PART 2
MARCH, 1997
USS SEAHAWK
MIDDLE OF THE INDIAN OCEAN
HARM'S QUARTERS
"Harm ... Harm!" Luke Pendry, his roommate said, trying to stir his flight school pal.
Harm opened an eye and looked at him. "This had better be good. The dream you just woke me from..." His voice trailed off as Luke's face came into focus. Whatever the reason for waking him, it wasn't good.
"Annie and Josh okay?" Harm asked as he started to move. He needed to know if this was a personal crisis or if he should be trying not only to wake up but get dressed as well.
"They're fine. CAG wants to see everyone in the ready room. NOW!"
Harm was quickly on his feet and reaching for his pants.
"Any heads up on why we're having this O'dark-thirty call?"
"Scuttlebutt is that he's going to ground all training flights until after a JAG investigation into Isaaks' crash."
"An investigation for what - to prove that she was a bad pilot?" Harm said, glad that he hadn't been the one who'd had to give up his regular RIO to fly with the female flyer the day that she'd crashed.
"This female aviator stuff is still really new. You've got people who want it investigated who are trying to prove that she crashed because she was a woman, and you've got people who want to prove that there was some other reason so that no one gets the idea that women can't be pilots," Pendry offered in explanation.
Harm snorted at that idea since his belief was that, man or woman, pilots could be good or bad. A case in point that he'd site if asked were Isaaks and McKee who were exact opposites, one bad, one good, and both of the female gender."
Seeing that his buddy was on his feet, Pendry reached to open the hatch.
"I'll go tell the CAG that you're on your way... and for what it's worth, I'm sorry that I had to wake you. I know that you were dreaming about her again," Pendry said to his pal, ribbing him about the mystery woman who spent nights in his friend's dreams.
"You're lucky, Luke. Your dream girl is at home waiting for you," Harm commented, still not fully awake.
"Word of advice?" Luke asked, seeking permission to give his friend some wisdom concerning his love life.
Harm nodded, giving his consent.
"Next time, get the girl's name," Luke teased.
"And here I thought that we were going to have a Hallmark moment," Harm lobbed back to his friend as he left their quarters.
It had been six months since she'd bumped into him, and she still often drifted into his thoughts and, most nights, he'd dream about her.
The morning after one such dream, he'd awakened with determination to find her. However, with only the knowledge that she'd said - if that were even true - that she was an attorney, tenacity alone wasn't going to lead him to her because, without a name, he had no way of searching for her within law firms or by checking Bar Association lists, making finding her a dream, too.
Harm let out a heavy sigh.
What was this woman to him?
Nothing.
This woman and he hadn't exchanged more than a few words, and he'd recently enjoyed a weekend with Maria Elena, whom he'd stolen from Keeter while on liberty in Naples two weeks ago.
Having convinced himself that he was becoming obsessed over a woman who he knew nothing about, not even her name, and that he felt drawn to her more because of the mysteriousness of it than of any real feelings that he had for her, he headed to the ready room for the briefing.
Once they'd been dismissed with the information that all non-essential flights had been cancelled until further notice, Harm went to workout and then took a shower before returning to his room and crawling into his rack for a nap to help pass what was now going to be a slow day.
Luke Pendry, for the second time today, entered the room that he shared with his friend to find that he had to wake him.
"Harm! Roberts says that the CO wants to see us on the bridge, ASAP."
Harm woke with a start and, sitting up quickly, hit his head.
"We getting the go ahead to get back in the air?" Harm questioned, rubbing the spot on his forehead that had just met with a small metal beam above his rack.
"Doubt this soon, but I hear that the JAG lawyers are on board, so it may be something about us getting back up there," Luke replied.
"Great! Our wings are in the hands of a couple of legal weenies," Harm grunted as he dropped out of his rack onto the deck.
"I'd reserve judgement on them if I were you," Luke said, knowing that he'd get a confused look, which he did, giving him the opening that he'd wanted. "Scuttlebutt has it that one of them is a woman and a looker to boot ... could be that she can get us back in the air and get that woman out of your dreams at the same time."
"You should take that comedy act of yours on the road because you tell jokes better than you fly," Harm ribbed his friend, pushing back.
BRIDGE
Harm and Luke came to attention in front of the captain of the SeaHawk.
"Rabb and Pendry reporting as ordered, Sir."
"At ease, Gentlemen," the CO said to the two officers. Both were cocky - the attitude came with the wings, but Rabb was more so than Pendry. Of course, Rabb had reason. He was good ... damn good! Perhaps he was even a better pilot than his father with whom his current CO and CAG had served.
"I'm sure that you've heard that we've got JAGs from HQ on board."
"Yes, Sir," the two aviators replied in unison, having done as instructed and relaxed their stance.
"They're here to conduct interviews and review footage of Isaaks' final flight. I've been told that neither of them have served on a carrier, so they have no knowledge of the aircraft, it's operation or flight ops, so I'm going to pair the two of you with them as advisors."
