The Chance Encounter: The Linda Eccles Series - Book One

by Robert Woodard

  Bill took a seat on the stainless-steel bench mounted to the wall opposite the courtroom. Running his hand along the sturdy tubes that ran parallel to the wall and made up the bench’s seat, the cool feel reminded him of the railing on the Privateer’s bridge.

  Looking at his pants, Bill felt dressed for the occasion. Opting for his original military attire, he wore his dress uniform. The navy-blue coloring, gold buttons and matching gold and blue cap made an impressive sight to behold. Similar to the old marine uniforms, the pants contained a red stripe down the outer side of each pant leg.

  Bill patted the ribbons placed over the left breast pocket of his matching jacket. The Meritorious Service and Battle Efficiency ribbons, awarded to each crewmember on the ship he had served on, sat side by side. Keeping them company were the Good Conduct and Marksmanship ribbons, along with a special ribbon noting his service included military action during what was called the pirate war. Looking down at them, Bill thought they made a nice contrast with their yellow, blue, red and green colorings, along with a little silver.

  Pulling his ePersonal device from the side pocket of his pants, he checked the time. It was seven-twenty. He tried to relax, but his anxiety prevented it. Suddenly, the door opened, and an older gentleman stepped out with an eTablet in one hand. The traditional black pants and white shirt, along with the badge pinned to his shirt, labeled him as a court clerk.

  “Commander Launtra?”

  “Yes.”

  “The Board will convene shortly.” The clerk then pressed on the screen of the tablet before disappearing behind the door.

  Getting up, Bill smoothed out his pant legs then tugged on the bottom of his jacket to straighten it. Checking the ribbons, he made sure the double-row, gold-plated bar that supported them ran straight. Satisfied with his appearance, Bill began to pace back and forth in the hallway. The clicking of his shoes reminded him of Linda’s comment on needing to learn to relax. Smiling, he decided today was not the right day to get too lax. He wanted to present a professional appearance for those presiding over the inquiry.

  Promptly at 7:30, the door opened, and the same man called him inside. Bill entered the courtroom to find five people sitting behind a long, elevated wooden table at the head of the room. The gallery was empty. As he came forward, the clerk opened the gate to the thigh-high wooden railing that separated the gallery from the official section of the courtroom. A worn section on the highly polished wood represented the years of use in opening and closing the gate. Seeing two stainless-steel tables, with two chairs, one on each side of him, Bill hesitated, not sure where to sit.

  The older man passed by him, and said, “Please take a seat, Commander,” while pointing to the table on Bill’s right.

  Doing as instructed, Bill slid into the closest seat that was bolted to the floor. He found it swiveled. Out of the center of the table, two flexible shafts protruded from a single aluminum plate. The end of each shaft contained a small microphone. Bill knew the microphones were to record the hearing more than to project his voice throughout the courtroom. After adjusting one of the microphones so it pointed closer to him, he sat back and waited for the session to begin.

  A pretty, young lady stood up from her small desk against the wall on his right. She looked at Bill, and said, “Commander, would you please stand and state your name, rank, ship, and assignment for the record, please.”

  Her voice seemed to carry a slight boredom at having resided over too many sessions, despite her young age. Bill could see that she had her dark-brown hair cropped short—a rave with the women at the station these days; at least those he saw in his short time back at the station.

  Standing up, Bill said, “Commander Bill Launtra, Weapons and acting Executive Officer aboard the Privateer; currently under contract with Universal Mercantile Unlimited.”

  “Commander, the Maritime Review Board has convened this Board of Inquiry to look into the events that occurred aboard the Privateer for mission dates 187 to 218 in current year 2246. Your testimony is being taken to help with the understanding of all events that occurred on board the Privateer. Do you affirm that your answers to all questions will be the truth to the best of your recollection?”

  “I do.”

  “Thank you, Commander. You may now be seated.”

  When the young lady sat down again, Bill noticed how she instinctively used her hands to keep her knee-length, rose-flowered dress against the back of her legs as she sat. Sitting himself, he turned his attention to those seated slightly above him. The return stares were anything but friendly. Looking the three men and two women over, Bill thought they made up a diverse group of sex and nationality. He hoped that was a good sign.

  “Commander Launtra, my name is Admiral Joe Barba. Admirals Julio Mendez and Lu Choi are seated on my left. Admirals Tiera Brown and Carl Pacaldo are on my right. I want to thank you for coming here today to answer the questions of this Board. I am sure you can appreciate the seriousness of the situation, and your complete honesty to our questions will be appreciated. Before we begin would you like to make a statement?”

  Bill searched his thoughts but failed to think of anything he needed to say. Shaking his head, he said, “No, sir.”

  “Very well. Now, Commander, I want to note that this is only a Board of Inquiry. You are not on trial here, nor have any charges been filed. The purpose of this inquiry is to review the events noted by the court reporter in regard to the actions taken by the Privateer and those that acted in command. Is this understood?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Commander, when the order was received by Captain Eccles from CEO Leander of UMU to retrieve the probe, what was her reaction to it?” Admiral Barba asked.

