CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“The body armor had two compartments holding the powders. When combined they produce the acid that dissolved the Screen pilot.” Myers had spent hours in autopsy examining the armor. After extensive going over every millimeter with his scanners, he retreated to his office to detail his findings in his log.

“The compartments are like pores the acid secrete and are almost microscopic. A high pressure system in the armor has to eject the acid through the pores and into main cavity. So far I’ve been unable to identify the system used to distribute the acid. Samples of it and residual powders have been sent to the chemistry department for analysis.”

Myers looked up and happen to see John entering medical. The captain went over to speak with Doctor Howl, who was examining some of the liquid remains of the fighter in the main surgical bay. Myers assumed he’d stop by his office to get briefed on their findings. Fifteen minutes later, Myers saw the captain leaving.

That was odd for the captain not to stop by. Myers ran out of his office. “Captain!” But John kept walking and never turned around. Myers was certain he had heard him.

Doctor Howl heard Myers shout for the captain and came over to check on Myers. “Is everything ok?”

“What did the captain want?”

“An update on our findings on the Screen,” replied Howl.

“I see.” This seemed uncharacteristic of the captain not to get updates from the chief medical officer.

“He also requested I send him a copy of the final report,” addedHowl. “I told him you were working on it.” She saw the confused look on his face. “You ok, Joseph?”

“I’m fine. I’m just distracted. Thank you, Louise.”

Something wasn’t right with the captain but Myers couldn’t put his finger on it. “Computer, location of the captain.”

“Captain Roberts is on lift C1, proceeding to the command deck.”

Myers needed to find out if the captain was ok. He was probably upset that they lost another chance to interrogate a Screen. Myers had some ideas to prevent their next captured Screen from initiating their armour’s suicide protocol. Maybe that would make the captain feel better.

********

John was back in his office. Rather than read reports, he passed the time contemplating their next move. PHOENIX was holding position in case anymore Screen showed up looking for their comrades. It was a long shot, but it was the best course of action until John could figure out what to do next.

“Come in,” said John as the door chime sounded. The last person he wanted to see walked in and his mood quickly soured. He should have asked who it was first.

“Captain, do you have a moment?” asked Myers.

“No, I have a lot of work to do.” John did nothing to disguise the disgust in his voice.

“I saw you in medical a few minutes ago,” said Myers.

“I wanted an update about the Screen. Doctor Howl was nice enough to brief me.”

“Captain, I usually brief you regarding any medical findings.”

“You have a capable staff,” countered John. “I don’t see why I have to run to you for everything.”

Myers could see the captain was clearly hostile and was bothered by it. “Have I done something to offend you?”

“You offend me,” replied John. “Everything about you offends me.”

Myers was speechless. What was prompting all this anger?

“I know you were treating Admiral Johnson for dementia,” revealed John.

Myers was stunned. “How?”

“In his logs,” replied John. Myers had heard a batch of Johnson’s logs had been found in the computer but no one said what they contained.

“Why did you allow a man with a severe mental condition to run the EXODUS Project?” asked John. “And why didn’t you tell me when I came on board?”

“His condition was not severe and he was responding to treatment,” explained Myers. “I didn’t tell you because I was bound by doctor-patient confidentiality.”

John slammed his hand on the desk. “To hell with confidentiality!”

Despite the captain’s outburst, Myers maintained a calm demeanor. “Captain, all medical professionals are required to maintain privacy…”

“That man killed my sister!” shouted John.

Myers was shocked. He had to grab the chair for support. “What?”

“You heard me. He killed my sister. And I can assure you he was quite unbalanced when he was explaining her death.”

“Captain, I..I don’t know what to say.”

“Shut up!” yelled John. “I don’t want your sympathy. You should have known he was sick. You should have said something.”

“If I had an idea…”

John exploded. “He was fuckin’ crazy! You should have known! You were his doctor! Because of you that man killed the only family I had left. I don’t have my parents and because of you I don’t have my sister.”

“John, please! I had no idea.” John’s revelation devastated Myers. He never imagined Admiral Johnson would kill someone. That wasn’t the man the doctor knew.

“I swear, if I find out he’s harmed anyone else, I’m going to hold you personally responsible,” promised John.

Myers was sick to his stomach. Oliver and he had been friends for years. This didn’t seem real.

John fell back in his chair. The last few days of emotions were taking their toll on him. His body was drained and he didn’t have anything more to fight with. “You were my friend. I thought I could trust you.”

“Captain, please…” The doctor could barely get the words out. He wanted to make John understand that he didn’t everything he could to keep the admiral’s condition in check.

“Just get out,” said John. “I don’t care what you have to say. Your words mean nothing to me anymore.”

John swiveled his chair away and looked out the window. Myers didn’t try to say anything more. He realized that anyting he said would fall on deaf ears. He turned and left the office.

********

That evening Myers found himself down at Smitty’s in Central. Although he wanted no company, he found himself more depressed alone in his quarters. At least here he could people watch and distract himself. He went over in his head if there was anything in Admiral Johnson’s behavior that could have been a clue to his instability. He even checked the admiral’s medical records but nothing popped out.

Myers saw Julie enter Smitty’s and head to the bar. As she ordered her drink, she turned to check who was around. She spotted Myers and waved at him. He merely nodded at her. When she got her drink she went over to his booth.

“Hi, doc. How’s it going?”

“I’ve had better days,” replied Myers.

Julie noticed the table was empty. “You having anything?”

Myers shook his head. “I’m not hungry or thirsty.”

Julie took a seat on the other end. “I saw you leave the captain’s office.”

“So you know?”

Julie sighed heavily. “Yeah, I know. I talked to him after you left. He wanted to remove you as chief medical officer but I talked him out of it.”

“He blames me for what Oliver did,” said Myers.

Julie nodded. “He’s angry right now. There’s nothing anyone can say to ease his pain. But I think with some time, he’ll reconsider.”

“Do you think I should have said something?”

“I think you should have told us when we joined up,” admitted Julie. “But I understand why you didn’t. You were trying to protect your patient and this ship the admiral spent his whole life building.”

“I hope he can forgive me someday,” said Myers.

“He will. John’s tough but he has a good heart. I think in time he’ll forgive you.” Julie wasn’t exactly convinced of that but she wanted to give the doctor some hope. John could be incredibly stubborn and could hold a grudge a long time. But Julie seen how much he had changed since commanding this ship. Perhaps he could get past his anger with Myers in time.

“Would you have reconsidered joining the ship if you knew about the admiral’s dementia?” asked Myers.

“That’s a hard one,” admitted Julie. “I don’t know. I think John would have joined up no matter what. Maybe I would have tried making a go of my career on Earth, despite TERRA’s plans for me. It’s hard to say and I just don’t know.”

“I thought I was closer to the admiral than anyone,” said Myers. “It scares the hell out of me realizing I didn’t know who he was, what he was capable of.”

“John’s sister, the hidden nuclear bomb,” recounted Julie. “What else did he do during the project that we haven’t discovered yet?”

“I don’t even want to think about it,” said Myers. “But if I could ask for one favor, don’t tell the crew what Admiral Johnson did.”

“The captain and I already talked about that,” said Julie. “We agreed to keep it from the crew. Only the three of us know the truth, and it should stay that way.”