Empire Rising Box Set

by D. J. Holmes

  “Thank you Ma’am,” Warren said as he stood to vacate the witness stand.

  When the prosecution attorney got back to his feet he shot Cynthia a dirty look, she smiled sweetly in return. “He hasn’t vetted his witnesses as well as he thought,” Cynthia whispered to James. “Your uncle’s insistence that this be an expedited court martial has thrown them off.”

  “Your Honor, the prosecution now calls Naval Engineer Cadet Julie Hanson,” Rodgers said.

  “This one is likely to be trouble,” Cynthia whispered to James.

  “Why?” he asked, he didn’t know Hanson personally and he had no idea why she would be a concern.

  “Because I have done my homework,” Cynthia said cryptically.

  “Julie,” Rodgers asked as soon as Julie was sworn in. “Can you tell us all where you were stationed during the raid on the Indian convoy?”

  “My post was the forward port damage control station,” Julie responded.

  “Not the nose section itself?” Rodgers followed up.

  “No,” Julie answered, as she reached a hand up to wipe her eyes. “The damage control team stationed there were killed.”

  “Ok, Julie,” Rodgers said, “I’m sorry you have to re-live all this, but can you tell us in your own words what you saw when you went to the forward sections after the missile strike?”

  “Yes,” Julie said. “It was horrible. I was the first one on the scene, there was no one else left alive who was able to come and help me. Almost a third of the forward port bulkhead was gone, and the rest had been twisted into a grotesque shape. I hardly noticed though. The emergency stasis fields had kicked in within seconds of the explosion, sealing parts of the nose section off from the vacuum of space.”

  “What did you see?” Rodgers prompted.

  “It was horrible,” Julie said again, “I can hardly describe it, there were body parts everywhere. The explosion caused a burst of metal shards to blow through the damage control station. The entire damage control team was on the ground cut to ribbons. There was blood splattered all over the walls.”

  “I believe you captured an image of the scene?” Rodgers asked.

  “Yes,” Julie responded. “All damage repair crew carry visual recorders with them so that the officers can receive live updates on any damage the ship takes.”

  “I would like to submit these images into evidence,” Rodgers said as he walked over to the large holo projector in the middle of the court and slipped a datachip into it.

  A number of gasps broke out from the observation gallery when the first image appeared. The scene was exactly as Julia had described. Bodies were everywhere, many of them torn into pieces. As the still images progressed, faces came into view, dead faces filled with the frozen looks of pain that had been their owner’s last experiences.

  It took all of James’ self-control not to jump out of his seat and rip the data chip out of the holo projector. Each one of those faces belonged to crew members who had parents, husbands, wives and children. Family members who James had written to, to tell them of their loss. Now they were going to see their loved ones’ broken bodies flashed across every news broadcast in the nation.

  “So,” Rodgers said, turning to face the jury when the visuals came to an end, “we have already seen what damage Captain Somerville’s treasonous actions caused to Petty Officer Warren, now we are beginning to see how much his actions cost other men and women who placed their trust in him.

  “And he would have our entire nation go to war with the Indians,” he said, as he shook his head. “This is not a Captain who should be commanding anything, never mind a warship.”

  Turning back to Julia, Rodgers continued, “I have just one final question for you Cadet, a question the defense is fond of. Would you follow James into battle again?”

  “No,” Julia said with a strong hint of disgust. “He is reckless and he throws the lives of his crew away like they are nothing. I could not serve under such an officer.”

  “I have no further questions for this witness,” Rodgers said, returning to his seat.

  This is outrageous, James thought to himself. Every Captain on the jury has lost crew members in battle. They all know the cost of warfare; Julia’s testimony won’t sway them one bit. This is all for whoever Reynolds has recording this court martial!

  “Defenses’ witness,” Blackwood said.

  “Thank you Your Honor,” Cynthia said as she approached the witness box.

  “Julia,” she began as she handed a document to the Cadet, “Can you tell me what this is?”

  “It looks like one of my latest financial reports from my accountant,” Julia answered hesitantly.

  “You are correct,” Cynthia said. “And can you tell me what these two lines say here.”

  “It’s an explanation from my accountant detailing what happened to one of my investment accounts,” Julia said.

  “And just what does it say?” Cynthia pushed.

  “It is hardly relevant to this court martial,” Julia said.

  “It is if you came back from your mission to Haven to find yourself over twenty thousand credits in debt,” Cynthia said.

  “I have a visual of my own I would like to submit into evidence,” she continued as she walked over to the holo projector and slipped in a datachip.

  “Who is this?” Cynthia said when an image of a woman standing on what looked like a London street appeared.

  “I believe it is me,” Julia said.

  “And who are you meeting with?” Cynthia asked as the visual began to play.

  Within seconds a man appeared and approached Julia as she stood looking around. He appeared to talk to her. Then, less than thirty seconds later he turned and walked off.

