Intrepid

Red was back on his feet. ''And what do we do with ‘em. Wrap them up with a pretty bow?''

''No.'' Kris snapped. ''Hell no,'' she added for emphasis, ‘cause this crowd needed all the emphasis she could muster.

''Then what do we do?'' Bobby Joe asked, climbing to his feet.

Red already had his mouth open to cross more words with Kris. Only old man Fronour could have gotten him to shut his yap, but he shut it and sat back down.

''They owe us, young lady. They owe us,'' Bobby Joe repeated as he took his seat again.

Kris wanted to fire something back. Quick. Effective. She found she didn't have any words even close to the tip of her tongue. Thoroughly unusual, that.

''Those guys present a real problem,'' came from behind Kris in Gunny's deep voice. ''If I and my crew find ourselves in a bad place, even if we surrender, our ties to Wardhaven can't be broken. Anyone who accepts our surrender knows that and knows they have Wardhaven to deal with about us.

''But these folks, they still wear the uniform of someone, but they've clearly been rented out to someone else. Gives an old enlisted swine like myself a painful headache.''

Kris turned back to face the old Marine. He gave her a twinkling wink. ''Seems like something new that an officer might enjoy thinking through.''

''Gee thanks, Gunny,'' she whispered. But he'd bought her time to think and defined some limits. Kris turned back to the farmers feeling almost confident that she did have a good idea.

''One of the things I keep hearing is that start-ups need labor. Lots of people to do the work. Panda any exception?''

''Nope,'' Bobby Joe said, to be echoed through the barn.

''Now, it seems to me that anyone that's been rented out to carry a gun doesn't owe a lot to those who did it to him.''

''I wouldn't,'' Gunny growled. ''Not after seeing a few of my buddies get wounded, killed.''

''So I don't see any reason why you shouldn't feel free to offer these fine strapping men a job. Any of them that sign on with you, you can take. Any that want to go home, do.''

''With their guns!'' Red was back on his feet.

''With the clothes on his or her back,'' Kris interjected. She had it going her way. She didn't want to lose them now. ''Their military equipment is yours. You can sell it if you want. If I was in your shoes, I'd use it to equip a National Guard.''

The babble in the room sounded like it might be nearing an agreement.

''What about the officers? The apes that have been giving orders,'' Red shouted, as soon as the background roar let him. ''We going to let them get off with just some hard work?''

Kris had hoped that this question might get overlooked in the interest of getting a few things settled. She could really get to hate Red.

''No,'' Kris said, already reading which way the room was blowing. Blast it, if she wanted to live by the polls like her father, she would have run for office. But there were reasons why her father did his best to follow the will of the people. They had elected him, and, as often as not, they were right.

Kris let her political instincts loose. ''These officers have committed crimes against humanity, all humanity, by their raising arms against a peaceful people. As my prisoners, I would see that they face such charges and pay for them.''

''If you can do it, why not us?'' was Red's comeback.

''Because they planned their crimes inside the Rim. Inside the belly of civilization. People like them, who might be contemplating such crimes, need to see this, and think long and hard the next time the idea comes up. Justice systems inside the Rim failed to halt this crime. They need a wake-up call. That's not to say you don't have the right to try them yourselves. I'm just asking which better serves justice and the future.''

''That sounds more like a political solution than a legal one,'' Red pointed out.

''Maybe ‘cause it's part of a political problem,'' Bobby Joe pointed out before Kris said anything. Having half risen out of his chair to speak those words, Bobby Joe stood up.

''My boy told me that Earth done given up on its Society of Humanity. Earth and some of its cronies are going their way. The rest of us are going our own way. I hear your great-grandpa done come out of retirement to be a king or something.''

''Or something is more like it,'' Kris said. ''Lot of different folks going a lot of different ways. Turns out a lot of folks don't like being told what to do.''

That actually got a chuckle out of the barn.

''But it gets kind of lonely out here on your own,'' Bobby Joe said. ''I guess I'm finding out that if you work like hell to make a good place, well, you better be ready to protect it, or somebody's like to come along and steal it out from under you.''

The proud old farmer looked around, saw a sad kind of agreement in the eyes of folks looking back at him. He nodded before going on. ''What's this United Sentients doing, and what does it cost to join it?''

''They aren't charging a membership fee,'' Kris said, and immediately knew she'd missed the point.