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1600 Zulu Wednesday
Chief of Naval Operations Office
Pentagon, Virginia
“Mrs. Wilson, show Lieutenant Commander MacKenzie into my office as soon as he arrives. I was just notified that he had just checked in with security.”
“Yes. Admiral. Should I arrange for some refreshments for him?”
“No, he won’t be staying long.”
It took longer than the Admiral liked for the Lieutenant Commander to make his appearance to his office. ‘I should have had security escort him here. I tend to forget that it takes time to remember the difficulty navigating the rabbit maze that this building has for someone not used to getting from point a to point b.’
“Admiral, the Commander is here.” Mrs. Wilson’s voice was heard on the intercom box.
Lieutenant Commander Sam MacKenzie stepped into the office, marched up to the Admiral’s desk, and saluted.
“Lieutenant Commander MacKenzie reporting as ordered, Sir.”
“Good Morning, Commander. Have a seat.”
“Sir, what’s this meeting about, since you told me last night that I was off duty until Friday afternoon?”
“It appears that we will have to reschedule your award ceremony until later because you will not be around here to accept your medals.”
“Sir?”
“Do you remember what happened on the Henry last week when Mr. Webb tried to order you to fulfill a mission?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, since he couldn’t get you to accept the mission, he used Team #09 for it. They have missed the past last two check-ins and haven’t been heard from since calling in Sunday evening to let us know that they landed safely. I want you to go in, locate them, and bring them home.”
“Has Mr. Webb been advised about all my requirements before taking on this mission, sir?”
“No, he hasn’t yet but he will be as soon as we’re finished here.”
“He’s not going to like turning over what I’ll likely demand from him, sir.”
“Sierra Tango. When will you be able to go?”
“Since I haven’t had time to gather all the documents that I was ordered to have, I’m guessing it will take about 10 days, sir.”
“Granted, 10 days. ‘You could have asked for thirty. The CIA isn’t telling us everything or letting us even see the satellite Intel. I’ve got a strong feeling that you’ll just find the bodies.’ You will stage out of Pax River. Good hunting and come back safely, otherwise the President is going to enjoy chewing my six if you happen to go MIA or KIA.”
1030 Zulu - Fifteen Days Later
Seaview Farm Inn
St. Croix, US Virgin Islands
It was 15 minutes after sunrise when Sam walked across Veterans Shore Drive. It was his last morning on the island and he wanted to spend the most of his time remaining by just sitting on the beach. The mission was weighing extra heavy on him this morning since he had finally finished all the files Mr. Webb had given to him. It was almost as painful as pulling teeth to get Webb to hand over those files to him, but Webb finally gave in yesterday when Sam threatened to go home and forget that he ever heard of one Clayton Webb. Webb knew that he couldn’t face his superiors or even anyone in the Navy once the CNO found out why Sam had returned home without Team #09.
Sam sat down in one of the Inn’s lounge chairs and fell asleep. A few hours had passed when he woke up to see Sara Bailey lying a few yards away from him sunbathing. She was the commander of the military cargo plane that he would be jumping out of on this mission. Sam gazed at the petite woman with waist-length blond hair and it made him wonder what Beth was up to. Sara propped herself up to take a drink and caught the expression on Sam’s face.
“You’re thinking about her again, aren’t you, Sam?”
“How did you know that?”
“Sam, a woman knows when a man is thinking about someone they love.”
“Sara, Beth is my RIO and a good friend. It’s against just about every regulation the Navy has about relationships. We were supposed to go on our first date when we got into port but couldn’t since I got pulled for this screwed up mission. So, I don’t know if I love her or if I’m missing having someone that I trust watching my back. This mission is giving me the creeps and I can’t seem to shake them.”
“Well, I see the signs and they indicate to me that it’s more than just a friendship.”
“That could be true. I need to ask you to do me a very important favor.”
“Sure, what is it?”
“You did tell me that you should be back at Andrews in two weeks or did I misunderstand? Because I need you make arrangements to meet me at Base Operations at Andrews when you get back there.”
“Yes, that’s when we are scheduled to get back home. Why do we need to meet then?”
“I need somebody that I can trust, that will be personally responsible for my carry bag and a file box, which I will give you this evening. But under no circumstances should you give them to Mr. Webb once I jump out of your bird. I figure it will take 6 days for me to complete my mission and a day for me to make it back to Andrews. We will meet at Base Ops one week after that. If I don’t show up there or they haven’t heard anything from me, I need you to hand carry them and hand them over directly to the Navy JAG, Admiral AJ Chegwidden. Can you promise me that you will do that?”
“Sure, Sam. I promise you that I will follow your request to the letter. Will you tell me why it’s so important?”
“I wish that I could give you more details than that but I really can’t. But I’m sure the Admiral will be more than glad to tell you.”
0258 Zulu – Following Day
It had been two hours since the C-141B’s wheels had left the Alexander Hamilton airport runway on its flight to Howard AFB, Panama. Sam had double-checked all his equipment that he could except the two sniper rifles and the silenced machine gun pistol that he would be using for the mission. The primary loadmaster, TSgt Laura Hughes, walked over to him to tell him that he needed to mask up. They were 10 minutes out from the jump point and they needed to depressurize the plane. Sam asked to borrow her headset so he could talk to the crew and he leaned down closer to her, so she could hear what was said.
“Captain, this is Sam.”
“Go ahead, Commander.”
