Chapter Nine - "My Cup Runneth Over"

Tuesday Morning (thanks for the catch)

NAS Patuxent River

0830 HRS

"Good morning, Chief." LN2 Jennifer Coates smiled as she handed the two sheets of paper (her transfer orders) to Chief Yeoman Leon Miguel Trebalos.

"Ah…" Chief Yeoman Trebalos grinned personably. "So…you're going to be Captain Rabb's new Legalman now. Captain Rabb reported in about an hour ago." He gave the papers to a YN2 to process and then proceeded to show LN2 Coates to Captain Rabb's office.

"…and Rear Admiral Nakamura?" Jen thought to ask as they walked towards Harm's office. "Is he in as well?"

"You bet, he's usually one of the first to be on base." YNC Trebalos replied. "I don't know how he does it, but he lives close to Falls Church so his esposa can make it to work at the Judge Advocate on time. Takes him an hour forty five to make it here. But he's always the first on base. Surprises me every single time." By the end of that sentence, the two had reached Captain Harmon Rabb's office and Trebalos took his leave.

Pounding the pine, Jen braced herself as she waited for Captain Rabb's response.

"Come in." He looked up from his paperwork. "Good morning, Legalman Coates." He grinned "Good to see you." as Jen stepped in walked to a spot three paces in front of his desk and braced to the position of attention. "At ease, Legalman. So…what can I do for you?" he asked.

"Well, according to the Chief, he stated that I'm your new Legalman so that's why I'm here, sir." Jen replied biting back a grin.

"Yes, considering the duties here, evidently Admiral Nakamura figured that you'd be a great asset to my staff" Harm grinned back openly. "Evidently…" he said looking at his sheaf of paper, "…you're my only staff."

"Glad to be of service, sir." Jen said cheekily.

"So how are you finding things here, Jen?" He asked.

"I just got here, sir, but already, it seems like its so much more relaxed around here. I don't feel the tension that we did over at JAG HQ." Jen visibly relaxed as she looked around the office. "You were gone for a long time, sir, but it seemed like there was a feeling of unease around the office. You never knew where you stood. Here, it's not like that and I can sense that already, sir."

"So you're feeling relaxed now, just like I am." Harm said. "This was a good move then, for both of us."

"I do feel sorry for Commander Austin, though." Jen replied.

"Commander Austin will be able to stand her ground." Harm said.

JAG Headquarters

Falls Church, VA

0900 HRS

Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Mackenzie braced herself as she stared at the two court room doors in front of her before she pushed one open and headed inside. Evidently Commander Liandra Gracen-Nakamura was going to be on the bench this morning and she wasn't going to be given any amount of leeway for shenanigans. Rating the toughness of either RDML Morris or CDR Nakamura on the bench, she'd rate Morris before the no-nonsense CDR Nakamura as the judge she'd prefer to face. Commander Nakamura's personable demeanor belied her on-bench toughness.

Moving to the defence desk, Mac met up with her client, Commander Shane Dempster accused of running the DDG 72 – USS Mahan aground – then she looked over as the door opened again to allow the prosecution counsel to enter the court-room – her jaw dropping open at who it was that was going to be opposing her in the courtroom. She looked up to see a nicely coiffed and dress blues wearing Commander Austin.

"Good morning, Lieutenant Colonel Mackenzie." Meg grinned. "I see you're defense counsel today."

From there on in, Mac's day thoroughly went in the crapper. Since this was a jury trial, the jury was there to listen to opening arguments. Her opening statement was thoroughly refuted by Commander Austin in her opening argument. Damn the fact that Commander Dempster was not attentive to the narrow channel in Hampton Roads. He had run his ship aground in the channel not more than 500 yards from the mooring at Norfolk Naval Station. But she was supposed to defend CDR Dempster to the best of her ability. Lia wasn't having any of it and proceeded instead of going to recess, directly into the trial phase. Could she hang the trial for prejudice against her client? But that would definitely put her in the bad books of CDR Nakamura. The only person in the entire courtroom that seemed to think that he had a feasible defence was Commander Dempster who seemed to feel that the tugs in the area of his passage were a hindrance to his departure from Hampton Roads.

"Were there any tugs in the area of your departure from Hampton Roads? Commander." Mac asked Commander Dempster.

"Yes, there was." Commander Dempster replied. "One actually crossed my bow at a distance of no more than 50 meters prior to my passage along the same course of route."

"And you weren't supposed to slow down for traffic in the area of passage?"

"Ma'am. We were supposed to slow down, but only to allow tugs to get clear, not allow them to impede our passage." Commander Dempster responded.

"And you allowed the tug to proceed without caution?"

