Most of the characters in this story belong to Paramount and whoever else has current legal ownership of Star Trek at the moment. No infringement on any corporate, business, or individual's rights is intended in any way. This story is not being written for profit, just for enjoyment

Twenty Nine Minutes

Just after Nero had 'invited' Captain Pike aboard his ship and cut the video feed, Uhura's monitors came alive with voices. Events had been unfolding so quickly since the Enterprise had dropped out of warp drive near the planet Vulcan, that she was almost overwhelmed by both the urgency of the voices and her duty as communications coordinator during emergency rescue operations. She had only read about this procedure once before during one class on Star Fleet procedures at the Academy. But her photographic memory and her own gut instincts suddenly took over as she began to talk. Lives were depending on her now. She tried her best to keep her voice calm in the midst of the desperate calls for assistance as she coordinated with the Enterprise Search and Rescue and Damage Control departments as they all worked together to find and retrieve survivors. Time was of the essence here.

She pulled up the Life Sciences Bio-Scan screens up onto the big screen above her work station so as to be able to 'see' positions of the various rescue pods, life pods, as well as the shuttle crafts as they stood out against the death and destruction now in orbit with them around Vulcan. She focused on each life form reading on the screen as she did her best to both calm and direct the pilot or crewmember in control of each particular craft to the proper location of the airlock or hanger that would bring them safely on board the Enterprise. She quickly realized that Search and Rescue was even utilizing the waste airlocks of the Enterprise in this rescue effort as these airlocks began to show up on her screen, and she quickly began directing the smaller life pods to those airlocks.

Uhura refused to think about the possibility that the Enterprise could be destroyed by Nero at any moment. She knew both the Romulan languages as well as their customs. Nero would most likely not interfere with their attempt at rescuing their fellow crewmembers. She continued to focus on her duties as she noted the minutes and seconds slowly moving by on her chronometer as she was able to spare a quick glance towards it only when she was able to tear her eyes away from her screens. She had remembered an excerpt from one of her classes at the Academy that rescue work was measured in minutes and seconds and recovery work was measured in hours and days. She suddenly had the distinct feeling that they only had minutes and seconds left to work with in this situation. But Uhura also knew without a doubt that every second given to them now counted as a life saved.

As she continued to give out instructions calmly and accurately, she heard Spock return to the bridge after sending off Captain Pike. Under other circumstances she would be proud of her beloved on his field promotion, but at the present time all she could feel was concern. She was suddenly mindful of her emotions as Spock would no doubt be able to feel her concern through their bond. She was usually the optimist especially during trying times, but her spirit of optimism was now ebbing quickly away. She immediately refocused on her rescue duties.

Within seconds she felt him at her side. She looked up and saw Spock standing there at her station as he placed one hand on the back of her chair and the other on the side of her console. "I am fine." He told her quietly in Vulcan. "And we will be fine." He continued his eyes locking with hers. She immediately felt the comfort and confidence through their bond and she smiled at him in thanks.

"I believe you, my beloved." She replied back to him also in Vulcan. He quickly nodded to her and swiftly walked back to the Captain's chair. Her optimism recharged, she began to focus once again on her screens and her duties.

Suddenly a very familiar voice filled up her earpiece. "Ny, is that you?" Gaila's voice asked cautiously.

Uhura emotional control nearly broke at the sound of her roommate's voice. "Gaila!" she responded with relief. "Yes, it's me." She replied calmly knowing that time was of the essence here. "Now shut up and listen to me for a change." She said quickly. "I have your shuttle on screen now. Looks like your propulsion system is out, but your hull is intact. Everyone OK in there with you?" Uhura noted that the Life Science screen indicated very weak life readings for 12 of the crew members on board with Gaila. There appeared to be a total of 20 crewmembers on board, no doubt crammed into the craft.

"We've got one medic in here and she is doing all she can to help out our injured." Gaila replied tersely

"Understood. We are going to do our best to get you on board as fast as we can. You have to just hang in there for now." Uhura said calmly, knowing inside that given the damage and injuries aboard the Enterprise, Gaila's medic was pretty much on her own even after they boarded the Enterprise. Medical was able to spare some of its medics to the shuttle bays, but they were no doubt overwhelmed with injuries. But at least on board the Enterprise, Gaila's crewmates had a chance. Uhura was determined now that they get that chance. "S&R wants you to turn your shuttle to towards our aft cargo deck so they can get a tractor beam on you and haul you in."

"Affirmative." Gaila replied "We've got enough thrusters to make the turn towards the Enterprise, but…"

"Don't worry Gaila." Uhura said with resolve "We'll get all of you on board."

"I believe you, Ny." Gaila said quietly as Uhura noted the shift in position of Gaila's shuttle as she fired the thrusters. Uhura then heard Gaila's voice much stronger and more confident. "Awaiting tractor tow, Enterprise. Farragut shuttle Triton out."

Uhura immediately picked up another distress call this time from one of the Constellation's larger shuttle, Antares. She quickly directed them to the larger of the shuttle bays on board the Enterprise. She spared a glance to the Life Science screen and she noticed that only a seven craft with viable life forms aboard were left to be rescued. They were making progress. She stole a glance at the chronometer. It had now been 25 minutes and 41 seconds since they had started their search and rescue mission.

As she communicated with several life pods at once, she could now hear in the background that Spock was speaking with who she thought was Doctor McCoy. He was no doubt checking on causalities. Then she could hear Chekov calling out distances for Kirk, Sulu, and Olson's space jump. Uhura knew that the Enterprise's fate rested now with the three space jumpers and she quickly and silently prayed for their safety and success.

Suddenly the S&R chief, Charlie Robinson was talking to her. The sound of his voice in her ear made her immediately look up at the Life Science screen and she noticed that no life forms remained on the screen. They had done it!

"Lieutenant Uhura" Charlie said breathlessly in his deep baritone voice "we have them all on board now and even though our medics are spread pretty thin, looks like most of 'em will survive."

Uhura intended to buy that man a drink or two next shore leave, that is if they all lived through this. "Understood and thanks Charlie."

"Thanks to you too, Lieutenant." Charlie replied "Job well done."

Uhura looked up at the chronometer: A total of twenty nine minutes and seven seconds had elapsed since they had started their search and recovery mission. She tried to focus on the fact that they had managed to save 568 of their fellow Star Fleet crewmembers in such a short span of time and under such dire conditions. She then silently bowed her head and prayed fervently that they could now save everyone else too.

Opening her eyes, she turned in her chair and she turned her full attention back to Chekov as he was reporting the current positions of the space jumpers.