Chapter Six
Commander Yoakim Plecnic was quite familiar with Star Base 12. He had a personal reason to be so, in addition to it being the major Star Base in the Oklahoma's patrol area. Plecnic was on his way to see that reason now. It was at the end of the Star Base's day, so he had hopes that he'd be able to kill two birds with one stone.
Plecnic double checked the door sign. "Quarters: Sheriff Jerney Jereb" He rang the door chime. It didn't take long for the door to open, revealing a tall man with wavy brown hair. Plecnic noted that Jerney still didn't close his jumpsuit all the way up.
"Yoakim, what a pleasant surprise, come in. Judge Vinson just stopped by for a drink," Sherif Jereb said, guiding Plecnic in. "Fred, this is my old childhood buddy, Yoakim Plecnic of the Oklahoma. Yoakim, Judge Fred Vinson, our Judge in Residence."
"Judge Vinson," Plecnic said. Judge Vinson was one of those men who by physical appearance blended in with the crowd, with his graying hair, and average build, but that was only in pictures. "I was hoping to see you here, with Jerney."
"So, you're not here to tell me what my ex-wife is doing with herself?" Jereb said. Plecnic could see that Jereb still hadn't wiped that smile off his face from childhood. "What is she doing now?"
"I believe that my sister Spella is working as a dabo girl," Plecnic said. His sister running away with the man who had promised to make her a famous singer and leaving her husband had been a big family scandal. "But you're right I didn't come here for that. Are these quarters secure?" Jereb nodded. Plecnic pulled out Habiba's letter and a chip that contained Chantilly's testimony in Sickbay and the evidence they'd gathered. "We had a crime occur to one of the children on board, and it has to be charged civilly. And when we were investigating that, we discovered evidence of another involving Admiral Fahim, that's likely to be continuing here."
"Then you'll need arrest warrants," Judge Vinson said. "May I see your evidence on Admiral Fahim?" Plecnic handed over Habiba's letter and watched as the judge sat back to read it. Vinson's face somehow managed take a stern poker expression, and stay that way while reading the whole letter. The man was somewhat famous locally for his strong decisions, the managed to make black and white out of grey. It was expected that he'd soon rise higher in the Federation's judiciary, perhaps all the way to the Supreme Court, if his consistent sense of justice didn't get him in political trouble along the way.
"Jerney, I need your Starbase Map," Plecnic said, turning back to his childhood best friend. "My captain is trying to find out where Habiba is while she's talking to the Admiral, and plans on telepathically sending some bearings to me. You might want to get the Judge a stiffer drink. I needed it after Chantilly's testimony and reading that letter."
Plecnic watched as Jereb pulled a device from the under a stack of PADDs. "Here you go, map of the station, with all the latest features. No Sherif should be without a good map at any time. What sort of charges are we looking at, and who is Chantilly?" He opened it to reveal a full holographic map, complete with cutaway and virtual controls.
Plecnic noticed that Judge Vinson had turned a page, then he suddenly heard his Captain's thoughts. 'Relative to the line formed between me and the Oklahoma's bridge, with me as the center point, one oh five mark sixteen, sixty-two meters.' Plecnic entered the data and began focusing in the map.
'Okay, that puts it on this level, past there, in Star Fleet Territory, right on the other side of that reactor, in Cargo Bay 336, the Admiral's private storage.' Plecnic thought, then telepathically louder, 'Captain, I know where she is. I'll let you know when we have her.'
"Commander Plecnic, do you have any collaborating evidence to go with this letter?" the judge asked. Plecnic handed over the chip with Chantilly's testimony on it. "Eye witness of the first assault's testimony. I'd advise not engaging the holographic mode. It was made after Chantilly escaped from her father, the Chief Engineer mentioned in the letter."
"Read this, Jerney," Judge Vinson said, as he put the chip into a reader. "I didn't even know that Admiral Fahim had a daughter." Plecnic wasn't surprised at the remark. Habiba was a nice girl, but she'd always been on the shy side. With her having a baby, Fahim was unlikely to have made any more efforts for her to socialize, not that he had done much in the past.
Unlike the judge, Jereb's face grew pale as he read the letter. "Yoakim, I thought humanity had left such horrors centuries in the past," he said, reaching for a beer that was sitting on an end table. It shook as he brought it to his mouth. He took a long sip of it. "Do you know where Habiba is now?"
