The Trial: Zora's Turn

Posted on Tue Apr 25th, 2023 @ 7:36am by Commodore Mikhail Babanin & Commodore S'vRock & Commander N'Garzi Zora & Commander Firestorm to Ennien

Mission: Wrath of the People
Location: Starfleet Judicial Centre//USS Athena
Timeline: MD6
2580 words - 5.2 OF Standard Post Measure

For what seemed like the hundredth time at this point, the Chief swore in another witness. Of all the ones they had cross-examined, and of all the ones yet to come, this was likely to be the most interesting and the one where Mikhail would probably have to tread the most carefully.

Having had the acknowledgement from Commodore S'vRock, Commodore Babanin rose and slowly moved toward Commander Zora's holo, his PADD in hand; a sign to his aides that he would likely be needing them to reference case material for him and draw his attention to articles of evidence. "Comrade-Commander N'Garzi Zora...perhips you could enlighten the court, and outline your time aboard Starship Athena to date, da?".

"Certainly Sir," Zora replied as her dark eyes inspected the holographic form of the Commodore. "I joined the Athena on stardate 212409.5 right before their mission to Ithaca II. I was assigned as the XO and have been in that position ever since. As I'm sure you know from the reports, the mission was a challenging one, however, the Captain has trained and honed a great team of people who are always ready, willing, and able to do their duty and beyond."

"Thank you Comrade-Commander" Babanin nodded respectfully. "You would say Keptin Kane is a competent Commanding Officer then da? Someone who commands respect? Can inspire people even?"

Zora smiled softly; not so much that her words could be misconstrued as sarcasm and not too little so she didn't look like she had anything to hide—the perfect balance of a diplomat. "I am one hundred and forty-six years old, I have met countless people and a great number of Starfleet commanding officers in my relatively short lifetime. Jacob Kane is among the most competent of them all. He always puts his crew, duty, and Starfleet above all else. Everyone who serves under him wants to perform at their best because they know in return, they will get his best."

Babanin maintained his serious expression though smiled inside; Commander Zora was heading right where he wanted her. "Thank you Comrade, that is most effusive...you experience is perhips the greatest in this room and your wiews are clearly inwaluable" he paused to offer a faux deep nod of respect to her. "Please"; he invited with an open palm; "continue to describe Keptin Kane's sense of duty".

IT'S A TRAP!!! Zora inwardly screamed to herself. This whole thing was a trap of course, but with this line of questioning, he was clearly waiting for something...specific and she didn't want to play his game. "I could talk about Captain Kane's sense of duty all day," she said calmly, carefully. "However, I don't think the honourable Judge," she nodded to the Vulcan, "would appreciate my long-winded stories. Maybe a more direct question will allow me to be more concise?" Ball's in your court Comrade!

S'vRock raised an eyebrow at the Commander's comment. She was not only right but her idea was logical. "Indeed, Commodore Babanin please be more specific with your questioning."

"Of course Comrade-Commodore" Mikhail replied, bowing with respect to the chair. He turned again to face Commander Zora, annoyed by the roadblock. "Comrade-Commander..." he began, drawing his thoughts together, "A Romulan Admiral stands a real chance of entering the Federation Council, a man whom Keptin Kane wiews as an unacceptable security threat. As you have informed us, the Keptin places his sense of duty and Starfleet above himself. Would you agree that it would be in-character, for Keptin Kane to have taken it upon himself to protect Starfleet, and the Federation, by dealing with the perceived threat?".

"No Sir, I would not agree that it would be in character for Captain Kane to act in such a way," Zora replied defiantly, her eyes unwavering and her jaw set. "As most people in this room know, one of the main principles of Starfleet is the chain of command, a principle that the Captain believes in wholeheartedly. He wouldn't take it upon himself against the will of Starfleet or the Federation."

"Move to strike," Firestorm said, his tail lashing, "the commander would've had no knowledge of any threats. It was known the Romulan admiral would attend."

"I see no reason to strike anything. Commodore Brabanin asked a question based on the knowledge that the Romulan Admiral would attend. The Commander answered the question clearly and concisely. Motion over ruled." S'vRock responded to the defense council's objection.

