12
This isn’t how I wanted to see New Mars.
Not that he was seeing anything other than four bare walls, a table, and four chairs. And three people staring at him. He didn’t know if they were OD or what. None of the three were in uniform.
Rev leaned forward, using his right arm to brace himself. They’d taken his social arm, and the prison orange’s left sleeve hung loose.
“I don’t understand the question,” he said again.
“I’ll be more direct, then,” the youngish man, who seemed to be in charge of the debrief—the interrogation—said. “Were you, or were you not, the individual who initiated contact between Union forces and the Frisian Host commandos.”
Rev had to think about it. He wasn’t sure if he was the one who’d yelled out first or if the yellow-master had.
“I don’t know.”
The young man frowned. “You know, we’re talking to everyone else, and we’ll be pulling your internal records. I would suggest you be honest now.”
Rev had figured that that was coming. That was why they’d shut down all of their battle buddies while still on the Alacrity.
“Why don’t you just do that, then,” Rev snapped. “See for yourself.”
“Oh, rest assured, we will, once your Marine Corps stops interfering with us.”
“Hansen,” the older agent, the one who hadn’t said a word yet, snapped.
The younger agent looked chastised and said, “Just answer the question, and truthfully.
Oh, great. I’ve got a trainee doing my interrogation. But what was that about the Corps? Are they fighting for us?
That gave him a rush of badly needed hope. He took a deep breath, ready to cooperate . . . for now.
“I was on point. We came upon each other suddenly. I did yell for everyone to stop, but I don’t know if I was the first.”
The agent looked flustered, whether from Rev’s answer or from getting reprimanded. The third agent leaned over and whispered something into his ear.
“Sergeant Pelletier, was it you who first suggested cooperating with the Frisian soldiers in order to capture the Centaur objects of interest?”
Rev thought he had, but he needed to think about it to make sure, and he ran the events through his mind. It would have been much easier with Punch online, but he didn’t think they’d go along with bringing him back.
“Yes, I think I was the one who first suggested it.”
“And you did this despite knowing that your orders were to keep the Frisians from obtaining any of the objects of interest?”
Rev knew this had been the intent, but he wasn’t sure it had been that specific. “My orders were to make sure that we beat the Frisians to the, uh, objects of interest. We did that. We were the first into the intact chamber.”
The agent seemed frustrated with his answer. “But you subsequently let them in.”
“Yes, sir. I did.”
“Why?”
The agent seemed genuinely confused.
“That was our agreement.”
“And why did you make this agreement?” the third agent interrupted.
“Because in my judgment, that was the only way to succeed in obtaining the objects. The rest had already been destroyed, and I thought that getting something was better than nothing, even if that meant the Fries got access, too.”
“But the Frisians are our enemy,” the first agent protested.
“I thought the Centaurs were our enemy,” Rev said, scorn dripping from his words. “I’ve fought with the Frisian Host, and they’d bled and died beside me. I consider them brothers in arms.”
Anger flashed through the older agent’s eyes. He stood, the other two following. He leaned over the table and said, “You are being very stupid, son. You committed treason, and you know the penalty for that. Take ten minutes and think of how you want to proceed.”
“I’m not your son and leaning into my space isn’t going to make you any seem any tougher,” Rev said casually.
The agent’s eyes flashed with hatred, and Rev allowed himself a small grin. If the cherry wanted to be petty, so could Rev. He was in custody and didn’t have a lot of options.
The agent turned on his heel—a practiced gesture that was a shade theatrical—and the door whooshed open. The three left, leaving Rev alone, his heart pounding. It was extremely stupid to antagonize these people, whoever they were, but damned if he was going to be a punching bag for desk jockeys. Even if the Marine Corps was trying to help them, the fact was that they were in a building somewhere, probably on New Mars, and these three controlled Rev’s future.
He wished he had Punch there to keep him from getting himself into trouble.
Getting into trouble? I’m being charged with treason. What more trouble is there?
* * *
Sorry, Mommy. Sorry, Mommy,
So the little bear said.
That’s OK, my little one.
And she kissed him on his head.
Rev was lying on his cot, facing the wall, Kat and Neesy’s song on a loop in his head—and driving him crazy—when the door to his cell opened. He didn’t bother to turn over. Footsteps approached, then stopped beside the cot.
“Sergeant Pelletier.”
“I’ve told you everything I know. It was my decision, and my decision only. The others had nothing to do with it.”
“Sergeant Pelletier, I’m Major Yarborough. I’d like to talk to you.
