by Daniel Gibbs
Susanna stood mutely, a pained expression on her face.
“It still hasn’t been. So if that’s what you want… revenge for what they did to you, for what they did to your friends, your family, and your planet—don’t join. Stay here, get help, grow your faith, be with your family and friends. Dig a giant hole in your soul and bury the desire for revenge. If you don’t, something truly awful might happen. You might end up just like me.”
“Why would it be awful to be like you? You’re brave, strong, and confident. God sent you here to help us,” Susanna insisted stubbornly.
“Maybe He did,” Ruth admitted. “I don’t know. I say my prayers, I used to go to shul. Now I sometimes go to Christian services. I try to keep my faith.”
“You don’t talk to God?”
“I pray to Him. I don’t think I get a response,” Ruth said sadly.
“Do you still have faith?”
“Do I have faith that a higher power exists, that we’re not just the random offspring of apes, in a random universe? Of course. Do I think that the being who made all of this still cares about us… I can’t say I do every day. Some days, sure. Others, I wonder.”
Susanna suddenly threw her arms around Ruth and hugged her tightly. “It’s okay to question. Just don’t do it alone. I know others care for you.”
“I push people away, Susanna. I don’t let them get close to me.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s easier that way, rather than have to grieve when they die.”
“You must be very lonely,” Susanna said with pity in her voice.
Ruth pulled back from the embrace and glanced sadly down at the ground. “You have no idea.”
“Can we stay in touch?”
“How? You don’t use technology.”
“There’s a public communication terminal in town. It won’t be very often I can get to it, but I could vidlink you.”
“I’d like that,” Ruth admitted. “I don’t think you guys have credits, though, do you?”
“No, I guess I don’t,” Susanna replied.
“But I do,” Ruth blurted out. “I’ll send you a credit chip with enough to be able to talk a few minutes a month.”
“You will?” Susanna said, her eyes bright and smiling.
“Yes. As soon as I get back to the Lion.”
“Great!” Susanna began before her tone turned somber. “Ruth, I can’t begin to know what you’ve been through. All I can say is that you saved my life. Even if those monsters hadn’t killed me, they would have scarred me in ways I don’t think I’d have been able to overcome.”
“You’re strong. You would’ve gotten through it.”
“Maybe, but thanks to you, I won’t have to. No one else on this world will. You may think you’ve done things wrong. Only God knows what’s truly on our hearts, and we can’t hide from him. Whatever you’ve done wrong, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and redeem us. Don’t give up on that. Don’t give up on Him.”
I came here to try to help her. Instead, she ended up saying something I needed to hear. “Thanks.”
“I’ll give what you said some thought, but I still think I need to serve.”
“Your father won’t be happy about it,” Ruth observed.
“No, but I know he’ll respect my choice.”
Ruth raised an eyebrow. “Given how closed your society is, I find that somewhat difficult to believe.”
“We don’t force people to abide by the rules here. You must want it. I’ve been told in the past, many used to come here, seeking a different life. Nearly all of them couldn’t do it. It’s a radical way of doing things compared to the rest of the galaxy.”
“Yes, it is,” Ruth agreed. “I guess I’d better be getting back to my duties.”
“How long are you staying for?”
“Not long. I’ve only got a couple more tasks to handle planetside. That, and my ride’s going to be leaving,” Ruth said, grinning.
“I should do my chores too.”
Ruth embraced Susanna yet again. “Take care of yourself.”
“You too.”
“I might come by once more before I leave.”
“How come?”
“Classified, but some business with your father.”
“Oh, very mysterious.”
“That’s intelligence guys for you,” Ruth said, grinning. “Godspeed, Susanna.”
“Goodbye,” Susanna replied.
Ruth turned and walked away toward the shuttle she’d taken to get to the remote farm. I must continue to look in on her and make sure she stays on the right path, if I can help it. You break it, you own it.
33
The eternal progression of paperwork. David leaned back in his chair and groaned. He’d been at it for an hour, sifting through personnel reports, fitreps, and transfer requests. Military forms will survive the heat death of the universe. He’d just finished up the list of documents marked “urgent” in his inbox. He sat back in his chair, glancing about the small day cabin and office most of his business was conducted out of. After not even a year in command of the Lion, the space had truly become his. Framed mementos of his service hung throughout the room, along with one of the dedication plaques that featured the ship’s emblem, with the CDF motto of “Honor, Courage, Commitment, Duty, Faith” etched into the wood around it. Seeing it always made him smile.
David’s tablet beeped, causing him to glance down. It showed an incoming call from Colonel Dyson, which he accepted. A few seconds later, the older man’s smiling face appeared in real time. “I hope I’m not calling at a bad time, Colonel Cohen.”
“Not at all, I just finished up paperwork for the day. What I’m willing to do on it today anyway,” David replied with a grin. “It’s one part of the job I could do without.”
“I doubt any CO would disagree,” Dyson said. “I’m sure you’re busy, but I wanted to thank you for helping out. The Lion turned this whole thing around.”
“Just doing our jobs.”
“I remember you saying the same thing after you saved my ship the first time.”
