Note: The chapters are getting shorter now, because we're heading for the end. Good news is, they're all coming up tonight. Enjoy!

One Less - Part 45

by joykatleen

Gibbs hung up and stepped out into the passageway. True to the XO's word, a young airman came jogging up less than three minutes later.

"This way, sir," the young man said, and they took off. The airman led the way down the length of the ship toward the stern, then through a doorway to a cargo elevator. Less than eight minutes after DiNozzo's call, Gibbs was swinging across the hangar to where a small group of personnel was gathered near the hatchway leading out to the deck. Gibbs instantly picked out the Captain, the ship's Command Master Chief, and a lieutenant in full tactical gear. Must be the CO of the security team. DiNozzo and Fredrick were peeking outside from opposite sides of the hatchway, guns drawn. DiNozzo held his down next to his leg, Fredrick had his next to his head, muzzle pointed at the upper deck. A pair of corpsman were tending to a lieutenant junior grade with a head wound. Knots of other personnel hung in groups around the bay.

"What's the situation?" Gibbs asked as he approached. The CMC spoke first.

"Cmdr. Thayer tried to leave the ship. The deck officer stopped him, said no one gets off without the Captain's permission. He claimed to have permission, and when the deck officer turned to make a call to confirm, Thayer coldcocked him. He smashed his head into the wall, knocked him out." He gestured to the downed man.

"Crew members working the equipment onload saw it go down. As Thayer started down the gangway, one of them on the dockside ran up it and tackled him, shoving him back on board. One of the shipside crew hit the emergency draw and grabbed the key before running for help. Thayer got the upper hand and pulled a gun. He's out there now, threatening to shoot the man he's got if someone doesn't bring the key back and redeploy the gangway. Security officers managed to evac the deck officer, but it's a standoff with the hostage."

"Damn it," Gibbs said. This was not the way he wanted this to go down. He felt his gut tighten again. "Where'd he get the gun?"

"It's his," Fredrick said over his shoulder. "He's on the record with a Browning nine mil. Two clips."

"Who else is out there?"

"My security force is in place," the lieutenant said. "Six men, all armed."

"Pull them back," Gibbs said.

"What?" the lieutenant and the Captain said simultaneously.

"Leave one man out there. Tell him that if it looks like Thayer's going to shoot the hostage, put him down. Otherwise, he should stand by."

"For what?" the Captain asked.

"My team will take it from here."

"My men are trained and experienced in tactical hostage rescue," the lieutenant objected. "You could use them out there."

Gibbs shook his head, then focused on the captain. "Captain, the three of us are already going to be two guns too many if it goes bad." He glanced at the lieutenant. "I'm sure your people are well trained, but I don't know them, and I don't want anyone out there that I don't know." Back to McNally. "We came here to arrest Thayer. That is what we are going to do."

The Captain held Gibbs' eye for a moment before nodding smartly. "Very well. Lieutenant, pull your men back."

"Thank you," Gibbs said to the Captain. He turned his attention to the junior officer. "Do your men have radios?"

"They do."

"We'll need them. And vests."

The lieutenant nodded, then tapped his headset radio and delivered the orders.

"DiNozzo, take the lead," Gibbs said. As much as he wanted to get out there and be in charge, he knew it wouldn't be wise given his physical condition.

"Got it. Fredrick, take a position on the flight deck, put eyes on him from above. Don't shoot unless you have to. I'll do the talking from down here."

Fredrick nodded his understanding. The members of the security force began coming through the hatch, clearly confused as to why they were being recalled.

"I need three of you to give their radios and vests to these agents, then all of you stand by in case you're needed," the lieutenant instructed. The men – which included one woman, it turned out – complied, though it was obvious from their faces that they weren't happy about it. When each of the agents had a headset radio, and each was wearing a borrowed bullet-proof vest, the Captain put a hand on Gibbs' arm.

"That young man out there is my responsibility," McNally said. "I left Thayer on board at your insistence. If you let him get hurt..."

"We won't, sir," Gibbs said.

"See that you don't."

Gibbs nodded, then turned to his small team. He didn't know how Fredrick would perform in a fight, but he'd proven himself capable in other ways during this case. He did know how DiNozzo would perform, and trusted him implicitly. It wasn't the team he was used to, but it would have to do.

"Go," he said finally. Fredrick took off across the hangar bay toward the ladderwell to the flight deck. DiNozzo slipped outside. Gibbs stepped into the space they'd vacated to watch.

