Posted by Commander Heathcliff Rinker (Chief Medical Officer/ Psychiatrist) in And you get a court-martial, and you get a court-martial, and you get a court-martial…when the past doesn’t match the future or the present

Posted by Captain Kelly Bordeaux (Commanding Officer) in And you get a court-martial, and you get a court-martial, and you get a court-martial…when the past doesn’t match the future or the present

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Peter Sigmundsson (Chief Intelligence Officer) in And you get a court-martial, and you get a court-martial, and you get a court-martial…when the past doesn’t match the future or the present
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻
SNIP
Kelly typically wore one of two expressions. The first was a bemused one where some thought was occupying her thoughts that had a fifty-fifty chance of being inappropriate. The second was her more neutral expression when she was doing the more mundane aspects of her daily job Sitting in the conference room, waiting for the officers to arrive, Kelly’s mouth was drawn into a thin-lipped tight line. There was none of the casual banter in the room nor were there snacks: Only her and the JAG officer John “Lucky” McDevitt.

A few weeks after taking command of the Atlantis, Kelly has assigned Jacen to rip out the customary rectangular table and replace it with a round one. Her decision was controversial and earned numerous jokes about it being a starship with officers or Camelot with knights. She had intended to eliminate the bias of rank as much as possible. With a round table, there was no head however that did not mean it could mistaken as to who was in charge. If she needed to remind an officer this, they probably didn’t deserve to be sitting there. Kelly always prided herself on having open lines of communication with all her crew regardless of how shiny their neck was. Today the rounded table served another symbolic purpose. Idylly she wondered if this was another first for the Atlantis crew. Had another ship’s entire command crew get summoned with court-martials simultaneously?

The charges were all irrational and without merit but when did logic or ration come into play when Admiral Perkins had an agenda? Kelly took a long sip of coffee waiting for the officers to arrive at the unexpected summons to the conference room.

Kelly Bordeaux CO

River was the first to arrive, as she entered she immediately clocked the JAG officer and gave him a look of pure disgust and hatred. However as soon as she turned to the face the captain her face became her natural stoic and cold expression.

“Captain.” she said nodding in respect “Why are JAG here? Did the get turfed out of the playground they were bullying kids in?” she asked as she took a seat, one chair away from McDevitt but as close to in-between him and the captain as possible. Her tone was cold but respectful to the captain. River hated JAG she had dealt with them before and they had not left her with a good impression at all. She knew that pretty much all of them where soft shirted, book worms whose sense of justice was dictated by which ever Admiral they were licking the boots of.

Lieut Styxx (Marine OIC)

Peter followed behind the Marine officer, he gave a deep rumbling chuckle at her jibe at the JAG officer, he was in much the same boat, his work in intelligence did not make him the greatest of friends of Lawyers.

“Wow is that how you won first place for Miss Congeniality,” McDevitt asked taking a sip of his coffee. John was young but that did not mean he was not a good lawyer.

“Easy you two. The fight is out there not in here,” Kelly stated in a frustrated tone. Nothing about this situation made sense and all of it was thrown together at such an unprecedented speed the only conclusion was that it had to been preplanned on some level. “Lt. McDevitt is our lawyer and representing the entire crew in this matter.” The disdain in Kelly’s voice was evident. “The charges don’t merit a senior officer as counsel but a real bona vida attorney.”

John opened up the folder and looked at the charges leveled against River Styxx. As with most of the other crew being court-martialed, most of the charges were outlandish and a few downright incredible. “So Lt. I am your court-appointed JAG officer. I will speak to the group as a whole but for now I would like to go over your charges.”

Kelly Bordeaux and John McDevitt (JAG)

River scoffed “Thanks but no thanks. I have my own lawyer” She said simply “If I’m being tried for something then I want Ty’lin. She was my lawyer during the trumped up Acheron trial. The Romulan star empire hired her on my behalf and she turned out to be better then any Star fleet lawyer. If I’m being tried for something I’m having her. ” she said looking for the Captains blessing.

