Twin Stars 1: Ascension (10 page)

“These were exceptional circumstances, and they required exceptional measures on the parts of those involved to bring things aright again.”

Now she turned, gesturing back at Tysen. Their eyes met for a moment, and he could see she was truly in her element, doing what it was she loved. The perpetually tired woman he had gotten to know over the previous few days was gone, and the woman she really was had come to the fore.

“This man -Albert Tysen- was a hero that day, ladies and gentlemen, and he should not be here on trial, but be out there being celebrated for doing exactly what our service taught him to do- act in the defense of those who could not act for themselves. It was the right choice at the right time, and that should be the board’s only consideration.” Then she took a deep breath and bowed from her waist to each of them. “Thank you, your honor, and fellow members of the board.”

“You may be seated, councilor.” Sorrell ordered, and Lieutenant Clews returned to her seat, damp with sweat, but clearly happy with her presentation.

“Nice speech,” Tysen commented as he handed her a nearby towel.

“Captain of the debating team at my law school,” she grinned. Then she became more serious- “Remember what we practiced.” She whispered.

“The court calls Lieutenant Albert Tysen for questioning.”

Tysen straighted, raised his chin and stood up.

“I stand ready, your Honor.”

Sorrell fixed him with a mirthless frown. “Lieutenant Tysen, this board of review will now hear your own testimony regarding the facts of Day 120, Year 2718. You will answer our questions clearly and take an oath on your honor to provide us with the truth. Is that understood?”

“It is, your honor.” Tysen said with more confidence than he felt.

Satisfied, the judge gestured toward a chair that rose up from the floor before the five.

“Good. Then, take your place, and let us begin.”

* * *

“Well, that could have gone worse,” Lt. Clews said, stirring her cream into her coffee. They had retired to a nearby coffee shop following the session’s end to discuss the events of the day.

“I see what you mean,” agreed Tysen with a hint of frustration in his voice. “Those questions showed a clear bias against me- did you notice how Commodore Thann shut his eyes whenever I spoke?”

Clews nodded. “I don’t think he likes you very much.”

“He doesn’t,” Tysen agreed. “He was one of my instructors during my training cruise. I defeated him twice during the opening maneuver exercises.”

She gave him a long, amused look. “Y’no, somehow that doesn’t surprise me. You might have the devil’s luck, Lieutenant, but it’s not with you today. That is one of the most hostile boards of review I’ve ever seen. They’re not looking for money, they’re looking for blood.”

“Yes, as you warned me earlier they don’t seem inclined toward creative thinking by officers.” It had been a hard afternoon for Tysen, and much of his previous optimism had been scraped away by the board to a reveal cold, hard reality. The service he had dedicated his life to was now quickly becoming the very one who sought to take it.

“Still,” Clews commented, clearly trying to keep things level. “Whether they like you or not, you gave some pretty solid answers, and they can’t ignore that.”

“No,” Tysen replied. “They can’t. How long will the deliberations be?”

She shrugged. “Could be hours, could be days.”

“Then there’s no point in staying here any longer,” Tysen pushed his chair back and stood up. “I have arrangements to be made regarding a family matter. If you’ll excuse me?”

“No problem, I’ll link to you as soon as anything comes up. I…” Then her face suddenly got a faraway look, and she raised a hand to keep him from leaving- Tysen could tell she was receiving an incoming link. After a moment, she started speaking, but she was clearly still in the linked conversation.

“It’s the crown prosecutor, he wants to talk….He says…they want to make a deal.”

Tysen’s eyebrows furrowed. “What kind of deal?”

* * *

The crown prosecutor’s office was a large bright, spartan space backed against a dome-like window that gave a wonderful view of the Kiersgard river valley. The interior was more of a lounge than an office, with large black sofas, low slate tables and Tysen even noted a wooden rocking chair in one corner. Like most personal offices, the large emptiness was actually dependent on who was looking at it. There would be layers of AR windows, images and decorations throughout the office that only the lawyer, and those he gave access to, could see.

