Title: The Kobayashi Maru
Author: Wildcat
Series: TOS
Rating: M
Codes: S, U
Summary: Uhura becomes the first officer of the Enterprise during Saavik's last year at the Academy.
Disclaimer: Paramount owns Kirk, Spock, Uhura, and company. I have just borrowed them for a while, and I will not profit from any of this.
This is part one of a four-part story. It's the next installment in my continuing Spock/Uhura universe, and it follows The Other Woman.
Feedback is desired.
The Kobayashi Maru I, chapter 1
Although it seemed like a lifetime since she had first taken that seat at the center of the bridge, Uhura remembered it well: the excitement warring with the nervousness, the heady sensation of knowing that finally you were there. She smiled gently as she looked at their young captain. His back was stiff and his voice was strained, but he retained his composure. Spock must be pleased with his student's performance.
She slid her eyes toward Spock. His hands clasped loosely behind his back, he stood, a calm and watchful island in the midst of a sea of eager activity. What was going through his mind right now? Was he as aware of her as she was of him? She had been stunned four days ago when she received her new orders, and she had tried her best since arriving yesterday to discuss them with him. It almost seemed that he had gone out of his way to avoid being alone with her, however.
Alone with his new first officer.
She shook her head, still unable to believe the rapid turn of events in her life. Only four days ago she had been busy in her role as second officer of the Lexington, unaware and unsuspecting of the life-altering missive that was traveling through space from receiver to receiver, boosted by the most innovative technologies of the 23rd century, streaming all the way from Starfleet Command to her own modest communications console on the Lexington. She, herself, had been on duty when it arrived, and she had routed it directly to her quarters without opening it. She had then promptly forgotten about it, assuming that it was yet another routine memo about some member of the Lexington's crew, or an action taking place so far away as to be meaningless to her. When she had finally found the time to hear it, she'd had to play it twice before the content penetrated her brain: she was to report to the Enterprise as the new first officer, effective immediately.
So, her mind whirling, she had packed up her belongings, said goodbye to her friends, and boarded the first shuttle headed toward Earth. The trip had been long, for the Lexington's current assignment had taken them to the furthest reaches of Federation territory, but finally she had arrived at Headquarters and accepted her new posting. That had happened last night. Since then, she'd been in a number of briefings with Spock and the other members of his senior crew, but she had not managed to find a second to be alone with him. To ask him why. Why? Why her, why now? A number of nasty rumors had drifted her way in the days before she received her orders, rumors about Spock and Helen, about a horrible scene and a vicious break-up. Although she discounted most of what she'd heard as too outlandish, it was clear that he and Helen were no longer a couple, and she couldn't help but think that there was a connection. He and Helen had been together for over two years. Seeing them after Spock's heart attack had persuaded Uhura that the tall, blonde archaeologist might be the woman Spock would choose for a life-mate, but evidently that wasn't to be the case. And here she was, Uhura herself, on board the Enterprise as his first officer within a week of that happening.
Her board beeped, and she quickly brought herself out of her reverie. Turning toward the young man in command, she said, "Captain, I'm receiving a message. It appears to be a distress call." She frowned as she ran her hands across her board. "I can hardly make it out."
The young man's eyes widened. "On speakers, Commander."
Crackling and popping, the disembodied voice floated onto the bridge. "Mayday, mayday. This is the Kobayashi Maru. I repeat, mayday, mayday. If you can hear me, please respond."
The young man addressed Uhura. "Open channel."
"Aye, sir." She transferred communication control to the center chair.
He leaned toward the arm of the chair. "Kobayashi Maru, this is Enterprise. We read. Repeat, we read. What is your status?"
"Enterprise! Maybe... not too late." The message faded in and out. "We hit... gravitic mine... hull breach... casualties. Our warp and impulse drives are inoperative... drifting. Quickly losing oxygen..." The static grew louder, all but drowning out the last words. "...please hurry..."
Uhura bent toward her board. "Captain, we lost them."
The captain turned to the helm. "Helmsman, check long-range scanners. What do you see?"
A rosy-cheeked young woman said, "High concentration of gases, hard to read... The Kobayashi Maru has drifted into the neutral zone, sir! I'm reading some other energy fluctuations, but I can't tell what they are."
"Could they be ships?"
"Possibly. I can't tell for certain."
