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discomfort thrown in due to the anti-radiation suits, and everyone was supping
over the edge.
Their classes always emphasized honor, self-sacrifice, and the unspoken
acceptance of the concept that one would willingly lay down his life for a
comrade or for anyone in peril. Yet it didn't take long to change all that
around. Those not arrested were cowed, divided into whispering groups.
He wondered if senior cadets would have behaved the same way.Petronovich
seemed to have sided with the Captain. Did that therefore mean that in some
perverted way the Captain was right after all? He wrestled with that
thought.Petronovich had gone all the way through the Academy, and had done so
with honor. He was a friend of BrianSeay's , and though everyone might grumble
about Brian, Justin knew that he himself would not hesitate to follow the
senior cadet's lead.
He wondered if Brian would have sided withMacKenzie or offered some
resistance. Some inner voice told him that if Brian had been aboard this ship,
chances were he'd be down below locked up with the others. EverythingMacKenzie
had done so far was a violation of Fleet Procedures singling outoffworld
cadets, the strange questioning, acting after listening only to Colson and no
one else, the manner of Matt's arrest and the interviews afterwards, and above
all else the decision to execute the nine cadets without benefit of a formal
hearing. No, Brian would be down in the brig.
So how did it get to this? Was most of humanity made up of sheep that cower
and turn their heads the moment a wolf emerges? History seemed to show that
was the case; in fact, many preferred the wolf especially when he singled out
a target that was unpopular with some.
Yet we are the generation of space, at least that's whatThorsson keeps
preaching. The disdainMacKenzie showed forThorsson Justin wondered if in fact
the Academy was in a dream, and the attitude ofMacKenzie was more the norm. If
so, what then of honor and comradeship? He rememberedThorsson's story of
Confederate Sergeant Kirkland who, during the Battle of Fredericksburg,
dropped his rifle, took the canteens from his friends, and crawled out into
the open to give water to wounded Union soldiers.Thorsson had dwelt on that,
asking if they could reach the same level, to risk their lives to give comfort
to a fallen enemy.
And Matt is my friend, my closest friend and what have I done? Justin thought
guiltily.
"You're awfully quiet," Tanya said.
"Just thinking, that's all."
"Something about you is different now," Tanya whispered.
"What do you mean?"
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"I don't know.Just different, not as nervous, like something's building and
changing inside you."
Justin didn't know how to reply.
"Do you really think he's going to execute them?"
"Hard to believe, but I think he will. We're cut off, he claims there's an
emergency, and in a technical sense, he might be able to get away with Article
Twenty-Three."
"But why, damn it? He can keep them locked up down there till we hitDeimos ,
turn them over for court-martial. There's no reason not to wait."
"Oh, yes, there is."
"Why?"
Justin shook his head sadly."Why not? It's that simple why not? Kill some
traitors, arrive at port and some will acclaim him to be a courageous hero for
having the guts to take a stand."
"You think someone would protest, though. What about the media, someone will
scream about a Captain murdering a bunch of sixteen- and seventeen-year-old
kids."
"The media?"Justin sniffed. They'll tell lies as they always do. Come on,
Tanya, think. Think of some of the leaders in the past who were nothing but
damn lying scoundrels, cheating, stealing,breaking the laws left and right,
yet the media kissed their butts while other leaders trying to bring about
honest reform were pilloried. Right now thepress are calling the separatists a
bunch of terrorists. If some people were killed on theGustavus , that clinches
the deal.
"Remember that there are a lot of people who don't like the Academy. They've
never liked the military to start with; they're afraid of our discipline, our
adherence to an older code of values, and would love to see us torn down.
Matt, Madison and the others will be instantly denounced and then through them
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