"¡Ay dios mio!" "¿Qué fuí eso?" "Whoa!" "What the...?" "Wow!" "We just got word an F-14 crashed this morning outside" "Lone Pine, California." "Town's an hour and a half drive from China Lake Naval Weapons Center." "Or two minutes flying time." "Did the flight crew punch out, sir?" "Pilot failed to eject." "What about the RIO?" "Not mentioned in the flash report." "We have to assume the worst." "Were there any casualties on the ground, sir?" "Plane came down near Lone Pine Elementary School on the outskirts of town." "Kids were in the playground when it happened." "No reported casualties, thank God." "Well, that's fortunate, sir." "Not to the children who saw two men die before their eyes." "All test flights out of China Lake have been grounded." "Has the Navy initiated a Mishap Investigation, General?" "Already on the scene." "I want you to get to China Lake, A-SAP, conduct a concurrent JAGMAN investigation." "You're dismissed." "Aye, aye, sir." "If you see Colonel MacKenzie, send her my way." "Uh, sir, the Colonel is still in Norfolk taking depositions on the Harkin case." "Commander Turner, then." "Commander Turner is, uh, TAD to Camp Pendleton, General." "Commander Roberts?" "I believe Commander Roberts started his anger management classes this morning, sir." "Just how the hell did Admiral Chegwidden get anything done around here?" "I think he found it a struggle, sir." ""Do this to me, baby, touch me there, ho. "" "Rap lyrics these days." "I screamed at him, tried to send him to his room." "He told me to shut up." "He's bigger than me now." "I actually felt for a minute like..." "like he was going to hit me." "So, what did you do?" "I hit him first." "Ha!" "Anyway, I feel like dirt, hitting my kid like that." "Comments?" "Commander Roberts?" "No." "Anyone else?" "Any comments?" "What's to comment about?" "We're here to talk about controlling inappropriate rage." "Sounds to me like the kid had it coming." "We don't know that." "Ah, he speaks." "I speak when I have something to say." "You tell him, Commander." "Well, yeah, tell me, Commander." "You ever beat your kids?" "My children are none of your business." "Leave him alone, Korsky." "Don't tell me what to do, Petty Officer." "The rules are, we leave our rank at the door," "Lieutenant." "Okay, I think it's time for all of us to take a deep, deep breath." "Do you ever hit your kids?" "No." "You must have lost your temper sometime." "Otherwise, you wouldn't be here." "Look at him, sitting there, all calm and superior." "You never get angry, right, Buddy?" "The name is Bud." "And, yes, I do get angry, but I'm not obnoxious about it." "You must beat the crap out of your kids." "You probably had the crap beat out of you as a kid, huh?" "That's how it works." "Look at me when I'm talking to you." "Don't ignore me." "John, sit down." "Ease up." "Get off me." "You're being insubordinate." "He's just trying to make you mad, Commander." "Don't listen to him." "I won't." "Okay, let's all calm down and take our seats..." "I'm talking to you." "You're just as messed up as the rest of us, you one-legged gimp." "You're out of line, sir..." "Okay, I'm leaving." "I don't need this." "You're a moron, sir." "Hey, come on." "Want some of this?" "Come on..." "Don't touch me..." "Hey, come on." "You..." "No, no." "You..." "Want a piece of me?" "Oh!" "Commander Rabb?" "Hi." "I'm Lieutenant Cathy Graves, Assistant to the Project Development Coordinator." "Right this way, please." "Thank you." "I'm gonna need to speak to your CO A-SAP, Lieutenant." "Okay." "Unfortunately, that's not possible." "Commander Burrell's been detached." "He's on leave pending his PCS orders to-to PAX River." "I'm afraid you're stuck with me, sir." "All right, Lieutenant." "Look, I'm gonna need witness statements, aircraft discrepancy book, fuel samples, flight plan from Air Ops," "NATOPS jacket on the deceased pilot." "The works." "I will see what I can do, sir." "The project's being run for DOD by a civilian contractor, Larmoss Industries." "It's highly classified." "This is all the information I've been given." "A press release?" "!" "The company released the name of the pilot." "It's Maxwell Gilbert." "He's retired Navy." "I'm expecting a copy of his personnel file within the hour." "What about the RIO?" "Still waiting on that information, as well, sir." "Listen, I'd be happy to help you in any way I can in this investigation, sir." "Do you have investigative experience, Lieutenant?" "Well, I don't have