by Chris Hechtl
“Objection, lecturing. Is there a question in there somewhere?” the prosecutor said peevishly.
“My apologies to my colleague,” Commander Steele replied with a slight turn to the prosecutor. “I'll finish my lead up with this. Did he do this with enlisted present?” she asked politely, turning back to the captain.
“No, Commander.”
“Is it in your opinion that officers should not sully themselves with work, Commander?” the commander asked mildly.
“No officer should do work of that kind,” the captain replied with a sniff.
“Because it is beneath them?” Commander Steele asked as she came over and leaned against the witness box.
“Exactly.”
“Yet, there are no rules against it? In fact, in certain situations an officer has to do manual labor? Like, oh, getting dressed,” she said.
“Objection, badgering,” the prosecutor said.
“I'm just pointing out a task,” the commander said with an air of innocence.
“You've painted enough of a picture, Commander,” the chief judge drawled.
She nodded to the judge. “Yes, sir. So, I don't need to point out emergency situations such as damage control, an all-hands evolution, or other times that an officer needs to get his or her hands dirty.”
“You just did,” the prosecutor said tiredly.
“Officers who fly do hands-on work with their craft all the time,” Ginny persisted. “It is encouraged so they know the bird intimately. The same can be said of Marines and their kit and weapons. They are responsible for the weapon and its function.”
“Enough, Commander. My patience is not without limit,” the chief jurist growled. “Objection sustained,” he said to the prosecutor.
“And you are aware of what the rear admiral said about Admiral Irons? In fact, there is a record of him doing manual labor here in Bek if I am not mistaken,” Commander Steele said, turning to the witness box and seemingly oblivious to the chief judge's statement.
The chief judge frowned; his hand gavel hovering over the pad. He looked at the prosecutor, but the high elf didn't rise to the bait. It was clear that if he did object, the commander would enter into evidence the files in question and insist on playing them for the jury.
Captain Clayton frowned. “I …,” he sputtered, unsure as the commander went over to the vid screen and put a chip in a port and then used the remote to turn it on.
“And then there is this,” the defense attorney said, turning with a flourish to show an image of a bare-chested Admiral Thurgrad mowing a lawn wearing garish shorts, flip flops, and sunglasses. The defense attorney looked at the image as the audience tittered. “That bears a striking resemblance to someone in this courtroom. Would you care to identify this person, Commander?” the attorney asked maliciously, turning to the prosecutor.
The prosecutor sputtered in anger while the jury tittered. Admiral Thurgrad looked furious. Admiral Silvestri shook his head.
“That's quite enough of that,” the chief justice said, clearly nettled by the comparison. “You've proven your point, Counselor. Move on.”
“Yes, sir.” Ginny said with a wicked gleam she shared with the jury as if she was sharing a joke. She turned crisply back to the witness. “So, Conduct Unbecoming is a subjective charge. It is usually issued by a superior officer against a junior …”
“Objection, is there a question in this?” the prosecutor demanded.
“I was getting to that,” the defense attorney said, looking at the admiral.
“Then do so quickly,” the chief justice said. “Your leeway has expired, Commander.”
“Aye aye, sir.” The counselor nodded to the ship's captain on the stand. “As I was saying, were there any senior officers, senior to the commodore and yourself to witness this?”
“No,” Captain Clayton answered.
“Then who leveled the charge?”
“I …,” the captain frowned as he tried to frame a proper response.
“You did, Captain?” the defense attorney demanded. “I have a copy of the filing …,” she returned to his desk and picked up a tablet. “I don't see your name,” she waved it. “Given you are a subordinate, I am having trouble seeing how that was supposed to work. The system is set up so a person higher up in the chain of command prefers the charges.”
“I … mentioned it to Captain Miller.”
Ginny's eyes gleamed in triumph at that admission. “Ah. So, you mentioned it to another officer, one also not senior, and he or she filed the charge without specifically witnessing the event? And is this officer in your or the admiral's chain of command?”
“No.”
“So, this person had no legal right to level such a charge in the first place?” Commander Steele pressed.
“He is now a rear admiral. I don't know if it is legal for him to prefer the charges.”
“Objection, the captain has admitted he is not a legal expert. This line of questioning is hearsay.”
“It proves the charges against my client are improper and should thus be voided,” Commander Steele said smoothly, addressing the jury and then the judges.
“Enough, Commander,” the chief justice said, cutting Commander Steele off.
“I'd like to see where he is going with this actually,” Colonel Talia said mildly. That brought the chief justice up short.
“I think we need a recess. We can discuss this in chambers,” the chief judge said, looking at the colonel in annoyance. Admiral Silvestri gave him a significant glance. He pursed his lips in annoyance, realizing that even Silvestri wasn't with him on that one.
@
“Were you trying to get a contempt of court charge, Commander? Or just pissing the admiral off enough to totally alienate him?” Benny demanded when they were alone in a conference room. He had to admit, he was impressed that she'd gone that far. He wondered where she'd gotten that photo. She'd obviously slipped it into the file without showing it to him. He glanced at Bull, but the doctor just shrugged and smiled enigmatically.
No help there.
