"Captain, we're picking up an emergency transmission from the Vulcan science station Helios One. They're requesting assistance."
Jim nodded at Uhura before she looked at Sulu and Chekov, "Lay in a course and get us there. Spock, Helios?"
"Helios One was constructed around a binary star in the aftermath of the destruction of Vulcan. The station's purpose and activities have been classified." Spock watched Jim as she took a breath.
"Guess we're going in blind, then. Up for a field trip, Spock?"
"I would not classify an emergency situation as a 'field trip', Captain. I…"
"I was kidding but I'm sure they would be much more receptive to you than me."
He nodded, "Your attempt at humor is noted. I would be happy to accompany you."
"Happy… You?" Jim asked.
Spock looked at her, "It is a welcome emotion as of late."
Jim smiled and spoke to him in her head, "Love you too, ashalik."
When they arrived at the station, they couldn't raise the Vulcans on comms. What's more, the star was unstable and Spock recommended against beaming over. Jim, Spock and Sulu flew to the station in a shuttle.
"This place is a mess. Sulu, stay with the shuttle in case we need a quick evac."
"Aye, Captain," the helmsman said with a nod. Jim and Spock made their way through the damaged station and found a group in the control room.
"I'm Captain Kirk of the Enterprise. What's going on here?" One of the Vulcans explained that the station shut down and because of their proximity to the star, they had less than an hour before the station became uninhabitable. "We need to evac everyone."
"Our Captain and a team are in the security bunker on the other end of the station. The storm is making it difficult to reach them."
Jim nodded, "We'll get your team, you get these men to our shuttle. EVA equipment?" He pressed a command into his PADD and the compartment next to Spock opened. The officer glanced at her then Spock before giving them the code to override the locks and ushering his officers out.
"Good thing we didn't bring Bones, this is the point where he has a fit."
"He would request returning to the shuttle," Spock nodded his agreement. They suited up and checked each others pressure seals before they left the pressurized section of the station and went outside. "Captain, we must hurry. The stellar storm is becoming more unstable." She nodded as they carefully sprinted across the exposed section of the space station and reached the security bunker.
"Spock." Jim looked up as they were approached by an attractive Vulcan woman.
Spock nodded, "T'Mar. We are here to assist you. This is my commanding officer, Captain Kirk."
"We need to get your people out of here, Captain," Jim said.
T'Mar looked at her, "You are correct. I will explain our mission on your ship. It is agreeable to see you old friend."
Spock looked at her, "And you." Jim watched the exchange. She wasn't the jealous type by any means but there was something… she just couldn't put a finger on it. She ignored it as best she could and had Sulu pick them up.
"The station was part of the colonization for New Vulcan. As you know, a project of this magnitude would take generations to complete. That is where Helios comes in. My station was harnessing the energy from the binary stars to power the device on New Vulcan until today when the station was powered down on orders from Surok," T'Mar told them.
"Surok?" Jim asked. Spock explained that Surok was one of the foremost scientists of the Vulcan race. He was also T'Mar's father and one of Spock's mentors. "We'll figure this out. We just need to talk to him."
"The device may have caused an anomaly," T'Mar said. It is the only reason my father would shut down the station without warning."
"Captain, Helios Base isn't responding to hails. They aren't the only ones. I tried the Ambassadors, nothing," Uhura told them.
"This is just getting' better and better," Jim whispered.
Chekov turned in his chair, "It is unusual but I beliewe it is some kind of rip in zhe fabric of space."
"Like a wormhole?" Jim asked.
"Something like zhat but not quite. It appears to be a shortcut through space."
Spock looked at the young officer, "Where does it lead?"
Chekov shrugged, "Zhere is no vay to know for sure, sir."
"That's ominous," Jim sighed. "Sulu get us to New Vulcan as fast as we can go. Uhura, have Hendorff, Edwards and Kai meet us in the transporter room."
Spock raised an eyebrow, "Is that necessary, Captain? Surok is a scientist."
"Who turned off a space station where his daughter and her team almost roasted to death because of a rip in space. I don't think he's a threat but I think there is a threat and I'll feel a lot better if we take backup," she told him. Spock nodded. There was a odd feeling taking hold of him. He knew something bad was going to happen, even though he couldn't explain it. Jim looked at him and nodded, she was having the same feeling. Nothing good ever happens when Jim gets that feeling.
Their team beamed down to the surface as soon as the Enterprise was close enough. Jim was instantly on guard, "There were plenty of people here last time we were on New Vulcan. Where is everyone?"
