Anachron

A Rock or a Hard Place

The trip back from Cromble station to the Anachron started out as a quiet one.  For half the trip, Leftenant Martin and I didn't exchange any words at all.  That left me time to think about what I had to do.

The Anachron was simply too powerful to let it get into the wrong hands, but there was no sure way to protect it.  There were just too many things that could happen.  Democratic shortsightedness could lead to its misuse.  It could be captured by pirates, terrorists, or all sorts of ne'erdowells.  It wouldn't be safe in their hands.

I considered keeping the ship for myself, but I couldn't make all the details work out.  Firstly, I had to admit that I couldn't protect the ship from pirates any better than the CCP could.  On top of that, I'd need a crew of my own, who would be branded as outlaws for the rest of their lives.  Not only could I not do that to my loyal crewmates, but we would have to live out our days as pirates, and that wouldn't be much of a solution at all.

No, Rejjik was right.  There was only one solution, and I knew what it was.  I had already considered it.  I just needed to trust myself.

About the time I reached that conclusion, the leftenant spoke up.  "Sir, what are we going to do?"

"There's only one thing to do."  It sounded better in my head.  As soon as I'd said it, it sounded like a cliché.

"That sounds ominous.  I hope you're not going to do something drastic."

"It's a very serious situation we find ourselves in.  Stop and think about it for a few minutes."

"Ok."

I gave him a few moments to get into the pensive mindset that I'd need.  It wouldn't do to just tell him.  Then he might not believe that I'd really weighed all the options.

"Let's start at the beginning.  What would happen if we handed it over to the CCP?"

He shrugged.  Obviously, he hadn't given it as much thought as I had.

"Ok.  Who runs the CCP?"

He stopped for a moment to consider the question.  "The leaders of the CCP are probably selected from Earth, Markad and any other worlds who might be members."

"A reasonable answer.  It really doesn't matter who they are.  What matters here is that you think about them.  What is their motivation?  What is their first, foremost concern?"

The leftenant gave me a puzzled look.  "The overall well-being of the confederation."

His face grew even more puzzled when he saw me shaking my head no.

"Then what?"

"Their first priority is always their own position.  If they're elected, they'll always be looking to the next election.  If they're bureaucrats, they'll be watching out for up-and-coming young go-getters."

"There must be some who could do the right thing."

"It would only have to happen once.  The wrong person in a position of authority could easily misuse the ship, with disastrous consequences."

He paused for a moment, absorbing what I had said.  "So it can't be left with the CCP.  We have to do something drastic."

"'Something drastic.'  That's a good way of putting it.  Like what?"

"We keep it.  We were assigned to the ship by the TSF.  It's rightly our ship."

"That's a reasonable line of logic, except what would the government say to that?"

"It doesn't matter what they say to it.  The Anachron is now the most powerful ship in the galaxy."

"Who would crew the ship?"

"We would."

"And live out the rest of our lives as outlaws?  I can't ask you to do that.  I certainly can't ask the rest of the crew to do that.  Half of them have already gone, signed up with the CCP.  What we have left wouldn't be enough."

He took a moment to take in what I'd said.  Before he could comment, I continued.

"And don't forget, the Anachron is an orbital bomber with no secondaries.  It can't engage in ship-to-ship.  Even if they can't destroy it, they can wear it down.  What about supplies?"

"We'd have to live a life of piracy.  Taking what we need by force."  I was starting to get the impression that he was getting used to the situation.  He'd been speaking as though he was in this with me all the way, even though I still refused to accept it.  I had irreparably changed my life, and I didn't want to take him with me.

"The Anachron isn't equipped for that, remember?  Besides, it would go against what we're trying to accomplish."

"Rejjik.  He has resources: supplies, crew.  He could take care of it."

I couldn't help but laugh at that one.  A ship that was created to destroy the planet Markad, and he was proposing to hand the thing over to a Markadian.  Not just any Markadian, either, but Rejjik.  Rejjik the Conqueror.

When I stopped laughing, I had a better argument.  "Rejjik is 60 years old; What would happen to the Anachron when he's gone?  Besides that, he's not a warlord anymore, he's an ambassador.  His job is to tell people what they want to hear.  If the CCP demands that he give up the Anachron, he might be forced to give it up to smooth things over.  We don't know what he's really like now.  And even if we can trust him, he won't live forever.  And then what?"

The leftenant sat quietly after that, thinking about the puzzle.  I thought that would be the end of it, but before we got back to the ship, his eyes opened with wonder.

"Of course!"

"What?"

"I know what we're going to do."

"This isn't about 'we'.  I can't drag you down with me."

"It makes perfect sense."

"Don't say it."  I had to interrupt him.

"We're going to..."

"If you say it out loud, you're in just as deep."

"We're going to destroy the ship."