Accountability

Posted on Fri Feb 8th, 2019 @ 12:26am by Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox & Captain Enalia Telvan & Commander Rita Paris

Mission: Earthly Visitation
Location: USS Hera, Deck 11, Security Office
Timeline: 2396
Tags: Accountability 1/3

Returning to the Hera in preparation for the end of shore leave on Earth, Rita Paris came with a calm mind and a tranquil soul- or at least that's what she tried to tell herself. The universe she'd come from no longer existed, it's end hastened by her presence here, the isotope sample from Aijon Prime she'd transported out with back in that universe and her uncanny knack for screwing up transporters. All those untold lives, snuffed. The chronal scientist on hand had explained that they were all doomed anyway quite shortly after Rita's departure, but that still didn't make the end of a universe any lesser to her conscience.

A lot of what Rita had gotten involved with lately had gone to crap in one form or another, but going back to work ought to fix all of that. A clear purpose and direction did wonders for her, and she had a mountain of paperwork. A good 18 sec/tac officers had transferred off in addition to the dozen she'd lost already, which was a significant number of her force. Fortunately, they were on Earth, and there was a fresh batch of security personnel coming available. Fresh out of the Academy, still drill ready and spit-shined, no time to have picked up bad habits yet, they'd be perfect for the Hera.

Picking and choosing, it might have been sexism or an overreaction to the former department's mindset, but Rita recruited 90% female officers for the new sec/tac department, then took on a few more males just to give herself a washout percentage as well as set the bar a bit for increasing the tactical presence.

The shuttle ride was not a short one, because she had chosen it that way. A shuttle change on Luna. Another shuttle change on Mars at Utopia Planitia. A Hera shuttle would pick her up from Mars, which was where she was getting caught up on her reports. Flight Control was predictably uneventful, with one complaint of a timing violation from Ceres Station which alleged that the pilot came in 35 seconds too early. Enough of a margin to have a word with the pilot, as she was certain Lieutenant Dox would. Engineering had used the time and resources creatively to overhaul a number of systems. Rita was reasonably positive the overworking engineer had barely set foot on planet Earth, but had vastly enjoyed access to the resources of Starfleet's home system.

Ops was uneventful, although all of their stores had been restocked, which was always nice to know, including her photon torpedo requests, which made Rita happy. Nice to know you could still get old reliable in the escalating arms race. Medical... Dael was laid up, it seemed... multiple lacerations... projectile wound... kidnapping...

"What the hell?!?" Paris started as her comm badge chirupped.

=^= Your shuttle is arriving at pad 12-G. =^=

Walking and reading was a skill a line officer had to have, because you needed information and you needed to be where that information could be applied. Reading through the incident report as well as The Doctor's post-operative notes, Rita Paris put together what had happened to Asa Dael while on vacation. Madagascar? It's so pretty, who'd think it was dangerous?!?

Striding onto the shuttle, she saw that Lieutenant Dox had not only rescued Dr. Dael, but checked in three prisoners. Which was good, because the Captain was going to want words with them, Rita suspected, before they went off to a penal colony or rehabilitation or whatever the Federation did with criminals nowadays. That's when she came across the prisoner escape report for all three prisoners.

"Computer, please open a tightbeam frequency to the USS Hera on my authorization, Paris, R, LTCDR 867-5309. Sergeant, I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your eyes on your instruments and not on my comms, and we're wiping these logs when we're done. Am I understood?"

"Yes ma'am," said the pilot who'd drawn the short straw to pick up the Commander.

"Pair of earbuds, Sergeant if you please?" Paris asked as her PaDD went blue with the Federation symbol, then Starfleet, then Starfleet Intelligence, then the USS Hera. Taking the offered signal receivers, Rita followed the report of missing prisoners. As she was the ranking officer, only the Master At Arms would have the clearance to review the footage. She watched from the time the prisoners were processed, brought back to the medical wards of the brig.

Fast forwarding, she saw Dox, out of uniform, and the Baroness, always easily recognizable by her mane of silver hair. Plus the computer had ID tags on both of their comm badges. As the Baroness opened a chest of torture devices for the interrogation, Rita slowed it down to watch. She suspected the Baroness was a master of intimidation.

As the scene unfolded, Rita watched.

As they spoke of Death, someone she couldn't see on the visual logs, Rita watched.

As one by one, they all snuffed out, as if willed to die, Rita watched.

