Lieutenant Roy Hunter and Corporal David Banion have a breakfast meeting in a small room. The breakfast on the wooden table is not steak, eggs, bacon, or hash browns served at Zippee's in County Gradion on Planet Alfheim. Instead, it is simply corn flakes served in Styrofoam bowls. Orange juice and water are inside paper cups.
Their meeting is to review the evidence so far, to be able to anticipate the trial counsel's case.
"There's something I remembered, sir," says the paralegal.
"What is it, Corporal?" asks the judge advocate.
"Well, remember when you mentioned the Robotech Masters ruins?"
"Yeah, you wanted to take that waitress there on the date."
"Lieutenant, it was you who suggested that to me."
"We have to get ready for court," says Hunter. "Tell me on the way."
ooooooo
"No, sir," says Lieutenant Hunter.
Major Max Frankel looks at the Space Marine gunnery sergeant sitting on a chair. "Do you swear you can judge the case before you fairly and impartially, only by the testimony, evidence, law, and your own conscience?" he asks, adjusting his eyeglasses.
"Yes, your Honor," replies the gunnery sergeant.
"We have our panel and alternate," says the judge. "I understand trial counsel is ready to proceed."
"Yes, your Honor," answers Lieutenant Courtney Hart. "We are."
"Then we shall proved at once. The United Earth Forces may call their first witness."
"Sir, we call Khoa Duc to the stand."
Sergeant Ken Yama, sitting with the defense counsel, the other two defendants, and Corporal Banion, notices a young man with short-cropped black hair walk to the back of the room, sitting on a chair next to the table serving as the judge's bench. He wears the olive-green Space Marine service alphas.
The bailiff, a Space Marine sergeant, approaches the witness.
"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" she asks.
"I do, Sergeant," answers the witness.
"State your name for the record," says the trial counsel.
"Khoa Duc," he says.
"Your rank and post?"
"I am Private First Class, assigned to veritech maintenance in Knight Squadron,. Presently deployed under the Space Marine detachment of the SDF-4 Liberator, ma'am."
"and what do you do?"
"Fix veritech, Lieutenant. The VF-25 Messiah has a clot of complicated parts,m due to its ability to transform."
"Private Duc, did you witness that brawl in the Space Marine mess hall last week?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Please describe what happened, Private."
"I went to to dinner after a long shift. I sat across the table from Fred."
"Is Fred one of the defendants in this courtroom?"
"Yes, m'am. Private Fred Fuller is here, sitting over at that table."
"Let the record show that the witness, Private First Class Khoa Duc, has identified the defendant, Private Fred Fuller."
"So noted," says Frankel.
"Please continue, Private."
"Yes, ma'am. I was just having supper. Veggie stew, the staple of interstellar voyages for sixty , he asked me f I heard something, and then he jumped at me, kept hitting me. I could hear other fights in the room. It must have happened for a few minutes before the Spacy Police came in and stopped the brawl. They apprehended Fred. Corpsmen took me to sick bay for a checkup; there were other Space Marines being checked out. It happened so fast, ma'am. I'm just glad I didn't get any broken bones."
"The United Earth Forces would like to present UEF Exhibit Alpha, the security footage collected from the mess hall."
Hart plays a video on a flay, 52-inch screen. The benches and the tables and the Space Marines are clearly visible. A fight breaks out.
Sergeant Saltz presses buttons on the remote control and magnifies to focus on a face.
"Is that you there, Private?" asks Lieutenant Hart.
"Yes, ma'am," replies Duc, seeing his face on the screen. Saltz unpauses and the video continues to show the man across the table from private Duc jumping across to attack him.
Sergeant Saltz presses some more buttons. Again, the image focuses on another face.
"And that is Private Fuller there, right?" asks the trial counsel.
"Yes, ma'am," says Duc.
The video is unpaused, and the three jurors, the judge, and everyone else in the room sees Fuller leap across the table.
"I have no further questions, your Honor," says Hart.
"The defense may proceed," says Major Frankel.
Lieutenant Hunter uses his cane to stand up. "Private, were you aware if Private Fred Fuller had any problem with you?"
"Oh no, sir," replies the witness. "I got along with him. Great mechanic. He's also one hell of a handball player. If you play handball against him, I advise you have corpsmen on standby, sir."
"Thank you for the warning, Private. So, like no girlfriend that Private Fuller would be jealous."
"I wish, sir."
"No further questions, your Honor."
"Redirect," says Lieutenant Hart.
"Go on," says the judge.
"Did you graduate boot camp the same time that Private Fuller did?" she asks.
"I believe so, ma'am."
"here are copies of your and Private Fuller's personnel records." The trial counsel hands the witness two sheets of paper.
"I guess we did graduate boot camp at the same time, ma'am."
"and you are now a private first class, while Fuller here is a private."
"No doubt about it, ma'am."
"No further questions."
"No questions," says the defense counsel.
"Witness may step down," says Frankel. "The court thank you for your time."
"You're welcome, sir," replies Private Duc. He rises up and walks out of the room.
"Call your next witness," says Major Frankel.
"The United Earth Forces calls Natalya Katic to the stand," says Hart.
