Of Lost Ships and Old Friends
Chapter 4: Captain Ghol
Kirk strode onto the bridge. Uhura turned around to face him as he passed her. "Captain, distress call coming from an unknown solar system. I'm trying to ID the ship now, sir."
Kirk sat down in his chair again, fully alert, ready for anything. Well, almost anything. But what Uhura said next threw him completely. "Captain, it appears the distress signal is comming from the U.S.S. Europa!"
"Put it on visual, Uhura." Kirk said. At that moment, T'Kaia and Spock chose to re-enter the bridge. Spock the Cat was still perched on T'Kaia's shoulder.
Captain Ghol appeared on the viewscreen, his silvery-violet eyes blazing with a firey malice. The first person Ghol noticed was T'Kaia. Spock the Cat bristled and hissed at the sight of his former tormenter. Ghol made a snakelike noise, almost like he was hissing back. Pain and hatred blazed in the woman's eyes as she raised her head to stare into the eyes of her former captain. "Ghol." She spat the name like a curse.
Ghol faced Kirk and addressed him with a voice like honey and razorblades. "I commend you on your patience, Captain Kirk. As far as I can tell, you have put up with the witch and her furball for about a day without having to slap her back in her place. Now try it for seven years."
T'Kaia was absolutley silent, Kirk could tell that she was trying her hardest not to scream.
"Ah, her 'logical' half has chosen this time to turn on," Ghol said sarcastically, "Funny, she used to spend most of her time crying, that is, when she wasn't thinking about that lucky fellow she named the cat after." Ghol snorted. "She's some Vulcan."
"You of all people, doubting my Vulcan heritage, Ghol?" T'Kaia lashed out with sarcasm, "You hated me because of it. And you know from long experience that my blood runs green."
"Captain Ghol, did your false distress call have any real signifigance, or was it's purpose to emotionally assault a Federation officer?" Spock asked calmly, moving to stand by T'Kaia's side. She stood at attention, still as stone.
Ghol gave a false chuckle. "Your first officer, Kirk? None of my crew would have dared move if another captain was on the viewscreen," he commented.
"Sometimes it's better to rule with an open heart and mind rather than an iron fist," Kirk said.
Ghol shook his head dismissivley. "The words of a weak fool. You will find, Kirk, that with an 'open mind and heart' you can feasibly rule a ship, but my aim is much higher than that. I intend to go for the galaxy, one planet at a time."
"Why am I not surprised?" T'Kaia laughed ruefully. "Your interest in inflicting pain could not be contained in your crew, you need many more lives to destroy!" She said, unable to stop herself anymore. "What I wonder is why you didn't do this in the first place? Why wait seven years?"
Ghol glared at her. "I had to get rid of you. It is impossible to be in complete controll of someone who still has hope. You gave the crew your strength, so I spent seven long years keeping you under my boot heel until I could feasibly get rid of you and make my move. With you gone, however, the crew has been fine with obeying my every order."
Ghol waved a hand and the viewscreen panned backward. The view of the Europa's bridge expanded, revealing two humanoids in primative clothing being held at phaser-point. One was male, the other female. They had bluish skin, violet cat-like eyes, white hair, and pointed ears. They were like no species previously known to the Federation.
"My prisoners, Captain. The first of many millions. The Europa is currently orbiting a Class M planet full of them. They are suspicious, war-like, fearfully ignorant, and have just recently discovered fire. They were the perfect place to start. My crew is working on slowly turning the entire population of this planet into an army of slaves. Moving planet by planet, with everyone under me in fear of losing thier lives, I shall have the galaxy in a matter of months."
Ghol began typical villian maniacal laughter. "Uhura, as soon as he stops, make a call to Starfleet Command and inform them of our situation," Kirk whispered.
He wasn't quiet enough for Ghol, however. "I don't think so, Captain. Your communications station should be down by the end of this call. A small device I attatched to the cat should now be eating away at your communications console. I'd say you have about 30 seconds until you cannot communicate at all."
