April 4: A Different Perspective (49 page)

"I am considering resigning my office. I am however, selfish enough that I want to know if Home will allow me sanctuary, before I do so. That's why I'm here and I eventually would have asked that question of the Assembly. If you refuse me, then retaining the title of President may be the only coin I hold, to buy my safety elsewhere. The Vice-President does not appear to be presenting himself, eager to take up the torch. I have no idea if he is alive or free. I also have in mind issuing a number of pardons before I resign. It would surely appear petty and vengeful to contest them, if they are otherwise given my resignation on a platter."

"Perhaps we should settle that first," Coleman agreed. "It is the custom we limit ourselves to two questions each session," he explained to Wiggen. "I will use one of mine to ask the Assembly if we should allow President Wiggen to reside on Home, regardless of her office, or if it is too risky for Home to harbor her?"

"Well, he certainly loaded that question with a bunch of pointed assumptions," Mel whispered to Wiggen. "All favorable to you, I suspect."

"How do you people say?" Mr. Muños asked. It was a formalism already, but he still made it sound like he was asking each of them individually. The big screen behind them usually had some environmental scene, but it had been blanked for the Assembly. It now showed a tally of yea and nay. Most of those in the audience bent over to input their vote.

The vote ran to 1437, a surprising number abstaining. 1113 yea, 324 nay, before there was a long enough pause to end the vote.

"Does that satisfy you?" Coleman asked.

"Thank you, it does. I'd also very much like to hear the examination of your prisoner, if you are going to bring him before the Assembly."

"I don't wish to use my second question at the moment," Coleman told her. "Perhaps if someone else wishes," and he sat down.

"Jon Davis?" Mr. Muños recognized the Security Head.

"I ask the Assembly to question my prisoner and determine what to do with him."

"How do you people say?" he asked again. It was 1678 yea, to question him. 7 nay. Lieutenant Moore was produced quickly from the corridor and stood before them on the front of the platform in front of the table, unbound and in civilian clothing.

"Will you answer questions, or will you stand silent?" Muños asked.

"I've already shot my mouth off enough it would be sort of silly to clam up now," he said. "Besides you guys could stick a helmet on me and read my responses to a list of questions and know everything I'd tell you anyway. Everybody is going to run veracity software on what I say out loud. There's no hiding anything now, unless I suicide like my Captain intended. Go ahead. Ask away, whatever you want."

"Ms. Hu, if you wish to question him, please do so," Muños invited, picking her for a reason.

"My husband was killed by the fire from your satellite. He was on the Rock and you made him hamburger so fast he never knew he died. I'm left alone with two children. He was working on extracting materials from the Rock, he wasn't a soldier. Why did he die?"

"I have no idea
why
," Lt. Moore, answered. "We got numbers, the Captain put them in the computer and it shot eventually, when everything lined up. I have no idea if he knew
what
he was shooting at, much less
why
. As far as the motives of the people way above us - I don't know them any more than you do. I was listening to the Assembly out in the corridor, on my guard's hand com. I didn't even know my Captain was Patriot Party. We weren't buddies. I know the news channels all make you guys look bad. That's about all I know, that the Powers-That-Be hate you people. I never shot the gun myself. I maintained it. I was the backup operator, but they never needed me. I never thought of it before now, but if something happened to
me
, instead of the Captain, I'm not sure he could have kept the gun running. I guess he'd have just used it until it busted beyond working, or they replaced me."

"But you were
willing
to shoot blind at anyone they told you to. Do I have that right?"

Moore stood silent for a long time, but it was apparent she was not going to yield or let him off the hook without an answer. "Yes," he finally admitted in a small voice.

"This man is a war criminal," Hu said in a firm voice. "He was willing to kill civilians on command. If anything, his not caring who he was shooting at, is worse than doing specific murder. He owes me blood guilt," she claimed and sat down.

"Mr. Patsitsas," Muños recognized a middle aged fellow, who stood.

