JAG s03e01 Episode Script
Ghost Ship
This ship's a fire waiting to happen.
We ain't even got an extinguisher.
We should be so lucky.
Then they'll have to scrap her.
- What about asbestos? - There isn't any.
What if there is? If there is, it'll take 30 years to kill you.
So, what are you worried about? You'll be dead by then anyway.
That's it.
We're in.
Knock it in.
That asbestos? What the hell is spooking you, Andy? This ship.
It's giving me the willies.
I'm gonna give you the willies if you don't knock it off.
Well, well, well.
What have we here? Oh, damn! Andy, come back here.
Andy! How the hell did you get sealed in here, lieutenant? Following in his father's footsteps as a Naval aviator, Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb Jr.
Suffered a crash while landing his Tomcat on a storm-tossed carrier at sea.
Diagnosed with night blindness, Harm transferred to the Navy's Judge Advocate General Corps, which investigates, defends and prosecutes the law of the sea.
There, with fellow JAG lawyer Major Sarah MacKenzie, he now fights in and out of the courtroom with the same daring and tenacity that made him a top gun in the air.
The city of Alameda is attempting to preserve the USS Hornet as a museum ship.
While workers were inspecting her hull for corrosion, they found a skeleton in the void.
The void, sir? That's the space between the inner and outer hulls, Mac.
Admiral, the void is sealed during construction.
How would a body get in there? Well, the same as it did on the Great Eastern, sir.
Enlighten us, Mr.
Roberts.
She was a double-hulled ship too, sir.
During construction, a ship fitter fell asleep in the void and was accidentally sealed inside.
They said that you could hear him pounding for years.
Years, Bud? - Obviously, it was his ghost, ma'am.
- Obviously.
When they scrapped the Great Eastern, sir, they found a skeleton between the hulls.
Well, the skeleton on the Hornet wasn't a ship fitter.
He was a Naval aviator who apparently died of a fractured skull.
- Murder, sir? - Looks that way.
He was hid in the void with no identification other than wings, bars, and this patch.
This is a Skoshi Tigers patch, admiral.
They were a South Vietnamese air force squadron.
Flew F-5s out of Bien Hoa.
Yeah, which means that our skeleton was entombed during the Vietnam era.
God, my father flew off the Hornet on his first tour.
Could have been in this guy's squadron.
He very well may have, commander.
Sir, isn't this technically a matter for Alameda Homicide, since the Hornet's their museum ship? Not yet, she isn't.
Navy still owns the pink slip.
If Alameda can't raise the funds to maintain her as a museum, she'll be sold as scrap.
In any case, the victim died while the Hornet was in commission.
Alameda Homicide says this investigation is all ours.
Or I should say, all yours.
Let's get to it.
Aye, aye, sir.
Alameda's across the bay from San Francisco.
Yeah, just a cork's throw from the Napa Valley.
- Fisherman's Wharf.
- Wine country.
- Chinatown.
- B & B's.
We're investigating a murder, people.
Not taking a vacation.
Bud, you're gonna have to stay behind in Washington to do research.
Sir, I have a portable computer.
Good.
You can use it to e-mail Major MacKenzie with your reports.
Bud, I want chapter and verse on the Hornet during the Vietnam War: Engagements, campaigns, UA, missing personnel, anything and everything.
Also, any joint operations they had with the Skoshi Tigers.
Aye, aye, sir.
Sorry.
Yours is not to reason why, yours is but to do research.
You ever fly off her? No, she's too small to handle Tomcats.
But I was on her once.
What's the bulkhead number where they opened the void? Two-Delta-42 Zebra-8-Victor, hike.
- Very funny.
- I'm a funny lady.
Why do I feel like whistling? Because you have an overactive imagination.
- I really appreciate this, Harriet.
- No problem.
We can see the movie another time.
You see, that's what I like about you, Harriet.
You're so understanding.
What's not to understand? Duty's duty, Bud.
Believe me, other girls aren't nearly as sympathetic.
Other girls? - You're seeing other girls? - No.
No.
You're the only girl I've wanted to see since Gosh, I don't know how long.
A long time.
Hi, Buddy.
Millie.
I didn't know you'd be working tonight.
I work every Friday night.
Unless I have a date.
Buddy? - It's a term of - Of endearment.
Yeah.
No.
Millie, this is Ensign Sims.
Harriet, this is Millie Shaker.
If you're looking for anything in Navy records, Millie knows where it's buried.
I'm impressed.
You must have quite a filing system.
No.
Just a great memory.
Millie, I need to research the USS Horny Hornet.
Which one? There are eight.
The last one.
I need to see your records from '61 to '75.
Are you gonna spend the weekend with me, Buddy? Excuse me? We can't computer-search those records.
They're only on microfilm.
That takes time.
Well, Buddy, I guess we have our work cut out for us, then.
Ensign Sims is gonna help me.
- Did you bring cookies? - Cookies? To leave a trail of crumbs so you can find your way back.
Two-Delta-42, it should be down here.
Six-Tech-Victor.
Eight-Tech-Victor.
There it is.
Hole they cut in the void.
Looks like they removed all the evidence.
What was that? It's metal contracting.
Ship's cooling as the sun goes down.
- That is not metal contracting.
- Kill your light.
No.
Kill your light.
What are you two doing down here in the dark? Wondering if you were a ghost.
Not that I'm aware of.
Lieutenant Mark Falcon, Alameda Homicide.
I'm Major Sarah MacKenzie.
This is Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb.
I thought Alameda Homicide was handing this one over to JAG.
Oh, we are, commander.
I'm here on my own time.
Never could pass up a good mystery.
Thought I'd give you a hand.
Any idea how he might have got in here? Not really.
I checked the void from bulkhead to bulkhead.
And as you can see, it's completely sealed, except for the hole the salvagers cut to get in here.
They said they were inspecting for rust before making a bid to scrap her, but - You don't believe them.
- No.
You don't have to check the void to make a scrap bid.
No, they were looking for something else.
What? Anything left behind by the original shipbuilders.
Lunch buckets, tools, magazines, mostly junk.
But 50-year-old junk's worth a buck today.
Especially if it comes from a famous ship.
