Chapter 1
Being stuck in a hospital bed during a federation crisis was not Chris Pike's cup of tea. He much preferred being up and doing things, or at least being able to keep an eye on the Enterprise's doings. He would have been up there with her if John Harrison hadn't shot up the Daystrom building, rendering him bedridden again. He tried to be a good patient for Phil, but when the sketchy reports on the Enterprise's status started getting briefer and briefer, he started getting more agitated. Things just didn't add up. He'd had to fight Marcus tooth and nail to keep Jenna from getting sent back to the academy and now suddenly, she'd been given the ship back at the first opportunity? What was really going on?
Phil evaded his questions for some time, but finally Chris couldn't take it any more.
"Tell me something, RIGHT NOW, Phil, or so help me, I'll find someone who will!" He snapped, noting how somber his friend was. Chris wasn't beyond intimidating the other staff to get info. Kirk and the Enterprise were in trouble or they wouldn't look so disturbed.
Phil sighed heavily and actually sat down. "Alright, alright. Just calm down, Chris. Admiral Marcus has gone rogue and is threatening to blow the Enterprise to smithereens with his massive new warship he's been developing in secret. It had something to do with that fugitive he sent The Enterprise after. Anyway, he's unresponsive to orders to stand down and The Enterprise's comms are down, so we have no idea what's going to happen."
"Warship?" croaked Chris, stunned by what he'd just heard.
"Yeah. Super secret advanced tech. Makes the Constitution class look puny. It's not looking good, Chris."
"Give me my PADD."
"What? I told you could only have it an hour..."
"I said," Chris interrupted through gritted teeth, "Give. Me. My. PADD."
With a long look and resigned sigh of one who was used to humoring irritable commanding officers, Phil gave in and handed him the device.
"It's against my better judgment, but you stewing in uncertainty is even worse. Maybe this will at least keep you from shouting at my nurses."
Chris ignored him as he typed an urgent message to Richard.
Within a few minutes, he received a heavily encrypted document in return that told him everything he needed to know regarding his mentor's nefarious deeds and Section 31 as well as sickening knowledge of who John Harrison really was.
As he grappled with the anger, worry and gut-wrenching betrayal this information elicited, up on the newly stabilized Enterprise his worst, nameless fear was becoming a reality as Jen Kirk gasped out her painful last breaths in the radiation chamber, clutching desperately to the memory of piercing gray eyes and the hope she'd lived up to Chris's faith in her.
"You dared me to do better," she thought weakly. "I took it literally. Sorry, Chris. Maybe I'll be seeing you soon."
Thoughts of an afterlife reunion with the man she'd been told was dead comforted her as she matched Spock's salute on the other side of the glass and managed one last little smile.
She stopped breathing minutes before the Vengeance plummeted to its final resting place in the middle of the city.
Chris heard a deafening roar and crash and felt the building shake from some kind of impact. Was that the Enterprise, shot down by Marcus?
Phil shot out the door, shouting orders, as sirens and alarms went off over the suddenly darkened hospital. Chris swore at his bad back and the hole in his side not allowing him to see what had happened, never had he felt so frustratingly helpless since Nero had stuck that slug in him.
