Qwi: Would I kill off one of my best friends? Yes. But no, I told you that I did not want to include kisses. There are some things I think you will enjoy in this chapter though.
MajorHoulihan22: Well, Qwi and T'Son used to be close... like a year ago... and I am still in denial... LOL And to know Qwi's fate, read on! Glad you like it!
Data: Two updates in one day! Be happy! LOL
This is NOT the last chapter! It may seem like that, but that is because the next chapter is an epilogue! By the way, I have decided to turn this into a series, but the next installment will probably be posted in Star Trek: Other, since it will pretty much be fully away from TOS at that point. Now, to think of a title... R&R please!
Qwi was paralyzed, staring at the brightly colored beam of light. The only thought in her mind was Computer, one to transport NOW! Luckily, not everyone was so surprised. Two large, hard things knocked into Qwi from each side, causing the three of them to fall down in a tangle. The phaser fire fried a few of the ends of Qwi's hair that were sticking up as she fell, telling her exactly how close she had been to death. However, there was no time to worry about death, for it encircled them on almost all sides.
"Come on, run!" T'Son said impatiently. He and Toreth were already half dragging her out the door.
"Contact Vokar!" Toreth said, handing Qwi a communicator. The Trekkie Trio made a break for it. And Qwi ended up sort of saving them as she flipped open the communicator, gave their coordinates to Vokar, who passed them on to Enterprise, who beamed the Trio up. At that precise moment, the Klingon ship blew up in a fireworks display like not seen since a Ferengi Marauder had collided with a Klingon freighter last week.
Codiar Ruen did not care that the Trekkie Trio, including his commanding officer, was on the Klingon bird-of-prey. He did not care about the carefully constructed plan the others had built. He wanted to be acknowledged as the rightful captain of the Hawkeye, instead of some stupid medical officer. And the only way he knew how to get credit for something great done and get Qwi out of the way was to blow up the Klingon ship using the gas secret.
Surprisingly (to him), none of the crew wanted to help him. They were all very against blowing up their captain, who was a nice, well-liked girl, if a bit reserved. Codiar did not care; if he had to jump in the torpedo case and fly to the bird-of-prey, he would. Codiar was overly ambitious, and thus would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. He quickly fixed the torpedo up himself, since no one else would help him. Luckily for him, they were not quite defiant enough to stop such a high ranking officer on their ship. Silly ensigns.
The moment Codiar hit the "fire" button was the happiest of his life. He was now commanding officer of the USS Hawkeye NCC-2004. It was a beautiful moment. At least... it was a beautiful moment until the Enterprise hailed him. He opened the channel to see Qwi glaring at him from where she stood in between Spock and the Romulan woman- Toreth, he now remembered.
"Arrest the commander," Qwi said to a security guard at the back of the bridge. "You knew I was on that ship; you knew you were supposed to wait. One more minute would not have made a difference. Why?"
"I deserve that chair," Codiar said. He was already arrested, so what he said made no difference now. "You were a stupid lieutenant in the medical department who cannot even factor trinomials. I was a commander, with quite a bit of experience behind me. You only became Captain because you have friends in high places, like your Vulcan boyfriend over there." Qwi and T'Son gave each other startled, revolted looks, even as Toreth tried to hide her laughter. It was not really a funny moment, but the idea of those two together was so ludicrous...
"You do realize, Commander," Toreth said in an overly friendly voice, "that too much ambition can only lead to Ruen... I mean, ruin." She gave him a charming smile and tossed her hair back over her shoulder. Former commander Codiar Ruen could only sputter as the security guard took him at phaser-point to the Hawkeye's brig.
"Everyone seems to have it out for you, Qwi," Toreth remarked as she leaned back in the rec room chair. T'Son, Qwi, Toreth, Spock, and Dr. McCoy were all there. "Whatever happened to the 'just a background character who is disposable' mentality? Disposable characters just die, they are not almost murdered then saved... twice."
"Yeah, about being saved the first time," Qwi said, "I have a question. Both of you tried to knock me down to avoid the phaser beam. T'Son, you think I am annoying and illogical and hate me, and Toreth, you always prided yourself on being the Romulan who was going to kill all humans and take over the galaxy someday. Why then, would either of you save me?" Both Vulcan and Romulan looked uncomfortable.
"I guess..." Toreth began at last. "Um... in the words of the Emperor Kuzco, nobody's that heartless." She shrugged.
"Who is Emperor Kuzco?" Spock asked.
"Well, there was this movie made either in the late twentieth century or the early twenty-first- I cannot remember- called The Emperor's New Groove." She needed to say no more. Qwi and T'Son recognizing the reference, burst into laughter. Poor Spock and McCoy merely sat there, looking very lost.
