Chapter 805

EAGLE POINT RESORT

LA RONGE, SASKETCHEWAN

Former Starfleet Ensign Mitchell just finished with a run with one of his guards, 'Baker'. It was good to get into fresh air and stretch and exercise in one-gee gravity. The only places that were under artificial gravity at Lunar Penal was the living areas. All the work tunnels were lunar gravity. It was early fall; the fishing season was winding down along with the tourists in the area. It was easy for Mitchell's handlers to get a couple of suites for the time necessary to coach him for his testimony.

Mitchell took a long, hot shower. Again, a luxury compared to Lunar Penal. His mind wandered over to his arrival here. Mitchell and the agent beamed into the woods somewhere. They walked for what seemed forever until getting to a wheeled truck. From there they drove into the local town of La Ronge. La Ronge during the summertime had a booming tourist season primarily for fishing. The six men coming to town in two vehicles would blend in with the tourists easily. There were agents of some sort around him all the time. He always went outside with at least one guard with him. The guards carried a transport jammer just in case.

The lawyers had spent the time debriefing Mitchell and going over his court-martial. Then they fully debriefed him of his time since he stepped foot on the Wisconsin. From that, they constructed a plan on how to do his testimony. It was practically scripted, for the part that Senator Jameson was going to ask. For the opposition, they assumed the questioning was going to try to discredit Mitchell's testimony and person. The opposition questioning was brutal, which was to be expected.

Mitchell finished cleaning up and stepped back into the kitchenette. The others were watching the video screen with the hearings about to begin. Mitchell made a quick breakfast, and started watching the video. One of the lawyers was also in the kitchenette and said, "This is just the start. Your day will be tomorrow or the day after, we think."

Mitchell chomped on some eggs. "How do you know?"

"We don't, it depends on how much questioning the other side may ask. We can only plan so far."

Mitchell looked around, "Well, this place is about as far off the beaten path as you can get." He had a thought that he hadn't been able to shake in a few days. "Why the whole off-the-grid thing for us? You said that this was all legitimate."

The lawyer turned around. "It is completely legitimate. We just don't want anyone to get at you."

Mitchell said, "But I'm not a criminal. What am I? An escaped convict?"

The Lawyer turned away from the screen to look at Mitchell. "You saw the papers on the screen. I signed them."

Mitchell did not look that carefully when they were checked out. It must have been legal, because the guards looked over everything carefully. "You said if I cooperate, then you will reverse my conviction."

"I said I'll try."

Mitchell shook his head, "No, you said you will reverse my conviction." Mitchell started thinking about what the situation he was in. His first days on Earth undergoing the debriefing and coaching were great. The fresh air. The good food. Relative freedom. He wasn't in a tunnel mining minerals, but someplace that had plenty of water, and if it wasn't clean, at least it wasn't lunar regolith dust. That stuff could not be good for you in the long term, it smelled like burnt gunpowder. He knew it was abrasive.

"Don't worry Mitchell. We will be able to get it reversed. You just need to do a good performance."

The pre-hearing coverage was just starting. Mitchell's thought was fully formed now. There was not any guarantee that they would follow through with overturning the conviction. Mitchell assumed too much right away, he let himself get seduced with getting away from Lunar Penal too much, he was not thinking ahead. He assumed too much. And now, he had to depend on these guys following through with their word.

SENATOR JAMESON'S OFFICE

FEDERATION CAPITOL

PARIS, EARTH

Jameson was making sure he had everything packed in his briefcase that he wanted. He had three datapads, all with the information that he wanted, and his communication equipment. Eli Gold was getting his own checklist checked.

Jameson looked up and asked, "All our witnesses ready to go?"

"Yes sir, some are in the gallery, others are set for the expected time. Captain Kang is the exception." Gold reported.

"That's fine, he will be here when we want him." Jameson was practically salivating. "What about Mitchell?"

Gold reported, "The handlers are reporting he is ready. They have his biological clock adjusted to Paris time too, so no problems there. When we want him, we transport him to the Capitol Pad."

"And the Capitol Police?"

Gold said, "Have jurisdiction. Any agency that tries to intercept will be stopped. He has the authorization of a summons from the committee."

Jameson looked at the clock. "Good, it won't be today. Let's get the others and go."

FEDERATION CAPITOL

PARIS, EARTH

The land hovercraft pulled up to the curb of the Capitol. Soon, all its passengers disembarked and started walking up the Capitol steps. There were a few reporters on the Capitol steps and they started pressing in for questions. Admiral Nogura held up a hand as he ascended the steps indicating he would not answer a question. The questions were too numerous to pick out, but generally were on the shock-effect hoping that somebody in the entourage would find a question so outrageous as to stop and rebut it. Nogura was clear in the briefing, no answers no matter what.

