Enterprise Briefing Room
The Enterprise senior staff stood at attention in the Briefing Room. Commander Spock's face was his usual
stoic mask but the rest of them radiated guilt, dread and a desire to be anywhere but there.
Captain Morrick stood in front of them. For a few moments he silently gazed at them, face expressionless,
before finally speaking in a quiet voice. "So. This is the senior staff of the USS Enterprise. The crew that
defeated Nero. The crew that saved Earth. The crew that flies the finest ship in the Fleet. And the crew
that betrayed their Captain."
Everyone except for Commander Spock flinched.
"People are calling what happened the Enterprise Incident," Morrick continued. "I disagree with that title.
I personally met with Kirk several times. I saw first-hand the damage that was done to him. Done to him
by his rapists and especially done by you."
Morrick's eyes turned to flint and his next words were a hiss. "You were Starfleet officers. Senior officers
of the Flagship. It's bad enough that the rest of the crew acted the way they did but you…you were his
senior staff. The ones that he worked with the most closely. The ones that he should have been able to
trust the most."
Morrick's next words were thick with disappointment. "It was ten days from the time that he was raped
until the time that he decided to leave. Another week before he actually left. All together that's seventeen
days. Over two weeks. Two weeks when your Captain was hurting and you didn't notice or care."
There were flinches again.
"During all of that time none of you gave him so much as a kind word." He turned a disappointed look
toward Lieutenant Commander Scott. "Instead you gave him amused, sarcastic comments."
The Chief Engineer looked downward in shame.
The gaze Morrick turned on Lieutenant Uhura paralyzed her. "Or you gave him harsh words and condemnation."
The look he turned on Commander Spock was withering. "When he tried to ask you for help you told him
to keep his personal affairs to himself."
The Commander finally flinched. Very faint, barely noticeable, but there.
Morrick turned to Lieutenant Sulu, "Or you avoided him, having more important things to do." He stepped
closer to the Helmsman. "This was not only your Captain, this was the same man who saved your life.
And you couldn't spare a moment of your time to even listen to him."
The Helmsman's face was as pale as a ghost.
Morrick looked each of them in the eyes for a moment and his next words, although quiet and measured,
rang like a shout. "You were his senior staff and he trusted you. But when he needed you the most you
turned your backs on him. You abandoned him. And in the process you hurt him more than his rapists
ever could. That was far more than an incident. It was nothing less than despicable."
Ensign Chekov was shaking.
Morrick continued, his words flat and cold. "By rights you should each be dishonorably discharged or stripped
of rank. At the very least you should be removed from active duty and confined to Earth indefinitely.
Starfleet decided not to do any of those things for the simple reason that we can't spare you. We lost thousands
of officers at Vulcan; we're severely understaffed and we need every single crewmember we have. Kicking you
out would only weaken Starfleet further and we can't afford that.
"Many thought that you should be split up and sent to different ships. But it was decided to keep you here
on the Enterprise for two reasons. Number one: this is the Flagship, she needs the finest minds and hands
in the Fleet and each of you have the highest scores in your respective fields. Transferring you to other, less
important ships would mean that we'd have to replace you with less skilled personnel and we can't afford that
either. Number two: Starfleet decided that it's best to keep troublemakers like you in one place."
At the word 'troublemakers' there was another collective flinch.
"So all of you are staying here and that means that you're mine to deal with." His next words were questioning.
"And how should I deal with you? Should I have you restricted to quarters when off duty? Have you serve under
close supervision? Have your privileges limited? Deny you shore leaves?"
"It may surprise you to learn that I'm not going to do any of those things. I'm not going to punish you at all."
He paused. "Because we're way beyond that." His eyes now were not only hard but sad as well. "In all my years
in Starfleet, no crew has ever betrayed their Captain's trust as you have." He continued heavily. "And no punishment
that I could give you would begin
to mend that."
The Senior staff remained silent and still but the guilt and shame in their eyes spoke volumes.
