Judge Advocate General

Writers note: The following story took place after the events in Star Trek: First Contact.

Captain's Log, Stardate 51003.6:
The Enterprise has been called to Earth where I will stand trial for my actions for disobeying orders and following the Borg sphere back in time to correct the problem in the time line. I am surprised that Starfleet has taken son long to get a JAG hearing for my actions. I can only hope that they will find me in the right and my crew and I can continue our current mission. End Log.

Captain Picard sat in his ready room waiting for the trial to come. It would take place at exactly 1400 hours, he had one hour to think things over. Maybe it's time to call in a few favors that I'm owed, he thought to himself but decided against it. He would do this on his own, no outside help would be allowed. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door chime. "Come" Picard said and the doors opened allowing Guinan to enter the room. Picard's face lit up, "Guinan, this is an unexpected visit."

Guinan smiled, she held something behind her back. It was a bottle of wine which she handed to Picard. Picard immediately recognized the label, it was from his brothers vineyard in France. "I visited your brother before I came, he told me to give this to you."

Picard's smile grew. "How is he?"

Guinan nodded. "He's doing fine. Cute little nephew you got there."

Picard still smiled. "Yes, Ranae is a character isn't he" he paused deciding to ask what his friend was doing here. "Don't tell me you came just to tell me how family is doing."

Guinan shook her head "No, I was summoned to be an expert witness on the Borg," she paused and then added with hesitation "and you."

Picard's smile grew, with his friend on his side, Starfleet would understand and they wouldn't hold him for any charges.

* * *

The hour had passed quickly, Picard was sitting in a court room at Starfleet Headquarters in Paris. At the judges desk sat Admiral Setelk, a Vulcan. Next to him was Admiral Nechayev. The hearing was a closed session so no one else was in the room except the two parties and the Admirals. Picard had managed to get his senior officers to come in and watch, Starfleet had agreed mostly because all six of them were to be questioned as witnesses. Guinan had opted not to attend the proceedings until she was to be asked questions. The man that was going against Captain Picard was Captain Charles Renolds. Renolds was a fairly new captain, but he was a good lawyer. The defense had no lawyer, it didn't need one. All Starfleet could do was ask questions and then make a decision based on the testimonies given.

Admiral Setelk picked up a small mallet and hit a bell with it twice. "This meeting will now come to order. Captain Renolds, please state for the record why Starfleet has called this inquiry."

Renolds stood. "Admiral, on Stardate 50995.7, a Borg vessel destroyed a Federation colony and then headed directly for Earth. Admiral Hayes ordered the Enterprise to patrol the Neutral Zone in case the Romulans decided to take advantage of the situation. Captain Picard did as he was ordered, until he decided to break those orders. He had the Enterprise go to Sector 001, going against those orders to stop them. This meeting should decide that Captain Picard is an insubordinate officer and that he should be stripped of his command. Thank you." Having that said, Captain Renolds sat down.

Admiral Nechayev looked down at a PADD "This court will call its first witness. Lt. Commander Worf, please step forward."

Worf stood, walked up to the witness chair and sat down.

Renolds stood up and walked towards Worf. "What is your current rank and position?"

Worf looked back at Renolds, he clearly didn't like him and was sure he would kill Renolds when the meeting was over. "Lt. Commander assigned to I.S.S. Enterprise as Tactical Officer."

"Why were you ordered to Sector 001?" Renolds continued his questioning.

Worf looked back. "I was ordered to take the Starship Defiant, which was designed to fight the Borg, and help out the best I could to stop the Borg threat."

As Worf was answering questions, Renolds began taking notes on a PADD. "Who contacted you about the mission and what were your first impressions of the assignment?"

"Admiral Hayes contacted Captain Sisko about the problem, and then Captain Sisko called me into his office and gave me the assignment. As for my first impressions, I can only say that I've seen what the Borg do to people when they are assimilated and I knew that they needed to be stopped."

Renolds looked to Picard. "Why did Captain Sisko give you orders, if you were under Picard's command?"

Worf looked to Picard and then to Renolds. "I was temporally assigned to Station Deep Space Nine as their Strategic Operations Officer."

Renolds dug deeper. "You said temporally assigned, but you left before your assignment was over. I looked into the records commander."

Worf nodded. "Yes, I found it difficult to fulfill my duties on that station and asked to be re assigned to the Enterprise."

Renolds nodded, "Now back in Sisko's office, when the admiral told you that the Enterprise would not be in the Typhon Sector?"

When Worf answered, he had a growl in his voice. "I was disappointed, the Enterprise was the newest ship in the fleet with the newest technologies aboard her and she deserved to be part of that fight. But she was denied that right."

Renolds shook his head. "So, you wanted Picard to come..."

Worf nodded his head. "Yes like I said, he deserved to be there, and so did Captain Picard."

"Why did Captain Picard need to be there?" Renolds probed.

"He needed to be there because he knows basically everything there is to know about the Borg, he was connected to their network." Worf was trying to avoid any confrontation between him and Captain Renolds, but it was getting hard to do. Anyone who went against his friend didn't deserve to live.

