Kiya's P.O.V.
It took a while but I finally managed to convince Bones to discharge me from the medical facility. After I was discharged I immediately headed towards the bar I knew Jim would be in. On the way to the bar, I heard gunfire from the direction of Starfleet HQ. So naturally, I didn't hesitate to run towards the commotion.
We were kept at Starfleet headquarters to give statements of the night's events. After we were released I took Jim back to his apartment. He hasn't said much since everything happened. Christopher Pike gave us a chance that no one else would have, We both owed him so much. He was very much a father figure to the both of us and now he's gone.
Jim is currently sitting on the couch just staring into space. I'm leaning against the doorframe just watching him. It wasn't until he ran his hands across his face that I sighed and walked over to him. I sat down on the coffee table, placed my hands on either side of his face and said
"Talk to me. Tell me what you need?" He just reached up and held onto my wrists as a single tear fell down his face. I wiped it away with my thumb as he went to say something but was cut off by his communicator beeping. I pulled my hands back as he wiped his eyes and pulled out his communicator
"Yeah?"
"Commander, Mister Scott has found something in the wreckage of Harrison's ship. He has asked to see us right away"
"We'll be right there"
~~~~~
We quickly met up with Spock and ran to the plaza where Scotty was waiting
"Captain! I found this in the crashed jump ship, sir. This is how the bastard got away" Scotty handed the device to Jim. Jim looked at it and said
"What do you mean?"
"It's a portable transwarp beaming device" I then said
"Well, can you figure out where he went?"
"I already did, and you're not gonna like it" Scotty pressed a couple of buttons on the device, bringing up some coordinates. 43 89 26 05. Scotty then said
"He's gone to the one place we, we just can't go" I recognised the coordinated and muttered
"Fuck" Jim then said
"We need to talk to the Admiral"
Without a seconds hesitation, we went up to Admiral Marcus's office. Some of the officers tried to stop me but I just flashed my red eyes and they backed off. We entered the Admirals office only to see him in the middle of a meeting
"...Triple security..." Jim then interrupted the meeting
"Admiral, sir, he's not on Earth. He's on Qo'noS, sir. I request my command be reinstated and your permission to go after him" Everyone in the room then looked at us for a second. Marcus then said
"Give us a minute" those sat in the meeting then got up and quickly left the room.
Marcus then walked past us and simply said
"Qo'noS" I then answered him
"Yes, sir."
"So Harrison's gone to the Klingon homeworld. Is he defecting?"
"Er, we're not sure, sir." Spock then said
"He has taken refuge in the Ketha Province, a region uninhabited for decades" Jim then said
"He's got to be hiding there, sir! He knows if we even go near Klingon space, it'd be an all-out war. Starfleet can't go after him, but I can. Please, sir" Marcus then said
"All-out war with the Klingons is inevitable, Mister Kirk. If you ask me, it's already begun. Since we first learned of their existence, the Klingon Empire has conquered and occupied two planets that we know of and fired on our ships half a dozen times. They are coming our way. London was not an archive. it was a top-secret branch of Starfleet designated Section 31. They were developing defence technology and training our officers to gather intelligence on the Klingons and any other potential enemy who means to do us harm. Harrison was one of our top agents"
Jim quickly said
"Well, now he's a fugitive and I want to take him out" Marcus looked at him for a second before saying
"Pike always said you were one of our best and brightest. You should have heard him defend you. He's the one who talked you into joining Starfleet, both of you, wasn't he?" I briefly looked at Jim and when I saw a pained look in his eyes I said
"Yes, sir. He gave us a chance no one else would" Marcus looked at me, smiled and said
"Did he ever tell you who talked him into joining? His death is on me. And yours can't be" Jim stepped forward and said
"Sir, please. All I…" Marcus cut him off by turning to Spock and saying
"Mister Spock, you said the province where Harrison is hiding is uninhabited?" Spock quickly replied
"Affirmative, sir"
"As part of our defensive strategy, 31 developed a new photon torpedo…" He brought up a hologram of the new torpedoes and continued
"Long-range and untraceable, it would be invisible to Klingon sensors. I don't want you hurt, but I want to take him out. You park on the edge of the Neutral Zone, you lock onto Harrison's position, you fire, you kill him and you haul ass" Jim then said
"Permission to reinstate Mister Spock as my First Officer"
"Granted"
~A few hours later~
Before we knew we were at the Starfleet shuttle hanger ready to head back up to the Enterprise. I'm still not completely healed so once back on the Enterprise I have to take things easy and have regular check-ins with Bones. I'm currently walking with Jim towards the shuttle when a familiar voice echoed through the hanger
"Jim! Where were you?" We looked around and saw Bones making his way over to us. Jim looked back and said
"For what?"
