"Hold up," Harm said softly to Perez and Singer. They were in a thick copse of trees, as far as he could tell in the darkness. Heading northeast hadn't turned out to be simple. After clearing the building, it had been difficult to see much of anything. Neither he nor Perez had brought a compass, they hadn't been expecting a night march. To exacerbate the problem, it was a moonless, cloud-covered night. Their first priority had been to put some distance between them and the storage building. Harm and Perez had used the building as a focus point, leapfrogging each other in an attempt to at least keep a straight line. They couldn't afford to aimlessly circle in the dark. They'd been walking steadily for fifteen minutes, more or less, their pace set by what Mac could handle. Now, they all needed a break.

Perez and Singer dropped gratefully to the ground. Harm lowered himself and Mac a little more carefully down. He positioned himself to lean against a tree and have her lean against him. The twenty-plus hour day was telling on all of them. The stress alone was exhausting. He felt Mac settle back against him, her head up by his shoulder. She was still breathing heavily. He brought a hand up to her forehead while letting his cheek rest against the side of her head. "How're you doing?" he asked in a soft undertone.

Mac leaned into him a little more, not answering right away. He wondered if she was just trying to get her breath back or if she was trying to come up with a plausible lie to keep him from worrying. Finally, she said, "Right now, I'm good."

He smiled and then raised his voice a little, "Water break." He had decided to ration everyone except Mac, both he and Perez had agreed that she needed to replace as much fluid as possible. Singer had muttered about it under her breath before subsiding into silence. Perez crept over and sat down next to them. He handed each a bottle. Harm took a couple of swallows and handed his back. When he felt Mac do the same, he said, "Hey."

"What?"

"Drink more, you're the one who's been leaking."

"You sweet-talker. Mr. Perez will think I'm incontinent." Mac affected a southern accent.

Perez laughed silently and quietly attempted his own southern drawl, "Why Miz MacKenzie, only a Yankee cad would suspect you of leaking anything other than the very finest blood."

"If you two are through, " Harm commented dryly. 'Only Marines... ' He went on a little more seriously, "Ten more minutes and then we'd better get moving. I want to have some distance between us when they find out they're missing their 'cargo'.

They fell silent, resting and listening to the night sounds around them. The wind veered around bringing a new, fainter sound. Perez and Harm looked at each other. Mac, feeling Harm tense, opened her eyes, "What's wrong?"

"Listen."

She quieted in concentration. Her eyes widened, "They know we're gone."

Perez gave Harm a hand getting Mac to her feet, then slid a supporting shoulder under her arm. At Harm's look, he said softly, "My turn, Commander. You were beginning to look like a question mark."

Harm started to open his mouth when a look from Mac closed it again. Instead he looked over at Singer, "All set, Lieutenant?" When she nodded, he simply said, "Let's go."

Holly Springs Nat'l. Forest, MS
0305 Local

Tyler and Bell crept closer to the storage building. Both were comfortable in the woods, having hunted and played there from an early age: Tyler, in the woods of southwestern Kentucky and Bell in the forests of northern Minnesota. The problem they were having was that now that they had successfully followed the trucks to their destination, neither had the slightest idea of what to do next. Tyler put his mouth close to Bell's ear and whispered, "Now we call the State Police?"

Bell grunted softly, "And tell them what? We haven't seen anybody and I sure as hell don't know where we are exactly." The crunch of tire on gravel alerted them and they flattened even further into the tall grass. A car pulled in, its headlights sweeping their location as it made the turn to the building. Car doors slamming brought their heads up again. A tall, lean man in black got out of the driver's side. Tyler clutched Bell's arm when he saw the passenger get out, it was Captain Koslov.

"Holy Christ! That's Admiral Crowley's Chief of Staff! Tyler said in amazement as the two men headed into the building. "Now what're we going to do?" In his surprise, he had spoken in a normal tone. Bell's large hand engulfed the back of his head and pushed him facedown in the grass. Bell scanned the area anxiously in all directions before taking his hand away. Tyler came up spitting dirt and grass blades, Bell glared at him and hissed, "Are you trying to get killed?" Wiping at his face, Tyler grumbled under his breath, 'Apparently... '

Shouting inside the building, riveted their attention. They glanced at each other in alarm, unable to decide if they needed to run. The shouting seemed to intensify as more voices joined in. Suddenly, a stentorian bellow cut through the din, "SHUT UP AND FIND THEM!"

