Two Alone

Chapter 14

"blessed be

she

who is

both

furious

and

magnificent"

Taylor Rhodes

On the Ship

Spock was back on the bridge with the Alpha senior bridge crew. They were, according to Mr. Scott, ready to implement their plan to return to Perseus 2. He made himself comfortable in the command chair. It was going to be a very long day.

"Mr. Sulu, are you ready to implement the navigational coordinates that Mr. Chekov has plotted?"

Sulu turned in his seat to face him. "I'm ready on your order, Mr. Spock."

"Lieutenant Uhura?"'

"I'm ready Mr. Spock."

"Very well. Mr. Scott," he said into his chair comm. "Let us begin. Sub light speed 1/8 C for one hour, then full stop."

"Aye, Sir."

He looked at Sulu. "Take us toward Perseus, Mr. Sulu."

"Yes, Sir."

Sulu's sure hands moved the helm toggle a minute amount. The mighty ship began moving, its warp engine muted and soft. The crew perceived the ship's movement as incredibly slow and compared to their usual warp 3 or 4, it was much slower.

Spock sat back in the Captain's seat and checked the chronometer. One hour. The bridge was unusually silent during their one hour flight. There was no banter or chatter during their duty lags. Everyone was tense and on edge. The long range sensors did their work, scanning the space around them. Chekov had them at full resolution and magnification. There was nothing out there to see.

The chronometer counted off the hour and pinged.

"Full stop, Mr. Sulu."

"Aye, Sir, full stop."

"Any sign of a ship, Mr. Chekov?"

"No, Sir. Space is completely empty of ships so far as our long range scanners can see."

"Thank you, Mr. Chekov."

"Mr. Scott, we will be sit becalmed for the next two hours," Spock said into his chair comm.

"All engines stopped, Mr. Spock," came Scotty's disembodied voice.

"Lt. Uhura, please engage the enhanced communication array to full power for the next two hours."

"Yes, Mr. Spock. I've sent the grid parameters to your chair readouts if you'd like to follow along during my search."

Spock settled back in the chair. Waiting for Lt. Uhura's communication scan would try everyone's patience, including his. Meditation could only do so much. He, along with the Command crew, was sick of waiting around. However this process could not be rushed. It assured them the ship did not accidentally encounter the Romulan ship or leave a warp trail that they could find.

Lieutenant Uhura sat like a statue, hardly blinking with her head cocked, her ear piece shifting from one side to the next. The minutes crawled by, and, although objectively, Spock knew that time proceeded in its usual orderly manner, not even Vulcan logic could persuade his brain that time wasn't passing particularly slowly.

The chronometer ticked by the two hours and exactly on time, Mr. Scott's voice came on his chair com. "'Tis time for us to be moving again, Sir. Long range scanners are engaged."

"Very well, Mr. Scott. Mr. Sulu, resume course."

"Yes, Sir."

Again, the ship began its slow progression for one hour and again, the long range sensors found nothing. They stopped, and Lt. Uhura switched on the enhanced communications array; another two hours of nothing.

The long Alpha 8 hour shift crawled by. Spock dismissed Uhura, Chekov and Sulu to go to lunch while they traveled for an hour. The long range sensors would notify them if there was anything out there and he could recall them quickly to the bridge if necessary. Mr. Scott refused lunch. He'd grab a sandwich and eat while monitoring the sensor array. He nae would trust anyone but himself with the sensors, he told Spock.

Spock sighed silently. Mr. Scott was even more stubborn than Dr. McCoy. He had no objective data to prove this, but subjectively, he had no doubt.

The three senior officers came back early from lunch and the ship was once more becalmed. Lt. Uhura was back at her station for another two hours when suddenly she held up her hand. "I hear some space chatter, Mr. Spock."

"Put it on speaker, Lieutenant."

Over the bridge speaker they could hear the tinny sound of a transmission; one ship's communication officer speaking with another. "We're taking a long way around; Cap suggests you do the same. We spotted the Romulan War Bird a long way off and gave it a wide berth. We wouldn't stand a chance if they decided they wanted our cargo."

"Where is the War Bird?" Asked the second ship.

"It's parked above a planet several parsecs out. Scout ship, looks like. They ain't moving. Don't know what they're doing way out here. They're supposed to stay on their side of the neutral zone."

"Don't know, don't care. If they're on our side of the neutral zone they're up to no good and we just want to avoid them at all costs. So thanks for the heads up, Triumph. We'll do as you suggest. Mind if we travel together, follow your warp trail? We're empty of cargo, already delivered ours."

"Cap says no problem. He says we all work for the same company and we'll be safer together through this part of space. Cap says keep your phasers hot just in case and be prepared to run if need be."

"Our Captain agrees. Thanks. "Star Gazer out."

The transmission ended and three pair of eyes turned to look at Spock. "It seems our question has been answered," Spock said. "The Romulan War Bird is still parked above Perseus 2." He toggled the chair comm. "Mr. Scott. All stop."

Scotty sputtered. "But, Sir, I was just about to engage the long range sensors for their designated hour."

"You may do so, Mr. Scott, have Mr. Reilly monitor them, but please report to the Ready Room. Additional information has come to us thanks to Lt. Uhura's amplified communication array. We must meet to determine our next course of action."

Spock could hear Mr., Scott's deep sigh. "Aye, Mr. Spock. I'll be there shortly."

"Please arrange for your reliefs," he told the three senior officers. He stood. "Lt. Kyle, you have the con."

Kyle left his bridge station with alacrity and slipped into the chair. He was always happy to log time in the Captain's chair.

"Monitor the sensors carefully at all times. Lt. Kyle, do not take your eyes off the screen. I will return shortly."

"Yes, Mr. Spock."

Spock, Uhura , Sulu and Chekov sat down at the briefing table and waited for Scotty. "Well at least we know the Romulans are still orbiting Perseus," Uhura said. "That saves us a lot of second guessing about their location. They seem in no hurry to leave, I find that odd."

"Maybe they're looking for mineral deposits," Sulu suggested. "The planet certainly has a lot of rock formations."

"Possibly," Spock said, "but conjecture at this point is useless without facts. There may be a number of possible reasons why the War Bird has not moved on."

Scotty came in, greeted everyone and sat down. "Mr. Scott," Spock said. "Lt. Uhura's enhanced communication array has already been of benefit. Please update Mr. Scott, Lieutenant."

Uhura filled Scotty in on the conversation between the two transport freighters and their confirmation about the War Bird's status.

"Well, now that's a pretty kettle of fish," Scotty said. "What now, Mr. Spock? Looks like the War Bird is still stationary."

"That's what we must decide Mr. Scott. Now that we've determined that the Romulan War Bird is still above Perseus 2, we must be careful to not venture too close to the planet. We have the advantage of our enhanced modified sensors and communication array, but we must still take great care not to be detected. As I see it, we can stay here where we are for another period of time, or come up with an alternate plan to retrieve the Captain and Dr. McCoy. I am open to suggestions."

There was quiet around the table for a moment, all of them cognizant of the Captain's orders. Finally Lt. Sulu spoke up. "Mr. Spock. Chekov and I have been talking when we've been off shift. We've been trying to come up with other options to retrieve the Captain and the doctor and we were wondering, Sir, about the feasibility of approaching Perseus 2 from the opposite side of the planet as an alternative. The mass of the planet, its two moons, and the asteroids that are orbiting Perseus could hide us physically, if we navigate very carefully as we come in close to and behind Perseus. They would also block sensor readings from the War Bird. Chekov and I realize we would be blind too; our sensors would also be blocked by the planetary mass, but we would still be able to use the enhanced communication array, and we would at least know when the War Bird moves on, maybe even their plans about when they'll move on. We realize that it would be risky to eavesdrop on the War Bird, Sir, so that part might not work."

Sulu brought up his padd to show Spock. "We thought that maybe Lt. Uhura could program the universal translator so we could eavesdrop and understand them on their comms. I know there are flaws to the plan, like what would we do if they decide to move somewhere away from their parking orbit, or if they detect the eavesdropping, but I think they've already checked the planet like we did when we first arrived, and they know there's nothing of interest on the other hemispheres of Perseus 2. There's just desert and more rocks. Also, we thought maybe Lt. Uhura could disguise the communication array as random space noise." Sulu stopped talking and looked dubiously at the silent Spock.

"What do you think, Mr. Spock?" He asked anxiously.

Spock steepled his fingers thinking about what Sulu had proposed. The plan had merit, but it also had flaws and was risky. It would have to be very carefully implemented. Would that the Admirals had deigned to give Enterprise the prototype of the Romulan cloaking device to test. That would have helped them tremendously in getting closer to Perseus without being detected.

"Your plan has merit, Mr. Sulu, Mr. Chekov. Mr. Scott, your opinion?"

