Answers, Now! (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on 08 May 2017 @ 1:24pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Aren Ban & Lieutenant Amaranai Franklin
Edited on on 13 May 2017 @ 6:07pm

2,990 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: IRW Ganelax - Brig
Timeline: MD -45, 0018 hrs

[CONTINUED]

Abbey sat with her hands clenched to the bench she was sat on while watching the whole commotion silently angry. At first, she wanted to scream out and once again accuse her of being a traitor and now a liar, she was dead set on the idea she was faking it. But, as time went on it was clear to her that Abbey's phaser shot had done more than simply incapacitate the woman. She felt the slightest bit sorry, but only for Luke who would have to deal with her.

With Ensign Derani now out of the brig and headed to sickbay with Warraquim, the green-skinned Orion turned her attention to the cell's sole remaining occupant. The burning sensation in the back of her shoulder was extremely uncomfortable, but her broken shoulder blade could wait until the more serious injuries were treated. Nevertheless, Saalm's habitual move to clasp her hands behind her back was met by a sharp wave of pain. She let her arm dangle to the side instead before approaching the woman from the Terran Empire.

"Miss Wyatt... St. James...whatever you go by now," Lirha began, "just what made you think it was acceptable to shoot Ensign Derani?"

Abbey stood, she didn't want the admiral to think that she was above her on the topic. "The intelligence report we had been given confirmed, by her own admission that Ensign Derani was in collaboration with the enemy and was plotting to kill you" She started, "I arrived on the bridge first as a part of a counter-coup team led by Lieutenant Commander Wyatt and saw several scenes of a fight and to eliminate any threat to your life or that of the crew therefore I incapacitated the traitor"

The first sentence of the junior officer's reply began to echo through Saalm's head. At first she'd considered the woman's actions to simply be misguided, but now, a new element in the mystery had arisen. "Intelligence report?" she asked. "Given to you by whom?"

Abbey nodded, "Written in her own account explaining that she knew the Klingon Chroag was going to mutiny and had instructed her to kill you, if she did not she would die. Ensign Derani also mentioned that she allowed herself to be bugged. Which begs the question of just how in league she was with the Klingon which allowed him to somehow implant her with a listening device before she had the nerve to report it" She paused to compose her voice, "I did as any self-respecting security officer would do and took the problem out of the equation, swiftly and justly with as less lethal force bestowed upon me in the line of duty to protect my commanding officer, and if her life was in danger hers as well." She locked her Jade green eyes with the woman who stood just in front of her, daring her to say what she had done was wrong.

It suddenly made no sense to Saalm. Or at least, maybe she was unable to cope with the implications of what the Mirror Abbey was telling her. "You are saying, ensign," she began in a very pointed manner, "that Ensign Derani wrote down her knowledge of Chorag's mutiny attempt? And then you read it, somehow?" It sounded almost incredulous. "When did this happen? How long before we entered the Neutral Zone?" the Orion demanded in no uncertain terms. "And what do you mean by 'bugged'?" Lirha had removed the chip Medara had implanted in the half-Boslic's spine during the second day they'd been deployed aboard the battlecruiser. Surely that same implant wasn't active?

"Lieutenant Commander Wyatt showed me and Lieutenant JG Galan the parchment, and as far as I'm aware he only received that minutes before the mutiny happened. Leaving very little time for us to take any planned action" Abbey shrugged "I don't know the exact details only what was written. As for being bugged I'm guessing a form of listening device and potentially a fail safe in case she didn't do as she was told. Which is another reason why a phaser blast was necessary" She explained calmly.

Minutes before. A 'parchment'. Fail safe listening device. These were the revelations that Saalm struggled to make sense of. But was any of it true? "And where is this letter, or 'parchment' that you speak of. I assume you have evidence to support your claim?" The question of Miraj's knowledge of the mutiny wasn't necessarily in doubt. The conn officer had subtly come to Saalm on the bridge and revealed her knowledge of the plot just moments before Chorag's attack on Ban. But more importantly, Saalm needed to know who had known what before hand, how much they knew, and when they'd become aware of it.

This time she crossed her arms "You will have to speak to Lieutenant Commander Wyatt and Lieutenant JG Galan, I only read the note not kept it. But if I was guessing woman Luke likely has it in his pocket which is covered in blood" She paused for a moment. "I'd like to see my father, I have done literally nothing wrong and if she can be released to sick bay then so should I, if not I would like an independent tribunal the moment we are under federation custody." She had spent enough time on Earth to understand the federations laws and she was willing to throw the book at the General if she wasn't willing to compromise.

