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Posted on Thu Jun 1st, 2023 @ 8:02am by Lieutenant JG Miraj Derani

Mission: Season 6: Episode 2: Survival
Location: Lt Carly Morrison's shelter
Timeline: MD 04 1600
1144 words - 2.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Some of the flight control crew had accumulated in the small shelter that CPO Hath shared with Lt Carly Morrison. The lieutenant was out, managing the afternoon split-shift that got people up and down, and the handful of crew on mandatory break had gathered with their CPO, feeling lost in the face of recent events.

Somehow, Lt Morrison had managed to get a heavy bag into her shelter, and Raoul Menedes was steadying it whilst CPO Hath was beating it into submission, her wrapped knuckles doing their best to punch holes into it. PO1 Mash Leth Shev was sprawled on the chair at the small table, trying to connect her padd up to a portable projector that had seen better days. Crewmen Salot and Th'shyniq sat on Hath's bed, a durotta board between them. The Vulcan was putting down another short piece in a blatant attempt at a line when he said, "So, we all think Eric did it, don't we?"

There was a moment of silence, even Hath stopped abusing the heavy bag.

Mash didn't look up from her fiddling. "The man's a weasel, and on any given day I'd say he's up to something as far as Buccaneer Barbie goes." The tellerite deck engineer glanced at the young Vulcan. "But where's the proof? There's a long walk between being an arsehole, and attempted murder."

Solat held out another durotta piece to his opponent and frowned at it. "I'm not telling you what to do Mash, but Commander S'hib was most upset at Eric referring to the ensign as Princess Bubblegum Perhaps you should consider not using your name for her either."

Mash snorted. "When did officers get so sensitive?"

"Kid's got a point, Mash." Raoul said from behind the heavy bag, "And Solat's putting it mildly. The commander absolutely lost his shit. Bravo must weigh the best part of a ton, but he shoved that shuttle back several meters like he was kicking over a chair. I don't think we want to be making him angry."

The Tellerite shrugged, "So we lay off on the names. Doesn't solve the real problem does it? She wasn't beaten like that over a name."

"I'm also not sure Eric did it." Th'shyniq finally decided on his move, and put the piece down, neatly cutting off the Vulcan's attempt at a line of round pieces. "Eric's a lazy fuck. He'd shoot her with a phaser, not beat her to a pulp."

"So if Eric's too lazy, who do we think did it?" Raoul asked the room.

The tellerite shrugged again. "Could be anyone. Its not quite Space Dock down there, but its so busy, I doubt they'll get any useful DNA out. Too much through traffic."

The rhythmic staccato of Hath's fists against the bag paused. "Maybe not, but they found her in amongst the parking. No one has cause to be in there but us. Flight control."

"So if they find some DNA not from one of us, then they've got the guy. Sounds simple enough." The Andorian nodded, now certain that the unknown assailant would be found quickly.

"Not," Solat said slowly, testing the logic in his head, "Not if it really was one of us."

An uncomfortable silence settled over the group, as they contemplated that one of their department might be a murderer. And then there were nervous glances as they followed the thought further. That one of them right there might be the killer.

"We'll know soon enough, won't we?" Th'shyniq asked, trying to sound rhetorical, but it was a bit to earnest. "They'll wake up, and she'll tell us who it was and its all over."

Raoul let go of the heavy bag, thoughtful. "There's no guarantee. I don't know about Boslics, but she's half-human, and we don't handle trauma like that very well. She may remember it all in clarity so real she wished she couldn't, or she may remember nothing at all. Not sure which is worse, to be honest."

"Remembering." Hath said without hesitation. "Might make security's life easier, but she'll be in therapy the rest of her life if she can remember it. Hope for amnesia; she might not survive the alternative."

"Not ominous at all, Coco," Mash muttered.

Hath shrugged. "I've seen people wake up after horrific injuries; the ones who remember getting them change more. And rarely for the better. Besides, if she can't remember who did it, then there's a chance whoever did it won't try again."

There was another sudden cold silence. "Would they even dare try? Security's going to be watching her 24/7?" Raoul doubted it. He didn't fancy the chances of anyone caught in the act by Commander S'hib.

Hath shrugged, and tapped the heavy bag with one wrapped knuckle. "Where there's a will, there's a way. And what generates more will than the thought of being caught and tried for murder?"

"Being torn limb from limb by a big angry sequus?" Th'Shyniq pointed out.

"That's only likely to make it more likely the culprit will try again," Solat pointed out. The two young men had given up any pretense of concentrating on their game as they contemplated events.

"So we just sit around until whoever it was tries again?" the Andorian asked. "I don't like that."

Raoul shook his head at the younger crewman. "Its not our job, Ran. Let security handle that. The best thing we can do is hold things together so there's no messes for her to deal with when she comes back."

"And what if it is one of us?" the andorian pushed. "Shouldn't we all buddy up, make sure we can spot is someone sneaks off to...finish things?"

"No talk like that," Hath said sharply. "Whoever did that isn't one of us. Not really. We all know the child had her faults. All officers do, especially the fresh ones. But anyone who'd do that to someone little better than a cadet, isn't who we are. And tearing ourselves to shreds over this won't help anyone."

She had their attention now. "So you're going to go out there and get on with your jobs, that means directing traffic, and cleaning out the shuttles, and all the other shitty jobs, because trying to kill the ensign doesn't change anything. And you will do a better job than you have been doing, becuase I've been inspecting everyone and you're getting sloppy. We may be a long way from home, and with no way to get back until that ship up there is fixed, but that's no excuse to let standards slip. So we're going to focus on that, and leave security to deal with the other thing. Understand?"

There was a chorus, albeit slow and doubting, of "Yes, Chief."

Satisfied, Hath gestured to Raoul to resume his position, and went back to working out her own stress.