Jim was tired of people dictating what happens with her ship. Following orders is one thing but this is getting fuckin' ridiculous. The Enterprise was on it's way to star cluster NGC 321 to open diplomatic relations with the civilization there. Jim had Uhura hail them and after a few unacknowledged tries, the planet Eminiar VII sent them a 'code seven-ten' message. Code seven-ten was the Federation's quarantine code that meant stay away at all costs. Of course, Ambassador Robert Fox, who just had to come along, overruled her attempt to honor the request and forcibly ordered her to go into the system anyway.
"One day, I would like to get a mission where they don't send one of the good ol' boys to watch over little ol' me," she muttered.
Bones chuckled, "Let me know when that happens."
"I don't like this, Bones," she sighed.
He nodded, "Of course you don't, you're smart."
"I'll try to remember that. Mister Scott, you have the ship. Keep the shields up until I tell you to drop 'em. Starting a mission with a code seven-ten is always a bad sign."
"We'll tie a ribbon round a tree for ya, Captain," Scotty smiled. She chuckled as she and Spock left the bridge.
"Our orders are clear, Captain. We must establish diplomatic relations at all costs," Fox told her.
"Not if they don't want us here," Jim said to the idiot before she walked away from him. "There is something going on, Spock, and Fox just dropped us in the middle of it." Yeoman Rand, Kai, who she snagged from HQ, and Cupcake met them in the transporter room. After arming themselves, they transported to coordinates near a government building. A small group, led by a beautiful blonde woman, approached the away team. If Jim was single, she'd be all over that. "Hello. I'm Captain Jim Kirk of the Federation Starship Enterprise."
The woman nodded, "I am Mea Three. You were advised to stay away, Captain. Now, I'm afraid that you're in danger."
The woman led them into the building that housed the Division of Control, where the head of the government of the Eminian Union operated. "Everything is so… neat, Spock. Too neat." She expected him to tell her that there was no such thing but he just nodded.
"The High Council is expecting you." Mea lead them into a room where seven men were seated at a long table.
"I am Anan Seven. I am afraid you've arrived in the middle of a war. We advised you to stay away."
"I have orders to speak with this council to establish diplomatic relations between our people. I'm Captain Kirk of the USS Enterprise on behalf of the United Federation of Planets. My First Officer, Commander Spock. Lieutenants Kai and Hendorff. And Yeoman Rand." He looked at her for a long moment.
"I'm afraid diplomacy is not possible at this time, Captain. We have been at war with Vendikar, the third planet in our system, for the last three hundred years."
Jim looked at Spock, "We scanned the planet before we came down."
"We have completely scanned this planet," Spock said. "We find it highly advanced, prosperous in a material sense, comfortable for the people, and peaceful in the extreme. There is no evidence of war."
Anan looked at them, "We lose nearly three million people a year, I assure you, it's real."
An alarm went up and the doors to a war room opened. "They're launching an attack." Jim and her team watched as the screen lit up.
Mea covered her mouth, "It was a hit in the city." Spock and Rand opened their tricorders.
"No radiation, no explosions, no injuries, Captain," Rand told her.
"The casualty list is being populated," one of the men said.
Jim looked at the aide before turning to Anan 7, "I've been in battle, this isn't one. There is no evidence that anything happened."
Spock touched her, "I believe they are fighting this battle via the computers, Captain."
Anan 7 nodded, "Casualties are calculated, and the victims have twenty-four hours to report to a disintegration station so their deaths may be recorded."
"People just waltz up to be executed?" She raised an eyebrow, "I'm not buying." Anan explained to her that this was the best way to keep the civilization intact. The people had a high sense of duty, so they did what was required of them.
"There is a certain scientific logic about it," Spock said.
Anan nodded and smiled, "I'm glad you approve, Commander." Spock looked at her before looking at the council member.
"I do not approve," Spock said, "I understand."
"Unfortunately, Captain, when your ship entered orbit, it became a legitimate target. It has been destroyed by a tricobalt satellite explosion. Your crew is required to report for disintegration within the next twenty-four hours. You will remain here until they comply." The guards took their weapons and communicators before ushering the five officers into a secured room.
