Adapt and Overcome (The Maxwell Saga) (28 page)

Steve shrugged. “I won’t pretend it’s not a bit of a wrench, Sir, but she’s ultimately your ship, not mine. My duty is to help you get your people ready to crew your new vessels, and given the latest developments, I think sharing command has to be part of that. If we do all the things I’ve mentioned, we can have crews ready for your next three patrol craft within three months. The ships can be operational almost as soon as they get here.

He scratched his chin thoughtfully.
“There’s another thing, Sir. You mentioned hiring private security craft to watch over the asteroid mining project. There’s no reason why a platoon or two from your armored battalion can’t assist them, using their new assault shuttles. They can fit extended-range reaction mass tanks in their load compartments, and install short-range anti-ship missiles on their stub wings. They won’t be suitable for long-range patrols, but they can provide local security. It’ll be good training for your troops as well, particularly if you rotate fresh personnel into the assignment every month or so. They can live aboard the miners’ accommodation ship – they’re bound to have spare beds available until the project hits its stride.”

O’Fallon nodded.
“I’ll discuss that with Brigadier-General Staynes. I daresay he’ll be pleased to have an opportunity to deploy some of his troops off-planet. It’ll give them valuable experience in space operations.” He glanced at Colonel Houmayoun. “Colonel, if General Staynes agrees to let us borrow his troops, can we get some of those short-range anti-ship missiles from Lancaster as fast as possible? Also,
Nightingale
is still a Fleet vessel – she hasn’t yet been formally transferred to Rolla. As senior Fleet officer on the Rolla station, will you please issue written authorization to Lieutenant Maxwell to allow Rolla officers to take her out as Commanding Officers, standing in for him in his absence?”

“I’ll be glad to issue temporary authorization, Commodore, and I’m sure the Board of Admiralty will confirm it. I’ll also find out about those missiles. In theory, I don’t see any problem in getting some shipped here from Fleet stocks within a couple of months.”

“Then that’s settled. Let’s get to work!”

Colonel Houmayoun signaled Steve to remain behind as the others strode out.
“I wanted to give you a heads-up about the award ceremony,” he told him. “A Flag Officer is coming out from Lancaster to confer the awards next month. Apparently you know her – or, at any rate, she knows you. Her name’s Commodore Janet Esquivel. She’s presently in charge of Recruiting in the Bureau of Personnel.”

Steve’s jaw dropped.
“Well, I’ll be darned! It’s been
years!
I was still a civilian when we met. She was a Lieutenant-Commander at the time, the Commanding Officer of a Fleet communications frigate that was destroyed by Constandt de Bouff more than a decade ago. He rescued her and the other survivors. They were put aboard my merchant ship, which his father had captured. The pirates planned to murder all of us, but we were able to recapture the ship and escape. Lieutenant-Commander Esquivel was badly hurt in the fighting. Later I heard she’d been awarded the Lancastrian Cross in Gold and an immediate combat promotion to Commander.”

The Colonel nodded thoughtfully. “Sounds like quite a story.
It seems that when she heard you’d scuppered de Bouff senior, she formally requested the Board of Admiralty to allow her to present the awards, due to her earlier encounter with him and with you. She’ll be here in four weeks. You’d better arrange for Lieutenant-Commander Le Roux or Senior Lieutenant Grunion to take over
Nightingale
during her visit, so you can be available for the investiture.”

“Aye
aye, Sir. It’ll be good to see her again.”

Two weeks later Steve was hard at work in
the patrol craft project office, part of System Control aboard the Planetary Elevator terminal, when the comm unit on his desk shrilled sharply.

“Senior Lieutenant Maxwell speaking.”

“Sir, it’s the Duty Quartermaster here. A civilian lawyer’s just arrived on the weekly dispatch vessel. He demanded to see you at once. When I told him he’d have to make an appointment, he produced some sort of legal document from his briefcase and claimed he was here on official business. Do you want to see him, Sir?”

“What sort of
legal document?”

“One moment, please, Sir.” There was a murmur of voices on the other end of the line. “He says it’s a court order, Sir.”

