the Light
Chapter 7
Hallway outside the courtroom.
"Commander, I wanted to tell you again how sorry I am for putting you through this today."
They were standing in the hallway, surrounded by an excited buzz of voices - people discussing the implication of what had transpired in the courtroom earlier.
Harm shrugged vaguely, staring at the gray marble floor underneath his feet. "You were just doing your job, Mr. Nettleback. Nothing to apologize for."
The chubby attorney breathed a small sigh of relief, but his expression soon changed back to one of concern.
"You do realize that your cross examination may turn out to be worse. Bowers may try to do everything he can to shake you, to break the impact of your testimony."
Harm nodded, closing his eyes for a brief second, as if in anticipation of the agony to come. He felt the air shift before him and looked up to find himself staring back at the concerned faces of Admiral Chegwidden and Mac.
"How are you holding up, Flyboy?"
"Still here," he replied, giving her the tiniest of smiles, and added in a quieter voice, "Thanks to you."
She smiled in return, giving him a gentle pat on the shoulder.
"You know, Webb is here. And so are Bud and Harriet. I just saw them in the hallway." She glanced back over her shoulder and added in a conspiratory tone of voice, "Webb probably doesn't want to risk coming near you. Afraid you're going to slug him."
"Well, neither do Bud and Harriet," Harm noted, likewise glancing out into the noisy crowd that filled the hallway. "Although I doubt it's for the same reasons as Clay."
The bitterness in his voice stopped her short, and Mac frowned, exchanging worried looks with the Admiral.
"Harm, you're wrong about this," she began. "Harriet wants to talk to you. She's just-"
"It's time to go back inside," he interjected, cutting her off, and headed for the courtroom.
Sarah watched in dismay as he disappeared from view. "Why does he have to be so incredibly stubborn?" she whispered to no one in particular.
"Because it's Rabb," A.J. offered with a sigh. "Harriet will get her chance to talk to him. I promise you." The Admiral nudged her gently in the direction of the door. "Let's go inside. He'll need you there."
***
Inside the courtroom.
Harm's cross examination.
"Commander Rabb. First, let me emphasize how deeply sorry I am for your recent experience. Please accept my deepest sympathy."
Harm nodded, narrowing his eyes at the defense attorney. "Brilliant tactic," he thought bitterly. "First make sure you show
the jurors that you're a sensitive, compassionate individual, and then throw me in the dirt."
Bowers moved forward slowly, reminding Harm of a lynx about to jump its prey.
"Commander, according to your testimony, you were not positive that Lieutenant Turrick was, indeed, the traitor you were after. Is that correct?"
"No. As I explained earlier, the evidence I have obtained was circumstantial, but it was pretty damning nevertheless."
Bowers smacked his lips like someone about to enjoy a tasty meal.
"You mean the evidence you've collected while working undercover for the CIA - a task hardly fitting your job description?"
"It may not have been fitting my job description," Harm responded coolly, "but I was chosen for that task for a reason."
"Right. Of course. As Mr. Webb explained earlier - there was simply nobody else."
"Objection!" Nettleback jumped to his feet with the agility one could hardly suspect him capable of.
"Sustained." Judge Braxton furrowed his eyebrows at the defense attorney. "Try to contain your enthusiasm, Mr. Bowers."
The latter bowed his head apologetically. "Yes, Your Honor. I'm sorry." He turned back to Harm, a predatory smile playing on his thin lips. "My apologies to you, too, Commander. Let's move on, shall we?"
He glanced briefly at his notes.
"So you went ahead with that mission, putting yourself and the man you were not POSITIVE was the mole in danger-"
"I WAS positive," Harm interjected sharply. "I just didn't have the solid evidence to prove it."
"Right." Bowers flipped through his notes once again and took one step closer to the witness stand. "You were wounded, were you not, before you ejected over Afghanistan?"
Harm frowned in concentration, trying to figure out where Bowers was going with this. "Yes, I was injured when Lieutenant Turrick fired on me," he replied cautiously.
Bowers nodded, an unkind look flashed in his eyes.
"Wounded. Shocked from the fall. Living through days of endless, unimaginable torture. Swimming in and out of consciousness." With each word the defense attorney took one step closer to the witness stand, until he came face to face with Harm.
"Isn't it possible, Commander, that you may not have been in the right state of mind to memorize the faces of those men? I mean, if I were in your place, I hardly think-"
Harm leaned forward so abruptly that Bowers couldn't help drawing back a bit. The blue eyes darkened with anger, burning holes in the blundering attorney.
"Those faces are etched into my memory," he uttered coldly, enunciating each word. "I see them every time I close my eyes ... every time I go to sleep." He took a deep breath to steady himself. "And ... with ALL due respect, Mr. Bowers, if you were in my place, I hardly think you'd last a week."
Bowers swallowed the insult, slowly backing away from the witness stand.
An uncomfortable silence followed, during which the two men stared each other down, while everyone else waited with bated breaths for the next move. Finally, Bowers broke the connection and looked away, shaking his head in defeat.
"I've no further questions for this witness, Your Honor."
From the corner of his eye Harm noticed the look of relief on Mac's face. It was over. The worst part of it, at least.
"You may step down, Commander."