"The Captain managed to pinpoint her location," Plecnic said, handing over the map, which now had a chamber highlighted in red. Jereb now had a determined expression on his face. Plecnic knew it well, from when they where children. Nothing would stop Jereb from getting the Admiral.
"Fred, do I have a warrant?" Jereb asked, slamming down his now empty beer glass.
"Search warrant, arrest warrant, and an order for Habiba to be placed in the protective custody of Captain Osanna," Judge Vinson said. "I hope your Captain doesn't mind the additional responsibility, Yoakim, but I don't think it is wise for Habiba to remain on the Starbase while the Admiral is still here."
"I agree, and I'm sure Captain Osanna can handle it, and won't mind," Plecnic said. "Chantilly's room already has a bunk bed in it."
"If she does, let me know," Judge Vinson said. "I'll cut new paperwork for someone else. Jerney, is there anything else you need from me?" Jereb shook his head. "Then, I'll be in my chambers, waiting for Admiral Fahim and your Commander Bourbon, Commander." Vinson strode out the door, taking the evidence with him.
"Jerney, you need someone in Star Fleet Security to accompany you on warrants out of the civilian sector, right?" Plecnic asked. Jereb nodded. "Then let me introduce you to the Oklahoma's Chief of Security. He shouldn't be far." Together they left the room, Jereb already checking his phaser.
Lieutenant Grieg Gostillna waited for the Sheriff and Commander Plecnic just outside Reactor Chamber Six. Behind him was the warren of corridors and service ways which led to the Admiral's storage room, where they believed his daughter Habiba was with her baby boy, Kismet. Friedman and Dvorkin were in defensive positions, to his right and left respectively. He was hoping that Habiba was in good shape. Gostillna's team was not one that had a great deal of medical skill. They had basic first aid, and that was all.
"Chief, two men coming this way," Ensign Friedman said. She studied her tricorder reading for just a moment. "One of them is Commander Plecnic." It wasn't long before Plecnic himself appeared, with a man unfamiliar to Gostillna.
"Lieutenant Gostillna, this is Sheriff Jerney Jereb," Plecnic introduced. Gostillna could tell that the two had know each other for quite some time, by just their posture to each other. Plecnic seemed a little more relaxed than he was on the Oklahoma. "He's keeping all our legal partridges in the pantry." Gostillna could detect just a hint of a beer on Jereb's breath, but not enough, he judged, to make him impaired. "Jerney, this is Grieg Gostillna, and his favorite back ups Friedman and Dvorkin. I don't recall the ladies first names."
"We don't use them on the job, sir," Friedman said. "Two Lilas on a team causes confusion." Gostillna had six officers in security named Lila. It had been the top name given to human girls in 2347. "There is no one else around, but we won't be able to beam back anywhere near this reactor, sir. There is too much interference to beam back without pattern enhancers."
"Understood, Ensign," Plecnic said. "I'll take point. Then, Jerney, Gostillna, with Freidman and Dvorkin taking up the rear, alternatively. Let's get going. I don't know how much longer the Captain can stand Admiral Fahim. He's apparently telling her the Disappearing Shuttlecraft Story, now." The Disappearing Shuttlecraft Story was legendary among the crew of the Oklahoma. No one who served on her avoided hearing about it. Most had heard it a dozen or more times. Gostillna had stopped counting after the tenth time, and that only counted a third of the time he'd been on the ship.
Gostillna kept an eye on Plecnic as he led them through the passages. In between ducking conduit, he could tell that Plecnic was being rather careful and alert, for an command line officer. The passageways were low and narrow, compared to the Oklahoma's, the product of years of additions. Conduit ran down each side of the passage, sometimes as much as three decimeters deep. Finally they reached a section of normal star base corridor, just about five meters long. There was one door, with a rather complex lock on it.
"Dvorkin," Gostillna ordered. The blonde came forward swinging her pack off her back. She scanned the panel before opening a service access. Gostillna watched as Dvorkin took great care in studying the lock. Dvorkin was good at lockpicking. He had no idea where she'd picked it up, but he had a feeling he was better off not knowing. "What do we have?"
"Sir, we've got a lock requiring voice code authorization, an entered code, and an electronic key," Dvorkin said. "It controls a nine bolt lock, with magnetic seal and a spring loaded release."
