by D. J. Holmes
“I don’t think so Lieutenant. I think there was more to your words. In fact, I think your words are evidence that you yourself have been corrupted by Captain Somerville’s example of disobeying orders and putting his own desires above his orders.
“Let me elaborate. When Endeavour was first sent out to survey the space around Chester, did Captain Somerville disobey orders by taking his ship into Indian territory?”
“No, because we received subsequent orders to head into Indian space to search for former politburo member Chang, to bring him to justice,” Julius said.
“Ok then,” Rodgers said. “And I presume that those orders included a command to attack, disable and board an Indian mining station within Indian sovereign territory?”
Julius stole a nervous glance towards James, not sure how to answer.
“Don’t look to Somerville for help Lieutenant,” Rodgers said. “He is on trial for treason, you don’t want to be seen collaborating with him. Now answer the question. Did Captain Somerville have orders to attack an Indian mining station?”
“No,” Julius said, “but we had strong reason to believe...”
“Thank you Lieutenant,” Rodgers cut in, “That answers my question. Now, what about after the attack on Haven, did Captain Somerville receive orders to take his ship towards Vestar?”
“No,” Julius said.
Again, before she could elaborate Rodgers went on. “And when you got there, did Captain Somerville have any orders that would have permitted him to interfere in another civilization’s affairs, and effectively start a civil war?”
“No,” Julius was forced to answer.
“And when he was sent to Haven, did Captain Somerville have any direct orders to launch attacks against Indian warships?” Rodgers asked.
“The Prime Minister released an executive order stating that all Indian warships in the Haven system were to be treated as hostiles,” Julius said.
“Yes,” Rodgers acknowledged, “and the legality of that order may be a matter for another hearing. But the question still stands. Did Captain Somerville’s orders or Prime Minister Fairfax’s executive order specifically contain orders to seek out and attack Indian ships?”
“No,” Julius said once again in defeat, tears ran down her face as the pressure became too much for her.
“Thank you Lieutenant, your testimony has proven very illuminating,” Rodgers said. “I hand over the witness to the defense.”
Cynthia got on her feet and approached Julius, pulling out a tissue from her pocket as she walked. “I have just one question for you Lieutenant,” she said stepping back. “You were there, you experienced the pressure of the situation. Do you think Captain Somerville made the right decision, or do you think he disobeyed his orders and committed treason by attacking the Indians in a rage of bloodlust as the prosecution seems to think?”
“He made the right decision,” Julius said, regaining her composure. “I know Captain Somerville, he loves the navy and he loves his country. He would never do anything to hurt either. I believe he has also come to see the Haven people as his own. He wasn’t acting out of bloodlust, he was acting to try and help a people who have been conquered and occupied by a hostile force. That is something our nation has stood against for centuries. I believe Captain Somerville did us all proud that day, he did what any naval officer would have done.”
“If you really believe that, then you are just as much of a fool as your Captain,” Blackwood broke in, unable to hold his tongue. “I have over fifty years of command experience, I know what should have been done, and yet you think you can sit here and tell me Captain Somerville did what any naval Captain would do. You are just a Second Lieutenant.”
Julius looked shocked at Blackwood’s intervention and for a second it looked like her tears would return.
“I believe the witness is mine to question,” Cynthia said, coming to her aid. “I thought your fifty years of experience were to be used to try this court martial, were they not, Your Honor?”
“I will not have junior Lieutenants parading their opinions around here like they are facts,” Blackwood said.
“Then it is the responsibility of the prosecution to show they are not facts, it is not yours,” Cynthia retorted. Before Blackwood could say anymore she turned back to Julius, “Thank you Lieutenant. I believe you are speaking for more than yourself with those words. You may retire from the witness box.”
“The defense calls Endeavour’s First Lieutenant to the witness stand now,” Rodgers announced once Julius returned to her seat at the back of the courtroom.
Mallory who was in the seat beside her, squeezed Julius’ hand to reassure she had done ok, then he stood and made his way to the witness box.
“Thank you for agreeing to testify today,” Rodgers said once Mallory was sworn in.
“I am happy to speak on behalf of my Captain,” Mallory answered.
“Very good,” Rodgers said. “We have already established what occurred after the Indian convoy was spotted. What I want to know from you Lieutenant, is what advice did you give Captain Somerville when he outlined the possibility of attacking the convoy?”
James had been expecting the question. The prosecution seemed to have an inside track on the discussions that went on that day. As soon as the recording of him and Julius had been played, he knew her testimony would hurt him. Mallory’s however, had always been the one that he had feared would cause him the biggest problems. Julius’s plan had been to attack the convoy from the start, Mallory on the other hand, had seen the potential problem right away.