I hope Alameda can raise enough money to save the old girl.
She was a hell of a ship in her day.
- You serve on her? - No.
No, I was an Army MP.
Spent my year in Saigon chasing AWOLs and breaking up bar fights.
What do you make of that flight patch found on the skeleton? Oh, just that it wasn't his.
The medical examiner said the skeleton was Caucasian.
The patch was South Vietnamese, although I don't recall ever seeing it.
It's a Skoshi Tigers patch.
They flew F-5s out of Bien Hoa.
Wish my partner were that quick with the answers.
Me too.
My dad flew 167 missions over the North, half of them from this deck.
Have you told him about this? He didn't come back.
I'm sorry.
Hey, it's 10 p.
m.
To your stomachs.
You guys have got to be starved.
I know a little fish place where the branzino's as good as in Italy.
What is it, commander? Nothing.
Let's eat.
You're 11 minutes late.
- Ten.
- Eleven.
You probably dropped a minute when you reset your watch.
- Probably.
- UPS overnight for you.
From La Jolla? The tapes.
I had my mom send them.
God, I haven't heard these since I was a kid.
Let me guess.
Billy Joel? Kris Kross? Kenny Rogers? These are letter tapes from my father.
Morning, Trish.
At least, it's morning here on the South China Sea.
- Hot and muggy.
- My mom cassetted the tapes my dad sent her from the Hornet in '66.
Tom Boone and I just flew CAP for some A-6s visiting Uncle Ho.
Tom Boone? The CAG on the Seahawk? Yeah, he was my dad's wingman.
Hammer and Tong were flying cover and decided to stick close to their rice bowls.
Can't say that I blame them.
How's my boy? I hope you're playing these tapes so he won't forget my voice.
Trish, I gotta cut this short to make the mail.
Give Harm a big hug and a kiss for me and be strong, honey.
I'll be home soon.
I love you guys.
That was recorded on the Hornet near the end of his first tour in '66.
He came back from that one.
You're still hoping he's alive.
The chances are 10 million-to-1 against it.
Well, still, someone always wins the lottery, don't they? The mechanism of injury was blunt-force trauma, causing an oblique fracture to the base of the skull.
Preliminary examination indicates that the deceased was Caucasian male between 25 and 30 years of age.
Oh, that was found clutched in his right hand.
- Clutched in a skeleton's hand? - Yes.
You see, as the flesh deteriorated, the bones maintained their position.
Well, I'd say that he was clutching it when he died.
The South Vietnamese wore patches Velcroed to the front of their flight jackets.
How about if, in a struggle, our lieutenant snatched this off his murderer's jacket? Oh, that's possible.
I assume this was found with the remains? Yes.
Around the left radial and the ulna.
- Looks like a "Go to hell" watch.
- What's a "Go to hell" watch? It was standard issue to combat flight crews.
No names or inscriptions in case they were captured.
Should be a serial number, though.
There is.
Maybe we can trace it.
You keep records that far back? Hey, this is the Navy, doc.
We have Popeye's enlistment papers on record somewhere.
Big question is where.
Federal stock number Delta-3684.
Lot number 4, 58771.
Five-eight-seven-seven-one.
I found it.
Now, we're looking for serial number 19293 - Three-seven.
I know, Bud.
- Oh, you're terrific, Harriet.
Not so terrific.
What do you mean? Well, if I were so terrific, you wouldn't be dating girls like Millie.
I'm not dating Millie.
Or anyone else, except you.
So does this mean we're going steady? Steady.
I didn't say, "So are we getting married," Bud.
There.
Serial number 192937 was issued to Lieutenant Brian Tate on September 13th He's our skeleton, Harm.
He was listed as missing at sea on April 30, 1975.
That's the day Saigon fell.
The Vietnamese were fleeing to our ships in everything from helos to sampans.
And one of them was a Skoshi Tiger bent on murder.
Yeah, but why? And where is he now? Hey, wasn't Lieutenant Falcon supposed to meet us here - at 1300? - He's six minutes late.
Look, tell Bud to fax Lieutenant Tate's dental records to the Alameda medical examiner and see if there's a refugee list in the Hornet's records.
Harm, Bud's been at it nonstop for 32 hours and 24 minutes.
How do you do that? My mother's Swiss.
Okay, after he faxes the dental records and does a refugee search, he can hit the rack for a couple hours.
And when he's back at it, tell him to see if the Hornet suffered any hull damage in April of '75.
- Hull damage? - Yeah.
If she had hull damage, they might have opened the void to repair it.
That's brilliant, Harm.
Only if I'm right.
Hey, where are you going? I'm gonna take a walk with my dad.
Hi, Trish.
I've got the day off and thought I'd give you and Harm a tour of the Hornet at sea.
I'm standing on the flight deck where we're launching Corsairs.
I wish you could see how beautiful this is.
Here goes the first one.
You can't possibly hear me over all this noise.
So I'm going inside where I can talk without shouting.
Hey, who are you? Lieutenant Commander Rabb, JAG.
I'm investigating the remains found in the void.
Sibby Lonegro.
I found those remains.
While inspecting for corrosion? Yeah, I'm surveying the Hornet to make a salvage bid.
If Alameda can't come up with cash, I turn this rust bucket into razor blades.
She's no rust bucket, Mr.
Lonegro.
Nothing romantic about it to me, commander.
I served on flattops.
All I remember is hot bunking, dog watches and the stink of aviation fuel.
I can still smell it, and she hasn't launched a bird in years.
Well, it smells pretty good to me.
You got it bad.
Thirty-year type for sure.
- What was your rating? - I was a welder.
I kept them together.
Now I tear them apart.
Come on, I'll show you where I found the bones.
- That's okay.
I'll find my own way.
- Suit yourself.
But don't go past any chains.
These decks ain't safe beyond them.
Here we are on the hangar deck, Trish.
It's not nearly as noisy as topside, even though it's busier than hell.
Pardon my French, as your mom's always telling me.
Seems like half the Intruders onboard down here are being patched up.
Those boys take a hell of a beating.
Everything from SAMs to rocks.
Thank God I fly high, where there's nothing to worry about.
Sorry I'm late, major.
I was waiting for a fax.
