Well-Traveled Rhodes (Kinsella Universe Book 6)

by Gina Marie Wylie

  “I heard a period at the end of that sentence, Commander. Is that all you have to say?”

  “Yes, sir. I was following orders.”

  “Please join Commander Greenberg in the corner, Commander.”

  The admiral next speared the officer on the far end. “You, commander, name, duty station and your appreciation of why you are here.”

  “Sir, Commander Chaka M'besei. I am the assistant food service officer in the officer's mess. I was told that I would sit a Special Board for an insubordinate officer.” He licked his lips. “Sir, I've never sat a Special Board before.” He gave a bitter laugh. “Evidently it's not the honor I thought it was.”

  “And is that it, Commander?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Please join the others in the corner.”

  “Aye, aye, sir.” When he unfolded himself from his seat, Cindy was startled as he was easily two and a half meters tall, although skeleton thin.

  The third Port captain wasn't as fat as the officer in the middle, but he wasn't thin. He was also sweating profusely.

  “Commander, your name, rank, duty assignment, and your appreciation of why you are here.”

  “Commander Rockford Forbes, assistant education officer. I was told to sit on a Special Board here this evening. Sir, with respect, I inquired of Captain Kornblatt of the nature of the offenses -- and he told me that it would be revealed in the testimony. I told him that that was not proper procedure, so he told me that the subject officer had been directly insubordinate to him.

  “When I asked for the specifications, he refused to answer. I told him that I could not serve under those conditions and that proper procedure required the reading of the charges and specifications to the defendant. He gave me a direct order to participate regardless. I protested, and was ordered again. I am here, sir, under protest.”

  “Commander, please repair to the corner.”

  That left the Port captain in the center. “Captain Kornblatt. Evidently my predecessor was quite correct. If I didn't watch you, I could end up being shot. I took that as mild hyperbole.

  “Tell me, captain... do you know where the Tiger is tonight?”

  The captain shook his head. “I'm not privy to operational details, Admiral.”

  “Well, normally I'm not either. However when Tiger departs her normal orbit and closes with this station -- I might add, that's going to cause us a lot of station-keeping problems -- I consider that a problem worthy of my attention. When Captain Donna Merriweather informs that she's sending two companies of Marines to help me quell my mutiny -- that concerns me as well.”

  His finger stabbed out at the captain. “When I find out that every senior officer in the Fleet is headed here to 'straighten out misconceptions' that concerns me. When I'm informed that the president of the Federation is en route to and I quote, 'inform people as to their duty' that more than concerns me. It makes it sound like I don't know what's going on aboard my own station.

  “Then I find that some loose cannon has impaneled a Special Board -- and that loose cannon is a Port captain. Are you aware, Captain Kornblatt, that only flag officers may convene Special Boards?”

  “It is my intention to streamline procedures, introduce new precedents and thus assist in the defense of the Federation.”

  “Well,” the admiral said dryly, “I confidently expect that your statement about setting new precedents is true. After today, it's going to take three stars to authorize a Special Board.

  “Captain, please repair forthwith to the corner to join the others.”

  “I protest.”

  Admiral Litvinik stomped his peg-leg. “Move, Captain!”

  The captain shook his head.

  “And who is being insubordinate now, Captain? Either move or I will compel you. If that doesn't work, Tiger has supplemented the Provost Marshal with another three hundred Fleet Marines. A substantial fraction of them are coming here, to this very compartment.”

  The captain stood up and moved slowly to join the others.

  Admiral Litvinik's finger next rested on the JAG commander. “And you, sir, your name, duty assignment and appreciation of why you are here.”

  “I am Fleet Commander Dominic Heurta, the assistant to the JAG department head for prosecutions. I was ordered here, without reference as to why. When Captain Kornblatt ordered me to observe a Special Board, I told him that, by regulation, no lawyers such as myself are permitted to be present. Captain Kornblatt insisted, saying that he was my superior and that if I didn't comply, that I'd be boarded for insubordination.”