T'Mar looked at her, "This is not normal."
Jim nodded, "Guys, keep your eyes open. T'Mar, lead the way." Spock observed the section of the colony they were in, it was desolate. They entered Helios Base. "Can you access the system from here, T'Mar?"
"Of course. You are not leaving me here, my father is in there," T'Mar argued.
Jim sighed, "Which is why we need you to help us through the base. If he's here, we'll find him."
T'Mar looked at Spock but he agreed with Jim, "We are trained for such an operation, you are not." T'Mar did not like it but she agreed to stay in the security room.
"Alright, gentlemen, let's do this," Jim said. The three security officers nodded. Lieutenant Kai took the point position with Jim on his right as they walked through the door and across the small bridge that led to the interior of the base. They made their way through part of the facility and Jim sighed. "I don't like this, Spock."
He agreed. The facility was quiet and there were bodies in the corridors. "ARRHHH!" A colonist ran at the away team, he appeared ill as he charged. Jim must have noticed as well and ordered them to use their stun setting.
"What the…?" Jim didn't complete her question, however, Spock heard the end of it in her mind. He scanned the man with his tricorder.
"It is an infection caused by a toxin,"he told her. "Not in our database."
Jim took a breath, "What is going on down here?"
Spock was at as much of a loss as she was, "I do not know."
"I hate it when you say that, it's never a good sign," Jim cringed. "Let's stick with stun, guys. I don't want to kill anyone if we can help it."
"You gotta relax, Doc," Sulu told him.
"I'll relax when I'm dead. Something's wrong," Leonard said. Everyone looked at him. Their relationship wasn't exactly a secret, they didn't flaunt it but if asked they didn't lie either. People had a million and two theories but their friends knew the truth.
Scotty looked at him, "How wrong?"
No sooner had he asked did Jim come over comms, "Enterprise, beam us up. Any survivors from the base too."
Leonard looked at his boyfriend and girlfriend as they ran onto the bridge, they were a mess. "What happened?" Jim gave them the quick version. They found Surok and the Helios Device but the Gorn –big lizard creatures- showed up and took both.
"Sulu, follow that ship. We can't lose them," Jim ordered.
"On it, ma'am," Sulu said, his hands flying over the console.
Jim looked at Uhura, "Hail them." Uhura tried but she got no answer.
"What did they do to piss her off so bad?" Leo asked Spock.
The Vulcan looked at him, "You should go to sickbay and see for yourself. It is… difficult to describe." Leo didn't like that but since he wasn't really needed on the bridge, he went to deck five.
"What do we have?"
Chapel looked at him, "A few dozen Vulcans with a toxin in their systems that makes them violent. Spock called it Gorn toxin. They've either been stunned or sedated, they'll attack us otherwise." He looked around and noticed that Kai and Hendorff, along with half a dozen security officers, were in his sickbay with weapons at the ready.
"No wonder Jim is pissed off. These people have been through enough," he said as he got to work. They were gonna have to find a way to cure or get rid of this stuff. Despite what she tries to tell the universe, Jim is a people person. She looks out for people, fights for people, cares for people. That's just who she is. It's part of why he loves her so much. To go through what she's been through and still think about other people before herself shows strength of character so far beyond her years. The ship rattled. "Oh great, a firefight. We gotta get these people off the ship if we're gonna deal with those Gorn things. I bet Scotty is having a fit." They were hit again. Knowing Jim as well as he does, he would bet his best bottle of bourbon that she was planning to go after that ship but they needed to do something about the wounded first. He hit the comm to the bridge and got Uhura, "Let me talk to her." The communications officer chuckled and did as he asked.
"We're a bit busy up here, Bones," Jim said.
He rolled his eyes, "Sickbay is overflowing. We need to get these people outta here."
"Anything else?" she asked with a huff.
"The rip is causing interference, I can't raise HQ," Uhura told her.
Leonard sighed, "Jim, we're talking about going through a compressing tear in the fabric of space to chase a vicious alien race that we know nothing about, except that they have a doomsday device and we can't call for backup. You're crazy, darlin', not stupid."
"He is correct. If we fail in our pursuit, Starfleet will know nothing of our fate," Spock told her.
Leo let out a breath, "We don't even know what's on the other side, Jim."
He heard Sulu say something before Jim's voice returned, "Frontier Seventeen is a base not far from here. We'll divert."
Leonard chuckled, "You're going the right thing, Jim."
"Thanks Bones, I'll try to remember that when Commodore Daniels is calling me a nepotistic slut."