Kelly looked at River with a blank expression. It was not due to disapproval but more deep thought. River had been sent up the creek once before. She did not doubt Styxx, like everyone around the table, was a bit nervous about the charges. They were ridiculous and yet they required an action. “I have no issue. Everyone is entitled to counsel and a defense. I will contact the Romulan embassy and request her presence. Until her arrival, I might suggest McDevitt liaise with Ty’lin so that she receives all the information to do with your case. McDevitt can act as her proxy.” If River wanted Ty’lin then her officer would have her as their representation.

River wondered if McDevitt had heard of Ty’lin. She did have a reputation of being a massive pain in the neck to the Admiralty and she had made a name for herself defending people of lower ranks and from organisations outside of Star Fleet. She’d been nicknamed the Admirals bane behind closed doors.

“Fine by me,” McDevitt stated leaning back in his seat. The most important thing any lawyer could do was instill a sense of calm in their clients. John hadn’t heard of Ty’lin directly but he had studied River’s case. It would have been a larger legal president if there had been any merit to the charges leveled against the officer. Styxx’s brutal tactics stunned many, however, most people did not understand war. Depending on the victor, a soldier in combat was heralded as a hero or a war criminal after the fighting was done. After Ty’lin’s defense, River was essentially cleared of all charges. “I will reach out to the Romulan legal system and request Styxx’s case go into collaborative Law with evidentiary privliedge between with Ty’lin being the primary attorney and myself the secondary attorney of record.” John was speaking out loud but more to Kelly than River as he brought up several documents on a PaDD.

Sliding the document over to Styxx, John directed his attention to the Marine officer. “Collaborative Law is essential in this situation since this case is multi-facted. You have personal charges leveled at you but you are also part of a larger case against the ship as a whole. Ty’lin will be your primary lawyer. She will mount your defense and represent you in court. I will be your secondary only there to assist her if necessary and to incorporate Ty’lin’s wins to the larger case. Ty’lin has a reputation for winning,” John gave River a sly smile. “If you agree sign on the line and this will document her as attorney of record and I can begin to forward your charges to her.”

River picked up the padds and carefully read each document. She wanted to make sure JAG hadn’t thrown in any surprises for her or any stupid clauses that would screw her over further down the line.

Once she was happy she signed the paper work, handing it over to John “Just so you know I’m going to enjoy destroying which ever poor JAG officer is my prosecutor.” she said keeping tight hold of the padd.

“From what I hear that might not be possible. Ty’lin might not leave you anything to destroy. Maybe just sweep up what’s left?” John’s tone was as congenial as possible given the circumstances. Styxx’s Romulan lawyer’s reputation that no holds barred brutality in a courtroom. It was what one wanted as a client and didn’t want to go against as a lawyer.

“You can still tell my what alleged crimes I’ve committed though. My legal team will need them anyway” she added after a short pause.

Lieut Styxx (Marine OIC)

“As to your charges,” John paused for a second to read them before announcing them.” Dereliction of Duty due to the fact you did not stop the Elders when they beamed into Marine country. Indecent language due to the fact there were minors present.
Straggling which again references that you did not stop the Elders before they made it to the promenade. Negligent homicide based on your using inappropriate force where they are suggesting you might have arrested Da Mu instead of just killing him.
Disloyalty statements which I am assuming is the opposing counsel trying to twist your words to get close to kill Da Mu as believing what he said. I can fully appreciate your rage at these charges but we can discuss them more in depth and your defense in a conference with Ty’lin. Please sign the form below to indicate you have been made aware of the charges leveled against you.”

John “Lucky” McDevitt JAG

River couldn’t help but laugh. It was a hearty laugh of pure bemusement and ridiculousness “How many brilliant JAG officers did it take to come up with this joke book of a case?” she asked through her Mirth “Star fleet could have been a bit more original then trying to stick the same crap on me again.” she said a smile on her face.

