'PEOPLE VS. CHEGWIDDEN' (Part III of the 'Carnival' Series)
Author: Daenar Rating: PG-13 Disclaimer: JAG is property of Belisarius productions, no copyright infringement intended.
Category: Drama/Action/Romance (H/M)
Spoiler: Harm and Mac have to go to their limits and beyond to save their fatherly friend from a seemingly hopeless situation. Sequel to 'Dissonance'.
Many thanks to Kate and Valerie for highly appreciated contents advice. And, of course, to Heather for beta-reading!
Author's note: The whole case is entirely fictional. No reference to any real cases involving real persons is intended. Any resemblances to real cases may be caused by using the osha-slc.gov-site for research on the medical part concerning the case. The medical information concerning the private lives of the main characters derives from a magazine article that I read years ago, describing the exact situation that I now used for the story.
I don't know what the testing facility inside the NFESC looks like, so let's just pretend it looks like I describe it. I don't know, either, if tests like the one I refer to are even done at NFESC. Let's, please, pretend that, too.
I'm no doctor, no lawyer and no aeronautical engineer, either. So, if anyone of you belonging to one of the categories finds my story getting overly unrealistic, just blame it on my overzealous fantasy, okay? Thank you!
In my universe, Sergei and Singer didn't leave. And Meredith simply doesn't exist! ___________________________________________
Sun, Feb. 14th 2133 ZULU The Roberts's residence D.C.
Claire Farnham double-checked once more the red 'recording' light on her camcorder. Making sure that there would be enough tape left, too, she quickly retreated to the other end of the living-room where Harriet and Bobbi were setting the table. From a comfortable armchair nearby, Sarah Mackenzie-Rabb watched the whole scene, smiling, five-months-old Michael Harmon Roberts asleep in her arms.
Right now, Mac was at peace with the whole world. The picture that Claire was trying to capture on videotape made it impossible not to be. Shifting little Mikey so that he wouldn't rest too heavily on her eight-months-plus pregnant belly, she leaned slightly forward to have a better view. Claire joined her on the sofa next to her armchair and even Bobbi and Harriet interrupted their task to draw nearer and watch in amusement:
In the middle of a circle of about ten cheering kindergarten kids, all in costume, Harmon Rabb, Jr. and Sturgis Turner were facing each other, panting and grinning, each of them carrying a child on the back. Harm knew his sides would be black and blue in the evening from the way little AJ Roberts put the spurs to his 'horse' but he was enjoying himself way too much to really care. Raising his eyebrows to his Academy pal, Harm got a knowing grin in return. Tyler Crane, AJ's best friend from kindergarten, didn't treat his 'horse' too well, either, but Sturgis would never complain as long as Harm didn't. What kind of impression would that make on Bobbi?
"Sir Albert, Sir Tyler, cross your swords," Admiral Chegwidden ceremoniously proclaimed. Harm and Sturgis came to stand nose to nose so that AJ and Tyler could make the long cardboard tubes touch that they were using as swords. The admiral looked over at Fred Prumetti who was holding a little flag high in the air and at Bud who held a hooter in his hand, grinning.
Harm smirked at Sturgis. "Don't you dare knock me off my feet, buddy," he whispered threateningly.
"I'll spare you for now," Sturgis hissed back, "But once AJ is off your back you'd better run."
"Let's see who's going to run," Harm grinned.
"Rabb, Turner, horses don't talk," the admiral thundered.
"No, sir," came the automatic reply that caused four high-pitched fits of laughter from the far end of the room.
"Can we start, Uncle AJ?" little AJ asked, his voice letting it show that he was impatient to win the final point that would make him the winner of the entire tournament.
"Sure, Captain," the admiral smiled, then once again pulled himself up to full height. "Honorable knights, turn your horses around," he announced. Harm and Sturgis exchanged a last quick grin and then turned around until they stood back to back.
"Resume your positions," the admiral said. Harm and Sturgis each made ten wide steps in opposite directions and came to a halt again.
"Prepare," Chegwidden shouted, raising his arm. "May the best win! Attack!" With that, he let his arm come down quickly, signal for Fred to get down the flag and for Bud to honk the horn.
