|
|
|
|
Title: Nightingale: Court Martial
Classification: Harm/Mac; Skates/Other
Type: Crossover – West Wing & Aero Girl’s story – Clearing Skies
Rating: 17 (Adult Theme, Adult Situations, Language)
Spoilers: Up to True Callings, Everything Afterwards Never Happens
Disclaimer: This is for entertainment purposes only. These characters belong to CBS, Paramount and DPB.
Author's Notes: This is my opinion and not to offend any other writers but I consider Aero Girl and Startrails68 in the top 5 of all the JAG fan fiction writers available today. (One of my other top 5 writers, is semi-retired.) So, this series (I hope) is totally dedicated to them.
Author’s Note 2: I’ve changed the rating of the last two chapters to ‘R’ due to the theme that I’ve ventured into. Nothing graphically will be written about this (I leave that up to your own imaginations). The story doesn’t deal with, as some think that a woman must have a man in her life. It deals with the lengths that one man will go thru to ensure the love of his life is totally happy.
Author’s Note 3: Thank you Win Jan and Kate for giving up your time to ‘Beta’ read my work … Give that I write as I talk sometimes – it makes your job awhole lot more difficult.
2000 Zulu 27 October 2004
Harm and Mac’s Condo
“Honey, we’re home and where do you want ‘vette keys to be placed?” Jen called out as soon as she opened the door.
“On the key rack where Harm stole them from when he walked out the door. He didn’t drive my baby, did he?”
“No, we followed procedures and he let me drive. He still doesn’t like the idea of having me open the door for him to enter or exit a vehicle.” Jen smiled. “He just sits there for a minute or two to pout about that little point … I think it’s kinda cute.”
“Will you two hurry up and get out of those uniforms already … I got something that I gotta do as soon as possible.” Kathy complained as she watched Jen and Harm take their sweet time to go change clothes.
“Mac, Harriett is coming by this evening on the way home from work … she has seen Jen’s engagement ring on her finger.”
“Ok, you mean you didn’t notice it before she did?”
“That’s my fault … I put it on while we were in the elevator at HQ JAG. The look of his face when Harriett saw it was priceless.”
Kathy saw them still standing there and hadn’t moved a muscle to go to get changed. So, she got up from the sofa and walked over to them. “If you two aren’t going to get changed, I’m going to help you remove your uniforms while you’re standing right here.”
“Have a little patience, Kathy. We’re heading there now.” Harm laughed.
“Patience, my six. I’ve been patient long enough waiting for you two to get back home. You have no earthly idea how hard it was this morning not to crawl on top of you. I have no problems making love with a woman … done that before and enjoyed it immensely. Everyone heard me when I kissed Mac on the Henry.”
Kathy started to unbutton their uniform jackets and got frustrated with them trying to help … they got their blouses off as she done the trousers.
“Now, where did that blasted pen disappear to and where do I sign?” Kathy demanded as she walked over to the desk and rummaged through the drawers to find another pen. Mac pointed out where she would be required to sign on eight of the legal documents. “These two are for later when we sign it in front of a notary to have it filled with the courts.” As Kathy leaned over to sign the documents, Jen noticed something new on her six before her tee shirt covered it up.
“Kathy, when did you get your tattoo?” Jen asked.
“What tattoo?” Mac asked, as she didn’t recall ever seeing a tattoo on Kathy’s body before.
“The one on her six.” Jen said.
“Three days ago … the morning after we got home … the tattoo artist thought it was funny that I was getting a pair of wings tattooed there until I said that I knew six others who had one there just like it. Well, she stopped laughing and said ‘Really?’ It’s why I’m still sitting strangely since then if you were wondering about it, Beth.”
“I did wonder why and never saw it before.” Beth answered.
“I’ve been wearing a large skin-tone colored band-aid over it so you wouldn’t see it until I unveiled it to everyone, which I took off this morning while in the bathroom.”
“That’s why it’s still sore … it needs to breathe to heal.” Jen said.
“I’m finished signing, Mac.” Kathy had noticed that Mac had already signed the documents. “Are you going to sign, Harm?”
“Hand me the pen, Kathy.” Harm held his hand out to allow Kathy to hand him the pen.
As she saw him finished signing the first document. “I’m not going to wait to see if they others sign or not since you just signed the first one. I’ve got an itch that I need to take care of for Mac as well as myself.” Kathy pulled off her tee shirt and grabbed Mac’s hand as she pulled her down the hallway to one of the bedrooms.
They watched them disappear into one of the bedrooms.
“I’m a dead man.” Harm joking said.
“Harm, hand me the pen please.” Anna requested as everyone turned to look at her. She was the shy one when it came to talking about sex.
“Are you truly sure, Anna?” Harm questioned.
“Yes, most definitely. All I ask is that you been gentle with me the first couple of times. You’re so huge and I’ve never…” Anna paused not know how to explain to them that she was a virgin.
“You never?” Harm prompted her to continue.
“In Italy where I grew up, it is customary for the woman to wait until she is married before doing anything. If they do, there’s a law that allows the parents and husband to place a non-virgin wife into a country sponsored ladies of the evening house for the rest of their lives. After five years, if someone is willing to take a whore for a wife … then she can leave with that person after they marry but it cannot be in a church.
“Harm, you are every girl’s dream for a husband. I couldn’t openly court you when you were in Italy due to Miss Latham made sure not to leave you alone long enough and if she wasn’t occupying your time, it was that Italian girl you brought to the farm the first day. Afterward the trial was over, Captain Murphy graciously gave me a ride in the back seat of a Tomcat and I fell in love with the plane. It took me weeks to talk Papa into moving us to Mama’s home town here in Maryland so it would give me a better chance to fly planes. I didn’t see the bond you have with Mac until I reported to Meg at Pax River … then it was too late for me.
“So, yes, I’m sure that I want to give you my body’s gift. As sure as Kathy and Mac will be willing teachers in teaching me how to make love to a woman.”
“Are you on birth control? Or do I need to make a trip to the drug store before we do something?”
“No, I’m not and no you’re not … I want to feel the real thing without any thing in the way.”
“What will we do if …?”
“I have no problem if I happen to get pregnant the first time we do something … you will be my husband anyway … Mac said that we are welcomed to have children together as long as we ‘all don’t get pregnant at the same time. So quit trying to talk me out of signing this document … Kathy, Mac, Jen, and you are stuck with me until we pass away. Now hand me that blasted pen!”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Harm handed the pen over and watched her sign all eight copies.
“Now, that is finished …” Anna removed her tee shirt and walked over to where Harm was sitting in the chair. She placed her knees on the outside of his legs and sat down on his lap. “Now, it’s time to kiss the man who will be my husband.” Anna reached around Harm’s neck and pulled him towards her to kiss.
Harm felt Anna put everything she could into the kiss … all their previous kisses, he felt that she was holding back and now knew the reason why she was. He was beyond her reach since he was with Mac and she didn’t want to break the sacred trust she had developed for the both of them. Anna started feeling funny, a feeling she had never felt before and broke off the kiss.
“I feel funny.” Anna said.
“Anna, funny as a really warm sensation in the pit of your stomach and it is getting warmer as well as expanding.” Beth asked.
“Yes. Is there something wrong with me?”
“No, its normal to feel that way. Do you remember when Kathy, Mac, or me moaned in the middle of a kiss?”
“Yes.”
“It’s called an orgasm – a climax of a sexual encounter. Harm’s the only person who has made me orgasm by just kissing … it’s why Kathy said that he’s a lethal weapon to womanhood and I agreed with her. If he can just make a woman do that by kissing … who knows what he’ll be able to do to one when he’s in bed with her.”
