A Matter of Perspective

Posted on Thu Oct 14th, 2010 @ 9:02am by Vice Admiral Iluvar & Commander Fala Awen & Commander Christopher McNeil & Commander Michael Evans M.D. & Lieutenant JG Malia Jacy & Lieutenant JG Hannah Andeti

Mission: Episode 1.3 - "The Time of Trial"
Location: Courtroom, Deep Space Four
Timeline: Mission Day 03, 0930 hours

ON: [[Courtroom, Deep Space Four, Mission Day 03, 0930 hours]]

The opening statements for both sides hadn't taken all that long and now they were already moving on to the arguments for the prosecution. It was the prosecution's chance to call witnesses and submit evidence that would support their claim that Rear Admiral Iluvar had actually violated Starfleet protocol and was worthy of the appropriate discipline.

Malia fought to keep her eyes trained to the front, but she kept reviewing the other occupants in the room. She'd been rather surprised to learn of the allegations against the Admiral; he certainly didn't strike her as the type to smash the rules to bits with little regard, but then again, part of the beauty of humanity was that it could never really ever be figured out. The feel of the room was tense and heavy and she was anxious to see the evidence that would be presented.

Andeti uncrossed and re-crossed her legs as she waited for the evidence to be presented. She had no doubt that the Admiral was innocent but she knew what these lawyers could do and was afraid to see what they might trot out.

Doctor Haelen sat rigidly next to the wall. Iluvar's future could depend on these proceedings... and therefore, so could his.

Looking up from his position at the defense table, Aerus (NPC) glanced over his shoulder at the Mark I Emergency Medical Hologram seated at the back of the room. It had come as a surprise to many that the Pandora's EMH had requested to be present for the proceedings and there were some who had voiced opinions regarding what they saw as 'special treatment'. Aerus didn't really see it that way, though. Instead, he saw a hologram that had been given the opportunity to move beyond its original programming and was just as concerned about the outcome of these proceedings as anyone else.

"I would like to call Commander Christopher McNeil to the stand," Arnold said, looking across the room toward where the commander was currently sitting, "Commander, would you come forward please?"

Quirking an eyebrow at being called first, McNeil rose slowly and set his PADD down on the chair. With a quick tug on his uniform tunic to straighten it, he walked to the end of the row, then up to the witness stand. Keeping an eye on Mercer, he sat down and placed his palm on the flat reader panel on the chair arm.

Arnold had watched as McNeil had walked up to the stand and taken a seat. Standing between his chair and the end of the table, Arnold said, "Would you state your name and position for the record, please?"

"Commander Christopher McNeil, Mission Advisor, USS Pandora," McNeil said calmly. "Would you like my service number as well?"

"Thank you commander, but I think this should suffice," Arnold said with a smile. He glanced down at the PADD on the table before him. A moment later, he looked up again and stepped around the edge of the table. "Tell me, commander," he continued, "How long have you served under Rear Admiral Iluvar?"

"Roughly a year," McNeil responded. He did a quick mental tally and nodded slightly. "First aboard the USS Tethys, and now aboard the Pandora."

Nodding slowly, Arnold leaned against the table and folded his arms across his chest. "Certainly you have had an opportunity to experience the admiral's command style for yourself," he said, "What sort of impression do you have of the admiral?"

"He's a competent commander, loyal to his crew... and to the Federation," McNeil replied. "As any good commanding officer must be, he's strict, but fair."

"Have you ever disagreed with the admiral over a command decision," Arnold asked. The question seemed casual enough, but there was a definite undertone to it that made it clear there was something more coming.

McNeil looked at Mercer with a quizzical expression. "Sir, I tend not to involve myself in the direct command operations of the Pandora unless the situation requires it. As such, I have had neither reason nor opportunity to find fault with any of Admiral Iluvar's command decisions."

A smile flashed across Arnold's face and it wasn't clear whether he was pleased with the commander's answer or whether there was something more to it. Folding his arms across his chest, Arnold glanced over in Iluvar's direction before returning his focus to the man seated on the witness stand. "A commendable statement," he said, "but you can't expect us to believe that you haven't ever felt the urge to comment on the admiral's command decisions. Has there never been a moment when you haven't felt that things could have been done differently?"

From her seat, Malia caught it too. The tug of an opening that was probably about to be torn wide open. Though the Ops officer had absolutely no legal experience, she instinctually wanted to pounce on Commander McNeil's use of the word 'opportunity'. It could possibly be made to seem like Iluvar purposely shut out his department heads, something that would not bode well for his decision making process or his reputation of being fair; especially when said opportunity lacking came directly from his mission advisor. On the other hand, the Intelligence Chief had admitted that he kept his hands out of it on his own accord. Interesting.

McNeil gave Mercer a hard stare. "I have often commented on the admiral's decisions, usually by his own request and to him, privately. That's my job aboard the Pandora, after all. And no, I cannot recall an instance where I believed the Admiral's decision was incorrect."

Arnold nodded slowly as he folded his hands behind his back. He took a few steps so that he was standing between the witness stand and the defense table. "Have you taken the opportunity to study Rear Admiral Iluvar's personnel record," he asked.

"I reviewed it briefly," McNeil answered honestly, "When I was first assigned to the Tethys. Upon learning of this inquiry, I took the time to review it again, in more detail."

"...and what did you find," Mercer asked, looking the man directly in the eye. Arnold had done more than a little research of his own and it was no secret to him that McNeil used to serve under Admiral Antoine Meyer (PNPC) prior to being assigned to the USS Tethys, and later the USS Pandora.

