Attrition

A Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons one-off short story for Halloween 2003

by Tiger Jackson

It had been a long shift, reflected Symphony Angel, much longer than usual. But it was finally over, and she intended to enjoy a relaxing hot shower before changing her clothes and fixing her hair. Captain Blue had asked her to join him for a tête-à-tête dinner, and she was eager for the remaining two hours to pass before she met him.

As she entered her quarters, Symphony was surprised to hear the shower running behind the closed door to her bathroom. She was certain she had turned the water off before leaving earlier. Someone must have come in and turned it on again, but who? And why?

The Angel frowned. It was possible an intruder awaited in the bathroom, but not likely. The housekeeping staff could enter only at certain times of the day, and then only with special authorization codes that monitored their entries and exits. There was no chance someone could be lingering; if a housekeeper remained too long, Security would be notified. Sickbay personnel could gain access, but only with emergency authorization and an emergency code that changed with every use. Again, there was no chance of lingering. Apart from them, only a very few people could gain access to her quarters when she wasn’t there. Which of them, then, had come in and turned on the shower?

She smiled. Adam had hinted that this would be an especially romantic evening. It was early still, much too early for supper. But perhaps he intended to start the evening with a shower for two? It was the sort of surprise he would arrange, especially if he’d learned of her extended shift.

Excited, Symphony pushed the door open and flipped on the light switch as she stepped forward. Almost immediately, her head exploded with pain. Something had hit her violently. She staggered back, and something hit her again, hard. She slumped to the floor, confused and scared, shooting stars dancing before her eyes. Something yellow and white billowed above her, but she couldn’t focus on it as her vision doubled, then faded as she lost consciousness. She had not taken in the message on the shower curtain in dark ochre letters that read MARRY ME, KAREN!

********************************

Before taking his seat, Captain Scarlet set down a beaker full of coffee in front of Captain Blue. Blue added sugar to his drink, took a mouthful, and quickly swallowed it with a visible effort. “Ugh!”

Scarlet grinned at him. “That’s your first cup of coffee since this morning, isn’t it.”

“Yeah. How did you know?”

“I tried a cup earlier. It was so bitter, I asked the kitchen to brew another pot.”

“And?”

“Now I’m drinking tea.”

Both men laughed. “Well, that’s good enough for you Brits, I suppose. But remember, my ancestors helped throw the stuff into Boston Harbour! I’ve got to start my day with coffee, if only as a point of American honour,” said Blue. He grimaced at his cup. “But drinking this is going to take a lot of honour! Even the sugar didn’t help.”

Scarlet handed Blue a small box. “Have you ever tried this?”

“No,” he replied, eyeing the unfamiliar mint-green packets in the box. “What is it?”

“It’s some sort of new no-calorie sugar, a lot sweeter than ordinary sugar. Apparently my mother received it as a free sample. She sent it up to me, thinking I’d be interested in trying it. She sometimes forgets that I take my coffee and tea black.”

“Well, it can’t make this battery acid any worse. I’ll try it in a fresh cup.” After fetching a new beaker, Blue tore open two of the packets and stirred their contents into the coffee. He took a cautious sip. “Hey! That’s a lot better! It’s still not great, but at least it’s drinkable.”

He handed the box back to Captain Scarlet who waved it away. “Keep it. You know I don’t use sugar. And you’re probably going to want to use it for a few more days.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I suspect a batch of bad coffee beans got delivered to Cloudbase in the last shipment of supplies. And you know how much coffee is consumed here —”

“And how many beans that requires!” groaned Blue. He held up a green packet. “Be sure to thank your mother for me. These will be a lifesaver! I asked the kitchen to prepare a very special dessert for my dinner with Karen tonight, with coffee to follow.”

“So tonight’s the night, is it?” Scarlet drew back in an affected attitude of horror. “You’re a brave man, Adam!”

Blue shook his head and shrugged. “Actually, I’m nervous. I know Karen loves me and I want to spend my life with her, but marriage will require both of us to make a lot of adjustments. I’m not sure she wants to make any dramatic changes in her life just now. I can only offer her my heart and hope that’s enough to overcome everything.”

