DESTINIES ENTWINED

Space.

The Final Frontier.

These are the continuing voyages of the starship, Enterprise.

Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds.

To seek out new lives and civilizations.

To boldly go where no man has gone before.

In the far distance, slowly growing in size it resembled vaguely at this distance, an Aurora Borealis: flaring colors from the fringes, beautiful yet ominous. It was so large, this Cloud, it could envelope an entire solar system. This was noticed by the three ships approaching at warp speed, watching as it continued to grow in size as they came closer. Inside the lead ship, an odd sounding klaxon went off, signaling battle stations, the captain issuing orders in his native language.

"Tactical." The captain ordered.

The view screen switched to a tactical grid showing the luminescent haze to be an enormous blip of light on the screen with two tiny pinpricks of light completing their turn on a direct course toward it. The Patrol was clearly seen on the right of the bottom of the frame... Three tiny ships closing on the steadily growing cloud.

"Visual."

The screen showed the cloud growing ever larger, its colors flaring menacing, mysterious and strangely beckoning.

"Tactical. Stand by on torpedoes." The captain ordered.

The front torpedo hatch slid open, revealing a red glow as a sign the ship was prepared to fire.

"Ready." The captain said.

The growing nearness and enormous size of the Cloud also reflected on the Tactical Grid, somehow more awesome by this schematic view.

The Captain gestured. "Fire!"

One by one, three deadly photon torpedoes blasted from the forward launch tube heading directly toward the Cloud. They glowed briefly and disappear long before they reach their intended target, if they even came close.

"Evasive!" The captain ordered desperately.

Out of the luminescence hurtled a frightening whiplash of energy. It bore down on the patrol, now in an evasive maneuver. Then the bolt hit the third cruiser in a writhing flare of energy which totally engulfed the vessel. The other two ships veered off, warping around again into attack position.

The third ship had begun to implode in on itself, the matter-energy of its existence drained by the whiplash bolt that held it. The remaining two ships resorted to desperately defending themselves, deflector shield up full, rapidly firing their torpedoes. But now a second whiplash energy bolt had emerged from the cloud and hit the second vessel, destroying it like its predecessor.

The bolt glanced off the surviving Cruiser as the ship retreats in a wide, evasive turn, firing from stern tubes.

There was serenity here. A barren, rocky small planetoid softly lit by the myriad stars. This was a small Starfleet outpost, antennae sprouting everywhere. Tiny workers servicing one antenna illustrate the size of the installation.

On the bridge of this station, a technician was monitoring a recording being intercepted by one of the station's surveillance drones. On the adjacent viewer, an English printout of the Klingon's words chattered along the bottom of the picture:

"Imperial Klingon Cruiser Amar...severely damaged by unfamiliar weaponry... intruder unidentified… believe luminescent cloud to be enormous power field surrounding alien vessel... size and description unknown… our sensor scans unable to penetrate. Imperial Klingon Cruiser Amar continuing to attack."

Commander Branch, a young officer, enters hurriedly and scanned the console.

"Our sensor drone is intercepting this on Quad L-14." The lieutenant reported.

"That's within Klingon boundaries. Who are they fighting?" Branch asked.

"Unknown, sir."

A violent explosion inside the Klingon Bridge threw the Klingon Captain's body violently against the bulkhead.

"I have an exterior visual!"

The screen showed an exterior of the Klingon vessel: a final, frightening whiplash energy bolt struck it and imploded in a blast of energy before it vanished. The Starfleet station onlookers reacted to the utter annihilation of the huge cruiser and past where the cruiser just disappeared; the mysterious luminous cloud approaching in distance. The technician hit a switch, magnifying the strange cloud.

"We've plotted a course on that cloud, Commander: it will pass into Federation Space fairly close to us."

"Heading?"

"Sir, it's on a precise heading for Earth."

Milky Way Galaxy
Alpha Quadrant
Sol System
Earth Orbit
Orbital Official Complex

Montgomery Scott could barely believe his eyes as he watched James T. Kirk step off the transporter pad but he knew it was all real.

Along with the new orders that came with him.

