ACT IV

Court Chambers of City Hall

"I can't believe this!" McGawan said. "You are going to push a trial on ME?"
"What else CAN I do?" Jennifer said, turned to McGawan in anger. "I want to believe you, but quite honestly, after what Commander Nakajima has presented, I just CAN'T believe you!"
"I did NOT kill your father!" McGawan said. "You can put me through the probability test in the security station if you want. I did NOT kill your father at all!"
"I've got a statement from the receptionist on duty the day you came here," Jennifer said. "She said you ASKED her for a phaser."
"I said I wanted to shoot MYSELF—"
"Save it," Jennifer said. "I don't have the energy, or the patience, to argue with you, Bruce. I can't believe I fell in LOVE with YOU!"
"Goddammit, Jenny, PLEASE—"
"Don't you DARE call me that! You just LOST the privilage to call me that," Jennifer said. She began to weap as she set into her chair behind the big oak desk. "I put my heart in YOU," Jennifer sobbed. "How could I have ever fallen in love with you? You... fu—"
"Madam Governor," Wing interupted, "I think it's safe to say that the Captain maintains his innocense. A court martial is in order."
McGawan agreed. "I agree. I will PROVE to you that I AM the man you fell in love with, Baby. Please, give me a chance—"
"You shut your goddamned, dirty, lying mouth, you murdering bastard!" Jennifer suddenly shot. "I'm going to give you your court martial. Then, I'm going to order Admirals Paris, Janeway, and Captain Picard to this sector. And I'm going to testify against you, and watch you BURN for what you did, you sonuvabitch."
"Dispite the evidence," Nakajima reminded Jennifer, "it is still illogical to assume that the Captain didn't, in fact, murder your father. A general court martial is in order."
"Wait!" McGawan said. "Commander, come here."
"Sir?"
"DO IT!"
Nakajima slowly came over. Suddenly, McGawan grabbed Nakajima's right hand. He put her hand on the side of his face. "Katra points," McGawan said.
"Sir?" Wing began...
"My Katra points, Commander! Where are they?"
Nakajima began to shake a little.
"What the hell are you trying to prove to me?" Jennifer wondered. "What is this all about?"
"The Captain attempting to get Commander Nakajima to mind meld with him," Wing said. "To get his real memories and enter them into evidence."
"I can't allow you to-"
"Under Starfleet Articles of Due Process, during preliminary proceidings, this is allowable," Wing said. "But... Captain?"
Slowly, Nakajima found McGawan's Katra points. "I... I..." Nakajima began to slowly say.
"Bruce," Wing said, putting a hand on the Captain's shoulder. "She can't. She's not skilled enough."
"Bullshit I'm not!"
"You don't have the FOCUS for a mind meld," Wing said. "I've studied the technique. You need to FOCUS your emotions AWAY. You are too afraid and surprised. You are unprepared. You can't complete a successful mind meld!"
"You watch," Nakajima said. "I'm going to prove you wrong. You are a human. What would you know?"
"You're ONLY HALF Vulcan," Wing reminded, forcefully. "You have to prepare your mind! You need to take EXTRA TIME to mentally prepare yourself. You're too emotional. The link you make with the captain could KILL HIM!"
"It WILL NOT KILL HIM!" Nakajima insisted. "I WILL be successful. The fact that I am SURE of it will prove it."
"You are angry, hurt, upset, afraid, unsure," Wing said.
"Yeah. So?"
"They are EMOTIONS!" Wing pleaded. "They WILL get in the way of the link. You CAN'T do it. Your honor, PLEASE stop this."
"Due process says—"
"She is going to KILL my client BEFORE he can stand trial!"
"I WON'T KILL HIM! Damn you, Tao," Nakajima said. "Trust me."
"Call Commander Tuvok at Starfleet," Wing said. "The head of Starfleet Security can find a Vulcan to mind meld with the Captain who is qualified to do so."
"Commander," Jennifer said, "Wing's right. You're upset. Just like me. As angry as we both are, dispite that you are Vulcan, you are half human too. You can't do it."
Nakajima's fury was intensifying. So was her desire to prove everyone wrong. "But I CAN do it, Tao."
"Kaori," Wing said, slowly rising. "The mental storm in your mind, once you link with the Captain, WILL kill him. You may be half human, and have human emotions, but you are half Vulcan as well. The Vulcan half INTENSIFIES those emotions two-THOUSAND fold. As soon as you link with the Captain, his neural pathways will degrade and overload, instantly killing him. Let Jennifer talk to Commander Tuvok. If necessary, she'll ask Tuvok to come here and do it himself. Please, Kaori. Don't do it."

