Ch04 of: "Conversion: re-building - the Aftermath." x

Ch04 - Spring 2005

A/N: AU. This is a fictional story, in a fictional Alternative Universe, about fictional characters who entertained us in a fictional TV series between 1995 and 2005. Mike. Characters borrowed with love and appreciation for the great team who brought us "JAG"; may your following careers blossom.

A/N: AU: "they aren't mine: I'm just playing with them - apart from any fictional character created by myself". Feel free to PM me if you spot any typos - my goal is 100% error-free. Feedback and comments are also welcome. Your opinions, critiques (and requests as PMs) are always helpful - and welcomed.

A/N: Building upon the excellent 2023 story-line "Conversion" by "jpstar57" (with whom I was honoured to collaborate in the creation of that story). This sequel will span (and overlap with) the "Conversion" story timeline from 2004 through to 2019 - when "Loren Diane O'Hara" (Sadik's brainwashed and subjugated puppet, formerly known as Sarah Mackenzie) was executed. John ("jpstar57") and I agreed the parameters of our two story-lines - so I commend you to read the whole of "Conversion" before you begin to read this story. If you don't like the story-line of "Conversion", this story is more positive - but please don't complain!

A/N: Publication date: 21-JUN-2023: Chapter 04 - Harm and Carolyn settle into their new roles as parents to a newborn (ably assisted by Mattie who is thriving in the new nuclear family unit). Alison Krennick's widower and his children eventually decide to return to the UK - where paths will cross with a name from Harm's past. Bud and Eileen begin to plan a joint future together. Disney-style warning: "mild peril".

A/N – link to Canon Episodes: given that the main driver for my story is the "JAG family" healing after the events of "Conversion", I shall not be listing any quoted episodes. I merely state my appreciation that the Bellisario creation has inspired nearly 30 years of fanfiction since that pilot episode back in 1995.

Characters from FFNET – Many and varied. Harmon Rabb jr, Carolyn Imes-Rabb, Faith Coleman, Bud Roberts jr to name but a few.

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Monday 28th March 2005, 07:00hrs

Walter Reed National Medical Centre, Bethesda MD

Harm and Carolyn did not mind that Tali Mayfield missed their wedding. She was just about ready to give birth and her doctor had advised her to stay in town. On the Monday after the wedding, she had been in labour the last eight hours since just before midnight when she had telephoned Faith Coleman.

Faith was with her as her birth coach for the whole process. She regarded it as "good training" for the upcoming birth of her first children.

Tali still had not told her parents that they were going to be grand-parents. Tali was panting through a contraction, squeezing Faith's hand almost to the breaking point. Tali let go of Faith's hand as the contraction past. Right at that point, her doctor, came in to examine her. Tali panted, "Think I'm dilated enough Dr. Walden? I gotta be. It's been seven, nearly eight, hours."

Dr. Sydney Walden did her examination and said, "Yes lieutenant. You're crowning. Let's get you into delivery."

At that announcement, Dr. Walden went to the door and signalled for the nurses to come in and wheel her bed into the delivery room. After she was transferred to the delivery chair, it was another forty-five minutes until Tali delivered a beautiful baby girl, weighing 8-10 at 22 inches long, whom she named Michelle Marie Mayfield Vukovic.

"You done good lieutenant," Faith said as she kissed her friend's forehead.

"Thanks Faith," Tali replied. Tali would live the life of a single mom for a short time, eventually reconciling with Greg Vukovic's parents and her own. All of the new grandparents were just thrilled to be grandparents, regardless of the circumstances. A new life was to be celebrated. Tali then named Carolyn and Faith as co-godmothers, with Harm and Jack as co-godfathers.

By the time that Harm and C on (around) April 10th 2005, Carolyn's morning sickness had arrived, wrecked ten days of their "alone time" then vanished once again

leaving Mrs Rabb glowing and steadily putting on weight.

"Oh lord, I sympathise with Loren Singer - she must have really suffered on board once she realised that she was preggers" Carolyn lamented.

