Posted by Commander Heathcliff Rinker (Chief Medical Officer/ Psychiatrist) in Court Martial of Heathcliff Rinker

Posted by Captain Kelly Bordeaux (Commanding Officer) in Court Martial of Heathcliff Rinker

Posted by Commander Heathcliff Rinker (Chief Medical Officer/ Psychiatrist) in Court Martial of Heathcliff Rinker
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻
The courtroom felt pristine and clinical but also familiar and safe. The cases were being tried in one of the small diplomatic rooms on the ship. This made it feel familiar to those from the USS Atlantis with its familiar furniture and decor. What made it feel antiseptic was the arrangement of the room. A large table sat along the left wall with five chairs filled with five Admirals occupying the spot a jury normally sat. The accused sat in a chair perpendicular to the Admirals and facing McDevitt along with the opposing counsel James Hudson. There were no other seats in the makeshift courtroom which was by design. This was not going to be a spectacle. Starfleet wanted the trials over and done with minimal disruptions.

“So Commander Rinker, how long have you been a part of the crew of the USS Atlantis,” Hudson asked the man.

JAG lawyers

Rinker sat in the chair looking far more relaxed than most people in his position would look. It was not that he wasn’t worried. He was as angry and frustrated as the rest of the officers on the Atlantis were, however, this was not the first time he had sat in court having his skill as a therapist on trial. Over the years, Heathcliff Rinker had been called to various courtrooms as an expert witness, especially during his tenure as Assistant Clinical Director of Star-Fleet. “Ten years,” he responded to the question. Being on trial was a lot like sitting in a counseling session. The less you talked, the more it made the other person talk. Rinker had trust and faith in McDevitt representing him but that did not mean he would make the case any easier for opposing counsel.

Heathcliff Rinker CMO/CPO

“Before that your career in descending order was Assistant Clinical Director of Star-Fleet, Director of Starfleet Psychiatric services on Earth, and Counselor at Starfleet Command?” Hudson began laying the path to the charge of aiding and abetting the enemy. It was going to be a winding slope down slippery terrain but he would get the court there.

“That is correct,” Rinker replied.

“Tell me about your association with the terrorist Jessa Novar?

“I encountered Ms. Novar during my prescribed duties on the Atlantis. I have no idea what you mean by association, nor am I aware the Ms. Novar has been identified as a terrorist by any of the assigned branches of Star-Fleet. Nor has the Federation State Department classified her group as a terrorist organization. Further, if she had been so assigned, I was not notified. Based on all these factors I would call the premise of your question false, and intentionally prejudicial.”

Hudson hated working with counselors. They tended to prefer wordplay over facts. “The Vulcan Lexicon book defines a terrorist as a person who uses unlawful violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims. I think the title fits her.”

“They also define a liar as a person who tells lies, my point is until a body, which exists for this purpose, identifies her as such you are just making a personal assessment. By your criteria, I personally, think you are telling lies, so I should identify you as a liar, because I think the title fits you.”

“I would like request the court to treat Mr. Rinker as a hostile witness,” Hudson stared Rinker down while speaking to the judges.

“Overruled. Proceed,” Judge Marshall stated. He was not going to make anyone’s case but the reference to the juvenile was unsettling to him also.

“Would you say you are closer to the terrorist than most of your clients?”

Hudson JAG

“I have no knowledge of any terrorist on my caseload.” He looked at the judge and the defense lawyer, he had set up the objection, “And even if I did, client lists, and disclosures in therapy are confidential so I can’t answer any question of that nature in specifics.”

“Objection,” McDevitt stated looking at the judges.

“Sustained. The courts will refer to Miss Novar by her name until it is ascertained what her goal was,” Marshall stated.

Hudson scowled at Rinker before moving on.

“Yes, but she has 24/7 access to you, correct?” Hudson kept his answers short and directed much like Rinker’s answers.

“Hypothetically, based on the needs of my clients, they all have 24/7 access to me or another mental health provider. As the clients learn coping mechanisms it tends to be less on-call and more session-only access.”

