Season 14, Episode 1: Treasonous Assertion

[Don Damien Addams]

[XO's Ready Room]

T'Lara nodded her approval at Ruth's acceptance, smiling internally as she knew the commander would get right to work as soon as possible and was not surprised when she turned out to be correct. "You may choose a new location to meet in if you wish. Commander, keep me appraised of any major updates or findings and as I said, I will provide the evidence in due time. The pre-trial will occur tomorrow. Captain Nevir and I will be in attendance and I will convey any new information upon returning. Thank you all, and please be advised that Romulan security may be boarding soon." She directed the last bit at Nira and left the room with a last look to Ruth before going back to the Bridge.

[Bridge - USS Discovery]

At her entrance, Felder stood up and vacated the conn. T'Lara sat down steadily, realizing that this was the first time she sat in the chair. Even though it was illogical she felt the added weight of responsibility as her arm gently draped over the arm of the chair, and it unnerved her at first before she hid all the feelings safely away. Looking to her PADD she saw updates streaming in from Engineering and Security. They were very close to the station and looked to be docking any minute.

"Report," she ordered to Malloy and Doache. Once they were safely docked and the Romulans had transported over the security they required she was going to head to her quarters with a pile of PADDs full of procedures and laws. It was going to be a long night in order to be prepared for tomorrow. It was just the preliminaries, but she wasn't going to let that fact prevent her from being unprepared.

[USS Discovery - Bridge]

Malloy swallowed hard as the Commander had asked for a report. "We are safely docked, ma'am," she replied. "And everything is green light."

[Danjar-Torra Addams]

Ensign Danjar-Torra Addams
[Romulan territory - Tryka system - USS Discovery - Deck One - XO's Ready Room]

[USS Discovery, XO's ready room]

"Whilst its natural for us to try to find who is responsible for this, we must not jump to any forgone conclusions. For all we know, the Romulans received this intel from someone who disliked the Captain, and they're now seeking to apprehend him perfectly reasonably. For the last couple years, the Federation have tried to improve relations with the Romulans after the Hobus disaster. The Romulans must not be judged on the sins of their fathers but for their own and nothing else! Otherwise, we will he locked into an endless cycle of distrust and war, and that is not the purpose of the Federation. We should only consider Romulan involvement as a likely situation once the evidence suggests so and not before." He recognised that his speech was a little soppy, but it did get the point across sufficiently enough.

Hearing her concerns voiced so succinctly from Mr. Bervarn prompted a soft smile from the Grazerite.  She dipped her head in his direction.

Meanwhile the red-headed Commander, Ruth, was given leadership of the investigation team and was quick to take control.   Torra listened waiting for a point in which she could be of assistance.

[XO's Ready Room]

Ruth listened to Nira and then gave a wry smile. "Hmmm, someone else I can bring in to help... one Romulan... don't freak... I know called Hecate.  Lt. Lek knows and can vouch for her if necessary, but she worked with me and helped defeat Leyton... who initially engaged her due to the fact she worked for the Tal-Shiar.  Thing was... she was using that as a cover to get back at Leyton.  She's now an Ambassador for Starfleet at my recommendation as I gave them all the facts.  If anyone can give us the low down on the Tal-Shiar it's her, and Lt. Pardek."

She was as eager as Nira to get stuck into the evidence.

The CSO caught the acknowledgement and gave a small smile back, she would have a word with Torra later, just to clarify matters.

"Uh, thank you... I think!" Ruth grinned.  "I'm teasing, Commander, I'd be honoured to, I hope everyone on the task force is happy with that?  May we work in here or is there some other room that you would prefer we move to?"

She gave a nod to Safeta.  "Lieutenant I bow to your expertise in these matters as far as understanding the Romulan laws is concerned definitely, everyone will have to play to their strengths here.  Lt. Said I'm more than happy that you pick apart everything we get in terms of evidence, I'm not familiar with any faction other than the Tal Shiar.  Lt. Pardek while you are Security as well as Lt. Said, I feel you're here more for your Romulan expertise and I welcome that enormously, please people, while I ask that you respect rank obviously, I also ask that you don't dismiss anyone's ideas because they may be a lower rank, or say... Cadet Wentock - she's Medical if I recall... but I have had my Chief Engineer, Mr. Lek when I was on the Challenger come up with some totally out of the blue really wacky ideas that saved the day but weren't totally engineering solutions he came out with... I mean turning a cargo bay into an operating theatre to help deliver a space whale who was in distress, depressurized the cargo bay so it was perfect for the mother to be.  Captain now... then Lt. Commander I think Lizzie Vaughan did the honours and we released mother and calf back to the school of whales without problem... and they didn't attack the shuttles we had with dignitaries on them out there on a space whale viewing expedition as we used holo images.  So... what I'm saying is... don't judge anyone on the colour of their uniform or their rank, but what goes on in their brain and comes out of their mouths.  That's my first rule." 

Ruth grinned and looked around the 'task force'.  "Second rule... I realise that Sigurdsdottir is a bit of a mouthful for anyone who isn't Scandinavian by birth, so if you want call me Ruth, I'm fine with that.  Not on the Bridge, that would be Commander, please, but within the task force it's fine."

Turning to T'Lara she apologised.  "Sorry, Ma'am... I'll be happy to head the Task Force, we'll be ready to look at the evidence as soon as you can send it over."

"Agreed, Crewman.  Everyone who might be suspect will come out in the evidence I'm sure.  However, from years of experience it's not unlikely that the Romulans are involved in this somewhere.  And yes... innocent until proven guilty.  Let's wait for the evidence and then piece it together, pick it apart etc. Ensign Danjar-Addams, a word please."

The Commander took Torra to one side and quietly said "I'm sorry about your husband, is there some history I should be aware of?  Also you're Operations I think... is there any way we can hide sensitive material without it being obvious that we're hiding it?"

It was just after Ruth had agree with Evandav's remark that the Commander turned to Torra and asked to speak privately.  Torra of course nodded her acceptance and stood up from her chair to find a secluded spot in the cramped small office.  Despite their lowered voices, Torra was rather certain everyone could hear.

The question about Don was really surprising, however Torra was in a quandary as to what she should say and what was obviously private to Don and should be left to him to speak to; however Don wasn't hear and the Commander had asked her instead, before going on to ask about hiding sensitive material.

The first was easy to answer.  "Of course there are ways to hide information.. but how and where will depend on the information you need to hide and how accessible it still needs to be.  Authorized ship Command codes need by their very nature be kept in the system.. but there are ways of making them discreet.  But as with all technology, nothing it 100% unhackable.  The clear solution is just to not allow unsupervised access to any computer terminal.  If a search of our files are needed for their case then it should be collected by one of the Ops staff under supervision by the Romulans. But at no time should they be permitted free access.  That is what I would suggest.  But honestly, the more time they have looking through our files, the easier it will be to spot the files we are attempting to hide. But I can create vault for things we do absolutely want to keep hidden and then bury it deep in the core or download to a external and then hide that but it would limit our access to the information should we need it."

With the easy subject answered Torra lowered her own voice, "As to my husband..." she nodded her head slightly, "There is, as you say... a history.  But I'm sorry ma'am, even as his wife it's not my place to speak of such.  I'm certain if you asked, he would tell you himself.

