15 Days Later, May 15th, 2265. 10:00 St. Mary’s Station – JAG Offices
John strode into the boardroom confidently. His dress whites were crisp without a thread out of place. His boots were so well shined they shone in the light. He stood at attention in front of the table and saluted. Admiral Karlsson was sitting across from him and gave a curt salute back.
Also sitting in the room was General Mizrahi, who looked like a man willing to strangle the life out of other senior officers in the room. Admiral Nelson was sitting next to him as was Admiral Dickinson. John was a bit surprised that the admiral of the Navy’s First Fleet would come to such a meeting, but he was happy to see him, nonetheless.
A senior JAG officer, to whom John was neither familiar nor acquainted was sitting on the opposite end of the table. Director LeCroix and his newly appointed second in command, Deputy Director Ferdinand Silva, were sitting next to the JAG officer. Director LeCroix looked legitimately worried for John, which did throw John off his game a bit as he had thought the director wanted to see him fail.
Admiral Karlsson waved off the guards. The door behind John opened and the pair walked outside. They were taking up their position in the hallway as the door closed.
“You may be seated Lieutenant,” Admiral Karlsson outstretched his arm and pointed at the seat, “Please note that anything you say can and will be used against you in the Article 32 hearing of yours that is scheduled later this week. This meeting is also being recorded.”
“Thank you for allowing such an indulgence of mine Admiral,” John paused briefly while looking him squarely in the eyes, “I am aware, and have been warned against this meeting from my legal counsel, that anything I say here can come back to me. But I feel this meeting is just as important to me as your hearing against me is.”
“Now then Lieutenant Lief, what is it that you wanted to speak to us so badly about?” Admiral Karlsson’s voice could not disguise the loathing he had for the young Lieutenant.
“Several things in fact. But I think if we start at the beginning and move forward linearly things will be less complicated and easier to comprehend. Correct me if I’m wrong but the Article 32 starts with my act of disobedience in front of Fleet Command on the fourteenth of December last year does it now?”
Admiral Karlsson nodded slowly.
“I plan on pleading guilty to that charge and will not be defending it. While I was both morally and ethically on the right side of that argument. The method that I did, not to mention my tone, did tarnish the uniform. The attack and loss of life combined with my personal views of the mission caused me to fail.”
John paused to take a sip of water, “I didn’t rise above. My actions were what everyone had expected me to do. Some good may have come from them but I was still wrong for doing what I did. I’ve already deposited sufficient funds to replace that table, apologies for the delay in doing that as I was rather laser-focused on the operation.”
A tablet was placed on the table and slid to the Admiral, “My apology for my actions is contained on that tablet.”
“Sorry for interrupting here, but what good are you speaking of?” Admiral Nelson sounded very confused.
The pair of Naval Intelligence leaders leaned into the table. They were both very curious about what good came from it. General Mizrahi grinned as he leaned back in his seat.
“Yes, I’m not sure anything good came from that Lieutenant,” Admiral Karlsson was thrown a bit off his game with that statement.
“My angry explosion and the failures of that mission allowed you to clean house. If I’m not mistaken, you ultimately replaced eighteen of the thirty-two heads. Sixteen of which were appointed before you became the admiral of admirals.”
“I’m still not following how that was a good thing,” Director LeCroix stated, “True getting more of his choices into those seats, but we ultimately receive our orders from the civilian government.”
“That is true, but Admiral Karlsson was able to reduce the percentage of no-confidence votes from forty-four percent to a hair under forty-two percent,” John said.
“Are you implying that the firings were politically motivated?” Admiral Karlsson looked like he wanted to throttle John.
“No, sir. Apologies for the misunderstanding. The firings were not done because of political motivations. They were however politically expedient dismissals. You asked for their resignation due to their failures in preventing the terrorist attack and attempted rescue of our prisoner. Their failings were what motivated the firings.”
“I think I’m tracking now,” JAG Admiral Perkins said, “But since I don’t want to assume anything in this case why don’t you explain why that is important.”
