On the bridge of the cargo ship, Harm cast Mac a victorious grin, before
fainting dead away.
"Harm? Harm! This is getting ridiculous."
"Rabb? You still there?" Captain Ingles' voice came over the radio. Harm Sr gestured that Mac should be the one to answer.
"This is Colonel MacKenzie, sir. Captain Rabb passed out as soon as we were safe on the deck. I'd like your permission to take him to sickbay, he's lost a lot of blood. There's someone here who can help me get him off the flight deck, but he could use a flight surgeon once we get him inside. Then I need to make an urgent ship-to-shore call so we can get back where we're supposed to be."
"You've got someone to stay on your... thing... and keep an eye on it?"
"Yes sir"
"Very well. Our comms guys can set you up a line from sickbay, I'll meet you down there. I'd like to know why my ship's being used as a landing pad for UFOs."
"Yes sir. Thank you, sir."
The flight surgeon who met Mac and Harm Sr as they carried Harm between them off the flight deck gave noouter signs of surprise at what was going on. He had probably dealt with situations where questions are unappreciated before, though this particular one blew most others out of the water. He had no idea what had just landed on the flight deck, but knew it must be unusual because no-one was allowed up there, or anywhere where they might get a view of whatever was up there. The fact that a man whom he knew for a fact did not have any siblings of his own age, and certainly not an identical twin, was being half-carried by a man who looked enough like him to fool his own mother must have set off alarm bells in his head, but to his credit he was able to act as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on; he was simply taking an injured pilot under his care.
"What do you know of his condition?"
It was Mac who gave him an answer. Someone who couldn't exist answering his questions might have proved too much for the good doctor. "He's lost a lot of blood from a wound in his arm. It's been bleeding for several hours now, I applied pressure but it didn't stop the bleeding, only slowed it. And he was in hospital until a couple of days ago with a mysterious pathogen in his system. I can put you through to his usual doctor in a few minutes if that would help."
"That would be a very good idea. Before I can do much to treat him I need to know what sort of state he's in physically and medically."
"If you need to transfuse him, this man gave him blood a few days ago with no problems."
"Thankyou, I may well need to make use of him. We're nearly at sickbay now, the Captain should be waiting for us with your ship-to-shore line."
He was indeed waiting for them, his eyes burning with curiosity.
"Colonel MacKenzie. No offense, but I was hoping not to see you again for a while. Especially not under circumstances like this."
"No offense taken sir." She saw his eyes go past her to her companion, and widen perceptibly. "Captain, may I introduce Acting Captain Harmon Rabb Senior?"
The skipper's eyes snapped back to hers. He didn't attempt to hide his disbelief.
"Even if Rabb's father were alive, which he isn't, he'd be at least twenty years older than that man."
"Captain, Harm just landed what I'm sure you've realised is an alien spacecraft on your deck. Compared to that, is it so hard to believe he got his father back under unusual circumstances?"
"I'm not sure what I believe at the moment, Colonel." He handed her a large portable phone. "Your ship-to-shore line's ready."
"Thankyou, sir."
She moved a few paces further into sickbay to a spot where she could watch Harm whilst at the same time maintaining a least a semblance of privacy in her phone call to General Hammond.
"General? It's Colonel MacKenzie."
"We're on the USS Patrick Henry, in the Atlantic, sir."
"Apollo's sister Artemis turned up. Harm managed to convince her Apollo was still alive in him. Then when she suggested a mission to take out a base of Pan's and steal some naquadah, he had to go along with it. Otherwise she'd have shot him on the spot, sir."
"She had a ship in orbit, sir. We beamed up there. She found us at Harm's grandmother's house."
"I don't know, sir."
"We freed the Jaffa, set a bomb on the base, and got out of there. Something about a chain reaction of naquadah. Oh, and Anubis turned up. We think we wiped out his fleet."
"Yes sir, that was us. How did you hear about that?"
"How did they know?"
"Sorry, sir. We came back to Earth in the ship Artemis used."
"No sir, the Jaffa killed her."
"The explosion damaged the ship. Harm set us down on the Patrick Henry to save us and the naquadah we got from the base."
