Beneath the Red Sand

35 || Epilogue

"We are gathered today to hold a trial for Colonel James and the alien known as Commander Karr. You both stand accused of the murders of colony citizens. You collaborated to cause the shuttle crash, as well as the hull breaches that targeted vital areas of our habitat. You attacked two girls and attempted to murder them. What do you say in answer to these charges? Colonel James, you may plead your case first." Admiral McClure leans forward at the podium, resting his hands upon each side of the stand. The way he stares those two down, I imagine their verdict is a foregone conclusion.

Colonel James stares back, chin lifted. My gut twists at his lack of remorse for all the deaths he's helped cause. Two weeks in the brig has done him no favors. He has dark circles under his eyes, and his hair and beard have grown disheveled. "What right do you have to charge me with anything, Admiral? The destruction occurred on your watch while you didn't so much as lift a finger to stop these alien attacks. And why? Oh, that's right. Because you're one of them."

In reaction to the gasps and murmurs that follow, Admiral McClure arches an eyebrow. "I may have been taken over by one of them for a time, but the Martian descendants have kept their word to remove the implants from those of us affected. I'm not a fan of their methods, either, but as I understand it, the alien whose consciousness was implanted in me tried everything in his power to keep as many of us alive as he could while working to stop these attacks from within his own ranks. You, sir, are the one who collaborated with one of the worst of their kind, the one who orchestrated the attacks."

"We knew about the alien threat, yet you insisted on going forward with this mission. You overruled my objections, and in doing so put us all in danger! Going along with Karr was the only way to get the JSC to see reason and bring us back home. I did what I had to do. One might wonder if you've been the one to collude with them all along. After all, you've even allowed them to attend this charade of a trial." Colonel James' chin dips a notch, and his voice shakes as he reads the room. His argument falls flat.

"One of the worst of my kind?" Karr hisses, his mouth rasping out the alien words as he struggles against his bonds. "You humans invaded my world and were about to destroy us all. You captured and butchered my kin in the name of research. If not for me, you would have injected poison into our atmosphere that would have destroyed what remains of my species, just as you are doing on your world."

Dad goes pale beside me. If he hadn't been taken over by Karr, is this what would have happened?

"No. No, Dad," I whisper, and squeeze his hand. "No matter what, you would never knowingly start a terraforming process that would harm the atmosphere. He could be wrong, or lying."

Shouts and arguments erupt from the crowd.

"Nothing justifies killing my brother, who never hurt anyone!" Jacqui yells, a tear coursing down her cheek as she faces Karr.

"Nothing justifies using me to attempt to kill my daughter." Dad glares at Karr, jaw set, his hands clenching and every muscle taut. He doesn't yell, but the calm menace in his tone is somehow much worse. "It took every ounce of will I possessed to break free long enough to allow her to stop you."

"Kill them both!" Someone else calls, and others around the room, both human and alien, take up the chant.

"This is not how we do things!" Another shouts in a vain attempt to calm the chaos.

"How can we trust any sort of peace accord between our peoples?" Comes another shout from a man in the front row. Humans nod, and some of the aliens click their claws in agreement.

"How do we know you didn't poison the environment?" A human woman somewhere behind me yells.

"We do not break our agreements. Is the data from your atmospheric readings not enough for you?" A Martian descendant fires back.