'North of 49' 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: Harm and Mac and their friends end up in Nanoose Bay Weapons Range Author's note: This is a story that I've always wanted to do. Harm and Mac in Canada. :) And what better place to put them but in Nanoose Bay, that hotly contested little Canadian Armed Forces and US Navy jointly owned Navy weapons testing site in British Columbia. Captain Stephen Hanson is a true to life living, breathing person and actually is serving in the Canadian Armed Forces with the 12 Escadron de Radar. He has been a friend of mine for as long as I've known and is still one of my best friends. 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. **************************************************************************** Part 2/??? CANADIAN FORCES BASE COMOX COMOX BC JUNE 2nd, 1999 0115 ZULU Harm and Mac were sequestered separately in barracks at CFB Comox, due to the fact that there were not many quarters available over in Nanoose Bay Weapons Testing Facility. The rooms were dark, dank and the furnishings consisted of a bed with painted steel railings and it reminded Mac of her boot-camp days. "At least we have hot water..." Harm said consolingly. "It gets shut off at 2200." Captain Hanson replied. Mac groaned. Mac stated,"Well, we saw your quarters, let's go see mine. Captain, now where is the Visiting Officer's Quarters for females." she asked. "Well, ma'am, we don't seem to have any right now...you'll be in the same Base Officer's Quarters as every other female officer." Captain Stephen Hanson replied. "Oh, goody..." her tone implied that she wasn't too pleased. Just then they heard,"Hey, Animal, I told you that Pinky was the re- tarded mouse and Brain was the one with the big head." "Look, Burrows, I don't give a flying shit about which bloody char- acter is what..." came the voice of Animal who sounded rather cheesed off. Just then they saw two khaki-clad pilots walking past Harm's bedroom door. "Hey, ANIMAL..." Mac said cheerily. "Mac, what you doing here?" came Animal's cheery voice returning the hail. Captain Stephen Hanson saw the face of his old school buddy looking at him. He gazed upon his friend's face that he hadn't seen in a long time. Ever since Animal had gone south of the border at the beginning of Grade 10, he had not been in contact with him. Between that time, Animal had gone from being a Canadian citizen to being a U.S. citizen and was now a high- ranking officer in the United States Navy [AN: humor me...it's my story]. Captain Hanson also gaped to look upon the face of Lieutenant Phil Burrows, another former Canadian now turned U.S. citizen. "Steve?" Animal said. "Stephen Hanson?" "Yeah..." Steve replied. "Long time no see, buddy..." Animal said, grinning at him as he extended a hand to shake his friend's hand. Noticing Mac and Harm, Animal grinned,"So, Harm, this guy causing you grief?" "Nope..." Steve said. "I wasn't asking you...Steve..." Animal replied. It was at this point that Steve noticed the silver oak leaves on Animal's collars. His brain synapses clicked in and he noticed that the silver oak leaves represented Commander, one rank higher than Lieutenant Commander and Major. "Harm thinks that he might be getting a raw deal on this room...there's gotta be some- thing better than this piece of crap room that he has to share with a bunch of low ranking fuzzbutts." Animal looked at Captain Hanson. "Sir?" Steve replied."You mean you out-rank me?" Animal just nodded subtly, the shock on his friend's face was enough. "Hey, you're a Captain, right...Steve, surely you can get him a room that's decent, whattaya say?" "I'll see what I can do...uh..." "Animal, just call me Animal...like old times..." Animal replied. "Let me see what I can do..." Captain Hanson departed the room very quickly. Animal shut the door."So, Mac, you wanna tell me what's going on?" he asked quietly. Mac said,"I could never keep a secret from you, could I..." "Oriental intuition...ya gotta know that already, Mac..." Animal grin- ned. "Well..." she looked meaningfully at Metalman. Animal knew immediate- ly what Mac was implying. "Hey, Metalman, go buy yourself an ice-cream cone...or something..." Animal said. "I'm not really all that hungry right now..." Metalman objected. "Disappear...Metalman..." Animal said, a