Bridge
Later, Kirk was back on the bridge, hearing all the reports of the ship's last minute status before launch.
"Transporter system fully repaired and functioning normally, sir." Uhura reported.
"Dock signals clear, Captain." Sulu spoke next.
"Reply we are holding position awaiting final crew replacements." Kirk ordered.
"Aye sir. Transporter personnel reports the Navigator Lieutenant ...Ilia." Decker's head shot up when he heard the name of the navigator. "She's already aboard, and en route to the bridge, sir. She's Deltan, sir."
The turbo lift doors opened, revealing an attractive woman clad in a navigator uniform. She had no hair, and yet gave off a feeling of beauty to the male members of the crew as she stepped onto the bridge.
"Lieutenant Ilia reporting for duty, sir." Ilia stated, her voice carrying a Deltan accent.
"Welcome aboard, Lieutenant." Kirk greeted.
Decker stepped into the navigator's view with a smile. "Hello, Ilia."
"Decker!" Ilia said with a surprised smile.
"I was stationed on the Lieutenant's home planet some years ago." Decker explained to Kirk, looking slightly uncomfortable.
Illia was now confused, looking between Decker and Kirk, noticing the sleeve stripes on Decker's uniform. "'Commander' Decker?" She had thought he was a captain by now.
"Yes, our Exec and science officer." Kirk explained.
"Captain Kirk has the utmost confidence in me." Decker said sarcastically, throwing a look at the captain.
Kirk only glanced back for a second. "And in you too, Lieutenant."
"My oath of celibacy is on record Captain. May I assume my duties?" Ilia asked.
"By all means." Kirk gestured to the navigator station.
"Captain, Starfleet reports our last six crewmembers are ready to beam up, ...but one of them is refusing to step into the transporter." Uhura cut in.
"Oh?" Kirk smiled, having an idea who it was. "I'll see that he beams up!"
He stepped into the turbo lift. "...Transporter room."
Transporter Room
Kirk stepped into transport room, seeing the last of the crew stepping off the transporter pad. "Ellen."
"Yes sir." Rand replied.
"What was the problem down there?"
"He insisted we go first, sir. Said something about first seeing how it scrambled our molecules." Rand explained.
Kirk smiled. "That has a familiar ring, doesn't it?" He opened a channel. "Starfleet, this is Captain Kirk. Beam that officer up now!"
A moment later the final officer appeared on the transporter. It was none other than the former chief medical officer of the Enterprise before his retirement: Dr. Leonard McCoy. The former doctor was dressed in civilian clothes and sported a thick heavy beard. He quickly ran his hands down his body, making sure he was all there in one piece and that everything in the right place.
Kirk smiled as he stepped out and greeted his old friend. "...Well, for a man who swore he'd never return to Starfleet."
However the doctor was than pleased to see him. "Just a moment, Captain, sir. I'll explain what happened. Your revered Admiral Nogura invoked a little known, and seldom used, reserve activation clause...in simpler language, Captain: they drafted me!" McCoy complained as he stepped past Kirk.
"They didn't."
McCoy turned around and pointed an accusatory finger at his old friend. "This was your idea! This was your idea, wasn't it?"
"Bones, there's a 'thing' out there..." Kirk started.
"Why is any object we don't understand always called a 'thing'?" McCoy asked rhetorically.
" ...headed this way. I need you." Kirk emphasized. "Dammit Bones, I need you. Badly!"
He held out his hand to McCoy who was hesitant but eventually grasped it. "Permission to come aboard?"
"Permission granted, sir." Rand replied happily.
McCoy was now smiling a bit at his old friend. "Well, Jim, I hear Chapel's an MD now. Well, I'm gonna need a top nurse, not a doctor who'll argue every little diagnosis with me." He walked over to the door, stopping just to complain a bit more. "And ...they've probably redesigned the whole sickbay, too. I know engineers. They love to change things."
Bridge
They were ready now.
The crew was assembled and at their stations while non-essential personnel and launch crew had been evacuated through cargo shuttles and travel pods. The dockings around the ship switched off and the moorings that had been holding it retracted. The bulkheads closed off, the feed lines disengaged and warning lights activated.
"Dock control reports ready, sir." Uhura reported.
"Helm ready, sir." Sulu was next.
"Orbital departure on plot, sir." Ilia followed.
"Yard command signalling clear, sir."
"Maneuvering thrusters, Mister Sulu." Kirk ordered.
"Maneuvering thrusters, sir."
"Hold station." Kirk wanted to give the Enterprise a chance to be fully ready.
"Thrusters at station keeping."
