Chapter 3
Target: SSV Aradonis
The SSV Aradonis was an Alliance class vessel. A Cruiser. Cruisers were middle-weight combatants, faster than dreadnoughts, and more heavily-armed than frigates. Cruisers are the standard patrol unit, and often lead frigate flotillas. Cruisers cannot land on medium or high-gravity worlds, but do possess the ability to land on low-gravity planets.
"This is the SSV Aradonis. State your name and business here." A voice said over the comm.
"Ventius Gallus. Spectre. Council business." Ventius replied over the comm.
Ventius sat, waiting a moment for the bridge to respond.
"Sorry for the inconvenience Spectre Ventius. You may board." The voice responded.
"No problem. You're just doing your job." Ventius said as he brought the Aequitas up alongside the Aradonis.
A small enclosed bridge attached to the Aequitas and Ventius boarded the Aradonis.
He was met by the commanding officer of the vessel, Admiral Theodore Pironage.
"Pleasure to meet you Spectre. We are having trouble here that we believe you can assist us with." The Admiral said to Ventius.
"What problem is that?" Ventius quickly asked him.
"Well…..it is better that I show you. This way." The Admiral hesitated, but then led Ventius to the barracks.
Two soldiers stood outside the doors and saluted the Admiral, as the two men entered the room.
A body lay face down in a pool of blood, just beside one of the bunks.
"Pvt. Erica Daniels. 29 years old. Transferred to the Aradonis six months ago from the SSV Tasker." The Admiral explained as Ventius looked around the crime scene.
A homicide. The private had a blow to the back of the head. She had ligature marks around her wrists and neck.
"Who is your lead investigator into this matter?" Ventius asked, looking up at the Admiral.
"Well….you are." The Admiral answered.
"Swell. You don't even have someone investigating this from on your own ship. I'm going to have to add that into my report. You do understand that don't you Admiral?" Ventius said to the Admiral as he continued to comb over the crime scene.
The Admiral's face went pale and he made a sort of disappointed look, knowing he had screwed up.
"I will get someone to assist you immediately Spectre." The Admiral said as he began to leave.
"Someone qualified Admiral." Ventius shouted to him as he left.
"Of course Spectre. On it." The Admiral shouted back as he entered the elevator.
Ten minutes later, a soldier with a red armband around his right arm and a camera in his hands entered the room.
"Corporal Tannenbaum at your service Spectre." The young soldier said as he saluted him.
"Not necessary. Now, how qualified are you to be handling this investigation?" Ventius asked Tannenbaum.
"Well…I did take some classes at the academy on crime scene investigation and some law classes as well." The young corporal answered.
Ventius shook his head, but he knew he would need some sort of help if he was to solve this case.
"Fine. You'll have to do. Now, be useful and take down some notes." Ventius said to Tannenbaum.
"Yes sir." He quickly answered, taking out a notepad from his pocket.
"The victim was bludgeoned over the back of the head. Probably with the tail end of a gun. Most likely a rifle or assault weapon. Ligature marks on both wrists and around the neck. Blood spatter suggests the killer stood behind our victim. However, that was after they had a confrontation over here. The victim dropped a handkerchief, suggesting she was crying. She turned to leave, but the killer turned her around and pushed her into one of the bed posts, as evidenced by the small amount of blood left behind. She pushed him, but without much luck. He grabbed her and threw her to the ground. As she was getting back up, he pulled his gun a slammed it into the back of her head. Then he continued to repeatedly strike her until she was dead." Ventius explained, as Tannenbaum took notes.
"Where do the ligature marks fit in?" Tannenbaum asked Ventius.
Ventius quickly turned to look at Tannenbaum.
"The bed in the corner. She was tied down there." Ventius said as he went over to the bed.
"Just as I suspected. Small traces of rope left behind on the bed posts. A lover's quarrel it seems." Ventius said to Tannenbaum.
"Maybe it was a love triangle or she was cheating on one guy with another." Tannenbaum suggested.
"That could be true. You are stationed on this ship; do you know if Private Daniels was involved with anyone?" Ventius asked him.
"Sorry. I work in a different section of the ship. But I think Sergeant Hank Cash would know. He is in charge of overseeing this section of the ship." Tannenbaum replied.
