57. Jarvis: Tribunal

The conference had clearly been in session for a while when Reginald Jarvis entered the room. General Baldwin was on the main viewscreen, and several of the other Tribunal High Commanders were on smaller screens. Around the table were Jarvis's own senior officers and consultants. All eyes turned to him as he entered.

"Please be seated, Lieutenant-General Jarvis," Baldwin said by way of greeting.

Jarvis blinked. His real rank within the Tribunal hierarchy was almost never referred to and it came as a surprise. He moved to the remaining chair, at the end of the conference table and directly facing Baldwin's screen. Show time. He wondered if he would return to his quarters when this meeting concluded, or if he would be escorted to the brig.

"I'd like to start by bringing you up to date, Reg," the General began.

Reg? Interesting. He wondered what the sudden informal tone meant. His face remained calm and mildly inquisitive, though, not showing any of the rapid shuffling of thoughts and scenarios flashing through his mind.

"First, you were correct about Miss Kowalczyk. Cross-checking with older records indicates that the body found on Seti Station was not hers. The records were altered two days before Audrey "Jack" Kowalczyk arrived on the Station. Riddick had access to a very high-level decryption system to do that; we're combing the black market to see if we can find out who sold it to him, although we probably won't have any more luck with that than we ever do."

Jarvis nodded and waited.

"The body from Seti Station has been reclassified as a Jane Doe. To date, no records of the woman's actual identity have been uncovered. Our forensic pathology team was dispatched to the site and has determined that her real time of death was five months ago. We believe Riddick purchased the body because of its physical resemblance to Miss Kowalczyk, and had it kept in stasis until she arrived on the station."

Baldwin shuffled through some papers before looking up into the camera again.

"Since you have demonstrated a distinct lack of impartiality regarding Riddick..."

Here it comes, Jarvis told himself, and waited for the sword to fall. What the General said next took him by surprise.

"...I thought you would want to know that there's no sign that Riddick himself inflicted any of the injuries on Jane Doe. The only wound our pathologist says occurred at the time of her death was a crushed windpipe. All of the other injuries were simulated post-mortem, a few days before the body was discovered. We have the coroner's assistant who falsified the autopsy and simulated the injuries in custody. He claims he was paid by a man fitting Riddick's description. The payment was deposited into his account less than twenty-four hours after Miss Kowalczyk arrived on the station."

He's still in there, Jarvis thought with relief. Bry, my boy, you aren't dead. You're still in there...

"Thank you, General."

Baldwin paused for a long moment. "I have discussed, at some great length, the nature of your... lack of objectivity... with Dr. Aspen. I've come to the concclusion that some of this was the error of the Tribunal. You became emotionally attached to Riddick eighteen years ago, real-time, when he stayed with your family, something we never should have recommended in the first place. I'm not sure I understand how you became emotionally attached to Miss Kowalczyk, but Dr. Aspen believes that all of your hostility toward Riddick came from your belief that he had murdered the girl."

Jarvis nodded. It was true, but the reasoning behind it was something he couldn't explain. He glanced over at Aspen... Martina. Maybe she could explain it to him sometime. Nobody'd ever known him as well as she did.

Her smile was gentle. Confident. Maybe he was actually going to survive this after all.

"We are, obviously, concerned over the theft -- by Miss Kowalczyk -- of data disks containing full details of the Scylla and Charybdis Projects. However, that damage is not irreparable. It will depend, largely, upon what she and Riddick choose to do with that information. The Phase III labs have been relocated and new safeguards are being put into place. If they do choose to go public, we can contradict most of their evidence. The Messina is being ordered back to Earth for repairs and refitting. A new fighter squadron has been assembled and is waiting at Luna Station."

That brought a knot to his throat. All those kids, dead at Riddick's hands because he'd provoked him into a murderous rampage.

"If you others would please step out of the room, there are some matters the Tribunal needs to discuss privately with the Lieutenant-General," Baldwin continued.

Around him, Jarvis heard people rise and file to the door. He stared down at the table, unwilling to see the expressions on their faces. He wondered if they'd already been told what his fate would be... but he didn't want to see the answer in their eyes.

The door closed behind them and he was alone with the Tribunal.

"Reg?"

Jarvis raised his eyes at last, looking up at Baldwin's face on the main viewscreen.

"You miss him, don't you?"

It was only after he nodded that he suddenly wondered if Baldwin had meant Riddick.

"I'm sorry, Reg. That was a bad move on our part. I've spoken with Melanie since then... I hadn't realized that the two of you had been trying for several years to have a son, or why it was impossible."

That made him wince. He tried not to think of any of that, whenever possible. Mel and the girls were long lost to him. All he had, anymore, was the Project... and his fruitless quest to get some good to come out of it.

"You've been excellent in the field, Reg. You have a natural bond with your soldiers. They do things, for you, that they'd never do for any other leader. But you get too close to them. Too attached. You love them too much, sometimes. It cost you your objectivity here. It is the decision of the Tribunal to remove you from field work."

He loved them too much? Jarvis sighed, closing his eyes and nodding. More truth. They weren't just his soldiers... they were his children. When Riddick killed his twelve best students in the Barracks Incident, he'd never thought of them as "his students," they'd been "his boys." As Riddick once had been. As the members of the lost squadron had been "his kids."

When, exactly, had he lost his detachment?

You know the answer to that, "Uncle Reg." You lost it the day you walked into the hospital and a little seven-year-old boy opened his eyes and smiled at you through his bandages. You lost it to Richard B. Riddick in a chess game.

"You will return to Earth on the Messina to assume your new post," Baldwin concluded.

Finally he managed to speak. "And what's my new post?"

