"A Captain's Conscience - Part 2" - Duty Log - Cpt. Taverain Ramius

Posted on 241510.20 @ 10:21am by Commodore Sebastian Ascari

Mission: Reconciliation & Reconstruction [Fleet Plot]
Location: Starbase, Earth Orbit
Timeline: Current

Ramius entered the detention facility’s interrogation room two as Doctor Durandal and Lt. Redstone followed. The door behind them slid quietly shut followed by the faint sound of a locking mechanism. Before him was a shabby individual who hadn’t shaved or done much for his personal appearance. The man hadn’t even looked up at their entrance. His head was drooped hiding his face while his body posture gave the impression of someone who was completely submissive or dismissive of his environment. If this Chellan was lying so far he was putting on a superb act.

Ramius took a seat opposite the suspect who still hadn’t moved or shown any sign of acknowledging his surroundings.

“Lieutenant Erikk Chellan. I am Captain Ramius. These are my associates. The man on my left is Doctor Durandal and the man on my right is Lieutenant Redstone. Doctor Durandal would like to perform some brief scans to ascertain your health and condition. Would that be ok? I hope you have not been mistreated. If you have been mistreated I would hope you would be forthcoming with specifics.”

Silence.

Ramius motioned to Durandal who produced his medical tricorder. “My name is Keith”, the doctor said taking his first set of scans while applying his usual brand of affable bedside manner. “Are you feeling ok? When was the last time you had anything to eat or drink?”

Again there was no response.

Ramius carefully examined the man before him looking for any clues that could assist him. There was little useful information he could glean or deduce from a sitting man that he did not know already. How did he break the ice then and get this man talking. It was evident that station security had already poisoned the situation with heavy handed tactics. Predictably, Chellan probably believed more of the same was to come.

“Lieutenant Chellan, my scans indicate that you are dehydrated. As a doctor, I must insist that you eat and drink something.”

“Redstone, get some food and water for the lieutenant.”

The lieutenant knocked at the door and was released by the guards on the other side.

“Lt. Chellan, Erikk. We are not here to yell, accuse you, or cause you any additional grief or hardship. It is unfortunate that certain colleagues of ours have chosen to behave in a manner inconsistent with certain principals however recent events on Earth have put everyone on edge. I’m sure you can appreciate the gravity of current events.

We need to talk to you regarding the explosion on the surface. You are the only person who has had contact with those responsible. I understand you know little about them, but if we can talk through what you do know we may be able to arrive at facts that will bring us closer to locating them. It’s possible you remember facts that seem inconsequential, but may be vital to security forces. These people are ruthless, sophisticated murderers. They’ve taken countless lives on Earth. They may plan to strike again. If you help us we might be able to stop them before they get that chance.”

The doors opened as Redstone appeared carrying a tray of food and several glasses of water. He set them down on the table and resumed his position behind Ramius.

“Erikk, please take a moment to eat and drink something”, the doctor stated closing his tricorder. He turned to look at Ramius silently conveying the man’s status. He walked over and whispered in the captain’s ear.

“He’s dehydrated and malnourished, but otherwise appears to be healthy. Recent events seem to have taken a toll. Without a full psychological workup I can’t give you anything more, but be cautious. He may be more fragile than we anticipated.”

Ramius nodded. “Erikk, can we talk?”


== One Hour Later, Outside Interrogation Room ==


“Without a full physical I can’t give you anything more captain”, Durandal stated examining his tricorder readings. Their suspect, Lt. Erikk Chellan hadn’t said a word since they had entered the interrogation chamber an hour ago or moved much beyond shifting in his chair.

“If he’s faking this he’s the best damn method actor I’ve ever seen. If not, then he’s retreated into himself possibly as a psychological defense mechanism. It would take a few hours of observation and testing to…”

Ramius interrupted. “We don’t have a few hours”, he snapped at the doctor. His eyes flashed with a momentary glint of frustration and anger. For a split second, like a lightning bolt illuminating the darkness the captain’s darker side appeared and then faded from view.

Ramius placed a hand on the doctor’s shoulder as his expression cleared and returned to normal. “My apologies Keith. We’re running out of time. I need answers from this man and cannot afford to wait. I do not wish to resort to harsher methods but he’s trying my patience. What can we do short of causing this man more misery?”

“Captain, Doctor.” Lt Redstone appeared carrying two cups of hot coffee.

“Thank you lieutenant. Just what the doctor ordered”, Durandal stated blowing softly on the cup’s head of wispy steam. Ramius took a cup rolling his eyes at the doctor’s ‘unique’ sense of humor.

