It hadn't been her turn for Bridge duty, but the bride and groom had picked a date, and Vivian knew better than to argue with someone's happiness. Captain Kirk had to be there, Scotty wanted to be there, and Vivian wasn't a sentimentalist. She was perfectly happy manning communications and sensors for Spock while they moved toward the outposts lining the Neutral Zone.
"Have you known them long, Sulu?" she asked, of the married-couple-to-be.
"Not much longer than I've known you," he said, adjusting course. "Well, the bride, anyway. The groom was a few years behind me at the Academy."
Vivian wondered if people she'd gone to school with were getting married. It must have happened to quite a few of them, and if she thought about it, her friend Pennie was married. Although, what the man's name was Vivian couldn't recall.
Actually, she wasn't entirely certain it was a man, either. Pennie had never been one for preferences.
"Counselor, has there been any reply?"
Spock's voice drew her out of her off-task thoughts, as usual, and Vivian turned to face him. He sat in that Captain's chair far less comfortably than Captain Kirk, although neither of them ever slouched. Perhaps it only seemed that he sat straighter because Spock was so much taller.
"None, sir," she said, adjusting the earpiece. "I'm still reaching out."
"Let the Captain know before the ceremony begins," Spock said. "You should have enough time to relay our latest information."
"Yes, sir," she said, turning back to the panel and switching on the intercom. "Bridge to Captain Kirk."
"Kirk here," answered the smooth voice of the Captain.
"Captain, Mr. Spock has asked me to inform you that there is still no word from Earth Outpost number two. Three has gone silent now as well."
"Maintain course to outpost four. Keep me informed. Kirk out."
Time seemed to crawl, and Vivian half-wished she'd opted to go to the wedding just for something more interesting. But then, weddings were a bit too predictable to really be interesting. Vivian had all the channels open, sending out a signal to every outpost along the line, but two and three were still utterly silent.
The uneasy silence was broken only by activity on the Bridge, namely Spock checking on some engine efficiency measures that were being handled briefly by another officer in Scotty's absence for the wedding.
That is, until a signal came through to break the monotony, when outpost four reported.
"Sir," Vivian said, quickly whipping around her chair, "I've just got word from outpost four. They say they're under attack. They don't know who, but it's a spaceship."
"All hands alert, Mr. Sulu," Spock said, standing, crossing to the sensors. Vivian moved out of his way, having an Ensign watch communications while she crossed to the Captain's chair.
"Alert!" Sulu said over the intercom. "Alert! All decks alert! Alert! Alert! Captain to the Bridge, all decks alert."
"Kirk here," said Kirk's voice, and Vivian patched Spock into the intercom.
"Earth outpost four reports they're under attack," Spock said in his clear, measured voice. "A space vessel, identity unknown."
"Full ahead," the Captain ordered. "All conditions red alert."
Vivian nodded at Spock who turned to her for a split second. Taking this as her order, she turned on the intercom again and said, "All decks, condition red. Alert! All decks, condition red."
Captain's Log, stardate 1709.2. Patrolling outposts guarding the Neutral Zone between planets Romulus and Remus, and the rest of the galaxy, received emergency call from Outpost four. The USS Enterprise is moving to investigate and assist.
When Captain Kirk stepped onto the Bridge, Vivian was standing next to Spock, trying to get Outpost Four back on communications.
"Outpost Four reported under attack," Spock said before he could be asked for a report. "Then the message terminates. I have verified the Counselor's report."
"Our speed is now at maximum, sir," Sulu said as the Captain sat down.
Stiles, the navigator said, "Position, eight minutes from Outpost Four at this velocity, sir."
"Scotty," the Captain prompted.
"I've talked to my engine room, sir," Scotty announced from the other end of the Bridge. "We'll get more speed out of her."
"Did Outpost Four give anything at all on the attacking vessel, Counselor?" Kirk asked.
Vivian shook her head, still trying to boost the signal.
"Nothing, Captain," she confirmed. "No identification."
"There can't be much doubt about who's attacking, sir," Stiles said darkly. Vivian glanced around at Stiles for a moment, but she returned her eyes back to her work.
"Mr. Spock," the Captain said, ignoring Stiles, "put this sector on our star screen." Vivian looked at the screen to see the Neutral Zone and the Federation Outposts on the screen before her, mapped out as she had seen them at the Academy. "Now show our position. Signal this to all decks, Counselor."
Vivian flipped a switch and said, "Tied in, sir."
She adjusted her earpiece as the Captain began to speak, her smooth voice confident and comforting as a Captain's voice ought to be.
"This is the Captain speaking," she announced. "In our next action, we can risk either miscalculation nor error by any man aboard. Listen carefully. Science Officer."
Spock nodded and looked up at the map as he spoke.
"Referring to the map on your screens, you will note beyond the moving position of our vessel, a line of Earth outpost stations. Constructed on asteroids, they monitor the Neutral Zone established by treaty after the Earth-Romulan conflict a century ago. As you may recall from your histories, this conflict was fought, by our standards today, with primitive atomic weapons and in primitive space vessels which allowed no quarter, no captives. Nor was there even ship-to-ship visual communication. Therefore no human, Romulan, or ally has ever seen the other. Earth believes the Romulans to be warlike, cruel, treacherous, and only the Romulans know what they think of Earth. The treaty, set by sub-space radio, established this Neutral Zone, entry into which by either side, would constitute an act of war. The treaty has been unbroken since that time. Captain."
