Once again, Admiral Chang looked away from the prisoner. His own brother had been one of the assets that Rao spoke of. His brother had led the uprising that captured a Ch’Tauk warship. Driven mad from the deprivations of his forced slavery, Eddie Chang had died in a hail of plasma fire aboard the enemy ship. His body had been ejected into the Perigee star with the other dead. He had been granted full honors for his military service in the Terran Defense Force. Rao had continued to insist on blaming Lee for the death of the admiral’s brother. The information that those prisoners would likely have been sold for feed on a distant world seemed to have no bearing on the minister’s opinion.
“In the end, Mister Pearce, you could have been forgiven for your actions and even lauded as a hero if you had not committed the most heinous crime of all,” Rao said, rising to his feet and fixing his stare on the defiant Lee Pearce. “It was the final act of a deranged mind that made our decision for us. Our alliance is a fragile thing. The disruption of even a single element can destabilize the friends that we have made.”
A group of Vadne diplomats, led by a tall, brindle-furred male, bristled at the knowledge of what was to come. The group had arrived for the beginning of the trial and had been keeping to themselves for most of the events. In honor of the Alliance, they had been granted a special seating area with chairs built to accommodate their unique, catlike, forms. In contrast to the rest of the crowd, the Vadne were calmly watching the proceedings, not interfering with the ministry. One of their own, a female named Drachma, sat two seats to the right of Rao on the council, and had remained quiet, not asking questions or showing her preferences in any way that could be seen.
“I speak, of course, of the murder of one of our own valiant captains,” Banu said. “A man who offered you his friendship and was rewarded for his loyalty with death.”
At this, Lee Pearce finally slumped back into his seat. The chains that bound his arms to the legs of the chair went slack and crashed into the steel frame. His head fell for the first time during the session; he looked ready to give in. The Vadne delegation sat immobile, only the tall brindle showing any agitation at the retelling of the murder. He seemed to look away for only a moment as his crest rose slightly.
“Captain Farthing was your second in command while you were still an honorable man,” Rao recalled. “When sent to recover the battleship Resolute, Captain Farthing proved his mettle in engagement after engagement during the battles to retake the colonies. He would only rest after he found you, fighting to get away from the Ch’Tauk that you were trying to do business with.”
There was another swell from the crowd as Rao said the last. Testimony had been given by several officers that Pearce was only trading with the enemy to discover the location of his lost love. Rao felt a tinge of fear as the gallery came to its feet. He raised his hands to calm the crowd. Failing in this, he retrieved the gavel again and rapped the block. It took longer than he wanted to gain control, but the crowd finally died down.
“My apologies,” Rao said, sitting back in his seat. ‘I know we have heard conflicting reports of what actually happened at Kaya. In any case, the death of the captain of Resolute is the matter at hand. When he came to you to offer his support in your trial, you murdered the man in cold blood. It is for this crime that we are placing a sentence upon you.”
Two guards entered the chamber and stood to either side of Lee Pearce. At a signal from Rao, each of the guards deactivated one of the chains. Their magnetic locks released and the chains fell away from the chair. The guards reached under Lee’s arms and lifted him from the seat. He did not resist the forcible handling, lost in the past as he was.
“Lee Pearce,” Banu Rao said, standing again and motioning for the others to stand as well. “You are hereby sentenced to the only punishment that we can afford to hand out. For the crime of murder, there can be only the punishment of death. You will be put to death by lethal injection. This is the only mercy this court can offer you. Your body will be placed in stasis for a period of twenty-four hours in honor of the service you have provided to the Alliance. After that period, your stasis pod will be carried out of the orbit of Perigee and inwards towards the star. I pray that whatever gods you hold dear have mercy on your soul. That is the judgment of this ministry. This trial is dismissed.”
As the crowd roared to life, the ministers quickly left the chamber. Lee was still being held up by the guards as they left. He did not lift his head to see them go. After a few moments, the guards began to move Lee away from the center of the room. The two men held his wrists together and reactivated the magnetic locks on his manacles. Lee did not resist as the guards moved him past the protesting crowd. As he passed the Vadne delegation, he suddenly stood firm. The guards, startled by the prisoner coming to life, stumbled to a halt.
Lee turned his head and looked at the delegation. The big felinoids continued to look impassively at the man. He looked at the brindle male for a moment and then stepped closer. The guards tried to pull him back from the movement, but Lee twisted away from their grasp.
“I’m sorry,” Lee said to the alien. “Farthing was my friend and I didn’t mean to start all of this.”
The big Vadne did not move. He did not respond to the gesture in any way. Lee’s guards pulled him back into line and through the door. As the doors slid shut on Lee Pearce, the Vadne representatives finally stood and looked about the room. The brindle cat moved quickly despite his size. The rest of the delegation stayed behind as their apparent leader moved to confront Admiral Chang.
“Admiral…” The whispered voice of the brindle alien startled Chang from his depression. “We must talk.”
The admiral stood and turned to face the alien. He could smell an unusual scent from the delegate and wondered what the man was giving away to his own people. He hoped it wasn’t anger at the actions of either Lee or himself.
