Against All Enemies ps-4

by John G. Hemry

  "No more questions for this witness, Your Honor."

  Judge Campbell dismissed him, and Paul walked back to his chair and sat down, not willing to look over at Brad Pullman again.

  David Sinclair stood slowly, leaning for a moment on the defense table before straightening. "The defense rests."

  A murmur ran through the courtroom despite the quick rap of Judge Campbell's gavel. Paul stared at his brother. That was it? Me and that former covert agent? Those were your only witnesses? I thought you were a really good lawyer.

  Judge Campbell glared around the courtroom until it was as quiet as a roomful of humans could manage. "Does the defendant desire to make a statement?"

  Pullman started to rise but David Sinclair held out a hand to forestall him. "Your Honor, Defense Counsel requests a brief recess so that I can confer with my client."

  "Very well. How brief?"

  "Ten minutes, Your Honor."

  "This court is closed. It will reopen in ten minutes' time." Judge Campbell banged her gavel, the bailiff ordered all rise, and the judge and members filed out.

  The masters-at-arms came forward to escort Lieutenant Pullman from the courtroom, both David Sinclair and Lieutenant Owings following right behind. Paul watched them go, trying to read the expression on his brother's face.

  The moment Lieutenant Pullman and his lawyers were outside the door the room erupted into conversation. Paul turned to Commander Carr. "Ma'am? Do you have any idea why my brother didn't do a better job?"

  She gave him an arch look. "Paul, your brother's done the best anyone could do. This isn't a case built on opinions or circumstantial evidence. We've got hard evidence to back up every charge. Your brother's done his best to try to chip away at that evidence by raising doubts in the few ways he could do so. But he can't make the evidence go away. Though he did try even that where he thought there might be a chance."

  "You think he's done a good job. Really."

  "The best he could," Carr repeated. "Usually, espionage cases are resolved with plea agreements because they always include strong evidence. If they're good cases. Sometimes somebody gets accused of spying or espionage on the basis of flimsy evidence and those cases usually fall apart before the trial stage. But this isn't like that. I never thought we'd get to this point in this trial."

  Paul shook his head. "Why doesn't Pullman look worried?"

  "You tell me. You know him better than any other officer on your ship does," Carr stated dryly.

  He could almost laugh at the reference to his testimony. But not quite. "Do you know why my brother sandbagged me by calling me as witness?"

  "You could ask him that yourself, but my opinion is that he didn't sandbag you. Which available character reference did your brother know best? You. Who could he trust to be even-handed and not assume guilt? You. Don't look at me like that. You've got a record, Paul Sinclair. If I'd been in your brother's place I'd have called you as a witness, too."

  "But I didn't help Pullman. I might've ensured his conviction."

  Commander Carr sighed. "You spotted the members' reactions, eh? Putting you up there was a gamble by the defense. You might well have presented such a strong characterization of Pullman that it would've swayed some of the members. I know that's a weak reed, but I can't imagine what else the defense could do. Good for me, but I prefer a solid fight to a one-sided battle like this." Carr looked past Paul. "Friends of yours?"

  He turned and saw his parents. "My mother and father."

  "Ah, the Sinclair family reunion proceeds apace."

  Paul pretended not to hear her. "Commander Carr, this is Commander Sinclair and… Commander Sinclair."

  His mother shook her head. "Retired, both of us."

  Commander Carr grinned. "You left the Navy in the hands of your son? He seems to be taking the responsibility seriously." Her smile faded. "I hope you can forgive me for trying to send your future daughter-in-law to prison."

  "From what I hear you did your best to make amends when you learned of evidence of her innocence," Paul's mother replied. "I know enough about the legal system to know that's not a given with prosecutors."

  "Sadly, no."

  "Will you be able to attend the wedding? We're going to be a little short of guests thanks to a sudden change in schedule."

  Carr gave Paul a look. "I don't think that'd be wise. There's still hard feelings toward me from the bride. I don't blame her in the least, but I don't think she needs me there to remind her of the past on her wedding day."

  Paul nodded. "Commander Carr's right."

