433 Coming To Light
After I had cleared out most of the crew of the USS Hera and sent them back to their homes or wherever else they wanted to go, I brought Silva LaForge, three Vulcans, the nurse, and the Chief Engineer to the USS Retaliation. I pretended to use a transporter and stepped us from the Hera to a transporter room near the crew quarters.
I retrieved some of their personal belongings as well and had a Chappel settle them into temporary rooms until we worked out their positions on the ship and then they would be assigned appropriate accommodations. Not surprisingly, four of the six scientists from the USS Raman wanted to stay as well. The captain and the remaining two scientists chose to return to Starfleet and take their lumps, as the old saying goes.
Since they couldn't talk about me or my ship, I wasn't sure how they were going to explain their sudden reappearance at the nearest starbase... that just happened to be the same one that refused to give us the last known coordinates of the USS Hera and we had to follow their comm signal instead.
I wasn't stupid enough to take the ship there, since I suspected the commander of Deep Space Three had called in reinforcements after I had threatened him. I just had to do something first.
With no crew left on the damaged ship, I had to ensure the Hera was actually lost inside a gas giant like we suspected it should have been. After I stepped back to the engine room and jury-rigged up a command program with the appropriate codes, thanks to Silva LaForge, I set the ship's limping course for the closest gas giant that matched Marijna VII and send it into the depths of the atmosphere.
It just so happened to coincide with history's record of the IFF protocol being lost as well, so at least that worked out. It also gave me an excuse to visit the commander of DS3 to torment him about it when I dropped off the USS Raman's captain and two scientists. I wasn't going to do anything to him, except maybe give him a few copied memories from the Hera crew members about how terrified they were while he sat in his comfy office.
Once I had that done and returned to the ship, I stood on the bridge and Beverly hugged me. I hugged her back and we just stood there for several minutes. No one commented about it, not even Wesley.
I let Beverly go and took a breath, then reached for the all hands intercom button. “After experiencing something like that, I think I need a vacation and you're all invited. How does a week on the pleasure planet called Risa sound?”
A lot of cheers came back in answer.
“Then that's where we'll go. Riker out.” I said and let the button go. “Navigation, when can...”
“I just sent the course corrections to Wesley, sir.” Chappel said with a smile.
I chuckled and nodded. “Wesley, we're not in a rush this time, so a moderate speed is appropriate.”
“Aye, sir. Setting warp speed to only 9.5.” Wesley said with a grin.
I laughed and Beverly looked happy, too. “Get us underway, Lieutenant.”
“Yes, Admiral. Course laid in and coming about. Engaging warp engine in two minutes.” Wesley said and the ship changed course and accelerated at full Impulse engines to get far enough into deep space to safely jump to warp.
I sat down and Beverly gave me a pointed look. I whispered I would brief her on what happened on the Hera as soon as we were alone. She nodded and we watched the screen as the ship jumped to warp speed to take us to the resort planet that was famous throughout the Federation.
I also had a neat idea that I hoped would make everyone's moods rise up. Well, the Chappel's mood at least. I wasn't sure what Wesley was going to do when the real life older version of Chappel also ended up staying at Risa's best resort.
*
Lwaxana Troi had just finished teaching a class of children a lesson on using their mouths to form words. They would need a lot of practice before she had them make any noises, since the Cairn were a solely telepathic race and hadn't interacted with anyone else until recently. She still didn't understand how it became her job to teach an entire race how to switch from telepathic communication to verbal communication; but, she wasn't going to complain about it. It was keeping her busy and her mind active.
Her star pupil gave her a hug and a mental thank you for the great lesson. She was a cute little girl with blonde hair that was shockingly familiar, even though they had never met before. She was also the Cairn Ambassador's daughter and was rambunctious and liked having fun.
Lwaxana left the classroom and returned to her assigned rooms and Mr Homn gave her a head nod and a glass of her favorite wine. “Thank you.” She said gratefully and took a sip. She sighed happily and patted his arm as she passed him and went to the table and the personal console there. Another sip was had and she sat down to relax and go over any correspondence that might have appeared since the last time she checked.
Her hopes of hearing from her daughter Deanna were dashed as she skimmed the headers of the messages and she held in a disappointed sigh. When is that girl going to get married? I want grandchildren to spoil before I'm too old to enjoy it.
As she browsed through the messages that were just platitudes for someone of her great importance, most of them sucking up to her to ask for favors, another message appeared with a soft chime.
Lwaxana's eyes widened at the sender, Thomas Riker, and she immediately dove into Starfleet records to find out if it was who she thought it was or was some kind of trick. Was William trying to pull one over on her? No, it seems there was some kind of accident years ago with a transporter and it made a younger copy of the man that broke her daughter's heart over choosing his career instead of her.
