Just The Facts

Posted on 04 Apr 2015 @ 9:15am by Ensign Arandon Khnailmnae Ph.D.

1,006 words; about a 5 minute read

Accessing court records. Security Clearance Required. Accessing. Trial of Lieutenant Commander Arianna di Salvona-Selmone. Witness Statement: Ensign Arandon Khnailmnae.

Arandon sits with his head down and arms tightly crossed in an effort to keep him from shaking more than he already was due to his staggered breathing. The environmental systems read that the temperature is quite warm, his shivering is due to nervousness, more than anything else. His eyes are low but they shift around the room, training on the table that separates his chair from one on the opposite side.

A few minutes after the recording begins, a Starfleet officer enters the room and Arandon instantly looks up, his eyes having a certain desperation.

"Good morning Doctor Khnailmnae," The officer says, sitting down with a PADD in hand, very confident, very cool, in contrast to Arandon's teetering on the edge of a breakdown. "It is Doctor isn't it?" He asks, looking up from the PADD with a smile.

Arandon looks at the man for a moment before shaking his head and turning his gaze down once again. "No, no not yet." He says.

"But soon anyway, congratulations." The officer says with a nod, and there is no response from Arandon. The officer quickly moves on though and taps a few commands into the PADD. "Do you know why you're here today?"

Arandon shakes his head vigorously. "No."

"But you've waived your right to have an attorney present even though you don't know what you'll be asked?" The officer's questions were in that tone that lets you know they're just playing games and that their small talk has a purpose and it's going somewhere.

"Yes." Arandon says, a bit baffled by the restating of what is already known.

The officer stays silent for a moment, tapping commands into his PADD, clearly another power play. "What do you know about Doctor Arianna Selmone?" He says quickly, obviously an attempt to knock Arandon off balance as he teetered on the edge.

"What?" Arandon exclaims, flabbergasted that he could know anything. "Is that what this is about? I don't know anything about her" He says, utterly confused.

The officer seemingly concedes the point with a nod of his head and a look on his face, before breaking the silence. "So this isn't you?" He says, sliding his PADD over to Arandon.

Arandon's face pales as his eyes rapidly dart around the small screen, he is taken a back and almost repulsed at the contents of the PADD. "How on Earth....?" He starts.

"Well, is it?" The officer asks again.

"Ah yes, okay we talked two or three times that was all." Arandon says, trying to clarify and backtrack at the same time. Clearly he had not put significance on his earlier dealings with Doctor Selmone, but the officer certainly did.

"Which one was it?" The officer continues.

Arandon looks up from the PADD, still confused at the officer's roundabout and clearly methodical line of questioning. "What?"

"Which was it, two or three times?" He asks, his face stoic and his tone intent.

"I..." Arandon shakes his head, apparently struggling to remember, something not helped by his anxiety over the proceedings. "I don't recall."

"So you can quote the scientific names of plants off the top of your head but you can't remember how many conversations you had with an infamous Starfleet researcher?" His passive aggressive tone and question was obviously meant to provoke a reaction and exemplify a certain logic.

Arandon is distressed and sits back in his chair, shaking his head, bringing a hand up to his forehead. "Fine three!" He yells in defeat.

"Good what did you talk about?"

Arandon exhibits a certain childlike frustration and exhaustion at such questioning, no doubt a tactic to wear him down. "Nothing of consequence!" He nearly cries. "She was interested in my research for my thesis, nothing else." Arandon bites his lower lip and holds one of his forearm, rotating his fingers.

"I'll be the judge of what is consequential, what did she ask about exactly?" The officer is clearly uninterested in Arandon's distress.

Arandon sighs. "She was curious about the prospect of creating or fast tracking the evolution of intelligence in certain species, plant genetics are different than animal ones but I think she was wondering if the same principles might be applied." Arandon explained, his voice growing slower and his tone becoming less distressed. Having said it all aloud, perhaps he realized the significance of his conversations, however one sided they may have been, with Doctor Selmone.

The officer continues his interrogation of Arandon, differing between pointless questions of minutia to sudden, directly questions designed to take advantage of Arandon's weakened mental state. The officer gives little indication if his answers are satisfactory, at least nothing that could be considered sincere.

"One last question," The officer says, perhaps finally arriving at the end of a series of questions, and perhaps everything was leading up to this one question and its one answer. "During that last meeting did Doctor Selmone say anything perhaps... whimsical, about her work?" He was clearly looking for something very specific to validate his own theories, but didn't want to lead Arandon to any conclusions other than his answer.

Arandon's response is almost immediate and in stark contrast to his frustrated responses. "Yes." He says in a distant but lucid tone, locking his eyes on the officer across from him. "I'll never forget it, she said..."

Recording End. Further security access required. Rest of this recording sealed by the order of the Judge Advocate General.

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