A/N: Voila! A new chapter! Thank you, everyone, so so much for the reviews! I am very happy that you are enjoying this. As such, here is an action-packed chapter! I hope you enjoy!


Kirk was already on the bridge as Carter was hauled to brig. "Uhura, hail them!" he said. He wanted to know why the Apache's Chief Medical Officer had decided to turn on his crew.

"No response, sir."

Kirk chewed his lip. He suddenly remembered his last transmission with McCoy. Watch your back…

"Uhura, try messaging channel 0483," he ordered.

Uhura tried the private channel. "This one's getting through, sir," she reported. "But there's no response on the other end."

"Keep trying, that frequency and all other channels."

"Keptin!" Chekov cried. "Incoming phasers!"

The whole bridge suddenly lurched with the ship under the onslaught. Crewmen scattered across the floor. "Shields!" Kirk shouted.

"Shields coming up, Captain," Sulu strained. He was the only one who had managed to cling to his seat. "They're stopping at 36 percent!"

"Why, were they hit?" Kirk demanded.

"Negative," reported Spock. "It appears that the power to the shields has been slowly draining for that past several hours."

"Shields at 35 percent," Sulu said.

"Engineering!" Kirk commed. "Restore power to the shields!" He swiveled sharply in his chair. "Any luck, Uhura?"

"No, sir, still trying!"

Another phaser bolt rocked the ship. "Shields at 27 percent!" Sulu called.

Why are they firing at us? Kirk wondered. "Uhura, try transmitting in Romulan," he said.

"Aye, sir."

Another phaser skimmed them. "Shields at 22 percent."

"Sir!" Uhura called. "I'm getting a response, on visual!"

"On screen!" Kirk almost didn't have to say so, Uhura was already feeding it over. The screen wavered, and revealed the bridge of the Apache. Kirk braced himself to confront a possible Romulan takeover.

The bridge looked completely normal.

"Captain Kirk!" Brahms greeted warmly. "I was wondering why you started transmitting to us in Romulan, but my good fellow Saolos explained, quite logically, what you must be thinking."

"What is the meaning of this?" Kirk demanded.

Brahms's demeanor grew serious. "Kirk," he sighed. "Tell me honestly. What do you think of Starfleet's decision to explore this space?"

Kirk frowned. "Who cares about what I think? Starfleet gave the orders."

"Kirk…" Brahms warned.

Kirk glanced at Spock for a moment. "The Federation's mission is intergalactic peace," he responded. "And, I do feel this is one way of tearing down the borders between two opposing nations. It can only help strengthen possible future ties."

Brahms was shaking his head. "If only that were true, Kirk."

"There's no reason it can't be-"

"Look at the real world," Brahms interrupted. "So Romulans and the Federation are exploring the Neutral Zone. Fine. But what happens when they've both found something that they like?"

Kirk was starting to see where this was going.

"We both know what would happen. There would be conflict, which would very likely start a war that neither side can afford." He sighed again. "The Neutral Zone is no man's land; everyone should have left it alone."

"That still doesn't explain," Kirk said sharply after Brahms didn't continue. "Why you're firing on my ship!"

"Don't you see, man?" Brahms snapped. "Starfleet's got their heads in their asses, they wouldn't see the danger until it was staring them in the face!"

Spock had moved closer until he was standing behind Kirk. He had remained silent, but now he spoke up. "And this is how you plan to get their attention." It was a statement.

"We can't fire on a Romulan ship, or have one fire on you," Brahms said. "That would start the war we want to prevent."

"So you've taken it upon yourself to destroy us," Kirk hissed. "There by ensuring that the Neutral Zone would be closed."

Brahms nodded. "It has to be severe enough to shake down Starfleet."

Kirk was fuming. "Uhura, mute it," he tossed over his shoulder. As soon as their sound was canceled he turned to Sulu. "Phasers. Sweep their hull. We may have weak shields, but we can at least show them that we won't go down without fighting."

"Aye, sir." Sulu flipped the switches and frowned. "Captain…"

"What is it?"

"Phasers are online, but they're only at 55 percent power."

"Warning shot, go!"

Sulu fired the phasers once. They spluttered and crackled, and overall looked pathetic. On the screen, Brahms was laughing silently. Uhura brought the sound back and the chuckles of the Apache's crew filtered through.