"No, ma'am, we informed the tug captain that he had just intersected our bow and that we were transiting Hampton Roads enroute to Chesapeake Bay. His response was no acknowledgement. It was when we were crossing 500m south west of the Hampton Roads Bridge, that three other tugs went past our bow. I had the helmsman do a hard right to port to avoid a collision with the tailing tug."

"Commander, what was your speed?"

"13 knots, ma'am."

"That's all." Mac told the bench.

"Redirect. Your Honor" Commander Austin was like a shark smelling blood in the water. "You say you were going 13 knots, is this correct?"

"Yes, ma'am. It is." Commander Dempster acknowledged Commander Austin's question.

"So that means that in order to not have seen the tug in question that nearly bisected your bow, you had to have had your attention diverted from what it was that was supposed to be your primary focus at this point."

Dempster looked confused at the sudden change.

"Objection, Your Honor," Mac stated. "Counsel is argumentative, Speculation".

Lia said. "overruled. The defendant opened up that line of questioning when he mentioned his actions previous with the three tugs. But note to prosecution counsel. Get to where you're going with this quickly or I will disallow this line of questioning." The glare from the bench was palpable. Commander Nakamura was not going to allow Mac to establish any form of defense – at least that's what it looked like from Mac's viewpoint.

"Addressing the bench with regards to Exhibit A…" Meg said triumphantly, "This is a radar cross-section print out of the tugs in the area of Hampton Roads at the time that Commander Dempster stated were in the area at the time of the USS Mahan's passage through Hampton Roads. At no time were there three tugs in the vicinity of his destroyer. Would you like to recant that testimony, Commander or would you like to add perjury to your list of charges?"

Mac glared daggers at both Meg and at Commander Dempster. She was being made an utter fool for even defending Commander Dempster. "Defense Counsel would like to address the bench." Mac said. "Defence Counsel rests!" Screw inadequate defense, if the defendant was going to boldfaced lie to her in open court, then the defendant could take his chances with alternate counsel.

NAS Patuxent River

COMNAVAIRSYS JAG

1045HRS

"So, Jen, our duties are primarily assessing the legal paperwork with regards to new operations systems and weapons systems procedure parameters as well as contractor legal paperwork." Harm grinned.

"Wow, sir…" Jen grinned back, "That sounds like fun. Are you sure you wouldn't be happier at JAG HQ dealing with murder cases than doing what amounts to paperwork?" she said rolling her eyes to indicate that she too was much happier here than there.

"Oh…hell no! I can smell av-gas here and that makes me the happiest guy in the world even if I can't play with the airplanes." Harm replied.

"Maybe if you ask nicely, he will…" Animal snickered as he poked his head in the open door. "Acclimating here OK? Jen?" Animal had on a flight-suit. "Care to go on a familiarization flight? That way you can get an idea of how big Pax River is from up above."

"Asking or offering, Admiral?" Harm grinned widely as he got up out of his desk.

"Sometimes we have to go up to test systems and that's part of the fun of this job. Our test-pilots have limited hours to test stuff thanks to fiscal budget and that sometimes means bending the rules a bit. Yeah, I get my flight hours this way." Animal grinned. "VADM Hadfield keeps up his hours too. Grab some flight gear at the goat-locker and meet me on the tarmac. We're gonna go take a SuperBug up; give it some exercise." He tossed back over his shoulder as he headed off.

Harm looked over at Jen with a chow-eating grin on his face and said. "Damn…I love this job!"

Jen gave him a mock-sour look as she headed over to her desk and said. "Hmmph…abandoned again! See you when you get back, sir." Harm knew her disgruntlement was only for show as she gave him another beaming smile.

Tarmac

NAS Patuxent River

1120 HRS

"So…" Animal said as the two of them held their flight helmets in their hands walking out to the F/A-18F Super Hornet. "This is just an orbit around a couple times around the field and showing you where the range is." His voice was interrupted by the drone of turboprops as a P-3C Orion maritime surveillance aircraft took off. Looking up into the sky to see nothing but blue, Harm grinned back at the admiral who was striding out to the Super Hornet with confidence. For all the times he had known the admiral, Harm knew that Animal had the utmost of confidence in his own abilities as a naval aviator. He was one of the best and he knew it. "You checked out in the Super Hornet, yet?"

"Not entirely, sir." Harm replied.

"Well…one of your duties is to get yourself checked out and certified on it. I'll make the hours available." Animal replied.

"Gee, Admiral, O-6 commission, transfer to an office that feels like home, being able to sniff av-gas till my eyes cross and now being told to get checked out on a F/A-18 Super Hornet and be able to fly…" Harm grinned a silly little grin, rolled his eyes skywards in benediction. "My cup runneth over." He finished looking like a kid in a candy store.

