Ep.#8 - "Celestia: CV-02" by Ryk Brown Read Free Book Online Page B

emergency beacon and that dying old man’s souped-up, medical stasis pod.”
    “What did you hope to accomplish?” Nathan wondered.
    “I was trying to live, Captain,” Captain Dubnyk insisted. “I figured another ship full of evacuees would pick up our beacon and respond. Even if they didn’t, sooner or later, one of the fringe planets would recover and start sending ships out once more. Maybe by then they would have detected our beacon and sent someone out to rescue us.”
    “Quite the long shot,” Nathan commented unemotionally.
    “True enough, but I had no other options.”
    “So you killed a helpless, unconscious, old man and took his place in his stasis pod.”
    Captain Dubnyk shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I had three hundred colonists still on board, Captain. Most of their pods were still working, and might have continued to do so for some time, but only if someone maintained them. The crew’s pods were in substandard condition at best. The odds of long-term survival in any one of those pods was laughable. Yes, I killed our benefactor, but I did so to try to save the lives of three hundred people, healthy people. Young and well, with long and prosperous lives ahead of them. There were even some children, Captain. Would you prefer that I had killed one of them instead? I mean, what use would the children have been in that situation?”
    “ Damn, ” Jessica whispered over Nathan’s comm-set. “ I didn’t see that coming. ”
    “When did you do this?” Nathan asked, trying not to miss a beat, or show any emotional reaction to Captain Dubnyk’s defensive pleas.
    “When?”
    “When.”
    “ That put him on the ropes, ” Jessica whispered over the comm-set.
    “Once I was sure that everyone on the surface was dead and that I had no other choice.”
    “How many years after you made orbit?” Nathan said, clarifying his question.
    “About two hundred, I believe,” Captain Dubnyk answered. “I did not simply kill him, Captain. He was still alive when I placed him into my stasis pod and activated it. He had as much chance as anyone else.”
    “Anyone else except you,” Nathan commented.
    “The safety and survival of those colonists were my responsibility,” Dubnyk insisted.
    “As was the life of Mister Percival, your benefactor,” Nathan reminded him.
    “I am not proud of what I did, Captain,” Captain Dubnyk said, “but I stand by my decision.”
    “ This guy is good, ” Jessica whispered.
    “I’m sure you do, Captain,” Nathan said, ignoring Jessica’s comment over his comm-set.
    Captain Dubnyk sat up straight and crossed his arms, appearing indignant. “Who are you to judge me, Captain?”
    “No one is judging you, Captain Dubnyk, least of all me.”
    Captain Dubnyk pointed an accusatory finger Nathan’s way. “You’ve made decisions that have cost lives, Captain Scott—or should I say, Na-Tan? I’ve heard your crew talking in the mess about your adventures in the Pentaurus cluster. When exactly did the Earth fall to your enemy, Captain? While you were playing the role of a legend back on Corinair?”
    “ He’s trying to rattle you, Nathan, ” Jessica whispered in his ear over Nathan comm-set. “ Don’t let him. ”
    “Captain Dubnyk,” Nathan began calmly as he sat back in his chair. “I have no idea if your actions constitute a crime or simply a desperate act by the captain of a doomed mission. Either way, I suspect that the act occurred out of the jurisdiction of any government in place at the time. Even if it had, none of those governments are still around to press charges. In addition, there doesn’t appear to be any government around to do so now. It seems that, while time may have slowly drained the years from your life, it has also provided for the absolution of your sins. Now, as captain of this ship, I have the authority to investigate this matter and take appropriate actions as I see fit. However, I have other, far more pressing concerns with which to