Citizen X - BP01

by DePrima, Thomas

  "Why was a junior Marine officer even in a meeting with an ambassador and a ship's captain?" Admiral Woo asked.

  "Lieutenant Marcola is a Space Command line officer. Her rank is actually lieutenant(jg). She piloted the shuttle that brought the Perry's people to the Darrapralis. Let's play the helmet cam vid," Admiral Moore said as he nodded to his clerk.

  "Oh no, another Jenetta Carver," Admiral Hubera moaned as the vid ended.

  "What's that, Donald?" Admiral Ahmed asked.

  "Don't you remember, Raihana?" Hubera said. "Carver drew a pistol and shot a freighter captain and his XO, then left both of them to die on Raider-One."

  "Now hold on," Admiral Hillaire said. "If you're going to bring up ancient history, at least get your facts straight. Admiral Carver did not leave the freighter captain and his XO to die on Raider-One."

  "It's okay, Arnold," Admiral Ahmed said. "I remember the incident well and had already discounted Donald's peculiar twist on the story before you spoke up. I simply didn't make the connection when he brought it up."

  "It's not my 'peculiar twist.' It's the truth."

  "Only as you see it," Admiral Hillaire said.

  "Ladies and Gentlemen," Admiral Moore said, "Can we please get back to the issue at hand?"

  "I think the helmet cam feed is detailed enough for us to understand the situation fully," Admiral Platt said.

  "I don't think the young officer should be censured for telling the guards to stop torturing a Terran woman who had been illegally enslaved," Admiral Bradlee said. "Nor do I feel she was out of line for shooting them in defense of herself and her Captain. I'm just glad she didn't have a laser pistol because then we couldn't let this issue slide. The bigger issue here is that the slavery of Terrans is being condoned by a government with whom we've had diplomatic relations for decades. They've obviously been lying for that entire time. And now we're facing a time when they will turn to us for increased support if the insurgency there continues to grow. The GA council must decide if we will support the Clidepp Empire, disassociate ourselves from relations with them, or throw our support behind the rebels."

  "As you say, Roger, that is a decision for the GA Council and Senate. Our role is only to notify them of this new information regarding a violation of one of our basic tenets. Slavery in the Uthlaro Dominion has been one thing. They're located thousands of light-years from here. Strictly in terms of distance, the Clidepp Empire is our closest neighbor."

  "I agree that the young officer should not be punished," Admiral Platt said. "Were I there, I doubt that I could have held my tongue while a defenseless woman was being tortured in front of me. That the woman is a slave in a nation who claims they're opposed to slavery makes it all the worse. The officer was also perfectly justified in defending herself and her Captain when the guards took threatening actions. I'm sure both guards were fine after their short nap. We have no way of knowing what weapons they were attempting to use, so stunning them was the perfect defense."

  "Do we have a motion?" Admiral Moore asked.

  "I move that in the matter of the Clidepp Ambassador's two guards being stunned by a young officer from the Perry, extenuating circumstances were adequate to fully justify the action," Admiral Platt said. "I further move that no censure is warranted. Finally, I move that the GA Council be immediately notified that we now have proof that the Clidepp Empire has been condoning the slavery of GA citizens for decades."

  "All in favor?" Admiral Moore said. After a quick glance around the table, he added, "let the record show that the motion has carried unanimously. Now, onto the next matter…"

  * * *

  "Lieutenant(jg) Sydnee Marcola reporting to the Captain as ordered," Sydnee said as she braced to attention in front of his desk.

  Lidden looked up from his com screen and said, "I've just received a response to my report about the incident aboard the Darrapralis."

  Sydnee tensed even more. This is it, she thought.

  "SHQ has informed me that no action will be taken against you since the Clidepp Empire has not filed a complaint. Perhaps Ambassador Blethalla was embarrassed that you were able to draw and fire faster than his two guards. In any event, you've avoided a dirt-side posting for the time being. Let this be a lesson to you, Marcola. Keep a tighter rein on that temper."