Vivian wondered if the treaty had truly been unbroken, or if perhaps they just hadn't heard about it before.
"What you do not know," the Captain continued, "and must be told is that my command orders on this subject are precise and inviolable. No act, no provocation will be considered sufficient reason to violate the Neutral Zone. We may defend ourselves, but if necessary to avoid interspace war, both these outposts and this vessel will be considered expendable. Captain out."
Vivian gripped her hands tightly into fists and then relaxed them, not wanting to meet anyone's eye. Too many unknowns, too much never known, too much forgotten. And not to mention the fact that one hundred years was a terribly long time.
Stiles did not seem to share her concerns, however, and he almost instantly piped up, saying, "We know Outpost Four has been attacked, sir, so if we intercept Romulans now-"
"Mr. Stiles," Vivian broke in, collecting herself and turning her chair around, "we will not know they are Romulans, even if we do see them. Our designs have changed over the past century. I imagine theirs have as well, and they're not likely to announce themselves."
Stiles didn't seem troubled by this observation, and Vivian thought she recognized that he was beginning to get excitable about the whole thing. This struck her as odd, because Stiles had never shown himself to be especially excitable, even in crisis and combat situations. Her memory of his record gave no indications. Perhaps she was imagining it.
"You'll know, Counselor," he said boldly. "They're painted like a giant bird-of-prey."
Vivian exchanged a look with the Captain, who cut in, "I had no idea that history was your specialty."
"Family history," Stiles said stoically. And there it was, of course, the reason for his peculiar reaction. Archaic notions of family honor and duty could make a man do strange things, behave in uncharacteristic ways. "There was a Captain Stiles in the space service back then. Two Commanders and several junior officers. All last in that war, sir."
"Their war, Mr. Stiles," the Captain reminded him. "Not yours. Don't forget it."
"Yes, sir."
The matter didn't seem dropped to Vivian, but she saw a blip on the map and said, "We're coming in range of Outpost Two, Captain."
"Outpost Two was the first to go silent?" Kirk asked.
Spock nodded and said, "Yes, Captain, then Outpost Three an hour later. Sweeping the area of Outpost Two. Sensor reading indefinite. Double-checking Outpost Three. I read dust and debris." Vivian's heart dropped in her chest. "Both Earth Outposts gone, and the asteroids they were constructed on pulverized."
The Bridge was covered in stunned silence for a long moment before the Captain said, "Open a channel to our nearest command base. Quarter hour reports on our position and status."
"Yes, Captain," Vivian said, tying in to the command base, beginning the first ordered report.
"Call battle stations, Mr. Sulu."
"Battle stations. All hands to battle stations. Battle stations. Battle stations. All decks acknowledge." The acknowledgements began coming in. "All decks acknowledged, sir. All stations showing green."
"Energize main phasers, Mr. Stiles," Kirk said. "All weapons to full power."
"All weapons to full power," Stiles confirmed. "Phaser control room, energize. Acknowledge."
A voice familiar, one that Vivian couldn't quite place at first responded, "Phaser control acknowledging. All weapons energizing to full."
Vivian realized after a moment that it was the bridge, Angela, who had responded, and she had a brief thought that she hoped the wedding had finished.
"Outpost Four now five minutes away, sir," Stiles reported.
"And showing on my sensors, Captain," Spock said. "At least it's still there."
Vivian wondered briefly if looking on the bright side was a human trait, or if Vulcans prescribed to this concept. She was drawn out of speculations by blip of an incoming message.
"Contact reestablished with the Outpost, Captain," she said, flipping a switch. "Speaker."
"Outpost Four," a voice said. "Do you read me, Enterprise? This is Commander Hansen."
"Kirk here. We're minutes away, Hansen. What's your status?"
Hansen replied, "Outposts Two, Three, and Eight are gone. Unknown weapon. Completely destroyed, even though we were alerted. Had our deflector shield on maximum. Hit by enormous power. First attack blew our deflector shield. If they hit us again with our deflector shield gone…. Do you read me, Enterprise?"
Vivian suppressed a shudder at the thought of something so powerful, but the Captain showed no outward signs of distress, saying, "Confirm what hit you, Hansen. What vessel? Identify."
"Space vessel, only glimpse of."
"Can you locate the intruder for us?"
"Negative. It seems to have disappeared somehow. I have you on my screen now. Switching to visual."
"Tie us in," Kirk said, and Vivian's hand was shaking too much to get the button, so Spock reached out and pressed it.
"Tied in, Captain," he said, and they all turned to the viewscreen.
Vivian gasped slightly, seeing the man who must have been Commander Hansen standing in a completely wrecked room, fires around him everywhere.
"Enterprise, can you see it?" he demanded. "My command post here. We're a mile deep in an asteroid. Almost solid iron. And even through our deflectors, it did this. Can you see?"
Feeling sick to her stomach, Vivian stared at the dancing flames on the screen. Tremendous power.
"Affirmative," Kirk said. "You're visual, Hansen. What do you have on the intruder?"
