by Quoth

"But it was long ago and it was far away, oh and it seems so very far,
And if life is just a highway then the soul is just a car,
And objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are,
And objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are."
-- Meat Loaf, "Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer than 
They Are"

***************************

Data sighed deeply as he entered his quarters. It had been a difficult day. 
First there had been his regular duties, then had come his compulsory 
counselling session with Deanna Troi.

Again. 

Still, he had to admit that it was comforting talking to someone who knew 
what had happened. For the most part, the crew thought that the Borg had merely 
captured him, and attempted unsuccessfully to assimilate him. Only the captain, 
the counsellor, Doctor Crusher and Geordi knew the full extent of what She had 
done to him, and while he preferred it that way, it did make things a little 
difficult for him when others unnerved him by coming too close or, worse, 
touching him. 

And then, of course, there had been his interview with Admiral Reshan Elbrun. 
That had been a most unpleasant experience that had completely eradicated any 
sense of comfort Deanna had created within him.

The admiral was a Betazoid, and in fact was the grandfather of extra powerful 
telepath Tam Elbrun, whose whereabouts were now unknown. He had been assigned to 
the Enterprise in order to investigate the Borg takeover of the ship. In the 
case of such a hostile enemy taking control of the flagship, Starfleet was not 
content to leave an investigation in the hands of anyone less. Although Data 
understood intellectually the necessity of such an investigation, he was not 
happy with the choice of personnel Starfleet had made. Another admiral -- any 
other admiral -- would have been preferable. Indeed, Alynna Nechayev would have 
been preferable.

Data had seen many leadership types during his long tenure in Starfleet, and 
he had experienced the bullying type applied to him often enough to know it when 
he saw it. Where his grandson had been compassionate, if unstable, the admiral 
revelled in his personal power.

In the first five seconds after making the admiral's acquaintance, this was 
made quite obvious as he told all the senior officers without preamble when he 
would interview them. The captain, naturally, had been first, and as the second 
officer, Data had been third. He had recognised signs of extreme hostility and 
hatred in Elbrun's stance and tone of voice, which seemed to be directed towards 
the crew in general and Data in particular. Data had no idea why, unless it was 
because he was an android, but if he had entertained any doubts about its 
existence, they were dispelled after his interview with Elbrun.

The admiral had moved around the room, had leaned over his shoulder and 
hissed allegations angrily into golden ears, had come back to face the android 
and bent right over into Data's face as he demanded answers to impossible 
questions. His eyes had bored into Data's as he asked his questions, and Data 
began to feel like the lowest lifeform alive. When the questions had come to 
exactly how Data had distracted and tricked the Borg Queen, things had taken a 
distinctly nasty turn.

In a voice that was not quite steady, he described what he had been forced by 
lack of choice to permit the Queen to do to him, not daring to look at the 
Admiral's face. Elbrun's razor sharp voice sliced through his narrative more 
than once, demanding specifics, not allowing him to ignore or euphemise any 
detail, however small. At the end of the narrative, Data took a deep breath, 
staring resolutely at his black leather shoes, feeling Elbrun's sneer on 
him.

"Why Commander, how very brave. The enemy offers you what you have, 
according to your files, been striving for all your life, plus some sexual 
pleasure. And you, fine, upstanding officer that you are, reject the idea after 
only 0.68 seconds, and decide to just endure it as best you can. Purely out 
of loyalty to Starfleet, of course. And let's face it, that insignificant little 
Starfleet law that makes consenting to sleeping with the enemy a criminal 
offence is so old fashioned. I guess it simply isn't worth considering 
anymore."

Data's head jerked up at that, but Elbrun gave him no chance to protest. 
"This interview is over. I will draw my own conclusions from it and present 
the said conclusions to Starfleet Command. Dismissed."

Data had stood from his chair and left the room without a word. Now he 
understood why both the captain and Commander Riker had left their interviews 
with faces like thunderclouds. Geordi, Doctor Crusher and Counsellor Troi were 
still to be interviewed. Each of them taken one look at his face and tried to 
talk with him, but a roar from the admiral's quarters as he summoned Geordi into 
the room informed them that interviewees were not to talk with those already 
interviewed. Deanna had flashed him a look and informed him that they would talk 
tomorrow, then he had quickly left for his quarters, badly shaken.