“Oh… ok!” Anna started kissing Harm again. This time she let the warm sensation continue to build until the Tsunami wave of her passion broke over her without mercy. She felt her whole body seized and gripped as in a giant claw as it crushed the wind out of her and it felt like the top of her head blew off. She screamed as she passed out.
Kathy and Mac heard the scream and rushed out into the living room. They saw the shocked looks on everyone’s faces as they were looking at Anna completely naked sitting on Harm’s lap with her head on his shoulder. “Who screamed?”
“Anna did.” Beth said as she finally made her tongue work to be able say something. “She was kissing Harm and then she just screamed and …”
“What did you do to her, flyboy?” Mac angrily turned towards Harm.
“Nothing other than kissing her, Mac. She stopped the first one saying she felt funny and Beth told her it was the beginning of an orgasm. She said, ok, and we started kiss again until she screamed and passed out.”
“She screamed and passed out from kissing?” Kathy asked.
“She’s out like a light. Do we need to take her to the ER?” Harm was gentle stroking her back and hair.
“No, she will be fine. I have had a couple of orgasms strong enough to make me pass out from them. Just sit there holding her until she comes to.” Kathy said.
“Can one of you take over with her?”
“No … she’s a virgin, Harm, and will be in a very delicate state when she comes to. The first person she needs to see will be you.” Mac gently said to Harm. “Think of her emotion state right now as fragile as a fine crystal glass.”
“Can I at least take her into a bedroom and lay down?”
“Did she sign the documents?” Mac questioned.
“Yes, she did as well as removed her tee shirt.”
“By all means, take our fiancée to bed and get comfortable. I don’t want to see hide or hair of either of you for the next 24 hours.” Mac said.
Harm gently moved Anna to allow him to rise and carry her to bed.
“Mac, are you sure you want all of us to join and allow us to do what they will be doing in that bedroom with him?” Kate asked.
“Yes, what do you think that Kathy and I was doing? Just talking? The only sounds that would have been heard in the room would be described as moans from the pleasure we were giving to each other.”
“She most likely to get pregnant … she’s not on anything and refused to let Harm go to the drug store.” Beth said.
“Good for her … Harm won’t be making any trips to the drug store for protection ever again. I’m so happy right now, I don’t care if we all got pregnant the same time.”
“Ok, just want to be sure since I’m not protected either.” Beth said as she picked up the pen to sign her name on the documents.
“After you finished, Beth, hand me the pen.” Meg smiled. “I’m in the same boat as Anna and you are in.”
“Likewise.” Kate said. “Looks like there will be a great chance that four of us will be pregnant the same time.”
“Nope, make that five.” Jen said.
“Wrong Jen, it will be six.” Kathy smiled. “Unless you are not protected either Mac.”
“Well, Harm can’t get me pregnant again because I’m already pregnant.”
“Mac, the Navy’s going to have a field day with us when they learn that we ‘all might be pregnant the same time.” Meg said.
“Nope, they will piss and moan about it but they will not be able to do anything to us about it.”
“Why not?” Kate asked.
“Read your waiver again.”
They each picked up a set of documents and opened to the last page to read.
“Oh my god … it does cover everything that the Navy or a civilian court could charge us with and even states that it cannot be receded.”
**********
27 October 2004
Fairfax County Circuit Court
Fairfax, Va.
**********
A woman looked up to see who entered the lobby of the Fairfax County Circuit Court. It shocked her to see eight people in military uniforms walking towards her. She had seen a fair number of military people walk through the doors but it was never on a Wednesday. She knew that most military was there for traffic court, which was never held on this day of the week.
“Welcome to the Fairfax County Circuit Court. I’m Linda. Is there anything that I can help you with?”
“Yes, you may. I’m Sarah Rabb. We have an appointment to meet with Judge Anderson and the Clerk of the Court, Mr. Everett, dealing with details that the State Corporation Commission informed us to accomplish.” Mac calmly stated.
“Your corporation name?”
“The CBDJE Corporation.”
“Is your lawyer present?”
“There are four Virginia Bar certified lawyers standing in front of you, but I will be the one handling the proceedings.” Mac smiled.
The woman checked Judge Anderson’s docket and saw the only thing on it was the CBDJE Corporation. Whoever got them on the docket must have been someone with a whole lot of pull to have Judge Anderson coming in on her day off.
“Judge Anderson’s court room is #1 … follow the hallway on your left and it will be the first double doors that you will come to.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Mrs. Rabb, you folks have a nice day.”
Mac led them down the hallway and opened one of the doors to enter the courtroom. Her clock told her that they were ten minutes early before the meeting with the Judge and clerk. It surprised her to see the Judge and clerk were already there.
“Your Honor, I hope that we’re not late.”
“No, Mrs. Rabb, you’re not late. From what the Virginia State Corporation Commission informed me, that this procedure was the final item needed for them to approve your state Corporation license.”
“Yes, your honor. It is. The State Corporation Commission wanted a ‘tripled seal’ document listing the entire board of the CBDJE Corporation for their records.”
“It’s the same thing that they told me … are all these folks the members of the board?”
“Yes, your honor, they are. Here are the three documents they told me to bring with us.” Mac handed two legal documents and a certificate to Mr. Everett. He quickly scanned them before handing them to the Judge for her to read.
“They appear to be correct … if each of you would produce a picture identification card to show to Mr. Everett. He will locate the space for you to sign on these documents … after everyone has signed them … he will sign them and then hand them to me for my signature. After I sign them and hand them back to Mr. Everett, he then will emboss them with a golden seal. Your Corporation will then be legal to start doing business in the great state of Virginia.”
Mac produced her military identification card and handed to Mr. Everett. He quickly located her name listing her as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Corporation. ‘Impressive! It’s not often that I see a CEO who’s a woman.’ Anna was next in line … Beth … Kate … Meg … Jen … Kathy … then finally Harm. Mr. Everett signed the three documents and handed them to the Judge, who in turn signed them. After Mr. Everett placed the embossed seal onto them, he handed two documents to Mac.
“Mrs. Rabb, this certificate must be displayed in your reception area of your business for everyone entering will be able to see it. If you have a few minutes while I go and make a dozen copies of this certification … you won’t need to return here until after you have expanded to more than thirteen buildings or change/add to your board of directors except for surnames being changed for the ladies, since a triple sealed certificate is required to be displayed in any building your corporation does business out of as well.”
“Thank you for being so considerate, Mr. Everett. We will make the time for you to do this for us.”
“No problem … it’s seldom that I see a Corporation documentation finalized or re-worked that is headed by a woman. I personally think that woman can do the job as well as any man can but seldom are giving the opportunity to do so. If you would excuse me for a few minutes, I’ll go down the hall to my office … make copies and return here to allow the Judge to sign the certified copy portion of the certification.” Mr. Everett departed the courtroom.
“Mrs. Rabb, what kind of service will your Corporation be serving the people of Virginia with?” Judge Anderson asked.
“Children’s advocacy, your honor. Four of us are already lawyers and three others are in law school at Georgetown … and if Anna wants to attend law school as well – funds will be provided for her to do so.”
“Very impressive indeed, there isn’t many lawyers willing to give up the green stuff to provide the pro-bono services many children need to have that be provided for them. So, if I can provide you with any help, please feel free to call upon me and I’ll talk to the other Circuit Court Judges, who no doubt be willing to help as well.”
“Thank you, Ma’am. We won’t be real active with cases in the beginning until one of us decides to hang up the uniform.”
“I understand, Colonel. I was an Air Force JAG before accepting this appointment as Circuit Judge and know how hard it is to leave the military especially when our country needs everyone it can get into the uniform. Admiral Rabb, you look familiar to me but I cannot place where I have seen you before.”
“Ma’am, you probably have seen me on the six o’clock news when my squadron returned to Washington from its brief tour over the skies of North Korea.”
