TGI Friday

[athersgeo]

A very long (and irritating) week is at a close. YAY!

To celebrate...

Disclaimer: Wes, Jen, Katie and Alex don't belong to me. They're borrowed from BVE without permission but no harm, no foul, no money made. Joshua Carmen, Pieter van Zyl, Alicia Roberts, Merle Askot and the tribunal panel DO belong to me. You're welcome to borrow but please ask me first.

Legal note: I'm not a lawyer or a law expert, so please forgive any glaring errors.

With very, very grateful thanks to Gamine who helped me enormously in the writing of this chapter, going above and beyond the call of beta duty. Also many, many thanks to Selma, both for this chapter and the last, for the brainstorming and plotting that helped me shape these two chapters after a three-week absence.

Please offer feedback -- it tells me how I'm doing.

~*~

Future Imperfect -- ...Into The Fire?

The second half of the pair.

Wes watched as Carmen slowly stood up. It was an ominous movement. He could see Jen swallow, hard. This was, he realised, going to be bad.

"Captain Scotts," Carmen began. "You were placed under Jack Scotts' guardianship at the age of six. Could you clarify why that was?"

"I was told that my parents were killed at Shendraville. He was my only surviving family."

"I see." Carmen looked thoughtful. "Do you remember that day?"

Uh, Josh, she said in the previous chapter she didn't...

"I was six when it happened. I don't remember a great deal from that time, and I'm not sure I trust what I do remember."

"You don't trust what you do remember? Why is that?"

Wes could see Jen shifting nervously in the witness box. She looked painfully nervous now. "I know that part of the Alpha Project involved messing with my memories."

"Explain," said Carmen.

van Zyl bounced to his feet. "Objection!"

Ya knew he was going to pull the same trick...

"On what grounds?" enquired the tribunal chair.

"Relevancy," van Zyl replied.

Wes watched as the tribunal panel members exchanged looks just as they had done over Carmen's first objection.

"Limitedly sustained," said the tribunal chair. "The subject of what Captain Scotts does or does not remember and what may have been done to her in memory adaptation is germane to this trial but Mr Carmen is drifting into irrelevant territory with his current line of questioning. Please rephrase, Mr Carmen."

Carmen looked like a child whose toy had just been taken from him. In spite of the situation, Wes found himself smiling.

There was a moment's pause, then Carmen said, "Captain Scotts how do you know that you have had your memories 'messed with'?"

"I..." Jen hesitated. "I've been told that's what was done."

"There is, after all, no medical evidence for the memory adaptation process. No scars, no physical 'damage'. So I say again, how do you know you've had your memories altered?"

"I..." Jen hesitated again. "It was a part of the Alpha Project."

"I refer the court to the testimony of Dr K'Vork,

Dilbert character!

expert witness on memory sciences. He said: The Alpha Project does not require any form of memory adaptation to work, in fact, memory adaptation could be seriously deleterious to the functioning of the project." Carmen looked up, staring straight at Jen. "I put it to you, Captain Scotts, that there was no memory adaptation. Your memories are just fine and that, far from being surprised by Biocon, you were in league with him."

"Objection!" exclaimed van Zyl, bouncing to his feet again.

"On what grounds?" the tribunal chair asked.

Captain Scotts is not on trial here."

Damn right!

"Sustained," said the tribunal chair without needing to look at his colleagues. "Mr Carmen, please moderate your line of questioning."

There was a lengthy silence as Carmen started to pace. Oddly, given the rebuke, Wes judged the lawyer's expression to be smug rather than sulky. That's not good.

Wes gets a cookie for a masterly piece of understatement!

"Captain Scotts," Carmen finally said, "you are engaged to Captain Wesley Collins, correct?"

"Objection!" van Zyl was back on his feet.

"On what grounds?" asked the tribunal chair.

"Relevancy," came the inevitable answer.

Wes couldn't help but wonder why Carmen was trying such a strange and obviously irrelevant question. There had to be a reason.

"If I may beg for a little indulgence from the tribunal panel," said Carmen, "I do have a relevant point to make."

Wes could feel the ice in the tribunal chair's glare from where he was sitting. "You have precisely one further question in this line and it had better be wholly relevant or I will have this line of questioning struck from the record. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," said Carmen nodding.

"Captain Scotts, please answer Mr Carmen's question," directed the tribunal chair.

"Yes I am," Jen answered, looking not unreasonably confused.

Anyone guess where this is going yet?