Thayer's arrival had obviously interrupted equipment onloading. A dozen or more pallets of equipment and supplies were sitting in no particular order on the deck. A small crane had been swinging the pallets onto the deck under the supervision of several cargo handlers on the pier and on board. Each of the pallets was about five feet square at the base, ranging in height from under four to over six feet, covered with cargo nets and strapping. DiNozzo figured they'd make fair enough cover.

The walkway part of this deck was about 20 feet wide. The hatchway they'd come through was the dead end of the walkway, which was formed by the outer wall of the hangar deck to the right and the ship's railing to the left. The walkway was about 60 or 70 feet long, dead-ending in another hatchway as it approached the bow of the ship. Parts of it were in shadow, covered by the overlapping flight deck above in odd geometric blocks, and parts were exposed to the sun.

Most of the pallets were toward the inboard side of the walkway, closer to the wall of the hangar bay. DiNozzo stepped quickly behind the nearest of them. Looking around the pallet, DiNozzo could see the break in the railing where the gangway was supposed to be, about 50 feet down from his position. The gangway itself was folded up in the opening. When deployed, it spanned the 20 foot gap between the ship and the pier, allowing personnel to board. It took about two minutes to extend and secure the gangway, but it could be withdrawn in under ten seconds in an emergency. The sailor who'd seen Thayer hit the deck officer and pulled the emergency draw had been thinking fast indeed.

Thayer was standing next to the folded-up gangway, his back against the railing. He had his left arm around the neck of a young sailor in a bright green jersey, a gun pressed tightly against the younger man's right temple. The priest's own body was mostly hidden by his hostage. The sailor had both of his hands locked on Thayer's left forearm. He was being very still. DiNozzo could see the strain on the young man's face as he fought the instinct to struggle.

DiNozzo moved from pallet to pallet along the wall, keeping the equipment between himself and Thayer as much as he could. The remaining security man was standing mostly behind one of the pallets about 30 feet from the priest, his gun steady and level. DiNozzo spoke into his radio to be sure the man knew he was a friendly, then gestured him back inside when DiNozzo had his attention.

"Deploy the gangway or I'll shoot!" Thayer had seen him. DiNozzo ducked behind a pallet. It looked to contain mail. Not the best protection, he figured, but it would probably slow a bullet down enough to keep it from killing him.

"Put down the gun!" DiNozzo yelled back. He heard Fredrick's voice on his radio, confirming that he was in position with a clear line of fire to Thayer.

"Deploy the gangway, or this man dies," Thayer responded with an edge of hysteria in his voice. He tightened his arm.

"We can't do that, Commander," DiNozzo said. He had his arm extended along the side of the pallet, gun ready. He was making himself a small target. Thayer hadn't moved the gun from the sailor's head, but that wasn't to say he wouldn't.

"You don't, and I'll shoot him," Thayer said. He used the muzzle of the gun to push the sailor's head further sideways, the kid's neck twisting awkwardly. The sailor's knuckles were white. Sweat was pouring down the sides of his face and DiNozzo was certain it wasn't the humidity.

"No you won't. He has nothing to do with this. Let him go, and let's figure this out."

"There's nothing to figure out. Deploy the gangway, I'll go, and no one gets hurt."

"You know that's not going to happen," DiNozzo said. He stepped across a small gap to another pallet. From the labels on the metal boxes, it looked like this one held small arms. Better, he supposed. He was less than 10 feet from the control box for the gangway, on a 25 foot diagonal to Thayer's position. The ship phone the deck officer had tried to use to call the bridge was hanging out of the control box by its cord, swaying slightly in the rise and fall of the ship in its moorings.

There was a gunshot. It pinged off the wall across from DiNozzo and sank into the pallet DiNozzo had left. Tony instinctively ducked.

"That wasn't very nice," DiNozzo called.

"You alright?" Gibbs' voice in his ear.

"Affirmative," DiNozzo said. Another shot, this one directly into the first pallet. At least one sailor was going to get a package from home with holes in it.

"Good here," Fredrick's voice, also in his ear.

"Deploy the gangway. Now!" Thayer yelled.

"No way," DiNozzo yelled back. He peeked out around the equipment. "We're not letting you take that sailor anywhere. Let him go, and we'll talk."

Thayer fired again. As DiNozzo ducked back behind the pallet, he realized that while Thayer was shooting in his general direction, he wasn't actually shooting at him. What was that about?

"Let the kid go," DiNozzo repeated.

Thayer adjusted his grip on the sailor and in the process shifted slightly sideways, exposing half his body. DiNozzo considered the possibilities. Was he a good enough shot to take Thayer down without killing him or hitting the kid? Another thought crossed his mind.

"Is there anything on these pallets that's going to blow up if it gets hit?" DiNozzo asked into his radio.