Bell and Tyler looked at each other. RUN! Raising up on all fours, they scuttled backwards as quickly as possible, ignoring the jabs of sharp-edged rocks and weeds. By unspoken agreement, they got to their feet at the same time and sprinted for the trees. Reaching the treeline, Tyler was surprised to find Bell close behind him. He had no idea the big man was that fast. Tyler himself excelled at the sprint. Being the youngest and smallest brother in a large family, his weapon of choice when dealing with bullying brothers was to run like hell.

Leaning against a tree while catching their breath, the two looked back at the building. A number of men came boiling out of the entryways, armed with flashlights. Bell was willing to bet that wasn't all they were armed with. He looked over at Tyler, "Back to the car." They headed out, moving as quickly and quietly as they dared. Two hundred yards or so from the road where they'd left the car, Tyler came to an abrupt halt. There was a line of flashlights approaching them. He turned to look behind. The first line of flashlights, a little further away, was closing in. He looked at Bell and they began moving parallel to the lights. It was a bizarre race. They had to get beyond the two lines. They couldn't go quickly for fear of making too much noise, if they didn't go quickly they weren't going to get out.

Finally, Bell put a hand on Tyler's shoulder, stopping him. At Tyler's wide-eyed look, he pointed up. The ensign looked up and then nodded. Bell laced his fingers together and bent down. Tyler stepped into his grip, resting his hands on the big man's shoulders. Bell braced himself and then heaved upwards, launching Tyler into the air where he caught a tree branch a good twelve feet off the ground. Securing his seat, he looked down to see Bell unslinging his shotgun. Then he slid off his backpack and fastened it to the weapon. That done, he handed both up. Locking his legs around the branch, Tyler leaned down and grabbed them. He watched while Bell pulled off his ID tags and emptied his pockets, burying everything at the base of the tree. Finished, he looked up at Tyler, waved and jogged off into the dark, no longer trying to stay quiet. Tyler listened to the crashing through the underbrush, the sudden increase in noise as the pursuers spotted their quarry and finally, the silence. He climbed further up into the tree and sat there for a long time.

Holly Springs Nat'l. Forest, MS
0420 Local

Perez watched the lightening streaks of sky as dawn approached and muttered an obscenity. Judging from the look on Rabb's face, he was having the same thoughts. The rising sun had finally given them a reference point and he was chagrined to find they had been traveling more west than north. Right now they were holed up in a little dell, not far from a gravel road. They had actually been on the road when the sound of engines sent them scrambling for cover. Two jeeps had gone by loaded with armed men. Harm had decided they were too tired to journey safely in the daylight and had retreated back to the dell.

They'd been there about ten minutes, long enough for the two women to collapse into sleep. Perez had volunteered for first watch. He glanced at the Commander sitting next to him and whispered, "If you're taking the next watch, you ought to get some rest, sir." Harm looked at him before nodding wordlessly. He turned and made his way back down into the dell. Perez watched him settle down next to the Colonel and then returned his attention to their surroundings. He thought about the odds of them getting out of this predicament and decided they still weren't very good. Mario had been right, they were smack dab in middle of a wacko militia's playground. At some point, they were bound to collide with these guys.

He took a quick look at the sleeping figures and then went back to scanning the area. The Colonel was holding up better than he would have thought possible. He put it down to sheer stubbornness. She and the Commander were well-matched in that regard. The one who really surprised him was Singer. While she was obviously fit, he was pretty sure she wasn't in shape for something like this. However, she kept on slogging, keeping up with the rest. He just wished her attitude would improve. Sullen and resentful were hard to take after a while.

He thought about his wife. Ellie would be worried by now. He'd been on overnight assignments before but he'd always let her know beforehand and he always managed to check in with her. Once again, he kicked himself for not taking his cell along. Both he and Rabb had decided they wouldn't need phones while they had the radios and had left them with Bell and Tyler. He wondered about those two. He'd told them to follow the trucks and he knew that's just what Corporal Bell would do, come hell or high water. Now he regretted it, those two were just kids really. Neither had been in a situation like this before and he had, in essence, dropped them right in the militia's lap. That brought him back to the case at hand. The missing supplies were definitely going to the militia - Mario obviously thought it was just a small-scale blackmarket scam. There had to be more to it than that. This kind of thing was too dangerous to risk on paperclips. Maybe they had figured out a way to scam the computer systems and divert weapons and money.

What he had trouble figuring out were the attempts on Colonel MacKenzie. It had all the earmarks of a vendetta; but why, after apparently trying to kill her, did they take the even greater risk of kidnapping? The two JAG officers thought there were two separate groups: the Acme Assassination Gang (Perez shook his head over the name) and someone else. Rabb thought remnants of 'Archangel' were somehow involved and the Colonel didn't. He was siding with Rabb on that. Even though the official 'Archangel' investigation was still going on, they had pretty much hit a dead end. They'd snatched up the slow and the stupid in those first hectic days, the rest had vanished back into the woodwork. He wondered if the militia group was somehow tied in with 'Archangel'.

