America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 1: Feeling Lucky

by Walter Knight

  #1: When Lieutenant Czerinski entered the habitat tunnel system, he encountered a security patrol. What does the captured video images of that contact show?

  #14: The three tunnel guard sentries fought the twenty human pestilence in close quarters combat and were killed. At one point Lieutenant Czerinski knocked a sentry to the ground by viscously smashing a leg out from under him. The sentry threw his rifle away and put his arms up to surrender. The sentry begged for his life. Lieutenant Czerinski crushed his head with the stomp of a boot. The other sentries were torn apart.

  #1: What happened at Habitat #40?

  #14: Lieutenant Czerinski and his platoon snuck up on Habitat #40 and opened fire with rocket propelled grenades, small arms, and a machine gun, slaughtering 323 males, females, and babies. After the slaughter, the victims were cooked and eaten. Some babies were boiled alive.

  #1: The habitat families were unarmed?

  #14: Yes. Weapons were stacked. Habitat families were herded into a corner and cut down. Babies were shot off the ceiling. Then an eating frenzy followed.

  #1: You said members of the human pestilence claimed they were starving, and later regretted their action?

  #14: What they regretted was being caught. We have a recording of Lieutenant Czerinski discussing the matter with Sergeant Lopez. Sergeant Lopez stated that it would not be good if they were ever captured. He was right. And, we have a recording of Lieutenant Czerinski discussing the massacre with General Kalipetsis. General Kalipetsis ordered Lieutenant Czerinski to nuke the habitat in order to cover up the atrocities.

  (All recordings, images, and electronic data were played for the court)

  Cross examination by Defense Officer #2, of Intelligentsia & State Security Officer #14:

  #2: Well, #14, you left a lot of information out of your testimony, and presented a lot of evidence out of context. Isn’t that right?

  #14: No, I answered the questions I was asked to answer.

  #2: You testified that Lieutenant Czerinski interrupted your interrogation by striking at your throat, but you forgot to tell the court that you had just told Lieutenant Czerinski that you had the eaten a female member of his platoon the day before. Yes?

  #14: Yes.

  #2: But you said no earlier?

  #14: Yes.

  #2: Which is it? No or yes? If you lie about small matters, why should we believe you about important matters? You lie a lot, don’t you?

  #14: No.

  #2: You lied when you told Lieutenant Czerinski that you had eaten the female human soldier. In fact, she was removed from the area to prevent mating. Yes?

  #14: Yes.

  #2: Why did you deliberately lead Lieutenant Czerinski to believe the female human solder was dead?

  #14: I was angry and wanted to make Lieutenant Czerinski suffer.

  #2: So, you only lie when you are angry?

  #14: No.

  #2: You lie at other times, too? Do you ever tell the truth? You had better start being truthful, or there will be consequences. It’s all recorded, you know.

  #14: Yes.

  #2: You provoked Lieutenant Czerinski?

  #14: Yes.

  #2: Then you easily ducked back from his expected lunge, at which time you sliced off his hand?

  #14: Yes.

  #2: Do you know that humans can’t grow back their limbs?

  #14: Yes, but I did not know that at the time.

  #2: And that makes your actions better?

  #14: No.

  #2: Aren’t there rules about abusing prisoners of war?

  #14: Yes.

  #2: So let’s summarize for the Court. You lie when you are angry? You break rules when you are angry? And you abuse prisoners of war when you are angry?

  #14: No. That was an isolated incident.

  #2: Isolated? You strung up Corporal Green and left him in a web, up side down? More anger issues?

  #14: Yes, and I’d do it again, too. Green is a mouthy little human pestilence. I did nothing wrong. They are all vicious murderers. I did my duty investigating their war crimes.

  #2: By lying?

  #14: The captured electronic communications and video camera recordings speak for themselves.

  #2: Yes, and they were presented out of context, too. As a member of the State Security Intelligentsia, you followed our troops into battle during the invasion of New Colorado. And, you analyzed captured documents and interrogated civilian prisoners?

  #14: Yes.

  #2: And you presented all relevant information you found to your superiors?

  #14: Of course. What are you getting at?

  #2: What was the human population of New Colorado before our invasion?

  #14: It was a new human colony, so they only had about 30,000.

  #2: The invasion began with the nuking of all small towns and industry?

  #14: Yes.

  #2: And all their military installations?

  #14: Yes.

  #2: What? Isn’t it true that the humans had no military presence on New Colorado? You lied to us again?

  #14: We hit strategic targets that might have dual military and civilian uses, such as the air port, the space port, power generation, and the constabulary.

  #2: You are being deceptive, and that is the same as lying to us again! You are saying that a power station, an airport, a spaceport, and a few cops are military targets and justification for nuking an entire defenseless civilian population engaged only in the honorable mining of minerals from the ground?

  #14: The targets were determined by the General Staff, not me.

  #2: But it is your job to analyze the data. To tell the General Staff if they did a good job in target selection?

  #14: Yes.

  #2: Did they?

  #14: Yes.

  #2: But there were no military targets.

  #14: No.

  #2: How many civilian prisoners did we take?

  #14: About a thousand.

  #2: What happened to the rest?

