"We're doing our best, sir."
"That better be good enough." Garcia turned to go, then looked back for a moment. "Thanks, Sinclair."
"Yes, sir." Paul, his mouth hanging open, watched Garcia walk away. The words "thanks, Sinclair" were the closest Garcia had ever come to praising Paul's work.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. Paul normally had about a day and a half's worth of work to do on any given day, so trying to get that all accomplished in a couple of hours made for an even more hectic pace than usual. Knock-off ship's work and then liberty call passed with Paul barely noticing. Jen came aboard to chat, saw how busy he was, and kept her visit very short, but also insisted on dragging him to the wardroom to for-God's-sake eat something for dinner. Paul eyed his meal dubiously, wondering if Suppo had somehow managed to slip another serving of Syrian beef stew past the Captain, but managed to eat some of it.
He did take time to walk Jen to the quarterdeck afterwards. "See you tomorrow?"
"No can do. I've got duty. It looks like you won't be visiting me, either."
"I think I can catch up. It sort of depends on what happens tomorrow."
"My father's going to be there tomorrow?"
"Yeah. No doubt of that."
"He respects it when you fight back, Paul."
"I'm not going into battle, Jen."
"Yes, you are. Be brave, my warrior." She giggled again. "I can't believe I'm joking about this."
"Me, neither."
"Oh, Paul, you'll comport yourself in the highest traditions of the Naval Service, yada, yada, yada."
"Yada back to you. Good night, Jen."
"I prefer saying that when we're sleeping in the same bed." She looked carefully in all directions, then seeing no witnesses, leaned up and gave Paul a quick kiss. "See you tomorrow, or the day after. Hang in there."
"That I know I can do. Love you, Jen."
"Ah, you say that to all your girlfriends."
Paul watched her leave, then walked slowly back to his stateroom. Hang in there. I guess that's the secret of life. Only I won't settle for just hanging in there where Silver's concerned. Commander Carr is right. We've got to nail him. After Paul finally got to bed, he spent a long time twisting and turning restlessly, his mind filled with questions about what Commander Jones might do in defense of Silver.
Chapter Twelve
"The defense calls as its first witness Captain Kay Shen, United States Navy, commanding officer of the USS Mahan." Captain Shen marched to the witness stand and took the seat as if he were striding to the captain's chair on the bridge of his ship. He glanced at the members' table, nodded very slightly toward Captain Mashiko, then looked straight ahead. If he took notice of Paul's presence in the courtroom, he didn't acknowledge it in any way.
Lieutenant Commander Jones adopted a similar rigidly correct stance as he stood before Captain Shen, matching the formality of his witness. "Captain Shen, you conducted the official investigation into the explosion and fire in Forward Engineering on the USS Michaelson on 19 September 2100. Is that correct?"
Captain Shen nodded once. "That's correct."
"Captain Shen, can you briefly describe your experience with warships which qualified you to conduct this investigation?"
"Certainly." Captain Shen glanced around as if ensuring everyone was paying attention. "I am currently commanding officer of the USS Mahan. Prior to that, I served as executive officer of the USS Midway. Before that, I was chief engineer on the USS Rickover, and main propulsion assistant on the USS Belleau Wood. I've also served on the staff of Commander Naval Space Forces, the staff of Commander, United States Space Forces, and as an instructor at Space Warfare School."
"Thank you, Captain Shen. Now will you summarize your conclusions from your investigation?"
"Briefly, I found no evidence of misconduct."
"No evidence of misconduct on anyone's part?"
"That's right."
"Including Lieutenant Silver, sir?"
"Correct."
"Did you reach any other conclusions regarding the performance of the officers and crew on the USS Michaelson?"
"I found no deliberate or willful failures, but did identify a number of training and procedural deficiencies that may have contributed to the accident."
"Captain, could you establish the physical cause of the explosion and fire?"
A flicker of anger lit Captain Shen's eyes. "No, I could not. The physical damage to Forward Engineering on the USS Michaelson was so extensive it had destroyed almost every source of information."
"Including the engineering logs, sir?"
Commander Carr shot to her feet. "Objection. It has already been established by expert witnesses that the damage to the engineer logs could not have been caused by the explosion and fire."
"Sustained." Judge Halstead bent a stern look toward Commander Jones. "Phrase your questions with care, counsel."
"Yes, Your Honor. Captain Shen, did you conclude the physical damage to the engineering logs had been caused by the explosion and fire?"
Commander Carr looked unhappy, but said nothing.
Paul understood her concerns. Captain Shen's conclusions are a matter of fact. Whether or not they were correct, and whether or not the members remember that they were wrong and why, is another problem.
"You concluded the damage was caused by the explosion and fire. On what basis did you reach that conclusion?"
Captain Shen looked around again before answering. "I called in an expert computer technician to examine the records. He could find no signs of deliberate tampering. That meant the damage had to have been caused incidental to the accident."
Commander Carr stood again. "Objection. The investigation's conclusions have already been disproved by expert witnesses. Restating them will only confuse the issues before the members."
"Your Honor," Jones insisted, "these conclusions are matters of fact."
"They're erroneous matters of fact, Your Honor."
A stern look from Halstead silenced Commander Carr and Commander Jones. "I can rule on what's already been stated, thank you very much. If counsel for the defense wishes to discredit previously established facts, he must provide evidence to support his position. Are you prepared to do that, Commander Jones?"
"No, sir."
"Objection sustained. Counsel for the defense is to refrain from bringing up any further items which have previously been disproved in the course of the trial."
"Yes, Your Honor." If Commander Jones was abashed at Judge Halstead's ruling, he didn't show it.
And why should he be? Paul thought. He's doing what he wants to do, bringing up stuff which will confuse and mislead the members of the court. He glanced over at Lieutenant Silver, who had adopted a pose of intent interest. Too bad he never looked that interested in doing his job when I stood bridge watches with him.
Commander Jones resumed his position before Captain Shen. "Captain, you've already established your experience in the Navy and as an officer on warships. Was your conclusion that the accident was the result of no willful or negligent wrongdoing based upon that experience?"
Paul looked toward Commander Carr, but she made no objection. Of course. She can't. We never disproved that result directly. It's one of the things the members of the court have to decide.
Captain Shen nodded. "That's also correct."
"You did not find Lieutenant Silver to have been negligent…" Jones drew out his sentence deliberately as Commander Carr tensed. "… based upon what you knew at that time."
Commander Carr relaxed slightly, but her eyes watched Commander Jones like a hawk tracking prey.
Captain Shen answered firmly. "No, I did not."