Red 8
Sam took a deep breath here it was. She glanced at the others and they looked just as worried as she did. They nodded and followed her out of the mess hall. For some reason Sam seemed to have been made the unofficial leader of this little party. As a group they mingled with the growing crowd heading towards the auditorium. This was definitely for a disciplinary committee no other event would have a turn out like this. Her worry grew by leaps and bounds and she started softly praying under her breath.
"I didn't know you were religious" said Bones
"I'm not usually but given the circumstances I think he can use all the help he can get" said Sam
They walked up the stairs and through the doors. McCoy took over briefly when she couldn't decide where to sit and found them some seats in the middle towards the aisle. The judge's seats were all mostly empty and Sam noted their names on the name plates. Two of them she recognized as having a problem with Kirk's attitude and at least three were there for her hearing.
"Not good" said McCoy
She looked at him and he nodded to across the row. Spock was sitting down at one of the outer seats usually kept vacate for instructors. He was staring at Sam so she ignored his gaze. Instead she faced forward and watched as the judges filed into the room and took their seats. Sam eyed them dispassionately, trying to see if any one of them looked as if they could be even remotely sympathetic to Kirk.
She turned and noted the hall was almost filled. She had a momentary morbid thought that now would be the perfect time for an enemy to strike with all of them assembled in here. She heard the swoosh of the outer doors and the room went silent. Kirk was led into the room by two MP's and seated at the end of the row right in the front. Sam noted at least he wasn't cuffed. She wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. Sam studied Kirk. He was sporting a bruise on his cheek that hadn't been there the night before. Which meant he most likely got into it with that guard. He looked calm and composed but Sam knew him well enough she could tell he was nervous, maybe even a little bit scared.
One of the judges tapped a hammer on the desk in front of him. Sam noted with amusement that judges still used a gavel in this day and age.
"Order! Come to order!" he shouted
It was somewhat unnecessary because he already had silence and everyone's attention.
"Cadet Kirk step forward" said the judge
Sam watched Kirk stand up straighten his uniform and walk to the small podium at the front of the room.
"Cadet Kirk evidence has been submitted to this council suggesting that you have violated the ethical code of conduct pursuitent to star fleet regulation 17.43. Is there anything you care to say before we begin?" said the judge
Sam's stomach did a flip flop.
"Yes I believe I have the right to face my accuser" said Kirk
Spock slowly stood up and Sam firmly resisted the urge to groan.
"Step forward please, this is Commander Spock he is one of our more distinguished graduates. He has programmed the Kobayashi test for the last four years" said the judge
Spock took up the position behind the second podium and turned to face Kirk. Sam stared in shock. He programs that monstrosity, no wonder it was so messed up. Only a Vulcan would think terror was a logical test of one's abilities.
"Commander?" said the judge
"Cadet Kirk you somehow managed to install and activate a subroutine, thereby altering the tests conditions" said Spock
Sam's gaze flicked across the room and landed squarely on Gallia. The woman looked both nervous and angry. So that's what Kirk meant by her not wanting to talk to him again. He must have used Gallia to gain access to the system that ran the test. He probably seduced her to do it too. Idiot thought Sam though she wasn't quite sure which of the two was the stupider.
"Your point being?" said Kirk, his tone was nonchalant as if he didn't care
"In academic vernacular you cheated" said the judge
"Let me ask you something, that I think we all know the answer to, the test itself is a cheat isn't it? You programmed it to be unwinnable" said Kirk
"Your argument precludes the possibility of a no win scenario" said Spock
"I don't believe in a no win scenario" said Kirk
Sam smiled she didn't either. There was always a way to win even if it was nothing more than a smile in the face of certain death. Sam turned her gaze towards Spock. What was the Vulcan really so bent about?
"Not only did you violate the rules but you failed to understand the principal lesson" said Spock
Sam frowned, principal lesson? What the hell was he talking about? That life sucked, pretty sure most of them got that memo a long time ago.
"Please enlighten me" said kirk
Sam sat forward because she was curious too. What were they really trying to measure with that test?
"You of all people should know cadet Kirk that a captain cannot cheat death" said Spock
Sam's mouth dropped open in shock. Oh no he did not just go there? That was just low even for a Vulcan.