"You have no rights to demand from me right now," Saalm shot back with force. "Despite your motivations and whether or not you felt justified, you shot one of my officers. I don't know how you handled things in your old universe, but that is certainly not how we address issues here," Saalm chided. "It is not your place to take action without your superior's approval. You cannot simply burst into a room and attack someone who you 'suspect' is guilty of a crime. You claim that you want fair judgement in front of a tribunal...but you never gave such an offer to Derani before you shot her." The hypocrisy of the ensign's request was astounding to the Orion.

"It is when Regulation 619 has been breached and a security officer has the right to bare arms upon a threat in which he or she believes life is threatened, surely you should know that" She shot back coldly before going on "therefore until I am put in front of a Starfleet Captain and an independent tribunal in accordance with Directive 101 I will not answer to any of your questions. And will leave you with this, if she hadn't had her change of heart and I had not incapacitated her with non-lethal force would I have been right in letting her kill you or would I be being charged with negligence to my duty" She sat and placed her clenched hands into her lap. Enjoy your renaming time as a General, it will be short lived. She thought.

Creases formed at the edges of Saalm's eyes as they narrowed into angry slits. Of all the things to become petty about, the woman in the brig was now openly citing regulation and refusing to speak to her commander. Worst of all, the admiral-general simply wanted answers, and if the ensign could communicate her innocence, it would help her own cause. "You will answer my questions, ensign," the Orion demanded with little regard for her request. "If you believed someone's life was in danger, why did you not warn anyone first? Why did you not inform myself or Commander Ban of the knowledge you had before you opened fire?"

Abbey so wanted to keep her mouth shut but the more the Orion pressed her the more her anger boiled. If the Admiral knew just how much she was trying to calm herself she may want to have backed off, put Abbey in a containment field and moved ships. "How many times do I have to say it before anyone even begins to listen! Is this discrimination because I am from the Terran Empire? Oh she must just want blood because she's from the 'evil-verse'" She said air quoting. "I was given the note by Lieutenant Commander Wyatt who said he got it from Ensign Derani. He told me and Lieutenant Galan to fetch our phasers and head to the bridge with him. We took out some Klingon's, I got onto the bridge first and as I saw you and several others covered in blood and injured. I made the call to incapacitate not kill Ensign Denari on grounds that she could be a threat to life either to others or herself." She explained, now tired of repeating herself to an unresponsive audience.

"Despite her actions, admiral," Amaranai spoke after a moment. "I believe that the ensign's motives were indeed in line with Starfleet regulations regarding mutiny."

Amaranai didn't like speaking against Miraj without all of the answers, but based on what she was hearing, it seemed that Ensign Saint James did the right thing.

"I would say that the ensign could have assessed the situation before acting and therefore reacted differently to seeing Ensign Derani, but again, based on the facts, she did the right thing."

Abbey didn't smile at the comment or really acknowledge but her mind was exploding with relief. The anger ebbed out of her and the stress of the situation took over. She looked down at her cracked, swollen and bloodied hands and watched as a tear stung through the blood clots which had formed. She had watched her father be stabbed (possibly shot) and had to administer first aid to his catastrophic hemorrhage, kill a Klingon with her bare hands and shoot someone she thought was a friend. Her mind wound back to the night they had drinking together and joking and wished Abbey and Miraj could go back to that night. Abbey hurt both mentally and physically and all she wanted to do was curl up and cry.

"And this note you mentioned?" Saalm continued. While it was good to hear Franklin's point of view, the elephant in the room was still standing in the corner. "You did not inform myself or Commander Ban of it even after you had stunned Ensign Derani and the so-called threat was removed... Why?" she asked, incredulously.

"I..." Abbey started, thinking how to answer the question without angering or annoying anyone "I was to busy being apprehended, and then the other Klingons ships turned up. I didn't really have the time and I guess I'm just a big mess" she shrugged finally admitting defeat to herself. Who was she kidding? She could have handled the situation better but instead she shot first and asked the important questions later, she was a weapon and one that needed guidance "I am sorry" she said in a whisper.

As much as the Orion wanted to berate the security officer for what she perceived as a lack of due diligence, she recognized what St. James was trying to tell her. And in the heat of the moment, it was impossible to second-guess someone's actions and truly evaluate their thought process. At least the young Human had been honest with her, which counted ten-fold in her book.

"We are all a mess, ensign," Lirha said quietly and with a bit of a motherly tone evident in her inflection. "It has been a difficult time for all of us. My questions and all of this," she motioned to the brig and the forcefield between her and Abbey, "are not easy. And," she sighed while looking over to Ban to see if he agreed with her upcoming sentiments, "I suppose I cannot fault you for your actions when you felt you had the best interests of the crew at heart. Ensign Derani's injury was unfortunate but I don't believe you intended such an outcome. Correct?"