Perez tensed when he heard the sound of engines again. He crouched lower as they came into view. Two jeeps stopped about 150 yards from where they were hiding and six men got out. As they fanned out, he backed carefully down the slope. He figured he had about ten minutes and he quietly woke the rest of the group. Signing to them that they had company coming, he gestured for them to stay put and quickly began covering them with leaves and debris. Dragging over a large branch completed his camouflage and he hurriedly smoothed out signs of its passage as he retreated deeper into the trees. In the dim light, he was counting on his dark clothing to keep him concealed among the underbrush. He pulled out his pistol and waited.

Several long minutes later, two figures appeared at the lip. He was hoping they didn't have the military discipline that would make them search the dell thoroughly in spite of the brambles and he was praying they weren't woodsmen enough to recognize that the ground had been disturbed recently. He resisted the urge to collapse in relief when the two men split up and began walking in opposite directions around the edge of the dell. Apparently, they had decided a visual sweep would be enough. Still, it wouldn't do to relax his vigilance until they were well and truly gone. After what seemed to be an eternity, there was the sound of engines starting up and driving off. Just to be sure, he waited another five minutes and then took a circuitous route out of the dell to recon the area.

After satisfying himself that they had gone, he hurried back to the dell and down the slope. "Commander? Colonel?" he called quietly. Rabb rose up out of the leaves first, weapon in hand and then the Colonel and the Lieutenant. "All clear, sir, ma'am." All of them visibly relaxed.

"I guess we'll be safe here for a while, now that this area has been searched," Harm said thoughtfully. He looked over at Mac and Singer, "Why don't you two see if you can sleep a little more?" He was half expecting an argument from Mac but she merely nodded and lay down again. He exchanged worried looks with Perez and then said, "Captain? I believe it's my watch."

Vicinity of Bethel
Holly Springs Nat'l. Forest, MS
0640 Local

The sun shining on Tyler's face finally caused his eyes to snap open. He froze for a moment before remembering where he was. Carefully, he sat up. He had woven a sling seat between two branches with rope from his backpack. It was something he hadn't done since he was a kid; when sleeping in a tree was done for the novelty. Climbing down a little, he checked out the area. Nothing. Returning to his perch, he sat and considered his situation. He decided that the knot in his stomach was because he was hungry - officers, good officers didn't get scared. He wondered what had happened to Tink and then tried not to think about it. He was alone in hostile territory and he didn't know what to do.

Finally, he reached for his backpack. He thought there were some foodbars of some sort in there. His hand came in contact with a small, plastic object and he pulled it out to look. It was Commander Rabb's cellphone. He'd thrown it in the pack last night because he was afraid it would fall out of his pocket while he slept. He stared at it for a long moment and then opened it up. Trying the speed-dial, he hit 1. Several rings later, he heard, 'This is Sarah MacKenzie... ' Hanging up, he tried 2. On the second ring, there was a click and he heard, 'Judge Advocate General. Petty Officer Tiner speaking.' Tyler stared at the phone in amazement until he heard, '... Hello?'

Hurriedly, he put the phone to his ear and said, "Hello? Ummm... I need to speak to Admiral... Admiral... " Oh god, he couldn't remember the name of the Judge Advocate General!

"Chegwidden?" supplied Tiner.

"Yes! Admiral Chegwidden!"

"May I ask who's calling?"

"This is Ensign Tyler with the Memphis JAG. I'm working with Colonel MacKenzie."

"One moment."

There was a pause and then a voice said, "Chegwidden."

Mac woke up to the soft murmur of voices. Opening her eyes she saw Harm and Perez sitting together. From the guilty looks they exchanged when they saw her watching, she guessed they had been discussing her. When she started to sit up, Harm scooted forward to give her a hand. She gave him a grateful smile. He smiled back, "How're you feeling?"

"Better," she answered truthfully. When they had finally stopped early this morning, she'd been dizzy with fatigue. Hurrying through the dark woods, tensely listening for sounds of pursuit, on top of the day she'd already had, had worn her to a frazzle. Eventually, she'd shut everything else out as she focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Now, at least, her headache was merely lurking and her shoulder was just a dull ache. Sensitive to any jarring - she could count on throbbing pain whenever they started moving again. It wouldn't be disabling but it would be draining. Mac shifted a little uncomfortably, she would be compromising their chances of escape.