Harm tried not to wince as he once again felt little AJ's heels make rough contact with his sides. Instead he lowered his head a little and galloped in Sturgis' direction, seeing him come towards him as well. As they were passing each other, a soft 'cloc' indicated that the cardboard tubes had found their targets, while a flash and a humming sound were a sure sign that Bud had managed to capture the crucial moment on celluloid. Harm and Sturgis came to a halt on their adversaries' starting positions. Harm felt a drop of sweat trickle slowly down his forehead, hoping it wouldn't directly make its way into his eyes because he couldn't wipe it away.
On Chegwidden's signal, Bud and Fred repeated their tasks and Harm and Sturgis set off for clinch once again. Another 'cloc'. Harm inwardly groaned. That meant they'd have another go. He sincerely hoped that this time one of the eager little guys would miss and that his torment would be over. He was way too exhausted for his liking. Again, the commanders resumed their positions and the admiral gave the signal to attack. Just then, the drop of sweat finally made its way through Harm's eyebrow and right into his left eye. His vision slightly blurry, Harm galloped a little off track, making little AJ miss Tyler's weapon and instead giving Tyler the opportunity to pat AJ on the back with his cardboard tube.
"Awww, Uncle Harm, you made me miss him!" Little AJ was more than a little upset.
"So sorry, sport," Harm panted, slowly letting the boy slip to the ground, "But with sweat in my eye I couldn't see clearly."
"I hereby solemnly proclaim Sir Tyler Crane winner of today's tournament!" the admiral declared. Cheers and clapping went up for the winner.
Little AJ was still frowning at his godfather. Harm knelt down in front of him. "You know, an honorable knight congratulates the winner and offers him his service," he suggested with one eyebrow upraised high.
AJ seemed to consider the advice. Finally, his face lit up. "Honor is somefing nice, isn't it?"
Harm bit back a laugh. "Yes, it is. All officers have it, too, if they're good officers. Like your dad or Uncle AJ, for example."
"And you?"
"Yeah, Fred and Sturgis and me, too." Harm found it increasingly difficult not to laugh. "And your mom and Auntie Mac."
"Okay." AJ had made up his mind. He went over to Tyler and then looked back up at Harm. "How do I... umm... what you said?"
"You bow and say: 'Sir Tyler, I'm at your service.'" Harm explained. The others watched their exchange with ever-widening grins.
"Umm, Sir Tyler," little AJ exercised a nearly perfect bow in front of his obviously flattered friend, "I'm at your surface." Then he proudly turned back to Harm. "Right?"
"Yeah, right," he answered, chuckling. "Okay, enough for now. Your mom and Aunties Mac, Claire and Bobbi got the stuff ready to feed all of you honorable knights. Come on." He shooed the children to the extra-long coffee table that was set with brightly colored cardboard plates and plastic mugs. Screaming and laughing, the whole group of kids instantly climbed onto the chairs. Still grinning broadly and enjoying themselves tremendously, the five 'adult kids' joined the women.
"Boy, I'm getting way too old for this," Admiral Chegwidden sighed and pressed a hand to the small of his back. He and Fred had had to play horse during the first three rounds as well until their riders had dropped out of the competition. AJ felt every single muscle in his body but his beaming face and the twinkle in his eyes belied his complaint: he was having the greatest time. When Harriet had called and invited him to help with his little namesake's carnival party he'd instantly agreed, at the same time feeling a slight pang at the thought that he should have done those kind of things with his own family, not that of one of his officers. But he had quickly consoled himself. 'JAG is my family. They're all my kids, and even when they call me 'sir', it somehow feels like 'dad'. So don't be sorry for yourself, Chegwidden, you have all the family you could want to have.'
AJ watched as Bud walked over and took little Mikey from Mac's lap. Family life had never worked out for him. He and Marcella were too different. AJ had been young and ambitious, trying to advance his career, and although he'd hated to do so, he'd had to leave her and Francesca by themselves far too often. But he had thought that, once he'd established a decent professional life, it would become the basis for a happy family. What AJ hadn't expected was that, by that time, he'd have lost his wife. Not to another man but to an increasing despair that had built up in her because of him, the man who always left her alone. Francesca hardly knew him when he and Marcella finally split. And until many, many years later, AJ hadn't known that Marcella would have wanted him to come back until she had finally drawn the line and remarried.
There had been other women in AJ's life, of course, after his failed marriage. But he had never come close to thinking about a family again, except for once... AJ quickly banished the memory from his conscious. After the Danny-affair, he and Sydney Walden had been unable to exchange even a single friendly word. But it still hurt that it had to have ended that way. They had shared very beautiful moments.