"No identification," Hansen said forlornly. "No answer to our challenge. Only a glimpse of it. Then they fired something at us, some form of high-energy plasma. Fantastic power. And then the whole vessel disappeared. But it's out there somewhere. Our sensors show that much." Vivian had just enough time to exchange a look with Spock before Hansen continued urgently, "Enterprise, something coming on our viewing screen, coming at us fast."
"Lock us onto your screen," Captain Kirk said, standing.
"Switching. Can you see it, Enterprise? Can you see it? It's becoming visible in the center of my screen."
And there in the Enterprise's viewscreen was a large ship appearing from nowhere. Vivian clenched her fists so tightly that her nails began to dig into her palms.
"Do you have phaser capacity?" Kirk asked urgently. "We're still out of range."
"Negative. Phasers gone. Weapons crew dead."
Vivian whipped around, pressing a few buttons, sending out a message.
"Captain," she said, "I'm trying to warn them off. Making a challenge."
She waited a moment, but Spock shook his head confirming the silence.
"They do not acknowledge, Captain," he said, frowning slightly.
Just then, on the viewscreen, they could see the alien ship firing a big red plasma ball. The image switched back to Hansen at his post when the lock was lost, and they could see his post being hit, then a very bright light. For a brief moment, they had a lock back on the ship without plasma interference, and then the ship vanished.
"Outpost Four disintegrated, Captain," Spock said, eyes locked on his sensor screens.
"Position of the intruder," Kirk demanded as Vivian stood, smoothing her skirt.
"Disappeared," Spock said. "Interesting how they became visible for just a moment."
Just long enough.
"When they opened fire," Kirk said, nodding as Vivian moved to the center of the Bridge. "Perhaps necessary when they use their weapon."
"I have a blip on the motion sensor," Spock said. "Could be the intruder."
"Sulu," Vivian said in her Bridge voice, clasping her hands behind her back, "full mag."
"Screen is on full mag, Counselor," Sulu reported.
But nothing was there. Just the emptiness of open space. Vivian frowned.
"I don't see anything," Kirk said softly, shaking her head. "I can't understand it."
Spock faced in, standing perfectly straight, serious but not especially troubled.
"Invisibility is theoretically possible, Captain," eh said, "with selective bending of light. But the power cost is enormous."
"They may have solved that problem," Kirk said, and Vivian shook her head a little.
If they'd solved the problem entirely, they wouldn't have needed to become visible before the attack. But perhaps some things were beyond the laws of physics.
"Still nothing on the challenge, sir," Vivian said softly, realizing that her earpiece was still empty.
"Discontinue," Kirk said, and Vivian crossed to the panel again, ending the challenge. "Contact remaining outposts. Have them signal us any sightings or sensor readings in their area."
Vivian sent out the signal to the remaining nine outposts and Spock said, "Blip has changed its heading. And in a very leisurely maneuver. They may not be aware of us."
"Their invisibility screen may work both ways," Kirk reasoned. "With that kind of power consumption, they may not be able to see us."
"His heading is now one eleven mark fourteen. The exact heading a Romulan would take, Jamie, for the Neutral Zone and home."
Vivian turned her chair in swiftly and said sharply, "Parallel course, Sulu."
Stiles perked up again and said, "Don't you mean interception course, Counselor?"
"Negative," the Captain said, nodding. "Vivian has the right idea. You and Mr. Sulu will match its course and speed with the object on our sensors exactly, move for move. If he has sensors, I want him to think we're a reflection, an echo. Under no circumstances are you to cross into the Neutral Zone without my direct orders."
"Acknowledged, sir," Sulu said, setting the course.
"Cancel battle stations," Kirk ordered. "All decks, standby alert."
"Cancel battle stations."
But there was one person on the Bridge not satisfied with this course of action, and Stiles spoke up quickly.
"Captain, may I respectfully remind the Captain what has happened? The Romulans have crossed the Neutral Zone, attacked our outposts, killed our men."
"Mr. Stiles," Kirk warned.
"Add to that the fact it was a sneak attack."
"Are you questioning orders, Mr. Stiles?" Vivian asked sternly. She didn't see how a sneak attack changed anything about how they should respond in the moment.
"Negative," Stiles said. "I'm pointing out that we could have Romulan spies onboard this ship."
Considering the fact that the two sides had been out of contact for a century, Vivian thought this was a bit absurd, but Sulu chimed in, "I agree, sir. Respectfully recommend all decks maintain security alert."
"Very well," Kirk said, nodding. It wasn't an unreasonable request, but Vivian didn't like the tone Stiles's arguments were taking. "All decks, security alert."
"Security alert, sir," Sulu confirmed.
"We are intercepting their communications, Captain," Spock said suddenly. Vivian turned back to the panel and adjusted her input to her earpiece to pick up the signal.
"Pipe it in, Counselor," Captain Kirk said, but Vivian shook her head.
"It wouldn't matter, Captain," she said, putting a tape in and flipping a couple of switches. "It's heavily coded. I'm recording."
"I have a fix on it, Captain," Spock said. "I believe I can lock onto it, get a picture of their Bridge."
"Put it up," Kirk said.
For a brief second, Vivian was flooded with curiosity and excitement. The Romulans were all over their history lessons at the Academy, but no human had ever seen one, nor the inside of a Romulan vessel.
The image materialized and four humanoid bodies could be seen around a console. One moved to salute a figure with his back to the screen. The figure turned and Vivian's heart dropped again. The figure looked, with only minor differences, like a Vulcan. Pointed ears, slanted eyebrows… Spock raised his own eyebrows at the image as the whole Bridge filled with stunned silence.
