Captain's Words and Decision

As expected by the assumed order the prosecution would call their witnesses, the Captain was next up on the stand. "The Board calls Captain Kheren," said the Orion prosecutor with a slight waver in her voice. She was not looking forward to interrogating such a highly decorated and well-respected figure. It was clear from the many commendations from his bridge crew, that no matter what regulations she may choose to throw at him, he had certainly done no wrong. In fact, she thought, she admired him for what he did manage to do and how many lives he saved.

Nonetheless, she had a job to do this day, and it was to attempt to discredit him in any way possible. Only in that way would he then be fully absolved.

The Andorian stood up and walked calmly to the stand, looking straight at the high ranking officers on the bench as he sat down.

"Captain Kheren. Serial number 19580529-A8A. Rank: Captain. Position: Starship Commanding officer. Assignment: USS Artemis. Commendations: Starfleet Academy honor graduate, Andoria Laibos university science honor graduate, Andoria dueling Honored Grand Master, Honorable discharge from the Andorian Imperial Guard captain rank, Decorated by Starfleet Command, Decorated by Starfleet Science, Temporal Ribbon of Excellence, Lotus Fleet Medal of Diplomacy, the Star Cross, Medal of Commendation, Citation for Conspicuous Gallantry, Christopher Pike Medal of Valor, fifteen times commended by Starfleet Command."

After the computer voice was silent, the prosecutor turned and stared long and hard into the Captain's stony expression, trying to find a hint of regret or any other emotion she could play off of. Eventually she gave up that pursuit and simply asked, "Captain, what was the purpose for leaving most of your crew behind on Starbase Ten?"

"As per General Order 29; preserving them from unwarranted risk."

Lieutenant Leeann'Eeta simply nodded and continued, "And how many officers were removed?"

"All in all, six hundred and thirty crewmembers, including officers."

"Leaving one hundred and seventeen," Leeann'Eeta continued.

"Correct," the Andorian acknowledged.

"That's quite a difference!" came the shocked voice from the prosecutor. She was play-acting the response and exaggerating the shock for emphasis. "Do you not believe that every crew member on your ship is necessary and vital to the operation of the vessel and to especially such an important mission?"

"Not in this particular instance," Kheren said with no hint of doubt in his deep voice.

"And why is that Captain? Certainly in battle you need every hand available to provide for the safety and well-being of the ship and her crew? Even botanists and xenolinguists are Starfleet Officers. All Starfleet Officers are cross trained to take over simple emergency medical, tactical, or engineering duties and they could be called to step up when those that are specifically trained in those roles are injured or killed. Leaving only fifteen percent of your crew seems like a big risk, a risk to the ship AND the mission, especially considering that a large portion of that remaining crew was science officers!"

"The Artemis was crewed for deep space exploration. This means that the large majority of it's complement is made up of research scientists, maintenance crews, assistant technicians and complementary security officers. These were not required for a short range, high-risk, emergency mission as defined by Operation Horizon. They would have had little if anything to do and would have been unnecessarily exposed to clear and direct danger we were ordered to face."

Kheren looked at the bench as he continued his answer.

"As per Starfleet regulations,at least forty percent of the crew is cross-trained between medical, technical and security duties. On the Artemis, I pushed that standard to fifty. However, we were not just part of a science mission to stop a catastrophe. We were ordered first to intercept a much more powerful battleship with only one other starship as back-up; and with clear orders to act as protection, if not fire decoy for that tactically superior ship, as we ourselves clearly lacked the firepower to face it. The strategic approach was sound; but it meant that the Artemis would take the brunt of the attack. This in my mind spelled high casualty risk, a risk even cross-trained xenolinguists and botanists needed not to face."

"Did your crew continue to follow the standard eight-hour duty shifts during this time?"

"No. We shifted to four shifts of six hours to ensure full rest and recuperation before meeting with the enemy, after we thoroughly prepared ourselves for the task. On the Artemis, Security and Tactical was already routinely following such a schedule."

"It seems you lost many of your crew prior to the events of the Azimuth Horizon action, including and most importantly your First Officer, Mister Michael O'Conner. Can you explain the reasoning for such an astounding lack of faith in your leadership?"

The Andorian captain took a moment to think, obviously finding it difficult to answer. But finally he spoke with a sigh.

