Guardian Stone 2: Stone and the T-Raptors
Page 12
The ruling Council has ordered the death penalty for Brondin and almost everyone else we found in his headquarters the day you put a stop to all this.
Maudie has sent a copy of this report and supporting documentation to Station One.
An interesting side note is that we can find no mythological or religious references in their culture and that may account for the hedonistic bias apparent in this society. It may also account for why someone like Brondin was able to assume the position he took. That is one for the social scientists."
"I have a number of recommendations that I would like to make. These are:
Dismiss the current ruling council and call for new elections in two months that are monitored by units of this fleet. Require term limits to avoid their tendency to lean in the direction of dictatorships.
Put those death penalties aside and have new trials after a new council is formed, but have the trials performed by a separate judicial body with jury. I do not believe that the penalties are necessarily wrong but they appear to have been kangaroo courts and a rush to judgment that need to be reconsidered so that any decision is fully supported and documented. Some of those tried do not warrant a death penalty.
Monitor progress on the planet to determine when they are ready to return to space. I believe that this will take considerable time since the people here appear to have little in the way of any kind of ethical or moral standards.
Deny access to space for a minimum of 100 years. The planetary resources are rich and the planet is capable of self-support for a very extended period so quarantine will not harm the population and may in fact be beneficial. The access decision should be subject to review every 25 years.
Design an 'upgrade' program to expose the population to those elements missing in their experience particularly moral and ethical priorities as well as basic civics. They are somewhat like cavemen that have a technology that they are not sufficiently mature enough to use wisely and ethically.
Reduce our presence here from 1-Type 1 Station and 6-Type 2 Stations to 1-Type 1 Station and 2-Type 2 Stations. Review this in one year to consider posting a single Type 1 Station or two Type 2 Stations.
Offer training to selected persons about the planet to encourage appropriate leadership.
Interview Brondin and each of his staff to obtain a more complete picture with those sitting on the current council and determine if the 'rush to judgment' concern is valid."
"That is what I believe should happen. I have delayed the execution of those convicted because the trials were suspicious to me. It was almost as though the ruling council was trying to brush the whole thing under the rug. I think those interviews are important and should be conducted by our T-Raptor teams. You may want to do the interviews first."
Hank said, "Nicely done Sean and Maudie. I fully agree with all of your recommendations. I also agree with your assessment of the need for an interview. Do either of you have a problem with our conducting those interviews here on Station 16? I am thinking that Brondin on Station may find the experience disconcerting enough to open up a bit."
"That is a good idea. Lets set up a table out near one of the lodges and chairs for all involved. He will not suspect that you are not physically here."
"OK lets do this", and they all transported to a large table near the lodge. A moment later, a startled Brondin showed up standing next to a chair at the table. Hank addressed him saying, "Artus Brondin, please be seated." When he had done so, Hank continued, "Brondin, we are going to be very candid with you today and tell you things that we need not share with you. First, are you aware that the Ruling Council of Arber has delivered a death penalty for you and all of your associates?"
His look of surprise basically answered the question.
"We have not allowed them to carry out this sentence yet and will likely order them to hold a new and more public trial that I have little doubt will have the same result. If that trial is fairly conducted, we will not interfere. Essentially the outcome is unlikely to change. We are nevertheless somewhat curious. The trial was that in name only. I would like to know what you have to say about the whole matter. Were you advised that a trial was underway? Was a defense provided? Did you enter a plea before the court? I think you probably deserve whatever you get but I would like to know if there are persons in your following who deserve a different fate and why. Understand that you can't lie to us expecting that we would not know. We can spot any deception you may pose. Sometime today we will be disbanding the Ruling Council. My first question for you is, will you cooperate with this inquiry?"
"I was not aware that a trial had been conducted or that a verdict had been delivered. I have not entered a plea nor been offered an opportunity to defend myself, but frankly, my guilt is a foregone conclusion. I am pragmatic enough to know the outcome is obvious. I see no particular advantage to dragging this on forever. I will be happy to answer your questions with one condition. Answering your questions does not matter to me, I am a dead man anyway, but I would prefer that my demise not be a prolonged and painful affair. That is my only condition."
"I cannot tell you how long they will take to execute you but I can tell you that you will not feel pain. That is the only assurance I can give you. So what would you wish to say to us?"
"Very well, that is a reasonable statement. You should know that my father's descendants will be interested in what has happened to me. I do not see them coming for me in time to change my current predicament, particularly since they do not know exactly where I am, but eventually they will come. The High Command of the Yannarian Hegemony does not take kindly to termination of its children and my father was the High Councilor when I left. His son is likely in control by now. But that will be another day. The Hegemony is a long way from here and I came in stasis but when they find you, they will wish to avenge me. You will not be able to withstand the resources of the 13 systems in the Hegemony and their Starkiller weapons."
