The Evidence

Month 11, Day 3

2309 Hours

Jane Burke

Jane hit the intercom button when her doorbell buzzed. “Who is it?”

“Captain, it’s Tall Bear. I wanted to brief you on what I’ve found so far.”

It may be late, but this I want to hear. “Just a minute.” She got out of bed, pulled a robe over her pajamas and went to her living room door to open it. “Come in,” She told him, and waved to the sofa area. “You don’t look like you’ve gotten any sleep today.” His eyes weren’t as focused as they usually were, and his shoulders sagged just a touch.

“No, I haven’t. I wanted to track down all the evidence I could find. I’ve got Lt Oakhurst trying to figure out a thing or two for me. I’m still hoping I can find more, but I’m currently drawing a blank where I might look. I thought I should brief you.”

“Go ahead. Did you find anything of use in quarters 42?”

“Not really. Evidence of one hum-dinger of a fight. Even the couch sustained damage, so I’m thinking at least one of them landed really forcefully on it. But who it was, or which one might have been on the bottom, if both of them were involved, I don’t know. All the fingerprints we found on items that had been shoved or thrown were from both combatants, but of course, we would expect to find Mac’s--MacDowell’s fingerprints all over her own quarters.”

“Of course.”

“I got in to see Mr Winthrop shortly after his dialysis. He gave a sort of statement, but it was broken up by rantings that didn’t really make sense.”

“What kind of rantings?” Sometimes you can catch a glimmer of what’s been going through a person’s mind by what he says when he isn’t quite himself.

“Well, the rantings weren’t even complete sentences, but they seem to imply that Mac—Dowell has been flirting with him, teasing him ever since she came aboard, and it’s time he showed her that kind of behavior isn’t acceptable. Captain, I know Mac—Dowell, and she doesn’t deliberately flirt or tease. But she does occasionally—accidentally—say something that might be seen as... provocative.”

“You can call her Mac,” Jane told him. “I know who you mean. What about his statement? Or what you took to be his statement?”

“He claimed he’s noticed Mac displaying symptoms of some kind of drug use, so he went to her quarters at a time he knew she wouldn’t be there to conduct a search.”

“What do you think of that explanation?”

“Frankly, I think it’s all in his imagination. She does—occasionally—misuse alcohol, but I could name a few crew members who aren’t as conscientious about having it out of her system before she reports to work. And that’s according to her medical records, such as just a couple days ago, when she went to have Dr Davis detox her. Furthermore, if he’d done the least bit of looking at her habits, he would have known that she sleeps during B shift, so she would have caught him in the middle of his ‘search’.”

“Did you find any drugs in her quarters when you searched it?”

“Just 2 1/2 bottles of whiskey.”

Jane opened her mouth to say something—after all, the girl had had to be detoxed just a couple days ago—but thought better of it. “Anything else?”

“I found 3 places in Mr Winthrop’s quarters that held a number of blue pills. They all seemed to be the same, but they don’t have any identifying marks on them. I confiscated all of them, placing them into evidence, and sent 1 pill from each location to sick bay to determine what they are.”

“I’ll be interested in finding that out myself.”

“I’ve got Oakhurst trying to pinpoint exactly where Mr Winthrop went inside Mac’s quarters during his search. I suppose it’s possible he found something and confiscated it, but we didn’t find anything on him.”

“I like your thoroughness,” Jane stated.

“And, I guess this is the end of my report; Bugalu has talked Mac into seeing Dr Fong, but she wants him to stay outside her cell. And she also wants Zhang to remain in the brig, so that means their conversation won’t have the usual doctor/patient kind of confidentiality. That worries me.”

“Yes, that would worry me, too.” Jane agreed.

“All things considered, captain, I’m inclined to release Mac. Innocent until proven guilty, and all that. But she doesn’t want to be released until morning! Temple says she’s too stiff to work, anyway.”

“Perhaps that’s the way to go, then,” Jane suggested. “Fabrication won’t be done fixing her quarters until at least halfway through A shift. Harris said she knew of a couch she could sleep on tonight, so she’s doing okay. Lt Postern says he delivered Mac’s new uniforms to her...”

