Posted by Captain Kelly Bordeaux (Commanding Officer) in Court Martial of Peter Sigmundsson

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Peter Sigmundsson (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Court Martial of Peter Sigmundsson

Posted by Captain Kelly Bordeaux (Commanding Officer) in Court Martial of Peter Sigmundsson
Posted by… suppressed (27) 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.

Peter arrived with his counsel fifteen minutes before the designated time. He wore his dress uniform, an older design with the gold trims of his department’s colours. On his broad chest, he had the salad dressing that protocol demanded, citations, awards and medals most of which were from the Dominion War. The oldest was a service medal given to those who took part in the Battle of Sector 001. He had a few other Service medals from the Liberation of Betazed, the Second Battle of Chin’Toka and some other less recognizable fronts. He also possessed the Grankite Order of Tactics, The Karagite Order of Heroism, Citation for Conspicuous Gallantry and the Star Cross.

The man with him was a tall thin human who looked to be in his late sixties. He wore a suit of Trill design clearly bespoke and carried an actual suitcase made of leather. The two men sat down, Peter placed his hands on the desk, interlocked his fingers and stared straight ahead unblinking. The man with him placed the suitcase on the desk, opened it removed a pad of physical paper and an ink pen and started writing something down.

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

JAG lawyers

Peter blinked for the first time since arriving, looked at the Admiral then leaned to the man sitting next to him. The two exchanged a few hushed whispers then he leaned back and spoke “Since Stardate 22050.7, it will be two years in a few weeks” He answered simply.

CIO

“So how have you fit in with the crew so far? Things pleasant enough,” Hudson asked. He kept his tone neutral but leaning to the more friendly side. The charges against most of the crew were bogus and flimsy. The charges against Peter Sigmundsson had a lot more bite. Hudson chose his words carefully as if they were breadcrumbs to lead the accused down the trail he wanted him to go.

Hudson JAG

Again Peter leaned to his lawyer and the two exchanged a few words before Peter looked back at the Admiral, he considered a few approaches, perhaps coldly detached, charming and aloof, maybe arrogance would be better. “I fit in anywhere, Sir and I don’t find many things unpleasant” He gestured to the room “Even this is only mildly annoying” His expression hadn’t changed.

CIO

“So by fitting in do you mean due to your sparkling personality or your training because there is a difference. People fit in normally because they have a desire to fit in. They find something that appeals to them about a group and strive to become integral parts of that group.” Hudson paused for a moment before continuing. “You fit in very well with the Elder Novar did you not? Spent time with her…gained her trust. For the Federation or for sympathy of her cause.” Hudson let the CIO ponder the question.

Hudson JAG for the prosecution

For the third time, Peter leaned in towards his lawyer and the two exchanged a few whispered words. Peter leaned back and opened his mouth to speak but stopped and raised a finger to excuse himself then leaned back and whispered something, the older man looked at him sharply and frowned which the Intelligence officer smiled at then finally he leaned back up and answered “To your first statement, I’m not a psychologist and neither are you counsellor. The answer is both, I am exceptionally charming and personable and also expertly qualified.” He said with a straight face and a flat tone of voice. This exact phrase was in his personnel file at the moment but only because he’d called in a favour to have it added because it would be funny. Also, it was there to showcase that he could do things of that nature.

Hudson despised the calm, cool, collected demeanor of the man on trial. The charges held grave penalties. The Lt. Commander however was reacting as if it is was only a night in the brig if found guilty. The man’s record was pristine. Hudson would refer to him as the Teflon Commander if it would result in a contempt charge against the prosecution. He opened his mouth to speak but the slivered-tongued spy seemed to read the slight contraction of his lips and cut him off before a word could be announced.

He didn’t give the JAG officer time to rebuke him or answer “Jessa is a child who has been indoctrinated by a galaxy-spanning group of religious extremists that make Earth of Old look like it kindergarten. Despite that, she is still a young girl with very human pre-teenage tendencies and to boot possesses the guile of a Starfleet JAG officer” He said calmly “I proceeded with standard deprogramming designed for young humans, beginning with separating myself from other authority figures in her life. After that, I began treating her as I would an adult allowing her to feel seen and heard by a neutral party. After that, I began building a relationship of trust whilst simultaneously allowing her space to reveal information that she’d held back from others. I did so by allowing her to think that I was less observant than I am by not calling her out on her actions and also letting her think that she was manipulating me into letting her act. This was part of my report to Starfleet Intelligence”