  "But sir, they were reaching for their weapons."

  "There's no proof that they would have used them."

  "I didn't feel it was worth taking the chance, sir, especially not after we'd just learned they have Terran slaves aboard."

  "Did you come to that conclusion before or after your actions?"

  "Before, sir."

  Lidden looked at her thoughtfully. He knew she was bright but wondered if she had really thought of that rationalization beforehand. Perhaps she had. "That's all, Marcola, dismissed."

  Sydnee saluted, turned on her left heel, and left the office. After the doors closed, she stopped, allowed herself to take a deep breath, and then release it as the tension also drained from her body. As bad as it was being on the Perry, it was still a hundred times better than being posted on a remote planet or moon where she might never get a chance to fly.

  It was midday, so she had twelve hours before her watch. Since she preferred to sleep during second watch in order to be fresh when she reported for duty, she headed down to the flight simulator room with the intent of spending several hours forgetting about the threat of being forever stuck dirt-side.

  The room contained four flight simulators. Two units were devoted to Space Command ships and two were for Marine ships. Her certifications for all shuttle types on the Perry were up to date, so she headed towards one of the two Marine simulators. There was no one in the control room, but an operator was only required during certification testing. Her MAT certs were current, so it was time to play. She selected 'FA-SF4 Marine Fighter' and the console area reconfigured to resemble the appropriate cockpit. She climbed in and strapped herself down, then ran through the checklist and started the oh-gee engine to maneuver the ship for launch position. Within minutes, she was cruising between mountain peaks, with an occasional dip to treetop level, and laughing with glee at the realistic sensations offered by the flight simulators.

  * * *

  As Sydnee's watch began at midnight GST, she sat down at the navigator's console and watched the activity on the Darrapralis. An image of the diplomatic yacht had appeared on the large viewscreen at the front of the bridge ever since the Perry had first arrived on the scene. Dozens of EVA-suited engineers could be seen on the hull around the clock as they worked to repair the FTL drive. Sydnee couldn't help but wonder if any of them were slaves. The Raiders hadn't only enslaved women. In fact, the percentage of males to females missing after a believed Raider attack in Region One was about four to one.

  For days, Sydnee had racked her brain for a way to save the slaves aboard the Darrapralis before it completed its repairs and continued its journey home, but short of a clandestine assault on the ship, she hadn't been able to think of a thing. And any assault on the ship would be met with resistance, so the attack would be tantamount to declaring war on the Clidepp Empire.

  When Sydnee's watch duties ended at 0800, she still hadn't come up with a idea for saving the slaves and she headed for the officers' mess to have breakfast while still working on a solution.

  "This chair taken?" Sydnee heard through her reverie as she pushed her scrambled eggs around on her plate. She looked up to see Marine First Lieutenant Kelly MacDonald gesturing towards the chair.

  "Hi, Kel. No, sit down. I was thinking."

  "Yeah, I noticed that while I was on line for chow. Must be some problem."

  Sydnee lowered her voice when she said, "Yeah. It's the same one as usual. Namely, how can we rescue the slaves on the Darrapralis before it leaves for the Clidepp Empire?"

  MacDonald likewise lowered her voice to keep it from being heard at other tables. "Ah, yeah. We've spent a lot of time down in Marine country talking about that o
ne. So far, all we can come up with is a full assault to take over the ship."

  "Yeah, but that won't fly."

  "Why not? We know they've got Terran slaves on board. There must be something in the interdiction law books that allows it."

  "There're plenty of laws that allow us to take a ship where we know they have slaves. The trouble is that it all takes second place to the laws regarding diplomatic rights. I hate it, but the Captain is right."

  "So, as long as the slaves are aboard that ship, the laws of the Clidepp Empire apply to them, and our laws mean nothing?"

  "That's about the size of it. Hey, that's it, Kel."

  "What's it?"

