Part Four :: Chapter Six

Two days later, Jim stood before the Academy Tribunal to answer for the charges against him. One set of charges had been withdrawn, the charges of academic dishonesty. As Admiral Barnett announced this, Jim exhaled.

God bless you, Spock. He thought, knowing Spock had called off the trial that had gotten him into this whole mess. However, the remaining charges he'd racked up on the Enterprise still stood to be answered. That, he wasn't looking forward to at all. As they read off his remaining charges, he looked over his shoulder to see if he could pick out Spock or Bones. He knew they were up there in the stands, somewhere. Scattered among the red and black dress uniforms he saw red, gold, and blue duty-uniforms marking various officers from the main fleet come to watch the trial. The top tier of the bleachers was occupied by a line of gold tunics as the respective captains stood to watch how one of their own, no matter how long he'd been one or how he'd gotten there, held out against the Tribunal poised to end his career in a single swift stroke. Suddenly, there was a stir in the crowds and Jim just had to turn around. For the sake of his sanity, and thumbing his nose at the same Tribunal now prepared to ruin his life without blinking, Jim had worn his duty-uniform, flaunting the rank-stripes that marked him, however briefly, a captain. He apparently wasn't the only one. One by one, and from all over the room, his officers appeared. Spock appeared first, from almost exactly the same place as before, in his Science uniform, followed by Bones and Christine Chapel. Jim was actually surprised to see the nurse, he hadn't been under any illusion she even remotely liked him. He'd slept with her once in second year, and freaked out when she wanted a longer relationship. Commitment scared the shit out of him, it always had. He'd run with his tail between his legs, Christine had never forgiven him for that slight. Following his medical officers came his chief engineer, his communications officer, his helmsman, and his seventeen-year-old genius of a navigator. The noise-level in the room rose a little as each officer showed him or herself and quietly joined the line-up.

"Spock, what are you doing?" he hissed, "This isn't your fight!"

"You were our captain when we didn't have one. If not for you, none of us would be here." Spock looked at him, his brown eyes strangely intent, "You don't deserve to be treated like a common criminal when you risked your life to save the whole of the Federation." That was probably the nicest thing anyone had ever said to him. Jim just hadn't thought he'd ever hear it from his own First Officer. Barnett, recovering from his shock, ordered Spock and the others to return to their seats. This wasn't their concern.

"With all due respect, sir, the proceedings of this trial are very much our concern. Are we not the officers of the Enterprise? Your flagship? And was this man not her captain?"

"By default, by flaw, by trickery! Stand down, Commander! That is an order!" Admiral Pollard snarled, flushing a dangerous shade of purple. At the other end of their line, Jim saw poor Chekov wavering. Sulu and Scotty looked like they would quite happily go back to their places.

"Come on, guys, stay with me here." He whispered so softly no one but Spock actually heard him, "Just hang in there." The Tribunal wasn't so desperate to charge him with mutiny and deliberate insubordination as to take down his officers with him, were they? Jim didn't want to look over his shoulder, but paranoia had him looking to see what the senior captains thought of this bizarre show of loyalty. Suddenly, another officer separated herself from the crowd of students and instructors and joined them. It was Gaila! Jim almost fainted. Now his line-up really was complete! Several of the captains were smiling. There were whispered conversations going on, much nodding of heads and quiet snickering. Jim gulped. Oh boy. The student-body was whispering amongst themselves, the noise swirled around Jim and his officers like so much smoke. Jim turned back to the Tribunal and so started a stare-down. Nothing was said by either party.

The silence grew so long it became uncomfortable. People in the audience shifted in their seats, coughed, fidgeted, tried not to look too interested or too embarrassed to be caught watching anyway. After about fifteen minutes, Jim thought of something he wanted to say to the Tribunal, but he wasn't sure if it would actually convey the message he wanted to send the Tribunal. There was one way to know. Without breaking eye-contact with Pollard, he reached back and brushed his fingers against Spock's, sending the questioning impulse. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Spock stiffen and then turn to him. With the barely perceptible dip of the dark head came an impulse that conveyed the ironic appropriateness of his words of choice. Schooling a straight face that would have made any Vulcan proud, Jim stepped out of ranks and looked at each member of the Tribunal, settling at last on Admiral Barnett who sat in the center. Raising his right hand, he gave them a nearly-perfect Vulcan salute.

