What I would do for you II

After the full confession was over Lupus stood in silence. Nobody had the right words for the situation, least of all Brigham who took the confession the worst out of any of the members of Lupus. In front of them sat restrained, Mok's killer, and the mass murderer of Ovis and Serpens.

Now that the facts were clear some of them had wished to charge at Curro and kill him then and there for everything he had done. They had felt betrayed, the feeling was more intensified given how all of them opened up to each other on NB011. Brigham was shaken by the admission of guilt, his mind dazed and confused, angry and hurt. The captain had felt an intense pain in his chest and a sickness in his stomach.

For the sake of the crew and the ship, Brigham had barely managed to compose himself and make preparations for the next step. His duty as captain was to organize a trial, with him as a judge. He would be obligated to appoint someone to serve as the prosecution and someone to serve as the defense.

“We need to organize the trial,” Brigham said, but before he was able to continue he was interrupted by Khalid.

“Why do we need a trial, he confessed! We should kill him and get this over with!” Khalid yelled clutching his fists in rage.

“We caught him, what’s the hold-up!” Ljubiša joined his friend in anger.

“How could you?!” Lei Mei shrieked at Curro, and a mob started to form around the culprit.

“Guys we have to do this by the book,” Brigham said authoritatively.

“Why?” Hitomi crossed her arms, “You will just pardon him because he is your friend. As the captain you will be the judge, I have my doubts on how can you stay impartial towards Curro.” What Hitomi said out loud was what a lot of the crew felt, many doubted Brigham’s ability to judge considering his closeness to the culprit.

“I will give him what he deserves after we follow the procedures!” Brigham spoke firmly.

“The captain is right,” Roy said, “We have to do this according to the rules. Brigham is the Captain, nobody else can serve as the judge.”

“I think the trial is important if we want to avoid another Ana situation,” Emidio stood next to Roy.

“I obviously agree,” Ana nodded, “Even though we know he is guilty, we ought to go step by step.”

The central question of the trial would be if Curro should be executed or have his life spared. There was no other form of punishment and no other avenue. Life or death.

If Brigham decides to spare Curro's life and absolve him of the death penalty, there could be no retrial on Nova Occasio. Ne bis in idem applies, Curro could not be punished under the law and he would be given permanent amnesty for his crimes, the debate of the two sides wouldn't be whether Curro was guilty. The boy had already fully admitted to it, the question would be whether execution was the right, what was the righteous and fair thing to do?

Because military life is very different from civilian life, military personnel are often put in extreme circumstances in space that everyday regular life never has to deal with, and such individuals can be pushed into situations where they have to commit various heinous acts in order to protect the nation or themselves.

For example, what if a group of 3 soldiers are stranded in space with not enough water and food? Only 2 can survive or all 3 die. If the two decide to kill the third person to ensure their own survival, would it be fair to punish them for the murder with execution? Space is unforgiving to humanity and all of the new space colony nations have to put their army personnel into the choke of the cosmos. Killer Kortonians, harsh temperatures, scarce supplies... These trials exist to evaluate the behavior of the individuals who made decisions that resulted in crimes being committed. Captains have to evaluate these cases and organize a process to hear arguments for or against punishment.

The process was more a military tribunal, rather than a civil trial, which made it have this unusual mechanism and black-and-white judgment. It was the Captian's job to be a judge of character, to decide whether an average person, put in this situation would act in the way of the accused. The Captian has the power to provide amnesty in situations where it would be unjust to execute a soldier who did what anyone else would do given the same circumstances.

While Curro's crimes were not what the lawmakers had intended when they made these rules, because it happened on a military ship the trial must be done in accordance with those rules.

Whoever was the defense would have an extremely tough time arguing against punishment, especially with everyone on board being personally impacted by this crime. Brigham appointed Roy to serve as Curro's defense. Since Roy was a strict legalist and a strong believer in the rule of law, nobody else would be able to truly and earnestly argue the best case for the culprit. The captain knew Roy was the only person capable of putting their personal feelings aside, he wanted Curro dead like everyone else, but it didn't matter what he thinks, he had a job to do. Roy had to be a true representative of the argument for the defendant and amnesty. Roy strongly believes every individual deserves a proper defense, no matter the crime. Even in this case he was prepared to give the best defense Curro could get.

Naturally, Ana was appointed to serve as the prosecution. She and Roy were always at odds with each other, if someone was able to be a true counter to Roy, it was her.

The pair accepted the responsibility without objection.

The trial would be held inside the bridge, with Brigham sitting still in the captain's chair, while Curro was across from him restrained. Two more chairs were brought in, Ana would sit on the left and Roy on the right from Brigham's perspective. The trial was to be held in private, none of the other members of the crew was allowed to be present, only the parties involved (Judge, prosecution, defense, and defendant).

The privacy of the trial was to ensure dispassion on the part of the process. If all of Lupus was present, the atmosphere could easily devolve into emotional outbursts and bloodlust for revenge. Brigham was determined to do every part of the process by the book, it was the only way his heart and mind would be able to be at ease. He needed to examine the arguments with a clear head.

As Brigham sat in his chair, he took a look at Curro who looked back at him, his best friend still had the look of innocence in his eyes even though he committed such a serious crime.

Roy and Ana sat with notebooks in hand, writing down arguments and notes. They were taking this assignment very seriously, the same as every other job they had received.

Brigham felt a scratch on the back of his head, a ringing that couldn't go away. The thought of how much did I really know Curro, clawing at his mind. Was all of the time they spent together a lie? All of those hangouts, sleepovers, sharing secrets, vows to change the world, the times they relied on each other, was all of that a farce and part of the mask Curro had worn all of his life.

If he was to take Curro at his word, the feelings they had for each other were real, their closeness wasn't part of his act, Curro had gone against his life mission and principles for Brigham. As much as the captain wanted to believe this to be true, Curro had jumped to save him when he was choking in the fire, how much of this confession was sincere and true.

A worm of doubt kept eating away at Brigham, what if he told me all of this was for me because he knew I was going to be the judge of his trial according to protocol. What if he said this as emotional manipulation, to garner sympathy and for me to spare his life, he knew his destiny was going to be in my hands. If so he was telling what I want to hear.

However, what if he was telling the truth. What if he did potentially sabotage his father's plan and put himself at greater risk of discovery for me. Do I owe him as a friend the same? If the time we spent together was real, then I selfishly don't want him to die. I want him to stay by my side and I have the power to give him a clean slate. But then again he did kill 21 people, does he deserve to have a normal life after that? How will the crew react if I do spare him, they know we are close, and they could perceive the trial as unfair and biased, would they want to kill him anyway?

Brigham was faced with the toughest decision as Captain so far. With his best friend's life at his mercy, a decision Curro had in front of him at the start if he was to be believed, a choice between his best friend and his principles. His selfish desire to keep his friend alive or upkeep his idea of righteousness.

Brigham would go crazy if he continued to agonize himself with these doubts, the trial preparations were complete. The bridge was emptied of the rest of Lupus, Ana and Roy had finished writing their notes, it was time to hear the case.

Brigham pounded his chest cleared his throat, rubbed his eyes, adjusted in his seat, and said "May the trial commence."