“Admiral Karlsson was near the forty-five percent threshold. As I’m sure everyone in this room is aware, the Naval Code of Conduct allows any admiral to hold a vote of no confidence against the sitting leading Fleet Admiral. If that vote passes, which only requires forty-five percent to pass then it would fall to the ship captains. Should a simple majority here pass then the Grand Admiral is dismissed and a new one is promoted to the office by the Naval Secretary?”
“Are you implying that I lacked the necessary support?” Admiral Karlsson asked icily.
“Yes and no, sir. If the recent survey is to be believed you were treading dangerously to the limit for the admirals. The captains, on the other hand, that number is nearly impossible to estimate. I’d rather not entrust my life or career to a coin flip.”
“How is this meeting not a coin flip?” Deputy Director Silva looked as confused as he sounded.
“This is a Hail Mary attempt actually,” John looked at the Deputy Director and answered the question quickly.
“You are saying that your outburst had a positive impact on my continued career?” Admiral Karlsson shook his head as he looked at the table.
“Yes. Because you got people that were, less likely to come up with such an asinine plan. To speak frankly the capture mission should have always been a kill mission. There was no benefit in capturing Lisa alive. By promoting into Fleet Command, you were then able to backfill and promote fourteen new admirals. This is where the promotions were more likely than not politically motivated. True they all must meet qualifications, but you only promoted people that were loyal to you.”
General Mizrahi nodded, “He saw through your little game, Ben. I’m both surprised and impressed you didn’t catch any flack for it. That said, you were both right to ask for those resignations and assign who you wanted to in those positions. It was a masterful play.”
“Very well. How do you respond to the accusations of dereliction of duty and ignoring a lawful command?” Admiral Karlsson asked.
“Pretty hard to be derelict of duty when our special forces are literally trying to, or actively killing fellow and loyal Marines. I’m sure that’s going to be a spicy meatball when that leaks out,” John put out his arms, “It won’t come from me. It doesn’t need to.”
“Just like how three platoons’ worth of SpecFor operators happened to be killed by accident, right?” Director LeCroix grinned as he asked the question, “Not to mention the data on those servers was lost in their entirety.”
“It was a very effective action. The data was eliminated, murders were put down, and we cleared a way to the central building,” John said, “Of course, not all of the murders were brought to justice during the operation.”
“Yet you had orders to secure the data,” Admiral Karlsson, “How does this act comport with that?”
“Very easily, the overall orders for the operation came into legitimate speculation when Marines are murdered. Command was oddly quiet about that. We had every right to believe we were set up by those in command,” John paused and stared lasers at Admiral Karlsson as he spoke, “It’s one thing to give an order to myself or my Marines that will result in our death, it’s an entirely different story to give an order to a supposed ally to have them murder us on the battlefield.”
“Naval Intelligence presumed something was amiss with this operation but didn’t know what specifically was being planned. We never would have signed off on it had we known,” Deputy Director Silva said, “We strongly recommend you drop these charges from his Article 32 hearing, Admiral. There is far too much evidence that the Lieutenant can present to easily defend his actions on this note.”
“I concur. And to take a step further, none of my Marines will be deployed with any SpecFor forces until a top-down audit has been done and everyone that was involved with has been arrested and tried,” General Mizrahi stared at Admiral Karlsson, “That audit best be ordered by the end of the day. What happened was an abuse of power and an utter waste of resources. That it happened in an active combat zone and green lit by supposed tactical minds is boggling to me.”
“This is part of a plan of yours, isn’t it?” Admiral Karlsson said to John.
“I only want to serve the Confederacy. Me not airing the dirty laundry will assist you in rooting out the bad actors.”
“You’re helping me now?” Admiral Karlsson shook his head.
“The offer is there, whether you accept it or not is up to you.”
Admiral Karlsson looked down at the table and sighed.
“I’m going to demand that for him Ben, you will remove that charge now,” General Mizrahi said, “You don’t get to try and slow roll this. You could’ve made the charges stick had those assholes not tried to murder anyone.”
“Why did you kill him and eliminate the research data?” Admiral Karlsson sounded defeated.
“I was once again saving the Confederacy. This time from itself. Would you be kind enough to answer a question of mine?”
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
Admiral Karlsson nodded.
