TROUBLE FINDS SAM
This is happening concurrently with Harm's situation
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Prince Sultan Airbase
Sam had been in Saudi Arabia for about two weeks. She received an e-mail from Tiner; he apologized for ratting her out to Ashlyn. She received an e-mail from Ashlyn – yelling at her. She received an e-mail from Charles, he was impressed with what she had sent so far; columns on the servicemen and women were fantastic, and the pieces she sent on the locals impressed him, but what blew him away was the piece she wrote on the weapons' inspectors. Charles let Sam know that she was getting a byline and it was being picked up by the AP.
"So, let's talk." Sam said turning on her tape recorder.
"What do you want to talk about?" Lt. Brighton asked.
"For starters, what made you pick the Air Force?" Sam asked.
"That was simple, I wanted to serve my country and I love to fly." Brighton responded.
"When did you get your calling?" Sam asked.
"My calling?" Brighton laughed. "I joined the Air Force not the clergy."
"Lieutenant, what would you call it?" Sam asked.
"I guess I would call it a calling." Brighton smiled.
They spoke for another fifteen minutes and Sam went off to speak to others. Sam was transcribing her notes when she saw a familiar figure. She got up and walked to him. She thought she saw him last week, but when she went to find him, he wasn't around.
"Webb, what are you doing here?" Sam asked.
"I could ask you the same thing, Danaher." Webb replied.
"I'm a reporter; I go where the stories are." Sam stated. "You didn't answer my question."
"I don't plan to." Webb replied.
"How long have you been here?" Sam asked.
"And that concerns you why?" Webb asked.
"Are you always this polite? Or am I just lucky?" Sam asked.
Webb didn't bother to respond, he simply walked away shaking his head and went to speak with an Air Force Colonel. I have got to find out about him. Sam thought as she went back to her notes.
"Excuse me, Ms. Danaher?" Major Bristow said.
"Yes Sir and please call me Sam." Sam replied.
"After our talk the other day, I received permission to take you for a ride in a Huey." Bristow stated, "A Christmas present."
"That would be great!" Sam said jumping up, "Just let me get my camera."
"We take off in 15 minutes." Bristow informed her.
Sam ran out of the mess to the base housing and grabbed her camera. Webb was watching the entire exchange; I wonder what that was about.
Fifteen minutes later, Sam was in the Huey with Major Bristow, Lieutenant Allen and another passenger. There was no mission for this flight; it was just to take Sam up for shots. Sam had never been in a Huey before; she had been in fighters, which was a thrill, although it made her very light headed.
"Are you following me?" Sam asked Webb.
"No, I am doing my job." Webb replied.
"And your job is?" Sam asked. "A few weeks ago you were with the Navy."
"My job is classified." Webb snapped.
"Sam, are you going to put us in your column?" Lt. Allen asked.
"You better believe it, with pictures." Sam smiled. "This is great."
"You take pictures too?" Webb asked.
"I majored in journalism and minored in photography." Sam smiled.
"The Iraqi border is just ahead." Bristow informed her.
"Great," Sam said. "Hey, what's that?"
"Base this is AF106; we seem to have picked up some unfriendlies." Bristow said into his radio.
"AF106, this is base, how far are you from home?" The voice asked.
"About 300 miles, we are just about to turn for home." Bristow advised.
"AF 106, fire only if fired upon." The voice ordered.
"Sir, we were on a simple tour, we have a civilian on board, and we could use some help here." Bristow stated.
"AF 106, help is on the way. Return to home." The voice stated.
"Buckle in and secure the passenger." Bristow ordered.
Webb made sure Sam was safely strapped in. The Huey was picking up speed and returning to base when shots were heard.
"Base, this is AF 106, we are being fired upon." Bristow shouted.
"Sir, we're on the way." An F-15 pilot announced. "We should be in your air in 1 minute."
"Get here soon, we..." Bristow began, before he could finish his sentence, they heard the sound of ripping metal.
"We've been hit!" Bristow hollered, "Losing mechanical functions. Location 100 miles from Iraqi border, I have to set her down!"
The Huey spun out of control and crash landed in the desert. At this point they had no idea which side of the border they were on. Webb was on board because Sam was. He had received a call from AJ, and was asked to keep an eye on her. AJ and I are even.
"Is everyone ok?" Bristow shouted.
"Fine," Lieutenant Allen stated.
"Some bumps and bruises." Sam replied. "Any clue as to where we are?"
"The desert," Webb replied.
"Which side of the border?" Sam asked, aggravated with his sarcasm.
"Luckily we are still on Saudi soil." Bristow announced.
JAG OFFICES
"Dr. Spaulding, good to see you again." Harriet greeted.
"Nice to see you, Lieutenant," Ashlyn replied.
"Please call me Harriet." Harriet said.
"Only if you call me Ashlyn," Ashlyn stated.
"Deal, the Admiral will be right with you." Harriet said.
"Hi, Ashlyn." Tiner said, walking over.
"Hey Jason, how are you?" Ashlyn replied.
"I'm ok." Tiner replied. "I heard you saved the Commander's life."
"I was just doing my job." Ashlyn smiled.
"Tiner, please send Dr. Spaulding in." AJ called from his office.
"Yes Sir." Tiner stated. "Go on in."
ADMIRAL'S OFFICE
"Dr. Spaulding, good to see you. Please sit down." AJ said.
"Thank you, please call me Ashlyn." Ashlyn said taking a seat.
"I never did thank you for what you did for Commander Rabb." AJ began.
"I'm glad I was there to help." Ashlyn replied.
"It's good to have a doctor around." AJ smiled and then the smile quickly disappeared.
"Admiral, you didn't ask me here to thank me." Ashlyn said. "That could have been done with a phone call. What's going on?"
"I received a call from Clayton Webb's boss." AJ said.
"Who's Clayton Webb?" Ashlyn asked.
"He's the man that Gunny was referring to, the one that would keep an eye on your friend Samantha." AJ answered.
"What did Mr. Webb's boss have to say?" Ashlyn asked.
"About six hours ago, a helicopter was shot down near the Iraqi border; he and Samantha were on board." AJ informed her.
"Were they killed?" Ashlyn asked calmly.
"As far as we know there were no casualties." AJ said.
"So then, it's a matter of waiting." Ashlyn said.
"Yes, I have every confidence that they are all ok." AJ said. "This is all confidential."
"I just hope they aren't in Iraq." Ashlyn said. "And I understand."
"I agree, no telling what would happen to them." AJ said.
"Oh I wasn't worried about Sam." Ashlyn smiled. "I was worried about what she might do to the Iraqis."
"I'll keep you posted." AJ said. "If you need anything, please let me know."
"Thank you." Ashlyn said getting up. "I appreciate you telling me."
Ashlyn left the office and went home. Typical, Sam's gotten herself into trouble. Knowing Sam, she would get out of it and have a wonderful story to tell.
