By Sammy
Cmdr. Harmon Rabb sat at his desk and was trying to concentrate on his
latest assignment. Yet, his mind was focused on something else - his life
and what he had made out of it. Being a JAG lawyer was surely not a
childhood dream - it was being a naval aviator. But then again, when he
had the chance to go back to flying, it was not the same. Something was
missing, something - or better someone - he had left behind a JAG: his
partner Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Mackenzie.
A smile broke out on his face when he looked up from his file and glanced
over his desk where his partner was stretched back in a chair, she as
well reading in a file. He placed his chin on his elbow and unintentionally
started to stare at her. Suddenly, Mac looked up from her file.
"Harm?" she asked, seeing that smile on his face somehow turning into
a naughty grin.
He cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair, "Oh, I was just
lost in thoughts, sorry."
"Regarding that naughty grin on your face, yellow light, Commander."
Mac retorted, a grin on her face as well.
"Hey, I was not thinking about you, at least not the way you think.
Know what? I should give you a red light just because of the thoughts you
had about my thoughts."
Mac raised her eyebrows and remained silent. Just when she was about
to say something, they heard a knock on the door. A moment later, Lt. Bud
Roberts entered the office.
"Sir, the Admiral has been asking for you." he said and indicated his
head in direction of Admiral Chegwiddden's office. "He wants to see you
in his office."
"On my way, Bud."
Harm raised from his chair and a moment later found himself in his CO's
office.
"You wanted to see me, sir?" he inquired, standing straight in from
of the Admiral's desk.
"At ease, Commander. Please sit down."
Harm sat down as he was told to.
"How is your current case coming along, Commander?" Admiral AJ Chegwidden
asked.
"Pretty tight, sir, but I think we got it wrapped up by tonight."
"Fine. I want you to hand this case over to the Colonel. I have an urgent
task for you on my hand. Just came in from the Pentagon."
"Sir?"
Harm wasn't quite understanding what his CO was walking about.
"We have a situation on the USS Seahawk. They need a naval aviator for
some special duty, and I was told to send you."
Harm was stunned, "Sir, with all due respect, I don't fly anymore."
"Don't you think I know that, Commander? This order came straight from
the Pentagon. You have to report at Andrews tonight at 2300 hours. A
SH-34 helicopter will wait for you to take you to the Seahawk. You will
receive further instructions then. Dismissed, Commander."
"Aye, aye, sir."
"Oh, and Commander? This is security level 4. No one besides you and
me will know about this. Tell the Colonel that you will leave tonight
with unknown destination."
Harm nodded before he left the office. This conversation had caught
him totally off guard. Never had he expected to be called back to
flight duty. He was lost in his thoughts about what may be going
on on the Seahawk that made his presence necessary when Mac caught
up with him.
"Prepare for landing, Commander." she smiled at him when she felt he
wasn't paying any attention to what she was saying.
Oddly enough, that seemed to break him out of his thoughts.
"You seem to do a lot of that thinking stuff lately."
"I, uh, I have to report at Andrews tonight. I have to hand the case
over to you. I will be gone for a while."
"What?" Mac screeched as she followed him down the hallway.
"Not my choice, sorry." he pushed her into his office and closed the
door behind him. "You are not to know about this, but I've been called
to the Seahawk."
"To the Seahawk? And why am I not to know about this?"
"Classified, Colonel. Will you be all right with the case?"
Mac shrugged her shoulders, "Guess so. When will you be back?"
"Mac, I have no idea. All I was told was that I have to report at Andrews
tonight at 2300 hours and wait for further instructions." Harm let out
a short chuckle, "Don't you just love Pentagon orders?"
"This is a request from the Pentagon? And they will send only one JAG
lawyer to the front?"
"Not a lawyer," Harm said, "a naval aviator."
************
2400 ZULU
Harm was packing his stuff for the Seahawk. Yet, he wasn't quite sure
what to take as he didn't have a clue how long he would be gone and where
exactly the Seahawk was located. A knock at the door interrupted him.
A chuckle escaped his lips after he had opened the door. Mac was standing
in front of him, a Beltway Burger bag in her hands.
"I thought you might be hungry." she uttered and held up the bag.
Harm couldn't help but laugh when he let her in.
"Oh, and the burger in there is for me. You get the rabbit food."
Whenever she got a chance, Mac just had to tease him about being a vegetarian.
She just couldn't understand how someone really could survive by not eating
any meat at all - especially Harm!