"Yep: Jenn Coates reported (after Loren was killed and subsequently discovered) that she had been quite uncomfortable on board." He sighed. "I hoped ghat getting her back onshore would have made life easier for her, but unfortunately she (or Teddie Lindsay) had other ideas."

He sighed "Carolyn, if or when I fly into protective mode, would you cut me some slack please? This is a really important baby for the Rabb lineage and I wouldn't want to jinx anything on your journey to motherhood."

Carolyn leaned across and took his hand, gently caressing the wedding band on his hand. Had it only been three weeks since they had vowed "I do"?

returned from their honeymoon

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Tali Mayfield would eventually meet and fall in love with one Lt. Comdr. David "Tuna" Medwick. She met him when Harm introduced them to each other at the July 4th 2005 JAG picnic. Tuna was there on leave from Oceana to visit Harm & Carolyn to celebrate their own upcoming baby.

Tali and Tuna were married one year later. Faith and Jack would happily go on to plan their wedding. Jack had proposed formally on New Year's Eve, timing his proposal a few seconds before 2004 ended so that Faith could say "Yes" at the stroke of 12 Midnight to begin 2005 as an affianced couple. They would be married on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, May 28, 2005. Faith didn't care that she was popping out with twins at the time.

She and Jack would have a very happy family of five as their marriage allowed them to adopt, as well as continuing their own genetic line.

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Final A/N 121-JUN-2023: Building upon the excellent 2023 storyline "Conversion" by "jpstar57" (with whom I collaborated in the creation of that story). During a number of chapters, this sequel will span the timeline of 2004 through to 2019 - when "Loren Diane O'Hara" (Sadik's brainwashed and subjugated puppet, formerly known as Sarah Mackenzie) was executed. John ("jpstar57") and I agreed the parameters of our two storylines: so I commend you to read the whole of "Conversion" before you read this story. Mike, BA flight – 21-06-2023

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End of Ch04 of: "Conversion: re-building - the Aftermath." Ch04- Spring 2005

Mike: 38,000ft between SFO and LHR, 21-JUN-2023

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Monday 06th December 2004

Main floor office suite, JAG HQ, Falls Church VA

As was her custom, Mac casually surveyed the office area, in her "vanilla" persona. Today, her gaze settled upon the next perfect "recruit" for her master's perverted campaign against the American establishment.

She watched as Rear-Admiral Alison Krennick was greeted and welcomed to the Judiciary.

She knew that her Master would enjoy breaking the senior woman - and that Alison Krennick would make a great and influential additional "soldier" in her Master's army, opening doors which Soldier Sarah could only dream of accessing.

The game was afoot!

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Friday 10th December 2004

Home of Rear Admiral Alison Krennick, Georgetown, Washington DC, USA

(A/N: Summary of "Conversion" Ch 14).

Located several blocks north of Foggy Bottom, Alison's townhouse had maintained her place in the DC property market during her several postings around the world. Fortunately, her most-recent tenant had decided to buy a permanent home in the DC area and had been able to terminate the lease at a time which worked for Alison's return Stateside..

Unfortunately, Alison would only manage to unpack one of her suitcases following her transfer back from Naples. On the Friday evening at the end of her first week back in Falls Church, she was gassed, rendered unconscious and shipped out to Sadik's farm after less than a week back in her old home.

The version of Alison Krennick who was returned to her home at 05:00hrs on the Monday morning was a programmed weapon, ready to do her new Master Sadik's bidding. In the seclusion of her home after the return from her Conversion at the farm, Sarah and Catherine helped to dress their latest "sister" ready for her role.

A few hours later, in response to her programming, she parked her car and walked mindlessly into the Army & Navy Club, ostensibly to meet for lunch with the SECNAV. From a half-mile away, "Soldier Catherine" Gale dialled the number for the cellphone which was attached to Alison's concealed explosive payload.

