All Good Things... (Part 5 of 6)

Posted on 21 Oct 2017 @ 12:36pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Rear Admiral Harold Doolittle & Rear Admiral Nathan West & Commander Aren Ban & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant Amaranai Franklin & Commander Marisa Wyatt & Ensign Miraj Derani & Edward Bauer

2,874 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Earth - Starfleet HQ, JAG Complex
Timeline: MD 21, 1245 hrs
Tags:

Previously, on All Good Things (Part 4)...

West's eyes snapped to the Commander and he made a note on his PADD about the failure to answer the question, on which ground she had taken command. Hedra had a good point and he thought it would make sense to flesh that out more. He waited for the presiding Admiral to call the court to recess.

"I believe we have reasonable means to determine Commander Warraquim was executing her duties as second officer. You may return to your seats councilors." Vance said dismissing them.

The officer of the court asked all in attendance to rise as the panel stepped out.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Panel's Chambers

The panel entered in single file to the small conference room with a large table with chairs surrounding it. Vance moved to a nearby window looking out to the city placing her arms behind her back.

"What do you think Nathan?" She asked West.

West looked at the other Admiral and breathed deeply choosing his words carefully. "I think she'll be found guilty and the Council will have its pound of flesh."

"You shouldn't rush to judgement, we don't have all the facts." Alexandra warned West. Truthfully the comment surprised her given his field and the fact it was they would give deliverance to the council or exonerate Saalm. "I was not brought here to be a political pawn, no authority will sway me. If the evidence illustrates her guilt so be it, but the evidence should make our judgement, not the council."

She paused for a moment. "My question is, should we allow the objection to stand?"

He nodded as he thought "Yes, I think the objection should be allowed, if for no other reason than to give the appearance of not being a railroad court." he raised an eyebrow and then responded to the first part of her speech "As for rushing to judgement, I don't think she's guilt at all. I think it's all circumstantial evidence and her only guilt was trying to get her crew home, if in an unorthodox manner. However, even if she did get off I doubt the brass would let her take command of a garbage scow much less a star ship." he thought about the woman beside him "But she will, one way or another."

"I'll be the judge of that." Vance replied snickering at the humour in her statement.


5 minutes later...

Rachel stood after the call to order. "Prosecution calls no more witnesses."

"The defense may call its first witness." Vance stated.

"Thank you, You Honour." Commander Hedra stood, tugging down the jacket on her immaculate dress whites, a uniform she wore far more often than anything else, and got the show on the road. "The Defense calls Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm to the stand."

Finally. Nothing had been more frustrating for the Orion than to watch hours of testimony and legal debate regarding the merit of her actions while she was forced to idly sit by and hold her tongue. She was now happy to set the record straight lest any counsel or panel member try to skew her words.

Rising from her seat, she smoothed down the front of her shirt then walked over to the witness chair.

As she took her seat, the bailiff moved to her. “Do you solemnly swear or affirm by whatever religion, belief or creed you hold sacred that the testimony you give in these proceedings shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"

"Yes," answered Saalm for what seemed like the tenth time in the past two weeks. On how many occasions did she have to go on record and swear her integrity?

"Admiral Saalm, we have heard how your ship entered the Paulson Nebula to answer a distress call. The Paulson Nebula being notoriously difficult to navigate due to the heavy interference with scanners. We've heard how you were ambushed and surrounded. Others might have said a surrender was the sensible option. Could you now tell the court in your own words why you decided to fight for your survival, rather than giving up?"

The Orion rear admiral didn't need to answer all of the question. Hedra had -- intentionally or unintentionally -- just answered some of it for her. "I gave the order to flee because I thought it was the best chance of success. We are not trained to give up and I thought we had the tactical advantage even while outnumbered due to the EM interference."

"Could you elaborate on what that advantage was?" Hedra replied. She needed to draw out the Admiral's thoughts in those last minutes. Show that it had not been stubbornness or vainglory driving her decision to not surrender.

Saalm took a short breath before speaking. "Well...in situations where spacial properties interfere with operations and weaken weapons systems, all ships in the area would suffer the same handicap. Galileo was a Nova-class frigate -- small, maneuverable...and hard to hit in a nebula where weapons had to be manually aimed. And our conn officer, Ensign Derani, was a strong pilot. Escape seemed like a good choice with a high chance of success... More than surrendering the entire ship and becoming prisoners to an unknown warlord."

"And when you realised your ship was surrounded, did this change your thinking in anyway?" Testimony had already shown she hadn't done anything different, but they why was still important.

"Yes, of course," Saalm answered, "but by then, it was too late. Their weapons systems were accurate despite the EM interference. It wasn't until two weeks later that I learned the Kreanans had been operating within the nebula for over 50 years and had developed customized sensor and targeting arrays for all their vessels."

