Rule of Evidence (25 page)

Judge McMasters looked at Jen Shen again. "Lieutenant Junior Grade Shen, how do you plead? Before receiving you pleas, I advise you that any motions to dismiss any charge or grant other relief should be made at this time."

Jen seemed uncertain for a moment, first facing the judge, then turning to face the members. "I plead not guilty to all charges and specifications." To Paul, her voice sounded stilted, and he realized how much difficulty she was having controlling it. He wondered how it sounded to others who didn't know her as well as he did.

"Very well," Judge McMasters noted. "Do you have an opening statement, Trial Counsel?"

"I do, your honor." Commander Carr studied her data unit, then for just a moment looked up toward Jen. Paul couldn't tell if in that moment she'd also looked at him. Then Carr faced the members of the court and began speaking unemotionally. "The prosecution intends to prove that on 21 February of this year, Lieutenant Junior Grade Shen deliberately and with malice sabotaged the engineering systems of her ship, the USS
Maury
, not only bringing about extensive damage to her ship, but also executing the premeditated murder of sixty-one of her shipmates, including every other member of the engineering department on the USS
Maury
, after ensuring for her own safety. Lieutenant Junior Grade Shen then lied about her role in the sabotage and murder, complicating and impeding the initial and official investigations into the cause of the awful events of 21 February. Lieutenant Junior Grade should be found guilty as to every charge and specification and brought to justice for the awful fate she visited upon her ship and the sailors who worked alongside her."

Commander Carr walked back to the trial counsel's table and sat down, resting her chin in her hands so her expression was half-hidden. Her eyes seemed hooded, though. Paul stared at her as an awful realization finally hit.
Premeditated murder. That's not just a life sentence. That's a death penalty offense. And Jen's charged with
sixty-one
premeditated murders. Oh my God
.

Paul hadn't noticed Lieutenant Bashir standing and making his own way to the area before the judge's bench. Now Bashir addressed the members as well. "The defense contends that Lieutenant Shen did not commit the acts with which she is charged. The cause or causes of the damage and death on the USS
Maury
remain unknown, but that in no way justifies trying to pin the blame for that horrible event on an officer who has repeatedly demonstrated her humanity and devotion to duty. An officer who, in the wake of the accident on the USS
Maury
, saved the lives of twenty-one enlisted personnel who looked to her for leadership in conditions of utmost peril. An officer whose loyalty, skill and dedication to duty has never before been questioned. Lieutenant Shen should be found innocent of these charges, because she is innocent, and because there is no evidence she played any role in the accident or the deaths which we all regret."

Lieutenant Bashir returned to his seat. Paul tried to focus fully on the court-room and not on his internal turmoil. The standard preliminaries for a court-martial were over and the actual trial fully beginning. The judge pointed his ceremonial gavel toward Commander Carr. "You may proceed, Trial Counsel."

"The United States calls as its first witness Rear Admiral Michael Hidalgo, United States Navy."

Rear Admiral Hidalgo marched to the witness stand, his uniform crisp, his manner confident. He watched closely as Commander Carr approached the witness stand and administered the oath. "Do you swear that the evidence you give in the case now in hearing shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

"I do."

"Are you Rear Admiral Michael Hidalgo, United States Navy, currently serving on the staff of the Commander, United States Navy Space Forces?"

"I am."

"Rear Admiral Hidalgo, what is your exact job title on the staff of the Commander, United States Navy Space Forces?"

"I'm the N4."

"What exactly does that mean?"

Hidalgo broke his gaze on Carr as he answered, looking around the court-room. "That's the staff code for engineering. I'm the senior engineering representative in the fleet."

"As such, are you regarded as an expert on the engineering systems onboard U.S. spacecraft?"

"I am."

"Are you familiar with the engineering systems on ships similar to the USS
Maury
?"

"Yes. Very familiar. I personally served as chief engineer on the USS
Dahlgren
, which is one the
Maury
's sister ships."

"Sister ship meaning of the same class and design?"

"That's right."

"Were you involved in the investigation of the damage suffered by the USS
Maury
on 21 February?"