  “The message was received by Commander Bresee, and she took it into the Captain, who was in her cabin at the time, so I didn’t have insight into what occurred between them,” Bill answered. He almost added that he knew Linda had reservations about the orders but decided not to volunteer information. He figured Linda could tell her own story on that encounter.

  “When the Privateer arrived at its new destination, and Captain Eccles discovered the foreign object, what was her reaction to it?” Admiral Barba asked.

  “I was in emergency control at the time, but from what I understand, she wanted to get close enough to it to get a good reading for further research by those back on Rapatine and Earth. She saw it as a potential first contact opportunity.”

  “Did not the loss of the probe and the discovery of this object cause concern, Commander?” Admiral Choi asked.

  “Yes, this was discussed between the Captain and Executive Officer. They agreed that bringing back useful information on this discovery was worth a little extra risk.”

  “So, Captain Eccles exceeded her orders by taking it upon herself to move beyond discovery of what happened to the probe,” Admiral Mendez said.

  “It’s not my place to determine what is within the authority of a ship’s captain.”

  “Oh, come on, Commander, you must have an opinion on whether Captain Eccles exceeded her authority,” Admiral Pacaldo said, interrupting him.

  “My opinion on that matter is my own. I thought this inquiry was looking for facts, not opinions,” Bill responded. He felt his ire rising. Taking a couple slow breaths, he calmed himself.

  “Commander, when Captain Eccles told you to drive the first alien ship off, did she specifically order you to fire at it?” Admiral Barba asked, changing the subject.

  Bill leaned back to mull the question over in his mind. He recalled Linda telling him to drive them off, but she never actually told him to fire at it. Looking up at the Admiral, he answered, “No, Admiral, she did not. She told me specifically to drive it off. I interpreted the order to fire at the ship on my own.”

  “Did you not believe it was wrong to fire on the ship without giving them a warning shot first?” Admiral Brown asked.

  “Not at that time. The alien ship displayed a rising aggression in their actions
toward the Privateer. After they had fired, they turned their ship away, as if expecting us to return fire. It’s my belief that this ship destroyed the probe. It’s that belief that directed me to fire at their ship to drive them away before they could do the same to the Privateer.”

  “And firing a warning shot wouldn’t have accomplished the same feat, Commander?” Admiral Brown asked, her tone accusatory.

  “There is no way to answer that question, Admiral. We can what-if all day, but it will all be speculation. Firing a warning shot would have given the commander of the alien ship the opportunity to determine what kind of weapon the Privateer had, and to fire back at us again.”

  Admiral Barba leaned toward the microphone in front of him. He tilted his head down slightly to look at Bill over the top of his thin-framed glasses. Taking a breath, he said, “Let us turn to the encounter with the other five ships. What exactly were the orders when you fired on the leading three alien vessels, Commander?”

  “I was directed to fire on the lead ship first, the one that was trying to cross in front of the Privateer. Then I was to fire at the ship on our right. Lastly, I was to fire on the trailing ship. I changed the order of fire to the lead ship and trailing ship, then fired onto the ship on our right.”

  “Why did you do that?” Admiral Brown asked.

  “I felt that the shields protecting our rear took priority. The Captain relayed to me her concern over letting the other ships know about our weakened shields that they most likely were not aware of at the time. However, I felt that the same thing could be accomplished by hitting the lead ship first and then the trailing ship as they were both closer to the Privateer than the ship on our right. To me, it would not look out of the ordinary to select that target sequence.”

  “Wouldn’t the Captain be in a better position to judge that for herself, Commander?” Admiral Brown countered.

  “I have experience as a military officer,” Bill replied. ‘The Captain’s career has always been commercial. I felt strongly that the Captain was relying on my experience in how to man the weapon.”

  “Just like the first ship, your orders were to drive them off, were they not?” Admiral Barba asked while still looking over his glasses.

  The glasses the man wore were something from a past era. Hardly anyone wore glasses anymore, opting instead for corrective surgery. Bill suspected that the old Admiral wore them more for show than need, and they were probably something handed down through the family as a memento of some kind. His constant need to look out from over them kind of added to his belief.

  “Yes,” Bill answered.

  “And yet you completely destroyed one vessel and probably decimated the other two. Do you consider that driving them off, Commander?” Admiral Barba asked.

  Bill did not miss the Admiral emphasizing the words driving them off. He’d touched at the very heart of an issue that still haunted Bill. Looking down at the table, he thought over the question and the shot selection he used that day. The Admiral was correct that the damage inflicted went beyond simply driving them away.

  Looking up, Bill answered, “When I hit the first ship we encountered with those three plasma bolts, it was knocked out for a short duration of time. That was what I intended to do with the other three ships. I felt that if three bolts to each could knock the three ships out of action long enough, the Privateer could slip past them to have a clear path to the jump point. For a reason I cannot explain, the three ships did not seem to have the same ability to absorb the damage that the first ship had displayed. When I discovered this, I reduced the shot selection on the third ship from three to two.” Bill’s voice broke as he tried to complete the last sentence. In a soft voice, he added, “My decision to use three bolts on the first two ships is something I will regret for the rest of my days.”

