Trials 04 Shadow's Trial

by Terri Zavaleta

  noted. "Both crewmen declined to make a statement regarding the cause

  of the altercation."

  The captain turned to the first officer and raised an eyebrow.

  "Captain, as I reported to you last week, the level of tension has

  been rising steadily for some time. Last night, I had the opportunity

  to discuss the matter with reliable sources. The problem seems to stem

  from the sexual harassment of certain Maquis personnel, by certain

  Starfleet personnel," the commander said. He didn't look happy.

  Harry, unnoticed for the moment, flinched. He had a bad feeling about

  this. This might have something to do with the source of the obscene

  messages Malista had received, but he didn't want to mention it. It

  would be betraying a confidence. Wouldn't it?

  "Sexual harassment? On *my* ship? Do you have names to go along with

  these accusations?" Janeway's snapping eyes were cold steel gray.

  "No, Captain. I'm sorry. The only name I've confirmed is Crewman Paul

  Castelle. That stems from his behavior last night." Chakotay looked

  down at a padd that held his notes on the incident. "It seems that Mr.

  Castelle has been spreading all kinds of stories about his sexual

  prowess and how he has demonstrated it with the female Maquis

  crewmembers. He has also instigated some vicious and slanderous rumors

  about the sexual appetites of Maquis women. Last night, he was more

  overt in his bragging and made the mistake of doing it where one of

  his targets could hear it. Crewman Henley was playing pool when she

  overheard him making remarks of a---personal nature about Henley's

  anatomy and sexual interests and habits." Chakotay stopped to clear

  his throat. He hoped the captain wouldn't ask for specifics. His dark

  coloring nearly hid the hot flush of blood he already felt rushing up

  his neck to his cheeks as he recalled Castelle's exact statements as

  quoted by those present.

  "Overheard by whom? Were there any other witnesses? Or is it her word

  against his?" Janeway interrupted, citing a frequent problem in such

  cases.

  Chakotay took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He did not meet the

  eyes of the other officers. "Overheard by Henley and Gerron."

  "Not exactly impartial testimony," Janeway commented.

  "Castelle was talking to Crewman Molina, who has also given a

  statement that corroborates Henley's story," the commander continued.

  "Mr. Molina just happened to be seated at the bar next to Mr. Castelle

  and was the unwilling audience for Mr. Castelle's remarks. He was not

  involved in any way in Castelle's actions and, in fact, disapproved of

  them."

  "It seems we may have overestimated Mr. Castelle's intelligence,"

  Janeway remarked dryly.

  "Or perhaps he underestimated the auditory acuity of Crewman Henley,"

  Tuvok remarked.

  Janeway shot a sharp glance at him. If that remark had come from

  anyone else, she'd have thought it was a joke. Tuvok was just stating

  the facts. "Perhaps," she muttered. "What is going on? You say this is

  a pattern of behavior that Castelle has established before? Have there

  been any other complaints? Is there anyone else involved? And have all

  the female Maquis crewmembers been the objects of these---verbal

  attacks?"

  B'Elanna Torres spoke up. "I haven't, Captain. Or if I have been, I

  haven't heard anything about it. But I think Malista Shadow has been

  bothered. She's been upset and distracted for days---maybe longer."

  All eyes in the briefing room turned toward Harry Kim. He had time to

  brace himself for the impact of their gaze. He sat there stolidly

  trying to pretend he had nothing to contribute to the meeting, his

  face a blank mask. He wasn't as practiced at it as his friend, Tom

  Paris. Some of his anxiety leaked through his carefully managed

  expression.

  "Harry? Has Malista been harassed?" Janeway asked gently.

  "She hasn't filed a report." His carefully worded answer was precisely

  accurate.

  "That's not what I asked," the captain returned pointedly.

  No escape. If anything, his expression became even more deadpan as he

  tightened his jaw obstinately. "I am not personally aware of---" He

  couldn't say it. He couldn't look Captain Janeway in the eye and lie

  to her. He'd never been able to lie well. He cleared his throat.

  "Captain, I---"

  She waved a hand dismissively. "I'm sorry, Harry. I shouldn't have put

  you on the spot. I'll discuss this with Crewman Shadow myself."

  The ensign wanted to protest, but swallowed the words with an effort.

  "Lieutenant Tuvok, if you'll continue to look into this matter, I'd

  like to know the extent of the problem. I'm sure Commander Chakotay

  will give you any assistance you require," stated the captain.

  The Vulcan nodded. "An investigation is already under way. My own

  sources have the name of another possible suspect and are interviewing

  possible witnesses to ascertain the degree of involvement of others."