"Yes, Sir," they again replied in unison.
"Ensign Roberts reporting with Commander Matoni and Major MacKenzie, JAG Corps, Sir," the young Public Affairs Officer who was currently serving on board said, coming to attention.
"Commander, Major, I'd like to say welcome aboard, but under the circumstances, I'm sure that you understand why you aren't a welcome sight."
"Yes, Sir," Matoni stated as the major stood silent, letting the officer who was senior to her respond.
"Since I've heard about the speech that Congresswoman DeLong gave that accused the Navy of using this incident as cause to keep women out of flight school, I'm glad that they have a woman as part of the investigative team." The CO seemed to be commenting more to the CAG who was standing to his left than to the female JAG officer or anyone else on the bridge.
"I agree, Sir," Captain Boone said, apparently believing that the comment was directed to him as well.
"Commander, Major, I heard that you may not be as familiar with carrier life as one might need to be in order to fully investigate the matter, so I've ordered Pendry and Rabb to be at your disposal to answer questions that may arise as pertains to the aircraft that Isaaks was flying or its operation."
"Thank you, Sir," Matoni replied. "We'd like to begin by interviewing the lieutenant's RIO, a Lieutenant Hawks, Sir."
"Roberts, if you'll show our 'guests' to sickbay where they'll find Skates, Rabb and Pendry will join them there momentarily."
"Yes, Sir," Bud said before turning to look at the JAG officers. "If you'll follow me, Sir, Ma'am."
Continuing to look straight ahead at their captain, Harm and Luke hadn't seen the faces of the JAG officers who'd been sent to their ship to investigate the mishap.
With the bridge free of the Public Affairs and the JAG officers, the CO's words were once again directed to Rabb and Pendry.
"You're to answer any questions about the aircraft and its operation, but not to give your opinions on Isaaks ability to fly. Is that clear to both of you?"
"Yes, Sir," they replied in unison once more, agreeing to follow the order given, but knowing that the task might be as difficult as making a night trap.
"Then head to sickbay. You're dismissed," the captain directed.
It was only then that the two aviators moved the focus of their eyes from their commanding officer and CAG, meaning that neither one of them had seen what the two JAG officers looked like, and since only one of them had spoken, they hadn't seen or heard the second JAG.
Boy, was Harm going to be surprised when he got to sickbay.
OFFICERS' MESS
Harm and Luke had reached sickbay too late and had missed the commander and major. It wasn't that the interview hadn't taken very long. It was because the patient had been asleep, and the doctor had said that their questions would have to wait until she woke up, so they'd left.
Informed by Ensign Roberts that the JAG duo was in the officers' mess, Commanders Pendry and Rabb headed there to meet them.
Harm's jaw dropped when he got a look at the female Marine JAG who was sitting at a table talking to her partner.
Luke immediately noticed his friend's reaction and put out his hand to discourage him from moving any closer to the two officers.
Keeping his voice low and casting a look of disapproval, Luke said, "Pull yourself together, man. You look like you've never seen a woman before."
"It's her," Harm choked out in a whisper.
"Who her? ... Wait, dream girl her?"
Harm had erased the shocked look on his face, but still had trouble speaking, and softly whispered, "That's the one."
Luke glanced over at the major. Harm couldn't have a better view of her than he did because he was standing right next to him.
"Are you sure that it's the same woman? Maybe she just looks like the woman from the bar. I mean, how can you be sure? You said yourself that the bar was dimly lit and that you saw her up close for only a few seconds. She just probably has the same color hair or something, and with you dreaming about her so much, you just think that it's her," he replied, trying to reason with Harm.
Harm was staring at her. However, what he was seeing was only her profile. It might not be her.
"Right ... probably just reminds me of her in some way," Harm mumbled back to his friend as he stepped towards the table to find out for sure.
"Commanders Rabb and Pendry reporting for duty," Harm said as he stepped up to the table, though the long shadow that he cast had arrived first and cued in Matoni and MacKenzie that they had company."
Being of equal rank, Matoni made no effort to stand, unlike the major, who got to her feet.
"I'm Commander Matoni. This is Major MacKenzie."
From the second that she stood and looked in his direction, Harm was, as he had been the first time, mesmerized.
Though she may have been the lowest ranking officer in the room at the moment, she certainly wasn't shy and extended her hand. "Mac."
That was the only word that she uttered, but it was all that he needed to hear. That was her voice.
She didn't just look like his girl. She was his girl.
Well, she would be ... he hoped.
There was an awkwardness that filled the room, and Matoni and Pendry felt as if they were intruding on an intimate moment that these two seemed to be having as the shocked commander finally spoke.
"Harm," he replied as he took her hand.
"Do you two know each other?" Matoni asked, concerned that, if the two of them had a past, the aviator could compromise the investigation by tainting the view of one of the investigators.
"No," Harm replied, wishing that he had gotten to know her.