Augmented reality offered both the ultimate in personalization, and the ultimate in customization of one’s environment.

They had been shown into the top-floor office almost immediately upon arrival, and Prosecutor Thomas had welcomed them with seats on the couch, drinks of their choice, and pleasant small-talk.

Lieutenant Clews would have none of it.

“Okay, Thomas. What’s the deal?” She said in a voice that carried more than a hint of weariness- it had been a long day.

That earned her a loud laugh from the stocky, ginger haired prosecutor, who struck Tysen as a man who laughed often. “Ah. Right to the point, is it Clews?” Then to Tysen he said- “You picked a good one, lad. This one always likes to go for the throat. Just who you want on your team.”

“I don’t like my time wasted,” Clews commented testily. “And, you’d better not disappoint me today.”

“No.” He said, shifting to a more serious manner. “No, I won’t be wasting your time. I have a good solid offer from the board.”

Clews gave a half-nod to tell him to continue.

“The board, unofficially of course, seems to have realized that prosecuting a hero of the empire isn’t in their best interests at the moment,” he began. “Yes, we both know they’re looking for an example to be made, but right now with things so tight they’ve decided that one of Noble blood might not be the right choice.”

“How much do they want?” Clews said, getting right to the chase. “The Lieutenant’s family has some money, but not enough to pay off an entire board.”

The prosecutor gave an ironic smile. “Nothing, actually. While three of the board members are of the Home Guard Fleet, his honor and Commodore Ngumbo are both Star Guard, and have convinced the others that persecuting the Lieutenant here would be seen as an affront to their part of the service.”

“And?” She added, her focus returning to Thomas.

“And…they’re looking to drop all charges against the Lieutenant- there won’t even be a negative mark on his record for this incident.”

Tysen’s heart leapt- he was going to get through this! But then, he noticed Lt. Clews hadn’t moved.

“How nice of them,” Clews said suspiciously. “What do they want in trade?”

“Well,” Thomas said casually raising an open hand into the air. “You know how these things go- someone goes up, and someone goes down.” He made a falling sweep with his hand.

Tysen suddenly started to get nervous again.

“Who?”

“His conspirator- Lieutenant James Kipps.”

Tysen was out of his seat in an instant, looking down at the man on the opposite chair with horror. “Kip? You want Kip? Why! He didn’t do anything!”

The prosecutor gave a casual shrug. “Like I said, someone’s got to go down, and he’s next in line. He was physically in command of the Crystal Leaf during the incident, and while he was following your orders he was the one who could have stopped you at any time. The way they want to paint it, you had limited intelligence, and that makes him the one responsible for the final choices.”

“No!”

“Thomas, this stinks!” Clews said angrily.

That got another casual shrug. “I’m just the messenger. You want to take it up with the board, fine. But, this deal is your client’s only chance to walk out of here a free man.”

Tysen waved his right hand in a dismissive motion. “I won’t do it. Kip was under my command, and following my orders. I was wholly responsible for what happened.”

The prosecutor gave him a condescending look. “Kid, you might want to talk to your council about this first before you go off making any hasty decisions.”

“I don’t need to,” Tysen declared angrily. “I swore an oath to the service, and I intend to honor it until the end.”

Thomas looked at him, then at Clews, and shrugged again. “Well, if that’s the way you want to play it. The offer’s on the table until the trial resumes tomorrow. Take some time and think it over.” Then he leaned forward and locked eyes with Tysen. “Remember, the penalty we’re talking about here is a one-way trip, and that end you mentioned has a real short stop when you reach it.”

* * *

The dining room on the Tysen estate was designed to hold a dozen people comfortably, but tonight it held only two very quiet people. Tysen sat across from his mother, lost in thought while he absent-mindedly played with the curried meat in front of him.

“Albert,” his mother said with a smile, finally breaking the silence. “What’s wrong? Don’t you like my cooking?”