“I want to thank your crew for the enjoyable five days we spent on St. Croix. You made me relax, up to a certain point that is, and it was a true godsend to have an entire lady crew to keep me company. Your husbands and boyfriends are very lucky men and I can only hope they treat you with the love and respect you all deserve. I hope to be back there in two weeks, and I’d be honored if you ladies would join me for a night on the town, my treat. I want to introduce you to my RIO, Beth, so maybe she can join us. God speed and have a safe return mission. Sam out.”
Sam landed on the Colombian beach waterline and made his way into the jungle. When he got out of sight of the beach, he dug a hole in the sand to bury his parachute, protective suit, and the rest of the equipment he wouldn’t need until he returned for the extraction. He added the protective carrying cases that his two rifles were stowed in; one was the standard M40A3 sniper rifle that all Marine snipers carried and the other was the M82A1A. After installing the silencers on both weapons, he checked to see if they were working correctly. He started out on his long 20-klick route to where the spy satellites had pointed out that Team #09’s hidden GPS markers were located. The agency didn’t have any good ground Intel to indicate where the Al-Qaeda drug operation people were and had only used rumors that they had received from the civilian population when they first sent in Team 9 to take out their base of operations in the area. Sam had chosen to use a longer trek into the area than the agency had recommended, and he certainly didn’t want to take the same one as the missing SEALs. He had a bad feeling about the lack of quality information.
By dawn, Sam was overlooking a large open area in the jungle. Checking the map, it was the same location where the SEALs had parachuted into, and sure enough the drug people controlled it. ‘Those bozos should have known by the locations of the team’s GPS markers that it was the same clearing they had jumped right into. They sent them right into a death trap and there’s things in the briefing material not making any sense to me, now.’ As he watched during the day, they were using the open area for a dirt runway for their drug planes. He saw them using vehicles to pull camouflage platforms over the runway before backing up under them. It took the dozen vehicles less than a quarter-hour to completely cover the runway up, which would then give the appearance that the area was just a huge open hole in the Colombian jungle if someone looked at the area from the skies. Sam witnessed the men running out from under the cover towards the far side of the opening into a huge camouflaged area, which he would have missed seeing if it wasn’t for them running towards it.
He watched the compound for the next two days and counted two dozen people moving about in the area. On the third day, he caught sight of a medium-built blond-haired man and wondered if he was the boss of the operation down there. They were busy as bees as they would run in and out to cover or uncover the runway. Planes would land and take off as often as they would have done at a small private airport in the states. They stopped all operations every 45 minutes to re-cover the runway except for one time when the schedule was changed. That time after they covered the runway, Sam heard and saw the Colombian Military O-2 Super Skymaster fly over the clearing. ‘Shit, not only do they have satellite Intel, they must have some type of radar.’
On the fourth evening just before dark, he started taking out the druggies as they finished covering the runway for the night. The first fifteen shots were easy targets with his silenced rifle; they were the twelve men who were the vehicle drivers and the three-man walking patrol. But the final nine were the hardest of the bunch: since they were inside the compound and too far for his comfort with the trusty M40, he switched to his M82 rifle to take them out. Overall, Sam had only used twenty-five shots to take out all the men he had seen during his stay on the hilltop. So, he waited a few more hours before starting to creep towards the compound just in case he had miscounted. It took him close to an hour to cross the two hundred meters to the opening of the compound and another hour to ensure that none of the druggies were still alive, and that he had not missed counting. Going from one body to the next, Sam went through their clothing, hoping to find some clues to answer the nagging question in the back of his mind. Finding nothing on the bodies, he went from building to building taking pictures as he rummaged for clues. He located the blond guy and found the clue that he needed. It was a total shock to him when he opened the small bi-folded identification wallet. ‘Those bastards – wait until I get a hold of Webb, I’m going to rip him a new...’ Sam finally ran across the location where the bodies of the team were and puked his guts out. From the looks and smell from their bodies, they had been killed shortly after calling in that they had landed safely.
Sam sat down to cuss and think about how in the world he was going to get all six bodies to the extraction point. Everyone had hoped that the team was still alive or injured and being held as hostages. There was no way that Sam could travel to and back from the extraction point carrying all of them before dawn, which was less than three hours away. He knew that the planes would start coming back, expecting the drug operation to resume its normal operations. The only way he figured he could get all of them there was to put them in the back of a pick-up and then drive the 20-klicks back to the ocean. So, he started picking up each member and carrying them out to one of the pickups they used for the platforms. He finally had gotten all six members in the bed of the pickup. He went around to set the explosive charges on everything including the runway platforms, and once he accomplished that, he started driving to the extraction point.
Everything was going as he had re-planned to do until the last klick of the route, when he ran right into a roving drug patrol. A major shootout erupted between them, and Sam was hit in the left thigh and right shoulder before the last druggie was taken out. He used his first aid kit and got his wounds patched as well as he could, hoping it would be enough to stop the bleeding until he could get better medical attention. Things got even worse when he finally arrived at the extraction point. He tried the radio time after time trying to raise Mr. Webb. It was prearranged for Webb to be waiting for his signal to arrange to dispatch pick-up for them, but all he got was silence and static. ‘One more thing to rip the hide off of Webb for.’
The only safe way left for Sam to get home, or at least into the hands of friendly forces, was to find a boat or something that could be used to float the 3 miles into international waters before activating his EPIRB [Emergency Position Indicating Rescue Beacon]. He located a wooden Johnboat that would still float. It was just big enough to hold the team and his equipment that he had removed from its hidden location. He was worried about his dressings not holding his wounds from bleeding into the shark infested Caribbean waters while he pulled the Johnboat behind him. So, he wrapped his wounds again as tightly as he could with his shoulder wound being the hardest to correctly dress since he could only use one hand. He put on his insulated jumper’s suit and prayed that it would help keep his dressings secure, but it was even more difficult getting into it since it was a tight fit and hard to get on even if he wasn’t hurting like he was.