Kim squeezed his eyes closed. He was ready. He felt the blade slowly press against his neck. He could feel the sting of the rusty d'artagh knife. Kim knew his time was over...
But nothing happened. Except, that the pressure, and the pain... it went away.
Men began to scream. He heard the sound of phaser fire, the familiar whine of Starfleet phasers. Then, transporter beams.
"Are you alright, Lieutenant Commander?"
Kim didn't know if he was dead, and this is what he WANTED to hear? Or if he was REALLY alive?
Kim, being a scientist, decided to test the 'alive' theory, and openned his eyes. There, he saw a young, strapping beautiful woman, almost angelic-like, in a Starfleet security uniform, extending a hand towards him. Her hair was tied back in a bun, and she holstered her phaser with her other arm.
Kim took her hand, and she helped him to his feeet. "Thank you," he said, taking a look at the woman's neck. "Lieutenant...?"
"Lieutenant Roni Wilcox, head of Starfleet Security on the colony," Wilcox introduced. "A few people saw your snatching, and called us. We beamed in right away."
"Thank God for crowded streets," Kim said. "I have to get to City Hall. Care to escort?"
"With pleasure, Sir."

"Kaori?" Wing said, quietly, behind Nakajima. "Are you SURE you can do it?"
Nakajima closed her eyes, and breathed heavily a few times. She forced her Vulcan half to come, to take control. Wing was right, though. The storm in her mind was REALLY strong. She did doubt that she could control it all. But, if it would clear the Captain, whose trust he earned with her over the last incident with the Negarani, she wanted to help the Captain prove his innocence. That, and she admired his determination to maintain innocence, even when the odds were clearly AGAINST him.
Finally, she nodded. "I'm sure, Sensei."
Wing nodded. "Okay. Close your eyes."
Nakajima did so.
"What do you see?"
Nakajima sighed heavily, as she went into a trance. "The storm."
"They are your emotions?" A nod was the response to him. "Now," he said, "see that storm. See its fury. See its power. Next, I want you to focus. Focus on what it's like to see a storm break apart, and the sun to shine through. Let the peace be that which breaks the storm."
Nakajima breathed deeply...

Nakajima stood on the precipice, overlooking the valley of flames. The river of lava and flowing fire raged on, as the storm blasted over head. A loud clap of thunder deafened Nakajima, as she tried to focus on wanting calm...

"It's too hard," Nakajima said. "The raging river below..."
"Of Fire?"
Nakajima nodded.
Wing sighed heavily. "Dammit. It's not going to work..."
"It WILL work," Nakajima whispered loudly. She took another deep breath. "I just need to stop the river's flow."

Nakajima saw the rain fall from the storm. A rainfall so heavy, so much of a burden, that as it hit her, she fell to the ground. The rain hurt, as it impacted on her body. Each drop felt like a stab of a knife, happening over and over and over again...

