The Lessor of Two Evils
Posted on Sat May 11th, 2024 @ 6:05am by Commander Steven Greco & Lieutenant Evelyn Stewart & Lieutenant Tollan Yara & Captain Stryvek & Lieutenant Commander Keishara Davaris & Lieutenant Dashku Zhevou & 1st Lieutenant Kes Th’relnal & Lieutenant Amarok s'Lovok & Colonel Galen s'Khev
Edited on on Thu May 16th, 2024 @ 12:50pm
3,261 words; about a 16 minute read
Mission:
Year One: Whispers in the Wind
Location: USS Moore - Various Locations
Timeline: MD 36: 1630 hrs
Captain Stryvek and Commander Greco had gone over their report with Starfleet Command. To say that Admiral Jameson was shocked was an understatement. Their orders were to head for the Leera system, ten light years away, and prepare all of their prisoners for transport to the USS Vienna to stand trial.
Jameson had belayed Captain Stryvek's order to hand over some of the prisoners. As far anyone could tell, the Romulans had no idea where the Moore was and the Admiral intend to act quickly. The Vienna would also be bringing the Moore their new chief medical officer, which they sorely needed.
When the channel closed, Steve followed the captain onto the bridge. "Helm, prepare to leave orbit. Set a course for the Leera system, warp seven."
Stewart nodded and began tapping the controls. "Aye, sir." She called out.
"Lieutenant Stewart belay that order..." Stryvek began he paused as if he had lost his train of thought. But that only lasted the briefest of moments. It seemed that he would elaborate on what he had said but the Captain was interrupted by a Romulan vessel decloaking and the hail that immediately followed. Stryvek cocked an eyebrow and said "On screen."
The image of Colonel Galen appeared and he was smiling. "Come now Captain Stryvek you were not going to leave before giving me my prisoners. Were you?"
Options were slim at the moment and Stryvek knew it. Before he plunged this ship and by extension its crew into what could amount to a court martial he would speak with them. "Colonel, as you are no doubt aware there are a great many prisoners. We are continuing to question them to learn who is at the top of this conspiracy. That said I ask for one hour to finish."
"You will have thirty minutes to finish your questioning." Galen responded and closed the channel. To emphasize his point his warbird charged their weapons and targeted the Moore.
Stryvek leaned back in his chair and opened a ship wide channel. "All Senior Staff report to the Conference Room immediately." He rose and made his way to the conference room with no further word.
Keishara sighed heavily, another trip to the conference room. She was beginning to hate that room, feeling as though she was never out of that damned place. She'd already had a busy enough day talking to Dorian and others that had been arrested. Grumbling she made her way to the conference room.
Kes had put a bandage over the wound he'd sustained in the extraction and pulled his shirt down over his torso as the request came for senior staff. Everything was a meeting in Starfleet. He grabbed his comm badge and stuck it to his shirt as he made his way to the bridge and in turn the conference room.
tag open(if you just want it that you are in your seat in the conference room without heading there that's fine too)
Greco looked at the assembled senior staff quietly as he thought before his eyes drifted to the Romulan warship looming outside the conference windows. Taking a breath, he looked at everyone again as he spoke. "We have thirty whisperers in our cargo bay with five leaders, including a decorated Vice Admiral in our brig. Starfleet has ordered us to rendezvous with the Vienna in the Leera system to transport them for trial. The only problem is our good friend the Colonel, has followed us and made it clear that if we do not hand over the terrorists to him, there will be unrest amongst the Romulan population. We all know that there has been enough bloodshed. Suggestions?"
"If I may be so bold," Dashku decided to speak up first, she looked at the Captain and the Commander for a moment before continuing. "His ship might be bigger, but it's older and less advanced. We're better armed and we are the faster ship. We fight or we run but we don't turn over anyone. Put out a warning to Starfleet Command about his threat, but I still think he's posturing. We call his bluff."
Stryvek looked to the XO first. "Thank you for the summation XO..." If one did not know better one may have thought that Stryvek was being sarcastic. He then turned his attention to his Operations Chief. "Lieutenant you are correct in your assessment. However, what you fail to see is the impending diplomatic and possibly military engagement your suggestion would present. Even if we win the day there will be a number of lives lost in the ensuing battle." Stryvek paused as he thought to choose his words carefully. "What we need is a course of action in which everyone gets something."
"As captain of this ship you have a duty of care to protect the people on this ship, your crew and sadly those we have taken into custody. If you call Colonel Galen's bluff and he strikes against us then we risk our ship, its loyal crew and the already fragile relationship we have with the Romulan people." Kei spoke without hesitation. "I don't often suggest appeasement, I prefer a fight but even if the warbird is of older design a lucky shot can still disable or destroy a part of our ship. I said before we don't have to give them all prisoners but I cannot see an option where we don't hand over some."
"So we're just dealing with terrorists and tossing our laws and values aside now?" Kes tried to keep the disgust out of his voice. "So they're in a bigger ship, there's always a bigger ship. They're saying the Romulan refugees are going to riot? There's always malcontents. Now we just roll over and give in?" Kes curled his blue fingers into a tight fist on the table. "You're telling me we hunted these bastards down just to hand them over? We did the dirty work for some Romulan prick to just come in and give us orders?"