  "But I hope to see your entire family outside a courtroom someday," Carr added, then she hastily checked the time. "I'd recommend returning to your seats. When Judge Campbell says ten minutes, she means ten minutes and not a second longer."

  Lieutenant Pullman was already being escorted back into the courtroom by the masters-at-arms. Precisely ten minutes after the bailiff had called everyone to attention, she ordered them all to rise again. Judge Campbell settled herself, the members took their seats, then the judge eyed David Sinclair. "I'll ask again. Does the defendant desire to make a statement?"

  David Sinclair stood and nodded, his face composed. "He does."

  The judge gestured to Pullman. "Stand up." As soon as Pullman had come to attention, Judge Campbell began reciting the required instruction. "Lieutenant Pullman, you have the right to make a statement. Included in your right to present evidence are the rights you have to testify under oath, to make an unsworn statement, or to remain silent. If you testify, you may be cross-examined by the Trial Counsel or questioned by me and the members. If you decide to make an unsworn statement you may not be cross-examined by Trial Counsel or questioned by me or the members. You may make an unsworn statement orally or in writing, personally, or through your counsel, or you may use a combination of these ways. If you decide to exercise your right to remain silent, that cannot be held against you in any way. Do you understand your rights?"

  Lieutenant Pullman stood up and nodded gravely, though his expression remained quietly confident. "Yes, Your Honor."

  "Which of these rights do you want to exercise?"

  "To make an unsworn statement, in writing, Your Honor."

  "Do you wish the statement to be entered into the record, or read?"

  "Read, Your Honor."

  "By you or your counsel?"

  "My counsel, Your Honor."

  "Very well. Does Defense Counsel have the defendant's statement?"

  David Sinclair nodded. "I do, Your Honor."

  "Then proceed with the reading whenever you're ready."

  "Thank you, Your Honor." David Sinclair looked down at his data pad and began reading in a voice that didn't seem loud but carried clearly through the courtroom. He didn't put obvious emotion into his reading, but still managed to convey feeling. Paul couldn't help being impressed by the presentation, and realized Pullman had wisely chosen to have his statement read by a professional orator to make it sound better.

  "Statement of Lieutenant Bradley Pullman, United States Navy."

  "I am a military officer. I have already dedicated years of my life to the service of my country, and I hope to dedicate many more years to such service. I have agreed to place my life on the line in the service of my country. I have labored under harsh and demanding conditions in the service of my country. Now I am accused of committing crimes against that country."

  "No one should believe these charges. I may have erred in various ways, through carelessness or over-eagerness or perhaps excessive dedication to getting the job done. Those are the sort of 'crimes' all junior officers commit at one time or another. They lead to mistakes, they lead to errors, but such mistakes and errors come from a desire to get the job done."

  "I should have told my shipmates I enjoyed building complex role-playing scenarios. It's easy to understand how such scenarios could be confused with real mischief. But my failure to tell them that doesn't mean it isn't true."

  "Many people
supplement their incomes or just enjoy the thrill of wagering on professional sports. They can't openly acknowledge the source of such money, but that doesn't mean they acquire it from foreign powers."

  "I ask you to accept my plea of not guilty to all charges and specifications. I do not believe the government has proven these charges. I do not believe the government has given you grounds to believe them when more plausible explanations exist. I do not believe my past service to my country will be ignored and that I will be cast aside in this fashion."

  "Very Respectfully, Bradley Pullman, Lieutenant, United States Navy."

  David Sinclair sat down, leaving a period of silence in his wake. Paul assumed everyone else was doing what he was, trying to work their way through Pullman's statement for what it said and didn't say. He had to admit that David's reading of the statement had given it much more power than if an untrained speaker had recited the document. But Paul was still puzzling over the statement when Judge Campbell pointed her gavel at Commander Carr. "Is Trial Counsel prepared for closing argument?"

  Carr stood. "I am, your honor."

  "Then let's get on with it."

