I jumped off the platform and rushed over to the technician. "Get them back here!" I yelled, exasperated.

"I'm trying!" The woman shouted, moving a joystick around frantically. Looking down at the screen I saw two dots moving around frantically. I watched helplessly as the woman kept missing the dots, but just when Chekov came running in screaming the he could do it. He pushed the technician aside and typed a few things in, moving the joystick insanely.

Just then Jim's voice came over the speaker. "Enterprise, where are you!?"

Chekov moved slightly faster as he yelled back. "Hold on, hold on!"

"Now, now, now!" Kirk begged. "Do it now! Now, now, now!"

I could see the beats of sweat on Chekov's head. "Don't move! Hold on! Computating gravitational pull and... Gotcha!"

Jim and Sulu slammed onto the transporter deck as Chekov cried out. "Oh! Yah-my-oo!"

Jim grunted. "God." He stood and moved his shoulder which was no doubt sore.

Sulu turned to Jim. "Thanks."

Jim smiled at him. "No problem."

Just then Spock entered the room with a determined look on his face. "Clear the pad. I'm beaming to the surface."

Jim moved off the pad, but looked confused and worried. "The surface of what? What, are you going down there? Are you nuts? Spock, you can't do that?! "

Spock ignored Jim and looked up at the technician. "Energize." He commanded.

"Spock!" Jim protested, but it was too late. He then turned to me.

I was furious and felt my face flush. I was certain that I had seen him die; I know he needed to help his crew-mate, but still! I looked him over, turned on my heel and rushed out of the room. I wasn't going to deal with this now; we needed to focus on figuring out how to help Vulcan.

I rushed over to the nearest window and watched, helplessly as the planet was pulled inward and sucked into nothing. I hadn't realized that they were going to destroy the entire planet. I felt a tear escape as I realized how many people I had just witnessed die. Five years ago, (at least I perceived it as 5 years) I wouldn't have ever dreamed of visiting the moon, let alone another planet, and the one time I enter the atmosphere, it gets destroyed. I wiped the tear away as I heard the door to the transporter room open. Quickly, I turned and made my way to my cabin, not wanting to be in the way.

As soon as the door behind me closed I ripped the spacesuit off. My muscles screamed as the suit peeled off of me, however I ignored them. I needed to change. I could stay in that a moment longer. I rushed to the closet and grabbed an extra uniform, throwing it on over my underwear. Just as I was covered, Spock's voice came through the loudspeaker. "Good evening. Tonight, we witnessed the death of a planet, lost our captain and are harboring some of the few survivors from Vulcan. We are going to stand by for a day, and hope that Captain Pike contacts us. Thank you for your excellent work and prepare for more survivors to board. Spock out."

I sighed and climbed onto the bed. I wasn't going to bed, but I needed to collect my thoughts. I kept the lights off, hugged my knees to my chest and placed my forehead on them. After about five minutes, I heard the door open. "Artemis?" I heard James ask. "Can I come in?"

I said nothing, but he still came in. "Are you alright?" He walked closer to me. Still, I remained silent. "You have to talk sooner or later." He waited for a beat, then sat on the bed next to me and mimicked my pose. "This isn't too comfortable." He noted quietly.

"It is for me." I said quietly.

"You are alive!" He feigned surprise.

"But I thought I watched you die." I lifted my head up and met his eyes. "You jumped off suspended platform towards almost certain death." He stayed silent and let me continue. "I thought I watched you die."

"But I didn't." He smirked, but the smiled was replaced by a frown as he read my expression. "I needed to go after him. But honestly, I thought that was the end too."

We sat in silence as we digested what could have been, and then I sighed. "I'm sorry for walking out, but you're all I really have." I shook my head. "I was sent here against my will, and you almost ran me over. You've been with me since the start; I can't lose you as well. My family is dead; everyone I grew up with is dead." I put my head back on my knees as we slipped into silence.

I heard him sigh as I felt a hand on my shoulder. "I didn't think about it like that." He admitted. "And I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you, Spock's mother died. They were about to be transported out when the ground she was on got sucked into the black hole."

I frowned and raised my head again. "Should he be commanding the ship then? He might not be thinking right."

"I'll worry about that later." He murmured. "We've had a rough day; we deserve to relax for a while." I had nothing to say, so we once again slipped into silence. "Artemis, do you regret joining Starfleet?" He questioned after the silence began to grow awkward.

I frowned as I thought for a moment. "I haven't really had the time to decide. I doubt this is how any first day is supposed to go." I chuckled. "Their best friend doesn't jump to almost certain death, their acting captain's mother isn't supposed to die; I'm not supposed to be pinned by a Romulan solider." I shook my head. "This is out of control."

