Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek. This 'episode' is based off a mention from Star Trek: The Animated Series. The events are canon according to that, but I'm making up the Enterprise's journey.
Chapter 9
News: The Good and The Bad
"Aurie's pregnant again," Rose announced cheerfully to her two closest friends. "She's due in five months. Sam's ecstatic of course."
Spock inclined his head. "I request you pass on my felicitations to your brother and sister-in-law. I believe they are working on Ap-Lau to help the colony?"
Rose nodded. "Yes, originally they were planning on joining another research colony, Deneva. But they felt that they had a duty to help the Vulcans if they could. They're both research scientists. Sam specializes in engineering and Aurelan has a degree in xenobiology."
"Good people," Bones added. "Didn't they just have their second son?"
Rose nodded. "Davey's six months," she expanded. "Aurie says she's praying for a girl this time," she added with a cheerful laugh.
Bewilderment emanated from Spock. "That is illogical," he claimed. "Prayer will make no difference to-" "We know Spock," Bones cut him off grumpily and Rose felt a surge of guilt at the pain she sensed from him. Of course, his mind had gone straight to his daughter at the mention of children. He hadn't seen Joanna since right before the Enterprise set out.
"Have you heard from Jo recently?" She asked warily. She sensed Spock's confusion.
"Jo is your daughter Dr. McCoy," he half-stated, half-asked. "Why would you not have spoken to her? Is there a problem with communications?"
Bones scowled, shaking his head. "No, comms are fine as far as I know. My ex, Jocelyn, got full custody o' Jo in the divorce. She sent 'er to this fancy boarding school on the Cerberus colony early last year. The kids are only allowed one comm call a week and Joss usually gets it."
Misery eminated from him and Rose bit her lip as she remembered a conversation she'd had earlier this week.
"Rosalyn is putting forward a proposal to redesign several ships to allow officers to bring their families with them," she revealed. The two men looked at her in surprise. "Apparently they did it in her old timeline a century from now and it was very successful. She predicts that recruiting would increase by at least 69% once people knew it was successful. She's asked for my support."
Spock tilted his head thoughtfully. "It would be dangerous," he mused. "How does she propose to ensure the safety of the civilians?"
Rose straightened, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear as she spoke. "Well it's a fascinating idea actually. Revolutionary. She suggests a sort of saucer where the families' quarters and any schoolrooms, bars and stuff that'd be needed for the civilians would be. The medbay would be there too. It would be detachable with a helmsman and ranking officer stationed on a mini-bridge at all times. On the orders of the Captain or First Officer, it could be released from the main ship and would go straight to warp to a pre-programmed safe point.
She has the designs and numbers mostly worked out already. Frankly, I'm inclined to give her my support. I know she has quite a few Admirals convinced too. What's your opinions?"
Bones looked fascinated and his feelings had a small tinge of hope as he offered his own thoughts on the idea. "I think it's an excellent idea as long as proper precautions are taken. The biggest deterrent to joining the 'fleet is having to leave your family behind after all."
Spock nodded. "Indeed, and if it was successful in the old timeline, it stands to reason the Admiral Kirk will be able to ensure it has equal success here."
Rose sat back with a pleased smile. "I think that if they agree to implement it, I'll offer to have the Enterprise as the test drive. I know there's a lot of officers who miss their families. Comms aren't the same." Her eyes flicked toward Bones as she spoke, sensing the pain he felt at being separated from his daughter.
Whether or not they went through with the 'Family Friendly Ships' Project, as Rosalie had labelled it, Rose intended to convince Bones to go to court for at least joint custody of Jo. He was a hero after all, and everyone on Earth owed Rose's crew favours. He would almost certainly win.
She grinned her happily at her men before changing the subject to Spock and Bones' on-going joint project.
They were trying to create a psi-dampener that Rose wasn't allergic to so that she would stop getting migraines from the strain of constantly sensing emotions from her crew. Especially Uhura who never failed to project her hatred and blame for her and Spock's breakup at the captain when they crossed paths.
Speaking of which, Rose was going to have to submit another request to have the comms officer transferred. She was nothing but trouble.
It was a fortnight later that Rose received the awful news. She was on the bridge for Alpha Shift. It was a strangely calm day, so far all they'd been doing was star-mapping while Rose did her paperwork. Then the call came.
"Captain," Lt. Palmer's voice was professional but worried as she called for Rose's attention. Sensing her Chief Comm Officer's concern, Rose stood, handing her yeoman, Janice Rand, her PADD and making her way over.
"Yes Lt," Rose asked, keeping her composure. "What's wrong? Distress call?"
Elizabeth shook her head. "No ma'am. It's a Priority One from Starfleet. Your eyes only."
Tension began creeping up Rose's spine as she nodded. "Right," she said, turning toward the turbolift. "Transfer the connection to my ready room then. Spock, you have the conn." She waited until Spock had nodded before hurrying into the lift, unable to completely suppress her worried expression.
When she hurried into her ready room, Admiral Archer was on the screen, wearing a serious countenance. She nodded respectfully to him.
Of all the Admirality, Archer was the one that Rose had the most respect for. When relief had finally come to Tarsus IV, Archer had been the one to bring it. He'd been obviously distraught over Hoshi's death and Rose's admiration for him had begun when she'd seen him, tears glistening in his eyes, still manage to calmly take control.
He'd visited each of the survivors in the medbay and, unlike everyone else save Pike and Boyce, hadn't treated them like stupid little kids who were too traumatized to dress themselves. He'd been the one to teach her chess. Now, almost thirteen years later, she'd considered him a good friend.
"Admiral," Rose greeted him respectfully with a nod, taking her seat. "What can I do for you?"
He didn't smile, maintaining his grim expression. "Some of the brass think that you'll be emotionally compromised by this mission," he began bluntly.
