Terra Dawning

by Ben Winston

  “I am told that the HRO cannot grant them clemency under the current laws of the Empire. Now that I am aware of this, I find I would feel guilty for their deaths if we didn't try to provide at least this much assistance.

  “Rest assured that I will abide the decisions of this Council since our safety is at risk, but I have to ask,” Ben finished.

  “Sub-Councilor Hines of Pod one-four-nine-three-nine would like to be heard,”

  Ben looked at that Screen and nodded.

  “Prime Council, forgive me, but, are you telling us that this Empire cannot differentiate between adults capable of doing these crimes, and children that had the poor luck to be present?”

  “Perhaps, you should ask that of Ms. Dee and Captain Coir once they arrive. But yes, that is the way I understand Imperial Law. I hope I'm incorrect and this will be a non-issue, but I don't think I am.” He snorted. “In fact, if I understood correctly, all of us are guilty as well, simply because we haven't surrendered them to the authorities.”

  Addson was the first to arrive since she had the shortest distance to travel. When she walked into the huge chamber, she looked a little intimidated. Surprisingly, she followed the tradition that Marcy had started. The Council welcomed her and thanked her for coming. Ben guided her to the 'Witness' chair before returning to his place in the center.

  “Miss Dee, again I would like to thank you for taking the time out of your day to come here. We find that we need some information regarding the HRO and Imperial Law. We understand you are not an expert in these topics, but you have more knowledge than we do, and we ask that you share that knowledge with us,” Ben said, trying to put the girl at ease.

  “I'll help however I can, Prime Councilor. But you are correct, I'm no expert on anything other than prospecting,” Addson replied.

  Ben nodded his understanding. “Can you tell us what you know of the HRO as an organization and Rangers as individuals?”

  She thought for a moment. “The HRO and the HRH on Hyclarion are the Imperial law enforcement agency. Entry requirements are pretty stringent, and only a select few are accepted at the academy which is on Hyclarion as well as the Ranger Headquarters.

  “By and large, Rangers are very even tempered, tolerant and - within their mandate - understanding. Within the laws of the Empire, they have tremendous power and the training to enforce it. They are not associated with the military, however, because one of the things they have to deal with at times are House militias, they are trained accordingly.

  “My parents always told me that if a Ranger ever asked a question of me, that I should answer it to the best of my knowledge and ability, no matter what the repercussions of that might be. I should mention, because of what Captain Coir told you, that killing a Ranger is probably one of the dumbest things anyone could do.

  “By reputation, Rangers are a clannish lot; killing one of them would be like someone killing your baby sister after violating them. A Ranger's death would bring, at the least, an Imperial Cruiser here and there would be Rangers and Imperial troops looking under every rock and behind every blade of grass,” Addson finished.

  “Councilor Yoshi would like to heard,” Mother intoned.

  Ben helpfully pointed to the appropriate monitor, so she could face him. When Yoshi bowed, the girl bowed in return, causing the man to beam a smile at her.

  “Miss Dee, could you tell us what you believe would happen if we were to turn the guilty people from the pirate group over to the Rangers? Would the Rangers believe what Elrond would tell them of us?”

  “You are hoping to make contact with the Empire through the Rangers?” Addson asked, proving her intelligence.

  “We are considering that, yes,” Yoshi replied.

  “I would not recommend it. While the Rangers are tolerant and understanding, the information would be treated as a tip on more criminals. At best, you would be guilty of not reporting your presence on this world to your Duke. Which would result in the HRO handing you over to Duke Tammerain for punishment.

  “At the worst, the HRO would decide you are guilty of piracy after the fact since you didn't come forward immediately with the information of the pirate's location. In that case, you would most likely be executed along with the pirates. I'm afraid that your claim to this planet would be ignored unless you had overwhelming proof. Even then, your claim would be tainted by your association with the pirates,” she finished.

  “Sub-Councilor Hines would like to be heard,” Mother intoned. Again Ben pointed for Addson who turned in her chair.

  “Thank you, for coming, Addson. From your testimony, do we then assume that the members of the pirates that are not actually guilty would be tried as well, regardless of age?” Hines asked.

  “That is an accurate assumption, yes. With the exclusion of very young babies that are too young to understand their actions and considering the crimes of those actually guilty, their punishment would include watching the execution of their families. I say this because of the destruction of the families that lived at Great Falls Aerie. One of the strongest tenets of the Imperial Justice system is for the guilty to suffer at least as much as their victims,” Addson replied, frowning. “I do not agree with it, but it does serve to limit the recurrence of crimes of this nature.”

  “Councilor Rodriguez of Pod one-two-three-three would like to be heard,” Mother intoned.

  After receiving permission from Ben, he asked. “Miss Dee, although you do not agree with it, do you think the dependents should be killed?”

  This time, before Addson could answer, Ben stood. “I object to the question. I'm sorry Councilor Rodriguez, it is our responsibility to make that decision, not Miss Dee's. She is here simply to provide information for us so we may make our decisions, not to render an opinion on them.”

  Rodriguez frowned but nodded acceptance of Ben's ruling. “My apologies, Miss Dee. I should not have spoken to you in such a manner.”

