Paul nodded. Which is exactly what I should have expected. No more, no less.
'However,' Sykes added, 'she did state it was 'a good thing Sinclair was on duty.''
'Really?'
'Or words to that effect. The statement does not bring you comfort?'
'I can't help wondering if I lived up to them. Living up to Commander Herdez's expectations is — '
'Probably impossible.' Sykes gave Paul an unusually serious look. 'Give yourself due credit for attempting to do so. And listen to the advice of your elders.'
'I will, Suppo. Thanks.'
The day from that point on seemed almost surreal to Paul. Life and routine continued, but the aftermath of the fire kept appearing. Liberty was cancelled for much of the crew on Sunday, as they were needed for the clean-up and assessment of damage to Forward Engineering. The regular duty section came on, with Lieutenant Kilgary as command duty officer. Paul overheard part of her turnover with Scott Silver, in which Kilgary kept pressing Silver for details that apparently weren't forthcoming. Captain Hayes, Commander Kwan and all the department heads remained onboard. The black cloud of sorrow which seemed to perpetually follow Commander Destin, the chief engineer, appeared to have grown into a virtual storm. About noon, a small caravan of medical personnel arrived, equipped with isolation suits, and went down to Forward Engineering. They left a couple of hours later laden down with a large sealed box whose proportions made it clear it contained the remains of Chief Asher. Many of the crew, somehow forewarned of the sad procession, lined the passageways to see it pass.
Most personnel avoided asking Paul about Saturday night's fire, something he appreciated. His friends made a point of having conversations about different issues.
Late in the afternoon, Paul received a page to report to the executive officer's stateroom. He went there quickly, afraid it was about the fire and so wishing to confront the meeting as fast as possible. 'Lieutenant JG Sinclair, sir.'
Commander Kwan looked up from his chair, then passed Paul a hardcopy printout. 'Fleet staff wants a thorough investigation. They've appointed an investigating officer. He's the captain of another ship. Find out what he needs from us.'
'Yes, sir. Uh, sir, my actions are also going to be investigated — '
'I know that. That shouldn't prevent you, as ship's legal officer, from seeing what the man requires for his investigation.'
'Yes, sir.' Paul headed back from his stateroom, paging Sheriff Sharpe as he did so. The ship's master-at- arms needs to be in on this. Once in his stateroom, he finally read the print-out.
He was still staring at it when Sharpe arrived. 'You asked to see me, sir?' For once, Sharpe didn't display his usual irreverent attitude.
'Yeah.'
'What's the matter, sir? Aside from the obvious, that is.'
'They've appointed an officer to conduct a full investigation into the explosion and fire. Captain Shen of the USS Mahan.'
'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.'