He pushed the Johnboat into the Caribbean, grabbed the towrope, and started swimming towards safety. Sam never remembered reaching that point where the 3-mile limit was or activating the EPIRB. When asked about it later, all he could tell anybody was what the crew of the USS Wake Island told him: They had picked up the bodies and him a little more than four miles off the coast. In his debrief on the mission, he could recall the start of the swim and waking up in the medical ward aboard ship nine days later. The ship’s crew hadn’t seen or heard from Clayton Webb the entire time he was aboard the Wake Island, even though that was there where Webb was supposed to be waiting for him once the mission started. Less than an hour after Sam woke up, they transported him to Howard to catch the morning’s C-9A Nightingale Medical transport back to the states. But when he got to Howard, he got up from the stretcher and signed a medical release form. Then, he caught a ride to the Navy hangar and took off in a Tomcat for Andrews AFB; which was day fourteen of the mission.
1200 Zulu
Andrews AFB, DC
The 459th C-141B cargo plane touched down on the runway after two US Marine F/A-18s had taken off and two other Hornets did a fly over. At the end of the runway, a pick-up truck with a lighted follow me sign waited for the cargo plane to reach them. As the plane drew closer to the truck, it started moving down the taxiway with the plane following it towards the ramp area. It had been almost a month since the plane and its crew had departed on their mission to the Caribbean. Soon, the plane had reached its parking location, and the ground crew waited for the pilot to shutdown the four engines before moving into place the plane’s pins and chock the wheels. The plane’s spotter, SSgt Franks, carefully watched his crew place the chocks. He slowly walked to the aircrew door, waiting for the loadmaster to open it from within to allow him to climb aboard the plane and start debriefing the crew. Once inside, he climbed into the cockpit using the four step wall-mounted ladder and he watched the plane’s engineer to stand-up from her table, which allowed the SSgt to sit-down there and to inspect the plane’s maintenance book. After looking completely through the book and seeing nothing that caused him heartaches, he shut the book.
“Welcome home, Captain Bailey! How was your trip down south?”
“It’s good to be home, Sergeant. It was a very nice trip but longer than we expected to take. It’s still nerve-wracking to have a flying escort once we got within the DC area. Anything in the book that we need to explain to you?”
“No, Ma’am. Everything was self-explanatory. Good thing that all you had was little gripes and easy repairs cause we have to get the bird flight-ready for another trip to Panama in four hours.”
“What’s the fast turnaround for?”
“All I was told, Ma’am, was to refuel the bird and configure the floor to receive the six empty caskets the aerial port received two hours ago.”
“Oh Shit…! You said 6, Sergeant!”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Looking out the cockpit window, SSgt Franks saw the blue school bus pull up in front of the plane to transport the crew around. “Your ride is here, Ma’am.”
“Thank You, Sergeant. All right people, let’s get out of the Sergeant’s way so he can get on with his job getting this bird flight-ready.”
The crew got all their bags and gifts that they’d picked up while they were away, loaded everything aboard the bus, and departed for customs and then base ops before heading towards the squadron’s building. Once there, each crewmember picked up their bag to carry them to their respective vehicles and then head for their homes.
“Hey, Sara. What are you going to do with these?” Lieutenant Jensen asked as she picked up the locked file box and Navy bag.
“Thanks for reminding me cause I almost forgot about them … kinda hard to forget since I’ve been carrying them around for almost two weeks. Since Sam wasn’t at Ops and they hadn’t heard or seen him, then I need to follow-up with his request. I’m to hand-carry them to the Navy JAG. Before you ask what they contain, no, I only know that it was important enough to Sam that he begged me to keep them safe for him. He was so…” Sam’s face turned bright red. “If I didn’t know that he was so hung up on his partner, well he could have gotten me to do just about anything he wanted me to do for or with him.”
“The whole crew is interested and have helped you keep an eye on them. If the JAG tells you what’s inside them, we’re hoping that you let us know the answer. From the talk I’ve heard, I think everyone felt like that for him, so you wasn’t the only one thinking that. It’s too bad that my Eric doesn’t treat me half as well or make me feel as gorgeous like Sam did. Beth’s sure a very lucky woman, which makes me think about moving on without Eric – there has to be the prefect match for me out there somewhere.”
“Ok, Lauren. See ya next week and I’ll tell the whole crew if I can.”
Sara Bailey slung her bags into the trunk of her red corvette, placed Sam’s on the floorboard, and started her car. She had to stop at the main gate to get directions to the Navy’s HQ JAG offices: with her being Air Force, she didn’t have a clue to where they would be located in Washington, DC.
1430 Zulu
HQ JAG
Falls Church, VA
Sara pulled up to the guard shack leading into the JAG parking lot after showing the Marine guard her identification card. She located a guest-parking slot and pulled her corvette into it. She stretched as she got out of the vehicle and saw two other corvettes pull in to park across from where she parked. She watched the drivers exit their vehicles. She saw two officers, a Marine Lieutenant Colonel and a Navy Commander, get out of them and walk into the building. ‘That Commander was handsome, and a pilot, too. I wonder if he’s single. Ah! Quit it, Sara.’ She picked up the items and walked into the building. She saw 2 Marines behind a glass security station and walked up to it.
“Corporal, I’m Captain Sara Bailey and I have a package and bag to deliver directly to the JAG.”
