by L S Roebuck
“Alroy, I kept my promise,” she said. “Amberly knows that you will always love her.”
Alroy, dressed in the uniform he was wearing the first time Kimberly saw him, said nothing, but only smiled all the more brightly.
Some electronic voice Kimberly could barely make out was counting.
“Alroy… Alroy… I’m fearful. I don’t know how to die. I’ve never felt this before.” Tears, real ones, she thought, were streaming down her face. Alroy said nothing, but his smile withdrew slightly.
“Alroy … Will you … pray. Pray for me?”
The Alroy spoke softly in his rich tenor voice. “Kimberly, my love, I never stopped praying for you, and I never will.”
Kimberly coughed blood, smiled and was about to wonder if she had been wrong about everything; but before the synapses in her fabled brain could construct that thought, her body was sucked into the cold vacuum of space through one of the American Spirit’s auxiliary airlocks.
Kimberly Macready was at peace.
EPILOGUE
Waypoint Magellan, Dec. 4, 2602 (Earth date)
Amberly rolled over in her bed and looked out the small viewport in her living quarters. In the next room, she heard Kora snoring.
Amberly’s infopad spoke quietly. “Amberly? I sense you are awake. You have an urgent message from your legal council. Shall I play it for you?”
Amberly sat up, “Go ahead, Verne.”
“Amberly,” her lawyer’s recorded voice said. “I want to go over your statement one more time before today’s trial. Would you meet me at conference room h12 at nine hundred hours?”
“Tell her I’ll be there,” Amberly commanded her infopad.
Nearly three months had passed since the arrival of Magnus, and the repairs on Magellan were going better than expected. The garden dome was refashioned into two semi domes, with a thick metallic patch connecting them. The botanists and chemists had already begun to fashion new soil from recovered organic material that wasn’t lost through the dome crack, and mixing it with inorganic material harvested from the Spencer Belt. The Magnus was also able to recover most of the building materials from Fuentes station, and those were recycled to make repairs to both the Magellan and the American Spirit. The wonders of the repairs, however, were overshadowed by the bloody trials.
For the last six weeks, a military tribunal had been casting judgment on the Chasm agents and operatives who survived the initial rage of vigilantism. The tribunal consisted of now permanently appointed Marine Commander Rita Moreno, her newly promoted executive officer, Lt. Commander North, and Governor Thor Rillio.
Today was the last day of the tribunals, and upon completion, Moreno would end martial law and return rule of Magellan to its elected civilian leader, Rillio.
Amberly’s lawyer was reasonably certain that the tribunal would acquit her of aiding in sedition and treason when she provided the passcard to Dek. Technically, the card enabled the attempted murder of every soul on Magellan and succeeded in leading to the deaths of more than one-tenth of the waypoint’s permanent population. In light of this detail, the lawyer wanted to be prepared, leaving nothing to chance.
At first, that Amberly would be charged at all was uncertain. But Moreno feared if she wasn’t charged, the authority of the court would be tainted because many would see only favoritism towards the longtime friend of Tribunal North.
Amberly climbed out of bed and looked out her window into the darkness of space. Even Spencer Minorem’s relative brightness seemed dim and hopeless to Amberly. She let her nightgown fall off and stepped into the shower.
The noise woke her sister, and Kora went into the dining area to prepare a bitter caffeinated drink that those who lived on Magellan called coffee, though no one from Earth would call it such. By the time it had finished brewing, Kora poured a cup for herself and Amberly, just as Amberly was slipping into her clothes.
Amberly had neatly pressed her white science corps dress uniform, and as she buttoned the top, Kora couldn’t help but observe the striking similarity between Amberly and their mother.
“Wow. You look just like mom,” Kora said, then quickly adding “like in her old pictures… when she was still good.”
“Mom was never good, Kora,” Amberly said with the bitter taste in her mouth. “I have to go down early to prep for today’s trial.”
“I figured,” Kora said. “Amberly, I know you told me not to, but I went over to the barracks yesterday to talk with North. I tried to convince him to call you, or at least send you a note.”