“What would the Alliance do if they found out a genetic scientist, probably the foremost expert in his field in the known galaxy, was taken from the Union back to Confederate holdings? And what if he started up his experiments again?”
“They’d declare war. No one was blind to that risk.”
“Except we’re no longer in a morally superior position with that research. There’d be no stopping those puritans. They’d fight until their literal last man. They’d poison one world after another with that weapon of theirs. In order to win a war against them we’d have to go planet to planet and eliminate their military to the person. They would NEVER quit a war if they found out about that research,” John took a sip of water, “And that’s ignoring the human cost of acquiring that research. It was illegally done, inhuman, unethical, and horrifically immoral.”
“Consider it stricken.”
Admiral Dickinson then spoke up, “I think we can avoid an Article 32 hearing now. The elimination of the bad actors, let me rephrase that, the bad actors that followed through on those orders, the data, and the good doctor remove a bad conduct discharge from the table.”
Admiral Nelson nodded, “His insubordination was egregious but was done in the heat of the moment after a terrorist attack and attempts were made on his life. Perhaps a written warning, the last of its kind, and a forfeiture of his housing allowance would be sufficient.”
More sighing could be heard as Admiral Karlsson spun his chair to look out at the void. He tapped his fingers on the armrest. He spoke but directed the questions to Naval Intelligence.
“Do you concur with the Admirals?”
“I do not, and cannot, approve of his measures, but I do believe John saved more than just the Marines that were deployed on that mission. He prevented a holy war from being ignited. I concur with the severity of the insubordination but the extenuating circumstances surrounding it mitigates most of the outburst,” Director LeCroix said plainly.
“Lieutenant Lief, consider the Article 32 hearing canceled. If it’s all the same with you I’d prefer to not be in the same room with you for some time to come.”
“Thank you, sir. I would also recommend a general review of the other soldiers that were strung up on less than legitimate charges.”
Admiral Karlsson leaned back in his chair, “This office will order a review of all charges placed…”
Director LeCroix slid a data slate down the table, “These are the charges that NI does not feel are warranted.”
John then spoke again, “Sir, perhaps this is my putting more rope in your hands to hang me, but would you indulge one more thing?”
Admiral Karlsson spun around and looked at John curiously, “Do I want to know what you are going to ask?”
“I think you want to hear this. I don’t believe I’ll end up with too much tinfoil on my head.”
“Well, I doubt you can make my day any worse, so have at it.”
“Thank you,” John took a sip and leaned back in his chair, “Tell me, let’s say you got voted out of office, who would replace you?”
Admiral Karlsson looked down the table, “Admiral Dickinson would be the most likely candidate. I know the Secretary of the Navy is very fond of him.”
“With all due respect and for transparency’s sake, I am not lobbying for your position,” Admiral Dickinson said.
“I am well aware of that Charles, be that as it may, the Secretary would nominate you.”
“And who would replace him as admiral of First Fleet? Admiral Shin or Petrov, right?”
“That would ultimately be up to Charles, but it stands to reason that the Second or Third Fleet Admiral would move up. Actually, that would cause a significant amount of shifting amongst the leadership.”
“And there’d need to be a new Fleet Admiral, right?”
“Yes, and if your follow-up question is who that would be then I’d say the front runners would be Admirals Johnson, Park-Un, or Menendez,” Admiral Karlsson said.
“Might I add a name to that list given the successful conclusion of a fairly prolific operation?” John asked politely.
Admiral Karlsson looked down the table at Admiral Nelson and nodded, “Yes. Admiral Nelson would be included in that list. His command of fleet assets was exemplary.”
He paused and looked back at John. His distaste for the young Lieutenant was gone. Replacing it was genuine curiosity. What was John getting at? Why would he ask that?
“Yes, Admiral Nelson would be at the top of the list, doubly so since he is still part of First Fleet.”
John spun his chair a bit and looked in the other direction, “Director LeCroix, what were your thoughts of my ‘negotiations,’” John grinned as he used air quotes, “With Secretary Bandernan?”
“Do you really wish me to speak my opinion?”
