At first Kent’s quiet, “Yes, I already know,” didn’t register with him. Neither did it with the officiators. They were studying the crew curiously, waiting for their reaction. How would they crack? A slow fury started building in Young toward Harper; his criminal defiance of regulations would almost certainly cause the breakup of the Kalar, let alone the ruination of one of the finest Captains in the fleet.

Then they began to realise just what Kent had said. “In fact every man on the ship knows! They’ve known for a good two months now, and everything I’ve said still holds.” Harper’s recorded reaction mirrored their own. “No-one minds?” No-one had time to absorb this before the Major’s voice began sneering at Kent. A wave of hostility toward Harper came from the back of the room; it was almost tangible in the air. “I bet if you were put to the test, if you actually saw him kissing another man—”

“Shut up!” the Captain wanted to shout, “Shut up! He was coping all right with it before, leave him alone!” The recording wound implacably on.

“I can see that shakes you! Just imagine if it was ever you he fancied, how would you feel then?”

The men held their breath with tension except for Jonson who uttered a single vehement, “Oh hell!”

Everyone, including Matthews stared at Kent, who had frankly covered his face with his hands. What had he said about him? Finally Kent’s voice answered. “I am about the most intolerant man toward homosexuality on this ship, and if the Captain ever wanted me, I ...,” the pause was agonising and suddenly Kent straightened and locked his eyes defiantly on Young’s, his chin raised.

“I would be honoured, Lieutenant, proud and honoured,” his voice rang with clear sincerity, and suddenly the room was filled with cheers. All the principals in the drama looked startled and Colonel Young called loudly for quiet. He stopped the recording and waited until the noise had abated, then motioned for it to continue. When the sound of the blow exploded in the room the men looked as if they wanted to cheer again but just managed to restrain themselves. Unfortunately, it also recorded the muffled sound of Kent’s kick to his opponent’s stomach. The recording finished.

Colonel Young tried to organise his thoughts sufficiently to continue with the trial. For several minutes he had quite forgotten the purpose of the hearing.

“I must confess, Major Harper, that I can’t see where Lieutenant Kent shows knowledge of your superior rank.”

Harper was actually triumphant. “As an Inspector, I must have had at least the rank of Major to know that piece of ranked information about Captain Matthews.” There was silence as Young deliberated, that was a point, but, “If you follow that reasoning, Major, it can be argued that Lieutenant Kent was a Major or higher because he knew the same information.”

“But, sir, the difference is that he was a member of the crew and could have had other ways of finding that out,” Harper’s top lip curled involuntarily at this point, “whereas I was an outsider, as I said and could have had no other way of knowing that.”

Kent finally found his voice. “But, Colonel Young sir, I never even thought to make that deduction.”

“I’m not sure that matters from a legal standpoint, Lieutenant.” He bent to his neighbour and the three officiators conferred for a few minutes. Everyone else sat still, waiting.

“Lieutenant Kent, on the offence of assaulting a superior officer in full knowledge of that fact, we find that there is insufficient evidence to convict you. However on the charge of assaulting Major Harper, we have no choice but to find you guilty. We sentence you to the minimum penalty of twenty strokes of the whip or the option of demotion to Sergeant.” Kent closed his eyes briefly.

Before anyone could voice a protest, Colonel Young continued. “We hereby suspend this sentence on the grounds that you acted to protect your ship. Furthermore, we reprimand Major Harper for the offence of communicating highly confidential, ranked information to an unqualified officer and of using this information in an attempt to interfere with the loyalty of the crew of the Kalar to their Captain. We recommend that charges be laid against him on these two offences mentioned. The court martial of Harper Versus Kent is completed.”

He paused, “I would like to add a personal note of commendation to the crew and officers of this ship for their loyalty to Captain Matthews. Thank you, everyone is dismissed to your duties.”

Colonel Young rose and left the room, followed closely by the other officiators. Harper stalked out, tight lipped. Crewmen crowded eagerly around Kent, congratulating him and slapping him on the shoulder, grinning in relief. Kent slumped pale and tired in his seat, self-consciously not looking at the Captain and feeling embarrassed by the praise. Without warning, Matthews spoke from behind him. “Lieutenant Kent, I’d appreciate it if you could spare a few minutes?”

Kent’s stomach turned over as he rose to his feet. “Of course, sir.” He followed Matthews over to a vacant corner of the room as men began filing out, trying not to appear too eager to overhear what the two were saying. To his dismay, Kent could not meet the Captain’s eyes and instead focussed on a spot over his right shoulder.

“I don’t want to embarrass you any more, Lieutenant, but I... I want you to know how much I appreciate what you did and said. I think I can just understand how much it cost you. I won’t forget it. Go and get some rest now if you can, I expect the officiators will want to speak to you a little later on.”

“Thank you, sir,” Kent replied gratefully and escaped to the welcome solitude of his cabin as fast as he could.