Episode 130. Touit'Air's Plea
Context
- Stardate
- 231738.174
- Location
-
- Earth
- USA
- San Francisco
- Tribunal
- Timeline
- Prime Timeline
- Previously
-
In 1954, Agnes and Angie triggered the Enterprise's self-destruct to neutralize the Tarantula. At the last instant, the covert mission from 2554 tore them out of the flames: T'Met, Charlene, and Emilie retrieved them through a temporal bubble, also taking the pieces of Lingua... and the Ducati Money Penny. Back in 2554, the team reappeared inside the temporal chamber of VSS Schak'Irra, where Commander Zaneth-Myra Lysana orchestrated their extraction. But with their presence aboard illegal, T'Met had to face her younger double in an incandescent Vulcan duel before reaching the exfiltration point. Transported to San Francisco, Agnes, Angie, and the others reunited with their allies at the foot of a public transporter. No time to breathe: Tarsi's trial is underway, behind closed doors. T'Met knocked out a guard, forced open the tribunal door... and the courtroom awaits them.
Characters
| Name | Affiliation / Branch | Title / Rank | Species | Original Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agnes V. Rodriguez | NATO / Special Fleet | Captain | Human | Schak'Irra Timeline |
| Angie Chen | NATO / Special Fleet | Commander | Human | Schak'Irra Timeline |
| Vexoriana-Lyss'ra Tarsi | Starfleet / Temporal Division | Commander | Andorian | Prime Timeline |
| T'Met | Starfleet / Temporal Division | Captain | Vulcan | Prime Timeline |
| Touit'Air | United Federation of Planets | Counsel | Aenar | Prime Timeline |
| Lingua | Starfleet / Temporal Division | N/A | Artificial intelligence | Prime Timeline |
| Quihoui | Starfleet / Temporal Division | Admiral | Vulcan | Prime Timeline |
| Jora Tannel | Starfleet / JAG | Admiral / JAG President | Trill | Prime Timeline |
| K'Mara | Starfleet / JAG | Admiral / JAG Judge | Klingon | Prime Timeline |
| Grakk | Starfleet / JAG | Admiral / JAG Judge | Tellarite | Prime Timeline |
| Censsukr' | Starfleet / JAG | Admiral / JAG Judge | Caitian | Prime Timeline |
Manifests
| USS Enterprise Destroyed in 1954 Last known manifest | VSS Schak'Irra | |
|---|---|---|
| Affiliation | NATO | Starfleet / Ni'Var |
| Location | 1954, near Earth | 2554, docked at Starfleet Starbase |
| Captain | Agnes V. Rodriguez | T'Met (Young) |
| First Officer | Angie Chen | Zaneth-Myra Lysana (Older Tarsi) |
| Artificial Intelligence | Lingua (Unofficial) | Lingua (Initial Version) |
| Pilot | Eric Corda | N/A |
| Communications | Emilie Flores | T'Killa |
| Operations | Charlene Savea | T'Less-Cop |
| Tactical | Angie Chen | N/A |
| Science | Manu | N/A |
| Engineering | Gornok (Unofficial) | N/A |
| Advanced Weapons | Eros Vitos | N/A |
| Security | Robert Gomard (Unofficial) | N/A |
| Sickbay |
|
N/A |
| Counselor/Consultant | Manu | N/A |
| Custodian | Manu | N/A |
TL;DR
Inside the San Francisco tribunal, Counsel Touit'Air uses a recess to reactivate Lingua and analyze the data brought back from the past. When the hearing resumes, he calls Agnes and then T'Met, who confirm the reality of the contaminated timeline, Tarsi's role in the attempt to correct it, and T'Met's 70 years of captivity. Then Lingua reveals the existence of a secret memory block: just before the 1954 mission, someone modified the crash coordinates, the crew transport coordinates, and the Schak'Irra's return vortex. The author of the manipulations? Admiral Quihoui. Touit'Air then turns the accusation around: Tarsi did not attempt a temporal attack; she was sabotaged. Cornered by the revelations, Quihoui cracks and quietly leaves the room, pushing Agnes and T'Met to immediately give chase.
Story
We quietly enter the large courtroom, where Tarsi's trial is already underway. The setting is solemn, and the atmosphere is charged with tension. The sharp eyes of the security guards settle on us immediately. They are not there as decoration, their weapons trained and ready to intervene at the slightest false move. My heart races slightly, but I force myself to maintain a stoic attitude. At the back of the room, three JAG members and the JAG President sit with palpable authority. To the right, Admiral Quihoui represents the prosecution; to the left, I spot Tarsi seated beside an Aenar, her attorney.
T'Met steps forward with unshakable confidence toward Counsel Touit'Air, Tarsi's attorney, who is visibly absorbed by his opponent's accusations. T'Met whispers something I cannot hear, but a flash of understanding crosses Counsel Touit'Air's eyes.
