Chapter Four: Calling in the Reinforcements

Uhura's fingers flew over her communications console as Captain Kirk talked to the planet's leaders about the geological sample on their planet's surface. With a word from him, she cut off the transmission and swung around in her chair, raised brow and questioning look in her eyes asking her question for her.

Kirk noticed and grinned widely. "It went well," he informed his Bridge crew. "The landing party was able to obtain some excellent samples, as Mr. Spock has informed me, and the planet's leaders are perfectly happy with the whole affair. It's a nice change for us."

"I'll say," Chekov murmured from his post, and Sulu laughingly punched his arm. Chekov's face burst out into his usual toothy smile.

"Shall I plot a new course then, Captain?" Sulu asked, fingers poised over his console and ready to break them out of orbit if necessary. Kirk waved it away.

"No need, Sulu. Starfleet's granted us a small shore leave while we're here." He clapped his hands together and rubbed them together in excitement. "You know what that means. Usual rotation schedule, Lieutenant," he added to Uhura.

She nodded, a step ahead of him, and went to work.

oooooOOOOOOOooooo

Uhura glanced up once Kirk had left and locked eyes with Sulu, who gave her a barely perceptible nod. Leaning back in his chair and stretching in exaggeration, he fake-yawned and threw a glance at Spock, who was typing up a report on his PADD from the captain's chair. Spock's eyes met his, along with one raised eyebrow.

Sulu quickly snapped back to his console.

"Is something wrong, Lieutenant?" Spock asked dryly.

"Er, no, sir, just stretching," Sulu quickly replied. "Doesn't take much to keep the ship in orbit, you know."

"I fail to see why you consider this a relevant remark."

Sulu heavily sighed and tried to think of a good response. He could find none. Luckily for him, Chekov came to his assistance.

"Mr. Spock, have you had the chance to analyze the substance found on the planet's surface?" he intervened, accepting the quick look of gratitude from his best friend. "Some of the staff in the science labs seem to think it has some of the properties of dilithium."

Mr. Spock gave a small nod in response. "I have had a brief chance, Ensign," he replied, and Sulu was instantly grateful his prodigy friend was a favorite of the Commander's. "Though I have not observed many such properties, the substance does seem to have the potential to store and transfer energy more than what was originally thought. The Federation believes it may be a potential power source in the near future, though for what I do not know."

Chekov nodded, torn between being interested and just saving Sulu from a lecture of some sort. "That is very interesting," he replied. "I am sure we will be hearing much about it."

Spock nodded, but before he could respond properly, the doors to the Bridge whooshed open and the shift replacements came in. Uhura was all too happy to hand her station over to the junior communications officer and dash for the turbo-lift. Spock had nearly figured out that something was up, and that was definitely not a good sign. She was going to have to be even more careful from now on.

Sulu muttered a farewell to his Commander before rushing off too, practically dragging Chekov behind him. Spock rose one eyebrow, but other than that decided to let it go. Illogical humans.

"That was close," Uhura breathed as the three officers piled into the turbo lift. She glanced at Sulu and added, "But our little test just proved it. Spock's going to notice anything even slightly off. I was hoping he'd just ignore us, but that was stupid. We have to keep him off the trail."

"What?" Chekov interrupted, completely confused.

"All in good time, Pavel," Sulu remarked, patting his friend's shoulder. He glanced at Uhura again. "Where do we meet and when?"

As the turbo lift slowed, Uhura flashed the two a grin. "If all goes well, the main Engineering deck in 20 minutes."

"We'll be there," Sulu replied as the doors slid open.

oooooOOOOOOOooooo

Uhura felt her heart skip a beat as she entered the main Engineering deck and spotted Scotty. Her confident grin faded into a sweet smile as the engineer spotted her.

"Nyota!" he called as he jogged over. "What are you doing here?" His grin complimented hers perfectly.

"Actually, I came to see you," she replied with a sweet light in her eyes. "I need your help with something."

She watched as a brief questioning look passed over Scotty's eyes. "Of course, Nyota," he replied, his eyes returning to their former fond light. "My shift ends in a couple minutes; can it wait that long? I just have to help Ensign Jacobson fix a leak in one of the Jefferies tubes, and I'll be right there."

"Of course!" she replied, remembering the ensign and his utter devotion to her favorite engineer. Scotty had taken him under his wing ever since his arrival a few months ago, and the kid was going to be an excellent engineer.

"Thanks, Nyota," Scotty said, holding her hand gently before rushing off to help the ensign under his charge. She smiled and clasped her hands in front of her, as if she could hold his love with her always. She intended to.

oooooOOOOOOOooooo

Sulu had explained the situation to Chekov, along with his involvement in it, by the time the two of them had finished their drinks in the rec-room. Drawing in what was left of the warm smell of his tea, Sulu sat back and waited for the verdict.

