Boundless Page 6

  “Thank you, Senator,” Geary said. He realized again that it wasn’t easy to sit down with a lot of people watching without feeling awkward as he sat. The movement simply didn’t lend itself to feeling graceful or smooth.

  He couldn’t be certain what the mood in the large hall was. The senators, used to keeping their feelings masked or only projected to serve a purpose, were watching him without clear signs of either hostility or welcome.

  Were they on trial, or was he?

  THREE

  NAVARRO looked around at the other senators, made a face, and then focused on Geary again. “Admiral, I wish we were meeting under better circumstances. We’re going to handle this first session informally, but it is on the record. Do you want to say anything before we begin asking you questions?”

  Feeling emotionally drained from the walk to the building and his talk with Senator Nakamura, Geary shook his head. “All I have to say at this point is that I did my duty to fulfill my oath to the Alliance. The Defender fleet project, the artificial intelligence–controlled warships we destroyed in battles culminating in the fight at Unity Alternate, was kept secret from anyone who could’ve questioned the wisdom of placing so much firepower under the control of software. As a result of the Defender fleet running amok, attacking Alliance and neutral star systems as well as Syndicate Worlds star systems, hundreds of Alliance sailors died doing their duties to protect the Alliance, as well as uncounted numbers of innocent neutral citizens in star systems like Atalia. In some cases, our sailors died without any chance to protect themselves because the systems they relied on to support and defend them instead were corrupted as part of ill-considered programs kept secret from them. If we are to keep faith with those who died, the individuals responsible for those deaths, for violating the laws of the Alliance, should be held to account.”

  “You are lying to us!” Senator Wilkes shouted. “To us and to the people of the Alliance!”

  Instead of shutting off Wilkes’s outburst, Navarro looked at Geary.

  Geary fought down an urge to yell back. His nerves were on edge facing the senators, trying not to let his anger at what had happened, at how many had died, color his words. Most of these men and women weren’t his enemies, but the ones who were surely wanted him to lose control. “Everything I have said and done is backed up by physical evidence and the testimony of many other individuals. I don’t think anyone has the right to question my honor.”

  “This is a conspiracy to undermine—!”

  “Senator Wilkes!” Navarro said, his voice sharp enough to cut off the rest of Wilkes’s statement. “You will abide by the rules of the Senate or you will be expelled from this session.”

  “You don’t have the votes for that!”

  “Would you like to find out if I do?”

  Wilkes looked about, apparently didn’t see the support he was hoping for, and subsided.

  “Admiral,” Navarro said, “in your own words, please briefly describe the events that led you to Unity Alternate, and what occurred there.”

  Recalling the events wasn’t hard. He’d spent every day since going over them in his mind. Describing them all briefly, while avoiding inflammatory language, was a lot harder. Especially when he had to talk about the ships and sailors lost at Varandal and in the battle at Unity Alternate. But he made it through, then waited.

  Senator Sakai was allowed to speak first, probably because he was believed to be impartial. “Admiral, am I correct that military sensors, communications, and other systems were breaking down at Varandal? That as a result portions of the Alliance military were in danger of attacking other Alliance personnel?”

  “That is correct,” Geary said. “If not for individuals questioning what their sensors were showing them, questioning the validity of orders supposedly from their superiors, many more could have died. The destroyers Mortar and Serpentine were massacred at Varandal, with only seventeen survivors, as a result of false orders and the inability of their sensors to see the Defender fleet ships targeting them.”

  Another senator jumped to his feet—“These matters have not been established as fact”—only to be interrupted when yet another senator bolted out of her seat. “Most of the crew of Mortar came from my home world! The people of my world want someone to answer for their deaths at the hands of supposedly friendly forces!”

  “I was not—!”

  “And,” the woman senator shouted, “my people will not accept punishment of minions who thought they were following proper orders! We want the heads of those who gave the orders! And we will have them!”

  The Senate dissolved into a mass of loud arguments as Geary sat, watching them and trying not to let his feelings show. At least the chaos allowed him to judge how many senators were either trying to or willing to avoid accountability, how many more senators were ready to face them down, and how many looked like they simply wished they didn’t have to make public stands on the matters.

  It took more than ten minutes for Senator Navarro to regain order, until he finally employed sound-deadening systems to literally silence all of the arguing senators. “I will remind everyone present,” Navarro said, his own voice unnaturally loud, “that this entire institution, the entire Senate, is on trial in the eyes of the people of the Alliance. It is our duty and our responsibility to handle this in a legally and morally defensible manner. If we do not, the Alliance may not survive, and all of the finger-pointing in the universe to try to lay the blame elsewhere will not alter the fact that we failed in our responsibility. Senator Sakai, do you wish to continue?”

  “Not at this time,” Sakai said, appearing totally unruffled by the tumult unleashed by his first question.

  “Senator Dara?” Navarro said.

  Dara stood up, her face lined with the history of old worries. “I do not understand something basic. The war with the Syndics is over. I was told military expenditures were being greatly cut back. Yet constructing the ships of the Defender fleet must have cost a great deal, and the facilities at Unity Alternate to support them were also large and expensive. Why was the Defender fleet built at such a time?”

