Part Five
Memphis NAS
JAG office
1518 Local
Harm stopped to ask where Cmdr. Brighton's office was and then hurried across the bullpen. He rapped on the doorframe and stuck his head in, "Mac?"
Mac looked up wearily, "Yes?"
Harm walked the rest of the way into the office, "I just talked to Lt. Singer."
"Fine." Mac looked back down at the file in front of her.
"Mac, c'mon, we need to clear a few things up." Harm said in exasperation, he really wanted to explain.
"Not here and not now," Mac kept her eyes on the papers on the desk. She didn't want to think about it, much less talk.
"Mac... at least look at me." Why the hell did she have to be so difficult?
She raised her eyes and gave him a flat look. "Commander, I'm sure you have some very reasonable explanations, but it doesn't change what I said before. This is not the time nor the place and I'd appreciate it if you'd leave me some shred of dignity. Now if you'll excuse me... " She returned her attention to the file, not bothering to see if he left or not.
Harm stared at her, then turned around and walked out. Goddammit, she was stubborn! He went back to the conference room and sat down without a word. Singer started to speak and he silenced her with a glare. Something was going on with Mac and he didn't like it. He thought he'd seen her in almost every mood over the years, but there was something here that was disturbing. He couldn't remember the last time Sarah MacKenzie had walked away from a fight. He felt slightly shocked at the idea. It seemed inconceivable that she would just quit. Harm frowned to himself, dammit, what was wrong with her?
Mac sat back and bleakly regarded the files in front of her. She felt overwhelmingly tired. It had been doubly deflating to discover the Admiral thought it necessary to send Harm out here. She always seemed to be beating her head against a wall, maybe it was time to give up and get out. Mac sighed ruefully and ran a hand through her hair. She'd think about it later. Right now, at least, she would keep her word to Cmdr. Brighton and give the Jarvis case her full attention. She leaned forward and began going through the notes again. A slight sound made her look up, Ensign Tyler stood nervously in the doorway, holding a can of Coke and a cup. She gave him a warm smile, he was a nice kid. "Yes, Tyler?"
"Umm, ma'am? I thought you might like something to drink, you've been in here a while." He held up the soda. He'd been out in the bullpen the last hour doing his best to quash the 'Long-suffering Lieutenant and the Crazy Colonel' rumors. He liked Colonel MacKenzie, she reminded him of Cmdr. Brighton. Right from the start, she had treated him like... he searched his memory for the phrase he'd read once... 'like a fellow member in the profession of arms.' At any rate, he was familiar with people like Lt. Singer. He was from a large extended family and grown up with one or two. They'd smile sweetly at you while kicking the crutches out from under a cripple. Then they'd scream to everyone within earshot about what you had done.
"Tyler?" The Colonel's voice broke him out of his reverie. He blushed furiously, he'd been standing there looking at her like some kind of dolt. Gritting his teeth, he met her eyes only to see her regarding him patiently without a hint of amusement. At that moment, he would have followed her anywhere.
"Thank you Ensign, that was very thoughtful of you," Mac said gravely. She thought she detected the beginnings of a crush, there was no way she would embarrass the young man by laughing at him. She accepted the soda and waved towards a chair, "Do you have a minute, Tyler?" He nodded eagerly and dropped into the chair.
Mac looked down at Brighton's notes again, he was right - something was off. She looked back up at Tyler, "I talked to Cmdr. Brighton earlier today. He asked me to look into a case he was working on: Alan Jarvis?" At Tyler's nod, she continued, "He said you had given him a hand and suggested that you might be able to help me as well. Would you be interested?"
"Yes ma'am!" Tyler said enthusiastically.
"Good." Mac stood up and began gathering papers. Closing her briefcase, she looked at Tyler and smiled, "Let's go talk to some people." She walked through the bullpen and gestured for the ensign to continue. Knocking on the doorframe, she looked into Lt. Barker's office. Waving to him to keep his seat, she said, "I'm going to need Ensign Tyler for a couple of hours, while I conduct some interviews. Would you arrange for additional transportation for Cmdr. Rabb and Lt. Singer? Thank you." She strode out of the office.