experience, sir." "I have instinct." "I have read every volume of Colin Wilson's" "True Crime Files at least twice." "I can tell you ten ways to commit a perfect murder." "Method one..." "Lieutenant, look, if I need to have someone whacked, you'll be my first call." "What was the purpose of the test, Mr. Weston?" "Well, I'd like to tell you, Commander, but this is a highly compartmentalized project." "You understand." "Did you monitor the flight?" "Of course." "Well, we'll need a copy of the tape." "Well, that I can do." "But these are the NATOPS jacket and personnel file you requested, Lieutenant." "Thank you, sir." "We can recreate the entire mission from the moment the aircraft was launched." "Go ahead, Harriet." "Mm-hmm." "Up until this point, the flight was normal." "Well, she's about 20 feet off the deck." "Here the aircraft goes into an unrestricted climb." "Those are combat maneuvers." "Now he goes into a hammerhead stall." "Doesn't appear to be any equipment malfunction." "None." "Maybe the pilot grayed out as a result of the high G's, lost control of the aircraft." "It would explain why he didn't eject." "That's a reasonable hypothesis." "Were they in radio contact up until the incident?" "Negative." "Well, why is there no record of the RIO?" "He didn't have one." "The aircraft was configured to fly solo." "What was the disposition of the pilot's remains?" "The plane had a full load of jet fuel when it went down." "There wasn't much of anything left once we put the fire out." "We believe his body was vaporized by the burning jet fuel." "Jet fuel burns at 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit." "To cremate a body, you need 3,200 degrees for 30 minutes." "Well, the entire debris field hasn't been established yet." "Maybe the investigators will find more evidence, uh, in time." "Commander Maxwell Gilbert's NATOPS jacket indicates nothing out of the ordinary, but, according to his personnel records, he's been working for Larmoss Industries for two years, flying experimental aircraft, the top-secret kind." "Anything else?" "Well, no, that's it." "Uh, there's not a lot of information here, you know, due to the classified nature of his job." "This man is a mystery, sir." "Mysteries... well, they make me curious." "I'm Commander Rabb." "This is Lieutenant Graves." "I'm with the JAG corps." "I'm a little busy, Commander." "We just pulled together this Mishap Investigation Board yesterday." "Well, you mind if we take a look, Commander?" "I'd prefer you didn't, until we complete our investigation." "Lieutenant, I'm sure you can think of a number of appropriate questions to ask the Commander." "But sir, he just said that he would..." "Yes, sir." "Oh, and, uh, Lieutenant, be sure he doesn't take his eyes off you." "Oh, shouldn't be a problem." "People seem to respond to me, Commander." "Um, Commander, let me guess." "I bet your investigation concentrates on the control systems and instrumentation." "Correct." "You're trying to find a mechanical, electrical or hydraulic malfunction to explain the plane's erratic behavior." "We are." "May I ask you, sir, do you think it was a pilot error?" "We're not ruling anything out, Lieutenant." "Now, if you'll excuse me..." "Oh, oh, wait." "Um..." "We understand that you recovered burned remains from the crash site." "Affirmative, Lieutenant." "Well, just one more question, then, Commander." "Are you running a DNA test on those remains?" "That's up to the local authorities." "Since the aircraft crashed on civilian property, they have control over any remains." "Oh, well, when will you get those results?" "The coroner promised tomorrow." "Okay, well, that should just about cover it, Commander." "Thank you for your cooperation." "I hope you two found what you're looking for." "What did you find, sir?" "Well, from what I could tell and what's left of the cockpit, I saw the safety pin was still intact, and the pilot's ejection seat was bolted to the frame." "So, he was trapped inside, he couldn't eject?" "So, maybe someone killed him to try to sabotage the project." "Or settle a beef." "A love triangle gone horribly wrong, perhaps." "Lieutenant, has anybody ever told you, you have quite an active imagination?" "Well, does th-that bother you, sir?" "You know, sometimes a good investigator has to admit the most obvious choice is often the right one." "Under..." "Understood, sir." "Do we know where Maxwell Gilbert lived?" "His file said that he lived just outside the