A Piratocracy

[candothat]

After Blackbeard's miraculously successful fuckery and the mess that followed, Chekov kept more-or-less to himself.

Some of it is lingering embarrassment over his outburst on the bridge. The rest is a result of his talk with Frenchie; that made it very clear to Chekov that he is in a place that he doesn't truly understand with no escape plan. The Enterprise isn't coming to his rescue because it is no longer under Captain Kirk's control. He can't contact Starfleet because he fled the scene of a murder and is now a criminal. Talking to his friends, currently scattered across the quadrant, is unsafe until he can set up a means of communication that Starfleet won't be able to track back to the Revenge. And, on top of that, the longer he stays with a pirate crew (are they officially pirates now that the infamous Blackbeard is in residence?), the more difficult it will be to go back to his former life.

It's a lot to think about.

Chekov occupies himself with projects that don't really need to be done. He still sees his crewmates often enough -- with common sleeping quarters and the galley, isolation is virtually impossible -- but he isn't seeking out socialization. Some of the things he said to Frenchie were quite stupid and he's afraid of tripping up around someone less forgiving.

Perhaps if he had been talking to his peers more regularly, he would have known about the elections sooner. As it is, Chekov is unaware until he sees the hand-drawn posters on the walls of the Revenge:

CAPTAIN ELECTION
TODAY!
Do your duty!
VOTE!

The penmanship is immaculate with many lovely flourishes.

And is that... a ballot box?

Chekov puzzles over the poster and the box, wondering if this is a pirate thing or a uniquely Stede Bonnet thing.

Comments

[eccentricpirate]

[Stede has seen next to nothing of Chekov since the Incident on the bridge. If he were one of the crew, he would have counseled himself to seek the young man out and have a real heart-to-heart...but he's the captain, so he doesn't have to listen to his own advice.

Stumbling across the young man at the ballot box seems like the perfect opportunity to get their relationship back on track.]

Ah, Mr. Chekov! I see you've noticed our election posters! I hope you'll consider running -- though don't think that means I'll give up easy.

[candothat]

[The apology for Captain Bonnet that Chekov has been thinking about way too hard about feels much less urgent when said captain starts talking. Stede really did tell him to consider running for a command position when that whole thing on the bridge featured Chekov's still-very-present guilt for killing a dozen people while in a command position, didn't he? In someone else, he might consider that a retaliatory jab to make up for insubordination.

But it's not someone else, so Chekov just shakes his head and falls back on his favorite mantra: this is fine.]

I don't think that I am qualified to be a pirate captain.

[eccentricpirate]

Why ever not? You're a tactical genius. You have leadership experience. The accent can be a little confusing sometimes, but we all have our cross to bear.

[candothat]

[Actually, Captain Bonnet will not be receiving an apology.]

Thank you, Captain, but my leadership experience went very poorly.

[eccentricpirate]

All right, suit yourself -- but you're doing yourself a disservice. There's a fantastic leader in there [poking Chekov's chest] if you'd give him a chance.

[candothat]

Maybe someday. [Stede is making himself very hard to remain annoyed with. Chekov's always been a sucker for praise.] For now, I don't think that the Revenge needs a captain who is twenty-two and only reluctantly a pirate.

[eccentricpirate]

Certainly improves my chances of winning. But make sure you vote! It's important that everybody participates in our democratic process!

[candothat]

Yes, of course. Who do you expect to run against you? Captain Blackbeard?

[eccentricpirate]

You know, I hadn't thought of that. I should make sure he knows. Thank you, Mr. Chekov! [Stede always appreciates an excuse to spend time with his bestie.]

[candothat]

[So apparently there's a possibility that Blackbeard could be the captain of the Revenge because captaincy is a matter of democratic election and Chekov had to say words at Captain Bonnet.

Instead of sitting around fretting, Chekov uses his nervous energy to finish establishing a secure connection to the Federation message network. It's probably unnecessarily complicated -- surely no one wants to find any of them enough to trace signals between a dozen different relay stations throughout Federation space -- but over-complicated is better than all of them being caught just because Chekov wanted to send messages to his friends. Even though he might not mind being caught all that much, Stede and Blackbeard might look less kindly on it.