  “I don’t know,” Julia said. “That happened just yesterday. I remember it clearly. I had never met that man before. He approached me, tried to ask me out and when I rebuffed him, he went away. I admit, I was very taken aback by the whole thing. But like my finances, I’m not sure what this has to do with anything.”

  “And neither do I,” Blackwood said, cutting in.

  “I think this will illuminate things,” Cynthia said. With a push of a button the visual rewound to a point where the man’s face was just about visible. Then it zoomed in. At the same time another image appeared on the holo display. It was a personnel file with the official Houses of Parliament badge on the document.

  “This is Alex Norwood,” Cynthia said. “He is a minor aide who works for Shadow Defense Sectary Reynolds. And this,” Cynthia said as she touched another button, causing the image of Norwood and Julia to pan down to waist height where a small package could be seen being passed between them, “is Norwood handing something over to Julia. Just yesterday I might add.

  “So tell me this,” Cynthia said, turning to Julia again. “Just what did Norwood give you for your testimony here today?”

  “That is enough,” Blackwood almost shouted as he came to Julia’s rescue. “This witness is not on trial in this court martial. If you have any questions regarding her testimony and her actions during the events in question, you may ask them. If you want to make allegations of corruption or whatever you are insinuating, you can bring charges against Julia on your own time.”

  “I see,” Cynthia said. “So we are to accept the trustworthiness of this witness on your say so?”

  “That is not what I said,” Blackwood responded, his anger threatening to bubble over. “You are walking very close to a charge of contempt of court. What I said was that unless you have any direct evidence of corruption. Keep your questions limited to the matter at hand.”

  “Very well,” Cynthia said. “If I cannot ask Cadet Hanson about her finances and the possible ramification for her trustworthiness, then I have no further questions for her.”

  “Then we will recess for lunch,” Blackwood said bringing down his gravel. “When we return the prosecution will call their final witnesses.”

  “Come with me,” Cynthia said as James
got to his feet, “I have food being sent to our waiting room.”

  James reluctantly turned to look at Cynthia. He had almost gone off after Julia, she must have known the prosecution would use her images. She betrayed the families of the very people she was supposedly so concerned about. And all for money!

  “You have to control your emotions,” Cynthia added when she saw the look on his face. “We must look like the ones who are being persecuted unfairly.”

  “I’m trying,” James said as they walked out of the courtroom.

  “So how do you think this morning went?” James asked once they got to the privacy of their waiting room.

  “That depends,” Cynthia said. “I don’t think the prosecution scored any points with the jury. There was nothing in those testimonies that suggested any actual wrongdoing on your part. However, with the public it depends.”

  “On what?” James pushed.

  “On whether the public just looks at the visuals that will come out of the trial,” Cynthia answered. “And you can be sure Reynolds will make sure they come out. Or if they will also look at what was actually said in the trial. Warren would clearly follow you anywhere. And I think we threw enough dirt at Julia to call her testimony into question. Heck, Blackwood’s intervention on her behalf should scream to anyone who is really listening that he is dead set against you. It really just depends on where the public looks.”

  “Do you really think she took money from Reynolds?” James asked.

  “She took something,” Cynthia replied. “That much is clear. If it was money, we have made sure she can’t use it anytime soon. The navy will be watching her closely now. If she just happens to show a very healthy bank balance in the near future, she is going to have some questions to answer.”

  “How did you know she would be bribed?” James asked.

  “We didn’t,” Cynthia answered. “But since Fairfax learnt of Reynolds’ plan to convene a court martial against you, we have been watching all of your crew, just in case Reynolds tried to get to them. If was a good thing we did don’t you think?”

  “I guess,” James conceded, though the wasn’t entirely pleased to hear his whole crew was under suspicion. “What happens now?” he asked.

  “Everything up until now has just been a skirmish,” Cynthia explained. “Yes the prosecution is on the back foot, but now they are going to go for broke. The only ones who can really confirm the charges against you are your immediate subordinates. They are the ones who were fully aware of the situation. The prosecution needs to use them against you. No doubt they have a plan and this is the problem with an expedited court martial, we have not had time to go through all the evidence they have included in their brief. So the question is Captain, what are they going to say?”

  James didn’t know how to respond. He knew that if they were called as witnesses, Becket, Julius and Mallory would do whatever they could to back him up. But they would be under oath, and he remembered full well what his attitude had been when he had ordered the attack on the convoy.

  Chapter 27 – Subordinates

  The Imperial Navy reflects the amalgamation of the Royal Navy and the American Starfleet. As their fleets made up the bulk of the new Imperial navy, and the structure of their naval ranks were very similar, it made the most sense.

  -Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD

  4th June 2467 AD, Admiralty House, London.