  Commander Carr paced slowly forward, her steps deliberate, the slow steadiness of her motions drawing attention to her. "Captain Nguyen. Members of the court. This is a simple case." She turned, raised and extended her arm, and then pointed at Lieutenant Pullman with the same slow deliberation. "Lieutenant Pullman was caught off of his ship with two data coins in his possession. The coins were carefully concealed on Lieutenant Pullman's person. One held illegal software whose sole purpose is to bypass security safeguards. The other held classified information downloaded without authorization that day from the systems on Lieutenant Pullman's ship. There's nothing inadvertent or careless about that. It can only reflect deliberate and carefully carried out actions. Actions which violate regulations known to Lieutenant Pullman."

  "Actions which may well have led to the deaths of civilians. Because other documents stolen from Lieutenant Pullman's ship are known to have been delivered to a foreign power. Documents which gave that foreign power inside knowledge. Knowledge which that foreign power may well have used to plan a massacre."

  Carr's arm held steady, her forefinger still pointing at Pullman. "Lieutenant Pullman's possessions are known to have contained concealed instructions for committing espionage. The defense tried to explain such instructions in terms of games. This was not a game. There is nothing in that material which indicates it is anything other than actual instructions for successfully delivering stolen classified material to a foreign power."

  "Lieutenant Pullman had in his possession a station pass which had been altered in a very sophisticated fashion. Even the defense's own witness had to concede that this was a real tool of espionage, not a prop for someone playing at espionage."

  Paul was torn between staring at Pullman, whose face reflected quiet determination and who was occasionally shaking his head as Carr spoke, and staring at Carr's arm, which remained extended and leveled at Pullman like a rifle. The arm wasn't even quivering despite being held in that position for so long, making her gesture seem all the more powerful.

  Commander Carr kept speaking. "Lieutenant Pullman has money whose source he can't explain. Money hidden in accounts under false names with the help of the finest money laundering schemes known to the underground financial community. Where did Lieutenant Pullman learn such skills, and why did he go to such lengths to hide that money, and why has the defense not presented proof that it came from illegal betting on professional sports?"

  "Lieutenant Pullman cannot deny he was caught with the tools of espionage and the fruits of espionage. The evidence is overwhelming and undeniable. Lieutenant Pullman, for reasons still known only to himself, chose to betray his uniform, his shipmates, and his country. He sold the secrets of our country, even those protecting his own shipmates, for money. There aren't words strong enough to describe the depth of his betrayal or the damage his actions have done to his country. He should be convicted on all charges and all specifications so his cancerous presence can be eliminated from the proud ranks of the United States Navy."

  Carr finally lowered her arm, still moving it slowly and steadily. Only when it had dropped all the way down did Commander Carr finally walk back to the trial counsel table and sit down.

  Judge Campbell moved her gavel to point it at the defense table. "Is Defense Counsel prepared to present closing argument?"

  "Yes, Your Honor." Paul had forgotten to look over at David to see how he'd reacted to Carr's speech, but now David Sinclair looked somber. He stood next to the defense table, not moving, but speaking in that same compelling voice he'd used to read Pullman's statement. "May it please the court, the defense holds that the government's evidence is not conclusive. There are other explanations for why Lieutenant Pullman had those materials. There are other explanations for how classified material came to be in the hands of a foreign entity. In some cases, no incontrovertible proof exists that the evidence belonged to Lieutenant Pullman. In other cases, others had access to the same material."

  "It is not enough that the evidence could be read to indicate that Lieutenant Pullman could be guilty. No. For Lieutenant Pullman isn't just anyone accused of a crime. He is a man who has given service to his country, who has worn the same uniform as you, who has declared by his words and actions a willingness to lay down his life for his country. How can you convict such a man because he could be guilty? Doesn't his service require, doesn't his service demand, a higher level of certainty than that?"

  "I know the demands which military service places upon a man or woman and a family. My own parents are retired officers. The military should be demanding, for its responsibilities are great, but it must not be blind to the possibility of human error, of mistakes of judgment which do not rise to the level of criminal action.

