"Then you saved them. By your quick and effective actions. You saved twenty-one sailors."
Jen swallowed again, then nodded. "I . . . did what I was supposed to do."
"What was your reaction when you learned the extent of what had happened to the USS Maury?"
She visibly paled at the question. "I . . ."
"I'm sorry, Lieutenant Shen. Is it fair to say you were grief-stricken?"
"Yes."
"Horrified?"
"Yes."
"What was your reaction when you learned you would be charged with causing those events?"
Jen's mouth worked for a moment before she answered. "Disbelief."
"Do you know of any reason why you in particular should be held responsible for what happened?"
"As God is my witness, no."
"I'll ask this directly, Lieutenant Shen. Did you do anything, either any act of commission or omission, on or before 21 February, which in any way could've have contributed to the destruction of the engineering compartments on the USS Maury?"
"I did not. I am offering sworn testimony to emphasize that I have nothing to hide. I did not commit the crimes of which I am accused. I could not."
Lieutenant Bashir nodded, then faced Commander Carr with a challenging expression. "Your witness, ma'am."
Judge McMasters exhaled heavily, then looked toward Carr as well. "Does trial counsel wish to cross-examine the defendant?"
Paul looked over at the trial counsel's table. Commander Carr had her head bent as she massaged her face with both hands. Lowering her hands and raising her head, Carr stood slowly, focused on Jen, and began walking toward her. Jen's eyes flicked toward Paul, her face betraying no emotion now.
Carr stopped before Jen and began speaking in a quiet but clear voice. "Lieutenant Shen, you've just testified to several things. You testified that Commander Juko, the chief engineer of the USS Maury, had stated concerns regarding the engineering system on the ship. Do you have any witnesses to this?"
"Lieutenant Schmidt, Ensign Guerrero, Chief—"
"Any living witnesses, Lieutenant?" Carr interrupted. "Anyone who can come to this stand or provide a statement supporting your testimony?"
Jen shook head, eyeing Carr defiantly. "No. They're all dead."
"Do you have any documentary evidence?"
"No. Everything was destroyed."
"You testified that the after power coupling was giving contradictory signals. Do you have any living witnesses to this?"
"No."
"No documentary evidence?"
"No."
"You testified that Commander Juko personally ordered you to go aft and investigate the power coupling. Are there any living witnesses who can corroborate this?"
"No."
"Any documentary evidence?"
"No."
Commander Carr looked downward, then back up. "What did you find at the after power coupling?"
"I never got to it."
"Are you aware that the investigation into the incident could find nothing wrong with the power coupling which was not clearly attributable to the shock of the explosions which the Maury suffered?"
Jen's eyes were wide now, but she kept her gaze steady. "I have been told that."
"Can you explain why the investigation found that there was nothing wrong with the power coupling when you claim to have been ordered to investigate problems with it?"
"No. Commander Juko told me to check it."
"We can't ask Commander Juko to confirm that, can we, Lieutenant Shen?"
Jen's jaw tightened spasmodically. After a few seconds she managed to answer. "No."
"How do you explain the fact that you reached safety from the explosions just moments before they destroyed the engineering compartments on the USS Maury?"
"I . . ." Jen stared at Paul for a moment.
I remember, Jen. You asked me 'why.' I couldn't tell you. How can anyone know the answer to that?
"I . . ." Jen swallowed again. "I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"I don't know why the explosions happened then and not five seconds earlier!"
Carr nodded, her own expression momentarily shifting in a way Paul couldn't decipher. "Thank you, Lieutenant Shen. Then you cannot offer any evidence to substantiate your account of events or any explanation as to how you happened to survive something which killed all of your co-workers?"
Paul almost flinched from the look in Jen's eyes as she stared at Commander Carr. Now I really know what "if looks could kill" means.
But Jen just shook her head. "Only my word as an officer."
"Thank you, Ms. Shen. What were your relationships with the other personnel in engineering on the Maury?"
"I . . . fine. Not perfect. Good working relationships."
"That's it? Nothing closer with anyone?"
"No!"
"Not with your superior, Commander Juko? Not with Lieutenant Schmidt?"
"No! That earlier testimony from Lieutenant Taber was bu— . . . totally unsubstantiated."
Carr lowered her head again. From his angle, Paul could see her biting her lip, but when she raised her head Carr's face was composed. "Lieutenant Shen, have you ever had a physical relationship with another officer assigned to the same ship?"
Paul felt his throat tightening so much he couldn't breath. Jen's face had frozen. A long moment passed. Jen didn't look at him again, even for an instant. She did have one. With me. Only after we both knew she was leaving the ship within a few days. But still, she had one. With me. And now she has to decide whether to lie about that. Under oath. But if she doesn't lie about it, it'll look bad.
