Hey gang! I'm back from a, so so vacation. Relaxing but somewhat boring. We stayed in Florida went to Mount Dora, Silver Springs (That was the coolest part of the trip - glass bottom boats and crystal clear water, I got to feed a giraffe) and then Crystal River.

It was semi-sucky. Half of my family was arguing the entire time and whether we liked it or not, it put a damper in everyone's spirits. My laptop was left behind because it's just not charging and, to my chagrin, all of the damned mobile home parks we stayed at had FREE WIFI! Yes, major Internet withdrawals. LOL! twitch

Anyway, I've been working to finish the whole story - Part 30 and 31 since Monday. Actually, I spent from about 4pm - midnight fixing, editing, tossing, deleting and finalizing part 30. Anti-Vuko's will love the ending. ;-)

And part 31 is a shipper chapter called "Christmas In July." Tee Hee! I've started writing "The Webbs We Tangle Ourselves In" (Anyone got a better name for it?) And I should start to post when I am, at least, six chapters in, or so. Between the stories, I have a few others that I wrote and never posted on neither FFnet or JAA. Cool, huh? ;)

Alright, here we go!

PART 29 – What Is Treason?

June 13, 2010
2002 Local
Mac and Harm's House
San Diego, California

Creamy bubbles filled up the large tub, smells of lavender and sandalwood wafted into the air giving the room a sense of relaxation with intermingled passion. Mac chuckled at her lover who was lying on top, balancing the weight of his body on his forearms which were placed on either side of her. Out of the bubbles, she could only see his eyes and the tip of his nose. The puff of breath leaving his nostrils blowing the bubbles away slightly. To Mac, he looked like an alligator. "What?" He asked curiously. Lifting himself upwards, he made to kiss her, but a hand on his chest stopped him. "What?"

"I'm not kissing you with a mouth full of bubbles." She said with a sexy grin, then dipped her hand in the water, dispersing some bubbles to cup clean water in the palm of her hand. She cleaned his face of the bubbles, then pushed herself up, her legs tangling with his, her hands sliding down his back. "There. Now, c'mere."

He kissed her slowly, longingly, savoring the taste of orange juice which she'd been drinking out of a wine glass. When they broke for air, he stayed a mere two inches away from her face, his eyes drinking in her own. "I could get used to this." Harm said in a husky, sexy tone that was reserved for intimate settings only. "Though I am not the bubbles type. . .But if you stick a sexy Marine under me. . .well, then I can negotiate."

The sudden change on her face, the look in her eyes screamed 'challenge.' He was always challenging her 'always on top' comment of a lifetime ago. "Oh really?" Mac maneuvered her hips so that she could flip to her side, barely fitting in the tub with Harm who was watching her with an amused expression. Her hand came to his chest, pushing him to his side and then downward.

He got it now. "You're trying to put me onto my back, aren't you?"

"Uh huh."

"You know, you could just ask."

Mac brought a leg over his hip, her other leg coming between his own. "Yea, but this is much more fun." Complacently he came to his back, his arms immediately wrapping around her as she lay across his body. "So you only like Marines on the bottom?" Suggestively, she rubbed her body against his, her eyes locked on his blue orbs.

Damnit, she was killing him. "Well, top will do too. . .but only if it's a certain Marine." He grunted out.

Suddenly, Mac stopped her movements and a cute little pout came to her lips. "Certain Marines, huh? Guess I better call Gunny."

"Ma-ac!" Grabbing her in a crushing hold, he brought her completely against him, their lips just inches away. He traced her bottom lip with his tongue, then kissed her thoroughly. Her hand was teasing his thigh, moving towards the middle and just as she was about to reach for the prize he stopped her. "As much as I love this, Mac. . .You need to prepare for tomorrow."

And that was it, the scissor that broke the thread that had been weaved around them. Slightly angry, she raised herself off of him and slid to the end of the tub, bringing her arms across her chest. "I don't need to prepare, Harm. . .I need to ignore it for a while, to relax."