The resulting loss of several senior members of the US Government (along with the barely-detected child growing within the female Secret Service agent who had been standing just behind SECNAV at the moment of explosion) brought home to the US Establishment that "the gloves need to come off".

The devastating effect upon morale which the pre-Christmas assassination unleashed within JAG HQ was noticeable. The reaction was entirely reasonable. Barely five months after losing Harriet Roberts, along with five other murdered colleagues and several of the injured who were medically retired, the "JAG family" was facing another loss, along with another funeral featuring a very underweight casket.

Worse was to emerge from the onsite investigations during the Monday: then back at JAG HQ on the Monday evening of the explosion. Then gain on the Wednesday.

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Monday 13th December 2004, 14:27hrs local time

Army & Navy Club - forensic sealed area

(A/N: Summary of "Conversion" Ch 15).

Carolyn Imes, Jack McBurney, Faith Coleman and Kate Todd had arrived within minutes of each other after receiving the call to the latest bombing. "Ducky" Mallard had parked the NCIS truck within the cordon as he started work around the table where the explosion had occurred.

Locating Alison's head on the upper balcony led to identification of the Bluetooth earpiece - and subsequently, via fingerprints, to Catherine Gale (who had also been captured on the CCTV driving away) and Sarah Mackenzie, triggering the NCIS raids two days later.

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Monday 13th December 2004, 18:21hrs Local time

Main bullpen: JAG HQ, Falls Church, VA USA

Later that day, early in the evening after the Army-Navy Club bombing, Chegwidden stepped out of his office to head towards the galley for a much-needed cup of coffee.

Jennifer had limped off home an hour earlier. She was making a strong effort to walk further as she continued to recover from the shrapnel wounds in her thighs.

A British Royal Navy Captain, holding the hand of a delightful young child (whom Chegwidden guessed to be about two years old), was being escorted by the USMC gunny from the downstairs CP. The British officer braced to attention and Chegwidden put him at ease, noting his nameplate. "How may I help you, Captain Evans?".

"Well Admiral, Lucinda and I are around ten minutes ahead of schedule to meet up with my wife. She was recently posted here and we have just arrived from NATO HQ in Italy. She told me that she would be meeting with your SECNAV for her frocking earlier this afternoon. Her name is Rear Admiral Alison Evans, but you may know her as Alison Krennick from the last time that she worked here before she was assigned to Naples."

With a sick feeling of inevitability, Chegwidden kept his voice calm as he thought: 'Oh Dear God, how am I going to explain to the man? How to explain that he is now a widower and that little Lucinda no longer has a mother?'

He forced a smile. "Captain, step into my office please."

AJ turned to allow the father and daughter to precede them into his office.

The JAG family had just gained a few members, following the loss earlier on Monday.

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Wednesday 15th December 2004, 06:05hrs

NCIS armoury and garage, NCIS HQ Lower level

(A/N: Summary of "Conversion" Ch 15).

Carolyn Imes was checking her weapons one more time. The knife scabbard was already lubricated ready for a quick and smooth draw when needed.

The garage in the lower level of NCIS Headquarters was a buzzing hive of activity, just without the noise.

Everyone present (JAG Investigators; Jack McBurney and Faith Coleman, Carolyn's Major Crime Response Team, the NCIS Immediate Response Team and FBI's Hostage Rescue Team) were all working quietly in determined concentration, as they prepared to go on two raids prompted by the evidence found during the forensic investigation of Alison's suicide bombing.

The men and women getting ready were sullen and angry as they knew that they were going after two of their own. The previous day's examination of the Bluetooth earpiece from Alison's severed head and the cellphone found in the explosion debris brought about the expected - and also unexpected - results.

The cellphone screen miraculously survived the explosion without a crack, as the phone had been folded closed in the back of Alison's armed corset whilst remaining "live". Being that was the case, the expected result was the clear fingerprint that was on the screen.

The same held true for the Bluetooth earpiece located in Alison's ear. A clear fingerprint was recovered from that surface.