On the way, he had encountered Commander Riker, who seemed to be as furious 
as Data was distressed. Catching the tight, drawn look on the android's face, 
the first officer had concernedly called him over for a short word of 
encouragement.

"From the looks of you, I take it he used the '1984' approach on you as 
well?" At Data's silent nod, Will sighed. "Don't let him get to you, 
Data, although I'm sure you caught it worse than I did. And I know I caught it 
pretty badly, though not as badly as the captain."

Data raised a quizzical eyebrow. Riker humphed in exasperation. "Oh, 
apparently I endangered history by helping Cochrane to make his flight." He 
rolled his eyes. "Commander," and his voice took on a surprisingly 
good imitation of the admiral's barbed sarcasm, "did you even stop to 
consider the damage you have now caused history by becoming Cochrane's assistant 
on the first warp run instead of Professor Lily Sloane?" The first officer 
shook his head. "Yes, I thought of it, Data! I also thought about the fact 
that there wouldn't have been a future to go back to if Geordi and I hadn't done 
something about Cochrane! The man was going to give up on warp 
entirely!"

"The admiral is certainly not an ideal investigator for this case," 
Data commented wryly. "He seems to have already come to a decision on our 
guilt, and if the facts are inconvenient, he simply ignores them."

"You're not kidding. Well, he's going to bring us to court-martial, that 
much is a safe bet. I sure hope he slips up, like Admiral Satie did. Then maybe 
the brass will see reason, rather than just his point of view." 

And with that, Riker strode impatiently down the corridor, trying to work off 
his bad mood. 

Once Data finally entered his quarters, he fed Spot, then sat on the couch. 
He did not object when Spot leapt upon his lap and demanded to be petted. 
Smiling, he stroked his pet, finding a measure of comfort in the deep purr 
emerging from a ginger throat. Eventually, Spot was lulled asleep by the 
repetitive strokes, and Data leaned back on the couch, letting his eyes drift 
closed as he activated his dream program. A calm vision of a cool autumn evening 
on Naren III took him, and all unpleasantness was forgotten.

***********************

He was jerked roughly out of his peaceful dream a few hours later by the 
insistent signalling of the door.

"Commander, let me in!" a harsh voice demanded.

What did the Admiral want here? Data quickly sat up as he called, 
"Enter". Spot yowled angrily at being spilled off her comfortable 
sleeping place and streaked huffily into the next room as the Admiral entered, a 
sour look on his face. Apprehension flooded Data's neural pathways.

"What is it, Admiral? Can I help you?" he asked carefully.

Elbrun snorted, and a smile tinged with anticipation and malice flickered at 
the corner of his lips. Something inside Data sickened upon seeing that smile. 
It reminded him too much of -- no, do not think of that...

"Perhaps the more important question, Commander, is "can I help 
you?" And I can, if you can convince me to."

"What do you mean?" Data shifted his weight from one foot to the 
other uneasily. Elbrun's gaze was moving appraisingly over him in a manner that 
terrified him, yet he could not bring himself to protest. 

"Commander, are you aware that my grandson was on this ship's 
predecessor some years ago?"

Data nodded. "Tam. Yes, sir."

"Are you also aware," and the razor sarcasm in his voice made Data 
shudder involuntarily, "that my grandson went on a first contact mission 
from this ship and never came back?" A chuckle forced its way out of 
Elbrun's throat. "Why, of course you would, how foolish of me. I'd 
forgotten that you had accompanied him on that mission. Tell me, Commander, why 
is it that you returned and he did not? I read the report, but I found it 
quite... lacking in detail."

Data took a deep breath. Elbrun's gaze was burning into his as he replied 
unsteadily. "Tam chose to remain with the Gomtuu entity, sir. The entity 
sent me back to the Enterprise once the star collapsed, but it did not return 
Tam. I believe your grandson was quite happy with the outcome."

"Really?" The soft whisper echoed in Data's ears. "Well, I was 
not very happy with the outcome, Commander. I was not happy that a Starfleet 
officer returned from a mission that a civilian consultant did not. But then, 
you and the rest of this bridge crew are accustomed to performing 
unsatisfactorily, are you not?" 

