"That's ridiculous!" Leonov burst out angrily, lurching to his feet as well. "I will not…"
"Admiral," Spock cut him off cleanly and decisively. "Taking into account all information currently available, the logical conclusion is that your ship--with you and your grandson--has, in fact, been displaced fourteen years into the future."
"Mr. Scott mentioned your cruiser appears almost new, yet they stopped constructing that particular model fifteen years ago," Kirk pointed out to him as more and more recent irregularities began making sense to him. "Your grandson said he toured the Excalibur--while under construction?" he mused, trying to remember Dimitri's exact words. "Excalibur's maiden voyage was just nine years after Enterprise, Sir. How long have the Russian Navy and the Historic Districts been established?" the Captain asked in a sudden rush. The man's seemingly--well, idiotic--negative attitude towards them might almost make since if they were a new idea: not the well-grounded institutions Kirk knew.
The man scoffed, waving the words away with a grand gesture of his hand. "Time travel isn't possible except in theory."
"Believe me, it is," McCoy said with a drawl. "We've done it more than once: and we didn't always do it on purpose, either."
"That is not my grandson!" the Admiral roared, throwing an arm out in Chekov's direction as his face filled with a flash of crimson. "I don't know what you people are up to, but I'm not a man to be fucked with!"
Hazel eyes remained steady on the enraged man. From what Kirk had heard, it had never occurred to him to underestimate the power this Admiral would be quick to brandish. That a top Fleet official of Leonov's stature would stoop so quickly to such impotent vulgarity and shake so visibly from his powerlessness in the situation alarmed the Captain at a basic level, however.
"Admiral," is what Kirk said. "I assure you that this situation will be fully investigated and resolved." He reseated himself and folded his hands on the tabletop again. There was nothing subtle about his indication for the Admiral to regain control of himself before he humiliated his rank as well as himself.
"My medical equipment is accurate, Admiral Leonov," McCoy insisted with a note of professional pride. "I can assure you that Chekov here and Dimitri are one in the same person. How that's possible, I leave to others more qualified."
"I will not subscribe to your outlandish theories."
"Dedushka, where are my shoes?"
Kirk leaned toward the still standing man. "We've found outlandish is a rule of thumb here in deep space."
"To suggest that time travel…"
"My shoes," Chekov interrupted again. "Where are my shoes, Dedushka?"
"What the hell is your problem?" the Admiral spat out suddenly, spinning on the Navigator. "How many times do I have to tell you to keep track of your own things? I am not going to waste my time searching for your shoes! I'm busy here…"
He froze mid-sentence, eyes narrowing. Leonov stared at Chekov in silence and he visibly tried to gain control of his uncontrolled breathing.
The Navigator rose in a gesture of respect as the man studied him. After a moment, he brought a hand up to touch two fingers to his temple and then dropped the same fingers to touch his chest.
"Dimitri?" the Admiral blurted incredulously as the Navigator's hand dropped back to his side. He moved up to the younger man and green eyes raked violently over him. "You look just like your father," he pronounced.
"Yes, Dedushka," Chekov responded in an automated tone, eyes fixed somewhere on the table in front of the Captain. He clearly disagreed.
"Why are you in Starfleet?" the Admiral suddenly demanded, face flushing crimson again. His jaw trembled with crippling defeat. "What the hell are you doing in Starfleet! You are the image of your father," he snarled venomously. "You lazy, cowardly...you've crawled into the bowels of Starfleet to hide and let all your talent and gifts shrivel and die!
"Dimitri, you have killed your soul and are a traitor to Mother Russia!" Leonov ended in a rage, swinging his arm with massive force at the Navigator's head.
Chekov's hand shot up, instantly catching the man's wrist and blocking the blow.
Spock was on his feet immediately. "Admiral," he began, but then paused. How quickly he stood and the words that clearly flashed through the Science Officer's steady eyes bore tribute to the Chief Navigator. Spock's unvoiced thought shone, as well, in the eyes of Chekov's shipmates present.
Chekov's exceptional skills, intelligence and unwavering professionalism promised a remarkable career in the Fleet. His striking attention to duty, in fact, caused concern among all of the ship's senior staff. With boundless motivation, the young man's habit of giving two hundred percent to every task, and his addiction to perfection in himself were known by Spock better than anyone else. Chekov often worked side by side with the Science Officer in the Science Labs after duty. Even Spock he did not disagree openly with Admiral Leonov's assessment of the Ensign at the moment, however: that would have been unacceptable.
