Chapter Six: A Roll of the Dice

0640 Hours, May 14, 2561. UNSC Chariot Naval Air Base, Desmond, Regent State, Planet Mars. Inner Colonies. Prologue to the Enemy of My Enemy

Today was finally the day.

I stood in front of the mirror in my bathroom, putting the finishing touches on my Marine dress uniform. It'd been a while since I'd worn it - not since my graduation from War College and promotion to colonel a year ago. I could hardly believe it'd been that long already.

The left side of my jacket was heavy with ribbons and medals, and they clinked together when I pulled it taut at my sides. I'd been a Marine for nearly fourteen years - it made me sad to think it might all end here today, like this. At the same time, though, I reminded myself that I was married to Willis for just as long, having said our vows in our Class A uniforms on the same day we'd been commissioned second lieutenants at the Naval Academy on Reach. That had now come to an end; it seemed poetic that this might as well.

I'd been twenty years old at the time, and I'd had no idea what awaited me during the Human-Covenant War that had been waging since before my birth. No idea of the slaughter I'd witness in six long years of fighting, of how quickly I'd go through the ranks, of how fast Willis and I would go from just the two of us to a young family of three. No idea that I'd receive purple heart after purple heart and commendation after commendation in combat - or that we'd ally with the Elites at the eleventh hour for the sake of our species, or that Willis's and my second child would die in my womb. Or that I'd lose my best friend, my older sister, and my mother, all within a few years of each other.

I hadn't known any of that. But I did now, and it all came rushing up.

Behind me, Chief made a noise. I came out of my daze quickly, realizing that I now lived alone with my four kids - and a dog. If Willis and I had still been together, he would've helped me with everything while I prepared for what was going to be a monumental day. But we weren't, and so I couldn't afford to take all the time I needed to get ready. I'd already used up what I could, and I figured I was as presentable as I was going to be. For the rest, I knew I had to get going now if we were all going to make it out of the apartment on time.

Chief gave another low whine, and I finally emerged from the adjoining bathroom into my bedroom. Gabriel stood there in his pajamas, looking sleepy.

"Gabe? What's wrong?"

He shrugged as he rubbed one eye. "I don't know. I just woke up and couldn't go back to sleep."

I walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, aware of the fact that my youngest was still sleeping soundly in it. I kept my voice low when I spoke. "Do you miss your dad?"

Slowly he nodded, and I opened my arms up to give him a hug. Then I released him and gently took hold of his shoulders.

"It's going to be difficult in the beginning, but it'll get better, baby. I promise."

"I know, but when? I hate this. I miss you all the time when I'm with Dad, and then when I'm here, I miss him. I want you guys to get back together."

I sighed. "It's not that simple, honey. I wish it were."

"Why? Do you not love him anymore?"

"I do, son. Very much. But sometimes people break up for other reasons. Your dad and I...we just aren't on the same page anymore on some things." I saw a tear roll down his cheek, and I wiped it away with my hand. "I'm sorry, Gabe. I know this is hard on you. It's hard for everyone, but we'll get through this."

He swallowed. "Is it because of what happened to you when you were gone? When the bad guys took you away?"

Gabriel was the only one of my kids who knew about that. I took in a deep breath.

"Yes."

"What happened?"

Many things I didn't want to relive. There'd been the initial ambush, where every member of my dedicated security detail - men and women I'd worked with for years, like Staff Sergeant Derek Lynch - were killed right in front of me, a terrible struggle where I'd fought against impossible odds and had ultimately been overwhelmed and captured. Then waking up in a cell not knowing where I was, or whether or not my good friend, Lieutenant Lloyd, had also been killed. There'd been the beatings and getting baited and harassed by my primary captors, Garrett and Daria. Thinly veiled threats of rape from the former, which luckily never came true. Then they'd tried to drown me, on multiple occasions - and not just with water. Hitting an already ailing Caleb in my presence, thinking he might die. An attempted escape on my part, which had ended with a gunshot to the back of my leg just as I'd reached Cal's cell, and then an entire night spent watching the clip of my men dying for me over and over again, until morning.

