Chapter Forty One
USS Patrick Henry
0900
Two weeks later, the COD landed on the Patrick Henry with a thud. Harm and Mac climbed out and went to the bridge to see the Captain.
"Commander Rabb and Colonel Mackenzie reporting as ordered sir." Harm said.
"At ease. It is good to have you back on the Pat, hopefully this time you won't be landing a C-130 on my deck."
"No sir, this time only Tomcats."
"I heard you wanted to get out of your quals this year Rabb. It's not like you, something up?"
"Nothing really sir, just getting older, and having children changes your perspective on what is important."
"Understandable Rabb. I see the Colonel here is sporting a nice rock on her finger. Congratulations Colonel. Who is the lucky man?"
"Commander Rabb, sir." She said to him.
"Congratulations to you both. Colonel we have you set up with a translator working on some classified documents. Ensign Mills will escort you to the office. Rabb, you know what to do. The case you guys are here to investigate can wait. I will make sure you get your quals done in time to investigate this case Rabb. Ensign Galbox has put your things in your staterooms. Dismissed."
They turned to leave, and Harm turned to Mac, "Isn't there something you need to say to me before you go into your office Mac?"
"Don't kill yourself up there." She said smiling at him.
He gave her a look. "And?"
"Oh, good luck, don't dump it into the drink again. I don't know if I will be able to find you this time."
Captain Ingles stood there listening to their banter. He always knew their relationship was beyond a working relationship. "Colonel, you were the one who found the Commander last time?"
"Yes sir. I was also the reason though he insisted on flying through that weather, and I didn't wish him luck time, so it has become a tradition now between the two of us."
"Good thing you are here."
Harm left to suit up to complete the first set of traps. He walked out of his stateroom and smacked into Mac. "Hey Mac. Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going."
"It's okay Harm. Be safe, come home to us."
"I will." He set out for the ready room and met up with Skates. They headed out to the Tomcat and ran through the preflight check. Mac stood up on vulture row watching him. Captain Ingles stood out there with her.
"How goes the translation?"
"Pretty easy. It's in Russian, so it is going smoothly."
"You really do care for him don't you?" he asked.
"He is the air I breathe," she replied. She watched his tomcat catapult off the ship.
"Harm is a damn fine pilot. Now that he has you and a family to go home to, I am sure that he will not do anything out of the ordinary while up there. For a while, after his ramp strike, everyone doubted that he was the real deal. Then, he pulls off saving Admiral Boone's life. Your fiancé is the real deal."
She stood there. "Thank you for that vote of confidence sir. I will finish the translations, and then Harm and I will crack the harassment suite."
"You and he are a good team, I have no doubt that you will figure this out."
"Thank you sir."
She stared at the sky and prayed that he would be coming home. Mac walked back into the office and started working on more mundane tasks of doing the translations. Mac was sitting at her desk when she noticed that she had a new mail message.
To: mackenziesc usmc.mil
Fr: mattieaviation
Sub: See what you daughter did
Hi Mom, Hi Dad,
Hehehe, Mackenzie was trying out her throwing arm.
Uncle Sergei was having Mackenzie try a new cereal that
Gram had bought. These are the results.
I love you guys. Come home soon. Uncle AJ, Uncle Bud,
Aunt Harriet, Jimmy, and little AJ came by today while
Jen was in class. I think you and Dad went overboard
with the checking in. Tell Dad I would email him, but
I figured you would be at the desk more.
Uncle Sergei and Jen are trying so hard to be good substitute
parents. Don't tell them, but they are doing an okay
job. They keep letting me and Mackenzie get away with
most everything.
I love you guys.
Mathilda Grace Johnson
PS: Tell Dad we need to change my last name soon.
Mac opened up the attachment. There was a picture of Mackenzie turning away from the cereal spoon, and another one of her flinging the bowl toward Sergei, then one of Mackenzie wearing the bowl on her head. Mac started laughing hysterically. Just then Harm walked in.
