VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ]



[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 09:10:36 02/01/17 Wed
Author: Lace
Subject: Part 2/2
In reply to: Lace 's message, "Back in uniform part 1/2 (Nine years after series, the early years)" on 14:07:29 01/30/17 Mon

Thursday, Force Judge Advocates office

Mac knocked on Harm’s office door, after making sure with his yeoman that he wasn’t in a meeting. She waited for his; “Enter,” before she opened the door.
“Reporting as ordered, sir,” she said as she walked over to his desk and sat down.
“It’s customary to stand at attention in front of an officer of higher rank, Colonel,” he said teasingly.
“Sorry,” she said, not at all meaning it. “So, I’m back from the University, what do you need me to do?”
He smiled. “How did the lecture go?”
“Well, after answering a gazillion questions about my military career, the lecture went great. My students haven’t seen me in a uniform before, so it took a while before we actually started on today’s topic,” Mac explained with amusement.
“It’s good seeing you back in uniform,” Harm said.
“Hopefully I’ll be back to being a civilian before I have to get a maternity uniform. My skirt is feeling a little tight,” she admitted and looked curiously at the file he was holding. “Did you call me here to small talk, or do you have something for me to do?”
“I do, actually,” he put the file on top of a huge pile. “These cases are up for review.”
“No problem, I’ll get right on it,” she stood and reached for the pile.
“I can carry them for you,” he said and started to stand.
She rolled her eyes. “Spare me, I can still carry a pile of files, thank you very much.”
He sat back down, not daring to argue with her. “Yes, ma’am.”

Mac took the pile to the library and sat down by the conference table. She had to admit that she loved being back in uniform again, even if she had to review cases. General Creswell had asked her about returning to full duty, before Mac had told him about the pregnancy and said that she had other priorities at the moment. And she did. She enjoyed her work at the university, but she was happy that it was only two days a week. She was enjoying taking it a little easy, and as her Doctor had reminded her, she wasn’t a young expectant mother, and with her condition she wanted to follow her up closely, and she recommended taking it easy and avoid stress. Mac had no problem following those recommendations, willing to do whatever to make sure the pregnancy was risk free.
She was finished with the hellish first trimester, feeling energetic again. Her Doctor had been worried because she’d lost so much weight and had told her to eat healthy and make sure she considered what vitamins and minerals she needed for the baby’s sake. Not that she needed to think about it because Harm told her all the time. He was so worried about her wellbeing, and it was nice, but also a little annoying.
“Oh, sorry, ma’am, am I disturbing?” Lieutenant Smith said.
“No, come on in,” Mac reassured.
“I just started reviewing this case, ma’am,” he gave her a file. “The thing is, I’m not sure the convicted is guilty.”
Mac opened the file. “Based on?”
“Lieutenant Coffin. Convicted of killing his wife. He was stationed at RAF Mildenhall. He’s been in Leavenworth for five years now.” Lieutenant Smith sat down while Mac read the file.
“She was found in bed by the Lieutenant when he came home from work, the gun found on the floor, the Lieutenant’s and the victim’s fingerprints on it….” Mac lifted her head to look at Smith. “So far I don’t understand what’s bothering you?”
“Keep reading,” Smith said.
Mac did just that. “The Lieutenant left for work that morning, he came home later than usual, around 1900, and had been on base all day, although he left for an hour around lunch time.”
“An hour,” Smith said. “It’s a very short time for him to be able to go home, shoot his wife and then be back at work. It would take him a little less then an hour to get home and back, giving him about five minutes to kill his wife and make it look like a suicide.”
“Doesn’t mean that he didn’t,” she said with doubt.
“His friends and colleagues testified that the victim had been depressed over a long period due to miscarriages, and eventually she couldn’t have children. After that she didn’t leave the house, she stopped talking to people, all classic signs of depression. She left a suicide note,” he also pointed out.
“But they concluded with that she couldn’t have written it herself because she was dyslectic,” Mac wrinkled her forehead. “Interesting… The defense brought up that they didn’t have anything to compare the note with because she only used her computer. There was something from when she was younger, but it didn’t match. The defense argued that she wrote almost perfect on the computer, and that there was no proof that she hadn’t written the note herself.”
Smith sat up straighter. “So, you think I’m on to something?”
Mac hesitated. “The prosecution did bring up the Lieutenants temper, but the defense argued that he had never taken his frustration out on his wife. I think you should bring it to the Captain, ask if you could look into it.”
Smith stood and took the file. “Thanks Colonel.”
“Any time,” she smiled. “Let me know what the Captain said.”
“I will,” Smith said and left in a hurry.