A woman with light brown hair stands up. The right sider of her face is bruised, and her right arm is in a sling. She walks to the chair next to the judge's bench.
"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" asks the bailiff.
"I do, sergeant," she says.
"State your nam,e for the record," says Lieutenant Hart.
"Natalya Katic."
"Rank and post."
"Corporal, veritech mechanic for Knight Squadron. My job is to maintain the VF-25 Messiahs."
"Do you know the defendant, Sergeant Ken Yama?"
"Yes, ma'am, I do. He is one of the floor supervisors and I have assisted him in supervising the other mechanics on the team."
"Corporal, please describe what happened in the Space Marine enlisted mess hall."
"Well, Lieutenant, I was taking a dinner break. Sergeant Yama was sitting across from me. Dinner was veggie stew, nothing special."
"And then what happened?'
"Well, ma'am, there was a fight Before I knew it, I was on the ground. The police arrested me. I was taken to sick bay and then I actually stayed in the brig until later that evening when I was released."
Sergeant Saltz presses a button on the remote control, and the video appears on the screen. The screen focuses on a face.
"Is that you on the screen, Corporal Katic?" asks the trial counsel.
"Yes, ma'am," she answers.
"Now rotate." The image rotates, and the face of a man appears. "Is that man in this courtroom?"
"Yes, ma'am. That is Sergeant Ken Yama."
"Continue playback.
Sergeant Yama looks t the video, watching himself rise up and start attacking someone else. The fight goes on for a few minutes before it stops.
No further questions, your Honor," says Lieutenant Hart.
Lieutenant Hunter rises up. "Your Honor, I humbly request that we go into recess until tomorrow morning," he says. "The defense would like to re-examine the security footage from the mess hall."
"Your Honor," protests the trial counsel, "the defense has had three days to review the footage. May I remind you that the defense went down to the planet to chase a lead. And now they want more time?"
"Your Honor, there was something Corporal Katic said- or rather, did not say on direct- that we want to verify by looking at the footage."
"Three hours, Lieutenant Hunter," says the judge. "Be back here in three hours, or else your defendants will have to do the cross-examination."
"We'll be back, sir."
ooooooo
Corporal Banion is back at their office-away-from-the -office aboard the Liberator. Lieutenant Hunter looks over his shoulder.
The paralegal presses buttons on the keyboard. "Yeah, I can see this, sir. I'd better print out some pictures."
"Go ahead, Corporal," says the judge advocate.
Oooooo
The two of them are sitting at the defense table three hours later, alongside the three defendants. Lieutenant Hunter looks at the photographs. Corporal Katic sits at the chair serving as the witness stand.
"All rise," says the bailiff. "Special court-martial is now in session. The Honorable Max Frankel, Major, United Nations Space Marines, presiding."
"My apologies to counsel for being a little late," says Major Frankel. "Is the defense ready to proceed with the cross-examination of Corporal Katic?"
"We are, your Honor," says the defense counsel.
"Please proceed."
Hunter uses his cane to walk towards the witness. "Corporal, did you see Sergeant Yama hit you?"
"You can watch the video, sir," she replies. "It shows him attacking me."
"I am not talking about what the video shows, Corporal. I am talking about what you saw. Did you see Sergeant Yama hit you."
"Well, no, sir."
"Did you witness the fight?"
"I was there, sir."
"Did you see it. Hear it? Feel being hit?"
Katic sits on the chair for a while.
"Please answer the question, Corporal," says the judge.
"No, sir. I don't remember.
Lieutenant Hunter holds up a photograph Now, this is a picture of Sergeant Yama striking at you. You can see he was definitely in your line of sight. You were looking right at him."
"Yes, sir."
"But you just testified that you did not see him hit you."
"I might have had a concussion, sir. Maybe it causes memory loss."
"I have a copy of the report from sick bay when they treated for your injuries after the brawl," says the defense counsel. "Now, you were given tests to determine if you suffered any sort of concussion."
"Yes, I remember that, Lieutenant."
"The doctor reported that there were no signs of a concussion."
"Maybe she was wrong, sir."
"Now, let me replay the video."
Corporal Banion presses a button on a remote control.
"What are you seeing?"
"I'm seeing Space Marines eating dinner."
The video continues until the fight start.
"Now, rewind a few seconds, Banion."
"Yes, sir," he replies.
"Now let us look at Sergeant Yama," he says.
The video continues.
"Okay, you're showing him attacking me, sir," says Corporal Katic.
"Now we rewind to seven seconds before the fight started. Playback. You will see Sergeant Yama frozen in place, as if he shut down, before he attacked you."
"I can't say if that what it looks like, sir."
"Defense Exhibit Alpha, a picture printed from the security footage." Hunter holds up the photograph "you can see the expression in his eyes."
"Objection," says Lieutenant Hart.
"Your Honor, we are trying to establish that the defendants had no capacity in this fight, that they were controlled."
"Overruled, Lieutenant Hart," says Major Frankel.
Corporal Banion plays another part of the video, showing Private Fuller attacking Private First Class Duc. He then rewinds it and plays back slowly.
"We can clearly see private Fuller freezing in place, even as the others are eating their meal and talking," says Lieutenant Hunter.
