"Yeah!" "Woohoo!" "Take it easy." "C'mon." "Dude - did you hear the guy at the hotel this morning?" "They spotted Mako sharks." "Please." "They go after seals, not this hard body." "Brad - this isn't a joke!" "The odds of a shark attack against humans is like ten thousand to one." "I saw it on Discovery Channel." "I dunno, bro." "Fine." "You girls stay up here where it's safe," "I'm gonna get up close and personal with the Coral Reef." "The body was in the water less than 24 hours." "NAS Key West tagged and bagged and shipped it over." "We have an ID?" "Seaman Russell MacDonald. 19." "Assigned to the USS Foster." "Destroyer." "Spruance Class." "Hey, look at that, the new kid on the block's been doin' her homework." "The USS Foster left Roosevelt Roads two days ago en route to Norfolk." "This is her position now." "The body was found here, in the Bahamas." "Roosevelt Roads..." "Yeah." "That's Puerto Rico." "Yeah." "Love Puerto Rico." "I'm glad." "No, boss, you don't understand, I l-l-love Puerto Rico." "You been there a lot?" "No!" "That's just it, I've never been there." "I mean, I'm so wanting to go." "Ever since I was a kid, I'm so wanting...to...sorry, I just, always..." "Wanted to be there." "Yeah." "Sometime night before last Seaman MacDonald went overboard." "Anyone see or hear anything?" "No." "Didn't know he was missing until he failed to report for duty." "Anything in the medical?" "We'll get all that when we get on board." "Anything else unusual?" "This is exactly how he was found." "Dress whites - why?" "No one knows." "There were no formal events scheduled." "The sword?" "Officer's ceremonial." "Our man's enlisted." "Yeah." "Doesn't make much sense, does it?" "Well, here's something else for the mystery tour." "This so-called 'ceremonial sword' is sharpenough to slit someone's throat." "Do you know why they drive on the left hand side of the road in England?" "Dates back to medieval times." "Most people were - and still are - right-handed." "It allowed them to slash at one another when passing on horseback." "Why, you might ask, doesn't this hold true for the rest of Europe, eh?" "Why the chain on the waist?" "Ah." "These - these were attached to it." "Each twenty-five pounds." "Now whether he put them on himself or someone did it for him, that much weight sent him down fast." "Well, if you'll excuse me," "I'll get our poor Seaman out of his wet clothes." "You're not going to say and into a dry martini, are you?" "No." "No, we'll save that for later." "For me, I'm afraid." "Seaman's local." "Address is in the file." "You don't ahve to do the dirty deed." "Keiko (?" ") already notified next-of-kin." "Why me, boss?" "Wouldn't a woman be more sympathetic?" "That's why Kate is going with you." "I'm sure Tony can handle this alone." "When did an order turn into a debate?" "I hate this." "I really do." "Is it gonna be that tough?" "You have no idea." "No, I don't." "Yeah?" "Take a breath." "Think of Puerto Rico." "Good idea." "According to what's been reported, Russell didn't seem to have a lot of friends on the destroyer." "Oh, no." "He had many friends on the ship." "He told me so in his letters." "Was this sword Russell's?" "It was my husband's." "He was Scottish." "He served in the Black Watch Regiment." "Russell's file says he's deceased." "He was killed in a car accident when Russell was twelve." "Russell was devastated." "Did Russell seem particularly obsessed with the sword?" "Um" " I don't understand why you think..." "A similar weapon was found with the...near Russell." "MM, in Russell's letters, did he seem - y'know - down, or depressed?" "Russell had his quirks." "But a mother knows things about her son." "He would not have killed himself." "It's a mortal sin." "Are these interviews always that difficult?" "I guess." "You guess?" "I never interviewed a victim's mother before." "Well, I thought you'd been a Baltimore homicide cop." "I always had someone else interview the mother." "This was your first?" "Yeah." "Why did you assume I had no idea how bad it was gonna be?" "I didn't think you would." "That is so presumptuous!" "Kate?" "What?" "Breathe." "The Commander's on a call with LANTFLEET, sir." "He'll catch up with you as soon as he can." "We appreciate it, Master Chief." "Did you have any contact with Seaman MacDonald?" "Can't say I did, sir, kept pretty much to himself." "Seems to be the general consensus." "Or the party line." "We got you set up in the XO's quarters." "It's small, but it's private and secure." "I'm sure it'll