Ghol grinned. "And T'Kaia has even shorter time to live. Ever notice the necklace she's wearing? It's set to detonate in 5..."
"Uhura, run!" T'Kaia shouted. She hastily undid the necklace as the communitations officer complied.
"4.."
T'Kaia threw the necklace at the the communications console with all her might.
"3...2..." The explosion rocked the bridge. Captain Ghol's image flicked off of the viewscreen. The console was practically gone, but no one and nothing else was damaged.
"What was that for?!" Uhura exclaimed.
T'Kaia sighed. "T'Kaia just saved her own life, as well as my own, as I would have been caught in the explosion," Spock said from T'Kaia's side. "In all actuality it was the most logical move, since communications would have gone out anyway."
"Uhura, did you manage to locate the Europa before the explosion?" Kirk asked calmly.
"Yes, sir."
"Very well, give them to Chekov. Chekov, plot us a course to wherever the Europa last was, if what Ghol said was true, there is a new species that needs our help," Kirk commanded.
"Yes, Keptin," Chekov replied.
At the sound of the name 'Chekov', T'Kaia whirled around. "Pavel? And Hiraku Sulu too? Where did you guys come from?"
"You've been on the bridge before, T'Kaia and never noticed us," Sulu replied. However, he did this with a smile of recognition for T'Kaia.
"I had other things on my mind. So, how's it going?"
As T'Kaia engaged Sulu and Chekov in conversation and Chekov laid in the course, Spock spoke to Kirk.
"Captain, what about the possibility that Ghol was lying and the whole thing was a trap?"
"That's a chance we'll have to take, Spock." Kirk replied.
Lieutenant Commander Staitaka stepped forward. "Captain, I protest strongly! My people are not happy about having to share living space in an overcrowded ship while going prancing around in unknown corners of the galaxy! WHEN are you returning us to where we belong?"
"Lieutenant Commander, there are the lives of the people on that planet at stake, I cannot delay helping them to drop you off! Please be patient," Kirk pleaded.
T'Kaia whirled around to face Staitaka. "I recommend, Lieutenant Staitaka, that you not push this with the Captain, he's had quite a lot to deal with since I was found this morning," T'Kaia said.
"No one asked you to say anything, woman," Staitaka replied.
T'Kaia gave him her best glare. "That's Commander Jackson to you, Lieutenant Commander Staitaka. I believe you are speaking to a superior officer."
Staitaka shrank back and scrambled away. Kirk yawned spontaniously. "Sulu, what time is it?"
"24 hundred hours, sir."
"I believe that most of us should be in need of some sleep in that case," Kirk commented. He got up out of his chair and commanded "Wake up the highest ranking officers who are asleep right now and ask them to take over. And get someone to fix communications," to no one in particular.
"Yes sir." An officer said.
T'Kaia, Chekov, Sulu, Uhura and Spock followed the captain onto the lifts. "Captain, where should I sleep?" T'Kaia asked.
"Everyone is already sharing with one of Staitaka's people," Uhura commented.
"Yes, and they're even using sick bay," Kirk remembered. A smirk crossed his face. "Since he and I are the only people onboard not already sharing our quarters, you have the choice sharing with me or Spock. Sorry, but with these colonists, the ship is double it's full capacity."
As T'Kaia noticed the look in Kirk's eyes she automatically said "No, Jim. If you're thinking of restarting what we finished about nine years ago..."
"It was the furthest thing from my mind, T'Kaia. Feel free to stay with Spock then. According to most sources, you seem to like each other quite a lot." Kirk's smirk returned with this last comment.
Chekov and Sulu chuckled, but T'Kaia silenced them with a look. "Fine, then," T'Kaia said. She was trying to use the Vulcan half of her mind to avoid blushing.
Chapter 5 will come, eventually, as soon as I'm sure where the plot is going from here. And yes, I do like Spock too much, thanks for noticing :).