 "It hurts!" Nakajima called out.
Wing put a hand on Nakajima's shoulder. "Kaori—"
"I can DO IT!" She insisted. "I just need... oh, God, it hurts!"
Wing squeezed. "It's time."
Nakajima openned her eyes, slowly. A single tear ran down her face, as the pain subsided. She slowly took a deep breath, and turned to Wing. "What happened?"
"The emotional storm," Wing said. "You can't multitask."
"How can you do it so easily?"
Wing shook his head. "I can't. Even if I could, it would be too much for me. Master Wu tought me that 'one's greatest enemy is an inner violent beast known as Self.' Once you know how to handle yourself, you can go on from there."
"'The way to inner peace is through Chi'," Nakajima remembered. She sighed heavily, and sat back in her chair. "I'm sorry, Captain. I can't do it."
Jennifer nodded, clearly coming back to reality after seeing the excitement play out in front of her. She, angrily, looked to McGawan. "You coward."
"Excuse me?" Wing inquired.
"You KNEW the consequences," Jennifer ruled. "You KNEW that she could kill you in a mind meld. And you tried to take the easy way out, to cover up your dirty truth. So you could die an innocent man in my eyes."
"No," McGawan insisted. "That's not it at all—"
"Shut the hell up," Jennifer said, holding up a hand. "I've had enough of you, you fu—"
"Governor," Wing said, holding a hand of his own up. "Nothing will be solved by this."
"You're right. It won't," Jennifer said. She shook her head. "I am going to make a ruling. You're going to stand trial for the murder of my father. God help you, you psychotic prick."

On time, all returned. As Jennifer sat down, everyone else did so also. She asked the bailf to begin the record, and the last part of the hearings began.
"After much deliberation, and after the incredible wasting of my time in chambers," Jennifer openned, clearly making a personal stab at McGawan. "I hearby rule that a General Court Martial proceiding, against the defendant, Captain... Bruce McGawan, will commence in one week's time. The proceidings will be presided over by Admiral Kathryn Janeway and Owen Paris, of Starfleet Command. And, Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise. If found guilty, the maximum punishment is life imprisonment. The defendant IS aware of the information, is he not?"
McGawan gulped, sadly, and nodded. "I am."
"Very well. This court is dismissed. In the meantime, Captain McGawan is hereby confined to the colony detention center until trial time." To end, Jennifer took her gavel.
However, before it could come down, Harry Kim burst into the court room. It caught Jennifer's attention, as she stopped before she could slam the gavel. "Mister Kim. You are in contempt of court. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't throw you in jail!"
"Because, you have the wrong man!" Kim insisted. "Request permission to approach."
"This should be interesting," Jennifer said. "Council, and Mister Kim, please approach."
Nakajima, Kim, and Wing approached. Just as people were starting to leave, Jennifer slammed her gavel. "Order! This court is not OFFICIALLY dismissed until I have gavelled it dismissed."
It was law.
Everyone, who got up, headed BACK to their seats.
After they mumbled amongst themselves, Jennifer signaled for McGawan to come to the bench. "My chambers," she said, post haste.
Within the chambers, after Jennifer took her seat, she watched the Starfleet Officers work. "After I got beneath the tampering, I noticed something VERY interesting," Kim said. "The transporter reading was very real. It beamed a phaser into the Captain's pocket. The logs recorded the transport before the murder occurred. However, after running an analysis of the dispersal pattern of the residual particles associated with transporter activity, the time of beam-in and the logs do NOT match.
"So, I did more research. The beam originated from within the city limits," Kim concluded. "And it wasn't from the Ohio. Neither was the hack."
"So, this means that someone supplied the Captain with the phaser," Jennifer said. "Big deal."
"The autopsy of Governor Giavani suggests that a device was beamed ONTO his chest, underneath his shirt," Kim continued. "The device disintegrated after introducing a lethal injection of a medicine designed to stop the Governor's heart. After the device disintegrated, it burned through the Governor's chest and shirt, leaving residual adeon particles. The particle emitters in the device were replicated based on an identical design of the phaser array. Thusly, when scanned, it made the phaser and the adeon particles match up."
Kim's combadge went off. "Wilcox to Kim."
"Kim here."
"Commander, the operation is complete," Wilcox said. "We found the cell. However, there was no one here. They must've beamed to a warship in orbit."
"Acknowledged," Kim said. "Have the starbase make a trace for any Negarani activity in orbit, and track down any ion traces. Send the Mukaihara after them."
"Aye, Commander."
Suddenly, Jennifer felt a pang of guilt lump in her chest. "I... I just passed an order for a court martial to go through."
"Let it go," McGawan said. "It will open Starfleet's eyes a lot more to the situation here. We could get more ships out here as a result and start actually DEFENDING this sector."
"He's right," Wing said. "What happens here could send a message to Earth, and we could start to actually SAVE lives. Your father's death won't be in vein. That's for sure."
"Kaori?" Jennifer addressed. "Do you agree?"
"It is logical," Nakajima said, the storm in her mind finally dissapating. "It is worth a try."
A call came through for Jennifer on her desk. She took it on speaker comms. "Yes, George?"
"Your honor," said the bailf's voice. "I have just been informed from Starfleet Command that Captain Picard and Admiral Janeway are unavailabe. However, Admiral Paris will arrive in the sector tomorrow, with Admiral T'kar. Captain Daniels has been asked to fill in for Captain Picard."
"Thank you, George." Jennifer ended the communication. "I'm releasing you from legal custody," Jennifer said to Bruce. "You had BETTER be found innocent. Or I'll kill you myself."
McGawan smerked. "You watch, Baby. Just watch and be amazed."