"And you will, after the trial is over. . .Mac, look, this is a make or break case, this will hurt your career."

"I don't care about my career, Harm. . .Frankly, if Vic walks, it's not worth being in the Marines. And it certainly isn't worth being a JAG if creeps like him can run around loose."

"Right, and that's why you need to have your head in the game and not on me."

Sighing, she brought a hand up, raking it through her wet hair. "This case is turning out to be a royal pain in the ass, you know?"

"Yeah, I know."

Mac splashed some of the warm water on her face, then glanced back up at him. "Did I tell you I requested a different judge?"

That he remembered, it was never discussed with him. Harm was suddenly worried. "Is that a wise decision, Mac? I mean, if anyone finds out. . ."

"I ran it through Cresswell and he agreed. . .The Judge was a woman, a Lieutenant Colonel Ross."

Harm nodded, the name rang a bell. "I know her, one of my junior officers in London had her as judge a few times. . .She was very fair though, why did you ask for her to be removed?"

Her stare said 'you've got to be kidding me.' Shifting slightly, she brought her legs to either side of him. "Harm, think about it. Female. Marine. And I'm senior to her."

"Reeks of improper command influence. . .though technically she's not under your command."

"No, but conduct unbecoming. . .and slap on a good two other charges against me. . .It's bad enough I couldn't handle the Article 32." That aspect of Vic's case had wound up, solidly on both Sturgis' and Bud's laps. Though her injuries from the attack were minimal, she'd yet to be fit for duty when the Article 32 had come up. Thankfully, Sturgis and Bud did a stellar job and the judge had no reason not to have the case proceed. "I heard that the defense tried a few crazy stunts."

"Yup. . .But just the word 'espionage' made it clear to the judge that this wasn't a mistake. . .He barely gave the defense a chance to say much. . ." Which was a good thing, not that it would have mattered, Vic's lawyer wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. "I wouldn't be surprised if he tries for a civilian for the court-martial."

Mac snorted. "'Course he will and mommy dearest will pay for it and get him the best money can buy." While she didn't sound terrified by the notion, Mac was certainly displeased. "There should be some law that disallows the use of civilian representation. . .Besides the fact that most of them are damned annoying, they try to pin every problem on the military and whatever bad job they think we are doing."

If Harm knew any better, which he did, toying with whatever tangent she was on wouldn't be wise. However, "You sound like you're worried, Mac."

"I'm not worried. . .It just pisses me off."

"Mac, you went against Juanita Ressler and several hot shot civvies and won, this should be a walk in the park."

It would have been had she not been prosecuting against someone who hurt the man that she loved. That alone made things damned near impossible. She was trying to base the case on its merits and its objective findings, but her bias kept getting in the way. In the beginning, she'd had problems disassociating her personal from business life, but Harm had helped her deal with that aspect. This time though, personal was mixed with business. There was no two ways about it. Vic had tried to kill Harm and to cover his tracks had someone else do it. That alone made her smell the revenge. It didn't help that Vic wasn't exactly well liked. "Yeah, it should. . ." Raising her head, she sought his eyes out. There was something she needed from him, something that he wouldn't be too please to give. "Harm, I need a favor from you."

"Anything."

Gulping, she tore her gaze away from his, her hands cupped some of the bubbles. "This might sound harsh, but I need you to stay outside when I am prosecuting. I need to keep my mind on things and with you there, it's easy for me to let my love of you cloud my judgment. . .I know what happened, I am confident that what I believe is the truth, but what I believe won't make up the members minds."

Harm wasn't hurt by her admission. If anything, he understood where she was coming from. "I'll be outside the courtroom, Mac. . .But, when the verdict is read, you better believe I'll be standing behind you, Marine."

"I'm counting on that."

