This is an adventure of the Enterprise and all its crew, but will focus on Spock and the plight of the Vulcans.

Hope you all enjoy my new story! :-) Please comment if you do!

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek or any of its characters, as much as I'd like to!

Chapter 1

"Captain, we are receiving a transmission from Admiral Mayer at Starbase Deep Space 7," Uhura informed Kirk.

"Put it onto the main view screen, Lieutenant," he replied smoothly and rose from his command chair.

The admiral's face appeared on the screen at once.

"What can I do for you, Admiral?" Kirk enquired.

"A starship carrying Vulcan civilians was attacked in the a nearby star system, which is not too far from Deep Space 7. The local authorities there believe Orion pirates are to blame. These are the only details we have currently, though. We are co-ordinating with the authorities. However, I would also like the Enterprise to be here. I believe the presence of Starfleet's flagship would send out a powerful message that such despicable acts will not be tolerated. Captain, I would like discuss this in further detail with you once I have more information to share with you," the admiral replied.

Out of the corner of his eye Kirk noticed Spock move closer. The recent destruction of his home planet had hit him hard, Kirk knew that better than anyone due to his mind-meld with his first officer's older self. He turned to Spock and nodded ever so slightly, allowing him to address the admiral.

"Admiral, there are no Vulcan colonies near Deep Space 7 from which or to which large groups of Vulcan civilians would be likely to travel. How many people are we talking about?" Spock asked.

"As I said, we don't have many details yet. But initial communications would indicate anywhere between fifty and a hundred passengers. Not a small number," Admiral Mayer replied.

"We will be there as soon as we can. Keep us updated as you receive more information, Kirk out," then, returning to his seat, he continued, "Set a course, please, Mr Sulu. How long will it take us to arrive at warp six?"

"34 hours, Captain," Sulu replied.

Kirk looked over towards his first officer. He appeared as calm as always, but Kirk would bet his last bottle Yridian brandy that underneath that blank exterior his emotions were currently causing quite a turmoil.

There were so few Vulcans left, which was especially surprising considering that they were a space-faring civilisation. After the Enterprise had been repaired they had conducted a few scientific missions, but this was the first time since Nero's attack that they were heading out to do more than just collect stone and dust samples. He still hardly knew his first officer. Kirk made a decision.

"Mr Spock, walk with me," he said.

Once they were in the turbolift, Spock turned towards Kirk and raised an eyebrow questioningly, "Where are we walking to?"

"My quarters," Kirk replied, "It's easier to talk there."

"Is it?" was all Spock said in return.

The pair didn't talk until they reached the captain's quarters. Inside, Kirk motioned for Spock to sit down opposite him at his desk.

"Tell me, Spock, as this may be important for our new mission, how come there are so few Vulcan colonies? For a space-faring civilisation there seem to be incredibly few Vulcans living on other federation planets, spacestations or colonies."

Spock remained silent for a few moments before replying, "I take it you deduce this fact from the small number of survivors. Indeed, in total there are no more than fifteen thousand Vulcan survivors."

"And ten thousand of those were recorded having escaped from the planet," Kirk said softly.

Spock nodded. Then he continued, "Indeed Vulcans used to travel, explore and colonise the galaxy. Those were the days before the teachings of Surak and the enlightenment on Vulcan, though. Since then my people have become ever more introverted, with almost all returning to Vulcan over the centuries. Most colonies were abandoned, those that survived retained only a small cohort of scientists who remained to study local space phenomena. The study of the mind and of logic took greater precedence over the study of the galaxy."

Kirk nodded in understanding. He leaned back in his swivel chair and had to resist the urge to put a foot up on his desk. This was probably not a good time to show any disrespect. He remembered Spock's hand around his neck suddenly and was certain that he didn't want to do anything to provoke the Vulcan opposite him into becoming emotional.

"Is that all, captain?" Spock asked.

