All Enemies Foreign and Domestic (Kelly Blake series) (17 page)

      Kelly smiled and replied, “Yes, that is something right up her alley.
 
Now, would you get me back to my house?
 
My mom and mom-in-law are waiting on me.”

* * * * *

      Candy was awakened at what felt to be very early for J’Gon’s tribunal.
 
Time becomes irrelevant when one loses sight of the local star for more than a couple of days.
 
Candy changed out of her supplied pajamas, fixed her hair as best she could, and wore the black dress she had been kidnapped in.
 
She gathered her legal documents and knocked on the door to signal she was ready.
 
L’Gan opened the door and escorted her to the tribunal room.
 
She took her place next to J’Gon and K’Lar, the local military advocate forced on J’Gon.
 
L’Gan took a chair next to Candy.

      The tribunal began with an introduction of the tribunal panel.
 
Candy assumed they were all vice admiral equivalents.
 
The Unified Force was not translated to a GR ground force equivalent. Next came the reading of the charges against J’Gon.
 
At the end of each charge, they asked J’Gon how he pled.
 
Candy stood for J’Gon each time, and in her best K’Rang, said, “My client pleads not guilty.”

      K’Lar did not seem upset that Candy had been chosen as lead defense attorney.
 
In fact, he didn’t seem to want to be there at all.
 
Candy, for the most part, served in an advisory role, because J’Gon actually conducted his own defense.
 
She threw in the obvious objections, but J’Gon handled most of the nuances of K’Rang law.

      There was no prosecutor:
 
four panel members served in that role.
 
The senior member served as judge and was supposed to be impartial.
 
As best she could tell, he was impartial.
 
The trial dragged on for two days and only covered two of the charges.
 
The charge of reckless endangerment was simply disposed of by J’Gon arguing that the statute applied to captains of ships and individuals directly in charge of equipment, not superiors several layers up the chain of command.
 
One of the panel members tried to press the case that as an elder, he was directly responsible for the K’Rang fleet.
 
Candy saved the day by finding the results of Baron G’Rof’s tribunal, where he was acquitted of the same charge.
 
She argued, “If you did not convict the commander in direct charge of the fleet, then you cannot charge the superior.”
 
It seemed to sway the tribunal on that charge.

      J’Gon settled the compelling surrender charge by pointing out that the elders were informed of the cease fire and surrender by Baron G’Rof after he had already given his word of honor to surrender to the Human/Angaerry Fleet commander.
 
J’Gon laid out G’Rof’s logic of attempting to save what he could of the fleet in the face of almost certain annihilation by a vastly superior force.
 
The panel did not seem to like it, but they grudgingly admitted saving what could be saved was better than needless destruction when the means to effectively resist were gone.
 
Besides, Candy had already pointed out they had already acquitted G’Rof of a similar charge.

      The charge of cowardice was also problematic for the panel, because the Elders never left the Imperial Palace for the emergency government continuation bunker, even in the face of the occupation by Human forces.
 
J’Gon recounted the first meeting with the general in charge of the occupation force.
 
He told them of the general pulling his side arm and cutting the bench away.
 
Not a single Elder flinched.

      The final charge of dereliction of duty was hard for J’Gon to comment on.
 
The panel wanted to know how the decision was made to invade the Human sector and what were its goals.
 
J’Gon stood mute on this issue, as the deliberations of the Elders were the highest K’Rang secret, known only to the Elders, Baron N’Gana, and one randomly chosen scribe per day from twenty scribes that served the Elders.
 
Candy looked for another way around this charge.

      She found it in the transcript for a court-martial of an intelligence officer charged with dereliction of duty for not convincing a commander of imminent danger to his command.
 
The intelligence officer had been part of a team that developed the assessment.
 
He had been chosen to brief the position, even though he had little to do with the formulation of the intelligence estimate.
 
Nevertheless, he briefed the position as if it were his own and answered all the commander’s questions, but the commander kept his own council and ignored the assessment, thus meeting disaster on the battlefield.
 
The intelligence officer was acquitted of the charge as it had been a group decision, and the entire group had not been charged, nor had the group leader.

      During a recess in the tribunal, Candy looked up any similar cases and put K’Lar on breaking out the legal precedents for the ruling.
 
K’Lar objected to working for a Human female, until J’Gon reminded him that he was working for him and to do whatever the Human woman asked.
 
K’Lar bent to his task with a heretofore unseen zeal.

      The tribunal came back into session and K’Lar had done his work well.
 
Candy stood up and started laying the groundwork for her case.
 
The panel was becoming impatient with her, but she took her time.
 
She read from the constitution.
 
She read from the tribunal manual.
 
She read from several precedents.

      Unified Force Leader M’Juna impatiently cut her off.
 
“Mrs. Blake, we have been patient with you being an outsider, but our patience is growing thin.
 
Please come to your point.”

      “Here is my point.
 
All decisions made by the elders are either unanimous or by simple majority.
 
There is no minority opinion.
 
Once the vote is taken, all Elders accept the decision as their own.
 
This keeps their decision making from being politicized.
 
As such, you cannot know which Elder voted for or against military action.
 
According to your own manual, your rulings must be in accordance with current precedence.”

She walked to the camera and leafed through a centimeter thick stack of printed sheets.
 
