Full Circle Snippet 3

First up, sitrep:
  I just (as in a few minutes ago) finished Folklore. I just sent out a beta blast to the Betas to see who wants to proofread it first. :)
  I'm going to start on the cover this afternoon, after I send Full Circle to Goodlifeguide.com. This may be the last snippet before I publish it. I don't know how busy she is. The last time she finished Liberty or Death in a whopping 4 hours! So, I dunno. We'll see how it goes.

  In other news, I watched that new Tremors movie, or, at least tried to do so. Who the heck thought it would be a good idea to film in the desert and use filters and camera tricks to try to make it look like the arctic? Wow! Stupid!
And horrible bad acting! I had my fill at 20 minutes. I just couldn't go on from there. I dunno who thought that movie was a good idea but they should be fed to their own worms! Preferably 1 piece at a time!

Okay, rant over. Now, on to the snippet!

Chapter 2

“Getting there,” a familiar voice said, breaking the general out of his revere.

“Eh?”

“Sorry, sir. I said we're getting there. One kicking and screaming case at a time,” Captain JG AJ Chedwiggen stated.

“Well, that's true to some degree,” Brigadier General Derek Hirohata stated. “I know some of the junior JAGs want more discretion with plea deals. They may go out with a whimper, and it’s one more case off the docket, but I want senior JAGs to be involved in the triage. Some of the small fry cases are constipating the dockets.”

“And we can use those plea deals and on-record admissions of guilt against the stubborn ones who won't see reason,” AJ agreed with a nod.

“Right,” the general drawled.

The small fish had been hit with lesser charges in the mutiny. Those who actively knew they were disobeying an order were in the thousands. Establishing that in each case was an ongoing process. He was fairly certain the staff involved were getting heartily tired of it.

Most of the disobedience charges were reserved to the higher echelons. They had known better. Those who actively suppressed what they knew to be true from dissemination in exchange for a promotion or other bribe had also been charged as mutineers or conspirators.

NCIS as well as JAG were still being rebuilt, but fortunately, they'd gotten some fresh eyes from the outer Federation as well as agents from Bek B. They'd even borrowed some civilians from Bek A's DOJ to help the process along. But the real help had come in the form of the A.I.

The A.I. had sorted through the electronic databases in minutes. They could testify to the validity of the material and had no interest in the guilt or innocence of the accused.

And then there were people like AJS—stalwart defenders of what they knew was right. People who were stubborn yet flexible. Who had a sense of integrity and honor and a reputation for sticking it out. AJ had made one hell of a prosecutor with his clearly evident, sincere belief in the justness of his cases.

The lesser cases had plead out. Some were awaiting sentencing; they couldn't resolve the case until the government was through with them. They had to wait until the cases they could be called to testify in ended as well.

His problem wasn't just the mutiny and civil war however. Actions taken by either side had to be brought before the courts. The nasty friendly-firing incidents for instance. Those hadn't gone over well with the rank and file but the cases had helped to show that the courts weren't playing favorites.

They were finally getting a handle on the mutiny cases, but they still had two major headaches left. The first was a general housecleaning—one well overdue. Just sorting out the missing evidence, murders, and such was taking up a lot of time with the fragile NCIS.

And then there were the demands for retrials or dismissal from prisoners. Proof that some JAG officers had been biased like the former Captain Arnold Rising Tide had been a black mark on JAG's record. The proof of his complicity in altering records and evidence, plus allowing or even encouraging perjured testimony had put a serious crimp on every case he'd ever had a hand in. The same for the judges involved.

It would ordinarily take years to sort it all out, but the legal A.I.s were a godsend.

The fact that some of the cases were old and that witnesses were missing, evidence was missing, and other factors had forced the team he'd set up to recommend dropping the charges on quite a few cases. He wasn't comfortable with that. Lesser crimes he could deal down, especially if the accused had served out part of their sentence. But they went the extra kilometer when it came to a capital case like rape or murder.

There was another problem cropping up though. Suicides simplified and ended some of the cases but complicated others. Also, some personnel had died during the confusion. Witness and jury tampering charges were everywhere.

He had serious issues with witnesses who had been intimidated or killed. He shook his head, it was a true idiom of the legal system, time passing always favored the defense.

“Problem?” AJ asked.

“I'm just wondering who would want this job. I must have been crazy to have taken it on,” the general growled.

As a system or service TJAG, or just the senior JAG of a system, he not only had to track prosecutions but the manning and resourcing of the defense. Prosecution and Defense command were different with designated defense counsel JAGs who were usually on their second to third tour as experienced JAGs. Since they didn't report to prosecution command, it built trust in the system and avoided the perception that it was a kangaroo court.

“We still don't have any sightings of some of the missing witnesses—those three commanders for instance,” AJ stated.

The general gave him a sour look. “Reading my mind again, AJ?”

“No, that's not my job. I leave that to the ladies in your life,” AJ snorted.

The general snorted again. He'd had some time in the Spec Ops community as well so he'd formed a common bond with AJ.

“Where are we with the major cases?”

“Draken's done as you know. Childress is still trying to run the appeals table. Sung, Callisto, and a couple others have accepted a reduction in rank to captain and have either been dismissed from service or they've taken postings in the outer solar system.”

“Banishment over being thrown out completely,” the general muttered. He shrugged after a moment. “They can take what they can get.”

“Right. We've hit most of the major players. A few are still fighting it in appeals. Given that they were found guilty and we won't accept a deal, they each have the death penalty. We've had one mistrial as you know.”

“And the other cases?”

“We still are looking for bodies. I don't know if we'll ever find that Lieutenant Colonel or exactly what happened to him. NCIS has labeled it a cold case. Some of the other missing have also gone dead. The A.I. can only do so much with the electronic files. Someone scrubbed them with a series of script bots.”

“Two guesses on whom,” the general drawled.

“I know, sir. He's officially listed as dead but I have my suspicions too. Why he'd cover for others I don't know,” AJ stated with a shake of his head.

“The good news is we've got some room for them here and there. But I've got to talk to the DOJ. They seem to be displeased that we're releasing some of the prisoners.”

“Dumping former cons on the planet in a recession, yeah, I can see why,” AJ said with a shake of his head. “They are almost guaranteed to be blacklisted from finding employment. That will mean many will return to crime to support themselves. Not good.”

“Not good,” the general echoed. “But we can't keep them. And I'll be damned if I let them stay in uniform if they've been tainted too badly.”

“Yes, sir. What about the civil suits? Backpay?”

“We're letting the Fed DOJ deal with some of that. For cases that are proven to be malicious prosecution, it's a slam dunk obviously. The others …,” he grimaced. “I know some have the right to be treated as innocent over guilty, but …”

AJ nodded. He'd seen his fair share recently. Some might have been good people but time in the brig had obviously hardened them and turned them into career criminals. A few had committed crimes in prison and were little more than animals.

Those cases were solid. But the cases for them being there in the first place weren't so that was also an ongoing issue.

“Good luck with the DOJ. We'll see you tomorrow, sir?”

“Day after,” the general replied with a shake of his head. “If I'm going down to the planet, I'm not going to get jet lagged in the process and play yo-yo.”

“Yes, sir. I don't blame you in the slightest.”

~~(O)~~