Red Mittens and a Rose Garden – the Trisha Pike Chronicles,
Ch24 – "Person of interest"
A/N: AU. What if there was a long-term consequence to the weekend romp between Lt Caitlin Pike and Lt Harmon Rabb Jr at that motel back in the summer of 1996? What is the responsible way to deal with an unexpected aftermath?
A/N – link to Canon Episodes: A "post-canon" timeline puts this into "JAG Season 24…" (solely for those who want to count! "Season 24" would start broadcasting around 20-Sep-2018).
A/N: Publication date: 13-06-2020:And now, a bit of light relief, showing how an assembly of information can be woefully wide of the truth.
Notes: Mike, UK, 13-Jun-2020 – msg... Beginning the response to my (anonymous) guest's suggestion. (Dear "anonymous", please feel free to PM me, because I would like to bounce a couple of further ideas off you).
Characters from FFNET – C Pike, H Rabb jr, Faith McBurney-Coleman plus OC
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Ch24 – "Person of interest"
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Saturday 3rd November 2018, 11:55hrs EDT
Galway Bay Irish Pub and bar, 63 Maryland Ave, Annapolis MD, VA 21401:
"I tell you guys, he is just so cute. Mom and Dad are wiped out after five weeks, but Mom is producing enough milk so he's happy. Plus, Dad can use expressed milk for the middle-of-the-night feeds, to give Mom a chance to sleep."
Trisha hugged herself in excitement, then looked up as Samantha Wilkinson arrived with a tray of drinks, placed it on the meeting room table then sat with her hand on Tony Lee's shoulder. This was the furthest limit that Samantha and Tony would allow themselves until they were released from the strictures of the USNA honour code. Tony raised his hand across his chest to cover – then grasp – Sam's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. He swivelled his head to gaze adoringly into her eyes. This was one young man who was entirely happy to have fallen for "the charms of an older woman" as the other Horsemen had jokingly described his situation.
"Hey Sam, what's with the drinks?"
Sam looked scornfully at RV. "Randolph Galindez, can you seriously not remember your first anniversary of the meeting, here in this very pub, with that glorious creature who stands there alongside you?"
Simultaneously, Trisha and RV gasped at their mutual amnesia, then laughed and hugged.
"Oh how could we forget that?" RV swung around, his expression full of guilt and remorse – to find the expressions mirrored in Trisha's eyes.
"Oh you are going to have such fun telling your children about this first anniversary" Tom McGee laughed.
The celebratory lunch ran into the afternoon before the grouping inevitably broke up to head off in different directions. Trisha was already lined up to help her parents with Samuel, so RV had volunteered to escort her back onto the campus.
After lunch, the midshipmen paired up as they left the pub, with Tom and Anna making up a de-facto pairing in parallel with Tony/Samantha matching "TP & RV".
No-one took any notice of the anonymous SUV with blacked-out windows, parked across the street.
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Saturday 17th November 2018, 13:32hrs EDT
Starbucks coffee shop, near Lee Airport-ANP airport,
3059 Solomons Island Rd, Edgewater, MD 21037:
Harm pulled into the Starbucks parking lot and parked up. Walking across from the outside seat where she had been waiting, Trisha greeted him with a coffee as she wheeled her bike around back to load it into the Lexus.
She closing the tailgate, she hopped into the passenger seat of the Lexus as Harm set off towards the Airfield just down the street.
The dark SUV followed Harm's vehicle at a discrete distance.
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Saturday 17th November 2018, 13:50hrs EDT
Lee Airport-ANP, 3090 Solomons Island Rd, Edgewater, MD 21037:
Harm and Trisha shared the pre-flight walk-round to ensure that the Stearman was fit to fly. The aeroplane had been refuelled on its return after its last outing, so once the checks were complete, Harm and Trisha were ready to taxi. A short run brought the Stearman to the runway threshold, whence they launched into a clear sky.
Trisha had previously worked out the routing, so Harm took a relaxed seat In the rear cockpit as his aviatrix daughter rolled off the waypoints and mileposts as they flew some 95 miles eastwards to Rehoboth Beach and out over the Atlantic before turning north to cross the coastline over Cape Henlopen on the eastern coast of Delaware. She then set her course resolutely westwards, back to Edgewater.
A blissful two-hour flight out over the eastern land mass saw them returning to the airfield ahead of sunset (due at 16:50hrs). The aircraft had been fully refuelled and carefully pushed back into the hangar before they left the airfield. Trisha peeled off her woolly hat and loosely re-set her hair into its ponytail as she walked alongside her father back to his Lexus. Both were smiling with the exhilaration of their airborne adventure in the fresh air during the afternoon.