“Do you have an appointment, Ma’am?”
“No, Corporal, I don’t. I just landed my plane at Andrews 2½ hours ago and came straight from there.”
“You can leave them with me, Ma’am.”
“No, Corporal. I can’t. I promised a Navy SEAL that I would hand deliver them to Admiral Chegwidden, the JAG, and no one else”
“You said SEAL, Ma’am.” The Corporal’s eyes got huge when he heard that.
“Yes.”
“I need to see your ID card and you need to fill out the visitor’s log. Then I can give you a pass. You’ll need to go to the second floor, turn right, go through the double glass doors, and you’ll be in JAG ops. Anyone in there can point you to the Admiral’s office. I’ll call up there and let them know to expect you, Ma’am.”
“Thank you, Corporal.”
She walked though the glass doors while clipping the visitor’s badge onto her flight suit. After getting off the elevator, she walked into JAG Ops and almost got run over by the same Marine Lieutenant Colonel she saw a few minutes earlier.
“Pardon me, Captain. Can I help you? I’m Sarah MacKenzie.”
After hearing her last name, it took a few seconds for Sara to respond to the Colonel.
“Thanks, Ma’am. I’m Sara Bailey. I need to locate Admiral Chegwidden. I’ve got some things that I need to give to him.”
Mac wondered why the Captain seemed confused and slow to answer her. By looking at her flight suit, she guessed that she was probably tired since it appeared that she had just arrived at Andrews and didn’t have time to change into ‘Blues’.
“If you’ll follow me, I’ll escort you to the Admiral’s office.”
“Lead on, Ma’am.”
Mac led the Captain to Petty Officer Tiner’s office. PO Jennifer Coates was sitting at the desk, since she was filling in for PO Tiner while he was on leave that week taking care of some paperwork for his law school.
“Petty Officer Coates, this is Captain Bailey. She needs to see the Admiral.”
“Yes, Ma’am. Security just let me know to expect her.”
Mac turned around. “PO Coates will take care of you Captain, it’s been nice meeting you.”
“Thank you, Ma’am.” Sara said to the departing Colonel.
“If you’ll just take a seat, Ma’am, I’ll let the Admiral know that you’re here. May I ask what this is regarding, Ma’am?”
“I have some things that I’m supposed to hand deliver to him from a Navy SEAL.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
PO Coates reached over to toggle the intercom call button.
“Yes, PO Coates.”
“Admiral, you have a visitor – an Air Force Captain – she’s delivering some things from a SEAL.”
“I’ll be right out, PO. Ask the Captain if she would like some refreshments. If she does, please get them for her and bring them to my office.”
“Aye. Aye. Sir!”
Admiral AJ Chegwidden slowly took off his reading glasses and placed them down on his desk. ‘Damn. There’s only one reason why a SEAL would send material to me via a courier.’ He got up from his chair and walked to the door.
“Captain, I’m Admiral AJ Chegwidden, the Navy JAG. Please come in and have a seat.”
Sara got out from the chair she was sitting in and walked into the office. There she saw the two nice looking leather chairs facing the Admiral’s desk. She sighed as she slowly sat her weary body down into the closest one to her. She turned slightly and watched the Admiral as he sat down in the other one.
“I’m Sara Bailey, sir. Sorry to bother you, Admiral. But I promised Lieutenant Commander Samuel MacKenzie that I would hand deliver these to you if he wasn’t there to met me at Andrews when I landed. We were a week delayed in returning from Panama – so, I checked with Base Ops and they hadn’t heard anything from him.”
AJ paused a few moments before answering her when he heard her say Lieutenant MacKenzie’s name. He had feared it was his box.
“That’s ok, Captain. Do you know what’s inside that box?” AJ pointed to the file box.
“No, Sir. I don’t have a clue and if it isn’t too personal … my entire crew and I were hoping that you would tell me about it. Sam said that you might be willing to explain it to me. I’ve been curious about it since Sam made me promise to bring it here.”
Sara held the box out and placed it into the Admiral’s huge hands.
“This is a special SEAL Team box. Since Vietnam, it has been the SEAL team tradition that any time they go on a mission – they write a letters to people that are special to them in case they end up MIA or KIA.”
“Oh, no! He was looking forward of returning home to be with his girl, Beth.”
It wasn’t news people wanted to hear from a SEAL member. He stood up and walked around his desk, took a key out of the center drawer, and returned to the chair to open the box. AJ looked inside and pulled out a file folder with the SEAL Trident sticker on its center. He opened the folder up and saw four letters inside.. Before he could read the names on them, he heard a knock on the hatch.
“Enter.” AJ said knowing it must be Jen with the Captain’s refreshments.
Jen walked into the office carrying a small tray with a couple of donuts and large cup of coffee.
“Excuse me Admiral, I’ve got the Captain’s refreshments. Here you go, Ma’am. Anything else you need?”
“No thank you, PO.” Sara took the tray … hoping that neither saw her trembling hands as she accepted it from the PO.
“PO, hold my calls until I tell you otherwise.”
“Aye. Aye. Sir!”
