Title: 'People vs. Chegwidden' - Part Ten
Author: Daenar
Disclaimer: See Part One
From part nine:
"We'll have you go on a tourist tour through the firm, spying on the security facilities. Bud will instruct you what to look for. Then we'll go there at night, have Bud somehow take out the surveillance system, sneak in, get the copies and sneak out again."
Fred let out a skeptical laugh. "You make it sound easy!"
"Trust me, it will work. Harm and I even stole a MIG once."
"You did what?" Fred's jaw dropped open. He turned to Harm. "She's kidding, right?"
Harm let his eyes stay open and curled the corners of his mouth instead, making Fred gasp.
The young lieutenant let his stare wander from one to the other and back, eyes open wide. "Madonna mia, mi pentirò di tutto questo..." he murmured. [Madonna mia, I'm going to regret all this...]
['Live and learn, Lieutenant,'] Harm only thought.
Part Ten:
Sat, Feb. 27th 2321 ZULU Rabb residence Arlington, VA
"So, is everybody here now?" Mac swept a quick surveying glance across the room before taking her seat at the dinner table. Besides her, Sturgis, Fred, Bud, Harriet and Claire were present. She and Harm had decided two days ago that they better include Sturgis and the two ladies. Having to keep secrets from them might cause more tension and, subsequently, unwanted attention than telling them what was going on and transforming the inner JAG family into some sort of a conspiratorial cell. So at least they would be able to act naturally among their friends.
Mac had initially felt some reluctance to further enlarge the circle of those familiar with the case - and Harm's state of health - but eventually he had succeeded in convincing her that this might be the right thing to do. Especially since Harm was making considerable progress regaining his motor abilities. Hiding them became increasingly difficult, and he was all the more glad that, now that his friends knew, he had to play the coma- patient only with the doctors. And that was hard enough since Zanelli had frowningly remarked that, according to Harm's encephalogram, he should be awake and had begun doing sensitivity tests that were hard to endure.
They both felt a little guilty that they hadn't told Sergei yet, but he wasn't involved in the case and could only come to visit once or twice a week, due to his classes. So they hadn't yet seen the need to pass on the information. The less he knew the safer he was.
Yet, even with all the anxiety that the situation brought upon, Mac was feeling more grateful to heaven with each passing day. Not only did she enjoy being a mother to a degree that she wouldn't have thought possible even in her dreams, but each day when she came to visit Harm, he would surprise her with some newly acquired ability. Thursday it had been his eyes following her movements. Friday he had been able to slightly return her squeeze of his hand. And today... today had been a miracle. While Mac had been able to see the strain on his face as he struggled to move, Harm had - low and indistinctly but yet understandably - called her by her name. Mac knew Harm was pushing himself tremendously, wearying himself more than he should. But from the gleam in his eyes when he saw her reaction to his efforts, she could tell that this seemed to be all the encouragement he needed. 'If he ever goes back to his normal self, I know that we'll make it through whatever might possibly come up in our lives,' she thought, her heart swelling with love and devotion for her brave man.
"Crew assembled in full and reporting as ordered, ma'am," Sturgis observed, smirking, shaking Mac from her musings. As her face lit up with an embarrassed smile, Sturgis looked at her intently. "How's Harm today?"
"He's fine, thank you, Sturgis." Mac looked around and met with shy but curious glances. Again she smiled. "Come on, all of you, you're our friends. You can ask for details. I won't bite." Earning herself a few sheepish laughs, she went on quietly, studying her hands: "Today he said my name."
"Mac, that's wonderful news," Claire said warmly, laying her hand on her friend's arm.
"Yeah..." She acknowledged softly, her mind wandering far away. "Today it's been one year exactly," she eventually said very low, the hint of a smile still gracing her features. "Letting me hear his voice was the most beautiful anniversary gift he could possibly have given me."
For a moment everybody kept quiet, letting the colonel take the time she needed. Then Mac drew a deep breath, chuckling slightly. "Come on, guys, we've got work to do. I would like to..."
"Excuse me, ma'am," Fred cut in, not daring to drop formalities, now that the temporary JAG and other superiors were present, "But I'd like to show you something first."
Mac looked at the young man, slightly surprised. "What would that be, Lieutenant?"