"Any chance I get to stick it to AJ, the better." Animal replied as he thought over how bombastic the SEAL was getting.

The two quietly did a pre-flight check and then mounted up. Animal, in the front, Harm in the back. Preflight checks and Prestart checks completed, Animal started the twin turbojets and a whine filled the cockpit. Lowering the canopy all they could hear was the pressurization air flow. "Salty Dog 121, Pax Tower. Taxi Runway One-Four Departure and orbit field then departure to range one." The plane captain lifted a thumbs up as the F/A-18F trundled forwards towards the taxiway.

"Salty Dog One Two One, you have runway One Four and clearance to line up and depart. Have a good flight."

"Roger that, Pax Tower." As Animal nosed his F/A-18F and lined up with the runway centerline, he applied brakes and then smoothly jammed the throttles full-forward. Harm could feel the power emanating from the two F414-GE400s as Animal put the F/A-18F into full military power, then Animal uttered. "Going to max reheat" as he jammed the throttles into afterburner. Releasing the brakes as the Super Hornet bucked like a caged wild thing, the Super Hornet punched forward, the forward force jamming Harm against the ejection seat. Halfway down the runway, Animal pulled the stick back as the F/A-18F leapt off the runway. Pulling nose up, the F/A-18F went into the vertical and Animal, grinning all the while, rolled the Super Hornet.

Seeing the sky spinning, Harm grunted to keep the oxygen flowing to his brains; he remembered the last time he had flown with Animal. Animal was insane when it came to putting the Tomcat (then) and now the Hornet through its paces. But that was to be expected. Animal was a combat aviator with four kills to his record – two over Iraq, two over Korea, just one short of being an ace.

"Seen your breakfast yet, Harm?" Animal placidly asked.

"No, sir." Harm said. "And I really wouldn't want to make a reacquaintance with it." By now, they were at Angels 30 and Animal rolled over the top inverted and flipped the Super Hornet upright.

NAS Patuxent River

Vice-Admiral Hadfield's Office

1150 HRS

"So, Legalman Coates. Do you have an idea where Captain Rabb has gone to?" VADM Hadfield asked the question as he looked out the window to see an F/A-18F Super Hornet blow past the airfield at just under 700mph crossing the intersecting runways before going nose-up and blowing a plume of dirt across the airfield as it lit afterburner and went vertical.

"Sir. I believe RADM Nakamura said something about a familiarization flight." Jen replied innocently.

He lifted a thumb towards the offending F/A-18F, all that remained was the twinkling lights of the two F414-GE400s as the F/A-18F blew past Angels 15 and said sardonically. "I trust that was them: Nakamura and Rabb." Tempering the glower with an ironic wink.

"I would have no clue, sir. All they said was they were in a Super Hornet, sir." Coates grinned back.

VADM Hadfield looked calmly in the mirror to the side of the door…and muttered a pungent oath. "That's another gray hair," he muttered to himself, though audible to Jen. "Well, at least they're having fun." He muttered. "Jen, would you do me a favor and let them know that I need the latest update on the Short Range Air to Air Missile. It's supposed to be in Phase II right now so I need to ask them for a report. I have to report next Monday to the Joint Services Acquisitions Sub-Committee on the progress of the project."

"Will do, sir." Jen replied and was dismissed by the vice-admiral.

JAG Headquarters

Falls Church, VA

1200 HRS

Commander Austin and Commander Nakamura were headed out the door to lunch when Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Mackenzie stopped them. "You never told me about that radar cross-section of Hampton Roads, Commander Austin. Was that something you were planning on keeping to yourself?" Mac said venomously. Commander Nakamura raised an eyebrow as she looked questioningly at both Mac and Meg.

Meg stood face-to face staring down the tip of her nose at Mac. "I'd suggest, Lieutenant Colonel, that you take another look at your case folder. I personally handed you a copy of that information just a few days ago."

Mac took a look at the folder that she was holding thinking that she had Meg pinned down under failure to provide evidence to the defense and then was rudely surprised when she found a copy of Meg's evidence nestled in her own folder just as Meg had stated it would be.

"well…I see you found it." Meg said, resisting the urge to add that little tone of snark to her comment. "Now Commander Nakamura and I were heading off to grab a bite to eat. Would you care to come have some lunch?"

"I'll pass." Mac said sourly. "I have an enormous amount of paperwork to catch up on." That bitch! Mac thought to herself as she turned around and headed back towards her office.

"She doesn't like you much, does she?" Lia asked Meg.

"Not really." Meg replied. "Doesn't bother me though." She said airily as the two continued through the office as they headed off to get something to eat, "Wonder what the boys are doing?" She said to Lia.

