For Piotr's Sake

Chapter ten

To everyone's relief, the coordinates that were provided to the head navigator in the auxiliary control room worked. They all watched and some smiled as the stars began to reappear, most believing the falsehood that the injured lady helmsperson had been the one to come up with the coordinates that had gotten them out of the black void between universes. The navigation station was now repaired and functioning and Beckwith was at the controls. The Defiant was still in tow, even though its engines and systems were now fully operational. Since they didn't want any trouble from the new M6 unit, that remained off. However, soon their relief was replaced with concern and wonder. No one knew where they were.

"Helm, full stop and hold our position here…wherever this is."

"Aye, sir. Coming to a full stop." The helmsman who was replacing Rahda answered quickly. His name was George Benson. He was a tall stocky man in his mid-thirties, with thick wavy ear-length dark brown hair. According to the women on the ship, he wasn't very handsome, but had a good personality. The captain didn't really care about looks or personality, but appreciated his intelligence. Terrell looked at the navigator, impressed with his crew's repairs to both the Defiant and the navigation station.

"Mr. Beckwith, what's our position?"

"Unknown, sir. There is no recognizable pattern to the configuration of the stars."

"In other words, we're lost."

"Affirmative, sir."

"Well" Terrell responded with a sigh, "We might as well stay put until we figure out where we are." The captain stood and took one last look at the main viewing screen. "I will be in sickbay, checking on our people. Let me know immediately of any new developments or if and when you can pinpoint where the heck we are."

"Acknowledged, sir."

Captain Piotr Chekov was dreaming of the first time that he met his wife Irina. She was with a group of hippie-like misfits, who were looking for the mythical planet Eden. They were both ensigns at the time and did more than talk while they were in the auxiliary control room, assisting an amused Mr. Spock with locating the planet Eden. Piotr had gotten her pregnant, and, of course, their Kirk had ordered her to get an abortion, scolding them for their indiscretion. He very nearly court martialled the two of them when they refused to obey his order. They decided to marry soon after that so that they could circumvent the captain's order to terminate the pregnancy. Piotr's son Dmytri was staying with his paternal grandparents on their Earth, since children were not allowed on starships.

As he awakened, Piotr found that their Miss Bennett was bending over him, an expectant and somewhat eager look on her young face.

"Ensign…why are you hovering over me like a vulture?" He winced as his head injury began to throb.

"Your wife is dead, sir, killed by the Tholians. Since I am the only woman left in our crew, I am claiming my right to be your Captain's Woman."

"You are being rather presumptuous, Ensign. Besides, you know from our regulations that you are too young. Hell's bells, girl… my wife isn't even cold yet! You should give me time to grieve. Also, you know very well that you have to be at least the rank of lieutenant before you can claim the title of Captain's Woman."

"I know that, sir. However, since we are no longer in our universe, I was hoping you would overlook that. Also, you could promote me."

"I could but I won't. You are not worthy to be my Captain's Woman." Piotr said contemptuously, his eyes narrowing. Then, his expression softened when he noticed tears forming in her eyes. "Go help these good people in their sickbay with their injured and leave me alone to mourn."

"Yes, sir." She whispered, embarrassed. She turned away so he could not see her tears. Then, turning angry at being scorned and rejected, she savagely wiped them away, an evil plan hatching in her mind as she eyed the other Leila. She had been told that her counterpart's boyfriend and fiancé was the one who had been critically injured when the shock wave occurred. Glad that her counterpart could not read her mind, she headed for the Reliant's sickbay.

Terrell had been informed that the other Nurse Bennett had been ordered to assist Dr. Petrova with their casualties. He had also ordered theirs to stay where she was for the time being. Dr. Petrova had no real objection to the young Bennett counterpart assisting with their casualties, but insisted that she don a real regulation Starfleet uniform, knowing that some of her patients might object to a half-naked strumpet or become stressed in her presence. The other Leila smiled, knowing that donning one of their uniforms would work to her advantage. She could pretend to be her sweet little counterpart and snag a husband at the same time. As she put the drab uniform on, she decided to keep her holstered dagger in her boot, thinking that most would not notice it and that it might come in handy.

Lt. Commander Pavel Chekov awakened to find his captain at his bedside.

"Sir…"

"At ease…Pavel." He observed his first officer wince with pain from his head injury. "That's what you get for slouching at your station."

"Very funny…sir. The person who designed the Constitution class starship bridge should be phasered." He paused and looked at his captain. "Are we out of the void?"

"Yes, we are. However, we are holding our position until we can figure out our location. We are in an unfamiliar area of space."

Pavel tried to sit up, but was hit with a wave of dizziness. He sank back to where he had been.

"If I were on the bridge, I could probably figure it out."

"I doubt it, Lieutenant Commander. Also, you are in no condition to be figuring anything out. Just concentrate on getting well." Pavel nodded and closed his eyes.

The other Leila entered sickbay just as the captain finished his sentence. She was planning on killing her captain's counterpart, but she could not get past Terrell. She was ordered to attend to Quincy, and she happily complied. Turning on the charm, she attempted to seduce him, but he saw the jewels in her dagger as they sparkled from the overhead lights. He knew that a dagger was not Starfleet issue and that she was an imposter. As he spurned her advances, he saw her reach for it.

"Captain…Get this creature away from me!" Quincy screamed.

The captain raced to his side and grabbed her wrist just as she was about to plunge the dagger into Quincy's chest, forcing her to drop the knife. He then ordered security to take her to the brig. As he did so, the red alert alarm sounded.

"What now?" He said softly. He strode to the nearest wall intercom. "Terrell here. What's going on?"

"Sir, this is Blackwing! A wormhole has suddenly appeared and is drawing both ships into it! We are unable to break free!"