He laughed, “I’ll make it easy on you. The battalion’s non-commissioned officers will meet you at the club at 1900 and you buy the first round to celebrate your new stripes. Oh, by the way, we’re moving you out of the platoon area into one of the sergeant’s rooms, room 206, on the second floor. We’ll take good care of your things.”
* * * * *
Kelly awoke to the sound of Fred, the Physician’s Assistant, snoring. He looked at his watch and saw he was but a few minutes from the alarm, so he removed the K’Rang healing devices and sat up. He tried his arm to see how much pain there might be and found it relatively pain-free. His leg was still in the immobilizer so he couldn’t do much, but it somehow felt better. He hadn’t experienced the itching the K’Rang doctor described, just some tingling, but not enough to affect his sleep.
Kelly looked at the doorway to his bedroom and his mother and mother-in-law were standing there.
“Mom, Amy, I thought you weren’t coming through until later.”
Amy whispered, trying not to wake up the sleeping PA. “We were sitting around waiting for an open slot and a shipment got delayed, so the gate master asked if we were ready to go through and we did. I don’t know what time it is here, but their star is pretty high in the sky. You slept in, boy.”
He dropped down into the grav chair and a surprised Fred woke up.
“Hello, ladies, I’m Fred Portman, the embassy’s physician’s assistant. How do you feel, sir?”
“Not bad, Fred.”
“Excuse me, ladies, but I have to take Captain Blake to the clinic for X-rays. Let’s get you to X-Ray, sir.”
“Mom, Amy, make yourselves at home. The guest rooms are upstairs. Guest bath is in the hall. I’ll be right back.”
They both kissed his cheek and he left the house for the van waiting to take him to the clinic.
They weren’t really X-rays, but were called such out of medical tradition. The scans showed significant healing and knitting of the bones.
Dr. Stevenson was impressed. “We need to teach the K’Rang about licensing, so we can manufacture these in the GR. I know they said this was ours, but we shouldn’t take advantage of their lack of business sense. Candy can work on that when she gets back.”
Kelly smiled and replied, “Yes, that is something right up her alley. Now, would you get me back to my house? My mom and mom-in-law are waiting on me.”
* * * * *
Candy was awakened at what felt to be very early for J’Gon’s tribunal. Time becomes irrelevant when one loses sight of the local star for more than a couple of days. Candy changed out of her supplied pajamas, fixed her hair as best she could, and wore the black dress she had been kidnapped in. She gathered her legal documents and knocked on the door to signal she was ready. L’Gan opened the door and escorted her to the tribunal room. She took her place next to J’Gon and K’Lar, the local military advocate forced on J’Gon. L’Gan took a chair next to Candy.
The tribunal began with an introduction of the tribunal panel. Candy assumed they were all vice admiral equivalents. The Unified Force was not translated to a GR ground force equivalent. Next came the reading of the charges against J’Gon. At the end of each charge, they asked J’Gon how he pled. Candy stood for J’Gon each time, and in her best K’Rang, said, “My client pleads not guilty.”
K’Lar did not seem upset that Candy had been chosen as lead defense attorney. In fact, he didn’t seem to want to be there at all. Candy, for the most part, served in an advisory role, because J’Gon actually conducted his own defense. She threw in the obvious objections, but J’Gon handled most of the nuances of K’Rang law.
There was no prosecutor: four panel members served in that role. The senior member served as judge and was supposed to be impartial. As best she could tell, he was impartial. The trial dragged on for two days and only covered two of the charges. The charge of reckless endangerment was simply disposed of by J’Gon arguing that the statute applied to captains of ships and individuals directly in charge of equipment, not superiors several layers up the chain of command. One of the panel members tried to press the case that as an elder, he was directly responsible for the K’Rang fleet. Candy saved the day by finding the results of Baron G’Rof’s tribunal, where he was acquitted of the same charge. She argued, “If you did not convict the commander in direct charge of the fleet, then you cannot charge the superior.” It seemed to sway the tribunal on that charge.
