Article 23

by William R. Forstchen

"I think he's going to execute me, maybe the others too," Matt said.

  Startled, Justin shook his head. "He can't. He's gotta go through a court-martial board first and that means going to a base. And then there'll be automatic appeals and believe me, when Thorsson hears about this it's gonna be fat in the fire. You'll be OK."

  "Thorsson is nearly ten million klicks away," Matt sighed. "Communications are down so he might as well be sitting somewhere out past Betelgeuse. And besides, remember, Article Twenty-Three?"

  Matt lowered his head and began to whisper, "in a time of war or emergency mobilization, the commanding officer shall have, within his powers, the right and privilege to summarily execute the offender, by agreement of those staff officers on board who are in good standing, if the actions of the offender do jeopardize the safety of the ship or mission of that ship. If a member of the Service under those above listed conditions should strike an officer, the punishment shall be summary execution with the agreement of those staff officers on board who are in good standing.'

  "Remember, that gets read to us before every chapel or assembly. He read it to us before we embarked."

  "There's no official emergency," Justin whispered and his voice trailed off. MacKenzie was claiming that just such a message had been partially received before communications were lost. Beyond that, they were heading into a sector where a military action might very well be under way at this very moment.

  "That's nuts. Hey, he might be crazy, but he isn't completely off his rocker. He harms one hair on your head and his career is zero, finished, and he knows that. You don't just go around hanging cadets from the yardarm in this day and age."

  'They don't hang them, they space them," Matt replied and tried to force a smile. "Hey, I'm a member of the Vacuum Breathers' club, remember, so it won't be anything new to me."

  "Just relax," Justin said. "And try to keep the others cheered up. They look up to you."

  "Yeah, right, I think I landed most of them in hot water as it is."

  "Look, buddy, they see you as the leader, and so do I. If you lose heart we're all sunk."

  Matt smiled.

  "You still my friend after this?"

  Justin punched him lightly on the shoulder.

  Matt grabbed Justin's hand and looked him straight in the eyes.

  "Thanks, buddy, it's good to know I still have at least one friend in this crazy universe."

  Justin squeezed Matt's hand, embarrassed and not sure what to say.

  "I'll be back later with more food. You just hang in there."

  "Ain't going no place else." Matt tried to laugh, but it came out hollow.

  Returning to the main deck, he was surprised to see that the lounge area was cleared, the ship as silent as a tomb. On his way down the corridor he saw doorways open, cadets inside, some studying, most just whispering among themselves. He wasn't surprised when O'Brian reached out from the galley and grabbed him, saying loudly, "Bell, I need help in here."

  As Justin slid the door shut he saw Tanya, her face wan, and even more to his surprise, Flight Lieutenant Hemenez was there.

  "Hemenez here is down to pick up some food," O'Brian announced loudly, "now move lively and heat those containers up. We can't keep the Captain waiting."

  Justin drew closer.

  "How are they?" Hemenez asked.

  "Pretty scared."

  "They should be," she hissed.

  O'Brian made a show of noisily pulling out containers of food and stacking them up while humming loudly to the music blaring from the computer.

  "What's going on?" Justin asked.

  "Article Twenty-Three," Tanya interjected.

  "I know, that's the one he cited when he arrested Matt and Madison."

  "No, the last part," Hemenez stated. "He needs to force agreement from the other officers according to the regulations."

  "For what?" Justin asked nervously.

  "The Captain wants to execute Matt and the other eight cadets!"

  Chapter VIII

  Try as he might, Justin couldn't get to sleep; the net felt like a trap, closing him in.

  "Tanya, you awake?" he finally whispered.

  "Yeah, can't sleep either."

  In the darkness he could barely see her as she unzipped from her net. Soft music filled the room Justin recognized it as Prince Igor. He unzipped, then floated over by her side and settled down.

  "What are we going to do, Tanya?" he sighed.

  "I don't know any more, I'm scared, Justin, really scared."

  "Still think this is a simulation?"

  "Well, if it is, I wish to hell Thorsson would pop the hatch and come in. This is going too damn far."

  "Too damn far," Justin agreed.

  "MacKenzie is off his rocker. We both know Matt and the others are innocent."

  "We know, but he sure doesn't. I think he was just waiting for a chance to do something like this. Getting cut off, then Colson running and squealing like a stuck pig. MacKenzie wants vengeance, wants to prove something. Colson gave him the excuse to act."

  "But vengeance on who, Justin? Matt Everett? He wouldn't harm a fly."

