8 Days Ago. 18:45 Mama’s Pizzeria

“It’s very simple my boy. You made a deal with the mafia. If you don’t work with me, I’ll use that evidence to destroy your career,” Vito Colombo was smirking.

John gave him an annoyed and exasperated look, “If you honestly think that’s going to work you are out of your god damn mind.”

“Come now. I have something that can be buried, and you can get those men of mine out of jail.”

“I told you long ago that I wasn’t going to jam you up, nor would I hold anything over your head as leverage. I behaved according to a specific code,” John leaned back in his seat, “It appears your code was to do anything you want. Regardless, the men of yours that are in jail will be staying there.”

“Then I’ll just release the video,” Vito was being flippant.

“Then do so. We done here?” John stood up from his seat, “You really have no idea what you are doing do you?”

“Tsk tsk tsk. Where are your manners?”

“We’re done. Those manners of mine disappeared when you chose to act like a douchebag.”

Current Day, Tuesday. 19:10 Student Tribunal

Cadet Sarah Olson, a senior in the command focus, interrupted the story, “You’re going to have us believe that had a meeting with a member of the mafia?”

John nodded, “Yup.”

“This is nonsense,” Cadet Blake Anderson, a junior engineering student, interrupted, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re making a mockery of this trial.”

“It’s a student tribunal, not a trial. And I’ve not lied or perjured myself in any way,” John answered with a shrug, “I would enjoy making a mockery of this were I given an opportunity to do so though.”

“Cadet Lief, please continue without the sarcasm,” Erika Becker, a senior medical cadet, asked.

Eight Days Ago. Monday, 18:55 Mama’s Pizzeria

“If you walk out that door your career is over,” Vito threatened John.

John turned around; he had a predatory smile on his face, “You try and end my career and I will end you. You leave things at the status quo, and I’ll just consider this relationship dead and over with.”

“You don’t get to threaten me.”

“I only responded accordingly. We’re done here.”

John left the restaurant and took a cab back to campus. Upon getting there he stayed outside of the main building where his friends were. He walked over to a bench and sat down on it. John was working through several different threat assessments. Attacking the mafia wouldn’t be wise, not now anyways. But he figured that wasn’t the last time he and members of the Colombo family would have conversations that week.

Tuesday. 19:15 Student Tribunal

Erika smiled, “So, you threatened this unnamed mafia member. Am I correct in presuming you know his name?”

“That would be a correct assumption, though to be fair I responded with a threat of violence only after being threatened first myself. To answer one of y’all’s follow-up questions, naming this individual isn’t necessary as this isn’t a criminal trial.”

“Were I to demand a name, what would your response be?” Blake asked.

“You can ask all you want, but you can’t compel me to divulge that information,” John sat comfortably in his chair.

“And this is your excuse for being absent without leave last Tuesday?” Sarah looked concerned.

“No, it’s not my excuse, rather it’s the reason why I was gone. I haven’t gotten to the point where I’d discuss my justification for being absent without leave.”

John looked over at Andern. He looked thoroughly bored and uninterested in all of this. Part of that was John told Andern what he’d need to say and when. The strategy John was going to use was basically not going to need his student representative to do much. John was wondering why they even had student representatives in tribunals, they didn’t do anything normally.

John shook his head, “Anyways, when I was sitting on the bench outside, I pretty much figured they would attempt to leverage the information they had on me, I just didn’t know when they did. Turns out, to the surprise of no one, they tried the next morning.”

Erika cocked her head a bit, “What was this damning information on you?”

“Am I correct in presuming everyone here was aware of the kangaroo court case against me in the spring?” John looked at the student justices in front of him and all nodded, “So, the main reason I was able to prove my innocence was that I purchased a mafia-owned camera that was installed in that bar.”

There was a gasp in the audience, the few people that had come. The justices looked horrified.

“You did business with the mafia?” Blake asked accusatorily.

“Well, it either that or get a class A misdemeanor on my record or worse. I doubt anyone in this room would choose a bogus criminal record over receiving evidence that would lead to your innocence,” John paused, “On appeal, I would absolutely have defeated the charges, but in the initial court session the odds were heavily stacked against me.”

“What did it cost?” Blake asked.

“100 million credits,” John answered nonchalantly.

“Can you repeat the cost just to ensure I heard it correctly?” Sarah was on alert.

