Title: Star Trek-Infinity: Upsetting the Balance [PG] (MISC)

Author: Charles Rando (trando@worldnet.att.net)

Series: MISC

Rating: [PG]

Part: NEW 2/2

Disclaimer: Paramount owns the characters in The Next Generation and DeepSpace Nine, and Peter David owns the Selelvian race (see his book, StrikeZone). I'd like to think that the characters I've invented and the story aremine. :-)

Summary: When an accident on the Infinity results in the death of anEngineer, Commander Neddek is charged with negligence. Is this just anattempt to drum him out of Starfleet? It's up to Lieutenant Remley to findout!

Author's note: Hello everyone, and welcome to the second season premiere ofStar Trek-Infinity. Please feel free to send me you comments, complaints,compliments, commas, whatever you feel like, about this story. I lookforward to hearing from you all, and I hope you enjoy it!

"You may be seated," ordered Admiral Jim Branson, the head judge advocate inthe court-martial case. He looked over the gathered audience in thecourtroom, and then to Admiral Parker and Captain Lyrris, the two otherjudges. "This court is now in session. The first matter of business today,"he said with a smirk; a court-martial case could possibly go on for weeks,"is the accusation of negligence on the part of Lieutenant Commander Neddek.Commander Gordon, are you ready to present your case?"

The chief prosecutor rose. "Yes, your honor. On Stardate 48297.4, thestarship Infinity was on a rescue mission in the Cyrmetron sector. TheHawkins had become caught in a gravitational stream, and required assistanceto remove itself. The Infinity attempted to tractor the Hawkins out of thestream, a process that did not go smoothly. The strength of the stream wasgreat, and the Infinity was under a great deal of strain to pull the Hawkinsout of it. Many ship's systems, especially the structural integrity field,were already at full output levels, but it wasn't enough. Captain Randoordered the defendant, Commander Neddek, to perform a dual transfer of extrapower to the tractor beam and the structural integrity field. During thisprocedure, Commander Neddek became emotionally enraged, verbally abused afellow officer, and took his remaining anger out on his computer console.The power to the structural integrity field was cut dramatically, and theentire ship shook due to the increased strain. The sudden jerking causedEnsign Peter Farnan, who had been on the second level of Engineering, tofall to his death to the level below. I intend to show that Commander Neddekwas responsible for the sudden drop in the power flow to the structuralintegrity field, and therefore responsible, due to negligence, for the deathof Ensign Farnan."

Branson nodded as the prosecutor sat, ending his opening statement."Commander Neddek, you have chosen to defend yourself, is that correct?"

Neddek rose to respond. "Not entirely, your Honor," he replied. "No one withlegal experience was able to defend me. I am, therefore, forced to defendmyself."

Branson nodded again before asking, "Is there anything you'd like to say foran opening statement, Commander?"

"There is nothing I wish to say at this time, your honor," Neddek replied.

"Well then, let's get this show on the road, shall we? Mr. Gordon, call yourfirst witness," Branson instructed.

"Your honors, I call Lieutenant Brett Pallick to the stand," Gordon said.The young Lieutenant proceeded to the front of the courtroom where he wassworn in before Gordon began questioning him. "Please state your name, rankand position onboard the Infinity for our records."

"My name is Brett Pallick, I'm a full Lieutenant and an engineer on thestarship Infinity ," Pallick responded.

"You have brought this case of negligence against Commander Neddek, is thatcorrect?" Gordon asked.

"Yes sir. From my position on the secondary engineering level, I could seeCommander Neddek working at his console. I saw him explode at LieutenantKrodel, the assistant chief engineer, before he slammed his fist down on theconsole he had been using. A second later, the ship lurched, and my friendPete, Ensign Farnan, had fallen to the floor below."

Gordon brought up a PADD and showed it to Pallick. "Do you recognize theseschematics?" he asked.

Pallick nodded. "These are schematics for the primary and secondaryengineering levels," he said.

Gordon retrieved the PADD and walked it over to Neddek before proceeding. "Iwould with to have this schematic entered into evidence as 'People'sExhibit-1,' if there is no objection," he added, facing Neddek.

"I see no need to object at this time," Neddek replied, handing the PADDback to Gordon. Gordon passed the PADD over to Admiral Branson.