"So we're going to have to blow it?" Plecnic asked. Gostillna saw Dvorkin roll her eyes. He considered that jumping ahead. If Dvorkin couldn't open the door, they had the material to blow it, but since Dvorkin had been assigned to the Oklahoma, they hadn't had to use it. Gostillna still remembered that warped, half bent door she'd gotten open when they were doing earthquake rescues.
"Not as long as I'm here," Dvorkin responded, pulling out a dark green bar of some type from her kit. "It would take forever to get through the actual lock, but the latch, that's a different story. We have a single point of failure here." Gostillna watched as Dvorkin inserted the bar, and pried up a short metal block. There was a loud clink, followed by a clunk that was almost hidden in the background noise of the reactor next door, and the door started to swing in. Friedman was already covering the entrance, phaser rifle at the ready.
Gostillna was the first to enter the room. It was a dark grey room, not very well lit. There was a bed, and a small bassinet, both of which were bolted to the floor. The room's only occupants were a young teen and her baby.
It had been awhile since Gostillna had seen Habiba Fahim. She had already been bundled up in the shuttle when the Admiral had received honors before leaving the Oklahoma for Star Base 12. It would had to have been more than a half a year ago. Then, her black hair was neatly cut to shoulder length, and her skin had been a nice heathy golden brown. She'd worn loose outfits, often donning a half veil.
Now her flat and dull hair went midway down her back, and her skin had paled greatly. She wore a loose top across her breasts, covering them, yet allowing her baby to be slid up under it to nurse. Her skirt was short as well, just enough to provide her with some modesty. Around her upper arms, as high as they could go, were silver bangles. She had a matching pair on her legs, and her feet were bare.
"Lieutenant Gostillna," Habiba said, softly, as if she was afraid to wake the baby in her arms. "I knew you'd come to save me."
"Knight, minus shining armor, at your service, Lady Habiba," Gostillna said back matching her tone. "And who would this little jewel be?" Gostillna pulled back the blanket surrounding the baby in Habiba's arms, just a little, revealing the baby's face and one of his tiny arms. He had just a few short strands of black hair. The baby appeared to be asleep, but his little hand was flexing open and closed as he slept.
"This is Kismet, my little boy," Habiba said. Gostillna though that you'd have to be completely oblivious to miss the affection in her voice. "I just got him to sleep a minute ago."
"Then we'll try to be quiet enough not to wake him," Gostillna said. "Are you ready to leave? We have to go some distance before we can beam back to the Oklahoma."
"I am, but I'm not sure I want to risk carrying Kismet, myself, very far," Habiba said. "I haven't eaten since yesterday morning."
"Commander Plecnic?" Gostillna asked, stepping back to the door. "Habiba needs someone to carry her baby."
Gostillna was surprised when Plecnic entered the room himself. Plecnic bent down a bit, and held out his arms. "I'm always taking care of my sisters' babies when I'm on leave," he said. "I'll make sure she makes it to the Oklahoma."
"He," Habiba almost giggled as she carefully placed her baby in Plecnic's arms. The baby squirmed and his mouth opened in a yawn, but soon Kismet settled down. It was probably the low throb of the reactor next door. "I want out of here."
Gostillna held out his arm, directing Habiba to follow Commander Plecnic out. The girl's skirt was almost shockingly short, and looked like it had been torn across the bottom. It had a frayed bottom, with strings extending from its lower edge. Habiba took three steps outside the door, and stiffened. She fell forward, and didn't break her fall, her hands still by her side. She looked as if she'd started to take a step forward, and just as her balance was starting to shift to the other foot, her muscles refused to move anymore. "Habiba, are you okay?"
"I can't move any of my limbs," the girl said. "I can feel them, but I can't move them." Gostillna could tell that she was beginning to panic. He tried to pick her up, but she was in an awkward position, and none of her limbs would move at all, even when he tried to move them.
"I think it's the bangles, sir," Friedman offered. "I believe they might be motor nerve disablers." Gostillna looked at the bangles. They appeared to be tight against Habiba's skin. "They probably have physical linkages and only allow her to move within the range of a signal."
