Chekov stared at the man talking to the Captain. He had dark, wiry hair and dark eyes. His face was oddly familiar, but was more angular, had more sharp edges than the one it shadowed.
It was a face Chekov had hoped he'd never see.
Sheer joy rushed through Andrie like a tsunami coursing through every artery and vein in his body. It exploded in his chest: leaping upward and going off like fireworks in his brain.
As he ran, be bent over and let both his hands rake through the leaves on the forest floor on either side of him. The heady smell of the fallen leaves and the dirt his fingers were raking up made him smile broadly.
When he got to the final clearing near the end of the woods, he stopped running. He stood up, threw his arms out wide, and began turning. The strength of the tress, the singing of the birds, the chirping of the insects filled him. He felt he was one with the woods, and he couldn't tell if the sounds were coming from the forest or from himself. He felt he belonged here, unlike the rest of the world he knew.
Turning wasn't capturing the need in his soul, so he stopped and started doing pirouettes instead. Fast, furious: he challenged himself to do more and more. Eight, ten, eleven…his push for fifteen ended suddenly when he saw the flash of green in the forest.
His chest heaving from the exertion, he turned to locate the flash of green he'd seen.
The beautiful woman stood just beyond the edge of the clearing, her hand resting on the bark of a tree as if she was in communication with it. Tall and shapely, the petals of her dress appeared to be moving waves in the ocean and her long, tangled hair was the color of seafoam.
Her shining ocean-blue eyes were fixed on him.
Andrie smiled happily at her and thought what a remarkably exquisite thing imagination was.
"This way," she said urgently. "Come!"
His smile broadened and he laughed softly.
"Andryusha, this way!" her voice and eyes became more urgent. "Come!"
He shook his head, but his eyes shone in affection. Rusalka seemed friendly now: but that had led to the death of countless men. He knew better.
And then she was gone.
The victory he felt didn't have time to fully form before he heard the crunch of leaves and snap of branches behind him.
The older boy grabbed his hair from behind and yanked him around. He slammed his fist into Andrie's face.
Andrie's legs buckled beneath him as the force of the blow spun him around again. The boy held him up by the hair entwined in his fingers. He slammed his fist into Andrie's kidney from behind, then finally let go and he fell to the ground on his face.
Andrie scrambled away, sprinting like a spider on his hands and knees as the hard footsteps pursued him.
"You didn't go to school again." The boy's boot slammed into Andrie's side, jerking him over on his back. "You didn't come home for dinner." The boy's boot slammed into him again: over and over. "We've been searching for you for hours!"
Andrie stopped trying to get away. He knew from experience that it was useless. As he lay there with his face in the dirt, he realized that he was, in fact, hungry. He hadn't eaten since…did he eat yesterday? The day before?
The older boy yanked Andrie to his feet again. His chest was heaving from the exertion of beating his younger brother and his eyes were gleaming with hate.
"When are you going to learn? What's it going to take for you to be normal?! You love trees?" he sneered. "Is that it?!" The boy slammed Andrie's face against the nearest tree. Birds scattered at the sound of bones breaking. He let go and Andrie fell to the ground again.
Looking up at the sky, Andrie saw for the first time that it was not only dusk, but the end of it: the light was fading completely from the sky. He watched as the stars began to gleam in the cloudless heavens and, as they filled his vision, he no longer felt along.
"The whole town knows about Nikolia's weird ass son! Do you know how embarrassing this is for the entire family? What kind of college is going to accept me knowing the freak is my brother?! You do this on purpose!"
Andrie shifted his eyes as he caught a glimpse of green again.
She was crouched up in the tree branches above them. Her dress looked like shards of glass now, and her hair thin branches with multiple thorns. Her face was now a hag's, twisted into a malevolent grimace.
"You're going to stop this shit if I have to beat you unconscious to convince you of that!"
Then the rain started falling.
Andrie watched as his other brother tried to shield himself from the driving torrent with his arms. Golf ball sized hail began slamming into him and he tried to knock it away – but it pelted him mercilessly.
Andrie watched it: but he didn't understand it. The rain felt like a warm shower to him, and the water sliding over him felt like it was somehow melting the pain and washing it away.
And even more stars had come to visit him in the cloudless night sky.
"Chekov!"
He startled at the Captain's voice. "I apologize, Sir," he said quickly.
"Michael Kipiani," Kirk said. "Of the Kipiani Consulting Group."
Of course Chekov knew who the man was: the Kipiani Group developed and installed all the starship computer upgrades. The Enterprise was usually serviced at Starbases. This was the first time one of the KCG came aboard to do the work: but it was common on other ships.
"This is Ensign Chekov," Kirk continued. "Our top computer expert. He'll be assisting you."
"Mr. Spock is the 'top computer expert'," Chekov quipped with a crooked smile. "But I am second: and easier to work with."
The Captain scowled a reprimand at him.
Kipiani stepped around Kirk, but froze: his hand only half extended to shake Chekov's. "Andrievich!"
Kirk's eyes widened in surprise and he smiled easily. "You know each other."
"No, Sir," Chekov insisted sincerely. "We have never met."
"But I do recognize him," Kipiani said, dropping his hand and any pretense of a handshake.
"Then we're off to a good start," Kirk observed. "I'll leave you to it." He nodded at them and strode out the shuttle bay entrance to the ship.
Chekov stared at the wall silently as the man studied him.
"There's no mistaking who you are: you could be his clone!" Kipiani declared. "Except…"
"My hair," Chekov concluded for him, shifting his eyes to the man now that his scrutiny was done. "The crewmen will take your things to your quarters and the computer lab. Which would you like to see first?"
The man stood staring at him with the ridiculous, malevolent grin.
"Which would you like to see first? Your…"
"I'm not here to sleep."
Chekov nodded and gestured to the shuttle bay door. "This way."
The man followed two steps behind him, but when Chekov slowed his pace, so did Kipiani. "Chekov is what you are calling yourself?"
"Michael is what you're calling yourself?" Chekov asked in reply.
"Your accent is ridiculous, you know?"
"I am making up for your lack of one." Chekov glanced back at him. "When did you stop being Russian?"
"I was never Russian." Kipiani stopped in his tracks. "But you know that."
Chekov stopped too, but didn't look back at the man. "The computer lab is down here," he said, gesturing.
"I heard it, but didn't believe it. Andrie's son in Starfleet? And 'a computer expert'?
The mention of his father brought Chekov back to himself. "I apologize, Sir. I should not have been rude."
His face twisted into the abomination of a snake again. "No shit? We're at 'respect your elders no matter what'?"
"It's a Russian thing."
Chekov began walking down the corridor again. He didn't care if the man followed him or not.