3.29.

Diego watched as the death toll from the orbital bombardments ticked up again. He winced. It had been his ship that had carried out those strikes. He was following orders, and the review board had deemed his actions legal. But the collateral damage had been in the triple digits.

Collateral damage. Such a clean word to use for killing innocent bystanders.

It wasn’t as bad as it could have been. The targets had been isolated. The strikes had been controlled and limited. The environmental damage of the plasma lances was minimal compared to something like a nuclear warhead.

But innocent people had died because Diego had received and order and decided to carry it out.

He swallowed.

“Bob, call Eolai,” Diego said.

The AI acknowledged the order with a chirp. A moment later, his brother-by-oath’s hologram appeared. Eolai was dressed in his colorful Yonohoan formal wear, with ribbons in his hair. Diego hadn’t seen him wearing that since he had started training the soldiers to use their infantry armor.

“Hello Diego,” Eolai said, his voice sounding tired. “It is good to see you during this difficult time of reconstruction.”

“Yes, you too, brother,” Diego said. He eyed the hologram up and down, asking what was up with the getup with his eyes.

“I am testifying at the good General Turnball’s court martial,” Eolai explained. “Do you believe that he will face consequences?”

“Having his decision called into a court martial is already facing consequences,” Diego answered. He paused as he considered the question. “I believe that his orders were legal, Eolai. And I believe that the review board will uphold them as such. They caused civilian deaths, that is true, but they were a limited strike aimed at enemy held territory during a time of active conflict. The review board can’t ignore those facts.”

“I hope so,” Eolai agreed. “Our military traditions are not identical. If this had happened on planet Totola, there would be no review. The populace would simply accept the general’s actions at face value, even if they caused ten times the devastation that they did.”

“I’m having trouble contemplating my own role in the events, to be honest, Eolai,” Diego admitted. “I’m testifying by hologram later today, and I have no idea what I’m going to say.”

“I believe I’m supposed to tell you to merely state the facts as you knew them at the time when you carried out your orders,” Eolai said, smiling sadly. “That is what I was instructed to say as well. Mostly I am there to testify about the capabilities of the enemy, anyway. I assure you that putting a swift end to the resistance saved far more lives than the orbital bombardment took. The invasion force could have taken millions of lives through guerrilla warfare given a foothold and a bit of time.”

“That’s of small comfort to the families,” Diego answered.

“Indeed,” Eolai agreed.

They fell silent for a moment.

“What comes next? I heard that the Empire sued for peace,” Diego said.

“They were wise to do so. Wiser would have been to do so before they assaulted a world of the Yonohoah in force, firing upon it multiple times with weapons of mass destruction. Were it not for our orbital emplacements, planet Totola would be a barren wasteland right now, with all of its children turned to ash,” Eolai said. His voice was sad, with a mixture of anger and resolve. “ My children live there, Diego. I will not see the people who ordered that attack go unpunished.”

“I understand completely, my brother,” Diego agreed. “May they live to see the consequences of their actions.”

“Or may they die facing them,” Eolai countered.