Gostillna pushed Habiba back just a little, and she was able to move one hand. "Okay, Habiba, I'm going to take you back into your room, and we'll get you to hold on to me." he said. He gently lifted her, and her muscles loosened, as she was able to get them under control. "Okay, now let me lift you up, and we'll get moving."
Habiba placed her arms around Gostillna's shoulders as he lifted her up against his chest. He linked his hands under her bare bottom, as she linked her legs around his back. Then Gostillna took six steps out of the room. Suddenly, Habiba's arms and legs were stiff, and locked in place. "Okay, let's go. I want the quickest route back to where we can transport."
They'd gone only thirty meters when they heard the alarm sounding.
Chantilly Bourbon was sitting at the helm. Lieutenant Sasan at Operations was supposed to be watching her at the moment, as Ensign Hauan had gone to the head. Chantilly had figured she was the one who was supposed to do that, and had already. After all, she had an excuse.
The training routines she had run through hadn't been that hard, really. She was fairly confident that she now understood how to move the ship on thrusters, at least. Plotting a course looked to be a little bit harder. Chantilly's first attempt had proven to lead directly through the middle of a star. She had gotten a lot better in her more recent attempts.
"That was very good, Chantilly," said a man's voice. Chantilly looked up, and found that Counselor Tivan was now standing at her right shoulder. "It appears that you've successfully made orbit around an M-class planet, with no satellites. Do you think you can do it with one, or do you need more practice?"
"More practice," Chantilly said, looking down at the results. She had indeed managed to make orbit in her latest simulation. It had to be luck. There was no other way that she could have made standard orbit.
"Captain," Tivan said. Chantilly looked up, and spotted the Captain entering from the forward turbolift. "Did your talk with the Admiral go well?" Chantilly met the Captain's glance before returning her attention to another simulation.
"You were right to warn me about the Disappearing Shuttlecraft Story," the Captain said. The Captain's voice conveyed a tone of confidence. Chantilly thought it meant that things were going well. "He tells the most boring stories. I was able to find out where Habiba was, and sent Plecnic and Gostillna to get her. They're on their way out now, I believe."
"Transporter Room Six to Bridge."
"Go ahead, Chief," Captain Osanna said. Her voice had a hint of worry in it, now. Chantilly began to worry as well. It was amazing how her emotions were shifting. One minute she'd be very happy, the next depressed beyond reason.
"Commander Plecnic and his team have returned. He's on his way to the Bridge, and Habiba and her baby have been taken to Sickbay with Lieutenant Gostillna."
There was a definite worrying note to Osanna's voice now. "Is Lieutenant Gostillna okay?" Chantilly's attention was drawn from her exercise to the conversation. Uncle Grieg was her protector. She didn't want any harm to fall towards her knight in shining armor.
A chuckle came from the Transporter Chief, before he replied. "Gostillna's okay, but Habiba apparently can't let go of him." Chantilly breathed a sigh of relief, then noticed her plot had entirely missed the planet this time. She tried again.
"Understood, Bridge out." Ossana said, as the forward turbolift opened up. "Number One, how clean was your escape?" Chantilly thought she had the gravitational factor worked in this time, and laid another course into the training program.
"Not very," Plecnic said. Chantilly's plot worked this time. That surprised her. "You'll need this." Chantilly started to work on figuring out why it had worked this time.
"Captain, incoming call from Admiral Fahim," the woman at tactical announced. Chantilly froze. Bile rose in her throat.
"Shields up, On screen," Osanna said. Chantilly closed her training program down, trying to bring her reaction under control. She began looking at the surrounding space, figuring out where everything was. There were twenty-two ships of various classes orbiting the station. Two of them were the same class as the Oklahoma. There were five Excelsiors, and the rest were much smaller, and mostly civilian, with the exception of one massive ore freighter, on the other side of the star base. She tried to not react, to busy herself so she wouldn't say anything. She failed with his first sentence.
"Captain Osanna, I'm afraid you have a couple items that belong here on this base," Admiral Fahim said without preamble. Chantilly felt her mouth beginning to scowl, and then she had to bring her hand to her face, as she felt her lunch rising again. She brought herself under control and looked at him. He was sitting in the Star Base Operations Center. Behind him there was a lot of activity going on, officers going back and forth. "First, regulations require that when a person is transferred off of a ship, all of their dependents should be transferred as well, unless it is a temporary posting. I think you and I both will agree that Commander Bourbon will not be returning to the Oklahoma, but I have yet to hear of Chantilly Bourbon's arrival."
