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PS-El: Part II
At oh-eight-hundred in the morning following Lieutenant Pavel Chekov's well-intentioned abduction of a spatially and temporally-displaced teenager, Chekov is on his way to medbay to retrieve said teenager for an interview with Captain Kirk, Commander Spock, and Doctor McCoy.
His own interview had started nearly an hour and a half ago, very shortly after Kirk woke up and read Chekov's recently-submitted incident report. Chekov regrets flagging his report as urgent; perhaps he would have had time to catch a nap if he hadn't. Then again, how could he have fallen asleep with the very real threat of disciplinary action hanging over his head?
Fortunately, none of Chekov's superior officers had suggested a court-martial or stripping him of his rank. They weren't happy with him, by any means, but Kirk and McCoy had been relatively sympathetic, and Spock's main concern was Chekov's lack of communication with him or the captain. It was agreed that El was likely better off in the safety of their medbay than on the base; Starbase 17's commander, Chekov was told, is a notoriously unpleasant individual who prioritizes Federation interests, scientific or otherwise, over things like morals and ethics. That said, Chekov hadn't known anything about El when he brought her aboard, and they still only knew as much as Chapel's medical scans revealed. Captain Kirk and Spock hoped to determine what level of threat the girl posed, if any, by talking to her.
(McCoy thought Kirk and Spock were foolish for being so worried about a hungry seventeen year-old who clearly needed their help. Chekov is inclined to side with the doctor, but he realizes that he is somewhat biased.)
The Russian enters medbay. Chapel -- still on duty even though gamma shift ended hours ago -- looks up from her datapad. "Welcome back, lieutenant," she says, waving him in.
"I am still welcome?" Chekov means it as a joke, but it comes out a little too earnest to be convincing. "You have a double shift?"
"I asked M'Benga to trade shifts with me. I'd rather pull a double than explain all of this to someone else."
"You are an angel, Christine, thank you," the lieutenant replies, although he knows Chapel well enough to know that this is not strictly true. He looks towards where he left El. Hopefully she's awake... he will feel bad if he has to wake her up. "I need to borrow El, if she can be discharged. The captain would like to speak with her."
Chapel looks... relieved? "She's free to leave."
"Thank you." Chekov turns his full attention to their visitor from another time and place. "El? Would you come with me, please?"
His own interview had started nearly an hour and a half ago, very shortly after Kirk woke up and read Chekov's recently-submitted incident report. Chekov regrets flagging his report as urgent; perhaps he would have had time to catch a nap if he hadn't. Then again, how could he have fallen asleep with the very real threat of disciplinary action hanging over his head?
Fortunately, none of Chekov's superior officers had suggested a court-martial or stripping him of his rank. They weren't happy with him, by any means, but Kirk and McCoy had been relatively sympathetic, and Spock's main concern was Chekov's lack of communication with him or the captain. It was agreed that El was likely better off in the safety of their medbay than on the base; Starbase 17's commander, Chekov was told, is a notoriously unpleasant individual who prioritizes Federation interests, scientific or otherwise, over things like morals and ethics. That said, Chekov hadn't known anything about El when he brought her aboard, and they still only knew as much as Chapel's medical scans revealed. Captain Kirk and Spock hoped to determine what level of threat the girl posed, if any, by talking to her.
(McCoy thought Kirk and Spock were foolish for being so worried about a hungry seventeen year-old who clearly needed their help. Chekov is inclined to side with the doctor, but he realizes that he is somewhat biased.)
The Russian enters medbay. Chapel -- still on duty even though gamma shift ended hours ago -- looks up from her datapad. "Welcome back, lieutenant," she says, waving him in.
"I am still welcome?" Chekov means it as a joke, but it comes out a little too earnest to be convincing. "You have a double shift?"
"I asked M'Benga to trade shifts with me. I'd rather pull a double than explain all of this to someone else."
"You are an angel, Christine, thank you," the lieutenant replies, although he knows Chapel well enough to know that this is not strictly true. He looks towards where he left El. Hopefully she's awake... he will feel bad if he has to wake her up. "I need to borrow El, if she can be discharged. The captain would like to speak with her."
Chapel looks... relieved? "She's free to leave."
"Thank you." Chekov turns his full attention to their visitor from another time and place. "El? Would you come with me, please?"
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But before Chekov can say that sharing quarters with Sulu probably doesn't count as having a slumber party, the chime of his comm unit cuts him off. He shoots El an apologetic look before answering. "Go for Chekov."
"Chekov, hey." Unsurprisingly, it's Captain Kirk's voice. "Two quick questions."
"Yes, sir?"
"Okay, one: theoretically, would you be able to beam yourself from one place to another -- say, from a starbase to the ship -- without anyone on the receiving end?"
"Theoretically, yes, but--"
"Great, good. So question two, totally unrelated: does the energy signature of a successful transport look like the signature from, you know... some kind of rift in spacetime after it closes?"
"Similar enough," Chekov answers hesitantly, "but if someone who is familiar with spacetime anomalies compares--"
"Similar is good enough, thanks," Kirk's voice interrupts again. "Spock's gonna make a few revisions to that report you filed this morning and send it back for your signature, alright? Just sign off on it and trust me."
The comm goes dead before Chekov gets out a final yes sir. He sighs and returns the unit to his pocket. "I will enjoy my slumber party much more than I'll like whatever the captain is doing right now."