A/N: This chapter is a bit longer than normal because I wanted to fit most of the trial into it. In the interest of not putting you all to sleep I've elected to only write important parts of the trial, and not go through the whole thing witness by witness. I've tried to limit the section on the trial itself to one witness for each side, and didn't bother going into cross examinations.

A/N 2: I've changed the categories on the story to be action/adventure first and romance second. Originally I wanted to have more romance in the story to begin with, but things didn't work out that way and sadly its been scarce so far, mostly just hints and thoughts. I just thought it would be more honest to the readers to reclassify the story this way, but for the romantics I promise there is more to come.

A/N 3: Geogirl: Thanks for the review and for pointing out the from/form transposition. That is my weak word…I miss it in editing all the time.

Chapter 15

USS Patrick Henry
Tuesday June 15, 2004
0830 Zulu

Harm was nervously pacing the deck in his quarters waiting for Bud or the Admiral to come get him. He'd been up since five and had had to make do with whatever he could dream up for exercise in his cramped quarters. Had it really been almost a week since he had been able to take a run on the deck? Making a conscious effort Harm stilled his feet and stood facing the hatch, determined to appear calm and ready when the Admiral or Bud showed up. Now if only he could keep his hands still…

Finally the hatch swung open to reveal a completely disheveled Bud Roberts, complete with weary grin. "Commander. Ready to go?"

"Lets do it Bud." Harm said as he stepped to the hatch and nodded to his silent guard.

"How'd it go this morning?" Harm asked as they maneuvered the passageways and stairwells to get to the Captain's wardroom.

"Well sir, we're still waiting to hear back from Commander Turner…he said NCIS would let him know as soon as they found something. Commander…you should know sir. The Skipper has decided to allow a small number of the media to attend the proceedings; it seems the SecNav has an interest in our efforts being shown to the world. I'm sorry sir." Bug said quietly.

Looking at Bud from the corner of his eye Harm gave him a wink and a small smile. "Then I suggest you do something about your appearance Lieutenant Commander. It looks as if you slept in your uniform last night."

"Sleep would have been nice sir." Bud said wryly as he started to tug and smooth his uniform.

"And the hair Bud." Harm said as he watched Bud's efforts with amusement. He hadn't seen Bud this nervous in a long time.

Grinning sheepishly Bud ran his hand through his hair in a vain effort to finger comb it into submission. After the effort yielded some tangible results Bud and Harm continued on their way to the Captain's wardroom.

As they got closer to the wardroom they couldn't help but notice the press of people standing outside; no matter how crowded a carrier may seem, everyone is usually on the move. Rolling his eyes Bud turned to face Harm. "Ready for this sir? I think they've seen us…Corporal…make a hole in that rabble."

"Aye aye sir." The Marine guard said. "MAKE A HOLE!"

As the Marine bellowed and moved his way forcibly towards the Captain's wardroom Harm couldn't help but grimaced. Not even a Marine could stop a pack of reporters.

"COMMANDER! Did you do it?" a female voice with a British accent shouted.

"Why did you do it?" another voice asked with a Russian accent.

"Commander Rabb…is it true that you're responsible for the downing of an unarmed civilian aircraft?" a familiar voice asked.

Stopping Harm looked over to see a familiar face to go with the voice. "DePalma. Why am I not surprised to see you here." He said in exasperation.

Smiling his trademark grin Chuck DePalma moved closer. "Look Harm…give me an exclusive interview…tell your whole story. I'll make sure everyone sees it."

"No comment" Bud said forcefully as he nudged his client and tried to move him through the press of people. "Corporal…clear these people away from the hatch."

"Aye aye sir. You heard the Lieutenant Commander! Make a hole….NOW!"

Finally Bud and Harm were able to squeeze through the hatch to enter the wardroom. The Captain, Mac and the Admiral were already seated and waiting.

"I'm sorry sirs, ma'am. We had to fight our way in here." Bud said as they heard the corporal continuing to demand the reporters clear the hatch.

"It's alright Lieutenant Commander." Captain Ingles said as the hatch opened again to reveal Skates and her escort. "Good…now that both of you are here…I'm sure you have seen our…guests. I'm going to be letting a limited number of them watch the proceedings. As much as it goes against my better judgment…Sergeant…" the Captain continued looking at Skates' escort. "go pick five of those vultures and get them in here."

"Aye aye sir." The Marine Sergeant said. He then opened the hatch again and once more braved the press of reporters. Soon he was back with five very smug looking reporters…DePalma among them.