“He's not on our side. That much is obvious. He's trying to reform and look balanced for the cameras and witnesses, but he's Admiral Childress's man. The colonel though …,” Doctor Bullettine shrugged.
“Still, the picture was a bit over the top …,” Benny said. “You deliberately antagonized him …”
“I thought it was a nice touch. His wife posted it on social media,” Doctor Bullettine replied.
That answered Benny's thought. Apparently, Bull had put her up to it he realized.
“Now we know who really rules his roost or at least the rooster,” Horatio mused in amusement.
Commander Steele giggled. “True. Too true, sir.”
“I think you need to watch it though. You don't want to end up in the cell next to me,” Horatio stated, eyeing her.
“If I did I'd be in good company, sir,” Ginny replied. Horatio cocked his head. “I'm just proving the point of a double standard, Admiral.”
“I know. I think he knows it too. The problem is as you said, he's not impartial. So, he just doesn't care. It's water off a duck's back.”
“He's not the only member of the court I wanted to point that out too though. By pointing out that this is a biased trial, it puts them on trial with the public. Eventually it will get back to your friends in the Federation.”
“The last time I checked we are in the Federation,” Horatio replied stiffly.
Benny stared at him for a long moment, then shook his head mournfully. “I hate to break it to you, but we're at the ass-end of nowhere, Admiral. I think that is why they think they can get away with this, sir; they think Irons and the others will be too busy and too far away to notice.”
“They are probably right there,” Horatio mused darkly. He knew that the war with Horath was eating up a lot of resources and John's focus. He shook his head like a horse trying to get rid of a noisome fly. “I just need to survive long enough for them
to have a whole world of hurt dropped on them,” he growled.
Commander Steele blinked at him. “How? Admiral Irons won't be able to send anyone that can outrank them, unless he chooses Admiral Sienkov and promotes him to Fleet Admiral I suppose. But even there, it has inherent risks.”
Horatio cocked his head. “How so?”
“Even Admiral Sienkov has skeletons in his closet. Plus, just about every officer who rose to power did so by making deals, some of them they'd rather never see the light of day. Plus, I'm betting he owes favors to some of Childress's supporters too, and they are calling in everyone they can. It could get dicey.”
“Ouch,” Benny murmured.
Horatio looked from the commander to the civilian and then back. “I see. I guess I can understand now why he wanted to leave the star system.”
“Exactly. And he's got to survive to get here too. Accidents happen all the time. Space is a dangerous place, you know that,” Commander Steele pointed out, staring directly into the admiral's eyes.
“Yeah, that's a nasty thought,” the doctor murmured.
Horatio stared at the commander for along moment as that unpalatable thought sank in. The implications were clear he realized as he gamed it out. Childress could say that the ship never arrived under the right circumstances. Could that have happened to Ilmarinen if he hadn't made his transmission? Quite possibly, he realized as he squared his shoulders. Would Admiral Childress do that? Was he that ruthless though he wondered.
Finally, he shook his head as he remembered the civil war breaking out in the star system. Millions of service men and women, along with the civilian public, were beginning to take sides. “Lovely,” Horatio sighed. After a moment of thought, he shook his head. “Just …. just be more careful of whose toes you step on. I know you like the knife's edge but don't let it slip into my back or your own. Obviously, these people are petty and vindictive. They may wait to settle scores, but I doubt it. That cell next to mine isn't a safe place.”
“Perish the thought,” Commander Steele murmured.
“Besides, I'm a civilian, I'm not subject to military discipline,” Benny replied.
“You are during this trial. You agreed to that. A contempt charge could land you in the wrong cell, Counselor,” Commander Steele stated. Benny blinked and then grimaced as he looked away. “So, let's be on our guard with the antics.”
“Definitely,” Horatio said touching his ears and eyes. Both men looked at him and then Benny rolled his eyes. Horatio gave a minuscule shrug as the commander's face broke into a scowl. “Now, how do we work on getting my implant recordings accepted?”
“The only way is on cross. We can't use it as admissible evidence since the people being recorded didn't know it at the time, but we can use it in rebuttal to testimony, especially if it is perjured testimony. It will completely undermine someone's credibility,” Commander Steele stated. “That's the ruling.”
“Ah,” Horatio stated. “So, Captain Rising Tide needs to be a bit careful about who and what he puts into the record. He doesn't want to get charged himself.”
“Exactly. Not that I expect him to be charged anytime soon.”
“No, but there is the future to worry about. No one wants that sort of thing hanging over their heads,” Benny said.
“Let's leave the future alone and focus on the present, shall we lady and gentlemen?” Doctor Bullettine stated as he typed at his tablet. He put it out so the others could read it easily but used his body to block it from being read. “I was thinking about how you can do this, Admiral. Now, what else can we do to throw a monkey wrench in their case?” he asked.
@
The prosecution team monitored the conversation despite the risk of exposure. Captain Rising Tide grimaced as the recording ended. He wasn't sure how ONI was getting around the commodore's implants, but it seemed to be working. Either that or the commodore knew they were being recorded and everything said was for their benefit. He was not happy about what Horatio had said, but he'd take any advantage he could now, even if it wasn't a legal one.