Data looked bewildered. Elbrun smirked and began to elaborate.
"Commander, I have gone over the interviews given to me by the various 
bridge crew members, and I must say that I, personally, find them extremely 
unsatisfactory, and indicative of conduct far unbecoming to a Starfleet officer. 
How disappointing." He frowned insincerely, and began to stride 
possessively around the room, casually studying the paintings on the walls and 
easel, picking up the occasional small knickknack and casting a critical eye 
over them. 

"Unsatisfactory?" Data turned to keep watch on this man. His danger 
programs were screaming warnings at him, but he somehow knew that to run would 
make things much worse.

"Yes. The captain, for instance. I am truly disappointed in his 
performance, as will be Starfleet when I present my report. Despite the 
situation, he refused constantly to destroy the ship. When a ship is taken over 
by a hostile in such a manner, destruct sequences are standard procedure, yet 
Captain Picard failed to initiate such measures, preferring instead to use 
battle tactics which cost several crewmembers their lives through assimilation. 
For a man of his rank and experience, this is most unexpected and disappointing 
behaviour. Not to mention the fact that he revealed future technology to a 
twenty first century woman, Professor Sloane."

"Admiral--"

"And then there is the almost criminal irresponsibility of Chief 
Engineer LaForge. His behaviour during this crisis was completely unacceptable, 
and his liability is not only due to his interference with Cochrane's flight. 
Despite irregularities in the ship's systems first presenting themselves in Main 
Engineering, LaForge chose to accompany the away team down to the planet, 
leaving Engineering in the hands of less experienced officers. If he had been 
where he belonged during this whole mess, a difference may well have been made 
in the eventual outcome."

Data was stunned. Surely the Admiral could not be serious... but Elbrun had 
already resumed talking.

"Commander Riker, along with Lieutenant Commander LaForge, knowingly 
interfered with Cochrane's flight, and informed Cochrane of the future. 
Commander Troi acted with extremely unprofessional conduct by allowing herself 
to become intoxicated and recommending the violation of the Prime Directive. 
Doctor Crusher was lax in allowing Professor Sloane to slip away from the 
sickbay group and wander around the twenty fourth century technology of the 
ship. All in all, Commander, your crewmates have, by their own admission, 
displayed conduct blatantly unsuitable for Starfleet officers. And, of course, 
there are your own... indiscretions." The admiral laced that one word with 
such broad innuendo that Data winced.

"To sum up, Commander, Starfleet is not going to cast a favourable eye 
on this situation. Not if I give the facts as they now stand, however. The 
question is, will I give those facts?" He started to walk towards Data, a 
slow, measured stride that had Data backing off, his words calculated and 
deliberate. "I could be convinced to forget these facts for the sake of 
your crewmates' careers, if certain -- persuasions -- were applied..."

Data gasped and flinched as the unspoken message struck home. "Admiral, 
I--"

"Oh, come now." The dangerously soft tone never changed as Elbrun 
started to back Data towards the wall. The android hit the wall and looked 
frantically around for an escape... but there was none and still the admiral 
continued, planting his hands calmly on Data's shoulders and pushing him further 
back into the bulkhead. "I would not have expected such selfishness, not 
from such a noble officer. After all," and the sweet slice of the razor 
returned to Elbrun's voice, "by your own testimony, you have only recently 
sacrificed your virtue once already, for the sake of your crewmates' lives. I 
would not have thought you would have baulked at saving their careers, not to 
mention your own."

Data turned his head and closed his eyes, his whole body shaking with fear. 
This could not be happening, not again, not so soon--

"But, if you don't mind the thought of seeing your captain and your 
friends all get busted in rank down to ensign, if not dishonourably discharged, 
knowing all the time that you could have stopped it just by not disagreeing with 
your superior officer, well," Elbrun said silkily, "then that's just 
the way things are. There's nothing more to be said. Of course, I imagine 
LaForge will take the loss of his upcoming promotion quite hard, but then, such 
is life." 

