Burden of Proof (19 page)

"Thanks, Mr. Sinclair. I guess Petty Officer Davidas might have some company now."

"Yeah. I guess." Davidas had died over a year earlier in an accident onboard. Since then, the crew had attributed any odd happening to Davidas' mischievous ghost. "I haven't heard anyone laying this fire at the feet of Davidas' spirit, though."

"Hell, no, sir, begging your pardon. Fooling around with people's one thing, but Davidas always looked out for his shipmates. He wouldn't have hurt Chief Asher or anybody else on this ship."

Paul sighed. "Too bad Davidas' ghost wasn't in Forward Engineering on Saturday night."

"Yes, sir."

"Sheriff, I don't know what kind of assistance Captain Shen will ask for, but we're to make sure he gets everything he wants. Let me know if there's any problems, and I'll make sure the CO and XO make 'em right."

"Yes, sir. What if Captain Shen doesn't want me talking to you about the investigation?"

"Notify me and then go straight to the XO after that. I'm the only person between you and the XO in the chain of command, so that's how it'll have to be. I won't have it said that we hindered this investigation in any way."

"Aye, aye, sir." Sharpe nodded slowly. "Chief Asher'd want it that way. And one thing more, sir."

"Yeah, Sheriff?"

"Thanks for going in after him, sir. I know it was risky."

"Somebody had to put out that fire, Sheriff."

"Yes, sir, but it didn't have to be you. Thanks for trying, sir."

Paul looked away, bitterness rising in him. "It didn't make any difference." When no reply came, he looked back to see Sharpe watching him with a surprised expression. "What?"

"Sir, whether it made a difference or not isn't the point. You tried. Everybody's telling me Vlad Asher couldn't have made it no matter what. But you tried, sir. Thank you, sir." Sharpe straightened and saluted Paul.

"Ah, hell, Sheriff." When Sharpe held the salute, Paul stood and returned it, feeling awkward. "Get back to work."

"Yes, sir."

Captain Shen eyed Paul flatly, nothing about him betraying any evidence he'd ever met Paul before in any way. "Lieutenant Junior Grade Paul Sinclair?"

"Yes, sir."
Well, that makes how to handle this easy. Captain Shen's going to keep it totally impersonal. That's a relief. I think
. As Paul had expected, Captain Shen had completely cut him out of the investigation process as soon as he knew Paul had been on duty the day of the fire. Now, barely three days later, he was seated in the wardroom of the
Michaelson
opposite the man who was Jen's father and would also render judgment on Paul's actions.
I'm still wondering why he didn't recuse himself from the investigation when he found out I was one of the subjects. But how can I formally bring that up without creating the appearance I have something to hide
?

Shen pushed a data pad toward Paul. "Read and sign this."

Paul read quickly, recognizing a standard form for a sworn statement from the Judge Advocate General's Manual.
Do you, Paul Sinclair, Lieutenant Junior Grade, United States Navy, solemnly swear (or affirm) that the evidence you shall give in the matter now under investigation shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth (so help you God)?
He signed quickly and returned the data pad to Captain Shen.

Captain Shen checked the signature and then fixed his eyes on Paul. "On 19 September 2100 you were on duty onboard the USS
Michaelson
?"

"Yes, sir."

"Where were you when the explosion occurred?"

"I'd just left my stateroom and was proceeding toward the quarterdeck, sir."

"What did you do when the explosion occurred?"

"I paused to wonder what it was, then heard the alarm sound and ran to the quarterdeck, sir."

"How much time elapsed while you 'paused?'"

"A second or two, sir. No more than that."

"Who was on the quarterdeck when you arrived?"

"Chief Petty Officer Imari, the officer of the deck inport, and her petty officer of the watch."

"No one else?"

"No, sir."

"How did you end up leading the on-scene damage control team?"

"DC Central informed us Chief Asher, the regular team leader, could not be located."

"You decided to leave the quarterdeck at that point?"

"No, sir. Lieutenant Silver, the command duty officer -"

"So Lieutenant Silver was also on the quarterdeck."

