Chapter Thirteen: Debates of Fate
The throne room was silent as Prince Avery stood at the door. It was a grim task he was handling today. Hayley was at side, her hand held gently by his own. His sister stood behind them, for once actually in a dress, though not with out her favorite sword, a gift of Duke Nolan upon her receiving her squire's rank.
"All rise for His Royal Highness, Prince Avery, sitting in judgement for the crown," he heard as he stepped across the threshold. He'd arranged for plenty of witnesses today, on Earl Cedric's advice. He'd asked for a wide range of people, including one of the cooks from Avtra Keep, the entire City Council, and the Earl of Avtra's Own.
Avery was very nervous, especially as he saw Duke Nolan sitting next to Duchess Desiree and Earl Cedric. He passed them without comment though, then took a seat on a chair that had been placed in front of the throne. Brittany sat on his left, and Hayley on his right.
"The crown sits in judgement!" the chamberlain announced. "Call for the first defendant!"
A gasp went through the nobles as the first defendant entered. He was in shackles. From his tunic, it was clear that this man was a noble. His bearing merely confirmed that, as he held his head high, and his shoulders squared.
Brittany stood, and read from a parchment she held. "Dale, Earl of Arlipor, you are charged with treason, having rose up in arms against your lawful king, Richard, the second of that name. How do you plead?"
The Earl of Arlipor remained silent.
Avery stared at him, saying, "You can either say guilty, or not guilty. If your yelling earlier in the day wore out your voice, you can nod for guilty, shake for not. Otherwise, we'll assume you're guilty and get on with the sentence."
The Earl remained stiff and unmoving.
"Let the record indicate that Earl Dale pleaded guilty by his silence," Avery said. "The court has received letters in defense of the defendant from the Court Defender. Does anyone have words to add in the defense of the accused?"
The room remained silent. The Earl remained standing stiffly.
"The court, having read the charges, and the defense presented, and receiving no further evidence in open court, is prepared to issue a decision," Avery said. "I find you Guilty as charged. Given the nature of the charges, I sentence you to death by beheading. Furthermore, your titles will be stripped, and your lands returned to the Duchy of Castrome. Your title will be given to the future husband of the Lady Leia. From this day forward you will no longer be counted among the nobility of Ellosia."
The Earl did not move, but his face became very pale. Without his nobility the Earl would no longer be beheaded by the sword. Instead, an ax would take his head, which would no doubt be displayed around the kingdom. Still, he remained silent as soldiers took him away. "Call for the next defendant!"
The next defendant was a stout man, wearing the arms of the Fasstime Army. Unlike the former Earl, this man stood slumped, his head bowed.
"Sargent Garret, you stand here accused of murder of the Lord Dorian, Royal Tutor and former Chamberlain, as well as participating in a treasonous rebellion against His Majesty, King Richard the Second of the name," Princess Brittany said. "How do you plead?"
"I was just following orders," Garret replied firmly.
"Record the Sargent's plea as Guilty with provisions," Avery said. "Does the defendant have anything to add to his defense?"
"Defense? You've misdirected your charges," Garret replied. "I was merely the instrument Lord Henry used this time. He's been like this since before King Richard took the throne. He killed Prince Ferrel, and blamed it on Duke Nolan when he was just sixteen. Drake, Earl of Avtra was his victim too. He used to boast on how he got away with it. No one would ever expect the head of Fasstime's Customs Service to smuggle in a deadly poison like the scarlet death."
Avery turned briefly to Hayley, and whispered, "remind me to have Lord Harlen compile a list of people who died by the scarlet death."
"He conspired with the Earl of Arlipor, the Baron of Greenstone Keep, and Lord Oswald, to take your father's place, and you're persecuting me?"
"Rest assured that Lord Henry will be on trial as soon as we find him, if we can get him here alive," Avery said. "Are you willing to provide evidence against Lord Henry and others?"
"Evidence ... I'll give you chapter and verse if it helps my case."
