Title: After the Rescue

Part: NEW 49/73

Author: Karmen Ghia, karmen_ghia@yahoo.com

Series: TOS

Romance Code: S/Mc and then some.

Rating: NC-17

Appendices: http://members.tripod.com/karmen_ghia/atrappendices.html

See part one for disclaimers, etc.

Captain One turned and rose to vacate the command chair but Wolfe waved her to sit back down.

"Spock is just phoning home, Captain. Give him what he needs and put it on screen." Wolfe pushed her long brown hair off her shoulders and stared intently at the battle between the Yrvan Revolutionary Forces and their former allies, the Ciren pirates, in progress on the other side of the border. The image was being relayed by ships still on the line as the Albright and an escort were headed back into the Federation with their prisoner. The screen split and Sarek appeared on half of it.

Father and son exchanged greetings and Spock told Sarek his news.

"I am aware of this. Jir's law partner, Storen himself, brought me this news. I am making inquiries with the Klingon Embassy here but it does not look promising. They claim to have no knowledge of Maja's arrest."

"What can be done, father?"

"Nothing at this time. I understand Ling is trying to negotiate his release. For the moment, that is his best hope. Why are you on this ship, Spock?"

"I am here to assist in Hobie's interrogation."

"I see. Are you aware that Hobie's trial is to be held on Vulcan and that Storen has lodged a complaint that Hobie is being held incommunicado and without representation by Star Fleet?"

Spock felt Commodore Wolfe stiffen beside him: "No, sir, I was not."

Sarek looked around the Albright bridge and then back at Spock: "I see. I will do whatever I can for Maja. Farewell, Spock." His image was replaced by the battle.

"Thank you, Commodore. Captain." Spock nodded to them and received their nods in turn.

"How are you, Spock?" Captain One asked him.

"I am well."

"How goes it on the Enterprise?"

"Well."

"Good." Captain One, having finished what, for her, was a lengthy social conversation, turned her attention back to her command.

Wolfe had removed herself from the bridge almost before Spock had finished thanking her so Spock and Sunna rode to the security deck alone.

"Are you going to talk to him again?" Sunna asked.

"If you mean Hobie, yes, I intend to speak to him again," Spock said.

"There's talk that the Terran Ministry of Justice will try to have him hanged if he's convicted."

"I doubt that will be allowed, Carlos. I know the Vulcans would object. I'm sure he would be sentenced to the usual punishment of transportation, if he is convicted."

"If he is convicted," Sunna repeated softly.

* * *

/Kzost says he can do nothing for you, Maja./ Ling was hidden aboard a freighter in orbit around the Klingon homeworld.

/I know. I can feel how bad he feels. Tell him I'll be okay./ Maja wished he felt so sure.

Maja's former position in the Empire had not done him much good so far. He was first beaten and then interrogated mechanically. Without his brothers he could only heal himself with the healing trance he'd learned on Vulcan and relearned from Sarek. The MageCheq left the worst of the surface bruises so the Klingons could feel a sense of accomplishment. When there were less than three interrogators present, he could telepathically lull them into a trance wherein they thought they were still torturing him. This did not work with more than two. His best strategy in that case was to dive into a healing trance and remain there for as long as possible. This actually worked because it was so boring for the audience, everybody lost interest and went away. To distract himself from the pain he could not avoid, Maja separated and classified all its aspects: pressure, burning or puncture; panic, horror, disgust singly or in some combination; crunching or plopping sound; burning flesh, blood or acid/chemical smell. The annoying part was that he was not asked any questions, leading him to believe that it was all decided and he would simply and quietly be executed one day. Maja did not allow his brothers to know what was happening to him. In fact, nothing had happened for several days and he was wondering why. He looked up as his cell door opened to admit, he assumed, another interrogator.

"Get some ice, antiseptic and bandages," Kroldt said hoarsely to his aides after a moment of staring at Maja and then stepped inside. He crossed to the plank Maja lay on and sat next to him. "I could not get here before now ..."

"Did you stop the torture?"

"I think so. I..."

"Then I'm grateful for that."