hint of steel in his voice. Metalman took the hint and got lost. Mac said,"Animal, we have a big problem. The British Columb-ians..." she shot a meaningful glance at Harm who looked innocently up at the ceiling,"want to annex Nanoose Bay Weapons Facility." "I heard mutterings about that..." Animal said,"My mom always sends me newspaper clippings in her CARE packages." "Newspaper clippings?" "Yeah, newspaper clippings..." Animal said,"Y'know, from the local newspapers, the Province, the Sun..." "Oh...I thought they were tabloids..." Mac said. "Naw...just the Province looks like one. The Sun actually looks like a regular newspaper..." He held up one. Emblazoned across it was a big head line reading "PREMIER TAKES HARD STANCE ON NANOOSE" It was the Province. "Oh, just great." Mac said."A local newspaper and I pass it off as a tabloid." she muttered. "So, how's Meg..." Harm thought to ask. "Doing OK, actually." Animal replied. NANOOSE BAY WEAPONS FACILITY NANOOSE BAY, BC JUNE 3, 1999 0635 ZULU The USS Kincaid (DDG-965) sliced calmly through the waters as it approached the dock. The US Navy sailors waiting on the dock for the ship to moor, were only noticeably noisier than the heavily armed United States Marine guards who were also on the deck. The W55 was a potent weapon and security measures were high. The Marines were under an order to shoot to kill if anyone other than authorized personnel even made one step onto the pier. SSgt Mike O'Callaghan was the Marine security team's leader and he held his M-16A2 at port arms as he kept an eagle eye on the dock. There was no way that he was going to allow anyone a crack at this warhead. It was too dangerous of a weapon. But other plans were in motion, other plans that included the use of this warhead. CFB COMOX COMOX, BC JUNE 4, 1999 2135 ZULU "ARE YOU STUPID...DO YOU NEED GLASSES? DO YOU NEED A BRAIN TRANS- PLANT??!! DO YOU KNOW HOW STUPID YOU ARE!!!!" The plate glass rattled in the temporary office in CFB Comox as Animal read Metalman, Skateratz, Hollywood and Wolfman the riot act. "DID YOU REALIZE HOW CLOSE YOU CAME TO CAUSING AN INTERNATIONAL INCIDENT?!!!!" "Well, sir, it wasn't our intention of causing that cattle stampede." Wolfman said. Hollywood was Wolfman's pilot. Animal glared at Hollywood. "Mr. Keith..." Animal's voice was ominous." The hard-deck for that hop was Angels 6. What the hell were you doing down in the brush? COUNTING GOPHERS!!!!?" "There were about 6,571 of them, by my count, sir..." Metalman volun- teered. He turned to Skateratz who groaned,"Or was that 6,572?" "CAN IT!!!!!!" roared Animal, highly enraged by this time..."Mr, Burrows, the next time I see you flat-hatting, your wings of gold will be adorning MY desk. You're grounded for the next two hops. And Mr. Ruth, Mr Keith, Mr. House and Mr. Burrows...you will write a formal apology for your actions to Cold Lake's Commanding Officer, who will forward it on to the aggrieved parties. Am I MAKING MYSELF CLEAR!!!!!?" "Yes, sir..." They all said in chorus. "DIS-MISSED!!!" Animal roared. They about faced and walked out, just as Mac and Harm walked in. Pulling out a pair of earplugs, Metalman snidely said,"Uh, you might wanna pick another time of the month to bug him...he's in that way again..." "SHUT THE HELL UP!!!! BURROWS..." Animal snapped. "Aye-aye, sir..." he disappeared before Animal could pick something lethal to throw at him. Mac grinned."Exercising your vocal cords again, sir?" "Yeah...those four dummies caused a cattle stampede..." Animal groaned as he sat back down in his chair. "Cattle stampede, in the air?" Harm asked. "Yeah...they were out there in their F-14s shaving the grass, evident- ly spooked the cattle as they were out grazing in the fields." "Went below the hard-deck, sir?" "Yep...those idiots never learn." Animal muttered as he looked at Harm. "Commander Rabb?" "Yes, sir..." "A bit of advice...Stay a Lieutenant Commander..." Animal said. "Uh, sir?" Harm asked confused at the seemingly conflicting statement. "If you have to put up with a bunch of comedians like these, you'll wish you remained a lieutenant commander." Animal said glowering at the door out of which the two fighter crews had left. He went over and shut the open door. He then turned to the two JAG officers,"So, any more news on the weapons test?" "Not