Chapter Three

JAG Headquarters, Falls Church, VA, 1330hrs, Boardroom 2

Standing outside the door of the boardroom that Animal had entered, for a long moment before heading to their scheduled court sessions, Harm and Mac looked at each other. "Think we need to stand guard out here?" Harm asked flippantly. "Animal might come out of that boardroom shredded into little tiny pieces." Knowing Liandra's temper; that was a distinct possibility.

"Could be an idea." Mac reciprocated with a wry look at the door. "I don't hear any yelling."

"…or screaming." Interjected Harm as he investigated the door. "Well, we'd better get going before Captain Morris starts screaming at us." Mac agreed as she knew exactly just how tolerant Captain Stiles Morris was to those who were tardy to his courtroom.

JAG Headquarters, Falls Church, VA, 1330hrs, Boardroom 2

"May I ask what that's supposed to mean, sir?" Liandra asked. She wasn't expecting the captain to be almost Confucian in his responses.

"I'm here to test the waters, Lieutenant Commander, to see if there are any riptides of discontent underneath the surface." He paused and looked at her with obsidian eyes. "I need to gauge how the office behaves in order to determine just how cohesive a team they are."

"And I'm supposed to be your stooge? Sir?" Her outrage was obvious…the sir tacked on the end like an afterthought.

"No, you don't have to be." Captain Nakamura responded tapping his pen on the notepad. "You'll just be marked down as uncooperative and that could be a black mark on the next promotion board."

LCDR Gracen stewed for a long moment. "I could just exercise my rights to have a lawyer present, sir." Animal thought that there was a distinct look of hate in her eyes.

"If I'm correct, LCDR Rabb is in court right now and Major Mackenzie is also, so that leaves you with…" he paused for a long moment. "…either Carolyn Imes or Alan Mattoni." Animal said finally, rather pleased that he remembered those names. "Which of them would you want?" he challenged, his voice turning hard.

"I'll take Lieutenant Commander Mattoni, sir." She got up. "You can continue your interview with my lawyer present." Animal's eyes narrowed at her insolence. "…sir." She said as she turned to go. She stormed through the boardroom doors, nearly knocking over an LN3 who was trying to enter the boardroom.

Animal didn't have a reaction to her rudeness and storming out. He just jotted a notation on a pad and then continued on to the next name on the list.

JAG Headquarters, Falls Church, VA, 1350hrs

Liandra looked like a thundercloud coming back towards her office. LCDR Carolyn Imes looked over at her and asked. "I presume the interview didn't go well?"

"Oh, I'm sure I'm on his shit list." Lia growled, her angry mood not lost on Carolyn. "He thinks he can act like a Mandarin in my presence, pulling out all the stops and trying to get me to stooge on the JAG office." She blustered. "I should just give him the middle finger."

"That might not work out too well in your favor." Imes said with a smile. "He does look like a no-nonsense type of officer."

"What'll he do; write me up for an Article 89 or Article 133?" Lia asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

JAG Headquarters, Falls Church, VA, 1730 hrs

Animal let the final person in the interviews for the rest of the day go. Gathering his notebook and papers up, he looked up to see Harm. "Hey, shipmate." Harm grinned. "So how did the interviews go?"

"Not too bad. The first one was not good though, she walked out on me. Evidently she thought I was going to try to get her to stooge for the entire office." Harm nodded as Animal said this. Liandra was hot-tempered but her anger usually was a flash-in-the-pan. Never had he seen Liandra so actively dislike someone before.

"Well, wanna get something to eat? It's almost time for us to clear out for the day." Harm turned to Animal and stated. Something that was definitely wanted as Animal's stomach growled out a complaint that it was nearing the end of the Swiss mushroom burger that he had eaten at noon. He nodded and continued stuffing the briefcase with the copious amount of notes that he had made during the course of the interviews. The discussions ran laps through Animal's head as he had asked each member of the JAG unit how they perceived their commanding officer, how they perceived themselves, where did they think that their career was heading and what concessions could be made to assure their happiness in this position or what changes did they feel that they would need in order to be persuaded to re-up if their term of service was drawing to a close. All of these points were considerations that needed to be made if their retention was to be assured. And all of it pointed to how the office was run and how efficiently the JAG office was performing. And that part in parcel was what the office of the Naval Inspector General was supposed to be doing: seeking out the cogs that ran the office and making the office more efficient.