"Admiral, it is against regulations for one officer to strike another," is all he said.
Leonov chortled. "Is that what you're doing, Dimitri? Are you saving me from a court-martial?"
"No," Chekov retorted evenly, a deathly chill in his voice. "If you touch me my father will kill you." The Navigator's low, breathless voice shuddered in the room. He slowly raised his eyelids and met the Admiral's pale green gaze for the first time with dark, shimmering eyes. "And that would destroy his soul. I won't ever let you hurt him." He shoved the man's arm away forcefully.
Leonov stepped backward, intense green eyes riiveted on Chekov.
Kirk's gaze was on the Navigator's eyes.
They were Dimitri's demonic eyes.
"I don't understand," McCoy's voice of reason cut in. "You're name isn't Dimitri, Chekov."
"It most certainly is," the Admiral retorted. Jaw hard, he glanced at the Doctor as he dropped defiantly back into his seat across from McCoy. "Russia endured centuries of invaders until Dimitri Ivanovich drove them all out."
Leonov gestured at the ship's Navigator. "His father chose to name him in tribute to this hero even before he was born. When the time came, Andrie entrusted the registration of his birth to his godfather. The man," the man growled, leaning in toward the Enterprise officers intently, "tore the paperwork up and forged his own set."
Kirk glanced, startled at Chekov. "Your godfather changed your name on your birth certificate?"
The young man, who had reseated himself and taken to staring at his folded hands on the table again, said nothing for a moment. He shrugged slightly then. "I was raised in a traditional culture: Dimitri Ivanovich does not meet the requirements for a traditional name."
"It's what your father named you. I won't disrespect that, even if he isn't man enough to have done anything about it."
Chekov glanced sharply at the Admiral several times during the conversation, but each time he quickly averted his eyes and returned his gaze back to his hands. Kirk watched him and wondered how many briefings he had conducted without noticing the young man's crystal clear signals.
"Captain," the Navigator suddenly said, raising soulful brown eyes to Kirk when the Admiral finished. "I don't want people to know. I don't want the crew to know who Dimitri is, please."
"Well, I don't wonder," McCoy observed with a glint in his steel-blue eyes.
Ignoring the Doctor, Kirk considered Chekov's request a moment, and the more imminent question of time-line alterations. "Do you remember this childhood trip aboard the Enterprise, Mr. Chekov?"
"I remember making the trip, Sir: but that is all. I don't remember what ship it was on or any details regarding it." He failed to mention he also distinctly remembered it as being his last trip with his grandfather.
"I want you to continue your plans to spend your time with…with…"
"Dimitri?" Chekov asked, flashing an impish smile at his Captain's discomfort.
Kirk returned the smile and found the tension in his neck relieved by the warmth of the chocolate brown eyes radiating amusement in his direction. The young man knew well when and how to ease a situation. He just needs to learn better jokes.
The inconsequential concern Chekov paid to calling his younger self Dimitri made things simpler and the Captain tried not to think about the hours of psychobabble McCoy would subject him to concerning the matter. He nodded to acknowledge the Navigator's suggestion. "Dimitri," he agreed. "Mr. Chekov, spending your time with him seems to be the best way to ensure that his presence here in no way destroys any of your current life history."
The Captain flashed a conspiratorial smile at the younger man. "You are an asset to both the Fleet and this ship: we don't lose you, do we?" Beside him, the Admiral flinched visibly and Kirk couldn't deny he felt vindicated by the man's response.
"That should not be a concern, Captain," Chekov replied, wide eyes calm and steady on his commander. "Dimitri can't change my life history."
"What makes you think that, Ensign?"
"I've been studying the work of Einstein and Goebel: it was these two who first proved that time travel was theoretically possible. Their theories further proved that you can't change your own lifeline by such things as the Grandfather Paradox: it's impossible if only by its illogic."
"What's the Grandfather Paradox?" McCoy asked.
"The Grandfather Paradox," Spock replied coolly, "Is the idea that by traveling back in time one could, in fact, sire their own father and therefore…"
"Become your own grandfather," the Doctor concluded. "But what's that got to do with this situation?"
Chekov gestured with his previously folded hands. "Simply put, Einstein and Goebel said that if something happened to me when I was eight--even if it was the result of time travel--than it has already happened to me: it's my life history. I'm already living with it.