“100 million credits.”

“So, you bluffed the mafia, and they came after you then?” Erika was leading the witness, while not allowed in a real trial, a student tribunal wasn’t a trial.

“No, I actually paid them 100 million credits.” John shook his head.

“Cadet, if you’re going to lie to us, we do have the right to petition for your punishment to be increased,” Blake’s temper began to show through his sentence

“I have not lied. I paid 100 million for the camera.”

“Do you have proof of this payment or sufficient income to afford a payment like this?” Sarah asked as she was typing something into the terminal in front of her.

“Normally if someone asked to see my taxes, I’d tell them to piss off in a much more crude and creative way, but my representative will produce the tax documents for last year.”

“Sweet, I can do something now,” Andern went from disinterested to involved in this case in a heartbeat, he shared the tax documents with the justices, “These documents are for your eyes only; they are not to be shared or discussed with anyone after the tribunal is adjourned. Additionally, most of the data in that is redacted for privacy reasons.”

Andern was smiling from ear to ear for his involvement in the case. Everyone that was watching the tribunal would question why anyone would be that happy about being dragged to a tribunal.

“So, you expect me to believe that your income is this figure from last year?”

“Look, y’all can play games with the IRS if you want. I’ve seen them cripple people financially. I will not piss the IRS off,” John leaned back in his chair.

“These are the taxes he filed last year. It clearly shows sufficient personal wealth to afford a payment of this amount,” Erika was shocked at the tax return.

“So, the massive amount of money that you gave to the mafia was what they were trying to expose. Can’t say that was wise,” Blake clearly was looking down on his judgment of John.

“Again, it was justified given the situation I was going through. Had the First Fleet not flet the need to railroad me I would not have had to take the steps I did nor for that matter would we be discussing this right now.”

“So, you’re blaming the First Fleet for this?” Blake laughed as he said this.

“Yes. The former fleet admiral greenlit the plan to frame me. Had he not done that I wouldn’t have had to resort to paying the mafia to get the evidence I needed to clear myself. All of this goes back to him.”

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“Cadet, can you talk about what happened last Tuesday?”

Seven Days Ago, Tuesday. 05:15 Co-Ed Dorm

John woke up early to the buzzing of his tablet. Vito had messaged him again, and it was another threatening message. He got up and changed into his uniform and left the dorm room. He figured this wouldn’t take very long.

John received a call when he got to the elevator, “A car will be waiting for you outside the cafeteria street exit.”

John was walking through the quad and typing a message to Alice. He got distracted by an officer who was also up early and never sent the message. John opened the door to the other building and walked through it and exited it near the street doors. The car was waiting for him there.

John spent thirty minutes in the car and was dropped off at Vito’s main warehouse. He walked in and noticed the building stored all sorts of stuff. He made a mental note of what all was there. He was especially curious about several pallets as he walked by. John smiled as he made a mental note of what he saw.

“Good morning my friend. How are you this morning?”

“Can’t say that I’m in a great mood. I was woken up by you. So, what did you want to chat about today?

Vito smiled as he leaned back in his chair behind his desk, “Business deal. The way we figure it, the cost of defense for my men is going to be around fifty-five million credits. I think if you cover that we can just make this video disappear.”

“Until the next time, you need something from me. Thanks for the kind offer but I’ll pass. You got a hundo from me already, use that for your guys.”

“John, I’m afraid you don’t understand. This is not a negotiation. You’re going to do this favor to me, and then I’ll help you.”

“Vito, I’m sick and fucking tired of playing these games. I told you that I’m not playing your games anymore. I even gave you an out on generous neutral terms. Now you’re poking the bear and he’s getting plenty pissed off.”

“John, you do not threaten me in my place of business.”

“Vito, you don’t ever threaten me anywhere. You and your men are fucking boy scouts compared to what I have done, much less what I can imagine doing to you. I’m leaving.”

“No, you’re not.”

Three capos drew guns on John. If looks could kill no one would be left remaining anywhere near John. The problem that John had was his abilities would get exposed if he tried anything. He couldn’t have that. But John was between the capos and their boss. So, they wouldn’t shoot. John looked back at Vito and smiled.

He grabbed the chair he was sitting on and threw it at the capos behind him. He dashed at the one that flinched at it as it came near them. He closed the distance between him and the capos more quickly than anyone expected to. A firm punch to the gut while the left hand reached out for the gun and ripped it out of his hand.