be fine." "Enter." "Lieutenant Commander Robbins, Agent Gibbs." "Appreciate you giving up your, ah..." "Not a problem." "NCIS is always welcome aboard, sir, you can expect excellent cooperation." "Appreciate that, Master Chief." "If you need anything..." "I won't hesitate." "Now, why didn't that sound sincere?" "Ah, you get used to it." "They either stonewall or kiss ass." "To them, we're the Internal Affairs of the Navy." "So, basically, they hate us?" "No!" "Pretty much." "Set up the laptop and establish a feed from NCIS." "I'm on it." "We're not all sleeping here, are we?" "Together?" "I'll take the couch." "Good afternoon, gentlemen." "Good afternoon, sir." "Okay, let's dispense with the small talk." "Which one is his bunk, Petty Officer Carnahan?" "Below mine, sir." "Thank you, Petty Officer." "You knew MacDonald?" "Not well." "He pretty much kept to himself." "He, ah, like to listen to music?" "Like to read?" "I really didn't notice, sir." "Your bunk is right above his." "But you didn't notice." "I'm a private kind of person." "Well, if you had to venture a wild guess, Carnahan, what d'you think MacDonald liked to do?" "Spend his life at work." "Computers run the weapons systems, the radar, the sonar;" "we're the backbone of the ship here, Agent Dinozzo." "Brightest of the brightest under your command." "I like to think so." "Where was Seaman MacDonald in the food chain?" "He was good." "How good?" "That depends on what you're comparing him to." "All right, compared to you." "I trained at MIT." "MacDonald is a year outta high school." "Best IT guy in our office is twenty-two, Harvard." "When he gets stuck, he calls his fourteen year old nephew." "MacDonald was very good." "How very?" "He was focused." "Better than anyone here." "Including you?" "Including me." "Had he been focused lately?" "No." "Hadn't been for a long time." "You think he offed himself, Lieutenant?" "It's possible." "He was troubled." "There was definitely something bothering him." "He was having a hard time adjusting to ship life." "I suggested he get into counnseling." "Was he receptive?" "No, ma'am." "He just wanted to talk to me." "What were his issues." "Oh, I wouldn't get into them." "It was obvious Seaman MacDonald was disturbed, but I wasn't qualified, ma'am." "But you did talk to him." "As his medical corpsman." "Not his psychologist." "All I know is that he had this...mysterious friend." "I mean, he was from here, but he wasn't here, and...it didn't make any sense. but he seemed obsessed with him." "Do you think that Russell MacDonald was capable of taking his own life?" "Off the record." "Definitely not." "So here's what we've got." "Dead kid wearing dress whites for no reason, with a sword he shouldn't have on, which is not supposed to be sharp, at the bottom of the ocean with weights on." "He was a brilliant but troubled computer tech who lived at work and had a mysterious friend." "Okay." "So given the circumstances, probably not an accidental death." "So." "Suicide or murder?" "His CO suggests he coulda killed himself." "The corpsman he confided in and his mother are admitting he never would've." "Something else to consider." "I found this in Seaman MacDonald's rack." "You know athat razor-sharp sword he was wearing?" "He was teaching himself how to use it." "We found a couple more things on MacDonald's body." "Um, he was wearing this around his neck." "Just your average St. Christopher medal." "But here's what's really odd." "He had this in his pocket." "My guess is it's some sort of character charter for a fantasy game." "What kind of game?" "It looks like an MMORPG." "MMO what?" "MMORPG." "It's a massive multiplayer online role playing game." "They're huge on the internet." "And a character charter would be what?" "It's like a character's manifesto." "His um, goals, moral stance, creed..." "You're kidding me." "No!" "They really get into this stuff, there can be like thousands of players on one site alone." "Well, it's comforting to know that Russell's computer skills were being put to good use on a billion dollar ship." "Oh, he's a computer geek?" "Yeah." "Worked in the Combat Information Center." "That is a perfect gig for a power gamer." "I mean, he was working on combat, it was just more like the medieval time" "Abby, are games like this violent?" "Well, there's poisoning, saberings, stabbings, decapitations, the occasional garotte..." "I'd say that's violent." "What should we look for on his hard drive?" "If he's any good, he won't leave any