Author's Note:

Hello everyone. This is a longer chapter that tells you more of Pavel's history such as how he joined Starfleet and what happened to his parents. There's not much in the way of action I feel that this chapter is important for showing the background of what's going on. Thank you for your continued support of this story and I hope you enjoy.

I own nothing.

History

There was a shocked silence after Lientov's comm. had been cut.

Spock was the first to do anything, "Lieutenant Uhura, do we know where they were transmitting from?"

Nyota pulled herself together and quickly began to check and it wasn't long before she answered, "No sir, they've somehow concealed the point of origin of the communication."

"Understood Lieutenant, study it and try to identify anything that may tell us where they are. I also want a connection to Admiral Archer as soon as possible and it is to be patched through to the briefing room."

"Understood sir."

Spock turned to Hikaru, "Mr Sulu, investigate the information we have on the surrounding systems. Look for any information that might suggest a base or vessel in the area, also look up all planets nearby that we know of where Lientov may be holding the Captain and our crew. I shall wait in the briefing room for contact with the Admiral and as such you have command of the bridge."

"Aye sir."

"Doctor McCoy, I request that you join me."

Not waiting for an answer, Spock calmly exited the bridge with McCoy hurrying behind him.

They made their way to the briefing room in silence but as soon as they entered and the door closed behind them McCoy started questioning Spock, "What the hell is going on Spock!? I know you recognised that guy as soon as you saw him and with that surname I'm willing to bet he has some connection to Pavel."

Spock answered, "You would be correct about both myself recognising Lientov and that he is connected to Ensign Chekov. Unfortunately I have no more knowledge than you on why he would do this, he vanished years ago and was presumed dead but as you can see this is not the case."

Before McCoy could say anything in reply, a comm. came through from Nyota, "Commander, we've got through to Admiral Archer and I'm patching him through to the briefing room now."

Taking a seat facing the room's veiwscreen Spock answered, "Thank you Lieutenant."

Admiral Archer appeared on the screen looking grave, "Commander Spock, Lieutenant Uhura has informed me that something serious has happened. Please report."

Spock relayed what had happened quickly and precisely and Archer's expression grew graver, there was silence once the report was finished before the admiral spoke, "How much do you and Doctor McCoy know about Pavel's past?"

Spock answered first, "I have learned a great deal through my own research and discussions with the Captain after I unintentionally performed a mind-meld with Ensign Chekov and saw one of his memories."

McCoy quickly followed with his answer, "I don't know much, the kid never really spoke about his life before the academy and I never pushed since he seemed to share most things with Jim. I know he sometimes suffers from nightmares which I'm certain have something to do with his childhood but that's it."

Archer nodded before speaking again, "Then it will be best if I explain it to you Doctor, though Pavel has never told me as much as he told Jim I'm sure Spock can add some information that I don't know." He took a deep breath before continuing, "I suppose it really starts with Andrei and Lientov Chekov. Andrei was Pavel's father and a brilliant man, he did a lot of work for Starfleet and many of his ideas were added to our fleet including the many of the Enterprise's systems. He did a lot of good work improving and enhancing our scanners, tricorders and computers. His brother Lientov on the other hand was just as brilliant but far more focused on his own schemes and gain. He wasn't as scientifically minded as Andrei but his brilliance lay in cutting deals and manipulating the work of others. He got involved in criminal activities very early on but there was nothing to tie him to anything illegal at the time so he was never arrested or charged. The two brothers fell out of touch with each other and Lientov was apparently quite happy to leave his brother be as long as he didn't interfere with his activities."

"This changed several years ago and I can't say it for certain but I think Pavel was the reason for this, he showed his genius at a very young age and I believe that Lientov heard about it. When Pavel was about five his father Andrei and his mother Anna suddenly died in a terrible accident, it was never proven but I think Lientov was responsible for that accident. With nothing against him, no-one questioned the decision to pass Pavel into his care and that is where the nightmares come from. I don't know the details of what actually happened but I know that Pavel was continuously abused by his uncle while in his care during the years afterwards. Lientov must have wanted to use Pavel's intellect because he was eager to allow the boy to move to higher levels and skip years during his schooling and he made sure that Pavel was top of his class."

Spock interjected with his own thought, "The abuse Ensign Chekov suffered must have been a means to cause him to obey Lientov only and not formulate his own views. His uncle had no care for his wellbeing; he only wished to make use of his scientific aptitude."