"They said history in general can be changed, but your own life is already what it is," he concluded emphatically.
Silence met the youngest officer's statements. Kirk, specifically, wondered if this trip with Leonov had ironically pushed the determined Navigator into the career the Admiral so obviously disproved of.
"Well now, I wish someone had mentioned this before in our travels," the Doctor drawled. "Of course," he continued dramatically, "They could be wrong. Or hasn't that occurred to you?"
"I haven't finished studying the available materials," the Navigator said thoughtfully. "I'm not sure the theories can be applied to devices such as the Guardian of Forever. Still..." Chekov stopped and seemed to consider it a moment. He folded his hands and leaned forward again. "Einstein theorized that the atomic bomb, nuclear power and time travel were possible." He scowled melodramatically and pronounced: "I am willing to take the chance that he was right, Doctor."
"Even so," Kirk cut in, taking control of the briefing again. "I think it best to limit Dimitri's exposure to the ship and it's crew." He wished he could convince the Admiral of the same thing about himself.
"We can't just lock him in Chekov's cabin: people will wonder," McCoy insisted. "They'll especially be looking for him after this afternoon's performance--he's become a celebrity."
At this, the Navigator averted his eyes again and barred his teeth in an outright, silent snarl of contempt.
"Is Dimitri aware of the situation?" Spock questioned.
"Yes, Sir: he knew immediately. It was not something I could hide from him."
"Ensign," the Captain drew out thoughtfully. "If we continue to call the boy Dimitri, I don't see any reason anyone else should suspect his actual identity. I'll trust your good judgment in monitoring his activities until such time as we can correct this time aberration."
"Yes, Sir." The Captain saw a flutter of relief in the brown eyes which seemed more intense than called for, but he didn't have time to think about it.
"How long will that be?" the Admiral demanded. "His father expects Dimitri back soon--and in one piece!"
Kirk interlaced his own fingers with great care and straightened his back. "Admiral Leonov," he intoned, "As soon as we can discover what sent you ahead in time we'll be able to determine a way to reverse it."
"I am not reassured," the man spat out.
"Admiral, the Enterprise is the finest ship in the Fleet, with the finest Captain and crew," Chekov snarled self-righteously with a thick accent, dark eyes snapping a glare at the man. "You could not be served better by anyone else."
Leonov jammed his arms across his chest and returned the glare.
"Would I serve under a Captain who wasn't the finest in the Fleet?" the Navigator demanded of him haughtily.
Kirk withheld a wry smile at the young man's blunt impertinence, reminding himself that Chekov's family relationship with the Admiral could only serve to fuel the young man's impetuous nature, despite his best efforts. The Captain only wished he had the same leeway.
"Captain," Spock interrupted the emotional debate. "In addition to the inaccuracies in the Admiral's ship's chronometer, we have pinpointed abnormalities in the ion storm both ships encountered recently."
"Exactly how does an ion storm have abnormalities?" McCoy rasped.
"Ordinarily, one wouldn't," Spock replied. "However, through the data we have been able to obtain in both ship's computers, our research indicates that this particular ion storm was not a natural phenomenon."
"Not…" Kirk sat forward. "Spock, someone created this storm?"
"That is what the data indicates."
"For what possible reason?" McCoy asked incredulously.
"To create a time rift," the Captain concluded quickly, glancing sharply at the Admiral.
"Captain, I resent your implication," the man retorted with a fierce glare. "I'm a desk pilot," he maintained without a hint of apology. "I've never even encountered an ion storm before. It was only because of Dimitri that we got through it in one piece as it was. Only an insane man would take such a risk."
"There are other possible outcomes one might have created an ion storm for," the Science Officer reflected.
In shifting his gaze, Kirk's eyes hesitated when they touched the ship's Chief Navigator. He had his fingers stretched out before him and he was fiddling with them, but he was not looking at them. Chekov's dark eyes were opaque and his intense gaze had turned inward.
"Ensign," the Captain said, calling the man's attention back to the room. "Have you anything?"
The young man looked up at his Captain, not so much startled as reluctantly. Kirk realized his face was several shades lighter than normal.
"Yes, Sir," he said with great, almost painfully soulful eyes. "My father is here, too."
"What?" the Doctor demanded but it was lost in the sound of the Admiral's laughter.
