A Galaxy Unknown (33 page)

"Fifth and last, Torturing a Prisoner. Ensign Carver had just minutes to get the Prometheus moving or all on board would be lost. They desperately needed the lockout command override-code, and she got it in the only way possible. She only used the same shock techniques that had been repeatedly used on her and the others in the detention center, and stopped as soon as the senior officer supplied the code. There was no lasting damage to any of the Raider officers. And you heard Lt. Commander Michaels clearly state that the nickname Ice Queen was used as a sign of utmost respect, not disparagement, as Commander Pierce would have you believe.

"Ensign Carver deserves to be acquitted of all charges, and she deserves the respect and gratitude of all the citizens of the Galactic Alliance for what she has accomplished. It's an incontrovertible fact that there has not been a
single
attack by a Raider ship in this entire deca-sector of space since the spaceport was destroyed four months ago. We can thank Ensign Carver for that. I ask that you do what is right and just, and acquit her of all charges. Thank you."

As Lt. Commander Spence returned to his seat, you could hear the soft tread of his shoes on the carpeted deck. Not a single sound came from the gallery. They seemed to have stopped breathing.

After Admiral Margolan had given instructions to the jurors, and they had filed out, he addressed the courtroom. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the proceedings are in recess until the jury reaches its decision."

Everyone in the courtroom rose as the Admiral left. Jenetta turned to Lt. Commander Spence and said, "Whatever the outcome, thank you, Commander."

"It's been my honor, Ensign. I mean that, just as I meant everything that I said in my closing arguments. I don't know how long it will take the jury to reach a decision, but Lt. Marlo and I will meet you back here when they return."

Jenetta was escorted back to her cell to await the verdict. She hadn't worn the restraints since the Admiral had ordered them removed, but her four guards were never more than an arm's length away whenever she was outside the courtroom or the cell.

Chapter Twenty-Six

~ February 13
^th
, 2268 ~

Jenetta paced nervously around her cell for three days before being informed the jury had reached a decision. After changing into her dress uniform, she was escorted to the courtroom. Lt. Commander Spence and Lieutenant Marlo were already waiting.

"Three days for their deliberations," Jenetta said as she took her seat. "Is that good or bad, Commander?"

"Impossible to say, Ensign. I've seen the verdict go both ways in that time."

Before Jenetta could say anything else, Admiral Margolan entered the court from his chambers door. Everyone rose to their feet until he had climbed to the bench and taken his seat. After the usual taps on the chime, signifying that the court was in session, the Admiral told the chief petty officer to bring the jury in.

When they were seated, Admiral Margolan said to the jury, "Ladies and Gentlemen, have you reached a verdict?"

The captain who had led the way into the room, stood and said, "We have, sir."

Jenetta, Lt. Commander Spence, and Lieutenant Marlo stood up and came to attention. Jenetta was so scared that she had to clench her teeth to keep them from chattering, and remind herself to breathe. Lt. Commander Spence, aware of her anxiety, reached down and held her right hand. His simple action seemed to have the desired calming effect.

"Please read your decisions," Admiral Margolan said.

The captain depressed the power button on a holo-tube and began reading from the display as the first page emerged along the length of the viewer. "To the first charge, Desertion, we find the defendant, Ensign Jenetta Carver, not guilty.

"To the second charge, Impersonating a Superior Officer, we find the defendant, Ensign Jenetta Carver, not guilty.

"To the third charge, Appropriation of Private Property without Space Command Authority, we find the defendant, Ensign Jenetta Carver, not guilty.

"To the fourth charge, The Murder of 18,231 Galactic Citizens, we find the defendant, Ensign Jenetta Carver…" The captain paused as his eyes left the display and traveled to Jenetta's face before he announced, "…
not
guilty."

That had been the big one, and Jenetta squeezed Lt. Commander Spence's hand tightly and let out a sigh of relief but remained at attention.

Returning his eyes to the holo-tube, the captain said, "To the fifth charge, Torturing a Prisoner, we find the defendant, Ensign Jenetta Carver, not guilty."

The captain switched off the holo-tube and handed it to the chief petty officer before retaking his seat. The chief petty officer then carried it to the Admiral.

Admiral Margolan addressed the jury with, "Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen." To Jenetta he said, "Ensign Carver, having been found not guilty on all charges and specifications, you are immediately released from custody, and are ordered to report for active duty three days hence." To the courtroom in general he said, "This proceeding is now closed."

