Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek. Freedom Child is a song by the Script. (Greatest band in history, I'm not even joking. They're amazing.) Warning for mentions of a massacre, genocide, famine and other related topics.
Chapter Nine Cerberus: The Guardian of HellTarsus Four, Stardate 2246.241
"Don't let them take,
take your freedom, Chiilldd," Rose sung the twenty-first century song softly as she rocked Sharai in her stick-thin arms. It had been exactly nine days since the massacre.
In that nine days, Rose had gathered seventeen survivors of Kodos' 'cleansing' or whatever he was calling it, Abbie, a four-year-old human with diabetes and her neighbour Thera, a twelve-year-old Andorian/Human hybrid had both died, Tom, Sharai and her sweet young cousin Ciara had both gotten deathly sick and Kodos had executed thirteen people who'd refused to accept his 'Lists'.
Rose, at fourteen-years-old, had taken over the position of leader despite Andrea and Alice being three and four years older than her. Rose was only one of the teens who hadn't gotten completely hysterical after all. She could only thank the Four Deities that her Granddad Jim had insisted on teaching Sam and her all about wilderness survival and battlefield medicine, they'd've been doomed otherwise.
"Lin?" A small voice interrupted her thoughts and she quickly looked up. 'Lin' was what everyone was calling her. She'd decided that everyone would to use nicknames to prevent their group being given up if Kodos caught anyone.
"What is it Riley?" She asked softly, shifting Sharai, (a.k.a Rey).
Kevin Riley, six-years-old and condemned to die because his father wore glasses and had an allergy to Retinax, looked solemnly at her. "Andy says Cara's gotten worse," he reported. "You've gotta come quick."
Rose quickly passed four-year-old Rey to ten-year-old Megan 'Maggie' and rushed as fast as she could to the corner of the cave where Andrea kept watch on the invalids.
Ciara, her baby cousin, who'd always been so sweet, happy and, most of all, healthy, was pale but for her flushed cheeks, and coughing violently. When her fit stopped, Rose was sick to see the blood on her cousin's white lips from the coughing.
Andrea met her eyes, grief and resignation in her gaze as Rose's heart broke and she fell to her knees beside Ciara.
Stardate 2259.33
Rose was pale as she entered the briefing room with Dr. M'Benga in tow, but any evidence of her crying fit had, thankfully, been erased.
"Captain," Spock greeted her calmly but Rose sensed a thread of concern for both her and the missing CMO coming from him. "Where is Dr. McCoy?"
Rose sighed as she answered. Everybody dropped into their chairs as she sat. "Dr. McCoy is emotionally compromised by the current mission," she reported. "I decided to relieve him of duty until it's over. For the duration of the mission, Dr. M'Benga is Acting Chief Medical Officer."
Spock bowed his head in acceptance while the others exchanged worried looks and Rose continued on grimly.
"We are on route to the colony planet of Cerberus," she explained briskly, ignoring the anxiety coming from her officers. "They reported food problems and terrorist activity before suddenly going silent. The USS Defiant was sent to investigate and Starfleet lost contact with them right after they arrived. That was two weeks ago. We're being sent to investigate and, in the event of hostilities on planet, to restore order. Any questions?"
When most of them shook their heads their heads, Rose dismissed them to prepare for the mission. Spock stayed behind, concern leaking through the Vulcan's shields.
"What's wrong, Spock?" Rose asked, trying to suppress her exhaustion. He looked at her silently for a moment before speaking.
"I believe that I feel concerned for Dr. McCoy's daughter, and the doctor himself. I am correct when I say that Cerberus is the planet on which Joanna McCoy is currently residing?"
Rose nodded, giving in and burying her head in her hands. "Yes," she moaned miserably, her Captain's mask collapsing to show her terror and grief. "Yes, Jo's there. Oh God, she's there."
Spock's hesitance was obvious as he reached out to try and comfort her. He patted her back carefully as she cried into her hands. The room was silent but for her anguished sobs for several minutes until she forced herself under control. Her face was tearstained when she finally finished.