Rev turned his head to see a Marine major in Dress Green Alphas standing over him. “Crap, sorry, sir,” Rev said, swinging his legs over so he could stand and come to the position of attention. “I thought you were one of them.”
The major held out his hand, and Rev automatically took it. The officer took a moment to look around the bare cell, then shrugged and said, “I guess we can just sit on your cot.”
Rev sat at the edge of his cot. He had no idea who this major was, and he thought silence might be a good idea.
“You pissed off a lot of people, Sergeant.”
Rev stiffened his back and looked straight ahead. So much for the Corps watching out for him. “Like I told the interrogation team, sir, I did what I thought best to complete the mission. And the decision was mine and mine alone. The others, they just did what I told them to. It wasn’t their choice.”
The major huffed, then said, “You had a staff sergeant with you and a second lieutenant close by. You’re a sergeant. And you say it was your decision?”
Rev gave the major a glance, then looked ahead again. He didn’t know how much the major knew about him and the IBHU program, and he was in enough trouble as it were that he didn’t need to be accused of releasing more classified information.
“Operational decisions were temporarily delegated to me, sir. Even over Staff Sergeant Delacrie.”
“Good response. Make sure you maintain that.”
Rev turned his body to stare at the major. “Sir?”
“I guess I should have told you when I walked in that I’m your counsel.”
“Sir?”
“I’m your lawyer.”
“You’re on my side?”
The major chuckled and said, “If I’m your lawyer, I guess I should be on your side. Makes it a bit easier.”
“I didn’t know I was going to get a lawyer.”
“What? You thought the Marine Corps was going to let them feed one of our own to the lions? I’m surprised at you.”
“But my orders, and the Frisians.”
“You followed the orders you were given. If you had to improvise under combat conditions in order to achieve the mission, well, that’s what we expect every Marine NCO to do.”
Rev took a moment to digest what the major had just said, and for the first time since he’d been arrested, he felt a real glimmer of hope.
“So, are you going to get me out of here, sir?”
The major frowned and said, “We’re trying, Sergeant. But . . .” He paused and looked up at the ceiling.
“I don’t give a flying fuck what kind of BS regulation you’ll pull to justify listening in, but this is a privileged lawyer-client discussion, and if any of this sees the light of day, I’ll pull a Writ Three-oh-four on your asses so fast you won’t have time to wipe yourselves.”
Rev’s eyes widened at the outburst, and he asked, “So, what we say now is private?”
“Probably not. But if they try and use anything we might say, some of them are going to pay. Personally pay,” he added a bit louder.
“Now, to get back to your question, we’re trying to get all of you out. The Commandant himself is involved.”
“So, he thinks we’re innocent.”
“No. And he’s one of those who you pissed off.”
“Then why is he getting involved?”
“Because you’re a Marine, and no damned chief spook or even the Director of Internal Security is going to try and punish one of us. In a way, you’re lucky that they tried to horn in on this.”
“What do you mean, sir?”
“If they hadn’t, you and the rest would probably be up for courts-martial. You have some unique circumstances that might keep you in your position,” he said, his eyes momentarily going to Rev’s empty sleeve. “But the others?”
“So, you think we committed treason?” Rev asked, his guard back up.
“Treason in a mighty strong word, Sergeant. And more than difficult to prove!” he said that last part louder before going back to a conversation level. “But some in the command think there was a severe lack of judgment on the part of some people, like Delacrie and Harisa. No matter that you’re trying to shoulder the blame, they were the two senior Marines on the scene.
“But what I think doesn’t matter. I am here to make sure your rights are protected and to—”
“It matters to me, sir.”
The major hesitated as he marshaled his thoughts before answering. “I have never seen combat, so I don’t know the pressures you DC Marines must experience. We train you to be able to make decisions on the fly, taking into account the ground reality of what’s happening. And I think that’s what you did. So, if you want my opinion, then I say no, and the charge is ridiculous.”
“And the Frisians getting their hands on the tech?”
“They’d be getting it anyway, and anyone who thinks different is sniffing unicorn farts. All you did was speed that up.”
It shouldn’t matter to Rev, but it did. He’d spent the last however long he’d been a prisoner second-guessing himself. To hear the major say that was a huge relief.
“So, what now, sir?”
“What now is that I make sure you’re being treated well. I’ll be filing motions, along with the other staff judge advocates, for all of you, trying to get you out of D-4 control.”
“That’s who has us? Internal Security?”