Scarlet leaned over and peered into Blue’s beaker. “It must the coffee. You don’t usually go philosophic on me.” Blue laughed. “Why are you drinking coffee if you’re nervous? Most people find it makes them worse.”

“I’m just the opposite. A cup of coffee when I’m under stress helps me relax.”

“Americans!” said Scarlet with mock disgust. “Well, I’m off down to the weight room to work off my own stress. You coming?”

“No, thanks. I’m going to check on the dinner arrangements, make sure everything’s going to go smoothly.”

Scarlet smiled and clapped a hand on his best friend’s shoulder. “Best of luck to you!”

********************************

Symphony was late. Much later than she’d ever been. Captain Blue was beginning to fret. When he’d talked to her in the morning, she’d been looking forward to this dinner. Had she changed her mind? Blue shook his head. More likely, her shift had been extended without warning. That had happened several times lately. He called the Amber Room over the comm link and spoke to Melody.

“Yes, Captain Blue. Symphony stayed on to cover part of Rhapsody’s shift after Rhapsody became ill and went down to Sickbay. But Symphony left almost three hours ago. She said she was going to her quarters to prepare for her date with you.”

“Thanks, Melody. If you see her, tell her I’m waiting, would you?”

“S.I.G.”

Three hours? Symphony took great care with her appearance, especially when she was meeting Captain Blue, but it had never taken her so long to get ready before. He tried calling her quarters; the comm went unanswered. But where else could she be? Perhaps she was in the shower and hadn’t heard the comm. The only way to find out was to go to her quarters and check.

Blue knocked at the door. There was no answer, but he thought he could hear the shower running. Glancing to see that the corridor was clear, he keyed in the door code and entered the Angel’s quarters. The only light came from the open door to the bathroom. Getting no answer to his call, he looked in.

“KAREN!”

Symphony was lying on the bathroom floor, surrounded by hundreds of polished stones. A metal tin partially filled with more stones leaned against a stout wooden board. Blue snapped on the comm link. “Captain Blue to Sickbay!”

“Sickbay here.”

“Medical emergency in Symphony Angel’s quarters. She’s unconscious. You’ll need a stretcher. Hurry!”

“S.I.G., Captain Blue.” He sounded slightly hysterical, thought the nurse, then shrugged. Laypeople always felt shock when a colleague fell ill or was injured, and the senior captains and Angels often worked closely together.

********************************

Immediately after Captain Blue informed Colonel White of the attack on Symphony Angel, the Colonel ordered an investigation. The preliminary findings were soon presented to him.

A piece of wood, a partially opened, tall metal tin with a sharp rim, and dozens of small but heavy polished stones littered the floor of the bathroom in Symphony’s quarters. A wired metal tube loosely attached to the inside wall above the bathroom door led the investigator to believe that the piece of wood, which had a narrow lip on one side, had been installed like a shelf. It was not a stationary installation; the shelf’s support had been wired so it would collapse when turning on the light completed a circuit. The shelf had somehow completely detached from the wall and fallen. One edge of it was stained red and some blonde hairs were stuck to it. Like the shelf, the tin’s sharp bottom edge had blood, hair, and tissue adhering to it. Samples of the material found on the shelf and tin had been delivered to a medical lab for analysis. Likewise, the writing on the shower curtain was being compared with the samples of Cloudbase personnel handwritings on file.

A suspect had been tentatively identified, on the basis of circumstances. Grimly, the Colonel summoned Captain Ochre.

He waited while the captain read the investigator’s report. Ochre shook his head. “I don’t understand, sir. This isn’t all my work. What I set up couldn’t have gone wrong!”

“You admit —”

“I admit staging a prank, sir. But not like this!”