As the reporters were sitting down in the seats provided at the back of the room the Captain stood up. "Now you hear this clear people. If I hear one peep out of any of you I will toss you into my wake. You are not here to interrupt, but to observe. Is that clear?"

Looking at the faces of the other reporters Chuck DePalma nodded and said "Perfectly clear Captain."

"Alright then." The Captain said gruffly as he sat back down. "Colonel, you may begin."

"Thank you Captain. The prosecution calls Colonel Farouk al'Fayez." Mac announced.

The hatch was opened to allow an elderly officer in the uniform of the new Iraqi military to enter. As he walked up to the chair set beside the Captain's table Mac stepped up to swear him in.

"Colonel, thank you for being here today." Mac started. "Are you aware of why you've been summoned?"

"I am Colonel MacKenzie. I am here to see those criminals face justice."

"Objection!" the Admiral roared as he shot out of his seat.

"Sustained. Colonel MacKenzie, please keep your witness on track."

"I'm sorry Captain." Mac apologized and then turned back to the Colonel. "Colonel al'Fayez, what is your role in the Iraqi military?"

"I command our new airbase at An Nasiriyah." Colonel al'Fayez said proudly.

"And were you on duty on June 6th of this year?"

"I was on duty until evening prayers." Colonel al'Fayez answered.

"Do you recognize this image Colonel?" Mac asked as she walked over to a computer that had been set up on a cart beside the Captain's table. Taking the mouse Mac clicked on a program icon on the desktop and a representation of a radar image appeared.

"May I?" Colonel al'Fayez asked. When the Captain nodded the Colonel pulled out a pair of glasses and slipped them on. Standing up he walked over to the computer and studied the image shown. "This is the radar image provided from our airbase for the evening of June 6th."

"And what is shown on this radar image?" Mac asked.

"Here…" the Colonel began pointing out a cluster of transponder signals "there is a group of aircraft…a Lear Jet and an escort of three fighters….MIGs by the signals. And…here we see another fighter jet…a…what do you Americans call them? Tomcat? A Tomcat enters from the southeast heading northwest."

Waiting while the radar image played out the Colonel continued. "Here the Tomcat meets up with the Lear Jet and its escort…two of the escorts are destroyed." The Colonel said as two of the transponder signals blinked off the screen. "And here the Lear Jet is destroyed. And here the Tomcat is destroyed."

Finished, the Colonel took his glasses off and returned to his seat.

1700 Zulu

"We will be in recess until 0900 tomorrow morning." The Captain said and then banged his gavel on the table.

"Well what do you think sir?" Bud whispered to the Admiral.

"Honestly it looks like the only evidence they have are the Iraqi radar images and the Hawkeye returning early. With the Hawkeye pilot dead, however, we can't haul him up and question him. Let's hope Turner has some news for us. Bud, go put in a call to him and see if he's heard back from NCIS."

"Aye sir." Bud said. Gathering up his files and papers Bud took a moment to give Harm and Skates a smile. "We'll get through this sir, ma'am."

"Thanks Bud." Harm said gratefully. He knew he was innocent…but they had to show it to the world. As Bud left Harm turned to look at the Admiral. "Mac did a hell of a job with the Hawkeye angle though sir."

"All she did was prove it wasn't damaged when it returned. Doesn't prove why it returned."

"Those tapes are pretty convincing sir." Skates said referring to the comm. tapes that Mac had played for the court.

"Roberts will be bringing those back up tomorrow Beth, don't worry." The Admiral said. "Lets get you two back to your quarters."

As soon as they started moved through the hatch the reporters were on them. "Admiral! Why are you here sir?"

"I heard the Gulf was nice this time of year. Now get the hell out of my way!" the Admiral answered gruffly.

"Is it true you're retiring Admiral?" DePalma asked as the Admiral and his two clients started to move away from the hatch.

Pausing only long enough to glare at the reporter the Admiral elected to continue on his way, pulling his two clients in his wake.

"I'm sure I don't have to remind you both to stay away from them." The Admiral said with a glance over his shoulder at the reporters behind them. "They'll just twist anything you say to get headlines."

"Aye aye sir." Both Harm and Skates said.

As they came to the stairwell that led down to the level Skates needed to take to get to the female quarters she turned to face the Admiral. "Admiral Chegwidden sir…I haven't thanked you yet sir…for doing this for the CAG."