David shrugged. “Not for self, but for country.”
“Look, I get that’s what we’re supposed to say… perhaps not enough of us believe it. It’s nice your ship was here to help.”
“Thank you, Colonel. I’ve got the best crew anyone could ask for. Between them, our TCMC contingent, and the pilots, the League doesn’t stand a chance,” David stated.
“Your optimism is infectious.”
“What’s next for your squadron?”
“We’re running convoy protection operations now, though there hasn’t been so much as a LIDAR shadow since you dealt with the battleships. I expect reinforcements within the week.”
David nodded approvingly. “Outstanding. Keep the supplies flowing, Colonel.”
“Count on it,” Dyson began before biting his lip. “Did you ever get a reason out of them?”
David immediately extrapolated he was talking about the traitors. “I haven’t personally talked to them. Colonel Demood questioned several of the suspects while I was undergoing surgery. The ones that broke were like a bad holorecording of one of those nutcases who think the League is a positive force for change in our decadent capitalist system.” Part of me wants to shove them out the nearest airlock. Treason disgusts me to the core.
Dyson laughed, a bitter tint to its lilt. “I don’t know about you, but I came from a decidedly lower-middle-class upbringing. I won’t say our system is perfect by any means, but at least we have the freedom to do something with our lives besides whatever the state declares we happen to be good at.”
“Amen,” David replied. “I’ll admit, life wasn’t awful as a kid. We always had everything I knew to want. Well, the basics anyway. After my father died, my mother had enough money from insurance and the community’s support so she didn’t have to work. I know we were lucky. Still, even if the League did offer a free life, without work… I wouldn�
�t want to live in a place like that. Any government large enough to give you everything will control your thoughts and life.”
“So we fight for our own way of life,” Dyson finished.
“That we do. I hope to cross paths with you again, Colonel. It’s been an honor.”
“Same here. Fair winds, and following seas out there.”
“Godspeed, and good luck with those Leaguers.”
“Godspeed, Colonel,” Dyson said, and a moment later, the connection cut out.
David was left with his thoughts drifting back to why men and women who wore the same uniform as him would betray everything it stood for. Troubled by the fact that it happened, and more so by being completely unable to understand or wrap his mind around why, he set his tablet down and stood up. Back to the bridge, he thought. If nothing else, being around people who know who the enemy is and aren’t afraid to fight it is the antidote to traitors. Forcing further dark thoughts about what should happen to the prisoners in the brig, he tried to focus on the positive. Because at the end of the day, even sitting in the CO’s chair for six hours without a single item of interest occurring was better than paperwork.
“How in the heck did we allow an entire ship to become staffed by traitors?” the deep baritone voice of President Spencer asked to the room at large.
“That’s unclear at this point, sir,” Dunleavy, the secretary of defense, stated. They were in a large conference room within the Canaan government complex, filled with mostly military personnel and a few civilians.
“The bigger question is was this a one-off aberration or do we have a larger problem out there,” a woman with three stars on her uniform denoting her as a lieutenant general interjected from the back row.
“General Munoz has a point, Mr. President,” Dunleavy continued after the interruption.
“I refuse to believe we have a wholesale problem with traitors in our midst,” Spencer insisted. “It’s patently absurd. I find it hard to believe there were even six of them. Who in their right mind would support the League of Sol? Especially someone who claims to be a Christian.”
“These people did indicate during interrogation by the Lion of Judah’s crew that they’re part of the Fabian movement,” MacIntosh said; he sat to the right of Dunleavy, looking toward Spencer and the rest of the joint chiefs of staff.
“Perhaps we should consider taking action against the Fabians. They’ve always been an outlier in Coalition politics and a fringe group at best,” Munoz stated.
“Let me get this straight,” Spencer began. “Some people from a minority most of us disagree with do something bad. Our solution is to what, round them all up?”
“Internment isn’t unprecedented, Mr. President. We interned the citizens of any neutral world that supported the League in the early days of the war.”
“There are things that stick out in history as places where great republics erred and behaved against their core values in the name of security. Any time we give in to the desire to restrict our freedoms in exchange for comfort or perceived safety, we weaken the very things that bind us together and make us a nation of laws, not of men.”
“With respect, Mr. President, that’s a nice soundbite,” Munoz replied. “Sometimes we must do distasteful things for the good of our country.”
“I’m with the President on this,” MacIntosh said. “Let’s not mince words. Internment is a euphemism for arresting citizens and depriving them of their rights under the Terran Coalition’s constitution. It’s going to take a lot more before those tactics make any sense regarding the Fabians.”
“Nice white castle you have for yourself there, General. Does it come with a horse?” Munoz shot back.
Infighting, just what we need. “Enough,” Spencer barked. “The enemy is out there, not in here.”
“Apologies, sir,” Munoz quickly replied.
“Anyone have useful ideas?”
“We could consider lie detector exams for all field grade and senior officers,” Dunleavy ventured.
“Mr. Secretary, with respect, do you want to destroy morale?” MacIntosh asked, his mouth agape.
“I don’t like it, but we’ve no idea how bad this problem is. I, for one, quake in my boots at the idea of a fifth column operating behind our backs.”