After learning that Captain Blue intended to propose to the Angel, Ochre had conceived the idea of proposing to her himself, but only as a joke. He had obtained the access code to her quarters and gone in while she was on duty. He acknowledged painting the message on her shower curtain; in fact, he’d used ochre paint so she’d immediately guess who the message was from. He had also put up the shelf the investigator found, but, Ochre protested vigorously, he had fastened it to the wall very carefully, because, he admitted, he’d been afraid it might fall off otherwise. Besides the support, it had hinges so that when the support dropped, the shelf would tilt, almost but not quite flat against the wall. And he had not brought a metal tin or stones. He had filled a plastic bucket with heart-shaped confetti so that when Symphony turned on the light, the shelf would drop and allow the bucket to tip just enough to spill its contents over the Angel. “A sort of ‘bridal shower’,” Ochre said, with a short laugh. The bucket itself could not have fallen. He’d attached the lip on the shelf to prevent that. He could not explain why a sealed metal tin and stones had been found instead.

Colonel White let the point rest for the moment. Instead he asked Ochre who had helped him gain access to Symphony’s quarters. Reluctantly, Ochre named Captain Magenta, who was immediately called to Colonel White’s office.

Captain Magenta acknowledged knowing of Captain Ochre’s plan. They had discussed it on a couple of occasions, he said, adding that they hadn’t spoken of it privately but in the Officers’ Lounge and in the Mess, too. He admitted obtaining the entry code to Symphony’s quarters by accessing the restricted information file on the Cloudbase computer, and had also assured that there would be no alarm raised by the unauthorized access. Magenta confirmed that he knew the plan’s details with the shelf and bucket, but insisted that Ochre told him it would be filled with confetti; in fact, Magenta had obtained the confetti from shredded printouts. But he hadn’t helped to set up the prank in Symphony’s bathroom — he had no idea what could have gone wrong.

Neither man had taken note when they were plotting of who was sitting nearby, other than to make sure that neither Captain Blue nor Symphony Angel was there. Both were sure that someone overheard, because at least once they’d heard people nearby laugh. Magenta was pretty sure someone had laughed at something Ochre said that had made him laugh, too.

Plainly, further investigation would be necessary, Colonel White decided. He allowed both men to remain on duty and at liberty, but neither would be permitted leave Cloudbase for any reason.

********************************

Captain Blue emptied a green packet into yet another cup of the bitter coffee he’d been sipping when he wasn’t pacing around Sickbay’s waiting area. He’d been waiting for hours before Dr Fawn, looking grave, came to talk to him.

Blue began to rise, but the doctor motioned him to remain seated, then sat down himself. “It doesn’t look good. Symphony’s skull was shattered by a blow. From what, I can’t say.”

“A fractured skull? You can fix that, can’t you?” Blue knew he sounded inane, but he had to ask. He had to clutch at hope.

Fawn hesitated. He knew that Captain Blue was in love with Symphony Angel. And it wasn’t a well-kept secret that he’d intended to propose to her very soon. That knowledge made Fawn’s job difficult. There was no gentle way to deliver the news.

“Symphony’s brain has swollen. She’s on life support.”

Blue looked stunned. “But . . . it’s only temporary, right?”

“If we can get the swelling under control, she may not experience severe brain damage. We’ll do all we can for her.” He paused, while the American captain absorbed his words. “It’s past midnight. You should get some rest. And ease up on the coffee,” he added, noting the stack of empty paper cups on the end table.

Captain Blue shook his head. “I’m not sleepy, not at all. I want to stay close, in case Karen needs me. If I get tired, I’ll just stretch out on the sofa here.” He walked over to the coffee pot and poured another cup.

“No one likes to follow doctor’s orders,” Fawn half-joked as he left.

********************************

The duty nurse looked up from his desk as the two young women came into Sickbay. “I don’t know what’s wrong,” said the one who was supporting her friend. “We were going over the maintenance schematics for the new helicopters when she collapsed.”

********************************

Dr Fawn studied the most recent ECG and CAT scan results and summoned the technician to discuss them. He hadn’t really doubted what he saw, but he wanted to be certain.