"My husband is a fine officer... the situation has been made clear to him.  He will keep himself undercontrol, ma'am."  Torra had faith in Don.

[Nira Said]

[USS Discovery, XO's ready room]

Evandav looked around at the room with growing apprehension, not because of the rising tension, but because there seemed to be  general consensus that this was a Romulan plot. He was more or less certain that the Captain didn't commit these crimes, he would've remembered it, but the immediate thought that the Romulans were involved seemed to go against the principle of the trust which they were supposed to build with them. He voiced these concerns accordingly.
"Whilst its natural for us to try to find who is responsible for this, we must not jump to any forgone conclusions. For all we know, the Romulans received this intel from someone who disliked the Captain, and they're now seeking to apprehend him perfectly reasonably. For the last couple years, the Federation have tried to improve relations with the Romulans after the Hobus disaster. The Romulans must not be judged on the sins of their fathers but for their own and nothing else! Otherwise, we will he locked into an endless cycle of distrust and war, and that is not the purpose of the Federation. We should only consider Romulan involvement as a likely situation once the evidence suggests so and not before." He recognised that his speech was a little soppy, but it did get the point across sufficiently enough.

[XO's Ready Room]

Ruth listened to Nira and then gave a wry smile. "Hmmm, someone else I can bring in to help... one Romulan... don't freak... I know called Hecate.  Lt. Lek knows and can vouch for her if necessary, but she worked with me and helped defeat Leyton... who initially engaged her due to the fact she worked for the Tal-Shiar.  Thing was... she was using that as a cover to get back at Leyton.  She's now an Ambassador for Starfleet at my recommendation as I gave them all the facts.  If anyone can give us the low down on the Tal-Shiar it's her, and Lt. Pardek."

She was as eager as Nira to get stuck into the evidence.

The CSO caught the acknowledgement and gave a small smile back, she would have a word with Torra later, just to clarify matters.

"Uh, thank you... I think!" Ruth grinned.  "I'm teasing, Commander, I'd be honoured to, I hope everyone on the task force is happy with that?  May we work in here or is there some other room that you would prefer we move to?"

She gave a nod to Safeta.  "Lieutenant I bow to your expertise in these matters as far as understanding the Romulan laws is concerned definitely, everyone will have to play to their strengths here.  Lt. Said I'm more than happy that you pick apart everything we get in terms of evidence, I'm not familiar with any faction other than the Tal Shiar.  Lt. Pardek while you are Security as well as Lt. Said, I feel you're here more for your Romulan expertise and I welcome that enormously, please people, while I ask that you respect rank obviously, I also ask that you don't dismiss anyone's ideas because they may be a lower rank, or say... Cadet Wentock - she's Medical if I recall... but I have had my Chief Engineer, Mr. Lek when I was on the Challenger come up with some totally out of the blue really wacky ideas that saved the day but weren't totally engineering solutions he came out with... I mean turning a cargo bay into an operating theatre to help deliver a space whale who was in distress, depressurized the cargo bay so it was perfect for the mother to be.  Captain now... then Lt. Commander I think Lizzie Vaughan did the honours and we released mother and calf back to the school of whales without problem... and they didn't attack the shuttles we had with dignitaries on them out there on a space whale viewing expedition as we used holo images.  So... what I'm saying is... don't judge anyone on the colour of their uniform or their rank, but what goes on in their brain and comes out of their mouths.  That's my first rule." 

Ruth grinned and looked around the 'task force'.  "Second rule... I realise that Sigurdsdottir is a bit of a mouthful for anyone who isn't Scandinavian by birth, so if you want call me Ruth, I'm fine with that.  Not on the Bridge, that would be Commander, please, but within the task force it's fine."

Turning to T'Lara she apologised.  "Sorry, Ma'am... I'll be happy to head the Task Force, we'll be ready to look at the evidence as soon as you can send it over."

"Agreed, Crewman.  Everyone who might be suspect will come out in the evidence I'm sure.  However, from years of experience it's not unlikely that the Romulans are involved in this somewhere.  And yes... innocent until proven guilty.  Let's wait for the evidence and then piece it together, pick it apart etc. Ensign Danjar-Addams, a word please."

The Commander took Torra to one side and quietly said "I'm sorry about your husband, is there some history I should be aware of?  Also you're Operations I think... is there any way we can hide sensitive material without it being obvious that we're hiding it?"

[Lieutenant JG Nira Said | XO's Ready Room | Deck One | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Nira nodded in appreciation at Commander Sigurdsdottir when she mentioned she had a friend on the inside. At least there are plenty of somebodies among the Romulans who could potentially be willing to help. Nira was also impressed by Evandev's short speech.

How is it someone with your wisdom isn't a chief petty officer instead of a simple crewman? Nira thought to herself about Evandev.

"Well, we'll see when the evidence comes in, Crewman," said Nira. "Although someone with a personal grudge with the Captain from the Romulans...that's another hypothesis to consider, but we'll just have to see.

"I'll be glad to wait here for the evidence, too," Nira said, nodding again at Commander Sigurdsdottir's wanting to wait for evidence.

She then noticed Commander Sigurdsdottir taking Torra aside and conversing in a soft tone. She wasn't actually surprised; she figured that they were addressing concerns about Torra's husband.

As they waited, Nira returned to Evandev's side and said softly, "Good words, Crewman. And I definitely didn't consider someone having a grudge against the Captain."

[T'Lara]

[USS Discovery - XO's Ready Room]

Safefta was content with letting the rest of the meeting run its course. Honestly, she was looking forward to getting out of the chaotic room as soon as physically possible. As such, she kept her acknowledgements to Commander Sigurdsdottir to a minimum. "I will be available for consultation as soon as the evidence is presented and my experience is required," she said. She gave Nira a cursory nod, still a bit bemused by her previous rant regarding the Tal'shiar. Weren't there more pressing matters? In her opinion, any excuse to avoid dirtying their nails in the mess of Romulan political dogma was a good one.

[Bridge]

Safefta took the security console upon leaving the ready room, for a few purposes. One, she wanted to get a look at the locations of the beamed-aboard Romulan guards. Not knowing made her uneasy at best. More importantly, however, the main security console had the quickest access points to cross-reference known martial and maritime law systems. It may have been her life, but a refresher never hurt. She was due for bridge time after finishing her inventory efforts in the armory regardless. In any case, it would make her easier to find when the evidence was processed. She couldn't help but wonder how much of it was fabricated. Romulans were excellent forgers-- but Safefta hoped she knew well enough to spot a fake.

[Bridge - USS Discovery]

Shortly after she entered the bridge, Pardek took up her post at the security console. T'Lara nodded at her slightly as she kept her eyes on the viewscreen. She knew that both of them felt better on the bridge where they could be better in control of both their inner feelings and they could also have some peace and quiet.

[USS Discovery - Bridge]

Malloy swallowed hard as the Commander had asked for a report. "We are safely docked, ma'am," she replied. "And everything is green light."

"Thank you, Ensign." She paused as she took in the relative silence thanks to the powered down engines and impulse drives. "Lieutenant Pardek, I assume the security our hosts have provided will be making their appearance presently. Please collaborate with them as you see fit and keep me informed." She would wait until they boarded out of courtesy and per protocol, but she rathered the security team handle matters.

