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Another chapter for you! What will be the results of Kirk's decision not to sell the ship? Well, let's just see, shall we…?
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The brief respite from interaction with the Romulan ship was just that—brief. Those aboard the Enterprise had only a moment to spend on recriminations, self-doubt, anger and accusations. Harry had only just finished his second sentence ("He was going to hand us millions!") when the ship gave a lurch, followed by several smaller shakes.
Kirk hung onto the arms of the command chair with a death grip. "What was that?" he demanded.
The response that would have come from Spock's station was absent. Kirk looked that direction and swore. Spock was still unconscious. Kirk pushed out of the chair and looked around the bridge. His eyes lighted on McCoy. "What do you know about reading sensors?"
McCoy blinked. "Some…"
"Good. Cover Spock's station."
McCoy looked at him dubiously, shrugged, walked over to the science station, stepped over Spock, and leaned in to look at the sensor readouts. Kirk's eyes roved the bridge, trying to think the situation out. Harry's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"He's just going to tell you that they fired their disruptors," Harry snapped. "Which is great, because not only are we out millions, we're going to get killed—"
"Harry, save it!" Kirk said shortly.
"I will," Harry said grimly, leaving no doubt that the conversation would be continued. If they weren't killed first.
Kirk ignored Harry. "Bones, what do sensors say?"
McCoy looked almost apologetic. "They fired their disruptors."
Kirk took a breath. "A little more than that?"
McCoy squinted at the screen. "Uh…shields absorbed the blast, no damage…shields at 95%. Romulans are coming around again."
"Charge phasers…" Kirk looked at Chekov's station and groaned. "Damn it." Chekov, too, was still unconscious. Kirk's eyes went to Sulu. "Can you—?"
Sulu shook his head. "His station or mine, yes. His station and mine, no."
Though this was somewhat less than an ideal response, it did serve to indicate something important. Though no words had been spoken, the ban on helping Kirk had definitely been lifted. Kirk didn't have time to notice. He was busy crossing the bridge and sliding into Chekov's station.
"Let's see just how long it's been since that last class at the Academy," Kirk muttered, scanning Chekov's controls.
Several buttons, controls and a screen or two for navigation—they could be ignored. A screen for targeting phasers—okay. Buttons for firing phasers, others for photon torpedoes—clear enough. Screen for tracking enemy vessels—Romulans incoming!
"Evasive maneuvers," Kirk snapped off to Sulu, who sent the ship into a complicated pattern of loops and turns.
"The Romulans are firing disruptors," McCoy announced, reasonably certain that he was reading the sensors correctly. "They missed," he added a moment later, a fact that most people had inferred from the lack of disruption in the Enterprise's fields.
"Targeting photon torpedoes…" Kirk said, hoping very much that that really was what he was doing. It looked right. "…and firing."
The screen flared with a moment's light.
"Direct hit," McCoy said, sounding faintly surprised, either at the hit or at his ability to read it.
Kirk's eyebrows went up. "That class on weapon systems was better than I thought." He checked the screen for tracking enemy vessels, and was more than a little surprised. "The Romulans…are leaving?"
"At warp six," McCoy volunteered.
All sensors agreed. The Romulan vessel was flying back towards the heart of the Romulan Empire with nary a backward glance.
"That was too easy," was Kirk's suspicious take on the situation. But moments passed with no change in the Romulan ship, and Kirk dared to relax a little. Maybe it wasn't so surprising. The Romulan Commander really hadn't wanted to fight. Which meant the almost-welcome distraction of an external conflict would no longer keep attention off the internal conflict.
"Aren't we going after him?"
Kirk looked at Harry. "And why would we do that?"
"It might not be too late to talk him into buying the Enterprise."
Kirk abruptly felt very tired, an oddly emotional rather than physical feeling. And if he was going to deal with Harry, he wanted to do it from the center chair, not the navigator's station. He made the change, and then regarded Harry.
"We don't want him to buy the Enterprise."
"Some of us do!"
Kirk shook his head. "It's too late now anyway."
Harry stared at Kirk for a moment, and when he spoke again his tone had undergone a change, from angry to conciliatory. "Jim…I just want to know…why?"
Kirk was caught between genuine annoyance and genuine dismay. "I told you, I don't know. It just wasn't right to sell the Enterprise."