A nurse came into the waiting area. Captain Blue had returned after his day’s work and fallen into a restless doze as evening fell. He woke with a start when the nurse touched his arm. “Captain? Dr Fawn asked me to bring you to him.”

“Karen?” asked Blue. The nurse shook her head.

They hurried to the women’s ward. Dr Fawn intercepted the captain at the doorway. “Captain Blue . . . we did our best. But we can’t hold her back. I’m sorry.”

Blue froze. “You can’t . . . you’re not . . .”

“She has no higher brain activity. She can’t even breathe on her own. Long ago, Symphony declared she didn’t want to be kept alive without hope of recovery. I have to respect her wishes, Captain Blue. But I didn’t think she’d want to be released before you could say goodbye.” Fawn let his words register. “Would you like me to leave you alone for a while?”

Blue said nothing, did nothing, then cleared his throat. “Yes, thank you, doctor. Can you give me a few hours or so?”

Fawn nodded and left.

Blue stood in the doorway of Symphony’s room for a moment and took in the sight of his beloved, lying unnaturally straight and still, flanked by machines that were the only sources of sound and motion. Symphony’s head had been shaved and was now wrapped in stark white bandages. Her eyes were shut and appeared sunken, surrounded as they were by dark shadows. A tube covered her mouth; a hose attached to a pump steadily pulsed as it forced air into her lungs. Fluid dripped slowly from bags and ran down through tubes into her arms.

“Karen?” he whispered as he touched her hand. “Sweetheart, it’s Adam.” He blinked as tears filled his eyes, and his words became urgent. “Please, Karen, come back. Come back!”

********************************

Spectrum’s commanding officer snapped awake before the comm link finished buzzing. He reached for it without bothering to turn on a light.

“White here.”

“I’m sorry to wake you, Colonel.” The speaker was Australian, White noted. “But I thought you should be informed.”

Bad news always seems to come in the darkest hours of the morning. “Go on, Doctor.”

“It’s Symphony Angel.” Fawn sighed. “We couldn’t save her. I’ll be letting her go before dawn. Captain Blue is with her right now.”

Colonel White found he’d been holding his breath. He released it slowly. “Thank you, doctor. Keep me posted.”

He did not sleep again that night. In the morning, he would have to announce Symphony Angel’s death to everyone on Cloudbase and see that her family was personally informed. Of all the burdens a commanding officer shouldered, this was one of the heaviest.

********************************

Time passed too quickly for Captain Blue. He spoke to his beloved constantly, yet there was nothing more he could say. Nothing more he could do.

“Captain?”

Wondering if Blue had heard him, Fawn repeated himself as he entered Symphony’s room.

“Yes, doctor?”

“ I’m sorry, Captain Blue. It’s time. Do you want to stay?”

Blue covered his face with his hands as he struggled to control his emotions. “Yes,” he finally said, his voice breaking. “Yes,” he repeated, more strongly and calmly. He took Symphony’s hand again and cradled it. His eyes misted.

He remembered a morning, not long ago, when he had gotten out of bed to shower and shave, then returned to sit and gaze down at Karen as she slept. Her expression had been serene, her breathing deep and even. All through the night he had felt her heartbeat, steady and reassuring, as she lay against him. His own heart had swelled with the intensity of his love for this beautiful woman. He’d taken her hand and stroked it gently as she smiled in her sleep and rolled onto her back. He’d bent over and kissed her softly on the mouth, murmuring, “Time to wake up, Sleeping Beauty. Duty calls.” And his lover had sighed deeply, then opened her eyes, and smiled at him. “I was having such a good dream,” she’d said. “What was it about?” Blue had asked, slipping his free hand under the sheet that covered the Angel. “About what you’re doing now,” she’d purred sensually, arching her back as she stretched. “Mmm. And what about this?” he’d replied, folding back the sheet and touching his lips to her breast before he lay down beside her. Neither of them had given any more thought to the time, or to anything but each other. They were both late reporting to their shifts. It didn’t matter. It had been worth it for a beautiful morning together.