“And she appreciated getting a D-class uniform, captain. I thought it might make her feel demoted, but the gold braid of her rank really stands out against the purple fabric. Although she’s otherwise not thrilled with the color; she told Bugs she likes a red uniform because it matches her hair.”

Jane chuckled. “She does have a different way of looking at things, doesn’t she?”

“I think part of it is her upbringing, and partly, she tries to be different. The thing is, captain, Dr Fong scheduled her first session for 2 AM. I’m not sure I can justify holding Zhang over just to be there for that.”

“You’ve been friendly with her. Does she jump up, ready to fight, if you walk into the brig?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t actually been in to see her. Everything I know about her day, I’ve gotten 2nd hand.”

“Are you planning to work your shift tonight?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then go down and see how she reacts to you. If she resists the urge to fight, explain to her that her conversation with Fong is supposed to be private, and it would not be ethical for one of your people to be there, especially since her conversation might be about an on-going investigation. Does she trust you?”

“Before this happened, I think so.”

“Ask if it would be acceptable if you stood guard outside the brig, not close enough to hear their conversation, but close enough if she yelled for help.”

He nodded, but asked, “And if not?”

He must be tired. I’ve pointed him at a path, and he still can’t see the logical end of it. “If she’s not agreeable to that, then call for a nurse. They are familiar with a patient’s privacy.”

He nodded again, his eyes slightly more focused. “Thank you, captain. A nurse would be a good compromise. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”

“Because you’re tired,” she told him. “You’ve been up, what, about 24 hours?”

“More like 32.”

“And another busy day tomorrow, most likely. I appreciate your dedication, to report for duty as usual tonight. But given the circumstances, I think I can look the other way if you take a cat nap or two tonight.”

“Thank you, captain. I’ll keep that in mind.” He stood up.

She also stood. “After all, we aren’t currently in an emergency, but who knows what tomorrow might bring?”

“There is that,” he agreed, and headed for the door. “Good night, captain.”

Big Brother

Month 11 Day 3

1630 Hours

Bugalu

Bugalu stopped just inside the brig, before he could see holding cell 1, just as he’d been instructed. His arrival caught Zhang’s attention. “Mac, you have a guest come to see you. Mac?”

“I heard you,” she answered, and probably stifled a yawn. “Who is it?”

“Bugalu,” Zhang answered. “Looks like he brought you supper.”

“I hope he remembered it’s my breakfast,” Mac replied, and groaned as she started to move around. “Well, bring him in so I can see him. Even I don’t know how I’m going to react.”

Zhang nodded at him, and he came around the corner, stopped again. “Yes, I remembered it’s your breakfast.”

She sat on the edge of the bed, her blanket covering her legs and trailing across the floor. “When did you hear?”

“When I went to your quarters to wake you up. Fabrication is working on putting the living room back together.”

“Yeah, it was badly damaged, I think. Okay, Zhang, let him in. After all, I didn’t jump up, ready to fight him.”

Bugalu stepped forward, wondering at how round Mac’s eyes were as she watched him. Just as he approached the edge of the cell, she scooted all the way to the end of the bed. Her trembling hands gripped her blanket tightly.

Bugalu sat on the opposite end of the bed, put the tray of food between them and pushed it toward her. “Mac, you haven’t been this tense around me since your first week at the Academy,” he observed quietly.

“At the Academy, I expected every man to try to rape me,” she explained, her voice strained. “And now- now, one of them has tried!” Tears started flowing from eyes that were full of fear.

His first impulse was to comfort her, and he leaned forward to move closer and give her a hug, but as he did that, she jerked back, looked ready to bolt. He sat back, re-evaluated the situation. “Well, consider all the men who haven’t tried.”

“Yes,” she said in a tiny voice, and relaxed enough to reach forward to pull her breakfast towards herself. “I keep telling myself that most men are... are okay. But pa is very, very strong right now.”