"Uncle AJ!" Little AJ's voice woke the admiral from his reverie. He bent down to the excited boy.
"Hey, Captain! What's up?"
"Uncle AJ, you must come and sit wif us and tell us somefing about pirates!" The little boy tugged at AJ's hand and looked up at him expectantly.
"AJ Roberts, let Uncle AJ have his coffee first!" Harriet shouted from the couch.
"It's okay, Harriet," AJ shouted back, laughing, "Maybe you could bring me a cup to the children's table. So I can let Bobbi and Claire have a little break."
"Sure, sir!" Harriet instantly busied herself with the admiral's mug, grinning to herself. She loved watching her CO become a family man. It did him good.
AJ let himself be dragged towards the crowd of kids that were eager to listen. Sitting down on little AJ's chair and taking his namesake to his lap, the admiral grinned at the expectant children. "So, you want to know something about pirates? Well, how about... uhm... yeah, let's start with this one: about three hundred years ago, in a region far south from here, there was..."
"He's great with them," Harm murmured in Mac's direction as he sat down on the armrest of her armchair, his eyes never leaving his CO.
"Yeah." Mac watched with a content smile as the children began to ask questions that AJ readily answered. Little AJ beamed with pride about his Uncle, the Admiral. After a few moments, Mac decided to turn her attention back to the conversation between the adults.
"How's the Cramer case going, sir?" Bud asked Harm.
The commander shrugged. "I went to question the Lt. Cmdr. yesterday. Evidence seems pretty clear. She left her research team alone for a few moments when the test had already begun. The engine was running in neutral when the injection pump failed to control the amount of fuel that evaporated into the system. She claims she had to get her testing checklist from the control room. We have a witness that confirms this. Lt. Cmdr. Cramer explains that the engine would have blown anyway because the damaged part that probably caused the explosion was actually inside the combustion chamber. It wouldn't have been discovered in any prior inspection. It seems the engine was checked the day before, and everything, according to the protocols, went smoothly. So no one would have checked again before testing. And had Cramer been present, she wouldn't have been able to stop it, either. She'd most probably be at Bethesda right now, with the three injured engineers and technicians. That's it."
"Sir, you're gonna base your defense on the fact that her presence wouldn't have prevented anything?" Fred asked with a grin. "Sorry, Commander, that's not gonna work."
Harm frowned. "Sturg, could you tell your second chair he'd better wipe that grin off his face? He's not seen Mac and me together in court, yet."
Sturgis leaned over with an angelic smile. "Who's afraid of the big, bad Rabb...?"
"I'm only sorry that right now I'm not in combat shape," Mac snapped with a cocky smile. "If I were..."
"Hey," Sturgis replied, laughing, holding his hands up in defense, "I'd never dare to insult a Marine!"
"Better for you, bubblehead..." Harm murmured, only half-joking.
"Anyway, brace yourself, Rabbs," Fred just added, exchanging a quick, grinning nod with Sturgis.
"Uhm, sir," Bud cut in thoughtfully. "It strikes me as kind of odd that a skilled and experienced engineer would leave something as essential as her checklist in another room."
Harm's face sobered. "To admit the truth, that's the only part that I don't really understand either. But as her defense counsel, I believe her when she tells me she'd had personal problems that day with her husband. But still that's not very professional behavior. You're right about that."
Just then, they heard the shrill beeping of a cell-phone somewhere in the room. A moment later, AJ called out to them: "Could anybody just take over with the kids for a moment, please?"
"Sure, sir." Harm rose and took his godson from the admiral who lunged into his pocket and, pulling out his cell-phone, quickly left the room.
"So, guys," Harm faced ten disappointed faces, "What did the admiral tell you? Maybe I can finish it until he comes back."
Closing the kitchen door behind him, AJ flipped his cell-phone open without glancing at the display. "Chegwidden."
"AJ?"
The admiral jumped at the sound of her voice.
"This is Sydney."
"Uhm... Sydney. Hi. What can I do for you?" His reply was as guarded as he could bring about.
"Er... I'm sorry, I really feel stupid about calling but..." she paused, seemingly distressed. AJ simply waited for her to go on. "AJ, I... there's something I need to show you. It scares me and I don't know what to make of it."