He knew that the charge regarding Jessa was the flimsiest but espionage charges were bothersome to get rid of. The man sitting next to Peter finally stood up and cleared his throat “Johann Karlson for the defense” He said with an easy smile, he looked to be in his mid-sixties. “Unless the prosecution produces evidence to support this line of questioning I request that the charges in question be dropped. I’d also like to request that opposing counsel avoid testifying as he is neither a character witness nor an approved subject matter expert in humanoid relations” He spoke smoothly and politely and looked from each Admiral to the next, he stopped for a moment at Perkins and his smile seemed to turn knowing for a moment before moving on “My client has been charged with Disloyalty Statements but I have yet to see any proof in that direction and unless council thinks he’ll somehow use wordplay to get a confession. The most disloyal statement Commander Sigmundsson has said about Starfleet that I am aware of was complaining about the coffee at Starbase 13”

CIO & Johann Karlson

bump

“Sure we can change topics,” Hudson stated. “The interactions with the Terrorist Novar and her compatriots was not the first time the Lt. Commander made disingenuous statements against the Federation.” Walking over to a Padd on his desk, Hudson picked it up and began reading off some vague information. The information he had received had been delivered in an untraceable account. It would be conjecture or hearsay however Admiral Perkins had reviewed it and deemed it admissible in the trial. The charges were flimsy so anything that might help his case, Hudson would use.

Johann bowed formally, right leg scraping back, right hand on his stomach and left hand reaching out, it could be construed as mocking but it was done with such elegance and practice that it seemed natural for the elderly man. He sat back down and went back to seeming like he wasn’t paying attention.

“You had a break in your career with the Federation did you not?” It was a semi-rhetorical question. There was a period of time when Peter had been away from the Starfleet after the war. He also walked right back into Starfleet without what appeared as a thought or question as to his absence.

“I resigned my commission after the Dominion War like many others at the time. I didn’t join Starfleet to become a soldier” Peter said simply, the first time he’d spoken without whispering an exchange with his lawyer. “I also temporarily resigned my commission in 2389” He added.

“Tell me what you did in that time. Employment wise,” Hudson added to focus the question. The line between a privateer and merchant could be paper thin on the edges of Federation space. It was time to see if Peter would volunteer the information about that time period of it Hudson was going to have to rip it out of him.

Hudson JAG

Peter suppressed a smile, he’d looked forward to this part, it always came up whenever people tried to investigate him, be it internal affairs, SI, or in this case a JAG prosecutor. “Oh sure, for the first few weeks after I retired I did some odd jobs for civilian transports, colony hopping. During that time I got in contact with a civilian cargo ship Captain named Mongul, not his real name never did manage to discover that” He added with a frown, it was clear he considered that a personal affront to his skills that he couldn’t discover that even with Starfleet Intelligence resources “We first met on a bar on a Space station in the Cygnus Sector, this was just before the Borg attack on Earth in ‘73. I stopped a fight between him and several belligerent and drunk Nausicaans. When I retired he reached out and offered me a job, Security Chief on his ship the Tranquility, an older Civilian Cargo freighter, nearly a century old when I joined, Andorian Design.”

Peter was talking a lot more now, the more information he volunteered the easier it would be to slip in lies when necessary, the best way to lie was to hide it in enough truth especially when there wasn’t a way to verify what you were saying “I worked security there for three years until the old man, that is Captain Mongul retired, he left the ship to me and I captained her for seven years. We mostly did cargo transfers with the occasional passenger trips, we mostly did border crossings between us and the Kingons and to places like Freecloud or the Qiris sector, places close to the Federation.”

CIO

“So you are going to try and convince those of us in the courtroom your job was to transport civilians and civilian goods back and forth all legal like with a Captain who you did not know his actual name? I think,” Hudson took on a more mysterious tone, “it is more likely you were smuggling illicit goods under the banner of a legit operation. I pulled the cargo manifests from the Tranquility.” The fact that Hudson pulled some obscure manifest from years back would seem like great legal skills to those on the judges bench. For Peter it might seem more likely that he had help from possibly his old acquaintances in the intelligence agency. Only they would have the power to find a manifest like that.

“Nine hundred pounds of Quadrotriticale, seventy five barrels of squill, Gramilian sand peas,” he read the cargo list off. “Tell me Commander what actually was in those containers.” Hudson had no proof the contents of the cargo was not what was stated. He did however have Perkins word that those containers contained illicit drugs and other contraband. He just needed to get Peter to admit it which would validate the smuggling charge.

Hudson

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Peter cocked his head at the man’s question, to him it was an odd line of inquiry. There wouldn’t be any evidence of smuggling, not because smuggling didn’t happen but because they never got caught. Sure Intelligence knew they were smuggling but also they knew what they were smuggling and cases of Romulan ale and Klingon Coffee, not something they bothered with. It took some time for Peter to realise that the JAG-off Lawyer was being fed this information. That realisation brought with it another and he smiled, no he smirked at the lawyer then leaned in and whispered something to his lawyer again who whispered something in response. Johann seemed less than pleased with whatever Peter said.

