The Hearing
By Jewels

Archive: Please mail me if you wish to archive this fanfic.

Warning: This is weird. Very weird.

Disclaimer: Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict are copyright Tribune Entertainment Company and the show is produced by Roddenberry/Kirshner Productions.

N.B. So I'm not a lawyer! Any inaccuracies in the legal system result from my total lack of legal knowledge, although I've seen enough legal dramas to know I've made a hash of some things. ;)

The courtroom was packed, people crammed into every available space, and the division between the supporters of the defendant, and the supporters of the plaintiff, painfully clear. The resistance members sat on the left hand side of the courtroom, behind Lili Marquette, who was busily unpacked a large, heavy duty briefcase, having arrived moments earlier. She had hefted it onto the table, punched in a combination and was now extracting several notepads, pens and pencils, a bottle of water, several styrofoam cups, her mascot (a red and green stuffed Dragon she had named 'Pete'), and a five hundred page romance novel.

She contemplated the briefcase a moment longer, then started to close it up again. If she wanted any of the other stuff she had in there, she could always get at it later.

On the other side of the room, Agent Sandoval was in deep conversation with Da'an and Zo'or, discussing strategies they could use in their case, and behind them sat a healthy retinue of Implants and Volunteers, looking non-too-pleased with the situation on their Companions' part.

Augur, who was sitting directly behind where Lili's chair was, leaned forward as Lili sat down in a chair that creaked too much for her liking. Why was it that in any Government building, the furniture always seemed on the verge of collapse.

"What ever you do," Augur muttered, "Don't piss off Zo'or."

"A little late for that, isn't it?" muttered Doors disparagingly. He was sitting to Augur's right, and Julianna Bellman was sitting to his right. "Just don't start a brawl, Marquette, I'm not springing for repairs again."

Lili rolled her eyes, but said nothing, merely concentrated on sharpening her pencils to a needlepoint. She became aware of someone's approach, and glared belligerantly up at Da'an as the Taelon approached.

"Captain Marquette," said Da'an, gesturing gracefully to her. "It pains me that the situation has come to this."

Lili stabbed her pencil down onto one of the notepads - one which was a painfully bright shade of yellow - and completely broke the point of the writing implement off. "I wasn't the one who issued me with a court summons."

Da'an looked pained. "That was not my idea, but Zo'or was adamant. You should not have tried it on him."

Lili wrinkled her nose as the aforementioned Zo'or came up to her table, standing beside his fellow Taelon.

"You will fail," he informed Lili without preamble. "It is foolish to resist, you have no chance at success."

Lili finished sharpened the pencil into a point and started stabbing at the wooden table, causing holes in the top. "We'll see what the judge has to say about that, shall we?"

Judge Leah Martinez, who had somehow drawn the short straw back at the office for this particular case, entered the courtroom in time to see two Taelons scurrying back towards the prosecution's side of the room as the bailiff called for all to stand.

"Be seated," Martinez intoned, loving moments like this.

The bailiff handed her the relevant case file, and Martinez pulled on her reading glasses in order to scan through the document. "Ok... today we have... 'Anyone who's ever ridden in Lili's shuttle versus Lili Marquette'? Because..." Martinez's eyes widened as she read the reason behind the hearing and looked up with an incredulous glance at Marquette and the Taelons. "Please tell me you're joking."

Marquette looked apologetic, while Sandoval stood and said, "Your honour, if this was a joke, we'd have asked, 'How many Companions does it take to change a lightbulb?'."

"None! Their implants do it for them!" came a shout from somewhere on the Liberation side. There was some sniggering from that side of the room, soon quelled by the baleful glances that they were shot by the Implants and Volunteers.

"Silence in court!" bellowed Martinez, completely unnecessarily, considering that quiet had already fallen. She peered over the rim of her glasses at Marquette. "You have refused counsel, correct?"

"Yes, your honour," said Marquette, bobbing her head. "I will conduct my own defence."

Martinez raised an eyebrow and then gave a shrug which said 'well, it's your funeral'. "Agent Sandoval, your opening statement?"

Sandoval stood and moved to the front of the desk he sat at with Da'an and Zo'or - who had pulled out a pack of cards from somewhere and was now dealing them out - and started to speak. "Your honour, we are here today because of a grave injustice, involving the defendant, Lili Marquette." Marquette rolled her eyes at that; Martinez glared at her. "Ever since she became a pilot of one of the interdimensional shuttles, Captain Marquette has been systematically taking advantage of everyone she has agreed to transport." Sandoval opened his arms in a pleading gesture. "Your honour, we have a chance to redress this here today, do not let it go to waste." With that, Sandoval retook his seat.

"Thank you, Agent Sandoval." Martinez nodded towards Marquette. "Captain Marquette, your opening statement?"

