The Challenge

Posted on Sun Aug 22nd, 2010 @ 3:07pm by Vice Admiral Iluvar

Mission: Episode 1.3 - "The Time of Trial"
Location: Wellington Apartments, Earth
Timeline: Prior to MD01, 0630 hours

ON: [[Wellington Apartments, Earth, Prior to MD01, 0630]]

Joseph (NPC) slipped his empty breakfast tray back into the replicator slot on the wall as he finished off the last of his second cup of coffee. The day was still young and he knew that they would have a full schedule for him when he got to the office. Day in and day out, there was never a dull moment in his line of work.

A soft chirp drew his attention away from the replicator. It took him a moment to trace the sound to his desktop terminal, which was slowly rising from its concealed location within the hardwood of his desk. “Must be a really busy day,” he said to himself with a short chuckle.

He crossed over to the desk and took a seat. Inputting his access code, he watched as the familiar Federation emblem appeared on the screen, replaced a moment later by the face of a man he’d thought he’d never see again.

“Arnold Mercer (NPC),” Joseph said with a forced smile, “It’s been too long.”

“Indeed, it has,” Mercer replied with equally false cheeriness, “I see they finally gave you that fourth pip. Can’t keep a good man down, eh Joseph?”

“What do you want, Arnold,” Joseph asked. He didn’t think he’d have the patience to sit through the man’s prattle. Come to think of it, it was a wonder that Mercer had even been able to contact him in the first place. Such calls were usually routed to the office.

“Oh, you wound me, Joseph,” Mercer said, putting a hand to his chest, “Does a man need a reason to call upon an old friend?”

Old friend indeed, Joseph thought to himself. He hadn’t seen Mercer since the two of them had been on opposite sides during a review hearing. Mercer had been assigned to prosecute a young crewman who’d been responsible for the death of three officers when a plasma conduit had ruptured during a maintenance check. All the evidence had pointed to a mechanical malfunction, but Mercer had managed to convince the review board to discharge the crewman and sentence him to three years in the New Zealand Penal Colony.

“Well, if you must know,” Mercer continued, realizing he wasn’t going to get a reaction out of Joseph, “I called because I have something to offer you.”

Joseph waited. He knew that Mercer wanted him to ask what it was, but he wasn’t about to give that man the satisfaction. There was something at work here and Joseph was pretty sure that he wasn’t going to like it at all.

“Tsk, tsk…where is all that curiosity,” Mercer asked, giving Joseph a wry look.

“I’m not exactly sure why I should be curious about anything you have to say, Arnold,” Joseph replied shortly.

“How about this,” Mercer said, leaning forward slightly, “I recently took on a very interesting case involving a member of the Eighth Fleet admiralty and I can think of no one better who I’d like to see sitting at the defense.”

“Am I supposed to be flattered by that,” Joseph asked, not really expecting an answer.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Mercer replied, leaning back again. He reached over and slid a PADD to the middle of his desk with one hand. Without glancing down at it, he smiled slightly. “This man’s certainly built quite a reputation for himself,” he continued, “and I’d hate to see him go down without someone there to plead for his case.”

“Just who are we talking about here,” Joseph asked.

Mercer’s smile widened. “His name is…” he began, “Rear Admiral Iluvar.”

OFF

Captain Joseph Wells (NPC)
Legal Officer
Starfleet Judge Advocate-General
Played by: RAdm Iluvar

And

Captain Arnold Mercer (NPC)
Legal Officer
Starfleet Judge Advocate-General
Played by: RAdm Iluvar