Chapter Two

JAG Headquarters, Falls Church, VA, 0710hrs

The JAG officers looked at each other. This was a short yet imposing figure: Medal of Honor, Naval Aviator Wings. This did not look good. "Captain Toshio Nakamura, Naval Inspector General, lead investigator. First of all we will be conducting a financial audit into the Judge Advocate General's office. This is to ensure that there are no discrepancies between what was listed on the application forms for recompense through the FMO. Then there are other matters that require going over, comfort and efficiency, etc. I'm sure that this office has everything in order; however I still have to check matters. CNO's orders." The captain's tone was somber.

"I'm sure you will…" Chegwidden replied, his eyes boring holes in the captain, his sardonic tone not lost on the captain.

"Sir, I'm just here trying to do my job and get back to active duty." Animal said, the bitterness in his voice apparent challenging the acerbic tone that AJ was using on him. "That's if they ever let me in command of a carrier battle group." AJ nodded, as he got up and the rest of the JAG officers dispersed. Animal let out a deep sigh. "Great…" he muttered to himself as he got his own briefcase out and settled down to read some of the reports that were circulating about the JAG office. "I'm really making friends and influencing people here."

"It's not that bad…" he heard a familiar voice. "Good to see you here, sir." Animal turned to find Harmon Rabb looking down at him from his six foot four inch height.

"Really?" Animal retorted. "Harm, I'm already being treated like a pariah. If the Medal didn't make people flip out and run for the nearest cover; I'm treated like someone with a terminal contagion."

"Well, Animal, nobody expects an Inspector General's Office inspection." Harm said shrugging his shoulders.

His comment warranted a Monty Python response and Animal didn't fail: "No-one expects the Spanish Inquisition." Animal asked, one corner of his mouth turned upwards in a half-smile, his tone still cutting.

"Needless to say, your demeanor looked much like that of an undertaker and that's not bound to win many friends here in this office." Harm quipped with some amusement "You look like an undertaker and everyone's going to go 'oh shit' and make a bee-line for the door."

Animal shrugged. "I guess I'd better make the best of it." He turned to Harm and said. "So who do I talk to about the financial audit?"

"I'll give you a hand with this. My cases are rather light this week, so I'll just guide you around when I'm not in court." Harm replied.

JAG Headquarters, Falls Church, VA, 0840hrs

LN2 Angela Rodriguez smiled at Animal. "These are the financial statements and reports for the fiscal year ending 1998, sir." She handed Animal a large binder as Animal's eyes widened as to the size of these things. He was unaware of just how much financial crap that he was going to have to go through.

"Thank you, Legalman Two." Animal responded. "Harm, we got an empty boardroom or an office that we can go and check this binder out?"

The younger officer turned to give him a grin, "I've got just the place. We can go to the law library here and sit down at a desk and review those financials there." Harm said as he moved down the hallway towards the mentioned location. "We won't be disturbed there. I'll ask Bud to help us with the financials, because he's quite the bean-counter type." As the two walked through the bullpen, Harm accosted his friend "Hey, Bud, can you give us a hand with this?"

"Of course, sir." Bud, as usual, eager to please, fell into step behind both the captain and the lieutenant commander. Although he looked warily at the Navy captain, who in his eyes was there to disrupt the ebb and flow of the JAG office, he accompanied at the lieutenant commander's request.

Over the next three and a half hours they went through every single detail that could be gone over. "Lieutenant junior grade; tell me why there's significant increases in the outside accommodations for the month of September?" Animal said pointedly when he saw the accommodations amounts for both August and October.

"There was a lot of investigations that had to be done outside of the DC area, sir, and that involved investigators requiring accommodation in some place other than on-base, sir." Lieutenant JG Bud Roberts replied to Animal's query.

"So you are telling me that they had to use accommodation other than at the VOQ when a VOQ was available?"

"Sir, Lieutenant Commander Mattoni had to investigate a DUI involving a Navy rating running over a civilian in Indiana. The Navy rating worked out of Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division in Crane, Indiana. Sir." Bud replied looking at Animal.

Animal then replied. "And he could not find a visiting officer's quarters at NSA Crane? Lieutenant, that base is one of the biggest bases in the United States Navy."

"Sir…that base is one of the black bases in the United States Navy, sir. Visiting officers are not allowed to stay on base as it is classified top secret." Bud replied.

