August 2035 – Washington – District of Columbia 

The inquiry panel sat patiently, reviewing the evidence and notes they had made from previous hearings whilst also trying to listen to the testimony before them today.

The room was set out not unlike a typical tribunal chamber, with the panel members sitting on a bench elevated from the rest of the room. Directly below them with his back to the bench sat a loggist who was busy recording the minutes of the hearing and typing in short-hand.

Facing the bench on a standalone table was the main witness for the hearing along with any supporting counsellors that the witness may choose to bring with them for advice.

This was a public and transparent hearing and members of the press were seated amongst the seating of the auditorium, making notes and taking pictures for their articles to be published online; with many providing live updates via social media and news outlet platforms.

“Mister Suarez, could you please confirm your position and responsibilities on the day of the launch?” spoke the panel chairman.

“I was the range launch director and head of the launch team, my responsibilities included  having oversight of the entire launch operations, collating all data from the launch controllers, and making the final ‘go, no go’ decision for launch after polling the relevant team members.”  Mr. Suarez said confidently into the microphone on his table.

“So in other words you had the final say on launching the Archimedes spacecraft, correct?” queried the chairman.

“In other words, that would be correct yes. Suarez responded.

“Can you confirm the sequence of events leading up to the launch? Were there any anomalies or deviations from the expected parameters?” asked the chairman.

“Well my involvement in the sequence of events leading up to the launch spans approximately forty-eight hours, I’m afraid you’ll have to be more specific.” Suarez retorted.

“Specifically from the mandatory nine-minute hold, can you walk us through the sequence of events leading up to the launch from that time?” the chairman clarified his question.

“So the nine-minute hold sometimes called the final hold is sort of our final systems and constraints check before committing to launch, as far as I can remember everything was within the designated launch parameters and we had no significant constraints.

At the end of the hold, I requested my launch poll from the relevant people and gave authority to launch.” Suarez responded.

“So there were no anomalous readings, nothing that would indicate that the launch should be scrubbed, is that what you’re saying?” asked the chairman

“There was something… a glitch, perhaps? But it was brief and didn’t violate any of the launch constraints.” Suarez reluctantly testified.

“A glitch, can you elaborate mister Suarez?” the chairman asked, looking intrigued as did his colleagues who were now all focused on the witness, giving him their full and undivided attention.

“It was just a blip on the monitors, it vanished as quickly as it appeared after we ran some diagnostics, everything checked out,” said Suarez, reaching for a glass of water to moisten his throat.

“And this glitch, what system was it related to?” asked the chairman

“It’s difficult to say, the glitch didn’t seem to affect any system in particular, it seemed to show up in several data streams. But as I said, it was gone before we could investigate further.” Suarez followed up.

“This glitch, did it occur before, during, or after your launch poll?” the chairman followed up.

“Before,” said Suarez

“And were there any indications of this glitch when you conducted your launch poll?” asked the chairman

“No, I do not recall there being any indications of a fault during my launch poll,” Suarez responded confidently.

“Mister Suarez, this panel has already heard the testimony of a Mister Scott Holland who I believe was one of your engineers present in the firing room that day is that correct?” said the chairman

Suarez coughed nervously before making his reply, “That’s correct.”

“Well, Mister Holland testified before this commission last week to indicate that this glitch, as you put it, was still present at the time of the go-no-go poll and that you made the decision to launch notwithstanding his advice at the time. What can you tell us about that?” the chairman issued his challenge

Suarez froze up for a moment, clearly nervous and sweating under the pressure.

“Mister Suarez?” the chairman prompted as seconds went by without an answer.

Suarez took a gulp of water, his gaze shifting uneasily, flickering across the faces of the panel members. He cleared his throat, his fingers nervously tracing the rim of his glass. “I understand that Mister Holland has his perspective, but you have to understand that he was just one opinion, in fact, the only one that had doubts about the launch. I made my decision based on all the information available to me at that moment, and I stand by my decision to launch.” He shifted in his seat, his posture betraying an underlying tension.

The room fell silent, the tension in the air palpable. Reporters scribbled furiously to capture every nuance. The panel members exchanged glances, sharing unspoken thoughts. Mr. Suarez’s words seemed to hang in the air, pregnant with undisclosed implications.

And then, just as the chairman was about to speak again, Suarez’s eyes met his, revealing a mix of fear and regret, before he abruptly looked away.

The chairman leaned in, his voice dropping to a quiet but authoritative tone, “Thank you, Mister Suarez, I have no further questions at this time and I think now is a perfect place to break for lunch and… consider very carefully the testimony we have heard here this morning. If I could ask for your continued cooperation to return this afternoon, my colleagues may have some further questions for you.”

The chairman maintained a piercing stare toward Mr. Suarez, trying to convey an unspoken notice to Mr. Suarez that he was giving away more than his words conveyed.

Late April 2401 – USS Thyanis – Providence Fleet yards 

Gracefully like she was engaged in a gentle dance Thyanis cleared her moorings and began to break away from the controlled traffic zone surrounding the old K-class station. Her nacelles were still powered down as her engineers wanted to make some final adjustments to her new warp core before allowing her to spread her wings once again.

