Pelican's Crossing

            The gas giant Crospi has two inhabitable moons: Carawell and Pelican's Crossing.  In the six hundred years of space exploration before Crospi was discovered, never before had more than one life supporting moon or planet been found in the same solar system.  The Earth Council recommended that colonization be limited to Pelican's Crossing and that Carawell be irradiated.  What the Earth Council saw, and what the people who built their homes in Crospi orbit didn't, was that the moons would inevitably go to war if they were both settled.  The thousands of miles that separated them was too far for a common culture to be formed between the settlers, but wasn't so distant that military campaigns were logistically impossible.  The moons went to war ninety-seven years after their initial colonization and fought for thirty.  Pelican's Crossing was finally forced to submit to a humiliating peace that ceded her sovereignty to her neighbor.

Transport CW-19 carried the first wave of occupying forces from Carawell to Pelican's Crossing.  She had on board fifty Carawell staff officers to process the reparations payments, eighty marines to protect the officers and to terrorize the Pelicans when they got a chance, material to build two command centers, a washed up admiral, and the body of the humanity's finest general.

The washed up admiral, Carawellini Duncan, sat alone in his quarters with the body of humanity's finest general, Fredrick Altair, lying uncovered in front of him.  Altair had fought for the Pelicans until he was captured in the war's last battle and executed as a war criminal.  Duncan fought for Carawell until being defeated by Altair one too many times.

A makeup artist did such an expert job fixing up Altair's corpse that it seemed like he was merely sleeping.  At any moment the stocky general with wild, white hair could jump to his feet and fight again.  It made for an eerie atmosphere, but it also made talking to the body seem less strange.

"I'll get you home you bastard," Admiral Duncan said.  "I'll get you buried and make sure Imelda's taken care of."

There was a knock at the door.  Duncan was upset, but not surprised, to have someone intruding on him.  All but the oldest soldiers on Carawell had spent their entire careers fighting and hating the Pelicans.  General Altair was especially despised because he was from Carawell and had defected to Pelican 's Crossing the night the war began.  Given this, Duncan could forgive, begrudgingly, a bold crewman or two who wanted to see who they had been up against.

A twenty-one year old lieutenant entered Duncan's quarters.  He had thick black hair and hadn't shaved in over a week.

"The war's hardly over and discipline's already fallen to shit," the Admiral snapped.  "You're not allowed to be here, Lieutenant.  Leave.  Shave while you're at it."

(This is begrudging forgiveness from the Admiral.)

The young man stood at attention.  "Lieutenant Roger Millwood reporting, sir.  I was the first officer of the Crospi Mauler.  I've been elected by the men to talk to you about General Altair."

Duncan leaned back in his chair.  Interesting.  There was some forethought in this.  "Oh really," Duncan said.  "There's nothing to discuss."

"With all due respect, I think there is.  At first the men and I thought returning Altair's body was the wrong thing to do.  We thought he should be displayed on the steps of our capital for all to see.  But then it occurred to us that you're going to mutilate him once we get to Pelican's Crossing. We can't just bring him back the way he is.  We need to pay him back."

Duncan laughed.  "We've already shot him.  That's enough.  We'll return his body to his wife - unmolested.  He was an honorable man fighting for a dishonorable cause, as we say."

            "But imagine how much it would demoralize the Pelicans to see their hero's arms ripped off.  Or our flag scratched in his forehead!  The men have a lot of ideas.  Some of them cross the line, I admit, but we need to do something."

            During the war (even after he was officially washed up) Duncan would've made a junior officer who questioned him this openly give him one hundred pushups.  Now that the war was over he could attack this problem more leisurely.  He could be Millwood's teacher.  Duncan would have been a fine instructor had he lived during peacetime.

"We really need to start teaching the classics again," he said.  "You've probably never heard of the Greek tragedy Antigone, have you, Lieutenant?"

            "No, sir."

            "You've ever heard of the Greeks at least?"

            "Yes, sir."