“You want me to tell you the contents of a single cargo run from nearly twenty years ago.” He sounded smug when he asked that question.

Hudson waited to see if they would break. If there had ever been an inquiry about the crew of the Tranquility there would have been a report. That was where Hudson had been given the decades-old manifest, however, whomever had inquired, the result was no one found anything. It was a fishing exhibition at best. He had no proof but the sworn word from those who supported the court trial of this man that the cargo was illicit. This is why Hudson baited the hook and dangled the lure. “Those that are guilty will always get their comeuppance.”

“Well sure just let me think” He closed his eyes and started humming loudly, putting his thumb and middle finger together “Amithaba” He said as if in prayer between humms. After nearly a full minute of this, alternating between the Buddisth prayer and humming he opened his eyes “Nine hundred pounds of Quadrotriticale, seventy-five barrels of squill, Gramilian sand peas. There was also likely a few hundred kilos of Andorian ice peppers during that run.” He shook his head in an amused manner “I also personally used that trip to get some Rigellian Cigars”

CIO

Hudson fumed. This man was poking fun at this court. “So you do remember,” Hudson commented. He had not been prepared for the man or his lawyer to capitulate on this. He had expected protests and objections, not agreement.

“So,” he paced the space as he spoke, “I am glad we both agree on the cargo. Now let’s see if we can agree on something else? Your actions obviously caught the attention of the Federation two decades ago. Why do you think they would care about your ship, one among thousands, enough to keep lists of your cargo? Your client was previously a member of the intelligence division before he resigned him commission yes?”

Hudson

Peter shrugged “Well Starfleet Intelligence had been keeping an eye on Mongul for years before I joined, he was considered a mild curiosity, especially for his ability to toe the line of Federation Propriety and dodging Starfleet patrols. The client in question, well at the time I had no idea who or what he was. Mongul was the only one that had direct contact with the client. I have since presumed that said Client, Baker, was the one who nudged the Special Activities division to approach me to be an asset” He added that bit of trivia as bait for the lawyer, the most important factor during a trial was not asking questions you didn’t know the answer to, Hudson seemed unaware of what actually took place back when he was probably only a toddler. Not knowing the details of those years would only help weaken his case so Peter was prepared to reveal as much as he could, even a tidbit which would make the JAG salivate and jump into a trap.

“Of course SAD didn’t approach me until I took over as Captain, the trip you mention was with Mongul as commander. Baker didn’t work much with me until the final years of my command”

CIO

Hudson’s mind raced trying to place the name Baker. It was no where in the files, but he was at least getting the CIO to admit to something. That would be the first step. “So Baker is the one that brought you back to us or did you never leave and it was all a cover? The smuggling, the resignation,” his voice trailed off. Hudson felt lost which was not a familiar state. He held all the facts always before going after someone. Maybe he required a few more days to check his facts.

“Sir I request a postponement until tomorrow morning,” Hudson directed his question at Judge Marshall.

“On the grounds new evidence has been learned by the courts,” Hudson replied.

“Are you flipping sides? Because that only holds true for the defense? You either drop your case or proceed. There is no postponement,” Marshall ruled.

Hudson’s face turned up into a grimace. Looking back at the Lieutenant Commander he pressed on. “So Baker brought you back into the fold of intelligence,” Hudson took a stab at the dark. The intelligence chief’s past was a ball of knotted yarn with a million loose threads but when one pulled a thread, it just led to another knot.

Hudson

Peter shook his head “I wasn’t intelligence before I resigned my commission, the misunderstanding in my records is that I was assigned to liaise between the UFP Marine Corps Special Mission Group and Starfleet Intelligence during and after the liberation of Betazed. Baker didn’t directly approach me, I was recruited as an asset for SI by a Lieutenant Commander Simmons who was my handler until I returned to active duty in Security on the USS Curie.” He explained in a more respectful tone, he was making certain that his muddled record was easier to understand.

“From ‘80 to ‘85 I worked as an asset for Starfleet intelligence, which entailed mostly gathering intelligence on outlying factions that survive on border spaces. Occasionally I’d be asked to perform operations for the service.” Peter half smiled at the lawyer “I’d wager that if you’d make a request with Intelligence you’d see that during those five years any potential criminal action was done in the service of the Federation.” That did leave a few years in the open but without clear evidence, there wasn’t much he could be charged with. He was hoping they’d move on to the more juicy charges but he still had one more redirect ready to mess with the lawyer.

