MANNASAS, VIRGINIA
0422 ZULU
"She's stable for now," says the doctor, a bespectacled man wearing a white coat.
"Thank God," says Valerie Pullman.
"She might not be lucky next time. Did your prospective donor agree to the donation?"
"We're working out the bugs," says Commander Meg Austin. "Commander Austin, from the Navy JAG. We're conducting an investigation into this matter."
"Dr. Ying," says the doctor. "I'm the physician in charge of Angela's care."
"So you know the whole story, including about who the donor is and where he is."
"Yes. The Wards' lawyer contacted me and told me about the donor. Thank God the insurance company is willing to pay for the transplant."
"Is there no alternative treatment available for her?" asks Commander Sturgis Turner.
"Angela's best chance is a kidney transplant," replies Dr. Ying. "We could keep her alive on dialysis for a few months, at most."
"And Kevin Miller is the only available donor?" asks Meg.
"Yes. We exhausted all of her mother's relatives."
"Perhaps we can ask Kevin Miller's relatives," suggests Sturgis. "One of them could be a potential donor."
"Then we can save Angela's life and let Kevin Miller rot in prison," says Denny Ward.
"Well, I'd better go home now," says Dr. Ying, yawning. "I'm gonna need a good night sleep if I am to keep Angela alive."
"What does Angela know about her father?" Meg asks Valerie.
"The truth," says Valerie. "Her father left before she was born, and I haven't heard from him since. She does not know the details. I mean, I can't imagine how she'd feel if she knew the circumstances of her birth."
"There's not much more we can do here," saysd Denny. "We'd better get some sleep. Billy, wake up. We're going home."
Billy, the son of Denny and Valerie Ward, opens his eyes and gets up from the sofa. He follows his parents as they head to their Oldmobile station wagon parked in the parking lot.
oooooooooooooooo
WASHINGTON, DC
1411 ZULU
Sturgis and Meg, clad in their Navy summer uniforms, step off the elevator and walk down the carpeted hallway and enter the office of a law firm. The receptionist, who was expecting two Navy officers to arrive, immediately lets them in. They enter one of the private offices of the senior partners.
It is a huge office, rivaling General Creswell's private office. A bookcase full of law books stands against the left wall. Much of Washington, D.C. is visible through the window.
Behind the desk sits a bald man in a suit.
"Good morning, Admiral," says Sturgis.
"It's good to see you, Sturgis," says A.J. Chegwidden, the retired rear admiral who was the Navy Judge Adovcate General.
"Do you remember me, sir?" asks Meg.
"Lieutenant Austin," says Chegwidden. "Or should I call you Commander Austin now? How is Harm doing?"
"Harm became a captain and transferred to Europe," says Sturgis. "He also got engaged to Mac."
"I should congratulate them. Where is Mac?"
"San Diego."
"This isn't a social visit," says Meg. "A convict from Leavenworth is requesting a presidential pardon. A Captain A.J. Chegwidden was the presiding judge at his trial."
"I can't recall any Kevin Miller case," says Chegwidden.
"Kevin Miller, seaman first class, was convicted of six rapes," replies Meg. "You sentenced him to forty years, and he has twenty-four years left on his sentence. One of his victims was pregnant when she testified."
"I remember," says Chegwidden, recalling that trial sixteen years ago when a pregnant teenage girl testified in a general court-martial about how Seaman Miller raped her. "She was a brave girl. And I remmeber the look on Seaman Miller's face. He was clearly excited to hear her tell the court about the hell he put her through. And I could tell he was doing some motion with his hand."
"I get the idea,": says Meg, holding up her palm. "I don't want to hear details."
"A pardon for Kevin Miller should not be considered," says Chegwidden. "In fact, I don't think he should get a pardon even AFTER he completes his sentence. I don't know why my replacement even has you conducting an inquiry as to whether he should be pardoned."
"You remember that pregnant girl?" asked Meg. "Well, she had the baby and raised her. The girl, Angela, became sick and requires a kidney transplant if she is to live past her eighteenth birthday. No one on her mom's side was a match. Her mom and stepdad hired a lawyer to speak with Kevin Miller. Kevin Miller is a perfwect match and he is demanding a presidential pardon in exchange for his kidney."
"I see," says Chegwidden. "I neveer had to deal with such a moral dilmena when I was a judge advocate."
"Chossing between saving a girl's life and keeping other girls from being preyed upon," says Sturgis. "We're hoping for another way out."
oooooooooooooooo
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA
1823 ZULU
"Special Agent Gibbs," says Lieutenant Gregory Vukovic. "Tell us how you found the body."