footprints." "So where's the evidence if there is evidence?" "Cyberspace." "Theoretically, yeah." "Can you find it?" "Maybe." "These gaming sites are run by anonymous server clients in every country on the planet." "MacDonald's file didn't show any foreign language skills." "You're probably looking or something run in English." "That's good." "Machines are state of the art; think government excess." "Well, that'll eliminate the weak-enders and the low-fi guys." "I mean, I'll give it a shot, y'know..." "Oh, the sword." "Yeah, what about it?" "The blade has nicks in it - contact with hard metal." "Another sword?" "It's possible." "Two sailors playing with sharp swords." "Once in a while you might miss." "I'm on it." "Abby...have fun with your MMROPG." "What?" "MMORPG." "Thank you." "You're welcome." "Can I talk to Ducky now?" "Yeah." "Ah - you might want to warn us about what you're workin' on after lunch, Ducky." "Yes, I suppose gazing directly into an exposed digestive system doesn't aid the actual process." "Not after the meal we just had." "Yes, I'm sorry about that, my friend, but sometimes gaining valuable insight requires suffering small indignities." "I recall one case, a young woman, not much older than yourself." "She ingested a small piece of jewelry " "Ducky." "Yes?" "What've we got?" "Oh." "Ah, annoxia, sea water in the stomach, foam in the trachea..." "Classic death by drowning." "Slight hemhorraging of the inner ear, possibly caused by the rapid shift in pressure." "Because he sank so fast." "That's correct." "Ah, then." "Here we have dirt." "Yes, his fingers grabbed whatever he was touching when he succumbed." "There's a good chance Abby will deduce the dirt came from the ocean floor." "Which means..." "Seaman MacDonald was alive when he went into the sea." "Stainless steel blade, acid etched and hand polished." "The fittings, guard, and pommel are 24K gold plated." "As late as the eighteen hundreds, a sword like this would have been used against an enemy trying to board a ship." "Only the blade would've been sharp enough to take a man's limb off." "I always liked pirate movies - didn't you?" "Not really." "Of course today, it wouldn't stand much of a chance against a 9 mil HK MP5 Parabellum, would it?" "Guess you like gun movies, too." "I like all weapons, sir." "I can really appreciate that, Ensign." "All the officer's ceremonial swords acocunted for?" "Yes, sir." "Checked with thirty two officers found thirty two swords, including my beauty." "We're gonna need to take a look at all of them." "Yes, sir." "So where do you think MacDonald could've acquired the sword?" "The only place that woudl've sold them." "The base exchange." "Roosevelt Roads Naval Station?" "Yes, sir." "If the clerk was lax in checking' IDs he could've bought one as a souvenir." "But...he'd have to hide it on board." "Enlisted men aren't allowed to carry weapons on ship." "That'd be insane." "We're taking care of you, I trust." "Very nicely, Skipper." "I didn't know the boy very well." "No one did, it seems." "He was doing some maintenance work on my computer last week." "Seemed to be in a bit of daze, so I had a corpsman administer a drug test." "He was clean." "Toxicology test we gave him came up negative." "What do you make of the uniform, the sword and all?" "Not sure." "But we think he was invoved in an online fantasy game." "Like an MMORPG?" "Yeah." "My children play." "A lot." "We think he might've taken it a step further and staged real fights with someone on board." "On board." "How would that be possible?" "Well, Skipper, I'm sure you know this ship better than anyone else under your command." "Inside and out, Agent Gibbs." "So...if you wanted to stage a sword fight with another shipmate, and not get caught..." "Damage control." "In the machine shop." "At night." "Damn!" "Ah, king's guards again." "Okay, turning left into the dungeon and I spy a...oh!" "green stub of power!" "Oh!" "Kick their asses!" "I already surfed past the third level of the fortress and made it intot he dungeon corridor of the castle's inner stronghold." "After, of course, slayuing two gnomes, a drunken dwarf, and a frenzied ogre." "Oh, of course." "You know, this reminds me of something...actually," "I can't think of a thing it reminds me of." "The night Seaman MacDonald died, there were three laceration injuries." "Two were work-related, verified by the divison officers." "The other?" "Prank gone wrong in front of seven witnesses." "It didn't involve a sword." "Well, there have to be