            "That's a relief.  I'll give you the highlights of Antigone. King Creon forbids his niece Antigone to bury the body of her dead brother. Creon killed the brother in a war already, but that wasn't enough.  He had to make the brother pay some more.  Antigone buries her brother anyway, dies needlessly, and brings Creon down in the process.  People are still the same.  The peace we've forced on the Pelicans is unjust as it is.

Mutilating Altair could be the extra few drops of piss that we dump on their heads that causes us problems a generation from now.  Let's not be like King Creon."

            Millwood summoned his courage and approached the body.  He grabbed Altair's long, white hair for a moment, but quickly pulled his hand away.  The lieutenant had planned on making a mark himself, but couldn't. Millwood had never seen a corpse before.  Touching one had made his hands shiver.  He'd been acting on emotions until then.  Now he tried to find a logical reason to desecrate the body, but couldn't.

            "You're too young to remember Carawell almost fought a civil war, aren't you?"

            "That was fifty years ago, sir."

            "I'll catch you up on that, too.  The Eastern Regime and the Western Regime had enough anti-matter warheads to blow up our moon fifty times over.  Thank God the economy fell apart in the East or we would've done it.  The West did the perfect thing once we won.  We didn't humiliate our enemies.  We moved toward reconciliation and reunification.  A few weeks ago I had lunch with one of the engineers from the East who designed the missiles they aimed at us.  We laughed about it.  Too many people died for

us to ever be able to laugh with the Pelicans about our war.  But wouldn't it be nice to at least be able to sit down at a table with them?"

            A two hundred foot picture of Altair had hung over the Carawell Senate throughout the war to remind them the danger that hung over them. Anyone who entered the capital couldn't help avoid Altair staring back at them.  Thinking of all the times he'd hung his head low in his hometown filled Millwood with a quiet rage.

            "I don't ever want to be friends with a Pelican.  And I don't want my children to be friends with their children, either.  Let one of my men alone with Altair's body for two minutes.  They won't use anything but their fingers and teeth on him."

            "Leave me, Lieutenant.  Don't return."

            Duncan continued his vigil by the corpse once Millwood had left. "Oh Altair," he said, "you said I'd never done any good in my life.  Not one good thing.  If you'd lived to see me protecting your corpse, you wouldn't be saying that."

Millwood returned to Duncan's quarters half an hour later.  He entered more tentatively than before and stayed far away from Altair.  The first thing Duncan noticed was that his guest had shaved.

            "When I first came to ask for Altair's body," Millwood said sheepishly, "I came on my free will.  I accepted your decision, sir.  The rest of the crew did not.  They want Altair as a trophy.  They'll have him no matter what you say."

            "I see.  A mutiny then."

            "Yes, sir.  The crew was going to take the body and then kill you.  They say only a Pelican-lover would protect General Altair.  I told them they can have the body but that I wouldn't let them harm you.  If they attack, I'd be proud to go down by your side."

             "I see."  Duncan's mind was foggy.  It had been some time since he was in physical danger and he had lost his edge.  He hadn't lost his conviction, though.  He wouldn't let the bastards take Altair without a fight.

            "Tell your friends to be patient, Lieutenant.  They should wait to mutilate Altair in front of his wife.  It would hurt her more that way."

            "That's been their plan all along.  They want to make like they' re treating the body respectfully and at the last minute rip him to shreds to increase the shock value."

            Duncan was startled at both the forethought and the ferocity of the mutineers.  He wouldn't be able to fight or scheme his way out of this, after all.  He'd have to teach his way out.  He knew that if he failed, the mutineers would do horrible things to his body, too.

            Millwood remained in Duncan's quarters.  The CW-19's captain announced that they'd be making planet fall in two hours.  Pelican's Crossing became the size of a beach ball in the window.  The watery moon was set against the sunny side of the gas giant Crospi.  From the transport's perspective, the blue marble of a moon blocked out the middle of Crospi's Great Green Spot, so that as the ship drew nearer the halo of blue

surrounded by green grew larger and larger.

            "I never realized how beautiful it is out here," Millwood said. "I must have been staring out the window twenty minutes before it occurred to me that that is a really beautiful, peaceful sight."