"OK…" Animal replied. He knew exactly what NSA Crane conducted there. He just wanted to know if Bud would violate security clearance. Bud didn't; so Animal was satisfied there. He nodded to the lieutenant to continue with the rest of the items on the list that were of concern.

Bud's eyes alternated from Harm to Animal seeing both of their aviator wings. His mind was going a mile a minute trying to ascertain why another aviator would be stuck in a staff position.

JAG Headquarters, Falls Church, VA, 1145hrs

After a 3 hour jam-session with the accounts folder, the three officers came out of the law library a bit more frazzled than when they went in. Stomachs were growling as they came into the bullpen. Eyes peered out of the offices.

"I'm hungry." Harm said. "How about you?" He looked at Animal and asked.

"I'm sure I could do with something to eat." Animal replied. The conversational tone did not escape others in the bullpen who were sure something was up.

As Harm walked past, Liandra stage-whispered to Mac, "Why's he going out for lunch with the Naval Inspector General's stooge?" Mac winced. Animal chose to ignore it. He knew exactly what was thought about him around the JAG office, the atmosphere was tense enough even a stone could pick up on it.

Harm whirled on her. "Lieutenant Commander?" he said, his tone frosty. "My office, now." Lia walked into Harm's office. Harm shut the door and looked at Lia. "Lieutenant Commander Gracen? The Naval Inspector General's stooge as you so callously referred to him is my former Reserve Air Group instructor who instructed me on how to fly and fight in the F-14 Tomcat. He was my flight instructor after LCDR Gary Hochhausen. Did you perhaps notice that ribbon he wears?"

"Yes, Commander." Lia replied, suitably chastised. "I was wrong, Commander, you were not cozying up to the Captain, you were just asking a friend to lunch."

"That's correct, Lieutenant Commander Gracen. And you will from now on treat the captain with the utmost of respect. As it stands you are drawing very close to an Article 89. Considering how much work you put into your law degree, it would be very unfortunate to lose your JAG commission based on spite." Harm snapped out at Lia. "He did not earn that blue button without some sacrifice."

I'll treat him with respect, but I'll be damned if I like him. Lia thought to herself as she stood at the position of attention.

There was a knock on the door. Harm opened it. Animal poked his head in. "Hey, Harm, are we still going to lunch? I have to start person to person interviews after lunch."

"Well, I have a candidate who just volunteered to be first in line." Harm smirked evilly. "Lieutenant Commander Liandra Gracen, meet Captain Toshio Nakamura." If looks could kill, Harm would have been fried instantly as Liandra glared daggers at Harm…

And said frostily. "I'll see you after lunch, sir." To Animal as she retreated from the room.

As both officers gazed at Lia's quickly receding back, Harm quipped. "I think she likes you." He grinned at Animal.

"Oh, really? Then I'm sure I could get an ice-cube to marry me." Animal retorted. "Let's go get lunch, I'm hungry."

JAG Headquarters, Falls Church, VA, 1200hrs

"So, tail feathers suitably singed?" Mac asked Lia.

"Yes, completely charred and on top of that to rub salt in the wound." Lia fumed. "I get to go first with that Navy captain on the personal interviews." She paced around Mac's office. "I can't believe it. Harm dressed me down like an Academy plebe."

"Well, the Captain did merit the Medal of Honor. Did you ever see his award citation?" Mac asked as she turned around to stare out the window.

"I know they don't give those medals out to just anybody." Lia said speaking to Mac's back as Mac continued to look out the window.

"When you hold off six hundred and eighty North Koreans in order to rescue a downed airman with nothing but an M-16A2 and ten clips of five point five six: that's conduct above and beyond the call of duty, Lia. This guy is no rear echelon pencil pusher and you recognized the bitterness in his voice? He's been yanked out of line duty and forced into this situation and he isn't liking it one bit." Mac returned philosophically stroking her own chin as she looked out the window. She turned around to face Lia and advised. "You might consider cutting him a bit of slack."

"I'll consider cutting him a bit of slack." Lia replied with no small amount of annoyance "But it doesn't mean I have to like him."

"Well…it's a start." Mac admitted.

