Anachron

Consequences

I wasn't expecting to be well received when I got back to the Anachron.  I may have just saved the entire human race from extinction, but ironically, I had to do some horrible things in the process.  Insubordination, mutiny, and murder.  These were my crimes.  It was possible that someone would understand, but that wouldn't be likely, or soon.

When the shuttle returned to the Anachron, I got the reception I expected.  Subcaptain Breiner was the only officer in sight, out of a seven-person welcoming committee.  The rest were all security, with weapons at the ready.  For a moment, I considered going out there armed and rushing them.  Then I'd end up just like Captain Lattimer, a smoking headless body.  It would save me a lot of trouble, but then there would be nothing to prevent him bombing the planet into smoldering rubble.  I had to at least be there to talk him out of it.

I looked through the window of the shuttle, at the armed guards.  Then, I turned back to the men who were there with me.  They didn't deserve to be punished for this, and I had to make sure they weren't.

I walked over to the shuttle door.  By the time I got there, I could hear the intercom blaring orders from the ship, although I couldn't make out what they were saying.  I didn't have to though.  I'm sure it was a standard set of demands.  Relinquish weapons and come out with hands readily visible.

I pressed the open-door button next to the door and it hissed open.  Still standing to the side, I tossed a pistol out through the open door.  It landed beside the shuttle.

"Pass me your weapons.  I'll see to it that I take the full blame for this."

"Damn right, you will."  It was the pilot who responded.  Ordinarily, anyone who spoke to me that way would be reprimanded, but I was in no position to enforce it.  Not to mention he was right.

After receiving their weapons, I threw them out the door just as I had done with my own.  Finally, I stepped into the doorway.  I closed my eyes, fully expecting the possibility that they would shoot me on sight.  After a few seconds, I still wasn't dead, so I opened my eyes and stepped forward.

"Subcaptain Davis, you are hereby relieved of duty and subject to imprisonment, pending a review of your conduct.  What say you?"  It was a standard line in the TSF.  All officers above a certain rank were required to know it, although it didn't get used very much.

"I take full responsibility.  The other men inside that shuttle are wholely innocent.  And please don't make any hasty decisions about our mission."

"Take him away."

Two security officers lead me to my quarters.  The Anachron had a number of facilities that we weren't expected to use on this mission, like the shuttle bay.  A prison facility, though, was not one of them.  Therefore, Breiner had to settle for having my quarters cleared out and the door reprogrammed.  It would do fine, especially since I had no intentions of trying to escape.

He left me in there for several hours.  It was terrible, being alone with my own darkest thoughts.  I could clearly remember how Lattimer smelled after I'd shot him.  I could imagine spending the rest of my life in a dank little prison cell on an obscure moon somewhere.  I wondered what would happen to Rejjik, if he would still grow up to be a conqueror.

Just as I wondered if I was going to be simply left to rot, there was a beep at the door.  It opened to reveal two security guards.  They looked in to assure themselves that I was not a threat, then stepped to the side and allowed Subcaptain Breiner to enter.

"How did this happen?"

"Sir?"  In this situation, my rank held no weight, so it was my place to show him respect.  In fact, with Lattimer dead and myself under arrest, Breiner was the commanding officer of the Anachron.

"This ship was supposed to be crewed by only the finest officers in the TSF, and you certainly earned that distinction at Jovix.  How, then, did this whole mess come about."

"For lack of a better way of describing it, Sir, our mission was wrong."

"Explain."

"I wish I had figured it out sooner.  Then I might not have had to resort to such actions.  As we are taught, the Markadians have never been open to negotiations.  They have always been aggressive, and anti-human."

"Yes, Davis."

"But then I realized that by sending this mission into the past, we would be creating a new first-contact, one where humans were the unprovoked aggressors.  Bombing Markad was going to provoke the Markadians into their war of extermination.  This wasn't going to put an end to the war, Sir.  We were going to start it."

"And Captain Lattimer?"

"I didn't have time to explain it to him.  I wish I had figured it all out sooner, when I had the time."

He stood up without saying another word.  He certainly didn't owe me any pleasantries.  Before he left though, I had one question for him.

"Sir, please.  What will happen to Markad?"

"We will review the recordings you made while you were on the surface, then I'll decide."

He left me without another word.  It was about a day and a half before he came back, but I have no way of saying for sure.  Everything I owned had been confiscated, even my clock.

When the door opened, Subcaptain Breiner looked much more casual than the first time.  He stepped in before his bodyguards had a chance to give me the once-over.

"Kelvin Davis, I'm here to inform you that we have reviewed the evidence and I have decided to delay your full review until we return to TSF command.  I believe there is too strong a possibility that you may have been correct in your conclusion.  We will review the events and circumstances again after we have a chance to see the outcomes."

I didn't believe what I was hearing.  Subcaptain Breiner was giving me the benefit of the doubt.  He was actually going to travel all the way back into our proper time to see the consequences of what had happened here.

"Thank you, Captain."

"You know better than to address me that way.  Even though I'm the highest ranking officer left on the ship and acting captain, you should still address me as Subcaptain."

"Excuse me."

"Your posessions will be returned to you, although you will still be confined.  Your rank, likewise, will not be restored until this matter is settled."

"I understand."

So that was it.  The acting captain believed that I wasn't completely out-of-line, and even thought I might be right, but he wasn't going to stick his neck out for me.  He was already taking a risk, though, returning home without bombing the planet.  The events on the surface must have been pretty convincing.