  #14: I don’t know.

  #2: Speculate. It is in your job description as an intelligence officer.

  #14: Most killed. Some evacuated. Some are still hiding underground or in the woods.

  #2: Evacuated? How would that happen if you nuked the spaceport and there was no military presence on New Colorado?

  #14: I don’t know.

  #2: I’m getting tired of that answer. What do you know? Did the humans have a military presence in orbit?

  #14: No, just unmanned communications and weather satellites.

  #2: In summation, and it is like pulling fangs from you, we slaughtered an innocent defenseless civilian population?

  #14: Their very existence in imperial space threatened the Empire. The Emperor said so himself.

  #2: Yes, so he did. And I will not argue with the wisdom of the Emperor, unless he based his information on intelligence from idiots like you. Did any humans resist the invasion?

  #14: Yes.

  #2: As you broke into their isolated homes and farms? I say that because all the towns had already been nuked?

  #14: Yes.

  #2: And obviously most of those who resisted were killed? You took a thousand prisoners out of thirty thousand? That is an extermination, not a military invasion. You call the humans pestilence? Isn’t pestilence something that needs to be exterminated?

  #14: Again, I was merely using the words of the Emperor. You are treading on dangerous ground.

  #2: Do you threaten me? If so, you just made the biggest mistake of your whole sorry-ass career!

  #14: I meant nothing by that.

  #2: Just a little angry, eh? Let’s move on. You collected intelligence on the humans because we do not quite understand what the humans are all about? We can combat them better if we can understand them better?

  #14: Yes.

  #2: So if we do not understand what humans are all about, it stands to reason that that humans do not understand what we are about, either?

  #14: Yes
.

  #2: You said that after the battle at Habitat #40 Lieutenant Czerinski and Sergeant Lopez discussed what they had done.

  #14: Yes, they knew there would be repercussions if we caught them. They expected to be killed slowly.

  #2: Actually, weren’t they just coming to an understanding of what they did?

  #14: How do you not understand that you slaughtered whole families?

  #2: I don’t know. How did you not understand that when we nuked every town on New Colorado?

  #14: General Kalipetsis knew. He understood right away. That’s why he ordered the habitat nuked. To destroy the evidence. To cover up the massacre.

  #2: Probably. Lieutenant Czerinski and Sergeant Lopez also discussed the identification crystals. They did not know what they were.

  #14: Yes. They thought the crystals were diamonds and that they could get rich from them.

  #2: Isn’t that evidence of a lack of understanding between us and humans?

  #14: It is evidence of ruthless looting of the dead, and a motive for more unnecessary killing.

  #2: Did our troops loot?

  #14: No.

  #2: The captured video camera recordings clearly show #100 drinking and smoking intoxicants and possessing stimulants taken from human civilians.

  #14: Those were insignificant items taken by young troops. The defendant hoped to get rich from his loot. Lieutenant Czerinski even cited Legion history when Mamelukes were victimized the same way.

  #2: It is your job to collect intelligence and to pass it on to your superiors. In regards to the humans, have you done that to the best of your ability? Have you gained a greater understanding of what humans are all about?

  #14: Yes, I believe so.

  #2: Humans do not seem very forgiving, do they?

  #14: No, they don’t.

  #2: Are we still at war?

  #14: We are at truce. Their armada was stopped. Both sides were badly mauled. We hold the north half of the planet and the moons. The humans hold the south. Prisoners have been exchanged, and face-to-face negotiations are ongoing.

  #2: So, the war is over?

  #14: I hope so.

  #2: And the humans have forgiven us for the slaughter on New Colorado?

  #14: Not likely.

  #2: Are we doomed?

  #14: I beg your pardon?

  #2: Are you going to lie to me again? Or be deceptive again? I asked if we are doomed? Based on the intelligence you have gathered what are our future prospects of survival?

  #14: If you are asking about future military operations, you should be asking the General Staff questions like that. Not me.

  #2: The General Staff isn’t here. I’m asking you to state an opinion based on the facts you have gathered. You said earlier that the very existence of humans in imperial space was a threat to the Empire. That was when the human presence on New Colorado was merely a civilian mining operation. Now that our only two fleets have been savaged, and the United States Galactic Federation is mobilizing its military, are we in even more danger than before?

  #14: I don’t know.

  #2: You don’t know? Are you saying you have no information about the American Tenth Fleet headed our way? What are we going to do when the Tenth Fleet gets here? Throw rocks at them?

  #14: That intelligence has not been confirmed. And, it is imprudent for us to be discussing the matter in open court.

  #2: Well, I have a question for you. In addition to the American Tenth Fleet, just how many fleets do they have? I think it is a very prudent question in light of the fact that our only two fleets, the Invasion Feet and our Home Defense Fleet, have been ruined due to the incompetence of the General Staff. And another thing. Just how large is the United States Galactic Federation?

  #14: I am not sure.

  #2: Didn’t anyone bother to find out before we started this war?

  #14: I was not involved in the planning of the invasion. I merely did my duty when I was sent.

  #2: And I commend you and all our other brave soldiers for that. But since the invasion, you have gathered intelligence information on the capabilities and size of the United States Galactic Federation?

