Article 23

by William R. Forstchen

  "So we're damned in nearly every direction," Justin said, "and truth becomes secondary."

  Kowalski laughed and shook her head. "My young Mr. Bell, when did you ever hear that truth had anything to do with politics? Take a look at some of the presidents your country has had, and some of its other leaders as well. Truth is relative to the moment."

  "There was the Declaration of Independence I believed in that. My father and grandfather believed in the Charter of Organization of tike USMC. I figured that was something to believe in, at least that's what Thorsson said."

  Kowalski reached out and patted Justin on the arm.

  "I wish it was, but it's not looking quite like that at the moment."

  "And if he wins?"

  "Oh, they'll call him back Earthside, and when the fuss dies down he'll be quietly retired. There'll be discreet internal reviews, things will be changed, but he'll walk.

  "As for you, Matt, Leonov, Smith, Hemenez and O'Brian, you'll get time. A year, maybe two. After serving six months, you'll all be dishonorably discharged. The other cadets who helped you will simply be discharged. There'll be some in the service who will quietly say you did the right thing; in fact, your actions will be studied and analyzed. Maybe a dozen years from now you might even be recognized for having done the right thing. But execution, I don't think anyone wants that."

  "So what you're telling me is that at MacKenzie's court-martial tomorrow we'll get slammed and MacKenzie will go free."

  "You have to face that possibility."

  "I can't believe that."

  "What you want to believe and reality are crashing together here, Bell."

  'Thorsson taught us to believe in a higher ideal, and such an ideal is based upon truth."

  "We're not in the Academy now, Bell, this is the real system, and out here on the frontier it can be rough and damned unfair at times."

  "That man arrested nine cadets. He never formally charged them, they were never given the opportunity to make a statement, defend tihemselves or face their accuser, there was no formal board hearing or trial where Matt could have defended his life. MacKenzie just arbitrarily announces, I'm going to kill this cadet,' and now you're telling me the Service will back him up?"

  "They're caught by Article Twenty-three, and it's a dilemma as old as navies, in space and on the sea," Janet replied. "In the old days, when ships were out of contact from the moment they cleared port, the authority of the captain had to be absolute. He had to be given broad powers to maintain control, and if needs be, to enforce his authority with the threat of swift and instant punishment. When our service was formed it was decided to follow the traditions of the surface navies. In modern times a lot of thought went into this power of the captain and it was felt that through careful screening only the best would be given such powers. MacKenzie is being protected by that tradition, because you, Mr. Bell, struck right at the heart of all such power. Remember the ease aboard the Goddard?"

  Justin nodded. After nearly a year in space the Goddard's second officer had become unhinged upon receiving a message from his parents that his girlfriend had left him. Breaking into the weapons locker, he had taken a high-power gun, seized the bridge, and threatened to start shooting up the control panels. The captain had finally shot and killed him. The captain had been fully exonerated for taking action without trial.

  "That's different," Justin snapped. "The guy had a gun."

  "You wound up with a gun, aimed straight at the Captain some might not see any difference."

  "We did. MacKenzie was out of control. He had overreacted."

  "Sure they realize MacKenzie overreacted. But to what? He is claiming that at that moment he believed he was facing a mutiny and had to preserve the authority of the Service. His decision to spare eight cadets from a possible execution is being presented as an act of restraint. And you see, Justin, he does have one clear and positive argument in his favor."

  "What's that?"

  "The fact that there was a mutiny, and you led it."

  Justin's shoulders sagged. Everything had seemed so clear and simple back on the Somers. He felt now as if he were sinking into a muddy swamp with nothing to hang on to.

  "Now, I want to go over everything one last time before tomorrow's trial."

  After hours of reviewing the events and Janet probing every point with questions, Justin felt as if his head would split apart.

  "Look, like I told you a dozen times. O'Brian caught my signal that I needed to talk to him. I went into the galley, Leonov came in a minute or so later after O'Brian woke her up, and then Hemenez came in. O'Brian turned up the music from the computer player and I laid out my proposal to seize the ship."