Chekov blinked and glanced down at his empty coffee cup before responding. "Wow."

Sulu laughed. "That's all you have to say?" he teased. "I thought surely a genius like you would be able to comment with a little more fluency."

Chekov chuckled himself. "Sorry, it's just a little bit hard to take in all at once. I mean, I don't know how you're going to pull it off. This is going to be very tricky."

"That's why we need your help," Sulu replied, gesturing broadly with what was left of his cup of tea. "Other than Uhura, you're the genius of the group. We're going to need your smarts."

Chekov frowned, brow furrowed and mind clearly turning around the possibilities. He sighed deeply. "Are you so sure it's a good idea?" he asked suddenly. "I mean..."

Sulu held up a hand to stop him. "Look, that's what I said. But this is more than the usual tricks with Nyota. She's got something up her sleeve that I can't figure out, but I know it's there. You should have seen the light in her eyes when she described it all to me; she really wanted my backing, and she really believed in what she was saying. She knows something we don't." He leaned forward. "Come on, Pavel. Please? You'll see what I mean when you talk to her." He waited, holding his breath. If they didn't have his best friend's backing, they might not be able to pull it off.

Chekov took in a deep breath and looked his friend in the eye. "Alright, Hikaru. I'm on board. But if something bad happens..."

"Trust me, Pavel," Sulu replied gratefully, shaking his head, "it won't."

oooooOOOOOOOooooo

"So what did you want to talk about, Nyota?" Scotty asked as he walked with Uhura to a quieter area of the main Engineering deck.

She quickly scanned the area before replying, gazing up into his beautiful eyes. "Scotty, I'm afraid I'm up to my usual pranks again," she replied, grinning when she saw understanding flash through his eyes.

"Oh dear," he laughed. "And who exactly is the subject of this one?"

"Actually, there are two," she replied. "One of them is Christine."

Scotty shook his head. "I hope you're going to be nice to the poor lass," he warned in a teasing tone, knowing full well that Uhura would never intentionally hurt her friends.

"Oh, I'm going to be very nice," Uhura replied, trying not to catch his infectious laugh. "And I need your help to do so."

"Oh, really? In what way?" he asked in a voice that mixed a touch of hesitance, a dab of excitement, and a huge heaping of amusement all together.

Uhura grinned even wider, knowing he was as good as on board. "You'll see."

oooooOOOOOOOooooo

Chekov followed Sulu as the two officers entered the main Engineering deck, scanning the room for Uhura. If someone spotted them in Engineering, especially with Uhura, they might appear suspicious; they wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. Spotting her rounding the corner with Scotty, Sulu grabbed Chekov and moved.

"Hey," he said breathlessly as they jogged up. "Why'd you have us meet here? A little conspicuous, don't you think?"

Uhura motioned for them to follow her. "First off, are you in, Pavel?" she asked.

The young ensign nodded in the affirmative. "Yes, I am. Hikaru convinced me," he added, rolling his eyes for emphasis.

"Nice work, Hikaru," she laughed. "I had us meet here because I knew it was the best time to talk to Scotty, with his shift almost over anyway, and the Engineering crewmembers' numbers are down because they were already sent on shore leave."

Sulu shrugged. "Fair enough," he replied, reminding himself that Uhura would of course know the movements of most of the crew onboard the ship. He blinked and added, "You really know what you're doing, don't you?"

She flashed him a grin as Scotty opened up his office. "Let's just say don't get on my bad side, Hikaru."

He glanced sideways at Chekov, whose face mirrored his own. "Got it."

Scotty chuckled at that and let the group into his office. "Have a seat," he offered.

"Alright, so..." Sulu started.

"Hold up," Uhura interjected. "We're not all here yet."

"Who else is in on this?" Chekov cried.

A knock at the door answered him. Scotty flashed Uhura a look as he opened it.

"Dr. McCoy!" he exclaimed.

"In the flesh," the doctor replied, walking in and accepting the offer of a seat.

"The Doctor...?" Chekov's eyes were practically bulging out of his skull.

McCoy rolled his eyes heavenward and chuckled under his breath. "Nyota convinced me," he explained. "And to be honest, I don't mind having a little fun along the way."

Chekov made a mental note not to get on the doctor's bad side, either.

"Alright," Uhura said authoritatively, slapping her hands together in glee. "Let's get down to business. We've got a lot of work to do."

A big shout out to all those who have read and reviewed! Thank you all so much for your awesomeness! Your reviews give me and my plot bunnies the strength to go on! More chapters are coming up soon. Please write a review before you leave, even if you've never written one before, and thanks for reading! :)