"I myself, no. I can not understand how Starfleet officers who served with me for so long suddenly decided that, being ordered to provide their unique expertise to help headquarters, instead of uselessly risking their lives were they had little to contribute otherwise, found it grounds to ask for a transfer. I asked my ship's counselor about it, and she pointed out that all those that left were either Bajoran or Human, with psycho-profiles of high personal pride, ambition and aggressiveness. Such traits are common to most Andorians; yet, no Andorian would ever act this way, as we believe in discipline and service above personal gains. So your guess is as good as mine."

"I can imagine how it would be difficult for any Starfleet Officer to be told that his or her services are unwanted or unneeded," Lieutenant Leeann'Eeta noted. "Whether they logically understood your true reasons or not, emotionally, they may have felt betrayed... especially if they didn't agree with your assessment of how necessary their expertise may have been."

"That is exactly what I do not understand, Lieutenant," agreed the captain. "They were explicitly told that their expertise with the anomaly WAS needed; but NOT as cannon fodder. It was to be most helpful to the starbase however, to best direct the whole operation. Furthermore, Starfleet officers should accept a commanding officer's assessment and orders, whether they agree with them or not. If they have genuine objections and feel that they must bring them up, they should either come to him and discuss the matter, or else file a formal complaint. None of them did either of those things. They simply went away... including Commander O'Conner. He however did voice his own personal complaint... but right along presenting me his request for transfer and those of all the others. I understood then that he only wanted to say his piece and would not listen to whatever I would say, and that he presented himself as the leading officer in this rejection of my leadership. Therefore, I signed his transfer orders along with the others. We all serve willingly in Starfleet; I was not to be one to coerce them to follow my lead if they had no faith in it anymore."

The Orion was silent for a moment, apparently considering whether to press the issue, and then said, "Moving on to the actual operation, why did you order full impulse out of the spacedock, knowing full well it was against regulations?"

"General Order 24; If a commanding officer deems that an individual or group of individuals pose a threat to Starfleet personnel or Federation civilians, he may take any action deemed necessary to secure the safety of those threatened. There was a Romulan battleship heading under cloak at high warp within Federation space straight for Starbase 10, not answering hails or having any authorization to be there and on such a course. This fell under General Order 8: Upon sighting a warship within Federation space and identifying it as belonging to a foreign power, the commander of the Starfleet vessel shall determine the reason for that craft's presence in the vicinity. If there is conclusive evidence that the vessel has hostile intentions, the Federation vessel may take appropriate action to safeguard the lives and property of Federation members."

Kheren then looked at the Orion woman. "We were ordered to depart at once and intercept them before they had any chance to threaten Federation worlds or installations... or the operation itself, which was on a critical timetable."

The Andorian then turned his dark face from the Lieutenant once again towards the judges.

"And I did not act against regulations. Regulation 1 clearly states that General orders supercedes any and all other rules, regulations and orders in the field. I therefore followed the first regulation and obeyed the general orders most relevant to the situation."

"Very well, Captain. How much time do you believe you saved by not following standard departure procedures?"

"It would have taken at least ten minutes to move out of space dock on thrusters alone; then, at maximum impulse, no less than 20 minutes to clear the regulation distance before engaging warp at 100 million kilometers. So at least half an hour. By that time, according to known speed of a Scimitar class vessel and calculating from it's last known location, it could have been in position to threaten the Japori star system lying in their estimated trajectory when we would have intercepted them."

"In the fight against the Shavok, if you had retained the Alsea's help and succeeded in defeating the scimitar with your combined forces, you could've then both been more powerful in the fight against the rest of the Romulan forces at the Anomaly. Why did you engage the Romulan ship by yourselves, directing the Alsea to leave, knowing they could've helped to turn the tables in the fight?"

Kheren looked a bit surprised by the question, as if the answer was self evident. But then, he recalled that this was a board of inquiry about his command decisions. Whether right or wrong, they needed to look at them all in the open. So he answered with a very professional tone.

"It was a stategic decision, to which Captain Oseno Jureth had to concur since, as the commanding officer of the ship having the greatest tactical advantage, he was responsible for it. The Romulan task force was heading for the anomaly, with the intention of detonating it. In essence, they would have precipitated the very catastrophy we were all rushing out to prevent. By the time we would have possibly defeated the Shavok, and there could never be any certainty of that, the Romulan task force would have reached the only completely undefended quadrant of the anomaly."

He did not have to explain what the consequences would have been then, so he went on with the rest of the strategic situation.