  He looked at Captain Kornblatt with contempt. “I told him that I was present under protest. I alerted the JAG and the Provost Marshal that it was my belief an illegal procedure was taking place.”

  “You may, Commander, join the others in the corner.”

  The JAG officer grimaced, but complied.

  There was a shattering crash, as the door to the compartment was flung open with great force.

  Cindy craned to look and saw Admiral Booth, trailed by a young woman, not much older than Cindy.

  “Vassily!”

  “Dennis!”

  “The cavalry has arrived. I'm afraid that in spite of your best efforts, the army, navy, air force, marines and a host of others will be here shortly.”

  “I am dealing with this, Dennis. It is mine to deal with. It was my authority that was usurped, after all.”

  “I said we were arriving. I've been reading the records of Pixie's voyage. I am impressed by Master Chief Shinzu's observation of the importance of being a fly on the wall.”

  Cindy started. “Shinzu! Oh my! I forgot! Admiral, please! I have an urgent message for her!”

  “And that would be what, Commander?”

  “That person is under arrest!” Captain Kornblatt shouted. “She isn't to communicate with others!”

  Admiral Booth laughed. “Oh, please Vassily! You're going to have all the fun! Let me have this!”

  “As you wish, Dennis.”

  Admiral Booth turned to the captain.

  “I was a project manager, before I joined the Fleet. It was my job to make things work. Had you worked for me, Captain, on one of my projects, I'd have set you down and blacklisted you as too incompetent to work in space. That was then, this is now. It is my fondest hope that the sentence of your Special Board is to turn you over to me. In that case, I'll put an adult diaper on you -- and then throttle you with my own hands.

  “If you ever open your mouth in this proceeding, except to answer a direct question, I'll shoot you where you stand.”

  He turned to Cindy. “I'm not wired, but my daughter is. You made the call, Bethany?”

  “Aye, aye, sir. She's waiting the message via personal phone.”

  Cindy spoke up. “Tell her that Commander Shapiro is alive! Now she's a captain aboard Dragon!”

  Bethany Booth blinked. “Sir, I lost contact as soon as the message was transmitted.”

  “Commander Rhodes?” the admiral asked.

  “Sir, right now would not be a good time to put any obstacles between the chief and Captain Shapiro.”

  Admiral Booth turned to Admiral Litvinik. “Sorry, Vassily.”

  “Oh, no problem Dennis... not with that.” He stomped the peg-leg on the deck once again. “Although I was finally hoping I could sentence someone to walk the plank.”

  Admiral Litvinik turned to the room. “You're probably all wondering what we are doing. This is the reason.” He gestured at the door to the compartment.

  The door opened again. The president of the Federation led the procession, followed by Admiral Fletcher, Admiral Jensen, and Admiral Saito. Cindy was surprised to see her father trail the rest, and then sit at the recently vacated table in the center of the room.

  President Van de Veere sat in the center, while the admirals, including Admiral Booth, Admiral Litvinik and her father spread themselves on either side.

  The president of the Federation looked around, for a moment,
before his gaze steadied on Cindy.

  “Admiral Litvinik has been asking people their name, duty assignment and their appreciation of why they are here. I do believe, Commander, that you should do the same.”

  “Lieutenant Commander Cindy Rhodes. I was assigned to Admiral Booth's staff earlier today.”

  “Very good, Commander! Your former assignment is still classified top secret code word. And your appreciation as to why you are here?”

  “I was told that I was subject to a Special Board.”

  “And were you apprised of the specifications and charges?”

  “Sir, in fairness, I can't say that I ever asked. All that I was told was that I'd been insubordinate to someone.”

  “Is there anyone in this room that you recall being insubordinate to?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Do you know Captain Kornblatt?”

  “Sir, he tried to prevent the departure of our ship several years ago. His wishes were overridden by then-Commodore Heisenberg and the commander of Grissom Station at the time, an Admiral Gonsalvo as I recall.”

