Observed

Part 3

by Maven Cree

"Enter."

Uhura stepped through the door of Spock's quarters in time to see him setting his ka'athyra, his Vulcan lyre, back onto its place on its shelf. She snapped her fingers.

"Curses…" she smiled, "Missed him again." She smiled and took a seat on the arm of his small sofa.

Spock fastened a latch around the base to prevent it from falling in case of… whatever the ship might run into. The ka'athyra was made of wood and the localized stabilization field would only hold artificial materials in place.

She caught a ghost of a smirk on his face. "I am not responsible for your bad timing," he said quietly. She smiled, but let it go.

"I come on a mission of mercy."

The Commander focused his attention on the Lieutenant. "Mercy?"

"On behalf of your long suffering protégé."

Spock tilted his head.

"I do not have a protégé."

"Of course you do," she smiled. "Young, brilliant, inexplicably heavy Russian accent…"

"You are referring to Ensign Chekov."

"Of course."

"I do not understand how protégé applies."

"Spock, you're his idol."

"…I do not understand."

"Pavel has one of the highest IQ's ever registered for a human. His brain is a living computer. He's on the command track, but he has the knowledge and ability to fill in any science, medical or communications position on this ship. His intellect has often let him feeling socially isolated… at least before coming onboard the Enterprise… Sound like anyone else you know?"

Spock raised an eyebrow.

"You're probably the only person onboard that he can relate to. You're his example. He looks up to you. Emulates you. He's even started walking with his hands clasped behind his back."

"It is beneficial to one's posture."

She rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, Pavel has been working on a little project in his spare time. I believe that it may prove beneficial to the ship and he would like your opinion on the matter."

She handed him a data PADD.

"If it is of such import, why has he not delivered it to me himself?"

She smiled. "Because as much as he admires you, he's also terrified of you."

"I have no sense of that."

"Oh, he's the model of professionalism on the bridge… for the most part… but has he ever said a single word to you while off duty?"

Spock's eyes moved off to the side and she knew he was checking his near perfect memory.

"Not to my recollection, however I do not recall any instance that would qualify as terrorism."

"Perhaps unintentionally intimidate would be more accurate. He couldn't even bring himself to actually ask me to pass that on. He was telling me about it and kept asking, "I vonder vat Mr Spock vould have to say about this?" I finally just asked him if he wanted me to show it to you. His eyes lit up like an Orion Moon Gem."

As she spoke, Spock was skimming the PADD. Though his facial expression barely changed, Uhura knew him well enough to see that he was impressed by what he'd read so far.

"When you speak to him," she continued, "remember to be kind."

He looked up. She shrugged.

"A figure of speech. I just meant that for all his being a senior bridge officer and a genius, he still a kid. And with humans, it's not always what you say, but how you say it."

Spock considered this for a moment.

"I shall… endeavour to be kind."

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

STstSTstSTstSTstSTSstSTstSTstST STstSTstSTstSTstSTSstSTstSTstST STstSTstSTstSTstSTSstSTstSTstST

"Ensign Chekov."

The seventeen-year-old jumped and stood to attention. "Sir."

"As you were Ensign," Spock said. After a slight hesitation, Chekov turned and continued down the corridor, his hands clasped formally behind his back. Spock fell into step beside him.

"Lt. Uhura has passed on the proposal you have developed."

"Vell, it is not really a proposal yet… not officially. Just something knocking around in my brain."

"I would suggest that you make it official, Mr Chekov. I've found your research rather fascinating. Should you ideas come to fruition, they could not only be revolutionary to our own transporter capabilities, but could theoretically be expanded into other areas, such as security or communications."

Chekov remained silent. His steps slowed until he stopped walking completely. He turned to face Spock.

"These thought had occurred to me as vell, Commander Spock, but I vould rather focus my attentions solely on the transporters at this time. They are too slow to find their targets... too slow to lock the volume… The identifiers are too random… This is dangerous. It costs lives!"

Chekov's voice had risen enough at the end to catch the attention of other crewmembers in the vicinity. Spock raised an eyebrow.

"Follow me, Mr Chekov."

Spock led him off to a quiet corridor.

"Your last comment was unnecessarily emotional and not logically sound. Transporter technology has in fact saved many lives. The likelihood of someone being killed in a transportation incident is 1 in 2 469 547. Given the fervidity of your statement, it is logical to assume you have a motivation for this project other than scientific advancement."

The ensign seemed to find a spot on the floor quite engaging.

"Mr Chekov?"

"I think you must hate me, Mr. Spock."

Spock raised both eyebrows at this. "I assure you, that is far from the truth." Given their immediate conversation, Spock's mind was already formulating the likely answer when he then asked, "What is it that has led you to this assumption?"

Chekov continued to avoid the Vulcan's human looking eyes.

"It vas my… I should have locked the wolume sooner. It took too long. If it had been faster…"

Unperceivably, Spock slightly tensed.

"…You are referring to my mother's death."

"It vas my fault."

Spock resisted the urge to chew on his bottom lip; a habit he had picked up from the very woman they were now discussing.

"It appears, Mr Chekov, that you and I have yet one more thing in common: An illogical and misplaced guilt over the death of Amanda Grayson. I assure you, we are both in error on this point. You are no more responsible for my mother's death than I am."

Chekov's eyes widened. "But sir, how could you possibly think that you--"

"Your knowledge of transporter technology has been acknowledged as being second only to that of Mr Scott's, Ensign," Spock interrupted. He felt he had shared enough of his personal demons for the moment. "Have you gone over the transporter records?"

"Repeatedly."

"Was there any possible way for the transport of a being not emitting a federation signature, to have happened any faster?"

"…No sir."

"Were you performing your duties to the best of your ability?"

"Yes, sir."

"Excluding information gained from your current numerous hours of research, was there anything you would have done differently if presented with the same situation?"

"…No, sir."

Spock tilted his head. "Then the only logical conclusion is that you ware not to blame, Mr Chekov. Indeed, I am grateful you were at the controls. A lesser skilled crewman may not have been able to retrieve any of us from the cliffside in that short window of time. My father was saved due to your actions that day."

Chekov had become extremely flushed.

"…Just… doing my duty, sir."

Spock nodded, and handed him back the PADD he'd been holding.

"I suggest you formalize your proposal and submit it to the Captain during our next senior staff meeting."

"Aye, sir," Chekov replied with a small smile. His demeanour appeared to be much lighter than before.

Kind indeed, Spock thought.

A/N: Okay folks, sorry for the wait. This wasn't originally Chapter 3. Chapter 3 was the dark chapter, but then I realized that I needed to convey some other information first. So that dark stuff got moved to Chapter 4. And then… Somehow… I deleted both of those chapters!!!! Thankfully, I have a habit of printing out chapters to edit, and I thankfully hadn't gotten to far in either chapter. Some things I lost, but it turns out that what developed works better anyway. (At least I hope it does – you'll have to tell me what you think.) So everything happens for a reason. (And just to spread my geekiness… I'd like to announce that at this point in time I have seen Star Trek 6 times in theatre – which is a record for me, and an unknown amount of times on my computer… I feel no guilt in this – I would pay to see it again if it were playing by me.)

Chapter 4 won't take as long… I promise.

Feed me by reviewing!!!!