The rear admiral nodded, his expression clouding slightly. "I was. Yes. I was appointed to head that investigation by Admiral Yesenski."

"Admiral Yesenski being the Commander, United States Navy Space Forces."

"Yes. Sorry."

Commander Carr smiled politely. "No need to apologize, Admiral Hidalgo. Can you summarize the results of that investigation?"

"Yes." Hidalgo nodded several times. "In summary, we found that the USS
Maury
had suffered serious damage as a result of multiple, near-simultaneous explosions caused by overloading and catastrophic failure of most of the equipment within her engineering spaces."

"Were you able to determine what caused that to happen, sir?"

Hidalgo looked unhappy. "No. Too much damage had been suffered and too much evidence either completely destroyed or unrecoverable in space."

"Were you able to rule out any causes?"

"Yes. Absolutely. There wasn't any sign of a bomb or other explosive device. No chemical residue or anything like that. We also ruled out an accident."

Carr looked intrigued. "You ruled out an accident?"

Rear Admiral Hidalgo nodded vigorously this time. "Yes. The investigation confirmed that such an accident is physically impossible due to the many safety factors incorporated into the
Maury
's engineering systems."

Commander Carr waited a moment for Hidalgo's statement to sink in, then gestured toward a diagram of the USS
Maury
which dominated the court-room display screen. "Admiral Hidalgo, as the senior engineering representative on the staff of the Commander, United States Navy Space Forces, had you ever personally inspected the engineering systems of the USS
Maury
?"

"Of course I had. I've personally inspected the engineering systems of every ship in the space fleet. That's part of my responsibilities."

"When was the last time you examined the engineering systems of the USS
Maury
prior to the damage she suffered?"

Hidalgo looked toward Jen for the first time. "A couple of days before the
Maury
got underway. I wanted to review the status of some major modifications she'd undergone. I met her entire compliment of engineering officers at that time and went over the engineering system in detail."

"Would you provide your assessment of the
Maury
's engineering system at that time, two days prior to her getting underway?"

"Excellent. The
Maury
'd just come out of an extended yard period. Everything looked great."

"Did Commander Juko, the chief engineer of the
Maury
, express any concerns to you at that time regarding the engineering system on the
Maury
?"

Hidalgo looked toward Jen again, who gazed back almost defiantly. "No, he did not."

Commander Carr begin pacing slowly back and forth in front of the witness stand as she spoke. "No problems, Rear Admiral Hidalgo?"

"No."

"Sir, you've summarized the conclusions of the official investigation into the damage suffered by the USS
Maury
. Do you know of any reasons, based upon your own expertise and experience as well as your familiarity with ships like the
Maury
, that would cause you to personally disagree in any way with the investigation's conclusions that the damage was sustained as a result of nearly simultaneous catastrophic overloads of the
Maury
's engineering equipment?"

Hidalgo shook his head. "I do not. That's the only thing that could explain what happened."

Commander Carr stopped pacing, standing directly in front of the witness again. "Rear Admiral Hidalgo, you also say it isn't possible for such a thing to happen by accident."

"It isn't."

"Would you explain, sir?"

"Yes." Hidalgo leaned forward slightly, one hand coming up to emphasize his points with an extended forefinger. "It can't happen. Not by accident. There's too many safety interlocks. Circuit breakers. Automated control mechanisms. Software safeguards. Emergency shutdown systems. All of those things working individually and in concert are designed to prevent exactly that sort of disaster. There simply isn't any way they could've all failed at the same time in such a catastrophic fashion. Not by accident."

Carr nodded, then held up her data pad. "With the court's permission, trial counsel would like the enter the ship's engineering system manual for
Mahan
-Class Long-Endurance Cruisers into the record. It details every safety mechanism to which Rear Admiral Hidalgo has testified."

Judge McMasters nodded. "Enter the manual into the record."

Focusing on Rear Admiral Hidalgo once more, Carr took a step toward him. "Sir, you've testified based upon your expert knowledge that there is no possible way in which the engineering system of the USS
Maury
could've suffered accidental nearly simultaneously catastrophic failure of its components. How, then, would you explain what happened?"