We identified the skeleton.
He's Lieutenant Brian Tate.
Tate, huh? Figured it was him or Lieutenant Sturges.
What do you mean? The fax I was waiting for was a list of officers missing off the Hornet during the Vietnam War.
If you eliminate the MIAs, there were only two, a Lieutenant Sturges, who jumped ship in Hong Kong, and a Lieutenant Tate, who was lost at sea.
Why didn't you tell us what you were doing? I could ask you the same question, Sarah.
- Well, we just did it this morning.
- So did I.
You're right.
I'm sorry, Mark.
That's all right.
Forget it.
When it comes to solving mysteries, we all wanna be first.
How'd you like the branzino last night? It was terrific.
Good.
How about a San Francisco Steakhouse tonight? Yeah.
Harm's practically a vegetarian.
Wasn't figuring on asking him.
Is that a problem? - No.
Not at all.
- Good.
By the way, where is the commander? Walking with his dad.
I'm taking the ladder down to the O-2 level, where Tom and I are billeted.
After debriefing, we grab a cup of java and head to our quarters for some rack time.
I swear, Trish, if we're not flying, we're sleeping.
Especially Tom.
Speak of the devil, you'll never guess who joined me, Trish.
Hey, Trish.
It's the man you should have married.
Hey, it's a private conversation, Tom.
Honey, I'm gonna shut the tape off for a second while I get rid of this interloper.
I'm back, Trish.
I had to threaten Tom with physical abuse to let me finish this tape alone.
Hey, here's the knee-knockers Harm kept tripping over on visitors' day.
I'll never forget the way he'd get up after each fall and try again.
I like that.
It shows fortitude, which will take him a long way in life.
Mac? Harm? Where are you? - Harm! - Yeah.
You all right, commander? - Yeah.
- I told you not to cross any chains.
What chain? You ripped right through it.
There was no chain there.
I didn't rip through anything.
Maybe you don't remember.
Shock can do that.
We need to get you to a doctor, Harm.
I'm okay, Mac.
I was okay until you blasted me in the eyes with the light.
Pupils are contracting, but slowly.
You need to see a doctor.
Major's right, commander.
That had to be a nasty fall.
I've hit harder landing a Tomcat.
Sounds like you're accident-prone, commander.
Somebody took that chain down.
Who? There's no one else onboard except us.
Maybe the old girl did it.
Doesn't like you poking around in her innards.
You're the one who wants to cut her into razor blades.
You're right.
Maybe it's me she's after.
I'd better get out of here before I have an accident.
- Did he come down ahead of you? - No, he came down with us.
He was with someone when he discovered the skeleton, wasn't he? Yeah, his partner.
Had a Greek name.
Andy something.
Kochifos.
Andy Kochifos.
You don't think your fall was an accident? There was no chain there.
After I fell, I saw Saw what? Somebody was up there looking down at me.
I'm getting you to a doctor.
I don't need a doctor, Mac.
I just need to get on deck.
Why would Lonegro or his partner wanna see you hurt? They wanna scrap this ship.
Maybe an accident on top of the skeleton will give Alameda second thoughts about bringing tourists onboard.
Or they wanna put an end to this investigation before we find out they're involved.
Well, how could they be? Tate was murdered 22 years ago.
Lonegro let it slip that he served five years on carriers as a welder.
If he was on the Hornet when Tate was killed, he would have been on the damage control party that opened the void.
The void was opened in '75? It had to be.
That's the only way Tate's body could have gotten in there.
I'm guessing they opened the void to repair some hull damage.
Makes sense, but if Lonegro was a murderer, he'd be the last person to open that void now.
Well, he may not be the murderer, but he knows something.
And like you said, they didn't cut in there looking for rust.
Maybe his partner will tell us something he wouldn't.
How about if Sarah and I question him before we go to San Francisco? I'm sorry, Mark.
I'm gonna have to take a rain cheque on that steak.
- And I wanna keep an eye on Harm.
- No, no, no.
I am not gonna hear about you missing a San Francisco steak dinner to babysit me.
I'm fine.
You two go on your date.
- I am not leaving you in this condition.
- Yes, you are.
And as senior officer in this investigation, major, that's an order.
Aye, aye, sir.
- You sure, commander? - Oh, I'm positive.
I'm fine.
So you and Sibby torched into the void to check for corrosion? Yeah, that's right.
What did you care if the hull was corroded? You wanna turn the Hornet into scrap.
Because rusted scrap iron ain't worth crap.
If you'll pardon the expression.
- I don't think so.
- What? I don't think I'll pardon the expression, and I don't think I believe you.
Well, who gives a damn, lady? I give a damn.
And I'm not a lawyer, I'm a street cop.
Okay.
Okay.
Now, what were you looking for in that void? I told you.
We were looking for - Gold.
We were looking for gold.
- Go on.
Sibby was on the Hornet after the war.
And he said that all the Nam vets were searching for this gold that this Vietnamese colonel smuggled on after Saigon fell.
But nobody found nothing.
Then, Sibby reads in an old damage-control log that a repair party opened the void while this Vietnamese colonel was still onboard.
So he figures the gold is hid there.
But all we found was that skeleton.
You see there? Telling the truth always makes you feel better.
- Did you get hold of that refugee list? - Yes, sir.
And one of them was a Skoshi Tiger, Colonel Nguyen.
But he was on a flight to Guam that did an Amelia Earhart.
Why was he being airlifted to Guam? Records don't say, commander.
But I checked the manifest, and besides the flight crew and Colonel Nguyen, there was an SOG officer onboard.
SOG? That was the cover used by the CIA in Nam.
Interesting, isn't it, sir? Very interesting.
You're doing a great job, Bud.
- Keep it up.
- Thank you, sir.
Does Harm know you got your feet on his desk? I didn't realise that I had What are you doing here, Mr.
Webb? You were working late.
I thought you might like a pizza.
An El Niño.
And with anchovies.
Your favourite.
How did you know it was my favourite? And how did you know I'd be working so late? Knowing things is how one survives on the Potomac.
Knowing I like an El Niño with anchovies? And a fragola frappé.
Whatever it is you and the CIA want, the answer's no.