The unexpected result was the person whose fingerprints they were: Sarah Mackenzie's.

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The discovery that "Mac" might be involved in the "Explosive sisterhood" conspiracy shook JAG HQ to the core, especially for Bud Roberts who had leaned on "Mac" following Harriet's explosive departure in the summer. That discovery sent shockwaves through the NCIS & JAG community.

The next piece of evidence that was revealed related to the license plate number on the Chevrolet Malibu that had been recorded on the Army Navy Club Surveillance video. A check of DMV records revealed that it belonged to Catherine Gale.

As a result, the planning of the raid was two-pronged and, as a result, the two teams were intermingled with NCIS and FBI members. One team would go to JAG Headquarters with the warrant to arrest Mackenzie. If Mac wasn't at JAG, they would go to her apartment to arrest her.

The second team would go to Catherine Gale's apartment with a no-knock warrant to arrest her.

Carolyn, Jack McBurney, Faith Coleman and Kate Todd were on the team going to Gale's apartment, while Gibbs and DiNozzo were on the team going after Mackenzie.

In preparing for the raid, Carolyn remembered her shooting range session from two days earlier, as she had watched McBurney and his finishing double tap to the head. Carolyn had decided that if she ever came upon any of the band that was coercing suicide bombers, she would go for the headshot if needed. This fitted with the experience of British forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the bomb-vests hidden beneath voluminous Arab robes might be set off with a bullet impact. The British approach of "take out the brain" had saved a number of Allied lives in The Sandpit.

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The teams completed their briefings and preparations, then set out to their target addresses.

When Carolyn's team arrived at Gale's apartment, the team set up to breach the door to the apartment. The FBI "door man" set up with the battering ram to execute the "no-knock" warrant. Carolyn was set to be the first agent to go in to the right with Faith beside her to grab evidence and protect the chain of evidence.

She gave the silent hand countdown and at the count of '1', the battering ram hit the door. Carolyn held her weapon out in front of her as she crouched and raced through the smashed open door, shouting, "Federal agents!"

She skidded to a halt on the tiled floor, froze in astonishment - just for a moment - as she saw Catherine Gale standing in the middle of her living room dressed in a Muslim Kaftan dress and a hijab, holding a purse. As she froze, Faith stepped into the apartment and moved in front of Carolyn, blocking her view.

Exploiting Carolyn's momentary surprise, Gale reached into her purse. Sadik's baseline programming required that she obey his ultimate command, "Obey your master: fight to the end".

Carolyn's mind was working in warp speed as she saw Gale beginning to pull a gun from her purse. Brought up on a farm in Michigan, where she had been taught 'not to waste ammunition', she pushed Faith sideways out of the way, slid to the left and and fired a double tap at Gale's head.

The two bullets relocated the back of Catherine's skull - along with most of her subjugated brain - to the wall behind her. Catherine's tense body stood for a moment, then crumpled, falling sideways off her heels.

'Like a puppet with the strings cut', thought Carolyn. Fortunately the cocked handgun did not fire as it hit the floor, gripped as it was in Gale's dying hand.

As she moved forward to stand over Catherine's corpse, Carolyn used her foot to pin down the hand which still held the pistol. As she bent down to remove the gun from Gale's death grip, she looked down to check the body for other weapons. She looked closer when she noticed a red glow through Catherine's Muslim dress from between her breasts. Holstering her sidearm, she pulled her knife from her boot scabbard and quickly slit the blouse from throat to waist.

She barely held her gasp as she saw the bomb corset. There was a grenade-style safety pin still in place under Catherine's left breast. It had a "dead woman's trigger" taped under the right breast.

Carolyn shouted, "BOMB! Everybody back away and get out RIGHT NOW!"

The rest of the team were all very happy to comply! In her lawyer-sharp focus on evidence, Faith managed an Olympic-speed dash across the room, snatching up Gale's laptop before she turned for the door. The crime scene was handed over to EOD.