"I'm doing it for both of you Lieutenant Commander, not just Rabb. You might want to hold off on the thanks however until we get this all cleared up."

"Aye aye sir…I just wanted to say…"

"I understand Lieutenant Commander. And I'll be here for you to thank when we do get it all settled." The Admiral said with one of his rarely revealed moments of empathy.

"Aye aye sir." Skates said coming to attention and saluting the Admiral.

Returning her salute the Admiral nodded to her escort and the Sergeant saluted and led Skates down the stairs.

"Well Commander, lets get you out of sight before the vultures come sniffing around for you." The Admiral said grumpily.

Nodding Harm followed the Admiral the rest of the way to his quarters. Saluting the Admiral Harm then opened the door and entered his quarters. When he turned from closing the hatch he stopped in shock at the sight he saw; standing in the corner of his quarters was Meg.

Holding her finger to her lips Meg motioned for Harm to come closer. Somewhat confused at finding her in his quarters Harm stepped closer to her and whispered "What are you doing here?"

"I know you're looking for information on Riley…but you're not going to find anything." Meg said quietly.

"How do you know that? And what do you mean we won't find anything, we're checking with NCIS."

"I know you are…and they won't find anything for you…there's no record for them to find. Riley is…or rather was…Naval Intelligence."

"And how would you know that?" Harm asked suspiciously. He had a feeling he wouldn't like the answer.

"Harm…Riley was my partner."

"Your partner." Harm said shaking his head. Somehow he'd just known something like this was going on with her.

"Yes Harm, my partner. Listen, I don't have a lot of time for this. Riley was NI, so am I. Now, my partner is dead, and it has something to do with you and your trial…and I'm guessing it has to do with the case that we were working on."

"Damn it Meg, I knew it was something like this."

"I couldn't tell you Harm…and I don't have time to go into it now. Listen to me Harm…the Admiral needs to focus on the tapes…Bud's right…they've been altered. Tell them the Iraqi radar images have been tampered with as well…if they look closely enough they'll see signs of this. Harm, I need to go...Bud or the Admiral might be here soon."

Harm stood there in shock, still trying to make sense of what Meg had said. He'd known it had to be something like this, but knowing it in his head and having to face it where two different things. "Why did you come to JAG?" Harm asked.

"Harm, it's a long story. I promise I'll tell you everything, but I really do have to go…I'm expected on duty soon." Meg said as she stepped past him to move toward the hatch.

Grabbing Meg's arm Harm turned her back to look at him. "Why'd you come back to JAG? Why did you come back into my life?"

"I'll tell you everything Harm…I promise. Can you do something to distract the guard?"

"Meg, why don't you go to the Admiral or Bud with this?" Harm asked.

"I've thought about that Harm, but what do you think would happen if I tried to speak to the Admiral? I'm supposed to be a young weapons officer…can you see a Lieutenant just walking up to an Admiral?"

"Meg, you can't honestly think the Admiral hasn't noticed you?"

"He's noticed me, but it would blow my cover to be seen with him; and Bud's being followed by too many of the reporters. Now, can you distract the guard or not?"

Shaking his head slowly Harm stepped up to the hatch and banged on it then opened it up slowly. Stepping out he looked at the Corporal. "Green…I need to use the head." He said and then when the corporal nodded started off towards the head with his guard in tow. As they turned a corner Harm caught sight of Meg sneaking out of his quarters. Well, at least he knew why she was here…sort of. But finding out the answer to that question left him with a bunch of new ones.

"You knew she was Intel sir?" Harm asked in shock when he brought the subject up with the Admiral an hour later.

"Of course I knew Commander…she was one of mine after all." The Admiral replied indignantly. "What else did she have to say?"

"Only that we…I mean you and Bud…are to focus on the tapes and the Iraqi radar images. They've been tampered with and she figures Bud can prove it."

"He's having the tapes examined right now." The Admiral said as he paced across Harm's quarters. "She was right…Sturgis called back to say NCIS came up blank on Riley. Nothing; not even a service jacket. So we stay away from the dead man and focus on the electronic information. Did she say how Bud was supposed to prove the tapes were altered?"

"No sir, but I'm sure…" Harm started but stopped when there was a banging at his hatch. This was quickly followed by the very excited Lieutenant Commander Roberts.

"Admiral! I've got it!"

"Got what Lieutenant Commander?"

"Listen sir!" Bud said as he held up a small tape recorder. Pressing down on the play button he went on "This is how it sounds now…."

