Conversion
Chapter 11
Tuesday, July 6, 2004
0930 Hours Local Time
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA
As Harriet pressed the remote's button, the C-4 laced in her corset and in her body detonated. The blast bounded mostly upwards sparing several JAG staff. The shrapnel consisting of ball bearings and 4-inch nails laced around Harriet's body in the corset flew from and through her body in a 360-degree circle. Her torso from her hips to her shoulders was completely obliterated. Her legs, amputated at her pelvis, fell into the place where she stood. She was decapitated and her head flew across the room, through an office window. Ironically, into Bud's office.
The unfortunate Lt Gregory Vukovic died with a lecherous smile on his face. His body was totally shredded as the shrapnel that flew from Harriet tore his body apart. What was left of his body flew back and was smeared against the solid wooden browser cupboard which stored the case files. The browser saved many lives.
The fire-resistant construction of the high-impact double sheetrock walls built around the bullpen funneled some of the blast effects out the bullpen double doors, toward the elevator shaft. The other side of the blast shattered the walls into Chegwidden's office suite. That suite was the next compartment built from the Bullpen.
Until the end of time, Jennifer Coates would be glad that she was wrestling, feet apart, with a stiff filing cabinet. She had just cursed her heels when a splinter of jagged metal wall stud slashed through her skirt above knee level, gashing the inside of both her parted thighs, before embedding into the filing cabinet. Jenn looked down, saw the blood, and fainted.
After he picked himself off the floor from where the blast knocked him behind his desk, Chegwidden surveyed his surroundings. The wooden wall panel that nestled the TV and his other decorations was relatively intact. That wall was opposite an office. The walls that were opposite the bullpen were almost completely gone. Only a four feet high section that was shielded by long file cabinets in the bullpen was intact. The metal beams above the intact section on which the double panels of sheetrock were mounted, stood broken and twisted. The shattered debris had flown toward his desk. He was extremely lucky that he was sitting in his high-backed office chair. He had turned so that he looked out the window behind his desk while he spoke on the phone. The hard metal of the back and padding of the chair back protected him from the debris that flew from the walls. He was thrown forward, with his chair on top of him.
AJ turned still dazed and walked out of his office to Coates's compartment. When he got through the door, he saw Jennifer sprawled on the floor and he feared the worst. Then she groaned and began to come around.
On the other side of the Bullpen, Carolyn's escape was simply miraculous. After she had passed Harriet in the corridor, and started to descend in the elevator, she was still processing Harriet's non-regulation heels when Harriet exploded and the world shuddered. The emergency lights in the elevator blinked out and the building fell apart above it. Fortunately, Carolyn's elevator arrived at the Ground Floor, two floors below the Operations floor.
Shortly after the time of the explosion, Harm was sitting in the base JAG Office at Norfolk. AJ notified him the evening before that he had to go to there, so he left his apartment at about 0600. He made good driving time and arrived close to 0845. He was just beginning to review his case file with an eager Lt Eileen Nestor. Nestor was seven years out of law school. They paused in their work when the desk phone rang. Eileen answered with, "JAG Office, Lt. Nestor?"
"Yes, Admiral Chegwidden, he's here. Hang on a second." She handed Harm the receiver. She sat back to review her notes. She was half listening to his side of the call when she was alarmed as Harm exclaimed, "Oh, my God! It went off in the Bullpen, how?" ~ Suicide bomber? Who? ~ No fucking way! ~ Yes sir, sorry sir. I just didn't believe it. I'll be back to headquarters as soon as I can. ~ Yes, sir I'll do that." His hands were shaking as he hung up the phone.
"What happened Harm?"
"Harriet Simms walked into the Bullpen and set off a bomb she was wearing. There were five people in the bullpen that were killed. They're still counting the injured."
"Dear God. Harriet, bubbly, kind Harriet? She was one of my bridesmaids. Unbelievable."
"Yeah, I feel the same way. Listen, I need a chopper. I'm not going to waste time driving back to Falls Church."
"I'll call the guys in Jack's old squadron. They'll help you out."
Eileen set Harm up with her late husband's helo squadron. Her husband Jack was a Sea King pilot. He was killed in the Pentagon when American Airlines Flight 77 flew into the west side of the building as he was there visiting a friend from his Naval Academy days. Eileen was living as a single mom to their five-year-old daughter, Erin.
Harm drove his SUV to the Squadron's hanger at the Naval Base and hopped on a Bell Ranger. They landed in the park across from the JAG building, which was surrounded by ambulances, fire, and police department vehicles. As soon as he could, Harm got out and dashed across the street. AJ saw him coming and waved him over to where he was standing with Gunny Walters, the NCO in charge of the JAG Headquarters Marine Security Detail.
"Admiral, who was killed?"
"The new lieutenant, Greg Vukovic, and four legal men who were in the Bullpen; Brian Carter, Alan Foster, Anita Raymond, and Cathy Peters. There were about 20 other people injured."
"What about Carolyn?"
"She's fine, but she's trapped in an elevator. The elevator's steel walls protected her from getting hurt as the debris got blasted into the elevator shaft. Come on, the fire department and the elevator mechanics are just about to get her out."
Harm and AJ walked in and waited in the lobby as the fire department did its work. After a short time, there was some shouting and some cheering. Harm breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Carolyn, disheveled and grimy, being assisted from the broken elevator, which had almost become her coffin. Harm walked to her as she passed through the group of rescuers. When Carolyn saw Harm, she fell into his arms on instinct. Harm wrapped his arms tightly around her, thankful that they would be able to share their future life together.