern is empty, you are clear for take-off." The Air Boss' voice responded over the radio from his place in the pri-flight tower. The catapult launched the F-14 off the deck and into the sky. Mac watched the plane go up and hoped that not only would it land safely at it destination but that it would safely return here. For her, it had some pretty precious cargo aboard.
1201 ZULU
SOMEWHERE OUTSIDE KANDAHAR...
The F-14 had landed on the Canadian base at Kandahar. Nate watched as Harm interviewed the surviving members of the Canadian contingent in the sick bay or their quarters on base. He tried to ask as few questions himself as he found necessary and stay out of Harm's way. Nate recognized that with Lieutenant Commander Fanelli's career on the line, the JAG questions took precedence and likely as not were more than sufficient to the discovery of facts. They would take a jeep from the Canadian base to the Marine base outside of Kabul and the Marines would give them a lift back to the Canadian base where they'd load up in the F-14 and head back to the Nimitz.
"She's sure dry and arid out here, Sergeant." Nate jested with their Canadian driver.
"Yes, sir." The Sergeant answered back. "But she's good country for working on your tan, sir."
"I'd wager you're out here to do more than work on your tan, Sergeant." Harm commented as her finally removed his eyes from the road. "How can you tell that we're still on the right track, Sergeant?"
"Oh, I've driven her a few times, Captain, she's a tough road during the night because you miss some of the rocks and hills you use as markers. National Defence Headquarters is a little behind on getting all our GPS units out here." The Sergeant explained.
"How far out do you think we are?" Nate leaned over the front seat.
"I'd say a little under an hour, sir." The Sergeant's answer was punctuated by a loud explosion The recon vehicle was tossed into the air along with everyone inside of it. The amount of dust kicked up in the desert was enough to make someone this a storm had hit. Nate and Harm were lucky enough to be tossed clear of the overturned vehicle but their driver had been trapped under it. All of them had taken nasty blows to the head.
Harm was the first to regain consciousness. He checked his fingers and toes for movement, once he was sure he had movement in his arms and legs he got to his feet but was struck by momentary dizziness. A few seconds later Nate war rousted back to consciousness. He followed the same procedure checking for movement in his arms and legs. He had some throbbing pain in his left leg but he was otherwise in working order. When he tried to get to his feet, he fell back to his butt, howling in pain. When the dust cleared, Nate looked down at his left leg and saw that just above the ankle, the down angle of the bone began to contort at an odd angle, twisting the foot at about a twenty degree angle off centre. Nate looked up and saw Harm.
"How's the driver?" Nate asked through gritted teeth.
"He's dead." Harm answered simply. "Either blunt force trauma to the head or being crushed by the vehicle, either way it happened fast. That foot doesn't look too good."
"Nah, it's busted." Nate grimaced.
"Think you can get up?" Harm crouched down.
"I'll walk on it." Nate swallowed hard. "But you're gonna have to help get me to my feet."
"Damn Marines." Harm grunted as he extended his arm down to Nate who grabbed it and Harm hauled him to his feet. "Pain?"
"Incredible pain." Nate answered. "Let's divvy up the pack. We'll each take a rifle and some ammo, I'll take the medical stuff, you take the water canteen."
"I'm the senior officer here, Colonel." Harm reminded him, half kidding.
"True, but on this foot I know what I can carry and the water is heavier than the medical gear." Nate slung the M16 over his shoulder and stuffed the magazines into his pockets. He slung the medical bag over his other shoulder and started walking. "This is gonna be tougher than I thought."
"But you'll get through it right?" Harm gently put a hand on Nate's shoulder.
"Hell yeah." Nate answered with a quick nod. "Sergeant said it was about an hour northeast to the Marines, right?"
"Yeah, travelling at 30 miles an hour." Harm answered. "That ankle pretty much leaves double timing it out of the question. There should be a syringe and a couple vials of morphine in the medical bag. You take one, you might be able to increase your pace."
Nate searched through the bag and found the syringe but only one vial of morphine. "Goddamn it!" He cursed. "You'd think with all the fuckin' poppies in this country we could at least stock up on morphine."
"No such luck, well plug her in there and we'll get going." Harm suggested.
"Nah, we've only got about two or three hours of daylight left." Nate looked up at the sky. "If that. I waste this now, we'll have none for the morning when my adrenaline wears off from surviving the crash and the pain really becomes unbearable. What his the jeep anyway?"
"Probably an IED." Harm commented. "Goddamn things are all over the roads around here. What do you mean morning? You plan on spending the night out here? It's only thirty miles to the base."
"If you know where the base is, that's true." Nate winced again as they began to walk. "You and I have no damn idea where the base is, we just have a compass and a faded road."
"Good point." Harm allowed. "We stick too close to the road and we'll be sitting ducks."
"But we've got to at least keep it in sight." Nate reminded him. "I think we head to the high side of the road and keep our bearing for Northeast, we might make twelve, fifteen miles tonight."
