"I….we…..please put down anything you want from the ship," said Ransom, passing a datapad to his First Officer, Maxwell Burke.
"What?" said Maxwell.
"Is it too damaged to be saved?" said Marla Gilmore, the Equinox's Head Engineer.
"It will be," said Ransom, "Janeway is feeding it to the creatures."
"What?" said several of the crew, everyone starting to crowd around him.
"She found out about the experiments," said Ransom resignedly.
"How could she possibly know about that?" said Noah Lessing, a crewman.
"I have no idea," said Ransom wearily, "She knew everything, everything. It's been less than a day. We're a fellow Federation Starship, she must be the most suspicious Captain ever to live."
"That's probably why she's survived this long," said Maxwell begrudgingly, "Look how nice this ship is. She must be really intimidating the locals, getting all she can."
"Then why is she destroying our ship for doing the same thing?"
"Simple Rudy, she likes being in charge. There can only be one Alpha. Hell, if I had that kind of power, I wouldn't give it up. She's living the dream. High dictator of a warship, the most powerful person everywhere she goes. You're ruining her self-image by coming along being a Captain, rubbing it in her face what kind of miserable things she would do if she had a rattier ship. What do you expect to happen?"
"Be that as it may, she's going to destroy our ship, what are we supposed to do?"
"Let it go," said Max, waving his hand dismissively, "It was a ratty ship even before that latest attack. And now it's truly awful. No big loss."
"No big loss? No big loss!"
"You have to roll with the punches Rudy. We're human and Starfleet. Let her have her little power trip. Give her a little time and she'll have no choice but to integrate us into her crew. And then well…..there are worse things than being stuck on the most powerful ship in the Quadrant," he winked, "Much worse things."
The next 48 hours were filled with plans for the trial. Chakotay had been in charge of the logistics, picking jurors and making other preparations. Tuvok, as security officer and head juror, conducted interviews of each of the 16 crew members, and their ex-captain, beginning before Ransom returned to Sickbay, and continuing all through that day. The second day the Equinox crew was told that a trial would be held for Captain Ransom and he was moved to the Brig.
On the third morning, Captain Kathryn Janeway put on her dress uniform, preparing to judge the trial.
"Are you ready Kathryn?" said Chakotay through the door to her Quarters. He was also dressed in his formal uniform.
"Just a minute," came Janeway's voice, then momentarily the door opened, "You didn't have to come escort me to the trial Chakotay."
"I wanted to," he said congenially, "I know it's hard for you."
"Why should it be particularly hard for me?" she said, as they strolled through the corridor.
"Because you're a Starfleet Captain, the only other one in the Delta Quadrant. And you take that very seriously."
"Too seriously?" she stated evenly.
"Just the right amount of seriously."
Kathryn sighed as they stepped into the turbolift, "The way they reacted to being told about the trial, the reports of some of the crew interviews, I can already tell this Captain, and this crew are going to be trouble. They won't go down without a fight."
"Did you expect them to?"
"I don't know, maybe I hoped being caught would give them perspective, bring them back to their senses."
"That doesn't work with people like that," stated Chakotay, "The kind of people who would commit these crimes don't have the capacity to think like you do."
"You did," said Janeway.
"I hope you're not comparing me to them."
"Stop turbolift," ordered Janeway as they arrived at the right deck, "I'm not, but you were a criminal, a terrorist by some definitions. And if you'd been caught, well, I can't say you would have been sorry, but you would have conducted yourself with honor. You would have accepted the consequences of your actions, you wouldn't have been afraid of them. But I can see you now standing in front of those admirals, giving them some speeches to remember. I think even the most biased of them would have seen your sense of justice, your personal integrity."
"I….thank you Kathryn, that's very meaningful for you to say. I'll never forget it."
There was silence for a moment, and Kathryn could feel her face heating up.
Chakotay's hands were clenching and unclenching, but his voice was professional when he spoke, "I wanted to ask you, and you've just spoken about my sense of justice, I wanted to ask you to let me judge this trial."
"What?" she said, looking at him in surprise.
"Let me help you with this," he said looking at her, "I am the First Officer after all. You have enough to do with the ship, rather than getting so involved in this trial…..And if you don't want to look at it that way, consider me more impartial."
"Impartial?"
"It's quite clear you hate Ransom."
Janeway sighed, "Maybe we should let Tuvok be the Judge."
"Maybe," agreed Chakotay, "But I believe I can be fair."
"Alright," said Janeway. She paused for a moment, "You've got the temperament for it. Considering my temperament, maybe I should be the prosecutor."
"I'm afraid I already gave that position away."
Passing two security officers as she entered the makeshift court was one of the strangest experiences of her life, for reasons Kathryn could not place. The holodeck was transformed into a rather sterile courtroom with curved metal chairs and dark wood paneling, reminiscent of the real Starfleet court martial room, a place Janeway had only seen through an open doorway, and had sworn she would never have reason to visit.
Tuvok, B'Elanna, Tom, Harry, and eight crew members were seated at the farthest end of the room. There was a raised judge's chair on the left side of an open space, which also held a witness seat facing the judge. Seven stood to the side of it, apparently acting as a sort of bailiff.
Then there were a few chairs facing the jury, closest to the judge's podium was Ransom. The holographic lawyer seated next to him was a dark -haired male Vulcan. He was based on Seertek, a famed Vulcan defense attorney who had never lost a trial.
In the chairs across the gap, seated where the prosecutor would likely be, was Gretchen "Kincaid".
Chakotay moved to sit at the podium, and Janeway realized the only seat left was next to their newest ensign. Kathryn moved, not speaking as she sat down.
