Accusation
an epilogue tag for The
Crossing by Setcheti
Disclaimer:
Archer settled into his desk chair with a sigh. They were well away from the remains of
the Wisp ship, aside from a few headaches the crew were back to normal, and all
of
Wisp. He repressed a shudder, hearing Trip’s voice caressing the word again in that silken, unnatural way. It had scared the hell out of him to look into his best friend’s blue eyes and see a stranger looking back, absolutely scared the hell out of him. And then Reed had been taken by an alien who had been…curious about something other than food. And Hoshi’s taker had been cunning and violent, Phlox had the bruises to prove it. Archer had to wonder what sort of people the Wisp had been before they became Wisp. Something told him they probably hadn’t changed all that much.
The door buzzed and he pushed himself up a little straighter in the chair and tried to look like he hadn’t just been sitting there doing nothing; he was almost certain it was T’Pol, and he’d gotten all the disapproving looks from her he needed today. “Come.”
It was T’Pol, but she wasn’t alone and although a slight frown was gracing her face it didn’t seem to be directed at him. “Captain, we have a…situation.”
Great, just great. Archer assessed the young female crewman who had come in with his Vulcan first officer, dredging up her name from his memory as Morris. Wasn’t she assigned to the cargo bay? What could possibly be going on in there? Morris was standing very straight, but Archer got the impression it had less to do with respect and more with how she was feeling. “Well, Crewman? What seems to be the problem?”
“I want to file a formal complaint,” the young woman said stiffly. “For harassment and conduct unbecoming an officer and…”
“Whoa, there.” Archer’s voice was even, but his eyes had narrowed. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First why don’t you give me some details and then we’ll talk about charges. Who was it that you feel harassed you?”
“I didn’t ‘feel’ he did, he did,” Morris replied. “Lieutenant Reed displayed improper behavior toward me yesterday in a corridor on C deck and then followed me into the lift and began making inappropriate comments.”
The captain sighed, mentally cursing disembodied aliens. “Crewman, Lieutenant Reed was taken over by one of the Wisp entities – one that happened to be exceptionally curious about human sexuality. It was the alien you encountered, not the lieutenant.”
She stiffened even further. “I don’t believe that, Captain. And I have a right to register a complaint against him for what he did, you can’t stop me.”
“I can stop you from making a fool out of yourself and possibly putting a black mark on an innocent man’s record, Crewman,” Archer said, sharply this time; he was starting to think this didn’t have as much to do with the incident being reported as it did with the young woman’s feelings for Reed. Or possibly against Reed. “So you’re saying you don’t believe the Wisp were here at all? We just made it all up…for what reason? Explain it to me.”
Morris swallowed. “I know the Wisp were here, Captain. I just believe Lieutenant Reed acted on his own inappropriate desires and is lying about alien possession to cover it up.”
“So you’re certain Mr. Reed just couldn’t control himself around you any longer, I see.” And Archer did see, he was seeing all too clearly. “And not only that, he took advantage of a life-and-death situation on the ship and lied to his superiors.” He stood up. “Those are some very serious charges, Crewman.”
Her eyes flicked to him, then refocused on the bulkhead. “I know that, sir.”
“I believe you do.” Archer circled around his desk, moving closer to her. “Sub-Commander, I’m guessing you attempted to convince Morris here that she should drop it, am I right? I’m betting you even tried to explain to her about the particular Wisp who attacked Mr. Reed and what his…predilections were.”
“You are correct, Captain,” T’Pol answered flatly. “However, Crewman Morris insisted on continuing with the complaint process, and when I refused on the grounds that the complaint was baseless she made veiled accusations regarding my integrity and then invoked her right to bring her complaint before you.”
“He must have really pissed you off, if you’re willing to go this far with it,” Archer told Morris, who started in spite of his level, almost conversational tone. “This might have worked, you know, if you weren’t missing one really vital piece of information. Sub-Commander? I know you wouldn’t have felt free to do this earlier, but would you please tell the crewman here what Lieutenant Reed’s sexual orientation is?”