“Yes, that’s where I’ve seen you!” Andrea Anderson couldn’t see Harm’s salad bar since he had been standing in the back of the group with Kathy and Meg in front of him. “Your squadron is the Nightingales and you had just received the Medal of Honor from President Bartlet. I notice that everyone here but one Commander is wearing wings … I take it that they are members of your squadron.”
“Yes, Ma’am. Even she is a member of our squadron … the rest are all members of Alpha Flight.”
“Would it be possible for me to bring my two daughters to Andrews for a guided tour?”
“Yes, Ma’am. May I approach?” Harm asked.
“Certainly.”
Harm pulled out a business card and wrote something on the back of it, which he handed to the Judge.
“If you will show this to the gate guards at Andrews, they will provide an escort for you to get to the hanger for the tour. If you can wait until next weekend, we will even be able to give all of you a joy ride in the backseat in one of our planes.”
“You need not bother going that far.”
“It’s no bother to us, Ma’am. We seldom get to fly just for the joy of it except when we give joy rides to the winners of a drawing that is held at every air show that we are in.”
Mr. Everett returned from his office and handed the dozen copies to Andrea to sign. “Howard, you’re not going to believe me, but these officers standing here in my courtroom are all members of the Nightingales.”
“I did notice that two of them had buttons and thought they looked familiar but couldn’t place when or where I have seen them.” Howard turned around to look closely at the officers. “Holy cow … Buttons, Navy Crosses, Silver Stars, DFCs, Air Medals … They must be the Alpha Flight of the Nights … I want to personally Thank you for the job that you did when you saved the Patrick Henry, sir … my daughter is a crewmember aboard.”
“We may have met her … do you know where she works aboard the carrier?”
“She is the Public Affairs Officer, Lieutenant Carla Everett.”
Andrea cleared her throat to get Howard’s attention in order to hand him the copies so he could place a seal on them. “Howard, if you would like to join my family and me a week from Saturday … the Nights have agreed to give us a dime tour and a joy ride.”
“I know that Carla and Amy would love that if it isn’t a bother.”
“No problem, sir.” Harm turned his attention to the Judge. “Ma’am, you can bring up to twenty people with you because that’s the largest number we can give joy rides at one time, just give us a call so we can prep the right number of planes to be ready for it.”
“Be careful what you agree to, Admiral, because I might take you for your word.”
“Ma’am, the Admiral always tells the truth no matter what the consequences are and has inspired that same attitude with every member of the squadron.” Anna said.
“I wished that there were more people like you ‘all in that regard then. I will call you sometime next week to let you know the number of people joining me. Is there anything special we need to do?”
“Just have a lite breakfast and lunch if they have never been inside a high performance plane before. It will keep them from getting airsick because I know the air jockeys they will be flying with. They can and have made the world’s greatest roller coaster seem pale compared to what their beloved planes can do in the air.” Kate smiled as she warned the Judge.
“It cannot be as bad as that … I’m a roller coaster fanatic.” Andrea said.
“I will not say that you hadn’t be warned, Ma’am.” Kate flatly said as all the Nights looked at Harm, who had that look and they knew whom the Judge would be flying with if she were one of the people taking a joy ride.
“Noted. Why don’t you all go out and celebrate the final step of your Corporation?”
“Thank you, Ma’am. We will.”
**********
1345 Zulu 01 November 2004
HQ JAG
Falls Church, VA.
**********
Harm and the gang pulled up to guard shack to show their identifications to the guards, they noticed news crews and television reporters standing on the sidewalk. When they got out of their vehicles, they could hear the reporters shouting questions at them with the hope that one of them would respond. But they all quietly walked into the building without even taking a glance at the reporters. They got on the elevator and went to the second floor of the building. As soon as they stepped off the elevator, secret service personnel checked their identifications against their identification cards then against the listing of authorized people to enter the courtroom.
The SecNav was talking to Commander Lindsey when he heard the door open. He saw Mac holding the door open to let her clients enter the courtroom before her. His jaw just about hit the floor when he saw who entered the courtroom after her. ‘Why is Admiral Chedwiggin, Admiral McGuire, Admiral Magnum, CJ Cregg, the President , and Captain … no, Fleet Admiral Rabb doing here? Why wasn’t I informed that they promoted Harmful Rabb to Fleet Admiral?’ He watched as they all took seats behind the six defendants and got a very sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He started to ask Ted a question when Captain Seabring walked into the courtroom since Admiral Morris was tied up with another trail.
“All Rise.”
“This Article 39(a) session is called to order. Be seated.” Captain Seabring ordered.
“Commander Lindsey, is the prosecution ready to proceed?
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“Colonel Rabb, is the defense ready?
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“State the charges, Commander.”
“Commanders Pike and Hawkes, Lieutenant Commander Austin and Coates, Lieutenant Restivo, and Captain Morgan have been charged with breaking the following articles: 92, Failure to obey general regulations; 133, conduct unbecoming an officer; 134, adultery; 134, wrongful cohabitating; and 134, fraternization.
“The charges were preferred by the Secretary of the Navy, a person subjects to the Code as accuser, sworn to before a commissioned officer of the armed forces authorized to administer oaths, and properly referred to this court for trial by Admiral AJ Chegwidden, the convening authority.”
“When were the defendants notified of these charges?”
“The charges were served on the accused by myself on 27 October 2004.”
“Commanders Pike, Hawkes, Austin, Coates, Lieutenant Restivo, Captain Morgan … how do you plea?”
“Not guilty.” They answered.
“So noted. Commander Lindsey, call your first witness.”
“The government calls Lieutenant Loran Singer to the stand.”
Loran got up and walked to the stand.
“Place your left hand on the Bible and raise your right hand,” Ted said. “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”
“I do,” the woman said.
“You may take the stand, Lieutenant,” Ted told her as he turned to hand the Bible back to the clerk.
Loran did as she was instructed.
“Please state your rate, rank, name and current duty station for the record,” Ted instructed her as he took his place back at the podium.
“Battle Fleet JAG, Lieutenant Loran Singer, Patrick Henry Battle Group.”
“Would you describe what happened in the morning of September 6, 2004?”
“We received a flash message from the Kitty Hawk Battle Group that they were under attack by North Koreans … the Captain launched the ready alert 5 Tomcats and Vikings … there were four Tomcats already airborne flying CAP for us … the Vikings refueled all eight Tomcats and they proceeded to the area where the Kitty Hawk was located but by the time they got there … it was too late to help.”
“Continue, please.”
“The Captain placed us on wartime footing once he had received notification from Washington, which was roughly six hours after we recovered eleven planes that survived from the Kitty Hawk and the eight we had sent to help. The Captain held two meetings: the first one was with all the Patrick Henry Battle Group ship Captains and the second one was with all the squadron commanders.”
“Were you part of any of these meetings?” Ted asked.
“I was part of the first meeting.”
“Why weren’t you part of the second meeting?”
“I wasn’t required to attend that meeting due to the Rules of Engagement wouldn’t need to be interpreted by me since it was straight forward.”
“What were the ROEs?
“The President authorized the Rules of Engagement that will allow everyone to fire at any non-friendly ship or aircraft in the area without being fired upon.”
“What happened after the second meeting?”
“Captains Pike and Rabb remained with the Captain for a smaller meeting I guess since they didn’t exit when the other commanders did. When they did exit, they went to their respective duty sections. About thirty minutes later, Captain Rabb returned with two documents in his hand to give the Captain and left.”
“Did you see these documents?”
“No, sir. I still haven’t seen them.”
“Would you recognize them if you see them again?”
“Possibly, they looked to be legal size documents but had a pink cover on them versus the normal blue color covers.”