Rose blinked in surprise at his words, though the abruptness was typical.
"However," he went on. "I know you. I have confidence that if you feel your judgement is clouded, you'll have the sense to hand command to Cmdr. Spock. Am I correct?"
Rose nodded slowly, wondering what was going on. "I should hope so," she told him firmly. "And in case, if necessary, I trust S-Cmdr. Spock and Cmdr. McCoy to relieve me of duty if they feel I'm unfit to command the ship. What's the mission Sir?"
Archer exhaled deeply. "We received several reports from the colony planet of Cerberus that they were having crop failures due to a bad storm destroying most of the fields. They were also reporting a group stirring up trouble, not quite enough to be labelled terrorists but nearly. We diverted a ship with supplies to them but we've lost contact with both the colony and with the USS Defiant, which was sent to give them the supplies. The Enterprise is the only ship that can be there within a month so you're being sent to investigate. You can handle it."
It was a statement, not a question and Rose straightened in determination. She'd felt a surge of horror filled memories when Archer had started explaining the mission history. It was so similar to the tragic events of her teenage years that she'd nearly been sick. And Cerberus was where Joanna was. How could she tell Bones that his precious daughter's life was in jeopardy?
But when Archer had insisted she could manage the situation, Rose had stubbornly grabbed on to his words and clung to them like she was drowning and they were her lifebelt. She was Captain Rosalind Ophelia Kirk, Captain of the USS Enterprise and First Daughter of the First Son of the Fifteenth House of Betazed.
Memories of a long-gone past would not be the thing that defeated her. She wouldn't let herself be defeated. She nodded firmly.
"Yes Sir," she answered firmly, lifting her chin. "I'll order the course change immediately. Full warp."
A small smile flickered onto Archer's face for the first time since the briefing had begun. "I have complete faith in you Captain Kirk," he told her softly. "You do Hoshi proud. You always were her favourite student. Archer out."
The screen went black before Rose could regain her voice and she was forced, despite herself, to stay seated for a moment, battling her bloody memories and struggling to suppress her terror and grief. When she'd finally regained control of herself, she reached for the comm and called the bridge.
"Kirk to Bridge."
"Bridge here, Captain," Palmer answered smoothly.
"Have Sulu change course to the Cerberus colony," Rose ordered briskly. "I'm headed to the medbay to speak with Dr. McCoy for a bit about our next mission. I'll see the department heads in my ready room at 1600 hours."
"Yes Captain," Palmer replied professionally. "Anything else?"
"No that's it," Rose promised "Kirk out." She sat still for another moment, trying to gather the strength to tell Bones the awful news, before standing and making her way to the medbay.
When she entered, Bones was nowhere to be seen.
"Captain?" Christine was obviously surprised to see her. Given Rose's hatred of any sort of hospital, it wasn't very shocking. Rose only ever willingly came to the medbay to visit injured or sick crewmembers, but never on duty. This had never happened before.
"Christine," Rose greeted her with a nod. "Where's Bones? I need to speak to him straight away."
"He's just giving a check-up to Lt. Rodriguez," Christine explained. Rose frowned, partially distracted by her words.
"Lt. Esteban Rodriguez?" She clarified. "Was there an accident with one of their experiments or is it just a regular exam?"
Given she'd recently given approval for a study on nanites, and Lt. Rodriguez was a part of it, she thought that she had the right to be concerned. The last thing that she needed was for some of her scientists to start rapidly aging or de-aging. Thankfully, Christine hastily shook her head.
"It's just his regular physical, ma'am," she promised. "Nothing to be worried about. Dr. McCoy had nothing else to do so he decided to do it himself."
"Then why don't you take over and I can speak to Bones," Rose suggested pointedly. Christine looked bemused but nodded hesitantly, heading to the examination room to alert the CMO to Rose's arrival.
"What's this all about then?" The doctor demanded. "I was with a patient Rose! It couldn't have waited five more minutes?"
Rose shook her head grimly. "No," she told him softly. Her expression and tone had Bones on guard instantly, dread rising in him. "Bones, something's happened. Let's go into your office." Bones ignored how she acted as if she were inviting him into her domain. All the ship was technically Rose's territory after all, and they walked the short distance to the CMO's office in silence.
After they'd settled into their chosen seats, Rose took a deep breath to gather her courage. "Bones I just received our new mission orders," she told him, carefully choosing her words and monitoring his emotions with her empathy. "A colony has gone silent after reporting food problems and terrorist activity," she paused and met his eyes, leaning forward to grasp his hand as she felt the horrified realization begin to rise in him, combined with a desperate denial. "It's Cerberus, where Jo is."
"No!" Bones barked out desperately. He yanked his hand away and leapt to his feet to pace, shaking his head in frantic denial. "No, it's not possible! Jo's fine, she-" he broke off and fell to his knees, burying his head in his hands and sobbing in anguish. Rose slid down beside him, enveloping him in a hug and rocking him gently, whispering that everything was going to be alright, they would find Jo and she would be fine.
Truthfully though, Rose knew that, for Jo, nothing would ever be fine again. Even if it wasn't as bad as Tarsus, the young girl would forever be scarred by her experiences. She clenched her eyes shut and gently connected with Bones' warm mind. With help from their physical contact, she sent him to sleep, hoping that it would help ease his grief.
When he had fallen deeply asleep in her lap, she buried her own head in her hands and started to sob, flooded yet again by memories of blood, screams and terror.
This is the first of a two-part 'episode'. I was gonna have her brief the department heads here as well, but this seemed like a good place to end it. There is little to no information about what happened on Cerberus on Memory Alpha, so I'm making it up completely. I hope you enjoy it. As always R&R! And thanks to anyone who has followed/favourited my story.