"The exhibit has been entered into the record," Branson replied. "You mayproceed."

After retrieving the PADD one last time, Gordon turned back to Pallick. "Mr.Pallick, would you please indicate where you were working at stardate48297.4?"

"I was here," Pallick pointed to the PADD's screen, "at station B-7."

"And where was Ensign Farnan?"

"Pete was standing to my left, right there," Pallick indicated. "As you cansee, there's a space between the computer consoles. That's where he fell."

"And where was Commander Neddek?"

"The Commander was working at the main engineering station here. By turningmy head to the right and looking down, I had a clear view of him."

"You saw Lieutenant Krodel approach Mr. Neddek?"

"Yes sir," Pallick replied. "I couldn't hear what he was saying, the ruckusin Engineering was too loud with everyone talking at once, but I did hearNeddek shout, 'I do not care what you think! Do it!' right before he hit thecomputer console."

"Commander Neddek was under stress then?"

Pallick nodded. "It looked like it," he said, "which really surprised me. Imean, we all knew that Neddek was a Romulan, but he had been brought up as aVulcan. He had always been cool under pressure before... but this time hejust snapped. It was actually kinda scary."

"From your description of these events, it doesn't sound like CommanderNeddek was behaving too logically during this crisis."

"No sir, he wasn't. He lost control with Krodel, and then hit the console,"Pallick said.

"You keep mentioning this 'console' Neddek was working at, Lieutenant. Canyou tell the court what Commander Neddek was using that console for?" Gordonasked.

Pallick nodded. "He was adjusting the power flow to the structural integrityfield. When he hit the controls, the power levels suddenly decreased. If hehadn't been so emotional, Pete wouldn't have died."

Gordon checked through his notes before turning to Admiral Branson andsaying, "No further questions, your Honors."

Branson shifted his attention to Neddek. "Your witness, Commander," he said.

Neddek stood. "I have no questions for this witness, your Honors."

Branson almost seemed to stifle a laugh. "It's your show, Commander.Lieutenant Pallick, you may step down. Mr. Gordon, call your next witness."

Remley shook his head in dismay as Gordon called up another engineer,Lieutenant Quiles, to confirm Pallick's story. Neddek wasn't doing anythingto defend himself... he wasn't fighting back at all. Remley felt a twinge ofpity for Neddek as he realized the engineer was doing the best he could inan uncertain situation. Remley would have offered to defend Neddek himselfif he hadn't gotten the same feeling Captain Rando had that something wasmissing. And since that something might occur to him at anytime, he wantedto be free to be able to hunt it down. For now, he was going to listencarefully to each officer's testimony in hopes of something in his headclicking into place. Something that could help him prove that Neddek hadn'tbeen negligent. In a way, he wished he had a better knowledge of engineeringequipment and structural integrity field, so that he could confirm forhimself everything that Pallick had said. Perhaps he would have to do hisown research once today's hearing was over.

CHAPTER FIVE

That night, Commander Neddek slept peacefully in his Starfleet 'provided'quarters. Lieutenant Remley, however, did not sleep as well in his quartersback on the Infinity . He was plagued by a recurring dream... almost anightmare.

In the dream, he was running down a long corridor on the Infinity . Herounded a bend, and the next thing he knew he was in Main Engineering,staring at Neddek's computer console. Everything was exactly the same aboutthe console in Remley's dream as the last time he had seen the real console,except this one had a large red question mark on it. Remley knew what thequestion was, but no matter how closely he inspected the computer console,he just couldn't find a workable answer to his problem. He couldn't find away to prove Neddek innocent. He would examine ever square inch of theconsole until he woke up, at which point he was forced to relax himself backinto a light sleep... only to have the dream again.

By the time the next morning dawned, Remley realized he was no closer tofinding the answers he was searching for.

