The Lines Between
Chapter 3
By Delmantheevil
Angry had been an understatement.
Spock had heard about Admiral Kean's short temper before, but he'd never actually seen it in action.
The Admiral's face was truly horrible to behold, no wonder Mr. Norav had been so boggled. His face was one big blotch of red, his mouth was twisted into a scowl, and there was sweat pouring down forehead.
As soon as Spock had entered the bridge, the Admiral's yelling ceased for a moment, and he fixed his angry, slit eyes right on him.
Spock walked calmly over to the captain's chair. Standing with his hand on the arm rest, he addressed the Admiral in a smooth, controlled voice, which he hoped would help to calm the other two very frightened-looking ensigns on the bridge.
"Is there something you wished to discuss with me, Admiral Kean?"
And then the Admiral exploded.
"Yes! This was an emergency transmission, and I'd like to know why there were no commanding officers on the bridge to receive it! These three bumbling idiots couldn't tell me anything! They did not know the proper protocol for this, and I tell you sir, someone is going to hear about this! This is an outrage, do you hear me!?"
He continued his angry babble, and Spock felt a wave of pity for three ensigns who had been left on the bridge.
"—and I can tell you now, they will never reach rank higher than a jr. lieu-."
"Sir," Spock began pleasantly, "was there something of actual importance that you wished to discuss with me?"
Kean turned a brilliant shade of magenta. He looked as if he wanted to yell something more but only a strangled sound came out.
Spock waited patiently as the Admiral stared at him in furious disbelief, his mouth opening and closing like some strange, purple fish. Then, finally, the Admiral seemed to remember the reason why he had called on them in the first place, and his face returned back to simple bright red.
"You'll regret that, sir." He breathed heavily, trying to regain his composure. Then finally he got to the point. "I've been ordered by Starfleet to deliver this message. Outpost 13 has been destroyed."
Out of the corner of his eye, Spock saw the three ensigns look at each other warily. Outpost 13 wasn't far from where they were.
"Do they know who was behind the attack?" Spock asked, but he had a pretty good idea of who it was already.
"Romulans." There was no anger in the Admirals face now. It was back to business. "Starfleet received a code red emergency transmission from them three hours ago. They said they had been attacked by Romulans without any warning. They wouldn't negotiate with them or tell them their reasons for attacking. It cut off before they could report how many."
Spock paused and considered what he had just heard.
"How many people occupied the station?"
"Five-hundred and forty. As far as we know, none survived."
There was a moment of silence on the bridge. The officer near the science station whispered something unintelligible, his voice anguished.
"The loss is…..deeply regretted, Admiral….. I would like to-."
"I didn't contact you to hear your condolences, Commander!" Kean exploded again. "The Enterprise is ordered to get underway, and intercept the Romulans who attacked and destroyed Outpost 13. You will capture their vessel or vessels, and bring them back as prisoners to stand trial-."
"Sir, at the moment the Enterprise is being repaired," Spock interrupted, "also her crew is exhausted, we have just finished a-"
"Orders are orders, Mr. Spock." The Admiral rasped, cutting across him, "You are the only Starship in the area capable of handling this situation."
"Sir, I must disagree with these orders. One-third of the Enterprise crew is absent, the remaining have just finished a grueling mission, the ship is damaged, and also sir, we have no idea what we are up against. The safest way to proceed would be to send a smaller, faster ship to the area to scout out the enemy ships while-."
At that moment the bridge doors opened and ensign Rikes walked through it.
"Sir, Mr. Scott reports that—Oh." He saw the Admiral on the screen and Spock obviously in the middle of receiving orders and turned crimson. "I—I apologize, sir. Mr. Scott reports the damages to the main engines are repaired, we are now capable of warp speed. Also the damaged phaser banks are now in working order."
The Admiral grinned.
"Ah, not as weakened as you were letting on then, Mr. Spock." He sneered. "You have no choice. Soon the Romulans responsible will cross back over the neutral zone into Romulan territory where we cannot get to them. Your exact orders will be sent over and you will be expected to be heading out in two hours. Happy sailing, Mr. Spock"
And then the screen went black before he could say anything more.
The room was completely quiet for a moment as the shock of the whole situation set in.
Spock turned towards the officers on the bridge. The ensign near the science station had collapsed into a chair, staring into space. He was in shock. Mr. Norav had his hand on his friend's shoulder.
"His cousin was working on Outpost 13 as an engineer." He explained in a dead voice.
Spock looked at the two of them for a moment, then moved into action.
"Mr. Donovan," He ordered, turning towards the officer manning Communications, "I want you to inform the crew of the situation and make sure they report back here immediately. If there are any questions, you are to tell them this is an emergency and further questions will be answered on board. Mr. Norav, please take Mr. Jiason down to sickbay, then help Mr. Donovan."
He paused. Someone needed to inform the captain of their situation right away.
"Mr. Rikes, you are familiar with this base?"