He also realized that Horatio was playing for time. He scrubbed at his head angrily as he considered the problem from all angles. The system was set up to prevent the defense from drawing out trials indefinitely with delays. It was too easy for evidence to be lost, witnesses to change their testimony or become unavailable, that sort of thing.
A new thought occurred to him within a second. He realized that the recordings were most likely getting passed through ONI, which means they knew what had been said, so there was no point trying to hide it. “What do we do? If we speed up the trial, we're in with Childress, but it will eventually piss Irons off that we railroaded Logan.” he asked, turning to others on the team.
“We're in a classic catch-22. We're screwed in the short term or the long term. From all we've been able to find out about Irons, he's not vindictive like certain people currently in our command chain.” There were fresh grimaces around the table at that comment. “He'll save his ire for Childress and his followers.”
“And you think he'll let us slip through the cracks?” the captain asked dubiously.
First Lieutenant Ethan Nuniez, his assistant prosecutor nodded. Ethan was a good man, an honorable one. He didn't like listening to the recording sessions. He also didn't like the trial. It wasn't a surprise to the captain; what was a surprise was how long Ethan had hung in there. He'd run through so many assistants with this one trial, some had started to call him Goose. “Hopefully. Maybe. He's got to get someone here that the navy brass will listen to and get Childress out of the hot seat first. How is a big question. The lieutenant is right about space being dangerous, sir. And dead men tell no tails.”
“Frack,” Captain Rising Tide said sourly. He didn't like that implication one bit.
“I know, sir, and we're witnesses. That places us in the crosshairs too.”
“You know, sometimes I really hate my job.” the high elf captain grumbled. He left unsaid his desire to be prosecuting Childress and his supporters. He was sourly aware that they might have recorders monitoring them as well.
“I hate it. I really do. If there was any way …,” Ethan shook his head and left the thought dangling.
“Me too,” the captain said bleakly as he looked away. After a moment, he shook himself. “But one way or another we've got a duty to perform and our orders are clear. Can you perform?”
“Yes, sir. Just don't expect me to like it or not hate myself when we're done,” Ethan said. “I'll do what I have to. Just don't ask me to like it.”
“Agreed.”
@
Commander Onslo was acutely aware that ONI was indeed monitoring both the prosecution and the defense as they finished watching the video of Horatio and Commander Steele. “Steele is a ballsy bitch. Whoever thought she'd be a pushover or go with the program got it wrong,” he said. “What should have been a slam dunk has turned into a mess. I don't like the commentary about playing for time either. Could they be right about that? Obviously, yes, someone from the outer Federation is coming …,” he frowned pensively as the video continued to play.
“Stop the playback,” Admiral Ss'k'ttthhh ordered.
The Neochimp commander reached out and hit pause with his index finger and then turned to the admiral attentively. The Naga admiral shook his massive head.
“Sir?” the commander asked carefully.
“Sorry, that just got to me for a moment,” the Naga replied, moving his mandibles.
“Sir?”
“The whole watch the watchers and catch-22 thing. We're obviously going to be doing a lot of … creative editing if and when Childress goes down and someone does show up.”
The commander took on a careful look of concern and thoughtfulness as he considered that scenario. “I … can see that. I think.”
“Good. Bookmark files like that,” the admiral said, indicating the recording, “and others—entire servers. We might need to move fast, so write a s
eries of scripts and a full plan to clean house. I want a secondary plan, a GOTH plan in case we get in a crack without the time to take our time and clean up loose ends. If that means burning entire servers down, so be it. Better to be accused of destroying damning evidence, then to turn it over tamely and let them hang us for it.”
The commander nodded slowly.
“But make sure you can shift the blame on some files you can't rewrite. Admiral Hill for instance, she's been after my job for a while. She might as well take some of the heat.”
Commander Onslo grimaced but then nodded. “Yes, sir. And Childress and the others? Do we protect them?”
“He's on his own. So are Hill and Draken,” the Naga said coldly. “I'm covering my own hide. And I guess I've got to cover yours by extension. That is, as long as you stop screwing up so badly.” the admiral said, sounding slightly amused by the idea.
“Gee thanks, sir,” the Neochimp said dryly.
“Don't mention it.”
“I won't.”
“Ever.”
Commander Onslo looked at him and then nodded quietly as the Naga slithered out of the compartment.
Chapter 25
The defense cheered the minor victory when the conduct unbecoming charge was withdrawn.
Commander Steele went a roundabout method to point out Childress disobeying orders, also, OPs leader disobeying orders. Defense was slapped down by the judges.
Two of the jury didn't like how things were going. They asked to be excused. When pressed they stated they did not believe the accused was guilty and could no longer wear the uniform. The judges stared at them in shock before they were excused.
That situation forced the judges to assign alternates. Once they were finished, they had one alternate left.
“That went rather well,” Doctor Bullettine said in an aside to the group. “It worked perfectly.”
“What do you mean?” Commander Steele asked.
“The two alternates are not fans of the current administration. So, if enough of them vote their conscience, then we'll either have a hung jury or an acquittal.”
