by Chris Hechtl
His examination didn't stop the Veraxin president from swiveling an eyestalk to look at him thoughtfully. Sven looked back impassively, aware his intent was being judged. After a moment, he cleared his throat as a new thought occurred to him. “If you need the cover, I can resign, sir. It will distance me from the government and give you the theoretical cover you may need against Childress and his supporters.”
“No. No, I think they need to see us trying to help, though I appreciate it,” the president said as he lined up to take his shot.
“Wait,” the AG said as he realized the president was serious about coming out to help Horatio. They turned to him. “Before you go further, I know a guy,” he said slowly, mind working quickly. “He's good, maddeningly good, and a pain in the ass. A royal pain to be more precise. But I think he'd be a major asset. Better still, he's got an entire legal and PI team backing him up. They'll keep our hands relatively clean publicly. I suppose we can help them on the sly if we need to, but the quieter the better.”
“Can he do it?” the president asked carefully.
“That is the rather expensive question,” the AG said grimly. “This sort of trial could cost millions of credits. I don't know what he's got on his plate at the moment either. I'll see about making an appointment.”
“Actually, run it through me. If you do it, then Childress might get pissed. If I do it, they'll come down on me. You can be there of course,” Sven offered, looking at Mister Koitz.
The AG nodded, seemingly relieved by the idea.
“I'm impressed with your willingness to fall on your sword if it comes to it Sven, but let's not get too carried away,” the president said. “But go ahead and get it done. Any fees, we'll find a way to pay them. Hell, we'll set up social funding if it comes to it. Childress be damned.”
“Yes, sir,” both men murmured. Sven winced at the wicked slice from their boss. “Wind,” he murmured.
“Wind my ass. I still can't get over that slice in my swing,” the president grumbled.
@
“Doctor Bullettine, thank you for coming on such short notice. I know I'm asking a lot, but I need a quick answer. Are you in?” Sven asked, staring at the other man.
The doctor nodded. “I always liked helping the hopeless. He's the picture child of an underdog.”
“I know,” Mister Koitz replied. “The question is; can you do it?”
“I don't know if we can get him off with everything stacked against us. I'll certainly try. Someone needs to take Childress down a peg.”
“Thank you. Your fees will be covered by the government,” the attorney general said. “We'll have to work out a payment system that is low key.”
“Obviously. Though don't doubt for a moment that ONI will find out anyway. But the longer they are held off, the better from your perspective,” the doctor mused.
“Exactly. I'm glad you see our point.”
“Oh, I do. It's part of my charm,” the doctor replied.
“The question is will you stay the distance? They are playing hardball Doctor, and for keeps. A lot of people can get hurt, possibly even killed. We can offer your people protection if they feel threatened, but this is ONI we're talking about. Anything is possible.”
“Please do your best. I'll feel my people out. Anyone not willing to get involved I'll reassign to other duties. But I'm actually relishing the challenge,” the doctor said. “When do we start?”
The AG shot a relieved and satisfied look to Sven Sema. Sven studied Bull for a long moment and then nodded. “Okay. I'll get you a seat and clearance through security.”
“Um, make it for two,” Bull said, holding up two fingers and wiggling them slightly. Sven nodded.
@
“You have visitors,” a familiar voice said. Horatio looked up to Sergeant Cooper. The woman grimaced and jerked her head. “Come on.”
He went to the door and then stuck his hands through the opening so she could cuff him before she opened the door. She escorted him to a conference room where two humans were waiting.
One was tall and trim, just less than two meters tall with sandy hair. He also sported glasses of all things. He thought the archaic things were a fashion statement until his implants noted data flowing through them. Apparently, the man was wired with sensors and the glasses were his HUD. He wondered briefly how he'd gotten them through security.
He turned to the other male. He was short, barely 162 centimeters and getting a bit on the thick side with his middle. He wore a good business suit though, like he was born in it. “Admiral Logan, my name is Doctor Jacoby Bullettine; this is my associate Counselor Bennito Cosolon. He goes by the name of Benny. You can call me Bull or Doctor if you prefer. If you'll have us, we'd like to take on your case.”
“I don't remember putting out an ad,” Horatio said.
“Are those really necessary?” the counselor said, pointing to the cuffs and then to the guard. “They can be removed.”
“No, protocol,” the sergeant said as she turned away indifferently and shut the door.
“Well! That's crap,” the counselor grumbled. “We need to do something about that.”
“Indeed, we do,” the doctor said. “I'm a doctor of psychology by the way. I run a company called TAAP. It stands for Trial Analysis and Preparation,” he explained. “You can call me Bull. This here is Benny. In a former life, he had been a government prosecutor. I talked him into coming over to the dark side,” he said with a bit of a smirk at the supposed victory.
Benny snorted.
“I was actually considering taking your case pro bono; I've always had a thing for the underdog,” Bull said. Benny snorted louder. “But, a series of mutual friends got together and offered to help fund my company's services. We're doing it at cost though.”
“Thank you.”