Chapter 4: Captain Ghol
Kirk strode onto the bridge. Uhura turned around to face him as he passed her. "Captain, distress call coming from an unknown solar system. I'm trying to ID the ship now, sir."
Kirk sat down in his chair again, fully alert, ready for anything. Well, almost anything. But what Uhura said next threw him completely. "Captain, it appears the distress signal is comming from the U.S.S. Europa!"
"Put it on visual, Uhura." Kirk said. At that moment, T'Kaia and Spock chose to re-enter the bridge. Spock the Cat was still perched on T'Kaia's shoulder.
Captain Ghol appeared on the viewscreen, his silvery-violet eyes blazing with a firey malice. The first person Ghol noticed was T'Kaia. Spock the Cat bristled and hissed at the sight of his former tormenter. Ghol made a snakelike noise, almost like he was hissing back. Pain and hatred blazed in the woman's eyes as she raised her head to stare into the eyes of her former captain. "Ghol." She spat the name like a curse.
Ghol faced Kirk and addressed him with a voice like honey and razorblades. "I commend you on your patience, Captain Kirk. As far as I can tell, you have put up with the witch and her furball for about a day without having to slap her back in her place. Now try it for seven years."
T'Kaia was absolutley silent, Kirk could tell that she was trying her hardest not to scream.
"Ah, her 'logical' half has chosen this time to turn on," Ghol said sarcastically, "Funny, she used to spend most of her time crying, that is, when she wasn't thinking about that lucky fellow she named the cat after." Ghol snorted. "She's some Vulcan."
"You of all people, doubting my Vulcan heritage, Ghol?" T'Kaia lashed out with sarcasm, "You hated me because of it. And you know from long experience that my blood runs green."
"Captain Ghol, did your false distress call have any real signifigance, or was it's purpose to emotionally assault a Federation officer?" Spock asked calmly, moving to stand by T'Kaia's side. She stood at attention, still as stone.
Ghol gave a false chuckle. "Your first officer, Kirk? None of my crew would have dared move if another captain was on the viewscreen," he commented.
"Sometimes it's better to rule with an open heart and mind rather than an iron fist," Kirk said.
Ghol shook his head dismissivley. "The words of a weak fool. You will find, Kirk, that with an 'open mind and heart' you can feasibly rule a ship, but my aim is much higher than that. I intend to go for the galaxy, one planet at a time."
"Why am I not surprised?" T'Kaia laughed ruefully. "Your interest in inflicting pain could not be contained in your crew, you need many more lives to destroy!" She said, unable to stop herself anymore. "What I wonder is why you didn't do this in the first place? Why wait seven years?"
Ghol glared at her. "I had to get rid of you. It is impossible to be in complete controll of someone who still has hope. You gave the crew your strength, so I spent seven long years keeping you under my boot heel until I could feasibly get rid of you and make my move. With you gone, however, the crew has been fine with obeying my every order."
Ghol waved a hand and the viewscreen panned backward. The view of the Europa's bridge expanded, revealing two humanoids in primative clothing being held at phaser-point. One was male, the other female. They had bluish skin, violet cat-like eyes, white hair, and pointed ears. They were like no species previously known to the Federation.
"My prisoners, Captain. The first of many millions. The Europa is currently orbiting a Class M planet full of them. They are suspicious, war-like, fearfully ignorant, and have just recently discovered fire. They were the perfect place to start. My crew is working on slowly turning the entire population of this planet into an army of slaves. Moving planet by planet, with everyone under me in fear of losing thier lives, I shall have the galaxy in a matter of months."
Ghol began typical villian maniacal laughter. "Uhura, as soon as he stops, make a call to Starfleet Command and inform them of our situation," Kirk whispered.
He wasn't quiet enough for Ghol, however. "I don't think so, Captain. Your communications station should be down by the end of this call. A small device I attatched to the cat should now be eating away at your communications console. I'd say you have about 30 seconds until you cannot communicate at all."
