Fic: Observations, Ch 199
I have seen show trials take longer to put together.
Hengist has taken it upon himself to prosecute this case personally.
“And now I present to the court, the dagger!”
The audience gasped and murmured. I clamped down on my telepathy to prevent their emotions from affecting me.
“The very knife that was plunged into Kara’s body, over and over. The agony, the pain of that hot blade entering her once, and again until she screamed for mercy-for death! But it could never come so easily. The murderer was careful not to release her into that black bliss, he continued tortuously, until her blood was pouring!”
Scotty sat, face white. He squeezed his eyes shut momentarily, then opened them.
The trial is closed to all Enterprise personnel. Only myself, some security personnel, Dr. McCoy and Nurse Chapel were allowed entrance.
Beside me, Leonard was seething. Christine had her hand firmly on his leg to keep him from making any outburst. It could do nothing to help Scotty.
“This, Argelians, was the weapon that he, the murderer, used to perpetrate this act of violence, this terrible crime! Mr. Scott, tell us, have you ever seen this before?”
Scotty inhaled.
“No,” he said, voice steady. “I’ve never seen it in my life.”
“He says no! And yet, our specialists have found your genetic material all over the handle! Your handprints marking this exotic knife, this instrument of your madness!”
“I don’t know how I came to holding it, but I’ve never seen it before in my life.”
“He denies it again! He refuses to acknowledge the truth! He stands in the path of the wheels of justice! Argelians are planet of love, a planet where murder hasn’t been known for at least twenty years, if not more! None could be more innocent than the people of this planet. They opened their doors to you, they welcomed you with open arms and in thanks, you took up the blade and slaughtered this dancer, this creature of long limbs and erotic beauty.”
“I’m gonna kill that bastard. I’m gonna kill him. I’ve got a hundred ways to do it,” Leonard said through grit teeth. “Give me my goddamn med bag, we’ll see if he likes writhing-”
Christine tightened her grip on his leg.
“And why did he do it? Why did he do it, Argelians? What could possibly have been the motive for this ghastly deed? What could kind of sick rage could lurk behind those eyes? Do you want to know? Do you dare hear the answer?”
Once Scotty is back in our custody, I will make sure there is no punishment. This-this trial-is punishment enough.
Would Jim have found a way to avoid this? He is always able to create a third option. I curl my hand into a fist and force myself to focus on the proceedings. I will report this, verbatim. Hengist will be held accountable for this.
“It was jealousy. Jealousy!”
Scotty seemed as surprised by this proclamation as we all were.
“Yes, jealousy! Jealous that he could never be as beautiful as you, Argelians! Jealous that his little face could never be tall and smooth like yours, jealous that his eyes could never sparkle with the effervescence of yours. Look at those piggy eyes. Those flabby cheeks! He was jealous that he would always be ruddy and round, creases at the corners of his eyes, hair thinning like-like dried grass!”
“Good God. I’m going to be sick.”
“Wait. Scotty’s hair isn’t thinning,” Christine frowned. “It’s not thick, but it’s not thinning. That description-”
She looked at me.
That description is more fitting for Hengist himself.
“That was the ultimate reason for it! His loathing for all things beautiful-”
“Now wait a minute here,” Scotty began. “That’s the biggest piece of rubbish I’ve ever heard, even worse than my relativistic physics professor. I’ve got nothing against Argelian beauty-”
“He denies it again! He denies everything! You can’t trust anything that comes out of his mouth, the mouth of a murderer! A despiser of all things lovely and beautiful.”
I sat up, a new sense of focus in me.
“I call to the stand-Commander Spock!”
The court procedures of this planet are dismal. I rose and walked to the questioning box.
“The only witness of this terrible deed, the sole survivor of the horror, the very man who saw the murdered covered in the blood of Kara-”
“On the contrary, my scientists analyzed the various fluids that were found on Lt. Commander Scott’s clothing. There was nothing of Kara’s genetic material, only that of Captain James T. Kirk and Lt. Nyota Uhura.”
“Argelians, he was traumatized by the sight and brutality, hardly able to keep his sanity together after having witnessed such depravity-”
“Once again, you are mistaken. My memory is intact. I am Vulcan and therefore have an eidetic memory. Nothing I will say on this stand is fabricated.”
Which is more than I can say for Hengist. I looked briefly at Scotty who smiled, though he was still extremely pale.
“Oh the lies we tell ourselves after seeing such cruelty! You must have compassion on him, the sight of his comrades fallen could only have shattered-”
“I do not see how your comments are pertinent to the matter at hand. I swear on my honor as an officer of Starfleet and a Vulcan, my memory is clear and I will accurately and objectively relate the pertinent facts.”
“-could only have shattered what remained of his great mental powers after the destruction of Vulcan!”