"Well," Fred's face showed the hint of a smile, "I had a little conversation with Clayton Webb yesterday." Everybody looked at him in clear surprise.
"I thought he was in Afghanistan, chasing Al Qaeda," Harriet stated, frowning.
"Oh, he is, ma'am," Fred replied, "I'm not sure if I want to know just how he gets all the information but he seems to know about our plan. And he told me to go and pick something up from one of his colleagues. Said it might help and tells me to say hello to all of you." With a smile, Fred took a slip of paper out of his pocket and made it slide in Mac's direction on the polished surface of the table. She picked it up, looked at it, stared and then grinned, slowly shaking her head.
"What is it, ma'am?" Bud tried to catch a glimpse of what was written on the paper.
"Believe it or not, Clay has just provided us with a means to use whatever we get our hands on at Minton as a legal exhibit of evidence in court."
Open-mouthed stares were the only answers to her statement. Sturgis was the first to find his voice. "How?"
"Official search warrant, kept confidential."
"Wow."
"I always wondered why I couldn't bring myself to completely hate this man," Bud mused, shaking his head. "But I guess I underdstand why now. First he gets Sergei out of Chechnya, then he pulls a few strings so the colonel and the commander can stay at JAG as a married couple and now this..."
"Harm and I will be indebted to him for the rest of our lives," Mac remarked, chuckling. "Wait until I tell him. I'm sure his heart monitor will tell me about his reactions before he's even able to wink once..."
"What did you just say?" came a voice from the direction of the door, clearly aghast.
In shock, the whole group's heads snapped to where the voice had come from. Sergei was standing in the doorframe, eyes open wide, his hand still on the door handle.
"Sergei..." Mac said, her voice suddenly toneless. "How long have you been standing there?"
Anger began to show on the young Russian's face. "Long enough to understand that you've been hiding my brother's condition from me!" he spat.
"Sergei..." Mac didn't know what to say.
"I thought we were a family!" Sergei raged on.
"But we are..." Mac again tried to cut in.
"The hell we are!"
"Stand down, Zhukov!" Sturgis had risen, and his loud, decided, but calm voice immediately made the young man stop and stare at his brother's friend who was obviously trying to contain his own anger. "Now that you found out, your life might be in danger. We wanted to spare you from this. I'm well aware that you have a right to know about your brother but it was Harm himself who didn't want you to be involved in this. He thinks it's too dangerous."
Sergei had visibly paled. Now he nervously cleared his throat. "Does this..." he again cleared his throat, "Does this necessarily apply to all people who found out about... well, whatever it is you didn't tell me?"
"What do you mean?" Mac asked sharply. "Is there anyone with you?"
"Yeah..." came a shy voice from outside as a small figure stepped into the room. "Hello Mac."
"Janni!" Mac didn't know if to be glad or shocked. "What are you doing here?"
Jeannine swallowed and tried a somewhat guilty smile. "Well, I wanted to surprise you. I originally planned to come over for spring break but when I went to talk to Captain Wells, he insisted that I go immediately and offer my assistance to you and Harm. He knows you're kind of an extended family to me and he's still holding you two in the highest esteem ever since your performance with the Gonzalez case and the Carnegie Hall concert. So I called Sergei and he agreed to let me stay with him so I won't be bothering you. I hope you're not upset..." Jeannine let her voice trail off, unsure what to say, her eyes never leaving Mac's glance.
"Come in and close the door first," Mac said, rising to hug her friend. "I'm really glad to see you, both of you, but... well, I'd rather you hadn't heard what you did." She sighed, frowning. Just then, low crying could be heard from Trisha's room upstairs. Mac smiled. "Actually, I might be in need of a baby sitter. Why don't you two sit down with the others while I get my little one, and we'll fill you in on the situation. There's no need to hide anything from you now. But..." she earnestly looked at the young couple, "Sergei has been in the military and you will be, Janni. So you know what to do when I now order you to keep whatever we tell you absolutely confidential. This is vital. Do you understand me? Sergeant Zhukov? Cadet Stiller?"
