<USS Avalon> "Right Questions, Wrong Investigation"

Right Questions, Wrong Investigation
Lieutenant Commander Elissabeth Marksbury,
Lieutenant First Class Jayden Cross, and Warrant Officer Alexander Gibson




"Alexander!" Jayden called out from the back office. Lt. Quinn had taken over 
the only part of the inner office with four walls and a door, and she was 
relegated to the outer office with Vevay and Alexander. Or so Quinn thought. 
There was no way in hell she was sharing her office with the assistants and had 
her desk moved into his office as well, the work spaces placed face to face. 
Quinn wasn't going to like it one bit and the thought of it had Jayden tingling 
in anticipation. 

"Yes sir?" The elegant assistant unfolded himself from behind his desk, where 
he had been trying to organise reports for Cross.

"Did you set up the appointment with the Marksbury woman? I?m going to start 
with her and leave the other interviews to you and Vevay." 

Wandering to the door of her office, still reading from a PADD, Alexander 
looked up at his superior officer. "Of course, sir. She will be awaiting us in 
her office."

"And did you compile a list of all the visitors she had while in sickbay? I 
want to make sure that none of these people had time to corroborate a story 
before we got here." 

Handing over the just recently complete list on his PADD, Alexander smiled. 
"That is the completed list, sir. No one appeared to stay any great length of 
time. And very few visited more than once. But all of the information is on 
there." 

Perusing the list, Jayden's brow furrowed slightly. "Commander Skyler, 
Commander Sierra, Lt. McKinsley, and Commander Manson... Well, aren't we just a 
muckety muck?" Looking up at Alexander, she said, "I don't like this woman 
already. She has too many connections in high up places, but at least none of 
her team except Monroe visited. That should make things a little easier." 

Nodding, Alexander returned to the outer office, only to come back with a fresh 
PADD. "Most of her team were either in sick-bay or returned to duty, sir. Would 
you like to interview her yourself, sir? Or would you like Vevay and myself to 
make a preliminary interview before you grill her?" 

"No, no... I'm going to do this one myself. You may come along if you wish. So, 
let's get this show on the road." Jayden rolled her eyes at her own cliche and 
headed down the corridor with Alexander following along. "Did you meet her when 
you set up the appointment?" 

"No sir. I thought it more prudent that this be the first time. First 
impressions are always the most important." His long legs easily kept pace with 
the Lieutenant. 

Jayden nodded and sped through the corridor with her purpose in mind and her 
target marked. That poor woman wasn't going to stand a chance against Cross. If 
there was something flawed about her story, Jayden would find it and rip it to 
shreds. 

They found themselves outside the door just minutes later. Jayden straightened 
her uniform, stretched herself to full height, and rang the chime. 

"Come in," Elissabeth Marksbury replied as she stood to greet her guests. 
Moving around her desk, she offered a small smile to the woman with the 
perfectly painted lips and her assistant. "Lt. Cross, I presume?" Holding out 
her hand, she said, "I'm Lt. Commander Marksbury." 

"I'm aware of who you are, Commander. After all, I'm the one who sought out the 
appointment with you."

Though somewhat taken aback at the other officer's brusque nature, Marksbury 
kept her face passive and nodded. "Very well." Moving around her desk, 
Elissabeth sat back down and crossed her legs, feeling plenty at ease in spite 
of still being incredibly tired. 

Alexander took up a position behind Cross, setting his PADD to record and then 
looked up intently at the two women facing each other off.

Jayden glanced over a PADD, making Marksbury wait, trying to un-nerve the other 
woman. Elissabeth just sat stoically in silence, as patiently as ever. Finally, 
the JAG said, "I?ve read your reports, both the preliminary and the full 
report. I would still like to hear detail for detail what happened from the 
time you beamed off the Avalon to the time you beamed back."

Nodding once, Elissabeth recounted her story, just as she had for the Captain, 
only this time there was no emotion creeping into her voice. Time had passed 
and wounds had begun to heal. She was able to step back and relate the story 
with nothing but professionalism.

"And how did the loss of John Forester make you feel?"

"I see that bearing no relevance upon this situation."

"It does if in your communique to the Captain, your voice betrayed something it 
shouldn?t have, Commander."

"You have that particular communique on file. Listen to it yourself. My goal at 
that point was holding onto consciousness and relating the mission complete. I 
was unaware of John Forester?s death until I awoke several hours later and 
James Monroe briefed me on the situation."

Shifting gears, Jayden leaned forward, "And what is the nature of your 
relationship to Captain Ketchum?"

"He is my Captain and I am one of his Senior Officers. I fail to see the 
relevance of this line of questioning, Ms. Cross."

"Lieutenant Cross. And just answer the question, Commander."

"I already answered your question."

"Have you ever known Captain Ketchum to make an irrational and emotion based 
decision in command or... personally?"

"I don?t like the implications of your question, Lt. Cross. Truth be told, my 
patience with you is wearing thin."

"And I?m here under the full authority of Vice Admiral T. Earl Grey, anyone 
impeding my investigation -"

"I am not ?impeding? your investigation," Marksbury interrupted. "You know as 
well as I do, Lt., that anything you need from me or my team members is already 
on report. Unless you are investigating me for my part in John Forester?s 
death, which would be an entirely different case, you technically have no 
business questioning any of the Covert Operations department. I have allowed 
your investigation in the name of cooperation."

Cross nearly sputtered, "It is relevant! If you had been more responsible then 
Forester wouldn?t have died and Ketchum wouldn?t have destroyed that Marauder!" 
Suddenly realising what she just spouted off, Jayden straightened herself and 
spoke softer, "Or that is one theory we are trying to disprove."

"Indeed." Marksbury?s eyes narrowed slightly. "If you are investigating my 
actions, I suggest that you do just that. Until then, my actions have no 
bearing on the case with Ketchum. I won?t sit here while you attempt to use me 
to build a case against the character of my commanding officer. This interview 
is concluded, please leave."

Cross sat there with her mouth open for a moment. She couldn?t think of a 
single thing to refute Marksbury?s words. And all she could think of was how 
much Quinn was going to mock her over not getting the information they sought.

Elissabeth stood and walked to the door, opening it and gesturing for her two 
visitors to leave. Lt. Cross huffed past her, as did her assistant. Once the 
door closed, Lissi leaned against the wall, feeling as though half her energy 
for the day had been drained. She didn?t like this investigation, not one bit, 
but what could she do? It was obvious Cross was trying to set Ketchum up to 
take the fall... and where would that leave the crew?


                
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