  “The prosecution calls Second Lieutenant Anne Julius of HMS Endeavour to the stand,” Rodgers said as soon as the court martial reconvened.

  As Julius walked past James she gave him an apologetic look. James nodded to her to let her know he was ok.

  “Now Lieutenant,” Rodgers said. “I want to focus in on the attack on the Indian convoy. That is where the heart of the charges against Captain Somerville lie. You were the first to spot the convoy, were you not?”

  “Yes,” Julius answered. “I was the officer of the watch when we detected the Indian convoy.”

  “What did you do then?”

  “I woke up the Captain and called him to the bridge, when he got there, I updated him on the Indian convoy,” Julius said.

  “And what did Captain Somerville want to do?” Rodgers asked.

  “Well, it was actually me who suggested we go after the convoy.” Julius explained. “I had already worked out the trajectories and from our position at the time, we had the opportunity to alter course and intercept the convoy before they reached the inner system and the protection of the main Indian fleet.”

  “How did Captain Somerville respond to your idea?” the prosecution attorney followed up.

  “I believe he took it under consideration,” Julius said. “After I spoke with him he called for Lieutenants Becket and Mallory, at the time I believed it was because he wanted to discuss the possibilities for an attack with all of his senior officers.”

  “That is not what I meant,” Rodgers said. “I want to know exactly what Captain Somerville said in response to your idea to attack the convoy.”

  “Well,” Julius said with some hesitation. “I’m not entirely sure. I don’t remember word for word what the Captain said.”

  “Luckily you don’t have to,” Rodgers said. “I have another piece of evidence I would like to submit for the jury’s consideration. This is a recording of a part of the conversation between Captain Somerville and Lieutenant Julius.”

  “Objection,” Cynthia shouted before Rodgers could play the recording. “This recording is not part of the evidence brief the prosecution submitted at the start of this court martial.”

  “On the contrary,” Rodgers said with a victorious smile. “This recording has always been a part of our evidence. It is officially labelled as the COM message from the COM officer of the watch to Lieutenants Becket and Mallory calling them to the bridge just moments after Captain Somerville arrived to hear Julius’ report about the convoy.

  “What you must have overlooked counsellor, is that the recording also picked up James and Julius’ conversation in the background. The gain had to be significantly improved, but we can clearly hear what is being said.

  “Objection overturned, play the recording,” Blackwood said when Cynthia looked at him for a ruling.

  “You know this isn’t exactly what our orders have laid out for us,” James’ voice said before the recording was paused.

  “Now Lieutenant,” Rodgers began again. “Does that jog your memory? Can you tell us what Captain Somerville was saying this in response to?”

  “I believe I had just suggested we attack the convoy,” Julius said, a look of defeat on her face.

  “Then let’s hear how the conversation continued,” Rodgers said, resuming the recording.

  “I know Sir,” Julius’ voices said. “But you have taught us orders aren’t everything. It’s like the situation with the Vestarians. If we just let those troops get to Haven they will make life harder for Major Johnston and the rebels fighting the Indians.”

  “I can’t argue with that,” James said. “But we have some vital information to get home to the Admiralty.”

  “There you have it,” Rodgers said triumphantly. “Is that not Captain Somerville saying that it was against his orders to attack the convoy?”

  “I guess so,” Julius mumbled.

  “And what was this vital information that Captain Somerville said he had to get back to the Admiralty?” Rodgers asked. “Wasn’t it the Indian fleet dispositions, the very thing he had been sent to Haven to acquire?”

  “Yes,” Julius said, her voice barely above a whisper.

  “And after this conversation, didn’t Captain Somerville go on to attack the convoy, despite everything we just heard him say?” Rodgers pressed.

  Julius glanced up at James, a deep look of shame on her face. When James gave a slight nod, she nodded her head as well.

  “What’s wrong, has the cat got your tongue Lieutenant?” Rodgers snapped. “I need more than a nod; we need a verbal assent for the record.”

/>   “Yes,” Julius admitted.

  “There it is ladies and gentlemen of the jury,” Rodgers announced. “The facts are beyond dispute. Captain Somerville knowingly attacked the Indian convoy against orders and he intentionally tried to start a war for his own purposes and benefit.

  “Now Lieutenant,” Rodgers said, returning his gaze to Julius. “I have one last line of questioning for you. “In the recording, you said the attack on the convoy was like the situation with the Vestarians, can you explain what you mean by that?”

  “I meant that we were faced with a situation our orders didn’t account for,” Julius tried to explain. “In Vestar we didn’t have orders about first contact situations, we had to make do. Likewise, we had no orders one way or another about Indian convoys. Yet, we had been told to treat all Indian ships in the Haven system as hostile. The convoy’s appearance presented us with a chance to act, to try and stop it before any more troops got to Haven. We had already seen the devastation the first wave of soldiers caused.”