Paul watched the interplay, wondering if he'd really seen a flash of irritation on his brother's face when Pullman had spoken to him. I saw it and recognized it, I think, because I grew up with David. Nobody else probably noticed. I wonder why David's annoyed with Pullman?
Judge Campbell tipped her gavel toward Commander Carr. 'Proceed, Trial Counsel.'
'Thank you, Your Honor. The United States recalls as its next witness Captain Richard Hayes.'
Paul watched in surprise as Hayes came up the aisle again. Carr must've had him standing by in case she won the ruling on introducing the list into evidence.
'Captain Hayes, I'll remind you that you remain under oath. I'm going to revisit some testimony which we couldn't complete at your last appearance. When you were informed by NCIS representatives that classified material had been compromised to a foreign entity, did NCIS identify specific items which had been compromised?'
Hayes nodded. 'They did.'
'For the benefit of the members, I'll explain that those items are contained on the list which the court has just entered into evidence. Captain, was one of those items your ship's operational orders for your last underway period?'
'Yes, it was.'
'What was the classification of those orders?'
'Most of it was at the Secret level, but there were two Top Secret annexes.'
'Top Secret being the classification used to protect information whose disclosure is defined as that which would cause exceptionally grave damage to national security?'
'That's right.'
Commander Carr was standing directly in front of Captain Hayes, her arms crossed. 'Can you tell the court the general nature of the information contained in those two Top Secret annexes?'
Hayes nodded again. 'One was an intelligence assessment, and the other was our rules of engagement.'
'What, in general, did the intelligence assessment deal with?'
'Our assessments of the capabilities and intentions of the other foreign powers who'd be operating ships at the illegally settled asteroid.'
'What about the rules of engagement? What does that deal with?'
Hayes frowned in thought for a moment. 'Basically, the rules of engagement tell us what we're allowed to do and how we're allowed to do it. They set the limits on our actions.'
'Then by gaining access to your operational orders and those two annexes, someone would know what you expected them to do, and would know exactly what you were not allowed to do. Is that a fair summation?'
'Yes.' Captain Hayes nodded heavily. 'Yes, it is.'
'What is your personal assessment of the actions of the warships of the South Asian Alliance during the engagement at the asteroid?'
'Objection.' David Sinclair frowned at Carr. 'Trial Counsel is asking the witness to speculate as to the state of mind of other individuals.'
'Your Honor, I am asking the captain to provide us with his professional assessment of the manner in which the South Asian Alliance warships were observed to operate. I am not asking him to speculate as to the state of minds of the officers on those ships. I am only asking his impressions of their observed actions.'
Campbell frowned as well. 'It seems to this court that Trial Counsel's question is permissible.'
David Sinclair gestured toward Captain Hayes. 'Your Honor, how can the witness know what other ships intended? He can only speculate.'
Captain Nguyen at the witness table cleared her throat. 'Your Honor, if I may.'
Judge Campbell nodded. 'Please do.'
'Operational commanders routinely have to judge the intentions of other ships by observing their actions. It's a major part of their training and experience. It's very common not to have direct knowledge of what other ships or forces intend.'
'Then you regard Trial Counsel's question as falling well within the professional expertise of Captain Hayes?'
'Definitely, Your Honor.'
'Very well. That makes two of us. Objection overruled.'
Carr nodded gravely. 'Thank you, Your Honor. Captain Hayes, what was your impression of the actions of the South Asian Alliance warships during the engagement at the asteroid?'
Hayes reddened slightly, apparently still angered by the memory. 'My impression, and it was a very strong impression, was that they felt they had a free hand.'
'A free hand, sir?'
'Yes. They acted like they knew exactly what they could get away with, and exactly where to draw the line.'
Carr began pacing back and forth in front of the witness stand. 'Given what you've learned subsequently, that your orders had been compromised, do you believe that they acted they way they did because they knew what orders you were operating under?'
'Yes.'
'That they felt free to act in the manner they did, bombarding the settlers on asteroid and destroying the hijacked freighter, specifically because they knew the limits on your ability to respond?'
'Yes. I have no doubt of that at all.'
'Did the NCIS representatives tell you how they believed your orders had been compromised?'
'They did.' Hayes' expression had hardened as the questions dealt with events at the asteroid, and he steadfastly avoided looking toward Pullman. 'They revealed that a batch of documents had been delivered to the South Asian Alliance on approximately 16 June.'
'Just prior to your ship getting underway?'
'That's correct. A coded identifier on the copy of the orders in the possession of the South Asian Alliance indicated it was the same as the identifier on the orders sent to my ship.'
'Meaning the copy in the possession of the South Asian Alliance had to have been copied from the orders sent to your ship?'
'Yes.' Hayes took a deep breath, as if trying to calm his anger. 'The NCIS representatives also informed me that another delivery of documents had been made to the South Asian Alliance on 2 August.'
'Immediately following the return of your ship to Franklin Naval Station?'
'That's correct.'
'Did those documents also have identifiers indicating they'd been copied from your ship's systems?'
'They did.'
'What did you conclude from this?'
'That someone on my ship had been downloading classified documents and providing them to the South Asians.'
'What was your reaction to this conclusion, Captain?'
'I was… upset. I agreed to cooperate with NCIS in attempting to identify whoever was responsible.'
Carr stopped pacing and faced Captain Hayes again. 'Captain, was that your primary motivation? To identify the one responsible?'
Hayes seemed surprised by the question. 'Of course.'
'Not just find someone to blame. But find the one responsible.'
'I see what you're driving at now. Yes. I made sure NCIS understood I wanted that investigation conducted in such a way that we caught the one responsible, not anyone else.'
'Do you believe the investigation was indeed conducted to avoid catching anyone innocent and ensure the apprehension of the guilty party?'
'That's what I did my best to ensure.'
'Do you believe it succeeded in that?'
'Objection. Opinion.'
'I withdraw the question,' Commander Carr stated before the judge could rule on the objection. 'No more