  "Now, Harry," Janeway turned back to the Ops Officer. "We need to

  analyze the energy readings of those probes and find a way to block

  them. Last time, they evidently passed right through our shields and

  the hull without setting off the intruder alert warning. If we can't

  block them, I want to know when they're coming and where they

  originate. Then I want to start working on a way to modify the

  Universal Translator program to work on nonverbal languages, such as

  these light and color signals so we can communicate with those who

  sent the probes."

  "Yes, ma'am." It was an unconscious echo of Tom Paris. "I'll get to

  work on it right away."

  A few moments later, the meeting was dismissed and the officers

  scattered to their duty stations. On the way to the bridge, Torres

  found a moment to pull Kim aside. "Harry, I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't

  have mentioned Malista---"

  He shook his head. "You're her commanding officer. It's your duty to

  report something like that."

  "Was I right?"

  "Yes. But I don't want to talk about it. It's her story, not mine. If

  she wants you to know---as her superior or as her friend---it's her

  place to tell you."

  B'Elanna nodded. She hadn't seen Malista yet today. She still owed the

  younger woman an apology. That was the next item on her agenda. Before

  she reached the turbolift, Lieutenant Tuvok called her over to his

  station.

  "Lieutenant Torres, if I am going to investigate the possibility of a

  sexual harassment problem aboard this ship, it would be helpful to

  know where to begin. You mentioned that Crewman Shadow has been

  distracted and upset. Can you cite a particular instance?" Tuvok

  remarked as emotionlessly as if discussing weather conditions on

  Vulcan.

  Torres tried to pinpoint an incident. She wasn't good about noticing

  subtleties of behavior. Usually her mind was too engaged with

  technical or problem-solving matters to pay much attention, but on one

  occasion in particular, it had struck her that Malista had been

  uncomfortable with her duty assignment. So had Gerron. And
the simple

  task had taken far longer than it should have to complete---or was

  there another reason that Shadow and Gerron had been long overdue in

  reporting back to Engineering?

  She nodded slowly as she considered her words. "If I were you, Tuvok,

  I think I'd start looking in the Biology Department. She was---very

  tense---when she returned from repairing the environmental controls

  there."

  The Vulcan raised one eyebrow. He knew that, Malista Shadow had seen

  two members of the staff of the Biology Department socially on

  separate occasions: Lt. Trent Salaka and Crewman Sven Haldersen. That

  raised the possibility that one or both of them could be a source of

  the problem, though the Security Officer had never had any indication

  that either was the type of man to force his attentions on an

  unwilling partner. "I will investigate that possibility, Lieutenant.

  Thank you."

  Torres continued on her way to Engineering.

  *****************************

  As it turned out, B'Elanna didn't have a chance to apologize to

  Malista. By the time she reached Engineering, Crewman Shadow had been

  summoned to the captain's ready room and had left for the bridge.

  As Shadow crossed the bridge, her green eyes involuntarily slid toward

  the Operations station. Ensign Kim put as much encouragement and love

  as he could in the look he sent her. She appreciated it. Pausing for

  just a moment as she approached the door, she found herself smiling

  back at him.

  She didn't blame Harry for telling the captain about the messages on

  her terminal. That must be what this was about. If he'd told the

  captain, he'd done it out of concern for her. She'd expected a summons

  like this from the moment he'd found out. She braced herself. She was

  prepared for anything Janeway might say. Or so she thought. She hit

  the signal for admittance.

  "Come."

  The young woman swallowed hard, her smile disappearing as if it had

  never existed, and stepped into the room. Captain Janeway was sitting

  behind her desk, Commander Chakotay was seated to her right, and there

  was a vacant chair on the left. With a polite smile, Janeway gestured

  her toward the empty seat. "Please, sit down, Crewman Shadow."

  She sat as instructed, but didn't relax. She was poised on the edge of

  the seat, her spine rigid. Her hands clenched tightly on the arms of

  the chair. Her face was an icy, controlled mask, but her eyes had a

  glint in them that disturbed Chakotay. She looked like someone who was

  holding onto the tattered edges of her self-control---as if it were

  the difference between life and death.

  Janeway recognized that something was very wrong here. Before bringing

  up the suspected harassment, the captain decided to give the younger

  woman some positive feedback in an effort to ease the tension. "A few

  weeks ago, Commander Chakotay and I began crew evaluations and

  performance reviews."

  The statement confused Shadow. She frowned slightly as she made an

  effort to concentrate, trying to ignore both the pain in her head and

  the disconcerting sensation of sparkles of multicolored light randomly

  appearing and disappearing in her line of vision. "I'm sorry, Captain.

  What did you say?"