"Da spasibo" Babanin muttered, turning again to face Commander Zora. "Now Comrade-Commander, this is at odds with Keptin Kane's service file no?" He walked over and took one of the PADDs from the prosecution aides, reading the highlighted text aloud. "Keptin Kane is the most honourable and duty bound officer with whom I have ever served. I wholly support his appointment to Commanding Officer. His moral compass is without reproach, and has on many occasions demonstrated independent thought and actions in the name of that which is right. In this regard, that being his overwhelming sense of honour and justice, he is almost Klingon - end quote." Babanin handed the PADD to Zora, for her to peruse herself. "Captain Misok Talvar, retired, USS Lakota..." he finished. Giving the Commander a few moments to digest the words, he then pressed on; "Almost Klingon...words like honour, justice, independent thought and actions...any thoughts Comrade?".

Zora took the PADD and re-read the words; she couldn't say she disagreed with the statement, though she wasn't sure how this fit in with her testament. "These aren't my words Commodore," she said matter-of-factly. "I can speculate, guess even, but even a crude speculation wouldn't be fair to Captain Kane, since we're here for the facts. Am I correct?"

Commodore S'vRock cut in with another cock of his left eyebrow, he did not wait for the objection as this became pretty blatant. "Commodore Brabanin. You are calling for speculation. As the Commander has pointed out those were not her words. Make sure that you get to the point without calling for speculation. This will serve as your only warning."

Babanin didn't break his stare from Commander Zora, though took the Commodore's warning on board. "As the Executive Officer you are required to remain in constant assessment of your Keptin's abilities, choices, competencies, his character even - indeed how the latter influences all other. Please will you describe your professional assessment of Keptin Kane's sense of honour and justice, and how it influences him as a Commander..."

"Of course," Zora said with a smile, still walking that fine line of diplomacy. "I think you have already used the best two words to describe Captain Kane; honour and justice. The Captain prides himself on being an honourable man. He runs a tight ship and as I mentioned previously expects the best from his crew. If he sees shades of grey, he doesn't let it show. His decisions are black and white, made to fit the needs of the ship and crew and their best interests, whilst upholding the values of Starfleet and the Federation. He has a strong sense of justice, of what is right and what is wrong and he has no time for what he considers to be wrong. In fact, I would say he has made a career of bringing wrongdoers to justice, by Federation law of course."

Babain nodded slowly, again refusing to break his state from Zora for even a micro second; a small smile flicked up the corner of his lips as the Commander walked right into the trap. "Was Keptin Kane obeying, or disobeying, Federation Law when he entered the restricted Rondac system without authorisation, on a singular minded...'black and white'... mission to pursue Admiral White and his supposed conspiracy...?". He was skirting close to what could be discussed in an open court, but he was just on the right side of things he believed. Commander Zora on the other hand, had effectively just thrown Kane into jail single handedly.

Zora would have been remiss in her position as first officer if she hadn't expected the Rondac mission to crop up at some point. In truth, she had expected the question much earlier but that was probably due to her naivety in official court proceedings. In her head, she wanted to spin the whole excursion in as positive a light as possible but the truth was, the Athena had gone rogue and Kane had been in the commanding chair. "The Captain foiled a conspiracy at Rondac that potentially saved countless lives."

Babanin began to slowly pace, he scratched at a cheek before coughing, looking out of the corner of his eye to the aides at the prosecution bench. Cameron was sat with his left foot flat and his right foot pointed upwards, indicating he agreed that Mikhail should press on harder. "Uhhh forgive me, Comrade-Commander, this was not the question. Please; was Keptin Kane obeying or disobeying Federation law when he took your wessel into the Rondac system...?". He could feel all eyes behind him, looking past him at the holographic commander - there wasn't so much as the sound of a plasma conduit in the air as the courtroom fell utterly silent.

S'vRock had familiarized himself with the record of the Athena and in so doing he knew about the Rondac mission. Well he knew what the official logs said of the Rondac mission. Logic and fact stated that Kane did disobey Federation law during that mission. The Vulcan Commodore knew that too and so looked toward Commander Zora with a raised eyebrow. He was curious at what the Commander would say here.

"Objection," Firestorm called, pressing his paws onto the desk as he stood once more. "The commander can't possibly be aware of all orders given to a starship captain. Some orders can be eyes only for the commanding officer."

"Logical..." S'vRock began. "...Objection sustained. Commodore Babanin you are going to have to rephrase the question." Logic dictated that he sustain the objection however, there was a part of the Vulcan Commodore that wanted to see what the Commander would have said to answer that question.

