by L.V. Lloyd
~~~
It took Peters a week to gather the information he needed to take to Lieutenant Ferris. He sought him out one evening when he was off duty and brought a crewman with him. “Lieutenant? Have you got a moment, sir?”
“Come in,” Ferris looked from one to the other. He was taller than both of them, with thick chestnut coloured hair and dark brown eyes. “Is it okay if I set the privacy seal?”
The two men nodded and he shut the door behind them and set the privacy seal, so no-one could come in unannounced. Both of them were standing uncomfortably in the middle of his cabin and he gestured to them to take a seat. They took the two chairs, leaving him to sit awkwardly on the edge of his bed, wondering if this was really an appropriate venue given the nature of what they were here to discuss. “I’m sorry about this,” he smiled apologetically. “I don’t warrant an office until I reach Second Lieutenant.”
Peters smiled back and for a second looked older than he normally did. “We’ll be fine, sir. I thought you’d want to hear this from Lin first hand.”
Ferris looked at the other man and saw a slight, wiry figure, of decidedly Chinese ancestry. He had joined the ship at the last point of intake and he didn’t know him very well yet, but he remembered hearing he was an excellent shot. “Yes?” Ferris asked invitingly.
“Firstly sir, I am not an om, but I was told when I arrived that on this ship you have to act like you are, if you want to stay.” Lin spoke defiantly, unsuccessfully trying to suppress his anger.
Ferris tried not to look at him too sceptically. As far as he was aware, he was the only om amongst the officers, and there weren’t that many amongst the crew either.
“Can you remember exactly what was said to you?”
“I’ll never forget it! The exact words were, ‘If an officer asks you to bend over, just do it. Otherwise they’ll use Rule 158 to transfer you. You’ll end up a guard on a prison transport if you’re lucky’”. He stared defiantly at Ferris.
“But they can’t do that, Rule 158 is supposed to help people. It says quite clearly, ‘an om will be transferred without any penalty’,” the Lieutenant protested. Both men stared at him as if he’d just said something incredibly naive. “I’m sorry, I interrupted, go on.”
Lin looked down. “It was in one of the stealth pods.” Ferris couldn’t help it, he glanced across at Peters and flushed a painful red. Peters was studiously looking at Lin. “Lieutenant Hendriks got in behind me and said it ... it was time for my initiation. He said all the men on the Jerez had to go through this. Then he made me undo my uniform and ... and you know the rest.”
Peters spoke again. “So far I’ve found two other men who will admit to this same thing happening with Lieutenant Hendriks and four with Lieutenant Sanchez.” Ferris looked aghast. Peters continued matter-of-factly, “I haven’t found any one who says they have had that experience with Third Lieutenant Demir,” he paused, then added, “or you, of course.”
Ferris swallowed. “Captain Perez?” he asked. Peters looked at Lin again.
“No.” But before Ferris could heave a sigh of relief, Lin continued. “But he hasn’t done anything to stop it either. I went to him, afterwards, to complain and he just said-” he gulped. “That I must have asked for it. It’s true, I didn’t say no and I didn’t fight him, but ... he was my superior officer! What could I have done?”
Peters looked squarely at the Fourth Lieutenant. “I know it would be more straight forward if Lin had actually used the word ‘no’, but do you think there is still enough evidence to take this further?”
Ferris was still having difficulty meeting Peters’ eyes and instead turned to Lin. “Yes, I do. This is a flagrant and systematic abuse of power. I’ll talk to the Captain first and if he won’t address it, I’ll forward a report to Colonel Young at Capella Space Station. He’s in charge of those external inspectors who come round every so often. I don’t think he’d be the sort to sweep this under the carpet.”
Peters nodded with faint satisfaction, as if he had expected that response from Ferris. Lin had one more thing to say. “Sir? Please don’t mention me to the Captain. At least until you are certain this is going to be seriously addressed.” He looked anxious and Ferris agreed.
For the first time that evening, Peters appeared worried, as if he’d suddenly realised there might be actual physical danger in this process he’d helped to start. “Can I suggest, sir, that you compile your report to Colonel Young, before you see the Captain? And maybe forward a copy to someone you trust, just in case ... as insurance?”
Ferris looked at him in surprise and agreed, but with a smile. That was a bit extreme, surely?
Peters was concerned that he wasn’t taking the threat of danger seriously enough and leant forward to speak earnestly to him. “Sir, we are not only threatening these men’s careers, but their freedom. It is quite possible they will be charged and imprisoned over these offences. Take precautions please, protect yourself.”
Ferris looked from one to the other, they were deadly serious. “All right, I’ll do it now.”
He let the two crewmen out of his cabin, reset the privacy seal and spoke into his personal console unit, he didn’t want to risk using the ship’s console and the possibility of being overheard before he was ready. He tried to keep the report short and as factual as possible, using the names of the men involved and their own words where he could. This report would be for Colonel Young’s ears only. Although, he still couldn’t believe the Captain wouldn’t take action when the extent of the problem was explained to him.
Following Peters’ advice, he forwarded a copy to Medical Officer Torres, and after some consideration, to Peters himself. He wondered briefly whether he should send it through to Colonel Young now, before he saw the Captain, but he felt he should follow the proper procedures as long as he could. Then he went in search of Captain Perez.
Perez was a solidly built man in his mid fifties counting down to his retirement, with iron gray hair and an olive complexion. He invited Ferris in to his quarters and told him brusquely to have a seat, “What’s so important, Lieutenant, that couldn’t wait until tomorrow morning?”
“Sorry, sir, but I’ll think you’ll agree that it couldn’t wait. I’ve been approached by some of the crew about a system of intimidation being applied by some of the officers. To put it bluntly, sir, men have been raped and told it was part of some initiation ceremony to stay on the ship.”
“Hold it right there!” ordered the Captain, putting up his hand as if to stop him physically. He glared at him in angry disbelief. “Who’s been telling you this rubbish? There’s been nothing like that on my ship! I’m not saying there may not have been some rough play, but this is a military vessel for god’s sake, not a kindergarten.”
Ferris stared at him in disbelief. Rough play?
He could see the Captain visibly trying to calm himself and speak more persuasively. “Who’s been squealing? I know, it was that man Lin, wasn’t it?” he smiled condescendingly. “He came to me some time ago with some bullshit story, but you don’t want to let yourself get taken in by that, there was no truth in it. I spoke to Hendriks myself.”
“But Captain-” Ferris had to keep trying.
“No, I don’t want to hear any more about it. My ship’s got one of the best records in the fleet and I want to keep it that way.”
“As you wish, Captain,” Ferris spoke stiffly, “But I feel obliged to tell you I’ll be reporting this directly to Colonel Young at Capella base.” Something flickered in the Captain’s eyes and Ferris suddenly wished he had kept his mouth shut.
“You’ve sent a report?” the Captain asked smoothly.
Ferris hesitated a moment too long before replying. “Yes, sir, just before I came in here.”
The Captain studied him and suddenly relaxed, “I hope you haven’t made too big a fool of yourself, Ferris. That will be all, dismissed.”
The Lieutenant left hastily, made uneasy by the Captain’s sudden about-face, what had just happened here?
As soon as the door shut behind him, Perez spoke into his wrist com.
When he got to his cabin, Hendriks was waiting for him.