They stopped at the unmarked door and made their way into the meeting room.
"About time," Scott drawled from his position in the far corner. "What were you two ladies doing? Fixing your makeup? Some of us have work to do." Jim rolled his eyes and settled into another chair.
"So sorry Scotty. I simply figured you would want to know that we're being sent to check out an anomaly that has shown up. From all reports it seems to have a pretty negative effect on the engines of the ships that have flown through it. As well as everything else."
Scotty leaned forward.
"Well then. I suppose I could spare a minute."
"This anomaly seems to literally shake ships to pieces, like a giant rock tumbler. We are to get as near as we deem safe, scan it, and report back to Star Fleet." Kirk rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Now what I need from you three is the decision on what 'close enough' might be."
The three other men were silent. Glancing at each other Spock finally answered.
"Captain, I assume you realize we need more information than 'giant rock tumbler' to calculate the proper distance from the anomaly." Kirk nodded, gesturing to the PADDs on the board table.
"These are the few specifics we know about it. It seems to be some kind of warped electromagnetic field. It seems to be fairly unmoving, but I'm not willing to bet on that. It's roughly the size of six of our ships, but it's range seems to be a fair bit larger than that. Star Fleet suspects that there is some sort of generator near the center, but there is no way we will get close enough to inspect it. It will take up to three days for us to get there, so take these, get what you can from them and report back tomorrow."
They all nodded silently, gathering up the PADDs and exiting. Spock waited, watching the Captain as he closed his eyes, sighing.
"You are withholding information Captain," he stated, locking his hands behind his back.
"No I'm not Spock. It's all in the reports."
"I see. So what is it that is in these reports, that you are so unwilling to discuss?" Kirk laughed slightly.
"Since when have you become so emotionally perceptive Spock?" He rubbed his eyes again. "Two ships have been completely destroyed by this thing, and it seems that it is actually getting larger. It is within an area housing two planets within the federation. If we don't get this under control immediately evacuation will have to start."
Thick silence filled the room.
"I understand Captain. I will begin my calculations at once." He turned to leave, when Kirk called to him quietly.
"Spock?" he looked back at the young man, surprised by the look in the blue eyes he met.
"I'm terrified," he admitted quietly. "I don't know what to do on this one. As far as I can tell there is no bad guy to defeat, no giant ship, nothing. There are two planets full of beings depending on us, on me, and I have absolutely no idea what we can do." Spock met the mans unsure gaze, eyebrow raising.
"Captain, we need to learn more of the anomaly before we loose hope. There is no sense jumping to conclusions with no information." Kirk nodded.
"I just...Everyone expects miracles from me. I don't know if I will have one here."
"While your ideas are often misguided and improbably they are certainly not miracles. Therefore it would be unwise to expect one." Jim laughed, his gaze lightening slightly. The worry still hovered over his figure but it wasn't so utterly overwhelming now.
"True enough. Thanks Spock." The vulcan simply nodded, making his way out of the room. Jim watched him go, a small smile flickering over his lips for the first time since he had received the transmission regarding their newest mission.
Nykyly glared at the tangle of cables and piping in front of her. Whoever had last replaced or repaired this panel had done a terrible job. It looked like a giant nest of some jungle creature. There was no order. No organization.
Grimly she kicked open her toolbox, golden eyes still fixed on the mess before her. She had been waiting for weeks for a chance to get at this sector to undo the mess, but there had been too much to do.
Finally, finally, with the commander in a meeting with the Captain-
"Nykyly?" Her eyes fluttered shut in frustration. She supposed if she climbed up into the ducts above this section he wouldn't actually see her and she could continue once he had passed. But no. Her job came before her fun.
"I am here Commander," she called, turning to the sound of the scottish man's accent. The short man came around the corner briskly.
"There you are lieutenant. I was wondering where you had gotten to." She offered him a smile.
"I was just going to start fixing up the mess in this sector." She replied, hoping he would simply allow her to continue. He eyes flickered across her face, to the PADD he gripped tightly in one hand. As he moved closer she could feel the wash of concern flowing from him.
"What is wrong?" she asked carefully. He smiled at her wryly.
"You are going to regret being put onto this ship Lass. With Kirk around nothing can ever go smoothly." She sighed internally, kneeling to close her workbox.
"So you have said. What is it that we must fix now?"
"It isn't so much fix as figure out. How much do you know about the reactions of a starship to seismic activity?" She blinked.
