"Captain Shen? Is he any relation to Lieutenant Shen, sir?"
"He's her father."
"The father of your main squeeze is the guy in charge of raking us over the coals? That's way harsh, sir."
"I was just thinking the same thing."
"And you're one of the prime objects of the investigation."
"Right again, Sheriff. Are you trying to cheer me up?"
Sharpe leaned against the hatch opening, staring contemplatively into space. "This Captain Shen. You ever meet him, sir?"
"Yeah. Once."
"What's he like?"
"He's Ms. Shen's father. What do you think?"
"Ouch. No offense intended to Ms. Shen, sir."
"None taken. She'll be proud to know she's remembered that way on this ship." Paul leaned back and looked upward. "What'd I do? Somebody up there seems awful mad at me."
"You're better off than Vlad Asher, sir."
Paul frowned, looking toward Sharpe again. "He was a friend of yours, wasn't he?"
Sharpe nodded abruptly. "Yessir. A fine man. A fine sailor. I don't know what happened in Forward Engineering, but I can't believe it's his fault."
"Something screwy happened, that's for sure. Not just the explosion, but the fire suppression systems not working. What're the odds of that?"
"Dunno, sir. I'm not a snipe," Sharpe pointed out, using the common slang for engineering personnel.
"Do you know why Asher would have been in there at that time?"
Sharpe frowned at the deck. "Sir, with all due respect, that touches on testimony I might be called upon to give in the investigation. I shouldn't discuss it with you."
Paul nodded. "Or anyone else. I suppose the automated engineering logs will tell us something."
"Uh, no, sir, apparently not."
" What?"
"I have this reliably, sir. The engineering logs are badly damaged. They're not sure how much of them will be recoverable."
"How the hell could those logs have been damaged? They're supposed to survive having the ship blown apart."
"Sir, I don't know. There's some guesses about the explosion and the fire."
Paul stared at nothing for a moment, then shook his head rapidly. "That's just weird. But I suppose it's not impossible. I guess that's something the investigation will really have to dig into."
"Yes, sir. I really want answers to this one, sir."
"I understand. We'll get them, if I have anything to say about it. I'm really sorry, Sheriff."
"Thank you, sir. Can you tell me one thing? You saw him, right?"
"Yeah." Paul closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing. The brief, close-up glimpse of Chief Asher's remains kept coming back to him as if burned into his memory.
"Could you tell if he'd suffered any?"
"Honestly, Sheriff, no. There wasn't much left." Paul looked away as Sharpe flinched. "Sorry. I don't know. But I can't believe he lived through that explosion. I don't think he ever knew what hit him."
"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."
Chapter Seven
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."