by L S Roebuck
“I don’t want to force you. But I will kill everyone eventually, including you. Our fate is sealed and bound together. Either we all die together, or you and I escape.”
Hawkins was openly crying now. Skip was trying to “shhh” her.
“I want your answer now, Dek,” Skylar said, his Hawk tone returned. He pointed the gun back at Betsy’s head. “If you delay, she dies. I’ll tell you what. This woman is attractive. I’ll let you have her while we are in the runabout to Fuentes Station. You can save your life and hers if you like.”
Dek glanced around the room, trying to find an out. He had always believed himself the ultimate survivor, that he was smart enough to pull out of the fire just in time every time. Or, he wondered, did he still have an unfulfilled purpose, in service to an invisible God?
And then he found the detail which gave him a sliver of hope. Skylar’s dropped knife had come to rest about a meter between him and Betsy. But there was no way he was going to be able to reach down and grab it before the skilled Hawk would fill him with bullets.
“I tell you what, Dek. I know you want the redhead, too. Now I am not going to give her up, assuming the Chairman allows me keep her, but I’d be willing to share her from time to time. Her genetics are from rare stock, and I’m sure the Chairman would want her to be a prolific mother of the next generation of Aranan perfection.”
The thought of Skylar exploiting the only woman he ever loved, the woman he still loved, pushed him over the edge. He gave a great cry and leapt into a slide tackle way too far away to reach Skylar.
The Hawk was confused, and hesitated as he moved his gun away from Betsy and unloaded two bullets at the moving Dek. The first hit Dek in the forearm and the second in the collarbone. Then Skylar saw Dek’s intention.
Dek’s forward facing leg hit the hilt of the knife resting on the floor. The kick sent it flying forward at great speed just a few centimeters over the floor with such force it lodged through Skylar’s shoe, severing his large toe and digging into the rest of his foot.
Skylar screamed in pain, and dropped his gun. Blood was spurting from his foot. Dek forced himself to stand up through the pain of the two gunshot wounds. He threw himself on Skylar and knocked the Hawk to the ground. Dek tried to get his hands around Skylar’s throat, but he couldn’t get his injured arm to move as he fought to keep from passing out from the pain.
Skylar pushed Dek off, and exhibiting a secret strength, grabbed him by both shoulders and threw him back to the ground with a painful thud. Dek struggled to stand, but his searing nerves combined with the massive blood loss made him too disorientated to stand.
Skylar pulled the knife out of his shoe, and knelt next to Dek and pinned him to the floor, and poised the knife to lacerate Dek’s throat.
“Forgive him,” Dek choked, and closed his eyes. “As I have been forgiven.”
Dek opened his eyes again.
“What the freak are you talking about,” Skylar said.
“Something North showed me, I guess,” Dek smiled. “He showed me forgiveness. So now, I forgive you. But I will never help Chasm again. Go ahead and kill me now. I should have been dead a long time ago anyway.”
“So be it. I’ll figure out a way to destroy Magellan and get back to Fuentes Station without you. Heh, I’ll find an appropriate lie to make Amberly hate you,” Skylar said as he drew his knife back for the final kill.
“Stop or I’ll blow your brains into a million pieces, you Chasm sonofabitch!”
Skylar looked up and saw Skip, with the gun pointed directly at his head.
“Drop the knife and lie down on your belly,” Skip commanded. “Do it now! I am seriously stressed out here, and I may shoot you anyway.”
“There are others who will see the will of the Chairman done,” Skylar said as he complied with Skip’s commands. He fumed at his former subordinate. “Worm! You will taste death at the hands of Chasm before the end.”
“But not today,” Skip said. “I can’t believe I set you up with Amberly. Betsy, go unlock the door.”
Skip kept the gun trained on Skylar’s head, as Betsy unlocked the door. The Marine guards were waiting and stormed in with bullet proof armor and assault rifles.
“Arrest this man as a prisoner of war and Chasm conspirator,” Dek said, pointing at Skylar.
“On whose authority,” one of the Marines asked.
“Mine. Dek Tigona, captain of the American Spirit.”
