Only one thing seemed certain, that Pullman would be facing a court-martial soon. Which meant Paul Sinclair's role in the matter was far from done.
Chapter Seven
Paul knocked on a familiar door, then entered. Commander Alex Carr, Judge Advocate General's Corps, looked at him from where she was hanging from the chin-up bar mounted on one side of her office. "Paul! Good to see you." Dropping lightly to the floor, she sat down at her desk, waved Paul to the chair in front of the desk, and smiled in welcome as she stretched her arms after the exercise. "Here we are again. Not under the happiest of circumstances, of course."
"It's under better circumstances than last time, ma'am," Paul noted.
"Oh, yes. I much prefer being on the same side as you are." She twisted her mouth. "How is Ms. Shen doing?"
"Pretty good."
"'Pretty good' or 'pretty good considering'?"
Paul hesitated before answering. "Pretty good considering," he finally admitted.
Carr looked away, her expression hard for Paul to read. "There's not a lot of things in my life and career that I truly hate having been involved with, but that case is one of them. Does she hate me?"
"I… don't think so."
"I wouldn't blame her if she did. I didn't bring the charges against her for what happened on the Maury, and I sure as hell didn't have anything to do with all that publicity about her being charged with causing all those deaths, but I did prosecute the case against her." Carr sighed. "Things you do because you have to in order to convict someone you figure is guilty are sometimes hard to stomach. Doing those things to someone who turned out to be certainly innocent of the alleged crimes is a crime in itself. Or so I think."
Paul nodded, not speaking. There didn't seem to be any proper response. He knew Carr was referring particularly to the parts of Jen's court-martial in which Jen had been implicated in an improper relationship with a fellow officer on board the Maury, as well as forcing Jen to publicly admit she'd become involved with Paul a few days before her transfer off the Michaelson.
Commander Carr fell silent for a moment as well. "How about you, Paul? How're you doing?"
"Well, pretty good, too, I guess."
She gave him an arch look. "No fall-out from your actions?"
Paul felt a small knot form in his stomach. "Fall-out?"
"Come on. You know what I mean. You've gone to the mat three times on matters of principle, done what you've believed was right despite the possible consequences. That scares some people, Paul."
He nodded slowly. "I'm beginning to see that, ma'am. Why?"
"Why? Hell, Paul, everybody's got some skeletons in the closet. Professional and personal skeletons. They're worried you might rattle them, or not go along when something bad pops up in the future and everybody else decides to just sort of sweep it under the rug."
Paul thought of how Ensign Taylor had explained Commander Moraine's attitude toward him. "I had someone warn me about that."
Carr's eyes narrowed, somehow reminding Paul of a great cat scenting prey. "Threateningly or in a friendly way?"
"Friendly."
"Good." She relaxed, then gave Paul a worried look. "You've damaged your career. You know that."
"Yeah." Paul let the bitterness show. "My orders got changed to Mars."
"Mars? Damn. Nothing subtle about that. Paul, I hate to see your career run aground because you did the right thing twice and stood by a friend the other time. I asked you before if you'd like to be a lawyer some day. That offer stands. If you put in for a transfer to the JAG Corps I can pull some strings, make sure you get one of the law scholarships and start a new career as a Navy lawyer."
"I…" It's a great offer. I know that. But I also know it's not for me. "Thank you, ma'am. Thanks very much. But that's not my road. Not yet, anyway. I know I've got some career baggage following me around now, but-"
"But you're not going to give up this easily?" Carr asked with a wry smile.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Fair enough. I respect that. But remember. If you want to contact me, the JAGs here or wherever you go can provide a link to wherever I'm stationed in the future. The offer will stand."
"Thank you, ma'am."
"Don't thank me. You earned the offer. And I owe you for your assistance with the Silver case. And, God help me, I owe Ms. Shen for things I can never make right. If she needs legal help, Paul, you let her know she can have everything I've got. Assuming she can stand to talk to me."