It'd only finally ended when Ethan and his ONI team had arrived to rescue us. Just like that, my ex had put a bullet in Garrett's brain - and later during our escape, I'd put two more in Daria's chest.

She'd been my very first human kill - the first of many during that deployment. That had changed things for me, too. I'd no longer been the same after all of that, and it'd been a hard road back. One I was still trying to figure out, even now.

To my son, I said simply, "A lot of things that changed me, and your dad, and now we're just...different people." I reached out to embrace him again. "We both still love each other, though, and we love you and your brothers and sister very much. That will never change."

"Promise?"

I kissed the top of his head. "I promise, kiddo. Now go get dressed. I've got a very important meeting to get to this morning. Make sure you wake Liam and Liv while you're at it, and I'll get Logan up." Then I glanced at the dog. "Chief? Let's get you some kibble, bud."

His ears perked up, and despite the awful memories that had resurfaced, I found myself smiling a bit.

I left Chief with a dog sitter since I didn't know how long I'd be gone, then dropped the kids off at school and daycare, for little Logan. I got to the JAG building on base with little time to spare, but still breathed a small sigh of relief. At least I'd managed to get everything done.

Now it was time to face this, too.

"Good morning, Colonel."

A tall, broad-shouldered man in Navy dress whites approached and came to a halt in front of me, saluting. He looked to be around my age, maybe a bit older, with dark, buzzed hair. I returned the salute, and he offered me his hand.

"I'm Lieutenant Commander Ian Roth. I've been appointed as your counsel for your case. Shall we discuss some things in my office before we begin?"

"Do we have time?"

"Yes, ma'am. The judge will wait a few minutes."

"Very well."

We stepped into his office, made up entirely of glass, and he sat behind his desk. I took the seat in front of it as he pulled out his datapad and began reading.

"Colonel Natalie Cooper. Age thirty-four, fourteen years in service - mostly infantry. Married to Major William Hawk, also thirty-four, and also with fourteen years in the Corps - as a pilot."

"Separated."

He glanced up. "What?"

"We're separated now," I repeated.

"Ah." He glanced back down at the rest of the file. "Here for charges of adultery, under Article 134. Your co-defendant is Lieutenant Commander Ethan Ackerson - a spook who's also the same age with the same amount of time in." He looked to me again. "I'm guessing that's what split up your marriage? A little fling with the commander on your most recent deployment?"

"There's more to it than that," I answered stiffly.

He flashed me a fake smile. "Isn't there always, ma'am?" He leaned back in his chair and put his arms behind his head. "So? Want to give me the skinny? The first thing that pops out at me is you're all the same age. I bet there's a story there."

I blew out a breath. "We went to high school together. I dated Ethan for about a year when I was sixteen, then met my husband when I was seventeen. He was new and had just moved to town. I became best friends with his little sister. And the rest - "

"Is history, yeah? So what, still couldn't decide between the two after all these years?"

In fact, I had decided, a long time ago. I'd decided when Ethan had started abusing me, before I met Willis. Ethan finally landed me in the hospital one day, badly beaten with broken bones and a black eye. Willis had been there for me as a friend while I'd recovered, and later convinced me to leave Ethan for good, helping me end things with him. By then, I'd fallen hard for Willis, and he'd fallen for me. I'd never looked back since.

Until I finally saw Ethan again three years ago. Back from the dead, I'd initially believed. It'd been a shock at first, and I'd kept him at bay and chewed him out every single chance I got. But slowly, I saw how radically he had changed since we'd been kids together - so had I. Ethan had saved my life more than once during our first deployment together, back on Requiem. And more recently, after getting captured by the rebs on Puget - and his rescue - it hadn't been that simple anymore.

Presently, though, it took everything I had to keep my voice steady. "You'll note in the file that I was a prisoner of the rebs for three weeks before everything happened."