“When Ty’lin sees this she’s either going to die of laughter or think I’m playing a practical joke.” she added her tone returning to normal.

The charges did seem very similar to those from the previous court martial against Lt. Styxx. “I am not entirely familiar with your prior case but there could be a chance you could argue extreme prejudice since they are very similar. I am sure Ty’lin will leave no stone unturned but I am here if you need anything. Not all JAG’s are dicks.” McDevitt’s tone was sincere and not accusatory towards River. Her prior outburst was understandable. This was the second time one was railroaded in her career.

River just nodded “So I’ve been told, though I have yet to see any evidence of that.” she quipped.

Cara walked in just at Styxx’ last words. Her eyes scanned the room. “Captain,” she nodded to Kelly as she took a seat next ti the very large chair reserved for the COS. “Lt. Styxx,” she said by way of greeting. She looked at McDevitt. “McDevitt, right? We have no met yet, but yer presence doesn’a bode well.”

Lt. O’Farrell, counselor

“No, it does not. I am assuming you are Lt. O’Farrell or are you going by Lt. Mardusk? If so I have heard there are congratulations due.” Most of the time it was crewman or newly minted Ensigns sitting across from him after an energetic shore leave. It was never a list of who’s who from the command staff.

McDevitt JAG

“Lt Mardusk, though it’s no been officially announced at large ta the crew. Thank ya. Hold on ta it though. When this is done we can all celebrate,” Cara said.

Peter took a seat and placed his hands on the table interlocking fingers and fixing the Lawyer with a neutral expression, or what he considered a neutral expression but his face had a harshness that without expression to soften made him look irritated by a person’s very existence. Like Styxx he had his own outside counsel who defended him last time he was court-martialed but that was information to keep close to one’s chest. He did note the fact that the Romulans had hired a lawyer for her, for a brief moment he was reminded of Luna and he shook his head free of the thought, it had been years since he’d thought of her.

CIO

“Commander,” John nodded to Peter as he looked at him from the other side of the table. He didn’t want to admit that intelligence officers were his least favorite clients for no other reason than they tended to be so eerily calm. Nothing ever seemed to rattle them. They did not display bouts of emotion but tended to use only single-word responses, nod, or remain silent. He often wondered what it took for someone to have such a neutral affect under pressure. They also tended to have so much redacted in their file, that it either caused the case against them to be a dickens to prosecute or a dream to defend because nothing was allowed.

Mardusk walked in at that point. Unlike the others, he was being escorted. As the ship’s Chief of Security, when the charges were filed, he had immediately been stripped of all access to ‘prevent possible manipulation of records and evidence’. Which was, of course, laughable since the records and evidence was what would exonerate them all. But the fact that he was under ‘supervision’ by his own officers was irritating to say the least. And the officers escorting him were no less irritated. Mardusk looked at them and said “You know the drill, guys. Post up here and wait till I am excused. Then back to my quarters.” At least that part wasn’t so bad. Since he and Cara were married, they shared quarters. So at least they were together.

Mardusk took a seat and looked around the table at each person individually, finally stopping on Kelly. “Mornin’. And this is ***BULLS#!T, Skipper.”

Mardusk, CoS (under suspension)

“You are not wrong,” Kelly responded with a sympathetic nod. Kelly watched the security guards exit the room knowing they would be remaining outside the doors until Mardusk came out.

“Careful Sir. The Victorian Nanny’s over at Star fleet command might add bad language to your charges, if thye hasn’t already” River said her tone mocking but the mockery was not directed at Mardursk.

Mardusk looked at River and grinned. “F^<k ‘em.” he said very loudly.

River laughed at that. “No thanks, although if someone did maybe they’d lighten up a bit” she added.

“All of the women on Orion vouldn’t get them to lighten up.” Mardusk said with a derisive snort. “Hell… the ones doing this are so arrogant they’d probably try to tell ‘em how they were doing it wrong.”

