"Stand down Red Alert," said Janeway, tapping her combadge.
She neared the body, looking at his lifeless eyes. Captain Ransom was halfway off the bed, in an unnatural position where his legs were on the floor facing forward while his upper half was precariously balanced on the bed and his left arm hung uselessly in the air.
"Get the Doctor down here," she whispered to Chakotay, "But don't let up on security in Sickbay one inch. And I want a full report on everything that happened from the security staff. Everything, from the moment he was brought here after the trial."
"Yes Captain," said Chakotay, stepping out of the small space to call the Doctor and speak to security."
The Doctor arrived faster than was possible for a human, "I've been briefed Captain," he said as he approached Janeway, still crouching over the body, "I'll do a full autopsy."
"Do a preliminary scan now," ordered Janeway.
"Of course," replied the Doctor, holding up his medical scanner, "I'm reading major trauma to his neural synapses."
"Enough to kill him?"
"Yes, essentially his brain was fried."
"What an awful way to die," said Janeway emotionally, "But how could he have managed that in a jail cell?"
"Maybe he didn't. Suicide is certainly a possibility in a case like this, but hardly the only option."
"Who would want to kill him?"
"I can think of more than one person," said the Doctor calmly, "Perhaps the question is, who could have killed him?"
"You're not going to like this," said Chakotay exhaustedly, entering Janeway's Ready Room very early the next morning, after a nighttime investigation.
"I knew that already," said Janeway, rubbing her head with the hand that wasn't holding coffee.
"There's only one person who entered Ransom's cell after he was returned yesterday. Security was not present when he spoke to this person."
"What? Why?"
"It's a gray area in the Kalaxis System."
"One of the jurors?"
"No, the prosecutor."
The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop.
"Gretchen?"
"Yes," said Chakotay, breathing in heavily, "Gretchen was the last person to see Ransom alive. He died approximately 30 minutes after she left. There are a number of current weapons which can have delayed effects if desired. And who knows how many in the future….."
Janeway was pacing, "What about the holographic lawyer?"
"Ransom sent him away before he met with Gretchen…..He wouldn't know, after all, that she'd have reason to hate him."
Janeway looked at him, "Just because she could've, doesn't mean she did."
"No," said Chakotay, "But we can't rule out the possibility."
"Get her up here," said Kathryn, gesturing exhaustedly, "But don't tell her anything."
About 15 minutes later, Commander Chakotay arrived with Gretchen.
"Sit," ordered the Captain, gesturing and still pacing.
"Why did you speak to Captain Ransom last night?" asked Janeway restlessly, "And why wasn't security with you?"
"He wanted to tell me something," said Gretchen cautiously, "He didn't want security to overhear. Since the security was there to protect me, I let him wave them off."
"That wasn't your decision, and the security wasn't only to protect you," said Janeway snippily.
"It's allowable in the Kalaxian system," argued Gretchen, voice even.
"That's debatable," responded Janeway angrily. She rubbed her face, "What did he want to talk about?"
"He wanted to know what kind of punishment he could expect. He suspected he would be convicted and was very emotional. He wanted to know what kind of people the Captain and the Judge were."
"What did you tell him?" asked Chakotay.
"That I didn't know. That I wasn't privy to their thoughts and couldn't predict what they would do in this case. That he would just have to manage his fear," she stated impassively, "He didn't believe me, he believed there was some sort of conspiracy between the three of us, and became agitated."
"What happened then?" asked Janeway.
"I left."
"Is that all that happened?" whispered Janeway dangerously, looking at her intensely.
Gretchen looked the Captain in the eye calmly, "I told him he deserved to die in the most painful way possible, and I hoped he did,"
Janeway gasped.
"So you killed him?" said Chakotay, voice raised.
She looked at Janeway, and her lip spazzed, "I did not. Why would I? He was about to be convicted."
Janeway looked at her intently for a long moment and sighed, rubbing her forehead, "I want a security officer with you everywhere you go until I say otherwise. At the moment, you are not confined to quarters and can continue working the Equinox case with supervision."
"However," Janeway said, leaning in, "If you manage to somehow slip away from that supervision, at any time, I will throw you in the Brig, and you will stay there indefinitely."
