The Phoenix Project (37 page)

    
“That evening on what I initially perceived
to be a feeble attempt to gain my trust I met two incredible members of another
race. I found that evening that my suspicions were unfounded, that my fear was
biased, and that what I thought may be future conquerors were as docile as,”
she smiled for a moment, “as cats.”

    
Laughter erupted from the courtroom and was
quickly quelled by a bang from the speaker’s gavel.

    
“I can tell you from my past weeks with
them that these Ferine you see accused of malevolent acts of slaughter are
gentlemen. They have been nothing but honest, sincere, and kind. If these
proceedings are to escalate into a trial, then I will be the first in the
witness stand to defend them.

    
“To my Human peers and comrades: Fear and
hatred are in our nature, but so are compassion and understanding. Our God, our
Creator, our Maker would be the first to say that forgiveness is a virtue.

    
“This is not only true of our attitude
towards the Ferine but of our brothers, regardless of what banner they follow.”

    
Nadine left the podium amidst stunned
silence and resumed her seat next to Ranik.

    
“I’m sorry,” she whispered to her striped
friend.

    
“Don’t you dare be,” Ranik whispered back.
“What you said has dug deeper and has more of an impact than anything I
could’ve told them. Today, I know you are a true friend.”

    
Ranik took her hand and gave it a gentle
squeeze which she reciprocated as Elliot took the stand.

    
“I have to thank you,” Nadine whispered.

    
“For what?”

    
“For making me feel like myself again.”

    
“How long has it been?”

    
“I don’t remember,” she said.

    
“Thank—you General,” Elliot said at the podium.
“I can’t give a better summary of the past few months than my counterpart, so I
won’t try. All I can say is what I hope this meeting with a new species will
bring.

    
“I don’t hope for war. I don’t hope for
imprisonment for these two Ferine or any others. I hope for a continuing truth
and parlance,” he said and turned towards Nadine, “with our brothers no matter
what banner they follow.”

    
Elliot turned back towards the panel.

    
“This incident followed by the phenomenal
First Contact we have been treated to could be referred to as a form of divine
intervention, telling us not to fight but to forgive. I agree with my
counterpart in this.

    
“We have been in a state of war, albeit
passive, for generations, and I do not look on First Contact as an interruption
but as a savior to our regretful routines of distrust and outright aggression.
All of Humanity is proud. Each individual rightfully takes pride in their
heritage, culture, and nation. I only see fit that our tradition should
continue and expand to the other cultures regardless of their planet of origin.

    
“Honesty is to say that when General
Hanover came to our ship I was more distrustful of her than of our new
arrivals. Why not? We have decades of distrust between our two governments.

    
“Many of my Alliance officers, including me, had thought
of her as an interloper, a purposefully malfunctioning cog installed in our otherwise
smoothly running machine. That is what we always believed any Coalition soldier
would be. She was only there to sabotage our efforts and hinder our progress.
That is what I thought on the first day of contact.

    
“For sometime I continued to believe that.
It was through my experiences aboard the
Excalibur
with
 
the Ferine that, by extension, I saw and
understood what a member of the Coalition stood for.

    
“If General Nadine Hanover is a typical
example of the Coalition than I have underestimated your entire nation. She is
a loyal member of your government and she is a formidable person. I have seen
an intelligent and compassionate person of redoubtable makeup. To this end I do
not see why we can’t take this opportunity to make amends. General,” he said
and left the podium with a proffered hand outstretched to her. Nadine got up
from her seat and met him in full view of the panel as well as the chamber.
They grasped each other’s right hands in agreement. Elliot turned back to the
podium amid applause.

    
“My compatriots and my opposition on the
panel: these Ferine delegates have, by their very nature, shown that two people
on opposite sides could put aside their differences and become friends. I do
not understand how they can not show the rest of us a peaceful resolution by
their example.”

    
He looked to the two Ferine in their
chairs.

    
“These individuals, these people, are our
friends. It is time to let the past become part of history. We can, in the face
of First Contact see it as a momentary pause in our fighting or we can view it
as an opportunity to set forth into a truce and even make it a first step
towards peace between our proud nations.

    
“To do otherwise can only have a destructive
end for the Human race. We can see peace and a mutually beneficial treaty
between us or lasting and devastating war for both of us.

    
“I imagine that many of you out there
believe that I have gone off topic but ask yourself what the central issue has
always been?

    
“The Ferine have done nothing more than we
have done to ourselves. The Romans conquered. The Ottoman
Empire conquered. The Nazis conquered. The EIA conquered. For the
first time we have a people who came to sincerely apologize, not conquer. We
can move forward or continue the oversights of our ancestors, who were far
more violent than the Ferine’s.

    
“Thank—you.”

    
A multi—faceted globe descended into the
floor of a twelve sided room. A dozen black—garbed people regally dressed with
the golden insignia of MERA on their right breasts looked on in shock.

    
“Comments?” Catherine demanded.

    
“Is there some sort of ulterior motive
here?” Elizabeth
asked.

