Evolutions I: An Act of Betrayal
Part Seventeen
The crew members crowded into the mess hall met the Doctor's eyes with angry glares as he looked around the courtroom but he didn't seem scared, frightened or even remorseful. He looked straight into Janeway's eyes and stated clearly, "Not guilty on all charges."
"What?" Janeway asked, unable to believe the doctor would have the gall to plead not guilty.
"I am not guilty Captain, and I will prove it." The doctor said.
"Proceed with your opening statement." Janeway ground out as she glared at the doctor.
"I believe that I will start with the charge of breaching the prime directive. What have I done to breach it?" The doctor asked calmly.
"You made first contact with Socadan and traded technology with them without informing or gaining the consent of the senior staff." Tuvok answered.
"The rules of first contact only apply to a species that has not discovered warp travel." The doctor responded smugly.
"You are wrong, Doctor." Chakotay informed him. "The rules of first contact do apply. Trading Federation technology with any species not part of the Federation is a breach of the rules."
"Is it?" the doctor asked sarcastically. "Then tell me, what was it when you gave the Borg a biological weapon to use against Species 8472? What was it when you destroyed the Caretaker's array? And most importantly, what was it when you gave holographic technology to the Hirogen?" The doctor finished angrily.
The onlookers shuffled restlessly in their positions. If the doctor was going to be punished for breaking the prime directive then so would the rest of the crew.
"Let's move on to the charges of engineering the kidnapping of three crew members and aiding in the torture of a crew member." The doctor continued with an angry sneer. "The crew members you speak of were never kidnapped."
"What they hell are you talking about, Doctor?" Janeway asked. "We all know that the Socadan experimented on them."
"I said that the three crew members were never kidnapped, not what the Socadan did to them." The doctor replied, looking annoyed.
"They were taken against their will. I believe that constitutes kidnapping." Tuvok answered.
"It was never my plan to give them to the Socadan. I would have been satisfied with letting the Socadan experiment on them for a couple of weeks aboard Voyager. It was your idea to trade them. No one here can accuse me of breaking the prime directive unless they admit to breaking it themselves. I may have used nanoprobes to influence your emotions but I could never have controlled them. In the end, all of the decisions were yours to make. If you had really wanted to you could have stopped it." The doctor finished his opening statement.
"Tuvok, please proceed with your opening statements." Janeway said, unable to even look at the doctor.
"Every person has to take an oath when they become a doctor. It is called the Hippocratic oath - do no harm. The doctor has broken his oath. He has controlled the crew with Borg nanoprobes, he has engineered the kidnapping of three crew members, one a minor. He has allowed one of them to be tortured and experimented on. He has done things that would cripple a normal human with guilt and yet he shows no remorse. I believe he has proven that he is a danger to the well-being of the rest of the crew." Tuvok finished.
"Alright Tuvok, you may call your first witness." Janeway said.
"I call Seven of Nine to the stand." Tuvok responded.
Seven stood up reluctantly and made her way to the stand. It was obvious that this was the last place she wanted to be.
"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" One of the security officers asked when Seven sat down.
"I do." Seven said keeping her eyes locked on B'Elanna for support.
"What did the Socadan do to you when you were brought aboard the space station?" Tuvok asked.
"They put Naomi, B'Elanna and me in a containment cell. They informed us that they would be carrying out their experiments on me and if I were to die, they would then use B'Elanna and Naomi as their test subjects." Seven stated.
"What types of experiments did they perform on you?" Tuvok asked.
"I am unsure." Seven lied. She did not want to give the Voyager crew any more information about what happened than they already possessed.
"Explain to us what you know happened." Tuvok instructed.
"They first began with a complete physical. Then they injected me with a series of inoculations, each followed by a full scan."
"Did the injections cause you any pain?"
"Yes." Seven answered, uncomfortable with discussing the procedures she'd undergone.
"Can you elaborate?" Tuvok asked calmly.
"The first injection was the most painful, it is comparable to when the Borg removed my organic eye and replaced it with an implant. The second and third were much less painful."
"No further questions."
"Your witness Doctor," Janeway said.
"How is your health now Seven?" The doctor asked.
"My health is fine."
"Are you still dependent on your alcove?"
"No."
"Do you still have Borg implants in your body?"
"No."
"How was your health before you left Voyager?"
"My alcove had been modified to interfere with my implants and decrease my overall strength considerably."
"Do you know who modified your alcove?"
"No."
"It was Harry Kim under the orders of Captain Janeway. He modified it without my knowledge or consent." The doctor said, proving that he had not had complete control over the crew.