"Your medical exam. Ten hours ago, you were in a damn firefight. Now it's my duty as ship's…" Jim cut him off
"I'm fine, Bones"
"The hell you are"
"I'm fine" Jim then carried on walking. I looked at Bones and said
"I've tried. He won't talk about what happened"
Nothing else was said as we boarded the shuttle.
As we boarded the shuttle Jim sat down a seat over from Spock and said
"Status report, Mister Spock" Bones and I sat on the row behind as Spock replied
"The Enterprise should be ready for launch by the time we arrive"
"Good. Good"
"Captain. Thank you for requesting my reinstatement"
"You're welcome" Bones then broke out some of his medical supplies and started scanning Jim.
Completely ignoring what Bones was doing Spock said
"As I am again your First Officer, it is now my duty to strongly object to our mission parameters" Jim sighed and said
"Of course it is"
"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…" Jim cut him off again
"You yourself said the area's uninhabited. There's only going to be one casualty. And in case you weren't listening, our orders have nothing to do with Starfleet regulation…" Bones then cut him off by saying rather loudly
"Wait a minute. We're firing torpedoes at the Klingons?" I smacked his arm and said
"Say that a little louder Bones"
My comment just went unnoticed by Jim and Spock. Bones gave me a side glance as Spock spoke
"Regulations aside, this action is morally wrong" Jim looked round the scanner Bones had near his face and said
"Regulations aside, pulling your ass out of a volcano was morally right. And I didn't win any points for that" He was pissed. The scanner then started beeping and Bones quickly said
"Whoa, Jim, calm down" Bones just ignored him
"I'm not going to take ethics lessons from a robot!" Spock then said
"Reverting to name-calling suggests that you are defensive and therefore find my opinion valid"
"I wasn't asking for your opinion…" Bones then pressed something against Jim's cheek causing Jim to quickly say
"Bones, get that thing off my face." Bones moved the scanner away as Spock said
"Captain, our mission could start a war with the Klingons and it is, by its very definition, immoral. Perhaps you should take the requisite time to arrive at this conclusion for yourself"
"Captain Kirk"
We all looked over and saw an unfamiliar blonde woman standing there. Jim immediately sat up straighter in his chair as she continued to speak
"Science Officer Wallace. I've been assigned to the Enterprise by Admiral Marcus. These are my transfer orders" She handed over her transfer orders as Spock said
"You requested an additional science officer, Captain?" Jim glanced at him and said
"I wish I had" I couldn't ignore the dull ache in my heart after he said that. My discomfort didn't go unnoticed as Bones discreetly placed a comforting hand on my knee. It wasn't a secret that Jim and I obviously have feelings for each other, it's just unclear how far those feelings stretch. Sometimes it's infuriating because I just don't know where I stand with him.
I didn't look up as Jim spoke
"Lieutenant Carol Wallace. Doctorate in applied physics specialising in advanced weaponry" Spock then said
"Impressive credentials" Lieutenant Wallace then said
"Thank you"
"But redundant now that I am back aboard the Enterprise" Jim then said
"And yet, the more the merrier. Have a seat, Doctor"
"Thank you" She sat down between Jim and Spock. As she sat down, she leaned slightly towards Jim as the pilot of the shuttle Spock
"Shuttle crew, stand by for lift-off"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As we walked through the engineering deck the first clear voice we heard was Scotty's
"No! I'm not signing anything! Now, get these bloody things off my ship! Captain!" Scotty turned to face us just as Jim said
"Is there a problem, Mister Scott?"
"Aye, sir. I was just explaining to this gentleman that I cannae authorise any weapons on board this ship without knowing what's inside them"Spock then stepped forward and said
"Mister Scott raises yet another point that the…" Jim cut him off
"Report to the bridge"
"Captain"
As Spock walked away, Jim turned back to Scotty and said
"Mister Scott, I understand your concerns, but we need these torpedoes on board"
"Due respect, sir, 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…" he pointed to the security guard as the guard said
"It's classified"
"It's classified. So I said, no specs, no signature!" Sulus voice then came over Jim's com link
"Captain. Flight check's complete. We're good to go, sir"
"Thank you, Mister Sulu"
"Yes, sir" Scotty then spoke again
"Now if you'll excuse me, sir, I have a warp core to prime…" he turned but when he saw Kenser sat on one of the torpedos he yelled
"Get down!" As he walked off Bones said
"Jim, your vitals are way off" Jim just looked at him and said
"Report to the med bay... Scotty!"
