James T Kirk: DS9
Not Hearts; Diamonds
(Author's notes…thank you Miriel's Granddaughter and Cleanwriter1987 for your kind words about this story…means much!)
Commodore Edwin Jellico shimmered into existence aboard the USS Diamond.
The Diamond was not only the name of the ship, but the ship was also, roughly, in the shape of a diamond. It had been constructed using top-secret technology which Starfleet had obtained from captured Borg assets, and data obtained by the USS Voyager on her way back home from the Delta-Quadrant. Voyager had encountered the Borg many times, and those encounters gave Starfleet invaluable data.
Greeting Jellico in the Diamond's Transporter room was the commander of the USS Diamond; Captain Benjamin Maxwell.
"Edwin," Captain Maxwell said, "how are you?"
"A little more white in my hair," Commodore Jellico replied with a smile, "but still hanging on with my fingers."
Commodore Jellico stepped off of the Transporter pad and shook his old friend's hand.
"Ben, it is really good to see you in command again," Commodore Jellico said with a smile. "If we he had more officers like you, perhaps the Dominion War would have lasted half as long."
"You're too kind," Captain Maxwell replied, "though the sentiment is welcomed. You have no idea how hard it was to watch that war unfold while serving time at the penal colony in New Zealand."
"And yet," Jellico said, "here you are, commanding one of our most advanced projects."
"Yes," Maxwell said with a smile, "another one of life's twists."
"Well, I hope you can help me out here," Jellico said, "I could really use a good run of luck."
The two longtime friends made their way out of the transporter room. And as they made their way down the corridors, Jellico noticed that there seemed to be no one else aboard but them.
"Edwin, I don't mean to sound rude," Maxwell said, "but how did you become aware of the Diamond? And the fact I am not still incarcerated is supposedly as top-secret as the Diamond project itself."
"As you know," Jellico began to explain, "James T Kirk has returned from the ashes of history. He is under the impression that an element inside of Starfleet, with tacit support from the Federation, is out to kill him."
"Yes, I heard," Maxwell came back with. "Kirk is a legend; one that I am fond of."
"Ben, I need you to look at the bigger picture here," Jellico said. "Even a legend can't go around stealing Starfleet property on a whim."
"And you think Project Diamond can find Kirk, and bring him and the Defiant back," Maxwell finished for Jellico.
"Yes," Jellico said. "It's that simple. And since you're wondering, I actually only heard of the Diamond two days ago. I received a priority message from Admiral T'nor, and he gave me a brief description of project Diamond, and suggested it be deployed to find Kirk and the Defiant. "
"First off," Maxwell continued, "what about the explosion on Deep Space Nine? Rumor has it that the attack was the act of a terrorist. How can we be sure that Kirk is wrong? Perhaps the attack was an attempt to take his life?"
"I am not denying that there could be an element of truth to Kirk's claim, but that isn't the point." Jellico said. "If there are rouge forces inside of Starfleet, then I would be the first to support Kirk, but it has to be done in the open. Stealing Starfleet property, and kidnapping Starfleet officers, is not the way to go about proving these allegations."
Maxwell nodded in agreement.
"Jim Kirk, like it or not Edwin, is more than just an ordinary man," Maxwell explained. "When I heard he had come back, briefly, on Veridian III, I was floored." Maxwell and Jellico entered a Turbo-lift. "And now this Jim Kirk comes from another time, but this Kirk isn't the same man as the one before. This Kirk is more like the man we read about in the academy, the one with the old gold and yellow command shirt. He comes from a time when Starship Captains were like old-West Marshalls, maintaining the law."
"You're just as taken with him as Captain Picard and Benjamin Sisko," Jellico said with a slight chuckle.
"Trust me," Maxwell said, "I would never want to be compared to Jean-Luc Picard, but in this instance, I understand his sentiment towards Kirk."
The Turbo-lift opened, and the two men exited. Jellico gasped as he looked around what appeared to be the bridge of the Diamond.
"Is this your bridge? Where's your crew?" Jellico asked.
"I am the command crew," Maxwell replied.
The bridge was roughly rectangular but half the size of Jellico's Sovereign-class bridge. And instead of the typical layout, command chair—helm navigation control—Communications-tactical and science stations, there was just a command chair with an object, globed shape, situated in front of the command chair, about the size of a standard computer.
"What kind of ship is this?" Jellico asked as he followed Maxwell towards the command chair.
"Project Diamond," Maxwell said, as he sat down in the command chair. "This entire ship can be operated from this chair, by using that little miracle." He pointed at the globe device, which was nearly translucent and was spinning at a very low rate.
"Okay, I'll bite," Jellico said, "what is that thing."
"A coming together of Borg technology and the finest of Starfleet technology," Maxwell replied softly. "When I sit in this chair, the device literally scans my mind, and executes what I tell it to do. The device which is a prototype was constructed at the Daystrom Institute. In fact, it is actually based on original schematics that Dr. Richard Daystrom had come up with, shortly before his death. As you recall, he had designed a device, much like this one, that could practically run a Starship on its own."
"Yes, I do recall, but it malfunctioned," Jellico, "and if I recall, it was Kirk's Enterprise that first tested the device."