J’Gon settled the compelling surrender charge by pointing out that the elders were informed of the cease fire and surrender by Baron G’Rof after he had already given his word of honor to surrender to the Human/Angaerry Fleet commander. J’Gon laid out G’Rof’s logic of attempting to save what he could of the fleet in the face of almost certain annihilation by a vastly superior force. The panel did not seem to like it, but they grudgingly admitted saving what could be saved was better than needless destruction when the means to effectively resist were gone. Besides, Candy had already pointed out they had already acquitted G’Rof of a similar charge.
The charge of cowardice was also problematic for the panel, because the Elders never left the Imperial Palace for the emergency government continuation bunker, even in the face of the occupation by Human forces. J’Gon recounted the first meeting with the general in charge of the occupation force. He told them of the general pulling his side arm and cutting the bench away. Not a single Elder flinched.
The final charge of dereliction of duty was hard for J’Gon to comment on. The panel wanted to know how the decision was made to invade the Human sector and what were its goals. J’Gon stood mute on this issue, as the deliberations of the Elders were the highest K’Rang secret, known only to the Elders, Baron N’Gana, and one randomly chosen scribe per day from twenty scribes that served the Elders. Candy looked for another way around this charge.
She found it in the transcript for a court-martial of an intelligence officer charged with dereliction of duty for not convincing a commander of imminent danger to his command. The intelligence officer had been part of a team that developed the assessment. He had been chosen to brief the position, even though he had little to do with the formulation of the intelligence estimate. Nevertheless, he briefed the position as if it were his own and answered all the commander’s questions, but the commander kept his own council and ignored the assessment, thus meeting disaster on the battlefield. The intelligence officer was acquitted of the charge as it had been a group decision, and the entire group had not been charged, nor had the group leader.
During a recess in the tribunal, Candy looked up any similar cases and put K’Lar on breaking out the legal precedents for the ruling. K’Lar objected to working for a Human female, until J’Gon reminded him that he was working for him and to do whatever the Human woman asked. K’Lar bent to his task with a heretofore unseen zeal.
The tribunal came back into session and K’Lar had done his work well. Candy stood up and started laying the groundwork for her case. The panel was becoming impatient with her, but she took her time. She read from the constitution. She read from the tribunal manual. She read from several precedents.
Unified Force Leader M’Juna impatiently cut her off. “Mrs. Blake, we have been patient with you being an outsider, but our patience is growing thin. Please come to your point.”
“Here is my point. All decisions made by the elders are either unanimous or by simple majority. There is no minority opinion. Once the vote is taken, all Elders accept the decision as their own. This keeps their decision making from being politicized. As such, you cannot know which Elder voted for or against military action. According to your own manual, your rulings must be in accordance with current precedence.”
She walked to the camera and leafed through a centimeter thick stack of printed sheets. “I submit to you these 52 pertinent precedents in K’Rang military and civil case law.”
M’Juna fixed her with a glare. “All of these cases are pertinent?”
“Yes, sir, they are.�
�
“And they are all germane to the charge of dereliction of duty?”
“They are.”
“Turn them those papers over the guard and he will get them to us. Is there anything more, Mrs. Blake?”
Candy turned to look at J’Gon and K’Lar and they both signaled no.
“Sir, with that, the defense rests.”
M’Juna let out a deep sigh. “This tribunal will adjourn while we consider our verdict. You will be summoned when we have reached a decision.”
Candy, J’Gon, K’Lar, and L’Gan were led to another larger room with more comfortable seating and left together. There was a restroom attached to the room and Candy called first on account of a growing human pressing on her bladder.
When she returned, J’Gon motioned her over to speak with him. K’Lar and L’Gan wisely chose the opposite corner.
“Mrs. Blake, let me tell you what a pleasure it was to watch you today. I don’t think those high-ranking shadow warriors knew what they were up against. You cut them off from a guilty ruling in every case, although I think your last argument was the weakest. I think you know more about our Constitution, Tribunal Manual, and case law than they did and with only one day to study.”
