After a prolonged recess, the Federation Council hearing on the DS13 disaster reconvened late Thursday evening to hear additional testimony from the 38th Fleet's Vice Admiral Neema Perim.
The hearing opened by revisiting the pointed questions regarding the actions of Rear Admiral Konieczko and Captain Thiessen during the battle. The claim by the committee is that the Konieczko and Thiessen failed to adequately defend Deep Space 13 during the incident, both by failing to notify the Confederacy delegation of the incoming threat and by failing to enact proper defensive measures that may have saved thousands of lives.
In a statement that visibly shocked the committee, the Vice Admiral admitted that failures in command judgment resulted in the destruction of Deep Space 13 and in the degradation of relations with the Confederacy. Perim testified that the orders she left for Rear Admiral Konieczko and Captain Thiessen were overly concerned with the content of the negotiations and the appearances she wanted presented to the Azedi. According to Perim, she instructed her officers to ensure that negotiations were not interrupted, to avoid offending the delegation, and additionally admitted that there were no prepared contingencies for unexpected situations. When questioned on the delay in opening fire with the station's weapons, Perim reinforced her point that appearances for the sake of diplomacy were given top priority, even to the detriment of the station's defense. Perim went on to discuss her emphasis on non-violent solutions.
"Admiral," Councilor Lentish spoke to confirm, "It was previously entered into the record that you were not in command during the conference. You are now saying that you left explicit instructions to your command staff that directly led to the failures this committee has identified?"
"Yes ma'am. My orders set the course of events and my officers did their best to carry out those orders. They performed admirably under the worst possible circumstances." Standing before the Council, the Vice Admiral's response was clear. "Physically present or not, the responsibility for this tragedy rests unequivocally with me."
The committee concluded the hearing with a number of low-impact questions regarding the evacuation and relocation, but the remainder of the hearing was comparatively short.
After being dismissed from the Council chamber, the Vice Admiral provided an unscheduled audience to media correspondents. Ignoring a flurry of questions about the hearing, Perim delivered a prepared statement in which she announced her retirement from Starfleet and requested privacy during her transition to civilian life.
While unexpected, this move is not entirely unprecedented for high-level officers surrounded by controversy. While GNN has yet to offer an analysis, FNS pundits are already reporting that it is unlikely Starfleet Command will attempt to block her retirement or pursue disciplinary action, as a result.