base." "His parents were deceased." "He had no brothers and sisters." "He was never married." "That makes him the perfect patsy." "I'm reserving judgment, sir." "If you would, Commander, just, uh, turn your back." "You don't really want to see this." "Well, where'd you learn to do that?" "From The Assassins Handbook." "It's only available in this bookstore in Oregon." "I'll share mine with you." "Well, doesn't look very occupied, does it?" "No, not unless he was a neat freak." "Maybe he didn't have time to settle in." "After two years?" "Yeah, that's a good point." "Eating disorder?" "Okay, either he didn't pay his bills, or he never even lived here." "A nudist, maybe?" "Okay, somebody could have cleaned this place out after Gilbert died, but..." "All right, I'm thinking it's a cover-up, sir." "I know, I know." "I know." "There goes my pesky imagination, but look at this." "You got Gilbert's" "NATOPS jacket from Weston?" "Yes, sir." "Also the background information covering his two years at Larmoss Industries." "What are you thinking, Commander?" "That there wasn't a pilot." "Maxwell Gilbert is the man who never was." "So, then whose remains did they find at the crash site?" "How's the Harkin case coming?" "Progressing well, sir." "But I've been notified that I'm due for my pistol requalification." "I need to report to Quantico tomorrow afternoon." "It's been a while since I hit the pistol range." "Not since I requalified ten months ago." "Shooting to requalify is never as much fun as shooting for the sheer joy of it, is it, Colonel?" "No, sir." "Good luck, Colonel." "Thank you, sir." "See you there." "Can't let you have all the fun, Colonel." "Or are you afraid of firing against your boss?" "No, General, it's just..." "I mean, I know you're busy..." "Won't stop me from seeing you at the range tomorrow afternoon, though." "And may the best Marine win." "Are we supposed to be here, sir?" "It's always easier to apologize than to ask permission, Lieutenant." "You know, I had a boyfriend like that once." "Actually, more than once." "That's when I decided to get a cat." "I'm not even going to touch that." "The Safety Center investigators seem to have done a pretty thorough job." "That says subterfuge to me, sir." "Oh, really?" "Well, Commander, when has any investigative body moved this fast on anything?" "I don't understand." "What's your hurry?" "Just let me go get the keys." "It'll take five minutes." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Ma'am?" "Is there a problem?" "Do you need a lift somewhere?" "Oh, no, thank you." "This is my car." "That was my dad's truck." "The police are impounding it." "How long had it been here?" "According to the parking tickets on the windshield, since at least Monday." "Are you here about the plane crash?" "Yes." "I'm Commander Rabb." "This is Lieutenant Graves." "Hi." "Megan Ransford." "Nice to meet you." "Where's your father now?" "I haven't seem him in two days." "Does he make it a habit of taking off?" "Ever since I've known him." "My parents got divorced when I was ten, and he and I are just now getting to know each other, so..." "But I can tell you this- he is eccentric." "How so?" "Where do I start?" "Um..." "Well, he was a writer for TV shows in the '80s, like Simon  Simon." "No." "I loved that show." "Do you remember the one where the bank manager hired Rick and A.J. to go...?" "Lieutenant." "Good Lord." "Sorry, sir." "I'm sorry." "My dad quit writing when some 26-year-old MBA decided he was too old." "And then when his second wife died, he decided to be a painter." "Do you see the bridge?" "He was devoting a series of paintings to it." "Sunrise, sunset..." "Various angles." "Oh, y-you-you don't think the plane accident had anything to do with his disappearance?" "No, no, of course not, ma'am." "That's very sweet, Lieutenant, but not completely candid." "You think we could take a look at your father's paintings?" "His paintings?" "Well, it might help us to determine where he was when the aircraft went down." "Oh..." "Oh, yeah." "Um... follow me?" "You wanted to see me, sir?" "I don't like loose cannons in my office, Commander." "People who take direction from no one and have respect for nothing." "I assure you, if I've done something to displease the General it was not intentional." "Moreover, I'll be happy to rectify whatever problem I may have caused." "I don't mean you, Commander." "At ease." "Oh." "Thank you, sir." "The individual in question continues to demonstrate