[Zavrol Gohun]

Gohun sat at his post thinking about the mistakes that he had made. One being not having his resume updated. He had experience with the Cardassians and many other races but the Romulans were a mystery. As he sighed the realization of not crying over spilt milk came to mind. From the moment Gohun received his orders he knew that the Romulans were going to be a challenge.  That the Romulans would stab them in the back and oh look they did.

Now the Romulans were here trying to put the ship on trial or at least the captain. To be honest Gohun really didn't know a lot of what was going on being the low man on the chain of command. He did know that the captain was taken from the ship. He also knew that they were surrounded by cloaked warships. He just didn't know what they could do about the problem. He could always dress up as a Romulan sneak aboard a vessel steal a cloaking device and free the captain. That's what Jim Kirk would do. Except that plan may not work again.
What about cloaked gravity mines. They should just go right for the singularities on the ship and mass murder more Romulans. That would probably not go over well.
Maybe Gohun should not make any more plans and just trust his ship mates. While Gohun had no idea what plan was in place but he was sure that there was a plan in place and he had to be ready.

[Safefta Pardek]

[Bridge - USS Discovery]

Shortly after she entered the bridge, Pardek took up her post at the security console. T'Lara nodded at her slightly as she kept her eyes on the viewscreen. She knew that both of them felt better on the bridge where they could be better in control of both their inner feelings and they could also have some peace and quiet.

"Thank you, Ensign." She paused as she took in the relative silence thanks to the powered down engines and impulse drives. "Lieutenant Pardek, I assume the security our hosts have provided will be making their appearance presently. Please collaborate with them as you see fit and keep me informed." She would wait until they boarded out of courtesy and per protocol, but she rathered the security team handle matters.

[Bridge]

Safefta enlarged the monitor display on her console that was dedicated to the internal sensor sweep data. She knew that the Romulans would send more than just a few officers-- while Romulans could be prone to riskier decisions than others, the decisions were always backed up by careful calculations. "Yes, sir," she said to acknowledge T'Lara. "I will be present to confer with their leadership at your discretion." Did she want to? No-- she imagined the sour looks she'd receive once they beamed aboard. The Romulan Republic's opinion on starfleet-aligned Romulans was tenuous at best... and she had a record besides. She had a thought to increase the security of at least one sensitive area of the ship, then, and quickly flicked open the crew manifest. She scrolled to find those unassigned or less active personnel, to minimize disruptions to the current patrols.

Gohun sat at his post thinking about the mistakes that he had made. One being not having his resume updated. He had experience with the Cardassians and many other races but the Romulans were a mystery. As he sighed the realization of not crying over spilt milk came to mind. From the moment Gohun received his orders he knew that the Romulans were going to be a challenge.  That the Romulans would stab them in the back and oh look they did.

Now the Romulans were here trying to put the ship on trial or at least the captain. To be honest Gohun really didn't know a lot of what was going on being the low man on the chain of command. He did know that the captain was taken from the ship. He also knew that they were surrounded by cloaked warships. He just didn't know what they could do about the problem. He could always dress up as a Romulan sneak aboard a vessel steal a cloaking device and free the captain. That's what Jim Kirk would do. Except that plan may not work again.
What about cloaked gravity mines. They should just go right for the singularities on the ship and mass murder more Romulans. That would probably not go over well.
Maybe Gohun should not make any more plans and just trust his ship mates. While Gohun had no idea what plan was in place but he was sure that there was a plan in place and he had to be ready.

She settled upon two Crewmen, currently assigned to simple lower-deck monitoring duties. She tapped her combadge.  Pardek to Crewmans Gohun and Jensen. Please report to the bridge for non-emergency level guard duty with appropriate kit. Her tone was flat, and made it clear that punctuality wasn't 'appreciated'-- it was expected. Order sent, she returned to her readout. The more time passed between now and the arrival of the leaders of the Romulan guard units, the more on-edge she was going to feel. Nothing about letting them maneuver around the ship freely sat well with her, and she was going to make the recommendation, once the immediate trouble was gone, that the ship be thoroughly swept for cloaked or hidden tracking devices or spyware their 'visitors' might leave behind.

[Danjar-Torra Addams]

NPC Crewman Lena Jensen
[USS Discover - Lower Deck Patrol]

[Bridge]

Safefta enlarged the monitor display on her console that was dedicated to the internal sensor sweep data. She knew that the Romulans would send more than just a few officers-- while Romulans could be prone to riskier decisions than others, the decisions were always backed up by careful calculations. "Yes, sir," she said to acknowledge T'Lara. "I will be present to confer with their leadership at your discretion." Did she want to? No-- she imagined the sour looks she'd receive once they beamed aboard. The Romulan Republic's opinion on starfleet-aligned Romulans was tenuous at best... and she had a record besides. She had a thought to increase the security of at least one sensitive area of the ship, then, and quickly flicked open the crew manifest. She scrolled to find those unassigned or less active personnel, to minimize disruptions to the current patrols.
She settled upon two Crewmen, currently assigned to simple lower-deck monitoring duties. She tapped her combadge.  Pardek to Crewmans Gohun and Jensen. Please report to the bridge for non-emergency level guard duty with appropriate kit. Her tone was flat, and made it clear that punctuality wasn't 'appreciated'-- it was expected. Order sent, she returned to her readout. The more time passed between now and the arrival of the leaders of the Romulan guard units, the more on-edge she was going to feel. Nothing about letting them maneuver around the ship freely sat well with her, and she was going to make the recommendation, once the immediate trouble was gone, that the ship be thoroughly swept for cloaked or hidden tracking devices or spyware their 'visitors' might leave behind.

Lena was partnered with Gohun all this week.  The El-Aurian, being new to the ship, was still a bit of a mystery to her but he seemed to know his stuff.   She'd had to continue her patrol solo for a bit when her fellow crewman got a message to attend a meeting in the XO's office.  The meeting was rather quick because Gohun was back within a half-hour.

"Anything further word as to what's going on?" she inquired when he got back, yet before could answer both his and her commbadges chimed and they received a call from the also new to the ship, Lieutenant Pardek.

While Lena wasn't sure how she felt about serving under a Romulan officer, she figured whatever awkwardness she might feel must be nothing compared to what the officer in question must feel at having to face those that would obviously view her as a traitor.

Lena tapped her commbadge acknowledging the call. "Yessir, we're on our way."

A call to the bridge likely meant they were getting an upgrade to their duty assignment.  She smiled.  Non-emergency kit meant that their current duty belts with PADD, cuffs and Type II phaser would be sufficient.  Lena checked her holster and belt to be sure her weapon and gear were secure.  Finding all in readiness she looked to Gohun to see if he was ready as well. "Alright, lets get going."

While she didn't run to the turbolift, she did move at double-time fully expecting Gohun to be right beside her the entire way.  Stepping inside she called out "Bridge."

The trip up was swift and soon the doors were opening up onto the Bridge. As crewman, Lena didn't often get called to work on the Bridge at tactical.  That was usually reserved for officers not enlisted like herself.  If she was assigned to the Bridge it was usually in a security capacity.

Because they had been called in and were expected, Lena forewent the request for permission to enter the Bridge, and instead simply nodded to the security already present before making her way to present herself to the Romulan Lieutenant, fully expecting Gohun to do the same.

"Crewman Jensen reporting as ordered, sir."