"I don't know, but Harm seemed to think we could do a lot with it. It filled the entire cargo hold."
"He used his blood as a fuse, sir. He passed out just after we landed."
"The deck was clear, sir. Only a few people saw us land, and the flight deck's off-limits to all personnel at the moment. There aren't any fighters in the air or CODs expected for a while, so it shouldn't be a problem for a bit, but we should get ourselves and the ship out of here ASAP."
"The skipper of the Henry's right here, sir. You should probably talk to him."
"Yes sir. I'm sure Harm'll appreciate that. Here's Captain Ingles, sir."
Mac didn't listen to the skipper's side of the conversation. She took Harm's right hand in her own and gently stroked it. This drew the doctor's attention.
"What happened to his arm?"
"It got blown up a few weeks ago. He can use it for most things now, but he doesn't have the usual strength in it yet."
"What the hell's Hammer been doing to himself? I looked him over last time he was out here for his quals. I didn't think a man could pick up that many scars in a year and still be sane and walking around. And I've seen my share of miracle recoveries."
"You know Harm. He's just a big trouble magnet."
"Hmm."
At this point, Ingles held out the phone to the doctor. "There's a Doctor Janet Fraiser to talk to you. Air Force. She's Hammer's usual Doc at the moment."
The doctor stepped away to consult with Janet, and Ingles looked over at Harm Sr.
"So you're the original Hammer?"
"That's me, skipper. First time on a carrier since last time I left the Tyco."
"Hell of a homecoming for you."
"It's not how I'd imagined it after I first went down, no."
"You're a legend around here. Though there's a lot of brass around that would probably like to kill you."
"What'd I do to them?"
"You gave them another generation of Rabbs to deal with."
"Well, in that case you probably don't want to hear this, but I have a feeling it won't be the last." He cast a significant look at the way Mac was holding Harm's hand.
Ingles gave a small smile. "I always figured there was something about those two. God help the Navy if they have kids."
"Look at it this way. They've left it so long, you'll be well out of it by the time any more Rabbs make it through flight school."
"Part of me hopes I'm not. That son of yours does have a way of making life interesting."
"So I'm told."
"Harm? Harm! This is getting ridiculous."
"Rabb? You still there?" Captain Ingles' voice came over the radio. Harm Sr gestured that Mac should be the one to answer.
"This is Colonel MacKenzie, sir. Captain Rabb passed out as soon as we were safe on the deck. I'd like your permission to take him to sickbay, he's lost a lot of blood. There's someone here who can help me get him off the flight deck, but he could use a flight surgeon once we get him inside. Then I need to make an urgent ship-to-shore call so we can get back where we're supposed to be."
"You've got someone to stay on your... thing... and keep an eye on it?"
"Yes sir"
"Very well. Our comms guys can set you up a line from sickbay, I'll meet you down there. I'd like to know why my ship's being used as a landing pad for UFOs."
"Yes sir. Thank you, sir."
The flight surgeon who met Mac and Harm Sr as they carried Harm between them off the flight deck gave noouter signs of surprise at what was going on. He had probably dealt with situations where questions are unappreciated before, though this particular one blew most others out of the water. He had no idea what had just landed on the flight deck, but knew it must be unusual because no-one was allowed up there, or anywhere where they might get a view of whatever was up there. The fact that a man whom he knew for a fact did not have any siblings of his own age, and certainly not an identical twin, was being half-carried by a man who looked enough like him to fool his own mother must have set off alarm bells in his head, but to his credit he was able to act as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on; he was simply taking an injured pilot under his care.
"What do you know of his condition?"
It was Mac who gave him an answer. Someone who couldn't exist answering his questions might have proved too much for the good doctor. "He's lost a lot of blood from a wound in his arm. It's been bleeding for several hours now, I applied pressure but it didn't stop the bleeding, only slowed it. And he was in hospital until a couple of days ago with a mysterious pathogen in his system. I can put you through to his usual doctor in a few minutes if that would help."
"That would be a very good idea. Before I can do much to treat him I need to know what sort of state he's in physically and medically."
"If you need to transfuse him, this man gave him blood a few days ago with no problems."
