Dead To Rights

Kowlan Federal Base, July 1 2510

"The Fleet wants to speak with you, ma'am." Connie looked up from her meal to find Scott Davis grinning down at her. "Sounds like we're going to get some action."

She pushed away the mostly empty plate. "Now?"

"He did say 'at your earliest convenience', ma'am."

That means now. Connie got up from her seat, and made for the door, feet taking her along the metal walkway to the command centre. She caught a glimpse of herself, reflected in a window, and paused for a moment. Green eyes, slightly unruly red hair, slim, no more than five feet two or three in her uniform boots. One hand reflexively ran through her red hair, and once again she found herself wondering at the turn of events that had made her captain of the cruiser IAV Tsinghai at age twenty-six, blessed with a loyal, efficient crew that, she knew, would do whatever she asked of them, uncomplaining.

Fleet Admiral Jason Newton's door was ajar, and she tapped, lightly, on it. "Admiral,. sir?"

"Connie. Come in, please." She did as she was told, to find the dark-skinned Admiral at his desk, with two of her fellow captains, Don Slayton of the IAV Beijing, and Eugene Lovell of the IAV Hermes. With them, there was a stranger in Alliance uniform she didn't recognise, tall, with close-cropped fair hair and steel-blue eyes. "This is Adam Mynatt from Weapons Division. He'll be accompanying you on this next mission."

He didn't mention his rank, she mused, giving the unsmiling Mynatt an appraising look, That usually spells trouble. "Nice to meet you, sir." Green eyes lifted back to Newton. "Might I ask what the mission is, sir?"

The Admiral rubbed at his near-bald scalp. "Mynatt's division have come up with some new orbit-to-surface ordnance they'd like testing. Your ships will be equipped with one of them each, and an observer from Weapons Division, and we're sending you to join the raid on Shadow."

"Sir." She nodded, glanced at Slayton and Lovell, and took a deep breath. "What kind of weapon, sir?"

Her commanding officers eyes indicated Mynatt, who fixed her with an unwavering, ice-blue look. "We've developed a new, more efficient payload, and some advanced guidance systems to ensure accurate delivery. It's basically fire-and-forget technology."

He's lying. Or at least, not telling the whole truth. She nodded. "Thank you, sir."

"Anything else?" Newton asked. Her two colleagues shook their heads, and after a moment, so did she. Even more than she, Slayton and Lovell were career officers, and they'd treat this mission as a feather in their respective caps. come what may. 

She shouldn't have been at all surprised when Mynatt was assigned to her ship.

Bridge, IAV Tsinghai, Shadow approach, July 5 2510

Connie looked round the bridge of the Tsinghai. The only trace of the attack by the Independent suicide shuttle a year ago was the small metal plaque, by the bridge door, listing the names of those who'd died. Captain Michael K. Lewins; Lieutenant-Commander Daniel M. Ellis... The list went on, and at the bottom, at her insistence, Lieutenant  (JG) James A. Mackay. 

There were new faces on the bridge, some promoted from within, others drawn by the ship, and her Captain's, reputation. Denise Taylor manned the nav console that Connie still had to remind herself not to think of as hers, dark-haired, dark-eyed, briskly efficient. The pilot's chair that had belonged to the irrepressible Danny Ellis was now occupied by the less excitable, but equally competent Alexei Ross, a transfer from the Hermes she wasn't sure Lovell had forgiven her for yet. 

She slid into the command chair, glanced over at Taylor. "Status?"

"Last waypoint coming up, ma'am. On schedule for orbit in thirty-two minutes."

"Good." Her command screen was telling her pretty much the same thing, and she looked up to find Adam Mynatt studying her. "Any problems, sir?"

He shook his head. "None." A beat, "Yet. I trust we can keep it that way."

"So do I, sir." 

"Course correction coming up, ma'am." Alexei sounded calm, unruffled. 

There was a judder, more than she was expecting, as Ross began the manoeuvre, and she and Taylor locked alarmed glances for a second, before Connie reached for her microphone. "Davis? What was that?"

Scott Davis down in Engineering sounded aggrieved, as he usually did when his precious systems let him down. "That sticky valve on the fore starboard thruster finally packed up, by the looks of it. We're fine, just a bit slow turning."

Mynatt didn't say anything. He didn't need to, his disapproving expression saying it all for him.

The recalcitrant valve left them trailing two minutes in the Hermes and Beijing's wakes, Mynatt's frustration evident as he paced the bridge for most of the half hour it took them to reach low orbit above the dusty moon. Connie kept a couple of channels open for monitoring, one the ship-to-ship to the other two cruisers, and another scanning comm traffic on the world below, both relayed to her earpiece. Slayton and Lovell's voices came almost together: "Launching." "Weapon launched."

The scanner in front of her showed her two sister ships, each with another trace leaving them. "Impact in 75 seconds," she murmured, as much to herself as anyone, then, louder, "Line us up, Ross."

"Yes, ma'am."

Mynatt hovered behind her, watching the twin traces of the missiles over her shoulder. She held her breath, tried to ignore his unsettling presence, and the undercurrent of surface comms traffic in her ear, and waited for the two tracks to coincide with the planet's surface. 

"Good." Mynatt's voice was coldly satisfied. 

She glanced up at him. "I thought you said they had advanced guidance systems, sir. That looked like a straight ballistic free fall to me."