            "Indeed."

            "I've been thinking, sir.  I said a lot of things I shouldn't have earlier.  Like going at Altair with fingers and teeth.  I'm normally not like that."

"I see.  And you'll have me believe you've never lead a mutiny before, either?"

"Why no sir!  It's-"

"Say no more, Lieutenant.  It will be clear that you protected me when we court-martial whoever's behind this.  Rest assured that I'll have the ringleaders of this mutiny vaporized, but not before I scratch the flag of Pelican's Crossing on their foreheads and rip their arms off.  Then I'll shove their ashes down their widow's throats and see how they like it."

Hold your temper, Duncan reminded himself.  Set a good example and they will follow.  Teach your way out.

The shape of the Pelican's Crossing's continents had been distinguishable with the naked eye for some time.  Now the small islands and cloud chains could now be made out.  There were only ten minutes until landing.

            "I'm curious," Duncan said.  "What would you do with the body now, Lieutenant?"

            "I wouldn't mutilate him.  When I saw how ugly the crew was, I saw how ugly I had been.  I didn't like it.  I liked the way that you acted. But I wouldn't return him so soon, either.  I'd give him a decent burial on Carawell for now and use the return of his body as a bargaining chip in later negotiations."

"Negotiations?  The Pelicans surrendered unconditionally.  We can take anything we want from them already, but we can't give them even one corpse."

            "I don't understand why you're protecting him, Admiral.  You were friends before he defected.  He humiliated you in battle a dozen times and cost you command of your fleet."

            "I was never Altair's equal on the battlefield, but I always outnumbered him enough to make up for it.  I lost against him because I lost my heart for war.  Why don't you tell me what you know about the Pelican's Crossing, Millwood?"

            "I've never met one.  To be honest, everything I know about them is second hand."

            "No.  To be honest, everything you know about the Pelicans is third or fourth hand.  None of your other teachers have ever met a Pelican, either.  What did they tell you?"

            "They said the Pelicans will leave Altair's body out in the rain because they don't have the sense to bury him.  If they'd won the war, the fascist Pelican scum wouldn't have to bury us.  They'd irradiate us."

            "But our government is fascist in everything but name, isn’t it?"

            "That was only for the war.  Now that it's over things will be good again."

            "You weren't around before the war or you'd know better.  You know what I've been thinking?  Altair offered me the chance to defect with him.  I was wondering whether the Pelicans could've won if they had both of us.  And even if the Pelicans had lost, I was wondering whether it'd be better to be dead on a table after spending myself well rather than being alive and wishing I had."

            Hearing one of his idols say such things left Millwood speechless.

            Though most of the CW-19 backed the insubordination against Duncan, they did so quietly.  Only four men were openly against him.  There was no point for any more of them to end their careers than necessary.  When the ship touched down on Pelican's Crossing, the conspirators entered Duncan's quarters, weapons drawn.

            Their leader was Petty Officer Johnson.  Johnson lost both parents, a sister, and an eye during the war.  "Alright," he said.  He pointed to Duncan and Millwood.  "You two carry the body outside."

            "You should wait," Duncan said.

            "Don't try and talk us out of this, Duncan."

            Duncan never showed how frightened he was, even though Johnson had his gun out and was just a few feet from him.

"I wouldn't think of it," he said.  "You're a bunch of fools.  But if you're going to mutilate Altair, do it right.  Get outside the ship and get a feel for the Pelicans.  You've never met one.  Find out what would really offend and horrify them rather than guessing.  You'll only get once chance at this, boys."

            Johnson took his time as he considered this.  Duncan was very crafty and Johnson was sure he was being played with.  But he couldn't see how.  Millwood was baffled by Duncan's behavior.  Where was his temper?  He no longer felt like an Admiral.  He felt like their father.

            "OK," Johnson said.  "Powell, you stay here and guard the body. The rest of us will go outside and take a look around.  Duncan, too."

