James T Kirk: The Next Generation

Born Defiant

The mood inside of Kira's office had turned serious. The announcement of a communication signal coming directly from the Koralis system had ratcheted up the tension. To be on the safe side, James Kirk had stepped out the office, not wanting to be seen by who ever had sent the signal.

Kira, knowing how restless Kirk was, had suggested that Nog let Kirk accompanying him down to the lower docking platform where the Defiant was due to dock at any moment. Nog, ever so excited to be around the legendary James Kirk, was more than happy to oblige.

"Jim," Sisko said, as he came out of the office for a moment as well. "I think you'll find the Defiant a most interesting." Then Sisko directed his gaze at Nog. "I'm sure Commander Riker will have no problem giving our esteemed guest a VIP tour."

"Ben," Kira said, "Tom has a poster of Jim Kirk in his quarters."

"That's right," Ben said to Kira. "He removed my poster of Duke Ellington."

"Well, anyway," Sisko said with a slight tone of humor in his voice, "you will get a kick out of the Defiant."

"Ben, that isn't really necessary," Kirk said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "A ship is a ship."

"Actually, you will be returning the favor," Sisko came back with. "Years ago I had the chance to visit your time. It was before your accident as I recall now, huh." Sisko added with a flare of realization. "Anyways, walking the decks of your Enterprise, the original NCC-1701, was like a dream come true. The Defiant is my pride and joy, in fact, I helped design it, so, I would really like to hear your opinion of it."

Kirk could tell that pride was coming through Sisko's voice, but he could also see the concern in Sisko over his daughter's situation. Kirk decided to play along for Sisko's benefit.

"Alright," Kirk agreed. "But once the communication is over between you and K'alaf, I want to be briefed."

"You can count on it," Sisko said with a quick nod of his head.

And with that, Kirk followed Nog to the Turbo-life.

-

As Kirk strolled through the Promenade with the Ferengi officer, taking in the sights and sounds along the way, he couldn't help, again, but marvel at the diverse forms of life that was on display. Kirk had seen his fare share of aliens, but not nearly as a varied collection that Deep Space Nine had. It was no doubt due to the proximity of the wormhole, which Myran had told him about.

"Commander Nog," Captain Kirk said, finally breaking the silence between the two, "I assume you have been to the other side of the wormhole?"

"Oh yes sir," Nog said with barely contained excitement in his voice, "in fact, Captain Sisko and his son Jake, along with my uncle Quark and I, had one of the earliest encounters with the Jem-Hedar. I can look back at it now and laugh, but back then, when it happened, and we were stranded in the Gamma-Quadrant, I didn't think we were going to make it. But Captain Sisko got us through it all."

"Jem-Hedar?" Kirk asked. He remembered the alien race from one of Myrans stories of the past, but whom and what they were eluded him.

"Oh, excuse me Captain Kirk." Nog said to Jim Kirk, "I keep forgetting that you come from another time. The Jem-Hedar were warriors of the Dominion, not unlike the Klingons on our side of the Galaxy."

Kirk wasn't really interested in the politics of the 24th century; he was more interested in the wonders of it.

"What is it like; traveling through the wormhole?" Kirk asked.

Nog realized what time it was, and angled their walk toward one of the large windows that had a perfect view of the wormhole.

"Have you seen it open up yet?" Quark asked Kirk.

"No; I haven't." Kirk replied.

"The Defiant will becoming through any moment," Nog said as they arrived at the window. "When I was much younger, Jake and I would come here and just watch the wormhole flare open. It is a sight that I never tire of seeing."

And then, almost as if on cue, the wormhole came to life in a massive wave of light particles and swirling streams of cloud like constructs.

"Oh my," Jim Kirk said with a widening grin. "What an incredible sight," Kirk said to Nog. "I could see the allure of watching that all day long as a child, even as an adult. And you say that the Defiant is coming out of that?"

"If you look toward the lower region you might see her," Nog explained, pointing as he did.

Then just as fast as it had opened, the wormhole closed in upon itself; and it was gone. And sure enough, just as Nog had said, an object could be seen getting larger as it got closer to the space station. Nog knew which platform the Defiant was heading for, and knew the Defiant would fly by the very window he and Kirk were standing by.

