Title: After the Rescue

Part: NEW 63/73

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.

'Oh Maja! I am all jealous now,' Jir thought as he watched his younger brother march serenely into the Shirkar Federation Courtroom #3 at the head of his escort of huge Klingons in full dress uniforms. They stood at attention behind the visitors' rail as Maja, wearing the high conical hat and rune emblazoned cloak of a Klingon Master, swept majestically into the dock, where he piously listened to the explanation of the Federation's position on perjury. 'You've made theatrical, if not legal, history with that entrance.'

A moment of reverent silence descended upon the courtroom as all the participants took a moment to examine the exotic holy man before them.

"Prosecution, examine this witness." Lord Suqiet had not enjoyed Maja's entrance. Nor was he pleased to have more Klingons in the courtroom than bailiffs but he could do nothing about it. Lapham had very strenuously requested this witness and Lord Suqiet was curious to see what he would make of Master Ghet of the Most Holy Klingon Church.

"Will you please state all the names by which you are known?" Lapham asked mildly.

"Gozine the Confessor, Master Gozine Gozshedrefreingin Ghet of the Gozshedrefreingin Commune of the Most Holy Klingon Church, SaMaja, and Maja Talljet, Michael James MacQuarrie, and Maja." Maja raised his eyes to meet Hobie's. They exchanged an affectionate look; Maja's list of names had neatly summed up his, as well as much of Talljet, history.

"Master Ghet," Lapham addressed him in deference to the Klingons. "How old were you when you and Captain Talljet left Vulcan?"

"I was nineteen, nearly twenty."

"You and your brother left the planet abruptly?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"We were sick of Vulcans."

"Why?"

"Objection." Jir said. "What has this to do with the crimes of which Captain Talljet is accused?"

"Counsel?" Lord Suqiet was curious as well.

"I am attempting to ascertain Captain Talljet's reasons for leaving Vulcan and subsequently the Federation," Lapham explained. "If, as my colleague argues, he was an agent of the Vulcan Interplanetary Ministry when he left Vulcan, I would like to determine why a very young Master Ghet accompanied him."

Lord Suqiet exchanged looks with his fellow Judges, who lowered their eyes, indicating it was his decision. "Overruled."

Jir frowned mentally. 'Hochofedra, MajaYaja, you're on your own here,' he thought, shrugging microscopically.

"Why were you so sick of Vulcans," Lapham asked blandly, "that you and your brother felt it necessary to leave Vulcan at a moment's notice?"

"The Vulcan I was in love with jilted me," Maja stated flatly.

"Who was that person?"

Jir: "Objection. What difference does it make who it was?"

Lord Suqiet: "Counsel?"

Lapham: "I am still trying to establish a connection with the Vulcan Interplanetary Ministry, your Honor."

Lord Suqiet, like everyone who knew one of the Talljets fairly well, in his case Jir, knew who jilted Maja and why, but his curiosity about where Lapham was going with this was intense. "Overruled."

"Who was this person who jilted you and caused you and your brother to leave Vulcan with alacrity?" Lapham restated.

"Spock cha'Sarek."

"And why did he jilt you?"

Jir: "Objection. This has nothing to do with the issues at hand."

Lord Suqiet: "Counsel?"

Lapham: "I am trying to establish a connection between Ambassador Sarek and Captain Talljet that would involve Master Ghet and require that he and his brother leave Vulcan with such dispatch. I find it significant that Master Ghet has stated that he left Vulcan because he was jilted by Spock cha'Sarek. I would like to know why he was jilted and jilted badly enough to remove himself from Vulcan and then from the Federation and to take his elder brother with him."

Lord Suqiet: "Overruled."

Lapham: "Why did Spock cha'Sarek jilt you?"

Maja: "He chose to go to the Star Fleet Academy."

Lapham: "As many people do. Your reaction seems rather extreme for such a simple decision. Why was that?"

Jir: "Objection. Counsel is speculating on the twenty year old emotional reaction of a broken hearted youth without proper consideration of the cultural factors involved."

Lord Suqiet: "Counsel?"

Lapham: "I withdraw the question. You say you left Vulcan because you were jilted. Was that your only course? To leave?"

Maja: "No. I could have stayed. Or died; or done something completely different."