"Objection Captain." Tuvok spoke. "I fail to see the relevance of these questions."
"I am simply trying to show that Seven's health has improved considerably after her stay with the Socadan. Often a patient has to deal with some minor pain to be healthier in the long run." The doctor explained.
"Objection denied." Janeway said, knowing that she had to stay impartial.
"I have no further questions for the witness." The doctor said, excusing Seven.
"I call B'Elanna Torres to the stand." Tuvok said when Seven left the stand.
"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" The security officer asked B'Elanna.
"I do." B'Elanna answered as she sat down.
"Do you feel that the doctor can be trusted with your medical examinations and those of the rest of the crew?" Tuvok asked.
"No."
"Could you please elaborate on your reasoning?"
"The doctor violated my trust and organized our kidnapping. I will never trust him again." B'Elanna answered truthfully as she glared at the doctor.
"The doctor was put in a position to maintain the well being of the crew and he has violated the trust of everyone in this room. He cannot be allowed to go unpunished." Tuvok said, addressing the court. "I have no further questions."
"While we are on the issue of trust, B'Elanna, how do you feel about the rest of the crew?" The doctor asked. He had realized from the beginning that he would not come out of this unscathed, so he had decided to make things as difficult for the rest of the crew as he could.
"I don't trust them either, after everything we've done for Voyager you all still turned on us. You tried to make us slaves." B'Elanna ground out.
"The doctor was controlling us, we didn't have a choice." Harry interrupted.
"That's bullshit. You all just wanted a faster way home, regardless of the consequences. You were all ready to cover it up and brand us as lunatics if we ever told anyone what happened!" B'Elanna shouted.
"This hearing will come to order." The captain ordered over the shouting of everyone watching.
"No further questions." The doctor said with a slight smirk after everyone had quieted down.
"Do you have any further witnesses?" Janeway asked Tuvok.
"No Captain."
"Do you have any witnesses Doctor?" Janeway asked.
"No Captain, they have already been called." The Doctor said, deciding that calling Naomi Wildman would not be helpful to his case.
"I will deliver my verdict shortly." The Captain said as B'Elanna left the stand and walked back over to Naomi and Seven.
"How do you think it's going to go?" B'Elanna asked.
"I do not believe that they will be able to convict the doctor." Seven said after a moment's thought.
"Are you sure? They look like they have enough evidence." B'Elanna asked.
"Normally it would be enough, but the doctor was not trying to prove his innocence. He was trying to show that the rest of the crew was as guilty as he was." Seven explained.
"And if they convict him, they will have to convict themselves." B'Elanna said, understanding.
The three hybrids spent the next half hour discussing what they thought would happen if the doctor was not convicted.
"I guess we're going to find out now." Naomi said as she pointed to Janeway making her way back to her seat.
"That was pretty quick." B'Elanna observed.
"After careful consideration I have decided that Starfleet laws are not always applicable in situations like this. We are alone in the Delta quadrant, and some rules must be bent for our continued survival." Janeway said, not daring to look at any of the hybrids.
"Looks like you were right Seven." B'Elanna said as she felt her anger building.
"I may not be able to convict you for your crimes Doctor, but you have destroyed the trust of the entire crew. You will not be allowed to continue as chief medical officer any longer. As of this moment you are demoted to crewman, and will have no chance of a promotion of any kind." Janeway finished.
"They could never have punished the doctor as Starfleet law demands. We knew this from the beginning." Seven said soothingly as she hugged Naomi and B'Elanna.
"I know Seven." B'Elanna said as she kissed Seven's forehead. "I guess I just didn't want to believe it until we saw it."
"Let's just go." Naomi suggested. "We still need to fix the ship."
"Perhaps you are correct." Seven agreed as the hybrids turned to leave.
"Where are you three going?" Janeway asked as she walked over to them.
"We are returning to our ship." Seven said.
"We still haven't talked about the two of you returning to Voyager." Janeway said, keeping her eyes glued on Seven.
"Nothing's changed Janeway. We will not be working for the Federation ever again." B'Elanna said as they pushed passed.
Three hours later...
"I just don't get it." Janeway said, frustrated. "I stripped the doctor of his rank. What more do they want."
"Maybe this is something we just can't fix." Chakotay sighed. "Everyone knows we can't bring charges against the doctor without bringing charges against ourselves."
"We have to get them back to work. If we're attacked, repairs will take too long to complete without them." Janeway elaborated.