"I don't like this. We haven't heard from them and Jim is antsy."
Scotty looked at him, "How do you do that?"
"Ask your girlfriend when you're alone," Leo chuckled. "She can explain it better than me. I just feel them. Both of them and whatever is going on, it's not good."
"Mister Scott, the Captain is hailing us," Uhura said. Scott nodded and hit the button on the chair.
"Captain, are you alright?"
Jim chuckled, "Everything is fine. We've reached a diplomatic agreement with the Eminians. They have extended an invitation to all personnel to come ashore for shore leave... they've assured me that our people will have a wonderful time."
Leonard and Scotty looked at each other before the acting captain chuckled, "Aye, ma'am. Me and Leonard were getting a little worried."
She chuckled again, "You can tell Leonard that all is well, Kirk out."
"That's not Jim." Leonard, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu and Chekov all said at the same time. It was almost comical. Whoever that was didn't know Leonard, or the fact that Jim would have to be close to dead before she called him Leonard. She would use Leo or Doc when she was being playful but never Leonard.
"Keep those shields up, Mister Sulu," Scotty ordered.
The helmsman nodded, "Aye, sir."
The acting captain then turned to look at Uhura, "Analyze that message. We know Jim well enough to know that it wasn't her but run it just in case we have to justify our actions later."
She nodded, "On it, sir."
Of course they were all correct, it wasn't Jim, it was a close copy. "Why would they fake her voice?" Sulu asked.
It was a good question. She was alive, Spock too. He felt anger and frustration but both feelings were faint due to the distance. He tried to concentrate on Spock. Vulcan telepathy was a tricky thing but their bond might make it easier.
"Are you alright?" he asked in his head. There was no way for him to know if this worked. He tried for a few minutes and was rewarded with surprise, relief and a warning.
"Don't come for us," Spock told him. "They will kill everyone."
"They want to kill us," Leonard said as he opened his eyes. Scotty looked at him just as Fox walked onto the bridge.
"How do you know that?" Scotty asked.
"Spock's telepathy," Leo answered but he was looking at Uhura, he knew she would register what he was saying. He wasn't gonna get into the details with the ambassador standing a few feet away.
"Spock has a powerful mind and he trusts you," Uhura said "If he's warning us to stay away, we should." Fox was about to say something when the ship was hit with disruptor fire from the surface.
"Shields are holding, sir," Sulu said.
Scotty nodded, "Apparently, they don't want our diplomacy. Of course I could treat them to a few dozen photon torpedoes."
Fox looked at him, "You will do no such thing. Diplomacy, gentlemen, should be a job left to diplomats. I'm sure this is a misunderstanding." This guy was an idiot. It's bad enough the brass keeps sending them babysitters but they should at least send some smart ones.
"They faked a message from the Captain and they're shooting at us, there is no possible way to misunderstand that," Leonard said. Fox looked at him before turning towards Uhura.
"Contact them, Lieutenant. I hope I don't need to remind you that I have the authority on this mission," Fox said. "You will lower the shields and we will talk with them."
"No, I won't." Scotty looked Fox dead in the eye.
"I have authority. You will follow my order."
Scotty stood his ground, "No, I will not. I will lower the shields when Captain James T. Kirk tells me to and not a second before." Leonard stood next to the engineer in silent support as Fox glared at him.
"I will report you, Mister Scott."
"The safety of this ship and crew are my responsibility and I will not put them in danger by lowering the shields. You do what you have to do, Ambassador." Scotty was pulling a page out of Jim's book, she's gonna be so proud when he tells her about it. Fox huffed but didn't say anything as he left the bridge. "Diplomats! The best diplomat I know is a fully activated phaser bank!"
Sulu nodded, "Amen to that."
Leonard looked at Scotty, "You gonna be okay if he reports you?"