"And what were your feelings when Picard showed up?" Renolds continued making notes.

"I was glad to see that he came, as you can see the end results ended up good."

Renolds began to frown. "Never mind the end result, the fact was that you were glad to see him come. You were glad that he was going to get his revenge against..."

Renolds was cut off by admiral Nechayev. "I believe you are leading the witness, for that you will be punished." Nechayev held up a phaser set it to stun and shot Renolds. Captain Renolds fell to the ground unconscious. Nechayev stood up, "Now, until he wakes up, well have a two hour recess."

With the inquiry at a recess, Picard and his senior officers decided to go to San Francisco to have lunch. The name of the restaurant was The Spaghetti Factory. They went in and sat down at a long table. After they looked at the menus and had decided what to order, a waitress walked up and took their orders. Worf was the last one to tell her what he wanted "I would like Lasagna with a side order of Heart of Targ." The waitress's face started to cringe at the thought of what Worf would eat, but continued with a professional manner. She then asked him what he wanted to drink, his reply was Klingon Blood Wine. She wrote the last few details on a PADD and walked into the Kitchen.

Worf noticed that Troi was staring at him. Picard was confused by this, he wanted to know why. "Commander, is something the matter?"

Troi nodded, then answered Picard's question. "Worf only orders Heart of Targ and Blood Wine for certain occasions."

Picard thought to himself special occasions? For a Klingon? "What kind of occasions?"

Troi looked back to Picard. "He orders it when he is ready to go into combat, or for a romantic situation..."

Picard interrupted her. "Listen! What you two to on your own time is your own business, I don't want to hear of it."

Troi continued what she was saying. "Or when he's about to kill someone. Well, I believe the first two are out of the question since he and I aren't going to be sharing any time together for a few days, so he must have Murder on his mind."

Picard looked back to Worf. "Who do you plan to kill?"

Worf picked up his mek'leth and polished it with a napkin. "I do plan to kill Captain Renolds after this inquiry is over with, he has no honor."

Picard almost started to laugh, but decided against it, at least not until the right moment. "Why do you want him dead?"

Worf looked back from his weapon. "First of all, I do not like anyone who questions the ability of my commanding officer and second, I don't like his smile." He paused. "Anyway, he brought on this whole inquiry. Captain, he is after your job. When I was informed about the inquiry, I did some background checks on Captain Renolds. Three of his sisters were serving aboard the Starship Melbourne at Wolf 359. They were all killed, and he blames you for their deaths. When this is all over with, he hopes to have your command."

Picard thought what Worf had said for a while. "Well, just save me a seat at his execution..." He then started to laugh, and with him, the rest of the senior officers joined in. Needless to say, they were all kicked out of the restaurant for being too loud. Out side, they were walking down the street waiting for the inquiry to continue, Picard's comm badge chirped, it was a message from Admiral Nechayev stating that Renolds had regained consciousness. Picard and the other senior officers called the Enterprise and asked for a site to site transport, they dematerialized...

...And rematerialized in the court room. Admiral Setelk brought the meeting to order. Captain Renolds was already for his next questions. He called his witness to the stand.

"Commander Riker, has Captain Picard ever shown any kind of cruelty in the years you've served onboard the Enterprise with him?"

Riker looked back "That's not a good question to ask me sir, I haven't been with him as long as the others..."

Renolds was mad. "I don't care how long you've been with the crew commander, just answer the question!"

Riker stared into Renolds eyes, there was no life breathing in the man, he only had one thing on his mind and that was revenge. "No sir, nothing out of the norm."

Renolds walked up to Setelk. "Admiral, I would like to ask the court, to make this easier, if I could have the senior officers sit at a table and just ask them all the same question?"

Setelk looked over to Nechayev, she nodded her head. "Alright captain, you may proceed."

Renolds then had a guard pull a table over to the wall, and the senior staff went and sat down. "Ok, let's continue. Commander Data, would you please answer the question?"

Data looked at Renolds, "I believe that I would have to agree with Commander Riker sir. Captain Picard has never stepped out of the average captain towards the subject of ruthlessness, and I believe that my colleagues will all tell you the same exact thing."

Renolds looked to the rest of the witnesses. "Is this true?" They all nodded their heads yes. "Then I see no point in continuing this discussion. Let's cut to the chase shall we?" He picked up a PADD, it had his notes for the meeting on it. He then scrolled down to the important information. "Ok, let's get straight to the facts. Captain Picard, on Stardate 50995.7 your vessel was ordered to patrol the Neutral Zone, is that correct?"

Picard nodded his head.

Renolds smiled. "And then on Stardate 50996.1, the cube entered at the Typhon sector and met up with the fleet."

Picard again nodded his head.

"This is when you ordered the Enterprise to Sector 001 captain?"

This time, Picard shook his head no. "Actually captain, I waited until I knew that the fleet would need the Enterprise."

Captain Renolds smiled, Picard was going into his trap. "Ah, until you 'knew' the fleet would need you, how touching. Um, there's one thing I don't understand captain. How did you know that the fleet would need you?"