Kroldt sighed. "I sold my soul to the Hierophant Kvreda to stop it. Gozine...." The Klingon pulled Maja into his arms and rocked him.

Maja leaned against him. It was nice to be held like this even if he didn't trust Kroldt ten steps out of his sight. "Why Kvreda?"

"He's got the Regent's ear."

"Is it still Admiral KzaxreaYhet?"

"Yes. Why wouldn't it be?" Kroldt gently applied some ice to the swelling on Maja's face.

"Dunno. I thought he might have lost control of it now there isn't the combined Empire."

Kroldt leaned back and gave Maja a hard look: "The Yhets lost a little ground but they hardly noticed it. There's a rumor that General KmordriYhet pines for your middle son, with whom he fell in love." The Klingon washed the cuts and scrapes on Maja's face and moved to tend the lashes on his back. "There are two rumors about the ex-Emperor's escape. One is that you and Hobie the Pirate were involved. The other is that demons escorted the royal party to the Federation."

Maja smiled in his mind and wished he could tell Kroldt that both rumors were true.

"Your trial is tomorrow. The Hierophants Kbxidi and Kuvrinis have demanded it in the name of the Church. They say that you, as a priest, however disgraced, have a right to defend yourself in a public assembly."

"I never knew they liked me so well."

"The Church fears that if you are executed as a common criminal it will set a precedent that will eventually destroy us all."

"Then the Supreme Religious Leader should not have exiled me."

"The SRL's only comment on you is that he wished you'd died in transit. He is not your problem, Gozine. Your real and true enemy is Admiral KzaxreaYhet. He wants to make an example of you as a warning to any who would defy the new Yhet power structure."

"Let me understand this: I was exiled for disobeying you, Master, wasn't I? What have the Yhets to do with that?"

"Gozine, the Yhets do not believe demons removed MajaKhat from the Klong-Rom throne. They believe it was you and they intend to punish you for that."

"So the trial is a formality."

"Yes. You will be publicly immolated directly after the trial. I hope you have put your spiritual life in order, Gozine. I will hear your last confession if you like."

"Thank you, no, I'm quite ready to face my fate as I am."

The prison was quite old and the sounds of profound suffering drifted into Maja's cell.

"Then I shall leave you." The Hierophant rose, trying to ignore the scream of pain echoing through the halls. "God help you, GozineGhet." He and his aides made a hasty exit.

"WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY" rang through the building in agony.

Maja stepped to the bars of his cell and watched the Hierophant scuttling away in fear.

Kroldt had reached the bottom tier and froze there when he heard Master Ghet, whose voice and words had made him believe there truly was a god, begin to speak: "My brothers and sisters. Here, in this prison of blood and bone, we cannot know why our bodies suffer. The infinite mind of god is not open to us on this subject.

"All we can know is that this flesh we live in is but a tiny part of what we are. That it can be destroyed but that our true being remains untouched, uncorrupted and undying. This flesh feels pain, the pain is real but soon that within you that questions your suffering, that of you that is beyond sensation, emotion and the entire physical plane, will be free of this agony. And in that freedom there is no more pain, no more fear, no more suffering, and no more death.

"There is nothing else to know except this. Know it, have faith in it and you will be victorious in it. That is all the mind of god will do for you here."

'Amen,' Kroldt thought, unfreezing and hurrying away. He did not notice the aura of peaceful courage and faith that descended on the prison and washed away the fear for awhile.

The Hierophant did, however, hear the cries of 'St. Gozine' that went up shortly after Maja stopped speaking.

* * *

Hobie successfully resisted all Spock's efforts to interrogate him. In frustration, Spock had finally sent in Chekov to try to question the pirate, but Hobie had merely romanced the blushing ensign and Spock was forced to concede defeat. He and Chekov returned to the Enterprise, were debriefed and went on with their lives.

"I'm sorry you had a bad time with Hobie but I'm glad you're back home now," McCoy said, stripping off his clothes and slipping into Spock's bed that night.

"Yes," Spock murmured, pulling the doctor close and stopping whatever he was going to say with a kiss.