Gretchen did not turn her head as Chakotay began to speak, "This trial is being held for Rudolph Ransom, who captained the Federation Starship Equinox during its time in the Delta Quadrant. Taking that this is a court martial, and not a civilian trial, certain rights will not be allowed to him. He will answer any questions given to him, to his complete and full knowledge. He has the right to an attorney, who is fully fluent in the rules and who will advise him."
Chakotay paused, making eye contact with everyone present, one-by-one, "This trial is about life and death, about what we owe each other as we survive in an impossible environment, about our humanity. There will be no courtroom games, no technicalities. The truth will be known and judged."
Chakotay nodded at Seven, "The trial has begun. Prosecution, you may make your opening statements," she said in her clipped voice.
Gretchen stood, and walked formally to stand in front of the jury, "Members of the court, please direct your attention to my initial report. This is based solely on the logs and records of the Equinox. If you will direct your attention to the opening summary, the prosecution charges former Captain…."
"I object," said the Vulcan lawyer in a dignified tone, "Stripping Rudolph Ransom of his rank before his trial causes bias in the minds of the participants of this court martial. Federation regulations allow an officer to be relieved of command, and rank privileges, but not stripped of their title in these circumstances."
"I believe he's right," said Gretchen, addressing Chakotay, "My apologies to Captain Ransom," she said tipping her head impassively.
The Vulcan lawyer tipped his head back and Gretchen continued, "The prosecution charges Captain Ransom with 42 counts of murder, 9 counts of negligent homicide, 5 counts of manslaughter, 12 violations of Federation Interspecies Policy, and conduct unbecoming a Federation Captain. It is requested that you read the details once court has concluded for the day. For now, the prosecution calls Captain Ransom to the stand."
Rudy Ransom moved slowly and sat in the witness chair.
"Do you deny the charges?" asked Gretchen evenly.
"Well, I….I can't," said Ransom, "But there were extenuating circumstances. You don't know what it's like. Just like the Judge said, it was a matter of life and death."
"The murder charges of 42 alien life forms, do you deny those?"
"Well, I mean, the aliens did die. But we had to. We had to. It was us or them."
"The 9 negligent homicide charges for members of your crew who died in the subsequent alien attacks. Do you deny those?"
"I mean….it's not my fault. Every member of my crew agreed to the experiments. If they didn't they could've spoken up. I'm not a hard man. I care about my crew, ask any of them…..But we were so scared. Lost in the Delta Quadrant, on our small little ship. Half of my crew was already dead before the experiments….We were so desperate. People take chances when they're desperate," he said pleadingly to Gretchen, "You're lucky, you're lucky you had so much. The experiments were the only way to survive. We had to take our chances."
"The 5 manslaughter charges from the last attack on your ship. Attacks caused by continued experiments when your shields were at 50% power with negligible reserves. Your log shows you considered no other options. Do you deny this charge?"
"What options did we have?" he said tiredly.
"Your log shows no scan of planets to land on. It shows no distress signal before the final attack, no hailing of local aliens."
"What would that have done?" yelled Ransom suddenly at her, "They all hated us," he said viciously.
He breathed in, calming and tearing up a bit as he turned to stare at the jury, "You know what it's like. You can't trust anyone out here. They're not human," he paused, eyes lingering on Tuvok and B'lanna, "They're not Vulcan, or Klingon, or any of the civilized races of the Alpha Quadrant. They're not us. All they know how to do is kill and attack, betray. I lost half my crew."
"You're charged with violating Federation Interspecies Policy for, among other things, making first contact with the intent to destroy."
"I….I had no choice."
"I would like to direct the court to page 32 of the report, Applicable Quotations from Captain's Log: 'The Ankari were one of the kindest races we have met in the Delta Quadrant. Not only did they welcome us and give us gifts, upon finding out that we were the only members of our species in this quadrant, they invited us to live with them."
"What kind of life is that? Living among aliens! It was my job to get home damn it!" screamed Ransom, slamming his hands down on the chair.
Then he brought them up against his face, and hid his head.
"Do you know?" said Gretchen, "Do you know why you're charged with conduct unbecoming a Starfleet Captain?"
Ransom did not respond, continuing to bury his face in his hands.
"You make reference to an Experiment 6. It's featured in your logs just like the others, but you see, I know, I know, what happened," Gretchen bend down from the waist and leaned into Ransom, "The energy level in that experiment is higher than any other. There are…strange inconsistencies in the logged stats of that creature, almost as if the data is hiding something. Because it is…"
"That being, that sentient creature, didn't come alone, there was a second smaller creature attached, a baby." Gretchen's voice was steely and eerily calm, "And when you prodded the baby as an experiment, you realized the mother's energy level spiked. So you did it again, and again, and again, until the baby was a pile of ash. And once you made her watch her child be tortured into nothing, you tore her apart, limb by limb by limb."
Ransom breathed in heavily, fingers clenching his skull.
Gretchen stood up calmly, "The prosecution, rests its case."
Ransom's lawyer spoke just as formally, "The defense requests a recess while Captain Ransom composes himself and we prepare to respond to the accusations."
"So granted," said Chakotay, voice tight, "Court will resume tomorrow at 0900. Jurors should read over their documents, and continue any investigation of files or crew. Captain Ransom will be excused from anymore questioning for the day. Captain Ransom, you have the right to investigate and challenge any witnesses, files, or other evidence presented. You will not leave your Brig quarters, any required persons or evidence will be brought to you at your request. Security will be present in the room with you at all times, unless you are discussing privately with your attorney. Emitters have been installed in the Brig so that he can appear."