Burden of Proof (25 page)

"No, ma'am."

"They refer to him as 'the Neutron Bomb,' because he leaves structures intact but destroys people. And I get to prosecute his son! What do you call that sort of thing in the operational forces?"

"We call it an opportunity to excel, ma'am. Sarcastically, of course."

"Oh, I like that. An opportunity to excel. Or to watch your career head for the nearest waste disposal unit." She grinned again. "Fortunately for this case, I'm in this business for the thrill of battle, so the idea of nailing Admiral Silver's son doesn't make me curl up in a ball."

Paul nodded.
I have the feeling there's not very much that would make Commander Carr curl up in a ball. I'm glad she's not prosecuting me
.

Carr turned toward her display. "It's an interesting case you put together. Interesting because there's strong evidence of misconduct, and an equal lack of evidence directly and unambiguously implicating the individual charged with the offenses."

"I know the case is mostly circumstantial, ma'am."

"
Mostly
circumstantial? Try almost entirely, at this point." Carr's grin faded as she scanned her display, eyeing the information intently. "But still, the evidence does point fairly conclusively in one direction, and hopefully we'll uncover some more. Lieutenant Silver's counsel is going to have to do some real tap-dancing to try to get around some of this." She looked straight at Paul again. "I need to be clear on something going in. Why'd you do all this investigating? What was your motivation?"

Paul tried to keep from frowning. "What does that matter?"

"It might not, and it shouldn't. But it could come up. Why'd the lieutenant junior grade go digging for evidence pointing to malfeasance on the part of the lieutenant?"

"One of our people died, ma'am, and my master-at-arms knew something that hadn't been included in the official investigation. He's a good cop, with good instincts, so I listened to him."

"And what about Lieutenant Silver? Is there anything between you two?"

"Nothing in particular, ma'am. I mean, we serve on the same ship and we're in the same in-port duty section, but we usually don't interact outside business. I don't particularly like him."

"A lot of other people apparently do like him." Carr leaned forward, her eyes locked on Paul's. "Nothing of a romantic nature? No involvements like that?"

"How do you mean, ma'am?"

"You and him. Him and some her. You and some her and him. Whatever combination you like."

Paul's reaction must have shown, as Commander Carr laughed. "Ma'am, I don't swing that way. I have no idea what Silver's idea of fun is, but he's never come on to me, if that's what you're asking."

"Have you got a girlfriend right now?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Has Silver ever met her?"

"I don't think so. She's on a different ship. Of course," Paul added hastily.

"Of course," Commander Carr replied with a smile. "Since regulations prohibit two officers on the same ship from dating. She's an officer, also of course?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Have you discussed this case with her?"

"Not yet, ma'am."

"So she's not involved in the case in any way."

Paul hesitated, drawing a raised eyebrow from Commander Carr. "Well . . . there is a connection, ma'am."

"And what would that be?"

"She's Lieutenant Junior Grade Jen Shen, on the USS
Maury
."

"Shen? Where have I seen that name recently?" She glanced at her display. "Didn't a Captain Shen conduct the initial investigation into the accident on your ship?"

"Yes, ma'am. He's her father."

"You're kidding."

"No, ma'am."

"How's he feel about this? About you uncovering evidence his investigation missed?"

"I imagine he's not very happy."

"I bet. Let's just do our best to keep this little domestic drama out of the courtroom, shall we?"

"I'd like nothing better, ma'am."

"I won't put you on my witness list. I don't see where I need to do that. As a matter of fact, I'm sure it'd be a mistake to do that."

"Why, ma'am?"

"Because your motivations and actions are a potent avenue for the defense to question every piece of evidence you uncovered. You didn't come out of the initial investigation covered with glory, and the estimable Lieutenant Silver received a medal for his 'heroic' efforts against the fire while you didn't. The defense might want to discredit you in order to discredit the government's case. If I put you up on that witness stand, I might as well be covering you with steak sauce and dropping you in a shark tank."

Commander Carr leaned back. "The defense might try to call you as a witness, though, to try to make an issue of your motivation and argue that this is all sour grapes, motivated by jealousy and an attempt to spread the blame."

