Red 13
Sam rolled her eyes and stepped out of her dorm building. So much for a bit of relaxation. You would think with all those Vulcans to take care of they would get a few moments of peace. At least until they remembered they existed. Sam marched towards the command building. During the whole march she was outlining what she was going to say and developing defenses for her less orthodox command decisions.
Butterflies were already dancing in her stomach as she climbed the front steps to the building. She stopped at the top and took a deep breath to steady her nerves. During the ride up to the fourth floor she reminded herself that she had not only ensured the survival of her ship but also a couple thousand Vulcans. She passed a window on the way to the Admiral's office and took a moment to evaluate the crowd of Vulcan's below.
It was really sad that this, and a few scattered throughout the system, were all that remained of the Vulcan people. Nero had just about caused their extinction, in fact the earth had come real close to joining Vulcan. If it hadn't been for them he would have succeeded. This steadied her nerves and she walked into the office.
A secretary looked up at her with a bored expression on her face. The woman hit a button.
"The Admiral will see you now" said the secretary
The door slid open and Sam walked into the office. The Admiral had his back to her and was staring out of the huge window in his office. He looked vaguely familiar, something about the slightly iron grey hair and the set of the man's shoulders. He turned slightly and regarded her silently.
"Well if it isn't my favorite bird of prey, hello Lieutenant Morningstar. Do take a seat" said the Admiral
A quick glance at his nameplate and she remembered his face with the name. Marcus, he was there after she took the Kobayashi. Sam calmly sat down. He took a seat across from her and picked up the pad in front of him.
"I was just reviewing the flight logs for the battle, most impressive" said Admiral Marcus.
Sam wasn't sure what he meant by impressive. She shifted nervously.
"You don't agree do you?" said Marcus
Sam swallowed because, no she didn't agree. That battle was much too close for comfort.
"No sir, with all due respect we got trounced out there, I hardly think that's impressive at all" said Sam The man smiled at her.
"No Lieutenant when you put it like that it wasn't impressive at all but I wasn't referring to the rest of the fleet. What I was talking about is the fact that out of twelve fully armed ships two of them returned, and one that had the least amount of fire power, managed to hold an enemy vessel until reinforcements arrived. That is what I call impressive" said Admiral Marcus
Sam could feel her cheeks heating up.
"The other thing is this" said Marcus
He turned his pad device so she could see the screen, on it a small rendition of the Reliant danced around the Nerada rendition. Suddenly the Reliant went vertical then came down partially and smoothly rotated into a loop before sling shooting itself around the underside of the Nerada and turning so the rear guns could fire. Sam frowned at the pad.
"I do not understand sir" said Sam
Marcus chuckled.
"No I don't suppose you would. After viewing this I took the opportunity to browse our library looking for this maneuver. Do you know what I found?" said Marcus
Sam shook her head no because she had no idea what he had found.
"This flight maneuver didn't exist the only thing that comes close is a two plane version of the cobalt starburst, but without the plasma ignition" said Admiral Marcus
Sam gave him a confused look so she made up a maneuver so what? She was trying to get Cho a shot who cares how she did it.
"You have no idea what that means do you?" said Marcus
Sam shook her head no.
"It means that this maneuver will have to be included in the flight manuals and since you were the first one to perform it, they will more than likely name it after you" said Admiral Marcus
Sam's mouth dropped open. Her name was forever going to be included in a Starfleet manual. That was so cool but wait.
"But sir I'm only a cadet" said Sam
Marcus chuckled
"Not for long I am going to recommend that the battlefield promotion stand, In light of your recent performance I am also fast tracking you into the command program. I believe the rest of the admiralty will agree with me when they see this, that your abilities are wasted anywhere else" said Marcus
Sam was shocked to say the least.
"I am giving you shore leave for the next couple of weeks, campus will be closed until then anyways. I will expect a completed report on my desk when you return for the memorial service" said The Admiral
She looked down at her lap. The old man sighed.
"I know what you want to say lieutenant and I agree with you, those kids had no business even being out there. They weren't ready by any stretch of the imagination" said Admiral Marcus
"No sir they were not" said Sam
He nodded at her and she slowly stood
"Your dismissed lieutenant have a fun few weeks" said Marcus
Sam walked out of the door feeling slightly numb and in shock. She was still going to keep her commission, and they were putting her in the manual. She was practically skipping when she reached the elevators. Kirk was coming out of an office when she reached the third floor so Sam held the door for him. He looked as happy as she did. As soon as the doors closed they turned to each other and said simultaneously
"You're never going to believe…"
Sam giggled
"You go first" said kirk
"Naw go ahead" said Sam
He smirked at her.
"They're dropping the charges, I still have some make up stuff to do and I'm banned from telling other cadets how I did it, but they aren't kicking me out. I even get to keep my commission and get this, I could get the enterprise when they are finished repairing it" said Kirk
"Get?" said Sam
That almost sounded like they were giving him a ship and that can't be right.
