Miles gave a little frown from his seat at the head ofhte conference table. There was some crimson flashing at the Rotonda high-rise condo development through the wall-to-ceiling windows of the 4th Floor of The Trillium. He was hold a glowing phone with a note from an old shipmate out west. The letters were tiny, but splash and Melissa leaned in to see and Vapor leaned back to resume his gaze at the big screen on the other wall.

He folded his arms across his sweater, and said: “News this morning was that Senator Kelly might be recalled to active duty by the Navy for his role as the senior retired officer- SOPA- on that commercial warning about obeying illegal orders.Then they would put him before a court martial.”

“Wait,” said Holly, brushing her hair aside. “I may be a Millennial, but isn’t this the same thing you Boomers were complaining about when the previous administration mentioned they might do the same thing to retirees? And the UCMJ means what?”

“Uniform Code of Military Justice. Sometimes we called it ‘Uninformed’’ but we didn’t mess with it on active duty. We were afraid of the process, not the punishment. It is prohibitively expensive for retirees to have to lawyer up and find an Uber to get to the hearing at the Pentagon. At least the Senator still has a job.”

“Is what he said actually sedition? That is what one of the complaints claimed. And the President was probably intemperate in pointing out that in the past, sedition could be punishable by hanging.”

“That is sort of harsh treatment for a sitting member of the United States Senator, you know?”

“It is a figure of speech not to be taken more seriously than calling direct orders from the recognized chain of command established by the Republic as matters of debate. Like an incitement to riot, right”

“What did the Left Coast think?” asked Splash. He was tired, since he got up with the arrival of the two ladder trucks from the fire station up the road. They were attempting to get the big truck through the security gates across the broken asphalt of the building site next door. Although the sirens were off, the lights of the two vehicles lit the still dark skies with bright red like fire.

Miles smiled and put the tablet down. “He said we ought to show the same resentment to the Kelly thing as we did to the one we complained about before. When it looked like it might be pointed at us.”

“Good point, but doesn’t it actually mean things are kind of screwy when the Uniform code of Military Justice is being used to drag retirees into court at vast expense just for speaking their minds?”

Rocket slapped the table. “This will never get to court. But it will be a means to remind us all that the process is the punishment these days.”

Splash took a sip of coffee from his battered white mug with the VF-151 squadron logo. “I will avoid participating in fairly lavish production TV spots on all the networks calling for mutiny before a major mid-term election that could lead to another two years of Congress fighting with the White House. At expense in a time when ‘billion’ has replaced ‘million’ in Federal rounding errors.”

There was general agreement at the table. Then we saw Secretary of Transportation Sean Hannity running ads telling us to keep our shoes on during the flights and not listen to movies on our tablets without ear-buds. That led to a discussion about lunch, and the suitability of afternoon celebrations on the busiest air travel day before Thanksgiving. Secretary We are convinced they cannot convene a court marshal fast enough to stop us,

Miles leaned back to watch the big screen. “That is regardless of what we say about just about anything. But we generally agree with Senator Kelly, and would welcome him at the table, if he wants to stop by for a pre-trial snort.

General agreement achieved, he declared the morning meeting adjourned.

Copyright Vic Socotra 2025
Images WE Socotra 1944, Sen. Kelly file photo.
www.vicsocotra.com