"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."