"Alright," she croaked out after she'd gotten herself back under control. She pulled out a compact make-up kit from her belt-pouch and started hiding the evidence of her breakdown. When she was done, she put it away and turned to look seriously at her quiet XO.
"Spock," she said to him seriously. "If, at any time during this mission, you feel that my judgement is compromising my decisions, I want you to relieve me of command and take over. Understood?"
Surprise flickered briefly in his eyes before he bowed his head in acknowledgement.
Rose gave a weak half-smile, "Dismissed," she murmured. "I'll be out once I've fixed my hair." He nodded and left, Rose's shoulders slumped immediately. She knew that she should have told him about Tarsus, told him just how compromising this mission was for her, but she couldn't bring herself to speak of it. And, if Rosalie was any indication of her future, she still wouldn't be able to in several decades from now. She buried her face back in her hands and sighed to keep from screaming.
"Still no answer, ma'am," Palmer announced tensely. Rose pursed her lips.
"Well," she sighed. "Three failures to respond, I think we can assume that we won't be getting one." She rested her chin on her palm in thought as the others nodded. "Alright," she slapped the arm of her chair and stood.
"Bridge to Security," she commed Giotto and he answered immediately. A brief feeling of pride at her crew sparked in her chest before she went to work. "Chief, I want three full security squads ready to go in ten," she ordered.
"Yes ma'am," he replied crisply. "Security out."
She turned to Spock. "You're coming too," she ordered bluntly. "Call for a replacement Science Officer and head to the transporter room when you're ready. Palmer," she turned her attention do the Chief Communications Officer. "You have the conn," she decided.
Palmer looked surprised. "Are you sure ma'am?" She asked warily. "I-"
"I trust you," Rose assured her. "Have M'Ress take over your station."
Palmer straightened, her eyes brightening. "Thank you, ma'am," she said earnestly. "I won't let you down, I swear." Rose nodded and smiled at her. This wouldn't be Palmer's first time holding the conn, but it would be when there was a crisis and both of the commanding officers off-ship.
"I'll do a quick log and see the landing party in the transporter room," she murmured to Spock as they entered the turbolift. He nodded solemnly in acknowledgement.
Captain's log: Stardate 2259.33
We are currently in orbit around the colony planet of Cerberus II. It has been out of contact for a week now, after reporting food shortages and terrorist activity. The USS Defiant, captained by Ryan Barstow, was sent to investigate but is now also out of contact.
Since our arrival an hour ago, no one has responded to our hailing frequencies. (Deep inhale and exhale). I am taking a landing party, consisting of myself, Commander Spock and three security squads. I am, concerned, that the event that occurred when I was a teenager, will affect my judgement. Seal this log. Captain's code, Kirk, Rosalind O. Code Hash-Sixty-Delta-Nine-Three.
They appeared on the edge of the main town, less than a mile from Jo's school. The place was disconcertingly empty when they materialized. The redshirts that beamed down with them quickly formed a perimeter around Rose and Spock as the second and third groups appeared and joined them.
"Why's it so empty?" Rose muttered rhetorically. "Nobody around, nothing around." She strode through the barrier the redshirts had made, ignoring the protests of her companions as she walked to the streetlamp, ripping the flyer from it.
"Damn it," she swore as she scanned the sheet. (Paper, of all the things. Rose loved real books but this was a waste of the stuff.)
"What does it say, Captain?" Spock asked, stepping nearer to her. She continued studied it in search of any hidden clues.
"It says," she gritted out. "That a new government is in place. It claims that anyone who protests will be charged with treason. There's a list of people who are ordered to hand themselves over by midnight yesterday or they and their families will be 'escorted' to prison. Basically, there was a coup and anyone who had any real claim to authority was either taken hostage themselves or their families were. Damn it!"
She hit the lamp with the side of her clenched fist. Her officers sent her shocked looks and she felt more frustration surge at the realization that she'd just lost control of her emotions in public for the first in years. Spock studied her warily but other than concern for her, she didn't sense any worry over her judgement yet. Hopefully it would stay that way.
"Alright," she inhaled. "How many do we have? Twenty-two, counting Spock and I. Okay, so I want us to split up into teams of five with two teams of six. Spock will go with one team to search the school, I'll take another to the town hall. Hendorff, you and your group will set up a command here. Everyone else, search the town. I want to know where everyone is and what the hell happened. Got it?"
