The doctor nodded, his scowl fading. 'Good. I'm glad to hear that. Sometimes you line officers seem obsessed with punishment, with trying to brow-beat the rest of the world into your model of accountability for any mistakes. If the goal of this investigation is to save lives, then it's a very good thing.'
'Thank you, sir.'
'Thank you?' The doctor looked at Paul skeptically. 'Did I say something about you personally?'
'I'm a line officer, sir. For better or worse. And I'm assisting in the investigation, which means I have a personal involvement there, too.'
'Line officers.' The doctor shook his head. 'You all think you're Atlas, carrying the world around on your shoulders. If you stopped for a moment, if you made a small mistake, the world wouldn't crash and break, you know.'
Paul looked away. The burden of his chosen profession suddenly felt very heavy. 'With all due respect, sir, it did for Petty Officer Davidas.' He only hoped it hadn't been due to a small mistake on the part of Carl Meadows.
Garcia handled the investigation with what could only described as ruthless efficiency. Carl came back shaken from his interview, but refused to complain. 'He asked me tough questions. That's exactly what he should be doing.'
Kris leaned close to him. 'Questions about what?'
'Stuff I expected, really. He asked me to describe everything I did relating to the accident. Whether I personally saw the virtual tag-out activated and tested. Whether I tugged on the physical tag-out to make sure it wouldn't fall off.'
'I thought they found the physical tag still in place.'
'They did. Garcia's making sure it didn't drift off and then somebody put it back after the accident.'
'Why, that-'
'No.' Carl held up a hand. 'He's not being a bastard. He has to check that, rule it out. I know that tag was on firmly. But if Garcia doesn't prove that to everybody's satisfaction then he wouldn't be doing me any favors. Right, Paul?'
Paul nodded. 'Right. Garcia has to check out every possible angle and ensure he knows what really went wrong. If Carl's innocent of wrongdoing, he'll prove that.'
Kris glared at him. ' If?'
Paul's head suddenly felt cold and empty. 'I said if? Carl, I'm sorry, I didn't-'
'That's okay. It's easy to make a mistake.' Carl fell silent as the implications of his own words sank in, then smiled bitterly. 'Looks like a lot of people are saying dumb things today.'
Paul shook his head, angrier at himself than he'd ever been. 'No. What I said wasn't dumb. It was stupid. You've told us you followed procedures and did everything by the book, just like you told Garcia. I'm really, really sorry.'
Carl nodded, and Kris Denaldo lost her own anger. 'Just make sure you don't make that kind of slip of the lip when you're talking to Garcia, Paul. Tell me something, though. What kind of standard is Garcia using to judge Carl? Is the fact Carl followed procedure good enough?'
'It should be. But the standard is a guy called ORP-man.'
'ORP-man? Is that some kind of weird super-hero?'
Paul managed to smile. 'No. ORP stands for ordinary, reasonable and prudent. An accident investigation is supposed to look at what an ordinary, reasonable and prudent man or woman would have done. You don't have to be perfect. But just sticking to procedure isn't good enough if a reasonable person would have noticed a problem and done something about it.'
'ORP-man. That sounds so stupid.'
'Yeah. But it kind of makes sense. I mean, isn't that the standard you'd want to be judged by?'
Kris frowned. 'I don't know. It depends on who's doing the judging, and what their definition of ordinary, reasonable and prudent happens to be. Doesn't it?'
'Well…' Paul frowned as well. 'I guess that's right. But, Carl, you're careful. You're smart. You'll pass that test.'
Carl twitched a smile. 'I sure hope so. Like I said, I told Garcia everything I did. All the procedures I followed. But I didn't tell him something else, because I couldn't.'
Paul stared. 'What? What didn't you tell him?'
'Anything I didn't do because I didn't think to do it and still haven't realized I should have done. Any procedure I should have followed but didn't know I should follow. And that might be what killed Davidas.'
Kris leaned forward again, her anger this time directed at Carl. 'You did not kill Petty Officer Davidas. You are not that big of a screw-up, Mr. Meadows.'
'I'm glad you think so. I hope you're right.'
'Jen told me she'd trust you with her life. Would Jen Shen say that if she didn't mean it?'
'No.'
'You've still got a division to lead, Carl. This investigation will clear you. Until then, keep your head clear. I've got a watch to stand right now.' Kris pulled herself from her seat, gesturing to Paul to follow. As soon as they'd left, she pointed back to the ensign locker where they'd left Carl. 'I've got ten thousand things to do, as usual. But you keep an eye on him, Paul. You're living in the same compartment. If you think he's losing it, you make sure Jen and I know.'
'I don't think he'll lose it, Kris. He's depressed, but that's understandable.'
'Yes, it is. I just want to make sure it doesn't go beyond understandable depression. Okay?'
'Okay.' Kris headed rapidly down the passageway. Paul watched her until she swung around a corner. 'Carl? I've got some work to do in the operations spaces.'
'So do it.'
'Are you going to be okay?'
'Yeah. See you at lunch.'
Paul followed in Kris Denaldo's wake, but he hadn't gotten far when he heard his name called.
'Paul.' He turned, seeing Lieutenant Sindh in the door to her stateroom. 'How's Carl holding up?'
Paul didn't know Sindh all that well, but he'd never heard anything bad about her, and she was on Jen Shen's list of good people. 'Not too well. You can tell he's torn up inside.'
'Losing a sailor isn't easy. Wondering if you're guilty of somehow causing that death is harder. Paul, I'm what you might call a lay minister. Not Carl's religion, but the role of ministering is fairly universal. Tell Carl for me that if he needs to talk, I'm available.'
'I will. Thanks.'
Around the next turn he met Jen Shen. 'Hey, Paul. How's Carl?'
'Could be better.'
'What's funny about that question?'
'Funny?' Paul hadn't realized he'd quirked a brief smile. 'Nothing. It's just that Lieutenant Sindh asked me the same thing a few seconds ago. Are you a lay minister, too?'
'Me? I don't think so. But if you think Carl needs somebody's shoulder to cry on, let me know.'
Paul nodded, this time smiling gratefully. 'I think he does need that, but I don't think he's ready to do it.'
'Men. Why you refuse to deal with emotions, I don't know. How's Garcia's investigation coming? Any idea?'
'Not a thing.'
'You're supposed to be his assistant.'
'No, I'm supposed to be assisting him. When he needs it. I've asked. He hasn't needed it.'
Jen came close, peering into Paul's eyes. 'If you heard they were going to railroad Carl, you'd tell us, wouldn't you? You'd tell him?'
Paul didn't have to wonder if his shock at the question showed. 'How can you even ask that? I haven't heard anything that'd justify railroading Carl, and if I knew they were trying I'd do everything in my power to derail it.'
Jen grinned as she eased away again. 'I kinda thought that. I just wanted to hear it from you.'
