Episode 2.02: Rivulets of Copper, Eyes Aflame

[Davy, aka GM]

Captain's Log, Stardate: 8875.9

The landing party has returned to the ship with our primary suspect, a Jarokovan monk by the name of Kavoran, and have placed him in the brig.

Spunkmeyer has been taken to sickbay, and is expected to make a full recovery; Dr. Dourap says the monastery's healer knows her craft. He also reports that Sanersa, N'Varas' widow, has passed through her healing trance and should be safe enough to transport to a planetside facility in the next day or so - and that Specialist Banks is finally out of danger, although she's not yet in any condition to talk.

However, we may not need her testimony, assuming she could recognize her attacker. We have the weapon, evidence of his prowess in the attack on Spunkmeyer, and his transport masking device; with any luck, Kavoran himself will provide further insight.

Lt. Thadis has returned to duty; Vulcan authorities lifted all legal restrictions against him. His solicitor and mother of one of Lt. Cmdr. Les' former crewmates has volunteered to also act as Kavoran's counsel in this matter.

Treyva, Tobin, Cole, Voshen, and Chev assemble in the interrogation suite observation room, with their suspect and T'Vaana-Sath, his solicitor, visible on the viewer (their audio muted as she takes some time to familiarize herself with him and his situation).

OOC: I figured I'd give you gents a chance at a little RP before we move to the interrogation.

Current
Momentum 4 3 (Scene Change)
Threat 3

[Renny]

Feeling the tension in the room, Cole's eyes sweep across the security monitors, taking particular care to note the disposition of his team, in and around the security section. With the ship's top brass all here, he wants to make sure that everything is in place.

[Davy, aka GM]

The security staff is...on edge. They're making a good show of it for the captain and senior staff, but Cole can see anger seething underneath their professionalism. First Banks, and now Spunkmeyer - both of them so very close to death at the hands of the man in custody.

As his thoughts churn on the subject, T'Vaana-Sath looks into the camera and nods that she and her client are ready.

OOC: You gents are the stars of the show, so tell me which of you want to be in the room with the Vulcan, and who wants to observe (and interact, since two-way communication is possible) from the booth?

Meanwhile, I'm going to write up T'Kalla-Nahs' mother...

[Nolmir]

Tobin stares at Kavoran over the monitor, then exhales heavily and turns to face the other officers. "Captain, I'd like to take part in the interrogation. What Kavoran has done contradicts everything I thought I knew about Vulcans, several of whom I have come to know quite well since joining Starfleet. I feel that I owe it to them to try to help make sense of this."

[socrates200X]

Voshen crossed his long arms. "As they say, 'two more than two is twice too many'.  I will do what I can to observe Kavoran from this room, and assist as needed." 

Peering at the face of the Vulcan monk, still as stone, he clicked in thought.  "I don't envy you. And yet. As placid as he seems, there is a passion buried in him.  Passion enough to kill.  Surfacing it may be key to gaining a confession."

[Chev ch'Valk]

The Andorian ensign shrugs. "There's little for me to contribute in there either, unless he starts speaking in tongues, and even then I can work from here." He glares at Kavoran through the monitor, as if willing the Vulcan to acknowledge him. He snorts quietly and mutters a word beneath his breath as if it's a curse: "Vulcans." in a louder voice, he asks, "Captain, why not just mind meld with him? If he's innocent he should have nothing to hide."

[Renny]

Cole shifts uncomfortably. He knows that as Chief Of Security that he should be involved in the interrogation of Kavoran but wonders whether he can act impartially towards this particular prisoner.

[Davy, aka GM]

...in a louder voice, he asks, "Captain, why not just mind meld with him? If he's innocent he should have nothing to hide."

"For many reasons, Ensign," the voice of Sorak responds as the first officer enters the room. "First, it is no magical truth serum - we have no guarantee that anything we could glean from a meld is true, or necessarily that the subject thinks it is true. Individuals trained in psionic techniques can be quite resistant to mental intrusions.

"Second, it is an invasion of privacy that goes far beyond even a warrantless search. Forceful parsing of information from another mind is a form of torture, and can be quite painful and disquieting; Vulcan law places many restrictions on mind melds as interrogation for just that reason.

"Third, it is an incredibly intimate action. All participants will experience what the others are feeling, including the pain and disquiet of forceful information gathering. It is something that should never be done routinely, even by the strongest and most-experienced practitioners. I would argue our circumstances are nowhere near dire enough to warrant such an intrusion on the suspect's rights."

The Vulcan then acknowledges the captain and others in the room.

*~*~*~*~*

Tobin and Cole cross over to the interrogation room. The monk's eyes are closed, but T'Vaana-Sath's meet theirs as they enter.

"I have advised my client against answering questions at this time, but he says he wishes to cooperate," she says, sparing a glance his direction. "You may begin when you're ready."

[Renny]

Cole's gaze is fixed on Kavoran from the moment he enters the interrogation room. He nods in acknowledgment of T'Vaana-Sath's declaration. His eyes remain fixed on the monk.

"You have been made aware of your rights in this matter. We have ascertained the means by which you have carried out your attacks, and I believe the evidence against you is clear and significant. My question to you is simple and straightforward. Why?"

[Davy, aka GM]

When one meets a Vulcan's eyes, one expects to see a measure of placid strength behind a dispassionate countenance. One does not expect to see intense, barely-controlled passion. But that is what meets Cole's gaze - aggressive and dangerous - belying the calm demeanor in the rest of his face and the seemingly-relaxed state of his musculature.

