As shore leave ended once again abruptly, Kirk and crew once again found themselves back on the bridge of the Enterprise as ordered by Starfleet Command, with the exception of Hikaru Sulu, the Chief Helm Officer of the Enterprise, as it came no surprise to Kirk, Spock and McCoy, Lieutenant Jamie Monroe was assigned as his replacement.
Stepping onto the bridge for the first time, she looked around in awe at the design of the ship itself, although she had memorised the schematics of the vessel from the smallest component, she really had no idea how large the bridge actually was. The Holographic recreations of the ship did not do it justice.
"Lieutenant Jamie Monroe, reporting for duty Captain Kirk" She smiled as she stepped onto the bridge.
"Ahh, Lieutenant. I trust you know where the Helm is?"
"Yes Captain, at the back right?" She smiled.
A slight laughter came from the bridge crew as she stepped towards the helm with a smile while Kirk looked around with a stern face.
"That's not funny!" He grunted too his crew.
Sat at an auxiliary system, a familiar face turned with a slight smile on his face as he replied.
"Actually Jim, that was funny as hell"
"Ohh, shut up Bones" Kirk smirked.
"Captain, receiving orders from Starfleet Command"
"On Screen Uhura" Kirk nodded slowly.
Almost a mirror of their last mission, the hazy and half-repaired screen crept into life as a white haired old Rear Admiral sat waiting for a clear connection to the Enterprise.
"This is Enterprise, Captain Kirk speaking…"
"Jim, once again sorry to pull you off leave"
"We're getting used to it…" Kirk Mumbled. "… Another hostage situation?"
"Hardly. This one is different, eleven months ago we began negotiations with the Romulan Star Empire for a ceasefire, we where met with distrust at first… but after some… aggressive tactics by a rather unusual diplomat on our side, we've managed to set aside some time for negotiations on Romulus…"
Gasps came from the bridge crew as each of them turned to look the Captain and then the viewscreen almost at the same time.
"… I know how it sounds Jim"
"You have no idea!" Kirk laughed.
"Actually, I do. I felt the same way at first. The Romulan Senate has agreed to this meeting under one condition…"
"Ohh let me guess… we are too make sail for Romulus and show our colours?" McCoy sighed.
"Yes Doctor, that is exactly it. This is a top priority assignment Captain Kirk, I don't need to tell you what this could mean for Starfleet Command and the Federation. The Romulan Flagship will meet you at the boarder and escort you safely to Romulus. Once arrived you will remain in orbit, under no circumstances are you cleared to leave your ship unless approved by the Romulans. This is a delicate negotiation Jim, for the duration of this assignment the USS Enterprise is on detached duty with the Romulan Star Empire, if anyone attempts to halt these negotiations you are ordered to assist the Romulan Star Empire with securing the delegates"
"Sounds like fun" Kirk protested.
"Sorry to put this on you Jim, but they asked for you specifically"
"Ohh, Joy!" Kirk groaned once again.
"Watch your back out there old friend and good luck. See you soon, Starfleet Operations… out!"
As shock echoed around the large bridge, Kirk sat back in his chair as he looked at his replacement Helm Officer with a slight worried look on his face while a thousand more questions ran through his mind, mainly about how he was going to get off the Enterprise and rescue the young Lieutenant Commander from Romulus without being detected by the Romulan Security Forces, with all eyes still on Kirk, he spoke with a slight hint of shock in his voice.
"Lieutenant Monroe, lets see how well you handle this ship of mine. Aft thrusters, once we're clear of space dock take us to half Impulse out of orbit, once we're clear… set course for the Neutral Zone… Warp Six"
"Aye-Aye sir… course is set and on the board. Awaiting clearance from the Dock-Master"
With departure clearance finally given, the large pearly-white Starship and pride of the Starfleet began to move under her own power past the large USS Excelsior and finally out into open space under the expert hand of the young Lieutenant from the distant future.
Captain's Log, Stardate 8458.2.
I admit to feeling a little nervous about this assignment to Romulan Space, the last time I was in Romulan Territory I was ordered to steal a vital piece of technology, something I believe the Romulans will not have forgotten about.