"Admiral," Scotty said, earning Kirk's attention. "Those departure hours, Starfleet cannot be serious."

"Why aren't the Enterprise transporters working, Mr. Scott?" Kirk asked, placing his hand on the desk console for recognition.

"A wee problem, sir. Nothing major." Scotty answered before changing the subject. "Admiral, we have just spent eighteen months redesigning and refitting the Enterprise. How in the name of hell do they expect me to have her ready in twelve hours?"

Kirk didn't seem to pay much attention as he entered the nearest shuttle pod. "Take me over, please."

Scotty followed in, taking his place at the controls. "She needs more work, Captain. A shakedown."

"Mr. Scott." Kirk spoke up. "An alien object of unbelievable destructive power is less than three days away from this planet. The only starship in interception range is the Enterprise. Ready or not, she launches in twelve hours."

That was the end of the discussion as the shuttle pod was launched, Scotty programming it to take its passengers to the nearby dry dock where the Enterprise resided.

During the journey Scotty over Scotty was feeling a little talkative. "The crew haven't nearly enough transition time with all the new equipment. And the engines aren't even tested at warp power. And an untried captain…"

"Two and half years at Starfleet Academy may left me a little stale but I wouldn't say untried." Kirk replied, glancing at the confused Scotty. "They gave her back to me, Scotty."

"Gave her back, sir?" Scotty asked, a small smile starting to form. "I doubt it was that easy with Nogura."

Kirk smiled as he spoke, his voice taking a Scottish tone. "You're right."

They had a small laugh with Scotty feeling better now. "Well, any man who would dare such a feat, I would not dare disappoint. She'll launch on time, sir. And she'll be ready."

The rest of trip was silent as Kirk looked out the dry dock, seeing his ship and he could not believe it was the same ship he had commanded for five years.

But he knew in his very soul that this ship was indeed the very one he commanded before and planned to do so again: the USS Enterprise.

The flagship of Starfleet sat in dry dock, still undergoing the final stages of the refit but the changes were immediately noticeable. The cylindrical nacelles were replaced with new angular ones and the warp nacelle struts were connected to the engineering hull much closer to the neck than before. The engineering hull roughly retained its original shape but was much more rounded. The deflector dish was upgraded as well, doing away with the satellite dish architecture and replacing it with an internal unit.

Kirk also noticed what appeared to be a double photon torpedo launcher with a rectangular housing in the neck of the vessel and the new impulse engine was twin port engine built in at the very end of the saucer section just above the neck. The saucer section itself was considerably extended almost twenty meters, while the rest of the surface remained about the same. Docking ports were added at various points to allow secondary craft such as shuttlecraft and travel pods to dock with the Enterprise without needing to enter the shuttle bay.

Scotty knew what the Enterprise meant to Kirk and maneuvered the pod to allow the captain to get a full view of his ship.

The shuttle flew past the redesigned ship and slowly turned around once it had enough distance for Kirk to have a complete view of his ship.

The Enterprise was as beautiful as he remembered, even if it did look different.

The shuttle flew above the saucer section, allowing Kirk to spare a glance at the surrounding dry dock and then down at the saucer, seeing the new bridge dome with an airlock attached to it and the ship's name and registry number proudly displayed across the hull:

USS ENTERPRISE

NCC-1701

The shuttle flew past the saucer section, returning to the rear end and turned around, once again flying past the secondary hull but now much closer until it reached its destination. The shuttle then turned around and once it gained enough distance Scotty set the shuttle to reverse, coming up on airlock and docked perfectly with it.

"Thank you, Mr. Scott." Kirk said once the pod was docked.

Scotty nodded happily. "Aye sir."

It was good to be home.

USS Enterprise
Cargo Bay

'Attention, launch crew, a travel pod is now available at cargo six.'

The first thing Kirk noticed when he stepped onto the Enterprise was that it was just as different on the inside as it was on the outside. It looked entirely new with the crew continuing their work on building an entirely new starship into the bones of an old one.

