by Peter Grant
Steve blinked at the abrupt ending to the call. The Major had sounded harassed, burdened – not surprising when he considered how much was on the Marine’s plate right now. He made a call of his own and summoned Gunnery Sergeant Kinnear to his office.
“We’ve got a problem, Gunny,” he began as they helped themselves to coffee. He described the arrangement made with the Eskishi authorities to allow them to use the Qianjin prisoners. “We need to figure out how we’re going to handle the situation. I’m fairly sure, from what I’ve been told, that these prisoners probably aren’t guilty of the specific crimes for which they’ve been convicted. This particular case looks to have been a setup by a bunch of rival crooks with better political connections. On the other hand, I’ve no doubt at all that they’re members of a criminal organization, and a very powerful one at that. Ever heard of the Dragon Tong?”
“A little, Sir. Scuttlebutt says they keep to themselves, but you don’t want to cross them, ’cause they can be real badasses if you do.”
“That’s not a bad way of putting it. I’ve run into them more than once. They’re considered real professionals, not your average run-of-the-mill crook. That doesn’t mean I’m happy at the thought of working so closely with them. We’re going to have to handle their people very carefully. You see, according to the rules we’re in charge here, but if we try to push them around or do anything to insult them they’re going to take offense. They can always refuse to work and leave us in the lurch; and if they really take offense they can try to escape. If they succeed the Fleet will be in serious trouble with the authorities here – not to mention me personally. While we’re setting up this depot and bringing down everything from orbit, we can’t do without them, because the Marines can’t spare more people for rear-echelon duties. In fact, we may need these spacers for quite some time.”
“I see the problem, Sir. How do we motivate them to stay here and work hard for us while treating them a whole lot better than typical prisoners, so as to keep them happy?”
“That’s it in a nutshell, Gunny. We can’t use the usual carrot and stick approach; it’ll have to be much more carrot and much less stick. Our Marines will have to work with them as colleagues rather than bosses. What’s more, they’ll outnumber us. We have fourteen Marines here, including you, plus myself. There’ll be about a hundred prisoners. They’re not military – at least, I don’t think they are; it’s possible some have had military training, or may be reservists in Qianjin’s armed forces. Even so, they’re as professional as we are in their own way. We’ve got to recognize that and encourage them to behave that way. They’re probably used to heavy-handed prison guards. We daren’t handle them like that. Trouble is, I’ve got to keep our own people happy too. If they think I’m mollycoddling the prisoners they’ll resent it. What’s the best way to handle that?”
Kinnear grinned. “You do like to paint yourself into corners, don’t you, Sir?” They both chuckled. “Seriously, though, I think there’s a way. Your job is to be the ‘big boss’ – the top dog. I’ll be the day-to-day supervisor. They can resent me all they like; it’s an NCO’s job to be the lightning rod sometimes. If necessary you’ll be the voice of reason to bring back balance. You tell us what to do, then get out of the way. I’ll break that down into tasks, treating all our people as professionals. I’ll encourage them to put forward their own ideas, too. While they’re at work, you and I can ‘manage by walking around’. Anyone with a problem can talk to me, and if I can’t sort it out, we’ll bring it to you. The prisoners can use their chargé as a liaison officer if they like.”
“Good idea. I’m going to take him up on his offer to move in with us while the work’s going on.” Steve sipped his coffee appreciatively. “Thanks, Gunny. I like your approach. I’m also going to talk to the prisoners’ leaders before they get here. They formed two ships’ companies, so their skippers or other officers are bound to be among them. I’ll use them as team leaders for their own people. If they have better skills than we do – for example, their engineer officers and techs almost certainly know more than we do about power plants – we’ll put them in charge of those areas. That’ll prove we’re treating them as equals, and free up our people for other important work. How about using joint work parties – Marines and convicts all mixed together? We can divide them up according to their skills and the needs of the job, rather than where they come from.”
