Part Twenty-Three

Headquarters
Memphis NAS
1535 Local

AJ sat across from Admiral Crowley in his office and waited. He'd just endured a welcoming ceremony where he had to inspect the troops and smile through a photo session. Chegwidden thought he'd done well - no one had died. A few had come close, first and foremost was Crowley himself. Gunny Walters had taken to clearing his throat whenever he felt AJ was going to explode. Half the people there probably thought the gunnery sergeant had some fatal lung disease. When they reached Crowley's office, he had handed Walters his cellphone - Tyler should be checking in soon and Chegwidden was curiously loathe to let Crowley know about it. The Gunny had then stationed himself at the office door. The staff didn't look pleased about it; on the other hand, they didn't look displeased. AJ decided the Admiral was not particularly well-liked by those serving under him.

Crowley looked at Chegwidden while he pondered how to approach the problem. It would be a delicate balance, striking just the right tone between taking a firm stand and sympathizing with the embarrassment of having such recalcitrant officers. He'd been worried enough about it that he had even tried to get a hold of Koslov to get his opinion. Unable to reach him (he would have to set Eric down a bit for that), he'd been forced to leave a fairly lengthy voicemail. He noticed AJ's eyebrows begin to come together and decided to start with something innocuous. With a genial smile, he said, "My officers and their wives are looking forward to meeting you tonight at dinner."

AJ stared at the man in surprise, "I beg your pardon?"

Crowley beamed, "The dinner at the O Club in your honor." He arched an eyebrow and said lightly, "We ordinarily have a little more notice." There, a tiny reprimand delivered in friendly manner. He waited a couple of seconds to gauge the JAG's response. Emboldened by Chegwidden's silence, he kept going. Putting on a rueful expression, he said, "I have to tell you AJ, and it pains me to have to say this, but your officers have been nothing but disruptive since they hit this base. I have people calling at all hours complaining about one thing or another that your JAGs have done. They refuse to acknowledge any authority but their own and this attitude is spreading to my people. I have three of my personnel listed as UA. By tomorrow, I'll consider them AWOL and it can be laid directly at the feet of your officers. If I may be specific, I feel most of the blame can be attributed to Colonel MacKenzie. I just want you to know that it was in consideration for you, that I haven't gone ahead and filed charges against her." AJ sat there speechless. Crowley congratulated himself on his tact and delivery. Now for the kindly Dutch uncle...

Crowley leaned forward and smiled conspiratorially, "Look AJ, we're both men here. I understand how it is. MacKenzie is drop-dead gorgeous and I can see how you'd feel obligated to ... ummm ... reward her by making her your Chief of Staff. Brilliant, really - no one would question you two working closely together - but a little discipline wouldn't be amiss. I mean, obviously your people understand the rules, but sending her to other commands is asking for trouble. You don't have to look any further than this base to see how violent these jealous rages can get... "

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" AJ roared, he was out of chair and leaning over the desk. He stood glaring at Crowley, absolutely livid with rage. With an effort, he kept his clenched fists at his side. At last, he turned to look at Walters; the Gunny had entered the office as soon as he heard AJ's voice. "Did you hear all of that, Gunnery Sergeant?"

The look on Gunny's face could have cracked granite, "Yes sir." His eyes never left Crowley. "For some reason, the office door was ajar. Everything was quite clear." He was no less angry than Admiral Chegwidden. If he thought it'd do any good, he'd gladly beat the hell out of Crowley.

"Good, contact the MPs and have two of them report here. Who's second in command?"

"Captain Koslov, sir, but he's on leave. Commander Mathes is next."

"Get him in here." AJ watched the Gunny leave and turned back to look at a thunderstruck Crowley. "You're relieved of command, Admiral. Right now the charges are Conduct Unbecoming, Disrespect toward a Superior Officer and Dereliction of Duty." He leaned in, "And if anything has happened to my officers, you'll also be charged as an accessory."

Crowley began sputtering, "You can't!"

"Watch me." Chegwidden turned as the Gunny returned with Mathes, "I'm removing Admiral Crowley from command and having him confined to quarters. He is to be considered unfit for duty pending psychiatric evaluation. You're in charge, Commander, until we can get this mess straightened out. When the MPs arrive, have them escort the Admiral to his residence and post a guard. I'll be at the JAG offices."

AJ marched out, leaving the two stunned men. Gunny Walters fell in behind and followed him out. Once clear of the building, the Admiral turned and looked at Walters, "Did Tyler check in?" When the Gunny shook his head, AJ looked skyward for a moment in frustration, "Damn. I hope nothing's happened to that young man." He lowered his gaze, "Gunny, get over to the MPs, find whoever's in charge and bring them over to JAG. Oh, and find out if they have some sort of liaison with the FBI. We're probably going to have to coordinate with the Feds on this." AJ glanced back at the Headquarters building, "Goddamned fool."