"Decoding?" Captain Kirk asked.
"Tying in the recording to Cryptography, Captain," Sulu said, flipping a switch.
"Give it to Spock," Stiles said darkly.
"I didn't quite get that, Mr. Stiles," Kirk demanded.
"Nothing, sir."
Vivian, who was about a second away from writing him up as psychologically unfit for duty, said in almost a snarl, "Repeat it, Lieutenant."
Stiles turned a little to face her, his eyes flashing with what she thought might have been imagined defiance before he said, "I was suggesting that Mr. Spock could translate it for you, Counselor."
"I assume," Kirk said, "you were complimenting Mr. Spock on his ability to decode."
He hesitated before replying, "I'm not sure, sir."
At least he hadn't lost his honesty, although Vivian knew he wouldn't be fully open with this new information.
"Well, here's one thing you can be sure of, mister," Captain Kirk said firmly. "Leave any bigotry in your quarters. There's no room for it on the Bridge. Do I make myself clear?"
"You do, sir."
Sulu suddenly looked up at them and said, "Transmission appears cut off."
Vivian disengaged the recording and handed the tape to Spock, thinking how cold his hand was as their fingers brushed.
"Thank you, Counselor," he said, inputting the tap into the library computer.
He seemed so calm. If he was bothered by Stiles's thinly veiled accusations, he didn't show it. Vivian wasn't used to bigotry. The Federation was more or less free of it, and the colony where she was raised had been a fully accepting society.
"Something visual ahead, Captain," Sulu reported, and Vivian looked round at the center of the Bridge again. "At extreme range. He's changing course, sir."
"Shadow, Sulu," she said, standing again.
"Turning."
Vivian watched Stiles, who was clearly bothered by all the turns of events. Spock, of course, never seemed bothered by anything, but Vivian suspected that if he had any feelings at all, they were at least a little bit hurt. He would recover quickly, of course. He was logical, and logic didn't permit one to be insulted by someone else's small-mindedness, but Vivian couldn't help but wonder what it felt like to be him in that moment if insult.
"They're turning sir," Sulu said. "Staying with them."
"Steady on one eleven mark fourteen," Spock said, reading the sensors. "Back on their original course, Captain, toward the Neutral Zone."
"What's our position, navigator?" Kirk asked.
Stiles glanced at his readings and said, "We'll enter the Neutral Zone in less than an hour, sir. Assuming, of course, that we don't turn back."
There was an incoming intercom message on the speakers, and Scotty's voice informed them, "We now have aboard debris from Outpost Four, Captain."
Captain Kirk nodded at Vivian as she stood up, heading for the turbolift.
Vivian flipped on the intercom, taking off her earpiece and saying, "Captain acknowledges, Scotty. Bring it along to the briefing room."
She gave a quick order for senior staff to meet in the briefing room, and she and Spock followed the Captain out.
/-/
Vivian was wringing her hands under the briefing room table as Spock held up a piece of twisted metal that had been pulverized. She didn't know exactly what it was, but she knew that whatever it was, it had been part of the outpost they'd seen destroyed.
"From the outpost's protective shield," Spock announced to the senior staff. "Cast rodinium. This is the hardest substance known to our science." The room was silent and awestruck as he crushed it easily in his hand. Vivian felt slightly sick to her stomach thinking of the power required to do such a thing. "Lab theorizes," he continued as the crumbled pieces fell onto the table, "an enveloping plasma forcing an implosion."
"Comments?" Captain Kirk asked the horrified officers.
"Obviously," Spock said, "their weaponry is superior to ours, and they have a practical invisibility screen."
"You're discussing tactics," Doctor McCoy said, frowning. "Do you realize that this is what it really comes down to? Millions and millions of lives hanging on what this vessel does."
Vivian still felt queasy as she said softly, "Or what it doesn't, Bones. Time is of the essence. Tactics are more useful than pondering the enormity of the situation."
That, and the enormity made her feel small and helpless, and that couldn't help the situation, either.
"Yes, well, gentleman," Kirk said, cutting in before Bones could make an outraged response, "the question still remains. Can we engage them with a reasonable possibility of victory?"
"No question," Spock said confidently. "Their power is simple impulse."
"Meaning we can outrun them?"
Stiles, sucking in a harsh breath, jutted out his chin. He asked, "To be used in chasing them or retreat, sir?"
A moment of uneasiness fell on the rest of the staff, considering Stiles's earlier comments on the Romulans, and indeed on Spock. But the Captain was a reasonable woman, and she urged him forward, saying, "Go ahead, Mr. Stiles. I called this session for opinions."
"We have to attack immediately."
"Explain."
"They're still on our side of the Neutral Zone. There would be no doubt they broke the treaty."
It was a good point, but it really wasn't a plan, and Vivian knew it was her job to poke holes in it.
"And you do you propose to aim your phasers, Lieutenant?" she asked.
"Aim with sensors," Stiles said, not at all deterred by practicality. "Not accurate, but if we blanket them-"
"And hope for a lucky shot before they zero in on us?" Sulu finished, obviously not especially keen on the half-baked plan, either.
"And if we don't?" Stiles demanded, getting a little more heated. "Once back, they'll report that we saw their weapons and ran."