I followed Jim as he went after Scotty.
"Scotty, I need you to approve those weapons" they stopped near the Warp core as Scotty turned around and said
" Do you know what this is, Captain?" Jim rolled his eyes and said
"I don't have time for a lecture, Scotty."
"Do you know what this is?"
"Aye. it's a warp core."
"It's a radioactive catastrophe waiting to happen. A subtle shift in magnetic output from, say, firing one or more of six dozen torpedoes with an unknown payload could set off a chain reaction which would kill every living thing on this ship. Letting those torpedoes on board the Enterprise is the last straw."
"What was the first straw?"
"What was the? There are plenty of straws. How about Starfleet confiscating my transwarp equation? And now some madman's using it to hop across the galaxy. Where'd you think he got it from?" The anger and tension was growing between the pair
"We have our orders, Scotty"
"That's what scares me. This is clearly a military operation. ls that what we are now? Because I thought we were explorers" Jim took a step towards him and said
"Sign for the torpedoes, that's an order" Scotty briefly looked at me before looking back and saying
"Right, well, you leave me no choice but to resign my duties" I went to take a step towards them to interfere but stopped myself when Jim said
"Oh, come on, Scotty"
"You're giving me no choice, sir. I will not stand by…" Jim cut him off
"You're not giving me much of a choice. Will you just make an exception and sign…" Scotty then cut him off
"Do you accept my resignation or not?" Jim then yelled
"I do!" Both Scotty and I were immediately taken back by Jim's sudden outburst. Jim then straighten up and said
"I do. You are relieved, Mister Scott"
"Jim, for the love of God, do not use those torpedoes" Scotty handed his PADD to Jim and walked away. Kenser then handed over his PADD and followed Scotty
"Attention. Warp core anti-matter containment check in three minutes"
I just stood there in disbelief at what I just saw. I then turned to Jim and said
"What the hell was that?!"
"Leave off, Kiya" he began walking away, but I grabbed his hand and pulled him back to look at me not letting go of his hand
"What just happened with Scotty, that was not you! I know you're hurting because I am too. But this… You're like a different person right now" He pulled his hand out of mine and said
"I'm doing what needs to be done. Now I want you on the bridge before I get there" I didn't want to fight, not here, not like this. So instead I said through gritted teeth
"Yes, sir!"
So as my Captain requested I had got changed and was on the bridge before him. I was already at my station running a diagnostic of the ships security systems when I heard the door slide open and then Jims voice
"Your ears burning?" I looked up slightly only to see him walk past Spock.
Jim then walked over to the front desk as Chekov spoke
"Captain on the bridge!"
"Captain" Jim stood next to Chekov and said
"Mister Chekov. You've been shadowing Mister Scott. You are familiar with the engineering systems of this ship?"
"Affirmative, sir"
"Good. You're my new Chief. Go put on a redshirt" He hesitated before standing up and saying
"Aye, Captain" He then walked off the bridge.
Jim then turned around and sat down in his chair whilst saying
"Retract all moorings, Mister Sulu"
"Yes, sir."
"Docking clamps one, two, and three are released"
"All moorings retracted" Jim then looked over his shoulder and said
"Lieutenant Uhura, open a shipwide channel"
"Yes, sir" As she did that Jim opened a com link down to engineering
"Mister Chekov, how are we looking down there?"
"All systems nominal, Captain"
"Copy that"
"Warp available at your command"
"Thank you, Mister Chekov." Jim then looked at Sulu and said
"All right. Let's ride"
"Yes, sir" We were then soon in warp…
Shortly after going into warp Uhura turned around and said
"Channel open, sir" Jim then took a deep breath and said
"Attention, crew of the Enterprise. As most of you know, Christopher Pike, former captain of this ship and our friend, is dead. The man who killed him 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…" Jim briefly glanced over at me before looking back at Spock.
He hesitated before continuing
"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 judgement for his actions. All right. Let's go get this son of a bitch. Kirk out" After saying he was going to bring Harrison in, I let out a small breath of relief. Spock then got up and went over to Jim whilst saying
"Captain, I believe you have made the right decision. if I can be of assistance, I would be happy to accompany you on the away team" Jim looked up at him, smiled and said
"You? Happy?"