Everyone waited while the captain thought about it. "Data on the Kobayashi Maru," he said.
Uhura watched a set of schematics flash onto the viewscreen while the computer's dispassionate voice recited the ship's statistics.
"Kobayashi Maru. Transport vehicle. Crew of fifty. Passenger roster of two hundred and five. Equipped with warp drive, no weapons capability."
"All right. We're going after them." The captain toggled a switch on the arm. "Sickbay, prepare to receive casualties. Helm, heading three three mark two, warp two. We'll go in quick and slip back out even quicker."
The young man at the science station said, "Captain, I have to remind you that we're in violation of neutral zone treaty if we do this."
"I know, Walken. We can't take the time to ask permission, however. You heard the message. They're running out of oxygen. The longer we wait, the more lives we endanger."
The science officer nodded and turned back to his display. "Entering neutral zone."
Everyone sat tensely, and all that could be heard was the background noise of the bridge. Even though Uhura knew what was coming, she found her heart beating faster. She remembered how she had felt when she sat in that center chair herself, more years ago than she cared to count.
The science officer's voice shattered the silence. "Captain! Klingon Birds of Prey, four of them, on a direct heading!"
"Raise shields. Distance to Kobayashi Maru."
The young man at the science station faltered, clearly shocked at the captain's refusal to turn back. "Uh, four minutes until we're within transporter range, but it has to be a trap, sir!"
"Arm phasers, but do not fire unless fired upon. Be prepared to drop shields on my mark, and beam aboard as many survivors as possible. If it looks like we're in a losing battle, we'll leave the neutral zone, but—"
"Klingons firing, Captain!"
Everyone braced themselves as the ship was hit by the concerted phaser fire of all four Klingon ships. Uhura fancied that she could feel the floor grow warmer beneath her feet, heated by the massive energy bursts that crackled around the ship's shields.
"Captain, shields at thirty percent, but holding. One more blast like that, however—"
"Understood. Fire at will. Time to transporter range?"
The helmsman glanced at her board. "Two minutes."
"Incoming phaser fire again, Captain!"
Uhura looked up at the sound of sparks on the other side of the bridge, and saw Scotty slump back in his seat. She fought back a smile at his performance. Surely he could do better than that! After all, he had just died, and one's own death called for a little more drama. Spock moved quickly to Scotty's side, checked for a pulse, then gently slid him onto the floor in order to take his seat.
She jerked back to her own station when the ship shuddered again, and even though she was expecting what happened next, she couldn't suppress an involuntary little shriek when her own board erupted in sparks. Here it was—her cue. She threw her arms back vigorously as if caught in the force of the blast, but she realized as her chair began to teeter that she'd gotten a little too carried away. Frantically kicking her feet, she tried to right herself, but it was too late. The chair thudded backwards with a resounding crash and threw her to the floor. Shit! Why weren't these chairs bolted to the deck like on a real ship? Feeling foolish, she closed her eyes and acted like she'd meant to do that all along.
She heard another board explode but didn't even try to peek as she fought to catch her breath. She'd hit the floor hard. Her shoulder hurt like hell, too. She didn't think she'd broken anything, but she was going to be stiff and sore when this was over.
As invariably happened, the final moments of the test dissolved into complete pandemonium. She heard the cadets at their various stations shouting, each trying to supply the captain with that one critical little bit of information that would make a difference. Uhura knew, though, that it was useless. The Klingons would continue to fire until Spock had mercy on his trainees and stopped the simulation.
After a few more shudders and crackling bursts of sparks, she heard the alarms fade and the simulator doors part. She opened her eyes to see the boy in the captain's chair blink stupidly, shocked to find himself dragged so rudely back to reality. No one moved except for Spock, who stepped carefully over Scotty and stood in the center of the bridge.
"Trainees. To the briefing room," he said.
They filed out, no one speaking, and Scotty chuckled as he stood and followed them. Pushing the chair out of the way with her feet, Uhura rolled onto her back but decided that maybe she'd just stay here for a moment longer. It still hurt too much to try to move. She covered her face with her hands and tried to get her bearings.
A shadow fell across her eyes, and she dropped her hands to see Spock towering over her with concern in his expression.
"Commander, are you injured?"
"No, I'm fine. I think. I just got a little over-enthusiastic with my acting."