Catching up with Tyler in the parking lot, she stood and looked at him while she contemplated her plans. As the silence stretched out, he had to force himself not to fidget. Finally, Mac said, "Ensign, I think we'll go to Supply first and talk with Jarvis' CO." She gave him a small grin, "And I think we'll go the whole nine yards. Feel like playing the overawed and slightly stupid junior officer to my overbearing and disdainful officer from the East?"
Ten minutes later, they pulled into Supply. "Showtime," Mac said softly from the back seat. On the drive over, she had filled him in on what she needed him to do. Tyler scurried around to the passenger side, opened her door and popped to attention. Mac got out and swept past him. Quickly, he shut the door and hustled past her to open the door to the building. She sailed through without slackening her pace or acknowledging his presence. Marching up to the front desk, she eyed the staff sergeant standing at attention. "Lt. Col. MacKenzie of the Headquarters JAG. I'm here to see Captain Harvester.
"Yes ma'am. Is he expecting you?" the sergeant asked.
Mac raised an eyebrow and said coolly, "Would it matter? This is the only time I could find to fit him into my schedule. Where is he?"
"I believe he's still in his office, ma'am. Would you like me to check?"
"Yes, sergeant." Mac snapped, "I'd like to keep my wandering around this godforsaken base to a minimum."
The sergeant flushed and picked up the phone. He spoke quietly for a moment and then looked at Mac. "He's waiting for you, Colonel. Second floor, third office on the right."
Mac turned and walked off without another word. Tyler gave the sergeant an apologetic look and hurried after her. He made it onto the elevator just as the doors closed. Mac glanced at him and said with an amused smile, "You jump quite well, Ensign Tyler."
He smiled back, "My mama's southern-born and bred, Colonel MacKenzie. I've had a lot of practice."
When the elevator doors opened, he was standing silently behind her once again. Mac marched through the office area, walked into Captain Harvester's office and shut the door. Tyler looked around the area and headed for an empty desk. He looked over at a petty officer and asked, "Is it okay if I sit here? That colonel is going to run the feet right off of me."
"Sure, go ahead," said the petty officer sympathetically. "Who's the Ice Queen?"
"Some big-shot JAG lawyer from Washington," Tyler replied. "She can't believe she's out here in the back-end of nowhere looking into that UA case and she's taking it out on me." He gave a long-suffering sigh. He looked at the computer, "Hey, are there any games on this thing?"
"I think so," the petty officer said, "Check the harddrive. I don't play that much, Al was the expert."
"Really good, huh?" Tyler was staring at the screen, hitting keys.
"Oh yeah, a real technogeek. There wasn't anything he couldn't do with a computer. He revamped our entire inventory setup. Captain Harvester called him our 'secret weapon'. He didn't want the brass to find out and transfer him somewhere else." The petty officer seemed to realize he was babbling and trailed off.
"Can't blame him for that," Tyler agreed amicably, "Once the brass sets their sights on you, your whole life goes to hell." He looked around, "Is Al here? Maybe he can tell me how to get past Level 15, that's where I always crash and burn."
"Uhhh... " the petty officer hesitated uncomfortably.
Tyler's eyebrows rose in surprise, "He's the UA? Man, I hope that colonel doesn't find him. She'll tear strips right out of his hide." Just then, the door to Harvester's office opened. Tyler jumped and hurriedly hit some keys, "Gotta go." He ran after Mac as she strode out of the office. They kept quiet until Tyler had pulled away from the curb.
Mac smiled when she saw Tyler look in the rearview mirror. "Let's find someplace out of the way to eat and compare notes, Ensign."
Memphis NAS
JAG office
1645 Local
Harm sat back and watched Singer interview another of the accused. There hadn't been much to do. The FBI had caught them dead-to-rights, the MPs had taken it from there. It'd been a matter of crossing t's and dotting i's. So far, all those interviewed were willing to deal out of court. They just had to decide the degree of punitive action. This was the only area where he had to keep an eye on Singer. She'd have someone walking the plank if she thought it would look good in her record. Mostly, he kept half an ear on the proceedings, and worried about Mac. If he could get her to agree to dinner with him, maybe she'd let him explain. The harder part would be getting her to talk. He looked over at Singer when he heard her address him.