"You just needed to say that, didn't you?" he uttered and followed
her to the kitchen counter.
"You know, I don't understand why you like this stuff so much. A human
being needs proteins, and you sure don't get everything just by eating
rabbit food."
"Will you please stop calling my dinner rabbit food?" he chuckled.
"Hey, it's just the truth."
Harm just gave Mac a look before he got himself a fork.
"You know," Mac started while she placing the contents of the bag on
the counter, "I was thinking about this flight mission you got assigned.
Makes me think something's wrong there. Why would they need a JAG lawyer
to fly one of their missions?"
"Cuz he's also a naval aviator?" Harm questioned, a grin on his face.
"Serious, Harm. The last time you flew a Tomcat was more than a year
and a half ago. You were out of active flight duty for over 10 years before
you went back to the Seahawk. What makes you so special to qualify for
this mission?"
"I have no clue, Mac, and I won't start asking questions. I got a
chance to fly again."
Mac shrugged her eyebrows, "So you just go into the lion's den without
even asking why? I don't understand you."
"Orders came right from the Pentagon. If they don't wanna tell me now,
I won't ask. At one point they have to tell me what they want me to do
on the Seahawk, and then I'll know."
"I always could call Clay..."
"Don't you dare!" Harm stopped her immediately from her thoughts when
the phone began to rang. "You won't call Webb, you hear me? I don't want
him involved."
"Fine, fine."
Harm reached the phone and answered. He turned to Mac and rolled his
eyes heavenwards while listening. Not even a minute later, he finished
a call.
"Okay, when did you call Webb?" he asked Mac.
Mac just shrugged her shoulders, and gave him a look of 'I don't know
what you're talking about'.
"That was Webb on the phone. He said to be careful and not to trust
anyone."
"I didn't call him, cross my fingers, swear to die."
Harm let out a sigh, "Okay, you didn't call him."
"Said so. But, do what Clay said. Be careful out there, Harm."
Mac placed her hand on top of his and squeezed it lightly. Harm brought
her hand up to his lips, and kissed it softly.
"Don't worry, Mac. I'll be back sooner as you might think."
"I also want you back in one piece, hear me? And I don't want to have
to come looking for you in some god forbidden jungle or desert and drag
your six out of there cuz you managed it to crash a Tomcat again."
"That won't happen, I promise you that. Maybe all they need me for is
delivering some papers or something. After all, I am also a lawyer, that
would make sense."
"I hope you are right."
Silence filled the room for a while. While they were eating, Harm was
stealing a glance at his partner from time and to time, and the more he
studied her, the more he got the feeling that something was bugging her.
"Okay, Colonel, spill it."
"Spill what?"
"I know you. Something's bothering you. What is it?"
"Knock it off, Harm, I am fine."
"Who are you trying to convince here? You or me?"
Mac sighed, "Lately, I've been having nightmares about being shot down
in a Tomcat. I've had that dream the whole last week, always the same.
I am sitting in a Tomcat right behind you and the next moment all hell
is breaking loose and we are crashing on the ground."
"That is past, Mac. We made it through Russia."
"It was not Russia. I have this odd feeling that my dream yet has to
come true. And now you going to the Seahawk doesn't make me feel very good.
We get news about crashed airplanes almost every month, and do you know
how many survive?"
Harm couldn't help but gather Mac into his arms. She was close to tears,
and in all the years he worked together with her, he had never seen her
this scared. It was unusual to see Mac in tears, he could count the times
he had seen her cry on one hand.
"Mac, believe me, nothing like that will happen. I would turn down the
assignment to make you feel better, but I can't. It's an order from the
Pentagon."
Mac just nodded and pulled away from Harm. She glanced up at him, and
their eyes met. Harm didn't know why, but he got a strange feeling in
his gut. He felt like he was having butterflies in his stomach. The last
time he had felt like this was in high school. He placed his hand on Mac's
cheek.
A light smile broke out on her face when she placed her hand on top
of his. She placed a kiss on his palm before she pulled his hand off her
cheek.
"Be careful, okay?"
"Always, Mac, always."
************
0400 ZULU
It had started to rain. His duffel bag holding over his head, Harm was
running over to a helo that was supposed to take him to the Seahawk.
"Are you Cmdr. Rabb?" a Lt. asked him as he helped him getting in.
"Yes, Lieutenant. I take it you are taking me to the Seahawk?"
"Please strap in, sir." was the only response he got.