The top-ranking crew of the American Spirit stood in a phalanx-like formation, packed on the observation deck. The remaining crew and passengers were assembled on the hangar deck, where they watched the proceedings via vid screen.
“If you don’t believe in life after death, that there is something greater than the visible, I have little solace to offer you, except perhaps that the death of Executive Officer Snodgrass and Chief Engineer Todum at the hands of evil was not empty, but rather in the line of duty and service to Earth. Theirs was not a senseless sacrifice,” Ramos offered. “But I believe that there is more to this life that what the eyes can see, and we have a great hope in the good news of eternal redemption, and someday those with faith will see the face of our maker. Godspeed and amen.”
From the large windows of the observation deck, the gathered crew could see two caskets ejected into space.
“What do we do now?” Skip asked Dek as the crowd began to disperse.
“We go back to Fuentes Station, and help Amberly finish her mission,” Dek said.
“She’ll need all of us now, the poor girl,” Midas said. “She thought confronting you was going to be hard. Wait until she finds out that her fiancé was Chasm all along. She doesn’t deserve all this emotional trauma. North, Skylar, you. You’ve all wounded that poor girl. You best give her plenty of space, captain.”
“That’s if she doesn’t throw me back in jail again,” Dek sighed. He turned to face Skip, Ramos and Midas. “Whatever happens to me, you three must take care of Amberly. Do you understand? She’s more special than any of you could understand. The Chairman was very connected to Kimberly. Based on what Skylar said, my guess is the Chairman will want to exact her revenge on the woman who shot her favored Raven One. Or she has some other plan for our mission commander.”
“We’ll keep her safe,” Skip promised. “And North and the Magnus will defeat Chasm and its Chairman. You’ll see.”
“We must not underestimate the Chairman again,” Dek pondered aloud. “I hope North succeeds, for Amberly’s sake. But if he doesn’t, let’s make sure Amberly’s mission does. For all our sakes.”
“Don’t you worry, Dek,” Skip smirked. “North will win.”
EPILOGUE ONE
Fuentes Station, on the asteroid Sonnet, in orbit around Spencer Minorum, December 5, 2604, 26 months after the Battle of Magellan, and the same month the Battle of Marquette.
Kora accompanied her sister to the Fuentes Station brig. She knew Amberly would need her support for the two hard visits Amberly felt she must make.
“Sis, do you want me to come in with you?” Kora asked her little sister.
“Thanks, but I’ll be fine,” Amberly smiled weakly in reply.
“So, do you think this is goodbye?” Kora said as they stepped into the brig foyer. Amberly didn’t have an answer. Boro, one of the two Marines on duty, saluted the mission commander.
“Who would you like first,” the Lt. Boro asked.
“Prisoner Tigona,” Amberly said, as she sat down on a simple aluminum chair next to a similarly constructed table, the only décor in the prison lobby. Boro nodded to the private, and the Marine disappeared in the cell bank.
“Do you want me to stay?” Kora said as she hugged her sister. She asked to show kindness, but she already knew the answer.
“I want you to,” Amberly said, “but this is something I must do alone.”
“Okay, but have Verne message me when you are done, just so I know you are okay,” Kora said as she exited the room.
Within a f
ew minutes, the Marine returned with Dek, hands zipped together in front of him. Dek smiled when he saw Amberly, and he sat in the chair opposite of her.
“I thought you were going to be Ramos,” Dek said. “But this is a pleasant surprise.”
Amberly blushed a little. She was still attracted to Dek, who was much less a mystery now to her than he was when they first met more than two years ago.
“I’ve come and tell you how sorry I am,” Amberly said.
“Oh, I understand why I need to be incarcerated for the time being. I am pretty sure that the tribunal won’t toss me in the airlock.”
“Oh, not about you being under arrest again after you’ve proven yourself,” Amberly said. “I’m sorry I lied to you, back on Magellan.”
“It was a beautiful lie,” Dek smiled. “It’s what I wanted to hear. I wanted to believe that you could love me —”
“Dek Tigona, I could love you,” Amberly said quickly. “I just wasn’t sure that I did – that I do.”