Outside, the Enterprise came to life as the outer lights and the deflector dish activated. The engines let out a low humming sound, signaling for the first since its return to Earth for refit, the Enterprise was ready to continue its mission.
"Thrusters ahead, Mister Sulu." Kirk said, almost eagerly. "...Take us out."
Slowly but surely the Enterprise moved forward, its thrusters propelling it forward. The pace was almost elegant in the way the ship moved. A man in an EVA suit sitting on the struts of the dry dock even waved good bye, watching with awe and pride.
Once again, the Enterprise freely soared across the stars.
Here in Engineering Section, the engine throbbing slowly built to a thundering sound. A glow from the central unit indicated anti-matter intermixes underway. The Engineering Section shuddered as the great engines drew more and more power.
"Intermix set, Bridge, impulse power at your discretion." Scotty reported.
On the bridge Kirk hesitated for a second but gave the order. "Impulse power, Mister Sulu. Ahead warp point five."
The maneuvering jets turned off while the impulse drive glowed. The Enterprise began moving perceptibly faster behind her, the drydock diminishing rapidly in size.
"Depature angle on view." Kirk requested.
Sulu switched the view screen to show the rapidly shrinking Earth. "Departure angle."
"Viewer ahead." Kirk then said.
Sulu switched the image back to show the forward view, allowing the crew to see the star patterned void, passing the remaining planets in the solar system. "Viewer ahead, Captain."
All hands tensed with the excitement of the journey, watching viewer as it showed Saturn and its rings that the ship immediately passed.
"Captain's Log, stardate 7412.6. 2.7 hours from launch in order to intercept the Intruder at the earliest possible time, we must now risk engaging Warp drive while still within the solar system."
As Kirk made his first log since resuming command, Decker was punching in equations on his console, reaching a reading. "Captain, assuming we have full Warp capability, accelerating to Warp Seven on leaving solar system will bring us to IP with the Intruder in twenty point one hours."
"Science Officer's computations confirmed, sir." Ilia spoke, checking her console.
And Decker and Ilia glanced at each other with hidden smile while the turbo lift doors opened, and McCoy appeared, walked over to Kirk who swung his chair around to face him, seeing McCoy was his usual dour self.
"Well, Bones, do the new medical facilities meet with your approval?" Kirk asked casually.
"They do not. It's like working in a damned computer center." McCoy complained.
Kirk was only half listening, turning to Decker. "Programming ready?"
"Program set for standard Warp entry, Captain..." Kirk starts to swing his chair to normal position as Decker continued. "But I still recommend further simulation study."
"Mister Decker; every minute brings that object nearer Earth!" Kirk said impatiently, activating the intercom. "Engineering! Stand by for Warp Drive."
McCoy was watching Kirk, a bit surprised at his abruptness to Decker.
"Captain, we need further Warp simulation on the flow sensors..."
"Engineer, we need Warp speed now!"
"Jim, you're pushing." McCoy cut in gently. "Your people know their jobs."
Kirk flashed McCoy a glance of annoyance.
Engineering
Scotty stepped to his console where an assistant engineer was working a computer, studying the readouts, punching buttons, etc. Scotty stood over him, grimly observing.
Finally, the Assistant simply shrugged with frustration. "That's it, sir; I can't do any better."
"Aye, lad..." Scotty said grimly and turned to the intercom. "It's borderline on the simulator, Captain: I canna guarantee that she'll hold up."
Kirk was not accepting no for answer. "Warp Drive, Mr. Scott." McCoy still watched curiously as Kirk turned to the helm. "Ahead Warp One, Mr Sulu."
"Accelerating to Warp One, sir." Sulu moved his controls forward , everyone waiting tensely as the sound of the engines accelerating was heard. "Warp point seven... point eight... nine..."
They all watched the stars ahead shifted; streak, colors pulsating and changing as the shift exceeded the wave lengths of the light spectrum and the stars congeal into a mass ahead. There was another moment all remain tense, and then all at once relaxed, releasing their breaths and smiled.
"Warp One, sir." Sulu reported.
Kirk smiles, pleased, started swinging his chair around. "Mr. Decker-"
Kirk never finishes the word. At that instant, on the view screen, a sudden spiraling of stars and fluid light narrowed into a vortex into which the Enterprise hurtled. "Wormhole! Get us back on impulse power! Full reverse!"
The Enterprise had been caught in a matter-time distortion, sucked into a cylindrical 'hole in space', stars and planets become strange, elongated shapes, with the Federation flagship drawing deeper and deeper into the vortex.
"Negative helm control, Captain! Going reverse on impulse power!"
"Subspace frequencies are jammed by Wormhole effect!"
"Negative control from inertial lag will continue 22 point five seconds before forward velocity slows to sub-light speed." Decker reported.