It made a lovely shot, with the middle-aged man strolling shoulder-to-shoulder with the tall, long-legged woman in her early twenties.
Neither of them noticed the camera team in the back of the black SUV.
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Monday 19th November 2018, 10:55hrs EDT
Faculty of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, USNA, Annapolis MD, 21401:
Trisha had presented her update on her project; the Faculty were very impressed. Along with RV Galindez as her "code master", her project was cleared for the next phase.
All the faculty members were appreciative and complimentary of her work. RV basked in the reflected glory of TP's efforts, knowing that he was a crucial element in her continued success. She turned to him and winked, flashing him a big smile.
The proposed scaling-up of the idea would need her to travel down to Newport News construction dockyard, to meet with the marine engineers who would be assisting her with "productionising" her idea onto a trial implementation on a small landing craft.
Trisha shivered slightly – December on the open water would be a little cold. Nevertheless, she was pleased that her project had been selected to continue. This would do her attainment record no harm at all – and her parents would be proud. She would just need t break out her "flying underwear" to ensure that she stayed warm during the site visit.
In reality, she always knew that her parents were proud of her!
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Saturday 15th December 2018, 13:28hrs EDT
Starbucks coffee shop, near Lee Airport-ANP airport,
3059 Solomons Island Rd, Edgewater, MD 21037:
Trisha met Harm as he arrived, loading her bike into the loadspace of the Lexus once more. They then adjourned to the coffee shop to catch up on the past fortnight. Trisha had been away on a girls' weekend in Philadelphia the previous weekend, having spent most of her spare time during November assisting her Mom with caring for Samuel.
"So, how is your engineering project going?" Harm asked as they settled into a booth.
"Well, the first onsite meeting took place at the end of November. The marine engineers really like the idea and we are developing a test rig down in Newport." She smiled. "It's one heck of a drive – just over 200 miles each way."
"Well, be careful on the road, especially in this weather. Think about taking my Lexus if the Academy won't provide a vehicle for the trip. I'm pleased that you are making a name for yourself – when's the next visit?"
"We have weekly videoconferences but the next trip (weather permitting) will be the second week of January. The concept rig should be ready to go into the water in early February." Trisha leaned forward, placing her hand on Harm's forearm. "I am so excited – to see engineers fabricating my ideas (plus RV's coding skills on display)."
Harm returned the gesture, gently caressing the back of his daughter's hand.
Neither of them noticed the apparently-loving couple in the corner, nor the camera lens protruding through the woman's long dark hair.
"Come on then daughter, let's get airborne."
"Aye-aye, sir."
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Saturday 22nd December 2018 – 19:39hrs EST
Superintendent's Apartment, The Buchanan House, US Naval Academy, Annapolis MD:
"Harm, do you have a good sense of humour and did you see Trisha on your travels this morning?" asked Caitlin, as her husband strolled back through the front door after his Sunday morning walk around the Academy grounds.
"Nope, I suspect that the Horsemen were out for a drink last night. Why?"
Trisha held up a copy of that weekend's "National Inquisition" tabloid rag gutter-press newspaper.
Splashed across the front, with several photographs clearly taken in a variety of locations, was the headline:
"Academy admiral undertakes private 'classes' with young female midshipman"
As they reached the "exclusive photo report" on page seven, they were already beginning to laugh.
Caitlin began to read the report. "Today, we report on a seeming reversion to the military scandals of the 1991 Tailhook military convention in Las Vegas. A highly-decorated admiral in the US Navy – Harmon Rabb (54), the Superintendent of the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, no less – has been conducting liaisons with a young female midshipman who is young enough to be his daughter. This includes off-site trysts and private flying lessons in his vintage bi-plane, plus evening and overnight rendezvous in his official residence, Buchanan House on the Academy campus."
Together, Harm and Caitlin began laughing.
"You'd better call our daughter; someone's going to be funding her next house with libel payments."
"Sure thing darling." Caitlin paused, pursing her lips to resist another smile: "You know Harm, you photograph well – for an old guy!"
"Idiot! But I love you anyway, Mrs Rabb."
"Yeah well, Harm – I am thinking libel and I am thinking compensation into our daughter's fund for a new home."
"I sense a job for your employers at Lowell, Hanson law offices. But I'd better ring Faith to alert her. We don't want anyone in the Academy seriously believing this garbage."
He sighed: "You know, Caitlin, this may be the end of Trisha's anonymity around the Academy. She still has 18 months to graduation. Somebody is going to pay for this invasion of my daughter's privacy."
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End Ch24 – "Person of interest"
Notes: Mike, UK, 13-Jun-2020 – msg...
++++++++++++Cut above here for FFN Publication.