The Stellar Alliance Building in New Okuhama City was a marvel of engineering, and a vision of awe. With lofty, commanding domes, and its foundation perched upon the edge of a steep waterfall that separated the Upper Okuhama River from the Lower, it was an aesthetically spectacular symbol of the Stellar Alliance. At 8:45 am, an automated transport pulled up to the concourse, and Keiko, Maddie, Lynn and Jenny stepped out. As they made their way in to the main building, they were greeted by Lt. Harris. "Good morning, ladies," she said smartly. "General MacDougal, Miss Lambretta, if you'll come with me." Maddie spoke up. "Before we start, Lieutenant, Lady Takeda and I would have words with Colonel Mays. Off the record. Shouldn't take but a minute." Lt. Harris nodded. "I'll let him know. Still, come along and check in for the hearing, so we can show you on time."

They proceeded to one of the lifts, went to the top floor, and then to a waiting conference room. Colonel Mays and his team were seated at a massive oak table, its top polished to a mirror finish. It gave the appearance of twice as many people as were there. Lt. Harris called out to Mays. "Colonel, General MacDougal and Lady Takeda are requesting a pretrial sidebar." Mays stood, walked over to them, and addressed Maddie. "General, I'll grant your request, but I warn you: I'm not playing any more games in this matter. This is a formal hearing, under the Uniform Code of Military Justice." He turned to Lt. Harris. "Swear in Miss Lambretta and see to her needs. We'll be back in a minute. Miss Doolittle can take a seat outside here in the corridor, if she's needed as a witness." Harris nodded and conducted Lynn to her seat, while one of the hearing officers swore her in. Jenny watched as the door slowly closed behind them.

Maddie, Keiko and Mays proceeded to another, smaller conference room nearby. As Keiko scanned the room, Mays shook his head with some annoyance. "Don't worry, Lady Takeda, I haven't bugged the room." As she walked toward a potted plant, her scanner beeped louder and more urgently. When she came within a foot of it, she pressed a button and a cloud of smoke erupted from under the soil. She reached into the pot and pulled out the smoldering listening device. "Someone did," she said dryly, "And this is as much for your protection as it is ours." As she handed the bug to Mays, she turned to Maddie. "The room's clean, General." Mays gaped in disbelief at the device. "…it's one of ours.." he muttered to himself, then looked at both women. "I did not authorize this, and I will get to the bottom of it!" The women sat down at the table, gesturing to Mays to sit across from them.

As he sat down, Maddie handed a data pad to him across the table. "What's this?" he inquired, starting to peruse the pages. "Take your time and read it thoroughly," Maddie replied. "I have a feeling once you've read it, you'll feel differently about this hearing today." The ladies watched as he absorbed the information, occasionally looking up at them in disbelief.

"…where did you get this?" he finally stammered, clearly stunned by the gravity of its contents. "Does it matter?" Keiko intoned. "Right now, you are one of five people in the whole galaxy that are privy to this entire record. Myself, General MacDougal, you, my father, and one other. If anything should happen to any of us, that other person will present this entire report, along with much more supporting documentation, directly to the Queen herself." Mays swallowed hard. As the Stellar Alliance head of Information Security, his career would be on the line as well, if the information became generally known. And General Doolittle's career would end in disgrace. "Why me?" Mays demanded. "Why aren't you bringing this directly to the Imperial Admiralty? Or to the public?" He leaned across the table. "Are you blackmailing me? And General Doolittle?" Maddie shook her head. "You're a man of honor, Brendan," she said, looking him in the eyes. "And we wanted you to know that this breach was not your fault. The Calmwind disaster was a ruse to pull ships off of their patrol routes, to allow someone or something to slip past. The data on that is dodgy, but even the Imperial Fleet is aware of something afoot. That frightened little lassie in there is not ye're enemy."

