Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

A/N: Department of Defense stickers are colored as follows: Enlisted is red. Officer is blue. A gate guard is required to salute any vehicle that bears a blue Officer's sticker.
Enlisted are required to salute officers, and junior officers are required to salute senior officers.
A "Herky Bird" is slang for the C-130 Hercules. They are the gray planes with propellers. They're also known as "Herky Jerks" because the ride is jerky, loud, and overall uncomfortable.

Chapter 2-Meet Widowmaker

Emmie drove her white Chevy Blazer up to the Homestead Air Force Base check point. Rick sat importantly in the front seat while Tyler rode in the back with the computer lab's photography equipment ready to go.

She waited for the gate guards to check identification and then to check Rick and Tyler against the list of VIPs. Satisfied, the young uniformed Air Force security guard handed her back their ID cards.

"Here you go Sir. Tyler" Rick snatched his identification back. As they pulled through the gate the guard stood at attention and saluted. Emmie held up her hand in acknowledgement. As an officer's widow, she never felt right to salute back.

Rick turned around to watch the gate. "He must've known who I was to salute me like that."

Emmie snorted. "They saluted my sticker. I'm the widow of a Lieutenant Commander. That gate guard doesn't know you from Adam. The only reason I'm driving you is because I have the military sticker."

"Do you know where you're going, Emmie? I don't want to be late."

She sighed. "I shop here once a month. I think it's safe to say I know my way around."

The Blazer pulled up to the main aviation office where Harm and Mac sipped coffee and chatted while they stood outside the main entrance. She stepped out of her Blazer and immediately walked up the steps to hug her old friends. "Harm! Mac! God, it's great to see you again! How was your trip down here?"

"Emmie Stockburne? I see you're still playing with computers" Mac said. She motioned toward Rick as he stepped out, never offering to help Tyler who struggled with the camera equipment. "So is this our guest of honor?" she noted as Harm shook hands with Rick and Tyler.

"How was your ride out from DC?"

Mack pointed toward the airfield. "First class on the Herky Bird" she said with a grin.

Rick's and Tyler's eyes widened as they gazed at the row of shiny F14 Tomcats. Off further in the distance sat an array of helicopters and cargo planes, all ready to be viewed by the public.

"This is Sergeant Stetler. He's our Internal Affairs agent. He'll be going up with, uh, Widowmaker. Tyler Jensen is the department's AV expert. He's here to get pictures."

Rick blinked. "Widowmaker?"

Harm smiled. "Relax. It's just his call sign. Well Sergeant—"

"Call me Rick."

"Uh, Rick, if you'll follow me you're gonna have to get checked out for your preflight screening."

"I'm sure everything will be all right."

"Tyler, you get to go with them. Somebody gets to preserve this for the department" Emmie said with a slight grin. Apparently Rick had no idea what he would be up against.

Tyler looked at her reproachfully. "Why me?"

"I'm not allowed in the men's locker room. And even if I was, well, there are some things I just don't want to know."

Tyler held the video camera just feet away from Rick, who now had a totally different attitude. He was tired, humiliated, and snappish. It didn't help matters any that he was now wearing only his boxers and being poked and prodded by a flight surgeon. He glared at Tyler. "Having fun, Tyler?" he growled.

The AV tech looked at him dryly. "Not really."

The Navy flight surgeon, a paunchy, middle-aged Commander in his Air Force blues, his hair graying, measured Rick's blood pressure and then listened to his heart and breathing.

"I'm not enlisting for flight school" Rick said impatiently.

"No, but we have to make sure you're not gonna have a heart attack or pass out up there" the doctor said firmly. "It makes us look bad. You're Internal Affairs, so you should know all about that."

Tyler was sure to get Rick's horrified expression as the flight surgeon measured his arms and legs with a tape measure. "What's this for?"

"We have to see how big a flight suit you'll wear, how much oxygen, and how you'll fit into the cockpit. No room for error."

Rick now stared daggers at Tyler. "Are you gonna get everything on tape?"

"Hey, I stepped out of the room when he told you to cough, didn't I?"

Emmie stood outside of the front entrance with Harm and Mac, occasionally stepping back every time an enlisted officer saluted them.

Just then a huge man in a blue Navy flight suit stepped out of the building. His jet black hair was almost completely shaven off. He had steely gray eyes and looked like he could have picked up one of those fighter jets with one arm. His skin was red and his features were certainly battle-hardened. He strode confidently out to the step, stood smartly at attention, and saluted Mac, who promptly saluted him back. He then leaned back on the railing and glanced around, totally unimpressed by his surroundings. "Morning Ma'am. All ready for the air show this afternoon?" he asked.

Mac motioned toward Emmie. "Emmie? Meet Lieutenant Marshall. Call sign Widowmaker" Mac said proudly. "He'll be flying Rick this afternoon."

The burly Lieutenant raised his eyebrows and shook hands with her. "Ma'am."

Emmie's eyes widened from his viselike grip. "Nice to meet you, Lieutenant."

"Likewise."

"Lieutenant Marshall, Emmie brought Sergeant Stetler up here. He's getting his preflight screening right now. He's the police officer who's gonna be riding with you this afternoon."

The Lieutenant raised one eyebrow and motioned back toward the building with his eyes. "Oh yeah. Saw him. Tall skinny guy who looks like Chewbacca? He's not scoring any points with the med staff, I can tell you."

Emmie snorted. "I work for the guy, Sir. I know what you're talking about."

Widowmaker smirked. "Internal Affairs. Figures. I'd tell you what I think, but you look like a nice lady."

Emmie giggled. "I've probably heard it already. So Widowmaker, you think you can take the sergeant on the ride of his life?"

Widowmaker folded his arms and smiled slyly. "Yeah. Harm told me what was going on. It'll be my pleasure. Don't worry. You guys'll love it."

"Think you can do it without killing him?"

The burly pilot narrowed his eyes at the door. "Long as he doesn't puke in my jet, I won't eject him over the Atlantic. Deal?'

She smiled. "Deal."