"R. Garcia Y Robertson - Oxygen Rising" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robertson R Garcia Y)

rather lamely, "We were told they were not people."

"By who?" demanded the indignant Gekko.

Shrugging, the boy carefully avoided looking at his anguished father. "Everyone."

Grimacing, the Gekko went on to get similar answers from the young crew chief, concluding his case.
Which made it Tammy's turn. Picking the pilot to start with, she asked about the general military situation,
showing that the human settlers were outnumbered more than a hundred to one, and losing badly.
"Gekkos had us surrounded and pinned down, suffering steady casualties. Gekkos moved easily over the
surface, while we huddled in our bunkers, or went about in vehicles, making ourselves ready targetsтАж"

Prosecutors objected, arguing that military considerations had nothing to do with the murder of
non-combatants. Leo casually overruled them; at best, the SuperCat considered the trial a tedious
evasion of responsibility, but he meant for everyone to have their say. "Go on," he instructed Tammy,
"though I doubt this line of testimony will do you any good."

Thanking Leo, Tammy got the pilot to describe the military installations in the target city, showing that the
Gekko guerrilla bands bleeding the settler militia were based among non-combatants. But the Gekko
prosecutor responded by asking if the strike craft carried smart-munitions, which the weapons officer
admitted it did. "Then why did you not use them?" asked the Gekko. "Confining the strike to military
targets."

'Tender ordered us to use the Artemis," replied the pilot. Clearly, Pender had wanted a high body
countтАФwhich was now likely to cost the strike team their lives. Summing up the prosecution's case, the
hologram Gekko pointed out that the dead included hundreds of humans as well, internees and POWs,
held under humane conditions. Unlike Pender's people, the Gekkos had taken prisoners and treated them
reasonably well, until other humans obliterated both them and the Gekkos.

Tammy finished up with a passionate plea for mercy, claiming that the killing could stop here, if they were
willing to take a risk for peace. Pender was dead, and his cause was dead. Harmonia was going to the
GreeniesтАФpunishing the defeated would not make a difference. Derek's heart went out to her, facing an
Alice in Wonderland jury of brainy apes, toothy felines, and green-skinned men. He could tell Tammy
had seen her fill of fighting; two light centuries from home, and one of only two humans on Harmonia who
were not either under capital indictment or cowering in caves and bunkers, waiting for Greenies and
SuperCats to dig them out. Her plea for peace and forgiveness reminded Derek of Mia. His Greenie
girlfriend had said the same exact things when they first got together, wishing to personally plead with
Pender for a cease-fireтАФnot knowing that the Humanists would have shot her out of hand. For some
people, humanity was just skin-deep. Despite Tammy's Portland-white skin and militia
uniformтАФcomplete with an empty holster strapped to her thighтАФthere was more similarity between her
and Mia than the Humanists, or even a lot of Greenies, would admit. Defeat had wrung all the settler
arrogance out of Tammy, making her sound like little blonde-green Mia; smart, open, honest, and utterly
helpless in the face of force.

Tammy must have moved the Greenies on the jury too, because they acquitted the teenage crew
chiefтАФrefusing to put to death someone who had merely been along for the ride. His father and brother
were not so lucky. Everyone waited glumly while the verdict was virtually appealed to an off-planet
courtтАФin this case the officers of the armed merchant cruiser Eclipse, sitting in a special courts martial.
Not even the Gekkos were happy, having seen Tammy and the crew chief get offтАФand not trusting the
naval officers, most of whom were human.