Heathcliff Rinker CMO/CPO

Hudson never had any real intention of linking Rinker to Jessa with the Aiding and Abetting the Enemy charge. It was a convenient way to get him to trial without it looking like a witch hunt. It would also strengthen his case that if the good counselor joined forces with the enemy once, he could do it again. “But you do have a pattern of associating with enemies of the state. Back in the Dominion War, you received special treatment from the Dominion overlords on Betazed did you not?”

Rinker tilted his head. “I did, although I didn’t not receive special treatment for any collaboration with the enemy. I had a special skill set, medicine, that they wanted to utilize. They believed that positive emotions would be better to keep me at my duties than negative. All the doctors and other specialists received the same, what you called special treatment.”

Hudson looked at Rinker feeling a slight arrogance. The reports from Captain Primrose were just confirmed by the man sitting in the chair before him. His mind daydreamed for a second about how smug this counselor would be in a penal colony. The happy thought slipped as he next imagined how he would probably work a deal and offer to counsel the other inmates for a reduced sentence.

“And could you explain what this special treatment was?”

Hudson JAG

“As anyone who actually served, knew the Vorta to operate like this, first be obsequious, then generous, before threatening, and murdering. I thought it would be better to keep them obsequious instead of murdery.”

“Well good for you but not so much for your other officers,” Hudson added. “I mean you did not die so…”

“Objection,” McDevitt responded.

“Sustained,” Marshall agreed getting a scowl from Hudson.

“So while you were in this overly servile role what did you receive from the Vorta?”

“I received, full food rations, I had recreation credits, I was able to stay in my own quarters. I was allowed to socialize with other doctors. I rarely got harassed moving on the streets or in the hospital. I wasn’t subject to random arrest, imprisonment and torture.”

“So that war was almost a vacation for you compared to the starvation, isolation, cramped, and diseased quarters of the others in the camp who were routinely harrassed, beaten, and tortured,” Hudson asked.

“Sir Objection,” McDevitt immediately shot back.

“Withdrawn,” Hudson recanted. At times it was worth pulling back a statement. Once the information was out it could not be unheard no matter what words were used. “So what did you do with all this freedom and privilege for your fellow Starfleet officers? Anything?” The smug tone in Hudson’s voice was clear. This was personal for the man and not just some topic he was prosecuting.

“Star-Fleet expects prisoners of war to keep the faith with their fellow prisoners, which I did, to keep my position meant I got to continue to treat Star-Fleet personnel and Betazed civilians who I was informed would not have sufficient professionals if I didn’t not continue working.”

“So you did this to help them. Okay but what did you give the Vorta. Nothing is free.”

“I kept my honor, never giving information, never working so hard that the enemy derived a tactical or strategic benefit, I made no statement which was disloyal to the Federation and her allies.”

“So you say now that the war is over and there is no one in this room that could refute your comments.”

“I celebrate the fact that my sacrifices during the war, has protected your ability to hold these trials. I certainly hope you respect and demonstrate the same level of honor as I and the millions that served during the war did.” He looked at the lawyer the expression was mostly blank, but there was a twinkle in his eye that said. ‘I can do this all day.’ “In this your sacred legal duty that we died to protect.”

Rinker

“You certainly didn’t die but others did however not all.” Taking his gaze off Rinker, Hudson walked back to his table and grabbed his PaDD. Bringing up a holorecording on the large wall PaDD. The image was of a man about the same age as Rinker. Instead of a Starfleet uniform, the man, crewman Brian Zellers, was wearing an orange penal colony. “Due to the fact this man is currently incarcerated at our Federation prison in New Zealand he was unable to be here in person however, I would like to call him to testify as to the validity of Commander Rinker’s statements.” Hudson was unsure if Rinker actually knew Brian Zellers but that did not matter to him.

“I object. The man was not listed as a witness.” McDevitt did not yet bring up that Zellers was in the penal colony for the exact crimes Rinker was being accused of. The man not only sold out the Federation every second he could but actively spied on his own fellow officers turning them into the Vorta secret camp police.

“Careful Mr. Hudson. I will allow this for now,” Judge Marshall stated in a grave tone. Brian Zellers was a traitor. The facts in his case were well known but he would not prove McDevitt’s case for him.

“Mr. Rinker,” Hudson stated dropping the man’s rank to make him appear as if he was a civilian and on the level with Zellers. “Did you know Mr. Zellers in the camps?”

Hudson JAG