by Bella Juarez
“So, one OS may not behave like the last one did.”
Anna’s eyes were twinkling because she was enjoying the exchanges between Jack and Sara. Anna clearly had a mischievous streak in her, he noted.
“You probably should run it on both,” Jack concluded.
“We also need the older versions of Microsoft Office, Excel specifically. That would be the application it was written for,” Anna said.
“Sounds like it,” Jack responded.
Jack had been in and out of meetings all day. He felt a gnawing sensation and realized he hadn’t had anything to eat since last night.
“Have you had lunch yet?” Jack asked Anna.
“No, I’ve been so tied up with this thing, I hadn’t even thought about it.”
“Come on let’s go get something to eat.” Jack stood.
“Uhm…” Anna hesitated awkwardly. “I–I really want to get this thing going, Captain. I’ll grab something later.”
“Seems like you’re at a good break point, come on. My treat,” Jack said.
“Really, Captain, I’m okay. I’ll get this thing loaded and…”
“I insist.”
Anna’s expression confused him slightly. She looked uncomfortable.
“O–Okay,” she stuttered.
Something in Anna’s expression made Jack suddenly understand why she was so hesitant.
“Sara, have you had lunch yet?” Jack asked.
“Is the computer lesson over?” Sara asked with a pout.
“Yes, it’s over. Do you want to go to lunch with me and Anna?” Jack asked.
“No, but can you bring me something back?” Sara asked.
“No, you and Anna need to get out of here for a while. You’ve been locked in here too long. You’re starting to speak another language. Come on, ladies, let’s move. I have another meeting at 1500.”
* * * *
Anna’s stress diminished several levels at Sara’s acceptance. Sara let out a frustrated sigh and locked her workstation. Anna had done the same as they were speaking. The trio left the secured lab and went out into the cloudy San Diego afternoon. Anna took a deep breath. She felt like she could’ve walked the rest of the afternoon. It felt good to be outside. They walked to the Coffee Shack and ordered sandwiches. She considered exploring on foot this evening when she finally left the lab. This afternoon Anna felt like she’d truly accomplished something.
When they returned to the lab Anna felt refreshed. They had had a pleasant lunch aside from the teasing Captain O’Malley had dished out to Chief Brooks. Sara had surprised Anna. She could dish out just as quickly.
Anna logged into the contract auditor’s replica computer that Sara had set up. She loaded the program and ran various scenarios, trying to gauge the performance as well as the mechanics of the macro. Finally she felt she was ready for the data. A copy had been made long before her arrival. Sara made a third copy and gave it to her.
It seemed like forever before Anna figured out how this thing was supposed to run. She’d made a few calls to contracting to try and understand how they looked for discrepancies in contracts as well as numbers. Sara decided to call it a day and reminded her to lock her workstation before leaving for the day. Before Anna knew it, Captain O’Malley was back.
“How’s it going?” Jack asked as he took a seat.
Anna turned slightly to answer and did a double-take. Jack had changed from his usual uniform into civilian clothes.
“F–Fine, sir.” Anna hesitated.
As Anna stared at Captain O’Malley she realized what was so frightening and dangerous about Jack O’Malley. It was his magnetism. Captain O’Malley was a striking man in uniform, and in civilian clothes he was downright smoking hot. She took in the way his jeans molded to the lower half of his body. She watched as he slipped off the light jacket he was wearing. His T-shirt didn’t hide his taut body and muscular arms. She found herself wanting to take off that T-shirt and trace her fingers over that sculpted belly. Why use your fingers? Use your tongue! Captain O’Malley finally broke the silence.
“I noticed you weren’t back, so I decided to come find you,” Captain O’Malley said as he looked at the screen.
“I’ve been trying to find out how to manipulate this data.” Anna turned away.
Anna typed in a command and was met with the same results. She sighed and sat back.
“You got the program to work?” Captain O’Malley asked intently as he took a closer look at the screen.
“That was the easy part. The hard part is getting these results to look like this report. I called contracting and tried to get a brief lesson on what they look for. It all seemed pretty easy until you try to get it to work the way it’s supposed to.”
“What did contracting tell you?”
Anna quickly filled Captain O’Malley in on the process the way she understood it. He frowned.
“Stop, just stop. In the morning I’ll talk to the guy’s boss. I can conference him. Then we’ll find out in what context this guy was looking at stuff,” Captain O’Malley said.
“Who? The person in contracting that I talked to?”
“No, the individual who’s computer we have. They’re in Texas, up around Dallas somewhere.”
“That would be helpful. Oh, my goodness! I had no idea it was almost eight o’clock,” Anna said, glancing at the clock on the wall.
Anna got up and stretched as Captain O’Malley stared at the screen.
“Why do you think I came looking for you?” Captain O’Malley asked.
“Me? I’m okay. I guess I got carried away with what I was doing.”
“It seems to me you do that a lot,” Captain O’Malley observed.
Anna looked at Captain O’Malley and didn’t reply. It was clearly an admonishment. It was gentle, but a reprimand nonetheless. He turned away from the screen and looked at her.
“Anna, you need to be careful. Be more aware of your surroundings and who’s around you,” Captain O’Malley said gently.
