Article 23

Chapter X

"Plebe Cadet Bell, Justin, 144-99-1842 reporting as ordered."

Justin stood before the Court-Martial Review Board, eyes straight ahead. Behind the five men sitting at the long table he could see Mons Olympus framed by the airlock window. The highest mountain on Mars soaring upward, its summit lost beneath a thin line of clouds wreathing the slopes. It felt good to have one-third gravity under his feet again; it made him feel steady.

Outside the window he saw a few protesters standing outside the base perimeter; one sign caught his eye, Space Mackenzie! Justin flushed at the sight of it.

The hearings and trial had been moved down to Lowell City, the main base of the USMC on the planets surface. The general explanation was that a matter of such grave significance had to be heard by the office of the rear admiral in command of Mars, Omar Singh. Justin could understand the unstated political reasons as well. The separatists had seized upon the "Somers Incident," as it was now called, to demonstrate that the USMC was a service out of control. Holding the trial in the heart of the separatist region would be seen, hopefully, as an act of fairness. He also knew that the media back on Earth saw the holding of the review board on Mars as caving in. More than one commentator was openly stating that MacKenzie had in fact shown restraint and should be decorated for heroism rather than face a court-martial. Justin and his followers were already being branded as a group of reckless, spoiled children.

"Mr. Bell, you may be seated."

Justin sat down in the plain armless chair in the middle of the room. Admiral Singh was sitting less than a four meters away, a semicircle of glittering brass flanking him on either side. Singh nodded to the Judge Advocate, who stood up.

"Mr. Bell, I am Captain Tracey Houston. I want to explain something to you before we proceed. This is not a general court-martial but rather a review board hearing to decide if the events that you were involved in aboard the Somers warrant the need for a general court-martial, and if so what charges the USMC will bring against you and others. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, sir, it was explained to me by my legal advisor."

Justin nodded to the woman sitting to the side of the room.

"You understand, therefore, that there is no one here in this room who is seeking to prosecute you or who will defend you, though your advisor may intervene if she believes your rights as a member of this service are being violated. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, sir."

"The reason for this method is as follows. The captain of the Somers, Ian MacKenzie, has preferred a charge of mutiny against you and ten other cadets. Normally that would automatically lead to a general court-martial. However, the service has brought charges against the captain based upon Article Twenty-Five, and his trial goes before the court-martial board starting tomorrow. This hearing is to serve as a general review of that charge against him, but also possibly against you and others. I think it is evident that if Captain MacKenzie is exonerated you and your compatriots will undoubtedly face charges."

"Yes, sir, I understand that."

"Mr. Bell, we are seeking to gather background information regarding what happened aboard that ship from the moment of embarking from Star Voyager Academy until docking at Deimos. I must warn you that you are under oath, and whatever you say before this board may indeed be used against you if you are brought up on charges."

"I understand that, sir."

"Thank you, Mr. Bell. Admiral, you may proceed."

Singh smiled and leaned forward.

"Well, Mr. Bell, I dare say you realize that you have created one hell of a mess for this service."

Startled, Justin did not know how to answer.

Singh then launched into his attack, and for the next hour Justin felt as if he were being pummeled by Malady, the one difference being that a beating from Malady was administered with a certain amount of mercy. Singh began with Justin's decision to mutiny against MacKenzie and the bringing of Leonov, O'Brian, and Hemenez into his plan. By the tone of his questioning he displayed obvious displeasure over the fact that a regular serving officer and an enlisted man with years of experience had thrown in with a mere plebe cadet.

He then reviewed the attack and seizure of the ship and Hemenez's subsequent behavior. Singh then turned the subject to Matthew Everett and grilled him about Matt and their friendship. He focused on whether Matt had made any statements that might be construed as favorable to the separatists, and Justin was forced to admit that what his friend had said might be misunderstood.

"Now, as to the incident of striking an officer. Remember, Mr. Bell, Captain MacKenzie placed the sentence of execution upon Mr. Everett not for any alleged traitorous intent, actions or statements but rather for striking an officer in what was believed to be a state of emergency while administering his lawful office as captain of the ship. Did Mr. Everett strike Captain MacKenzie?"

"Sir, it was accidental, a glancing blow while Matt was still asleep."

"Did he, or did he not, strike him?"

"Sir, Captain MacKenzie laid hands on Matt, dragging him violently out of his sleeping net without warning. Matt flailed about; he has a hard time waking up from a deep sleep."

"Did he or did he not?"