Dr Talisse chose that moment to step in, hearing Mardusk’s ‘bullsh*t’ comment, and nodded her head once to agree. There was no way there could be anything to the charges that had been leveled at those in the room. “Captain,” she said by way of greeting their commanding officer. “Fellow jailbirds…” A small attempt at humor to lighten the tense feelings in the room. Aurra took a seat and set her coffee and PaDD on the table. “Alright, are we all being charged with the same offenses or have they tailored the offenses to individuals?”

—Talisse, CMO

“Commander Mardusk,” John stated his name as a formality however of all the people in the room, he was the only Orion. “Your charges are listed as followed: Misprision of a serious offense because you did not officially file reports against your superior officers for how they handled the Elder situation. Indecent language around the presence of a minor. Disloyalty statements against the Federation. Dereliction of Duty because you failed to protect the Atlantis crew. Homidice and Aggravated Assault against a First Contact Race.” John looked up at Mardusk. “By First Contact Race they are referring to the same race that earned you the Dereliction of Duty charge that you did not defend the ship against.” The circular argument was giving John a headache already. He would laugh at the absurdity of it if his client was not facing serious prison time if convicted or murder. “Oh and last but not least, Conduct Unbecoming of an officer.” As John read the charges one thing was becoming clear, this was a kangaroo court going after every officer with charges so specific, it was as if they were tailor made.

John McDevitt JAG

“Can I plead ‘Up yours sideways with a red-hot poker’?” Mardusk asked flatly.

Peter gave the security chief a respectful nod when he looked across the staff then when he exclaimed his feelings on this matter he couldn’t help but smile. Peter hadn’t been given a heads-up regarding this which he found concerning. He turned to Talisse “They seem to be individually tailored for each member” He doubted they’d find much regarding the Elder incident to stick to him as all involved were either dead or S31s that no longer existed in Starfleet records, they would likely not bother him probably out of respect for not killing them despite ample opportunity, although they might also take a shot at him for having outmanoeuvred them, it didn’t matter much “Would you mind reading out our respective charges?” He asked the JAG officer with a modicum of politeness. Without access to his official network, he couldn’t do his due diligence and his calls were likely surveilled, he’d need to bypass some systems later to make some private calls.

CIO

Looking them over, McDevitt wrinkled up his nose. “Um, do you owe the Captain a tenner?” He had just gotten all the charges this morning and hadn’t had time to go over them in detail until now. “You have failing to pay a debt and 2 misdemeanor Credit charges. One for worthless credit and the other for not maintaining adequate funds.” The crinkling of his forehead showed John McDevitt was clearly perplexed. His expression changed again after rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I stand corrected. They are federal credit charges so whatever you did just missed the cut off for embezzlement.” It was bad form to start to actively question Peter. John would have time to do that later.

Peter’s slightly amused expression vanished and was replaced with a completely wooden expression. The switch from showing a normal expression to absolutely none was seamless and to many unnerving. His practised act of putting on a perfectly neutral expression saved him from dropping open his jaw in surprise. Out of everything he thought would happen this was so far off-field that he hadn’t even expected him, monetary charges, fraud and failure to pay debt.

“Moving on you have Misprision of a serious offense which is in reference to you know speaking to your superiors about the events you witnessed here. The disloyalty statements are in direct reference to your association with Jessa Novar. It seems there is some concern you might have some sympathetic loyalties with the Union. The espionage charge is vague and it is so redacted we will probably not understand the connection until the trial. The last one is smuggling and…were you a privateer?” The longer John read Peter’s charges the more he realized Peter’s case was very different from the others. It was not going to be a case of his charges blending in with the others.

McDevitt JAG

Peter clenched his jaw with an audible click, a sign of his deep annoyance at the charge. A spy being charged with espionage was so cliche that he wasn’t surprised but it was so unoriginal next to the monetary charges that he didn’t even feel annoyed at the exercise anymore, now it was an insult to his pride. “I see” He said calmly “Thank you Lieutenant” He said tersely as he considered

“And I bet each and everyone of them will by just a laughable and full of as much BS as the rest” River said he tone serious and very clearly annoyed.