"You're going to hike that much distance on that ankle with no morphine?" Harm questioned disbelievingly.
"I'm a Marine." Nate answered simply as he moved along. If he were to tell the truth, he'd like nothing better than to sit by the crash site and wait to be rescued. Walking on this damn ankle was hurting like hell. They said that bone pain was the worst kind of pain you could experience and from what he was going through. He looked back and saw Harm pulled a few things out from under the hood of the vehicle. "What the hell are you doing?"
"I learned years ago when Mac and I got trapped up in the Appalachians that you never know when you might need spare parts." Harm wrenched a piece of the fuel line and a few spark plugs out of the vehicle. "Just in case."
"Uh huh." Nate gave him an amused look. "I need a Marine and they give me a boy scout."
"Hey, I'm an aviator, too." Harm protested.
"Which only comes in handy if we have to fly something." Nate shot back. "Right now we're humping our way through thirty miles of open desert, we may even right now be in enemy territory and you are cannibalizing parts from an engine in case we run into an SAR team with engine trouble?"
"Just being prepared." Harm rebuffed.
"Like I said, a boy scout." Nate shook his head.
"Made it all the way to Eagle." Harm smiled fondly as they started their hike through the desert.
"At least you and I can agree on one thing." Nate offered.
"Oh yeah, and what's that?" Harm chuckled a little as he and the Marine climbed to the high side of the road.
"We both think Commander Fanelli is innocent." Nate was starting to learn how much weight he could put on the injured leg.
"Well, that's something at least." Harm nodded his appreciation as the two of them moved through the desert.
1826 ZULU
USS NIMITZ
SOMEWHERE IN THE INDIAN OCEAN...
"Will Colonel MacKenzie, Commander Pike, Lieutenant Roberts and Senator Latham please report to the bridge." The Skipper announced. Damn it, he should have figured with the CAG's history that something like this would have happened. Losing his CAG and a United States Senator on a simple mission like this wouldn't look good. His CAG had the respect of every aviator on the boat, most of them would soon enough be on the bridge demanding the right to do flyovers of the area to locate them.
Mac, Bud, Kate and Bobbi all reported to the bridge within a few minutes of each other and there found the Skipper carrying a very grim expression. "Reporting as ordered, sir." Mac answered for the other officers.
"Requested in my case." Bobbi added.
"Well people, there is no easy way to say this." The Skipper started. "Captain Rabb and Senator Ross were en route from the Canadian base at Kandahar to the Marine base southwest of Kabul when their recon vehicle hit an IED on the side of the road."
Mac's face went as white as a ghost, it couldn't be. She couldn't lose both of them at once. Her mind drifted to a thought Harm had once expressed, about how any man who'd ever gotten close to her was either dead or wished he was. It was a cruel twist of fate for this to happen to them...to her. She looked to Bud who looked equally as mortified and Kate who looked about to panic, but trying to hide her own feelings as best she could. Bobbi Latham's stoic demeanour was the product of years spent in politics and the law. She was fond of both Harm and Nate but would likely not show her own concern in front of others out of fear that it would be seen as weakness.
"Are they...uh...are they?" Bud was the first to regain the power of speech but even he couldn't bring himself to use the word.
"No, Lieutenant." The Skipper answered. "After being informed that the Captain and the Senator were en route, the Marines waited for them. But when a two hour trip turned into six hours, the Marines sent out a search and rescue operation. They came across the wreckage, the driver was dead but the other two appear to have proceeded on foot. With darkness having fallen, they'll resume their search in the morning."
"They're giving up on them tonight?" Mac questioned, her rage barely withheld.
"They couldn't find them if they wanted to tonight, Colonel." The Skipper answered. "The Senator and the CAG both have significant levels of survival training tucked under their belt, I think they can survive one night in the desert. While I don't enjoy leaving them out there to the elements and possible ambush by insurgents, and I communicated such to the Marine commander, I'm informed that they are armed and knowing something about their personal histories, I wouldn't want to be any insurgent that decided in favour of ambushing them."
Mac and Bud couldn't help but nod. Harm did have the tendency for getting himself into jams and slowly but surely working his way out of them. Mac had to admit that if either one of them were stranded out in the desert, and she couldn't be out there with them, she couldn't think of anyone better for Nate or Harm to be stranded out there with.
"Will that be all, sir?" Mac looked to the Skipper.
"Those of you who are required to follow my orders, consider this an order to get some shut eye. Those of you not required to follow my orders, consider this a suggestion." The Skipper informed the group. "Dismissed."
Everyone headed back to their quarters, Bud headed for his stateroom while Mac, Bobbi and Kate were all quartered in female officer's country. "You alright, Mac?" Bobbi and Mac might never have been very close but she certainly understood the sheer gravity of what had to be on Mac's mind and felt that as a fellow human she could at least empathize.
"I...uh...I..." Mac strained to swallow the lump in her throat.