Mays looked back at the data pad, running his fingers slowly through his hair. "…those things that we tracked…he seemed bent on keeping it quiet…" "Then you're aware of them, Colonel? And Doolittle as well?" Maddie queried. Mays nodded slowly, still reading through a second time. "You know I can't just let her off," he finally sighed. "But you're right…she's just a pawn in all of this….whatever THIS is…"

Maddie spoke up. "Colonel, with all due respect, my client has nae prior criminal history. She had nae criminal intent. There were only minor injuries and nae fatalities. If I may be so bold, may I suggest a civil citation for data piracy, with a reasonable period of probation?" Mays thought for a moment. "The level of data piracy here is a misdemeanor at least, and a class two felony at worst, considering that the Stellar Military itself was hacked. But, it almost seems as if it was the Stellar Military, or at least a proxy thereof, who provided the back door…and we certainly don't want that going into the record, do we? A civil infraction won't put an arrest or conviction on her record. And let's say seven years probation. After that, she'll be an adult, and she won't be so lucky." Maddie added, "And all the records of this are to be sealed, unless she violates her probation. Let's not wreck her educational career." "Agreed," Mays nodded, "But the Nebula Cup already knows that Hakuoh's cheating ruined the race. I'm sure they're going to sanction Hakuoh, and the academy may expel Miss Lambretta just for that. I won't get involved in Hakuoh's internal discipline." Maddie stood and offered her hand across the table. "We have an accord. And we'll worry about Hakuoh." Mays stood and respectfully took her hand. "We have an accord. May I have a copy of this report, General?" Maddie smiled. "Aye, lad, that's your copy, to do with as you see fit. Just don't get yeerself killed over it."

As they filed past Jenny, Keiko gave her a wink, and the three entered the hearing room. Mays' team immediately stood at attention as he entered, and Lynn stood up as well, not wanting to seem disrespectful. "Let's be seated and come to order," Mays intoned, as he and the others were seated. "Miss Lambretta, you've been sworn and your testimony will be entered into the official record, do you understand?" She stood and in a clear but wavering voice, replied, "Yes, I understand." Mays stood. "Miss Lambretta you are charged with hacking into a military database using an FTL line, a violation of Article Eighteen, section seven of the Interstellar Communications Act. Do you wish to enter a plea?" Lynn looked at Maddie, who gently whispered in her ear. Lynn stood, and replied, "Not guilty, sir." Mays gestured to her chair, and said, "Very well, be seated. Miss Lambretta, exactly what was your intent when you hacked the database? Or do you deny hacking the database?"

She stammered, "No sir… I don't deny doing it…I…I just wanted to help my friends…they said the course was boring and so they told me to move the checkpoints around…to make it more challenging.." Mays brooded for a moment. "Were you aware of the potential consequences of tampering with the race course?" Lynn was taken aback. She wasn't aware of any consequences. "No, sir…it was just to make it a little harder…I'm not aware of any consequences…" Mays was annoyed. "So you aren't even aware of the outcome of the race? You didn't even find out if your changes made a difference?" Lynn was trembling, but Maddie, seated next to her, put a hand on her shoulder. "Colonel," Maddie said firmly, "I don't think it matters what she did afterward. Have we not established that her intent was not criminal?" She knew that both she and Mays had to put on a believable performance for the rest of his team. One of them bugged the other room, so at least one of them was planted by Doolittle. Mays relented. "Fair enough, General. Based on all of the testimony from the other witnesses", he said, looking around at his team, "the only charge that applies here would be an act of civil data theft – " Foster chimed in, "But sir! She hacked into a military database!" Mays continued. "The only data that was hacked was simply a civil flight plan. All of you did a forensic examination, and all of your reports only show that only this civil flight plan had been tampered with. There was no breach, theft or sabotage of military data, so Article Eighteen doesn't apply to this case. Sorry Foster, I know you want to make an example, but it just wouldn't hold up under an appeal." Foster glowered creepily across the table at Lynn, rendering his reflection on the tabletop even creepier. Mays carried on. "No, what we're looking at here is no more than an infraction of the Interstellar Communications Act, Article Five, which would carry a civil citation. In addition, I'm imposing a sentence of seven years of probation, Miss Lambretta. If you violate the ICA in any way in the next seven years, you will be brought back before this tribunal and you will face felony charges, and possibly prison. Do you understand?" Lynn was stunned. Maddie nudged her, and she stood up. "Yes sir, I understand." Mays rose, and as he did so, his team rose. Keiko and Maddie stood as well. Mays looked around at his team, and then spoke. "Miss Lambretta, this tribunal finds you guilty of violating Article Five, sections two and three of the ICA. This is classified as an infraction and carries a civil citation. The amount of your fine will be determined by the Interstellar Communications Commission. You are sentenced to seven years of probation. Violation of your probation will result in criminal prosecution. Due to your age, and at the request of your counsel, I am ordering all the records of this matter to be sealed, unless you violate your probation. Frankly, Miss Lambretta, you're getting off easy. I'm sure many of the members of my team, who put a lot of time and effort into this case would agree. But we were all once your age, and I'm sure we all made honest mistakes. I sincerely hope that you will learn from this experience." He slapped his gavel on its pad. "This hearing is adjourned."

