Fire with Fire, Second Edition by Charles E. Gannon

Author:Charles E. Gannon [Gannon, Charles E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Baen Books
Published: 2015-05-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Two

TELEMACHUS

Commodore James Beall leaned back and glared at Trevor Corcoran. “So let’s add up the list of violations to which you have already admitted. Exercising multiple command prerogatives in a unit to which you are not assigned, including illegal access to communication logs, orbital imagery, meteorological projections, and counterintelligence databases. Conceiving, planning, and executing an operation with the assets of said unit, without consulting or even informing its actual command staff. Requisitioning combat equipment—including a fully loaded attack sled—and authorizing the application of lethal force. Suborning three persons of this command, and inciting them to desertion—”

“Hold on. I gave them orders—and they didn’t know I didn’t have the authority to do so.”

“Nice try. They already told us they were operating as volunteers.”

“Bullshit. They’re lying. They’re just trying to keep me out of the brig.”

“Commander Corcoran, you’re the one dishing out the bullshit. You have personal connections to all three, and they all know damn well that you’re not a part of this command. Hell, just three years ago, you were their CO. You’d be a shitty SEAL officer if your men weren’t ready to volunteer to get your ass out of a sling.”

The door opened. “Not his ass, Commodore: his sister’s.” Downing walked in, Elena behind him.

The commodore stood, stiffly, but also cautious. “Sir, I’m not sure what you think you’re do—”

Richard already had his credentials out; he handed them to Commodore Beall as he walked past, moving to Trevor’s side.

Beall looked at the credentials, eyebrows rising slightly. Then he put them on the table, slid them down toward Richard.

“Very well, sir. You certainly have the authority to be here and to watch these proceedings, but—”

“Commodore, I also have the authority to end these proceedings and dismiss whatever charges you have recorded against Lieutenant Commander Corcoran.”

“Mr. Downing, with all due respect—”

“Commodore, Commander Corcoran was operating on my orders.”

Trevor managed not to start in surprise—or smile.

Beall frowned. “Sir, you’ll forgive me if I find that extremely improbable. You’ve been Marside less than three hours.”

“I wasn’t aware you were monitoring my travel itinerary.”

“You’d be surprised what we monitor here, Mr. Downing—or actually, you shouldn’t be surprised, of all people.”

“Regardless, rescuing his sister was an urgent and immediate priority, and had to be done without taking any chance of alerting her captors to the operation.”

“Well then, Mr. Downing, I would appreciate you telling me why it was necessary to leave me out of the loop—and, sir, if I don’t like the answer, I will have no choice but to lodge a protest.”

“Feel free to do so, Commodore Beall—and I recommend that you skip all the intermediate steps and send it to your very highest superior.”

“Admiral Tanaka?”

“No, President Liu. Or didn’t you note the clearance and rank-equivalent on my ID?”

“I did sir, but—”

Downing just kept staring at Beall.

Who ultimately shrugged and looked away. “Sir, why did it have to be this way—or are you just retroactively covering Trevor’s ass?”

Trevor wondered if Downing would be able to avoid smiling at Beall’s insightful question. Elena—still standing at the other end of the room—continued to look tense.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.