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.""Thank you, sir, and yes, sir, I would like some coffee." Colonel Sauerordered coffee and then took a box of cigars from his desk and offered it toLowell."Thank you, sir," Lowell said, and took one.He unwrapped it, sniffed it,pinched it gently along its length, and bit the end off.By that time Sauerhad his own cigar unwrapped.Lowell extended a lighter.Sauer had never seenone like it before.It was European, he decided.And gold.Not gold-plated.Gold."Nice lighter," Sauer said.Page 88ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlThank you, sir," Lowell said."It was a Christmas present from myfather-in-law."The sergeant major delivered two china cups of coffee."I'll get the cream and sugar," he said."Not for me, thank you, Sergeant Major," Lowell said.When the sergeant major had left, closing the door behind him, Colonel Sanersaid, "You are a very courteous man, Colonel.I am therefore curious why youdidn't have the courtesy to stop by and talk to me before you started nosingaround in my affairs.""I can only offer my apologies for that inexcusable breach of courtesy, sir,and hope the colonel will accept them.""What is the interest of DC SOPS in my regiment, to get to the point?" Sanersaid."So far as I know, sir, only that you continue to maintain the pipeline oftrainees," Lowell said."Then what are you doing here?""I'm interested in the case of Recruit Craig, sir.""Why?""There are several reasons, sir.One of them being that he is my secondcousin.""Oh," Sauer said."He asked you to come?""No, sir.And when I left him this morning, I suspect that he was very sorrythat I had come.""Why would he feel that way?""Because I left him believing that he is going to spend the next several yearsbehind bars," Lowell said."Following which he will have the status of aconvicted felon.""That's just about what's going to happen to him, Colonel, I'm sorry to say.""With respect, sir, I must disagree," Lowell said."I understand you read his file," Colonel Sauer said.Yes, sir.""I recommended that he be tried," Saner said."I must presume, sir, that you did so because you were not fully aware of thefacts.""Colonel, if you think you can come down here and wave that GSC badge in myface and get that young man off, you've got another thing coming.""I am here, sir, because the alternative to my coming was a delegation fromPage 89ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlthe offices of two United States senators.""You're saying he's got political influence?""His father is a very wealthy and very influential man.If I may be permittedthe use of the vernacular, sir, when Geoff's father says Shit to the juniorsenator from Connecticut and the senior senator from New York, they squat andmake grunting noises." from smiling.Under other circumstances, he thought,certain efforts to the contrary, Colonel Sauer thought he would like thisLieutenant Colonel Lowell."You're not suggesting, are you, Colonel, that I would be in any wayinfluenced by congressional pressure?""I told Geoff, sir, that if the court heard about any political influencebeing brought to bear, they would throw the book at him.""In that case, Colonel," Sauer said, "what are you doing here?""I'm a soldier, sir," Lowell said."At the risk of sounding presumptuous, I amhere to piss on an ember before it can flare up and cause a fire.""I'm not sure I understand that.If it means what I think it does, I don'tlike it.""What I mean to say, Colonel," Lowell said, "is that if that boy goes before ageneral court, he's going to walk out free.""I heard he hired a civilian lawyer," Saner said."It won't do him any good.""I fired the civilian lawyer," Lowell said."I don't want to take any chancesthat I don't have to.""Meaning what?""That I devoutly hope the Staff Judge Advocate, if it gets that far, willassign his newest, least-experienced, six-months out-of-law-school first johnto defend Geoff.""That I don't understand," Colonel Saner said."May I speak freely, sir?""Go ahead," Sauer said."The first defense witness will be the post surgeon.He will testify thatthere has been a pattern of trainees from Staff Sergeant Foster's platoonrequiring serious medical attention.There have been quite a few falls,statistically speaking, down stairs and in showers.This will be documented byhospital records.Then there will be a series of witnesses, other trainees,who will testify that they heard Staff Sergeant Foster announce his intentionto kick the shit out of Geoff.Up until now, these trainees have beenfrightened into silence by the company commander.He will, however, besummoned as a hostile witness and unless he chooses to swear falsely underoath, he will testify that he threatened the trainees into silence, not onlyin this incident, but in the ones which preceded it." "Those are prettyserious charges, Colonel." "Yes, sir, I'm afraid they are." Goddamn him, Sanerthought.He's right about this.A wave of anger at his adjutant swept through him.The sonofabitch had toldPage 90ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlhim he'd checked out the facts.Then he turned the answer inside.It was hisresponsibility to check the facts.He had signed the charges."I'll look intothis, Lowell," he said."And if what you allege is true, I'll have yournephew, or whatever he is, out of the stockade, and some other people in it.""May I continue to speak freely, sir?" "Go ahead.""I respectfully suggest, sir, that Staff Sergeant Foster has learned animportant lesson: Never pick on anybody who's going to break your jaw [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]