He could hear highway noises through the receiver. "Where are you?" he asked warily.
"I'm calling from a phone booth somewhere off the Beltway. I'm on my way home now. Could you... could you please meet me there in half an hour?" Sydney's voice had quite an uneasy edge.
AJ frowned. He didn't really want to see her, especially as it probably had something to do with her darling Danny, who'd probably gotten into trouble again. But he still was too much of a gentleman to reject a plea for help. "Uhm... sure. I'll be there."
Silence. Then a low, somewhat relieved "Thanks, AJ." The line went dead.
For a minute, AJ just stared at his cell-phone, puzzled. Then, sighing, he snapped it shut and returned to join the others.
"Uhm..." he cleared his throat. Everybody, except the children, of course, instantly looked at him. "I'm sorry, but something's come up. I've got to meet someone." He smiled and tried to keep his tone light and succeeded in fooling everybody but Mac who shot him a quick worried glance.
"That's a pity, sir, but duty's duty," Harriet sighed with a good-natured smile, rising to show her CO to the door.
"Sir, anything we could help you with?" Mac ventured carefully.
AJ smiled. "I'll be okay. See you tomorrow, all of you!"
"Aye, sir!" came a collective, smirking reply.
'I just love those big kids!' AJ thought as he left the house, chuckling to himself.
The party continued for some time before a second cell-phone started to ring. Instantly recognizing Mac's melody, Harm gave her a hand up as she struggled to get up from the deep, soft armchair, handing her her purse and watching her vanish into the kitchen, as well.
Mac leaned back against the kitchen counter, flipping her cell-phone open with her left hand, resting her right hand on her belly as she had gotten used to during the last months. "Rabb?"
"Mac? This is Chegwidden." His voice was low, guarded and somewhat strained.
Mac instantly snapped to Marine-mode. "Sir? Everything okay?"
To her astonishment, she heard a bitter chuckle. "Not quite. Get your husband and meet me at the D.C. police department. I might need my lawyers."
She drew a sharp breath, dreading the next question. She'd instantly known that something was troubling him when he left the party. "What happened?" she asked, her stomach tightening.
"I've just been arrested for the murder of Doctor Sydney Walden."
To be continued... (Feedback always appreciated!)
Author: Daenar Rating: PG-13 Disclaimer: JAG is property of Belisarius productions, no copyright infringement intended.
Category: Drama/Action/Romance (H/M)
Spoiler: Harm and Mac have to go to their limits and beyond to save their fatherly friend from a seemingly hopeless situation. Sequel to 'Dissonance'.
Many thanks to Kate and Valerie for highly appreciated contents advice. And, of course, to Heather for beta-reading!
Author's note: The whole case is entirely fictional. No reference to any real cases involving real persons is intended. Any resemblances to real cases may be caused by using the osha-slc.gov-site for research on the medical part concerning the case. The medical information concerning the private lives of the main characters derives from a magazine article that I read years ago, describing the exact situation that I now used for the story.
I don't know what the testing facility inside the NFESC looks like, so let's just pretend it looks like I describe it. I don't know, either, if tests like the one I refer to are even done at NFESC. Let's, please, pretend that, too.
I'm no doctor, no lawyer and no aeronautical engineer, either. So, if anyone of you belonging to one of the categories finds my story getting overly unrealistic, just blame it on my overzealous fantasy, okay? Thank you!
In my universe, Sergei and Singer didn't leave. And Meredith simply doesn't exist! ___________________________________________
Sun, Feb. 14th 2133 ZULU The Roberts's residence D.C.
Claire Farnham double-checked once more the red 'recording' light on her camcorder. Making sure that there would be enough tape left, too, she quickly retreated to the other end of the living-room where Harriet and Bobbi were setting the table. From a comfortable armchair nearby, Sarah Mackenzie-Rabb watched the whole scene, smiling, five-months-old Michael Harmon Roberts asleep in her arms.
Right now, Mac was at peace with the whole world. The picture that Claire was trying to capture on videotape made it impossible not to be. Shifting little Mikey so that he wouldn't rest too heavily on her eight-months-plus pregnant belly, she leaned slightly forward to have a better view. Claire joined her on the sofa next to her armchair and even Bobbi and Harriet interrupted their task to draw nearer and watch in amusement:
In the middle of a circle of about ten cheering kindergarten kids, all in costume, Harmon Rabb, Jr. and Sturgis Turner were facing each other, panting and grinning, each of them carrying a child on the back. Harm knew his sides would be black and blue in the evening from the way little AJ Roberts put the spurs to his 'horse' but he was enjoying himself way too much to really care. Raising his eyebrows to his Academy pal, Harm got a knowing grin in return. Tyler Crane, AJ's best friend from kindergarten, didn't treat his 'horse' too well, either, but Sturgis would never complain as long as Harm didn't. What kind of impression would that make on Bobbi?
"Sir Albert, Sir Tyler, cross your swords," Admiral Chegwidden ceremoniously proclaimed. Harm and Sturgis came to stand nose to nose so that AJ and Tyler could make the long cardboard tubes touch that they were using as swords. The admiral looked over at Fred Prumetti who was holding a little flag high in the air and at Bud who held a hooter in his hand, grinning.
Harm smirked at Sturgis. "Don't you dare knock me off my feet, buddy," he whispered threateningly.
"I'll spare you for now," Sturgis hissed back, "But once AJ is off your back you'd better run."
"Let's see who's going to run," Harm grinned.
"Rabb, Turner, horses don't talk," the admiral thundered.
"No, sir," came the automatic reply that caused four high-pitched fits of laughter from the far end of the room.
"Can we start, Uncle AJ?" little AJ asked, his voice letting it show that he was impatient to win the final point that would make him the winner of the entire tournament.
"Sure, Captain," the admiral smiled, then once again pulled himself up to full height. "Honorable knights, turn your horses around," he announced. Harm and Sturgis exchanged a last quick grin and then turned around until they stood back to back.
"Resume your positions," the admiral said. Harm and Sturgis each made ten wide steps in opposite directions and came to a halt again.
"Prepare," Chegwidden shouted, raising his arm. "May the best win! Attack!" With that, he let his arm come down quickly, signal for Fred to get down the flag and for Bud to honk the horn.
Harm tried not to wince as he once again felt little AJ's heels make rough contact with his sides. Instead he lowered his head a little and galloped in Sturgis' direction, seeing him come towards him as well. As they were passing each other, a soft 'cloc' indicated that the cardboard tubes had found their targets, while a flash and a humming sound were a sure sign that Bud had managed to capture the crucial moment on celluloid. Harm and Sturgis came to a halt on their adversaries' starting positions. Harm felt a drop of sweat trickle slowly down his forehead, hoping it wouldn't directly make its way into his eyes because he couldn't wipe it away.
On Chegwidden's signal, Bud and Fred repeated their tasks and Harm and Sturgis set off for clinch once again. Another 'cloc'. Harm inwardly groaned. That meant they'd have another go. He sincerely hoped that this time one of the eager little guys would miss and that his torment would be over. He was way too exhausted for his liking. Again, the commanders resumed their positions and the admiral gave the signal to attack. Just then, the drop of sweat finally made its way through Harm's eyebrow and right into his left eye. His vision slightly blurry, Harm galloped a little off track, making little AJ miss Tyler's weapon and instead giving Tyler the opportunity to pat AJ on the back with his cardboard tube.
"Awww, Uncle Harm, you made me miss him!" Little AJ was more than a little upset.
"So sorry, sport," Harm panted, slowly letting the boy slip to the ground, "But with sweat in my eye I couldn't see clearly."
"I hereby solemnly proclaim Sir Tyler Crane winner of today's tournament!" the admiral declared. Cheers and clapping went up for the winner.
Little AJ was still frowning at his godfather. Harm knelt down in front of him. "You know, an honorable knight congratulates the winner and offers him his service," he suggested with one eyebrow upraised high.
AJ seemed to consider the advice. Finally, his face lit up. "Honor is somefing nice, isn't it?"
Harm bit back a laugh. "Yes, it is. All officers have it, too, if they're good officers. Like your dad or Uncle AJ, for example."
"And you?"
"Yeah, Fred and Sturgis and me, too." Harm found it increasingly difficult not to laugh. "And your mom and Auntie Mac."
"Okay." AJ had made up his mind. He went over to Tyler and then looked back up at Harm. "How do I... umm... what you said?"
"You bow and say: 'Sir Tyler, I'm at your service.'" Harm explained. The others watched their exchange with ever-widening grins.