  "That might be the answer. We've been working this from the wrong angle."

  "I don't follow you."

  "I'm been trying to remember everything I've learned about Galactic Law, Interdiction Law, and Diplomatic Law, but I've never looked at Clidepp Law."

  "How would that help?"

  "I don't know yet. The Clidepp Empire has always publicly stated that there's no slavery there, but is that part of their law, or not? What I'm thinking is that if the Ambassador has consistently violated Clidepp Empire law for twenty or thirty years, the law may automatically strip his status from him. If he's not legally an Ambassador, then he can't claim diplomatic status."

  "But that only covers him. The Darrapralis is still a dip ship."

  "Is it? Is it an official Clidepp vessel, or is it a private yacht belonging to the Ambassador and listed as a diplomatic ship simply because he's on board?"

  "God, I wish we had JAG officer on board."

  "Yeah, one who was familiar with Clidepp Empire law. There's another thing that's been on my mind."

  "What?"

  "I've been observing the engineers working on the dip ship while I've been on watch. Heck, there's nothing else to do. So anyway, I was wondering if any of them are slaves. The Raiders took a lot more male spacers than females."

  "But it's the same situation. We can't rescue them either."

  "Maybe, maybe not. The Captain said the space inside the Clidepp ship must be considered Clidepp Empire space, even though the space outside the ship is GA space. When those engineers come out to work— they're in GA space."

  "Wow, I never thought of that. Then we could legally board that ship as long as we remain outside?"

  "It sounds right, but I'm not sure. On a planet in GA space, the planet's authority extends to one hundred kilometers above the mean surface. After that, GA law takes effect. So the question is, how far from the mean hull surface does dip law extend, if at all? If it ends at the outer plates, can we go over there and administer GA law?"

  "I like it. I can have two companies of volunteers ready in an hour."

  "Um, I don't think we should be too hasty. We'd better check with Milty at least. Maybe he knows about the law regarding diplomatic coverage outside the ship. And we really should have the Captain make the decision."

  MacDonald 's voice wasn't much higher than a whisper when she said, "Syd, I like the Captain, but I can tell you from experience that when it comes to grey areas, he stops short of anything that isn't black and white. If you tell Milty, he'll have to tell Commander Bryant, and Ben will tell the Captain."

  Sydnee's voice was so low by now that lip reading was practically required to figure out what she was saying. "I don't see where we have any choice, Kel. We can't do this alone, even if we have the entire crew behind us. We might even be charged with mutiny."

  "Mutiny? We're not talking about taking control of the Perry. We're talking about freeing slaves. Terrans who were taken prisoner by Raiders and sold to those damn Yolongi liars. Our people have been suffering for decades. We need to free them. Now, not twenty years from now."

  "Okay, but we have to do this by the numbers. First, we need to see if we can find anything in Clidepp law concerning slavery. Do you have any really sharp people who can look into that?"

  "I might have a few officers I can ask, including Kennedy."

  "Kennedy?"

  "I know he's pretty stiff at times, but he's damn sharp with the law— at least GA interdiction law. And I know he's fascinated by you."

  "Me? I've known him for months and he used my given name for the first time just this week."

  "Did you ask him to use your given name?"

  "Um, no."

  "It's that stiffness again."

  "The first time we met he told me that he would call me Lieutenant and that I should only call him Lieutenant. I don't even know his first name."

  "It's Everett, but everyone calls him Rett. He's a pretty good sort once you get to know him. What else?"

  "Else? Nothing else. He just always acts so— distant."

  "No, I mean about the dip ship."

  "Oh. The rest will hinge on what we learn from studying Clidepp law. If there's no legal avenue for us, then we'll have to see if we can get support from above for a raid on the exterior of the Clidepp ship at a time when they have the most people outside. If any are slaves, we'll offer them sanctuary aboard the Perry. If there are Yolongi with them, it might turn into a shooting incident, so we have know how solid our ground is, figuratively speaking."