The security chief quickly cleaned and dressed for the new day's hearings.After wolfing down a quick breakfast consisting of eggs, toast and bacon, hemade his way back to the courtroom on Starbase 506. Yesterday, CommanderGordon had brought over a dozen other engineers to the witness stand, andeach of them testified that Neddek had been adjusting the power levels tothe structural integrity field before the ship had been jolted, that Neddekhad exploded at Lieutenant Krodel, that Neddek had brought his fist down onthe computer console, and so on. A few even testified that they had seen thenormally stoic Neddek lose his Vulcan control... and Remley was quitefrankly surprised by the number of people in Engineering who harbored illwill towards Neddek because he was Romulan. Today, Gordon would be callingon even more character witnesses to show that Neddek's treatment of Krodelwas not the norm. Today, he'd be calling Captain Rando to the stand. Remleyhoped that his Captain did the right thing.

Remley was forced to listen to a few more engineers back up Pallick's storybefore Rando was called to the stand. He leaned forward in his chair,wishing that the Captain would declare this whole court-martial a mockery ofjustice... but it didn't happen. Gordon just began asking him questions.

"My name is Charles Rando, and I am the captain of the U.S.S. Infinity ,"Rando was saying.

"And when did you take command of your ship, for the record?" Gordoninquired.

"On Stardate 48223.7," Rando replied.

"When did you first meet Commander Neddek, Captain?"

Rando adjusted his position in the chair. "The night before I took commandof the Infinity," he replied.

"And what were your first impressions of Mr. Neddek?" Gordon asked.

"He was quiet, reserved, like many other Vulcans I've known," Rando said."Very logical, and yet he had a tremendous imagination."

"Did he strike you as emotional?"

Rando shook his head. "Like I said, he was like a lot of other Vulcans I'veknown. According to his personal file, twenty-three years ago he achievedKohlinar and reputed all emotions."

"Of course, according to his personal file, Mr. Neddek isn't actuallyVulcan, is he?"

"No, Neddek was born on Romulus," Rando replied, "but he was raised onVulcan by his father from age five to age sixteen and then by both parentsafter that."

"How did you discover that Neddek was actually Romulan?" Gordon asked.

"It's a rather long story leading up to it," Rando replied, "but suffice tosay, we were transported back in time over sixty years to the Romulansystem, and we arrived on a very important day for Neddek's family. You see,the reason Neddek was raised only by his father for eleven years was becausehis mother and younger brother were still on the Romulan homeworld. WhenNeddek's father attempted to retrieve them, the Romulan Imperial Guardinterfered and took Neddek's brother, S'tev, hostage. They wanted to preventNeddek's parents from leaving Romulus, so they tortured S'tev and thenkilled him while Neddek's parents watched on a viewscreen of their departingship. Neddek realized that we had arrived just a few hours before S'tev'sdeath, and so he took it upon himself to rescue his brother from his grislyfate. He beamed down to Romulus in disguise, located S'tev's body... hehadn't been dead long, and transported back to the Infinity to have S'tevresuscitated. Later, Neddek was offered a choice by a member of the QContinuum in an effort to straighten out the timeline: Neddek could eitherkeep S'tev with him and have his Romulan heritage known by everyone, or hecould give up S'tev and become a Vulcan again. Neddek chose the firstchoice."

"And a very noble choice, I'm sure, Captain," Gordon replied, "but when yousay that Neddek beamed down to Romulus, did he do so with your permission?"

Rando paused before answering. "No, Neddek beamed down without mypermission."

"In fact, according to your ship's logs, you had to send an away team downto retrieve him because you thought he might give potentially dangerousinformation about Starfleet to the Romulans of the past?"

Rando paused again slightly. "Yes," he answered.

"Was this the only instance in which Neddek left the ship without yourpermission?" Gordon asked.

Rando shook his head. He knew that his testimony, which was the truth,wasn't helping Neddek's case. "No... there was a time, right before we werebrought back to our own time by Q, that he stole a shuttlecraft. He wasafraid of what would happen to his brother and to himself if Starfleet foundout who they truly were."

"And you had to use force to retrieve Commander Neddek, did you not?"

"Yes," Rando admitted.

"Then one could say, Captain, that Commander Neddek has a pattern of doingthings without your authorization... of neglecting his duties as a Starfleetofficer? And as the Captain of a starship, I'm sure you'd be an expert onduty."

"There does seem to be a pattern of negligence," Rando admitted, "but as Ihave recorded in my private logs...."

Gordon cut him off. "No further questions, your Honors."