Anna sat down as Captain O’Malley leaned back in the chair. She locked the workstation and started to rise in order to gather her things. Captain O’Malley gently grabbed her arm and had to keep herself from shivering at the touch.
“I’m concerned. I’m not angry, just worried,” Captain O’Malley said softly as he let her go.
“I’ll be a little more careful.”
“Good, how about dinner? I want to talk about what you’ve found out today.” Captain O’Malley stood.
* * * *
They left the computer lab and drove off base for their meal. Jack wanted to talk to Anna about what she’d found, and he decided on a place that was relatively safe and familiar. McP’s, a favorite SEAL watering hole and place for informal eats for over twenty years. It was Wednesday, so McP’s was relatively safe for non-SEAL types. McP’s wasn’t very far from the base and a relaxing place. Some of his best mission planning had been done over a beer at the tavern.
They parked and walked into the pub. As they walked past the bar, Jack almost stopped and joined his old chief, who was with some younger SEALs at the bar. SQTs must’ve completed successfully for JJ to be here with a bunch of tadpoles. Flaming drinks were coming their way. Jack walked around to the small area with tables. He watched Anna walk in front of him and truly hoped JJ wouldn’t spot him, at least not while he was with Anna. They ordered quickly and he watched with interest as Anna took in the events at the bar. The place wasn’t all that big.
“They drank those drinks while they were still on fire! Don’t they know to put them out before they drink!” Anna exclaimed.
“They’re SEALs. It’s a tradition,” Jack said as he casually looked over the entertainment lineup card on the table. “Anna, it’s best you don’t look. You know, don’t make eye contact. They’re liable to start eating the shot glasses just to impress you,” Jack said matter-of-factly.
“I can’t help it. I can’t believe they’re that stupid!” Anna whispered, fascinated at the scene. She
turned and looked at Jack. “They did it again!” she croaked.
“Yeah. They do that.” Wanting to turn her attention from the entertainment at the bar, Jack tried to involve her in conversation. “Tell me about this afternoon.”
Anna noticed the men at the bar had another round coming their way and she watched in shock as they loudly started their ritual all over again.
“Anna…” Jack said patiently.
Jack wanted to turn her attention away from the bar area.
“Have you ever done something like that?” Anna blurted.
Jack was momentarily taken by surprise. It was a very personal question, coming from her. Maybe the last few days of being persistent and patient were paying off, and she was finally beginning to open up to him.
“Why would you ask that?” Jack asked with a smile.
“You’re a SEAL, right? You said it’s tradition?” Anna asked wide eyed.
“Yes, Anna, I’ve done it.”
“Why?”
“Because it was there. Because somebody dared me and I was stupid at the time. Any number of reasons, none of them having a rational thought process associated with it.” Jack shrugged. “Anna, this afternoon?”
“They’re doing it again,” she said, focusing on the bar.
Jack was getting impatient with her lack of focus. Having seen and even done much worse on liberty with his men, he failed to see her fascination with the antics at the bar.
“Anna, I know some of those guys. Should I ask them to join us? Believe me, they’ll be more than happy to entertain you.”
“No,” Anna said quickly.
“Would you talk to me about what happened this afternoon, after I left?” Jack asked once more.
Anna put her elbow on the table and leaned her cheek on her palm. He could tell she was trying not to turn back and look at the scene unfolding at the bar.
“What was that?” Anna asked.
“This afternoon. After I left? What happened?”
“Oh, yes, sir. Well, I got the application installed and got it to run. But I wasn’t sure how to use it. So I made some calls and got a cursory lesson on how contracting does things and what they look for in an audit. I couldn’t get the results that the documentation had. And just from what I know from friends, the services don’t necessarily do things the same way. So, I’m stuck.”
Jack took a sip of his beer and thought a moment.
“Explain the steps you used,” Jack said.
Anna sat back and thought a moment.
“Well, I started by loading the test data we had from the GWOT logistics system. Then I ran the first report and it came back clean. I compared the old macro from the other machine and the one I had loaded. There were some minor modifications, which I made.” Anna shook her head, clearly frustrated. “I guess I just don’t understand why it works.”
Jack was listening intently as she was talking.
“Did you say why it works?” Jack asked.
“Yes, sir. I did. If I understood why it works the way it does, I probably could have a better understanding of how to get the numbers I need.”
Their food arrived before Jack said anything. Anna took a bite of her salad and he took a fry from the basket. McP’s bacon cheeseburger was one of the rare indulgences he allowed himself when he was back in Coronado.
“Maybe it’s not why or how,” Jack mused.
“Sir?”
“Most people don’t care about how something works. They just want it to work. Maybe you can’t get it to run the way you want because you’re digging too deep,” Jack surmised.
“I don’t understand, Captain. Isn’t that why I’m here?”
“Well, yes. But in this case maybe you’re being too technical,” Jack suggested.
“Okay. How so?”
Jack had just taken a bite from his burger. Anna was much more at ease with him when they talked about work. He waited a moment before answering because he didn’t want to sound too critical. The conversations they had been having over the last couple of days had been productive and Anna seemed to be a lot less skittish of him and of the things he said.