"Yes, ma'am!" came the automatic reply, both actually, subconsciously, snapping to attention before Mac. Suppressed chuckles could be heard from the table. Sergei and Jeannine took off their coats and went over to the others while Mac rushed upstairs to get Trisha. She had previously pumped a little milk so she could feed her daughter in company without embarrassing anyone. Claire had already gotten up and warmed it for her in the microwave. Meanwhile, Bud and Fred enlightened Sergei about his brother's state of health. To say that Sergei was glad at hearing the news, didn't quite cover it. He was overwhelmed and he was thankful that Jeannine was by his side, gently rubbing his back as he fought to swallow his tears of relief. His brother hadn't left him.
"So this is my namesake?" Jeannine inquired, beaming, as Mac returned with the baby in her arms.
"Yes. Look, Trisha," Mac gently addressed her daughter, "This is Jeannine, the brave girl who gave you your beautiful middle name."
The little girl was obviously more interested in the warm bottle that Claire was now handing to Mac who gently guided the rubber nipple into her daughter's mouth. Trisha instantly began to suck greedily.
"She definitely has your stomach, Colonel," Sturgis observed with a smirk.
Mac just raised both her eyebrows, pointedly cleared her throat and mockingly glared at everyone. "Back to work, now, people. That's an order. Clear? Fine. So, Fred, what did you find out on the tour?"
"Well, ma'am, security facilities at Minton Greenwood aren't as tough as I would have expected. But then, they're a waste disposal company. Any additional security measures would cause curiosity. So I guess they're just counting on it to be too farfetched for anyone to go looking for classified military files in their offices. They do have simple surveillance cameras all around the area. From what I gathered, they are being monitored by two guards in an office near the main entrance. Our guide proudly pointed out that every technical facility inside Minton Greenwood works digitally, linked to an Intranet to which only bearers of MG security passes have access. So if we could somehow gain access to the Intranet, we should be able to knock out the cameras and fool the surveillance monitors with a piece of tape that we keep showing in continuous repetition. Like Keanu Reeves did in 'Speed'. They have a simple acoustic alarm, that should be accessible through the Intranet, too, if what the guide said about MG's systems is correct."
"Bud," Mac turned to her friend, "Do you think you can take out those systems?"
Bud frowned. "Once I have access to the Intranet, it shouldn't be a major problem. But how do I get clearance?"
"Any suggestions?" Mac expectantly looked at Fred.
The young Italian, with a smug smile on his face, reached into his pocket again and tossed a small plastic card in Mac's direction. "This might help, ma'am."
Setting down the bottle, Mac picked up the card and looked at it, curious. Her eyebrows went up a notch and she whistled. "This is an MG security pass, owned by one Jeremy Cullum. How did you come by that, Lieutenant, or, let me rephrase, where does one - by pure chance - find an MG security pass?" Her mocking glare actually made Fred shift uneasily on his chair.
"Well, I happened to overhear an employee talking to another that he was just about to finish his last working day yesterday, before going on holiday for two weeks. I heard him being called Cullum by his colleague and I saw him enter the locker rooms to change out of his working clothes. Then I, well, managed to get lost on the tour, entered the room myself, found Cullum's locker, picked the lock, yes, ma'am, I did learn that from your husband, found... okay, kind of found the security pass, closed the locker again and went out to be retrieved by my group. 'Yoo know, I'mma stupidda Italian tourrista who getta losta fromma groupa.'" He grinned. "You were right, ma'am, those kinds of things are actually quite easy."
Mac, along with the others, couldn't hold back her chuckles at Fred's tale. She could just picture him playing an overseas tourist with no clue of anything that was going on around him. "Good work, Fred," she replied, shifting Trisha to her shoulder and gently patting her on the back. Noticing that the baby's eyelids were heavy with sleep, she then bedded her daughter in her arms, rocking her slightly. "So who's gonna go in, when and how?"
Fred frowned. "That's... uhm... a bit of a problem. We have to do it at night, preferably between 0200 and 0330. That's the period with less people showing up. But there's still a lot going on inside MG, even at that time. So we wouldn't get past the guards at the gate. Our only option seems to be to go in by crossing the fence at the far end and then entering the building by... well... using a sewer pipe as a tunnel, ma'am. And here's the problem. The pipe in question is really, really small. I managed to check it out before leaving the grounds. Getting lost again, you know... None of us men could make it. You are out of the question, ma'am - no offence - but you've just given birth and are clearly not in shape for a rather fatiguing crawl. Lt. Sims has a baby, too, and I don't know how much this would wear her out. And Claire just yesterday had a close encounter with a hospital bed that rolled over her foot..."
