Tuesday, March 30, 1999

Shakedown - 79

[Chegwidden's "adopted" son is introduced and found to have leukemia.] The USS Coral Sea was experiencing chronic severe power interruptions while in the middle of flight operations in the no-fly zone. A steam pipe failure with severe injuries brought Harm (H) and Mac (M) to investigate. A civilian contractor, Yarborrough, told them that the ship had failures for some time, including lock-outs, system crashes, and false alarms. He was described by the crew as a "smart guy who likes to remind you of it." they met another civilian contractor, John Newman, when examining the failed pipe and found acid had been applied. H had to rush M to the wash down station when her gloves began burning from the acid. H went to the bridge during a "rumble" and everyone watched him as he "armchair quarterbacked" the downing of two Iraqi MIGs. M observed to H that "you were good weren't you?" He responded that "I still am, and status current." M felt the need to pontificate at him about "never being able to go back, because you're too important to JAG." He told her it "wasn't my choice." Newman told M that the acid was a spontaneous metal dissolver (SMD) used as "liquid torch" when flames were inappropriate. M saw H watching flight tapes and walked away. He caught up with her and she said she was beginning to worry again with him trading one obsession for another: "finding your father, Roscoe, now the little girl and what's next, flying?" He told her that she was just afraid "you'll loose me." She merely responded "maybe, or that you will loose yourself."

Yarborrough spilled coffee on the XO so he could be alone with the computer to install a clandestine computer program which caused power failures. H told the captain of either Saboteur or Vandalism then asked Bud (B) to check the names including civilian contractors. The steam injured sailor told H that Newman had been in the engine room before the break. H bet dinner for a week that the guilty person was Newman. M bet it was Yarborrough because he was a "disgruntled, former-navy geek who tried to prove himself smarter than everyone else by creating problems then fixing them." But only if the dinners were restaurant not home cooked cause if they served "Harms meatless meatloaf on the ship they would have to take it off the ship in the hazardous waste." Yarborrough patched his laptop into a computer link splice in the bulkhead which produced multiple outages, alarms and failures. He and Newman went to the disbursing office when the captain shut off unnecessary power and stole over a million dollars. While they were climbing up a ladder, Newman kicked Yarborrough into the sea. When the theft was reported H & M realized that it was just a diversion. M found the patch in Yarborrough's room. When she pulled the plug all the lights and systems (magically) returned to full use and two "bingo" Tomcats were able to land. H confronted Newman (alone!) in Hazmat and a fight ensued breaking gooey material all over and starting a fire. Newman ripped off Hs mask which ticked him off so he knocked Newman out and drug him to the wash down station. H flummoxed the captain, when he asked how he had figured it out, by saying that it was because of "Harm's meatless meatloaf." M suggested that H stay aboard for a few days, and that saving a million dollars would probably be worth a ride in a Tomcat. H got his ride.

B was sworn into the bar and got his insignia. His first case was defending someone who relieved himself in public. When B complained that he was going to defend "the Urinator," H told him that he could always "pee-bargain" and M said "there were no small cases only small bladders." B found a Urologist to testify that his client had "prostatitis." Commander Coulter called H to check on Dar-lin. H said she was in foster care awaiting adoption and he checked on her two times a week. Coulter told H to "call me sometime when you don't need something." He said that he would. Lt. Sherkston (sharky) was introduced as Chegwidden's (C) "son he never had." A few years back, when he stole Cs car, C offered to not press charges if Sherkston would join the Navy. He became a seal and C became his "mentor." He was in Washington for a medical checkup at his wife, Shelly's, insistence for a "bug he had since returning from the gulf." It was found to be leukemia and Shelly had to come to C for help because Sharkey was refusing treatment. She said it was because Sharkey was afraid of being weak in front of C. Sharkey told C that he had seen the treatments NOT work on his father when he was eight. Just took away his fathers dignity and will to fight. C then turned to "tough love" by saying he would make a few calls and have him out within the hour. He held up the nurse call button and told him "just ring the bell. Be like all those whining, bawling mamma's boys who dropped out of SEAL training. Donuts and hot coffee for all pukes who wanna quit." He told Sharkey that this was the "battle of your life. If you don't have the guts to see it through then you will loose and you will die so- ring the bell." Sharkey didn't, and they both had a "hoo-yah" fest.

Tuesday, March 2, 1999

Nobody's Child - 78

An unknown girl was beaten to death on naval property being turned over to DC. Although not a student she stowed away on a school bus touring the base but sneaked away and was chased down by a naval Master Chief. Chegwidden (C)assigned Harm (H) and Mac (M) to see to it that the ball wasn't dropped. Agent Holland was investigating for NCIS and they found a Master Chief insignia in the girls hand. While there H seemed contemplative and saw the girl in sort of a vision. He sent M on back and he stayed with the body while the autopsy was performed. He asked C to be assigned to the case and was allowed. Eventually he brought in Doctor Coulter to perform another, more thorough, autopsy and she found that the child had died from severe abuse including being locked away and needing to eat paper to survive. No one reported a child missing and H and Coulter held a burial service and read from the bible. M could tell that H had the "same look in his eye" as when he was chasing his father and defending the "king of fleas" but H kept shutting her out. Bud (B) found records of a convicted child abuser living in the area with his brother who was a master chief. He and H tailed the man, William Hawkins, and harassed him until he told them where he had seen the child and that he had worried she was being abused but was afraid to report that he knew. H took a drawing around to the neighborhood and found a woman who would tell him where she had seen the girl if H would track down her deadbeat navy husband. The girl lived with her aunt Marjorie Lewis who had moved out with "Charlie" one week prior, in a hurry without notice. She said that the girl never spoke and didn't even say thanks when she had been given one of her husbands insignias. A social worker told H and Coulter that the girls name was Annie Lewis and her mother had died 3 years previously. She had been given to her maternal grandmother to raise, but she had died 6 months previously and Annie had been lost to the records. She said she couldn't legally give H the address but left the chart out where he could see it. They went to the abandoned house and had "feelings" that the child had been there then found the closet where she had been locked. H saw the girl, that he had seen twice in vision, and followed her to a hiding place. She was the dead girls twin sister, Dar Lin. She said that "they grabbed Annie but I got away" and Charlie had locked them in the closet. He had told them that he would stomp their head if they weren't good. H promised her he would find Charlie and make him pay. Then he was shown making the same promise to a headstone engraved with Annie's name.

C gave B the newspaper to read that he had passed the Bar exam. Ht was helping with the case and clumsily dropped the folder of photographs onto the floor. She freaked out when she saw then and chastised H for taking the case when he didn't have to and getting B involved. She slugged H then came to C the next day resigning her commission. He tried to downplay the incident but she said she "struck an officer." He said that all he had seen was her making an exaggerated gesture which by chance struck H. He tore up her resignation and muttered "I can't count the number of times I thought about hitting Rabb."