Ghol grinned. "And T'Kaia has even shorter time to live. Ever notice the necklace she's wearing? It's set to detonate in 5..."
"Uhura, run!" T'Kaia shouted. She hastily undid the necklace as the communitations officer complied.
"4.."
T'Kaia threw the necklace at the the communications console with all her might.
"3...2..." The explosion rocked the bridge. Captain Ghol's image flicked off of the viewscreen. The console was practically gone, but no one and nothing else was damaged.
"What was that for?!" Uhura exclaimed.
T'Kaia sighed. "T'Kaia just saved her own life, as well as my own, as I would have been caught in the explosion," Spock said from T'Kaia's side. "In all actuality it was the most logical move, since communications would have gone out anyway."
"Uhura, did you manage to locate the Europa before the explosion?" Kirk asked calmly.
"Yes, sir."
"Very well, give them to Chekov. Chekov, plot us a course to wherever the Europa last was, if what Ghol said was true, there is a new species that needs our help," Kirk commanded.
"Yes, Keptin," Chekov replied.
At the sound of the name 'Chekov', T'Kaia whirled around. "Pavel? And Hiraku Sulu too? Where did you guys come from?"
"You've been on the bridge before, T'Kaia and never noticed us," Sulu replied. However, he did this with a smile of recognition for T'Kaia.
"I had other things on my mind. So, how's it going?"
As T'Kaia engaged Sulu and Chekov in conversation and Chekov laid in the course, Spock spoke to Kirk.
"Captain, what about the possibility that Ghol was lying and the whole thing was a trap?"
"That's a chance we'll have to take, Spock." Kirk replied.
Lieutenant Commander Staitaka stepped forward. "Captain, I protest strongly! My people are not happy about having to share living space in an overcrowded ship while going prancing around in unknown corners of the galaxy! WHEN are you returning us to where we belong?"
"Lieutenant Commander, there are the lives of the people on that planet at stake, I cannot delay helping them to drop you off! Please be patient," Kirk pleaded.
T'Kaia whirled around to face Staitaka. "I recommend, Lieutenant Staitaka, that you not push this with the Captain, he's had quite a lot to deal with since I was found this morning," T'Kaia said.
"No one asked you to say anything, woman," Staitaka replied.
T'Kaia gave him her best glare. "That's Commander Jackson to you, Lieutenant Commander Staitaka. I believe you are speaking to a superior officer."
Staitaka shrank back and scrambled away. Kirk yawned spontaniously. "Sulu, what time is it?"
"24 hundred hours, sir."
"I believe that most of us should be in need of some sleep in that case," Kirk commented. He got up out of his chair and commanded "Wake up the highest ranking officers who are asleep right now and ask them to take over. And get someone to fix communications," to no one in particular.
"Yes sir." An officer said.
T'Kaia, Chekov, Sulu, Uhura and Spock followed the captain onto the lifts. "Captain, where should I sleep?" T'Kaia asked.
"Everyone is already sharing with one of Staitaka's people," Uhura commented.
"Yes, and they're even using sick bay," Kirk remembered. A smirk crossed his face. "Since he and I are the only people onboard not already sharing our quarters, you have the choice sharing with me or Spock. Sorry, but with these colonists, the ship is double it's full capacity."
As T'Kaia noticed the look in Kirk's eyes she automatically said "No, Jim. If you're thinking of restarting what we finished about nine years ago..."
"It was the furthest thing from my mind, T'Kaia. Feel free to stay with Spock then. According to most sources, you seem to like each other quite a lot." Kirk's smirk returned with this last comment.
Chekov and Sulu chuckled, but T'Kaia silenced them with a look. "Fine, then," T'Kaia said. She was trying to use the Vulcan half of her mind to avoid blushing.
Chapter 5 will come, eventually, as soon as I'm sure where the plot is going from here. And yes, I do like Spock too much, thanks for noticing :).