The two women broke their grip. Commander Carr took a step back. 'Thank you, too, Paul, for uncovering that withheld evidence.' Jen's eyes widened and she stared at Paul. 'You didn't hear that, yet, Lieutenant Shen? Yes. At almost literally the last minute, your lover here found that site full of materiel I never saw, and talked your lawyer and I into getting the court to force it open. I'd hang on to him if I was you.' Carr inclined her head toward the back of the courtroom. 'I have to leave for a command performance with Judge McMasters. Good luck, Ms. Shen.'
Jen massaged her hand as she watched Carr walk away. 'She works out.'
Paul nodded. 'She's got a chin-up bar installed in her office.'
'I could tell. I need to get one, too.' She looked over at Bashir. 'Thanks, Lieutenant. Now what?'
He waved toward the courtroom door, smiling broadly. 'You're free. Charges are dropped. You can go anywhere and do anything you damn well please.'
'Does that mean I report back to the Maury?'
Bashir looked surprised, then nodded. 'Well, yes.'
'Just like I've been on temporary duty and am checking back in, huh? 'Hi, guys. I'm back.' 'So, Jen, how was the brig?' 'It sucked.' 'Really?'' Jen shook her head and looked at Paul. 'I can't believe I'm already joking about this.'
'It's a coping mechanism.'
'You've been talking to that chaplain, haven't you?' Jen grinned and raised her arms. 'I'm free. Damn it feels good. C'mon, Paul, let's take a walk, just you and me and no guards or surveillance systems. Thanks, Lieutenant Bashir.'
'Hey, it's my job.' Bashir smiled even wider. 'I beat Alex Carr! I've got to tell everybody at the office. Excuse me!' He rushed off.
Jen took a few tentative steps toward the door, then paused as someone else approached. Lieutenant Kalin's face reflected distress. 'Lieutenant Shen, I wanted to apologize.'
'You, too?' Jen managed another smile.
'I'm sorry? I just mean… we would've voted to convict. I know we would've. There just…' Kalin gestured helplessly. 'I would've done the very best I could and I still would've done the wrong thing and I'm so very sorry I came so close to doing that.'
Paul looked at Jen again, but this time she seemed unable to muster a response. 'Lieutenant, I'm sure Ms. Shen appreciates that.' Jen nodded mutely.
'Thank you.' Lieutenant Kalin looked back to where Captain Carney and the other members of the court were standing and arguing with each other. 'I'd better get back.'
Jen closed her eyes for a moment, then started walking again. 'I thought she'd vote for me,' Jen whispered just loudly enough for Paul to hear.
Me, too. I bet Captain Carney's kissing goodbye those rear admiral stars he's been dreaming about.
'It's funny,' Jen continued. 'You always think, if I was accused of something I didn't do, I'd just show everyone I didn't do it and everything'd be fine. But it's not that way. It's a lot harder.'
Paul nodded. 'I never really thought about it this way before. I guess there's a reason it's been made hard to convict people.'
'Not hard enough. And I never thought I'd say that. Maybe I'll change my mind again, some day. But it'll take a while. A long while.' They cleared the door of the courtroom, Jen looking around, her expression gradually brightening. 'Oh, this feels good. You never know how important it is to be able to walk out a door until you're not allowed to do it. But I'm free again.'
Paul nodded, smiling. I can't tell her yet about all the news coverage of the charges against her. She's been through so much and deserves not to have this moment ruined. The media spent weeks going over the awful things she supposedly did. How much time will the news media spend telling everybody she was innocent?
Jen glanced at him, her expression suddenly rueful. 'Okay. Say it.'
'Say what?'
'I was a horrible bitch. I yelled and screamed at you and told you to shut up and go away while you were literally saving me.'
Paul shrugged. 'It's not like you weren't under a lot of stress.'
'Are you trying to say you weren't bothered by it?'
'Uh, no. It bothered me. Truth to tell, it hurt. A lot.'
Jen looked at him, her eyes searching his. 'I'll make it up to you. I swear.'
'I don't want-'
'That blasted sweet little lawyer of yours is right.'
'Commander Carr? About what? And she's not-'
'I need to hang on to you. You deserve your answer by now. You deserved it a long time ago.'
'My answer? To what?'
Jen buried her face in her hands. 'He's forgotten. Marriage? Remember?'
'Oh, I, uh, Jen, I…'
'Never mind.'
'But, Jen!'
She dropped her hands and peered at him. 'I must really be crazy. Yes.'
'Yes?' Paul hesitated, not entirely certain if he'd heard right, or what question it now applied to.
'I'll spell it phonetically for you, sailor.' Jen leaned close, her eyes looking directly into Paul's. 'Yankee. Echo. Sierra. Yes. I want to marry you. I've wanted to marry you for a long time.'
'Jen, I… I…'
'You're so articulate at times like this.' She glanced to either side, then risked a quick kiss. 'I don't care if we're in uniform. Technically, I'm not, since I need to get my ribbons and all back. I take it you're happy?'
'Incredibly happy.' Paul imagined he had a big, goofy smile on his face, but didn't particularly care.
'Good. That makes two of us. Did you arrange for Herdez to be there on Friday, too?'
'Not really. I did ask her to let you know she supported you.'
'So she came as a favor to you. It was still a nice gesture.'
'No, Jen, she came because she wanted to show she supported you.'
Jen laughed. 'Herdez? Uh-huh. Right. She was probably thinking 'that no-load Shen is just one problem after another.''
'Herdez thinks you're a good officer!'
'She thinks you're a good officer. Not that it matters all that much right now. I'll even invite her to the wedding if you want.'
Paul grinned. The wedding. Then something occurred to him. Herdez wants me to go back on ship duty after a year on shore. But now I know I'm going to be married to Jen. Well, I'll just have to explain that to Herdez.
'What're you thinking about?'
'Planning. For the future.'
'Oh, yeah. A big family get-together. Did you ever try to tell my father about the charges against me?'
'No. You told me not to.'
'Yeah.' She sighed and looked outward as if she could somehow see her father's ship. 'The Mahan probably heard anyway. Somehow. I'll need to send him an update and tell him he won't have to worry about visiting hours at Leavenworth. And I'm telling him that I'm marrying you whether he likes it or not.'
Captain Shen's probably going to have a hard time deciding which is worse, having Jen sent to Leavenworth or having her marry me.
'What about your parents?' Jen continued. 'I haven't had much opportunity to get to know them. Are you sure they'll be all that thrilled about this?'
'Positive.' Paul stopped at a public phone and punched in a number. His mother's face appeared. 'That stuff you didn't give me? It worked. Jen's free.'
Julia Sinclair smiled brightly. 'That was fast.'
'It had to be. SEERS was installed on the Maury even though it hadn't passed its tests. Why would anyone have allowed that, Mom? Have something sent on to ships when they knew it might literally blow up someday?'