As the admiral rose, everyone in the courtroom rose and waited until he was out of the room, but where courtrooms usually clear out fairly quickly after the proceedings are over, the attendees remained standing at their seats. Jenetta didn't notice that everyone in the courtroom was still watching her, grim-faced and with rapt attention, as she turned first to Lt. Commander Spence to thank him again for all he'd done, and then turned to Lieutenant Marlo to thank her for all her efforts as well. As she turned to leave, Jenetta became aware that every pair of eyes in the courtroom appeared focused on her. She hesitated for a second, clenched her jaw muscles, then moved with purpose to the aisle from her place behind the defense table. The trek to the doors at the rear of the room, like the path of a prisoner treading a gauntlet of old, seemed infinitely long. She hadn't taken more than two steps before the courtroom erupted in thunderous applause. Hands reached out to grip hers or pat her on the arm or shoulder as she continued towards the door, and she smiled and nodded to the people, shaking hands like a stumping politician as she went. The cameras followed her movements until she disappeared out the doors. In the media center below, an official spokesperson then recapped the entire trial and verdict on live feed, and closed the production.

Unsure of where she was going, Jenetta didn't even care. She just wanted to get away from the courtroom and feel free again as quickly as possible. Exiting the courthouse, she was immediately besieged by media people who began shouting questions at her. Her only response was, "No comment," as she pushed her way through the newsies with the assistance of Marines posted outside the entrance. As she neared the outer periphery of the crowd, she saw her closest friends in this part of the galaxy. She felt tears form at her eyes and trickle down her cheeks as first Gloria reached her, then Rebecca, Charley, and Leah. Even Gunny Rondell managed to reach Jenetta and received a hug and a kiss on his cheek. The photographers never stopped taking pictures.

"Let's get away from here," Charley said, as he and Gunny blocked the newsies from Jenetta. Moving as a group to a nearby lift, they stepped into an empty car while Gunny prevented anyone else from joining them.

"I knew they'd have to release you," Gloria said, as the doors closed.

"That makes
one
of us," Jenetta said. "I was scared witless."

"You're way too famous for them to do anything else."

"Famous?"

"Of course. The story is all over the news. Didn't you know?"

"No, I was being held incommunicado and couldn't watch the news or read the papers."

"I didn't understand that. We all tried to visit you but they wouldn't let any of us in."

"You did?" Jenetta said tearfully. "I thought everyone had forgotten about me. You know, out-of-sight…"

"Like that could happen," Gloria said, stretching out her arms to hug her. "Either that we'd forget about you or that you were out of sight."

"I guess I was being silly, but I was
so
scared. You have no idea what it's like when you begin to think that the entire galaxy has turned their back on you. I guess the isolation was more of the over-application of regulations in capital crimes cases. A prisoner needn't be allowed contact with anyone except his or her attorney until after the adjudication process has been completed. At least once the admiral ordered them to stop, I wasn't chained hand and foot every time I left the cell."

"We're going to celebrate," Gloria said. "Can you leave the base?"

"Yes, I don't have to report back for three days."

"Great, as soon as we heard that a verdict had been reached, Rebecca made reservations for dinner at a restaurant on the civilian concourse level."

"Before you knew the verdict?"

"We knew they wouldn't put you in prison. At worst it would be some kind of administrative censure."

"And just how did you know that? I thought that I might be spending the rest of my life in a jail cell."

"I already told you, you're way too famous. The Raider attacks in this deca-sector have totally ceased since you destroyed their base. Freighters are starting to operate openly again, without waiting for convoys, and Space Command is recommending that all vessels in this deca-sector activate their AutoTect systems. It's all because of you, and what you did. You can't go
anywhere
without seeing your face in the news or on newspapers and magazines. If they'd put you in jail, the Galactic Alliance Council would have had their heads, or the population of every planet would have
theirs
. There were images of your being dragged from the hospital in shackles when you were arrested that made every newspaper, magazine, and news broadcast in the entire galaxy. The headlines read, ‘Heroine Humbled Hobbled and Held.'"

Jenetta groaned. "That means that my folks saw it. I didn't have any idea that the news of the court-martial had even been released."

"There wasn't any way you could stop it. Those of us subpoenaed to appear at the court-martial were restricted from talking about the case until it was over, but the rest of the Vordoth crew, along with most of the fifty captives that you freed have been interviewed by every news service in the galaxy. Also, every captive and every member of the Vordoth's crew sent a personal message to the Galactic Alliance Council demanding your immediate release, and the Nordakians have sent messages to both the Council and Space Command."

"The Nordakians?"

"Yes. They've officially petitioned the Galactic Alliance Council to have you brought to Nordakia so they can honor you formally. They were also responsible for our ships being welcomed at Higgins Spaceport. The royal family themselves contacted the Galactic Alliance Council and Space Command Headquarters after we left Obotymot to praise your actions and thank the GSC for insuring that the emergency supplies got through."