lately, sir..." Harm replied. NANOOSE BAY NTF NANOOSE BAY, BC, CANADA JUNE 4, 1999 0800 ZULU Sub-Lieutenant Myers, Royal Canadian Navy, glanced quietly at his U.S. camouflaged compatriots. Adorned with ID's indicating clearance, which were doctored up, by Myers, the sixteen man team had armed themselves with M-16A2 assault rifles. Sub-Lieutenant Myers had a degree in computer science, and had managed to hack the security clearance code in order to enter in sixteen names into the security rotation. Having commandeered a Humvee, they maneuvered over to the security compound containing the warhead. Sub-Lieutenant Myers was wearing a pair of bought Lieutenant Commander insignia on the collars of his camouflage fatigues. "Time of the change-over, Jenkins..." he asked. "0830 ZULU, sir." his compatriot replied as they looked over at the securely guarded compound. "What time is it now?" Myers asked. "0820, sir..." "OK, let's do it." The insertion of the new security team had been seamless, thus far. The guard at the gate waved them by with a perfunctory,"Yes, sir..." The change-over went smoothly and the new guards were inserted into the regular rotation. "I want to check the warhead." Myers said as he looked over at the previous security team leader. "Warhead is secure, sir..." "I said, Lieutenant, I want to see the warhead..." Myers replied as imperiously as he could. "Yes, sir." the previous security commander said. 'Navy officers were weird', he thought,'they want to know that everything is secure.' The Marine 1st Lieutenant brought Myers and his co-hort into the room containing the W-55 warhead."You see, everything is secure, under lock and key, the case is pressure sensitive. If anyone tries to move the case, it without proper deactivation of the security measures, it will cause the war- head to deactivate, permanently, rendering the weapon useless." "How sensitive?" Myers asked. "If you try to pick it up..." "What about if you accidentally jostle it..." "No, sir...the case is designed to take a certain amount of jostling." the Marine replied. " It's a very tight space in here." "Thank you, Lieutenant..." the Marine 1st Lieutenant was told, as Myers and his men took over the duties of the guards replaced. "Have fun...sir..." the Marine replied. "No problem." Myers replied. As soon as the guard rotation had ceased, Myers radioed his top code cracker. A state of the art computer was at the hacker's disposal and he was able to track down the digits of the protective case and the weapon arming and de-arming sequence. "Gentlemen, we're in business..." Myers stated 45 minutes later. The guard rotation would be changing in about 3 hours. It was time to get "the hell out of Dodge." NANOOSE BAY WEAPONS TESTING FACILITY NANOOSE BAY, BC, CANADA JUNE 5, 1999 1200 ZULU The military jeep that housed the weapon trundled along the road as it headed towards the ferry. They had managed to get off the base disguised as a military ground exercise. "Wheweee..." crowed one of the men, "What a retirement. You think Ottawa will pay us for the weapon?" "No...I intend to go one further..." Myers said contemplatively. WHITE HOUSE SITUATION ROOM 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE WASHINGTON DC 2400 ZULU Just after dinnertime was when the shit hit the fan. General Whylie II, of the US Marines 1st Division was just sitting down with a MacDonald's Big Mac and large order of fries and Coke, when the Coded Message came through from Naval Weapons Test Facility Nanoose Bay. *******FLASH TRAFFIC****** *******FLASH TRAFFIC****** PRIORITY ONE BROKEN ARROW The shit definitely flew. A US Navy admiral barged into the room accompanied by a certain individual in the CIA. Commander Michele Clime groaned as she recognized the individual. 