“I can see that.” He watched her cut into her eggs, butter her pancakes. She looked at the small gravy bowl full of yellow liquid in confusion. “They told me that’s pineapple syrup, for your pancakes.”

She gave him a happy smile, poured the entire contents over her pancakes and proceeded to eat.

When she was about done, he dared to broach a subject. “Mac, I’ve tried to help you get over your father’s dictates. I’m not sure I’ve done that very well. I think it might be time to involve a professional.”

She nodded as she chewed a bite of pancake and swallowed. “Beth has already suggested that. At that time, I wasn’t willing to see any man at all. But now that I’ve had some sleep, and presumably have calmed down a bit, I think a little better of that idea. After all, it was suggested even before this... incident. The problem is, he’s male, I don’t know him, and I just don’t want him in here with me.”

Bugalu grinned. “You’ve been aboard almost a year, and there’s a crew member you don’t know?”

“Actually, there’s a handful I don’t know yet,” she returned. “It’s been a busy almost year.”

“But you do agree to see him?”

She hesitated long enough to eat another bite of egg and drink some hot tea. “Okay, yes, I’ll try it, but only if he can stay outside my cell.”

“Conversations with a psychiatrist are supposed to be private, but I’ll see what I can arrange.”

“Thank you, Bugs.” At his sudden half smile, she demanded, “What?”

“I never thought I would ever be relieved to hear you call me that.”

“You’ve never done anything to hurt me,” she answered. “Just having you here is quieting pa down.”

“Will you still see Dr Fong?”

“Yes. Maybe it is time to get professional help. But like I said, he can stay outside. At least, to start.”

“Good. If you’re done eating, I’ll take the tray back to the mess hall and get myself some supper. Do you want me to bring anything back afterwards? A book to read or anything to do?”

“No, I’m going to go back to sleep,” she stated. “I didn’t get much sleep before your arrival, and it was full of nightmares.”

“Nightmares of falling?”

She shuddered. “No, of... being attacked, and not being able to stop... it. Dreaming of falling would be a welcome relief from that.” She gave him a brief smile. “Maybe I should leave the bed’s gravity at Earth standard for the evening.”

He considered all the bruises and scratches he could see on her face, neck... even her hands. “Maybe not. Because if you fall out of bed and produce even more bruises, that may complicate the case against... Winthrop.”

Outside the cell, an older man approached Zhang and spoke to her. Zhang punched a button on her controls. “Mac, Lt Postern says he’s supposed to deliver this new uniform to you personally. Do you mind?”

She glanced at Bugalu—as if to reassure herself that he was there. “No, that’s fine. I gather there’s nobody in my quarters to accept for me. Della’s probably on a date.”

Postern approached the force field, which crackled off. He handed in 2 uniforms on hangers. “One C uniform, and one D uniform,” he reported.

“But they’re the wrong color,” Mac protested.

“No, they’re the right color for new uniforms,” Postern returned. “Communications’ color is now purple. Didn’t you get the memo?” He turned and left, assuming the force field would crackle back into place, which it did.

“Communications are now purple,” Bugalu muttered.

“I forgot about that memo.” Mac grimaced. “I really liked my red uniforms,” she stated. “They matched my hair.”

Bugalu chuckled. “You are the only person in the universe who could say their uniform matched their hair.”

“Well, not anymore,” she returned, and considered the D uniform again. “And on the other hand, Bugsy, I’m inclined to change. Would you mind leaving now?”

“Not at all. I’ll go have supper, inform Dr Davis about your decision regarding Dr Fong, and I’ll check in on you later.”

“Thank you, Bugs. Zhang, would you shimmer the force field so I can change?”

Bugalu picked up the meal tray, stepped out of the cell and headed out of the brig.

Captain’s Orders

Month 11 Day 3

1030 Hours

Smitty

 Send Harris! Harris isn’t ready to do such a job. It’s not something you can just turn over to any engineer. It takes a light touch to make sure the gravity units stay balanced. Wilson could handle it, but she’s asleep right now.