Lapham: "Then why do what you did?"

Jir: "Ob...."

"It seemed like a good idea at the time, Terran." Maja's snarl cut Jir off mid word. "That's all there is to say on this subject."

Lapham drew up all his inner resources not to take a step back from the witness. In his forward momentum, he had, for a moment, forgotten he was dealing with a strange and powerful alien. "Then we will leave it," he said with more calm than he felt. "For now." He needlessly consulted his notes. "How did you get offworld?"

"In a spaceship."

"Did you buy a ticket, or stowaway or what?"

Maja decided the question was harmless. "Hobie knew the captain of one of the freighters in the Port. He traded us work for passage."

"What sort of work?"

"Hobie cooked and I cleaned."

"And where did you go?"

Maja's eyes clouded remembering his sorrow. He had not been able to remember the details of the trip because of it; Jir had had to tell him the names of the planets they had ended up on. "Ahbahdlindi, just at the border of Federation space."

"And from there?"

"We picked up a ride into non-aligned space."

"How?"

"How?" Maja had to think about it for a moment; it was a long time ago. "We talked an Andorian freighter captain into giving us a lift. To Brizdono 7 or 8, I think."

"You don't remember?"

"I do remember it was one of the Brizdono group, but I don't remember which one."

Lapham dropped it. "Why did you and Captain Talljet go into non-aligned space?"

"We thought it would be a good place for us to make a new start."

"And did you?"

"Did we what?"

"Make a new start?" Lapham asked patiently.

"Yes."

Lapham waited for elaboration. "And how did you, Master Ghet, make a new start?" he asked when none came.

"I switched from painting and drawing to sculpting stone and casting metals."

"I don't understand your answer, could you please elaborate?" Lapham asked.

"I went to a planet called Yzorfiraina and studied sculpture with a master there." Maja and Jir had decided to leave Admiral Kzost out of it. He had picked up Hobie and Maja on whatever Brizdono it was and taken Maja to Princess Malira and the safety of the Khat's home on Yzorfiraina, a distant planet where the unfashionable Khats now lived. Long ago the Khats had been the imperial family but as they preferred art and knowledge to force, they had seen the wisdom in yielding to the Tzaj clan and their vassals, the Haats and Yhets. En route, Kzost had picked up MajaKhat, who had promptly fallen in love with Maja Talljet, then known as GozineGhet.

"And then?"

"And then I moved to the Gozshedrefreingin Commune." It was not necessary for the court to know that there was a resurgence of anti-Rom feeling in the Empire and it became unsafe to be a Rom there. So unsafe, Kzost had come himself to transport Maja, MajaKhat, and the babies, Tien and Hraja, to the safer obscurity of the outcast Klingon Commune system. It was brilliant really: the Klingons did not care about the Roms and other half breeds in the Commune system as the Commune system was an undesirable place for undesirables, or so was the conventional but wrongheaded Klingon wisdom. The danger for those of Rom heritage was to be somewhere desirable, somewhere one could be pulled down from, preferably with a squishy, crunchy crash.

"And was Captain Talljet with you when you went to the Gozshedrefreingin Commune?"

"No."

"Where was Captain Talljet at this time?"

"I believe he was building ships on Ashagedra."

"Why was he on Ashagedra?"

"He'd heard of a master shipbuilder there so he went to build ships with him."

"Do you know who this shipbuilder was?"

"No." If Lapham wanted to know, he could ask Hobie, Maja decided.

"Do you know how he got there?"

"No." Maja chose not to tell the Terran that Kzost had made all the arrangements for settling both of them into safe, happy and productive lives. What happened later on Ashagedra was beyond everyone's, including that very capable Klingon's, control.

"Do you know what happened on Ashagedra after Tossar stormed and took the city of Gvz on that planet?"

"No."

"Your brother never told you what happened?"

"Yes."

"Will you tell us what he told you?"

"Ask him. It happened to him."

"SaMaja." Lord Suqiet glowered down at him, ignoring some ominous fidgeting among the Klingons. "Answer the questions you are asked."

Maja damped down his irritation: "What are you asking me, Commander?"

"What did Captain Talljet tell you happened on Ashagedra when Tossar stormed and took the planet?"