Captain Jacobs was climbing the stairs thinking humorously to himself that the meeting before they got on the transport it was like a briefing before a mission. Yesterday was a day to finish preparation and strategic planning. Today's briefing was very much like a mission briefing. Objective, intel, expected hazards, order of battle, contingency plans. Nogura's exploits before he was of flag rank show that he must've been a tremendous commander. Many of his exploits were studied in Starfleet Academy. This portion of the day, which was humorously called 'the ingress', was anticipated and darned if Admiral Nogura didn't predict it. Answer no questions.

The group got up to the landing and were met by Cogley and Briggs. Nogura said simply, "Good morning."

Briggs smiled, "Yes, it is. So far, we've spotted everybody that we thought was going to show up, except Mitchell."

"That might not be today. Let's go in and settled in."

Entering the room, they could see several senators sitting in their places. Admiral Nogura made eye contact with Senator April and the two exchanged a nod. The Senators were arranged in two curved rows of benches, the rear one higher than the front one. The front one was relatively high off the floor. High enough for reporters to crowd on the floor to take pictures of the witnesses. The witness area had a long table with several chairs behind it. At each chair was a microphone and nametag. Over to the left side of the long table was a shorter table with two microphones and chairs. No labels.

Captain Jacobs found a chair with his nametag. He was in the center of the table, center of the room. Jacobs grimly thought it made him the focus of the day. The strategy session was based on the premise that the focus of the hearing was actually to discredit Starfleet, and the strategy was built around it. The Officers of the Wisconsin were behind the witness table.

Jacobs and the others all sat down. Cogley leaned over and said, "Remember this is a hearing, not a trial."

"Yeah, right. Just a hearing."

Cogley reminded Jacobs, "The Senators are not judges. And the rules are significantly different."

Jacobs nodded nervously; the time was growing near. "You said that before. What are the rules?"

Cogley said dryly, "Basically, they make them up as they go."

SAFEHOUSE

EAGLE POINT RESORT

LA RONGE, SASKETCHEWAN

The Lawyer pointed at the screen. It showed some Senators sitting down in their benches, and the Starfleet contingent entering at the back. Mitchell quickly saw Captain Jacobs walking in the middle of the group. He did not look like he was enjoying himself. Before Mitchell could even have his own thought, the lawyer said, "Mitchell, be glad you are not there with your old Captain. It is far better to be here than there with him."

A sudden thought flashed through Mitchell's mind. He was still in prison. It looked different from Lunar Penal, but it was a prison. Looking at the screen, he could even see his immediate division head, Commander Carter. The lawyer was right, if he had behaved himself, he would be there with them, maybe. He would have been living free. But he was still in prison. All he had was the verbal promise of a lawyer that they would try to overturn his conviction, or reverse it, whatever that meant. All he had to do was to do what they want.

Senator Jameson entered in the back with the others from his party and sat down in his seat and started gaveling the room to order. Eventually, everybody sat down. Senator Jameson finished gaveling and said, "The Starfleet Oversight Committee will come to session now on Stardate 8019.0" The Room quieted down. Jameson continued. "We are here to review the Wisconsin's first year after being commissioned." He looked around as the room finished quieting down. The reporters were snapping pictures from all angles of the room. Jacobs and the other Starfleet Officers were in their Class A dress uniforms. Jacobs admitted to himself that they did look snappy, just were not practical for everyday starship duty.

Jameson started, "The purpose of these hearings into the Wisconsin's first year is to provide oversight into a highly controversial ship. The Wisconsin has had several actions that beg for review and calls into question the judgement of the ship's Captain…"

"Objection." Samuel Cogley said.

"Mr. Cogley, this isn't a Court-of-Law. It is a Senate hearing." Jameson replied dryly.

"I know that. I wish to object to the characterization of the Wisconsin's first year in your statement."

"Mr. Cogley, you can't object to something in my opening statement. You can't do that in court."
Cogley pointed out. "You just said that this isn't a court, as rules for the hearing have not been published, I decided to object to a statement that is intended to characterize my client without introducing evidence and, in the public's eye without nobody refuting, would assume the stated information as fact. Your information is not fact."

Jameson exclaimed, "I was not offering any fact in my statement! I was…"

"Thank you for that admission, Senator. In that we can agree that there was no fact stated." Cogley sat down with a minor chuckle from the audience. Senator April held his hand over his mouth suppressing a smile. Cogley 1, Jameson 0.

"As I was saying." Jameson suddenly realized he was picking up his opening statement after admitting there was no fact. He was trying to remember the rest of his statement and what light was now cast on it. The teleprompter waited for him to resume, but only showed the next sentence or so. Jameson decided to continue, "And Starfleet's review process as judging the Captain's actions as justified. Starfleet claims no breaches of the Prime Directive happened this past year and we want to make sure that is true. We also are concerned about the Captain's code of conduct and that Captain Jacobs upheld the best traditions of the service. Finally, with the Wisconsin's specifications being highly unusual, we want to review how the ship has held up this first year. I would also like to remind people that….."

