Court-Martial (Horatio Logan Chronicles Book 2)

by Chris Hechtl

  They went through the usual roll, system wide and then local news, weather, sports, medical, and special interest stories, then repeat. He'd managed to catch it during the weather part of the cycle. There were predictions of solar storms and some harsh weather on Thebes, then the T'clock pitched it back to the anchors. They ran through the sports reporter who had everyone's attention, then another break.

  He was through his dinner and just picking at his tray and sipping his drink when they came back with a brief medical story, then a story about cleaning clothes, and then it went back to the system news.

  “Everyone in the star system is aware of the crisis that continues to hang over us. A major part of that crisis is the trial of alleged Rear Admiral Horatio Logan,” the anchor stated. “Our own reporter Hypatia Kin is outside the Attorney General's Office. Hypatia? Any news?”

  “I'm afraid not, Tapper; we're still waiting on word on the accused. He is being held in prison instead of being confined to quarters. The navy insists it is for security reasons,” the young woman said as Horatio froze. An image of him was put up on the screen. It wasn't from his bio; it was one from within the prison with him in his orange jump suit. His mouth writhed in a silent curse. He could see some of the prisoners looking at the image and then around the room. He was tempted to get up and get out of there, but if he rose, it would just draw more attention to himself.

  He decided to wait it out and keep his head down. But as the room became silent, he realized he'd been recognized. He looked up slightly and then sighed internally as he saw the hostile looks. Slowly, he rose from his seat with his tray and went to the trash with it. Someone on his right threw a foot out to trip him, but he jumped over it. He dodged a Veraxin's slash on his left but then someone on his right threw a cup of water in his face.

  He turned to the side, eyes closed as he kept moving, relying on his implants. But he could hear and feel the soft growl around him. He didn't have long to wait until someone started to pound on a table top. The rhythm was quickly picked up. It was an ugly rumble, one calling for action.

  “Lock it down!” a guard snarled. “Lock it down or we'll lock you down until you cool off!” the bear snarled. That roar cut across the metallic thumping and stopped them all cold. After that, it was hostile looks as Horatio policed his tray and then exited the room just in time for the guards in riot gear to arrive.

  Life in the prison just got a whole lot more complicated—not to mention dangerous.

  @^@

  “He needs to be moved for his safety, the other prisoners’ safety, and the guards’ safety,” Sergeant Cooper argued.

  “I didn't know you were a fan,” the warden said mildly.

  “Sir, I don't know what is going on with the news broadcast. Obviously, someone fracked up. But we could have had a riot in there. I am not sure why we didn't.”

  “I know. Obviously no more news,” the warden said with a grimace. “I'll look into that,” he said with a wave of his hand. “Has he requested a transfer?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Then we don't move him,” Warden Tribeau stated. He was a human and not thrilled about being stuck with the admiral. But he was a professional and intended to see the situation through to the end. His prison was swamped with people. Outside the perimeter in space, there were protesters and people wanting to storm the prison and free the accused. The damn navy had been forced to station a destroyer to keep them at bay.

  Then there were the gifts. He knew that the accused didn't know about most of them. TJAG had decided to divert the gifts to pay for the trial. He was fairly confident it was only going to one side of the trial, and he didn't need to guess which. But that was just the money. The physical gifts were piling up, not to mention the correspondence. He had been annoyed and amused to find the guards assigned to read every missive had started to keep track of all of the love letters and even marriage proposals to the accused.

  “Sir …”

  “I said no, Sergeant. End of story. Unless something happens, he stays put. By now, everyone in the complex knows who he is.”

  “But the others haven't seen him.”

  “No, but they undoubtedly know his face. What I want to know is where that damn paparazzi got that photo. Did you notice it was from within the prison? My prison?”

  “Can we open an investigation, sir? Get the metadata and the source?”

  “It'd probably be a guard, and you know how that will turn out,” the warden grumbled. “No, I'll do some loud grumbling and digging to make whoever did it think twice, but from there, I'm stymied. I don't need the damn union on my neck on top of everything else.”

  “And his protection?”

  “Confine him to quarters. I know he didn't do anything, but if you really think he needs it for his safety, then do it. I'll sign off.”

  “Yes, sir. He's not here during the week anyway.”

  “Good. I'll look into what people are saying about him. What are they saying? Do you know?”

  “The prisoners … are mixed. I caught some chatter about a hit out on him but no confirmation. Just a friend of a friend of a friend told me …,” she grimaced.

  “A hit?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Find out for sure.”

  “But you still won't move him?”

  “No. You have no evidence of a credible threat. For all I know, you just made it up,” he said. She opened her mouth to protest, but he waved her silent. “Enough, Sergeant. Write it up. Find the source.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  @^@

  “So, how was your weekend?” Benny asked when they met up on Monday. “Uneventful as ever?”

  “I wish,” Horatio said with a shake of his head. “Someone outed me on the news. They played it in the mess for one and all to see while I was there. There was a near riot.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah. I've been put in lockdown. I can't leave my cell except to go to court. I'm getting crap from everyone around me too. They stop by and taunt me, the usual crap. Threats, all of it. I've got it all recorded.”