  “Are you wired, Commander?”

  “No longer, sir. I no longer have an implant.”

  “Have you ever been insubordinate to this officer?”

  “As I said, sir, no. I have never spoken to him in my life.”

  “Captain Kornblatt -- inform me. In what way was this officer insubordinate to you?”

  “She was unqualified for her rank and duties. I told her and the others with her to cease and desist.”

  “Others, Captain?”

  “She was part and parcel of an unqualified crew, sir.”

  “And you of course, are an expert at qualification scores, eh?”

  “It's my duty, sir.”

  “Admiral Booth, it is my understanding that the subject officer now reports to you. What can you tell us about her qualification scores?”

  “Commander Rhodes achieved a max on the bridge watchkeeping certificate. In no area on any of her certificates has she scored less than 97%.”

  “Ah! A max! That is, I understand, difficult to achieve.”

  “The first time in thirty-five years, sir.”

  President Van de Veere turned to Cindy. “Have you spoken to this officer today?”

  “No, sir.”

  He turned to Captain Kornblatt. “And you, sir, have you spoken to this officer today?”

  “She was part of a crew that went to a ship; an unqualified crew. She was insubordinate along with all the rest of them. I have nothing further to say to such an officer -- one who willfully disobeyed orders.”

  “You're leaving out that you tried to prevent that crew from departing, and were subsequently counseled that there is nothing in your duty assignment giving you any authority to delay or obstruct priority combat missions.”

  “It is poor practice to allow unqualified crews to be assigned to major ships.”

  The president lifted his eyes and let them light on Tam Farmer.

  “Lieutenant Farmer, a few words please. It is my understanding that you joined then-Ensign Rhodes’ ship at Adobe, and weren’t present when it departed Earth.”

  “That is correct, sir.”

  “Did you avail yourself of the ship’s logs or discuss the events of then-Ensign Rhodes’ first bridge watch?”

  “Yes, sir. I read the logs and saw the recordings; it was a frequent topic of conversation.”

  “When was then-Ensign Rhodes’ first actual bridge watch?”

  “Captain Hall left her in charge within an hour of when she boarded the ship, sir.”

  “Your captain was confident of her abilities?”

  “We had master gunny aboard with a master pilot's certificate. He stood the same watch.”

  “And what transpired on then-Ensign Rhodes' first bridge watch?”

  “Sir, she had little knowledge of the Fleet and the conduct of the war. Even so, the master gunny explained to her our mission parameters and the means whereby we detect ships on High Fan. Sir, then-Ensign Rhodes instantly noted that our mission parameters were in error, and alerted the master gunny to the issue. He immediately alerted Captain Hall and the captain made the decision to divert to Bridges. The change was mission critical. Captain Hall requested that the Fleet be informed about the significant errors in our evaluations of how to observe alien ships.”

  “Admiral Fletcher... did you learn about this?”

  “I did, sir. We were -- astounded -- a too polite description of what happened, sir. We could not believe that we'd missed something so obvious. I made a command decision not to reveal who had made the observation. After the catastrophe with fan detection in the first place, it was my judgment that some officers would have taken the matter badly.”

  The president turned to Captain Kornblatt. “Did you avail yourself of Lieutenant Commander Rhodes' publicly available records, Captain?”

  “She was insubordinate, sir. That's all I needed to know.”

  “Captain Kornblatt. The specifications in this matter are that you ordered subordinates to perform illegal acts. That in the matter of a Special Board against Lieutenant Commander Rhodes you conspired with others to bypass the proper convening authority for said Special Boards, that you lied to officers and enlisted persons of the Fleet about your convening authority. That you caused the arrest of Lieutenant Commander Rhodes and brought her here, to this place.

  “The charges, sir, are that you interfered with the duty of an officer the Fleet, and when informed of the particular importance of those duties, ignored multiple warnings. The human race then being in a state of Race Emergency.