"Gentlemen of the Tribunal, tai nasha no karosha." Turning his back on them, Jim went straight up the center stairs, followed by his officers. Halfway up, someone at the top to applaud. The rest of them picked up and by the time he reached the top of the stairs, the auditorium rang with applause. At the top, he was stopped by the same captains who had watched him take on the Tribunal with his officers around him and forced to take five minutes to shake hands. Below, the Tribunal was still trying to figure out where they'd lost control and practically handed it to the fleet's youngest and most irresponsible captain.

"Jim!" he was pulled away from shaking hands with the captain of the Modesto by a boisterous, familiar hail. He turned, actually surprised to hear that voice in the auditorium. Threading his way through the crowd in a wheelchair was Christopher Pike. Jim couldn't believe they'd let him out of Starfleet Medical.

"Captain Pike?"

"Admiral now, but yes. In the flesh." His predecessor grinned up at him and stuck out one hand, "You gave Barnett and his cronies a real what-for down there, kid. I'm proud of you."

"Standing down the Academy Tribunal isn't my idea of smart, sir."

"We've all wanted to say that to them at one time or another in our career, Jim. You just had the luxury of saying it first." Pike snickered as they shook hands, "And don't worry about the Enterprise, I'll make sure you kids get her back."

"Can you do that, sir?" Bones couldn't help himself. Around them, the other captains just started laughing. Apparently, Pike could do that, and a heck of a lot more.

"Don't give me that look, McCoy. You're the one who sweet-talked the Chief of Starfleet Medical into letting me out of that penitentiary of a hospital early." Pike said slyly. Now it was Jim's turn to laugh. Just like Bones to spring his superiors out of trouble. He folded his arms across his chest.

"Why, Bones, I didn't know you were friends with Doctor Chapel!" he smirked, loving how it made Bones squirm.

"So he owes me a few favors."

"This I have to hear someday." He snickered.

"Oh would you shut up?" Bones snarled, but he was grinning too broadly to be serious. Jim blew him a kiss and turned back to Pike.

"Admiral, good luck. I'm afraid I've left you a bit of a mess to clean up." He looked down again, "I don't know if any of them have blinked in the last five minutes."

"Serves them right, the bastards." The Neptune's captain spat. Oh, so he wasn't the only one who had issue with the Tribunal. Interesting. Thoughts of the Tribunal were shoved aside by an excited yelp from somewhere on the other side of this strange little coven-meeting.

"Jim!" it was Delta. Several people had to move aside if she didn't just charge right past them. Jim dropped to his knees and caught Delta as she launched herself into his arms, "Do we get to keep her, Jim? Do we?"

"Yeah, sweetheart, I think we get to keep her." He hugged Delta and ran his fingers through her hair, "We get to keep her, if Admiral Pike says we do." Delta turned and looked up at Pike with that intensely curious but measuring glance she saved for strangers. He didn't miss the slight widening of Pike's eyes, the questioning eyebrow that went up halfway to his hairline. Oh brother, he'd have some questions needing answering later. Delta pulled out of Jim's arms and went to Pike, looking him dead in the eye.

"Sir Admiral?"

"Yes?" he answered with all the wariness of a man waiting to be bitten by a dog.

"Can we keep the Enterprise, sir?" well, at least she was polite about it.

"Who is we, young lady?"

"Me and Jim and Mister Spock and Bones and…and all the rest of us, sir." Jim saw the slight change in Delta's posture and knew what was coming. He pitied Pike, no one he knew was immune to Delta's charms when she turned those sad eyes on full force. She could probably ask someone to pick a fight with a Klingon and they'd do it just because of the eyes.

"Please can we keep the Enterprise, sir? We'll take good care of her, I promise we will." It was like watching a child beg her parents for a puppy. Maybe they didn't know Delta Picard from any girl on the street, but it was clear the captains were won over.

"Shit, she's a freaking con-artist." Jim got up and rubbed his jaw so he wouldn't smile.

"You just figured that out?" Bones gave him a look that clearly said the doctor thought he was nuts. Or at least blind.

"No, I knew that, but…Pike? Damn she's good." He watched to see what would happen. It took two minutes for Delta to win over Christopher Pike. She played with the sleeve-stripes that marked him Rear Admiral, urging Pike to touch her. Five heartbeats later, the Enterprise was theirs for the taking. That didn't mean Jim wouldn't have answers to give later, but at least he knew the Enterprise would be his when the dust settled.