“What happened after that?”
“The Captain called me into his day cabin and informed me that we would be receiving two additional squadrons from Okinawa and that the Nightingales were moving into five eight-person, a double, and a single cabin in order to allow the ship to handle the additional crew members.”
“Isn’t the Nightingales an all female squadron?”
“Basically correct … they only have two male personnel on their entire roster.”
“Where were these two male personnel quartered?”
“Commander MacKenzie was given the single cabin while the Captain was quartered with the six defendants and his wife in a eight-person cabin.”
“Isn’t that against Article 92, failure to obey general regulations and Article 134, wrong cohabitation?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Were you consulted if the quarters regulation could be waivered?”
“No, sir.”
“Who can grant waivers to a regulation?”
“Someone in the Nightingale’s chain of command must make a request to either the CNO or Chairman of the Joint Chiefs for a waiver to be granted from the SecNav’s office.”
“Was that request ever made?”
“I checked the outbound and inbound communication logs and no message was ever sent to the CNO or Chairman requesting a waiver.”
“What else did you see or hear while aboard the Patrick Henry after they moved into the eight-person cabin?”
“A few days later, I was in the laundry room washing my clothes when Lieutenants Coates and Restivo entered to do the same thing. While I was there, I heard them talking about going over to clothing sales to see if they had any robes in stock. Lieutenant Restivo didn’t want to get the Captain angry with her for using one of his tee shirts to sleep in every night. Lieutenant Coates said that the only person the Captain would get angry at was his wife for giving up his shirts to them to sleep in and that the Captain would probably rather see them going to bed normally. She held up a sheer nightgown to show Restivo … from where I was located in the room … I could see completely see thru. Restivo then said at least she did bring something to sleep in whereas she always slept natural, which is nude.”
“Anything else?”
“There were numerous occasions where I would walk up on them during the tour and caught them hugging and kissing the Captain.”
“Who?”
“All six defendants and the Colonel.”
“No further questions … your witness, Colonel?”
“Lieutenant Singer, is the SecNav the only person that can grant a waiver to a regulation?”
“No, Ma’am, the President can as well.”
“For the sake of argument here … let’s say that a waiver was given … what are the procedures that are required afterwards?”
“It would have been documented that all parties had agreed to waive the regulation and then sign it.”
“I’m going to show you five legal document covers. Would you be so kind to inform the court what type of covers they are?” Mac handed Loran five different colored covers.
“The first one is blue.”
“Read what it says, please.”
“For level one security clearance legal documents and below.”
“Continue.”
“The next one is red … it’s for level two documents; gray is for level three; green is for level four; and pink is for level five.”
“Could it be that the documents that Captain Rabb carried into the Captain’s day cabin were level five documents?
“Possible, Ma’am.”
“What is your security clearance?”
“One, Ma’am.”
“Who aboard the Patrick Henry is authorized to see level five security documents?”
“The CAG and Captain were cleared to see level five documents that the Nightingale’s flew into Hawaii with, Ma’am.”
“Were there any other personnel aboard the ship cleared?”
“Not that I know of, Ma’am.”
“Did you ever bring up your investigation to your Commanding Officer?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Why doesn’t Captain Ingles ever recall you mentioning this investigation to him? He was your CO.”
“No, Ma’am. He wasn’t my Commanding Officer when something happened to deal with the Nightingales.”
“Then who was?”
“The SecNav, Ma’am.”
“No further questions, your honor.”
“Commander, call you next witness.”
“The government calls the Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Nelson to the stand.”
“Why was Lieutenant Singer under your direct command and why was she listed as Fleet JAG aboard the Patrick Henry?”
“I was needing someone to fill the billet of Fleet JAG aboard the Patrick Henry. I asked my aide Lieutenant Howard Wells if he could work his magic and locate a JAG to fill that position for me. A few hours later, he returned with Lieutenant Singer’s name. I called you into my office to ask your opinion of her and you highly recommended her to me. Later that afternoon, I met with the Lieutenant and gave her the orders to report aboard the Patrick Henry as Fleet JAG.”
“Did you give her any verbal orders?”
“Yes, I told her that the Nightingale squadron was due a rotation aboard the Patrick Henry and that anything out of the ordinary they have done was to be reported directly to me.”
“How did she report to you?”
“We set-up two email accounts that we would use for these reports.”
“Your honor, I would like to submit this folder as evidence?”
“Any objections?”
“No, your honor.”
“Is these copies of those reports?” Ted handed the SecNav a think folder.
“Yes, these are the printed copies of those reports.”
“So everything the Lieutenant said in her testimony is in these reports.”
“Yes.”
“No, further questions. Your witness.” Ted sat down with a smile on his face.
“Mr. Nelson, was you in a meeting in the situation room on the morning of 10th of August 2004?”
“Yes.”
“Did it start on time?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“When I was called for that meeting, I was told to call the Nightingales and have them attending the meeting.”
“Was the meeting classified?”
“Yes, it was for level five or above.”
“When you were told to call Captain Rabb, were you told to tell him that he was suppose to bring all his level five or above people with him?”
“Yes.”
“Did you inform Captain Rabb to bring all his level five personnel with him to that meeting?”
“No, I did not. I assumed that Captain Rabb was the only level five cleared member in the squadron.”
“You assumed incorrectly, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Who else in the squadron has a level five or higher security clearance?”
“Commanders Pike and Austin, Lieutenant Coates, yourself are all level fives. Commander MacKenzie and Captain Rabb are level sixes.”
“I see. Do you have something against the Nightingale squadron or is it directly tied to the person who is its commanding officer? Remember you’re under oath.”
“Captain Rabb was never my choice to command the Nightingales.”
“Why is that?”
“He’s a lose cannon and doesn’t follow my instructions on how to prosecute or defend a case that I’m interested in.”
“Does that mean … he keeps looking at the facts and evidence until the truth is dug up on those cases versus what you think will be good enough for the public or Navy?”
“Yes, I guess you could look at that way.”
“No further questions of this witness, but reserve the right to recall Mr. Nelson later on in the proceedings.”
“Mr. Nelson, you may step down.” Judge Seabring said. “Commander Lindsey, call your next witness.”
“The prosecution rest.”
“Very well. Colonel, call your first witness.”
“The defense calls Rear Admiral AJ Chedwiggin to the stand.”
AJ took the stand.
“Admiral, why did you authorize this Article 39(a) hearing?”
“I was order to by the SecNav, Mr. Nelson.”
Mac picked up two folders from her table and handed a copy to Commander Linsley and Captain Seabring.
“Your honor, the defense would like to submit the contents of this folder as defense exhibit #1.”
“Any objections?”
“No, your honor, not at this time.”
Seabring handed the folder back to Mac. “Admiral, would you please open the folder and tell the court what does it contain?”
“It contains copies of the written orders that I received from the SecNav concerning the Nightingales.”
“Objection. These copies could have been fabricated by the defense to misdirect the court.”
“Commander, I seriously doubt that Colonel Rabb would stoop low enough to try to deceive the court. Objection Overruled.”
“Admiral, how did the defense come to have these documents and how do you know that they are not fabricated?”
“The afternoon of the 27th of October, I got a surprise visit by Fleet Admiral Rabb. He was extremely upset that this proceeding against six members of his squadron was on the docket. He asked me if I had anything to do with it and I informed him that I was under written orders from the SecNav. He then asked me if I still had the original written orders which I did and they were locked in my safe … Admiral Rabb then ordered his aide, Lieutenant Commander Coates to go out into the bullpen to get Lieutenant Simms and Petty Officer Tiner. When she returned to my office with them in tow, everyone watched me open my safe and retrieve the two original orders. She was sent out to the copy machine to make copies and had Lieutenant Simms and Petty Officer Tiner initial on the top of both copies without reading what they said which they did. Then Admiral Rabb had me to initial them as well before I returned the originals to my safe. You will notice three sets of initials on the top of both documents.”