a lack of self-control and discipline, even though he's been given every chance in the world to straighten up." "Yes, sir." "In spite of his misdeeds, my predecessor seems to have bent over backwards to keep him on the job." "I'm afraid all that's true, sir." "Now he's turned a simple anger management class into a barroom brawl." "Anger management class?" "Exactly who are we talking about, sir?" "Lieutenant Commander Roberts." "My apologies, sir." "I assumed you meant someone else." "He's like a New York cabdriver." "He-He drives down the street untouched while accidents happen all around him." "I want to know if I've got a habitual troublemaker on my hands." "I don't think Commander Roberts falls into that category, sir." "You don't, huh?" "No, sir." "I can't have that kind of an officer in my command." "I want an impartial, off-the-record examination of what happened at that anger management class." "Can you do that?" "Yes, sir." "It's an internal matter." "I want it handled discreetly, understood?" "Completely, sir." "That'll be all." "You're dismissed." "Aye, aye, sir." "Commander." "Who'd you think I was talking about?" "No one, sir." "My mistake." "Uh-huh." "Wow, this is so cool." "You dad lives here?" "He rents it." "Beats the hell out of a million dollar tract home in Encino." "Do trains actually run through here?" "Twice a day- 4:00 p. m. and 2:00 a. m." "Oh, that's so romantic." "Not if you're a light sleeper." "Dad loves Monet." "He loved his habit of returning to the same time, same place every day until he'd captured the light perfectly." "And Dad's the same way." "Once he finds the right spot..." "Oh, this is my father." "Do you know what angle your father was working on most recently?" "Um, let's see." "He'd finished this one, so he would've moved on to this angle." "Which would have placed him near the crash site, wouldn't it?" "If your father had been anywhere near the..." "I understand." "I'm sure this is really hard for you." "It is." "To be on the safe side, we'll, uh... we'll need a DNA sample." "If your father had a- a brush, or a comb..." "Yeah." "I want to know what happened to that aircraft." "Yeah, but all we have is the flight simulation, sir, which is Larmoss Industrie" version of events." "Well, we have a little more than that, Lieutenant." "They gave it to us." "What, sir?" "The flight path." "I, uh heard your anger management class has gotten exciting." "Yeah, well, let's just say that some of the people there are in the right place." "What exactly happened?" "Are you investigating me, Commander?" "Ah, Bud, it's nothing official." "The general just, uh..." "Has you checking up on me." "There was a fight, you were there." "And I'm not blaming you, but twice in as many months." "It's starting to sound like you're blaming me, Commander." "Bud, I defended you in court." "I know better than anyone that you're not a violent man, but... for a mild-mannered guy you sure do piss a lot of people off." "Plus, uh... you've got a father who's a bully." "Ah, I've gone out of my way to be everything that my father isn't and none of the things that he is." "What kind of counseling did you receive after you were wounded?" "I was too busy with the physical therapy." "But I never went through that whole anger thing that they talk about when you lose a limb." "I was lucky." "Maybe that's the problem?" "Commander, you know how they say people see the world through their own troubles?" "I mean," "I know you've had anger issues." "That's fair to say, but I can't assume you're blameless because I've had problems of my own in the past." "I'm just here to find out what happened in that class, Bud." "Muchisimas gracias." "Sí." "Gracias." "Buenos días." "Um, we'd like to ask you a few questions, if we could." "We were wondering, sir, if, about two days ago, at 8:00 in the morning, if you happened to see a military aircraft go by?" "Sí." "Could you describe what you saw?" "Yes." "The plane came over very low." "It almost hit my truck." "That must've been very frightening." "It was." "And the second plane flew even lower." "Second plane?" "Did you notice anything abnormal about either plane?" "Pienso que sí." "They were very low and very fast." "Thank you." "Gracias." "De nada." "Larmoss Industries never mentioned a second aircraft." "What are they hiding?" "Well, that's what we're going to find out, Lieutenant." "Flight Ops Chief said you were responsible for fueling the aircraft that crashed, is that