"So that's why you're limping," Harriet stated compassionately. "Is anything broken?"
"Luckily no, but it hurts all the same, and I wouldn't be up to the task right now," Claire explained, looking sorry that she couldn't help out.
"What about me?" All eyes turned to Jeannine. "I'm by far the smallest of us all, I'm in good shape and I have a little military training."
"That could work, Colonel," Fred agreed thoughtfully.
"Janni, are you sure you want to do this?" Mac was reluctant to involve her friend in this rather audacious operation. "You'd be on your own in there, you know."
Jeannine swallowed. "I know. But I also know that I might be the only hope for the admiral. So why don't you just tell me what I have to do?"
Exchanging a quick nod with Mac, Sturgis leaned forward, resting his weight on his elbows. "All right, Cadet Stiller," he said quietly. "We appreciate your help. Here's the plan. Lt. Roberts will park his minivan at the back of the firm grounds around 0000, getting himself busy with the computer network and establishing a visual and an audio-link with the camera-gear that you'll be wearing. By 0200 he will have taken out the alarm and the cameras and we'll help you over the fence. Lt. Prumetti will guide you to the entrance of the sewer system by com-link. You'll enter the building and will be directed all the way to the offices. Or to any other place that might be worth searching. Make sure your camera lens always catches exactly what you see so we can have a look at the files, too, and tell you what to take out. Once you're done we'll guide you back to the sewer pipe and you'll come back the same way you went in."
"And if I get caught?"
"If that should happen," Mac declared, "I'll be there, in full uniform, official search warrant in hand, and make them release you while the others try to rush to the hospital and get Harm and Trisha away to someplace safe." She frowned. "And then we're going to play hide and seek with Cramer, I guess. All of us."
"So I take it I'd better not get caught?" Jeannine's smile was a little tight.
"Yup."
Tense silence reigned in the room as everybody tried not to imagine what life would be like being chased by Cramer's accomplices. A low whimper from Trisha finally eased the tension.
"I guess I should put her back to bed," Mac said, tenderly watching her little girl. She would do anything to protect her against the evil of the world, she silently vowed. She would go through hell and back if it would keep her safe.
"And we should get going," Sturgis concluded, receiving nods from everyone. "So I'll meet you at the rear of Minton Greenwood tomorrow night at 0200 sharp. Harriet, Claire, I'd rather you stay with the children if you don't mind." The young women nodded. "Sergei, I think you should come along. We might need your knowledge about aeronautics since the commander is out of reach."
"I'll be there, sir."
"I bet you will," Sturgis observed, smiling, casting a quick glance at Jeannine who blushed slightly.
"Drop Trisha off at our house whenever you want, ma'am," Harriet addressed Mac. "How about the four of us," she indicated herself, Mac, Claire and Jeannine, "Have a little girls talk at, say, 2100, to remember our last mission?"
"I'd like that, Harriet." Mac grinned as she saw the men wince slightly.
Jeannine was the last to take leave. Mac hugged her and then earnestly looked at her. "Are you sure you don't want to stay here?"
Again, Jeannine blushed. "Yeah, I guess I am. I'm sure Sergei and I are both responsible enough not to rush things and..." she hesitated, drawing a deep breath, "You always knew you could trust Harm, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I did."
"Well, I... I don't really understand why but somehow I feel it's just the same for me with his brother." Jeannine's smile begged for understanding.
"Must be a Rabb thing," Mac observed warmly, knowing what Jeannine was referring to.
Sergei had been walking down the path that led to the street. Now he turned and waited for his girlfriend to join him. "You coming, Yanina Andreyevna?" he asked with a smile.
"Sure," Jeannine called back, casting him a quick, warm glance. Turning to Mac, Jeannine's expression became a little embarrassed. "Yeah. A Rabb thing. Bye, Mac, see you tomorrow night."
"Paká, Yanina," Mac waved her off with a grin. "Spakoynoy nochy." [Bye, Jeannine, good night.]
'What is it with those Rabbs?' Mac thought, as she watched Jeannine and Sergei walk down the road to Sergei's old Volkswagen Beetle, holding hands and now and then glancing at each other as if they couldn't really believe yet that the other was actually there.
