Guess who's back, back again? Riley's back. Tell a friend!

I'm sure Riley's a nice guy, but I needed somebody to break Nyota's heart, and I didn't want it to be any of the main crew. So he drew the short straw. Sorry, buddy.

-Kevin Riley-

"Prosecution calls Kevin Riley."

The court gallery was surprised to hear that name, and they chatted with excitement at the fresh development. What had Kevin Riley to do with this case? He wasn't even an Enterprise crewmember anymore; they whispered.

"Mr. Riley, how do you know the defendant?"

"He was my superior officer while I served aboard the Enterprise," Riley answered nervously. He did not know why he had been subpoenaed to testify against Mr. Spock. The Farragut had been on a deep space mission for months and only got back to port at the station a few hours ago. The prosecution immediately summoned him to testify but they didn't tell him what the charges were.

"Were you familiar with the Commander personally? Were you friends?" Wyatt asked.

"Friends? No, you don't make friends with Mr. Spock."

"What about the Commander's wife, Lieutenant Uhura?"

"Wife?" Riley asked in shock as his eyes snapped to Uhura in the crowd.

"Yes, you didn't know that Lieutenant Uhura and Commander Spock are married?" Mr. Wyatt asked with a crooked smile.

"No," Riley answered while he stared in wonder at Uhura. "No, I didn't know. There were rumors... but there are always crazy rumors about something in the fleet." Riley said while looking confused.

"So then Mr. Riley, I understand you are quite familiar with Mrs. Uhura?"

"Yeah, I knew her quite well," Riley regained his composure and was now settling into his seat to testify with a defiant glint in his eyes. Hearing Wyatt call her Mrs. Uhura was pissing him off.

"According to Mrs. Uhura, the two of you briefly dated, is that correct?"

"Briefly, huh? Yeah, we dated."

"Would you say that your relationship with Mrs. Uhura was intimate, Mr. Riley?"

"Objection! irrelevant." Miss Shaw protested.

"Your honor, counsel introduced the relevance when the Lieutenant testified about the character of the witness."

"I'll allow it but tread carefully, Mr. Wyatt," Commodore Stone warned.

"Mr. Riley was your relationship with Mrs. Uhura intimate?"

"Well, we did date," he said, smiling wolfishly.

"How long did you date?"

"Just a few months, long enough," Riley said.

"Describe your relationship for the court if you will please?"

"Well, we started out as friends. MISSES Uhura is a VERY friendly woman and very approachable. She's also very beautiful, and she seemed to like me so I asked her out."

"You said she seemed to like you? Are you implying she didn't?" the Prosecutor asked.

"Yeah. As I said, we dated but it never got too serious. I started to realize that I was more interested in Uhura than she was interested in me."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, she was always busy with other guys and doing things that didn't include me."

"Really? Such as?"

"Well, Uhura was friends with just about everyone on the ship, but she had a particular thing for Mr. Spock now that I think about it."

"What do you mean 'a thing'?"

"She and Mr. Spock were always doing something. They were always chatting about some old nonsense nobody cares about, or practicing weird music, or he was supposedly "mentoring" her on Vulcan. That kind of stuff. Oh, and they were alone in the rec rooms having meals together a lot too. Things like that. I should have seen the writing on the wall. He was always commandeering her time, now that I think back."

"That doesn't sound very favorable on his part, does it?"

"No, it doesn't." Riley agreed.

"Mrs. Uhura characterized you as being a jerk," Wyatt informed Riley.

"Oh she did, did she?" Riley asked Wyatt.

"Yes, she did. And how would you characterize the Lieutenant?"

"Objection!"

"Overruled."

"Hmmm, well I think I'd say she was a frigid tease." Again, everyone in the gallery whispered about this new revelation of an apparent love triangle.

"Your honors I object. The lieutenant is not on trial here and neither is her character. She is the supposed victim." Miss Shaw stated.

"Sustained."

"Mr. Riley, how would you characterize the Commander, who is on trial?"

"Well, he's a Vulcan, isn't he? To be honest, at first, he appears as if he's all stiff and professional and logical to a fault. A real stickler for the rules, he was."

"Only appears to be?" Wyatt asked.

"Yeah, but now that I know the truth, I see him for what he really is."

"And what is that, Mr. Riley?" Wyatt grinned.

"A cockblocker!" A flurry of gasps and whispers broke out in the courtroom again, and Mr. Wyatt smirked at Miss Shaw.

"Your witness," Mr. Wyatt said, strolling back to his seat with his chest puffed up.

"A 'cockblocker' Mr. Riley?" Miss Shaw asked, unfazed by the reaction of the court.

Riley looked defiant as he addressed the courtroom. "Yeah, that's what I said."

"Commander Spock is one of the most highly decorated officers in the entire Star Fleet. He has won numerous awards and commendations for valor and excellence isn't that correct?" She asked Riley.

"So?"

"So, Mr. Riley, what about your record? Do you have any awards or commendations?"

"Objection, irrelevant."

"It is relevant, your honor. I think it fair that we know the character of the witness who is testifying against the character of the defendant."

"Overruled. Mr. Riley, you'll answer the question," the commodore ordered.

"No, I don't have any awards or commendations."

"In fact, you have several reprimands on your record, don't you?"

"If you say so."

"No, I don't say so Mr. Riley. Your record says so. And one of those reprimands was written up by none other than Commander Spock wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was," Riley answered in a tight voice.

"Did the Commander write you up while performing his duties as a 'cockblocker'?"

"Objection!"

"Withdrawn." Areel conceded with a smirk of her own. "What was the reprimand for?"

"It was for taking over the engineering department and shutting down the engines while the Enterprise was in a decaying orbit around an imploding planet."

"I see. And during that incident, the Enterprise was very nearly destroyed because of your sabotage, wasn't it?"

