The gavel
hit with finality, a sound that resonated through the courtroom, and made Flynn
wince. He still stood with his counsel, but he felt numb, watching detachedly
as the judge and members filed out of the courtroom.
Commander
Crisp turned to him, a sad smile on his face. “I’m sorry Cap—Mr. Flynn. We can
try an appeal, but I don’t think it likely. There’s a lot of pressure on this
case, and it fell on you. There was a very real chance of prison time, but I
think everyone wanted this to go away.”
Crisp
waited a moment for some reply from Flynn, but he didn’t have one. He simply
stared. Crisp broke the gaze first and busied himself with collecting his
things. Across the aisle, Commander Halladay made eye contact with Flynn. For
having won the case, the trial counsel didn’t look pleased with herself. She
closed her briefcase and strode into the aisle, still holding his eyes. She
opened her mouth to say something, then closed it and shook her head. She took
quick steps out of the courtroom.
Flynn let
himself be propelled by Crisp out of the courtroom. It seemed to Flynn that the
sound of the gavel still echoed in the room, along with the words from the
members of the court martial “Dismissed from service.”