Marquette set down the notepad she had been scrawling on. It had two crudely drawn stick figures on it, one of which held a gun and wore a skirt, and the other of which had been decapitated, blood spurting all over the page; one was labelled 'Me' and the other 'Sandoval'.

"Your honour," Marquette began. "They're lying, that's ridiculous, and Sandoval needs his head seeing to. Thank you." Marquette sat down again, the wooden chair sounding dangerously close to collapse.

Martinez popped several paracetamol into her mouth and swallowed. She had a feeling this was going to take a while.

Sandoval stood, brushing imaginery dust off the front of his suit. Next to him, Da'an and Zo'or sat, each studying his hand of cards.

"Your honour, the prosecution calls Mr. ... Augur to the stand."

Lili twisted in her seat and grabbed the front of Augur's shirt. "Why in God's name are you tesitfying for the prosection?"

Augur looked slightly apologetic as he tried to extricate himself from Lili's grip. "It's not my fault!" he protested, and finally managed to prise Lili's hands away, heading towards the witness box.

Lili folded her arms, peeved. "Don't quote Han Solo at me." she muttered.

Augur stepped towards the front of the room and was intercepted by the bailiff. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"

"Yeah, whatever." responded Augur as he took his new seat.

"Mr. Augur," said Sandoval. "I am to understand that you are regarded as something of a technical expert. Correct?" Augur nodded. "And you have a close relationship with Captain Marquette?"

"Objection!"

"Overruled."

"Why?"

"Because. Continue, Agent Sandoval."

"The question stands."

Augur frowned and leaned forward. "Define close. Close as in punching distance or close as in t-"

"I think we can leave that question..." Sandoval interrupted, looking as if he were praying for divine intervention. "Am I to also understand that you assisted Captain Marquette in completing the modifications to her shuttle?"

"Well... yes... but-"

"Soooooooooo!" Sandoval said, going straight for the melodrama. "We have an accomplice!"

There was an exaggerated gasp from the Volunteers and Implants, to which Lili just responded with rolled eyes.

"It wasn't like that!" protested Augur. "I had no choice! I was manipulated!!"

Lili whacked her head on her desk.

Sandoval whirled on Augur. "Manipulated? In what way?"

"Um..." Augur looked as if he wished he had kept his mouth shut. "Well, she chatted me u... she chatted to me in a bar... and then we went back to her place and-"

"AUGUR!!!"

"SILENCE IN COURT!!!"

"-had dinner." Augur glanced at Lili, who was turning a fascinating hade of bright red. "What?" When he got no response, he continued. "She told me about the modifications and I offered to help her work out the bugs. It wasn't my fault! I had a bad feeling about it from the start!!"

Martinez glowered at him. "This is a courtroom, not a movie theatre. Kindly keep the Star Wars references to yourself."

Augur looked blankly up at the judge. "What's Star Wars?"

Sandoval was retreating to his seat. "No further questions, your honour."

Martinez glanced towards Marquette as she added half a bottle of brandy to her coffee. "Captain, your witness?"

Lili looked up from fiddling with a rubix cube, "Thank you, your honour," she said, standing. "Mr Augur... if that is your real name..." Lili waved the rubix cube at him as if it were a weapon. "Do you, or do you not deny that you are a lousy cook?"

"I object!" called out Sandoval. "What's the relevance?"

"This is completely relevant!" protested Lili.

"In what way?" asked Martinez, puzzled.

"It's completely relevant in uncovering whether or not the dinner he made me gave me that bout of gastroenteritous, causing temporary insanity."

"Temporary insanity that lasted for three years before you met him?" said Sandoval slowly, rolling his eyes heavenward.

"Objection sustained." said Martinez.

"Hell," muttered Lili, slamming the rubix cube down on the prosecution's desk. Da'an picked it up and looked at it curiously. "Very well. Mr. Augur, you've been referred to as 'the ultimate home entrepaneur', correct?"

"Right," said Augur.

"So, you wouldn't object to someone making some money for themselves."

"As long as they weren't stealing it from me..."

Lili grinned triumphantly. "So, you see nothing wrong in such an endeavour?"

"Well... no..."

"No further questions!" called Lili, heading back to her desk.

Lili picked up her rubix cube again and looked at in in surprise. All the sides had been rearranged so they were all of the same colour - in short, completed. Lili stared at Da'an, who pointedly looked elsewhere, while Zo'or just smirked as smugly as he ever did.

Lili dropped the cube again. "Keep it." she told them, miffed, and retook her seat.

Martinez looked at the clock and almost cheered. "Well, I think it's time we broke for lunch."

"But I just got started!" said Lili plaintatively.

"Lunch. Now." said Martinez tightly and whacked her gavel so hard she thought she heard splintering. Maybe now was a good time to practise her yoga.

"Captain..."

There was no response from the defendant.