“Yeah, and it’s going to be hard to spring you until there is some sort of resolution. So, you may be here for quite a bit longer. As far as D-4 thinks, possession is nine-tenths of the law.”
“Longer? Do you know how long I’ve been here so far? I don’t know. They leave the lights on around the clock, and I think they’re screwing with my chow.”
The major frowned and said, “I’ll take care of that. But you’ve been here five days.”
That’s it? I would have sworn it’s been at least two weeks.
“Is there anything else I can do for you right now? I mean as far as quality of life?”
“I wouldn’t mind getting my soc—” He stopped before he could say “social arm.” “My prosthesis. It would make life much easier.”
“I’ll see about that. Anything else?”
“If at all possible, I’d love to be able to see the others.”
“That will be harder, but I’ll see what I can do. I’m going to leave now to get on some of this, but I’ll see you tomorrow. Keep your spirits up. We’re fighting for you.”
* * *
Whatever the major and the lawyers did seemed to have worked because two days later, he was escorted out of the isolation cell and into a regular prison cell with a small window into a central common area. He was still locked in for most of the time while not being interrogated, but for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening, the prisoners were allowed out into the common area. All except Lieutenant Harisa. She wasn’t with them, and that was a major subject of discussion the first time they were able to get together.
Major Yarborough had reminded him that D-4 would be listening in to them, hoping to catch a stray comment that would buttress their position, and that it would be best if they kept their conversations off the actions in the asteroid, but with the lieutenant missing, that was pretty hard to ignore. Staff Sergeant Delacrie had demanded to know where she was as they were ordered back into the cells, but he was ignored.
Now, on their third time together, he and Tomiko were sitting on one of the tables while Strap and Hussein were having a pushup contest, the rest cheering them on. With their augments, they might run out of time before one of them quit.
“I miss Pikachu,” Tomiko said.
Rev grunted. She’d always been closer to her AI than he was to his. But he missed Punch, too. As adverse as he’d been to receiving him, the hunk of crystals had grown on him.
“I could use some of his entertainment feeds. It gets pretty boring in my cell.”
“Think the D-4 has downloaded them yet?”
“Major Yarborough said they can’t until a decision is made on that, but knowing the OD . . .”
Rev wasn’t even sure if it would actually be the Omega Division who would dissemble Punch, if it came to that. D-4 was an opaque organization, and he wasn’t sure who did what within it.
“If they’re gonna do it, I just wish they’d get it over with,” Tomiko said. “They’ll see there was no fucking treason. We were just doing our jobs. What we had to do.”
Which will clear all of them, I hope. I was the one who made the offer.
But he didn’t trust D-4 farther any than he could throw them. They had a reputation of doing what they wanted, then massaged whatever laws and regulations they had to after the fact.
And Rev and Tomiko, at least, had already been under suspicion of leaking information to the Frisians about the dead Centaur. The OD agent who had interrogated Rev and downloaded recordings had said he was cleared. But, as far as Rev knew, that leak still hadn’t been uncovered. He had to think that made them doubly suspicious of him.
“One way or the other, this has to end. They can’t keep us here forever,” Rev said.
“Oh, you are such a naive young lad. With D-4, they can stretch this out for years if they want to.”
Which was probably true. He just didn’t want to let his mind fall down that hole. He was already depressed.
“You know, if Punch was here, he’d be telling me jokes to keep my spirits up.”
“You two are so weird about that. But OK, how about you telling me a joke? Keep my spirits up.”
“Uh . . . OK.” But his mind was blank. Nothing was coming up. “I can’t think of one.”
“Just tell me the last one Punch told you before they kidnapped him.”
“Let me see. I can’t remember . . . ah, OK. I’ve got it now. Ahem,” Rev said, clearing his throat. “A lumberjack walked into a magic forest and started his chainsaw to cut down a talking tree. ‘You can't cut me down,’ the tree complained. ‘I’m a talking tree!’ The lumberjack raised his chainsaw and said, ‘You may be a talking tree, but you will dialogue.’”
“What? I don’t get it.”
“You will dialogue. Die a log?”
“Oh, geez. You’re better off without Punch if that’s the best he can do.”
“I don’t know. I thought it was pretty funny.”
The bell rang, and their unseen nanny said, “Everyone, back to your cells.”
Hussein and Strap were still going strong, but they had to quit. That didn’t keep them from arguing who had done more as the two teams returned to their individual cells.
Rev looked over to Tomiko just before he entered his and shouted, “Die a log!”
He stepped inside, and the door shut behind him.