The room fell absolutely silent.
I looked Hengist, who was wide eyed and trembling with sick fervor, a strange light in his eyes.
“The destruction of Vulcan is not relevant to the trial for which we are gathered.”
“Oh, Argelian, just imagine. Just imagine the terror of those millions of people as they sat, their planet crumbling under them. Think of all the fear, the pure unadulterated fear, the despair of an entire species. Billions! Their own planet a slaughterhouse, inescapable and the chains keeping them, with no escape, nothing but the blackness of wrenching terror, cries for mercy, the pungent smell of death hanging in the air-”
“If you continue utilizing psychological and emotional manipulation in this farce of a trial, I am prepared to arrest you. You will be escorted to the nearest starbase and stand trial before a court of the Federation. And there, you will see exactly how precise my memory is. You will experience how thorough Starfleet interrogative technique can be. You may even be surprised by the facts Starfleet will find concerning your past activities.”
Hengist was sweating. I looked directly at him.
“Choose your next words very carefully.”
He opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
Then opened it again. And began laughing, the sound nervous.
“I do not need Commander Spock’s testimony to convict Lt. Commander Scott! Judge! Fair Sybo, give us your ruling. Use your wisdom, the ancient empathy that reveals all truths, to show us the face of the murderer!”
The lights dimmed immediately. Sybo stood from her seat in the judge’s stand, then descended.
“Those I call forward will complete the circle! You-” she pointed to Scotty. “You.” Hengist. “You.” Myself. “You and you” she pointed to Jaris and Christine. “All others, leave.”
We waited as the Argelians filed out. Sybo lit a series of candles, then held her hands out when the last Argelian left and the doors closed.
“Make a circle. Let the circle not be broken.”
Christine and Leonard flanked me so that I might not come into contact with the others. I could feel them actively trying to mute their emotions. Sybo stood directly in front of me. She looked at me intensely before she masked her expression.
“Let us begin. Concentrate upon the flame which burns upon the altar of truth.”
Silence.
“Yes, there is something here. Something terrible.”
The words contained an edge of deep fear.
“Its presence-anger, hatred. Fear. Fear and anger, feeding the flame. Black flame! Red, feeding. There is-there is-!”
Her breathing became labored.
“There is evil here! Monstrous, terrible, consuming hunger! Hatred of all that lives, old hatred.”
The sensation of nausea came again. I opened my eyes immediately. The candles had gone out.
“Hatred of women. Hatred of a man-another universe. A place distant, a time distant and changed. But the same. A memory, a burning thirst for revenge. Never dying. Never letting go, for a man. One man.”
There is an exit to the left, do you remember it?
Leonard and Christine looked at me in the darkness. Fog was accumulating, and the malice with it.
What’s going on-?
On my signal, break the circle and run. Do not question me, leave the room.
They nodded.
“One man, a memory. It is strong, overpowering. An ancient terror, named and nameless. But a name. Of another life. Another planet, Argelian and a-”
She gasped.
“A captain! A hunger that will never die! Devouring all life, all light. Redjac! Redjac!”
I broke the circle, pushed Leonard and Christine towards the exit when fog engulfed everything and the screaming began again, the distance, the cries of terror and piercing it Scotty’s voice shrieking
“REDJAC REDJAC REDJAC REDJAC! I REMEMBER YOU! I WILL KILL YOU KIRK! KILL YOU AND EVERYTHING YOU HOLD DEAR!”
The sound of security bursting through phasers set to stun
“I’VE WAITED FOR SO LONG SO LONG SO LONG REDJAC REDJAC AND I’LL START WITH YOUR CREW!”
Lights coming on but the fog dense and choking, like smoke and suffocation, yells and reverberating nausea
“HOW DO YOU LIKE IT LIKE IT LIKE IT? ME IN THIS BODY! JUST WAIT. JUST WAIT, THE WORST IS YET TO COME! YET TO COME!”
The fog disappeared.
Standing was Scotty, covered in blood once more, holding the knife once more. Sybo was dead. Jaris dead. Two security officers stabbed through the heart. Leonard and Christine rushed through the door. It seemed I was untouched, as well as Hengist.
I nerve pinched Scotty before he could wake from his stupor. It could do nothing for him to see once more, especially when he had no control. Leonard immediately dosed him with sedative while Christine took tricorder readings of those that were dead.
“Spock to Enterprise.”
“Sulu here.”
“Lt. Sulu, send down a medical team and a security squad.”
“Aye, sir. Anything else? You sound,” he paused. “You sound off. Did something happen?”
“Debriefing in twenty minutes. We will beam up momentarily.”
“All right. Teams are on their way, sir. Sulu out.”
I closed my communicator.
I am glad Jim is spared this.