Chapter 4
When Uhura returned to the waiting room, she joined Scotty, McCoy, Chekov and Sulu to let them know about her interview. Nyota looked around the doctor at Kirk. "How is the Admiral doing?"
McCoy shrugged and said, "I can't get him to talk to me. He hasn't had enough time to deal with the stress of the last few weeks let alone handle the pressure of these interviews. I'm afraid he will put the nails in his own coffin unless he pulls out of this funk."
Chekov snorted, "Is funk a new medical term? I have never heard that one before."
McCoy glared at Pavel and then asked Nyota, "What do you think they are after with these interviews?"
Uhura summarized her experience and the many questions about the Admiral's mental state. Sulu jumped in and asked, "Do you think they are trying to accuse Admiral Kirk of being mentally incompetent?"
A worried Bones replied, "Possibly."
"Well, I'll nae help them," Scotty chimed in but he didn't have time to say any more before he was summoned to the other room. Scotty entered and took the center seat.
Admiral Webber opened the interview with the same question he had asked Uhura. "Commander Scott, how many years have you served with Admiral Kirk?"
"All together, I would guess twenty years." Scotty tried to gauge the expressions of the board members.
Admiral Webber continued, "What is your impression of Admiral Kirk?"
"I hae never known a starship captain more in tune with his crew an' his ship as Admiral Kirk. I hae a great deal o' respect for him as a commander an' a mon." Scotty didn't know what this committee wanted but he wanted to make it clear where he stood.
"Very commendable, Mr. Scott." Admiral Stevens took over the questioning. "Why did you jeopardize your career by helping Kirk steal the Enterprise?"
Scotty's accent was as thick as it could get. "Ach, I had no choice, the laddie needed my help. An' if it was possible that we could save Mr. Spock none o' us had a choice. He was one o' us and we had to go find him. Dr. McCoy was hurting as well, if we dinna find help for him, he could hae died." Scotty doubted they would understand and he was right.
"What was Admiral Kirk's attitude during this time?" Admiral Stevens continued to question Scotty.
"I dinna believe I understand your question, sir." Scotty wasn't sure what the panel wanted from him but he didn't like the sound of the question.
Admiral Stevens continued the questioning, "How would you compare Admiral Kirk's actions to actions taken on a mission when he was in command of the Enterprise?"
Scotty thought for a moment before answering, "The Admiral was in control o' the situation as much as he ever was during a mission."
Webber leaned forward to ask, "I understand your nephew was killed in one of Khan's attacks. Do you blame Admiral Kirk for your nephew's death?"
Scotty's face clouded as he remembered that fateful day. 'The pur wee lad, so excited, feeling so grown up. I'll never forget his burned face. It was just a training program, th' only way anyone should hae been hurt is if they tripped o'er their own feet. I promised my sister nothing would happen to the lad. I know she will probably never forgive me. For a moment, I think I did blame th' Admiral but just for a moment. It was not his fault. I've been in Starfleet long enough to know th' dangers o' space travel. But those wee laddies, they dinna deserve to die on a training mission. How dare they try t' put a wedge between th' Admiral and I?' Scotty looked Webber in the face until he adverted his eyes. Then, Scotty said, "No, is that clear enough . . . Sir."
Before Webber could respond, Admiral T'San jumped in to change the line of questioning. "Your expertise with starships and respect for your ships is legend. It is not logical that you would sabotage the Excelsior."
"Ach, that bucket o' bolts. The problem wasn't how to sabotage it but which method to use. I hae respect for ships wi' some craftsmanship to them. Trans warp drive, what a joke. I predict in ten t' twenty years we will look back at it an' laugh. The Excelsior class ships will never hae th' longevity of th' Constitution class ship. I hope I never see th' day when there is an Excelsior class ship named Enterprise. That would be a day, I would mourn." Scotty was prepared to continue on the merits of the Constitution class ship for as long as he could get away with it. Let them think he was too obsessed with machinery to be of any use to them.
Admiral Webber interrupted, "I believe we were talking about Admiral Kirk, not the merits of different classes of ships. Let's keep to the subject at hand. Did Admiral Kirk coerce you or any member of your party to help him return to the Genesis planet?"
"Are ye daft? Admiral Kirk dinna hae to coerce anyone. Ye just dinna understand."
Captain Edwards jumped in, "You voice your admiration for the constitution class ship but you helped to destroy the Enterprise, how is that possible?"
Scotty's face showed his sorrow over the death of the Enterprise. He considered every ship as having a soul and his grief over the death of this ship was severe. "Do ye think I wanted t' let th' ship be destroyed. We had no other options. As bad as I feel about th' destruction o' th' Enterprise, Admiral Kirk feels worse. When we were on those long missions, there were always down times. Times when we were bored days on end. We used those times t' practically overhaul th' ship. The Admiral would be by my side overhauling th' engines. He is the only captain I ever served wi' who could work side by side with me an' understand what I was doing. He did admit he couldn't always follow th' more technical aspects but in an emergency I believe he could hae done as fine a job as any o' my laddies. He loved that ship as much as I did. The bottom line is, I would never refuse t' help this man. It wasn't only Admiral Kirk but Mr. Spock an' Dr. McCoy who needed help."
Admiral T'San had been hearing the same story from the other Enterprise crew, so he decided to ask, "Commander Scott, do you consider Admiral Kirk, Captain Spock, Dr. McCoy, Commander Uhura, Commander Chekov and Commander Sulu as family."
Scotty had never really thought about it in those terms before but yes he did feel as close to his shipmates as family. "Aye sir, we are family."
Admiral T'San nodded and looked at the rest of the panel. Admiral Webber leaned forward, "That will be all, Mr. Scott. Lieutenant Spears, we will see Mr. Chekov next."
Scotty was more than happy to end his interview and exited as quickly as possible.