Trial for Formality's Sake

Two soldiers flanked him as they silently walked the long halls where Lieutenant Lavender Brush was being held. Door after door they passed. Behind each one an AWOL soldier who had been brought back and awaited questioning or trial. She, however, was the exception. She had returned to base camp and reported to her superiors. But, he had not seen anyone else from her squad return. There were plenty of whispers linked to her presence in the RCF. Whispers that only made the bile rise in his throat. Something not even the mint green walls could soothe.

The three of them stopped just outside her door. He could see her staring away through the small window. Nothing in her posture indicated what she might be feeling. He swiped his card, disengaging the locks on her cell. She jerked slightly at the sound, but turned calmly when he stepped through the doors.

"Lieutenant Lavender Brush," Captain Micah Macaby said. "We're ready for you."

Lieutenant Brush stood and followed Captain Macaby out of her cell. They walked the halls to a large office for her hearing.

"Lieutenant Brush?"

She did not respond. Her attention on one of the walls.

"Lieutenant Brush!" Captain Macaby said a little more forcefully.

"Yes, Sir!" she responded as she turned back to him.

"Why didn't you respond?"

"I was distracted, Sir."

"I suggest you pay attention now."

"Yes, Sir."

Captain Macaby opened the gray door and motioned for her to step inside. The guards followed and stood on either side of the door. Captain Macaby entered last. He closed the door then stepped around her to join Captains Adam LaFleur and John Waters who were already sitting at the table in front of her.

"Lieutenant Lavender Brush. Squad 16," Captain LaFleur began. "You are charged with treason. You disobeyed your commanding officer. You failed to report your knowledge of our enemy's field mines…. How do you plead?"

"Not guilty."

"On what basis?" he continued.

"I had no previous knowledge of the field mines and had been ready to act under my officer's command."

"Had been ready? Explain."

"I've followed every command with exactness until the half second after that command was given," Lieutenant Brush answered calmly.

"Why is that? Why, when it mattered most, did you fail to act?"

"To be honest, Sirs, I don't remember."

"Don't remember!" Captain LaFleur bellowed. "Well, maybe this will refresh your memory. "You said, 'Just as the command was given, a voice warned me of the mines...' Are you in cahoots with the enemy?"

"No, Sir."

"Lieutenant Brush," Captain Waters addressed her. "You realize the seriousness of the situation. You are the only one left of your squad and no one else can attest to the validity of your statements. For all we know, you could've had a communicator and been told those things just as it was too late to stop your squad."

"Sir, if I may?"

Captain Macaby gave her a warning glance, hoping she would remain silent.

"Go on," Captain Waters prompted.

"I had no communicator…," she said.

"So you admit to being a traitor!"

"No, Sir, I…."

"Your very attempt to justify why you still live is proof that…."

"Captain Waters," Captain Macaby interjected, as he watched her attempts to clarify go awry. "We are here to learn why Lieutenant Brush failed to act, are we not? How then, I ask, can she do that if you insist on interrupting?"

Captain Waters was silent for a moment. "Proceed, Lieutenant Brush."

"Thank you, Sir. The voice I heard was not from man."

He scoffed.

"I hear voices like someone is speaking with me though no technology is used."

"I don't believe this. What else will you tell us? That you can see the dead?"

Captains LaFleur and Waters laughed.

"No, Sirs," Lavender replied.

"Do you believe this, Micah?" Capt Lafleur asked.

"Lieutenant Brush has always been genuine in her responses, Adam," Captain Macaby replied. "I don't see why she would start lying now."

"Plea of insanity, perhaps?" Capt Waters said softly.

He shook his head. "How long have you heard voices, Lieutenant?"

"Since I was twelve, Sir."

"There is no record of it in your medical file," Capt Lafleur interjected.

"There wouldn't be one, Sir. I kept it quiet, even from my parents."

"Surely a parent would know if their child was hearing things," Capt Waters said.

Lavender said nothing.

"Lieutenant," Micah said, slightly troubled by what he was hearing, "what did the voices tell you when you were younger?"

"Little things at first. 'Say hi to this person.' 'Give that woman a hug.' My parents thought I was reaching out to make others smile."

"And now?"

"The same, Sir."

"So the voices haven't changed in the last ten years."

"The voices are the same, but what they tell me has changed."

"So then they aren't the same."

"They are and are not, Sir."

"Which is it, Lieutenant?" Capt Lafleur asked irritably.

"The voices still tell me to do little things. They also tell me to do hard things."

"Like?"

"Join the Army, Sirs."

"Which is why you withheld the information about the mines from your Captain," Capt Waters concluded.

"No…."

"That will be all, Lieutenant," Captain Waters said, dismissing her.

She saluted them then left with the two guards.

"It takes a strong, albeit stubborn, soldier to stick to their story," Adam said once the door was closed.

"Even if they are fighting for the wrong side."

Captain Macaby said nothing.

"Would you like to report to Major Parvus, Micah?" Captain Waters asked.

Micah shook his head. He remained in his seat as Adam and John left the room. He could not believe this. Could not believe that someone as kind and compassionate as Lavender capable of betraying her entire squad. And the voices? Something about them twisted his guts like a truth he was trying to deny. But it didn't matter now. There wasn't anything he could do to stop Lavender from being executed. No way around the security system to break her out without calling attention to himself. Not enough time to get her off base and somewhere safe before they discovered her missing. Micah shook his head and blew out his breath.

He pushed himself to his feet. As much as he wanted to talk to her, find out more about the voices that spoke to her, he knew Lavender was to have no contact—save the delivery of food and water—until her execution. Micah left the room and took his time leaving the RCF. Took his time making his way to his office to review more reports while he fought with the warring emotions in his chest. He set his foot on the bottom step when an alarm sounded at the RCF. He froze.

"Medical personnel to cell F7. Medical personnel to cell F7."

Micah turned and ran back to the RCF. That was Lavender's cell. What was going on? In the distance he could make out Lieutenant Gina Hrath, Master Sergeant Andy Begrow, and others on the medical team. They disappeared inside before he was halfway across the base. Micah sprinted down the halls, ignoring the yells from the other soldiers being held. The smell of feces and vomit assaulted his nose. It was bad enough when he reached the open cell door that he had to clamp a hand over his mouth and nose.

Lavender convulsed on the bed, while the medical team tried to get her still enough for Lieutenant Hrath to administer a sedative. Lavender twisted and jerked more. Her flesh paled dramatically. Her eyes looked sunken. She vomited and a new wave of feces oozed out of her pant legs. Had she been given something? Had she come in contact with something to cause the seizure? Lieutenant Hrath's counting pulled him out of his thoughts. They nearly dropped Lavender trying to move her to a stretcher so they could take her to the medical wing.

"Lieutenant?" Micah's asked.

"Not now, Sir," Lieutenant Hrath replied after Lavender had been moved. "Let's move, people!"

Micah stepped aside and watched them take Lavender out of the cell. His head was spinning, but his heart was calm. He didn't understand why.