injuries that don't have witnesses." "All the time, ma'am." "Usually after a liberty call." "Surprising number of 'shaving cuts.'" "Chief, it would be helpful if I could get some of the files of any of the questionable lacerations." "Going back how far, ma'am?" "Couple of months?" "I'll need a couple of hours." "I like the symmetry." "MacDonald's mystery friend... did he ever mention being afraid of him?" "He only talked abou thim once." "It was more like Seaman MacDonald was in awe of him." "You're a prince, Ducky." "Is that a safe occupation in this...ah...what is this game you're playing?" "The Immortals." "And being a prince is pretty safe." "Unless the elf sorceress invades the king's appartment and turns you into an ogre." "Whoa!" "Whoa, whoa, whoa, I just dodged a flaming arrow!" "well done." "I'm almost there, Ducky." "Where exactly is 'there'?" "The innermost stronghold of the castle." "Ah, the keep." "Yeah, see, you're catching on." "Not really.:" "remember the characer charter I found in the dead Seaman's uniform?" "The booklet?" "AThe booklet contained his character's name, Weylin, and his creed." "I just don't know if he was playing the Immortals or some other online game." "And that is what you're trying to find out?" "Yeah." "If I can get into the keep, I can open a log of all characters that have played the Immortals." "Oh - watch that coming towards you!" "Oh, it's an orc!" "Ah." "I just got dismembered." "Now I have to infiltrate the castle again." "Would this help, my dear?" "Ohhh, yes." "Gibbs!" "Good guess MacDonald got his sword at Roosevelt Roads." "If he was swordfighting with someone, they prob'ly bought it there too." "Yeah?" "I found the site MacDonald frequented." "He was playing his character Weylin." "Like the singer?" "More like the mystical half-elf warrior Weylin." "It's W-E-Y-L-I-N." "That charter we found on MacDonald's body - it referred to his main rival, Kinvares." "Their main mode of combat was parlay." "Abby!" "Swordfighting." "Oh, and here's the big whoop." "Fine...whoop me." "The guy who plays Kinvars?" "Logs on from the Foster." "The same ship you're on." "Who would've thought that Pong would turn to online role-playing games." "Pong?" "Yeah." "First video game." "What are the odds that Seaman MacDonald's character..." "Weylin." "..fighting online in..." "The Immortals." "...another Seaman's character..." "Ah, Kinvares?" "...and both of them are on the same destroyer?" "Oh, about the same as Seaman MacDonald being found at the bottom of the sea with chains around his waist." "Sounds like something that would happen in the game." "Beheadings, more likely." "And why do they use such weird names?" "When you're a computer geek invading dungeons and fighting ogres," "Jethro doesn't cut it." "Neither does Tony." "Assume MacDonald bought an officer's sword and was teaching himself how to use it." "I think he found out who else on board was role-playing " "Kinvares." "And decided to take it to the next level: reality." "Well, boss, if they both had to have swords, chances are they bought them at the Navy exchange in..." "Puerto Rico." "I could helo there, make an undercover purchase of a sword, bust the clerk, swap the bust for info on who bought the swords from the ship...could be there and back in 24 hours!" "Six." "Twelve." "It's not a negotiation, Dinozzo." "Six!" "Damn." "This is gonna take a while." "Can I help you, Petty Officer?" "What do you think?" "I think they look good on you." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "I'll take them." "Would you like anything else?" "How about a naval officer's sword?" "You know I can't sell you that." "My friend said I could get one here." "Well your friend is wrong." "I could get in trouble." "It's not like it's drugs or anything, it's just a stupid sword." "Well, the Navy has these rules, okay?" "Take it up with them." "I'll pay extra." "C'mon." "I just wanna take it home as a souvenir." "Nobody's gonna know." "Six hundred dollars." "They retail for four." "I could lose my job." "Five hudred." "All right, all right, all right." "Thank you." "Now look," "I know you're gonna take this the wrong way, but" "I'm NCIS, and you got some 'splaining to do... all I want is some information, okay?" "Look, that's all I want!" "Once you settle down, we're gonna be just fine." "Now, listen." "You gotta love Puerto Rico." "Hey." "Look at these marks." "More here." "These are about two sword lengths from the cuts on the other one." "MacDonald and Kinvares were starting