“I see. Read the oldest dated one first for the record.”
“Date, 4 June 2004: To Admiral Chedwiggin: From the SecNav … AJ, you are hereby ordered to do what you can to provoke Captain Rabb into violating any rule or regulation in the Navy. Since he technically isn’t under your command, his reporting time for duty cannot be used … you must find something else to allow me to bust him on.”
“4 June 2004, what was that day?”
“It was the day that Captain Rabb and you were married in the rose garden of the White House.”
“Were you upset from being left out of the wedding party?”
“Some, but I understood the reasons why I was not included.”
“What were the reasons you were given?”
“President Bartlet had requested to walk you down the aisle. I couldn’t accept a position in the arch of swords due to I was under verbal orders from the SecNav not be part of the wedding.”
“Why did he put you under verbal orders?”
“I can only guess to the answer. You’ll have to ask him.”
“I plan on it, Admiral … it would help to ease the pain that I felt when you refused to part of my arch of swords.”
“I had no choice in the matter, Colonel.”
“Has this document been seen by other people before Admiral Rabb that day?”
“Yes, when the Nightingale has departed for the Pacific … there was an Article 32 investigation into my actions against members of the Nightingales and its commanding officer while they were helping JAG with legal work. A copy of this document was presented to the investigator of that Article 32.”
“Who was that?”
“Admiral Tom McGuire, the Chief of Naval Operations, who was under orders from the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs, Admiral Thomas Magnum.”
“Understood. Read the second copy for the record please.”
“Date: 25 October 2004. To Admiral Chedwiggin From the SecNav … I hereby order you to convene an Article 39(a) hearing for Commanders Pike, Hawkes, Austin, Coates and Lieutenants Restivo, Morgan for violating the following articles: 92, Failure to obey general regulations; 133, conduct unbecoming an officer; 134, adultery; 134, wrongful cohabitating; and 134, fraternization.”
“Thank you, Admiral. No further questions. Your witness, Commander.”
“No questions, your honor.”
“Does the prosecution want me to call Lieutenant Simms and Petty Officer Tiner to the stand?”
“Not necessary. Given the testimony of the Admiral that they can only verify that it’s their initials on the copies and not what they said.”
“The defense recalls Mr. Nelson to the stand.”
Mr. Nelson stood up and returned to the stand.
“Mr. Nelson, you’re still under oath.” Judge Seabring flatly said.
“Mr. Nelson, why did you verbally order Admiral Chedwiggin not to be part of my wedding?”
“To hurt Rabb.”
“Didn’t you think it would hurt me as well?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Well, it did. In order for you to play for spiteful game against my husband … you prevented the Admiral from being part of my arch of swords and if the President hadn’t requested the honor of walking me down the aisle or receiving an early wedding gift of a pardon for my Uncle Matt … Admiral Chedwiggin would have been the one doing that honor. No further questions.”
“Objection, the whole line of questioning has nothing to do with this trail.” Ted stood.
“Sustained. Colonel, may I remind you to refrain from getting into this line of questioning of further witnesses.”
“I sorry, your honor.”
Mr. Nelson stood up and returned to his seat in the courtroom.
“The defense requests a ten minute recess, your honor.” Mac asked.
“Granted, this court is in a ten minute recess.” Captain Seabring slammed his gavel down onto its base.
President Bartlet stood up and walked over to Mr. Nelson.
“I told you once, not to interfere with the Nightingales and it comes out here in court that you had Admiral Chedwiggin and Lieutenant Singer doing your dirty work for you.” The President handed Mr. Nelson a folder. “Inside this folder is your resignation letter and I expect you to sign it right now. You will not be allowed to leave these proceedings until they are over and you will not be allowed back into your office even to pick-up your personnel belongings.”
“What if I refuse to sign it?”
“SAM?” The President yelled and Commander Samuel MacKenzie stepping into the courtroom. “You will either sign them right now or Sam starts working for me. You’re an embarrassment to the US government and he’ll make sure you will cease to embarrass anyone ever again.”
Mr. Nelson turned white and quickly signed the resignation letter.
“I highly suggest that you leave Washington and never ever return after this.”
Captain Seabring reentered the courtroom. “All rise.”
“Take your seats; this court is back in order. Colonel, call your next witness.”
“The defense called Captain Tobias Ingles to the stand.”
Tobias stood up and took the stand.
“Your honor, May we approach the bench.”
“Granted.”
Mac picked up two pink cover documents. “Lieutenant Evanston, you’re not cleared to hear this conversation.” Mac said as she watched the Lieutenant turn around to retake his chair. “Your honor and Commander … if you look at these two documents … they are covered with level five security clearance covers and you have been granted to hear what they contain but they cannot be entered into the record without this hearing being sealed afterwards.”
“Step back. This hearing and its transcript will be sealed after it’s completed.”
“Your honor, the defense would like to submit these two level five security classified documents as defense exhibits #2 and #3.”
“No objections, your honor.”
“Captain Ingles, you have heard testimony from Lieutenant Singer that the Nightingale squadron moved into different quarters during their deployment on the Patrick Henry. Why?”
“After we recovered the eleven F-14Ds from the USS Kitty Hawk after she was sink … we didn’t have any more cabins or enough empty officer’s beds to provide quarters for the twenty double crews arriving aboard from Okinawa that evening. We did however have an isolated enlisted quarters deck that had five eight-person cabins, a double-person cabin, and a single-person cabin. The Nightingale, who is my largest squadron with twenty crews, took up twenty-three double or single cabins aboard since regulations required doubles for the ladies. When Captain Rabb arrived in Hawaii, he handed me a Presidential Order that allowed Colonel Rabb and him to share the same cabin. Harm hadn’t read the order in its entirely until I requested that he asked his ‘ladies’ if they would waive the quarters requirement and move into these seven enlisted cabins for the good of the ship.”
Tobias paused to take a drink of water. “Harm correctly guessed that there would be two ladies refusing to switch rooms but didn’t give me any details as to why. He asked whether I would have any heartburn if he moved into one of the eight-person cabins with six or seven of the ladies. I said yes since I had read the Presidential order in its entirety. All that required was for everyone to agree and sign a waiver document … in which your and his waiver have covered that possibility of you being quartered with another male officer in the Nights or him being quartered with another lady officer of the Nights.”
“Harm surprised the entire squadron when he requested us to vote on the matter and more surprised when he insisted to learn who had refused. Did you at any time witness any inappropriate actions between Harm and the ladies quartered with him?”
“No.”
“Did you ever see anyone other than me kiss or hug Harm while aboard the Henry?”
“Yes, many times.”
“Isn’t that considered to be inappropriate actions between females and males aboard a ship?”
“Yes, it is. But let me read you a portion of your Presidential Waiver: Quote from section 1: Congratulatory public kissing and hugging between Captain and Colonel Rabb will not be considered inappropriate – from section 2: Congratulatory public kissing and hugging between any member of the Nightingales will not be considered inappropriate which includes lady to lady or male to male contact. Unquote. As you heard what I just read, kissing and hugging in a congratulatory way wasn’t inappropriate. I can only recall only one time when the Nights returned to the carrier where hugging or kissing among them was not done.”
“Do you recall which time that was Captain?”
“Yes, it was the mission where Charlie 1 was technically shot down and they safely ditched on the coast of Korea. Both Commander MacKenzie and Lieutenant Reeves were seriously injured. We safely rescued them and recovered the aircraft from foreign soil.”
“Was there a particular point in time when the Nightingales that started the congratulatory kissing and hugging?”