Jacobs was listening but not hearing. Politicians always wanted to pontificate, make sure they got their soundbite recorded. Jameson droned on for a while, making allegations without accusing outright, using arguments to make the listener think that the Captain was selfish and self-serving. Jacobs was thinking on some things that had happened, the timing of those, and his decisions.

Thankfully, Jameson finished. As leader of the opposing party, Senator April was next up. Senator April started, "Members of the committee, Starfleet officers, witnesses, and members of the gallery I wish to welcome you to these hearings. As my colleague has stated, the USS Wisconsin has had a very interesting first year. I do share in the intent to find out all that has transpired the first year. I do not share in the intent of Senator Jameson of proving the ill will of Starfleet. It does not exist. I feel the need to remind the oversight committee that Starfleet has served the Federation admirably from its inception, and its roots go back to the United Earth Space Probe Agency on pre-Federation Earth."

"I am concerned that in the quest to find out about the last year, we keep our assumptions in check and let the logs and the evidence point us to the conclusion. I do not share in the assumption that Starfleet has handled itself wrongly. I look forward to finding out how Starfleet has performed this past year. Thank you, Mr. Chairman." April finished himself.

Senator Jameson dryly said loud enough for the microphone to pick up, "Objectivity coming from a former Starfleet Officer." Before April could retort Senator Jameson said, "Next up."

The Senators each went through their own statement for the cameras. Jacobs had been through this before in the hearings for the commissioning of the ship. It wasn't as bad during that time, because the commissioning hearings weren't controversial enough to draw a large audience. Clearly, the Senators here thought that the hearings were being noticed. They all tried to get their wonderful speeches to sound impressive enough for the voters back home. Jacobs sat there and let them drone on.

Finally, after the last Senator made his speech, Senator Jameson said, "Thank you members for your opening statements. Mr. Jacobs, as Captain of the Wisconsin, do you have an opening statement?"

Jacobs had the datapad out. "Yes sir, I do."

Jameson said, "I am a Federation Senator, you will address me as Senator."

Jacobs kept the best poker face he could. He was not going to give Jameson the satisfaction of rattling him. "My apologies, Senator. I am prepared."

"Then proceed, Mr. Jacobs."

Cogley shot out, "Objection."

Jameson exasperated said, "What now, Mr. Cogley? How can you object to your client being offered to make a statement?"

"It is not the statement, Senator. It is how you address him. You just made a point of being addressed as 'Senator'. Captain Jacobs has both the rank and position of ship's Captain. I'm certain that he has earned both and request that you show my client the respect that he certainly has earned." Cogley said sternly. The room had some murmurings. Senator April nodded with a smile on his face.

Jameson looked around and judged he may be on slippery ground. He smiled benevolently and said, "Please give us your statement, Captain Jacobs." Cogley 2 Jameson 0.

Jacobs shifted in the seat slightly and started. "First, I want to thank the committee for the opportunity to come here and give firsthand the accounts of the Wisconsin's first year. In short, I am happy with the performance of the ship and crew. The Wisconsin and crew have exceeded my expectations and I am proud to have been part of this crew this past year."

"Second, I am pleased to answer any questions concerning the actions of the Wisconsin. There has been some misinformation concerning some of our actions, and I look forward to correcting those statements. Statements were done to directly mislead the public as to what was happening on our missions, and that directly affects the public perception of Starfleet, and I look forward to doing what can be done to set the record straight."

"Third, I encourage the members of this committee to ask questions to search out a matter down to the end, to the point that any questions that members have will be fully answered. I am not a politician, I speak plainly. I intend on answering any questions put forth. Thank you for this opportunity."

Jameson gave a look of surprise, "Do politicians not speak plainly? I was not aware that us politicians need to speak more plainly than we do."

Jacobs and Cogley had planned this out, knowing Jameson could not leave that statement alone. Jacobs said, "Case in point. Senator, a plain statement would be to ask me directly if I was accusing you of not speaking plainly." There were many chuckles throughout the room.

Jameson flushed briefly. He did not know how to go forward. Does he ask Jacobs to answer his own question? If so, then Jacobs could use his own words against him. Does he start arguing with Jacobs concerning wording, if so, then the same is proved. Does he drop it? That may be the best thing. Cogley 3 Jameson 0.

Jameson stated, "Unless the minority leader has any objections, we will proceed with the questioning."

Senator April, who had a quick wit and sense of humor, said blatantly, "No sir, I do not."

Jameson and April had locked horns over the last couple of years. Jameson did not want to get into it with April now, so he let the statement slide. "Thank you. To go over the rules of the hearing, there are no time limits on the questioning. Each side has gone over questions that they want to ask, and the questioning will be done by me, the chairman, and Senator April, the vice chairman and minority leader. If a member wants to ask a question, they can signal using the comm system like we always do. Are there any questions?"