to take their game very seriously." "We deon't know that yet." "well, I checked all the officer's swords, and there asn't a scratch on any of them." "Abby has not concluded that the other metal that MacDonald's sword came in contact with came from another sword." "Then why did you send Tony to Puerto Rico?" "Called being thorough." "Hunches do not hold up in court." "Well, it's not just a hunch." "Two people stated that he wasn't prone to suicide." "Why are you pushing this, Kate?" "Because it makes sense!" "He's Catholic." "Mm." "And so are you." "You cannot let personal situations color your judgement." "I don't." "But you hired me because of my knowledge and experience." "You've never seen how a suicide can tear up a Catholic family." "They take it very seriously." "Somehow I don't think this guy's the catechism type." "He was wearing a St. Christopher medal when they found him." "Even the most hardened criminals wouldn't cross that line, it's part of the culture!" "Yeah, Gibbs?" "Hey." "It's me." "Hey, your ears musta been burning." "Better not be from the tropical sun." "Ah, here's what I have." "GHang on." "Reception's not good here, I'm gonna see if I can get to a better spot." "It's Dinozzo, I'm gonna go up top - see if I can get a better signal." "The base exchange was selling swords to enlisted." "One was definitely to Seaman" "MacDonald; there were three other Seamen who illegaly bought officer's swords and I've got their descriptions." "Okay." "Where are ya?" "I'm, ah, waitin' for my helo ride." "It's gonna be a couple of hours, though." "Hey!" "What is that?" "It's music, Gibbs." "Don't be so paranoid." "You know I'm a professional." "Yeah!" "This one matches the description Tony gave us." "Name's not on the list of suspicious injuries at sick bay." "How many people on this boat?" "This *ship* has 323 enlisted, 32 officers." "You're lucky this isn't an aircraft carrier." "What?" "Petty Officer Ronald Zeuger cut his arm on a plate glass window last month." "Only there were no glass shards in the wound." "Matches the description?" "To a T. Guess where he works?" "Impressive swordsmanship." "Killed anyone else lately?" "The last time I looked, there was nothing in the UCMJ about virtual homicide, sir." "You're not under arrest." "Then why am I here, sir?" "Well, for starters, there's a little matter of misappropriation of government property." "Everyone in CIC plays online a little." "Well here's a flash." "They didn't give you guys top notch equipment so you could have a better gaming experience." "Well, they wouldn't have top notch equipment if it weren't for guys like me." "Guys like you and Seaman MacDonald." "Okay." "What came first?" "The online chicken or the CIC egg?" "I didn't know he was onboard for a long time." "Must have been quite a shock." "Actually we had a pretty good laugh over it." "He's not laughing now." "Is he?" "Yes!" "NCIS." "That's very official." "Gibbs isn't answering his phone - where is he?" "Having a talk with Kinvares." "Well, if he's anywhere near as whacked out as his rival, tell Gibbs to watch his neck." "You got into MacDonald's diary?" "I did." "This guy had diarrhea of the keyboard." "It's gonna take me a while to get through it." "I'll do it." "I want to." "Cool." "Seaman MacDonald saw you as some sort of authority figure." "I outranked him, sir." "That's not what I mean." "I didn't kill him, sir!" "Okay." "Have you ever killed him?" "In the game." "Sure." "Kinvares has beheaded Weylin lots of times." "You're better than him." "Lots better." "Pissed him off." "Is that when he decided to fight for real?" "I never said we fought for real, sir." "Tony!" "Found this hidden in your rack, amigo." "Won't take long for the crime lab to match up the metals." "It was his idea, take the game to the next level –" "I thought it was kind of cool at the time." "Until you got cut." "Yes, sir." "That frighten you, Zeuger, when you foulnd out that MacDonald was playing for real?" "Kinvares is never frightened." "And I've nver quite known what Weylin was thinking." "Where were you the night that MacDonald went overboard." "I was helping a friend with a computer problem." "Most of the night." "Big problem." "Huge, sir." "I'm constantly being scrutinized by the crew." "Every move I make is monitored by calculating eyes." "I'm sure at this point they're in allegiance with Kinvares." "I can't let them know I'm onto them." "The element of surprise would be a great advantage for my final triumph." "Petty Officer Zeuger said