“Elder J’Gon, couldn’t you see it in their faces? They don’t want to convict you. I gave them a legal precedent they can cite in every decision. There is no way it can come out good for them if they convict you. This slow motion coup of theirs is already coming apart at the seams. That happened with our botched kidnapping. They won’t convict you.”
“I am not so convinced, but I will make a wager with you. I will wager a bottle of 100-year-old T’Pala against an equivalent single malt scotch. You may bring it to me in my prison.”
“I don’t think we have scotch that old but I’ll wager the best I can afford. I can’t drink until the baby is born, so it will be 100 years old and six months.”
Candy was glad they brought them to a room with comfortable seating after what seemed hours. She found a comfy armchair and dozed off. She had no more started to dream when there was a knock on the door. A guard stuck his head in and said the panel was ready.
They trooped down to the tribunal room and took their seats. Candy rose when the tribunal appeared on the screen, but J’Gon kept his seat. The panel wasted no time in reading their verdicts. They asked J’Gon to rise for the reading of the verdict, but he remained seated. Candy rose.
“Elder J’Gon, this tribunal, having considered all evidence in this case, items in mitigation and extenuation, and all pertinent case law, find you not guilty of all charges and specifications. Your Excellency, we submit ourselves to your judgment. You and Mrs. Blake will be released at once and returned to wherever you wish to go.”
* * * * *
Kelly had completed his last treatment using the K’Rang healer. He walked to work that morning and was at his desk reviewing message traffic from the night before when Alistair ran into his office.
“Kelly, sit down. Oh, you are. Candy and J’Gon have just been delivered to the Imperial Palace by a Ground Force hover ship. Come on, man, let’s go get her.”
Kelly ran out of his office, throwing on his blouse as he went. He and Alistair climbed into the duty groundcar and directed the driver to the Imperial Palace at once. The K’Rang driver, sensing something different, sped off, pushing the two Humans into the seat back. He wasted no time and delivered Kelly and Alistair at the outer security gate.
Kelly was admitted, but Alistair was held at the gate. An Imperial Guard escorted Kelly across the grounds and into the palace. Baron N’Gana met Kelly at the door and led him deeper into the palace’s inner recesses. He was led to an ornate door and N’Gana knocked. A voice inside said to enter and N’Gana held the door for Kelly. As soon as he stepped fully into the room, a redheaded streak flew into his arms.
The countless hours of imagining the worst were over. Candy, his Candy, was back in his arms again. Tears formed in his eyes, but he fought them back as he kissed her sweet lips. Candy had no such problems, as tears of joy streamed down her face. Kelly finally looked around and realized they were not alone. Elders J’Gon and G’Tol were seated in large comfortable chairs and smiling.
G’Tol looked at Kelly. “Captain Blake, don’t stop on our account, but your wife is returned to you safe and sound and no worse for the adventure.”
J’Gon stood up and walked over to the two of them. “Captain Blake, I am so glad that the plotters were so stupid as to kidnap your wife along with me. I know it must have been hell on you, but your wife saved me. If not for your wife’s talent as an advocate, I would be in much rougher surroundings. I owe your wife a bottle of T’Pala, but I think I will save it for when your boy comes along. Then you both can enjoy it. Don’t be surprised, though, if it comes in a younger labeled bottle. I understand your ethics officer can be quite strict on these things.”
J’Gon’s face became serious. “Now, Captain, would you take your wife home and inform your government that the T’Kab won’t wait?”
* * * * *
A courier hand-delivered a message to Captain Jim Gibbons, an unusual practice, but Captain Jim refused to carry a pocket tablet. He thought they were too fancy to be carried by a glorified night watchman. He put on his glasses and read the short, one page message:
To: Custodian GRRS Behemoth
From: Commander, Galactic Republic Reserve Fleet
Make all necessary preparations to re-commission the GRRS Behemoth and return to wartime readiness. Authority to requisition supplies and personnel IAW Fleet regulation 1998-1 is granted, not to exceed manning and stockage level 1. Ship to be combat ready, less training, no later than 30 days from date of this message.
