Chapter Two

Court-Martial

By the time Jim had managed to get to bed, it had only been two hours before he had to get up again. The half- Klingon ambassador was already waiting outside his office by the time he got there. When Jim asked why the young man was there he replied "I am waiting for my lawyer to arrive. I will then take them directly to where the council will be held." The captain had to restrain himself from giving the klingon a lecture about respect. He entered the tiny office and tried to concentrate his mind. He had to be neutral from the moment he walked in to the meeting.

He called his senior officers into the office for a quick briefing of "the case". Dr McCoy and Mr Scott, the chief engineer, both came in and sat silently in two of the three chairs in a row. They waited a few minutes for Mr Spock to arrive. However when he did, he came in announced that it was unjustified if the prosecution had a lawyer and not the defendant. He then said that he was going to take this roll, with permission. Kirk gladly gave the Vulcan permission, recognising that he was doing this to try and save Chekov's career. After an extremely quick briefing, they all proceeded to the room they were using as court and took their places on the judge's bench.

Sulu and Uhura were both present in the court room as the captain, and the other seniors, entered. They both felt relieved when they saw Spock walking in with Chekov, but felt just as worried when they saw Oriel Shaw walk calmly in with the Klingons. Oriel Shaw was one of the best Star Fleet lawyers you could get. There was no way even Spock could beat her. Uhura felt nervous as a shiver ran up her back. The two parties obviously hated each other. She couldn't stand this! How could the captain just let that horrible ambassador tear apart his youngest crewmember's career? She buried her face in her hands and felt bitter tears begin to trickle down her face. Sulu put his arm around her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. He leaned into her and whispered gently into her ear;

"We'll just have to hope for the best. Now come on, the captain won't let that freak ambassador completely win, will he?" Uhura shook her head furiously. But she didn't think there was anything the captain could do.

Bones hated courts; he hated having to decide who was right. Sometimes it took years for evidence to be discovered, evidence that could have saved a wrecked man's life. But this court was different, this was asking them all to court martial another crew member. The counsel was supposed to have no connections with either party but the parties were undeniably connected with them. He looked across at Chekov and immediately could tell that he hadn't slept. The lines of worry were etched into his face and the black marks under his eyes made it clear that he was extremely tired. Bones told himself to snap out of it, he was neutral now; he couldn't make a decision until evidence had been supplied.

Spock stood calmly at the other end of the court room, opposite Oriel Shaw. He glanced back at Chekov and wished he hadn't. Spock fought an internal battle to keep his emotions under control; he wanted to shout at the captain for holding a court, for letting the ambassador practically run the ship. As his logic gained control once more, he began to think of arguments to prove Chekov innocent, but could think of none. He suddenly realised he was preparing to fight a losing battle…

Chekov had stayed up all night, fraught with worry and dread. However when the morning arrived he had found himself in a state of calmness, his mind had started to cool down, and he knew what the outcome of the court would be, so why should he worry? When the security system he had hotwired into his door opening mechanism suddenly went off, he wasn't scared, just curious. "Who has the captain sent to get the truth out of me this time?" Chekov wondered absent-mindedly. He didn't even look at the name; he just allowed them to enter. Spock strode confidently into the room. Chekov looked surprised to see the Vulcan in his quarters. Surely Spock was supposed to be at the briefing for the case? When he enquired, his commanding officer replied sternly "I have volunteered to act as a lawyer for you. Is there a problem?" Pavel's eyes opened wide in shock. He started to protest but Spock ignored it all. He walked calmly back out and lead the way to the courtroom.

"This court is now in session. Does any party have any objections with the counsel that has been selected?" the captain's voice brought silence in the room. When neither party replied, kirk sat down. Oriel started to speak openly after kirk's orders and Chekov's mind slipped the borders of reality once again…