He knelt next to her. "We have never suffered an actual casualty during the administration of the Kobayashi Maru test."
She grinned ruefully. "Oh, great. A first."
"Do you want me to call a doctor?"
Shaking her head, she pushed herself up to a sitting position. "No, really. I'm just a little sore."
He regarded her for a moment, then stood and extended a hand. She hesitated, but soon she reached out to him and found herself pulled firmly to her feet. He released her hand and bent to right the chair.
She smiled. "Thanks."
"Think nothing of it. Might I suggest, however, that you temper your performance in the future?"
"Oh, believe me, I will. Next time, I think that a quiet, graceful death might be in order. Maybe I'll just put my head down on my console and take a nap."
"Wise." He motioned toward the door. "The trainees are expecting us."
Together, they left the simulator.
...
"Trainees, dismissed."
Spock stood and watched his students walk slowly from the briefing room, some of them smiling and talking, others still visibly shaken. It was fascinating to note the various reactions, and often quite surprising. One would expect that he would have learned to predict the cadets' responses with a reasonable degree of accuracy after five years of administering this test, but he found that he was no closer to understanding each individual's response now than before. Perhaps that was because humans were so unpredictable. Perhaps he would never understand human behavior.
Go away, go away. You never cared about me.
The screamed words suddenly rang in his ears almost as violently as they had the day they were uttered, and his stomach lurched with the remembered turmoil.
You have what you always wanted now, don't you? Don't you?
The picture was still vivid in his mind—her pale, lithe, naked body, slick with her exertions, her voice rising in pitch with each word, her face contorted with fury.
DON'T YOU?
He brought himself back to the moment when the last cadet left the room, and all he wanted was to leave, himself. He turned, but before he took the first step, a calm voice called him back.
"Spock, do you have a minute? I want to talk to you."
He slowly faced Uhura. "Very well. What do you wish to discuss?"
He heard the shrill voice again, and he remembered clearly the spittle spraying into the air. Go away! Go on, I never want to see your face again!
He took a deep breath, summoned the will to silence the ugliness, and slid into a chair across from Uhura.
"I have to know," she asked. "Why am I here?"
He paused, surprised by the bluntness of her question. "Because the Enterprise required a first officer, and you were qualified for the position."
"No, that's not what I mean. Why am I here? Why me? Did you request me?"
He frowned slightly, uncertain how to handle this. "Technically, yes I did—"
"Why?"
"—but I made the request ten point four years ago, when I left the Enterprise for a year's sabbatical to raise Saavik."
Obviously prepared to interject another comment, she closed her mouth and sat back in her seat.
"The Enterprise needed a temporary first officer while I was gone," he explained. "I thought that you were ideal for the job, but Starfleet Command did not agree that your experience was adequate. Obviously, they now think that you have accumulated sufficient experience, and they never forgot my recommendation."
She looked away. "And this is all right with you?"
The voice whispered ominously from the back of his mind. This is what you always wanted. I tried to make you love me, but I always knew it was her, her, her...
He straightened. "To be frank, no, it is not. For obvious reasons, I attempted to convince Starfleet Command that someone else might be better suited, but they then questioned my opinion of your ability. Of course, you are a very capable officer and I could not allow them to think less of you, so in the end I was forced to acquiesce."
"I see." She gnawed on her lip for a moment. "So you're stuck with me."
He shrugged, unable to formulate a response.
"Do you think we can make this work?" she asked.
"Yes, I do. We have no choice."
"You're absolutely right." She sighed. "I have to ask something else. You may not want to answer it."
"Proceed."
"I heard that you and Helen stopped seeing each other."
"That is correct." He attempted to keep his face expressionless and his voice level.
"Do you want to talk about it? From what I understand, it wasn't an easy break-up. And you were with her for so long, Spock. It must be tough for you."
"'Tough'? Terminating our relationship was a logical decision. There is nothing else to discuss, Commander."
"Well, okay. If you change your mind, though, I'll be glad to listen."
He softened at her concern. "I appreciate the offer, Nyota, but truly, there is nothing to discuss. I am fine."
She smiled hesitantly. "Good enough. Well, I suppose I need to get to work. There's always a lot to do in a new job."
"Yes."
He watched as she stood and walked away, and the voice hissed, You have what you always wanted, and now I do, too.
End part 1, chapter 1