Maja: "Tossar imprisoned Hobie and the shipbuilders so they would rebuild his fleet. That is, in fact, why Tossar stormed and took Ashagedra."

Lapham: "And yet, three years later we begin to hear of the first reports that Hobie Talljet is now the leader of the Tossarian pirates. How did this come about?"

Jir: "Objection. Counsel is asking the witness to confirm his speculation that the Tossarians were pirates and that Captain Talljet was the leader of pirates."

Lord Suqiet: "Sustained. Commander, use more care in how you phrase your questions to this witness."

Lapham: "Yes, sir. Leaving aside what the Tossarians were or were not, was it three or so years later that Captain Talljet became associated with them?"

Maja: "I think it was three years, yes."

Lapham: "Do you know how Captain Talljet went from being a prisoner, perhaps a slave, to ... associating with them as an equal?"

Maja sighed. He and Jir had discussed this question late into the evening and decided that he and Hobie would a) answer it and b) keep their answers consistent. He cued up his prepared spiel: "I believe Captain Tossar, in his daily interaction with my brother, Hobie Talljet, grew to esteem him. It was in this growing affection that Tossar returned Hobie's and the shipbuilder's freedom."

Lapham: "Captain Talljet's younger sons were fathered by Tossar. Don't you consider that a little more than esteem, Master."

Maja: "Use your eyes, Terran. Tossar was not stupid; he knew a good thing when it came along."

Lord Suqiet: "Master Ghet, you are dangerously close to contempt of court."

Maja: "My apologies."

Lapham: "You raise an interesting point, Master Ghet. How do you know Tossar was not stupid? Did you know him?"

Maja: "No."

Lapham: "Then how do you know he was not stupid?"

Jir: "Objection. This is irrelevant."

Lord Suqiet: "Let the witness answer and we'll see if it's irrelevant."

Maja: "It is my opinion that Tossar was not stupid because he survived in non-aligned space, even created his own Autonomous Zone in his own lifetime. That is not done on brute force alone."

Lord Suqiet: "How is this fact relevant, Commander?"

Lapham: "It is not, sir."

Lord Suqiet: "The objection is sustained. Commander, stay within the subject or I will recess and you will submit your questions in writing to the bench before any further examination of this witness is allowed."

Lapham: "Yes, sir. Master Ghet, did you meet Tossar in person?"

Maja: "No."

Lapham: "How long was Captain Talljet associated with Tossar?"

Maja: "Almost eleven years."

Lapham: "Did Captain Talljet benefit from his association with Tossar?"

Maja: "He got to keep his life."

Lord Suqiet: "Bailiff, Master Ghet is fined three hundred credits for contempt of court. Master Ghet, answer the question yes or no."

Maja: "I cannot, sir."

Lord Suqiet: "Why not?"

Maja: "It is a subjective question that only my brother can answer."

Lord Suqiet: "Indeed. Counsel, withdraw or rephrase the question."

Lapham: "I withdraw it. I have no further questions at this time but reserve the right to call this witness again at a later time."

Lord Suqiet: "Granted and hopefully the Klingons will allow it as well. Defense."

Jir: "I have no questions at this time but reserve the right to call this witness again at a later time."

"Granted." Lord Suqiet took a moment to survey the three Talljets before him, each an amazing creature, the absent Ling as well, it was not to be denied. "The witness is dismissed." He watched Maja make his Klingon escorted exit. "This court is recessed until tomorrow morning at ten o'clock."

* * *

"Well, that was an expensive morning, Maja," Ling scolded when presented with the contempt fine for three hundred credits.

"It was an interesting morning, too, little sister." Maja told her. "That Lapham is a smart Terran if I ever see one, as Hobie would say. I think he's trying to prove that Hobie embraced the pirate life with more gusto than Jir presents."

Ling rolled her eyes and decided to change the subject: "How did Polmira take finding out he's related to SpockDeVulCheq?"

"Extremely well. So well in fact, I was puzzled until I found out that my brats have a very high opinion of both Spock and Sarek and you know Polmira thinks his cousins walk on the clouds. And then, of course, everyone adores Amanda so it was just a short hop for Polmira to decide he doesn’t mind being part of that tribe as well."

"Not to mention that Strig's family is suddenly much friendlier."

"Nauseating, isn't it?"