“I submit to you these 52 pertinent precedents in K’Rang military and civil case law.”

      M’Juna fixed her with a glare.
 
“All of these cases are pertinent?”

      “Yes, sir, they are.”

      “And they are all germane to the charge of dereliction of duty?”

      “They are.”

      “Turn them those papers over the guard and he will get them to us.
 
Is there anything more, Mrs. Blake?”

      Candy turned to look at J’Gon and K’Lar and they both signaled no.

      “Sir, with that, the defense rests.”

      M’Juna let out a deep sigh.
 
“This tribunal will adjourn while we consider our verdict.
 
You will be summoned when we have reached a decision.”

      Candy, J’Gon, K’Lar, and L’Gan were led to another larger room with more comfortable seating and left together.
 
There was a restroom attached to the room and Candy called first on account of a growing human pressing on her bladder.

      When she returned, J’Gon motioned her over to speak with him.
 
K’Lar and L’Gan wisely chose the opposite corner.

      “Mrs. Blake, let me tell you what a pleasure it was to watch you today.
 
I don’t think those high-ranking shadow warriors knew what they were up against.
 
You cut them off from a guilty ruling in every case, although I think your last argument was the weakest.
 
I think you know more about our Constitution, Tribunal Manual, and case law than they did and with only one day to study.”

      “Elder J’Gon, couldn’t you see it in their faces?
 
They don’t want to convict you.
 
I gave them a legal precedent they can cite in every decision. There is no way it can come out good for them if they convict you.
 
This slow motion coup of theirs is already coming apart at the seams.
 
That happened with our botched kidnapping.
 
They won’t convict you.”

      “I am not so convinced, but I will make a wager with you.
 
I will wager a bottle of 100-year-old T’Pala against an equivalent single malt scotch. You may bring it to me in my prison.”

      “I don’t think we have scotch that old but I’ll wager the best I can afford.
 
I can’t drink until the baby is born, so it will be 100 years old and six months.”

      Candy was glad they brought them to a room with comfortable seating after what seemed hours.
 
She found a comfy armchair and dozed off.
 
She had no more started to dream when there was a knock on the door.
 
A guard stuck his head in and said the panel was ready.

      They trooped down to the tribunal room and took their seats.
 
Candy rose when the tribunal appeared on the screen, but J’Gon kept his seat.
 
The panel wasted no time in reading their verdicts.
 
They asked J’Gon to rise for the reading of the verdict, but he remained seated.
 
Candy rose.

      “Elder J’Gon, this tribunal, having considered all evidence in this case, items in mitigation and extenuation, and all pertinent case law, find you not guilty of all charges and specifications.
 
Your Excellency, we submit ourselves to your judgment.
 
You and Mrs. Blake will be released at once and returned to wherever you wish to go.”

* * * * *

      Kelly had completed his last treatment using the K’Rang healer.
 
He walked to work that morning and was at his desk reviewing message traffic from the night before when Alistair ran into his office.

      “Kelly, sit down.
 
Oh, you are.
 
Candy and J’Gon have just been delivered to the Imperial Palace by a Ground Force hover ship.
 
Come on, man, let’s go get her.”

      Kelly ran out of his office, throwing on his blouse as he went.
 
He and Alistair climbed into the duty groundcar and directed the driver to the Imperial Palace at once.
 
The K’Rang driver, sensing something different, sped off, pushing the two Humans into the seat back.
 
He wasted no time and delivered Kelly and Alistair at the outer security gate.

      Kelly was admitted, but Alistair was held at the gate.
 
An Imperial Guard escorted Kelly across the grounds and into the palace.
 
Baron N’Gana met Kelly at the door and led him deeper into the palace’s inner recesses.
 
He was led to an ornate door and N’Gana knocked.
 
A voice inside said to enter and N’Gana held the door for Kelly.
 
As soon as he stepped fully into the room, a redheaded streak flew into his arms.

        
The countless hours of imagining the worst were over.
 
Candy, his Candy, was back in his arms again.
 
Tears formed in his eyes, but he fought them back as he kissed her sweet lips.
 
Candy had no such problems, as tears of joy streamed down her face.
 
Kelly finally looked around and realized they were not alone.
 
Elders J’Gon and G’Tol were seated in large comfortable chairs and smiling.

      G’Tol looked at Kelly.
 
“Captain Blake, don’t stop on our account, but your wife is returned to you safe and sound and no worse for the adventure.”

      J’Gon stood up and walked over to the two of them.
 
“Captain Blake, I am so glad that the plotters were so stupid as to kidnap your wife along with me.
 
I know it must have been hell on you, but your wife saved me.
 
If not for your wife’s talent as an advocate, I would be in much rougher surroundings.
 
I owe your wife a bottle of T’Pala, but I think I will save it for when your boy comes along.
 
Then you both can enjoy it.
 
Don’t be surprised, though, if it comes in a younger labeled bottle.
 
I understand your ethics officer can be quite strict on these things.”

      J’Gon’s face became serious.
 
“Now, Captain, would you take your wife home and inform your government that the T’Kab won’t wait?”

* * * * *

      A courier hand-delivered a message to Captain Jim Gibbons, an unusual practice, but Captain Jim refused to carry a pocket tablet.
 
He thought they were too fancy to be carried by a glorified night watchman.
 
He put on his glasses and read the short, one page message: