by L.V. Lloyd
~~~
The atmosphere on board was tense the next morning. Rumours of all descriptions flew around. Hendriks had been attacked in his bed, no it had been Ferris. Sanchez had been caught trying to leave the ship.
Hendriks strode around the bridge his expression forbidding anyone to approach him.
The Captain stayed in his quarters. This would blow over, surely? They just had to sit tight and wait it out. Perez wasn’t quite so certain when he received a communication from Colonel Young, announcing his imminent arrival. How had Ferris got the message out? He supposed it was too late for Lin to have an unfortunate accident.
Colonel Young boarded the ship with an assistant and four armed guards. He went straight to the Captain’s quarters and ordered him to call an immediate meeting with all his officers, including the Chief Medical Officer; then sat waiting at his desk until the last of them arrived. The guards spaced themselves around the room, watching the men seated in a semi circle facing Young and his assistant. Young let his gaze rest for a moment on Ferris’ broken arm and Hendriks’ swollen nose. Then he addressed the Captain. “Captain Perez, I have received a very concerning report about practices on this ship.”
Perez broke in testily, “It’s a load of crap, sir! I could have told you that and saved you a trip if you’d asked me. You’ve wasted your time coming all the way out here, Colonel!”
Young raised his eyebrows, “Indeed?”
“Yes, it was just one of the crew complaining when some sex he was engaged in got a bit rougher than he liked. He shouldn’t have started something he couldn’t handle. And as for Ferris,” he glared at the younger man. “Can I assume the report you received was from him?” He went on without waiting for the Colonel’s reply. “I’m afraid I will be seeking his transfer under Rule 158.” He tried to look regretful. “He’s an om and he has been trying to get sexual favours from some of the men by appearing to champion Lin.”
Ferris surged to his feet, outraged, but the Colonel waved him to silence before he could object. “You’ll get your turn in a minute, Lieutenant.” A sick feeling started in Ferris’ stomach, they couldn’t believe Perez, could they?
Young looked at Hendriks. “Lieutenant Hendriks?”
“It’s as the Captain said, sir. Lin followed me into one of the stealth capsules and asked me to have sex with him. I’m no om, but I thought why not take what’s on offer? So I did, and then he complained about it!”
“Can I ask how you got that injury to your face?”
Hendriks looked vindictively at Ferris, “It was him,” he stated, “He wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer, and as I said before, I’m not an om.”
Young looked at Ferris. “Is that true, Lieutenant, did you hit Lieutenant Hendriks in the face?”
“Yes sir, but I-” the Colonel cut him off again. “Later, please.”
Ferris was beginning to feel as if he was in the middle of a nightmare. Ludicrous as these accusations appeared to him, he knew there was only his word, or Lin’s word, against the First Officer’s version. There had been no witness to either event, apart from Sanchez of course who would back up Hendriks.
He could only hope that Peters’ recording of Hendriks’ second visit to his cabin had been successful; surely that should go some way to supporting his account of what had actually happened. Providing he was ever allowed to tell it! He looked at the three conspirators, they were starting to think they had got away with it, he could see it in their body language, sitting back in their chairs, subtly relaxing.
Colonel Young called on Second Lieutenant Sanchez next. He simply denied that he had ever had sex with any crewman, consensual or otherwise. Ferris noticed that Young did not mention any of the victims by name, but couldn’t decide whether it was because he had discounted his, Ferris’, report or whether he was playing a deeper game.
Third Lieutenant Demir just looked shocked and bewildered, as if all this was totally new to him. He had nothing to add to either story.
Finally, it was his turn but the Colonel did not allow him to tell him what had happened in his own words. He insisted on him answering a series of specific questions. Ferris hoped it was part of his strategy but he was beginning to question whether he had put too much trust in Young’s integrity.
“Lieutenant Ferris. You are the author of the account of the alleged intimidation on Jerez?”
“Yes sir.”
“Can you tell me how you became aware of it?”
“One of the crewmen drew it to my attention, sir.” Ferris kept his answers brief, he wasn’t certain how much detail the Colonel wanted him to give. He soon found out.
“He was one of the alleged victims?”
“No, sir.”
“Then why did he choose you to complain to, Lieutenant? How did he know you were not one of the perpetrators?” Colonel Young was watching him with cool appraisal. Did he know what had happened, what Ferris had done?
Ferris took a deep breath. He had done nothing to be ashamed of, really, compared to what the others had done ... he stopped making excuses for himself and answered the question. “I made a pass at him. I misjudged his interest in me, and when he turned me down, I backed off. Then he told me about the abuse that was going on, we made some investigations and that report was the result.”
“Were you angry when he turned you down?”
“No, sir. I was thankful, I didn’t want someone who felt compelled to have sex with me. Personally, I couldn’t think of anything worse.” Ferris spoke with genuine feeling.
“Why didn’t you go to the Captain with this information?” Ferris could see the Captain shift uncomfortably in his seat.
“I did, sir, but he didn’t believe me. So I told him I was going to forward a report to you, and this was the result.” He lifted his broken arm. “Although, this was from Lieutenant Sanchez, not the Captain, sir.”
“Sanchez? How did Lieutenant Hendriks’ nose get broken then?”