Sam glanced at McCoy and saw he was just as upset for his friend as she was. She barely resisted the urge to scream bad form at the Vulcan. Kirk shifted and Sam could see he was holding back the anger. Sam silently prayed he wouldn't do something stupid like punch that pointy eared bastard, not that he didn't deserve it.
"Your father Lieutenant George Kirk assumed command of his vessel before being killed in action did he not?" said Spock
Even Sam wanted to slap that self-satisfied smirk off his face. McCoy swore under his breath beside her. She carefully laid her hand on his arm and squeezed. He gave her a look and then nodded understanding what she was trying to convey without words. She had to hand it to Kirk he kept his cool amazingly well.
"I don't think you like that I beat your test" said Kirk
"Furthermore you have failed to define the purpose of the test" said Spock
"Enlighten me again" said Kirk
His jaw was tense, but otherwise he gave no indication that he was about two seconds away from punching a certain Vulcan right square in the nose.
"The purpose is to experience fear. Fear in the face of certain death. To accept that fear, to maintain control of oneself and one's crew. This is a quality expected in every star fleet captain" said Spock
Sam frowned that was what he was trying to measure, seriously? No wonder she failed. She lived in a constant state of fear since she got here. That and she had already faced certain death because she had been more than certain when she fell from that bridge that she was going to die. Did screaming your bloody head off all the way down count as maintaining control? She doubted it, there were just some things you couldn't control.
Kirk looked as though he were struggling to maintain that control when one of the guards hurried forward and handed the main judge a Padd. The judge tapped the open key and Sam felt an odd sense of déjà vu. Her stomach flopped again, why was she so nervous? The judge briefly read it then looked up at the assembled cadets.
"We've received a distress call from Vulcan with our primary fleet engaged in the Lorenceian system, I hereby order all cadets to report to hanger one immediately, dismissed" said the judge
The sound of everyone climbing to their feet was thunderous. Sam grabbed McCoy's hand and dragged him through the exiting crowd towards Kirk. Dodging leaving cadets as she did so. She passed Spock as he exited and he gave her a strange look.
"You okay?' said Sam
Kirk smiled at her.
"Yeah I'm fine who the hell is that pointy eared bastard?" said Kirk
"That would be the jerk that nearly got me kicked out over my choice of footwear" said Sam
"I liked your footwear" said McCoy
Sam snorted and gave him a level look
"No you like my legs, the footwear is just an excuse to look" said Sam
McCoy smirked and followed Sam towards the door. Kirk hesitated for a second and they turned to see why he wasn't following.
"He said all cadets" said McCoy
Kirk nodded
"So he did" said Kirk
He put an arm around Sam's shoulders and squeezed one briefly. He was forced to remove that hand as the bottle neck for the door shoved them into single file. She sighed in relief as the sunlight hit her eyes a second later. Everyone in the school was heading for the landing pads.
Hanger one was on the space station and it was also the only way to access the only ships in dock at the moment. People were filing into the available shuttles as they approached. One of the instructors spotted her and waved her over. Sam went with a strange look on her face.
"Morningstar?" said the commander
"Yes sir that's me" said Sam
He pointed to one of the parked shuttles.
"That one's yours you've got ferry duty, report to the watch commander after your last run" said the commander.
Sam nodded and headed for the shuttle in question. A group of cadets spotted her heading for it and started following her. McCoy and Jim snuck into the group. Sam punched in her door code and the loading ramp slid out. She headed for the pilots chair and took a seat as the back began to fill up. Her copilot sat down and she turned.
"Hey Hershey" said Sam
"Morningstar, hey cool glad to see you again" said the man
He was dressed like an instructor for some reason.
"You made instructor?" said Sam
"Yeah self-defense class first year" said Hershey
Sam smiled and glanced behind her at the cabin. It was almost full. She spotted Kirk and McCoy trying to blend into the group. Two more people climbed aboard and the ship was full. She spotted Spock heading for the ship.
She gave the signal that the shuttle was full and closed the door. If Spock got onboard he would surly make Kirk get off the shuttle. Sam fired up the engines and waited for the tower to clear her. As soon as the word came through she lifted off as she did so she noticed Spock disappear into another shuttle. She got in line behind the previous shuttle to depart and headed for the station.
