Star Trek XV – Now and Forever

Chapter Three

Having settled down in the room which had been assigned to her and, with Jimmy taking his post mid-morning meal nap, Carol was considering taking a quick shower when she heard the door's buzzer. Hurrying to get the door open before it would wake her son, she found herself in front of Montgomery Scott.

'Hello there,' he said sounding as friendly as usual.

'Hi,' she replied shyly.

'The Captain told me you wanted to see where your machine is stored,' the Engineer explained.

'Yes, please,' she asked politely.

'Okay,' he said, 'are you ready to go now?'

'Er…' she hesitated glancing at the bed Jimmy was lying on, 'I…he just fell asleep and…'

'I can come back later,' he kindly suggested, 'you can call me when the wee one's awake.'

'No,' she said quickly making her mind up, 'give me a minute and I'll move him to his pushchair. He won't wake if I'm careful,' she added a little unnecessarily. Without waiting for Scott's answer, she walked back into the room and, picking her son up as gently as she could, she moved him to the fold up buggy she had brought with her. She then took a light baby blanket and covered him with it.

'Alright,' Scotty said when she was ready, 'please, follow me.'

At first the two of them walked silently but then, the Chief Engineer glanced over at the sleeping little boy, a soft smile instantly appearing on his face. He then looked at Carol and asked:

'How old is he?'

'He turned two four days ago,' she replied.

'I see…' he just said then, he couldn't help but to add, 'he really is the spitting image of…' realising what he was about to say, he cut himself short while he fidgeted. Seeing this made her say:

'Don't worry, I know he looks a lot like his father.'

'Sorry,' he said, 'I…I didn't mean to…it's just that, the resemblance is uncanny.'

'I know,' Carol said allowing herself to feel a little proud, 'I can only hope the resemblance won't end with his looks alone. I'll count myself lucky if the Kirk genes are the dominant ones in his case.'

Scotty didn't say anything to that but it was obvious he disagreed with her opinion.

'So, tell me about your invention,' he asked her instead, 'I read the specs I found with the shipping documents but I couldn't for the life of me fathom what it does. Is it some sort of generator or…'

'Something like that,' Carol replied as they entered the turbolift, she waited until Scotty selected the correct floor to continue, 'it's an idea that I had while I was pregnant. You see, after the whole fiasco with Khan and…my father,' she hesitated briefly, 'well, let's just say that I changed my mind about being a weapons specialist. I started thinking that the last thing this universe needed was more tools to destroy life. I thought that, for once, we should build something that would create it instead.'

'I couldn't agree more,' Scotty showing his heartfelt approval.

'The Genesis device,' she explained, 'aims to trigger a chemical chain reaction that replicates the same terraforming processes that allow for a previously barren planet to start supporting life accelerating them exponentially so that something which would naturally take millions of years can be made possible in one or two or even less. We've got it as far as creating water in all its states and to have soil fertile enough for plants and other simple organisms to thrive in.'

'That's very impressive,' the Engineer commented.

'Thank you,' she said, 'it wasn't just me working on this project but I feel very proud of it.'

'You should,' he concurred, 'it's quite an achievement and, after all, it was your idea, wasn't it?'

'I guess,' she said then, as they stepped out of the turbolift, she added, 'Mr Scott, thank you.'

'For what?' he asked her looking confused.

'For not hating me,' she replied quite honestly, 'even though you are one of Jim's closest friends, you still manage to talk to me like you used to. I wasn't expecting that…after all, if that yeoman's attitude is anything to go by, I understand that I am not exactly welcome aboard the Enterprise.'

'What yeoman?' he asked her frowning then, without allowing her to reply, he figured it out and let out a chuckle, 'oh, I see, you've met the lovely Yeoman Rand.'

'Yes, you can say that,' Carol confirmed, 'she's got quite the crush on Jim, hasn't she?'

'That's an understatement,' Scotty replied, 'she's been smitten with him from day one.'

'That explains a lot,' Carol commented, 'she told me the guest rooms were all under renovation and insisted the only free room was one that's as far away from the Captain's quarters as it can be.'

'Well, you can't blame the poor thing,' Scotty reasoned.

'I'm not blaming her,' she hurried to explain, 'and I'm not surprised she'd act way she did but I just wish she understood she's got nothing to fear: whatever love Jim felt for me, it's all gone now.'

'I wouldn't be so sure,' Scotty cryptically said.

Carol wanted to ask him what he meant by that but their arrival at the ship's main storage area prevented her from doing it. Deciding to drop the subject, she just followed him into a large room where she immediately spotted the dark brown crate that contained the Genesis device.

