Mutiny (18 page)

"Put me on the ship's speaker system," Cole instructed Christine.

"Image, too?"

"No. Let's let 'em concentrate on what I'm saying."

"Ready, sir," she announced.

"Crew members of the
Theodore Roosevelt,
this is Commander Wilson Cole speaking. The Fifth Teroni Fleet has entered the Cassius Cluster and is on course to reach the Benidos system in about ten minutes. Remain at your battle stations and await further orders."

He gestured to Christine to kill the speakers.

"This is crazy," he said. "What's the point of being at their battle stations? We're not going to open fire on the whole Fifth Fleet. See if you can patch me through to their commander, voice and image."

Christine looked up at him a few seconds later. "No response, sir. I'm using an all-frequency signal, so I know they're receiving it. They just aren't acknowledging it."

"Eight minutes and closing," announced Briggs.

"And we're what, about a minute away?"

"Two minutes, sir."

"Get us over there, Pilot. We might still be able to talk a little reason."

"If not, what do we do next, sir?" asked Christine.

He wanted to say:
We die.
But he knew they were looking to him for leadership. "We improvise."

"We do no such thing," said a voice from the edge of the bridge.

Cole turned and found himself facing Captain Podok.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Like everyone else, I heard the red alert," answered Podok. "In such circumstances my place is here on the bridge. Step aside, Mr. Cole. I will take over command now." She turned to Christine. "Where is the Teroni fleet now, Lieutenant Mboya?"

"They're about six minutes from Benidos, Captain."

"And from the angle of their approach, where is New Argentina— before, beside, or behind the Benidos system?"

"Behind it, Captain," said Christine. "They have to pass Benidos to get to it."

"Get us there quickly," said Podok. "We haven't much time."

"You have a plan, Captain?" asked Cole, surprised.

"I have a clearly defined course of action."

"Would you care to share it with me?"

"You already know it," said Podok.

"I do?"

"Certainly. Gunnery department, lock on to the following coordinates." She rattled off a series of numbers.

"We're locked on, Captain," said Forrice's voice.

"Something's wrong here," said Cole. "You didn't even check the Teronis' position. How can you know their coordinates?"

"Gunnery department, fire ten pulse cannons at maximum strength."

Suddenly Cole realized what Podok's plan was. "Four Eyes, belay that order!" he yelled, but he was too late. An instant later the planet that used to be Benidos II exploded in a flash of blinding white light.

"What the hell have you done!" bellowed Cole.

"My duty," said Podok calmly.

"Your duty? There were three million Benidottes living on that world!"

"The Teroni fleet is capable of killing more than that every minute. I have prevented them from refueling."

"Then they'll get their fucking fuel somewhere else and kill everyone next week instead of tomorrow!"

"I have followed my orders. Mr. Wxakgini, take us to New Argentina."

"So you can blow
it
up, too?" demanded Cole.

"My orders are explicit," said Podok. "Our mission is to prevent the Teroni fleet from using our fuel depots."

"There are five million Men on New Argentina!" rasped Cole. "I'm not going to let you kill them!"

"Mr. Cole, leave the bridge and confine yourself to your quarters until further notice," said Podok. "You have been insubordinate once too often."

"Turn the ship away, Captain," said Cole. "Let them have the goddamned fuel!"

"That is treasonous talk, Mr. Cole. It will be mentioned in my report."

"I'm only going to ask you once more," said Cole. "Turn the ship away!"

"Mr. Wxakgini, full speed ahead," said Podok.

"Don't make me do this, Captain!"

"I have ordered you off the bridge, Mr. Cole. That means
now!"

"Four Eyes, this is Cole," he said, raising his voice. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes."

"As of this moment, I am relieving the Captain of command. Under no circumstances is any of our weaponry to be fired without my express order."

"Say the first part again," said Forrice.

"You heard me," said Cole. "I am taking over command of the ship."

"You will do no such thing!" said Podok, approaching him ominously.