"I can see that, sir," says Katic.
And the defense introduces Defense Exhibit Bravo, a close-up of the face of Private Fred Fuller."
"Yes, that looks like the same expression."
"Objection," says Hart. "Witness is no expert at reading facial expressions."
"Sustained" says the judge.
"Now let us play back the prelude of attack against you, only this time looking at you," says the defense counsel.
The footage is played back, only this time the angle shows Corporal Katie's face. The brawl is shown again.
"All right, rewind back ten seconds."
The footage is replayed again.
"Do you notice yourself freezing in place?"
"I was?" asks the corporal.
"Yes, you froze in place for about seven seconds, and then you stood up a second before you were struck by Sergeant Yama's fist."
"That's what it looked like, sir."
"Now, one question. What did you hear before the fight?"
"What did I hear, sir?"
"Surely we do not need to repeat the question again, Corporal."
Katic thinks for a while. "Lieutenant, I remember hearing this song. It was soft."
"What kind of music, Corporal?"
"Like a choir."
"Adult or child?"
"A child."
"Boy or girl?"
"A boy, I think," answers Corporal Katic.
Lieutenant Hart writes a note on her notepad, wondering what Lieutenant Hunter is trying to prove.
"I have no further questions, your Honor," says the defense counsel.
"No further questions," says the trial counsel.
"Witness may step down," says Frankel. "This court thanks you for your time."
"You're welcome, sir," replies Corporal Katic, who stands up and leaves the room.
Ooooooo
"The United Earth Forces rests, your Honor," says Lieutenant Hart.
"The defense moves for a directed judgment of not guilty," says Lieutenant Hunter.
"It's expected for you to make this motion, Lieutenant," says Major Frankel. "We deny your motion."
"Sir, then I would like a motion to hold proceedings in abeyance for seven days."
"Approach."
The two judge advocates approach the judge.
"Explain yourself, Lieutenant Hunter."
"Your Honor, the brawl up here happened at the same time as the riot at the County Gradion Fair below on Planet Alfheim," says the defense counsel. "At that same time, the Robotech Masters ruins on the planet were glowing. We have downloaded timestamped pictures showing this. As we all know, the Robotech Masters used music to control their society of clones, and they used these structures to transmit their songs via hyperspatial fold waves. I propose a seven day abeyance. Give us time to examine these ruins. The United Earth Forces is of course free to use those seven days to conduct any investigation that may counter our defense."
"With all due respect, your Honor," says the trial counsel, "the defense is desperate. He wants to delay the trial to chase mere rumors."
"We will continue as scheduled," says Frankel. "the defense motion is denied. The defense is due to present its case on Monday."
oooooo
"I really can't envy you," says Lieutenant Hart, now dressed in MARPAT camouflage. "Your clients have put you in a position where you have to defend the indefensible."
The two of them sit down at a bar and grill on Main Street inside the SDF-4 Liberator. Main street is basically a village full of retail and entertainment options, staffed by civilian contractors. This particular bar and grill serves food and drink to those willing to spend money for an alternative to what is served in the vessel's mess halls. There are plenty of people in here, most of them crewmen, with a few Space Marines.
"It might not be as indefensible as it seems, Lieutenant," replies Lieutenant Hunter.
"It's Courtney in a situation like this."
"Then you can call me Roy."
"Okay, Roy." Courtney sips a drink. "It has been two months since as I started my deployment." She pulls out a device and it projects a hologram of two girls. "My girls. They're with their dad."
Roy pulls something from his pocket and projects a hologram of his family. "My boys," he says. "Their mom is taking good care of them."
"you get to go home after this is over. I'm still here for a few months. You know, I was the youngest of a large family;' my dad was a career Spacy enlisted man."
"A large family. I was an only child; that's an outlier."
"Well, in the timespan between the four Robotech Wars, humans tended to have lots of kids. I mean, the closest I had to younger siblings were the children of this couple who were friends with my parents."
"And any big sibling figures?"
Roy sips a drink. "I guess that would be Commander Priyatosh. I mean, she showed me all the little details and nuances of being a judge advocate after I graduated law school and was commissioned. I never grew up with a big brother or sister."
"Yes. Well, anyway, we can talk a deal."
"A deal?"
"Well, your defense is a longshot. There is no denying it."
"True."
"I presented my case in a day. It was a simple case with only a few witnesses and security footage, of course."
"You had an easy case."
"The terms got worse. Privates Fuller and Zavic can plead guilty They get fifteen days' confinement and fifteen days' forfeiture, no further punishment.
"Sergeant Yama is a different matter. He is a sergeant, so we need to make an example of him. Thirty days' confinement, thirty days' forfeiture of pay, and a bad conduct discharge?"
"Bad conduct discharge?" asks Roy.
"Yes, a bad conduct discharge," answers Courtney.
"that';s not much."
"The maximum confinement by a special court-martial is one year. Taking the deal means Sergeant Yama gets an eleven month discount."
"More like a one month discount, given his clean service record."
"He has to get a bad conduct discharge. The only way he does not get one is if that jury votes not guilty."
"I will present your terms to my clients," says Roy.