Later

Mac and Harm were met by the Skipper on board the Gilchrist. Commander Rita Cooper's first command. She was on the fast track according to rumors and the Navy loved to brag about her. Mac had read an article about the Skipper in the Navy Times last month and she was impressed.

"What can you tell us, Commander?" Harm wondered.

"I'll take you to the Seal team, you should talk to the Lieutenant who led the rescue operation," Commander Cooper focused on Mac. "It's nice to meet you, Colonel. I've heard a lot about you."

"It's nice to meet you too, Commander," Mac shook her hand.

"The Colonel will lead the investigation," Harm clarified. "I'm just here to help."

The Skipper nodded. "The only survivor is a girl. She's pregnant, and that's pretty much what I know at the moment. I suggest you talk to the Seal team first. The girl is being checked in sickbay. We'd like to have her transported to the Regan so that she can be checked by a Doctor."

"We'll arrange for that," Harm reassured.

It was an hour later when they walked to sickbay. The Lieutenant had told them that there had been two men and a girl on the small boat. The two men had been shot and from what little the only member of the Seal team who could speak a little Farsi had understood, they had been killed on another vessel and put in the smaller boat.

A commotion made Harm and Mac share a look as they walked into sickbay.

"I don't care who you are, sir. The girl is traumatized and we believe she is experiencing some pains. She's in no condition to be moved to another vessel," a Chief Petty Officer was talking to two men in suits.

"CIA," Harm mumbled.

"What's going on here?" Mac asked.

"Colonel," the Chief looked relieved. "These agents wants to move the Afghan girl."

"Harm, can you handle this?" Mac motioned for the men.

Harm nodded, knowing that Mac was more interested in the girl at the moment. "Agents, why don't we take a step back and let the Colonel talk to the girl."

"We have men standing ready to talk to her," Agent Larsen, a young but dedicated agent said. The CIA had agents on board for weeks now since the terror threat became imminent.

"You'll get to know what we know," Harm reassured. "It's my decision that the Colonel talks to the girl. The Captain agrees with me. You're on my turf now."

The Agents shared a look, then nodded and left sickbay. Harm followed Mac and saw her crouched down talking to the girl. Mac looked worried as the girl motioned for her big belly. Mac said one more thing to the girl then stood. "Chief?"

The Chief Petty Officer hurried over. "Is everything okay, ma'am?"

"I think she's having the baby now," Mac motioned for the girl who once again was in pain.

Harm nodded. "She's definitely in labor," he walked over to the girl and found a cold cloth to put on her forehead. He offered a reassuring smile as he took her hand.

"We need to get the Doctor flown here," Mac told the Chief. "In the meantime, have you ever delivered a baby?"

The Chief raised her eyebrows. "Never. We send pregnant women ashore."

The girl yelled something in Farsi and Mac hurried over. "Well, you'll get to see one now," she told the Chief. "She feels the baby coming."

The Chief called for a Petty Officer and barked some orders before helping the girl off with her underwear. "I can see the head. What should I do?" she looked between Harm and Mac.

"Support the head when the next contraction hits," Harm said. "Don't pull, just steady the baby."

"Okay," the Chief put on gloves and soon the next contraction hit and the baby slid out. "It's a girl," she held the screaming baby for her mother to have it. "Let's cover them with sheets," she told the Petty Officer who looked mortified.

Mac told the girl that everything looked fine and asked if the girl was feeling okay.

"Sir, how did you know what to do?" the Chief wondered.

Harm smiled. "I have kids."

"She's thirsty," Mac said and stepped a little aside. "She feels fine, but we should get a Doctor from the Regan here."

"It's never a dull moment here," Harm stepped aside too. "We should let them take care of them and talk with the girl a little later."

Mac nodded. "Harm, from what she told me I think there's a boat loaded with explosives heading for the Regan. Her husband and one more man were killed because they tried to stop the vessel from leaving the dock in Chabahar Iran. Out at sea, they were put in a smaller boat and left. I haven't gotten to know how the girl fits in yet, but I think one of the men was her husband."

"We better let all the vessels of the carrier group know about the threat," Harm motioned to leave sickbay. "I'll make the call to the Regan. We better get back there ASAP. If the girl is okay to travel we'll bring her there and the doctor can check her over."

"I'll talk to the Chief about moving her," Mac headed over to the girl again. Harm hurried to find the Skipper so that she could get the message out over the radio.

Later

Back at the Regan, Harm met with the Captain and the CAG along with NCIS and CIA agents to make a plan. The Captain had already ordered planes in the air to look for the boat. The problem was that they had no idea what kind of boat they were looking for. They decided that any boat or ship that came within a 50 nautical mile area around the ship would be contacted.

"XO, has the Colonel discovered anything else of use when talking with the girl?" the Captain wanted to know.

"Not when I left them, Captain. The Colonel will let us know the moment she has something," Harm assured. "It's difficult because the girl isn't fluent in Farsi and the Colonel isn't fluent in the Dari dialect the girl speaks."

"Would it be an idea to have someone here who does speak the dialect?" the CAG wondered.

"By the time such a person who does is found and brought here we might already be under attack. I suggest we trust the Colonel's ability on this one," Harm said.

"I speak Arabic, maybe I can help?" Agent Hanna suggested.

"You should speak with Colonel Mackenzie," Harm suggested.

Agent Hanna nodded and excused himself.

"I agree with Harm," the Captain announced. "CAG, are all the planes we want to be up in the air?"

