"Nyota Uhura?" Uhura spun around in her chair at the sound of her name to face the director of the communications standing over her work station. "I heard that you were back, but I wasn't expecting to see you back here so soon," Uhura smiled and stood up to greet him.
"You know I can't stay away from work." She sighed, trying to keep the smile plastered on her face.
"I was so sorry to hear about Captain Kirk," He sighed, trying to sound as sympathetic as possible. "I know that you two were close."
"Yeah, you could say that." Uhura nervously pushed a stray hair from her face.
"So what brings you back to the communications division so soon?" He asked quickly, trying to change the tone of the conversation.
"Oh, I was just doing some transmission pick-ups. Your secretary said that you were a little behind, and I figured that you wouldn't mind. I thought that I could put my time to good use, since we'll be on shore leave for a little while still." Uhura babbled nervously.
"It's good to have you back, Nyota. Keep up the good work, huh?" He patted her on the shoulder gently and walked back out of the bustling communications office.
Uhura sighed heavily and took her seat back at her station. She switched on the frequencies again, picking through different messages, letting herself get lost in the rhythmic beeps and clicks of the buttons under her fingers as she flipped through the messages. She couldn't admit to herself the reason that she was really there so soon after Kirk's death. She couldn't bear to accept the fact that Kirk was dead. She knew that if he wasn't, he would be trying to send a transmission to her. She couldn't give up on him.
The sharp whistle of her communicator drew her from her trance-like state. "Uhura here." She flipped open the communicator and set it on the desk beside her as she continued through the channels.
"Nyota," Spock's voice crackled over the communicator. Uhura's ears perked up as she detected an edge of panic in his voice. "It's Ensign Chekov." Spock breathed and Nyota jumped up from her station and grabbed her communicator off her desk.
"Where are you?" She asked, speed-walking out of the office, attracting a few confused glances from the other communications officers.
"In Mr. Scott's room." Spock said, the panic becoming stronger in his voice.
"I'm on my way." Uhura burst through the door.
"Please hurry." Spock pleaded, sounding like a small child.
Uhura left in such a hurry that she didn't notice the small blinking light on her workstation. A curious young communication officer peeked over his shoulder and the flashing light caught his eye. He looked around cautiously, as if waiting for Uhura to return and catch him staring at her station, but his curiosity soon consumed him and he settled into her chair and pushed the earpiece into his ear.
"This is Captain Kirk. That's right, it's me." The young officer's jaw dropped at the sound of Kirk's recorded message. "Listen, I'm in a junker on Orthegiol, and I would really appreciate if you could maybe pick me up? Yeah, that'd be great. I'm going to be looking around the surrounding systems for a better ship, but I'm expecting you to call on this frequency when you get this message. You'd better get this message, Uhura. Kirk out."
The young officer hurriedly ejected the recording and tripped over himself trying to get out the door. His head was reeling as he stumbled into the Admiral's office. The stunned secretary watched him warily as he panted, trying to speak.
"I've got to talk to the Admiral!" The officer huffed, holding up the recording. "It's urgent!"
"I'm sure that it is..." The secretary tried to hide her disgust as she glanced down at her screen. "I'm sorry, but the Admiral is busy. If you would like to schedule an appointment-"
"Alice, what's all the commotion out here?" Admiral Glick peeked his balding head out of the door of his office. The communication officer's eyes lit up when he saw the Admiral, who only offered a puzzled look in response.
"Admiral! I have an urgent finding that I need to share with you! It's about Captain Kirk!" The officer huffed and the Admiral pushed open his office door.
"Please, do come in. Alice, cancel my lunch with Odette." The Admiral ushered the young man inside and shut the door tightly behind him.
"Will do, sir." Alice sighed, typing away on her screen.
"What's going on, ..." The Admiral trailed off, realizing that he didn't know the young man's name.
"Ensign Brever." The communications officer finished. "I was looking through the incoming transmissions, and I found this, sir." The officer presented the Admiral with the tape, setting it down gently on his desk. The Admiral looked puzzled as he hesitantly pushed the recording into the slot on his desk. Kirk's message played over the office speakers and the Admiral's eyes went wide.
"Ensign," The Admiral paused, taken aback by the news. "You will be commended for your discovery with the highest honors." He said, standing up and smoothing out his uniform.
"Thank you, sir." Brever beamed. "I only want to get Captain Kirk back home."
"Ensign, did you tell anyone else about this?" The Admiral asked and the Ensign raised an eyebrow.
"No, sir. Why do you ask?" Brever asked out of curiosity.
"I would hate for false rumors to spread." The Admiral smiled and the Ensign nodded in understanding. "Thank you for all that you've done, Ensign."
"The honor is all mine." Brever smiled and turned to walk back out the door.
