Templeman glanced at the Barracuda, flashing him a smug smile before he continued, moving across the floor with a state of refined elegance and poise.
"I am a rich man, as I am sure is my esteemed collegue, the prosecuting Attourney." He gestured at the man.
"Then of course, your honour has to be quite rich..." He looked right at her and inclined his head, sweeping it around to gesture to the jury. "and the members of the jury, they all have to have homes, stable addresses in order to actually serve as jurors. Homes we are all proud of..."
He rounded pointing at the young boy, Jason.
"my client grew up on a starship, without a mother...." He shook his head in wonder.
"Doctor, given, again, your extensive experience on the frontier, what are the typical living conditions on frontier starships? Are there schools?" he paused, again looking troubled... "we know there are doctors because you and the crew of Med.Force.One are out there... but what about things like running water... food? Isn't it true that men in certain parts of Sirius will kill for a packet of Raman noodles? Can you paint a picture of what it must have been like for that young boy, over there, to have to grow up in these kinds of conditions?"
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Again, Dr. Tesh sat in a moment of silence to carefully put his answer together.
First, he looked to Mr. Templeman, "Admittedly, my knowledge of Starships is quite limited," he began, "it was only recently that I was brought on board Med.Force.One. Like yourself and others you have mentioned, I began on planets with a nice home and an office. I have also been on many of the bases around Sirius to do my work and while there are children on many of them, I have never found it to be the ideal environment for them."
He then took a breath and continued, "As I said, my knowledge of Starships is limited. What few I have been on are mostly produced for war and to house those who run the ship in tight quarters. Med.Force.One is very different. While I cannot reveal the intricate details of the ship itself, there is a reason why it is called a colony ship. Med Force was built as a colony hospital ship with the ability to produce it's own food and to a limited degree, medicines as well."
He again takes a breath and continues, "Med Force was built so as to have running water as it is needed for the many procedures we perform on board. We do grow our own food but we also carry rations for what we can't produce. Med Force, while it is quite capable of defending itself, was built as a ship of peace by providing medical services to all, to provide hope where none exists."
He then turned to face the jury, "As to the question of do people in parts of Sirius kill for a packet of Raman Noodles? Yes, they do. They do it everyday. They kill for a bottle of water, a cylinder of oxygen or even pharmaceuticals."
He then turned back to Mr. Templeman, nodding as he spoke, "I've seen it myself. I've had to sign many a death certificate because they were shot dead for commodities."
He then looked at young Jason Naggars, "No, I don't think that space is a good place for a child to grow up."
Templeman nodded, "I submit to you, then, that Mister Naggar was in an ineviable position of having to raise a child, a child..." he pointed directly at Jason. "Under the most extreme of conditions, conditions I wouldn't want for my son, nor I imagine would the judge... certianly not the jury..."
"Objection, he can't ask questions of the Jury..." the DA stated, starting to rise.
"Yes, yes," Templeman waved his hand. "Get to the point, and I am your honour. But I need to put my question into a frame of reference that the jury can understand..."
"Careful Mister Templeman," the Judge warned. "I don't like Jibber-jabber in my courtroom."
"Of course," Templeman bowed his head. "Mister Naggar was in a difficult situation, right?" he looked at the Attourney.
"Ojection, now he's trying to ask questions of prosecuting counsel!"
Templeman smiled, shrugging and turning back to the Doctor. "Mister Naggar has two children, does he not? And you have first hand knowledge, I think, in the lengths that Mister Naggar will go to to protect his children? I am, of course, refering to his daughter."
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Dr. Tesh nodded to Mr. Templeman as he said, "Yes, two children." He looked to Jason, "This young man and his daughter, Doreen."
He then sat back and put his hands together on his lap, "Mr. Templeman, I provided you with a transcript of the transmission the command staff of Med.Force.One intercepted from Mr. Naggar."
Dr. Tesh then took his own copies of the same transcript out of a folder to read for all to hear.
"The first page is the intitial transmission that we received for help from Mr. Naggar. It reads:
Quote:Greetings to any of you who could be helpfull,
my Name is Christian Naggar and I miss my 19 year old daughter Doreen.
Me and her mother had a real unnice dispute and after that she stole my "eagle" and has never be seen again.
She is pregnant from a Red Hessian Pilot whose name we don t know exactly.
As far as I know his nick is "Ruslan".
Please, if anybody got some information about my little girl or if someone see her:
tell her please to come back home.
This would be really great and surely be rewarded.
Any help is really apreaciated!
Best regards and many thanks in advance
Christian Naggar
"The next page is the response of the Commander of Med.Force, Commander James Haddock. It reads,"
Quote:If anyone can do so, bring her escape pod to Med Force. We have the facilities to take care of her and her unborn child. Dr. Holliday and his staff are still readily available. If someone brings her pod, no questions will be asked.
"The third page is the response to Commander Haddock from the captain of a rescue ship. It reads:
This is Dervan Belong speaking I got an emergency situation.
I am en route to your location at Corfu Base, Omicron Theta in order to hand the missed Doreen Naggar over to your medical attention. Please prepare for emergency treatment.
She is pregnant and might be poisoned through radioactivity and dehydrated as well. I wasn t able to wake her up, but her vital function seem to be stable so far.
Belong end
<<<Transmission ended>>>
He then puts his paperwork in it's folder and clasps his hands back together atop the folder and speaks,
"At this point, Commander Haddock then sent a homing signal to the rescue ship and shortly thereafter, Doreen was delivered and treated. She is currently resting comfortably aboard Med.Force.One with her newborn son, Benjen Christian Naggar, whom I delivered myself."