"I guess we know Allan got his job done."

The light bulb went off in Kirk's head. Of course! Scotty had been poisoned. He recalled confronting Carter earlier. Someone must have sabotaged Engineering.

"Engineering, affect repairs on the shields and phasers immediately. Look for any other signs of sabotage."

Brahms's chuckling died down as he regarded Kirk. "You're a fine captain," he complimented. "And I'm sure you and your crew will go down in history."

"We're not finished just yet," Kirk said. "Sulu, get us out of orbit, warp 3!"

"Aye sir!"

Uhura killed the transmission and then suddenly the whole ship lurched under a phaser barrage. Suddenly momentum and inertia grew out of control. "Sulu! Why are we spinning?!"

Sulu, however, was clinging to his console and could barely register it. "Shields are down along the aft section," Spock reported, hanging on. "Phasers hit it right as we entered warp, which has sent us spiraling."

"Straightening using the planet's grawity," Chekov called.

"We're still that close?"

"Ve didn't get wery far."

Kirk bit his tongue to keep from cursing. As the Enterprise righted itself, they glimpsed the Apache lurking nearby.

No, they didn't get very far.


Brahms looked at Saolos. "You know they'll put up a good fight," he mentioned.

He caught the gleam in the Romulan's eye. "It is only fitting for such a legend."

"Yes," the captain mused. His crew still diligently worked at keeping systems optimal for the fight. "The Enterprise will still have a place in history, and all of her crew."

"Speaking of her crew," Saolos brought up. "There will be one survivor, who no doubt knows what has happened."

"Oh yes, I almost forgot about the good doctor," Brahms noted. "Hm. We won't have much use for him once we get Carter back. And he doesn't exactly have the tendency to keep quiet…"

Saolos cleared his throat. "I suggest that I may be able to take the doctor with me when I return to organize matters in the Romulan government. He will be hard-pressed to talk about what happened here, there."

Brahms nodded curtly. "Sounds like a plan." He glanced at the screen. "Well, they're coming back for more. Might as well give them it." He swiveled around to Paladin. "Raise the ship, Lt."


Dr. Mason was crossing over to check on the indisposed CMO. A fresh injection had to be administered every hour to keep him under. He hummed quietly to himself as he readied the next batch.

The intercom whistled. "Engineering to Sickbay!"

"Mason here, what is it?"

"There was a small fire, it's under control now but Jameson's not looking so good…"

Cursing, Mason grabbed a kit. "I'm on my way." He ran out of Sickbay.

McCoy, for his part, was fighting for consciousness. Reality took its time in lazily wafting towards him, though, and he blearily looked around Sickbay. Some moments later, he realized he was in restraints. Oh, this wasn't good. He had to warn Jim. There was a Romulan on the ship and the Enterprise was bound to be in trouble…

He was still struggling with the restraints when Granger walked by. "Nurse!" he cried out. He tried to clear his throat when it came out slurred. "Nurse!"

Instantly, she was at his side. "Doctor, what is it? Shouldn't you be resting?"

He shook his head (which made the room spin). "Nurse, get me out of these restraints," he forced. "Hurry. There's no time."

"Does this have to do with those phaser shots?" she asked, eyes wide.

"Huh?" His brain was so slow. "Are, are we firing phasers?"

She nodded fearfully.

McCoy swore as the last restraint was undone. It could only mean one thing. Granger helped him sit up and he pushed off the biobed. Instantly, he nearly crashed onto the floor.

"Doctor, are you sure you should be up and about?"

He waved her off and staggered to a cabinet. Fumbling, he injected himself with a stimulant. "I have to. Julia, watch out for Mason. And Saolos. Especially Saolos." He made it to a landing party medical pack and removed the phaser. He turned back and looked at her sternly. "I mean it."

Then he limped determinedly out of Sickbay.


"Spock, there's got to be a way," Kirk insisted. They were out of warp and hanging near the base of the planet. The Apache orbited with them.

Spock hesitated. "There is one possibility, Captain," he said. "There is the Heisner Method."

Of course. Kirk looked at Vialis. It would do very nicely. Given the right speed and trajectory, they could slingshot around the planet and come up behind the Apache before Brahms even knew what happened. "Mr. Sulu, stand by for procedure," he said quietly. "Engineering, what's the status of our photon torpedoes?"

