Lieutenant Roy Hunter hears some footsteps. He looks and sees Lieutenant Burbich walking into the visiting room.
"Hi there," Hunter says to the lieutenant.
"Are things going well?" asks the V-School student.
"I just had another surgery," replies Lieutenant Hunter. "They put some sort of carbon nanotubes or something, attaching it to my bones to hold them together.""
"I don;'t know if I could ever be a surgeon, buddy." The visitor looks around. The visiting room was simple, with some chairs and low tables and a bookshelf. One other person, propping herself up on a walker, is there with her family.
"How's training?" asks Hunter.
"Still practicing in the sims," replies Burbich. The commanders told us that the higher-ups hadn't authorized live training yet."
"Look like you'll be on Tirol longer than expected. Me, they still need to do scans to find out how to plan my physical therapy."
"I can't imagine being cooped up here. In was wondering if we could wrangle up some friends and rent a convertible – maybe one of the new Starfires- and take you on a driving tour through Tiresias"
Roy smiles. "That would be great. I'd have to lay down; I won't be able to bend my knees until after maybe my next surgery and after the casts come off for good. Any way, some family friends came to visit yesterday. They actually live in Tiresias, just a ten minute drive from the front gate. Their kids are practically my younger siblings. Mr. Katsulas can cook a mean gyro.
"A what?"
"Gyro, basically shaved lamb meat, mixed with cucumber and tzatziki and diced tomatoes, on pita bread.
"Sounds delicious, Anyway, I got to go."
"They offer gyros at the Greek deli."
"Thanks, Hunter; I'll look it up."
The rehab patient smiles as Lieutenant Burbich leaves the room.
He wonders if Mr. and Mrs. Katsulas would visit him again.
Ooooooo
The firing range at Joint Forces Air Field Tirol has several booths and some paper targets with humanoid silhouettes in the back. Several U.N. Spacy enlistees wearing their gray overalls fire their ES-11 blasters at the targets. Space Sergeant Haller, wearing a peaked cap and his service khakis, watches.
He salutes as soon as he sees Commander Arihiso Hamato approach. "I was told I would find you here,." he says.
"Well, sir," says the space sergeant, "You can only perform maintenance on veritechs so many times if they are not being flown. I figured bringing my people to the range would add variety to their routine."
The commander looks at the enlistees- who typically inspect and fix the veritechs- fire blasts at the paper targets. "Our students are performing quite well in the sims. I have full confidence once we are clear to fly, they will be able to graduate."
Haller looks at his watch. "Our time here at the range is almost up, Commander."
"I guess I should tell this to you now, Space Sergeant. The Commission of Inquiry has extended its investigation There was black box data indicating a sensor malfunction on Lieutenant Seuk's Alpha."
"A malfunction? What kind?"
"Sadly, the aircraft in question is no longer available. All we have is the black box data."
"Commander, we tested everything the night before, while we were on the Leonard."
"It may have happened after your inspection."
"Maybe, sir. But none of the parts were nowhere near close to the end of their service life, well, at least not until the collision. The repair logs."
"Do not worry about the repair logs, Space Sergeant. As I said, I will personally handle documentation requests from the Commission. I am the commanding officer; I am responsible."
"Perhaps, Commander. That is above my pay grade."
"Everyone!" barks the commander.
The enlistees stop shootings and they all turn around to face Hamato.
"I hope you enjoyed this break from the ordinary routine. Now we shall return to post!" snaps Commander Hamato.
"Aye aye, sir!" Space Sergeant Haller and the other enlistees snap.
Ooooooo
Lieutenant General Marie Crystal and the others in the Commission of Inquiry sit in a conference room in Admin Building 310. She and the others look at Lieutenant Commander Fan Zeppel, who is wearing service khakis.
"I flew in the Battle of Reflex Point," he says. "I continued flying in operational veritech squadrons and last year, I was promoted to lieutenant commander and assigned as XO for the Spacy's veritech training squadron here on Tirol. I find it an honor. Being able to shoot down enemy mecha is one thing; it is another thing to teach others to do so."
"What happened the day Lieutenant Seuk died?" asks Crystal.
"To be honest, sirs, ma'ams, there's not much I can say," answers the Spacy commander. "I was assigned to hold the fort while Commander Hamato personally oversaw the training exercise near Fantoma. Down here, I spent my time having the other student pilots practice maneuvers in the sims. I was told that I had a call from the commander who was aboard the Leonard. I was told there was a crash, and that the training exercise was suspended. About two hours later, Commander Hamato spoke to me, informing me of Lieutenant Seuk's death. He stayed up there until Lieutenant Hunter was transferred to the hospital here. Sirs, ma'ams, my role was simply hearing what happened."
General Crystal holds a pice of paper in front of her face for a few seconds before putting it down. "Commander Zeppel, in your opinion, were Lieutenants Seuk and Hunter ready to practice navigation through a debris field."
"Of course, ma'am. We would not have sent them up if they weren't ready."
"And that's your opinion?"
"Absolutely."
For a moment, the Commission remains silent. They all glance at each other.
"With all due respect, sirs, ma'ams, is there something else?" asks Commander Zeppel.
"You may have misunderstood our question," says the Air Force general. "Was that your personal opinion?"
"Personal opinion, ma'am?" asks Zeppel, holding up his hands. "With all due respect, General, that is quite beside the point. Commander Hamato is the commanding officer. It is his duty, his discretion, and his responsibility to make the judgment call. He said that Seuk and Hunter and those two others were ready for this exercise. He spoke for all of us, ma'am."
