Article 23 (23 page)

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?"

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."

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."

Shaking his head angrily, Admiral Singh held up his hand.

"Then perhaps sixteen-year-olds do not have a place anywhere there is serious work to be done," he shot back angrily, "and your Academy is a nuisance and hindrance to the jobs we must perform."

"It is precisely their spirit that our new and evolving society needs,"
Thorsson
replied. "We need to see the universe through their youthful eyes and not the tired eyes of old men like you and me. We need their exuberance, and yes, their playfulness as well. And most of all we need their idealism. For idealism is born and nurtured in the hearts of the young. I came eighty-seven million kilometers to tell all of you this one thing. I believe that Cadet Justin Wood Bell acted in the highest tradition of the United Space Military Command. Article Twenty-five is placed last on the list for a deliberate reason, to remind all of us that in the end, all rules must be subservient to truthfulness and idealism.

"Too many in our society believe that truth is relative, and I say they are mad. No higher society can function without certain absolute truths to which all must adhere; and defining our ethics based upon a given situation is the path of the damned. I believe that Cadet Bell's act was one of selfless sacrifice to save a friend who could not protect himself from evil. It is that simple, truth versus falsehood, right versus wrong, and if you let
MacKenzie
go free and then condemn
Bell, our Service is damned. And I for one would rather see our entire Service go down fighting and all of our careers destroyed than see one guilty man go free and a group of innocent cadets be condemned in his place."

Singh stirred angrily.

"Are you implying, Admiral, that we would place careers ahead of truth?"

"Yes, I am,"
Thorsson
fired back. "Too many are quietly whispering that for the good of the many we should turn a blind eye to the faults of
MacKenzie
. We rationalize to ourselves that collectively we do so much good, and that we jeopardize that good by examining this case too closely. Yes, I know about the pressure from the top, Admiral Singh; believe me, I heard it myself, and that is why I flew here with my radio turned off."

Marcioni
chuckled at
Thorssons
admission that he had ignored an order to return to his base and Justin wondered just how much flak was going up over
Thorsson's
actions. Most likely a lot, he realized.

"Is that all, Admiral?"

"Yes, it is. To condemn any of these cadets except for the one whose truthfulness I seriously doubt would be a crime unworthy of this service. I came here to state that I feel responsible, in part, for this incident as well. If they are found guilty then I am guilty as well of the crime of idealism. If they are found guilty I shall resign my commission in protest and retire from duty with a service that no longer represents the ideals which should and must be at the core of what we are."

Singh, face turning bright red, gazed angrily at
Thorsson
as he came to attention, saluted and then walked to the rear of the room to sit by Justin's side.

Justin looked over at
Thorsson
, unable to speak.

"Plebe Cadet Bell, Justin."

Thorsson
winked at Justin as he came to his feet, nervously tugged at his uniform blouse to make sure it was tucked in, and then approached the bench. As he was sworn in Justin saw his legal advisor come into the room from the comer of his eye. Trying to appear unobtrusive, she slipped up to Captain
Marcioni
, leaned over, whispered to him, and passed on an envelope.

The questioning started, following much the same path that Justin had endured in the earlier hearing, starting with his relationship to Matt prior to shipping aboard the Somers, their conversations with O'Brian and others and through to Matt's confrontations with Colson and what Matt had said.

Justin tried to remain calm, but he could feel the sweat breaking out around his tight collar and on his brow. After two hours of questioning Justin felt as if the officer acting as
MacKenzie's
defense was boxing him into a corner, forcing him to admit that in the most technical sense Matt's statements could be construed as supportive of the separatists and therefore imply a mutinous action. Whenever Justin tried to add a "but" or make his own personal observation he was cut off; he would never get the chance to really explain what had happened in straightforward words other than "yes, sir," and "no, sir."

He was coldly furious when Matt's thrashing around in his sleeping net was turned into a physical attack on the Captain.

MacKenzie's
defense finally rested and Justin could see the glint of cold satisfaction in the Captains eyes. Justin struggled with the temptation to stand up and somehow voice his protest.

Singh looked around at the other four judges.

"Are there any other questions?"

Marcioni
, who had spent most of the time hunched over his desk computer screen as if ignoring the testimony, stirred and looked up.

"I have a few questions, sir."

"Go ahead then."

Marcioni
stood up and looked at Justin.

"Can I quickly review a few things, Mr. Bell?"

"Yes, sir."
Justin said wearily.