Mallory too had been anticipating this question, yet he hadn’t been able to come up with an answer that would protect his Captain. “I warned Captain Somerville about the dangers of attacking the convoy,” Mallory began. “I reminded him that our mission was to get back the intel we had gathered. I said that should be our priority. There was a real possibility that Endeavour could have been destroyed. If that had of happened, our intel would have been lost and the Admiralty would have been operating in the dark.”
“So Captain Somerville knew the risks, and yet he still chose to attack the Indian convoy?” Rodgers asked.
“Yes,” Mallory answered. “He weighed the risks, and came to a decision that the risk of losing the intel was worth the chance to try and stop more Indian troops from landing on Haven.”
“But was it really worth the risk?” Rodgers asked. “Surely the Indians could be landing thousands or even hundreds of thousands of troops in Haven right now. Why was one convoy so important?”
“The Indians don’t have hundreds of thousands of ground troops in their colonies,” Mallory answered. “Yes, they could be landing more troops now. But they don’t have unlimited numbers. The troops we stopped bought the Havenites more time to fight back against the Indians and free their world.”
“But you recognized that the risk wasn’t worth it, did you not?” Rodgers pressed.
“I wasn’t sure,” Mallory answered. “I felt it was my duty as Captain Somerville’s second in command to make the risks known, that is all.”
“What about now,” Rodgers asked. “You have had weeks to think about it. What do you think now?”
For the first time Mallory paused. You’re under oath, he told himself, there is nothing you can do.
“I believe it was a mistake,” Mallory said. “The risk was too great. The intel we had was more important.”
“Thank you Lieutenant, that is all the questions I have for you,” Rodgers said.
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to break him,” Cynthia said. “His testimony is the only one that can really hurt us.”
“No,” James said sharply, catching her arm in a vice like grip. “You won’t.”
“I have to, it doesn’t mean I am going to like it,” Cynthia whispered back as she tried to pull her arm free.
“What he said was true,” James whispered back. “If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t attack the convoy. It was reckless,
maybe not court martial level reckless, but then maybe it was. That is for the jury to decide. But if you tear Mallory apart for saying what he thinks is right, you will ruin him. He will never have the confidence to become a real naval officer. I won’t let you do that.”
“You have no choice in the matter, this is bigger than you,” Cynthia said.
“I am all too aware of that,” James replied. “But if you do this, then I will stand up for him, I will tell everyone that Mallory was right, that I did make a mistake. I agreed to keep quiet for the sake of Fairfax’s plan, but I did not agree to throw my First Lieutenant under the aircar. I have already watched Julius be torn apart, I couldn’t stop that, but I can this, I will not watch it happen again. Those are my terms.”
“Fine,” Cynthia said. “But if I didn’t already have another plan in motion I would still be doing this.”
When James let her arm go, she rubbed the spot he had been gripping.
“The defense has no questions for this witness,” she said.
Blackwood’s eyebrows raised in surprise but only for a moment. Then he turned to Mallory and told him to leave.
“The prosecution rests for now Your Honor,” Rodgers said
“You may call your first witness counselor,” Blackwood said to Cynthia, giving her permission to start her main defense.
“Thank you Your Honor,” Cynthia said, “the defense calls Admiral of the White Nathan Blackwood to the stand.”
An uproar reverberated around the court as surprise broke out among the observers. Cynthia simply stood in place, a feral smile on her face as she gazed at Blackwood.
Chapter 28 – Political Drama
The Emperor is the Head and Supreme Commander of the Navy; this tradition goes back to the British Monarchy.
-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD
4th June 2467 AD, Admiralty House, London.
“Order, order,” Blackwood shouted as he beat his gavel on its wooden block. “This is a court martial hearing, not a London side street market. I will have silence!”
The noise quickly quieted, yet there was still a ripple of murmurs passing back and forth across those in the courtroom.
“That is an outrageous proposal,” Rodgers said, rising to his feet. “You cannot call the seated judge of a court martial to be a witness in that very same court martial.”
“I think I just did, didn’t I?” Cynthia said. “And I think I can, if the sitting judge has information that is vital to the attestation of guilt, I must be able to question him.”
“But this is against the regulations, section eighty-five point four of the naval code of law states that no judge can take any role in favor of either party in a court martial,” Rodgers said.
“And yet Admiral Blackwood has seen fit to interfere with my cross examination and contradict a witness statement in favor of the prosecution not once, but twice. Just moments ago, Your Honor,” Cynthia said turning to Blackwood, “you said to Second Lieutenant Julius regarding James’ actions, and I quote, ‘I have over fifty years of command experience, I know what should have been done.’ I simply want to question you on your experience, experience you have already volunteered to this court.