Cogley asked, "To what standard will evidence brought before the committee have to meet?"

Jameson said, "Standard committee rules as in the past."

Cogley pressed, "That is very vague. I would like that all evidence must meet Federation law standards for criminal prosecution."

Jameson snapped back. "That is essentially what we have."

"Then you would have no problem meeting that standard. Any questionable evidence could be ruled on by the First Circuit Court."

Jameson said, "I'm not going to ask the First Circuit Court to stand by."

Cogley nodded, "I understand. However, the Chief Justice of the First Circuit told me that he would be willing to sit in and rule on evidence in the room in real time. This would ensure that evidence is properly introduced and reduce the ability of mischaracterizing what the evidence says."

"This is not a court of law!"

Cogley stood, "I am aware of that, Senator Jameson. If it were, I would be very happy in defending my client. Unfortunately, what is happening here is in the court of public opinion, and as such half-truths can be told, facts can be spun, and a narrative formed which is contrary to the truth. In my job to protect my client, I am trying to ensure that the truth get told. The whole truth. And to protect that, I would like to ensure that whatever evidence is presented is reviewed by an independent party."

The doors at the rear of the room opened and the Chief Justice of the First Circuit court walked in. Jameson said, "I don't want to inconvenience the First Circuit."

The Chief Justice said loudly, "This is no inconvenience. I am happy to lend services as a Justice of the Federation."

Jameson was trapped. How could he say no? This was his committee! And Cogley was running roughshod over it. Furthermore, if he succeeded, then there will be evidence and maybe even testimony that will not be allowed. "No, I do not want the Judicial Branch involved in our forum. We…."

Senator April interrupted, "I move that the Starfleet Oversight Committee formally ask the Chief Justice of the First Circuit to rule on evidence as it is presented."

Another one of Senators from April's side said, "I second."

"Any discussion?" April asked.

None was offered. April looked at Jameson. Jameson said, "All in favor, say Aye."

All on April's side said 'Aye'. All the opposed were from Jameson's side. The opposed had it by one vote. Standard. Jameson ended up pleased but was unsure of how it was going to look having rejected the offer of a Judge to provide oversight.

"Now that we have that settled. I want to go over the first mission that the Wisconsin found themselves on Stardate 7650.0 The Wisconsin was just commissioned and ordered to Starbase 5. This is the mission that you effectively destroyed a Norsican outpost. Do you remember the mission, Captain Jacobs?"

Jacobs nodded, "I do Senator."

Senator Jameson asked, "I was personally involved in that mission. I was on the base while you were destroying it."

Jacobs held the accusing eyes of Jameson. Now was not the time to engage. Jacobs let the awkward pause linger. After a short time, Jacobs said, "Is there a question Senator?"

Jameson's demeanor had changed slightly, no longer the hospitable host. He now was showing a bit of anger. "Why did you attack the base?"

Jacobs chose his words carefully. "We had information that you, Ensign Kenn, and others were being held there as kidnapped victims."

"I have a problem with that. You have a highly unorthodox ship, built for commando raids, and you have supposedly elite troops on the ship. You also left a Starfleet ship defenseless to attack the Norsican base."

When Jameson took a breath in, Jacobs answered quickly. "Senator, you are mischaracterizing what happened. We were already tasked to rescue the crew from the Beluga. When the Huron failed to rescue you, I had to assess whether to assist the Huron or rescue hostages."

"You left the Huron defenseless!"

Jacobs answered back quickly, "They were not defenseless." Cogley slid a datapad over to Jacobs. Jacobs picked it up and said, "The Huron had severe structural damage, circuit burnouts, numerous casualties but they also had impulse power. They did have life support and basic maneuvering. By definition, they were not in dire need of help."

"You still left them!"

Cogley could tell Jacobs was starting to get agitated. He calmly put his hand on Jacobs' forearm and said a prayer. To Jacobs, he knew he had to remain calm. Jameson was trying to shake him up right away, then it would be a defensive hearing for the rest of the time. Jacobs took in a breath and said, "I had to decide what was the greater need. Going after the hostages which included you and Ensign Kenn was the greater need. The Huron was in better shape than you or the hostages from the Beluga."

"Captain Hammel tells a different story. Please let Captain Hammel in."

At the back, Captain Dan Hammel stepped through the open doors and walked in, right past the delegation at the front. He took the time to have a longer glance at Jacobs, and Jacobs looked sternly back. Hammel sat down at a smaller table to the left and moved the microphone into place. "Captain Dan Hammel, USS Huron reporting."

Jacobs glanced at Nogura and Adama. Nogura was impassive. He could out-stare a Vulcan. Adama gave a quick hand signal to Jacobs. It came from the Raptor days. The lead pilot telling the wingman to 'stay on target'. Jacobs nodded and looked at Hammel.