Scotty was busy with his pad working on the algorithms. 'Tis doable, Mr. Spock. Barely doable. We would have to plot our coordinate carefully, very carefully indeed. Calculate the mass of the two moons vs the mass of the ship and choose the right one to hide behind. We must be absolutely sure that we would be safe and invisible behind the Perseus moon with the biggest mass. And, Sir, as per the Captain's orders, we must make absolutely sure the Romulans don't see us. We would also have to stay directly behind the moon at all times and follow its orbit around Perseus. We canna' have any mistakes about that, Mr. Spock."

Spock nodded, doing his own calculations on his padd. "Mr. Chekov, Mr. Sulu, Mr. Scott, please calculate our trajectory and coordinates as well as the alternate route to Perseus' opposite side. I will do the same. We will meet here again in two hours and compare our findings. There is no room for error, gentlemen. Lt. Uhura, please have a plan in place to attempt encrypted communication with the Captain. Perhaps a code would suffice. The Captain is well versed in many types of codes. Your communication array may need further modification to reach the other side of the planet, Lieutenant, if we are behind a moon."

Uhura looked at them, her dark eyes flashing. She drew in a deep breath. "Sir, not to rain on your parade here, but keeping the Captain's orders in mind, shouldn't we just stay here, or get a little closer and monitor the War Bird as we originally planned to do? I'm not comfortable with circumventing or disobeying Captain Kirk's original orders. He was very specific…we were to avoid any contact with the Romulans at all costs. I don't believe he would approve of these plans. There's a high likelihood that we would be spotted by the Romulans if we follow this plan." Her eyes were angry, although she kept her body language relaxed and her voice softly modulated. "I firmly believe the four of you are jumping the gun and acting precipitously. After all, three days is not that long a wait. As you yourself said, Mr. Spock, Captain Kirk is an expert in every aspect of survival training and I have every confidence that's he's kept himself and Dr. McCoy safe and well hidden. As I see it, Sulu and Chekov's plan should be used as a last resort only, but not quite yet. I think we should wait. I do agree we should get a little closer to Perseus, but the rest of the plan should be tabled for now, but of course that is entirely your decision, Sir." She sat back. She had said her piece and now it was up to Mr. Spock. He was the one in command and she didn't envy him one bit. She would die rather than admit it to anyone, but Spock, though a highly competent and skilled officer was not Captain Kirk. His tactical skills didn't, in any way, compare to the Captain's.

The four men stared at her. Uhura was a highly competent officer, brilliant even. The Captain had often voiced his complete faith and trust in her abilities, but she seldom, if ever, imposed her opinions during briefings. The fact that she did now, showed the four men how strongly she felt about their present situation and their plans.

Spock was silent, still staring at her. She refused to wiggle or shift uncomfortably in her chair. Her concerns had been said in a definite yet respectful manner, and she had meant every word. She didn't agree with the plan, and in a briefing such as this one, her opinions were just as valid as everyone else's.

Spock's soft baritone voice broke into her thoughts. "Lieutenant Uhura, you are correct. I commend you for your good sense and caution. In my desire to retrieve the Captain and Dr. McCoy I have been remiss and let myself be swayed from the Captain's explicit orders. Thank you for your insight and plain speaking." Spock sat thinking for a few minutes while they waited silently.

His back ramrod straight, he told them, "we will continue with our original plan and attempt to get somewhat closer to the planet. Lt. Uhura, as soon as you think it appropriate, I would like you to use a code to send a message to the Captain. I suggest the ancient Morse code. The chances of the Romulans being aware of it are nil to none. You will hide the code within normal space static with no filtering. I have no doubt the Captain will recognize it immediately."

Uhura nodded, pleased.

"Mr. Sulu, Mr. Chekov, as your time permits, please continue to work on the course coordinates as well as the two moons' and the planet's mass algorithms in the event we will need them. It is always expedient to have, as the Captain puts it, a plan B in case one is needed."

"Yes, Mr. Spock," came from both officers.

Scotty nodded his agreement. "Mr. Spock, I will be returning to me sensors." He turned to Uhura. "Thank you, lass, for bringing us back to the task at hand."

Spock stood. "You are dismissed to return to your duty stations. Again, Lieutenant Uhura, my thanks for your input."

"You're welcome, Sir. I hope I didn't overstep my bounds," she told him. "It was not my intent to do so, only to give you my perspective."

"Not at all, Lieutenant. Your input was both welcomed and of great value. Please report back to your communication board. We will need your sharp hearing more than ever now."

"Yes, Sir."