Smitty left the lift and headed for the brig. I wonder... Maybe the suggestion was a tacit effort to let me avoid Colleen? In this case, it won’t work. It’s not fair to wake up Wilson just because I don’t want to see a particular person. I just won’t look at her. Or talk to her. She knows I don’t approve of her fighting, so not talking to her shouldn’t be too hard to do. I’ll just go in, put this in the bed, and then leave again. Nothing to it.

I hope.

There were 2 guards at the door to the brig. They both moved to stop him, but it was Ingersol who spoke. “Sorry, sir, no visitors allowed at this time.”

“I’m not a visitor, I’ve come to put variable gravity on the bed, so the prisoner can sleep.”

The 2 guards looked at each other. “Well, it’s been suggested that we keep men away from her until she’s calmed down.”

“You’ve been given a suggestion, you say. But I have orders from the captain to get this installed.”

“Well, perhaps Harris or one of the other female engineers--“

Again with the ‘let Harris do it’! “Harris is busy, and in any case isn’t trained on how to do it. There’s very few people who can do a proper job with variable gravity. Otherwise, it would be available everywhere. Any other questions, Ensign?”

“No, sir.”

Smitty walked in and straight over to the command post, where Ensign Hernandez stood watch. “Okay, Ensign, I’m here to make modifications to the prisoner’s bed. Open up and let me in.”

“I’m sorry, sir, Lt Tall Bear gave me orders not to let men in.”

“And I have orders from the captain to get this done. Do you want to call the captain and confirm that with her?”

“No, sir, I’ll let you in.”

“Good.” He walked toward the cell, extremely aware that Colleen was standing in front of the bed, her green eyes large as she watched him approach. With only a few feet between him and the force field, she and her blanket skittered to the farthest corner. It rather looked like she was trying to press herself into as small a package as she could, or possibly through the wall and into the next holding cell. Smitty pulled his gaze away from her as the force field crackled shut behind him and got to work on the bed.

“Mr Smythe, what are you doing?”

He looked up to see Beth standing near Colleen, her hand lightly resting on the girl’s shoulder. “Adding variable gravity to the bed,” he answered, and returned to his work. “Captain’s orders.”

“Oh.” He could hear Beth whispering to Colleen, trying to keep her calm. “He’s just going to be here for a few minutes, Mac. Just take some deep breaths... He won’t be here long. Take another deep breath. You’re doing well.”

Smitty stopped listening, concentrated on getting done as quickly as possible. And of course, the unit didn’t want to cooperate. It took him far longer to get things installed than it should have, but eventually he stood up. “Okay. Computer, activate gravity on holding cell 1 bed to Gaelund standard.” He held a hand over the bed, felt it being pulled just a little more than normal. “Okay, I’m done.” Without any conscious direction, his gaze wandered over to Beth and Colleen. Mostly Colleen. “I could have let you do it yourself, but regulations say that a prisoner cannot make adjustments to her holding cell.” Green eyes got even larger, if that was possible, but otherwise, she made no response. “Okay, ensign, let me out.”

The force field crackled, he stepped out, and the field crackled once more. He stepped over to the security command board, and toggled a connection to the captain. “Smitty to Capt Burke.”

“Yes, Smitty.”

“The modification to the bed in holding cell 1 has been completed.”

“Thank you, Smitty. Burke out.”

“You lay down and try to sleep,” Beth told the redhead. “I’ll be here if you need me.” She turned to face the force field, her hands full of scraps of material. “Hernandez, let me out, please.” In a moment, she was out, walking toward the table at the side.

“What’s that?” Smitty asked, indicating the cloth remnants Beth carried.

“Mac’s uniform,” Beth answered. “What’s left of it.”

“They had just gotten her changed when you walked in,” Hernandez stated softly.

If I’d been just a minute earlier. Well, that would have been embarrassing. Although, I assume the field on her cell would have been fuzzed so that nothing really could have been seen. He finally looked at the other 2 holding cells, realized there were no other prisoners. “Where’s her opponent?”

