Star Trek: Bendross

Episode #26 The First Step

By

Jay P. Hailey

And

The Bendross Players

-*-


"It wasn't a professional job." Hamilton said.

"It's hard to believe that the last shift missed it." Martin said.

Tristan shook his head "Unless they had some reason to do a head count they would have no reason to suspect that a tube was empty."

Martin added a note to his PADD "Head count each change of shift" He looked up. So shift nine missed it. Why did Shift eight?"

Tristan read the records on his own PADD: "She was signed in by Amy Harbaugh."

Martin looked at Hamilton. He hesitated for half a beat. "Did you learn anything useful from Amy last night?"

Hamilton was leaning back, watching the overhead. "Umm. She's a nut. She acts like she addicted to drugs and sex."

Tristan shook his head "How did she get through the screening for this mission?"

"She may not have been as bad when this thing started." Martin said thoughtfully, "She's been locked up in a tin can for a year with very little to do. That could really exacerbate these sorts of problems."

Hamilton shrugged "I don't know. I know I don't trust her. She's dangerous."

"You had to screw with her to figure that out?" Tristan smirked.

"And how did you know?" Hamilton asked.

"She had sex with you."

"Well, there you go." Hamilton said.

-*-

Jon Dou caught Hamilton in the hallway leading away from the Conference room. "Hamilton, If I were able to get finger prints off the box on Crystal's tubes, would you be able to compare them to the personnel records and discover who placed it?"

Hamilton shook his head. "Finger prints haven't been regularly used since the mid-90's and Khan. You know that."

Jon Dou grimaced "There just has to be a way. I don't like not being able to track people on this ship."

"Have you lifted any prints from the device?" Hamilton asked pointedly.

"Well it's in the lab, preserved. If there are any prints on it, they'll be there for a while yet. I just want to make sure I can eliminate you and Tristan as suspects when I get the prints." Jon Dou.

"Okay. What would you like me to do for you?" Hamilton asked.

"I want a program to identify fingerprints. I think they used to use recognition points on them or something didn't they?" Jon Dou asked.

Hamilton thought about it. "Give me some samples to work with and I'll see what I can do." It sounded like an interesting piece of programming.

Jon Dou nodded. "I guess we're toting you out here for a reason."

"Hey, let's not go overboard here." Hamilton smiled.


-*-


In the wardroom, Martin caught up with Hamilton.

"I need to know where you're at Ham."

Hamilton blinked. "What do you mean?"

Martin was intense "If Amy offers you another roll are you going to take her up on it? If there's another problem am I going to reach for you to find you drugged up and out of commission?"

Hamilton looked at the deck "I can't say that for sure, Martin. I didn't want to this time, but she offered and it was like any sense I had dribbled out of my head. I was out of control."

Martin grabbed Hamilton's shoulder "Look where we are. We're trillions of miles away from anything. All that's keeping us alive is this bucket and the crew that runs it. We can't afford to be out of control here. I need to know that when I call for you, you'll be there."

Hamilton shook his head helplessly at Martin.

"Have you ever known an addict?" Martin asked. "One who was in recovery?"

Hamilton looked confused. "I've known a lot of addicts. But all the ones I knew were, like either unaware they had a problem or they claimed that treatment didn't work."

"I knew one guy who did some sort of treatment. Maybe you'd better talk to Dr. Jon Dou about getting some of that." Martin said. "Like, now."

Hamilton nodded. "I'll do it."


-*-

Hamilton walked into sickbay.

Jon Dou was standing over a table looking at a display of finger prints.

"Ahem." Hamilton said.

Jon Dou looked up. "I'll have those samples for you in a moment, Hamilton."

Hamilton could feel his chest constrict. It was interesting, he noted in a distant, academic sort of way, that fighting men to the death in well armed fighter planes didn't scare him as bad as the truth. "I need to talk to you about a problem I'm having."

Jon Dou looked up and said "Go ahead." In her professional voice.

"I... Ah... I think I'm a drug addict." Hamilton laughed nervously. "Maybe an alcoholic, too."

"Why do you think so?" Jon Dou asked.

Hamilton told her, in gruesome detail. It turned out to be most of his life's story. "Towards the end there, jobs weren't coming my way. I'd lost a few to being too drunk to finish them up, or showing up to the job drunk." Hamilton sounded mystified even to himself. "Truth to tell, when I came to in boot camp and detoxed out in Mojave, it was about the best thing that could have happened to me. Look at where I am now? Chief Information Systems guy for a *starship*. And I'm not doing too bad at it, if I do say so myself. It's the last thing in the world I'd want to screw up. This is my last chance. Literally."

Jon Dou Nodded. "I understand."

"So what do I do?" Hamilton was asking himself as much as Jon Dou. "The moment Amy Harbaugh offers me a roll and a hit, I drop everything and go running after it? What the hell am I doing?"

Jon Dou touched Hamilton's shoulder lightly to get his attention. "You're not alone in this, Hamilton. We have the addictive process well documented. We have some alternatives for treatment available. But the first thing you have to understand is that on a fundamental level, you're broken. Your body doesn't process alcohol the same way as a normal drinker's. The days are done when you can drink alcohol, or use any drugs and expect to have any control about it. Do you understand this?"

Hamilton spent a brief moment ready to struggle with the concept. Then he understood that he known it for a while. "I don't know what the hell I'm gonna do."

Jon Dou took a deep breath. "Hamilton I have to warn you that I'm not trained in the mental health field, so my ability to take you through this whole process is limited. But I'll help you in anyway I can. Okay? We have some reading material and some programs to try. If you're willing and committed we can get you through this."

Hamilton looked at the certainty in Jon Dou's eyes and clung to it. "Okay. I'm in. I can do that."

Jon Dou looked at Hamilton. "Okay. Let's get back to what's in front of us. Remind me this evening and I'll call up those documents for you."

Hamilton nodded. "Okay. Thank you. Thank you for listening."

Jon Dou fervently hoped she'd never be tested on Hamilton's long winded and rambling story. "It's part of the job."

"You know, you're not nearly the bitch I thought you were." Hamilton smiled with a touch of mischief as he left the sickbay.