  Addson only nodded, but she had gone pale. “Miss Dee, thank you for coming. Would you please remain in my home until we are concluded? We may wish to recall you, if that's okay with you,” Ben asked. Leaving his seat, he escorted her to the door.

  She nodded. “Sure, thanks Ben.”

  “For what? Putting you in this position?”

  “No, for defending me,” she said. “You really are a good leader.”

  “I tend to disagree with you on that, but thank you for the compliment. Could you ask Captain Coir or his lady to join us? It's their turn in the hot-seat,” Ben asked.

  She nodded, kissed him on the cheek, bowed to the council and left. Ben took a deep breath and returned to his place.

  “My Brethren, please keep in mind we are not here to condemn these individuals. It is not our job to see these people brought to justice. They are here to offer information, just as Addson Dee was.

  “To this point, Captain Coir has been very helpful and forthcoming. He has answered every question put to him and has not attempted to evade or shirk his responsibility for his actions. I want you to remember that this man and his people have been backed into a very tight corner and forced to do this. Honestly, I don't know if I would have done anything different in his position. Please try to remember this when you are speaking to them.”

  “They could have simply run away, Prime. They always had that choice,” Councilor Rodriguez said, quietly.

  “No, they didn't. The Duke held their families hostage against their good behavior until they were in too deep to back out. Yes, they could have ran at that point, but ask yourself this; where would they be able to run too?

  “They had no proof that the Duke had been ordering them to do these things. So anywhere they went in the Empire, they would be nothing more than escaped indentured servants. They would have been arrested and punished for their crimes, or returned to the Duke for his justice; which would amount to the same thing, except the Duke would probably have eaten them alive.

  “You will never be able to convince me these people had
any other choice. No, I do not and will not say they didn't perform these atrocities. They did and they admit it. However, it amounted to a do or die situation.”

  “They still killed the entire population of the Great Falls Aerie, Prime. Would you have us absolve them of such a thing?” Councilor Hines asked.

  “I ask all of you this; in a murder trial, who's on trial? The murderer or the gun he used to kill with?” Ben asked.

  “Guns do not have the ability to decide right or wrong; they are a tool, nothing more. Whereas, your Captain Coir made the decision to do something he knew was wrong. It is not a valid comparison, Prime. A soldier has the obligation to protest obviously illegal orders, these pirates had the same obligation.”

  “Really?” Ben asked. “For the sake of argument, let's say I have a gun to Councilor Whitmore's head. I order her husband to kill Councilor Yoshi, or I will kill her. Who is he going to object to? If he outright refuses the order, I kill his wife and then him because he disobeyed. What do you think he would do?”

  “He could always complain to one of us.” Councilor Carlyle said grinning because she knew she was playing into his example.

  Ben nodded. “That sounds reasonable. However, who among you would honestly believe that I would do such a thing? Would you take the word of Councilor Yoshi over mine? Would you take the word of one of our people? Would you if you knew he was also a convicted felon?”

  Ben looked at the faces of the other Councilors. It looked like they were starting to get the picture. “Although far more complex, that is the situation Captain Coir and his people have found themselves in. They did what they could to stay alive and keep their loved ones alive. That is why I am asking you not to assume everything is as it seems, because it isn't.””

  While he had been speaking, Jorga had escorted Captain Coir into the chamber and they both had heard most of what Ben had said. His escort whispered something to him and he shook his head as if to clear it before bowing as was traditional.

  Ben looked at him and smiled in a friendly manner. “Welcome, Captain Elrond Coir of the privateer Bittertree.”

  Elrond looked a little shell shocked. “Uh, Prime Council, when it comes time for me to answer before the Imperial court, could I call on you to defend my people?”

  “From ye question, good Captain, does that mean ye wouldn't want yon Prime to speak to your defense as well?” Councilor Carlyle asked.

  “No, Councilor. Although I did what needed to be done to save my people, I still gave the orders. The responsibility for those deaths is on my head alone,” Elrond replied, once the translation had been made.

  “Be that as it may; we are not here to render that judgment today, Captain,” Ben said smiling kindly at the man. “We have a decision to make in regards to your people and we need more information.”

  “Forgive me, Prime, but if one of those decisions involves the deaths of my people, then that is exactly what you are deciding today,” Elrond replied. He wasn't belligerent or even challenging; he was simply stating a fact as he saw it. ““You told me that part of your original mission was to simply destroy our base and leave sufficient evidence as to imply we did it to ourselves.

  “In that way you would stop the search for us and in so doing, remove the risk of your own discovery. You would have been correct, it would have removed the threat of your imminent discovery, even though you will eventually be discovered.

  “However, you didn't find the nest of evil men you thought you would find. Instead, you found a group of humans huddled together for safety against a tyrant that forces them to perform atrocities simply to stay alive.

  “Now, you find that you are faced with a dilemma; kill a couple hundred innocent people to ensure your own freedom, or surrender us to the authorities and hope that our reports of you will go unheeded. Perhaps you are hoping that by turning us over, the Emperor will be more inclined to listen to your claim to this planet?

