CIC, Peggy Sue
Beth was in the Command Information Center, reviewing the crew's performance during the last simulated weapons exercise, when the ship's voice sounded softly in her ear.
“First Officer, there has been an altercation on 3rd deck. There are casualties.”
Now what? Beth thought. “What type of altercation and who was involved?”
“Crewman Mendez assaulted Dorri in the hydroponics compartment. Dr. White was notified as per your standing orders and interceded.”
“And the casualties?”
“My sensors show Crewman Mendez is now deceased.”
“Oh, bloody hell,” Beth swore. She spoke into her collar pip, “Captain, First Officer Melaku.”
“Go, Number One,” came the immediate reply.
“Sir, there has been an incident involving Raoul Mendez and Dorri. Dr. White is on the scene and I'm headed there now.”
There was a slight pause during which Beth could almost hear her husband's unspoken cursing.
“Very well, Cmdr. Melaku. Get me a sitrep soonest.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.”
Beth left the CIC headed aft at a run.
3rd Deck Hydroponics, Peggy Sue
Betty quickly evaluate the unmoving form of Raoul Mendez lying face up on the deck before her. That shithead is dead, she thought with a mixture of relief and unease. Before she became a medical doctor, Betty had been a Navy Medical Corpsman attached to the US Marines in Afghanistan. She had seen dead men in combat and Mendez was definitely dead. She turned to Dorri.
Dorri was standing a couple of meters away, one hand grasping the plant shelf, steadying her. Her eyes were wide, showing white all around the iris, her face pale, her features blank in shock. Betty moved to her and wrapped her in a protective embrace.
“It's OK, child. He ain't going to hurt you.”
“He grabbed me!” she sputtered. “He did hurt me!”
“Well, he isn't going to hurt anyone anymore,” Betty said, pulling the girl tight against her bosom. Dorri looked up, still frightened.
“How, how did you do that?” she demanded. “You threw him into the ceiling!”
Oh shit! I used a bit too much force and she saw me do it. “Don't worry about that now, are you injured?”
The girl shook her head “no” and clung to the Doctor. Alexis came running up with some kind of cultivating tool gripped in her hands as a makeshift weapon.
“My God! What happened?” she exclaimed, taking in the scene.
“It's all over, Alexis,” Betty explained. “Here, you take Dorri down to Sickbay. Tell the nurse on duty to put her in a private examination room. I'll be right down.”
Gently passing the shaken girl to the horticulturalist, Betty softly spoke reassurances. As Alexis started to lead Dorri away, the Doctor grabbed her arm and whispered.
“She's badly shaken and may go into shock. Do not let her alone until I get there, not for a second, understand?”
“Gotcha, Doc,” the tech whispered back. Then she guided Dorri past the dead man, trying to shield her from seeing the body. As the pair exited the chamber another crewman entered. Steve Hitch.
“Holly crap, what happened here Doc?” the petty officer asked as Betty moved to more closely examine the man she had killed just minutes ago. The smell of violent death grew stronger, the smell of piss and shit and blood.
“Mendez attacked Dorri.”
“Motherfucker!”
“Yeah, that's what I said.” Betty looked up at Hitch. They had been shipmates for years, fighting side by side against aliens on several occasions. “Then I bounced the asshole off the overhead and he landed on a hand tool. Killed him instantly.”
“Too bad. He should have died slowly and painfully.”
Betty smiled.
“Could you go to the aid station next to the shuttle locks and bring back a stretcher? We need to take this garbage down to Sickbay so I can do an autopsy.”
“Sure, Doc. I thought you said it was death by garden tool?”
“It was, a hand spade through the heart, but I still have to determine an official cause of death. Now go, I expect the First Officer and the Chief will be here any minute.”
“Aye, aye. Be right back.” He hurried from the chamber as the First Officer entered.
Beth paused to take in the sight of Mendez's dead body, the ship's doctor kneeling next to it. Betty looked at Beth and stood.