Stryvek digested all that had been said. He disagreed with Kes' points but understood them. He understood that they came from a state of emotion. "Lieutenant I would caution you about what you speak of. These terrorists committed an equal offense to the Romulans as they did to the Federation. What is more is that according to Federation law a fair number of your rights are suspended when you commit a crime. These people are not under suspicion, they admit their crimes and are therefore guilty and certain freedoms from the Federation are not afforded to them. The Colonel has not issued any orders, merely requests." He paused to allow those words to sink in. Then logic dictated he give a little to the Lieutenant. "I would agree with you that the method in which he made his request is wrong, and would like nothing more than to unleash Commander Davaris and this ship upon him. However, we do not have that luxury."
"The people who chose to kill innocent civilians should be held accountable for their crimes, I do not think any of us are disputing that," Dashku had watched Kes' reaction with some interest. She echoed his passion but had found that among humans and Vulcans, it was best to keep them under the surface. "I agree with the First Lieutenant, we cannot capitulate to a foreign government based on a request followed by a vague threat. It sets a bad precedent, Captain. They should be held and punished under Federation law. I say we call his bluff and fight if we have to. We all know that at any moment we could be called upon to give our lives, I'd rather die to a lucky shot fighting Romulans, than live a coward."
"Furthermore, it falls to me as the starship Captain here whether or not extradition is warranted. There is no capitulation here. The Colonel is within his rights. There is no vague threat here, there is an absolute. A promise we have seen this before from the Romulans. Colonel Galen is not making a threat he issued a warning." Stryvek had made no decision as of yet. He was of a mind to hear everyone out. However, thus far he was rather surprised and not surprised at the same time. Surprised at the side the emotional outbursts took, not surprised because he knew most of what was said here came from a place of emotion.
Stewart listened to the captain and caught on to what he was suggesting in disbelief. "You can't be suggesting giving over some of the terrorists to the Romulans," She stated incredulously. "You know they will kill whoever we hand over to them."
Yara took in all the arguments, both for and against the surrendering of the prisoners. As the acting chief medical officer, he decided he needed to speak up. "How do you propose we decide who lives and who dies? The Admiral, the other leaders, their subordinates just following orders?," He asked rhetorically, agreeing with the pilot that whomever is turned over to the Romulans will be killed. The terrorists' blood on the crew's hands. "We are Starfleet officers, it's not our job to be judge, juror and executioner. Confessed criminals or not, they are still Federation citizens. They have rights!" He shouted in his growing disgust of the situation.
"What did you expect from a Tal Shiar dog, their entire being is manipulative. Of course they'd put us in this situation." Amarok said his face somewhat flushed green from his anger, his hand in a fist on the top of the conference table. "These terrorist may be Federation citizens but I doubt none of them just happened to be part of the group because their friends are. Terrorists see themselves as Judge, Juror and Executioner do they not? They have killed many people across the bombed worlds, they believe they are doing what is right, or that is so from what I have read about it. Isn't an act of terrorism immediately forfeiting one's civil rights, at least some rights? Especially against your own government, since the planets the Romulan refugees are settling on are in Federation territory." He said and looked around the room.
Amarok turned to Yara. "While it isn't part of the job per say, yo-we-as Starfleet Officers must see the bigger picture and aren't our forces spread thin? A war with whatever Galen can muster isn't something we can afford though I could be wrong and saving these terrorists lives because of moral obligations, and I highly doubt they'd do the same for us in return, is worth a war." It still hit him a few times throughout the days that he is merely Provisional and just a civilian but because he had been a target of these Whisperers he couldn't help slip between the civilian and temporary Starfleet Officer point of views at any given moment.
He turned to Kei and frowned. "Our Loyal crew," he echoed in a somewhat lacking tone, he believed those who attacked him were still free and part of this crew until told and shown they were arrested he really didn't mix and mingle, Amarok raised an eyebrow. "I believe a great man once said 'The needs of the Many outweigh the needs of the Few', for the sake of more lives..." He trailed off that others got his meaning
"Then who decides which few get murdered?" Kes grumbled. "Who is going to look at the group of prisoners and say 'You're not important enough to keep, go die'." The Andorian shook his head and his antenna lowered. He knew who would make that call, and at the end of the day he didn't envy the Captain. "Things like this aren't what any of us signed up for. It's one thing to take down a foe in the heat of battle, but to sentence a prisoner to death once the fighting has stopped..."
The lack of logic in the room actually began to give Stryvek a headache. Surprisingly the only one who saw the logic was in fact a Romulan. "As Lieutenant S'Lovok has stated these criminals have forfeited their rights. They have rights to lawful proceedings. Something that regardless of if we turn them over to Galen or not I will see that they have. One must also see that the Romulans have rights. That our government has afforded these Romulan refugees sovereignty and as such Colonel Galen has every right to make this request of extradition. Although he did not use those exact words that is what this is, an extradition request. Dr Yara you are correct. It is not your job, or the job of any of this crew to make this decision. However, it is my job to do so. And as Captain I look to my senior most officers for advisement in this matter. For the good of the many does indeed outweigh the good of the few or the one."
