Chapter 11: Change of Command

The security team frog-marched Kirk, Scotty, and Erica onto the bridge, where they found Spock struggling to keep his anger under control. Erica scuttled closer to Scotty, doing her level best to be very, very inconspicuous.

Spock started interrogating Scotty. "Who are you?"

Scotty gulped, and Erica squeezed his hand. "I'm with them."

Kirk nodded. "He's with me."

Spock's glare only intensified. "We are traveling at warp speed. How did you manage to beam aboard this ship?"

Rather than give Spock a straight answer, Kirk pulled something very reckless and very Kirk. "You're the genius, you figure it out." Erica's jaw dropped. Kirk was definitely cruising for a bruising.

Spock glared some more. "As acting captain of this vessel I order you to answer the question."

Kirk just smirked, oozing insolence. "Well, I'm not telling, Acting Captain." He paused. "What, did-? What, now? That doesn't frustrate you, does it? My lack of cooperation, that-that doesn't make you angry?"

Erica could practically see the anger simmering in Spock as he turned to her. "Miss Reed. Your career is already in jeopardy. Answer my question."

Kirk turned his head, all seriousness. "Don't answer him, Velma."

Scotty and Erica answered at the same time. "Don't call me/her Velma."

Seeing that he would get nowhere with Erica, Spock turned to Scotty, whose eyes widened. "Are you a member of Starfleet?"

Scotty shifted uncomfortably. "I… Uhm… yes. Can I get a towel, please?" Erica stuffed a fist in her mouth at Scotty's irreverence. She found it kind of adorable and refreshing all at the same time.

If looks could kill, Scotty would be nothing but a grease spot on the deck sole, Spock's glare was that intense. "Under penalty of court martial I order you to explain to me how you were able to beam aboard this ship while moving at warp."

"Well-"

Kirk cut in. "Don't answer him."

Spock's voice hardened. "You will answer me."

Scotty gulped. "I'd rather not take sides."

Kirk interrupted, this time with a strangely contentious tone of voice. "What is it with you, Spock? Your planet was just destroyed, your mother murdered, and you're not even upset.

Spock clenched his jaw. "If you are presuming that these experiences in any way impede my ability to command this ship, you are mistaken."

Kirk cocked his head. In many ways, Erica realized, this was one area where he was really at home: the verbal sparring match, proving and disproving points. "And yet you were the one who said fear was necessary for command. I mean- Did you see what he did?"

Spock breathed out through his nose in an effort to control himself. "Yes, of course I did."

"So are you afraid or aren't you?"

"I will not allow you to lecture me about the merits of emotion."

Kirk's voice became accusatory, now. "Then why don't you stop me?"

Erica scooted to stand behind Scotty, peeking over his shoulder. The tension radiating off Spock was thick enough to cut with a knife. His fists were clenched. "Step away from me, Mr. Kirk."

"What is it like not to feel anger or heartbreak? Or the need to stop at nothing to avenge the death of the woman who gave birth to you?" With every word, Kirk was digging his grave ever deeper.

Spock was on the proverbial ropes now. "Back away from me!"

Kirk knew he had him. So he kept going. "You feel nothing! It must not even compute for you. You never loved her."

Kirk had crossed a sacred line. He'd mentioned Spock's mother. Therefore, Erica wasn't surprised when Spock proceeded to beat the stuffing out of Kirk before slamming him against the operations console and trying to strangle him. Erica and Nyota watched in shock. But no one moved to help Kirk- they all knew better than to get in the way of a pissed-off Vulcan.

Then, an older Vulcan with a resemblance to Spock spoke. "Spock!" The other Vulcan's voice seemed to break Spock out of his angry trance. He let go of Kirk, who was gasping like a landed fish. Erica began to move, but Dr. McCoy got to Kirk sooner, and Erica stayed put. He'd be okay.

Spock stood off to the side, breathing hard. He seemed almost shaken. "Doctor, I am no longer fit for duty. I hereby relinquish my command based on the fact that I have been emotionally compromised. Please note the time and date in the ship's log."

Spock left, and an awkward silence settled over the bridge. Scotty was the first to break it. "I like this ship! You know, it's exciting!"