“Commander.”
“Doctor. It would appear that crewman Mendez has expired.”
“Yes, Ma'am.”
“And how did this happen?”
“Peggy Sue alerted me that Mendez was stalking Dorri. I arrived in time to witness the attack. Dorri managed to free herself. I subdued him.”
“Rather forcefully, it seems.”
“Yes, I sort of bounced him off the overhead and he landed on a hand spade he was using as a weapon.”
“You'll do an autopsy?”
“Hitch is fetching a stretcher.”
“Fine, I need to brief the Captain. There will have to be an inquiry.”
“Of course.”
Beth nodded and turned to leave.
“Commander, Dorri saw me bounce Mendez off the overhead. She commented on it.”
“Oh bollocks. We shall have to discuss that as well. When you are done with things in Sickbay come forward and we'll meet with the others.”
Sickbay, Peggy Sue
The Chief arrived in Sickbay with Shadi in tow. Shadi ran to embrace her sister, who was seated on an examination table that had been curtained off from the rest of the open ward.
“Dorri! Have you been hurt? Did that son of a leprous pig touch you?” she said in rapid Farsi.
“I'm fine. Really, sister.” Despite the assurances both girls started crying, speaking in the language of their native Iran. Hardly ever caught unprepared, the Chief was helpless in the face of sisterly compassion.
“Er, I'll go get the nurse or somethin',” he mumbled and left the two young women alone in the room. Eventually they both calmed down enough for Dorri to tell Shadi what happened. After the telling, Shadi was livid.
“That mongrel dog son of a whore bastard! I would kill him if the Doctor had not done it already!”
“Oh, she killed him, and you should have seen how she killed him! I had escaped his grasp and turned around to face him when the Doctor grabbed him from behind and threw him against the ceiling.”
“She should have ripped his throat out!”
“No, you don't understand. She threw him against the ceiling so hard the light panels shattered. He fell to the deck and landed on the spade but I think he may have already been dead.”
“What do you mean?”
“Think! The Doctor is not a small woman but she can't weigh more that 65 kilos. Mendez must have weighed 80 kilos. Under standard gravity there is no way she should have been able to do that. I don't even think one of the Jumbo twins could have done it, and they are as strong as oxen!”
“Are you sure? Maybe she just threw him over her shoulder, and in the excitement of the moment you saw things happen more... violently than they did.”
“I know what I saw. Go up to 3rd deck and look at the light panels for yourself. He hit the ceiling and bounced off!”
Shadi, having calmed down, thought about what her sister said. Dorri was right, a normal human could not throw a full grown man against the ceiling with such force.
“So, what does it mean?”
“Remember how Dr. Ogawa cut through those carpets while blindfolded? Or how she and Cmdr Danner are so fast at sword practice? I wonder if some of the officers are... completely human.”
That would explain a number of things, Shadi thought to herself. “Listen, little star, don't say anything about this. To anyone.”
Captain's Sea Cabin, Peggy Sue
Betty was the last to arrive at the Captain's office just off the bridge. Already seated around the meeting table were Mizuki, Bet
h, and Bobby. The Captain, at the head of the table, looked up anxiously when she entered.
“Please close the door, Doctor,” Billy Ray said in a neutral tone. Betty felt the stares of her fellow officers as she took her seat. She nodded to the Captain.
“Alright, let's get this business with Mendez out of the way,” he said, officially calling the meeting to order. “Every one here has viewed the recoded video of the incident?”
Those around the table nodded yes.
“Let the log show that all present signaled affirmative. Doctor White, have you ascertained the cause of death?”
“Yes, Sir. The cause of death was a single deep puncture wound in the deceased's back that punctured his heart.”
“And the impact of his other wounds?”
“He had a broken nose and a puncture wound in the right quadriceps muscles inflicted by his intended victim. He also had a fractured sternum and a cervical fracture from his collision with the overhead.”