While Lieutenant Pardek was clearly female, Lena always chose to go with 'sir' as the proper term of respect for officers unless directed otherwise.

[Evandav Bervarn]

[Lieutenant JG Nira Said | XO's Ready Room | Deck One | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Nira nodded in appreciation at Commander Sigurdsdottir when she mentioned she had a friend on the inside. At least there are plenty of somebodies among the Romulans who could potentially be willing to help. Nira was also impressed by Evandev's short speech.

How is it someone with your wisdom isn't a chief petty officer instead of a simple crewman? Nira thought to herself about Evandev.

"Well, we'll see when the evidence comes in, Crewman," said Nira. "Although someone with a personal grudge with the Captain from the Romulans...that's another hypothesis to consider, but we'll just have to see.

"I'll be glad to wait here for the evidence, too," Nira said, nodding again at Commander Sigurdsdottir's wanting to wait for evidence.

She then noticed Commander Sigurdsdottir taking Torra aside and conversing in a soft tone. She wasn't actually surprised; she figured that they were addressing concerns about Torra's husband.

As they waited, Nira returned to Evandev's side and said softly, "Good words, Crewman. And I definitely didn't consider someone having a grudge against the Captain."

[USS Discovery, XO's ready room]

Evandav nodded slightly in acknowledgment at Nira's comment in public, and waited for the meeting to end. It appeared that the meeting had come to an end; having been stood up, he didn't have to worry about bothering to stand back up again. Suddenly, a voice came from beside him, and he guessed, correctly, that it was Nira. Responding he said,
"It's very simple for us to quickly jump to conclusions. And usually, those are the sort of errors which lead to crises. A little wider perspective is always beneficial I feel. I'll be in the Science Labs if you require me Lieutenant." He said bluntly, before walking to the nearest turbolift and asking to be taken down to Deck 11.

[Tekin Nevir]

[Romulan Tribunal Court - Day 1]

A small dark room, but with a high bench at the front for the judges, two locations for prosecution and defense, and guards in the back.  No jury, no audience, no witnesses.  Witnesses were not allowed in these kinds of trials.  The dark room was lit only with strong ceiling lights, casting a bright beam over the room.  Three over the judges, two over the middle, and one at the back.  Everything else was in a dark green.

There was a panel of three high Romulan officials already taking their places at the bench.  The prosecution held three individuals as well.  Of the three, only one was familiar at all, and that was a high official within the New Romulan Republic itself.  Not the General.  It would seem that he wasn't invited.

Commander T'Lara was able to be at the defense table already, and soon the doors in the back opened up, revealing Captain Tekin.  He showed no sign of abuse or interrogation, and in fact was allowed to be in his dress uniform.  No restraints, but he was escorted by a Romulan guard with a rifle.  Nevir remained calm as he walked forward, and took his place next to his First Officer.

"Hope everything went well, Commander." he whispered, before hearing the sound of some object being used as a gavel.  The room was once again dead silent as the law parties stood, waiting for the presiding judge to begin.  She was a strong, commanding woman, who looked like she was not going to take crap from anyone.

"This military tribunal will come to order.  Admiral Donosa presiding, sided by Admirals Sikhak and Hujul. Will the accused state their full name, rank, and affiliation for the court record." she stated, her voice echoing through the room.  Nevir glanced at T'Lara, before turning back.

"Tekin Nevir, Captain, Commander Officer of the USS Discovery, NCC78393-B.  United Federation of Planets." he stated, clear as possible.

"Thank you.  Captain Nevir, you stand here accused of high crimes against two parties within Romulan space.  The New Romulan Republic and the Deutus Alliance have both agreed to be bound under the legal jurisdiction of the Romulan Republic.  By doing so, these charges are elevated to the highest court as acts against the state.  Arbiter, you may proceed."

One of the other Romulans stood up and gave a slight bow.  "Thank you, Your Honor.  On Stardate 75337.2, the USS Discovery completed her mission of bringing Praetor Nuran security to the Tryka System for negotiations between my clients, the New Romulan Republic, and the Deutus Alliance. The Discovery was to be a neutral ground to hold the conference itself, though for the first part, the two parties were to meet on this very station.  The Praetor announced that she wasn't feeling that well and would meet with the Alliance at dinnertime for a banquet. Hours later, at 75339.1, the Praetor left the ship, and headed for the gathering.  Unbeknownst to her, the Discovery sent in security teams into the station at the same time in key locations.  20 minutes later, before the Praetor could arrive, her security team was attacked by Starfleet, and the Praetor was kidnapped.  Other teams began hunting down at attacking the leaders of the Alliance, acting as strike forces.  Before a response could be mounted, the defense systems of the station were sabotaged, and communications were disrupted.  It took only an hour before the leaders of the Alliance were either wounded or dead, and the Praetor was kidnapped.  The Discovery then pulled her troops out, broke from the station, and assaulted both the station, and the Alliance headquarters on Tryka.  The Discovery left soon after, pursued by 4 ships, which quickly dropped out of contact one by one."

"These are very serious crimes, Captain.  Arbiter, you have evidence to support these claims?"

"Yes ma'am.  Under visual data, I present recordings from both the station interior and exterior, the Warbird T'Chunh, and surveillance satellite Beta 7."  Three holographic panels appeared in the air, all three showing visual footage.

"T'Chunh shows Discovery entering the system and docking, and then shows the end of the attack as the ship tried to pursue.  Beta 7 shows the Discovery docking and the full event from the outside, culminating in the ship's attack on the station and planet below.  Note, your Honor, the ship separation.  That is a key feature of the Discovery itself as opposed to most other vessels.  Finally, the station shows the exterior of the ship docking, breaking, and firing, as well as the internal footage of their teams moving through with their crimes of kidnapping, assault, and murder." he said, turning to the Captain.  There was a malicious look... almost like he was daring the Captain or the First Officer to speak up.

"Very well.  Give us a moment to enter in this visual evidence and review it."

[Jorias Doache]

color=orange]"Thank you, Ensign."[/color] She paused as she took in the relative silence thanks to the powered down engines and impulse drives. "Lieutenant Pardek, I assume the security our hosts have provided will be making their appearance presently. Please collaborate with them as you see fit and keep me informed." She would wait until they boarded out of courtesy and per protocol, but she rathered the security team handle matters.

[Bridge - USS Discovery]
"All operations systems down Sir.   Ready to power back up on command."

Doache pressed the button on his controls, all around the ship, transporters wen't down, as did the various bays containing the probes and other sattelites that needed to be deployed.   Sure they could hum to life with another press of the button, but for now Discovery was still, like a giant bird dithered to a perch, or a bear with its leg in a trap.   Except his bear had to put its foot in voluntarily.

He looked at the space station on screen.   Would this be another day at the office?   A new place to visit?   Or would it be the rallying point for a future life as a Romulan prisoner.   Neither idea filled him with hope.    He had to focus on the now, and the now required him to do his job, or contribute to getting him and his fellows assigned to a dilithium mining operation somewhere or worse killed.

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

EARLIER...

[XO's Office]

Luby was made up at the XO's words, not taking any offence at the fact that in the manner of Vulcans it was rather brusque.  She was on a Task Force and it meant to her that she was accepted.

"So Ma'am, er, Ruth, I'm not sure what I can do to help but I'm more than happy to help out wherever I can."