Oh, for God's sakes, Roberts.
Just enjoy it.
I don't want information from you.
- You don't? - No.
I have information to give you.
Hello there.
Hey.
Hey, wait.
Wait! Dad.
Dad.
Damn.
My phone can't get out.
Too much steel down here.
You'll have to go up on deck.
I'm not leaving him again.
I'll do it.
- Thanks, Mark.
- Yeah.
Harm? Mac, what are you doing here? When you weren't in your quarters, we came back out looking for you.
Harm, you've been unconscious.
I never should have left you.
I I remember talking to Bud about a Skoshi Tiger colonel.
Nguyen.
His plane was sabotaged flying to Guam.
Sabotaged? He didn't tell me it was sabotaged.
Well, Bud spoke to you before Webb came in.
Webb? The CIA's involved? What? What is it, Mac? Later, in the hospital.
An ambulance is on the way.
No, no, no.
You tell me now.
Webb told Bud to warn us.
The KGB is following our investigation.
KGB? How are they involved? Colonel Nguyen boarded the Hornet with a list of names, a list he wanted to trade for the good life in Paris.
What kind of list? American MIAs the KGB were holding in Russia at the end of the war.
Oh, God.
My father might The colonel approached two CIA agents who were airlifted to the Hornet when Saigon fell.
One of them was on the plane with him to Guam.
The other disappeared when the Hornet docked.
The CIA believes he was a double agent working for the Russians.
They think that he sabotaged the plane so that that list would not come to light.
Why weren't we told? Tell us what, Harm? A rumour? According to Webb, the CIA's been trying to verify it ever since.
Wait a minute.
How is Tate involved in this? Colonel Nguyen was quartered with him when he came onboard.
Why would Nguyen kill Tate? Tate must have seen the list.
He didn't just see it, Mac.
He must have seen where he hid it.
Think about it.
Colonel Nguyen would not keep the list with him.
The list must still be here somewhere.
Harm, sit down, please.
No, it's okay.
I just need a little air.
Mac, I saw my dad.
I followed him to his quarters.
He was trying to tell me something.
Maybe where the list is hidden.
You've been listening to your dad's tapes, walking in his footsteps.
- Maybe the concussion caused you - I wasn't hallucinating.
I saw him.
I saw my dad.
An ambulance is on the way.
I'm not leaving until I find that list.
It shows fortitude, which will take him a long way in life.
Here we are, 03-Lima- 124-Papa.
My home on the Hornet.
- What's the number? - 226-Papa.
This isn't my dad's.
Harm, you were hallucinating.
No, no, no.
No, I wasn't.
- Mac, I didn't see my dad.
- Thank God.
- I saw Lieutenant Tate.
- Harm.
These are his quarters.
Don't you see? He led me here.
He wants me to find the list.
Okay, we're getting you topside and to a hospital.
Sarah's right.
You need medical attention.
Most of the guys celebrate the end of a mission with a shot of bourbon, but I have mine when I'm making your tape.
Tom and I keep a bottle hidden in the wall behind our racks.
Here's to you and Harm, Trish.
It's in Vietnamese.
Except for the names and the dates.
He's in here.
He was transferred to Russia.
He could still be alive.
I'll get him.
- The book.
The book.
- I've got it, commander.
- The ship's on fire.
- That bastard.
- Who? - Lonegro, who else? He wants this ship for scrap.
He burns it and it'll never be a museum.
Come on, we gotta find another way out.
Damn it, it's everywhere.
Passageways are acting like wind tunnels.
Down.
- Down! - He's right.
Fire rises.
We need to get below it.
Easy, commander.
Easy.
We've gotta close that hatch.
The fire's sucking the air out.
You're right.
- How are you doing? - Very tired.
Commander, is there another way out of here other than up? - I don't know.
- Maybe we can wait it out.
I don't think so.
We gotta get out of here, now.
There! That way! - Are you sure? - Yeah, I'm sure.
I don't know how you did that.
I didn't do it.
He did.
Yes, sir.
Good, sir.
I'll tell him.
Bye-bye.
Commander says he'll be released from the hospital by 1500 our time.
He's gonna get the list from the police and head straight to Travis, so he should be arriving at Andrews by 2100.
I wish he had a Marine security detachment with him.
- Why would he need that, sir? - Are you kidding, ensign? That list is gonna toast the KGB.
I'm sure they wouldn't hesitate to add Harm's and Mac's names to it.
Yeah, well, I wouldn't try to get that list from the commander.
You're right.
He wouldn't trade it for an admiral's star.
The commander also wanted me to say thank you, and that he owes you.
His dad paid that debt long ago.
- Just when I think I've got him figured.
- He says something nice.
Yeah.
I misjudged you too, Bud.
- Me? - Yeah.
I know you're not a sailor with a girl in every port.
Gosh, no, Harriet.
I only want one girl in port.
You.
Does this mean we're going steady? I guess so.
Oh, Bud.
Hi, Buddy.
I wouldn't have bet anyone could confine you to a hospital bed for two days.
I slept the first day.
After that, the nurse threatened to tie me down if I so much as stuck my nose out the door.
Kinky.
- Yellow light, major.
- Oh, come on, Harm.
Haven't we reached the point where we can drop the traffic signals? Absolutely.
I ever tell you why a female Marine is like the Energizer Bunny? On second thought, let's not.
Who in their right mind would order a pineapple-and-anchovy pizza? - A homicide cop.
They'd eat anything.
- Don't get wise, kid.
You want me to take them back? No, leave the pepperoni and sausage.
You want the pepperoni and sausage, you take the pineapple and anchovies.
You ain't getting a tip.
I never get a tip.
Excuse me.
Sergeant, we're looking for Lieutenant Mark Falcon.
Lieutenant, you take care of these officers? Can I help you? - Yeah, we're here to meet Lt.
Falcon.
- About what? - Well, he's holding evidence for us.
- Evidence? It's a book, in the station safe.
If you let the lieutenant know we're here I don't know what you're talking about.
Well, Lieutenant Mark Falcon does.
Ma'am, I'm Lieutenant Mark Falcon.
Please fasten your seat belts for our final approach into Moscow International.
I'll find him, Mac.