"And if they could report they destroyed us?"
"These are Romulans!" Stiles cried. He was frenzied now, jumping to his feet, and McCoy and Vivian exchanged nervous looks. "You run away from them, and you guarantee war. They'll be back. Not just one ship but with everything they've got. You know that, Mr. Science Officer. You're the expert on these people, always left out that one point. Why?" His tone was violently accusatory. "I'm very interested in why."
"Sit down, mister," Kirk barked, and Stiles complied, but he was seething.
To everyone's surprise, however, Spock said firmly, "I agree. Attack."
Vivian whipped her head around, stunned, her voice strong and full of confusion as she challenged, "On what basis, Spock? History books, social theories on a race we've never met? Hardly the basis for strategic reasoning. You know that as well as I do."
Spock nodded slightly, but Stiles said, "We know what they look like."
"Indeed we do, Mr. Stiles," Spock conceded before anyone could say something about the barely veiled bigotry. "And if Romulans are an offshoot of my Vulcan blood, and I think this likely, then attack becomes even more imperative."
Bones, disgusted, said, "War is never imperative, Mr. Spock."
"It is for them, Doctor," Spock said calmly. "Vulcan, like Earth, had its aggressive colonizing period. Savage, even by Earth standards. And if Romulans retain this martial philosophy, then weakness is something we dare not show."
As usual, McCoy was not willing to listen to carefully considered logic where it went against his sensibilities, and he snapped, "Do you want a galactic war on your conscience?"
Mostly he was speaking to Spock, but he did turn to look at the Captain as he said it, making it perfectly plain exactly whose conscience it would be on, should it come to that. Vivian dug her fingernails into her thumbs, though, because it would be on her conscience too. Unless she made a log statement saying she was explicitly against whatever act the Captain ordered them to take, as the Tactical Officer she was responsible for some measure of the decisions in that area.
And given what Spock had said, she wasn't sure she would be able to make a log contradictory to the orders after all.
"Captain to Bridge," Kirk said, pressing the intercom button.
"Bridge, Captain," a crewman named Laws answered.
"What's our position?"
"Course unchanged, sir. Estimating treaty boundary in twenty-one minutes."
"And you've continued technical report broadcasts?" Vivian asked, thinking about the communications she'd been ordered to send.
"Affirmative, Counselor."
Kirk asked, "And at this distance?"
"Approximately three hours before receiving a reply to our first message."
Vivian exchanged an uneasy look with the Captain. Three hours was far too long to make a very important, very dangerous decision.
"Thank you, Mr. Laws," Vivian said. The Captain turned off the intercom and Vivian sat a little straighter, mentally preparing herself for difficult decisions. "Course ahead, Mr. Spock?"
Spock looked at the map he'd put on screen.
"A comet," he said, "magnitude seen, dead ahead, and the intruder changing course toward it."
"Comet Icarus Four," the Captain said, nodding. "Composition?"
"Quite ordinary. An ionized mass, a trail of frozen vapor particles."
The Captain sat forward slightly.
"And when an object passes through it, even an invisible object?" she said.
Vivian felt the corners of her lips twitching upward as she answered, "A visible trail is formed."
It was brilliant, almost too easy.
"Our chance, gentlemen," Kirk said, sitting back again. "Prepare to attack. All hands, battle stations." She turned to McCoy and said apologetically, "I hope we won't need your services, Bones."
"Amen to that," Bones said darkly as the room emptied. "We're taking a big gamble, Jamie."
Vivian wiped her sweaty, clammy hands on her skirt and clenched them again before returning to the Bridge, focusing her anxieties into her hands. Maybe it would calm them to be so tight, and maybe it would calm her to purge the anxieties in that way.
Anything to clear her mind for the task ahead.
/-/
In his time among humans, Spock had learned that it is often prudent to master the art of not noticing certain behaviors. He was fairly adept at this art, practicing it frequently around Doctor McCoy. This matter with the Romulans, however, was pushing his art of not noticing to new limits. Stiles's bigotry was only the beginning, although he fully understood that not noticing Stiles's unfortunate reaction was the best thing for the situation. Spock was also actively not noticing the way that the Counselor's hands were balled into fists so tight that her knuckles had gone whiter than her already lily-white skin.
The reason he knew it was best to not notice this was less clear to his logic. He told himself that it was to protect her human pride, as he had done in all instances where he had to practice not noticing this behavior. After all, he knew that while she was frightened, she was still perfectly capable of doing her job. There was no reason for anyone else to notice.
Still, he had a small voice in the back of his mind saying that noticing the way her hands shook in times of crisis would cause an adverse emotional reaction in him. It was not logical. It was not practical. It certainly was not helpful. He did not understand it, and yet he had come more or less to terms with the fact that his illogical human request that she not be present at his court martial was caused by an overwhelming wave of emotional response to her distress.
And Spock could not afford such waves of emotional response when there was logical thinking to be done. He needed to be the master of his mind.
So he was not noticing the twitch of her thumbs.
"Battle stations?" the Captain asked.
"All stations manned, Captain," Mr. Sulu responded.
"Phaser weapons energized," Mr. Stiles reported. "Set for proximity blast."
The motion sensor blip on Spock's screen sounded again and he said, "Intruder now bearing directly for comet's tail."