“Maybe you could get him to read the ones that Amberly has sent?” Verne suggested in his electronic voice.
“Verne, shut off,” Amberly said, annoyed. “Look, Kora, North hasn’t spoken to me for three months, what makes you think he will start now?”
“He’s hurt. He's broken. We've all been through a lot. Too much,” Kora told her younger sister. “But all hurts heal over time. I know. I am a medical professional.”
Kora grabbed a brush, sat behind her sister and ran the instrument through her red locks. “I’m worried about you, sis. You need to get out and away from the killjoys at your work. Why don’t you come to church with me? You could use a good joyful sermon.”
Amberly didn’t feel like going to church, though she liked how going would spite the memory of her mother and honor her dad.
She didn’t want to socialize with just anyone. She wanted to talk with North, but he had completely shut her out since she professed her love for Dek in her attempt to save Magellan. And she also wanted to talk to Dek, but he had been placed in solitary confinement until his trial. She last saw Dek when Moreno was threatening to blow his brains out to compel him to help stop Chasm.
“I’ll think about it,” Amberly hugged Kora. “Thanks for caring. I need to go.”
“You’ll be great today. I’m praying for you,” Kora called after her sister.
The repaired hangar had been transformed into a makeshift courthouse to accommodate the crowds that wanted to witness the tribunals, and this day the crowds were their largest, with standing room only.
The tribunal had saved the best show for last, and those on today’s docket made the trial the hottest ticket: Lt. Smythe Johnson, former commander of one of Magellan’s Marine strike teams; Sparks, the cohort-born who ultimately surrendered the American Spirit; Dek Tigona, Spark’s cohort brother, and who along with Sparks, was one of that ship’s Chasm leadership team; and Amberly Macready, who aided Chasm by stealing a pass card, and daughter of Kimberly Macready, architect of the failed Chasm apocalypse.
The whole morning was spent hearing evidence and witnesses. A slew of people testified on Amberly’s behalf, including Lydia, Kora, Dek, Boro and several others. The court convened for lunch. After lunch, they would deliver the un-appealable verdicts together. The punishment for the guilty would be carried out immediately. The political pressure to end the martial law was great, but Moreno refused to do so until the tribunals would be complete, concerned that some legal maneuvering under civilian law might allow clever Chasm agents to escape justice. Also, she didn't want the blood of these proceedings on the civilian government, which needed cleaner hands to bring about a new normal.
An airlock had been added to the portal that served the hangar gangway. Dozens of instant executions had been carried out by spacing the guilty in front of the crowd. Although some were repulsed by it, most of the lifetime Magellan citizens had developed a significant bloodlust toward those who conspired to kill them all.
The crowd had returned from lunch back to the hangar court room, and the three judges came in and sat at an elevated table. The military police guard then escorted the four accused to stand before the judge. When Johnson entered the make-shift courtroom, many people booed.
Moreno spoke first. “This court will now consider the fate of Lt. Commander Smythe Johnson. Each tribunal may now give their statement and vote. XO North?”
“Lt. Johnson shot and killed his fellow Mari
nes, including Captain Anderson in cold blood in service to Chasm, at the peril of us all. I witnessed it personally. He is guilty,” North said.
“Gov. Rillio, your vote?”
“I concur with North and have nothing to add,” Thor said. “Guilty.”
“Two is enough to convict, but the death penalty requires three votes. I sadly add my vote. Lt. Smythe Johnson, for your many murderous crimes against Magellan, including plotting against its destruction, I strip you of your rank, dishonorably discharge you from service, and sentence you to death by airlock, to be carried out immediately. May God have mercy on your soul.”
Although the verdict was not unexpected, the crowd had a mixed reaction. Some gasped. There was not an insignificant amount of clapping and cheering.
The MPs drug Johnson into the airlock, in full view of the crowd. Johnson screamed, “There is no God, you morons. The Chairman will avenge me.” He spit on the ground as the MPs pushed him in the airlock and sealed the door.