John aimed at the other two capos in the room with his weak hand and double-tapped the one closest to him in the leg. He switched aim and did the same to the other one. All three capos were on the ground, two of which were bleeding noticeably more than the one that got punched.

John picked up the two guns and walked to the door and turned around, “We’re done Vito, I strongly suggest you forget I ever existed.”

Vito was left looking impotent. He had no words for what he has just seen. A pair of made men came down the stairs and ran to their capos that were writhing on the ground. They tried to administer first aid to them. When they looked up and out into the warehouse, no one could explain where John had gone or how no one had seen him leave.

Tuesday. 19:35 Student Tribunal

“Hold on, you expect us to believe you were threatened by not one, but three men with guns and you just walked out unscathed,” Blake was visibly annoyed at the testimony.

“Yes, their lack of training was clearly evident. They may have been shooting guns for longer than I’ve been alive, but I’ve been training in close combat fighting for seven years. Plus, all three were a bit pudgy and were not expecting me to fight them.”

“How did you escape the warehouse without being hurt?” Erika asked.

“Quickly and expediently,” John deadpanned the answer, “I ran towards the nearest exit before the others could converge on my location.”

Sarah was having a hard time with the testimony too, “I don’t suppose you have evidence that you did this.”

That was Andern’s queue to submit some evidence John had acquired. The problem was that Andern was clearly not paying attention.

“Dude, that’s your bloody queue,” John kicked Andern under the table as he whispered that.

“Oh yeah, submitted for your review is a pair of hospital admittance records indicating gunshot wounds to the thigh. We’ve redacted the names but if you notice the time, they were at the hospital along with their ethnicity corresponds to Cadet Leif’s version of events.”

“The other one too idiot,” John whispered.

“Oh, and here’s a full review of all patients admitted to any local hospital in a four-hour period of time. No other Italian Americans were admitted with bullet wounds besides these two.”

“Were you aware who these men were?” Erika asked.

“I recognized two of them, didn’t recognize the one I punched,” John shrugged, “And no, I won’t reveal their names either.”

“So, it would be roughly what, 07:30 at this point?” Blake asked as he was looking at his terminal.

“I believe it was just before 07:00 after I got to a safe distance.”

“That still gives you plenty of time to make it back to the academy though, doesn’t it?” Erika was typing into her terminal.

“Yes, but that wasn’t it for the day. When I was at the warehouse, I noticed something that was on the news the weekend before.”

Andern was back to not paying attention.

“Dude, I swear to god, focus,” John kicked Andern again.

Andern stood up, “Oh yeah. On Saturday at 02:30, a truck was stolen from a warehouse that was hauling twelve Ferrari engines and a ceramite-carbon fiber monocoque that was destined to be used in an FX-952A rebuild.”

“So, they stole it? How does that play into things?” Erika asked.

“They purchased the stolen goods; they weren’t the ones that stole it though.”

“I’m sorry cadet, but how does this explain why you weren’t at classes last week?”

“Fantastic question. Let me tell you why.”

Seven Days Ago, Tuesday. 11:30 FBI Field Office, Interrogation Room 3A

“Look, I’m a fucking cadet in the Navy. The ID you are looking at is legit. Why the fuck are you interrogating me?”

“This says you are a former field agent,” the FBI agent answered.

“And?” John had an incredulous look on his face.

“Your nineteen, there’s no way you could have spent three years as a field agent.”

“I’m literally giving you the mafia on a golden fucking platter, and this is what’s troubling you?” John slammed his hands on the table, “I came of my own volition, go out and arrest the fuckers.”

“And how do we not know this isn’t some sort of smoke screen or diversion?”

“HAVE YOU BOTHERED CHECKING MY FUCKING STATUS WITH THE ACADEMY?” John was exasperated, “This is why I wanted nothing to do with you asshats when I was running investigations. Took an act of God to get you guys to do anything. Doing fuck all is your specialty.”

“Getting angry at me isn’t going to make this go any quicker.”

John got up and walked over to the two-way mirror, “There’s three of you in there. Can one of you tell this dumbshit that’s stuck in this room with me that my ID checks out? You all know it does.”