As she was landing she noted two of the shuttles were already returning for more cadets. At this rate the entire academy would be empty in no time. She touched down and opened the door. The cadets unstrapped and filed out the door. Sam noted that McCoy was steering kirk out of the shuttle and towards sick bay.
She nodded and closed the door as soon as the last cadet was clear. She waited for a second then moved her shuttle into the line of departing shuttles to do another run. As soon as she received word she followed the shuttle in front of her out and back to the planet. Parked it and waited for it to fill up again. As soon as it did so she took off again. Unloaded and took off for one last run.
"Should be the last run this time, pickings are getting mighty slim" said Hershey
Sam looked down at the approaching school. The shuttle ahead of theirs was already taking off and there was only a few people waiting. The school was eerily silent. The buildings stood empty when they should have students in the classrooms at this hour. Hershey noticed her uneasy stare.
"Yeah it's kind of creepy isn't it" said Hershey
"Yeah" said Sam
She landed the shuttle and flicked the switch for the doors. She leaned back and waited while ten to twelve people climbed on board. She waited a few minutes more. They were going to be the last shuttle out so she decided a few seconds more just to make sure she got the last of the stragglers. A cab pulled up in front of the school, one of those fancy flying models.
The passenger got out and ran across the lawn to the landing pad. She noted his uniform as he approached, some ship would have been minus its captain if she didn't wait. The man rushed on board and quickly sat down. Sam looked up as he passed and grinned. She knew the man.
"Hey Captain Pike, running a bit late there you almost missed us" said Sam
"Thanks for waiting Samantha" said Pike
He sighed and sat down. He was strapping himself in when two more guys dressed like captains climbed onboard. Sam shook her head and smirked, waited a few minutes more then closed the doors. They were the last one to the station and four ships were still docked. Sam shut down the shuttle and opened the doors.
Sam climbed out of her seat and followed Hershey out of the shuttle. Pike was already heading for another shuttle. Sam walked up to the flight deck supervisor.
"Morningstar" said Sam
The man looked at his Padd.
"Reliant, helm. Better hurry that's your captain" said the manager
He pointed to a man running for one of the shuttles. Sam hurried after him and so did Hershey. Sam climbed onboard and strapped in. Hershey strapped in next to her. The captain was eyeing her. She stared right back.
"Captain Terrell, they say your my helmsman" said the man
He extended his hand to her and she shook it.
"Samantha Morningstar" said Sam
She shook his hand briefly
"I see you've already met my first officer ,lieutenant Hershey and I already know each other, you I am unfamiliar with I am afraid" said Terrell
Sam wasn't quite sure what he was asking.
"Ah what do you want to know?" said Sam
He tapped on his Padd and frowned at the screen. She could guess he was looking at her less than stellar academic record.
"It says here you're a member of the Raptors, that's a stunt team is it not?" said Terrell
"Yes sir one of the best" said Sam
Terrell raised an eyebrow
"The team that is" said Sam
That earlier statement sounded a bit arrogant to her. He nodded and looked out the window. He lowered the Padd in his hands.
"There she is, so beautiful and about to take her maiden voyage" said Terrell.
Sam turned so she could see the ship out of the window. It looked different than the enterprise. Sam opened her mouth to ask a question but Hershey beat her to it.
"What class is it, I don't think I've ever seen that design before?" said Hershey
Terrell smiled at the question
"Miranda class, and no you haven't she's the first of her class, just like that constitution class sitting next to her" said Terrell proudly
Sam smiled because he was right it was a beautiful ship. It wasn't huge like the one sitting next to it but in her opinion that made it all the better.
"Looks kind of tiny" said Hershey
Terrell gave him a scathing look. Sam tilted her head and stared at the ship as they neared it. She noted the torpedo tubes and the multiple phaser banks.
"Yes but I bet it packs quite a punch" said Sam
She nodded towards the ship Terrell looked where she was looking and smirked.
"Yeah the schematics say its packing a nice little arsenal for a vessel that was originally supposed to be a science vessel" said Terrell
They pulled into the ships docking bay. The shuttle pilot shut down the shuttles engines and opened the hatch. Sam unstrapped. This was it this was her first assignment. She was literally going into space. She felt giddy and terrified at the same time. She glanced at the captain and frowned. Why did the man look so familiar?