Everyone nodded and Giotto swiftly divided everyone into teams. He, and the Lts. Compton, Dickerson, Evans and Fields, were with her. They were all good, experienced men. And Spock had Kelly, Freeman, Galloway, Jackson and Garrovick with him. He would be safe.
"Alright," Rose sighed after the teams had been sorted. "Let's go." She turned and began making her way in the direction of the town hall, the guards making a loose circle around her. It got steadily more disconcerting, seeing no one when the place seemed as if it should be buzzing. The town hall itself seemed to be boarded up from the inside.
It was the biggest building in the colony, capable of holding four thousand people comfortably, probably at least another five hundred if they squashed themselves in. The town itself, the capital of Cerberus, held about seven thousand beings.
She felt an oppressing sense of grief, fear and anger pressing at her shields and it worsened her stress. This mission was from her nightmares, definitely.
"Captain!" Freeman, who was scanning for lifeforms, abruptly exclaimed. "There's a huge group of lifeforms just ahead. In the town hall, I'd guess."
Rose frowned in suspicion. "The town hall? How many do you know?"
"Around there anyway," Freeman nodded. "And no. Sorry, ma'am, they're too densely packed together to tell the amount."
She sighed but nodded in acceptance. "Alright then," she marched up to the building, into the full view of the surrounding windows. She felt a small bit of amusement at the resignation coming from her security at her dangerous actions before holding a handheld voice amplifier to her lips.
"This is Captain Rosalind Kirk of Starfleet. I demand to speak to whomever is in charge, under the authority of the United Federation of Planets!" Her voice boomed loudly through the square.
Almost straight away, her comm buzzed, alerting her to a call from an unknown responder.
"This is Captain Ryan Barstow of the USS Defiant. Confirm you are Captain Kirk," the voice was rough but Rose could hear the desperation hidden under the man's carefully controlled demand.
"Captain Barstow," Rose greeted. She paused for a moment before offering her evidence. "Six-Hash-Cee." It was a code provided to Starfleet captains. It allowed access to captains' logs from the year 2239, the year of Barstow's elevation to captain according to the file Rose had been given. It would serve as proof of her identity for now.
Sure enough, he sighed in relief. "Thank God," he said. "Apologies for that, Kirk. I-"
"Had to be sure," she cut him off. "Don't worry, Barstow. I get it. You and your crew?"
"We're sealed in the hall, like you suspect I'm sure," he answered. "Fuckers shot out the Defiant's left nacelle. She went down. Only about forty escaped via the transmat. Me and about ten others were planetside already by then. We're shut up in here with most of the town and no long-ranged comms."
"Can you let us in?" She asked. "And do I need to get medics down here?"
"Yes, and yes," he replied, voice grim. "I gotta say, you're just in time. We were on the verge of running out of hope completely."
"I'm sure," Rose murmured, glancing over the desolate town. "Chief Giotto, contact the ship. Get some medics down, yesterday."
It took over an hour before Rose finally got to sit down in what had once been the governor's office with Captain Barstow. The man was the sickly thin that came from losing a great deal of weight rapidly. He was eating a replicated bowl of vegetable soup with a slice of bread and Rose recognized the way he was unconsciously guarding it. He hadn't eaten in days at least.
"So what happened?" Rose prodded gently. "You don't have to stop eating, just tell me what happened."
Barstow nodded, swallowing his latest mouthful before speaking. "So we arrived here, oh about two weeks ago? Things went to hell pretty quickly. They didn't respond to our hails so I took a group down. Landed smack in the middle of an attack in the middle of a firefight. Lost five men." A dark look crossed his face and Rose simply bowed her head.
She knew from experience that 'I'm sorry's and 'It wasn't your fault's only made you feel worse.
"Well everything was a mess but the basics of the situation is that the government was overthrown. A storm damaged their supplies and communications, it was a peaceful planet so they only had the standard Starfleet detachment. The pirates were able to take control fairly quick. And they shot out my ship's nacelles.