Rita signaled the MPs, and within a few seconds, the space side door had opened, and Johnson was sucked into space. There was some cheering in the crowd, and some sobbing as well. The crowd had not been entirely desensitized to the shock of seeing someone airlocked.
Of the 47 traitors on trial, only four had been acquitted. Fourteen had been sentenced to exile, and the rest had been executed.
“Order. Order. Next, this tribunal will render our verdict on the Chasm agent known as Sparks. Governor?” Moreno polled Thor.
“I find Sparks guilty of conspiracy to destroy and have no further comment,” Thor said.
Sparks sat in a plain black jumpsuit. She had trimmed her long hair into a pixie cut, and dyed it black. Was she honoring Raven One with that color, or just trying to disguise herself? Amberly wondered.
“While I agree that Sparks did commit conspiracy on several counts, I also believe her claim to some amnesty offered by Amberly Macready is valid, though Amberly is not an official representative of the government. Therefore, I vote Sparks not guilty by virtue of offered amnesty,” North offered.
“I, on the other hand,” Moreno explained, “do not find Macready’s offer binding by this court, particularly when the surrender is procured at gunpoint. Guilty. That makes a 2-1 guilty vote, so unfortunately Sparks will not face the airlock. Sparks, you are sentenced to exile from Magellan, to serve as a manual laborer aboard the American Spirit on its trip to earth, upon which you will cast yourself on the mercies of the Earth’s courts, lightyears from our jurisdiction.”
“Oh, a 17-year hard labor camp?” Sparks said, with just a hint of sarcasm. “I thank the court for its merciful ruling.”
Moreno directed the MPs to take Sparks to the brig for holding until the American Spirit’s departure. Dek reached over and briefly hugged Sparks, but the cohort-mates exchanged no words. Sparks was led away, not knowing if she would ever see Dek again, or if her messy brown-haired co-conspirator would be the next, or perhaps the last, Chasm turncoat to executed by the vacuum of space.
“And now let’s pass judgement on Dek Tigona, admitted co-architect of Chasm’s plan to destroy Magellan. I will vote first. The depth of Mr. Tigona’s treachery and his complicit leadership in recruiting others to destroy our waypoint are unforgivable, and I declare all promises of amnesty null and void. I find Dek guilty. Governor Rillio?”
“I agree with you, Rita,” the governor said solemnly. “This man is unredeemable and his crimes are too great to allow him to live. Guilty.”
“Thank you for your vote,” Moreno said clinically. “North?”
Dek sat nervously. His eyes darted around the room, avoiding contact with North who sat on the elevated platform with the other two magistrates, and Amberly, who stood next to him among the accused. His choice to betray Chasm had been the right bet so far, especially with the arrival of the Magnus and the revelation of her true purpose.
But this was the moment of truth. Would he spend the next two decades of his life with Ambrely on the way back to Earth? Or was the hour much later?
Dek’s heart beat rapidly as his fate was in the hands of his failed rival. Would North condemn the man who stole his love?
“This man surrendered when he had the upper hand. He could have killed me, but instead he spared me upon the offer of amnesty. I believe that his amnesty is binding, and therefore I render a vote of not guilty.”
The crowd roared in anger. Clearly, they expected to see the airlock used for a second time today. Dek let out a long sigh, and was about to offer a celebratory smile, but considered the crowd and instead offered a humble bowed head.
“I thank the court for its mercy,” Dek said.
“So be it, North. Mr. Tigona is hereby sentenced to an exile of hard labor on the American Spirit,” Moreno said.
Amberly stood next to Dek. She was careful to show no emotion on the pronouncement of any of the sentences today. She would have to tell Dek the truth, that she didn’t love him — she certainly had no intention of leaving Magellan to go follow Dek to Earth in infamy, assuming this court didn’t exile her.
She used his feelings for her to save Magellan and to save North. She was a liar and a manipulator of men, just like her mother. Still, she admired Dek and appreciated many of his qualities, found him attractive and may have been infatuated with his intellect. But in final analysis, Dek was the author of so much pain and death, Amberly would never be able to forgive him. Nothing would ever be the same again; nothing would ever be right.