Dek eyed the engagement ring on her finger. “So you love Skylar, still?”
“Oh, sweet Dek. I honestly don’t know my own heart. I didn’t know it when I was 19, and know it even less now. I’m just someone who has had to grow up so fast who wants to slow it down for a while,” Amberly put her right hand on Dek’s. “I don’t really know who Skylar Trigs is. I’m not in love with his Chairman-cult obedience side. I was definitely in love with his patriotic, Magellan-serving, selfless leader side. But I guess that wasn’t real.”
“That Hawk was in so deep, who knows what was real,” Dek said. “I can’t imagine he survives the tribunal.”
“Well, the basis of my love for him was a lie,” Amberly explained, “and when I found out it was a lie, it cut deeply. After what North did to me, I never thought I would be hurt so bad again. I was wrong.”
“Amberly,” Dek said, “I’m sorry I brought you into all this.”
“I’ve forgiven you long ago,” Amberly said, starting to tear up. “But I realized that the same thing Skylar did to me, the same lie he made to me, I guess I made that lie to you. It hurts, deeply. And now I’ve only begun to realize how badly I hurt you. I’m so deeply sorry.”
“Amberly, grace rules the day. We can forgive each other, and move on,” Dek said. “I wanted the lie to be true, but I don’t want to live in a lie. Even for someone as magnificent as you. I am glad to know where I stand.”
“Well, I hope you stand as captain of the American Spirit when the tribunal is over,” Amberly said, as she stood. Dek did the same, and Amberly quickly moved around the table and kissed the rouge on the cheek. “Hopefully, I’ll see you soon, captain.”
Dek smiled as the duty Marine took him away.
Lt. Boro returned to the room. “Prisoner Trigs refuses to see you. Do you want us to force him?”
“No. Did he say why he won’t see me?”
“No, Amberly,” Boro said. “He doesn’t seem angry or defiant. He’s moved inside of himself.”
“Will you take him a message?” Amberly asked.
“Of course.”
“Tell him I’m sorry,” Amberly said. “And I forgive him.”
Amberly was happy to be receiving messages from Moreno again. With Skylar’s sabotage reversed, secure tight beam communication with Magellan had resumed. Amberly watched the recorded message from the waypoint Marine Commander. Moreno had established a military tribunal on the Magellan to decide the fate of unwitting conspirator Staff Sergeant Eli Wong, returned exile Captain Dek Tigona, and Chasm Hawk Skylar Trigs.
Testimony had been recorded at Fuentes Station and transmitted via tight beam to Magellan and then reviewed by the secret tribunal. The trial took a week because the tribunal had a round of follow up questions for the witnesses, which had to be transmitted back to Sonnet, and then the responses of those questions, transmitted back to Magellan.
“Sweet Amberly, Thor and I are sorry for all you have been through. We never thought leading this mission would take such a personal toll. You’ve already had to bear such a life of betrayal,” recorded Moreno said in words filled with empathy. “I can only hope by having the tribunals here, we’ve spared you some of the pain of having to see your fiancé prosecuted.”
Amberly had never gone through the motion of officially ending her engagement. In her heart, she wanted to believe that this was all a bad dream. She had been betrayed by so many who loved her and whom she had loved: Kimberly, Dek, North and Skylar. Of course, she betrayed North first, but that didn’t make his denunciation of her at a sentencing not unlike the one today any less painful. She wanted to wake up from this nightmare and find that she hadn’t been completely fooled by Skylar. That she was madly in love with a good man about to start a happily ever after, safely tucked away in her home on Magellan. By day, she’d get lost in her research, and he’d be off making speeches. By night, they’d relax together and watch old Earth movies while drinking real tea. But she knew now that sort of happiness was just a fantasy. At least for her. Fate, or God, or the randomness of the universe had some other much lonelier path for her.
For all the many ways her mother was wrong, maybe she was right when she warned Amberly that having a lifelong commitment to a spouse was a fool’s errand.