"Thankyou, I may well need to make use of him. We're nearly at sickbay now, the Captain should be waiting for us with your ship-to-shore line."
He was indeed waiting for them, his eyes burning with curiosity.
"Colonel MacKenzie. No offense, but I was hoping not to see you again for a while. Especially not under circumstances like this."
"No offense taken sir." She saw his eyes go past her to her companion, and widen perceptibly. "Captain, may I introduce Acting Captain Harmon Rabb Senior?"
The skipper's eyes snapped back to hers. He didn't attempt to hide his disbelief.
"Even if Rabb's father were alive, which he isn't, he'd be at least twenty years older than that man."
"Captain, Harm just landed what I'm sure you've realised is an alien spacecraft on your deck. Compared to that, is it so hard to believe he got his father back under unusual circumstances?"
"I'm not sure what I believe at the moment, Colonel." He handed her a large portable phone. "Your ship-to-shore line's ready."
"Thankyou, sir."
She moved a few paces further into sickbay to a spot where she could watch Harm whilst at the same time maintaining a least a semblance of privacy in her phone call to General Hammond.
"General? It's Colonel MacKenzie."
"We're on the USS Patrick Henry, in the Atlantic, sir."
"Apollo's sister Artemis turned up. Harm managed to convince her Apollo was still alive in him. Then when she suggested a mission to take out a base of Pan's and steal some naquadah, he had to go along with it. Otherwise she'd have shot him on the spot, sir."
"She had a ship in orbit, sir. We beamed up there. She found us at Harm's grandmother's house."
"I don't know, sir."
"We freed the Jaffa, set a bomb on the base, and got out of there. Something about a chain reaction of naquadah. Oh, and Anubis turned up. We think we wiped out his fleet."
"Yes sir, that was us. How did you hear about that?"
"How did they know?"
"Sorry, sir. We came back to Earth in the ship Artemis used."
"No sir, the Jaffa killed her."
"The explosion damaged the ship. Harm set us down on the Patrick Henry to save us and the naquadah we got from the base."
"I don't know, but Harm seemed to think we could do a lot with it. It filled the entire cargo hold."
"He used his blood as a fuse, sir. He passed out just after we landed."
"The deck was clear, sir. Only a few people saw us land, and the flight deck's off-limits to all personnel at the moment. There aren't any fighters in the air or CODs expected for a while, so it shouldn't be a problem for a bit, but we should get ourselves and the ship out of here ASAP."
"The skipper of the Henry's right here, sir. You should probably talk to him."
"Yes sir. I'm sure Harm'll appreciate that. Here's Captain Ingles, sir."
Mac didn't listen to the skipper's side of the conversation. She took Harm's right hand in her own and gently stroked it. This drew the doctor's attention.
"What happened to his arm?"
"It got blown up a few weeks ago. He can use it for most things now, but he doesn't have the usual strength in it yet."
"What the hell's Hammer been doing to himself? I looked him over last time he was out here for his quals. I didn't think a man could pick up that many scars in a year and still be sane and walking around. And I've seen my share of miracle recoveries."
"You know Harm. He's just a big trouble magnet."
"Hmm."
At this point, Ingles held out the phone to the doctor. "There's a Doctor Janet Fraiser to talk to you. Air Force. She's Hammer's usual Doc at the moment."
The doctor stepped away to consult with Janet, and Ingles looked over at Harm Sr.
"So you're the original Hammer?"
"That's me, skipper. First time on a carrier since last time I left the Tyco."
"Hell of a homecoming for you."
"It's not how I'd imagined it after I first went down, no."
"You're a legend around here. Though there's a lot of brass around that would probably like to kill you."
"What'd I do to them?"
"You gave them another generation of Rabbs to deal with."
"Well, in that case you probably don't want to hear this, but I have a feeling it won't be the last." He cast a significant look at the way Mac was holding Harm's hand.
Ingles gave a small smile. "I always figured there was something about those two. God help the Navy if they have kids."
"Look at it this way. They've left it so long, you'll be well out of it by the time any more Rabbs make it through flight school."
"Part of me hopes I'm not. That son of yours does have a way of making life interesting."
"So I'm told."