Making sure Jimmy was still asleep, she rushed to the panel on the crate and, inputting her password, she started checking that all the levels picked up by the sensors installed inside were reporting normal values. She ran a scan on the box containing the very delicate core, holding her breath until the panel flashed an all-clear green.

'Is everything alright?' Scotty asked her.

'Yes,' she replied, 'I'm just going to open it to see that everything is still where it should be. Nothing seems to be wrong,' she quickly explained seeing his concerned look, 'but I'd rather have visual.'

'Of course,' Scotty said, 'I've got to go back to Engineering now, give us a shout when you're done.'

'I can go back by myself,' she ventured.

'No,' Scotty said shaking his head, 'I've got my orders: the Captain said he didn't want you or the wee one wandering around the ship unescorted so, be a good lass and don't test his patience, okay?'

'I understand,' Carol said trying to smile, 'I'll call you when I'm finished here.'

'Thanks,' Scotty replied sounding genuinely grateful. The man looked like he wanted to say something else but he clearly changed his mind and decided to walk out of the room instead.

Meanwhile, on the bridge, Captain Kirk had just finished listening to the audio recording from the distress call issued by the Reliant, a civilian cargo ship that was supposed to be heading to K-7.

'Play it again,' he ordered Uhura.

'Yes, sir,' she replied.

Soon static filled the speakers then, they heard the voice of a man who appeared to be in pain:

'My name is Gus Le Blanc, I'm an officer onboard the Reliant. Our crew has been infected by some disease we suspect came aboard with the last shipment we loaded. It has already killed our Captain and First Officers and, I fear, the rest of us won't last long. If you hear this, please help us, we…' the voice stopped speaking as he got hit by a violent coughing fit, 'please…help…please…'

That was the end of the message.

'Mr Sulu,' the Captain said, 'can you locate the Reliant?'

'Yes sir,' the helmsman replied, 'at our current speed, we're about 25 minutes away.'

'Take us up to warp 4, Mr Sulu,' Kirk said, 'those people might not have that long.'

'Yes, sir,' Sulu replied pressing the necessary buttons to comply with the order.

'Any luck hailing them?' he then asked Uhura who just shook her head looking very worried, 'okay,' he said then, he exchanged a quick glance with Spock who appeared to share his opinion that an intervention was probably necessary, 'we'll deploy an away team,' he announced looking back at his crew, 'Mr Sulu and…' he stopped speaking considering his options then, he glanced at his Russian Ensign and said, 'Mr Chekov, do you feel like stepping out of the ship for a bit?'

'Really?' the young man asked unable to hide his excitement.

'Yes,' Kirk replied smiling at him. Since Chekov's answer was clear, he pressed the button to activate the intercom at his armrest and said, 'Kirk to Medical, Dr McCoy, please gather supplies to treat a possible contagion and meet us with a couple of your nurses at the transporter in…five minutes.'

'What happened now?' was the doctor's highly unprofessional answer.

'Oh, just the usual,' Kirk replied unfazed, 'stranded ship, deadly infection, you know…'

'The fun never ends…' McCoy sardonically said making Kirk, and the rest of the bridge, smile.

'See you in five,' the Captain said closing the call.

'Captain,' he then heard Spock say as the Vulcan raised from his chair, 'given the circumstances, I should think it would be preferable if I led the away team so you could remain onboard the ship.'

Kirk stared at him for a moment then, he shook his head and said:

'No, Spock, I don't think that's a good idea.'

'But...'

'I think that, given the circumstances,' he said deliberately reusing Spock's own words, 'I think it's better if you stay onboard because, if anything goes south, there's no one who I trust more to make sure…the…circumstances, are kept safe. I'm sure I don't need to say anything else.'

Spock stared at him for a moment, his expression making it clear to Kirk that he understood very well what or, rather, who those circumstances were. Lowering his head in a minute nod, he said:

'Negative, Captain, I understand.'

'I knew you would,' Kirk replied confidently then, he added, 'speaking of,' he pressed the button on his armrest and said, 'Kirk to Engineering. Mr Scott, are you there?'

'Aye, Captain,' the Scotsman replied.

'Where is our guest?' Kirk asked him.

'I just accompanied her to the Storage Room 4,' Scott replied, 'Dr Marcus said she wanted to visually check the contents of the crate but that she'd let me know as soon as she's done.'

'Okay,' he said then, lowering his voice a notch, he asked, 'is my son with her?'

'Yes, Captain,' Scott replied, 'the wee one is sleeping like an angel.'

Kirk smiled a little before he said:

'That's good, thanks Scotty.'

