Chapter 3
Commencement of Formal Proceedings
Captain Kirk stood at attention as he acknowledged his identity, waived his right to counsel, waived formal reading of the charges, acknowledged his understanding that further charges against him might be forthcoming, and further acknowledged his understanding that those further charges might place him at risk of Star Fleet's most severe penalty. Commodore Mendez patiently explained that it was within the power of the tribunal enforce General Order Seven, and that General Order Seven could only be suspended upon a clear and convincing showing that enforcement would lead to manifest injustice.
Kirk further waived his right to object to the tribunal, which consisted of Commodore Mendez, Captain Chang of the Exeter, and Captain Chang's executive officer, Commander Ramkumar. Ramkumar's promotion to captain had recently been announced, and that he had been tapped to take command of the U.S.S. Van Allen within the next two weeks.
Kirk entered formal pleas of guilty to all charges and specifications.
"This tribunal is not obliged to accept these guilty pleas, Captain Kirk," Mendez declared. "In matters of this magnitude, this tribunal requires a sound factual basis for a plea of guilty."
"I know," Kirk said. "I also know that I am entitled to demand a speedy trial. In lieu of a trial, however, I am willing to make a full confession on the record. If it pleases the tribunal, I will supply my sworn testimony and other evidence pertaining to the facts underlying the charges. May I begin with the conspiracy charges?"
Mendez exchanged glances with the other two members of the tribunal. Captain Chang and Commander Ramkumar looked ill.
Mendez swallowed. "Be seated, Captain Kirk."
Kirk sat, and placed his hands on the table in front of him.
Mendez took a deep breath. "All right, Captain Kirk. You wish to plead guilty to conspiracy to abduct Captain Pike. Tell this tribunal about the conspiracy. Please begin by identifying all of the people involved in this conspiracy."
"Very well," Kirk nodded. "My first officer, Mr. Spock, and I plotted to kidnap Captain Christopher Pike from this starbase. Our intention was to take Captain Pike aboard the Enterprise and bring him to the planet, Talos IV. It is—"
Mendez interrupted: "When was this conspiracy, this agreement, formed?"
For several moments, Kirk sat silent. Then he spoke carefully. "Excuse me, Commodore Mendez, but I had not completed my answer to your previous question. And since I am obliged to tell this tribunal the whole truth, I feel I must insist that my entire answer be a part of the record. I have no wish to instruct this esteemed tribunal about a point of law, so I respectfully ask: Am I correct in my understanding of my duty to tell the whole truth?"
Mendez was momentarily taken aback, but after a quick consultation with the other members of the tribunal, he turned to face Kirk. "You are correct in your understanding of the law. Please excuse my interruption and complete your answer."
"My thanks to the tribunal," Kirk nodded. "As I was saying, Mr. Spock and I plotted to kidnap Captain Pike. It is of great importance that I emphasize that Captain Pike himself was not—I repeat, not—a part of the conspiracy. Further, I wish to emphasize that no one else—besides Mr. Spock and myself—was a part of the conspiracy. In particular, no one at this starbase, and no one else aboard the Enterprise, was made aware of, or agreed to, our plans." Kirk paused for a moment, then added. "I have now completed my answer; I have identified all of the people involved in this conspiracy. The Commodore's subsequent question pertained to when Mr. Spock and I made our agreement. My answer is that I cannot give an exact stardate; but we first discussed a crude plan about thirty days ago, and we settled upon our more-or-less final plans approximately five days ago. I hope that answers the Commodore's question."
Captain Chang asked the next question. "Captain Kirk, there is something I do not understand. Was it part of the plan to take Captain Pike aboard the Enterprise, while leaving you behind?"
"Yes," Kirk answered simply.
Captain Chang was nonplussed. "I am sorry, Captain Kirk, but I do not understand that answer. Can you explain?"
"Our plan, Captain Chang, involved numerous variations and took into account a considerable number of potential scenarios. One of those scenarios entailed having Captain Pike taken aboard the Enterprise, while I remained at Starbase 11."
"But Captain Kirk," Chang pressed, "what would be the point of leaving you behind?"
"As I have already said," Kirk responded smoothly, "my remaining behind was merely one of many possible ways in which our conspiracy might play out. Our principal goal was not to strand me here at Starbase 11. Our principal objective was to get Captain Pike to Talos IV."
"But why?" thundered Mendez. "What would be accomplished by going to Talos IV? What is the point of taking Captain Pike there? I want to know why!"
"Is your question a part of the record, Commodore?"
