Well, this has been a lousy couple of weeks. We got slammed at work and rather than spending 10 hours a day at work, I've been bringing it home. The paycheck will look pretty good but it seriously cut into my free time. Not only didn't I have time to write, I wound up skipping practices as well - which probably helps explain the tournament this last Sunday that I tanked. *sigh*. Anyway, I truly apologize for the long delay. While it's eased a little bit, I'm still bringing work home. So, while I'm can't promise there won't be any more long periods between updates - I will do my best to avoid them. Hope you all enjoy this.
Chapter 28
Monday,
Undisclosed location
2350 local
Bander shot out of his chair when the MacKenzie woman suddenly bolted upright, looking absolutely terrified, "Colonel MacKenzie?" She didn't respond but continued to stare off into space, her pupils so dilated that her eyes looked black. Bander leaned back in, his entire body taut with anticipation. This had to be it. He ignored the increasing coldness in the room, "Colonel? What is it? What do you see?" Her body jerked, then stiffened and then a torrent of words started pouring out. Bander straightened in shock. She was speaking another language. It was Miwok, he thought, but the dialect was odd and some of the words were unfamiliar. He listened intently, trying to commit the words to memory. MacKenzie seemed to repeating herself, or at least, repeating certain phrases.
Abruptly, she stopped and he nearly swore in frustration. Her body held rigid for another few seconds and then MacKenzie slumped forward, panting like she'd just finished a race. He did swear at that point, reaching forward to grab her arm. There had to be more. His vision had gone on for hours. He never reached her. A mist-like substance appeared, rapidly coalescing into a woman's face, hideously distorted and obviously enraged. Bander yanked his hand back and retreated towards the center of the room. Then he straightened slowly, his own expression darkening. "James! Lonnie! Get in here!" he snapped over his shoulder. Moments later, two men hustled in, guns drawn. They stopped in shock, staring at the apparition and then looked at Bander uncertainly.
"Spread out and aim at MacKenzie," he ordered. "Do it!" he barked when they hesitated. Warily, they did as they were told, eyes still wide as they continued to stare. Satisfied, Bander turned back. It was disconcerting, looking at the bodiless face. The light was pulsing angrily and Bander could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Ignoring that, he took a step forward, his own expression menacing, "You will leave now or my men will kill MacKenzie. I doubt you could stop them both." The room was so cold now, he could see his breath. To his great satisfaction, the spirit retreated a step. He pressed his advantage, taking another step forward, "Go! Now!" His men, emboldened by Bander's example, firmed up their stances, their weapons aimed directly at Mac's head.
The apparition winked out suddenly and Bander couldn't help grinning in triumph. He stepped confidently towards the bed and then all the lights went out. Bander froze as he heard his men swear in surprise. He waited a few seconds and when nothing happened, relaxed slightly. "One of you go get a flashlight," he ordered as he put a hand out and took another step towards MacKenzie. A moment later, he doubled over gasping in pain. It felt like someone had taken a bat to his solar plexus. He was still struggling to breathe when another blow lifted him off his feet and sent him careening backwards. He crashed into another body and they both went down in a tangle of arms and legs. Dimly, he heard James scream and then he passed out.
"Where have you been?" Avis asked Kate as they turned towards Mac.
"The funeral is tomorrow. Ducky released my body. Dad and my brother came to escort me back to Indiana," Kate sounded subdued. "Dad looked so... old."
"I'm sorry," Avis replied quietly. "It's never easy to bury a child." She and Avril had lost several children and the grief had never entirely gone away.
"Well, one funeral is enough." Kate's voice became more determined, "What's wrong with Mac?"
"He drugged her. It had to have been the tea but he drank it, too, and he was fine," Avis said in frustration.
"'The Princess Bride'", Kate moved closer to the bed. Dinozzo's penchant for equating movies with cases must have rubbed off on her. "Mac? Can you hear me?" The Colonel had her face in her hands and she was shaking slightly.
"Sarah? We have to leave," Confused, Avis moved in on the other side. Who in the world was the princess bride and what could it possibly have to do with Sarah? Kate's answer would have to be explained later.
Mac lifted her head a little. "I feel funny," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "My head hurts."
"Snap to, Colonel," Kate ordered firmly, deciding the best way to cut through the drug-induced haze was to address the Marine. "It's time to move out."
Mac straightened slowly and nodded, feeling her head swim. Things were wrong, physically and mentally, but Kate would keep her on track. She dragged her legs off the side of the bed and sat for a moment, gathering herself. Avis was murmuring encouragement. Clenching her jaw, Mac lurched upright and then staggered sideways, hitting the nightstand and knocking the tray containing the tea to the floor. She winced at the crash even as she grabbed the table to stay upright.