The room started to buzz when the final break was announced. The final break was purely for the judges to piece together the evidence and decide which way they were going to vote. Chekov went immediately out of the room and raced through the corridors back to his quarters. All the evidence that had been supplied showed that there was no reason for him to have "seriously assaulted" a visiting ambassador's relative. It would only take the rest of break, then his career would be ended. A small blip-blip notified Pavel that someone was forcing the door open. He moved toward the door cautiously as the ambassador physically forced the door apart. Chekov leapt back in fear as the klingon lunged at his throat. Before he had a chance to react, Drogaff had lunged again, this time with improved accuracy. Chekov winced as he felt his knee cap being kicked and cracking into tiny pieces as he fell down. His attacker was not letting go of his throat and breathing became Chekov's main objective. There was nothing he could do as Drogaff kicked him over onto his stomach, collapsed his knee onto Chekov's neck and twisted his arm. He leaned slowly down until his mouth was next to Pavel's ear. The ambassador spat Russian words into his ear which meant "If you have tempted you fair captain to vote for you, you will know about it. You are going to go down, pathetic human." Chekov tried to twist free and as a result felt a heavy, metal chain smack twice into the back of his head. Blood ran down into his eyes as the klingon slowly released him. Before leaving, he took the liberty of crushing Pavel's wrist under his feet.

Pavel lay perfectly still for a few minutes before attempting to move. His vision clouded over as he tried to stand up. After a few moments he managed to limp into the bathroom that he had to share with Sulu. He quickly washed out the wounds on the back of his head before covering them so no-one would notice them. After, he washed away the blood that was on his face and uniform. He looked down at his arm and glanced at his knee and immediately wished he hadn't. What he saw made him want to vomit. His wrist was a mass of crushed bones with blood pouring out of it. He cleared up the blood and pulled his sleeve over it. Now it would pass for alright if anyone was looking. But Pavel had no idea what to do for his knee. It was literally backwards. There was a knock on the other adjoining door and Sulu called through that the final session was about to start.

"Coming!" Chekov grunted. When he heard Sulu leave he quickly stifled a shout of pain as he forced his knee the right way again. He tried putting his full weight on his leg and groaned in pain. He could stand on it as long as he moved his weight quickly. Pavel grimaced with every step but he managed to get to the court room on time.

Meanwhile…

Jim, for the first time ever, didn't know what to do. He desperately wanted to vote against the klingon and save Chekov, but there was no evidence to prove Chekov's innocence. As much as it was going to cost him, he would have to vote for the klingon. Jim wondered what the consequences would be if he did vote for Chekov. Well, he decided briskly, he was about to find out.

"Jim! What are you going to vote?" Bones came toward him quickly through the corridor, pausing to make sure nobody could over hear them. "Jim, who are you going to vote against? Knowing you, you're going to vote against the klingon aren't you?"

"Yes Bones, you can still read me like a book. Why?" a look of horror but also disappointment came into his oldest friend's face.

"Jim you can't be serious! That'd ruin your career as-well!" the doctor exclaimed. "Look, Jim, why don't you just close the case? You do have the power to just call it a minor incident and close the book! Me and Scotty have already spoken. We'd both back you up if you choose that." Of course! Jim thought. He'd forgotten about that option.

"Alright Bones, alright. I'll do that then. Don't look so worried! It'll be fine." But Bones thought he sounded more like he was reassuring himself. They walked in silently and took their seats.

Spock had given them all the evidence he could find, but he had a feeling that it hadn't been enough to prove Chekov's innocence. His eyes flitted between the three officers who were to decide the ensign's fate. He thought it was illogical to even hold the investigation. After all, it wasn't the first time that a crew member had injured a visitor on the ship, but Spock could sense something else, underneath it all. An old earth saying now suddenly made sense to him "if you spill the beans then you open a whole can of worms." "Logical! It actually is logical!" That was Spock's last thought before the bell rang, announcing the final decision. Spock turned his eyes onto his captain and gave him his full attention as he started to speak.

"Well, we have had lots of evidence put before us today in this session and most of it points to one conclusion." Jim paused, watching the looks of disbelief creep into the faces of his crew before carrying on "but, after talking with my most senior officers," he gestured behind him at Bones and Scotty. "We have decided that this case is too minor and we choose to close it!" The people who were sitting around doing nothing but listening immediately showed their thoughts on Kirk's decision. He looked across at the prosecution. The Klingons looked outraged, but Oriel Shaw looked as though she would agree that the course that had been chosen was best. She smiled at the judges, shook hands with Mr Spock- all lawyers have to do this to show that there are no hard feelings- and walked back down to the hanger bay.