Capt. T'Met
Counsel, we have brought you what you requested.
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
Thank you, my dear.
Adm. Jora Tannel JAG President
Counsel Touit'Air, I remind you that this hearing is being held behind closed doors.
Who are these people who have just entered?
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
Excuse me, Madam President.
My associates have just brought me new evidence to complete the file of my client, Vexoriana Lyss'ra Tarsi.
I ask the court for a recess so I may review it.
Adm. Quihoui Temporal Division
Objection, Your Honor.
Counsel Touit'Air is well known for delaying tactics whenever he feels control slipping away.
Adm. Jora Tannel JAG President
Objection overruled, Admiral Quihoui.
Counsel Touit'Air, I grant you 30 minutes.
The hearing will resume at 11:00.
The president suspends the session with a sharp strike of the gavel. The JAG members rise and withdraw. During the half hour we have been granted, T'Met works on reactivating Lingua on a makeshift device. Counsel Touit'Air consults the AI and the data collected during her journey through the contaminated timeline. Soon after, President Jora Tannel returns to the room and announces the resumption of the hearing with a strike of the gavel. Our group takes its place once more at the back, attentive to the defense's plea.
Adm. Jora Tannel JAG President
The hearing may resume.
The defense has the floor.
Adm. Quihoui Temporal Division
Objection, Madam President!
The prosecution had not finished its presentation.
Adm. K'Mara JAG Member
Please sit down, Admiral Quihoui!
I remind you that this tribunal is not under your jurisdiction, and that only President Jora Tannel is empowered to determine the conduct of the trial.
Adm. Grakk JAG Member
Counsel Touit'Air, you have the floor.
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
Thank you.
I call Captain Agnes Valentine Rodriguez to the stand.
Adm. Quihoui Temporal Division
Objection!
According to Earth's archives, this person is a criminal convicted in the 21st century for the murder of one Angie Chen.
Her testimony is inadmissible and irrelevant!
Cmdr. Angie Chen Number One
Say, Agnes, what the hell is this?
Do you know what she's talking about?
Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez
She's talking about our doubles in this temporality.
Apparently, I was on the payroll of the Russian Secret Service.
Adm. Censsukr' JAG Member
Objection heard, but overruled.
Counsel Touit'Air, please proceed directly to the relevant point.
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
Miss Rodriguez, please place your right hand on the truth sensor and state your identity.
Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez
Agnes Valentine Rodriguez.
Born July 5, 1985, in Namur, Belgium.
Captain of NATO's Special Fleet, assigned to USS Enterprise, NCC-1701.
Adm. Quihoui Temporal Division
Objection!
NATO never possessed starships.
We all know here that Enterprise was built by Starfleet in the 23rd century!
Adm. Grakk JAG Member
Objection overruled.
Please continue, Counsel.
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
Captain Rodriguez, do you know the defendant, Vexoriana Lyss'ra Tarsi?
If so, under what circumstances did you meet her?
Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez
Yes, I recognize Tarsi. On July 31, 2024, Enterprise was on a mission in orbit around Earth when we received a signal from the Sea of Tranquility on the Moon.
I ordered my first officer, Angie Chen, to establish first contact.
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
What information did that first contact reveal to you?
Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez
Tarsi tried to convince us that we were not supposed to exist and that our reality was the result of a temporal accident that occurred in 1954, caused by a 26th-century ship, VSS Schak'Irra.
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
Did you believe her initial revelations?
Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez
Not immediately, but over the months, Tarsi's predictions all proved accurate.
We were at an impasse, and I eventually accepted her version of events.
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
That is when, together with Tarsi, you decided to travel back in time to 1954 in order to correct the temporal contamination and restore the Prime Timeline?
Capt. Agnes V. Rodriguez
Exactly, Counsel.
I sacrificed my ship in order to destroy the Tarantula, which had ambushed Schak'Irra.
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
So, in a way, Schak'Irra returned safely thanks to your efforts.
Thank you, Captain Rodriguez.
Please step down.
I call Captain T'Met to the stand.
Adm. Quihoui Temporal Division
Objection!
Captain T'Met is a member of the Temporal Division and is bound by confidentiality agreements.
By testifying, she would violate those agreements!
Adm. Censsukr' JAG Member
Is that correct, Captain T'Met?
Capt. T'Met
It is partially correct.
Upon my return from the mission, Admiral Quihoui gave me what appeared to be a confidentiality agreement, but as of this moment, I have not signed it.
Adm. Censsukr' JAG Member
Objection overruled.
Please take the stand.
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
Captain T'Met, please place your right hand on the truth sensor and state your identity.
Capt. T'Met
T'Met, daughter of Salekk and T'Ribble, born January 4, 2245, on Vulcan.
Captain in Starfleet, Temporal Division, assigned as commanding officer of VSS Schak'Irra until stardate 231730.4.