Kora had said that North was broken. But it wasn't just North. Amberly felt that everyone who survived was broken, and unlike the Magellan itself, the people weren't so easily repaired. This was as much Dek’s fault as anyone’s. Amberly did not have North’s capacity to forgive, to show compassion and love for his enemies.
“The MPs will restore order,” Moreno called out, and slowly the commotion from the crowd died down. “The will of this tribunal is absolute, and not even the will of the mob will change that. Let’s finish this unsavory task. Let justice be done, so we can move onto peaceful activities and pursuits.”
Moreno cleared her throat. “Amberly Macready, admitted to unintentionally providing critical aid to Chasm, including helping them steal a runabout, which caused critical damage to both the topside gardens and antimatter reactor. Because of her aid in the capture of the American Spirit, the prosecution has sought only exile in this case. Still, I want the record to be clear that only two votes are needed for an exile conviction. Gov. Rillio, how do you vote?”
“Amberly Macready is an upstanding citizen of Magellan and a patriot who clearly helped save Magellan, though she may have misstepped along the way. My position has always been that we should be awarding Ms. Macready a medal of honor, not prosecuting her — which is something I intend to do when I am restored to office by this time tomorrow.”
There was a sustained applause in the audience.
“Thank you, governor,” Moreno said. “I am just as anxious as you are to see civilian rule once again on Magellan. It can’t come too soon.”
Thor smiled at Amberly. She blushed at his praise and was glad to know that the governor understood her motivations in the end, how from the moment she knew Magellan was threatened, all she wanted was save her home.
Moreno continued. “I am prepared to render my vote. I am not sure that I am ready to build a statue of Amberly yet, but I also vote for acquittal. We all should be proud of Amberly, not condemning her. She helped us get critical information at risk to her own life that helped us expose an existential threat to our home. Amberly, I knew your father as well as most, and I can say with certainty that Alroy would be proud of you and honored that you carry on his name.”
The crowd burst into spontaneous applause again, and from the first few rows, Amberly heard Kora shouting, “That’s my sister!”
When the commotion died down again, Moreno continued. “I also wanted to offer my condolences on the passing of your mother. I know the Kimberly Macready
that you knew, before she left us, was someone you cherished and loved. She truly died that day when she left Magellan six years ago. I am also sorry that she didn’t receive proper justice, for both her sake and the sake of her victims, and that vigilantism prevailed. We excuse the actions of vigilantes because of the extraordinary circumstances, but that doesn’t make her execution good.”
The crowd was silent. Many assembled in that hangar took part in the spacing of Raven One, and some were indignant at the scolding, while others felt guilty now that cooler heads prevailed.
Moreno decided to try to change the mood. “With two votes for acquittal, Amberly will be exonerated,” she said, and the crowd responded with enthusiastic applause. “North, looks like your vote is academic.”
“If it’s all the same,” North said. “I’d like to go on the record with my vote.”
“By all means,” Moreno said, smiling broadly. “Declare your vote, and then let us dissolve this tribunal.”
North stood up from behind the table. “Before I do, I wanted to thank the people of Magellan. They have always been true, caring and good to me since I came here nearly 10 years ago. And I wanted to announce now, that I will be resigning from Magellan’s Marines. I’ve accepted a commission as the new executive officer and Marine commander aboard Magnus. I swear once we’ve buried the Araran rebels in the hot sands of New Mesopotamia, I will come back to Magellan, my true home.”
The Marines in the audience gave a “Ooh rah” salute at the surprising news. Amberly’s heart felt like it was going to explode. She was going to lose her friend, the great thing that was in front of her this whole time. She would have no time to un-break her relationship with North.
“Thank you for indulging my announcement, now to the business at hand,” North said, looking directly at Amberly for the first time in months. “The worst type of betrayal is that from those who you love the most. Amberly Macready is an unquestionably intelligent and gifted woman who should have known better than to make deals with the devils she didn’t know.”