I'll find him and the list if it takes the rest of my life.
We ain't even got an extinguisher.
We should be so lucky.
Then they'll have to scrap her.
- What about asbestos? - There isn't any.
What if there is? If there is, it'll take 30 years to kill you.
So, what are you worried about? You'll be dead by then anyway.
That's it.
We're in.
Knock it in.
That asbestos? What the hell is spooking you, Andy? This ship.
It's giving me the willies.
I'm gonna give you the willies if you don't knock it off.
Well, well, well.
What have we here? Oh, damn! Andy, come back here.
Andy! How the hell did you get sealed in here, lieutenant? Following in his father's footsteps as a Naval aviator, Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb Jr.
Suffered a crash while landing his Tomcat on a storm-tossed carrier at sea.
Diagnosed with night blindness, Harm transferred to the Navy's Judge Advocate General Corps, which investigates, defends and prosecutes the law of the sea.
There, with fellow JAG lawyer Major Sarah MacKenzie, he now fights in and out of the courtroom with the same daring and tenacity that made him a top gun in the air.
The city of Alameda is attempting to preserve the USS Hornet as a museum ship.
While workers were inspecting her hull for corrosion, they found a skeleton in the void.
The void, sir? That's the space between the inner and outer hulls, Mac.
Admiral, the void is sealed during construction.
How would a body get in there? Well, the same as it did on the Great Eastern, sir.
Enlighten us, Mr.
Roberts.
She was a double-hulled ship too, sir.
During construction, a ship fitter fell asleep in the void and was accidentally sealed inside.
They said that you could hear him pounding for years.
Years, Bud? - Obviously, it was his ghost, ma'am.
- Obviously.
When they scrapped the Great Eastern, sir, they found a skeleton between the hulls.
Well, the skeleton on the Hornet wasn't a ship fitter.
He was a Naval aviator who apparently died of a fractured skull.
- Murder, sir? - Looks that way.
He was hid in the void with no identification other than wings, bars, and this patch.
This is a Skoshi Tigers patch, admiral.
They were a South Vietnamese air force squadron.
Flew F-5s out of Bien Hoa.
Yeah, which means that our skeleton was entombed during the Vietnam era.
God, my father flew off the Hornet on his first tour.
Could have been in this guy's squadron.
He very well may have, commander.
Sir, isn't this technically a matter for Alameda Homicide, since the Hornet's their museum ship? Not yet, she isn't.
Navy still owns the pink slip.
If Alameda can't raise the funds to maintain her as a museum, she'll be sold as scrap.
In any case, the victim died while the Hornet was in commission.
Alameda Homicide says this investigation is all ours.
Or I should say, all yours.
Let's get to it.
Aye, aye, sir.
Alameda's across the bay from San Francisco.
Yeah, just a cork's throw from the Napa Valley.
- Fisherman's Wharf.
- Wine country.
- Chinatown.
- B & B's.
We're investigating a murder, people.
Not taking a vacation.
Bud, you're gonna have to stay behind in Washington to do research.
Sir, I have a portable computer.
Good.
You can use it to e-mail Major MacKenzie with your reports.
Bud, I want chapter and verse on the Hornet during the Vietnam War: Engagements, campaigns, UA, missing personnel, anything and everything.
Also, any joint operations they had with the Skoshi Tigers.
Aye, aye, sir.
Sorry.
Yours is not to reason why, yours is but to do research.
You ever fly off her? No, she's too small to handle Tomcats.
But I was on her once.
What's the bulkhead number where they opened the void? Two-Delta-42 Zebra-8-Victor, hike.
- Very funny.
- I'm a funny lady.
Why do I feel like whistling? Because you have an overactive imagination.
- I really appreciate this, Harriet.
- No problem.
We can see the movie another time.
You see, that's what I like about you, Harriet.
You're so understanding.
What's not to understand? Duty's duty, Bud.
Believe me, other girls aren't nearly as sympathetic.
Other girls? - You're seeing other girls? - No.
No.
You're the only girl I've wanted to see since Gosh, I don't know how long.
A long time.
Hi, Buddy.
Millie.
I didn't know you'd be working tonight.
I work every Friday night.
Unless I have a date.
Buddy? - It's a term of - Of endearment.
Yeah.
No.
Millie, this is Ensign Sims.
Harriet, this is Millie Shaker.
If you're looking for anything in Navy records, Millie knows where it's buried.
I'm impressed.
You must have quite a filing system.
No.
Just a great memory.
Millie, I need to research the USS Horny Hornet.
Which one? There are eight.
The last one.
I need to see your records from '61 to '75.
Are you gonna spend the weekend with me, Buddy? Excuse me? We can't computer-search those records.
They're only on microfilm.
That takes time.
Well, Buddy, I guess we have our work cut out for us, then.
Ensign Sims is gonna help me.
- Did you bring cookies? - Cookies? To leave a trail of crumbs so you can find your way back.
Two-Delta-42, it should be down here.
Six-Tech-Victor.
Eight-Tech-Victor.
There it is.
Hole they cut in the void.
Looks like they removed all the evidence.
What was that? It's metal contracting.
Ship's cooling as the sun goes down.
- That is not metal contracting.
- Kill your light.
No.
Kill your light.
What are you two doing down here in the dark? Wondering if you were a ghost.
Not that I'm aware of.
Lieutenant Mark Falcon, Alameda Homicide.
I'm Major Sarah MacKenzie.
This is Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb.
I thought Alameda Homicide was handing this one over to JAG.
Oh, we are, commander.
I'm here on my own time.
Never could pass up a good mystery.
Thought I'd give you a hand.
Any idea how he might have got in here? Not really.
I checked the void from bulkhead to bulkhead.
And as you can see, it's completely sealed, except for the hole the salvagers cut to get in here.
They said they were inspecting for rust before making a bid to scrap her, but - You don't believe them.
- No.
You don't have to check the void to make a scrap bid.
No, they were looking for something else.
What? Anything left behind by the original shipbuilders.
Lunch buckets, tools, magazines, mostly junk.
But 50-year-old junk's worth a buck today.
Especially if it comes from a famous ship.
I hope Alameda can raise enough money to save the old girl.