Recently promoted, now a substantive Commander, Wallace Jones was on a strict and time-bound schedule that would make even the most efficient resource management clerk blush. Though he was pretty much just the bus driver on this mission, the Starfleet Corps of Engineers had meticulously planned each visit to coincide with the various maintenance schedules of each outpost along their route.  

For the next 6 months, he was to be ferrying a team of engineers from station to station to apply planned upgrades to the fleet’s transporter technology, as well as purge any remnants of Borg code in the transporter architecture.

Thyanis was only one of several ships assigned to similar tasks across the quadrant; a relatively easy assignment that allowed the crew plenty of R&R time as well as opportunities to upgrade and fine-tune the ship’s systems.

“Message from the dock master sir, we are cleared to depart the controlled area at your discretion” Harris reported from his station at the helm.

“Lay in a course for Starbase 86, and set warp drive systems to standby. Proceed at three-quarter Impulse power in the meantime.” Wallace ordered as he stood from his chair and approached the helm. 

“Eye sir, course plotted and laid in, three-quarter Impulse” obeyed Harris.

“Care to have that chat while we wait?” Wallace asked discreetly, gesturing towards his office.

Harris nodded and signaled an ensign to take over the helm, he then followed the commander into the office at the front of the ship.

“What’s on your mind?” Wallace asked, his expression a mixture of curiosity and concern while replicating a fresh pot of coffee.

Harris hesitated for a moment, glancing at the fresh cup of coffee being poured before meeting Wallace’s gaze.

“Well… it’s sort of a personal matter but I feel you need to know. Molly and I… we’ve decided it wasn’t working out.”

Wallace sighed softly, placing the cups down on the table.“You know full well that I don’t care to meddle in my crew’s personal life, why bring this to me?”

Harris shifted uncomfortably. “I just thought you ought to know, It’s not like we’re not speaking to each other but—”

Wallace cut in, his voice tinged with a hint of frustration. “But nothing commander, you’re the X.O of this ship. You can’t say I didn’t caution you about entering into a relationship with those under your command. Now, I’m sorry it didn’t work out, but I’m afraid you’re both going to have to put this behind you and continue to work as part of a team, do I make myself clear?”

Harris nodded, his gaze fixed on the table. “Yes, Sir. Crystal clear, Sir.” 

Wallace’s expression softened slightly. “I’m sorry I can’t be a friend to you on this subject. It puts me in too difficult of a position. You’re both senior officers, and you both now hold an equal rank. I have faith that you’ll both come out the other side of this as friends.”

“I understand. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to put you in that position. We both know now that it was an error in judgment to follow our feelings. I just hope that this won’t affect our friendship” Harris submitted, his voice carrying a sense of submission.

“You know me better than that, Harris. If I were one to let a girl come between us then we wouldn’t have been friends for so long!” Wallace pointed out, his expression reassuring.

Harris’s bleak expression melted away to one of nostalgia as he recalled a long-forgotten flame of his from his time aboard the USS Tomcat. “Sarah Nicholson!”

Wallace’s expression also melted away into a cheeky grin, “She was still my date to the dance.”

Harris cracked a short laugh as he recalled the events from their early career. “Oh no, not this again. I keep telling you, she asked me first… It wasn’t my fault I was in the brig!”

“It was totally your own fault. Besides, I couldn’t let her get stud up by another stick jockey. She needed a real man to show her what a good time meant!” Wallace jested, leaning back comfortably in his office chair and taking a victory sip from his mug. His eyes remained fixed on Harris’s as he used the cup to hide his smile.

Harris folded his arms but kept smiling, “Nope, I’m not being drawn into this.”

Wallace set down his cup and leaned forward, “Joking aside, our friendship goes deeper than personal errors in judgment. You’re only human, Just promise me you’ll keep things professional. Don’t ever let your history with Molly affect a command decision.”

Harris met Wallace’s gaze. “You have my word sir.”

Wallace nodded In agreement before their conversation was interrupted by the chirp of a communicator 

“Engineering to Commander Jones, I’m just about done down here captain, warp power at your command” Chief Catterick announced with pride.

“Acknowledged,” Wallace responded as Harris took this as his cue to get back to work.

“I’ll get back to work. And for the record, my incarceration in the brig was not my fault. Sarah told me a few years back that she and the chief of security had a thing going on after you transferred. That can’t be a coincidence.” Harris smiled playfully as he tried to settle the score.

Wallace smiled with amusement as he raised his cup. “Whatever you say, commander,”

As Harris departed for the bridge, Wallace sat back in his chair and picked up a PADD from his desk. His expression deteriorated dramatically as he reviewed its contents, namely a letter to Starfleet command authored by Wallace himself. He was fixated and torn by the final words on the page, “Regrettably, I must respectfully request that you tender my resignation, effective Immediately upon my return to port.”

Wallace glanced up from the display and glanced out his window. He never grew tired of the awe-inspiring beauty of space travel, as Thyanis accelerated rapidly and pierced the threshold into warp.