Something was nagging in the back of her mind it wasn't until they exited the turbo lift onto the bridge that it finally clicked into place. This was the bridge from her dream. Terrell headed for the captain's chair. Sam just stood there for a moment staring at the people who had been in her dream. She didn't know their names but their faces were unforgettable.
"Any day now cadet Morningstar" said Terrell
Sam swallowed the nervous lump of fear and made her way towards the helm. She sat down then remembering her dream strapped herself in.
"Cadet it's not necessary to strap in when we are just leaving the station" said Terrell.
Sam nodded and started her preflight. The rhythm of Terrell's fingers on the arm of the captain's chair was quite annoying. Sam turned to look at the man.
"Ready when you are cadet" said Terrell
Sam glanced at communications the Vulcan woman nodded in her direction
"We've been cleared by the tower" said the Vulcan
"Very good T'lin, Morningstar take us out" said Terrell
Sam swallow and urged the controls forward. The ship slowly moved forward and out of the launch bay. Sam set the course for Vulcan and reached for the warp controls. She took a deep breath and pushed the lever forward. The stars became blurred lines in front of her. The feeling nagged at her again and Sam checked her sensors.
A small unidentified blip was showing up on the edge of her screen. Sam slid the ship out of warp. She hit the port thrusters just as the ship dropped out of warp. Right into a field of debris.
"Raise shields" said Terrell
The guy next to her did so with a quick movement. He gave Sam a glance and she looked down at his lap. He reached for his restraints and fastened them. She heard the soft clicks as a few of the others did the same. The captain still hadn't though and it worried her. Sam steered the ship behind what looked like one of their ships.
"Those are Vulcan ships" said the communications officer
"Not all of them" said the guy next to her at the ops station.
A quick glance at his board told Sam all she needed to know. The guy next to her had the tactical displays on his control panel. She was glad he had decided to strap in for some reason she felt she was really going to need him.
"T'lin fire off an encoded message to all incoming ships, this is a trap, repeat this is a trap" said Terrell
T'lin nodded and hit the controls.
"Morningstar, Cho what have you got for me?" said Terrell
Cho tapped his keys. "The only other ship still running out there is that monstrosity on our starboard side" said Cho
Sam was staring in shock at the image on the view screen. That was the ship, the one from her dream the one that... okay Sam stop it she mentally chided herself. Get a grip and get your mind in the here and now. You know what happened in the dream just don't repeat that and you should be fine.
"Any idea what class it is or where it's from?" said Terrell
Sam was staring at her read outs she had no idea what it was or where it was from but she would be willing to bet her iPod that it was hostile.
"should I hail it sir?" said T'lin
Sam's eyes widened in horror as her dream flashed before her eyes. They had hailed it right before it attacked them, which meant they shouldn't hail it.
"Yes let's see who they are and what they are up to" said Terrell
"No!" Sam blurted
T'lin's fingers froze on the controls.
"cadet Morningstar you have an objection to my orders?" said Terrell
Sam swallowed because what she had just done sounded a lot like insubordination.
"Sir, I just believe we should proceed with caution. The ship is obviously hostile or the Vulcan's would not have called for help, I do not believe it has spotted us as of yet and from this debris field I am not sure we wish it to" said Sam
Yes that sounded cowardly but damn it his actions would definitely get them all killed. Captain Terrell seemed to think about what she said for a few minutes.
"T'lin belay that order" said Terrell
Sam sighed in relief and everyone on the bridge gave her a perplexed look.
"Sir I have another ship on an approach vector, it appears to be exiting the atmosphere right now" said Cho
Suddenly the black ship fired and the ship burst apart like toy under a car wheel. Sam stared at the debris in horror.
"Red alert, Cho lock phasers on that vessel" said Terrell
Sam gasped because he had said that in the dream. She opened her mouth to protest.
"Cho fire all phasers" said Terrell
Sam gasped as the beams of light streaked away from the ship and struck the other one. They didn't appear to do any damage but now the other ship was turning towards them. Sam's fingers were already flying across the controls before Terrell could even say the word evasive.
