Present
Day 3
Enterprise Holding at Station Near Noohra
After spending time with Christopher Pike, quality or otherwise, forgetting he is ambitious – very ambitious – is easy. His equanimity, his capacity for fully listening to viewpoints other than his own and then changing his mind, his charm, and his innate authority that surrounds and draws others in unintentionally masks that ambition.
He is also methodical, disciplined, and steadfast. His superiors, former and current, have at times redefined the later characteristic as unwaveringly stubborn.
These traits, especially the ambition, are prerequisites for reaching one of the apexes of his profession – command of a deep space vessel that can operate as a self-contained unit for years, exploring the unknown far from oversight, entrusted as the flagship of the Federation. These traits underpin the confidence and competence required for decisions which ripple near and far, narrow and wide, affecting one and billions. For determining who lives and who does not.
That ambition is honed and in service of Pike's ideals and his oath both of which are sacred to him.
After Philippa briefed him on Saru's findings that the orphans were no longer following the resistance trail, after dismissing his officers, Pike continued staring out of the window in his ready room considering options.
And unfailingly returned to one. He resolutely turned from the viewport, thinking, it's time we stop playing by the Aschaski's rules. Calling the bridge Pike issued a string of orders, "Nicola, request Captain Georgiou beam to Enterprise and relay it is time sensitive; Spock, find Lucero and meet me in science lab one; Number One, alert the department heads to prepare for new assignments, regular duty shifts will resume at 15:00, update the rosters and inform the crew, join me as time permits; Nicola, I want to see you and Chief Louvier in one hour." He messaged his yeoman: Mia, schedule a senior officer briefing at 16:00.
Switching to a ship-wide channel Pike addressed his crew. "The rumors are true. One hundred Noohran orphans are trapped in an area held by the Aschaski and fleeing south with one of our own. We will honor the cease-fire. Our actions will not inflict harm, direct or otherwise, on the Noohrans or the Aschaski. And those children and our crewmate will reach safety."
Noohra
While the children slept in the cave, Aalin quietly inventoried their dwindling supplies. Driven from the resistance's trail with its hidden caches of food and water bumped finding provisions to an urgent task; food could be tightly rationed but even with restricted drinking a fresh water supply was needed tomorrow. The exertion of walking for hours each day further taxed small bodies that dehydrated perilously fast. How long can an adult human forego water? Three days? Four? I'm reading a scout manual when I get back to Enterprise. OK, be cautious. Three days. It's not much, but my water ration from those days can stretch to a half-day emergency supply for the children.
Escaping from the Aschaski soldiers required walking half the previous night through the morning; Aalin decided rest aided their journey more than additional travel this afternoon and evening. I'll catch a quick nap, wake them later for play and dinner and then coax them back to sleep, she planned.
Selecting food and water for the evening and morning meals, she packed the remaining supplies in a sack that could be carried on her back along with one of the babies. The task busied her hands but the elephant in the cave, the looming imminent decision choosing their next move kept vying for attention. Which direction? Can we still reach the capital city? If not, what city under Noohran control can be reached in seven days? Will any of the children know the way? And if they do not? I have no map, no scanner … how do I keep us from wandering lost in these mountains for a week? Their prospects were bleak.
If there are forces for good in the universe, ones who nudge the right pieces into place, as Chris once confided he believes, why were these vulnerable children given an inexperienced, incompetent guide?
Most of Aalin's family practiced Catholicism; though during the family's attendance at mass, she had focused on the choir rather than the homily, the statues rather than the prayers. Favored were the serene effigies of Mother Mary, Francis of Assisi, and Saint Caroline canonized for the orphanages the twenty-first century woman founded following Earth's third world war. In this moment a prayer felt right, it felt needed, and she racked her memory for one but only recalled a fragment. Oh most … Blessed Mother of the Son of God … assist me in my necessity. O Star of the Sea, help me herein ...
What would Matt do? What would Spock do? What would Chris do …
Rather than automatically following our original plan, challenge the assumptions and examine the problem from a different perspective. Can we stay here for a week and then find a way to contact Enterprise? We'd need access to water and food, the cave is defensible but also a dead end if we get boxed in … wait, when did I learn to think about defendable perimeters and escape routes? Who taught me? That remembrance elicited a faint smile, Professor Chris of course. Wish we had talked about orienteering during those late-night chats. Can we find a local village and hide there? Where there are others to help with the children …
She began a head count, but exhaustion fogged her effort necessitating restarting multiple times. Ninety-seven. Shaking her head to clear it she took a deep breath and calmed a rapidly increasing heartbeat. Focus. One more time … ninety-seven. Two additional counts produced the same result.
No, no, no, no, no!
This fear had haunted her every step, her every dream since they left the orphanage. Keeping track of her nine nieces and nephews when they were all together was challenging, that same job was improbable when the number increased tenfold.
Damn, damn, damn. I should have checked immediately after we took shelter here. It's been what … an hour?
Waking the eldest child, a boy of twelve, Aalin instructed they stay in the cave until she returned. She showed him where the remaining supplies were stowed and warned the food and water must be used sparingly.
Aalin examined the area in front of the cave. Unless the terrain prevented it the children tended to walk in meandering circles rather than single file negating any chance of delineating clear sets of footsteps away from the shelter. Deciding the best first option was retracing their path to this point, she ran down the mountain, searching and calling out for those lost.