Read Burden of Proof for Free Online

he could repeat the question she nodded sharply. "Permission granted."
    Carl echoed the command. "Boats, permission granted."
    He gestured to the bosun mate of the watch, who sketched a salute, keyed his all-hands circuit, then blew a wail on his pipe to get the crew's attention. "Secure the gig and grapnel details. I say again, secure the gig and grapnel details."
    Lieutenant Diem looked from Carl to Gonzalez. "What do we do now?"
    "Good question." Carl gave the glowering captain a look out of the corner of his eyes. "I really don't want to do this, but I have to."
    "I can ask . . ."
    "No. It's still my job." Turning to face the captain, Carl spoke with careful precision. "Captain Gonzalez, request further instructions."
    Gonzalez took a moment to reply. "Prepare a course back to Franklin Station. Standard speed. Hold off executing it until I get confirmation from the Commodore, but I expect we'll need to drop off our 'guests' and wait for the test firing to be rescheduled." She turned a hard face toward Carl, then made a visible effort to relax. "Well done, Mr. Meadows. You and your bridge team handled things well." Ripping her harness loose, Captain Gonzalez pulled herself off the bridge.
    "Captain's off the bridge!" The bosun of the watch made the announcement as Captain Hayes, his face betraying no emotion, followed in Gonzalez's wake.
    Carl Meadows inhaled deeply, then exhaled with relief. "I still live. Can you cook up that course for the captain?"
    "Piece of cake," Diem assured him. "What else you got?"
    Carl and Paul quickly filled in their reliefs on other information, then Gabriel offered Paul a salute. "I relieve you, sir."
    Paul returned the salute gratefully. "I stand relieved." Raising his voice once more, he announced the change. "On the bridge, this is Ens-" Dammit . "Lieutenant Junior Grade Sinclair. Ensign Gabriel has the watch and the conn."
    "This is Ensign Gabriel, I have the conn." Gabriel lowered her voice and made an apologetic face. "Sorry we relieved you guys so late."
    "It's not your fault. Taking over in the middle of picking up those pods would've been asking for trouble, and the captain might've raised hell if you'd tried."
    "Thanks, Paul. Hey, congrats on the promotion."
    "Thanks back at you. There's hope for everybody, I guess."
    Gabriel laughed. "I think you earned it."
    Paul looked over at Carl, who'd also been relieved of the watch but was spending a few minutes unwinding by chatting with Lieutenant Diem. Paul waved at the other officers. "Later, guys." He pulled himself wearily off the bridge, using the easily reached handholds in the overhead. Before I got to a real ship, I used to worry about getting stuck in the middle of a big compartment with no way to reach a handhold. I never stopped to think that there isn't any reason at all to have big, empty compartments on spacecraft. They'd be just a waste of space inside the hull . He floated for a moment outside the bridge hatch, eyes closed, feeling the tension from being on watch slowly draining from his muscles.
    I wonder how the Greenspacers are behaving? Aw, geez. That's my job, too. Got to get going . Reaching for another handhold, Paul hastened down to the gig's dock, where the Greenspacers were still being held in a tight bunch by the presence of a menacing-looking Master-at-Arms Ivan Sharpe and his six deputy master-at-arms. Paul paused as he got his first look at the Greenspacers, most of whom were grinning like kids who'd gotten away with a clever stunt. They do look like hippies . "Any problems, Sheriff?"
    Sharpe kept his eyes on the Greenspacers as he shook his head. "No, sir."
    Paul saw he'd become the center of attention for the Greenspacers. One, a tall man with a beard who carried himself like some sort of secular saint, moved forward slightly before halting as Sharpe and his nearest deputy made warning gestures. "Are you in authority here?"
    "I'm the ship's legal officer." Which has been nothing but a pain in the neck