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A hundred feet down the street from the front of Gale's townhouse, Soldier Sarah and Sadik had watched from the SUV as the raid went down. Barely five minutes earlier - demonstrating once again Sadik's instinct for self-preservation, they had left the house after lacing Gale into a suicide vest in the early morning, before the raiding party arrived.

Before the raid, Sadik had planned to send Gale back to the CIA on a final mission - to set off another bomb at the CIA. Gale was becoming a liability as she reported that her CIA masters were continuously grilling her about Clayton Webb's whereabouts. Fortunately the CIA office workers would never know how close some of them came to a fiery death that morning.

Soldier Sarah turned to Sadik as she secured her seatbelt and pulled on her shades against the low winter sun.

"Drive, Master. Let us disappear like phantoms up the back passage."

Soldier Sarah was committed to preserving her Master's safety.

Sadik slotted the SUV into gear and pulled slowly away from the kerbside.

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With the explosive corset defused, the forensic investigators stripped Gale's home and located the next link in the chain.

Sadik would not realise for some time that Gale's laptop would yield crucial intel for the investigators. Although Sadik and Soldier Sarah were en-route to the Farm (where they would "sanitise" his two expendable "side-kicks") the advantage was steadily - and inexorably - moving towards the forces of good.

The actual geographical location and setup of Sadik's farm would not emerge until Christmas Day evening, when a jubilant Abby Sciutto (aided by Timothy McGee) steadily broke through the firewalls of Gale's laptop. As a celebration, Abby and Tim celebrated with a "night in the coffin".

The investigation work continued over Christmas - as a sidebar to a piece of good news on the human-relationship front. Before the end of the year, the rotting corpses at the Farm would be found during the first raid, but Sarah and Sadik would be in the wind - where they would remain for almost a decade until the dogged determination of Carolyn's NCIS Red Team (along with Homeland Security once that organisation had finally gotten up and running) would finally bear fruit.

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During that coming decade, Carolyn and Harm would marry in March 2005 and produce children (who would be siblings to Mattie Grace Rabb) - as would Faith Coleman, Jack McBurney and others.

Family life would be the best response to Sadik's hate-filled rampage during 2004 and beyond.

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Thursday 23rd December 2004, 15:00hrs

HQ Memorial Wall, JAG HQ, Falls Church, VA

(A/N: Summary of "Conversion" Ch 16).

Admiral Chegwidden and Admiral Morris had just completed their remarks on the dedication of Admiral Krennick's portrait, newly-added to the JAG Headquarters Memorial Wall.

AJ went over to stand in front of Alison's family. He had the tri-folded American Flag and a smaller duplicate of the large requiem portrait in his hand. As he bent to give those items over, he thought back to the time he first met Captain Evans and his daughter. Had it really only been ten days ago?

Now AJ looked down at Alison's husband, he muttered the usual, "On behalf of a grateful nation." Captain Lester Evans solemnly took the flag and portrait. He was trying hard to hold his emotions in for the sake of his and Alison's two children, 2&½ Lucinda and 1&½ Nigel. Nigel was being cradled by Lester's mother. Mrs Evans was keeping Nigel quiet as he made quiet contented noises, sucking on a bottle.

This memorial portrait was currently the only way to honour Alison's memory, because a funeral was impossible at this time due to the length of the investigation process of the bombed dining room. The identification process had been traumatic but the investigators had tried to shield Lester from direct identification.

In the end, Lester had been able to positively identify Alison's head (he described a small scar behind her right ear, which "Ducky" had found) together with a small birthmark behind her right knee (again, Ducky had been able to confirm the identification without forcing/requiring Lester into the traumatic experience of actually viewing what remained of his wife's shattered body.

Alison's blood-stained shoes were a third and final identifying item, because Lester and Alison had gone shoe-shopping in the British store "Russell & Bromley" a week before her move back stateside. Shen had purchased two pairs of shoes which were entirely compatible with USN uniform regulations, The size markings (UK sizing) along with after-market non-slip soles and gel pads to cushion the new shoes, settled the matter of identification.

