December 11, 2003

JAG Headquarters – Falls Church, Virginia

0922 Eastern

Colonel Cresswell ended staff call by handing out the new orders for Harm, Bud and Mac. None of the assembled staff had yet learned where Harm would be going to, which naturally caused them all to be curious when he was handed his folder. With Colonel Cresswell still in the room, none of them could ask. However, Harm wasn't going to be given a chance to tell the others, as Colonel Cresswell had decided to make an announcement.

"Immediately after staff call, all personnel will assemble in the bullpen. I have an announcement to make," Colonel Cresswell said. "Commander Turner, if you would go down to the guard station on the first floor and escort my guests up, please?"

"Aye, aye, Sir," Sturgis said, slightly curious.

The others followed the Colonel out of the conference room and into the bullpen, where the entire JAG staff was gathered. Admiral Morris and the other judges had also come down, along with their legalmen. A space had been left in front of the JAG's office for the Colonel and a few others. Cresswell stepped into the area, folding his hands behind his back as he surveyed the room.

"As I'm certain you're all aware, several of the senior staff will be transferring to other billets in the near future. These transfers are not a reflection of any disapproval in their work. Rather, their excellent work has resulted in their having been left in place for much longer than was good for their careers. For them to advance, they need to gain new skills and these transfers are designed with that in mind. I won't go into details as to where they are going, they can tell you that themselves. However, there is one task I've been gratefully assigned to perform before one of these officers leaves us. Commander Harmon Rabb, front and center," Cresswell said.

Harm marched to the area just in front of Colonel Cresswell.

"Commander Rabb will be proceeding from here to London, where he will be the FJA United States Naval Forces, Europe. The O-6 promotion board has just reported out and Commander Rabb is number two on the promotions list. Frocking has been approved, with the official date of rank being 2 January 2004, which is also when he will assume his new post. Congratulations, Captain Rabb."

Almost everyone in the room applauded the announcement, the exception being Mac who had silently remained at the back of the room throughout. Unfortunately, this position gave her a good look at the guests who were standing next to Sturgis. Mattie and Beth were positively glowing as they watched Colonel Cresswell administer the oath of office for Harm's promotion, with Beth knowing what was coming next.

"If the family of Captain Rabb would come forward to assist in changing his shoulder boards," Cresswell said, which caused Harm to start looking around the room. Then he caught sight of the two women.

"How?" Harm asked, stunned.

"Commander Manetti remembered your fiancée's name and contacted her after you called to accept the posting. We all figured you'd want them here," Cresswell said, a smile crossing his face. He doubted that very many people had had the privilege of pulling one over on Rabb. He handed the two woman the new shoulder boards and together they replaced the old ones. Then it was time for the ceremonial kiss, which Beth executed to perfection, bringing forth another round of applause.

"Thank you that will be all. Dismissed," Cresswell said, at which point a number of the staff came forward to formally congratulate Harm, while also meeting Beth and Mattie. Even Bud, Harriet and Sturgis joined in, wanting to congratulate Mattie on the adoption and ask when the wedding would be, especially with Harm due in London in less than a month.

Harm did notice that Mac had disappeared without ever offering her congratulations. Her office door was closed and the lights were off. Then he remembered that the funeral for Webb was that morning and assumed that she had gone there, so he dismissed her from his thoughts. After a few moments more, it was time for Mattie and Beth to leave, so that Beth could drop Mattie off at school in time for her third period class. Beth also needed to get back to Annapolis so that she could grade some final papers for her classes, as well as finish the semester's final exam.

With everyone getting back to their work, Harm suddenly found himself alone in the middle of the bullpen. Looking over at Sturgis' office, he headed in that direction. Harm needed to get Chaplain Turner's phone number, so that it could be arranged for him to conduct the wedding ceremony on Christmas Eve.