"Move it, Marine!" Kate snapped. They had to get out of here. She would be nice later.
Gritting her teeth, Mac stepped forward, one hand out towards the wall. The disjointed feeling was alarming. She felt like a puppet whose strings had been cut. "It's dark," she muttered, more for something to say than because it was a problem. It was actually easier to see now than when the lights were on. They had become blindingly bright. Slowly she moved out of the room, staying near the wall in case her horizon started to tip. Avis stayed close, maintaining a comforting commentary and keeping Mac's anxiety at bay. Kate sounded like she was ranging back and forth. While it seemed like it took an eternity to get out of the small house, it had only been - Mac stiffened suddenly, causing a misstep that sent her to her knees. She had no idea what time it was.
"Sarah?" Avis was right next to her.
Mac shook her head and immediately regretted it. "Where are we?" she asked instead. What the hell had happened? It had to have been the old man but what exactly had he done? More importantly, how long was it going to last? Her mind was already playing tricks on her. Things - figures, really, were appearing in her peripheral vision and then disappearing. There were noises, too. Faded, like it was coming from a distance, a muted roar that chilled her with its despair and rage. She could only hope it never got louder.
"Not sure, the foothills maybe?" Kate answered from behind. "Either way, we need to get some distance before those guys wake up and start looking for you." Not bothering to answer, Mac climbed unsteadily to her feet and started moving.
Tuesday,
FBI Headquarters
Los Angeles, CA
0130 Local
Charlie leaned against the door frame of the conference room and rubbed his eyes, "Don? You got a minute?"
Don looked up from his computer screen, "Yeah, sure." Rising to his feet, he took a moment to stretch before scrubbing fingers through his hair. Don glanced over to where Colby was catching a quick nap, his feet propped up on his desk. These 24-hour shifts just got harder as he got older but he couldn't shake the feeling that time was getting short. He followed Charlie into the conference room, "You find something?"
"I'm not sure," Charlie admitted as he turned back into the conference room. "I've been looking into Liwanu Enterprises, both at their holdings and, well, anything that might give us a handle on this terrorist group."
Don leaned against a desk and folded his arms, "So what did you come up with?"
Charlie sighed, "Liwanu has a massive amount of holdings. They own a number of small to medium sized businesses in a whole range of fields." He sat down at his laptop and started tapping out commands, "Did you know Liwanu is connected to a company that supplies the software for the machinery that distills water aboard Navy ships? And that the USS Nimitz is due for an upgrade in the next day or so?"
Don stared at his brother as his mind galloped through the ramifications and then frowned after a moment, "How did you find that out? Doesn't the Navy keep that sort of thing classified?"
Charlie shifted uncomfortably and shrugged a little, "I may have called in a favor or two. It does concern national security."
"Right," Don shook his head. He kept forgetting how much outside work Charlie did and had done for other agencies. He took a breath, "So they're going to tamper with the water? Make it look clean when it isn't?"
"I don't think it would be that simple," Charlie said slowly. "Once the crew started getting sick, a water test would tell them what the problem was."
"So why sabotage the software?"
"So it can't tell you that the water's been sabotaged?" Charlie leaned back, "I've been reading through the history of Native Americans in California. Did you know the Spanish missionaries that first arrived here enslaved the native tribes, released non-indigenous livestock that destroyed a major portion of their diet and then deliberately spread European diseases? If Bander is looking for revenge, how apropos would it be if he released some sort disease aboard the Nimitz? It's a contained environment. Depending on what he uses, it could move like wildfire through the ship and if it's a designer version, they won't be allowed to return to port until the CDC figures out how to contain it."
Now it was Don who was shifting uncomfortably. Disease as bio-terrorism was one of his worst nightmares. Scientists had been warning the world for years about the possibility of a pandemic with the bird flu and reporting gloomily about how unprepared most governments were. A mutated disease coming out of left field could catch everyone off-guard. "But if he's looking for revenge, why choose a Navy ship? You said it yourself, it's a contained environment. The disease could only spread so far." He couldn't help wincing inwardly as he said that. He'd just suggested that the entire crew of, what - five, six thousand people, were expendable.
Charlie looked as unhappy as Don, "It's a lab experiment. He must not know how well whatever he's got is going to work so he chooses a controlled environment for a test." He glanced down at his laptop, "I've been running different scenarios through the algorithms and this one keeps coming up as most likely."