"Your father isn't capable of space travel," he asserted with contempt.
"You don't need a pilot's license to travel in space," Chekov observed. Although his tone was respectful, there was disdain in his dark eyes. It was gone when he turned back to the Captain.
"Sir," he appears to be approximately my age. I saw him briefly in Navigation yesterday. Lieutenant Riley informed me that he is using the name 'Nick Paul' and that he signed on as a crewman at our last planetfall."
"Chekov," McCoy puzzled, his mouth twitching slightly. "Are you saying that your father engineered all this?"
"No, Doctor, my father simply isn't capable of such a thing."
"In extreme circumstances, people sometimes do what you wouldn't expect," the Captain reminded him gently.
"I don't mean he wouldn't do such a thing, Sir," Chekov maintained. "I mean he couldn't: he doesn't have any technological skills. Admiral Leonov will cooberate this."
Kirk's sour look of agreement caused the younger man to hesitate briefly.
"My father is apparently involved, somehow, however," the Navigator concluded.
"Captain," Spock interjected. The care with which he said his commander's rank and the deliberate way he leaned forward to rest his folded hands on the table quickly communicated the importance of the information he had to share. "Five new crewmen signed aboard the Enterprise at Clarion 6. Among them were Nick Paul, subsequently assigned to Navigation, as well as his sister, Kathy Paul. She is serving in Engineering."
"Are you sure?" Kirk asked needlessly. It was the only way he could think to start his heart again.
Spock straightened, raising his eyebrows in a mock demonstration of human indignation. "As the Enterprise's First Officer, its personnel are my responsibility. I am quite sure."
"My daughter," the Admiral concluded immediately, straightening. Green eyes bright with pride, he tapped on the table for emphasis. "Maria could do this: and she's always dragging Andrie along. He's helpless without her."
Kirk saw the flare of light in the depths of Chekov's eyes before he averted his gaze again, saying nothing. No amount of debate was going to settle the question at hand. "Can we see the two people we're talking about, Spock?" the Captain asked.
"On the computer screen, Captain."
The three-sided screen in the center of the table lit up with images of the two new crewmen in question. The young man had a goatee and thick, wavy, coal black hair. Trimmed short in the front, his hair hung in a tangled mass on his shoulders. Wide brilliant blue eyes dominated his tanned face. The pretty young woman was hardly more than a girl. Her honey colored hair accentuated soulful brown eyes which struck the Captain immediately. He felt as though he was looking into Chekov's gaze.
"That's not my daughter," the Admiral declared. "And Andrie..." he hesitated and shook his head vehemently. "It looks like him, but he has brown eyes: like Dimitri. I've never seen either of these people before, Captain."
Chekov's eyes shifted to Leonov briefly and Kirk recognized clearly in the gaze that the Admiral had not, in fact, seen the man's parents for a very long time. He was impressed that the young man restrained himself from making any snide comments about it. Watching as the Navigator's attention turned to back the images on the computer screen, the Captain saw a grey pallor to overtook his face. Chekov stared at them, riveted as though turned to stone.
"Ensign," Kirk asked carefully. "These aren't your parents?"
"No, Sir. They are not my parents," he confirmed. The young man straightened slowly as he raised his eyes to the Captain.
Kirk stilled inside, hazel eyes locking on the young man's dark gaze. The maturity he had only glimpsed there occasionally now filled the entirety of their depths without any attempt of Chekov to conceal it.
"They are not my parents, Sir," he repeated. "They are my children."
"Excuse me?" McCoy demanded, alarmed. "Are you telling me you we have your Grandfather, your child self and your children to deal with--not to mention you?"
"It appears so, Sir."
"With what certainty do you entertain this theory, Ensign?"
Chekov glanced at the screen again for only an instant before meeting the Science Officer's eyes. "One hundred percent, Mr. Spock. These are definitely my children.
"Dedushka," he continued. "Do you remember what name I use whenever we go to the Smithsonian?"
"Of course," the man replied, straightening and turning an amused smile on the Captain. "Dimitri likes the Museum of American History: has a thing for the ruby slippers," he revealed needlessly, and embarrassingly. "The translation of his legal name is Paul, son of Andrew. On trips to America he's been known to tell people his name is Paul Andrews. He is clever," he observed with a subtle note of admiration.
"Nick Paul and Kathy Paul," Chekov reminded them, indicating the images on the screen.
