Taking Care

 Month 14 Day 26

1238 Hours

Smitty

 Jane nonchalantly glanced around the mess hall, and kept her voice low. "I understand your desire to demote him, but then he can't be assigned permanently to communications."

Smitty gave a tight, malicious grin that was mostly aimed down at his plate. "Then I'll assign him there at random, without warning. But with the warning that if he can't master the requirements of working in communications, I'll have to reconsider his fitness to serve on the Fireball."

"I understand," Jane repeated. "But it smacks of retribution, especially since Abdulla tells me that all the pieces of mail that were shunted to that folder instead of being sent out were either from you or from MacDowell."

"Well, he started it," Smitty growled. "I don't understand how he thought I wouldn't find out about it. And how did he expect I would react?" He glanced around the mess hall, as she had done, and seemed to calm down. "Who was she sending letters to?"

Jane shrugged, dismayed to see him still showing signs of suspicious jealousy. "Friends and family, I assume. They were all addressed to Gaelund."

"I think you have a lot to answer for," Drake aimed at the engineer, ignoring their conversation. "How could you just blithely fall asleep and not see that Mac got to sick bay to be treated?"

"She kept saying she was okay," Smitty responded, his voice low but somewhat angry. "I believed her! In addition, I thought she had fallen asleep again. I assumed she would remain until morning!"

"Well, she didn't!" Drake whispered back. "And then, as if she hadn't done enough damage to herself, she did even more trying to get to sick bay on her own! All because—"

"Enough," Jane broke in, and looked around again before she turned back to Smitty. "Did you ever figure out how she got out without waking you up? You said you were going to look into that."

He nodded. "Nothing so simple as tearing out the leads to the door lock. She got into the computer and removed the lock I had placed on the doors."

"Explains how I was able to simply walk in," Jane muttered. "Although I'd be happier if she didn't know her way around computers quite as well as she appears to. Or at least not so willing to put that skill to work."

"Oh, wait a minute," Drake said to someone as he turned in his chair. "Are you done eating, Harris?"

"Yes, sir," the brown-haired engineer answered. She looked uncomfortable, as if uncertain if she should salute the trio sitting at this table.

"At ease, lieutenant," Jane told her, solving the problem for her.

"Good," Drake told Harris. "I'd like for you to get some food on a tray and take it to your roommate. Maybe a sandwich, something that won't take a lot of manipulation."

"Take an extra half hour," Smitty stated. "In case she needs your help with something." He turned to the doctor. "Both her hands are bandaged, right?"

"Right. She's not supposed to use them any more than she has to."

"That's... very kind of you, Mr Smythe. I'll get right on it." Lt Harris moved off, to dispose of her tray and start one for Mac.

"That was very touching," Jane observed after Harris had moved away. "Of both of you, but particularly of you, Smitty, making sure MacDowell has someone to help her for a few minutes. But I could wish to see a little less jealousy on your part."

"Jealousy?" he returned. "I don't know what you mean."

"You only allowed MacDowell to invite her female friends to the ceremony," she pointed out softly. "And I understand you've told Lt Bugalu to leave her alone. Considering that he's like a brother to her, and nothing more, that shows a lot of jealousy on your part."

"What?" A brother indeed! He's the father of her child, obviously! But I can't mention that until after we're married!

"I'm surprised he hasn't warned me off," Drake stated. "After all, she's adopted me as an uncle. But Smitty's an old-fashioned kind of guy, I guess, and doesn't think men and women can be just friends."

"Surprising, after the long-term friendship he's had with Anna," Jane murmured.

Smitty felt his face burn, remembering that he hadn't stayed just friends with Anna. And there's been other women. But most of them I don't think about. Seldom think of Anna as a lover, and not at all since... I've gotten engaged. How can I be sure the same is true for Colleen? She and Bugalu have been such a tight couple since shortly after she came aboard. And Bugalu isn't the kind of man to just be friends with a woman. But the captain had gone on to another subject.

"I'm not sure it makes much sense, to send in your request to marry to Headquarters when she's just declared the marriage is off."

Oh, no! "Captain, you've got to give me a chance to change her mind! And once I've done that, I don't want any more roadblocks in our way." How long can she possibly have left on her first trimester? Sick Bay will be aware of her condition, after last night!

Jane's mouth went taut for a moment as she rearranged things on her tray, bringing her dessert to the forefront. "Very well. But I warn you, Smitty, there's a difference between winning her heart again and trying to coerce her against her will!"