“Moreover,” Cynthia said, “section seventy-eight point one of the naval code says that a court martial may compel any witness who carries a military rank to testify in a court martial, provided the sitting judge agrees that their testimony will benefit the hearing. Unless you are going to remove your previous statements from the official record, I believe you have already declared that your opinions are beneficial to this hearing, are they not?”
James had to put a considerable effort into not smiling. He had been confused before when Cynthia hadn’t objected to Blackwood’s obvious attempts to interfere with witnesses who gave testimony in his favor. Now he knew what she was up to, and so did Blackwood. The look on his face was priceless.
For a moment Blackwood looked into the observation gallery but his look of indecision didn’t fade. Turning around James saw why, there was no sign of the Shadow Defense Secretary.
“Are you going to answer my questions?” Cynthia pushed. “Maybe if I tell you my questions, you can decide for yourself?” Before Blackwood had a chance to answer she hurried on. “I would ask you about your relationship with the Shadow Defense Secretary and his opposition to any war with India, and I would ask if you were the one who brought the charges against Captain Somerville in the first place. And I would ask that in light of the fact that you did indeed bring these charges, if you are fit to judge this trial impartially? Those are my questions for you Admiral Blackwood.”
Before she had finished her last sentence, a commotion broke out in the courtroom. James wasn’t surprised, if Cynthia’s allegations were even half true, and he knew that they were, then the entire court martial was a complete farce, and the public were about to see that. No wonder Fairfax had been happy to let the whole thing go ahead. He had enough information to bring it down anytime he wanted.
Blackwood looked shell shocked, he was probably stunned that anyone would talk to him in such a manner. It took him a few seconds but he quickly realized he had to do something. “Order, order,” he shouted again. “I said order,” he boomed at the top of his lungs.
“This proposal is ludicrous,” he continued once it was quiet. “I have been appointed to be the impartial judge of this court martial by the Admiralty board. Everything has been done in accordance with military law. Furthermore, I will not be answering any questions, I am the sitting judge of this court martial. If you utter one more word about me or make any further allegations, I will hold you in contempt of court counselor. This is my final warning. I will have you thrown into jail, do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal, Your Honor,” Cynthia said with as much venom as she could muster.
“Well, in that case, call your next witness or return to your seat,” Blackwood spat.
“Fine,” Cynthia said, “The defense calls Edward the sixth, King of the British Star Kingdom, Head of the Commonwealth and Lord Protector of the Bradford colony to the witness box.”
Despite her best efforts to speak up, Edwards’ honorifics were completely lost in the uproar that once again broke out in the courtroom.
“Objection,” Rodgers said as soon as Blackwood brought order to the court. “This is highly inappropriate, what could the King possibly have to say that relates to this court?”
“In case you are forgetting,” Cynthia responded. “The King is the head of the military, including the Royal Space Navy. I would think he might have a lot to say about the conduct of one of his officers.”
Blackwood looked like he was about to make a ruling, doubtless to deny Cynthia’s witness request. However, he never got that far, for the back doors to the courtroom burst open. Ten security personnel quickly filed in followed by King Edward.
“I hear I have been called as a witness?” Edward said as he walked up to the front of the room.
“You were Your Highness,” Blackwood said. “I was just about to make a ruling on such an unorthodox situation.”
“You are not going to send me home now are you?” Edward said. “I have come all this way.”
“I…” Blackwood began, but then he hesitated. It was clear that everyone in the court was eager to see what King Edward was doing there. The sight of everyone watching made him lose his nerve. “I was just about to welcome you to my court Your Majesty. You may enter the witness box and then we can proceed.”
“Thank you,” King Edward said as he moved towards the box.
“On behalf of the defense I would like to thank you for agreeing to be a witness in this court martial,” Cynthia began.
“It is my pleasure dear,” Edward said. “I am the head of the Royal Space Navy after all, so I do have a thing or two to say about this situation.”
“Can you elaborate on that Your Highness?” Cynthia said.
“Certainly,” Edward began. “This entire court martial
has been convened upon the assumption that Captain Somerville attacked the Indian ships in the Haven territories against orders, and that those actions were carried out in direct contradiction to his actual orders.
“I must say, if that was the case, then I would be in full agreement with the prosecution. Captain Somerville should be charged with treason. I’m afraid however, they have got their facts wrong. First, as you all know, I co-signed the executive order Prime Minister Fairfax released calling for the RSN to treat Indian warships in the Haven territories as hostile. I can tell you clearly, the intention of that document was to give legal power to RSN ships to engage any Indian ships they encountered in the Haven territories. James’ actions cannot be painted as treasonous, in fact, they were in perfect accord with the will of his government.