Now it was a beautiful memory. Blue wished he could kiss Symphony one last time, but the tube in her mouth made that impossible. And the hand he held had a tube and needle taped in its back; he could not even stroke it as he had before. Blue leaned over carefully and kissed Symphony’s cheek, tears streaming down his face and falling on the pillow. Goodbye, my love. I hope heaven is as beautiful as you are. Wait for me there, Karen. Wait for me!

He nodded to Dr Fawn, who had waited silently and respectfully until the captain had made his farewell.

The end was a simple process. A few buttons pressed, and the lights stopped blinking, the machines stopped humming. There was silence.

Dr Fawn listened to Symphony’s heart and breathing as he watched the lines on the monitors go flat. After several minutes, he straightened up and removed his stethoscope. “She’s gone.”

Captain Blue still held his lover’s hand. He felt his heart swell unbearably, then break, spilling love, grief, pain, and bewilderment into his soul.

An orderly dropped a crateful of supplies he’d been cataloguing, startled by a man’s anguished scream.

********************************

The searing, piercing pain shot through her midsection as if she’d been impaled. Instinctively, Rhapsody Angel tried to roll into a ball, but the cockpit of Angel One did not allow her to bring her knees up very far, and the harness held her fast. She clenched her jaw and hugged herself tight as she fought down the urge to vomit. As suddenly as it came, the pain was gone. Rhapsody drew several sobbing breaths before she unfolded and sat up straight again.

“Rhapsody! Are you receiving?”

Her epaulets had been flashing green, the Angel realised. She’d been too ill to notice it. “Yes, Lieutenant. I’m receiving you fine. I had a small problem with my mic.” That was true enough. She’d turned it off to prevent anyone from hearing her cries.

“There’s been a change in the duty roster. After your shift in Angel One is over, you’re to remain on standby in the Amber Room until Harmony relieves you.”

“S.I.G.” Maybe it was just as well. She could call Sickbay and make an appointment instead of walking in and hoping she wouldn’t have to wait long. There had to be an explanation for what was happening to her.

Impatiently, Rhapsody wiped away a bead of sweat.

********************************

Shattered, Captain Blue requested leave to convey Symphony’s body to her family and attend her funeral in Iowa. Because her family had chosen immediate cremation in accord with Symphony’s declared wishes, a memorial service would be held in two days. Colonel White granted him seventy-two hours leave — just long enough to attend and return promptly to Cloudbase. “Captain Scarlet will take you to Iowa; Captain Grey will bring you back to Cloudbase.”

“Only seventy-two hours? Sir, I’d hoped to have more time with Karen’s family. I —”

“I know you loved her, Captain,” the commanding officer interrupted. “I’m truly sorry for your loss. Believe this. But I can’t allow you more time. We need you here.”

“Why? Sir,” Blue added as an afterthought, trying not to clench his teeth. “There’s been no threat from the Mysterons.”

“True, although there could be at any time. You know we haven’t been able to predict many Mysteron attacks. But there have been terrorist threats made by Bereznik separatists, who want to attract the world’s attention, if not its sympathy. We may not have much warning before they stage an attack somewhere. You and Captain Scarlet will be needed.”

Blue’s strong sense of duty briefly overrode his pain. “SIG.”

********************************

Captain Magenta was angry. A court-martial for an accident! That was bad enough. But the talk was worse.

Everyone seemed to be discussing Symphony Angel’s death, arguing about the facts and what the outcome of Captain Ochre’s trial should be. Was it simply a joke gone wrong? An accident? Or murder? Emotions were running high on Cloudbase. And off as well. Captain Magenta had already received dozens of e-mails from planetside agents he supervised asking about Symphony’s death and expressing opinions about Ochre. And more than a few mentioned rumours they’d heard about his role, although none had come out and said he ought to be prosecuted alongside Ochre. Others weren’t as reluctant.

Alone in his quarters, he stared at the screen of his personal computer. He had tapped into Cloudbase’s e-mail system to see if others were also receiving and sending e-mails about the case. Judging by the volume of the traffic, they were. He had hacked some open at random and read them.