  Geary waited to see if anyone else would jump in with an answer, but once again everyone was looking at him. “I don’t have full knowledge of the decisions made,” he finally said. “From what I have been able to determine, certain elements in the government and the Alliance fleet were . . . concerned about the loyalty of the fleet’s officers and sailors. Apparently it was believed that warships controlled by artificial intelligence would never pose a threat to the government, and could counter any threat from human-crewed warships. Judging from the meant-to-be-secret attack on the Syndicate Worlds Indras Star System by part of the Defender fleet, it was probably also believed that AI-controlled warships would never compromise any secrets they were aware of and could be used for missions that were meant to be kept from public knowledge.”

  “This is pure speculation,” Senator Telontaskee objected.

  Senator Navarro shook his head. “The evidence we’ve so far reviewed supports Admiral Geary’s assessment. Not only he, but most of us here in the Senate, were regarded as unreliable by those who hid the Defender fleet program.”

  “What,” Senator Dara demanded, “were the grounds for regarding Admiral Geary as unreliable? I am unaware of any actions he has taken against the government. Admiral, why did these people distrust you?”

  Geary paused to think through his words. “I have a great deal of popular support,” he said. “I would never misuse that, but some people fear that I will.”

  “Fear.” Senator Dara almost spat the word. “Have we not spent enough time living in fear? Has fear become the way the Alliance thinks? That is not a question for you, Admiral, but one for my colleagues.” She sat down.

  Senator Suva gestured for attention. She gave Geary a look that held neither friendship nor hostility, just carefully presented neutralit
y. “Admiral Bloch was in command of what he called the Defender fleet?” Senator Suva asked.

  “He said he’d been in command, but had lost control of the artificial intelligences on the ships,” Geary said.

  “Did Bloch say who’d placed him in that command?”

  Geary shook his head. “I don’t think he ever spoke of that during the brief time he was able to get messages out.”

  “Did you try to pursue that question?” Suva pressed. “Try to find out who had given him that much power and authority?”

  “I’m sorry, Senator, no, I did not. It didn’t matter at that point, because Bloch no longer had any power or authority over the black ships. I was focused on trying to defeat those ships and save my own. Bloch was . . . irrelevant, an impotent prisoner on his own supposed flagship.”

  “At one point he offered you a deal in exchange for a promise to rescue him?”

  “Yes, Senator,” Geary said. “No one, myself included, believed he could provide what he offered, and in any event we had no choice but to try to defeat all of the black ships of the Defender fleet by every means possible. No one suggested agreeing to his deal.”

  “What did Bloch say when you refused his offer?”

  Geary once more shook his head. “We weren’t able to tell him. We couldn’t communicate with him after his own ship cut off his comms.”

  “For the record,” Senator Suva said, “there is no record of any official assignment of Admiral Bloch to that command. It was done outside of official channels, and never approved by the full Senate. Does that surprise you, Admiral?”

  Geary inhaled slowly before replying. “Not at this point, Senator.”

  A low murmur arose from the ranks of senators facing him, a murmur that threatened to grow louder until Senator Navarro turned and directed a meaningful glare around the chamber.

  Navarro turned back to face Geary. “Admiral, preliminary analysis of the evidence brought from Unity Alternate shows a pattern of actions which avoided using normal channels and procedures in the Alliance government. Why did those responsible do that over and over again?”

  Senator Sakai interrupted the renewed murmur that arose among the Senate on the heels of Navarro’s question. “I must object to Senator Navarro’s question. He is asking Admiral Geary to speculate as to the thinking of those responsible for these actions.”

  Navarro spread his hands. “I concede the error. Admiral, what were the practical results of avoiding using normal channels and procedures to authorize and supervise the actions you uncovered at Unity Alternate and elsewhere?”

  Geary took a moment to frame his reply, trying to avoid anything that might sound like an accusation aimed at a specific individual. “The practical impact of avoiding normal channels and procedures was to hide those actions from the oversight and legal restrictions on what the government is allowed to do. Those people who oversee what the different parts of the government do were cut off from knowing what was going on.”

  “So, in your opinion, the problem wasn’t in the oversight,” Navarro said. “It wasn’t in the rules and regulations governing how the Alliance works. It was in those people who decided that bypassing all of that would enable them to do things they knew would never be approved by those charged with ensuring the government worked properly.”

  Yet another murmur arose among the senators, punctuated by one of them calling out loudly, “Are you summing up the case for the prosecution, Senator Navarro? I thought at this point we were trying to determine what happened, not conduct a trial to convict anyone.”

  The chamber seemed on the verge of once more erupting into loud argument.

  “My apologies for my unartful phrasing,” Navarro said to disarm the tension, despite sounding not the least bit apologetic. “Senator Costa?”

  Costa leaned forward, her glare at Geary apparently intended to convey determination. “Admiral, what would your attitude be toward those who, after you’ve achieved victory, question your actions in achieving those results?”