right?" "Yes, sir." "That's my job." "What about the other one?" "I took care of that one, too." "What can you tell me about these two aircraft, Mr. Coffle?" "I don't think I ought to be talking about this, Commander." "You're a civilian, right?" "Have you signed a non-disclosure agreement?" "Were you briefed that everything you see is classified?" "No." "Well, then you're off the hook." "Aside from the fact that they're test planes," "I don't know a whole hell of a lot." "Well, that's funny, 'cause you strike me as the sort of guy who doesn't miss much." "Well, that depends what I'm looking at." "Did you, uh, notice anything in particular about these aircraft, anything out of the ordinary?" "They bring these planes out about 4:00 a. m." "I'm not even here when they take off." "But as far as I know, they're just your standard Tomcats." "Uh, course, they had different names." "Names?" "You mean like a wife or a girlfriend?" "I doubt it." "One was named Oscar." "The other, Uzi." "They were stenciled under the cockpits." "Which one crashed?" "Oscar." "Uzi came back." "It's funny, naming an airplane after a submachine gun." "Did you know the pilot, Maxwell Gilbert?" "He the one that died?" "Yeah." "No, I don't know anything about him." "I never even saw him until he was sitting up in the cockpit." "You saw him in the cockpit?" "Well, I don't know which one is Maxwell Gilbert, but there was someone in the airplane." "I saw someone, yeah." "Both planes?" "Front seat and back?" "Front seat only." "Well, what'd they look like?" "Well, I couldn't tell you." "They were too far out on the parking ramp." "Thank you for your time." "Sure thing." "Thank you, Mr. Coffle." "Oh, anytime, Lieutenant." "Sorry, sir." "Sorry for what?" "Well, there goes your theory that there was no pilot." "I'm still not so sure." "But you heard Mr. Coffle." "The facts says you're wrong." "Well, we're going to have to look for some different facts." "Look, Lieutenant, I need to go back to the office." "I need you to check with the local coroner to find out if the DNA results are back." "Yes, sir." "All right." "I am sorry, Lieutenant." "I know this must be difficult and painful for you, but, uh," "I do need to know exactly what happened at that meeting." "Okay." "Anger management... session." "session." "Yes, my regular anger management session." "And Mooney was sitting here." "Uh, hold on." "Uh, you see, Petty Officer Mooney was sitting right here." "Mooney was here." "Got it." "Here." "Okay?" "And Korsky, this is Korsky." "Korsky..." "This is Lieutenant Commander Roberts." "This is Commander Roberts." "Roberts' chair, okay." "Korsky..." "I was sitting in this chair right here." "This is where I was sitting, right here." "Korsky was baiting Roberts." "He was..." "He was baiting him." "He was beating..." "He was baiting him." "Baiting." "Yes, baiting him." "Okay?" "It... well, it takes an awful lot to make" "Commander Roberts angry." "It must've been quite a baiting the Lieutenant was giving him." "Commander Roberts... he stood up and the chair went over." "He knocked the chair over." "The chair went over, yes." "What he did was he picked it up..." "That's all Commander Roberts did was pick up the chair." "I tried to step in to break up the fight between" "Korsky and Mooney, okay?" "Korsky and Mooney." "Right and when I stepped in, Korsky shoved me." "Korsky shoved you." "He shoved me." "Right." "And right over here, Commander," "Commander Roberts had the chair, boom." "So Commander Roberts had the chair in his hand because he was picking it up;" "he wasn't using it as a weapon." "Thank you." "Yes." "That will help him." "Thank you." "Uh, you know, I see a lot of guys come through here, and, um, Commander Roberts does not need to be here." "Thank you, Lieutenant, the commander will be happy to hear that, and so will our Sea Chief." "But Korsky, if I ever see him in a dark alley, I'm going to..." "I'm gonna You understand me?" "Uh, the DNA won't be ready for another day or two, sir." "I found Oscar." "No way." "Yup." "Uh, an anthropomorphic dummy?" ""Oscar is a life-sized mannequin" ""who comes in a number of different service uniforms." "He weighs 165 pounds... "" "Which is about average for a fighter pilot." "That dummy costs more than a Rolex watch." "And he lives in a high-impact case, just like the ones we saw at the Larmoss hangar." "You were right after all, sir." "An unmanned aircraft." "You know, whoever stenciled the name Oscar on the plane has kind of a