the Light
Chapter 6 (Pt 2)
"You were held in captivity for a period of about three months. Is that correct?"
Harm nodded curtly, his hands gripping the handles of his chair.
"What did those men want with you?"
"They wanted to know our plans. What happened to Turrick. What operations were being planned."
"And how did they go about getting this information out of you?"
Nettleback's voice was soft and quiet, but to Harm each word felt like a sharp dagger that was being plunged into his body. The memories went rushing back, flooding his conscience, and he inhaled sharply, his fingers digging deeper into the indifferent fabric covering his chair.
He looked out into the audience, catching her eyes and, holding on to them like to a lifeline, he began to recount the gruesome details of his ordeal.
She held his gaze, her own eyes filled with tears, reflecting the pain in his. It was the first time Sarah was hearing the whole story - the first time anyone in that courtroom, apart, perhaps, from the defendant, was. Her body was shaking from the horror of the images that his story conjured up in her mind. The flashback of his bloodied, battered body lying in her arms on the cold dark floor of that dreadful cave singed her memory, and she choked with emotion, her heart throbbing with anguish. Part of her wanted to run to him at that very moment, pull him into her arms and hold him until she could make at least some of his pain melt away. The other part of her just wanted to run like hell as far away from here as she could, so that she didn't have to hear any more of this. But frozen on the spot by the excruciating reality of his testimony, she was glued to her chair, unable so much as to move a muscle, feeling hot tears burn their way down her cheeks. All she could do was stare back into his eyes, trying to put as much comfort and support into that stare as she could, hoping that it would be enough.
When Harm was finished, shocked silence reigned in the courtroom. Stunned faces were all around him. There was Clayton Webb, who sat in the very back of the room, away from prying eyes, pale as the virgin snow. There was A.J. Chegwidden, who had his eyes squeezed shut, his face a gray mask of pain. There were Bud and Harriet, who had slipped in unnoticed at the beginning of his testimony and now sat huddled together, their eyes wide with horror. Even the defense attorney seemed somewhat shaken by the details of the story.
Harm saw none of that. The only one who existed for him at that moment was his Sarah, and her eyes drowned out everything else around him. Among the sea of endless suffering and overwhelming darkness of his memories she was the one who held him afloat.
After what seemed like an interminable pause, Nettleback reached into his pocket, pulling out a white handkerchief, and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Could you tell us, Commander, if the man who executed Ahmed Saadi's, the cell's leader's, orders to torture you is the same man who is sitting in this courtroom today?" he asked quietly.
Reluctantly, Harm broke his gaze away from Mac and turned to look at his former nemesis. "Yes," he replied in a voice hoarse from tension, "Yes, he is."
"Thank you. No further questions."
Bowers rose from his seat upon seeing Nettleback return to his chair, but the judge's voice stopped him.
"Perhaps the Commander would like a brief recess before continuing with the cross examination?"
Harm looked up at the judge, somewhat baffled by the look of sympathy he read in the older man's eyes. "Th-thank you, Your Honor," he stammered, shaking his head, "but I think I can handle it."
A knowing smile touched the corners of the judge's lips. "That may be true, Commander, but after your testimony, I'm afraid I myself am in need of a break." He raised the gavel, ending any possibility of further discussion.
"The court will take a short recess. We'll reconvene in 15 minutes for Mr. Bowers's cross."