Rising to her feet she slammed both her fists on the table and swore in El Aurian. "Verashta (Fucking) Vulcans!" Kei always hated that saying. "You Vulcan's are always so black and white! What is logical is not always right captain!" Kei returned to the conversation. Her previous statement had not been in favour or against giving prisoners. It was simply her advocating her position as security chief to protect the ship and the crew she had sworn to keep safe. "Just because I don't see an option where we get out of this without casualties if we don't give them prisoners doesn't mean we should." she paused for a moment. "Separate the saucer section of the ship, I'll take command of it and you and the rest of the crew can take the engineering sections back into Federation space to the nearest starbase. I'll disable them, keep them busy long enough for you to get there and by then it will be someone else's decision to make. Extradition can be done the right way!"
Stewart let her eyes drift towards Keishara. “Come on, Davaris, that’s just stupid both from a tactical and political perspective.” She commented bluntly regarding the woman’s suggestion.
Glancing at the senior staff, Stewart continued. “As much as I hate to admit, the captain and s’Lovok have a point. We don’t know what these Romulans are capable of doing, but Federation security is at risk if there is a small amount of truth to what this Colonel is saying about an uprising of Romulans on Federation worlds. We can’t risk more conflicts, even if it isn’t right or just.”
Kes adjusted himself in his chair, the wound was starting to burn and pull. "I still believe that if we give in now, it's just going to open the door for another guy in a big ship to make demands and chip away at what we're supposed to protect." He leaned back in the chair once again to keep the wound from pulling and to show that he was out of the conversation. He'd said his piece, but this wasn't his decision and it looked like Starfleet had their own opinions on the matter.
"If they were Orions they would push for every concession they could. If we do leave the saucer behind I volunteer to stay with Commander Davaris, I'll take any chance to bloody a Romulan's nose," Dashku chimed in, showing her teeth and the first sign of real emotion in the meeting. "If this were a legitimate extradition request, shouldn't it be going through an official channel? Not Captain to Captain but government to government? I understand the Romulans making the request, I even would understand the Federation granting the request but shouldn't this all be handled by ambassadors and the President and the Romulan Senate?"
“But they are not Orions, nor is there a Romulan Senate anymore.” Stewart pointed out. “They have no proper government, not in practice. That makes the Romulan population dangerous. Are we really going to roll the dice on more people being killed?” The helmsman asked the group.
With a heavy sigh, the Trill spoke up. “If that is the case, how exactly do you propose we decide who lives and who dies, Lieutenant? How many people’s blood will it take to satisfy this Colonel and are we willing to stain our hands with?” Yara asked Stewart before addressing the group. “Because the fact remains, no matter how few of the terrorists we hand over, we will be accomplices to murder.”
"Let the prisoners decide who will live and who will die. They put themselves into this situation. They should be the ones to take full responsibility for their actions." Amarok said with a smile. "Tell them as a group." He added, "this could also be valuable information about how this organisation thinks."
Stewart glanced at the Romulan, taking note of how one actually thinks. She shook her head at the situation, about to answer Yara, when the first officer spoke up for the first time the entire discussion.
"We should give them the leadership. Only them," Steve said quietly with a soft but genuine anger. "Their subordinates will stand trial for their crimes. They wouldn't have been able to carry out such an organized attack without the leadership of the Whispers. They are ultimately the ones responsible for so many deaths and hurt." He said coldly, not looking at anyone in particular as he thought about Sophie, seeing her on the ground under the scaffolding and fearing the worst, and his promise that they would see justice.
Stryvek had sat mostly silent and listened to everyone speak. Most if not all of the points were valid. But, this was a Federation starship and as such ultimately the decision was his to make, and Galen waited. The paths of logic that wove through the Captain's mind was a maze with no end. It was the words of his First Officer, a man that Stryvek did not get along with entirely, that presented the most valid and logical argument. So, he felt it was time that he told his crew the decision.
"There is a time honored tradition, and law in Starfleet..." Stryvek began his voice a little raspy from the long period of silence, his words landed like a stone hitting gravel. As he delivered his decision Stryvek knew that he would not give Dorian the respect of rank. As of this moment that man was no longer an officer in Starfleet. "...This policy is that a crew will not be held responsible for the actions of their superior officer. This is the law that logic dictates we follow. We will turn over Mr Dorian and the rest of the leaders of the Whispers. Those who are not among the leadership will remain on this ship for transfer to Starbase and trial. These are my orders, if anyone would like to object you may inform me and I will note it in the ship's log. Commander Greco I would like you and Lieutenant Commander Davaris to oversee the prison transfer. Lieutenant Zhevou you will open a channel to Colonel Galen." Stryvek paused for a moment and looked at his crew. Some understood the logic and others did not. He knew that in time they would all see the logic. "Dismissed!"