Tommy Thorn Marked (44 page)

Remus, growing tired of the endless rhetoric, put his hands together and rested them on his upper lip.

“And this Lieutenant?” Ethos paused to glance at a datapad. “Cruise, is it?”

He knows very well who Gary is. He’s been trying to get him since the Academy,
Remus thought.

“His completely unprovoked attack—a very clear act of treason, Chairman,” the general continued.

Remus leaped from his chair and slammed both fists on the table. “Treason! These are officers of the Mark, General. If treason is involved, then it lies squarely with the individual responsible for ordering Humans to attack Humans! A clear violation of Imperial law.”

Ethos calmly examined a thread on the sleeve of his immaculately tailored dress uniform before answering. “Yes, it is shocking that members of the Mark—” He said “Mark” with a sarcastic slur. “—could perpetrate such an act, but then they are, after all, Herfers.” Ethos smiled and looked directly at Remus.

Remus turned from the general, trying to control a growing rage.

“And as for the attack order. The ban on species versus species engagements is more of a guideline, Chairman. Of course, as a political figure, you would not have knowledge of such military protocol,” he added.

The distinguished diplomat, suddenly feeling very old, slowly turned and returned to his chair. “What do you want, Ethos?”

This time the general did not try to hide his smile…

Remus quietly pushed off the large hood and pressed his hand into the glowing ID scan at a station being attended by a royal Couragian guard. The helmeted sentry, satisfied with the ensuing displayed information, hit the hatch release and allowed the now retired chairman to enter an outer area of Tommy’s holding cell.

Remus noted, as he walked toward another security station, that he had never heard one of these genetically manufactured monsters speak.
They must speak
, he thought.
They communicate with one another…

He let the thought slip away, knowing he was just trying to keep his mind occupied with anything but the events of the last two months. Tommy and Gary found guilty of treason, and Gary—may his God have mercy—to endure the Codtra Ritual.

Almost a century ago, Tarchein scientists had, through conquest, become aware of an ancient ritual called the Codtra, or the
separation
. It was a complex medical procedure, but basically it involved attaching tubes with circulating oxygenated blood and liquefied nourishment along with electric impulses to a person’s head, allowing it to be removed from the body. The original reason for the research and attempts at the refining of this procedure was to extend life. Once perfected, the procedure could be used to prolong the lives of the greatest minds in the Empire almost indefinitely. But to date, there had been no takers, all preferring death to having their head artificially maintained—maybe, when an artificial body could be connected. However, the gruesome ritual continued to be used as a deterrent to crimes against the Empire. If so condemned, an individual would have his head removed and then placed in a small black box, to be kept alive for a minimum of a hundred years—no light, no sound—horrific.

Remus, just barely aware of his own movement, came to the next giant, and again allowed his hand to be scanned. This exercise was repeated several times before he was finally face to face with his son, Tommy.

He was seated on a chair, head bowed, hands on his lap bound by energy bands, located behind a clear confinement field. He did not look up to greet his foster father as he sat down in the only other chair.

“Tommy.”

Tommy reluctantly looked up, but it was hard to endure the pain and the sadness in the old Tarchein’s eyes—pain that he was responsible for.

“It’s tomorrow,” Remus said.

Tommy only nodded.

“At the convergence of the moons, the sentence will be carried out,” Remus continued.

Again, Tommy did not respond.

“I’m sorry, Tommy, but I will be unable to attend, as my ship leaves tonight for Peedma.”

“Peedma…” Tommy said.

Remus tried to smile. “It was strongly suggested that I relocate in the Cadamare System—Peedma seemed the best choice.”

“Suggested. You’re being exiled because of me,” Tommy said and bowed his head.

Remus, without thinking, tried to comfort his son. The shock of the force field sent his hand back into his lap. “This was my decision, Tommy. Besides, Peedma is a very nice planet, with good people, far from the tiring politics of the Empire. I’ll be well taken care of, son.”

Tommy looked up. “But, sir, your position…”

Remus raised a hand. “I have grown tired of the capital, Tommy, and without you.” Remus stopped himself. “It’s time for me to rest. I’m looking forward to it.”

“This is my fault, Father, if only I had—“

Again Remus raised his hand, wishing somehow he could comfort the young man. After all, it was because of him that Tommy was even in the Star Force.
Had I hoped only to ease my own conscience
, he asked himself for the hundredth time. “I’ve seen all of the facts, Tommy, not just that nonsense they released to the advocate. You had no choice.”

Tommy could not find it within himself to look into the old alien’s eyes. “There are always choices.”

Remus did not respond immediately. “I think you will find, for beings of integrity—that is not always true.

Tommy looked at Remus but said nothing.

“I’ve received some wonderful gifts in my life, Tommy. They have given me much joy, but nothing to compare with our time together. Going to Peedma means nothing! What’s important is that you continue. You have a lot of life to live—a life, I believe, that is destined for greatness.”

Tommy tried to smile, tears starting to well up.

“Listen to me, son. You did what you had to do on Titan, and so did Mr. Cruise. I would have expected nothing less from either of you,” Remus said.

Tommy shook his head.

“There is a reason why we never—never have Imperial warriors fight members of their own race,” he added.

“If that’s true, then why now?” Tommy asked.

“I don’t know, Tommy, but one thing is for sure—Ethos is behind it,” Remus said.