A new voice spoke up, Jun Velasquez, President of the Tribunal, in his most formal and authoritative tones, saying words he'd never anticipated at all: "Lieutenant-General Reginald Jarvis, you are hereby elevated to the rank of full General. Upon your return to Earth you will stand for formal confirmation to join the Tribunal Security Council as head of the Military Intelligence division. On behalf of the Tribunal, I extend our welcome to you."

Jarvis stared at the screens, at the remarkably approving faces on them. How...? His eyes moved to General Baldwin's screen.

"I know you haven't been paying much attention to the other events we've been experiencing. Admiral Lieben had a mild stroke a week ago and is stepping down as Chief of the Tribunal Armed Forces. I will be taking his place... and you will be taking mine." Baldwin's voice became gentle. "Although your judgment may have at times been questionable recently, your loyalty never has been. And I think any of us would have made the same decisions in your place."

Jarvis blinked and shook his head. His disbelief must have been written on his face, he supposed, given the chuckles that emanated from several speakers.

"I know you felt like the events on Troubadour were an unqualified disaster, Reg, but they really weren't," Baldwin added softly after a moment. "I agree with you. Jack Kowalczyk is essential to any recovery of Riddick. If anything had happened to her, we'd have lost him forever."

Something had happened to her, though. She'd been shot. And while she'd gotten away under her own power, there was no guarantee that she'd survived. Riddick might return to them, yes, but that return might be filled with fiery vengeance.

"We still might," he whispered.

"True. But we still have a chance. Now, it's possible that they will decide to go public in an attempt to sabotage your confirmation hearings, but Dr. Aspen believes that's unlikely. Based upon your conversation with Miss Kowalczyk, both prior to and after the shooting, she believes there's a very good chance that Riddick may no longer perceive you as his enemy."

I never was his enemy. Not that I blame him for thinking it... God, what a fuckup.

"I hope so, Sir. I'd like to salvage that if I can..."

Baldwin chuckled. "You mean you want him back. The closest thing you ever had to a son. No, we don't blame you, Reg. That was a very large mistake on our part, not yours."

Staring at his hands, Jarvis swallowed. "He said I'd see him again soon."

"Then he'll have to come to Earth to find you. And even Richard B. Riddick himself will have trouble getting to you through our security systems, unless we let him in."

Earth. Permanently stationed on Earth... years too late. Decades. If it had come before the divorce, things might have been perfect. If it had come before all of the pain built up, before he'd been forced into betraying a seven-year-old boy's dreams, before he'd lost his family to distance and ennui...

Earth. He was going home. He wondered if there was anything of "home" left there for him.

"Oh, Reg? In a side note, we've approved your nomination of Dr. Teresa Cartwright to head the Phase III medical team. You found an excellent replacement for Dr. Sovrin. He, by the way, is convalescing nicely, but will be unable to resume his duties. She's already made some interesting suggestions about the protocols... and Dr. Aspen agrees with her. That will actually help us... the women listed in the stolen files as host-mothers for Phase III will not be used after all. Well done, Reg."

That made him shake his head. If things had actually been improved, somehow, he didn't deserve the credit. It belonged to the two doctors.

Dr. Cartwright had surprised him. As with Dr. Aspen before her, there had been a few days of horror and fury once she discovered what the Project actually was and what her role within it would be. She'd flung some interesting epithets at him -- "FrankenSergeant" being his favorite -- before she'd calmed down and begun to get excited over the possibilities. Then the comments and suggestions had really begun to come in a flurry.

And now she was all the way in. He checked his terminal and pulled up her suggestions. They were excellent.

"These are very good ideas. She's right. Do we have volunteers yet?"

"So far eleven operatives have stepped forward. Sergeant Mizuguchi, incidentally, is one of them."

A moment of unease passed through him. One of his kids was going to participate? He didn't know if...

Stop it. Baldwin's right, you're getting too attached to your soldiers. If it's what she wants, she has a right to do it. And you know she'll do it well.

Still, it bothered him.

Do you believe in this project or not, Reg?

He believed.

"If that's what she wants, I'll approve it. It's a good idea. Possibly with that environment, the next group of children will be less volatile."

"That's the idea, yes." Baldwin chuckled. "Cartwright and Aspen are both very valuable to this project. In many ways they're more valuable than you or I, but you are responsible for their recruitment. With you in charge of the Project, and the two of them monitoring the new children, Phase III should proceed excellently."

"Assuming Riddick doesn't decide to sabotage it," Jarvis added.

"True."

"So we're back on schedule?"

"Yes. You will arrive on Earth a month before the inception date. Your confirmation will be completed within a week, barring interference from Riddick and Kowalczyk. That's plenty of time for you to assemble your staff... and make any other arrangements you need to."

Jarvis nodded, knowing what Baldwin meant. See his daughters? Perhaps, but he doubted it. He hadn't been welcome in their homes before now and he doubted returning to Earth to stay would change that. But... there was something else he might want to do.

His old family was lost to him, but that didn't mean he had to be alone...

He'd talk to Martina.

"That will be all, General Jarvis. It's time for you to come home."

Jarvis rose from his chair and saluted the bank of monitors. One by one, the others saluted back and their screens went blank. Baldwin was the last to go.

"Your rank badge is in the box over by Dr. Aspen's seat, Reg. You'll want to put it on." With those final words, Admiral Baldwin disconnected.

Jarvis rose and moved to Aspen's seat. The small box was nondescript. Opening it, he withdrew the rank insignia and pinned it to his chest.

He looked at the now-empty box and smiled. He had a much prettier box tucked in his nightstand... for Martina.

He hoped she'd say yes.

Now that he knew he actually had a future, now that he knew he had some hope left...

...he knew exactly who he wanted to share it with.