"I saw. I'm sorry, Colonel." He straightened and folded his hands in front of him on his desk. "I don't mean to come off crass. I know this must be a difficult time. But I have to ask - did you do it?"

"Did I have an affair?"

He nodded, and waited for me to answer.

"Well, we became close. I didn't develop feelings for him, but...we were attracted to one another, for sure." And I'd found out later that there were definite feelings on Ethan's part. I took a deep breath. "We kissed, one time. He kissed me, and I kissed him back. It was..." I shook my head. "A mistake. But nothing else ever happened. I never slept with him."

"Anything of a sexual nature at all?"

"No."

He leaned back again, ruminating. "I'm sorry for the invasive questions, but it's all very relevant, I assure you. It sounds like you crossed some boundaries, no doubt, and perhaps got close to having an emotional affair. But thankfully for you - and for the commander - the UCMJ doesn't concern itself with this form of infidelity. The court has to prove you two had an active sexual relationship while you were married - that is the only thing that'll get you here. If it didn't happen, and there's no witnesses to anything, you have a very good shot at beating this."

At that I frowned. "There was a witness. To us kissing, I mean."

His expression changed as well. "Who? A colleague, a subordinate?"

"A prisoner of ours, actually. A young rebel girl."

"Did she tell anyone?"

"She made mention of it to Eth - to Commander Ackerson's subordinate, Lieutenant Caleb Lloyd, when we interrogated her. She also said we were...doing more than just kissing. I told him it wasn't true, because it wasn't."

Roth thought for a moment. "Well, that's not going to be strong evidence, coming from someone who would have great motive to do you harm. But if she made an official statement during interrogation, it'll be logged, and the court might play on that."

My heart sank. "So that's it? I'm in trouble on the exaggerated word of an enemy? On a lie?"

"We'll see," the lieutenant commander said. "I'm good at what I do, Colonel, and I promise you I'll do my utmost to get you exonerated." He stood then, and gestured towards his office door. "Shall we, ma'am? The judge is waiting."

I was immediately struck by the grandeur of the court when I walked in. It wasn't a large space, but it was imposing just the same, filled with the great seals of the Judge Advocate General and the Department of the Navy, along with an impressive-looking judge's bench up front.

I took in a breath while my appointed attorney and I sat down at our table. This was where my fate as a Marine - the fate of my whole career - would be decided.

And Ethan's as well.

Looking across the room, I saw him walk in with his own legal appointment, a young female Marine captain. I could see her smiling, and I knew he was already putting the moves on her. I wanted to roll my eyes. His charm was part of what got me, too, but it wasn't going to look good to the judge if he was flirting with his damn attorney.

He was in ONI's dress uniform, a darker color than mine, and he too had an impressive array of accolades on his jacket. Whatever else he was, Ethan was a good operative - I'd seen that firsthand, initially on Requiem, where we'd been posted together, and then during the battle against the Prometheans on Earth. I'd seen it again more recently on Puget, where I'd spent most of the deployment alone while Willis was home here on Mars with the kids. It was only when things got bad enough - when we'd discovered the Promethean presence there - that I'd called for reinforcements, and my husband had been part of the incoming group. By then, what had happened with Ethan and I had happened. Needless to say, it'd been a very contentious and draining reunion.

But I wasn't going to dwell on that now. That had passed. What mattered now was whether or not the judge would believe that my ex and I had never consummated anything. And that, while difficult to prove, might still happen depending on the testimony against me.

There was a third table on the far side, and I saw now that it was for the appointed prosecutor. He looked like a lithe and serious man, a Marine major, and I instantly knew he was going to make these proceedings hell.

"All rise," an enlisted woman in the corner said, and we all rose as one. "Captain Terrance Prim presiding."

The Naval captain entered the room then from a door closer to the bench, rather than the one at the main entrance we'd come through. He looked past middle age but trim, with gray hair going white on his head. He sat down without a lot of fanfare, and then looked out at each of us in turn.