After seeing the Captain’s trembling hand, Jen turned to leave the office knowing that something was upsetting her. AJ had noticed too and was concerned as to the reason why she was suddenly so shaky. As the door was shut, AJ turned his attention back towards the letters. It surprised him that the top one was addressed to him – he looked at the second one; it was addressed to the Lieutenant Commander Elizabeth Hawkes – the third one was addressed to the woman sitting before him – the fourth one was a total shock to him. He walked behind his desk, sat down, and opened the letter addressed to him:
Admiral;
My departure from Washington was so secret that I couldn’t tell anyone where I was going or when to expect me to return. Since you’re my team leader, I wanted to let you know that if you’re reading this letter, I’m either dead or missing in action. CIA agent Clayton Webb tasked me to HA-LO into Colombia to locate and recover seal team 9. Enclosed in this team box are all the documents that he provided me for this mission and it includes the written orders that I insisted that he gave me. From what I read and understood from these classified documents, Mr. Webb sent team #09 on a mission with piss poor Intel and expected me to clean up his screwed up operation. You’ve probably seen the 3 other letters in the folder with this one. The first one is addressed to my RIO. The second one is for the Air Force Captain who delivered the box to you. She and I became good friends and I wanted to explain to her why I asked her to deliver the team box to you. The third one is harder to explain – it’s to my sister, Sarah. I’m guessing it could be Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Mackenzie, but I’m not sure. Just in case it is the Colonel, give her the unsealed letter to read and I’ll be extremely sorry to put her through this if she isn’t the one. I didn’t even know I had a sister until 2 days before I departed for this mission. I found out when I gathered all my legal documents for safe keeping, per team orders, and placed them inside a safety deposit box. This box is at the Pax River Credit Union and the key for it is inside her letter.
Sir, I have no clue how to locate my sister if she isn’t Colonel MacKenzie, or who to contact for any information on her. I don’t even know if she or our parents are alive or not – my foster parents couldn’t answer that question when I asked them. So, I’m turning to you, my team leader, with the hope that you can locate my sister. I’m not concerned about finding my biological parents, only my sister. If you do locate her, please tell her that I’m sorry it had to be this way and that I wished I could have met her while I was alive. That’s kinda funny, it’s only been a week that I’ve known about a sister at all, and I already feel a huge empty spot in my heart for her. Please look after Sarah, sir, if you can locate her; I’ll be eternally grateful to you for doing so.
Hoo-ya!
Lieutenant Commander Samuel Austin MacKenzie
‘I’ll be damned … this is totally weird, almost X-Files material… Sam asked me to locate his sister and it could be Mac. This is totally freaky.’ He reached the toggle:
“PO Coates, get MacKenzie and Rabb. And have them join us, ASAP!”
“Aye. Aye. Sir!”
A few minutes later the door opened with Mac and Harm entering the office.
“Mac, have a seat. Harm, pull up another chair. Colonel Mackenzie, Commander Rabb – this is Captain Sara Bailey.”
Both of them turned and looked at the petite blond Air Force Captain sitting in the other chair.
“Captain Bailey just handed me a SEAL team file box a few minutes ago. As you know, the only time a team file box is given to another person to hold for them is when they don’t trust the person sending them on a mission. If something happens to an entire team, that person asked to hold the box for them is asked to deliver it to this office. Which she has just accomplished.”
He heard his two officers take a gasp of air.
“In this case, the team consisted of a single member who was sent on a extraction mission to locate and retrieve another SEAL Team. Anyhow, he had set-up with Captain Bailey here to meet him at Andrews when she returned. . But she arrived a few hours ago and there was no word or sign from him.”
“Captain, how did you get the box?” Harm carefully asked her.
“Commander, the mission that Sam was on – well, he used my plane for that purpose. We staged out of the Virgin Islands awaiting word from the mission director. Well, my crew spent a lot of time there getting to know him, and we enjoying being around him. He said he was working alone and didn’t trust his boss for the mission. So, he asked me to hold onto the box and meet him at Andrews. He had figured that it would only take six days for the mission and another additional day to return to Andrews. He was supposed to be back here almost a week before my scheduled arrival here, but I was delayed another week due to maintenance problems … so basically, he’s two weeks overdue That’s how I got the box.”
“You staged out of the Virgin Islands, where did Sam go?” Mac asked and she started to get a funny feeling in her bones.
“Colonel, we flew an empty plane except for Sam to Panama and he jumped out of it into Colombia.”
“Sir, do you want us to go to Colombia to locate him?”
“Admiral that may not be necessary. When I arrived this morning at Andrews, the ground crew chief told me that they were turning the bird around ASAP. They were going to load six empty caskets aboard and fly back to Panama.”
“Humm… six you say. Well, that’s a full team. So, I guess Sam accomplished his mission but must have not survived if he didn’t meet you on time or even get word to you that he was delayed. At least he accomplished his mission. Hoo-ra!”
Everyone smiled when AJ sang out the famed Seal sound. AJ turned serious.
“Now, that brings up some other delicate issues… Captain…” AJ reopened the SEAL folder and extracted the envelope addressed to her. “Since we have to assume what Sam’s status is by receiving no word from him, as well as sending six caskets to Panama, according to SEAL traditions…” He handed the letter to her. Sara’s hand was trembling more than ever when it reached her hand. “Commander, can she use your office to have some privacy while she reads it?”
“Of course, Sir!”
“Captain?”
Sara looked up at the Admiral with tear-filled eyes and slowly nodded her head. AJ used the intercom toggle summing PO Coates into the office.
“PO Coates, escort the Captain to Commander Rabb’s office. Close the blinds – guard the door – don’t let anyone inside it unless it’s one of the three of us here.”
“Aye. Aye. Sir!”
“Ma’am, if you’ll allow me to help you to Commander Rabb’s office.”
“Sure, PO. Call me Sara.”
Jen helped Sara stand and supported her to the Commander’s office. As the three officers remaining in the Admiral’s office watched the shaken Captain leave the office, AJ turned his attention to Mac and Harm.