"Come on, Colonel, you heard the Skipper. They're not dead, they're armed and the Marines are out there looking for them." Kate intervened.
"That's not the point, Commander." Mac turned on Kate. "Two people I care about are stranded perhaps wounded in what could be enemy territory without back-up. Now, I'm sorry if you don't care enough about Captain Rabb to worry about him in this case but that's your cross to bear."
"Due respect, Colonel, but I think you're the last person in this room that can speak with any clarity about feelings and Captain Rabb." Kate fired right back.
"Commander, do not mistake my current concern for the Senator and the Captain for weakness because if you ever talk to me like that again, I will have no qualms about kicking your Squid ass off the fantail and into the screws, understood?" Mac got right in her face.
"Ladies!" Bobbi stepped in to mediate. "I don't think this kind of behaviour is necessarily productive. Now, we're all tired and in light of the news we just received probably a little emotionally exhausted, I think we can agree that it's probably best to just end this now?"
Mac and Kate tried to stare each other down like a couple of proud lionesses attempting to assert their domain. In this case, who was more concerned about Harm's well being. They both reluctantly nodded. Mac and Bobbi stepped into their guest quarters while Kate continued on to hers. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Senator." Mac looked to Bobbi.
"You care about Harm and Nate, it's understandable." Bobbi folded her arms in front of her chest. "But I'm not sure you had to light up Commander Pike like that."
"She's sleeping with him." Mac muttered in a voice only slightly above a whisper.
"How can you tell?" Bobbi stepped forward, her hands moving to a place on her hips.
"Six years spent with Harm, I just can." Mac answered.
"Then the question becomes, why do you care?" Bobbi pressed on.
"Because she doesn't seem to care he's missing." Mac covered.
"Didn't say it was a question you had to answer to me, just to yourself." Bobbi took a seat on the edge of her rack. "Now, I suggest we heed the Skipper and get some shut eye."
SAME TIME
SOMEWHERE OUTSIDE KABUL...
"Looks like about as good a place as we're going to find to hunker down for the night." Nate and Harm stood at the entrance to a small cave. "Tuck your pants into your boots."
"Why?" Harm looked to his current partner.
"Gets cold out in the desert at night, snakes go looking for a place to stay warm and they've been known to crawl up pant legs or down into combat boots." Nate explained. "Without anti-venom on hand, my only option would be to suck the poison out and with you, pal, the old story about Tonto and the Lone Ranger would come into play."
"Tonto and the Lone Ranger?" Harm questioned as the two of them settled into the cave.
"One day Tonto and the Lone Ranger are out on a ride when Silver throws the Lone Ranger to the ground and a rattler bites him on the balls." Nate started to laugh. "Well the Ranger is doubled over in pain, so he looks to Tonto and says 'Tonto ride back into town and ask the Doc what to do'. So, Tonto beats in back into town, breaks down the door of the doctor's office and asks the Doctor what to do in the event of a snake bite. The Doctor tells him that you've got to seal your lips around the puncture wound and suck the poison out. Tonto thanks the doctor and gets back on his horse chanting 'suck out poison, suck out poison, suck out poison'. Finally he gets back to the Lone Ranger and the Lone Ranger looks at him and says 'Tonto, what did the doctor say?' And with a heavy heart, Tonto looks down at his partner and says 'Doctor says, you gonna die'." Nate finished and he and Harm broke out laughing.
"Your way of saying that if I get myself bit, you're just gonna let me die here?" Harm shoved his shoulder lightly.
"Nah, Mac would probably kill me if I did that." Nate mused. "I'd probably suck the poison out, but you'd owe me."
"Yeah, yeah." Harm replied. There it had finally been brought up. The elephant, as much as he knew Mac would kill him for referring to her as such, in the room with him and Nate. Nate seemed to realize that the uneasiness had reached a new level as well. "Speaking of surviving the cold..."
"I'm not sharing body heat with you." Nate shot him a serious look. "I'd freeze first."
"In which case Mac would kick my ass." Harm commented.
"Fine how you want to do this?" Nate grumbled.
"Head to feet." Harm suggested.
"I gotta spend a night with your ugly, stinking combat boots in my face?" Nate rolled his eyes.
"Hey, I gotta look at your disgusting twisted ankle." Harm shot back.
"Good point." Nate laughed as they settled in. A few minutes of silence passed, Nate hoped the two of them could just get some sleep, he'd wake up in the morning, take the morphine and they'd be on their way.
"Hey, Nate." Harm chanced.
"Yeah." Nate answered drowsily.
"Do you love her?" Harm had to know, like a carnivorous insect it had been eating at him since he'd accidentally overheard the two of them in Jacksonville a few months back.
"Very, very much." Nate answered. He let a few seconds pass, they turned into moments. He was amazed how much that simple little question could keep him awake. "Do you?" He returned the volley. More seconds passed. When he was greeted by a snore, he knew he wasn't getting an answer tonight.