"Jim gave me an order and she's trusting me to keep everyone safe. I don't care what he does to me as long as I don't disappoint her." It was easy for Leo to see why she loved Scotty so much, the man really was her big brother.
After utilizing their ingenuity and technical knowledge, the away team freed themselves from captivity. They found Mea when she was en route to a disintegration station, she was declared a casualty, and destroyed one of the stations with the disruptor Jim took from a guard. Mea explained that if people don't report for disintegration, the Vendikar will be forced to launch real weapons, and Eminiar would be forced to retaliate, and both civilizations and the populations would die. Jim convinced the woman to help them stop the fighting. Mea informed Jim of Anan 7's location and that's where she had to go in order to do anything. Jim was overdue for her return.
"Do you think she's okay, sir?" Rand asked.
He looked at the yeoman, "She is." He didn't explain how he knew or the fact that her adrenaline spiked a few minutes ago. She was in a fight, a fight that she just lost. Spock completed his work altering Mea's communicator to contact the ship. "Enterprise, do you copy?"
"Mister Spock, we copy you. What's going on?" Mister Scott asked. He quickly informed the acting captain of the situation and warned him not to let anyone on the ship come to the surface. "We told Fox that but he ignored us."
"Move the Enterprise to minimum safe distance and attempt to contact the Vendikar. I will retrieve the Ambassador," Spock said. Mister Scott acknowledged his orders and the communication closed. "Yeoman, stay with Mea, if you must knock her out and sit on her to insure her compliance, then you may do so. Lieutenants, you are with me."
The yeoman nodded, "Good luck, sir."
The three men left the room they were hiding in to search for Ambassador Fox. They found him in line at another disintegration station. They swiftly disabled the guards before destroying the station. "Ambassador, were you harmed?"
Fox shook his head, "No, Commander. I fear that I have been dangerously mistaken about the situation."
"Indeed. There is not time to examine that further, they are holding the Captain in the council chambers."
Fox scanned the room before acquiring a weapon from one of the incapacitated guards, "I've never been a soldier, Mister Spock. But I learn very quickly."
"Millions of people will be horribly killed! Complete destruction of our culture and the culture on Vendikar. Disaster, disease, starvation! Horrible lingering death! Pain and anguish! Are those five hundred people of yours more important than the hundreds of millions of innocent people on Eminiar and Vendikar! What kind of monster are you?!"
"I'm a barbarian. You said so yourself. 'A killer first, a builder second, a hunter, a warrior, a murderer.' Those where your words. I don't exactly disagree. I have killed. To protect people, there isn't much I won't do. What you're doing is just cowardice." Jim was sick of this shit. Anan was trying to make her feel like the bad guy for not offering up her crew to be slaughtered in some sick, twisted version of war. "Death, destruction, disease, horror. That's what war is all about, Anan. That's what makes it a thing to be avoided. You've made it neat and painless. So neat and painless, you've had no reason to stop it. And you've had it for three hundred years. You've turned it into a game with real casualties."
Anan looked at her, "I didn't start this war."
She chuckled, "Neither did I… but since it seems to be the only way I can save my crew and my ship, you can be damn sure I'll end it."
"Contact the Earth ship," Anan told one of his men. Jim knew she had to do something.
"This Captain Scott of the Enterprise," she heard her friend say.
"Gen Order two-four, Scotty, two hours. Order two-four…" Jim yelled before the guard grabbed her. Scotty acknowledged and cut the communication. Anan looked at her and she smiled, "In two hours, we'll all be dead. General Order twenty-four is an order to destroy all life on the planet."
Anan glared at her, "Destroy the ship." She chuckled, Jim knew her crew and she knew exactly what was coming next.
She smiled when one of the men looked at Anan, "They have moved out of range." And that is why they were the Enterprise. While her captors were distracted, Jim struck. She elbowed the guard next to her in the nose and took his weapon before taking out the other guard.
"Over there, all of you." They all moved near the door at disruptor point. Almost as soon as they got there, the door opened.
"Captain," Spock said.
She smirked, "Hey, Commander. And Ambassador Fox?"
