Chapter Fifteen

Animal's Camaro Iroc-Z turning onto 3rd Street, Renovo, PA 1035hrs

Animal looked over to see Harm grinning evilly at him. "What?" he grumbled.

"Nice ground-loop, Animal."

Animal growled under his breath as he came to a stop in front of the hotel to see a waiting Maegyn.

"With a little more rudder pedal it would have been a perfect circle…" Harm suppressed laughter.

"oh…shut up…"

"I used your credit card to pay for the accommodations…" Maegyn said, sliding into the car's rear seat beside Lia…they had very few possessions from the Piper Cherokee that were with them, it all fit into a small bag. "You just need to sign the credit card slip. Animal slipped out of the car and went inside the hotel to sign, then came back out."

Turning left onto 144, Animal growled. "Keep a look out for I-99 South. There should be a bridge ahead when we turn right."

"We might want to get something to eat when we get to Bedford. We might be a bit hungry by then." Lia opined. "There was a Long John Silver's on the way up…but we had to come get you and Commander O'Bannon."

Harm had an even bigger smug smile on his face…as he looked at the flying maps that Animal retrieved from his Piper as Animal silently drove. "You do remember that there was an alternate field within easy flying range a little north-east of where you finally landed? Maybe 5-10 minutes flying time tops…" Animal growled under his breath but remained silent. It was just too easy. The thunderstorm had knocked a few trees down – it was as NOAA had predicted a nasty one. But they had managed to be safe.

Maegyn grinned as Harm ribbed Animal about the ground-loop, but realized just how safely Animal had managed to land the aircraft regardless of the situation. It probably wasn't the best landing spot to pick but who made great decisions under stress with cumulonimbus bearing down on one's head. Maybe they should have gone a bit farther, but who would have said that the CBs bearing down on them would have given them the time to set up for a good solid landing on an airstrip that had proper navigation aids.

"I hear you're getting the Army to pull you out of the mess…" Harm said casually.

"Really want to push it, don't you?" Animal muttered caustically as he kept his eyes on the road deftly driving the Iroc Z down the winding road.

"Well…at least you're safe." Harm relented on ribbing Animal. "…course Army's gonna be talking about this for weeks." Animal just glowered silently.

Tim's All-American Café, Altoona, PA, 1215hrs

Animal pulled his car into parking space on the street in front of the café on Crawford in Altoona, PA. Tim's was a great little place to eat, all-American food with good prices. An old red brick house with stone foundation – it was what one would classify as a little nook like eatery, but the food there was excellent. Animal went for the 10 oz. Bacon Cheeseburger, Maegyn, the grilled chicken club sandwich, Lia, the Tim's Club Sandwich. Harm looked at them with absolute horror at all the meat being ordered. Harm ordered the large Garden Salad; all to go as they had to get back on the road as quickly as possible. When the order was brought out, the four trooped back out and managed to squeeze back into Animal's car where he laconically muttered. "I need to get a bigger car." It was about five minutes later, that Animal pulled back out onto Crawford and back onto I-99. Animal didn't care if they ate in the car, just so long as they utilized the time driving back to Manassas.

Olde Towne Inn, Manassas, VA 1530hrs

Animal with a sigh of relief pulled into the Inn and parked beside Harm's Corvette Stingray which was locked and still there. That was a definite relief to know that Harm's car was still alright and Animal shook Harm's hand as Harm and Lia got out of Animal's car. Animal went in to square things with the hotel clerk and Harm and made sure that the hotel clerk got the keys for the unit back again, then Maegyn and Animal sighed tiredly as they pulled back out for the trip back to Arlington, VA. And Harm and Lia did the same to get back to their respective homes. This was not the relaxing weekend of flying that they had intended, but at least they were safe, even if Animal's Piper Cherokee was worse for wear. Weather was not to be tangled with.

Animal's Apartment, 503-4141 Henderson Road, Arlington, VA 1645hrs

Animal and Maegyn staggered into their home tired and exhausted. It was almost five in the afternoon and all they wanted to do was crash, but considering that the last time that they had something to eat was noon, they opted for takeout.

