Show Trial - Part II

Posted on Mon Jul 27th, 2009 @ 11:53pm by Lieutenant Commander Wesley Kemmer

1,577 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Behind the Mask of Familiarity
Location: Starbase 217
Timeline: Current

The room was rather plush, as court rooms go; nice, bright, clean surroundings, polished surfaces and cushiony seats. But despite all these things, Kemmer was quite uncomfortable. He had been sitting in the hot seat for almost an hour and as soft and comfortable as it was when he first sat down, the chair may well have been made of stone for all it did for Kemmer’s behind. His leg was aching like mad, something which he had to contend with on a daily basis if he was still for too long, which usually amounted to about thirty seconds – but there was no reprieve; Captain Mackenzie Sanford’s second barrage of questions still kept coming. “Going back to the timeline that Mister Myers started for us, I have a report here from a Chief Petty Officer Metcalf stating that you forced him to open Mister Orum’s quarters, is that correct?�

“Not forced.� Kemmer answered not giving anything away.

“Allow me to rephrase then, you used your influence and seniority as second officer of the ship, to persuade Chief Metcalf to open the doors for you?�

“I issued an order, yes. He was doing his job and obeying said order.�

Sanford seemed satisfied with that answer to that part of question and went on, to lay out the finer details of the case, “And what reasons did you give the Chief to persuade him to open the door?�

“It’s usually enough that a senior officer issues an order, and others follow it.�

“And was it enough, Mister Kemmer?�

“Not on this occasion, not at first.�

“Then I ask again, what reasons did you give?� Sanford pressed. She knew the answer, she had it on her PADD in her hands, but she wanted Kemmer to say it for everyone to hear.

Kemmer paused before answering thinking back. “I said that I was performing a data integrity sweep of the ship’s systems to ensure that nothing untoward went out to the possible enemy.�

“Going back to officer’s obeying orders, were you Mister Kemmer? Were you given such an order to conduct such a sweep of the Archimedes?�

“No I wasn’t.�

“Then you lied to Chief Metcalf.�

“I needed him to open the door.� Kemmer protested; he could see where this was going.

“But the point is you lied. Do you lie often, Mister Kemmer?�

“When necessary.�

“It could be necessary, if futile, to lie at this inquiry to be let go, to not be convicted, is that part of your plan?�

“Objection, you’re leading the witness,� Myers cut in, “my client knows that he is under oath to tell the truth at these proceedings. He’s also a Starfleet officer and realizes the code of what that means; to search for the truth, the guiding principle on which Starfleet is based. I respectfully request that you continue down the timeline for your questioning if that was your original intent.�

Admiral Rands didn’t have a chance to sustain or overrule, as the Captain continued, “Of course. Mister Kemmer, when you gained access to Chief Orum’s quarters, however you did so, you then used a device to gain access to his computer terminal under his name; why?�

“I needed access to a computer system.�

“Then why not use the one in your own quarters, or your office?�

“I also needed the privacy to do my job.� Kemmer replied weakly.

“I see, do you per chance get many visitors in your quarters, do you happen to share your quarters with any of the other crew?� Sanford mockingly asked.

“Not usually.�

“Then why use Chief Petty Officer Orum’s terminal?�

“Not to sound stupid, but I don’t understand why you’re asking the question.�

“Allow me to clarify then, I am trying to determine why you committed fraud, Mister Kemmer.� Delahaye responded matter-of-factly.

“Not to put too fine a point on it, to attempt to save my own butt.�

“So it was your intention to pin the blame of all this on Chief Orum. That if anything went wrong, then it would look like Mister Orum was responsible for attempting to gain access to a Level Five classified document. That doesn’t sound very honourable to me Mister Kemmer, on your Starfleet Officer’s search for the truth?� She asked stealing a look back to Mister Myers for his earlier comments.

“It wasn’t meant to be very honourable – in my profession, you do whatever you have to, to get the job done. I don’t know Chief Orum personally, I know of personality, habits, but not personally. Whether he was to be sitting here instead of me was not my concern as that point.�

“It should’ve been, but moving on, you then proceeded to use your knowledge and expertise to attempt to gain clean access to the file under its classification using decryption protocols and fractal algorithms, it says here sixteen times, over the course of approximately three hours. You really wanted this file didn’t you? But let me ask you this, what was it that finally got you access to the file?� No answer came for a while, “Mister Kemmer?�

“I manipulated a recording to declassify the file.�

“A recording of what?�

“A meeting.�

“Between, Mister Kemmer? I am asking for specifics here.�

“Admiral Hathaway and myself.�

“Admiral Hathaway of Starfleet Intelligence, currently serving on Earth as the Deputy Chief of Starfleet Intelligence Services; how did you come across this recording?�

Kemmer inaudibly sighed, he knew he was losing this, just like he’d lost everything else recently, “I started the habit, the bad habit I might add, of recording meetings, any meeting whether or not it was with an ally or not. You never know when something may be said that would be helpful later on in your career.� Kemmer was almost reminiscing at this point and continued voluntarily, “when working as a field agent, you tend to need things that you may not have access to at any particular moment, you need to think on your feet and have data at your fingertips. It’s a prudence measure, and my memory has never been the best.�

“So after you’d manipulated the recording which you obtained from a private meeting between a Starfleet Admiral and yourself, you then reclassified the file so you would be able to view it.�

Kemmer nodded in the affirmative sense, “I just wanted the information.�

“Getting through to the real matter – why did you want the information? Why were you so desperate that you went to such lengths to gain access to the file?�

“I like to know who I serve with.�

“Ah yes, you were saying this to Captain Harwood when you were charged. You also stated that you were under orders to gain access to the file. Who’s orders?

William Myers sat up straight in his chair, “Objection your honour, conflict of interest. If my client were to answer, it would implicate someone else and the trial would have to be postponed, and it’s possible that charges against Mister Kemmer would be dropped. I believe that it’s my job, not Captain Sanford’s to convince you of that.�

Rands paused a moment. It seemed an odd objection on the surface, after all they were all in search of the truth of the matter and the events that led up to them, but on the other hand, she could also see Myers’ point – he was the defence. “Sustained,� Admiral Rands agreed. “Do not forget you are the prosecution, captain.�

“No further questions, admiral.�

Turning to Mister Myers, Rands asked “Do you have anything further?�

Myers stood and approached the stand, pausing before going asking, “Mister Kemmer, all of the information leading up to this is very interesting but it doesn’t get to the real matter, the real serious charge of treason. However you gained access to the file is rather immaterial in my view, all it proves is that you are damn good at what you do, but what happened when you gained access to the file?�

Kemmer stared blankly at his counsel; puzzled and wanted to say something along the lines of ‘what kind of stupid question is that, what would anyone do when they had access to the file?’, instead he plainly said “I opened it.�

“And what was contained in the file?�

Sanford stood, “Objection, the file was classified as level five; its contents should not be disclosed here.�

“Overruled, captain. The classification of the file has already been broken, and I believe that it is paramount to the findings of this trial. Continue to answer the question, Mister Kemmer.�

“The file was empty.�

“The file was empty.� Myers repeated. “So why, may I ask, was it classified to such a degree?� It was a rhetorical question and everyone knew it, and an almost eerie silence spread over the court room. This was something that was not mentioned on the docket, and surprised a lot of people. “Admiral, may I suggest a recess for people to process and corroborate this information?�

“We shall reconvene at 1100 hours tomorrow morning.�

And at that people started filing out of the court room, all apart from Myers and Sanford. “You didn’t want them knowing that little piece of information did you?� Myers said as he passed his colleague who was still sitting in her place looking quite displeased.

 

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