William Forstchen - Article 23

"Where did you get these?" Singh asked.

"Lieutenant Kowalski, sir, Cadet Bell's legal advisor. She went up to the Somers last night and entered the Captains computer."

"That is a violation right there," MacKenzie's defender cried.

"Yes, it was but necessary to protect evidence, sir. Kowalski feared that if she sought the necessary court order the delay might enable someone to purge the system. In fact, I think Lieutenant Kowalski was surprised to still find the records intact."

Justin looked over at MacKenzie for the first time since the start of the questioning and saw the Captains face pale.

"This is highly irregular," MacKenzie's advocate shouted, "and I question the admissibility of such evidence."

Singh looked over at the Judge Advocate.

"The bugger was doing it for months," a voice shouted from the back of the room.

Startled, Justin turned and saw O'Brian on his feet.

"O'Brian, sit down!" Singh shouted.

"You officers, quit playing your games covering one another's ass and stop trying to hang these kids!" O'Brian snarled.

Singh slammed his gavel down but O'Brian continued to shout.

"Ask any enlisted man on that ship. Ask Doc Zhing, ask the other cadets, we all knew he was taping us. Hell, he had every channel feeding into his computer. The crazy bugger couldn't watch one-one-hundredth of all he was taping!"

"O'Brian, you'll be stripped of rank for this!" Singh shouted.

"Fine, go ahead, it won't be the first time, damn it!"

As he sat down a ripple of applause broke from the cadets and the enlisted men sitting in the room.

"He's right," another voice chimed in and to Justin's astonishment Doctor Zhing came to his feet. "I can't take this anymore. I was wrong, I should have placed him on medical disability the moment this whole thing started."

Breaking into tears, Zhing turned and walked out of the room, ignoring Singh's shouted orders for him to remain.

After several minutes of angry debate at the front table Singh finally looked back at the audience.

"If there is one more outbreak I'll place every last one of you under arrest. Now, I reluctantly agree to the viewing of the recordings but given the nature of how they were obtained I shall hold my decision as to whether they are admissible or not."

Marcioni, grinning, switched his computer display to the screen behind Singh.

"Item one," Marcioni announced.

It was a recording of the lounge, the incident between Matt and Colson unfolding. With the general background noise it was hard to hear, but it was obvious the two were arguing, Matt almost lightheartedly, Colson increasingly angry.

Colson suddenly raised his voice.

"You're a traitor," Colson shouted.

"Come on, lighten up," Matt laughed. "You need to unbend a bit, Colson."

"You're a dirty offworlder, a cheap sailor."

Matt stiffened. "Listen, buddy," he said coldly, "your old man's company sold faulty seals to cheap sailors like me, a lot of guys I know died from it, including my parents when an airlock blew. I think if my buddies knew who your family was they wouldn't be happy."

"Are you threatening me?"

Matt stared at him angrily. "I wish I was, but I think they'd tear you apart out in the mining camps if they knew who you were. Just stay out of my life. Now get away from me."

Petronovich now stepped in, breaking them apart, and Colson started to shout that Matt had threatened him. Petronovich ordered them to separate areas of the room.

Colson drew back and several of his friends gathered around him, while Matt withdrew to the other side of the room. It was hard to hear the conversation for a minute, then Colson raised his voice. "That's what he said, he said he'd get us all. I think he's planning a mutiny."

Marcioni stopped the scene and the room was silent.

"Item two, though I think if we spent more time on this recording and did a digital cleaning we could zero in on all that was said."

The second clip was of the main corridor, cadets passing down the hallway, snatches of conversation showing they were upset. Madison passed under the camera, followed by Matt and then Colson. Colson suddenly looked back as if to check if anyone was behind him. Balling up his fist, he struck Matt on the back of the head. Matt fell into the room, his feet spinning up and catching Colson on the mouth, knocking him backwards. Yelling started, Colson shouting accusations. The recording showed Justin coming into the room and then the image switched inside the room. The scene ended with Colson storming out.

Marcioni stopped the recording for a moment and looked over at Colson.

Justin turned in his chair and saw Colson, face ashen, jaw trembling. An icy silence seemed to be enveloping him.

"There were several hundred billion K of recorded images and sound in the Captain's computer. Apparently he had every single connection running all the time. I don't see how he could have kept track. It is evidence of an obsessive compulsion to spy but I think he even lost track of all that he was spying on, as manifested by the next clip."

It was the recording of MacKenzie coming into the room to arrest Matt. Everyone in the room was quiet, leaning forward to watch. Several in the audience gasped as Justin pleaded for Matt while the Captain grabbed him in his sleep and tore him out of the net. The camera clearly caught Mart's arm banging against the side of MacKenzie's head, his open palm waving back and forth and not balled up. Justin could feel all eyes on him as the recording showed the Captain leveling his pistol and threatened to shoot Justin if he moved.

The clip ended.

Marcioni looked about the room. "In some circles what the Captain did in that room would be defined as assault. There are more clips, of the Captain badgering Doctor Zhing in sickbay, threatening to destroy his career and retirement if he did not vote for execution. There is a disturbing scene with Lieutenant Hemenez up on the flight deck, the Captain threatening to ruin her career as well if she did not comply with his wishes. At least Hemenez had the courage to take that risk rather than compromise."

All eyes turned toward MacKenzie as Marcioni fell silent.

Slowly he stood up, his eyes cold and lifeless. "You will never understand," he said, his voice distant, almost mechanical. "I did this to show everyone, to show everyone" His voice trailed off.

Stepping away from his desk, MacKenzie stalked out of the room. Singh watched him leave, saying nothing as the door closed behind MacKenzie.

"We are adjourned until 0800 tomorrow," Singh said quietly.

Justin felt as if he would collapse in his chair and he barely had the strength to stand as Singh walked out of the room. Marcioni came up to Justin and extended his hand.

"I knew from the beginning, son, that you were right. You might not believe this but maybe even the Old Man felt that way as well."

"He sure didn't seem that way."

"Well, he was caught in a bind. A lot of powers beyond what you see here were playing the game out."

Marcioni fell silent as Colson, head lowered, hurriedly walked past them. Justin was tempted to say something but the hunted look in Colsons eyes stilled him. Kicking a beaten dog came to mind and he knew that as long as Colson lived the bitter revelations in this room would haunt him.

Marcioni looked up as Thorsson approached. Smiling, Marcioni extended his hand.

"You were a darn good cadet and an even better officer," Thorsson said, eyes beaming.

"Thank you, sir. Just trying to do what was right, as you taught us."

"Well now, I think this young cadet here needs a little rest, so how about if I walk him and his friends over to their quarters. I think it's safe to assume that all charges will be dropped against them and they will receive a full and honorable exoneration."