0958 Local
Courtroom Six
Joint Legal Services Southwest (JLSS)
San Diego, California

Alexander Robiard's business of the day wasn't to get his client off, though he believed he had a strong case of reasonable doubt. His deal was to try and stop the case indefinitely. Just before the members were brought in, he stood up wearing a fancy suit, exuding the type of confidence that had 'slime ball' written all over it. "Your honor, if it pleases the court, I would like to be granted a mistrial due to prosecutorial misconduct."

The Judge, Rear Admiral Jacob Bidermeyer, wasn't at all impressed with the presence of a civilian lawyer in his courtroom. As far as he was concerned, if the alleged crime was committed on military property, then the only attorneys present should be military ones, period. "On what grounds?"

"On the grounds that my client assaulted the prosecutor, Colonel Sarah MacKenzie." Various 'ooooohs' and 'aaaaaahs' resonated within the walls and the room that was silent just moments before, roared to life.

"Order! Order!" Bidermeyer's gavel calmed the masses and he addressed Mac directly. "Is this true, Colonel?"

"The charges were dropped, your honor. . .What has or has not occurred between Lieutenant Commander Vukovic and myself has no bearing on this case."

Bidermeyer had always been known as a hardass. He didn't take shit from anyone and never would. Though it was obvious, by the tint of Mac's cheeks, that Robiard was telling the truth, without documentation to prove it, the point, as far as he was concerned, was moot. "Mr. Robiard, unless you can find me a formal charge against the Lieutenant Commander by Colonel MacKenzie, I'm afraid your motion will be denied. Does such a document exist?"

It didn't, for the moment in which Mac dropped the charges, the paperwork was ripped to shreds in front of her by two very pissed off police officers. "I have the paperwork from the arresting officers but don't. . ."

"That's not what I asked for. . ."

Alright, so the woman had won round one. He still had plenty of tricks up his sleeve, including a few witnesses which he knew would be damning to the prosecution. "No, sir. . .such documents do not exist. . .It's quite obvious why." Robiard said under his breath, but the statement still carried in the now silent courtroom.

Bidermeyer was now seething, "Mr. Robiard, I do hope that you are able to keep comments such as those to yourself when the members are called in. . .This is a military court, not whatever circus, freak show act you civilians are used to. . .am I understood?"

"Yes judge." Like he had a choice? An anonymous source had given him mucho dinero for this case with the promise to double the money if he won. The zeros on the check alone would be enough to let him retire sooner than he was planning.

"Now, Colonel, I better not see this as some form of vendetta because I will issue a mistrial, am I understood?"

"Yes, your honor. . ." To be honest, there wasn't a prosecuting military lawyer around who wouldn't turn this into some sort of vendetta. One of their own harming another, that just didn't fly, especially with someone as respected as Harm. Especially when someone like Harm was trying to protect the lives of other service men and women.

Once the jurors were settled and given final instructions, Mac took a deep breath and stood. "What is treason?" The word ran deep in the hearts and soul of everyone seated in the courtroom. She could swear that even Bidermeyer cringed. The only reason why article number 106 of the UCMJ had been brought up was Loftness. He'd pushed for the espionage charge stating, without reservation, that Vic's attack on Arjan would be considered an act of treason as it made the ship lose two valuable members of the crew, thus aiding the enemy. Luckily, he'd managed to hide that technicality between the lines while Vuckovic's case went to trial. Not even Madam Secretary had a chance to over turn it. Not that she'd wanted to anyway, see, son or not, Hewitt had started to notice that it was much better if Vic was behind bars. He was a liability to her and one that she didn't need.

Sarah MacKenzie, believe it or not, was doing her a favor. "According to the American Heritage dictionary, treason is 'a violation of allegiance toward one's country or sovereign, especially the betrayal of one's country by waging war against it or by consciously and purposely acting to aid its enemies'. . .Lieutenant Commander Vukovic may not have purposely tried to aid his enemies, but by blackmailing one Airman Vincent Arjan into destroying a forty-eight million dollar plane, no one can argue that he was aiding the enemy. . .The government will bring forward Captain Rabb, a victim and survivor of the plane mishap that brought us to this day. We will also question an NCIS investigator who will concisely show you that the plane was, indeed, tampered with. And finally, the witnesses of an argument between the Airman and the Commander. . .We will prove that Lieutenant Commander Vukovic acted heinously and maliciously towards two of our own. Two men that were needed to fight a battle with an unknown enemy. One of those two men is dead, the other was left to die and rescued because of a sheer miracle. So, what is treason? That's what you are here to decide."