How did Carr find out? I never even hinted at it. Who else knew? Kris Denaldo wouldn't have— Paul's eyes jerked involuntarily over toward Commander Herdez. Herdez knew. As our XO back then.
Even though she didn't return Paul's stare, Herdez moved her head back and forth slightly in a single, firm denial.
"Objection!" Lieutenant Bashir was either angry or very convincingly faking it. "Trial counsel is introducing issues which were not part of the defendant's sworn statement."
Carr shook her head. "Your Honor, the defendant made statements as to her relationships with others on the Maury. This is an elaboration on that."
"Your Honor, there is—"
Bashir subsided as McMasters held up one hand. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant. But Lieutenant Shen did address the issue when she described her relationships with her shipmates and when she made the very general statement that she knew of no reason why she'd want to harm her shipmates. That opens the matter for cross-examination by trial counsel. Objection overruled. Proceed, Commander Carr."
"Lieutenant Shen?" Commander Carr leaned a little closer. "Did you understand the question? Do I need to repeat it?"
Jen closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them with every appearance of calm. "Yes, ma'am."
"And what is your answer?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Carr kept her eyes on Jen even though she seemed to be addressing the entire courtroom now. "You've had physical relationships in the past with officers assigned to the same ship."
"No, ma'am. I had a physical relationship with an officer during a period of six days in which we were still assigned to the same ship. That is the only time such a thing has ever occurred and it wouldn't have happened then if I hadn't been leaving the ship in the very immediate future."
"But, Lieutenant, by your own admission, it is not something you'd never consider. Not something you'd never do. Can you disagree with what I'm saying?"
Jen looked as if she were choking but her voice was clear. "No, I cannot. But I swear I had no such relationship on the Maury with anyone."
Commander Carr watched Jen for a long moment, then turned away. "No further questions."
Lieutenant Bashir stood again. "Lieutenant Shen, let's get this out in the open. Did you have any personal reasons to dislike or even hate any members of the Maury's crew, officer or enlisted?"<
br />
"Not that much, no."
"Did you want even any single one of them dead?"
"No. They were normal working relationships. I didn't hate anyone on the ship."
"Did you have any reason to want any of them dead?"
"No."
"Thank you, Lieutenant Shen."
Judge McMasters gestured toward the members of the court. "Captain Carney, do the members of the court wish to question Lieutenant Junior Grade Shen regarding her testimony?"
Captain Carney frowned and looked to either side. "I, um, what else can we ask?"
Lieutenant Kalin looked beseechingly toward Jen, ignoring Carney. "Lieutenant Shen, can you provide us with any alternate explanation for what happened to the USS Maury?"
Jen stared back, then shook her head. "No, ma'am."
"You were there. You can't provide any other possible cause?"
"I don't know of one, ma'am."
"Do you agree with the expert witnesses offered by the trial counsel that it should've been impossible for that engineering equipment to fail catastrophically by accident?"
"I . . . as far as I know that is correct, ma'am."
"You can't offer any alternative explanation?"
"I don't know of any specific alternative explanation. It had to have been an accident but I don't know how it happened."
"Lieutenant Shen, you're hanging yourself!"
McMasters frowned but before he could say anything Captain Carney had interrupted, speaking sternly. "Lieutenant Kalin, I understand your desire to fully question this witness, but we have a responsibility to avoid emotional outbursts."
Kalin ducked her head. "My apologies, sir."
"Anyone else? Anything?"
Commander Bolton leaned forward this time. "Lieutenant Shen, can you explain why you are here? In this court-room, charged with these crimes?"
Jen shook her head slowly. "No, ma'am. I cannot explain it."
Bolton stared earnestly at Jen for a long moment, than sat back again. "Thank you, Lieutenant."
Carney looked up and down the members' table again, then looked back at the judge, avoiding looking at Jen as he did so. "I guess that's it. I have no questions."
Jen stood up and walked back to the defense table, where she seated herself. Paul could see what perhaps no one else could, the way Jen's right leg was trembling with suppressed emotions.
McMasters watched her all the way back to the defense table, then looked at Lieutenant Bashir, who stood. "The defense rests."
"Very well. Commander Carr, is trial counsel prepared for closing argument at this time?"
"Yes, Your Honor."
"Please proceed."
Commander Carr looked toward Jen, watching her steadily for a long moment, while Jen gazed back at her. Then Carr walked a couple of steps away from the trial counsel's table, facing the members as she spoke. "Your Honor, members of the court-martial, on 21 February 2101 the USS Maury suffered awful damage to her engineering compartments. Sixty-one members of her crew died outright. Eight more suffered injuries so serious they have required extensive reconstructive surgery. A ship of the United States Navy was so grievously stricken that there were fears the ship would be lost.