Maegyn yawned widely, barely catching her yawn with the palm of her hand and said. "I hope they get here soon…'cause I'm about ready to fall asleep on my feet. Are you feeling OK, you were complaining about your neck being sore and your knees killing you from slamming your knees up against the instrument panel bottom."

"We were lucky we walked away without concussions, the way we spun around." Animal said as he looked over at Maegyn. "We could have knocked heads together and then we'd both be in the hospital getting looked over for brain injury."

"Well…it didn't happen." Maegyn said. "…and the minute you have a chance to do so, you need to get back on that horse again. It was a stressful landing, but we made it." She reached over and kissed him softly on the lips. "And I trusted you to get us down safely and you did…"

I'm going to get checked out at Bethesda tomorrow just so the FAA is satisfied, Captain Richards will be calling me to let me know what they're doing with the aircraft and they want me to oversee the hookup, so I have to go back to Renovo at some point this week. They're sending the Hook down to pick me up first." Pentagon had a helo pad.

"Oh…" Maegyn said just as the phone rang. "Must be the delivery guy." Maegyn said as she picked up the phone. "Hi, I'll open the door for you." She hit the door release at the main door. The awaited knock on the door came about five minutes later as the delivery boy stepped in the door and stood to the side while Animal fished in his wallet for some cash as well as a tip. The pizzas were left on the kitchen counter as Animal and Maegyn got plates and the delivery boy left after being paid. The first was a Athenian, minus the banana peppers, the second was a Chicken Carbonara and since both Animal and Maegyn were meat-eaters, they preferred anything that had meat in it provided that it wasn't too spicy.

As they sat down to eat, Maegyn looked over at Animal. "That was an impressive bit of flying…" she said.

Animal looked at her solemnly. "I boresighted, when we looked at the map there were three other alternate landing places that we could have chosen within range, yet I picked the one that was the smallest…and that I couldn't have gotten out of easily. And if we had impacted the tree at the end of the strip of grass there, we could have been killed. It was the soft turf that saved us and saved the Piper from extreme damage. I nearly got us killed, Maegyn." He said exhaling deeply.

"Sweet, don't start second-guessing yourself. You made a decision with very little to go on…after the fact. You knew that we had to get down. How do you know that if you had pushed on, we wouldn't have encountered a downdraft on final approach that would have planted us into the ground." Maegyn reached over to caress his arm reassuringly. "You did what you could with the knowledge that you had which wasn't much to go on. Did you have the WX NOTAM that Harm got updated? And you had the foresight beforehand to equip your Piper with an ABR, that's an expensive little bit of equipment, but it saved our lives out there…"

Animal looked at her with amazement on his face. "You are going to talk me out of blaming myself for the mess I got us into, aren't you?"

"Every single time, lover…" Maegyn replied as she gave him a kiss. "Think I'm getting the hang of it?"

"Too damned good at it…" Animal laughed but subsided as quickly as he had started. "Honestly…though I wonder if I still have it…" He glanced soberly out the window.

"Don't you dare…" Maegyn said vehemently. "Don't you dare start thinking that your skills aren't up to the par. You showed you still had what it takes to be a damned good aviator, even though the Navy doesn't put you up in fast jets any more. You got us down and we walked away from the landing. That zoomie Chuck Yeager said. If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. So don't you think you're going to hang those wings up! Do you hear me, Tosh?"

Through this rant, Animal's jaw had dropped open…his eyes wide with amazement…listening to Maegyn's vehement tirade.

"WHAT!?" Maegyn snarled when she noticed Animal's look.

"Do you know how sexy you look when you're pissed off?" Animal said as Maegyn closed the lid on the half eaten pizza box and belted him over the top of the head with it. "OW…" he grinned.

"Are you listening to a word I said?"