"Oh, I'm sure they're having fun." Lia replied knowing that Meg was referring to Harm and Animal."

NAS Patuxent River

1200 HRS

The subjects of Meg's and Lia's contemplations were in the process of having the most fun they could have in a fighter. "Woohoo!" Harm and Animal crowed as Animal rolled the Super Hornet along its axis from nose to tail along their direction of flight down Runway 24/6. "How do you keep from getting busted for doing this?" Harm asked.

"The Vice-Admiral doesn't care. He does this kind of thing on weekdays too." Animal replied. Looking at his Breitling timepiece, the timepiece that Lia had given him for his 40th birthday, Animal said, "Well, looks like we'd better get this baby home to Mama."

"Rats." Harm replied.

"Yeah, VX-23's CO won't let me take it out for playtime any more if I don't." Animal replied.

1215 HRS

Animal executed a perfect three-point landing as he greased the Super Hornet in on Runway 32/14 and taxied her to the tarmac outside the VX-23 Salty Dogs hangar. The CO was there to meet them.

"Welcome back, sir. How was she? Admiral." Commander David Renquist grinned at the two.

"Flew like a charm, Commander." Animal responded. Introducing Harm to Commander David Renquist. "This is Captain Harmon Rabb, one of my protégés from East Coast RAG."

"Didn't know that, sir. How do you do, Captain Rabb."

"Pleasure. Commander." Harm extended a hand in response. "She flew like a beauty today."

"I should hope so, sir. We got the best wrenches in the Navy, sir and on top of that, you were flying with the best stick in the Navy too, sir." Renquist said looking over at Animal.

"Oh…quit brown-nosing, Renquist." Animal chided him jokingly. "I just make sure that I don't bend the aircraft…or the CNO will tell me to quit flying."

As soon as they were showered off, dressed back in khakis and headed back to their respective offices, Jen waylaid Harm as he came back, "Sir, VADM Hadfield wanted both you and Admiral Nakamura in his office. He was saying something about needing the reports in for SRAAM testing. He has a Joint Services Acquisition Subcommittee meeting next Monday and he needs the reports for then. Something about a Phase II on the program?"

"OK…will do that. I'll round up Admiral Nakamura and we'll head for VADM Hadfield's office."

VADM Hadfield's Office

NAS Patuxent River

1245 HRS

"So…you two quit playing hookey and came back to work?" VADM Hadfield muttered, tempering his mock-annoyance with a grin. "Maybe I should go fly something too. So Admiral, how's Phase II going on the SRAAM project?"

"Looks like they're doing final guidance tests later on this week and we should have a report the day after." Animal replied.

"Later this week? Specify what date we're looking at!" Hadfield said. "I want to see something concrete by Thursday so that I can plan what I'm going to snowball the Joint Services Subcommittee with."

"Will do, Admiral." Animal replied. "Harm will draw up the particulars on the project requirements, how much more flying hours we're going to be utilizing for the remainder of Phase II, Phase III and Phase IV and then into operational testing, there's going to be carrier tests, seeing how the guidance systems take the shock of carrier landings; all that is primarily in Phase IV and operational testing. Over all the testing is going well and we should be into Phase III by the end of this month."

"Good thing, I thought I was going to end up catching a tiger by the tail on this, Animal. Good work. So Captain Rabb, what did you think of the familiarization flight over Pax River, before this yahoo" indicating Animal with a thumb "here started relocating the dust bunnies from one side of the airfield to the other." Both Animal and VADM Hadfield snickered as VADM Hadfield said this with a sardonic grin at the other admiral.

"It was great. I didn't realize that COMNAVAIRSYS JAG was a flying position here." Harm replied.

"We need everyone that we have with wings here to test the systems that we have to work on. You so that you can write formulative assessments on what we need in terms of funds from the committee and legal operational parameters from the Judge Advocate General based on experience with the projects that we have." VADM Hadfield said. "So yes, Captain Rabb, you've lucked out…and you have Admiral Nakamura here to thank for that. He mentioned that you were an ex-fighter pilot with thousands of hours on the Tomcat and a few DFCs and thus you were the primary candidate." VADM Hadfield leaned forward extending a hand to shake Harm's and said. "Welcome aboard, Captain Rabb. Animal has told me that you are going to be getting checked out in the F/A-18F Super Hornet and you'll be helping out with testing the systems on our air to air/air to ground weaponry. We need that so the sooner you get yourself checked out on the Super Hornet, the sooner you can get up to speed as COMNAVAIRSYS JAG."

"Thank you sir." Harm said absolutely feeling like he was the cat that ended up in a bowl of cream. The best possible job in the world, he thought to himself as he exited the vice-admiral's office and headed back to his own.