"That isn't an answer."
"I know that," Kirk said, irritation creeping into his voice.
"This is a waste of time," O'Riley announced. Sometime during the conversation he had let the turbolift doors shut, and when he approached them now they reopened on an empty turbolift. "I'm going to tell the others."
Kirk, Harry and O'Riley all knew what that meant. Not just the direct meaning, but the significance as well. Kirk's position had been under attack before when he threw the Sharks off the bridge. This, however, was many times more serious.
Harry looked uncertainly from Kirk to O'Riley and back again. Kirk was silent. What was there to say? In their eyes, and in the eyes of the other Sharks, he was guilty. Harry, unhappy but reasonably sure, followed O'Riley. The turbolift doors slid neatly shut behind them, and silence descended once more upon the bridge. At least it wasn't a tense silence. It was, however, a very perplexed silence. Not a single conscious Starfleet officer had the faintest idea what to say to this new and unanticipated circumstance. But there was one who was willing to talk anyway.
"So…why didn't you sell the Enterprise?" McCoy asked.
Kirk rested his elbow on the arm of the command chair and his forehead against his fist. "You tell me."
Behind him, McCoy shrugged. "Me, I'm very confused right now. Of course, I'm a doctor, not a starship captain—"
Kirk's head snapped up and his arm slammed down. "If you haven't noticed," he said tightly, "I'm not one either."
McCoy continued unperturbed. "And I'm a doctor, not the leader of a gang of pirates. I don't understand how the breed works."
"Thanks," Kirk said sarcastically.
McCoy shrugged again. "I don't know why you're asking me anyway. You're the one who just decided not to sell a ship after planning on it for a week. Which is very good and I'm glad you did, but I don't understand it."
"Am I to understand that you have chosen not to sell the Enterprise?" That perfectly calm, perfectly even tone could belong to only one person. Kirk had used a low setting on his phaser. Spock was awake.
"If you understand it, that's more than any of the rest of us can say," McCoy put in.
"I was not claiming to understand reasons and motivations. I was merely asserting an acknowledgement of the facts," Spock said, calmly rising to his feet and ignoring the issue of how he had gotten back to his station.
"I didn't sell the Enterprise," Kirk confirmed.
Spock regarded him thoughtfully. "Why?'
"Analyze it for me." On the surface, it was an almost sarcastic request, a mere deflection of a question, practically a joking reference to Spock's computer-like tendencies. But somewhere, deep down, Kirk really did want an answer from Spock.
Spock considered, and just what prompted his answer is hard to say. Habit, honesty, or possibly Kirk's recent phaser use. All are possibilities. "It was not logical."
Kirk's face tightened. "I see." He pushed out of the command chair and stalked across the bridge to the turbolift. "I'm gonna go talk to the Sharks," he tossed over his shoulder, stepped into the turbolift, and was gone.
McCoy scowled at Spock. "Nice. Encourage him, why don't you."
Spock's eyebrow climbed. "His action was not logical."
McCoy just groaned.
"Nor was it without merit," Spock continued. "However, it is also most inexplicable, and I am hesitant to assign praise where I do not understand motivation. He stood to gain much from selling the Enterprise. There was nothing to gain from refusing the business deal. With the one option, considerable wealth. With the other, censure from the pirates, potential loss of position. I do not understand it."
"Welcome to the club," McCoy said dryly.
It was a club with a rapidly growing membership. They say that only gossip moves faster than warp ten, and word was rocketing through the Enterprise. The Starfleet crew reacted with approval, and more than a little confusion. The Sharks were reacting with equal confusion. But no approval. And Kirk knew it.
Nevertheless, he was determined to beard the lion in his den, so to speak. A confrontation with the Sharks sometime in the immediate future was inevitable. Just as well to seek it out and meet it head on. And who knows. Maybe he'd be able to talk his way out of this. And maybe pigs would fly.
It wasn't hard to find the Sharks. They were exactly where Kirk had expected them to be. Gathered in the Mess Hall. Talking loudly. Though he only had a moment to register the talking. As soon as he walked into the room the Sharks fell deadly silent. With all eyes on him Kirk strolled across the room, nonchalantly perched on the edge of a table, and tried hard to appear calm, collected, and in control. Due to long practice, he actually succeeded reasonably well.