“Yes, Ambassador. We must discuss the ramifications of this decision on the Alliance,” the admiral replied. “Now that this is nearly over, our plans can finally proceed.”
“Indeed, but that is not what I meant and you know it,” the Vadne delegate replied. “We stand ready to assist you when you call.”
Chang looked into the brindle’s dark eyes. He could see that the alien’s crest had risen slightly from agitation; a thick white stripe of fur could be seen. Chang knew that each of the creatures was unique in color, their striping and coloration different even between twins and family members. The white stripe seemed innocuous to most people, but in the admiral it seemed to strike fear.
“We have to get out of here,” Chang replied. “I will meet you at 1800 in the gardens. Until then, stay in your vessel or away from any of the office areas.”
“Understood, Admiral,” the Vadne replied in an uncharacteristic military cadence. “I’ll maintain silence until I hear from you.”
“And, Ambassador,” Chang said, flicking an index finger at the risen crest. “Calm down. Everything is going according to plan.”
2
The courier ship that sped beyond the orbit of the Perigee asteroid belt was small and agile. It was meant for only a single pilot and an extensive propulsion and shield system. It had a small cargo area that was normally filled with food and equipment for the pilot. Now, however, it contained a metallic canister which hummed with an enclosed energy source. The pilot had been told what he was carrying and given a choice of passing on the mission, but he chose to take it. He wanted this to be done right, and only once.
The canister was sitting on a pair of rails which led to the rear hatch. The pilot’s cabin had been sealed away from the cargo area for this mission. The cargo area would be exposed to the vacuum of space for only a few seconds, but it would be enough. Even with the bulky vacuum suit and helmet, the radiation from Perigee’s temperamental star was capable of roasting him without special shields.
The ship bobbed between two large asteroids and burst into open space. Between Perigee and the star it orbited were two pl
anets. One was a frozen ball of dirty methane ice which erupted as its own satellite orbited close and fast. The other was a molten rock that twisted as it orbited the star. The Confederate cartographers decided to call the planets Hawk and Dove, although no one really ever called them that. They were mostly just in the way of the pilot as he raced in-system.
Dove, the frozen world, possessed an eccentric orbit that passed into the inner orbital ring of the planet. Eruptions of methane and alkali water spurted from its surface as the pilot sped past. The planet would lose nearly ten percent of its mass as it passed inside the orbit of Perigee, before collecting its ejecta and returning to the cold ocean of space. The pilot rode the wake of the odd world for a few minutes before splitting off and heading inward again. The tiny methane impacts on the shields created a greenish blue haze around the ship as he moved away. It would be a fitting tribute to the cargo he carried.
Hawk was not yet at an angle that the pilot needed to avoid it. He scanned the boiling surface anyway for the sake of science. Nothing but liquid metals and boiling elements on the planet. An interesting anomaly that it did not break up. But, seeing nothing more, he closed the scanner, increased the shields, and sped on closer to the star.
Communications Officer Kama Yu’s voice rattled in his ears as Perigee called over the headset. “Activate the recorder, Green. Minister Rao and the admiral are standing by to receive.”
“Activating the feed, Kama,” Merlin replied. “Video link established. There’s a whole lot of nothing out here right now.”
“Acknowledged, Danny, but we still need to record this. Audio interface on. You’re on speakers now, Merlin.”
“Roger, Perigee station,” replied the pilot. “We are vectoring for insertion point. Time to arrival is … thirty seconds … mark.”
“Thirty seconds, aye. Video feed is strong. Are you getting any solar interference?” Kama asked.
“Negative, Perigee. The reads are low and flares are quiet for once,” responded Merlin. The screen automatically compensated for the brighter glare of the nearby star. From this distance, the gas ball looked like an orange arc taking up half the screen. Merlin saw his shields glowing under the impact of micro-particles being ejected from the sun. “I am starting to pick up those solar sprites on the other side. I can relay telemetry back to the eggheads to study.”
“Roger, Merlin,” Kama replied. “Receiving telemetry on sprites. This should keep them interested for a while.”
The solar sprites were another anomaly of the Perigee system. Discovered by the original colonists, the strange eruptions of electrical energy along the surface of the star were interesting but harmless. Like a bolt of lightning being flung away from the corona, the sprite would dissipate a few hundred kilometers from the surface of the sun. The pattern was found to be indicative of the magnetic fields of the star and was of scientific interest, but not much else.
Merlin looked at the patterns for a few moments before throttling the engines back. The magnetic drive system of the courier was capable of withstanding the strange energies of a star for quite a while, but the closer he got the more turbulence he began to experience. His insertion point for solar orbit would take him just outside the tolerance of the shields before he delivered his cargo. He checked the scanners for any ejecta that might interfere with his mission.
“Perigee,” Merlin began. “Orbital insertion point is clear. I will be entering the outer corona for a few moments during delivery. Telemetry is active, but you will lose video and audio.”
“Acknowledged, Merlin. I show your insertion vector is true. You should be ready in less than a minute.”
“I would like to make a request, Commander,” Merlin said. The request was not part of procedure of his mission, but it felt like the right thing to do. “I believe taps would be appropriate for this situation, don’t you? He deserves at least that.”