"I must not be understanding. Seismic...that is of planets shaking is it not? We are planet bound?" He shook his head.
"Sadly no. Would you mind being my sounding board Nyky? We have a big puzzle in front of us, and very little time in which to do it." The concern she had felt before flared as he mentioned the time frame. Immediately she was nodding her agreement.
"Of course Commander." A small smile was the only thing the young scottish man offered as they turned to make their way to his office. Nykyly felt her stomach knotting as they walked, the waves of uncertainty and fear throwing her for a loop. The commanding officers of this ship had been through some of the worst situations imaginable. The fear slipping off of him was terrifying.
Whatever they were flying into was not going to be fun. Nykyly steeled herself, taking a deep breathe. Time to get to work then.
Wearily Nykyly made her way to her quarters, her mind buzzing with number, figures, and factors. Calculating, in essence, how hard a starship could be shaken was not a simple matter, considering they had never been designed to do so. It wasn't often you were shaken in space.
Shot at, more likely. Hit with something, most definitely. But it was rather unlikely that you would be shaken.
It seemed though, that that was exactly what they were about to face. She rubbed her ears roughly, working the blood into the cold tips. She waited restlessly for her door to open before stumbling in. She collapsed onto one of the chairs, burying her head into the pillow that sat there.
Her shift had ended hours ago, and she was fairly certain that Commander Scott's had ended far before that. Neither had stopped until they had come to a reasonable conclusion. They had both read what the results would be if their calculations were off. There were too many lives at stake to do something as silly as sleep. Not that she had slept at all in the last three weeks.
The mental barriers required simply to keep her mind from reaching out were-
When the buzzer indicating someone was at her door rang only her ears twitched in response. When it rang again she groaned inwardly, exhaustion soaking into her bones and making her limbs feel like they were pulling her to the floor. She rolled off the chair, pushing herself to her feet slowly. Almost limping in her exhaustion she pressed the switch to the door.
The carefully collected face made her knees go weak. She felt her mind thrashing at the mental barriers she had placed around it, screaming to connect to the man in front of her. Whoever had said weak knees could be a pleasant sensation was a fool. She winced, grabbing the door frame in an attempt to ground herself.
A quiet clank was followed by strong hands grasping her shoulders tightly as she wavered. She felt a conflicting wave of euphoria followed by panic as her mind fought harder. Clearly ignoring his normal instincts to avoid contact with others in his concern she felt Spock's hands tighten.
"Lieutenant, are you alright? Do you need to go to the medical bay?" he asked calmly, his voice as controlled as ever. She blinked twice, taking a deep breath before meeting his dark eyes.
"No, Commander, I am fine. I am simply-simply tired." Taking another deep breath she stepped back, fighting against the strong pull to step back into his arms. She felt a chill sweep through her as the contact completely disappeared.
"I met Commander Scott on my way to my chambers. He informed me you had just left your shift and that he was fairly certain you had not eaten. As he seemed to be in need of rest himself I offered to bring you the tray he had provided as it was already on my way." She looked down at the metal tray that was now sitting on the floor. She leaned down, resisting the urge to just lay on the floor, and picked the tray up.
"Thank you Commander. That was very kind of you." They stood there for a long moment in silence, before Spock simply nodded.
"Good evening then, Lieutenant." She nodded in return as the door slid shut. Placing the tray on the nearby table she ignored the food on it, her stomach suddenly in turmoil. She made her way to her bed, each footstep heavier than the last.
Collapsing into the soft fabric she felt the first exhausted tears fall from her eyes. She could not sleep, as the mental barriers would fall. She could not allow them to fall, as that would destroy what she had built so carefully here in Starfleet. She could not look to the only person she wanted to for comfort, as he had no idea that comfort was needed. She could not look to him for comfort, as he would simply turn her away.
She was lifebonded to Commander Spock of the Star Ship Enterprise. She was tied for all eternity to a creature of a species not her own, who would doubtlessly turn her away should she explain. She would spend the rest of her life fighting the bond that would tie him to her intimately, regardless of his wishes. She stared at the blurry ceiling through her tears.
She would live in this net of exhaustion until the day she died. Which, given Captain Kirks reputation, may not really be that far off.
The thought was almost a relief.
And finally I'm back. This section has been finished for a while. I wanted to add more to it before I posted but I felt guilty for taking so long! I hope you guys don't mind this smaller for being so patient!
Miric