  “Great. Something else to listen to.”

  “I'm not sure what to do about it. I'm out in the open, exposed, and I'm of two minds about that.”

  “Do you want to be in the protected wing?”

  “I think a transfer might be in order, yes.”

  “Okay, we'll file the paperwork.”

  “Understood. So, we've got three more days of the prosecution's case and then our own begins Thursday?”

  “Barring any problems or delays, yes. Looking forward to it?”

  “I don't know; should I be?” Horatio asked as the rest of the defense team met up with them.

  “It will be interesting. But we've got to get there first.”

  “Right.”

  @^@

  “Do you have time for a bit of a strategy session? I've got an idea, and I want to bounce it off of you,” Omar said as Admiral Draken came into his office.

  “You want … yeah, that's a good idea. I've scheduled an hour. What's on your mind?” Admiral Draken asked as Omar pointed to a seat. He sat down and cocked his head.

  “It's the external threat of another ship arriving. I've been trying to think of how to handle it. Obviously, we can't let them get into the inner star system. I think we need to interdict the star system. Now wait, hear me out,” he said, holding up a restraining hand as Sherman began to protest. “What I've got in mind would be something of an accident or a hostile attack. What I'm pitching is that we consider reprogramming the computers in the jump point ships and fortresses to see an incoming ship as hostile, possibly as a Xeno or pirate.”

  “First off, no to a Xeno. It'd never fly. And how could a pirate get here?”

  “We … could say they stole a ship or got in somewhere else. Or it could be a sim gone wrong, I don't know,” Omar said as his plan came apart.

  Sherman shook his head regretfully. “It won't work.”

 
; “It will work!” Omar insisted. “We just need to find the right buttons to push to make it happen!”

  “No, it won't. They'll be broadcasting an IFF and screaming to beat hell when they are fired on. We'd have to put the package into multiple computers. Fortress and ship computers … they'd all have to see the same thing at different resolutions at different ranges.”

  “We can do that with a firmware update,” Omar replied with a sniff.

  “And if it is found? We're talking about a computer virus. One someone will have to make for us, since the last time I checked neither one of us know how to code on that level.”

  “We can handle that,” Omar replied.

  Admiral Draken shook his head. “And that leaves loose ends. We can't do this. No, Omar, it won't work.”

  “It will work!”

  “No, it won't. The ship coming in—we don't even know what it will be!” Admiral Draken said.

  “It'll probably be that damn Caroline again,” the admiral insisted.

  “Or not. It could be multiple ships in a convoy escorted by Caroline or a single ship or a salvaged ship from B-102c,” Admiral Draken persisted. “Or it could be a larger ship. And what about the communications? They'd begin transmitting an IFF, and when fired on, they'd be broadcasting. They'd scream bloody murder who they are!”

  “So … we jam them,” Omar said slowly, as if to a child.

  The ops admiral shook his head mournfully. “And if a single watt gets out? The message? You can jam some transmissions but not visual. They'll be able to see what they are firing at. Telescopes will be on the scene monitoring them. Civilian news agencies, all of it.”

  “Damn it …”

  “And don't forget, we left Ilmarinen out there. She's going to come back eventually, remember? Do you really want to fire on her?”

  “It would be an unfortunate mistake. One we could own up to, as a mistake I mean,” Omar said, hunching his shoulders slightly.

  “And the investigation as to why that mistake happened would uncover the worm. That would lead to more questions like who made it and why, and we don't want that sort of thing. And no, I don't know if we can control such an investigation or spin it. I'm not sure of a lot of things these days.”

  Omar just sat there silently.

  “I strongly suggest you forget you ever even considered this. And I'll remind you, I am supporting you but only if you don't fire on our own people.” The admiral's eyes locked onto his nominal superior's. “I realize I'm putting my head squarely on the block next to yours in doing so. But I'm willing to take you down myself if you keep persisting in this idea of killing our own people.”

  “I … they aren't our people.”

  “I know they aren't from Bek, but some might be. Some of our people might be on those ships. No.”

  “I never thought of you as a squeamish type, Sherman.”

  “I'm practical. I know there are limits.”

  “What about Bek B? What about the rebels?”

  “They are … a problem. So far, they are on the defense. Eventually, they'll die on the vine I believe. They don't have the parts to keep their ships functional, not all of them. They've got the repair yard, but people like your mother kept the majority of the parts construction here.”

  “I know that. But they might try a raid to get those parts. Desperate people do stupid and desperate things,” Omar stated.

  Sherman nodded slowly. “I know, and it would be a tragedy if it happened. Hopefully, it doesn't come to that. I don't honestly know if our people will pull the trigger or not.”

  “Then we damn well better find out.”

  Chapter 35

  “Admiral Childress, you insist that the message from Admiral Irons was a misunderstanding. Yet, during the trial of Admiral Logan …”

  “Commodore Logan, please. We still haven't verified his promotion. His alleged promotion,” Captain Prescott interrupted smoothly.

  “Excuse me, during the recent trial of alleged Admiral Logan, the prosecution has been attacking the ansible report and has allegedly provided evidence and witness testimony calling it into question. Which is it?”