Morrick sighed. "I've thought long and hard about each of you and the rest of this crew. I've tried to understand
why you acted the way you did. Kirk is the youngest Captain Starfleet has ever had. Maybe that was part
of the problem. Maybe deep down you still saw him as the cocky cadet who cheated on the Kobayashi Maru."
He turned to Lieutenant Uhura. "Maybe you still saw him as a dumb hick who only had sex with farm animals."
The Chief of Communications looked as if she had been stabbed.
Morrick turned to Commander Spock "And maybe you still saw him as the troublesome cadet who cheated
on your test, flouted regulations, defied logic...and was rewarded for it. Well, you must be experiencing great
satisfaction now, Mr. Spock. He emotionally compromised you and you helped to compromise him. He was
promoted instead of you and now, thanks in part to you, he's gone and may never hold another command
again. Congratulations."
The Vulcan's face remained expressionless but his eyes gave away the storm of emotions within him.
"Most of you are young. Some of you hadn't even graduated yet when you became officers on this ship.
The rest of you are among the Academy's most distinguished graduates. And some of you are among
the youngest officers Starfleet has ever had. All of that is due to your exceptional skills. All of you are
here because Starfleet needs those skills and the Flagship needs to be crewed by the brightest and the best.
"But being the brightest doesn't necessarily mean being the best. Being logical doesn't necessarily mean
being right. And being brilliant doesn't necessarily mean being wise. In fact, too often the opposite is true."
His gaze grew slightly thoughtful and concerned. "Too often brilliance leads to arrogance. Brilliance and
arrogance are very bad combinations and combined with youth it's even worse."
His eyes once again grew hard. "But arrogance, even pride, is something that none of you have any right
to feel. You and the rest of the crew of the Enterprise are the brightest, but you're not the best. You're a
brilliant crew but you're not a good crew. Because you broke the one rule that makes a crew a good crew-
never let your Captain down."
Again there were flinches. Ensign Chekov's lip was trembling.
"Kirk is gone. I'm your Captain now and things are going to be very different. I've been a Starfleet officer
since before most of you were born. I led an away mission comprised solely of fellow ensigns to rescue
an ambassador and his family. I took charge of the bridge of the Defiance when its Captain, First Officer
and half of its crew were killed. I've been in the trenches and faced death more times than I can count.
So believe me when I say that I know how to handle insubordinate crewmembers. Kirk trusted you too
quickly and he paid the price. I won't make that mistake."
His eyes grew harder still. "I'm going to be watching all of you like a hawk. Day and night, both on duty
and off, I'm going to be breathing down your necks. A single transgression, no matter how minor, one
hint of disrespect and you're off this ship."
"While you're aboard this ship you will be under my constant scrutiny. But you'll be grateful." At noticing
the slightly puzzled looks in their eyes he continued. "You'll be grateful for every minute that you spend
on board the Enterprise. Because the scrutiny that you'll endure while you're on this ship will be a picnic
compared to the scrutiny you'll endure while you're off it."
He noted their eyes widening with realization and dismay.
"You betrayed your Captain, and everybody knows it. By now practically everyone in the Federation has
heard about the Enterprise Incident. I'm going to be hard on you but that's nothing compared to how hard
others will be."
His eyes grew sad again even as his voice remained hard. "You're my crew and I'm responsible for you.
Even though you betrayed your former Captain, I won't betray you. No matter how hard I'll be on you,
you'll always know that I at least have your best interests at heart. Most of the people that you'll encounter
off this ship will have no such claims. If you thought that the stares, whispers and comments that Kirk
endured before he left were hard, that's nothing compared to the ones that you'll get. And unlike Kirk,
every single one of them will be deserved.
"That will be your punishment. Knowing what you've done and knowing that everyone else knows it as well."
His voice was heavy once again. "You betrayed your Captain's trust and in the process the trust of countless
others. You not only lost his respect but that of everyone in Starfleet if not the Federation. And you're going
to find that it will take you a very long time to earn those things back. If indeed you ever do. Dismissed."
End