Survivors - Jean Lorrah [45]
The Chief of Security had access to the Weapons Room at any time. And … he made up the Security staff duty roster. “He put routine inventory of the Weapons Room off as long as regs allow after our stop at Starbase 36,” Bosinney reminded Yar. “And, I’m not Security staff, but it gets around who the smartest and most conscientious people are in each department. He put you last on the list to take inventory, Tasha-because you were most likely to discover the sabotage. My guess is, the Orions were late. If they’d shown up even twelve hours earlier, no one but Adin would have known about that circuit breaker, and in the chaos after the battle he could have replaced it with no one the wiser.”
“How dare you!” gasped Yar. “After he saved all our lives, you actually think Dare capable of treason?”
Bosinney held up the stump where his right hand used to be. “If he did what they say, he’s responsible for this. I’ll manage, but a prosthesis won’t be the same, no matter what the doctors say. And I’m one of the lucky ones, Tasha. Fourteen of our classmates and seven good Starfleet officers are dead. If Darryl Adin betrayed us, he deserves to die! A rehabilitation colony’s too good for a man who would betray his own shipmates.”
“He didn’t!” Yar insisted. “George-help me prove he didn’t do it! At least talk to him.”
“What good would that do?” he asked. “If he’s guilty, he’d only lie. Think like a Starfleet officer instead of a lovesick teenager, Tasha. I hope, for your sake, that Adin proves innocent, but so far I haven’t seen much chance of that. Once all the facts are uncovered, the truth will come out.”
Oddly enough, when she did get to see Dare, he told her the same thing-except that he was quietly confident that he would be exonerated. He looked pale and thin, with dark circles around his eyes. Wearing a shapeless tan coverall, he seemed smaller than she remembered-she wanted to take him in her arms, protect him from whoever was doing this terrible thing to him, but they were separated by a force field.
“What should I do?” she asked. “Dare, I was witness to all the events. I was there when George found the circuit breaker. And they keep questioning me about our private conversations. What am I going to do, Dare?”
“Tell the truth!” he urged. “Tasha, I didn’t do it. The truth can only prove me innocent. Don’t be afraid, love. Trust the Starfleet investigators-they’re the best there are. You may have noticed some important clue that I didn’t. Tell them everything you know. That’s the only way to set me free.” But at the court-martial, the truth only condemned her love. There were suspicious messages on record within Starbase 36, from public comcons in the hotel where the Starbound crew had stayed for a few days of shore leave. Although they were paid for with tokens, Dare’s credit code had been used to purchase such tokens.
This was early in the proceedings, and Dare was still supremely confident. When the prosecution asked him about the tokens, he replied, “I did not purchase them. If I were committing treason, would I be so stupid as to use my credit code? I would have deposited coins.”
“The tokens were purchased on the other side of the base, far from your hotel,” the prosecutor told him.
“And of course no Starfleet officer knows how easily computer records are traced,” Dare replied sarcastically. “Someone else used my code to purchase comcon tokens. No identification would be required for an amount that small. What you are proving, sir, is that someone