Chapter 28L - The Middle of the End

[Brie]

Brie and Boleman arrived about five centons before the tribunal was officially supposed to start. A centon later Major Pierce, in all his smugness, arrived. He almost smiled at Brie as he took his seat. The last to arrive were those who would be deciding Brie’s fate. Major Buellah, who would be running the tribunal, took his seat in the middle. Captain Swensson sat to his left, while Senior Science Officer Solon, looking like he’d rather be ANYWHERE else, took the seat on Buellah’s right.

After waiting one more centon Major Buellah spoke. “This tribunal will convene. The case against Major Brie of Gold Squadron will now commence. Opposer Pierce...”

[Brie]

Pierce stood and started. “Esteemed members of the tribunal. As my first piece of documentation I would like to submit the debriefing report relating to the team that Captain Amy led on the Pangara Moon Mission.”

Boleman was immediately on his feet. “I protest!”

“Your reasoning?” Major Buellah asked.

“You can’t submit just part of a report,” Boleman argued.

“The protest is upheld,” Major Buellah said. “Would the Opposer care to submit the entire report, or remove that piece of documentation?”

“I would like to submit the entire debriefing report,” Pierce stated.

Brie breathed a sigh of relief. For the first time she really felt like Boleman knew what he was doing.

[Brie]

“If the tribunal pleases,” Pierce said, unfazed by the very minor setback with the debriefing report, “I would like to call Lieutenant Kiwi of Gold Squadron.” Kiwi was brought in and sat in the witness chair in the middle of the room. He purposely didn’t look at Brie. She wasn’t surprised to see him testifying against her, he hadn’t hid his feelings about leaving the Cylon base when they did. Pierce looked at Brie and grinned before he started his questioning. “Tell, me Lieutenant, exactly what happened on the Pangara base after Major Brie split the team into two groups.”

Kiwi looked only at Pierce as he started. “Captain Amy didn’t know what to do. We were supposed to rescue the human prisoner and secure transport off the base. Captain Amy first asked for ideas, then she tried to send Thunderhawk OUTSIDE of the base to look for transport. Next she started to run around like a wounded daggit in heat.” There was some laughter from some of the spectators.

“Quiet!” Major Buellah warned. “Continue, Lieutenant.”

“Thank you, Sir. Then she took the blue lenses that we had with us and...” Kiwi stopped and shuddered.

“I know it’s hard, Lieutenant,” Pierce said with fake sympathy, “but you must tell us.”

Kiwi took a deep breath. “Captain Amy put the lenses on the non-activated Cylons. She claimed she was trying to short them out or something. They weren’t activated, I don’t know what harm she thought they were. But there was some sort of strange reaction, and a new kind of Cylon was born, one with deadly accuracy and very difficult to destroy. They cost us several members of our team.”

“I can see how difficult this is for you,” Major Pierce said. “We’re almost through. Tell me, did you rescue the prisoner and secure transport?”

“No, Sir,” Kiwi replied.

“Do you think that Captain Amy was qualified to lead part of this mission?”

“I protest!” Boleman said even louder than the last time. “The lieutenant is no judge of his superior officers!”

“I’ll rephrase,” Pierce said. “Lieutenant Kiwi, did you feel SAFE under Captain Amy’s command?”

“Not really, Sir,” Kiwi replied.

“Thank you, Lieutenant.” Pierce took his seat.

Lieutenant Kiwi was surprised. “That’s it? What about the fact that she left...”

“That’s all for the opposition, Lieutenant,” Pierce stated coldly. “Protector Boleman?”

Boleman ruffled through some papers and then walked over towards the witness chair. “Lieutenant Kiwi, you weren’t originally scheduled for this mission, were you?”

“No, Sir,” Kiwi replied.

“You missed,” Boleman glanced at the paper in his hand, “the volunteer meeting, the mission briefing, AND the tanker ride, in which the mission was undoubtedly discussed and plans were made. Is that correct?”

“Yes,” Kiwi said simply.

“Before this, you were gone from Gold Squadron for quite some time, weren’t you?”

“”Yes,” Kiwi repeated.

“So you didn’t know much about the mission, what was going on in Gold Squadron OR the people in it, did you?” Boleman asked.

“I guess not,” Kiwi replied quietly.

“I have one more question for you. This mission was considered by most, including Commanders Apollo and Sheba to be a suicide mission. Were you SUPPOSED to feel safe?”

“I protest!” Pierce said immediately.

“Withdrawn,” Boleman said. He took his seat once again next to Brie as Kiwi stepped down.

“What’s going on?” Brie whispered to her Protector. “He didn’t ask Kiwi one question about us leaving them behind.”

