And Nothing But The Truth.

Posted on Wed Jun 24th, 2020 @ 2:55am by Cailus Griffin & Lieutenant JG Aeryn Jameson
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:41pm

Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Aeryn's Quarters
Timeline: Immediately after “The Truth, The Whole Truth...”

After a thoroughly unpleasant and aggravating conversation with John Sandoval, Cailus' patience was hanging by a very thin thread. A long stressful day was only getting worse by the hour with no end in sight, while the danger to the Pandora seemed to be only multiplying as time passed. Thus, when Cailus asked the computer for the current location of Aeryn Jameson, he walked the distance to her quarters in record time, wanting nothing more to be done with the whole sordid mess and get back to real work.

The second he arrived, Cailus tapped the chime and then waited, begrudging every wasted minute with an ill-tempered frown. Oddly, a PADD was latched onto his equipment belt, a distinctly unusual thing to see the Security Chief with while out and about.

Aeryn had just re-emerged from the shower and was only wearing her underwear and a dressing gown when the door chime rang. Expecting it to be John with a surprise call she made her way over to the door. “Hey you...” She immediately wrapped the dressing gown around her as she instead found Cailus at the door.

“Doctor,” Cailus said deadpan, raising an eyebrow. “I assume you were expecting Mister Sandoval?”

"Actuallly...I thought it might be." She motioned for Cailus to enter as she walked away from the door. "What can I do for you Lieutenant?"

Walking in far enough for the door to close behind him, Cailus turned towards Aeryn. As stern and unfeeling as ever, the Security Chief didn’t seem to care in the slightest that Aeryn was still in her dressing gown, her red hair still damp. “I’ll be blunt, Doctor. This is about the statement you provided to us this morning about your activities last night. Was that statement entirely truthful?”

"Why do you ask?" Aeryn turned and looked at Cailus, her gaze was calm and her features as neutral as his. "Do you have reason to doubt my statement?"

Cailus didn’t budge an inch. “Answer the question, Doctor,” he said evenly as he crossed his arms.

"It was...mostly the truth" Aeryn sighed and walked over to the sofa to sit down pulling the dressing gown around her as she did so. "I may have...omitted something from my statement that I didn't feel was relevant to the investigation."

“Explain,” Cailus said curtly. He walked over to the sofa but pointedly didn’t sat down, his gaze locked on Aeryn with unsettling focus.

Aeryn looked at Cailus. "After I left the rest of the girls I sent a message to John, Lieutenant Sandoval. I had the idea of having him meet me aboard the station for a late night rendezvous of the romantic variety! Do I need to say more?"

“Given that you lied in your initial statement, Doctor, yes, you do,” Cailus said, showing no quarter. “Why did you conceal this information from us. You had already admitted to your relationship with Mister Sandoval, so I assume that there was another reason.”

Aeryn sighed. "We are...were guests aboard Paradise station, I didn't want to be bringing our reputation into disrepute by admitting that John and I had a passionate encounter in one of Paradise's storerooms!" She looked at Cailus. "I was feeling more than a little adventurous so I decided to send John a rather naughty message asking him to join me."

It took considerable effort for Cailus not to roll in his eyes. Instead, his frown only deepened as he took the PADD from his belt and handed it to Aeryn. “Commander Nash will probably have some stern words for you about wasting time and resources as a result of your deception. I shouldn’t have to say that misleading a murder investigation, especially while the ship is in danger, is both negligent and foolish. For now, Doctor, I will need you to provide a full in-depth account from the time that you left the club to the time that you returned to the ship. Include as much detail as is necessary. I give you my word of honour that nobody besides me will read your statement, not even Commander Nash or the Captain. I will have to remain here with you until you finish, to ensure that you write your statement in isolation.”

Then Cailus’ eyes hardened even further. “Mister Sandoval is currently in my office, doing the same thing. If your statements match, then I will consider this matter settled. I will tell Commander Nash that you both co-operated fully, albeit later than you should’ve, and I will not reveal what you did on the station. If, however, your statements do not correspond exactly, then I will recommend to Captain Temple that you should both be relieved of duty and confined to the Brig for the duration of this mission. Am I clear?”

"Crystal" Aeryn nodded. "It wasn't my intention to deceive or waste time Lieutenant. Neither John or I intended to hamper your investigation." She tapped the PADD and started to fill out a fully detailed statement including the parts she'd omitted before.


END