"So. I guess we need to talk."
There was practically a rumble among the Sharks, from which only one statement made itself clear. "What did you do?"
Kirk crossed his arms over his chest, hoping it looked relaxed and not defensive. "I assume you mean my not selling the Enterprise."
"We mean your throwing away millions," O'Riley said coldly.
Kirk didn't fail to notice the way O'Riley stood in the center of the group, was the first to speak, and the others were taking their cues from him. Any time a leader went down, there was a position to be seized. It was O'Riley Kirk would have to watch. And unfortunately, O'Riley was smarter than Charlie.
Kirk shrugged as though unconcerned. "It was a bad plan."
"It was your plan," O'Riley said pointedly. "Ever since we got here, you've been talking about selling the ship to the Romulans."
"True," Kirk acknowledged. "Because it looked like a good plan, but once we got here, there were certain other aspects to take into account."
"What other aspects? The plan was working, he was offering us millions!"
"There's other things that matter besides the money," Kirk said sharply.
"See, that's it, right there," O'Riley said, bringing his hand down against the tabletop next to him for emphasis. "Something's happened to you, since we got on this ship. You used to have your head on straight, and now you're spending too much time with Starfleet and getting strange ideas into your head."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kirk said, eyes narrowing.
"Don't give me that, you know exactly what I mean. This 'other things matter besides money' business. Because that's wrong. Money's the only thing that counts, the only thing you can think of if you want to get by in this galaxy. Make money, and watch out for yourself. Nobody and nothing else matters, in the end. You used to know that. But you lost it somewhere."
Kirk found himself reminded of another voice, his own saying something very similar, not so very long ago. "I've got one loyalty, and that's to Jim Kirk. The rest of the galaxy just better watch out for itself." It felt longer ago. Maybe because it wasn't, quite, true anymore.
"Maybe I haven't lost anything," Kirk said quietly. "Maybe I've found something."
O'Riley stared at him, and frowned. "Like that. What the hell does that mean?"
Kirk shook his head. "I don't know. Look, the point is—"
"The point is," O'Riley interrupted, "we want to know why you didn't sell the ship. Why you threw away millions. Millions that belonged as much to us as to you. Specifically why? 'It was a bad plan' isn't good enough."
Kirk looked around. He didn't have an answer. He really didn't know…exactly. Yet he knew the answer was there, somewhere, someplace on the fringes of his understanding. He struggled for the words, groping for the answer he couldn't quite reach. "They were going to dismantle her," he said at last. "They were going to strip her open, pull her wide apart. They wanted to…study her, violate her. It just…wasn't right."
O'Riley stared at him as though he'd gone mad. "It's a ship," he said very slowly and clearly. "A ship, not a girl! It's a hunk of machinery."
"No. She isn't." And that, at least, was one thing Kirk was very sure about. Whether he could explain it or not.
"A hunk of machinery," O'Riley repeated. "Worth millions. Not that those millions are doing us any good if we don't sell."
A grumble of assent rose from the Sharks, without a single dissenting voice.
Kirk looked from one pirate to another, searching every face for a glimmer of sympathy. He found none. "You don't understand," he said finally. "None of you understand."
"That's the whole point!" O'Riley snapped. "We don't understand. We don't understand at all what's gotten into you lately."
"I'm trying, Jim, I really am," Harry said honestly. "But I don't get it. We had a fortune, right there…and you just let it go."
"It's not about the money!" Kirk said fervently. "Can't you see that there are some things that matter more than the money? Can't any of you see that?"
Kirk's fevered gaze met with stony silence and blank expressions. Finally his eyes dropped and his shoulders slumped. But only for a moment. Then he squared his shoulders and met their gazes levelly. "I have a plan," he said firmly.
"Do you," O'Riley said in something less than a believing tone.
"I do."
"I hope so," O'Riley said, moving one hand to the hilt of his phase pistol in a subtle but altogether clear message. "I hope so."
Kirk nodded curtly, turned, and left the room at a steady pace, head high.
As soon as the doors shut behind him he shoved his hands into the pockets of he leather jacket, bent his head as though walking into a driving wind, and strode down the corridors of the Enterprise as though the devil himself were after him.