Liandra's Apartment, 614-2475 Virginia Avenue, Georgetown, Washington DC

Harm had gone home for the evening after dropping her off at her home. Tomorrow she would be back at JAG after a week away. It wasn't that long of a time, but it felt like a lifetime. Sitting down at her desk, she looked over at the cases that she would be taking over from Harm, he had managed to close out most of them except for three, so it wasn't that much more of a burden than usual, however she didn't know what the admiral would be tossing onto her plate.

She was apprehensive of the new socio-dynamics in the office; in a week the whole structure of the office had changed. What if she couldn't get along with the new attorneys in the office? There was a new lieutenant commander there, but she was replacing Harm. And there were supposed to be three new officers coming in over the next few weeks, but until then, the office would be short-staffed and thus the workload would effectively double for the short-term until they could hand over the cases to the replacements. Getting up from her desk and walking out into the kitchen, she pulled the Folgers can out of the freezer section of the fridge (where she kept it cold) and made herself an evening cup of coffee. She'd be up late tonight working on several cases which were to be going to court this week and making sense of Harm's defense or prosecution on whatever cases were there. After the flight on the Stearman, the buckling back down to study the cases was a let-down, but her foray into the world of aviation had ended for the time being – she had to go back to the world of legal folders and motions. But for a short time, Harm had managed to bring her into his world and if she admitted to herself, she like it.

Grabbing a cup of coffee, five creams, five sugars, returning to her office, she sat down, placed her coffee on the desk on top of a cup pad, picked up a legal pad and a pen and started writing strategy as she looked over the files. At 0030hrs, she stood up, yawned, walked into the bedroom, pulled off her clothes, slipped on a silk negligee. Setting the alarm for 0530hrs, she slipped under the covers, curled up with a pillow and went to sleep.

Harm's Apartment, North of Union Station, Washington, DC 0530hrs

Harm groaned audibly as he eyeballed the clock with a dark malevolence as it relentlessly blinked 0530 at him. On a Lieutenant Commander's salary, he couldn't knock the thing off the night table and bounce it off the wall. The replacement cost of that CD player alarm clock would impact his wallet too severely, and thus Harm uttered caustic curses that would have made his Grandma Sarah knock him on the back of the head so hard his teeth would rattle. "You're lucky I can't reach my M9" he warned the clock darkly as it blinked another ten times exhibiting as much cheek as an inanimate object could.

Stripping his t-shirt and underwear, he walked into the shower. About ten minutes later he walked out, freshly showered and toweling himself off. Grabbing a fresh pair of underwear and a white t-shirt from the dresser, he dressed quickly, and then grabbed a fresh set of service blues from the closet. It was now 0540 and he had a moment to prepare himself a quick cup of coffee before he had to exit the door to go to his new place of employment.

The Pentagon he thought to himself. It was quite a step up to become a Staff JAG as a lieutenant commander. It put him squarely in the cross-hairs for O-5 promotion board consideration and he would like nothing more than to be deep-selected for commander. Lia would also be in the same zone for promotion and he smiled to himself as he thought of the potential for them to be selected at the same time. Enough pontificating, he admonished himself as he got up, picked up his cover and his briefcase and walked over to the door, stepping through it, closing it behind him and turning to lock the door. From there he proceeded down to the Corvette which was sitting in its usual spot. Considering he had to drive from 4th Street NE and down to the Pentagon which was a thirty-five minute drive that if the traffic went alright; he'd be there at about 0610hrs. Grinning, he started the car and his morning commute.

Bethesda Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MD. 0630hrs

"We'll get that report into the FAA, Captain." Captain Peter Rutherford, USN Medical Corps, grinned at Animal. "I'm sure that it should suffice, though the feelings of guilt on having put your friend in a potentially life-threatening position is an indication that there is some emotional trauma from the incident." So I'm going to have you see a Navy psychiatrist, just briefly so that you can talk out some of the concerns that you're having."

"Is this going to go on my record, Doc?" Animal glowered at him.