weird sense of humor, but I don't, um, really see how this helps us." "Well, there were two planes, Lieutenant." "Two planes on the mission." "There was the target plane, which was unmanned, except for our friend Oscar, and the chase plane, whose pilot's call sign was "Uzi. "" "We find Uzi, we find out what happened." "But how do we know that Uzi wasn't a dummy, too?" "Well, we don't." "But let's say for the moment he's real." "Okay, well, if someone with the call sign "Uzi" works for Larmoss," "I'm not going to have access to their files." "There's got to be a record of him somewhere." "He'd need a vehicle pass to get on the base, he's got to have someplace to live." "Maybe he's got a locker at the fitness center." "Yeah, no, I will do a search." "Good." "Call me the moment you find out anything." "I'm going to go see Megan Ransford." "The actual amount of compensation would be based on your father's tax returns." "Financial statements, loss of potential earnings." "L" " Look around you, Commander." "My dad paid $400 a month to rent this place." "His paintings are good, ma'am." "He must have sold some of them." "Yeah, I don't know." "Maybe at some local art shows." "And-And try Megan." "Megan." "Do you like any of these?" "Gosh, they're all good." "I guess if I had to choose one, uh, that one there." "I painted that one." "Painting was one of the few things" "Dad and I had in common." "One of the only memories I have of him as a kid." "It's tough growing up without a dad." "You get used to it." "Anyway, he called me last year and said he regretted... well, regretted a lot of things." "So I let him back in my life." "And I was really working on forgiving him, but now I guess I'll never have the chance." "Anyway, the plan was to go back to Encino once my soon-to-be ex-husband had moved out of the house." "I don't know, coming back here and seeing the way Dad lived, I..." "I'm actually thinking of chucking my job and moving out here and picking up where Dad left off." "It'd be lonely." "I don't really get lonely." "Not to say I don't enjoy companionship, but I don't know, it wouldn't be bad living out here." "Except for the 2:00 a. m." "cannonball express." "What about you?" "You ever lonely?" "Sometimes." "Well, you wouldn't have to be." "That pretty little lieutenant seems to hang on your every word." "Never had much luck with blondes." "Oh, yeah?" "Your girl have dark hair?" "Well... she's not my girl." "Yet." "But, yeah, she's a... she's a brunette." "How did we get onto this anyway?" "You started it." "You know, I think I may know a way to get you a decent settlement, your father's lack of income not withstanding." "I'd be satisfied with whatever you can manage, Harm." "You've been good to me." "You ever think of chucking it all and starting over?" "You know, new place, new people?" "Tried that once." "It, uh..." "Well, it didn't work out." "Hmm..." "Cease fire!" "Cease fire!" "When your weapon is secure, move back to the ready line." "Not bad." "Better than "not bad," Colonel." "You may move back to the ready line and stand by for the next stage of fire." "You need any assistance, General?" "I'll go another, Gunny." "Can't have another, sir." "This one's for score." "How's it going, sir?" "You can see my target, Colonel." "How's it look like it's going?" "One more stage of fire." "Okay, "Uzi" is a Hebrew word, right?" "It means "my strength. "" "Now, I couldn't find any pilots with that call sign, but I'm looking at military flights out of China Lake and there's a C-130 to Edwards connecting to Germany this afternoon at 1300." "Now the manifest shows a Lieutenant Itzhak Meier, Israeli Air Force." "But does Israel fly F-14s?" "Well, we did train some of our allies in F-14s." "One of them was Israel." "Right, but why use an Israeli?" "I mean, why not hire a former U.S. Navy pilot such as yourself?" "Well, maybe the Israeli pilot possesses skills Larmoss needs." "Such as?" "I don't know." "When we find him, we'll ask him." "And while there was an altercation that resulted in injuries," "I am confident Commander Roberts did not act in a malicious manner, sir." "You like Commander Roberts, don't you?" "I respect the commander, sir." "My concern is that your fondness for Commander Roberts has affected your judgment." "With all due respect, sir, you couldn't be more wrong." "Oh, couldn't I?" "Sir, few have sacrificed to the degree that Commander Roberts has." "I know you were shot down in Iraq," "I know you were