The hologram cut out, leaving Diego to contemplate a side of his brother that he hadn’t seen much of before. He was used to Eolai’s playful side. He was only just now seeing his wrath.

~~~~~~

“I asked him to repeat and clarify his orders three times. His orders were clear and direct,” Major Phillips said. “I relayed them through the chain of command to former Sergeant Cruz, who now holds the position of Captain of an allied force. The exact rank of Diego Cruz in that military organization is unclear. He is an adoptive son of Eodar, which may put him in the rank of a general, or it may not. The Yonohoans have a different military structure than we do.”

“You passed along the orders to Sergeant Cruz, and what was the result?” the prosecutor asked.

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“The bombardment of the target locations. Precise but thorough plasma lances which annihilated the enemy forces,” Mary answered.

“And caused the deaths of nearly one thousand innocent civilians,” the prosecutor pressed.

“That is the approximate death toll at present, yes,” Mary agreed.

“Thank you. No further questions.”

The defense had no questions for this witness, and she was allowed to step down. Eolai was called to the stand next. He was sworn in, choosing to swear on a book of traditional stories from his culture rather than the bible. It was not quite accurate to call it a religious text, but it carried the same weight according to the Yonohoans who’d been questioned on the matter.

While it was not mandatory to swear on the bible in a court martial, Eolai had offered to make any gesture which might increase the veracity of his testimony.

The prosecutor began her questioning. “It is not in dispute at this point that the General ordered the bombardment of Earth and that civilian casualties were the result. The issue is the necessity of those orders. Eolai of the Yonohoah, you are more familiar with the weaponry of the enemy soldiers than we are. Would you determine the general’s response to be the correct action based upon the knowledge that we have established that he had at the time?”

“No,” Eolai answered. “I would not have bombarded the locations he selected.”

This drew a measure of surprise. “Would you care to clarify?” the prosecutor asked.

“I would have bombarded every confirmed landing zone and location in which the presence of an enemy infantry unit had been confirmed,” Eolai answered. “The only thing that might have stayed my hand would be the presence of my own children in those locations.”

“So you believe that the general’s response was a measured one?” the prosecutor asked.

“Lenient, is the word I’d use. A single unit in the type of powerarmor with the loadouts that the enemy had in its possession is capable of destroying a city the size of New York within a day. They might have killed millions if left unchecked. I believe the devastation in St. Petersburg give you an approximation of what they would have been capable of, and I remind the court that I myself authorized the bombardment of that location with a kirata beam in order to bring that tragedy to an end.”

“Yes, the court remembers,” The prosecutor said. “Was that not a more measured response?”

“The infantry units would eventually recover from the kirata beam. It was only the actions of the civilians in St. Petersburg which led to the capture or neutralization of the enemy units in that case. I would have ordered a plasma lance if I had thought that my brother, Diego Cruz, would have obeyed the order. I did not, so I ordered the next best thing,” Eolai explained.

“Thank you. That is all of the questions I have for this witness,” the prosecutor said.

The defense attorney stood. “For the record, the infantry armor units you have provided earth forces are effectively identical to the ones that the enemy uses, correct?”

“Correct,” Eolai agreed.

“Very good. Let’s get into the technical details of what those units are capable of,” the defense attorney suggested.

“I have brought holograms of historic examples for your edification,” Eolai said. “I suggest that if you have eaten recently, you go to the bathroom and vomit now so as to avoid making a mess in the courtroom.”

Several minutes in, many people in the court wished that they would have taken his advice.

~~~~~~

Mike sat in the embassy wearing a bathrobe and reading the Times . The front page was dedicated almost entirely to the trial of General Turnball and the not-so-surprising verdict of “well he did it, but it was legal.” Despite the court’s findings many in the public continued to call for him to step down or retire, while others hailed him as a hero who made a hard decision.

Mike was just glad that he’d been in New York City under the gold and white dome that Tomon Genisi had erected when it had happened.

Laura sat next to him. Tomon sat next to her. They were enjoy pancakes, orange juice, and coffee.

No frumonas. Mike had once more sworn off the alien ‘social lubricant.’

“They’ve got pictures of us together,” Mike said, turning the paper to show the others.

Tonom shrugged. Laura shrugged. Mike shrugged.

“Think we should make a public statement about our … situation?” he asked.

“It’s none of their business,” Laura said. “Anyway all they have is rumors that we’ve been staying at the embassy since the attack. Which are true. They don’t have the details.”

“Rumors are as good as facts in politics,” Mike said. “It might be better to just get out in front of it and take the bullet. We have a fairly liberal demographic, they might not care. Tonom, what do you think?”

“Whatever is best for you, Mike-Mike’ Tonom answered. “I am no shame.”

“Yes,” Mike said. “I know you have no shame. I know that very very well.”

“Yes yes.”

Mike sighed, shaking his head. Well, life could be worse.

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