To be continued... (Feedback always appreciated!)
From part nine:
"We'll have you go on a tourist tour through the firm, spying on the security facilities. Bud will instruct you what to look for. Then we'll go there at night, have Bud somehow take out the surveillance system, sneak in, get the copies and sneak out again."
Fred let out a skeptical laugh. "You make it sound easy!"
"Trust me, it will work. Harm and I even stole a MIG once."
"You did what?" Fred's jaw dropped open. He turned to Harm. "She's kidding, right?"
Harm let his eyes stay open and curled the corners of his mouth instead, making Fred gasp.
The young lieutenant let his stare wander from one to the other and back, eyes open wide. "Madonna mia, mi pentirò di tutto questo..." he murmured. [Madonna mia, I'm going to regret all this...]
['Live and learn, Lieutenant,'] Harm only thought.
Part Ten:
Sat, Feb. 27th 2321 ZULU Rabb residence Arlington, VA
"So, is everybody here now?" Mac swept a quick surveying glance across the room before taking her seat at the dinner table. Besides her, Sturgis, Fred, Bud, Harriet and Claire were present. She and Harm had decided two days ago that they better include Sturgis and the two ladies. Having to keep secrets from them might cause more tension and, subsequently, unwanted attention than telling them what was going on and transforming the inner JAG family into some sort of a conspiratorial cell. So at least they would be able to act naturally among their friends.
Mac had initially felt some reluctance to further enlarge the circle of those familiar with the case - and Harm's state of health - but eventually he had succeeded in convincing her that this might be the right thing to do. Especially since Harm was making considerable progress regaining his motor abilities. Hiding them became increasingly difficult, and he was all the more glad that, now that his friends knew, he had to play the coma- patient only with the doctors. And that was hard enough since Zanelli had frowningly remarked that, according to Harm's encephalogram, he should be awake and had begun doing sensitivity tests that were hard to endure.
They both felt a little guilty that they hadn't told Sergei yet, but he wasn't involved in the case and could only come to visit once or twice a week, due to his classes. So they hadn't yet seen the need to pass on the information. The less he knew the safer he was.
Yet, even with all the anxiety that the situation brought upon, Mac was feeling more grateful to heaven with each passing day. Not only did she enjoy being a mother to a degree that she wouldn't have thought possible even in her dreams, but each day when she came to visit Harm, he would surprise her with some newly acquired ability. Thursday it had been his eyes following her movements. Friday he had been able to slightly return her squeeze of his hand. And today... today had been a miracle. While Mac had been able to see the strain on his face as he struggled to move, Harm had - low and indistinctly but yet understandably - called her by her name. Mac knew Harm was pushing himself tremendously, wearying himself more than he should. But from the gleam in his eyes when he saw her reaction to his efforts, she could tell that this seemed to be all the encouragement he needed. 'If he ever goes back to his normal self, I know that we'll make it through whatever might possibly come up in our lives,' she thought, her heart swelling with love and devotion for her brave man.
"Crew assembled in full and reporting as ordered, ma'am," Sturgis observed, smirking, shaking Mac from her musings. As her face lit up with an embarrassed smile, Sturgis looked at her intently. "How's Harm today?"
"He's fine, thank you, Sturgis." Mac looked around and met with shy but curious glances. Again she smiled. "Come on, all of you, you're our friends. You can ask for details. I won't bite." Earning herself a few sheepish laughs, she went on quietly, studying her hands: "Today he said my name."
"Mac, that's wonderful news," Claire said warmly, laying her hand on her friend's arm.
"Yeah..." She acknowledged softly, her mind wandering far away. "Today it's been one year exactly," she eventually said very low, the hint of a smile still gracing her features. "Letting me hear his voice was the most beautiful anniversary gift he could possibly have given me."
For a moment everybody kept quiet, letting the colonel take the time she needed. Then Mac drew a deep breath, chuckling slightly. "Come on, guys, we've got work to do. I would like to..."
"Excuse me, ma'am," Fred cut in, not daring to drop formalities, now that the temporary JAG and other superiors were present, "But I'd like to show you something first."
Mac looked at the young man, slightly surprised. "What would that be, Lieutenant?"
"Well," Fred's face showed the hint of a smile, "I had a little conversation with Clayton Webb yesterday." Everybody looked at him in clear surprise.