injured, but Commander Roberts did lose a leg, sir." "Which has zero to do with the fact that the man has been involved in two felonious assaults in the past two months." "With all due respect, sir, the commander was only defending his kid brother in that shoe store." "He and his brother were only targeted because they were wearing uniforms, and sir, I can't say that under the same circumstances" "I wouldn't have done the same thing." "Okay." "Thank you, Commander." "That'll be all." "Yes, sir." "What do you mean, "delayed"?" "For how long?" "I must get on this plane." "Here we are, sir." "Shalom." "Shalom." "What's this all about?" "We need to talk to you about your friend Oscar." "What'd you score?" "382, sir." "Expert." "Congratulations." "At ease." "Thank you, General." "Aren't you going to ask how I did?" "I wasn't sure you'd want to talk about it, sir." "I've always believed owning up to getting whooped is the first step to never letting it happen again." "Well, if I scored higher, sir," "I'm sure it was because I got lucky." "Do not patronize me, Colonel." "Face it - we can't help but turn everything we do into a competition." "It's why Marines make better friends with each other than with squids." "Maybe I enjoyed it just a little, sir." "No harm in that, Colonel." "You beat me this time, but I still shot expert." "Incidentally... do you have any idea how much trouble you'd be in right now if I thought you held back on me at that range just to avoid kicking a General Officer in the backside?" "I can imagine, sir." "Don't let yourself get too comfortable." "Next time, I'm taking you down, MacKenzie." "With all due respect, sir, like hell you are." "I can't explain what happened." "The automatic flight control system was working normally when they took off." "The remote control jet was in the lead." "The autopilot controls were mounted in the rear seat, with the dummy in the front to keep the center of gravity correct." "Why not just use sandbags for the weight?" "We needed the dummy, in case anyone saw the aircraft taking off." "The remote control aircraft simulated a surface-to-air missile?" "Correct." "A Stinger missile can get up to Mach two- about 2,400 kilometers an hour- a few seconds after launch." "We want the capability to take out a target even faster than that, if necessary." "The mission required the drone aircraft to travel at Mach 2.38 for the test." "To test your laser technology." "Yeah, the Army's Tactical High-Energy Laser system nailed a Russian Katyusha SAM in June of 2000 at White Sands Missile Range." "Okay, I remember that test." "That weapon was the size of an 18-wheeler." "Yes, but they used a- a mid-infrared laser." "It's fine for ground- based operations." "And now we can now shoot a SCUD out of the sky miles before it gets anywhere near Israel's borders." "An airborne platform for laser weapons is something the DOD's been working on since the 1980s." "We think we've finally got the solution- a deuterium fluoride chemical laser." "We can get a megawatt of power in a package small enough to fit in the rear seat of an F-14." "Do you understand what that means?" "Once our tests are completed, we can build the device into commercial airliners." "Because sooner or later, some terrorist will get lucky;" "hundreds of people will die." "But not with this technology on board." "Commander, we weren't exaggerating when we said civilian lives are at stake with this program." "Oh, yeah, you proved that four days ago about a hundred meters from a schoolyard." "So why were you testing this over a civilian area?" "That... was an anomaly." "I'm gonna need to know what happened after you lost control of the drone." "I was flying a low-altitude simulation downrange." "testing the atmospheric compensation and correction system for the laser." "I climbed to angels 20 to verify the tracking could lock on at that altitude." "It did." "I acquired the target before it got to a thousand feet and kept it right in the crosshairs all the way to 40,000." "So the test was successful?" "Perfect." "We thought we were making real progress." "The next step, we'd go operational." "Then you lost control." "The drone started responding erratically." "It was dropping out of the sky." "I pursued to keep it in sight." "It kept losing altitude, all the way down to treetop level." "By then you were approaching the town." "Get down!" "Suddenly, it went into an unrestricted climb." "I realized I'd run out of options." "Tell