Erica chuckled. "You think that's exciting? You ain't seen nothing yet, Scotty." Nyota looked at Erica and mouthed Who is he? Erica nodded and spoke to the bridge. "Ah, yes. This is Montgomery Scott, a Scotsman with a seemingly bottomless pit of a stomach who saved my life."

Nyota nodded, comprehension dawning on her face. "Nice to meet you."

Dr. McCoy interrupted with his typical tactlessness. "Well, congratulations, Jim, now we've got no Captain and no goddamn first officer to replace him."

Kirk just smiled his I-just-beat-the-Kobayashi-Maru grin. But Erica could see something different about it. There was something predatory in that grin. There was a grim awareness to it. Erica didn't know whether to feel happy or to shy away. "Yeah, we do."

McCoy looked at Kirk like he'd lost his mind. "What?"

Sulu nodded, realizing the goal of Kirk's strategy. "Pike made him first officer."

McCoy shook his head in seeming disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me."

Kirk smiled a tired little half-smile. "Thanks for the support."

Uhura just glared daggers at Kirk. "I sure hope you know what you're doing, Captain." She stalked out.

Kirk waited until she was out of earshot to speak. "So do I." He sat down in the captain's chair- his chair, now- and activated the button that would start a shipwide broadcast. "Attention, crew of the Enterprise, this is James Kirk. Mr. Spock has resigned commission and advanced me to acting captain. I know you're all expecting to regroup with the fleet, but I'm ordering a pursuit course of the enemy ship to Earth. I want all departments at battle stations and ready in ten minutes. Either we're going down or they are. Kirk out." By the end of the speech, Erica was shaking. Kirk had definitely grown up. He turned to Scotty and Erica. "Reed, take your post at operations. Mr. Scott, I'd like you to remain here."

Nodding, Erica went to her station. This was the biggest test of her life. In the balance? Her ship and her home. One thing was certain- she definitely couldn't afford to fail.

Sulu had set them on a maximum-warp course for Earth, and the bridge crew plus Scotty, who'd found an engineering uniform somewhere, were all gathered in front of the main viewscreen, discussing how best to take down Nero.

Kirk and Dr. McCoy were arguing, as usual. Sulu, Erica, and Scotty were wracking their brains, and Chekov was hunched over a padd engrossed in his calculations. "Whatever the case, we need to get aboard Nero's ship undetected."

Dr. McCoy shook his head in disbelief. "You can't just go in there guns blazing, Jim, not with their tech. I'm telling you the math doesn't support it-"

Chekov came running up to the group with his normal thermonuclear energy. Erica really didn't want to see what that kid looked like on a sugar high. "Keptin Kirk! Keptin Kirk!"

Kirk turned around to answer him. "Yes, Chekov. What is it?"

The kid looked as if he'd just discovered that the earth was made entirely of chocolate. "Based on the Nerada's course from Wulcan, I have projected that Nero will travel pass Saturn. Like you said, we need to stay inwisible to Nero or he'll destroy us. If Mr. Scott can get us to warp factor 4 and if we drop out of warp behind one of Saturn's moons, say Titan-"

Erica grinned. "Brilliant, Chekov! I remember reading somewhere that Romulan sensors don't work too well with magnetic distortions. The rings have pretty major magnetic distortions, and it'll make us invisible to Nero's sensors! Therefore, we won't have to keep our shields up, and as long as the drill is deactivated we can beam onto the enemy ship!" Erica and Chekov high-fived.

Scotty nodded, a smile on his face. "Aye, that might work! And I can definitely get us to warp 4."

Dr. McCoy frowned. "Wait a minute, kid, how old are you?"

Chekov just grinned. "Sewenteen, sir."

McCoy grimaced. "Oh, good, he's seventeen." Well, someone had had a bowl of skeptical for breakfast that morning.

Just then, to everyone's surprise, Spock walked in. "Doctor, Mr. Chekov and Miss Reed are correct. I can confirm his telemetry. If Mr. Sulu is able to maneuver us into position I can beam aboard Nero's ship, steal back the black hole device, and if possible, bring back Captain Pike."

Kirk shook his head. "I won't allow you to do that, Mr. Spock."

