His Court Request Put The Complete Order Before A Judge

I wore my work coat to the courthouse. Its zipper pull was a bent paper clip, and I checked it twice while Mae reviewed her notes.

"You don't have to look fearless," she said. "You have to answer what you're asked."

Conrad sat across the hall with his lawyer, Alan Voss. He had a fresh haircut and the same navy suit. He stood when he saw me, as if we had arranged lunch.

"Kehau. There's still a reasonable way out."

Mae stepped beside me.

"Send any proposal to my office."

He sat down.

The courtroom was smaller than I had expected. Someone's boots had left wet marks under a bench. A wall clock ticked loud enough to hear between names.

Conrad wanted an order stopping further use of the Mercer papers while his suit went forward. His filing said I held incomplete records and had used them to damage his chance at the city contract.

Mae had submitted the complete packet with the archive's cover letter. She had also submitted the hearing transcript, my purchasing complaint, and his signed bid attachment.

Before we entered, she had asked whether I wanted to accept a private withdrawal. Conrad had offered to stop seeking money if I took back my complaint.

"Would the city get a corrected account?" I had asked.

"His offer doesn't promise that."

"Would my bill be paid?"

"It doesn't address your bill."

I had looked at the offer until the words stopped swimming.

"Then he'd still have the story, and I'd have another envelope to keep."

Mae had folded the page and put it behind our response. She had not called me brave. She had simply said we would proceed.

No patient names appeared in any exhibit.

Mr. Voss said, "My client's professional standing is being destroyed before he can answer."

The judge looked down at his papers.

"He has filed an answer to the purchasing inquiry, correct?"

"Yes."

"And he may speak at its hearing?"

"Yes, Your Honor."

Conrad's voice filled the room when he took the witness chair. He explained rank, responsibility, and the burden of making quick decisions.

Mae waited until he finished.

"Did you sign Emergency Order 17?"

"Under difficult conditions."

"Did you sign it?"

"Yes."

"Did Ms. Kawelo have authority to overrule you and close the runway herself?"

"She could have created a practical shutdown by refusing work."

"Did she refuse work that morning?"

He looked toward me.

"The whole section was under strain."

"Did she refuse?"

"I don't recall a formal refusal."

I remembered cold fluid on my sleeve, a truck cab that smelled of wet wool, and working until my hands shook. I kept my eyes on Mae.

She showed him the paid training package.

"You stated the medical aircraft landed at Mercer at 1437Z. What record supports that statement?"

"My account was meant to convey the rescue effort as a whole."

"What landing record supports it?"

Mr. Voss objected to the scope of the question. The judge allowed Conrad to answer.

"I haven't found the original landing sheet," he said.

Janelle followed him to the chair. She explained the event number, the call sign, and the times. Mr. Voss asked whether she had personally seen the aircraft land in Casper.

"No," she said. "I was at Mercer. Casper sent the arrival confirmation. It's recorded on this sheet."

"So you're relying on another person's words."

"That's what a communications record records."

The judge asked her to point to the entry. She did, without adding anything.

When I testified, Mr. Voss asked why I had kept the papers so long.

"Because I had been blamed for something I didn't order."

"You anticipated revenge?"

"I anticipated needing the order."

He asked if I was competing for Conrad's $486,000 contract.

"No. My course was a separate purchase. Twelve workers. One day. Eighteen hundred dollars."

The judge denied the temporary order. She said the narrow issue before her was whether Conrad had shown grounds to stop the statements and records at that stage. He had not.

She did not dismiss the damages case or decide the city bid.

Mae had warned me about that distinction. I wrote it at the top of my notes so relief would not turn into a claim we could not support.

In the hall, Conrad asked if I enjoyed making lawyers rich.

"I'd rather have fixed my truck," I said.

Janelle's laugh bounced off the stone wall.

"Put that in the training package."

Outside, I pulled on my gloves. The right one caught on the paper clip at my zipper, and Janelle helped free it.

Mae stayed behind to speak to Mr. Voss. When she caught up, she held a new sheet.

"The city has set its hearing," she said. "They've also opened an audit of the pilot payment."

At the bottom was a notice asking Conrad to preserve the original electronic file he had used to make the cropped order.