"Yes sir, I am." Rikes answered. He didn't look happy about that fact.
"Then I must order you to find where Captain Kirk is and inform him of our situation. Tell him he is needed aboard the ship right away."
"Yes, sir!"
Spock punched the communicator button.
"Spock to engineering."
"Engineering. Mr. Scott here."
"An emergency has arisen, Mr. Scott. I need you to ready the ship for leaving the dock."
"But--Mr. Spock, what-." There was a pause. "Aye sir. I'll have 'er ready."
Spock turned and looked around the empty bridge. He had a bad feeling about the whole thing, but when were his feelings ever right?
He would have to oversee the proceeds until the captain came aboard. He would not get a chance to rest or meditate tonight. He would not get a chance to build up his shields like he had been counting on. He would not get a chance to do any of the things he had planned on doing during this leave.
In minutes, the entire recalled crew of the Enterprise would be thinking the exact same thing.
---View Switch---
He was sitting on the bridge.
It had always been the place he felt the most comfortable, when he looked around and saw his fellow officers and comrades at their posts, it was as if all was right with the world.
They all worked together as a group to make the ship move, to travel, to explore, and therefore no one person could take the credit for all they had accomplished. It made them a family.
He turned to look at Scotty, and received a grin back. He looked over at Bones, standing next to Uhura and got his classic, half-hearted smile. Chekov and Sulu were talking and laughing while they worked directly in front of him. He smiled to himself and looked over at the Science Station.
But Spock wasn't there.
He looked around the bridge. No First Officer. He had never known Spock to neglect his command or take a sick day.
Where is he?
He stood up and walked over to Dr. McCoy.
"Bones, is Spock okay?" He asked, wondering if he'd been injured somehow.
McCoy raised his eyebrow slightly.
"Spock?"
"Yeah, that's what I said. Where is he?" He was getting impatient.
Bones looked confused.
"Who?"
"Spock, Bones!" Kirk almost yelled at him. What was Bones trying to pull?
McCoy looked around.
"I, uh, I don't know who--, listen Jim, why don't you come down to sickbay, and we can talk about this there. You look tired."
He was talking in that soothing voice he often used with small children or mentally unstable patients.
"Bones, that's enough! Stop messing around and tell me where he is!"
"Jim I—I don't know who you're talking about!"
"Oh, you know," Kirk drawled sarcastically, "about this tall," he motioned with his hand, "Vulcan, or as you like to call him, hobgoblin."
McCoy was starting to look very concerned now.
"Your sworn enemy! Our science officer!"
Bones looked more confused than ever.
"Science officer? What's that?"
Kirk looked at him, dumbfounded.
"It's what that station is for." He said, pointing at the Science Station.
McCoy looked over where he was pointing.
"Nobody works over there."
"Then why is it there?!" Kirk yelled, throwing up his arms in frustration.
Bones considered this.
"Hey, you're right. I guess we don't need it."
He reached into shirt and pulled out a detonator.
Kirk's eyes widened.
"Bones, what are you—."
But McCoy pushed the button on the top before he could do anything.
The whole left side of the bridge exploded where the Science Station had been. Kirk covered his eyes against the flying debris.
When he opened them again, there was a gapping hole in the side of the bridge. The entire Science Station had disappeared, leaving in its place millions of sparkling stars and an eerie, black sky staring back at him.
"BONES!!!" Kirk screamed.
What was going on?!
But Bones was gone. Everyone was gone. And he was all alone on the bridge. And there was someone banging on the doors……….
"Captain! Captain!"
He was ripped from his vision of an infinity of stars, and back into the dark haze of his hotel room.
"Captain! Sir! Are you there, sir?!"
Kirk struggled groggily to get out of his bed. His covers seemed to be holding on to him.
Finally he was up. He clicked the panel on his hotel wall to open the door. When it swooshed open, the officer on the outside tumbled into the room. It took him a moment to straighten up and catch his breath.
"Ensign Rikes, sir!"
Kirk blinked a couple of times. He seemed to be having trouble gathering his thoughts, but he had found that he was usually able to turn on his authoritative manner on demand. Even standing in his boxers.
"Is there something I can help you with, ensign?"
"Yes, sir, there is. I've been sent by Commander Spock, he says you're needed aboard the Enterprise immediately."
Kirk straightened up, transitioning into captain mode.
"Did he say what the problem was?"
"Emergency transmission from Starfleet, sir. We are ordered to assist."
Kirk nodded.
"I will accompany you back then, Mr. Rikes. Could I ask you to step outside for a minute? I will be ready momentarily."
"Aye, aye, sir!"
Kirk began to dress and grab his belongings quickly.
He needed information immediately. This was unexpected, and his need as a captain to get in control of the situation was kicking in.
He grabbed the last of his things and ran out the door, the ensign following him closely behind.
A.N. Hey everybody, hope you enjoyed this chapter. I got past my sortawriter'sblock and now it's all flowing a little easier. If you like it, please review! If you don't like, please review!