  "O'Brian told me a lot about his wife. Maybe it's that. I don't know there's something really weird about him when it comes to cadets our age. Maybe something happened when he was a kid and now it's playing back out.

  "I've been reading that book he assigned to me. I can understand what he sees in it, Ahab believing that he sees an evil no one else can comprehend. Enlisting his crew, even the virtuous Starbuck to destroy what he hates. I think what's left of his rational thinking is convinced that executing Matt and the others will show firmness to the rest of the Fleet. It will force the crisis out into the open, and then let the cards fall where they may. He has no patience for the slow approach like Thorsson. He wants it settled now."

  "But he must know Matt is innocent."

  "No, he doesn't. He's got this sick obsession with people our age. Convinced nearly all of us are deceitful, untrustworthy. Every school always seems to have a teacher like that, always lurking, trying to catch somebody and thereby prove themselves correct. So Matt and the others fit the bill for the crimes MacKenzie imagines."

  "And he takes in the one sniveling rat who really is untrustworthy. Has anyone tried to talk to Colson?"

  Justin shook his head. "He can't be reached. He lives up in officer country now. Guess MacKenzie, or Colson figures that if he wandered around back here with us low-lifes he'd get torn apart."

  "I think I'd kill him myself if I could," Tanya hissed.

  Justin was startled by the hatred in her voice. This whole thing was going completely out of control on both sides. It was strange how only days ago they were all straight and proper cadets, at least on the surface. It only took several days aboard this ship, with its fear and mistrust and a little discomfort thrown in due to the anti-radiation suits, and everyone was supping over the edge.

  Their classes always emphasized honor, self-sacrifice, and the unspoken acceptance of the concept that one would willingly lay down his life for a comrade or for anyone in peril. Yet it didn't take long to change all that around. Those not arrested were cowed, divided into whispering groups.

  He wondered if senior cadets would have behaved the same way. Petronovich seemed to have sided with the Captain. Did that therefore mean that in some perverted way the Captain was right after all? He wrestled with that thought. Petronovich had gone all the way through the Academy, and had done so with honor. He was a friend of Brian Seay's, and though everyone might grumble about Brian, Justin knew that he himself would not hesitate to follow the senior cadet's lead.

  He wondered if Brian would have sided with MacKenzie or offered some resistance. Some inner voice told him that if Brian had been aboard this ship, chances were he'd be down below locked up with the others. Everything MacKenzie had done so far was a violation of Fleet Procedures singling out offworld cadets, the strange questioning, acting after listening only to Colson and no one else, the mann
er of Matt's arrest and the interviews afterwards, and above all else the decision to execute the nine cadets without benefit of a formal hearing. No, Brian would be down in the brig.

  So how did it get to this? Was most of humanity made up of sheep that cower and turn their heads the moment a wolf emerges? History seemed to show that was the case; in fact, many preferred the wolf especially when he singled out a target that was unpopular with some.

  Yet we are the generation of space, at least that's what Thorsson keeps preaching. The disdain MacKenzie showed for Thorsson Justin wondered if in fact the Academy was in a dream, and the attitude of MacKenzie was more the norm. If so, what then of honor and comradeship? He remembered Thorsson's story of Confederate Sergeant Kirkland who, during the Battle of Fredericksburg, dropped his rifle, took the canteens from his friends, and crawled out into the open to give water to wounded Union soldiers. Thorsson had dwelt on that, asking if they could reach the same level, to risk their lives to give comfort to a fallen enemy.

  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, hold
ing 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."

  Zhing looked back at Justin in resignation. He could sense what Zhing would say, that in order to spare the other eight he was forced to agree to the death of one.

  "Sir, I was informed that Flight Lieutenant Hemenez has been relieved?" Justin asked.

  "She has been relieved," MacKenzie replied, "and that is no further concern of yours. Our brave Lieutenant Lewis can handle the ship well enough on his own. I've promoted Senior Cadet Petronovich to fill Hemenez's place."

  As Justin looked at MacKenzie he knew that any appeal, any attempt at logic was beyond hope.

  "So why are you here, Cadet?"

  "Sir. May I have permission to say good-bye to Cadet Everett?"

  "He is no longer a cadet," MacKenzie snapped, "I have stripped him of his rank in the service. But yes, you may see the prisoner. You can tell him of the sentence which will be carried out at morning muster, 0700 ship time."

  'They don't know? There hasn't been a formal sentencing?" Justin asked in surprise.

  "No need for that," MacKenzie replied. "So you can tell him."