Carmen nodded. "The cornerstone of proof that you did not originate in this time period is a school yearbook in which there is a picture of one Chrissy Lithgow who does bear a considerable likeness to you. A picture that has undergone image analysis to bear out that comment." He paused. "Could it be that, like the similarity between your current fiancé, Captain Collins, and your previous beau, Major Alex Collins, you and Chrissy are not one and the same person, but two people who share genetics?"

If you didn't, shame on you. If you did - have a cookie!

There was a deafening and stunned silence in the court as the words of Carmen's question died away. Jen looked utterly shell-shocked by the accusation. Wes felt the bottom of his stomach drop. Rocky had verified to him -- and by definition, Alex and Jen -- that Chrissy Lithgow didn't exist, but that was inadmissible evidence because they couldn't get Rocky into this court to testify.

"Why not?" Wes asked.

Alex sighed. "Because it would be a temporal violation having Rocky here."

"But I'm here," Wes objected. "What harm would it do?"

"Yes -- but only after Temporal had checked and double checked the effects of pulling you out of the timeline. You and Jen, for that matter. Rocky would just be too much of an additional risk."

"What do you mean?"

"What happens if something happens to Rocky whilst he's here?" Alex answered. "What happens if he gets struck by a hovercar and we can't return him to his time period? That risk is just too great."

This little exchange was to satisfy Gamine, who questioned the fact that Rocky wasn't being called.

Finally into the silence, van Zyl said, "Objection!" Wes could hear the desperation in that call.

"On what grounds?" asked the tribunal chair.

There was a long hesitation, then van Zyl said, "My apologies, tribunal; I would like to withdraw the objection."

There was a loud, stunned gasp at that.

"What the heck?!" exclaimed Katie.

Good question. Suffice to say, van Zyl is a man with a plan.

The tribunal chair looked suitably surprised. "That is your right, Mr van Zyl. Objection retracted. Captain Scotts, please answer Mr Carmen's question."

Jen looked noticeably pale as she whispered, "I guess it could be."

Carmen smiled smugly. "No further questions at this time."

As he sat down, the tribunal chair looked in van Zyl's direction. "Mr van Zyl do you have any further questions?"

"I would like to call a recess -- I have something that I wish to put to the tribunal panel and my colleague, Mr Carmen."

Wes watched as the tribunal chair's eyebrows vanished into his hairline. "Request granted." He glanced at the chronometer. "Court is now in lunch recess. We will reconvene at fourteen hundred. Captain Scotts you are released from the witness box until that time."

Almost the instant the tribunal panel and the two lawyers had departed from the courtroom, the room was abuzz with chatter.

Wes and Katie just looked at each other in stunned silence.

"What's going on?"

Wes jumped. Looking round, he saw Alex who, he realised, had been oddly absent all morning.

Yes, this was supposed to be set up for somthing in Far Future, but ultimately I decided it was unnecessary - so as of the moment, Alex was just randomly absent.

"They've gone into recess," Wes replied.

Wes should have been an accountant. Factually accurate and completely useless.

"I got that bit -- why?"

Between them, Wes and Katie filled him in. To their general surprise, however, Alex actually smiled.

"He's going to do it!"

"Do what?" Wes wondered, completely puzzled.

But Alex shook his head. "I can't tell you." He sat down. "Partly because I don't know for sure how he's actually going to do it."

"Alex, this is about Jen -- I have a right to know!" Wes objected.

Alex shook his head again. "I can't tell you Wes -- until Pieter van Zyl pulls his ace out, I can't say a word. Just... Trust me."

But that didn't make Wes feel any less worried.

As it wouldn't.

~*~

At fourteen hundred hours on the dot, the court reconvened. Wes noted that there was not a solitary seat spare in the public gallery now -- and it had been fairly full prior to the recess.

"Guess everyone wants to see what van Zyl's going to pull out of his hat," Katie mused.

Well, wouldn't you?

"I think people know this is going to be the pivotal session of the case," Alex observed.

So should Alex have been an accountant...

"Here's hoping it works -- whatever it is," Wes murmured as the tribunal panel entered the court, followed by both lawyers. Carmen, Wes noted, looked vaguely annoyed. van Zyl, by contrast, looked confident. That in itself set a murmur of surprise rippling around the room.

A moment later and Jen was led back into the witness box. To Wes' eyes, she looked worn down and nervous. The hour's break had obviously weighed heavily on her and he wished -- not for the first time -- that he had been able to speak to her during the lunch recess but the day's witnesses were closely guarded and contact with 'the public' was prevented. Besides, he mused, I don't think there's anything I could have said in an hour that would have made her feel better. He grimaced. Please let whatever it is van Zyl's planning work.

"This court will now come to order," ordered the tribunal chair. "Mr van Zyl, if you please?"

