Chekov Goes to Jail

Fictober22

Chekov accidentally commits a crime on an alien planet.

Fandom(s): Star Trek TOS
Character(s): Pavel Chekov, Nyota Uhura, Jim Kirk, Hikaru Sulu
Tags: Genfic, Ficlet, Accidental Law Breaking

Rating: General Audeinces
Content Warnings: N/A
Word Count: 959
Type: Oneshot, Standalone

Collection: Fictober22, or, Pavel Chekov's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Month

fictober-event

Written for Fictober 2022
Day 10: "It's my name on the line."

"This is amazing," Sulu remarked, taking in the sights. He had beamed down along with Kirk, Chekov, and Uhura to study a city on a planet that was well known for its plant diversity. Sulu was the only one doing any real work, the other three were tagging along to make sure that Sulu came back. The place was a botanist's dream come true.

"Look how all their buildings are made out of trees," Chekov said. "It looks like the trees grew like that." It was something out of a fantasy novel. The trees were wider and taller than any he'd ever seen, and though the people here lived and worked in the trees, it appeared as if the trees had grown in a way that left them hollow, with windows, doors, ramps, and pedways. This city was grown, not built.

Uhura looked up from her PADD. "The people have such a strong synchronicity with the natural world that they can influence the growth of the plants. It's remarkable!"

"This city must have taken centuries to grow," Sulu said, awestruck.

The city was something out of a fairy tale. The enormous trees formed multi-storey buildings that served as apartment buildings, schools, businesses, government offices, everything. Broad branches had grown snaking up and around the trees as well as between them, and the citizens walked easily along these pathways to get from one location to another. On the ground, there was a public park. Surrounding a meandering pathway were colourful flowers, shrubs, and bushes. Everything was in bloom. The colours of the flowers made intricate patterns when viewed from above, and the bushes had grown themselves into arches and decorative spirals, adding another layer of whimsy to the park.

Sulu trotted off at the sight of a particularly interesting flower, and started taking tricorder readings of it. The others spread out, enjoying the beauty of the city and its majestic park.

Chekov reached down and picked a flower that looked like a daisy, but in the most vibrant shade of blue imaginable. He held it up, inspecting it, wondering if it glowed in the dark as the colour was so intense it seemed as if it were emitting light.

He looked away from the flower at the sound of approaching footsteps. Two people were walking urgently toward him. They were like the rest of the population of the city - with bark-like skin and covered with small tendrils in the way that a porcupine is covered in quills. Their 'quills' however, looked like foliage, and reached about to sense their nearby surroundings. The two who were approaching Chekov were different only in that they carried the elegantly crafted bows that identified them as law enforcement, know here as the Guardians.

They stopped in front of Chekov and spoke in a language Chekov didn't understand.

"I'm sorry, I do not understand you," Chekov said, apologetically raising his palms to them.

Uhura, having seen Chekov with two law Guardians, had jogged over.

"Hey, what's going on?" She asked, looking between Chekov and the Guardians. Chekov only shrugged, but one Guardian spoke towards her in the same language as prior.

Uhura nodded and said something back, and then she listened as the Guardians spoke. She had a few more exchanges with them. Chekov had no idea what was going on and was about to ask for an explanation but was interrupted when someone else joined their conference.

"Hey, is there a problem here?" Kirk asked, joining the group.

Uhura turned to him, looking worried. "Uh, yeah. I'd say we have a problem." She side-eyed Chekov nervously.

Kirk looked at Chekov, then back to Uhura. "What's going on?"

Uhura took a deep breath. "Okay, well, they want to arrest Chekov and keep him in their prison for one-hundred years for picking a flower, which is the most severe crime one can commit in the city," she blurted.

"What?" Kirk asked, confused.

"WHAT?" Chekov exclaimed, visibly panicked.

"Damage to plant life is treated as seriously as murder," Uhura explained.

"Did you tell them that he didn't know?" Kirk asked.

"Yeah, but they argued that visitors are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the laws before entering the city."

"Won't there be some sort of trial?" Chekov squeaked.

Uhura looked at him sympathetically. "I did ask, but they saw you do it, and in their books, that's a done deal. But, I mean, we can just beam him off planet, right?" She asked, looking at Kirk.

Kirk frowned. "To infringe on their judicial procedures would be a violation of the Prime Directive. Chekov will have to complete his sentence."

"Pretty sure that's not how the Prime Directive works," Uhura muttered under her breath.

"But Captain!" Chekov protested, "You can't just leave me to rot in a prison cell for one-hundred years just for picking a flower!"

Kirk shook his head. "I'm sorry, Chekov. I'd love to help you, but it's my name on the line. I can't just start violating Federation laws."

"Says the guy with seventeen temporal violations on record and who only learned about the Prime Directive yesterday." Uhura grumbled again.

"Did you say something, Lieutenant?" Kirk asked, turning to her.

Uhura straightened her posture. "No, sir," she said reluctantly.

"Good. You can tell the Guardians that we're very sorry for the damage to their plant life, and that we will not oppose their arrest and detainment of Chekov."

Uhura sighed, and relayed the message to the Guardians. They nodded their heads, and moved to seize Chekov. With a Guardian grasping each arm, Chekov was marched away.

"Captain! Nyota!" Chekov called back frantically. "Don't leave me here!"

"Don't worry, Chekov!" Kirk shouted after him. "We'll make sure someone comes to pick you up in one-hundred years!"

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