"Unidentified small object has been pulled into the wormhole with us, Captain! Directly ahead!"
"Forcefields up full! Put object on viewer!" Kirk ordered.
The view screen showed the object that was slowly growing in size.
"Go to Manual override!"
"No manual response!" Sulu replied.
Through all this, McCoy stood frozen, waiting and expecting the worse. Meanwhile, Ilia had reached over to Sulu's console, hit a button. "Navigational deflectors coming up! Navigational deflectors inoperative! Directional control also inoperative, Captain!"
"Wormhole distortion has over-loaded main power systems!" Decker called out.
The picture on the view screen switched through two further levels of magnification, enlarging the object: an elongated, distorted, pitted asteroid, tumbling toward the Enterprise on a collision course.
Kirk looked to Ilia. "Time to impact?"
"Twenty seconds!"
"Mr. Chekov, stand by on phasers!"
"No!" Decker shouted and started racing to Chekov's station. "Belay that phaser order! Arm photon torpedoes!"
Kirk just glanced, surprised at Decker for countermanding the phaser order and for a split instant, Kirk seems confused. McCoy reacted with enlightenment as the object grew even larger.
"Photon torpedoes armed!" Chekov stated.
"Object is an asteroid, reading mass point seven." Ilia said, consulting her instruments. "Impact in eight seconds...seven... six... five..."
"Fire torpedoes!" Decker ordered.
Chekov punched the fire button. "Torpedoes away!"
The starship's forward photon torpedo tube ejected a glowing ball of light energy which seemed to float toward the oncoming asteroid, almost too slowly. And in these brief seconds, the asteroid hurtled at the Enterprise, the huge pitted rock growing even larger than the ship itself. It filled the screen, as the photon torpedo hit, disintegrating the asteroid into thousands of fragments. Instantly, these fragments pulverize themselves on the ship's forward forcefield and deflector screens.
The smaller pieces burn up on impact, clearly outlining the ship's forcefield barriers while the larger sections bounced away, the bridge quivering as they hit. Then one final gigantic fragment strike, the bridge shuddered. And then the viewer showed only normal stars ahead, relatively stationary; a feeling of motion, but smooth, visually normal.
Chekov looked relieved. "We're out of it!"
"We are at warp point eight. Position report, Navigator?" Decker asked.
"Helm control restored, sir." Sulu answered.
"Computing new interception course." Ilia stated.
"Communications are normal, Captain." Uhura spoke up.
"Negative damage report, sir." Chekov said to Kirk and then looked at McCoy. "No casualties reported, sir."
"Wrong, Mr. Chekov, there are casualties. My wits!" McCoy looked to Kirk, indignant. "As in 'frightened-out-of, Captain Sir."
"Engineer... report status there." Decker spoke into the intercom.
Engineering
Scotty and his crew were pouring over the instruments, all seeming very grim.
Scott, quite preoccupied, spoke into the intercom. "In just a second, Exec; we're picking up the pieces down here."
Bridge
Kirk seeming to collect his thoughts gave Decker a look as he used the intercom himself. "Mister Scott we need Warp Drive as soon as possible."
"Captain, it was our anti-matter imbalance that created the wormhole in the first place. It will happen again if we don't correct it."
"That object out there is less than two days from Earth. We've got to intercept while it still is out there." Kirk flipped off the intercom and rose determinedly to face Decker. "Mr. Decker, I'd like to see you in my quarters. You have the conn, Mr. Sulu."
"Mind if I tag along?" McCoy asked.
Kirk gave McCoy an annoyed look, then strode to the elevator. Decker grimly followed with McCoy bringing up the rear as they entered. Ilia gazed worriedly at the just-closed elevator doors, as Sulu is punching figures into his console.
"Maintaining warp point eight; I show our new heading as 287 point three Mark 105."
Ilia's attention was still directed toward Decker.
"Lieutenant Ilia...?"
Ilia jumped but quickly straightened herself. "Confirmed, Mr. Sulu. Confirmed."
She punched in some equations, then again peers up at the doors where she last saw Decker. She was still very concerned.
Captain's Quarters
Kirk was the first to enter his quarters, McCoy moving aside while Decker stood attentively, waiting as Kirk turned to him. "Explanation, Mr. Decker. Why was my phaser order countermanded?"
"Sir, the Enterprise redesign increases phaser power by channeling it through the main engines. When they went into anti-matter imbalance, the phasers were automatically cut off." Decker explained calmly.
Kirk seemed surprised by this information, perhaps slightly chagrined. "Then you acted properly, of course."
"Thank you, sir. I'm sorry I embarrassed you." Decker replied.
"You saved the ship." Kirk noted.
