Balance of Power

With Lenihan at one side, Mary Costello and the Director of the Kilcannon Center at the other, Sarah Dash stood before Judge Bond. The benches behind them were full, and more reporters stood at the

rear of the courtroom. After weeks of judicial secrecy, Gardner Bond had lost the ability to shut out the press and public. But such was Bond's pride of place that this left Sarah no less apprehensive than before. His posture was stiff, his expression suffused with the offended dignity of an egotistical man to whom his primacy was all.

    "Did you," Bond demanded of Lenihan, "know what your client and cocounsel intended?"

    "I did not," Lenihan answered. "But Ms. Costello wishes me to advise the court that it was she who made the final decision."

    Briefly, Sarah felt Mary touch her arm, and then Bond glared at them both. "Ms. Dash," he snapped, "is an officer of this court. Her role is to admonish her client to obey Court orders, not to foment their violation."

    "I understand, Your Honor," Lenihan said agreeably. "But I also think that President Kilcannon put it very well. Ms. Dash acted to prevent a larger injustice . . ."

    "Ms. Dash," Bond snapped, "acted to affect the political process in a manner adverse to the defendants."

    "Forgive me," Lenihan answered more quietly. "But, given Mr. Callister's testimony, it's somewhat hard to see the difference."

    Though visibly annoyed, Bond hesitated. On impulse, Sarah said, "May I be heard, Your Honor?"

    Curtly nodding, Bond answered with veiled sarcasm. "Please."

    Sarah's own voice was shaky but determined. "I do believe that politics and morality should coincide. As should justice and morality.

    "As a lawyer, I deeply regret abridging this Court's order. It was a painful choice, and I apologize to you for the offense caused by the choice I felt I had to make." Sarah paused, then decided to take a chance. "As I made it, I could only hope that it was a judgment the Court would have considered making, had it stood where I stood, and known what I knew . . ."

    "You're badly mistaken," Bond interjected sharply. "The choice was this Court's, not yours. Your only role was to ask me to dissolve the order."

    Helpless, Sarah moved her shoulders. "There was no time," she said simply.

    This clear reference to the Senate's pending vote seemed to deepen Bond's annoyance. Behind her, Sarah heard John Nolan's voice. "May I speak on behalf of Lexington, Your Honor?"

    Bond gave a slightly more pacific nod. "Counsel."

    Stepping forward, Nolan glanced at the piece of paper he held.

    "Your Honor," he said in a subdued voice, "in light of my client's reevaluation of its interests in this litigation, our firm may be withdrawing as counsel. However, Mr. Callister has directed me to tell the Court that Lexington does not ask for, or endorse, any sanctions against Ms. Dash. However much or little that may weigh in the Court's consideration."

    As surprised as, judging from his expression, was Gardner Bond himself, Sarah saw an indignant Harrison Fancher quickly rise to seek the judge's attention. "I assume," the judge said tartly, "that you don't share Mr. Callister's somewhat gratuitous beneficence."

    "We do not." Fancher's tone was one of open anger. "The SSA views Mr. Callister's testimony as slander—a tissue of lies used by Ms. Dash and her client, in blatant disregard of this Court's order, to shift the blame for the shootings to the SSA and to curry favor with the President. Who, as we all know, is the éminence grise

of this entire travesty of justice."

    Fancher shot a venomous glance at Sarah. "For her role," he concluded harshly, "we believe that Ms. Dash should face disbarment. That's a proper sanction for a lawyer who can't conform herself to the law."

    Beside Sarah, Lenihan prepared to respond. Swiftly, she whispered, "Let it go, Bob."

    He gave her a puzzled look, but Sarah was watching Bond. The judge, confronted for the first time with a packed courtroom, was forced to consider how appearances might affect his own prospects of promotion, fully aware that the sole counterbalance to the President's measured comments was the harsh demand of a very besmirched SSA. To Sarah, Bond's stern air seemed newly tempered by a hesitance which betrayed the tacit erosion of his power.

    "All right," he snapped. "By their own admission, Ms. Dash and the Kilcannon Center stand in contempt of court. It is not up to lawyers to select which orders to obey. Accordingly, the Court orders that Ms. Dash and the Kilcannon Center each pay a fine of two thousand dollars. The Court will also send a copy of this order to the State Bar of California."

    Abruptly, Bond cracked his gavel. "All rise," his courtroom deputy intoned. As the onlookers stood, Bond strode stiffly from the bench, covering his retreat with a last show of judicial dignity.