“Yes, the Night’s Alpha flight was the one who started it and towards the middle of our tour, they all were doing it. Up to then, the entire squadron had not crossed the lines so to speak.”
“Did you ever ask anyone from Alpha flight why they started it?”
“I asked Harm one evening after the first mission that they actually seen air-to-air combat as to why.
“He informed me that Skates – Commander Hawkes had adopted everyone in Alpha flight as her brother or sister and it was customary in her family to greet or congratulate family members that way. Also, they were afraid to make her angry by fighting her over their adoptions – see she is a 3rd degree black belt in Karate and they had seen what she could do whenever she was provoked.”
“What does these two pink cover documents say?” Mac handed him the documents.
“They both are level five classified documents … the first one is a waiver that was signed by all the female crew members of the squadron, which indicated that they agreed to move into the enlisted quarters … the second one is a waiver that was signed by all of Alpha flight except for Commander MacKenzie and Lieutenant Puller, which indicated that they agreed to move into one of the eight-person cabins and that it was possible that they might happen to see someone from the opposite sex completely nude during the remaining time aboard. It, also, states that the honor between everyone living in this cabin would prevent any contact between them and to prove the point that nobody would be using or taking anything to prevent a pregnancy from happening. After the 3rd or 4th mission, Commander Austin come to see me with Lieutenant Morgan, who sign the Alpha waiver and moved into the cabin with the rest of the flight.”
Tobias took another pause to take a drink. “After that, I found out that the Nights has broken up into flights to promote unit bonding.”
“Your honor, the defense would like to submit these six medical tests taken on the 22nd of October at Bethesda, the day the squadron landed here in Washington at the completion of their tour aboard the Patrick Henry. They indicate that no member of Alpha was pregnant as defense exhibits #4 to #10.”
“No objections, your honor. But there were seven woman quartered with the Captain, whose test isn’t included with the defense exhibits?”
“Colonel?” Judge Seabring asked.
“Mine, sir. Whatever Harm and I have done in our quarters was waivered as long as we were alone.”
“Does that tell me that even with six other women quartered with you that you two still had alone time together?” Judge asked.
“Yes, sir.” Mac’s face flushed. “The others were very gracious to give us time to be alone together everyday.”
“Did you take a test when you returned as well?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And what did it say?”
“Sir, I take the 5th on answering that question right now, your honor.”
“Understood – good answer if you hadn’t discussed the results with the Admiral yet and congrats.”
“No further questions of this witness, your honor.”
“Commander?”
“No questions.” Ted looked more and more dejected along the trail went.
**********
Meanwhile at Claremont Superior Complex
**********
A 2004 Mercedes-Benz CL-Class CL600 Coupe pulled off the unnamed street into the security entrance to Area One of Claremont Superior Complex. The street gate closed behind the vehicle as the tire puncturing strips were raised, which basically trapped the vehicle in-between the two gates. A female security guard stepped outside the bulletproofed guard building wearing a level four vest under her uniform blouse. Clayton Webb rolled down the window to talk to the guard.
“Welcome to Claremont Superior Complex, how can we assist you today?”
“I’m here to visit Sarah Rabb.”
“What’s your name, sir? Is she expecting you?”
“My name is Clayton Webb and no, she isn’t expecting me to visit … I just got back in town from an assignment.”
“May I see some identification to verify your name and I’ll go call Mrs. Rabb to see if she’s willing to see you today.”
Clay pulled out his State Department identification to show the guard. “Here is my State Department ID, now just open the gate and let me in.”
“No, sir. This is the first time that I’ve ever seen you. This gate is only opened to allow authorized visitors onto the grounds. I suggest that you sit here until I find out if you’ll be allowed to enter.”
The guard walked into the building. “Captain, we have a State Department flunky outside who wants to visit Mrs. Rabb.”
The female Captain, Sandy Elliott, looked at the monitor and then at the guard. “State Department, my six … more likely CIA flying a false flag. What’s his name?”
“Clayton Webb and I verified that he’s telling the truth with his ID.”
The Captain picked up her log and saw that Mrs. Rabb and the entire Alpha flight weren’t on site at the present moment. She also checked the clearance sheet to see if Mrs. Rabb had called down to clear Mr. Webb onto the property as well as the sheet authorizing people onto the grounds.
“Mr. Webb hasn’t been cleared to enter the property. He doesn’t need to know that she’s currently off site at the moment. Go inform Mr. Webb that he must leave and return later after he has gotten clearance from Mr. or Mrs. Rabb that he can enter.”
“Ok, he’s not going to like that answered … he has already ordered me to open the entrance gate to admit him.”
The guard hit the two buttons to open the street gate and lower the spike strip to allow Mr. Webb to exit the security entrance. She exited the building to give Clay the bad news.
“Mr. Webb, we don’t have you pre-cleared to enter the property and there’s nobody answering the phone to grant clearance. You must back out and leave the property.”
“Fine … I’ll have your job for not allowing me to enter.”
“You’re welcome to try that, sir. But it is going to take more pull than what a State Department flunky has to get me fired. Have a nice day.” ‘Too bad I won’t be able to see his expression when he finds out that I’m actually a secret service agent.’
“What will you do if I refuse to move my vehicle?”
“Go ahead to try it and you will see what will happen, sir.” The guard smiled.
Clay didn’t like the smile on the guard’s face, so he started the car and squealed his tires backing out of the entrance. But only to park across the street as he flip opened his cell phone to call his office to have them find out what Sarah’s new cell or home telephone had been changed to.
The guard shook her head not believing the arrogance Mr. Webb just showed her.
“Captain, he left but only went as far as across the street.”
“Very well.” The Captain picked up her telephone.
“Fairfax Sheriff’s Dispatch. How can I help you?”
“Eric, this is Sandy over at Claremont. We have someone refusing to leave the property and require your assistance into getting him gone.”
The guard heard whom the Captain was speaking to and held up two fingers.
“How do you want us to handle it?”
“Impoundment.”
“Very well … whoever it is better be well healed and can afford the cost.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem since he’s driving a brand spanking new 2004 Mercedes-Benz CL-Class CL600 Coupe.”
“Good, his fine will cover the cost of dispatching two cruisers and a tow truck to your location then. They will be there within five minutes.”
“We will have back-up in the tower on tact 2 if you need it.”
“Thanks … I will have the responding units change to tact 2.”
The Captain looked up and watched one of the guards pull out a M40A3 out of the weapon’s locker and rushed out of the building heading for the tower stairs.
Clayton was truly frustrated trying to get correct information on Sarah’s new phone numbers. He was pounding the steering wheel in frustration when a police cruiser with lights on pulled up behind him. He rolled down the window to wait for the police officer to walk up to his window. He was fixing to exit his vehicle since it appeared neither officer was in a hurry to walk up to his window. He heard tires squealing as a second police cruiser slid to a stop across the street from him and the officers from both vehicles got out pulling their guns, while using the vehicle doors as cover.
“You in the car … slowly exit the vehicle with your hands in plain sight … do not attempt to make any sudden moves.” Clay slowly got out of the vehicle with his hands in plain sight. “Now, turn around and place your hands on the top of the vehicle.” Clay did as he was told as he heard. “Bird keep your eye on him, if he moves slightly – take him out.” The two officers in the vehicle behind him slowly uncovered and walked towards Clay.
“He’s got a gun.” The officer frisking Clay said as he grabbed a hold of Clay’s arm and not so gently pushed him down onto the ground.
“My authorization to carry is in my right hand coat pocket.” Clay spat the blood out of his mouth from the busted lip that his sudden trip to the concrete had caused.
The police officers cuffed Clay before looking for his license.
“Mr. Webb, didn’t the guard tell you to leave the property?”