  He nodded. “I can well understand your dilemma and I'll offer what aide I can in order for you to make an informed decision. I can only hope that you will choose not to allow our loved ones to die beside us,” he finished.

  As usual Mother performed the introductions of the Councilors that had questions.

  “Councilor Yoshi wishes to speak.” Ben pointed to the appropriate monitor, helping Elrond face the person questioning him.

  “Thank you for helping us today, Captain.” Yoshi said bowing. “As I understand the issues before us; you have left out some important options available to us. We can simply relocate you and hope you remain undiscovered. Although that would seem very improbable at this point.

  “We could return you to your base and abandon this instillation. Which would pose some rather tricky logistical issues that we may not be able to solve. Thus still leaving some of us exposed to discovery.

  “Or, lastly, we could simply absorb you and your people and shelter you until such time as we are prepared to emerge from our exile. We understand that, by doing the last, we are also becoming accomplices after the fact, to any and all crimes you may have committed, even if we surrender you when we emerge, it would still have an effect on our claim.

  “We could also make it so those guilty parties among you turn yourselves in if we offer to shelter and keep your loved ones safe with us.”

  “Councilor Yoshi, May I interrupt you? I believe I have some information that we need to have before we continue,” Ben asked. Yoshi bowed his head in acceptance.

  Ben read some more on his screen before he sighed. “Councilors, as per the original mission parameters, I had Mother invade and interrogate the pirate base’s computer system. I also added a further objective to her after Captain Elrond and the others were taken, which was to discover any traces of the messages Duke Tammerain had sent to these people.

  “She has finished her initial analysis of the information she has gleaned. She has prepared a report for us. It is now available to us, but I would also like her to tell us her findings if you agree.” There were green indicators everywhere so Ben asked Mother to proceed.

  “Prime Council, Councilors, and Captain; the information and assumptions in the report are the result of information taken from the pirate base’s main computer system, the main computer systems of the armed freighter, Bittertree, and the armed freighter, Nistian Dew. Further information has been gathered and extrapolated from interviews with Captain Elrond Coir and his companions, as well as testimony given by Addson Dee of pod zero-zero-zero-one-alpha. Additional external research garnered more information via the Imperial Internet known as the Infonet.

  “I have discovered and have copied complete and intact messages from the Duke of Tammerain to Captain Coir, the Commander of the Bittertree and later as Commander of the group known simply as 'the pirates'. In these messages, he gives clear and detailed instruction as to the tasks required and makes references to harming other individuals, if the orders are not followed. Although he used an encrypted messaging system as well as voice maskers, I was able to retrieve copies of the original message dictated in his own voice. I would mention that the encrypted messaging and vocal masking system he is using is one developed for the United States Intelligence Services before The Fall.

  “In addition to exonerating Captain Coir and his people, this posed more questions, specifically; why would Duke Tammerain do this to his own holdings? Several possibilities present themselves; none of which are as yet definitive.

  "Possibility one; the Duke Cassius of Tammerain, who by all reports is perfectly healthy, has been told that he is dying and has begun the destruction of his holdings to leave little for the other Dukes to fight over. Such is the traditional way Dukes come to power among that race.

  “Possibility two: although close to the first - differing only in that the Duke has gone insane and believes he is dying. However, this option must be weighed against the fact that no other part of his routine has been affected by this 'illness'.

  “Possibility three; this remain
ing option is equally hard to prove but is also the most probable given the circumstances these actions have created. That the Duke of Tammerain is, in fact, setting the stage to over-throw the Emperor with a military strike at the Capitol of Hyperion Prime.

  “Given the current disposition of forces within the Empire and if the Duke could bring all of his troops to this planet; and had a large attack fleet hidden within a light-day of Hyperion Prime, he could accomplish the destruction of the Hyclarion Empire once and for all time,”” Mother finished. "I would point out that the window for this opportunity is beginning to close; every delay risks the discovery of the hypothetical hidden fleet."

  “We came to that conclusion too but, what of the Imperial fleets? Even if he managed to take the planet, they would simply return and retake the planet. Duke Cassius is a lot of things, but insane isn't one of them. Besides, why would he order us to kill a Ranger? That would bring more Rangers here resulting in the discovery of the troops he has already stationed here?”” Elrond asked.

  “Captain: once the attack on the Capitol begins, the Imperial fleets would never make it to hyperspace. The other Dukes will destroy them, one by one. That would also remove the bulk of the Imperial ground forces, which are in transport ships accompanying the fleets.

  “Logically, that would leave only one viable force in the Imperial arsenal that could oppose him or alter the outcome of his coup; the HRO. Given the almost legendary response when one of their own is killed, it would indeed bring a great number of the force to this planet. The very same planet where all of Duke Tammerain's troops are staging in preparation for the assault. If he has his orbital assault carriers in this system stuffed full of Marines, and rest assured, he does, then he could effectively decapitate the Empire within a week,” Mother said, reasonably. “Although it was thought to be a simple mistake made on the part of the Duke, as per Minister Bedouin's suggestion, it now appears as though the Duke had planned the death of a Ranger all along.”