" Sir, that would be like someone saying that you hit their fist with your nose. Matt banged into him, yes, but Captain MacKenzie had grabbed hold of Matt and was dragging him around."

"Then he did strike him."

"I didn't say that, sir," Justin replied and a touch of anger was in his voice. He could sense where Singh wanted this to go; that no matter how erratic and crazy MacKenzie's earlier actions might have been, the bottom line was that a cadet hit a captain of a ship. If that was the case, then everything else would be brushed under the carpet. Matt would be guilty and therefore his own actions and those of his friends would have been illegal, or at best in a very gray area of the law.

Singh- looked down at his computer screen, then back at Justin.

"According to a statement made this morning by Captain MacKenzie, and I quote, 'based upon the information given to [me] by Mr. Colson,' Cadet Matthew Everett had uttered treasonous statements, and had declared that he planned to take the ship and turn it over to the separatist movement. Everett had boasted that he would do the Gustavus one better."

"That is a lie, sir," Justin snapped angrily. " Either I or Cadet Smith was with Matt the entire time, and we never heard him make a statement like that."

"Cadet Colson is not facing charges at this moment," Singh replied sharply. "You and Smith are, and so help me, son, if you interrupt me again you'll have a charge of insubordination thrown at you before you leave this room, do you understand that?"

Justin looked over at his legal advisor, who shook her head sharply.

"Yes, sir."

"So you are claiming that Cadet Colson is lying in regards to his allegations against Cadet Everett?"

"Yes, sir," Justin said emphatically.

'That is all I have to ask," Singh said calmly and as he leaned back in his chair again he gave a disarming smile as if he and Justin were in a friendly game and not involved in an issue of life or death.

"Are there any other questions?"

There was a moment of silence, as if all that Justin had said was somehow beyond belief, and then an officer at the end of the table stirred.

"I have some, sir."

"Go ahead then."

"Cadet Bell, I am Captain Roberto Marcioni. I wish to tell you now that I served with your father when I was a cadet, and found him to be an honorable man."

"Thank you, sir."

"As I look at your file I see that you gained admittance to the Academy not through the standard review process but rather by special decree as the son of the winner of a posthumous Medal of Honor. I therefore have to ask you are you worthy of the honorable name of Bell, or is your presence in this service nothing more than a way for the service to honor your father?"

Startled, Justin did not reply for a second. The thought had indeed troubled him during the long days of the cruise after the mutiny. What would his father have done, he had wondered while lying awake at night. During the time from Marts arrest to his seizure of the ship he had not had time to contemplate that question and he realized now that in fact he should have cast the question more in that light before going ahead, rather than simply acting on the impulsive decision that he was right and MacKenzie was wrong.

"Sir, I believe I am worthy of my father's name."

'Tell this board why, Mr. Bell."

"Sir, my father, as you know, gave his life to save over five hundred civilians aboard a transport that was threatened with catastrophic decompression. I believe my father did not hesitate to make that decision, even though in those few seconds before his death he knew that he would certainly die by going through that airlock and closing it behind him."

Justin paused for a moment. Again the image formed and he wondered if in those last seconds his father might have indeed hesitated, if he was afraid, and if his last thoughts were of his wife and son. Justin drew a deep breath, afraid that there might be a shudder in his voice, worried that the others in the room would then believe that he was trying to play on their emotions.

"I made my decision to take the Somers based upon Article Twenty-five, that the Captain was engaged in an immoral and illegal act and as such I was honor-bound to stop him. Also, I did it to save a life.

"To ask if I can compare myself to my father is unfair," he said, his voice steady but low. "I am proud to be his son and only hope that someday I might measure up to half his stature."

He fell silent.

"If the cadet facing execution had been Mr. Colson rather than Mr. Everett, would you have acted?"

Justin, surprised by the question, said nothing for a moment. Would he? He loathed Colson, and Matt was his best friend. Would he risk his life, his career for a worm like Colson? He realized that if he would not be willing to do that, then he was indeed a hypocrite, only willing to selectively apply the high ideals of Article Twenty-five.

"I believe, sir, that I would have," Justin finally replied, "though I must confess it would have been far more difficult to reach that decision."

The captain questioning him said nothing for a moment.

"One final question, cadet."

"Sir?"

"Did you want to kill Captain MacKenzie?"

Justin closed his eyes for a moment.