"I don't want to harm you, Captain," said Cole, backing away, "but I won't let you slaughter five million Republic citizens." He raised his voice again. "Security! Get an armed team up here on the double. Sharon, tell them who to obey!"

"You planned this all along!" shouted Podok. "You and the Molarian and the Security Chief."

"That's not true," said Cole, still backing away. "Even after you destroyed Benidos II I wasn't going to relieve you—but I can't allow you to destroy another Republic world."

"Lieutenant Mboya, Lieutenant Briggs," said Podok, "you are witnesses to this attempt at mutiny. I will expect you to testify at his court-martial."

"It's more than an attempt," said Cole. "I have taken over command. You will be treated with courtesy and respect, but you're not giving any more orders. If we get away from here in one piece, I will deliver you to Fleet Command, turn myself in, and let them sort things out."

Sharon arrived with three armed Security men in tow.

"Colonel Blacksmith, arrest this man!" ordered Podok.

"Colonel Blacksmith," said Cole, "if you arrest me you will almost certainly consign five million Republic citizens to their deaths. Take Captain Podok to her quarters and post a guard there. If she causes problems, move her to the brig."

"If you obey him, you will be equally culpable," warned Podok.

"Captain, we've arrived," said Wxakgini.

"The Captain is no longer in charge," said Cole. "You will address all questions and comments to me."

"Colonel Blacksmith, what do I do?" asked the pilot.

"Obey Mr. Cole," said Sharon. "He has taken command. Captain Podok, will you please step this way?"

"You'll pay dearly for this, Mr. Cole," promised Podok. "And so will your fellow conspirators, Colonel Blacksmith and Commander Forrice."

Yeah,
he agreed silently,
we probably will. But at least five million New Argentinians won't. Of course, all that presupposes that we live through the next ten minutes. . . .

"Christine, damn it, have you opened a channel to them yet?" demanded Cole.

"I'm raising them on close to two million frequencies," she said. "There's no response."

"Can you rig it so they can hear my voice?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean they'll respond."

"But they'll be able to hear it?" he persisted.

"They've got to," said Christine. "I can't imagine they're not communicating among themselves. This will interfere with that, so I imagine
someone
will listen to it."

"Okay, put me on audio."

She made a quick adjustment. "Go ahead, sir."

"This is Wilson Cole, commanding the Republic ship
Theodore Roosevelt.
This is the ship that is between you and the planet known to us as New Argentina, the planet that holds the fuel you wish to appropriate. I offer you a deal." He paused briefly, ordering his thoughts. "You are free to take whatever fuel you need from the depot—but in exchange, I want your pledge that you will not harm the inhabitants of the planet. If you don't agree to this, I'll destroy New Argentina as I destroyed Benidos II. You have ninety seconds to respond."

He ran a finger across his throat, signaling Christine that he wanted the audio transmission killed.

"You wouldn't really do that, sir?" asked Briggs.

"Of course not," said Cole. "I took over the ship to prevent Podok from doing it. But the Teronis don't know that. All they know is that we just blew up one Republic planet rather than let them get their hands on the fuel, and I've threatened to do it again."

"You think it'll work?" asked Christine, staring intently at her computer as if to urge a response.

"We'll know soon enough," said Cole. He raised his voice. "Four Eyes, get everything ready, just in case."

"It's been ready," said the Molarian's voice, "or have you forgotten what we just did a few minutes ago?"

"I'm going to spend a long time trying to forget it," replied Cole.

"Message!" said Christine excitedly, and the bridge fell silent.

"This is Jacovic, Commander of the Fifth Teroni Fleet. Your terms are acceptable."

"Audio again," said Cole to Christine. Then, "This is Wilson Cole. We will withdraw and allow you to approach the planet."
As if we could stop you
, he added mentally.

He gave the kill sign again.

"Pilot, get us the hell out of here, full speed to the nearest worm-hole, and I don't give a damn where the wormhole leads, as long as it gets us out of the Cassius Cluster."

