"Yup, and then twist, block, good girl, jab, okay, good job. Next time bring your foot forward, move your center of balance lower, just a bit." Giotto gave her a thumbs-up. "Nice. Go again."
Elle squared up against the ensign from seucirty.
Just as Giotto said "Start", the Red Alert began to blare. "Elle, quarters," he ordered, and he and Ensign Mai ran out.
Elle hurried to her quarters. She took a lightning fast shower and put on regular clothes. What episode was this? Or was this even an episode? She laced up her sneakers and checked the computer.
"Red alert. Intruder alert. Security to Engineering. Security to Life Support. Security to bridge. Repeat, intruder-" The all call fell silent.
Elle grabbed her tribble and hugged it. What was going on?
The all-call clicked back on. It wasn't Uhura's voice. "Crew of the Enterprise. We are the Kelvans. We have taken control of your ship. We have your captain and away party on the planet. Do not resist or the non-essential personnel will be eliminated."
Elle's stomach dropped to her toes. The Kelvans were ruthless in their episode, and as far as non-essential, she was pretty darn. She took a deep breath. Her orders were to stay in her quarters. Hopefully they wouldn't do a room by room sweep and she could stay hidden till the captain got back. She sunk into the sofa corner. There was nothing she could do.
One of the Kelvans appeared in her cabin a moment later.
She stood up hastily.
He blinked at her. "You are a child."
"Yes."
"Come with me. Leave the animal."
She dropped Simba back in its space and allowed herself to be ushered out. She contemplated resisting but she definitely didn't want to be cubed or destroyed. "Okay."
He took her down to engineering and put her in front of a defiant-looking engineering crew, frozen but still aware. "You will configure the Enterprise to the given specifications. This vessel will journey past the galactic barrier and go to the Andromeda galaxy for the glory of the Kelvan empire. Your orders are given," he said, and put the little device up to Elle's ribs. "Cooperate or the child dies."
Elle's eyes widened but she stayed silent, wrapping her arms around herself. She didn't want to die.
The engineering crew was unfrozen a moment later. "We'll do it," Scotty said, shooting her a worried look. He turned back to the Kelvan. "Don't hurt the lass. We'll cooperate."
"No tricks," the Kelvan said.
Elle sat in the corner and basically feared for her life. Scotty came over to her corner to work on that console.
"You all right, lass?" he murmured, keeping his focus on the console.
"I'm okay." Elle twisted her hands. "Don't, don't put in the thing. Later, when Spock comes in."
Scotty stilled for a moment. "This an episode?" he asked.
"Yeah. They'll know what you're doing, they'll cancel it out, even if the captain gives the go-ahead. Don't do it."
Scotty gave her a hard look. "Are you sure, lass?"
"I'm sure. They're way more advanced. They won't let us blow up the Enterprise."
He nodded. "I'm trustin' you, then." He finished his work on the console. "Stay safe."
"You too."
Elle was kept in the corner of engineering as a warning example until the crew finished the modifications. She asked for a datapad and was refused. She did the times tables in her head and got up to the fifteens before she got frustrated. Still no on the PADD. She started to recite as much Vulcan as she could remember and had a conversation with an imaginary Vulcan that she named Shrek. "I mean, technically, it fits the requirements for Vulcan names," she told the imaginary Vulcan when he expressed his imagined outrage (logically, of course). That didn't last very long, since not even imaginary Vulcans could put up with bored teenagers.
She moved on to singing under her breath. The Kelvan, what's-his-face, got fed up about three Disney songs in and told her to shut up. Well, he told her, "Cease immediately." She did.
Elle was bored out of her mind by the time the Kelvan told her to get up.
She was marched up to the bridge this time. The captain and the bridge crew started to glare even more when Elle as brought in.
"This was not declared a generational ship," the Kelvan said. "Why is there a child?"
"She is under our care," Kirk said, glaring daggers. "Do not harm her."
"If you cooperate," the Kelvan said. "If you and your crew do not, then your actions will have killed her." He shoved Elle forward. "Remember that."
Kirk caught her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Are you okay?" he asked.
She nodded.
"Don't take any chances," he murmured. "They can turn people into cubes."
"I know," Elle said, giving him a Look.
Kirk kept his poker face and didn't say anything but he squeezed her shoulder lightly.
