"Jim!" came the voice of a little girl from inside a hole, "Jim! I'm stuck!"
A teenager with sandy colored hair and blue eyes ran towards the voice screaming, "What did Mom tell you about playing near the hole!" He leapt into the hole and emerged ten seconds later carrying a dusty six year old.
"Thanks," she mumbled.
"Honestly, Jack," he laughed, "we're gonna need to get you an invisible fence!"
Jackie smiled sheepishly and started walking towards the small house on the other side of the road. She ran up to a tree and reached under a hole in the trunk. Pulling put a small trash bag; she peered across the road at her teenage brother.
"You coming?!" she screamed.
He sprinted towards her and wrenched the trash bag out of her hands.
"Hey!" she screeched
"You'll have to catch me, Mutt!" he laughed gaily.
She raised her eyebrow in confusion at the new name.
"Didn't you say you were like, 20 different species of whatever?"
Her mouth fell open and she leapt forward grabbing the bag and hitting him upside the head. "You are such a dweeb," she gasped jokingly. She ran around the back of the house and came back in clean clothes.
"Whatever. But you need to be more careful with the hole," he said as she sat down, "I'm 18 now and I'm leaving for a place of my own soon. I'm not always gonna be around to protect you."
"I know. Jim?" she asked apprehensively.
"Yea?"
"It's still you and me against the world right?"
"Always. You and me against the world."
"Red Alert! Red Alert! This is not a drill! All personnel to predestined evacuation areas please!" shouted Captain James T. Kirk into his microphone.
"Captain?" came the voice of his first mate.
He groaned. "Yes, Spock?"
"Shouldn't you be headed for your evacuation point for the drill?"
"Spock, I think they can manage without me for ten minutes, don't you?"
The Vulcan just nodded and stepped back.
"Captain?" asked a new voice on his left.
He looked down. It was just another new red shirt. "Yes?"
"You're getting a call from your half-sister. She says its urgent,"
Kirk's head snapped up, "How urgent?"
"Her exact words were: Get your scrawny butt over here or I'm gonna kill you Jim! Don't think I won't!"
"Yea, that sounds about right. Have the call dispatched to my room."
"Right away, sir," The red shirt scurried off the bridge. He stood up and walked briskly towards his room. Jackie never called just to say hi. And if she were adding in it was urgent, something was up.
"Hey Mutt," he sighed.
She flinched at the old nickname but said nothing. Something was wrong.
"Something tells me this is not a social call so what's wrong?"
She bit her lip and hung her head.
"C'mon. we share everything with each other, Mutt. What's wrong?"
"Jim," she said, her voice barely a whisper, "It's mom."
His heart plummeted. His mom wasn't exactly the forty year old she had been when he was 12 and she wasn't exactly young when Jackie was born.
"Jack?" he whispered at the preteen.
She suddenly burst into tears. "Jim!" she wailed, "Mom's dying! She's dying Jim and I can't do anything!"
"When did this happen? He asked, a lump forming in his throat.
Jackie's head hung even lower and she remained silent. He had a feeling she hadn't been keeping him up to date.
"About… three months ago," she sighed
His mouth dropped open and he stared. She should've told him.
"Please don't be mad!" she pleaded at the look in his face, "I thought she would get better! Oh Jim, you've got to come home! I miss you and Mom wants to say-"She never finished her sentence. It was too painful.
"I'll do what I can," he promised, "Be right back."
He walks out onto the bridge and sat down. "Fabulous job on the emergency exit drill. Everyone back to your duties and great job. Spock," he said turning to his first mate, "Can I talk to you?"
They went to his room and Kirk sat down at his desk where his video cam was.
"Spock," he said for once serious, "I need to go to Earth for a little while. I'm going to take one of the ships small shuttles and go there. Can you take care of the ship while I'm gone?"
"Certainly Captain. May I inquire as to why you are going to Earth?"
"Family Matters," he said leaving it at that.
"Hello?" said a voice making them both jump. It was Jackie, "I'm still here!"
"Sorry Jack. If I'm gonna get going I need to go now. See you in a little okay?"
"Fine," sighed the twelve year old with a shake of her head making her small black curls swing, "See ya." And the screen went black.
"All right, I'm off then," sighed Jim. He went to the medical bay to tell his other friend where he was going. After that was done he went down to the shuttle bay and chose the fastest one he could find, The Glory.
He sat down in the pilot seat and turned on the engine, setting out into the dark emptiness of space, matching the strange emptiness he was now feeling inside.
AN: Ugh, I know that sucked but I promise that I'll get everyone a little( a lot) more in character soon. I had good ideas for the middle of the story but the beginning was hard. I'm hoping it'll get better and if not, I'll just abandon the story. Well, R+R even criticism helps!