"MISSING PERSONS" Author: Hugo "Animal" Chikamori E-mail: hchikamori@yahoo.com Rating: PG-13 Classification: Webb/Other R; Harm/Mac R; Animal/Meg R Spoilers: None, except whatever comes out of Animal's demented mind... Summary: A routine journalist tour causes a naval investigation when two sailors are found missing. Disclaimers: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., AJ Chegwidden, et al. belong in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended. Jacob Lee Grafton is a figment of the imagination of Stephen Coonts and is copyrighted to him. My character and other persons who remains nameless are properties of the people involved. Any resemblance to members of the shipper list are purely coincidental...No...Really... ------------------------------------------------------------ Part 1/??? August 4, 2000 NAPLES HARBOR NAPLES, ITALY 1200 ZULU UTC Metalman, who was a Lieutenant Commander, stood near the stern of the USS Theodore Roosevelt. A tall, young lanky officer, he had an infectious grin and was incredibly skilled in flying his fighter. He casually peered over at the ladies down by the deck who were looking up watching him in his utility whites and shoulderboards. He glanced around seeing the monstrous size of the dock that the TR was tied up at and grinned again. This was Naples. His best friend, had outranked him by several ranks and sometimes it rankled, but this was a nice sunny day and his thoughts were not on that. There was a job to be done. It was a rather mundane job of escorting jour- nalists and other civilian claptrap aboard the carrier. He glanced around again as he casually unhooked his mirrored Serengeti driver sun-glasses from his pocket and slid the earpieces around his ears and slid the frame onto the bridge of his nose. He grinned at one of the ladies down by the dock; a pretty young red-head. He casually wondered what Animal was doing at the moment. (down below on the hangar-deck) " Lieutenant Myres...I told your supply men several times already that the gyros are sensitive instruments. Do you think that they're not going to be destabilized when one of your grease-monkeys are stumbling around in the cockpit of the F-14 with a fucking pipe-wrench?" the subject of Metalman's casual wondering was growling ominously at the supply officer. Commander Hugo Chikamori callsign Animal, had been a commander for the better part of two years and had been selected as the youngest to ever achieve command. The new commander of the ship was an youthful-looking V/Admiral by the name of Jake Grafton who reported to the commander of the battle-group, Admiral James Pointer I. Animal growled again," Lieutenant, the next time I see damage caused by carelessness such as this incident, the cost of replacing the instruments will come out of your paycheque. Do you get my drift??" " Yes..." said the Lieutenant resignedly. After two years of Cdr. Chikamori being on his case morning, afternoon and night, he would certainly make an effort to try and get his charges to comply with the commander's request. " YES...WHAT?!!!" thundered Animal. A pale Lieutenant Myres responded," Yes, sir...sir." Just then an announcement came over the intercom on board the ship. "Would Commander Hugo Chikamori please report to the CAG's office immediate- ly." "OK, Myres, the brass wants me so get crackin' on that maintenance, I'll be down to check on it later...Understood?" Animal growled as he turned to leave. " Yes, sir." Lieutenant Myres said, regretting the fact that he, him- self, didn't have a higher rank. This Commander Chikamori was starting to become a real pain-in-the-ass. But he would have his work that was request- ed of him done. The only problem with not being able to complain was the fact that Commander Chikamori didn't ask what could be done of his men that he couldn't do himself. Animal had on numbers of occasions, even without an engineering degree or any knowledge technical whatsoever, taken a screw- driver or other tool and singlehandedly fixed problem instruments without the aid of a computer diagnostic tool. Plus physically knocking him on his butt would be damn near next to impossible because Animal had a black belt in three martial arts and could easily maim someone bare-handedly. Lieu- tenant Todd Myres groaned audibly as he went over to his Chief Petty Officer and gave him the orders to carry out. (in the CAG's office) When Animal walked into the CAG's office, the CAG was not there to be seen. Sitting in his place was Vice-Admiral Jake L. Grafton. The grin on his craggy but handsome face was indubitably sincere. He grinned,"Commander, thanks for dropping by so quickly." Animal said,"Sir...I came as soon as requested, sir. Not meaning to be rude, sir," he paused casually taking notice that the CAG was not present, " Where is the CAG?" " Well, Commander