  “Well, I think we'll find out in time. For the moment, we have to treat such things carefully. Obviously, there has been a lot of miscommunications going on, especially between the Federation Admiralty and Bek. We're working to rectify that now, which is why we dispatched Ilmarinen with a resupply mission,” Admiral Childress stated. “Obviously, we have a problem when Commodore Logan maneuvers behind our back and gives only one side of the story to higher authority. We need to set the records straight. I'm confident we'll do so,” he said.

  “Okay, that is one issue. As to the charges that he deliberately allowed the Xeno virus to endanger the station's occupants, shipping, and even the Republic, don't you feel that is a bit of an overreach? How could he have known about the virus?”

  “It is through his negligence that the prosecution will prove is why the Xeno virus attack was allowed to happen,” Admiral Childress said, turning to the camera. “I vow to see justice done for all the victims of that tragedy. They will have their time in court, and the perpetrators will be punished.”

  “Turn it off,” Benny grumbled.

  “Why? It's getting good. Besides, he's giving us plenty of fodder for use,” Doctor Bullettine said. He waggled a finger at the vid screen. “We really need to call this guy to the witness stand when it is our turn. Most definitely.”

  “Like he'd tell the truth,” Benny said with a shake of his head.

  “He will as much as he can,” Commander Chedwiggen stated.

  “He wouldn't know the truth if it bit him,” Benny grumbled. “Right, Admiral?” he asked, turning to Horatio.

  Horatio spread his hands apart. “No comment.”

  “Smart,” Bull snorted. “Don't give them any more ammunition to use against you,” he said, looking around the room.

  “Can we get back to the matter at hand?” AJ asked peevishly.

  “I suppose,” Bull drawled as they hit the mute button and got down to it.

  Horatio listened to the team as they discussed strategy. He knew a lot of it was a sham but not quite all. For the moment, they were no longer being recorded. That was a good thing. He scanned the room once more and then decided to take a chance. “They are charging me with the Xeno virus attack, correct?”

  “Of course.”

  “Did anyone look up the relevant articles on it? I filed a full report with the Federation Admiralty after the attack, all through the ansible. They asked follow-up questions. I noticed the prosecution never asked that line of questioning in the trial.”

  AJ frowned as he looked at Benny and Bull. The two civilians shrugged and then started to scan their files. “No, I don't see it. Why is this relevant?” Benny finally asked.

  “Area of Operations. Admiral Childress has no jurisdiction beyond Bek's heliopause. Look it up,” Horatio stated, sitting back in his chair.

  Benny's eyes lit up. “The hell you say,” he said excitedly. He looked to AJ who pursed his lips and then nodded as he crossed his arms.

  “I did, so did Admiral Irons,” Horatio stated. “I also pointed it out to the JAG interviewing me once.”

  “Interesting. So, how do we bring this up? And why didn't you before?”

  “Right now, it is the prosecution's turn, right? We'll have to find the right opening …”

  @^@

  The following week made them wait as scheduling conflicts cropped up. Other problems presented themselves, and by the end of the week, the trial seemed to unravel. Some members of the court realized that they were in a rock or hard place. They became increasingly uncomfortable with what was going on and where the trial was leading. They also didn't like the civil war threatening to break out all across the republic. Some didn't want to be turned into scapegoats for either side and didn't like the ugly media publicity of the trial.

  One by one, the supporting staff either resigned or request
ed relief. They included the stenographer, aides, clerks, and bailiffs. Additional personnel were assigned to the case, but it was a disruption to the usual smooth operation of the court. With so many other trials going on, the scheduling conflicts mounted up.

  The jury pool had issues as well, with two officers putting in for retirement after experiencing trouble with their spouses. They requested relief but were denied initially. When their spouses started posting information on social media, both officers were excused.

  A third juror was relieved after being overheard discussing the case outside the courtroom. One of the alternates admitted he had been approached by a reporter. He insisted he didn't say much, but he was excused when he admitted he had already made up his mind about the case. All of the trouble caused a second mistrial.

  “And you still want to go through with this, Admiral?” Benny asked. “No double jeopardy?” Horatio shook his head.

  “Back to square one then,” AJ said with his own shake of his head.

  “Good,” Horatio replied simply.

  “Not good. It means they'll have more time to prepare,” AJ replied.

  “So will we. They have to show their hands each time, correct?” Horatio asked.

  “Yes. We have to have access to all evidence and witness lists.”

  “But you don't need to do the same?” Horatio asked. “You just have the list for the day prepared for the court?”

  “No,” the commander said slowly. “But remember, they'll know what we've already done. They will take steps to minimize the impact each time. Eventually we're going to go all the way, Admiral. There are ways to stop the defense from playing for time.”

  “I know that. Do what you can with the tools you have available, Commander. But I suggest you get with your civilian co-counsel and see if you can come up with a few surprises. Some interesting players in the lineup that the prosecution doesn't see coming might help too.”

  “I'll see what I can do, sir,” the commander replied dubiously.

  @^@

  Starting the entire trial process all over again didn't sit well with a furious Admiral Childress. He fumed and vented with Admiral Hill and Admiral Shren.