John nodded, “I insist you give the most honest and frank opinion of it.”
“Very well,” Director LeCroix gave John an odd look, “To a layperson, it would appear as if you didn’t give a damn about planning, appearances, or had a keen idea of negotiation. But I know you personally. You had a plan; your appearance was made to look sloppy but every action you took was prescriptive. You are a terrible negotiator because what you did wasn’t negotiate, you blackmailed a political head into submission.”
“Hold on,” Admiral Karlsson interrupted Director LeCroix with a hand, “You blackmailed them to gain compliance?”
John nodded, “I had to play dirty. Multiple times in fact. The Director has a full debrief of what I did in order to gain said compliance. I’m sure he can make that available to you. It’s a…” John smiled, “An entertaining read.”
“Continue…” Admiral Karlsson rubbed his temples.
“Now director, what would you say her opinion of me be?”
“I would presume her loathing of you exceeds that of anyone in this room,” Director LeCroix sighed, “By a wide margin.”
“Agreed,” John said quickly, “Deputy Director, I don’t suppose you’ve got any intercepts about what she’d want to do with me should I be captured?”
“I think I need to excuse myself…” Admiral Nelson said as he stood up but was interrupted.
John spun around and smiled at Admiral Nelson, “Tut tut Admiral, I think you really want to stay for the punchline.”
Admiral Dickinson and Karlsson both looked at John in amazed confusion. The point that John was attempting to make was opaque to them. There was a method to his madness and ultimately a point to it all. But what that was made no sense to either of them.
“Whatever it is that you need to do can wait till the Lieutenant has either made his point or hung himself,” Admiral Karlsson said, “Please sit down.”
“Deputy Director, your answer?”
“The Mercantilist Union has a private prison on a desolate moon for enemies of the state. While you are not on their official list, you are a person of interest. This only applies to the current administration for the rest of the year until their elections.”
“Don’t suppose you got any other intercepts? Perhaps one that involves someone at this table?” John asked.
Director LeCroix gestured at the Deputy Director and looked at John, “What are you getting at?”
“I left a backdoor, don’t worry I will tell you how to close it,” John pulled out another tablet and slid it down the table, “Check the intercept MU-192A54B, it was recorded on April 22nd at roughly noon local time. Oh, and again, if you’d be so kind as to play it back for everyone in the room, just the last minute or so would be sufficient.”
“Two views on this, I presume that’s you?” Director LeCroix said as he found it.
John nodded. Each screen in the room flashed to life. On one side of the screen was a familiar face, Admiral Nelson. The other had Secretary Bandernan, who looked full of glee as they spoke.
“When he is successfully court-martialed, as an act of good faith I’m sure we can extradite him to you to serve out his sentence,” Admiral Nelson said in the video, “Barring official extradition I’m sure we can make a prison break appear to get him to you. Consider that an act of good faith and one that closes the door on this sordid affair.”
“What’s the catch Admiral? It isn’t like your kind to sell one of yours out?”
“I would prefer to wipe the slate clean. I believe in giving you him would allow our nation’s relations to heal.”
“What if he is not court-martialed? What guarantees do I have that you will follow through with that?”
Admiral Nelson smiled, “When you have reports of notable changes in leadership then you will know it is but a matter of time for us to deliver him to you.”
“And if he doesn’t? What then?”
“Then I’ll have to manufacture a reason for you to get him.”
The playback paused. John was sitting there with a shit-eating grin on his face. Admiral Karlsson looked at John curiously.
“Admiral Nelson, you have thirty minutes to send me your notice of retirement and clean out your office. I will allow you to ride off into that sunset without punishment. Failure to do both items will result in your arrest for conspiracy with a foreign actor,” Admiral Karlsson pointed a finger at Nelson to shush him, “One of the marines outside will escort you now.”
William Nelson, now former admiral and no longer a rising star, stood up in shame. He gave a limp salute and left the room a defeated man. None in the room could have predicted the betrayal. Admiral Karlsson was rocking in his chair and staring at John.
“How did you know?”
“He was acting all weird on our trip back. Something felt odd about him. I did what I normally do in such situations. I dig and do research, and imagine my surprise when I found out he was related to her. Third cousins through marriage, small galaxy,” John shrugged.
