A Meeting of Minds

Posted on Sun Dec 10th, 2017 @ 7:02am by

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/4
Location: Crew Lounge
Timeline: July 3, 2399 1130

ON:

Janice was eating her lunch, lobster al la mode and white wine along with shrimp smothered in butter sauce. She had been going over in her mind the events of the explosion of the shuttle craft and the deaths of the Chief Engineer and Paul Copeland when she noticed her alter ego Dawn Winters entering the Lounge. Waving to her, she had intended to meet her head on and see what kind of a person she was. Not only as a lawyer but as a person in its self. Knowing your adversary was a good thing and she had every intention of doing it. "Hey Dawn have some lunch with me so we can get to know each other", she said.

Dawn glanced over at the other officer, recognizing her at once. Most people in the JAG know Janice Winston. And her reputation. "One sec, ma'am." She responded as she went over to the replicator and ordered her own meal, a large plate of spaghetti, garlic bread and a side of Parmesan cheese, the made her way back over to where the other lawyer was, "Commander Winston, it is definitely a pleasure to meet you again."

"You haven't changed at all Dawn, and drop the Commander bit. We are old friends, even if we are on the opposite sides of the tables. How the hell have you been?", she asked, as she ate some shrimp.

The redhead let out a laugh, "I've been good, Jan, a couple interesting cases stemming from the Arkady Incident, got one off, the other got twenty-five years in the max security pens. The guilty one, by the way." She smiled faintly, "The Lieutenant involved was actually quite innocent, but the evidence looked the other way. I'm just glad the evidence against the Commander was used effectively... Sometimes I hate my job, but someone has to keep you prosecutors honest, don't I?"

"Me honest?, now that is a laugh", she said, finishing up the lobster. "Remember the case I had where the fool of a engineer thought he had rerouted the warp power tap into the flow constrictor correctly?", she said. Laughing as she thought about it..."I will never forget the look on his face when the defense attorney said that it was an honest mistake. I proved that he did actually knew exactly what he was doing while I a was cross examining him. He slipped up and the JAG caught it. That was the end of that trial right there. The defense attorney blew a gasket when the JAG smashed the gavel and said..."Guilty as Charged!", she said eating her shrimp.

"I DO remember that case... That engineer didn't like the advice I had given him before he'd demanded for me to be replaced." Dawn twirled some of the pasta and speared a meatball for the end, "I told him to keep his mouth shut and play dumb, but he wanted to out-technical the JAG with engineer-speak. His own damned fault." She shoved the entire forkful into her mouth in one bite. "Miffical foofads." She said, mouth muffled.

Janice laughed, nearly choking on the shrimp. "Yes he was a fool hardy youngster. How many years did he get for nearly blowing up the ship?. 20 or 25 years?", she asked.

"Thirty, but he was lucky." Dawn said as soon as she'd swallowed, "If that ship had been fully manned and if the skeleton crew it had hadn't gotten off in time? Well, he'd never get out alive." She shook her head, "You think you'd remember that? I mean, I know you don't have a memory like mine, but you're not that old... Are you?" It was an old joke between them, since they had the same birthday, just a year apart.

Laughing,"No hun I am not that old but my memory is still just as sharp as it was 10 years ago. Besides your memory isn't that bad either", she said laughing. "How's your attorney days coming hun? Got any good ones lately?", she asked fishing her shrimp and sipped her wine.

"Just finished a case a couple days ago clearing a Captain Dodge of wrongdoing when he sent a party down to Dakar Six to rescue a couple of scientists from the barbarians there." Dawn gestured with a hand, "They were going to eat the 'far outsiders' to gain the power of flight and the contamination had already been made, so he did what he had to in order to extract the sciencies." She ate another, more minor bite of her spaghetti, "Then they sent me this way just as fast as they could get me on a ship, something special going on out here that they wanted me to be the lead defense on."

"Well it looks like we are going to butt heads once again out here. I am guessing you are to be the lead defense attorney on this one while I am going to be lead Prosecuting attorney here. Why do they insist putting us against each other on these cases?", she said finishing her wine.

"Because it's a big one." Dawn said somberly, "And they want to get it done right the first time. United Federation of Planets against one Major Lo'Mah, formerly Acting Marine Commanding Officer of the USS Wellingtoú+++@@n." Dawn set her fork down and took a dink of her signature orange juice, "Preliminary charges are Treason with a side of two Murders in the First Degree, Attempted Murder and Conspiracy to Commit Treason." She shook her head somberly, "Big one indeed."

"Yes a very big one indeed. I only hope we can get it accomplished nased on the evidence and not the usual hearsay", she added somberly. "Well I got to get goong. I got my work cut out for me so the early bird gets the worm hay?", she said as she stood up to go.

OFF:

Commander Janice Winston
Prosecuting Attorney
USS Wellington

Lt. Cmdr. Dawn Winters
Defense Attorney
USS Wellington