A Matter of Honour

Chapter 16

Chekov woke to a none-too-gentle backhanded fist in the ribs. Not a blow, exactly, but certainly far more than a nudge. Fortunately, his ribs had not been an interrogation focus and it wasn't much more than a surprise to startle him awake.

"Would you wake up, human!"

Still, he felt it politic, and completely appropriate, to groan. "It cannot be morning already."

"No, it's only been a few minutes since you began snoring." Kalleg jabbed him again. "Something 'strange' is happening. Wake up!"

"Ack. Fine." He rubbed the spot on his side as he sat up. "What, am I back in interrogation? I only have so many ribs, you know."

With a downcast scowl, Kalleg gave a grunt. "You wanted me to wake you."

Well, it was hard to argue with that, and there was no reason he could hold that against the boy. Still, Kalleg could have been just a little more gentle. "Da. I suppose I did. I don't suppose you'd like to help me up... no? I thought not." He swung stiff legs over the edge of the stone bunk and pressed himself into a standing position that was less comfortable than it ought to be but felt more than before he laid down for his nap. "Well then, why have you disturbed my beauty rest?"

Eyes rolling to rival any human teenager, Kalleg huffed. "Something strange is happening. Isn't that what you wanted to know?"

"My apologies, Master Kalleg. It is, indeed, what I wanted to know. A little more detail on what that strange thing might be would help me know if it is the strange thing I have been waiting for."

"Hunh." Kalleg considered for a few moments and Chekov thought it might be to see if he could find an insult somewhere in the words. "More Romulans than I thought were keeping me here ran by the cell several minutes ago."

Stretching his neck from side to side and allowed himself a smile. He didn't feel nearly as poorly as he would have expected to. "Ah? Good. How many."

"At least eight." Kalleg scowled, something Chekov was certain he had a tremendous amount of practice at. "Perhaps ten. It was dark and they were moving quickly." He glared at the human, probably defying him to contradict the words.

Nodding, Chekov felt a pleasant pop in one shoulder as he rotated both of them forward and backward. "Ah, not so good, but not so bad as it might have been, I suppose. Grev and J'dek will have to adjust, not that it will be difficult for either."

"What are you talking about, human?"

"In due time." He moved closer to the bars to inspect the joints. "We must first find out if all the Romulans have been distracted. Do they usually respond quickly when you yell?"

"PetaQ-mey! There is often one of them right outside the cell door, though normally the guard is farther down the corridor. They dislike guarding me directly. I have been stunned a number of times for being too noisy."

"Ah, better and better." He grinned. "I would take that to mean that they don't trust the bars to hold on their own against you. Strange that they haven't set up a force field."

The scowl slipped away, possibly as Kalleg processed the compliment. "There was one, but they took it down. Its performance was... erratic. At least one of them was shocked worse than I was. Something in the stone used to build this place interferes with force fields and sensors."

"Magnetite, as I recall. That would make sense. Can you be noisy enough that the guard would normally come to investigate?"

"Why?"

"Because, if we are alone down here, it is time to do our own part in the rescue operation by leaving the cell. If we are not alone, well, then I suppose we will see." He shrugged and tried pushing one of the bars. It shifted a fraction of a centimetre in place.