When Williamson heard the court's decision he lost it. Even though nobody could hear him other than the guards in the room he cut loose with every invective he could think of. At this point he didn't care anymore about what happened to him since he knew that he was officially fucked. He tried to toss the table across the room at the viewing screen but it was secured down. Before he could try tossing the chair the two guards wrestled him to the ground and cuffed him.
He even had the balls to try fighting them since what more could they do to him? His life was destroyed. If it had just been jail that would be one thing since he could have still have worked for the company. With the personality mod by law he was no longer eligible to have anything to do with the company. The company which had been in the family for several generations and he was locked out of it. A trust fund could be set up but that was it.
As he was being taken towards medical Williamson kept struggling. He was going to be kicking and screaming all the way. Williamson knew he was in the right and no matter what they said he was not going to make it easy on them. The entire time he was screaming at everyone and anyone who came near. Eventually a doctor was called in and he was sedated. Eventually he would be transferred dirt side for the actual punishment.
~~~
Lt. Cmdr. Fuko already had the paperwork ready for the appeal. It was standard and expected that such a sentence would be appealed. Even if she didn't file the paperwork Cmdr. Achenbach would. If he didn't then the Admiral would forward it to the central JAG office for further review. Once the paperwork was submitted she would no longer be responsible for him. He was scheduled to be moved dirt side the next morning and would be assigned a new lawyer since she was stationed here. Tonight she was going to have a large shot of saki to wash the foul taste of dealing with him out of her mouth.
She had done her best for the prisoner but he had to be one of the most distasteful individuals she had ever worked for. That was saying quite a bit since she had represented some pretty disreputable people. As Fuko was thinking about it she finally decided that in Williamson's case he was so positive of his certitude that nobody else's mattered. Fuko finally did a final review of the documents and forwarded them to Cmdr. Achenbach. Now she could turn to the next case she had to deal with.
~~~
Between Jackie and Adelbert they had managed to leverage the company from the remaining family. They had barely managed that since Herman had died several weeks later due to organ failure. They had managed to fix his heart for the short term. It hadn't helped his liver and there had been indications of additional brain damage. His kidneys started to shut down and she had finally signed the orders to pull the plug. Even as spiteful as she was feeling there was no reason to keep him alive any further.
When her father had come to talk to her about her 'family' responsibilities Jackie had laughed in his face. The contact the idiot had signed had been between him and Herman. If Herman's son had been able to take over the contract would have still been in force. With her husband dead and Herman in jail the contract had expired when her husband had. Jackie had informed him of this and that if he ever came onto the property again she would have him arrested for trespassing. Watching his expression had been one of the most priceless memories of hers. Just for good measure she had it recorded as well.
Once she had taken over the company she had created a trust fund for Herman. Jackie had created the trust fund for several reasons. The primary was because deep down Herman would know that he was living on her largesse for the rest of his life. The next reason was to look good for the others in the circles she traveled in. For now she had to do major damage control to keep the company running and playing it up was needed. As much as she despised the Williamson's family it didn't extend to the workers for the company. They for the most part weren't directly involved unless you were in the senior most positions.
After working with Adelbert they had found a new lawyer they both felt reasonably comfortable with. She had been hired to take over what Adelbert had been doing. On top of that they had managed to get a corporate lawyer from a different city to represent them as well. It had taken a fair amount of time to find lawyers who were willing to represent them. It had been worth it though since both were damn good. Once Adelbert was out of the way, legally, they could actually start seeing each other. Yes they had enjoyed getting one over on Herman but it had started with genuine caring. They still cared for each other a great deal.
Jackie was currently relaxing in what was now her office watching the news. It had been a very interesting week with the number of arrests. Documents related to a vast number of criminal activity's had somehow made it to the police. It was odd that a fair number of them related to various relatives of the Williamson's family. As she was sipping on a glass of sherry a slightly predatory smile was playing across her lips.
~~~
The Cadets had made it through the last few months with a great deal of lost sleep, being run ragged, and worn to the bone. Even for Holcum and Mila there were times they honestly didn't know how they survived. Even their cats felt like they had been run ragged and worn out. It was the night before the graduation ceremony for the most senior section. Holcum was sprawled on the bed with Mila flopped next to him. "Did we actually make it? I have an evil feeling we are going to wake up tomorrow and realize we still have several more months."
Jace groaned. "If that happens Holcum I am going to blame you. I will talk to whoever is in the kitchen and have your next week worth of steaks cooked well done." They had done a turn in the kitchen which had really sucked even more than the training. They got up early and went to bed late. At least their watches had been eliminated for that week.
Nacy was flopped on the floor and dropped her pillow on her face and groaned. "Tell me about it. I need the time off before we move to our next section. I normally would be interested in what is going to be coming up next but not now. I am not going to look at the tablet, documents, or anything else till we are coming back." With a groan she stood up. "Well time to get packing. I just wish we didn't have to drag all this stuff along with." Their civilian clothes had been returned earlier that week. When they came back they would be moving to a different set of barracks.
Mila stretched and yawned. "Might as well do that, Holcum are you going to carry the package back or open it?" It had started to turn into a running joke with their friends. She rolled off the bed and stretched one more time. Once she was standing she started pulling things out to get bagged up as well.
Holcum rolled off the bed and shrugged. "At some point I will. I don't have any urge to deal with it at the moment and it has been busy enough I just haven't had the energy. Maybe once we get home." He tossed that off rather casually which garnered a number of laughs. Holcum was damned if he was going to open it when anyone was around.