As the Baroness picked up one of her officers and intimidated her as well, Rita watched.

As the bodies beamed away, Rita watched.

As Dox realized what she'd allowed to happen, Rita watched.

As the Baroness gave her parting statement, Rita listened.

Which sent a cold dagger of fear into her heart.

Great. The future takes root in the present...

Once aboard, Commander Rita Paris sent the message to the officer who she knew would be waiting to receive it.

The brig, Miss Dox. Sooner than later.

Seconds later, a reply came through. On my way, Commander.

-----------------

A few short minutes later, Mnhei'sahe Dox stepped off of the Turbolift, freshly redressed in a clean, crisp uniform having just changed from her bloodied civilian clothes she had been wearing all day. As she walked down the corridor to the Brig of the U.S.S. Hera, she tried to prepare herself for what she knew was coming. In her hand was a PaDD with a report of everything that had happened and of everything she had done and allowed to happen.

As far as she was concerned, she was likely to be staying in the brig when this was all over, but more than anything else was the knowledge that she had betrayed the trust Rita Paris had placed in her. But if her career in Starfleet was over, it would end in the uniform that she had failed.

"Commander." Dox said with a forced calm on her voice that was taking extreme effort as she approached Rita Paris.

Turning to regard Dox impassively, Commander Paris spoke succinctly. "You checked three prisoners into the medical wing of the brig after seeing to their medical care. Where are those Federation citizens now, Miss Dox?

Keeping her voice as steady as possible, Dox answered. While it had only been a short time since the incident, it was clear that Rita Paris knew most everything. "They were killed during an interrogation conducted by myself and Baroness Von Alcott. The Baroness had their bodies beamed away before leaving."

"And how were they killed, Miss Dox?" The tone was still even, still calm, still impassive.

Taking a slight breath, Dox had no intention of lying to her First Officer or friend, even though the reality was difficult to grasp and required a significant explanation. "As you may recall, during the mission to the Worldship, Doctor Dael and the Baroness had encountered a being that had identified itself as the literal embodiment of... well... Death. When Schwein was almost killed, Death followed her back to the ship and has been here ever since as Doctor Dael had mentioned during the post mission briefing."

Pausing for a second, Dox continued with the unusual story. "After the Worldship, while talking with Baroness Von Alcott, I was... introduced to her. To Death. As such, I can see and hear her. Currently, I believe only myself, Schwein, Doctor Dael and the EMH can. She was... with us during the interrogation and when we had acquired the information we were ordered to get regarding the location of the person behind the kidnapping and attack of Doctor Dael, she..."

Finally, as the story had reached the part Dox was dreading recounting, she stuttered briefly. "... She claimed them. She stepped through the forcefield and just... pulled out their lives."

"What action did you take to defend these Starfleet prisoners from this unrecognized authority acting as judge, jury and executioner?" Paris asked calmly.

There were no words of protest or excuses as Dox answered. "Nothing, Commander. I did... nothing."

"Indeed you did not, Miss Dox."

There was silence for a moment, and when Rita Paris spoke again, it was low and quiet, and as she spoke, the pain in her voice was clearly evident.

"I warned you. I warned you to keep an eye to your duty, not to be swept up with all of the piracy. That you could be both, but you would be held accountable." Those bright blue eyes came up to meet the brown eyes of Mnhei'sahe Dox accusingly. "Then at the very first crossroads, you chose not Starfleet... but piracy. You brought these men to justice and gave them humane treatment. Then you returned, not as a Starfleet officer, but as a 'Baroness'. To allow a civilian with no recognized authority interrogate those men, then watch them be executed without so much as a word raised in objection."

"I... thought you were made of sterner stuff, Miss Dox." The sentence hung there; simple, but damning all the same.

At the words she knew were true, Dox's heart felt like it had exploded in her chest. But she did her best to maintain her composure.

"Were you ordered to do this?" Paris asked plainly, the old-school officer's features a grim mask of self-control.

Taking a breath, Dox paused for a moment before speaking. "I was ordered to tell Baroness Von Alcott to conduct an interrogation by... The Captain... while we were in Sickbay with Doctor Dael."

"You did not think to protest this order as an unlawful one?" The voice of Rita Paris rose sharply, into those tones of command she'd had drilled into her for her entire life. "Did you not stop to question the validity of the order? Your moral compass never told you that this was wrong, even if you couldn't recall the exact Starfleet regulation that it violated? Was this an order that a Starfleet officer should carry out?" The voice of the first officer rose to a crescendo, then she quieted again.

