discussing a few final issues on the turnover, when Paul arrived. They both listened attentively. When Paul came to Commander Moraine's testimony he had to strip his description bare of all but the most basic information. Both captains exchanged glances, leading Paul to wonder what opinions they might share on Commander Moraine, but of course neither one would ever express any negative evaluation in front of Paul.
As Paul finished, Captain Hayes stood up, too. 'I guess that's all for tonight.' Hayes walked briefly with Paul as they left the Captain's cabin. 'You'll be at the court-martial, tomorrow, again.'
'That's still Captain Agee's orders, sir?'
'Yes. He'll be the only one getting briefed by you tomorrow evening.' Hayes looked around. 'It's very hard to believe that tomorrow I'll be relinquishing command of this ship to him. Hard to believe, but it'll be a tremendous weight off of my shoulders.'
'I wish I could be at the ceremony, sir.'
'You're needed in that courtroom. And you've been where I needed you when I needed you for about two years now, Paul. That's a lot more important than being at the change of command ceremony. You got your final evaluation from me. Any questions?'
'No, sir.' The evaluation had been glowing, ranking Paul in the top one percent, and actually embarrassing him with its praise of him as an officer. 'Thank you, sir.'
'There's nothing to thank me for. You earned it.' Hayes extended his hand. 'Good luck, Paul. Look me up when you get back.'
From Mars, he means. Paul shook the captain's hand, then watched him walk toward the quarterdeck. A few minutes later, Paul heard four strikes on the ship's bell in two pairs, then the announcement ' Michaelson, departing.' Very likely that was the last time Hayes would be bonged off the ship that way.
It was getting fairly late and Paul was worn out. Worn out from today, and worn out from three years of this duty. I know exactly what Kris Denaldo meant when she talked about it. He wandered into the wardroom and found Ensign Taylor there, kicking back with some coffee. 'Hey.'
Taylor raised her coffee in greeting. 'Hey, yourself. Long time no see. Speaking of which, I saw our boss coming aboard after her little visit to the court-martial. She didn't seem like a very happy camper. Matter of fact, Commander Migraine looked ready to bite pieces out of the hull and spit them at people.'
Paul couldn't help smiling. 'I can't imagine why.'
'I can. But I'd rather know the sordid truth. What happened?' Paul outlined the events in the court while Taylor smiled. 'I wish I'd been there to see it. But then it was nice to have her out of my hair for a while.' Taylor sighed. 'You remember I finally gave her that code she's been bugging me for?'
'Yeah. You thought it'd keep her busy for a while.'
'Oh, it's keeping her busy all right. The only problem is she wants me to sit down with her and go over that code line by line looking for 'errors.''
Paul didn't know whether to laugh or punch the bulkhead. 'How many millions of lines of code are there?'
'Too many. And Migraine don't know code worth a damn so she can't really identify problems with it.'
'How much time have you wasted on this?'
Taylor chuckled. 'Not much. See this key?' she asked, pointing to her data pad. 'I push this and my chief knows to call me with word that a critical piece of equipment just broke and I've got to get there real fast and help look at it.' Taylor leaned back and looked upward. 'It's downright amazing how many pieces of critical equipment I've had breaking lately.'
Paul sat down, shaking his head. 'And I'm leaving my division under her command. Not to mention you.'
'Not to worry. I can take care of myself, your relief Shwartz has her stuff together and the new guy they sent in to take Pullman's place looks like he's at least halfway intelligent. We'll keep things together.'
'But you'll have to put up with Moraine for at least another year!'
'No, we won't.' Taylor shook her head, then took a meditative sip of coffee. 'I've seen Moraine's type before. Had a division officer a lot like her once. Commander Migraine's gonna self-destruct just like he did. People like that always do. I give her another couple of months and she'll either have a breakdown or screw up so bad she'll be relieved for cause.'
'Really?' Paul stared at his coffee for a moment. 'I know it's dumb, but I hate to see that happen to someone.'
Taylor shrugged. 'It's a waste, if that's what you mean. But Moraine get herself on this path a long time ago. You and me tried to straighten her out, remember? Didn't work, even though you were so diplomatic about it I wanted to slug you a few times. I guess they teach you that diplomatic stuff at the Academy, huh? In the same classes where you learn to drink tea with your pinky finger out?' Taylor shifted her grip on her coffee, holding it with absurd delicacy, her pinky finger extended.
Paul laughed. 'I think they got rid of the pinky finger classes back in the twentieth century.'
'Are you sure? I could've sworn I saw some Academy graduates drinking their caffeine-free herbal tea that way just the other day. It makes it real easy to see their rings.' Taylor waved her coffee around. 'Like this. 'Yoo hoo! I'm an Academy graduate! Look how well eddicated and well mannered I are!'' She pretended to pick her nose with her ring finger, then extended the digit. ''Yoo hoo! Are there any lowly enlisted people around to dispose of this for me?''
'I could offer a few suggestions on what you could do with it yourself,' Paul offered.
'But you won't because you're still too well-mannered despite my best efforts. Well, even though I haven't been able to corrupt your young soul too much, I hope some of me rubbed off on you.'
'I hope so, too.' They toasted each other with their coffee.
'All rise.' Paul and the others in the courtroom stood to attention. After the judge and members had entered and everyone else had been given permission to sit down again, Paul looked around, trying to gauge how things were going. Commander Carr seemed quietly confident, but then she always seemed to try to project that image in court. Paul didn't know Lieutenant Owings well enough to read his expression or body language, and David Sinclair simply displayed a sort of calm determination. Brad Pullman was the only one whose mood was easy to figure out, his confident smile and posture unaltered by events in the courtroom so far. Paul couldn't help wondering what as-yet-undisclosed defense evidence or tactic of sufficient power existed to justify Pullman's attitude.
'This court-martial is now open.' Judge Campbell looked around as well. 'Prior to Trial Counsel resuming her presentation of the government's case, the court will issue its ruling regarding the admissibility into evidence of a list of classified material identified as having been compromised to foreign entities. As a result of being provided additional information regarding the means by which the list was compiled and the criteria used to place items on that list, it is the opinion of this court that the means used are sufficiently unbiased and certain to constitute matters of fact. Therefore it is the ruling of this court that the list be entered into evidence.'
David Sinclair stood. 'Your Honor, Defense Counsel wishes to register a protest regarding this decision. While not questioning the judgment of the court or implying partiality, the fact remains that only Lieutenant Pullman's lawyers have a primary interest in obtaining the best result for their client. Yet neither Defense Counsel nor his assistant have been allowed to directly examine or question the means and criteria used in compiling this list. The decision to exclude Lieutenant Pullman's legal representatives from this process can only act to the prejudice of Lieutenant Pullman. Defense Counsel formally requests that the court reconsider its decision and allow Lieutenant Pullman's representatives a role in evaluating the nature of the list in question.'
Judge Campbell listened without displaying any reaction, then simply nodded. 'Defense Counsel's protest and request are noted and will be part of the record of this trial. However, the court will not reconsider its decision. In matters of national security due deference must be paid to the need to protect intelligence sources and methods. It is the judgment of this court that in the case of this list, such deference does not act to bias the case against Lieutenant Pullman. I might add that the court has a high degree of confidence that higher levels of judicial review will concur with this judgment.'
David Sinclair's mouth tightened, but he nodded and sat down. Brad Pullman leaned over and whispered something to his lawyer while displaying a reassuring expression. David Sinclair nodded sharply and focused on the judge.
