2:00. The wee hours of morning, as Scotty would say. The wee hours of silence and stillness, of peace and introspect. That's when the missiles hit. That's when the six men beamed aboard. That's when Kirk came close to death again.

Chekov had finally fallen asleep. It had taken him quite a bit of tossing and turning to get comfortable and to shoo thoughts of his navigator-in-training, but it had not been in vain. Once he found that certain position on his side, his eyes dropped down like an iron curtain and sleep crushed him. But even iron curtains can break.

Foot falls. He twitched, entering back into the world. A quiet curse. He sat bolt upright, covers dropping from his chest. "Which one is the Captain's?"

"Does it matter?"

The Russian had never heard these accents before. He slid out of the bed and landed lightly on the floor. His bare feet made no noise as he crossed the room, grabbed up his gun, and set it to stun. Just next to the door was an odd sort of projection of the wall, almost like a pillar from ceiling to floor that had become ingrown with the wall. When one opened the door, one could not see around it. In other words, a blind spot for the people on the other side.

He quickly slipped into the shadows, heart pounding. The door to his room hissed open.

In the engine room Scotty had fallen asleep in his rolly-chair. He snored softly, dreaming of different ways to improve the Enterprise's engine output, warp speed, energy cost, etc. Numbers crossed his eyelids in flowing lines. A red light lit up on the screen in front of his face.

It was enough to jerk him out of his sleep, and he focused on it only groggily. "Beaming pads?" He blinked and looked harder at the screen through fuzzy eyes. "It cannae be! Unauthorized access? Who in their right minds would-,"

And then he heard the lasers.

"What the-!"

Chekov jumped them. The kid threw punches left and right, nailing the men in the face, dancing out of their reach. "HELP!" he shouted, narrowly avoiding a fist to the stomach. "SOMEONE- oof!" The gun flew from his hands. It skid across the floor, finding its way under the black boot of one of the invaders. Chekov looked up at the man, wheezing.

"Stay down! X- go wreak havoc! The control room is that way!" The man pressed a hefty boot down on Chekov's chest. "If you try anything I'll kill you." The gun pointed at his head made for a good argument.

"What are you doing here?" he wheezed around the pain in his chest. He hadn't been expecting a baton- a large one- to be whipped out; Chekov dimly realized that he was lucky the weapon hadn't broken some ribs or collapsed his chest or something. But that was of little comfort currently.

The man was angular in features, hard black eyes peering out from under a mane of dark brown hair. Sharp teeth protruded from his lower jaw. "Just having some fun. Where's the engine room?" A pink tongue darted out and licked his lips. Chekov was reminded of a frog. A frog with teeth. He suppressed a shudder.

Chekov tried to make a lunge for his gun.

Another boot collided with his face. Blood sprayed across the ivory floor and Chekov fell still with a flash of blue. "Stunned," the other man said. "Let's go. We haven't much time, I suspect." They raced to the lift. "The engine room will be down, of course. All these starships are the same build."

The doors hissed open. And Mia flew from the lift, wielding a long iron bar. Crack. Crack. Both bodies slumped to the floor, eyes staring lifelessly at the white wall across from them. Mia crouched next to Chekov, checking his pulse.

She breathed a sigh of relief and realized that he must be stunned. Then she stood and plucked a gun from one of the invading men, setting it to burn its victims, and pointed it at the beaming pads. She crossed the room and pressed a button on the wall.

"Alert; this is a code yellow. Code yellow. Every man to post." And the ship sprang into life.

Three of the six men to board the Enterprise were already locked in a standoff with Scotty and his little alien friend Keenser. The little guy was holding up a long-barreled gun, far too big for his stubby arms. He let off a warning shot which seemed to startle himself more than anyone else.

"Get outta me room!" Scotty shouted at them, pointing a handgun at them.

Three against two wasn't looking so hot. One of the men stepped forward. "Drop your weapons and we'll leave you alone."

"Don' think I believe that fer a second!"

Keenser whined in agreement.

"Shoot!" Two of the men fell before Scotty and Keenser could even react to the words, but the third man dropped at the hands of Keenser. The laser threw the little guy back farther than the stunned man. Alex stood behind them, eyes gleaming. "Nice shot."

"Who- who are yeh?"

"New weapons specialist," she answered, bending over the men. She tugged down the collars of their uniform and narrowed her eyes before straightening up. "Apollan Agents K, H, and F. There has to be three more."

"Wha- why?" And then Mia's broadcast sounded. Scotty's eyes grew to the size of elephant balls and his mouth dropped open. "Yellow? Invaders? Who?"

Alex kicked over the body of one and then launched herself away. "Come on- to the Bridge!"

Keenser managed to stand and scramble after the woman. "Get back here!" Scotty shouted, running after them. He slapped his hand on the door to the room, initiating the lockdown sequence. Only Scotty, Keenser, and Kirk could get back in.