“Sam, the SEAL the Captain was referring to, is the same Sam that you two meet aboard the Henry and flew back here with. According to this letter,” he said, holding up the letter he had just read a few moments before, “there’s a good possibility that the he could be your brother, Mac. In his letter to me, he requested for me to give it to you just in case you are. If not, he states he’s sorry for putting you though this. Then it will be up to us to locate his sister, Sarah, for him and give her this letter from him.”
AJ opened the SEAL file again and extracted the letter for Mac. He carefully placed it in Mac’s suddenly shaking outstretched hand. Mac stared at the envelope with ‘Sarah MacKenzie’ clearly and neatly printed on it. She turned to Harm and held it out to him.
“Harm, please… I can’t…”
Harm took the letter from her hand… it was breaking his heart seeing her torn up this way. He reached for the letter opener lying on AJ’s desk not realizing that it was unsealed. Slowly, he pulled the paper from the envelope along with some pictures and a key. Then he looked at Mac, while she nodded, indicating he should continue. He unfolded the paper and started to read:
Dear Sarah,
This is probably as huge a shock to you as it was to me. I’m going to guess you’re not the Sarah MacKenzie that I met a few weeks ago. But I may be wrong, I just don’t know for sure.
You have just received this letter from Admiral AJ Chegwidden, the Naval Judge Advocate General. I’m a US Navy SEAL and F-14 Tomcat Pilot.
Anyhow, let me write how I learned about you. I was at Pax River waiting for my airlift for a delicate SEAL mission.
Around the first part of month, a man named Clayton Webb showed up demanding that I take a mission, which I refused to do because he wouldn’t follow the instructions that I had been given before accepting any such missions.
Anyhow, I’m normally a pilot and got into a major air-to-air battle. We ended up shooting down eleven enemy planes a few days before Webb showed up on my carrier. They recalled me and my partner to Washington to receive some type of medals because of this air action. While waiting for the day of the ceremony, the Chief of Naval Operations activated my SEAL designator and had me to report to Webb. So, Webb had actually located and gotten somebody to order me on this mission. I was given ten days to get my personal stuff together.
While I was gathering my things, I needed a copy of my birth certificate. It seems that the State Department never returned mine to me after fulfilling my passport application. I flew out to Arizona and walked into state records office and asked for a copy of my birth certificate. The clerk just wrote down my name along with the first letter of my first name. She found a certificate, copied it, certified it, and gave it to me. I walked out of there and never bothered to check to see if it was the correct one or not. Well, as I was placing everything into a bank safety deposit box – two days before I left on this mission – I opened the envelope containing the birth certificate. Well, I just about fell through the floor when I saw the name on it. It was your certificate and I may be totally wrong about the entire thing. If I’m wrong than I’m sorry for bothering you. If I’m correct with what my gut tells me then it makes me your younger brother by slightly less than 10 years.
I don’t know who the other 2 names on the birth certificate are … I’m guessing they are our birth parents if you’re my sister. I don’t want to sound cold-hearted here but it doesn’t matter and I don’t care if they are alive or not. You’re the only one whom I would ever care to locate; you might have the answers to why I was abandoned. From what the people who raised me told me … they found me on their front porch one morning … all I had were a couple of pictures and a note asking them to take care of the me … the pictures are enclosed in this letter. I can only hazard to guess whom all the people are.
Anyhow, that’s how I found out about you, and I’m wishing there was a different way for you to find out about me. Enclosed is a key for all my personal documents and it is located at the credit union at Pax.
There are two fill in the blank Presidential Executive Orders for a waiver to a Navy regulation that I want you to deliver to my partner, Elizabeth Hawkes. I want her to keep one for herself and it will be up to her who to give the other one to.
I Love You Sis … even though I never got to meet you and barely know anything about you.
Love You,
Sam
1459Z
Andrews AFB, DC.
A lone Tomcat touched down and quickly taxied to the Alert Hangar aircraft-parking ramp. After shutting down the craft’s electronics, the pilot opened the canopy, took off his flight helmet, and propped it on the front portion of the plane’s canopy. A seemingly tall aviator slowly climbed out of it, and once he reached the ground, he unhitched his g-suit rigging and let it drop to the ground. He had flown non-stop from Howard AFB already today and was tired for more than one reason. He ran his hands threw his reddish brown hair and sighed. Unknown to him at the time, a Petty Officer stood beside him, shaking her head as she watched his actions. She had never seen a pilot that tired from a flight and it was the first time she had ever seen one of them drop their equipment as carelessly as he had just done. She chalked it up to him looking like he was totally out of it. He turned and finally noticed her standing beside her.
“PO, could you call base operations and see if Air Force C-141B tail number 60176, piloted by Captain Sara Bailey, has arrived or when it’s due back?”
“Yes, Sir. No problem. I’ll be right back with the information.”
The pilot picked up his rigging and hung it on the plane’s ladder, turning his attention to the CPO that was walking up to the plane.
“Chief, refuel the plane. No gripes to mention. I gotta return to Pax River as soon as I can locate somebody and I hope it isn’t too late to prevent her from doing something.”
“Aye. Aye. Sir.”
The Commander turned and walked towards the truck the PO was sitting in and was talking to Base Ops. He heard part of the conversation Ops was passing to her – according to them the plane had arrived a few hours ago and the crew was resting. Groaning, he knew where he could locate Captain Bailey – she was either still at JAG or had already left after delivering the team box to the Admiral. ‘Damn, too late to stop her … maybe I can get there before the Admiral starts passing out the letters.’
“PO, I need to get a ride over to HQ JAG, ASAP!”