“A broken neck?”
“Yes, Captain, a broken neck, but it was not necessarily a fatal injury.”
“You mean, if he hadn't landed on the hand tool he might have lived?” Beth prompted her. Though they were all friends of several years standing the atmosphere in the cabin was tense.
“Yes, Commander. He would have been paralyzed, but I estimate an 85 percent probability that he could have been healed with regeneration therapy.”
“But the punctured heart was fatal?” repeated the Captain.
“Yes, Sir. Blood flow to his brain was cut off almost immediately. By the time he was transported to the Sickbay there was irreversible brain damage.”
“OK. We have identified what killed him, now on to the who,” Billy Ray looked around the room, letting his gaze linger briefly on each of his officers. “Dr. White, recordings from the ship's computer indicate that you attacked crewman Mendez from behind, lifting him from the deck and throwing him bodily into the overhead. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you attack the crewman?”
“He was in the process of assaulting Dorri, one of the adolescent members of the crew.”
Again he looked around the room before he spoke.
“All of you, having viewed the recorded video of the incident, accept that crewman Mendez was, in fact, assaulting Dorri?”
“Aye, Captain,” the other three officers replied.
“Dr. White, why did you attack the crewman in the manner described in the record?”
“He was advancing on the young girl, with the bloody tool held in his right hand, above his head. He was yelling. I disabled the attacker as quickly as I could to prevent further injury to Dorri.”
“You claim your use of force was warranted by the situation?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Does anyone here disagree?”
“No, Sir,” said the others.
“Let the record show that the Captain and the ship's officers are in agreement in the matter of the death of crewman Mendez. Dr. White took action appropriate to the circumstance and Mendez died by misadventure.”
The mood in the room relaxed and Betty exhaled, releasing a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. Mizuki reached across the table and placed a hand on Betty's arm, an astounding display of emotion for the normally reserved scientist.
“You did what any of us would have done, Betty,” she said with a kind smile.
“Yeah, Doc, that was really just a formality for the authorities when we get back to port. Hell, you could have strangled him with his own intestines for all I care.”
“My, Captain, you are in a bloodthirsty mood today.”
“Number One, I've been regretting taking that sidewinder on board for a year now, I ain't shedding any tears over his well deserved demise. This is the second time in my life I've been in close proximity to a would be rapist and I just can't comprehend what makes a man into an animal like that.”
While he spoke, Billy Ray's hands balled into fists on the table where they rested. Beth, to his right, lay her hand on his clenched right hand, insinuating her long dark fingers between his.
“That is because, love, you are in your heart a good man.” He met Beth's gaze and offered a grim smile, as an awkward silence descended.
“Thank you all, but there is still the other matter to consider,” Betty said, breaking the quiet. “Dorri saw me toss a grown man into the overhead.”
“And you think she will have questions about how a woman your size could do that?” asked Bobby.
“Or anyone,” Betty replied, “the girl's not stupid and she has a good idea of human physical limitations from combat training with the Marines.”
“We decided before the voyage started that those of us who have been...” Beth searched for the right word, “enhanced by the T'aafhal AI aboard the M'tak Ka'fek would keep that information from the rest of the crew.”
“Right, we didn't want to have them thinking that we were weird or alien in some way.”
“But we are alien in some ways,” said Bobby. “We are stronger and faster than unenhanced humans; our senses are keener too.”
“I think our decision processes have been affected as well. When I came on Mendez attacking Dorri I acted to protect her without thinking.”
“That might have just been maternal instinct, Betty. Or the reaction of a combat veteran.”
“Maybe, Bobby, but the next thing I knew that scumbag was lying on the deck with a garden tool stuck through his heart.”
“So what do we tell Dorri, who has almost certainly confided in her sister already?”
“Hysterical strength,” said Bobby. “Most people have heard of displays of superhuman strength, usually occurring when people are in life and death situations. A common example is a mother lifting a vehicle to free her trapped child.”
