Part 4:
"Ladies and gentlemen, this closed field court martial is now in session. As we are at a state of effective war, as defined by Article 5442, we have all powers normally assigned such a court during a time of war. The purpose of this meeting of the court martial is to evaluate a file containing data concerning Commander Alfred Simon Samuel Kirk, prior to reopening the open session and the subsequent debates. Commander Kirk, are you aware of the contents of the file?"
"No ma'am." Kirk looked pale, and worried. "I have not been given a chance to peruse it to my satisfaction, as it has remained closed to me, despite the unlock code"
"If it would please the court, I can explain that." Captain Kane interjected.
"It would."
"The purpose of the file I have detailed to you is to provide you with an accurate summary of the events that happened in the Centauri system. Due to the nature of the events involved, we could not put the truth in a public file, and since portions of military service reports are available to the public, they have to conform to the official truths involved. Because-"
"Are you going to get to the point anytime soon, captain?"
"Yes ma'am. Because of that, some judgments, such as the one the court martial is asked to levy against Commander Kirk, could be rendered inaccurate. Thus, secure files are sent along with the person in question, so that they are available for consideration in important cases. Specifically, they are meant to provide the court with the reasons they should disregard 'character evidence' based of off those events. Since the accused will never need to have access of them, as he already knows the contents, he is not granted access under any circumstances as a safeguard against corruption. This measure is primarily meant to cover sealed discipline logs, wherein the true record shows evidence of the persons error-usually extreme. If you look inside the secure court martial info database, you will note that this is mentioned under article 14 by 45 by 6. Inside, is also detailed the prisoner's duty to reveal the fact that these files exist to any court martial that is called against him."
"Article 14 and its sections deal with petty theft discovered by secure means. And there IS no section 14 by 45." The court president paused as one of her fellow court members whispered in her ear. "Correction. While there is no article 14 by 45 by 1 through 5, there is in fact an article 14 by 45 by 6. Presumably this is a security measure to protect this, um, manner of securing secure information in a retrievable manner. The clause referring to the prisoner's duty is also in there, and I see that is as specific as the clauses describing the opening ceremonies of a court martial. The penalty for failing to reveal them is quite harsh-life in prison. Well, I see no reason to delay deliberations any longer. Captain Kane, as you are already aware of these files and their contents, you will open."
"Thank you your honor. I will begin with the event in the Centauri system. When we completed a security sweep, I decided to allow the fighter squadrons a liberty at the nearby..."
Commander Kirk, as pale faced as earlier, gulped down several glasses of water during the course of the narration. He knew what was coming, and if he couldn't get some way of getting this evidence disqualified, he was going to lose, and lose badly. The members of the court glanced at him from time to time, and Kirk knew he had to stop looking so nervous, but it wasn't like he could just stop sweating! Or get blood to his face or anything like that! I'm not a, a, a, Darlock! He snarled mentally at the mention of Darlocks.
"Several of his wing-mates testified that he acknowledged that I had put the bar off-limits for security reasons," Captain Kane continued. "And yet he chose to enter anyway. He enjoyed the bar's unusual entertainments, such as..."
Damn him! Damn Kane to Hell! He was going to bring the whole thing up out of the trash, wasn't he? Kirk thought. So what if I gambled, so what if I liked the dancers there... so what if I wanted something more than just looking? They were willing... mostly. And I paid them well, even when they weren't willing!
"However, normally he managed to avoid letting these indiscretions interfere with his duty. This time, however, he failed in that. He consumed enough alcohol to render him inebriated, and then proceeded to gamble away his most recent paycheck. He then attempted to hire one of the dancers for some more private entertainment, and when she refused his offers, tried to drag her to his pre-rented room. Then, one of his 'drinking partners,' a Thomas Midarenkov, decided to help him by paying the rest of the money necessary to make the girl cooperative. Thomas asked only that Kirk help him a little latter. Kirk agreed, and had his fun. When he woke up the next morning, Thomas said he wanted a tour of Kirk's ship. Kirk agreed. Kirk took him..."
He doesn't have to make it sound like I was so wrong... the girl wanted stuff like that, or why would she have become an exotic dancer in a place everyone knew hired dancers that were also whores! And I'm good! She wanted me! All off them wanted me! They wanted me so bad they raised the prices for me, so that I'd be forced to pick one and marry her if I wanted her regularly! Like I'd ever marry anyone like them! Kirk babbled on inside his head, unaware of the piteous falsehoods he wove.