“Well, maybe someone like me needs to work with it. Someone who really isn’t interested in how it works, just the fact that it works, and someone like you needs to tweak it when it doesn’t do what I want it to do,” Jack said.
Anna tilted her head in consideration and nodded as she chewed.
“That’s probably how it was for this guy because he wasn’t a computer guy. He probably had someone help him when he couldn’t get what he wanted from the thing,” Jack said.
“Or he knew the parameters he wanted to put in. That’s where I think we’re having a problem. We don’t know the parameters he was using for the queries.”
“That’s a good point, and those parameters are endless. They could be anything. That’s why I want to talk with his boss. That’s a good question to ask him.”
“It would be, if he knows.”
The rest of the meal was pleasant as Jack and Anna conversed about the surrounding San Diego area. Anna was interested in the nearby restaurants. Jack was enjoying her company and finding out how much they seemed to have in common when someone interrupted.
“You son of a bitch! I saw you walk in!” a gruff voice said as he slid into the seat next to Jack.
Jack looked up and saw Anna’s eyes widen. She recognized the man as one of the SEALs at the bar downing the flaming drinks.
“Hello, JJ.” Jack sighed.
“You sorry mother—” JJ started.
“JJ!” Jack interrupted. “I have company.” He nodded to Anna seated across from him.
JJ stopped and looked at Anna and smiled. She looked away.
“Damn, Rock! She actually looks like a nice girl. Cute brunette, isn’t vanilla your usual flavor?” JJ asked, winking at Anna.
Anna cleared her throat and stood. “Excuse me, please.”
Jack smiled as she got up and walked to the ladies’ room, allowing the two men their privacy.
“Even has manners. What the hell is she doing with you?” JJ asked.
“She works with me.” Jack took a drink of water, his beer long finished.
“With you or on you?” JJ asked with a knowing grin.
“JJ…”
“I’m just fucking with you. I believe you. No decent woman would be seen with you unless she really was working with you.” JJ slapped Jack on the shoulder and put his arm around him. He looked toward the bathrooms and saw Anna approaching. “When you get some free time, you know where I am. Come and see me. We’ll go out and have some real fun. See ya, tadpole.” He stood.
Jack sat shaking his head. He hadn’t been a tadpole for almost sixteen years. Anna returned and took her seat.
“Seems like a very colorful man,” Anna said.
“That was my chief when I got my first platoon of SEALs. He also helped train me. He kept me out of a lot of trouble out in the field. He was with me up until a few years ago. Dixie called him up here when he took command.”
“Dixie?”
“Admiral Campbell. You met him the first day. He’s the commanding officer of Naval Special Warfare Command.”
“Now is that just your boss? I guess I don’t understand fully.”
“Yeah, he’s my boss. He’s everyone’s boss. It doesn’t get any higher than Dixie, as far as the Navy Special Ops goes. What don’t you understand?”
“I guess this whole special warfare thing,” Anna said, taking another drink.
“Do you want to know?” Jack asked, slightly surprised.
“Yes, I want to know. I’d like to know who I work for and what they do. Wouldn’t you?”
“I’ll be glad to explain it to you. I didn’t know you were interested. Maybe tomorrow, it’s getting late. And that explanation could take a while.”
Another dinner with you would be fine by me…
Chapter 16
Naval Special Warfare Command
Combat Support Systems Computer Lab
Coronado Naval Amphibious Base, California
August 7, 2008/2155 Zulu
Jack sat at the workstation. He, Anna, and Sara had been working since his conversation with Sam Jimenez, the branch chief with the Defense Contracting Audit Agency. Sam was Joe Paeck’s immediate supervisor and Sam had explained to Jack in a phone conference that Joe had come to him before going on vacation. Sam informed Jack that Joe had found several discrepancies in some contracts as well as payment for goods and services. It had been a specially requested audit by the Department of the Navy. Joe had assured Sam it was an issue that could wait until after his vacation. When Joe never returned, they found some documents in a very odd file within his desk. Those documents had been faxed to Jack. Sam further explained they were trying to recreate Joe’s findings as well because there was an NCIS investigation going on for the Marine Corps and some medical contracts where vaccines and medication had gone missing.
All of this information was fine, but they still didn’t know what parameters Joe Paeck had been using when he discovered the discrepancies. Jack was beginning to get just as frustrated as Anna had been the day prior. Anna divided her time with Jack as well as assisting Sara with some of the nuances she’d discovered in the systems security logs at Randolph. Jack idly punched in dates. This is beginning to get monotonous. Jack got up and walked around as Anna picked up a copy of the report that Sam Jimenez had faxed to them.
“Captain, have you noticed in this report that these dates are consistent?” Anna asked.
Of course I did. What the hell do you think I’ve been doing all day? Jack wanted to snap because he was getting more frustrated and aggravated by the second. “What do you mean? Explain.”
Anna walked to Sara’s desk and pulled a file.
“I don’t know, but I thought I read in the audit report that the reason he was he visited Fort Sam in San Antonio was because there were some inconsistencies in payouts and the people that were supposed to receive the materials in question did not get them or they were getting things they didn’t order. The dates were not so…clean,” Anna said.