"Captain," Fox looked at her. "We thought you needed help."
"Not this time," Jim smiled. She comm'ed the ship, "Scotty, you there?"
"It's good to hear your voice, lass. I got some information for you. There is nothing on Vendikar. The whole planet is empty." Jim looked at Anan.
"Who are they at war with, Scotty?"
"That's the thing, lass, they are 'fighting' with themselves. Have been for the last century, at least."
"Thanks, Scotty, cancel twenty-four and standby." Jim closed her eyes and took a breath, "All this time, there was no one at the other end, you killed millions in a war that wasn't even real. I think we should reconsider extending diplomacy here, Ambassador."
Fox nodded, "You will get no argument from me, Captain."
"Captain, I advise destroying the computers," Spock said. It's always the damn computers.
She nodded, "Make it happen, Mister Spock. I'd like to go home."
"Well, hello to you too, darlin'." Jim chuckled as she rested her head on Leo's shoulder.
"Sorry about that."
"You can kiss me any damn time you feel like it," he chuckled. "Hell, you can do more than kiss me." He smirked when she laughed against him. "You okay?"
"They were killing people for no reason. I… I don't know how to deal with that. I've seen so many people die that the idea of walking into a disintegration station to meet a quota just… gets to me."
He tightened his arms around her, "I know darlin'. You stopped it, that's gotta make you feel a little better."
"A little." Sad Jim is reserved for him, Spock, other Spock, Kevin, Leighton, Scotty and Pike. People would flip if they realized that she's just as human as the rest of them.
Leonard smiled, "I got an idea. How about me, you and Spock watch a superhero movie marathon. Iron Man always makes you smile."
Jim chuckled, "That's because he's hot and smart. Not as hot as you or Spock but still."
"Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?" The two men on the screen looked at each other.
The brunette, Tony, took a breath, "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist."
"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you," the blonde in blue, Steve, told him.
"I think I would just cut the wire."
Again Steve glared, "Always a way out... You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."
Spock ran his fingers through Jim's hair as she leaned against him and watched the movie. He could see the parallels between her and the Tony Stark character she was so fond of. They were both geniuses who followed their father's footsteps. Heroes who's actions are often discounted based on misconceptions about them. Both willing to sacrifice for others and both hiding a lifetime of pain and self loathing behind smiles and jokes.
"She fell asleep," Leonard whispered. Spock looked down and Jim was in fact sleeping.
"It has been an interesting day."
Leonard chuckled, "You guys had it easy. Fox kept trying to strong arm us. I don't know how Jim does it. These people keep walking onto her ship and ordering her around."
"Perhaps, we should speak with Admiral Pike." Spock has served in Starfleet for five point two years, he has never seen any of his commanding officers be monitored in such a fashion.
"So it's as weird to you as it is to me. Good to know." He looked at the woman in his arms, she was stressed, even in her sleep.
"We will not tell her unless it becomes necessary."
Leonard nodded, "Fine by me. Jim will just grin and bear it even though it's pissing her off. I don't know why they think she needs a babysitter but it's time we found out."
"What did you do?" Jim just got off the comm with Pike and, apparently, her boyfriends caused a big shake up with the brass. Spock had the same look on his face that he usually does but Bones looked like the cat that caught the canary. "Well?"
Bones looked at her, "We just asked Pike a question after the mission on Eminiar VII two weeks ago, that's it, Jim."
"What happened?" Spock asked.
She looked at him before handing him her PADD, "Three 'Early Retirements' and an investigation. Apparently, I'm not the only female Captain with people looking over her shoulder. No one either noticed or said anything but it's been happening for the last ten years... at least. Twenty-two-fifty-nine and we still got sexist jerks running the show."
"At least we're getting rid of them."
She looked at Bones, "Some of them. It'll always be like this. If you're pretty, it's worse. I'm young so that just adds another reason for them to think I can't do my job. Thank you... for saying something. I thought I was losing it."
"Anything for you, darlin'." Spock nodded his agreement.
Jim smiled, "If I could love you boys any more, I would."