Metal Swarm - Kevin J. Anderson [226]
Those who insisted on toeing the EDF line were mostly
General Lanyan's cronies, and the brig levels were filled with malcontents. Willis treated them as well as she could and promised to drop them off at Earth, but only under certain conditions. It was the right thing to do, the honourable thing to do (although the decision might come back to bite her in the ass one of these days). But they were still members of the Earth Defence Forces, even if they were confused about the legitimacy of their leaders.
'Approaching the outskirts of the Earth system, Admiral. How close do you want us to get?'
'Just close enough to drop a baby on the doorstep. Round up a guard party and start escorting our prisoners to the launching decks.' She had arranged for a troop transport to carry the soldiers who wanted no part of her 'mutiny'. Her engineers had tinkered with the ship's systems, deactivated the weapons, and installed governors in the engines to limit the speed. It would take half a day for the transport to limp to the asteroid-belt shipyards.
Stretching extravagantly, she walked to the lift doors. 'I'm going down to the brig myself to see the General off.'
She dropped down to the launching bay where her security troops watched over a florid General Lanyan. The after-effects of the twitcher had left him with a splitting headache for a couple of days, but that was gone now. He glared, outraged at what she had done. 'You have made an enemy for life, Willis.' She knew he had intentionally left off her rank.
'Maybe, but I'll rest easier knowing that I saved the population of a whole world from your bad decisions - or should I say the Chairman's bad decisions?'
'You should say, “Yes, sir, General,” and then follow orders.'
She rolled her eyes. 'I'd love to talk more, but I can always argue with a blank bulkhead if I want to have a similarly productive discussion. You should be thankful we're bringing you home rather than taking you to the Confederation where you would stand trial.'
'You wouldn't dare. Even you know better than that.'
'I know a lot more than I used to, General. If it's any consolation, until recently it was a pleasure and an honour to serve under you. Maybe someday you’ll come around.'
He had looked at the single ship with a mixture of surprise, anger, and pride as he watched his troops march aboard. 'One troop transport? It’s only designed to carry a hundred men.’
'A hundred men comfortably,’ she corrected. 'You have a hundred and sixty-three. You’ll have to crowd together, but your loyal EDF soldiers will make the best of it.’
He glowered. 'This is a big mistake, Willis.’
'Oh, mistakes were definitely made. We just differ on the interpretation.’
She had considered carrying Lanyan with her as a prisoner, to present him to the Confederation as a war criminal, but she didn’t even know where she herself stood. Willis wasn’t sure which of them was more likely to stand trial.
The defection that bothered her the most was that of her own exec, Conrad Brindle. He had changed into his formal uniform after being confined to his quarters, she hadn’t chosen to throw him into the brig with the others. She felt very awkward when he marched into the launching bay to join Lanyan in front of the troop transport. When Brindle looked at her, his expression was unreadable. 'Sure you won’t reconsider, Lieutenant Commander?’
His voice was chill. 'I cannot in good conscience become part of a mutiny against my commanding officer or the government of Earth. My own son has already chosen to be a deserter. That’s enough disgrace for our family, thank you.’ He turned his back on her and followed Lanyan aboard. Brindle himself would be the pilot.
She stepped back behind the atmosphere field as the bay doors opened and the troop transport dropped out. The single ship drifted away from the group of Mantas, powered up its limited engines, and headed toward the distant asteroid-belt shipyards, where the soldiers would be taken back