AN:Sadly, I don't own any of the characters created except for Lieutenant Commander T'Solak - I came up with her while playing a game. This story was originally based off of a dream I had (yes, I dream about Star Trek. Insert no life jokes here), however, I've modified it slightly so it fits the Star Trek universe a little better. This takes place in the alternate universe, not the prime universe. Also, I'm bring back the TOS episode "The Doomsday Device". Some of the ideas in the fanfiction will be inspired by that and will have aspects of that episode apparent. Yay! Please, tell me how I do on portraying the canon characters. Tell me how to make it better, if it doesn't seem to fit right. Anywho, I hope you guys enjoy!


I

My mission...

Numbing coldness was beginning to take her fingers, her toes. Her nose was tinged with green, the color of her blood, which was also numbingly cold. Her sharply tipped ears were in a state also similar, freezing and green-tinged. Snow fell from the sky like thick ash from a volcano. The wind whipped violently at her, but she had to make it to this outpost. Uhura would be there. She had to be.

Her trek through the snow was long and undeniably, cold. She was not used to this weather at all; her home planet was a hot one, with a stronger force of gravity. She couldn't feel any of her extremities although she wore the warmest fabrics, all in dark colors to absorb more energy. Her breath came in ragged gasps, expelling puffs of foggy water vapor from between her now-pale lips.

As if some gift from above, the outpost soon came into view. Snow was piling around it towards the bottom, but it was so tall, the snow would have a rather difficult time covering the entire building. There was her penultimate stop for her mission. Her checkpoint, so to speak. She would rest here until she is strong enough to embark on the final leg of her journey.

She approached the path, followed it to a door, locked for security purposes. Shaking, she extended a hand to switch on the intercom. Her voice was dry, cracked. She stated her rank and name.

"...requesting permission t-to enter."

She waited, wrapped up in her cloak.

No response came. She tried again. And again. No frustration bloomed, as she was a Vulcan, and logic always came first and foremost. Her brain went to work; perhaps something had happened. She struggled to think, to formulate what events could have transpired; the cold numbed her mind. She tried to fight away the fog, but it kept coming back, the clouds in her mind, the persistent freezing teeth.

She flipped open her communicator, movements robotic due to the extreme temperature. "Enterprise... p-please come in."

"Enterprise; Kirk here." She could hear the sounds of battle in the background. The ship, attacked?

"Where... is Lieutenant Uhura?"

A loud blast sounded through her communicator. Communications must have been affected, static was beginning to set in. Kirk's voice came in hurriedly, he realized what had happened. As he spoke, she glanced a keypad installed next to the intercom, surely a way to allow her access inside.

"Code: One, seven, six ... four, nine ... seven ... one... s..." Static took the place of the captain's voice. No... She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, regrouped her thoughts. Her mind went to work memorizing the numbers that she had been given, but logic reminded her that she only had a 19.34 percent chance of entering the code properly. It also reminded her rather coldly, much like the weather, that she would have three chances before security action was taken and she be considered an outside threat to destroy. Normally, she would praise such tight security. However, such a thing now worked against her, and she cursed it.

She moved her hand to the keypad after pocketing her communicator. She slowly mouthed each number she entered, silently hoping that each would be correct.

"One, seven, six ... one, four, nine ... four, seven ... nine, one, seven." She entered, adding in numbers she deemed likely to be present in the code.

Beep beep.

Nothing happened. Two chances left.

The coldness was really beginning to affect her now, her arms were stiff and her fingers had long lost their sensitivity. She wanted to keep her hand up, keep punching in numbers, but her arm fell uselessly to her side. Her brain was muddled, couldn't remember the numbers. The fog kept rolling in.

"One... seven..." she breathed.

One... seven...

One...

Seven...

One...

S...

...

Her mind broke, consciousness snapped, succumbed to the cold. She fell to the freezing, snow-covered ground. She could barely register the cold bite of the snow as it brushed against her skin.

Icy darkness took her in its embrace.


Three Weeks Earlier...

"Come in, Enterprise. This is Starfleet Command."

"Captain?" questioned the woman managing communications. She rotated in her seat to look up at the man sitting in the command chair. He shifted in his seat, pressed a button.

"Enterprise, Captain Kirk here."

"Prepare to beam up one. She will explain her business aboard your ship to you once you meet with her," the voice paused, "Break. You are to respond to an emergency distress signal transmitted from nearby the Rigel System, sent by Captain Decker of the U.S.S. Constitution. Acknowledge."

"Acknowledged."

"Starfleet Command, out."

Kirk stood up, stretched a little, glanced over at his first officer, Spock. "Take over, Mr. Spock. I'll be back."

"Aye, captain."

Kirk disappeared into the turbolift, gone to meet the newcomer. Strange, how orders around here end up being changed so quickly.


