"NCIS" takes off for the New Year with an all-new episode that goes sci-fi with people buzzing about in jet packs!

The story begins when a Navy pilot is found dead under strange circumstances in a secluded mountain area, and the NCIS team has to battle a no-nonsense attorney with a hidden agenda to find out what really took place. Is it murder, or merely an accident?

"We get called to a crime scene way up in the mountains. We've got a guy that looks like a sky-diving accident [with a ] sky-diving helmet and a flight suit. Whatever was on his back is missing. It looks like it should be a parachute accident, but McGee's got a hunch that it is not and ends up finding a couple of pieces from the jet pack," says Sean Murray, who plays Special Agent Timothy McGee.

Because of the technology involved, McGee, who is the show's resident techie, takes the lead in the case, which is a rare thing.

"It's not the first time it's been done, but it's nice," Murray says. "It's nice to have an episode like this. The McGee fans are going to love it."

Along for the ride are Mark Harmon (Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs), Cote de Pablo (Special Agent Ziva David) and Michael Weatherly (Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo), who jokes, "Sean Murray's basically in heaven here. He is like in nerd jet-pack heaven. He's in McNerd heaven. Unfortunately, he has a lot of McNerdian dialogue which he has to say in his own way, and, luckily, I just have lines like, "Wow! Look, a jet pack. That's like 'Thunderball.'"

The "Ignition" episode of "NCIS" airs tonight at 8 p.m. on CBS.