  The captain traded concerned glances with her first officer. She

  smiled gently and encouragingly at the girl. "Malista, your work since

  you've become a member of this crew has been exemplary. In fact, it

  was the excellence of your performance that led us to discover you

  were working two different jobs and two shifts. Both your supervisors

  recommended you for promotion."

  The green eyes rounded. Her mouth opened and closed twice before she

  choked out, "What?"

  Janeway leaned forward, hands clasped before her on her desk, and

  spoke very clearly. "I thought you should know that you have been

  recommended for promotion to Ensign." She waited for the idea to sink

  in, expecting at least a smile of pleasure from the young woman. She

  didn't get it.

  Malista Shadow surged to her feet, planted both fists on the captain's

  desk and shouted right in the captain's face. "You can't do that!!"

  Before the captain could do more than blink and recoil from the

  ferocity of her tone, Shadow pounded the desks with her fists. "You

  can't do that! You can't promote me!! I won't LET you!!" Her icy

  features were now a twisted mask of rage, flushed with the heat of her

  anger.

  Chakotay was on his feet, ready to intercede physically if necessary.

  His movement drew her attention.

  Shadow spun to face him, to plead with him. "You can't let her do

  this. I don't *want* a promotion. You can't let her, Chakotay! Please,

  you have to stop her! It will ruin everything! They'll think---he'll

  think---everyone will think everything they said was true! I don't

  want a promotion! She can't make me take one, can she?"

  The captain got slowly to her feet, staring as she tried to comprehend

  what had gone wrong and what Shadow was talking about.

  "Malista---" Chakotay began, touching her arm lightly. Her eyes were

  closed. Every muscle in her body seemed to be clenched in an effort to

  regain command of herself.

  The more she tried for control, the more it seemed to slip away. The

  very rigidity of her body made it easier to notice when she began to

  tremble. Her eyes opened and darted back to the other side of the

  desk. Her mouth dropped open as she suddenly heard what she'd

  said---and realized how she'd said it---and to whom.

  She'd yelled---at the captain! The captain!! Her hands flew up to

  cover her mouth in horror. "Oh, Zeus! Captain, I----" Words fled from

  her mind before they could be voiced. She bit down on her fist, hard

  enough to draw blood.

  Shaking and trembling, her knees gave way and she crumpled into the

  chair, drawing her legs up and tucking her head down until she was

  curled into the fetal position. She wasn't making a sound. Somehow

  that was more poignant than if she had been screaming or crying.

  The first officer reached out tentatively to touch her shoulder. She

  recoiled even more, if that was possible. He threw a helpless glance

  at Janeway. She mouthed, "Sickbay?"

  He nodded. "Malista?" No response. "Malista, we're sending you to

  Sickbay." Her body jerked, her head moved from side to side. "Not

  through the corridors or the bridge." Another shudder racked her.

  "We'll transport you."

  No response. Her breathing was irregular as she took in air in small

  frantic gasps. He activated his commbadge. "Chakotay to Sickbay."

  "Yes, Commander?" the doctor's cool voice replied.

  "We have a---medical emergency. You have an incoming patient. Crewman

  Shadow is---not well. Chakotay out." He cut off the communication

  before the doctor could ask any inappropriate questions within the

  range of his patient's hearing.

  The captain tapped her own commbadge. "Transporter room two, medical

  emergency. Beam Crewman Shadow to Sickbay." She disappeared in a

  sparkle of light.
<
br />   Chakotay and Janeway regarded each other with consternation.

  "I was trying to put her at ease," the captain said, settling herself

  into her chair, forcing herself to speak calmly, though she felt

  shaken.

  "I know." He sat down heavily and wiped a hand across his brow to

  remove the dew of perspiration.

  "What was that all about?" she asked. "Do you have any idea?"

  "She's been under a lot of pressure," the commander said hesitantly.

  "I think it was the accumulation of a lot of different things.

  Somehow, the idea of getting promoted---" He lifted his hand in a

  helpless gesture. "That was a full blown anxiety attack."

  "She seemed to just snap," Janeway concurred. "Do you think---will the

  doctor be able to help her?"

  "I don't know. If Paris is still in Sickbay, he may be able to help. I

  think it's just a symptom of emotional overload. Too many bad

  experiences and emotional experiences---both good and bad---in too

  short a period of time. Our counseling sessions have been inadequate.

  She still refuses to open up to me completely. The Doctor and Tom and

  I talked about it yesterday," he informed her. "I just wish that probe

  hadn't chosen her as well. That can't have helped the situation. She's

  probably got the same health problems as Paris, but she wouldn't let

  anyone know about it. What should we tell Harry?"

  "Give me a moment," the captain replied. "I'll think of something."

  She sighed. "I hope."

  *******************************