Chapter 21

Corey checked the slip of paper a courier had handed her an hour before. Building 26 was a three-story building identical to almost every other building on the base. And like those, the outside was painted an off-white, which would have made Heather cry. Inside, though, the halls were painted in different colors, and from listening to the gals she passed, Corey learned that the color coding was to help people find their way around.

An elderly Captain greeted her in room 31B--the third floor of the ‘B Wing’ was painted in a light green that almost seemed pleasant--and motioned her to take a seat at the table. A Second Officer and a stern-faced clerk in civilian clothes were sitting across from the Captain, while another clerk who was obviously there to record the proceedings was seated in the corner.

“Thank you for coming, Officer Andersen,” the Captain said, taking a seat behind the table. “I’m Cynthia Haines. I work in the Judge Advocate’s Office of the Fleet Legal Office. I’ve been assigned as the Investigating Officer for your case. This is a preliminary hearing to determine if there is any basis for going forward with the charges filed against you. If not, you will be released back to active duty. If there is any basis, I will assign a Defense Adviser and set a hearing date. Do you have any questions?”

“Not at the moment, Ma’am,” Corey said.

“Very well; assisting me today are Administrator Marti Genzale from General Administration, and Second Officer Jasmine Lee from Staffing and Personnel.”

Captain Haines opened a folder and nodded at Administrator Genzale in the corner. “Let’s start with the charges. Marti, would you read them?”

Marti Genzale read the charges in a bored voice. At the conclusion, Captain Haines nodded. “It appears, Officer Andersen, that the key charge is subverting the Captain’s authority by taking control of the ship during the engagement. All of the rest stem from that, including,” and here she shot a sharp glance at Administrator Genzale, “the ones that allege that you incited mutiny after the engagement was over.

“Officer Andersen, I know you’ve explained this in another forum, but for the record, and in your own words, what prompted you to assume control of the Fleet Carrier de Ruyter during the engagement four days ago?”

“The Bridge was out of the command loop,” Corey began. She repeated what she’d said in the After Action Review.

“But you were not a trained Fighter Director,” Administrator Genzale said when Corey finished.

“No, I wasn’t,” Corey replied, looking at the woman. “On my previous assignment, I had been a Squadron Lead, and like all other Squadron Leads in the Fleet, I had rotated through the Fighter Director’s station for familiarization and cross-training. In the last three years, I’ve had a lot of experience coordinating the actions of multiple fighters. In the few minutes before the engagement started, Third Officer Stuart, the Fighter Director for de Ruyter, gave me a brief refresher of how her controls worked.”

“Why didn’t you find somebody more qualified?” Administrator Genzale asked. “You were Staff, and Staff is not in the chain of command.”

“There wasn’t time,” Corey said, “plus we had suffered a major environmental breach, and I had reason to believe I could not get out of that compartment.” She shrugged. “What was the alternative? Sitting there and being shot out of the sky?”

“Why were you in the Fighter Director’s Compartment in the first place?” Administrator Genzale asked. “You explained it once, but now that I think about it, it almost seems as if you were preparing yourself to seize control if something happened to the Bridge.”

“Officer Andersen had been ordered off the Bridge by her superior officer,” Captain Haines said. “We have several witnesses who have made statements to that effect. Furthermore, from the evidence on file, Officer Andersen was not assigned a duty station.”

“She could have returned to her quarters and--”

“And what?” the Captain asked softly. “I take it you have never served in a ship in combat, Administrator Genzale.” Everyone heard and noted her slight emphasis on the word ‘administrator’. “In combat, all hands are busy operating the ship. Only passengers are expected to sit in their cabins and await the outcome. Third Officer Andersen was assigned to the de Ruyter, and was not a passenger.”

Administrator Genzale’s face reddened. “But she was the Supply Officer, and shouldn’t she have been assisting the Executive Officer?”

Captain Haines ran her finger down a list. “Fourth Officer Anita Matsuoko was listed as the Supply Officer for the de Ruyter. According to this medical report, she suffered a sprained wrist and several minor burns while assisting a damage control team. Officer Andersen is listed as ‘General Duties.’” She looked at Corey. “What were your duties on the de Ruyter?”

“Mostly as a supply clerk,” Corey said, “not the supply officer. I inventoried supplies, though a lot of what I did was a duplication of the work done by the clerks on the ship.”

Captain Haines nodded. “That would fit with the pattern observed by several others. The de Ruyter had nearly twice the staff of other ships.” She picked up the sheet of paper again. “In nearly every case, the official position was held by a member of Captain Matsuoko’s family, but the actual duties were carried out by someone else.”

She dropped the page and turned back to Corey. “Administrator Genzale does bring up a valid point, though. What prompted you to choose the Fighter Director’s Compartment? Why not, say, the Ready Rooms or Hangers?”

“To what end, Ma’am? The Ready Rooms would be empty. The crews of the Hangers would be busy, and I would only get in their way. I thought that if I was in the Fighter Director’s Compartment, I could serve as a communications resource for the Captain, brief her on what was going on, and allow the Fighter Director to get on with the job of keeping her chicks busy. And anyway, Second Officer Markin had specifically ordered me not to go to either the Ready Rooms or Hangers.”

“And so there you were, ready to ride to the rescue when the ship was damaged,” Administrator Genzale said. “Just in time to reap all of the glory and--”

“Administrator Genzale,” Captain Haines said quietly, her voice chilling. “I think that will be enough of that. It appears that your remarks have progressed beyond the legal case in front of us. You will confine yourself to this case and leave secondary issues alone, or I will remove you from this hearing.”

“But Ma’am, Captain Matsuoko maintains that this person seized control of the ship illegally, and this whole mess can be clearly resolved if we--”

“Excuse me, Administrator Genzale,” Captain Haines said, cutting the woman off in mid-word. “Third Officer Andersen is a legally commissioned officer, and you will address her by her rank, not as ‘this person.’ Furthermore, I have yet to hear a pertinent observation from you about the legal facts of this case. Do you have any?” Her voice turned colder. “Or are you going to repeat the entire overblown hyperbole Captain Matsuoko’s Family aired this morning on the news broadcasts?”