"Having shown 'Thomas' all the non-secure areas aboard ship, Kirk allowed himself to be convinced to show 'Thomas' into a secure area, namely combat central."
Combat central. Big deal! It's only the nerve center of the ship, during a fight! He couldn't have hurt anything there, and how was I supposed to know he could download our entire secure database from there?
"While leading 'Thomas' off the ship, Kirk showed the only piece of common sense he displayed in the entire affair. He asked 'Thomas' to hold for a minute. He asked 'Thomas' why he wanted to see the ship. At this point, the security squad that had been tracking down a Darlock by the name of Bodoso'ch came along. 'Thomas' was distracted by the questioning of Kirk, and allowed his eyes to momentarily shift spectrum. and one of the squad realized what he was."
"Captain, what do you mean his eyes shifted spectrum?" A board member asked.
"In essence, they began to glow. The squad searching for the Darlock proceeded to try and trap him, but Bodoso'ch, who was masquerading as Thomas, ran. They were unable to catch him before he hit the public part of the station. However, Kirk managed to engage him after they were in the main Promenade. While the Darlock should have been able to escape, it turns out that the small amounts of alcohol remaining in Kirks breath were sufficient to intoxicate the Darlock-the first clue anyone had to their extreme vulnerability to alcohol."
So I saved the day! Why did everyone want to punish me afterwards? It's not like he got away with those command codes! And even if he did, we would have changed them long before those pirates that attacked could have used them to lower our shields or cut weapons. Kirk thought to himself.
"As the security team had gained control over the Darlock, Kirk found himself face to face with several news-camera's. In a quick decision, he made an unapproved statement that managed to get onto the interplanetary datanets before we could stop it. He stated that..."
Yeah, so I told them that it was a counter-intelligence operation? It worked! They never realized that our security was breached, hell, they were convinced that I was a hero! They believed that everyone else had screwed up. Why did you have to mess it up for me! I could have become a captain by now! Maybe even an admiral if I'd played my cards right! Kirk then proceeded to invent new and interesting ways to swear-though he kept them to himself, in his head.
"Because of his publicity, we were forced to commend him on his "heroic" actions, rather than embarrass ourselves by admitting that he had bypassed security so easily. We officially rewarded him, but we placed this secure file into his dossier. It was once hoped that he might reform-but it would seem that won't happen. We never did manage to figure out who Bodoso'ch worked for-he died before he could tell us anything other than his name."
"Thank you Captain Kane for your briefing. Assuming no objections, I preliminarily sentence Commander Kirk to dishonorable discharge first degree, carrying life in prison sentence. Do any of the members of the board disagree?" No one spoke up. "I assume we are unanimous then, and sentence Kirk to life in prison and a dishonorable discharge first degree. We will recess for thirty minutes for the board to discuss the nature of the presented material, and then resume open discussion of the official charges. As president, I believe that the evidence here presented more than annuls the possibility of considering anything other than cowardice and desertion in the face of the enemy, and anticipate a death sentence. We are now recessed for discussion." She pressed an inter-com button, "Corporal of the guard, clear the chambers." The blast-door hatchway swung open, and the marines swiftly cleared the room for the deliberations of the board.
Interlude:
"Sir, high command wishes to speak with you about the ship that we intercepted."
"I'll take it in the briefing room." A few minutes later: "I'm sorry Admiral, but we failed to prevent their escape, and we failed to prevent them getting a message off. Bodoso'ch was right, this Captain Kane is a very dangerous man. Very dangerous-he not only managed to get his ship out of here, he also managed to warn his government ahead of time! Since he's retreated into the starlane towards Yevon, we will have to follow in order to take him out. And if our informants are correct, he will soon be promoted to admiral, and become an even greater threat. However, last we heard Kirk was still alive, and able to engage in more sabotage. We may yet have Kane in our feeding chambers. Please, give me the reinforcements necessary to track down Kane, and I'll take him down."
A pause, and the clacking of the Ithkul High Admiral came in: "You can have Invasion Fleet's taskforces. Defense Fleet will take up station in the Braska system and prevent it from falling to any counter-attack. Our sources have insured that any counter attack will be light, and pitiful anyways..."