“That’s a good idea, Sir. While you’re talking to the prisoners, I’ll make sure our people understand what we’re doing and why. I’ll tell them that if a prisoner’s in charge of a group, it’s because he or she is best qualified to do that job. They shouldn’t get bent out of shape about it.”
“Will they accept that?”
“I can be very persuasive when I want to be, Sir.”
Steve laughed aloud. “I just bet you can! All right, Gunny. Thanks for your input. Let’s make this happen.”
~ ~ ~
The officer in command of the transit prison was anything but happy to receive his orders. He plugged the data chip into a reader, scanned the text as it scrolled across the display, and scowled. “This can’t possibly be right! There must be some mistake. These are hard-core criminals!”
“There’s no mistake, Captain,” the chargé d’affaires said mildly. “These orders were signed by Governor Sirhan, as you can clearly see. If you’d like to call his office to verify that, please feel free to do so.”
“Damn right I will!” The officer reached for a comm unit.
The subsequent conversation with an aide in the Governor’s office was short, to the point, and not at all to the Captain’s liking. “I don’t know how you did it, but you did,” he growled at the diplomat as he ended the call. He transferred his scowl to Steve. “You accept full responsibility for these prisoners, right? Anything goes wrong, any of them escape, we’ll hold you accountable for it, understand?”
“I understand,” Steve replied as calmly as he could, restraining his impulse to shove the man’s rudeness back down his throat on the end of his fist.
“I’ll have my guards assemble the prisoners in the mess hall. They’ll escort them to your transporters, but no further. Once they’re aboard, they’re your responsibility. How many guards did you bring?”
“None.”
“None? Are you crazy? They’ll be over the tailgate and away before you’ve gone a hundred meters out of the main gate!”
“As you said, Captain, that’ll be my responsibility. I think we can deal with it. I’d like to speak to a few of their leaders before we load them, if you’ll please arrange for us to use an interview room. Mr. Jiang will give you their names.”
“All right, but it won’t do you any good.”
Orders were issued and guards scurried to obey them. The Captain led Steve and the chargé to a stark white room with a barred window and a steel security door. It contained only a round table and half a dozen chairs.
“I’ll have them brought in here while we assemble the rest,” he snapped, then turned on his heel and stalked off without waiting for a reply.
“We seem to have offended his sense of the fitness of things,” Steve murmured to Mr. Jiang. “Why is he so upset? Has he had trouble with your people?”
“He feels they don’t give him sufficient respect,” the other replied softly.
“And?”
“It’s really not for me to say,” Jiang hedged.
“I hope they do better with us, otherwise they’ll be back in here before long,” Steve warned. “Please make sure they understand that before we leave. If they’re not prepared to cooperate, better for all of us if they stay here.”
“I’ll make sure they understand. You don’t mind if I speak Mandarin with them if necessary?”
Steve grinned and said in that language, “I don’t mind at all. I’ve been studying it for two years along with my wife, who knows about my relationship with the Tong. She suggested it might be useful, and it gave us something to do toget
her during a number of trips on recruiting duties.”
“Well!” Jiang replied, also in Mandarin, his eyebrows rising in surprise. “That was certainly enterprising of you both. Do you read and write it, as well as speak it?”
Steve switched back to Galactic Standard English. “Less well than we speak it, but we’re still learning. Fortunately, hypno-study makes that much faster and easier. You might want to mention to your people that I speak the language. I wouldn’t want any of them to think they can talk freely in front of me, and give away Tong secrets by doing so.”
Jiang looked quizzically at him. “That’s very considerate of you. Many people would have taken advantage of the situation to learn all they could.”
Steve shrugged. “The Tong’s always treated me with respect, and I’ve tried to do the same in return. This is part of that for me.”
“Thank you. I’ll make sure they understand.”
The tramp of marching feet came down the corridor towards the interview room. Four tough-looking guards ushered four men and a woman into the room. All were handcuffed behind their backs, and Steve felt his face flush with annoyance.
