meet up with their sons. Hi, Mom and Dad! You've arrived on-station in time to watch one of your sons examining your other son on a witness stand in court.
As David approached the witness stand again, Paul made a point of catching his eye and then looking pointedly toward their parents. David followed the gesture so smoothly it probably wasn't apparent to other watchers, then locked eyes with Paul again and quirked a smile so fast it too was probably lost on anyone else watching.
'Are you Lieutenant Paul Sinclair, currently assigned to duty on the USS Michaelson?'
'I am.'
'Do you know the defendant?'
Paul finally looked over toward Brad Pullman. 'Yes.'
'What has been the nature of your relationship to the defendant?'
Paul took a deep breath before answering, giving himself time to order his thoughts. 'I knew Lieutenant Pullman in passing at the Academy. We were classmates and had a few classes together. The next time I saw him was when he reported onboard the Michaelson for duty.'
'How close was your relationship on the ship?'
'We were roommates,' Paul noted. 'We didn't stand any watches together. We ate a number of meals together on the junior officer meal shift. We attended some training sessions together.'
'Would you say you knew Brad Pullman as well as anybody else on the ship did, if not better than anyone else did?'
Paul thought about that, then nodded. 'Probably. Yes.'
'Did you have conversations? About work and about your personal lives?'
'Yes. Sure.' Paul couldn't help remembering the conversation when he'd worn the NCIS wire and hoped that didn't show on his face.
'Did you share confidences?'
'Some, I guess. No deep, dark secrets.'
'Do you regard yourself as Lieutenant Pullman's friend?'
Paul gazed at his brother's face. David was looking back with a dispassionate expression, giving no clue as to what answer he wanted. Not that it mattered, because Paul only had one answer he could honestly give. 'I think we were friendly, but he wasn't onboard the ship that long and we didn't really have time to become friends as I'd define the term.'
If he was disappointed by that answer, David gave no sign. 'Then you wouldn't consider yourself a partisan for Lieutenant Pullman?'
It hurt to say it, in a way, because Pullman had been a shipmate. 'No. I mean, I want him to get a fair shake. Just like anyone else.'
David pointed at Pullman. 'Prior to Lieutenant Pullman's arrest, did you ever have cause to suspect him of wrongdoing?'
That was a tough one. Paul had known of the NCIS evidence, which had led him to suspect Pullman. Sort of. He'd really been sure it'd been Commander Moraine, though. So what was the right, true answer? 'No. I personally did not suspect him of wrongdoing.'
'Did you ever feel you had cause to doubt his trustworthiness?'
'No.'
'Did you ever entrust Lieutenant Pullman with any special obligation, any special responsibility, freely and without worry that he'd fail to meet that responsibility?'
'Do you mean like turning over the watch to him? I did that, yes. He relieved me a few times as Junior Officer of the Deck. I relieved him of the same watch quite a few times.'
'Without any qualms?'
'Right.'
David looked over at the members, then back at Paul. 'During your last period of time together while the ship was out of port, a tragedy occurred. You observed South Asian Alliance ships bombarding an illegal civilian settlement of an asteroid. Did you have any opportunity to observe Lieutenant Pullman during that event?'
Paul thought hard, but nowhere in his memory of the event was any sign of Brad Pullman. 'No. I don't remember seeing or hearing from him during the incident.'
'Did you see him afterwards?'
'Of course.'
'Did you talk about the incident with him?'
'Yes. We all talked about it. One on one and in groups. It was all we could think about.'
David nodded slowly. 'Did Lieutenant Pullman show any signs of unusual remorse during those conversations?'
'I'm sorry. Unusual? We were all upset.'
'As if he carried some burden of guilt.'
Paul paused to think again. 'No. I can't say I ever noticed that.' Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Brad Pullman at the defense table, a thin but firm and still-confident smile visible on his face. I still haven't noticed that.
'He didn't act any differently than the rest of you?'
'No. Not that I remember.'
'Do you think you'd have remembered if he had?'
Paul looked over at Pullman again. 'Yes. I'm sure it would've stood out in my mind.'
David began walking back and forth before the witness stand. 'Then the officer who knew Lieutenant Pullman best on his ship didn't notice anything amiss with Lieutenant Pullman at any time. He didn't feel any lack of trust or any concerns regarding Lieutenant Pullman. He didn't notice any reactions of Lieutenant Pullman's which differed from those of the other officers on the ship. Is that right, Lieutenant Sinclair?'
Paul nodded. 'That's fair to say.'
'What was your reaction when Lieutenant Pullman was arrested?'
'Shock. Disbelief.'
David came closer, looking directly into Paul's eyes. 'You didn't have any premonition? Any ideas based on your own knowledge and perceptions that Lieutenant Pullman might be engaged in such serious and dangerous activity?'
Another tough one. 'I'd been advised of NCIS's concerns that someone on the ship might be committing espionage.'
David showed a flash of surprise in his eyes, but nowhere else. 'Did you believe Lieutenant Pullman was the source of NCIS's concerns?'
'No. I honestly didn't.' Paul didn't look at Commander Carr. Even if she was disappointed in his answer, he wasn't going to lie about it or try to shade the truth.
David held up his hand and began ticking off points on his fingers. 'You, Lieutenant Pullman's peer, roommate and fellow worker, saw no suspicious or untoward behavior. You saw no cause to doubt his trustworthiness. You did not believe Lieutenant Pullman constituted a threat. You were, in your own words, shocked by his arrest.' Then he paused and look at Paul.
Paul nodded again. 'That's right.'
'No more questions at this time.'
Commander Carr came toward the witness stand. Watching her approach, Paul felt nervous. He'd seen Carr stroll up to a witness stand in just that fashion a score of times, then demolish the witness and shred his or her testimony. He wondered if this was what a wildebeest felt like when it saw a lioness approaching.
'Lieutenant Sinclair, do you have any reason to doubt the manner in which the NCIS investigation was conducted on your ship?'
'I don't know of any, ma'am.'
'Do you know of any reason that it might have failed to identify the right source of the espionage on your ship?'
'I don't know of any specific reason.'
'You testified that you knew Lieutenant Pullman as well as any officer on the ship. Just how well was