  Janet looked up from her computer pad.

  "Turned up the music? Why?"

  "We all did on that ship whenever we wanted to really talk."

  "Why?"

  "O'Brian tipped me off the first day I worked in the galley. On the Somers, if anyone wanted to talk they turned up the music."

  "Talk? Talk about what?"

  "You know, about the captain, about things aboard ship."

  'Tou mean like mutiny?"

  "No, sir. Look, sir, cadets talk, we gripe, we swap stories with friends that we wouldn't want our officers to hear," he blushed slightly, "and you know, guys will talk about girls and they don't want them to hear."

  Janet smiled. "That's OK, we talk about guys too and we don't want you to hear. What do you think those trips to the rest room are all about?"

  "Well, it was sort of like that. MacKenzie had asked that weird question about who were off-worlders. Matt and I were in the galley that evening and Matt made a comment about it. O'Brian immediately went over to the wall unit, punched in some music and then pointed to the loudspeaker as if someone were listening. We realized he meant the captain. From then on, whenever I talked with anyone I turned the music up."

  Janet looked at him, her brows knitted.

  'You never do this on the Academy, do you? At least, we didn't when I was a cadet."

  "You know we don't, sir. Uncle told us right at the start that to use a computer or other device to listen to the conversations of others without a direct court order was a violation of" Justin's voice trailed off.

  "Bell, I'll see you tomorrow morning, now get some sleep." Before he could say anything else she was out the door.

  Justin sat in the back of the courtroom, slowly simmering. The testimony had dragged on for hours, starting with MacKenzie who had been on the stand for over two hours. His questioning had been circumspect, and MacKenzie had come across as calm and rational. Next had come Lieutenant Lewis, who had backed MacKenzie up on every one of his points. Zhing had proven to be a disappointment, dodging most of the questions and then, to Justin's dismay, coming out with a tacit agreement that given the emergency nature he could understand why MacKenzie pushed for execution as a means of insuring discipline. When the Judge Advocate had pressed Zhing regarding MacKenzie's mental competence Zhing had completely ducked out, claiming that he saw no serious problems with MacKenzie worthy of note or as justification for removing him from command.

  Next had come Hemenez and O'Brian. If there had been a damning point for O'Brian, it was that he had fraternized with cadets and shared with them his displeasure with the captain. For both O'Brian and Hemenez, though, the court had focused on the fact they had allowed themselves to be drawn into a mutiny by a sixteen-year-old cadet. The fact that a commissioned officer had agreed to follow a cadet against her duly appointed captain triggered a visible and withering disdain from Singh.

  Several times it was pointed out that her commission was only months old, and Singh made the deliberate mistake of referring to her once as "Cadet" before correcting himself and calling her "Lieutenant." Justin could not help but admire her courage throughout the barrage. She held her head high, answered her questions in a straightforward manner, and affirmed that if given the choice she would not hesitate to do the same thing again.

&nbs
p; Colson, though, set his blood to boiling. The cadet had further embellished his story, obviously realizing that the exoneration of MacKenzie was his own ticket to safety. Colson claimed that Matt had made statements to the effect that he wanted to seize the ship, and without provocation had hit him, and had said in front of Smith that once the ship was taken Colson would be "spaced along with the damned Captain."

  Madison had not helped the situation when, in a voice loud enough for most of the court to hear, she had turned to Livollen and snarled, "That's a damned lie," resulting in a contempt citation from the Judge Advocate.

  Senior Cadet Petronovich had come last in the morning lineup, and he set yet another nail into the coffin. He claimed that Matt, Madison and Justin had been unruly, and that he was planning to write negative fitness reports on all three once they returned to the Academy. He then added that he had suggested to MacKenzie that Justin be arrested as well. Justin, surprised, struggled not to say anything in response. Amazed, he listened as Petronovich claimed that MacKenzie had shown too much mercy and forbearance towards Justin, his opinion clouded out of loyalty to the son of an old comrade.