"Ma'am, I swear -"

"You don't have to do that unless you get called as a witness." Carr flashed another smile. "Which we'll avoid at all costs. I expect the defense will start out trying to win this case on its merits. That is, by disputing the evidence and arguing that it doesn't point to Lieutenant Silver in any case. If the defense thinks they're losing that battle, they may try to discredit the case by bringing you and your motivations into it. The court may not allow that, of course, unless there's strong grounds for questioning your professional standing. What's your record look like, aside from this case?"

"Uh . . ." Paul licked his lips. "I was involved with the court-martial of Captain Wakeman."

"Wakeman?" Carr's eyes widened. "I remember . . . hey. You're
that
Sinclair? You testified for him."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Most line officers go their entire careers without being involved in a general court-martial, Paul. And here you are working on number two already."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Do you harbor aspirations to become a Navy lawyer yourself?"

Paul thought of the smirk he'd see on his hotshot civilian lawyer brother's face if he heard Paul was pursuing a legal degree. "No, ma'am!"

Commander Carr tried to smother another smile. "That's a firm enough reply. All right, Paul, I'm still familiarizing myself with the evidence, but I'll probably have some questions for you later, and I'll want to tour the ship itself."

"Herself." Paul blurted the correction without thinking.

"Herself? I thought ships were officially 'it' nowadays."

"I guess officially they are, ma'am, but to us who serve on them, they're ladies."

Carr grinned yet again. "Then they're exceptionally tough ladies, Mr. Sinclair."

Paul nodded, thinking that Commander Carr, despite her quick smiles and pleasant demeanor, seemed to be exceptionally tough as well.

She offered Paul a data pad. "The convening order hasn't been disseminated, yet, but here's the names of the members of the court. Do you know any of them personally or by reputation?"

Paul read the list carefully.
Captain Michael Mashiko. Line officer. Currently at Space Warfare Officers School. Commander Juanita Juarez, also line, attached to the Joint Space Intelligence Center. Commander Gwen Herdez
-

His reaction must have been apparent to Commander Carr. "I take it you know one of them?"

"Yes, ma'am. Commander Herdez. She was my executive officer until about six months ago."

"Is that good or bad? What's she like?"

Paul pondered how to describe Herdez in a few words. "Very tough, very demanding, very capable, and expects a thousand percent from everyone who works for her. She loves the Navy, I guess. At least, she gives it everything she can and insists everyone else does, too."

"Hmmm. Commander Herdez doesn't sound like the sort of officer who'd look kindly upon an officer accused of grossly neglecting his duties."

"Yes, ma'am, but -" Paul struggled for the right words. "She's very fair. Commander Herdez doesn't let her emotions or preferences decide an issue. She'll have to be convinced."

"Fair enough." Carr made a note on her own data pad. "Convincing her is my job, but I'd appreciate any hints you might think of for what would best serve to do that. What about the rest of the members?"

Paul went back to reading.
Lieutenant Commander Peter Bryko, attached to the Commodore's staff. Lieutenant Commander Susan Goldberg, from the Space Officer's school, just like Mashiko
. "No, ma'am. I don't know them. I'll ask around the ship, though. Some of the other officers may have worked with them."

"Okay, but keep it discreet. What's your ship's schedule look like for the next couple of months? Will you be underway much?"

Paul couldn't help a short, bitter laugh. "Sorry, ma'am. No, we won't be underway at all. Forward Engineering was very badly damaged by the fire. They're having to replace, rebuild, and test everything there and check everything in surrounding compartments for damage. The last estimate I saw called for completion of that work in about two and half months."

Commander Carr shook her head. "It'll be a pleasure to nail Silver's hide to the wall." She saw Paul's look. "What's the matter?"

"Well, ma'am, isn't he presumed innocent?"

