"Did you really think that I was that stupid, you little girl?!" spat Cartwright, looking at the distraught Vulcan. "Did you really think that I would keep my promise? Lower the shields!"
"Sir, there's another ship coming in!" yelled the last Romulan operating at the scanners the star fleet admiral had implanted in the ships databases. "It's the Excalibur!"
Cartwright looked up in shock as another federation starship came out of full warp upon them, phasers blazing a fiery red trail through space. The cord was severed with an explosion and the front of their ship was sabotaged.
On board the bridge, Saavik was seated at the battle arms master's post, where Sulu would be seated on the Enterprise. The star ship was in full military mode, aim deadly and precise. Everyone on that bridge regarded their Vulcan-Romulan captain with respect now. They had thought her impulsive and inexperienced, but now that they saw her in action, they were proud to serve under her.
Back on the Reaver ship, alarms were going off and Reavers were stumbling around the room before Cartwright.
He turned and grabbed Mohinder, who was moaning on the floor. He began to run out the bridge before glancing once at Sileia, who was still struggling to break free of her imprisonment.
He hurled one last insult at the damned girl.
"I won't bother to take you. There'll be plenty of children like you where I'm headed." He turned and ran out the door. Sileia barely caught his parting words and when he realized what he had said, she screamed in anger and frustration.
Vulcan. He was going for Vulcan next.
Cartwright ran down the halls, dragging the injured doctor after him.
"Where – are – we – going?" panted Mohinder, grabbing his leg in pain.
"A shuttle. I hid one on the outside of this damned ship before we left port. We shall escape in that and proceed to Vulcan." They stumbled to the entrance and clambered into the small craft.
Soon, they were gone, racing into the night with a Romulan cloaking device, leaving the Reavers to their fate.
Sileia coughed on the smoke filled air and pulled at the chains, looking for something, anything that she could use to break free. There was nothing.
She looked at the cockpit window and smiled as she saw the Enterprise reboot and straighten. She knew that that ship would be flying for generations. Nothing could hold her down. The Excalibur was beside her and a few phasers were still firing upon the ship. That was when the young girl realized that they were going to destroy the ship she was on.
She accepted this fate and closed her eyes. The air was quickly becoming more thin and she opened her eyes to look beside her at Tirang. The boy was barely there since her mind was fading. But he laid a hand gently on her arm and she felt her eyes slide shut.
When the firing stopped, the two crews of the Enterprise and the Excalibur scanned for life forms and found one faint one. They locked on it and beamed the person aboard.
Saavik stood beside Spock and they waited as the small form was finished being beamed aboard the Excalibur.
"No. No, no, no, no!" She ran forward but Spock caught her arm and her maddened rush swung her back around into him. He wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed and screamed. Her hands were clenched in tight fists, holding handfuls of his uniform. Her loud heart-broken sobs rang throughout the room and McCoy ran unsteadily over to Sileia a hand pressed to his healing leg.
She was laying there in a most undignified manner. Her head hung back, her wide open eyes staring sightlessly at the ceiling. Her body was in a position that said quite clearly that she hadn't put herself in that situation.
McCoy gently lifted her into a more comfortable position and felt for a pulse. He called out for one of his medical assistants to get his ass over there and he snatched the oxygen mask from him. He pressed it lightly over her mouth and waited. Then, the acrylic material fogged in a rhythmic pattern.
Spock released his breath slowly and he felt relief sweep over him. "And that Mr. Spock," said McCoy grinning, "is what we humans call a sigh of relief." Spock gave him a don't start that now look before Saavik pulled him over to his daughter.
Sileia turned to smile ever so slightly at her mother. Then, her expression grew somber. Both her parents knelt by her, Saavik holding her hands and Spock resting his hand on her shoulder.
"A'nirih," she whispered, wincing as her mother rubbed her wrists. "A'nirih, they're hitting Vulcan," she took a deep breath and gave the impression of one that had just ran a far distance to deliver this message. "They're going to end what they started." Saavik looked at Spock.
"I shall return to the Enterprise," said Spock, helping Sileia up. Saavik looked at him seriously. "Please keep an eye on her this time." Saavik gave him that look that said if you don't I will kill you.
When Spock and Sileia materialized on the pad, smiles broke throughout the whole transporter room. Only two people weren't smiling: the two who had just arrived.
"They're attacking Vulcan." Three words that dashed the happy mood in the immediate vicinity. Spock put a hand on Sileia's shoulder and they walked quickly out of the room and the security members in the transporter room looked at each other with a look of horror and a resigned sense of here we go again.
Then, one of the red shirts stated what had been bothering them all since this started.
"Why is it always Vulcan?" No one answered because no one knew the answer. It seemed that that peaceful planet was just doomed to destruction every other day.
Back on the bridge, Sileia was seated in Spock's science department chair while she caught her breath and got resettled.
"They aren't going to stop, Captain. And unless you want to be charged with the knowledge of the attack and subsequent inaction, I would go to Vulcan as fast as is possible. We have the Excalibur with us, so it's not like we're alone," said Sileia, exhaustion seeping through her. She was trembling too in her hands and she noticed Spock's concerned look.
"It's nothing," she assured him. "I just killed about fifty men, so...adrenaline." Spock looked at her extremely concerned when she said killed fifty men. "I can't help it, okay!" she said, angrily. "I can't not kill when I'm put in that situation. And it worked very well, if I might add."
"Sileia, you shouldn't have sacrificed yourself for us when you were on board. You shouldn't have struck that deal," said Kirk seriously, looking at her. Sileia regarded him in disbelief.
"You would have done the same thing," she responded quietly. And with that, Kirk had to agree. He would have.
"Enterprise to Excalibur, Enterprise to Excalibur, come in Excalibur." Saavik put the hail on screen,
"Excalibur here, what is it, Enterprise?" she asked looking forward with her serious eyes.
"We're heading to Vulcan to head off Cartwright. We need to warn the population that there is going to be some intense fighting in their area, so we were wondering if you and Spock could coordinate with your highly influential family members." Saavik shook her head.
'I'm afraid that isn't a possibility, Captain Kirk." Kirk seemed taken aback by her refusal.
"Well...why not if I might ask?" A slight smile played across the woman's face and the expression was mirrored by Sileia as she moved behind the captain.
"Because I already made the call. And the Excalibur shall follow you into battle, Enterprise. We shall enter at Warp 6 in 1 minute, sir. Saavik out."
Kirk looked at the blank screen and turned to Spock.
"Spock is it just me or does inordinate stubbornness and thinking ahead run in your family?" Spock raised an eyebrow at Kirk's annoyed tone.
"Indeed it does. That is what happens when you are part human." Beside them, McCoy choked on his coffee before spinning around to look at Spock in amazement. "Yes doctor?"
"You just admitted that you have emotion!"
"No, doctor, I said that my family has a tendency to be stubborn. That –"
"Stubbornness is an emotion, you green-blooded hobgoblin!" shouted McCoy and the following argument that ensued caused the whole bridge to erupt in sporadic fits of laughter and giggling.
"ALL RIGHT YOU TWO!" Kirk half shouted, half laughed. "Engaging Warp Drive in three, two, one." The Enterprise with the Excalibur in pursuit shot away in the direction of Vulcan.