There was no movement in the room. John will admit later that he shouldn’t have lost his temper but the stubbornness the FBI displayed pushed him over the edge. He grabbed the chair and slammed it into the mirror. John increased the force it hit the mirror several times over using his telekinesis. Glass shattered everywhere.

“Finally, sorry about the mirror. Tell this stupid motherfucker that I am legit and to move past dealing with my god damned ID.”

All the FBI agents were shellshocked. The window was not supposed to shatter that easily. Guns were drawn and pointed at him.

“Ok, point those guns somewhere else. I don’t like it when guns are pointed at me,” John was not helping his case any.

Only the timely entry of the chief agent of the field office stopped the Mexican standoff.

“You put the chair down. The rest of you holster the guns. Get moving on arresting the Colombos at the facility,” he looked down at John, “I thought the Navy taught their cadets calm under fire.”

“Damn good thing you showed up, I was about ready to assault your dumbass agents. You lot spent two fucking hours on my ID. TWO HOURS,” John shook his head and walked by the agent, “Fucking useless agency this is.”

“Where are you going?”

“To get something to eat. I’m fucking hungry and this nonsense today made me miss breakfast.”

“Who’s paying for this mess?”

“How about your dumbass agents that can’t do their bloody jobs,” John walked out of the room, “Jesus fucking Christ. I’m surrounded by incompetence here.”

Tuesday. 20:05 Student Tribunal

“Look, incompetent doesn’t even begin to describe the agents I had the unfortunate honor to meet.” John was shaking his head. “I was allowed to get some food, but the FBI did not allow me to leave the building.”

“When were you allowed to leave?”

“I honestly don’t remember, it was after 22:00. My data connection was spotty at best while I was in the building. I was held there for reasons unknown.”

Blake was shaking his head, “I suppose you’ll have evidence proving that you were there.”

Andern jumped in, “Here you go. Cadet Lief entered the field office at 08:52 and left it at 22:13 according to their logs.”

“I wouldn’t recommend spending a day there. It was God awful,” John smirked as he said that.

Sarah was reviewing the record, “It shows here that you weren’t back on campus until 06:58 the following morning.”

“What happened during that time?” Erika smiled as she finished Sarah’s line of questioning.

“Well, the FBI was a little upset and didn’t call a car for me. But I had heard that the boss and his crew were going to be arraigned and then released. I figured, correctly I might add, that he may want to have another conversation with me.”

“That doesn’t explain the remaining eight hours,” Blake said accusatorily.

“Not all of it, it doesn’t. I am not going to discuss the remaining time. I don’t believe what was done and said needs to be repeated.”

“We could compel you to do that,” Blake said.

“No, you don’t actually have the capability of compelling testimony. I will say that I met the mafia on safe ground and upon the end of that conversation it was clear that neither side would go near one another.”

“That concludes our defense,” Andern said as he was scrolling through something he was looking at on his tablet.

The three cadets leading the tribunal conferred amongst themselves. They spent about five minutes going back and forth between them.

“Cadet John Lief please stand,” Blake ordered.

“The Tribunal accepts your justification for being absent. As you’ve already served a penalty the issue is considered resolved. While the absence is excused it will not be removed from your record, nor will the demerit you received the following day.”

“Thank you. Good day,” John saluted then grabbed his things.

Andern followed John out of the Tribunal Hall. They met up with their friends in the hallway outside.

“Anyone else that needs to go to one of these things, don’t bring him with as your representative,” John was pointing at Andern.

The group laughed and headed to the lounge. They asked why John hadn’t contested their final decision. Ultimately, he figured it would be easier to just accept their decision and move on. Besides fighting it would accomplish nothing, the tribunal just sends its recommendations to the Department of Cadet Compliance. Plus, he had already served a penalty which was effectively a slap on the wrist.

They were very interested in what John and Vito had talked about that evening and morning. John just smiled. That usually wasn’t a sign of anything good that was discussed, at least in this situation. He laughed and said they came to a simple understanding, the two would avoid one another in all situations.

Andern had to ask a question, “So, think he’ll actually do that?”

That smile appeared on John’s face once again, “If Vito wants to live a full life it does.”

There was some awkward laughter while the group made it to the lounger. They had less than an hour to do any homework there. They made the most of the time. Eventually, the curfew bell sounded. The group got their gear together and headed back to their dorms. John wasn’t happy about the day’s events but at least it was done, and he could move forward. Though he was concerned about any possible fallout over his testimony.