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Story written April 11, 2002

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NOVEMBER 24 - 2250 LOCAL
ASPEN COLORADO

“Oh my God!” Harmon Rabb Jr. sat bolt upright on the sofa. “I can’t see!”

“Yes you can.” An unfamiliar male voice said. “Now relax and focus.” Harm did as he was told but in his opinion the world didn’t get any better.

“I can only see through one eye!” his hand flew to the patch over his left eye.

“True and if you keep messing with it you may never see with it again. Now put you’re hand down Commander Rabb!”

“You know my name?”

“I assume that is why you wear dog tags?” The man replied.

“You have me at a disadvantage sir.” Harm pointed out.

“Sorry my name is Jarod.” The man said.

“Jarod…?”

“Just Jarod.” He replied to the unspoken question.

“Well just Jarod are you a doctor?”

“I am today.” Came the cryptic response.

“What kind of answer is that!” Harm demanded.

“A truthful one.” Jarod informed him.

Harm swung his legs off the sofa and sat properly to face the man before him. Jarod had taken up a position on the coffee table when first examining him.

“Excuse me if I sound ungrateful but you sound like a man with something to hide.”

“Don’t we all?” Jarod smiled.

“Harm tried again. “Are you a fugitive from the law?”

“Are you the law?” a question for a question. He took pity on him and replied “I am a fugitive but not from the law. Your turn.”

Harm complied. “I’m a lawyer. I’m assigned to the Judge Advocate General Corps.”

“A JAG! I did that once!” Jarod enthused.

“You. You were a lawyer?”

“Not today.”

“I give up!” and Harm actually threw his hands up in the air.

“Don’t do that. Life has much to give.” Jarod had misunderstood.

“I don’t mean like that.” Harm explained, “You just seem to be an enigma.”

“I’m a pretender.” Jarod said “I can be whatever or whoever I want to be. I’m a fugitive from the folks who kidnapped me and want me back for my skills.” He got sober.

“Then why so sad? You are free!”

“Who is Mac?”

“Huh?” Harm was surprised by the change of topic.

“Mac… who is he?” Jarod repeated.

“How’d you know Mac?”

“You’ve been muttering his name for the last two and a half days. Who is he? Your friend? Sibling? Lover?”

Harm snorted “First of all Mac is a she not a he and in order. Yes… no… and no. She’s a Lt. Colonel in the Marine Corps and a lawyer at JAG.”

“…and you lover her.” Jarod diagnosed.

"Don’t tell me. You were a physiatrist once.”

“How’d you know?” Jarod grinned. “But you do love her.”

“You’ve known me for all of twenty minutes and you know who I love!” Harm was indignant.

“Me thinks the man doth protest too much.” Jarod edited the quote “I’ve known you for two and a half days. And all you mumbled was Mac. Not mom not dad – MAC! She good looking?”

Harm frowned.

“Well she’s a jarhead. A certain picture comes to mind.”

“Replace it with Greek Goddess. No matter what - that green Marine uniform cannot hide the woman underneath.” Harm gushed.

“… and you love her.”

”Oh leave me alone.” He grumbled.

“I know the feeling.” Jarod assured his patient.

Harm glared at him through his one eye.

“I too love a woman I may never have.”

“Explain.” Harm ordered.

“The agency that is after me is called the Center. The person they set on my trail is one Angel Parker. Parker gave me my first kiss and she was my first crush. She is gorgeous, smart and strong.” He shrugged as though defeated “… and I lover her.” He stood and moved to a more comfortable chair.

“Have you told her that you love her?” Harm asked.

“You mean the way you’ve told Mac?” Jarod quipped.

“It’s not the same…” Harm began.

“Stop!” Jarod held up a hand. “You can’t admit you love her fine… but don’t lie to me!”

Harm nodded “OK so I love her… and if she knew she’d run a mile in the opposite direction. So I keep silent and that way she is close. That’s my excuse. What’s yours?”

“I’m scared of her.” He giggled the words.

Harm chuckled with him “I know what you mean. When Mac is on the warpath I duck!” The giggles expanded into full laughter.

“Harm let me ask you this..” he sniffed.

“Sure.”

“… what the HELL were you doing up here!”

“I could ask you the same.” Harm replied.

“Yes. But I’m in a log cabin. You were out in the snow!”

“Touché” Harm conceded “Mac.”

Jarod sighed, “I might have known. Go on.”

“I decided that I needed a souvenir”

“And the one’s in the shops just wouldn’t do.”

“No. So out I went and an avalanche hit.” Harm shrugged

“And here you are.” Jarod finished. “Lucky for you I heard your cry. And with the help of Rex found you.”

“Rex?”

“Yep. Tyrannosaurs Rex... Rex to all. My dog. He’s about somewhere I’ll conduct formal introductions later.”

“Ahh. Which brings us to why you are here.” Harm stated.

“Every now and then I go to ground. I just drop out of the game of me running and Parker chasing.”

“The why rejoin the game?”

“My family. When the Center grabbed me I lost contact with them. So I eventually resurface to find them.”

“And to be in contact with Parker.” Harm added.

“And to be in contact with Parker.” Jarod echoed. “Pathetic huh?”

“I’m not really in a position to point fingers here.” Harm admitted.

Jarod moved to a window and looked out. “I was planning to stay here till New Year’s.”

“And now?” Harm inquired.

“Now? Now I’ll take you into town and return here as per my original plan.”

“It’s safe to move?” Harm was worried.

Jarod turned and studied his newfound friend “Maybe I won’t just take you to town but to Aspen Medical.”

Harm liked this man. Under different circumstances they could have been friends. Hell it wasn’t that long ago that his search for his father had ended. He nodded and stood. “Why did I just spend two and a half days on a couch?”

Having dragged your sorry six and got you here you were too long and too heavy to go any further.” The caretaker chuckled “By the way we’re not leaving now.”

“No?”

“No. Maybe tomorrow. See what the weather does.”

“What about my eye?”

“Have no fear I see no reason for you to loose it. Unless you want an eye patch to act the pirate around Mac.”

“Funny’ Harm sat down. “So you gonna tell Parker you lover her?”

“One day.” Jarod promised.

“Yeah me too… one day.”

The two men grinned at each other.

FINIS.

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