Ventius went to the two guards outside.
"No one comes in here without my permission. Not even the Admiral. Understood?" Ventius said to the two guards.
"Yes sir!" They both said, saluting him as he made his way to the Sergeant's office.
"Ah! You must be the Spectre investigating the Daniels' murder. If I can assist you in any way, I will." The Sergeant said to Ventius.
"Actually, you can. Do you know if Private Daniels was romantically involved with anyone on the ship? Maybe a fellow soldier." Ventius questioned him.
" . I do believe she was involved with someone now that I think about it. Let me see here…..Here it is. Private Johnston. Eric Johnston." The Sergeant replied.
"Thank you Sergeant." Ventius said as he went to the cafeteria to find Private Johnston.
Ventius entered the cafeteria and looked around.
"Private Johnston!" he shouted.
All of the soldiers in the cafeteria turned their attention to Ventius as he slowly walked up and down the aisles between the tables.
"What can I do for you?" a soldier said as he stood up from his seat.
"Are you Private Eric Johnston?" Ventius asked him.
"Yeah. I'm Eric Johnston. What do you want from me?" the young soldier asked with a grin on his face.
Ventius grabbed him and slammed him down on top of the table.
"Ok. You wanted the hard way. So be it. I am here to ask you about Erica Daniels." Ventius said to Johnston.
"All right. All right. I'll talk. Just let me go. But we have to talk somewhere in private." Johnston nervously and quickly said to Ventius.
Ventius let go of Johnston and led him into one of the side rooms and closed the door.
"Ok. Talk." Ventius said to Johnston.
"Ok. Me and Erica were…..intimate. But I didn't kill her I swear." Johnston was saying.
"The rope marks? That was you wasn't it?" Ventius asked, showing him pictures of the marks on her wrists and neck and on the bed posts.
"Yeah. We…you know. She liked it that way. Wild, crazy, and strange. That's how it usually is with military girls." Johnston replied to Ventius.
"Who else knew about your "activities" and did anyone have a problem with it?" Ventius asked him.
"Everyone knew we were together. But the only one who really had a problem with it was Vickson. Clark Vickson. He works down in Engineering." Johnston answered.
"All right, but if I find out you were lying to me, I will bash your brains in." Ventius said as he motioned for Johnston to leave.
He quickly ran out of the room and back over to his table.
Ventius left the room and made his way down to engineering to find Clark Vickson.
"Are you Clark Vickson?" He asked, approaching a man fixing one of the thermal couplings.
"Yes. I am Clark Vickson. What can I help you with?" the man asked.
Clark Vickson was a short man, with brown curly hair, big rimmed glasses, and a worn out engineers outfit.
"What can you tell me about Erica Daniels and Eric Johnston? I heard you had a problem with their relationship." Ventius said to the young engineer.
"Couldn't even call it a relationship. Eric only went to her when he wanted sex. They weren't "in love" or anything. My problem with that? He didn't genuinely care about her. And no I didn't kill her because of it. I would never." Clark explained to Ventius.
"I believe you. Didn't like the looks of Private Johnston anyways. So you believe he killed her?" Ventius asked Clark.
"No." Clark quickly replied.
"No? Why do you say that?" Ventius asked him, now even more confused than before.
"He couldn't have done it. I walked in on him with Jessica Gallows around the time she was killed. Only reason I know what time she died was from the coroner's report." Clark said to Ventius.
"Coroner's report? The Admiral said no one had been investigating the murder before I arrived." Ventius said to Clark.
"Really? He said that? He is the one who wrote up the coroner's report in the first place. I thought you knew." Clark said, now realizing Ventius hadn't known about that piece of information.
"Thank you for your help Clark." Ventius said as he left engineering for the bridge.
"Spectre Gallus how goes the investigation?" the Admiral asked as Ventius entered his office.
"You didn't tell me you filed a coroner's report. Why withhold that information Admiral?" Ventius angrily asked.
"All right. Fine. I forgot to mention the coroner's report. I had the medic's check the crime scene before you arrived. The determined the time of death." The Admiral explained.
"How do I know they didn't taint the crime scene and move things around and remove evidence?" Ventius was getting more infuriated by the minute.