"We are here today for the hearing of Colonel Natalie Cooper and Lieutenant Commander Ethan Ackerson, both accused of adultery, in violation of Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. How do you plead, Colonel?"

"Not guilty, sir."

"Commander?"

"Not guilty, sir."

"Very well. And what evidence does the prosecution have for me to determine otherwise?"

The Marine major on the far side stood. "Sir, I have a logged transcript of an interrogation here performed by Colonel Cooper, Commander Ackerson, and a Lieutenant Lloyd. One of their prisoners was a witness to an alleged incident involving the colonel and the commander."

"The prisoner's name?"

"Sofía Valentina Rios, born Laraza, sir. She and her father, Javier Laraza, were released from captivity by their compatriots during an assault of the 52nd Regiment's camp in Cordonnes. That's on Puget, Outer Colonies."

The Navy captain nodded, then turned to my attorney. "Anything to say, Commander Roth?"

"Just the obvious here: the witness is a rebel. Not only that, but she's the daughter of a man who's spent years now going after Colonel Cooper personally. I can't think of a better way to get even than to end or stall the career of someone you can't outmatch in the field."

I resisted the urge to look over at him then, but I had to say, I was impressed so far. Roth had done his homework.

"Any other evidence, Major Lee?"

"Not at this time, sir, but we will gather other potential witnesses and testimonies, should this court decide to proceed with a court-martial."

"And should it come to that, the defense will return with character witnesses of their own, sir," Roth countered.

Captain Prim thought for a moment. "What was this alleged incident, Major Lee?"

"The pair were caught kissing by the prisoner, sir."

"How?"

"She explained it was through an undiscovered peephole in her cell. The two defendants were otherwise alone. Anything else could have happened, really."

The prosecutor was laying it on thick. My blood simmered for a second, before I let out a discreet sigh to maintain my composure. I was only barely able to hold my tongue.

"And did it, Major? I am not court-martialing two otherwise outstanding servicepeople for a smooch. Commander Ackerson has an exemplary record as an ONI officer, heading many successful black ops on his own. Colonel Cooper likewise has an excellent reputation, and has seen a promotion to O-6 ahead of many of her peers - and at a relatively young age. The UNSC is short on officers like them."

I watched as Major Lee stood straighter. "I believe it did, sir, as did the witness. In the transcript, she says...well, I won't repeat her exact words aloud, sir, as she was rather vulgar. But yes, she said they had...intimate relations."

"Oh, for fuck's sake," I muttered, and Roth gave me a look.

He leaned over to whisper in my ear. "Best you keep in whatever you have to say right now, Colonel. Even if they proceed to court-martial based on this, that doesn't mean you're done for. We will fight it."

I nodded, then waited without breath to hear what the captain said in response. This was all up to him now - it could end here if he wanted it to.

"Any additional words, Captain Johan?" he said, indicating Ethan's counsel.

"Not at this time, sir. I believe my colleague, Commander Roth, covered it for the defense side."

"Very well." He gave us all a look in turn again. "Based on what I've heard so far, I do feel that the evidence deserves a fair review. I hereby call you both - Colonel Cooper, and Commander Ackerson - to a court-martial. We will reconvene here in exactly five days to hear testimony, and to declare a verdict. Until then, you're dismissed."

I felt my stomach twist in a knot at his words. This was really happening. I was going to get court-martialed for this. I could hardly believe it.

Roth sensed my disquietude and disappointment, and reached out to squeeze my shoulder. "I'm sorry, ma'am. We'll do what we can from here."

I found myself nodding back, but didn't really do it consciously. The enormity of all this was only just starting to hit me now. I'd spent months telling myself it might not even get past this stage. Or at least I'd hoped.

That hope was gone now. If I was found guilty, I'd either be demoted or kicked out of the service. Both of those possibilities were like a shot to the heart - and the death of one of the biggest parts of me.

I'd lose my honor, integrity, and reputation as an officer in the Marine Corps. I'd lose my command for good. And, after almost a decade and a half in, I'd be done being a Marine.