As Maddie and Keiko ushered Lynn to her feet, several of Mays' team ran up to him, obviously upset at the outcome. Foster, on the other hand, left the room immediately. Jenny leaped to her feet as they came out to the corridor. "How did it go?" she asked anxiously, noticing Foster storming down the stairs. Maddie replied, "Let's get on out of here. We can talk in the transport."

Mays' comm unit beeped a familiar alert tone. He had already finished placating his remaining team members, and he was certain where Foster had gone. The fact that Doolittle was calling confirmed it. He calmly walked over to the smaller conference room, and established a secure line to General Doolittle. Doolittle's livid face appeared on the screen. "What the hell just happened?" Doolittle demanded. "An infraction? Are you out of your mind, Colonel? Did you just totally ignore my orders?" Mays placidly sat and waited for Doolittle's tantrum to subside. "General, if you're willing to listen, there's some things you need to hear." Doolittle fumed. "I'm listening." Mays managed an impish grin. "Perhaps now would be a good time for you to consider retirement, General. Your man Foster did a fine job obscuring several key points of this investigation, but I was given some highly reliable data that implicates key members of the Stellar Military, and even the son of a senator in some highly nefarious activity. That ship that provided the back door to hack our data was spoofing its position in the Cepheus Dark Bay, but in fact, it was a large, privately owned starship hanging in the Flame Nebula. And I'll bet cashy money that you know whose ship it was, General."

Doolittle gaped in disbelief, but finally composed himself. "All right, you back-stabbing little insect. I made you, and by God I could crush you if I wanted to. But I won't waste my time. What is it you want?" "Not a damn thing." Mays retorted. "I'm better than that. But if you cause any more trouble for that innocent little girl, I'll see to it that this entire data pack arrives on the Queen's doorstep. They're probably onto you anyway, but I doubt that your involvement in all of this is as clearly spelled out as it is here," he grinned, waving the data pad at him. "I'm sure you'd rather retire from a glorious military career, than be court-martialed, stripped of your rank and privileges and imprisoned. I'll wait thirty days. After that, all bets are off. And if anything unfortunate should happen to me, arrangements have been made to see that the Queen herself receives this." He closed the channel and hung up. As he stood from the desk, he pulled his sidearm out, chambered a charge, and put it back in its holster. He didn't know Foster that well, but he wasn't going to be taken out easily.

As the women headed back to the bungalow in the city transport, they filled Jenny in on the outcome, making sure to keep Lynn in the dark as to the consequences of the race or the five year Nebula Cup ban for Hakuoh. Keiko looked at Lynn and Jenny and commented, "There's probably going to be a disciplinary hearing at Hakuoh tomorrow. Maddie and I will attend it in your place, Lynn." "You don't think they'll expel me, do you?" Lynn asked anxiously. Jenny blurted, slipping an arm around Lynn's waist. "They'd better NOT! I'll resign from Hakuoh if they do!" Maddie smiled. "Relax, ladies. I'm sure it won't come to all of that. Why don't we stop at that little quaint café in town and have some parfaits?"