McNeil considered that for a brief moment. Certainly, Mercer was fishing for some indication that he disapproved of Iluvar in some way. "Based on his record, Admiral Iluvar has had what could be called a normal career... at least up until the point that he was appointed to his first command. From that point he seems to have been a magnet for, shall we say, interesting situations... but that's something that can be said for a lot of starship commanders."

Folding his hands behind his back, Arnold took a few steps before asking, "Please clarify what you are referring to by 'interesting situations'."

"Well, ending up in the so-called Mirror Universe and our recent mission in Romulan Territory would count as interesting, in my definition," McNeil answered calmly. "As I'm sure you know, Captain, neither place is a common destination for a Federation starship."

"No, it is not," Arnold agreed with a small smile, "It is interesting that you should bring up those specific incidents. Both cases are indicative of situations where Rear Admiral Iluvar acted against Starfleet regulation..." He paused a moment to see if his statement might illicit some reaction from the man on the witness stand.

"How so?" McNeil asked immediately. He was, of course, familiar with regulations forbidding interference with the Mirror Universe if at all possible, but one could easily make the argument that the events in that case had been outside the crew's control and thus, interference was unavoidable if the ship were to avoid capture or destruction. He was not aware of any regulations being broken in regard to the recent Romulan mission... at least not by Admiral Iluvar.

"The Pandora's most recent assignment was to embark on a tour of Romulan defenses along their border with the Elyshans at the request of the Romulan Senate," Arnold said with an odd twinkle in his eye, "Yet the rendezvous with the vessel that would escort the Pandora through Romulan space never occurred."

"That would be because the Pandora was intercepted and deceived by a Warbird operating under the authority of the Imperial Romulan State," McNeil replied. "We were not informed of the name of either the warbird we would be met by, nor the commander of said warbird, and thus had no way of knowing that we were not met by the correct ship."

If Arnold was surprised by this new bit of information, he didn't show it. He thought for a brief moment before saying, "Did the warbird that intercepted the Pandora give you cause at any time during the mission to believe that it was not the escort that you were ordered to rendezvous with?"

"Not until our proper escort found us, no," McNeil said. "Certainly their behavior seemed odd, but well within the usual level of oddness displayed by Romulans when dealing with a Starfleet ship."

"Thank you, commander," Arnold said abruptly, "No further questions at this time." He turned and crossed the open space to the prosecution table in a few steps. Slowly, he lowered himself into his seat, but kept his focus fixed on the man in the witness chair.

Rising to his feet, Joseph tugged his uniform slightly before turning his attention to Commander McNeil. "I'd like to go back to something you said earlier, commander," he said, "You said that Admiral Iluvar has had what could be considered a normal career up until his being appointed commanding officer of the USS Tethys. Would you say that he has ever been unusually concerned for that career in Starfleet?"

"I can only truthfully speak about my experience with the Admiral, sir," McNeil responded, "but from that experience, I would have to say that Iluvar is far more concerned with the well-being of his crew and doing what he believes to be right than advancing his career."

"In your experience with the admiral, what do you believe to be the most difficult command decision he has faced," Joseph asked.

"I believe that would be the situation in the Mirror Universe," McNeil answered, without having to give it much thought. "It was a very difficult situation and avoiding contact with the natives, as Starfleet regulations dictate we should whenever possible, was not a viable option. It was due to the actions of a native of that reality that the Tethys ended up there in the first place."

The commander's answer was one possible response that Joseph had been anticipating when he'd formulated the question, based on his own understanding of the admiral's record. Indeed, he wasn't even sure how he would have reacted if he had been in the same position as the Tethys crew. "How did the admiral handle that particular situation," he asked.

"Once the real Iluvar regained command of the ship from his Mirror counterpart, the Tethys returned the other Iluvar's body to his homeworld and stopped two Alliance ships from reporting the existence of that world to their government." McNeil paused for a moment, then continued, "After that we went back to the device that had transferred us to the Mirror Universe and had to engage several ships to reach it. The crew took steps to destroy the gateway as we passed through it so that there couldn't be a re-occurrence of those events with another ship."

"It sounds like the admiral took steps to minimize contact with the natives of the Mirror Universe and to prevent any further interaction between that universe and our own," Joseph surmised, "Would you agree?"

"Yes, sir, I would," McNeil replied without hesitation.

"Which would be in accordance with Starfleet procedure regarding the Mirror Universe," Joseph continued, "Correct?"

"Correct, sir," McNeil replied, again without hesitation. "Starfleet directives with regard to the Mirror Universe require that any contact be avoided if possible, and kept to a minimum if avoidance proves impossible."

"Thank you, commander," Joseph said with a slight smile, "You may step down."

OFF

A JP by

Admiral Gareth Bullock (NPC)
Station Commander
Deep Space Four
Played by: LtCmdr Fala

Vice Admiral Tom Saunders (NPC)
Member of the Board
Played by: LtCmdr Fala

Vice Admiral Alan Richards (NPC)
Member of the Board
Played by: LtCmdr Fala

Rear Admiral Iluvar
Commanding Officer
USS Pandora

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

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

Commander Christopher McNeil
Chief Intelligence Officer/Mission Advisor
USS Pandora

Lieutenant Aerus (NPC)
Legal Officer
Starfleet Judge Advocate-General
Played by: RAdm Iluvar

Lieutenant JG Hannah Andeti
Chief Counselor
USS Pandora

Lieutenant JG Malia Jacy
Assistant Chief of Operations
USS Pandora

and

Doctor Anthony Haelen
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Pandora
Played by: LtCmdr Evans