Chapter 6
The morning session began with an oppressive humidity that made the courtroom air feel thick and heavy. Judge Thomas Sterling took his seat promptly at nine o'clock, his expression as unreadable as ever. Arthur Vance was already at the defense table, looking cool and composed in a fresh suit, though Sarah noticed a slight stiffness in his shoulders. He had clearly spent the night preparing for this moment.
When Sarah took the witness stand, she did not look at the gallery. She kept her posture rigid, her hands folded neatly in her lap, breathing slowly as she waited for the inevitable onslaught.
Vance stood up slowly, adjusting his tie, and began his cross-examination with soft, conversational tones designed to disarm the court. "Captain Sterling, let’s talk about your assignments over the past five years. Specifically, your tenure at the naval intelligence depot in Norfolk. Isn't it true that your access to classified salvage inventories was restricted following an internal audit in late twenty-twenty?"
"My access was temporarily adjusted during a facility-wide security upgrade," Sarah answered calmly, her voice even and devoid of defensiveness. "The audit cleared me of any procedural discrepancies within forty-eight hours."
Vance’s pace quickened. He stepped away from the podium, pacing slowly toward the jury box before turning sharply back toward her. "Cleared by whom? Your immediate superior, Admiral Hayes—a man who retired under a cloud of administrative controversy?"
"Cleared by the Inspector General's office," Sarah replied firmly, meeting his gaze without flinching.
A murmur rippled through the gallery. Vance suppressed a flicker of annoyance, quickly shifting tactics. He walked over to the defense table, picked up a thick binder, and approached the witness stand. "Let’s address the documents you introduced yesterday. The so-called cipher text. Captain, as an officer in the United States Navy, you know that cryptographic keys of this complexity are strictly controlled under military intelligence codes. How did you come into possession of documents marked Top Secret Special Access Required?"
This was the trap. If she admitted she stole them from a secured server, she confessed to a felony. If she claimed she received them anonymously, Vance would tear her credibility apart as an unreliable witness handling unverified contraband.
Sarah took a slow, measured breath. She looked past Vance toward the judge, then down at her portfolio. "I received them through official channels during an internal safety review of the Orion disaster—channels that were subsequently ordered closed by individuals seeking to conceal negligence."
"Objection," Vance snapped, raising his voice slightly. "Vague, evasive, and entirely lacking evidentiary substantiation. The witness is offering unsubstantiated conspiracy theories in lieu of facts."
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"Sustained," Judge Sterling ruled, his voice cutting through the tension. "Captain Sterling, confine your answers to direct facts regarding the acquisition of the documents."
Vance smiled, a small, triumphant curve of his lips. He thought he had her cornered. But Sarah’s hand slipped into her pocket, brushing against the cold metal casing of the encrypted flash drive Admiral Hayes had given her the night before.