Turning to Torra she gave a genuine smile.  "I get to work with you more too, that pleases me a lot!  Hey I just thought of something... other than Counsellor Masters, I'm the only medic on the team... please try not to kill anyone or injure yourselves but I'm here if we get ... I would say paper cuts but I dunno bruised fingers from stabbing buttons on our PADDs?!" she joked, coming out of her shell a little as she was feeling a bit more included she was part of a 'Team'.

[XO's Office]

Ruth merely nodded at the cadet with a smile hiding the desire to giggle.  Luby reminded her of herself when she was fresh out of Academy.

[XO's Ready Room]

T'Lara nodded her approval at Ruth's acceptance, smiling internally as she knew the commander would get right to work as soon as possible and was not surprised when she turned out to be correct. "You may choose a new location to meet in if you wish. Commander, keep me appraised of any major updates or findings and as I said, I will provide the evidence in due time. The pre-trial will occur tomorrow. Captain Nevir and I will be in attendance and I will convey any new information upon returning. Thank you all, and please be advised that Romulan security may be boarding soon." She directed the last bit at Nira and left the room with a last look to Ruth before going back to the Bridge.

[Bridge - USS Discovery]

At her entrance, Felder stood up and vacated the conn. T'Lara sat down steadily, realizing that this was the first time she sat in the chair. Even though it was illogical she felt the added weight of responsibility as her arm gently draped over the arm of the chair, and it unnerved her at first before she hid all the feelings safely away. Looking to her PADD she saw updates streaming in from Engineering and Security. They were very close to the station and looked to be docking any minute.

"Report," she ordered to Malloy and Doache. Once they were safely docked and the Romulans had transported over the security they required she was going to head to her quarters with a pile of PADDs full of procedures and laws. It was going to be a long night in order to be prepared for tomorrow. It was just the preliminaries, but she wasn't going to let that fact prevent her from being unprepared.

"Thank you Ma'am, with your permission we'll de-camp to the Conference Room so we may spread out a little and pull up the evidence and so on, move it around, nit pick and all.  Any other updates I will pass on." the CSO/Task Force Leader decided.

[USS Discovery - XO's Ready Room]

Safefta was content with letting the rest of the meeting run its course. Honestly, she was looking forward to getting out of the chaotic room as soon as physically possible. As such, she kept her acknowledgements to Commander Sigurdsdottir to a minimum. "I will be available for consultation as soon as the evidence is presented and my experience is required," she said. She gave Nira a cursory nod, still a bit bemused by her previous rant regarding the Tal'shiar. Weren't there more pressing matters? In her opinion, any excuse to avoid dirtying their nails in the mess of Romulan political dogma was a good one.

[Bridge]

Safefta took the security console upon leaving the ready room, for a few purposes. One, she wanted to get a look at the locations of the beamed-aboard Romulan guards. Not knowing made her uneasy at best. More importantly, however, the main security console had the quickest access points to cross-reference known martial and maritime law systems. It may have been her life, but a refresher never hurt. She was due for bridge time after finishing her inventory efforts in the armory regardless. In any case, it would make her easier to find when the evidence was processed. She couldn't help but wonder how much of it was fabricated. Romulans were excellent forgers-- but Safefta hoped she knew well enough to spot a fake.

"Thank you Lieutenant, I'm grateful to have you on the team.  I will enjoy working with you again." she smiled at Safeta and gave a small wink.  Ruth really wanted the time to catch up with her old crewmate and she knew that Saf's 'abruptness' was 90% her species and upbringing, and experiences.  But under all that there was a good heart, and she'd rather have one Safeta Pardek on a team, than a squad of, most (there were some exceptions, Raynor Hughes for one! But then Raynor was the one who had given her the Bat'leth, D'k'tang, Met'leth and Kut'luch and taught her how to use them, out of respect for her saving his life with her axe throwing skills!), Klingons!

Ensign Danjar-Torra Addams
[Romulan territory - Tryka system - USS Discovery - Deck One - XO's Ready Room]

Hearing her concerns voiced so succinctly from Mr. Bervarn prompted a soft smile from the Grazerite.  She dipped her head in his direction.

Meanwhile the red-headed Commander, Ruth, was given leadership of the investigation team and was quick to take control.   Torra listened waiting for a point in which she could be of assistance.

It was just after Ruth had agree with Evandav's remark that the Commander turned to Torra and asked to speak privately.  Torra of course nodded her acceptance and stood up from her chair to find a secluded spot in the cramped small office.  Despite their lowered voices, Torra was rather certain everyone could hear.

The question about Don was really surprising, however Torra was in a quandary as to what she should say and what was obviously private to Don and should be left to him to speak to; however Don wasn't hear and the Commander had asked her instead, before going on to ask about hiding sensitive material.

The first was easy to answer.  "Of course there are ways to hide information.. but how and where will depend on the information you need to hide and how accessible it still needs to be.  Authorized ship Command codes need by their very nature be kept in the system.. but there are ways of making them discreet.  But as with all technology, nothing it 100% unhackable.  The clear solution is just to not allow unsupervised access to any computer terminal.  If a search of our files are needed for their case then it should be collected by one of the Ops staff under supervision by the Romulans. But at no time should they be permitted free access.  That is what I would suggest.  But honestly, the more time they have looking through our files, the easier it will be to spot the files we are attempting to hide. But I can create vault for things we do absolutely want to keep hidden and then bury it deep in the core or download to a external and then hide that but it would limit our access to the information should we need it."

With the easy subject answered Torra lowered her own voice, "As to my husband..." she nodded her head slightly, "There is, as you say... a history.  But I'm sorry ma'am, even as his wife it's not my place to speak of such.  I'm certain if you asked, he would tell you himself.

"My husband is a fine officer... the situation has been made clear to him.  He will keep himself undercontrol, ma'am."  Torra had faith in Don.

"With regard to material I don't think that we could get away with hiding a lot... certainly not past destinations, crew manifests or anything like that. Possibly current orders... or least what the orders were prior to this mess.  It's entirely plausible, having done it myself, that exact details of the orders are accessible only to the Captain, If we'd had more warning, we could have temporarily switched command of the ship to someone you'd never expect to have command, so even if the Captain was forced to give up access codes, wouldn't unlock things.  We didn't so we have to work with what we have.  Work with Commander T'Lara about that, and if she feels that she wants anything sensitive hidden.  I'm thinking mostly about any of our scientific discoveries... we could have stuff in there which they might want to claim for themselves.  I don't know, I just got here and I haven't had a chance to look at everything yet.  I read quickly but not that quickly!" Ruth admitted with a small grimace.

Almost hissing out of the corner of her mouth to Torra she said "As for Donny, I know he'll be professional, after we're done here, I'll pop down and see him.  I need to see down there anyway.  I used to be in Flight when I first started my Starfleet career and every so often I like to keep my flying hours up."

[Lieutenant JG Nira Said | XO's Ready Room | Deck One | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Nira nodded in appreciation at Commander Sigurdsdottir when she mentioned she had a friend on the inside. At least there are plenty of somebodies among the Romulans who could potentially be willing to help. Nira was also impressed by Evandev's short speech.

How is it someone with your wisdom isn't a chief petty officer instead of a simple crewman? Nira thought to herself about Evandev.

"Well, we'll see when the evidence comes in, Crewman," said Nira. "Although someone with a personal grudge with the Captain from the Romulans...that's another hypothesis to consider, but we'll just have to see.