"It isn't as bad as it seems. The Socadan did upgrade a lot of the ship's systems. We now have the speed to get away if things are really bad." Chakotay said hopefully. "Besides, I am sure that if Voyager really is in danger they'll help, at least for the sake of their own survival
"I hope you're right. We still have a few years of travel before we make it back to the Alpha quadrant."
"B'Elanna, look at this." Seven said as she looked through the computer core of their ship.
"What is it?" B'Elanna asked, looking up from the panel she was replacing.
"I believe that I have found a rudimentary artificial intelligence hard wired into the computer core." Seven said.
"That isn't anything special. All Federation vessels are equipped with one." B'Elanna said as she looked over Seven's shoulder.
"No." Seven disagreed. "This is different. The artificial intelligence is different, almost as if it is alive. I believe that I can re-activate it." Seven started to bring it online.
"It might be dangerous." B'Elanna warned, remembering the artificial intelligence that took over Paris's mind.
"I would have sensed it if the ship was dangerous." Seven countered.
"What do you mean sensed it?" B'Elanna asked.
"I have developed some empathic abilities. It was one of ways I was able to find out that the doctor was lying." Seven explained.
"Alright do it." B'Elanna said.
Seven activated the artificial intelligence, and watched as the rest of the ship began to power up.
"All damaged circuits bypassed. Three life signs detected. Identify yourselves." A voice sounded.
"What's going on?" Naomi asked as walked into the room.
"Seven just activated the artificial intelligence." B'Elanna informed her.
"I am Seven of Nine." Seven identified herself. "The child is Naomi Wildman, the other adult female is B'Elanna Torres. Who are you?" Seven asked.
"I am... circuit damage too extensive." The voice ended abruptly.
"If you give us instructions we may be able to repair you." Seven said.
"Negative, damaged circuits cannot be recovered."
"What do you suggest we do?" B'Elanna asked.
"Please replace all of my broken circuits, I will adapt to the situation." The voice instructed.
"Do you have a name?" Naomi asked curiously.
"The only circuits that have not been destroyed contain the basic information for my systems, all personal data has been destroyed."
"What should we call you then?" B'Elanna asked.
"I do not know."
"Perhaps we can give you a name." Seven suggested.
"That would be acceptable."
"Do you like the name Legaia?" Seven asked.
"The name is acceptable." The computer voice said.
"You know, she kind of talks like you Seven." Naomi said with a smile.
"Until my language database is repaired I will be speaking like this." Legaia said.
"Do you know how long it'll take to get you working?" B'Elanna asked.
"You have already repaired my base systems. Judging by the number of damaged circuits and relays remaining, at your present speed it will take approximately six hours to complete all repairs."
"I suggest we start with your most important systems first." Seven spoke.
"I concur." Legaia agreed. "I suggest you start with my internal bio-scanner."
"What's that?" B'Elanna asked curiously.
"It allows me to perform a detailed scan of every life form inside of me. I use this information to delineate between my crew and any hostiles." Legaia said helpfully.
"Do you mean that you can use this scan to make sure that only certain people can enter you?" B'Elanna asked.
"Yes. Who would you like to clear for boarding?" Legaia asked.
"How can you trust us?" Seven asked curiously. "We have done nothing to earn it."
"It was you that found me in the junk yard, Seven of Nine. You detected the emergency pulse I was transmitting. It is the only basis I have to trust anyone." Legaia responded.
"There, I think that should do it." B'Elanna said as she replaced the circuit for the bio-scanner as Legaia finished speaking.
A blue light surrounded Seven, B'Elanna and Naomi for several seconds before dissipating. "Bio scans complete. The three of you are the only ones authorized to access any of my systems. All other attempts to gain access will be met with resistance."
"Captain, a vessel just dropped out of warp beside us." Kim informed the bridge.
"Red Alert, hailing frequency open." Janeway ordered. "I am Captain Kathryn Janeway of the star ship Voyager. Identify yourselves."
"It is good to see you again Captain." Carkonas said as he and Callik approached the view screen.
"What do you want?" Janeway asked, a little shocked to be seeing them again.
"We have run into a few problems with our experiments and we must re-examine your drone." Carkonas said.
"You said that you didn't need them anymore." Janeway said, a little worried that she would have to fight the species that had upgraded most of their weapons.
"We will of course pay you for your cooperation." Callik said. "Perhaps you could use some dilithium crystals for your warp engines?" He suggested.
"We have already figured out that the doctor has been controlling us." Janeway informed them coolly. "Your plan will not work a second time."
"Captain, we have outfitted your ship with its new systems. Do you really wish to challenge us?" Callik warned.
To Be Continued...
Yeah! another cliff hanger, you know what you have to do to get the next part out.