Lieut Styxx (Marine OIC)

“This is Perkins.” Mardusk growled and he looked at Kelly. “You really should have let me reach down his throat and pull his a$$hole out of his mouth when I had the chance.” Mardusk was always ‘colorful’ when he spoke; but the situation had really brought out the poet in him, apparently.

Mardusk, CoS (Suspended)

Cara hadn’t met Perkins yet, but she’d seen the idioticy of that little sycophant Primrose. The charges were so random and unfounded, Cara had to wonder at the senility of the person who filed them, especially since it was the entire senior staff. “Someone has a major inferiority complex.” She sighed. This Perkins seemed to have an issue with this crew and she had to wonder why no one was stopping him. This was outright harrassment. “Alright, McDevitt, let’s have it,” she said, inviting him to lay out her charges.

Lt. O’Farrell, counselor

“All this does have the very distinctive smell of s**t and Perkins is full of it.” Rive said coldly “Maybe we can have a weapons misfire after this, let a torpedoed accidently hit his bridge” She added as with many things it was hard to tell if River was joking or being serious.

Lieut Styxx (Marine OIC)

“Naw, his crew hate him as much as we do.” Mardusk said. “I say we keep it isolated to him. Transporter malfunction while the ship is beaming off it’s replicator raw material storage tanks.”

“There were a total of 886 ship-related injuries in the past year on the Atlantis. Junior personnel experienced one-half of the mishaps.” Her comment seemed out of the blue and random however Kelly did not get to the big seat without being highly intelligent and creative. “I say we assign all junior personnel to inspect the airlocks. We haven’t checked those suckers and it would be a shame if one happened to just blow.” She did not openly support River’s plan, however, the slight side gaze and half a heartbeat smirk on her face before it was obscured with the coffee cup to her Marine Lt. that Kelly agreed with where her mind was at even it if was just daydreaming for the both of them.

Kelly Bordeaux CO

Mardusk, CoS (Suspended)

Peter had been quiet which in and of itself wasn’t unusual but it wasn’t the usual stoic silence, it was more akin to brooding. He finally spoke up once the banter was in full swing “Is it too late to go back in time and do something pub…” He paused and looked at the JAG officer then changed what he was about to say “More drastic than sitting in my office during the crisis” He emphasised his cover story. He turned to look at Styxx “Trade?” He asked “Your murder charge for my fraud?” He said it so drily that it wasn’t clear if he was joking or not.

CIO

“I’ll see your murder and fraud,” Kelly spoke in a tone as if they were playing poker, “with kidnapping, aiding and abetting the enemy, and grafting.” This was the first time the Captain had mentioned anything about her charges. She had sat here listening to her crew get railroaded but figured why not let them vent? They were all being shafted. Some far more than others. If was better to try and diffuse the situation with humor even if it was bad, totally inappropriate humor. “Anyone want to call?”

Kelly Bordeaux CO

“Can someone explain this to me.” Heathcliff Rinker walked into the room, “I get Article 96: Release of prisoner without authority; I don’t even know what this one is ‘drinking with prisoner.,” when did that become a crime. It seems someone heard about my house call for psychiatric care.”

“Oh at least this one makes sense, ‘Contributing to the delinquency of a minor.’ I mean it’s a stretch. She was pretty delinquent before I got there.” Taking a seat at the table he asked, “so what I have I missed. Are they trying to turn over the entire command crew. Nice way to steal a ship.”

Heathcliff Rinker. CMO/CPO

She’d been quiet once she sat down, choosing to finish her coffee while the others bandied back and forth about their charges. They sounded serious, those charges, they could wipe out any of the officer’s careers if the officer was convicted of them. Turning to McDevitt, Aurra fixed him with a friendly gaze. “So, now that the others know what their charges are, do you suppose you could list mine so I know what I’m doing here?” While waiting for the answer, she softly drummed her fingers on the table.

—Talisse, MO