PART 13
0150 Zulu
200 miles off the eastern coast.
"Shit Harm." Skates said, looking into her onboard dopplar. "There is one hell of a storm about five minutes away."
Harm took a deep breath and held it. "Skates, just stay with me. . . Radio into Washington and see if we can be diverted." Harm closed his eyes for a
few seconds trying to maintain his composure. He wasn't ready to punch out again. His heart was already beating a million miles an hour as he
remembered trying to race back for Mac's wedding.
"Harm? Commander!" He heard Skates yell at him.
Looking through the mirror he saw his RIO. "What is it?"
"Washington says to remain on course, this is the safest route." She punched in a few figures on the computers. "It's a fast moving cell and it
should be out of the area ten minutes in."
"Ten minutes in?" He said loudly. "That's a lifetime." Suddenly he felt the plane start to rattle as they entered the storm.
Skates took a ragged breath. "Here we go."
"I can't die tonight Skates." He said strongly.
Skates shook her head. "Harm. . . no one is dying tonight. This isn't like the last time at all. The conditions are better and we are flying on a
newer plane."
Harm nodded. "Good because I haven't told Mac that I love her yet." He said wishing he could undo some of the pain he caused her.
"You two finally together?" Skates' surprised voice made Harm chuckle. It was good having Skates to fly with. At the moment he needed his head off of falling into the water below.
Harm sighed. "Sorta. . ."
"How are you sorta together? Either you are or you aren't. Bank two-zero degrees left." Skates said, monitoring their progression through the small
storm.
"Left two-zero degrees." Once he made the adjustments he continued. "Well.. . we. . . you know. . . and I decided to break it off."
"Hammer, you are an idiot do you know what?" Had they not been in an F-14 together, she would have slapped him upside the head. "How could you break it off, sir?"
Harm sighed. "Long and complicated."
"So un-complicate it." She said frankly, checking the cell that was nearly clearing the area. "Dropping altitude, Hammer. Bring it back up one-zero degrees."
"One-zero degrees." Harm held his breath for a moment. "Might be too late now. . . she is leaving DC for good."
"Well, stop her from leaving!"
He suddenly felt an eerie, overwhelming feeling. His head started to pound with a sudden onset that clouded his mind. He was weak, disoriented and out of control. He felt like he was falling and he couldn't stop it. "It's too late."
As if being toyed with by some unforeseen hand, the F-14's nose tipped down. Harm watched as the clouds rushed by him. Suddenly he felt numb, his hands had no power over the controls. Living wouldn't matter anymore. Dying was
just the consequence of not being with Sarah.
Skates was checking everything trying to figure out what was going on. "Do you have control?" She yelled to Harm. "Commander! Do you have control!"
Checking the meter, she realized they didn't have much more time before they became the next statistic. "Commander! Damnit Hammer! You won't die tonight. . . We won't go down tonight! PULL UP!"
Harm was suddenly out of his reverie and listening clearly. "THAT'S AN ORDER COMMANDER! PULL UP! PULL UP!"
Suddenly, Harm got his bearings back and pulled the jet back up leveling it out. Sighing, he looked back at Skates who looked like she was going to be sick. He too was feeling unusually light headed. "You okay?"
She nodded. "What happened?"
"Not sure, my head started pounding." He said. Looking out he realized they finally passed the storm.
"Just in case, I am switching us to back up O2." Skates flicked a few switches and took a deep breath. "All in a days work."
Smiling that flyboy smile, Harm checked his gauges to make sure the plane didn't suffer any damages. "Skates, how many miles left? Maybe it isn't too late. . ."
0230 Zulu
USS Barry
Washington Naval Yard
Washington, DC
Mac should have found it strange that no guards were in place at the ship
yards. She should have found it even stranger that there was such an eerie calm in her. Walking up the gang plank she made it to the upper deck of the destroyer USS Barry and looked around. "So far so good." She said under her
breath and proceeded in venturing into the ship. Clicking on her mini
Maglite, she moved the beam around the first hatch, making sure there were no surprises in for her. She descended down the first stair way she found. She'd been around some destroyers before and figured the vessel's anatomy
could not be much different from others.