She caught her breath when she checked the date. It was before he made thatdecision and her hope rose, then she read the medical report that was public knowledge, then the report of him being declared a child, because he only existed for eight years.
She scoffed at that reasoning, since the transporter pulled them apart and then remade them every time they used it. Everyone's ages would be reset constantly and no one would be legally an adult, forcing them to change that decision. As an afterthought, she searched for other such accidents with a transporter and then submitted them with her thoughts to Starfleet Personnel in Thomas Riker's defense.
“Let's see what they make of that.” Lwaxana said and closed the report and went back to the message to read it. She let out a laugh and then looked at her schedule. She had planned to visit the Enterprise next week anyway, so leaving early to spend a week on Risa wouldn't change her plans much. “Mr. Homn! Pack us up for a sunny vacation for a week. We're going to Risa!”
“Hmm.” Mr. Homn said and handed her another glass of wine.
“Thank you.” Lwaxana said and handed him her empty one. She sipped it and then sent a message back that confirmed she would be there. Being an ambassador herself, she had priority accommodations on most starships and hitching a ride to the planet would be as easy as saying she was going there.
She sat back on her chair to relax a little and thought about how a younger Riker would react to her, now that she was a little older and had a firm grasp of what her hypersexuality could to do an unattached man. Plus, her foolish daughter must have rejected the chance to rekindle the flames of love with the younger version of her lost love, since he was on another ship and not on the Enterprise.
“Make sure you pack a two piece swimsuit for me, Mr. Homn.” Lwaxana said with a knowing look. “I have a younger man to tease and entice into telling me why he gave up on my daughter again.”
“Hmm.” Mr. Homn said and went into the bedroom to pack.
*
The Court of Inquiry over Doctor Beverly Crusher's behavior came to order a day after Lwaxana left for Risa. It was only a three judge panel this time, since it was hastily put together and they needed to investigate it as quickly as possible. Charges like that were a serious breach of the public's trust in Starfleet officers and it had to be responded to in a timely manner and not shuffled off and out of sight like other inquiries.
“Point of order.” The officer chosen to prosecute said and stood. “I need to file a continuance.”
The middle judge sighed and barely stopped herself from rubbing her face in frustration. “We only just started, Duncan.”
Duncan sighed. “I'm sorry, Hannah. I wouldn't do this if it wasn't necessary.”
Hannah sighed, too. “All right, let's hear the reason why.”
“I have two, your honor.” Duncan said. “The main witness is AWL and the subject of the inquiry cannot be found.”
“Excuse me?” Hannah asked and straightened her back. “Did you just say both Doctor Crusher and her son are unavailable, despite being served notices well in advance?”
“Yes, your honor. After a short investigation, Wesley Crusher's Absence With Leave was filed by an associate of Doctor Crusher's as medical leave and there is no record of the young man leaving Starfleet Academy by official transporter, shuttle, or ship.”
“Official transporter? I don't like the sound of that.” Hannah said.
“Neither do I. Traces of an unknown teleporter were found in his dorm room and the notice was there open on his desk, as well as a knocked over chair.” Duncan told her and the three judges exchanged worried looks. “As for Doctor Crusher, she left the Enterprise almost right after the incident where Captain Picard called her out for her behavior. The notice sent to her was read and not responded to.”
“And neither of them can be found?” Hannah asked and he shook his head. “Then we will proceed without them.”
“Your honor, without the primary witness...”
“They didn't deem it important to appear here in Doctor Crusher's defense.” Hannah said, her face hard. “We can rely on her records and personal recordings, as well as Mr. Crusher's. However, their disregard to this inquiry is damning in itself and will be reflected in our final decision.”
“Understood, your honor.” Duncan said.
“Go ahead and present your case.” Hannah ordered.
Duncan nodded. “The first thing we should see is the bridge recording of what started it all.”
The three judges and the room full of people watched the large screen as Beverly Crusher had a visible meltdown and Captain Picard's own behavior was also severely in question as unbecoming. In private, there wouldn't be anything they could do about that; but, on the bridge of a starship and in full view of the bridge crew and the recorders? It was made note of and another inquiry would be called.
“As you just saw, this was sparked by another incident that was caused by Captain Picard as well.” Duncan said and presented Thomas Riker's public medical records and the questionable decisions made by Starfleet Personnel. The admiral in question had quietly retired in disgrace for what he did and he quoted Thomas Riker's submitted reports and warnings about making the right decision.
“Those fools.” Hannah whispered when the list of Thomas Riker's skills was shown.