Sometimes Spock just wanted silence in his lovemaking and McCoy knew him well enough to know that this was one of those times. So McCoy decided he'd best put his mouth to good use elsewhere.

The doctor kissed a trail down to Spock's flat nipples and nipped and sucked them to hardness. He ran his tongue over the Vulcan's flat hard belly, through the hair, down to his arching pale green cock. McCoy swirled his tongue around the head and clamped his lips under the helmet. He pumped the shaft a bit before taking a firm grip on the base and squeezing as hard as he could, while sucking very hard on the head. This was exhausting for the human but Spock seemed to enjoy it so. At least he was rock hard in seconds.

Spock ran his fingers through the doctor's warm brown hair and gave himself over to pleasure. He opened the link and found Kirk fantasizing about McCoy and masturbating. Spock left the link open and stroked his fingers along McCoy's temple, not melding but still conveying his heightened arousal.

McCoy smiled as best he could around Spock's cockhead; he could tell already it was going to be a good night. He worked his mouth as far down the shaft as he could and caressed the Vulcan's balls. Feeling Spock urging him up the bed, McCoy lifted his mouth and gave the head a few last loving licks before he crawled up over the supine Vulcan.

Spock kissed him deeply. Impatient for union, he lingered in the kiss nonetheless because McCoy (and Kirk) were enjoying it so much. Still kissing McCoy, Spock rolled the doctor onto his back and reached for the lubricant in the bedside table. He was pleased when McCoy spread his legs a little wider and drew up his knees. Spock quickly slipped in one, then two slick fingers. He put a generous amount of the gel on his cock and rolled the human forward. He centered his cock against McCoy's anus and paused until McCoy thrust gently up, urging Spock forward. Pressing gently in, Spock felt both humans gasp as the head slipped past the doctor's tight ring. Spock paused again to let McCoy adjust and sank a little deeper hearing the doctor sighing 'yes, yes.' It had been a while since they had done this so Spock went slow and easy. He hit bottom, gathered the doctor in his arms and kissed him. Sucking McCoy's tongue into his mouth, Spock began to slowly fuck him.

McCoy groaned in abandon beneath Spock and thrust up to meet his lover's strokes. He pulled his mouth away from Spock's so he could pant against the Vulcan's shoulder and hold on as Spock fucked him silly. Each stroke caressed the doctor's prostate and he was almost incoherent with pleasure. Nevertheless, he drew his knees up a little higher to accommodate Spock's harder thrusts.

Spock reached between them and wrapped his long warm hand around McCoy's erection. He pumped it twice before he felt it jerking beneath his hand and the doctor's ass clenching around him. The Vulcan slammed his cock into his lover and came with him. He wrapped his arms around McCoy and lay panting on top of him, his face buried in the human's neck.

"Spock," McCoy whispered after a few moments of lying together in the warm glow of their recent climax. "You're crushing me."

Spock propped himself up on his elbows and looked down at his lover. He bent his neck to brush his lips over the doctor's. "My apologies," he murmured, gently pulled out and rolled onto his back.

McCoy reached for the towel Spock meticulously kept under the pillow. "That was nice, Spock." He felt rather lame saying it but needed to say something.

Spock nodded and took the towel from him. "Yes. It's been a difficult time for me, Leonard. I have been neglecting you. I hope it will be different from now on."

McCoy nodded. "Yes. For as long as we have left."

Spock rolled onto his side and looked at the human. "What do you mean?"

"Spock, this mission is up in less than six months. Haven't you thought about what and where the next assignment is?"

"No. Have you?"

"Yes. I'm assigned to the Institute at Star Fleet headquarters for at least a year to write up and present my research."

Spock was silent.

"What are your plans, Spock?"

"I imagine they will be like yours - wherever Star Fleet assigns me."

"I requested this."

Spock lowered his eyes. "You have made plans without consulting me."

"Yes. I wasn't aware I needed to consult you." McCoy was testy in his surprise.

"Don't you wish to stay with me, Leonard?"