Vivian said, "Use his exact entry point, Mr. Stiles."
It was fascinating how her voice changed from soft and sympathetic to commanding and unyielding depending on the role she was playing on the ship.
But Spock pushed this thought away and focused again on the sensors as Stiles responded, "Computed, Counselor. On the board."
Captain Kirk said, "The moment he begins entering the comet's tail, he becomes visible. End run, gentlemen. We'll swing around the other side and catch him at that moment."
The plan was a solid, workable tactic, and Sulu said, "Acknowledged, Captain."
"He's maintaining that bearing, Captain," Spock reported, glancing into the center of the Bridge, seeing the two women but not noticing anything. He looked back at his sensor screen.
"Let's get him, Mr. Sulu."
"We've lost sensor contact, Captain."
"Steady," Vivian said, more to herself than any member of the crew. "Phaser crews?"
"Phaser crew signal ready, Counselor," Sulu said.
"He'll only be visible for a moment," Kirk reminded them. "Stand by."
But although the vessel should have appeared, they continued to wait.
Sulu shook his head and said, "Sir, nothing in-"
"At the last moment he must have guessed our move," the Captain cut in, her voice frustrated. "Hard to starboard, Helm!"
Spock looked around to see the women both concentrating very heavily on the change in situation. Vivian turned to the Captain, usual calm face deeply troubled.
"Now?" she asked.
"He did exactly what I would have done," Captain Kirk replied slowly. "I won't underestimate him again. Now, fire blind. Lay down a pattern."
"Traverse pattern," Stiles said. "All phasers fire."
The phasers did fire, and so did the station Sulu was manning, flames bursting up.
"Phasers overload," Sulu said, jumping away from it. "Control circuit burnout."
Spock hurried across to put out the flame and fix the panel. He only briefly noticed the Counselor crossing to the sensors before he pushed it out of mind and focused on the panel.
"It'll take time to correct, sir," he said from underneath the panel, setting immediately to work.
"Captain," he heard Sulu say, "are they surrendering?"
"Full astern!" Kirk said quickly. "Emergency warp speed! Do we have emergency warp?"
"Full power," Vivian's voice said from across the Bridge, "but it's still gaining." It was presumably one of the plasma bursts. "If we could get a phaser working there's a chance a shot on target could detonate."
"Navigation?"
"Estimate it'll overtake us in two minutes," Mr. Stiles reported.
"Phasers, Mr. Spock?"
He paused long enough to look up at the Captain from underneath the panel and say, "Impossible, Captain," before returning to his repair efforts.
"Feed this to the space recorder and jettison immediately," the Captain ordered.
"Captain," Yeoman Rand asked, "should I continue log entry?"
"Yeoman, affirmative. Continue log entries."
"Yes, sir."
"Ten seconds," Vivian said in a tight voice. "No, it's…. Captain, it seems to be dissipating."
Spock was working as fast as he could in case she was wrong, but even at his very best he knew ten seconds was not enough.
"It must have a range limit," Stiles said.
"Five," Sulu counted, "four, three, two, one. Impact!"
They were tossed about slightly, and Spock managed to finish his work and didn't bother closing the panel before hurrying back to his post to check his work and relieve the Counselor to focus on tactical considerations.
"Limited range," Kirk said thoughtfully.
"Phasers operation, Captain," Spock said. "Intruder bearing one eleven mark fourteen."
"Back to his old course," she said, nodding.
"He may think we're destroyed, Captain."
The Counselor smiled tightly and said, "Always ask to see the body. I doubt the Romulans employ many leaders who make a plethora of reckless assumptions. It's not an assumption I would make."
"Intruder holding steady," Spock said. "Course one eleven mark fourteen."
"Same as before, Mr. Sulu," the Captain said firmly. "Stay with him."
/-/
The edge in the Bridge had not dissipated, and it only increased with the arrival of Doctor McCoy, who seemed to be there for no other reason that to reiterate that he didn't believe they should take aggressive action, despite the fact that it was the only logical course.
"We'll enter the Neutral Zone in one minute, Captain," Mr. Stiles said.
"Do we violate the treaty, Captain?" Doctor McCoy prompted.
Spock thought perhaps the good doctor needed a reminder.
"They did, Doctor."
"But if we cross," Vivian said thoughtfully, "they can just as easily claim we did. Even suspicious circumstances are enough for a war if you're hungry enough."
"We're still on our side, Captain," Spock said.
The Counselor was right, of course, but he wasn't sure how well she believed her own words. After all, there was a time and a place for stubbornness, as she had said herself on several occasions.
"Let's get them while we are," Kirk said decisively. "Before we enter the Neutral Zone. Full ahead, Mr. Sulu. Maximum warp."
"Ahead, sir. Maximum."
"Phasers, stand by."
"At this distance?" Stiles asked.
"We know their Achilles heel, Mr. Stiles," the Captain said. "Their weapon takes all their energy. They must become visible in order to launch it."
"A phaser strike at this distance would be the wildest stroke of luck."
"Obviously, Mr. Stiles," Vivian said almost lazily. "You weren't asked for odds. You were asked to get them on standby."
Spock saw Stiles shift uncomfortably. Then the man said, "Phasers show ready, sir." There was a very heavy pause and then he said, "Twenty seconds to Neutral Zone, sir."