Jim's eyes softened and he reached an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close in one swift movement. "So," Jim said and I could hear the smile in his voice. "Where did you learn to fight like that? You've never mentioned taking a class or anything."

"I had a lot of free time." I shrugged.

"I thought that you just studied." He chuckled. "You seemed oddly adept at fighting. When did you practice?"

I smirked. "There was a self-defense class downtown. I asked to work with their trainers. The rest I learned online."

He laughed. "You learned that on your own? Remind me to not piss you off." He squeezed me tighter. "It was pretty badass that you were able to take that enormous Romulan down. Although when he fell back on you…" He trailed off, shaking his head.

I laughed. "I wasn't planning on that." I then yawned quietly and brought a hand to my mouth.

"Why don't you sleep?" He asked, starting to get up.

"I can't." I said, leaning into him so he wouldn't leave. "We need to go and speak to Spock."

"We can wait," He said softly. "It's been a long day."

"Jim," I sighed. "We need to go."

We made it up to the bridge and Kirk sat in the captain's chair. Uhura was just explaining to Spock about how Nero had to be heading to Earth. "Earth may be his next stop, but we have to assume every Federation planet's a target."

Spock turned to Kirk and growled. "Out of the chair."

Chekov frowned. "Well, if the Federation is a target, why didn't they destroy us?"

Sulu turned to the young man. "Why would they? Why waste the weapons? You know... we obviously weren't a threat."

Spock suddenly became somber. "That is not it. He said he wanted me to see something. The destruction of my home planet. "

"How the hell did they do that, by the way?" Bones asked, crossing his arms. "Where did the Romulans get that kind of weaponry?"

"The engineering comprehension necessary to artificially create a black hole may suggest an answer." Spock muttered. "Such technology could theoretically be manipulated to create a tunnel through space-time." I felt my blood run cold. No.

Bones groaned. "Dammit man, I'm a doctor, not a physicist. Are you actually suggesting they're from the future?!" I felt his eyes trail towards me.

Spock raised his eyebrows." If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

"How poetic." Bones muttered.

I felt Jim's eyes on me as he spoke. "Then, what would an angry, future Romulan want with Captain Pike?"

"As Captain, he does know details of Starfleet's defenses." Sulu pointed out.

Jim's features grew dark. "What we need to do is catch up to that ship. Disable it, take it over, and get Pike back."

Spock shook his head. "We are technologically outmatched in every way. A rescue attempt would be illogical."

Jim frowned, but conceded defeat. "Okay, alright. There's got to be some way..."

Spock remained silent for a moment. "...we must gather with the rest of Starfleet, to balance the terms of the next engagement."

"There won't be a next engagement." Jim said. "By the time we've gathered, it'll be too late. But you say he's from the future, knows what's going to happen, then the logical thing is to be unpredictable."

Spock's frown deepened. "You are assuming that Nero knows how events are predicted to unfold. To the contrary, Nero's very presence has altered the flow of history, beginning with the attack on the USS Kelvin, culminating in the events of today, thereby creating an entire new chain of incidents that cannot be anticipated by either party."

"An alternate reality?" Uhura asked, stunned.

Spock smiled slightly at the woman. "Precisely. Whatever our lives might have been, if the time continuum was disrupted, our destinies have changed. Mr. Sulu, plot a course to the Laurentian system warp factor three."

"Spock, don't do that." Jim protested. "Running back to the rest of the fleet for a, a, a confab is a massive waste of time-"

"Orders issued by Captain Pike when he left-"Spock cut in.

Jim shook with anger, pointing a finger at Spock. Now he got out of the chair and stepped closer to the Vulcan. "He also ordered us to go back and get him. Spock, you are captain now! You have to be-"

"I am aware of my responsibilities, Mister-"

"Every second we waste, Nero's getting closer to his next target." Jim said, lowering his voice.

"That is correct and why I am instructing you to accept the fact that I alone-"Spock growled.

Jim stepped even closer. "I will not allow us to go backwards-"

.
"Jim!" I hissed, trying to pull him away from the acting Captain.

"Instead of hunting Nero down!" Jim finished, shoving me off.

"Security." Spock snapped. "Escort him out."

Just then two officers rushed towards us and pushed me aside. "Hey!" I shouted, swinging at one of them. The first one grabbed my arm and held it behind my back. That's when I saw Jim fighting a different security guard. I kicked my leg back and made contact with the man's genitals." He released me for a moment and I turned, Jim was lying on the ground, unconscious. Just then Spock came over to me and grabbed my shoulder.

"Get both of them off this ship." I heard just as I hit the ground.