"Yes, sir," he pointed to the map. "We are flying over these areas," he pointed. "The problem is that we don't know what we're looking for, sir."

The Captain nodded and looked at Harm. "Hopefully the Colonel will have more details for us soon."

"She will," Harm was sure of it.

"JAG on the bridge!" someone announced and they all turned towards Mac with Agent Hanna on her tail.

"It's a bulk carrier with fertilizer," Mac said as she joined them. "The Swiridow."

"A Russian vessel?" Harm said.

"Amira says that she and her husband was taken hostage so that her father would make the ship into a bomb. He was working at the University of Aleppo as a professor in chemistry until they had to flee because of the war. They had family in Iran since that is where her father was originally from. He brought the family back to Iran and he worked the docs there to make ends meet," Mac continued. "They were going back to Syria but then this happened."

"So basically there is a floating bomb heading for us," the Captain bit his lower lip. "I don't like that idea."

"We have to make a plan for when we find the ship," Harm reminded them. "We can't shoot at it."

"That would be a disaster," the CAG hesitated and looked at the screen showing ships around them.

"When did the ship leave the dock in Iran?" Harm asked Mac.

"Amira couldn't be sure, but she guessed a day or two," Mac said.

"Could the ship be moving without the radar on?" the Captain suggested.

"Risky but that would be smart for a ship that doesn't want to be discovered," Harm looked thoughtful. "We need our planes flying low to detect any vessel heading our way and we have to make sure it's visible on the radar. If it's not it's a good chance that is the ship we're looking for."

"And we board her quietly," Agent Callan added. "Do we have a Seal team ready."

Harm nodded. "We don't know what will set the bomb off though."

"Our bomb experts will know what to," the Captain was confident.

Harm found Mac's eyes with his. "Let's hope so."

Later

Mac found her husband in sickbay with Amira and the baby. They were trying to communicate with his bad Farsi and her bad English. It would have been hilarious if the situation wasn't so serious. Mac heard Harm say to Amira that they would help her get home to her mother and then he said that he'd check in on her later.

He smiled when he noticed Mac in the doorway and headed over. "Are you done briefing the JAG's?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I made it a short briefing and sent them back to their ships."

"This is something, isn't it?" he motioned for her to follow him.

"You live with this every day," she hesitated. "I worry about you, you know."

"It's only recently that we have been in any danger, and we have it under control," he assured.

"You had to shoot a plane out of the sky," Mac reminded him.

He opened a hatch and pulled her inside a storage room. He pulled her in for a hug. "I need one of these."

She nodded against his neck. "Hopefully this is over soon."

He moved back to look at her. "If anyone sees us in here there will be talk," he teased.

"Hey, it was your idea," she chuckled, then sobered up. "I'm so impressed by you."

"Why?" he wondered.

"The way you are around people. I saw you with Amira earlier, and I see you with the crew on this ship. You're a natural born leader and caretaker, Harm. You're amazing."

"You already got me, you don't have to say nice things anymore," he teased.

She shook her head with amusement. "Can't you just appreciate that I acknowledge that you are in the right place."

He nodded and smiled. "Thanks, Mac."

"Any time," she put her hands on his chest and kissed him softly. "No more sneaking around in the storage rooms," she kissed him again.

He chuckled and opened the door and they walked out of there.

It was early the next morning when they located the right ship and a team of Navy Seals boarded and secured the cargo. The operation had been successful from start to finish. Most of the crewmen were shot and killed but a few survived and would be thoroughly interrogated by the CIA who had claimed jurisdiction. Mac was scheduled to leave after what had been a more exciting stay than what was intended.

"Are we doing the right thing?" Harm wondered as he ate a late breakfast with Mac, Callen, and Hanna.

"What do you mean?" Mac sipped her coffee and studied him from across the table.

They hadn't slept yet and were starting to get drowsy. Harm yawned. "I was thinking about Amira. Is it right to send her back after she helped us?"

"She's going to stay with her Iranian family and her mother. We're making sure both she and her husband and father is transported home so that she can bury them right. It's her wish to go home to her family. She won't be going back to Syria but her Iranian family will take good care of her. It might not be perfect in our eyes, she being a woman and she won't get the kind of life we feel is right, but to her, it's right," Mac rubbed her tired eyes.

Harm nodded. "I guess."

"Amira is a bright girl, she'll be alright," Mac was sure of it.

"Okay," he smiled. "You'll be leaving. When?"

"In two hours, sixteen minutes and twenty-three seconds," she answered without even looking at her watch. He would never understand why she bothered to wear a watch.

"How did you do that?" Agent Hanna wondered.

Mac just shrugged. "It's been an interesting trip this time."

Callen nodded. "You don't usually do this?"

"Usually I teach lawyers to practice military law," she chuckled. "Well. nowadays anyway."

"Are you guys leaving on the same COD?" Harm wondered.

"Yeah, we better get back to LA," Hanna confirmed.

Harm turned to Mac. "I want to see you off, if I can stay awake," he let out a sigh. "Wish I was going home to see the kids."

"Only five more weeks," she reminded him.

"Yeah," he yawned again. "Want to see the inside of my quarters?" he wondered with a whisper and wiggling his eyebrows.

She offered a warning glare. "Behave."

"I am behaving," he smiled sweetly.

She started to stand. "Come on."

He stood too and followed her out of the officer's mess. Callen and Hanna chuckled as they watched them leave. The last twenty-four hours had been interesting and exhausting but ended better than anyone would have dared to hope for. All thanks to a very brave young woman waiting to take her baby home.