"She shook your hand after the court-martial was dismissed," Paul protested.
"Oh, yeah." Carr laughed again. "She gripped so hard I thought she was going break some of my fingers."
Paul grinned. "Jen complained you almost broke her hand."
"Only almost? I must be getting soft." Carr tapped her data pad. "But hopefully not too soft to nail Mr. Bradley Pullman for betraying his country. Fortunately, it's a fairly straightforward espionage case."
"Really?"
Paul's unease must have shown, because Alex Carr rested her chin on one hand and eyed him. "Misgivings?"
"Ma'am…"
"No, really. I want to know. Your misgivings could point out weaknesses in the government's case. They might even point out fatal flaws. I really don't want to convict innocent people, Paul. Though from what I've seen of the case against Pullman I'm as certain as I've ever been that he's guilty as sin." She tapped the data pad again. "This isn't a circumstantial evidence case. In the two months since Pullman's arrest we've been able to unearth a lot of new material thanks to search warrants. There's a lot of solid evidence against Pullman, not the least of which was that he was caught red-handed leaving your ship with classified material."
"I know." Paul made a frustrated gesture. "I don't really have anything specific. It's just that I can't believe Brad Pullman would do that."
"Nice guy?"
"Uh, sort of."
Carr made a note. "Friendly?"
"Yes. Very."
"Any friction with other officers on your ship?"
"No. He seems to be a really decent guy. He didn't… no, wait. He really got Ensign Taylor… She's in charge of keeping the ship's electronic systems working right, and she got really mad at him for messing around with them."
"Stupid stuff?"
"No. Smart stuff. He's really sharp. He just didn't coordinate what he was doing with the right people."
"Uh huh." Carr made some more notes. "Smartest guy on the ship?"
"Uh…" Paul had to think. "Maybe. He's really intelligent. Which is one reason I can't believe he'd commit espionage."
Commander Carr gave a short laugh. "There's two kinds of people who commit espionage, Paul. The dumb ones usually get charged with attempted espionage because they screw up trying to be spies just like they screw up everything else and get caught before they can do any damage. The dangerous ones are the smart ones. They get away with it for a while. Maybe a long while. That's because they're smart enough to successfully betray their country but not wise enough to worry about the moral implications or anything else. They're smart, you see. They don't think they need to play by the same rules that you and I do."
"But they can't think the people around them aren't smart, and we don't do that kind of thing."
"They think that's because people like you and me aren't smart enough to do it. They figure they're the only ones clever enough. You and me, we're stooges in their eyes." She must have read Paul's reaction on his face. "I know. You figure Pullman was friendly. But the evidence shows that while he was acting like your friend he was betraying you personally as well as his country. Is that the action of someone who actually is a friend? There's some stuff on that data coin we pulled off Pullman that came from your personal files. Statements about the incident at the asteroid."
Even though Paul had already accepted the fact that Pullman had been arrested for stealing information, the news still came as a shock. "He dug through my personal data files?"
"Apparently."
"How do we know that coin didn't get planted on him?"
Carr gave a sad smile. "That'll be one line of defense his lawyer will use for sure. Paul, your captain sent you over here to help us get Pullman. I'm not asking you to buy into his guilt right now. It's my job to convince the members of the court, officers like you, that he's guilty. You'll be in that court-room, you'll judge how I'm doing and help me spot weak points in the case while you're monitoring things for your captain. Okay?"
He thought about it. Alex Carr had agreed at almost literally the last minute to help pursue what proved to be evidence of Jen's innocence. She was tough, but unquestionably fair. "Okay."
"Thanks." Carr looked back at her data pad. "There's one new wrinkle in the case, at least from your perspective. Pullman is going to have a civilian lawyer assisting in his defense. Some guy Pullman's father is footing the money for sending up here."
"That can't be cheap," Paul observed.
"No, it's not." Carr's face reflected surprise as she read. "Boy, that's a strange coincidence. The civilian lawyer has the same last name that you do."