He then turned quickly to glance at Spock to have one of their silent conversations. Kirk was glad to see that, as usual, he and his First Officer were on the same page, that the Vulcan had registered his conversation with the Chief Engineer in that prodigious memory of his and more importantly, he had just moved the Storage Room 4 on top of the list of locations which needed to be protected at all costs.

'Captain,' Sulu's voice brought him back to the task at hand, 'we've reached our destination.'

Kirk returned his attention to the viewscreen where he saw a mid-sized ship bearing the long rectangular design common to the cargo vessels of its kind. The Reliant seemed to be intact and, from his chair, Kirk could not see any signs of damage in its beige coloured hull.

'Damage report, Mr Chekov,' he ordered.

'None sir,' the Ensign replied, 'the engines seem to be functional but, they're turned off now.'

'Any signs of life?' he asked then.

'Yes, sir,' he happily replied, 'I get readings of at least nine different heartbeats. They're beating quite fast though,' he added frowning in worry, 'I think we should hurry, Captain.'

'We should,' he agreed, 'okay,' he said getting up from his chair, 'Mr Spock, you have the conn.'

'Yes, Captain,' the Vulcan said then, as an afterthought, he added, 'be careful.'

'You too,' Kirk replied flashing a brief smile at him.

Without needing to say anything to them, Kirk was followed by Sulu and a very excited Chekov. The Captain tried not to patronise him but he couldn't help but to find his enthusiasm most endearing and, made a mental note to involve him in more away missions since the kid was more than willing.

The three of them made it to the transporter where they found Dr McCoy and two male nurses, one of them, Kirk thought, looked large enough to be part of their security team. With an approving nod, he told his best friend he agreed with his choice.

'Are you alright?' the doctor asked him while the team got geared up.

'Yes, why wouldn't I be?' Kirk asked him.

'Well,' the doctor said lowering his voice, 'it's not every day one meets his son for the first time.'

Kirk glanced around the other people in the room, happy to see they were all too busy to be listening in, just in case, he too kept his tone low and with a voice barely above a whisper, he said:

'I don't have time to think about that right now.'

'Make sure you do find time then,' McCoy suggested, 'because you'll need to decide what to do about that.'

'I know,' Kirk said, 'I know,' he repeated sounding very serious.

'We're ready, Captain,' Sulu said interrupting their conversation.

'Okay,' Kirk said, 'put those bio-masks on and follow Dr McCoy's instructions to the letter. From now on and until further notice, his orders will overrule mine, is that clear?'

'Yes, sir,' Chekov and Sulu replied at the same time.

'Okay,' Kirk said, 'let's do this.'

The six of them stepped onto the transporter's pads and, once they were all ready, Kirk signalled the girl manning the transporter ordering her to: 'energise!' A moment later, they found themselves surrounded by the sort of dimmed lights that made it crystal clear something terrible had happened onboard this poor ship. They hadn't even stepped out of their transporter when they saw a man lying on the ground. Dr McCoy was quickest to react and, crouching next to him, he started searching for a pulse.

'He's dead, Jim,' the doctor announced.

'I feared as much,' Kirk said, 'can you tell what he died of?'

'No,' he replied, 'but I can tell you this wasn't a virus, this man wasn't sick when he died.'

'Stay alert,' Kirk ordered them, 'Bones, lead the way, I'll cover you.'

'Right,' the doctor replied sounding all but confident.

Kirk was too invested in the mission to take offence and soon enough, the group started moving along a narrow corridor where they found three more bodies, all dead from what seemed the same unknown cause, the Captain threw a quick glance at Chekov but was happy to see the kid was holding up just fine. With nothing else to worry about, Kirk followed McCoy into what looked like the ship's recreational room where they found another man lying on a couch. He was still alive.

'Please…help me…' the poor soul said.

'What's your name?' Dr McCoy asked him as soon as they reached him.

'Gus,' he replied weakly, 'my name is Gus.'

'You're the one who sent the distress signal, aren't you?' Kirk asked him gently.

'Yes…' Gus replied.

'What happened in here?' McCoy asked him next.

'It was terrible…' the man said looking as if he was going to start crying.

'It's alright,' Kirk tried to reassure him, 'we're here to help you now, where are the rest of the crew?'

'They'll be here soon,' the man replied.

Kirk was about to question the strange answer when a couple of phaser shots hit the two poor nurses, guilty only of having stood too close to the entrance, killing them instantly. Before any of them they could react, the crew stormed into the room: an entire unit of Klingon warriors, armed to their teeth and looking like they'd struck jackpot.

'Welcome aboard, Captain Kirk,' their leader said offering him a horrible looking smile.

To be continued…