December 13, 2003

Blacksburg Airport – Blacksburg, Virginia

1302 Eastern

Harm, Beth and Mattie had gotten an early start on the day, realizing that there was plenty that needed to be accomplished between now and the end of the year. Today would be a good start, since they were meeting with Thomas Boone at the Grace Aviation hanger. Harm was especially interested in Mattie and the Admiral getting to meet, since the old man was going to really be working for her. She was trusting Harm's judgment in this case and he believed she could use some first-hand information to support that.

Spotting a car he instantly knew belonged to Boone, he pulled in besides it. Getting out of the SUV, he turned to offer Mattie a hand, only to be interrupted by the call from behind him.

"Is this how you're planning to run this, Commander?" Boone called as he exited his car. "Late as usual."

"Gee, Admiral. Never would have guessed you were retired," Beth said with a grin.

"Now there's a sight for sore eyes. How are you, Skates?"

"I'm great, Sir. Thank you."

"Still flying, Lieutenant?"

"I'm on shore at the moment. And it is Lieutenant Commander now, Sir," Beth told him.

"Outstanding, Skates. But what are you doing here with Commander Rabb?" Boone asked.

"Well, Captain Rabb is my fiancé."

"Captain Rabb, huh? I knew they were hard pressed, but I didn't think they'd reached the bottom of the barrel just yet," Boone said with a laugh, drawing a sharp look from Mattie until she saw that both Beth and Harm were laughing too. Boone then turned to Mattie. "You must be Mattie."

Mattie looked at Boone for a moment before extending her hand. "Mattie Grace Rabb, pleased to meet you, Admiral Boone."

"The only one here who has to call me Admiral is your dad. You can call me Tom."

Mattie and Boone shared a look, each obviously forming an opinion about the other. Harm and Beth are merely bystanders at this moment, watching and waiting. Finally, Tom nods his head and points towards the hanger.

"How about you show me around and then we're take a look at the books?" he asked.

"Follow me then, Tom," Mattie replies, a smile of relief on her face. This guy didn't seem to be half as bad as that bald jerk Harm used to work for.

The tour started in the hanger, where Mattie pointed out the planes that the company owned. Boone would stop her occasionally to ask questions, listening to her answers and then moving on to something else. But as the afternoon progressed, it became evident that Mattie was winning the old man over, not just with her ready answers, but also with the direct way that she talked. When Harm had first approached him with the idea, Boone had been skeptical about working for what he thought was a kid. Now, he realized that Mattie was a lot more grown up than her age could have possibly indicated.

Once the tour of the hanger was over, it was on to the office and the company's books. Here again, Boone was impressed by the work that the young woman had done. Everything was recorded, the maintenance files were organized and up to date, as were the invoices and receipts. The one glaring issue was the past due accounts for services the company had performed. The bills for them were simply not being paid on time or not at all. This situation had effectively drained the company's accounts. Finally, he closed the books and turned to look at the others.

"Do you know any good attorneys, Harm?" Boone asked with a smile.

"Oh, one or two. Why?" Harm replied with a question of his own.

"Because the first thing we need to do is send out collection notices to these late accounts. If they can't afford to pay, that's one thing. But I think they're not paying because they know Mattie's running things and they figure she won't be able to do anything. We need to politely remind them that they have an obligation to pay us and that if necessary, we will take them to court."

"I agree, Sir. I can create a form letter, then you just fill in the name and such."

"Or you could talk to Mr. Peabody," Mattie said. "I mean, if we do have to take them to court and we're in London, how would that work?"

Harm had the good grace to look sheepish at that, while Beth and Boone shared a look.

"That sounds good, Harm," Boone said. "Now, that's only half the battle. The other side is the aircraft. They're older, which means higher maintenance costs. Also, the hoppers on them are smaller than on more modern aircraft, meaning they can cover less ground before having to come back and get more chemicals to spray. At some point we should consider newer planes, to help grow the business."

"Well, no bank's going to touch the company, not after what he did," Mattie said.

Boone raised an eyebrow at this, looking from Mattie to Harm. Harm met the look and gently shook his head, silently asking that the topic be avoided.