“Lieutenant Reed is a committed homosexual,” T’Pol answered at once. A flicker of something crossed Morris’ face, and the Vulcan added dryly, “I would assume, Captain, that the crewman may have in the past made advances to the lieutenant which were rebuffed.”
Morris was starting to look sullen now. “He’s not…he isn’t like that, at least not all the way. Maybe he just plays both sides of the fence.”
Archer couldn’t help it, he laughed out loud. “You don’t let go easily, do you Morris? But I happen to know that Lieutenant Reed is happy with the side of the fence he’s on.”
Surprisingly, the next objection came from T’Pol. “That may be, Captain, but happiness does not necessarily presuppose faithfulness.” He just looked at her, and under his steady and faintly amused gaze she was forced to add, “But of course, this is Lieutenant Reed we are discussing.”
“Exactly,” Archer agreed. “And we all know how he is when he makes up his mind about something. You’d have an easier time getting a Klingon to embrace pacifism than getting him to change his mind.” The Vulcan’s raised eyebrow made him smile again. “Commander Tucker said that.”
“Somehow I am not surprised,” T’Pol replied dryly. But the eyebrow had gone up again, and she was looking at Crewman Morris. “Captain, I believe our assessment of the situation may be in error.”
Archer was surprised by that – the idea of it as well as the uncharacteristic admission of error. “How so?”
“Perhaps Lieutenant Reed is merely a means to an end for the crewman.” The Vulcan’s expression grew more certain when Morris stiffened again. “Perhaps it is not the lieutenant who is the target, but his partner.”
“That would make more sense.” Archer’s expression darkened alarmingly. “Crewman, is that what’s going on here? Does this have something to do with Commander Tucker?”
Morris stared straight ahead. “I don’t know what you mean, sir.”
This time Archer had seen it too. “Oh, I think you do,” he contradicted her. “And I don’t like people who play games with me, Crewman Morris – especially not this kind. Now answer me!” She jumped. “What does Commander Tucker have to do with this situation?”
“The commander doesn’t…” She trailed off and swallowed hard when Archer’s expression darkened even farther. If she’d been any more at attention, her spine would have snapped. “Lieutenant Reed is…is a sexual predator, Captain. Someone has to complain and…and stop him.”
Archer started to say something…and then he stopped, and his eyes narrowed. “I think I understand now,” he said, nodding. He backed off, to the nervous crewman’s obvious relief. Which didn’t last long once he started speaking again. “Crewman, your…opinion is still based on incomplete information, and I’m going to have to decide what to do about your decision to deal with it in this manner. Especially since I’m pretty sure that you not only knew that Lieutenant Reed’s body was being controlled by a Wisp entity at the time of the alleged harassment, but also that you knew this because you were well aware of the lieutenant’s sexual orientation before the incident occurred.”
T’Pol stepped in. “You have perjured yourself to two superior officers, acted with malicious intent toward a third, and attempted to file a false report with Starfleet Command. Any of these offenses is punishable by court-martial and/or dismissal from service.”
Morris turned dead white. “I don’t want to do either of those things,” Archer lied to her – he did, he just wasn’t going to. “Now whether or not I have to is going to depend on you, Crewman. So I’m going to ask you some questions and you’re going to answer every one of them, honestly and in full, or I’ll have no choice but to take this thing all the way up. All right?” She nodded jerkily, and he nodded back. “Good, we understand each other. Now, Crewman…were you aware that Lieutenant Reed was possessed by a Wisp entity at the time of the alleged harassment?” She nodded again. “And were you aware that due to said possession he was in no way responsible for the actions that entity committed using his body?”
“Y-yes, Captain.”
“All right.” Archer fixed her with a hard look. “Were you also aware that the lieutenant was a homosexual?”
She started to nod, saw him scowl and swallowed again. “Yes, Captain.” His look said he wanted more. “I have known that for…for several months, sir.”