"I thought he was in Afghanistan, chasing Al Qaeda," Harriet stated, frowning.
"Oh, he is, ma'am," Fred replied, "I'm not sure if I want to know just how he gets all the information but he seems to know about our plan. And he told me to go and pick something up from one of his colleagues. Said it might help and tells me to say hello to all of you." With a smile, Fred took a slip of paper out of his pocket and made it slide in Mac's direction on the polished surface of the table. She picked it up, looked at it, stared and then grinned, slowly shaking her head.
"What is it, ma'am?" Bud tried to catch a glimpse of what was written on the paper.
"Believe it or not, Clay has just provided us with a means to use whatever we get our hands on at Minton as a legal exhibit of evidence in court."
Open-mouthed stares were the only answers to her statement. Sturgis was the first to find his voice. "How?"
"Official search warrant, kept confidential."
"Wow."
"I always wondered why I couldn't bring myself to completely hate this man," Bud mused, shaking his head. "But I guess I underdstand why now. First he gets Sergei out of Chechnya, then he pulls a few strings so the colonel and the commander can stay at JAG as a married couple and now this..."
"Harm and I will be indebted to him for the rest of our lives," Mac remarked, chuckling. "Wait until I tell him. I'm sure his heart monitor will tell me about his reactions before he's even able to wink once..."
"What did you just say?" came a voice from the direction of the door, clearly aghast.
In shock, the whole group's heads snapped to where the voice had come from. Sergei was standing in the doorframe, eyes open wide, his hand still on the door handle.
"Sergei..." Mac said, her voice suddenly toneless. "How long have you been standing there?"
Anger began to show on the young Russian's face. "Long enough to understand that you've been hiding my brother's condition from me!" he spat.
"Sergei..." Mac didn't know what to say.
"I thought we were a family!" Sergei raged on.
"But we are..." Mac again tried to cut in.
"The hell we are!"
"Stand down, Zhukov!" Sturgis had risen, and his loud, decided, but calm voice immediately made the young man stop and stare at his brother's friend who was obviously trying to contain his own anger. "Now that you found out, your life might be in danger. We wanted to spare you from this. I'm well aware that you have a right to know about your brother but it was Harm himself who didn't want you to be involved in this. He thinks it's too dangerous."
Sergei had visibly paled. Now he nervously cleared his throat. "Does this..." he again cleared his throat, "Does this necessarily apply to all people who found out about... well, whatever it is you didn't tell me?"
"What do you mean?" Mac asked sharply. "Is there anyone with you?"
"Yeah..." came a shy voice from outside as a small figure stepped into the room. "Hello Mac."
"Janni!" Mac didn't know if to be glad or shocked. "What are you doing here?"
Jeannine swallowed and tried a somewhat guilty smile. "Well, I wanted to surprise you. I originally planned to come over for spring break but when I went to talk to Captain Wells, he insisted that I go immediately and offer my assistance to you and Harm. He knows you're kind of an extended family to me and he's still holding you two in the highest esteem ever since your performance with the Gonzalez case and the Carnegie Hall concert. So I called Sergei and he agreed to let me stay with him so I won't be bothering you. I hope you're not upset..." Jeannine let her voice trail off, unsure what to say, her eyes never leaving Mac's glance.
"Come in and close the door first," Mac said, rising to hug her friend. "I'm really glad to see you, both of you, but... well, I'd rather you hadn't heard what you did." She sighed, frowning. Just then, low crying could be heard from Trisha's room upstairs. Mac smiled. "Actually, I might be in need of a baby sitter. Why don't you two sit down with the others while I get my little one, and we'll fill you in on the situation. There's no need to hide anything from you now. But..." she earnestly looked at the young couple, "Sergei has been in the military and you will be, Janni. So you know what to do when I now order you to keep whatever we tell you absolutely confidential. This is vital. Do you understand me? Sergeant Zhukov? Cadet Stiller?"