Hidalgo licked his lips, looking at Jen for a third time and then looking away. "It had to have been done on purpose."

Carr once again paused for a long moment before speaking again, letting the phrase settle firmly into the minds of listeners. "On purpose. By sabotage, you mean?"

"If you want to call it that."

"Internal or external sabotage?"

"Internal. No question."

"A human agent on the
Maury
. Someone had to have done something to cause all those safety mechanisms to fail."

"Absolutely. They had to have done a lot of somethings! Override the software, mess with the physical safety interlocks like circuit breakers, cross connect some things that aren't supposed to cross connect. I don't know exactly how'd you do all that, but that's what'd have to happen."

"A lot of somethings, you said, sir. So a single act of carelessness, a single error, couldn't cause it."

"Absolutely not. You might lose a single piece of equipment that way, if everything else went wrong, but not damage on this scale."

Paul stared at Lieutenant Bashir, who was frowning down at the surface of the defense counsel's table.
Object, you idiot. You're letting them point the whole thing straight at Jen
. But Bashir said nothing.

"Rear Admiral Hidalgo, could you cause such a thing to happen?"

"Perhaps. I've never considered doing it, for obvious reasons, but I assume I could."

"Objection." Lieutenant Bashir finally stood, speaking clearly but without force. "Witness is making an assumption based not upon his expertise and experience but upon pure speculation."

Judge McMasters looked toward Carr, who spread her hands as if not comprehending the objection. "Your Honor, the witness is an expert on these systems. His informed judgment, whether based upon things he's actually done or things he has only considered in theory, is still expert."

Bashir shook his head. "Your Honor, I would argue that this speculation goes outside the witness' area of expert knowledge. By his own statement, he's never considered doing it. Perhaps Trial Counsel could ask the witness if he would be willing to swear that he unquestionably
could
do such a thing?"

McMasters looked at Carr. Carr looked at Hidalgo. Hidalgo scrunched up his face in thought. "I . . . think so."

The judge looked directly at Hidalgo. "The question, Admiral, is whether you would certify it definitely could be done by someone."

Hidalgo's mouth worked for a moment, then he nodded. "Yes. I would be willing to so certify."

"Then the objection is overruled. Continue your questioning of the witness, Trial Counsel."

Bashir sat down, his mouth a thin line.

Commander Carr faced Rear Admiral Hidalgo again. "You say it could only happen on purpose, sir. Would it be hard to do?"

Hidalgo nodded briskly. "Very hard."

"Complicated?"

"Absolutely. That's why I said it'd have to an internal agent. Everything would have to done just right. Or, just wrong, I guess I should say." Hidalgo started to smile, then looked guilty over making his joke.

"It would take an exceptionally competent and capable engineer to do such a thing?"

"Yes. Certainly. Someone who'd have to know that system cold."

"Would that someone also have to be well-trusted?"

"I'm not sure . . ."

"Trusted. Able to go pretty much anywhere in engineering and not have what they were doing checked out."

"Objection." Lieutenant Bashir gestured toward Rear Admiral Hidalgo again. "Your Honor, what is the basis for Trial Counsel's question? She's leading the witness."

McMasters frowned in thought, but looked over at the member's table as Captain Carney cleared his throat. "Judge, if I may, my personal opinion as someone who's held command is that knowing a system cold and being trusted are pretty much the same thing. One implies the other."

Lieutenant Bashir spoke with obvious care. "Your Honor, in this case, I would respectfully suggest that knowledge and character are two separate issues."

Carney frowned slightly despite Bashir's careful tone and phrasing.

Judge McMasters thought a moment longer, then shook his head. "No, I believe the argument presented by the captain is a sound one. These are two sides of the same coin. Objection overruled."

Bashir sat again. Paul couldn't read his disappointment from his expression, but he knew it had to be there.
Not only did he get overruled, but the senior officer among the members stuck his nose in and got it a bit bent out of joint. Great
.