"Sure thing, Harm. My stomach's growling." Animal replied as he finished brushing the rest of the items; pens and other writing utensils as well as a tape recorder into his briefcase and shutting it. Setting the briefcase on its end, he grabbed the handle and hefted it. "Where do you want to go?" he asked.

"Well, I'm heading towards Union Station." Harm stated looking at his watch, then looked over at Animal. "Let's find something to eat around the DC area."

"Alright."

JAG Headquarters, Bullpen, Falls Church, VA, 1745 hrs

Liandra casually watched Harm and Animal stride through the bullpen on their way out the door as she shook her head.

The interview was not pleasant the second go-around even with Mattoni present. Animal was not enamored of the disrespect shown towards his rank and made Liandra aware of it.

"Lieutenant Commander, are you aware of the disparity in ranks between yourself and I. You are brushing up against an Article 133. The fact that I choose to make you aware of this is in fact how close you really are to a JAGMAN investigation. Do not allow yourself to slip the bounds of rank structure in order to get your point across. Commander or the next trial we will be attending will be yours." His tone had been frosty. "I could have chosen to convene an Article 133 when you left the room without proper dismissal. The fact that I chose not to do so is the reason why you are still in uniform, Lieutenant Commander! Do you understand me?!"

Poor Alan Mattoni had been intimidated by the officer sitting across from him and advised her to "follow the rules".

Lia's voice had been equally frosty "Yes…SIR!" It had sounded like cur.

Animal was not pleased, nor did the tone of his questioning turn more friendly. The questions ranged from snarky to downright intrusive though he was going directly from the list of approved questions provided to NAVINSGEN investigators.

Liandra supplied clipped barely civil answers to all the questions asked. It was well certain that neither of the two officers liked each other, let alone found anything in common. Liandra thought he was a stuffed shirt enamored of his own aviation prowess; disliking the fact that he was stuck with the mortals and really didn't want to have anything to do with him outside of official channels. At least he would be gone in a few days back to the pencil-pushing idiots that permeated the NAVINSGEN's office who seemed to have nothing better to do than to rile up those who actually did something in the Navy.

Lia returned to her files as she saw the swinging doors close and the receding backs of the two officers as they exited the office. Just thinking about Captain Nakamura rankled her gut so she opted to stick her head back into the case that she was working on.

She was so engrossed into the files that it only seemed like a moment later when Mac stuck her head in her office door. "Hey, Lia, I'm heading out the door. I'm going home, it's been a long day." Mac stated as she looked over at Lia.

"OK, Mac." Lia replied as she looked up from her file. "I'm gonna be a little longer here. This case needs to be resolved in the next week. I'm looking to get a week's leave. Have to head back to Texas for a visit. Haven't seen my mom in ages."

"Well, hopefully it doesn't coincide with Bud and Harriet planning their party for the JAG staff at their apartment." Mac's tone was blasé as she casually looked around Lia's office. Lia's office was spartan except for two pictures on her desk: one of the Siamese cat that she had in her apartment; her pet, the other photo being of her mother. Mac grinned at her friend and left, leaving Lia to think on that and whether or not she could get back from Dallas in enough time to be at the party.

Her father was not around. He had left the family when Lia was a child and her mother raised her from a child as a single mother. It evidently was part of the reason behind the drive that Lia had to succeed. Her mother had wholeheartedly given her support for Liandra joining the Navy and the Judge Advocate General legal program. Lia had originally worked in Public Affairs as an Ensign prior to joining JAG after enrolling in Law School at Harvard. She had to take a leave of absence from the Navy during her schooling. Then she had to apply to JAG in order to receive her commission as a Lieutenant. After working for seven years as a JAG officer, she was a Lieutenant Commander with two years in rank. The JAG position which she entered seven years ago was challenging which she enjoyed. It kept her occupied with the amount of cases that came in that had to be investigated. She was partnered with a lieutenant that she found was exceedingly by the book and that translated into everything that she did when she achieved her lieutenant commander's rank and became lead investigator on cases.