"That's it except for Cmdr. Brighton, sir."
"Fine Lieutenant, we'll catch him in the morning and finish up." He paused and then said, "Nice work, Lauren. Let's call it a day, I could use a break and I'm sure you could too." He stood up and walked to the conference room door. Looking out, he saw that Cmdr. Brighton's office was dark. He headed over to Lt. Barker's office and looked in, "Lieutenant? Do you know where Col. MacKenzie went?"
"No sir, she just said she needed Ensign Tyler while she went to conduct some interviews and that she'd be gone for a couple of hours. I've lined up Petty Officer Fazzio to fill in as your driver until Tyler gets back."
Harm grunted to himself in annoyance, what was she doing? He looked back at Barker, "Thank you, Lieutenant. If Col. MacKenzie returns here, would you tell her I'm at the VOQ?" He'd get cleaned up and give the Admiral a call. He had a feeling neither one of them would enjoy the conversation. Harm glanced back to see a tall, thin petty officer approaching along with Lt. Singer. "Lieutenant, I'm going to the VOQ. I'll see you at 0830 tomorrow." He turned and left, the petty officer hurrying after.
Memphis NAS
1740 Local
Tyler glanced over at Colonel MacKenzie as they drove onto the base. They'd just spent over an hour with Alan Jarvis' wife. The Colonel had proved to be a quiet and sympathetic listener. Mrs. Jarvis had been grateful to have an attentive audience and been remarkably open. The elusive petty officer was coming more and more into focus.
Mac gazed out the window with a thoughtful frown on her face. The first thing that had come to mind upon hearing of the missing petty officer's computer prowess was arms theft. The only way to know for sure would be a physical inventory to compare with the computer inventory. She devoutly hoped it wouldn't lead to some nutty militia group. She'd had enough of them with Lt. Rivers. Still, there were enough anomalies to convince her it wouldn't be quite that simple. All in all, it was an intriguing puzzle. She'd spread it all out in her quarters and see if something clicked. Maybe she could get Harm to take a look.
Mac sighed a little and gave a small smile when Tyler glanced her way. That was assuming Harm was speaking to her. He was probably angry after she'd blown him off and left him to Singer this afternoon. That line of thought brought her back to the dismal matter of Chegwidden's lack of confidence. Damn... she'd managed to shove it to the back of her mind while dealing with the Jarvis UA. Obviously, she'd have to resign as his chief of staff. Maybe she could a permanent posting back on the Guadalcanal. It would be considered a step back career-wise but hell, her career was probably dead in the water anyway. For that matter, maybe Webb could find something for her. Being official CIA couldn't be any more dangerous than being ad hoc CIA...
Mac looked up in surprise when the car came to a halt. They were at the VOQ. Tyler hurried around to her side and opened the door for her. She grabbed her briefcase and climbed out. Turning to look at the Ensign, she gave him a tired smile, "Thank you for all your help this afternoon, Tyler. You're going to be a hell of an investigator. I'll see you in the morning." Mac heard her name being called and turned to look over her shoulder. Harm was just coming out of the VOQ.
Tyler heard an odd little clatter and glanced down at the pavement. A small round object came skittering out from under the car. His eyes widened in shock, "GRENADE!" He had a brief glimpse of the startled look on the Colonel's face before he hit her with a flying tackle that would have made his coaches proud. His momentum carried them halfway across the car hood before the detonation blew them off the rest of the way. They hit with a bone-jarring thump and rolled to a halt. A second explosion told him the car had just gone up. He hugged the ground and covered his head, wincing as debris rained down on them.
Harm stared in shock even as he hit the ground during the first explosion. He started scrambling towards Mac and the ensign, hitting the ground again when the car blew up. He was up and running before all the pieces landed. He was the first to reach them, yanking off chunks of metal, heedless of the sharp edges. Tyler groaned and rolled onto his side, holding his head. He was covered with cuts from debris. Harm concentrated on Mac. She hadn't moved. Harm winced when he saw blood flowing from a metal shard embedded in her forearm. He put a couple of fingers on the side of her neck, tentatively searching for a pulse and heaved a sigh of relief. He could hear sirens approaching in the distance.