“Don't mention it. I'd ask you keep it on the down-low, but considering this room,” the doctor looked around and shook his head. “Early industrial. Not up to Chuck's fashion taste,” he tisked tisked.
“Hardly.”
“I'm going to take a wild guess at the mutual friends,” Horatio drawled as he took a seat in the chair that was bolted down. He turned slightly so his legs weren't under the table.
“They send their regards,” Bull said as he sat on the corner of the desk. He crossed his arms. “The kids miss you. They said after this is over you can come back and visit anytime,” he said.
Horatio nodded as the last puzzle piece fell into place. “Okay then,” he said softly.
“Well, okay,” Bull said with a smile. “Let's get started, shall we?” he said cheerfully.
“Yes, lets,” Benny said. “I'm still brushing up on my military law. Fortunately, the prosecution hasn't gotten its act together, and TJAG hasn't assigned a panel of judges to oversee the case yet. In fact, I don't think they have quite finished leveling charges at you. They certainly want to throw the book at you!”
“I know. It's almost like they are desperate, isn't it?” Horatio asked.
“I should say, yes,” Benny said dryly. “So, what do we know about them, and how do we handle each?” he asked, taking out a piece of paper and a pen.
Horatio raised an eyebrow but then nodded when his implants noted the chip in the pen. Whatever the counselor wrote down would go on a flash chip within the device. Smart.
“Okay, I think you've got the broadcast. I can read you in for the basic orders I was given. They are evidence, obviously in my defense. They'll most likely attack it. I'm still trying to get a feel for what thrust the attack will be.”
“Did your previous counsel work with you on this?”
“He and I barely saw each other,” Horatio replied dryly. “I saw him a total of three times. The third time he informed me he had accepted a plea deal without consulting me. Needless to say, I wasn't happy and expressed that by firing him.”
“Good for you, Admiral. So, plea deals are off the table?”
“Most definitely. We're goi
ng through it all.”
“Understood. Now …”
@
“I don't like this. Civilians?” Admiral Draken said. “And I don't like the government's involvement in this. The Sema family I half expected. This though …,” he grimaced and shook his head.
“I don't like it either. I don't like their involvement, and I definitely don't like that they are a security leak waiting to happen. Not to mention getting them through security every time they come up to visit their client,” Admiral Childress said acidly. “We need to nip this in the bud. Assign him new counsel,” he growled, turning to the elven admiral. “Get rid of them.”
“We don't have many available. Not at all that I'm aware of,” Admiral Shren said with a shake of his head.
“Find someone. I want someone on the inside. Someone we can trust who knows which side their bread is buttered on.”
“Yes, sir.”
@
In the middle of the week, Horatio found out that he had new legal counsel assigned to him from JAG when he was escorted out of his cell and to a conference room. He nodded to Counselor Cosolon and Doctor Bullettine. Doctor Bullettine had his arms crossed and leaned in the corner. He looked a bit bemused at the woman with them. Horatio turned to the woman in a naval uniform and studied her for a long moment. She seemed to preen under his gaze.
“Admiral, my name is Lieutenant Commander Lindsay Steele. Call me Ginny,” the tall blond woman said, extending a hand politely to him. “I've been assigned as your new legal counsel.”
Horatio shook her hand despite his cuffs. She waved to the seat. He noted that the table only had two chairs, one on either side of the table. The one she indicated he sit at was of course bolted to the floor. “Please, have a seat. We have a lot to discuss,” she said in a soft contralto.
He noted the civilians didn't say anything. Counselor Cosolon stuffed his hands in his pockets and seemed wary. Doctor Bullettine just played with his glasses from his place in the corner of the room.
Once he was settled, she sat across from him and smiled as she did a little head shake. Her hair was shoulder length, not quite regulation, but he wasn't going to complain. “I wasn't aware I requested new counsel, Commander,” he said mildly.
“That's because you didn't,” Mister Cosolon rumbled.
Ginny smiled winningly, showing even teeth but ignoring the civilian's tart remark. “Well, I've heard you didn't like Trent. Too bad. His loss is my gain however,” she said with a charming smile.
The young woman picked up an attaché case and put it on the table, then opened it and started to pull documents out of it. “Introductions aside, I'd like to point out, we have a problem here.”
“A problem? Which one? We can see several,” Mister Cosolon said dryly. “Let's start with our client currently in custody, and oh yeah, still in cuffs. He isn't a flight risk, and as far as I know, not a threat. I've tried to get him out of the cuffs, but they won't allow it.”
“We'll look into that,” the young woman said, taking a stylus out and making a note on the tablet. “But that does bring up my point though, we've got too many chiefs here. Specifically, this is a military trial.”
“So what? Are you are suggesting let the adults be and you go off and play with the other kiddies?” Doctor Bullettine said, clearly amused.
“If the shoe fits,” she smiled to him brightly and then turned to Horatio. Her face became serious almost instantly. “My point is that this is a military trial, and it doesn't look good for you to have civilian advocates. It's also an imbalance.”
“Considering the prosecution has an entire team, plus ONI, NCIS, and most likely the judge and jury on their side, how do you figure that, Counselor?” the psychologist asked.
