"That's right! I…" Hidalgo glared at Bashir. "I'd never let a ship leave this station in an unsafe condition!"
"Thank you, Admiral."
Paul had to resist an urge to bury his face in his hands. Hidalgo's last statement was bound to play well with the members of the court. Did Bashir screw this up or was there no way to get anything good for Jen out of this witness? I don't know. But it went badly for Jen.
Judge McMasters gestured toward Captain Carney. "Do the members of the court have any questions for this witness?"
Lieutenant Ishiki looked as if he might be preparing to speak, but Captain Carney looked at him and Ishiki subsided. Carney was shaking his head when Commander Bolton spoke up.
"Excuse me, Captain. Admiral Hidalgo, I'm not an engineering expert. I do know there's always some degree of uncertainty in any engineering process. Some level of concern. As you yourself said, no engineering system is ever in perfect shape. But you say it's still possible to rule out any accidental cause for what happened to the Maury 's engineering system?"
Hidalgo nodded firmly. "Yes, Commander. It's more than possible. It's the only possible conclusion. Every sub-system in engineering has safety interlocks, both physical and virtual. They all have been extensively tested to absolutely minimize any chance of the sort of overload that causes explosive failure. But, yes, that doesn't mean it's absolutely impossible for one piece of equipment to have that happen. But every piece of equipment? Every sub-system? Nearly simultaneously? The odds of that are so very, very tiny that only the word impossible fits."
Bolton nodded, looking impressed. "Thank you, Admiral."
Carney took another look at the members. "Nothing else. Right?" It was much a command to the more junior members of the court as it was a question. "Fine. Thank you, sir."
Judge McMasters turned toward the witness stand. "Rear Admiral Hidalgo, you are temporarily excused. Please ensure you are present for the remainder of this court-martial in the event you need to be called again. As long as this trial continues, do not discuss your testimony or knowledge of the case with anyone except counsel. If anyone else tries to talk to you about the case, stop them and report the matter to one of the counsels."
"Absolutely." Rear Hidalgo stood and marched back down the aisle.
Paul watched him go, then focused back on Captain Carney. He's obviously planning on running a tight ship. How much does he have the other officers on the court intimidated? Will he be able to keep them from asking anything Carney doesn't want them to ask?
Chapter Ten
The next two witnesses for the prosecution, a civilian supervisor from Franklin's shipyard who'd overseen the Maury 's engineering systems work and the captain in charge of the Fleet Engineering Readiness Group, simply reinforced the points elicited from Rear Admiral Hidalgo. No, it couldn't have been an accident. Yes, someone had to cause it to happen. No, we don't know exactly how they did it, but it had to be sabotage.
"The United States calls as its next witness Captain Richard Hayes, United States Navy."
Paul had known his own commanding officer was going to be called to testify, but he still didn't enjoy watching Captain Hayes come down the center of the court-room and take his place on the witness stand. Hayes scanned the room quickly after he'd sat, giving Paul a sharp, quick nod of recognition as Hayes' eyes swept over him.
Commander Carr faced the witness stand. "Captain Hayes, what is your current duty assignment?"
Hayes shifted position slightly in the witness chair as he answered. "I'm commanding officer of the USS Michaelson."
"Were you in command of the USS Michaelson on 21 February of this year?"
"I was. Yes."
"And was the USS Michaelson operating with the USS Maury at that time?"
"Yes. We were."
Commander Carr walked over to the courtroom display, where an image of an area of space had appeared, two long, curving tracks superimposed over the emptiness. "Captain Hayes, this is a representation of the area of space in which the Michaelson and the Maury were operating on 21 February." One of the curving tracks glowed brighter for a moment. "This was the path of the Michaelson." The other track glowed. "And this the track of the Maury."
Hayes studied the picture, then nodded. "That looks right."
"The two ships rendezvoused here." An small area where the two curving tracks swung close together shone a bit brighter. "Can you tell us in your own words what happened immediately thereafter, Captain?"
"Nothing at first." Hayes tilted his chin toward the diagram. "As you see, the two ships came together. Then we both deactivated our anti-detection devices at the same time."
"You were on the bridge of the Michaelson?"
"Yes. It was a somewhat risky maneuver, coming so close to another ship at those speeds with the anti-detection devices fully operative. I was on the bridge, along with my executive officer."
"You said nothing happened 'at first.' What happened after that?"
Hayes looked as if he tasted something sour. "The Maury 's image was suddenly obscured on our sensors. Full spectrum obscured. It took us all a minute to realize what it meant. But our combat and maneuvering systems immediately identified the hazard to us."
Carr looked concerned. "Hazard? To the Michaelson?"
"Yes." Hayes glanced toward Paul. "An explosion like that generates a lot of debris. The Michaelson was in the path of some of it. We had to worry about the damage it might do to us."
"You couldn't just evade it?"
"No time. We were too close to the Maury and with the stuff spreading put in all directions it would have taken too long to get us clear of it. I ordered my ship to engage large pieces of debris and we rode out the impact wave."
"Your own ship sustained some damage, sir?"
Hayes made a dismissive gesture. "Superficial damage. Outer hull mostly."
Commander Carr indicated the display again. "Just before the Maury suffered her damage, was the Michaelson monitoring conditions in the area, Captain?"
Hayes nodded. "Sure. We do that all the time."
"What do you monitor?"
"Everything we can. Any objects, natural or artificial. Radiation levels across the spectrum. You name it."
"Did the Michaelson detect anything out of the ordinary prior to the Maury suffering damage?"
"Out of the ordinary?" Captain Hayes shook his head. "No."
"No unusual radiation levels in any part of the spectrum?"
"No."
"No hazardous objects near the Michaelson or the Maury?"
"No."
"Nothing that caused you concern for the safety of either your ship or the Maury?"
"No."
Carr came to stand before the witness stand again. "You detected no signs of any danger to your ship or the Maury. No external elements which could've accounted for what happened to the Maury."
Hayes shook his head again. "No, Commander. Nothing like that."
"And no unusual or worrisome detections from the Maury herself?"
"No. She'd lit herself up, just like we had, but it was all normal equipment emissions."
"Then, Captain, would you say as a commanding officer whose own ship was present in the same location as the Maury that whatever caused the damage to the Maury had to have originated inside the ship?"
Hayes pondered the question for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Yes. I'd have to say that."
"But there were also no warning signs from the Maury."
"That's right. It just happened."
Commander Carr lowered her voice slightly. "Captain, what was the reaction of your engineers when they discovered the Maury 's engineering compartments had been destroyed?"
"Shock." Hayes nodded firmly this time. "Disbelief."
"Did you ask them how such a thing could've happened?"