"Well, yes, if it's in our best interests, Spock, yes, I do." McCoy reached out to stroke Spock's shoulder. "But you can't deny that the Institute is the best possible place for me after this mission. As a scientist, I think it must be for you as well."

"I had thought there would be another five year mission," Spock said. "With you and Jim."

"He says there's nothing like that in the works." McCoy paused to see if Spock had anything to say to that. "I imagine you'll go to Vulcan before your next assignment," he said leadingly into the silence.

"Yes." Spock rolled over and went to sleep. McCoy recognized this as one of Spock's methods for closing a conversation he was no longer interested in.

'Well, I guess I'll go sleep at home tonight,' the doctor thought as he dressed and left Spock's quarters. He wondered, as he undressed and got into his own bed, if Spock really intended to break the bond with Jim. He was, however, too relaxed and happy to nag Spock about it tonight. Maybe tomorrow if he had time.

The next morning they learned that a truce was declared in the Klingon-Romulan war for the duration of the trial of Master Ghet.

* * *

Maja's trial was to be broadcast galaxy-wide. To the surprise of the Church, Maja was to be tried for sabotage. He was accused of kidnapping Maja I and thereby destroying the combined Klingon and Romulan Empire. There was no proof; proof was a mere bagatelle in this show trial. The Yhet's plans for galactic domination were up in smoke and they wanted somebody to pay for it. That person happened to be Maja Talljet.

The seven Hierophants were horrified. They had hoped to find a way to convince the Yhets to return Master Ghet to their jurisdiction where they could shut him up in a monastery for the rest of his life. They were distressed that a Klingon Master could be destroyed by forces outside the most Holy Klingon Church. They rightly saw it as a slippery slope. Even the Supreme Religious Leader expressed some concern about this turn of events.

The trial was to be held in the Imperial assembly hall, which held three thousand and was in the center of the capital city. Maja had spent the previous evening healing his body so that he not only looked good, he felt good, when he was led in chains to the raised central platform. The Hierophants, Meta-Primates and various priests were seated on a raised platform along one wall. The heads of the various powerful clans were seated opposite them. General KmordriYhet was among them. He had been in disgrace for losing the Klong-Rom emperor but was now obviously forgiven. Below Maja a throng of Klingons milled around him, staring silently, hurling abuse at him or arguing loudly amongst themselves. The doors of the hall were open and a crowd stretched away from them on all sides. It was as if the entire city had come to a halt for this one event. In many ways it had. Maja could see the execution stand in the distance - a stake with faggots piled around it. The arguing became louder and the occasional phrase was raised above the din.

"....HAS STRUCK DOWN THE CULMINATION OF CENTURIES OF KLINGON ROMULAN ASSOCIATION ...."

".... DESTROYER OF THE FUTURE...."

"....THIEF...."

"....SABOTEUR...."

'This is my trial.' Maja thought coolly, wondering when the crowd was going to tear him to pieces. 'Perhaps Gvo and Yrit are right. This bag of blood and shit we live in isn't that important. Perhaps this is the day to let go of it.' He looked down into Kzost's sad eyes. He saw a nervous Khatanya a little behind him and to the left. 'Except for all the love in this plane that makes me want to stay. Oh well. Dearest god, please help me now. Please don't let this be the last of me.' He hadn't prayed like that since he was a child but it felt right.

".....HERETIC....."

Maja could feel the ugliness in the crowd building. He drew a breath and sent his gentle voice over the din: "Klingons...."

"DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!"

"Klingons...."

"...NOTHING BUT LIES...."

"Klingons...."

"SILENCE! LET HIM SPEAK."

"Klingons."

The crowd quieted.

"I and my fate are before you. I have no fear of you. I believe you will act as your Klingon honor directs you. I accept all this as the mind of god's unknowable plan for me in this life and its conclusion.

"I do not claim to know the will of the mind of god. I merely hope to interpret what is revealed to me.

"We cannot argue with the reality before us. The combined empire has failed. We must accept that what does not succeed in this life was never meant to be in the first place. We may fight god, we have that ability, but we can never win. Ultimately, we all realize that nothing in this reality occurs without the consent of the universe. No, we do not, we cannot understand it now, perhaps never, but we are in it and we must be at peace with it or perish."