Several minutes later, after a poor opening statement from the defense, Mac called in her first witness. "The Government calls Captain Harmon Rabb Junior to the stand." She knew Robiard would object, surely Vic had disclosed the nature of her relationship with Harm. And maybe it was a bad strategy to bring him up right off the bat. But, she felt she needed to set the tone and was going to do that any way possible.

Robiard rose from his chair, his hands fidgeting with the hem of his jacket. "Objection your honor."

The look on Bidermeyer's face clearly read: 'why me!' "What is your objection?"

"Captain Rabb and Colonel MacKenzie are involved in a relationship of a romantic nature. . . Anything he says will, of course, be in her favor."

Never one to allow someone to one up her, Mac turned towards Robiard. "Though the Defense is correct, your honor, my involvement with Captain Rabb has no bearing on this case. . .I will treat the captain the same way I treat all of my witnesses. . .Captain Rabb will tell the truth, anything else would perjure the Captain."

"How can we be assured of this, judge?"

Bidermeyer was already imagining a countless array of sidebars. "Approach. . ." He placed his hand over the microphone, then leaned in to address the lawyers. "Is this how the whole trial is going to be? If so, please let me know and I will request it be postponed until new counsel is brought in for both parties."

"Sir, I realize that my relationship with the Captain might make me biased. . ."

"Might?" Robiard interrupted, "Judge, Captain Rabb was one of the victims! I can guarantee that this is nothing but vindictive prosecution. . .I am sure the Colonel wouldn't give a damn if it were. . ."

Now it was her turn to interrupt, "Sir, the Captain, as you well know, is also a lawyer and served JAG for several years. . .We know how to disassociate ourselves."

One thing Bidermeyer despised was playing favorites, even if it meant military against civilian. This time, he could see through Mac and the fact that justice needed to be served. This case, he knew, needed the right touch and Colonel MacKenzie was that right touch. "Overruled. . .Colonel, no monkey business in my courtroom."

She took a deep breath and then waited while Harm was escorted in, wearing his summer whites and the golden wings he hoped he'd still be able to keep when all was said and done. Harm hadn't been this nervous during a case in years. Then again, he never had to be questioned on the stand by his girlfriend before either. "Captain Rabb, what is your relationship with the defendant?"

Harm glanced over Mac's shoulder towards Vukovic who still had the marks from the beating he'd encountered. Every once in a while, that night still plagued him, he figured it always would. The thoughts of slamming that phone over Vic's head and ending his life made him feel like a fool for not doing so. Deep inside, he knew what he did was right. "We worked together briefly my last year at JAG Headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia."

"How would you describe his work ethic?"

He resisted the urge to chuckle. Could lying be considered a work ethic? "Lousy, to say the least."

"What makes you say that?"

"We worked on a case together seeing as General Cresswell believed, then Lieutenant Vukovic needed some pointers. . .I had a good 'win' record. . .However, after dressing him down privately due to a rookie mistake, the Lieutenant mouthed off stating that he was running the show."

"What did you do then?"

Harm shrugged, he did what he would to just about anyone in that situation. "I pretty much let him hang himself. . .We lost the case as well."

Mac turned away from Harm. She was doing what she wanted, starting off slow before taking that big chunk that would not just sway the members, but put them completely on her side from the get go. Questioning Harm, thankfully, was much easier than she'd thought. "Changing subjects, what were you doing this past December?"

"I was training pilots on how to fly the F-14. . .It had been brought back for a special mission. . ."

"What mission was this?" It now being public knowledge, they could discuss the on goings with Neroli as long as certain details were kept confidential.