"Yes, sir," said Wxakgini.

"I don't think they'll harm us," said Briggs. "After all, they agreed to our terms."

"Maybe it's escaped your notice, Lieutenant," said Cole, never taking his eyes from the viewscreen where the Teroni ships were approaching New Argentina, "but our terms didn't include safe passage for the
Teddy R."

"Wormhole coming up in forty-five seconds," announced Wxakgini.

"Does it lead beyond the cluster?" asked Cole.

"It's never been fully charted, but it looks like it'll put us halfway to Antares."

"Am I mistaken," said Sharon, "or did three ships just shear off from their formation and start coming after us?"

"They're not in hot pursuit," said Cole. "I think they're just making sure we don't try to pull any tricks."

"Thirty seconds," announced Wxakgini.

"You want to give them a little farewell present?" asked Forrice's voice.

"No!" snapped Cole. "You let even one of them escape and the whole fucking fleet will come into the wormhole after us!"

"Ten seconds."

"They're not speeding up," said Sharon. "I think we're going to be okay."

And then, suddenly, they were inside the wormhole.

"Well," said Sharon, breathing a sign of relief, "it looks like we survived."

"The hangman will be
so
happy," said Cole. "Or do they shoot mutineers these days?"

Cole was escorted into the conference room by two armed guards. Forrice, also under guard, was already there, seated at a large oval table. One of Cole's guards indicated that he was expected to sit down as well.

A middle-aged major entered the room, seated himself, and lit up a smokeless cigar. Next he pulled a pair of small computers out of a briefcase and set them on the table.

"There's no sense starting until Colonel Blacksmith arrives," said the Major. "I hope they're treating you well."

"The condemned man has eaten a number of hearty meals," replied Cole dryly.

"I've been on the ship so long it took awhile to adjust to the gravity," added Forrice.

"Yeah, it's a little heavy," acknowledged the Major. "One point zero seven Galactic Standard. Ordinarily we'd be doing this on Deluros VIII, but given the controversy surrounding it, the Navy decided to hold it out here in the Timos system."

Sharon arrived, accompanied by two guards.

"Ah! Colonel Blacksmith," said the Major. "Please be seated." As she sat down, he turned to the guards. "You can leave us alone now. Please wait outside the door."

"We were told to stay with the prisoners," said one of the guards.

"I am their lawyer, and I wish to confer with my clients in private. Check with your superiors, and then please leave us alone."

The guard who had spoken left the room for a moment, then returned. "I apologize, sir. We were just following our orders." He turned to his companions. "Let's go. We'll wait outside, as he's requested."

After they had left the room, the officer spoke up again. "I suppose introductions are in order. I am Major Jordan Baker, and I will be defending you at your court-martial."

"You drew the short straw?" suggested Cole with an ironic smile.

"I am hoping for a summary verdict of not guilty on opening day," he replied.

"I don't want to prejudice you against your client," said Cole, "but I
did
relieve Captain Podok of command against her wishes."

"And in the process you saved five million lives," said Baker. He patted one of the computers. "We have the entire holographic log, so no one can deny what happened. I think you're going to come out of this in much better shape than Captain Podok."

"That's comforting," said Cole. "May I ask why Colonel Blacksmith and Commander Forrice are on trial at all? It was my decision, no one else's."

"Podok has filed a charge of mutiny against all three of you," answered Baker. "And Colonel Blacksmith
did
support you."

"She wasn't even there!" snapped Cole. "I thought you said you saw the holos."

"I did," replied Baker. "At one point, when you and Captain Podok gave contradictory orders, the pilot asked Colonel Blacksmith which of you to obey, and she told him you were in command."

"I was," said Cole. "It was over by then."

"Oh?" said Baker. "And what if she had told the pilot to obey Captain Podok? Would he still have followed your orders?"

"No," admitted Cole. "No, he wouldn't have."

