My Brother Called From the Ocean Floor, So I Hung Up novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: The Hearing

The hearing was held in the Institute's big conference room, with the blinds down and the gallery full.

Staff had taken every seat. The rest stood against the walls.

Six board members sat at a long table under the Institute's seal. The chair sat in the middle with a gavel he didn't seem to want.

My father took the first row of the gallery.

He had my mother on one side, and Quist on the other, folder on his knee.

Kit wasn't there. "Doctor's orders," Quist had told the room.

Joan sat two rows behind them with her hand pressed flat over the pocket where she kept the drive.

I stood at the small table in front.

I had no lawyer. I had one printed page.

"Mr. Rask," the chair said. "This board is not here to decide what happened to the Halcyon. The Navy and the coast guard are looking into it. We are here to decide whether you failed your duty."

"I understand."

"The facts are not in dispute. A distress call came in. You were the only qualified rescue pilot. You hung up."

"That's right."

"Why?"

I had thought about that answer for two days.

"Because the call wasn't real," I said.

A rustle went through the gallery.

"And you knew that how?"

"The voice came with no delay. The depth stayed at 35,000.0 for three hours. Two calls matched down to the breath."

"Mr. Rask." The chair held up a hand. "The family's own son was in that sub."

"He was on a ship," I said. "I believe he was in a cabin."

My mother made a noise. My father put a hand on her knee.

"Do you have evidence?"

"I have one thing I'm able to show today."

I held up the printed page.

"This is the Institute's own dock log from the morning of the dive. It shows a Rask Marine technician badged into the Tern's bay at 11:40. He stayed forty minutes. He replaced the seal flange. The sign-off is Lowell Quist's."

Heads turned toward the first row.

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