The courtroom, Qo'noS, 2375

Trial Day 4

"When I realised what Chrissie was doing, I was horrified," Krang told the court. He was not ashamed to admit that he had been terrified as well. What had she thought she was playing at? Was she trying to get herself killed? Compared to Karg she was small and fragile, and she had no weapons training whatsoever. Adrenaline had coursed through him and forgetting his own injury, he'd dragged himself upright, ready to come to her defence, only to find it was unnecessary. When he'd seen Karg lying dead at her feet, he'd been so proud of her.

He remembered his second in command approaching. Koreth had been badly shaken and had blamed himself for Krang's injury. Feeling dishonoured and ashamed, he'd bowed his head and apologised to Krang, offering his life in recompense for his failure.

"For all that I understood his feelings," Krang continued, "and I would have felt the same, I did not agree that he had failed and I told him so. Karg was a champion; he'd won several tournaments and he was fighting dirty. He got in a lucky strike and there was no shame in that. Nevertheless, I accepted his apology. After that, I don't remember much."

Chrissie took up the story again. "Lieutenant Marla arrived at that point, with Krang's spare cloak. It was heavy and far too long for me but I was freezing cold, covered in blood and my clothes were falling apart so I was grateful for it. She'd managed to find a first aid kit as well and I decided I needed to have a look at Krang and find out how bad it was."

Klingon Headquarters, London

Wednesday 26th January 1994

Somehow, and she was never sure how she managed it, Chrissie got Krang to sit down on the bench. She bit her lip as she studied the wound in his back. It was a straightforward stab wound and its surface area was small, so there was not as much blood as there could have been, but she could see that it was deep. "You need to see a doctor."

"No!" He almost snapped the word. "It's just a flesh wound. I do not require medical attention."

Chrissie let out an exasperated sigh. Apparently, Klingon males were not so different to their Terran counterparts in this respect. What was it with men and their ridiculous, macho 'There's nothing wrong with me' attitude? "Yes, you do!" she insisted. "I could probably stitch it up for you but there's going to be muscle damage I can't fix. You need proper medical care."

"I told you, no!"

The tone of his growl warned Chrissie that he was becoming annoyed with her insistence and wisely, she decided to change tack. "At least let me bandage it," she begged him. "Please, Krang-oy."

He grunted his acquiescence and sighing again, she accepted the first aid kit from Marla, pleased to see that it was of Terran origin. The bright red, plastic box with its characteristic white cross on the lid, had probably been sitting in a cupboard somewhere, unused since the Klingons had taken over the building, and she would not like to guarantee the sterility of its contents after so long a period, but it would do. She attempted to open the box and quickly discovered that she could not work and hold the cloak securely wrapped around her. Giving up on the idea of warmth and modesty, she sorted through its contents, pulling out a package labelled 'haemostatic dressing'. That would do nicely. Tearing it open, she pushed it against the wound. His body tensed and she knew that she was hurting him, but he remained still and did not protest. Glancing back to the Klingon woman, she asked, "Can you put pressure on here for me?"

As Marla obeyed, Chrissie reached back into the first aid kit and pulled out some adhesive tape, opening it and applying generous amounts of it to the padding to hold it in place. "That's the best I can do for now," she said worriedly. "Krang, you really do need to get this seen to professionally."

Krang stirred slightly, looking towards his aide. "Is the Terran doctor still unavailable? At this moment in time, I do not trust our own medic. I cannot be sure of his loyalties."

"No, sir." Kay'vin shook his head. "As you know, he was released just before the prison raid. He has not returned to work since then and we have no knowledge of his whereabouts."

Listening to their conversation, Chrissie realised, with some consternation, to whom they were referring. There was only one such doctor in London and that was her brother, David. She had not intentionally kept his identity from Krang, but in the week they had been together, they had been occupied with other things and had spoken very little of her family. Momentarily, she wondered if she should say something but fear got the better of her. David was safe on the Enterprise but admitting to knowledge of the Federation was liable get her into serious trouble.

Her eyes flitted momentarily to the little recording device that contained her confession. The only Klingon who knew for certain was now dead, but at some point, one of them was going to find out, and then... Shuddering, she pushed the thought aside and concentrated on what she was doing, carefully checking over her work.

Satisfied that for the moment, she had done as much as possible to slow the bleeding and make Krang comfortable, she turned her attention to the other injured Klingon. She'd never met him before - at least, not in person, although she'd seen him on Krang's screen once or twice and she knew who he was. If any of these men were dangerous to her, it would be this one. But Krang trusted him and he'd just got himself hurt fighting on their behalf. It looked like Karg's knife had caught him in the armpit area, probably when he'd raised his arm to strike. There was a fair amount of blood and she thought that she'd better take a look. She gestured towards the bench. "Could you sit down, please, so I can check you over?"

Koreth shook his head, at the same time taking a step back. "I do not need help."

"Oh for..." Chrissie shook her head in disgust. "Of course, you don't! That's why you are bleeding all over everything. Now will you just do as you're told and sit down and let me take a look!"

For a moment, anger flared in Koreth's eyes. He was not accustomed to being ordered around like this and especially not by a Terran. He glanced at Kay'vin and Marla and immediately realised he would get no help there. Kay'vin was carefully keeping his expression neutral but Marla had a big grin on her face, obviously enjoying her boss's discomfort. Nor was Krang any help. The security captain was sitting quietly and it seemed to Koreth that he was no longer completely aware of what was going on around him. That was worrying. "You have medical training?" he asked, reluctantly taking a seat on the bench.