  #14: Some, but the data is still being analyzed.

  #2: You are holding back on us again. If you commit perjury one more time, I will draw my sidearm and shoot you myself. I am handing you a star chart of our corner of the Galaxy. Do you recognize this star chart?

  #14: Yes, I collected this star chart from a burned out library on New Colorado. I submitted the chart to my superiors along with other military intelligence.

  #2: The red dots seem to indicate the five inhabited planetary systems of the Arthropoda Empire. Right?

  #14: Yes.

  #2: And these hundreds of blue dots? What do they signify?

  #14: The inhabited planetary systems of the United States Galactic Federation.

  #2: I may not be an expert, but it looks like we have a serious problem. Do we?

  #14: Maybe. This intelligence has not been confirmed.

  #2: So the plan is to wait until the human Tenth Fleet arrives and destroys us. Is that going to be our confirmation?

  #14: I am not a member of the General Staff. I cannot answer that question.

  #2: Sergeant Lopez called you a bug just before you shot him. Do you know what he meant by that?

  #14: Research shows that we resemble exoskeleton species from their home world. I suppose it was meant as an insult. But our exoskeleton is far superior and more evolved than their human body of soft tissue supported by bones. So I personally took being called a bug as a complement.

  #2: You missed Sergeant Lopez’ meaning completely. Perhaps that is due to the imperfections of our computer translation devices. On the human home world a bug is something stupid and little, that can be easily squashed. It fits you perfect. Defense rests.

  (After two hour recess)

  JUDGE: In regards to the civil lawsuit, the Court finds that #14 used excessive force against Lieutenant Czerinski while said human pestilence was in custody. #14 wrongfully cut off Lieutenant Czerinski’s hand and allowed Lieutenant Czerinski to be nearly beaten to death. The Court awards Lieutenant Czerwinski 1,000,000 credits compensation for pain, suffering, and loss of a limb that will not grow back. These credits will be held in an account for Lieutenant Czerinski’s heirs, and to defer Court and appointed attorney costs in Lieutenant Czerinski’s criminal case.

  JUDGE: In regards to the criminal proceedings, after carefully listening to the testimony, reviewing all of the evidence and recordings, the Court finds Lieutenant Czerinski guilty of Murder, Genocide, Terrorism, Prisoner Abuse, Custodial Assault, Criminal Conspiracy, Looting, Crimes Against Civilization and Decency (Eating the Families of Habitat #40), Theft, Custodial Gambling, and Extortion. To have found otherwise would have been an affront to our whole civilization. Does the defendant have anything to say before I pronounce sentencing?

  Lieutenant Czerinski: Americans never quit. When the Tenth Fleet gets here, they are going to put a boot up your ass! It’s the American way.

  JUDGE: Noting your lack of remorse, the Court sentences you to death, pending appeal.

  CHAPTER 13

  I was immediately taken to my cell. Five minutes later, #14 and four guards summarily strapped me to a backboard and carried me off. I put up a brief struggle and got tasered for my efforts.

  “Why are you doing this to me?” I asked. “Did I lose my appeal already?”

  “We are doing what I should have done a long time ago,” answered #14, as we arrived at what looked like a sterile medical treatment room. They slammed me and the backboard down atop a polished stainless steel medical examination table and put an IV into my left arm. Electrodes were attached to my head and chest. A spider doctor in a white coat supervised. Hell of a way to end things, I thought. The IV drugs were taking effect. I was feeling groggy. “Are you going to execute me now?”

  “Don’t worry, you will die soon enough,” laughed #14, fli
cking the IV bag with a finger to make it drip faster. “You will tell me the truth now. These truth serum drugs will make you tell the truth, and cause extreme pain if you lie.”

  “We can start now,” said the doctor. “Ask him something easy at first. Something we already know the answer to. I’ll be following his responses on the graph.”

  “What is your name?” asked #14.

  “Joey,” I answered.

  “Your whole name!” demanded #14.

  “Joey R. Czerinski,” I answered.

  “What is your rank?”

  “Lieutenant.”

  “How long until the Tenth Fleet arrives?” asked #14.

  “A long time,” I answered.

  “What? How long is a long time?” pressed #14.

  “How should I know?” I was trying not to answer, but the pain was unbearable.

  “Are you sure the drugs are working?” asked #14. “Maybe we should give him some more?”

  “The drugs are working just fine. You are getting truthful answers,” replied the doctor. “Czerinski is just a smart ass, even when unconscious. Focus on the questions you want to ask, and you will get the truth.”

  “What takes the Tenth Fleet so long?” asked #14.

  “Because the big boats are slow and heavy,” I replied, still feeling terrible pain, but not as much.

  “Big boats? What do you mean big boats?” asked #14, as he checked the controls on the translation device. “This is a piece of junk manufactured by Green Spiders.”

  “Battleships, dreadnaughts, super dreadnaughts, fighter carriers, destroyers, nuclear submarines, tug boats,” I added.

  “What is a nuclear submarine?” asked #14, checking the translation box again. “Does it have something to do with water? You will attack our water supply?”

  “It’s full of missiles. They will rain death down on our enemies,” I answered.