Chapter 19

Daniella says: It's been a long time since I updated this story. I hope you're still with me!

Court-martials at the ISO were held away from the press, so at least Jason did not have to face the media as he walked to the court-room. Mark had stopped by his room before heading to the court-room himself, started to say something, then a look at Jason's white face made him swallow the grand statements he had felt like making. He just gave his gunner a pat on the shoulder and walked out.

Jason could not explain even to himself why he felt so...well, scared, if he wanted to be honest. At worst, the ISO would dock his pay, maybe demote him in rank, but it would not be the end of the world. He was reasonably certain he would not be fired, not because of this. But as the whole of G-Force except him understood, what he was most afraid of was making a fool of himself. And being dragged – as he saw it – in front of the ISO brass did not help his self-confidence.

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The others were waiting outside the designated court-room, still in civvies, in case there was an emergency. Jason had been asked whether he would prefer to have on his civvies or a suit, and opted for the former, even though without his wrist activator, it would not really matter.

Anderson opened the door and peeked out, at the five sullen teenagers gathered in the corridor.

"They will call you when they're ready, wait here."

He looked horrible, the team thought, worse than Jason himself: tired, bags under his eyes, new wrinkles. This whole episode was weighing heavily on his shoulders as well. They looked at each other.

"Well, at least he seems to have some feelings," said Princess, still angry with the Chief.

Mark looked at her, aghast.

"How can you say that? Of course he does!"

"Don't get me started," she snapped at him. "You know that we all let Jason down, and the Chief more than any of us!"

"Stop it, Princess," said Jason quietly. "This is not helping."

"Well it's how I feel, okay? Do you mind?"

Tears of frustration welled in her eyes, and she turned away.

"She's...beep...toot...right," Keyop spoke for the first time since they had gathered outside the court-room.

"Yes, well, here we are, and there's nothing we can do about it, except just take it and get on with our lives," snapped Jason. Everyone understood it was his way of coping with the stress, so they didn't say anything. Tiny gave him a pat on the back – Jason mused that he had been getting more pats on the back these last few days than all his previous years at Centre Neptune.

Anderson poked his head out the door.

"Come in, team."

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G-Force may have been an élite fighting force, but they didn't have much to do with the top brass of the ISO, except for Anderson, and maybe some other officers dealing with security. The administrative side was something they preferred to keep away from. The sight of the amassed officers, in full ISO regalia, sitting behind desks in a semi-circle was enough to make even Mark almost gag. He counted at least fifteen of them.

Anderson was sitting at one side, pages of notes around him. He motioned to the team to join him, but gently pointed to Jason that he was supposed to sit in a chair behind a sole desk in front of the semi-circle. The gunner shrugged and sat down.

The presiding officer was a colonel in the defence department, Jason had heard about him vaguely, but had no idea what to expect. They went through the usual rigmarole of taking down names and ranks, and the other G-Force members registered themselves as witnesses for the defence. It was all excruciatingly slow for Jason, who just wanted to get on with it and get out of there as quickly as possible. Still, he did his best to behave properly as an officer, and kept the biting remarks at bay. Then they came to the reading of the charges, and he had to stand.

"You are accused that on the 28th of August, while on mission escorting the transfer of intelligence data to Riga, you disobeyed a direct order from your commander to disengage from a battle, which resulted in you being taken prisoner to Spectra, from where you had to be rescued, at the considerable risk of the other members of the team."

The presiding officer looked at Jason, and Jason glared back defiantly.

"How do you plea, Jason?"

Jason had discussed this with the ISO lawyer, and decided there was no point in denying it. Everything was recorded anyway. The ISO was not interested in why he had done what he done. They were just interested in one small detail: he had indeed disobeyed Mark.

"Guilty, sir," he said, managing, however, not to convey the slightest whiff of respect in the word "sir".

"Then we may dispense with the rest of the process," said the presiding officer with obvious relief. "We will move now to sentencing."

Jason shrugged again, made to sit. But then Mark spoke up.

"Just a minute, sir. You mean we cannot say anything to his defence?"

"Commander, Jason has admitted his guilt. There's no reason to drag this on."

Flustered, Mark didn't know if he was supposed to sit or stand while speaking. He half-rose from his chair.

"But, sir, there was a very good reason for Jason's actions! I mean, I know I ordered him back, but he did manage to hold off the patrol until we transferred the tapes to Colonel Cronus and got off the pass!"

"Commander, we know what happened. Please sit down."

"But sir, we need to examine these facts! We need to..."

"Commander sit down or you will be charged with contempt. Understood?"

Red-faced, Mark backed down. Princess shot him a little smile. This alone, he felt, was worth getting hammered by the top brass. However, it was not over yet. The door opened, and a familiar figure in red overalls appeared. The presiding officer stood up in surprise.

"Colonel Cronus! To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"This trial concerns me also. I was there when the battle at Traitor's Pass took place, and I was the one who had to go to Spectra to make sure that this insubordinate, reckless gunner you got sitting there was not also a defector."

Jason went crimson, but before he could open his mouth and hurl abuse at Cronus, heedless now of the court-room and everything else around him, Cronus continued.

"And I am the one telling you that you are making a big mistake here. Jason did what all of us would have done – at least, I know I would have done, and I hope so would you."

He stepped back and sat next to Anderson, as everyone gaped at him.

"If you are telling us that we all would have disobeyed orders, this may happen in the Rigan forces, but not in the ISO!" snapped the presiding officer.

"Then I hope I never have to face the enemy with you at my side," said Cronus calmly.

The G-Force members grinned at each other and even Anderson abandoned his stony expression and gave a small smile.

One of the court members gave a small cough.

"Shall we move on to sentencing, sir?"

Jason stood up again, resisting the urge to fidget with his hands, which he kept straight at his side.

"You are sentenced to three months withholding of half of your salary. The incident is placed on your record and will be taken into account when you are due for promotion again. It will not affect your current position in G-Force. But you are also officially warned that a repetition of this incident will result in your suspension. Dismissed!"

The officers saluted and Jason saluted back, resisting now the urge to flop on his chair with relief. As the judges trooped out of the room, Jason was lost in the hugs of his team-mates.

To be continued.

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