"Yes, ma'am!" came the automatic reply, both actually, subconsciously, snapping to attention before Mac. Suppressed chuckles could be heard from the table. Sergei and Jeannine took off their coats and went over to the others while Mac rushed upstairs to get Trisha. She had previously pumped a little milk so she could feed her daughter in company without embarrassing anyone. Claire had already gotten up and warmed it for her in the microwave. Meanwhile, Bud and Fred enlightened Sergei about his brother's state of health. To say that Sergei was glad at hearing the news, didn't quite cover it. He was overwhelmed and he was thankful that Jeannine was by his side, gently rubbing his back as he fought to swallow his tears of relief. His brother hadn't left him.
"So this is my namesake?" Jeannine inquired, beaming, as Mac returned with the baby in her arms.
"Yes. Look, Trisha," Mac gently addressed her daughter, "This is Jeannine, the brave girl who gave you your beautiful middle name."
The little girl was obviously more interested in the warm bottle that Claire was now handing to Mac who gently guided the rubber nipple into her daughter's mouth. Trisha instantly began to suck greedily.
"She definitely has your stomach, Colonel," Sturgis observed with a smirk.
Mac just raised both her eyebrows, pointedly cleared her throat and mockingly glared at everyone. "Back to work, now, people. That's an order. Clear? Fine. So, Fred, what did you find out on the tour?"
"Well, ma'am, security facilities at Minton Greenwood aren't as tough as I would have expected. But then, they're a waste disposal company. Any additional security measures would cause curiosity. So I guess they're just counting on it to be too farfetched for anyone to go looking for classified military files in their offices. They do have simple surveillance cameras all around the area. From what I gathered, they are being monitored by two guards in an office near the main entrance. Our guide proudly pointed out that every technical facility inside Minton Greenwood works digitally, linked to an Intranet to which only bearers of MG security passes have access. So if we could somehow gain access to the Intranet, we should be able to knock out the cameras and fool the surveillance monitors with a piece of tape that we keep showing in continuous repetition. Like Keanu Reeves did in 'Speed'. They have a simple acoustic alarm, that should be accessible through the Intranet, too, if what the guide said about MG's systems is correct."
"Bud," Mac turned to her friend, "Do you think you can take out those systems?"
Bud frowned. "Once I have access to the Intranet, it shouldn't be a major problem. But how do I get clearance?"
"Any suggestions?" Mac expectantly looked at Fred.
The young Italian, with a smug smile on his face, reached into his pocket again and tossed a small plastic card in Mac's direction. "This might help, ma'am."
Setting down the bottle, Mac picked up the card and looked at it, curious. Her eyebrows went up a notch and she whistled. "This is an MG security pass, owned by one Jeremy Cullum. How did you come by that, Lieutenant, or, let me rephrase, where does one - by pure chance - find an MG security pass?" Her mocking glare actually made Fred shift uneasily on his chair.
"Well, I happened to overhear an employee talking to another that he was just about to finish his last working day yesterday, before going on holiday for two weeks. I heard him being called Cullum by his colleague and I saw him enter the locker rooms to change out of his working clothes. Then I, well, managed to get lost on the tour, entered the room myself, found Cullum's locker, picked the lock, yes, ma'am, I did learn that from your husband, found... okay, kind of found the security pass, closed the locker again and went out to be retrieved by my group. 'Yoo know, I'mma stupidda Italian tourrista who getta losta fromma groupa.'" He grinned. "You were right, ma'am, those kinds of things are actually quite easy."
Mac, along with the others, couldn't hold back her chuckles at Fred's tale. She could just picture him playing an overseas tourist with no clue of anything that was going on around him. "Good work, Fred," she replied, shifting Trisha to her shoulder and gently patting her on the back. Noticing that the baby's eyelids were heavy with sleep, she then bedded her daughter in her arms, rocking her slightly. "So who's gonna go in, when and how?"
Fred frowned. "That's... uhm... a bit of a problem. We have to do it at night, preferably between 0200 and 0330. That's the period with less people showing up. But there's still a lot going on inside MG, even at that time. So we wouldn't get past the guards at the gate. Our only option seems to be to go in by crossing the fence at the far end and then entering the building by... well... using a sewer pipe as a tunnel, ma'am. And here's the problem. The pipe in question is really, really small. I managed to check it out before leaving the grounds. Getting lost again, you know... None of us men could make it. You are out of the question, ma'am - no offence - but you've just given birth and are clearly not in shape for a rather fatiguing crawl. Lt. Sims has a baby, too, and I don't know how much this would wear her out. And Claire just yesterday had a close encounter with a hospital bed that rolled over her foot..."