Still, Kirk was not about to look like some lost ensign on his own ship, refusing any help on finding his way to the bridge and made it look easy y stepping onto a nearby turbolift. One thing he noticed was that the turbolift had no control interface like the previous model but assumed it now used voice command and simply stated his destination. "Bridge."

The familiar humming sound brought a calming effect to the admiral and made him relax, despite what he was likely to encounter.

When the doors he opened he came upon a very busy bridge. He took the chance to take it all, seeing the new bridge design that had changed from a segmented flat-panel peripheral station configuration to a completely circular design, including curved overhead view screens, and railings and steps which matched the arc of the circumference. Of course right now it was in a complete state of disarray with consoles open, fiber optic tubes unconnected and the viewing screen disconnected.

"Captain," A very familiar voice spoke upon noticing him.

Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, the communications officer smiled upon seeing him. "Starfleet just signaled your transfer of command order, sir."

The entire bridge crew seemingly dropped whatever else they were doing, rushing to meet their newly returned commanding officer.

"I appreciate the welcome. I wish the circumstances were less critical." Kirk quickly said, glancing to Uhura. "Epsilon IX is currently monitoring the Intruder, keep a channel open to them."

"Aye sir."

Kirk looked around the bridge. "Where's Captain Decker?"

"He's in engineering, sir." Sulu answered, hesitantly as he looked to the others. "He...He doesn't know."

Kirk was expecting that. "Mr. Chekov."

The officer who had previously been an ensign under the original five year mission answered. "Aye sir."

"Assemble the crew on the recreation deck at 0400 hours. I want to show them what they are facing." His orders made, Kirk stepped back into the turbo lift.

"He wanted her back, he got her." Sulu said with a smile.

"And Captain Decker? He's been with the ship every minute of her refitting." An officer pointed out.

"Ensign, the possibilities of our returning from this mission in one piece may have just doubled."

Engineering

"Engineering to all decks, auxiliary power test in three minutes."

Main engineering was from where the ship's warp was controlled. All thrust and power systems were primarily controlled from this site, and it is also where the main dilithium crystal reactor was located. Right now it was just as busy as the bridge and just as different from before, featuring the new vertical warp core and the horizontal intermix area.

Main engineering was lodged on Decks 14 and 15. Deck 14 was the uppermost level of the engineering hull, and was the anchoring framework for the connecting dorsal and the warp nacelle pylons. On the forward end of the deck was the engineering computer monitoring room, which encircled the cortical intermix shaft and opens, to the rear, into the engineering computer bay. Deck 15 housed the main engineering room, located in the center of the room, and extending for many levels both above and below the deck, was the vertical linear intermix chamber.

This complex, radically new design in intermix technology, provided operational power for the impulse drive system and furnished enough additional energy to power all other shipboard systems. Both matter and antimatter for this chamber were contained in a series of magnetic bottles, which were housed in pods at the base of the intermix shaft.

"Check. Cleary on number six."

"Space matrix restoration coils."

"Dilithium crystals."

"Check Cleary on all decks." Kirk heard Scotty order as he stepped into main engineering.

"Engineering to all decks, auxiliary power test in three minutes. Mark."

Spotting Decker with Scotty Kirk made his way to the nearby elevator and patiently waited for it to take him down to their level.

"I knew it!" He heard Decker say. "The transporter sensor was not activated. Faulty modules."

William Decker, son of the late Commodore Matt Decker who sacrificed his life to help destroy a Doom Machine, was to be the next captain of the Enterprise and Kirk believed he had more than earned that position.

That was why he wasn't looking forward to breaking the news of Kirk's return to the chair.

"Clearly. Put a new backup sensor in the unit." Scotty ordered.

"Aye sir."

Kirk stepped off the elevator and stepped over into Decker's line of sight, surprising the young captain. "Admiral Kirk!" He smiled in greetings. "Well, we're getting a top brass send off. Don't worry, she'll launch on schedule, if we have to tow her out with our bare hands. Right, Scotty?"

Kirk looked back at Scotty who looked a little flushed. "Aye, that we will, sir."

Kirk looked back at Decker. "Let's talk."

"Sure." Decker said, stopping to look at Scotty. "Let me know when that backup's ready."