"Yes," he said. "I wasn't sure when I made my way upstairs and prepared to attack. I had considered the chance that people might get shot. I had hoped originally to arm everyone I had released, burst into the room, and by a show of force convince the guards to lay down their weapons. The idea of firing the engines was a lucky break."

"Not for the two cadets who were seriously injured," Singh interrupted.

"I regret that, sir, I honestly do, but I saw no other way."

"I think you realized though that MacKenzie would fight," the captain continued. "I know the man, and you did, too."

"Yes, sir, perhaps I wasn't thinking that far ahead at that moment. But when I came through the door after firing the engine and saw my friend in the airlock, breathing vacuum and dying, yes, sir, I did want to kill him."

"Why didn't you? He fired two shots at you but you did not reply."

"Perhaps I was afraid, sir," Justin whispered.

"I don't think so, Bell," Marcioni replied, and he looked over at Singh. "No further questions."

Justin looked out the window, watching as the shadows of twilight deepened on the side of the mountain. It was such a strange light, the sky directly overhead a dark indigo blue, the horizon showing a faint orange glow of reflected light from the surface. On the south-facing side of a nearby hill he saw a team of farmers wearing light pressure suits checking the protective plastic covers that automatically wrapped around the rows of Yarinba cactus when the temperature dropped below zero. The plant had been created from genetically altered barrel cactus to withstand the thin air and harsh climate extremes of the planet. The Yarinba were part of the first step in terraforming the planet, the plant locking moisture beneath its tough outer hide and ever so slowly pumping the hundreds of billions of cubic meters of oxygen into the atmosphere that would finally make the surface habitable.

"How are you, Justin?"

Justin stood up as his legal advisor, Janet Kowalski, came into the room and sat down beside him.

"How are things?" Justin asked. "I don't know. I feel like I was dragged through a meat grinder over the last week."

"I told you that they were going to be tough. This is not some simulation, although you raised that question. This is for real. Careers, and not just MacKenzie's, are on the line. There are major political considerations as well. A kid like you often gets caught in the grinder for far less, even when they're right."

"Are you telling me it's looking bad?"

" MacKenzie is basing his whole defense on the fact that at the time he acted he had every reason to believe that Matt was planning a mutiny and was about to strike. He then claims a show of mercy for not executing the other eight even though that was within his power. Matt had to be executed, according to MacKenzie, to prevent a general uprising of his comrades. In a perverse way, your mutiny now actually serves as proof of MacKenzie's claim, rather than the justified provocation you claim."

"That Colson is such a damn little weasel."

"He is also the son of a member of the United Nations cabinet, and you can believe that his old man is screaming bloody murder. I'm willing to bet Wendell's father has called every flag officer in the service who in any way whatsoever can bring pressure to bear on Singh. That's a lot of heat to take. Colson can threaten to squeeze appropriations, question promotions and in general make life a pain for the top echelon if they don't back his son up."

"And the hell with the truth," Justin sighed.

"If Colson's story is accepted, then MacKenzie has a peg to hang his defense on; that he had probable cause to at least seek the arrest or temporary detain- ment of Cadet Everett. If that fact is accepted, then it follows that Cadet Everett struck the Captain."

"Even if he did," Justin replied hotly, "is that any reason to space a sixteen-year-old cadet?"

"Hell, no," Janet replied, "that was something straight out of the old navy, as if he were playing Captain Bligh or Billy Budd."

"Melville wrote that too, didn't he?" Justin asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Just that MacKenzie had me reading Moby Dick. It was creepy."

"He is a deeply disturbed man. But unlike the vids, someone can be crazy without walking around frothing. Ninety-nine percent of the time they appear to be perfectly normal. And there are some people who want to see MacKenzie continue to appear normal. Because if he's proven not to be, then there are going to be a whole lot of questions asked as to how such a man rose to the authority of command of a ship. And not just any ship, but a ship that is considered to be a weapon and is, in fact, carrying nuclear weapons on board which could be released on any country on Earth."

"So we're damned in nearly every direction," Justin said, "and truth becomes secondary."

Kowalski laughed and shook her head. "My young Mr. Bell, when did you ever hear that truth had anything to do with politics? Take a look at some of the presidents your country has had, and some of its other leaders as well. Truth is relative to the moment."

"There was the Declaration of Independence I believed in that. My father and grandfather believed in the Charter of Organization of tike USMC. I figured that was something to believe in, at least that's what Thorsson said."

Kowalski reached out and patted Justin on the arm.

"I wish it was, but it's not looking quite like that at the moment."

"And if he wins?"

