Disclaimer: I still don't own Star Trek. No progress on this either.
Captain Kirk walked onto the bridge commanding. "How long until we get there/" he asked as he made his way to his chair. Spock joined Uhura at the communications console and they began to quietly confer.
"Twenty-eight minutes, sir," Sulu answered the Captain's question.
"Lt. Uhura," Kirk tuned his gaze toward her, "Have you reviewed the information from Starfleet?" Spock straightened and moved to his station.
"Yes, Captain," Uhura replied, "In fact, I was just telling Mr. Spock. Caspia IV is an Earth colony. As the population grew, disagreements separated the people into two groups. The larger group forced the smaller group out. The larger group grew and prospered with equipment already supplied and cities already built while the other lived in dire poverty, trying to fend for themselves on the planet. Starfleet speculates that, despising the larger group, the smaller group sent spies to the cities to steal. Soon, they too were a major power source. They began to attack each other, until Starfleet decided to intervene, sending the Aldrin."
"Until Starfleet decided to intervene?" Kirk repeated. "You mean they were observing this happening?"
"Yes, sir, Starfleet was able to keep tabs on the progress of these…difficulties."
"How did Starfleet learn of this?" Kirk was still incredulous about the whole thing.
"The original colonists reported the first attack from the rebels. They requested assistance."
"Assistance?" The Captain's voice rose slightly in volume, "They attacked their assistance!'
"No, sir," Uhura spoke up, "their opponents refused to attend the meeting and try to attain peace, attacking the Aldrin and capturing Lieutenant Montgomery."
"I see."
"Captain," Spock turned from his station to face the captain in the center chair. He was granted Kirk's attention. "I pulled up Lieutenant Montgomery's service record from the ships computer banks and have been reviewing it."
"And…"
"She has served as an Alien Relations officer in Starfleet for only a short time, though never on a ship. She was involved in diplomacy for the Federation before that. She is accredited with the solution of several planetary and interstellar disputes as well as the addition of several civilizations to the Federation."
"Impressive," Kirk commented. "But I have never heard of an Alien Relations officer before."
"Perhaps that is because she is the only one," Spock offered.
"Makes sense," Kirk agreed, "Might also be why Starfleet wants her back so bad. She makes a good hostage, huh?'
"Indeed."
The bridge grew silent as a planet loomed ahead on the viewscreen. Without moving, Sulu announced, "Caspia IV, sir."
"Standard orbit," Kirk ordered.
"We are being hailed," Uhura informed the Captain.
"On screen," he replied.
The image of a slightly older man appeared on the screen. He wore civilian clothes. Kirk initiated conversation with his usual address, "I am Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise."
"Leave now, Kirk," the man stated in a low, raspy voice, "We've tried talking to them already. Now it's time for force."
"We're…" Kirk began, but was abruptly interrupted.
"They'll shoot you down, Kirk!" the man threatened, "Get your ship and crew out of here!" The screen went blank.
"Uhura," the Captain immediately said, "Get him back. We need their help."
"Aye, sir." A couple switch switches and button pushes later, the harried man reappeared.
"I told you…" he began, tugging on his shirt.
"Let me tell you something," Kirk raised his voice just a little. The man was startled by the Captain's sudden aggression. "You want force? We got force. Just point us in the right direction." Kirk looked with amusement at the dumbfounded man on the viewscreen. "We need the coordinates of the enemy base."
Still skeptical, the man complied. But not without one final warning, "Be careful, Kirk, we don't want any more blood on our hands." The transmission ended.
"No worries there," Kirk mumbled before standing. "Spock, Sulu, come with me. Uhura, have Lt. Brooks, Lt. Jones, and Lt. Weigel report to the transporter." He glanced around at the startled faces of the bridge crew. Smiling, he let out an exaggerated sigh and reassured them, "Just like I said, in and out."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lt. Uhura scanned the bridge. The crew had been shuffled in the absence of the landing party. Scotty had taken the center chair and another engineer had taken his place while Chekov had gone to cover the science station and an ensign in gold had sat at navigations.
She hadn't really believed that the Captain was planning to attack. Really. Still, the bluff had come to quickly and easily that it had startled her. And everyone else on the bridge. With the exception of Mr. Spock, possibly.
The doors to the turbolift opened and Dr. McCoy appeared.
You just missed him, Doctor," Scotty explained, "The Captain is on his way to the transporter room"
The doctor only nodded in response. He stood right behind Scotty's right shoulder, leaning on the back of the chair, his usual spot.
This mission made Uhura uneasy. She obviously wasn't the only one. McCoy's presence on the bridge was proof for him. He always seemed to show up right before disaster. Scotty incessantly tapped the armrest of his chair, and Chekov kept his eyes glued to the scanner.
The waiting was always the hardest part…