Chikamori, the CAG was bumped up to a desk-job at the Fumble-Fortress in Washington along the Potomac. CAG has just been post- ed to the Pentagon." Admiral Grafton said. Animal's response was a subdued "oh". The admiral then pulled out one of the drawers of the desk, reached in and pulled out a large manila en- velope."Well, I know that you're kind of shocked at the latest turn of events but, well, Commander, this ought to cheer you up." he grinned. He passed Animal the big envelope. As Animal grasped the envelope, he became aware of the fact that there was a number of loose items inside the envelope and the envelope was pretty lumpy for a letter. He tore the envelope open and up-ended it on the table. A length of gold braid and two sets of silver eagles popped out. Also a piece of paper with a promotion order fell out. Vice-Admiral Jacob Lee Grafton grinned at Commander now Captain selectee Chikamori and said," Congratulations, Captain. Also, this order just came through." he grinned." Well, it seems like you now have command of CVW-8. You are now the Commander of Air Wing 8 onboard this ship. So what do you think?" " I...I'm...I'm really amazed..." Animal gasped in amazement." I didn't think that I would be selected for Captain this soon." " Well," Jake grinned at Animal," Well, evidently high command figures that you're suited for the job. You've got the best job in the business. I was CAG of the Air Wing on the USS United States before that Iranian Colonel Qati..." he paused." Well, you got the best job in the world." Animal grinned as V/Adm. Grafton got up out of his seat and said,"Well, Animal, I'd better get back to the flag plot before they sent a search party out for me. Well, enjoy yourself...Congratualations." he grinned as he head- ed out the door. Animal's first act as CAG was to grin evilly and then summon Lieutenant Commander Burrows. "Lieutenant Commander Burrows, Report to CAG's office immediately..." Fifteen minutes later as a very tired Lieutenant Commander Philip John Burrows came through the CAG's door, he saw Animal sitting there in khakis with his feet up on the desk." Glad you could make it." Animal grinned evil- ly again as Metalman stood there in shock," Shut the door..." Metalman shut the door. Metalman looked again at Animal sitting there behind the CAG's desk. Something was not quite right here. " Uh, Animal...are you sure that you're supposed to be in CAG's desk? When he gets back, he's not going to be too pleased." Metalman said. " He's not coming back..." Animal said, rather pleased with himself. This was fun." High Command made sure of that." " You're kidding..." Metalman groaned..."You have to be..." He slapped the palm of his hand against his forehead." You mean...naw...that can't be right...you're...the new CAG...of CVW-8?" He then looked at Animal again," Either this is an hallucination or I'm going crazy..." Animal laughed a sinister laugh." Well, welcome to your nightmare, Metalman, I'm it, the new CAG. I expect to be treated with the same respect that you gave the last CAG. If not, I'm going to toast your butt..." "Good luck," retorted Metalman who had regained some of his composure ..." You're kidding...You...CAG?!! Wake me up in the morning, willya? This has to be rated as the most hilarious thing this side of Looney-Tunes." "LOONEY-TUNES...WHAT?!!!" roared Animal. "Oh, you want me to say...sir..." Metalman smirked." Geez, this is priceless...High Command must've lost their minds collectively." Animal gave him a scathing look and didn't bother answering. Metalman quit snickering and then said," Well, CAG...so what do you want? We have journalists coming on board this afternoon." Animal groaned," Oh, yeah. I forgot about that." He groaned again as he said," Well, Lieutenant Commander, I just found something for you to do." Turning around in his chair, he grasped a program sheet for the tour of the aircraft carrier and gave it to Metalman." Here, Lieutenant Commander, run down to the copyroom and make about 250 copies of the program for me..." " OK," Metalman smirked as he turned to go out as Animal roared " OK, SIR!!!" " Yeah, whatever..." Metalman grunted as he headed out the door. Animal muttered to himself," This is not going to be easy to deal with but I'm not going to demote him, not just yet..." CAG'S OFFICE 1230 ZULU UTC After he had run errands for Animal, Metalman ventured back on the deck again. He looked over the civilian crowd of journalists who were mill- ing on the pier waiting for the aircraft carrier to open up so as to let them on board. He grinned at the group of journalists with a smile of per- fect white teeth. " Another group of idiots to cater to." he thought as he gazed down at them. "Hiya Metalman." a familiar voice interrupted his musings. Metalman turned around to see who it was. It was Captain