“A
court order?”
For a moment Steve was baffled, then he suddenly remembered Commander Buchanan’s inquest and the ongoing investigation into the crash of the Mark XVIIA assault shuttle prototype. This probably had something to do with that.

“
Very well, Quartermaster. Please have one of your duty team escort him to the conference room in the Administrative section. I’ll meet him there.”

“Aye
aye, Sir.”

Steve thought for a moment. If this was connected to the crash investigation and subsequent events, it might be worthwhile to have an independent witness to proceedings – and a record of them. He placed a call to
Syscon’s Executive Officer.

“Commander Upjohn.”

“Good morning, Sir. Senior Lieutenant Maxwell here.” Steve hurriedly explained about the arrival of the lawyer. “I was wondering, Sir – are the facilities that we used for the last planning meeting still in place?”

He could hear a glimmer of humor in the Exec’s voice. “They are. Do you want me to activate them?”

“I’d be grateful, thank you, Sir. I also wondered whether I could borrow one of your officers to act as an impartial witness to proceedings.”

“I think that can be arranged. Come on down. I’ll have everything ready for you.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

Steve arrived at the Admin section within a few minutes, to find Commander Upjohn waiting. “There’s no-one else available, and I’m free right now, so I’ll act as your witness,” the senior officer informed him. He motioned to the doorway to the conference room, beside which a small notice printed on a card had been inserted into a holder. “I’ve already switched everything on.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

They heard the sound of footsteps decelerating as two people
dismounted from the high-speed conveyor, then a Spacer appeared in the corridor leading to the Admin annex. He was followed by a dark-suited civilian, a fleshy, overweight man who was scowling and perspiring heavily.

The Spacer stiffened to attention, addressing the Exec. “Sir, this is Mr.
Abromowitch, a lawyer from Lancaster.”

“Thank you, Spacer. You can return to your duties.” The Commander held out his hand. “Good morning, Mr.
Abromowitch. I’m Commander Upjohn, Executive Officer of Rolla’s Orbital Control Center, and this is Senior Lieutenant Maxwell, Commanding Officer of LCS
Nightingale
. Lieutenant Maxwell has asked me to attend this meeting with him.”

“Good morning, Commander.” The lawyer’s tone was brusque, and he shook hands perfunctorily. He didn’t offer Steve the same courtesy. Commander Upjohn indicated the door to the conference room, and he stalked through it ahead of the officers
, looking fixedly straight ahead of him. Steve and Upjohn exchanged glances, eyebrows raised, as they followed him.

Abromowitch
sat down at the head of the table without invitation and without waiting for the officers to reach their seats. Steve felt the slow burn of anger beginning inside him. This was clearly a power projection tactic, designed to make them feel that the lawyer was in charge. He bit back a rebuke as he and the Commander sat down, and waited to see what the visitor would do next.

The lawyer opened his briefcase, took out a folded document and handed it to Steve with a flourish. “Lieutenant Maxwell, you are served!” he exclaimed dramatically.

“Am I really?” Steve replied dryly, causing a flush to rise dangerously in the lawyer’s face. He ignored it as he unfolded the document and read it carefully. It was issued by the Superior Court of the District of Lancaster City, demanding that he provide a detailed statement concerning all his interactions with Commander Buchanan, particularly as regards the crash of the Mark XVIIA prototype. His eyes narrowed as he noted certain details of the order, and he nodded slowly as he folded it once more.

“There are
two problems with this court order, Mr. Abromowitch,” he said slowly. “First, you’re not entitled or authorized to serve it here.”

The lawyer puffed up like a pouting pigeon. “What on earth do you mean?”

“This order was issued by a Lancastrian planetary court. You’re several hundred light years outside its jurisdiction. The only way you could serve it here would be to submit it to a Rolla planetary court, and ask them to certify it for service within their jurisdiction. You haven’t done so; therefore this order is of no force and effect here whatsoever.”

“That’s a technicality! As far as the Lancaster court is concerned, you’re served!”