"I'll be glad to wait here for the evidence, too," Nira said, nodding again at Commander Sigurdsdottir's wanting to wait for evidence.

She then noticed Commander Sigurdsdottir taking Torra aside and conversing in a soft tone. She wasn't actually surprised; she figured that they were addressing concerns about Torra's husband.

As they waited, Nira returned to Evandev's side and said softly, "Good words, Crewman. And I definitely didn't consider someone having a grudge against the Captain."

"I totally agree, hadn't thought about that one but it's entirely plausible, Crewman.  I hereby dub you 'Watson'.  If you don't get the reference, the 19th Century Terran author, Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle wrote about a Victorian detective called Sherlock Holmes.  You've probably heard of him if you know anything about Commander Data... he was/is an aficionado of the detective.  His side-kick was one Dr. John Watson.  And there was a line that went along the lines of 'Thank you, Watson, for not allowing me to commit the cardinal error, of overlooking the obvious'.  We must for the sake of the Captain and this crew, consider the issue from all angles."

[USS Discovery, XO's ready room]

Evandav nodded slightly in acknowledgment at Nira's comment in public, and waited for the meeting to end. It appeared that the meeting had come to an end; having been stood up, he didn't have to worry about bothering to stand back up again. Suddenly, a voice came from beside him, and he guessed, correctly, that it was Nira. Responding he said,
"It's very simple for us to quickly jump to conclusions. And usually, those are the sort of errors which lead to crises. A little wider perspective is always beneficial I feel. I'll be in the Science Labs if you require me Lieutenant." He said bluntly, before walking to the nearest turbolift and asking to be taken down to Deck 11.

"I'll be down there via the Flight Department in due course, perhaps you could and I could tour it together and get to know the place a little better." Commander Sigurdsdottir said with a small curt nod.

"And dismiss... I suppose." she said to the departing figure of Evandav.  He would have to be a little more relaxed with her if he was to work in her department.  Maybe he was just like that... she'd soon find out and figure a way for everyone to get along together.  Now it was time to save the Captain and pull together, they'd work on Departmental relationships later.

[Bridge]

"I've a couple of things I need to sort before the tribunal Ma'am", Ruth said to T'Lara.  "With your permission I'm going to pop down to the Flight department and then to Sciences.  Are there any Scientific documents that you feel should be locked down?  I've not yet had a chance to review anything the Discovery has done yet.  If so if you'd be so good as to send it to my PADD, so I can get Ensign Danjar-Addams to fix that so it doesn't look like we're deliberately hiding things, I'd be grateful.  I'll arrange for the Task Force to meet soon as we have any evidence, I can have those members rota'd off normal duties if necessary, I don't have a problem doing that for you, since you'll have your hands full dealing with the court."  Ruth gave the XO a small smile and got into the turbolift, hoping that she realised that the trip to Flight was to talk to Don and see what the deal there was, to better understand the crew herself.

[Flight Department]

"I'm looking for Lt. Addams? Could you tell me where he might be please?" the Chief of Science said with a bright smile.

[Luby Wentock]

[XO's Office > Sickbay]

Luby caught the Commander's smile and nodded.  Grateful to be part of something.

"I'll see you in the Conference Room whenever we have something to work on...erm... where's the Conference Room?!"

[Nira Said]

EARLIER...

[XO's Office]

Ruth merely nodded at the cadet with a smile hiding the desire to giggle.  Luby reminded her of herself when she was fresh out of Academy.

"Thank you Ma'am, with your permission we'll de-camp to the Conference Room so we may spread out a little and pull up the evidence and so on, move it around, nit pick and all.  Any other updates I will pass on." the CSO/Task Force Leader decided.

"Thank you Lieutenant, I'm grateful to have you on the team.  I will enjoy working with you again." she smiled at Safeta and gave a small wink.  Ruth really wanted the time to catch up with her old crewmate and she knew that Saf's 'abruptness' was 90% her species and upbringing, and experiences.  But under all that there was a good heart, and she'd rather have one Safeta Pardek on a team, than a squad of, most (there were some exceptions, Raynor Hughes for one! But then Raynor was the one who had given her the Bat'leth, D'k'tang, Met'leth and Kut'luch and taught her how to use them, out of respect for her saving his life with her axe throwing skills!), Klingons!

"With regard to material I don't think that we could get away with hiding a lot... certainly not past destinations, crew manifests or anything like that. Possibly current orders... or least what the orders were prior to this mess.  It's entirely plausible, having done it myself, that exact details of the orders are accessible only to the Captain, If we'd had more warning, we could have temporarily switched command of the ship to someone you'd never expect to have command, so even if the Captain was forced to give up access codes, wouldn't unlock things.  We didn't so we have to work with what we have.  Work with Commander T'Lara about that, and if she feels that she wants anything sensitive hidden.  I'm thinking mostly about any of our scientific discoveries... we could have stuff in there which they might want to claim for themselves.  I don't know, I just got here and I haven't had a chance to look at everything yet.  I read quickly but not that quickly!" Ruth admitted with a small grimace.

Almost hissing out of the corner of her mouth to Torra she said "As for Donny, I know he'll be professional, after we're done here, I'll pop down and see him.  I need to see down there anyway.  I used to be in Flight when I first started my Starfleet career and every so often I like to keep my flying hours up."

"I totally agree, hadn't thought about that one but it's entirely plausible, Crewman.  I hereby dub you 'Watson'.  If you don't get the reference, the 19th Century Terran author, Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle wrote about a Victorian detective called Sherlock Holmes.  You've probably heard of him if you know anything about Commander Data... he was/is an aficionado of the detective.  His side-kick was one Dr. John Watson.  And there was a line that went along the lines of 'Thank you, Watson, for not allowing me to commit the cardinal error, of overlooking the obvious'.  We must for the sake of the Captain and this crew, consider the issue from all angles."

"I'll be down there via the Flight Department in due course, perhaps you could and I could tour it together and get to know the place a little better." Commander Sigurdsdottir said with a small curt nod.

"And dismiss... I suppose." she said to the departing figure of Evandav.  He would have to be a little more relaxed with her if he was to work in her department.  Maybe he was just like that... she'd soon find out and figure a way for everyone to get along together.  Now it was time to save the Captain and pull together, they'd work on Departmental relationships later.

[Bridge]

"I've a couple of things I need to sort before the tribunal Ma'am", Ruth said to T'Lara.  "With your permission I'm going to pop down to the Flight department and then to Sciences.  Are there any Scientific documents that you feel should be locked down?  I've not yet had a chance to review anything the Discovery has done yet.  If so if you'd be so good as to send it to my PADD, so I can get Lt. Danjar-Addams to fix that so it doesn't look like we're deliberately hiding things, I'd be grateful.  I'll arrange for the Task Force to meet soon as we have any evidence, I can have those members rota'd off normal duties if necessary, I don't have a problem doing that for you, since you'll have your hands full dealing with the court."  Ruth gave the XO a small smile and got into the turbolift, hoping that she realised that the trip to Flight was to talk to Don and see what the deal there was, to better understand the crew herself.

[Flight Department]

"I'm looking for Lt. Addams? Could you tell me where he might be please?" the Chief of Science said with a bright smile.

