No One Is A Suspect

Posted on Sat Jul 17th, 2021 @ 8:51am by Captain Bethsabée Leroux & Major Samuel King & Lieutenant Samantha Leyton & Commander William Gerhard & Lieutenant Avira zh'Kenarh M.D. & Ensign Elegy Nascimento

Mission: Mission 4 - Eden
Location: Deck A -
Timeline: Day 167 07:30
1852 words - 3.7 OF Standard Post Measure

It was not every day that a meeting was held that early but time was getting more and more limited that Beth wanted to make sure everyone had options and the discussion needed to be had about Davis and what had happened. No one on the senior team was a suspect, everyone had an alibi eventually and they still had a job to do. They needed to regroup and what better time to do it than over a quick breakfast sandwich in the Captain’s dining room that was about to be destroyed and remade into something that would benefit the whole ship, there was no time for that type of formality anymore.

“I suspect you are all wondering why I brought everyone here. None of us is a suspect so we need to move forward and work through what has happened and what we still need to do.” Beth murmured before biting into the sausage sandwich.

Samantha looked at her sandwich but didn't take a bite. She just wasn't feeling hungry at the moment. "You know my feelings, ma'am," she said simply wanting to see that entire ship turned into a debris field. She was still having a hard time getting a decent amount of sleep and it was beginning to show in her face.

William sat at the table and took a sip of his tea from his mug. He had declined the sandwich since he didn't usually eat breakfast. His PADD with all of his investigation notes sat in front of him on the table. While Chief Karalo was still running down leads, the senior staff had all been cleared of suspicion. It was becoming clear that something on the alien ship had to be responsible, but they still couldn't determine who or what.

"I do know your feelings Lieutenant but we have to follow out morales and standards to investigate it all properly," Beth said gently. She was feeling much more herself after actually getting some sleep.

Avira didn't have such reservations surrounding the breakfast being offered. She was gathering a rather neat pile of different foodstuffs on a plate in front of her. Only when she noticed that she was the only one piling on she wondered if there was some sort of cultural cue that she had missed. Should one not eat more than the Commander? She looked at the sandwich the CO was biting into and her antennae twitched a bit. She pushed the scrambled eggs on her plate around a bit before deciding she had already committed the insensitivity, she might as well just enjoy the meal. Taking a sip of the orange juice she wondered if there was anyone else that would speak up after Samantha, but it seemed that everyone was content in eating, or not eating, in silence, "has everyone been keeping up with their health routines? In times of stress, it's easy to slip into bad habits that only compound the issue of not feeling well. Perhaps we should introduce a mental health exercise to the standard fitness training."

At the thought of his own health routines, Elegy Nascimento stifled a laugh with one end of a breakfast sandwich. He adjusted his glasses, while he chewed. The Science Chief had spent much of the past few months working double shifts alone in a science lab, in the shadow of a memorial for dead friends. And he had spent far too many 3 am trying to perfect re-synthesizing algae into ice cream.

A silence crossed the room at the mention of health routines and stress and Beth knew she was the one who needed to speak up and address it. "I know I have not so if I have not none of you have," Beth said with a patient smile. "Adding it to the standard fitness training would be appropriate." She approved.

William took another sip of his tea and nodded his agreement. "Speaking of fitness training, I believe the crew is almost due for its Physical Fitness Test," he said as he set his mug back down and picked up the PADD in front of him, "And on the subject of the investigation I believe Chief Karalo and I have narrowed down the possibilities."

Samantha turned and looked at the Armory Chief in disbelief. Was he seriously discussing a damn physical fitness test now? She wanted to say something but held her tongue as she would wait for Beth to respond if she felt it necessary to.

Beth had just bit into her sandwich when the man spoke and quickly shook her head awol losing the bite. “Not the place for that discussion right now but I would like to hear what you and Karalo have come to.” She wanted to know what had happened to allow everyone to start to move on. She had a million things floating around her head at that moment that someone on crew had done something terrible but she suspected if the person had been found she would already be outside their cell.

From where he was sitting, Elegy had taken a rather large bite of his breakfast sandwich when Beth requested a rundown of the armoury team's hypothesis. Mentally, he vowed to chew more quietly as he listened to what William had learned about the murder.

