Star Trek: Bendross
Episode 24: Meat is Murder
(Spring, 2083)
By
And
The Bendross Players
"Crystal's Dead?" Leonidas Brennan asked for the third time.
"I'm sorry." Hamilton said. He had to restrain his tone of voice. He disliked Brennan, and worked hard to keep it from showing.
"What happened?" Brennan asked.
One of the things that Hamilton held against Brennan was that he looked something like Casper Van Diem or Brendan Frasier, two ancient Matinee Idols that Ham's mother doted on.
"She was killed." Martin Kerenski said mildly.
"By who?" Brennan asked.
"We're trying to find that out." Ashby said.
"So, what does that have to do with me?" Brennan asked.
"You knew Crystal, didn't you?" Doctor Jon Dou asked.
Brennan nodded. "Uh huh. We were friends. She was on my expedition team."
"How well did you know Crystal?" Kerenski asked.
"Ummm. Not all that well, really. I mean we were friends and everything but not like, you know, really super close or anything." Brennan lied. He was bad at lying and it showed plainly. Hamilton looked at Brennan and then at Kerenski and Jon Dou.
Kerenski had a thoughtful look on his face. It never wavered or gave away a hint about what Kerenski was thinking about, just that he was observing and thinking about everything he saw.
Jon Dou blinked at Brennan a couple of times. Was he that bad a liar or was he putting them on?
Hamilton's irritation with Brennan got the better of him. "It would go a lot easier if you'd tell us the truth, Leo."
Brennan looked at him sharply "I *am* telling you the truth!"
Kerenski interceded. "Leo, Do know any reason why anyone would want to hurt Crystal?"
"No! She was nice. Everyone loved her. She was a lot of fun!"
"Did you love her, Leo?" Hamilton asked.
"No! I mean Yes! I mean, she was nice and everything. We had a couple of laughs. I liked her just fine. I didn't kill her if that's what you mean."
Hamilton blinked and then nodded. "Well that's a definite statement, anyway."
"Why did you guys pull me out of hibernation? What do you want from me?" Brennan demanded. "Don't I get a lawyer or somethin?"
Hamilton stopped, taken aback. "Uh..."
"We'll talk of that if it becomes necessary." Jon Dou said smoothly.
"Leo, try to help us figure out what happened to Crystal, okay?"
"I don't know anything! I didn't do anything! Leave me alone!" Brennan said in a worried voice. "Can I go now?"
Hamilton looked at Kerenski and Kerenski looked back. Hamilton really wanted to shine a bright light on Brennan and use a rubber hose on him. Hamilton knew it wasn't smart, but he wanted to anyway. Hamilton discovered that this was interfering with his ability to think logically.
"That's enough, you too." Jon Dou said. "Out of my sick bay."
Kerenski and Ham looked at Jon Dou. Kerenski's expression was bemused. Ham opened his mouth to say something.
"Out!" Jon Dou's voice crackled with authority.
Hamilton put his hands up. "Okay, Okay."
"Let us know when we can question him again, please." Kerenski said,
"I will." Jon Dou replied
-*-
Hamilton was sitting in the ward room, trying to Doodle on a Personal organizer. Actually the device was the size of a clip board, but it had the same flat screen and black plastic outline as the traditional pocket organizer and computer. Hamilton generally eschewed the things. He either went for a real computer or a yellow legal pad.
The Bendross III's cargo capacity was gargantuan, but it was packed so tightly, so desperately and so thoroughly that there was simply no room for enough yellow legal pads to last any length of time.
There was some paper aboard the Bendross III and some very efficient recycling machinery for it. There just was none for doodling. So Hamilton was frustrating himself by trying to draw stick figures and toy war machines on the Device and have them come out "right". They weren't. The tactile feedback from the device was not quite the same.
Microsoft called the things "PADDs". An acronym for "Person Access Data Display", but it was a transparent attempt to design an electronic device to highjack the mental and emotional space occupied by yellow legal pads.
