Disclaimer
I'm not making a cent from this story.
Kirk, Pike, McCoy, Thelin, Arex, M'Ress, Spock, Uhura, Sulu, Scotty and Chekov all belong to Star Trek.
The name USS Saratoga is from Neferit's story, but everything about the ship's class/design I made up!
Acknowledgment
Those of you who have read Neferit's works may have come across her 'This is the End' trilogy, in which Kirk
leaves the Enterprise and accepts command of another ship, the USS Saratoga. This story takes place in that
verse. I've written all my stories with Neferit's kind permission.
Notes
Other stories in this universe are, in chronological order:
Dreams to Nightmares
Prologue
Chastise
A New Start
A New Season
Parallels
Newest Crewmember
Final Flight
Unforgiven
Endeavor
Request
If you fave or follow please leave feedback! I live for it!
GOD bless
John 3:16
4/14/2258
Enterprise Corridors
8:45 AM
Uhura slowly made her way towards the bridge. The Senior Staff had released from the brig earlier
that that morning and ordered to get ready for shift. They had each slunk off to their quarters, silent
and broken, to clean up.
As she made her way through the bright corridors towards the bridge, she noticed the silence.
As always there were plenty of crewmembers walking through the corridors, but none of them were
talking except in quiet whispers, none seemed willing to meet each other's eyes and everyone cast
a pall of guilt and shame.
Bridge
The mood was even worse on the bridge. Sulu's face was set but he was clearly pained. Chekov looked
like he was about to cry. I thought he'd run out of tears in the brig, Uhura thought idly.
Down in Engineering she knew that Scotty would be as miserable as he had been in the brig, even
working with his beloved machines.
Spock sat in the Captain's chair. He was serve as Acting Captain until a new one was assigned.
But Uhura knew that in the eyes of Starfleet he had fallen. As had all of them.
And to think that it had only been a month ago when everything had seemed perfect. They had
been the crew that had saved Earth. They had all been living their dream. First Officer and Chief
Science Officer, Chief Engineer, Chief Helmsman, Chief Navigator and Chief of Communications.
A golden ship with a golden Captain and a golden future.
And now all of that was ground to dust.
Their reputation as heroes was definitely past tense. For all she knew they might all be reassigned
or be kicked out of Starfleet altogether.
Her misery deepened as she turned into the constant stream of communications data, listening
to the stations' comm traffic. Everyone and their mother was talking about Captain Kirk and how
his crew, had basically turned their backs him.
She was jerked from her thoughts by a new signal and she winced when she listened to it.
She didn't envy the recipient of the call at all.
"Commander," she called.
When Spock looked at her she spoke hesitantly. "Sir, I'm receiving a transmission from New Vulcan.
It's Ambassador Spock. He's requesting a private channel."
Spock stood. "Direct it to the Ready Room."
1 hour later
Spock slowly returned to the bridge. In his mind's eye was fixed the image of his counterpart.
Vulcans can and do get angry. That was something that he knew all too well. A Vulcan's anger
could be a terrible thing and to be on the receiving end of it even worse.
His counterpart had been very angry. His anger hadn't been the furious explosion Spock had
shown the day that Kirk had provoked him. He hadn't raised his voice and his face hadn't changed
expression.
But the anger, disappointment and sorrow had been clear.
And in his ears were the echoes of the elder's final words.
"I will leave it to you, my younger self, to ascertain a way in which you may gain back what you
have lost; the trust and respect of both your Captain and of others. You will discover that it will
take you a long time to regain those things. And if you do it will not be through logic."