"But the upgrade doesn't happen for another day or so, so we still have time to stop it," Don rubbed the back of his neck.
"Except that we don't know how he's planning to release the disease or when," Charlie pointed out. "It must have something to do with the water but that's still a pretty big area. The Nimitz has four distilling units that make over 400,000 gallons of potable water per day. He could be after one or all of them."
"And he still has to get on board. How's he going to do that? You can't just stroll onto a Navy ship. At least, not the last time I looked," Don got up to pace. After a few seconds, he pulled out his cell, "We need Rabb back here."
"Now? Don, it's," Charlie looked at his watch, "after 1:30."
"And these guys could already be trying to get on the ship. Rabb might have an idea how they would go about pulling this off. He's served on carriers before."
"He's gonna want to know if we've made any progress in finding the Colonel. What do we tell him? 'Sorry, we decided to go with the more important stuff. Can you quit worrying about Mac for while and give us a hand?'" Charlie asked. "Let me have a couple more hours to see what I can come up with."
Don shook his head, "We're running out of time. I need to contact NCIS and Homeland Security and I'd rather have something more concrete to offer." He punched in the hotel number and then gave the desk Harm's room number. When there was no answer, Don shook his head as he hung up and then redialed. This time he asked for Mac's room number. After a couple of rings, he heard Rabb say 'Hello?'. Don turned slightly away from Charlie, "Hey Harm, it's Don. We think the terrorists are after the Nimitz. I need you back here... yeah... okay, good... I'll come pick you up in a few... yeah, thanks, man." He ended the call and glanced over to find Charlie watching, "What? Look, it didn't sound like Harm was sleeping anyway. He might as well do something constructive." When Charlie raised an eyebrow, Don shrugged, "I'm going to go pick him up. Why don't you figure how where they might have taken Mac?" With that, he turned and strode out of the room, leaving his brother shaking his head.
- - - - -
Tuesday,
Executive Towers Hotel
0220 Local
Harm finished tucking in his uniform blouse and then slid his arm back into the sling. It was getting easier with practice. He checked his watch once more and then turned back to gaze out the window. Don should be here any time now. It was somewhat of a relief when Eppes had called. Harm hadn't been able to get back to sleep since his dream of Avis Payne. He been arguing with himself about it. On one hand, he desperately wanted to believe it wasn't just a dream but an actual visit from Avis' spirit. On the other, it was probably just his subconscious giving him what he hoped and prayed for.
Hearing a quiet knock, Harm headed towards the door, grabbing his cover as he went. Stepping out into the hallway, he fell in beside a tired-looking Don Eppes. Neither man spoke until they'd climbed into Don's SUV. Harm wrestled with the seatbelt for a moment before finally clicking it into place. He looked over at Don, "The Nimitz? Are you sure?"
Don shrugged a little, looking both ways before pulling out onto the street. He automatically checked mirrors for anything suspicious. LA, like New York, never truly slept so there was always some traffic about. He knew they were close to breaking this case and had no intentions of being caught unaware. He finally looked back at Harm, "As certain as Charlie can be about this stuff. What he's saying makes sense - in a twisted sort of way. He thinks Bander's targeting the Nimitz for bio-terrorism, using the ship as a testing ground for whatever he's got. The question is how's he going to get it on board?"
Harm scrubbed at his jaw, "I can think of a couple of ways." He looked over at Don, "Being at Ventura is making a little more sense. The base provides service support for fleet operations. They use civilian contractors, in addition to military personnel. If the Nimitz is in port for a refit before the next deployment then that could be how he's going to do it." Don grunted thoughtfully and there was a brief spate of silence. Harm cleared his throat, "Has Charlie had any time to figure out where Mac might be?"
Don gave him a sideways look, "I think he's working on it now. Look, Harm - "
"Don't worry about it," Harm interrupted as he shook his head, "I know your first priority is this terrorist cell." He turned back to gaze out the window. Logically, he knew that was true but the reality was a little harder to take and he didn't want to snap at Don about it. Harm took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He needed to get his head back in the game. Mac would understand. Hell, she'd kick his six to the curb and back if she found out he'd neglected his obligations, his duty, because of his fear for her. Right now, first priority was finding and stopping the terrorist cell. After that, all bets were off until he'd located Mac.
Silence fell again until they reached the bullpen. Colby was awake once more and both he and David were diligently typing away at their computers. Don took it as a hopeful sign that they'd gotten a break on collaborating Charlie's theory. Colby glanced up first as they approached, frowning just a little when he saw Harm. Last he'd heard, the Commander was taking a break. Shaking his head, he focused on Don, "Hey, I think we might be on to something."