"Yes, captain," he answered meekly. "I understand." How can she think that— No, I can't blame her for giving me that warning. The whole situation must seem greasy to her. I have to admit, if it was one of my underlings, vowing to change the mind of someone who had just broken up with him, I'd likely be warning him, too. On the other hand, I hope I'm mature enough not to insist on having things my way if the situation is truly hopeless. Space, I hope it's not hopeless!

Fighting Despair

Month 14 Day 26 (day of wedding)

1118 Hours

Smythe

 "Smitty."

He looked up at whoever had entered his office and hastily stood up. "Captain!"

"Sit down," she said, waving him back into his chair as she stepped forward and took a seat in one of the chairs facing his desk. She studied his face for a time before she spoke again. "It looks like you've got 2 problems in the way of there being a marriage ceremony, today or in the future."

His eyebrows rose at the news. "2 problems?"

"Those are the ones I've figured out. There may be more," she told him bluntly. "The first one is that she complains you don't listen to her. She tried to tell you something last night, and you wouldn't let her say it. That can be frustrating, and in this case, it appears to have frustrated her so much, she's decided to cancel the wedding."

But I already knew what she was going to say. "Postpone," he stated, and sighed. "It's postponed, not cancelled."

"As far as she's concerned, it's cancelled," Jane said firmly. "So I suggest you have a long talk with her and be sure you listen to what she has to say. I would guess that would be the very first step you need to take if you want to change her mind. And when I say 'talk', I don't mean a long session of making out!"

"Yes, captain." What could I have said last night that made Colleen so upset she actually wants to call off the wedding? I know she's pregnant. She didn't need to actually say it.

Jane pursed her lips thoughtfully and added, "On the other hand, you might want to forego that endeavor until we've gotten an answer from HQ concerning your request to get married."

"Then, I guess that hasn't arrived yet." And that left him frustrated. I thought my name had more respect than that.

"No, it hasn't. Like you, I was hoping it would have arrived by now, so we could get this settled and you two could start the next stage of your lives. But it hasn't. It's possible HQ is taking an extra long look at the request. Obviously, there wouldn't be any question about letting you get married, but unfortunately, MacDowell's record... is more complex than yours."

"How so?"

Jane looked up. "Some youthful indiscretions. A few nights in the brig for drunken brawling."

She could almost be describing my record.

The captain went on. "Some complaints she filed against previous superiors that, when coupled with what can only be retaliatory assignments, tell another story entirely. If they are looking at her record hard, I hope they look hard enough to see the entire picture. It isn't easy to find."

"One only needs to know the reputation of her previous supervisors—" Smitty started, but Jane interrupted.

"That's part of the problem. The higher rank you are, the less the brass is likely to pay attention to gossip and innuendoes. Well." She stood up, preparing to go. "I'll give it another week, and then if we still haven't gotten an answer, I'll make discreet inquiries."

Smitty stood up before she had a chance to leave. "Were you able to talk any sense into Colleen?"

"I don't know. She was so upset when I saw her, I decided to try a little tough love and told her I agreed with her decision. Sometimes, that makes them realize that the decision they made isn't the one they actually want. But she didn't immediately change her mind, so if she's making that realization, she's doing it slower than you and I would want her to. It might take her a couple days."

"Oh." He couldn't keep the disappointment out of his voice. Even just the one word revealed his deep despair.

Jane gave him another look. "Give her a couple days to calm down, Smitty. She's on bed rest for her weekend, anyway. Although, from the sounds of it, she isn't sleeping well. Her injuries are bothering her, apparently. Anyway, once she calms down, you can try to talk to her. Preferably someplace that isn't private, so that you two do actually talk, and not... what you've been doing".

"Thank you, captain. I'll plan accordingly." A couple days without seeing Colleen? I don't think I'll be sleeping, either. Not until we get this... misunderstanding sorted out. I told her my plans for the future. Surely she realizes she can't do physical engineering once she's past the first trimester of her pregnancy! Not in any official capacity!

The captain left, and Smitty sat down again. Sometime later, the doorbell rang, and he looked up, realized he'd only been staring at his computer screen, that he hadn't actually accomplished anything all morning. "Come in," he directed.

Oakhurst entered, looking uncertain. "I'm afraid I've got some bad news, sir."

Oakhurst was there during the argument between Colleen and Bugalu last night, Smitty realized. Has he come to tell me that my fiancée is pregnant? "I'm not sure I want to hear it," he stated.

"It's about the out-going mail," Oakhurst said, looking uncomfortable.