Harm shook his head, but did as he was told. A moment later, the helo
was airborne and they were on their way to the Seahawk.
"I was told to receive further information from you."
"We will take you to Fort Dix." he got in response.
"Fort Dix? My presence is requested on the Seahawk, not in Fort Dix."
"Sir, if you are Cmdr. Rabb, we have orders to take you to Fort Dix."
Not really satisfied with that answer, but knowing he would not get
another answer if he kept on asking, Harm leaned back in his seat and started
to relax - and to think why he was brought to Fort Dix instead.
************
0515 ZULU
The helo set down in Fort Dix after a bumpy ride. A petty officer
was already waiting for Harm in the rain.
"You are late, sir." he called to top the noise of the helo. "The cargo
jet was supposed to take off ten minutes ago."
"What cargo jet, Petty Officer?" Harm asked and fastened his pace to
catch up with the young PO.
"The cargo jet that will take you to Naples, Italy, sir."
*************
1300 ZULU
Mac's first stop this morning was not her office, it was the Admiral's.
"Tiner, is the Admiral in his office?" she asked PO Tiner.
"Yes, Ma'am. He already asked for you."
Mac shortly smiled at Tiner before she entered Admiral's Chegwidden's
office.
"You wanted to see me, sir?" she asked and stopped in front of her CO's
desk.
"Yes, Colonel. Please, sit down." he said without even looking up.
Mac did as she was told. She leaned back in the chair, and for a some
time waited for Admiral Chegwidden to talk to her. He was scribbling something
in a file, and obviously had forgotten about her.
"Sir?" Mac interrupted him.
This time, he looked up. He closed the file on his desk, and leaned
back in his chair.
"Yes, Colonel. I believe the Commander told you about his assignment?"
"No, sir." Mac replied, knowing fully well that Harm had not been allowed
to tell her anything about where he was going or what he was doing. "He
told me he would be gone for a while and that he didn't know when he'd
be back."
AJ Chegwidden raised his eyebrows. Mac's loyalty was unbelievable, she
even lied to her CO.
"Colonel, as your CO, I will accept your answer, but as your friend..."
Mac sighed and bit her lower lip. It was confession time.
"Admiral, I am worried about the Commander. Call it woman's intuition,
but I don't have a very good feeling about this."
"I don't feel very good about this either, Colonel. I don't like to
be left in the dark. I would like you to meet Special Agent Webb
at the Pentagon."
"Sir? I had to promise the Commander that I would not..."
"This is an order, Colonel."
Mac raised from her chair, "Aye, sir."
************
1545 ZULU
The helo that brought Harm from Naples to the Seahawk set down on the
Seahawk. Harm fumbled with his belt and then hopped off the helo. He
saluted when he saw the CAG approaching him.
"At ease, Commander. I am Captain Forbes, CAG of the USS Seahawk." the
man introduced himself. "I am sorry for all the inconveniences you had
by getting here."
"Sir, why was I ordered to the Seahawk?" Harm asked right away. "I am
not on active flight duty anymore, I am a JAG lawyer."
"We know that, Commander. We need a person with your experience on
this mission. Sadly, none of our pilots qualified for the mission."
"And I did?"
Harm did not get an answer to his question. Instead, the CAG showed
him to his quarters.
"Officially, you are not on the Seahawk, Commander." the CAG said as
he opened the door to Harm's cabin. "There are only 4 people on this
ship who know about your presence. You are not to leave your quarters unless
I tell you to. We don't want to cause any misunderstandings by having a
JAG lawyer on the ship. Some people may take it the wrong way."
"Am I under arrest?" Harm asked irritated as he tossed his bag on the
bed.
"This is just for your own safety, Cmdr. Rabb. It's been a long flight
out of DC. I take it you want to rest."
With that, the CAG closed the door to Harm's quarters.
"Freaking great!" he muttered and sat down on the bed.
Here he was, back on the Seahawk, back where he had started his flying
career, back where he had transferred to from JAG - and yet everything
seemed so different. He had not the slightest idea what he was doing on
this ship, and just thinking about Captain Samuel Forbes gave him the creeps.
He had never met that guy before, but then again if he was the second most
powerful man on the Seahawk, he had to have a good reputation.
He started to unpack his bag to distract him from his constant thoughts
about what this mission might be and why on earth he had been chosen to
fly. Those thoughts vanished the moment he pulled an unframed photo out
of the bag which had be lying on top. A smile broke out on his face when
he traced the contours of the face on the picture.