Harm watched the expressions flit across Mac's face and glanced at Perez. Typically, she was a lot more guarded about her feelings. "Are you sure you're all right?" He winced a little at the look he got. 'Okay, Rabb, that was stupid - try again.' Pitching his voice in his most reassuring tone, he said, "We're going to get out of this, Mac." A slight flicker in her eyes told him what was bothering her, he continued firmly, "All of us." When she started to open her mouth, he arched an eyebrow. She subsided and he could see her reconsidering her next words. Finally, with a small smile, she asked, "Where's Singer?"

Harm grinned, "Taking a turn at watch so she can brood in peace."

Perez sat and watched the interplay between the two officers with amusement. They were so attuned to each other, he was hard-pressed to believe they weren't married. Although he really hadn't known them that long, he enjoyed their company. He felt a little closer to the Colonel; she shared his sense of the ridiculous (and laughed at his jokes) ... and she was a Marine. When he had mentioned this to Ellie, she chuckled and teasingly told him he was fixated on green. Since she was wearing green at the time, all discussion had soon ceased. He sighed a little, Ellie would be past worried and well into scared by now. When she discovered that no one would be able to answer her questions, she'd move right into thermonuclear mode. Flaming red hair and an Irish heritage equalled temper squared. He pitied the first person who tried to blow her off.

He finally looked up to see Rabb and MacKenzie watching him quietly. Mac spoke first, "Are you all right, Captain?"

"Just thinking about Ellie, ma'am."

"Worried about her?" Harm asked, he liked the petite Dr. Perez.

Perez grinned half-heartedly, "More worried about the base, sir. When my wife gets mad, she can make a tornado look like a spring breeze."

"Feisty, huh?" Harm said blandly, with a sideways glance at Mac.

"Opinionated," Mac rejoined, smiling sweetly.

"Irish," Perez said, smiling broadly now. When Mac asked how they had met, he launched into a tale of their courtship. He was a good storyteller and time passed quickly as he described the storming of the Army bastion (Ellen's father and three older brothers - all regular Army) to claim his bride. And told, with self-deprecating good humor, of his efforts at a romantic evening so he could surprise her with a marriage proposal. Before he'd been able to launch into his speech, she had turned to him and said, 'This is fun. Let's get married.' By the time he finished the story, it was his turn to watch again. He headed up the slope to relieve Singer.

Militia Camp
Holly Springs Nat'l. Forest, MS
0830 Local

Trask eyed the large man sitting in front of him. There were bruises on his arms and a slight cut on one cheek. It made him look even more sinister. The militia leader glanced involuntarily at the two armed men waiting at the door. He would never admit to fear, but he was grateful for the guards. Adopting a suitably menacing tone, he said, "Who are you? What were you doing out there?"

The man looked at him and then said in a voice that sounded like it came from the depths of the earth, "Tinker. I wanted to join your militia."

"How did you find out about us?" Trask was a cautious man and he didn't like coincidences.

"Asked."

"Where's your ID? You always walk around with nothing in your pockets?"

Tinker shrugged, "I had stuff before." He scowled a little, "Had a wallet, too."

Trask grunted sourly, some of his men would steal the backteeth off a goat. He plowed on. "Why were you running?"

The man looked perplexed, "I was being chased."

The guards rolled their eyes in amusement. Trask glared at them and then looked back at Tink. "We found your car, it has government plates and military stickers on it."

Tink stared back, "Didn't drive. Hitchhiked."

Trask looked at him in disbelief, "You? Hitchhiked?"

Tink looked uncomfortable, "Told a man at a bar I needed a ride. He didn't say no."

Trask pounced, "What bar?"

Tink looked even more uncomfortable. "Don't know, can't read," he mumbled.

"What?"

"Can't read!" Tink said angrily.

Trask found himself leaning away and straightened up, feeling flustered. The two guards looked ready to shoot. "What were you doing at the storage building?"

The big man sat glowering at him, apparently still upset over the last question. At last, he said in a sullen tone, "Never saw a building. Just saw lights."

He stared at Tinker for a long time. Tinker stared impassively back. Finally, Trask gestured to the the men, "Take him back to the shed." As soon as the office door had shut, a side door opened and Captain Koslov walked in. Trask looked over at him, "What do you think?"