Mia shook Chekov. "Wake up!" she desperately whispered. At every noise she jumped, expecting an Apollan to come waltzing in with a gun pointed at their heads. "Come on, Pavel!" She pressed a cloth gently to his nose, trying to wipe away the blood dripping from his nose. No doubt it was broken. The seconds ticked by. Her heart pounded; it was all she could hear, and it was driving her insane.

Glass shattered.

She gasped and whipped around. The sound had come from the Bridge. "Pavel, I'm going," she told him, unsure of herself. She raised her gun, hands steady.

"Wait," he rasped. Mia nearly jumped out of her skin. When she looked back Chekov was pushing himself to his feet, hand gingerly touching his nose. Their eyes met.

"Was anyone is the Bridge?"

Chekov's face grew pale. "Ze Captain!"

"Who the hell-,"

Pew. "Stand down, Captain."

Kirk held his hands up, confusion and anger plastered across his face. "If you're going to point guns in my face at least have the courtesy to tell me why!"
The Apollan laughed. "Why don't you just give me access to your ship's log and we'll be fine?" He took a step forward, obsidian eyes glittering, teeth dripping with anticipation. "Then I can leave and you can go about your business again."

"I don't think so."

"Well, then." The gun shot off, shattering the screen of a computer screen in a shower of glass. "Want to dig yourself a deeper hole? What is it that Star Fleet wants so close to the Klingon territory?"

"Space is no one's land!"

"Bullshit!" Another computer screen gone. The Apollan licked his teeth and glanced around. "It's a shame to destroy this. This is a fancy ship, indeed- I imagine the President would like to use this as a private shuttle. Too bad it's tainted." Green spewed from the end of the gun. Smoke sprang from one of the control panels, digital life gone. "That wasn't too important, was it?"

"You're trigger-happy, you know that?" The next bullet whizzed by his head. Kirk zipped his mouth shut, wondering how long until someone else entered the Bridge. He had heard Mia's broadcast. That meant the Apollans had, too, of course.

The man in front of Kirk pressed a button on the wall, disabling the lift. "I know. My favorite targets are living, you know. Moving, especially."

"I'm not moving."

"It's a warning." Keeping his gun pointed at Jim's head, he moved around and tapped the screen Chekov typically used. "The name's X, by the way. Just so you know the name of the man who killed you- shit!" Alarms began to blare.

"What did you do!?"

"I don't know! Just- just stay there!" X panicked, staring around wildly. "No, no, no!" He turned back to Kirk, fingers tightening around the trigger. "Yeah, bye!"

"Bye!" X fell over. Kirk looked at his hands, confused. And then he saw Chekov with his gun raised, blood smeared across his face, and Mia behind him.

"Hey! What's going on? Who is this guy?" Kirk demanded.

"Apollans." Mia jumped to Kirk's side while Chekov dove to the computer. "Are you alright?" Kirk nodded, holding his breath. Here was the woman who had saved his life twice, now, and he was terrified that she was going to vanish again.

"Captain!" Chekov's eyes were huge when they turned back to focus on Kirk and Mia. "Captain, they have missiles locked on us!"

"What's that?" Red lights flashed and the alarms whined.

Scotty ran back eyes devouring the flashing computer screen in one of the halls in the bowels of the ship. "Someone's about ta shoot at us!"

Alex took off after him. Keenser tried to skid to a stop but his legs slid out from under him and he fell with a crash to the floor. Unfortunately, no one had the time to help the little guy. "What do we do?" Alex shouted.

"Shoot back if they start it! Go ta the weaponry station!"

Alex slid around a corner and sprinted to where the weapons were held. People were beginning to flood the halls and passageways, doing their best to respond to the situation at hand, even though they knew next to nothing about it. Scotty was back in the engine room now. He quickly did what he could- a map was brought up of all detected enemy missiles.

Into a microphone he shouted, "Oi! Weapons Specialist! Here's the map!"

Alex looked up at it, eyes wide. "Gods!" She turned to the crowd. "Hey! What do we have on board for weapons?"

Someone nearby saluted her. "Standard missiles, six advanced guard heads and twenty timer bombs, ma'am."

She rubbed her cheek for a second before ordering, "Put the advanced guard heads in the standard launcher!" The cadet opened his mouth to protest. Was she mad? "Just do it!" she snapped.

Her attention was drawn back to the map. "Lassie! One's been launched!"

"Do it fast!" She turned to the computer screen, watching the launcher be unloaded and reloaded from a digital perspective. Keeping an eye on the ever-moving missile, she typed in coordinates to the launcher. "Prepare for fire!" she announced. "In three, two, one- go! Go!"

It launched. She held her breath, watching the image of the Enterprise's missile leave the canister, on collision for the incoming weapon. "Come on, come on," she whispered to herself. Impact. The missile exploded and vanished from the screen entirely. Safety. "Yes!" Another missile was launched at them. "Fill it up again! Prepare for fire!"