"We just picked up 3 bogies entering the umbrella." The recording started.

"…Sierra-6 head on home." Harm heard his voice say.

"Poniard, are you aware that if we turn around you will be out of the umbrella…" Riley's voice said.

"You heard me Sierra-6, return to base." Harm's voice said.

"Roger Poniard; returning to base. Good luck."

Bud pushed the stop button as the last words were spoken.

Harm was shaking his head. "That's not right sir…that's where I called for the standby Hawkeye, and they had identified the bogies as MIGs."

"Just wait Commander." Bud said with a smile. "I had them enhance the recording in places…like I said I just didn't get why some of the sentences sounded like they were stopping in mid sentence."

"And?" the Admiral asked impatiently.

"Well sir…with the digital tapes its not like you can open it up and cut a section out and splice it together like you can with analog tapes…they're more like computer discs. And like computer discs you can use software to move bits around, take out sections, basically anything you want. I can make the Commander sound like a chipmunk if I wanted."

"As amusing as that would be to some Commander Roberts, please get on with it."

"You see Admiral, even when you remove a section its not really gone…its like if you delete a computer file, its gone, but not gone. A ghost, if you will, remains of the file, and if you know how to you can retrieve the file from that ghost. I had one of the comm. techs help me in looking for…'ghosts' on the tapes of the Commander's radio transmissions."

"What did you find Bud?" both Harm and the Admiral demanded at the same time. Blushing slightly Harm nodded to the Admiral in apology. "Sorry sir."

"We found the missing pieces of the conversation sir. Or most of it anyway. Actually they didn't do a very good job of it…looks really quick and dirty. You see sirs, they didn't actually try to cut out the sections so much as they compressed them wherever they wanted sections removed."

"What does that mean Mr. Roberts?" the Admiral asked as he rolled his eyes.

"Well sir, when the tape gets to the part of the conversation that whoever did this wanted to hide it would just sort of play that part really really really fast and then move on to the next part…so fast that we couldn't hear it. We would just hear a click, or a pop or something like that…its what was bothering me the first time we heard the tapes."

"Good work Lieutenant Commander. Go back and have a copy made of the recording with the tampering removed."

"I've already had that done sir." Bud said holding up a digital cartridge. "I've also had a tape made so that we can play it in court tomorrow."

"Great work Bud!" Harm said as he grabbed his friend in a big hug.

"Don't get too excited Commander. All this proves is that you told them to bring the bird home because they said they were experiencing trouble and that you called for a standby Hawkeye. It's a start, but we need more. We need to prove that there wasn't a civilian aircraft."

"What about wreckage sir?"

"The Iraqis aren't releasing anything yet. And before you ask, we haven't been able to locate any of the wreckage from your Tomcat. My guess is the Iraqis got to it first."

"Well…that means no flight recorder."

"Exactly. Something I think the Iraqis would want to keep from us if they were simply taking advantage of a downed pilot to drum up international support against us. I'm working on something else to cover this angle though…I should find out how it looks shortly."

"I'm glad you're here Admiral, Bud. I don't know what Skates and I would do without you." Harm said with feeling.

"You'd fight Harm…its what you do. You fight against things you see as injustices." The Admiral said gruffly. "Anyway…I need to go see if I've got anything developing with the radar angle. Bud, I want you to look over the radar recordings we have from the Iraqis."

"Yes sir. What am I looking for?"

"Inconsistencies Bud…prove to me that those recordings are fake."

"Aye aye sir." Bud said coming to attention and then turning to head out of Harm's quarters. Pausing at the hatch he looked back at Harm and smiled. "Don't worry sir, we'll prove you're innocent."

Before Harm could respond Bud was gone and the Admiral was standing at the hatch. Without a word the Admiral simply nodded and then left Harm alone with his thoughts.

USS Patrick Henry
Wednesday June 16, 2004
1312 Zulu

"That recording was made from the comm. tapes currently entered into evidence. As you can clearly hear they mention nothing about MIGs or having a standby Hawkeye launched." Bud was saying as he stood before the court holding his tape recorder.

"Lieutenant Commander…are you sure you wish to pursue this? It seems to me that you're doing the Colonel's job for her." Captain Ingles asked, clearly confused at Bud's logic.

"Ah, yes sir. If you would grant me a moment to explain…"

"Very well Lieutenant Commander."