Chantilly suddenly felt butterflies in her stomach. She hoped that the Captain would allow her to stay on board. "Chantilly is currently serving a shift at my helm, Admiral," Captain Osanna said. "For her to leave would be desertion, and that I will not have from my ship's company. Her place is on board my ship." Chantilly let out a deep breath.
"Very well, then we can go onto a more serious matter," Admiral Fahim said. His voice started out even, but rose slightly in volume as he went on. Chantilly stared right at him, willing him to feel how much she hated him. "I have reason to believe you have my daughter and her baby on board your ship. I demand that you return her at once."
"I'm afraid that I am unwilling to obey your order, sir," Captain Osanna said. Chantilly looked away from her console, towards the Captain. "Habiba Fahim is not safe in your custody. I've read the letter she left in her room, and Chantilly told me about how she saw you get Habiba pregnant. I will not allow Habiba to return to you, and I will protect her until there are no more Houses on Betazed." Commander Tivan was still standing next to her, and gently motioned her to look at her instruments.
"You are disobeying a direct order from a superior officer, then," Admiral Fahim said. His face was a mask. Chantilly couldn't tell what he was thinking or feeling from it. There was a moment's pause. "Commander Plecnic, I am relieving your Captain of duty. Are you willing to follow my orders."
"I have no regrets in informing you that I will not follow your orders, and will not assume command from Captain Osanna until such a time as she gives it to me," Commander Plecnic said. Chantilly had never heard anyone stand up to the Admiral before. The Admiral appeared to be losing his poker face on screen, as his eyebrows squinched.
"Commander Tivan, you are the next most senior officer, will you assume command," the Admiral asked. Chantilly could see a little redness in the Admiral's cheeks now.
"Admiral, I fear that command of a starship is still quite distant in my future," Counselor Tivan said. He moved from where he was standing at Captain Osanna's left side. "I stand with the Captain, as I believe does the rest of the crew." Chantilly suddenly felt like cheering.
"Very well, you all can blow up with your ship!" Admiral Fahim said. His image disappeared. It was replaced by a view of the Starbase and it's surrounding halo of ships.
"Red Alert, all hands to Battle Stations," Commander Plecnic ordered.
Chantilly looked down at her console. She gasped as the light indicating active helm control came on. She moved her hands in position to move the ship on thrusters, and just as she was about to inform the Captain that the helm had suddenly ended up in her hands, a torpedo streaked out from the Star Base. She saw it tracking towards the ship, but didn't hear any announcement behind her. Her fingers jabbed the console, and with two buttons pressed, the Oklahoma gracefully moved aside, and the torpedo exploded against the buoy behind her.
Chantilly road her instruments, watching the star base for any sign of another attack. There was a power surge building on the star base. She triangulated it, calculated the angle it had to come from, and then as a glow appeared on the surface of the station, she hit her controls again, stopping her earlier motion and sliding in a different direction. The phaser's red ray went right through where they would have been.
"Now I would have to pee," Chantilly muttered. Another tropedo had been launched from the station and she hit her thruster controls, hard, trying to evade it. Chantilly failed, but its blast wasn't full power. Her bladder had to wait until she had to do something to tell her that. She kept her attention on the star base, and the proximity sensor display. Nothing more seemed to be coming from the star base, but she wasn't about to let her attention waver.
"Captain, Admiral Necheyev aboard the Mary Rose is now in range," Ensign Dvorkin announced. "She's ordering Admiral Fahim to stand down." Chantilly brought the Oklahoma to full stop and activated station keeping again as the Mary Rose slid between her and the Star Base. She gave an audible sigh of relief, and she wasn't the only one on the Bridge to do so, though she couldn't identify who they were.
"Nice job, Lieutenant Sasan," Captain Osanna began.
"Captain, can someone take the helm . . . I really have to go now," Chantilly said, turning around to look at the Captain. Ensign Hauan had just finally exited the head. She could see Osanna making the connection.
"Ensign Hauan, take the helm," Osanna said. "You're apparently a very good teacher, Ensign." Chantilly slid out from the seat and stood with effort. Then she practically ran to the head. She really had to go now.