Fingers darted across the screen, eyes flicking back and forth. "Three, two, one-," Pew. She fell forward and hit the screen, blood splashing on the equipment. The missile changed coordinates at the last second and flew wide of its target.

"Agent T, Ms. Wade."

The Apollan missile made impact.

"Impact on the hull, sir!"

Kirk watched the missile hit with horror. "What do we do?" There was an expanse of calm, save for the fiery, soundless death of those on his ship. His fists clenched.

Chekov finally shrugged. "They've seemed to have halted their attack, Captain." His eyes were wide, too. He had no idea where the missiles had come from, and therefore no idea how to retaliate. But he did have an idea of who it was.

"And who're 'they'?"

"Apollans," Chekov answered, looking to Mia for confirmation. She nodded. "The only other planet in this system."

"Did they just make war with Star Fleet?"

"I suppose they did, Captain." Chekov looked at Kirk. "Shall we return fire?"

Bones had been lucky enough to run into Apollan number seven. The agent had stumbled into sickbay, obviously looking for someplace to stick the black package he held in his trembling hand. A bomb. His eyes had brightened upon seeing a trashcan near the door. He threw the bomb inside and dragged the can out to where it was clear in the open, so any normal person would walk by and push it back.

Bones cursed to himself. How the hell was he supposed to unarm a bomb? But he remained still and hidden.

The agent slid back into the elevator. Heart pounding, Bones flipped out a communicator and prayed that the man he needed would be on the other end. "Spock! Come in!"

Spock had been roaming the halls, thoughts rifling through facts and tidbits of information, trying to pinpoint Uhura's distress. He pulled out a small communicator and answered, "Dr. McCoy?"

"Get down here! I need to disable a bomb!"

Spock was completely taken aback. "I am sorry, Doctor, but I do not understand-," Mia's voice erupted forth from the intercoms and computers. Spock felt the beginnings of trepidation in his stomach, and he instantly told Bones, "Evacuate the area. I will be there shortly."

He closed the phone and broke into a sprint through the corridors.

Bones looked up at the screen, fear constricting his chest. Code Yellow? He sprang to his feet and shouted, "Evacuate the area!" He stood by the trashcan, warding people off, concerned that the slightest movement by him would set it off. "Hurry it up!" he growled at the cadets. Minutes passed, and he became more and more agitated. "GO!" he shouted. He'd be damned if he let his staff be hurt by a planted bomb.

And at that moment Spock appeared from the lift. The Vulcan strode to where McCoy was standing. "Apollans. One was headed to the weaponry- follow him and eliminate him." Spock kneeled by the garbage can. "Primitive," he murmured to himself. He turned back. "Make haste."

And Bones did. And thus he found the Apollan, but it was a second too late. He had already fired and hit the Lycanth woman. Alex. "Hey!" Bones shouted, anger blossoming in his chest. The Apollan turned, surprised that someone dared to address him, and was greeted by a face full of laser. "Damn right."

And then they were all jerked violently, an explosion sounding. "The hull's been breached!" someone shouted.

Bones ran to Alex on unsteady feet as the Enterprise reeled. She stood and bent over the screen again. "They have better weapons," she told him, eyes glazed with pain. He took one look at her shoulder and knew she needed immediate care. "Launch a time bomb with an advanced guard- set it for fifteen seconds!"

"Hey, you need-,"

"Prepare for launch!" She ignored the doctor and instead moved her wounded shoulder to connect the coordinates, making blood spurt out onto the floor. "Three, two, one, go!"

Bones wrapped his arms around her and picked her up. "We're going to the sickbay!"

"What- no!"

"Lassie! That missile's getting' close-!" The screens showed three more missiles being launched. "Lass!" Six more launched.

"Wait, please!" she shouted at Leonard. The doctor waited, eyes glued to the screen, knowing that this would affect them far more than her laser wound.

"Nine seconds on the timer," one of the cadets shouted. The entire room was quiet. "Five seconds. Three, two, one."

An explosion rocked the screen, wiping out every missile and knocking the Enterprise off its set course. Everyone fell from their feet. Alex decided she was glad she fell on top of Bones rather than the opposite, considering he was much heavier than she. All the breath was driven out from both of them.

"Safe!" Came Scotty's overjoyed laughter over the intercom.

Alex breathed in relief, the fabric of Bones' shirt rubbing against her neck. The Doctor didn't move right away. He couldn't believe they had survived the impromptu attack; he hoped the Enterprise's luck would never run dry. It had saved countless lives. Bones dragged her to her feet and ordered, "To the sickbay, Ms. Wade."His hands gripped her arms tightly.

She didn't put up a struggle, but her eyes did graze over the Apollan's body as they passed it. Two medical cadets rushed to it. "Take it to the sickbay," Bones told them. The Apollan's collar slid down a bit, revealing a tattoo. Agent T. She would remember that.