“Remove those handcuffs at once!” he ordered the guards sharply.
“Who do you think you are, giving us orders?” the man in charge demanded belligerently.
“I’m now responsible for these people, by order of the Governor. If you’re in any doubt about that, consult your Captain. Now get them off!”
The NCO glared at him, but the anger in Steve’s eyes clearly gave him pause. After a moment he turned away. “All right, you heard the man,” he muttered to his subordinates. They joined him in removing the handcuffs, then let themselves out and closed the door behind them.
“Thank you,” Jiang murmured to him. “Senior Lieutenant Maxwell, allow me to introduce Captain Chun of the salvage vessel Lotus; his First Mate, Mr. Ya; his Medical Officer, Dr. Ju; Captain Qiu of the merchant freighter Pearl; and his First Mate, Mr. Kun.” Each of the prisoners inclined their head slightly as they were named. “This is the Lancastrian Commonwealth Fleet officer of whom I told you earlier. He’s agreed to use your ships’ companies at the depot he’s establishing for the combat engineers rebuilding Surush’s infrastructure.”
Steve held up his hand. “There’s a bit more to it than that, Mr. Jiang. Would everyone please sit down? There aren’t enough chairs, so I’ll stand.”
He watched as they moved to the table. Captain Chun was a shorter, strongly built man, and from the way he walked and carried himself he’d probably had a lot of martial arts training and experience. Having the same background, Steve could recognize the signs when he saw them. He recalled the chargé’s comment about the Captain being the son of a very senior Tong official. Even in prison garb he gave off an air of command, as if he expected instant obedience. Definitely a man to watch, Steve decided.
He waited until everyone had sat down, then said, “I’d like to lay out the ground rules we’ll have to follow if this is going to work. Mr. Jiang has told me how you came to be here. I’m more than prepared to accept that you didn’t commit the offenses for which you were convicted. My prior association with the Dragon Tong has taught me that you don’t take part in piracy or support it in any way. Unfortunately, you have been convicted. That makes it more complicated for us to work together. You’ve been treated as convicts in the past, and no doubt resent it greatly. I can’t work with people who are resentful or suspicious. We’ve got to have mutual trust and confidence in each other, or this arrangement will break down before it even begins.”
He went on to outline what he and Gunnery Sergeant Kinnear had discussed. “We’re prepared to treat you as professional equals, not as convicts, and share what we have with you as if you were our shipmates. However, that means you’ve got to behave towards us in the same way. There can’t be any ‘us-versus-them’ incidents, and most important of all your people must not try to escape or cause trouble in any way. If they do, the matter will be taken out of my hands at once. You’ll be returned to close confinement and lose all the privileges we can offer you.”
There was a momentary silence, broken by Captain Chun. “You’re asking a lot after the way we’ve been treated.” Barely-controlled anger was evident in his voice. “We were almost a hundred and fifty strong before the rebellion broke out, only to find ourselves abandoned at an inland prison when all the guards deserted. We lost almost a third of our number defending ourselves until help arrived. Several are still recovering from serious injuries. After treatment like that, we have no love for the Eskishi authorities. Why should we believe you and your Fleet will be any different?”
“Captain, you must have heard of the Lancastrian Commonwealth Fleet during your merchant spacer career, even perhaps encountered our ships. What was our reputation?”
“It was… it was good. You were said to be a very professional service.” His tone was grudging.
“I can attest to that on the basis of well over a decade’s service in the Fleet. If we had that reputation before you were imprisoned, why would things have changed? We’re just as professional as we’ve always been.”
Dr. Ju raised her hand. “Lieutenant, what about our wounded crew members? Six are still confined to their beds, and there are another five who are fit only for light duties.”
“How many medical staff do you have besides yourself, Doctor?”
“Three sick berth attendants, two from my ship and one from Pearl.”