"As it's captain, for real this time. Isn't that great?" said Kirk
He sounded so completely ecstatic that Sam was happy for him too
"So wait are they planning on skipping a whole rank or something?" said Sam
"Well I guess, I did earn the rank of lieutenant second grade and Pike did bump me up a grade, so I could be first officer and they did just say that stands. So I guess the next step would be commander, but then again they did just loose more than half of their commissioned officers" said Kirk
He looked pointedly at sam. She frowned, if you put it that way then she supposed a jump in rank made perfect sense. She had to admit with his looks and natural charm Kirk would make the perfect poster boy.
"Well?" said Kirk
She gave him a confused look.
"Your turn" he said
"Oh!" said Sam
She didn't know where to start.
"Well I'm keeping my rank, and they're fast tracking me into command" said Sam
Kirk frowned at her.
"You don't sound very enthused about that" said Kirk
She shook her head.
"No I'm not, not really. I wasn't really planning to do this as a career" said Sam
Kirk shrugged
"Bit late for that now" said Kirk
Sam sighed and rested her head against the wall behind her.
"There was something else" said Kirk
She nodded in agreement.
"One of the maneuvers I did isn't in the manual" said Sam
He raised his eyebrows in shock.
"You do know what that means right?" said Kirk
She nodded yes.
"You deserve it,that was some fancy flying you were doing" said Kirk
Sam nodded yes.
"I wasn't trying to impress anyone. I was just trying to give Cho a shot" said Sam
Kirk clasped her shoulder.
"That's precisely what you did, so cheer up I've got a few weeks of shore leave, what about you?" said Kirk
Sam smiled at him. He was trying to cheer her up, subtly was definitely not his strong suit. She honestly doubted anything really was except maybe being a starship captain and possibly annoying your superiors. She doubted that actually counted as a skill. She was just glad they hadn't kicked him out and that he had shown up when he did up there.
She had really begun to doubt they were even capable of bringing that ship down. She was beginning to see why Marcus was gunning to have more weapons on their ships. She certainly would have welcomed some serious firepower out there.
"Me too, so where should we go?" said Sam
The lift doors slid open and they walked out.
"I have a few ideas" said Kirk
Sam gave him a strange look` when he wasn't forthcoming with any more information.
"So out with it" said Sam
He chuckled
"You'll see just go pack for a few days" said kirk
She opened her mouth to protest but he just gave her a smug look. His dorm was the closest to the administration building so he parted ways with her before she could wheedle any information out of him. It was annoying and she was sure he was up to no good but she went with it anyway.
She trudged back to her dorm room changed out of the uniform and stowed her swimsuit in a small duffle bag. She packed mostly civilian clothes. She shook her head at that mental statement. When did she start thinking that way? She sighed Marcus was right she needed a vacation. She slid on her sandals and through her bag over her shoulder.
Tucked the pad thing in one of the pockets and headed for the door. She found Kirk waiting downstairs. She almost didn't recognize him because he was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Draped casually over one shoulder was what looked like a leather bomber jacket. He looked good like that, she decided right away. He looked her up and down and smirked.
"Ready to have some fun?" he asked
Sam nodded and he headed for the transports. There was a public air taxi waiting for them. Jim climbed in when they got there and the driver took their bags. He shoved them into the back. She climbed into the cab. Sam sat back in the rather cozy seat and waited for Jim to tell the driver where they were going.
"Mag Lev station please" said kirk
"Mag Lev?" said Sam
Kirk smiled at her and the taxi cab took off.
"You've never been on one?" said Kirk
Sam shook her head no.
"No what are they?" said Sam
"I'm not sure the exact technology, Scotty could probably tell you that, what I do know it's the fastest way to get from one place to another" said Kirk
"Scotty?" said Sam
Kirk grimaced
"Yeah long story that, picked him up on Delta Vega apparently admiral archer is still miffed about his dog" said Kirk
Sam frowned trying to place an Admiral Archer in her mind or something about a dog.
"the transporter accident?' said Sam
Kirk nodded yes.
"they never found the dog" said Sam
Kirk nodded yes again. Sam gave him a worried look
"And you just what, let him on the ship?" said Sam
Kirk chuckled
"Actually he got us both back on board the enterprise" said Kirk
Sam frowned again this time in confusion.
"But you just said you were on Delta Vega and your ship was heading for the Lorenceian system last I saw it" said Sam
Kirk gave her a very surprised look, that look almost impressed. He nodded yes.
"Spock marooned me on Delta Vega after I tried unsuccessfully, the first time, to get him to go after Nero. Scotty apparently perfected his Trans warp beaming theory and we hitched a ride back after Spock got rebuffed by the fleet" said Kirk
It took a moment for his words to fully sink in.
"What, oh my god tell me you didn't" said Sam
He looked away in obvious embarrassment, which gave her the answer. The blood drained from her face and she almost got sick.
"Oh my god, you could have ended up in the engine you idiot!" said Sam
He was looking way too calm an like he was hiding something. She hit his arm hard.