"Yeah?" Don couldn't help sounding hopeful.
"Yeah," David answered, turning from his own computer. "We found one of the contractors at Ventura hired half a dozen more workers two weeks ago and it's not that big a firm. They're scheduled to deliver generator parts to the Nimitz tomorrow."
"Is there a connection to Liwanu?" Don grew more intense.
"Not officially, it's not a subsidiary," David paused for a brief second to glance at the screen, "But the contractor is Vince Hawks, who happens to be half Miwok, like Bander."
Harm moved in closer, "Can you pull up who he hired?" If either Husam or Rashid were part of the group, they had confirmation of their terrorist cell - or, at least, a good chunk of it.
"'Fraid not," Colby answered this time. "He didn't post this online. We were going over contractor records and noticed the increase in personnel at Hawks' company. Like David said, it's not a big company, six new hires stood out."
"When are they making the delivery?" Don jumped back in.
When Colby started to shrug, Harm moved to a phone, "I can probably get an answer to that. I need to alert the San Diego NCIS office anyway." He glanced over at Don who nodded his agreement, "It's not going to take six guys to deliver parts, just one or two. Is there any other government contracts with Hawks?" Harm directed his last question to David and Colby. Both men turned back to their computers and started typing again. Harm watched them for a second and then picked up the handset, "How do I dial out of here?"
- - - - - -
Tuesday,
Undisclosed location
0045 Local
Bander looked up and scowled as James and Lonnie walked back in the house. "Nothing?"
James shook his head, "It's black as pitch out there, sir. She could be ten feet away and if we missed her with the flashlights, we'd pass her right by."
"Dammit!" Bander thumped a fist on the arm of the chair he was sitting in and then winced. He felt like he'd been run over by a truck. His body ached and his head was pounding relentlessly. The worst part was that he'd made a huge mistake. He'd begun by attempting to ingratiate himself with MacKenzie and was pretty sure he'd been succeeding when she'd gone into her vision. Surprised, he'd gotten greedy. When she stopped, he'd fallen back into old habits and tried to force her to continue. He'd arrogantly assumed he could handle MacKenzie's guardians. Well, he'd learned his lesson. Bander gingerly rubbed his temple and then glanced up at James and Lonnie. They were still by the front door, patently expecting some sort of punishment. He waved a hand, "It's all right, I know you did your best. Why don't you both turn in and we'll get a fresh start at daybreak?"
The two men exchanged startled glances and then nodded slowly. After they left, Bander propped an elbow on the armchair and rested his chin on his fist. Dawn would be in about 6 hours. The peyote usually lasted from 12 to 14 hours so MacKenzie could still be experiencing visions when they caught up with her. His biggest fear was that she would wander off a cliff or fall into a ravine and break her fool neck before he could talk to her again. There'd been one bright spot in this whole mess and that had been the words she'd spoken earlier. The language had been that of the Miwok but a number of words had been unfamiliar. He'd gotten the gist of it, however. She'd been calling on the gods for the death and destruction of the invaders. Bander smiled grimly to himself. His ancestors had finally made themselves clear and he had every intention of fulfilling their request. Husam and his group were in position and awaiting his word. They would get that word in the morning. This house was isolated in almost every way, including cellphone reception. He would have to drive out to the main road and head north a little ways.
In the meantime - Bander heaved himself up and limped over to the window. Staring out into the inky darkness, he considered his options. He had every confidence they would find MacKenzie in the morning. There was no way she could have gotten far in her condition, guardian spirits or not. Once he had her back, he would have to decide what to do with her. It was as a conduit to the spirit world that she was most useful. That would probably require keeping her on the peyote. While he knew of practitioners who used it regularly without adverse side effects, he didn't know of anyone who'd ever stayed on it 24/7. It probably wasn't a good idea. He truly didn't want to kill her, he just wanted her under his control.
Bander leaned his head against the windowpane as he continued to gaze out into the night. Those damned spirit guides of hers complicated everything. Despite what Johnny had said, he hadn't really believed that spirits could harm a person physically. He touched his abdomen and grimaced, he certainly believed it now. So, anything he attempted with MacKenzie would have to take her guardians into account. Either he'd have to be extremely clever and get MacKenzie's willing cooperation or he'd have to place her in a situation where opposition to his wishes from either her or her guardians would result in death. He smiled grimly to himself. Of course, maneuvering her into that sort of situation would require a great deal of ingenuity as well. First and foremost, however, they had to find her.