he was helping you the night" "Seaman MacDonald went over." "Is that true?" "In a way." "You gonna help me out here, Petty Officer Carnahan?" "I've been downloading a lot of...stuff off the Internet onto my PC." "Porn." "I was pretty sure my CO was suspicious, so I hired Zeuger." "He cleaned out the hard drive." "A considerable amount to clean out." "I have a lot of free time on my hands, sir." "As I thought, Abby matched the dirt lodged under Seaman MacDonald's fingernails with the sedimentary composition of the ocean floor." "Any signs the suspect had a dance partner before he went over?" "There were abrasions on his hands." "No sign of a struggle?" "Hm, well, the only bruising I can see is where the chain was attached." "No, I'm afraid the only struggle this poor fellow endured was the one to breathe when he hit the bottom." "Okay." "Thanks." "I wish I could say it was my pleasure." "From what I hear, the afterlife could be a vast improvement for a young man so troubled." "You know, there's a great book I should send you " "Gotta go, Duck." "There are no signs the victim struggled, and our only suspect has an ironclad alibi." "Sure looks like a suicide to me." "I don't think it's that simple." "You are letting your personal experience get in the way here." "No, I'm not talking about his religious morals, okay?" "I've been reading this diary for hours, and MacDonald gives no indication of an intent to kill himself." "Just the opposite, in fact." "Go on." "MacDonald seems resolved to continue his battle with Kinvares after he leaves the ship." "So, why would a man so intent on his mission, no matter how deranged, off himself and end it?" "What else is in his diary?" "I'm on the last entry right now." "Get me Petty Officer Zeuger's records." "I'm on it." "I need Petty Officer Zeuger's records, please." "I'll hold." "What?" "Aren't you the least bit interested to know what I brought you back from Puerto Rico?" "No." "Listen to this" " MacDonald says that after he makes his escape, he'll destroy his enemies by releasing a great plague against the realm as the sun sets beneath the next full moon." "File's on the way." "Plague?" "Plague...yeah, here it is." "MacDonald had applied for the NBC program." "Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical weapons." "Passed the physical, flunked the psych." "So what's the realm he's talking about?" "I think it's the Foster." "MacDonald was convinced that the crew was aiding his enemy." "He's going to set a bio-bomb off on this ship." "Tell me it's not a full moon tonight." "Sorry, boss." "What time does the sun set?" "2237 Zulu." "About an hour from now." "Get Zeuger in front of his computer and see if he can find out anything about MacDonald or a bio-weapon on that game site." "Navy ships do not carry biochemical weapons, nor would they have the material to make one." "Contact Reynolds at Homeland Security." "He'll know if there's anything unaccounted for in this region." "Where's the Captain?" "In a staff meeting." "Hey!" "You can't go in there!" "Skipper, I have reason to believe a bomb, possibly containing a bio-agent, is set to detonate on board this ship by sunset." "How real do you think that threat is?" "Very real." "Sound general quarters." "Yes, sir." "Deploy the flying squads." "Start with the ventilation systems." "Alert sickbay of the situation and have them stand by." "Aye aye, sir." "What are you doing, sir?" "Do you know anything about a bomb on board this ship?" "What?" "Did MacDonald ever talk about delivering a virus on board the Foster?" "No!" "I, I, I do'nt think so." "Get on your site now." "I want to know if there's even the slightest clue about MacDonald setting off any kind of biobomb on board this ship." "Reynolds says there's no known material missing, but the intel's soft." "They'll continue to check." "Stay on it every five minutes." "He expressly told me to wait for his call." "Well, I expressly don't give a damn." "Ride his ass." "No." "No, he can't do this!" "What's going on?" "I'm not sure." "Weylin hacked me and Kinvares is gone!" "Is MacDonald covering his tracks?" "You listen to me very closely." "There's a good chance a biobomb is going off on this ship by sunset." "Right now you're the best shot we got to find that." "You give me answers - or I will make sure you're the last one in line on the evac." "Did MacDonald even hint in any way of taking out this crew?" "No sir, nothing." "Go over MacDonald's diary again." "Maybe we missed something." "I want to know