"The one that put us up against former military pilots now serving a militia of sorts called Neroli." The moment his statement sank in, a wave of commotion was needed to be toned down by the sound of the gavel.

"What happened to you the day of December 23, 2009?"

What happened? In all honesty, he wasn't sure. The pieces had started to fit once he got his memory back, but it still played in his head at super sonic speed. There was no way to slow it down. "I was scheduled to fly off of the Henry with my wingman which we did, only to encounter hostiles near the ship."

"Continue, Captain."

Harm took a deep breath and it was almost as if he were on the plane again. "We did a lot of fancy aerobatics. . .True dog fighting. . .It ended up that our wingman was shot so I continued after the target and got one. The second was coming at us and that's when the plane became unresponsive. . .I couldn't get the F-14 to do much of what I wanted and knew it wouldn't be long before we had to eject."

"Did you eject?"

"Well, yes, but that was another issue all together. . .See, my RIO ejected just fine, me. . .Not even the manual ejection was working. Eventually it did get pulled and by that time, the enemy managed to get a shot off. . .I recall sailing through a ball of fire and landing in the water. . .everything else is a blur."

Mac nodded, she had thoughts of going into his whole problem with amnesia, but decided to cut it off short. The impact of the malfunction with the plane was enough at the moment. "In your opinion, as a pilot, what do you think happened to that plane?"

Robiard stood up. "Objection, your honor. Captain Rabb is a pilot not a mechanic."

"As a pilot, I may not be a mechanic, but I know an awful lot about that plane, Mr. Robiard."

"Overruled and Captain, only answer when questioned." Bidermeyer could already feel the headache coming in and thanked God he remembered to put a bottle of aspirin on the bench.

Turning back towards Harm, Mac made eye contact with him, "Captain, same question."

"As a pilot, I know there was a major malfunction on that plane. . .It's not normal for a plane that gets forty hours of maintenance to just. . .stop responding. . .They don't do that unless something was wrong or something was tampered with."

She gave him a lopsided smile, then turned to Bidermeyer. "Nothing further."

Robiard was up like a flash, grazing past Mac as she made it towards the prosecution table. He headed towards Harm with a steely confidence, a pen twirling between his fingers. After a long, awkward silence, his words clipped through the air, starling everyone, even Harm. "Captain, can you say, with one hundred percent certainty, that the plane was tampered with."

"Well, no, but. . "

"Then why is the issue being brought up at all?"

"Because planes don't just fall out of the sky. . .Especially not military planes."

"Ah, yes, but you were in a "hostile territory" with enemy planes shooting at you. . .Who's to say one of those planes didn't shoot something vital to your aircraft?"

"They could have, but no indicator lights were going off in the cock pit save for the siren warning us that a plane was trying to lock on. . .Bottom line, Mr. Robiard, that plane ceased functioning and it wasn't of its own accord."

"That's your opinion, Captain. . .And when someone is shot down, he will blame the Pope if need be. . .Nothing further your honor." Robiard quickly ended the questioning before Mac could whip out an objection.

With that, Harm took a deep breath and stepped off of the witness stand, his involvement in the case was now officially over with. What he found once he stepped out of the courtroom should have surprised him, yet it didn't. No, Secretary of the Navy Caroline Hewitt just didn't surprise him anymore.

The look in her eyes clearly stated that she was none too pleased with the proceedings. If looks could kill, he'd be fried to a crisp and probably tasty with ketchup. "Captain, may I have a word." Her voice, though, was cool and collected, was nothing but power and business. Harm found himself heading towards her with his heart hammering hard against his chest. All of their involvement with Hewitt he'd treated as part of some war that he had the displeasure of joining. Today, with the information he had in his pocket, both the battle and the war would be won by him and Mac. "This way."