Turning the thing over, Hamilton squinted at it. Idly he was wondering if he could hack the thing and force it to use a less crufty and banal interface. The technical stats of the device danced through his head as he contemplated vandalism
"Hi." Amy Harbaugh said.
Hamilton looked up and brightened. Amy was cute and perky in a curly blonde haired way that Hamilton found very attractive. Especially after being locked up in a tin can for 3 months with no prospects for a romantic relationship.
"Hi." Hamilton all but gushed at her.
"So, what do you do for fun?" Amy said.
Hamilton thought about it. "Mostly, I don't have any."
Amy rolled her eyes. "Seriously."
"Seriously. I'm on the job. You may have noticed that they didn't exactly ship Chez Mario's out with us."
Amy sighed. "Did you ever get to Chez Mario's?"
"Once or twice, when I was working that sort of job." Hamilton said.
"I miss it. The lights, the colors, the sounds, the people."
"Hmph." Hamilton recalled being vaguely disappointed that, when one got past the hype, and the extremely exclusionary door people, that Chez Mario's wasn't all that different from any other club. It was just more highly priced and decorated. Rising and settling blocks of flooring and the scattered with foam rubber weapons, including the traditional huge sledge hammer and barrels.
"Seriously, you don't do anything?"
"Well besides being the Sysadmin for the ship and trying to solve murders, no." Hamilton smiled.
"Poor thing," Amy cooed. She slid onto the arm of the couch. "You're some kind of workaholic or something aren't you?"
Hamilton snorted. "Obviously you don't know me very well."
Amy smiled it was an earnest smile but there was something of a snake in it. The Danger enticed Hamilton more. "Tell me about yourself." she said.
"Ummm," Hamilton shrugged "What's to tell? How about you. How did you come to be here?" Hamilton knew that the last thing a pretty girl ever really wants to hear is about you.
Amy didn't disappoint him "I wanted a life with, you know, fresh air, fresh food, fresh chances. Earth can't give that to me any more. No one said anything about doing time in this bucket, though."
"It's not like in the movies, is it?" Hamilton encouraged.
"No. Definitely not like the movies." Amy seemed to make up her mind. "Hamilton, you seem like street wise sort of man. Do you know where a girl could go for a party?"
Hamilton blinked. Was she asking for sex or drugs? "Ummm, I'm not sure I understand what you're after here."
"I have a stash, but it's limited. I didn't think I'd be woken up again before we got there. Do you know where a girl can refresh her supply?" Amy said.
Ah hah. Drugs. "Well, not off the top of my head. It wouldn't surprise me though if we had some other stashes aboard. Maybe even someone with the idea of becoming a supplier. I know where someone rigged up a vacuum still if nothing else, there's always booze." Hamilton surprised himself. For a chance to get into Amy's pants, He discovered he was ready to rob the Bendross' secret stashes and steal from the whole ship. It was disturbing. Hamilton thought that he'd put a lot of that stuff behind him when he shaped up for the mission.
Amy shuddered "I hate to think what's going to happen when it's all gone. I'll tell you what. I'll make a deal with you. I'll share with you now, and you share with me if you bust anyone's stash. How does that sound?"
Hamilton smiled broadly. "That sounds good."
Amy sobered for a second "You're not planning on messing me up here, Are you? You know a wham bam thank you ma'am and then you never come through with your end?"
Hamilton was as sincere as only true lust can make you. "Absolutely not! All I have is my word, Amy. If I go back on that I don't have anything."
"Don't bullshit me, Hamilton. I'm serious here. If you fuck with me, well, you have to sleep some time." Amy looked deeply into Hamilton's eyes and poked his nose to make her emphasis. "I can be pretty dangerous when I have to be."
Hamilton discovered himself thinking of the one stash of Drugs he'd discovered. "No problem. I'm here for you, Baby." Part of Hamilton's brain said "suckeeerrr." But Hamilton wasn't listening.
"Good. C'Mon." Amy stood up and pulled Hamilton to his feet. Taking him by the hand she lead him through the ship.
They wound up in an obscure hold, just about as far away from the Habitation module as it was possible to get and still have life support.