"Fully operational," came Scotty's voice. Kirk wasn't surprised that the engineer had rushed back to his post the moment phasers had been fired.

"Good. Stand by for my signal."

"Receiving a transmission from the Apache, sir," Uhura reported. A second later the screen jumped to life.

"Leaving so soon, Kirk?" Brahms gloated. "You're not exactly one to turn tail and run."

"I will if it means saving my crew," Kirk snapped.

"Yes, loyal unto the end," Brahms expressed. He grinned evilly. "Good-bye, Kirk." He signaled the helmsman to fire the phasers.

The next few events seemed to happen all at once. The helmsman collapsed under a phaser stun almost at the same time the turbolift doors opened. Brahms whipped around in his captain's chair and cried out when the stun hit him square in the chest. McCoy gripped the wall and kept firing the phaser, targeting Saolos next. Both of Spock's eyebrows went up at the uncanny accuracy. He quickly correlated the bridge's life form readings with who was where on the screen. Bones slumped heavily against the wall, but kept pulling the trigger.

"NOW, SULU!" Kirk shouted.

The Enterprise tilted sharply as it dove towards the planet. The hull shuddered as it picked up speed. It was a tight orbit, to gain the most amount of speed in a short amount of time. They followed the curvature of Vialis's gravity warping the 4th dimension, going faster and faster as they raced around the planet. The ship skimmed the atmosphere as it continued the low and tight slingshot.

"Transporter room, beam up Dr. McCoy as soon as we're in range!" Kirk commed. Spock fed the life form coordinates of McCoy's down to Mr. Kyle. The doctor had moved back into the turbolift.

They crested the planet and the Apache was suddenly in sight. "Torpedo room, stand by!"

Tense seconds passed as they raced towards the other ship. The distance closed unbelievably quickly.

"Dr. McCoy has beamed aboard, sir!"

That was the signal Kirk was waiting for. "Torpedo room! Fire!"

The glowing balls of energy closed the rest of the space between the ships. They pummeled the Apache's engines. The arrogant ship had forgone shields, believing it to be a one-way battle.

"Sulu! Up!"

The Enterprise dipped upwards, speeding over the crippled ship. "Bring her back around," Kirk said.

Flipping over on herself, his ship once again faced the Apache. "Now bring her in real close, and try to kill some of our speed." Kirk leaned forward in his seat. "Target their phaser banks."

Sulu inched the Enterprise closer until they were less than a kilometer away. The Apache remained unresponsive. This close, even their phasers at 55 percent would pack a punch. Sulu and Chekov both fired phaser banks and took out the ship's weaponry; including its torpedo room.

"Okay, that's enough," Kirk said as they once again soared over Brahms's ship. It was now listing towards the planet a little bit, and remained unresponsive.

"Mr. Spock," he said after watching it for signs of activity for a moment. "I believe we should abort this mission and head back to Federation space with this," he gestured the Apache. "Load. Starfleet will no doubt want words about what happened here."

"Agreed, Captain."

"Engineering, lock tractor beam onto the Apache. Mr. Sulu, Mr. Chekov, fine piloting, course choice, and shooting. Let's head out back for the nearest Starbase."

"Aye, sir."

"Aye, Keptin!"

"Security," he commed once both ships were moving. "Prepare to send several teams over to the Apache to take Captain Brahms, and the rest of the bridge crew into custody. Also arrest anyone who still gives you resistance after they are made aware of the full circumstances. Kirk out." He flipped off the channel and sighed, rubbing his eyes. The adrenaline was still pumping through him, but he was beginning to feel slightly drained.

"Mr. Spock, you have the conn," he announced, rising. "I'm going to go check on Bones."

"Yes sir."

Spock calmly took the captain's seat as Kirk vanished into the turbolift. He eyed the Apache coldly. "Lt.," he said after a moment. Uhura turned to him.

"Change the view to forward picture. I see no reason for us to continue looking at this."

Uhura hid a quick smile. "Aye, sir."


ALRIIIIIIGHT! Heroes overCOME! I couldn't resist throwing in how McCoy is shooting those on the Apache- shoutout to DeForest Kelley's cowboy days. I love the coincidence. Please review if you liked it!