She shook her head "I just wanted to incapacitate her, remove her from the situation, I didn't intend to hurt her especially to the extent of her injury she has now" Abbey explained, She was glad that they finally saw eye to eye. She wasn't sure just how much more she could take.

Amaranai stood and listened while everyone spoke to Abbey. Amaranai wasn't taking sides when she defended Abbey. She was looking at facts and the skills of the security officer in front of her. Technically, since Amaranai was currently acting Chief of Security, she had to at least commend Abbey for dealing with the situation as quickly as she was able, despite her father being injured.

Amaranai looked to the admiral with a silent notion that she was done, but being a junior officer with several ranks above her around, she didn't want to complain. She understood the process was necessary and things had to happen. She also understood that the inquiry would sort it all out, but it was dread of such an inquiry and the stress on everyone involved was going to take its toll - especially on Lirha.

Aren nodded slightly. While he wasn't fully satisfied with Abby's answers, this wasn't the time or the place for them to get to bottom of this, not after so much had happened in such a short amount of time. He was sure that there was some bridge recording that they would have access to at a later time. The Romulan's were notorious about those sort of things, not to mention that they had had a Romulan aboard the ship the entire time. "General, I think it is safe to say that initial questioning has been answered in a satisfactory matter. Unless you have any further questions I think it would be beneficial for Lieutenant Amarani to have her security officer back?" Aren asked.

The conundrum ate away at Saalm's training and better judgement. On one emerald hand, she understood the ensign's actions amidst the confusion and chaos; and on the other, she held a recurring mistrust for the Mirror Universe woman which she felt had just been confirmed by her actions. It took a great deal of self-control to recognize her own biases and prejudices that were now at play and which also made it difficult for her to properly judge the situation. For now, however, it seemed the Terran Abbey was at least honest, and Ban's attempt to provide a more measured version of events sounded convincing enough.

"Very well," the admiral-general said after a long moment of reflection. "Do as you wish, commander," Saalm said to Ban before taking one last glance at St. James. "Make sure she is well fed and clothed," she added. It had been a long time since they'd all showered and consumed a proper meal, and right now they were all running on fumes.

Aren nodded. "Very well." Aren motioned to the sole Romulan centurion who was attending to the crew in the brig. "Please, deactivate the force field." Aren said as he watched the centurion begrudgingly comply after a few moments conferring into a comlink. He had no idea how he was going to comply with her orders, they hadn't even been aboard the ship for more than a few minutes and he himself hadn't had time to orient himself.

Abbey stood as the forcefield fluctuated and then turned off altogether. "Thankyou Sir, Ma'am" She said nodding in the direction of the CO and XO. "I appreciate you wanting to get fed and clothed but there are injured personnel who need it more than me and you aren't exactly in the best of shapes. If you'll allow it I'll go find a quiet room somewhere and sleep. Its been a long day"

Lirha shook her head at St. James to reject her refusal. She appreciated the sentiment but also knew the young woman needed a sense of comfort and nutrition in order to restore her proper state of mind. Whatever that really was. "That was an order, ensign. Eat, then bathe. Then you can return to us. Unless you want a permanent escort?" she half-threatened with a flick of her eyes to the nearest Reman guard.

She sighed through her grinning lips. "I don't think an escort is necessary. I'll do as you've ordered." Abbey couldn't deny that she had been given worst orders, food and a bath suddenly seemed like a great idea as she looked at the Reman.

"Dismissed," came Saalm's final reply. For now, the conversation with the Federation introvert was done, but her future in the fleet would ultimately be decided by the Federation fates, as Lirha liked to refer to them.

Knowing she had been left off, at least for now she stood up straighter to attention, nodded "Thank you Ma'am" and then began walking out of the Brig at a pace which suited her showing that she wasn't in a hurry but also didn't wanted to linger in that room any longer. Meanwhile trying not to make eye contact with the Reman who watched her leave. She hated Remans even more than Klingons and for good reasons, but reasons she wasn't about to let her already fragile mind get into. All she wanted to think about was food, a bath, and sleep.

Amaranai remained quiet, unsure of how to respond to anything else that had happened. Those comments and replies were really for those in command. And though Abbey was a Security officer, at the moment, since they were on a Romulan ship, Amaranai had little authority over the girl, either. Instead, she hung back and allowed everything to play out on its own.

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer

Ensign Abbey St. James
Security/Tactical Officer
[PNPC Wyatt]

Lt. jg Amaranai Franklin
Assistant Chief Security / Tactical Officer

CMDR Aren Ban
First Officer

RSS Feed