Vicinity of Militia Camp
Holly Springs Nat'l. Forest, MS
1610 Local

Tyler checked his watch and swore. He was dead late to check in with the Admiral. It had taken him longer to work his way back to treeline than he thought it would. He always felt safer in the woods. Moving quickly between bits of cover brought back memories of playing 'Commando' and 'Capture the Flag' with his brothers and friends. It was the one thing where he'd been sought after whenever they chose up sides. Although he knew it was much more serious, he couldn't help feeling like he was in some huge game of Hide and Seek. Having contact with Admiral Chegwidden and now Tink had contributed a lot to his self-confidence. Hopefully, Cmdr. Rabb and Capt. Perez had gotten the Colonel and Lieutenant to safety.

Quietly, he worked his way back to his 'headquarters'. He'd spent his morning hours exploring the area outside the perimeter of the camp. The area was crisscrossed by a number of small creeks and streams. He'd found a spring and followed it back into a small ravine. There he'd found a small fold in the hillside. The overhang would shelter and, at the same time, hide him from view. He had also set some snares in likely-looking places; he would check those and gather some of the watercress he found before he settled in for the night. But first... he crawled onto a small brush-covered ledge, it gave him a bit more of a view without making him any easier to see. There seemed to be less militia around, he only dodged one patrol. He pulled out the cellphone and turned it on. Quickly he dialed and returned to scanning the area. Several rings later, he heard, 'Chegwidden.'

"Sir? It's Tyler," he said quietly.

"Thank god, Ensign. Are you all right? You're late."

"Fine sir, I'm sorry. It took a little longer to get to a safer area so I could call."

There was a slight pause and then the Admiral said, "Safer? What exactly have you been doing, Mr. Tyler?"

Tyler winced, 'Oops'. "Ummm, just checking out the area around the camp, sir." That could be interpreted several ways, maybe it would get him off the hook. He heard Chegwidden grunt and decided he'd gotten lucky. Hurriedly, he said, "I saw Cpl. Bell, sir. It looks like he persuaded them to recruit him."

Surprised, AJ said, "How the hell did he manage that so quickly?"

Tyler chuckled softly, "I think he went into his dumber-than-dirt routine and convinced them he just happened to be in the area. They were probably tickled to get him."

"Why?" Chegwidden couldn't see where stupidity was a desirable trait - Crowley was a case in point.

"He's about 6'10" and over 300 lbs. and well... he's a really nice guy, sir, but he could scare the curl right out of pig's tail."

"I see," AJ was looking forward to meeting these two. "All right Ensign, I'm on base and I'm going to get the ball rolling to get all of you out and shut these people down. Have you heard from the Commander or the Colonel?"

"No sir," Tyler hesitated, "That could mean they got away, couldn't it sir?"

"It's possible," Chegwidden said. "Okay, Tyler, I'll talk to you again in two hours. We're going to need information on the layout of the camp." He hung up.

Tyler turned off the phone, and stayed on the ledge for a bit, thinking. He had roughly three hours or so before it became dark. Either he could hole up now and get an early start in the morning or... he could make one more circuit of the camp and get an early start in the morning. He grinned to himself, climbed down and headed east.

Vicinity of Militia Camp
Holly Springs Nat'l. Forest, MS
1720 Local

Mac and Perez lay at the top of a small rise and peered through the trees at the camp. It appeared to be quiet - probably because it was the dinner hour, Perez thought. That brought him back to the subject of food. "Ma'am?" he said, keeping his voice low, "We need to pull back and find a safe place for the night. And I need to find us some food. We can't keep expending this level of energy without replacing it."

Mac turned her head without raising it off her arm, she was exhausted. "Agreed." As much as she would like to get into the camp tonight, common sense prevailed. A little guilt appeared also. "Captain?" Perez looked at her quizzically. "I'd like to apologize. I didn't give you much choice about coming back here." She paused for moment, "If you want to try getting out and finding help, it's fine with me. You'd probably have a pretty good shot by yourself."

Perez stared at her, "What would you be doing?"

Mac gave him half a smile, "I was thinking of smuggling myself in disguised as a doorstop." Turning a little more serious, "I really don't know yet. See if I can figure out where Harm and Lauren are being held and then go from there."

The captain was shaking his head, "I'll stay here, if you don't mind, Colonel. I'd hate to miss any of the fun."

Mac closed her eyes briefly and then tried again, "Captain... Intellectually speaking, this isn't my finest hour. You're not obligated to take my idiocy and turn it into a team event. I really wish you'd see about getting help."

"Are you ordering me, ma'am?" he asked quietly.

"No." She grinned wryly, "You know what they say: 'Stupidity loves company'."

Perez smiled at her, "All these years, I've been saying that wrong... ." He rolled to his feet and reached back down, "C'mon, ma'am. We need to find a safe place for the night."

"You shoulda found one sooner."

They froze at the unfamiliar voice. Perez cautiously turned his head. A tall, skinny man in a militia uniform stood near a tree halfway down the slope. His rifle was casually pointed in their direction. He smiled unpleasantly and gestured with the rifle barrel, "Lose the pistol - carefully." He waited while Perez tossed it to one side. He looked at Mac who had remained motionless. "You. Get up."

The rifle snapped up to his shoulder when Perez started towards Mac. "Don't move. Don't even breathe."

The captain looked at militia man angrily, "She's injured. She can't stand up on her own."

The rifle shifted to Mac, "Then maybe I should just put her outta her misery."