Dr. Rutherford shook his head. "What you're feeling is a bit of guilt that you put yourself in a position that could have potentially turned out a lot worse than it did, but through skill and determination, you managed to get through safely. It's just the cognitive dissonance that we're working out. Nothing that should affect your career since we're not even going to make mention of it." Handing a referral slip to Animal who examined it briefly and then stood up, shook hands with the doctor and left.

Striding down the hall, he noted the psychiatry wing and stepped through the doors to the reception area. Noticing several uniformed Army soldiers, an Air Force Technical Sergeant, and a Master Chief sitting in the reception chairs, he quietly made his way to the counter. When he turned around he found all of them out of their chairs, stiffly standing at attention in deference to his rank. He sighed. "As you were…"

…as the bemused Navy Chief behind the reception counter smiled. "What can I do for you, Captain."

Animal muttered. "I need to see someone…" and shoved the referral slip across the counter. If the situation couldn't get more uncomfortable.

The head nurse for the Psychiatry division smiled gently and said. "OK…sir, I will make sure that someone will see you immediately." She replied as she noted the entry into the database. About ten minutes later a female lieutenant commander stepped into the reception area, acorns on her service blue sleeves. "Captain Nakamura?" she asked. "Hi, I'm Lieutenant Commander Jordan Parker."

"Lieutenant Commander." Animal acknowledged her presence as he got up out of the chair.

"If you'll come this way…" Dr. Parker gestured him forward as she would direct him to her office and let him enter her office on his own terms. "Please have a seat…sir." She stated as she sat in her own office chair. "A few things before we start. In my office, we have no ranks, it's the only way that I can help you. We have to be frank and truthful with each other. In return I do not disclose what I hear in this office to anyone unless there is an indication of self-harm or a potential danger or life-threat to others. Is that fine with you?" Animal nodded and she continued. "What can I do for you today?"

"Well, it seems like I had an aviation accident over the weekend in a civilian aircraft…" Animal started slowly. "…my own…" he clarified. "I put myself in an untenable situation…and had to make an emergency landing because of inclement weather."

"…and…this caused you to feel guilty?" Dr. Parker prompted, her assessment of the captain was that he was feeling guilty about the situation and she wanted to know more about why he was feeling that way.

"I put a friend in extreme danger because of the situation. We wanted to fly to Rochester; do a cross-region flight from there to Maine and then back to Manassas. I pushed the envelope…" the term caused Dr. Parker some confusion. "I mean…the parameters of safe flight." He explained. "…and put us in a position that could have caused us to auger in…uh…crash."

"And you said this weather…was what caused the dangerous situation?" Dr. Parker asked. Talking the situation out helped patients to realize just exactly where they should assign the blame if any was to be assessed. "Do you feel that you had complete knowledge of what the weather conditions were? Were you able to foresee this situation developing?"

Animal looked confused. "uh…no…I could only see what was on my AWR; my airborne weather radar on my aircraft. I saw the thunderstorms develop as we flew. But nothing indicated that they would become as severe as they did. We started experiencing heavy winds that blew my aircraft around in the air like a kite in a windstorm. The wind-shear in a thunderstorm is severe enough that it can rip an aircraft apart and I didn't know exactly how fast the thunderstorm was developing. I saw one hook echo on the radar and opted that I needed to get the aircraft down as fast as possible." Noticing Dr. Parker's questioning look as to what a hook echo was, he elaborated. "A hook echo is when the thunderstorm is producing rotation in its mass. In layman's terms, it means that it is potentially producing a tornado."

"Most humans aren't prescient as to developing events, we only go on the information that we are given and make a judgement call as necessary. As far as what you had to go on, you said that you only had your airborne weather radar and what information you had before you took off to go on. You used your eyes to determine what the weather was like and what you could see happening in front of you on the radar. And you stated that the storm was severe enough to produce a tornado. In my view that rates that storm as severe. Do you feel that you made the right decision to put the aircraft down where you did?"

"I don't know…" Animal replied.

