Traitor's Duty

by Richard Tongue

   A huge circle, divided into four clusters of chairs, representing Mars, Callisto, Titan, and the smaller group from the minor Jovian moons, the Belt, and now Ragnarok. Normally, the Vice-President would sit between the Martian and Jovian delegations, the Chairman of the Senate, but with him temporarily holding the office of the Presidency, he was replaced by the Father of the Senate, the longest-serving member, Senator Olongo, a Titanian and elder of the Freedom Party – and according to Harper, passionately devoted to the middle-of-the-road. He would be fair.

   Sitting close to Harper was Senator Norman, the fiery leader of the Progressives, with Wilcox of the Technocrats over at the head of the Callistan delegation, looking at her with a vague air of disgust, as if some sort of vermin had entered the chamber. Orlova lamented inside that she hadn’t paid more attention to politics in the past; she could barely name a tenth of the eighty people in the room, and there had been no time for more than the most cursory briefing.

   Moving to her seat, she sensed that the other Senators in her group, more than half of which were non-voting, with speaking rights only like she, seemed to move away from her, as if wanting to remove any potential for guilt by association. Most of them, she noted, were Technocrats, and were they to win the election, a lot of them stood to gain voting rights – a key part of their manifesto.

   The crack of a gavel opened the session, and Senator Olongo began, “Our first order of business, nearly our last order of business of this session, is the vote on the impeachment of President Newton.”

   Standing up, Orlova said, “Mr. Chairman, I wish the floor to debate this matter.”

   “The matter is settled, the debate is done,” Wilcox said. “I move for an immediate vote!”

   “I have a right to speak,” Orlova said.”

   “You should not be here at all,” one of the Belter Senators said. “I move that Senator Orlova be stripped of her office and protection, and turned over to face trial for the serious charges laid against her. Having such a person in this chamber degrades us all.”

   “We have a vote!” Wilcox said, but Olongo interrupted.

   “A move to impeach a Senator has priority over any other business of this body, as you very well know. The Senator from Vesta has made a motion, do I hear a second?”

   “Aye,” Senator Norman said. “I agree. Her presence is a disgrace.”

   “Then I call for a vote,” Olongo said. “All those…”

   Still standing, Orlova said, “I have a right to speak in my own defense!” Both she and Chambers had expected this. It was one of the contingencies they had made sure to cover in some detail.

   “Only if someone else wants to hear your mad rants,” Wilcox said. “Let’s get this over with and get back to our real business.”

   “I second Senator Orlova’s motion to speak,” Harper said, standing up. “I for one want to hear what she has to say.”

   A woman sitting next to him hissed, just loud enough to be heard, “Damn it, David, you’ll be impeached yourself if you do this. Let it go!”

   Senator Olongo looked at Orlova, and said, “Senator, you have been granted permission to speak in your own defense by this body. Your remarks must relate only to the charges against you. You have the floor, Senator.”

   A groan went up from the Technocrats, and a more panicked look from some of the Progressives. They knew that there was a deadline involved here. For most of the Senators, this was just an embarrassment they wanted to be over; for a few, they saw their plans and schemes beginning to unravel. She looked up at the crowded gallery, a thousand and more watching this display, and felt a pang of regret at what she must do first.

   “Mr. Chairman, before I begin, I spy strangers.”

   Olongo frowned, then said, “The Senator from Ragnarok having requested that the gallery be cleared, I so instruct the Sergeant-at-Arms. Senator Orlova, if you will wait for five minutes before beginning your statement, to permit the evacuation of the viewing areas.”

   “Thank you, Mr. Chairman.”

   “What’s the problem, Senator?” one of her neighbors., another Belter with ‘Yashimoto’ on the desk in front of him, said. “Scared of the public?”

   Turning to him, she replied, “I don’t want them to hear what I must say, and once you’ve heard it, I suspect that you will agree with my decision.”

   “I await your testimony with appropriately bated breath.”

   As the jeering crowds above were firmly but courteously removed from the room, Orlova took the opportunity to collect her thoughts, and skim through her datapad for notes. Under the conditions she had established, all communications in and out of the room would be blocked, the official records sealed for fifty years, long enough for all of this to be long-forgotten history.

   “Very well,” Olongo said as the doors slammed shut. “You have the privacy you wanted, Senator. The floor remains yours.”

   “Thank you,” she began. “I am permitted to speak on the reasons for my impeachment only, and I am very grateful that I have such wide latitude in my statements. The charges against me – the reasons that you find my presence unsuitable – have been raised to conceal a conspiracy against the very Senate itself, one that has led to countless deaths, and has brought us to the brink of war.”

   “Objection!” Norman said. “Mr. Chairman, I resist this. She must speak only on the reason for her disqualification as Senator!”

   Before Olongo could reply, Orlova said, “My appointment may have been somewhat unorthodox, but is completely in accord with both the Constitution and the rules of the Senate.”

   “That’s correct,” Harper said. “I witnessed it myself.”

   “In that case,” Orlova continued, “Your only objections can be to my actions before being appointed to this office, and it is of those that I speak.”