  “That you arrogated to yourself convening authority for a Special Board that you did not possess, lying to officers and non-commissioned officers of the Fleet, Port and Marine arms of Fleet Aloft. That you abrogated the fundamental rights of an officer of the Fleet in a judicial proceeding: to wit, denying the aforesaid officer of knowledge of the charges and specifications laid against her. Sir, that is an attempt to change twelve centuries of common law concerning the rights of the accused. Further sir, you laid false charges against this officer and moreover, even if true would have merited administrative punishment, not a Special Board. On my own authority, I'm adding a charge to this list: that you allowed personal vendetta to overcome your professional judgment.

  “Sir, do you have anything to say in your defense?”

  “That officer,” he pointed at Cindy, “wasn't qualified to stand a bridge watch.”

  Admiral Fletcher spoke up. “I believe, Mr. President, that this is question time -- where the other members of this board ask the subject officer questions and listen to his answers.”

  “That is correct.”

  Admiral Fletcher grinned at Captain Kornblatt. “I received my watchkeeping certificate some twenty-five years ago. To my knowledge, I've never passed an officer on the bridge exam who later turned out to be unfit. Nor, I might add, have I failed an officer who subsequently passed.

  “Why would you assume, Captain, that you know more about what a good bridge officer must know, than what I know? Do you, Captain, actually have a bridge watchkeeping certificate?”

  “It was never necessary for the performance of my duties.”

  “So, there you stand, telling me what the requirements for a bridge officer should be -- when you couldn't pass the test yourself?”

  “Sir, she was a secondary school dropout. Her school wasn't a technical or prep school.”

  “I'll repeat myself, Captain, since you seem a little confused. Just what is there about your knowledge and experience that you think can trump mine, about what it takes to make a competent bridge officer?”

  “The subject officer had no qualifications to the duties she'd been appointed.”

  “Captain, you keep dodging the question. I will put it to you bluntly. I found Ensign Rhodes competent to stand a bridge watch. All of the other members of Fleet Aloft on this panel found her competent to stand a bridge watch. And t
hat was before she went out on her deployment. What do you know that we don't?”

  “You don't accept my thesis.”

  “Unless you have something more to say than 'unqualified' or 'unprepared,' something that we might reasonably accept as an explanation, Captain, we're very nearly done here.”

  “Do regulations mean nothing?” the captain said angrily.

  Turbine Jensen broke in. “My turn, sir. Captain Kornblatt, what does the introductory paragraph of every copy of the Regulations of Conduct in the Fleet say?”

  “They define how people should behave and in what ways.”

  “I said, what do they say? I don't want your incompetent understanding of what you think they say, I want to hear the actual words out of your mouth.”

  “Something about governing the conduct of members of the Fleet.”

  “You don't even know the first paragraph of the regulations! And yet, here you stand in front of people who can quote them to you, chapter and verse and you tell us you know them better than we do. You are a disgrace to your uniform, Captain. The answer to the question is: 'The purpose of these regulations is to provide guidance to Commanders and to inform the actions of other members of the Fleet.' Guidance and information, Captain. That's it. Period, finish, end of sentence. Nothing more. And, I might add, that last clause is a recent addition.”

  He turned to the president. “I have nothing further to say to this sorry excuse for an officer. Ever.”

  “Admiral Saito?” the president asked. “Do you have a question for the subject officer?”

  “Aye, I do. I'll see if we can wrap this up quickly and stop wasting time. Captain Kornblatt, you are charged with a series of grievous offenses against good order and discipline. In the current circumstances all of those are capital offense. Once again, sir, is there anything you can say that might justify a lesser sentence?”

  “You don't want to listen. That officer was unqualified and unprepared. Not just as a bridge officer, but in any capacity in the Fleet. I gave them all direct orders not to attempt to board their ship. She, like all the rest, was insubordinate, refusing to obey my order.”

  “And the fact that you had no authority to give that order, and were subsequently overridden, in your presence, by two officers superior to you including one in your direct chain of command? Did that ever impinge on your understanding of the situation?”