Jameson started, "Captain Hammel, first, congratulations on surviving your ordeal. My apologies that a fellow Starfleet Captain didn't come to render help." Hammel nodded acknowledging. "Captain, can you tell me what your ship's condition was?"

"Absolutely. Our warp core was gone, ejected, and detonated at close proximity to the ship. We suffered structural damage, circuit burnouts, and loss of maneuvering. We were in distress." Hammel looked with anger at Jacobs.

Jameson asked, "And your feelings toward Captain Jacobs?"

Hammel snapped, "He should have come and rendered assistance. There was no reason not to. We were defenseless. Captains have the authority to act outside of orders given the situation."

Senator April asked, "Captain, how did you get rescued?"

"The USS Intrepid came along a week later and gave us a tow to Jupiter Station."

"What was your condition?"

Hammel shook his head, "We were alive, if that's what you're asking."

April shook his head, "What about your life support?"

"It was functioning."

"Partially?"

Hammel looked sternly at April. "No sir, fully."

"No issues with life support at all."

Hammel was silent for a bit. "No sir. No issues."

"What about weapons?"

Hammel said, "Fully functional."

April pressed, "And shields?"

"We repaired them."

April said, "So you were stranded in interstellar space on impulse power and an otherwise functioning ship."

"We had severe structural damage."

April nodded, "I see that. Any hull breaches?"

Hammel said, "We had twelve sections decompressed due to hull breaches."

"Did you tell Jacobs that?"

"No, it would not have made any difference to him. He was focused on his mission."

April said, "When I oversaw the Enterprise, I have done the same thing. In my opinion, Starfleet's conclusion is correct, Jacobs acted accordingly."

Jameson snapped, "Senator April, you have always been a backer of what Starfleet does…"

April looked evenly back, "I understand the decision-making process of a Captain out on the frontier."

"Jacobs could have called back to request new orders."

April said, "And lost valuable time. He was on the trail of the hostages, including you. I thought you would be congratulating him for rescuing you." Just as Jameson was about to retort, April continued, "But it looks like to me that it's not only Captain Hammel with antipathy toward Jacobs, but you too."

"Now listen here April!" Jameson started.

April recalled, "I remember during the commissioning hearings over the Wisconsin that you were opposed to the Wisconsin's security force, the resurrection of two Raptors, and I quote," April held up a datapad reading, "The militarization of Starfleet using the Wisconsin as a prototype." April set the datapad down. "If anyone is coming into these hearings biased, it's you, Senator Jameson." Jameson was red with fury. "I fully expect you over the duration of the hearings to not try to find out what is going on, but to spin any information against Captain Jacobs and Starfleet. Using Captain Hammel is a perfect example.

April turned to Jacobs, "Captain Jacobs, tell us exactly why you decided against going to render assistance to Captain Hammel."

Jacobs said, "To put together what has been said, The Huron was damaged but not sufficiently enough as to endanger the crew of the ship. I was merely hours behind the kidnapping of Senator Jameson and Lt Kenn."

April asked, "I thought he was an ensign."

"He was at the time, but he has been promoted." Jacobs answered.

April asked, "Why has Lt Kenn been promoted?"

Jacobs said, "To keep it short, his length of service as an Ensign and his willingness to accept new responsibilities and his performance justified his promotion."

"We'll get into this later." April saw that his time was up and yielded to Senator Jameson for rebuttal. "Senator Jameson?"

Jameson was fuming. "Thank you, Captain Hammel." Looking at Jacobs, "If you were hot on the trail of my kidnappers, why did it take so long to find us?"

Jacobs said, "We were hours behind, and we did not have a good idea where they were taking you. Our thinking was that it was the same group of pirates that had attacked the Beluga."

Jameson wanted to move on, "During your operation, you captured a Norsican ship."

Jacobs nodded, "Yes we did."

"And you let another go."

"Sort of, we had boarded it, hacked the computers as best as we could, booby trapped it, and put a device to track it from a distance."

Jameson said, "So you have committed acts of war against the Norsicans."

Jacobs looked keenly into Jameson's eyes. "I did what was necessary to rescue the hostages. This group of Norsicans have kidnapped and killed Federation citizens. That too is an act of war, Senator."

"Don't you lecture me, Jacobs!"

"I'm not lecturing you, Senator. I'm reminding the committee and everyone that is watching that there were Federation citizens' lives at stake. If I did not act quickly enough, they could have been lost into slavery anywhere in the quadrant or even beyond." Jacobs stated.

"I know better than anyone here what was at stake! It's because you in Starfleet take such a hard stance against opponents that I lost my fingers!" Jameson held up his hands, which were missing his pinkies.

Hammel flushed, he remembered that the fingers were lost while he was dealing with the Norsicans. Hammel was trying to buy time before following the Norsican's orders to blow up their warp core. He bought the time at the expense of one of Jameson's fingers. Delaying even a few seconds did save lives, but Jameson's anger seemed to be directed at Jacobs. Hammel kept quiet and hopefully Jacobs would not deflect the ire towards Hammel.