Captain's Log, Stardate 60298.7
Naturally, I've been found innocent of all charges. The record won't show this incident on file. And, Starfleet has made a ruling to send five more ships out here. It's not much, but at least I can officially say that we have a fleet now. The Negarani are expected to be SERIOUSLY pissed off for this...

McGawan put his duffel underneath the sofa, in the back section of the Runabout Ohio. From the replicator, he ordered a cola, with a twist of lemon, his favorite. From the main console, he filed his flight plan with the Starbase.
A knock scared McGawan out of his work.
He looked up, surprised to see Jennifer, with a small bouquete of flowers. Lillies. The lillies made her eyes shine, and it really complemented her beautiful, young face. "I hope I'm not disturbing you."
"Not at all," McGawan said, standing. "I was just getting ready for prelaunch. What brings you here, Madam Governor?"
"I was hoping, if you don't hate me, to allow you to call me Jenny again."
"I don't hate you," McGawan said. "You were doing what you had to do. Sure you damned me to hell more times than I can count, but hey. Such is the human way."
"Can I ask you something? What did you see? Did Daddy... go quickly?"
McGawan stepped forward. "Are you sure you wanna hear this?"
Jennifer nodded. "I wanna know."
McGawan nodded again. "Okay..."

"So," Giavani said, lighting a cigar. "Last night, I went by Jenny's room. She wasn't there."
McGawan played stupid. He put his hands behind his back, and shook his head. "I have no clue about it, Marcus."
"Don't kid around with me," Giavani said. "You love her, don'tchya?"
"Eh?"
"I know it," Giavani said. "I can tell by how she looks at you. And that she wasn't in her room all night. I know it well. Don't play dumb with me, Son. I know more than you think I do. Want one?" Giavani offered a cigar to McGawan.
Graciously, McGawan took it. "Thank you."
"Ey, I don't mind if ya see my girl," Giavani said, lighting McGawan's cigar. "Just don'tchya dare hurt her. Or you'll be swimmin' with the fishes. Gotit?"
McGawan smerked.
"What's so funny?"
"You DO sound like someone from The Godfather, Part Two."
"Neva seen it."
"Well, it goes something like..."
Suddenly, McGawan felt something on the back of his neck. The sensation that followed was a cool feeling, an almost refreshing feeling. However, it was also a tiring feeling. McGawan blacked out, and the last thing he felt was the floor...