"Watch this," Nog said to Kirk. "The Defiant will cut right across this window, and then dive below to the docking ring. Commander Riker likes to show off the Defiant, and his piloting skills, and thankfully for us, he never tires of it."

Kirk marveled at the small compact ship as it came ever so close to the viewing platform and, just as Nog had said it would, dived down and out of sight. Kirk was indeed amazed at the interesting configuration of the smaller but obviously more agile starship.

"How fast can she go?" Kirk asked, as he followed Nog as the Ferengi officer made his way to the docking platform.

"With the new engines," Nog replied, "I think Commander Riker says he was able to push her to Warp 9 point five. Captain, did you ever…"

Kirk cut the young man off.

"Please, Commander Nog, my rank has been lowered to that of Commander, just as you are. You don't need to keep calling me captain."

"I'm sorry sir," Nog said, sheepishly. "I will try but I can't promise you I will remember."

Kirk shook his head, not understanding the hero adulation.

The two made their way through the crowded lower deck. As they did, Doctor Bashir and Ezri Dax watched them from the nearby Klingon restaurant.

"Have you had a chance to meet him yet?" Ezri asked.

"Have you forgotten?" Bashir asked with a smile, "I already have."

"Oh yes," Ezri said, "you and Miles were part of that scuffle on K-7. You were lectured to by Captain Kirk," Ezri said with a broad smile. "I wonder if he'd remember. To you, that happened over a decade or so ago. For him it was just three years ago."

"Him; remember me?" Bashir repeated her words. "I highly doubt it. Besides, as you just said, I'm over ten years older now."

"Julian," Ezri said, turning to a more serious subject. "You do still think that our transferring to our new Earth assignments is the right thing to do?"

"You're starting to sound like Quark," Bashir said, with a dismissive tone in his voice. "It's time for us to move on Ezri. And, think of it this way, we'll get to see more of Miles and Keiko."

"Oh great," Ezri said in mock anger, "I can't wait to see what famous battle gets reconstructed in our new apartment."

"Oh, we'll keep is small," Bashir said. "I was thinking of making it D-Day."

"D-Day; what is D-Day?" Ezri asked, realizing her question would lead to just one in a hundred long explanations of what it was.

-
Commander Nog and Commander Kirk arrived at the docking platform. The circular doors opened up and several Starfleet crew members made their way aboard, many of them with awkward looks on their faces as they slowly realized who was standing with Nog. And then, finally, Commander Riker emerged from the Defiant, accompanied by his rather large first officer, who hailed from Chalnoth. His name was Bakooth.

Commander Riker, seeing Kirk, slowly extended his hand in friendship.

"James…T…Kirk?" Riker said, as if in a trance.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too," Kirk said with a warm smile, "I've heard a lot about this ship of yours, and you. In case you're wondering, I too am the result of a Transporter accident not unlike yours."

"You're here due to duplication?" Riker asked.

"Yes," Nog replied for Kirk. "But the second signal didn't materialize until our time."

"Amazing," Riker said. "Well, Captain Kirk, I have to say that…"

"Actually," Kirk said, with a slight annoyed look on his face, "its Commander Kirk."

Riker immediately concluded the reason behind the demotion in rank.

"I guess Admiral Janeway realizes you're here as well," Riker concluded. "I would have expected as much, but then again, that's why she's calling the shots and not me."

"Actually, Captain Sisko is going to…" Nog began to say.

"Captain Sisko?" Riker asked, not yet knowing the events that had brought Sisko back into active duty.

A brief recap was given to Riker by both Kirk and Nog, as the three commanders and Bakooth made their way onto the Defiant.

"Is Rebecca alright?" Riker asked, after being filled in.

"I would think so," Kirk told Riker. "They would have killed her by now. From what I can tell, it all has something to do with the son of a Klingon out for the revenge over the execution of his father."

"Captain Kirk," Riker said, ignoring the demotion, "I want you to meet my first officer. He's probably about as opposite to your First Officer as someone could be, but he's a trusted friend, and great for clearing the way on crowded streets. His name is Bakooth."