"Counselor Buckingham," Kirk said, raising her hand slightly and pointing in Vivian's general direction without looking at her, "inform Command base. In my opinion, no option. On my responsibility, we are proceeding into the Neutral Zone." Spock watched as Vivian hurried to inform Command, her hands shaking wildly as she input the coded message. He turned back to his sensors as the Captain continued, "Steady as we go, Mr. Sulu. Continue firing."
"Motion sensor signal stopped," Spock said, waiting for the blip to continue, but nothing."
"Cease fire."
"Debris scatter ahead, sir," Mr. Sulu reported. "We've hit them."
Spock flicked over to a sensor that could give him input on the debris and he read out the analysis.
"Vessel wreckage," he said. "Metal molds, conduit, plastoform and a body, Captain. However."
"What, Spock?" said Vivian's voice right in his ear, glancing over his shoulder.
She startled him, but he merely blinked at his screen. How had he not noticed…? Perhaps that was the price to pay for not noticing things he needed to not notice: he didn't notice when she stood right next to him, either.
"Insufficient mass, Counselor," he told her.
"What?" Captain Kirk demanded.
"Simple debris," Spock specified. "Not a vessel, a trick."
"Go to sensor probes," she ordered.
He did so, but no change.
"Nothing, sir," he said. "No motion out there at all. We've lost them, Captain."
Tactical Officer's Log, stardate 1709.6. We are at the boarder of the Neutral Zone. Contact of all sorts with the aggressor lost. Still, we believe the Romulan vessel is still nearby. We are also playing dead, engines and nonessential systems shut down. Will they blink first?
In the darkened Bridge, the officers even held their breath longer than necessary, for fear the Romulan sensors might detect something. But work had to go on.
"Captain," Spock said softly, "I must make further repairs on the transfer coil. It's giving out again."
Captain Kirk looked uncomfortable with this news, but she nodded and said, "Alright, Mr. Spock, work quietly."
Captain's Log, supplemental. Now motionless for nine hours, forty-seven minutes.
Vivian wasn't exactly in agreement with Doctor McCoy, but she did agree to accompany him to see the Captain. There wasn't anything to do on the Bridge that Spock couldn't handle alone, anyway. They entered just as Yeoman Rand was leaving, and Captain Kirk was frowning at the wall.
"I wish I were on a long sea voyage somewhere," she said wistfully. "Not too much deck tennis, no frantic dancing, and no responsibility. Why me? I look around that Bridge, and I see the men waiting for me to make the next move. And what if I'm wrong?"
McCoy and Vivian exchanged worried glances and he said, "Captain, I-"
"She wasn't looking for an answer, Bones," Vivian said softly.
"But I've got one," he argued. "Something I seldom say to a customer, Jamie. In this galaxy, there's a mathematical probability of three million Earth-type planets. And in all the universe, three million galaxies like this. And in all of that, perhaps more, only one of each of us. Don't destroy the one named Kirk."
It was a nice sentiment, and the Captain smiled just a little, but battle was battle, and Vivian recognized this.
"Spock has almost finished his repairs, Captain," she reported. "We're expected on the Bridge."
"Yes, of course," the Captain replied, shaking herself out of reverie. "Let's go, then."
They returned to the Bridge, settling back into their positions, Vivian at the sensors, the Captain in her chair. Spock was closing the repairs, and he just was lifting himself off the ground when his hand hit a button, turning on a system by accident.
"What?" Stiles asked frantically as Vivian hurried to help up a startled Spock.
"Is alright," the Captain said firmly. "It's alright. Power on. Reverse course. He'll try to slip under us."
"Lateral power, sir," Sulu confirmed.
"Coming around, sir," Stiles said.
"Phasers fire," the Captain ordered.
"Phasers, fire."
Vivian, who had returned to the sensors with Spock said, "Wreckage in our path, scattered debris."
"Cease fire," Kirk ordered.
"Debris on our scanner," Spock said.
"Analysis, quickly."
"Same type as before, sir, except…one metal-cased object!"
"Helm hard over," Kirk shouted. "Phasers, fire point blank.
"Phasers, fire!" Stiles repeated.
A massive explosion put out the lights and jolted everyone about, Vivian being thrown hard into the railing behind her and Spock. As the ship righted itself again, Spock returned her earlier favor and helped her steady herself, asking if she felt alright. She said she was fine. In reality, she had a heavy twinge in her thigh, and her side would be bruised for certain, but if she was alive when all was said and done she could have herself checked out then. She focused on her job instead, calling down to Sickbay.
"Bridge to Sickbay," she said, putting the response over speakers.
"McCoy here."
"Casualties?" the Captain asked.
"Twenty-two so far. Mainly radiation burns, mostly from the ship's outer areas. Could have been much, much worse, Captain."
"Thank you, Doctor." The lights came up again as Vivian terminated the communication line. "Report, Mr. Spock?"
"Nuclear device of some kind, sir," Spock said. "Our phasers detonated it less than one hundred meters away."
Vivian rubbed absently at her side and said, "Damage to the ship?"
"Mainly overloads and circuit burns."
Captain Kirk clicked on her communication button and said, "Weapons status?"
Scotty's voice answered, "We've only the forward phaser room, Captain."
"Fully operational, Scotty?"
"Yes, sir. But Specialist Tomlinson is manning it alone. No standby crew available."