    
“None that I’m aware of. Certainly nothing
that I had assigned her to do.”

    
“She’s certainly grown very fond of Admiral
Fredericks,” Alexander said.

    
“Fond is a speculative word in this case.
She may only be building up a friendly and loving relationship with him in
order to ensure his seduction.”

    
“Her priorities then take precedence to the
exclusion of all else? She may have unduly influenced the panel,” Alexander
said.

    
“Perhaps she has influenced the Alliance panel members
but they are in the minority, and I assure you the Coalition vote has already
been decided.”

    
“But what about the public perception? We
don’t need riots in the streets,” Alexander said.

    
“I agree,” Napoleon said.

    
“I will issue additional troops to our
streets. The Alliance
civilian population is the responsibility of another government.”

    
“Nadine has been given her usually generous
amount of leeway,” Alexander said.

    
“She will not escape this unscathed. I can
assure all Council members here that she will be dealt with and properly
chastised,” Catherine said.

    
“We are still left to deal with damage
control.”

    
“Yes, but I think you exaggerate the extent
of damage done by this. Her actions may be beneficial to us,” Catherine said.

    
“It would be dangerous to ask for
extradition now. That could very well result in a rebellion. We can execute convicted
traitors, but we can’t execute martyrs,” Napoleon said.

    
“So we won’t.”

    
“That was crucial to our plans. They could
easily have been dealt with outside of Alliance
jurisdiction,” Theresa said.

    
“We change our plans appropriately.”

    
“How?” Victoria asked.

    
“We don’t have time for everyone to
participate in foresight. What do you see, Alexander?” Catherine asked.
Alexander’s eyes glazed over as he stared into nowhere.

    
“I see three hawks, one of them is in the
sky, and two are in a nest. The nest is on a Coalition flag,” he said after a
long pause in the future.

    
“Three hawks?” Catherine asked.

    
“There are three Ferine starships,”
Alexander said.

    
“That could cause a war,” Napoleon said,
understanding the meaning of the symbols.

    
“Exactly,” Catherine said with a smile.

    
Many have wondered as to why there was
such an intensive persecution of Admiral Maria Peterson. By this time she was
revered within the annals of the Allied forces as an astute and brilliant
commander. The general response from polite questions after the inquiry was
that it was their duty to prosecute the admiral for the loss of one of their
vessels. However, they hired their best prosecutor to take the cast.

    
The results have created more
questions as to why he was hired in the first place. There are rumors that
rivals of Fleet Admiral Nelson were trying to get rid of Admiral Peterson but
no conclusive evidence has ever come to light.

Martial Law and its Consequences

by Wilfred Hanson

Chapter XIII

Maria returned
to the courtroom after being disturbed from her barely touched lunch. The judge
had deliberated for three hours, which had brought uncertainty as to what his
decision might be. She had a passing familiarity with court martial proceedings
and had no idea if a longer deliberation would have been a bad or good signal for
her case. Her lawyer had said only that it was case specific and hadn’t
speculated as to the findings other than that they had a strong case.

    
She sat impatiently as she heard the heavy
wooden doors behind her open and close. Maria expected to see the despised
prosecutor, but instead was surprised to see the tall Fleet Admiral Nelson
enter. The five stars of his office gleamed on each side of his collar while he
found a seat at the back of the sparsely populated courtroom. The prosecutor
entered a minute later and hastily sat at his desk. The crumbs of his dinner
clung to his dark navy duty tunic despite a momentary effort to dislodge them
with a quick swipe of his hand. She saw the surprise of the quick recall on his
face and thought it a good indication.

    
The judge entered through the elegant door
at the back of the courtroom. All stood at attention for his entrance and
seated themselves once he had given his permission.

    
“I have closely reviewed the evidence of
this case and I have come to a verdict,” the judge said. Maria’s stomach
tightened as she waited for him to continue. “Admiral Peterson, please rise.”

    
She and her lawyer stood up and gazed at
the high perched judiciary.

    
“Although the prosecuting council has built
an impressive case against the defendant, I find the accusations against you to
be filled with supposition and speculation. Nowhere in this action could I find
any proof of any malicious or ambitious intentions on your part. Your strategy
appears to have been sound and your actions appropriate when the field of
battle had changed unexpectedly.

    
“The loss of the AWS
Excalibur
,
although tragic, appears to have been necessary. Your crew has corroborated
enough of your testimony to lend sufficient credibility to your story, convincing
me of its validity.

    
“Admiral Peterson, the only evidence I have
found indicates that your actions were justified. You are to be commended for
your quick response and intelligent thinking in this matter.

    
“I find for the defendant in this case. All
charges are dismissed,” he said. The judge got up from his chair and exited the
room as Myers stared after him. Maria nearly collapsed into her chair in relief.

    
“I told you we had a good case,” Ben Dixon
said to her. For the first time in weeks, Maria smiled. Dixon returned the smile and offered her his
hand. She graciously took it, shaking it emphatically.