The shuttles made haste toward their destination; after all there was no time to lose. Thankfully the slight fog was not thick enough to impede their transit.
Countless shuttlecraft flew over the bay on their way to the skies above. Among those pods were two individuals of interest, Leonard McCoy and Jim Kirk.
"I might throw up on you." Kirk couldn't help but say, but McCoy was not paying any attention.
Rather, he was watching as Earth disappeared from his view. McCoy's eyes then drifted upwards to a new focus, and what he saw was a grand sight.
Out of the viewport of the shuttle he could the space dock in all of it's magnificence. It was a large metal sphere at least three miles in diameter. Protruding from it were six arms, at the end of each was large disk that was almost as long as the central sphere. If one looked closely, they could a few ships docked into these disks, though compared to the whole space dock structure, the starships were mere pinpricks.
"Jim, you gotta look at this." McCoy said without averting his gaze. The only response he received from his friend was a few more grunts of pain.
This time McCoy actually turned around and made sure he grabbed Kirk's attention. "Jim, look!" he said. This time, Kirk actually moved at the motion, the signal to McCoy he could go back to looking at the sight.
Kirk, who still had difficulty biding his headache, managed to glance over toward the window. Immediately he was as transfixed as his friend was, he even forgot he was in pain.
The starship Enterprise simply sat in the docking bay, motionless. That did not take away from the pure awe it caused. The ship itself was a large sauser with a descending tail. Connected to the tail in a V-shape configuration were two massive cylindrical-esqe engines. The whole ship had to be at least half a mile in length.
"Whoa." was the word Kirk used to describe how he felt, for he couldn't have formulated an other words.
As they rounded the ship, the name of the ship was painted in big black latters upon the top of the saucer portion. However, the name was dwarfed by text lower down the face of the structure, it read "NCC-1701."
The shuttle rounded the starboard side of the ship, and then made it's way toward the tail of the ship; the docking bay.
The next thing they knew, they were on board the ship. The engineering deck was bustling with activity. The noises of the ship could not be heard over the countless conversations that were taking place and the the sounds of a dozen footsteps as crew member went to their destinations.
"We need to get you changed." McCoy stated quickly to remind Kirk of what they were doing.
"I don't feel right, I feel like I'm leaking!" Kirk protested, not paying any attention to what his friend had to say. His face had contorted into one of disgust and incredulity.
McCoy suddenly darted to the left, "Oh, it's that pointy-eared bastard."
Not even a moment later Spock went through the spot they had just been in, going in the opposite direction.
Now dressed in his blue shirt, he was ready for duty on the bridge. But to get there, he needed to use the turbolift.
Stepping inside the chamber, he pushed a button on a nearby control panel. The doors closed, and though the vulcan could not feel it the chamber moved up the shaft toward the bridge. A moment later the doors re-opened and the man stepped out.
Just like the engineering deck, the bridge was alive with activity. Systems were being checked, stations were being manned, and everyone was getting ready for the launch.
Spock made his way over to his station, the seat of the first-class officer somewhere behind the captain's chair.
Not even a moment later the captain was on the bridge, and immediately Pike approached the vulcan. "Mister Spock." he said.
"Captain, engineering reports ready for launch." the vulcan reported, somehow knowing what it was the captain wanted to know.
"Thank you." Pike acknowledged before turning toward the center of the room. The captain then went around the center of the bridge, looking at everyone.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the maiden voyage of our newest flagship deserves more pomp and circumstance then we can afford today. The christening will just have to be our reward for a safe return." Pike paused, before saying, "Carry on."
Pike sat in his chair, and immediately pushed a button on one of the arm rest. It was the intercom, to which he spoke. "All decks, this is Captain Pike, prepare for immediate departure."
The intercom off, Pike turned his attention toward one of the men direction in front of him. "Helm, thrusters." he directed.
The helmsman immediately began to call out what he was doing. "Moorings retracted, captain, dock control reports ready. Thrusters fired... Separating from spacedock."
The ship began to move away from the structure that was the dock. The engines hummed as the Enterprise turned toward the emptiness of space.
"The fleet's cleared spacedock captain, all ships ready for warp." the helmsman reported.
Captain Pike, who was turning from the opposite direction now, called over his shoulder, "Set course for Vulcan."
"Aye aye, captain." The helmsman pushed a few buttons on the screen before him. A moment later he said, "Course laid in."
A grin spread across Pike's face. "Maximum warp, punch it." he ordered.
The helmsman grabbed shiny lever on the control board. Slowly he pushed it downwards. The ship hummed in response as the warp engines in the back of the ship sprang to life.
Outside the ship, the other ships could be seen doing the exact same thing. One ship disappeared, followed by another. The rest of the fleet followed suit, one-by-on they exited at warp speed. Only the Enterprise was left.
Something was wrong. Even though the warp engines were activated, nothing was happening. The hum of the engines had lasted for very long, and yet nothing had happened.
The helmsman disengaged the warp engines, pulling back on the lever to it's initial position. He then looked around with a look of confusion as everyone else's eyes fell on him.
Pike was not amused in the slightest. "Lieutenant , where's helmsman McKeena?"
Even when pushing buttons, the man was quick to answer, "He has lungworm sir, he couldn't report to his post." The man stopped what he was doing to spin around in his chair. "I'm Hikaru Sulu." he said to the captain.
"And you are a pilot, right?" Pike asked incredulously, doubtful whether this Sulu character was where he was supposed to be.
"Very much so sir." Sulu spun around in his chair to face his display. He began to tap the screen again, though still said, "Ummm… im not… sure what's wrong here…"
The captain looked around blankly, trying to think of something. "Is the… parking brake on?" It was more of a joke.
"Uhhhh… no." Sulu shook his head, grinning exasperatedly. "I'll figure it out, I'm just-"
"Have you disengaged the external initial dampener?" Spock cut in from behind Pike.
Sulu sat there, dumbfounded. However, his feeling was concealed by the look of annoyance on his face. He looked toward the side, then looked at the screen again. He tapped a few buttons, and a ping was heard. He sat back in his chair, "Ready for warp sir."
"Let's punch it." Pike grinned.
The helmsman grabbed the warp lever once again, and thrust it forward. Once again, the hum of the engines could be heard. However, this time the space in front of them seemed to elongate, as the ship prepared itself to enter warp.
The ship took off at a faster-than-light speed, on it's way to Vulcan.