Sam wandered about the building until he finally located his office. Without a word to anyone, he walked through the door, shut and locked it and drew his blinds. He grabbed the case file for the trial for it from on top of his desk and read it.

From what little Sam knew about trial law, the prosecution pretty much had this nailed. While they didn't have the chain used to strangle the victim, they did have the weapon used to stab her, with the accused fingerprints on it. They had witnesses saying that the accused had been seen harassing and propositioning the victim, they had past complaints of sexual harassment and most importantly of all the accused had no alibi…yet.

Having thoroughly reviewed the case, Sam was satisfied he could win, all he had to do was study up on his courtroom procedure a little and wait for Al to get back with information on how to crack the guy's alibi and his other objective, whatever it was and then he could leap out of here.

There came a knock at the door. Sam looked up from the papers on his desk and walked over to open it. The door swung open to reveal Sarah Mackenzie standing on the other side. Suddenly Sam began to feel strange. Even thought this woman was a stranger to him, he felt as though he trusted her, he felt drawn to her. Sam shook it off, recognizing these feelings. This sort of thing happened sometimes after he had leaped. He would begin to experience the feelings and attitudes of his host body. Luckily Sarah Mackenzie didn't seem to notice his pause.

"Hello, Harm." She greeted him as she walked in.

"Hello…" What was the nickname he had heard Al use? "Mac. What can I do for you?"

"I'm here to make a deal."

Sam went through his memory trying to remember every courtroom drama he had ever seen in movies or on TV.

"What did you have in mind?" He asked, not feeling confident enough to lead this conversation.

"Ten years confinement, dishonourable discharge."

Suddenly Sam slipped into a feeling of arrogance that felt alien to him, but seemed completely natural to the person he now inhabited.

"No way!"

"What are you offering?" Mac asked.

"Life imprisonment, no parole."

Mac laughed sarcastically, "You're joking right?"

"No, I'm not. With the case I have, you're lucky that I don't skip the plea-bargaining and simply demand the death penalty."

That last remark had seemed odd to Sam. He had always disapproved of the death penalty, but obviously Harmon Rabb did not feel the same way.

Mac shook her head, "You don't offer much do you?"

Sam shrugged, "No I suppose not."

"Fine then I'll see you in court." She started to walk away, but then she turned around, "We still on for dinner at your place, on Wednesday?" She asked.

Sam nodded, deciding to go with the flow, "Sure what time?"

Mac chuckled, "1900 hrs. Jeez Harm you'd forget the date of your own wedding."

With that she walked away. Sam watched her go and chuckled to himself. She was a pistol! That much was certain. Even if the case was a slam-dunk, he'd have to watch out for her in court. Suddenly that alien feeling was there again, that feeling of longing. Sam shook himself.

'Got to concentrate on the mission.' He thought.

Suddenly The Door opened in the office and Al walked out. He caught a glimpse of Col. Mackenzie as she turned and walked towards her office in the bullpen, and uttered a low whistle.

"If they had women like that when I was serving in combat…Boy, oh boy!" He flashed a wolfish grin.

Sam rolled his eyes, "Do you have anything for me? Any information on Rabb, the case or this mystery objective?"

"I have his addresses, phone numbers, the usual stuff. I also discovered something interesting. I actually met this guy, Rabb once."

"Really, how?"

"I was a visiting admiral, speaking to a graduating class at Annapolis. He had graduated at the top of his class and was headed off to train as a fighter pilot. I remember seeing him with this cute looking ensign." Al took another look in Col. Mackenzie's direction. "Looked a lot like her, actually."

Sam sighed impatiently, "Al…"

Al shook himself from his reverie, "Right…still no word on what this mysterious second objective is. Ziggy is going over the transcripts of the case, trying to find out who supplied the alibi to Andrews and how you can crack it, before they did the first time. We should have the results by tomorrow."

"Why is it taking so long?" Sam wanted to know. This was a court case, there would surely be records of the case. "Shouldn't the man's name be in the transcripts."

"There are. We know who provided the alibi to Andrews, Petty Officer Robert Gillette. His name and testimony is a matter of public record, but since the alibi was proven false after the trial was over, the way that they cracked it is not on record."

"So what do I do?"

"Well, according the transcripts, Gillette will be testifying in two days. So Ziggy will analyze the testimony and try to find the loophole."

"What do I do till then?"

Al shrugged, "Just go with the flow. Proceed with the trial, but brush up on your military law, if the proceedings are changed in any other ways, Andrews may still get off."

The Door opened and Al stepped inside. After it was closed, Sam collapsed into his chair.

'I hate this.' He thought, 'I hate being in the dark.'

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Sam decided that it was best to remain confined to his office until quitting time. He waited until most people had left for the day and then he headed for the parking lot. He looked around trying to find the car that matched the car keys he found in his pocket. After trying unsuccessfully to unlock several wrong doors, he finally found his car.

'Corvette.' Sam thought, 'Not bad.'

Sam drove to the address that Al had given and arrived at his…or was it Harm's apartment? Slamming the door behind him, Sam walked raggedly over to the nearest armchair and collapsed into it. Sighing loudly as he rubbed his eyes in exhaustion.

"Sam?"

Sam looked up and saw Al standing behind him, with several books in his arms.

"What's up?" Sam asked.

"Well you have to be in court tomorrow, so I dug up everything I could on military law. I'm prepared to go all night if necessary."

"Sam smiled wearily, "Thanks, Al."

Al cracked open the first volume, "Right, then. Let's get to it."

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Al's instructions were still ringing in Sam's ears as the first rays of sunlight caused him to stir awake. Groggily he got up from table he was bent over and, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, looked at the wall clock at the opposite end of the room. 8:45! Damn it, fifteen minutes, he'd never make it in time.

Sam looked down and realized that he'd never changed out of his uniform. This was probably for the best, he realized, since he wouldn't have known how to put it on properly anyway.

Thanks to his photographic memory, Sam had managed to remember every detail of the case, as well as the brief on the prosecution's case. With this and his late night cram session, for the first time since he leapt into this body, Sam felt ready.

Sam grabbed a piece of fruit from a bowl on the kitchen counter and barreled through the door, determined to make it to the courthouse.

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Sam ran through the big doors and into the courtroom. He kept his head down and rushed, past the dozens of eyes on him, towards the prosecution table.

"Apologies for being late, your honour." He said as he sat down next to Bud Roberts.

The judge sighed with a look strained tolerance on his face, "Very well then. Now that we're all here, Col Mackenzie can begin her cross-examination of the witness.

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The next two days went on as such: The prosecution called witnesses who testified to the animosity between the defendant and the victim. They testified that the accused had made several rather lewd passes at the victim. They also testified that accused had a history of violent behavior, especially when dealing with women, who resisted him. They testified to the fact that chain and the knife used to kill the victim could be traced back to the accused.

Mac for her part tried to discredit the witnesses, without success. At the end of day, when the prosecution's case was concluded, Sam's case did indeed look like a slam dunk. Nonetheless Mac seemed not to be fazed. Although Sam knew why, he feigned ignorance when he approached when the court adjourned.

"You look awfully smug for someone who got the stuffing kicked out of them." He told her.

Mac smiled smugly, "The trial is only half over. Round two begins tomorrow and this Marine has plenty of fight left, Sailor."

Sam's eyebrows arched, "You know something I don't?"

Mac's smile grew larger, "No, but when I know something, you'll know something."

With that she walked off, with a confident swagger. Bud came up behind Sam.

"You really think she knows something, sir?"

Sam turned around and flashed a weary grin, avoiding the enticing chance to tell the truth about what he knew, "We'll see." He said.