"The result was that you and your friend got down safely, or you wouldn't be here talking to me." Dr. Parker smiled. "So your skills must have been up to the task to get you down safely, which tells me that you are a good aviator, who is careful and knows his limitations. If you weren't you would have pushed on instead of trying to find the nearest possible landing site. You would have risked flying into that developing tornado and quite possibly have caused a fatal accident because your aircraft would have been ripped apart. In my assessment, you did what you thought you had to do with the information that you had been given by your radar and you did what you could to bring your aircraft down safely. Does your friend resent you for putting her in that position? I'm assuming here, mind you, that your friend is a she…"

"Uh…um…yes…you are correct. And no, in fact she was trying to talk to me about making sure that I wasn't feeling guilty and she pretty much said the same things you did." Animal said. "She's an aviator herself."

"So, she is aware of the same situation because she is an experienced aviator herself. And I'm sure that she knows that the situation would be the same if she was the pilot and you were the co-pilot. What does she usually fly?"

"She flies the F-14 Tomcat…" Animal said. "That's her day job. We were flying for recreation when that happened."

"I noticed the Naval Aviator insignia on your uniform; do you fly for the Navy too?"

"Not any more… Used to fly F-14s too until they pulled me off flight duty when I…" he snorted self-deprecatingly. "…became what they called a hero." He spat the last word out as if it was distasteful. "They won't let me get near a fast jet any more, because I'm evidently more valuable to the Navy as a show-piece than as a Naval Aviator." At this Dr. Parker raised her eyebrows. Evidently there was something more in this than the usual guilt feelings. There was a lot of bitterness underneath the surface; bitterness and longing. Was there nothing that the Navy could do that would allow him back in the cockpit again, something other than flying combat? To Jordan it seemed that it was an absolute waste of $2M dollars of flight training to sideline a perfectly competent naval aviator. "…and considering my questionable decision-making after this weekend, I doubt they'd let me get near another Navy fast jet."

"I don't think that was questionable. Considering the rapid development of the storm, you did what you had to do…and that was to get the aircraft down safe and secure so that you and your friend could live to fly another day. Now. Captain Nakamura…" she said reverting to the formality of Navy decorum, "This session is drawing to a close, but I'd like to see you again for another session next week. I believe that we have some things to work out with regards to your grounding after your Medal of Honor." She said indicating the topmost ribbon on his rack. "I believe there are a lot of unresolved issues there behind it. So if you're in agreement, I'll see you next Monday at 0630 again." She handed him her card with the appointment time on the back.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Commander." Animal looked at her. He was wary of having to see a shrink on a regular basis, but the Lieutenant Commander looked like a squared away naval officer. What could hurt? Perhaps maybe he might be able to finally put the harsh reality of not being able to fly Navy jets away and make peace with himself. He had lived with not being able to fly Navy jets for at least a year now after his ceremony. And each time he saw a Tomcat or a Hornet take off, it felt like dagger through the heart. And perhaps now, he could put that to rest with talking about it rather than cocooning it close to his heart.

JAG HQ, Falls Church, VA, 0700hrs

Lia walked through the doors of the Judge Advocate General Corps office to greetings from Harriet and Bud. The office looked rather empty without Major Mackenzie, Harm, Imes and Mattoni present. One new blonde lieutenant commander was present in her own office as she walked towards her own office. That officer looked up and waved. The quintessential pretty blonde-haired blue eyed tomboy type, Lia thought as she continued towards her office with a casual wave. As she put her briefcase down on the table, she heard a light Texas twang. "Hi, I'm Meg…" right behind her. She turned around to see the pretty blonde lieutenant commander standing there at the door to her office. "You must be Lieutenant Commander Liandra Gracen. Harm told me about you…"

Office of the Naval Inspector General, Pentagon Detachment 0815hrs

Animal came through the door at exactly 0830hrs to see Harm and Tracy standing there greeting him. "As you were…" he said. "So…how's this aviator working out?" Animal grinned at Tracy.

"Well, sir, he's a smart one…" She said in as broad a Virginia accent as she could manage which got Harm laughing self-deprecatingly.

"Good, I thought you might have to give him a prod with a horsewhip." Animal said.