“I’m not sure captain”, the doctor answered finishing a sip of coffee. “If he’s unwilling to cooperate then we are limited to few options. The options I speak of, you know I will not be a party to. We’ve had this discussion before and I will disobey your orders if we must go down the road I am speaking of.” The doctor’s expression hardened his green eyes resolutely confirming his words.

Ramius nodded. Fortunately, he had never had to order his friend and chief medical officer to perform any action that might harm a patient under his care. Durandal had joined the Corsair’s crew at Ramiu’s request on one condition – that he would never ask him to perform any action that could jeopardize a patient’s care in the pursuit of intelligence goals or objectives no matter the situation or the stakes.

Ordering the doctor to attempt a procedure to forcibly compel Chellan to talk would strain their friendship if not end it completely. He couldn’t ask the man to break his oath to do no harm, however he had also been tasked with obtaining results at any cost. The two were in conflict and at present he was faced with two unsuitable courses of action.

“Security has already attempted the big stick approach and got little from him. In his present state subjecting him to more of the same is unlikely to achieve anything am I correct doctor”, Ramius asked taking a large sip of coffee while rubbing the bridge of his nose contemplating possible actions.

“Given my assessment of the patient any further physical or mental techniques designed to compel him to speak would only worsen his current mental state and could cause irreparable harm.”

“Then my only option is to use medical techniques to attempt to forcibly extract information from him”, Ramius stated his voice almost at a whisper. Durandal could tell even saying such a thing was causing the captain no small amount of personal anguish.

“What if he has nothing more to tell”, Keith asked. “Is damaging or destroying a man’s mind on a chance there’s some nugget of intelligence to be had worth the price? More to the point, are you willing to accept the responsibility for the costs and can you yourself live with the decision?”

“I don’t know doctor. I’m no philosopher and I’m certainly no saint. I do know that my superiors want results and they don’t have to face the ethical and moral implications and to be blunt, they don’t care. That’s why I exist. I’m their dog which they conveniently keep on a long leash. They let me out of my cage in extraordinary times like these to do the things no one else has the courage or stomach to do. I’ve been lucky perhaps, but this time I don’t have the luxury of taking the moral high ground. Worse still, if I don’t do what needs to be done, someone else with less of a conscious than I will do what is required. It’s that simple. If Chellan won’t talk then his fate is already sealed if it comes as a result of my orders or someone else’s. Walking away claiming a moral objection won’t save the lieutenant. How do I help someone who doesn’t want to be helped?”

Ramius turned from the doctor and his tactical officer and swallowed the last of his coffee crushing the paper cup in his hand and allowing it to fall to the floor at his feet. Durandal said nothing. He had no more advice to give the captain. The man had to make a difficult choice which no person should ever have to make. Destroying a man’s sanity and possibly his mind was a high price to pay for an uncertain reward. He had come to learn that intelligence work was a cruel mistress. It was like a vampire in many ways slowly draining its victim’s souls, morality, and character until all that remained was an emotionless husk that was cold, unfeeling, and uncaring. Fortunately, Captain Ramius had a strong will and had so far successfully resisted, but he had been injured before. How many injuries could one man take before he lost the will to resist and fight? He didn’t know and it pained him to see a close friend grapple with adversity especially adversity of which he could offer no assistance.

“Captain”, Redstone stated breaking the uncomfortable silence. “What of this man’s sister? I was reviewing the video and transcripts and he seems genuinely concerned for her wellbeing. If we could locate her or at least make some concerted efforts to find her perhaps we might get through to him. Her sister was the reason he claimed to have agreed to the demands made by the unknown third party. If we could use that as a lever somehow.”

Ramius turned to his tactical officer. Alex Redstone was the last person he would have guessed who would offer an alternative at this juncture. The headstrong lieutenant was more apt to charge into a situation guns blazing than to formulate a softer approach. If anything he had been certain Redstone would advocate doing what was required even if that necessitated getting one’s hands dirty or worse…

“Let’s not use it as a lever”, Ramius stated his voice suddenly stronger. “Let us approach him as human beings as see what happens. I’m not quite ready to abandon this man just yet. The doctor is correct. He may know nothing. I’m not willing to sacrifice so much for so little.”

Ramius rubbed his chin as his mind turned over the possibilities. Redstone, have the station setup a subspace link with where was the sister last located…Rigel IV?”

“Affirmative.”

“Find out what intelligence assets we have there. I want the highest ranking officer you can find on the horn in ten minutes. I hope this works for Lieutenant Chellan’s sake and possibly our own.”


~ To Be Continued ~

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Captain Taverain Ramius
CO, USS Corsair
Starfleet intelligence

Doctor Keith Durandal
Chief Medical Officer
USS Corsair

Lt. Alexander Redstone
Tactical Officer
USS Corsair

and

Lt. Erikk Chellan
Starbase Trilithium Disposal