No one questioned how he could have gotten them, since they all knew he spent eight years of his time as commander of an entire starbase and he had full access to the facilities and materials there, which had been officially denied existed because of the age he was declared as. The ship wasn't as easily explained, so the prosecutor hadn't included that in the evidence.
“Since he's already retired, there isn't anything that can be done about the admiral doing Picard a favor.” The judge on the right said. “Even issuing a public censure won't do anything but bring attention to this disgrace.”
“Agreed.” Hannah and the judge on the left said at the same time.
“Because of that incident, and the false declarations by Captain Picard and Starfleet, Doctor Crusher was pretty much forced to commit insubordination and conduct unbecoming.” Duncan said.
“I thought you were supposed to prosecute the defendant, not defend her.” Hannah said before she could stop herself. Her face flushed red for not keeping her opinion to herself or saving it to say in her private chambers later.
“I am prosecuting her.” Duncan said and didn't smile at getting a rise out of her. “Despite the clear evidence that it was all fabricated, Doctor Crusher intentionally aired all of it out in front of witnesses, as the bridge recording showed. Captain Picard offered to take it private and she refused. That's intentionally conduct unbecoming, regardless of her action before or after that incident.”
All three judges nodded, since it was clear.
“As for Captain Picard's arguments, and Starfleet's unfortunately official decision to declare Thomas Riker's existence as starting eight years ago, Doctor Crusher did knowingly engage in inappropriate behavior with a technical child, despite the base form being an adult when he came into existence.”
Hannah sighed. “Please tell me you aren't going to open that can of worms.”
Duncan had to smile as he brought up the things Ambassador Lwaxana Troi had submitted to Starfleet Personnel the day before without encoding them or even addressing them to anyone important. She submitted them to the department as a whole and it was copied and sent out as a general message to everyone employed there. She had definitely taken Thomas Riker's records being public to heart and did the same thing with her observations.
“Goddammit.” Hannah grumbled.
“With this new evidence, submitted by such a high ranked individual in the United Federation of Planets, it calls into question the entire validity of both Doctor Crusher's and Captain Picard's argument. However, what it doesn't do, is excuse their behavior over discussing it publicly.” Duncan said and finally let his smile out. “The prosecution rests, your honor.”
Hannah glared at the man and he kept the smile on his face. “I'd like to adjourn this case to deliberate over it with my fellow judges, except this high-handed and blatant attempt to derail everything is too hard to ignore.”
The other two judges nodded.
“Commander, I am relieving you of duty, pending your own investigation about revealing Starfleet secrets in open court.” Hannah said and Duncan nodded acceptance. “As for Doctor Crusher, a reprimand for conduct unbecoming will be put into her permanent record. One will be placed in Captain Picard's as well, just because he should have insisted for privacy and enforced it, which would have saved all of us from having to witness all of that mess.”
The other two judges nodded again.
“This inquiry is closed.” Hannah said and tapped the gavel, then glared at the prosecutor. “Duncan, you will report to my private ready room immediately.”
“Yes, your honor.” Duncan said and stood as well.
Everyone knew he was going to get it and shuffled out of the room faster than they would have normally. The other two judges left just as quickly, because they didn't want to be anywhere near Hannah when she got going on a rant.
Hannah went the back way to get to her ready room and Duncan was already there. She told her secretary she didn't want to be disturbed and ordered Duncan inside with a scowl on her face. As soon as the door hissed shut and the privacy protocols enacted to dampen the sound, Hannah jumped at her secret lover and kissed him senseless.
They stripped off their clothing and had an intense physical discussion about his behavior in the courtroom and they both thoroughly enjoyed it. As they lay in a heap on the floor and cuddled, a soft chuckle came from Duncan.
“How I handled that that really turned you on that much?” Duncan asked.
“You just saved Starfleet months of denials and recriminations, dear.” Hannah said and kissed him. “Since it was a public trial, it's part of the official record. Everyone from the lowest enlisted private to the top admirals in Starfleet will be up in arms about transporters and how they could all be considered children in the eyes of the law.”
“They are going to be all over this to fix that mistake.” Duncan said. “When was the last time you used a teleporter, Hannah? I want to know if I'm sleeping with an older woman now.”
Hannah laughed and rolled over to mount him again. “I'm barely a month old, Duncan.” She said and started to rock her hips. “How good... does this... younger body feel?”
Duncan answered that by thrusting up harder and made her cry out with pleasure. Their plan to use the inquiry to get Duncan out of his position had worked even better than they expected. Now they both had time off from their jobs at the same time and could take that vacation to Risa they had been planning for years.