Memphis NAS
JAG office
1518 Local
Harm stopped to ask where Cmdr. Brighton's office was and then hurried across the bullpen. He rapped on the doorframe and stuck his head in, "Mac?"
Mac looked up wearily, "Yes?"
Harm walked the rest of the way into the office, "I just talked to Lt. Singer."
"Fine." Mac looked back down at the file in front of her.
"Mac, c'mon, we need to clear a few things up." Harm said in exasperation, he really wanted to explain.
"Not here and not now," Mac kept her eyes on the papers on the desk. She didn't want to think about it, much less talk.
"Mac... at least look at me." Why the hell did she have to be so difficult?
She raised her eyes and gave him a flat look. "Commander, I'm sure you have some very reasonable explanations, but it doesn't change what I said before. This is not the time nor the place and I'd appreciate it if you'd leave me some shred of dignity. Now if you'll excuse me... " She returned her attention to the file, not bothering to see if he left or not.
Harm stared at her, then turned around and walked out. Goddammit, she was stubborn! He went back to the conference room and sat down without a word. Singer started to speak and he silenced her with a glare. Something was going on with Mac and he didn't like it. He thought he'd seen her in almost every mood over the years, but there was something here that was disturbing. He couldn't remember the last time Sarah MacKenzie had walked away from a fight. He felt slightly shocked at the idea. It seemed inconceivable that she would just quit. Harm frowned to himself, dammit, what was wrong with her?
Mac sat back and bleakly regarded the files in front of her. She felt overwhelmingly tired. It had been doubly deflating to discover the Admiral thought it necessary to send Harm out here. She always seemed to be beating her head against a wall, maybe it was time to give up and get out. Mac sighed ruefully and ran a hand through her hair. She'd think about it later. Right now, at least, she would keep her word to Cmdr. Brighton and give the Jarvis case her full attention. She leaned forward and began going through the notes again. A slight sound made her look up, Ensign Tyler stood nervously in the doorway, holding a can of Coke and a cup. She gave him a warm smile, he was a nice kid. "Yes, Tyler?"
"Umm, ma'am? I thought you might like something to drink, you've been in here a while." He held up the soda. He'd been out in the bullpen the last hour doing his best to quash the 'Long-suffering Lieutenant and the Crazy Colonel' rumors. He liked Colonel MacKenzie, she reminded him of Cmdr. Brighton. Right from the start, she had treated him like... he searched his memory for the phrase he'd read once... 'like a fellow member in the profession of arms.' At any rate, he was familiar with people like Lt. Singer. He was from a large extended family and grown up with one or two. They'd smile sweetly at you while kicking the crutches out from under a cripple. Then they'd scream to everyone within earshot about what you had done.
"Tyler?" The Colonel's voice broke him out of his reverie. He blushed furiously, he'd been standing there looking at her like some kind of dolt. Gritting his teeth, he met her eyes only to see her regarding him patiently without a hint of amusement. At that moment, he would have followed her anywhere.
"Thank you Ensign, that was very thoughtful of you," Mac said gravely. She thought she detected the beginnings of a crush, there was no way she would embarrass the young man by laughing at him. She accepted the soda and waved towards a chair, "Do you have a minute, Tyler?" He nodded eagerly and dropped into the chair.
Mac looked down at Brighton's notes again, he was right - something was off. She looked back up at Tyler, "I talked to Cmdr. Brighton earlier today. He asked me to look into a case he was working on: Alan Jarvis?" At Tyler's nod, she continued, "He said you had given him a hand and suggested that you might be able to help me as well. Would you be interested?"
"Yes ma'am!" Tyler said enthusiastically.
"Good." Mac stood up and began gathering papers. Closing her briefcase, she looked at Tyler and smiled, "Let's go talk to some people." She walked through the bullpen and gestured for the ensign to continue. Knocking on the doorframe, she looked into Lt. Barker's office. Waving to him to keep his seat, she said, "I'm going to need Ensign Tyler for a couple of hours, while I conduct some interviews. Would you arrange for additional transportation for Cmdr. Rabb and Lt. Singer? Thank you." She strode out of the office.