There was a long pause while the people on the other end discussed the request. Merlin had lost far too many of his wing-mates over the years, including the man whose name he took as his call sign. It was rare that he was able to say goodbye in this way.
“Request granted, Merlin,” Admiral Chang’s voice crackled over the audio feed. The sound of the man startled the pilot. He hadn’t expected anyone but Kama Yu over the network. “Thanks for reminding us.”
The slow sounds of the ancient funeral dirge began to echo from the speaker. Merlin continued to tap the keys on his panel, adjusting for minor variations in the magnetic field of the star. He hated the situation, but wouldn’t trade the duty for any other. Lee Pearce was his friend and commander. If anyone deserved a proper send-off, it was him.
Merlin counted down. “Losing signal in three … two … one…” As the sound of the music died out, he quickly tapped the controls for the cargo door. The thick shield that separated him from the cargo compartment began to warm behind him. He depressurized the hold and opened the hatch at the rear of the ship. Stray radiation was bombarding the compartment and causing the reaction in the composite metal. He shunted more power to the energy shields and felt the metal begin to cool again. His hand paused over the final button.
“Goodbye, sir,” Merlin said quietly. “Until we fly again.”
He pressed the button and released the stasis pod from the hold.
Lee felt warm. The sensation elicited primal memories of the womb. He was floating in a thick liquid that pushed back gently as he tried to move his arms. He took a deep breath of stale, metallic air. As the sensations of life returned, he tried to open his eyes. The sedative Doctor Reeves had given him left him groggy and unsure of his recent history. Lee thought he saw the man’s eyes as he slowly faded from consciousness. The tall man looked sad and Lee could not remember why.
A thought entered his thick mind from the nothing he was floating in. He did not know why he was floating in a liquid. The thought almost made him smile as he asked himself if it had been Reeves who was swimming and he who had been perfectly dry in his cabin on Resolute. Maybe the whole thing was a dream and he was actually back on Terran Princess the day before he had met Alice. Of course, if he hadn’t met Alice yet, then how did he know what day it was?
A single light entered his thoughts. The light was not very consistent and kept floating away from him in the liquid. It took a long time to realize that it was he who was floating away and the light which stood still. Reaching his arms out, he tried to brace himself. There was a hard shell surrounding his body, containing his warm world. He pushed slightly and brought the light back into focus by twisting his body.
With a strange realization, he understood that his eyes were already open. They had been open all along, but there had not been anything to see. Now there was the light. It blinked at him. The light was amber and turned itself on and off in a regular pattern. To his mind, it looked friendly. He tried to open his mouth to talk to the light, but failed. His mouth seemed to have something over it that kept him from speaking. When he reached up to feel his face, he began to rotate in the womb again and had to brace to keep from spinning.
The light continued to blink, and now Lee thought it might be taunting him. Anger rose in him, heating the surrounding amniotic fluid. He did not like the light anymore and wanted it to go away. Perhaps if he called Alice, she would make it disappear. In one mad rush, he remembered that Alice was dead. The rage he had been feeling bubbled up around him, heating the fluid even more. He began to hate the blinking light, blaming the amber bully for the death of the woman he loved. In one startling blink, however, the light fought back. It changed from amber to angry red. Lee tried to scream at the red light. He wanted to curse it and beat it with his fists, but was afraid to start tumbling again.
Something in his mind registered that the liquid he was floating in should not have been warming up. His skin began to tingle as the fluid became hot. He remembered that the capsule — it was a capsule he was in — should be keeping the temperature at his resting body temperature. If it was warming
, then something must be wrong. The red light ceased blinking at him and stayed a deep crimson. It was now trying to tell him something about why the liquid was hot.
He’d awoken that morning in his room. At least, that was how he remembered it. His room was very small and had only a bed and a toilet, but it was his room. He had showered, but had not shaved for some reason. The thought of shaving had amused him at the time. He dressed in something comfortable and waited for the capsule to take him somewhere. He realized he was naked. He knew this because his skin was hot all over and there was no pressure where clothing should have been brushing against him.
He tried to take stock of the situation. He was naked and hot, floating in a thick liquid that was getting warmer by the second. He could not open his mouth, but could breathe. There was a red light staring at him from somewhere. He wondered if he was in hell.
An explosion of pain lanced through his head as the capsule bucked around him. He had struck the metal walls of the capsule hard. The red light spun around him as he tumbled in the hot liquid. His body began slamming into the side of the capsule, hard. He wondered if hell had a sickbay where he could get his body fixed after the ride. Another jolt sent him into the side again. This time he lost consciousness for a moment. He thought he had gone blind as he opened his eyes into total darkness. The heat was becoming unbearable, and he wondered if he was about to be boiled as punishment, when it all came back to him.
He had been sentenced to death for the killing of his friend. Admiral Chang had said a pilot’s prayer with him before the doctor injected him with a sedative and laid him in the stasis pod. He had hoped he would see Alice again when he died. He’d hoped it would be his last thought as he drifted off to death.
Resolute Victory (The War for Terra) Page 2