Of course, Cole needs no reminder that the ascetic in front of him has the capacity of extreme violence in an instant. He saw it, first hand.

"tuJurok is in danger - under dire threat," he replies, his gaze boring through both men in the room. "Your Vulcan should know it; the threat comes from within his own family. They seek to suppress us. Stamp. Us. Out."

On the surface, his words seem calm enough, but there's a hint of strain beneath them.

[Nolmir]

"I have advised my client against answering questions at this time, but he says he wishes to cooperate," she says, sparing a glance his direction. "You may begin when you're ready."

Tobin nods respectfully to the Vulcan. "Thank you, T'Vaana-Seth."

"tuJurok is in danger - under dire threat," he replies, his gaze boring through both men in the room. "Your Vulcan should know it; the threat comes from within his own family. They seek to suppress us. Stamp. Us. Out."

"Why now, Kavoran?" Tobin asks neutrally, seeking to conceal the disquiet the monk's demeanor causes him. "tuJurok and tuSurak have been in tension for many years, have they not? Why did you choose now to kill?"

[Davy, aka GM]

"Why now, Kavoran?" Tobin asks neutrally, seeking to conceal the disquiet the monk's demeanor causes him. "tuJurok and tuSurak have been in tension for many years, have they not? Why did you choose now to kill?"

The ascetic raises an eyebrow. "Do you not see it? Circumstances have changed," he says, almost professorially - as Sorak is occasionally wont to do. "By the time I was old enough to begin my formal schooling, the initial fervor of the Surakian Revival had settled. The elders were busy washing away any references to the Complacency, as few were calling the centuries prior to the recovery of Surak's katra.

"They considered their position in society so dominant, they largely ignored the parallel revivals of tuJurok and tuNirak. Only when our numbers quickly increased into the millions was their secret resistance to Kol-Ut-Shan revealed - that their interest in 'infinite combinations' was limited to a veil of their philosophy," he continues. The security officer notices much of the strain has gone from Kavoran's voice, but it remains in the background. "Their resistance entered the public square in the form of 'official' studies and reports, and then conferences. I was not immediately aware of the increased animosity directed toward our philosophies, but when it was revealed to me, I studied it.

"It became clear to me that their logic dictated a war of tiny cuts and abrasions; discrediting our philosophies as dissention against Surak - that his students were merely contrarian in debate, not espousing actual belief. Then the warnings against the 'dangers of emotionalism.' Then the conferences were assembled for them to plan for ways to 'combat the dangers of voluntary emotional instability.' The only logical conclusion was that they meant to eradicate us. I had no choice but to act."

[Nolmir]

"So your action was to kill the speakers at the LSAS conference. Why them?" Tobin asks. "I'm sure there are scores of equally or more prominent Surakian leaders you could have targeted."

[Chev ch'Valk]

"For many reasons, Ensign," the voice of Sorak responds as the first officer enters the room. "First, it is no magical truth serum - we have no guarantee that anything we could glean from a meld is true, or necessarily that the subject thinks it is true. Individuals trained in psionic techniques can be quite resistant to mental intrusions.

"Second, it is an invasion of privacy that goes far beyond even a warrantless search. Forceful parsing of information from another mind is a form of torture, and can be quite painful and disquieting; Vulcan law places many restrictions on mind melds as interrogation for just that reason.

"Third, it is an incredibly intimate action. All participants will experience what the others are feeling, including the pain and disquiet of forceful information gathering. It is something that should never be done routinely, even by the strongest and most-experienced practitioners. I would argue our circumstances are nowhere near dire enough to warrant such an intrusion on the suspect's rights."

"One might argue that murder is sufficient justification for lifting relevant data from a suspect's mind," countered Chev, "but I'm here as an observer, and I guess as a student." His tone was flat and as devoid of emotion as any Vulcan's; his gift of languages had given him the ability to shade his voice to match the language, sometimes even the dialect. He'd give nothing of himself away to Sorak.

[Davy, aka GM]

Interrogation Room

"So your action was to kill the speakers at the LSAS conference. Why them?" Tobin asks. "I'm sure there are scores of equally or more prominent Surakian leaders you could have targeted."

"I have laid out the logic of my reasoning, and yet you still cannot see!" Kavoran's voice gains an intensity, even as his volume remains level. "They are the vanguard - the agitators of the very genocide I am trying to prevent!"

Observation Room

"One might argue that murder is sufficient justification for lifting relevant data from a suspect's mind," countered Chev, "but I'm here as an observer, and I guess as a student." His tone was flat and as devoid of emotion as any Vulcan's; his gift of languages had given him the ability to shade his voice to match the language, sometimes even the dialect. He'd give nothing of himself away to Sorak.

The first officer's eyebrow raises a scant millimeter, as the opposite corner of his mouth curls upward by a similar amount. "Perhaps it would be useful for you to contemplate an allegory. Say that a suspected serial murderer has a scan-resistant miniaturized data wafer surgically implanted deep in their body, near or affixed to one or more vital organs, and on that wafer is what you believe to be detail about their motives and other evidence of criminal activity; however, you cannot retrieve the information stored on that wafer without physically removing it from the body.

"At what point do you consider it allowable to forcibly remove that device without a warrant or the suspect's explicit permission?"