“I’m sorry,” Boleman whispered back. “I should have known what Pierce’s strategy was going to be. He’s not saying that you’re negligent for leaving, he’s saying that the problem was putting Amy in charge in the first place. He thinks she wasn’t qualified, and so they died because you put your faith in her.”

Brie sat back in her chair. “Oh frack,” she muttered quietly.

[Amy81]

Elmer and Abby waited in the outer room as the tribunal proceeded. Sitting silently, Abby could not believe where they were. It seemed like a bad dream to find themselves on the battlestar, moments from testifying to the known remains of humanity just what they thought about their daughter.

“Elmer”, she said, breaking the silence, “what are you going to tell the court?”

“The truth I expect” Elmer replied, looking over at her. Seeing her expression he added, “Something wrong in that?”

Abby shrugged, clearly pained by her thoughts. “No, no. It’s just that Amy was one of us, Elmer. Our blood. I’m thinking that maybe…”

Elmer shook his head. “There you go, thinking again…”

Abby spoke a little sterner, wishing to be heard. “I’m thinking maybe we thought of her as we did not because she did wrong, but that we were selfish. Not willing to let her decide her own life. She was a good girl, a wonderful daughter, wasn’t she?” Elmer didn’t reply, so Abby continued. “It makes no use now to drag her memory though the dirt because of our own rigid point of view.”

“Are you finished?” Elmer asked. “Cause truth is truth. I cannot take the stand and lie…”

“Is it a lie to say you loved your daughter?” Abby asked. “That in her eyes what she tried to do with her life she believed in strongly? That defending us so we could continue to plow the fields was more important than…”

“Don’t” Elmer stopped her, pointing a finger at her. “Providing food is just as important, and there’s a whole family tree behind us that says it was THE most important thing. She knew what she was doing, as far as the grief she was causing us anyway. The fact that she’s gone now doesn’t change what was. And if she were here right now, you wouldn’t be talking like you are.”

“Don’t you tell me what I would or would not be doing” Abby snapped, getting up and walking away.

Elmer sat back, expecting to be called to testify at any time. While he sat with his thoughts, Abby paced. Once, she left to get a drink of water, and as she returned she did a double take at a group of people she saw pass by the doorway. That couldn’t be…

She ran to the doorway and looked, but could only see the backs of the people as they walked down the hall. Abby felt her heart racing. Could that have been… Urdea? She nearly called the name out, but stopped herself. She was just over stressed. Seeing ghosts now. And the one she dearly wanted to see was NOT a man from the past…

Abby knew she’d give anything to see her daughter one last time. Although sleeping was difficult, she tried to get to sleep as fast as she could each night, hoping Amy might come to her in a dream. But each morning she woke up feeling that much emptier. Amy was gone, and the hole she’d left grew wider with each passing day.

An officer of the court peeked his head in, calling for Elmer to follow him. Elmer rose up, took Abby’s hands in his, and squeezed them gently. “We should be able to get on with things after this” he said. “I could do with some familiar surroundings.” Abby nodded, saying nothing.

She turned to watch as Elmer walked out of the room, and she realized she was looking at him differently. She didn’t like the feeling. She felt shaken, her world more upside down as the microns went by.

[Amy81]

Pierce waited for Elmer to make himself comfortable before beginning. “Let me first express the sincere regrets of this tribunal over the loss of your daughter.”

Elmer just nodded, and waited for the questioning to begin. Here wasn’t the place for sympathy. That was for the funeral, one that he’d have to arrange without anything to mourn over or bury. The fact that he didn’t even have his daughter’s remains made the expressions of sympathy seem even more out of place.

Pierce paused to clear his throat before asking his first question. “Tell me what Amy was like growing up”, he asked.

“Well” Elmer began, “she was just like any other child, I suppose. I mean under the circumstances. We knew that there were many orphaned children after the attack, and we felt doubly blessed to both be here for our child.”

“Under the circumstances, you said” Pierce observed. “Could you elaborate further?”

“Seems clear enough to me” Elmer responded, and several chuckles were heard around the room. “The fleet wasn’t how we’d envisioned raising our girl. It’s why we never had another. Not the way it was supposed to be, locked up inside bits of metal.”

“But the agro ship provided better-than-most surroundings to raise a child, isn’t that correct?”

“S’pose so” Elmer replied. “But to answer your question, Amy was just a kid, like any kid. She seemed happy, always running around, trying to help in the fields but mostly getting in the way. You know, normal kid stuff.”

“You expected her to follow the family footsteps and become a farmer?”
Pierce asked.