Archer nodded in agreement, "That is highly likely Spock though only Pavel and Lientov himself could confirm it." The admiral continued, "Things continued in this way until Pavel was about thirteen. Starfleet had taken notice of his incredible abilities and decided to see if we could recruit him. Obviously with him still a child at this point we took the offer to his uncle first, though Pavel's academic ability was well beyond others his age he would still be very much a child in other ways. Our original idea was to make the offer then but not actually force a decision until he was older but let it be known that should he wish to join Starfleet we would accept him without any issues. I was the one who contacted Lientov first and was surprised to find him very apposed to the idea but he eventually agreed to let me speak to Pavel in person. I spoke to his teachers to get a view on what he was like and that was when I first became suspicious. His teachers had noticed aspects in Pavel's behaviour that suggested abuse but there had not been enough evidence to instigate an investigation, when I spoke to Pavel in his school my suspicions were further increased. He was surprised when I spoke to him like he wasn't used to adults speaking to him kindly, he was also very nervous when I asked him about his uncle and, having had to spend years learning to recognise when someone is lying to me, his reply instantly set off warnings in my mind. Afterwards with me being like Jim in being willing to interfere when it felt right I started to look into Lientov's background. It took a lot of time and effort but I eventually found various bits of evidence connecting him to different criminal activities including some of great interest to Starfleet."

McCoy interrupted, "Like what?"

It was Spock who answered, "It seemed that Lientov had connections to Governor Kodos and some of his ideas were incorporated into Kodos' eugenics outline. There is also evidence that it was one of Lientov's connections who constructed the disease that destroyed the crops which resulted in the Tarsus IV tragedy."

McCoy looked horrified as Archer nodded sadly, "You're right Spock and my reaction was much the same as yours Doctor when I discovered this. This naturally resulted in a full investigation into all of Lientov's activities and Pavel was taken from his custody, unfortunately he vanished before he could be arrested and what little evidence was left suggested he was dead. With Lientov gone Pavel had no blood relatives left and no family friends took look after him, Starfleet offered to give him a place at the academy and agreed that they would act as his guardians in absence of anyone else if Pavel accepted. He did and so he moved to the academy and we added a few extra regulations to accommodate him, I was assigned as his acting guardian until Jim took on the role shortly after Nero and we never heard anything about Lientov until now."

A silence fell after the admiral had finished until McCoy eventually broke it, "Why has he shown himself now, what does he want that would involve all this?"

Archer answered, "I can make a few guesses but we won't know for certain until Lientov makes his demands. He is almost certainly going to demand some kind of ransom and it must be pretty big if he's revealing himself after pretending to be dead for roughly five years."

Spock put forward some of his own thoughts, "It is also highly likely that it was no accident that the Enterprise was the ship chosen for this mission."

McCoy looked at him, "You think Lientov has connections in Starfleet and planned to kidnap Pavel?"

"Actually Doctor I believe the capture of Ensign Chekov was purely coincidental but given that Lientov has been successfully hiding for the last few years from Starfleet he must have some contact within us. If this is the case then it is no great effort for him to ensure that it was the Enterprise which was sent to investigate the signal he put out."

"But if Pavel wasn't the reason, why the Enterprise?"

Archer answered McCoy, "If he was wanting something big then he would need a high profile hostage to ransom and the captain of Starfleet's flagship would be suitable. Its no secret that Jim likes to attend most missions personally and a mysterious signal would guarantee his beaming down to the planet."

Leonard asked another question, "So what do we do now?"

"There's not much we can do," the admiral answered, "we don't have much choice but to wait for Lientov to contact us unless we find some clue as to where he's keeping his captives."

Spock spoke, "What are your orders sir?"

"Continue to search for your crew Commander, if we can find them we may be able to organise a rescue attempt. Lientov will most likely contact you again soon, when he does inform him that I am coming to the Enterprise to conduct negotiations with him. It'll buy us some more time to try and save the others and it'll no doubt be just the thing Lientov wants to hear. He knows that I'm the one that unearthed the evidence against him which is why he demanded that you contact me, he's making it personal."

"Are you sure you do not wish to negotiate from Starfleet headquarters, there is a high probability that this could be a trap for you."

"Spock, Lientov didn't reveal himself just to get revenge on me, he wants something big that Starfleet has. Furthermore, though Jim was always closer to being Pavel's father I still hold some responsibility for him as well as Jim and Scotty. I want to deal with this personally."

"Of course sir."

"Thank you Mr Spock. I'll arrange transport out to the Enterprise for myself, until then the safety of Kirk, Scott and Chekov is your top priority, do not do anything that may put them in any more danger than they're already in. I'll let you know my ETA with the Enterprise shortly."

"Understood Admiral."

Archer gave them one final nod before cutting the comm..

PS-So there is Pavel's backstory as it stands in my canon. I hope it makes sense and there are no glaring inconsistencies and please let me know what you thought.