The PO jumped out of the truck and ran over to the Chief. After talking to the Chief, she returned to the truck.
“Sir, if you would get in – the Chief has authorized me to drive you over there.”
“Thank you, PO.”
He slowly got into the truck and was asleep before it had gotten off the aircraft-parking ramp. The Petty Officer took her time getting to the JAG building to allow him the extra few minutes of rest that he so desperately seemed to need. She didn’t notice the blood red spot on his right shoulder getting larger as she drove. Almost forty minutes later, she stopped the truck beside the guard shack leading into the JAG parking lot.
“Commander, wake up. We’re here.”
She couldn’t get the tall aviator to answer her. ‘Hopefully, he won’t be offended and put me on report by my doing this.’ She reached over and shook him.
“Sir, wake up. We’re here.”
The pilot slowly woke up and a huge smile formed on his face.
“Thank you, for waking me, PO. I’ll find my way back to the base after I speak to the Admiral.”
“You’re welcome, Sir.”
The Commander got out of the truck and walked past the guard shack and into the building. He paused as soon as he got inside the building for he caught sight of a man, who looked like Clayton Webb. He then quickly walked up to the security station, grabbed the visitor’s log, and looked at the last name on it. ‘That was Webb.’ His fury started building, and he quickly filled out the form before grabbing his visitor’s badge. He saw the elevator doors close and decided to take the stairs up to the second floor. He practically ran up the stairs hoping to catch up to Mr. Webb before he could disappear.
Luckily as he opened the stairway door, he saw that Webb had just walked through the double glass doors leading into an office area. He ran and busted through the doors, caught Webb by the scruff of the neck, and threw him against the wall. Webb’s eyes got huge when he saw the tall angry Navy aviator-seal standing before him. Before Webb could say anything, the Commander busted him in the mouth and then threw him through the glass doors. Marine guards quickly tried to pull the angry aviator off the helpless CIA agent but were unable to do so. It wasn’t until Admiral Chegwidden had rushed out into the bullpen after hearing the ruckus that things began to settle down in the bullpen.
“What in the blazing hell is going on out here? Sailor, stand down and take your hands off Mr. Webb.”
Sam stood up, still holding onto Webb’s collar. With Sam standing up, it placed Webb’s head three feet from the floor, and Sam didn’t let go of the collar until then.
“On your knees, Mister. And place your hands on your head,” one of the Marine guards angrily shouted at Sam.
Sam smiled at that command for he had noticed one of Webb’s legs was elevated cause to his foot was wedged against the wall. So he dropped straight down on top of Webb’s leg with his knees and the sickening sound of bones breaking could be heard all over the room. Webb’s scream sounded a few seconds later as well as the sounds of a few people losing their breakfasts. The Marine guards cuffed Sam as the Admiral walked over. Sara Bailey had heard the commotion out in the bullpen and opened the door to see what was going on. A sound came out of her mouth as she passed out when she saw Sam kneeling there alive and being handcuffed. PO Coates, still guarding the door, saw her starting to crumble and prevented her from hitting the floor. Everyone’s eyes turned toward the sound and watched her faint.
“Rabb, take her into my office and lay her on the couch. Somebody call the EMTs for her and Mr. Webb.”
AJ got to the handcuffed Naval officer and saw his nametag.
“COMMANDER MACKENZIE, MY OFFICE NOW!”
The Marines helped Sam get to his feet and he followed the Admiral into his lair. As soon as he stepped into the office, he did a header as he passed out from fatigue and blood loss from his wounds. The Admiral was so steamed that he didn’t hear Sam hit the floor. But Harm had and turned.
“Admiral!”
AJ turned around to see Sam lying on the floor and quickly rushed to his side and as he turned Sam over, he then saw the bloody looking spots on the flight suit.
“Colonel, grab the shears out of my top desk drawer.”
Mac shook herself out of the state of mind she was in and got up. She pulled the shears out of the desk and handed them to the Admiral. She finally saw who was lying there and almost passed out herself. Harm quickly caught her and gently made her sit down on the floor beside him.
“Oh, my god. Sam!” Mac looked up at AJ and Harm with tears flowing.
AJ had cut away the flight suit from his shoulder and his left thigh, leaving the blood red soaked bandages exposed.
“From the looks of it, he is in real bad shape. Don’t know how he could have been released from the hospital with him still bleeding like this. Webb is a lucky bastard that Sam is in as bad shape as he is in … if he wasn’t Webb would be dead.”
“Why would he attack Clay like that?”
“Colonel, we won’t have those answers until Sam wakes up…”
Before AJ could say any more, there was a knock on the door, opening as the EMTs walked into the office.
“This one is bleeding badly.” AJ pointed to the man lying on the floor and then pointed towards the woman lying on the couch. “She passed out.”
1530Z
Bethesda Medical Center
Washington, DC.
Mac and Harm sat beside the ICU room bed quietly. They watched the lone figure lying there and wondered what had made him go crazy enough to almost beat Clayton Webb to death with his bare hands again. They were torn between wanting to be two different places at the same time – for across the hall; Clay lay in a similar bed.
“Why, Harm? Why did he do this?”
“I don’t have a clue, Mac. Hopefully, he’ll wake up and explain it to us.”
“You know that he’s facing an Article 32 and possible court-martial for his assault on Clay.”
“That depends on if he had that 007ish authorization letter. If he doesn’t, then he could be in some serious trouble. But until we have all the facts, we don’t know the reasons why he did what he did and it’s very feasible that he was justified in beating Clay like he did.”
