The Trial: Zade's Zeal

Posted on Sun Apr 23rd, 2023 @ 7:11pm by Commodore Mikhail Babanin & Commodore S'vRock & Commander Firestorm to Ennien & Lieutenant Didrea Zade

Mission: Wrath of the People
Location: Starfleet Judicial Centre//USS Athena
Timeline: MD6
2541 words - 5.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Babanin sat stoically with his hands folded in front of him resting on the small desk; his two aides flanked him to the rear and sat as equally stone faced as he, ready to send him advice and case references from their PADDS to his. The room was mirrored and on the other side sat the defense counsel, someone he wasn't aware of within the judiciary and thus to his mind, someone he needn't worry about.

Having agreed to a random witness order, it turned out that it was Lieutenant Zade up first; the Athena security chief. The empty witness stand blinked into life as the holographic form of a young and rather attractive Trill phased into existence. It took only a brief moment for the Chief to run through the oath, and for the Commodore to set out the particulars of the case for the witness. Babanin looked at the Vulcan judge; another officer he wasn't especially aware of, though this one he had heard of in passing. From the little he understood, S'vRock was dispassionate, and a typically and overly 'vulcan' Vulcan; to the mind of the Russian prosecutor, he was someone who was easy to manipulate with a simple trail of logic.

In preparation for this process, Zade had shut herself in her office and asked the computer for no disruptions unless it was an absolute emergency. She trusted that Kevan could otherwise handle the department while she was occupied. Knowing she'd likely be dealing with an impression-oriented environment, she dressed as sharp as when she first came aboard: uniform crisp and without unwanted creases, the collar perfectly centered, and hair out of her face in a simple braid behind her back. When the Chief ran through the oath, Zade confirmed that she'd tell nothing but the truth with a simple, "I do."

"The witness is yours Commodore Babanin." S'vRock cocked an eyebrow in that rather Vulcan manner. This case was going to be a fascinating one for sure.

Babanin nodded to the judge and rose, walking over towards the holo habitually. "Leftenant Zade, thank you for your time comrade..." Babanin made a slight performance of making it look as though he was pondering something, before seeming to settle on a question. He had in fact decided right away to fight force with force, presuming the Security officer to typically be an academically challenged trigger monkey, easy to rile and dismiss as an inappropriate witness. "Keptin Kane is guilty, da?" he asked provokingly.

The directness of his words momentarily caught Zade by surprise, but the only change to her composure was an eyebrow raise. She had seen a handful of trials over the years, and knew that the one asking questions could try to get the witness to say what they want. Usually they were more sly about it, though. This guy seemed like he was going to be tough to handle if he started off with such a subjective question. "Factual evidence is what decides the verdict, sir," she simply responded.

'Good' Babanin thought, Lieutenant Zade was resisting, and with the knuckle-dragging brains of a gun-slinging grunt she would be easy to talk into where he wanted her. "Ya ya ya..." he conceded, nodding deeply in agreement. "Perhips we discuss the facts, da? There are of course number of facts not in dispute, from either side..." he leaned into Commander Ennien with a daring glare as he spoke. "There was an explosion. The Academy Dean is dead, as are others. Prominent officials are seriously wounded..." he looked to both the witness and the Commander waiting for an interjection, hoping that one would come so that Commodore S'vRock could immediately dismiss it. His B-plan, was to provoke the defence to get under the Commodore's skin.

Regrettably no spurious interjection came, and Babanin pressed on. "Keptin Kane's PADD was recovered with what appears to be a detonation sequence for what is understood to have been a bomb..." he was careful to subjectify those elements of the case which had not yet been fully proven, restricting Commander Ennien's ability to cut him off. "But I need not tell you this Comrade-Commander, you are experienced security officer, you have read available case files and I presume aware of the facts in matter ya?".

"I'm familiar with this information, yes." Zade would have expected the investigation to confirm the source of the explosion by now. The case files did mention that Kane's PaDD had what looked like a detonation sequence, and the image was pretty damn convincing. But what reason would Kane have to nearly blow himself up? Even if he had some vendetta, the strategy seemed out of place for him.