William felt his face get hot and he looked down at his PADD. He tamped down his building frustration that he had been chastised in front of his colleagues for attempting to make small talk. But, he realized in retrospect that his comment had been rather inappropriate. He pulled up his notes and started from the top, "Based on the autopsy results from Dr. Avira, Mr. Davis was murdered two days ago aboard the alien vessel between the hours of 2100 and 2300 hrs. The cause of death was extreme blood loss due to multiple deep and severe punctures and lacerations to the upper body. The nature of the cuts show the murder weapon was a serrated blade that was improperly maintained. Mr. Davis's body did show signs of defensive wounds, but unfortunately, the blood loss was too severe. There were no signs of post mortem injuries inflicted. Trace evidence was obtained from the body, but most was compromised due to the amount of blood on and around his person."

Halfway through Willam's report, Elegy found himself staring into the middle distance. He swallowed the bite he'd been chewing and he braced his elbows on the table. "Defensive wounds," Elegy murmured, echoing the phrase that resonated for him more than any of the others. Dropping his face into his hands, Elegy remarked, "He suffered..." in an undertone.

"So, we're not dealing with a trained killer," Samantha commented bitterly as her face flushed red with anger. "Sounds like the attacker was sloppy. Did we get any foreign DNA?"

It still seemed weird to Avira that they were openly discussing an ongoing criminal investigation with the people gathered in this room. Sure they weren't suspects, but it didn't clear everyone on the ship even if it was highly unlikely, "All information and forensic material was handed over to the investigating officer." She also felt that the ongoing discussion on this subject wasn't really helping the morale of the senior staff, "perhaps it's best to leave any conjecture surrounding the incident to the qualified people." It was clear to her that Humans had a different approach to processing these events, but as Chief Medical she had to keep a cold and calculated distance from the subject matter, or she'd have to have another awkward conversation with the Ops people on replacing a PADD.

"Coupled with the armoury team my MACOs have covered every inch of this ship and most of the alien vessel. We have so far have found nothing. The suspect in question is at large and very good at covering their tracks." Sam added to the conversation.

Beth paled a little wondering how scared her former friend had been in his final moments but she swallowed back the bile that had been threatening to escape for days. "And suspects for his murder?" Beth demanded.

Avira looked over at Gerhard wondering if he would be answering this question directly. After having started the meeting by simply focusing on her meal she was now more and more put off of it, similar to the rest of the crew. Perhaps it had been their preoccupation with the lost crewmate that had stopped them from eating. Her clinical professionalism was wavering slightly, but she pressed on by finishing the eggs and the toast that she had taken with it. Washing it all down with what remained of her OJ.

William looked over at the XO, "On the contrary, the evidence showed that the assailant was very skilled. The defensive wounds were moderate in nature meaning the fight Mr. Davis put up did not last long. As I said before, anything forensics lifted from the body was contaminated by the blood and therefore unusable." He then looked back over at the captain. "After conducting interviews with various persons of interest, the only viable lead that we were able to shake loose was that Mr. Davis was seen aboard the alien vessel with another crew member that we have not been able to identify. Other than that, no one knew why he was over there, and no one can identify who he was supposed with."

"Do we think it possible that maybe there is someone with some form of camouflage technology? The alien vessel is extremely advanced in comparison to us and we may not have the ability to detect someone using a personal device like that." Sam suggested.

“He would have gone off an adventure. Not the first time he has been found somewhere he should not have been. Just the first time it has gone wrong.” Beth said sadly. She had known the man a long time and knew of his misadventures. Beth nodded. It had crossed her mind lots of times that the advanced technology was hiding whoever the murder was from them. “No one goes on the other ship until I say so.” She said simply looking around daring anyone to attempt to argue with her.

Nodding immediately, Elegy responded with an, "Aye, Captain," and he caught her eye when he could. Elegy tapped a quick note into his PADD, as he reported, "The science team has plenty of new alien artifacts to study, safely home in the laboratory."

William nodded in agreement, "Agreed. I'll coordinate with the MACOs and post guards at the umbilical with the alien ship. We will continue to run down leads here, but I think it is safe to say we will need to go over to the other ship and confront the AI."

"I want everyone safe. I do not want any more accidents." Beth said glancing at the food. "And everyone make sure you eat and rest. I think we are going to need our strength." She commented leaving the room. Her half-eaten food left behind as she went to deal with other things.