"Oh, they'll call him back Earthside, and when the fuss dies down he'll be quietly retired. There'll be discreet internal reviews, things will be changed, but he'll walk.

"As for you, Matt, Leonov, Smith, Hemenez and O'Brian, you'll get time. A year, maybe two. After serving six months, you'll all be dishonorably discharged. The other cadets who helped you will simply be discharged. There'll be some in the service who will quietly say you did the right thing; in fact, your actions will be studied and analyzed. Maybe a dozen years from now you might even be recognized for having done the right thing. But execution, I don't think anyone wants that."

"So what you're telling me is that at MacKenzie's court-martial tomorrow we'll get slammed and MacKenzie will go free."

"You have to face that possibility."

"I can't believe that."

"What you want to believe and reality are crashing together here, Bell."

' Thorsson taught us to believe in a higher ideal, and such an ideal is based upon truth."

"We're not in the Academy now, Bell, this is the real system, and out here on the frontier it can be rough and damned unfair at times."

"That man arrested nine cadets. He never formally charged them, they were never given the opportunity to make a statement, defend tihemselves or face their accuser, there was no formal board hearing or trial where Matt could have defended his life. MacKenzie just arbitrarily announces, I'm going to kill this cadet,' and now you're telling me the Service will back him up?"

"They're caught by Article Twenty-three, and it's a dilemma as old as navies, in space and on the sea," Janet replied. "In the old days, when ships were out of contact from the moment they cleared port, the authority of the captain had to be absolute. He had to be given broad powers to maintain control, and if needs be, to enforce his authority with the threat of swift and instant punishment. When our service was formed it was decided to follow the traditions of the surface navies. In modern times a lot of thought went into this power of the captain and it was felt that through careful screening only the best would be given such powers. MacKenzie is being protected by that tradition, because you, Mr. Bell, struck right at the heart of all such power. Remember the ease aboard the Goddard?"

Justin nodded. After nearly a year in space the Goddard's second officer had become unhinged upon receiving a message from his parents that his girlfriend had left him. Breaking into the weapons locker, he had taken a high-power gun, seized the bridge, and threatened to start shooting up the control panels. The captain had finally shot and killed him. The captain had been fully exonerated for taking action without trial.

"That's different," Justin snapped. "The guy had a gun."

"You wound up with a gun, aimed straight at the Captain some might not see any difference."

"We did. MacKenzie was out of control. He had overreacted."

"Sure they realize MacKenzie overreacted. But to what? He is claiming that at that moment he believed he was facing a mutiny and had to preserve the authority of the Service. His decision to spare eight cadets from a possible execution is being presented as an act of restraint. And you see, Justin, he does have one clear and positive argument in his favor."

"What's that?"

"The fact that there was a mutiny, and you led it."

Justin's shoulders sagged. Everything had seemed so clear and simple back on the Somers. He felt now as if he were sinking into a muddy swamp with nothing to hang on to.

"Now, I want to go over everything one last time before tomorrow's trial."

After hours of reviewing the events and Janet probing every point with questions, Justin felt as if his head would split apart.

"Look, like I told you a dozen times. O'Brian caught my signal that I needed to talk to him. I went into the galley, Leonov came in a minute or so later after O'Brian woke her up, and then Hemenez came in. O'Brian turned up the music from the computer player and I laid out my proposal to seize the ship."

Janet looked up from her computer pad.

"Turned up the music? Why?"

"We all did on that ship whenever we wanted to really talk."

"Why?"

"O'Brian tipped me off the first day I worked in the galley. On the Somers, if anyone wanted to talk they turned up the music."

"Talk? Talk about what?"

"You know, about the captain, about things aboard ship."

' Tou mean like mutiny?"

"No, sir. Look, sir, cadets talk, we gripe, we swap stories with friends that we wouldn't want our officers to hear," he blushed slightly, "and you know, guys will talk about girls and they don't want them to hear."

Janet smiled. "That's OK, we talk about guys too and we don't want you to hear. What do you think those trips to the rest room are all about?"

"Well, it was sort of like that. MacKenzie had asked that weird question about who were off- worlders. Matt and I were in the galley that evening and Matt made a comment about it. O'Brian immediately went over to the wall unit, punched in some music and then pointed to the loudspeaker as if someone were listening. We realized he meant the captain. From then on, whenever I talked with anyone I turned the music up."

Janet looked at him, her brows knitted.

'You never do this on the Academy, do you? At least, we didn't when I was a cadet."