"Ah good" Babanin replied, almost as if he were surprised. "Perhips you can clarify, in your professional judgement, which of the facts suggest Keptin Kane is guilty?". If he could either wind the officer up enough to appear unprofessional, or better yet walk her into incriminating her own CO, he would be happy with his handling of this witness.

"Objection," Firestorm called out before the Trill woman could respond, "calls for speculation."

Babanin shook his head and faced the Commodore to counter. "Leftenant Zade is a Security Officer and expert witness in this matter. Her objective wiews as an inwestigator are not speculation, but professional pertinent judgements."

"However..." S'vRock cut in. "...You are asking the Lieutenant to make assumptions about their commanding officer that they may not fully be privy to. Add to that they as an officer who reports to the accused may be compromised by their emotional connection to the accused. So, objection sustained."

Internally, Zade was glad she didn't have to answer the question and kept her mouth shut. Aside from the inherent bias toward a guilty verdict laced into the question, Zade couldn't deny that the evidence was stacked against him quite well, even if she tried to view things objectively. The Trill spared a quick glance at Kane on her monitor. Her bias found it incredibly unlikely for him to have committed the horrible act. It just wasn't like him, or the version of him she knew. Not wanting to give off the impression that she was too emotionally connected to continue, Zade turned her attention back to this Commodora Babanin, ready for the next question.

Babanin winced mildly inside, the question had been an aggressive gambit to be sure, but one he'd been hopeful of getting through. Nodding to S'vrock, Babanin faced the Zade holo again. "Allow me to rephrase. Keptin Kane - a man noted for aggression, and indeed tactical skill - was found in possession of a dewice holding arming codes and trigger mechanism for the bomb which detonated at the Academy. Were you inwestigating, what would be your professional assessment at this time?".

The Trill paused for a moment, waiting to see how Kane's counsel would respond, and when it was silent she took in a slow breath. "Objectively speaking, he would be an initial suspect, sir." She couldn't deny that, no matter how much her personal opinions wanted to say otherwise. She didn't like this what-if scenario, though. Zade wasn't on the investigation team, so why did her 'professional assessment' matter? She felt tense, like she was ready for something to jump out at her. "He'd be questioned while the scene was investigated, per standard procedure. I would do my part to ensure the preservation of all evidence to guarantee him a fair trial."

"He would be a suspect..." Babanin repeated. "Keptin Kane's own Head of Security, would suspect him of this crime. A woman who serves with the man, who knows him and who indeed-" he raised his hand to gesture to Commodore S'vrock, emphasising the Vulcan's own words "- an officer emotionally biased towards the Keptin, someone who has faced life and limb together, would still suspect the Keptin of this act..." he continued, cruelly bastardising the Lieutenant's words. He feigned the need to take a sip of water, whilst the words fell upon those present and hopefully became lodged in their thoughts. "Leftenant, we have established that were you inwestigating that you believe Keptin Kane would be a suspect. Continuing in your professional assessment, what are the other factors which would lead you to suspect the Keptin were you acting an inwestigative capacity?". It was another run at the same question, albeit from a slightly less aggressive and more specific angle; if he could only get Kane's own security chief to damn him...

"Objection!" Firestorm stood, paws pressed to the desk. "Calls for speculation."

This time, Zade's mouth was open in a readiness to defend herself when she was interrupted before she got a chance to speak. He was twisting her words! Despite wanting to call him out, the Trill started to clench her jaw as she narrowed her eyes at the pompous tool questioning her, her hands tightening into fists under her desk. In her head, she started reminding herself to keep her emotions in check.

"Sustained!" The Vulcan on the bench responded immediately. "I will not warn you again Commodore Babanin. Refrain from seeking speculation from your witnesses. Adding to that your witnesses are not here to make your case for you. Lieutenant Zade is not investigating this case, they have not been asked to investigate this case, and with all due respect to the Lieutenant you will never be asked to investigate. Now, court reporter please strike any reference to what Lieutenant Zade would do if they were to investigate this case." The court reporter again nodded that they understood the directions given. "Now, Commodore shall we continue?" S'vRock's cold emotionless voice laid it all out there without any restraint. His cold logic was why he remained one of the best judges on the bench.