"Whoa! Slow down there Spectre. How dare you accuse me of obstruction and crime scene tampering?! I should have you removed from my ship immediately. But, there is still a murder investigation that needs to be solved. Private Daniels killer is still walking free. Find her killer Spectre. Give her some peace." The Admiral said as he ushered Ventius out of his office.
Ventius stormed back to the crime scene to find Tannenbaum standing with a huge grin on his face.
"What is it Tannenbaum?" Ventius asked him.
"I found something that could help solve the case." Tannenbaum replied as he led Ventius over to the body.
"So I turned the body over, I know that was my mistake, but if I hadn't, I wouldn't have found this note in her hand." He continued, handing Ventius the blood-stained note.
Ventius opened the note and began to read it.
"Erica,
You have disappointed me time and time again.
Eric is no good for you.
He is sneaking around with Jessica Gallows behind your back.
I can be there in his stead.
I will treat you right.
I would never do anything to hurt you.
Make the right decision.
Yours always and forever,
H"
"Who is H?" Ventius asked, after reading the note.
Ventius thought for a moment and thought back to the observations he made while trudging through the ship.
"I think I know whose handwriting this is. Call the Admiral and tell him to meet me on the 3rd floor. We are going to apprehend Erica Daniels killer." Ventius said to Tannenbaum as he exited the barracks.
Ventius took the elevator down to the third floor and entered the office.
"Spectre! Welcome back! Any lucky with the investigation?" Sergeant Cash asked him.
"I know. I know it was you "H". You killed her." Ventius said, taking the note and slamming in down in front of the Sergeant.
Cash picked the note up from his desk and looked it over and then placed it back down.
"… She could have done better than that pig Johnston and that little weasel Vickson. I would have been there. I would have cared. But she just couldn't give them up could she?! I would have done anything for her and she tossed that away! Fine! I admit. I killed her. But if I can't have her, no one can!" Cash shouted as the Admiral, Tannenbaum, and a detachment of guards entered the office.
"Sergeant Hank Cash. You are under arrest for the murder of Private Erica Daniels.
You have the right to remain silent when questioned.
Anything you say or do may be used against you in a court of law.
You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future.
If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you before any questioning, if you wish.
If you decide to answer any questions now, without an attorney present, you will still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to an attorney.
Knowing and understanding your rights as I have explained them to you, are you willing to answer my questions without an attorney present?" the Admiral was saying as the soldiers led Sergeant Cash away.
"Good work Spectre Gallus. Job well done. As well as you Corporal Tannenbaum. Corporal, you are promoted to lead detective and investigator on the SSV Aradonis." The Admiral said to Tannenbaum.
Ventius walked behind the Admiral and placed him in handcuffs.
"What is the meaning of this? I demand an answer immediately!" the Admiral was shouting at Ventius.
"Admiral Theodore Pironage. You are under arrest for obstruction and crime scene tampering. 20 years for obstruction and no less than 5 years for evidence tampering. Tannenbaum, read him his rights and bring word to Captain Eihtner that he is now in charge until the Citadel Council and the Alliance can deal with the situation. Tell the Captain, he is to bring the Aradonis to the Citadel, pending investigation." Ventius said to Tannenbaum.
Tannenbaum nodded and led a screaming Admiral Pironage away.
"Control. Situation on Aradonis is cleared. Have Fifth Fleet meet up with the ship on the way to the Citadel. Have a detachment go on board and take charge of the situation. Corporal Steven Tannenbaum is to be transferred to the investigation bureau and properly trained for detective work in accordance with his assistance in the investigation. Engineer Clark Vickson is to be transferred to the Council command ship with new orders. Admiral Theodore Pironage and Sergeant Hank Cash are to be brought into custody. Corporal Tannenbaum will read you the charges for both. Privates Eric Johnston and Jessica Gallows are to be transferred as well. They are in a "relationship" so reiterate that point to both of them upon arrival." Ventius said to the operator.
"Understood Spectre Ventius. New orders await you on Illium." The operator replied.
Back to Illium it seemed. Great, Ventius thought to himself, disappointed and aggravated that he was being sent back to Illium. But orders were orders.
Justice had to be brought to those who thought themselves above the law. He would be the one to deliver that justice.