47
He’s Still Alive
I could see the guy’s weapon there next to the pilot’s seat, and I wondered whether he might go for it. That seemed unlikely. I had my shotgun pointed at him.
But he couldn’t resist the temptation. He stooped over to grab it, and before he could even touch it, I had swung the stock of my shotgun around and delivered a stunning blow to his helmet. He stood back up, and I’m sure he thought I was going to unload my shotgun into him.
But I didn’t.
The forward airlock popped open, and one of their people, weaponless, was running toward us.
The hatch behind him was open, and the airlock was devoid of Kerleegans, so unless they were just beyond the airlock, waiting to ambush us, they probably were returning to the boarding ship.
This new arrival from the airlock seemed to want to dissuade me from killing his friend, which I had no intention of doing.
The would-be pilot climbed down, and his friend embraced him. I thought that was weird, but these guys weren’t so different from us, I guess.
I said, “Talos, what’s going on with the Kerleegans you released into the airlock? Looks like they left the lock.”
“Yes, they are no longer in the area, and they are in fact near the remaining boarding craft.”
I said, “Are any of these bodies here in the bay still alive?”
Talos said, “Ten paces to your left, one is alive.”
I said, “Is the bay pressurized yet?”
Talos said, “Not quite at normal levels yet, but it’s safe to remove helmets.”
I lost no time removing mine. It was almost unbearably confining. Then I stood guard while Nash and Lennox removed theirs.
The Kerleegans kept theirs on.
I tapped one of the Kerleegans on the shoulder and pointed toward the body. Even though I was sure they couldn’t understand me, or even hear me, I said loudly, “He’s still alive.”
The two Kerleegans and I walked over to the guy. I tried to help them get him up.
I should probably say that throughout this whole procedure, Nash and Lennox both had their weapons trained on these two enemy soldiers. But I wasn’t worried. I knew that they only wanted to leave.
So we got the wounded soldier up. Then, to my surprise, one of the Kerleegans swung open his faceplate and said, “Thank you.”
This was the first close-up view I had of a Kerleegan’s face, other than in images. Overall the features were human-like, but somewhat smooth and expressionless. His eyes were squinted, and his nose was not prominent. His lips were thin.
I was surprised to hear him speak, but this was good, because I could find out more. I said, “Is there a chance your ships will leave without you?”
He said, “No, one of the ships is staying behind.”
I said, “What about your people in the other bay?”
The Kerleegan said, “I am told they have all departed the bay safely and are aboard our remaining ship.”
That I found interesting. Waters and his people hadn’t needed to kill anyone else, and not only that, Waters had allowed those present to return to their boarding craft.
I said, “As long as your people aren’t leaving without you, we have time to get a stretcher.”
The fighter bay had a ton of first-aid supplies and medical equipment, including a half-dozen stretchers.
I pulled a stretcher out of one of the lockers. I brought it over by the three Kerleegans, and I said, “This is basic. We have other stuff, but it would take a lot of time to set up, and I assume you want to get out of here.”
The speaker said, “Thank you, but yes, we need to leave.”
The Kerleegans placed their wounded friend onto the stretcher.
I said to Lennox, “Let’s help them get to their ship. Nash, you can escort us. Be ready for anything.”
48
Limited Trust
I trusted these three Kerleegans—to some extent. I leaned my shotgun against one of the Banshees. So did Lennox. But we drew our sidearms.
Lennox took the front right-handle of the stretcher. I took the rear right. The Kerleegans took the left handles.
Talos opened the airlock hatch for us. We were able to do a pass-through, since most of the area we were moving through was compressed.
I figured I would try to find out more about these Kerleegans. I asked, “How many of your people speak English?”
The speaker said, “About one in five. When we are at war with a nation, it is required that a good number of us learn their language—probably because of situations like this one.”
I said, “And why are you at war with the United States? In your view.”
He laughed in a human-like manner, and he said, “You are asking the wrong person. If it were up to me, we would not be at war. But you Americans are a warlike people.”
“No, not so much,” I said. “We fight to defend ourselves, and our allies.”
The Kerleegan was skeptical. “All right.”
I said, “Would a warlike nation let you go?”
“That I cannot answer, but my fleet had no intention of attacking you, until you changed course to intercept us. We had been on our way home.”
I thought about Captain Jefferson’s fiddling with the controls of the Valley Forge. He definitely had intended to engage these guys. I said, “The situation wasn’t as simple as you believe.”
“It’s always something, isn’t it? But you are letting us leave in peace, so you, at least, are not warlike.”
I wanted to like this guy, but he was making it mighty hard. He needed to refute everything I said.
On the other hand, I was directly responsible for the deaths of three hundred of his people, and I played a key role in the deaths of over two hundred more. I avoided pointing that out to him.
I said, “You speak of home. Where might that be?” I tried to ask this casually.
“That, I am not permitted to tell you,” he said. “But I can tell you it is far away.”
“In this galaxy?” I asked.
He didn’t answer. I hate it when people do that type of thing.
