Chapter 17

Jason was back from the infirmary when Mark returned to the ready room. He was sprawled on the couch, feet up on the armrest. Princess was reading, and Tiny and Keyop were half-heartedly playing a game of space invaders.

All activities stopped when Mark opened the door, and Jason opened his eyes and half-sat up.

"Well?" prompted Tiny as Mark did not seem inclined to speak. Instead, he went straight to Jason.

"Are you okay? What did the medics say?"

"Never mind the medics, what did Anderson say?" replied Jason irritably. "As you can see, I'm fine can we move on please?" he added as Mark was obviously not going to say anything until he first got an answer.

"There's no way to tell this any better, so I'll just go ahead and say it. Anderson is convinced that the attack at Traitor's Pass was by chance, and you were framed after you were captured."

Jason let out a deep sigh of relief and lay back on the couch. Immediately, however, he was up again.

"That's not all, is it?" he asked.

Mark looked around at his team.

"Anderson sent a second team to Spectra. Cronus's people, with orders to look also for evidence of treason in the ISO. Their findings corroborate what we found".

A cacophony of voices interrupted him, four G-Forces complaining at the same time at Anderson's decision to conceal this information from the team.

"Look, I know this isn't the best he could've done, but we have to live with it. It was his call. He didn't want us bogged down in case the other team was captured and we went to help them. Yes, I know he could've informed us of Cronus's team and just ordered us to have nothing to do with them, but, again, he's the Chief. And trust me, we have bigger problems to deal with".

Jason had a sinking feeling in his stomach. He was sure he wasn't going to like what Mark said next.

"Out with it, Commander", he said, bracing himself.

"I'm sorry, Jason. The ISO wants to court-martial you for disobeying my orders and getting yourself captured and – as they see it – causing this mess".

Before Jason could say anything, Princess rounded on Mark.

"And what did the Chief do, once again? Protect Jason or, again, sell him down the river? You spoke of us trusting the Chief, Tiny, but, as you can see, that's not going to be much help!", she finished, with a bitter smile.

Mark could sense that his team was close to snapping. Their indignation – his indignation – at having one of their number accused of treason was being replaced by their incredulity at having a fellow team-member court-martialled. He made one more effort to control his own emotions.

"Look, I know this is harsh, but they have to play by the book. They all heard me ordering Jason back to Phoenix – it's on tape. We can't change that, neither can the Chief, and I'd like to be able to say that I regret ordering you back, Jason, but, frankly, I don't! The situation called for a retreat, and you decided to brazen it out by yourself, which is commendable but also stupid!"

The last comment flew out of his mouth before he could stop himself. The stress was getting to him, he thought wearily. He shook his head as if to clear it.

"I'm sorry, Jason. I didn't mean it like that. I cannot change my previous orders, but I can, and I will, testify as to your valour".

Jason gave a little laugh that came out as a hiccup.

"Spare me the charity, Mark. Both you and Anderson."

He turned away, hot tears standing in his eyes. He was furious with himself. He had faced his Spectran captors unflinchingly, only to break down in front of his team-mates. But he couldn't help it. The strength and energy he had relied upon in the past few days had taken their toll. He was tired. And he felt horribly betrayed. By the ISO, by Anderson, by Mark and his other team-mates. The ISO wanted to put him on the dock. The ISO would find him guilty.

"Spare me your charity", he said again, blinking his tears away, and quickly disappearing down the corridor to his room. Mark was at a loss. Tiny was looking at his shoes and Keyop was also silent and downcast. It was Princess who broke the silence.

"Jason will not face this alone, team. We have to stand by him!"

"And what, we all resign in protest if Jason is punished? You know we can't do that", said Tiny, "no matter how appealing it looks".

"No". She shook her head, agreeing that resigning in protest was not an option, not with Zoltar still out there. "But Jason will have to know, and the ISO will have to understand, that we stand by him. I don't care how we do it, but we must!"

To be continued.

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