Data's eyes snapped open at that, and he stared blankly off into space, a 
sick feeling churning within him. He knew at that moment that he would give in, 
that he would allow the admiral to do as he wanted. He could not permit his 
friends to be unjustly punished by this powerful yet unbalanced man. 
Admiral Elbrun sensed the despair and resignation in the android's mind, and 
he congratulated himself inwardly. He had chosen his prey and tactics well, and 
after seven years his grandson would be avenged. Not all at once, of course, but 
in large part tonight...

"Now, what will it be, Commander?" he said cheerfully, pretending 
he did not know which decision had been made. 

Data reluctantly brought his eyes back to Elbrun's face, and shuddered 
helplessly at the maniacal gleam in the Betazoid's eyes. Elbrun smiled, his face 
taking on an unearthly triumph. "Good boy. Now, strip off."

Data stood paralysed for a moment, frozen with terror. After a second, his 
trembling hands slowly reached up for the closure of his uniform top. The 
admiral looked on impassively as Data removed his clothes, burning bright gold 
with humiliation. Finally naked, he stared down at the floor, unable to bear 
Elbrun's appraising, malicious gaze. 

"On your knees." Data bit his lip, but obeyed the command, kneeling 
in front of the Betazoid admiral. The admiral released the closure of his 
trousers and let them fall to his ankles. 

"I assume you know what to do. Do it." The admiral nearly laughed 
out loud as Data swallowed and took a deep breath before leaning slightly 
forward and beginning as instructed. He had known that finally meting out the 
penalty Tam's disappearance deserved would be pleasant, but he'd had no idea how 
truly intoxicating it would be. He'd have to make sure his shields were strong 
enough to keep the half-breed Troi girl from noticing.

He grabbed a fistful of Data's hair and forced himself further down the soft 
throat, ignoring the choke that followed. Androids don't need to breathe, after 
all, he reminded himself, and he needn't practice restraint. The android would 
survive for the second part of his punishment for abandoning Tam. 

He saw no need to drag this out, so when his body demanded release, he 
finished himself off and shoved the android away.

Data choked convulsively as Elbrun's semen filled his mouth. His body wracked 
with silent coughs, he turned his head to the side to spit it out, but found the 
admiral's hand gripping his chin, yanking his face up and forward. 
"Swallow it." Not daring to disobey, Data forced himself to swallow 
the thick liquid, though he would rather have done anything else. This was just 
a small extra touch of humiliation in itself, but it somehow made this whole 
nightmare so much worse...

The admiral stroked himself with satisfaction, chuckling and hardening up 
again at the defeated, distressed look on the android's face. He had seen it 
often enough on Tam's face, when the little boy would give up the attempt to 
raise his shields after hours of trying, and resigned himself to yet another day 
of hearing everybody's thoughts. It had been a heartbreaking thing to sense. And 
now he was sensing the exact same emotions now in Tam's deserter. Sometimes 
delayed justice, he reflected, is the sweetest. The disgraceful conduct of the 
Enterprise command crew during this whole Borg disaster had unexpectedly dropped 
the chance for punishing them directly into his lap.

He caught hold of Data's upper arm in a vicelike grip and shoved him onto the 
carpet, facedown. Roughly pushing the slender golden legs apart, he forced his 
way inside the android's passage and began to thrust hard, making no attempt to 
ease his actions in any way.

Data wanted desperately to activate his dream program, anything to block his 
awareness of what was happening, but he dared not. The admiral may demand 
something of him while he was unconscious, and he could not risk that. It would 
do his friends a great deal of harm and would make all this pointless.
It seemed at one stage it would continue forever, but eventually it ended. 
With a grunt, the admiral expelled himself into Data, then stood, pulling his 
trousers back on. Data lay there for a moment, then pushed himself to his hands 
and knees, looking dazed and numb. 

"Excellent, Commander. You may very well have changed my mind regarding 
the culpability of your crewmates. We will see at the court-martial, shan't 
we?" And, gracing Data with a beatific smile, he left the android's Spartan 
quarters. 

Data remained very still after the admiral had left, until his sensitive 
android hearing could no longer detect the receding muffled footfalls. Then he 
leapt up and sprinted desperately for the shower. Triggering the streams of 
water, he scrubbed his body hard, washing himself over and over, wide eyed in 
silent distress.

****************************************

"All rise," announced Admiral Nechayev. 