Picard smiled. "We were listening on Starfleet subspace frequency one-four-eight-six. A vessel then clearly sent a distress call to Starfleet Command that more ships would be needed."

Renolds smiled. "Ah, yes the subspace frequency. I managed to borrow the flight recorder module from your bridge camera captain, I present it to the court as evidence." Renolds then handed a black box to Admiral Nechayev.

Nechayev took the box and plugged it into a computer terminal. Renolds continued, "Admiral with the courts permission, I would like to play back what happened on stardate 50996.1."

Setelk turned to the computer. "Computer, activate holo-emitters." The room went dark and a duplicate Enterprise bridge came up out of no where.

Renolds took a PADD. "Computer, replay from time index 514.8."

The computer beeped and then started playing the file. Troi opened a comm channel and spoke into it. "Bridge to Captain Picard."

Picard's voice filtered through the comm badge. "Go ahead."

"We've just received word from Starfleet Command," the holo-image of Troi said. "They've engaged the Borg."

Holo-images of Picard and Riker walked out of the ready room and onto the bridge. Picard went for his chair. "Commander Data, put Starfleet subspace frequency one-four-eight-six on audio."

"Aye sir." Data said and went to work.

The comm channel then filled the Enterprise bridge. "Flagship to Endeavor . . . stand by to engage at grid A-fifteen." "Defiant and Bozeman, fall back to mobile position one . . ." A voice filtered through to the flagship, it was a Lieutenant. "Acknowledged, flagship." Another voice then cut into the bridge. "We have it in visual range!" "We see it-a Borg cube on course zero mark two-one-five. Speed: warp nine point eight." A Borg comm line then opened up and thousands of voices filled the room. "We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile." The Borg then closed thier portion of the comn line. The order to fire came. After a few moments, several damage reports came though the line, and the file ended. The holo simulation turned off and the room was back to normal.

Renolds stared at Picard. "Captain, I believe you stated earlier that distress calls were made and requests for more ships? I didn't hear any distress calls in that file. Did you?"

Picard could only shake his head and answer no.

Renolds smiled. "I rest my case."

Admiral Setelk stared at Picard. "Do you have any more witnesses that you would like to present to the court Captain Renolds?"

Renolds nodded. "Yes sir. I call Guinan to the stand." A guard at the end of the room opened a door and Guinan came in. She walked to where Picard was sitting and sat next to him. "Guinan, how long have you known Captain Picard?"

Guinan thought for a while. "A very long time captain."

"Do you believe him to be an expert on the Borg?" Renolds asked.

Guinan nodded. "Yes I do."

"Even a better expert than, say... you?"

Guinan nodded again. "Yes, he was assimilated by the Borg, he was a part of their collective."

Renolds nodded. "Yes, so I have heard. Tell me, is he a trustworthy individual?"

Guinan looked over to Picard and then back at Renolds. "Yes he is."

Renolds decided to take his questioning a little too far. "Tell me, if you had three sisters and they all ended up dead because of a Borg named Locutus..."

Picard stood. "I object!"

Admiral Setelk agreed with Picard. "Yes, Captain Renolds, you will refrain from adding personal feelings into this case."

Renolds didn't hear the admiral, he was too far motivated. "Would you allow him to freely..." Renolds never got to finish his statement, he was shot by Admiral Nechayev. His body fell limp to the ground, barely alive. Worf stood up, his mek'leth in hand. He jumped over the table and thrust his weapon into Renolds's heart, killing him instantly.

Admiral Nechayev stood up. "Mr. Worf! You are out of order, I sentence you to five days in the Stockade on Mars." By Nechayev's command, two guards came into the room and took Worf away. Worf had a smile on his face as he exited the room. Nechayev then looked over to Picard. "Captain Picard, it seems that since there is no one to go against you for this crime, you will be released. But let me warn you, if you ever violate an order ever again, no matter how small. I won't wait for an inquiry, I will sentence you to death. Is that clear?"

Picard and the other senior officers stood, he looked to Setelk and then to Nechayev. "Yes sir, I understand."

Nechayev then walked over to Renolds's body, took out Worf's mek'leth and handed it to Troi. "I believe Worf will need this back when he gets out of the Stockade." Troi took the mek'leth and headed out the door.

Picard looked to Nechayev. "I just want you to know Admiral, that there was a vessel that called for reinforcements. I was going to bring it up when I got the chance, but as you can see, it never came. Mr. Data, please tell the admiral the last bit of evidence to close this inquiry."

Data walked towards Admiral Nechayev. "After the information that Captain Renolds presented, there was a cry for help from an Akira class vessel, it said the following. 'Starfleet Command we need reinforcements...' After that message was said, Captain Picard terminated the comm link to the subspace array and ordered a direct course for Earth."

Admiral Nechayev turned and looked to Picard. "I never doubted you for a moment captain. But Renolds came up to me and demanded this inquiry, under starfleet regulations, I couldn't refuse it. I hope you understand..."

Picard smiled. "Yes admiral, I think I do understand. Now if you'll excuse us, we'll be leaving for the Bahamas. Goodbye admiral." With that said, the remaining Enterprise's senior officers exited the court room.

The End