William Forstchen - Article 23

And Matt is my friend, my closest friend and what have I done? Justin thought guiltily.

"You're awfully quiet," Tanya said.

"Just thinking, that's all."

"Something about you is different now," Tanya whispered.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Just different, not as nervous, like something's building and changing inside you."

Justin didn't know how to reply.

"Do you really think he's going to execute them?"

"Hard to believe, but I think he will. We're cut off, he claims there's an emergency, and in a technical sense, he might be able to get away with Article Twenty-Three."

"But why, damn it? He can keep them locked up down there till we hit Deimos, turn them over for court-martial. There's no reason not to wait."

"Oh, yes, there is."

"Why?"

Justin shook his head sadly. "Why not? It's that simple why not? Kill some traitors, arrive at port and some will acclaim him to be a courageous hero for having the guts to take a stand."

"You think someone would protest, though. What about the media, someone will scream about a Captain murdering a bunch of sixteen- and seventeen-year-old kids."

"The media?" Justin sniffed. They'll tell lies as they always do. Come on, Tanya, think. Think of some of the leaders in the past who were nothing but damn lying scoundrels, cheating, stealing, breaking the laws left and right, yet the media kissed their butts while other leaders trying to bring about honest reform were pilloried. Right now the press are calling the separatists a bunch of terrorists. If some people were killed on the Gustavus, that clinches the deal.

"Remember that there are a lot of people who don't like the Academy. They've never liked the military to start with; they're afraid of our discipline, our adherence to an older code of values, and would love to see us torn down. Matt, Madison and the others will be instantly denounced and then through them they'll get at Thorsson and the Academy. We'll be seen as a nest of sedition to be rooted out. It won't be the first time that cadets or soldiers who were innocent were sacrificed to get at someone farther up the ladder."

"I wonder if MacKenzie is using Matt to get at Thorsson then," Tanya said, her voice bitter.

"You know," she continued, "I don't think I've ever heard you talk so much before."

"Well, I guess there wasn't anything this important to talk about," Justin replied, suddenly feeling somewhat shy.

"So what do we do?"

Justin fell silent for a moment. " MacKenzie still trusts me somewhat."

"So?"

Justin got up and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To see the Captain."

"Are you crazy?' Tanya hissed. "Go in there and you might be victim number ten."

"Maybe so. But I'd rather that than sitting here doing nothing."

"I'm going with you, Justin."

"No, you aren't."

"Look, Justin, you can't order me out of this."

"Tanya. He does trust me to a certain extent. You, I'm not sure. I think the fact you're a woman might set him off as well. Just stay here."

She hesitated.

"Please, just listen to me just this once? If I get caught up I'd like to think there was still someone on the outside on my side."

"All right. But I'll never forgive you if you get yourself locked up."

Stepping out of his room he looked up and down the corridor. At the end of the hallway he saw an enlisted man standing guard. Justin motioned that he wanted to approach, and the guard waved him forward.

"I'd like to go see the Captain," Justin said.

"Listen, son, just go back to your room."

"I'd like to see him," Justin pressed.

"Kid, it ain't pleasant up there right now. You can hear them hollering and yelling all the way out in the lounge. I heard O'Brian say it was getting kind of nasty, something about Hemenez being relieved."

"What?"

"Just that, and believe me, kid, I'd rather have her flying than Lewis any day of the week. So play it cool and get back to your room."

"I'd still like to see him."

"All right, kid," the guard sighed, "it's your funeral. I'll take you forward."

The guard escorted Justin through the lounge and talked to the guard by the forward door. The second man shook his head, then tabbed his commlink. After several minutes' wait the door opened. Petronovich was on the other side. The senior cadet was obviously shaken, and suffering from lack of sleep.

Petronovich offered the same arguments but Justin refused, repeating his demand to speak to the Captain. Petronovich finally led him forward. As the door opened Hemenez came out, her face flushed.

"I've been relieved of duty," she announced, and then stared at Justin. "What are you doing here?"

"I felt I should talk to the Captain."

"You've got guts, kid, I'll say that for you," she said. "Just be careful."

Justin stepped into the room. Doctor Zhing and Lieutenant Lewis were still in the room, both of them looking exhausted. MacKenzie seemed surprisingly refreshed; a thin smile lighted his face as Justin entered.

Justin came to attention. "Sir, permission to speak, sir."

"Ah, the idealist. Have you finished reading the book yet?"

"Sir? Oh, yes, sir."

"So you've come to report. Good, very good. Did you like it?"

Justin was surprised, and then realized that in spite of all that was going on the Captain thought that Justin was simply here to report the completion of a reading assignment. Well, if so, it was best to play along and look for an opening.

"It was troubling, sir."

"Interesting. Tell me, cadet, did Ahab warrant death?"

How to cast this? Justin wondered.

"His sacrifice, sir, did not change the course of events. The rope snagged him and he disappeared over the side. I remember seeing a movie where they did it differently, but in the book, sir, I think it was a senseless death."

"Yet it changed Ishmael, did it not? Was not such sacrifice therefore worth it?"

Justin looked around the room. Lewis was staring off blankly. Zhing, however, was watching intently. Justin knew that everything here was a metaphor, but he was out of his league when it came to this type of interaction.

"Sir, Moby Dick triumphed. He killed his nemesis, he destroyed the Pequod and all aboard save one. Would it not have been better for Ahab to wait until there was a more suitable time to act?"

MacKenzie walked up to Justin and smiled.

"You're playing a game with me, Mr. Bell. You are trying to be Starbuck, counseling caution. Don't play a game you do not understand."

"No, sir."

"Now what do you want?"

Justin suddenly realized that coming into this room was an act of pure impulse. He had not prepared in his mind exactly what he would say.

"Sir, concerning the executions."

"Execution," Zhing interrupted, holding up his hand.

"Sir?"

"The Captain has agreed to execute only the ringleader of the conspiracy. The others will be held for trial upon arrival at a base."

"You mean Matt alone will be executed."

Zhing nodded, eyes darting back and forth. "It's a fair compromise," he said hurriedly, as if to convince himself he had done the right thing. "Besides, Cadet Everett did strike the Captain, a capital offense in a time of emergency or military action."

"Oh, the good doctor argued long and hard for sparing all of them," MacKenzie interjected. "The humanitarianism of the physician, that was it, wasn't it, Doctor?"

Zhing, obviously beaten, lowered his head and looked back over his shoulder at MacKenzie.

"I still think we should wait for this boy as well, sir," he said quietly.

"No!" MacKenzie snapped, slamming a balled fist into the palm of his hand. "When this ship arrives at the base with a conspirator executed it will send a clear message across the system that the days of tolerance for traitors is over. The gesture of sparing the others for later trial is a weakness I regret, but I'll agree to it for your vote, Doctor, to have this traitor receive his immediate reward."