We trudged along until we came to another airlock. I knew we were about to enter a decompressed section of the ship.
I said, “Is that your exit there, on the other side of this lock?”
He nodded. “Yes, it is.”
We set the stretcher down so that Lennox, Nash, and I could put our helmets on. Before we did that, though, the five of us had one last conversation—the soldier on the stretcher seemed unconscious. So, it was just we three midshipmen and the two enemies from the fighter bay. We said farewells.
I said, “Is your friend going to be okay?”
One of them said, “Yes, I am sure. We have highly advanced medical procedures.”
I said, “Good. Maybe someday your people will share some of those procedures with us. Ours are kind of primitive.”
The enemy soldier laughed. “You are peaceful, and funny. Still, I hope that will happen someday, perhaps soon.”
I clutched the hand of each of them and wished them calm seas. They wished the same to us.
Lennox, Nash, and I put our helmets on, and our enemies sealed their faceplates. We used the airlock for a safe passage into the final area. The opening in the Valley Forge’s deck and hull was right ahead.
Two more Kerleegan soldiers came up out of the boarding ship, waving a piece of white cloth, which I thought was a good idea. They helped bring the wounded Kerleegan aboard their ship.
Each of the enemy soldiers briefly held up a hand, and we returned the gesture. Then they climbed down a ladder into their ship. A hatch closed behind them, and we heard a clanking sound as their ship separated from the Valley Forge.
I was disappointed.
In those days—not that long ago—I was far more optimistic and positive about . . . everything. I had thought our Kerleegan “friends” would show more appreciation for the fact that we were releasing them. On s
ome level, I had expected them to ask us to join hands and sing “Kum Ba Yah, My Lord,” or maybe share with us some ancient rite of peace from their nation.
As it is, I suppose I should be glad that they didn’t toss a couple of their incendiary grenades into the Valley Forge as a Parthian shot.
49
Captain Jefferson’s Fate
We made it back to the ready-room without further incident. Rabinowitz, Silver, and Newton were all there, as were Waters and all the other Marines.
Waters verified that all of the survivors of the decompression incident in the other bay had “escaped.” Rabinowitz informed us that our so-called rescue ships would arrive in a period of hours. Plainly they had not been in any position to help us at all.
Commander Rabinowitz said, “Now we have to decide what to do about Captain Jefferson.”
One of the Marines said, “Well, I gather there was some weirdness, but I myself don’t have any first-hand information.”
Lennox said, “Same with me.”
Rabinowitz said, “That’s all right. We’re talking small units here, and we have to include everyone.” She looked at Waters and said, “Talos told me about how you handled things on the bridge with Captain Jefferson. I’m proud to have you and others like you on this crew. Now, everyone, listen.”
Commander Silver said, “Just a moment, Ma’am, maybe we could first get an update on the enemy. Are they really withdrawing?”
Rabinowitz said, “I’m sure they are. Talos?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Talos said. “The boarding ships are now well away. Most of the Kerleegan fleet have departed the area, as have all of the fighters. One cruiser has stayed behind at a distance of two thousand miles from the Valley Forge, presumably to pick up the boarding ships. If they planned to reengage, this behavior would make no sense.”
Rabinowitz said, “All right, thank you.” Then she said to us, “We could talk about the Captain Jefferson situation for hours. Here’s the problem as I see it. It appears that Captain Jefferson snapped. We don’t know why. His decision to engage the Kerleegans was contrary to the Navy’s norms in these situations. I believe that his actions were brought about by some aberration in his thinking. But putting that aside, there was nothing unlawful about his orders.”
Commander Newton said, “I suppose that’s true.”
“But Ma’am,” Silver said, “what are you getting at?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Rabinowitz said. “If we had followed Captain Jefferson’s orders to the letter—if we had implemented course twenty-one, twenty-five—we would not have been worse off than we are now. For that matter, the Navy will look upon this battle as one that was highly successful for the United States.”
“We lost thirteen men,” Newton said.
“To the Department of Defense and to the Navy,” Rabinowitz said, “that’s nothing. They’ll send American flags to the families, and that will be the end of it. And what other cost was there to us? We expended all our missiles, but not one was wasted. We destroyed hundreds of their missiles, hundreds of their fighters, and hundreds of their personnel.”
Newton said, “Not sure where you’re going with this.”
“When I started talking,” Rabinowitz said, “I didn’t know where I was going. But the more I talk, the more it looks like Captain Jefferson was in the right, or at least as though all of his actions will be supported by the Navy.”
Silver said, “That makes us, what? Mutineers?”
Rabinowitz said, “Talos, tell us what constitutes a mutiny.”
Talos said, “A mutiny exists when two or more people refuse to obey orders, or do violence, or cause a disruption, with the intent to override lawful military authority.”
Rabinowitz said, “Commander Newton and Commander Silver, both of you ended up in the brig, as did I, for our refusal to obey Captain Jefferson. That has the flavor of mutiny to me.”