Jacobs remembered clearly when those fingers were cut off and who was dealing with the Norsicans. Jameson had to remember as well, and the anger that Jameson was fomenting was directed at him. Jacobs knew that it would seem petty to say something like, 'That was Captain Hammel's fault.' Because if truth be known, Jacobs would not have acquiesced. Jacobs held the gaze of Senator Jameson and said calmly, "That is precisely the reason why I continued the hot pursuit of the Norsicans. I needed to rescue you and the others as soon as possible before they could do you more harm. Captain Hammel and the Huron were not in as desperate of a situation as you and the others. My choice was to help the helpless, Captain Hammel and the Huron were not helpless. I left him and continued to give the Norsicans chase."

There could have been a pin drop in the room, for how silent it was. Jameson was fuming and could not hide it. Jameson literally wasted time on his turn before it was April's turn to start asking questions. Senator April started, "I understand Captain Jacobs, and I thank Senator Jameson for giving us a glimpse into the brutality of his captors. I commend your concern for the hostages given that they were under such brutal care. Tell me, where is Lt Kenn?"

"On request of the Committee, he is here in the Capital."

"Please send him in." April asked. The doors were opened and in walked Lt Joseph Kenn. "Please sit at the witness table. Captain Hammel, you are excused."

Captain Hammel stood up and left. As he and Lt Kenn passed each other, their eyes met. Lt Kenn saw his former Captain, the one who indulged him to curry favor. Lt Kenn had life easy on the Huron. Then he was kidnapped and held by the Norsicans. As irony would work it, Kenn was rescued by the very ship that had washed him out of training. It was there that Kenn saw who he truly was and wanted to be a better man. Kenn saw in his former Captain's eyes weakness, and was glad that he was no longer on the Huron.

Captain Hammel looked at the now Lieutenant. In such a short time this young man has grown. Kenn has an inner strength, more maturity, and something else he could not quite put a finger on. Hammel could also see that Kenn's eyes saw in him something he did not like. Hammel felt the gaze go right through him like a hot iron. Hammel could see that Kenn had contempt for him, and that sickened Hammel.

The moment was over in a flash and Kenn sat down. Kenn felt a bit self-conscious to be the focus of attention. He looked at his uncle, Senator Jameson, and all he saw was anger. No surprise there. Jameson had clandestinely tried to have Kenn spy on the officers of the Wisconsin, but Kenn did not cooperate.

Senator April started, "Lt Kenn, thank you for being here." Kenn nodded. "We are discussing the treatment of the Norsicans. Can you tell us your story?"

Kenn nodded. "Yes. I was captured in the attempt to rescue Senator Jameson."

April nodded. "I'm sorry to ask you to recount the experience, but I must." Kenn nodded. "What happened?"

Kenn stated plainly, "I beamed over with five other crewmen. Three were killed immediately on arrival, a fourth was killed in the brief firefight. The fifth was sent back through the airlock in a spacesuit to send a message."

April asked, "And what was the message?"

"Don't mess with the Norsicans. I was held as a further hostage."

April said, "And what happened after that?"

"We were bound and held on the Senator's shuttle until arrival at the Pirate base. After that I was thrown into a solitary cell."

April asked, "And how were you treated?"

"Badly. No food, no water, I was also beaten. Both my legs were broken."

April nodded quietly. "What were your thoughts?"

Kenn said, "I could not escape. I was practically helpless. My thoughts were that the training that I received on the Wisconsin was right after all."

April asked, "Please elaborate."

Kenn took a deep breath in and looked at Captain Jacobs. Jacobs nodded slowly. Kenn started, "I was assigned to the Wisconsin after the Academy. We had normal duties until the Security force was complete then we started training. The deal was that if we stayed with the ship, we would train and qualify as elite forces."

"The training was hard, I dropped out halfway through, and got transferred to the next available ship, which was the Huron. At this point it time, I saw the training from Commander Bauer as being an exaggeration, overboard, unnecessarily strenuous. When we were trying to rescue the Senator, Captain Hammel put me in charge of the operation as he did not think that Norsicans were a match for Starfleet and that he wanted to curry favor with Senator Jameson by having his nephew lead the operation.
Jameson sat boiling while Kenn continued. "I set up the operation according to standard Starfleet Security doctrine. I did not want an overwhelming force, just enough to 'do the job'."

April asked, "Why is that?"

Kenn explained. "Starfleet security doctrine is basically to use enough force to accomplish the mission. Avoid overwhelming force so as to not offend the opponent. This was a change after the Klingon war several years ago."

Kenn looked at the officers of the Wisconsin, specifically Commander Bauer. "Commander Bauer's philosophy was different. I realized sitting in that dank cell that if he had tried to rescue the Senator, the Senator would have been rescued and there would have been no casualties on our side."

April asked, "And the Norsicans?"