Elle was allowed to stay with them until the Kelvans started cubing nonessential people. Uhura, Chekov, and the engineering crew were gone in seconds. Elle hid behind Kirk when the Kelvan, Rojan, aimed the device at her.
"She's essential," Kirk insisted. "Don't cube her."
"Essential for what?"
"Our cooperation," Kirk said, ice in his eyes.
Rojan shrugged. "She won't strain our resources. You may keep her."
They were removed to the briefing room.
"All right, Elle, what do we do?" Kirk asked.
"They've been humans for too long," Elle said, "they're starting to think and feel like humans, not Kelvans. We've got to capitalize on that."
Another Kelvan entered at that moment. Tomar, or whatever. "You must eat," he ordered.
They all got the same meal, fruit with a nutrient-dense meatloaf. Not bad, as replicator food went. Elle forced herself to choke it down.
"I do not understand why you take the trouble to consume this bulk material to sustain yourselves," Tomar said. He held up what looked like a tin of mints. "We have ascertained that these contain all the nutritional elements."
McCoy snorted. "Before you condemn it, why not try it?"
Tomar nodded. "I believe I will. Assist me."
Kirk waved a hand. "It's your idea, Doctor. Go ahead."
"All right, I'll show you how to work the selector." McCoy got him the same meal everyone else received.
They watched Tomar practically inhale his food, humming with gusto.
"See?" Elle whispered.
"If they all respond to stimulation of the senses, then maybe we can distract them. They can't have been able to handle the senses yet. If we can confuse them enough, we can get those devices from their belts," Kirk decided.
"That seems reasonable," Spock said, "and it correlates with the mental impressions I received from Kalinda."
Kirk nodded. "All right. It may be our only chance. Look for any way to stimulate the senses. Elle, we're going to need your help. Pick one."
"The one on the bridge," Elle decided.
"All right, when you think of something, go for it."
Scott stood up. "I can think of one way right off." He went over to Tomar. "Lad, you're going to need something to wash that down with. Have you ever tried any Saurian brandy?"
The two of them exited the briefing room.
"Well, we're not seeing them again," Elle said wryly.
"I'll be in sickbay," McCoy muttered. "I have an idea." He wandered out, munching on a melon slice.
Kirk and Spock shared a glance. "May I suggest that we focus our efforts on Rojan and Kalinda, captain," Spock said.
"I'll take Kalinda, you take Rojan," Kirk said.
"Precisely."
Elle put a hand over her eyes. "I don't wanna see no kissing."
Kirk snorted. "We'll try and avoid it."
They dispersed, leaving Elle in the empty briefing room. How was she going to hook a Kelvan into being human? From what she'd seen of Drea she was very focused on science and steering the ship and she showed less inclination to interacting with the crew.
Okay, so Drea was like Spock in a way. What did Spock like besides science and chess? Art, music...
Elle grinned. Music. That was guaranteed to stir up a human's emotions. She grabbed the PADD off the table and looked up the ship's database.
She did some research and then meandered up to the bridge. Hopefully this worked.
Drea looked over at her as Elle entered the bridge. "You should not be up here," Drea said.
"I have permission," Elle said. "I won't touch anything." She sat in the navigator's chair next to Drea and started up the PADD. She put on Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
"What is that?" Drea asked.
"It's music." Elle turned up the volume. "Nice, isn't it?"
"It is intriguing," Drea allowed.
"How about this one?" Elle changed it to Bach.
"It is mathematically precise," Drea said, her brow furrowing as she listened to it.
Elle let it play out and then switched to the opening song from The Sound of Music.
"What is that?"
"More music, but with singing." Elle queued up The Phantom of the Opera next.
Drea gradually got less and less involved with her console as she began to pay more and more attention to the music issuing from the tablet's speaker. "I think I like this music," she said. "Show me more."
Elle grinned. Hook, line, and sinker. She let Drea have the tablet and stared at the main viewscreen. They were in the void between galaxies... Whoaaaa. That was so crazy...
-/\-
By the time Kirk, Rojan, Spock, and McCoy got up to the bridge, Drea was completely immersed in listening to Bohemian Rhapsody at full volume.
"Seriously, Elle?" Kirk asked, snickering.
"What? This is a classic!"
Rojan handed back command to Captain Kirk and they headed back to the Milky Way galaxy. In the meantime the other Kelvans went around the ship de-crystalizing the cubed crewmen.
Elle stayed in the Observation Deck eating ice cream and watching the Milky Way get larger off their bow.