"He does?" Paul felt an icy sensation inside.
"Yeah. David Sinclair."
"David T. Sinclair? From a law firm in Washington, D.C.?"
Carr raised her head and stared at Paul. "Yes."
"He's my brother," Paul admitted.
"Your brother. Paul, I have to admit you keep making my cases more interesting. Is there any chance you'd be willing to share any insights into how your brother will try to help defend Pullman?"
"I would if I could." Would I? Don't I want Brad Pullman to have the best chance to defend himself? I don't know that he's guilty. "But I've never seen my brother handle a case."
"You've never seen him in a courtroom?"
"No."
"Never discussed legal issues with him?"
"No."
"Not even the court-martials you've been involved with up here?"
"No."
"I see." Carr leaned back, her eyes seeming to look through Paul as if she were reading his innermost thoughts. "What's he like?"
"He's okay."
"Do you have any reason to think he'd be unethical in any way?"
"No!"
"Good. Is he aggressive? Confident?"
Paul snorted. He couldn't help it. "Oh, yeah. He's confident." Full of himself was more like it, in Paul's opinion.
"I see," Carr said again. "He may be in for a surprise if he's never dealt with a military court-martial. Even if he's good, he'll also have a problem with the members of the court."
"Because they'll be biased against a civilian attorney."
"Yup. It's not fair, but that's the way it is."
Paul raised one hand slightly as a thought occurred to him. "Maybe that's why David got hired. He's not military himself, but he's from a military family. Both my mother and father are veterans. David may try to neutralize bias against him by bringing that in somehow."
"He might. Thanks, again. Are any more of your family members going to show up for this court-martial?"
"My parents will probably-"
"You've got to be kidding." Commander Carr was watching Paul as if waiting for the punch line to his joke.
"No. I'm getting married soon, you know. They'll be up here for the wedding, and if the court-martial's open to the public they'll probably want to see David in action." A not-so-small part of Paul felt a malicious wish that David would make some blunders in the case because of unfamiliarity with military law and perhaps finally have to admit to being a little less than perfect.
"Oh, yes. Married! To Lieutenant Shen!" Carr shook her head. "My sins keep coming back to remind me. Will she be at the court-martial?"
Paul realized he hadn't even thought about that before. Jen had plenty of bad memories about court-rooms, but if she thought she'd be supporting Paul or helping ensure justice was done with Pullman… "Maybe."
Carr laughed. "This'll be the first time one of my cases included a family reunion in the courtroom. I'll try give you a good show."
"It sounded like you thought this would be a simple case."
"Did I say that?" Carr shook her head. "Not simple. The only simple ones are where the defendant pleads guilty right off the bat. This case is straightforward in a lot of ways, since we've got solid evidence to work with. But the members of the court are probably going to be a lot like you, Paul. They won't want to believe that one of their own has committed espionage. The defense will play off of that, try to give the members grounds for doubt."
"You don't think Pullman will go with a judge only trial?"
"No way. They can't win on questions of evidence or the law. I'm certain of that. Manipulating the emotions of the members is their only hope." Carr pressed a couple of keys on her data pad, then turned it and pushed it in Paul's direction. "Take a look at this for me. It's the court-martial convening order, hot off the presses."
Paul studied the document, running quickly past the boilerplate standardized sections. There were few surprises, and he knew Carr really wanted him to see the list of members of the court, the officers who would serve as the "jury" to decide the guilt or innocence of Brad Pullman. He scanned down the names, starting with surprise at one. "Colleen Kilgary."
Carr raised her eyebrows. "You know her?"
"Yes, ma'am. Lieutenant Kilgary transferred off of the Michaelson a little while back. I know her real well."
"What's she like?"
"Professional and capable. She'll evaluate things herself and make up her own mind. She did a great job on the Michaelson and just about everybody liked her. Everyone respected her."