“Yes, she did and I did.”
“No, you just moved your vehicle across the street … you’re still on Claremont property. Didn’t you notice the six-foot sign at the entrance of the street that states … Welcome to the Claremont Superior Complex?”
“No, I was looking at my On Star screen to ensure that I was going in the right direction. May I be un-cuffed so I can leave?”
“Sorry, you must have pissed off the security guard fairly bad … We’re here to place you under arrest and charge you for unauthorized entry on private property, which is a 3rd class felony.” The officer paused as he watched a tow truck drive up.
“How much is this going to set me back?”
“It will depend on which Circuit Court Judge you get for your trial … if he or she’s in a good mood, it could be as little as $100 … but if not, you are facing anywhere up to $10,000 and a year in jail.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“I highly suggest when you talk to your lawyer is to have him to pick-up your vehicle immediately before they start compounding the hourly storage fees.”
“Aren’t they going to tow my vehicle to your impound yard?”
“Nope, like I said … you really teed off the guard … that’s a private impound tow truck there.”
**********
Back to HQ JAG
**********
“The defense would like to call Commander Meg Austin to the stand.”
Meg stood up and sat down in the witness chair after she was sworn in.
“Commander, Lieutenant Singer’s testimony brought up the issue of sleepwear. Would you tell the court how it was resolved?”
“After we moved into our new quarters, Jen – Lieutenant Coates asked if anyone had packed a extra robe that she could borrow to wear around the room when Harm was there. She’s like anyone wanting to get out of their work uniform whenever she’s not required to wear them. Between the six of us, we had only packed one robe … we knew before we left Washington who we would be quartered with aboard the ship … each crew are roommates as well as crewmates except for a few exceptions in Alpha flight, where we had to have different roommates due to our only two male personnel were part of it.”
Meg paused to collect her thoughts. “There were four of us caught without any appropriate sleepwear to sleep in … we could have wore part of our daily work uniform but wearing a half tee shirt and panties are not deemed appropriate in the regulations if a male is visiting a woman in her room. To solve the problem, you opened the Captain’s locker and handed each of us one of his work-out tee shirts to wear to bed or lounge around in.”
“Your honor, the defense would like to submit this tee shirt as defense exhibit #11.”
“No objections, your honor.”
“Do recognize this tee shirt, Meg?”
“Yes, it’s the one that you handed me that day.”
“How can you tell?”
“On the tag, it has my laundry mark on it … after you handed each of us a tee shirt, we marked them with our laundry stamp so whoever drew the mornings laundry detail would know which locker to put it into for use later that day.”
“Would you stand and put on the tee shirt to demonstrate it’s fit on you?”
“Gladly, with the court’s permission.” Meg looked at Judge Seabring.
“Granted.” Captain Seabring stated.
“May I point out to the court that Commander Austin was the tallest lady in the that was quarter with Captain Rabb when we first moved into the cabin.”
Meg removed her jacket and put the tee shirt on.
“As the court can see, the tee shirt falls just above her knees … on the others the tee shirt falls further down their legs. Meg, if you would sit down to allow the court to see that the tee shirt still covers you properly.” Meg stand down and the tee shirt only raised an inch.
“Meg, when you received the tee shirt from me … what was its condition?”
“It was brand new and still in it’s packaging from clothing sales.”
“Was you told why it was still in it’s packaging? If so, what was the reason?”
“About a month before we departed Washington, you saw the Captain packing his sea bag and he was commenting that he needed to make a run to Annapolis to pick-up some new tee shirts because a cricket or a moth had gotten into the drawer and eaten holes into the only ones he had to take. Commander Pike was returning from Bayonne, NJ from an JAGman investigation … you called her and asked her to stop at the Academy and pick-up eight new XXL Academy tee shirts … she was able to do so and you replaced what he packed with the new ones.”
“Is this only sleepwear you had the entire trip?”
“No.”
“Explain.”
“After our fifth mission, the squadron was given a down day … I had returned to the cabin to pick-up my laptop to run some tests on and found the Captain tearing his locker apart looking for a clean tee shirt to wear. Unknown to him at that time, you had already handed them out to us. I handed him my sleep tee shirt to wear.”
“Continue.”
“We had been trying to figure out what was bothering our commander, his moods had been fluctuating too much for our liking and was so out of character for him. Everyone quartered with the Captain had been friend with him for a number of years before being assigned to the Nightingales. I went with him to the laundry room with the hope that he would open up and tell me what was wrong, but he asked me whether it was ok for him to run a short errand if I had a few minutes to spare to watch his laundry.”
Meg paused to take a drink. “A short time later, he returned carrying a box. When I asked what was inside, he said that I would find out soon.”
“Did you find out?”
“Yes eventually, in order to make the court understand, I must explain what happened after I left the laundry room.”
“Ok, tell us what happened afterwards.”
“There was a weight lifting competition that one of our flight members was in … the entire flight and Kate showed up to cheer her on … Cassie won the competition … after giving Cassie a group hug, the Captain slipped out without us noticing his disappearance. Captain Ingles and Lieutenant Morgan came up to congratulate Cassie and we found out what was bothering our commander.”
“What was that?”
“Harm, I mean our commander was disturbed that our squadron was being misused by being used as escorts for Air Force bombers. But the War Room had ordered Captain Ingles to use his ‘best’ squadron for that purpose and the Captain wasn’t comfortable with the three other F-14 squadrons onboard the carrier doing that.”
“Did he explain why he wasn’t comfortable?”
“Yes, the Raptors and Howlers were not use to the new F-14 Echoes they were flying and the Blackjacks were still under strength due to being involved with the first fight with the North Koreans. Don’t ask me what Captain Ingles, me, or anyone in the Nightingales think about the capabilities of the Hornets as an escort under wartime conditions.”
“Understood. Did Lieutenant Morgan have anything else to add or request?”
“Not in front of Captain Ingles … she wanted to talk to the squadron operation officers about something … so we went to our cabin to talk privately. You sent Jen, Anna, and Beth to look for the Captain and bring him to the cabin. On the way to the cabin, we ran into Gunny Ingles and you had her get a detail together to prevent anyone from leaving the cabin without being told by you that it was fine for them to leave.”
“Once we reached the cabin, what happened?”
“I must give the court some background information on how the Nightingales was formed first. When we were selecting personnel to fill the squadron’s roster … candidates were told that rank or service didn’t matter if they were selected or where in the squadron they would be flying at if they were selected. Lieutenant Morgan is the youngest and lowest ranked member in the squadron. She maybe a Lieutenant but she’s a marine, that would make her a Lieutenant JG if she is in the Navy.”
“I see … continue please.”
“Well Kathy was feeling overwhelmed with the responsibility of being Charlie flight leader and requested she be allowed to step down from the position if it was possible. We, the XOs, agreed to allow her to step down but couldn’t approve it until we spoke to Harm about it for his final approval.”
“What happened next?”
“Beth, Jen, and Anne returned with Harm in tow. We briefed him on why Kathy was there … he asked for our opinion on whom should we replace her with. We acted like it was the dumbest thing he had ever asked our options for … he pointed out that no matter how stupid or silly the question he asked us about the squadron was, he always wanted to hear our point of views before making a decision.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“It lets me know that he trust us making decisions concerning the squadron … not many of my other commanding officers ever asked me for my opinion on anything. It’s one of the reasons why everyone in the squadron will spend the rest of their careers in the squadron … everyone from the lowest ranked person up to the commanding officer has made suggestions to improve the way things are going to be accomplished.”
“Do you have an example on how that was shown?”
“When we got the ‘new’ F-14 Echoes, the tech reps from Northrop-Grumman were sent to our hanger to help train and listen to what we had to say to improve the Tomcat with its abilities. From these conversations a second radio and squadron/wing combat program were developed and proved to work as advertised.”