“The evidence for such occurrences are anecdotal at best, Bobby.” Mizuki was always the rational counterpoint to Bobby's more far out musings.
“You know, that might work,” said Billy Ray.
“Really?” said Beth, giving her husband a sideways look.
“Yeah, it doesn't have to be documented fact, just believable.”
“Sure,” added Bobby, “everybody has heard of it, it's a common legend, even if it's not true.”
That last qualification did not totally placate Mizuki, but Betty latched on to the idea. “Well, it is thought to be theoretically possible, or at least not impossible.”
“It's that or we have to come clean with everyone on board,” Beth observed, not totally convinced.
“I say we go with hysterical strength as an explanation, unless someone has a better idea,” said the Captain.
“Fine,” agreed Beth, in a tone that said “if this doesn't work it's your fault.”
“We need to tell the others, we all need to be on the same page on this.”
“Aye, aye, Captain. I'll inform them.”
“Very good. We are less than twenty-four hours from emergence, let's all get back to work.”
Chapter 8
Peggy Sue, Alter-space
Anticipation of emergence in a new star system replaced talk about the death of Raoul Mendez. The dead man's corpse was stored in one of the reefers near the polar bear quarters for the journey home, prompting Umky to say he was glad there were snacks on board. Others, possessing senses of humor less gastronomically oriented, quipped that this was what happened when the Doc got bored from lack of patients. Regardless, all hands soon busied themselves for arrival at Alpha Phoenicis.
Lt. Nigel Lewis and Frank Hoenig were seated in the cockpit of the large crew shuttle, running through its test procedures. Frank had been assimilated into the crew with a rank of Petty Officer 2nd class, though no one but the ship's officers referred to him as PO Hoenig. Nigel, a junior officer, was the exception to that rule, the two having become friends during the long journey.
“So, Frank, how are you making out with the German bird you fan
cy?”
“You mean Kate? Things are OK, but I think she's just using me for sex.”
“Oh you poor, abused sod! At least you are getting an occasional tumble. Looks like the reactor check sequence is about 80% complete.”
“I saw you talking with the older Iranian sister the other day. What's her name, Shadi? She's quite a looker.”
“Right, and she is all of seventeen. I was just being friendly but I wouldn't go near that on a bet. Not after what happened to Mendez.”
“Come on, man. Mendez was a flaming asshole and he tried to molest the younger one. I would have enjoyed kicking his narrow ass if I had caught him.”
A tone sounded as the reactor test completed.
“Reactor power test passed 100%. I knew he was a dodgy bastard but I though he was all piss and wind. I'm glad it was the Doc who caught him, she really did for him. ”
“That takes care of the reactor checks,” Frank said, acknowledging a prompt on the control console. “Never much liked him either. He should have kept his hands to himself, if you get my meaning. It's hard to understand how a human being can get that stupid in just one lifetime.”
“No kidding. He should have stayed a frustrated tosser like the rest of us. Starting the deck gravity auto check sequence.”
“Roger that. Another half hour and we should be done with this one.”
“Emergence is still three hours away, we should do the pinnace next.”
“You know, one of these days I need to get a check ride on the small shuttles.”
“I thought you only wanted to fly the big ones.”
“What can I tell you, Nigel? I'm getting bored to death with all this inaction.”
“We'll see mate. Deck gravity 25% complete...”
Cargo Hold, Peggy Sue
With most of the crew preparing for emergence, Shadi and Dorri decided to get in a last run in the cargo hold before exploring a new star system disrupted everyone's schedules. The only large and relatively open space on board, the interior of the hold was a maze of equipment and storage crates, but around the edges was a clear path to allow access. There a synthetic mat had been applied to the decking to help cushion runners' knees and ankles while muting their footfalls—a squad of running Marines in an enclosed space did a fair imitation of a stampeding herd of cattle.
The Queen's Daemon (T'aafhal Legacy Book 2) Page 8