“And how long have you known that Lieutenant Reed was involved in a relationship with Commander Tucker, Crewman?”
This time she couldn’t meet his eyes. “Several months, sir.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere.” Archer hadn’t softened at all. “Now tell me, when did you decide that the commander had been suborned into this relationship?”
“At approximately that same time, sir.” Morris licked her dry lips, shifted her weight. “I knew the commander was heterosexual, Captain. It was…obvious, to everyone.”
“It may have been ‘obvious’, but it was also incorrect,” T’Pol informed her. “Commander Tucker is bisexual, he does not discriminate between male and female partners in his sexual relationships.”
“I guess that’s one way to put it.” Archer shrugged it off; he’d discuss politically correct phrasing with his second at another time. “But basically, yes. So knowing this, Crewman Morris, do you think it might be possible that you were mistaken in your assessment of the situation?”
Morris flushed and looked at her shoes. “I…um…it is possible, sir.”
“I’m glad you think so, because you were – completely.” Archer frowned at her. “And if you had a problem with the situation, you should have taken it to your immediate superior.” His frown became a scowl. “For that matter, Crewman Morris, you could have taken your…concerns to anyone in Engineering other than Commander Tucker and they would have set you straight. But you didn’t, and I want to know why. I also want to know if you discussed this plan of action you undertook with anyone else on board.”
“No I didn’t, Captain.” She was nervous, but he could tell she was telling the truth about that. “And I didn’t talk to anyone in Engineering because…because I didn’t want to further embarrass Commander Tucker.”
“Further embarrass – since being coerced into a relationship with Lieutenant Reed was embarrassment enough, right?” Archer sighed. “Crewman, had you heard anyone else comment on their relationship?”
She stiffened again. “Not in so many words, sir.”
“And do you know why that was?” She hesitated, and Archer shook his head. “That was because they knew Reed and Tucker’s private lives were none of their business,” he snapped. “Gossip is one thing, prying is another. It looks like the only one who didn’t realize that was…you, Morris.” He stepped in closer, looking down at her in more ways than one. “Their relationship was not your concern, and whatever it is you feel about Commander Tucker,” he smiled just slightly when she flinched, “is your problem, understand? And for your information, just so we can lay this to rest…it was the commander who pursued the lieutenant, not the other way around.”
“For a period of six months, until Lieutenant Reed capitulated to his advances,” T’Pol added, and Archer got the sneaking suspicion that she was enjoying this. “The lieutenant had to be convinced that Commander Tucker was not toying with his affections before he would commit himself.”
“We…keep track of what’s going on with the senior staff, Crewman,” Archer informed Morris when she looked to him for confirmation of that, hoping she couldn’t tell he was just as surprised T’Pol knew that as she was. “If something had been wrong with the situation, we would have nipped it in the bud months ago.”
“So your precipitous actions not only could be seen as an insult to Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Reed, but also to the captain, myself and Dr. Phlox,” T’Pol said.
The younger woman was almost in tears. “But I…I didn’t…”
“You did.”
Archer looked at her a moment more, then went back around his desk and
sat back down. “Sub-Commander,
please take Crewman Morris back to her quarters and confine her there. I’ll need time to decide what punishment
is appropriate – since we don’t want this hitting the rumor mill and turning a
molehill into
“Understood, Captain. Crewman.” Morris reluctantly preceded the Vulcan out of the room, and as soon as the door had hissed shut Archer turned off the recorder he’d activated when the two of them had come in. He saved the audio file of the conversation and appended it to his daily log, noting that he would be having a talk with the errant crewman’s current supervisor and dependant on the outcome of that conversation might consider transferring her to another department where she would have more supervision. Cargo bay inventory duty could be isolating, and some people just weren’t able to handle it. Archer also logged his intention to have Morris report to Phlox for a while, just to make sure the problem stayed solved and didn’t develop into something worse. Which it well might have, over time, if it hadn’t been for the coming of the Wisp.
Archer was just mildly surprised that having to feel grateful to the Wisp only made him hate them even more.