Branson turned to Neddek with a look of resignation. "I don't see why I evenbother asking," he said. "Do you wish this question this witness?"

Remley watched the engineer closely. Neddek had declined to ask questions ofany of the other witnesses, and Remley hoped that he wouldn't make the samemistake again. Captain Rando could easily clear up the special circumstancesbehind each of the cases Gordon had mentioned, and he could....

"I have no questions for this witness, your Honors," Neddek replied calmly.

Remley couldn't take any more. He stood and walked right out the courtroom.

******************************************************

"How's the trial going, Evan?" asked Lieutenant Williams as Remley broughthis food tray over to the table he and his cousin were sharing. "Has Neddekstarted cross-examining the witnesses yet?"

"Not even one," Remley replied, a bit disgustedly. He had wandered aroundfor almost an hour, trying to determing why. "He had a chance to haveCaptain Rando clear up all of the special circumstances behind him rescuingS'tev and taking that shuttlecraft, but he didn't even try. If I didn't knowhim better, I'd almost say he's given up."

"His behavior was quite illogical," Lieutenant V'gel commented. "I agree, heshould be at least trying to defend himself, especially after the testimonythat Captain Rando gave."

Williams took another bite out of his sandwich. "Why?" he asked, his mouthfull. "What did he say?"

"That's right, you weren't there today," V'gel said. "How come, Phil?"

Williams shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, I'm behind Neddek one hundredpercent... it was just all of that procedure! 'Here, I'll show you what's onthe PADD so you can tell me what it is, now I'll show it to you so that youdon't object, and now I'll show it to you so you can introduce it intoevidence. Ok, now I need it back, so I can pass out another PADD.' It justgot very repetitious. I'm glad I went into science!"

"What do you think, Phil? You'd probably have a better grasp on thistechnical junk than I would. Is it possible to lower the power to thestructural integrity field just by hitting the controls with your fist?"Remley asked.

"I've been thinking about that," Williams replied. "I'm sure it's possible,but it's not likely. Those controls are set up to be adjusted by hand, and Idon't think Neddek could have changed anything with his fist unless herolled it down the controls too. Of course, with the ship lurching aroundlike it was, anything's possible."

Remley placed his spoon in his soup bowl and rested his head in his hands."And I was having such a dream last night... a recurring one! I kept findingmyself in engineering, staring at Neddek's console. It had a big questionmark on it, but I already knew what the question was... I'd have to bestupid not to. The problem was that I couldn't figure out the answer. I musthave examined that console over fifty times in my sleep, and I didn't findanything."

"It could be possible that the answer you're looking for isn't on theconsole, Evan," Williams commented, his mouth full again.

His cousin nodded. "That's right. Maybe the answer you need is actuallyINSIDE the console."

Remley considered this new idea for a moment before snapping his fingers."That's it! How could I forgotten about it! And it was there all along!" Hechecked the time on the ship's chronometer. "I'd better hurry. CommanderGordon only had a few more people to call after the Captain, and I'm willingto bet Neddek isn't doing anything to defend himself. Thanks for your help,guys! I'll see you later!" Getting up from the table, he ran off, leavinghis used tray and the half-eaten soup behind. Williams and V'gel both lookedat it.

"Would you like to throw it away, or should I?" Williams asked.

CHAPTER SIX

"We have arrived at our decision," Admiral Branson was saying as thecourtroom resumed from a recess, "and we believe we have sufficient reasonto find Mr. Neddek guilty of...."

"Stop!" called Lieutenant Remley, bursting through the courtroom doors."Admiral, I believe I have evidence to clear Commander Neddek of allcharges!"

A general buzz filled the room until Admiral Branson slammed down his gavelfor order. "Please, Lieutenant... step forward. What is the nature of thisevidence?"

Remley stepped purposely towards the judges' bench with a PADD in his hand.He passed the PADD to Branson. "That data comes from a computer securityprogram I was testing when the Infinity was sent to rescue to Hawkins. Itshows that the command to cut the power to the structural integrity fielddid not come from Commander Neddek's console. In fact, it came from aconsole on the second engineering level."

"We've seen evidence that shows the command did come from Neddek's console,"Admiral Parker replied. "Why should we place what you say above thatevidence?"