She was a hell of a ship in her day.
- You serve on her? - No.
No, I was an Army MP.
Spent my year in Saigon chasing AWOLs and breaking up bar fights.
What do you make of that flight patch found on the skeleton? Oh, just that it wasn't his.
The medical examiner said the skeleton was Caucasian.
The patch was South Vietnamese, although I don't recall ever seeing it.
It's a Skoshi Tigers patch.
They flew F-5s out of Bien Hoa.
Wish my partner were that quick with the answers.
Me too.
My dad flew 167 missions over the North, half of them from this deck.
Have you told him about this? He didn't come back.
I'm sorry.
Hey, it's 10 p.
m.
To your stomachs.
You guys have got to be starved.
I know a little fish place where the branzino's as good as in Italy.
What is it, commander? Nothing.
Let's eat.
You're 11 minutes late.
- Ten.
- Eleven.
You probably dropped a minute when you reset your watch.
- Probably.
- UPS overnight for you.
From La Jolla? The tapes.
I had my mom send them.
God, I haven't heard these since I was a kid.
Let me guess.
Billy Joel? Kris Kross? Kenny Rogers? These are letter tapes from my father.
Morning, Trish.
At least, it's morning here on the South China Sea.
- Hot and muggy.
- My mom cassetted the tapes my dad sent her from the Hornet in '66.
Tom Boone and I just flew CAP for some A-6s visiting Uncle Ho.
Tom Boone? The CAG on the Seahawk? Yeah, he was my dad's wingman.
Hammer and Tong were flying cover and decided to stick close to their rice bowls.
Can't say that I blame them.
How's my boy? I hope you're playing these tapes so he won't forget my voice.
Trish, I gotta cut this short to make the mail.
Give Harm a big hug and a kiss for me and be strong, honey.
I'll be home soon.
I love you guys.
That was recorded on the Hornet near the end of his first tour in '66.
He came back from that one.
You're still hoping he's alive.
The chances are 10 million-to-1 against it.
Well, still, someone always wins the lottery, don't they? The mechanism of injury was blunt-force trauma, causing an oblique fracture to the base of the skull.
Preliminary examination indicates that the deceased was Caucasian male between 25 and 30 years of age.
Oh, that was found clutched in his right hand.
- Clutched in a skeleton's hand? - Yes.
You see, as the flesh deteriorated, the bones maintained their position.
Well, I'd say that he was clutching it when he died.
The South Vietnamese wore patches Velcroed to the front of their flight jackets.
How about if, in a struggle, our lieutenant snatched this off his murderer's jacket? Oh, that's possible.
I assume this was found with the remains? Yes.
Around the left radial and the ulna.
- Looks like a "Go to hell" watch.
- What's a "Go to hell" watch? It was standard issue to combat flight crews.
No names or inscriptions in case they were captured.
Should be a serial number, though.
There is.
Maybe we can trace it.
You keep records that far back? Hey, this is the Navy, doc.
We have Popeye's enlistment papers on record somewhere.
Big question is where.
Federal stock number Delta-3684.
Lot number 4, 58771.
Five-eight-seven-seven-one.
I found it.
Now, we're looking for serial number 19293 - Three-seven.
I know, Bud.
- Oh, you're terrific, Harriet.
Not so terrific.
What do you mean? Well, if I were so terrific, you wouldn't be dating girls like Millie.
I'm not dating Millie.
Or anyone else, except you.
So does this mean we're going steady? Steady.
I didn't say, "So are we getting married," Bud.
There.
Serial number 192937 was issued to Lieutenant Brian Tate on September 13th He's our skeleton, Harm.
He was listed as missing at sea on April 30, 1975.
That's the day Saigon fell.
The Vietnamese were fleeing to our ships in everything from helos to sampans.
And one of them was a Skoshi Tiger bent on murder.
Yeah, but why? And where is he now? Hey, wasn't Lieutenant Falcon supposed to meet us here - at 1300? - He's six minutes late.
Look, tell Bud to fax Lieutenant Tate's dental records to the Alameda medical examiner and see if there's a refugee list in the Hornet's records.
Harm, Bud's been at it nonstop for 32 hours and 24 minutes.
How do you do that? My mother's Swiss.
Okay, after he faxes the dental records and does a refugee search, he can hit the rack for a couple hours.
And when he's back at it, tell him to see if the Hornet suffered any hull damage in April of '75.
- Hull damage? - Yeah.
If she had hull damage, they might have opened the void to repair it.
That's brilliant, Harm.
Only if I'm right.
Hey, where are you going? I'm gonna take a walk with my dad.
Hi, Trish.
I've got the day off and thought I'd give you and Harm a tour of the Hornet at sea.
I'm standing on the flight deck where we're launching Corsairs.
I wish you could see how beautiful this is.
Here goes the first one.
You can't possibly hear me over all this noise.
So I'm going inside where I can talk without shouting.
Hey, who are you? Lieutenant Commander Rabb, JAG.
I'm investigating the remains found in the void.
Sibby Lonegro.
I found those remains.
While inspecting for corrosion? Yeah, I'm surveying the Hornet to make a salvage bid.
If Alameda can't come up with cash, I turn this rust bucket into razor blades.
She's no rust bucket, Mr.
Lonegro.
Nothing romantic about it to me, commander.
I served on flattops.
All I remember is hot bunking, dog watches and the stink of aviation fuel.
I can still smell it, and she hasn't launched a bird in years.
Well, it smells pretty good to me.
You got it bad.
Thirty-year type for sure.
- What was your rating? - I was a welder.
I kept them together.
Now I tear them apart.
Come on, I'll show you where I found the bones.
- That's okay.
I'll find my own way.
- Suit yourself.
But don't go past any chains.
These decks ain't safe beyond them.
Here we are on the hangar deck, Trish.
It's not nearly as noisy as topside, even though it's busier than hell.
Pardon my French, as your mom's always telling me.
Seems like half the Intruders onboard down here are being patched up.
Those boys take a hell of a beating.
Everything from SAMs to rocks.
Thank God I fly high, where there's nothing to worry about.
Sorry I'm late, major.
I was waiting for a fax.
We identified the skeleton.
