Chapter 7: Distress
An hour was hardly any time. They quickly showered and packed their belongings in silence. The link was shut down, and Spock had hardly said a word since waking up.
Now, they were at the designated beam-up point. Most of the personnel would be taking shuttles back- but as the senior bridge crew, they needed to be there first, to supervise. Nyota flipped open her communicator and commanded them to energize.
They were met by Kirk and McCoy in the transporter room.
"What's going on, Captain?" she asked as she stepped off the platform.
"You both look tired." McCoy observed before Kirk could reply. He was looking between the two of them with a smirk.
"I'm tired- he's hung over." Nyota said, pointing over her shoulder at Spock.
"I thought alcohol doesn't affect Vulcans?" McCoy asked.
"It doesn't. Chocolate does." Nyota replied.
"And why was he eating chocolate?" he asked.
"Last night was our anniversary, Doctor." Spock replied, a trace of annoyance in his tone. "And as we did not expect to be called back to duty this morning..." he trailed off and lifted an eyebrow pointedly.
"Yep, definitely hung over. Come on, Spock, I'll give you my world-famous cure..." McCoy said.
"I would prefer to be briefed, Doctor. I do not need your 'cure'." Spock said, turning to Kirk. "Captain, what is the situation?"
Kirk, who had watched their exchange with amusement, immediately became professional.
"Ever heard of the Hadrus colony?" he asked.
"Certainly, Captain. It is the largest off-planet Terran colony." Spock replied.
"Starfleet received a distress signal from them this morning." Kirk said, and he turned toward the door. The others followed him as he walked down the corridor. "Apparently, last night their sensors picked up a ship in orbit. All attempts at communication were met with silence. Then came reports of an attack- the transmission was full of static, and you can't make out more than half the words. But it sounds like a ground invasion by beings with advanced weaponry. We're being dispatched because Hadrus is only ten hours away- everyone else is at least a whole day out in space. We've lost all contact with Hadrus, so there's no knowing what we'll find."
"What are your suspicions, Captain?" Spock asked. They were all thinking the same thing...
"I'm thinking it's the same Klingons that damaged the Enterprise and high-tailed it out of there." Kirk replied grimly. "I don't know how they managed to fix their warp drive- scanners showed that they wouldn't be able to sustain warp for more than a few minutes."
"Then the logical conclusion is- if it were them- that they have attacked the colony to seek parts to repair their reactor." Spock said.
"This still doesn't explain why they're operating independently of the Empire." Nyota said. "That transmission that we intercepted before they attacked us indicated that the Empire's looking for them."
"My guess is that they're renegades." Kirk said, nodding. "Question is- how many of them are there? We saw two warbirds- one of them cloaked and took off, the other stayed to fight us. How do we know that they weren't on their way to rendezvous with others?"
"To guess is pointless, Captain. We do not have sufficient data to make an estimation of their motives. What is important here is that an attack has been made on a peaceful colony on Hadrus. It is our mission to investigate and determine whether they require our assistance." Spock said. All three humans rolled their eyes.
"There's plenty of evidence, Spock." Nyota said.
"It is all circumstantial. As far we know, there are only two warbirds, and one is damaged. There has been a transmission that may or may not indicate that they are refugees. Hardly enough evidence to postulate any theories. And none at all to suggest that it is, indeed, Klingons who attacked Hadrus."
"How can he manage to be so damn logical even when he's hung over?" McCoy asked Nyota. She shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe it just makes him nitpick more than usual." he added.
"I am not 'nitpicking', Doctor." Spock said, annoyed. "I am merely pointing out that it is foolish to assume anything considering what little information we have."
"Well, let's go try to get a little more information. Uhura, do you think you can clear up some of the static in the distress call?" Kirk asked, putting an end to the burgeoning argument.
"I won't know until I listen to it, Captain, but I'll try my best." Nyota replied. "When will everyone else arrive?"
"Well, several crew members went international, so we'll have to wait for them. I'm guessing we can be out of here in an hour, maybe an hour and a half." Kirk replied. "So get to work."
They got into the bridge lift. It was then that Nyota remembered.
"Damn!" she said. "I didn't get the chance to call my parents! We were supposed to have dinner with them tonight. And Remaja- she thinks I'm coming over tomorrow!"
"You will have time to contact them while we are en route to Hadrus, Lieutenant." Spock replied. She knew that he was in Commander mode for the day. And she knew he was still irritable, and still had a headache. It was hard to believe that the man before her was the same one who had ingested chocolate the night before and had been passionate with her all night in ways that he never had been before.
She decided that if this was how he was going to act when he had a little too much chocolate, he wasn't going to be getting any more.
"Yes, Commander." Nyota said, and then she leaned toward McCoy. "Hurry up with that cure, Bones. He needs to be operating at full capacity when we drop out of warp."
"I am operating at full capacity. I do not require a questionable form of a 'cure'." Spock replied. She sighed as the lift opened, depositing them on the bridge.
