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Mark looked up and saw him. He screamed excitedly, “All right, “ask him. Go ahead, ask him. Dr. Sheffield, wasn’t there an expedition to this planet once and they all died mysteriously?”
Sheffield tried to say, “Mark, what are you doing?” He couldn’t. When he opened his mouth, only a moan came out.
The crewman with the bat said, “Is this little gumboil telling the truth, mister?”
Sheffield held on to the railing with two perspiring hands. The crewman’s face seemed to waver. The face had thick lips on it and small eyes buried under bristly eyebrows. It wavered very badly.
Then the ramp came up and whirled about his head. There was ground gripped in his hands suddenly and a cold ache on his cheekbone. He gave up the fight and let go of consciousness again.
Twenty-Four
He came awake less painfully the second time. He was in bed now and two misty faces leaned over him. A long, thin object passed across his line of vision and a voice, just heard above the humming in his ears, said, “He”ll come to now, Cimon.”
Sheffield closed his eyes. Somehow he seemed to be aware of the fact that his skull was thoroughly bandaged.
He lay quietly for a minute, breathing deeply. When he opened his eyes again, the faces above him were clear. There was Novee’s round face, a small, professionally serious line between his eyes that cleared away when Sheffield said, “Hello, Novee.”
The other man was Cimon, jaws set and angry, yet with a look of something like satisfaction in his eyes.
Sheffield said, “Where are we?”
Cimon said coldly, “In space, Dr. Sheffield. Two days out in space.”
“Two days out-” Sheffield’s eyes widened.
Novee interposed. “You’ve had a bad concussion, nearly a fracture, Sheffield. Take it easy.”
“Well, what hap- Where’s Mark? Where’s Mark?”;
“Easy. Easy now.” Novee put a hand on each of Sheffield’s shoulders and pressed him down.
Cimon said, “Your boy is in the brig. In case you want to know why, he deliberately caused mutiny on board ship, thus endangering the safety of five men. We were almost marooned at our temporary camp because the crew wanted to leave immediately. He persuaded them, the Captain did, to pick us up.”
Sheffield tried to brush Novee’s restraining arm to one side. That fuzzy memory of Mark and a man with a bat. Mark saying “… a thousand people all dead…”
The psychologist hitched himself up on one elbow with a tremendous effort. “Listen, Cimon, I don’t know why Mark did it, but let me talk to him. I’ll find out.”
Cimon said, “No need of that. It will all come out at the trial.”
Sheffield tried to brush Novee’s restraining arm to one side. “But why make it formal? Why involve the Bureau? We can settle this among ourselves.”
“That’s exactly what we intend to do. The Captain is empowered by the laws of space to preside over trials involving crimes and misdemeanors in deep space.”
“The Captain. A trial here? On board ship? Cimon, don’t let him do it. It will be murder.”
“Not at all. It will be a fair and proper trial. I’m in full agreement with the Captain. Discipline demands a trial.”
Novee said uneasily, “Look, Cimon, I wish you wouldn’t. He’s in no shape to take this.”
“Too bad,” said Cimon.
Sheffield said, “But you don’t understand. I’m responsible for the boy.”
“On the contrary, I do understand,” said Cimon. “It’s why we’ve been waiting for you to regain consciousness. You’re standing trial with him.”
“What!”
“You are generally responsible for his actions. Specifically, you were with him when he stole the air-coaster. The crew saw you at the coaster’s cabin door while Mark was inciting mutiny.”
“But he cracked my skull in order to take the coaster. Can’t you see that’s the act of a seriously disturbed mind? He can’t be held responsible.”
“We’ll let the Captain decide, Sheffield. You stay with him, Novee.” He turned to go.
Sheffield called on what strength he could muster. “Cimon,” he shouted, ”You’re doing this to get back at me for the lesson in psychology I taught you. You’re a narrow-petty-“
He fell back on his pillow, breathless.
Cimon, from the door, said, “And by the way, Sheffield, the penalty for inciting mutiny on board ship is death!”
Twenty-Five
Well, it was a kind of trial, Sheffield thought grimly. Nobody was following accurate legal procedure, but then, the psychologist felt certain, no one knew the accurate legal procedure, least of all the Captain.
They were using the large assembly room where, on ordinary cruises, the crew got together to watch subetheric broadcasts. At this time, the crew were rigidly excluded, though all the scientific perso
Captain Follenbee sat behind a desk just underneath the subetheric reception cube. Sheffield and Mark A
The Captain was not at ease. He alternated between informal exchanges with the various “witnesses” and sudden super-judicial blasts against whispering among the spectators.
Sheffield and Mark, having met one another in the “courtroom” for the first time since the flight of the air-coaster, shook hands solemnly on the former’s initiative. Mark had hung back at first, looking up briefly at the crisscross of tape still present on the shaven patch on Sheffield’s skull.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Sheffield. I’m very sorry.”
“It’s all right, Mark. How have they been treating you?”
“All right, I guess.”
The Captain’s voice boomed out, “No talking among the accused.”
Sheffield retorted in a conversational tone, “Listen, Captain, we haven’t had lawyers. We haven’t had time to prepare a case.”
“No lawyers necessary,” said the Captain. “This isn’t a court trial on Earth. Captain’s investigation. Different thing. Just interested in facts, not legal fireworks. Proceedings can be reviewed back on Earth.”
“And we can be dead by then,” said Sheffield hotly.
“Let’s get on with it,” said the Captain, banging his desk with an aluminum T-wedge.
Cimon sat in the front row of the audience, smiling thinly. It was he whom Sheffield watched most uneasily.
The smile never varied as witnesses were called upon to state that they had been informed that the crew were on no account to be told of the true nature of the trip; that Sheffield and Mark had been present when told. A mycologist testified to a conversation he had had with Sheffield which indicated the latter to be well aware of the prohibition.
It was brought out that Mark had been sick for most of the trip out to Junior, that he had behaved erratically after they had landed on Junior.
“How do you explain all that?” asked the Captain.
From the audience, Cimon’s calm voice suddenly sounded.
“He was frightened. He was willing do anything that would get him off the planet.”
Sheffield sprang to his feet, “His remarks are out of order. He’s not a witness.”
The Captain banged his T-wedge and said, “Sit down!”
The trial went on. A crew member was called in to testify that Mark had informed them of the first expedition and that Sheffield had stood by while that was done.
Sheffield cried, “I want to cross-examine!”
The Captain said, “You’ll get your chance later.”
The crewman was shooed out
Sheffield studied the audience. It seemed obvious that their sympathy was not entirely with the Captain. He was psychologist enough to be able to wonder, even at this point, how many of them were secretly relieved at having left Junior and actually grateful to Mark for having precipitated the matter as he did. Then, too, the obvious kangaroo nature of the court didn’t sit well with them. Vernadsky was frowning darkly while Novee stared at Cimon with obvious distaste.