"The Shavok had to be stopped; and so did the task force. Without possibility of calling for back up or for even such back up to get anywhere needed in time, the only option taht seemed left to us was to engage both fronts at the same time. That meant therefore splitting our forces. It was estimated that the Alsea, being able to convert into a three-ships task force, was best suited to oppose the four Romulan warbirds... leaving the Artemis to deal with the lone Scimitar battleship."

The Orion prosecutor seemed satisfied and did not press the issue any more.

"Why did you choose to pursue the course of retrieving the trilithium emitters with a severely damaged saucer section, knowing that the chances of success were severely low and that the opportunity existed to wait and call on help from your fellow Lotus Fleet vessels?"

"At the time that decision was made, the saucer section was as yet not significantly damaged and fully operational. The Alsea had sent a distress signal. As far as we knew, all the other Lotus Fleet ships were themselves fully engaged in their own part of the operation; and any able to free itself would be bound to answer the Alsea's call. And, no, there was neither the possibility to call for help nor time to wait. Interference from the anomaly prevented any contact. By then, the emitters we had launched as per our orders were already destabilizing the whole anomaly well over what had been calculated; it would have sent it back through the wormhole at it's center to destroy the other universe beyond. It was in fact, a matter of minutes. And so, I ordered evacuation so that the crew could be safe and answer the Alsea's call for help, leaving me and my first officer to correct the situation in time with maximum efficiency and minimum risk of personnel."

Lieutenant Leeann'Eeta felt defeated. She was exhausted and felt that she had found absolutely nothing of substance to even come close to convicting the Captain of incompetence or neglect. So she simply bowed her head and said, "No further questions; the prosecution rests," and moved back to her assigned seat and position to await what she felt would be an inevitable decision.

I have to be the first prosecutor in history to ever fail so miserably in an inquiry case involving a destroyed ship, she thought.

As if reading her thoughts, Kheren stood up and lifted his chin in typical Andorian fashion to show the respect his words conveyed.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. You have been very thorough in questioning my decisions. Your efficiency was frightening at times. I am sure that now or later, no captain will be left erring in his duties after what you have done here."

And with those words, he went back to his seat.

The Orion wasn't sure if the words made her feel any better. Despite feeling like she was receiving the words of the Captain in order to spare her feelings, she did appreciate it nonetheless. She nodded with respect and thanks as the Captain passed by her and then resumed reviewing her thoughts of what had occurred and perusing her notes to make sure there was nothing obvious she had missed.

"We will take a short recess to deliberate and return to make our decision," the Boslic Rear Admiral said and the the three exited the room through a doorway in the back that led to an antechamber where they would come to a decision.

Kheren looked back among the immense assembly that had witnessed the entire proceeding. People were talking among themselves and sending stares in his direction. He could have easily listened to most conversations out there or read through all their facial expressions and body motions, but he felt too exhausted to even try. He let the voices turn into a soothing drone and the sights blur into a sea of moving colors and shapes to find this inner center of calm his former Vulcan master had finally managed to help him find, after all those years he had struggled to tame the savage beast that dwelt within him.

Their words and stares did not matter. He had lost a ship. It was now up to his superiors to determine if he did it because of circumstances or because he was at fault.

He truly did not believe that he was. He had loved that ship. Her beauty, her fame, her prowess, she had been his first true love. He knew that he would have as much care, devotion and attachment to any other ship he would ever command... if Starfleet would ever dare give him another command... but never quite like he did for her.

Things were out of his hands now. It was an unusual feeling; and he didn't like it. But there was nothing left to do but wait and assume the consequences of his actions.

That is what he'd always been ready to do. Now... just as then.

He did not have to wait long. The three senior officers reappeared within minutes, and the swiftness of the decision surely meant that nothing was really at question. However, for the Andorian Captain, that also did not really give an indication as to which way they had voted, as decisiveness could have swung in either direction.

Rear Admiral Kotari spoke first. "We have come to a decision."

The other two took their seats, but he remained standing. With arms folded behind his back, he went to a nearby window and looked out among the stars shining in the clear evening in San Francisco. He then turned and addressed the assembled officers, motioning with one hand at the night sky. "Space is a most inhospitable place to travel, is it not? We have known this for ages. We have traveled among the stars for what seems like ages. At this time, almost all people in the Federation are so at ease and feel at home on a starship. We almost forget how a single partition of duranium or transparent aluminum separates us from the complete and utter vacuum of space."