He's Lieutenant Brian Tate.
Tate, huh? Figured it was him or Lieutenant Sturges.
What do you mean? The fax I was waiting for was a list of officers missing off the Hornet during the Vietnam War.
If you eliminate the MIAs, there were only two, a Lieutenant Sturges, who jumped ship in Hong Kong, and a Lieutenant Tate, who was lost at sea.
Why didn't you tell us what you were doing? I could ask you the same question, Sarah.
- Well, we just did it this morning.
- So did I.
You're right.
I'm sorry, Mark.
That's all right.
Forget it.
When it comes to solving mysteries, we all wanna be first.
How'd you like the branzino last night? It was terrific.
Good.
How about a San Francisco Steakhouse tonight? Yeah.
Harm's practically a vegetarian.
Wasn't figuring on asking him.
Is that a problem? - No.
Not at all.
- Good.
By the way, where is the commander? Walking with his dad.
I'm taking the ladder down to the O-2 level, where Tom and I are billeted.
After debriefing, we grab a cup of java and head to our quarters for some rack time.
I swear, Trish, if we're not flying, we're sleeping.
Especially Tom.
Speak of the devil, you'll never guess who joined me, Trish.
Hey, Trish.
It's the man you should have married.
Hey, it's a private conversation, Tom.
Honey, I'm gonna shut the tape off for a second while I get rid of this interloper.
I'm back, Trish.
I had to threaten Tom with physical abuse to let me finish this tape alone.
Hey, here's the knee-knockers Harm kept tripping over on visitors' day.
I'll never forget the way he'd get up after each fall and try again.
I like that.
It shows fortitude, which will take him a long way in life.
Mac? Harm? Where are you? - Harm! - Yeah.
You all right, commander? - Yeah.
- I told you not to cross any chains.
What chain? You ripped right through it.
There was no chain there.
I didn't rip through anything.
Maybe you don't remember.
Shock can do that.
We need to get you to a doctor, Harm.
I'm okay, Mac.
I was okay until you blasted me in the eyes with the light.
Pupils are contracting, but slowly.
You need to see a doctor.
Major's right, commander.
That had to be a nasty fall.
I've hit harder landing a Tomcat.
Sounds like you're accident-prone, commander.
Somebody took that chain down.
Who? There's no one else onboard except us.
Maybe the old girl did it.
Doesn't like you poking around in her innards.
You're the one who wants to cut her into razor blades.
You're right.
Maybe it's me she's after.
I'd better get out of here before I have an accident.
- Did he come down ahead of you? - No, he came down with us.
He was with someone when he discovered the skeleton, wasn't he? Yeah, his partner.
Had a Greek name.
Andy something.
Kochifos.
Andy Kochifos.
You don't think your fall was an accident? There was no chain there.
After I fell, I saw Saw what? Somebody was up there looking down at me.
I'm getting you to a doctor.
I don't need a doctor, Mac.
I just need to get on deck.
Why would Lonegro or his partner wanna see you hurt? They wanna scrap this ship.
Maybe an accident on top of the skeleton will give Alameda second thoughts about bringing tourists onboard.
Or they wanna put an end to this investigation before we find out they're involved.
Well, how could they be? Tate was murdered 22 years ago.
Lonegro let it slip that he served five years on carriers as a welder.
If he was on the Hornet when Tate was killed, he would have been on the damage control party that opened the void.
The void was opened in '75? It had to be.
That's the only way Tate's body could have gotten in there.
I'm guessing they opened the void to repair some hull damage.
Makes sense, but if Lonegro was a murderer, he'd be the last person to open that void now.
Well, he may not be the murderer, but he knows something.
And like you said, they didn't cut in there looking for rust.
Maybe his partner will tell us something he wouldn't.
How about if Sarah and I question him before we go to San Francisco? I'm sorry, Mark.
I'm gonna have to take a rain cheque on that steak.
- And I wanna keep an eye on Harm.
- No, no, no.
I am not gonna hear about you missing a San Francisco steak dinner to babysit me.
I'm fine.
You two go on your date.
- I am not leaving you in this condition.
- Yes, you are.
And as senior officer in this investigation, major, that's an order.
Aye, aye, sir.
- You sure, commander? - Oh, I'm positive.
I'm fine.
So you and Sibby torched into the void to check for corrosion? Yeah, that's right.
What did you care if the hull was corroded? You wanna turn the Hornet into scrap.
Because rusted scrap iron ain't worth crap.
If you'll pardon the expression.
- I don't think so.
- What? I don't think I'll pardon the expression, and I don't think I believe you.
Well, who gives a damn, lady? I give a damn.
And I'm not a lawyer, I'm a street cop.
Okay.
Okay.
Now, what were you looking for in that void? I told you.
We were looking for - Gold.
We were looking for gold.
- Go on.
Sibby was on the Hornet after the war.
And he said that all the Nam vets were searching for this gold that this Vietnamese colonel smuggled on after Saigon fell.
But nobody found nothing.
Then, Sibby reads in an old damage-control log that a repair party opened the void while this Vietnamese colonel was still onboard.
So he figures the gold is hid there.
But all we found was that skeleton.
You see there? Telling the truth always makes you feel better.
- Did you get hold of that refugee list? - Yes, sir.
And one of them was a Skoshi Tiger, Colonel Nguyen.
But he was on a flight to Guam that did an Amelia Earhart.
Why was he being airlifted to Guam? Records don't say, commander.
But I checked the manifest, and besides the flight crew and Colonel Nguyen, there was an SOG officer onboard.
SOG? That was the cover used by the CIA in Nam.
Interesting, isn't it, sir? Very interesting.
You're doing a great job, Bud.
- Keep it up.
- Thank you, sir.
Does Harm know you got your feet on his desk? I didn't realise that I had What are you doing here, Mr.
Webb? You were working late.
I thought you might like a pizza.
An El Niño.
And with anchovies.
Your favourite.
How did you know it was my favourite? And how did you know I'd be working so late? Knowing things is how one survives on the Potomac.
Knowing I like an El Niño with anchovies? And a fragola frappé.
Whatever it is you and the CIA want, the answer's no.
Oh, for God's sakes, Roberts.
Just enjoy it.