Hewitt ushered him through the hallway and towards a courtroom door which was being guarded by one of her goons. Ever the gentleman, Harm held the door open for her, then followed her inside watching carefully for any sudden movement. He wouldn't put it past her to just pull out a gun and shoot him in cold blood. Though he didn't believe that she, herself, had the stomach for it, desperate people tend to find any means to survive. Thing was, she didn't realize just how trapped she was. Then again, he didn't know just how right he was, he only had a gut feeling, a hunch. The type of hunches that had gotten him through the most gritty cases during his time at JAG. "I'm curious as to why you stepped out of the courtroom. Not rooting for your girlfriend?" She walked to the prosecution's table and slid onto its top, crossing one leg over the other.

For a moment, Harm could have sworn she was trying to seduce him. The idea causing the bile to rise in his throat. "I think that my presence might undermine what she's trying to accomplish. . .Mac knows I'm there for her, even if I am not sitting right behind her."

"Mmmmm." He made some sort of point, though, Hewitt found it to be ridiculous. "I'd be there, but I guess that's just me. . .I've never been one to really think ethically."

"Yes, I can tell." He sad with a wry smirk, then dared to step closer to her. "So, did you want to see me in order to bust my chops, or is there a reason why you hijacked me in here. . .ma'am."

This was definitely a man that she liked, he was smart, cocky and always walked around with an imaginary suit of armor that was difficult, but not impossible to penetrate. "Let me cut to the chase since I am sure you are curious with the trial. . .I came to set a truce with you and Colonel MacKenzie."

Harm couldn't be more shocked if the President himself appeared wearing a pink tutu. "A truce?"

"Yes, and don't look so surprised, Captain. . .I'm not a fool." Sighing dramatically, she jumped off of the table and then leaned against it. "Vukovic is my son and yes, I love him. . .I love him a great deal. Setting that aside, he's not good for me. . .Not good for my candidacy. . .He told me, in detail, how he attacked the Colonel. . .For that I am truly sorry. . ."

"You're sorry?" He was still shocked. After all of the hell they'd been put through because of her, Hewitt was seeking an apology?

"I never meant for things to go this far. . .I just wanted my son to be happy and for me. . .well, you know what I want." She grinned conspiringly, thoughts of becoming the first female President making her positively giddy.

"Do I? Because, I'll tell you something, ma'am: I have no intentions of giving into whatever the Hell it is you want. Period."

"Captain. . ."

"So, I'm giving you an out." Harm interrupted. He placed his briefcase on the defense table, then popped it open to fish out a folder. "This might make you see that it's time for things to change." He handed the folder to her, watching with quite amusement as the look on her face absolutely changed. "Oh, and I have copies, so you can keep that as a memento."

Hewitt glanced through pictures of herself and a young Richard Garver during their college years. The final two pictures were a side by side comparison of Garver and Vukovic, followed by one that Harm had specially created to see what Hewitt and Garver's child would look like today. The results were so similar, it was uncanny. "This means nothing. . .Nothing!" She yelled in anger then tossed the papers at Harm who didn't even flinch at her outburst.

"I know a few people in politics, Senator Latham being one of them. . .And she's willing to bat for our team. . .So I'll strike a deal with you. . .Step down, do whatever the hell else you want. Your family has money, buy a small island and disappear. . .Oh, and don't bother trying to send someone after the Senator, she's being heavily guarded until this whole debacle ends."

"You can't do this! No one will believe you!"

Harm shrugged, it wasn't about belief or disbelief, it was about getting the information out. Rumors, he found, were often more devastating than the truth. "I don't need anyone to believe me, just as long as I put some doubt in people's minds. . .I have more ammo, so if you decide to fight, know that I am not backing down . . .I'm giving you an out, Madam Secretary, take it before my generous nature dissipates." With that, he turned from her, carefully traipsing over the mess of papers on the floor. "Good day, ma'am."

Hewitt's guttural scream could be heard ricocheting through the walls of JLSS.