"Hi beautiful." He said to her realizing that she was alone in her office. "I landed safely. I just figured you would want to know."
"Do you want to know what your daughter did?"
"Why is it they are my daughters when they did something bad, but your daughters when they are doing something brilliant? Which one by the way?"
"Mackenzie."
"Ah, my sweet darling angel, whose smile can light up any bad day of the week, who steals my hear, who can do no wrong? The same baby?"
"Ah, the sweet darling caused a mess in the kitchen. Are we paying Sergei enough?"
"Free boarding until he gets figures out what he wants to do. How is Mattie doing?"
"She said she is fine, and she wants to change her last name to Rabb."
"I know. I need to talk to Tom about formally adopting her. He gave me parental rights, but didn't completely terminate his rights. I still want them to spend time together, but when I was at the hospital the doctor gave me this look, and seemed weird about giving me info on her."
"That must have driven you crazy."
"It did."
"When is your next set of quals?"
"Night traps. I am on my way to getting dinner. Do you want to join me?"
"Well, you know what they say about flyboys in their flight suits."
"No, what?"
"That it makes me go weak in the knees."
"So that's what turns you on."
"You know it."
He quickly grazed his lips over hers. "Let me go feed my Marine now."
He helped her out of her chair and glanced around like a naughty school boy. He dropped her folders behind her desk and both went behind the desk to put them back in order. He touched her face and kissed her. "Being with you is so much better than flying."
"Coming from you, I am going to take that as the biggest compliment ever."
They straightened up the folders and headed out to the mess hall. Harm and Mac ate together and made pleasant conversation with Skates who told the story on how Harm had saved her skin a couple of times. Harm and Mac said goodbye and he walked out to do his preflight check. He glanced up at vulture row and caught her staring at him. He gave her a wave that she caught. She waved back and watched him fly off.
It really didn't take long for Mac to get the linguistic officers caught up to where it was manageable for them. She grabbed a cup of coffee and headed back out to vultures row. She watched him catapult off for his third night trap. She saw the catapult malfunctioned as he was flung off. Mac dropped her coffee cup then she heard the familiar roar of the engines.
The captain was standing on vulture row with her. "Damn, how did Rabb pull that off? The normal pilot would have had to eject into the drink." She started picking up the pieces of the coffee cup. "Colonel leave it. I would have dropped my mug too."
Mac went to get up when the ship lurched and her hand went into a piece of broken mug. "Damn it." She pulled the piece of ceramic out of her skin.
"Colonel, go down to sick bay and get that looked at."
"Sir, I need to stay and make sure he gets back down."
"Damn it Colonel. You have the same stubborn streak as your fiancé. Come here." She stood next to the captain and he wrapped her hand in a handkerchief. "I don't need you bleeding all over my ship. The minute he lands, I will tell him to meet you in the infirmary."
She watched him come in and catch the one wire. She saluted to the captain and he told her to get going.
Harm climbed out of the cockpit and helped Skates down. The saluted immediately when they saw the captain. "At ease you two. That was some great flying Rabb, I am going to write an official statement for your record. Colonel Mackenzie is in the sick bay."
Harm dropped his helmet on the deck, forgetting military protocol and ran down for her. Skates shook her head after him. "I think he loves her Sir."
"Genius aren't we there huh Skates."
"Just stating the obvious, Sir."
Harm entered the sick bay. "Mac, Mac!"
"Right here flyboy. I don't think I have ever seen you so worked up. It's just stitches. Only three sub-Q stitches."
"All I knew is that you were in the sick bay, and I got so worried."
"Imagine my worry when I saw the catapult malfunction. I didn't think you would be able to pull up the plane. I was so worried, I dropped my mug, and when I picked it up, I cut myself."
He held her tight. "Technically, I hurt you then."
"Harm, don't think like that, okay?"
"Okay."
"We have a case to crack starting tomorrow, and two beautiful girls to get home to."
"Let's go get dinner, and then we will figure out how to catch the stalker." They left to go get dinner, and they went back down to the JAG office in the ship.