Control, destroy the drone." "And then you decided to cover it up." "By law, we couldn't reveal the truth." "This is a Special Access Program." "You don't have the right to lie to them." "You endangered people's lives." "Look, not only do I have a right," "I have an obligation to lie." "And so do you- to protect the program, which is now in jeopardy." "You can understand why we took the precautions we did." "Oh, we understand, all right." "It's a race to see who can develop high-energy laser technology first, and with commercial applications, the upside is tremendous." "You weren't trying to protect the program." "You were trying to protect your profits." "And the U.S. government will protect me." "So we're done." "No, not quite." "We still have one piece of unfinished business." "Commander... do you think I've been too hard on you?" "No, sir." "I deserve it, sir." "Well put." "Thank you, sir." "I had a friend growing up, Hank Schumacher." "He was three grades ahead of me... my ticket to hang out with the older kids." "Meant a lot to me at the time, 'cause I was, uh... small for my age." "When he was drafted into the Army and left for Vietnam... the guy was my hero." "I still looked up to him a year later when he came back home in a wheelchair." "One day he, uh, he'd just left the VA hospital in Lexington." "A group of kids pushed his chair over... left him in the street." "Wasn't long before the police came, put him back in his chair." "Didn't matter, though." "The damage had been done." "See, they'd taken away Hank's dignity." "Men like Hank... ones who've given that much to their country... we owe them a little extra." "You understand what I'm saying, Commander?" "I think so, sir." "Don't take it as a license to be a menace to society." "Chairs are for sitting." "Shoes?" "We won't even talk about shoes." "Yes, sir." "You're dismissed, Commander." "Aye, aye, sir." "DNA conclusively links Megan Ransford's father to the crash of your F-14." "Well, if Miss Ransford wants to file a Federal Tort Claim, we're willing to contribute to a settlement- with the understanding that Larmoss Industries assumes no further liability and Miss Ransford is barred from public disclosure and any action in civil court." "Two million dollars." "Come again?" "You heard right." "Okay." "Before we talk numbers, we should talk split." "What percentage of this settlement are you expecting from us?" "All of it." "The Navy's our partner in this program." "What did the Navy have to do with the crash?" "Naval aircraft, Naval property" "Those were factors in the crash?" "No, but..." "Unless you can demonstrate proximate cause, the Navy's not at fault." "The crash happened off base, in equipment you were responsible for, controlled by civilian engineers you employed." "Have I missed anything?" "Look, $2 million is not going to fly." "Like your aircraft?" "We'd be prepared to go as high as one." "A million dollars for a man's life?" "My last, best offer." "Do we have a deal, Commander?" "1.2- that's as high as I'll go." "Commander." "Harm, please." "Heading home?" "Yeah, my work here is done." "Now it's time for the Lone Ranger to ride off into the sunset?" "Well, I'm actually boarding a C-17 to Andrews Air Force Base, but yeah." "Well, if you ever get tired of it..." "This is a settlement check from Larmoss Industries." "You're one hell of a lawyer." "Well, I have my moments." "I appreciate what you've done, but I don't feel right about the money." "Please, just tell them I don't want it." "I have an idea." "Which is?" "The crash site by the school... build a park for the kids." "Or an arts center." "Teach them to paint and draw." "Dedicate it to your dad." "Give you something to remember him by." "Well, I never figured you for a softie." "You know, in some places, those are fighting words." "Thank you." "I'm just doing my job." "Making people fall in love with you?" "Your little blonde is clearly smitten." "Oh, the only way she'd be interested in me is if I was dead." "I..." "She's a murder mystery freak." "Then don't forget about me." "Oh, hey, I was just..." "How did Miss Ransford like her windfall?" "She liked it pretty well." "That's great." "So, now what?" "Now I fly back to D.C." "And, um..." "And what will be in your report?" "The F-14 crashed due to material failure in the flight control system." "No human error." "What about you?" "Well, I was thinking that there might be a place for me at JAG." "Well... you never know what the future holds, huh?"