Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Enterprise characters, and I'm not making any money from this story.

Warning: This is another dark story. Contains implications of sexual assault.

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Chapter 2: And justice for none

Trip Tucker pushed his back against the cold stone wall of the cell. He had come through the interrogation relatively unscathed, but his wrists hurt where the handcuffs had rubbed most of the skin off. He massaged them absently. After several more minutes, the door of the cell clanged open and Trip scrambled to his feet. Two guards shoved Malcolm through, and Trip caught him before he fell.

"You ok?"

"Fine, thank you." Malcolm shook off Trip's hand. "Do you know they think we murdered that woman?"

"No kidding. You look like shit."

"You have a keen grasp of the obvious, Commander."

The cell door opened again and Captain Archer entered, accompanied by Detective Dimoc.

Archer immediately noticed the bruises on Malcolm's face and his jaw tightened. He had been assured that his men were being treated well, but it appeared otherwise. He turned and glared at Dimoc, who stepped back into the corridor.

"Captain!" Tucker exclaimed. "Boy, am I glad to see you! Are you coming to take us outta here?"

"I'm afraid it's not so simple, Trip. The First Administer's wife was murdered, strangled, and you two were the last ones seen with her. Trip, they found the murder weapon, a ladies' scarf, in your hotel room."

"What!!?" Malcolm and Trip cried out simultaneously. Then a picture flashed into Trip's mind, a picture of himself pulling a scarf out of his jacket pocket, dropping it to the floor.

"But-but-the scarf-I found it in my pocket. I swear, Captain, I don't know how it got there."

"Captain," Malcolm jumped in, "We were together the whole time. Commander Tucker did not murder that woman!"

"Easy, you two. I believe you, I believe you. However, the local authorities aren't willing to release you. They say you must be tried under their judicial system. They've promised me you'll get a fair trial." Looking at Malcolm's banged-up face, Archer realized he wasn't quite sure he believed that promise, but he didn't tell his men that.

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Malcolm and Trip were already seated in the prisoner's box when Archer entered the courtroom less than 24 hours later. These people certainly believe in having a speedy trial; I hope they also believe in reasonable doubt and innocent until proven guilty, he thought grimly. From what he observed so far, he doubted it, and he had told Admiral Slocum so the night before, but Slocum had refused to intervene. "We can't be steppin' in whenever y'all get in a tight spot, Johnny," the man had drawled. "We can't go interferin' with governments on other planets if we want to make friends out there." Archer felt a headache starting behind his eyes. He didn't want to have to explain to Trip's mama that her boy was stuck in an alien prison and he couldn't get him out.

From her seat beside him, T'Pol whispered, "Lieutenant Reed has been assaulted."

"Yeah, I know. I think the cops did it."

At the front of the courtroom a man stepped forward and rang a large bell. The spectators quieted down as a woman dressed in black seated at a raised dais lifted her hands for silence.

"The proceedings will begin," she proclaimed in a loud voice. "The first witness will step forward."

An elderly woman with a cane stepped up to the witness box in front of the dais.

"State your name for the record," the judge said.

"Mrs. Lusha Brevald," the old woman answered in a quavering voice.

"Please tell the court what you saw."

"I saw those two off-worlders leave the Administer's house about an hour before dark. They ran down the street, like they were trying to get away quickly. The taller one kept looking back like he was afraid someone might be following them."

The woman stepped down with no cross-examination, and Archer shot a concerned look at T'Pol. This didn't look much like due process to him. Where were the lawyers? And there didn't appear to be a jury either. Dimoc had told him that an impartial judge would decide the case. He certainly hoped that she would get to hear from the other side.

At the front of the courtroom, Dimoc, the chief investigator, stepped up to the witness box.

"We received a call from Administer Rodrigo at approximately 8 in the evening. He had found his wife dead in their home. She had been strangled. A canvass of the neighborhood indicated that two off-worlders had been seen leaving the house at around the time of death. They matched the description of the two prisoners, Commander Charles Tucker and Lieutenant Malcolm Reed from the off-worlder vessel Enterprise. We went to their hotel and arrested them. The murder weapon, one of the victim's scarves, was found in the hotel room of Commander Tucker.