Catching up with Tyler in the parking lot, she stood and looked at him while she contemplated her plans. As the silence stretched out, he had to force himself not to fidget. Finally, Mac said, "Ensign, I think we'll go to Supply first and talk with Jarvis' CO." She gave him a small grin, "And I think we'll go the whole nine yards. Feel like playing the overawed and slightly stupid junior officer to my overbearing and disdainful officer from the East?"
Ten minutes later, they pulled into Supply. "Showtime," Mac said softly from the back seat. On the drive over, she had filled him in on what she needed him to do. Tyler scurried around to the passenger side, opened her door and popped to attention. Mac got out and swept past him. Quickly, he shut the door and hustled past her to open the door to the building. She sailed through without slackening her pace or acknowledging his presence. Marching up to the front desk, she eyed the staff sergeant standing at attention. "Lt. Col. MacKenzie of the Headquarters JAG. I'm here to see Captain Harvester.
"Yes ma'am. Is he expecting you?" the sergeant asked.
Mac raised an eyebrow and said coolly, "Would it matter? This is the only time I could find to fit him into my schedule. Where is he?"
"I believe he's still in his office, ma'am. Would you like me to check?"
"Yes, sergeant." Mac snapped, "I'd like to keep my wandering around this godforsaken base to a minimum."
The sergeant flushed and picked up the phone. He spoke quietly for a moment and then looked at Mac. "He's waiting for you, Colonel. Second floor, third office on the right."
Mac turned and walked off without another word. Tyler gave the sergeant an apologetic look and hurried after her. He made it onto the elevator just as the doors closed. Mac glanced at him and said with an amused smile, "You jump quite well, Ensign Tyler."
He smiled back, "My mama's southern-born and bred, Colonel MacKenzie. I've had a lot of practice."
When the elevator doors opened, he was standing silently behind her once again. Mac marched through the office area, walked into Captain Harvester's office and shut the door. Tyler looked around the area and headed for an empty desk. He looked over at a petty officer and asked, "Is it okay if I sit here? That colonel is going to run the feet right off of me."
"Sure, go ahead," said the petty officer sympathetically. "Who's the Ice Queen?"
"Some big-shot JAG lawyer from Washington," Tyler replied. "She can't believe she's out here in the back-end of nowhere looking into that UA case and she's taking it out on me." He gave a long-suffering sigh. He looked at the computer, "Hey, are there any games on this thing?"
"I think so," the petty officer said, "Check the harddrive. I don't play that much, Al was the expert."
"Really good, huh?" Tyler was staring at the screen, hitting keys.
"Oh yeah, a real technogeek. There wasn't anything he couldn't do with a computer. He revamped our entire inventory setup. Captain Harvester called him our 'secret weapon'. He didn't want the brass to find out and transfer him somewhere else." The petty officer seemed to realize he was babbling and trailed off.
"Can't blame him for that," Tyler agreed amicably, "Once the brass sets their sights on you, your whole life goes to hell." He looked around, "Is Al here? Maybe he can tell me how to get past Level 15, that's where I always crash and burn."
"Uhhh... " the petty officer hesitated uncomfortably.
Tyler's eyebrows rose in surprise, "He's the UA? Man, I hope that colonel doesn't find him. She'll tear strips right out of his hide." Just then, the door to Harvester's office opened. Tyler jumped and hurriedly hit some keys, "Gotta go." He ran after Mac as she strode out of the office. They kept quiet until Tyler had pulled away from the curb.
Mac smiled when she saw Tyler look in the rearview mirror. "Let's find someplace out of the way to eat and compare notes, Ensign."
Memphis NAS
JAG office
1645 Local
Harm sat back and watched Singer interview another of the accused. There hadn't been much to do. The FBI had caught them dead-to-rights, the MPs had taken it from there. It'd been a matter of crossing t's and dotting i's. So far, all those interviewed were willing to deal out of court. They just had to decide the degree of punitive action. This was the only area where he had to keep an eye on Singer. She'd have someone walking the plank if she thought it would look good in her record. Mostly, he kept half an ear on the proceedings, and worried about Mac. If he could get her to agree to dinner with him, maybe she'd let him explain. The harder part would be getting her to talk. He looked over at Singer when he heard her address him.