  He shook his head. “Senator, I assume every action I take will be examined and questioned. I know some of my actions prior to this have been questioned by members of the government. If my actions are found to be improper, my reasoning incorrect, I fully expect to be held to account by those responsible for oversight. I have had a great deal of authority. I was taught that the greater the authority, the greater the need for oversight. That’s what we were taught a century ago.” The unspoken implication of his last sentence, that something important had been lost in the intervening century, hung between them as Senator Costa’s glare deepened.

  “Even if you consider such questions to be misinformed?” Costa demanded. “To be based on after-the-fact knowledge and assumptions? To be grossly unfair given the conditions under which you labored?”

  Senator Unruh laughed. “Are you summing up your defense against charges that haven’t yet been brought?”

  “I want the admiral to answer the question!”

  Geary tried to keep his voice and face neutral as he answered. “I repeat, I assume any actions I take will be examined and questioned. If I am not willing to defend those actions in open debate, then I will not take them. I am not above the law. No one in the Alliance is above the law. That means everyone must be willing to answer for their actions, openly and publicly, and if necessary be judged for their actions.”

  It went on like that, and on like that. Geary soon realized that the reason Navarro was running the proceedings was because no one else had wanted the job. Some senators, such as Wilkes and Costa, kept insisting that the evidence was fake or didn’t even exist despite all proof to the contrary, including an exasperated Senator Navarro’s offer to bring the disappeared who’d been confined at Unity Alternate to physically stand in the chamber. Other senators, outraged by the deaths of men and women from their home worlds, often seemed ready to exact vengeance then and there. A third group of senators seemed only intent on establishing that they’d personally been both unaware of what was going on and innocent of any wrongdoing themselves.

  For her part, Senator Nakamura contributed little to the discussion, acting as if the debate were beneath her.

  Eventually, how late in the day Geary couldn’t even guess, Senator Sakai asked to speak once more. “Admiral, the material you brought from Unity Alternate indicates some serious breaches of trust by some members of this body—”

  “That has not been established!” Wilkes cried.

  “One more word from you,” Navarro said, “and I will call the vote to expel you.” He seemed to have a worse headache than Geary did at that point. “Please continue, Senator Sakai.”

  “Thank you,” Sakai said. “Given these breaches of trust, why did you bring this evidence to us?”

  Geary frowned, trying to sort out the possible answers. “Are you asking me why I trust the Alliance Senate to handle the matter?”

  “Yes.”

  He inhaled deeply, thinking. “Because if the Alliance Senate cannot be trusted to deal with breaches of trust by some of its own members, then the Alliance is doomed. I have to trust you, Senator, and the other senators, to do what is right regardless of politics. If the Senate can’t do that, the Alliance has already begun to fail. The sacrifices of our military, of all the families who have served the Alliance government in civilian positions, would be in vain. I’m not willing to concede such a thing. I think what we fought for, worked for, still matters enough to follow the rule of law. And I hope most of the Senate feels the same way.”

  Sakai nodded, deliberately drawing out the time between his next statement to let Geary’s words resonate. “I was never informed of some of the programs this evidence reveals,” Sakai finally said, his voice growing noticeably angry. The other senators, and Geary, listened with surprise, since Sakai rarely displayed strong emotions. “I am certain that the evidence will bear out my statem
ent. Even though I am a senior member of the committee assigned oversight of Unity Alternate, I was never informed of the activity there. Instead, I was repeatedly assured that everything at Unity Alternate remained dormant and inactive. I was lied to. So were many other senators, and so were the people of the Alliance.”

  As Sakai paused to take a breath, Senator Costa leapt to her feet. “I will not be accused of—”

  “I have not yielded the floor!” Sakai shouted before Navarro could act.

  Costa, as shocked as the other senators, abruptly sat back down.

  “We will be told that these actions were necessary, that these programs were for the good of the Alliance,” Sakai continued. “But, if so, why did those who approved and oversaw these programs take such extreme measures to keep them secret? To keep all knowledge of them from not only the people of the Alliance but from their own comrades who have equal responsibilities for the welfare of our people and our worlds? To make certain that the watchdogs in the government who ensure our actions are legal and appropriate were kept in the dark? Because of this behavior, allegedly for the good of the people, many of our brave people died, others engaged in actions they thought had been legally authorized but had not, and the Alliance itself trembles on the brink of dissolving. I vow before everyone here that I will not rest, nor permit this Senate to rest, until justice has been done, no matter where that leads. And if those who elected me to this post disapprove and choose not to vote for me again, I will proudly step down, knowing I did not dishonor our ancestors by my words and actions.”

  The applause that followed from many of those present sounded sincere enough, but Geary was too tired to tell for certain.

  “Admiral Geary,” Senator Kim said. “You’ve been testifying all day as to fact. I want your opinion on something. Of everyone here, everyone in the Alliance, you are the only one who remembers life when the Alliance was not at war. Obviously, danger has not been eliminated from our galaxy. But danger also existed before the war began, and still that prewar Alliance focused on other matters. What do you believe those matters were? What did our ancestors want to accomplish that united them?”