"What?"

"They told Space Command that the arrival of the food and medicine at Obotymot saved thousands of lives. You're to be the first Space Command officer ever honored by their planet. Space Command couldn't very well convict you of actions that the entire Nordakian and Terran civilizations are praising you for. It would make them look pretty damn stupid."

"I'm speechless."

"Let's head for the restaurant and we'll fill you in on everything else that's been going on since you were jailed."

"I have to send a vidMail first, to my family."

"Okay, there's a GaMPS across from the restaurant. We'll drop you off and wait in the restaurant for you."

"Great."

Fifteen minutes later, Jenetta was sitting in an enclosed com booth in the Galactic Message & Parcel Service center thinking about what she was going to say. When she was ready, she pressed the ‘Start Recording' button and the red light started flashing.

"Hi Mom. Hi Dad. Hi Billy, Richie, Andy and Jimmy, if you happen to be there. I can imagine what a shock it was to learn that I'm still alive. It was a shock for me too. I never really expected to be rescued from the escape pod. I've been unable to contact you during the court-martial, but I've been told that it's been in the news so I guess you know all about it. I'm sorry to have put all of you through so much, but I have good news. I've just been acquitted of all charges and I'm free again, but the bad news is I don't know when I'll be able to get back to Earth. I have to report for duty in three days, and then I'll learn where I'm going to be posted. I guess that I'm the oldest ensign in Space Command now, or at least I've had the rank longer than anybody else. It seems that I've had a lot of firsts lately. I…"

Jenetta paused to take a deep breath, and said in a more subdued voice, "I've changed a lot since I last saw you. Not physically; I only look about a year older that way. I'm talking about growing up. I've seen and learned a great deal since I was awakened from stasis sleep, and I've been forced to do some things that I'm— not really proud of. But I don't want to talk about them right now. I'll explain more when I see you. For now just know that I love all of you, and that I miss you terribly. I can't wait to see you, and hug you. All my love."

Jenetta pressed the ‘End Recording' button and took a breath. Realizing that a tear was running down her cheek, she wiped it away and composed herself, then stood up and left the booth.

"How much do I owe you?" she asked of the young male clerk at the counter as she held out Gloria's credits card.

"No charge, Ensign. This one's on the house. I'm glad that you were acquitted."

"Thank you. Thank you very much."

"You're welcome, and good luck."

Jenetta left the shop and walked across to the restaurant, Gregory's, where Gloria, Rebecca, Charley, Gunny, and Leah were waiting. Gregory's had the subdued but elegant look of expensive restaurants from the twentieth century. A lot of real wood had been brought to the station for the construction of the interior, and then stained to a red walnut color. The earth tones of red, yellow, and brown were pervasive throughout, and there was none of the glitzy chrome and bright neon currently in vogue and general use throughout the concourse.

As Jenetta sat down, she held out the credits card to Gloria. "The clerk wouldn't let me pay."

"Okay, Jen."

"I'll have to look into the back pay situation. I'm going to need a few things."

"You'll have quite a payday coming up with eleven years of back pay," Gloria said.

"I may not. They've had me listed as being dead for a lot of years."

"But they must have updated the records by now. They couldn't court-martial a dead person."

"If you think that, you don't know the JAG section or the service, Lieutenant," Gunny quipped.

"There's also the matter of being in stasis," Jenetta said. "They normally adjust the pay for crews traveling long distances while in stasis. You only get about one quarter pay while asleep."

"That's still not too bad," Charley said, "you practically don't age and you get paid twenty-five percent."

"It's not all good. Your family and friends continue to age and may be gone when you get back from a long trip with multiple sleeps. Then there's the physical recovery required after a long stasis sleep. Anyway, the service will determine the amount that I'll get."

"Do you have a place to stay tonight?" Rebecca asked.

"Not yet, but I'll arrange for a room at the Bachelor Officers Quarters until I get posted."

"You could stay aboard the Vordoth for now," Gloria offered. "We'll be in port for several more weeks, and it would keep the damned newsies from leaching onto you when you leave your quarters for meals and such."

"Thanks, Gloria. That would be great. I'll stay with you for the weekend, at least."

After placing their food orders, they talked about the court-martial until their cuisine was delivered. The aroma was fantastic and Jenetta wasted no time in digging in and savoring every bite, delighted to be eating real food again. The brig only served synthesized meals of indeterminate fare.

Once everyone had finished eating and they were enjoying a final cup of coffee or tea, Rebecca asked for the check. Nodding amiably, the waiter gestured to a short, dark-haired man standing next to the maitre d'hotel.