“Hmmm?” Tysen looked up; he’d almost forgotten she was there. “I’m sorry mother- the food…is fine. I’m just not hungry.” Then he glanced over at the empty place beside his mother. “Is Hariet not coming?”

That made his mother’s look change to one of concern. “She’s upstairs. She…didn’t feel like joining us tonight.”

Tysen cursed himself, he should have checked on his sister when he’d come home, but he was too wrapped up in his own problems. Feeling guilty, he asked- “Should I link to a doctor?”

“I already did. He’ll be by later.” Then the look of concern became directed at him. “Albert, tell me, what’s wrong?”

Tysen let his eyes drop; he wasn’t sure what to say. Finally he asked- “Mother, have you ever found yourself questioning something you’ve always believed? Something that was very important to you?”

“Yes, of course.” She readily agreed. “We all face that sometime. In my case, it was your father and when I learned about his gambling. I wondered how I ever could have loved a man so much, but never known what he was really like.”

“And?” He looked up at her, seeing hope for an answer to his dilemma. “How did you deal with it?”

“Well,” Elizabeth gave a wistful smile. “I cried- a lot. Of course.” Then she took a deep breath, clearly remembering the events. “And then…When I was done crying I thought about it and decided that the man I loved was still there. Yes, there was another side of him I didn’t know, but he was also still your father and the man I loved. I decided that while I didn’t want to accept the bad, it didn’t mean I had to throw away the good as well.”

Tysen nodded, vague memories and childhood feelings suddenly coming into clarity. “So that’s why you stayed.”

“Yes…Why I stayed.” She said thoughtfully. “I decided to stay loyal to the man I loved and do my best to help him beat the darkness that had taken him over.” Then the sadness returned, “Of course, I didn’t win- I didn’t have time. But, I’d like to think that if he’d lived, we’d have made it through just okay.” Then she gave a forced smile, “Sorry, I get sentimental sometimes. Does that help?”

Tysen considered- this whole incident had been a hard blow to his faith in the service. Having the reality he’d tried to ignore pushed into his face had made him question everything. But now, after listening to his mother’s story, he considered for the first time that there might be other ways to serve his empire without having to give up on it because of the darkness and corruption he’d witnessed.

“Yes,” he told her. “Yes..I think it does.” He smiled. “Thank you, mother. I know it wasn’t easy for you to talk about it.”

She shook her head, telling him not to worry about it. Then she asked, “So, are you going to tell me what happened today?”

“Yes,” he said finally. “The truth is, they’ve offered me a deal. They want a conviction, but they don’t care who they hurt to get it.”

That brought back the concern in her eyes. “That sounds terrible.”

“It is,” he continued. “They offered to let me free to continue my career, but in exchange they want a man who was under my command at the time of the incident. Someone…who I might even call a friend.”

“I see,” his mother said without emotion, staring at him. “And what did you tell them?”

He looked at her, surprised. “What else could I tell them? No, of course!” Then seeing the look of panic on his mother’s face, he asked- “I thought you’d have agreed?”

“Albert,” she said, and he could see the tears starting to well up in her eyes. “How could you be so selfish?”

“Mother,” he told her firmly. “I’m sorry, but I won’t let his mother cry for my decisions.”

“Then what about your own sister?” She pleaded.

“What?” He was surprised she’d try something so emotional. “What do you mean? He has a sister too- three of them!”

But his mother shook her head, clearly feeling that he didn’t understand her. “Albert,” she told him. “If they convict you, you’ll be executed. That means Hariet won’t have her operation.” Then she stood up- “I won’t have it!” She shouted. “I won’t lose both of you!”

* * *

The last rays of Kae, New Wellington’s primary sun, were disappearing beneath the horizon as Tysen found himself wandering alone in a nearby park. Yuri, the system’s smaller secondary blue dwarf star, had long since slipped away some hours earlier, and now Kiersgard was entering the period locals called “true night”, when both stars were absent from the sky. Beside him, the river that had given the valley its name flowed quietly along, looking like a shimmering galaxy as lightning bugs danced like little stars on top of it.