Epilogue
Captain Osanna sat in the front row in Judge Vinson's court room, awaiting his decision on custody for Chantilly and Habiba. The court room had an old feel to it, with five marble columns across the back and deep blue drapes hung between them. The judge's bench was a solid dark wood, heavily polished, yet obviously worn around the edges. The Federation District Court logo was one of a century back, it's bronze dulled, instead of gleaming, as if the housekeeper was trying to make it blend in to hide the fact that it was not current and proper.
Chantilly and Habiba were seated on either side of Captain Osanna. Osanna looked down at Habiba. Little Kismet was in the young teen's arms, and Habiba was cooing at her son. Osanna could feel Habiba's love towards her son. It was occasionally mixed with resentment when the girl was reminded of how she'd gotten the baby, but not today. Today the girl was getting out of her father's oppression, and Habiba was schooling her mind away from such feelings, refusing to let anything ruin what had already begun as a good day.
Admiral Ghazi Fahim had been court martialed for ordering the Star Base to open fire on the Oklahoma, as well as what the charges referred to as conduct detrimental to the service. It was an overly polite way, in Osanna's opinion, for what he'd done. Fahim would be spending a long time at Star Fleet's Rehabilitation Facility in New Zealand.
Chantilly was squirming on her other side. The girl's reduced bladder capacity was having her spend a lot of time running to the bathroom. Osanna put that down as another reason for her not to have any children of her own while she was Captain. Osanna smiled as she remembered the other day when the battle ended and Chantilly had run to the head. She'd asked, but no one had come up with a reason why Chantilly shouldn't get a commendation for her piloting. She'd avoided an amazing amount of fire for a girl who had just about four hours of simulation training.
Osanna remembered feeling Chantilly's nervousness when she'd taken the stand against her father, a couple days before. She could have let her recorded testimony from Sickbay stand. There was enough other evidence that Commander Audon Bourbon was going to jail. Chantilly had told the prosecution that she was going to testify against her father. It had been an hour and a half of gut wrenching description, as the prosecutor had her recount what her father had done to her. By the end, Chantilly had no more tears left to cry. Osanna had held her in her lap for an hour, gently stroking her hair as the girl recovered.
Commander Bourbon had the book thrown at him. He'd gotten the maximums on every single charge. There had been a deep satisfaction when that sentence had been read out. It hadn't come from just Chantilly. Every member of the crew of the Oklahoma in the courtroom that day had echoed the feeling. There had been quite a turn out when they'd been shipped off the star base the night before. Osanna had stayed away from it. The hostile emotions made her sick.
Osanna could tell that it still hadn't sunk into either girl that their fathers were not going to do anything to them any more. Both of them were regular visitors to Counselor Tivan. Chantilly had also developed, or perhaps redeveloped an uncle-niece like attachment to Lieutenant Gostillna. She'd bestowed the title of Sir Grieg on Osanna's Chief of Security, and it was beginning to catch on among the rest of the crew. Osanna had even caught herself almost saying it. It had only grown worse when they'd found out that Gostillna had always called his favorite phaser rifle "Betty." Chantilly thought that he should have called it "Excaliber."
"I wish he'd hurry up," Chantilly said. The girl had stopped squirming for the moment. She was wearing what Osanna had come to believe was her favorite outfit. The dark grey jumpsuit with the red belly did make her look rather pretty, especially with the lighter gray sweater over it. Habiba had nicknamed it the robin outfit.
"He'll be along shortly, Chantilly," Osanna said, placing her arm around Chantilly's back.
"Believe the Captain, Chan, she has insider information," Habiba said, a little louder than she should have. Kismet squirmed, and made a loud ah, demanding his mother's attention. Habiba brought her baby closer and shushed him. Kismet quieted as his mother made silly faces at him.
Osanna actually wasn't listening for the Judge's emotions. His chambers were out of range of easy contact, anyway. Her words, however, were soon fulfilled as Judge Vinson entered the room. Like most judges, Vinson's emotions were schooled tightly. Emotional swings were not something you felt from judges, nor did you often find their emotions to be unclear. At the moment, Vinson was projecting satisfaction and he was smiling.
"All rise for the honorable Judge Fred Vinson VI," the bailiff announced as the judge strode to his desk.