'oh, god, it's Hot-Dog Boy...' she muttered to a young female Marine Lieutenant Colonel accompanied by another male Marine Lieutenant Colonel. The spook didn't hear as LCol Liza Austen snickered. "Where is the weapon?" CNO Admiral Jay Johnson barked. "What happened to the security team?" "They've all been questioned. They said that they were properly relieved by another security team. As far as the warhead is concerned, it could be anywhere. Presumably it was heisted for monetary gain." "Who was there...out of the Navy JAG team?" "Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb Jr. and Major Sarah Mackenzie." Was the response. "Any chance that they might know exactly what happened?" the 'hot- dog' boy managed to mention. Admiral Johnson snorted. This particular thorn-in-his-side had been around for a while. "Look, Rabb and Mackenzie don't have a clue as to what happened. They were only aware of what was going on with the expropriation plans by the Federal Government of Canada. That is all that they have been sent to investigate." "Admiral...I'd like your assets in the area on this investigation." Admiral Johnson glowered at the CIA agent. "OK...I'll inform them...of the situation...after I communicate with the Judge Advocate General." "We need the situation rectified as soon..." "DON'T TEST MY PATIENCE!!!!" Admiral Johnson roared at the 'hot-dog' boy. The vehemence in his voice caused the CIA man to step back two steps. 'It is because you forced the Canadians to allow us to test the weapon in Canadian waters that this came to a head. Now we have a missing nuclear weapon that could possibly be used against us. HOW MUCH MORE ARE YOU GOING TO SCREW UP!!!? THIS IS NOW A MILITARY MATTER SO SHUT YOUR TRAP..." "I'm going to have your stars...Admiral..." the CIA man sullenly acknowledged. The Admiral snorted. "Yeah, yeah...whatever you say...now get your sorry ass out of here..." CFB COMOX COMOX BC 2135 ZULU JUNE 6, 1999 By this time, the proverbial shit had hit the fan out east, and two other JAG officers, even more high ranking were on their way out to see the Weapons Test Facility at Nanoose Bay. "Wonderful way to start a vacation..." quipped Lieutenant Colonel Liza Austen to her partner, Lieutenant Colonel John Hewitt. "Hey, John...you know how much I hate the cold?" "uh-huh..." grunted LCol. Hewitt who was trying to catch 20 winks as the aircraft began its descent into Comox. It was a futile effort. Along with two NAVINTEL officers, Commander Michele Clime and Lieutenant Commander Harmon Johnson (no relation to Admiral Johnson), the two JAG officers debarked the C-9 Greyhound which brought them to Comox from NAS Whidbey Island after taking a C-141 Air Force Transport from NAS Oceana, directly to NAS Whidbey Island. LCdr Johnson grumbled to Commander Clime,"Remind me never to open my mouth in front of the Admiral again. I think we're going to freeze to death up here. Don't Canadians live in igloos?" he asked, looking out at the pristine green forest at the edge of the field. Commander Clime shook her head."Last time we checked, they lived in houses the same as we did." They saw an Asian US Navy officer and two tall JAG officers, a brunette female major, and a tall Navy lieutenant commander. The Asian United States Navy officer was a commander, the same rank as they were. It was protocol for the meeting officer to be at least the same rank as they were. "Commander Clime, NavIntel," Commander Michele Clime saluted. The commander with the gold wings on his khakis snapped off a crisp salute in return,"Senior officer in command of the JAG/NAVINTEL investigation team assigned to this situation." "Understood Commander," the commander with the gold wings replied," Commander Hugo Chikamori, Squadron Commander, VF-41 Black Aces Squadron." "Thank you for meeting us, Commander Chikamori. I don't know if you've been briefed on this matter and depending on the security clearance, you may or may not be privy to the information." "I have a Level 9 security clearance, Commander, Is that high enough." Animal replied. "Yes, sir...I believe that's adequate for this type of situation." "Well, let's try and get into a secure room in order to make some sense of this mess." Animal's gaze ran over the rest of the group. Commander Clime intro- duced them in turn. "Commander, this is Lieutenant Colonel John Hewitt, JAG, United States Marine Corps." She mentioned gesturing to a tall Marine officer in Class 'A' Greens, and to the shorter but stunning female lieutenant colonel, "And this is Lieutenant Colonel Liza Austen, also JAG, his partner." Animal looked over at the tall Lieutenant Commander, raising an eyebrow at Commander Clime who grinned,"And before I forget, this is Lieutenant Commander Harmon Johnson...who is my partner in NAVINTEL." "Gee, thanks..." the tall lieutenant commander replied, rather mock- peevishly. "I