Back in the courtroom, Mac had called up a special witness, NCIS Investigator and former Tomcat pilot, Agent Theo Garritty. Going through her regular routine, she got some slight background from the agent and then moved on to the investigation itself. It was understandable that Harm's plane couldn't be brought up, but the parts that they got were miraculously floating and able to be salvaged. "Not all of the plane was salvaged, but miraculously, most of the cockpit remained intact. We were able to take a close look at the plane's accelerometer and Captain Rabb's ejection seat."

"What did you find?"

"From what we saw with the accelerometer, the movements the Tomcat made were not consistent with that of a plane that was fired upon . .There was no impact at all and yet, it just descended, rather quickly, on its own. . . . We found that the DFCS, Digital Flight Control System, which protects the aviators from mishaps, was tampered with. And, by the massive leak on the flight deck after take off, it was clear that the hydraulic fluid was leaking substantially. Either of these things could have caused the mishap."

"And the ejector seat?"

"This was also tampered with. . .One of the squib cables was not attached properly. The only reason why the seat eventually ejected was because another squib shorted, and as a result the other two took the charge to the rocket."

"Nothing further." Satisfied, she walked around the prosecution table and sat comfortably in the big, leather chair. During questioning, Mac had put her back once to the witness in order to gauge the member's looks. She was certain that four of them were on board with her. The others, they didn't seem convinced. When she first questioned Agent Garrity and he gave her his testimony as to all of the odd findings on Harm's plane, she had to thank Harm Senior just one more time. Someone had certainly been looking after Harm. It was a miracle that plane remained in the air as long as it did. A miracle that the ejector seat worked at all.

Now, Alexander Robiard didn't believe in miracles unless they came in the form of money, and lots of it. His questions to Garrity were all about discovering a 'logical' way for the plane's systems to fail. And yet, no matter what, he knew that it was too coincidental for so many things to have gone wrong at once. "Agent, you mentioned an accelerometer. For us lay persons, what is it?"

Garrity couldn't hold back a dry chuckle, "Well, an accelerometer is an instrument placed on a plane that measures acceleration and plane vibrations. In an F-14, which has various computers running through it, the accelerometer constantly sends information to an acceleorgraph which is an instrument that records various factors during flight. What we are concerned with in this case, is the vibration of the plane. . .All of this gets saved in case of a mishap or for training purposes."

"What did this. . .record. . . tell you?"

"That the plane decelerated and lost elevation before the impact of a missile. . ."

"If all of this is computer generated, how can you be sure that it's one hundred percent correct?"

"Well, we can't be. . .but, it's rarely failed us."

"Ah, rarely. That's an interesting word to use, Agent. . Rare or not, many things on F-14s have failed in the past. Now, can you say, without a shadow of a doubt, with one hundred percent certainty, that Captain Rabb's plane was indeed tampered with?"

"Conclusively, no, but it's my opini. . ."

"Nothing further."

Against her better judgment, but fueled with anger over Robiard's sudden blame on. . .on what exactly? Mac stood up and glanced at Bidermeyer, "Redirect?" At his nod, she came around the table and honed in on Agent Garrity. "In your opinion, was that plane tampered with?"

"In my opinion, yes."

"Why?"

Garrity took a breath. Through his years as both a pilot and an investigator he'd seen many things, some baffling and others downright shocking. But it was the types of things that he found on Harm's plane that made him see red. It was obvious, at least to him, that someone was trying to deliberately hurt either Captain Rabb, Commander Hawkes or the both of them. "Nothing in this world is perfect, but if anything comes close to it, it's military equipment. . .I found it extremely odd that three different problems occurred with that plane."

Three problems? The man had never stated a third problem, neither was it on the reports that she'd repeatedly glanced at. Though it was dangerous to move forward and ask something she didn't know the answer to, Mac pushed ahead. Her curiosity and want for justice superceded rational though. "Three?"

"Yes, three: the ejector seat, the DFCS and the Comm unit which was switched and never logged in, though several other changes, which were made prior to the mission, were logged, as is the custom. Records of that day state that the Captain and his wingman heard a loud noise over their headsets which blocked off any communications from the Henry. Both systems were destroyed and we were unable to test them."