"You know we don't, sir. Uncle told us right at the start that to use a computer or other device to listen to the conversations of others without a direct court order was a violation of" Justin's voice trailed off.

" Bell, I'll see you tomorrow morning, now get some sleep." Before he could say anything else she was out the door.

Justin sat in the back of the courtroom, slowly simmering. The testimony had dragged on for hours, starting with MacKenzie who had been on the stand for over two hours. His questioning had been circumspect, and MacKenzie had come across as calm and rational. Next had come Lieutenant Lewis, who had backed MacKenzie up on every one of his points. Zhing had proven to be a disappointment, dodging most of the questions and then, to Justin's dismay, coming out with a tacit agreement that given the emergency nature he could understand why MacKenzie pushed for execution as a means of insuring discipline. When the Judge Advocate had pressed Zhing regarding MacKenzie's mental competence Zhing had completely ducked out, claiming that he saw no serious problems with MacKenzie worthy of note or as justification for removing him from command.

Next had come Hemenez and O'Brian. If there had been a damning point for O'Brian, it was that he had fraternized with cadets and shared with them his displeasure with the captain. For both O'Brian and Hemenez, though, the court had focused on the fact they had allowed themselves to be drawn into a mutiny by a sixteen-year-old cadet. The fact that a commissioned officer had agreed to follow a cadet against her duly appointed captain triggered a visible and withering disdain from Singh.

Several times it was pointed out that her commission was only months old, and Singh made the deliberate mistake of referring to her once as "Cadet" before correcting himself and calling her "Lieutenant." Justin could not help but admire her courage throughout the barrage. She held her head high, answered her questions in a straightforward manner, and affirmed that if given the choice she would not hesitate to do the same thing again.

Colson, though, set his blood to boiling. The cadet had further embellished his story, obviously realizing that the exoneration of MacKenzie was his own ticket to safety. Colson claimed that Matt had made statements to the effect that he wanted to seize the ship, and without provocation had hit him, and had said in front of Smith that once the ship was taken Colson would be "spaced along with the damned Captain."

Madison had not helped the situation when, in a voice loud enough for most of the court to hear, she had turned to Livollen and snarled, "That's a damned lie," resulting in a contempt citation from the Judge Advocate.

Senior Cadet Petronovich had come last in the morning lineup, and he set yet another nail into the coffin. He claimed that Matt, Madison and Justin had been unruly, and that he was planning to write negative fitness reports on all three once they returned to the Academy. He then added that he had suggested to MacKenzie that Justin be arrested as well. Justin, surprised, struggled not to say anything in response. Amazed, he listened as Petronovich claimed that MacKenzie had shown too much mercy and forbearance towards Justin, his opinion clouded out of loyalty to the son of an old comrade.

Justin could clearly see how brilliant Petronovich's statements were. MacKenzie was now cast as a loyal family friend betrayed by the son of an old comrade. Thus he had been blinded by the traditional code of comradeship while Justin had foully stabbed him in the back.

Breaking for lunch, Justin looked around nervously in the cafeteria for his legal advisor. She had not been present throughout the morning hearings. Though not formally under arrest, Justin felt the ever-present eyes of the marine guards posted in the cafeteria as he took a bowl of soup and nothing else and headed for the far corner table where Matt was already sitting.

"Well, buddy," Matt sighed his voice still raspy, "it ain't looking good."

"Yeah, I can't believe that Colson. And as for how they questioned MacKenzie talk about the kid-glove treatment."

Tanya, followed by Madison, came over and joined them, filling the table.

"You're up next," Tanya said, " give 'em hell."

"Yeah, sure."

"Hey, you're our ringleader," Madison told him. "Don't flag on us now. We're counting on you."

"Well, I wish the hell you wouldn't," Justin said morosely.

"Come on, we're all in this together," Madison announced, " and believe me, if I had it to do over again there isn't anything I would have done differently."

"Damn it all," Matt sighed, "it's me who got you guys into hot water. If it hadn't been for me, none of this would have happened."

"Oh, yes, it would have," Tanya said quietly, "so stop feeling sorry for yourself, Everett. He was already over the edge. Someone else would have been dragged in by his paranoia. Maybe not this trip or the next one, but it would have happened. Hell, he could have unlocked the nukes on board and tossed them at a colony or habitat and then claimed they were attacking. At the very least, do you think they'll ever let him command a line ship again?"