Kirk looked up at the eight foot tall alien and smiled.

"Good to meet you," Kirk said.

"Kirk…!" Bakooth, who was from the planet Chalnoth, said in a low voice, and with a slight growl. "I…know legend!"

"Legend?" Kirk asked.

"Captain," Riker explained, "I've told him about many of your exploits. I know this may sound strange, but I first started reading about your adventures way back when I was in elementary school."

"I read them in middle school," Nog added. "And as I recall, Jake had one of those old scratch-and-sniff holoprograms. Did you really do battle the Planet Killer?"

"I still don't understand it," Kirk said to them both. "I'm nothing more than a man. And yet the people of this time seem to hold me up on some kind of," Kirk searched his mind for the right word, "Pedestal."

"I'm sorry, you're right." Riker told Kirk. "For my part; I'll try not to let it happen again." Riker went on to say, "Bakooth, why don't you go ahead and go to Quarks and I'll meet you there in about an hour or so. And tell Quark that I expect the holosuite I reserved to be ready when I get there."

Without a response, Bakooth turned and walked in the opposite direction, towards the boarding ramps that led to DS9's promenade.

-

Later, as they made their way on to the Defiant, Nog noticed how much Riker and Kirk shared the same passions when it came to ships and how they were constructed, and what different classes of ships could do, in terms of battle and maneuverability. Nog was also appreciative of the fact that they would even let him in on the various conversations about power consumptions. They were both genuinely impressed with Nog's contributions to the conversation, and that made Nog feel appreciative.

They were soon in the special section that housed the cloaking device.

"Tom, this is incredible technology." Kirk said, as he eyed the complex looking device which was situated inside a web of control panels. "Scotty would love to get a look at this. But didn't I hear you say that the Federation is banned from using cloaking devices?"

"Yes Captain, I mean commander," Nog said. "We are banned by treaty not to use cloaking devices on Starships, the Defiant is the lone exclusion."

"And I might add," Riker said, "this is the latest version; thanks to a favor owed to Captain Sisko. We had it installed at a Romulan Starbase in the Gamma-Quadrant."

"Are the Romulans allies of the Federation?" Kirk asked.

"Unfortunately not," Riker replied. "But after the Dominion War was over, both militaries began to have joint exercises so as to lower the risk of incidents. The strange thing, over there," Riker said, referring to the Gamma-Quadrant, "there is far more cooperation. If I was a betting man, and I am, I'd give good odds that we become allies with them in the next twenty-years."

"I, of course, find that very hard to believe." Kirk said. "But, then again, the Klingons are our allies now, so I guess anything in possible."

"As Ambassador Spock has always said," Riker reminded Kirk, "there are always possibilities."

"Spock," Kirk said soflty, "if I understand what I was told by Ben," Kirk came back with, "Spock is on Romulas now."

"At last reports," Riker said. "Though, if I recall, last year he showed up on Vulcan for his son's wedding."

"Spock has a child?" Kirk asked, totally dumbfounded at the thought.

"No one told you?" Riker asked with a wide grin. "If I recall, you knew the boy's mom as well. She…"

-

Finally the tour ended up on the Bridge of the Defiant. Kirk, Riker and Nog made their way toward the center seat.

"Go ahead Jim" Riker said to Kirk, as he motioned toward the command chair. "Try her out."

Kirk smiled, but declined.

"Thank you, Tom" Kirk said, "but it just wouldn't seem right, at least not right now."

"You know," Riker said to Kirk, "they have an old Constitution-class starship back on Earth. A friend of mine runs the exhibit. If you ever get back there," then Riker stopped himself. "I don't think you'll need anyone to pull strings for you Jim. If you ever do get back to Earth," Riker thought with a smile, "you're going to get parades everyday in your honor."

"I hope not," Kirk said with a laugh.

At that moment they were joined by Captain Ben Sisko, Captain Kira Nerys, Chancellor Martok and Captain Worf.

"How did it go?" Kirk asked them all.

The looks on their faced betrayed their moods; the conservation with K'alaf, Rebecca's captor, had not gone well.

-continued…

Next time; Rescue 911!