Commandant (The United Federation Marine Corps Book 8) (20 page)

EARTH

Chapter 31

Two armed loyalist Marines instead of FCDC guards stood silently over Ryck and the first minister.  The insult was not subtle.  Ryck was in prison oranges, his hand and legs shackled.  They were deep within the bowels of the Federation Court in Brussels. 

What am I going to do?  Make a break for it?
he wondered, refusing to meet the eyes of the guards.

The first minister, who was currently engrossed in something on his PA, had accompanied him from the moon to Brussels, had watched the body cavity search, and had stayed with him as he was hustled to the court building and down into the high-security courtrooms.  A holocam crew had recorded the entire process, but for the moment, they were not in the holding room. 

No matter, Ryck thought, looking up at the security cams.  They’re making sure all of this is captured.

Ryck had only been on the planet for an hour-and-a-half, but already, his “trial” and execution were in process.  He thought he should be more stressed, more nervous, but he was surprisingly calm.  He figured it was probably simple resignation to the inevitable.

He was thirsty, and he wanted a drink, but he was damned if he was going to ask the two Marines for some water.  He considered ordering them to get him something.  The first minister had told him that he was still a major general on the loyalist roles of Marines given that there hadn’t been a court martial yet, so the two guards should obey him.  But they probably wouldn’t, and Ryck didn’t want to be put in the position of being refused.

The first minister laughed at something, then turned off his PA.  “That
Bradley’s House
, that’s some funny stuff.  You ever watch it?”

“I’ve seen it,” Ryck said.

“Well, you should see the latest episode.  Hortense comes over to ask about the tree again, but this time, Malik is gone on a fishing trip, and Hortense—you know she likes Bradley, right?  Well, she asks him to look at the tree overhang, and she ‘accidently’ falls into the pool,” the first minister continued, finger-quoting “accidently.”  “And, well, it gets complicated, but it’s real funny.  You should watch it.  Well, if you had more time, I mean.  I guess that’s the problem for you, right?”

Ryck said nothing, ignoring the man’s baiting.

“You’re doing well, I have to admit,” the first minister said after a few moments with the tiniest bit of grudging respect in his voice.  “Cool and calm, despite everything.  I guess I should have expected nothing less from the great Ryck Lysander.

“You know, it really is such a shame it had to come to this.”

The first minister seemed to consider something for a moment, then reached into his pocket.  He pulled out his privacy generator, something most high-level officials carried.  He turned it on, and the sphere formed around the two men.  The two guards didn’t seem surprised nor worried.  They could still see the two of them, but they wouldn’t be able to hear anything.

“You were being groomed, you know?” the first minister asked after his control light turned green.

Despite himself, Ryck turned to look at his former boss.

“I thought that might surprise you.  But think of it.  Why were you assigned to me?  It was so we could guide you for the future.”

“What, for commandant?” Ryck asked.

“You think too small, Ryck.”

Ryck didn’t know what to make of that, so he said nothing.

“There you go again, keeping your cards close to the table.  I know you want to know what I meant, but you won’t ask.  But I’ll tell you anyway.  Yes, you getting the commandant’s position was inevitable, but it was only to be a stepping stone.  We had bigger things in mind for you.”

“The Council?  Marines don’t serve on the Council,” Ryck said.

“Only one has, but there’s no reason why another one couldn’t.  And who better than the hero Ryck Lysander?  Not even the Navy could object.  And from a seat on the Council, who knows?”

Things suddenly clicked into place.  The first minister was in charge of the military, but he’d never served.  And the Navy had most of the Council positions and the chairmanship locked up.  They were the real power, which might rub the civilians the wrong way.

“You want to diminish the hold of the Navy!”

Ryck glanced up at the security cameras.  The privacy sphere might block sound, but the cams were still recording, and lips could be read.

“Don’t worry about the cams,” the first minister said after seeing Ryck look up.  “We control them for now.”

“And who is ‘we?’”

“Oh, you’ll never find out now.  Just suffice it to say that with the Navy’s increasing influence and power, there are those of us who’d like to see it sent back down to a manageable level.  You were to be the first step, a wedge in the door, and one with which the Navy couldn’t complain.”

Ryck thought about it for a moment.  “And I was going to be indebted to you?”

The first minister nodded.

“And appoint more of you, whoever ‘you’ are, to positions of authority?”

Another slight smile from the first minister.

“But business as usual.  As on Ellison.”

The flippant look on the first minister’s face clouded over for a moment.  “No, not like that.  That was the chairman’s idea, and that’s exactly why we needed to make a change.  The Federation is sliding into a shit-hole, and we need to stop that trip to eventual destruction.”

“Then why fight me?”

“Because you were too brash, too moralistic for your own good.  You always were, Ryck.  It was too soon.”

“Too soon for the 12 billion on Ellison?” Ryck asked scornfully.

“Taking the long view, yes.  They would have been a sacrifice for a better future, when we could prevail.  But for now, you couldn’t win, and we’d be exposing our hand.”

“But we are winning.”

The flippant look came back as the first minister said, “Well, there is that.  If we’d known Chandanasiri would flip, maybe we would have made our move and avoided all of this.  But we didn’t, and now it’s too late.”

“It’s never too late.  If you’re serious about a better Federation, you can still effect that change,” Ryck said, the tiniest glimmer of hope creeping into his voice.

“No, Ryck.  We played our hand.  Can’t take it back now.”

“And if we win?”

“You won’t.  But if somehow you did, I’d actually welcome that, my own personal goals be damned,” the first minister said.