"Thank you," Hedra consulted her notes. "The statements of the crew say that you gave the order to abandon ship, and remained to initiate the self destruct charges, the anti-matter chamber already being ejected, and whilst they abandoned ship, you did not. How did you survive?" It needed to be said.

The rear admiral thought back to what she remembered of her perceived final seconds of life. "I remember watching the countdown expire...then everything ceased to exist," she recalled in a quiet voice. "And then I came to on Kreanus. Commander Medara visited me and explained I'd been transported off Galileo by the general but had suffered severe injuries. I survived, but Ensign Alexander did not. He also remained behind with me to oversee the destruct sequence."

"And how long had passed between the destruction of Galileo and your regaining consciousness?"

"Several days. Five, I believe," Saalm simply answered.

"And after that, what efforts did you make to reunite with your crew?" Hedra asked.

"For several weeks, none. I was under guard and not permitted to see any of my officers or NCOs. Eventually, I complied with Commander Medara's request to lead IKS DuJa'Q on its mission with the Galileo survivors. It was the best and only way for me to be with them again," Saalm explained.

Rachel made a few notes. It seemed like a long gap and then suddenly to go from being basically incognito prisoner to being offered a command on one of the Klingon ships had a big gap to fill in. She wanted to parse that out more.

"So the Kreanan's held you prisoner until you agreed to do their bidding." The Ktarian lawyer confirmed. "What steps did they take to ensure your compliance after the DuJa'Q left their space?"

The Orion realized she probably wasn't painting the complete picture for everyone. A quick glance at her counsel standing in front of her then the defense to the side preceded her correction.

"It was not like that. I might have been a prisoner but... the Kreanans saved my life. Then they asked me for my help, and.." she squared her eyes on the panel, "..I agreed. I was not forced to take the mission, but I did," she revealed. "The compliance was mutual between Commander Medara and myself."

Rachel looked up sharply. Admiral Lirha had just admitted in open court under oath that she had voluntarily taken on the command.

Czarien glanced at the prosecution counsel, who obviously thought she'd smelled a smoking gun. If it was that simple the Ktarian wouldn't have taken the case. ""They saved your life? But they had endangered it in the first place? What did they say to persuade you to render assistance?"

Saalm adjusted herself in her chair and crossed her legs. She could feel all eyes on her and it wasn't a pleasant sensation.

"Kreanus is a sovereign world even if it may lie within our territory," she began to explain. "Many of their people are political refugees from all factions," she paused to look at Vance, "even the Federation. They are not our enemy even though some of their fleet commanders were in the wrong."

The Orion rear admiral's gaze then turned to her counsel to explain her decision-making. "Their proposal was to travel to Qo'noS and negotiate with the High Council on their behalf to put an end to the Empire's covert intrusions across the Neutral Zone. General Ko'raH was wanted for high crimes against the state and was drawing the attention of the KDF's mercenary ship captains. And in return for our help, my crew and I would be set free and allowed to return to Earth. I agreed."

Czarien nodded "Now, could you provides us with more detail on the decision to wear a Klingon Uniform, and take the the rank of 'aj, or General?" Her pronunciation was flawless. "Why not take on of the uniforms the Kreanans provided for your crew?"

"Duja'Q was a K't'inga-class battlecruiser with a large crew, and over half of them were Klingons. They would never have respected a Starfleet officer as their captain...especially an Orion one," Saalm answered.

"And what would have happened if you insisted on a Starfleet uniform?" Hedra asked, moving the conversation towards the threat to the Galileo crew.

Saalm raised her eyebrows at the question. "You mean to ask me what a mutiny aboard a Klingon vessel would look like?"

"Objection, the question calls for speculation." Rachel pounced.

"Overruled." Vance stated without further explanation.

"Indeed." Hedra checked her notes. "There was a mutiny on that ship. Do you believe that choosing that uniform delayed it, or in anyway mitigated its severity?" For which the answer had to be yes, if the Admiral didn't want her life to get any harder than it already was.

Saalm thoughtfully recalled her dealings with the usurpers then briefly pondered some of the possible alternatives. As much as she tried to see a different path, the end result was always the same -- Chorag would have had his men kill all of her crew if he'd succeeded.

"Yes I do," she answered to her counsel with conviction. "Chorag's mutiny would have happened eventually...it was the mission he'd been given by Kora'H. Almost half the Klingon crew were loyal to him, but if I hadn't had the support of the other half, none of us would be sitting here right now. They respected and protected us in the darkest hour because I'd shown them I understood and respected their ways."

Commander Hedra nodded with satisfaction. "And now to move on to the crossing of neutral zone and the encounter with the USS Sentinel" She wanted to address the ridiculous charge of disobeying orders, and the more concerning issue of fratricide, and willful damage to property. "What were Federation orders regarding the Neutral Zone at that point? Given that the Federation and Qo'nos are on good diplomatic terms at the moment and trade and traffic between the two powers is brisk?"