Recorded under security lock out.
With the arrival of yet another… Monroe from the future I am once again thrown into a conflict beyond my training and comfort level. It was over twenty years ago since I was last thrown into this conflict, something I had almost forgotten about yet the appearance of her daughter raises many questions… more so, who is she, really? And why is this happening to me again?
I guess that these questions will be answered on the homeworld of a species that is a powerful enemy of the Federation for generations past. Although on a personal note, I can thank Julia Monroe for introducing me to a life long hero of mine Captain Jonathon Archer… and of course my parents…
It seemed like weeks had passed since the Enterprise had left Spacedock, as they closed upon the boarder between the two great powers, a large Romulan Vessel hung motionless inside Romulan space as the Enterprise slowed to a full stop.
"All stop sir" Jamie Monroe called out.
"Now we wait" Kirk sighed.
The tension level within the ship had arisen to almost breaking point as Jamie looked around the bridge at each of the crew, being half Betazoid, she could feel the tension level on the ship and each of the bridge crew as she looked at each one of them, for a some strange reason even Captain Spock appeared to be sat out of character from what she had observed of him since she had joined this crew. Perhaps even more of a concern of hers was the man sat too her side, the ships navigation officer, in his early fifties he sat comfortably at the console at the console as he had for many years. His dark black hair had hints of grey showing though as he looked checked his console once again.
"We're in position Captain"
"Thank you Mister Carpenter" Kirk said with respect.
Several Weeks Earlier…
Expertly piloting the ship out of Space Dock and into open space, the Enterprise entered high warp towards its destination and dangerous meeting with the Romulan Forces, an old and sworn enemy of Starfleet, The Federation and Captain Kirk himself. It was true that Romulan Star Empire had not forgotten Kirk's brazen theft of a Cloaking Device from one their ships many years earlier and the destruction of one of their prototype vessels, as their anger with Kirk had grown almost to the point of declaring him an Enemy of the State. With shock at the crew compliment of the vessel, Jamie had set aside some time to confront Kirk about what appeared to be several changes in the timeline.
Meeting in the forward observation lounge, Monroe stood before the old style 'Ship's Wheel' as she awaited the arrival of the Captain. After a short wait, Kirk entered as she stood leaning against the transparent aluminium window before her.
"Jamie, is their a problem?"
"Could be… can we talk in private?"
"Of course…" Slowly, he walked towards her as she looked at him with a look of stress in her eyes. "What is it?"
"Something is not right here, who is Commander Carpenter?"
"You're joking right?" He smiled.
"No, who is he?"
"He's Chief Nav' officer and Chief Security, why?" Kirk said with a smile.
"What about Chekov?"
"Chekov, Pavel Chekov?" He said with disbelief.
"Yes"
"Pavel died… years ago. Their was an explosion on the bridge, he was killed almost instantly"
"When?" She said firmly.
"Umm… 2371, during the last mission with your mother"
"No, this is wrong. Pavel survived that mission, even now he should be at Nav'"
"What?" Kirk said in disbelief. "What makes you so sure?"
"Hello… I'm from the future, I memorised everything about this ship remember?"
"So what about Tom Carpenter?" He said with concern.
"Never heard of him. Jim, something is terribly wrong here. If the timeline didn't reset correctly after your last little… trip through time, something hasn't been fixed. We must repair it"
"I don't understand, I thought your people could see the timeline…"
"Something is very wrong. If history has been altered in this way and it seems to be the correct timeline"
"Who's to say this isn't the way it should be?" Kirk asked politely.
"Circular argument Kirk. Chicken and the Egg thing. But we have more pressing problems for the moment"
Slowly, Kirk ran his fingers through his hair as he looked out of the window at the stars streaking past the ship at high warp. No matter how many times he saw it, it was still a breath taking sight to see the universe scream past the ship at seemingly faster then light speeds. Although the vessel itself was not travelling faster the light, warp drive was something different. Creating a bubble of warped space before the ship by compressing space and behind the vessel expanding space in effect, the Enterprise and any Warp Capable ship can pull space towards the ship without travelling faster then the speed of light. Theorised in 1994 by a physicist named Miguel Alcubierre, and eventually put into practice in by Doctor Zefram Cochrane in 2063 resulting in the legendary First Contact with the Vulcan race. Now more then a common occurrence by all space-faring species, warp drive has become the standard technology in space flight. Shaking off his feelings of awe at what he saw, Kirk turned back to the young woman at his side as he spoke quietly.