He then turned to the judge, "Your Honor, excuse my lengthy answer but I had to for things to make sense."
Turning back to Mr. Templeman, he finished, "I would say that Mr. Naggar went through great lengths to assure the safety of his daughter. Had he not, her corpse would still be floating around in the radiation fields of Omega 41 in an escape pod."
Templeman nodded, "So we have a father, that goes above and beyond for his children... in the terrible situation of having to resort to acts of desperation in order to feed them..."
He strode across to his briefcase and undid the old style clasp, pulling out a hefty book and a pair of half-moon glasses.
"This is a tome of Rhienland law that goes back to before the exodus from Sol. This book of law is a founding codex that compromise the existing legal system in this great state."
He cleared his throat "Desperation as a Mitigating factor is defined as: those who benefit more from the theft than the risk-adjusted punishment by the law." he looked up from the book. "In simple terms, The threat of a single individual who might steal a ship can motivate many people to install security measures at considerable expense to themselves. Its individually rational from their perspective, insuring against the risk of theft. But if everyone took that money and gave it to the prospective thief, we could probably leave our doors open..."
He shrugged, "it gives us all something to think about... I mean The criminal is only a threat because he stands to benefit so much from the crime due to his desperation. He has no reasonable alternatives."
"Objection..." the prosecution rose. "The defense counsel is trying to educate the jury on procedural law... this isn't a question and should be disregarded..."
"On the contrary, your honour," Templeman turned to the judge. "I need to put the core issue into perspective for not just the jury, but for the witness as well. We are talking about the fundamental right of a person to eat, to live, to work... and god alone knows, he deserves that right."
"The defendant has already pleaded guilty, why are we proceeding on with this farce?" the prosecutor protested.
"Because," Templeman turned angrily, a flash in his eyes. "We are talking about the law, and the law is more than the sum of the words on a page. It has a spirit, it has a meaning... if we stray away from that meaning, if we loose ourselves in words and letters of law, and forget that spirit... then why are we here at all? Why do we need lawyers, judges, or juries?"
The Judge banged the gavel, "Mister Templeman, you will restrain yourself in this courtroom!"
"Your honour!" Templeman snapped, swinging around. "I took an oath to defend my client..."
The Judge banged the gavel again, "Mister Templeman, this is a court of law, not a three ringed circus. I will not have you parading around like... like..."
"A circus clown?" Templeman offered.
The judge banged the hammer harder, snarling at him. "You will control yourself, or I will find you in contempt."
Templeman snapped the book closed, "Of course your honour. I will constrain myself to the question at hand. Doctor, can you tell us, in your medical opinion, what happened to Mister Naggar's daughter out on the frontier?"
"Objection, relevance?"
Templeman turned, "it goes to motive, your honour."
"Proceed..." the judge said. "But remember you are on thin ice..."
"It is a good thing I know how to skate then," Templeman shot back. "Go ahead doctor, tell us what state Doreen was in when she was brought to you."
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Again, Dr. Tesh carefully thought out his answer.
"When Miss Naggar was brought to us, she was scared, very scared. While I don't know exactly how long she was drifting in the radiation fields of Omega 41, I have no doubt she had probably written herself off as dead.
As I said, she was very scared, probably more so for the unborn child she was carrying at the time."
He took a breath, "As to why she was out there, how she got there or with whom we don't know. We asked no questions when she was brought to us. My concerns at the time were her and her child. Being that she's all of 19 years old, I don't think even she truly knows why she was out there. I mean, I could speculate but...."
He shrugged, realizing speculation was irrelevant, at least, for now it was, at least he thought so.
Templeman nodded, glancing at the Judge, "So to summarize doctor, we had a desperate man, in a desperate situation, doing desperate things... yes?"
"Yes," came the reply.
"No further questions your honour," Templeman said as he returned to his seat.
"Prosecution Counsel's witness," the Judge offered.
The Prosecuter slid from his seat, "you said earlier that you were new to the frontier... how much experience do you have dealing with Pirates? In Omicron Gamma? Alpha? Or even Red Hessian territory? And is it common, Doctor, for you to associate with such un-savoury types of people?"
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Dr. Tesh thought for a moment and then looked at the prosecutor, "Allow me to answer a question with a question before I give you a more thorough answer. Mr. Prosector, have you ever heard of something called the hipocratic oath?
As the prosecutor was about to speak again, the courtroom entry doors opened and there was a slight buzz in the room. A tall, slender man with a mustache and goatee, dressed in black and orange diplomatic robes and a floor length cape was on the right. In Rheinland, few knew him by appearance to include no one in the court room except for Dr. Tesh who breathed a slight sigh of relief and managed weak smile under his pressure. To the left was a very attractive young lady with a bright smile, wearing a ship commander's uniform and matching cape. The buzz, unbeknown to Mr. Templeman, was for the young lady and he also noticed the "oh great" sign that the prosecutor let loose when she walked in. Almost, in a sort of semi-insulting way, the young lady winked and smiled at the prosecutor as she sat down alongside her boss in the back of the court room.
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She just gave the prosecutor a hard smirk, knowing that he was disturbed by her presence.
Dr. Tesh folded his arms and looked directly at the prosecutor, "Have I personally consorted with criminals or people you refer to as criminals? No, I haven't. Have I treated them? Yes, I have. When it comes to medicine, I don't discriminate as to whom I'm treating.
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