Additional CCTV evidence left no doubt that it had been Alison who carried out the bombing at the Army & Navy club on 10th December. She had been seen on CCTV, walking stiffly from her car into the building, tapping her hidden ear-piece in the same manner as Harriet Roberts back in the summer.

Faith paused the video, stood up and turned to Carolyn, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry Carolyn, I can't go through this video post-mortem crap again."

Carolyn stood up and, once again, comforted Faith. "Don't worry, you just proved that you are human, Faith."

She stepped back, looking closely at Faith. Her colleague seemed unusually sensitive: almost emotional, which for "the Vulcan" was unusual...

Suddenly, a suspicion formed in her mind - and it was a happy suspicion!

"Faith, this may be none of my business, but your sensitivity... Are you by any chance...?"

Faith smiled - a huge, warm, ear-to-ear smile before she replied.

"Maybe; I'll know for sure in about a week. For now, I know two things: firstly I am late (and I am never normally late) and secondly my digestive system is really not co-operating."

Carolyn raised an eyebrow: "So...?"

"So, ask me in the New Year - is that a date?"

"Hell yeah, sister!"

Chuckling, Carolyn waved Faith off as she turned back to the video screen. Her legal pad was soon covered in the analytical jottings needed for future evidence and (she hoped) a trial.

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After the unveiling at the JAG HQ Memorial wall Lester - along with his Mum, Lucinda and Nigel - crawled back to their hotel and "pulled up the drawbridge" to survive the holiday period with a special "Evans family Christmas."

Their world would start turning again on December 27th - the day when Sadik's farm would be raided.

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Friday 24th December 2004, 19:25hrs

Home of Bud Roberts:

Two hours after the "Eileen Nestor wine spillage" incident at the JAG HQ Family gathering

Bud's Christmas began to look up - massively - following his nervous spilling of red wine down the front of Eileen Nestor's uniform.

His subsequent ham-fisted attempts to dab the wine away merely endeared her to him. Bud had - clearly - been wishing that he was anywhere but at the JAG canteen where everyone had assembled after the annual Christmas church service.

Eileen decided that it was time to act.

Having been a widow since the Pentagon impact on "9/11" had taken her husband, Eileen was now ready to live again. Having passed her fifth birthday, little Erin was already at school. Bud, struggling with looking after his children and cope with the devastating and cruel loss of Harriet, definitely needed help .

It was clear to Eileen that Harriet's parents Ronald and Lydia Sims were on the point of exhaustion after five months. Eileen had decided that she would be the woman to take up his burden. In this manner, she thought back to the night of the NATO Ball (where Harm had protected the Romanian Princess and Harriet had finally made her first move on Bud).

Harriet's words came back to Bud as Eileen stood before him in her unaccustomed heels, then unlaced her bright red Christmas cape, letting it fall backwards over her shoulders as it slid down, revealing her treasures.

"Fancy unwrapping your present Bud?"

"Hell yeah - and thank you."

"Don't thank me yet - I also have some uses planned for your body as well Bud, after five years as a widow."

"Yes ma'am." Both of them were smiling broadly, holding hands as they moved closer.

The two new lovers would watch the sun rise on Christmas morning, waking up briefly when their children came looking for them.

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Monday 27th December 2004, 14:00hrs

Sadik's now-abandoned farm, Appalachia WV

The evidence from Gale's apartment and laptop, together with other evidence from state-wide surveillance, had led to a massive and well-organised raid on the Monday afternoon following Christmas. Time was of the essence to secure evidence, hence the raid so soon after Christmas.

Sadik and "Soldier Sarah" were obviously long-gone - and they had left behind the decomposing corpses of Sadik's two loyal lieutenants. Carolyn drew in her breath sharply when she saw how the bodies of the men had been mutilated, but concentrated on directing the evidence gathering teams.