"I'd question the prisoner, but a different point first. These two similar objects in orbit need to be examined. If they visibly mount a railgun like this sat, they need destroyed. They continue to be a hazard to all civilian traffic and the Rock when they try to move it. Even leaving we are at hazard from them for some time. With North America in chaos, we have no idea who commands them, or how they will be used. I'd ask the Assembly to dispatch the militia to remove them at a distance and with as little hazard to themselves as possible. We know enough from the one, that there is no need to risk anyone again for intelligence." He nodded at Muños.

"Is it the will of the Assembly to remove these railgun platforms, as Mr. Patsitsas proposed? How do you people say?"

The vote was fast and it passed 1683 to 3. There had never been such a small dissenting vote before. "The Assembly has instructed you Commander," was all Muños said to Jon. "I believe you had a question for the prisoner?" he asked Patsitsas.

Moore had been visibly taken aback by the order to destroy the other satellites, like his. He faced the new questioning deeply rattled. That was four more USNA crew condemned to die.

"Yes, didn't your Captain ever try to recruit you to the Patriot Party?" Ben asked.

"No, I had no idea he was Patriot," Moore explained. "He made it very clear we was too far apart socially to even chit-chat. Better just to read in his bunk, than slum with me. He was New England Yankee and educated in a fancy college. His family had some kind of businesses and they did stuff like ride horses and go sailing. Upper-crust stuff. I knew that much just listening to him on calls. I was from a middle class family, dumped down to negative tax when their jobs disappeared. He was always saying God willing and God this and God that. I never figured I had any hot line on what God thought. None of my family were ever all that religious. My aunt Beth always said the church didn't have any use for them, once uncle Buck didn't have a decent job any more. Negative tax people don't drop much on the offering plate. Captain Jacobs would never have recruited me to anything that was high class enough to belong to himself."

"That's  pretty clear," Ben Patsitsas said. "No further questions."

"Heather anderson," Muños recognized.

"The temptation is to execute this fellow. He attacked us when we are not at war. I agree he is a war criminal. Indeed, they broke their treaty, so
all
of them are guilty who have touched this. There must be thousands more of them, from what I am hearing is happening in North America, but
this
one is here for us to deal with. I can't say we got all that much out of him. He deserves death, but no matter what we do with him, it is going to be twisted and condemned and used against us down below. I'd forego the small satisfaction of squashing this bug and send him off on a shuttle to ISSII or New Las Vegas. Put
them
in the uncomfortable position of deciding what to do with him. I suspect it will be a case of no good deed goes unpunished. They will find some way to blame him, for doing exactly what they ordered him to do. Not to mention, shooting your commanding officer in the back will not endear him to much of anyone. Just my suggestion, for when we vote on it," she said and sat again.

"Ms. Helen Bookbinder," Muños recognized next.

"Agreed, this one is a distraction. Anything we do with him will seem petty. Let us take a vote to either ship him off to his fate, first shuttle down, or execute him forthwith and move on to more important matters."

Mr. Muños might have called the vote, but Robert Lewis stood back up, unhappy looking and held a forestalling finger in the air.

"You wish to raise some point before a vote?" Muños asked.

"Yes, I'd like to move along and dispose of him too. But I must point out Mrs. Hu said quite clearly, she is owed a debt of blood, because of her husband. I think you have to offer
her
justice, before you can dispose of him either way. In fact I think you should ask if any of the other seven killed have family who demand personal satisfaction, before the Assembly makes an inferior claim. This is not something to properly vote on. We should not parcel out justice by the whim of public opinion, over those who were directly wronged."

Mr. Muños inclined his head gravely, acknowledging that. "Is there anyone else, who lost blood relatives to this man's actions, who make a claim?" he demanded. "Speak up and lay any demands on us now," he commanded.

The com took Muños attention and he put the call on the screen behind them.

"I am Leif Gustafsson and my brother John died in the rigger's showers. I am hearing he did not die directly by this one's hand, but he is an accomplice in murder. But then as Ms. anderson says he is one of thousands, who we do not happen to hold in our hands." He looked really hard at the monitor, probably looking at Lt. Moore. "I agree, for my part, to ship him off and may he have the joy of his master's justice. I don't ask his life. I don't allow him that much
importance
," he snarled and cut the feed.