"Sir" Babanin replied to the Commodore with a single curt nod. 'Cyka' he silently seethed, walking over to the aides and being handed what he had pre-designated 'plan B' on a different PADD; Plan A was an aggressive risk to be sure, and even though officially it hadn't worked, the seed had at least been planted mentally. The Russian turned back to Zade; "Leftenant. Can you provide your assessment of Keptin Kane's tactical and military abilities?".

The change in conversation left Zade with a lack of closure at being unable to defend her words. While the court had removed her response, she could see that the Commodore's vile twist of the Trill's words had stuck with some of those watching the trial. It gnawed at her. "When under pressure, he's collected and thinks before he acts," Zade tensely responded. She watched Babanin closely, trying to read his body language to get a glimpse of what was going on in his brain. "He has years of experience and a wealth of knowledge."

Babanin nodded, feigning thoughtfulness; "Da indeed Leftenant thank you. How would you characterise that knowledge? What would you say he is knowledgeable about, in particular?"

At first, Zade wanted to respond with the obvious. She knew from Kane's file that he was a tactical officer in his early career during the later part of the Dominion War, and with that came strategic thinking skills, combat technique, the ability to see windows of opportunity, and above all a clear head. The same skills she wanted to constantly refine in herself. But her gut was telling her that he was going to twist her response again, so she wanted to be careful with her words. "Like I said," she said carefully, watching Babanin, "he thinks before he acts. In my time on the Athena, I see him consider his options before acting. Strategic thinking is a common trait many with a security or tactical background have."

Making a vaguely affirmative humming noise, Babanin pressed on; "Da he is a cold, calculated tactical planner who considers the wider strategic picture Comrade, thank you". He hurried onto his next gambit before the Lieutenant could correct his deliberate reframing of her words; "would you characterise the Keptin as a selfish man Comrade-Leftenant?" he asked, as if daring her to answer.

"No, I wouldn't," Zade replied tensely, starting to get annoyed. She tried to correct him on his reframing but he plowed ahead, trampling over any words she did manage to get out. It was deliberate, she knew that, but it still ground at her nerves.

"Da Comrade" Babanin rapidly replied; "Keptin Kane is a cold, determined, tactical planner with the ability - in your own words - to see windows of opportunity". His voice rose as if it were approaching a crescendo in his accusatory tone. "He acts strategically and would have no hesitation sacrificing his life, career or freedom so selfless is he!" - Babanin's voice rose louder, and faster, cutting off Lieutenant Zade as she opened her mouth to speak; "Combined with the facts - which you said would decide this case - that the arming code for the bomb was found on Keptin Kane's PADD!". The Russian took a short pause before continuing. "With all of this in mind Leftenant, in all your experience as a security officer and of Keptin Kane...is it objectively, militarily, principally possible -" he laboured slowly over the word - "that the Keptin could be responsible for this attack..?". He looked Zade dead in the eyes, as she searched for her answer.

Each time the Commodore spoke over Zade, it felt like he was painfully grating away at her patience. Except her patience was currently the size of a tricorder and he was using Galaxy-class torpedos to chip away at it. The brutal rephrasing of her own words, ripped grossly out of context and mashed together into an abomination of a conclusion, did enough to annoy her, but not giving her the chance to defend her words for the jury was a low blow. Zade didn't want to answer his question because they both knew how her response would begin. Her nails started digging into the palms of her hands as she clenched them under the desk, glaring at Babanin and that slimy expression of his.

She knew she'd have to answer. "He could, but that's not-"

"-Spasibo Comrade-Leftenant", Babanin rapidly interjected, cutting down the Lieutenant's words which may have softened the impact of the answer he was looking for. "His own Security Chief thinks he did it" Babanin dryly said with a feigned disgust, before looking across to Commodore S'vRock. "No further questions sir" he said calmly and softly, with a bow of respect.

Zade wouldn't let him talk over her this time, but he was equally persistent. Most of her response was drowned out by Babanin, but the end of her sentence came through after he finally shut up. "-to have any relevance!" A sense of helplessness washed over her, like she wasn't doing enough to help Kane, to protect him from such a verbal assault, and that molded itself into frustration.

Babanin smirked as he sat down, making a show of reorganising the PADDs and not giving Lieutenant Zade the slightest bit of further attention as Commodore Sv'Rock called the Commander to begin her questions.