"Aye sir."

Kirk led Decker into a corner of the engineering where they wouldn't be heard.

"All due, respect sir I hope this isn't some kind of Starfleet pep talk. I'm really too busy." Decker started.

Kirk turned around. "I'm taking over the center seat, Will."

Decker stared, complete surprise etched on his face. "You're what?"

"I'm replacing you as captain of the Enterprise. You'll stay on as executive officer, temporary grade reduction to commander." Kirk continued, noting the small look of outrage on Decker's face.

"You personally are assuming command?" Decker asked, struggling to wrap his mind around it.

"Yeah." Kirk nodded.

"May I ask why?" Decker kept himself calm but it seemed to be a struggle.

"My experience. Five years out there dealing with unknowns like this." Kirk explained. "My familiarity with the Enterprise, its crew."

"Admiral, this is an almost totally new Enterprise. You don't know a tenth of her as well as I do." Decker protested.

"That's why you are staying aboard." Kirk sighed and took a step closer, looking Decker in the eye. "I'm sorry, Will."

Decker wasn't convinced. "No, Admiral. I don't think you're sorry. Not one damn bit."

Kirk looked down for a second, knowing that Decker was right.

"I remember when you recommended me for this command. You told me how envious you were and how much you hoped you'd find a way to get a starship command again." Decker continued, glaring now. "Well sir, it looks like you found a way."

Seeing the conversation was done, Kirk had only one thing to say. "Report to the bridge, commander. Immediately."

Decker nodded grudgingly. "Aye sir."

He walked past Kirk without a word, leaving engineering to find the nearest turbo lift. Kirk shared a look with Scotty, both of them knowing Decker wasn't wrong to feel that way. Unfortunately more bad news when the console Scotty was suddenly let out an electric surge, causing the alarm to go off.

"Transport room, come in!" Cleary turned to Scotty. "Red line on the transporter, Mr. Scott."

Scotty quickly came back to the console, speaking urgently into the comn unit. "Transporter, do not engage."

"It is too late. They are beaming now."

Kirk and Scotty rushed out of engineering to the transporter room.

Transporter Room

The new transporter room featured a floor-to-ceiling transparent aluminum panel through which the transporter operator could view the transport platform. This panel served to shield the operator from the effects of any cumulative radiations emitted by the new transporter machinery, a side effect of the more powerful system.

Unfortunately radiation was the least of the problem the transporter operator, Rand was experiencing at the moment.

By the time Kirk and Scotty had arrived the transport was activated, two pillars of light on the transporter pad with the circuits short circuiting.

"Give it to me." Kirk ordered as he and Scotty took over, trying to save the two arrivals. "Starfleet, boost your matter gain. We need more signal."

Despite their efforts the two shapes inside the transporter lights seemed to get even worse.

"More signal!" Kirk ordered.

"We're losing pattern." Scotty stated.

"Oh no, they're forming." Rand officer spoke, terrified at what she was seeing.

The two crewmembers, what little could be seen of them, looked deformed and one of them let out a agonized scream before they suddenly disappeared.

"Oh my God." Kirk whispered, sharing a look with Scotty. "Starfleet, do you have them?"

The voice over the radio sounded shaken. "Enterprise. What we got back didn't live long…Fortunately."

It took a moment for Kirk to regain his bearings, offering a silent prayer for the lives lost. "Starfleet, Kirk. Please express my condolences to their families. Commander Sonak's can be reached through the Vulcan embassy."

He turned to the transport chief who had turned away. "There was nothing you could have done, Rand. It wasn't your fault."

Less than an hour on the Enterprise and he already lost two crewmembers to a transporter malfunction of all things.

This was one part of the job he did not miss during his time at the admiralty.

Kirk idly wandered down the hall, suddenly realizing that he was lost on his own ship.

"Yeoman," He called out, stopping a woman passing him. "Turbo Shaft Eight?"

"Back that way, sir." She pointed and continued walking.

Straightening himself up, Kirk headed in the pointed direction but stopped when he saw Decker in front of him, looking almost concerned.