"Not for Polmira, I think he's in love."

"With Strig? Poor thing."

"What's wrong with Strig?"

"He's a Vulcan. They're like Vbrijats, you never know which way they’re gonna jump." Maja smiled crookedly. "You know, jump up, run off to Gol like Stonet, to Star Fleet like Spock, dump their wife, take her back like Sarek. Hard on the ones that love them; impossible really. Your Stez is the only reliable Vulcan I've ever met."

"Yes, isn't he?" was all Ling found to say to Maja's diatribe in view of the fact that Amanda, upon learning of Polmira's parentage, had gone back to Sarek so she could welcome Polmira, as well as Lyra and Bot, into the family properly. She'd even gone blond again. Sarek had not objected; in fact as Maja later learned, Sarek had never finished divorcing Amanda so she had every right to return to her own home. Sredia had been the most distressed by this turn of events but he confined his grumbling to the kitchen. Sarek had merely switched to sleeping in his apartment on the Strand and gave Maja a key to that.

Maja had been annoyed but was distracted by testifying in court, helping the Sas plan their party and working on a large sculpture of a vulcanoid dancing boy that bore a suspicious resemblance to a younger Jir as Skolta. He was working in Ovzridine marble, from a Vulcan quarry that was highly reluctant to sell it to a Klingon master, and the stone was giving him trouble. Even after he'd purchased a set of Vulcan tools to work in Vulcan stone, he had to go slowly and watch carefully for fault lines that would cause the entire structure to crumble. He and Hraja had x-rayed, trans-rayed and resonated the block but it was still slow going. Ovzridine was like Vulcans; you never knew which way it was gonna jump. Worth it, though, the pale red stone seemed to radiate light from its depths.

"At least the financial pressure has eased a little," Ling observed neutrally. "Eventually one of us is going to have to go straighten out the Certegians in the Etrig system. That would permanently restabilize the currency situation in that quadrant."

"Only if we crush their self determinism and put them back to work for us."

"It was a good situation for them until they got greedy. Forty percent of the profits was quite generous of us considering we bore one hundred percent of the risk and defense for them."

"I don't disagree. We happily protected them from the Lasadroian pirates until they turned around and made an alliance with those same pirates."

"Maja, don't be negative."

"I'm not, Noli. I'm just being realistic. The Certegians don't want us back in their space, their economy or their lives. It's going to be a nasty fight. Better be prepared than surprised, that's all." Maja smiled warmly at his sister. "It's all right, Ling, I'll take Malira and Neria-Tza as my seconds and the Certegians will cave in like rotten fruit."

"I hope that's true, Nolo, I hope that's true."

* * *

Hobie: "I understand."

Lord Suqiet: "Prosecution."

Lapham: "State the names you are known by."

Hobie: "Hobie Tossara, SaHobie, Hobie Talljet, Harold Easton Carstairs, Hobie."

Lapham: "You've omitted Hobie the Pirate."

Jir: "Objection. Counsel is baiting the witness."

Lord Suqiet: "Sustained. Control yourself, Commander."

Lapham: "I apologize to the Court. Captain Talljet, you are charged with acts of piracy while you were allegedly the leader of the Tossarian pirates. I would like you to tell the court how you knew Captain Tossar."

Jir: "Objection. What had that to do with the acts with which Captain Talljet is charged?"

Lord Suqiet: "Counsel?"

Lapham: "Captain Talljet is charged with crimes committed during his tenure as the leader of the Tossarian pirates."

Jir: "Objection. Counsel is casting the personnel of Captain Talljet's fleet as pirates without proper evidence."

Lord Suqiet: "Overruled and sustained. Commander Lapham, avoid inflammatory depictions of Captain Talljet and his associates. Continue."

Lapham: "Thank you. Captain Talljet, how did you meet Captain Tossar?"

Hobie: "We met when Tossar stormed the city of Gvz on Ashagedra, to kidnap the shipbuilder, Pholt, to whom I was apprenticed."

Lapham: "And what happened?"

Hobie: "What do you mean? 'What happened?'"

Lapham: "When you met Tossar, what were the events?"

Hobie caught Jir's eye. "The city fought for three weeks because we did not know why we were under attack. Finally, the elders surrendered and asked what Tossar wanted. They were informed that he wanted the Pholtana Shipyard, Pholt and his builders.