“A-course” Elmer said. “Our lot has been farmers for hundreds of yahrens. Expected it to be no different with Amy. And it wasn’t going to be different till she started hearing tales of space battles and the like from pilots and security people who visited our ship on various points of business. ‘The Aggie’. Some ship she heard about. She’d always try to tell us about it. We paid it no mind. We had no idea how much those tales were influencing her.”

“What did you think when you found out she wanted to
be a Colonial Warrior?”

Elmer shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He wasn’t used to hanging out the family’s dirty laundry for all to see. Not that most of it hadn’t already been hung out thanks to Amy being a warrior. “Well, sir” he began, “both my wife and I were against it. We were farmers, not warriors. And Amy had the knack for farming, but let it slide. Convinced herself that she could be a warrior and nothing we would ever say was able to turn her back.”

“Did you think she was up to the challenge?”

“We might seem like simple folks, sir, and maybe we are compared to you city types and the like on your fancier ships. But we are strong willed and have our strong traits. Once we put our heads to something, it gets done. But Amy went about it all wrong. Got mixed up with a senior officer… tainted everything she was trying to do. Now if she’d been twice her age with a wart on her nose, she might have been left to have at it. But I’m not blind, I know my daughter was attractive after a fashion, and once she got caught up in all that, I don’t think she ever really focused, if you know what I mean.”

“How did you feel about the path her career went in?”

“Embarrassed us, my Abby and me. We have our pride. Sure she’d made it as a warrior, but the way it happened, the way it looked like, well, Abby and I were caused some discomfort by it all.”

Pierce nodded in sympathy. “Thank you, Elmer. I know this isn’t easy, speaking of private matters such as your daughter. There are no more questions.”

[Amy81]

Boleman rose up, and walked slowly over to Elmer. “Has Amy ever done ANYTHING that’s made you proud?”

“If you mean since she left our ship to go chasing stars, then no sir. Fact is contact with our daughter has been mighty limited since she enrolled in the academy. She came back one time, with that Charybdis fellow tagging along. SHE seemed proud and happy, so that was enough for us. We were sent word when she went out on missions, but what exactly went on we never knew. Expected her to tell us on a visit we figured was due to come, but…”

His voice trailed off, and he shrugged, but inside he was in turmoil. Damn that Abby! He cleared his throat. “Fact is though, since we’ve been on your battlestar, some folks from the squadron have come up, said Amy was a good warrior, and a good person.” He cleared his throat again, and rubbed an eye, surprised to find it so watery. “Heard a story, how she’d gone to a snow planet to find an overdue expedition. Major Brie’s, matter of fact.” He looked over at Brie for a moment, then looked away, far away. “Seems she did a fine job bringing her command back in one piece, facing cylons on the ground and fighters in the sky. Yes sir, hearing that, I did feel proud of my baby girl, mighty proud…”

Boleman nodded. “If I recall correctly, medals were recommended in the final report.”

“Yes sir” Elmer said, pulling out a hanky. “I was told that too.”

“If I might read from that report” Boleman said, walking over to his papers and producing the report. “I’ll just read some of the highlights, to save time… ‘Gold shuttle two mission to planet ‘Outer’…Mission summary filed by Captain Amy…Encountered Cylon activity…Shuttle scanner took some damage. I ordered Artus to remain and attempt repairs while Marcus and I took snowsleds to meet up with Major Brie's party… Encountered Cylon foot patrol…Launched into space, encountered heavy Cylon traffic. Took damage from Cylon torpedo…Highest commendations recommended for Marcus and Artus. Recommend consideration for Gold Cluster for both warriors. (Signed) Captain Amy’…” He put the report down, looking at Elmer. Elmer looked back, but said nothing.

“I’d like to submit that report, written in Amy’s own hand, as evidence” Boleman announced. Then to Elmer, he said “Thank you, sir. No further questions.”

[Brie]

Pierce held up some papers. “For my next piece of documentation I would like to submit Captain Amy’s file. I have marked portions of it for special attention.” He looked at Boleman. “Before Protector Boleman can protest I need to point out that every instance that I have marked I COULD backup with witnesses, I’m just trying to save the tribunal a little bit of time.”

“Protector Boleman,” Major Buellah said, “do you protest? If so, make your case.”

“As long as the esteemed members of the tribunal take into account the ENTIRE file and not just what Opposer Pierce has marked, I won’t protest.”

“So noted,” Major Buellah said. “Opposer Pierce, please continue with the opposition.”

