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left he had called Justin in and suggested that in the long run his career
with the service was now dead no matter what any court might say. He had led a
mutiny, and regardless of the justifications that stigma would always surround
his name. No officer would ever fully trust him in the future.
Thorssonin turn had laughed at Singh's comments, replying that Singh was a
generation on the way out.
"Concerning CaptainMacKenzie's suicide,"Thorsson continued, "it was tragic,
but in a more traditional sense it was, perhaps, the only avenue left to him.
It was a shame that marine guard was wounded trying to disarm him; there was a
time when a man went quietly to his office, wrote a letter of apology, and
then ended it."
Justin looked atThorsson in surprise for implying support for the idea of
suicide.
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"Just talking about an older time, whichMacKenzie's mind functioned
in,"Thorsson said. "MacKenzie'sworld came apart long before you people ever
set foot aboard his ship. I wonder if having so many of you young cadets
around might have triggered something buried deep within.A memory, a fear from
when he was young. Be that as it may, once the unraveling started it couldn't
be stopped, sort of like when you crack open an intricate machine and all the
little springs start leaping out. No matter how hard you try you can't get
them back in and trying to fix it just means more leap out.
"He built a justification for what he did and I think he actually believed
it. It is a rare person who will do evil, knowing they are doing evil. Such
characters belong in bad fiction; they rarely appear in real life. Most such
people somehow believe they are doing right no matter how twisted they
are.Even Hitler. He did not look in a mirror, cackle and say he was evil. No,
in his twisted mind he believed he was doing right. Even the men and women of
the Black Cell who destroyed most ofNew York andMoscow early in the 21st
century thought they were doing right, even though millions died.
"No, I'm not connectingMacKenzie to those nightmares ofhumanity, all I'm
saying is that he was disastrously disturbed. In that courtroom I could see it
in his eyes when the recordings started to play. Poor Mr. Colson was revealed
as a liar, andMacKenzie as a failure of a captain who did not follow the most
basic steps of trying to analyze Colson's lies before acting. I don't think he
even saw that in many ways he had set Colson up to be the initiating spark of
his desires for vengeance. Once that was revealed, the way he seized Matt no
longer seemed like a captain heroically defending his ship, but rather the
actions of a bully out of control. His treatment ofHemenez andZhing was
deplorable and again looked more like a bully trying to have his way rather
than a captain attempting to reach the truth. I dare say that if those
recordings were ever reviewed in more detail there might be some darker
aspects ofMacKenzie revealed. I hope they are just simply destroyed.
"So, in that moment I thinkMacKenzie realized what he was and the internal
collision of those two sides was played out. When he left that room there was
only one answer for himfind a gun, which tragically happened to be in the
holster of a marine, and end it."
"And Colson?" someone asked.
"He's on his way home onthe same ship taking Singh. I accepted his
resignation just before we departed. Poor lad, I don't think he wanted to
endure the ride back to the Academy. I think I should add that I reluctantly
accepted the resignation of Senior CadetPetronovich as well.Petronovich felt
he should have resisted the captain as the rest of you did, and for that he
apologizes to you all."
"Colson a poor lad?"Madisoninterjected. "He almost killed Matt,myself and a
lot of others with his tales."
"He had the potential of a good officer inhim, otherwise we never would have
accepted him, family connections or no family connections."
Justin stirred uncomfortably at the mention of family connections, for after
all, wasn't that how he had gotten in?Thorsson saw him start to lower his
head.
'There are some exceptions to that rule,"Thorsson added, "but they never
survive scrub summer, Mr. Bell, or what happened aboard this ship."
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