"Umm, Sir Tyler," little AJ exercised a nearly perfect bow in front of his obviously flattered friend, "I'm at your surface." Then he proudly turned back to Harm. "Right?"
"Yeah, right," he answered, chuckling. "Okay, enough for now. Your mom and Aunties Mac, Claire and Bobbi got the stuff ready to feed all of you honorable knights. Come on." He shooed the children to the extra-long coffee table that was set with brightly colored cardboard plates and plastic mugs. Screaming and laughing, the whole group of kids instantly climbed onto the chairs. Still grinning broadly and enjoying themselves tremendously, the five 'adult kids' joined the women.
"Boy, I'm getting way too old for this," Admiral Chegwidden sighed and pressed a hand to the small of his back. He and Fred had had to play horse during the first three rounds as well until their riders had dropped out of the competition. AJ felt every single muscle in his body but his beaming face and the twinkle in his eyes belied his complaint: he was having the greatest time. When Harriet had called and invited him to help with his little namesake's carnival party he'd instantly agreed, at the same time feeling a slight pang at the thought that he should have done those kind of things with his own family, not that of one of his officers. But he had quickly consoled himself. 'JAG is my family. They're all my kids, and even when they call me 'sir', it somehow feels like 'dad'. So don't be sorry for yourself, Chegwidden, you have all the family you could want to have.'
AJ watched as Bud walked over and took little Mikey from Mac's lap. Family life had never worked out for him. He and Marcella were too different. AJ had been young and ambitious, trying to advance his career, and although he'd hated to do so, he'd had to leave her and Francesca by themselves far too often. But he had thought that, once he'd established a decent professional life, it would become the basis for a happy family. What AJ hadn't expected was that, by that time, he'd have lost his wife. Not to another man but to an increasing despair that had built up in her because of him, the man who always left her alone. Francesca hardly knew him when he and Marcella finally split. And until many, many years later, AJ hadn't known that Marcella would have wanted him to come back until she had finally drawn the line and remarried.
There had been other women in AJ's life, of course, after his failed marriage. But he had never come close to thinking about a family again, except for once... AJ quickly banished the memory from his conscious. After the Danny-affair, he and Sydney Walden had been unable to exchange even a single friendly word. But it still hurt that it had to have ended that way. They had shared very beautiful moments.
"Uncle AJ!" Little AJ's voice woke the admiral from his reverie. He bent down to the excited boy.
"Hey, Captain! What's up?"
"Uncle AJ, you must come and sit wif us and tell us somefing about pirates!" The little boy tugged at AJ's hand and looked up at him expectantly.
"AJ Roberts, let Uncle AJ have his coffee first!" Harriet shouted from the couch.
"It's okay, Harriet," AJ shouted back, laughing, "Maybe you could bring me a cup to the children's table. So I can let Bobbi and Claire have a little break."
"Sure, sir!" Harriet instantly busied herself with the admiral's mug, grinning to herself. She loved watching her CO become a family man. It did him good.
AJ let himself be dragged towards the crowd of kids that were eager to listen. Sitting down on little AJ's chair and taking his namesake to his lap, the admiral grinned at the expectant children. "So, you want to know something about pirates? Well, how about... uhm... yeah, let's start with this one: about three hundred years ago, in a region far south from here, there was..."
"He's great with them," Harm murmured in Mac's direction as he sat down on the armrest of her armchair, his eyes never leaving his CO.
"Yeah." Mac watched with a content smile as the children began to ask questions that AJ readily answered. Little AJ beamed with pride about his Uncle, the Admiral. After a few moments, Mac decided to turn her attention back to the conversation between the adults.
"How's the Cramer case going, sir?" Bud asked Harm.
The commander shrugged. "I went to question the Lt. Cmdr. yesterday. Evidence seems pretty clear. She left her research team alone for a few moments when the test had already begun. The engine was running in neutral when the injection pump failed to control the amount of fuel that evaporated into the system. She claims she had to get her testing checklist from the control room. We have a witness that confirms this. Lt. Cmdr. Cramer explains that the engine would have blown anyway because the damaged part that probably caused the explosion was actually inside the combustion chamber. It wouldn't have been discovered in any prior inspection. It seems the engine was checked the day before, and everything, according to the protocols, went smoothly. So no one would have checked again before testing. And had Cramer been present, she wouldn't have been able to stop it, either. She'd most probably be at Bethesda right now, with the three injured engineers and technicians. That's it."