After shaking hands with Oriel, Spock also left the room for his own quarters. As he walked past the helm and navigation quarters, he noticed a miniscule speck of blood on the door. He looked down at the floor, more blood. He tried to override the access code to Chekov's quarters but he obviously had set up a secondary security system. He listened closely and sure enough, he heard the bleep of the alarm going off. Something was not right. Why would Chekov set up an extra system? He turned around sharply and walked towards the captain's office. He had to report this.

Jim and Bones couldn't believe what Spock was telling them.

"But, if Chekov was injured, he wouldn't try to disguise it would he?" Bones put in. He looked quizzically at his captain.

"Why should I know? There might be a reason; just like there's a reason he hit the klingon."

"Well Jim, you do know him better than me. I mean, you work closely with him."

"Spock, you work with him closer than I do. You ask him." The captain was obviously trying to shirk his responsibilities of checking all his crew were all right.

"Sir, may I remind you that it is part of your responsibilities as captain to check on the crew members aboard."

"Yes Spock I do know that. I am only carrying out orders from star fleet. At any costs, I must keep ambassador Drogaff happy and he's said that if he sees me near Chekov, there will be serious consequences."

"Is that really more important than the welfare of one of your crew?" As usual, Spock had got Jim in a position where he could not escape.

"According to star fleet, it is more important to keep him happy so he'll sign the peace treaty in Russia." Jim replied with a look of disagreement on his face. Spock raised one eyebrow which made Jim frown. "What is it Spock?" he asked.

"Captain, it is probably nothing. A coincidence."

"Spock, I'm ordering you to tell me what you think might be a coincidence." Even though Spock was probably right, Jim still outranked him.

"Sir, the klingon has travelled from Russia where he lives, to his home planet to discuss the terms of the treaty, to go back to Russia to sign it. Perhaps it is coincidence, but apart from us three, only Chekov knows where we are going. Russia is Chekov's home and he has become more agitated and restless since the course change." Bones fixed Spock with a frown before seeming to realise what he was saying.

"Are you seriously suggesting that Chekov is agitated because we're going to Russia? Spock, I don't think that Chekov would let that get in the way of his duty. Nobody else would!" Bones looked like he couldn't believe that Spock thought Chekov would put anything before his duty. "Spock! Chekov is one of the most loyal members of this crew, and certainly the best navigator this ship's seen. He wouldn't put anything before his-"

"Dr McCoy, you may be correct but, Chekov is hiding something. He hit the klingon for a reason; there is definitely blood outside his quarters. He has set up a security system so no-one can enter his quarters. That all suggests he is holding something back from us." Spock told the doctor. Bones looked taken aback by the part about the security system. Spock then realised he hadn't told them about it yet.

"He's set up a second security- Spock, why would he do that?" the captain looked as confused as Spock had felt when he'd realised.

"Jim, how did he do it? Only senior officers can do that." Bones put in.

"I do not know why he did it, but he was in my class for tactical and security training at the academy. He can easily hack a computer, putting in a pre-set up device would have been easy for him." Spock knew he would have to find out how Chekov really had done it, but for now, Chekov was in enough trouble…

As Pavel walked back in to his room, a sense of dread filled him. The case had been dropped, his half-brother would go running to his father, and Pavel would be dead. He would only have to wait about two hours before the ambassador would attack again. "Unless… no. I can't tell them. It would endanger them as-well. That is not a possibility." He told himself sternly. There was no way he was going to let him harm the rest of the crew. He lay down on his bed. His knee and arm were in agony and the sensible part of his brain told him to go straight to sickbay. He tried focusing his mind to ease the pain. But all he could think about was how ferocious the next attack would be. Fear filled his body once more as there was a knock at the door that joined onto the shared bathroom. He bolted up right and then tried to get up. He cried out as he put weight onto his shattered knee.

"Are you alright in there?" Sulu inquired; concern apparent in his voice.

"I'm fi-ne." he had to force the word out of his mouth. He knew he wouldn't have convinced his friend but he really didn't want him coming in.