"Captain Marquette?!"

Still no response. Martinez frowned.

Lili jumped as a scrunched up ball of paper that came flying from Martinez's direction clouted her in the head, and she pulled the stereo earphones out of her ears, strains of Cats could be heard issuing from them. "Hmm?" she said vaguely.

Martinez gave her a tight smile. "Your witness."

"Oh right," Lili set aside her CD player and laced her fingers in front of her. "Da'an, when did the Companions first start employing me?"

"Nearly three years ago." responded Da'an.

"And may I ask why you thought I was suitable for the job?"

Da'an tilted his head. "After extensive tests, interviews, and recommendations from your former superior officers, and your brib..." Da'an broke off at the glare from Zo'or. "We accepted you to the shuttle program."

"And did you have any reservations about doing so?"

Da'an shook his head slowly. "No."

"Did anyone have any problems with my making some... modifications to the shuttle?" Lili asked.

"Well... it wasn't so much of a problem when we weren't going far..."

Lili cut Da'an off with a wave of her hand. "No more questions."

Martinez shook her head and gestured for Da'an to step down. The Taelon returned to his seat next to Zo'or and picked up the hand of cards he had abandoned in order to take the witness stand.

"Who's next?" she asked, almost dreading the answer.

Sandoval stood, "The prosecution calls Commander William Boone to the stand."

Lili jumped to her feet. "Objection!"

Martinez glared at her. "Overruled."

"But how can you bring in a dead guy?!"

"OVERRULED!!"

"Come on! I'm dying here!!" snapped Lili in irritation, she practically threw herself back into her chair, arms folded, legs crossed, lips in a definite pout.

"Three of clubs," Zo'or said suddenly.

Da'an blinked slowly. "Go fish."

"Bugger!" snarled Zo'or, glaring daggers at anyone who looked at him. Even Martinez didn't dare comment on the outburst.

A voice called out across the courtroom as Boone took the stand. "Hey, Boone. Back from the Void I see. How'd you like the blue tank?"

Boone answering glare was nasty enough to melt pure titanium. Augur just grinned and leaned back with his arms folded.

"Boone," Sandoval began, hands behind this back, pacing back and forth in front of the witness box. "Why did you wind up in the Blue Tank?"

Boone blinked. "Because I had been injured." he said, as if speaking to a child.

"And why did you go to a Taelon facility, where you were likely to be killed," Zo'or glanced up sharply. "Rather than Doctor Bellman's clinic?"

"I couldn't afford to take Lili's shuttle, not in my... condition. And there isn't exactly a Shuttle standing area nearby St. Michaels. I had to get taken to the closest facility, which was Taelon."

"And you believe that if you had had a shuttle at your disposal, then you would have managed to get to Doctor Bellman's clinic?"

Boone nodded once. "That's correct."

"And you believe you wouldn't have been killed by Zo'or?"

Zo'or's eyes widened and he started spluttering indignantly. "How is it you became aware of this?"

"It wasn't exactly hard to figure out." said Martinez.

Everyone looked at her.

"What? I'm not allowed to keep up with the news??" she asked defesively, and sniffed slightly, glaring at her files. "Answer the question." she ordered, miffed.

"Yes, that it what I believe."

"So Captain Marquette is responsible for killing you?"

"Um..."

"No further questions!"

Martinez shook her head. *think vacation... think vacation... I wonder what this 'Void' is like this time of year...*.

"Captain, do you have any questions?" *please say no... please say no...* Martinez repeated the phrase to herself like a mantra.

"Yeah, I've got a question. Will, do you think that I'd kill you if you weren't already dead?"

"I object!"

"YOU WOULD!!" snarled Lili.

"Yes." said Boone flatly.

"Ok," Lili kicked her legs up on her table. "I got no more questions for this guy."

After a bathroom break, which for some reason, Lili had insisted on, Martinez sat at her bench, playing with one of those toys where swinging balls clacked together in sequence, waiting, less than patiently, along with everyone else in the courtroom for the appearance of the two Taelons and their implant.

Lili Marquette was playing with a hand-held video game, Augur and Doors were playing a game of "Stone, Paper, Scissors", while several of the volunteers and some of the Implants had had to be kicked out of the room after someone had suggested they see who could make the biggest bang.

Martinez sighed dramatically. "Are we going to see these guys any time soon?"

As if her words were a cue, the doors burst open, and three figures rushed in.

"Sorry we're late, your honour." called Sandoval.

"Really?" Martinez said with a bob of the head. "So, did you finish writing a novel? Redecorating the embassy? Doing cat's cradle?"

Da'an, Zo'or exchanged guilty glances, and Sandoval tucked the stray pieces of string into his pocket where they - hopefully - wouldn't be seen.

Martinez stared at Sandoval for a moment, before prompting. "Well?"

