Marcus must really think she's an idiot.
Scotty figured out that Harrison used a series of transporters and beamed himself to an uninhabited area on Qo'noS, the Klingon homeworld. When she went to see Marcus, he gave her some crap about war with the Klingons being inevitable. Then, he dropped the bomb that the Kelvin Memorial Archive was really a top secret branch of Starfleet designated to Section Thirty-one that was developing defense technologies and training officers to gather intelligence on the Klingons. Harrison was supposedly one of their top agents.
Feigning concern for her and her crew, Marcus showed her some cool looking torpedoes that he wanted her to shoot at Harrison's location on Qo'noS. His exact words were "You park on the edge of the Neutral Zone, your lock on to Harrison's position, you fire, you kill him and haul ass." Jim knew he was playing them the second the words came out of his mouth. As soon as she and Spock left Marcus' office, and she was alone, she got on the comm with Richard.
"Go to Qo'noS, bring Harrison in for trial. I'll cover for you," the admiral told her.
"Thank you, sir. We'll get back to you as soon as we get back," Jim said before she closed the connection.
"Are you sure you're up for this?" Bones asked as they walked to the shuttle.
"By this, you mean hunting down the man who hurt my mother and killed a bunch of unarmed Starfleet officers, right?" she replied.
"Yea," the southerner said.
"I'm fine, Bones," Jim sighed.
"The hell you are," he gave her a look.
"I'm fine," she reiterated, more to herself then him, as she boarded the shuttle. "Status report, Mister Spock."
"The Enterprise should be ready for launch by the time we arrive," her first officer reported. There was something on the tip of his tongue.
"Speak your mind, Commander," Jim said.
Spock looked at her, "There is no Starfleet regulation that condemns a man to die without a trial, something you and Admiral Marcus are forgetting. Also, preemptively firing torpedoes at the Klingon homeworld goes against…"
"In case you weren't listening, our orders have nothing do with Starfleet regulation," she said. Jim wasn't gonna tell him what Barnett ordered until they were safely on the ship.
"Wait a minute, we're firing torpedoes at the Klingons?" Bones asked from the seat behind Jim.
"Regulations aside, this action is morally wrong," her first officer added.
"No shit," Jim muttered as Bones put a scanner on her face. "Guess it's a good thing that I wasn't asking for your opinion. Bones, get that thing off my face."
"Captain, our mission could start a war with the Klingons. And it is, by its very definition, immoral. Perhaps, you should take a requisite time to arrive at this conclusion for yourself," Spock said.
"What makes you think I haven't. You know me, Spock. Since when do I blindly follow orders?" she gave her first officer a look and something registered because he gave her a slight nod. Their conversation was interrupted when a beautiful blonde woman stepped up to them.
"Captain Kirk, Science officer Wallace. I've been assigned to Enterprise by Admiral Marcus. These are my transfer orders," the woman, Wallace, said in a crisp British accent, holding out her PADD.
"You requested an additional science officer, Captain?" Spock asked as Jim looked over the information on the PADD.
"I wish I had. Lieutenant Carol Wallace. Doctorate in Applied Physics, specializing in advanced weaponry," Jim said.
"Impressive credentials," her first officer said.
"Thank you," Carol gave Spock a small smile. Jim was too busy trying to figure out where she's seen this woman before. The file says that Carol graduated from the Academy in '58 like Jim, Bones and most of their friends but Jim couldn't recall a Wallace on their final class roster.
"But redundant as I am on the Enterprise," Spock said.
"Yes, and yet, the more the merrier," Jim told her first officer. She wanted to know what this woman was up to and the only way to do that was to take her along. "Have a seat, doctor."
"No, I'm not signing anything! Now, get these bloody things off of my ship!" Scotty yelled. "Captain!"
"Is there a problem, Mister Scott?" she asked.
"Aye, lass. I was just explaining to this gentlemen, that I cannot authorize any weapons on board this ship without knowing what's inside them," her chief engineer said.
"Mister Scott raises yet another point, that…" Spock started.
"Report to the bridge," Jim told her first officer. She handed him the PADD in her hands and he gave her a nod before he walked away. "Scotty, I understand your concerns, but we need these torpedoes on board."