As soon as he connects, his pad is flooded with messages from the former crew of the Enterprise. Most of the subject lines are full of capital letters and exclamation points, so it seems that they've managed to learn about Chekov's current status as a criminal. The messages are about what he expected: Sulu and Kirk congratulating him on falling in with actual pirates and asking for details (and an autograph from Blackbeard on Hikaru's part -- of course Hikaru knows about the specific pirates out here), Uhura and McCoy worrying and asking him to turn himself in, Spock letting him know that the Revenge has officially been entered into Starfleet's records as a pirate vessel. Scotty's messages are all about the specifications of the Revenge's deck, but that's to be expected. He wouldn't be Scotty if he wasn't hung up on an engineering issue.

There's a message from Andrei Chekov as well. Chekov doesn't think he'll be able to read that one for a while.

He composes a quick, vague message to all of them letting them know that he's fine. It seems best to say too little for now. Izzy and possibly Blackbeard still don't entirely trust Chekov to not sell them all out; he doesn't want to give them any reason to doubt him more.]

[eccentricpirate]

[Jim appears behind Chekov with preternatural silence.]

Don't tell me you're turning us in already. [They grin to let him know it's a joke, though there's a note of suspicion in there as well. Not that Pavel would turn them in to Starfleet -- the kid is easier to read than a picture book -- but that he'll do something stupid that will get them all caught.]

[candothat]

[Chekov jumps, fumbling with his pad. He manages to keep it from falling to the ground, but it's a near thing.]

Jim, hello! [It takes him a moment to confirm that yes, Jim is joking. Mostly, at least.] No, no... I won't send any messages that contain compromising information. I just... [He fiddles with his pad's stylus, feeling very foolish and young. That's happening a lot lately.] There are people that I need to talk to.

[eccentricpirate]

[Jim nods.]

Your old shipmates. [Pavel doesn't talk much about the Enterprise crew, but it's obvious how much he misses them. Jim knows it must be agony; it hurts just imagining something separating them from Olu.]

[candothat]

Yes. [Jim understands, then.] I'm taking every possible precaution. I will not endanger my new crew to talk to my old one.

[He so badly wants Jim to believe him. Yes, the former Enterprise crew is his family, but he wants the crew of the Revenge to be family too.]

[eccentricpirate]

Miho, people on birth control and using condoms still get pregnant sometimes. It's a risk.

[They give a moment for that to sink in before continuing.]

I'm not judging you. Life's just one risk after another until something finally fucking kills you.

[candothat]

...True.

You have a bleak and unflinchingly realistic view of life, Jim.

[eccentricpirate]

Welcome to life outside the Federation, miho. La vida es dolor.

How they holding up out there?

[candothat]

Жизнь есть жизнь, Боль есть боль -- life is life and pain is pain, we would say where I am from.

Well enough. All of their assignments are much less dangerous than the Enterprise.

[massiveaggressions]

[Ah, Chekov. Just the man Ed needs to check in with to make sure he's really not planning anything devious like a mutiny or turning them all in.]

I hear you've got a problem with Stede's management style.

[candothat]

[Chekov hugs his pad to his chest. He'd really been hoping that Blackbeard would stomp down the hallway without addressing him, but when has he ever been so lucky? The pirate's reckless endangerment of the crew is the real reason for Chekov's outburst on the bridge and he truly doesn't want to talk to him.]

No, sir. [He winces. Blackbeard did tell him to stop with the sirs.] Er, Captain Blackbeard.

[massiveaggressions]

Good. [Ed uses his significant height advantage to loom over the kid.] He's the best kind of captain you can hope for out here, mate, and I expect you to be grateful.

[candothat]

I understand, and I am. Very.

[Chekov means it, even if he doesn't entirely agree that Stede is the best captain he could hope for. He could definitely hope for a captain who doesn't turn control over to someone who has little to no concern for the crew of his ship.]

[massiveaggressions]

[Ed grunts his approval, satisfied that Chekov won't be mutinying. He doesn't, however, drop the threat from his voice.]

So what's that on your pad there? You've got some new messages.

[candothat]

The connection is secure! [Blackbeard's frown deepens. Right, right, that wasn't the answer to his question.] It's -- I sent a message to my friends. Those will be their replies.

[The captain doesn't look satisfied.]

All messages in and out will be bounced between several different relay stations. Someone would need to connect each part of the chain to find us.

[massiveaggressions]

...Alright.

[Ed eases up and pats the kid's shoulder. Gotta keep him off-balance.]

But remember what happens if you give us up, accidentally or on purpose.