“Hendriks was waiting in my cabin for me when I got back from seeing the Captain. He hit me and threatened to rape and disfigure the crewman I was talking about, so I fought back. Then Lieutenant Sanchez came in, and broke my arm. They threatened to rape me too, if I took it any further.”
“Excuse me, Colonel, but that’s bullshit!” Hendriks interrupted. “Are you going to take the word of one om over three senior officers?”
Colonel Young sat back in his chair, and smiled deprecatingly. “That does seem to pose a bit of a dilemma, doesn’t it? Fortunately, I don’t have to make that decision. I heard rumours about problems on this ship a while ago and I sent one of my senior undercover investigators here to discover what was happening. He has been on board for a couple of months now.”
The announcement fell like a meteorite crashing onto an airless moon. You could see everyone racking their brains to think who it could be. There were quite a few men who had only been part of the crew for a few months, Ferris included.
“Let me introduce you to him.” The Colonel gestured and one of the guards opened the door to the outside corridor. To the Lieutenant’s surprise, Peters came in and Ferris found himself looking beyond him to see who the investigator was. Then he realised that Colonel Young was still speaking. “Investigator Major Daniel Peters.”
Ferris’ first reaction was pure horror. Sweet god, he had groped and amorously bitten a major, he could see the words ‘court martial’ flashing before his eyes. Then he started to feel ill. Peters had played him like a pro. He was a pro, a professional undercover agent. He thought back over what had happened in the light of this new knowledge.
Peters had deliberately set him up to make the pass in the stealth pod. Thank god he had done the right thing, in the end at least. A major, for god’s sake. And he, Ferris, had tried to protect him from Hendriks and Sanchez; Peters must have laughed himself silly over that. He couldn’t bear to look at him, he felt so humiliated.
Hendriks
gave a bark of astonished glee, “A major! My god you screwed up big time, Ferris. At least we only screwed privates!” he laughed at his own joke, unaware that he had just clinched the case against himself.
Peters sat down stiffly next to Colonel Young. He was so angry with the Colonel he could hardly make himself civil. He had wanted to speak to Ferris privately, before the meeting, so he could explain what he had done and the reasons for it but Young had forbidden him. He needed only one look at Ferris’ face to fear he would never forgive him.
Hendriks and Sanchez were arrested on the spot. Captain Perez was cautioned and told he would be facing an investigation. Colonel Young had actually come prepared, his ‘assistant’ proved to be a First Lieutenant from another ship, and he moved him in to take over from Hendriks immediately. The Second Lieutenant’s position would be filled shortly from the fleet’s merit list. Eventually it was all over to the extent that Ferris could leave and return to his cabin. His body was aching and he was still feeling hot and cold inside whenever he thought of Peters, if he had his way, he’d never see him again.
It was not going to be that easy however. He had just taken some painkiller and lain down for a few moments when Peters flashed his ID at his door. He considered pretending to be asleep but then he thought, what was the point in putting it off? Get it over and done with as fast as possible.
He opened the door and stood there, a wooden expression on his face, “Yes sir?”
“Can I come in?” Peters looked at him uncertainly.
Ferris felt gladdened by his apprehension and hardened his resolve. “Of course, sir.” He stood back and Peters came in.
“I wanted to explain to you, about what I was doing and why.”
“There’s no need, sir, I think it’s fairly clear. You were doing your job. That’s all I need to know, sir.”
“For heaven’s sake, Matthew, stop calling me sir!” Peters ran his hand through his hair.
“You mean you’re not really a major then?
“No, I mean yes I am, a major.”
“Well then, sir. I guess you’re not really twenty years old, are you?”
Peters sighed, “No, I’m thirty, I just look really young.”
Ferris continued to look at him in silence. He was twenty four.
Peters’ shoulders tightened and he ploughed on with his apology, even though he already suspected it was a waste of breath. “I’m so sorry, Ferris. I didn’t like deceiving you, but I had to know if you were part of it. It was my assignment to discover who was involved and then put a stop to it, at least I’ve been successful in that.”
He looked at the stony face in front of him. “I know you probably won’t believe me now, I wanted to tell you the truth but I wasn’t allowed to. You should be proud of yourself, you’ve behaved with honesty and integrity throughout this whole process. I wish I could say the same.”
He reached out and put his hand on the Lieutenant’s arm. For a moment they both looked at it. Slowly, understanding dawned in the Lieutenant’s eyes and Peters snatched his hand away. But it was too late.
Ferris stared at him in frozen disbelief, “Sweet god, you’re not even straight are you? Was any one single thing you told me the truth?”
Peters felt so guilty and upset he blurted out the worst thing he could have ever said. “I suppose that means you don’t want to have sex with me any more?”
Ferris gave him a long look, “Oh, I’ll have sex with you,” he paused and watched the mix of shock, confusion and hopeful disbelief, on the other man’s face, “If you insist on it. Sir.”
Peters went stone white and he flinched as if he’d been hit. “I guess I deserved that.”
He straightened himself and stepped back. “There’s nothing more to say is there? You’re never going to forgive me and I’m just making things worse. Goodbye Lieutenant, believe it or not, I’m genuinely sorry.”
Ferris was silent as Peters left.
~~~