[Lieutenant JG Nira Said | XO's Ready Room >- Bridge | Deck One | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

A Day Earlier...

Nira had to chuckle at the Commander's "dubbing" Evandev as "Watson." Nira didn't see Evandev as a Watson to her being a Holmes. More, she thought to herself, more like...what kind of detective couples were there in the books? Nick and Nora Charles? No, too much sarcasm, that is not us. Mulder and Scully? More likely...

"Wait up, Crewman," said Nira. "I'll come along."

She figured to come along anyway; he was using her forensics lab, after all, though she figured they might as well share it, now that they were working together, and not just on the case.

As she left T'lara's Ready Room, she heard Commander Sigurdsdottir mentioning the Conference Room and that she need be informed if something comes up.

"I'll be sure to do that, Commander," said Nira. "And the Conference Room is agreeable."

Turning to T'Lara, she asked, "Commander, will it be possible to transfer any evidence that comes in to my forensics lab so I can look over it?"

With that, she followed Evandev down to Deck 11.

[Romulan Tribunal Court - Day 1]

One of the other Romulans stood up and gave a slight bow.  "Thank you, Your Honor.  On Stardate 75337.2, the USS Discovery completed her mission of bringing Praetor Nuran security to the Tryka System for negotiations between my clients, the New Romulan Republic, and the Deutus Alliance. The Discovery was to be a neutral ground to hold the conference itself, though for the first part, the two parties were to meet on this very station.  The Praetor announced that she wasn't feeling that well and would meet with the Alliance at dinnertime for a banquet. Hours later, at 75339.1, the Praetor left the ship, and headed for the gathering.  Unbeknownst to her, the Discovery sent in security teams into the station at the same time in key locations.  20 minutes later, before the Praetor could arrive, her security team was attacked by Starfleet, and the Praetor was kidnapped.  Other teams began hunting down at attacking the leaders of the Alliance, acting as strike forces.  Before a response could be mounted, the defense systems of the station were sabotaged, and communications were disrupted.  It took only an hour before the leaders of the Alliance were either wounded or dead, and the Praetor was kidnapped.  The Discovery then pulled her troops out, broke from the station, and assaulted both the station, and the Alliance headquarters on Tryka.  The Discovery left soon after, pursued by 4 ships, which quickly dropped out of contact one by one."

"T'Chunh shows Discovery entering the system and docking, and then shows the end of the attack as the ship tried to pursue.  Beta 7 shows the Discovery docking and the full event from the outside, culminating in the ship's attack on the station and planet below.  Note, your Honor, the ship separation.  That is a key feature of the Discovery itself as opposed to most other vessels.  Finally, the station shows the exterior of the ship docking, breaking, and firing, as well as the internal footage of their teams moving through with their crimes of kidnapping, assault, and murder." he said, turning to the Captain.  There was a malicious look... almost like he was daring the Captain or the First Officer to speak up.

"Very well.  Give us a moment to enter in this visual evidence and review it."

[Lieutenant JG Nira Said | Nira's Forensics Lab | Deck Eleven | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

With the evidence released, Nira was looking over it. So far, she was viewing footage showing the Discovery apparently the aggressor. Except something was wrong with it, the moment she saw it.

"Crewman? Are you seeing this?" asked Nira, knowing Evandev was bound to be in the lab with her, then tapped her comm badge, "Lieutenant Said to Commander Sigurdsdottir. I've determined something. Might we meet at the Conference Room, or could it be possible for you to go to my forensics lab?"

After careful examination, she looked up at Evandev.

"It's a fake," she declared softly. "Look at this. According to the footage, it was describing Discovery to have been around here between Stardates 75337.2 and 75339.1.  A day ago. There's the first thing to clue in. The thing was, the Discovery was en route to the Tryka System when this was supposed to have taken place. Second of all, the footage showed the Discovery going into multi-vector assault mode and attacking the station and the planet below. Now aside from testifying that the Discovery was not there when this attack happened, everybody available who can testify can state the obvious that the Discovery has not broken off into multi-vector assault mode. Not only would everybody have heard an announcement regarding such, everybody would have felt the ship disengaging vectors. It's always described as a bumpy ride.

"As to the weaponry," she added, "we can easily pull up records of weapon usage. These records would have indicated when weapons were engaged. I'm going to have to talk to Commander Felder to pull up them up; I'll have to check them, just to make sure, though I'm confident that it'll be discovered that no torpedoes were launched nor were phasers fired on Stardate 75339.1.

"As to the warbird that 'provided' the footage," said Nira, "I highly doubt it's possible for me to go the extra mile and determine its past service. Odds are, it could've been serviced by the Tal Shiar, but for now, we'll make do with what we have and keep our fingers to ourselves."

Nira smiled a little. So far, she's got plenty of stuff to contradict the evidence...clearly fake...provided by the Romulans. She was prepared to repeat her words to Commander Sigurdsdottir. Granted, she had yet to review interior footage, but she was off to a good start. She gave an apologetic shrug at Evandev for yammering on, but it made more sense if she mentioned things out loud.

Nira tapped her comm badge again. "Lieutenant Said to Commander Felder. Permission to review the ship's weaponry records?"

[Evandav Bervarn]

[Lieutenant JG Nira Said | XO's Ready Room >- Bridge | Deck One | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

A Day Earlier...

Nira had to chuckle at the Commander's "dubbing" Evandev as "Watson." Nira didn't see Evandev as a Watson to her being a Holmes. More, she thought to herself, more like...what kind of detective couples were there in the books? Nick and Nora Charles? No, too much sarcasm, that is not us. Mulder and Scully? More likely...

"Wait up, Crewman," said Nira. "I'll come along."

She figured to come along anyway; he was using her forensics lab, after all, though she figured they might as well share it, now that they were working together, and not just on the case.

As she left T'lara's Ready Room, she heard Commander Sigurdsdottir mentioning the Conference Room and that she need be informed if something comes up.

"I'll be sure to do that, Commander," said Nira. "And the Conference Room is agreeable."

Turning to T'Lara, she asked, "Commander, will it be possible to transfer any evidence that comes in to my forensics lab so I can look over it?"

With that, she followed Evandev down to Deck 11. [Lieutenant JG Nira Said | Nira's Forensics Lab | Deck Eleven | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

With the evidence released, Nira was looking over it. So far, she was viewing footage showing the Discovery apparently the aggressor. Except something was wrong with it, the moment she saw it.

"Crewman? Are you seeing this?" asked Nira, knowing Evandev was bound to be in the lab with her, then tapped her comm badge, "Lieutenant Said to Commander Sigurdsdottir. I've determined something. Might we meet at the Conference Room, or could it be possible for you to go to my forensics lab?"

After careful examination, she looked up at Evandev.

"It's a fake," she declared softly. "Look at this. According to the footage, it was describing Discovery to have been around here between Stardates 75337.2 and 75339.1.  A day ago. There's the first thing to clue in. The thing was, the Discovery was en route to the Tryka System when this was supposed to have taken place. Second of all, the footage showed the Discovery going into multi-vector assault mode and attacking the station and the planet below. Now aside from testifying that the Discovery was not there when this attack happened, everybody available who can testify can state the obvious that the Discovery has not broken off into multi-vector assault mode. Not only would everybody have heard an announcement regarding such, everybody would have felt the ship disengaging vectors. It's always described as a bumpy ride.

