Secrets and Sacrifices
Part 21
The landing is perfect textbook—if you don't count the steep angle of approach and the numerous bumps from the landing strip that can barely be called that. From the conversation he overheard, Harm knows some of Sadik's men will be there to meet them shortly. Fasal, as he identified himself to those on the other end, instructed them to have things ready for their prisoner; Harm didn't like the sound of that.
Gary taxies to the end of the strip, turns the plane to be ready for takeoff and shuts down the engines. From his vantage point in the cockpit Harm can see two jeeps and two trucks approach the aircraft. A commotion ensues in the back of the plane and a few minutes later two of the men enter to speak to Gary. Harm can hear nothing of the whispered conversation. Once again when they're through talking to Gary they turn to Harm.
The one looks to be barely 15; he stares at Harm with contempt in his eyes as he frees him from the restraints. Harm stumbles to his feet before they can pull on his left arm; the right one begins to wake and Harm clenches his jaw until it aches more than his injuries and the arm that is awakening.
Fasal is directing the unloading of the plane into the larger truck. Occasionally one of the smaller boxes is placed into one of the jeeps or the smaller soft-sided truck at his direction. Harm stands by and watches the temporary organization of supplies, for while Fasal would like to put him to work, he's already determined it would be highly inefficient to put an essentially one-armed man to work carrying heavy boxes.
The light slowly bleeds away, the late afternoon sun fading through twilight to the dark of night. The light of the full moon illuminates the loading of the last of the boxes and suddenly Sadik rejoins the group. Fasal and his father engage in a short conversation before everyone scurries for the best seats available—the drivers wait until their respective vehicles are at capacity before resuming their earlier seats. Harm, who has allowed his mind to wander while watching the loading, is steered roughly to the smaller truck, all but tossed inside and forcibly seated on the floor. Sadik is the last one to climb in the back of the truck; he's not ready to advertise he's in the area.
For the next 25 minutes the truck winds and bounces along a trail that can only have been created by following a snake. The men seated on the narrow benches are able to brace themselves against the bouncing; Harm, seated on the floor with nothing to brace against, is not as fortunate. His body, already protesting from the explosion of the two aircraft, the fall from the horse and any of a number of aches, pains and bruises from the journey, is getting even more battered and bruised. A particularly nasty bump throws Harm's leftwards into an open spot on one of the benches; he is concerned to find he barely feels the contact at all. Hesitantly he attempts to block the other hurts out of his mind and concentrate on the one that should be dominating his thoughts. When he fails to find what he's searching for he switches his concentration to trying to make the fingers on his left hand move…without success. Before panic can creep in Harm justifies his failure is due to the wrapping keeping his arm idle—he puts forth the argument that the inactivity had merely put that limb to sleep as it did his right in the plane. He has to admit the argument falls flat and worry begins to seep in to his awareness.
When they finally stop it only takes a moment for Harm to realize it is a temporary situation. Two of the truck's passengers engage in a brief conversation with Sadik before exiting the vehicle. Grunts and groans can be heard from outside, causing Harm to believe they are unloading some of the supplies from the other truck. Since they knew ahead of time what items were being dropped here and what were needed at their ultimate destination and loaded accordingly, it only takes a few minutes to complete the unloading. Two men Harm hasn't seen before climb aboard followed closely by Fasal—apparently the jeeps are not traveling any farther. With an inaudible sigh, Harm mentally sets himself for another uncomfortable ride as the truck begins to move once again.
***
For the first time in three years Mac stops before entering the busy bullpen and simply takes in everything going on in the large room. There have been any number of changes in the last several years, from the orientation of the desks and other furniture in the middle of the area to the personnel changes, both in those seated at the desks in the bullpen as well as the more subtle changes of the occupants situated off the main floor.
***
When AJ angrily forced himself to admit Harm wasn't going to return to JAG, he made the comment that he wanted the office of his former top attorney cleaned out ASAP. Rather than leaving it to one of the petty officers, Mac and Harriet had quickly volunteered for the task.
By 1830 both women had wrapped up their work for the day. Having asked for and received the key to the office from AJ, Mac apprehensively unlocked the door to Harm's office and shoved it open. The blinds to the bullpen were closed, which was not at all unusual—they all closed their blinds when they required privacy or didn't want to be disturbed—what was unusual was the blinds on the outside window were also closed, darkening the room despite the summer sun that was still high in the sky. Mac snapped on the light and stopped abruptly, she was expecting to see the office in the condition she was accustomed to seeing it in. Her first glance made her realize Harm hadn't finished unpacking the boxes that were returned after the NCIS investigation into Singer's death. While it appeared by the empty boxes stacked along the one wall that Harm had been working on getting the office back in order, it looked like he had concentrated on the necessary items first—none of his personal belongings had been unpacked at all. Taking a look at the box on the top of the 'full' stack, Mac let out a cry of dismay upon finding the picture of Harm and her at AJ's christening.