“Telling every loyal officer in the Coalition Defense Force they aren’t trusted would further the cause of defeat more than losing a hundred warships,” MacIntosh said. “In the strongest possible terms, I can’t state my opposition to that course of action enough.”
Just what the League would want. “He’s right,” Spencer said, causing all heads to turn toward him. “No loyalty tests and no politically motivated witch hunts.”
“But, Mr. President, how else can we determine if our people are loyal without asking some simple questions? Higher levels of security clearance require a lie detector test… we could mandate everyone needs a refresher by the end of the month,” Munoz interjected.
“General, I understand that as the director of our military intelligence service, it’s your job to be paranoid,” Spencer began. “What you’re proposing goes beyond paranoia, into derangement. The answer remains… No.”
“If those options are off the table, sir, what would you entertain?” Dunleavy asked, his voice a bit pointed.
“Targeted surveillance actions approved by the Alien Surveillance Court, and a broader investigation into the background of the traitors. I’m not against looking into the Fabians, only that we don’t in practice or by suggestion, persecute them.”
“It’s difficult to get warrants for communication intercepts out of the court,” Munoz stated, “especially when the target is a Terran Coalition citizen.”
“That’s the idea, General. Otherwise, we’d descend into a surveillance state.”
“I hardly believe listening in when people vidlink suspicious characters is a surveillance state.”
“Let’s suppose I agreed with you. From there, it wouldn’t be too much further to surveil the family members of those people. Then we’d proceed to their friends, and acquaintances. Heck, before too long, we’d be tapping the commlink of a waiter that served someone who met one of the suspects once,” Spencer replied, his voice rising. What part of slippery slope don’t they understand?
“Sir, I continue to disagree. But it’s not my call.”
“No, it’s not,” Spencer said, his voice filled with a bit more edge than he was used to projecting. “Listen… and this message is for everyone at this table. Don’t ever fall into the trap of thinking if we had just a little more power and information, we could do more. Once that road is explored, it never ends. Thinking like that brought the world the civic scoring systems of the 21st century, where citizens were rated by the government based on their actions, which were observed through a massive network of cameras, audio listening devices, and information collection schemes. They ended up rewarding people for ratting out their friends and family. It’ll never happen here. There’s a reason why we have so many laws protecting the privacy of our citizens and why it's enshrined in our constitution. Anyone who isn’t clear on this and can’t get behind my policies… there’s the door. Don’t let it hit you in the rear on your way out.”
Dunleavy and MacIntosh exchanged glances, and many officers adopted a rigid posture and stared straight ahead. Good, I got their attention. “Now,” Spencer continued. “I want the domestic security agencies involved, specifically the Coalition Bureau of Investigation. Open a counterintelligence investigation into this matter, and put enough agents on it to get quick but precise results.”
“Yes, sir,” Dunleavy replied crisply.
“Any saved rounds here?” Spencer asked the room at large. No one replied. “Good. Godspeed and carry on.”
Almost everyone stood to leave, filing out of the area from two separate doors, but MacIntosh and Dunleavy stayed in their seats. I guess this will be the private session asking me if I’ve lost my marbles. After the room had cleared, the
y were left alone with two bodyguards. “Okay, gentlemen, what’s on your mind?”
“Mr. President,” Dunleavy began. “I’m not sure you’re taking this threat seriously enough.”
“I take it quite seriously. I’m however, not willing to overreact.”
“Let me put a finer point on it. The Fabians don’t even support the war effort half the time. What’s to be lost by using enhanced investigation techniques on them?” MacIntosh said before either man could reply.
“Okay, Andrew, I’ll bite. What would you do if you had the power to order it right now?”
“Tap every commlink they have, surveil every known member of their leadership, and go through their lives with a fine-tooth comb. There’s got to be connections there, back to the League.”
“You know this?”
“Mr. President, the fact that six Fabians, serving on the same ship, at the same time, turn traitor and nearly get our most important military asset destroyed… come on, sir, it’s not a coincidence.”
“Maybe it’s not. Maybe it is. What I won’t do is shred due process and our constitution on a hunch.”
“The constitution doesn’t replace common sense in a war,” Dunleavy stated.
“No, it doesn’t. I’ll admit, we bend the document at times. What you’re asking me to do isn’t bending it. It's ripping it in two. Not on my watch. Gentlemen, I believe if we don’t hold to our ideals and keep alive what makes our country great, respected, and a place those who are downtrodden, regardless of their species, want to escape to… what’s the point? If we become the League in order to defeat it, we don’t deserve to win.”
“I sense there’s no moving you on this matter, sir,” Dunleavy said.
“No. None at all.”
“What if there are more traitors out there? What if, God forbid, it escalates?” MacIntosh asked, his voice firm and direct.
“Then we revisit the subject, Andrew. I’ll tell you this, we’ll have to have bombings on multiple planets a day. Traitors will have to succeed disable our ships on a large scale before I’ll remotely consider defaming our principles. I don’t believe we’d ever get there, unless our republic has truly lost its way. Are we clear?”