“There’s a twenty-bed hospital ward at Carsamba, an extension of the sick bay. It’s in the administration building, which was only lightly damaged and is still functional. If I put you in command of it, will you agree to provide health care to everyone without prejudice or favoritism?”
“Did you say ‘command’?” Her voice was incredulous.
“Yes, I did. I’m willing to put any of you in command of areas where your skills and experience are greater than ours.”
She shook her head. “I’ve been ignored and my medical advice rejected ever since we arrived here. After that, please forgive me if I find your attitude… literally unbelievable!”
Steve shrugged. “We don’t have a doctor or medics of our own as yet – all our medical people are helping to restore planetary health services. As far as I’m concerned, that means you’ve got the job. As I’m sure your Commanding Officers will confirm from their own experience, there’s no point in making someone responsible for an area unless you also give them the authority they need to run it. That means you’ll be in command of the sick bay and our medical supplies, including our Medbot units. Can you operate them?”
“I’ve used similar units. We should have little trouble operating yours – the computers will do most of it for us. All such equipment works in basically the same way, after all.”
“True. Very well, Doctor; if you want the job, it’s yours.”
“Captain?” She looked at Chun.
Her boss sighed. “I suppose we have no choice but to trust this man – at least until we see whether his actions match his words. Very well, Doctor. Go ahead.”
“Thank you, Sir.” She looked back at Steve. “I’ll do my best, Senior Lieutenant.”
“Thank you, Doctor. You can transfer your injured people to our sick bay and care for them there. Use those less seriously injured to help you with light duties.”
He transferred his gaze to Captain Chun. “As for my actions matching my words, Captain, I’ll do my best. If you and your people will co-operate, I think Mr. Jiang and I can work together to parlay your assistance into getting you much better treatment for as long as you’re on this planet, even after the Fleet leaves. However, in order to do that, what I must have – and this is an absolute, overriding requirement – is an unwavering commitment from all of you to be professional in your dealings with Fleet and planetary personnel. If you or your people act without discipline or do anything that’s an offense under local law or regulations, including trying to escape, then my abil
ity to do anything for you will go out of the window. It’ll also get me personally, and the Fleet in general, into serious difficulties with the planetary administration. That’s not acceptable. I realize I’m asking a lot of you, particularly after how you’ve been treated on this planet, but it’s not negotiable. You need to tell me right now if you’re not willing or able to do that.”
Jiang added, “We can’t help how you were treated before I arrived; but if you’ll work with Senior Lieutenant Maxwell to the best of your ability, I can use that to argue that your provisional ‘trusty’ status should be made permanent. That’ll get you into a minimum-security camp when order is restored, with many more privileges, including weekend liberty. Meanwhile we’re doing our best to make Sulawasa see reason and overturn your convictions and sentences. As soon as that’s done we’ll get you home; but it can’t happen overnight. It’s very much in your best interests to cooperate in the short term, to gain more privileges and a more comfortable situation for the medium term.”
Chun thought for a moment. “You vouch for Senior Lieutenant Maxwell, Mr. Jiang?”
“I do. He’s been straightforward and honest in his dealings with me. I’ve checked our records, and they confirm his long association with us. He’s been searching for something of incalculable importance to us for over ten years. If other Tong leaders have trusted him to do that, I think we can do the same in this situation.”
Chun sighed, then nodded slowly. “Very well, Senior Lieutenant, we’ll cooperate. I’ll instruct our people to obey you as they would me, and work professionally with your people.”
Steve wanted to sigh aloud himself, but controlled his overwhelming sense of relief. “Thank you, Captain. I’ll use your own officers and NCO’s to lead your people wherever possible, so as to maintain your internal discipline. I need your engineers and technicians to form one group. They’ll set up workshops to service and repair heavy equipment and transporters. Your medical staff will form another group and be in charge of Carsamba’s sick bay and all our medical supplies. The rest of your crew will form work parties – we’ll break out the particular skills needed in each group as we go along. You’ll use the same equipment, eat the same food and share the same facilities and accommodation as we do.”