As he’d suspected, the news had travelled fast. Ochre had his defenders, and there were those who remained adamantly neutral, but the rest . . . . There were also those who asked why Captain Magenta hadn’t been charged. After all, hadn’t Magenta made it possible for others besides Ochre to sneak into Symphony’s quarters? So even if Ochre was innocent, possibly Magenta wasn’t. And consider his past, after all . . . His throat tightened as he looked at the muck people had dredged up about him. It was as though his impeccable record with Spectrum was worthless in the eyes of most people.

It would only take a few keystrokes to clear the cache of all the read and unread e-mails. Perhaps he could devise a filter as well, block any more of them . . .

********************************

Captain Blue found no sense of closure from the funeral. The polished wooden box containing Symphony’s ashes had been so small, much too small to contain such a vibrant life as hers as been. Angrily, he tore open three green packets of sweetener and emptied them all into the cup of acidic warmed-over convenience-store coffee. It was strange to learn that life could be reduced to so little. A small box containing a smaller heap of grey powder. There should be more to mark a life than that.

Captain Grey was waiting on the tarmac when Captain Blue arrived. “I’m sorry I’m late. Karen’s family wanted to talk for a long time.”

Grey shook his head. “I didn’t mind waiting. My other passengers are getting a bit antsy, though. I only told them I had to pick you up; I didn’t say why. You can ride up in the cockpit with me, unless you’d rather ride in the back with the judges and lawyers for the court-martial.”

“Court-martial?” asked Blue, surprised. “Who’s being court-martialled?”

Grey clenched his jaw. “Captain Ochre. He’s been charged with Symphony’s death.”

“Ochre? Ochre did it?” Captain Blue staggered, then stopped dead, swaying with the shock.

Grey put a hand on the other man’s shoulder to steady him. “He’s admitted setting up the prank, but insists someone tampered with it. I’m sorry. I thought you knew.”

“No,” Captain Blue said blankly. “I didn’t. I didn’t know.”

Grey wanted to kick himself.

********************************

Because of Ochre’s admissions, the court-martial was brief.

Dr Fawn testified about Symphony’s fatal injuries. The metal tin had weighed nearly three kilos. The wooden shelf had swung with the force of ten. Using graphic charts, he showed where the sharp edges of the tin and the shelf had struck Symphony’s skull and fractured it; splinters of bone had been driven into her brain. On cross-examination, he opined that while he was certain Ochre’s prank had caused Symphony’s injuries, he believed it was an accident. When the can struck her, Symphony had apparently staggered backward, into the path of the swinging shelf, rather than falling forward, surely an unpredictable event. And a layperson, even with extensive study of human anatomy, would have had difficulty figuring out exactly where the two blows had to land. But, he reluctantly conceded, either blow would have caused serious, potentially fatal, injury. And luck — good or bad — could not be ruled out.

An investigator confirmed that Captain Ochre’s Internet access logs had been reviewed. Ochre had not searched for, downloaded, or received information relevant to Fawn’s opinion. He had no medical background whatsoever apart from a mandatory high-school biology class, and the basic emergency medical training all agents received.

Another investigator had discovered that the stones had most likely been taken from the planters on the Promenade Deck, although it wasn’t possible to determine if any stones were missing. No one had seen Captain Ochre — or anyone else — removing stones from the planters. None had been found in Ochre’s quarters. And — significantly — the investigator could not positively link Ochre to the stones. Despite their polished surfaces, the stones had no fingerprints; each one had been wiped clean, as had the tin they had been placed in. More than that, there were no traces of Ochre’s DNA on the stones or the tin.

But neither had anyone else’s DNA, except for Symphony Angel’s, been found on the stones or the tin. Ochre’s fingerprints and DNA were found on the shelf, doors, and walls of Symphony’s quarters, and, of course, the message he admittedly painted on the shower curtain in his colours; all this, the defence argued, strongly suggested Ochre had not intended to hide his presence. But, the prosecution countered, Captain Ochre was a skilled investigator himself. He would know how to cover up a trail, even a DNA trail.