"Ma'am, what's wrong?" Harriet asked.
Mac waved her hand around the room. "He never unpacked any of his things," she told the younger woman.
"He was pretty busy while you were gone; I know he stayed late most nights—I guess he was doing a lot of extra work. I didn't come in here long enough to see what he was doing," Harriet admitted remorsefully. "He cheered me up and I didn't even think to wonder how he was doing," she berated herself.
"You know Harm has always been a very private person; I don't think he'd ever willingly let anyone know if he wasn't happy."
"But as his friend I should have known. I should have seen something was wrong and offered to help."
"Harriet, don't beat yourself up over this," Mac warned.
"But if I had known and done something to help he would have come back."
"Harriet, it's not your fault. He obviously made his own decision. He's even already moved out of his loft; if he'd been planning on coming back, I don't think he'd have moved," Mac stated angrily. "In fact, he must have done the packing before he left for Paraguay. I don't know how he could have gotten out so quickly otherwise."
Harriet agreed reluctantly. "He was distant before he left. I just wonder why he didn't take these things with him when he went."
"Probably didn't want to make anyone suspicious," Mac said snidely—she hid the hurt of him leaving so abruptly behind her anger. "Let's see if there's anything other than his personal belongings in these remaining boxes. If there isn't, we'll just take them and put them in the storage closet for now."
"Yes ma'am." The two suited actions to words and in a few minutes found there wasn't anything but Harm's personal items in the boxes that hadn't yet been unpacked. Mac got a dolly and wheeled them to the storage closet where she placed them into the back corner and shut the door.
***
As she makes her way to her office her eyes drift to the closet where the boxes remain today. Once or twice she'd thought about doing something else with them, but could never bring herself to remove them from the building—almost as if she thought removing the boxes would mean she was admitting he was never coming back. Over the years her anger grew, fighting with the longing she felt for her friend. It was the anger that won out on the ship—until she learned the reasons behind his actions. Immediately the anger disappeared and the need to talk to and see her friend took its place—she can only hope she'll get that chance.
She almost makes it to her office without being seen—Jen looks up from her current assignment to see Mac enter the small room. She wants to share her news with someone and thinks—even though he's been a taboo subject—Mac would like to hear about her former partner. Her knock is met with a quiet command to enter and she does so, slipping in quickly and shutting the door behind her.
"Ma'am, I have to tell you what I found," Jen enthuses.
"What is it?" Mac asks.
"I was working on a project for Admiral Chegwidden; he wanted a list of all JAG's and their duty stations. I was so surprised when I saw Commander, well Captain now, Rabb's name there," Jen confides excitedly.
Mac looks up sharply. "Did the admiral say anything about it?" she asks.
"No ma'am. He just looked over the list like he usually does and dismissed me. You already knew about it, didn't you?" Jen accuses.
"Yes," Mac admits. "Until Admiral Chegwidden or I tell you otherwise, I want you to keep this information to yourself Petty Officer Coates," she says formally.
"But I've already told Lieutenant Roberts."
"Wasn't Bud supposed to be on sick call today?"
"Yes ma'am. He stopped by to pick up some files for court tomorrow. He said he's feeling much better. Anyway, he must have arrived when I found Co…Captain Rabb's name because, well, I think I screamed and he wanted to know what was wrong."
Mac sighs. "I hope the SecNav gives the admiral permission to reveal the whole story soon. Keeping this under wraps just isn't going to work," she mutters to herself.
"Keeping what under wraps?" Jen asks.
Mac is a bit startled at the question. She hadn't meant to say that out loud. "Forget I said that," Mac orders. "I mean it," she reiterates when Jen looks like she wants to protest.
"Yes ma'am."
Mac suddenly remembers the letters and the file in her bag. "Could you let the admiral know I need to see him when he has a minute?" she asks.
Jen recognizes the dismissal for what it is. Somewhat deflated, she crosses the bullpen back to AJ's outer office and repeats Mac's request. AJ is surprised she made it back from the Reprisal so quickly; he agrees to see her immediately. Jen relays the message and tells Mac to go on in when she arrives clutching a large envelope and thick file a very short moment later.