fundamental issues of the environment in which Lieutenant Pullman worked.'
'I agree. Objection overruled. The witness is directed to answer the question.'
Commander Moraine looked daggers at Commander Carr, who seemed totally unaffected. 'I do not… believe… the problems were quite that severe.'
'Please answer yes or no, Commander Moraine. Were the preexisting problems with procedures and performance which you have testified existed in the Operations Department at least up until 20 August serious in nature?'
'This is a complex question-'
'Commander Moraine, when you relieved the prior Operations Department head and assumed command of that department, you signed a letter. The same letter every officer on a ship signs when they assume responsibilities for their division or department or ship, one which states you have assumed your duties and responsibilities. That letter is required to state significant problems, isn't it, Commander?'
'Normally. Yes.'
'Did you indicate the existence of any significant problems in the Operations Department in that letter, Commander Moraine?'
Moraine struggled, but finally got out one word. 'No.'
'With the exception of the cases alleged here, were there any cases of mishandling of classified materials within the Operations Department of the USS Michaelson in the two years prior to 20 August?'
'I…'
'The collateral duty security manager of the USS Michaelson is still present in this courtroom, Commander Moraine,' Carr stated, sweeping one hand back to point at Paul, who once again wondered how it was that today he kept getting singled out in the courtroom for that reason. 'Shall I call him to the stand to answer that question?'
'No! I'm not aware of any such cases.'
'Then is it accurate to state that there was no evidence of a pervasive, serious problem with the handling of classified material in the Operations Department prior to and up to 20 August?'
'Yes!'
'Is it also accurate to say that you have stated no concerns regarding the safe handling of classified material within the Operations Department to your superiors on the Michaelson? Well, Commander? Did you inform the Captain or Executive Officer of such concerns?'
'No!'
'Thank you, Commander. No further questions.'
Judge Campbell had continued regarding Commander Moraine with an interested expression. 'Do the members have any questions for the witness?'
Captain Nguyen looked around, her expression still carefully bland. 'Anyone? No? No, Your Honor, we don't need to hear any more from this witness.'
Commander Moraine marched stiffly out of the courtroom, her eyes glaring at Paul briefly before she went past. Paul let out a long breath. If I wasn't transferring off the Michaelson I'd be toast. Talk about fortunate timing.
Chapter Ten
After the thrill and excitement of watching Commander Moraine's exercise in trying to ensure she wasn't held to fault for anything, the rest of the afternoon turned out to be as dull as Commander Carr had predicted to Paul.
Expert witnesses were called who testified as to the exact content of security instructions and the proper procedures for handling classified material. Other experts were called, these the technicians who had swept the Michaelson for taps in the wake of Pullman's arrest. They'd found three, it turned out, one each in the captain's cabin, the executive officer's stateroom and Commander Moraine's stateroom. Paul found himself wondering what the odds were of a single stateroom holding two taps, one from NCIS and the other from a foreign source, at the same time. The second sweep a few days before this had turned up no new taps on the ship. Carr made sure that the fact that no new taps had been placed since Pullman's arrest was emphasized.
'Could you determine the origin of the taps?' Carr asked the chief technician.
'Not with one hundred percent certainty.' The technician, whose eyes like everyone else's nowadays had perfect vision, still kept moving his hand as if fiddling with nonexistent glasses. 'However, nano-scale analysis revealed a very high probability that they were manufactured at a facility in the South Asian Alliance.' The technician then explained the nano-scale analysis in sufficient detail to threaten the entire courtroom with terminal sleeping sickness.
David Sinclair, for his part, kept hammering away at every possible place to try to force holes in the government's case. No, the technicians agreed, they had nothing definitively tying the taps to Lieutenant Brad Pullman. No fingerprints, not even stray DNA from flakes of skin. Apparently the taps had been periodically changed out to allow the old ones to be returned to their makers and exploited, so there was no paper trail of material from the taps to Lieutenant Pullman or anyone else.
But, Commander Carr was able to remind the courtroom again, no new ones had been placed since Pullman's arrest.
Judge Campbell, releasing the last technical witness with almost obvious relief, tapped her gavel on her bench. 'This court-martial is closed. It will reconvene at ten hundred tomorrow morning in this courtroom for the continuation of the government's presentation.'
After the judge and members had left the court, Paul finally let out the yawn that had been building for over an hour. Carr give him a weary grin. 'I told it you wouldn't be that thrilling this afternoon.'
'Not after until my boss finished testifying.'
'Yes. Sorry about that. I gave her as many chances as I could to rebut her own statements about problems in her department. Did she think saying that would make her look good?'
'By the time she was done, I'm not sure she knew why she was saying what she said.'
Commander Carr gave another grin. 'I wasn't going to let her offer an out to Pullman. Your brother gambled that I wouldn't be hard on my own witness. He lost. It's obvious your brother is trying to build a defense that Pullman's actions were just ill-advised, not deliberately criminal.'
'Will it work?'
'Not if I can help it. But given the physical evidence that exists, it's probably his best option. If he can't convince the members that somebody planted those coins on Pullman, he'll have to try to convince them that Pullman was just being stupid.'
Paul looked down, frowning. 'Brad Pullman's not stupid. I think David will try to say Brad got over-eager and had one of those it-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time moments.'
Carr paused and gave Paul a thoughtful look. 'Yes. It would match the rest of what's being said about Pullman. Thank you, Paul.'
He nodded. So here I am helping the prosecution. How do I know it wasn't a case of Pullman being too cocky, too eager to show how smart he was, being smart enough to do something he shouldn't but not smart enough to realize it'd get him in trouble? Like when he messed with those communications links? That's bad, but it's not espionage. It's not selling secrets to the enemy.
'Have a good evening,' Commander Carr added. 'I expect we'll get a ruling from the judge tomorrow on whether or not we'll be allowed to enter that list of compromised classified material into evidence. If we do, we may see your captain on that witness stand again.'
'Do you think the judge will admit the evidence?'
'I honestly can't make a call on that. Judge Campbell is very good at using her irascibility to mask her thoughts. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out what she's decided.'
The courtroom emptied rapidly. Paul, knowing he had to brief the captain on the rest of the court-martial events that day, hastened back to the ship. Hayes and Captain Agee were both in the Captain's cabin, doubtless