Something in his voice convinced Ryck that the man was telling the truth.

“And I like you, Ryck.  Oh, I’m madder than hell that you forced this on us.  And I wasn’t shitting you when I told you I might be following you to the Cube next.  You’re brash and too moralistic, and that’s a deadly combination for politics.  But I respect you and your service.  Part of me wants to pull the lever myself on the gallows for putting me, for putting us in this position, but part of me will mourn you.  You could have been such a great tool for the Federation.”

Right then, the inner door opened and the court clerk looked in.

The first minster quickly turned off the sphere in time for them to hear “. . .eral Lysander, you are ordered to appear before the court.

“Time to face your judgment,
General
,” the first minister said, his flippant side back on display.

Ryck stood up, and with the two guards behind him, shuffled the best he could into the courtroom.  It was a closed court, Ryck saw, with just the judge, the bailiff standing at his side, and the clerk making it up.  The first minister took a seat in the back of the court, and the two guards stood at the door.  The holocam team had already set up their recording gear. 

Ryck took the position indicated by the clerk.  He was tempted to just plop on the chair in silent defiance, but he was aware of the camcrew, and he didn’t want to give the loyalist propaganda teams any more ammunition than possible.  He stood silently, waiting for the clerk to scan his retina and swear him in.  The retina scan was quick and confirmed for the record that Ryck was Ryck.

“Do you, Ryck Lysander, solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?” the clerk asked.

“I do.”

That formality finished, the judge sat up straighter and looked across the six or seven meters to where Ryck stood.

“Major General Ryck Lysander, FP8785678, you have been brought before me under a series of charges.  Do you understand that?”

“Yes, I do.”

“You have been charged with twenty-three counts of crimes against the Federation, four counts of crimes against humanity, and one count of violating a Universal Assembly of Man treaty.”

What?  OK, the humanity is going to be the First Step massacre.  But treaty?  Maybe Corporal Hailstone?

“To ensure each of these is addressed correctly, I will read each charge, and you will plead to that charge and that charge alone.  Do you understand that?”

“Yes.”

The judge waited for a moment as if expecting Ryck to say something else. 

When Ryck was silent, the judge cleared his throat and said, “General Lysander, you are charged with Penal Code 1001, Treason against the state.  How do you plead?”

“I don’t plead.”

The judge looked up from his court PA.  “Excuse me?”

“I don’t plead.”

“It’s pretty easy, General.  You are either guilty or not.  How do you plead?”

“I don’t plead.  I do not recognize your authority over me, so I cannot plead to any of your charges.”

The judge rolled his eyes, then said, “OK, General, let me play your game for a moment.  You are a major general in the United Federation Marine Corps, right?”

“I am a general in the United Federation Marines Corps, true.”

“A major general, but even so, as a superior court judge in the Federation, you feel I don’t have jurisdiction over you?”

“The group you represent has been legally deposed for crimes against the charter and against humanity.  So no, you have no legal basis to decide on any charges leveled against me.  Additionally, as the co-chairman of the legal United Federation, I am a head of state.  Therefore, as a citizen, and only as a general citizen, you may file charges against me for any perceived crime, but they must be heard by the Universal Court.”

Ryck was completely under the loyalists’ control, and he didn’t have any real expectations of getting out of his situation.  And he knew the judge would reject his claim that the loyalist government was the illegal one.  But his internet sleuthing had uncovered the rules concerning heads of state.  It could be enough to give them pause.  Doubtful, but possible.

The judge just stared at him for a moment before saying, “I’m going to enter a plea of not guilty for you.”

“And I object.  Bring me up to the Universal Court, and I will cooperate.  But I do not accept your plea for me.”

“As to Penal Code 1009, Inciting an Armed Rebellion—”

“And once again, I object!” Ryck shouted out, cutting off the judge.  “You cannot enter a plea for a defendant until there has been a full psychological exam.  That’s paragraph 4.34.56 of the penal code,” he said, hoping he’d memorized it correctly.

The judge was getting angry now, and he positively glowered at Ryck.  This was supposed to be a cut-and-dry proceeding justifying Ryck’s execution.  And Ryck was not cooperating, surprise, surprise.

A slight smile suddenly came over the judge’s face as he said, “Are you familiar with paragraph 3.44.21, General?”

“No, I’m not,” Ryck said, his heart sinking.

“Well, to put it in terms you might understand, it gives any superior court judge, of which I am one, the authority to reach a judgment in a Class 1 Felony case whether the defendant is there to plead or not.”

Ryck didn’t know the paragraph, of course, but he did know that the law gave the right so that defendants could be tried in absentia or after they were dead.

“But I am here!” he shouted out.

“Oh, so you are here, in front of a court that has jurisdiction over you?”

“No!  I mean, I am here, but you have no right to judge me.”

“You can’t have it both ways, General.  You are either here under my jurisdiction, and I can enter a plea—after we take a short recess for your psychological evaluation, of course—or you are not here submitting to my judgment.”

Ryck’s mind was churning.  There was something wrong with what the judge was saying, but he couldn’t quite unravel it.  Not that it made any difference.  There was no doubt in Ryck’s mind that the execution had already been ordered.  Now it was just a matter of crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s.  He’d hoped to throw a wrench into things and leave the loyalist PR guys with less to work with, but he wasn’t gaining much traction there.

“I refuse to plead as you have no jurisdiction over me,” he simply said.

“So noted.  In that case, I am able to render judgment without a plea.  I have read the reports and examined the evidence.  I have enough to render judgment without calling in witnesses.”