"Sir, you're gonna base your defense on the fact that her presence wouldn't have prevented anything?" Fred asked with a grin. "Sorry, Commander, that's not gonna work."
Harm frowned. "Sturg, could you tell your second chair he'd better wipe that grin off his face? He's not seen Mac and me together in court, yet."
Sturgis leaned over with an angelic smile. "Who's afraid of the big, bad Rabb...?"
"I'm only sorry that right now I'm not in combat shape," Mac snapped with a cocky smile. "If I were..."
"Hey," Sturgis replied, laughing, holding his hands up in defense, "I'd never dare to insult a Marine!"
"Better for you, bubblehead..." Harm murmured, only half-joking.
"Anyway, brace yourself, Rabbs," Fred just added, exchanging a quick, grinning nod with Sturgis.
"Uhm, sir," Bud cut in thoughtfully. "It strikes me as kind of odd that a skilled and experienced engineer would leave something as essential as her checklist in another room."
Harm's face sobered. "To admit the truth, that's the only part that I don't really understand either. But as her defense counsel, I believe her when she tells me she'd had personal problems that day with her husband. But still that's not very professional behavior. You're right about that."
Just then, they heard the shrill beeping of a cell-phone somewhere in the room. A moment later, AJ called out to them: "Could anybody just take over with the kids for a moment, please?"
"Sure, sir." Harm rose and took his godson from the admiral who lunged into his pocket and, pulling out his cell-phone, quickly left the room.
"So, guys," Harm faced ten disappointed faces, "What did the admiral tell you? Maybe I can finish it until he comes back."
Closing the kitchen door behind him, AJ flipped his cell-phone open without glancing at the display. "Chegwidden."
"AJ?"
The admiral jumped at the sound of her voice.
"This is Sydney."
"Uhm... Sydney. Hi. What can I do for you?" His reply was as guarded as he could bring about.
"Er... I'm sorry, I really feel stupid about calling but..." she paused, seemingly distressed. AJ simply waited for her to go on. "AJ, I... there's something I need to show you. It scares me and I don't know what to make of it."
He could hear highway noises through the receiver. "Where are you?" he asked warily.
"I'm calling from a phone booth somewhere off the Beltway. I'm on my way home now. Could you... could you please meet me there in half an hour?" Sydney's voice had quite an uneasy edge.
AJ frowned. He didn't really want to see her, especially as it probably had something to do with her darling Danny, who'd probably gotten into trouble again. But he still was too much of a gentleman to reject a plea for help. "Uhm... sure. I'll be there."
Silence. Then a low, somewhat relieved "Thanks, AJ." The line went dead.
For a minute, AJ just stared at his cell-phone, puzzled. Then, sighing, he snapped it shut and returned to join the others.
"Uhm..." he cleared his throat. Everybody, except the children, of course, instantly looked at him. "I'm sorry, but something's come up. I've got to meet someone." He smiled and tried to keep his tone light and succeeded in fooling everybody but Mac who shot him a quick worried glance.
"That's a pity, sir, but duty's duty," Harriet sighed with a good-natured smile, rising to show her CO to the door.
"Sir, anything we could help you with?" Mac ventured carefully.
AJ smiled. "I'll be okay. See you tomorrow, all of you!"
"Aye, sir!" came a collective, smirking reply.
'I just love those big kids!' AJ thought as he left the house, chuckling to himself.
The party continued for some time before a second cell-phone started to ring. Instantly recognizing Mac's melody, Harm gave her a hand up as she struggled to get up from the deep, soft armchair, handing her her purse and watching her vanish into the kitchen, as well.
Mac leaned back against the kitchen counter, flipping her cell-phone open with her left hand, resting her right hand on her belly as she had gotten used to during the last months. "Rabb?"
"Mac? This is Chegwidden." His voice was low, guarded and somewhat strained.
Mac instantly snapped to Marine-mode. "Sir? Everything okay?"
To her astonishment, she heard a bitter chuckle. "Not quite. Get your husband and meet me at the D.C. police department. I might need my lawyers."
She drew a sharp breath, dreading the next question. She'd instantly known that something was troubling him when he left the party. "What happened?" she asked, her stomach tightening.
"I've just been arrested for the murder of Doctor Sydney Walden."
To be continued... (Feedback always appreciated!)