Bump

“So you have a history of fraud and espionage,” Hudson remarked casually. Leaning back on the edge of his desk, the man could barely contain the smirk spilling over his face. He admitted to criminal action but was hiding behind the thin excuse of intelligence. All Hudson had to so was show a pattern of behavior. If the man was willing to do it for one group, why wouldn’t he be just as willing to do it for another. If the man had any real loyalty, he never would have left the Federation. The fact he did and went free lance for a time just proved to Hudson how unreliable the man could be.

Hudson JAG

Peter’s lawyer looked up and flashed a wide grin at Hudson, a predatory smile then looked back down and continued looking down at the PaDD in front of him. Peter nodded “Yes I both defrauded and spied on several criminal organizations, mostly focusing on a faction of the Orion syndicate that was forming at the time named Takra. That was why during my second leave from Starfleet, I joined the group under Starfleet orders to break the group from the inside”

CIO

Bump

“So you have a history of being a double agent?” No one knew who had impersonated the XO and aided the aliens escape from the bridge. It was all circumstantial and subjective but the CIO was gone the entire time of the promenade attack and there was still the question of the missing female alien. “Tell me where were you when the Promenade was being attacked?” Unfortunately for Hudson there was not a single shred of evidence that it was Peter that had neutralized Captain Primrose, agent Aimee Rian, and the section 31 agent that was impersonating the XO. When the security teams arrived the false XO and Primrose were hog tied with zero idea of the wraith that had taken them down. Agent Aimee Rian still was missing along with the female alien Zala Tsu. Maybe it was time to lay the ground work for the man to confess to this. “Tell me is there a correspondence course one takes to betray people or does it come naturally to get people to trust you?”

Hudson.

Peter smiled a toothy grin with only his mouth, his eyes remained cold and calculating. He leaned in to whisper to his lawyer Johann who simply nodded and whispered back as he had every time before Peter spoke, again they only exchanged two or three words each. “To answer your first question I was stuck in my office interrogating subject Aimee Rian during the attack, and by the time word reached me there had been a short circuit on deck 14 and my door was sealed shut. It took engineering about six hours to unlock it and get us out.”

“Of course it did. Got any proof or just your good word,” Hudson returning the smug grin. If there had been any evidence of this, his side would have given it to him.

Johann opened the leather briefcase and removed a Padd and slid it across the table “Defense exhibit 14a and 14b, the Service report for the repair of a dozen locked doors on deck 14, 15, and 16 as well as statements made by the team that freed Commander Sigmundsson from his office” His smile was smug, self-satisfied and arrogant all in one. Peter of course hadn’t been there and neither had Aimee, he’d transferred her when he put the S31 crewmembers where he’d been interrogating Rian, then he took Rian back to his quarters. The reports were true though but the sabotage was his, one of his contingencies incase he ever needed an alibi. And they call me paranoid Peter thought to himself.

“I object,” Hudson stated looking at the Judges.

“To proveable evidence,” Judge Marshall asked in a confused tone.

“To the fact we were not given this until now,” Hudson shot back.

Judge Marshall wore a confused expression. “Well in the first place, this work order is not some smoking gun by the defendant. It is a public work order and fully admissible in court. In the second place, it is the Commander’s legal team’s job to defend their client. It is your job Lieutenant to prosecute. You can’t possibly expect the defense to not defend…do you? Overruled and admissible.” Judge Marshall could see the frustration in Hudson’s face but the facts were the facts.

“Regarding your second question it’s not a correspondence course but a six-month seminar with psychology experts, mentalists, and various experts on different alien cultures. However, I personally have always had a talent for building rapport with assets, it’s easy to use what you look like to fool the criminal mind, they expect a big hulking man to be an unintelligent bully so I feed their expectations.” Peter leaned forward “Would you like a list of the people I’ve betrayed?”

“Yeah, that would be helpful. Got that list in all those other docs from your briefcase,” Hudson said dryly. His case was unraveling after than dropped ball of yarn.

” I can list them by the number of atrocities they’ve committed, or by their extensive criminal records, or even bodycounts” His toothy grin was “I can’t really list them by how many crimes they’ve committed since I took them down, the numbers the same for each and every one.” He looked at Perkins and for a moment a true smile appeared “Zero”

CIO

“So you are admitting to murder?” Hudson felt hopeful. The longer one kept someone talking they eventually slipped. The charges against Peter were circumstantial at best however this might be his best shot to admitting to a felony. “You are on oath and just stated that everyone you took down has no longer committed a crime. Why would that be?”

Hudson

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