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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] of a world that had died and it seemed that no person present was going to break it. "With respect to the court," Lioren said suddenly, "I ask that the trial be ended here and now, without further argument and waste of time. I stand accused of genocide through negligence. I am guilty without doubt or question and the responsibility and the guilt are entirely mine. I demand the death penalty." O'Mara rose to his feet before Lioren had finished speaking. The Chief Psychologist said, "The defense would like to correct the accused on one very important point. Surgeon-Captain Lioren did not commit genocide. When the incident occurred it reacted quickly and correctly in the circumstances, by warning the hospital and organizing the rescue and care of the newly orphaned Cromsaggar children, this in spite of the fact that many of its own people had been so taken by surprise that they were unable to use the gas in time, and who were seriously injured in attempts to stop the fighting. During this period the Surgeon-Captain's behavior was exemplary and, although the witnesses are not here present, their evidence was presented to and accepted by the civil court on Tarla and is on record " "The evidence is not disputed," Lioren broke in impatiently. "It is not relevant." "As a result of this timely warning and subsequent actions," O'Mara continued, ignoring the interruption, "the adult Cromsaggar under treatment here were separated before they could attack each other, and the young, both here and on Cromsag, were saved. Altogether thirty-seven adults and two hundred and eighty- three children, with a roughly equal distribution of sex, are alive and well. I have no doubt that, after a lengthy period of reeducation, resettlement, and specialized assistance in breaking their conditioning, Cromsag will be repopulated, and, now that the plague has been removed, its people will return to living together in peace. "It is understandable that the accused should feel an overwhelming guilt in Page 29 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html this matter," the psychologist went on in a quieter voice. "Had that not been so, it would not have caused this court-martial to be convened. But it is possible that the great guilt that it feels over the Cromsag Incident, together with its urgent need to discharge that guilt and its impatience to receive punishment for the alleged crime, has caused it to exaggerate its case. As a psychologist I can understand and sympathize with its feelings, and with its attempts to escape the burden of its guilt. And I am sure that there is no need to remind the court that, among the sixty-five intelligent species who make up the Galactic Federation, not one of them practices judicial execution or physical chastisement during confinement." "You are correct, Major O'Mara,'' the fleet commander said. "The reminder is unnecessary and time-wasting. Make your point briefly." The color of O'Mara's facial skin deepened slightly, and it said, "The Cromsaggar are not extinct, and they will continue to survive as a race. Surgeon-Captain Lioren is guilty of exaggeration, but not genocide." All at once Lioren felt anger, despair, and a terrible fear. He kept one eye on O'Mara and directed the other three individually toward the officers of the court and forced calmness and clarity onto his mind as he said, "The exaggeration, this small inaccuracy that was intended only as a simplification of a terrible truth, is unimportant because the enormity of my guilt is beyond measure. And I should have no need to remind Major O'Mara of the punishment, the destruction of a medic's professional future rather than life, which is meted out to any member of the staff whose carelessness or lack of observation leads to the clinical deterioration or death of a patient. "I am guilty of negligence," Lioren went on, wishing that the translator could reproduce the desperation in his voice, "and the defense counsel's attempt to belittle and excuse what I have done is ridiculous. The fact that others, including the hospital personnel concerned with the trials of the medication, were also surprised by the Cromsaggar behavior is not an excuse. I should not have been surprised, because all the information was available to me, all the clues to the puzzle were there if I had correctly read the signs. I did not read them because I was blinded by pride and ambition, because a part of my mind was thinking that a rapid and total cure would enhance my professional reputation. I did not read them because I was negligent, unobservant, and mentally fastidious in refusing to listen to patients' conversations relating to Cromsaggar sex practices which would have given a clear warning of what was to happen, and because I was impatient of superiors who were advocating caution " "Ambition, pride, and impatience," O'Mara said, rising quickly to its feet, "are not crimes. And surely it is the degree of professional negligence, if any, that the court must punish, not the admittedly terrible and far-reaching effects of what is at most a minor transgression." "The court," Fleet Commander Dermod said, "will not allow counsel to dictate to it, nor will it allow another such interruption of the prosecution's closing statement. Sit down, Major. Surgeon-Captain Lioren, you may proceed." The guilt and the fear and the desperation were filling Lioren's mind so that the finely reasoned arguments he had prepared were lost and forgotten. He could only speak simply of how he felt and hope that it would be enough. "There is little more to add," he said. "I am guilty of a terrible wrong. I have brought about the deaths of many thousands of people, and I do not deserve to live. I ask the court for mercy, and for the death sentence." Again O'Mara rose to its feet. "I am aware that the prosecution is allowed the last word. But with respect, sir, I have made a detailed submission regarding this case to the court, a submission which I have not had the opportunity of Page 30 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html introducing for discussion." "Your submission was received and has been given due consideration," the fleet commander said. "A copy was made available to the accused, who, for obvious reasons, chose not to introduce it. And may I remind defense counsel that it is I who will have the last word. Please sit down, Major. The court will confer before passing sentence." The misty gray hemisphere of a hush field appeared around the three officers of the court, and it seemed that everyone else might have been enclosed in the same zone of silence as their eyes turned on Lioren. In spite of it being at extreme range for an empath, at the rear of the audience he could see Prilicla trembling. But this was not a time when he could control his emotional radiation. When he remembered the contents of O'Mara's submission to the court, he felt the most dreadful extremes of fear and despair overwhelming his mind and, for the first time in his life, an anger so great that he wanted to take the life of another intelligent being. O'Mara saw one of his eyes looking in its direction and moved its head slightly. It was not an empath, Lioren knew, but it must be a good enough psychologist to know what was in Lioren's mind. Suddenly the hush field went down and the president of the court leaned [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |