All Good Things... (Part 1 of 6)

Posted on 21 Oct 2017 @ 12:33pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Rear Admiral Harold Doolittle & Rear Admiral Nathan West & Commander Scarlet Blake & Commander Aren Ban & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D. & Lieutenant Amaranai Franklin & Commander Marisa Wyatt & Ensign Miraj Derani & Ensign Mimi & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Greg Mitchell & Edward Bauer & Ambassador Soral Varro & Lieutenant JG Eelim Galan & Nesh Saalm & LuAnn Lovegood PhD
Edited on on 21 Oct 2017 @ 12:39pm

3,425 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Earth - Starfleet HQ, JAG Complex
Timeline: MD 21, 0859 hrs

[ON]

It felt like ages since the last time Lirha had worn her dress whites. The tight form-fitting jacket and trousers were certainly a terrible color scheme that didn't blend well with her Orion skin complexion, and she'd never really enjoyed the formal attire. It was, of course, necessary when duty demanded, but such situations were rare and not often enough to dampen her day on a regular basis.

Today, however, was different. In the layman's terms, it was her day of judgement for her actions over the past four months and would be overseen by Starfleet's Judge Advocate General's Corps. What the fleet ultimately decided her career's fate would be was somewhat trivial to her, for all she really cared about in her heart was being able to spend time with her loved ones: Nesh, Aila, Amaranai, and Snuffles.

Standing in front of her assigned court chamber in Starfleet Headquarters' JAG complex, she glanced at the chonometer on the door's keypad then looked to the two yellow-collared Starfleet security guards on either side of the entrance. Her green index finger reached out and tapped the chime.

West sat at the right side of Doolittle as he believed the other Admiral had more right to chair this court marshal than he did. West was determined to see the end of this affair and had already started working on plans that would allow the crew of the Galileo to stay together. He figured he knew what the outcome of the court marshal would be and was making small moves that would ripple out across time and become a tidal wave that would once again park the Orion's butt back in the center chair of a new ship. He sat and waited, wondering silently to himself when the proceedings would begin.

Vice Admiral Alexandra Vance had entered the chambers seated in the center of the panel. The sight would be surprising to some familiar with the exploits of the USS Niagara, seeing Vance in a white JAG uniform was surprising, seeing Admiral pips on her collar even more so. For the woman who had spent a career dodging the rulebook, to be seated on a court martial was truly ironic.

To those unknowing of her exploits, before them was a woman who not only towered physically (for a woman) but also in posture above others. The Admiral's athletic physique and curves were a marvel and envy of many. What wasn't, was the cybernetic implant in her right eye. An ever reminding marker of her assimilation to the Borg Collective, another soul-tearing moment for the veteran officer. Her eyes fixated in front of her towards the tables of the prosecution and defense, her lips nearly a snarl as she awaited the 'next contestant'.

Amaranai was going to the trial, regardless of the fact that she wasn't requested. She had to be there for Lirha. She dressed in her military whites and made her way to the assigned courtroom. She entered and found a seat in the front row right behind Lirha. The brunette knew she couldn't speak to Lirha, but she made sure that the Orion noticed her arrival.

Saalm had mixed feelings when she turned her head and saw Franklin enter. It was delightful to see her and comforting to have her present, of course, but she quickly began to fear for what Amaranai might think of her after the trial was finished. Lirha didn't want to put her through the pain of seeing her loose her career and possibly be thrown in a penal colony for the rest of her natural life. The junior lieutenant deserved better than that, and now pains of regret edged at her heart for fear of disappointing her and being forced away from her.

Aren stepped into the court room very quietly, taking a seat in the back. While he had his differences with Lirha, he knew that she was a good officer, and he respected her. He wanted to be there to provide any support that he could.

Marisa had received a formal letter informing her that she was on temporary suspension and would not be allowed to work as a counselor in Starfleet until she'd dealt with her anger and was deemed fit for duty. There was also a chance that she would be assigned to another department. So for now, she was a civilian. But since she couldn't stay away from Saalm's Court Martial, she dressed in a simple dark blue dress and slipped into the back of the courtroom, unable to stay away. She saw Commander Ban a little ways down the row as she found a seat and quickly turned her attention to the front of the room.

LuAnn heard that an admiral was facing Court Martial. It was the buzz of San Francisco, so she decided to have a look and see what was going on. She found a seat in a back corner of the gallery and prepared for what was guaranteed to be a long and boring session.

Nesh pushed her way to the front of the queue trying to squeeze into the public gallery. Lirha hadn't asked her to come and she wasn't sure that was because her older sister didn't want her here or she just assumed that her little sister would come anyway. Either way, if things went badly Lirha would need someone, and the only person she could openly turn to at this point would be family. And that meant her. She found a seat at the front of the gallery and settled in, trying to catch her sister's eye.

A flash of green skin caught the corner of Lirha's eye, and she turned her head then saw Nesh at one of the seats in the first row behind her. Despite their occasional bickering and family-related dramas over the years, the older Saalm gave her a private smile in an attempt to keep her from worrying.

Miraj had come mostly out of guilt. Her own part in events, small but not nice, had gone unnoticed. It looked like she, who had done her best in a situation that had looked impossible, was going to see no ill effects, whereas Lirha, who had faced a similar impossible situation, was not. Seeing others from the Galileo, she squeezed into the benches there, ready for the trial to begin.

Mimi slowly walked into the gallery, having received a message she was going to be called as a witness she wore her dress uniform and had spent a couple of hours the night before looking up what she would have to do, she was dreading it.

Varro and Galan had met up just outside the justice centre and had entered together. Both were in dress uniform. They knew what this was about. This was the Admiral's day in court. Varro and Galan both sat down squeezing into the benches. Varro turned to Galan. "I can honestly say I cannot guess how this will go."

Galan sighed, "I do not know." He didn't. He just sat there waiting for the action to begin.

Greg stepped into the back of the room with his back to the wall. While he wasn't part of the trial, he wanted to see what the outcome was and what would happen next. As such, he requested security duty for the trial while he was on duty.

"Command, Three-three, I'm on site. Hold all further calls for the time being."

=^=Ten four, Three-three. Holding all.=^=

Arriving just in time for the trial to begin, Tuula rolled in and took up a position near the back, her chair as out of the way as she could manage. She really didn't want to be there, but felt that after all the crew had been through, she owed it to them and to the Admiral to at least show up and be there while her fate was decided.

Tuula didn't know what to feel about that. Lirha was kind and apologetic when she had visited her in the sickbay, but there were still lingering questions. She had shared her concerns with Captain Austin, knowing that it was the right thing to do, but part of her felt as though she may have been betraying the Admiral by doing so. In truth, she was torn between her loyalty to her captain, her anger over the pain she and her crew had suffered that she felt Lirha was responsible for, and the constant feeling that something wasn't quite right in all of this.

Just before the doors were about to close, another spectator slipped inside to watch over the proceedings. Scarlet Blake made her way to find a seat, sitting silently, her features as cool and calm as ever. She settled back, as much as she could with her unease at least, her back rigid and straight against the backrest with her militaristic posture. Seeing her former commanding officer like this, it was surreal to say the least.

Scarlet knew Lirha. Really knew her. And she was confident that it was a bunch of trumped up nonsense. But she was concerned too....because things didn't get this far unless they felt they had something substantial to throw into the arena. Other than the sacrificial officer of course. No matter how twisted that something had become.

Doolittle gazed out over the courtroom, noticing how many people filled the gallery. It seemed that this case had become quite the high-profile case and as such had garnered quite a bit of interest. He studied his chronometer for a moment, then at precisely 0900 he looked to the young lieutenant who was acting as bailiff and gave him a slight nod.

Seeing the signal from the presiding admiral, the lieutenant stepped to front and center before the assembled board admirals and captains and faced the gallery. He then called out in a loud voice “All rise! These proceedings are now called into session. The honorable Admiral Harold J. Doolittle presiding.”

“Please be seated,” Doolittle said to the gallery before turning his attention back to the lieutenant. “For the record, all members of this board, including myself, have been sworn, correct?”

“They have, sir...”

“Have counsel for the prosecution and defense been sworn?”

“They have not, sir..."

"Please swear them in at this time.”

“Aye sir,” the bailiff said, then turned his attention to the female commander at the table for the prosecution.

“Do you Commander Rachel Goldstein, solemnly swear or affirm by whatever religion, belief or creed you hold sacred that you will faithfully perform all the duties of court-martial prosecution as a duly appointed representative of Starfleet Command and that you have no desire in these proceedings except to see justice prevail in this case now pending?”

Rachel had stood as directed. This was all the nicety at this point. The formality that one had to get through, a sort of pomp and circumstance. She waited until the bailiff finished and then simply said, "I do."

He then turned to the counsel for the defense.

“And do you, Commander Czarien Hedra, solemnly swear or affirm by whatever religion, belief or creed you hold sacred that you will faithfully perform all the duties of court-martial defense as a duly appointed representative of Starfleet Command and that you have no desire in these proceedings except to see justice prevail in this case now pending?”

The defence counsel, a Ktarian woman, stood and eyed the bailiff with her horizontally slit eyes, said, "I do," and sat back down.

“Very well...” Doolittle said carefully. “Let the record show that all parties relevant to this case, with the exception of the defendant who will be sworn at a later time, have been duly sworn.” He made a notation on his PADD, then continued. “It is time to begin but before we go any further, for the record I will introduce the members of the board. Beginning from my far right - your left - is Captain Damian Kirk and Admiral Nathan West. To my left is Admiral Janae Pilcherd and Captain Amber Austin. I am Admiral Harold Doolittle, president of this board." Gazing out over the room for a moment he then added "These proceedings are now open.” Then he looked directly at Admiral Saalm.

“Admiral Lirha Saalm, will you rise please…?”

The exchange of formalities had turned into a muted muttering of gibberish in Saalm's head. For perhaps the first time in her Starfleet career, she didn't care about the protocol of the official fleet event that was now underway. Maybe her apathy for the pomp and circumstance had something to do with the nature of what she was now involved in, or maybe it was the result of emotional fatigue. Either way, it took her several seconds to hear and register the command that'd been given to her.

Saalm pushed her chair back and rose to her feet with her hands at her side.

“Please read the charge preferred against Admiral Saalm by this board,” Doolittle said.

“Charge...Conduct prejudicial to the good of the service. In that due to the direct action of the commanding officer, the USS Galileo was improperly and unduly placed in danger resulting in the destruction of the ship with a resultant loss of life."

“Does the defendant understand the Charge?” Doolittle asked.

Was he not speaking Federation Standard? Lirha quipped in her head. "Yes," she verbally confirmed with barely any facial expression while a multitude of rebuttals for said charges began to course through her thoughts.

Doolittle nodded in response. “Please read the specification.”

“There are actually five specifications,” the court reporter stated.

‘Specification One: Treason – in that Admiral Lirha Saalm did willfully and with forethought abandon her Starfleet rank and assume the rank of General in the Klingon Defense Fleet.

Specification Two: Negligence – in that Admiral Lirha Saalm did cause the destruction of her ship by not surrendering it in order to preserve the lives of her crew.

Specification Three: Fratricide – in that Admiral Lirha Saalm did willfully engage and attack the Federation vessel USS Sentinel causing injury to Starfleet personnel, that vessel then being engaged in her assigned mission.

Specification Four: Willful destruction of Federation property – in that Admiral Lirha Saalm did willfully damage Federation property by her attack on the USS Sentinel.

Specification Five: Disobedience of Standing Orders – in that Admiral Lirha Saalm did willfully and with forethought violate Starfleet’s Standing Order by entering the Klingon Neutral Zone.”

When the reporter had finished reading all of the specifications, Doolittle asked “Does the defendant understand all of the specifications?”

"Yes," came Saalm's simple reply.

“Defendant, how do you plead to the Charge?”

Another simple reply ensued from the Orion rear admiral. "Innocent."

“How do you plead to the Specifications?”

"Innocent," she stated for the second time in front of the assembled panel and crowd.

"Let the record show that the defendant has entered a plea of 'not guilty' to both the Charge and the Specifications," Doolittle said to the court reporter before turning his attention back to both counsel tables.

"Commander Hedra, are you prepared to present your defense of this case on behalf of Admiral Saalm?"

"I am," she replied simply.

"Commander Goldstein, are you prepared to present your case to this court on behalf of Starfleet Command?"

"Yes sir," Rachel replied without any inflection. The game was on.

“In that case,we will proceed with opening statements at this time. Commander Goldstein, you will speak first.”

Rachel again stood and nodded. She went stand before the center officer.

"Good morning, I am Commander Rachel Goldstein and am lead prosecutor in this case. It is my pleasure and honour to represent Star Fleet in this case. The defendant one Admiral Lirha Saalm," Rachel turned and indicated with a hand Lirha. "Through her actions and decisions lead to the loss of the Galileo along with loss of life, she then did willfully put on the uniform of the Klingon Empire and style herself General and forced the remaining crew of the Galileo to join her on a Klingon warship and then travel toward the Klingon home world. Along this journey, she did order the firing upon of a Federation vessel resulting in damage to said vessel. She then entered the neutral zone in full knowledge of entering and intending to cross that boundary and then further endangered the remaining crew with in a subsequent battle with other Klingon forces.

It will be shown through depositions given by her own crew and through witnesses that Admiral Saalm not only made mistakes but that her actions showed a willful disobedience to standing orders and did only think of herself in the course of the series of unfortunate events.

Sirs, the defense may argue that the admiral was not completely sane, in that she was pregnant at the time of the incident and that the loss that pregnancy may have altered her mental state. That while unfortunate, we will show that she seemed to have her full faculties about her and that subsequent decisions were made with aforethought."

Rachel looked at Admiral Saalm for a second before turning back to the judges. "At the conclusion of the case, we ask that you find the defendant guilty on the charge and specifications and the Fleet has met the burden of proof. Thank you," she made a small nod of the head and then returned to the desk and waited before taking her seat until the lead judge asked for the defense to give opening statement.

At that, Rachel state down and prepared to take notes to see what tack the defense might take. One could only anticipate this early what that tack might be but temporary insanity to her if she was on the other side would be the most logical course. The depositions of the admiral being in Klingon uniform and seemingly willing were damning all through the depositions that had been given along with a complete indication in said depositions that she had made the order to fire upon the Sentinel.

When Commander Goldstein had finished, Doolittle then turned his focus to the defense table.

"Commander Hedra, you now have the floor..."

The Ktarian got to her feet. "Admiral. I am Commander Czarien Hedra, counsel for the defendant. To be brief, the Defence will be demonstrating that the charge and the specifications are based on gross misreading of the case law on treason, negligence and fratricide; that the case for wilful destruction is circumstantial and that the charge of disobedience for crossing the Klingon Neutral Zone is likewise based on a misunderstanding of the treaty of Organia and its subsequent addenda."

The horizontally slit pupils of her honey gold eyes shifted sideways to the prosecuting counsel. "Unlike my learnéd colleague, I do not intend to cast aspersions on the mental competence of my client. Quite the opposite. The same depositions and testimonies that my learnéd friend has just cited will amply demonstrate that Admiral Saalm, despite the extreme stresses placed on her, acted entirely in keeping with the highest ideals of Starfleet and the Federation: compassion, sensitivity and concern for the highest well-being of her crew. In doing so we will demonstrate that the charges brought are without basis in either fact or law, and that an esteemed Admiral of good standing is not guilty of all charges, and humbly request that this court martial dismiss all charges. Thank you."

Commander Hedra sat down next to Lirha, and gave her attention to the chair, waiting for the real battle to begin.

When Hedra had finished, Doolittle made some notes on his PADD, then nodded slightly to Goldstein.

"Commander Goldstein, if you are ready, you may call your first witness."

Rachel stood and said, "Prosecution would like to call Ensign Mimi."

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

LuAnn Lovegood
Counselor
[PNPC Sandoval]

Lieutenant JG Marisa Sandoval
Former Chief Counselor

Commander Aren Ban
Executive Officer

Lt. JG Eelim Galan
Security officer
[PNPC Varro]

Ambassador Soral Varro
Diplomatic Officer

Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Medical Officer

Rachel Goldstein
JAG
[NPC Allyndra illm Warraquim]

Nesh Saalm
Civilian
[NPC Derani]

Ensign Miraj Derani

Commander Czarien Hedra
JAG
[NPC Derani]

Nathan West
Rear Admiral
Head of Starfleet Intelligence

RADM Harold Doolittle
BUPERs
Starfleet Command

CWO3 Greg Mitchell
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

ENS Mimi
Operations Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Amaranai Franklin
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

CMDR Scarlet Blake
Instructor
Starfleet Academy

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