"Wow, you weren't kidding," Bones said over comms.
Jim took a breath, "Nope. Daniels is an asshole, especially to women. I really want to meet the woman that thought procreating with him was a good idea."
"How the hell did he end up as a Commodore?" he asked.
She sighed, "He knows the right people."
Daniels knew. The bastard knew that a rip opened and instead of doing anything, he sat back and watched. You could have sworn he was ordering coffee for all the emotion he had regarding the dead and a kidnapped Surok. He was too busy taking cheap shots at Jim's family and asked if she 'sucked Pike off lately, or did you move to up to Barnett or Komack?' Spock almost hit him. So did Kai. So did Hendorff. And so did T'Mar. Jim wasn't gonna waste the energy and she was actually glad that the Gorn showed up. She left Zahra with Bones' team when they came into the station, while Hendorff, Edwards and Kai were with her and Spock.
Daniels ordered his shuttle prepped and ran off, leaving Jim and company to send a message to Starfleet and the Enterprise, which went back to the colony to help. A lot of the officers on the station followed any order Jim gave them. She had a very good idea of what they were used to with Daniels. Unlike him, she would never leave anybody to fend for themselves.
"He was incorrect in his assessment of you, Captain."
She smiled at Spock, "You're biased, Spock. It's okay, I've heard worse."
"That's not okay… ma'am," Cupcake told her.
She chuckled, "Maybe not…" she shot another Gorn as they cleared the mess hall, "but it's my life." He nodded but Hendorff looked like he's ready to hit someone, they've come a long way from fighting in a bar. "Use it, Greg. You're upset, use it against these things… that's what I'm doing." Imagining Daniels wasn't the most mature thing but it was working. They had just made their way through the room when they came across the first infected crew members, "Not this shit, again. Bones, can you hear me?"
His voice came over comms, "Yea. I think they're after intel on Helios. They restored the power to the lab and hacking in. Zahra is slowing them down but the other security officers are either dead or infected. We could use a hand."
T'Mar guided them over comms from the bridge, where she stayed to help Daniel's people. Jim was about to walk into a room when Kai slammed into her, "Turret." Spock hacked it so that they could get up. "Are you alright?"
She nodded, "Yep. Thanks, Kai."
He looked her, "You're welcome, Captain." An Orion of few words but dangerous and loyal as hell.
"What's your take, Spock?" she asked her first officer. He scanned the area as they moved through it.
"Despite their animalistic appearance, they are a rather sophisticated race," Spock said. "If they acquire the information on how to operate the Helios device, it may mean the end."
"The end of what, sir?" Hendorff asked.
Jim took a breath, "Everything. It'll be the end of the universe as we know it. There." She spotted a Gorn at a console. The four officers took him down before moving to another. They were about to take out the third when it went down.
"Don't shoot!" Bones called as he, Zahra and a lab tech came out from behind a turned over table.
"You guys okay?" Jim asked, checking them over with her eyes.
"Jim, we're fine," Bones said. "This is Ensign Winters."
She nodded, "You look a little green around the gills, kid." He nodded. She gave him a small smile, "First time you've seen action." He nodded again. "Stick with us and you'll be fine." The kid visibly relaxed as she looked around the at the others, "We're sounding the evac… the station is fully compromised. We need to get to the shuttle bay."
"Did he just…?" Leonard asked.
Jim chuckled from her spot between him and Leonard, "Yep. He bolted and left his crew here to die. And I'm the one that got the babysitters." The doctor chuckled as he continued to shoot the advancing Gorn. In addition to Winters, they also encountered Daniels' aide, Abaran. Jim instructed him to get his crew out while the Enterprise crew covered them. They evacuated most of the people out of the large room and into shuttles, Abaran and Winters decided to stay with them.
"Captain Kirk, I got men pinned in crew quarters," Abaran told her, no doubt listening to his communicator.
"Okay, we split up. Bones, you stay here with Zahra and Winters," Jim ordered. "Spock and Hendorff, take the relay. I know it'll only be one shot but we need that weapon. Abaran, Kai and I will clear the crew quarters. Go."
Each group went to their tasks, staying in contact with each other and T'Mar via comms. The plan for Lieutenant Hendorff and himself was to overload the sub-space relay tower and convert it into a highly charged shot. They first, had to get to the power station.
"Check in, guys," Jim said over comms after they'd been separated for a few minutes.
Leonard chuckled, "We're good here. A few more survivors showed up but no Gorn."