Out of the darkness a man, dressed all in black, grabbed Mac's forearm. Quickly, she spun around and planted a hard kick right in the center of the
man's chest. She heard him fall back and didn't expect the man to sweep her ankles, causing Mac to fall. "Well, I always liked a good fight." The man said, stepping closer to her only to be swept off his own feet.
"Yea, well. . .Marines are first to fight." She said, trying to kick at the man while he was down.
He turned over a few times and managed to miss her kicks and then stood. "You fight pretty good for a girl."
"I'll take that as a compliment." Mac said sarcastically as she tried to figure out who the man was. The voice sounded very familiar to her but the man had a ski mask on. "Care to tell me who you are?"
"You mean you still don't know? Tsk tsk tsk . . . I thought you lawyers were supposed to be smart . . ." He said, running full force towards Mac who sidestepped the advance and managed to squarely hit him in the face. Once she saw him fall, she made a run out of the hatch only to be tripped up by the knee knocker.
The man was soon on top of her, turning her over. His hands moved over her body as he pinned her down. "Do you like me this way Sarah? Or would you prefer for me to have a mask on and impersonate Rabb." He hovered over her,
his hands pinning her arms down. His mouth came down to her neck where he
licked.
That was when she realized who it was. "Can't say I want you either way, Palmer." She said before bringing her knee between his legs and hitting him hard on the groin.
Clark Palmer removed the ski mask and coiled up in pain as he watched the marine get away. "Fucking Bitch!"
Mac would have been able to get away had she not missed a step on the stairs. She felt her body helplessly descend to the deck below. She landed
hard and felt the instant radiating pain on her ankle. Fighting a loss of consciousness, Mac managed to hide in one of the staterooms. She'd recalled a time when something similar occurred to Harm, he'd had a concussion then.
She was sure she'd have one now.
Laughter came from the deck above as she heard Palmer coming in close to her. "Fallen and you can't get up?" He rubbed the sore spot and tried to not concentrate on the pain that was evident in his voice.
Mac quickly found a spot to hide realizing that she needed to preserve whatever energy she had left in case she had to fight Palmer again.
"You know that last hit was a low blow Colonel. . . I mean, I may want to have children eventually. . ." He said, as he slowly descended the stairs.
"No answer. . . so that means you are hiding or unconscious." Laughing, he stopped midway and turned on a flashlight, pointing it downward.
"Personally, I'd prefer you conscious, much more fun that way." When he got to the bottom he pointed the light around and then proceeded towards the staterooms. "You know. . . Rabb will be here in a while." Finally he found Mac coiled in a corner, trying to blend into her surroundings.
"No he won't. He doesn't head back until tomorrow." Mac said through gritted teeth as the world around her began to spin.
Palmer shook his finger. "No no no, that is where you are wrong. Andrews requested an F-14 and Harm is flying it in."
"How do you know that? And how does he even know where we are?"
"He'll find out. I've taken the liberty of leaving a message for him at his apartment." Palmer grinned. "You'd be surprised just how much I can
accomplish outside of Leavenworth."
"What do you want from us?" She said, pulling her hand up to block the light that was causing her head to pound even harder.
Palmer shook his head and kneeled before her. "I just want what I've always wanted. . . for Harm to suffer. . ." His eyes sparkled as he brought he
flashlight under his face, seemingly telling a ghost story. Sucking in his breath through his teeth, Palmer smiled brightly. "Years ago I tried to make him kill that physiatrist . . What was her name?" Snapping his fingers he remembered. "Ah! Parker! Yes."
"So?" Mac said between gritted teeth. She was in pain, but doing a great job in not letting it show.
Leaning forward, he ran a hand softly down her face. "So. . .I should have come after you. . . It would have been more practical. .You have been the most precious thing in his life for so long. . . You are the one he really can't live without." Laughing he leaned back and whacked his own head with the palm of his hand. "I was a total fucking idiot not to see that. . . but now I have and here we are."
Mac chuckled herself as she looked into his eyes. "He doesn't give a damn about me, Palmer."
"Nice try, Colonel. . ." Palmer said, helping her stand and leading her a chair where he taped her to." Now, we'll just leave you here for safe
keeping." Grinning he threw a dirty blanket over her and taped her mouth shut. "We wouldn't want you to freeze would we?"