Spock shook his head. "Romulans and Vulcans share a common ancestry. Our cultural similarities will make it easier for me to access the ship's computer to locate the device. Also, my mother was human, which makes Earth the only home I have left."

Kirk nodded decisively. "Then I'm coming with you."

Spock raised an eyebrow. "I would cite regulation, but I know you will simply ignore it."

Kirk grinned. "See? We are getting to know each other."

Spock nodded. "I would also like to request Ms. Reed as a member of the away team."

Erica's jaw dropped. "Me? Sir, with all due respect, I am not qualified. I just insulted you and publicly challenged your authority, making me guilty of insubordination. I barely passed my hand-to-hand combat course, I'm an awful shot with a phaser-"

Spock cut her off. "I've read many of your essays. Your analyses of Romulan engineering are on par with the ones that come out of Starfleet Intelligence. You are extraordinarily skilled with computers, and you see connections that very few others do. Captain Pike noticed this, as did I."

"Aye, lass." Erica turned around to find Scotty smiling at her. "If he wants you on the away team, it's because you are a genius. Trust me, you can do this. Kirk thinks you can, Spock thinks you can, I think you can." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Trust me."

Erica nodded shakily. "Hey, Ny? I think this would make a fine field test for the Rosetta."

Nyota grinned. "I think you're right, Erica."

Erica turned to Kirk. "Captain, permission to go grab some stuff from my quarters that I think would be useful?"

"Granted." With a wicked grin on her face, Erica hurried off the bridge.

Oh, boy.

Erica walked into the transporter room to find Scotty sitting at the controls. "So, what's the Rosetta?"

Erica smiled. "The Rosetta is something Lieutenant Uhura and I worked on in our spare time. The Universal Translator doesn't translate written text. So Lieutenant Uhura and I decided to fix that. The Rosetta's an armature that fits over my glasses." She unclipped it and handed it to Scotty, who looked at the tiny little device with an amazed expression. "A miniaturized camera relays a real-time feed of whatever text I'm looking at to a miniaturized positronic computer with a holographic AI. Uhura helped program that. The AI translates the text, and a miniaturized holoprojector projects an English translation onto the lens of the glasses. It's small enough so if I'm captured, I can step on it and make sure it can't be used against the Federation."

Scotty smiled. "So that's why you wear those glasses."

Erica grinned. "Yeah, they also act as goggles. Protect my eyes from radiation and all that."

Scotty looked up at her. "That is bloody brilliant." Just then, Kirk's voice came in over the comms.

"Transporter room. We are in position above Titan."

Scotty looked surprised. "Really? Fine job, Mr. Sulu, well done."

Kirk nodded as if he'd expected this. "How are we, Scotty?"

Erica checked the displays. "Captain, this is Reed. We are actually in position." Kirk cut the communication.

Just then, Kirk, Spock, and Nyota walked in. Nyota pressed a small device into Erica's hand before whispering in her ear. "Stick the silver end into the bad guy and press the red button when you're in trouble. To set it, twist the bottom half. 1 click is the lowest, 2 clicks for the middle, and 3 clicks to show you mean business." Um, okay.

Erica stuffed the device into her belt along with her tricorder and a phaser as Nyota walked up to Spock and kissed him. Erica smiled. Evidently they'd gotten together while she was marooned or something.

Spock pulled away and rested his forehead against Nyota's. "I will be back."

Nyota whispered in the same tender tone. "You better be. I'll be monitoring your frequency."

Spock held Nyota's hands. "Thank you, Nyota." They kissed, then Nyota left.

Kirk turned to Spock. "So her first name's Nyota?"

"I have no comment on the matter." Erica laughed.

Scotty interrupted. "Okey dokey then. If there's any common sense in the design of the enemy's ship I should be putting you somewhere in the cargo bay, shouldn't be a soul in sight." He walked over to the transporter pad and hugged Erica gently, impulsively pressing a kiss against her hair. "Good luck, Erica."

Erica smiled up at him. "Thanks. You too, Scotty. See you later."

He walked back to the station, and Kirk gave the order. "Energize."

The transporter beam took them, and Erica was gone.