   “Senator Norman, I must agree with Senator Orlova,” Olongo said. “Nevertheless, I do agree that the accused should perhaps focus her statements.”

   “Very well, Mr. Chairman,” she replied. “I am charged with treason, espionage, and conspiracy. I have committed none of these crimes. My crime, if it could be called that, is that when I was invited to join a group of officers and Senators who were attempting to bring down the President and start a war with the Cabal, I opted instead to notify higher authority, and refused to take part in such an illegal action.”

   A gasp echoed around the Senate, and Yashimoto said, “Unsubstantiated rumor!”

   “Plenty of evidence is on the way, Senator,” Orlova said, “Enough to satisfy even you, I suspect. I was not the only one who was involved in this action. Acting far beyond the limits of their orders, certain senior officers launched an attack on Hades Station, an attack designed not to win, but to lose, to create martyrs to incite the population to war.” Looking at Norman, she said, “It doesn’t take much imagination to see just who could gain from such an action.”

   “I am being slandered!” Norman yelled. “I demand the right to defend myself!”

   “I will not yield this floor!” Orlova shouted back.

   “Senators, please!” Olongo said. “No names were mentioned, Senator Norman, and unless you are confessing to these crimes, I do not see you have anything to defend.”

   Glaring at Orlova, she said, “I retract my statement.”

   Tapping her watch, Orlova said, “I can tell you all now that the Battlecruiser Alamo, under the command of Captain Daniel Marshall, is heading for Mars with two witnesses willing to testify to all I have said and more besides, as well as other physical evidence. He seeks to present this evidence to the Senate, as material in…”

   “In what? The impeachment of the President?” Norman said. “That cannot possibly be germane.”

   “I must agree,” Olongo said. “That is a separate matter.”

   Thinking quickly, Orlova replied, “No, Mr. Chairman. I agree that you are correct, but thes
e are now material witnesses to my impeachment, are they not?”

   The floor erupted in shouting, Norman sitting in rueful silence at the heart of it all. She’d spotted the trap, but enough of her supports hadn’t that she’d been stuck into the current position. Nevertheless, she rose to her feet, shouting for quiet.

   “Mr. Chairman, I call for an immediate vote. We have important business to undertake in this session.”

   Harper stood up, turned to her, and said, “So we ride roughshod over the rights of our own members for the sake of expediency? What sort of precedent does that set for the future?”

   With a smile, she replied, “On the contrary. I have come to appreciate the logic of Senator Orlova’s argument. I withdraw my support for her impeachment.”

   The room seemed to spin, the plans that Orlova and Chambers had concocted tumbling down like a house of cards. There were still more than nineteen hours to go before Alamo entered orbit.

   “I do not withdraw my motion!” Wilcox yelled. “I support it!”

   “I second it!”, another Technocrat said. “I also call for an immediate vote.”

   “Gentlemen,” Olongo said, “Senator Orlova still has the floor, and as there still appears to be a case for her to answer, I invite her to continue.”

   “Thank you, Mr. Chairman,” she said. “I was about to say that the Battleship Zeus is also on its way to Mars, with orders to intercept and destroy Alamo before it can testify.” Glancing down at her watch, she said, “All of this is to take place in approximately nineteen hours and ten minutes from now.”

   The furor rose, and the woman near Harper leapt to her feet and said, “Are you suggesting that two Triplanetary ships are about to fight it out in orbit over Mars?”

   “Yes, Senator, I am,” Orlova replied.

   “Then we must take immediate action. I call upon the floor to be opened, so that we can communicate with the proper military authorities.”

   “Senator Orlova, will you yield the floor to allow such action to be undertaken?”

   “No, I will not,” she replied. “With all due respect, Senator, I have no way of knowing what message will be sent, nor what additional forces might be mobilized to stop Alamo.” Looking around, she said, “People have died out there already. I don’t think there will be any compunction about more deaths.”

   “These are the ravings of a madwoman,” Wilcox said. “I don’t see why we should listen to this anymore.”

   “Because,” Harper said, “You will not get the four-fifths majority required to shut her up, Senator. I think enough of us are interested to hear what else she has to say.”

   “It gets rather less interesting from here,” Orlova said. “President Newton has, in co-operation with Cabal diplomats, completed a new draft peace treaty taking account of what has happened at Hades Station, where, for the record, the Triplanetary flag now flies. Despite the best attempts of the conspirators, despite the unprovoked attack we made on a Cabal facility, we can still have peace.”

   “Treason!” Norman said.

   “Sanity,” Orlova replied. “I urge the Senate to ratify this treaty.” Looking around, she said, “I know what will happen if you don’t. Once President Newton is impeached, President Ackerman will withdraw the treaty, and then we will be at war.” Locking eyes with Norman, she said, “A war that we will have begun, ladies and gentlemen. A war of aggression, pure and simple. I call for the charges of impeachment against myself and President Newton to be withdrawn, and that an immediate vote be taken on the ratification of the new peace treaty with the Cabal.”

   “You cannot simply demand that the Senate do as you say!” Wilcox said.

   “Why not?” Harper asked. “Isn’t that exactly what you and the Progressives have been doing for the last two months? Demanding that the rest of us march to your tune. Or do you want war, Senator?”