"That's why she's on trial," said Baker. "The case against Commander Forrice is more nebulous. It's based on the fact that almost immediately after assuming command you contacted him and told him what you had done. He asked you to repeat what you said, you did, and he made no attempt to dissuade you." He paused. "But not attempting to dissuade you is not the same as actively supporting you, as Colonel Blacksmith did."

"If anyone had asked, I would have told them it was high time he took over the ship," said Forrice.

"Then it's just your good fortune that no one asked," said Baker.

"What's going to happen to Podok?" asked Sharon. "After all, she's the one who killed three million Benidottes."

"There will be a Board of Inquiry," answered Baker. "My guess is that they'll say her orders were subject to misinterpretation, so there will be no criminal prosecution. But of course they'll never let her command a ship again. They can't condone that kind of decision making."

"So she kills three million sentient beings and gets off with a reprimand, and we face death sentences for saving five million, is that it?" said Sharon.

"The prosecution is only asking the death sentence for Commander Cole," said Baker. "They want lesser sentences for you and Commander Forrice."

"Would they have been happier if Commander Cole had let Podok destroy New Argentina?"

"The truth? Probably. Then they'd only have one difficult decision to make rather than four."

"Seems like three easy decisions to me," said Sharon. "We saved five million lives."

"You've come directly to Fleet Command and were instantly transferred to Timos III," said Baker. "You've been kept incommunicado."

"So what?"

"So Commander Cole's first official act as Captain of the
Theodore Roosevelt
was to invite the enemy to appropriate the fuel from our depot on New Argentina."

"Thereby saving five million lives."

"You don't know that the Teronis would have destroyed the world. More likely they would have destroyed your ship, taken what they needed with a minimum of force, and left." He paused. "What you don't know is that the Fifth Teroni Fleet then proceeded to destroy military installations on seven Republic worlds. They did not exercise pinpoint accuracy."

"How many dead?" asked Cole.

"Not quite what you saved on New Argentina—but they're still out there, they're still using our fuel, and they're still killing people." Baker stared at him. "They're going to bring that up in court. How do you answer it?"

"We were one ship against two hundred. The choice wasn't between destroying the Teroni fleet or being good neighbors and letting them take the fuel. It was between destroying the fuel and all life on the planet or letting them have it."

"Couldn't you have just destroyed the fuel and left the planet alone?"

Cole shook his head. "It was fissionable fuel. Blow it up and the planet would have been radioactive for the next few centuries."

"Good," said Baker. "Remember that, because they're sure as hell going to bring it up." He turned to Sharon. "Colonel Blacksmith, I don't mean to embarrass you, but I have to ask: Were you having an affair with Commander Cole?"

"If I was, and I am not admitting to anything, there is no recorded proof of it."

"I'm sure there isn't, given that you were Chief of Security. But there is some indiscreet banter on record, which you indulged in with no one else." He stared directly at her. "The prosecution is going to ask you that question when you're under oath. If you hedge or qualify, they will assume you were sleeping with him, and this will color any comments you may make in support of his actions."

"I don't need anyone to support my actions," interjected Cole. "You've got the record of what happened on the bridge. Even after Podok destroyed Benidos I didn't take over. I begged her not to do the same thing to New Argentina. I gave her every opportunity to alter her decision. I warned her what would happen if she tried to blow up New Argentina. Even after I took over, I didn't set her and her supporters on some deserted planet to fend for themselves. I took the
Teddy R
directly to Fleet Command, set Podok free, and turned myself in to the naval authorities. Every single thing I did from the moment she attacked Benidos II I would do again."

Baker looked from each of them to the next. "All right," he said. "Both sides will be taking depositions in the next couple of days, and I would imagine the trial will start within a week. You're one of our great heroes, Commander; the Navy wants this cleaned up
fast."
Suddenly he stopped. "If any of you would rather have a different attorney, the Navy will be more than happy to supply one."

"No, you'll be fine," said Cole. Then, after a pause: "Have you ever participated in a mutiny trial before?"

"Commander Cole, you are the Navy's first mutineer in more than six centuries."