"Yes, but-"

"And you only received a written reprimand, not a dishonorable discharge, or even more appropriate, a court-martial?" she asked while staring at the judge's advocates.

"There were extenuating circumstances. Nearly everyone on board was infected with an illness caused by something brought from the planet. I lost a good friend because of it!" He yelled angrily.

"Nearly everyone, including Mr. Spock?" Miss Shaw pushed on.

"Yes, I think he was infected too."

"So, while you were both in an inebriated state, you nearly destroyed the Enterprise and all crew aboard, while Commander Spock came up with the formula that restarted the engines and allowed you all to escape unharmed. Isn't that correct?" Shaw asked.

"Yes, that is correct," Riley had to admit.

"Mr. Riley, what is your current assignment?"

"I'm currently the conn officer on the USS Farragut."

"How did you qualify for a transfer to the Farragut, which included a promotion, I might add, with your record?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, He sat up straighter and fidgeting in his seat, feeling a gotcha coming.

"I mean, your record is not very good. You were reprimanded for a very serious offense. There were surely more qualified officers up for promotion before you, and yet you were promoted and transferred despite a glaring blot on your record."

"I guess I'm lucky," Riley joked nervously. "The luck of the Irish."

"Lucky indeed. In order to qualify for the promotion, you needed a character recommendation from a superior officer, didn't you Lieutenant?"

"Yes, I believe so."

"And who gave you that recommendation?"

"Well, I assume it was Captain Kirk. He signed off on my promotion."

"Would it surprise you to learn that Mr. Spock recommended you for promotion?"

"Yes, it would," Riley said. He turned in his seat to stare at Spock this time.

"One more thing Mr. Riley, how did your romantic relationship with Lt. Uhura end?"

Riley shrugged his shoulders. "It just ended. We didn't mesh."

"Could the Commander have had anything to do with your "not meshing"? Perhaps Mr. Spock and Lt. Uhura's close friendship caused a rift between the two of you?"

"There was no rift between us." Riley denied.

"Lieutenant Uhura called you a jerk during her testimony. Was she the one to break things off?"

"No, she didn't break things off," Riley said.

"So you ended the relationship?" Shaw pushed.

"Look, I said we just ended. I was promoted and transferred to the Farragut."

"Oh, so the two of you mutually decide to end things because of your transfer?" Shaw pressed.

"No, not exactly." Now Riley didn't seem so confident now that he had to explain himself.

"Well, Mr. Riley, kindly tell the court what exactly ended your relationship with the Lieutenant?"

"Nothing happened. I got a transfer, and I left."

"You just left? Without telling Lieutenant Uhura that it was over?"

"I guess so."

"So your breakup was because of you alone, not because Lt. Uhura was a 'frigid tease' or because Mr. Spock was a 'cockblocker'?"

"Objection!"

"Withdrawn. Thank you, no further questions."

Commodore Stone called a recess while the court spectators whispered furiously, trying to digest all they had learned and tried to keep score.

"Damn Jim, she's good," Bones said as he and the captain walked out of the courtroom.

"I know it Bones, I only hire the best," Jim said proudly as if he had committed some brilliant feat in hiring his past acquaintance as Spock's attorney.

"She's even got me questioning reality. Painting a pretty picture of Spock and Uhura as long-time lovers. Next thing you know I'll be believing Uhura ran off with Spock."

"That's what an excellent attorney does Bones, plant doubt into the minds of the judges. All we need is that shadow of a doubt to get Spock exonerated."

"And how do you like that Riley showing up to testify against Spock? Who asked him anyway?"

"The prosecution. They're pulling out all the stops to make Spock look bad. I guess they figured he'd badmouth Spock for stealing his girl."

"And boy did he. Cockblocker! I never heard anything so moronic in my life. As if Spock would do something so illogical."

"I don't know Bones. You know Spock can be ruthless when it comes to achieving a goal. If he wanted Uhura away from Riley, then Riley didn't stand a chance. Spock's recommendation to promote Riley makes perfect sense, looking back. He gave me some logical reason it would work, but now I see it was purely personal. That son of a gun."

McCoy laughed. "Yeah, I can just imagine what he said to Riley. No wonder he shipped out quick, fast, and in a hurry. And now that we know the truth about Riley, I can admit I never liked the fellow. I'm surprised he hasn't steered the Farragut into the sun by now."

"Well, he hasn't... Yet." Jim joked. "But give him time Bones. I wonder what else the prosecution has up his sleeve? They're doing everything they can to make Spock look like an asshole."

"They didn't need a court-martial for that, could have just asked me," Bones made his usual joke but Kirk stopped laughing.

"Bones, this is serious. Everything is on the line for Spock."

"I know Jim. Spock may be an asshole, but he's our asshole, and he's still the finest officer in the fleet. We all get a head full of steam and break the rules every once in a while, but Spock has never done anything to harm Starfleet interests. He didn't hurt Pike, and he didn't hurt Uhura. He was sick, Starfleet has got to understand that."

"Starfleet isn't behind this farce, it's Komack and his ilk. They don't like Vulcans or any of our other non-human allies. They want Starfleet for humans only. We can't let them win, not today and not in the future. Starfleet will only survive if we work with other races, not against them. We've already encountered races that are far more advanced than humanity or Vulcan and the other member races combined.

One day we'll run into a hostile species more dangerous and relentless than the Klingons or the Romulans. Hell, we almost got beat by that kid Trelane. We'll need allies in the Fleet from all our federation members not just protecting their own interests but the interests of their fellow members too. This galaxy is big enough for all of us if we just work together as one."

"What happens if Spock is found guilty? What does it mean for the Federation? What will the Vulcans do?" Bones wondered, concern tingeing his voice.

"Let's hope we never find out Bones, let's hope we never find out."