Those currently in the court stood. The bridge crew of the Enterprise, along 
with a newly-arrived Worf from Deep Space Nine, were standing in the dock, while 
a panel of Admirals from Starfleet Command had previously been seated at a long, 
slim table, not unlike that in the Enterprise's conference lounge. 

"Admiral Nechayev, would you please read the charges laid against these 
officers and the verdicts of this court, please," ordered Marshal 
Yeht'raevin, the Chief in Command of Starfleet, as all present sat back down. 
The Federation took charges of this magnitude against the bridge crew of the 
flagship very seriously.

Data shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Deanna shot a sharp glance his way. 
She had been seriously concerned about his state of mind the last few days. He 
had become evasive and withdrawn very suddenly, after his interview with that 
ghemon Admiral Elbrun. While he had attacked them all on their conduct, more 
or less, the admiral had seemed to have an especial dislike for Data. Perhaps he 
saw Data as a traitor rather than as a victim of sexual assault. In any case, 
something he must have said had thrown Data's recovery off, and badly. Geordi, 
Will and Beverly had all noticed it as well, but their concerned questions had 
received no better results then her own.

Admiral Nechayev cleared her throat and began to read from her PADD, keeping 
her voice level and unemotional.

"Captain Jean-Luc Picard. On the charge of breaking the Prime Directive 
as related to Professor Lily Sloane, this court finds you innocent due to 
extenuating circumstances. No punishment. On the charge of reckless endangerment 
of Starfleet personnel and property, this court finds you not responsible, since 
your actions resulted in the eventual safety and recovery of the Enterprise. No 
punishment."

Picard shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Data had more to do with that than 
I, he thought. What was it Deanna was saying yesterday about Data? Something 
about not coping well... I'll have to talk with him about that. Assimilation is 
something no one can understand, not even Deanna, unless it's happened to 
them...

"Commander William T. Riker. On the charge of knowingly breaking the 
Prime Directive, this court finds you innocent due to extenuating circumstances. 
No punishment." Will showed no outward sign of emotion, but inwardly he was 
surprised and relieved. Seems like they saw what a crank that Elbrun is after 
all.

"Lieutenant Commander LaForge, on the same charge, this court finds you 
innocent due to extenuating circumstances. No punishment. On the charge of 
neglect of duty, this court finds you not guilty." Geordi sighed softly in 
relief. He hadn't exactly worried about the prospect of losing his promotion, 
but it was nice to know that he wasn't going to lose it after all.

"Commander Deanna Troi. On the charge of conduct unbecoming an officer, 
this court finds you not guilty." Deanna inclined her head gracefully.

"Commander Beverly Crusher. On the charge of allowing a human under the 
Prime Directive to have access to modern technology, the court finds you 
innocent due to extenuating circumstance." Beverly tossed her head 
slightly. She thought this whole damn court case was absolutely ridiculous.
Data sighed in relief. Elbrun had kept his promise after all-- Data had 
seriously doubted it over the past few days. 

"Lieutenant Commander Data. On the charge of consenting to sexual 
activity with the enemy, this court finds you guilty." A stunned silence 
reigned in the dock for one second, then pandemonium ensued as the entire bridge 
crew, with the exception of Data, broke into outraged exclamation as Elbrun sat 
and smirked with satisfaction. 

"SILENCE! You are out of order!" yelled Nechayev at the top of her 
surprisingly strong lungs. When the bridge crew were finally quietened, she 
continued. "This offence is generally punishable by dishonourable 
discharge. Given your record, this court had originally decided to be lenient, 
and alter this to demotion to the rank of Ensign. However, added to this is the 
charge of deliberate obstruction of a Starfleet investigation. According to the 
testimony of Admiral Elbrun, you consistently refused to answer his questions 
and otherwise actively attempted to hamper his investigation. Any inclination 
the court had to be lenient was waived. The punishment is dishonourable 
discharge."

"Lieutenant Commander Worf--"

But the shouting from the docks had again drowned her out. "Your 
Honour," called Picard angrily, "As Commander Data's superior officer 
I immediately lodge an appeal on his behalf."