He had no plan. He had no ideas. He didn't even know where he was walking to. If there was one thing he was good at, one thing that had never failed to serve him well, it was his ability to come out of any situation with his head up and his feet under him. But now, the galaxy had slipped out from beneath him and he couldn't get his balance back. His only consolation was that he knew he was right. Which was small consolation when he didn't even know why he was right.
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MySchemingMind: Y'know, the Enterprise probably would be priceless. But you can hardly put that out as a bargaining price, lol. Glad you liked McCoy's smugness (he is very smug often, isn't he?) and Spock's nervepinch attempt (I tried to sneak him up behind Kirk with just the one line on him walking up to behind the chair) and of course Chekov (definitely he was more mad than brave; besides, what did he have to lose? He didn't know Kirk wasn't going to sell the ship). And as for McCoy's faith in Kirk…we'll be seeing where that goes. Good call on the Sharks' loyalty. Speaking of strapping people to torpedoes (which I think would be strictly against one's duty as a Starfleet officer, unfortunately) reminds me of Dr. Strangelove. Great movie, just watched it in history. Right, that's irrelevant, I'll move on…
AliciaF: It's always amused me about Sarek and the Romulan Commander…one actor playing two races that look identical. Foolish casting, that, though Mark Lenard had wonderful performances as both. And it wouldn't surprise me if Spock did see the resemblance—he was just being stubborn and refusing to agree with McCoy. Latinum would be a good thing to sell for, although I'm not certain if they had latinum in the original series…that was the Ferengi's money, pretty much, wasn't it?
Alania: Suspenseful? Really? Cool! And certainly the actor has something to do with the resemblances! So, what does Kirk plan to do with the Enterprise? A very good question indeed. Oh good, you saw Nemesis! It was very sad…have you seen the DVD with the deleted scenes? Most of them aren't very good but you must see the scene with Picard, Data, and the bottle of wine. Sniff.
PearlGirl: I'm glad you liked the voices, I wasn't sure how well that was working. And of course the Enterprise is the best ship! And of course everyone wants her. Which is often a problem… Oh, you do have the DVD! Okay, good, Château de Picard, must see!
Crazy Elleth: Yes, Kirk does love the ship, and yes, it did get him into trouble. Good call. I would actually be interested in that random quote, random is fun!
Mzsnaz: Y'know, the Romulan Commander does sound a lot like Sarek. I actually found a transcript online and reread the Romulan Commander's lines so that I could try to get him to sound right. And it seems the character sounded not unlike Sarek. Go figure. Getting the Enterprise away from the Romulans, we've solved. Away from the pirates may be more difficult.
Fool of an Elf: Glad you liked the Romulan Commander, and the picture of Kirk!
Hanakin222: Will they begin to trust Kirk? Well, that remains to be seen…
Beedrill: 28, oh dear, you're getting me started on Nemesis. I was subscribed to Star Trek: The Magazine (since out of print; tear) during the making/release of Nemesis, and thus read a lot of interviews with writer/director/etc. They considered making it Picard's son, not clone, but decided it wasn't right for the character to have never mentioned a wife and child, even if they were presumed dead. I disagree, and think a son would have made for themes much easier to relate to. They also discussed bringing Spock in, but decided there was no place for him in the story. [tears hair] He's Spock! He's on Romulus! They're on Romulus! No better reasons are needed! Sigh…but onward. I respect your opinion of Phlox though I don't share it, and I agree: T'Pol is too moody. I don't understand her. "I love how you are able to capture each specific character's special voice (in the literary sense), concerns, and feelings." You do realize you just completely made my day, right? A kangaroo court is slang for a court where you're not going to get justice, where the judge has decided you're guilty before the trial even starts. 29, you're right, scary music is hard to type. I usually just put [ominous music] in the stage directions. The "bruises are nonfatal" line was definitely written with Jones in mind…or at least one of the many panicky red-shirts drifting around this website. I'm glad someone was concerned about Finnegan. : ) A Pirates medley?! Really? EEEE, too cool! And I know just what you mean about no one to tell these things to…that was me with Star Trek for a long time.
Unrealistic: Ah, so that's what you meant. As always…we'll see. Glad you liked!
Scifimimi: I dunno, I don't use the notification thing myself…mayhaps I should too. Anyway, destiny, now…destiny is a funny thing.
'Tis all. More soon.