"Yeah, so what, he'll still have gotten away with this one. What are we supposed to do then, take solace in the fact that we sacrificed ourselves for the greater good? All I want is to see justice done."

Justin listened as they continued to argue, saving nothing. His stomach was in a knot. I'm just sixteen, damn it, he thought, depressed. Six months ago I was out in afield in Indiana or fishing on Sugar Creek. How the hell did I ever get in to this mess, and what am I going to do now? He thought of the vid message he had received from his mother and grandfather the day after docking at Deimos. There had been the usual statements about loving him, and then his mother had said that if it didn't work out she'd be ecstatic to have him back home again.

Back home? Go back home after this? The thought of walking back into his old high school, of facing the taunts and jabs again was unbearable.

"I don't believe it," Madison whispered.

Justin looked up and followed her gaze to the entry of the cafeteria. Everyone in the room had fallen silent, and Justin felt his heart skip at the sight of the man standing in the doorway it was Thor Thorsson!

"My God, what is he doing here?" Tanya asked, and everyone else in the room echoed her question.

Thorsson went over to the table where Admiral Singh was eating. Thorsson extended his hand and the two chatted for a moment, everyone else silently watching them. Thorsson finally broke away and started across the room.

"He's coming here," Madison hissed.

As Thorsson approached their table the four began to stand up, but Thorsson extended a friendly hand waving for them to remain seated. Justin ignored the request and came to attention, the others following his lead.

"Well, you four, a bit of mess, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry, sir," Justin replied, his voice choked, "I hope we didn't let you down."

"I'm proud of you," Thorsson announced, his voice loud enough so it carried across the silent room, "proud of all of you. Now let's have lunch."

Stunned, Justin sat back down, and to his embarrassment tears came to his eyes. It was as if his father had appeared and announced that he had indeed done the right thing after all.

Thorsson drew up a chair and leaned over to Justin.

"It's all right, Bell. I understand, but don't let them see that they're getting to you."

Justin braced himself and nodded.

Thorsson looked over at Matt.

"How are the wounds?'

"Healing, sir. Hands are a bit stiff and the ear still hurts."

"Forty seconds, I understand. You're a tough man to kill, Matt."

"Just worried about passing my next physical."

Thorsson smiled. "I'll make sure you pass, the Service owes you that."

"Well it sure doesn't seem like they feel that way now," Tanya replied coldly.

Thorsson nodded then looked back to Justin. "I hate to ask this, but would you mind grabbing a bowl of soup and some coffee for me, Justin? It was a long flight and I'm beat."

"How did you get here so quick?' Matt asked.

"Well, I'm a good hand with an Eagle fighter interceptor."

"You flew an Eagle all the way from the Academy to here? That's one cramped flight, sir."

"Oh, I needed the hours to keep my rating," Thorsson replied with a laugh.

Amazed, Justin stood up and went to get Thorsson's lunch. The Eagle was little more than an oversized engine with a cockpit and weapons bay. It was the hottest interceptor in the Service, but it meant that Thorsson had spent the last ten days in a cockpit barely the size of a closet.

"Senior Cadet Seay served as my co-pilot," Thorsson was explaining as Justin returned and set the lunch down. "I think I had him scared half to death the whole flight out."

The group laughed appreciatively at the thought of Seay living cheek-to-jowl with Thorsson for ten days.

"Sir, may I ask why you are here?' Tanya inquired.

"You're my students," Thorsson replied, "and I screwed up. I knew MacKenzie was a hard taskmaster. I thought that a short cruise with him would show all of you the tougher side of the service. I should have checked more thoroughly. It'd been years since I served alongside the man. I should have listened to O'Brian."

"O'Brian, sir?"

'Killer Kelly,' we used to call him. He came to see me as soon as the Somers docked with the Academy. Tried to talk me out of having you youngsters on board. He said MacKenzie was on the point of cracking up, but I didn't listen. I asked him to look out for all of you and by heavens, he did."

Thorsson paused and looked across the room to where O'Brian was eating lunch. The sergeant, catching Thorsson's gaze, snapped off a friendly salute which Thorsson made a show of returning.

Justin, looking around the room could see that everyone was still staring at them. He realized that Thorsson's simple act of coming in the way he did and sitting with the ringleaders was a clear and open statement of support.

"Thank you, sir," Justin said quietly.

"For what, Mr. Bell?"

Justin smiled and shook his head, unable to speak.

A bosun's pipe sounded in the distance.

"Well, once more into the breach," Thorsson announced. "That's the signal for the court to convene."