Article 23

by William R. Forstchen

  "Mr. Bell, this is an informal inquiry to gather certain facts before proceeding," MacKenzie announced, his back still turned. "You are expected to answer truthfully. I hope they still teach honesty at your Academy."

  "Yes, sir, that is part of the code of honor," Justin replied, trying to keep any hint of sarcasm out of his voice.

  "Funny, it didn't seem to take with Everett and his fellow conspirators."

  Justin looked around the room and noticed Colson sitting in the far corner. If he was being asked to give evidence, even for an informal inquiry, why was Colson allowed to be present?

  Something was terribly wrong and then he realized that no vid was hooked up to record the testimony. Also, he had not been asked to swear an oath, nor had the actual purpose of the inquiry been formally stated. He remembered these requirements from his Procedures and Customs of the Fleet class; their instructor had been very specific about how such things worked.

  MacKenzie turned and looked at Justin.

  "You know your friend is a traitor, don't you?"

  "Sir, he made nothing of the kind known to me."

  "I doubt that," Colson announced.

  MacKenzie turned and stared at Colson, who visibly wilted.

  "Mr. Colson, I am a good judge of character and Mr. Bell here has been truthful with me in the past. I saw that in his eyes. His father served well and blood will tell Mr. Colson, blood will tell"

  Justin wondered if there was some sort of veiled rebuke in MacKenzies comment, for Colson lowered his eyes.

  "Now, let us continue."

  Justin wanted to voice a protest but the look in MacKenzie's eyes stilled him. There was a grim purpose and he suddenly wondered if he protested would he wind up getting arrested as well? Already two of the cadets who had been so vocal with their opinion after Mart's arrest had not returned after being called forward to meet with the Captain. He was on relatively safe ground because of MacKenzie's strange internal reasoning, and he didn't want to damage MacKenzie's trust. There was no chance of helping Matt and the others if he was locked up along with them.

  Justin stood silent. He looked at Zhing, who was staring straight ahead, as was the first pilot For a brief instant he caught the gaze of Maria Hemenez. There was a look of warning in her eyes.

  "Mr. Bell, I have so far found you to be a reasonably trustworthy cadet, so don't disappoint me," MacKenzie began. Justin looked up at MacKenzie, who had drawn closer.

  Justin remained silent. As he looked at MacKenzie his heart started to beat faster. The room seemed uncomfortably warm, and he felt a cold sweat breaking out, the clammy feeling made worse by the clinging bulk of the anti-rad suit. It was becoming increasingly intolerable and he wondered if everyone else was feeling the same way. Could the darn suits be one of the factors helping to drive this along he wondered.

  Though he wished he could blame his reaction on the suit he knew that it was fear that was hitting him and he was glad that the only visible part of his body was his face, otherwise the fact that his knees were shaking might be noticeable.

  "Mr. Bell, nine cadets are now under arrest. I do hope that the list stops there. Do you understand me, Mr. Bell?"

  Justin nodded, unable to speak.

  "Captain, can I ask something?"

  MacKenzie barely turned to look at Hemenez, who had spoken.

  "Sir, are we holding an inquiry regarding the allegations surrounding last nights incident or are we interrogating this cadet as a possible suspect?"

  MacKenzie's gaze shifted from Justin and he breathed an inner sigh of relief.

  "lieutenant Hemenez, are you a pilot or a ship's lawyer?"

  "Sir, it's just that Fleet Proceedings makes it very clear how inquires aboard an active duty ship are to be held. If Mr. Bell faces arrest he should be informed of that before being questioned and he is entitled to representation by an officer serving as his advisor."

  'Your opinion is noted," MacKenzie said coldly, "and will be remembered."

  He looked at the other two officers.

  "Any other objections? Lieutenant Lewis? Doctor Zhing?"

  Zhing looked as if he were about to speak, but then lowered his head. Lewis said nothing.

  "This is an informal discussion," MacKenzie announced smoothly. "I have learned to have confidence in Mr. Bell here. I just wish to ask him some questions or is that no longer the right of a Captain, Lieutenant Hemenez? Have the bureaucrats at headquarters taken even that away from me?"