Hugo Chikamori, USN, resplendant in white utility uniform with navy blue shoulderboards with four gold stripes on each shoulder. His white shoes, trousers, white web-belt and short sleeve shirt accented by a gold buckle and a rainbow splotch of battle-ribbons were topped by a piece of gold metal indicating his branch of service as a naval aviator. His gold navy wings were shined to a bright sheen which was blinding. " Hiya Animal." grinned Metalman as he cheerily looked over the edge of the carrier." Looks like a press circus, we got here today." " Yep, Lieutenant-Commander." Animal grunted. " I can tell I'm really going to enjoy this." As soon as the journalists were all on board, the duty officers had assembled them into the space on deck that they were to mill around in until the officers and sailors had the boat in tip-top shape to show. The journalists stood around in a milling crowd until the young CAG had taken his place at the podium. Animal grinned out at the assembled crowd," Good morning. I hope you folks had a pleasant time coming out to see us this morning. My name is Captain Hugo Chikamori. We'll be giving you a tour of this ship when the cookies are all gone." Animal swept a hand pointing at the tables set up with trays of snacks and then indicated the officers who were lined up against the wall," Each of these officers will escort 5 of you on a tour through this ship. They are standing over there by the wall watching you eat cookies. Don't worry, they had some before you arrived so don't feel sorry for them." Several of the journalists chuckled. US NAVAL LEGAL OFFICE NAPLES, ITALY 1645 ZULU UTC "Commander Clime..." the Rear Admiral barked."I want you in my office now, Commander." "Yes, sir..." Commander Michele Clime replied as she shook her head after the admiral walked into his room and followed him. "I need you to investigate the alleged disappearance of two sailors on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt." the admiral replied. "Yes, sir...Is that the only information you have, sir?" CDR Clime asked. "Look, Trouble...I only received partial information. The Roosevelt crew is a tightly knit crew and they usually keep the information to them selves. I want you to dig it out." There came a knock on the door. "Sir, Lieutenant Commander Rabb and Major Mackenzie reporting as order- ed. Sir...Ma'am..." the duo stopped in front of the desk as the commander stepped to one side to accomodate them. "Ah, yes, Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb, Major Sarah Mackenzie, this is Commander Michele Clime...one of our investigative team's senior officers. Commander, these two have been assigned from Falls Church, JAG Headquarters. They will be under your command during the course of this investigation." "Yes. sir..." CDR Clime replied. "Who else is on this investigative team." "Well, Commander, there are two more people on this team." Another knock was heard as two new members were ushered in." "This is Major Liza Austen, Marine Expeditionary Force Medical Staff and Lieutenant Commander Sandra Martinez, NIS. They will be augmenting your investigative team. Any questions?" the admiral made the introductions. "When do we leave, sir." LCDR Martinez asked." "In two hours, get your bags packed. You're leaving on the next ferry out." the admiral said. BOAT 4 1855 ZULU UTC "Permission to come aboard, sir!!!" yelled the boatswain, a Chief Petty Officer, as he allowed Commander Clime, the senior officer to exit the boat first. "Permission granted," "Commander Clime, reporting aboard the TR, sir." the Commander saluted as she came aboard. "Welcome aboard, ma'am." the officer of the deck replied. "Where is the Captain of the ship?" Commander Clime asked. "Ma'am, Captain Boone is on the bridge, ma'am." Captain Thomas Boone had been selected to command the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and the surprise showed in Harm's face. "Something wrong?" Mac asked noticing the startled look run across her partner's face. "No, Mac, nothing..." Harm said. "Just kind of startled, though, I thought that Captain Boone was the CAG." "Lieutenant Commander," Commander Clime replied,"Captain Boone hasn't been the CAG for several years now. He's been commanding this ship for about 3 years. The most recent CAG has just been sent back state-side to the Pentagon. "Tells you how much we get news of this kind, Ma'am." Harm replied. "Slows down to a trickle, doesn't it? Commander." CDR Clime said as she looked over at Harm. "It's usually the CAG that takes visitors on the walk-around of the flight-deck and the carrier, not the commanding officer of this boat." Harm said. "Ma'am, we need to talk to the CAG." "Well, let's talk to the Captain first, he can probably give us that information." Commander Clime replied. **********TO BE CONTINUED*********