“They won't all be sitting at the same table. And without direct evidence of collusion or fixing the trial, let's not lob accusations of impropriety or corruption. See, this is exactly my point,” she said, directing the last statement to Horatio.
“Given that charges were preferred against me and not Admiral Childress and that we're this deep into the trial prep, I'd say what they are saying makes sense,” Horatio stated.
She grimaced, clearly unhappy with the way things were going.
“Look, you also need to know that some evidence is considered classified. They can't see it.” she jerked her head to the civilians. “I can't discuss it with them. I may not even be allowed to see it with them involved.”
“We'll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Horatio said, clearly unmoved as he turned to the two civilians. The doctor nodded slightly.
The young woman grimaced prettily and then decided to give up the fight for the moment. “Well,” she said with a slight huff in her voice, “as long as everyone knows I'm the one calling the shots here, I guess we'll be good.”
“Correction,” Horatio stated, turning to her. “That would be me. I'm the one calling the shots.”
She bobbed a nod. “I stand corrected, sir,” she said.
“I did note that Trent didn't do his due diligence. I'm not happy at all at the state of affairs he left the case in.”
Horatio nodded. Score one for her, he thought. Of course, she could have said that just to play him he knew.
“Okay. Obviously, I'm the new kid on the block, so it will take time for me to get up to speed. I'm not certain of the current strategy,” she said, cocking her head to the lead civilian counsel.
Mister Cosolon shrugged, still nettled that she was there at all. “Simple. Hit them on every point. Keep hitting them until something breaks. Call them out on every lie. Stuff it right down their throats until they gag on it. Eventually someone in that courtroom is going to hate enough of what is going on to act, even if it is in the background.”
“Okay, that's one way of doing things,” the commander drawled. It was clear from her tone that she didn't consider it the right way.
“Right now, it is the only game in town.”
“I think we need to pick and choose our battles wisely,” she said, turning to him.
“What do you have in mind?” he asked.
She studied him for a moment and then nodded once. “Okay, how about this. We establish him, his credentials, and showcase the outer Federation. Show everything going on to legitimize the orders. That will undercut the theory the prosecution is putting forth about this being a hoax, right?”
Mister Cosolon looked at Doctor Bullettine and then Horatio. Horatio cocked his head but kept his poker face up.
“We can certainly explore that option,” Mister Cosolon said carefully. He didn't want to shoot her completely down just yet. She did have a point though, showcasing the outer Federation and Admiral Irons would undercut the prosecution's argument. And it would show that Logan was in the right to transmit the order.
Not that he expected it to do much good in the long run.
“Okay, if your people can work on that, I suppose I can get up to speed while the Judge Advocate finishes selecting the judges …”
“Not too fast. First off, as you mentioned, the prosecution isn't turning over evidence. In fact, they refuse to turn over anything at all. And then there are other problems we need to work out—jury vetting for instance. Selection but also the judges and how to handle them. But first up, are the charges themselves. We've moved to have them thrown out since the court refuses to acknowledge the admiral's new rank. Your thoughts?” Mister Cosolon said.
“Well, technically, I can think of any number of reasons why they've done that, though it is odd,” she said slowly as she made a note. “We'll definitely need to look into that,” she said firmly with a nod. “I'm not sure if they tried to sell you on getting off on a technicality because of this mistake. It isn't going to happen of course,” she said, directing that statement to Horatio.
“Of course not. I didn't expect it to. I think it is the tip of their case.”
“Oh? How so?”
“By ignoring the admiral's promotion, they are
insisting the ansible orders are also invalid. We've already noted that thrust in the media from Captain Prescott's briefings,” Doctor Bullettine stated.
The commander looked to him and pursed her lips. Slowly she nodded and then turned and made another note. “Okay. So, how do we address them?”
“I have a copy of my promotion, the conversations around it, and I can provide them as evidence.”
“They'll attack it. That is an obvious counter so …”
Act II
Chapter 16
Bek B
Three weeks after Ilmarinen's return to Bek A and the message transmission, the original message crossed the three-light-week gap to arrive at Bek B. It did so despite the attempt to jam the transmission. Orders from Command One had been sent out to disregard the message, but the damage had been done. Sailors, marines, and civilians alike heard the message in the Republic.
As a series of daughter colonies of Bek A, Bek B's colonies had considered themselves mistreated by their neglectful and overbearing parent for a long time. They chafed under Bek A's control. Bek A's industrialists had kept a lock on manufacturing, keeping most of the manufacturing limited to Bek A and their own facilities. Start-ups in Bek B were sometimes begun by independents, but many who found success were bought out and then shutdown or found mysterious accidents disrupting them until they were forced into bankruptcy.
Everyone knew who was responsible but proving it was almost impossible. A century prior, a reorganization of the government had begun. Loans to finance industrial plants in Bek B had become available. The loans had been small, but it had allowed minor independent concerns to gain root. They were kept pared back by the industrialists in Bek B, however, working as subcontractors to preprocess the raw materials mined in Bek B before sending it on to Bek A.
