Gut Feeling

[WxMurray 0]

Murray stood watching the scene unfold before him on the bridge. It was a scene of tragedy, a scene of horror. A scene of his captain stumbling out of his ready room with a knife protruding from his gut.

 

He was pretty sure that wasn’t a good thing.

 

The doctors had swarmed into action around him – Dr. Matthews had been about to leave the bridge, medical technician Ljungberg had arrived from sickbay, and Dr. Smith had been manning his post at the science station. Having a science officer that could also double as a doctor was a plus in a situation like this. Not that one ever imagined needing to have a science officer double as a doctor on the bridge. Not that one ever imagined this ghastly scene.

 

Murray watched as Smith and Ljungberg did their thing. Matthews seemed to be in shock, as she had been the last known person to see the Captain and was leaving the bridge following a conversation in his ready room. And the Captain’s final gasps of consciousness were accusations against the good doctor probably didn’t help any.

 

Murray watched as Ljungberg and Michaels were whisked away to sickbay via transporter. He was about to speak words he did not like uttering, words that were difficult for him to say.

 

He spoke in a low, quiet tone to those remaining.

 

“Seal the bridge and the ready room. Send a security officer to sickbay to collect the weapon once medical is finished with it. Contact security, and have Lieutenant Schawnsee report to the bridge immediately. Inform her the Captain has been stabbed and is being treated in sickbay. And...” His voice trailed off. He turned his gaze from the spot where the Captain had fallen to Dr. Matthews. He spoke even more quietly. “Doctor, I’m going to have to ask you to remain here. I’m not going to put you into custody as the Captain asked. I’ll let Schawnsee make that determination through the course of the investigation. But an accusation has been made against you...and you were the last person to see the Captain.”

 

Without turning his gaze from Matthews, he uttered words that were even harder to speak given the relationship. “And someone find the Commander. Get him up here immediately, if not sooner.”

 

He turned away and walked over to a corner of the bridge, hoping to erase the picture of the incapacitated captain from his memory. Captain Michaels, who would go down with his ship when it gets decommissioned…Captain Michaels, who is as much a part of the Reaent as the ship is of him…Captain Michaels, while maybe not as great and legendary as the likes of Kirk or Picard, who is one of the finest captains in the fleet…and it could all end by being stabbed in his own ready room. The man deserved better than that.

 

The knot in Murray’s stomach tightened. He felt absolutely terrible. That the Captain had been stabbed, that he had accused his chief medical officer and close friend was enough to make even the most seasoned Starfleet veterans ill.

 

He hoped that they could prove the Doctor’s innocence. He hoped that they could track down the would-be murderer. And he sincerely hoped that the two were not mutually exclusive.