"Captain, the defense has been puzzled about something regarding the comm. tapes, and we've determined that they were indeed tampered with."

"Objection! Facts not in evidence." Mac said as she stood up quickly.

"Lieutenant Commander?" the Captain asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Skipper…if you will permit me a few moments we will be able to prove that the tapes were indeed tampered with."

"You have two minutes Lieutenant Commander."

"Yes sir. We would like to enter this recording into evidence as defense article twelve." Bud said replacing the tape in his recorder with a new one. Pushing the play button Bud continued quickly "You will notice that there is more to this conversation than the previous recording."

Quietly the whole courtroom listened to Bud's second recording where there were Harm clearly ordered the launch of a standby Hawkeye as well as Sierra-6 identifying the bogies as MIGs.

"Captain, I object. There is no way that the defense can prove that this was the original recording." Mac said quickly.

"If you will permit me Captain?" Bud said just as quickly before the Captain responded to Mac's objection. At the Captain's slow nod Bud continued. "I think I can actually prove that, if you will permit a recess so you and the Colonel can come to the comm. room. There I would have access to the equipment necessary to prove that this is actually the original recording."

"If the Colonel has no further objections to this?" Captain Ingles asked.

"I do not, sir."

"Very well. We will recess for two hours and reconvene at 1600. Guards, please take the defendants to their quarters."

Almost two hours later Harm and Skates were both back in the courtroom with their guards, waiting for the Admiral, Captain, Mac and Bud to return. They didn't wait long and soon all four were back in the court room, Bud with a big smile.

"Please continue Lieutenant Commander, your new recordings will be allowed into evidence." The Captain said when everyone was brought back to order.

"Thank you Captain. We would like to call Major Stokes." Bud said and then took his seat again.

The Admiral stood up as an army major was escorted into the courtroom. Stepping up to the witness chair the Admiral instructed the major to raise his right hand. "Do you swear the testimony you give will be the truth and nothing but the truth."

"I do." Major Stokes said.

"You may be seated Major." The Admiral said. "For the record please state your name and command."

"Major John Stokes, Second in Command, 3rd Division, Army Intelligence. We are currently deployed in Al Basrah."

"Major, what is your role in the military?"

"I coordinate the intaking of cross-service intelligence material."

"Does the Army regularly share intelligence with the other branches of service deployed in Iraq?"

"Objection…relevance?" Mac asked quickly.

"Admiral?" the Captain asked.

"I am establishing that the Major is suited for giving testimony regarding some electronic intelligence pertinent to this case Captain."

"I'll allow it. But make it quick Admiral. You may answer the question Major."

"Yes sir. Admiral, all military personnel stationed in country work very closely with each other…we need to in order to accomplish our mission."

The Admiral walked over to the Captain's computer and brought up the radar image provided by the Iraqis. "Do you recognize this Major?"

"Yes sir…that is an air space radar image…Iraqi by the look of it. Looks to be south eastern Iraq."

"It is Major. This radar recording was taken on June 6th of this year. Are you familiar with the incident we are discussing here?"

"Only what I've heard Admiral…Commander Rabb is supposed to have shot down an unarmed civilian aircraft."

"Now if I was to ask you to compare these two recordings…" the Admiral started hitting a button on the computer to cause the image to shrink and a second image to take up the vacated space. "what could you tell me?"

"May I?" Major Stokes asked the Captain.

The Captain nodded silently and the Major got up and walked over to the computer, looking closely at the image on the monitor. "At first glance sir, they appear to be different views of the same image; one provided by a ground based radar station, and the second from an Elint aircraft…a Hawkeye or an AWACS. But if you look closer…here…" the Major said as he pointed to a spot on the first image, and then the second image. "and here…you'll notice that while these three transponder signals and the Tomcat transponder are the same on both radar images, this fourth one is different. On this image it is squawking as a Lear Jet, and on this one the fourth signal is that of a MIG fighter jet."

"And if I was to tell you that both of these recordings were supposed to have taken place at the same time, in the same place what would your response be Major?" the Admiral asked when the Major had retaken his seat.

"I would be hard-pressed to see how. Everything about the two is the same, except for that fourth transponder in the group of four. No Admiral, those two radar images could not have taken place at the same time and place."

"Objection...relevance?" Mac asked.

"Admiral?"

"Captain, the image on the left is the one submitted by the Iraqis as the Major noted. The second image was provided by the Air Force, pulled from one of their AWACs planes that was orbiting the area on the 6th."