every detail that happened between you and MacDonald." "Skipper!" "The hospitals in Raleigh are on standby, and the helos from the Washington and the Bryant are on their way." "We've got a little more than 20 minutes, Zeuger." "What is it you'r not telling me?" "Do you want the crew of this ship to die?" "He was crazy, you know!" "He really thought he was immortal." "He thoguht you were Kinvares, didn't he?" "That's why you fought with real swords." "I thought we were just playing the game and then he tried to kill me." "So you killed him." "No!" "I just" " I just challenged him" "Challenged him to what?" "To go UA like he was always talking about –" "I told him to take his sword and swim to shore!" "Why was he wearing weights if he was gonna swim?" "Why did he have weights chained to his waist?" "I told him taht was the only way he could prove to me he was immortal." "Why would you let him do that?" "To win the game." "This isn't helping us." "Anything else in those diaries?" "I've been over them twice." "Well go over 'em again, Kate!" "Nothing yet, sir, and it's almost sunset." "Have Agent Gibbs report to my sea cabin now!" "I'm missing something, I know I am." "How much time?" "Little over five minutes." "The stuff MacDonald said, about cutting off the head so the body will die." "I mean, we're assuming that' tis part of..of setting up a plague agains the realm." "But what if it meant two separate things?" "Okay..." "Zeuger's website and his character were destroyed." "I mean, plague against the realm could simply be referring to a computer virus." "Maybe cutting off the head is a different threat." "Exactly." "And MacDonald was sure that the crew was allied with his enemy." "He made it clear he was just as threatened with them as he was with Kinvares." "So he's talking about the crew when he refers to cutting off the head so the body can die." "That's what I'm thinking." "So who's the head of the crew?" "My ship is in chaos because of your hunch, Agent Gibbs." "I characterize it more as a deduction, Skipper." "Whatever it is, it's pretty damn flimsy." "I appreciate that." "It's all we have to go on." "This Seaman's mental attitude is" " Kate!" "Is there some kind of NCIS protocol..." "Stop the boat." "It's a ship!" "It's the skipper." "Where are you at this time every day, sir?" "I don't see what that has to do with " "Please answer the question, sir." "Here, every day." "I send out " "We gotta go." "Now!" "Wait, what the hell?" "Go, go, go, go!" "You all right?" "You okay?" "Yes." "I'm finding this very hard to understand, Abby." "Where did I lose you?" "I think somewhere around the part about Weylin and Kinvares." "Okay." "Seaman MacDonald was Weylin." "Got that." "And Petty Officer Zeuger was Kinvares." "Yes, I remember that because it sounds a lot like Canares." "What?" "German Navy Admiral, World War II." "Okay." "Whatever works fro you." "So we've got MacDonald" " Weylin – and Zeuger" " Kinvares - battling online in the Immortals game." "Zeuger always wins." "So MacDonald challenges him to a fight like, for real, and they both buy officer's swords at the Navy Exchange in Puerto Rico." "But they were enlisted." "Let's say they bought their comissions." "That was done at one time, you know." "So they're sword fighting." "And MacDonald wins - he cuts Zeuger." "Zeuger gets pissed, and he goes back to the one thing that he knows he can beat MacDonald at." "The Immortals." "Yes." "And no." "Zeuger realizes that MacDonald has tripped out and thought he really was Weylin." "So Zeuger challenges him to prove it." "MacDonald puts weights around his waist, jumps ship, and tries to walk across the bottom of the bay to dry land." "You know Abby, sometimes the dead make more sense to me than the living." "Me too." "You all right?" "Just can't get over how the line between reality and fantasy was so blurred for Seaman MacDonald." "Well, for him - destroying Zeuger's website was every bit as real and violent as trying to kill the skipper." "I'm so glad my parents pushed me into sports in high school." "Aren't you intersted at all in what I brought you back from Puerto Rico?" "Fine." "Sure." "You've gotta be kidding." "It's a bikini." "Two piece." "A bottom." "And a hat?" "Puerto Rican?" "Any chance you're gonna try that on?" "You first." "Trust me." "Not gonna fit." "Pigs." "I work with pigs." "It's a fantasy RPG book." "Complete with character books and dice... baby steps, Gibbs." "Baby steps." "It's in Spanish." "There's just no pleasing you, is there?"