Burden of Proof

Hayes' eyes narrowed. "No."

"Sir, by your own admission, there are still some things — "

" No, Commander. The status of that piece of equipment was critical to my ship being able to accomplish her mission. I would not have forgotten it."

Commander Jones eyed Hayes for a moment as if deciding whether to pursue the point or not. His next question revealed he'd decided to try another tack. "Captain Hayes, you earlier indicated you were told about the problem with the power transfer junction by an officer on your ship. Who was that officer?"

Commander Carr was on her feet. "Objection, your honor. The question is immaterial."

Jones faced Judge Halstead. "Your honor, I am attempting to establish possible prejudice."

Halstead raised one eyebrow. "By whom? Captain Hayes?"

"No, sir, by this other officer."

"Your Honor," Commander Carr stated, stepping forward, "the identity of that officer is irrelevant to this trial. We've already established that the information regarding the power transfer junction was factual. Why does it matter who reported it?"

"Your Honor, evidence tainted is evidence that is inadmissible in court."

Judge Halstead bared his teeth in a humorless smile. "Counsel, I'll be the one deciding what is and is not inadmissible."

Jones hesitated as if regretting his last statement. "I'm sorry, Your Honor. That is true and I did not mean to imply otherwise."

"Thank you, Counsel. Does the counsel for the defense intend offering proof of bias, proof that some evidence introduced is in fact inadmissible?"

Paul watched the argument with a icy feeling in his gut. They're arguing about me. Am I going to get ripped apart on that witness stand, my motivations and own professionalism subjected to trick questions and negative interpretations? I knew I ran a risk of this. I can handle it if it comes to that. But I really hope Carr wins this argument.

Jones nodded with every appearance of confidence. "Yes, Your Honor."

Commander Carr let skepticism show. "Your Honor, if counsel for the defense had such proof, why did he wait until now to introduce this line of argument? After trial counsel has entered so much evidence into the trial?"

"Good question, Counsel. Commander Jones?"

Jones looked back at Halstead confidently. "Your Honor, defense actions evolve as the trial proceeds. Surely trial counsel will not dispute that, or the right of the defense to introduce new issues in the course of defending the accused."

"Your Honor, a fishing expedition is not introducing new issues. It is a distraction from the business of the court-martial."

"Your Honor, if trial counsel is so certain of the tactics and questions to be pursued by the defense, I would respectfully have to inquire as to the source of her information."

Paul tried not to openly wince. That's a real good point. Jones is better than I gave him credit for. But Carr's supposed to know him! Keep me off that witness stand, Commander.

Judge Halstead raised the fingers on one hand to halt the argument among the counsels. "You've both brought up legitimate arguments. I will allow defense counsel to pursue his line of questioning, but if defense counsel attempts to divert this court-martial from its course or engage in a prolonged fishing expedition, I will bring it to a halt. Is that clear, counsel?"

Jones nodded. "Yes, Your Honor."

"Objection overruled. Proceed, counsel."

Commander Carr returned to her seat, tight-lipped, and gave Paul a passing glance, her eyes conveying regret for a moment.

Commander Jones went back to the witness stand, where Captain Hayes had sat watching the by-play impatiently. "Captain, I repeat, who brought this information to your attention?"

"My collateral duty ship's legal officer."

"And who is that, Captain?"

"Lieutenant Junior Grade Sinclair."

"Thank you, Captain. No further questions."

Paul stared at Jones, then back at Commander Carr, who gave Jones' back a hard, questioning look. Jones went to all that trouble just to ask my name? There's got to be more to this. I wonder what?

Captain Mashiko nodded in greeting to Captain Hayes. "Captain, Lieutenant Silver has earned promotions to his current grade, indicating good performance evaluations. How do you reconcile that with your current opinion of Lieutenant Silver's performance?"

Captain Hayes shook his head. "Captain, I don't know what Lieutenant Silver did in his earlier assignments. All I know is what he did on my ship. I regard that as more than sufficient grounds for reaching my conclusions."

"I'm assuming you thought long and hard before reaching these conclusions?"

"Yes, of course I did."

Commander Herdez spoke next. "Captain Hayes, as commanding officer, have you toured every compartment on the USS Michaelson since coming aboard?"

"Yes, Commander, I have."

"How many times have you visited Forward Engineering?"

Hayes frowned in thought. "I'd say two or three times, at least."

"Then you have visited that compartment at least as many times as Lieutenant Silver, the officer who holds primary responsibility for it?"

"That seems to be right, Commander."

"Captain Hayes, have you observed Lieutenant Silver performing other professional duties on your ship?"

"Yes, I have."

"Which duties, sir?"

"Officer of the deck underway, command duty officer in-port."

"What are your opinions of Lieutenant Silver's performance in those duties?"

Captain Hayes frowned again. "As officer of the deck underway, Lieutenant Silver displayed passivity."

"Can you explain that, sir?"

"Sure. Whenever we had a special evolution, Lieutenant Silver would delegate it to his junior officer of the deck. Whenever he needed detailed information, he'd have to get that information from his junior officer of the deck or another watch stander. And he was habitually late in assuming the watch."

Paul fought down another grin. I'll be damned. Hayes noticed how Silver was doing his job on the bridge. Just like Carl Meadows said. You don't think he's watching, but he is.

"And as command duty officer in-port, sir?"

Hayes shrugged. "Prior to 19 September, on those few days in which Lieutenant Silver stood CDO, I was unaware of any problems. As I already noted, on 19 September he didn't have a handle on the situation."

Lieutenant Commander Bryko licked his lips before speaking. "Captain Hayes, Lieutenant Silver received a Navy Commendation Medal for his handling of the events of 19 September. Why did he get recommended for that medal if you had such a negative opinion of his performance?"

Hayes' face reddened slightly and his voice tightened. "I don't know."

"You didn't recommend or approve the award?"

"The recommendation for that award did not originate on my ship."

Bryko looked surprised. "Did you even know Lieutenant Silver had been recommended for that medal, sir?"

"No, I did not. If I had been aware, I would've done all I could to block it."

"Can I ask exactly why, sir?"

"Given what I knew then, I didn't feel Lieutenant Silver's performance rated an award."

"Thank you, Captain."

Judge Halstead checked his watch after Captain Hayes had been dismissed. "Does trial counsel have further witnesses?"

Commander Carr stood. "No, your honor. The prosecution rests."

"Then this court-martial is closed. It will reconvene at 1000 tomorrow morning in this same court room for the presentation of evidence by the defense."

Paul stood with the others, stretching muscles he hadn't realized were tense. Commander Carr stood at the trial counsel's table for a moment, both hands resting on the desk top as if she needed the support, then turned to face Paul and smiled. Paul smiled back. "That seemed to go real well."