"Shoot him and be done with it." Koslov didn't like Trask much and was openly contemptuous of the militia. But he had his own agenda and he needed this paranoid lunatic and his toy soldiers for a little while longer. He was still angry over the escape of MacKenzie and the lieutenant. The two drivers had doggedly stuck to their story. They'd put the crates in and they'd taken the crates out. They never looked inside, they hadn't seen anybody and they never stopped along the way. Goddamned enlisted! He hadn't had time to really interrogate them. The supply runs were on a tight schedule and they had to be back on base before daybreak. He would have to do what he could to find the two officers with these intellectually-challenged hillbillies.

Trask eyed the Navy captain. The arrogant, condescending man grated on his nerves. Damn smug Yankee - northerners always assumed southerners were stupid, primitive rednecks still fighting the Civil War. He'd been downright tickled to discover those two women had escaped from Koslov's men and not his. He managed to get off a few pointed barbs and had the satisfaction of seeing the Captain practically apoplectic with rage. He preened to himself that he would never treat his men that way. Tweaking Koslov was becoming a favorite pastime. Putting on a thoughtful air, he said, "Obviously, there's not a lot going on upstairs; but with my personal attention, we can make a soldier out of him."

Irritated, Koslov just snorted. Tinker wasn't the only stupid one. He returned to what he considered the more important problem, "Where have your men searched?"

Vicinity of Bethel
Holly Springs Nat'l. Forest, MS
0700 Local

"Chegwidden."

Tyler gulped, how do you talk to an Admiral? "Umm, sir? This is Ensign Tyler... "

"I'm aware of that, Ensign. Why are you calling?" AJ smiled to himself, the ensign sounded very young.

"Oh... uh, yes sir," Tyler kicked himself mentally, "Sir, I didn't mean to bother you... well, I did... I mean, I didn't know what to do and I don't have anyone to talk to and then I remembered I had Commander Rabb's cellphone so I just hit speed-dial. I got Colonel MacKenzie first, but then I got you and... well... I was hoping you could help... Sir."

AJ sat for a moment, bemused. Did all ensigns sound like a young Bud Roberts? Then he sobered, what was the ensign doing with Rabb's cellphone? "Tyler? Start at the beginning."

"Yes sir," Tyler took a deep breath and then hesitated, "Errr, sir? Do you mean the very beginning when I met Colonel MacKenzie or the beginning when Captain Perez told me and Corporal Bell to follow the trucks because the Colonel and Lieutenant were on board?"

Chegwidden straightened suddenly, "The Colonel and the Lieutenant were on board what trucks?"

"The trucks that were moving the stolen supplies, sir. The Colonel and the Commander thought they were going to a militia group."

"What militia group?"

There was a slight pause, then Tyler said faintly, "I don't really know, sir. I guess the one I'm hiding from."

AJ held on to his patience with both hands and said carefully, "Where are you, Ensign?"

There was a longer pause and then, even more faintly, "In a tree, sir." Tyler rested his head against the trunk, this was not going well.

AJ stared at the phone and then rubbed his eyes. He started to ask why and then stopped. He refused to play 'Who's on First?' with a kid who probably never heard of Abbott and Costello. Instead, he said, "Where's the tree?"

"Mississippi, sir."

"Where in Mississippi, Ensign?" He wasn't sure how much more he could take.

"Ummm, I'm not sure, sir. Tink was driving, I was busy watching the trucks. After we left the main highway, I didn't have time to watch for signs. It took us almost two hours from the base," he added helpfully.

"I see," he knew he would regret this, "Who's Tink?"

"Oh, uhh, Corporal Bell, sir. Tink... Tinker's just a nickname." Tyler was silent for a moment, "He let that militia catch him so they wouldn't find me, sir."

"Sounds like a good man, Ensign," AJ said quietly, '... oh god, Tinker Bell?'. "We'll make sure we get him back." He continued a little more brusquely, "Where is Commander Rabb?"

"I don't know, sir," Tyler said miserably. He was feeling more and more like an idiot.

AJ rubbed the back of his neck. "Let me rephrase that, Ensign. Where was last place you knew Commander Rabb to be?"

Tyler brightened a little, "In the maintenance shed at the motorpool, sir, with Captain Perez. They thought the stolen supplies were being hidden there and they went to check it out. Bell and I were waiting outside as backup. It sounded like everything was going pretty well, they had evidence on tape and they were getting ready to leave. Then the Captain called and told us to follow the trucks and not lose them - the Colonel and Lieutenant were on board. He was out of breath and he sounded a little frantic, sir. He called again about five minutes later to tell us to go out Gate 6, the convoy was going out Gate 4. That was last we heard, so we caught up with the trucks and stayed with them."

"All right, Ensign," AJ said, "How's the battery on the cell phone?"

"Uhhh, still looks strong sir." Tyler replied.