"You were mistaken," he said, in a tone that defied her to argue.

"Fifty seconds to release," said Denise, quietly. 

She glanced, unthinking at her... Danny's.... watch. Her earpiece crackled again, and she leaned forward to adjust the volume. It was a surface transmission. "...gas. Get the hell out of there!" Green eyes lifted to Mynatt, watching him as the transmission continued, the voice female and on the edge of panic. "It's some kind of bio-agent. Evacuate, NOW!..."

She held Mynatt's gaze, levelly. "What exactly are we dropping, sir?" 

"None of your business, Captain. Just do as you're told. and don't ask questions." His voice was dispassionately cold.

"With respect, sir, it's my ship, my name, you're putting to what's going on down there." Almost without realising it, she'd already made the decision, spoke into her headset microphone. "Clarke, abort that release."

And found herself, for the second time inside a year, staring down the barrel of a laser pistol on her own ship's bridge.

"Step away from your console, Saint." 

Unlike Mackay, she was certain Mynatt both knew how to, and was willing to, use the gun. Behind him, she saw Alexei Ross start to stand, and shook her head, firmly. "Sit down, Lieutentant."

Ross blinked, surprised, but obeyed, unquestioning. Mynatt didn't even look round. "And so ends a promising career. Do you know what the punishment for mutiny is, Captain?"

She held her head high. "Court martial, sir. If I'm lucky, not a firing squad." As she spoke, the truth of what she had to do dawned on her, and she took a deep breath. "Commander Taylor there is my second in command. If you promote her, I can promise you, she'll refuse, Without knowing why I'm doing what I did. Purely out of loyalty." Denise just nodded, almost imperceptibly, frowning in puzzlement. "As will Ross after her." Green eyes held his. "Or you can shoot me, and then I'm pretty sure you won't leave this bridge alive." Mynatt's gun never wavered, and behind him on her screen, the countdown timer showed twenty seconds left. "If you want it done, sir, the ship's yours. But I won't let you ruin anyone else''s career. You want that thing launched, you give the goddamned order. Sir." 

Mynatt glared at her, glanced round to find every pair of eyes on the bridge on him. Connie met each of their gazes in turn. Her mic was still live, she knew, and she had a shipful of careers to save. "Mister Mynatt is now in charge of the IAV Tsinghai. Its actions are his responsibility, not yours. You will obey his orders, without question, or so help me God, I'll shoot you myself."

He had no choice, and both of them knew it. Not if he wanted the twisted payload they carried launched. Mynatt shot her a look of pure venom, and ripped the headset from her. "Clarke. Release it. Now."

It remained a source of pride for the rest of the trip that not one of them had questioned the order.

Kowlan Federal Base, July 13 2510

"And you elected to disobey your orders." Admiral Newton sounded resigned, regretful. The impromptu courtroom was almost empty - her, Newton, her father, Mynatt, and two guards.

She held herself tall in the dock, met his gaze. "Yes sir."

He sighed. "Why, Saint?"

"Because I was being asked to lend my name to the commission of a war crime, sir." Her father frowned, disapprovingly. 

Newton looked round the room. "You have no witnesses in your defence." It was almost a question.

She shook her head. "No sir."

"Why not?"

Her throat was dry, and she paused for a sip of water. "I have no defence, sir. I stand guilty as charged."

The Fleet Admiral evidently crossed another question off his sheet of notes. "You are aware of the penalties at this court-martial's disposal."

"Yes sir." Death. Or, if she was very lucky, a dishonourable discharge.

He nodded at the guards. "Escort the prisoner away, while the court considers its verdict."

Her father came to her in the cell while she was waiting. To her surprise, he was furious. "What the hell do you think you're doing, throwing your career away, Constance?"

"Making sure I can sleep at nights." She ran a hand through her hair. "Those were bio-weapons they had us carry."

"I know. Who do you think came up with the plan?" he asked. "And they'll bring an end to the war all the quicker."

"Is that it?" She wanted, of a sudden, to hit him, drove a fist into the wall instead. "All you can think about is my career, and your precious war. There were people down there on that moon, for God's sake. Ordinary, innocent people that you and Mynatt would have had me murder. "

If there hadn't been a set of bars between them, he'd have slapped her. "How dare you address a superior officer like that?"

Connie stared at him for a moment. "Forgive me, sir." She spat the words at him. "I thought I was your daughter. Clearly I was mistaken, sir." With that, she turned her back on him, clenching her fists so hard one set of nails drew blood.

Not until his footsteps were out of earshot did she give in to crying.

"The court has reached a verdict." Newton sounded regretful. "Prisoner, step forward."

She did as she was told, and Mynatt came to meet her. Blue eyes met green, and she filed away that face, knew she'd never forget it.

Fleet Admiral Newton cleared his throat. "This court finds Constance Anne Saint guilty of the charges brought against her." He drew a slow breath. "The sentence of the court is that she be stripped of rank and position, and discharged immediately from the service."

Mynatt reached up and ripped the rank patch from her shoulder. As he did so, he hissed, softly, "You'll be the one history records as commanding the Tsinghai." She stared straight ahead, did her best not to react. "If I hear otherwise, I'll find you, and finish what this court couldn't."

History is written by the winners. 

Connie blinked back tears, bit her lip, and stared straight ahead as her career ended.