“Still in sick bay,” Beth told him, as she sorted the cloth into various piles. “I understand she managed to knock him out.”

Smitty sighed and muttered, “I told her to keep her temper under control.” He turned to leave.

“Mr Smythe!” Temple called after him. He turned to face her, and she went on. “If you are thinking this was a one-sided fight, I would like to disabuse you of that notion. It was a mutual endeavor, each trying to get the other to do something they didn’t want to do. If you could see Mac’s bruises, you’d see she took quite a beating. I only hope she gave as good as she got.” She turned back to her work. “Hernandez, I think that’s part of her uniform shorts, not the tunic.”

Smitty, chastised, turned back for the door, then took a good look at the one piece of Colleen he could see; her face. One eye socket was beginning to darken, and the opposite cheek was already bruised. Her upper lip was torn. It had definitely not been a one-sided fight. And then he saw the glistening of tears before she rolled over and faced the wall.

Shakened, Smitty stepped into the hall and turned to face Ingersol. “I suppose Winthrop is investigating what happened?”

“Sir, Winthrop is in sick bay. Tall Bear is conducting the investigation.”

Smitty nodded slowly and headed back to engineering, feeling sick to his stomach. Mac’s opponent is in sick bay. Winthrop is in sick bay. Tall Bear is conducting the investigation, which implies that Winthrop is either incapacitated or... or involved in the mayhem. And if Winthrop is involved...

He found himself disagreeing with Beth. If Winthrop was involved, then he hoped Colleen had inflicted far worse than what she had endured.

Finding the Proof & Aftereffects

Finding the Proof

Month 11 Day 3

1020 Hours

Lt Tall Bear

There were 2 guards outside Quarters 42 of deck 4; one at each door. Tall Bear carried a large kit, which he sat down outside the bedroom door, where the captain had stopped. “Document everything,” the captain instructed him. “This could easily become a case of ‘he said, she said,’ so we need to be able to reconstruct what happened when. The fact that a book was under a computer screen may be important. So document everything before you move anything, and again every time you move some thing.”

“Yes, captain,” he agreed. “That’s how we were taught to do it.”

She hesitated and then sighed. “Look at me, trying to tell you how to do your job. Do we know which side of the bedroom is MacDowell’s?”

“I can figure it out,” he returned. “She’s the only person with variable gravity on her bed.”

“That’s right, she is. Well, as soon as you get the bedroom documented, send a fresh uniform down to the brig for her. And then, as soon as you get the living room thoroughly documented, inform fabrication so they can get in and fix things.”

“Yes, Captain.”

She hesitated half a moment. “I haven’t seen the living room. Any of it, really. But I get the idea that all sorts of things were tossed about, knocked to the floor and so on. Would that include the computers?”

“The computers were smashed up pretty badly.”

“Then when you are done, also inform Oakhurst. It’s my understanding MacDowell had several projects she had her computer working on, and I haven’t heard that she had finished any of them. See what Oakhurst can save for her.”

“She’ll appreciate that, captain.”

“Well, you know what you need to do, so I’ll let you do it.” She started to turn away, then turned back again. “Let me know when you’re done, too. So I know if I need to find temporary quarters for MacDowell’s roommate.”

“Captain, you’ll be the first to know,” he promised. As the captain moved away, he opened the kit and pulled out the hologram recorder and its tripod.

Ingersol opened the bedroom door, and they looked inside. Both beds were made, everything looked to be in place. “Doesn’t look like the fight got this far,” Ingersol stated.

“I agree, it doesn’t look like it.” Tall Bear stepped to the middle of the room and set up the recorder, then stepped back out of the room and gave the command for the machine to record. Afterwards, he took a careful look around, to make sure nothing had actually been tossed around. It still didn’t look like any part of the fight had progressed to this room. “Okay, I guess we can take a fresh uniform to Mac. Computer,” he started, but Ingersol stepped over to one of the closets and took out a uniform without hesitation. “How do you know that’s Mac’s uniform?”