"Because I've also discovered that the computer reports that indicatedNeddek's involvement are false. And, if you will notice, the changes to thecomputer logs were made from the same station on the second level."

Branson considered the young Lieutenant. "So, what exactly are you saying,Mr. Remley? From what I see here, you don't know exactly who it was thataccessed this console."

"But I can say with all certainty that it wasn't Neddek... it was someone onthe second level. And then it hit me... that's what this case is centeredon. Ensign Farnan fell to his death from the second level of Engineering.And, as various witnesses can testify to, he was standing right next to thatvery same computer console before he was thrown over the rail."

"Are you saying that Ensign Farnan tampered with the structural integrityfield, and that cost him his life?" Parker demanded. "If so, I hope you'reprepared to give solid evidence to back it up."

"I'm not accusing Ensign Farnan of anything yet," Remley replied. "Witnessaccounts also place Lieutenant Pallick at that computer console as well.With your permission, I'd like to ask him a few questions."

Admiral Branson and the other two judges convened in whispers for a fewseconds before Branson replied, "Very well, Mr. Remley. Lieutenant Pallick,would you please take the stand?"

Pallick nodded and walked assuredly to the witness box. Admiral Bransonreminded the Lieutenant that he was still under oath from the last time hetestified, and as Remley looked on, he thought he saw a flash of uncertaintyin the engineer's eyes.

"Where were you when Ensign Farnan fell over the railing, Lieutenant?"Remley asked.

Pallick straightened his uniform and replied. "I was working at console B-7.Pete was standing to my left just before the ship buckled. The next thing Iknew, he was on the ground, a level below."

Remley paced in front of the officer. "What were you working on at consoleB-7?"

"We were attempting to divert more power to key systems," Pallick answered."The tractor beam, the inertial dampers, the structural integrity...."

"The structural integrity field?" Remley asked.

"Yes, the structural integrity field," Pallick answered.

"So at the time of the accident, you had access to the power levels of thestructural integrity field?"

"I believe I've already said that, Lieutenant."

Remley nodded. "Then it is possible that one of you decreased the power flowto them?"

"It's possible," Pallick conceded, "but that's not what happened. CommanderNeddek had access to the integrity field as well. When he became emotional,he lowered the power flow."

"You saw him lower them?"

"As I have stated in my previous testimony, I saw him bring his fist down onthe controls. A second later, the ship shook and Pete went over the rail."

Remley took this in. "So you maintain that Neddek was able to lower thepower flow to the structural integrity field by bringing his fist down onthe controls?"

"Yes, I do," Pallick replied.

"A sensitive procedure, one that would require Neddek's fist to hit in theexact right place... AND roll down the console in the proper direction, andyou still maintain that that's what happened?"

"Yes, I do," Pallick repeated.

"Okay, then," Remley said, pausing to think for a minute. "Mr. Pallick, youdon't like Mr. Neddek that much do you?"

"Objection your honors!" Commander Gordon called. "He's leading thewitness!"

"Which, under direct examination, would be objectionable," Branson replied."This, however, is cross-examination... or some form of it." He turned toPallick. "Answer the question."

"No, I don't like Commander Neddek. At first I thought he was wrong inchoosing Lieutenant Krodel over me for assistant chief engineer... and thenI found out he was a Romulan. And everyone knows you can't trust Romulans;they'll stab you in the back if you turn away from them. I'm willing to betthat 'Commander' Neddek was sabotaging the ship for the Romulan Empire bycutting the power to the integrity field," Pallick said.

Remley nodded as he continued to pace. "And what about Ensign Farnan? Whatwas his opinion of Neddek?"

Pallick started answering before Gordon could object. "Pete didn't trustNeddek either. His grand-parents were killed long ago in a Romulan raid, andhis family wanted to avenge them someday. Now, because of another Romulan,he'll never get the chance."

"So Ensign Farnan was vengeful?" Remley asked. "Perhaps so full of hatredand the need for revenge that he cut the damper's power to hurt Neddek?"

"No," Pallick replied, "he wouldn't do that."

"He wrote a program, didn't he?" Remley demanded, ignoring Pallick'sresponse, "a program that would tie in your console with Neddek's... so thatwhen the opportunity arose, he could make it look like what he was doing wascoming from Neddek's console."