-*-
Martin Kerenski carefully read the logs of the 8th watch. It was tedious and dry reading. But it had to be done. If nothing else, Martin was a fan of doing his homework.
After a while it occurred to Martin that he had no way of verifying the accuracy of the logs he was reading. The logs said that maintenance procedure X was done on Date Y. But Martin had no way to confirm or deny any of this.
Martin levered himself out of his coffin like quarters and stood upright on the deck. The man who knew what needed doing and if it had been done was only as far away as the Engine Room.
-*-
Part of Hamilton screamed that he was walking into a trap. Perhaps nothing too deliberate, but very dangerous in any case. Hamilton didn't listen. Deep inside this confused and bothered Hamilton. Previously, he'd made a career of ignoring his better judgement. But now both his better judgement and his sense of self preservation were working together and Hamilton still followed Amy into a hidden niche in the hold.
The hiding place wasn't that good. Hamilton was sure that Rudy would have found the stash eventually anyway. But the fact that it was in a distant and obscure corner of the ship meant that Rudy hadn't gotten this far playing Easter Egg. Nor had anyone else, evidently, because Amy's stash was still intact.
Amy's Stash was a mix of some plant matter and a small pipe, as well as some dermal patches.
Amy waggled the Baggy in front her self and Hamilton. "Ooo, the comforts of civilization." She opened the bag and took out two dermal patches. She handed one to Hamilton, kept on herself and quickly put the stash back away.
Then she stripped off the backing and with a sensuous motion, slid the patch onto her neck.
Hamilton watched and the drugs hit home for her. Amy visibly relaxed and her muscles loosened. Hamilton realized that she'd been jones-ing, suffering from withdrawal until that moment.
Smiling blissfully Amy said "Well, Aren't you going to try it?"
Hamilton stripped the back off his patch and applied it to his own neck. Soon the drugs in the patch filtered through his skin and into his bloodstream.
The rush was very large to Hamilton, who'd been letting his resistance slide. The experience was very pleasurable. He identified the drug as some sort of artificial neurotransmitter, Like Ecstasy. Hamilton felt himself getting very high indeed. Part of him stood back from the process and watched, powerless to change anything.
"Niiiiiicccceeee." Hamilton said, weaving gently. To the observing part of his mind he sounded stupid.
Seeing the vapid smile on Hamilton's face, Amy brightened and started to remove her clothing. She wasn't wearing any underwear, which made the process short and direct.
"Niiiiiicccceeee." Hamilton said, again. It was. Amy was very good looking. "And she's a nut." The observational part of his mind pointed out.
Hamilton didn't listen again.
Amy reached out for Hamilton. Hamilton didn't hear much from his mind after that.
-*-
Tristan Mancuso smiled. "You're right. The logs aren't reliable from one shift to the next. Some people lie and some people realize that their lives depend on keeping the ship working."
"So how do we discover what was and was not actually done?" Martin said.
Tristan Smiled more widely. "The bad crews will lie about what they did. But no crew so far has lied when it comes to bitching about what the previous crew didn't do."
Martin blinked. "Ah. The 9th watch."
"Yup. They've already done that work for us." Tristan said.
"Let's see what they have to say." Martin said.
"Surely. But I can already summarize it for you. The 9th watch is the First Expedition team. Astronauts, Special Forces, people like that. They kept excellent records." Tristan said.
"Nothing for you to bitch about?" Martin smiled
"Not much at all, no. The 9th watch logs say that there's a lot of evidence of maintenance and non-vital tasks being put off or ignored until the last minute. They eliminated all the evidence of that by being diligent at their own scheduled tasks."
"Odd." Martin Mused. "So why didn't they notice that Watch 8 was shy a person?"
"Unless they knew watch eight personally, they wouldn't know enough to ask." Tristan said. "The first thing you'd do is query the Tubes by computer." Tristan punched up the appropriate screen. "well that interesting."
"It certainly is." Martin said.
On the screen, Crystal Heather's tube showed a green light and vital signs normal for a human in hibernation.
Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Trek. I claim original characters and situations in this story for me.