"Be seated," Judge Vinson said, once he was seated behind his bench. He waited a moment to allow the noise of everyone sitting down to die down. "I have reviewed the evidence of both Ghazi Fahim and Audon Bourbon's behavior towards their daughters, and have also reviewed the appropriate psychological reports provided to me by the Oklahoma's ship's Counselor. I have come to a decision on the custody of both girls. However, before I announce that decision, I'd like to thank both Commander Tivan of the Oklahoma and Admiral Necheyev for providing me with the information I needed, without prompting. Such cooperation is notable. Chantilly, Habiba, please approach the bench."
Osanna had to help Chantilly stand. Habiba handed her baby to Osanna. Osanna gently held the baby in her arms, as Kismet yawned, stretching out his arms and opening his mouth wide. It took her a moment to get the baby settled in her arms. By that time the girls were already standing in front of the judge.
"Chantilly, Habiba, your fathers have placed heavy burdens on you," Judge Vinson said. Osanna could feel his seriousness. "Some which, you are no doubt learning, will effect you the rest of your life. This court cannot ease all of those burdens, but it does have the power to make sure that your fathers do not place additional burdens on you. It is my judgement, therefore that Audon Bourbon and Ghazi Fahim, fathers of Chantilly and Habiba, respectively, have abrogated all rights as parents, and at your request, and that of Captain Osanna, I grant permanent custody of you both to Captain Shawneela Osanna, currently commanding the Starship Oklahoma."
Osanna could feel the joy that coursed through both of the girls. They both rushed back to the Captain, who stood before they reached her. They hugged her tightly, careful not to dislodge Kismet. After the hug, Habiba took back her son. Osanna felt amusement from Judge Vinson. She turned her girls gently back to face the judge, with a couple nudges.
Judge Vinson had a big smile on his face. "Chantilly, Habiba, it is tradition to ask when permanent custody is changed, if those involved would like to change their names," the judge said. "By what do you wish to go by?"
Habiba's response was quick and firm. "I want to be Habiba Osanna." Osanna smiled at Habiba as the girl looked up at her. Osanna nodded.
"And you, Chantilly?"
Chantilly appeared to be thinking it over. The girl was thinking deeply, her mind swirling with possibilities. "Can I change my middle name too?" she asked. "I hate it."
"I see nothing wrong with doing that," Judge Vinson returned. Osanna could tell that the Judge was enjoying this case. She could tell that he preferred this type of ending to this type of case, as well.
"Then I want to be Chantilly Damita Santana," Chantilly said. Osanna could feel a note of sadness for a moment as Chantilly pronounced her new middle and last name, replacing Lace and Bourbon. She knew that it had been Chantilly's mother's first name and maiden name respectfully. It was a choice that Osanna approved of, no matter how bittersweet it might be to Chantilly.
"Bailiff, make sure all the appropriate paperwork is done," Judge Vinson ordered, picking up his gavel. Then with a bang, he said. "Court Adjourned." The judge stood from behind his bench, as Kismet, who had been startled by the bang of the gavel, started to cry.
Habiba tried to get Kismet to stop crying as the crew of the Oklahoma crowded around them. She held him up against her protectively, as Osanna placed a hand on each of her daughters' shoulders. She could feel the warmth and welcoming pervading her crew. She felt Habiba relax as Commander Plecnic came up next to her and caught Kismet's attention. Her first officer had a big smile as Kismet attempted to capture his big finger with his tiny hand. Maybe he was getting over his guilty feeling about having not seen Admiral Fahim for what he was.
Chantilly was giggling as Lieutenant Gostillna offered her a piggy back ride to ths ship. If it wasn't for the disapproving glance of Doctor T'Hana, Osanna was sure that Chantilly would have taken him up on it. Commander Tivan was at his wife's side, as always, this time dressed in the red of command. Osanna was sure now that he'd take the post of Second Officer along with his Ship's Counselor's assignment. It would take just a little more convincing, but the red dress uniform let her know that he was seriously considering it.
With a firm arm around each of her daughter's shoulders, and the warmth her crew around her, Captain Shawneela Osanna exited the court room. It had been a rocky week for the crew of the Oklahoma, but their self-appointed mission had ended well. They'd earned the confidence of Admiral Necheyev, and had a challenging mission ahead of them. Now, though, it was time to celebrate. Osanna hoped Commander Plecnic had made enough of his poteca.