Chapter 13 - The Chair Facing Him
Nia had imagined the hearing room larger.
Instead, it looked like a place where people argued over budgets. Water glasses. Microphones. Folders arranged square to the edge of a table.
Hale sat beside his attorney. His uniform was immaculate.
Nia took the oath and sat down.
The counsel presenting the case asked about the equipment check, the clipboard, and the emergency. She answered in the order she had lived them.
Then Hale’s attorney began.
“You were seeking Colonel Hale’s endorsement for a competitive training opportunity?”
“Yes.”
“And you lost that opportunity.”
“The nomination could not be completed before the seat was reassigned.”
“You were angry.”
“Yes.”
The attorney glanced up.
Nia kept her hands still.
“Being angry doesn’t give me permission to change what happened.”
He moved to Ward’s evaluation.
“You approved an adverse assessment without observing the event?”
“I reviewed incomplete information and accepted a supervisor’s account. I should have done more.”
“But now you’re asking this board to trust your judgment about Colonel Hale.”
“I’m asking you to consider what I saw and heard, along with the other evidence. My earlier mistake is part of the record.”
The attorney showed her the inspection sheet.
“Did he explicitly tell you to make a false statement?”
“He told me to sign that the equipment was serviceable after I reported a fault and requested the repair record.”
“Those aren’t the words I asked about.”
“No. He didn’t say, ‘Make a false statement.’ He said, ‘Sign it, or you’re done.’”
Hale stared at the table.
The questions returned to Eli.
“You told a frightened father, ‘This is your tank, Colonel.’ Was that necessary medical care?”
“No.”
“Was it appropriate?”
“I would choose different words now.”
“Yet you claim you put the patient first.”
“I requested the verified kit before I spoke to Hale. Then I continued helping Eli. The other witnesses and response records can address the sequence.”
The attorney paused, then moved on.
Nia didn’t feel triumphant. She felt exposed and tired.
But she had not needed to invent a flawless version of herself to describe what Hale had done.
After her testimony, she was released from the witness restrictions and permitted to remain for the sessions open to her.
She chose a chair near the back.
Hale turned as she sat.
For an instant, she saw the man from the hangar waiting for her to lower her eyes.
May you like
She looked past him to the unsigned inspection form on the display.
It was still blank.