She chuckled, "Spock?" He continued to make his way through the damaged section of the ship.
"This area of the station is unpressurized. Hendorff and I donned EVA equipment. Fortunately, we have not encountered any Gorn."
"Better than me, this place is crawling with them but we got the crew, a dozen so far," Jim said.
Hendorff looked at him, "This it, sir?" Spock nodded as they opened the hatch and climbed the ladder to the relay.
"Lieutenant, stay near the exit. As soon as the overload is set we will only have fifteen seconds to get clear," Spock said as his hands flew over the console. He hacked the safeties that prevented the relay from doing what he was asking of it. "Go now." He set the overload and the two officers made a rapid exit.
"Spock, your shot was effective," T'Mar informed him.
Jim laughed, "Spock is the definition of effective. We're heading to the command deck, T'Mar. This station is done."
"We are not far from you, Captain. We will meet you there," Spock said. A phaser was fired near his head, Spock looked over. It was a young officer hidden between a large plant and the wall.
"Sorry, sir," the young woman said.
He nodded, "I am unharmed. Are you alright?"
She nodded, "Yes, sir. I'm Ensign Yin, computer programming."
"My focus as well. We are evacuating the station, stay behind us," he told her. She nodded and fell in with him and Hendorff as they made their way to T'Mar and Jim. He heard her order Leonard to get himself and everyone with him off the station, the Enterprise was close enough to beam them back.
"Down!" that was Jim's voice. They entered the room to find a dozen officers fighting the Gorn that continued to pour in. Jim was trying to get to T'Mar as the officers near her were killed. "Scotty, now would be a good time to get us all outta here. All non-Gorn life signs on me, if you'd be so kind." Just as she said it, a large Gorn grabbed T'Mar and beamed out. On instinct, Spock tackled the Gorn closest to him right as the transporter took hold of them both.
There was Gorn running around on the Enterprise. It had Jim written all over it but, as he learned while he worked on the antidote, it was Spock's doing. They –Jim, Spock and a security team- tracked the thing down, Spock melded with it and now the whole lot of them went through the rip. He'd complain but they really were out of options and if they wanted to save the Federation and all it's citizens, this is what they had to do. They figured out that the Gorn killed Surok after learning that T'Mar was the mind behind the Helios Device. There was an edge to Spock's thoughts. He looked at him as Jim and Sulu assessed the damage to the shuttle that they just crash-landed on a Gorn planet.
"Are you okay?" Leo asked. "I know he was your mentor and she was your friend."
"When I was a child, other children went out of their way to make me feel inadequate," Spock said. "They were… cruel. T'Mar defended me. She used Surak's teachings to stop their attempts to elicit emotional responses from me. The one day she was not there… I assaulted a classmate."
"What did he do that pissed you off?" Leonard asked, trying to imagine little Spock beating someone up.
Jim chuckled, "They called Lady Amanda a whore. You gotta ask him to see it… it was epic."
Leo laughed and they all looked at him, "Even on Vulcan, insults to mama are a good way to get your ass kicked."
"Everybody but mine," Jim shrugged. "Insult her all you want."
"I'd love to," Sulu smiled. "I can fix this but it's gonna take a little time. We still need to take out the AA gun."
"Cool. Spock, Kai, Hendorff and I will do that. Bones…"
He nodded, "Antidote, I know."
She nodded, "Edwards and Delco, cover these two."
"Why do I have a feeling that you're gonna do something crazy?" he asked his girlfriend.
"Because you know me," she smiled. Jim, Spock, Kai and Hendorff donned wingsuits –aerodynamic suits with flaps under the arms and between the legs to fly- and they jumped off the cliff they crashed near.
"I hate when they do that."
Sulu looked over to make sure they weren't in earshot of the others, "You love it when they do crazy stuff. You get all riled up." He raised an eyebrow and Sulu chuckled, "I talk to Jim. She calls your hands 'Legendary'."
Leo looked at the helmsman, "No she doesn't."
"Yes she does," the pilot smiled. "All the time." He's gonna have to remember that for later. "You three are cute together. Most people wouldn't get it but I see it. The way you all just work," Sulu said to him.
"And you and Tom?"
"We're good," Sulu blushed a little. "I umm… I'm thinking that he might be it for me." Sulu and Leighton made a good couple. Jim was waiting for the wedding request that she knew was coming. They talked about getting married a few times but they never came up with an answer, he was ready to just ask them both. It wasn't like they weren't already in each others heads.
"We can hear you thinking, Bonesy." In each other's heads, indeed.