The Admiral's hand curled around his phaser as he pulled it up and fired a clean shot to the back of the Ensign's skull. Brever collapsed to the floor in a lifeless heap and the Admiral sighed and pressed a button on his desk.
"Alice, call in a clean up crew. One for communications, and one for my office." The Admiral said disgustedly as he dropped the recording into his office shredder. "Call that good for nothing junker pilot and tell her that she won't be receiving her payment."
/
"Hey," A soft voice spoke to Kirk as he sat on the rough bottom of the carrier ship, his hands tied above his head. "Hey!" The voice called again.
"Where are we?" Kirk asked through chattering teething, his body shaking with the cold.
"I'm not sure, somewhere outside of the plaza, I think." The voice whispered and Kirk turned his head to see a young humanoid, her solid green eyes watching him kindly. Her bright purple skin was cloaked with mismatched rags and her wispy yellow hair was tucked behind her rounded ears. Her hands were bound the same as his. Kirk looked around some more and saw at least a dozen different aliens of all sorts of species tied up the same as him.
"God," Kirk squeezed his eyes shut as the ship hit a bump, jostling him and sending a jolt of pain shooting up his back.
"You don't look so good." The girl whispered, craning her neck to see Kirk's horribly burned back.
"Thanks." Kirk scoffed as he tugged on the restraints on his wrists.
"How did that happen to you?" She asked, her eyes probing and inquisitive.
"Volcanic eruption." Kirk said and the girl waited patiently for more information. "It's a long story." He shook his head as he pulled sharply on the restraints, but didn't get them to budge.
"I was picked up from the reservation outside of Iojestia." The girl said, watching as Kirk snarled at the ropes around his wrists. "My name's Malia." She said softly and Kirk huffed as he got nowhere with the restraints.
"Jim." He said curtly as he struggled to his feet.
"Jim," She repeated to herself, obviously in awe. Kirk cracked a smile at the way her voice twisted his name slightly. It gave him a painful reminder of how Chekov and Scotty said his name. "Where are you from?"
"Earth." Kirk responded as he attempted to rip the restraints from his wrists by throwing himself forward, but got nowhere again.
"Earth?" She asked, turning her head slightly. "You're a long way from home, Jim."
"Yeah, believe me, I know." He chuckled, sitting back down on the ground in defeat.
"How did you get out here?" She asked.
"It's a long story." Kirk repeated as he sighed at the burns from the rope around his wrists.
The beaten down ship came to a slow halt and the side doors slid open with an ear-splitting screech. The slender alien that had kidnapped Kirk appeared in the light of the doorway, gun in hand. Kirk swallowed hard as he watched the alien's head turn slowly, scanning the passengers. Next to him, a short, plump alien appeared, his rubbery green face and small black eyes holding a very serious expression. He lifted his rubbery arm and pointed directly at Kirk. The two aliens babbled something to one another, and the slender alien approached Kirk, slicing the top of the rope holding Kirk to the ship. The alien grabbed Kirk's arm and lifted him up from the ground, forcing him towards the doorway. Kirk struggled to break free, but the alien swept his feet out from under him, sending Kirk tumbling out of the ship.
Kirk spat dirt out of his mouth as he struggled to stand back up on his feet. The small alien looked at him and nodded his head slightly. Kirk turned around and watched Malia get thrown out of the ship right after him. The slender alien pulled her up from the ground and grabbed Kirk's arm, forcing them both forward. Kirk tried to throw him off, but the alien latched on tightly. The slender alien escorted them to a large stone mansion, the neatly kept yard gated in by a barbed wire topped steel fence. Kirk sighed heavily as they were pushed through the entrance, the small alien taking the lead and pointing to the door. The slender alien grunted and Kirk was forced in through the main doors and into the ornate mansion.
Kirk looked around in awe at everything surrounding him. There were animal carcass prizes decorating the walls alongside decorative tapestries filled with every alien language imaginable. Statues of all sorts of origins stood on display, not a speck of dust to be found. Light poured in through the ceiling's skylight, making the plush red carpet pop even more.
Did I just get pimped out? Kirk thought to himself as he admired his surroundings.
The alien pushed Kirk forward again, throwing him and Malia through a doorway and slamming the door shut behind them. Kirk heard the distinct click of a lock behind them as he struggled to stand up again. His senses were on high alert as he scanned the room around him. There were at least five other ragged aliens watching the two newcomers with curiosity.
Kirk sighed to himself. Yup. I definitely just got pimped out.
/
Yay another chapter for you! I hope you've enjoyed the story this far, but stick around, because there's more to come! I love getting feedback, whether constructive criticism or positive comments. Thank you again for reading!
-buckminsterbarnes