"Did you ever express disagreement with him about this?"
"General Crystal, with all due respect, that is not a proper question to ask."
"and with all due respect, Commander," says Crystal, "you are an XO, not Commander Hamato's attorney. Your communications to him are in no way privileged under the law. And you clearly are not his priest. Did you disagree?"
The commander pauses for a moment. "I advised that Lieutenants Hunter and Burch were not ready," he answers. "I must emphasize, sirs, ma'ams, that Commander Hamato judged that Lieutenants Hunter and Burbich was ready. He made the judgment call."
"Why did you advise Commander Hamato that those two pilots were not ready?"
"Sirs, ma'ams, they both had collisions in the sims within the past three times they practiced these maneuvers I felt they needed more training in the sims before practicing in a real debris field. Once again, sirs, ma'ams, I emphasize that Commander Hamato judged otherwise. I recall that he told me these were glancing blows, not a head-on collision with a piece of debris that could seriously damage or destroy the ship.
"One thing I would add, sirs and ma'ams, is that one of the duties of an XO is to nitpick the CO's proposals- behind closed doors, of course. Commander Hamato told me as much. I would hope that when I become a commanding officer, my XO would point out flaws in my proposals."
"Does anyone else on the commission have questions for Commander Zeppel?" asks the general.
"I have a question, ma'am," says Captain Yusuf Obegwo. "Commander Zeppel, was Commander Hamato's decision to send up Lieutenant Hunter motivated by the fact that Lieutenant Roy Hunter is the son of Supreme Commander Rick Hunter?"
"With all due respect, Captain," answers Zeppel, "I can not express an opinion on my commanding officer's state of mind. I can say that he never said anything about being pressured to give Lieutenant Hunter any breaks. Nor am I aware of any communications from his superiors about Lieutenant Roy Hunter."
"But surely that must have been a factor."
"I can not testify any knowledge about that, sir."
"Any other questions?" asks General Crystal.
the other members remain silent.
"Very well then," says Crystal. "The witness is dismissed."
"Aye aye, sirs, ma'ams," says Commander Zeppel. He leaves the conference room.
Oooooooo
Later that day, Commander Zeppel walks into Commander Hamato's office. Hamato himself is sitting in the leather seat behind the desk, looking at the screen of the Apple HyperMac.
"Ah, good afternoon, Commander," says Hamato. "Any updates?"
"We went through another round of sim training, sir," replies Zeppel. "Our maintenance teams fine-tuned the veritechs, no major repairs needed on any of them. If we can get the go-ahead from the higher ups, we can start live exercises on Monday."
"I have sent a request up the chain of command," says Hamato. Not just for our team, but for our cousins' teams as well. It is a hassle dealing with the investigators from the commission."
"A necessary inconvenience, Ari."
"Perhaps. The Commission wanted a look at all maintenance records since the beginning of the class' no doubt due to the black box data showing the malfunction of the Alpha that Lieutenant Seuk was flying. I've just finished compiling them in a big bundle to send to them."
"I just wonder how we could have missed that. I mean, I read the maintenance reports on all the veritech we sent to the Leonard for our training mission. I went through this with Sergeant Haller."
"The Commission probably has experts looking over what we sent them. I am guessing that they'll make their findings and recommendations soon. After that, our higher-ups will decide. Dismissed, Commander Zeppel."
"I will be in my office, sir," he says.
Oooooo
The Commission of Inquiry meets inside the conference room in Admin Building 310. They had spent the previous day in deliberations, going over documents and testimony.
And then it is time to vote on the proposed recommendations.
"This Commission of Inquiry has voted," says General Crystal. "These recommendations shall be sent to United Earth Forces Supreme Command, the Office of the United Nations Secretary General, and the United Nations Security Council. We shall begin dissolution proceedings."
The general bangs a gavel. She knows that this is just the beginning.
Ooooooo
Commander Hamato is inside the hangar, looking at the Stonewell Bellcom VFA-6 Alpha veritech fighters, all resting on their landing gears. A crewman mops the concrete surface. The hangar has this faint synthetic smell.
He hears footsteps. He looks and immediately recognizes Commander Zeppel. With his XO is another man in service khakis. He has dark brown hair and a dark brown beard, with eyeglasses framing his face. He appears to be in his mid-thirties. He has a brass oak emblem pinned on his collar, and has two rows of colored ribbons pinned to his shirt.
"What is it?" asks Hamato.
"Commander Hamato, it is best if I start," says the XO. He hands the CO a piece of paper. "Effective immediately, you have been removed from command of this training squadron."
Commander Hamato stays silent for a moment. "I am not surprised," he says, looking at the paper. "They need someone to take the blame."
"There is more, sir."
The other man speaks. "I am Lieutenant Commander Michael Sarakian, judge advocate," he says. "Commander Hamato, I am here to inform you that, by order of the Secretary General of the United Nations, a general court-martial has been convened to try you on charges of perjury, falsifying military records, willful disobedience of a lawful regulation, and the voluntary manslaughter of Third Lieutenant Hyun Seuk. You are entitled to military counsel. You have the right to hire a civilian attorney at your own expense. We will inform you when you will appear in court."
Commander Sarakian turns around and walks away.
Zeppel looks at Hamato, who is still not feeling anything. "I can wrangle up some people to help you vacate your office, sir."