"First. We have not yet heard from Cadets
Leonov
, Smith, Everett,
Iivollen
, and
Amin
, but it is your contention that all will claim Cadet Everett never made any statement that he planned to take the Somers."

"I can not speak for the others, sir, but yes, sir."

Justin took a deep breath and then saw that
Marcioni
was giving him an opening to say more.

"Matt and I have been roommates from our first day together at the Academy. We know everything about each other, things we'd never tell anyone else. Matt is given to big talk, sir. And he spills everything out when he does. He never, sir, never even hinted that he had any intention of doing anything illegal."

"Yet he did express sympathy for the separatists."

"Sir, he expressed understanding, and I think that's different. And, sir, as I understand it, having opinions is freedom of thought, which the Academy teaches
us
is our right. We're not out here to police thoughts, only actions."

There was a stirring in the room at his comment and Justin wondered if he had said too much.

"So Mr. Everett, in your opinion, is innocent of the charge leveled by Cadet Colson that he was planning a mutiny."

"Yes, sir.
There was bad blood between Colson and Matt even before we shipped aboard Somers."

"Explain."

Justin reviewed the encounter on their first day of the plebe year and up to the final encounter with Colson's threat of getting even.

"So you think Colson's accusation was revenge?"

"Yes, sir."

"And Matt hitting him?"

"Colson is
lying
about that, sir. Though I did not see it, I think Colson pushed him from behind; Matt tumbled and accidentally kicked him. I know Matt, sir. If he was going to nail someone like Colson he'd do it face to face and not go skulking around sucker-punching someone from behind. Also, I think that if Matt had hit him, Mr. Colson would be minus some teeth."

"And Matt hitting the captain?"

"Sir, it happened as I tried to explain it to you yesterday, and not like Captain
MacKenzie's
advocate is painting it now. Matt was still half-asleep, the Captain grabbed him and dragged him out of the net and Matt, tossing about, banged into the Captain."

"Mr. Bell. If what you said is true then first of all Captain
MacKenzie's
belief that a mutiny threatened was an ill-formed and incorrect opinion, based solely upon the lies of one cadet who knowingly played to the fears of his commander."

"Yes, sir," Justin said emphatically.

"Second. Captain
MacKenzie
went off, as the old saying goes, half-cocked, not properly balancing
the
evidence before acting, and therefore
singled out
Cadet Everett based
upon his own prejudices and

the
falsehoods of one cadet. And finally, the incident of striking the Captain never happened as claimed by
MacKenzie
and was, in fact, an unwarranted attack by a commanding officer against one of his personnel."

"That is correct, sir."

Marcioni
looked over at Singh. "If we accept those points then Captain
MacKenzie
was acting outside of the authority granted to him as captain and did demonstrate, as well, in the worst possible way, faulty and prejudicial judgment that amounted to a vendetta against Cadet Everett. If so, then the later actions of Cadet Bell and his compatriots were fully justified, proper, and in total accordance with Article Twenty-five."

"So far," Singh replied, "I believe the evidence leans to the contrary."

Marcioni
nodded,
then
leaned forward, hands resting on the desk, his attention fixed on Admiral Singh.

"One final point, sir.
After several unpleasant incidents during the early days of fleet operations, Regulation 1303 in regards to the use of remote sensing and the gathering of information about fleet personnel was passed."

Singh looked at him quizzically and then nodded.

Marcioni
raised his voice, now addressing his remarks to the entire room. "It is strictly forbidden to use a ship's internal computer systems to observe in any way whatsoever the actions and speech of members of a crew. Without that provision, all of us would live in constant fear of the sophisticated machines that are essential to our service."

"Your point, Captain
Marcioni
?"

"If such recordings are made without prior warning and full agreement by the crew or individuals being observed, it is considered a violation of their rights. The only exception is by prior court order in pursuit of a known felon. All other use is strictly forbidden and there are no exceptions to that rule. Sir, it turns out that Captain
MacKenzie
routinely recorded the conversations of his crew."

There was an uncomfortable stirring in the room. Justin looked over at his legal advisor who grinned at him and quietly gave a thumbs-up gesture.

"Sir, I ask the court to issue an order allowing us to now view the recordings Captain
MacKenzie
made that bear directly upon this case."

"Where did you get these?" Singh asked.

"Lieutenant Kowalski, sir, Cadet Bell's legal advisor. She went up to the Somers last night and entered the Captains computer."