"So, how are we going to get your mother from Romulus?"
"Ohh, I've brought a few… trinkets along with me"
With a slight one-sided smile on her lips, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small silver object almost triangular in design with rounded edges. Holding it between her thumb and index finger, she displayed the object before Kirk as she spoke softly.
"This is a Holographic Emitter primarily used by Temporal Agents to… camouflage themselves during Back-Travel assignments. This little baby here IS actually a Temporal Paradox in itself"
"What do you mean?" Kirk said with interest.
"In the mid 20th Century, a Timeship from my time crash landed on Earth, it was found by a native of that time. He used much of the technology on that ship to create the early computers. During which time a Starship from 24th Century was thrown back to Earth, the whole thing is a long story and major Cluster Fu… Bomb. Anyway, this tech was taken by an EMH, I believe you know the term"
"Sounds familiar" He smiled.
"Right. It was miss-identified as a holographic emitter, actually, it would have been used by the pilot of that vessel to hide himself. The tech was taken back to Earth, eventually… however it was not back engineered. The EMH held the only copy for centuries, after the death of his creator, the EMH took his name in honour of his creator whom he looked at as his father. Calling himself Doctor Lewis Zimmerman Junior he continued his father's work in Holographics and created generations of working holograms for Starfleet Command. In the mid 24th Century, he was declared a sentient being, one of only two artificial life forms to be given that title. When the technology caught up with emitter in the early 26th century, he began to make more of them and they became a standard piece of equipment for all temporal agents…"
"So how does this help us?" He said with interest.
"Watch this" Jamie smiled.
Unbuckling her tunic, she activated the device and placed it under her clothing. As it touched her skin, the device activated with a holographic skin that covered her perfectly. Almost instantly, her appearance changed to that of a tall, slender Romulan female. Smiling with shock, Kirk nodded as she spoke with a deep Romulan female voice.
"With these, we can slip in and out of Romulus without being identified. I brought back five with me, one has been specially modified too… you'll see"
"Amazing, I can only imagine how these could be used by Starfleet"
"Or the Romulans, if the Tal'Shiar get their hands on this tech, it would be a game changer for them… and anyone else of course. I brought five with me, I will leave with them"
"Of course… would you mind shutting that thing off?"
"What? Ohh of course. I forgot"
Reaching under her clothing, she deactivated the device, as her true form was once again visible.
"So why five?"
"You'll beam down with me, I have one for my mother. However, if the Romulans want to speak with James T. Kirk, that will not be a problem, I have one set up with your appearance… someone will have to wear it. I'm thinking McCoy, he knows you better then anyone"
"What about Spock?"
"As you know… Jim, Spock is always on the bridge of your ship, the Romulans would expect to see him. The only problem is, we have to brief McCoy on the mission, can he handle it?"
"Perhaps. You might also want to inform Spock" He sighed.
"Of course, the fewer people know about this, the better. We're already on dangerous ground as it is"
"We'll do it in my quarters, I'll have Bones and Spock meet us"
"Alright, Jim…"
"What?" He said slowly.
"Nothin, sorry, forget about it. I'll be along shortly"
Nodding slightly, Kirk turned and slowly the forwards observation lounge as she looked out of the window at the stars streaking past the ship. She was about to give everything away, but she had been sworn to secrecy. How could she tell a man from the 23rd Century the truth about who she really was, the truth that she was infact his daughter. Born almost five hundred years after his death, conceived out of one night of passion with Julia Monroe onboard the USS Newton and knowing the only way to see her father was to either travel back through time or a history search in the Federation databanks. Looking up at the ceiling she laughed slightly as she whispered too herself.
"I almost told him mother, I almost gave everything away. You are right, it's not easy to lie to him, to my father"