Alex Carr laughed again. "By the court. By the members. But my job is to presume he's guilty and do everything I can to prove it. I'll always talk about Silver as being guilty. You don't want the prosecution arguing that the accused could be innocent!" She sobered. "Needless to say, that doesn't mean if I found proof of his innocence that I'd disregard it. Okay, the word I have is the court-martial will convene in about two months. The defense counsel and I have both already tentatively agreed that'll be long enough to build our cases. That doesn't rule out a request for a continuance, of course. I'm going to ask your captain for permission to work directly with you during that period. Will that cause you any problems?"

Paul thought of Commander Kwan, and Commander Garcia. Kwan had been very unhappy with what had happened to Silver already, and Garcia wouldn't like either the chance of negative attention nor any distraction from Paul's regular duties. Then he thought of Chief Asher. "Some of my superiors on the ship might not be thrilled, ma'am, but there won't be any problems I can't handle. I don't think Captain Hayes will have any objections to it."

"Good. Oh, yes, one more thing. I understand the military judge will be Captain David Halstead." Another smile. "Within the JAG Corps he's known as 'Hang 'em Halstead.' He runs a tight court, but he's actually very fair through the trial. It's only if Judge Halstead decides the punishment that his nickname applies. That's it, then. I'll be in touch."

"Thank you, ma'am." Paul left, thinking about two months for him, Scott Silver, and everyone else to spend wondering how the court-martial would come out. Then he realized that time span meant the
Maury
would be back before the court-martial.
At least I'll have Jen around
.

As expected, Captain Hayes approved of Paul working directly with Commander Carr. Also as expected, Commander Kwan and Commander Garcia found ways to let Paul know they weren't happy about it. The agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service took apart Lieutenant Silver's former stateroom piece by piece, looking for any evidence of wrongdoing but confiding nothing to the ship's personnel. Their work done, Mike Bristol could finally get to his own shaving kit and bunk again. Alex Carr came aboard one afternoon, touring Forward Engineering with such an exhaustive attention to detail that Paul found himself wondering if she'd learned to conduct inspections at the feet of Commander Herdez.

As for Lieutenant Silver, Paul heard he'd been assigned temporary duty at a desk job somewhere deep within the bowels of Franklin Station. Wherever Silver happened to be working, no one from the
Michaelson
caught any glimpses of him, something which brought Paul great relief. On the ship, Silver had become sort of a nonperson. Everyone was aware Silver was gone, but no one talked about his absence, about the job he'd held, or shared memories about his time on the ship. Conversations dwelled on the upcoming court-martial, but aside from that Silver might never have been assigned to the
Michaelson
.

Lieutenant Commander Bartlet Jones had been assigned to conduct Silver's defense. He also came aboard the
Michaelson
, interviewing crew members and conducting his own inspection of Forward Engineering. He didn't ask to talk to Paul.

And, in due course, the USS
Maury
returned to Franklin. Paul watched her arrival from Combat on the
Michaelson
, as the
Maury
approached closer and closer, until her symbology merged with that of the station. By calling in-port ship status readings, Paul could tell when the
Maury
had finished mating to the station. But there wasn't any sense in heading down to her dock at that point. Even if he hadn't a work day to finish on the
Michaelson
, Paul knew all too well that many jobs had to be closed out before officers and crew could bolt from the ship that had been their sole home for three months.

Liberty call sounded on the
Michaelson
, and Paul finally headed down to the
Maury
's dock. He waited about fifteen minutes after that, surrounded by a crowd of others greeting the arrival of the ship, before he heard liberty call being passed onboard the
Maury
. Within a few minutes, crew members began filing off the
Maury
's quarterdeck as fast as they could request permission to go ashore.

Paul spotted a familiar figure, waved, then waited until Jen made her way to him. "You came back."

"Yeah. Not that I had a choice. My ship came back, and I was sort of tied to her." Jen looked around. "I don't see any new girlfriends."

"Nope."

"I don't have any new boyfriends."

"That's good."

"You still want me, huh?"

"More than ever."

"Still desperate, I take it."

"Not at all. At the moment I'm feeling incredibly lucky to be with you again."

"Lucky? Like you won me in a lottery?"

"Maybe that's not the best word."