"Most likely dead. One of the mistakes I made was to have phasers set to stun. The stun setting was ineffective against their body armor and their physiology."

"I realized sitting in the cell that Commander Bauer was right. Everything he was teaching us was right. The best hope I had was that the Wisconsin save us, not Starfleet. If a normal Starfleet ship came, I probably would end up dead."

Time was done and Jameson said, "Lt Kenn, first it's good to see you nephew." Kenn nodded acknowledgement. "Didn't you think that the rescue operation was overboard?"

"No Senator, I do not."

"But they killed Norsicans, they used explosives." Jameson said.

"Yes, they did. They needed to eliminate the threat of any Norsicans quickly. The Badgers needed to prevent continued interference from other Norsicans, so they laid booby traps."

Jameson's voice raised up, "That's my point, they used excessive force!"

Kenn said evenly, "Yes, they did, and you and me and the other hostages are alive and well. Uncle."

Jameson snapped, "But they killed half the station! They wreaked havoc! They did acts of war!"

Kenn said, "I'm not the best one to speak into that, Senator. But you and I are alive and well."

"I'm not well, I lost two fingers!" Jameson said showing his hands.

Kenn retorted. "That, Senator happened before the Wisconsin was involved. That was in direct response to the failed operation I led. If you need to blame anyone about losing your fingers, you blame me. I was in command of that operation."

The room was quiet. Jameson looked at April, "I'm through with him." April nodded agreement. Jameson said, "Thank you Lieutenant, you are dismissed." Kenn stood up and turned to leave. As he did, he looked at Captain Jacobs and Cdr Bauer, they nodded to him and he nodded back.

Jameson looked at Captain Jacobs, "Captain, why did you attack the base?"

Jacobs said plainly, "To rescue you and the others."

Jameson said, "You wreaked havoc! You severely damaged the base, killed many Norsicans, destroyed some ships, and destabilized the sector with violence!"

Jacobs remained silent for a second, then said plainly. "I didn't destabilize the sector."

There was a mild chuckle in the room. Jameson said, "You don't deny the other allegations?"

"No sir. I did do all that." Jacobs said plainly.

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

Jacobs sat quietly. Jameson snapped, "Do you have nothing to say?"

Jacobs said, "Your question is vague."

"Why did you wreak so much damage and kill all those Norsicans?"

Jacobs plainly said, "I think Lt Kenn said it well, it was the best way to rescue all the hostages without casualties."

"But you killed many Norsicans!"

Jacobs looked to Admiral Nogura. Nogura nodded slowly. Jacobs looked to Cogley. Cogley whispered to him something. Jacobs nodded and looked at Senator Jameson. "Yes, I did, Senator."

"You admit it!"

"Of course. It's in my report. You have had it for months."

"You killed people! They kill people! There must be a difference between us and them." There was a murmuring in the background.

Jacobs responded after the murmuring quieted down. "Yes, Senator there is a difference. They killed to kidnap people including you. I authorized lethal force to rescue people including you."

"You and your merry band of pirates are a menace! You cannot wait to use excessive force whenever possible. Mr. Bauer! Like the time you killed that Norsican holding me! You shot your phaser and barely missed me and killed him! I could have been killed too!"

Bauer answered, "No, Senator, you would not have been killed."

It interrupted Jameson's train of thought, "Why not?"

Bauer said, "Because I'm not that bad of a shot."

Jameson was confused, he did not know how to react. There was a stir in the audience. Jacobs said, "Committee, I'd like to show you how the Senator was killed. First, we will see the shot from his helmet cam in real time, this is so you have a chance to see how challenging of a situation it was." Jacobs nodded at the room's screen operator. The operator released the controls to Jacobs.

The screen showed McGee kneeling by a heavy door's control panel and he had his tricorder wired into the lock. He was working on it, Bauer checked back down the hallway to see if anyone was following. Bauer said, "Ready!" and the rest of the squad waited for the door to open. The mechanism released and the door started retracting into the ceiling. As soon as the door was high enough, the camera shook a little bit as Bauer signaled to move ahead. At the far end a Norsican dragging Jameson came around the corner. Bauer's rifle shifted a bit and a phaser beam leaped out and the Norsican dropped to the floor. Shortly, Senator Jameson started screaming in a high-pitched panic voice.

Jameson yelled, "You have no authorization to show that!"

Jacobs shook his head, "You are wrong, Senator. This is not classified material. Committee, you just saw what our Security Force trains for. Explicitly quick reaction situations like this. Total time from the time Bauer saw Jameson until Bauer fired was 0.9 seconds." There were gasps around the room. Jacobs turned to Bauer. "Commander Bauer. Walk them through it."

