War Angel: part nineteen

“Are you kidding--?”

“No!”

“Come on, sir…!”

“We can’t--!”

“They’re going to kill us!”

The protests rang loudly, and Morrison’s attempts to quell them were not going well. Finally, he reached a point where he was fed up and pounded on his chair for quiet. “This is not a democracy, boys and girls! We have orders, and we are EAD soldiers, and we will obey them!”

“But Captain- even Admiral Kelly didn’t want us to follow these orders. Didn’t you see?” Sarah said.

“See what, Miss Matto? An old man being held at gunpoint? Of course I did. Did you not hear the part about punishing others if we don’t comply?” Morrison felt his emotions rising. “I’m not willing to risk the lives of others for our own.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” Richard blurted out.

“We will comply, we will meet up with our fellows, and we’ll formulate a plan together with all of them,” the Captain said in an attempt to assure the young engineer.

Jack coughed. “With all due respect, sir, that’s crap.” Morrison took a step towards Keys’ comm. station. “Even if they don’t kill us, they’re going to put us in one of their internment camps. My great-grandfather wound up in one; his journals are full of the details. Let me tell you- they aren’t pretty.”

Morrison took a position towering over the younger man. “I’m aware of the internment camps, Mr. Keys. And you’ve spoken of your great-grandfather’s exploits many times. However, if I recall correctly, he led a resistance cell out of one camp, did he not?”

The young man known as Desperado stood and got face to face with his commanding officer. “Yes he did. But his life would have been a hell of a lot more pleasant had he never been there. And he was doing just fine leading a resistance cell before they were betrayed by a collaborator and caught to begin with.”

Each man stood his ground. “We have our orders, Mr. Keys.”

“Orders even you think are a bad idea, Captain,” Sarah interjected. “And you had a perfectly good plan for us.” She took a deep breath. “Sir, we can reach speeds they can’t. We’ll be out of the solar system before they even get close to Pluto.”

“Miss Matto, we’d be abandoning our fellows.”

“Whom you were perfectly willing to abandon not an hour ago,” Jack snapped.

Morrison shook his head. “Yes. I was. Before I discovered that our very absence could sentence them to death.”

Jack turned and walked away from his station, making his way off the bridge. “Where do you think you’re going, Mr. Keys?” Morrison shouted.

“To the head!” Jack yelled.

Wilma Gray walked softly down to Morrison’s side. “Captain? May I have a word?”

He nodded assent and the duo moved away from the rest of the bridge crew, the doctor huddling close so that no one would hear. “Captain… Albert… are you really sure about this? The risks are…”

“I know the risks, doctor. But I have spent my entire adult life believing that the EAD was always in the right, believing that our reasons and our purpose were always for the best of our planet. So how can I possibly go against that now? How?”

Wilma put her arm around him. “Because, as we know, people make mistakes. Governments make mistakes.” Her voice took on a sudden authority. “You make mistakes, Albert. This is one of them.”

He pushed her arm away from him. “Not today I don’t, Dr. Gray.” He broke their huddle and looked back across the bridge to see Jack walking back in. As the young officer returned to the comm. station, Morrison walked back to the command chair, stopping to stand in front of it.

“We’re going home, everybody. Gina, is that course for Saturn set?” She nodded assent. “Then let’s be on our way.”

“Belay that, Gina.” Jack said, startling everyone.

Morrison whipped around. “Excuse me, Mr. Keys? You are not in charge of this vessel. Ms. Almond, I gave you an order. Take us home.

“Don’t do it, Gina,” Jack countered, moving from the comm. station and down next to her. Her confusion mounted, as did everyone else’s. “Captain, I’m asking Gina to stop in the hopes that you will, too.” His voice took on an air of pleading. “Sir, I’m asking you: do you really believe this is the safest and wisest course of action to protect the lives of everyone on this ship?”

“I don’t need to explain myself to you, Mr. Keys, or anyone else,” Morrison spat at him. “And you may consider yourself relieved of duty.”

Keys laughed. “Really?” He shook his head. “Captain, I owe you an apology.” The older man waited. “You’re still laboring under the belief that this is an EAD vessel.” Morrison started to speak, but Jack cut him off. “The minute the EUG surrendered, their jurisdiction ended. This is now a pirate vessel.”

It was Morrison’s turn to laugh. “Ah, is that it? War breaks out, and we let discipline, duty and honor just wander out the airlock?”

“No sir. Nor do we let common sense do the same. But you have. You’re going to kill us all, and for what? A spotless record? You were more heroic when your plan was to run away.”

“You little bastard!” Morrison growled.

Jack’s posture drooped. “I’m sorry, Mr. Morrison, I really am. But you are no longer fit to command this vessel. And anyone that would turn over his crew to the enemy because it means obeying orders instead of obeying common sense? There’s only one word for that: collaborator.” Jack’s right hand slipped beneath the back of his uniform. In an instant, he had drawn a gun. “And there is no room in the resistance for collaborators.”

The trigger leapt twice, releasing two bright blue bolts of energy.