"Captain Scotts," van Zyl began, "prior to our recess, Mr Carmen raised a valid query regarding yourself and whether or not you and Chrissy Lithgow are the same person. I am correct in saying that you do not have any memories of Chrissy or her life?"

Jen nodded, looking completely puzzled. "Yes."

"Tribunal, with Captain Scotts' permission I would like to stage a demonstration in court."

"Please state the nature of that demonstration," replied the tribunal chair.

van Zyl started to pace. "The demonstration is of memory recovery. I would like to demonstrate to the tribunal panel -- and to the court in general -- that Captain Scotts truly was pulled from another time, to do this I require to call Doctor Alicia Roberts of Time Force Medical."

The tribunal chair stood. "Captain Scotts, do you give your permission for this demonstration?"

There was a pause, then Jen answered, "I do." Wes could hear the fear and determination warring in those simple syllables.

"Mr Carmen," continued the tribunal chair, "do you have any objections to this demonstration?"

"No, tribunal."

Because he knows he'll get smacked around the head if he does object.

In any other situation, Carmen's markedly subdued response would have been amusing. As it was, Wes' attention was rooted to Jen.

The tribunal chair moved to look back at van Zyl, who had stopped pacing now. "Mr van Zyl, how much time do you require to set up this demonstration?"

With a quick glance at the court chronometer, van Zyl answered, "I can have things ready by fourteen fifteen."

Wes glanced at the chronometer and realised that meant five minutes. "Has he got this woman on stand by outside the court or something?"

Alex chuckled. "Knowing Alicia, very probably. More likely," he added, "they actually prearranged all the details while they were in recess, so that proceedings wouldn't be delayed."

Almost as if to prove Alex right, in walked the obviously summoned Doctor Roberts carrying a yellow hardcase and being pursued by a couple of techies, who were carrying a chair between them.

OK, own up, who stole the commas from that sentence?! Gah!

"The floor is yours, Doctor Roberts," said the tribunal chair, sitting down once more.

"Thank you, tribunal." The two techies set the chair down and stepped back. Roberts turned to Jen, who was watching from the witness box. "Captain Scotts, if you could please come here and take a seat?" Roberts gestured at the chair.

Wes watched as Jen did as she was bidden while Roberts set the hardcase on the floor. Every line of Jen's body told him she was petrified but her expression was calm, which, he realised, would be better than he would manage, roles reversed.

"What I will do," Roberts explained as she removed a hypospray from the hardcase, "is administer a small dose of Ventol. This is a relaxant. It puts the patient, in this case Captain Scotts, at complete ease and makes them more receptive to the second stage of this process." She straightened and looked at Jen. "Ready, Captain Scotts?"

Ventol named with help from the Daystrome Institute Technical Library, a Star Trek online encyclopaedia.

Jen nodded. "Ready." There were nerves and fear in the word but all were out weighed by the determination. The former made Wes wish he could do this for her; the latter made him feel oddly proud.

Roberts applied a hypospray to the side of Jen's neck and injected the Ventol.

While that took affect, Roberts again crouched over the hardcase, replacing the hypospray and taking out something that, to Wes' untrained eyes, looked like the 'cortical stimulator' often seen on Star Trek. It was a small, grey, inch-diameter disk.

"What happens next," Roberts continued to explain, "is that I use this device," and she held up the disk, "to breakdown any traces of Mimozin and Remhinderazine

Can't remember the derivation of Mimozin, but RemHinderazine is fairly obivous - it's the first sylable of remember and then the word hinder (as in prevent). The 'zine' is an ending often seen on drugs from Star Trek. Again, thanks to DITL.

within the patient's brain -- Mimozin and Remhinderazine being the primary drugs required in a successful memory manipulation. The device emits a pulse at supra sonic levels that causes the particles of Mimozin and Remhinderazine to disintegrate. The device is programmed to first run a detection scan. Should there be no particles of either drug present in the patient's brain then it will bleep twice and abort, otherwise it will start the process, bleeping once at the start and once when it is complete. It is not a painful processes, although it is not an entirely pleasant one. It is a process that will take roughly ten minutes."

So much for no physical trace of memory adaptation...

So saying, Roberts stood up again and Wes watched as she applied the disk to Jen's left temple and set it working. He glanced at Carmen and could almost hear the man praying for an instant double beep.

The court was absolutely silent as a long, slow minute ticked by.

Then the device bleeped.

Once.

Wes felt himself relax into his seat. In spite of knowing what he did, having medical science confirm it was a relief. Watching Carmen, he saw the lawyer similarly relax into his seat -- but his was a deflation of a man who knew he was about to lose. Wes nudged Alex and Katie and nodded in Carmen's direction.