Two weeks later, Harm and Mac’s house¨
Harm found Mac in the kitchen as he came home from work. She looked thoughtful as she steered the pasta sauce, and didn’t notice his presence. She hadn’t been in the office that day because she had tended to some personal business after her lecture and work at the university.
“Hi,” he said.
She turned and smiled. “Hey, you’re home.”
He smiled and walked over to her. “Finally,” he leaned in and kissed her softly. It was intended as a quick kiss hello, but she deepened the kiss and put her arms around his neck, he had no problem with that. “That was some greeting,” he said as the kiss ended. He rubbed his nose on hers and smiled.
She returned the smile. “I missed you today. My checkup went fine.”
“I would have wanted to be there,” he said and let out a sigh. “Damn meeting at the Embassy.”
“No problem, you’ll come next time. It was only a quick check up anyway. She just checked my blood pressure and drew some blood. I’m in great health,” she reassured.
“Was she happy with your weight gain?” he wondered.
Mac rolled her eyes. “Yes. I’ll be as big as a house soon, don’t you worry.”
“A small, very pretty house,” he said and kissed her quickly. “Where’s Mattie?”
“In her room working on an English assignment,” Mac let go of him and made sure the pasta sauce hadn’t burned. “Why don’t you go change, and let her know that dinner is served.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said and turned to leave. “By the way,” he turned back. “Lieutenant Smith proved that Lieutenant Coffin didn’t kill his wife.”
“He did?” Mac asked surprised.
“He sure did. You know that letter he got from Coffin’s wife’s sister? The analysis came through and the writing is a match,” Harm said.
“But it could be argued that Coffin could have written it for her,” Mac pointed out.
“His writing didn’t match at all. Besides, they pulled DNA from the envelope, and it belonged to Mrs. Coffin, along with fingerprints from her sister and herself. One fingerprint came back positive on a guy from the postal service, who had a water tight alibi. The convening authority ruled that it was enough evidence for a retrial, so the Lieutenant are going to D.C to argue the case in court as Lieutenant Coffin’s defense attorney.”
“That’s great,” Mac smiled sadly. “Although, it breaks my heart that she killed herself. I can understand how down she must have been after what she’d been through, knowing that she’d never have a baby, but to kill herself…”
“She’d had a period of depression in her youth, that didn’t come up at her trial. I guess the miscarriages just made the depression blossom again,” Harm said and reached for Mac’s hand. “But yeah, it’s sad.”
“I was thinking about how I reacted when the Doctor told me that I would never be able to have a baby, and it was sad, but I could never let it ruin my life. If anything happened to our baby, it would kill me, but I could never have done what she did,” Mac tugged on Harm’s hand and stepped into his embrace. “I love you.”
Harm put his arms around her. “Everything will be okay with our baby, because it’s faith. It was meant to be all along. I love you too.”

Two weeks later
Harm looked at Mac’s empty chair as he walked into the conference room, he wondered what was taking her so long.
“At ease,” he said to the rest of his staff. The door to the conference room opened.
“It’s not like the Marine’s to be late,” Harm commented before Mac could say anything.
“Sorry, sir, you squids must be rubbing off on me,” Mac responded as she walked over to her seat. “That was General Creswell on the phone by the way. Since it’s slowing down here this will be my last day.”
“That’s a shame, ma’am,” Lieutenant Smith said. “It’s been educational working with you.”
There was a round of nods and agreements around the table.
“I appreciate that, but I think you guys have everything under control. It’s been fun though,” Mac said.
“Thank you for all your help, Mac,” Harm said.
“Any time.”
They continued the morning meeting, then Harm dismissed them. Mac was the only one not to rise and he leaned back in his chair and studied her. “Looking forward to taking it easy again?”
She smiled. “It was nice wearing the uniform again.”
“It was nice seeing you in it again. And it was nice having you around,” he admitted, feeling a dread wash over him. “I find that I miss working with you.”
She nodded. “I miss working with you as well, but it’s not like you won’t see me.”
He smiled. “That’s true.”
Mac stood and came to attention. “Sir.” She smiled and turned to leave, but then she turned back to him. “And Captain, I’ll be seeing you tonight.”
“Oh, yes you will,” he said as he stood and gathered his things.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]



Replies:

[> What a pleasant surprise to find 2 stories tonight. I love this! -- FJN, 20:34:40 02/01/17 Wed [1]

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
[ Edit | View ]



[ Login ] Create Account Not required to post.
Post a public reply to this message | Go post a new public message
 * HTML allowed in marked fields.
* Message subject (required):

* Name (required):

  Expression (Optional mood/title along with your name) Examples: (happy, sad, The Joyful, etc.) help)

  E-mail address (optional):

* Type your message here:

Choose Message Icon: [ View Emoticons ]

Notice: Copies of your message may remain on this and other systems on internet. Please be respectful.

[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-5
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.