"We went to the crime scene where the local authorities dug up the body and found it was a Marine," says a man with graying hair.
"And who is we?"
"It was me, Special Agents Todd and Dinozo and Ducky."
"Ducky?"
"Dr. Donald Mallard," says Naval Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent Leroy Gibbs. "He's the medical examiner assigned to NCIS headquarters. By speaking with witnesses, we believed there was a love triangle in the campus Marine ROTC. Ducky- Dr. Mallard- determined that the victim's neck was broken."
"Objection," says Captain Carlos Bullrider, the junior defense counsel. "The witness is not a medical examiner."
"Dr. Mallard can testify on how the victim died," says the judge, a Marine lieutenant colonel. "Sustained."
"We received e-mails from a hacker on campus. As we were trying to find the hacker, we found a gunman chasing a suspect. Special Agent Dinozzo chased after the gunman and came very close to killing him. We turned them in to Captain Lemay- he's the senior ROTC instructor. We later found our prime suspect dead."
"What did you believe then?"
"We thought there was a game that turned serious. After Ducky compared the autopsy reports, I decided to investigate Gunnery Sergeant Leeka. I also heard from Agent Todd that he was having an inappropriate relationship with one of his students. I confronted him about it, and he attacked me."
"Is he in this room?" asks Vukovic.
"Yes," says Special Agent Gibbs. "He is there, sitting at the table with those two."
"Let the record show that Special Agent Gibbs is pointing at the defendant, Gunnery Sergeant Leeka," says the judge.
"No further questions, your Honor," says Vukovic.
"Your witness," says the judge.
"Special Agent Gibbs, did Gunnery Sergeant Leeka admit to killing those two?" asks Lieutenant Commander Bud Roberts.
"He assaulted me'; that was an admission," replies Gibbs.
"Did he say he killed them?"
"No."
"Did anyone report finding fingerprints linking Guneery Sergrant Leeka to the murders?"
"No."
"DNA?"
"No."
"So all you have is that he lost his temper and that he had an inappropriate sexual relationship with one of his students."
"We have more than that," protests Gibbs.
"No further questions, your Honor," says Bud.
"Redirect?" asks the judge.
"Not at this time," says Vukovic.
"Witness is excused for now," says the judge.
ooooooooooooooo NORFOLK POLICE DEPARTMENT
100 BROOKE AVENUE
NORFOLK, VIRGINIA
2252 ZULU
"I remember the Kevin Miller case," says Detective Lieutenant Dana Hunter, adjusting her eyeglasses. "It was the only time I had to testify in a military court. That was what, fifteen years ago?"
"Seventeen," says Sturgis.
He and Meg are meeting with Lieutenant Dana Hunter of the Norfolk Police Department in her small office. Thedesk is cluttered with folders. Police recruitment folders hang on the wall.
"At the time, there were a series of rapes," says the detective. "The victims were all teenage girls. I remember interviewing them, the haunted look in their eyes, as if their very soul was wounded. Our first suspect was a recently paroled rapist whose victim was a teenage girl. Only two girls could identify him somewhat. We had a weak case. We then studied footprints at the scene, and we found boots consistent with those worn by Navy sailors. Thanks to a sting operation, we nabbed the suspect, a Seaman Kevin Miller. He was positively identified by his victims. Why are you here? Did he get off on a technicality or something?"
"He's asking for a pardon," says Meg. "We are conducting an inquiry into this matter."
"After what he did, hell no," says Hunter. "If you could have seen the look in those girls' eyes. Rape was their introduction to men. They might still be carrying scars even after all this time."
Meg then tells the detective about Valerie Pullman and the daughter conceived through rape.
"We can't rip the kidney out of that son of a bitch?" asks the detective.
"No," says Sturgis.
"A pardon, which means he won't have to register as a sex offender," says Lieutenant Hunter. "Offer him something else, or find another donor for the girl. We can't let him go."
oooooooooooooo
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA
2316 ZULU
Major General Gordon Creswell picks up the telephone as soon as it rings.
"General Creswell here," he says.
"General," says Meg. "We just spoke with the detective who had arrested Kevin Miller for rape."
"I'm catching up on some paperwork here, Commander. What was the detective's opinion?"
"She is opposed to the pardon, sir."
"I'm not surprised. Listen, I spoke with Admiral Calavicci. He's assumed convening authority for the Kevin Miller case. He is willing to offer to commute the sentence, taking ten years off in exchange for the kidney."
"We'll need transportation to Leavenworth to conduct the inquiry and the negotiations."
"Acknowledged, Commander."
The general hangs up the telephone.