appreciate being forgotten, ma'am..." "Glad that I could help..." replied Commander Clime. "Trouble..." Lieutenant Colonel Liza Austen asked."It's kinda cold out here...why don't we..." Lieutenant Colonel John Hewitt nudged her..."What?!" "I think they're getting to that..." NIS HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC 2135 ZULU JUNE 7, 1999 Lieutenant Meg Austin-Chikamori looked at the file on her partner's desk. "So...what's happening?" she asked her partner in the NIS, Lieutenant Sandy Martinez. "Broken Arrow." muttered Sandy who had her nose buried in the file. "Shoot...of all the..." "Excuse me...ladies...are we interrupting anything?" the two startled officers turned as one to see two female officers in whites with very gold encrusted shoulderboards. 4 stars, evidently. "No...MA'AM!!" the two lieutenants snapped to attention. "As you were..." replied the other admiral who they knew as Admiral Janet Anthony, their commanding officer. "This is Admiral Cathryn Corelli, of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. She will be giving you orders to The Naval Weapons Testing Facility at Nanoose Bay to investigate the theft of the W55 warhead. "Oh, joy-joy..." Sandy muttered to herself, under her breath. All she said was "Aye-aye, ma'am." Meg on the other hand was looking forward to this. She had known her husband was in Comox. Maybe she could meet up with him. But she had her questions. "Ma'am...Is there a particular reason why we're being sent there. I noticed that there were 4 JAG officers already on site, and 2 NavIntel officers. Is there a particular reason why we should be sent..." "To augment them, Lieutenant." Admiral Anthony replied,"Meg, your computer skills are second to none. Someone hacked into the defense depart- ment computers to access the arming and disarming codes on the weapons. We need your skills to find out how they did that, and we need your skills to hack out the codes that they may have changed on the weapon." "Aye-Aye, ma'am..." Meg replied,"I'll do my best..." "Meg...do more than your best...These guys may think about holding an entire city ransom." "Aye-aye...Will do...ma'am." Meg replied. This was not looking good. After the impromptu meeting, the flag officers left, and the two young officers were left looking at each other. "Well, that's a great start to a week." A yeoman knocked on the door. "Ah...I guess the coupons for our rides are here..." Sandy said wryly as she took them from the yeoman. "And I was looking so fondly to going home and relaxing tonight..." Meg said sarcastically as she looked over at Sandy. "You packed?" "Yep...always keep my stuff in the back of my car." "Great idea..." Meg said."My husband does the same thing. I got into the habit of it myself. Don't tell him...I borrowed his Mercedes." she grinned brightly. "You're kidding? He can afford a Mercedes????" Sandy grinned back at Meg..." On a commander's salary?" "He does a good job of saving..." Meg grinned as she picked up the briefcase and they both headed for the elevator. "Good night...ma'am..." the yeoman by the front desk said. "Yep...going on vacation...see ya in a week..." Meg replied flippantly, as she headed out the door. "Really...a Mercedes..." Sandy said as they reached the elevator. "You sound disbelieving..." Meg grinned. "He doesn't get out much..." "Ah...compensation..." was the knowing reply. "Well...why don't we go directly to the airport..." Meg said. "I think we can catch the first flight out." A BARN MAPLE RIDGE, BC 2246 ZULU "Look, Andrei...I have what you want..." the man said. "The item...it is intact...yes?" "It's perfectly fine, not a scratch...One of your guys wanna take a look at it?" "Yes...we will inspect the item before we pay..." "The price...it just went up, Andrei..." "That was not originally a part of the bargain...my friend..." The threat in the tone was palpable. "There were risks...the price you quoted doesn't cover the risks...My friends and I want to be compensated well, for the risks we incurred." "What is your price..." "30 million, take it or leave it." "We will inspect the item and then we shall see...about the 30 million." "Don't even think about double-crossing us...Andrei." "Would I ever...how you say...double cross you...my friend." "We'll see." ***********TO BE CONTINUED*********