Chapter Fifty Nine

0900 Local Time

USS Patrick Henry

Mac stepped off the COD and looked around the deck expecting to see Harm there. One glance over and she was able to find his six foot four frame waiting for her and Commander Smalls. He was wearing his flight gear. He looked fabulous.

"Colonel Mackenzie, pleasure to have you aboard the Patrick Henry." Harm said joking with her.

"Harm we have missed you in the office. There is no one shooting up the courtrooms." She whispered in his ear as they were walking towards the door.

"Ah, come one Mac I have come a long way from that point." He said flashing her his famous smile. "Captain Ingles is expecting you on the bridge. Mac, can I catch you for dinner around 1900, I have to go up, but it shouldn't take that long."

"Sure Harm. I have a letter that Mattie wrote for you and pictures of Mackenzie."

"Great. I'll see you for dinner hun." He gave her a quick hug and left went out to his aircraft.

"Cocky Flyboys always think they can get what they want."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, just watch yourself on this ship Colonel, it seems like the men on board are too friendly." Deek said not realizing who Harm was.

"That was just Harm, he has been like that ever since I met him years ago. I wouldn't worry about it."

She walked up to the bridge. Mac fleeting glanced back at the place where Harm hit the deck, there were still some scorch marks. She watched him take off and was thankful that he was in total control of the plane this time. Mac walked up to the bridge and stood at attention waiting for Captain Ingles to acknowledge her and Commander Smalls.

"At ease Colonel, Commander. Commander Smalls, this is your first time aboard my ship. I'm sure Colonel Mackenzie can fill you in on how things are done on my ship. Colonel, Commander Rabb sure saved a 40 million dollar aircraft the other night."

"What did he do?" Deek asked.

"He was able to pull the bird up and catch the wire after their navigational systems went down. He had to do it all with sight." The Captain explained. "What we didn't understand was how the electronics went out on in perfectly good weather. It was just a stroke of luck he didn't have to eject again. I need you guys to figure this out quickly. I don't need any of our pilots getting hurt or any good computer programmers to be out right now."

"Hell of an aviator." The CAG spoke up. "But then again Colonel, if you were on his plane, he wouldn't need a navigational system." She laughed at that.

"Rabb was the pilot that was in the cockpit?" Mac asked.

"Colonel, does Commander Rabb keep you in the dark?"

"Only when he thinks I will worry, which in this case, I might have."

"That sounds like Rabb. He probably thought it was another walk in the park. Colonel, before you get angry at him, think about the amazing feet he pulled off."

"Yeah, but he isn't the one at home with two scared girls. Now, if you point us in way of the accused, we will start the investigation."

"She is in the brig. A fight broke out two days ago in the galley, apparently Ensign Kromer threw the first punch, but for right now, until something can be done about the charges, this is probably safer for her. By the way Colonel, your fiancé was just as shaken up about it, but you know the flyboys, they won't ever let you know that."

"I understand Captain." Mac told him. "I know CAG, trust me, I know. Harm has nine lives. I'll make my way to the brig now to interview the accused."

In the brig:

"Colonel, I swear I didn't do this. I was working on a new software program to update the older F-14s. I was okayed to work on this project, it is the main reason they brought me on board a month ago. The program worked fine in all the tests, I don't understand what could happen. To speed up the process, the software was spliced on several discs."

"We don't believe you Ensign!" Deek yelled at her. They had been in the brig for over an hour, and the case was running into a dead end.

"Lay off it Deek. We aren't going to accomplish anything by yelling. Ensign Kromer, if you didn't do it, how did the virus get on the F-14?"

"I don't know." She replied.

"I don't know isn't good enough right now Ensign Kromer."

"That's all I have."

"Okay. Well, there is still some investigating that we have to do around the carrier Ensign, but I want to warn you that this just doesn't look good for you." Mac told the young woman empathetically.

"I'm going to get coffee," Deek announced and left the room.

"Colonel, why would I intentionally want to hurt any of these men? I joined the ROTC in college so that one day I would hopefully be able to use my knowledge to help keep the US safe. Besides, I like Commander Rabb and Lt. Commander Graves. If I ever wanted to off anyone, it wouldn't be those two. I heard about all the awful stuff that happened to them two months ago. No one deserves that, especially them. They are fun people to be around, and they always help boost the morale here."

Mac smiled. "Yeah, I was out here when all that happened. It wasn't a fun night for anyone. On that note, I will call it a night for right now. I will be by to check on you tomorrow Ensign."

"Thank you Colonel for not jumping to conclusions right away."

"Don't thank me just yet Ensign. Commander Graves is my cousin. Hammer is my fiancé, if you did anything to hurt them, I may just prosecute." Mac told her seriously.

"I trust that you will ma'am." She stood at attention and the guard led her away.

Mac started gathering her notes and made her way up to vulture row to do some thinking. The genuinely trusted Ensign Kromer, but there was no proof to back her up, and if it was a mistake, it was a grave mistake on her part. She took out her legal pad while watching the planes land and made a list of people she needed to talk to before writing her final report.

She was staring out into space, and didn't even hear Captain Ingles come up behind her. "Colonel, so what do you think?"

"Honestly, I don't think she did it. I have a feeling that it is something else and I just can't put my finger on it. I want to nail the bastard that did this to her and to my family."

"Well, your new partner is running around trying to prove her guilt."

"He is a little wet behind the ears still. Trust me, when I figure out what really happened, then I will be going after that person for trying to harm my Harm!"

Captain Ingles smiled at her. "This should be his plane coming in from the recon mission we had him fly. I bet he catches the number three wire."

"Betting man huh?" Mac said watching him land. "Well, I agree with you." She watched the plane land. "Well I guess I should go find him."

"Remember rules of conduct Colonel," Captain Ingles said dryly knowing that he would have no problems with the two of them while she was onboard.

"Always Captain, always."