“Don’t lie to me, Mr. Abromowitch.” Steve’s voice turned hard. “I happen to have discussed this possibility with the Judge Advocate-General’s Department before accepting this assignment. They were well aware of the sorts of pressure that might be applied to me concerning this case, and were very helpful in discussing relevant laws, regulations and interplanetary treaties. You’re wrong, and you know it. If there’s any doubt about that, I’m quite happy to let JAG take it up with the court on Lancaster – which brings me to the second problem with this order. I’m in the service of the Commonwealth, and this court order refers to an incident involving Commonwealth personnel that took place on Commonwealth property. Therefore, it’s not within the jurisdiction of a Lancastrian planetary court at all. You should have applied for this order in a Commonwealth court, but you didn’t. I’m therefore going to submit this to JAG, and ask them to apply to the court that issued it for a motion of censure against you on the grounds of inappropriate and unprofessional conduct.”

“You can’t do that!”
Abromowitch made a grab for the court order, but Steve snatched it away from his grasp.

“I wouldn’t try that again if I were you, Mr.
Abramowitch. I’d be within my rights to restrain you, and you wouldn’t enjoy that.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“That’s not a threat, Mr. Abramowitch. It’s a promise.”

“I suggest you take that promise seriously, Mr.
Abramowitch,” Commander Upjohn said, a glimmer of amusement in his voice. “There are a large number of recently deceased pirates who, if they could still talk, would tell you that Senior Lieutenant Maxwell isn’t to be trifled with.”

“This – this is preposterous!”
Abramowitch had turned pale. “I’m acting as the emissary of a Lancastrian court in serving this process! You can’t treat me with such disrespect!”

“You’re far outside
the court’s jurisdiction, and trying to serve it where you have no authority to do so,” Steve pointed out again, inwardly enjoying the lawyer’s discomfiture. “I think you know what the judge who issued this order will have to say about that. Furthermore, what do you think the Lancaster Bar Association will have to say when we file the court’s motion of censure with it?”

“It’s your word against mine!”

“Why do you think I asked Commander Upjohn to sit in on this meeting? He’ll be an independent witness, if one is needed. Furthermore, Mr. Abromowitch, did you bother to read the card at the door before entering this room?”

“What card?”

“Perhaps you should read it now.”

The lawyer hesitated, then got up and strode to the door, peering around its jamb at the card slotted into the holder. His face was red as he spun around. “That’s illegal!”

“On the contrary, Mr. Abramowitch. You know better than to suggest that. The card informs everyone who enters this room that proceedings within it will be recorded – as this discussion is being recorded right now. It won’t be your word against mine at all. It’ll be your word against mine and Commander Upjohn’s, and ours will be backed up by a complete vid and voice record of proceedings. I don’t think the court will be in any doubt as to what was said and done here, and I don’t think there’ll be any difficulty in obtaining the motion of censure for which I intend to apply.”

The lawyer sat down again, his face puce with anger. He
blustered, “You’d be well advised to think very carefully before proceeding with any of your threats. Don’t think that a junior officer can get away with this sort of thing! My principals will make sure that your career comes to a grinding halt unless you co-operate.”

“How very kind of you to say that for the record, Mr.
Abramowitch. Also for the record, who are your principals, please?”

“Oh – to hell with you!”

The lawyer slammed his briefcase closed, stood, and strode out of the conference room. Behind him, Steve glanced at Commander Upjohn.

“Sir, may I respectfully request that you prepare a sworn statement about what you
’ve just heard and observed? We can have it certified by both the SPS and the Commonwealth Embassy to Rolla, so I can submit it to a Commonwealth court on Lancaster if necessary. I’d also greatly appreciate two copies of the recordings of this morning’s meeting, one for myself and one to forward to the Accident Investigation Unit on Lancaster.”

“It’ll be a pleasure, Lieutenant.” A grin appeared on the Commander’s face. “Thank you for a very interesting
meeting. This was a lot more fun than processing paperwork! Do please let me know what happens with that motion of censure.”

“I will, Sir. AIU may proceed with that before I return to Lancaster, but one way or another,
I’m going to enjoy puncturing Mr. Abromowitch’s ego!”