   “I want an illegal Presidency to end.”

   “None of this is new!” Orlova said, waving a datapad. “Senator Harper, how long have you known about the President’s affair?”

   She was entering into dangerous territory here, and knew it full well, but after a long pause, he answered, “Nine months. And I’m not the only one.”

   That was the testimony of a brave man, and she replied, “Of course not. I’m sure the people behind the impeachment process have known about it for as long, and held off to make maximum use of it for their own political gain.” Looking around the room, she said, “I didn’t actually expect the Senate to agree to my requests. When Alamo enters orbit, all of this will be over, one way or another, but know this. Your refusal is going to cost lives, the lives of men and women in uniform, fighting in the defense of the ideals you purport to represent.” Pointing up at the ceiling, she said, “A battle will be fought in your name, and each and every one of you is as responsible for the casualties as the conspirators who brought it about.”

   With a smile, she said, “So, it seems I have to hold this floor for something on the order of nineteen hours, by the rules.”

   “Objection!” Wilcox said. “Senator Orlova is holding this chamber to ransom for her own ends, by her own admission!”

   Olongo said, “And also indicated that she would only hold the floor by the rules of the Senate. The moment she breaks those rules, Senator, I will force her to yield. Until then, the floor remains with her. Is that understood?” she said, looking around. “Senator Orlova?”

   Nodding, she said, “Perhaps the best place to start is to review the rules I am meant to have broken.” Holding up her datapad, she said, “I need to consult my notes.” As the Senators groaned, she read, “Standing Orders and Rules of the Senate, Seventh Revision, 2163. Introduction…”

  Chapter 25

   “I still don’t see how we’re going to do it,” Esposito said, looking through her binoculars at the squat bunker ahead. “There’s only one way in, and it’s well guarded and protected.”

   “Not that well guarded,” Harper replied, looking up with a smile. “We can get through the first set of doors without much trouble.”

   “And nine layers of security after that,” Esposito replied. “Logan, this isn’t going to work.”

   Glancing across at her, he said, “We only have to get inside, not out, for a start. For another,” he said, glancing down at the watch on his suit, “In less than fifteen minutes, Alamo enters orbit. We’ve just got to stop any satellites from firing until the battle upstairs is over, twenty minutes at the most. After that, we’ve either won…”

   “Or we’re dead,” Jordan said, shaking his head. “I don’t know why I agreed to come with you guys anyway.”

   “Three words, kid,” Boris said. “Unlimited expense account. For any engineer, that’s heaven. We’ll get your head turned around the right way yet.” Gesturing down at the bag at the young mechanic’s belt, he said, “I just hope those gizmos you’ve got there work.”

   “They’ll work,” he replied with a shaky confidence. “As long as we get deep enough.”

   Pausing for a second, Esposito said, “It really shouldn’t be possible at all to do this. I’m beginning to realize what we’re trying to do, and…”

   “For anyone else, this would be impossible, but we’ve got an advantage,” he said, gesturing at the bunker. “I was around when this place was being built, remember.”

   Harper smiled, and said, “You put in a backdoor.”

   “Let’s just say that this eventuality did occur to some of us in the past. We just need to get to one of the terminals of the internal network, and I can do the rest.”

   “There’s a backdoor in Planetary Defense?” Esposito said, her voice rising. “I can’t think of anything more irresponsible!”

   “Well, we considered that at some point a group of military officers might decide to use their muscle to take control of the Confederation, and that it might be a good idea to provide a way to stop the
m taking over the laser sats.” A grin spreading across his face, he continued, “Almost as though we could see into the future.”

   “What’s the word from the Senate?” Boris asked.

   Tapping a control on her datapad, Harper replied, “Still in closed session, which I guess means that Maggie’s still hanging on. Nineteen hours and then some.” Shaking her head, she said, “She's got a damn sight more patience than I have.”

   “She’s probably reading the dictionary to them by now,” Logan said with a smile, “which would still be more interesting than most of the gabble they get through there. Well, my watch says its’ time to move. Jordan, feel free to hit the button.”

   Pulling a crude-looking box out of his pocket, jammed with next-generation components Logan had managed to scavenge, he tapped a pair of controls, frowned for a second, and then tried again, this time rewarded with a light on the far side. Looking through his binoculars, Logan saw the alert guards racing off to the far side of the perimeter, warned of an intruder alert in progress.

   Without any hesitation, he raced to the bunker, the others hard on his heels. The reserve guard would be in position in less than a minute, and he had to beat them to the punch. Doctrine called for the ones on the surface to continue towards the threat they had detected, trusting that the security would keep any other intruders out. Evidently the one who wrote it didn’t have enough imagination, and it had been far too easy for him to get hold of that document. There was a lot of arrogance, here, and he was hoping that it was not justified.

   He skidded to a stop just short of the access terminal, Harper by his side jamming a pair of datarods into the slots. After just a few seconds, the doors opened, and with quick moves Logan and Esposito grabbed the suited figures that emerged, turning down the pressure in their suits, quickly rendering them unconscious. Such an action was meant to result in the doors instantly slamming shut, but Harper’s program had done its job, and they stayed open.