When he testified, Ochre admitted that he had worked out, in theory, how one might avoid creating a DNA trail. But it was very, very difficult to do. It required extensive preparation to ensure against hair and skin loss. To his knowledge, it had not been done successfully. And he adamantly repeated that while he had not secured the shelf as well as he might have, he had not placed a metal tin on the shelf nor had he filled a tin with stones. It had been a lightweight plastic bucket filled with confetti. Besides, he pointed out, if they thought he was canny enough to avoid leaving a DNA trail, why on earth would he have left the stones and tin to damn him?

But there was no evidence that any other unauthorized person entered Symphony Angel’s quarters that day. In fact, there was no evidence to show anyone had entered at all. The investigators had checked the access log, only to discover it was empty, beginning at a time after Symphony went on duty that day and before she was discovered injured. At least three people were known to have entered during that time: Symphony Angel herself, and, by their own admissions, Captain Ochre and Captain Blue. Why weren’t their entries recorded?

Testifying to his role in the scheme, Captain Magenta admitted that he reprogrammed the log for Symphony’s quarters to ignore Ochre’s entry and exit, but declared that he had set it to return to normal and resume recording before Symphony’s shift ended. He couldn’t explain why the data retrieved by Lieutenant Green showed otherwise; the only explanation he could think of what that somebody else changed it. But whoever it was, it could not have been Captain Ochre. He simply did not have the skill. If he did, why would he have enlisted Magenta’s help?

After hearing all the testimony, the court-martial judges had retired to consider their verdict. They had not deliberated long. Captain Ochre had admitted to staging the prank that had killed Symphony Angel. The question then was whether he had caused her death deliberately or accidentally. Harm had certainly been intended, but the judges were divided. They could not agree whether Ochre was responsible for the tin full of stones or not. They had considered his background in law enforcement, his knowledge of how to cover up a trail. But there was nothing absolute to connect Ochre to the stones. The question of his intent to injure Symphony remained unresolved. For that reason, the judges decided that Captain Ochre was not guilty of murder.

Ochre heaved a sigh of relief. But the verdict was incomplete.

The judges agreed that in staging the prank, Captain Ochre had disregarded the possibility that serious injury could occur and a death had resulted from his criminal negligence. The court found him guilty of manslaughter and recommended that he be fined, demoted, and reassigned.

********************************

Dr Fawn frowned at the reports he was holding. The young engineer who had collapsed and been brought to Sickbay several days ago had died. The cause of her death was still being determined. Ten people had come to Sickbay today complaining of similar symptoms: headaches, congestion, difficulty breathing, nausea, joint and muscle aches, and dizziness. The symptoms were so general that they could be attributed to many different causes. Medicine for the symptoms and rest in quarters had been prescribed until test results were ready or the symptoms worsened. But even with several hundred people on Cloudbase, it was unusual to have so many walk-in patients with similar complaints on the same day.

********************************

Captain Scarlet found Captain Blue in the Mess, staring into a cup of coffee. He sat down across from his friend and waited for Blue to indicate he was aware of his presence. When he did, Scarlet asked softly, “How are you holding up, Adam?”

Blue drained his coffee cup. “Damn!” he growled, pushing back his chair.

“Let me.” Scarlet took the cup and went off to refill it. He prepared some tea for himself, taking his time before returning to the table.

“Thanks,” Blue said as he accepted the coffee. “I’m sorry I’m being so rude. It’s just . . .”

“I understand.”

“No, you don’t. You can’t,” the American retorted bitterly. In the silence that followed, he tore open a couple of green sweetener packets and noisily stirred his coffee. He sighed deeply and rubbed his eyes. “I’m sorry, Paul. I suppose I’m still in shock. The box with Karen’s ashes . . . . There was so little of her there, I just can’t seem to accept it.”

Scarlet nodded. “I remember how I felt when I first held the box containing the ashes of my first body. I couldn’t believe that was all there was left of me.”