"Thank you. . .Nothing further." She waited for Garrity to leave the stand, before presenting second to last witness, Seaman Andrea Chambers, Airman Vincent Arjan's secret girlfriend. To begin, she went through the relationship of her and Vinnie, intending to show that she was someone which Arjan trusted and had a close relationship with. To her surprise, none of the questions had been objected by Robiard. This threw her for a bit of a loop, what exactly would his strategy be?

Andrea did her best, despite her nervousness, to answer all of the questions truthfully. It was when Mac asked about Arjan's involvement with Harm's mishap, that the girl could not hold back a sob. "I'm sorry ma'am. It's just that. . .Vinnie liked the Captain, was always going on about how much he wanted to go to flight school. . .The week of the accident, he wasn't acting like himself. Vinnie was snipping at everyone in our little group. . .Even raised his voice at me, which wasn't his style. . .It was obvious that something really weird happened to Vinnie."

Something weird had, indeed, happened to Vinnie. Turning towards the defense's table, she found Vic shooting daggers towards her. Though her strong façade was well in place, Mac still felt vulnerable around him. Just the fact that he was able to get her guard down literally scared her. "Airman Arjan left you a note." Turning away, she went to her desk and took a note in a plastic bag and two pages from her briefcase. "I submit into evidence the note that Airman Arjan had left for Seaman Chambers. . .I also have a paper from a forensic specialist that confirmed this was Arjan's writing." She handed a copy of the papers to Robiard and one to Bidermeyer. The note, in its protective bag, was handed to Andrea. "Seaman, I know it's difficult, but could you please read us this letter?"

"Andrea, I always promised I'd never lie to you and that was exactly what I did anyway. . .I'm sorry about this last week when I blew you off. . .And I am sorry for the future. . .Please know, it wasn't my intent to hurt you. . .I love you. . .Please forgive me for everything that I did. . .Forgive me for what I'm about to do. . .Tell them it wasn't my fault. . .Tell them that he made me do it. . .All my love, Vincent."

With a gentle voice, Mac guided Andrea through the rest of the questioning. "I realize this must be difficult for you, Andrea. . .But please, tell us what happened to Vinnie the day you received this letter."

And that was Andrea's undoing, the memories of learning about Vincent's attempted suicide and subsequent death had troubled her greatly. She'd held it together, for the most part, while on the Henry. But now, it was a different story. Now there was no reason to remain stronger. "Vinnie. . .he. . .he jumped off of the ship. . .the SAR team rescued him, but he didn't make it."

"Was he the type to do something of the sort?"

"No! Vinnie had a lot going for him. . .He needed half a year of college and had been accepted to flight school. . .Someone like that doesn't throw their life away. Someone made him do it! Someone made him do it!"

Robiard shot straight up, he would not let that girl run away with the ball that she'd placed in his court. "Objection your honor, stating an opinion."

Turning to the members, the judge's steely gaze already framed what he was about to say. "The last part of Seaman Chambers' statement will be ignored. Colonel, anything else?"

"No, sir."

"Then, Mr. Robiard, it's your turn."

In a true slimy, lawyer fashion, he went straight to the jugular. "Seaman, you stated that Vinnie would not be the type to take his own life. . .But that's exactly what he did, wasn't it?"

"Yes. . .but."

"Which means that he felt guilty for something. . .And being Captain Rabb's plane captain, it's pretty obvious what that something was."

From her chair, Mac addressed the judge, "Objection your honor, counsel is editorializing."

"I agree." Bidermeyer pinned Robiard with another burning gaze. "Do you have a question, Mr. Robiard?"

Of course he did. "Yes, your honor. . .Seaman, do you believe that Airman Arjan blamed himself for Captain Rabb's accident?"

"Yes."

"Thank you." As he turned to head back to his seat, he made eye contact with Mac, giving her a sly smile which literally made her skin crawl. The nerve of that man! Damnit, it had been too long since she'd let opposing counsel get under her skin so much.