"Stand by," Gibbs' reply. There was a moment's silence, then: "Mail, small arms without ammo, personal gear of the Marine battalion that boarded yesterday, bottled water and kitchen supplies."

"Got it," DiNozzo said.

"I swear, I'll kill him!" Thayer shouted, and another bullet hit the pallet next to DiNozzo.

"I've got a shot, Boss," DiNozzo said. Thayer had moved again, further exposing himself. It would almost be easy now.

"Can you hit him without hitting the hostage?" Gibbs asked.

"Hold your fire," Fredrick's voice came sharply over the radio before DiNozzo could answer.

"What?" DiNozzo said, and Gibbs echoed him.

"He wants you to shoot him," Fredrick said.

"He wants what?" DiNozzo said incredulously.

"He's missing on purpose. He wants you to shoot him," Fredrick repeated. "Suicide's a mortal sin. But if you kill him, he still goes to heaven."

"Yeah, right," DiNozzo said. Like this guy was going anywhere but straight to hell in a handbasket. One way or the other.

"He thinks he's been doing God's work," Fredrick said. "He doesn't want to go to prison. He figures if he dies, God's gonna welcome him."

"He's right," Gibbs voice came across the radio clearly. "Hold your fire."

"So we're supposed to let him kill this kid?" DiNozzo said.

"Deploy the gangway!" Thayer yelled. "What are you waiting for?"

"He's not going to kill him," Fredrick said. "Murder's a mortal sin too."

"I think he's already blown that one," DiNozzo said.

"Those deaths were accidents," Gibbs said. DiNozzo heard something strange in his voice. He sounded like he did when Abby revealed something to him that he thought he should have already known.

"You believe that?" DiNozzo asked.

"He does. Stand down. DiNozzo, keep him talking."

Another bullet pinged off the wall near where Tony was standing, ricocheting past him. He flinched.

"He may be missing on purpose, but those ricochets are coming awfully close," Tony complained.

"Keep him talking," Gibbs repeated. "Help's coming."

From his vantage point next to the hatchway, Gibbs had watched Tony engage Thayer, heard the first shot. His gut had clenched. He'd called for status, heard both DiNozzo and Fredrick respond. He'd taken two long steps outside and leaned against a pallet, peeking around the corner. He'd watched the priest's body language, trying to assess his intent. Was he likely to shoot his hostage? Gibbs didn't think so, but he couldn't be sure.

When Fredrick put out his theory on what Thayer was doing, a piece had suddenly clicked into place. Forever ago, Gibbs had sat in a coffee shop in Washington and talked to his old C.O. about the justifications for the conspiracy. They'd spoken of true believers and someone involved who got so scared after Ferrara's death that he sought religious counsel. It wasn't the assaults that had scared him, it was the death. The assaults were justified as God's will. Ferrara's death – however accidental it might have been – was an unjustified killing. A mortal sin. It had to have been Thayer who made the call.

Which made it perfectly reasonable to believe Thayer was going to keep pushing them, trying to get one of them to kill him. Given the order to hold fire, DiNozzo wouldn't shoot unless he had no choice. Of that Gibbs was certain. Fredrick had posited the theory, so he wasn't likely to pull the trigger easily. But Thayer might push them hard enough. Especially if he kept banking shots off the bulkheads. If DiNozzo got hit with a ricochet, Fredrick would put Thayer down. And there was no way in hell Gibbs was going to let him take that easy way out.

Gibbs swung back into the hangar bay and started for the ladderwell, moving as quickly as the crutches would let him.

"Where are you going?" Capt. McNally called after him.

"Flight deck," Gibbs said.

"Why?" The Captain jogged to follow him.

"I'm going to end this before someone gets killed," Gibbs said and kept going. As he reached the base of the ladder, the Captain still on his heels, he paused and spoke again.

"Captain, keep your people under control. No one goes out onto the deck. No one fires a weapon. Got it?" He didn't have time for the niceties of rank.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Gibbs," McNally said, but he turned back.

"You and me both, sir," Gibbs muttered under his breath.

to be continued... very soon.

By the way: I am aware that the description given in this section of the USS Roosevelt at dock is not accurate for a Nimitz Class aircraft carrier. It's actually based on a cruise ship I once sailed on, modified in my mind with a hangar bay and a flight deck. However, after visiting the USS Abraham Lincoln during Navy Week and realizing how badly my description mismatched that of a modern aircraft carrier, I came across this photo of the USS Midway, a much older carrier. This does work with the details I needed. So just go with it, 'kay? (If you want to see it, copy the link and paste it in your browser, then remove the spaces to make it work.)

http: / / www. freeimageslive. co. uk/ free_stock_image/ ussmidwaycarrierjpg