Nothing about my fiancée, then. This is about communications. What can he possibly have to report? "What kind of problem with the outgoing mail?"

"Not all of it has been sent out."

"What do you mean?"

The computer specialist sighed. "I discovered a hidden file associated with the 'ready to go out' line-up that the A shift uses to send out mail."

Smitty's brow furrowed. "There's no hidden file in that line-up."

"Not in the standard set-up," Oakhurst agreed. "As far as I can tell, this one was created a couple weeks ago. It's mostly private pieces of mail. Including some of yours. Specifically, your request to marry Lt MacDowell never got sent."

Adams! Having his revenge on me for assigning him to communications, is he? I'll deal with him later. Right now, I've got 2 people to talk to. "I'll let Lt Abdulla know so she can get them sent out. If she has trouble finding that file, I'll have her contact you. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'll see that it's set straight. But keep an eye on things, in case this sort of thing is repeated."

"Yes, sir," he agreed, and left.

Smitty opened an intercom channel to the captain's office. "Ensign Blossom, I need to speak to the captain. In private, please." Jane can't make any discreet inquiries until after the blasted request has been sent! At least now maybe we can get things underway.

More Questions

 Month 14 Day 26 (day of wedding)

1001 Hours

Dr. Drake MacGregor

 Now that Ngu had left, Drake looked to the captain, wondering which of them would go next. Jane nodded, to indicate he should. He turned his attention to the redhead. "How are you feeling, Mac?"

"Tired," she answered. "I've been waking up every hour, seems like, to try and find a more comfortable position. And to move my thermal bandage to a new spot."

"You've still got it set on cold, haven't you?"

The un-bruised side of her mouth turned upward a bit. "I do know how to care for a bruise, MacG."

"Of course. I'm being a worrywart. It comes with the job."

"They're just bruises," she told him.

"They're a lot bruises, and large. Come to sick bay before you get dressed this afternoon. Maybe Temple can hide that facial bruise with some makeup. Better yet, I'll have her come to you. She can help you get dressed, and get you to the ceremony."

He was surprised to see her jaw harden, and a quick flash of her one open eye towards the captain. "No need, MacG. There isn't going to be a ceremony."

Surprised, he glanced at the captain, whose face revealed no emotion, and then he pasted a smile on his face. "Postponed it, did you? Probably a good idea, if you can't trust your legs to hold you up. Give it a week, and you'll be fine." Good enough to get married, anyway.

Mac stared at her hands while the color drained from the non-bruised side of her face. It looked like some of the color even drained from the bruised side. "I didn't postpone it, I cancelled it."

"What?" What happened to her determination to marry Smitty, no matter what?

"That's why I'm here," Jane spoke up. "I took your message to Mr Smythe, as I assume you expected me to do. You did specify in your message that you would not be marrying him this evening. He was shocked at the news, but convinced himself that you needed time to heal, and that therefore, you intended to postpone the ceremony."

A tear left Mac's eye and crawled down her purple cheek. "I apologize for not being clearer with my message. It was late, I was... in pain... But I should have made it clear that this was not a postponement. My intention was to cancel the engagement."

The room was silent for a long moment. Drake's thoughts whirled as he tried to figure out why Mac had changed her mind about marrying the man she had been so determined to marry. Perhaps the captain's mind was likewise occupied during the silence, but she calmly asked, "May I ask what changed your mind?"

Mac looked all around the room, apparently trying to figure out how to phrase her answer. "Captain, I had my reasons for accepting his proposal."

"I would assume so."

"And he had reasons for proposing."

"Yes."

"At first, I didn't care what his reasons were. I didn't feel they were important. That we'd work things out." Jane's mouth was a thin line, but she didn't interrupt. "And then... I was convinced that... that those reasons why he had proposed could pose problems for us that I had neglected to take into account sufficiently. And last night—" She stopped, swallowed hard and finally went on, her voice strained and husky. "Last night, I discovered those potential problems were already in play, and far worse than I had ever imagined they would be." She raised a hand to let tears soak into the bandage wrapped around it. "I was such a fool! So naive! I should have listened to Bugsy!"

Jane took a deep breath and coldly said, "So you hit a bump in the road, and you immediately gave up. You're quite right, the marriage should be cancelled." Jane started for the living room to leave. Mac said nothing to stop her.

"Captain!" Drake called out.

Jane stopped to look back at him. "Marriage isn't for the faint-hearted, doctor. If it's going to last, both participants need to be willing to fight for it, not beat a hasty retreat at the first disagreement." She continued on her way out of Mac's quarters.

