Goldberg shook her head. 'No, sir. I believe the question has already been answered.'
'Trial counsel?'
Commander Carr gestured toward Goldberg. 'Trial counsel defers to the member, Your Honor.'
'Then I will sustain the objection. Again. Do the members have any further questions?'
Goldberg shook her head again. 'I don't, sir.'
Commander Destin received her instructions and left the courtroom, her gloom now lighted by a clear flare of anger.
Commander Carr called her next witness. 'Petty Officer First Class Ivan Sharpe.'
Sharpe strode to the witness stand looking every inch a master-at-arms, took the oath, then waited attentively for the first question from Commander Carr.
'Petty Officer Sharpe, did you encounter Chief Asher at any time on 19 September of this year?'
'Yes, ma'am.'
'Describe that encounter, if you please.'
'Ma'am, at approximately 1800 I returned to the ship to drop off a few personal purchases before heading out on liberty for the evening. As I headed back toward the quarterdeck, at about 1830, I passed Chief Petty Officer Asher going the other direction. He wasn't really looking at me, just glaring ahead like he was very upset, and he was talking to himself.'
'What did you hear Chief Asher say?'
'I heard three words distinctly as Chief Asher came abreast of me, ma'am. They were 'just do it.''
''Just do it'? What was Chief Asher's tone when he said those words?'
'Angry, ma'am.'
'What did you do?'
'I said hi, and he didn't react at first, then he looked at me like he was surprised to see me. I said hi again, and asked Chief Asher if he needed anything, if I could help him with anything. He looked at me for a couple of seconds, then shook his head, said 'no,' and headed on down the passageway.'
'You didn't follow him?'
'No, ma'am. Chief Asher had made it real clear he didn't want to share anything with me.'
'You had no idea why he was upset?'
'Not then, ma'am, no. Not an exact idea. I do know whenever I hear a fellow enlisted say 'just do it' he or she's repeating something they've been told by an officer.'
'Objection.' Commander Jones pointed at Sharpe. 'The witness is speculating about matters beyond his factual knowledge.'
'Sustained.' Judge Halstead gave Sharpe a hard look. 'The witness is reminded he is to testify to what he saw or heard and is not to speculate as to the meaning of those things.'
'Aye, aye, sir.'
Despite Sharpe's dispassionate reply, Paul could have sworn he caught a glint of satisfaction on his face. You did that on purpose, didn't you, Sheriff? You weren't sure it'd come out in questioning, so you went ahead and said it even though you knew you shouldn't. Well, I'm not going to rat on you.
Commander Carr tapped her data pad. 'I have the text of the investigation done on the accident on the USS Michaelson. It doesn't contain the information you just provided about Chief Asher. Why isn't that information in the investigation?'
'I don't know, ma'am. I submitted a statement.'
'A sworn statement?'
'Yes, ma'am. Witnessed by Senior Chief Kowalski of the USS Michaelson.'
'What became of that statement?'
'I don't know, ma'am. I submitted it.'
'Thank you, Petty Officer Sharpe. No more questions.'
Lieutenant Commander Jones approached Sharpe in an almost wary fashion which somehow made Paul think of a mongoose closing on a cobra. 'Petty Officer Sharpe, had you ever seen Chief Asher angry before the evening of 19 September?'
'Of course, sir. Chief Asher was human.'
'What sort of things made him angry on those earlier occasions?'
'The usual, sir. Personal problems, problems with enlisted junior to him, problems with equipment, problems with people in other divisions, problems within his duty section, problems with officers.' Another low chuckle briefly sounded through the court room.
'Then Chief Asher could have been angry for any of those same reasons that evening, couldn't he?'
'No, sir.'
'Why not, Petty Officer Sharpe?'
'Chief Asher shared problems like that with me. We were friends. Whatever was bothering him that night wasn't the usual stuff, or he'd have told me.'
Jones seemed to have tasted something sour. 'No further questions.'
Commander Carr smiled at Judge Halstead, 'No redirect, Your Honor.'
Paul wondered why Carr's smile seemed happy as well as polite. She sandbagged Jones, didn't she? She could've had Sharpe tell the court that bit about Asher being unhappy for an unusual reason, but she left it out in hope Jones would ask a predictable question that'd let Sharpe say it. Tough and sneaky. I definitely don't want to cross swords with Commander Alex Carr.
The next witness was Lieutenant Mike Bristol. Commander Carr questioned him about his knowledge of the spare. Yes, the ship's supply system had been asked about the status of a spare controller for the power transfer junctions. No, none had been available onboard, but some were available from the station supply depot within three or four working days. 'Wasn't your ship due to get underway on Monday, Lieutenant Bristol?'
'Yes, ma'am.'
'Then three or four days wouldn't have cut it, would it? Was there any way to get that spare part over the weekend?'
'Yes, ma'am. You can ask the station authorities for an emergency parts draw. That needs the ship's commanding officer's approval for the request, and it needs to go to the station's senior duty officer.'
Commander Carr paced back and forth before the witness stand. 'Then that spare could've been acquired over the weekend. Officially acquired in time to install it. But to do so Lieutenant Silver would've had to get his commanding officer's approval, and his commanding officer would've had to make an emergency request of the station.'
'Yes, ma'am.'
'In other words, he would have had to inform his superiors of the situation.'
'Yes, ma'am.'
'If the court pleases, I have a copy of a revised report from the physical investigation of Forward Engineering following the accident, and will quote from the revised conclusions: 'Initial investigations had focused on searching for unexplained fragments in the debris that might have represented explosive devices or sabotage, and upon analyzing remnants of equipment for evidence of the cause of the explosion. Based upon information supplied by shipboard personnel, fragmentary evidence from the compartment was reanalyzed and confirmed that pieces of two controller units for the power transfer junction were present.' This report confirms that by Saturday 19 September a spare was onboard the USS Michaelson.' Carr tapped her data pad a few times. 'Lieutenant Bristol, I have displayed here a picture of the package for a controller spare. Do you recognize it?'
'Yes, ma'am.'
'Why?'
'Because I share, I mean I shared a stateroom with Lieutenant Silver. On Friday night, Lieutenant Silver had a package like that under his desk.'
'Friday night the 18th of September?'
'Yes, ma'am.'
Paul couldn't hide his surprise. I never thought of asking Mike about that. But it makes sense. Where else would Silver have kept the part until Saturday?
'You didn't comment on it?'