"Maybe chocolate wasn't such a good idea." she said to him before walking across the empty bridge to her station. He stood still for a moment, and then followed her.
"It was not my idea." he said in a quiet voice so that no one else would hear.
"I know that." Nyota said in a softer tone, flipping switches. "Captain, I'm bringing up the transmission now, I'll know in a minute if I can clear it up."
"Carry on, Lieutenant." Kirk said from the command chair. Spock still stood beside her. She felt him asking permission to enter the bond, and she allowed it.
"Was it not worth it?" he asked. She wasn't able to hide her smile.
"You know it was. Shouldn't you be at your station, Commander?" she asked. He straightened from where he had been leaning over her shoulder and went to sit at his station. Nyota began to play the transmission.
She wasn't sure how long she worked on it. She fiddled with her controls, adjusting the frequency, trying to cut the static. Finally, she had it clear enough to hear more of what was being said.
"Captain, I have it. You...you definitely want to hear this." Nyota said. Everyone on the bridge- McCoy, Kirk, Spock, and now Chekov and Sulu, turned to her station. She set it to the right channel and played it.
A man's voice came on over the intercom...gravelly, and still interrupted by intermittent static, but clear enough to hear most of what he was saying.
"Starfleet Command...we're being attacked...I repeat, we are being attacked...we're not sure who is doing this yet, but last night we detected a ship in our orbit, tried communication, got nothing back...send someone, anyone...we can't defend against...Starfleet, I've just seen one of them...it's Klingons! I repeat- Klingons are attacking Hadrus! They're armed with disruptors...no chance of survival without assistance..."
Then the transmission was dead. The bridge was silent.
"Alert Starfleet Command of your findings, Lieutenant." Kirk said quietly. "Inform them that even if we have to operate with a skeleton crew, we're leaving in half an hour."
Nyota threw a look in Spock's direction. They were right about at least one thing...and then she turned to her console to do as the captain had ordered.
As Kirk had said, there was no knowing what they were about to find...twelve and a half hours had elapsed since the attack. Was anyone even still alive? If they were, why hadn't the Klingons killed them already? With less than half their crew aboard, was the Enterprise ready for anything they might encounter?
What if Kirk was right- and there was more than just those two warbirds? They had already called for backup, just in case...but the other starships wouldn't get there in time.
Nyota stared at the viewscreen before them, watching as the stars drifted past. She had been given a short break after the launch to contact Remaja and her parents. Her parents were less than pleased- and they were scared. They had every right to be. She would have been scared too, if it weren't for the fact that Spock was sending her constant waves of calm and reassurance. Even when he was miserable due to the chocolate, he was still more concerned about her welfare than his own. Her only worry was that he still wasn't completely recovered- he had not even had the chance to meditate, and that would have helped him think more clearly. Would he be able to react in time if something happened?
"I have told you not to be concerned." Spock said disapprovingly in her head. She glanced over at the science station- he was not even looking at her.
"That's not going to stop me from it." she replied, and turned back to her station. "You should accept the doctor's help. We can't afford to have your reflexes compromised right now."
"Nyota, I assure you that I am fully operational." Spock insisted. She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "You, on the other hand, have not slept more than five hours. If anyone is to be a source of concern, it is you."
She started to grow angry at that. "Why? Because I'm a woman?" she asked.
"That is not what I meant. We may enter into a dangerous situation, and-"
"And you think I can't handle it!" Nyota gritted her teeth, her knuckles almost white as she gripped the edge of the console before her.
"Your parents-"
"I don't give a damn!" she said aloud. Everyone on the bridge turned to look at her quizzically, and she looked around at them, biting her lip. "Sorry." she said. Eyebrows rose, but they turned back to their stations. She threw a glare at Spock before turning back to communications. "I don't give a damn what they think! And you know I can handle dangerous situations!" she continued furiously.
"Nevertheless-"
"This conversation is over!" she said, and abruptly closed the link. Throughout this time, Spock's face did not show even a hint at what he was thinking or feeling.
"ETA two minutes, Captain." Sulu said into the silence. Kirk nodded.
"Alert engineering to prepare to drop out of warp." Kirk said, and Nyota obliged, still fuming.
Two minutes later, the Enterprise dropped out of warp. And as soon as they did...
"Evasive maneuver!" Kirk snapped, and the Enterprise bucked sideways as it lurched to avoid the red jets of light aimed at the hull...
They had dropped out of warp, right into an ambush. In front of them were two warbirds...and more were decloaking.
A/N: Cliffhanger! Yay! I love cliffies! You might not, but...
Cookies for those of you who knew that Lenina Crowne is from Brave New World. Truth be told, I haven't seen the movie...but the book is great! If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.
And cookies for those of you didn't know it, because it's not your fault that you're deprived :(
Also- the one-shot that includes the missing steamy scene from the last chapter is up- it's called "Anniversary: Chocolate and Lace".