Drake stepped over to the bed, helped Mac sit up, and then gave her a long hug, only vaguely aware of her tears soaking into his tunic. He didn't ask any questions, but Mac soon opened up. "He thinks I'm pregnant, MacG! Can't imagine who he thinks the father is. But he's planned out our entire life together, based on that one belief. I tried to tell him the truth, but he wouldn't listen! It's almost as if he didn't want for it be untrue."

He shushed her, and held her, and eventually her tears subsided. "That must have been quite a shock," he told her.

"I ran probabilities on Oaks' computer, trying to figure out if it would be better to let him believe I was pregnant, or if I should tell him that I'm not."

"It's usually better to be truthful," Drake told her softly.

"Well, that seemed to be what the probability studies said, so I went to him last night to tell him the truth. And before I could get it out, he said he already knew! That it didn't matter! So I thought, he really does love me. And there was nothing to keep us from getting married. I was ecstatic!"

"But something happened," Drake guessed.

"I was so happy, I... I gave myself to him," she admitted, her eyes downcast in embarrassment. "We were going to be married, and everything was right with the universe. But then he started laying out these plans he'd made for our future. Even warned me that any future children would be his. Like he couldn't trust me to be faithful if he didn't spell it out."

"Oh. That's not good," Drake murmured. "So you left?"

"Well, we had sex again. I knew it would be the last time, and I needed the memory of holding him. He fell asleep, and then I left."

"But... do you love him?"

"Yes. But I can't see living under the constant suspicion that I'm not being faithful." She was silent for a time, and she looked up at him. "I know you two are friends. I don't want you telling him any of this."

"Have you given any thought to what you're going to do now?"

"All I can think of is to wait 3 or 4 months, until it becomes obvious that I'm not pregnant, and then see what happens."

She's hoping that proving to him that she's not pregnant will make it possible for them to get married and live happily ever after. Poor girl. If he was marrying her because he thought she was pregnant, proving she's not probably isn't going to get her where she wants to be. I'd better warn Bugalu. Hopefully, she'll let us help her pick up the pieces when things don't go the way she wants them to.

 

The Locked Door

 Month 14 Day 26 (day of wedding)

0918 Hours

Security Chief Ngu

Lt Cmdr Waylon Ngu approached the crew quarters he was headed for, surprised to see a man already there, trying to open the door.

"Computer, this is Chief Medical Officer Drake MacGregor. Emergency override. Let me in."

The computer's response was not immediate; entire seconds drug by before it announced, "Denied."

"What? You can't do that!"

"Is there a problem?" Ngu asked.

The Chief Medical Officer turned to look at him. "Saw a medical report stating Mac—MacDowell was seen as a patient last night. Thought I'd look in on her, but the computer won't let me in."

"I always thought a medical emergency override was undeniable."

"So did I."

"Was she badly injured?"

"Mostly just bruises, but I've seen how bad bruises can be for her." His mouth went tight for a moment. "I thought I should double-check about how she got injured, since there were several of them."

"Oh." Ngu considered the door, which he also wanted to get past. He rang the doorbell, but nothing happened. "Computer, this is Lt Cmdr Ngu. Security override. Open this door."

Again the computer hesitated. "Denied."

"What? How can it do that?" Ngu wondered.

"I was wondering the same thing." MacGregor pushed the button that would open an intercom channel to the interior. "Mac? Are you in there? Are you okay?"

After a long moment, a female voice responded. "It's hard to sleep if you're going to natter at me."

MacGregor frowned. "It's B shift. What are you doing sleeping?"

"It's my weekend. Why aren't you in Sick Bay? What if someone needs you?"

"Nurse Temple will find me. Even on your day off, you don't dawdle in bed. So what's going on today?"

"Did you read your overnight reports?"

"Of course."

"Then you know what's going on. I'm resting, like Dr Davis told me to." A tinny 'click' said the channel had been closed.

The two men looked at each other. "She didn't sound very cooperative," Ngu observed.

"Usually means she's trying to hide something," MacGregor muttered.

Like rape? Tall Bear didn't say that in his report of his encounter with her, but the implication was that it might be a possibility.

"Gentlemen," came an already familiar voice. "Why are you congregated in this particular area?"

They turned to see the captain approaching. MacGregor spoke first. "I came to check on Mac's injuries."

The captain didn't look surprised at the mention of injuries. Ngu added, "After reading a report of her having to be helped to sick bay, and back to her quarters, I came to investigate the source of her injuries."

The captain gave a short nod. "Good reasons for being here. Why are you still in the hallway?"