"Now that," Alex murmured sotto voce, "is a sight I would gladly have paid to see. Joshua Carmen completely beaten."

Alex and the entire rest of Time Force, probably including Jack Scotts!

Unfortunately that knowledge didn't make the remainder of the ten minutes fly by because Wes had to sit helpless while Jen suffered through the procedure. The expression on her face, which, at times, verged on a grimace, made Roberts' statement about the lack of pain dubious to his mind.

When the end bleep finally came, Wes breathed a sigh of relief. It was over.

"Now we see if this has worked," Alex murmured.

Wes froze as it dawned on him that this might have been for nothing. "Is that likely?" he hissed.

"Only ten percent chance," Alex answered. "But..."

Wes nodded as Roberts removed the disk from Jen's temple.

"Captain Scotts, how do you feel?" Roberts asked.

"Like sh...err..." Jen caught herself in time. "Groggy," she modified.

A titter ran around the courtroom -- even the tribunal panel members smiled at the slip.

"OK." Roberts offered Jen a hand out of the chair. To Wes' eyes, Jen looked more than groggy. She looked terrible. "I'm going to help you back to the witness box -- then, with the tribunal panel's permission I will depart. My role is now complete."

"Thank you, Doctor Roberts, you are dismissed."

There was a brief bustle as the two techies carried out the chair while Doctor Roberts withdrew to the public gallery, making a direct beeline for Wes and the others.

"Move up, Alex," she whispered. "I want to see Carmen get what's coming to him!"

See? Carmen is pretty much everyone's least favourite person.

"The court will come back to order. Mr van Zyl, you have the witness," said the tribunal chair.

van Zyl nodded, standing up. "Captain Scotts, when I asked you at fourteen hundred, whether or not you recalled anything of Chrissy Lithgow you answered no. It is now fourteen thirty, you have undergone memory recovery, do you recall anything about Chrissy Lithgow?"

There was a long silence while Jen thought the question over.

Wes held his breath. He could sense Katie, Alex and Roberts doing much the same. Please let this have worked.

"Yes I do." Jen sounded tired but triumphant.

"Could you tell me Chrissy's place and date of birth please?"

"She was born on 3^rd November 1979 in Angel Grove, California."

van Zyl nodded. "It is a given that you didn't remember anything about your abduction prior to the memory recovery. Do you now?"

"Yes I do," Jen answered without hesitation.

"What do you remember?"

"Objection!" came the almost desperate call from Carmen.

"On what grounds?" asked the tribunal chair testily.

"Hearsay and fabrication," Carmen answered.

"Objection overruled," retorted the tribunal chair. "Need I remind you that in this court, fabrication is not an admissible objection? As for the hearsay charge, newly reclaimed memories come into the same category as old memories. Please continue, Mr van Zyl."

"I like this chair," observed Roberts. "He's not putting up with any crap from Carmen."

"You mean they usually do?" Wes murmured, surprised.

"How do you think he got his reputation?" Alex asked.

"Good point."

"Captain Scotts?" van Zyl prompted.

"I was playing in Angel Grove Park with a group of other children. I ran off on my own after our ball and something started to grab at me. I think I screamed -- it hurt -- and then I wasn't in Angel Grove park any more I was...somewhere else. I didn't recognise it -- and still don't," she added. "It's not somewhere I've been since then." van Zyl nodded. "There was a man right in front of me and a woman just to my left."

"Did you recognise either of them at the time?" van Zyl asked.

"No."

"What about applying the memories of Jen Scotts to Chrissy's memories?"

Jen nodded. "I'm not sure about the woman. The man is Jack Scotts. I think," she added, glancing at Merle Askot, who had been standing in the dock all day, "the woman is Merle Askot twenty years younger."

van Zyl nodded. "No further questions."

"Mr Carmen, do you have any further questions?" asked the tribunal chair.

Wes couldn't help but smile at the set of Carmen's shoulders. The lawyer was beaten -- and knew it. "No further questions," he bit out.

"The witness is released. Thank you Captain Scotts."

As Jen turned for the exit, Wes got up.

"Tell her well done from us," ordered Katie softly.

Wes smiled. "I will do."

As I recall, this was written back to back with the previous chapter (so they were pretty much written in one go). Again, the difference between this and between the first two chapters is huge - it hangs together so much better and, again, something actually happens. The back and forth between the lawyers and Jen works out pretty well, as do the peanut gallery comments.

I'll probably post chapter 5 a little bit later