"Yes," Maxwell replied. "Daystrom had redesigned the programming, but his new design was lost over the decades. Then came our encounters with the Borg, and the Dominion, and this little device was found again, quite literally, in a trash heap at the Daystrom institute. It was retooled there, using Borg tech, and now with a surgical implant right here," Maxwell tapped the side of his head, "I can command it."
"I've never heard of this program," Jellico said, with a tinge of worry in his voice.
"They needed someone with tactical experience," Maxwell went on to say, "and someone who would also be willing to risk their life if the process didn't work. The amount of secrecy was incredible, and it worked, here I am."
{{{HE IS NOT ONE OF US. HE IS A THREAT TO THE MONUMENT.}}}
(readers; only Maxwell can "hear"the telepathic message…)
"So you control this Diamond shaped ship with your mind," Jellico, "it is impressive; but how can it be enough to stop Kirk?"
The main screen activated.
"Just take a look," Maxwell said with confidence in his voice.
The main screen showed the vastness of space, but nothing out of the ordinary.
{{{DO NOT CONTINUE MAXWELL; HE IS NOT ONE OF US}}}
I believe I can make him one of us
{{{NO, I HAVE SCANNED HIS MIND. HE CANNOT BE ONE OF US.}}}
And then, as Jellico stared at the main screen full of stars, four Akira-class starships de-cloaked.
"What ships are those," Jellico asked.
"My ships," Maxwell said. "They have no crews. I control them with my mind, and my thoughts. I can transfer energy levels, independently, fire weapons…all from this command chair."
"Are you telling me," Jellico said, as he now looked at Maxwell, "that you're not only controlling this ship, but those other four as well, and you're doing all of this via some sort of Borg mental interlink with that thing?" Jellico asked, pointing at the strange globe device, which was now spinning at a faster rate.
"Exactly," Maxwell said, "isn't it incredible."
"Ben," Jellico said, "controlling five independent starships, as well as their energy levels, all at the same time, could not be from the mind of an ordinary man."
"As I told you," Maxwell said, "the person they found for this project had to be willing to risk their life, and so I did."
"They did something to you?" Jellico asked. "They did something to your mind so that you could control multiples such as these?"
"Exactly Edwin," Maxwell said. "And they need more volunteers. Good men like you and me. I told them a great deal about you, you could be one of us."
Jellico stared at the four ships on the screen.
MAXWELL: JELLICO HAS HIS DOUBTS AND HAS HIS DOUBTS ABOUT YOUR SANITY. HE CAN NOT BE ALLOWED TO RETURN.
But he is my friend.
NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE MONUMENT.
"Edwin," Maxwell said finally, "we can use you. There is another Diamond Fleet being constructed."
"Join you for what purpose?" Jellico asked. "All I want is for Kirk to face justice. Thank you for showing me this top-secret Starfleet project, but I better get back to my ship."
"Edwin," Maxwell said, "this ship only needs two crew members, I am one of them. The other crew member is on another deck, and he is a Betazoid. My half of the partnership is to do the tactical work, the grunt work. His job is to probe the mind of whom ever we encounter."
"Is he probing my mind now?" Jellico asked.
THIS STRATEGY WILL NOT WORK
Perhaps, but it is the only chance I have to save my friend.
THAT IS TRUE
"Yes he is probing your mind," Maxwell replied. "I know you think I've lost my mind, and that what we are doing here is an abomination. But trust me, this is the future."
Jellico began to understand more to this meeting.
"You're part of the conspiracy to kill James Kirk, aren't you?" Commodore Jellico asked.
"Yes I am, old friend." Maxwell said. "Kirk could get in the way of what must be accomplished."
"I think I better leave now," Jellico said. "I don't want to hear any more of this."
"You can't," Maxwell said, with sorrow in his voice. "It is too late now," he added, as he motioned toward the screen.
Jellico looked at the main screen and watched as the four Akira-class ships, under the control of Maxwell, swarmed over Jellico's ship, and blasted it into oblivion.
"What have you done?" Jellico yelled, as he grabbed Maxwell by the neck. "There were over seven hundred people on that ship!"
Suddenly Jellico's mind was rocked by intense waves of pain, so intense in fact, he fell to the ground in absolute pain, and then he shimmered away, beamed into the icy infinity of space, where he died instantly.
THE MONUMENT MUST SURVIVE. I READ HIS MIND, JELLICO WOULD NEVER HAVE ACCEPTED THE EXISTENCE OF SUCH A NEW ORDER.
You never know, he may have in time. But it's done now, and my friend is gone. I know Admiral T'nor is worried about Kirk. But how can one man pose such a threat to the Monument?
IT IS NOT OUR CONCERN AS TO WHY. WE MUST FIND KIRK AND DESTROY HIM, AND ANYONE ELSE THAT CAN PREVENT WHAT MUST BE.
Finding Kirk will not be as easy as you think, especially since he has the Defiant.
HE IS GETTING SUPPORT FROM AMBASSADOR SPOCK. THE MONUMENT HAS CONCLUDED THAT SPOCK WILL ENLIST THE AID OF HIS OWN SON, COMMANDER S'VATH. PLOT COURSE FOR TRIANGULI GAMMA VI.
And with that, the Diamond, which was in the center of a diamond fleet formation with the other four ships, cloaked, as the other ships did as well, and headed for the distant world, to destroy an unsuspecting James T Kirk.