"Sir" Babanin replied incredulously. It was a matter of record and blatant fact that Kane had acted against orders, and that no orders had been received to enter Rondac. What was this Vulcan playing at, he wondered. Turning back to Commander Zora, Babanin paused to reorder his words. "Comrade-Commander. No material pertaining to this mission has been injuncted, and we must therefore take the record at face walue; Keptin Kane did not receive any eyes-only orders to enter Rondac system. On the logical basis of these facts..." he side-eyed S'vRock "...did you think at the time, or do you think no, that Keptin Kane disobeyed Federation law when he took your wessel to the Rondac system?".

Zora had to admit, she was baffled by the objection though she was grateful that she didn't have to answer the original question, not that the reworded question was any easier. Damn oath! "Did we have orders to be there?" She paused, wanting to lie and throw Babanin off of his game, but there was no point in that. "No, but we did help protect Federation law and the interest of the Alpha Quadrant by stopping the conspiracy." She added as quickly as possible.

"So Keptin Kane wiolated Federation Law insofar as you, as the Executive Officer, understand it da?" Babanin rapidly fired back before Commander Ennien could interject.

Zora's uniform suddenly felt too tight, she wanted to pull at the collar but resisted the urge to do so. "Yes, as far as I am aware, there were no orders from Starfleet Command to be at Rondac." She looked over to Kane momentarily, hoping he could sense her apologetic gaze.

Babanin had to hold down the smirk which threatened to creep across his face. "And...from your experience of those events...what motivated your Keptin to so flagrantly wiolate the law, Comdrade-Commander...?".

"Objection! It is not stated as fact that the captain broke any law. That the commander wasn't aware of an order doesn't mean there weren't orders she wasn't privy to." Firestorm raised his voice, tail flicking almost angrily this time.

S'vRock did not react immediately to the objection. The Vulcan knew that the number one business of a courtroom was to get justice through order. In order to have that consistency was needed. In a short moment he had the consistency he needed. "Objection over ruled. While you are technically correct Commander Ennien, Commander Zora has already established in her previous statement that she was not aware of any orders. So, it is logical to continue that line of thinking and find her view of the situation."

"to Ennien," the feline corrected, "and the commander stated she wasn't aware, that doesn't equate there being none. It simply means she isn't privy to every order the captain receives "

"Precisely Commander to Ennien. Which means that since she is not aware that there were orders confirming the operation or denying the operation in Rondac she can answer the question based upon what she does know. Commander Zora please answer the question." Commodore S'vrock deadpanned.

"It's fine," Zora said, briefly holding up her hand but then remembering where she was and lowering it back down to her side again. "What motivated the Captain was that someone, some people, were violating Federation law. Starfleet wouldn't intervene without proof and so we got them the proof they needed."

Making an affirmative noise, Babanin paced the courtroom, pointing a finger at Zora with each adjective; "Spasibo Comrade. Keptin Kane broke the law da. So you will agree that your earlier statement..." he moved over to Commander Cameron who quickly highlighted a passage on a PADD and handed it to the Commodore. "...'he wouldn't take it upon himself against the will of Starfleet'..." he thrusted the PADD back at Cameron. "...is not true uh? Keptin could, would and did take it upon himself to defy orders on the basis of a personal mission. Simply a binary yes or no will suffice Comrade-Commander". Babanin was trying to contain his inward smile, hoping none of it leaked out to his face.

Zora could feel her face getting hot. "That was an exceptional circumstance for the benefit of the Federa-" she started to say before she was interrupted.

"-That Keptin Kane willfully wiolated the law to serve his own private goals!" Babanin suddenly shouted over the Commander. "A man who will will disregard law and wiolate protocol when it suits him correct?" he challenged, leaning forward to look into the eyes of the holographic commander.

Zora took a deep breath. "No!" She answered defiantly. She hated the smug look on Babanin's face and she could only hope that Commander to Ennien would fix this mistake during his cross-examination.

Nodding calmly and confidently he smiled; "Yes..." he replied with a cruel smile and a cold tone. He took a step back and nodded to Commodore S'vRock; "No further questions sir". Mikhail nodded to Commander Cameron and took his seat, looking over to Commander Zora with an expression of pity.

S'vRock looked toward Firestorm. "Commander to Ennien the witness is now yours." He folded his hands on his desk and continued to observe and listen in the unique way that only Vulcans could...