"Ladies and gentlemen, this closed field court martial is now in session. As we are at a state of effective war, as defined by Article 5442, we have all powers normally assigned such a court during a time of war. The purpose of this meeting of the court martial is to evaluate a file containing data concerning Commander Alfred Simon Samuel Kirk, prior to reopening the open session and the subsequent debates. Commander Kirk, are you aware of the contents of the file?"
"No ma'am." Kirk looked pale, and worried. "I have not been given a chance to peruse it to my satisfaction, as it has remained closed to me, despite the unlock code"
"If it would please the court, I can explain that." Captain Kane interjected.
"It would."
"The purpose of the file I have detailed to you is to provide you with an accurate summary of the events that happened in the Centauri system. Due to the nature of the events involved, we could not put the truth in a public file, and since portions of military service reports are available to the public, they have to conform to the official truths involved. Because-"
"Are you going to get to the point anytime soon, captain?"
"Yes ma'am. Because of that, some judgments, such as the one the court martial is asked to levy against Commander Kirk, could be rendered inaccurate. Thus, secure files are sent along with the person in question, so that they are available for consideration in important cases. Specifically, they are meant to provide the court with the reasons they should disregard 'character evidence' based of off those events. Since the accused will never need to have access of them, as he already knows the contents, he is not granted access under any circumstances as a safeguard against corruption. This measure is primarily meant to cover sealed discipline logs, wherein the true record shows evidence of the persons error-usually extreme. If you look inside the secure court martial info database, you will note that this is mentioned under article 14 by 45 by 6. Inside, is also detailed the prisoner's duty to reveal the fact that these files exist to any court martial that is called against him."
"Article 14 and its sections deal with petty theft discovered by secure means. And there IS no section 14 by 45." The court president paused as one of her fellow court members whispered in her ear. "Correction. While there is no article 14 by 45 by 1 through 5, there is in fact an article 14 by 45 by 6. Presumably this is a security measure to protect this, um, manner of securing secure information in a retrievable manner. The clause referring to the prisoner's duty is also in there, and I see that is as specific as the clauses describing the opening ceremonies of a court martial. The penalty for failing to reveal them is quite harsh-life in prison. Well, I see no reason to delay deliberations any longer. Captain Kane, as you are already aware of these files and their contents, you will open."
"Thank you your honor. I will begin with the event in the Centauri system. When we completed a security sweep, I decided to allow the fighter squadrons a liberty at the nearby..."
Commander Kirk, as pale faced as earlier, gulped down several glasses of water during the course of the narration. He knew what was coming, and if he couldn't get some way of getting this evidence disqualified, he was going to lose, and lose badly. The members of the court glanced at him from time to time, and Kirk knew he had to stop looking so nervous, but it wasn't like he could just stop sweating! Or get blood to his face or anything like that! I'm not a, a, a, Darlock! He snarled mentally at the mention of Darlocks.
"Several of his wing-mates testified that he acknowledged that I had put the bar off-limits for security reasons," Captain Kane continued. "And yet he chose to enter anyway. He enjoyed the bar's unusual entertainments, such as..."
Damn him! Damn Kane to Hell! He was going to bring the whole thing up out of the trash, wasn't he? Kirk thought. So what if I gambled, so what if I liked the dancers there... so what if I wanted something more than just looking? They were willing... mostly. And I paid them well, even when they weren't willing!
"However, normally he managed to avoid letting these indiscretions interfere with his duty. This time, however, he failed in that. He consumed enough alcohol to render him inebriated, and then proceeded to gamble away his most recent paycheck. He then attempted to hire one of the dancers for some more private entertainment, and when she refused his offers, tried to drag her to his pre-rented room. Then, one of his 'drinking partners,' a Thomas Midarenkov, decided to help him by paying the rest of the money necessary to make the girl cooperative. Thomas asked only that Kirk help him a little latter. Kirk agreed, and had his fun. When he woke up the next morning, Thomas said he wanted a tour of Kirk's ship. Kirk agreed. Kirk took him..."
He doesn't have to make it sound like I was so wrong... the girl wanted stuff like that, or why would she have become an exotic dancer in a place everyone knew hired dancers that were also whores! And I'm good! She wanted me! All off them wanted me! They wanted me so bad they raised the prices for me, so that I'd be forced to pick one and marry her if I wanted her regularly! Like I'd ever marry anyone like them! Kirk babbled on inside his head, unaware of the piteous falsehoods he wove.