"Nikolai Pavolich and Katya Pavlova," Spock concluded.
The Navigator nodded, eyes narrowing slightly as he resumed studying the faces of grown children he didn't have yet.
"The logical conclusion is that since neither the Admiral nor the Enterprise caused the ion storm and temporal breach, than the Chekov children must have. Our investigation should turn to them. We need to discern how and why this storm and the time breach occurred."
"Do we absolutely know the Enterprise had nothing to do with it?" McCoy asked. "Have I to remind you of the times we--and other space travelers--have mistakenly caused such ridiculous events?"
"No," Spock replied, folding his arms across his chest. "You do not. Although not probable, that the Enterprise inadvertently precipitated these events requires further investigation to eliminate it entirely as a possibility.
Chekov's eyes shifted and held on the viewscreen on the wall, where the small panorama teased his gaze. The senior officer's debate at the other end of the table drifted off and fell away from him as he stared at the stars. He rose slowly and moved over to the viewscreen.
"Computer: viewscreen starboard secondary hull," Chekov instructed quietly.
The view of the stars glazed and cleared, a different pattern presenting itself. Wrong, the Chief Navigator thought instantly, seized with the notion so violently again he couldn't breathe. There is something wrong with the pattern of stars.
"Mr. Chekov, rejoin us, please," Kirk's voice cut into his thoughts. The reproof in the commander's tone was evident, but the young officer didn't move to obey. He glanced at the Captain, then back at the viewscreen, which he tapped.
"They're not alone, Sir," he said.
Kirk joined him quickly. "What do you mean, Ensign?"
"The stars," the Navigator explained, tapping the screen again. "They're wrong. I knew it, but I couldn't understand why. There's a cloaked ship attached to our secondary hull on the starboard side, Captain."
"Spock…"
The Vulcan was already standing behind the Captain by the time he finished summoning him.
"Sensors would have picked up the standard deviations if we had a cloaked ship traveling beside us," Kirk pointed out, his eyes raking the starfield. They still couldn't read through a cloaking device, but they had learned to notice the changes in the view the sensors picked up.
"Yes," Chekov agreed. "But if the ship was attached by tractor beams or other such devices, there wouldn't be any obvious variations in the deviations for the sensors to pick up."
"Likewise, such a ship would only have engines running on low power, if at all, so the resonance would be below our sensors abilities to distinguish from our own engines," Spock observed.
The Navigator shook his head, as if in silent wonder and drew his fingers over the starfield. "Marvelous. Cloaking devices not only have to erase the image of the thing, but project the images of the things they block out to make it appear nothing's changed," Chekov explained. "Only, they are not perfect. It looks like the starfield, but it's…askew."
"It looks right to me," the Admiral blustered from behind the small group. Kirk was want to admit he agreed.
"No," Chekov said. "Look here--one degree to the northwest. This one, half-degree south. This one…they'll all…they're not right," he concluded, waving his hands fitfully in the air in distress as he dismissed the view.
Kirk eyed him, taking a moment to marvel at how personally involved his officers got in their departments. He had no false modesty about having chosen the most skilled people available for his ship's compliment.
"A ship could not maintain itself like that unmanned, however," the Navigator added. "It has to be manned, Captain."
"I concur," the Science Officer stated.
"Good work, Mr. Chekov."
"Thank-you, Sir."
The Captain paced away from the viewscreen, his eyes meeting his Chief Surgeon's steely blue ones as did so. He didn't need to talk to his friend; he knew what the man was thinking better than he wanted to. He also knew he was going to hear it anyway: it was the Doctor's way of ensuring Kirk hadn't somehow tuned out his conscience.
"To start with, we need Mr. Scott here," he said out loud. "We need all the Chekov's here and we need to identify and get aboard that cloaked ship. Spock, do you think you can get accurate readings on our visiting ship within an hour?"
"Yes, Captain."
"Good. We'll recess and reconvene in one hour. Mr. Spock, order the helm to return to the area of the ion storm: best speed. Arrange for both Scotty and the Chekov's to be here and I'll expect the information on our phantom ship at that time."
"Dimitri?"
Kirk paused, straightening. "No," he said without hesitation. "We need to keep him out of this." To startle Chekov with children his own age contained it's own entanglements, but to subject a child with them struck the Captain as downright abusive. "Dismissed.
"Mr. Chekov," he added in amendment. "Take a seat."