"Wouldn't you prefer to say that though you three have been apart for ten years, and now are even on opposite sides of a war, friendship and love endure forever and the Techie Trio or what you called yourselves could never been broken?" Bones asked in his dry way.
"Bones, it's Trekkie," Toreth said. "And how can you stand to have such an optimistic viewpoint? You Federation people are too happy for your own good."
"I find that remark insulting," Spock commented.
"Oh Spock, you do not always have to be so precise. It is not like you are the head of a feared and dangerous intelligence, I think second only to the Obsidian Order by popular consent. When people think Federation, they first think of the species at the heart of it, humans. I honestly do not understand how I could even have been in love with Vulcans." Toreth shook her head at the things teenage hormones did to people.
"Sort of along those lines, did anyone contact Kaleh, Hawkeye, and Royale?" T'Son asked. "I wish my crew to know that I am safe. I am sure that Qwi and Toreth want the same thing, especially Toreth." He snuck a glance at her, but she was involved in trying to get some of the air duct dust out from under her fingernails and had not heard. She was the oddest Chairman of the Tal Shiar even to exist, that was certain.
"I did," Bones said. "I also," he pressed a button on the table in front of them, "took the liberty of contacting someone else who will undoubtedly want to talk to Toreth especially." The screen filled with a familiar image, if ten years older than last time Toreth had seen him in person.
"Cap- Admiral Kirk!" she exclaimed in surprise.
"Bones, you're joking," Kirk said with a laugh. "These cannot be the hyper, insane teenagers we used to know. It's just not possible. They look like... adults in Starfleet and whatever Toreth is in."
"You think?" Qwi muttered.
"I assure you, Jim, it is I, Toreth," Toreth said. T'Son and Qwi noticed she was using her "imperial" voice again- the one that told people they were lower class. She did this a lot when she was nervous though. "I am a commander in the Romulan Imperial fleet. And if you cannot believe your eyes, I suggest ancient reading glasses. You will receive them soon, so no worries," she added nonchalantly. Qwi and T'Son hid grins.
"Well, it is wonderful to see you all again," Kirk said. "It has been a few months, hmm, Qwi, T'Son? And Toreth... ten years or so?"
"Nine years, one month, twenty-nine da-" Spock began to say, but Kirk cut him off with a wave of the hand.
"Spock, we are not interested in the exact number of milliseconds"- 39- "that I have not seen Toreth for," he said. "Please, do not do your disappearing act again. Despite the fact that Qwi and T'Son both have their own starships, they still drop by my place when they are in this sector."
"I highly doubt I would be welcome, but confidential subspace messages... that might be acceptable," Toreth said. The Trio talked with one of their greatest heroes for a few more minutes before the galaxy-famous admiral had to get back to work. At last, the Trio was able to beam back to their ships. Spock and Bones both saw them off. The Trio smiled as they beamed away, and T'Son gave Spock the Vulcan greeting.
This was not the last time the Trio would be together (far from it!), or the last time that they would see the slightly more famous trio from TOS, but it was an acknowledgement. It was an acknowledgement that though people might be on different sides of a war, though they might even think they hate each other, though they might have not seen or heard of each other for an entire decade, the love of friendship still resists being broken. T'Son and Qwi were hardly about to pledge undying love to each other. Toreth was hardly about to stop destroying Federation starships in the name of Romulus. But a friendship like theirs could not be dashed apart by a small decade or quadrant-wide war, even if they thought they hated each other and only got together when forced.
The sparkles of the transporter beam were still lingering when Vokar ran onto the transporter pad and hugged and kissed Toreth in a very un-protocol conscious way.
"Don't ever worry me like that again!" Vokar said. "From now on, Chairman, no matter what the secret, highly dangerous mission is, I am not letting you out of my sight."
"Relax, Vokar," Toreth said, laughing. "I am fine, aside from needing a shower and a change of clothes. Besides, I the only way that would even be remotely possible would be if we were married, and that hardly sounded like a proposal, at least where I come from." She raised an eyebrow. Vokar laughed.
"Come on, then, Toreth; I told Elaina I would check with her after you and T'Son are beamed on your respective ships," he said.
"Who's Elaina?" Toreth asked, immediately going on the defensive.
"No competition for you, dear, do not worry," Vokar said. "But you feel that way, since the ring is on backorder, how about a romantic picnic from dinner in one of the holodecks tonight?"
"You're joking."
"About the ring? Yes. About dinner? No."
"Okay, sure. T'Son can have Elaina... you know, that sounds just a little bit like Alicia. You don't think..." They walked off down the corridor, ready to recommence the normal paranormal life of the Trekkie Trio.