"I'm aware of that, sir." Decker said cooly.
Kirk looked up, his eyes now flaring. "Stop competing with me, Decker!"
"Permission to speak freely, sir?" Decker asked, remaining polite.
"Granted." Kirk said tightly.
"Sir, you haven't logged a single star hour in two and a half years. That, plus your unfamiliarity with the ship's design in my opinion, sir, seriously jeopardizes our mission."
Kirk almost reacted with anger, struggling for a second and regaining control. "I trust you will... nursemaid me through these difficulties, Mister?"
"Yes, sir, I'll do that."
Kirk peered at Decker, who stood facing him determinedly. "I won't keep you from your duties any longer, Commander." He turned McCoy. "Yes, Doctor?"
Kirk's last line had drowned out Decker's 'Aye, sir.'
McCoy says nothing, waits until Decker was gone and the door closed behind him. "He may not be wrong, Jim."
Kirk said nothing but knew the doctor was right.
Decker was moving toward an elevator when the elevator doors opened, and there was Ilia.
She stepped out, facing him. "Was he difficult?"
"No more than I expected." Decker hesitated. "Not as difficult as this. I'm sorry..."
"That you left? Or that you didn't say 'goodbye'?" Ilia asked.
"If I'd seen you again, would you have been able to say it?"
There was a long hesitation; then Ilia shook her head. "No."
Ilia whirled, moving toward her stateroom door, which snapped open, then closed behind her. Decker stood gazing at the door, remembering and regretting.
Captain's Quarters
"And another thing."
Kirk was really not in the mood. "Get out of here, Bones."
McCoy however shook his head in refusal. "As ship's doctor, I am now discussing the subject of command fitness."
Kirk's expression hardened. "Make your point, Doctor."
"The point, Captain, is that it's you who's competing..." McCoy watched Kirk's reaction. "You rammed getting this command down Starfleet's throat. You used this emergency to get the Enterprise back."
"I intend to keep her, is that what you're saying, Doctor?" Kirk asked, leaning over the table.
"Yes. It's an obsession that can blind you so far more immediate and critical responsibilities. Your reaction to Decker is an example."
Kirk studied him a beat; had McCoy touched a nerve? Something Kirk himself might have been unaware of?
Kirk started speaking, but was interrupted.
"Bridge to Captain." Uhura's voice spoke over the intercom.
"Viewer on."
At his voice command, the cabin viewer came on, showing Uhura at her console. "Two signals, one coming from a Federation-registered long-range shuttle, sir. She wishes to come alongside, and lock on."
"For what purpose?"
On the viewer, Chekov's image replaced Uhura. "It is a courier, Captain. Grade One priority. Non-belligerency confirmed."
"Very well, Mr. Chekov, see to it. And the other?"
The screen switched back to Uhura. "It appears to be a distress beacon, Captain. There are no Federation transponder frequencies or any kind of signals I am familiar with."
"Distance?"
"Close to the shuttle, Captain but according to signal they are losing power fast." Chekov replaced Uhura again. "My sensors show the shuttle is using tractor beam to pull it towards us."
Kirk was hesitant to decide what to do. He needed the Enterprise to intercept the Intruder at the earliest time possible but on the other hand as a Starfleet Captain he was bound by oath to answer any form of distress, especially when his ship was the only one in range. However with the ship's warp engines still in need of repair he knew they wouldn't be reaching the Intruder as fast as he would have wanted anyway.
"Inform the shuttle that Enterprise is on its way. Viewer off." As the viewer image faded Kirk turned back to McCoy whose question of Kirk's fitness still hung there between them. "Your... opinion has been noted, Doctor. Is there anything further?"
"That depends on you."
Kirk nodded and left while McCoy watched him go, hoping his point has gotten through.
The Enterprise had quickly turned around, moving to intercept the shuttle and the unidentified ship that had been broadcasting the distress signal. Moving at warp point eight the Federation ship came upon the two ships almost immediately. The shuttle carried warp nacelles that dwarfed the smaller shuttle fuselage pod and behind it was a ship that that no one on the bridge recognized.
It was sleek, sporting a silver hull with the light of the surrounding stars reflecting off of it.
"What do you make of it?" Kirk asked, watching as the ships approached.
"Seventy six meters in length, hull alloy appears to be made of chromium. The design does not match anything in our database. Thrusters appear to be a form of ion engine but I am not detecting anything resembling a warp drive." Decker read his instruments. "I am picking up nine life readings, all of them humanoid. Artificial and gravity are compatible with us."
"Can they dock on our shuttle bay?" Kirk asked.
"Affirmative." Decker answered.
"All right. Uhura, open hailing frequencies."