This discussion had take a turn completely different from what I had expected. I had thought that Commander Rabinowitz would style everything as Captain Jefferson’s fault. She would gather us together, and tell us that we would cover for him, poor man, even if that meant authorizing Talos to modify his code and destroy his records of what really happened. And I pictured Waters, Nash, and me supporting her wholeheartedly in such a gracious move.
But now things were different. And, of course, being the hypocrite that I am, I immediately started looking down on Rabinowitz, Silver, and Newton—I, who had hoped against hope that they would overthrow the captain, by violence if necessary. I now saw them as little more than traditional mutineers: thugs and ruffians whom I wouldn’t trust to walk my little sister across the street—if I had a little sister.
I shook my head in an effort to clear my mind of such evil thoughts. And, as a matter of fact, a great deal depended on the interpretation of events. I decided to say something.
“Commander Rabinowitz,” I said, “may I offer an observation?”
Rabinowitz said, “You may.”
I said, “I don’t know much about the legal technicalities of what constitutes a mutiny and what doesn’t. Now, I have zero knowledge as to what went on between Captain Jefferson on the one hand, and Commanders Silver and Newton on the other. But before anyone concludes that there was a mutiny, or even insubordination, it seems to me that the actual circumstances need to be considered. What I saw, primarily, was your desire to carry out the intent of the protocols that required you to make an independent determination as to whether or not you would affirm the captain’s orders. No mutiny. That’s all I have. Oh, also, there’s the little matter of Captain Jefferson drawing his sidearm, taking the safety off, and racking the slide. That’s got to mean something.”
There was some mumbling among several of those present. I hadn’t mentioned the pistol business to anyone else, and I had intended not to, and I’m sure that information was a surprise to most of those present.
“All right, thank you, Midshipman Amundsen,” Rabinowitz said. “We’ll write our reports and let the chips fall where they may. Any objection?”
No one said anything.
“All right, then, you may all resume your ordinary duties. Let’s try to get the ship into decent condition. Lieutenant Waters, please see that all of the captured weapons are brought to the armory, including that LU-18. Talos, let everyone know that general quarters will remain in effect until further notice.”
50
Looking Back
And so, my adventure on the Valley Forge came to an end.
Talos continued to track the Kerleegan ships. They continued away from us, and they were running their engines during much of that, so they were easy to track. About five hours after their departure, they were well over a million miles away. At that time, Rabinowitz canceled general quarters.
As for our reinforcements—our rescue ships—I’m told they made radio contact with us about twenty hours after general quarters was first announced. That was about a half-day after the Kerleegans disappeared. The rescuers finally arrived at the Valley Forge about four hours after that.
I heard that Commander Rabinowitz had some choice words for the leader of the reinforcements. They had a lot of excuses. As my Kerleegan friend said, “It’s always something, isn’t it?”
Since the Valley Forge had expended all its missiles, all its drones, and all its countermeasures, it was less than pointless for us to go anywhere other than low Earth orbit, where repairs could be made to the ship, and she could be rearmed. That being the case, we piggy-backed on one of the cruisers that had arrived, and within a few days, Lennox, Nash, and I were back at the Academy.
What about sleep, soon after the battle?
Before the battle, even before general quarters was announced, I was thoroughly exhausted. I finally hit the rack about ten hours after the start of the battle. I slept for twelve hours.
Since Lennox’s and my berth was occupied by the captain and a couple of medicos, we slept on couch
es in the ready-room.
I dreamed of summertime in California, and of beaches, and family, and Joseph, and there wasn’t any war, and no one died.
In the end, no one was court-martialed. The Navy decided that the events on the bridge were ambiguous enough that no charges could be pressed. The Navy tends to back the captain in cases where there is any doubt, and they simply determined that Captain Jefferson had been ill. Whether the illness was physical or mental wasn’t specified in any public report, as far as I know.
The pistol incident that took place on the bridge never made it into any official findings, as far as I have been able to determine. The same can be said regarding the discussion Jefferson had with Admiral Farragut. Maybe no one on the crew mentioned those things in their reports. I know I didn’t.
I’m glad to say that Captain Jefferson’s future looks favorable. I hear that his mind is sharp again, and that he is as mean as ever, to everyone. So you could say he’s back to normal. I have gone from tolerating him to respecting him, but more than anything else, feeling sad for him.
The medical people, so I’m told, made an all-out effort to determine the cause of Jefferson’s mental breakdown. I have heard that he contracted some sort of alien virus, though that is only rumor. Whatever they find out, I doubt that it will become public information.
One of the most interesting aspects of the whole series of events was that Captain Jefferson was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for leading Nash, Lennox, and me in the attack on the Kerleegan boarding ships. I can’t say he didn’t deserve it.
Not only that, but Nash, Lennox, and me were awarded the Navy Cross for that same action. And thus I received the medal that Captain Jefferson was going to recommend me for. I suppose the three of us earned them. Others also deserved decorations, but didn’t receive them. And I’m thinking about Adler and Boyle, among others.
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