“Because I know which side of the bedroom is Della’s.” Ingersol grinned.

Tall Bear grunted, then opened a couple drawers, found underwear for Mac, which he handed the other man. “I’m surprised you didn’t notice, she’s going to need a full set of clothes.” He found a pair of pantyhose and added those to what the man held. “Okay, go ahead. Give those to one of the ladies to give to Mac. Mac is still plenty upset.”

“One of the-- Zhang is still active? She works C shift.”

“That’s right. Relieve her when you get there. Tell her I may need her to work a 12-hour shift when she reports this evening. Depends how long we hold Mac. Now, get going.”

As Ingersol left, Tall Bear took the hologram recorder into the living room and set it up. This room was a complete mess, with broken shards of computer screens, broken chairs and desks. Even the sofa was out of place. If it were up to me, I’d let her go as soon as she calmed down. On the other hand, after what she’s been through, and considering her upbringing, that could take a while.

 

 

Aftereffects

Month 11 Day 3

1030 Hours

Capt Jane Burke

 Jane entered her office from the hallway and paused next to Blossom’s tiny desk. “Blossom, I need to talk to the ship’s tailor, fabrication, and Smitty in engineering.”

“Yes, captain.”

Jane proceeded to her desk and sat down. This is where other captains would probably turn the details over to someone else, perhaps their yeoman. Why do I feel the need to handle things myself? Is it just because I’m a woman, and I think I can imagine what MacDowell is going through? Or do I feel some guilt for not having found some way to get rid of Winthrop long before this? Maybe some of both. I’ve been afraid something like this would happen eventually, and I didn’t even know he was using a black market drug.

“Captain, the ship’s tailor is on line 1,” Blossom announced.

Jane hit the button, and Lt Postern’s face appeared on her computer screen. “Lieutenant, I need a rush job on a Class C and a Class D uniform for Lt MacDowell.”

The older man frowned and mumbled the name a couple times before he could recognize who that was. “Captain, I haven’t started the new uniforms for lieutenants yet.” That much was obvious, because he wasn’t wearing a new uniform himself.

“I don’t care. Do these uniforms for this lieutenant, and put a rush on it. When you get them done, track her down and give them to her directly. Any questions?”

“She’ll look out of place. And she hasn’t got the seniority to be the first lieutenant in new uniforms.”

“Never-the-less, one of her C uniforms has been damaged beyond repair, and it doesn’t make sense for you to make her a replacement of the old design.”

“Beyond repair?” Postern sighed. “Very well, I’ll get right on it.”

“Fabrication on line 2,” Blossom said.

Jane punched the button, and Lt Eckleson replaced Postern on her computer screen. “Yes, captain?”

“Deck 4, Quarters 42 has sustained substantial damage,” she told him. “As soon as Security is done gathering evidence, you’ll need to get in there and put it back together. But I want it to look different.”

“Different, captain?”

“Yes, different. It seems one of the occupants was attacked in that quarters, and I don’t want her to have to come back to something that looks the same. Move the furniture, use a different color scheme, put some kind of pattern on the sofa. Make it so she isn’t reminded of that attack every time she enters. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Mr Smythe is on line one.”

“Smitty, I need a variable gravity field placed on the bed in one of the brig cells.”

“What in space for?” Must have caught him by surprise.

“Well, as best I can figure, this the time she would normally be sleeping.”

All the color drained from Smitty’s face. “Oh, no.” he shook his head sadly. “I told her to keep that temper in check.”

Yes, he immediately assumes she’s guilty. “We don’t know that she initiated the altercation,” Jane told him. “But the other party is in sick bay, so she’s in the brig at least until all the evidence is gathered.”

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “All right, Captain. I’ll get on it right away.”

“Send the Harris woman,” Jane suggested. “MacDowell might appreciate seeing a friendly face. Burke out.” She broke the connection and sat back. Is that all? Is there anything else to be done? I can’t think of anything else. 4 hours to get that drug out of Winthrop’s blood. And then I shouldn’t intrude into the interview. That’s up to Tall Bear.