"Acknowledged," said Gretchen, starring back at her unmoved.
"Hey Gretchen," said Harry smiling, waving at her from his seat across the Mess Hall.
She and her security officer approached him slowly, carrying Neelix's special for the day, purple sludge with dots of black goo, "I wouldn't talk to me if I were you," she said formally, "I'm under suspicion by the Captain."
"Couldn't be that much suspicion," said Tom easily, sitting down next to Harry with his bowl, "You're not confined to quarters. You're still working the case. You're just a….what did they used to call it….a person of interest."
"Still…." said Gretchen nervously.
"Sit," said both Tom and Harry in unison, then they both laughed at their in-sync order as she sat down stiffly.
"Seriously," said Harry, "We've been through everything there is to go through on this ship. The Captain doesn't scare us. We'll be friends with who we want. Besides, I don't think you're guilty."
"I hope for you sake you didn't, but I myself don't care if you killed Ransom. I have been tried before, and I was guilty," said Tom non-chalantly, "So I don't want to be a hypocrite. Besides, what's the fun in not talking to someone? It's a small ship."
She laughed, "I didn't kill him, but I'm glad you're indifferent. I don't care that he's dead. A true Klingon would have faced his sentencing."
"Oh you're part Klingon?" said Tom conspiratorially, then his face contorted as he tried the purple sludge, "Oh, that's awful, bitter and sour," he said under his breath.
"I'm not, as you likely know" she said cheerfully, putting a spoonful of sludge in her mouth with no comment, "But my best friend was. He was a couple of years younger than me, but from the moment he could walk reliability we did everything together."
She stilled suddenly, "I miss him," she said quietly, looking down.
"Hey," said Harry kindly, "I know it's not the same, but we'll be your friends."
She looked up, "You have no reason to do that. I'm an outsider, you're better off without me."
"We have every reason to," said Tom firmly, "If for the entertainment value only."
Gretchen laughed and the men joined her.
At dinnertime, Chakotay arrived at the threshold of Captain Janeway's Ready Room with several reports.
"Come in," came her distracted voice.
He found Janeway reading a datapad and sipping another cup of coffee.
"You might want to try actual food," he said upon entering.
She shrugged, not really looking up.
"I have some reports for you. Ransom's extensive autopsy is complete."
Janeway looked up finally and held out her hand, "What does it say?"
"The Doctor has ruled it a suicide."
"What was the weapon then? How could he have gotten something?" said Janeway in surprise.
"It was an alien device, supposedly a harmless sort of toy brought over from the Equinox, a visualizer called a synaptic stimulator. He asked for it after the first day of his trial. It was found completely burned out in his cell, apparently pushed all the way to its limits and beyond. His right hand showed nerve damage from apparently throwing it off."
"Then how do we know it was suicide? And not some sort of accident or malfunction?"
"There was a witness."
"What? You mean Gretchen?"
"No, not Gretchen, or the security team. His lawyer." Chakotay paused, "The security team didn't come back after Gretchen left because Ransom said he wanted to meet with his lawyer. It was his right to meet in private as long as he wanted. That's why Seven, instead of security, had to tell us he was dead. The computer alerted her as soon as it happened. Ransom's death also caused the lawyer to deactivate himself, as he wasn't needed anymore."
"So the lawyer saw everything?"
"Yes"
"I want to speak to him."
They headed back to the Brig. Ransom's body had been moved to the holodeck, since Sickbay was full of his former crew.
"Computer, activate Seertek, the defense attorney of Captain Rudy Ransom, now deceased," ordered Janeway commandingly.
"Greetings, Captain Janeway," said the hologram, as he appeared, "I am prepared for any tasks you have to give."
"I want to know exactly what happened right before, during, and after the death of Captain Ransom last night. Start from when he activated you the last time."
"Very well," came the simulated Vulcan's cool voice, "The deceased Captain Ransom activated me as his defense attorney. However, he made no requests of me the final time I was activated. He sobbed into his bedding for approximately 12.42 minutes, and then put on his synaptic stimulator. Every 47-52 seconds he would turn the dial on it, presumably to increase the level of synaptic stimulation. He continued to sob as he did so. When the dial was all the way up, he started yelling and his body began to seize, approximately 4.2 minutes later, he was dead."