"No way!" shouted Geordi at the same time. "Data had no 
choice--"

"This is completely unfair!" stormed Beverly. "You cannot 
possibly--"

"Commander Data conducted himself with great courage," snarled 
Worf, "sacrificing his honour to save his shipmates. I will not allow you 
to punish such bravery--" 

"Admiral," Deanna snapped indignantly, "I believe that this 
court should consider that Data is emotionally fragile at the moment and 
vulnerable to aggressive styles of questioning such as that used by Admiral 
Elbrun--"

"ENOUGH!" shouted Yeht'raevin. "This sentence has been passed 
given the testimonies of Commander Data himself and Admiral Elbrun--"
"With all due respect, sir, Admiral Elbrun is a git!" yelled 
Riker.

During all the racket, Data had not moved one centimetre. His gaze was locked 
on the ground, and he was mildly surprised to realise that he felt nothing. 
Nothing at all.


******************************


He heard the door signal just as he was packing away his final lot of 
belongings. "Enter," he called.
The doors hissed open to admit Geordi. Data managed to conjure up a smile. 
"Hello, Geordi. How are you?"

Geordi sighed. "I'm fine, Data. But I'll be a whole lot better when we 
get this all sorted out." Noticing what Data was doing, and the plain 
civilian clothes he wore, the engineer quickly said, "You don't need to do 
that. The captain's contesting Admiral Elbrun as we speak. We'll get you 
reinstated. It's just a matter of time."

Data couldn't prevent a wry smile from lifting a corner of his mouth. "I 
doubt that the captain will be able to do much about this, Geordi. Do not worry 
about it. I will find somewhere to go."

"But it isn't fair. Elbrun singled you out for some reason. Why you? Why 
didn't he go after the rest of us?"

Data swallowed. "Perhaps he intended to," he said, and try as he 
might, he could not stop his voice from shaking a little. "Perhaps he 
just-- changed his mind." Inwardly he cursed-- he had tried to sound 
dismissive, but instead he had made the possibility sound too plausible.
Geordi was quick to pick up on the unsteadiness. "What the -- Data, are 
you saying that he went after us all, and you convinced him to make you the 
scapegoat?"

Data kept his face absolutely still. "I said nothing of the sort. And 
neither will you say anything to the captain. Understood?"

"Data--"

"Geordi," Data said desperately, "please, do not say anything. 
You must not."

"Why?" demanded Geordi stubbornly. "You're hiding something. 
What is it? I mean, anyone with half a brain could tell it's upsetting you. You 
can tell me. It's something to do with Elbrun and the court-martial, 
right?"

"Yes," Data admitted. That much was painfully obvious anyway, he knew. 

"So what is it?" Geordi insisted. He was starting to really worry. 
What was wrong? I don't know what's happening, but I'm going to find out. He 
needs help. I have to help him.

Data stood rooted to the spot for a moment, undecided. Inside him was a 
mixture of guilt, disgust, self-hatred, anger, a sense of betrayal, and a sense 
of duty. 

Would his friends understand, as they had with Her, or would they be 
disgusted with him this time?

Could he risk admitting the truth, even now that his friends were safe from Elbrun?

Would Elbrun try this again on someone else too cowed to refuse? That thought 
alone made his decision for him.

Geordi came up to Data slowly. He was worried sick about Data's recent 
behaviour. Far from recovering from his experience with the Borg, he had 
recently gotten much worse. He'd become a virtual recluse, seeing no one he 
didn't absolutely have to. According to the water usage monitors in Supplies, 
he'd suddenly become a shower freak in the past week. And now, he seemed almost 
in a trance. 

Carefully, watching Data for any signs of a bad reaction, Geordi touched Data 
on the arm. 

Data gasped and jumped, coming out of his reverie. Geordi immediately backed 
off and apologised as Data's eyes focussed again.

"I'm sorry, Data, I just wasn't sure if you were okay," Geordi said 
gently. "You blanked out for a second. I know you don't like people 
touching you unexpectedly, because of... well, you know... what she did, 
but--"

"Not... just... Her." Data forced the words out. He knew that in 
accusing Admiral Elbrun of this, things would become very ugly, very 
quickly.

"Huh?" Geordi looked at him confusedly.

Data took a deep breath. "You had better sit down, Geordi," he said 
quietly, pressing his hands to his face. "This is not going to be pleasant 
for you to hear."

To Be Continued..