Null and Void

Posted on 23 May 2015 @ 5:45pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm

1,328 words; about a 7 minute read

Location: USS Atlas - Deck 1, Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: MD 02 - 1215

[ON]

It wasn't exactly the best way to spend her lunch break, nor the most desirable. With the upcoming training exercises looming only hours away and while also having to deal with the re-shuffling of multiple personnel at the last minute, Lirha also had a personal matter to address that she hoped wouldn't take too long. Unfortunately, what she had assumed would be a rather simple procedure had turned into a 45-minute affair, and she now found herself chewing on the edge of her lip while reviewing her marriage annulment form one last time prior to submission.


===========================

Petition Form VJ-AM-MG-0010

High Court of Rigel VII
City of Vajripam

Petitioner: Lirha Saalm
Petition for: Nullity of [marraige]

Section 1 - Legal Relationship (check all that apply)
-> A. We are Married

Section 2 - Residence Requirements
-> B. We are the same sex and were married in Vajripam but are not residents of Vajripam.

Section 3 - Statistical Facts
-> A. (1) Date of marriage: Stardate 67522.1
(2) Date of separation: Stardate 67547.0

Section 4 - Minor Children
-> B. The minor children are:
(2) A child(s) who is not yet born

Petitioner requests that the high court make the following orders:

Section 5 - Legal Grounds (Orion Family Code sections 8010-8215, 8300-8550)
-> C. Nullity of voidable marriage or domestic partnership based on:
(6) Physical incapacity to consummate

Section 6 - Child Care and Visitation
-> B. Physical custody of future children to: [Petitioner]

Section 7 - Child Support
-> D. Other [none requested]

Section 8 - Spousal or Domestic Partner Support
-> D. Other [none requested]

Section 9 - Separate Property
-> A. There are no such assets or debts that I know of to be confirmed by the court.

Section 10 - Community and Quasi-Community Property
-> A. There are no such assets or debts that I know of to be confirmed by the court.

Section 11 - Other Requests
-> Attorney's fees and costs payable by [Petitioner]

I HAVE READ THE RESTRAINING ORDERS ON THE BACK OF THE SUMMONS, AND I UNDERSTAND THAT THEY APPLY
TO ME WHEN THIS PETITION IS FILED.

I declare under penalty of trial under the laws of Rigel VII and the City of Vajripam that the foregoing is true and correct.

Date: Stardate 67547.2
Signed: Lirha Saalm

===========================


Once everything looked good in the final review, Lirha tapped on her keyboard to save a copy of the file for herself, then pressed the green 'transmit' button to instantly submit it to the High Court back at Vajripam.

'...Please wait...' blinked the large message on her screen, and the Orion admiral leaned back in her chair and popped a crouton from her salad into her mouth while the subspace transmission made its way across the quadrant through several relay networks and was finally received back on Rigel VII.

'...Processing...' the screen now read after several minutes, and suddenly the display blinked to show a large green, bald Orion man now facing her. "This is Magistrate Gored," he said in a deep bass-filled voice, his eyes looking at something in front of the screen that Lirha couldn't quite determine. "What is the nature of your annulment?" he asked in Yrevish. "Physical incapacity to consummate? Explain."

"Oh... Well, yes," replied Saalm, a bit surprised at the abruptness of the question. In all fairness, however, she assumed the magistrate handled hundreds of such cases each week, and the sooner he could process them, the sooner he could move on to the next one. "You see, my wife and I --Siren Hex -- were recently married on Vajripam...about two weeks ago. We are both in Starfleet, you see..."

"Yes, continue," he instructed, while he seemingly began to type on his console and enter notating into the case file.

"Shortly after we returned to our posting, I was promoted and she was reassigned," she began to explain. "Reassigned to a different starship, that is, and well...we will probably not see each other much anymore."

A short silence ensued while the magistrate continued to type away, after which he paused and looked up into the screen and at Lirha. "So you are both serving in the Imperial Federation Navy and your wife was reassigned making you incapable of having sexual relations with her?" he bluntly interpreted with surprising accuracy.

"Yes, I suppose that is accurate," she shrugged. "And my new position here in Starfleet makes it difficult for me to change assignments to be closer to her. She and I both spoke prior to her departure and...we think it is best to nullify our marriage. That way we can both move on with our lives, wherever they may end up," she said with a bit of sadness in her voice accompanied by a soft sigh.

"I see. One moment, mistress," replied Gored who began to type away once again. "I see your records indicate you are a commodore in the fleet, is this correct?" he inquired.

"I am currently a read admiral. Recently promoted and assigned to Task Force 21," she clarified.

"I see. And you are with child?"

"Yes, magistrate. Twins, actually. And I would like permanent custody of them when they are born, if possible," she requested. Should Siren ever reappear in her life at a future date, Lirha would be happy to let her spend time with the children, but she did not particularly want her newborns to be taken away from her and given to her former wife simply because of an order from the high court.

"I see, he repeated once again. "One moment."

Lirha took a deep breath and reached back over to her salad bowl to retrieve another dressing-soaked crouton to nibble on while she waited. This time, it was a rather long wait of almost five minutes, and finally the magistrate looked back up into the screen.

"Mistress Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm, according to Legal Code 8018, 8019, 8020 and 8154, your annulment has been approved by the Vajripam High Court, stardate 67547.2. Are you able to pay the processing fee of twenty bars of gold-pressed latinum right now, or will you need other payment options?"

Twenty bars?!? Lirha incredulously thought, doing a bit of a double take at the man across the screen from her. It was quite a hefty price for a simple legal status change. "I...yes, that is fine, I can pay now," she said with a sigh of frustration. She wasn't a poor woman by any means and her family was quite well-off, but even so, it almost seemed like robbery.

"Excellent. I will now transfer you to the court finances department and they will take your payment information," he said rather casually. "Is there anything else the court can assist you with today, mistress rear admiral? Perhaps you would like to purchase property along the beach front for you and your future children? I can refer you to the real estate division if you like."

Shaking her head adamantly, she had no desire to spend more latinum right now...although the prospect of obtaining her own luxury property was enticing, especially when she eventually decided to retire from Starfleet. "No, magistrate, but that you for the offer. I must return to my duties soon aboard my starship. Thank you for your offer," she answered.

He gave a simple nod and the screen blinked again. '...Please Wait...' came the new message, and Lirha now began to dig through her stack of personal PADDs to look for her bank account details.

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Atlas

Magistrate Gored
High Court of Vajripam
Rigel VII
[PNPC Saalm]

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