Signed
Captain Jim patted a bulkhead and said, “Time to wake up, old girl. Somebody is throwing a party and you have an invitation.”
Chapter Nine
Endex, thank God! Sergeant Solbrig was beat, dirty, but exhilarated – now that the exercise had finally ended. She had been up 36 hours straight, trying to keep up with her company commander. Their brigade, first brigade, was in the field training against second brigade and had been moving constantly since the exercise began. They were exercising a concept called the non-linear battlefield, where the enemy could pop up anywhere, and it was running the officers ragged. Her own commander had fallen dead asleep on a road march and landed on top of her when he slid out of his seat. She had crawled out from under him, put him in her seat, and taken over command of the tank. He got thirty minutes of much needed sleep and she got dust in her eyes.
All the commanders were commanding from their tanks on this exercise, even the battalion commander. She had generally stayed with her tank when at battalion, but one time she stood at the back of the command tent and heard the briefing. In and amongst all the dusty uniforms, she didn’t stand out as she listened to the battalion staff officers and commanders discussing the day’s training objectives. They were training to go against some massed infantry army and that was giving the officers fits. None of them could figure out how to counter an army that could arise in mass from anywhere. She had no clue what they were talking about, but it didn’t sound good to Frau Solbrig’s little girl, Ingrid.
* * * * *
After a check up by the embassy medical staff, Candy went through an extensive debriefing before she was released to go home and sleep. She recounted what she knew of the ordeal, how she was treated, how her captors reacted towards her, what she learned of the tribunals, how she assisted in J’Gon’s defense, and the uncertain future of the entire K’Rang Army senior officer cadre. She showed on a map where she thought the underground facility was and what all she saw while there. She retraced the route they took from there back to the capital.
Candy pointed out the apparent reluctance with which the tribunal’s officers approached their task, even under the implied threat they were signing their own death warrants. She gave a remarkably detailed description of each trib
unal officer, guards, L’Gan, K’Lar, and other individuals she encountered along the way. Because they were gone before she recovered from the stun ray, Candy could provide nothing on the commando team that kidnapped her.
Finally, as the debriefers were asking increasingly less important questions, Kelly put a stop to it and took her home, where the two mothers were impatiently waiting. Candy went through another debriefing, as both mothers peppered her with questions about her and the baby’s health and well-being. Candy assured them both that both mother and child were unaffected by the ordeal, with the exception of needing a long sleep. Moira and Amy hustled her upstairs and waited while Candy took a long shower and emerged in her nightgown. They fluffed and re-fluffed her pillows until she gently kicked them out of her room with a kiss to their cheeks and a big thank you for coming. She then crawled into bed and woke up refreshed thirteen hours later.
* * * * *
The Shadow Scout G’Joku, carrying Elder J’Kol, approached K’Rol on a straight in vector, did not respond to calls to hold in orbit and request clearance to land, but came directly into the main spaceport, landing directly in front of the tower, scattering scores of baggage carts and service vehicles. An officious and self-important looking K’Rang drove up in a ground car followed by three security vehicles. The pompous official stomped up to the extending gangplank, and his blood ran cold as Elder J’Kol and four Imperial Guards walked down to him.
He bowed from the waist, shaking slightly, and said, “Excellency, what may I do for the Empire?”
J’Kol looked from this airport manager, for that was what was on the side of his ground car, to the security officers now standing at rigid attention, and instructed him, “You will cordon off this area. Anything approaching this ship without its captain’s permission will be destroyed. You will double the number of guards here and form a perimeter of 200 meters around the ship. Anyone entering that perimeter without authorization will be shot on sight. You will forward a message to Marshall T’Kana that Elder J’Kol wishes his presence immediately.”
All Enemies Foreign and Domestic (Kelly Blake series) Page 11