She also saw a young brash Lieutenant come in transferred from line naval aviation after an excruciating ramp-strike accident that cost him his wings. She had seen the Lieutenant paired with Lieutenant JGs Kate Pike and Meg Austin. She also saw him promoted to Lieutenant Commander and be paired with United States Marine Major Sarah Mackenzie whom she considered a friend after they had gotten to know one another. It seemed as though the JAG office was a family and she felt comfortable. The simple fact that NAVINSGEN had sent someone to investigate had threatened the cohesiveness of that family. It had been said that most JAG postings lasted only three years, but hers was going seven and many of the other JAG office personnel had been there just as long or even longer.

So was Captain Nakamura going to split them up and move them to other places? That's what rankled her so badly. She didn't want to leave JAG and move to a Region Legal Services Office. Who knew where they would put her and she didn't want to be stationed half way around the world from her mother.

All the worrying that she was doing wasn't doing favors to her stomach and she decided that she had better make sure that she got herself something to eat. So gathering her things into her briefcase, she got out of her chair, grabbed her combo cap and overcoat, shutting the door to her office, she headed for the exit. As she was exiting she met up with the rear admiral, "Sir!"

"How are you doing this evening, Lieutenant Commander?" AJ asked her pleasantly.

"Fine, sir. I think I'm done for the evening. Headed home and planning on having a relaxing evening." Liandra said as she looked at the admiral.

"Well, enjoy the evening. I'll see you tomorrow." The Admiral stated as Liandra opted for military protocol and waited for the next elevator.

Driving home wasn't bad at nineteen hundred hours at night; the traffic wasn't that bad and she managed to reach home in about twenty minutes from the time she left the JAG office.

JAG Headquarters, Bullpen, Falls Church, VA, 0645hrs.

Animal pulled his Navy Blue United States Navy Mercury Grand Marquis into the JAG HQ entrance and pulled up to the Marine Gate Guard rolling down his window.

"ID please, sir?" the Marine Gunnery Sergeant said as he extended his left hand for the proffered ID, his right hovering near the butt of the holstered M9 Beretta sidearm. Looking at the ID and at the driver who gave him an amiable grin, he handed the identification back. "Good morning, sir. You're cleared."

"Thank you, Gunny." Animal replied as he pulled forward into the parking lot. He heard another car pull up and looked into the rear-view mirror. It was a cherry-red Corvette and he could see Harm's wide cheerful grin. Animal shook his head as he stepped on the gas easing the Grand Marquis forward. Finding a parking space, Animal parked his car. Getting out of the car, he grinned back at Harm who had by this time found his own place and was grabbing his briefcase from the car. "So…shipmate!" he hailed his old friend. "What brings you in so early?"

"You call this early? A couple more hours and it's practically noon." Harm said. "You weren't this late on the Seahawk." Harm chided his friend.

"Yeah…I guess I've learned to sleep in during my shore assignments. Tough habit to break once it's become ingrained." Animal grabbed his briefcase, shut the trunk of the Grand Marquis and locked the car from his key fob.

JAG Headquarters, Bullpen, Falls Church, VA, 0700-0705hrs

Harm and Animal entered the JAG office. There were a few officers and enlisted present. Most would be filing in at about this time. Harm knew he had a few minutes before the 0730hrs morning briefing so the two headed to the mess to grab an early morning snack. Grabbing a bran muffin from the rack, he looked at Animal who grabbed a raspberry jelly donut. "It's the last one." He said grinning.

JAG Headquarters, Bullpen, Falls Church, VA, 0715hrs

The CS3 looked aghast as he looked up at Lieutenant Commander Gracen. "I swear, ma'am, that we did have that raspberry jelly donut for you, ma'am. I know we had it on the rack here waiting for you."

"Well, Culinary Specialist 3rd Class." Lia growled, "It's not here now!"

"Oh, no, ma'am!" the CS3 sagged against the counter. "I remember ten minutes ago a captain swung through the mess-hall for his early snack with Lieutenant Commander Rabb…and… Oh…sh-! Ma'am. I'm so sorry."

"Great, CS3, I get no raspberry jelly donut…is there anything else that can go wrong today? Or should I ask!? You have nothing else in terms of donuts? "

"We do have donuts, ma'am." The CS3 said, sheepishly. "But ma'am…"

"What is it?" Lia snapped absolutely exasperated by this time.

"They're all coconut crème." The CS3 ventured looking extremely nervous.

"I HATE COCONUTS!"