"Just how far away is this Yannar from here and what is to stop us from destroying them before they can harm us."
Brondin laughed and said, "you will never get past our Orbital Station. You would be decimated before you could even get close to Yannar."
Barana said to Hank for the groups hearing only,
Hank went on without a blink and said to Brondin. "Do you mean Orbital Station Acar. The one that is in an opposing orbit to Yannar's moon, Lema?"
Brondin's reaction was immediate and profound. Hank thought Brondin was going to faint.
Brondin gasped and said, "How do you know of this, are you reading my mind? But that is not possible. What are you?"
"No, I am not reading your mind. If you will remember, we are here to ask you questions not to answer yours. So to change the subject, were any members of the Ruling Council who have passed sentence on you involved in your activities and if so who were they and what was their involvement?"
Still shaken, Brondin replied, "I suppose you know this already. Leader First, Jons Parr and Leader Third, Bwil Ferden have been associated with me since almost the beginning. I never found leverage to bring in Leader Second, Bord Frast but it did not matter. The other two were able to keep him in line and besides they could always outvote him or terminate him in an 'accident'. They did exactly what I told them to do. Parr and Farden also had senior staff to do the dirty work. I do not recall their names but I suppose a little close scrutiny of the two participants will tell you what you want to know. It was a convenient ploy for me to use because without my allowing them to perform as they did, they had no real power. Also records of their activities were kept in a vault at our moon base under the name of Fran Zeo
ale. These records are not encrypted and there are no copies located on Arber. I did not have any other accomplices other than those in my command operation since the use of the symbiote was all I needed."
Barana again said to Hank for the groups hearing only,
Hank then said, almost as though thinking out loud, "let me see, hmm, Yannar, isn't that the system about 4,400 light years past Arber on a line from Gar to Arber?"
Brondin turned pale and whispered, "How,….?"
"Brondin, I think we have taken up enough of your time today. I will keep my promise to you about the pain. Barana, please return Brondin to his cell." Hank then disbanded the rapport and said, "well that was interesting and unexpected. Barana, clearly you have put a few things together and can tell us more."
"I agree. It sounds like we may have stepped into something here so we need to get a grip on it sooner rather than later. How long do you need to set this up?"
"That works for me." He then addressed Sean O'Connor, "Sean, Have your people arrest First and Third Leaders. The charge is complicity in the recent events. Get a crew to the moon to secure those records and to start review of them. Arrest any additional persons indicated by those records. Also set up a meeting with Second Leader, Bard Frast when it is convenient for you. It is important that we know if he is implicated in any of this as soon as possible, and the same for his staff. If you would, see if you can put together some kind of profile on him and his staff. What I have in mind is for Frast to set up an interim government. You will need to watch him like a hawk. Have Maudie tag him with a communication device that he does not know about and keep him under surveillance. He is not going to have any privacy for a while. We need his experience, but if he plays loose with anything, he is going to join his compatriots in a cell. See you in a half hour. Also I am going to leave it to you to interview others on Brondin's staff. That should be pretty enlightening."
Sean said, "I am looking forward to this. We will also conduct a refined scan on the system to see if that turns up any more records."
Chapter 18: Time to Act
On Orbital Station Acar in Yannar Orbit –
November 18 – C Day 445
Acarma had a dilemma. The High Councilor was building another Starkiller and its target was obviously Petra. Petra was about 100 light years away from Yannar. The high council was impatient about its progress in that system. In fact the Petrans appeared to be winning. The High Councilor had ordered the building of a Starkiller to remove the Petran thorn-in-the-side. The idea of killing an entire civilization because they do not agree with the political and ruling system you want to impose was the worst kind of arrogance and had to somehow be stopped. It appeared as though it was time to put the plan for an overthrow in motion. Acarma was worried that the necessary resources would be sufficient. The present station Commandant was her best chance for a successful operation, so it was time to start moving things along. She sent what appeared to be a routine medical check-up message to General Wil Barth requiring him to meet his transport carrier in 30 minutes. When the transport started moving she teleported him to her med center and said,
The restraint released and he was able to move. He said, "what was that all about, where am I, how did I get here and to whom am I speaking?"
"My God, all those people, almost a billion, I thought Starkiller was a work of fiction. A scare tactic."
"Hm, I was led to believe that was a natural event but you are absolutely correct, how can I help. You really should bring in Commandant Pell Cassarn, he will feel as I do about this."
ou are where you are not. This will give you a free hand. Do you expect difficulties with any of your officers or enlisted.>
"Actually no. There are a couple that I will find excuses to leave behind or reassign, but I believe we will not be troubled."
Chapter 19: Earth Upgrade Progress
On Station 19 in Earth orbit – November 18 – C Day 445