"There are no other calls, so it seems it is up to you Mrs. Hu," Muños said.

She walked up to April and pointed at the long wrapped grip her right hand was so casually draped over. "May I borrow that?"

April just lifted her hand clear and nodded. She wanted to warn her how sharp it was, but it seemed like that would sound silly. Of course it was sharp.

The room was suddenly so silent you could hear the long katana ring as she pulled it free.

"Kneel," she told the lieutenant.

He looked around wild eyed. There wasn't a friendly face to be found.

Fred Hart, sitting closest up front to the platform, pulled out an old fashioned revolver and holding it pointed at the overhead, rolled the hammer back. Just in case.

Moore looked at him, making solid eye contact, from just two meters, considered it just a heartbeat and knelt, shaking.

"All the way," Hu instructed. "You don't want me to botch this do you?"

Moore leaned over, hands between his knees, quivering, exposing his neck. He lost control of his bladder and the dark stain ran down his legs and dripped on the platform.

Hu laid the flat of the cold blade on the back of his neck, held in both hands. "Do you admit you are an accessory to murder?"

"Yes," he said, just barely audible, sobbing, resigned.

"Then I say ship him off to his fellow criminals," she said, lifting the blade. She turned her back on him and returned the sword to April.

Behind her Lt. Moore tried to straighten up, but his eyes rolled up in his head and he fainted dead away, flopping on his side on the platform, laying in his own piss.

"If that is your justice, then I dare say we will not vote against it," Muños said. Somebody had called medical and they rolled the unconscious lieutenant on a gurney and removed him. April was wiping her blade with some sort of cloth and everyone sat silent, until the medics had the man in the corridor.

Muños, still standing, went on like there had been no drama. "What else would the Assembly decide in this matter?"

"Marion Hertz, what would you tell us?"

"I work in traffic control, but I've dealt with the Chinese when I worked for Jeff Singh. Moving out by L2 is fine. It gives us enough room that we won't get caught by surprise again, but if we leave it at that, it just puts the trouble off until enough Earth powers rebuild from the war loses, we have more traffic around moon and the lunar colonies get bigger. They don't have it in them to leave us alone. The USNA is the only one we told they can't lift weapons to the moon. We need to draw a clear line in the sand. I propose we declare an interest zone inside the moon's orbit. Tell them all - no armed Earth ships past L1. If an Earth ship is armed past L1, it will be destroyed without warning."

"Is there discussion? Elaboration?" Muños invited, instead of an immediate vote.

Dave had his head together with several other shipbuilders. They leaned apart and Dave tapped something in his pad before standing.

"David Michelson, what would you add?"

"The other shipwrights and I have compared notes. It would appear there are only two Home registered ships that
don't
carry weapons, although some are subtle about it. Some carry very significant systems. The militia alone, probably has sufficient force pledged to give any single Earth power pause. If you publish such a resolution, it would be sufficient to give it teeth if Eddie Persico and Jeff Singh, pledge their vessels to support the militia in such an embargo. Any of the other singles or couriers or shippers that run more than one ship would really make it look good. The appearance of solidarity is useful. We also think it would be smart to wait to make this a public announcement until we are relocated."

Jeff looked at Eddie sitting two rows away. Eddie just gave a single solemn nod and the deal was sealed. Then Jeff put his head together with Heather and April briefly.

Jeff made a gesture to Mr. Muños, rather than use the com and Muños recognized him.

"If it is the will of the Assembly, to limit armed Earth ships to inside L1, the complex of companies Eddie and I run will support that. We'll give our commanders instructions to do so without needing to ask us and to coordinate with the militia. My partners in Singh Industries, Heather anderson, April Lewis and I, also pledge our planetary lander
Dionysus' Chariot
to this cause and such future vessels and landers as we may own separately from Eddie Persico. We want it made clear though, that this is not strictly a lunar exclusion zone, it is a solar prohibition and indeed, when it becomes necessary, an interstellar exclusion. We have had enough of Earth wars. They can keep their wars to themselves and leave us alone, or I for one will show them how to make war!" There was shocked silence and then a steady approving applause as he sat.