"You don't sound so sure. Can I come in?" Sulu was not the best actor in the world. Pavel could tell there was someone else there and wondered if the Klingons had hurt him badly. However, when the doors opened, Sulu came in followed by the captain. As the doors slid shut, Pavel felt trapped. He knew he couldn't avoid questions now, but he couldn't answer them either. The two sat down opposite Chekov who looked at them wearily.

"Look," the captain started, he paused and glanced over his shoulder. "What's this?" he asked feigning general curiosity at the device hotwired into Chekov's door. When he received no answer, Jim walked calmly across the room toward the small screen. Sulu's eyes rested nervously on the captain as he investigated the instrument. Pavel waited for the captain to sit back down. Even though Kirk had just pretended to be interested, Pavel had noticed that his captain had sabotaged the security system. The room was silent until Kirk spoke again. "Well, erm," there was a moment's hesitation as the captain rolled his eyes toward the ceiling before they rested on Chekov. "Alright, I'm not going to mess around here. You're hiding something and all I ask is that you tell me what it is. Not because I think I should know, because I've never seen you so miserable and defeated and I want to help. Everyone wants to help. Just tell me now ok?" tell me now ok? Pavel thought miserably. How he wished he could tell him. They must have seen the longing in his eyes because they both suddenly looked concerned and Sulu stood up and promptly left the room. Jim pressed on. He was going to get answers out of him at any costs. "What's wrong? You look like…" Jim didn't know any words to describe how the young ensign looked.

"Captain, I really wish I could tell you, but no amount of wishing is going to enable me to tell you."

"What?" although Chekov had been on the ship for the best part of the year, Jim still found it hard to tell what he was saying because of his heavy Russian accent.

"I wish I could tell you but I can't." Aha! Jim had found what he was looking for! So there is a reason for it. All I need to do now is get Spock in here and he can mind-meld… Jim's thoughts got carried away as he realised how close he was to answers.

"Alright. But if that changes, tell someone! It doesn't have to be me or Spock, it doesn't matter, just tell somebody." He looked down as he stood up to leave and watched the younger man's reaction. He shrugged one shoulder stiffly and looked away. Jim spotted the perfect chance to ask about the blood. "Hey! Are you alright? You seem a bit well, stiff."

"Wha- no I'm fine. Why?" Chekov improvised quickly, turning his neck to face the captain.

"Nothing." Jim said, disappointed. "Now, if I were you, I'd get some sleep. I don't care what that ambassador thinks, I will expect you to be ready and on duty as usual alright?" Chekov smiled gratefully up at him as he walked out of the room. Pavel collapsed onto his bed and his eyes slowly closed…

Wham! Pavel woke with a gasp as the second blow hit his chest. He opened his eyes to see… nothing! He couldn't see! All the while the blows kept coming down relentlessly. Each one left a sharp stinging pain in his ribs. He shook his head wildly, why couldn't he see?! He was frightened and he suddenly felt sick as he realised he couldn't move! That bastard klingon must've snuck in when he was sleeping and tied him up. But then, why couldn't he see? He heard evil laughter break through the heavy thuds crashing into his chest. Then a cold voice spoke to the attacker who ceased hitting for a few minutes.

"No no, my dearest son! You are not doing it hard enough to wind him! Let me show you!" A shiver went up Pavel's back as he realised that that was his half-brother. That meant the blows were about to get one hell of a lot harder. Sure enough, the next blow made him feel like lungs had been crushed as he struggled to breathe. The next minutes passed with blows reigning down without even a break in-between each one. Then a sharp pain shot through his head and stayed there. He shouted out in pain once before feeling a rough hand cup over his mouth. As he tried to get out of the bindings that held him, the pain intensified to a point where it hurt to breathe. There was a flash of blinding light and then nothing. He could still feel the Klingons hitting him; he could still hear their evil laughter echoing around the room. Blackness overwhelmed him completely as one blow caused an ear-splitting crack through the room…

There was a sudden uneasy silence as the door slid open and something came across the room. Chekov fought the blackness as he heard hurried footsteps coming toward him. He felt whatever held his wrists together being tugged off and then the same feeling all over various parts of his body. He felt one being removed from around his head. After that, he felt whoever had found him lifting him up and carrying him out of the room…