Bauer nodded. "I already had my rifle up ready to use. Here is the same scene again from the gun camera. It's good quality and pretty much what I saw." The screen showed a narrow view basically taken from the sight. "Right here you see a shadow move. That's the Norsican's shadow and probably some of Senator Jameson's as well too. That clued me that we had a bad guy ahead. Very shortly after that," He moved the video ahead in slow motion. You could see Jameson come into view with the Norsican behind him. The gunsight moved to on top of Jameson's chest. Jacobs noticed that Senator Jameson in the committee room blanched when he saw that Bauer's phaser was aimed at him initially.

Bauer stopped it right at that point. Jameson could not keep his mouth shut. "You were pointing your rifle at me! I could have been killed!"

Bauer said, "No sir, you would not have been killed because my finger was not on the trigger. I had not determined that you were you, Senator. The best place for me to point my weapon is at potential threats."

"But I'm not a threat! How dare you point it at me!"

Bauer ignored the comment. "Continuing on in slow motion. The Norsican finishes the turn and is now standing beside the Senator." The screen showed the aim point start to shift to on top of the Norsican's chest. "You see the Norsican clearly as the larger form." The screen froze at this point. "My aimpoint is almost on the Norsican's chest, this is how short the time is. Now you will see the Norsican's free hand start to move up to the Senator's neck. Norsicans have a claw near the wrist that will inject venom. If they are able to inject their venom, the only way to prevent that from happening is to sever the brain connection to the body. It not only needs to be a head shot, but a well-placed head shot."

Bauer started playing in slow motion. "You see the hand come up near his face, the Norsican is in position to claw Senator Jameson. You see my aim point center on the Norsican's head and…" A flash showed the beam going out and through the Norsican's head.

Bauer let the recording play until the Norsican started to fall. "When the brain activity is cut off from the claw, the claw naturally retracts. The Senator was safe."

"I got burns on my face!" Jameson said.

Bauer said matter-of-factly. "Yes, you did. But you did not get the claw with the venom put near your neck. We were not put in a position where the Norsican would try to talk us out of rescuing the Senator."

April's time started. "Thank you, Captain Jacobs, Commander Bauer. I'm sure those hostages thank you too. That is some amazing footage. What else was accomplished besides the rescue?"

Jacobs said, "We also captured a Norsican ship. While on the base we were able to hack their computers and yield data on Federation citizens that have been kidnapped and sold into slavery."

Admiral Nogura leaned forward to his microphone and said, "To add to that, from just that database, Starfleet, and FID have been able to conduct operations to recover more Federation citizens and gain information on others. The current count of citizens recovered is four hundred twenty-seven."

Director Briggs added, "And that database from the Norsican base has opened avenues in intelligence that we never would have had. Starfleet did a tremendous job and we got a treasure trove out of that single operation." Briggs looked at Jacobs and smiled and nodded his head in tribute. Jacobs nodded back.

EAGLE POINT RESORT

LA RONGE, SASKETCHEWAN

Mitchell was watching the hearing with the others. 'Baker' turned to Mitchell and said, "Did you hear any of this?"

Mitchell shook his head no. "How do you think this is going so far?"

'Baker' said, "Not that well. Today was supposed to rattle Jacobs. While that may have happened, it looks like your benefactor may have been rattled. Be sure to play your part well. Jameson is going to need it."

Mitchell looked back at the screen. Sure, must perform well. For supposedly his freedom. Which is not in writing. And now if Jameson is not happy, he may go back to prison after all with a 'how did you get out' hanging on his record. There was nothing he can prove.

AMBASSADOR GORKON'S OFFICE

KLINGON EMBASSY, EARTH

Ambassador Gorkon, Kang, Kor, and Torg were watching the hearing. Gorkon asked, "What are your opinions?"

Kor shook his head. Kang said, "This all verifies what we already know of the character of the people involved. It just increases my distaste in this Senator Jameson."

Torg nodded agreement, "To treat somebody that rescued you from certain death or a lifelong time of horrible living, it doesn't make sense. The Senator is not sane."

Gorkon nodded, "I agree. And he is trying to become the Federation President. What could happen to the Empire if the Federation is led by a man like that?"

Kor shook his head again. "I know a lot of Federation people call us evil. I have done evil things and regret it now. I did not help the Empire's honor at all, and I have done much evil. I have been forgiven of the evil I have done. I can see the evil of Jameson. He is mischaracterizing events. I can see that from here and I do not know what happened. Just that video alone of Cdr Bauer is amazing. I doubt we have fifty warriors that could have made that shot. And Jameson is critical? He should be forever indebted to Bauer."

Gorkon nodded. "I sense this day did not go well for Senator Jameson."

Kang scowled. "Maybe, maybe not. Remember, most of the audience the Senator is playing to has never seen combat. They do not know what is really important. He may be able to work his silver tongue and make his audience think that Jacobs is a wild man."

Gorkon said. "Well, we better get going. I think that the Committee will be calling for you, Kang. Torg, stay here and monitor. I need you to do research based on what is discussed in the hearing."

"Yes sir."