I don't want information from you.
- You don't? - No.
I have information to give you.
Hello there.
Hey.
Hey, wait.
Wait! Dad.
Dad.
Damn.
My phone can't get out.
Too much steel down here.
You'll have to go up on deck.
I'm not leaving him again.
I'll do it.
- Thanks, Mark.
- Yeah.
Harm? Mac, what are you doing here? When you weren't in your quarters, we came back out looking for you.
Harm, you've been unconscious.
I never should have left you.
I I remember talking to Bud about a Skoshi Tiger colonel.
Nguyen.
His plane was sabotaged flying to Guam.
Sabotaged? He didn't tell me it was sabotaged.
Well, Bud spoke to you before Webb came in.
Webb? The CIA's involved? What? What is it, Mac? Later, in the hospital.
An ambulance is on the way.
No, no, no.
You tell me now.
Webb told Bud to warn us.
The KGB is following our investigation.
KGB? How are they involved? Colonel Nguyen boarded the Hornet with a list of names, a list he wanted to trade for the good life in Paris.
What kind of list? American MIAs the KGB were holding in Russia at the end of the war.
Oh, God.
My father might The colonel approached two CIA agents who were airlifted to the Hornet when Saigon fell.
One of them was on the plane with him to Guam.
The other disappeared when the Hornet docked.
The CIA believes he was a double agent working for the Russians.
They think that he sabotaged the plane so that that list would not come to light.
Why weren't we told? Tell us what, Harm? A rumour? According to Webb, the CIA's been trying to verify it ever since.
Wait a minute.
How is Tate involved in this? Colonel Nguyen was quartered with him when he came onboard.
Why would Nguyen kill Tate? Tate must have seen the list.
He didn't just see it, Mac.
He must have seen where he hid it.
Think about it.
Colonel Nguyen would not keep the list with him.
The list must still be here somewhere.
Harm, sit down, please.
No, it's okay.
I just need a little air.
Mac, I saw my dad.
I followed him to his quarters.
He was trying to tell me something.
Maybe where the list is hidden.
You've been listening to your dad's tapes, walking in his footsteps.
- Maybe the concussion caused you - I wasn't hallucinating.
I saw him.
I saw my dad.
An ambulance is on the way.
I'm not leaving until I find that list.
It shows fortitude, which will take him a long way in life.
Here we are, 03-Lima- 124-Papa.
My home on the Hornet.
- What's the number? - 226-Papa.
This isn't my dad's.
Harm, you were hallucinating.
No, no, no.
No, I wasn't.
- Mac, I didn't see my dad.
- Thank God.
- I saw Lieutenant Tate.
- Harm.
These are his quarters.
Don't you see? He led me here.
He wants me to find the list.
Okay, we're getting you topside and to a hospital.
Sarah's right.
You need medical attention.
Most of the guys celebrate the end of a mission with a shot of bourbon, but I have mine when I'm making your tape.
Tom and I keep a bottle hidden in the wall behind our racks.
Here's to you and Harm, Trish.
It's in Vietnamese.
Except for the names and the dates.
He's in here.
He was transferred to Russia.
He could still be alive.
I'll get him.
- The book.
The book.
- I've got it, commander.
- The ship's on fire.
- That bastard.
- Who? - Lonegro, who else? He wants this ship for scrap.
He burns it and it'll never be a museum.
Come on, we gotta find another way out.
Damn it, it's everywhere.
Passageways are acting like wind tunnels.
Down.
- Down! - He's right.
Fire rises.
We need to get below it.
Easy, commander.
Easy.
We've gotta close that hatch.
The fire's sucking the air out.
You're right.
- How are you doing? - Very tired.
Commander, is there another way out of here other than up? - I don't know.
- Maybe we can wait it out.
I don't think so.
We gotta get out of here, now.
There! That way! - Are you sure? - Yeah, I'm sure.
I don't know how you did that.
I didn't do it.
He did.
Yes, sir.
Good, sir.
I'll tell him.
Bye-bye.
Commander says he'll be released from the hospital by 1500 our time.
He's gonna get the list from the police and head straight to Travis, so he should be arriving at Andrews by 2100.
I wish he had a Marine security detachment with him.
- Why would he need that, sir? - Are you kidding, ensign? That list is gonna toast the KGB.
I'm sure they wouldn't hesitate to add Harm's and Mac's names to it.
Yeah, well, I wouldn't try to get that list from the commander.
You're right.
He wouldn't trade it for an admiral's star.
The commander also wanted me to say thank you, and that he owes you.
His dad paid that debt long ago.
- Just when I think I've got him figured.
- He says something nice.
Yeah.
I misjudged you too, Bud.
- Me? - Yeah.
I know you're not a sailor with a girl in every port.
Gosh, no, Harriet.
I only want one girl in port.
You.
Does this mean we're going steady? I guess so.
Oh, Bud.
Hi, Buddy.
I wouldn't have bet anyone could confine you to a hospital bed for two days.
I slept the first day.
After that, the nurse threatened to tie me down if I so much as stuck my nose out the door.
Kinky.
- Yellow light, major.
- Oh, come on, Harm.
Haven't we reached the point where we can drop the traffic signals? Absolutely.
I ever tell you why a female Marine is like the Energizer Bunny? On second thought, let's not.
Who in their right mind would order a pineapple-and-anchovy pizza? - A homicide cop.
They'd eat anything.
- Don't get wise, kid.
You want me to take them back? No, leave the pepperoni and sausage.
You want the pepperoni and sausage, you take the pineapple and anchovies.
You ain't getting a tip.
I never get a tip.
Excuse me.
Sergeant, we're looking for Lieutenant Mark Falcon.
Lieutenant, you take care of these officers? Can I help you? - Yeah, we're here to meet Lt.
Falcon.
- About what? - Well, he's holding evidence for us.
- Evidence? It's a book, in the station safe.
If you let the lieutenant know we're here I don't know what you're talking about.
Well, Lieutenant Mark Falcon does.
Ma'am, I'm Lieutenant Mark Falcon.
Please fasten your seat belts for our final approach into Moscow International.
I'll find him, Mac.
I'll find him and the list if it takes the rest of my life.