We were completely unprepared. It's taken the whole two weeks to gather all these survivors and we ran out of supplies four days ago. Our best chance was to hunker down and wait for Starfleet to send more reinforcements." There was a hint of defensiveness in his voice and expression as he spoke.
Rose nodded slowly, lost in thought. "These pirates," she began after a minute of silence. "What do you know about them?"
Barstow scowled bitterly. "Bastards," he cursed. "They're a group of multi-species pirates that got hold of a ship with warp six capabilities and heavy arms. They took advantage of the storm damage to make a coup. Killed off most of the local governance and took a bunch of hostages. They've set themselves up in the school with some of the children and a teacher who got trapped. I couldn't do anything to help them."
The guilt on his face was obvious and it seemed as thick as if he were intentionally projecting it, but Rose was too busy trying to make her start her heart beating again. 'Spock and Jo' she thought immediately, terror rising as she struggled to suppress her memories of Tarsus.
"The school, you're sure?" She was amazed at how steady her voice was as she questioned him. He nodded, an anguished look in his eyes.
Rose quickly picked up her comm and tried to contact Spock. She closed her own eyes in resignation when he didn't reply. Then she abruptly stood and hurried to open the door. Giotto was standing just outside, waiting for her.
"Prep for a firefight," Rose barked. "They have hostages in the school. We're taking it back."
Spock acknowledged that he was displeased with the situation. It was illogical to deny the facts and currently the fact was he was annoyed. He was also (he suspected at least) surprised that he had managed to correctly identify his upset without Rose's guidance. He hoped that Rose would realize the situation and save him and the remaining security officers. Finally, he regretted and grieved for the deaths of Garrovick and Kelly.
Having finished sorting through his emotional state, Spock opened his eyes to study the room. It contained himself (in handcuffs), a shocked Galloway and five young children. Spock looked back at one of the girls. She was brunette, with bright blue eyes tinted red from tears. She was also, he recognized from the photo on Dr. McCoy's desk, Joanna McCoy.
"Joanna," he called softly so as not to attract attention. She jerked her chin up, staring at him in what humans called 'wide-eyed surprise'. "I know your father," he explained. "Are you well?"
She sniffled and scrambled over to his side leaning against him. "Yeah. Will Daddy be here soon?"
"You will see him soon," Spock swore. "I, and Captain Kirk, will ensure it."
2259.34
Rose had agreed, reluctantly, that full on attacking the school and ripping the pirates apart was a bad idea. But Giotto's idea, though simple, was a good one. That was why, the next day, Rose, three of her security squads, Bastow and all of his remaining security personnel beamed straight into the centre of the school.
They materialized right in the middle of the pirate captain, attempting, to intimidate Spock into talking. The sight of a blaster pointing at her Vulcan infuriated Rose and she attacked without a waiting a beat. The Defiant's crew were barely a half-a-second behind her.
Truthfully, it all felt a bit anti-climatic to the captain. The pirates had won by numbers and the fact that the locals had been starving and surprised. It only took about two hours to fully secure the school. The hostages were found traumatized but alive in various classrooms.
Rose promptly fell to her knees and wrapped Jo in a tight hug as the sobbing girl launched herself into her arms.
"Auntie Rose!" The child sobbed as Rose stroked her hair and sent her waves of safety and love. "I was so scared! Is Daddy here?"
"I know, Baby," Rose cooed. "It's okay now, I promise. You're safe. And yes, Daddy's just on the ship. I'll get Spock to take you to him, now."
"Why can't you take me?" Jo begged, face crumpling again. Rose smoothed the girl's hair and sighed.
"I wish I could, honey," she said regretfully. "But I've gotta organize all of this. I'm sorry sweetheart. Spock's safe, I pinky swear."
She handed the traumatized child over to her Vulcan imzadi and waved gently as they disappeared in the transporter beam. Then her smile disappeared and she grimly contemplated her new knowledge.
Spock and Bones were her imzadis. The Four Deities help her.
AN: I'm sorry, I struggled so much with this chapter and rewrote it several times. This is the best I can do. I promise the next ones will make up for it. Next up, the aftermath of Cerberus and Rose's realization!