"So that's why you're limping," Harriet stated compassionately. "Is anything broken?"
"Luckily no, but it hurts all the same, and I wouldn't be up to the task right now," Claire explained, looking sorry that she couldn't help out.
"What about me?" All eyes turned to Jeannine. "I'm by far the smallest of us all, I'm in good shape and I have a little military training."
"That could work, Colonel," Fred agreed thoughtfully.
"Janni, are you sure you want to do this?" Mac was reluctant to involve her friend in this rather audacious operation. "You'd be on your own in there, you know."
Jeannine swallowed. "I know. But I also know that I might be the only hope for the admiral. So why don't you just tell me what I have to do?"
Exchanging a quick nod with Mac, Sturgis leaned forward, resting his weight on his elbows. "All right, Cadet Stiller," he said quietly. "We appreciate your help. Here's the plan. Lt. Roberts will park his minivan at the back of the firm grounds around 0000, getting himself busy with the computer network and establishing a visual and an audio-link with the camera-gear that you'll be wearing. By 0200 he will have taken out the alarm and the cameras and we'll help you over the fence. Lt. Prumetti will guide you to the entrance of the sewer system by com-link. You'll enter the building and will be directed all the way to the offices. Or to any other place that might be worth searching. Make sure your camera lens always catches exactly what you see so we can have a look at the files, too, and tell you what to take out. Once you're done we'll guide you back to the sewer pipe and you'll come back the same way you went in."
"And if I get caught?"
"If that should happen," Mac declared, "I'll be there, in full uniform, official search warrant in hand, and make them release you while the others try to rush to the hospital and get Harm and Trisha away to someplace safe." She frowned. "And then we're going to play hide and seek with Cramer, I guess. All of us."
"So I take it I'd better not get caught?" Jeannine's smile was a little tight.
"Yup."
Tense silence reigned in the room as everybody tried not to imagine what life would be like being chased by Cramer's accomplices. A low whimper from Trisha finally eased the tension.
"I guess I should put her back to bed," Mac said, tenderly watching her little girl. She would do anything to protect her against the evil of the world, she silently vowed. She would go through hell and back if it would keep her safe.
"And we should get going," Sturgis concluded, receiving nods from everyone. "So I'll meet you at the rear of Minton Greenwood tomorrow night at 0200 sharp. Harriet, Claire, I'd rather you stay with the children if you don't mind." The young women nodded. "Sergei, I think you should come along. We might need your knowledge about aeronautics since the commander is out of reach."
"I'll be there, sir."
"I bet you will," Sturgis observed, smiling, casting a quick glance at Jeannine who blushed slightly.
"Drop Trisha off at our house whenever you want, ma'am," Harriet addressed Mac. "How about the four of us," she indicated herself, Mac, Claire and Jeannine, "Have a little girls talk at, say, 2100, to remember our last mission?"
"I'd like that, Harriet." Mac grinned as she saw the men wince slightly.
Jeannine was the last to take leave. Mac hugged her and then earnestly looked at her. "Are you sure you don't want to stay here?"
Again, Jeannine blushed. "Yeah, I guess I am. I'm sure Sergei and I are both responsible enough not to rush things and..." she hesitated, drawing a deep breath, "You always knew you could trust Harm, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I did."
"Well, I... I don't really understand why but somehow I feel it's just the same for me with his brother." Jeannine's smile begged for understanding.
"Must be a Rabb thing," Mac observed warmly, knowing what Jeannine was referring to.
Sergei had been walking down the path that led to the street. Now he turned and waited for his girlfriend to join him. "You coming, Yanina Andreyevna?" he asked with a smile.
"Sure," Jeannine called back, casting him a quick, warm glance. Turning to Mac, Jeannine's expression became a little embarrassed. "Yeah. A Rabb thing. Bye, Mac, see you tomorrow night."
"Paká, Yanina," Mac waved her off with a grin. "Spakoynoy nochy." [Bye, Jeannine, good night.]
'What is it with those Rabbs?' Mac thought, as she watched Jeannine and Sergei walk down the road to Sergei's old Volkswagen Beetle, holding hands and now and then glancing at each other as if they couldn't really believe yet that the other was actually there.
To be continued... (Feedback always appreciated!)