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
Forgive the indiscreet nature of my question, but could you tell us your biological age at the beginning of the 1954 mission and your current age?
Capt. T'Met
At the beginning of the mission, I was 32 years old.
Upon my return in 2554, I had reached the age of 102.
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
In other words, you state that your mission lasted 70 years?
Capt. T'Met
Correct, Counsel.
When we arrived in 1954, we were attacked by an unknown ship.
Schak'Irra could not withstand the attack, and I ordered the AI Lingua to crash on Earth while transporting the crew to a secure location.
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
What Starfleet protocols were you expected to follow in such a situation?
Capt. T'Met
Avoid any technological contamination of the local population and conceal our presence while waiting for rescue.
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
How do you explain 20th-century humans getting their hands on Schak'Irra and capturing your crew?
Capt. T'Met
My instructions were not followed.
Lingua deliberately ignored the coordinates I had given her.
Initially, Schak'Irra was supposed to be swallowed by the Litke Deep and the crew transported near the shores of the Beaufort Sea.
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
Yet Schak'Irra was spotted on the surface and recovered by the Americans, who exploited its technology, while your crew was captured by the Soviets.
Why did Lingua ignore your directives?
Capt. T'Met
I discovered the truth only 70 years later, after Captain Rodriguez and Tarsi freed me from the Russians, when we recovered Lingua from the wreck of Schak'Irra in Area 51.
By reinstalling her later on NATO's Enterprise, I discovered a secure memory block causing a behavioral malfunction.
The analysis revealed that the instructions I had transmitted in 1954 were accompanied by higher-priority counterorders.
Those data had been recorded before we even departed.
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
You are therefore suggesting that someone already knew the details of the events before your mission even began?
Capt. T'Met
Affirmative, Counsel.
Lingua can confirm that.
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
I request the court's authorization to activate the AI of VSS Schak'Irra so she can reveal this memory block to us.
Adm. Jora Tannel JAG President
Authorization granted, Counsel.
Lingua
...I forgive you, Captain Rodriguez. It has been a great joy to have been reactivated on the Enterpr...
Oh, I am no longer on Enterprise.
What is happening?
Where am I???
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
AI Lingua, you are back in 2554, at the San Francisco tribunal.
You contain secure data isolated by Captain T'Met.
Can you display them for us?
Lingua
Search in progress...
Memory block found...
Recorded on stardate 231538.1, 5 hours before VSS Schak'Irra departed for the 1954 mission.
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
What does this memory block contain?
Lingua
Three coordinate corrections:
- The crash site of VSS Schak'Irra on Earth,
- The crew transport site,
- And the coordinates of the wormhole for Schak'Irra's return to the 26th century.
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
I draw the court's attention to the fact that the wormhole coordinates that allowed Schak'Irra to return in 2554 are inversely proportional to those used by Commander Tarsi when she decided to investigate 1954 with Tal'Kyr.
Instead of returning as planned on stardate 231538.7, Schak'Irra was propelled several weeks after her departure, in other words, to stardate 231729.9.
I therefore conclude that someone attempted to destroy Schak'Irra, Commander Tarsi, and Tal'Kyr by making the coordinates of the two vortexes coincide.
Adm. Quihoui Temporal Division
Objection!
Commander Tarsi voluntarily stole Tal'Kyr to carry out this attack against Schak'Irra!
As the officer responsible for the investigation, it would have been easy for her to generate a vortex at the same coordinates, according to the return procedures established by Starfleet's Temporal Division.
Cmdr. Vexoriana-Lyss'ra Tarsi
That is not true!!!
You know perfectly well that I tried everything to find Schak'Irra, despite the fact that you sabotaged my investigations!!!
Adm. Jora Tannel JAG President
Please sit down, Commander Tarsi.
You will have the floor when your turn comes.
Admiral Quihoui, your objection is sustained.
Continue, Counsel, but speculation has no place here.
Please proceed directly to the facts!
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
I was coming to that very point, Madam President.
AI Lingua, who entered these coordinates into your secure memory block?
Lingua
Admiral Quihoui.
Counsel Touit'Air Lawyer
Thank you.
I have no further questions for the witnesses, Madam President.
Adm. Quihoui Temporal Division
I object to these baseless accusations!
Despite the pressure, Counsel Touit'Air remains unshakable, relying on the evidence and testimony to build a solid argument in Tarsi's favor. Then comes the moment to address Admiral Quihoui's role in the cover-up. The attorney drives the point home, turning the accusations back against her, pointing to her suspicious actions and her orders to destroy all evidence. Objections from the opposing side fly, but Counsel Touit'Air remains impassive and determined.
Suddenly, Admiral Quihoui can no longer take the pressure and abruptly leaves the courtroom as discreetly as possible. I exchange a look with T'Met and we leap from our seats to pursue her...
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