"Your sentence will remain, the method of carrying it out, however, might be changed, and it will be delayed as long as you are useful and truthful," Avery said. "Guards, please take Sargent Garret back down. We'll resume his case later. Brittany, next case."
"Bring in, Lord Virgil of Arlipor," Brittany said, before a young boy no older than ten was brought in. Unlike the previous prisoners, he was not restrained in any matter. "Lord Vigil stands accused of participating in the capture of the Odyssey and assisting his father in the furtherance of the conspiracy."
"Lord Vigil," Avery said. "You stand accused of serious crimes today, however, you are young, and as such we do not hold you accountable for much of them. I am not even asking for a plea from you, as you are an innocent who has not yet reached his eleventh year."
"Thank you, your highness," Virgil said politely, with a bow.
"You are welcome, young lord," Avery said. "You may note that we have stripped your father of his rank and station. We do not propose to do so with you, though you will likely never have your father's earldom, save if you marry into the family. That post needs to lay fallow. As you are not of age, the crown and your duchess will take it upon ourselves to see to your remaining education. If you will swear loyalty to the crown and your Duchess."
Virgil prostrated himself before the throne and said, "I swear I will never betray my King or my Duchess."
"Lord Treavor of Armedge, step forward," Lady Hayley ordered. The Captain and second son of the Duke of Armedge approached and bowed to the Prince and Princess. "In this matter I speak for the Duchess of Castrome. Are you willing to accept our vassal, Lord Treavor of Armedge as your page, and future squire?"
"I will gladly accept your charge, Lady Hayley," Treavor said.
"Lord Virgil, since you are the first page to be called to serve Lord Treavor, Princess Brittany will see to your outfitting as her final duty as Duke Nolan's squire," Avery said.
After a minute's pause, Avery stood and announced, "Court is adjourned." To little fan fare, the three exited, Lord Treavor and Lord Vigil following in their wake.
Jean-Luc Picard led his fellow starship captains to a nearby lounge, already stocked with refreshments. They had sat through three days of testimony and evidence. All the reports of the Enterprise's investigation had been read, and their authors cross examined. Several of Captain York's surviving officers had been brought on board briefly for testimony as well. Testimony was over.
"Captain Yoshida, what is your impression of Captain York?" Picard asked.
Yuki Yoshida was the Captain with the least seniority on the board, having received his Captaincy only four months before. He was of Japanese descent, with dark black eyes and hair. He sat on the edge of the white cloth covered chair, seeming ready to bolt from the room at any moment.
"He's a good leader in a bad situation," Yoshida said. "Just the fact that he's ruling a small country look bad. But he didn't really take it to extremes. With the forces he has at his command, he could quite easily have taken over a good portion of this planet instead of just ruling an island nation. In my opinion he upheld the Prime Directive to the best of anyone's abilities."
"I must disagree, Captain Yoshida," Captain T'Gwen Washington said.
Washington was half Vulcan. To many this meant she was a female clone of Captain Spock. Washington wasn't. Her mother had been the Vulcan, and she had grown up on Earth. In fact her own mother had grown up on Earth. Still, logic and rules were almost a racial characteristic for the modern Vulcan, and like most half-Vulcans of her age, they were dear to her.
"Please, explain," Picard asked.
"The Prime Directive clearly forbids any interference with any primitive culture," Washington said, sitting stiffly in the most stiff and least padded chair in the room. "As King, I do not see how you can state that he did not interfere with that culture. From the moment he took that post, he was in violation."
"I say it's because he took that post that he's not," Yoshida said.
"I fail to see how that could be."
"Let's look at the facts," Yoshida said. "The Odyssey had crashed. It wasn't going anywhere, and the ship couldn't be taken apart or destroyed. It had landed on the previous King and the entire Royal Family. If he hadn't taken over, his actions most likely would have resulted in civil war in the country. If he hadn't defended and remained around his former ship, it would have been taken over ..."
"Which I understand it was for a brief while just before Captain York was brought in," Washington said.