“Unfortunately, you will have to carry out the sentencing as mission commander. I’ve included the sentences in an authenticated data packet so you can be sure there is no mistake.” Moreno continued. “I await your next progress update, when we have put this unfortunate business behind us and focus on the main mission. And I absolutely cannot wait for the day when you return to us, so we can have tea together again. Be well, dear child. Moreno out.”
The image of Moreno faded away, and Amberly told Verne to deactivate the personal monitor in her quarters.
She resisted the urge to cry; there would be time enough for that later.
She fished through her wardrobe for her white-and-green Science Corps uniform – her most appropriate outfit for this solemn occasion. After dressing, she grabbed her infopad and headed for the gardens to transfer from Fuentes Station to the docked American Spirit, where sentencing would be held.
The small gathering of court officials, legal representatives and Marines were assembled at the same airlock chamber where Dek had almost been spaced several months earlier, if Midas and Ramos had not intervened. Trot Wilder commanded the Marines now. The accused were lined up side-by-side in front of the interior airlock door under heavy guard.
“I’ve confirmed the authenticity of these verdicts and sentences,” Skip announced to the proceedings, and handed an infopad to Wilder, who proceeded to read the verdicts. Tigona, Wong and Trigs all stood silently, under guard. Wong had legal counsel seated next to him, but both Tigona and Trigs had waived their right to representation.
“Staff Sergeant Eli Wong has been found guilty of conspiracy and malfeasance. He is hereby stripped of all rank, dishonorably discharged from Marine service, and subsequently assigned to work detail on Sonnet mining operations and house arrest, until the Fuentes Station mission is concluded,” Wilder read.
Wong looked like he was going to shout or say something in his defense, but then his lawyer tapped him gently on the shoulder and Wong seemed to calm down.
Wong’s attorney spoke up, “Let the record show my client did not admit guilt and never knowingly committed conspiracy against Earth or waypoint.”
“The record is noted,” Wilder said, and then looked at his group of Marines. “Please escort Wong and confine him to his quarters.”
Wong shot an angry look at Skylar Trigs. “I hope they give you the airlock, Chasm scum.” Wong spit on the ground in front of Trigs, and then pointed at Dek. “And you, traitor, you deserve the airlock.”
Two of the Marines took Wong away.
Amberly’s brother-in-law cleared his throat and continued reading, “Captain Dek Tigona is found innocent of additional violation of terms of his exile. Furthermore, the tribunal recognizes Mission Com
mander Macready’s appointment of Mr. Tigona as the captain of the American Spirit. However, captain, please be advised that the original terms of exile are in force, and should you set foot on Magellan, your life is subject to forfeit. The prisoner is free to go.”
Dek smiled and he ran to Amberly and gave her an awkward hug. She returned the squeeze, but the embrace reminded her that she didn’t know how to relate to Dek now. She was glad to have him around because of his immense talent and powerful leadership, and she was glad he no longer actively wooed her. But she knew she had broken his heart and betrayed his trust. She could see the scars every time she looked in his eyes, his proclamation of forgiveness notwithstanding.
“Congratulations, captain,” Amberly offered a sincere smile. “Now get your crew ready. We have a lot of work to do.”
“Maybe we can discuss the supply schedule over dinner?” Dek asked innocently enough as he stepped away from the airlock door. Amberly thought she smelled a little charm emanating from Dek’s countenance.
Skylar watched the exchange silently, wearing sorrow on his face.
Then Trot started to read the final sentence. “The honorable Skylar Trigs, member of the Magellan council, is found guilty of high treason, conspiracy against waypoint and first-degree murder.”
The word “guilty” though expected, still added a new layer of heaviness to the mood of the group. In spite of what Skylar had done, no one, except perhaps Eli Wong, was in a hurry to see capital punishment in action again. But Amberly knew there was no other course of action. In theory, she could grant him clemency, but on what grounds?
Trot continued, “For his crimes of conspiracy, Mr. Trigs has been formally censured and ejected from the council. His Magellan and American citizenship have been revoked, and all his assets have been confiscated by the tribunal. For his crimes of murder, Trigs has been sentenced to work prison for the rest of his natural life. The sentence for murder, however has been superseded by the sentence for treason, which is death by expulsion into space, to be conducted immediately.”