  Justin could clearly see how brilliant Petronovich's statements were. MacKenzie was now cast as a loyal family friend betrayed by the son of an old comrade. Thus he had been blinded by the traditional code of comradeship while Justin had foully stabbed him in the back.

  Breaking for lunch, Justin looked around nervously in the cafeteria for his legal advisor. She had not been present throughout the morning hearings. Though not formally under arrest, Justin felt the ever-present eyes of the marine guards posted in the cafeteria as he took a bowl of soup and nothing else and headed for the far corner table where Matt was already sitting.

  "Well, buddy," Matt sighed his voice still raspy, "it ain't looking good."

  "Yeah, I can't believe that Colson. And as for how they questioned MacKenzie talk about the kid-glove treatment."

  Tanya, followed by Madison, came over and joined them, filling the table.

  "You're up next," Tanya said, "give 'em hell."

  "Yeah, sure."

  "Hey, you're our ringleader," Madison told him. "Don't flag on us now. We're counting on you."

  "Well, I wish the hell you wouldn't," Justin said morosely.

  "Come on, we're all in this together," Madison announced, "and believe me, if I had it to do over again there isn't anything I would have done differently."

  "Damn it all," Matt sighed, "it's me who got you guys into hot water. If it hadn't been for me, none of this would have happened."

  "Oh, yes, it would have," Tanya said quietly, "so stop feeling sorry for yourself, Everett. He was already over the edge. Someone else would have been dragged in by his paranoia. Maybe not this trip or the next one, but it would have happened. Hell, he could have unlocked the nukes on board and tossed them at a colony or habitat and then claimed they were attacking. At the very least, do you think they'll ever let him command a line ship again?"

  "Yeah, so what, he'll still have gotten away with this one. What are we supposed to do then, take solace in the fact that we sacrificed ourselves for the greater good? All I want is to see justice done."

  Justin listened as they continued to argue, saving nothing. His stomach was in a knot. I'm just sixteen, damn it, he thought, depressed. Six months ago I was out in afield in Indiana or fishing on Sugar Creek. How the hell did I ever get in to this mess, and what am I going to do now? He thought of the vid message he had received from his mother and grandfather the day after docking at Deimos. There had been the usual statements about loving him, and then his mother had said that if it didn't work out she'd be ecstatic to have him back home again.

  Back home? Go back home after this? The thought of walking back into his old high school, of facing the taunts and jabs again was unbearable.

  "I don't believe it," Madison whispered.

  Justin looked up and followed her gaze to the entry of the cafeteria. Everyone in the room had fallen silent, and Justin felt his heart skip at the sight of the man standing in the doorway it was Thor Thorsson!

  "My God, what is he doing here?" Tanya asked, and everyone else in the room echoed her question.

  Thorsson went over to the table where Admiral Singh was eating. Thorsson extended his hand and the two chatted for a moment, everyone else silently watching them. Thorsson finally broke away and started across the room.

  "He's coming here," Madison hissed.

  As Thorsson approached their table the four began to stand up, but Thorsson extended a friendly hand waving for them to remain seated. Justin ignored the request and came to attention, the others following his lead.

  "Well, you four, a bit of mess, isn't it?"

  "I'm sorry, sir," Justin replied, his voice choked, "I hope we didn't let you down."

  "I'm proud of you," Thorsson announced, his voice loud enough so it carried across the silent room, "proud of all of you. Now let's have lunch."

  Stunned, Justin sat back down, and to his embarrassment tears came to his eyes. It was as if his father had appeared and announced that he had indeed done the right thing after all.

  Thorsson drew up a chair and leaned over to Justin.

  "It's all right, Bell. I understand, but don't let them see that they're getting to you."

  Justin braced himself and nodded.

  Thorsson looked over at Matt.

  "How are the wounds?'

  "Healing, sir. Hands are a bit stiff and the ear still hurts."

  "Forty seconds, I understand. You're a tough man to kill, Matt."

  "Just worried about passing my next physical."

  Thorsson smiled. "I'll make sure you pass, the Service owes you that."