  ◆◆◆

  Linda glanced at the time displayed on her ePersonal as she waited outside the courtroom. It was already a quarter to nine. The fact that Bill had been in there for over an hour disturbed her. What could they be questioning him about that would take that long? Before she could dwell on the question, the heavy-looking wooden door to the courtroom opened outward, and Bill emerged. Letting the door close behind him, he looked at Linda and gave her a half smile.

  “It went that well, I take it,” Linda said.

  “It wasn’t an inquiry. It was an inquisition,” Bill responded.

  Linda was just about to ask him about the direction of the inquiry when the door opened again. When a man she assumed was the court clerk called her name, Linda stood. Bill stepped aside, and Linda gave him a reassuring squeeze of the arm as she passed him.

  After being sworn in and settling into the same seat as Bill, which she could tell because the seat was still warm, Linda prepared herself for the grilling to come. She listened patiently while each Admiral was introduced. She acknowledged each one with a nod. She suspected that each of them had been a ship’s captain at one time or another. That would work in her favor. Or she hoped it would.

  “Captain Eccles, first let me thank you for your attendance at this inquiry…”

  Like I had a choice. Linda fought to keep her condescending thoughts out of her facial expressions.

  “…and we will appreciate your open honesty to the questions from this Board. Now, Captain, we have all read your letter of protest filed with the Maritime Review Board. Would you like to make any additional comments in regard to its contents, or anything else in general, before we begin?”

  Yes. Let the accused spill her guts upon deaf ears, Linda thought. She answered, “No, Admiral, but I appreciate being afforded the opportunity to do so. You may begin.”

  “Very well. Let me start by asking if you and Commander Bresee discussed the relevance of the orders to deviate from your assigned mission.”

  Linda thought Admiral Barba’s question was odd, but she saw no harm in answering it. “Sharon and I did discuss the impact of the orders on ship and crew, and the duration of time needed to carry out those orders. My primary concern was the condition of the Privateer, being overdue for overhaul, and with the crew running low on supplies. After a detailed analysis of the order’s impact, I decided that the minor delay in our return did not necessarily authorize me to supersede the orders. I would like to note that the orders were validated by the Rapatine Military Authority. I expected that the company had followed protocol by obtaining permission from the Maritime Review Board and the Shipping Guild prior to sending them to me.”

  “I take it you did not officially question whether that happened or not?” Admiral Brown asked.

  “No, why should I? UMU has been an active participant in space flight for a long time. I had no reason to question the validity of my orders at that time.”

  Linda sat back and smiled at Admiral Brown. She had just put the fact that UMU violated Maritime Law on record. Not only did the CEO put a civilian vessel in harm’s way, he did it without proper authorization, and the Rapatine Military Authority knew about it. Unless the Maritime Review Board was going to attempt to suppress this hearing, the press was going to have a field day with that very issue. They would most likely spout that the CEO and military authority were in bed with each other.

  “As Captain of the Privateer, surely you must have questioned in your own mind why the orders only had the two validations on it. Did it not bother you that the Maritime Review Board and the Guild representative names were missing?” Admiral Choi asked, her deep frown shouting out skepticism of Linda.

  “Of course, but I assumed that the orders were so hurriedly put together that there hadn’t been enough time to format the orders correctly,” Linda answered. She was throwing out a little lie. She knew full well that UMU had skipped protocol, but she was not going to light that fire. The undertone was there, so these Admirals could make up their own minds on that issue.

  Admiral Barba seemed ready to move forward. “Captain, when the Privateer dropped into the last known position of the probe, and you discovered t
he probe had most likely been destroyed, why did you continue into the system instead of following your orders to report your findings and await a response?”

  Well, there it was. While she could blame the company all she wanted for putting her there, everything that happened afterwards was on her. Linda had been mulling over that very question from practically the moment she warped out of that system.

  “That, Admiral, is a question that continues to haunt me to this very day. Knowing what I do now, I wouldn’t have made that decision, and the Privateer would be sitting here undamaged.” Linda paused for a moment to look at each of the Admirals. “The unfamiliar object sitting alone in space drew my attention. I wanted to know what it was, and I wanted to know who made it. When I discovered the probe had been destroyed, I was still too far away from the object to get a solid reading on it. At that point, I ordered the Privateer to move closer to allow the sensor to record it for later study.”

  “And that order proved deadly. Is that not right, Captain?” Admiral Mendez asked as he tapped his finger on the table.

  “In and of itself, no. It led up to the event that proved deadly, Admiral. Each of you knows what it means to command a ship. You assess each situation before you make your decision. As Captains, we have to live with the decisions we make. In hindsight, the decision was a poor one, but at that point in time there were no true indications that danger lurked in the area. Put into my situation, I challenge any of you to deny you wouldn’t have been just as curious. This presented a first contact potential for humankind. Who wouldn’t want to take a closer look?”

  Admiral Pacaldo spoke next. “When you reported your findings on the object, and received orders to return to Rapatine, you proceeded to follow those orders. Even when the alien ship presented itself, you continued with your departure. I’m curious as to why you took it upon yourself to fire directly at that ship, rather than just outpacing it?”