He started pulling stuff out for packing as well. Once he was done the only thing left in the closet was one uniform for the ceremony and his civies. Everyone was starting to do much the same and they were all double checking to ensure they had everything. If they missed something or lost something they had to cover it. Most of it didn't cost much for the most part but if you failed an inspection it was a mark in your training record. Enough of those and the punishment could range from an extra assignment to extra watches. Eventually everyone was done and rolled into bed and snoring.
~~~
The next morning the barrack room was quite as people were getting ready for the graduation ceremony. Holcum knew that he was almost feeling pensive about it. Yes they would be back in two weeks but it almost felt weird knowing they would be free for a week to do what they wanted. They could wear whatever they wanted and eat and sleep when they wanted to. He knew that Mila was definitely planning on a hunt and a good run first thing after getting home. They had invited several of their closest friends to come home as well.
Jace, Nacy, Judet, and Larry had decided to take them up on their offer and were going to spend a week at the Pride house. After that they were going to fly home to visit their families. Holcum and Mila were considering going to visit one or the other as well. Neither Jace nor Nacy lived close to each other so they were still thinking about it. They were going to make the decision in the next day or two.
Once they were all dressed they checked to make sure all the luggage was neatly stacked on their bunks. The sheets had been stripped and it looked almost like when they had arrived. All of them formed up at the foot prints when Sgt. Miller came out of her office. She looked at them and smiled slightly. "Before we head to the graduation ceremony I wanted to take a moment to let all of you know I am proud to have been your sergeant. We had some rough issues in the beginning but everyone came through with flying colors. Mind you when you come back from your leave I am going to ride your asses even more. I know what you can do now and I am going to make sure you keep going." They had lost a few over the months but that was normal and expected. "Atten-hut! Forward harch!"
They fell in with other cadets from the other intakes and quickly filed into the auditorium and seated again. This time the most senior intake was at the front for the ceremony. The newest intakes were ranges by their intake to the most junior at the back. Holcum looked out over the large number of cadets and finally noticed the gaps in the ranks. He had known the Academy was tough but he hadn't realized how tough it was going to be. Not including that person they had lost seven people. Two had been due to injuries but the rest had ended up dropping out.
As he was thinking the Captain's came in and he focused on the stage. Several more high ranking people came out and were settled down before the Admiral entered. His assistant called everyone to attention. Once the Admiral was at the podium his assistant had them sit back down.
As with the first day he didn't have his viewers on and his blind eyes traveled around the auditorium. He finally spoke. "We are assembled here for several reasons. The first is to graduate the senior intake and advance them to their rank of Ensign. Each and every cadet in this room has worked hard to make it to this point. This is from the newest intake to the most senior. For the senior intake they will be reporting to their next assignment be it training or their first duty station."
His blind eyes continued to travel around the room as he was speaking. "Three years ago they left everything and everyone they knew to come to the Academy. They knew it was going to be hard to leave and come to a strange place. I am sure they didn't realize how hard it might be but they knew it was going to be hard. They made it to this point where they will go and serve our united world in a number of different ways. As I tell every intake they came to this Academy and gave the world a blank check for up to and including their lives. The world has promised to value and respect this blank check by supporting these new officers as they do this. I wish to add one more thing before we start the ceremony. I wish to say that I am personally very proud of each and every one of you. I expect to see many of you advance through the ranks. For those who chose to serve and return to the world I expect to see you do our world proud as veteran's of our military."
A very slight smile crossed his face. "Now with no further adieu I call forward Admiral Charles Hawthorn as our guest speaker." He stepped off to the side as a rather short man stepped forward. He gave the Admiral a nod as he stepped forward.
Holcum watched the rest of the ceremony with only some attention since his mind was tied up with heading home. That and even as hard as they tried graduating somewhat over four hundred cadet's took time. If they had just done a 'and you are ensign's' it would have been insulting. The ceremony introduced the honor cadets, a number of awards for academic excellence, marksmanship, and similar skills.
Eventually they were done and had been formed up and left the auditorium. Once back in the barracks they quickly changed to their civies and Holcum had to frown. "Did I really grow this much? These are not comfortable and tight in all the wrong places." He had been in very good shape when he had arrived but the constant exercise had fine tuned his body.
Mila turned and gave him a good kiss. "You are just finishing filling out love. We will get you some new clothing when we get home. You do look good though." She turned from the kiss and finished packing her uniform.
Jace and Nacy were doing much the same and Jace was grinning. "I am still skinny but I actually have some bulk thankfully." His clothing fit better than Holcum's. As he was changing he couldn't help but glance at Nacy. She really was a pretty woman and though chances were their relationship wouldn't end up going anywhere he really liked her.
Nacy glanced at Jace and lightly bumped him with her hip. "I saw that look and we will discuss it later." Several of the other cadets had formed relationships as it slowly got around they could rent a room on Sunday's. "I am so ready to go and visit our families. Shall we?"
Since they were in civies they simply formed a large group and started heading towards the shuttle docks. Holcum had his arm around Mila even as she had hers around him. They had their entire future ahead of them and both were looking forward to it.
A/N: Thank you for reading this and enjoying it. I did have a great deal of enjoyment writing this and knowing my readers were enjoying it with me. I know I left some things up in the air but... For those who are going to complain? Wahahahahahaha... Please read, vote, enjoy, and comment.