Base Hospital, Federated Worlds Space Fleet College, Terranova
It had been a long night and an even longer day, but finally Michael had decided what he would do.
It was simple in the end. He had done what he had done despite knowing it was wrong because he had not had the balls to stand up to Yazdi. So he was going to come clean, admit his guilt, and hope that Vitharana’s plan worked as advertised. The alternative-indictment, courts, a trial, the trashpress in overdrive-just did not bear thinking about.
The door opened to admit Captain Vitharana. A woman wearing the distinctive gold gorget of a registered observer followed him. Christ! Things were getting serious, Michael thought, if he merited one of them.
Vitharana wasted no time. He did not even bother to introduce the observer.
“Right, Helfort,” he said briskly. “Have you made a decision?”
“Yes, sir. I have.”
“You’ve taken advice, I hope?”
“I have, sir, from the college legal AI. She was very helpful.”
“Good. So?” Vitharana asked.
Michael did not look at Vitharana, staring instead at the registered observer. He wanted every second of this recorded and recorded properly. He took a deep breath to steady his jangling nerves. This was not easy. “I take full responsibility for what happened at Barkersville. For the murders of Detective Sergeant Kalkov, Commitment Planetary Police Service, and Trooper Askali, Hammer of Kraa Doctrinal Security Service.” His voice hardened. “I take full responsibility for all of it, sir, including those that Corporal Yazdi, you know. .” He faltered, turning back to Vitharana. He could not say the words.
Vitharana got it, anyway. He nodded.
“I was the senior officer present, sir,” Michael continued, his voice firm again. “I had the command authority to stop what happened. I could have, should have stopped the murders, all of them, but I did not. For that reason, I take full responsibility for my actions and those of Corporal Yazdi. That’s what I want to say. I have a detailed statement prepared that I would like to comm to the registered observer. That’ll cover it all.”
“Let me read it first.”
Michael shook his head. “No, sir. I don’t want anyone to say that it was not entirely my statement. I’ve stuck to the facts, so I can’t have gone too wrong. If you don’t mind.”
Vitharana looked surprised and more than a little discomfited. He was obviously not used to junior lieutenants telling him what he could and could not do.
“Go ahead, then.”
The registered observer had gone. For a while there was silence, the two men happy to let things slide for a moment.
Vitharana broke the silence. “You’ve done the right thing, Michael. You know that?”
Michael nodded. He thought, hoped he had.
“Good. Let’s leave that for a moment. Now, I’ve spoken to your doctors. They say you are making good progress and it’s okay for me to take you out for the day as long as you don’t do any walking. So I’ve set up a meeting, which I would like you to attend.” Vitharana got up to leave. “I’ll pick you up here tomorrow at 10:00 sharp. Dress blacks.”
Michael looked puzzled. The only clothes he had were hospital-issue pajamas. Apart from his shipsuit and boots, he had lost everything else when the Ishaq blew. “Dress blacks? Why-”
“Ours is not to reason why, Michael. A brand-new set will be delivered first thing tomorrow.”
Michael almost shook his head as Vitharana left. The whole world had gone nuts. Where in God’s name would he be going in dress blacks?