"It was, but they had almost twenty years to strip the ship of her higher technology. They've done an admirable job of getting the ship stripped down, and that's something that has taken many years, especially given how hard it is to dispose of it. I'm not sure it's even possible to get rid of the ship herself without causing an even greater interference."
"So you admit that he interfered with the culture," Washington said.
"In a small, limited manner that did not make any lasting changes in the culture above that which a normal enlightened king of the era would have, T'Gwen," Yoshida said.
"Enlightened King?" Washington said. "Let me review for you what the other Kings on this planet have been doing. The current King of Rogia killed three Earls by beheading with a dull knife. The Arch Duke of Grimall once killed seven lords in single combat. These people are not ready for kindness and compassion."
"Perhaps they are, and have gotten," Captain Picard interrupted. "Dinath's Queen, for instance acts very much like Captain York. She deals rather than battles, and runs a quite fair court."
"Perhaps," Washington said. "There is still the matter of the ship."
"The ship is a problem, but not one that Captain York could solve," Yoshida said. "It's actually more of a long term problem than one of immediate nature. As far as the current technology level of this world is concerned, they don't know how to construct anything remotely like it, and are centuries from being able to figure it out. As long as we get rid of some of the hardware that remains that Captain York couldn't, it won't be a factor in technological advances for quite some time."
"Perhaps you are discounting the inspiration factor of such a structure," Washington said. "It is the single largest structure on the planet."
"Yes, and it no doubt will attract as many visitors some day as the Pyramids on Earth," Yoshida said. "The mystery of it's construction may take millennia to figure out. It will grow to be like the Pyramids, the Great Underwater Palace of Risa, and the Hall of Ancient Thought on Vulcan. Important architectural mysteries of their time, but hardly a source of cultural advancement."
"As long as we strip it throughly, we should have no problems with it's presence," Picard said. "Indeed, it's removal would cause more of a legend to grow up among the people of Ellosia than it's continued presence, in my judgement. Captain Washington, how do you see the case?"
"I find every violation of the Prime Directive to be a problem, however, that is not what we're here to decide," Washington said. "The question is did he have a choice in it. And to that question, I must regretfully say that he did not."
"I agree with that," Picard said. "Captain Yoshida?" Yoshida nodded. "Then we will have to render a verdict of not guilty."
Marrissa sat in the center seat of the Enterprise-E. With her father, Riker, and Data involved in the trial, and La Forge still on the planet below, day-to-day command had fallen to her. It was the first time she'd had to deal with the banalities and nuisances of command. Before she'd only gotten command briefly, and when she had command for a longer period, like during the Naklab Negotiation, Jay had handled day-to-day as her number one. For the past three days, she'd had to learn to prioritize and what truly needed someone else's attention.
Her eye caught an entry. Lieutenant Calgary hadn't returned from Ellosia yet. How had she forgotten about him. Marrissa stood quickly. This was a job she'd have to handle personally. She was the only one that had contacts where they were needed for this. "Computer, list senior officers available for command for the remainder of the day. Include only those qualified to be considered for day to day command."
"Commander Beverly Picard, Lieutenant Savol, Lieutenant Luke ..."
"Stop. Marrissa to Admiral Picard."
"Picard here."
"Sorry to interrupt your deliberations, Dad, but I'm going to have to hand off command for the remainder of the day to the Doctor."
"You didn't interrupt, Marrissa," Jean-Luc's voice echoed. "We're just about to render our decision. What is so important that you have to leave the ship?"
"We forgot about Lieutenant Calgary," Marrissa explained, as she pulled up some duty rosters on her PADD. "He was last seen right as Lord Henry's prisoner. He wasn't with those that they released from the Fasstime Ducal Residence."
"Okay, call the Doctor to take command," Jean-Luc said. "I'll send Clara and Shayna to meet you in transporter room five. You've got four hours until sunset. If you haven't found him by then, I'll send Commander Riker down to help."
"Aye sir. Marrissa out."