"What did he say?" asked Chakotay.
"He tended to repeat himself, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry,'; 'Kill me'; 'I want to die' He became incoherent approximately 1.2 minutes before his death."
"Why didn't you call for help?" said Janeway in a low, steely tone.
"It is my responsibility to do what my clients deem appropriate. His wishes in the matter were clear by his statements."
"Not if he is out of his mind," said Janeway viciously, "Not if he isn't capable of logic."
"He was certainly about to face punishment for his egregious crimes. It was only logical for him to wish to die."
"You can't be so hard headed," said Chakotay irritated, "As to not understand nuance, you've never lost a case."
"I have still never lost a case," said the Vulcan, "Only a client. If he had lived, I would have lost a case."
"Computer, end program," said Janeway in disgust.
Chakotay took a heavy breath, and Janeway sneered at the walls as they both left the room.
"As terrible as all this is, it looks like resounding evidence," Chakotay finally said as they walked slowly back to Command.
"It does," said Janeway, "Which means we need to have a funeral, a short time for his crew to grieve, and then we have a hard decision to make."
A few hours later, after Tuvok's shift was over, Kathryn found herself drawn to her oldest advisor's quarters.
He let her in without comment, "Is it logical to continue these trials Tuvok? Is it right to back the Equinox crew into a corner?"
"What do you mean Captain?" he said impassively.
"You've seen the report. Rudy Ransom committed suicide."
"And you blame yourself?"
"Not exactly, no. The trial was the logical thing to do. Practical, fair," she said evenly, "But Rudy Ransom's eyes starred back at me last night, dead. Apparently he couldn't take the thought of his punishment and died alone begging for mercy." She sighed deeply, looking vulnerable without her command jacket, "Is that justice? And more to the point, should we take the chance of driving the rest of his crew to the same?"
"It does not follow that all or any of the Equinox crew would also prefer death to a long sentence. It is the natural state of creatures to want to live."
"Still…." said Janeway, holding one hand to her head, "How can I continue to push now? Maybe it would be better to put the trials off?"
"I do not believe we can long postpone the Equinox crew trials."
"Why not?"
"Simple, Captain, We had no way of knowing that the neural stimulator that ended Captain Ransom's life could do so. The logical assumption is that we do not know what the Equinox crew is capable of. They are a danger to the ship, and must be dealt with quickly."
"Now you sound like Gretchen,"
"As she has the most familiarity with the future of the Equinox crew, it is logical to listen to her."
"But what about mercy Tuvok,….redemption? They're Starfleet. They must have believed the same as us, once. It must have taken a lot to drive them to such actions. To make them lose their way."
"They faced the question of whether to use other life forms to further their own ends. All sentient creatures face that question. All Starfleet officers must come to the same conclusion….it is not logical that one's own existence is more important than another's."
He continued, "All actions have logical consequences. As by all evidence the Equinox crew took the lives of over 40 alien life forms to serve their own purposes, it seems that Captain Ransom and his crew have created their own despair. It is not logical that we can save them from it. It is illogical to base our actions on the assumption that we can."
Janeway grasped her arms around herself, shivering, speaking slowly, "….I hate despair…..I know it…..I know what it's like to make a decision you have to live with, when the weight seems almost unbearable."
Her voice got quieter, "I don't believe in the devil, but it's the devil's work to spread despair…..A chance to try again tomorrow, to erase our mistakes, isn't that all anyone really wants?"
"It is not logical to assume that they seek the same thing as you, Captain. They have shown, by their actions, that they do not have the same values."
"Nevertheless," said Tuvok, seeing Kathryn start to speak, "I have no objection to their seeking redemption, but one must ask what their intentions are. I once told Lon Suder that a wish for redemption is something like fire, burning regardless of circumstances….stubbornly, one might say. Redemption implies a wish to change and atone for past mistakes…..I see neither in the Equinox crew. Only a wish to be free of consequences and continue their crimes."