"Having shown 'Thomas' all the non-secure areas aboard ship, Kirk allowed himself to be convinced to show 'Thomas' into a secure area, namely combat central."
Combat central. Big deal! It's only the nerve center of the ship, during a fight! He couldn't have hurt anything there, and how was I supposed to know he could download our entire secure database from there?
"While leading 'Thomas' off the ship, Kirk showed the only piece of common sense he displayed in the entire affair. He asked 'Thomas' to hold for a minute. He asked 'Thomas' why he wanted to see the ship. At this point, the security squad that had been tracking down a Darlock by the name of Bodoso'ch came along. 'Thomas' was distracted by the questioning of Kirk, and allowed his eyes to momentarily shift spectrum. and one of the squad realized what he was."
"Captain, what do you mean his eyes shifted spectrum?" A board member asked.
"In essence, they began to glow. The squad searching for the Darlock proceeded to try and trap him, but Bodoso'ch, who was masquerading as Thomas, ran. They were unable to catch him before he hit the public part of the station. However, Kirk managed to engage him after they were in the main Promenade. While the Darlock should have been able to escape, it turns out that the small amounts of alcohol remaining in Kirks breath were sufficient to intoxicate the Darlock-the first clue anyone had to their extreme vulnerability to alcohol."
So I saved the day! Why did everyone want to punish me afterwards? It's not like he got away with those command codes! And even if he did, we would have changed them long before those pirates that attacked could have used them to lower our shields or cut weapons. Kirk thought to himself.
"As the security team had gained control over the Darlock, Kirk found himself face to face with several news-camera's. In a quick decision, he made an unapproved statement that managed to get onto the interplanetary datanets before we could stop it. He stated that..."
Yeah, so I told them that it was a counter-intelligence operation? It worked! They never realized that our security was breached, hell, they were convinced that I was a hero! They believed that everyone else had screwed up. Why did you have to mess it up for me! I could have become a captain by now! Maybe even an admiral if I'd played my cards right! Kirk then proceeded to invent new and interesting ways to swear-though he kept them to himself, in his head.
"Because of his publicity, we were forced to commend him on his "heroic" actions, rather than embarrass ourselves by admitting that he had bypassed security so easily. We officially rewarded him, but we placed this secure file into his dossier. It was once hoped that he might reform-but it would seem that won't happen. We never did manage to figure out who Bodoso'ch worked for-he died before he could tell us anything other than his name."
"Thank you Captain Kane for your briefing. Assuming no objections, I preliminarily sentence Commander Kirk to dishonorable discharge first degree, carrying life in prison sentence. Do any of the members of the board disagree?" No one spoke up. "I assume we are unanimous then, and sentence Kirk to life in prison and a dishonorable discharge first degree. We will recess for thirty minutes for the board to discuss the nature of the presented material, and then resume open discussion of the official charges. As president, I believe that the evidence here presented more than annuls the possibility of considering anything other than cowardice and desertion in the face of the enemy, and anticipate a death sentence. We are now recessed for discussion." She pressed an inter-com button, "Corporal of the guard, clear the chambers." The blast-door hatchway swung open, and the marines swiftly cleared the room for the deliberations of the board.
Interlude:
"Sir, high command wishes to speak with you about the ship that we intercepted."
"I'll take it in the briefing room." A few minutes later: "I'm sorry Admiral, but we failed to prevent their escape, and we failed to prevent them getting a message off. Bodoso'ch was right, this Captain Kane is a very dangerous man. Very dangerous-he not only managed to get his ship out of here, he also managed to warn his government ahead of time! Since he's retreated into the starlane towards Yevon, we will have to follow in order to take him out. And if our informants are correct, he will soon be promoted to admiral, and become an even greater threat. However, last we heard Kirk was still alive, and able to engage in more sabotage. We may yet have Kane in our feeding chambers. Please, give me the reinforcements necessary to track down Kane, and I'll take him down."
A pause, and the clacking of the Ithkul High Admiral came in: "You can have Invasion Fleet's taskforces. Defense Fleet will take up station in the Braska system and prevent it from falling to any counter-attack. Our sources have insured that any counter attack will be light, and pitiful anyways..."