Paul hesitated, taken aback by the statement. "Yes, sir. By then he was. He arrived a couple of minutes after I did."

"And he then ordered you to assume duties as the damage control team leader?"

Paul phrased his reply carefully. "Lieutenant Silver was CDO and Chief Imari had the quarterdeck watch. I was the only one free to assume that duty, so I asked permission of Lieutenant Silver to proceed to the scene."

"You volunteered."

"Yes, sir."

"Didn't you have other duties to attend to?"

Paul swallowed before answering. "There were other things I could have been assigned to do, sir, which is why I requested Lieutenant Silver's permission before going to the scene of the fire."

"And he told you to go."

"Yes, sir."

"His exact words were?"

"Sir, as I recall, all he said was 'okay.'"

"He said 'okay.' And you were certain that constituted orders to proceed to the fire scene?"

Paul nodded firmly. "Yes, sir."

"You assumed command of the Damage Control team and led it into Forward Engineering. Why did you decide the enter the compartment?"

"The fire suppression systems in the compartment weren't working, and DC Central reported the fire temperatures would damage the bulkheads if we let it burn. Since we couldn't drain the fuel tank feeding the fire until the fire was out, we had to put the fire out."

"How much experience did you have at such fire fighting?"

"Just my damage control training, sir."

"Specify the extent of that."

"One week damage control training during my Academy time, then another week during specialty training."

"And you felt this qualified you to decide to enter the compartment?"

Hell, he's not just being impersonal. He's digging at me. Why'd he have to ask it that way
? "Yes, sir. Before I went down to the scene of the fire, Chief Imari -"

"Why did you decide to use water hoses on full fog?"

"Sir, I asked the lead hose, Petty Officer Santiago, for advice, and she suggested that."

"So lacking experience of your own you simply did what this petty officer said you should?"

Paul took a moment to answer, fighting down an impulse to respond angrily. "No, sir. I asked Petty Officer Santiago for her advice. I weighed that advice against my own knowledge and training, and then made a decision."

"Did you receive authorization to enter Forward Engineering before opening the hatch?"

Paul started to reply, then hesitated.
Did I?
"I don't recall receiving specific authorization, sir. I kept the quarterdeck and DC Central advised of my intentions and I was not told to take any other course of action."

Captain Shen, his expression hard but unreadable, tapped some information onto his data pad. "You appear to have done a number of things on your own, Lieutenant Sinclair."

"I did what seemed appropriate, sir. I kept everyone informed."

"When you left Forward Engineering, did you know what had happened to Chief Asher?"

"Yes, sir." Paul had finally managed to partially suppress his emotions at the memory. "I'd seen his remains."

"Were you certain they belonged to Chief Asher?"

Paul hesitated again. "Sir, there wasn't much left."

"Then the remains could have been those of someone else?"

"I hadn't been advised anyone else was unaccounted for, sir."

"Did you make any attempt to check the rest of Forward Engineering to see if Chief Asher was present, to see if he'd managed to get into emergency survival gear and was still alive?"

"Sir, we had zero visibility, the team was exhausted from putting out the fire, I had an injured team member, and our suits were warning of impending system failures due to the heat."

"Then your answer is 'no.'"

Paul felt his jaw tightening. He tried to control his voice as he answered. "Yes, sir."

"When was the last time you were in Forward Engineering prior to the fire?"

"About a week earlier."

"You hadn't checked the compartment that day?"

"No, sir."

"Even though you'd been on duty since that morning?"

Paul's teeth were hurting, now, from the way his jaw muscles were clenching. "No, sir."

"Had you inspected any compartments on the ship that day?"

"Yes, sir, I had." The reply sounded too sharp, too defensive. Paul tried to moderate his tone. "I always conduct a walk-through of the ship on my duty days."

"You check every compartment."

Paul felt his teeth grinding painfully together and forced them to relax. "No, sir, not every compartment."

"Why not?"

How do I answer that? Because the officers who taught me how to stand duty didn't check every compartment? Because I didn't think it was necessary? Maybe because I didn't think
. "I . . . no excuse, sir."