"Yes!" Mendez tried to control his temper. "It's on the record! As you insisted!"
"Thank you," Kirk replied coolly. "If it please the tribunal, I hereby request that the monitor screen be engaged."
Mendez fumed. "For what purpose?"
Kirk looked Mendez in the eye. "To answer the questions that you just asked, Commodore; that I explain the importance of taking Captain Pike to Talos IV."
"Request denied!" Mendez barked.
Kirk's calm voice offered a stark contrast to Mendez's harshness. "First of all, Commodore, as this tribunal has already ruled, I am obligated to tell the whole truth, and I am therefore entitled to place my evidence into the record, so that I may supply a complete response to your questions. And second, I believe that the point of this hearing... is to answer the very questions you asked."
"Yes, I think that is an important goal of this proceeding," Chang chimed in. "And like the commodore, I want to know why getting Captain Pike to Talos IV is so... imperative. Are you saying, Captain Kirk, that the monitor screen will present evidence that will answer that question?"
"That is precisely what I am saying," Kirk replied simply.
Mendez conferred briefly with Chang and Ramkumar, then announced, "All right, Captain Kirk. Present your evidence. Screen on, please, Mr. Leary." Mendez nodded to Lt. Commander Leary, who was serving as recorder and clerk, and Leary activated the monitor screen. The room darkened automatically.
On the screen appeared an image of the Enterprise in space.
"These images are from thirteen years ago," Kirk narrated. "This is the U.S.S. Enterprise, under the command of Captain Christopher Pike."
For the next several minutes, the tribunal was shown events occurring on the Enterprise bridge. Kirk occasionally explained some of the things being shown, but for the most part, he let the images do the talking.
After a few minutes, Commodore Mendez ordered that the screen be turned off. Although he was stunned by what he saw, Mendez expressed serious doubts about the authenticity of the images. The images were undoubtedly not official recordings from the Enterprise, he said, and the original source of the images was not specified. Without giving Kirk an opportunity to respond, he ruled that Kirk's evidence lacked foundation and authentication, and was therefore out of order and inadmissible.
To Mendez's surprise, the other members of the tribunal protested, saying that they thought the evidence was crucial to the proceedings, and that they wished to see more.
Captain Chang stated for the record that, although the provenance of the images was unclear, the images themselves included indicia of authenticity. "I remember ships of that era quite well," Chang declared. "The uncomfortably heavy uniforms, those clunky goose-neck monitor screens that Admiral Woollery was so fond of, the old-style control layouts, the support personnel structure, the older-style handhelds... that is the way it truly was! I haven't seen anything so far that is anachronistic or out of place. I am not saying that what we are seeing is genuine, but I have seen nothing so far to indicate that this evidence is fraudulent."
Commander Ramkumar concurred, and added: "I personally knew one of the people on the Enterprise bridge: Lt. José Tyler. There is no question in my mind that the person being shown there is Lt. Tyler. He is not an actor or a re-creation. It is him. I see no evidence at this time that the images are manifestly untrustworthy, and I believe we should view them so that we can determine how much weight we ought to give them."
Kirk spoke briefly as well, and his argument was simple: the tribunal wants to know why; these are the images that will explain why. Further, Kirk stated that the reason he agreed to conspire with Spock was because he had been shown these images.
Eventually, Mendez ruled that the evidence would be taken subject to his own objections.
During a recess in the proceedings, Mendez collared Leary. "Mr. Leary, what can you tell me about the source of these images?"
"They are part of Captain Kirk's defense records, sir," Leary explained, "and they are sourced as 'auxiliary-general'; this means that I might not be able to determine anything about their origin. I can tell you, sir, that there is something about these images that is a bit... troublesome." Leary paused.
Mendez thought the whole business was troublesome, but it seemed that Leary had something particular in mind. "Explain, please," Mendez said.
"Sir, the images that we are seeing are too... extensive to be fully contained in Captain Kirk's records. I may be wrong, but it seems to me that the images are dynamically being fed into Captain Kirk's records from a remote source. Possibly these images are stored in secured memory banks on this starbase, and Captain Kirk has covertly linked to them. It is also possible, Commodore, that the images are being transmitted to us from a source distant from the starbase."
Mendez scowled. "Could these images be coming to us from Kirk's ship, the Enterprise?"
"That is very possible, sir. They could be coming to us from the Enterprise by way of unregistered channels."
"See whether you can find out where this 'evidence' is coming from," Mendez ordered, "and let me know what you learn."
"I'll put some of my best people on it, sir."
"Do it quietly."
"Aye, sir."