"That's it except for Cmdr. Brighton, sir."
"Fine Lieutenant, we'll catch him in the morning and finish up." He paused and then said, "Nice work, Lauren. Let's call it a day, I could use a break and I'm sure you could too." He stood up and walked to the conference room door. Looking out, he saw that Cmdr. Brighton's office was dark. He headed over to Lt. Barker's office and looked in, "Lieutenant? Do you know where Col. MacKenzie went?"
"No sir, she just said she needed Ensign Tyler while she went to conduct some interviews and that she'd be gone for a couple of hours. I've lined up Petty Officer Fazzio to fill in as your driver until Tyler gets back."
Harm grunted to himself in annoyance, what was she doing? He looked back at Barker, "Thank you, Lieutenant. If Col. MacKenzie returns here, would you tell her I'm at the VOQ?" He'd get cleaned up and give the Admiral a call. He had a feeling neither one of them would enjoy the conversation. Harm glanced back to see a tall, thin petty officer approaching along with Lt. Singer. "Lieutenant, I'm going to the VOQ. I'll see you at 0830 tomorrow." He turned and left, the petty officer hurrying after.
Memphis NAS
1740 Local
Tyler glanced over at Colonel MacKenzie as they drove onto the base. They'd just spent over an hour with Alan Jarvis' wife. The Colonel had proved to be a quiet and sympathetic listener. Mrs. Jarvis had been grateful to have an attentive audience and been remarkably open. The elusive petty officer was coming more and more into focus.
Mac gazed out the window with a thoughtful frown on her face. The first thing that had come to mind upon hearing of the missing petty officer's computer prowess was arms theft. The only way to know for sure would be a physical inventory to compare with the computer inventory. She devoutly hoped it wouldn't lead to some nutty militia group. She'd had enough of them with Lt. Rivers. Still, there were enough anomalies to convince her it wouldn't be quite that simple. All in all, it was an intriguing puzzle. She'd spread it all out in her quarters and see if something clicked. Maybe she could get Harm to take a look.
Mac sighed a little and gave a small smile when Tyler glanced her way. That was assuming Harm was speaking to her. He was probably angry after she'd blown him off and left him to Singer this afternoon. That line of thought brought her back to the dismal matter of Chegwidden's lack of confidence. Damn... she'd managed to shove it to the back of her mind while dealing with the Jarvis UA. Obviously, she'd have to resign as his chief of staff. Maybe she could a permanent posting back on the Guadalcanal. It would be considered a step back career-wise but hell, her career was probably dead in the water anyway. For that matter, maybe Webb could find something for her. Being official CIA couldn't be any more dangerous than being ad hoc CIA...
Mac looked up in surprise when the car came to a halt. They were at the VOQ. Tyler hurried around to her side and opened the door for her. She grabbed her briefcase and climbed out. Turning to look at the Ensign, she gave him a tired smile, "Thank you for all your help this afternoon, Tyler. You're going to be a hell of an investigator. I'll see you in the morning." Mac heard her name being called and turned to look over her shoulder. Harm was just coming out of the VOQ.
Tyler heard an odd little clatter and glanced down at the pavement. A small round object came skittering out from under the car. His eyes widened in shock, "GRENADE!" He had a brief glimpse of the startled look on the Colonel's face before he hit her with a flying tackle that would have made his coaches proud. His momentum carried them halfway across the car hood before the detonation blew them off the rest of the way. They hit with a bone-jarring thump and rolled to a halt. A second explosion told him the car had just gone up. He hugged the ground and covered his head, wincing as debris rained down on them.
Harm stared in shock even as he hit the ground during the first explosion. He started scrambling towards Mac and the ensign, hitting the ground again when the car blew up. He was up and running before all the pieces landed. He was the first to reach them, yanking off chunks of metal, heedless of the sharp edges. Tyler groaned and rolled onto his side, holding his head. He was covered with cuts from debris. Harm concentrated on Mac. She hadn't moved. Harm winced when he saw blood flowing from a metal shard embedded in her forearm. He put a couple of fingers on the side of her neck, tentatively searching for a pulse and heaved a sigh of relief. He could hear sirens approaching in the distance.