Chrissie shook her head. "Only basic first aid," she admitted, choosing her words carefully. "I have no formal medical training. My brother does, though, so I've learned a thing or two over the years."

Of course, Koreth thought, remembering the background check that he'd found on Karg's computer. The doctor who had been accused of murder and was now missing. They had been speaking of him only a moment ago and she had said nothing. It was obvious that the security captain was still unaware of the connection and that concerned him Just how much did she know? What was she hiding? If this woman, however innocently, had any ties to the local resistance, then Krang needed to be informed. For the moment he would say nothing and allow her to continue with her task. But he had seen her worried glance towards the recorder and he resolved that if Krang did not pick it up, then he would retrieve it and once he had listened to its contents, he would make a decision about what to do.

Koreth held himself very still as she opened another of the haemostatic dressings and applied it to his wound, sealing it with the adhesive, just as she had done with Krang.

"It's fairly shallow," she told him, noting that it was a slash wound rather than a stab, "but it needs stitches." As she spoke, she pulled out a triangular bandage and tucked it under his arm before fastening it around his neck. "There… I haven't got a splint but that will help to hold your arm still until your doctor can treat it."

He gave a curt nod. "Are you done?"

"I am," Chrissie confirmed. Ignoring his rudeness, she stepped back to give him room to get up. Now that her hands were free, she pulled the cloak more tightly around her, covering her semi-nakedness and snuggling into its warmth as she decided what to do next. Still thinking, she turned back to her mate. She was worried about him. Something in Krang's expression and his eyes told her that he was not as okay as he claimed and she needed to get him home so that he could rest. A hospital would have been preferable but she had no illusions that there was any possibility of that.

Krang had not moved as Chrissie worked on Koreth's injuries, nor had he spoken, something that was ringing alarm bells for Chrissie. She had expected him to be stomping around giving orders by now. The fact that he was sitting so quietly warned her that he was hurt worse than he was admitting. With Krang out of commission, Koreth was technically in charge, even if he was not in any condition to do much. "With your permission, Brigadier," she said, careful to keep her request polite and formal, "I need to get Krang home."

The request was reasonable and Koreth nodded at once. "I will make the arrangements for you. "Lieutenant Kay'vin, you will prepare a shuttle immediately."

"At once, my lord." Glad to have something useful to do, Kay'vin saluted and moved to obey the orders he had been given.

Considering the situation, it was very obvious to the brigadier that his not moving to London immediately to take over directly from Karg had been a mistake and that he needed to stay in London for the foreseeable future. It was going to take a full investigation to find out just how deep the rot in the department went. There was trouble here and it needed sorting.

His first priority would be to have all four bekks questioned. Two of them he recognised as the guards who had been assigned to guard Karg. At the very least, they were guilty of disobeying orders. At worst, the charge would be kidnapping and conspiracy to assassinate a superior officer. Either way, their punishment would be severe. The other two… what were their names? Ah, yes, Kroll and… Grenn. Koreth had no way of knowing what their involvement was in all this or what they had heard.

Several other soldiers, as well as a couple of officers had made their appearance by now, probably brought here by the security cameras, although so far, they had done nothing more useful than clogging up the corridors. Koreth gestured to the nearest of them. "You men… I want those four guards taken into custody pending a full investigation."

"HIja joHwI." If there had been any loyalty to Karg in the guard force, they were wise enough to forget it. Obediently, they moved to arrest the bekks who were now loudly protesting their innocence.

"Sir…" About to go with Kay'vin, Marla turned back. "Bekks Grenn and Kroll were the ones who raised the alarm."

Koreth considered the implications of that and made a swift decision. "Very well then," he said, turning to address the two soldiers. "Grenn and Kroll, you are free to go. You will return to your quarters now and report to me first thing in the morning. In the meantime, you will speak to no-one of this. Am I understood?"

With crisp salutes, the two men chorused acknowledgement of their orders and made their escape.

Satisfied that for now, he had done all that he could, Koreth turned his attention back to his superior. "My lord, a shuttle will be ready for you in a few moments."

Getting to his feet with some difficulty, Krang gave a curt nod. "I am going home with my mate. I intend to take a few days leave. Koreth, you will take command until my return. You may call me in case of emergency, but otherwise, I don't want to know." Apart from the fact that he was in no fit state to work, something of which, despite his protestations to the contrary, he was all too aware, it would be good experience for Koreth to run things for a while without his interference.

The brigadier bowed. "I will not fail you again."

When Krang made his way out of the cells, his arm around his mate's shoulders, Koreth started to follow, but stopped, remembering the recording device, still sitting on the bench, recording. He'd almost forgotten about it. He studied it for a moment before picking it up. Whatever it contained was bound to be sensitive and he knew that he should listen to it. Whatever secrets she was keeping hidden, she was obviously devoted to Krang. She had just proved her loyalty. No, he decided impulsively, he would let her confession die with Karg. Dropping the recorder on the floor, he pulled out his disruptor and fired on it, watching with satisfaction as it glowed incandescently for a moment before disintegrating into nothing.

Thank you again to the usual suspects - RobertBruceScott, JDC0 and Solasnagreine for their support and kind comments. Hopefully I haven't kept you waiting this time, although I can't promise the next chapter will be as quick. If you guys could please publish something so I have an excuse to procrastinate a bit longer, I would be very grateful... :-D