"You've heard the testimony of experts on the engineering systems of the USS Maury. It couldn't have been an accident. You've heard the testimony of the Maury's captain. She received no warning of any safety problems from her chief engineer or from any of the automated systems designed to prevent such a tragedy. Long ago a famous dictum was set forth – when you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains must be the truth. The Maury's trauma, the deaths of so many of her crew, couldn't have been an accident, so they must have been caused by deliberate sabotage."
"Who could have sabotaged the ship? Again, the experts testified that it would have required an insider, a very capable engineer, someone familiar with the engineering systems on the Maury, someone trusted by the other engineers so she could secretly do what was needed to cause those systems to destroy themselves as well as the lives of those shipmates who'd placed their trust in her. Someone who somehow survived the devastation, who should've been at her own duty station and died with her shipmates, but survived, reaching safety just moments before disaster struck. You've been told that officer was ordered aft, but the equipment she was supposedly personally ordered to examine for problems has been determined to have been in perfect working order prior to the explosions on the Maury."
"There are no alibis that can be corroborated by any living witness, by any surviving records, by any memories of those on the Maury who survived. There are no other possible explanations for what happened to the USS Maury except deliberate sabotage. Sixty-one officers and enlisted personnel of the Maury were murdered. The ship was severely damaged. I ask you to bring to justice the only one who could possibly bear responsibility for those acts, and to find Lieutenant Junior Grade Shen guilty on all counts and specifications for the criminal offenses with which she is charged."
The courtroom stayed silent as Commander Carr stepped back to the trial counsel's table and took her seat.
Lieutenant Bashir stood, walking to a position in front of the judge's bench, facing the members of the court-martial. "Your honor, members of the court, a terrible tragedy took place. The USS Maury was badly damaged and many members of her crew died. But condemning one officer who survived that horrible event will only compound the tragedy.
"Trial counsel has spoken of facts and proof. But the facts are that proof of these charges doesn't exist. None of the expert witnesses could explain how Lieutenant Shen could've carried out her alleged sabotage. None of them could point to her and say, 'she did this and she did that and those actions caused this tragedy.' They couldn't do that because there is absolutely no proof Lieutenant Shen was in any way responsible what happened. On the contrary, her actions following the tragedy ensured the survival of twenty-one enlisted personnel in the after portion of the Maury who might otherwise have died."
"Lieutenant Shen's own captain testified that she believed Lieutenant Shen to be innocent. There's no evidence to the contrary, just supposition piled upon supposition. No evidence of her guilt. No evidence of a motive for such an act except some gossip from a single fellow officer. The entire case against Lieutenant Shen is circumstantial. You're being asked to convict her of these horrible crimes based solely on the suspicion that she might have somehow been involved even though no one can say how she might have carried out these crimes. This is no basis for convicting anyone of murder, let alone an officer with an unblemished record, an officer who has given her best to the Navy, an officer who has earned the trust and the praise of her captain. Lieutenant Shen is not guilty of these crimes she's been unjustly charged with, not responsible for what happened to the USS Maury. The government has failed to provide any real evidence of guilt. I ask you to find her not guilty as to all charges and specifications, because Lieutenant Shen is not guilty."
Lieutenant Bashir walked back to the defense counsel's table.
Judge McMasters looked around the silent courtroom. "It is Saturday. I don't know how long it will take the members to render a verdict, but the Judge Advocate General has directed that courts are not to be convened or conducted on Sundays except in the case of emergencies. Therefore, this court will now close, and reopen at 1000 on Monday."
Chapter Thirteen
As people began leaving the court-room, Commander Carr hastily scribbled something on her data pad, then glanced over at Lieutenant Bashir. He frowned downward as he read the message, then spoke in a voice just loud enough for both Jen and Paul to hear. "Trial counsel wants me to know she asked the question about a relationship with another officer serving on Jen's ship purely on speculation. She had no information from anyone on whether such a relationship had actually existed."
Paul took a deep breath, trying to wash the lingering sense of numbness out of his body. "Did Carr have to tell you that?"
"No, she didn't. She has
to ensure I have access to witnesses and evidence. She's not under any obligation to tell me this. She wanted you both to know that none of your confidants had betrayed you."
"Why did she have to ask that question?" Paul knew his voice sounded ragged, and struggled to get his voice under control. "For God's sake, why did she have to ask that question?"
Bashir looked away for a moment before answering. "Because Commander Carr believes in what she's doing."
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