"The door's locked," MacGregor stated simply. "Denies our emergency over-rides. She doesn't want to be disturbed."

"Is she in there?"

"I just spoke to her on the intercom."

Capt Burke reached between them to activate the intercom again. "Lt MacDowell, this is the captain. I received your message. I want to talk to you about it." They heard a sigh come over the channel, and then the tinny click again.

But the door opened, allowing them entry to the living room. They walked in as one group, but there was no sign of any inhabitants as the door closed behind them.

"You'll have to come to the bedroom, captain. I can't get up."

Ngu followed the others into the bedroom, where a woman with flaming red hair and a dark purple face lay on the secondary bed. "Well, I could try to get up, but even if I made it, I'd probably fall on my face."

"Stay where you are," MacGregor told her. "You don't need any more bruises. That's quite a doozy you've got on your face."

"The others are probably just as bad. I had a feeling you hadn't left yet, MacG." She turned a green eye—the other one was swollen shut—to Ngu. "Who's the new guy?"

He almost stepped forward to offer a hand, but realized both of hers were bandaged. "Lt Cmdr Ngu, Security."

"Oh, yes. Tall Bear said someone might come around. I was hoping to put it off a day or two." She wriggled, apparently trying to find a more comfortable position. "Well, you're all here now, so who wants to start?"

"I think Cmdr Ngu should," the captain stated, and waved him forward. "He probably has the most pressing questions that we'd all like to hear the answers to."

"Well, go ahead. I don't know for sure what your questions are until I hear them."

"Who were you with when you sustained these injuries?" Ngu asked the redhead.

A red eyebrow rose in surprise, but didn't stay up very long. "I don't want to answer that one. What's the next one?"

No, she's not going to be cooperative. "Alright, then. How did you sustain these injuries?"

"Oh. It's a long story that I'm tired of telling. Clumsiness. Nervousness. Lack of thinking. Pick one. Or all of them, because they all fit. I was extremely nervous about my impending wedding. It was happening today. I forgot my own strength. I'm a heavy worlder. I also forgot my limitations. I bruise very easily. So through a batch of not thinking and some very clumsy moves, I managed to batter myself quite well. Done more damage than any man has ever done to me, I'm pretty sure. If you need more than that, talk to Dr Davis. I recited the entire litany to her."

"Ahh," MacGregor spoke up. "The information is in your medical chart, Mac, but technically, that's privileged information."

"Naturally," MacDowell agreed, and sighed. "Well, I can't currently sign any release forms, so verbal will have to do. Captain, MacGregor, please serve as my witnesses. I hereby give permission to Lt Cmdr Ngu to view my medical records concerning the injuries I sustained last night. However, I don't expect the details of those medical records to become common knowledge."

Is she trying to tie my hands in this investigation? I can't make a promise like that until I know what's in the files.

"If Mr Ngu has any problems with that, he'll come to me to resolve the ethics of the matter," Capt Burke stated.

After a moment, the redhead gave a short nod. "Good enough. What's next?"

He sighed in frustration. "What I'm trying to figure out is whether or not you were raped."

"I wasn't."

"Wait a minute, Mac," MacGregor broke in. "Think about that for a moment. If you say no now, it'll make it that much harder to press charges later."

She turned her head to face MacGregor, and her face seemed to go even darker, until Ngu saw the redness of her neck, and realized she was blushing furiously. She spoke very deliberately, all the while staring at MacGregor. "There was no rape. We did have sex, which produced the only injury I didn't inflict on myself, but it was completely consensual. I said that to Dr Davis, too." She lowered her gaze to her hands, which were resting atop the blanket.

"Anything else, Mr Ngu?" The captain had a completely bland look on her face.

She's a heavy worlder, she admits she was clumsy and not thinking. "Did you—either accidentally or intentionally—injure whoever you were with?"

She opened her mouth to answer, then closed it as she paused to ruminate. "I don't think so. I certainly didn't try to. He didn't complain of any injuries."

So if she did, I have to wait for her lover to come and press charges against her. Unless he's currently in sick bay, I don't see that happening. What else can I possibly ask? "Were you drunk?"

She grinned, as much as her facial bruise would let her, then winced as her face went bland again. "I wish I had been! But no, I haven't had a drop in a couple weeks."

Ngu pursed his lips, gathered his thoughts and turned to the captain. "I think that's all the questions I have right now, captain."

She nodded and waved him out of the room. Ngu walked back through the living room and out into the corridor. The door closed behind him with a seriously ominous 'thump'.