"Mac, I know I said you shouldn't call Webb, but I hope you do it
nevertheless." he murmured, his fingers resting on Mac's photo. "Why am
I on board this ship? Why did I have to leave JAG and you behind, even
if only for a couple of days? Help me understand."
For some time, Harm just glanced at the picture, then placed it on his
pillow and finished unpacking his bag.
************
1800 ZULU
Harm was woken by a cracking sound coming from his cabin door. He raised
from his bed to see a young man walking into his cabin.
"Commander Rabb, good afternoon." he uttered after he had given him
a salute.
"At ease, Lieutenant." Harm said as he raised from his bed.
"Lieutenant Thomas Davidson, I am your RIO." the young Lt. introduced
himself and shook hands with Harm. "The CAG wants to meet you in
his quarters."
A moment later, Harm was dressed, and Lt. Davidson showed him to Cap.
Forbes' quarters.
"Lieutenant, if you are my RIO, I assume you have been told about this
assignment."
"No, sir." Lt. Davidson replied firmly. "I get my orders, and I don't
ask questions, sir."
Harm frowned. Like Mac had said the night before, it more and more seemed
like going into the lion's den. All the years he had been with the Navy,
and all the times he had served as a JAG lawyer, Harm had never experienced
this less of information about any of his cases or missions - even
if they had been security level 4.
The reached the CAG's quarters, and Lt. Davidson knocked on the door.
"Lieutenant Davidson and Commander Rabb reporting as ordered, sir."
the young Lieutenant saluted when the CAG opened the door to his quarters.
"Please, come in."
Cap. Forbes offered both Harm and his RIO a seat.
"I hope you had a good rest, Commander?" the CAG asked as he sat down
in his own chair.
Harm just nodded, but didn't reply verbally.
"I think you want to know about the mission you have been chosen to
fly."
"Yes, sir." Harm started. "I am still wondering why you need a JAG lawyer
to fly one of your Tomcats."
"Diplomacy, Commander. I didn't think that any of my pilots have enough
tactfulness. That's why I have chosen you. I need a pilot, but I need a
pilot that knows about laws and contracts. What would be better than a
JAG lawyer who used to be naval aviator."
"With all due respect, sir, I don't quite understand what you are trying
to say."
Cap. Forbes handed a photo to Harm.
"Iran, about 15 miles east of the Turkish border. We lost contact with
one of our F-14 over Turkey two days ago. We sent out a search team,
but didn't find any traces where we suspected the Tomcat to have
crashed. 36 hours ago, we received a radio message from Lieutenant
Commander Chuck Monnahan. He informed us that he and his RIO are
being held captive by the Hisbollah. He told us what they want in
exchange for our pilots - a F-14."
"And you think about making a deal? Sir, the Navy never cooperates with
terrorists."
"That is right, Commander, but policies change the moment one of the
captives is a State Senator's daughter, Lieutenant Jayne Milton."
"So you want us to deliver a F-14 to the Hisbollah, sir?" the RIO asked
with a touch of scare in his voice.
"Yes, Lieutenant, that's exactly what I want you to do. On this photo
you can see that the Hisbollah have a hangar built into a hill . That's
where our pilots are kept, and that is where we want you to deliver
the F-14 to. It will not be armed, and is prepared with explosives.
We will be able to blow up the Tomcat as soon as you and the hostages
are free. Further questions, Lieutenant, Commander?"
"Yes, sir, I do." Harm uttered. "Blowing up a Tomcat practically means
blowing up almost $40,000,000."
"$38,000,000 to be exact, Commander."
"Just to think that this is paid with my taxes..." Harm whistled. "This
is fairly a high ransom for two pilots."
"Commander, you are not to question the decisions that have already
been made."
"Aye, sir." Harm replied. "But I still do have one question."
The CAG somehow got really annoyed with Harm's line of questioning,
"And what may that be, Commander Rabb?"
"How will we get out of Western Azarbaijan?"
A devilish smile broke out on the CAG's face, "Ah, I see you know that
area. It's just 15 miles West to Turkey, Commander."
Read Part II
1525 ZULU
JAG Headquarters Falls
Church, VA
Harm's apartment
North of Union Station
Washington DC
Andrews Air Force Base, MD
Fort Dix MacGuire Air Force Base, NJ
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA
USS Seahawk
Mediterranean Sea
USS Seahawk
Mediterranean Sea