"Yes, yes, of course. If I have any more questions I know where to find you," he said and put on a bright smile to try and lighten the mood. However, Spock simply nodded and left leaving Kirk to this thoughts.

Well, well, well... the loss of Vulcan was still a fresh and gaping wound in the heart of the Federation. It had been one of the founding planets of the Federation and it had been the Vulcans who had made first contact with humans and had welcomed them into the galaxy. Starfleet certainly owed it to the Vulcans to do everything in its power to protect the remaining survivors and see to it that they had a chance to rebuild their culture on a new world. This ship full of Vulcans was a bit of a mystery though by the sounds of it.

Kirk brought up a starchart of the sectors around Deep Space 7. The space station was incredibly close to the Romulan border he realised.

Kirked hailed the bridge and had Uhura set up a secure channel to Admiral Mayer from his quarters.

"Captain? I had not expected to be speaking to you again so soon," the admiral said.

"I am sorry, Sir. I simply have a few questions regarding our mission. What sort of contact do you have with the Vulcan ship?" Kirk asked.

"None so far. The authorities in the nearby starsystem helped the Vulcan survivors and passed the message onto starfleet. That's all that's known currently. However, what I have not told you yet, is that we are heading straight there with some ships," Mayer replied.

"Admiral, you are very close to the Romulan border. What side of the border is the ship?"

A mirthless grin spread across Mayer's face, "My, you really are quick, aren't you? I thought you had probably realised what was up when this came through on a secure channel. Indeed, the ship's currently in Romulan space. Well, they claim this space as their own at least. The planetary system is the Milverna system. The people living there call themselves the Tratters and see themselves as independent from the Romulans. However they are not keen on the Federation either."

"But they are helping the Vulcans?" Kirk asked.

"Yes," Mayer answered, "From what we can tell from their correspondences with us they seem to be a very peaceful people. Very reasonable. However, we don't know much else about the Milverna system, due to its location. The Romulans seem to respect them enough to have granted them a large degree of autonomy within Romulan territory, though. It seems to me that the Tratters would do anything to make sure that they remain on good terms with both us and the Romulan Empire, although they wish to belong to neither. They seem to be keenly aware that their system lies on the edge of the two borders and do not wish to be dragged into the midst of a border conflict if they can possibly avoid it, even if that means accepting the Romulan flag on their planet for the time being. "

"Sir, I am sure we are in agreement here that we must avoid antagonising the Romulans unnecessarily. How are we going to go about this rescue mission?" Kirk wanted to know.

"Covertly," was Mayer's simple reply.

Kirk stared at him for a few moments in disbelief before answering, "You mean we are going to enter Romulan space undercover without asking permission? What was all that stuff you said earlier about wanting the Enterprise to be there as a symbol of Starfleet's power? Are we still talking about a pirate attack or are we speculating on a Romulan attack?"

"We only have the Tratters' word that it was a pirate attack. They would naturally want to avoid a war between the Federation and the Romulans. We will have to wait and see, it is too early to draw conclusions on what happened to the ship. It could very well be that this was a pirate incident, but we don't know for sure," the admiral said, "And I do want the Enterprise here so that her presence can send out a signal. Not to any pirates though, whether they were to blame or not, but to the Romulans. The Enterprise itself will not enter Romulan territory of course. I think it best if we send out smaller craft that are harder to detect. We will need to create a bit of a distraction elsewhere along the border, though, if we are to draw the Romulans' attention away from the rescue operation. So to come back to what you said earlier – antagonising the Romulans is actually exactly what I want you to do, but without dragging us into a war. That goes without saying really."

Kirk couldn't believe his ears. This was far, far better than spacedust! He flashed the admiral and smile and lowered his voice slightly, "Don't worry, Admiral, you can count on the Enterprise."

Hope you enjoyed the introductory chapter! I'd love to know if you like it and any thoughts you have on it!

There will be more of this story up very soon! :)