Part V.b

Continues immediately after Part V.a

"Who was it Mac?" Harm returned with a clean, dry baby greedily sucking her bottle. Seating himself close to Mac, he held the child so that she could touch Mahara too. "Was it my folks or Mattie?" It was a little too early in California for Mattie to be calling – she should be at school after her morning therapy sessions. She usually called at two or three every afternoon in between classes so that she could speak briefly with them and coo baby talk at Mahara for a few minutes before they went to bed.

"No…it was General Cresswell. He knows what time it is here, because he said he was sorry to bother us at home. I said we'd call back."

Harm's face darkened as he scowled. If Cresswell was calling to complain further about the pie charts, he didn't know if he could control himself.

"Calm down." The hand that wasn't stroking Mahara's arm traced small circles on Harm's. "We'll just deal with it together …. Though, why do you think he wants to talk to both of us? I've no idea what he could want with me – I'm not on active duty and haven't had any contact with him in 18 months. Mac's unease was growing. "Do you think something could have happened to Bud or Harriet or Coates?" Mac couldn't imagine why Cresswell wanted to talk to her too. They hadn't parted on good terms.

"No idea. Like you say, we'll deal with it, whatever it is." Harm was terse. Never close to Cresswell, the JAG was far from his favorite person these days.

"We probably should tell him I'd planned to call Monday to let him know I'm retiring soonest. That way, he won't be able to complain that it has anything to do with whatever he wants."

"That's probably best," Mac nodded. "Are you ready to talk to him?"

"Yeah…" Harm resented the intrusion, tonight of all nights. "Let's get it over with."

Hitting re-dial and the speakerphone button, Mac was surprised when Cresswell answered on his private line.

"General Cresswell."

"It's Captain Rabb, Sir, returning your call." Harm didn't intend to let the general upset Mac, whatever he wanted.

"Thanks for calling back. I'm sorry to disturb your evening but I wanted to talk to you both before the weekend." Cresswell paused, trying to decide exactly how to proceed. "How is your baby, your family?"

"Mahara's fine. Mattie is in California with my folks, in school and rehab." Harm was brief. He had no interest in polite chit-chat with the general.

"She's continuing to improve, I hope?"

"Not really, but I haven't been able to see her in some months." Harm was growing increasingly impatient with the small talk. The general was not his friend. Carefully, he passed Mahara to Mac, who had placed a clean dishcloth on her shoulder and prepared to burp the now-squirming baby.

The JAG was pleased at the unexpected entrée he'd been given. "Captain, Colonel, that can be arranged. I'm calling to ask you both to take orders to San Diego."

Even as their eyes opened wide and their mouths gaped, Mac started to do a slow burn. "General, I'm not on active duty."

"Ahhh…that can be arranged too, Colonel … the SecNav, the CNO, the Commandant and I met today. We want …we'd like you to request recall to active duty," Cresswell dropped his bombshell and waited.

Even as they stared at each other, Harm and Mac held a whole silent conversation. Less than an hour ago, they had agreed that Harm would retire as soon as possible. Was fate about to intervene?

"For what purpose, General?" Mac forced her voice to remain calm.

"We want you to take the JLSO CO billet." Cresswell spoke carefully, emphasizing the "we." Of all the things she might have possibly expected Cresswell to say, this had never crossed Mac's mind. She'd burned that bridge 18 months ago.

"Sir?"

"Mac, you were our unanimous choice as CO two years ago when we decided to stand up a prototype, you still are."

"Why now, General?"

At least she hadn't turned it down flat or gotten huffy or sarcastic. Biff began to hope this might work. "The JLSO has run into problems; we feel you're still the best we've got to turn it around."

"Problems?" This unexpected out-of-the-blue call might solve a lot of problems, but Mac wasn't about to let on. "And what about Harm's billet?"

"Leadership problems." Cresswell was blunt.

Part 5C will follow immediately.