A woman is running down a corridor of a Klingon ship. As she runs, around her the ship is shaking violently and consoles are shooting off sparks. She comes to a door and slams the entry port. The door slides partially open and she grimaces as she pulls her way through. She runs to the first person she sees and yells over the sound of explosions, "What is going on?!"
The Klingon turns around and quickly tells her, "We ran into a massive ship of some kind. It attacked us without warning." He looked scared, "This vessel is unusually powerful; it has weapons that render the shields virtually useless."
She looked around and her appearance is human. She turns around, "What can I do to help?!"
The man smirks impressed, "General Korol said you had the heart of a warrior."
She smirks back and sounds insulted, "That man says that about everyone."
He pointed to the group trying to lift a pile of debris off a control console. She sprints over and grabs an available area and lifts as much as she can. She grunts with effort and after a moment the group manages to lift the obstruction.
The others nod their appreciation. She looks over and her face pales. She runs over to where a Klingon is trapped under some metal beams. She becomes panicked as she tries to lift it. She turns back and shouts "Help me here!"
The men rush over and lift the metal. They shove it aside and the woman is instantly at the man's side worried. She looks down and her heart jumps at seeing blood pooling under the man. She reaches behind him and feels around his back. She stops when the man grunts painfully and looks up at her with no fear in his eyes, "You cannot help me, wife. You must go."
She looks at him defiantly, "No, that is not gonna happen." She leans over him as a violent tremor rocks the ship again. "We're gonna get you to a shuttle."
He orders, "You will leave this ship and get as many to safety as you can."
The woman screams in pain, "NO! I won't leave you." She thrusts her hand forward onto a jagged chunk of metal. "You'll be fine." She goes to put it behind him.
He grabs her hand and holds it tightly away from him. The hand heals as he keeps it held there and objects, "I will not be robbed of Sto Vo Kor, wife."
She jerks her hand free and snaps, "And I can't lose you!" Her eyes are filled with tears and she looks down dejected.
He lifts her head to look at him in the eyes, "You won't lose me, wife. You will always have your love for me."
She whispered softly, "What is that isn't enough for me?"
He sighed in discomfort as he shifted his body. He pulled out a Mek'Leth blade and handed it her. He looked at her, "It will be enough to strengthen you, Claire. Now get to an escape pod with the crew." She took the blade sadly and exhaled as his head fell backwards. She put on a determined face and reached for his face. She pried his eyes open and took a deep breath. She threw back her head and let loose an anger filled scream.
She moved again when another Klingon shouted, "Let's go!" She rose swiftly and stormed from the room with the others following closely. They ran to the pods and left promptly. Claire looks at the screen as the pod makes its steady course away from the doomed ship. She tenses as she watches the ship get hit one last time and finally explodes.
She sucks in an anguished breath and leaned back against the bulkhead. She lets tears run down her face as she lifts her husband's blade. She glances over as one of the Klingons reports, "The ship has gone to warp. It is gone." He turned to the comm. and announces, "I am contacting the High Council. I will request a fleet to go after them."
Her face is full of fury, "Let it go."
The Klingon looked outraged, "What? We must avenge our brothers!"
She snapped, "Koral, what good what that do? That vessel is vastly superior to the flagship of the Empire! Sending a fleet will do nothing but send more warriors to their grave."
He is upset but nods reluctantly, "So we should do nothing?"
Claire wipes the tears from her face. She looks at the bulkhead in thought. She answers after a minute, "Once we get reunited with another vessel, I plan to return to a Federation outpost."
Koral sneers at her with scorn, "Running from battle, human?"
Claire moves with an amazing speed and jabs her blade at the side of his throat warningly. "Koral, I've cut down foes bolder than you for less than that! Don't think for a second that I am a coward!"
He smirks after a moment, "Very well. The Khitomer outpost is 3 light years from here. We shall return there and we will arrange a transport to the nearest Federation base." He asks with concern, "Where will you go from there?"
She sighs, "I don't know. But I assure you that I will be looking for that ship." A dangerous expression crosses her face, "And I will face its captain and send him straight to Grethor myself."
Koral and the others Klingons smirked in approval. "And after you do, you will have to bring us his head to display in the Hall of Warriors!"
She smirked at that, "Yeah, maybe." She leaned back and closed her eyes. She quickly dozed off. Several hours passed and a ship finally picked them up. Once they returned to the planet, she wrapped up some loose ends and booked passage aboard a freighter passing by a Vulcan planet.
She was walking through the city when she heard about a Federation ship transporting Starfleet recruits to Earth. She signed up and boarded the transport. She slept most of the trip. She awoke when the ship landed at its final stop in Iowa. She spent several hours just waiting outside the ship until it took off.
She had been looking up at the new ship being constructed when Captain Pike told her it was time to leave. She walked up and overheard a man talking to Pike with an air of smugness, "Four years? I'll do it in three!"
She whispers to herself, "So will I."
