'That stuff? No. If you did, the FBI would have to haul in tens of thousands of gamers.'
'Do these gamers sometimes go overboard? Get so wrapped up in their game that they make use of props which are too realistic?'
'Oh, yeah. That happens. I could tell you stories.'
'Are you aware of the circumstances surrounding Lieutenant Pullman's arrest, Dr. Laskey?'
'Yes. In my opinion, based on a lot experience with actually carrying out this stuff, if there was espionage involved there then someone was doing a lousy job of tradecraft.'
'Tradecraft?' David Sinclair asked.
'Yes.' Laskey shifted position again and grinned broadly. 'That's short-hand for how to do spy-stuff right. False identifies, for example. We call it tradecraft.'
'But you said Lieutenant Pullman's arrest didn't indicate that he knew good tradecraft?'
'Not if was walking off his ship with classified material on him without ensuring there wasn't anyone waiting to nab him. Careless is the best word you could use.'
'Then you wouldn't interpret the circumstances of Lieutenant Pullman's arrest as indicating he was a trained espionage agent?'
'No.' Laskey grinned again. 'Not unless he flunked his training.'
'Thank you, Dr. Laskey. No further questions at this time.'
Commander Carr walked briskly toward the witness stand and faced Dr. Laskey's image. Laskey smiled confidently at her as Carr began speaking. 'Dr. Laskey, let's review some of your testimony. You said software similar to that found on Lieutenant Pullman can be found from many sources?'
'That's right.'
'Can that software carry out any legal functions?'
'Uh…' Laskey frowned. 'No. If it carried out legal operations, people could just buy it.'
'Then possession of the software constitutes evidence that someone wishes to carry out illegal operations? In other words, that the possessor has criminal intent?'
Laskey frowned again, his expression shifting as he clearly reevaluated the threat posed by Commander Carr. 'I can't say that.'
'But you can say the software has no legal function and anyone who wants that software could only use it for illegal activities.'
'If they used it, yes,' Laskey agreed reluctantly.
'And it has been previously established that the software was used during the downloading of classified material onboard USS Michaelson, Dr. Laskey. Now, these props you spoke of gamers making. How many of them are functional?'
'I beg your pardon?'
'How many of these gaming props can actually function as sophisticated espionage tools?'
Laskey rubbed his chin, thinking. 'I can't think of many, but it depends what you mean by sophisticated. You'd be amazed what kids can do.'
'By sophisticated I mean a station pass modified to display all area security clearances and false identities.'
'Yeah. That's sophisticated. No. I don't know any gamer who's done that kind of thing. If they do, they keep it quiet.'
'Because it's illegal?'
'That sort of thing is, yes.'
'Only authorized employees of the U.S. government are allowed to possess such devices?'
'If they're functional, yes.'
'And the pass in Lieutenant Pullman's possession was fully functional, wasn't it?'
'I haven't seen it myself.'
'Do you have reason to disagree with the testimony of the government's expert witness?'
'No. None that I know of.'
Commander Carr nodded, her eyes still fixed on Dr. Laskey, who was watching her closely. 'Now, as to your comments regarding the arrest of Lieutenant Pullman. Dr. Laskey, the basic idea behind tradecraft is to successfully accomplish missions and avoid either detection or capture, correct?'
'Yes. That's a good summation.'
'Yet agents do get caught. Can you summarize the reasons for that when it happens?'
Laskey sat back, rubbing his chin again. 'Ah, let's see. Bad luck. Sometimes there's no other word for it than that. Unexpected developments. Something no one foresaw that kills the mission. Sloppy execution. Somebody gets careless. Betrayal. Sometimes a combination of those things.'
Carr took another step closer to the witness stand. 'Then you say that sometimes covert agents are captured because they become sloppy? Careless? Over-confident?'
'Objection,' David Sinclair declared. 'Trial Counsel is leading the witness and putting words in his mouth.'
Carr held up one hand. 'I will restate the question. You are saying then, Dr. Laskey, that covert agents have been known to be sloppy in their tradecraft, so sloppy it results in their capture.'
'Yes. Sometimes.'
'Then would it be fair to say that failure to execute tradecraft correctly is one of the causes of mission failure for covert operatives?'
'That's another way of saying it, yes.'
'And you testified that Lieutenant Pullman did a sloppy job of executing tradecraft.'
Laskey regarded Carr for a long moment, then nodded. 'Yes, I did.'
'Meaning this case would not fall outside of the situations you know of in which covert operations failed.'
'Not in the broad sense, no. I won't say the exact circumstances necessarily match.'
'Dr. Laskey, you testified about gamers who go to great lengths to pretend at being spies, to role-play as spies. If someone uses real espionage methods, real espionage tools, and is caught with classified material, would you describe them as pretending to be engaged in espionage, or actually engaging in espionage?'
Another pause, then Laskey shrugged. 'If it quacks like a duck…'
'Please, Dr. Laskey, could you state your reply clearly for the record?'
'Yes. That is, I'd call that someone committing real espionage, or else so reality challenged they can't tell the difference between gaming and real life any more. That happens sometimes.'
'Thank you, Dr. Laskey. No more questions.'
'Does Defense Counsel wishes to redirect?'
David Sinclair, sitting at the defense table and looking straight ahead, shook his head at the judge's question. The members exchanged looks, but none of them had questions, either. Watching them, Paul couldn't help feeling that they hadn't been impressed by the witness. It wasn't that Laskey didn't obviously know what he was talking about, but rather that his points hadn't held up under Carr's cross-examination.
David Sinclair waited as the judge thanked Dr. Laskey, and as the display was turned off and removed from the courtroom, before speaking again. 'The defense calls as its next witness Lieutenant Paul Sinclair.'
Paul jerked his head around and stared toward David, who gazed back impassively. Commander Carr was giving Paul a surprised look, but reading his own reaction just tilted her head toward the witness stand.
He stood up and marched to the stand, feeling a slow burn of anger building. David had ambushed him, made him a defense witness with no notice. Would it have killed David to give Paul a heads-up?
Of course, David had to have seen how Commander Carr was consulting Paul at times. Maybe the ambush wasn't all that unreasonable.
Paul sat and was sworn in by the bailiff, then tried not to stare around the courtroom. The last time I was up on the witness stand was during Captain Wakeman's court-martial. That seems so long ago. At least then I knew it was going to happen and what I was supposed to be testifying about. His eyes, wandering across the courtroom despite his best efforts, focused on a man and woman sitting near the back among the observers. His mother and father, who'd managed to pull enough strings using their old Navy connections to come up in time for the hastily rescheduled wedding. They must've arrived this morning and come to the court as the surest way to