Captain Shen kept his eyes on Paul. "This isn't the Academy, Lieutenant. You're expected to provide explanations for your actions. Or your inactions. Why hadn't you inspected Forward Engineering that day?"

Paul felt a stubborn anger rising. "Because officers in the duty section do not routinely check every single compartment. I was going to the quarterdeck where eight o'clock reports were going to be presented. Chief Asher would have informed us of any problems in engineering spaces at that time."

"So you effectively delegated the responsibility."

"No, sir." Paul almost spat the reply. "I delegated the task. I am well aware that I cannot delegate responsibility."

Captain Shen stared back impassively for a moment, then made some more notations. "When was the last time the fire suppression systems in Forward Engineering had been tested?"

"I don't know, sir."

"Why not?"

"I'm the Combat Information Center Officer, sir. I do not work in Engineering. If I need that information I will ask the appropriate officer or enlisted in the Engineering Department."

"You don't think you needed that information the day of the fire?"

"It would've been irrelevant, sir. The fire suppression systems didn't work. Knowing when they were last tested wouldn't have helped me handle the situation or put that fire out."

"If you'd familiarized yourself with the date the systems were last tested, and discovered they were overdue for a test in time to take corrective action, couldn't that have prevented the fire from causing such extensive damage to the compartment?"

Paul stared, momentarily at a loss for words.
They hadn't been tested recently? Nobody's said anything about that
. "I . . . was unaware of that, sir."

"Then you admit your lack of knowledge regarding a critical compartment on this ship could have negatively impacted on the emergency?"

Paul almost snapped out an angry, "Yes, sir," then found himself hesitating again.
Wait a minute. Think before you speak. That's practically a confession of wrongdoing he's asking me to make. Did I fail that badly? How come nobody on the ship has acted like I screwed up and helped make that emergency worse
? "No, sir."

"No." Captain Shen pursed his lips, and made another notation. "Are you sure you don't want to reconsider that answer?"

This time Paul recognized a technique he'd seen Sharpe employ with suspects. Imply you know something you don't really know, and let them implicate themselves.
Were those fire suppression systems really overdue for a test? He never said they were, he just implied that. Why's he trying to nail me? Well, it doesn't matter why, because it's not happening
. "No, sir, I do not."

"Very well, Mr. Sinclair. There's no further need for you."

Something inside Paul made him answer in a calm, firm voice. "As a witness, you mean, sir."

"Yes. Send in the next witness."

Paul had intended going back to his stateroom, but found himself so worked up over the interview that he started roaming the ship to burn off his anger.
Interview? Hell, that was an interrogation. What's he up to
? Reason slowly asserted itself.
Maybe he's doing his job. Which is finding out what happened and why. For all I know every other person going in there is getting the same treatment. Judging by the way the officers on the
Mahan
acted, Captain Shen's always a hardass
.

He's Jen's father, for Pete's sake. Jen can be really tough, too, but she's always fair. Why assume the worst
?

* * *

The next several days were frustrating. Paul, used to being on the inside of investigations, could only watch from the sidelines as witnesses disappeared into the wardroom and various specialists came aboard to check the damage and other systems on the ship.

"What're they finding out, Paul?" Mike Bristol asked on Friday.

"Damned if I know."

Randy Diego looked around conspiratorially. "I heard they couldn't get anything out of the engineering logs. The taught us those logs are hardened against all kinds of stuff, so how'd that happen?"

Paul saw everyone was looking at him for an answer. "I don't know! Look, guys, I'm not in on this. I don't know any more about those logs than you do."

"I saw Jill Taylor leaving the wardroom after she'd talked to Captain Shen," Randy continued. Paul nodded. As Electronic Materials Officer and a skilled specialist, Ensign Taylor would be a logical person to ask about the condition of the engineering logs. "Boy, did she look mad."

Bristol looked intrigued. "Do you know why?"

"No. She didn't say anything and I didn't ask. Even I know not to cross Taylor's path when she's that pissed off."

Paul saw them looking at him again. "Captain Shen's questioning is, uh, really aggressive. That's about all I can say."