Paul kept his voice from betraying that emotion. 'About six months, sir.'
'Six months? That's all?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Whereas Commander Garcia has over sixteen years of fleet experience?'
'Yes, sir.'
'And whereas Lieutenant Sindh has six years of fleet experience? But you only have six months?'
Lieutenant Commander Garrity stood. 'If it please the court, trial counsel is badgering the witness. The defense is prepared to stipulate that Ensign Sinclair has relatively less fleet experience than the other officers who have testified.'
Judge Holmes nodded. 'Very well. Let the record so stipulate. Move on, Commander Wilkes.'
'Yes, Your Honor. Ensign Sinclair, how would you characterize your performance as a fleet officer?'
'Objection.'
'Sustained. Commander Wilkes, copies of Ensign Sinclair's fitness evaluations to date have been entered in the court records. We don't need to go over that ground in your questioning.'
'Yes, Your Honor. Ensign Sinclair, your legal experience is limited to four weeks, isn't that correct?'
'No, sir. My legal training is limited to four weeks. Since reporting to the Michaelson and being designated the ship's legal officer, I have been involved in legal issues on almost a daily basis.'
'I see. Do you think this qualifies you as a lawyer?'
'No, sir.'
'Do you aspire to be a lawyer?'
' No, sir.'
Wilkes indicated his data link. 'I have a supplemental statement from Commander Garcia which I'd like to enter into the record. Commander Garcia states in it that Ensign Sinclair used his legal duties as an excuse to avoid carrying out his line officer duties.'
Judge Holmes looked over at Garrity. 'You're not objecting?'
Garrity stood and smiled. 'No, your honor. The defense would also like to enter a supplemental statement into the record. A statement from Commander Herdez, Commander Garcia's superior officer, to the effect that Ensign Sinclair spent time on ship's legal officer duties only in direct response to tasking from her and Captain Wakeman.'
'I see. This appears to come down to a personnel management issue. What would the members recommend?'
Admiral Fowler grinned. 'Let's junk both of them.'
Wilkes actually looked rattled for a moment. 'Admiral?'
'You heard me. I don't see where entering these statements into the record will prove anything. I'm sympathetic to the feelings of a department head that one of his subordinates is being diverted from his primary duties by a collateral duty. But I am also sympathetic to the demands made upon the time of a junior officer and the need to devote time to responding to appropriate collateral duty tasking from his superiors. Unless Commander Garcia's statement contains an itemized list of incidents and times where Ensign Sinclair failed to carry out his primary duties as a result of lower-priority tasks related to his job as ship's legal officer, I don't regard it as proving anything. Captain Nguyen? Captain Feres?'
Nguyen nodded. 'I agree, Admiral.'
Feres frowned, then nodded as well. 'I can see grounds for complaint on Garcia's part but… yes, Admiral. There's no point in introducing these statements.'
'Captain Valdez? Captain Bolton? Do you also agree? It's unanimous, Captain Holmes.'
Wilkes seemed ready to continue to his argument, but Judge Holmes forestalled him with one hand held up in a stop gesture. 'It's decided, Commander Wilkes. The members make a persuasive case. Neither supplemental statement will be entered into the court record. Please continue with your questioning of Ensign Sinclair.'
'Yes, Your Honor. Ensign Sinclair, when Captain Wakeman prepared to fire a warning shot at the SASAL ship, did he ask you for advice on his authority to do so?'
'Yes, sir.'
'And what did you tell him regarding his use of force at that point?'
'I told him that my interpretation of our orders was that they authorized him to fire the warning shot.'
'You told the captain he could fire on the SASAL ship?'
' No. Sir. I told the captain our orders said he had discretion to act as he deemed necessary and appropriate. That was about firing a warning shot across the bow. The issue of actually firing on the ship was never addressed to me.'
'Didn't Commander Herdez, the ship's executive officer, question the captain openly about the wisdom of firing that warning shot?'
'Yes, sir, she did. That's why the captain asked for my opinion on whether our orders authorized him to do it.'
'So, in the face of obvious concern by the ship's executive officer, you told Captain Wakeman that he pretty much had a free ticket to do whatever he wanted?'
Paul took a moment to answer, trying to ensure his voice remained steady. Experience in reporting to, and being chewed out by, seniors like Garcia and Wakeman gave him the confidence to do so. 'No, sir. The Captain asked me about whether our orders authorized him to fire a warning shot. I told him I thought they could be interpreted to do so.'
'Didn't that warning shot cause the SASAL ship to change course and precipitate the events which led to Captain Wakeman destroying that ship?'
'Objection. We cannot determine the cause of the SASAL ship's actions.'
'I'll rephrase the question. Didn't the SASAL ship immediately change course after the Michaelson fired that warning shot, a course change which led to Captain Wakeman's decision to fire on the ship?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Then you bear some of the responsibility for this tragedy as well, don't you?'
'Objection. The preliminary investigation of these events did not implicate Ensign Sinclair as being in any way responsible.'
Wilkes shook his head. 'Perhaps that conclusion should be revisited. If Ensign Sinclair's advice led Captain Wakeman to take a decisive action, his role in this should be closely examined.'
Garrity faced the judge even though she addressed her question to Wilkes. 'Are you claiming Ensign Sinclair's advice was inaccurate or incorrect to the best of his knowledge at the time?'
'I don't have to claim that. If he told his captain something that helped precipitate the chain of events which led to the destruction of another ship, then that taints his testimony.'
'Wait a minute,' Admiral Fowler interrupted the lawyers' verbal sparring. 'Captain Holmes, may I?'
'Certainly, Admiral.'
'Commander Wilkes, you seem to be asking Ensign Sinclair why he answered to the best of his ability a question put to him by his commanding officer. Captain Wakeman asked Sinclair what their orders said regarding his discretion to act. In response, Sinclair provided the information his commanding officer asked for. As my mother always says, 'what're you gonna do?''
'That's right,' Captain Feres agreed. 'What was Ensign Sinclair's alternative? Are you suggesting Sinclair should have refused to answer, or provided information he believed to be incorrect?'
Commander Wilkes smiled briefly. 'No, sir. Of course not. But if Ensign Sinclair's advice contributed to the course of action followed by Captain Wakeman, then that would motivate Ensign Sinclair to attempt to exonerate Captain Wakeman and, by extension, himself.'
Fowler frowned, looking at his fellow officers to either side. 'That seems like a real Catch-22 to me, Commander. If he gave his captain bad advice, then he's indeed guilty of contributing to these unfortunate events. But you're saying if he gave his captain good advice, or simply advice which to the best of his knowledge accurately reflected a portion of the orders under which they were operating, then he's still guilty because he'd be motivated by a desire to exonerate himself. Your line of questioning doesn't seem to leave Ensign Sinclair any proper course of action to follow. I repeat, what're you gonna do?'
Lieutenant Commander Garrity turned to face the judge. 'If it please the court, I'd like to stipulate that during