Sandoval looked up. "Well, what?"

"Your case, Agent Sandoval?"

"Oh yeah... The prosecution calls Liam Kincaid to the stand."

"Objection!"

Martinez tried not to groan. She really should have expected that. "On what grounds?"

"On the grounds that it could ruin my case!"

"What case? Objection overruled."

The Taelon protector took his place at the witness stand.

"Major Kincaid," started Sandoval, "Why did you acquire a shuttle?"

"Um... I... needed it."

Sandoval blinked. "We need a little more than that, Major."

Liam was still evasive. "I... didn't want to bother Lili when I needed a shuttle..."

"Come now, Major," Sandoval leaned on the prosecution's bench, where Da'an and Zo'or had started playing snakes and ladders. "There's another reason isn't there."

Liam hesitated, then nodded, "Yes... I didn't want Lili on my back about... well... you know... I'm only a defenseless one year old!"

"Who happens to be a Human-Kimera hybrid." Lili said pointedly, feet kicked up on her table and was reading a trashy romance novel. "And has superpowers..."

Liam looked like he was going to cry.

Martinez glowered at Lili. "Captain Marquette, stop picking on the poor boy!"

Sandoval took the opportunity to press his case. "Here you see that Captain Marquette's actions have caused grave repercussions. Had she not insisted, nay, demanded, that her victims..."

"Objection!"

"Sustained."

Lili looked at Martinez in amazement. "Really?"

"Don't push it. Rephrase that, Agent Sandoval."

"Sorry, your honour. Had she not demanded that her... passengers complete what she demanded of them, then it would have spared them much mental anguish. And mortal embarrassment in front of the Synod when having to ask them for help..." Added Sandoval with a sidelong glance at Zo'or, who glowered and rolled the dice again.

"You lose." he told Da'an.

"Feel like a game of battleships?" suggested the other Taelon.

"No further questions, your honour. The prosecution rests" said Sandoval, taking a seat again.

Martinez handed the sniffling Liam a tissue and waved him down from the stand with a motherly pat on the shoulder.

"So," she said, clapping her hands together. "Who's up next?"

Lili ignored her, she was busy finishing off little baby booties she had been knitting for no apparent reason, a lovely shade of mauve.

Martinez sighed. They were only half-way through. "Captain, I believe it's your turn."

Lili ditched the knitted and stood; about to say something long-winded when she shrugged. "Why bother? He," she jerked a thumb in Sandoval's direction. "Got them all. Character witnesses, the lot."

Martinez tried to keep a look of glee of her face, and tried not to giggle. "Really? You have no case?"

"Well, there are other people I'd call, but I suspect they'd all try and make me lose, so I won't bother." She glared at Doors. "Mentioning no names."

There was a good deal of absent whistling from the Liberation side, everyone looking pointedly in another direction. Truth to tell, they hadn't forgiven her for that incident involving a swimming pool, two Implants, an exotic dancer from a local nightclub, three barrels of treacle, and a rubber chicken.

"You're a madwomen." Martinez declare. "Just make it official please."

Lili spread her arms outwards in a theatrical gesture. "The defence rests."

She reached out and touched her chair, intending to take her seat again. Before she could, however, there was a splintering sound, and the chair virtually disintegrated in her hands. She blinked in surprise, and then glanced towards the prosecution bench, where Sandoval was hurridly shoving a screwdriver into his briefcase.

She blinked, shook her head, and promptly sat on the desk, since there was no other seating available to her.

Martinez rubbed the back of her neck, then picked up her gavel and used it to gesture at everyone in the room. "You guys are enough to make me give up law. I'm not gonna bother calling for recess I've made up my mind. Captain Marquette, you are hereby ordered to remove the Taxi Fare Meter from your shuttle." She was about to bang her gavel down until she looked up at Marquette with a frown. "Why did you do that, by the way?"

"I get a lousy paycheque," said Lili, a sour expression on her face. "And face it, six thousand miles really racks up the cash."

"That's great. But you've still got to return the cash."

Lili's face fell. "How?" she squeaked.

"Don't you still have it?"

"Swimming pools aren't cheap, y'know!"

Martinez gave her an evil grin. "Then I suggest you find a way to pay them back."

The gavel came down.

"Coffee for table three!"

Lili shoved the notepad in her apron pocket and grabbed the coffee, heading towards the other side of the cafe. When she got to table three, she found Liam shoving a calculator back into his pocket.

"You know," he started, "By my calculations it will only take you three hundred and fifty two years, one month, three weeks, and five days to earn enough with your waitressing job to pay back all the money."

This was the last time she let Liam find her a saturday job. Lili glowered and with a violently motion, upended the mug and poured the scalding liquid into Liam's lap, striding away with a smug grin on her face as Liam let loose with a series of curses she never knew he was capable of.

-Fini