Carr made some notes. "That's my kind of member. Did she ever meet Pullman?"
"Not on the Michaelson. Like I said, she left a few months back. It was, let's see, about two months after she left that Pullman came aboard."
"Good. So she's an independent thinker?"
"Yes, ma'am. You'll have to convince her."
Carr flashed a smile. "I can do that. Do you know any of the other members?"
Paul pointed to another name. "This other lieutenant. Peter Mahris. He was a classmate of mine at the Academy."
"You knew him well there?"
"Yes, ma'am. He was in my company."
She made a beckoning gesture. "Meaning?"
"Sorry. The midshipmen at the Academy are divided into companies. There's between twenty and thirty members of each class in each company."
"Ah, so you did know him well. What's he like?"
Paul hesitated, then shrugged. "To be perfectly frank, ma'am, Pete Mahris is going to do whatever he thinks is best for his career. If he thinks the Navy wants Pullman to be convicted, he'll do it. If he thinks the Navy wants Pullman exonerated, he'll want to do that."
Alex Carr made a face. "A real suck up?"
"Yes, ma'am. He'll probably take his cue from whatever the senior member of the court-martial does and says. Unless he's changed a lot, Pete Mahris always tries to do and say whatever he thinks his boss wants."
"Aiming to make admiral, eh? That sort of strategy doesn't always work, though unfortunately it does work sometimes. You knew Pullman at the Academy, right? Did Mahris?"
"I don't know. I just knew Pullman in passing. It's entirely possible Mahris never really met him."
Carr made more notes. "I'll have to check. It could effect Mahris' ability to serve as a member. Okay, do you know any of the other three members?"
Paul read through names again, ransacking his memory. "Captain Hailey Nguyen. She was a member of Wakeman's court-martial."
"Really? There's not any surplus of senior officers lying around up here to draw on, so some people do get tapped more than once." Carr checked something. "She's on her way to a new command. I guess that's why she was available. I don't think her involvement with Wakeman's case is any reason for questioning her membership on this court-martial."
Only two more names remained. Lieutenant Commander Pedro de
Vaca from the Fleet Intelligence Center. Paul couldn't recall ever meeting him during intelligence briefings they'd received on the Michaelson or on Franklin, but an intelligence officer wasn't too likely to be sympathetic to someone accused of espionage. At least, not sympathetic to someone spying against us instead of for us. Finally, Commander Alan Sriracha, who had been pulled from the Operations Department on Franklin. I'd have been working with him, maybe for him, Paul thought, if my orders hadn't been changed. Well, that's not going to happen now.
At last, Paul shook his head. "I don't know anything about the last two, ma'am."
"That's okay. I can't complain with what you told me about two of the members." She looked over at her office clock and frowned. "Where does the time go? I guess that's all. I'll be in touch, Paul. See you in court."
Paul gave her a look as he stood up. "I can't say I like having a lawyer tell me that."
Carr laughed. "Believe me, you'll enjoy this court-martial a lot more than Mr. Pullman will."
Paul hesitated as he left the JAG office area, checked the time himself, then headed for the brig. The master-at-arms on watch at the front desk there recognized him but didn't try to make small talk as Paul signed in. They knew he'd been coming by fairly frequently the last few months to keep an eye on them, and regarded every visit by Paul as an unannounced inspection.
Brad Pullman was available, as he usually was during visiting hours. He and Paul sat in the small compartment set aside for visits. There wasn't a master-at-arms in the space with them, but Paul knew they were under constant surveillance. Confidentiality only applied to Pullman's visits with his lawyers.
Pullman grinned at Paul, apparently unabashed by his months of confinement and by having to wear a uniform stripped of insignia and ribbons. "How's it going, Paul?"
"That's what I came to ask you. Any problems?"
Pullman smiled again and waved around him. "They won't let me out." It was already an old joke. "But otherwise they're being pleasant enough. I think they suspect they're being watched."
Against All Enemies ps-4 Page 15