"No. On this starship, I suppose it is not that unreasonable order after all, is it?" Rita Paris sideyed Dox, running her fingers through her asymmetrical shock of hair, then putting her face into her hands for the space of a long breath. When she pulled them away, her mask of composure was in place.

"I... am a Starfleet officer, Miss Dox," the Academy class of 2255 alumnus explained. "We comport ourselves according to a code of conduct and a set of rules. It was an oath I swore, a very long time ago. I hope they still make you swear it in modern Starfleet. Because it meant something. I swore to uphold and defend the constitution of the United Federation of Planets as a member of Starfleet, and I've devoted my life to that ideal. If the orders coming now are for the actions of a pirate queen and not a Starfleet captain, we have a certain conflict of interests at play. Do you understand?"

The conflicted young officer felt herself shaking so slightly as to be invisible to the eye. She understood far too deeply the extent of her failure and was struggling to maintain her composure. "I understand. I've... failed this uniform and what it means on every level, Commander."

"No. You made poor choices, Miss Dox," Paris snapped back with military precision. "The results of those actions remains to be seen. This isn't about you, Lieutenant. This is about the Captain. I fear we are in a battle for the Captain's soul, which is of the Hera- Starfleet or pirate. Remember what the Baroness told you? Kodria Mizu warned me as well. Now do you understand?"

Pausing for a moment, thinking back to a conversation she also had with the Android, Dox's face relaxed slightly as she recalled. "Kodria... she wanted to ask me something about Schwein but she was scared to. She asked me if I had really fought beside her. Something about it seemed strange. Like it was more than her not wanting to just reveal the future."

"We've a conversation to take with Captain Telvan, Miss Dox. You're with me," Paris ordered, turning on her heel and marched off to the brig exit.

"Aye, Commander." Dox replied following closely behind, understanding now that her problems here were only a small part of a much larger crisis.

Tapping her comm badge, Paris called out to the overhead. "Computer, please locate Captain Telvan."

=^= Captain Telvan is on Deck 12, in the radiation treatment ward of Sickbay. =^= the computer promptly replied.

Moving with a purpose, the first officer exited the brig. She did not stop for a phaser, nor did she arm herself with the advanced EVA armor she had learned to work with. In this confrontation, words and principles would be the weapons to win or lose this battle. So time to use a few of them.

"Make no mistake, Miss Dox, you still stand at that crossroads. Forces are gathering and change is coming, and I somehow doubt this will be the last time you are forced to choose between selfless duty and selfish freedom, the structure of the rule of law that allows civilization to flourish, or the self-indulgence of the land of do as you will, because pirates answer to no one." Paris turned to eye the conflicted officer as they arrived at the turbolift.

"Time to decide if you are a Starfleet officer who plays at being a pirate, or a pirate playing at being a Starfleet officer."

Standing rigidly, looking up at her resolute First Officer, Dox paused for the briefest of seconds. But in that short instance, a phalanx of thoughts went through her head. She thought of the friendships made on the Hera and the sacrifices she had both witnessed and made. The contacts with cosmic beings beyond imagination and the hard choices made every day in that uniform.

She also thought of the pride she felt putting that Delta on her chest and those pips on her collar. She thought of those responsible for her, and those she was responsible for. She thought of all she had done to earn those that she had almost thrown away out of unchecked anger and selfish vengeance.

She thought about all of that and more as her eyes focused to meet Rita Paris'. She might still lose all of what she had worked for, but she wasn't going to just give it up. She adjusted her tunic and as she spoke, the tremble in her voice was vanishing. "My decision is made, Commander."

"That's good to hear, Lieutenant," Paris replied as she strode into sickbay, eyeing her PaDD for directions to the radiation treatment ward. Sickbay took up the entirety of Deck 12 after all, and while the fulsome first officer was good, she didn't know where everything was on the starship Hera. As they wound their way toward their destination, Rita Paris paused, taking a few seconds to compose herself. She said nothing- Dox needed to see resolution, not hesitation. More than one soul was at stake here, and Rita Paris had to get this right, or more than one life would be ruined this 03:00, the midnight of the soul.

Brows furrowed, jaws set and resolute, Rita Paris strode into the captain's semi-private sickbay room.

"Captain, I believe we have a situation," Paris opened with, as she so often did, regardless of the crisis at hand.