  "Well it sure doesn't seem like they feel that way now," Tanya replied coldly.

  Thorsson nodded then looked back to Justin. "I hate to ask this, but would you mind grabbing a bowl of soup and some coffee for me, Justin? It was a long flight and I'm beat."

  "How did you get here so quick?' Matt asked.

  "Well, I'm a good hand with an Eagle fighter interceptor."

  "You flew an Eagle all the way from the Academy to here? That's one cramped flight, sir."

  "Oh, I needed the hours to keep my rating," Thorsson replied with a laugh.

  Amazed, Justin stood up and went to get Thorsson's lunch. The Eagle was little more than an oversized engine with a cockpit and weapons bay. It was the hottest interceptor in the Service, but it meant that Thorsson had spent the last ten days in a cockpit barely the size of a closet.

  "Senior Cadet Seay served as my co-pilot," Thorsson was explaining as Justin returned and set the lunch down. "I think I had him scared half to death the whole flight out."

  The group laughed appreciatively at the thought of Seay living cheek-to-jowl with Thorsson for ten days.

  "Sir, may I ask why you are here?' Tanya inquired.

  "You're my students," Thorsson replied, "and I screwed up. I knew MacKenzie was a hard taskmaster. I thought that a short cruise with him would show all of you the tougher side of the service. I should have checked more thoroughly. It'd been years since I served alongside the man. I should have listened to O'Brian."

  "O'Brian, sir?"

  'Killer Kelly,' we used to call him. He came to see me as soon as the Somers docked with the Academy. Tried to talk me out of having you youngsters on board. He said MacKenzie was on the point of cracking up, but I didn't listen. I asked him to look out for all of you and by heavens, he did."

  Thorsson paused and looked across the room to where O'Brian was eating lunch. The sergeant, catching Thorsson's gaze, snapped off a friendly salute which Thorsson made a show of returning.

  Justin, looking around the room could see that everyone was still staring at them. He realized that Thorsson's simple act of coming in the way he did and sitting with the ringleaders was a clear and open statement of support.

  "Thank you, sir," Justin said quietly.

  "For what, Mr. Bell?"
r />   Justin smiled and shook his head, unable to speak.

  A bosun's pipe sounded in the distance.

  "Well, once more into the breach," Thorsson announced. "That's the signal for the court to convene."

  Chapter XI

  As the Judge Advocate gaveled the court back into session, Thorsson came to his feet and walked towards the bench where the five officers in charge of the session were arrayed.

  "Sirs, I know this is highly irregular, but may I approach the court to make a statement?"

  Singh lowered his head.

  "Admiral Thorsson, you are not listed as a witness in this case. I do not see why you should be allowed to speak."

  "Sir, I know it is irregular, but I traveled over eighty-seven million kilometers to be here. I ask but a moments indulgence."

  Singh started to shake his head, but Captain Marcioni intervened.

  "Sir, I for one feel that it is acceptable to grant Admiral Thorsson this indulgence. This case is based in large part upon the veracity of the witnesses who are cadets in the care of Admiral Thorsson. He can verify the truthfulness of their testimony by his knowledge of their character."

  Singh looked at the other three judges, who nodded agreement.

  "Five minutes, sir."

  "Thank you, sir."

  Thorsson, his back to the audience, drew closer to the judges.

  "I will not speak of the ideals of the Academy, or the influence I believe such ideals must have in the shaping of the United Space Military Command. All I will say is that our service is unlike any other in the history of humanity. We represent the next generation of civilization, the generation that, united together, will seek our final destiny among the stars.

  "I believe that Cadet Everett was the victim of a brutal and disturbed sadist unworthy of our uniform."

  "That is out of order," Singh snapped.

  "It might be out of order, but it is the truth," Thorsson replied sharply. "Yes, we face a crisis; that crisis is an inevitable part of the historic process of expansion and frontiers. That crisis will not be resolved by the killing of sixteen-year-old cadets whose only crime is being high-spirited and sixteen."