“You aren’t done, are you?”
“I’m waiting for my promotion and commission actually,” John said seriously.
“You think turning a meeting about your one-time Article 32 hearing into a request to be promoted?” Admiral Karlsson was flummoxed.
“I’ve hit the necessary time at my current rank. Aside from that little act of insubordination I’ve proven myself to be highly resourceful, not to mention successful. And if I may be blunt, from a political standpoint you have to promote me and give me my commission.”
“Careful Lieutenant, the fleet admiral doesn’t have to do anything like that,” Deputy Director Silva said.
“On the contrary,” Admiral Karlsson said forlornly, “I do. Since you are on a roll, why don’t you give the justifications for why I must do that Lieutenant.”
“In short order, the Marines are going to find out a rogue element of Fleet Command ordered their SpecFor operators to kill their brothers and sisters in arms. Those are mere rumors now, but they will be confirmed shortly. Then it’s going to come out that the same elements wanted to capture a rogue scientist. The captaincy is already aware that one of their youngest up-and-coming stars gave up a shot at a commission two years ago for this weird operation. Now that it was completed, and highly successful all things considered, they will think something is off if I don’t get my ship now.”
“I don’t follow,” Silva said.
“Rumors will spread if he’s still serving but not in command. How does one lose command after successfully completing an operation? Especially when we’re building as many ships as we are,” Admiral Karlsson sighed, “I suppose you want a battleship? Maybe a carrier?”
John shook his head, “No sir, I am not ready for either. A frigate would do. Maybe a light cruiser. If I had my choice, I’d choose the latter.”
“Get out,” Admiral Karlsson pointed at John, “Admiral Dickinson will talk with you later today. But I’ve had my fill of you.”
John stood up quickly and saluted. Admiral Karlsson looked and felt like a defeated man. The intelligence officers and JAG admiral were stunned into silence by the audacity shown. Admiral Dickinson started chuckling.
General Mizrahi laughed, “Never seen someone turn a meeting about a possible bad conduct discharge turns into a promotion. Beginning to like the kid more and more.”
“I’m glad you’re enjoying this at my expense,” Admiral Karlsson said as he rested his head on his hands.
“NI presumably wanted him to be a mole in our command division to root out the awful officers. You’ve got a chance to get someone that will give you an unvarnished opinion about where you stand with the captaincy,” Admiral Dickinson
“Key word, unvarnished,” Director LeCroix said, “If you run him out, I can guarantee your hold on that office ends in four weeks, maybe five. If you don’t hold SpecFor accountable I can’t see it ending well for you either. You need to make a strong stand.”
Admiral Perkins said, “You’ve already been cleared of any wrongdoing, but your office is far from clean.”
“Director LeCroix, I want a list of names given to JAG by the end of the day. I will have a memorandum sent to all Fleet Admirals and Marine brigades. All SpecFor personnel involved in the operation will be ordered to house arrest and their movements monitored effectively immediately,” Admiral Karlsson looked around the room, “I believe that will suffice as a first step?”
“Provided you follow through with the investigation, but that’s an acceptable start,” General Mizrahi said.
“Works for me. You want me to decide what the new First Lieutenant is going to captain?”
“Charles, I honestly don’t care. If you feel it’s appropriate, then do it. Now then, unless any of you have anything more for me, I need to sign off on hundreds of detainment requests and write a fairly distressing memorandum.”
The senior leaders nodded and left. Admiral Karlsson waited until everyone was out of the room. He looked up at the ceiling and sighed. How in the hell had this all happened? John hadn’t just outmaneuvered him, he dunked on him.
More than that, Admiral Karlsson knew that John had just become untouchable. The operation was too large to properly classify. Some things won’t be discussed openly, but rumor and innuendo will grow about the exploits at the enemy base. It will take a life of its own. Any direct action against John will result in an immediate backlash.
John however wasn’t aware of that aspect of his victory. His goals were twofold, stave off a discharge and get the command he so desperately wanted. Mission accomplished on both fronts. Now it was time to relax and unwind.