The doors connecting the turbolift to the bridge soon slid open again, revealing none other than Captain James T. Kirk and another person, accompanying him. She did not belong to the Enterprise, she looked like no one who had ever boarded the Enterprise. Must be the new one mentioned by Starfleet Command. Kirk entered, owned the attention of everyone on the bridge. He looked everyone over, then gestured toward his companion, "Lieutenant Commander T'Solak," he explained, "She's been temporarily assigned to the Enterprise for a period of two months as we carry out our duties. She will be.. monitoring our reactions and methods." The captain's tone betrayed his already made-up feelings about that: discomfort.

The newcomer stepped forward, her boots making heavy sounds on the metal floor. She was rather tall, perhaps about 5'8", with long legs and long arms, tipped in slender fingers. Her skin was not very tan, yet not pasty either. No, it was somewhere in the middle, a soft, creamy shade. Of course, she wore a regulation uniform: long black pants neatly tucked into her black leather boots, and a jacket, mostly black but accented in red here and there. She most likely wore a red shirt underneath, and a black one underneath that. Her raven black hair was short, slicked back neatly which gave her a rather professional look. Her eyes were a shade of gray, but dark with intelligence. She had her arms folded, her hand clasped behind her back as she studied the bridge crew of the Enterprise carefully. "Thank you, Captain," she said with a nod, "And greetings to the rest of you." Her voice was deep, spoken from the throat; it commanded everyone's attention, the note was strength-filled.

Captain Kirk went on to introduce the crew, gesturing to each as he spoke their name aloud. "This is Lieutenant Uhura, our communications officer," said the captain as he swept his hand toward a woman with skin darker than hers, and hair tied in a strict ponytail, which fell just past her shoulders. She smiled and gave a small nod towards the newcomer. He moved on. "Ensign Chekov, navigator-"

"Right here, Keptin!" The young ensign grinned cheerfully.

"Sulu, our helmsman," Sulu also gave a warm smile. Kirk went on introducing the rest: Montgomery Scott, the chief engineer, and Doctor McCoy, who neither smiled nor glared. His gaze seemed curious, suspicious. He said nothing. Finally, he came to the last of the group.

"Commander Spock, chief science officer and my first officer. Also sass-master extraordinaire," Jim added with a smirk. Spock said nothing in response to that, although he did stare at the Captain for a moment, as if he were to say something.

Again, T'Solak nodded, walking for a bit before stopping in front of Spock, who made no movement whatsoever. They stared at each other before Spock spoke first.

"Lieutenant Commander," he stated simply.

"Commander Spock," replied T'Solak, keen dark eyes studying him, "I have heard of you before. You are said to be the best first officer in all of Starfleet."

A moment passed before Spock replied, "I have been called that."

"Then I shall expect to see much from you," said the female Vulcan.

Kirk spoke up, gesturing to the turbolift, "I'll show you to your quarters."

"Very well." She turned away with Kirk, entering the turbolift again. Spock stared after her until the doors slid closed. It seemed the crew wasn't the only one being studied carefully.

In the turbolift, silence was the only sound other than the sound of movement as Kirk and T'Solak were transported toward deck two. Jim glanced at the female Vulcan multiple times, wondering, daring to question. She said absolutely nothing at all, didn't even spare a single glance at him. The details of her task were not given to the captain, and his curiosity was beginning to bug him. A long period of quiet ensued.

Kirk broke the silence first, seeing as the Vulcan had no intention of initiating conversation.

"I recall that you command your own ship, the U.S.S...?"

"Serpentia."

"Serpentia," Kirk finished. He looked at T'Solak with pale blue eyes, still questioning. She replied without shifting her gaze or batting an eyelash.

"An escort vessel. Our missions mainly consist of accompanying persons of importance to their destination, although we do perform other tasks such as interstellar relations and simple system patrol duties. Surveillance as well. I am considered, in your human terms, a 'jack-of-all-trades.' Our crew is experienced in nearly every aspect of Starfleet."

Kirk gave a smirk, leaning against the wall of the turbolift, "So you're a little bit of everything, huh? And you do a lot of fighting."

"Affirmative."

"I'd say your rather... aggressive, am I right?" He ran his fingers through his hair, still smirking.

At that moment, the doors to the turbolift opened. T'Solak stepped out briskly, then turned to regard the captain with cold eyes. "Captain, I understand that you are attempting to use a human ability called 'flirting,' and while this may work with your other female crew members, it most certainly will have no effect on me. Now, if you do not mind, I believe I can find my quarters on my own."

Kirk sighed as he watched her depart, arms crossed as he shook his head. A tiny grin played at the corners of his mouth as he muttered to himself, "Yup, definitely Vulcan."


Author's Note:
I do hope this first chapter was rather enjoyable for readers. I'm having a little bit of a hard time settling in to some of the characters, especially Spock and Kirk for some reason. I keep thinking of the TOS versions while my story takes place in the alternate reality. I have the second chapter written; I'll post it as soon as I'm happy with it, and when I have time.

P.S., I also couldn't find any info on which deck a guest's quarters would be located. I am aware that on a Constitution-class starship, the officers' quarters are generally located on deck five and that the crew's quarters are generally placed throughout the disc (although where specifically, I am unsure of). Another place mentioned deck two.