Stiles perked up and turned around saying, "Sir, my first assignment was in weapons control."
"Go," Kirk ordered, and he left. "Counselor Buckingham, take over navigation."
"Aye, Captain," Vivian said, trying not to limp before sitting down beside Sulu and waiting for orders.
"We have engine power now, Captain," Spock reported, "if you'd like to move off and make repairs."
"Maybe we can pull them back to our side of the Neutral Zone," Captain Kirk thought out loud. "Hold our position. Play dead."
/-/
Spock had been sent by the Captain to check in on all the phaser stations and catalogue repairs, and he decided to start with the forward phasers, knowing that as the only operational station their status was the most crucial. He entered to find Stiles and Tomlinson finishing their final checks.
"Damage reports, Mr. Stiles?" he asked.
"Negative," Stiles said coldly.
"Will you require assistance here?"
Of course, Spock was speaking generally, inquiring whether further manpower would need to be diverted from other stations, but he should have suspected that Mr. Stiles would mistake his meaning.
"This time we'll handle things without your help, Vulcan," Stiles said sharply.
If time had not been of the essence, Spock might have raised his eyebrows, but he let it suffice to note Tomlinson's discomfort with the statement before he left them to check on the next phaser station. He was partway down the corridor, however, when Counselor Buckingham's voice came over the ship's intercom.
"Standby forward phasers. Fire! Fire!" Spock frowned as he walked. She seemed distressed. "Stiles, fire, I said. Fire!"
Then, to compound the situation, the Captain's voice came over the intercom as well, and Spock froze in his tracks.
"Fire!" she said. "Stiles, can you hear me? Fire!" Spock quickly rushed back to the forward phaser station, realizing that something must be terribly wrong after all. "Fire!"
The room, when he arrived, was full of thick purple smoke, and Spock could just see Stiles, sinking to the floor through it.
"Stiles, can you hear me?" the Captain repeated. "Fire! Stiles!"
With a weak arm, Mr. Stiles admirably attempted to reach the button to discharge the weapon, but failed and collapsed. Spock quickly crossed the room and pressed it before lifting Mr. Stiles and dragging him into the corridor.
/-/
With great relief, Vivian watched the phaser beam hit the Romulan vessel, and she realized her hands were vibrating against the control panel, bathed in sweat.
"Mr. Sulu," Captain Kirk said, "prepare to move in on the Romulan Vessel. Ship-to-ship, Vivian. Put this on screen."
Vivian took a deep breath as she flipped the switch.
"On screen, sir," she said, "frequencies open."
They could see the same Bridge as before on their viewscreen, but it was now reduced to a single man, their Commander, standing in a wrecked room.
"Captain," Kirk said with respect in her voice. "Standing by to beam your survivors aboard our ship. Prepare to abandon your vessel."
"No," the Commander replied to their surprise. "No, that is not our way. I regret that we meet in this way. You and I are of a kind." He gave a weak smile. "In a different reality, I could have called you a friend."
Captain Kirk sat forward, disturbed.
"What purpose will it serve to die?" she demanded.
He shook his head and said, "We are creatures of duty, Captain. I have lived my life by it. Just one more duty to perform."
Vivian felt numb horror as she watched the Romulan vessel exploding on the screen before her, the formidable vessel that had given them chase and pulverized several Federation outposts….
Just some space debris now.
/-/
Almost as soon as they had word that Spock and Mr. Stiles were in Sickbay, Vivian and Kirk went to check on them, as well as other casualties of the battle. Vivian saw Spock lying in the bed and wondered why he still was, as he obviously looked more or less well. She suspected Bones was taking advantage of a chance to put Spock on bedrest for the moment.
"Are you alright, Mr. Spock?" the Captain asked.
"Yes, very well, thank you, Captain," he said, serene and unfazed by his location as always.
"And you, Stiles?"
"I'm alive, sir," Stiles said, obviously upset more than anything else. "But I wouldn't be. Mr. Spock pulled me out of the phaser room. He saved my life. He risked his life after I-"
"I saved a trained navigator so he could return to duty," Spock cut in, obviously adverse to being labeled as some sort of hero. "I am capable of no other feelings in such matters."
Vivian could see that this was still unsettling to Mr. Stiles, and she started mentally rearranging some of her Sickbay calendar so she could fit in some sessions for Stiles. She turned around and said, "Bones." He looked up from his charts. "How many dead?"
"Only one," he said gravely. "Tomlinson. The boy who was getting married this morning. His fiancée is at the chapel."
Vivian felt a wave of depression hit her at the injustice of it, and Captain Kirk turned to leave, obviously to go to the chapel to talk to the unlucky Angie. Vivian was going to have to clear more of her schedule than she'd anticipated.
Yeoman Rand entered just as the Captain was about to leave, though, and she said, "We finally received an answer from Command base, sir. They say they'll support whatever decision you have to make."
The Captain looked around at them all before turning to the door again and heading out at a slightly quicker-than-average way. The quietness of destruction fell on them and Vivian felt distant, her mind replaying that exploding Romulan ship.
What sort of people could have such values, such priorities of duty? How could they ever maintain a peace with such a mindset?
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Vulcanlover12, whose continued reviews and support have been a huge boon to the pacing of this story and my own feeling of inspiration. I'm very excited for the next chapter, and I hope y'all will enjoy it!
-C