“Take the elevator up to floor three, Lieutenant Fernandez is in room 347," the receptionist said, passing back their IDs, and pointing to the elevators in the corner of the room. "I'll let her know you're on your way," she added kindly.

John and Alyssa thanked the receptionist and then walked over to take the elevator up to the third floor. The hospital was well sign posted, and they found room 347 easily. John knocked politely on the door.

“Come in!" Calara's excited voice drifted out from the room. He opened the door, and saw Calara standing by a desk, turning to face them as she closed the call with the receptionist. Alyssa glided past him, and the two young women came together in a warm embrace.

“Oh! It's so good to see you!" Calara gasped, delighted to see her visitors.

"You too!" Alyssa exclaimed, a beaming smile on her face. "You look so much better!"

Calara reached up to touch her nose self consciously, still swollen from the break that had been straightened. Her black eyes had mostly disappeared now, and John could see that the young Latina was actually very pretty. Unfortunately her Lack of sleep made her look very tired, with big bags under her eyes

John moved forward to greet her with a hug, and she moved into his arms, holding him tightly. "Thank you for saving me, both of you," Calara mumbled into his chest. "You don't know how good it is to see you."

Alyssa stepped up behind her, and they both hugged the distraught young woman comfortingly for a while. After some of the tension had relaxed from her shoulders, they stepped away, with John taking the nearby reclining chair, and the girls sitting on the bed.

"So, Calara, can you tell me more about the trouble you're in?" he asked gently.

A dark wave of depression seemed to crash over the poor girl, and her shoulders slumped in defeat.

“I'm being charged with ‘dereliction of duty’, and there's going to be a court martial!" she exclaimed, her voice panicked. Alyssa moved closer, and wrapped an arm around her, supporting her comfortingly.

John took out a small handheld device and connected to the station's security network.

“He said I'd have to answer for my shocking lack of judgement. That I was to blame for the Corvette being boarded, and all those people being killed!" Calara blurted out, on the verge of tears.

“I was asleep at the time though! As the junior tactical officer, I had handed over the next shift to Lieutenant Crowe."

John had been searching the judicial log for formal proceedings, but he could find nothing Logged in relation to Calara Fernandez.

"Who is 'He'?" John asked curiously.

Calara shuddered with revulsion. "Commander Rupert Grant. He's in charge of Port Heracles, and has jurisdiction of this sector. He was my commanding officer for a while, before I requested a transfer."

Alyssa guessed there was probably more to this story, as she watched the Latina visibly withdraw into herself.

“Why did you ask for a transfer?" she prompted Calara gently, whilst rubbing her arm encouragingly.

Calara's eyes were downcast and she looked ashamed.

“He... He kept coming on to me. I kept telling him no, so he threatened to end my career if I wouldn't go out with him. Then Commander Jericho arrived at the station on the Corvette Griffon, so I applied for an immediate transfer. He accepted, and I joined his crew the next day."

"This Grant guy didn't take that well then, I guess?" Alyssa asked speculatively.