"I was thinking of new planes, too," Harm put in. "As for money, Mattie, that's not an issue. The question is, would the cost of buying the planes be offset by the potential increased revenue?"

"I think it could be, Harm," Boone said. "Yes, it's a big cash outlay up front, but if the new planes were to cut your maintenance expenses in half I think it would be worth considering. We'd have to look at the cost of the planes and what their projected associated costs would be, but I think they'd pay for themselves."

"We could still keep the older planes. More planes means more capacity. So, if we could find more customers, we could grow that way too," Mattie put in, drawing a look of consideration from the two men, which gradually changed to admiration. "And if you're right about those new planes paying for themselves, then once they're paid for we could look at replacing the older planes."

"I like the way you think, Mattie," Boone said with a laugh.

"I was also thinking about running a charter service, too. Maybe a twin-engine turboprop or small business jet," Harm said. "I think it would be worth looking at the numbers and seeing if that could also be profitable."

"I'll look into that, Harm," Boone replied. "If we do it, we'll need to add hanger space. Depending on how many aircraft you're thinking of, probably two hangers. One for the new dusters and one of the exec aircraft. Also, all the current planes are piston engine, so figure on some more mechanics to handle the new engines, which means more cost."

"Well, I still think we should look at the numbers. I'd only want to do it if there was a good potential for profit. The newer dusters are already a given, since I know the company can make money with them, as long as the customers pay their bills. So, we'll get two or three new planes for now and let the Admiral come up with some facts about the other stuff, agreed?"

Both Mattie and Boone quickly agreed.

"Alright. Admiral, there'll be five million in the company's account by Wednesday for the new planes. Once you've done the numbers for the charter business, we'll go over them and see it we want to do that. If so, I'll wire more money."

Harm, Mattie and Boone all shook on the deal. Boone wasn't about to admit it, but this was the most alive he'd felt in years, probably all the way back to when he was the CAG aboard the Seahawk. Maybe that was it, the fact that he would be flying again. Probably not on a daily basis, but still more than he had in years. He hadn't said anything to Harm but that was the true motivating factor for him to take on this crazy job. And now that he'd met her, there was also Mattie. That kid reminded Boone of himself, straight forward with no sugar coating. 'This is who I am. Don't like it, tough,' was the message she and he both conveyed.

It was only when they were back in the car and beginning to drive back to Falls Church that Mattie finally remembered the question she hadn't thought to ask.

"Harm, where are we going to get five million dollars?"

"Well, I thought I'd loan it to you, boss," was Harm's careless reply, while he silently counted down how long it would be before….

"What?!" Mattie screamed, making Harm glad he'd braced himself. He did notice Beth's head snap around as she gave him a wide-eyed stare.

"When were you planning on telling me you had that kind of money?" Beth asked.

"Does my having money make you love me any more or less than you did before?"

"Of course not! It's just that we're getting married, there aren't supposed to be secrets between us and not telling me you have that kind of money qualifies as a secret."

Harm just looked over at her for a second, seeing the stern look etched across her face. He knew that she was right, but he just hadn't thought to tell her. It wasn't like it was a secret account that he had to keep money from her. Part of the problem was that he just wasn't used to thinking about that money, because he'd only gotten it recently. That thought triggered another, this time a silent thank-you to Frank and his mom. Not telling him about the money was almost as good of a gift as the money itself. Harm had spent so long living off his pay that he'd gotten used to a certain lifestyle and now that he suddenly had money, he was so set into that lifestyle that the money wasn't really affecting him.

"You're right, Beth. I'm sorry, I should have said something," Harm told her.

"You're forgiven, darling," Beth replied, reaching over to caress his cheek.

For her part, Mattie closed her eyes and laid her head back. There were certain things that she just didn't want to see and Harm and Beth getting lovey dovey was one of them. Still, she knew things wouldn't go too far as long as the car was moving, a smile crossing her face as she began to nap.