"Captain," Hot Lips said once he was gone, "I prefer to stand trial."
"Well," said Henry, "I don't think that'll be necessary."
Hot Lips gaped.
"Dr. Houlihan's plan was actually quite clever, from a tactical standpoint," Hawkeye said. "She gained the enemy's confidence and pretended to join his forces, only giving herself away when a fellow crewmember's life was threatened. Granted, it was mine ..."
"Captain, I am guilty of mutiny!" Hot Lips objected.
"That's twice you've spoken out of turn, Commander," Henry drawled. "Well, I still think it would have been polite of her to inform her captain of her plan beforehand. The prisoner is confined to quarters for ten days. Commander Srank, take the prisoner in hand and execute sentence."
Srank led Hot Lips out with a security escort, both of them a bit dazed.
"Henry," said Hawkeye, "that was beautiful!"
"She'd kill for you now," Trapper John added. "Srank too."
"Aw, do you know how much trouble it is to court martial someone, I mean the paperwork? What was that about Milton, anyway?"
Father Mulcahy responded, speaking distractedly. "Lucifer, as he fell into the pit. 'It is better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven.'" After a moment he realized they were all looking at him. "You didn't hear that from me."
"Is something wrong, Father?" Radar asked.
"Just thinking," Father Mulcahy said. "It would be interesting to return here in a hundred years and see what has sprung from the seed we planted today."
There seemed to be nothing to say to that, and the Starfleet officers filed out of the room.