            Duncan's quarters were close to the main exit hatch of the ship. The party got there just as the exit doors popped open.  Thirty miles to the North lay the capital of Pelican's crossing.  The four military bases surrounding it were smoldering from a recent orbital bombardment.  The city itself had been left unscathed.  Its buildings were bright marble of the Greco-Roman style, and they reflected the rising green sun.

Waiting stoically and alone next to the CW-19 was an old, gray hair woman. Duncan pushed his way past the men in front of him and hugged her.

            "Imelda Altair," he said.  "I didn't expect to see you here."

             "I didn't expect to see you, either, Carawellini.  How are you?"

            "I get by.  I'm very sorry about Fredrick."

"Thank you.  Thank you for testifying for him.  You were very brave. Fredrick was brave too, wasn't he?"

"Very brave.  I wished his trial had been televised.  Would've been nice for Carawell to see how honorably he carried himself.  Especially compared to his judge and prosecutor."

Imelda took a deep breath and desperately fought to maintain her composure. "I knew you'd kill him.  I knew it.  But in my heart, I never. never knew it would hurt like..."

Her lips curled up and tears came to her eyes.

Duncan turned to the four men lined up behind him.  "I've brought some of my boys with me, Imelda.  All right, boys.  Here's a Pelican widow.  Talk to her.  Learn what makes her tick.  Convince yourself she's less of a human than you are."

Millwood stood ready to tackle Johnson, but there was no need.  The two other conspirators outside were looking away from the woman toward the horizon.  Johnson had lost none of his hatred of Pelican's, but he knew he lost his supporters.

            "I'm confused," Millwood said.  "From the way you were talking in your quarters, I thought that when we landed here we'd learn that we'd nuked their capital and that started the war.  I was sure that's what we'd find."

            "We fired the first shot in the war," Duncan said, "but we were provoked and they saw us coming.  At first no side held the high ground. Thirty years ago Pelican's Crossing was just as miserable a place to live as Carawell is today.  They had one thing going for them.  They realized that Fredrick Altair was a genius.  So they offered a thirty-one year old supreme command of their forces.  He took it on the condition that he'd have sway

over their civilian matters as well.  When he wasn't fighting, he was reforming.  Pelican's Crossing is the only society in human history to turn from a dictatorship to a democracy during wartime.

            "He invited me to defect with him.  But I knew even Altair's genius couldn't overcome Carawell's industrial might.  I made myself believe all the anti-Pelican propaganda so I didn't feel like a louse.  I really stayed with Carawell because I was too afraid to face defeat.  Altair didn't see it that way.  He believed in himself and he believed in humanity.  As Pelican's Crossing became a better place to live, Carawell stagnated.  It

truly is a shame that we're going to drag these people back down to our level now.

"So, gentleman, this is what you've been fighting for the last few hours. To mutilate the one man on Carawell who had true courage and honor."

            Petty Officer Johnson's lips moved but no noise came out as he practiced a speech to try and win his companions back to his side.  He never got the chance to deliver it.

            "And now for your trial," Duncan said to the men.  "There is no need for additional evidence or for a judge.  I find all of you guilty of insubordination and of mutiny.  Do you wish to appeal?"

            The men said nothing.

            "Good," Duncan continued.  "You will now be sentenced.  Your punishment is this: you three form an honor guard for Altair's body.  You will see that he is buried according to his wife's wishes.  Furthermore, you will treat the people of Pelican's Crossing with respect and compassion. When you write to your families tell them the Pelicans are a good, decent people.  Do that and you'll be forgiven.  As for you, Johnson - you're no good.  Get back on the transport and return to Carawell.  Never speak a word

of what's happened here and give thanks to God that I'm more forgiving than you are."

            Millwood stood at attention after the conspirators went back into the ship.  "I'd like to eat at a table with a Pelican one day," he said.  "If they would have me.  I hope we can find something to laugh about. Thank you, Admiral.  I think you were too hard on yourself when you said that Altair was the only man from Carawell who was honorable.  I see that same trait in you."

            Duncan thought about that for a moment.  "I've always considered myself an honorable man," he said, "fighting for a dishonorable cause."

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