High Treason (Anderson story)
Encyclopedia
High Treason is a 1966 Science Fiction
story by Poul Anderson
.
The story consists of the last words of Colonel Edward Breckinridge of Earth's space-bound armed forces, as he is about to executed by being ejected without a specesuit into the vacuum of interstellar space. He has been allowed to record his words (and also thoughts and images) into a "memory cube", so as to preserve his version of events for posterity.
Humanity is about to lose its war with the alien Morwain. As a desperate last throw, Breckinridge had been ordered to launch an attack which would obliterate all life on a strategic Morwain planet - a planet which Breckinridge had visited before war had broken out and befriended some of its inhabitants, and which is important in Morwain culture and history.
Upon being given the monstrous order, Breckinridge protested to his superior, General Wang, pointing out that until then the war had been conducted "cleanly", mainly in space battles which did not harm the civilian populations of inhabited planets. Wang responds that he had lost much sleep over this issue, but that there was no other choice and no other way to win the war. He offers to relieve Breckinridge of the mission and entrust it to somebody else, but Breckinridge says he would do it.
However, setting out with sealed orders and the true mission unknown to any of his underlings, Breckinridge takes his force to an altogether different sector, and launches a hopeless attack on a superior Morwain force with the explicit intention of letting his force be destroyed so that Wang could not use it for the original mission. He hoped to be killed himself, but in fact survived and when returning with the battered remnants of his force he was counrt-martialled on charges of High Treason and sentenced to death. The ship he is on is retreating, together with the remnants of Earth's fleet, facing a now-inevitable defeat.
Breckinridge states that his trial had been eminently fair and does not contest the sentence, the only one which could have been passed under the circumstances. Still, he considers his decision to have been morally justified, since even defeat and occupation of Earth are preferable to the atrocity of destroying an entire living planet.
Moreover, Breckinridge feels that Earth's war with the Morwain, which developed and escalated from border disputes and incidents, had been mistaken to begin with - espcially since humans and Morwain should have united to confront the danger of the monstrous, Nazi-like Bilturs expanding across space. An atrocity such as Breckinridge had been ordered to commit would have created such bitterness and hatred as to rule out such an alliance.
Throughout his monologue - which includes reminisces of his childhood, early military training, friends and comrades-in-arms, his beloved wife and son and his mistress whom he guiltily also loved - Breckinridge speaks as a professional military man, despite his act of treason. As such he expresses strong disdain for the anti-war "Brotherhood of Love" and does not want them to posthumously claim him. This clearly reflects the writer's dislike of the Hippie
"Counter Culture
" and its opposition to the Vietnam War
at the time of writing.
Commentator Conrad Hilton wrote: "Poul Anderson's 'High Treason' gives a very sympathetic depiction of a military officer whose act is - from the strict legal point of view - precisely what the story's title says. Still, there are moral considerations which override an officer's duty to obey orders, and there are prices for winning a war which are unacceptable. When faced with the choice of committing an act of genocide or letting Earth lose the war, the protagonist chooses - on his own authority and consulting no one - to let Earth lose the war. Anderson clearly seems to endorse his choice. (...) Reading this story should give a pause to those who hastened to categorize Anderson on the basis of his support for the Vietnam War".
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
story by Poul Anderson
Poul Anderson
Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories...
.
The story consists of the last words of Colonel Edward Breckinridge of Earth's space-bound armed forces, as he is about to executed by being ejected without a specesuit into the vacuum of interstellar space. He has been allowed to record his words (and also thoughts and images) into a "memory cube", so as to preserve his version of events for posterity.
Humanity is about to lose its war with the alien Morwain. As a desperate last throw, Breckinridge had been ordered to launch an attack which would obliterate all life on a strategic Morwain planet - a planet which Breckinridge had visited before war had broken out and befriended some of its inhabitants, and which is important in Morwain culture and history.
Upon being given the monstrous order, Breckinridge protested to his superior, General Wang, pointing out that until then the war had been conducted "cleanly", mainly in space battles which did not harm the civilian populations of inhabited planets. Wang responds that he had lost much sleep over this issue, but that there was no other choice and no other way to win the war. He offers to relieve Breckinridge of the mission and entrust it to somebody else, but Breckinridge says he would do it.
However, setting out with sealed orders and the true mission unknown to any of his underlings, Breckinridge takes his force to an altogether different sector, and launches a hopeless attack on a superior Morwain force with the explicit intention of letting his force be destroyed so that Wang could not use it for the original mission. He hoped to be killed himself, but in fact survived and when returning with the battered remnants of his force he was counrt-martialled on charges of High Treason and sentenced to death. The ship he is on is retreating, together with the remnants of Earth's fleet, facing a now-inevitable defeat.
Breckinridge states that his trial had been eminently fair and does not contest the sentence, the only one which could have been passed under the circumstances. Still, he considers his decision to have been morally justified, since even defeat and occupation of Earth are preferable to the atrocity of destroying an entire living planet.
Moreover, Breckinridge feels that Earth's war with the Morwain, which developed and escalated from border disputes and incidents, had been mistaken to begin with - espcially since humans and Morwain should have united to confront the danger of the monstrous, Nazi-like Bilturs expanding across space. An atrocity such as Breckinridge had been ordered to commit would have created such bitterness and hatred as to rule out such an alliance.
Throughout his monologue - which includes reminisces of his childhood, early military training, friends and comrades-in-arms, his beloved wife and son and his mistress whom he guiltily also loved - Breckinridge speaks as a professional military man, despite his act of treason. As such he expresses strong disdain for the anti-war "Brotherhood of Love" and does not want them to posthumously claim him. This clearly reflects the writer's dislike of the Hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
"Counter Culture
Counter Culture
Counter Culture is a 2005 compilation double album by English folk/rock singer-songwriter Roy Harper featuring 25 classic Roy Harper songs, cherry picked according to his mood in April 2005. This collection spans 35 years of song writing and is intended as an introduction for anyone who's not sure...
" and its opposition to the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
at the time of writing.
Commentator Conrad Hilton wrote: "Poul Anderson's 'High Treason' gives a very sympathetic depiction of a military officer whose act is - from the strict legal point of view - precisely what the story's title says. Still, there are moral considerations which override an officer's duty to obey orders, and there are prices for winning a war which are unacceptable. When faced with the choice of committing an act of genocide or letting Earth lose the war, the protagonist chooses - on his own authority and consulting no one - to let Earth lose the war. Anderson clearly seems to endorse his choice. (...) Reading this story should give a pause to those who hastened to categorize Anderson on the basis of his support for the Vietnam War".