"We have to replace Commander Sonak." Kirk stated, stopping in front of Decker. "I'd still like a Vulcan there if possible."

"None available, Captain." Decker said, knowing Kirk's reasons for wanting a Vulcan as his science officer. "In fact there's no one fully rated on this design."

"You are, Mr. Decker." Kirk pointed out to which Decker nodded in agreement. "I'm afraid you're going to have to double as science officer."

He walked past Decker, leaving the new science officer to contemplate his role.

Recreation Area

The new recreation area was a large room in the aft section of the starship's saucer section furnished off-duty personnel with a wide variety of recreational games and entertainment. At the front of the room was an immense, wall-mounted viewing screen. Beneath this was an information display alcove; five small screens exhibited, upon request, a choice of pictorial histories. A raised platform in the center of the lower level floor featured a diversity of electronic entertainment.

Entertainment would not be the room's purpose today.

The view screen showed a recording of three of the new Imperial Klingon K't'inga class cruisers that were said to be more advanced than even the frontline Constitution class firing on a gigantic cloud. The outboard plan of the K't'inga design incorporated the same basic shape and classic design lineage dating back over one hundred years to the D5 class battle cruiser. The K't'inga-cruiser was a direct offshoot in design-lineage from the venerable D7 class battle cruiser. The bulk of the ship's overall mass was incorporated in the aft section of the ship.

The bridge module was located on a bulbous forward section, which was separated from the aft section by a relatively thin connective section that attached to and flared into the aft section. Located on the caudal section of the ship were the ship's impulse engines. Jutting from below the port and starboard side of the ship's aft section were the ship's warp nacelles. Aside from possessing a slightly sleeker shape and contour than its D7-class predecessor, the most notable design variations between the two classes included a less bulbous forward section, a larger bridge dome, differently-designed warp nacelles, and more extensive external hull plating.

The recording showed the three Klingon ships engaging the cloud that was approaching Earth and one by one all of them were destroyed by some form of energy that left absolutely no trace that they even existed.

Naturally this frightened the gathered crew, all of them murmuring to each other and looking afraid, even as Captain Kirk stepped onto the platform to address them. "That's all we know about it. Except that it is now fifty three point four hours away from Earth. Enterprise is the only Federation starship that stands in its way."

The crew was silent, allowing Kirk to continue.

"We assume there is a vessel of some type at the heart of the cloud. Our orders are to intercept, investigate and take whatever action necessary and possible." Kirk continued, watching the crew's reactions. "We can only hope there is a life form aboard that vessel that reasons the way we do."

The intercom whistled, drawing Uhura to it and she answered. "Bridge to captain. Priority signal from Epsilon IX."

"Put it on viewer." Kirk ordered.

"On viewer, sir." Uhura said, drawing the crew's attention to the view screen that showed the station's commander.

"Enterprise. The cloud is definitely a power field of some kind. Measures…My God! Over eighty two AUs in diameter. Must be something incredible inside there generating it." The commander paled. "We're transmitting linguacode, friendship messages on all channels. No response."

"I have a null reading at the center of the cloud." A technician spoke up from behind.

"Definitely something inside there but all scans are being reflected back."

"Some kind of power surge."

"Receiving an odd pattern now!"

"Enterprise, they could be misinterpreting our scans as a hostile act."

"They seem to be reacting to our scans, sir."

"Deflectors, emergency full-" An alarm cut him off. "We are under attack!"

"External view." Kirk quickly ordered and the screen showed the station was it was attacked…and destroyed in the same manner as the Klingon ships.

The crew stared in silent horror, seeing nothing left of Epsilon IX but seeing part of its ominous destroyer.

Kirk stared up at the screen, taking the chance for a moment of silence in honor of the station's crew that had been lost before turning to Uhura. "Viewer off."

Uhura was as stunned as the crew and it took a second order to snap her out of it.

Kirk looked at the crew, knowing they were all scared as he was but his experience as captain allowed him to hide it and be the commanding officer they needed. "Pre-launch countdown will commence in forty minutes."

The crew was dismissed, though many of them were shaken by what they had seen.

But Kirk knew they were ready for this.