“Two minutes,” came the booming voice of one of the guards.

So they do speak
, thought Remus.

“Ethos, I should have guessed. He’s always hated Gary,” Tommy said.

“Quite right, and he’s been looking to get me relieved for years—never liked my stance on aliens.” Remus glanced over his shoulder before continuing, “But there’s something else, Tommy. I sense a great fear in the royal house.”

“A fear of Terran?” Tommy asked.

Remus smiled, something he had not done for months. “No, Tommy, the royal house, to their great loss, fears no system of planets or any race in this galaxy. No, this is something else. But the result will be acts like the attack on Titan, and the wasteful involvement of men like you and Mr. Cruise,” Remus said.

Tommy winced. The mention of Gary brought overwhelming sadness.

Remus stood as a guard approached. “If our paths never cross again, Tommy—know this.”

Tommy looked directly at Remus. “Yes, sir.”

“Having you in my life has brought me the greatest joy. You are now, and will remain within my heart forever.”

“And you in mine, Father,” Tommy said.

“Farewell, my son,” he said, and after one last lingering look into Tommy’s eyes, Remus pulled the hood over his great head and was gone.

Tommy was once again alone in the outer court of the Marked headquarters. Again to stand among the honored fallen, and again there was no apprehension. The training of the Marked, he thought. But there was something new, a bitterness and a resentment he had never known. No, not in all the years of combat had he felt such hate.

“Lieutenant Commander Thomas Thorn.” The summons resonated softly throughout the court.

Large doors swung open, and Tommy made the long lonely walk between rows of the assembled officers to the very stage where just months earlier he had received his Mark—all thoughts now, however, on his friend, Gary Cruise.

The Marked commandant and his staff were seated in a wide arc at the rear of the stage, and just as with the trial, Tommy could only find sadness in his eyes. He had never felt any sense of betrayal from the ranking officer.

Grand Marshal Ethos, his staff and a dozen Couragians were also on the stage along with Gary. He stood, secured in a harness that fastened around his neck. Tubes jutted out of the back and top of his shaved head.

Tommy made eye contact with Gary as he slowly climbed the steps to the stage. How was Gary able to show such courage, his eyes steady and bright? They had been kept separated since the court-martial, but Tommy would always remember the comforting look and Gary’s last words to him. “Stand as they stood, Tommy. This is not your fault, my friend.”

Don’t show these Tarchein bastards any fear
, was Tommy’s only thought.

Once on the stage, Tommy’s hands were bound by bands of glowing energy, and he turned to face the formation as Ethos began to speak.

“This is a somber day in the proud history of this gallant band of warriors. A day unprecedented in history.”

The marshal paused for a moment to look at the Marked senior staff. “Treason, for any warrior is an unforgivable offense, but for an officer of the Mark, this unthinkable act of treachery in the face of the enemies of the Empire…”

Turning now to look directly at Gary, he added, “Unimaginable… Lieutenant Gary Cruise, you have been found guilty of high treason and sentenced to the Codtra.”

Gary stiffened slightly, but showed no emotion on his face.

“Would you care to make a final statement while you still retain lungs?” Ethos added.

Gary made no reply, but he did not avoid the general’s eyes. There was a real sense within the hall that the grand marshal was enjoying the moment. His hatred for Humans was widely known. This did not seem like an event that was solely dictated through unfortunate circumstance, but rather contrived somehow. This punishment was not meant just to discipline Gary. Clearly, it was a message to all that would defy the Empire, even the mighty Marked.

Couragian guards, sensing a growing resentment among the gathered, and armed, men and women of the Mark, moved forward on the stage, command staffs at the ready.

“Very well,” Ethos said, stepping back from Gary as a Tarchein medical officer initiated the device.

Tommy continued to look directly into Gary’s eyes, hoping to strengthen his old friend. Thoughts of the Academy, stratagem matches, the Slate, suspended together from the cliffs near Camp Calder, the time Gary had waved from his Pipe, and his mother on Mars.
Gary’s mother
, he thought.

Gary continued to look out on the formation as the laser scalpel went about its programmed task. Tommy continued to stare, unblinking, although every instinct was to turn from the grisly sight of his friend’s head being slowly removed. He had hoped to strengthen, but it was Gary who lifted everyone’s spirits. He made no sound, nor did he flinch as the machine made its last awful cut, but rather, as one last gesture of defiance, much to the chagrin of the marshal, Gary raised his right hand and displayed his Mark.

Slowly at first, then to a man, the assembled formation raised their hands and illuminated their Marks in tribute.

Gary actually, unbelievably, smiled, and with his last bit of air shouted, “For those that stayed!”

To this the formation, including Tommy, the commandant, and his staff, shouted, “Let them also be marked!”

With that, Gary’s body, still in the dress uniform of the Marked, crumpled to the polished floor, grotesquely twitching until removed from the stage.

“We will have order in this hall!” Ethos shouted.

But it wasn’t until the Marked commandant raised a single hand, his right, that the formation came to order, again allowing the marshal to speak.

“Gary Cruise, you will now be placed in the Hall of the Forgotten,” Ethos finally said.

Gary’s expression never wavered as two Tarchein officers guided a flat-black metal box down toward his severed head, kept alive now with tubes and alien technology.