Red Robin, Falls Church, VA 1225hrs

Animal bit into a mushroom white Swiss melt burger. It was delicious and the look on Harm's face was absolutely hysterically funny. After he chewed and swallowed, Animal said. "You still eat grass and shrubs? Harm?"

"Ugh…dead cow? That thing's a heart-attack waiting to happen." Harm replied; his index finger pointing at the burger that Animal was chowing down on.

"But absolutely delicious. So…how's that plate of rabbit food…and croutons. What the hell atrocities did they do to that bread? You could make an absolutely delicious roast beef sandwich and what do they do…cut stale bread into squares?" Animal went off on a humor laced tirade about vegetarians. Harm just rolled his eyes. "So…how's the JAG office treating you?"

"Not bad. I'm enjoying it." Harm said.

"But not as much as you would have if you were still flying?" Animal asked.

"Yeah…but I don't have that any more to fall back on. You remember Gary Hochhausen?" Harm asked Animal.

"Yeah. I hear he got taken down when he cheated on the eye exam, his vision got screwed up to the point where he clipped wires and crashed taking out a mother and son driving on the highway. Some hotshot JAG lawyer took him out." Harm winced as Animal gave a point-by-point rundown on what he knew.

"Yep." Harm said with some pain in his voice. "I was that hotshot JAG lawyer."

"Awwww shit, Harm…" Animal shook his head.

"I had to do what was right and what happened was that civilian mom and kid were killed. If Gary wasn't taken out of the cockpit, there would be no justice for them." Harm stated clearly but his eyes looking at Animal for forgiveness. He hadn't wanted to ground his mentor, but he had to do what was right.

"Well, you did the right thing. God hope that I know when it's time to hang the wings up. But like you, that decision got taken away from me." Animal's tone was bitter, his voice giving Harm clues. "And I thought I was doing the right thing too…the honorable thing."

"Animal, not many of us have the courage to do the right thing…and that's threatening to a lot of people who don't know what it's like to have to take all of one's fears and compartmentalize it to do the job that you have to do." Harm looked down at his plate of salad, his appetite suddenly gone.

"Everybody looks at your wings…and wonders why you're not out there pushing the envelope instead of being stuck at a cushy rear echelon job. Everyone wonders if there's something wrong with you or you had the ultimate gut-check and failed. Or they look at me and wonder if you've just been deified by the High Almighty." Animal replied as he looked down at his ribbon rack on his blues. "It's a crock of shit and you have to make the best of it."

JAG Headquarters, Falls Church, VA, 1255hrs

As Animal and Harm returned to the office. AJ Chegwidden called for them to come to his office. When the two officers assembled in the office, AJ turned to them and said. "I hope that your investigation is going smoothly. I hear you're going to be interviewing personnel here for your report."

"Yes, sir." Animal replied calmly knowing that this was a measuring stick by which he was being judged by the admiral. "It was a requirement specifically required by the Chief of Naval Operations."

"So the CNO wasn't liking the noises he heard out of FMO?" AJ asked pointedly.

"That, sir, is above my pay-grade. I'm just here to collect and disseminate information." Animal eyeballed the admiral. This was an unspoken challenge between two warriors: the Navy Cross on Admiral Chegwidden's ribbon rack versus the Medal of Honor on Animal's. Neither officer would give an inch.

"I'm sure…" …damn the fact that admirals had to salute Medal of Honor recipients. Thought Admiral Chegwidden as he bit the two words out.

JAG Headquarters, Falls Church, VA, 1320hrs

Liandra was fuming silently as she looked at the clock ticking towards 1330hrs. The self-important captain wasn't here yet. She wondered just how long he was about to make her wait…when the door opened.

"Lieutenant Commander." The captain's voice said. "Did they not teach you at OCS to stand when a senior officer comes into the room?"

"Yes, sir." LCDR Gracen swore to herself as she picked herself out of the chair into a position of attention in front of her chair. The damned stuck-up aviator thinks he can sweet-talk me?

"Be that as it may…" Animal said as he arranged his briefcase and his file in front of him as well as a notepad. "So…Lieutenant Commander, are you happy here at JAG?"

That question threw Lia for a loop. Wasn't it obvious to the captain?

As if he heard the question, the captain narrowed his eyes at her and said. "Appearances can be deceiving, Lieutenant Commander. Sometimes the deepest currents are the strongest…and those currents cannot be detected by those scanning the surface."