Everyone was sickened to watch the tapes of Sarah, Harriet and Alison being tortured in "The Chair" - and it was clear to everyone how thoroughly and completely the women had been broken.

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Tracking the discarded packages of medications also led Gibbs to the Bethesda office of Dr McCool. The outcome of their visit was, however, entirely unexpected.

As they entered her office with ID on display, she calmly and unemotionally pulled a Browning Hi-Power automatic from her drawer, placed the muzzle against her temple and, before anyone could finish shouting "GUN!", she had ended her life.

"Dead women tell no tales."

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Thursday 30th December 2004, 11:00hrs

Sadik's now-abandoned farm, Appalachia WV

The new SECNAV, Margaret Porter, had insisted on viewing the farm and inspecting the torture paraphernalia in its place before the location was dismantled and burned to the ground on the orders of SECDEF, just as the Texan president gave the order for Sadik to be tracked down with the marker of "wanted dead or alive."

The law of Eminent Domain had been invoked to take ownership of the plot, which would subsequently be re-built as a recovery centre for traumatised members of the US armed forces who needed to recover from traumatic events. There was a steely determination that "good would come out of evil events".

It was Faith Coleman's sudden "dash for the door" - and the subsequent sounds of up-chucking into the nearest flower border - which confirmed to the other women accompanying her that she was definitely now pregnant. The new SECNAV gave Faith her blessing - with two daughters, Porter was happy to offer experience to the upcoming "first-time mom".

Faith would be well-qualified to support Tali Mayfield, who would give birth to Greg Vukovic's posthumous child in late March, on the Monday following the Saturday service in Belleville when Harm and Carolyn had married.

Babies were definitely in the air as 2004 gave way to 2005... Carolyn let slip to Harm on their wedding day that their heavy sessions over the Valentine's Day weekend had "hit the spot".

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Saturday 26th March 2005, 11:00hrs

The Rabb family farm, Belleville PA

It was a beautiful early Spring Day for Carolyn and Harm's wedding.

Faith Coleman stood up as Carolyn's maid of honour. Faith was just barely showing in the third month of her pregnancy. Mattie and Eileen were both bridesmaids. Harm had Jack Keeter as his best man with Bud and Jack McBurney as his groomsmen. It was an early afternoon service in the Rabbs' local Catholic church. As he waited at the altar, Harm was thrilled to see Carolyn in an ivory satin dress with a modest veil and short train, being escorted up the aisle by her father.

The reception was held in a tent on the field just outside the barn which their catering service cleaned and set up as the dance floor.

The newlyweds danced through the evening before they departed for their honeymoon in the Bahamas.

"Harm, look at Eileen and Bud."

Harm looked over to where his wife indicated and saw the still-new couple looking into each other's eyes as they swayed dancing. Harm said, "It reminds me of when Bud met Harriet on the Seahawk. I saw then as I see now that they would be married in a very short time."

"How soon do you think?"

"I say it'll be Memorial Day when we hear that they're engaged. They'll be married by Labour Day."

"Wow listen to Mr. Romantic and his whirlwind weddings."

"Hey I call 'em as I see 'em." Carolyn chuckled at that. As his wife had her laugh at his forecast, he asked: "Speaking of predictions, do you think we'll adding to our family in nine months like we discussed?"

She looked up into his eyes: "No, we won't."

Harm was a bit dismayed at that until Carolyn smiled and said, "I would say more likely in about eight months, maybe just before Thanksgiving."

Harm reared back to look at his wife in awe as he asked, "You mean you're…?"

"Yes I am."

"When?"

"Geez Harm, do the arithmetic. We were fucking like rabbits on Valentine's Day."

Harm let out a good laugh as he realised that six weeks had passed by.

His wife let him have his laugh then instructed, "And don't tell anyone until we're back from the honeymoon. I want to enjoy this in private in the Bahamas."

"Yes ma'am, my lips are sealed."

They ended their dance and then said their goodbyes to their guests, as they set off on their way to their honeymoon.