  "The defense has offered alternative explanations for the evidence against Lieutenant Pullman. Lieutenant Pullman, a man trusted by his shipmates with their lives and entrusted by the U.S. Navy with the gravest of responsibilities on a warship, has declared himself innocent of these charges. I ask you to judge him based upon his own words and based upon your common bond. Lieutenant Pullman is one of you. His declaration of innocence is made to his fellow officers. Lieutenant Pullman should be found innocent as to all charges and specifications."

  David Sinclair sat down in the silence which followed the end of his speech.

  Paul, who'd watched his brother while he talked, finally looked over at the members. If he could read faces and postures at all, he saw doom for Lieutenant Pullman there. Nice speech, David. Maybe, as Commander Carr says, the best you could do under the circumstances. Paul studied Brad Pullman, who still seemed as calmly confident as if he were assuming the watch on the bridge of the Michaelson. I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop in Brad Pullman's defense, waiting for whatever was giving Pullman that confidence, but I still haven't seen or heard it and now the case is going to the members. What's going on?

  Judge Campbell's gavel moved again, coming to rest pointed at the members' table this time. "Captain Nguyen, the members may begin their deliberations. The court-martial is closed, and will reconvene tomorrow morning at ten hundred in this courtroom."

  "All rise!"

  Paul lost sight of Pullman as everyone stood for the judge and the members to leave, then got only a brief glimpse of Pullman's back as he was led out of the courtroom and back to the brig by the masters-at-arms. Commander Carr stayed standing, looking down at her table and idly tapping her data pad with one finger. "Ma'am?" She looked up and over at Paul in response. "How did you do that thing with your arm?"

  Commander Carr looked briefly amused. "Pull-ups and push-ups and weight training."

  "That was a very good speech, ma'am."

  "Thank you." Something seemed to be bothering her, though Paul couldn't tell what. Then Commander Carr looked up again, toward the defense table.

  Paul auto
matically looked that way himself. David was standing as well and looking straight at them. No. Not at them. At Commander Carr. Their eyes had met and some sort of unspoken message was being exchanged.

  Carr made a warding gesture toward Paul. "I'm sorry. I need to take care of something." She hesitated. "Will I be able to contact you later if I need to?"

  "Yes, ma'am. Just put a call through my data pad. That's always on. It's required."

  "Good. Perhaps I'll talk to you later, then."

  Recognizing the dismissal, Paul started walking out of the courtroom. At the entrance, he looked back. David Sinclair and Commander Carr had met about midway between their desks and were speaking to each other, Lieutenant Owings standing slightly to the side and listening to both. What the hell's going on?

  Chapter Twelve

  About an hour later, after he'd already returned to his ship, Paul's data pad buzzed urgently. "Paul, this is Alex Carr. I'd like you to see Pullman in the brig. As soon as possible."

  "What? The defense isn't going to want me to see Pullman."

  "Actually, they do." Carr's tone gave no clue as to what was going on.

  "Why?"

  "I'd rather not say."

  "Will Pullman's lawyers tell me if I ask them?"

  "I don't know. But I assure you, they want you to talk to their client."

  "This afternoon? Tonight?"

  "Preferably this afternoon. As soon as it's convenient for you."

  Paul waited, but Commander Carr gave no hint of other information. "Yes, ma'am. Is there anything I'm supposed to do or say?"

  "Just say what you feel is right."

  "I'm not sure what that is, ma'am."

  "You will." Carr paused before speaking again. "Trust me."

  "Aye, aye, ma'am." Paul rubbed his forehead and leaned forward a little so he could rest his elbows on his desk. His desk. For another couple of days. Most of his stuff had already been moved off of the ship and out of the stateroom which had been his cramped and crowded home for the last three years. Lieutenant Shwartz had officially relieved Paul as Combat Information Center officer and had taken over all of the ship's legal officer's duties except for the observation of Pullman's court-martial. Captain Agee, now his commanding officer, had listened carefully to Paul's report when he got back to the ship and reconfirmed Paul's orders to be there when the verdict was announced. Now, no longer responsible for his former duties and with the court-martial closed until tomorrow morning, Paul had no other tasks demanding completion.