"A civil guard was placed around the yard by the city so we would not slip away. Tossar had been fighting the Anrysyas in the Zryn Autonomous Zone, fighting them hard because they had better ships. Ships from the Pholtana yard. Tossar was a better tactician so he was winning, but just barely. He decided he had to have ships like those the Anrysyas had and his way of getting them was to take the whole works.

"There were six of us working for Pholt: me, Dolo-fra, his uncle, Oza-Tol, Brnia, Jvria, and Doxska. We waited for Tossar in the main workshop. Pholt did all the talking and actually cut a pretty good deal for us..."

"Which was?" Lapham cut in.

"We got to live mainly." Hobie said. "We were allowed to stay in the yard and build starships, except now our only client was Tossar. He paid us, too, same as we'd get from other clients. But of course we had no other clients, that was the whole point."

"Were you his lover?"

"Yes."

"When did the affair begin?"

"That day. He raped me."

"Why?"

"He wanted to and Tossar was used to taking what he wanted."

Lapham waited a beat. "Did you resist him?"

Jir: "Objection. This is irrelevant."

"Overruled." Lord Suqiet wanted to hear the answer.

Lapham: "Did you resist?"

Hobie: "No."

Lapham: "Why not?"

Hobie: "I would be dead."

Lapham: "How do you know that?"

Hobie sighed. "It was my conclusion, based upon the data before me at that time that to resist Tossar would be dangerous and possibly fatal in that he was larger and stronger than I was then and now for that matter."

Lapham: "So what did you do?"

Hobie: "What did I ....?"

Jir: "Objection. Counsel is asking for detail that cannot possibly interest this court."

Lord Suqiet: "Sustained. Counsel, move along please."

Lapham: "Yes, sir. Captain Talljet, how long were you intimate with Tossar?"

Hobie: "Eleven years."

Lapham: "You were his victim for eleven years?"

Jir: "Objection. Counsel is speculating on the witness's condition without sufficient evidence."

Lord Suqiet: "Sustained. Commander, I have asked you to avoid inflammatory depictions. I ask you again. Next time I will fine you for contempt."

Lapham: "Yes, sir. Captain Talljet, why did you stay with Tossar for eleven years if, as you say, he raped you that first day?"

Hobie: "I had nowhere else to go."

Lapham: "Nowhere? Not back to Vulcan? Not to your brother in the Klingon Empire?"

Jir: "Objection. Counsel is browbeating the witness."

Lord Suqiet: "Sustained. Commander, control yourself."

Lapham: "Yes, sir. Captain Talljet, you had no other recourse but to stay with Tossar?"

Hobie: "Yes."

Lapham: "Why was that?"

Hobie: "Tossar wanted ships from us therefore the shipyard and the builders were very important to him. We were kept under close surveillance because we were valuable. And for me, there was nowhere to go, nowhere else I could build ships on this level. It was all I ever wanted to do. I did not want to leave it."

Lapham: "Even though Tossar 'oppressed' you?"

"In view of the fact that I lived and was building starships, sex with Tossar was an oppression I could cope with." Hobie thought back ruefully on how easy it had been to dominate Tossar once he ceased to fear him. "Life in non-aligned space is full of these little trade offs, Terran."

"The witness will confine himself to answering the questions posed him," Lord Suqiet growled. "How much more of this subject have you, Commander?"

Lapham: "Very little, sir. Captain Talljet, what was your business with Gatshira on Fobda?"

Hobie: "Nothing."

Lapham: "Nothing? You went to see him."

Hobie: "I went along with DveKrit, who had business with Gatshira. I never spoke to Gatshira."

Lapham: "I see. But you admit you were in Gatshira's office."

Hobie: "Yes, briefly with DveKrit."

Lapham: "What were you doing on Fobda?"

Hobie: "Picking up a load of cargo."

Lapham: "What kind of cargo?"

Hobie: "Raw ore for the shipyard."

Lapham: "Was there a manifest for it?"

Hobie: "No."

Lapham: "Why not?"

Hobie: "The mines on Fobda don't bother with such things and since the Pholtana shipyard was the client, I was just the gofer. No need for paperwork."

end of part 63

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