"He must've really started to love you too," Jennifer said, with tears rolling down her eyes. "He gave you a Cuban. He NEVER gives anyone Cubans. Not even the last commander of the base before you came here."
"Baby," McGawan said, slowly bringing Jennifer to her feet. She put the flowers on the table, which stretched a little ways in the small section of the runabout, and put her arms around McGawan. "It's not every day that I, too, can fall madly in love with a woman who is so incredible as you."
"I'm not incredible," Jennifer said. "I wanted to see you fry."
"Jenny," McGawan said, slowly pushing her away. However, he lifted her head gently. "Gimme some sugar, Baby."
"'Evil Dead'?"
"The best B flicks on Earth."
"Go to hell, you bastard." With that, McGawan finally pulled Jennifer towards him, and kissed her passionately.

The storm raged on. The rain pelted her, stinging her. Below, she heard the rage of the river of fire. She could feel its heat. Its intensity. She could feel herself giving into the pain...
"I CAN'T" she screamed...

"Just relax," Wing said. Nakajima had one hand on Wing's facial katra points, as Wing slowly meditated with Nakajima. "Focus on my voice. Focus on me and me alone."

Slowly, she stood, dispite the death rain. She could feel her muscles aching. Every fiber of her being was being tortured. She couldn't help but want to surrender. However, she could also hear him in her mind. She could feel his calm wash towards her.

"That's it," Wing said. "Now... PUSH the storm!"

"How?"

"You must push it from your mind," Wing said. "Use the light. The light of peace. The inner light of your Chi!"

Nakajima closed her eyes. The ground beneath her began to quake violently, as the river below began to flow more violently. She could feel the energy flowing from the river beneath her feet. She could feel it coming closer... and closer... and closer...
The river of fire hit her. The intensity almost knocked her over. But, she maintained balance, kept control. She could absorb the river of fire. She could find the light, finally. And realized that the river was NOT the river of pain and tourment. But a tool... the inner light of her Chi.
Her passion.
Her drive.
Her center.
Her self.
She absorbed the river within her, and pushed it outward. She could feel the energy release itself, and continue to renew itself. "You... are you doing this?"

Wing had found himself watching Nakajima from the other side of the room. He shook his head slowly, as he watched Nakajima's center overtake her. She was in control of herself. It was incredible!
"The meld was broken," he said. "It was too much for me. You pushed me away."

Nakajima openned her eyes. The sky was blue, cloudless. The sun shined down upon a green valley, fully calm, fully peaceful. The river of fire had subsided, and was flowing normally again. However, it no longer scared her. She was, finally, in total control...

Nakajima openned her eyes. She cocked her head to one side, staring at Wing. "Facinating." She searched herself, attempting to find an emotion to express...
She surprised herself to find nothing.
"What is it?" Wing wondered.
"I feel absolutely nothing," Nakajima said. This was truly a cause for celebration. However, Nakajima couldn't even bring herself to smile. "This is completely fascinating."
"Is that all you can say? How do you feel?"
Nakajima had to think for a moment. Her human storm had calmed. She had found inner peace within herself. "It will take some time," she said. "However, I believe I can finally control my emotions."
Wing shook his head. "You still have a LONG way to go, Kaori. A LONG way to go."
Wing turned to a viewport. Through it, he could see Morias Four slowly spinning. Outside, a hauler passed by, on its way to finalize the repairs to the Gulfstream, which just began to back out of its drydock.
The Runabout Ohio came to an approach vector with the launch bay, and came in. A Federation Long-Haul Freighter dropped out of warp, escorted by two haulers and an Akira class Starship, and approached the station.
All in all, life was beginning to return to relativley normal on Starbase 248. And on Morias Four, the Earth Colony planet which helped to push Starfleet to establish Starbase 248 ten years ago, in the city of New Hope, at night... The new Governor, Jennifer Giavani, looked up at the night sky, seeing the stars twinkle in sequence. A few streaks of light could be seen with the naked eye, brighter than any shooting star... the view of ships going to warp.
And in that stretch of night time sky, Jennifer Giavani knew, her love was working hard to protect her. She felt secure in that.
Tonight, she could finally mourn. And sleep.

Executive Producer
Man of Trek Lore

Executive Consultant
Midnight Dove