The Orion rear admiral considered how best to reply to Hedra in a way that wouldn't undermine the semi-cordial relationship between the two major factions. "Standing orders for all Federation vessels mandate that no starship, support craft, or persons are to enter the Klingon Neutral Zone without authorization from Starfleet Command."

"And were you in a Federation vessel at the time?" Hedra asked. This charge would lay heavily on the technicalities, and she was determined to ram that home.

"No," came Saalm's answer.

"So, in accordance with General Order Six, you provided aid as requested to the Kreanans by acting in a diplomatic context and moved across the Klingon neutral zone in a non federation vessel, with a crew of mostly Klingons." It was as close as she could find to dismissing that charge. General Order Six specifically allowed for waiving considerations of neutral zones and international borders. "You were challenged by the USS Sentinel on the way though. Could you tell the court about the steps it took to interdict your vessel?"

"Sentinel was able to detect our signature, but we didn't know how. It wasn't until later that I realized our starship had been sabotaged by Chorag's men. Our cloaking device was reconfigured to emit trace particles that any vessel with long-range sensors could detect," explained Saalm. "By the time we fix the problem in engineering, it was too late and we were being engaged."

"Did the Sentinel attempt to establish contact with you?" Hedra asked.

Saalm gave a simple nod of confirmation. "Yes, they did. Twice I believe." Or had it been three times? she silently pondered.

"But you didn't respond?" Hedra asked.

"No," answered Saalm.

"And then what happened?" Hedra knew the story, fifteen odd different depositions all pointed at the same fact. But she wanted to hammer home who fired first. Saalm had only acted in self-defense and the CO of the Sentinel had been in clear breach of regulation.

"And then we were engaged by Sentinel and attempted to escape," the rear admiral calmly explained.

Internally Hedra sighed. She'd hoped the admiral would have been a little more forthcoming. She was already skirting around the edges of leading the witness and her opposite number would be all over that like bad rash. It was like the Admiral wanted to lose. "The Sentinel fired first. How did you react? Specifically, what were your exact orders, to make your escape?"

"I ordered the shields reinforced then maneuvered the battlecruiser into minimum weapons range," the Orion began. "We'd discovered an anti-proton leak in our warp reactor several hours earlier and configured our deflector array to dump the particles into a concentrated beam. One of my officers suggested using it against Sentinel's sensor arrays to disable them." Had it been Warraquim, she tried to recall. "I agreed, and once we'd blinded Sentinel, I gave the order to disable her impulse exhaust manifolds with disruptor fire to allow us to escape and re-cloak."

And there it was, "You ordered the impulse manifest disabled to allow you to escape. That's a relatively quick repair. Impulse manifolds are one of those things that need frequent overhaul. Every ship is equipped to make running repairs multiple times over. You didn't want more comprehensive damage? Give yourself a bigger lead?"

"Impulse exhaust manifolds," Saalm corrected with an affirmative nod. "A starship's IPS -- the impulse propulsion system -- is made of many different components. The fusion cores, deuterium injectors, EPS taps, exhaust manifolds, and such. The manifolds are the structural housing that contains the exhaust nozzles, and with Starfleet's ship design philosophies, most are thrust-vectored with multiple interchangeable parts. Their destruction would disable impulse operations for some time but not cause catastrophic damage like a reactor breach would. I didn't want to harm anyone aboard Captain Matis' ship...I simply wanted to evade them and continue on our way."

It was the best answer Commander Hedra could hope for. It clearly demonstrated that Lirha had known what she was doing. Her actions hadn't been wanton destruction, but a precision strike to preserve lives on both crews. it demonstrated that there was no Mesn Rea, no intention to commit harm to the crew, would hopefully see off the accusation of Fratricide. But it was a straight up admission of wilful damage. However the extenuating circumstances of defense of her crew should hopefully open the doors of mitigations to the sentence.

And so they were at then of the narrative. Hedra had debated whether to discuss the actual mutiny. It added nothing for or against the actual charges, and they'd already touched on it in the discussions on the uniform. She turned to the Bench. "I have no further questions at this time, your honors."

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Cmdr Rachel Goldstein
Prosecution
Starfleet JAG
[NPC Warraquim]

Lieutenant JG Amaranai Franklin
Security / Tactical

Cmdr Aren Ban
Executive Officer

Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Former Chief Medical and Second Officer

Lieutenant JG Marisa Sandoval
Former Chief Counselor

Commander Czarien Hedra
Counsel for the Defense
Starfleet JAG
[NPC Derani]

Nesh Saalm
Civilian
[PNPC Derani]

Ensign Miraj Derani

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