“How?”
“On our first mission we were allowed to fly without being required to fly as escorts for the ‘Air Dales’ … we were greeted with twenty-four North Korean squadrons, a total of 288 planes. I still have nightmares about that day.”
“Meg, take a few moments to collect yourself before continuing.”
“The new equipment worked very well … before the squadron had closed within our AIM-9 the Sidewinder, or gun range of the North Koreans … 160 North Korean planes had been destroyed … the air battle ended with a the total destruction of the North Korean force … we were credited of shooting down 281 planes while not loosing a single plane to enemy action.”
“Impressive. We got off track a little bit … now go back to Harm asking the XOs for their opinions, what happened next?”
“Harm called Kathy over and asked her why … she told him exactly the same thing she told us … Harm made an offer to let her step down as flight leader into a section leader’s position.”
“Did he explain why?”
“Yes, Ma’am. By the time the squadron had finished sending all the crews to ‘Top Gun’, Kathy finished the final exercise tied in 4th overall with a score of 10 among the 144 crews in those classes, there were only three crews that had scored better than her. He said she might be the youngest and lowest ranked but she was one of the best pilots in the squadron. Basically, he felt that if she went all the way back to a wingman’s slot was wasting her talent as a pilot. Kathy was reluctant to take the position and stated she would only take it if her wingman agreed.”
“Who was her wingman?”
“That would be Alpha 3 … Lobo, that is Lieutenant Commander Puller, and Myself. We had no problem flying Kathy’s wing because she had beaten us more times than we care to admit when we were flying inter-squadron games. So, she took the section leader’s position.”
“So up to this time, all the cabin mates only had a single tee shirt.”
“Yes, Ma’am, we all did except for Kathy.”
“You testified that Harm returned from his errand carry a box, is this when you found out what was in it?”
“Yes, Ma’am. After Kathy accepted the new position, Harm asked you to send Gunny to locate Commander MacKenzie and the Chief. They entered the cabin and he briefed them on the moves … neither had a problem making the move and they left … you informed Harm what the Captain briefed us on the hanger deck … he apologized to everyone for acting like a little kid who pouted. He remembered the box and opened his locker … he handed each of us a Navy, Marine, and two Seahawk tee shirts in his size … he also handed an Academy one to Kathy … each of us now had five pieces of clothing to use to lounge around in or sleep in. Later that week, he handed each of us two Nightingale tee shirts.”
Meg paused to take a drink. “I know that Kate, my roommate here at home, and I still use these shirts to lounge around or sleep in now. Anyway, after we were released from the room … I escorted Kathy to the Captain’s – excuse me, I keep calling Captain Ingles ‘Captain’, but he was granted the temporary rank of Vice Admiral until Admiral Boone was healthy enough to resume his position … Admiral Boone had been aboard the USS Kitty Hawk and survived her sinking.”
“Thank you, Commander. No further questions, your honor.”
“Commander Lindsey.”
“Commander Austin, how do we know that nothing happened between the Captain and any of you while aboard ship?”
“The medical pregnancy test should indicated to everyone that no sexual contact happened between any of us except the two who were allowed to have it by Presidential Waiver.”
“How do we know that nobody hide birth control pills or condoms?”
“After we moved in and before started to store our possessions, Harm had Captain Pike enter with a squad of Marines and Navy medical people and they removed our pills and any condoms that were found in the cabin. It is why Captain Pike is here to testify about.”
“Was there times when you saw the Captain nude or he saw one of you naked?”
“Yes, sir. If you had listen to what Captain Ingles read from the classified documents said … it was part of the waiver and also covered with Harm and Mac’s Presidential Waiver.”
“Did Colonel Rabb ever object to this possibility of happening?”
“No, sir. The only person Harm hadn’t seen nude before that would have been Kathy.”
“Huh? You mean the Captain has seen you nude before?”
“Yes, numerous times … we live in a private well secured housing complex that has a private Olympic-sized pool … everyone in Alpha does not have the American hang-up about nudity … we think like the majority of the world that nudity isn’t something to get upset about. We work extra hard to stay in shape in order to fly and each of us happen to like how we look like without clothes on.”
“Can you recall for the court the first time that this happened?”
“Yes, we were vacationing on a private beach … Harm had walked out on their front porch and saw two of us walking towards the water line nude … he ran back into the cabin and told Mac that he would remain inside the whole trip … Mac forced him out of the cabin and told him that he was hurting everyone’s feelings by the way he was acting … he relaxed and each of us except for Sam and Cassie modeled for the other six. We all gave our options on what we liked or dislike seeing … if what he or she said something that hurt the model’s feelings, they were to explain their reasons why … as far as I recall there was only one slight suggestion for one of change something.”
“What was that?”
“I would prefer not to answer that question unless Captain Seabring orders me to answer … it was a personal preference.”
“Not necessary for you to answer, Commander.”
“No further questions, your honor.” Ted sat down.
“Your honor, the defense makes a motion to drop all charges against my clients unless the prosecution wants me to continue calling all my witnesses. We have basically proved all five counts have no merit and we should not be wasting the court’s time by continuing this Article 39(a) hearing.”
“The prosecution agrees … if we would have had access to the materials the defense presented today, we would have not wasted your time.”
“Commander Lindsey, it wasn’t the prosecution’s fault that this hearing made the docket … the court holds Mr. Nelson solely responsible for it and thus hold him in contempt of the court and hereby sentences him to thirty days in the brig for wasting everyone’s time. Bailiff, take the SecNav into custody. All charges are dismissed against the six defendants. This court stands adjourned.”
Loran stood up and hoped to make a hasty and quiet exit from the courtroom but as soon as she turned into the aisle, her exit was blocked by three very angry looking superior officers.
“Captain Ingles, do you still want this Lieutenant aboard the Patrick Henry as your Battle Group JAG?” AJ asked.
“She has done her duty well except forgetting who her commanding officer actually is.” Tobias answered AJ before turning to look at Loran. “I give everyone one free pass aboard my carrier and you have used yours up Lieutenant … make another mistake and I’ll drop the carrier on top of you … do we have an understanding?”
“Yes, sir. I do apologize for not being able to tell you that I was under SecNav’s orders to report anything the Nights has done to him.”
“I understand that... Lieutenant … you’re under my sole command and you will tell me the name of whoever in the future request you to report something to them without informing me first, which includes the JAG.” Tobias turned to leave the courtroom.
“Sir, the Nights would like to invite you to McMurphy’s to celebrate the Colonel’s win today.” Harm called out to Tobias before he could exit the courtroom.
“I will be honored to attend … see everyone there.”
“Admiral, you’re welcome to join us as well.” Harm asked.
“It will be a pleasure.” AJ turned and left the courtroom.
Harm turned his attention to Loran. “Lieutenant, if you ever learn not to pull underhanded tricks or stepping on top of people … you have the potential of becoming a very good lawyer and a human being. Remember this second chance Captain Ingles has given you because he’s a generous commanding officer. He requested Admiral Chedwiggin and myself not to punish you for this stunt. You will be under the microscope for a very long time to see whether you have learned your lesson or not. I’ll even give you an olive branch and tell you when you return aboard the Patrick Henry, you may come up against a case you want an opinion on … someone from the Nights will fly to wherever the Henry is located to help you anyway we can. We feel that you had something to do with getting almost every woman involved in my career assigned to the Nights during our initial work-up stage … for that we are eternity thankful for. You’re invited to join us at McMurphy’s this evening if you don’t have plans already.”
‘Holly cow … they know and thanking me for getting them together. I’ll take the second chance offered to me as well as the olive branch and hopefully I’ll make everyone proud of me.’
bravenet.com