He stepped back behind the podium where the other two senior officers were seated. "The loss of a starship -- of our home among the stars -- is not a trivial thing. Relatively speaking, the amount of people who have been given the responsibility to command such a vessel are few. Among them, those that have lost a vessel and live to tell about it are few as well. The most minute percentage of those will receive another commission. It is almost unheard of."

"Hmm...." the Rear Admiral murmured thoughtfully, as he pondered what the Vulcans in the room might calculate as the odds of such an occurrence. "As I said, the loss of a starship is not trivial. However, do you know what is even less trivial? Even more tragic? The loss of a single life. A single life is worth much more than any starship. And Captain Kheren has succeeded in saving one hundred and seventeen of those lives."

The Admiral held out his hands as if countering an imaginary argument and said, "Oh sure, we as Starfleet Officers all take an oath and are expected to give our lives for our ship. No officer will argue that it is their duty to do so. But we do not give our lives willingly to protect what really amounts to a collection of duranium, titanium, deuterium, plasma, and isolinear circuits. No, we willingly offer our lives to protect our ships... because it means protecting all the other lives on that ship."

"Saving lives," he said simply. "That is what Captain Kheren has done here today. That is what Captain Picard had done on stardate 48650 when losing the Enterprise-D to protect an entire planet of people. And of course we all know that he received another commission. And we're all better off for it."

"Admiral?" he said, leaving the floor to the JAG officer, and taking his seat finally.

Rear Admiral Pierson held up a PADD and spoke. "In the official ruling of this Board of Inquiry, and by a unanimous decision by three senior officers, Fleet Captain Allen Samji, Rear Admiral Harold Pierson, and Rear Admiral Kotari, Captain Kheren will hereby retain the rank of Captain and will receive a commission as commanding officer of a new ship prototype currently being assembled and, at this moment, delegated to be commissioned for Lotus Fleet."

All the while the senior had been speaking, Kheren had stood up at attention, as per protocol. When judgment finally fell, there was no sign of any emotion on his face. But the way his breath came out and his whole body seemed to slack like a taunt bowstring slowly released to rest, it was obvious that he had been dreading the worse. Thus, it took him some time for the last wors of the Admiral to go through his mind and reach his consciousness.

A new ship prototype? What...?

He could not go further into the thought as the outburst from the floor was deafening. Wether in joy or outrage, he could not tell. But the bell before Kotari rang loud and insistent to silence everyone and everything, even his own thoughts for the moment.

"This concludes the proceedings," Rear Admiral Pierson said. "Congratulations, Captain, and thank you all for your attendence and for the information hereby given by the witnesses."

The three senior officers exited again through the same doorway where they went to make their decision and Fleet Captain Samji eventually made his way into the lobby of the headquarters to meet with Captain Kheren and his assembled bridge crew.

There was quite a commotion in the immense lobby adjoining the court room. Despite it's Babylonian size and multiple levels, the place seemed to be overflowing with Sarfleet officers and crewmen congregating at the door. When Captain Kheren came out, a thunder of applause greeted him; to which his usually frozen face answered with very visible astonishment... and more than a little embarrassment. But there was also joy and pride in his expression, when he looked at the people around him.

It was always a dreadful moment when a Starfleet captain was under scrutiny for possible fault; it was all the more gratifying for Starfleet officers to learn that such a captain had indeed done his duty properly. It revived faith in the service, in the chain of command and in their own oath of duty and responsibility. The enthusiasm was therefore not surprising.

Although most of them were still back at Starbase 10, eighty light years away, to assume their duties, there was nevertheless a handful of off-duty ones from the remaining crewmembers of the lost starship Artemis; some from the one hundred and seventeen that had shared their captain's ordeal but also a few from among the four-hundred and seventy-six ones that had dutifully followed his orders and contributed to Starbase 10 leading Lotus Fleet to success.

And then, there were even a few officers among those who had requested a transfer, now fully understanding their former captain and his true intent and sobered by his own steadfast following of duty and responsibility. And most of them were already asking to be re affected back under the Andorian's command.

Before he could more than thank  his bridge officers for their faith in him, Fleet Captain Samji came to him and whispered a few words to his lowering antennae.

And before anyone could realize what was happening, he was gone with him by a side door, both officers with serious faces; although again, Kheren's own rigid face was stretched with emotion, now a new one.

Astonishment. Almost disbelief.

Nevertheless, he followed his commanding officer, ready for his next order; ready to do his duty to the best of his ability and in accordance with what the federation and Starfleet had always stood for.

As he always was, always had been... and always will be.