"I told you," Pallick repeated, this time with a tint of anger in his voice,"he wouldn't do that!"

"A brilliant engineering feat!" Remley exclaimed. "Almost undetectable!Ensign Farnan must have been quite the engineer to come up with a programlike that, eh Lieutenant? Maybe HE should have been assistant chiefengineer?"

"He couldn't have written that program!" Pallick shouted back. "He nevercould have written it! It was way too complex for his understanding!"

The shouting match set off another buzz in the courtroom, causing Branson tocall for order again. Remley ignored him and demanded, "How do you knowFarnan didn't write that program, Lieutenant? How can you say for sure thatit wasn't his genius that created it?"

Pallick threw his face right into Remley's. "Because I wrote that program!It was my creation! I thought it up, and it worked perfectly!" he exploded.

Remley shrunk back away from the red faced engineer. He turned to the judgeswith a smirk and replied, calmly, "No further questions, your Honors."

******************************************************

Neddek sat alone in the empty courtroom. Starfleet security had long sincetaken Lieutenant Pallick into custody, and shortly thereafter, everyone elsein the courtroom had left as well. Neddek did not look up when he heard thecourtroom doors swish open.

"Commander?" asked a voice. "How're you doing?"

After a slight pause, Neddek replied, "I am attempting to regain my logicalcontrol again. The last week has been especially trying."

"It's been bad ever since people found out you were Romulan," the voicesaid.

Neddek, his control evaporated once again, slammed his fists down on thetable as he stood. "I would think that you, of all people, Lieutenant, wouldunderstand after everything that just happened that...."

Remley raised a hand to cut him off. "Whoa whoa whoa, Neddy! I think you'renot hearing me right! I'm only saying that it must be hard with everyoneknowing your true heritage because some people DO have a problem seeing pastthe big picture. Me, I base everything on their potential of being securityrisks... Romulans, Klingons, even Starfleet... they could all be securityrisks in general. But that doesn't mean that every Romulan, every Klingon,and every Starfleeter is dangerous. Excepting that shuttlecraft incident,which I know you only did because you were afraid of what might happen toyou if Starfleet knew you and S'tev were Romulans, you're one of the safestguys I know. I'd trust you with my life any time, and believe me, that's notsomething I say to anyone." He smiled. "My life is very important to theproper running of this universe!"

Slowly, Neddek sat back down in his chair. "I apologize, Lieutenant. I haveaccused you of being something you're not."

Remley took a seat as well, but on the table. "There seems to be a lot ofthat going around. If anything, it's us that owe you an apology. There wasno reason for this little event... at least no reason for you to have beeninvolved. I've just talked to Captain Rando... he's going to ask AdmiralDaubar to use her influence and make sure nothing like this happens again.He's also going to have a little talk with your engineers... if they don'tlike serving under you, they can transfer to another ship. Of course, it'llbe in their Starfleet records that they allowed personal reasons tointerfere with their duties... and not many starship captains want officerslike that, especially when those 'personal reasons' include bigotry. Weshouldn't judge you on what you are, but who you are."

Neddek nodded. "Thank you, Lieutenant. I... appreciate having you on myside."

"What are friends for?" Remley grinned. "I do have one question... if youdon't mind me asking. It is rather personal."

"I believe that after everything you've done for me, I owe you a response,"Neddek replied.

"Well, it's just that a lot of people in the crew, those who know you andlike you for what you are... well, we want to know how to refer to you, youknow? I mean, you are Romulan, but you were raised as a Vulcan, and it...."

"I understand what you mean, Evan," Neddek interrupted. "I have lived themajority of my life as a Vulcan. I have mastered many Vulcan disciplines...I have even trained my mental powers to enable me to mind-meld with otherperson. Although I am Romulan by blood, and proud of that fact... I am aVulcan by heart, and I wish to remain one."

"You won't have any problem from me!" Remley exclaimed. "Now, if you'llexcuse me, I've gotta go tell Ensign Libby. I can't wait to see the look onhis face when he finds out he lost our bet!" He bowed his head towardsNeddek, turned, and walked back out of the room.

"He may indeed be the most boisterous human I've ever encountered," Neddekthought, "but no one is perfect. Not even myself."