“That’s a good possibility, Harm. Remember what he wrote in the letter to me. Clay had gotten someone to order him to go on this mission. Hopefully, that box will provide some answers.”
“Let’s go get something to eat, Mac.” Harm had heard Mac’s stomach growl and he stood up and gently guided Mac out into the hallway. “Could you wait for me in the waiting room, I need to use the bathroom first.”
Mac went out to the ICU waiting room, and it surprised her to see who was sitting in it; Presidential Press Secretary CJ Cregg, Lieutenant Commander Elizabeth Hawkes, Lieutenant Commander Cassie Puller, Lieutenant Commander Meg Austin, and the Admiral. Skates quickly got up from her chair to give Mac a huge hug.
“Colonel, it’s good to see you.”
“It’s great to see you too, Skates.”
“Sis, let me introduce everyone before I forget my manners: Lieutenant Commander Meg Austin, Lieutenant Commander Cassie Puller, CJ Cregg,” they all nodded their heads at the introductions; “this is Lieutenant Colonel Sarah MacKenzie.”
“How is he, Colonel?” Meg asked.
“He’s holding on but no major changes yet. He’s still on medication to help him rest and the doctor is hopeful to start bringing him out of it this evening. That’s all the doctor would tell us.”
“Beth, I gotta get back to the house. Call me if there’s any change in Sam’s condition?”
“I sure will let you know, CJ.” Beth looked embarrassed when she replied to her.
They all watched CJ Cregg walk down the hallway. The silence started to suffocate Mac.
“Harm and I were heading for the cafeteria to grab something to eat. Anyone care to join us?”
“Mac, I’m going back to the office to see what’s inside that box. Could Harm or you look in on Captain Bailey after you finish eating? She’s supposed to be resting in room 212.”
“Yes, sir. We will see how she’s doing,” Mac quickly said as AJ turned to leave and headed for the elevators.
Harm walked out of the room and they all started walking down the hall towards the elevators. Everyone was wondering how Skates knew CJ Cregg, but they were afraid to ask her.
“Harm, you know everybody here or do I need to make introductions again?” Skates asked while they were walking down the hallway with her arm around his waist.
“Yes, we have all seen each other one time or another.” Harm teased Beth with his answer, since he knew that Meg had probably told her that she was one of his JAG partners. “Why does everyone look so confused?”
“They’re probably wondering how I know CJ Cregg. You just missed seeing her ‘cause she had to get back to the White House.”
“Ah, so how did you met the famous CJ Cregg, Sis?” Harm teased her to answer the question since she had just side stepped answering it.
“Well we, Ace and I, were suppose to be at the Rose Garden to be awarded the Navy Cross and Air Medals in December but…”
“Navy Cross and Air Medals?”
“Yes, you big dope. Both Mac and you were the ones who did the investigation of our air battle. It hasn’t been that long ago but it’s ok if you have forgotten since you’re getting old.” Skates smiled as she said that to Harm.
“What – me getting old? You’ll pay for that.” Harm flashed a huge smile. “Meg, it’s great to see you again. What’s with this you’re… wearing wings, now?”
“Yes, they made me an offer that I could hardly turn down. If I became a radar intercept officer, they would give me a field promotion to Lieutenant Commander and then fill an executive squadron commander slot.”
“You deserved the promotion, Meg.” Harm turned to speak to Cassie. “It’s good to see you again, Lobo.”
“It’s good to see you. Looks like you have must be back on active flight status since the last time we met.” Cassie saw the oak leaf cluster on his DFC and remembered the stories Beth had told them about their adventures. The only time she had met Harm was when he was aboard the Seahawk. She ended up flying on the CAG’s wing and they suffered a bird strike, which knocked the CAG out. Harm had to land their crippled Tomcat and from her point of view, he was having a very difficult time doing it.
The elevator doors opened, so they got on, went down to the first floor, and walked into the cafeteria. They all sat down and it was very quiet while they ate, each deep into her or his own thoughts. Cassie was the first one to speak up.
“Meg, have you heard when we will be activated?”
“Your guess is as good as mine since there’s only been five people assigned to us, but I did find out some information about our squadron…”
“Come on, Meg. Don’t hold us in suspense,” Skates queried in.
“Our squadron will be the VF-213 Nightingales flying F-14Ds, and fly off the USS Patrick Henry which has Carrier Air Wing 1 attached to her. Our tail codes will be AB with the Modex series of 200 to 216, not sure where we’ll be home based out of yet.”
“Weren’t the Nightingales an all-female flying squadron during WWII?” Harm asked.
“Sure were, Harm. I should know after sitting on Bobbie’s congressional committee about females in the military,” Mac piped up.
“Humm, if the Nightingales are going to be an all lady squadron … how does that explain Sam?” Skates asked.
“Could be the same reason why he received my birth certificate when he had requested a replacement?” Mac sarcastically said without thinking.
“Huh! Is Sam related to you Colonel?” Meg gave Mac a serious look.
“If what I just heard and saw this morning are true, it’s a good possibility that he is my brother.”
Harm looked at the three lady aviators and saw the unbelievable looks they just gave Mac. He started chuckling at their expressions, and then stopped when he saw the look Mac just gave him.
“Sorry, Mac. But the looks they gave you were priceless.”
“I know but…” Mac still had a hard time believing Sam’s written story and seeing the pictures that were inside the letter. There were three of them: the first one pictured Joseph and Deanne MacKenzie; the second one had Joseph, Deanne, and herself; the last was a hospital birth picture of either Sam or herself. The infant was too tiny, she couldn’t tell which.
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