Helfort's War Book 4: The Battle for Commitment Planet by Graham Sharp Paul Page A

Criminality, criminality of unprecedented magnitude and compass, was.
    Ferreira’s plan was simple: mutiny on a scale not seen in the Federated Worlds Fleet, a mutiny that would take three frontline dreadnoughts out of the order of battle. It was insane, it was risky, it was wrong. He cursed softly, regretting the moment of weakness that had prompted him to unburden himself to her. If he had kept his mouth shut, she would not be contemplating something no commissioned officer should ever contemplate, let alone talk about. Worse, she was bringing along every other commissioned and noncommissioned officer onboard with her; how she had managed to persuade nine hard-headed spacers and marines to agree with her was a complete mystery. Not that it mattered now; the proverbial cat was well and truly out of the bag, and there was nothing he could do to change the situation. What was done, was done.
    Oh shit, he said to himself, what a bloody mess.
    Strictly speaking, the mere fact that his people had discussed mutiny was enough to see them condemned; the Federated Worlds Code of Military Justice was unambiguous on that score. So far as the law was concerned, a mutiny took place the instant two or more spacers talked about doing something illegal together. Even if that was all they did, even if they only talked about what they might do, it made no difference.
    They were guilty of mutiny.
    That was just the start. If he ordered the base provost marshal onboard to arrest Ferreira, Sedova, Kallewi, and all the rest—six senior spacers and one marine NCO—when
Redwood
dropped into orbit around Nyleth, he would be arrested, too. By agreeing to talk with them, he was guilty along with Ferreira and all the rest of them.
    He shook his head, appalled at the risks Ferreira and the rest of them were prepared to take to help him out and angry with himself at how neatly Ferreira had trapped him.
    One thing was clear. If he agreed with Ferreira, he would be branded a renegade for all time. If he did not, he would be damned anyway, the captain whose crew mutinied. Either way, he was well and truly screwed. Of course, he had the option to ignore the whole business. That might save the sorry asses of his people, but the Hammers would still stand Anna up against a wall and blow her brains out.
    One more thing was clear: Ferreira had snared him in a web from which there was no escape. She was smart, smarter than he had ever given her credit for. She would have worked out the options early in the piece, that was for sure.
    Mind churning, he stood there, staring into the darkness at nothing. What the hell was he …
    It was all too much; he could not handle it anymore. Comming drugbots into his bloodstream, he threw himself into his bunk and was asleep a few minutes later.

Tuesday, August 7, 2401, UD

FWSS
Redwood,
in pinchspace en route to Nyleth-B

    “Okay, everyone,” Michael said. “We drop into Nyleth nearspace in six hours. So we need to finish this business. It cannot drag on. Agreed?”
    A chorus of “agreeds” followed.
    “Good. Okay, first things first. What happened yesterday was conspiracy to mutiny. You know it, I know it. I cannot begin to describe how proud that makes me, that you are prepared to lay your careers on the line for me like that, but that’sonly me being emotional … and this is not the time for emotion. This is the time for cold, hard logic. This is the time to do the right thing for the right reasons. So let me be very, very clear … I will not allow any of you to do the right thing for the wrong reasons.”
    Michael paused. Shock flickered across the faces of all present. He knew his opening remarks were not what they expected. “Enough talk,” he said. “We have a decision to make. I can ignore what happened yesterday, I can pretend it didn’t happen, I can hope it all gets forgotten. I must say, that’s a good option, the best option for you guys. Not so good for me,” he said with a lopsided smile,