"Tell me you didn't end up in the engine" said Sam
"Ouch l…, no of course not, that hurt! Why'd you hit me so hard" he whined
She glared at him
"Because dipshit you could have ended up in the warp core or worse and he's not here for me to smack too" said Sam
Kirk looked genuinely shocked
"Or worse?" he said
She glared and he didn't say anything more. She stewed for a few seconds cursing up a storm in her head.
"Where did you end up?" said Sam
He grimaced again, and when he didn't answer right away, she raised her hand to hit him again
"Okay. Okay, it was the coolant intake, but they got me out in time" said Kirk
She smacked him anyways, repeatedly.
"Okay enough stop already, I know it was dumb alright, geez woman lay off!" said Kirk
He held up his hands in surrender. Appeased she stopped hitting him but only because he was contrite about it, she still thought they were idiots for even trying it in the first place. She was just relieved they hadn't been killed in the attempt. The cab pulled up in front of a strange looking platform with three huge tubes coming out of each end.
Sam stared at it in confusion. It looked vaguely like those tube things they used to have at her mother's bank for the drive up window.
"Look if it will make you happy, I promise not to do anything that crazy again" said Kirk
She glared at him because that promise was about as flimsy as a swimsuit made of rice paper. She climbed out of the cab and took her bag from the driver. Kirk retrieved his bag and they headed for the building. Sam looked back at the driver as he climbed back into his car. She still had an issue with the lack of currency after all this time. Call her a capitalist but people deserved to be paid for their time. She climbed the stairs behind Kirk.
He held out his hand to her as the area started to get crowded. The doors slid open and they were in what looked like a futuristic train station. Kirk looked at a display then pulled her towards one of the turbo lift bays. They waited as one by one the turbo lifts stopped, filled up and then left again. When it was their turn Kirk pulled her into the car. It climbed to the third in a set of aerial platforms and the doors slid open. Sam had been trying to ignore the glass wall that made up one side of the turbo lift, when Kirk suddenly grabbed her and pulled her forward.
He dragged her towards a line and stopped. Sam took the time to finally look around. The track was a huge metal and glass looking tube with several openings at different intervals. A yellow marked area indicated the wait area which contained five lines. A floating sign hovered above to opening. Sam studied it for a few minutes until Las Vegas flashed across the screen. She gave kirk a look and he tried to look innocent. He failed miserably but only because she knew better.
A humming sound suddenly filled the station and what looked like huge soda cans pulled up to the spaces. Doors on the side slid open and the people in line moved forward. Twelve people climbed aboard and the doors closed, they moved forward in the line. Sam did a quick count of the people in front of them and noticed Kirk would be the cut off for the next group. She tapped his shoulder.
"You make twelve" said Sam
He looked confused for a few seconds, then suddenly it dawned on him what she was trying to say. Kirk turned to the guy behind Sam.
"Hey buddy want to change places I want to ride with my girl" said Kirk
Sam was too stunned to protest the declaration.
"Yeah sure no problem" said the guy
He moved forward and Kirk took his spot.
"Thanks buddy I really appreciate this" said Kirk
"No problem gets me there faster" said the man
Kirk wrapped his arms around Sam and she froze in shock. What the hell was he doing? He nuzzled into her neck and kissed it.
"I'm sorry" he said
She knew what he was referring to so she reluctantly accepted his apology.
"You worry me when you do things like that" said Sam
He hugged her tighter.
"I know and I'm sorry I'm just not used to... you know" said Kirk
"Having someone worry about you?" said Sam
He nodded yes, she turned because she could only see his shadow move.
"Yeah, well besides my mom that is" said Kirk
He said that like he didn't really believe she did care about him. Sam knew from what McCoy had said that Kirk had a difficult relationship with his mother because he hated his stepfather. She could relate to that, she just didn't have to deal with it any longer.
"Or McCoy" said Sam
She grinned at him and Kirk chuckled.
"Yeah or McCoy, I think he's worse than my mom though "said Kirk
"Yeah, at least your mom doesn't have access to tranquilizers" said Sam
He got this horrified look on his face and did a full body shiver.
"Thank god" said Kirk
The hum filled the chamber again and Sam looked at her watch. Ten minutes holy cow that thing was fast. The doors slid open and the group ahead of them vanished into the tube the doors closed at that one was gone too. The line moved forward and now they were in the front.
"So what are we going to do once we get there?" said Sam
"Don't know never been there before" said Kirk
She turned towards him and he released her so she could step back.
"Why not?" said Sam
He shrugged
"Never wanted to" said Kirk
She gave him a look and he sighed. He never was any good at keeping secrets from her.
"Frank went there all the time, he offered to take me once but I refused. He wanted to do some father son bonding shit and I just wasn't interested" said Kirk
She nodded in understanding Greg had tried something similar with her and she had likewise been uninterested. It was something they had in common, stepfathers who were nasty pieces of work.
"Mine wouldn't have had the money to go there all the time he spent all of his time at the Indian casinos when he wasn't drinking himself into a stupor" said Sam
Kirk stared at her and then rested his hand on her shoulder. She didn't really talk about her family and he knew that. She just didn't like remembering they were gone, so long ago. He suddenly hugged her and she rested her head on his shoulder.