- - - - -
Unknown location
0120 Local
Mac put a tentative hand out until she made contact with the bark of the large tree in front of her. With a bit of a cross between a tired sigh and groan, she used its support to lower herself to the ground. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head back against the tree trunk. At some point this nightmare had to end. She was tired and not just physically. She was tired of being hunted, tired of feeling like she was stumbling through a funhouse, tired of the disturbing images and sounds that kept impinging on her consciousness.
Kate and Avis had helped keep her from being caught again, steering her away from the lights that swept the area. Wherever this place was, there was very little else around aside from trees and rocks. She'd crossed what could charitably be called a road - two dirt tracks worn into the flora. The only sounds were those of the night creatures, crickets, frogs, cicadas and an occasional owl. There weren't any traffic sounds, no reflective glow of city lights, nothing to tell her where the hell she might be - and she still didn't know what time it was. That had her more rattled than she cared to admit. She'd experienced temporary lapses before but that was all they'd been - temporary. Mac couldn't help the slight smile as she remembered that Harm had a foolproof method of making her lose track. She sobered quickly knowing he had to be out of his mind with worry. Opening her eyes, she stared out into the dark. There was no moon, making the stars even more brilliant. Mac smiled again, remembering another beautiful night when Harm had pretended to snatch a star out of the sky and then presented her with a diamond engagement ring. So much had happened since then and through it all, her sailor had been phenomenal. She still didn't know exactly what she'd ever done to deserve someone like him. Mac swiped at her eyes before looking up at the sky. She would get through this somehow and get back to him.
As she stared up at the stars, a deeper darkness slid away from the shadows under the trees. Mac caught the movement out of the corner of her eye and stiffened. She watched as it was joined by others, forming a loose circle. Mac pushed herself back harder against the tree, her heart pounding faster. This was new, "Kate? Avis?" Her voice quavered slightly. She already learned not to trust her perceptions very much. The line between real and surreal was blurred and she couldn't tell if the shadows were actually there or if her mind was screwing with her again.
"We're here, Sarah," Avis' voice came from her right side.
"Do you see them?" Mac whispered uncertainly.
"See what?" Kate's voice came from her other side.
"Oh god, not again" Mac muttered, blinking rapidly a couple of times. It did nothing to clear her vision. The shadows advanced suddenly and she jerked back, wincing as she banged her head on the tree. "It's not real," she told herself firmly but her body didn't seem to be listening. Her heart was hammering and she was beginning to shake. The background roar was becoming louder, individual voices becoming more distinct. They were screaming in fear and despair.
The shadows moved again, becoming larger and darker. Unable to control her reaction, Mac scrambled backwards. Her hand slipped on a large rock and she glanced down and then recoiled in horror. The rock was a skull. It was then she realized the ground around the tree was covered with bones. Mac struggled to her feet, trying not to touch anything. Panting, she braced against the trunk and squeezed her eyes shut, on the edge of panic. The terror-filled screaming filled her mind and ears making it nearly impossible to think. Mac could literally feel her control slipping away. Suddenly she bolted, desperate to escape.
"Mac!" "Sarah!" Kate and Avis spoke at nearly the same time and then took off after the Marine. They easily kept up but neither could convince her to stop her stumbling flight. Mac was beyond listening.
Avis couldn't help wincing every time Sarah careened into a tree or tripped and hit the ground. Each time, the woman staggered up and continued her flight. Whatever she was seeing or hearing in her drug-induced haze had her in a blind panic. At some point, her body would simply refuse to continue. Knowing just how stubborn Sarah was, Avis was frightened that her physical collapse could be closely followed by death. "Can you stop her?" she called to Kate. Sarah's pace was beginning to slow.
"Not for long," Kate answered grimly from her position just in front of the Marine Colonel. The longest she'd been able to maintain physical contact had been about 45 seconds and that had been with Avis' help. That wouldn't be nearly enough. "Can you get through to her when I do?"
"I must."
Kate grimaced at the clear implications behind that statement, "Okay, get ready." A minute or so later, Mac stumbled and Kate made her move. Catching her on the shoulder, Kate knocked the brunette over onto her back and then pinned her shoulders to the ground. "Avis! Now!" Kate ground out as she tried to hold the frantically struggling Marine. She caught a flash of movement, Mac went rigid for a split second and then completely limp. Worried, Kate released her hold, "Mac? Can you hear me?" She glanced around and realized with a start that Avis was gone, too.
