Informing The Crew Part 1

Posted on Thu Jul 7th, 2022 @ 11:39am by Captain Bethsabée Leroux & Captain Stenn

Mission: Mission 6 - Memory
Location: Stenn's Quarters
Timeline: Day 300 2040
1635 words - 3.3 OF Standard Post Measure

After the meeting in the Science lab, Stenn had returned to the Barracks and arranged for MACO Operatives to assist the Armory personnel with providing escorts for the crew from the mysterious Escape Pod. Then returned to his office, completing his work for the day he went to his, changed into his training gear and set out on his daily running session.

Later, after showering and eating, he was back in his cabin and preparing to begin his evening meditation session. He lit his meditation lamp, set it on the low table and was about to sit down when the door chime went.

On opening the door he found Leboux there, she had a concerned look on her that he had not seen before.

"Captain, how can I be of service?" He asked, eyebrow raised

Beth stepped into his quarters and closed the door quickly behind her. She glanced at the meditation lamp and sighed at her guilt for interrupting his downtime. “Yes there has been a little bit of development in looking for the Executive Officer,” she admitted. “She has been found dead.”

"Dead? I presume in the starboard nacelle access area?" he had heard Sloan's communication call some forty minutes earlier, followed by another one for medical personnel to the same location. This would be a logical reason the Captain, Gethard and medical would have been summoned to an out of the way engineering space. "That is an unusual location, was she carrying out an assignment there?"

“Not in the slightest. It is a very unusual location, to say the least.” Beth agreed as she decided to sit down on the floor as there were few other options to see anywhere. It was more comfortable for her anyway.

Stenn joined her on the floor, "Has a cause of death been established? Such places can be dangerous, radiation, energy conduits, warp drive components..."

“None of them has been ruled out but there is no obvious cause as of yet.” Beth surmised thinking through all the logical causes of death that could happen to an engineer. They were all possible but none of them fit for what Beth had seen nor the fact that there was no sign of them.

"Yet you suspect foul play?"

“I do,” Beth admitted with a sigh. It was the only route open to her when something like this happened. There was no other option than foul play at that stage of the investigation.

"How can I and MACO assist?"

“I need to lock down everyone in barracks other than the ones guarding our new guests until we know a time of death Captain.” Beth knew he would expect it but it was difficult to request. “I am going to be doing the same to the rest of the crew as soon as I leave.”

"Very well, I will take care of that. Though, If I may, I will excuse any personnel who have been in the company of at least two others for the last..." he thought for a moment "...nine hours since Lieutenant Leyton was alive when we left the Bridge, at Eleven-Hundred hours, this morning to go to the shuttle hanger. That will provide some Operators to assist with securing the ship. Might I also suggest we escort any on-duty personnel to and from duty stations?

If you will also give me a moment I will get dressed and become your personal escort. We can not ignore the possibility that this is some attempt to remove command personnel..."

Beth was about to argue but he did have a point if there was something that had gotten to the executive officer then there was nothing stopping her from being killed either. “You do not need to but I appreciate it,” Beth said as she tried to gather herself from the floor but gave up a few more minutes could wait.

"Please, take a moment to gather your thoughts" he gestured to the lamp. "Observing the flame is a way to quickly bring clarity and focus in times of stress" He got up and stepped into the bathroom to get dressed.

“I am not…” Beth muttered but he had a point. Maybe the nose bleeds and headaches were from stress. There was not really an opportunity for her to relax and not be stressed. She closed her eyes and early drifted off before the door opened.

Two minutes later he was back, sidearm and stun-baton in place on his belt.

“That was quick,” Beth commented as she used the low table to hail herself from the floor. “I need to go to science,” Beth said thinking of her next location and where she needed to go and to who she needed to give a warning to before she put a ship-wide announcement out and locked the ship down.

"Understood Captain, we can stop by the Barracks on the way," Stenn said and followed her back out to the corridor.

At the barracks, it was determined there were six MACO operatives who had not been with less than two other people for the last nine hours. They were split into teams of two, one pair to the Bridge, one to Engineering and the other two to assist Armory with patrols.

As they walked to Science, Stenn said. "If Lieutenant Leyton was killed deliberately, there are several possibilities. That it was a member of the crew, would appear unlikely, but possible. Was she in a relationship with another crew member?"

“Nope. No one that I know of. She had been isolating herself since the future ship as she lost someone she had gotten close to.” Beth knew that for a fact. It had been frustrating to get close to assistance. Beth did not want to think that it was a crew member but it was likely.

"The location is unusual, I believe I have only been there once, on an initial tour of the ship before we left earth. It is not a route I use in my training as there is no exit. That may indicate a possible familiarity with that location by any potential assailant, which would tend to point towards Engineering personnel having that kind of knowledge..."

“Gerhard has considered the same,” Beth said as she fell silent as they passed a crewman who nodded at them. She waited until the person was down the other end before she spoke up. “The location is very specific in my opinion.”

"The other possibility is that is indeed some kind of assault on the command structure of this vessel. Who would gain from her death?"

”No one. Her job is needed as someone to fly the vessel.” She was needed and a valuable resource. “No one gains from her murder in the slightest.” There was no logical reason.

"She was both Chief Flight Control Officer and Executive officer." Stenn pointed out. "She had subordinate Officers in her department, one of whom will presumably succeed her there. Lieutenant Gerhard is also likely to be your choice to advance from Second to Executive Officer. Ambition is a motive that cannot be excluded..."

Beth smiled just a little. “He has been in my presence or several other people's presence since the last time that Samantha was seen. One of the few people who have such a solid alibi but I will pass on your opinion around her subordinates.”

"I am not offering an opinion Captain, as l said think it an unlikely possibility that a member of the crew was involved," Stenn said evenly. " I do not think either Lieutenant Gerhard or one of her personnel was responsible. But these are matters that must be considered as part of an investigation, even if only to positively discount them.

If her death is indeed murder, why has it happened now? We must also consider what has changed aboard the ship to bring this about. The obvious change is the arrival of the Escape Pod and associated personnel. They are an unknown factor, besides their similarity to our own crew, we really have no reliable data to accept their account.

I have not been involved in their debriefing nor seen the reports, but I believe you mentioned that they claimed their Atlantis was destroyed as a result of the actions of some Being?

If true, we should be open to the possibility that such a Being may have come aboard with them..."

“Nothing has changed in the last six hours other than five new passengers on board,” Beth said rubbing her head for a moment as she tried to reach for something that he knew. Something had changed and she knew it but she could none pin it down. It was like a dream that you knew you had but it was forgotten when you woke up.

"Five passengers, possibly from an alternative Atlantis, with a tale of a Being who destroyed their own ship. Now we have a dead Command Officer" Stenn repeated.
That is a significant change Captain" He was unsure why she was not accepting the reality of the situation when she suddenly lifted her head.

“Bother,” Beth commented as she felt the almost familiar drip of her nose as a nose bleed started. “Keeps happening.” She sighed pulling out a tissue to stem the blood as they stepped into the turbo lift.

"Another nose bleed?" He checked the door numbers. "Science is two more. We will find you something to stem the bleeding" He led the way.

Beth nodded as she pressed the tissue harder against her nose. It was soon not really doing anything as the blood dripped through. “This is the second or third of today.” Beth sighed annoyed as Sloan and Smith had told her the environmental issues were fixed.