"Due respect, ma'am, but photon torpedoes run on fuel. Now I cannae detect the type of fuel that's in the compartments on these torpedoes, because it's shielded. Now I asked for the specifications, but he said…" Scotty pointed at the torpedo security guard behind him.
"It's classified," the man of Hispanic decent said.
"It's classified. So I said, no specs, no signature!" Scotty told her.
"Captain," a voice called from the catwalk above them. She looked up at Sulu. "Flight checks complete. We're good to go, ma'am."
"Thank you, Mister Sulu," she said. He gave her a quick nod and Jim turned her attention back to Scotty.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a warp core to prime," Scotty said as he walked away.
"Jim, your vitals are way off," Bones muttered.
"Report to sickbay, now," Jim ordered. "Scotty." She caught up to him. "I need you to approve those weapons."
"Do you know what this is, Captain?" he asked her.
"The warp core that I designed. It's a radioactive catastrophe waiting to happen," she said.
"Exactly, a subtle shift in magnetic output from, say, firing one or more of six dozen torpedoes with an unknown payload, could start a chain reaction which will kill every living thing on this ship," Scotty said.
"Who said I was gonna fire them?" Jim whispered.
"Aren't those our orders?" he asked her quietly, aware that there were plenty of people around.
"We've known each other for twelve years, Monty. Of all the people on this ship, you should know better," she said.
"Ye dinnae plan to follow our orders but something's up with the torpedoes so you want them on the ship so that I can look 'em over?" her friend asked. Jim smiled and shrugged. "Ye sneaky wee... Fine, I'll sign for them. Just dinnae use the bloody things."
"Wasn't planning on it."
"I need a favor," Jim said as she walked onto Gavin's room. They haven't assigned him a new roommate since Prescott's death, so she knew they'd be alone.
"Name it and it's yours," he said as he pulled his red uniform shirt on. Jim sat on his bed.
"I need a security checks on everyone on the ship, save Bones, Scotty, Spock, Uhura, Gaila, Chekov, Sulu, me and you," she told him. "My mom warned me that something was going on then she got shot. I don't buy that it's a coincidence. Start with our newest additions and work your way out. Bones says you can use his office, that way no one will know you're doing something for me and you'll have more access."
"Consider it done," Gavin said. "You okay?"
"Not really. We're being played and I don't like it," Jim sighed.
"Well, if anyone can figure it out, it's you," he said.
"Finally, someone with unwavering faith in me," she chuckled.
"They've been fighting with you?" Cupcake asked. She nodded her response. "Well, none of them understand how your brain works. To be fair, neither do I. But I know your heart and I know that you wouldn't have us running into danger without a damn good reason."
"How do you always know what I need to hear?" Jim whispered.
"No idea, short stack," Gavin said before pressing a soft kiss against her lips. "We have work to do."
"You sure I can't just hide in here with you?" she asked.
"We could but I doubt the universe is gonna wait for us."
"Captain on the bridge," Chekov said as she stepped onto the bridge.
"Retract all moorings, Mister Sulu," she said as she sat in the command chair.
"Yes, ma'am," Sulu said, his hands moving over the helm console.
"Lieutenant Uhura, open a ship wide channel," Jim ordered.
"Yes, Captain," the communications officer said.
"We're ready for warp eight, ma'am," Sulu told her.
"Alright, let's ride," she said.
"Channel open, ma'am," Uhura said as the ship took off.
"Attention, crew of the Enterprise. As most of you know, there have been two attacks on Starfleet facilities in as many days, with over sixty officers killed or injured. The man responsible has fled our system and is hiding on the Klingon homeworld, somewhere he believes we are unwilling to go. We are on our way there now. Per Admiral Marcus, it is essential that our presence go undetected. Tensions between the Federation and the Klingon Empire have been high, any provocation could lead to an all-out war." She chanced a glance at Spock before she continued. "I will personally lead a landing party to an abandoned city on the surface of Qo'noS, where we will capture the fugitive John Harrison, and return him to Earth so he can face judgment for his actions. Alright, let's go get this son of a bitch, Kirk out."