"No, though you do look vaguely familiar. Perhaps you're just one of those people who has a face that makes people believe that they know you from somewhere," the major said casually, and then, as she pulled back her hand, she looked up to take a second look at his face. It was then that her eyes met his, and she remembered those eyes.
What were the odds of another chance meeting with this same man?
She quickly broke eye contact with him. She was here on a case.
There was already a question of women being fit for what had for so long been seen as a man's world, and she would not jeopardize the reputation of women in the armed forces by letting this man get under her skin.
Not now ... not here anyway, she quickly amended silently to herself.
Running into him not once but twice - it must be a sign, she thought.
THREE DAYS LATER
True to the promise that she'd made to herself, Mac had kept her distance from Rabb during the investigation. She'd either sought out answers from Commander Pendry or waited until she'd seen the commander in a public place to ask him a question.
Perhaps it was his ego, but Harm thought that her avoidance of him meant that she felt the same spark that he did but was avoiding him in order to protect the integrity of the investigation. Given the reaction of her partner when they'd met, perhaps she was making sure that her career didn't take a hit for some perceived impropriety with someone who was consulting on the matter that she was investigating or, based on the reason why they were here, maybe her objective was to protect the reputation of women in the service.
So, with the investigation having come to an end earlier in the day when the JAG officers had ruled that no action would be taken against anyone aboard and that the crash, which had resulted in Marilyn Isaaks' death, had been due to pilot error, Harm was determined to talk to the woman who came to him in his dreams before she caught the morning COD.
Armed with information from a certain Public Affairs officer who looked up to him, Harm learned that Major MacKenzie had been going to the fantail every evening alone, and tonight he was going out there to see if she stayed alone, and if she did, she was going to have company this evening.
Harm stepped out onto the fantail.
"Not planning to jump, are you?" he asked from behind her since she was staring out over the water.
"No," she replied, purposely not turning to look at him. She knew that those eyes would be her undoing. Well, his eyes and the fact that she hadn't enjoyed the company of a man in a long time. "Ensign Roberts suggested this location for me to enjoy a little solitude while on board and, until this evening, he'd been absolutely right."
"Well, I like the ensign, but I have to disagree with him. The view from here is nice, but you're downwind of the engine room, so the smell isn't pleasant." Harm paused. "I'll show you the best place to avoid people," he said smiling, though she still hadn't turned to look at him.
"I appreciate the offer, but this place will do."
"Come on. My place gives you a great view, and you don't have to smell the diesel engines."
She finally turned her head to look at him. His smile ... his eyes ... she never should've turned around.
"Okay," she said softly, and then she was following him.
They went up and through so many gray spaces that she had no idea where they were until he opened a hatch and stepped out on a small platform. Then she knew that he was right. The view was fabulous, and she could smell the salty sea air.
She moved to the rail and looked out across the sea at the night sky in awe of the beauty that can be found in nature no matter where you are.
"It's better than the fantail, wouldn't you say?" he questioned as he stepped up behind her, not touching her, but close enough that she could feel the warmth radiating off his body.
She felt her cheeks flush and her heart rate increase.
He was too close for comfort.
"You're right. It's beautiful," she said, stepping to the side and back in an attempt to avoid bumping into him as she tried to make an escape.
However, she lost her footing and fell against him, and his arms immediately wrapped around her, catching her.
Love-lorn eyes locked in a gaze, and their heads tilted accommodatingly as they moved subconsciously towards each other until their lips met.
His heart raced as he pulled her closer to him.
With their lips pressed together, the coolness of the evening air this far above the sea could no longer be felt as the passionate flames of desire were lit within them.
Eventually, they were forced to bring their kiss to an end.
Breathless, Mac began to speak, but Harm placed his index finger against her lips to quiet any words that she might have been about to say.
Sensing apprehension but not regret, Harm suggested a cause, "Wrong time, wrong place?"
Mac broke eye contact with him and gave a slight nod of agreement at the same time.
"I've got three more months out here, but when I get back to port, can I cash in that rain check on that drink from the first time we met?" he asked.
"I don't drink," she said with remorse, still breathless as she let her palm glide over his chest, taking in the ridge of muscle that she felt as she pulled away.
"Fine, dinner then?" he asked, though to him it sounded like he was pleading for a date with her. That had never happened before either. What was it about this woman that made him act so differently?
"Perhaps the next time we meet the circumstances will be better," Mac said flirtatiously as she reached the hatch.
With a look over her shoulder and a wave, she was gone.
This moment in time might not have been right for them, but this second chance meeting hadn't been in vain. He now knew her name, Major Sarah MacKenzie, and he knew that he could find her at JAG HQ when he returned to port.
THE END
I hope that for those of you who like Harm and Mac stories you aren't too disappointed that I didn't take this story further. However, any meetings these two have in the future would not be by chance now that Harm knows who she is and where to find her, so that is why this story ends here.