"....LIAR...."

"....PROPHET...."

".....HELLHOUND...."

".....SAINT....."

"Klingons."

The crowd quieted.

"What has changed? Nothing. The natural order has been restored. Klingons were never meant to align themselves in this manner with the Roms. It is unnatural for you to share power with such creatures. See how quickly they have turned on you? And why? Because the Emperor had vanished? No! Because they cannot accept that Klingons are their rightful masters. They would not and will not accept the Klingon Emperor as the sole ruler of both Empires. And why not? Because they seek to dominate the entire galaxy, including KLINGON."

Maja let the crowd get worked up about this. He glanced down and saw Kzost suppressing a smile.

"Why else was the Emperor of the combined Klong-Rom Empire seated on Romulus if not to destroy Klingonia?"

".....LIAR...."

"Could there therefore be a better outcome than for the combined empire to fail? Return to the void, as it should?"

".....PROPHET....."

"Is this therefore not the will of the infinite mind of god? Is this not that mind and will protecting the great and glorious Klingon Empire?" Maja noticed KmordriYhet speaking intently to his escort.

"......HAIL MASTER GHET....."

"That god's mercy, protection and power surrounds the Klingon Empire as is only RIGHT AND CORRECT IN THIS INFINITE CREATION...."

"......HAIL GOZINE THE CONFESSOR...."

"HAS NOT THE TRUE BALANCE OF THE UNIVERSE BEEN RESTORED?" Maja roared over the now supportive din.

".....SAINT GOZINE...."

"..... SAINT GOZINE HAS RETURNED TO SAVE US ....."

Everyone was on their feet, arguing, shouting, someone started singing a hymn to St. Gozine that was picked up by the throng outside.

Maja was grabbed from behind by strong arms. He looked over his shoulder and saw the Yhets' crest on the doublets. He jerked away and flung himself into the crowd, which, singing their new anthem, bore him out of the assembly hall on their shoulders. He looked around him and saw Kzost, Khatanya, most of the Haats, all of the Hierophants and Meta-primates dancing and singing in the throng bearing him away. Maja could hardly hear for the roar and the song that accompanied his procession to the cathedral, where he was worshipped as a reincarnation of St. Gozine who restored St. General KhanitIzd to life after he was felled by a barbarian arrow so he could repel the invading barbarian tribes and thus save Klingon civilization.

Were these not very similar circumstances?

Hallelujah and Amen.

* * *

"St. Gozine. I knew when I gave you that name something good would come of it." Kzost murmured into Maja's hair. The old Klingon had not let go of his little half Mage since said half Mage had been excused from being worshipped.

"Really? Wasn't there a sociopath who murdered his entire neighborhood and burned acres of crops once named Gozine?"

"Well, yes..."

"What's in a name, Klingon? Nothing." Maja sighed. "I was lucky. I was very lucky."

"Maja, I could do nothing ..."

"But you were going to try, weren't you? At least kill me before they burned me if you and Khatanya couldn't get me away."

"How d'ya know that, half Mage?"

"I could see it in your eyes, Klingon." Maja snuggled against him. "Now. Who d'you fancy for Emperor?"

* * *

Through the good efforts of St. Gozine and the grace of god, a new Emperor, one more agreeable to both Haats and Yhets, was found and was confessed by St. Gozine himself directly after the coronation.

Immediately after which Maja and Ling Talljet hightailed it to the Erteg system in what was left of the Tossarian Autonomous zone to see if anything could be salvaged there.

The Hierophant Kroldt, Generals KmordriYhet and KnvraHaat negotiated an acceptable peace with the Romulan empire, which was now ruled by the Emperor Adrajesi.

Except for Maja's torturers, whom Maja ordered rounded up and slowly burned alive from the feet upwards in his presence, life returned to normal in both empires. More or less.

* * *

end of part 49

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Appendices: http://members.tripod.com/karmen_ghia/atrappendices.html