[Brie]

One by one the three surviving infantry members who had been with Amy’s group on the mission were to be called to the witness chair. The first one called was Corporal Caere. Her testimony was similar to Lieutenant Kiwi’s. It sounded rehearsed.

“Tell us, Corporal,” Pierce instructed, “what happened once Captain Amy took command of the second group.”

“Captain Amy didn’t really know what she was expected to do,” Caere testified. “She asked for suggestions, but wasn’t it her job to come up with ideas? She was supposed to be in charge, after all. Then she did SOMETHING to the dormant Cylons, which really messed them up. We all told her to leave them alone, but she wouldn’t listen to us.”

“How were they, ‘messed up,’ as you put it?” Pierce asked.

“They could fire with deadly accuracy, which is totally unheard of for Cylons,” Caere replied.

“Anything else?”

“Before that Captain Amy started to run around like an idiot,” Caere told the court. “She was waving her arms and screaming, like she was trying to call attention to the fact that we were there!”

“Thank you, Corporal,” Pierce said as he returned to his seat.

Boleman stood but didn’t even bother approaching the witness. “A quick question, Corporal. When Amy asked for suggestions, did anyone bother to offer any?”

“No, Sir,” Caere replied.

“Then how can you criticize her for trying to do something?” Boleman sat down. “I have no further questions.”

[Agelastus]

A few centars on the Callisto had let me do several things. Most of them skirting the edges of appropriate behaviour for a warrior.

Some of them more than skirting them.

People speak of a "misspent youth". Given the increasing lifespan of our people, that term historically grew to mean the first thirty or forty years of our lives. Mine had been very "misspent" in places.

At the moment I was in a small maintenance annex to one of the main data lines carrying the feeds from the surveillance cameras in the tribunal chambers. They were installed mainly for security purposes, namely the trials of particularly dangerous felons, but also formed part of the court's official record in case of procedural appeals.

Theoretically, the feed could not be accessed, the data being sent straight to a secure computer that wasn't even linked to the ship's main system.

Of course, since this computer for security and survivability reasons was located alongside the main banks at the armoured core of the ships central axis, whereas the tribunal chambers, being "less essential" were in a more exposed location, this meant that secure data lines had to cross half the ship.

And data lines can be hacked.

My portable monitor was currently hooked into the raw feed from the tribunal. Boleman had not chosen to call me as a witness, so I was watching the feed live rather than setting up a simpler recording device to study later. I was becoming increasingly worried. The testimony seemed to be oddly...slanted. I was making a list of people to investigate. Caere was now top of my list, and I knew just the people to start checking her out with.

That was the main thing I was doing, anyway.

The second thing I was doing was trying to trace the two other illicit feeds I'd detected when I hooked my own in...

[Brie]

The second infantry member called to the stand was Corporal Janneche. “Corporal,” Pierce started slowly, “we’ve heard several times already what Captain Amy did when she took command. I have a different question for you. How was she acting?”

“Acting, Sir?” Janneche repeated.

“Did she feel comfortable with her command?”

Boleman jumped to his feet. “I protest! How can any of us know what another person is feeling?”

Major Buellah thought for several microns. “I’ll allow it, within reason. Corporal, you are not to speculate as to what was going on inside of Amy’s head. Just let this tribunal know if she was doing anything out of the ordinary.”

“She was shaking, Sir,” Janneche replied. “Visibly shaking. She seemed nervous.”

“Did she ever stop?” Pierce asked.

“No,” Janneche replied. “In fact after the Cylons turned purple she seemed even more nervous.”

“I’ll ask you again, did Captain Amy feel comfortable with her command?”

“I still protest,” Boleman stated.

“And I’ll still allow it,” Major Buellah said. “The witness will answer the question.”

“No,” Janneche said. “She didn’t seem to feel comfortable.”

“Thank you, Corporal,” Pierce said.

Boleman stood again. “Corporal Janneche, what were your feelings when you first volunteered for the Pangara mission?”

“I was excited, Sir,” Janneche replied. “It was a chance to make my life count, which is why I joined the Infantry in the first place.”

“What about on the tanker, growing closer to the moon?” Boleman asked. “How were you feeling then?”

“A little bit anxious, I guess. I couldn’t help but think about how the fleet really needed us to succeed in order to escape the system.”

“And how about once you landed?” Boleman continued. “When you were actually walking inside the moon, and you saw non-active Cylons everywhere?”

“I was nervous,” Janneche replied. “Those things were creepy. We all wondered what would happen if they suddenly activated.”

“So you were nervous,” Boleman pointed out, “but you fault Captain Amy for being nervous. I personally would worry about ANYONE going on a suicide mission that WASN’T nervous. Thank you, Corporal.”