"What evidence do you present?" the judge asked.

"The scarf, and these pictures of the victim and murder scene, as well as sworn statements from five other witnesses who saw the accused enter the house with the victim and leave about an hour later, after the time of death." Dimoc handed a stack of papers along with a silky beige scarf to the judge.

"Thank you, that is all."

Investigator Dimoc nodded and left the witness box.

"I am ready to make a decision in this case," the judge began. Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, Archer thought frantically. What about the defense witnesses? What about crime scene evidence? He turned his head to look at Malcolm and Trip, who were sitting in stunned silence. T'Pol must have sensed he was about to jump up and say something, because he suddenly felt her iron hand on his arm, holding him firmly in his seat.

"Prisoners, please stand," the judge continued. Two guards pulled Malcolm and Trip to their feet. "You have committed a terrible crime. We cannot tolerate such actions on Aslandia. Therefore you are sentenced to imprisonment for life in a secure facility. Court is adjourned."

"No!!" Trip burst out. "We didn't do it!! We didn't-" One of the guards hit Trip in the face with the butt of his rifle, silencing his outburst. The guards began to drag the two Enterprise officers out.

Shaking off T'Pol's hand, Archer leapt to his feet and began to fight his way to the front of the courtroom through the throngs of other spectators who were standing in the aisles. "Why weren't my men allowed to defend themselves?" he shouted to the judge over the rising noise. "You didn't even question the witnesses!" By this time Archer had reached the front of the courtroom, with T'Pol close behind.

"Are you saying the witness were lying?" responded the judge.

"They might have been," Archer replied hotly. "You didn't even ask them any questions. And why weren't my men allowed to defend themselves?"

"Why should I accept the testimony of an off-worlder over that of my own people?" the judge asked, with a glint of irritation in her eyes.

Archer didn't back down, although he could feel T'Pol's breath on his neck. "You should have heard all the evidence before you decided!" he exclaimed, voice rising in anger.

"Enough!" the judge roared. "Leave immediately or you will join then in prison!"

"Captain," said T'Pol from behind him. "We should leave now."

"No! Not without my officers!!"

T'Pol put her hand on Archer's shoulder and spun him around to face her. "It will be difficult to prove them innocent when you are also in prison." She said in a voice barely audible over the noise in the room.

Archer froze. T'Pol took his hand and led him out of the courthouse. Once outside, he abruptly stopped and sat down on the steps, head in his hands. T'Pol stood over him with her arms folded, disapprovingly, but also a little protectively.

"How am I going to explain this to Trip's mother?" he said into his hands. "I've got to get them out of there."

Before T'Pol had a chance to respond, a tall, thin man with a gray goatee walked up to them. T'Pol recognized him as Administer Rodrigo, the husband of the dead woman.

"Your officers got off easy," he said with disgust thick in his voice. "If I had had my way, they would have been sentenced to death."

Archer stood. "I'm sorry your wife died, but my officers didn't kill her."

"Of course you would believe them, you are their captain. But I know the truth. And I will be proposing legislation to the Aslandian council that will protect our peaceful world from violent outsiders." With that, the Administer turned and stalked away.

Archer's fists clenched as he watched the man go. Peaceful world, hah! What a joke! These people imposed peace at the expense of justice.

T'Pol watched Archer carefully. Seeing his balled-up fists and tense shoulders, she was concerned that he would lash out without thinking and make the situation even worse.

"Captain," she said, "while your anger is understandable under the circumstances, we must focus on securing the release of our officers."

When he swung around to face her, she was surprised and a little intimidated by the fury in his eyes. "How do you propose we do that?" he snarled.

"By uncovering the truth. If Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Reed did not murder that woman, then someone else did. We must discover who really committed the crime."

Archer stood in silence for a moment as he got his emotions back under control. "You're right," he said quietly. "Let's get started."

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Do you like it so far? Let me know! The next couple of chapters are done, I'm just waiting for feedback before posting.