"As to the weaponry," she added, "we can easily pull up records of weapon usage. These records would have indicated when weapons were engaged. I'm going to have to talk to Commander Felder to pull up them up; I'll have to check them, just to make sure, though I'm confident that it'll be discovered that no torpedoes were launched nor were phasers fired on Stardate 75339.1.

"As to the warbird that 'provided' the footage," said Nira, "I highly doubt it's possible for me to go the extra mile and determine its past service. Odds are, it could've been serviced by the Tal Shiar, but for now, we'll make do with what we have and keep our fingers to ourselves."

Nira smiled a little. So far, she's got plenty of stuff to contradict the evidence...clearly fake...provided by the Romulans. She was prepared to repeat her words to Commander Sigurdsdottir. Granted, she had yet to review interior footage, but she was off to a good start. She gave an apologetic shrug at Evandev for yammering on, but it made more sense if she mentioned things out loud.

Nira tapped her comm badge again. "Lieutenant Said to Commander Felder. Permission to review the ship's weaponry records?"

[USS Discovery, Turbolift, Day earlier]

As Evandav went into the turbolift, he thought that he heard the Commander call out to him about a tour or something or another, before providing a rather uncertain dismissal. He recognised a little too late that he hadn't really provided the necessary courtesy and respect who he just realised was his commanding officer now. It was a little strange to have a completely different commanding officer now, but that was really no excuse. He shouted out just before the door shut
"I'll be there sir!"
After all, it seemed to be rather rude to reject an offer from his new commanding officer. After coming down and finishing up cleaning up, he met the Commander down at the Flight Deck.

[Flight Deck]

Evandav met the Commander down at the flight deck, and stood at attention
"Ma'am, you wanted me for something down here?" He said formally, and with a stern face.

[Next day, Science Labs]
He went down  with Nira to check out the first pieces of evidence which came in. It appears that the charges faced against Discovery seemed to be pretty hefty. In fact, in usual circumstances such action would almost instantly lead to war. The good thing is however that the more extreme something was, the more evidence required to prove it. Therefore, the more evidence which was required to prove it, meaning more to unpick it. Nira's first deductions were fairly sound and logical, but he also added some stuff.
"It would be interesting to get a close up of the faces of the security teams to see who was involved, or whether they're from Discovery at all. Apart from that, we'll see whether any further evidence comes in. We should check for signs of forgery etc, that the Romulans may have missed. I'll start working on analysing the video, you can start identifying whether the people involved are from Discovery" he said, before beginning to work on the video, he put it through a video analyser program and awaited for the results, looking at the various statistics associated with the video.

[Danjar-Torra Addams]

Ensign Danjar-Torra Addams
[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - XO office >>  Conference Room](day prior to tribunal)

[XO's Office]

"Thank you Ma'am, with your permission we'll de-camp to the Conference Room so we may spread out a little and pull up the evidence and so on, move it around, nit pick and all.  Any other updates I will pass on." the CSO/Task Force Leader decided.

"Thank you Lieutenant, I'm grateful to have you on the team.  I will enjoy working with you again." she smiled at Safeta and gave a small wink.  Ruth really wanted the time to catch up with her old crewmate and she knew that Saf's 'abruptness' was 90% her species and upbringing, and experiences.  But under all that there was a good heart, and she'd rather have one Safeta Pardek on a team, than a squad of, most (there were some exceptions, Raynor Hughes for one! But then Raynor was the one who had given her the Bat'leth, D'k'tang, Met'leth and Kut'luch and taught her how to use them, out of respect for her saving his life with her axe throwing skills!), Klingons!

"With regard to material I don't think that we could get away with hiding a lot... certainly not past destinations, crew manifests or anything like that. Possibly current orders... or least what the orders were prior to this mess.  It's entirely plausible, having done it myself, that exact details of the orders are accessible only to the Captain, If we'd had more warning, we could have temporarily switched command of the ship to someone you'd never expect to have command, so even if the Captain was forced to give up access codes, wouldn't unlock things.  We didn't so we have to work with what we have.  Work with Commander T'Lara about that, and if she feels that she wants anything sensitive hidden.  I'm thinking mostly about any of our scientific discoveries... we could have stuff in there which they might want to claim for themselves.  I don't know, I just got here and I haven't had a chance to look at everything yet.  I read quickly but not that quickly!" Ruth admitted with a small grimace.

Almost hissing out of the corner of her mouth to Torra she said "As for Donny, I know he'll be professional, after we're done here, I'll pop down and see him.  I need to see down there anyway.  I used to be in Flight when I first started my Starfleet career and every so often I like to keep my flying hours up."

"I totally agree, hadn't thought about that one but it's entirely plausible, Crewman.  I hereby dub you 'Watson'.  If you don't get the reference, the 19th Century Terran author, Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle wrote about a Victorian detective called Sherlock Holmes.  You've probably heard of him if you know anything about Commander Data... he was/is an aficionado of the detective.  His side-kick was one Dr. John Watson.  And there was a line that went along the lines of 'Thank you, Watson, for not allowing me to commit the cardinal error, of overlooking the obvious'.  We must for the sake of the Captain and this crew, consider the issue from all angles."

"I'll be down there via the Flight Department in due course, perhaps you could and I could tour it together and get to know the place a little better." Commander Sigurdsdottir said with a small curt nod.

"And dismiss... I suppose." she said to the departing figure of Evandav.  He would have to be a little more relaxed with her if he was to work in her department.  Maybe he was just like that... she'd soon find out and figure a way for everyone to get along together.  Now it was time to save the Captain and pull together, they'd work on Departmental relationships later.

There was little for Torra to comment on toward the Commander's suggestion that she would 'look in on Don'.  While Torra trusted her husband, it seemed few others had that same faith in him.  That was disappointing.

At the Science chief's suggestion, the task force migrated over to the Conference.  There she waited with the others for the data to arrive.

[Romulan Tribunal Court - Day 1]

"Yes ma'am.  Under visual data, I present recordings from both the station interior and exterior, the Warbird T'Chunh, and surveillance satellite Beta 7."  Three holographic panels appeared in the air, all three showing visual footage.

"T'Chunh shows Discovery entering the system and docking, and then shows the end of the attack as the ship tried to pursue.  Beta 7 shows the Discovery docking and the full event from the outside, culminating in the ship's attack on the station and planet below.  Note, your Honor, the ship separation.  That is a key feature of the Discovery itself as opposed to most other vessels.  Finally, the station shows the exterior of the ship docking, breaking, and firing, as well as the internal footage of their teams moving through with their crimes of kidnapping, assault, and murder."

When the evidence arrived to begin working on, one of the first pieces of evidence were visual recordings from the station they were currently docked at,  the Warbird T'Chunh and a surveillance satellite Beta 7.   The recordings showed the Discovery doing exactly what they were being accused of.  Torra watched stunned.

Torra's first thought was that these recordings, of course, had to be fake.  To disprove this she would need to bring up the Discovery's own visual records to that same time period as a rebuttal evidence.

Working from her seat at the Conference Room table using her PADD, Torra accessed the ships logs and confirmed the ship's location at the specified timestamp - Stardate 75337.2 and compared this to the evidence.

She will also search all recordings for subtle signs of video tampering.  The telltale mismatch of the frames, ghosting of images, smudges and timestamp errors.