"I was simply attempting to use your vernacular to convey an idea"
"Thank you, Mister Spock" Spock then turned and left the bridge.
~~~~~
An alarm then started flashing up on my screens
"Captain?!" He turned around in his seat but before I could say any more a sudden jolt knocked everyone off their feet. My already aching ribs were slammed against my workstation. I stood up as Sulu said
"Engineering manually dropped us out of warp, sir" Jim launched out of his chair and opened a comms channel
"Mister Chekov, did you break my ship?"
"Sorry, sir. I don't know what happened. The core overheated. I had to activate the emergency stop. It must be a coolant leak. I need time to find it. Sorry, Captain"
"Damn it. Mister Sulu, time to our destination" Sulu looked around and said
"Twenty minutes, sir. That's twenty minutes in enemy space we weren't counting on"
"All right, we'd better hop to it. Where's Spock?" Spock then walked onto the bridge
"Here, Captain" Jim looked at him and said
"You're coming with me to Qo'noS. Lieutenant, how's your Klingon?" Uhura looked at him and then said
"it's rusty, but it's good. toHq, a'Niq?
"Good, you're coming too. This isn't going to be a problem, is it, you two working together?" Spock looked at Uhura who quickly answered
"Absolutely not" she then walked away causing Spock to say
"Unclear"
"I'll meet you in the shuttle bay" Spock then followed her.
Jim then briefly looked at me before looking at Bones and said
"Bones, Is Commander Tano cleared for combat?" I was taken back by him suddenly calling me Commander and judging by the look on everyone else faces, I'm not the only one. However, before Bones answered I stepped forward and spoke
"We both know despite what he says, I'm going down there. So why even bother, Captain?" Jim just looked at me. He went to say something but Bones spoke first
"Jim, you're not actually going down there, are you? You don't rob a bank when the getaway car has a flat tyre" Jim then pressed a button on his chair and said
"I'm sure Engineering will have us all patched up by the time we get back. Isn't that right, Mister Chekov?"
"Yes, Captain. I'll do my best, sir."
Jim turned to Sulu and said
"Mister Sulu, you have the conn. Once we're en route, I want you to transmit a targeted comm burst to Harrison's location. You tell him you have a bunch of really big torpedoes pointed at his head and if he doesn't play nice, you're not afraid to use them. Is that a problem?" Sulu looked up at him, hesitated and said
"No, sir. I've just never sat in the chair before"
"You're gonna do great" Jim and I then started walking towards the door. As we did Bones stopped us by saying
"Jim, wait. You just sat that man down at a high stakes poker game with no cards and told him to bluff. Now Sulu's a good man, but he is no captain" Jim briefly looked at Sulu before saying
"For the next two hours, he is. And enough with the metaphors, all right? That's an order...Mister Sulu, make sure that the K'normian ship is ready to fly"
After leaving the bridge the four of us immediately went off the get changed. I got changed out of my uniform and into something I would wear normally back on earth; A pair of black biker jeans, a black baggy t-shirt, black combat boots, and a well worn black waterfall style biker jacket. I had also changed my hair so it was pulled back into a half braid half-ponytail style. I left my quarters whilst pulling on a pair of black wrap fingerless gloves.
Soon enough we were back together and walking down to the hanger bay.
"Acting Captain Sulu to Shuttle Bay Two. Please have the trade ship we confiscated during the Mudd incident last month fuelled and flight-ready. Captain Kirk is en route to you now" As we got closer to the ship Spock spoke
"Ready to deploy, Captain" Spock and Uhura then boarded the ship. I stood in the doorway as Jim went over to the two Lieutenants and said
"Lieutenants, lose the red shirts. You are K'normian arms dealers. Put those on" He handed them each a bag. Lieutenant Hendorff then said
"Sir?"
" Look, if this thing goes south, there can be nothing tying us to Starfleet. Unless of course, you want to start a war, Mister Hendorff"
"No, sir"
"No, sir" Jim patted their shoulders and said
"Good. Me neither" Jim then walked up the ramp. As he went to pass me he said
"Are we gonna have a problem or are we good?" I looked up at him and said
"That depends"
"On?"
"On what happens down on Qo'noS" I took a step closer to him and took his hand in both of mine and said
"Jim, I'm begging you. Don't cross that line. If our history means anything, if what we've been through together means anything to you, please don't go down a path you know I can't follow"