The Command

He looked up to see the lieutenant still standing, and waved at the settee. “Sit down. Want a soda? So, you’re a JAG?”

A JAG was a navy lawyer, assigned to the Judge Advocate General’s office. “Yessir,” Palzkill mumbled, perching on the edge. “No, sir, nothing, thanks.”

Dan turned it over and read the back. Nothing there he hadn’t seen before, though it was unpleasant to read his name on it. “What exactly is this about?”

“I understand your boarding party killed a man on one ship. Two of your own sailors died on another.”

“It’s dangerous work.”

“Yes, sir, evidently.”

“And what have you got to tell me?”

“Well, Captain, you have to decide if you want to accept nonjudicial punishment, or go to a court-martial. Then you have to decide if you want to request a personal appearance before the commodore, or you can waive that—”

“I’ll appear.”

“Then you have the following rights: To be informed of your rights under Article 31(b), UCMJ; to be informed of the information against you relating to the offenses alleged; to be accompanied by a spokesperson. To be permitted to examine documents or physical objects against you; to present matters in defense or extenuation; to have witnesses attend the proceeding, if their statements will be relevant and they are reasonably available. A witness is not reasonably available if the witness requires reimbursement by the United States for any cost incurred in appearing, cannot appear without unduly delaying the proceedings, or, if a military witness, cannot be excused from other important duties. And to have the proceedings open to the public unless the commanding officer determines they should be closed for good cause.”

“Okay,” Dan said, taken aback at the rapid monotone in which this had been rattled off. “How about this. I don’t want a lawyer; I accept nonjudicial punishment; and I want to appear in person. My witnesses are my exec and the men from the boarding and search party.”

“Sure you don’t want help with this, sir?”

“Do COs usually have counsel?”

“Well… not usually, sir.”

“It’s taken as a sign of guilt?”

“I can’t comment on that one way or the other, sir.”

“Then let’s skip it. But thanks for offering.” He signed the form. “When’s the appearance?”

“The commodore’s in Riyadh right now, but he wanted to get to this as soon as he gets back. I’d say two or three days.”

“And how formal is it going to be?”

“I don’t think it’ll be too formal. He doesn’t like that. If you don’t want counsel, probably it’ll just be like a sit-down meeting between you and him. Maybe with somebody from COMIDEASTFOR there. They’re the ones who preferred the charges. He’ll read the charges, you’ll present your defense, he’ll make his decision there and then.”

Dan looked at the paper again, wanting to ask whether he was likely to be coming back to the ship afterward or not. Finally he just handed it back. “I guess I’ll wait to hear from you when he wants to see me. Do you get a lot of these?”

“Article 128s, sir? No, sir. You’re the first one on my watch.”

That didn’t sound good, but he resolved not to obsess about it. In fact, the prospect of some big Crime and Punishment scene didn’t bother him as much as it would have years earlier. Either he was gaining some perspective, or else just getting jaded. “You say the commodore’s in Riyadh. Anybody else I ought to check in with?”

Palzkill suggested the base commander, a Captain Fetrow, and maybe the CO of the Shore Intermediate Maintenance Activity, they’d be doing whatever repairs Horn had scheduled. Dan asked if he’d walk him over, and Palzkill said he’d be happy to.

Hotchkiss was on the midships quarterdeck when Dan got there toting his overnight. He’d asked her to stay aboard while he was gone, at least for the first day. He gave her the number of the Regency Intercontinental. Since that was where they’d met, he figured Blair couldn’t fault it.

“We need some decisions before you vanish,” Claudia said.

“Be with you in a minute,” he said to Palzkill. “Shoot,” he told Hotchkiss.

She led him away from earshot of the lawyer. “This boat you told Casey to get in the water.”

“What about it?”

“He tells me it’s a violation of Bahraini law to have weapons aboard. He said he advised you of that and you told him to hide them under a tarp.”

“Correct. I also told him to keep bores clear but full mags handy.” Dan looked around the sunny, shining water of the basin, at the Japanese can, at what looked like a ferry passing to the eastward.

“Don’t you think that’s a little … alarmist?”

“I’d call it being prepared. But I’ll talk to the base staff, get their cut on it. What else?”

“The replacement generator.”

“It’s here, isn’t it?”

“Lin called over as soon as the phone lines were connected. Yeah, it’s here. The question is, how soon do you want it in? It’ll take about eight hours to get the old one out and eight more to get the new one in.”