  He spat out the last words with a cold anger that surprised Justin.

  Hemenez struggled to hold his gaze.

  "Sir. Is the presence of another cadet," and she nodded towards Colson, "appropriate?"

  "He is here as a representative of the cadet unit by my invitation or am I not allowed to even do that?"

  Hemenez said nothing.

  "Fine, then, let's continue, Mr. Bell."

  Attention focused back on Justin and he struggled to calm his nerves, realizing that whatever he said, he'd have to do it truthfully but carefully as well.

  "Mr. Bell, you are a friend of Everett and Smith?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "For how long?"

  "We met the first day at the Academy. We were in the same platoon during scrub summer. Cadet Everett and I have been roommates since joining."

  "I see. I understand that Everett is given to, how I shall I say this, to telling tales."

  "Sir. Matt is a solar sailor. As I understand it, tall-tale-telling is a tradition with them."

  "Just yes or no, Mr. Bell, is sufficient. We in the Fleet are quite familiar with some of the more questionable traditions of these sailors."

  Lewis smiled and nodded his head when Mac-Kenzie turned back to look at him.

  "Have you ever heard Everett utter traitorous comments?"

  "No, sir," Justin replied forcefully. He knew that was going to be a question MacKenzie would throw at him. Looking back on the months they had been together, their discussions had ranged over nearly every topic imaginable. A large part of it had been about girls, but there had also been school, classes, comparing their lives in Indiana and in the for reaches of the asteroid belt, and how to lasso and catch a comet so it could be mined for water. And a fair amount of time as well about the separatists. As a freewheeling solar sailor Matt had grown up in a tradition that emphasized individualism, stoicism and mistrust of any large center of civilization. Anyone living "down sun," towards the inner worlds, was viewed with suspicion, especially when it came to laws, taxes, and the myriad of regulations. Of course, he had expressed an understanding of the separatists, but if Justin ever admitted that to MacKenzie, it would only be twisted and distorted.

  "That's not true."

  Surprised, Justin looked over at Colson, who had interrupted him.

  "Sir, this is highly irregular," Hemenez interjected. "Mr. Bell at least has the right to discuss this situation without another cadet present."

  MacKenzie started to make an angry retort, then stopped. "All right, Wendell, why don't you go aft."

  Colson smiled, then stood and left the room.

  Wendell the Captain had addressed him by his first name. The realization was disturbing. So Wendell was now the good boy the Captain had said was so rare. Justin wondered if he himself was about to fall from grace and be arrested.

  "Cadet Colson accuses you of lying, Mr. Bell. Do you have a response?"

  Justin could see a look of warning in Hemenez's eyes. To counter that Colson was a lying toady wasn't going to help either his situation or Mart's.

  "Sir. I can not speak for any encounters between Cadets Everett and Colson when I was not present. The Matthew Everett I know is loyal, courageous and forthright. We won the lifesaving award together just before the end of scrub summer. In actuality it should have been Cadet Everett alone who won it, sir."

  "We're not questioning Everett's courage here," MacKenzie replied. "Only his loyalty and integrity."

  "Sir, Cadet Matthew Everett has never uttered
a traitorous comment to me."

  "And Cadet Madison Smith?"

  "No, sir."

  MacKenzie nodded.

  "Cadets tend to be loyal to each other," MacKenzie said quietly. "Your Academy works to instill that, even if it is carried to an extreme. There is this ill-founded tradition of not telling on a comrade, no matter how terrible their fault. I'll ascribe your response to a naive purity in you, Bell. Either that or a foolishness that renders you immune to the darker nature that lurks in most souls."

  Justin said nothing.

  "You were present when I placed Everett and Smith under arrest."

  "Yes, sir."

  "You were wide awake."

  "Yes, sir, I was studying when you came into the room, reading the book you assigned to me."

  "You saw Everett hit me?" MacKenzie asked slowly.

  "Sir. It was an accident."

  "Did you, or did you not see Everett hit me?"

  Justin could feel the sweat breaking out on his brow.

  "Sir. Cadet Everett was having a bad dream just before you came in. He wasn't awake, sir, when he banged into you."

  Justin wanted to add that MacKenzie had grabbed Matt first, violently dragging him out of his sleeping net.

  " 'Banged into me'? With what?"

  "His arm, sir."

  "You mean a clenched fist."

  "His arm, sir."

  "I know what a fist feels like when it hits me, Bell. Are you contradicting me?"

  "No, sir," Justin said quietly. "It was confusing; the room is very small, sir and the lights were turned down."

  "And your view was partially blocked by Everett. I know what I saw and felt, Bell."

  Hemenez, sitting behind MacKenzie shook her head.

  Justin was silent.

  "You are dismissed, Bell."

  "Sir, may I ask a question, sir?"

  Annoyed, MacKenzie merely nodded.

  "Sir. Exactly what is going on here, sir? Is this a trial?'

  "That is not your concern, Bell. You are dismissed."

  "It is a legitimate question, sir," Hemenez added.

  "We are under emergency conditions as outlined by Fleet Regulations," MacKenzie snarled. "One of the last transmissions before we were cut off announced that all ships of the Fleet were about to be placed on formal alert. As captain of this ship in such status I have declared a full military alert for this vessel and shall act accordingly. Do I make myself clear, Bell?"

  "Yes, sir." Justin wasn't quite sure of the implications of what MacKenzie said but sensed it was best not to push any further.

  He saluted, then turned and left the room and headed aft.

  He ignored the inquiring stares as he went through the lounge and made it a point to avoid the knot of cadets gathered around Colson.

  "Hey, Bell, I need you in here."

  Sighing, Justin looked up and saw O'Brian in the doorway of the galley. Tanya was at one of the counters unpacking a carton of freeze-dried meals.

  O'Brian slid the door shut and Tanya came over.

  "What happened in there?" she asked. "He only grilled me for a couple of minutes and I was out. You were in there more than half an hour."

  Justin sighed and shook his head. "I'm not sure what the hell is going on here any more. This whole thing is like a bad dream."

  He stopped and looked over at O'Brian.

  "Hey, O'Brian a straight answer?"

  "Yeah, sure. Go ahead."

  "Is this some sort of test? You know, a game of some kind. A simulation to see how we'd act."

  "Yeah," Tanya interjected, "because if so, it's gone far enough."

  "I only wish," O'Brian replied. "Look, I've been on this bucket for four years now, all of it with Mad MacKenzie. And let me tell you, he's been slipping a gasket the whole time I've been aboard.

  "He wasn't too far gone at first. Long runs, though, resupply all the way out to Saturn, one trip of fourteen months. He'd sit up there, reading them old books, talking to himself. But whenever we'd get near Mars, he'd start climbing the wall."

  "How come?" Tanya asked.

  "His wife. She's a big leader with the separatists. Apparently she said some things about him that weren't too nice. Heard how just before I came on board he went over to the base at Deimos. Got in a terrible row with some prospectors who laughed at him. Well, it put a black mark in his folder, picking a fight with a civilian. That was the kiss of death for his career; that's why he's never gotten off this bucket and been kicked upstairs to a commodore's slot before retiring. Been a captain now for twenty years."

  "You'd think they would have transferred him down to a desk job on Earth or the Moon," Justin said.

  "Yeah, none of us could figure it. Well, he has old Doc Zhing under his thumb. Zhing is scared to death of him, so scared he'd never file a bad Fit-Rep for fear that MacKenzie would find out. His pilots, they just stay for the usual one or two tours then move up. Remember that piloting an old ship like this is a beginner's slot. People like young Hemenez, they do their stint and move on to heavier stuff. A negative report from a co-pilot on her first tour usually doesn't carry much weight. If they dare to say he's crazier than a March Hare, well, someone higher up might think it was the pilot who's nuts and not the captain, and bango no more flying. As for those like Lewis, well they've gone as far as they will go and don't want to make waves."

  "But what about the Independent Board of Review?"

  O'Brian laughed. "Come on, Bell. People like MacKenzie are too shrewd to fall afoul of that. How do you think crazy captains like him act? Do you think they walk around ranting and raving before a board, squinting, juggling steel balls in their pockets, and doing imitations of Captain Bligh? No, they're smart enough to play it straight. Besides, nearly everyone is slightly nuts after fourteen-month runs on an old bucket like this, and the Board takes that into account. No, lad, men like MacKenzie, they're out there cruising the back lanes, just ticking away, and on occasion they explode."

  "The meals are ready," Tanya announced as she carefully took a stack of trays out of the microwave.

  "Good. Those kids haven't eaten since they were arrested. Bell, why don't you take this grub forward? Give you a chance to see your friend."

  O'Brian double-checked the straps on Justin's anti-radiation suit.

  "A bit hot down below, so don't take too long."

  "Hot?" Justin asked, and then he remembered that the lower deck was not as well shielded.

  "What about them?" he asked nervously.

  O'Brian shook his head. "I doubt if Zhing protested too much. They'll just have to sweat it out."

  Justin nodded sadly and took the trays.

  "See me when you get back. OK?"

  "Sure, O'Brian, and thanks."

  O'Brian escorted Justin down the hall and stopped before Petronovich.

  "Bell here is bringing grub forward to the prisoners."

  "Ah, I have no orders regarding that."

  "Well, listen here, youngster, according to Regulation Sixteen Twenty-seven of the Code regarding the treatment of prisoners, it is stated that they are entitled to three square meals a day, or the officer in charge will be held responsible. Now open that door!"

  Petronovich spoke into his commlink and then finally opened the door.

  Justin, awed, looked over at O'Brian.

  "Regulation Sixteen Twenty-seven?" he whispered, surprised at the cook's knowledge of regulations.

  O'Brian simply shrugged his shoulders and grinned, then turned and headed back to the galley.

  Justin followed the guard, who led him down a narrow flight of stairs to the lower deck and then headed aft. Another guard, who was standing by a padlocked door, unlocked the room and stepped aside. Justin stepped in, surprised at how cramped the tiny room was. The air was thick and stank of unwashed bodies. If not for zero gravity, it would have been impossible to fit everyone in.

  "Hey, Justin, how goes it?" Matt asked, trying to sound cheery.

  "O'Brian sent some foo
d down for you guys."

  Justin passed the containers out to eager hands.

  "Any word on what's going on up there?" Madison asked.

  "Nothing."

  "Why are we even in here?" It was Marissa Iivollen, her face pale. "It'd be nice to get out of here and stretch a bit."

  Justin figured it was best not to share what he had experienced in the Captain's cabin.

  "Any of you go up to see the Captain yet?" Justin asked.

  "Nope, we've been down here in the lockup since he grabbed us," Madison replied, "except for the two that got sent down after questioning this morning."

  From what little he knew of Fleet Regulations he realized this was yet another violation. No one could be held for an extended period without at least being told of their offenses before a hearing board and given the opportunity to offer an explanation.

  "I think the whole thing will get straightened out soon," Justin replied softly

  "Not on this ship," Madison replied. "Any contact to the outside yet?"

  Justin shook his head. The morning report from Doctor Zhing was that the storm was intensifying and radiation levels inside the ship were climbing steadily despite the fact that they were pulling away from the sun at over a hundred and fifty thousand klicks per hour. All communication was down and expected to remain that way until they were within close proximity of Mars.

  'The guy's a nut case," Matt whispered, "a total nut case."

  "Listen, all of you," Justin whispered. "All of you just keep your mouths shut. Sing, dance, do anything, but absolutely not a word about anything going on here," and as he spoke he motioned towards the speaker grill and blank computer screen.

  Matt nodded.

  Justin drew closer to Matt.

  "Are you really OK?" he whispered.

  "Scared crapless," Matt sighed, his voice near to breaking. "I didn't hit him. It was just that he scared me half to death, grabbing me like that in my sleep. I was dreaming that Colson was after me with that baseball bat with a spike in it like you and Malady played around with."

  "I know."