  "Sounds like a plan." MacDonald pushed the final forkful of scrambled eggs into her mouth, chewed quickly and swallowed. "I'll get started on my end." With that, she stood, raised her voice to a normal speaking level, and said, "Okay, Syd. I'll see you later."

  "Right, Kel."

  * * *

  "Open," Lieutenant Mark Milton said when the computer informed him that Lt(jg) Sydnee Marcola was at the door. "Hi Syd," he said as the door opened. "Come on in. What's up?"

  "Hi Milty. If you have a few minutes, I'd like to talk with you about a problem."

  "Sure, Syd, but if it's about the shooting incident, I can't help you much."

  "No, it's not that. The Captain informed me yesterday that I was cleared by SHQ. No further action is being considered."

  "Really? Wonderful. I hadn't heard. I couldn't say anything before, but I'm pretty sure that every crewmember on this ship was behind you."

  "Um, yeah. That's sort of what I want to talk with you about."

  "The slavery issue?"

  "Yeah."

  "Well, that may be another issue I can't say anything about."

  "Will you hear me out, at least?"

  "Sure, Syd. Have a seat," he said, pointing to one the chairs in his small sitting room. Although just a lieutenant, his position as second officer gave him use of the quarters normally occupied by a Lieutenant Commander. On a new ship, the quarters would be substantially larger, but even on the Perry it was a significant upgrade from the usual lieutenant quarters.

  "Um, Milty, I don't know where to begin."

  "Then begin at the beginning."

  "No, that's too far back. Um, let me start with our watch last night. I spent a lot of time watching the activity on the Darrapralis most of the night."

  "We all did."

  "Yeah, but I wasn't just watching, I was trying to think of a way to help the Terran slaves."

  "As the Captain told you, there's nothing we can do. Inside that ship is Clidepp space. We can't interfere."

  "Yeah, but what about outside?"

  "Outside?"

  "Yeah. How many of those people working on the exterior might be slaves the Ambassador bought from the Raiders?"

  Milty got the point immediately. "So you want to rescue any slaves that might be outside the ship's Clidepp space?'"

  "Yeah. Exactly."

  "Interesting idea, Syd."

  "Yeah, but is it do-able?"

  Milty took a deep breath and released it slowly while he thought. After a couple of minutes, he said, "So what is it you're asking of me?"

  "Advice."

  Without hesitating, Milton said, "Go to the Captain."

  Syd cast her eyes downward and her face reflected the dejection she was feeling.

  "Not what you wanted to hear?"


  "I was hoping for advice, not just a 'take it upstairs' evasion."

  "That wasn't an evasion. It's the best advice I can give. On a Space Command vessel, or really any vessel in space or at sea, the captain is the absolute authority. They earn those positions of power and trust after years of hard work and dedication to duty. All it takes is one minor lapse in judgment to lose their command or their opportunity to achieve command in the first place. Any action you're contemplating must have the approval of the Captain in advance or you'll regret it for the rest of your career."

  "I would never take any action without first seeking the Captain's approval, but I want to have all my facts straight before I approach him. I hoped I could count on you for some advice." Standing up, Sydnee said, "I'm sorry I disturbed you, sir."

  As she started to turn, Milton said, "Syd, wait. I'm sorry. I didn't intend to brush you off. I thought you were soliciting my help in your plan to take over the dip ship."

  "My what?"

  "The scuttlebutt is that you intend a hostile takeover of the dip ship and that you're lining up people to help you."

  "That's not true. I'm only trying to learn what actions are possible and legal. If I find something, I'll bring it to the Captain for his approval before doing anything."

  "I'm glad to hear that."

  "I can't believe that people are thinking I'd try some overt action without the Captain's approval."

  "Sit back down, Syd. After you dropped those two guards that were torturing a Terran slave, everyone aboard ship lined up behind you. The Marines are even talking about following you into a fight to recover our people from the Yolongi if their own officers won't lead them."