Chapter 13 – Katrik Ark

Zia was starting to feel out of place on the Bridge. She was the only first-year and very inexperienced compared to the third- and fourth-years around her. What with Captain Pike and other adults, she was one of the youngest people aboard, except for Ensign Chekov who she learned was seventeen.

"Is it supposed to be so uneventful?" she murmured to Uhura from the corner of her mouth.

"I have no idea." Uhura looked thoughtful. "I'm gonna go to deck four to do some signal monitoring."

"Oh, okay." No invitation was forthcoming, so Zia could only watch as Uhura left the Bridge

Ensign Chekov's voice sounded over the intra-ship communication system. "May I have your attention please? At 2200 hours, telemetry detected an anomaly in ze neutral zone; what appeared to be a lightning storm in space. Soon after, Starfleet received a distress signal from ze Wulcan high command; zat zeir planet was experiencing seismic activity. Our mission is to assess ze condition of Wulcan and assist in ze evacuations if necessary. We should be arriving at Wulcan within three minutes, zank you for your time."

Minutes passed, and Zia worked to familiarise herself with her console. She didn't want Captain Pike to think she was a stowaway, even if that's what she was, and she had to make herself useful anyway. She tuned the console to the area of space surrounding Vulcan and frowned. It looked a little weird…

"Captain, Captain!" someone shouted. She looked up as Kirk ran into the Bridge and came to an unsteady halt in front of Captain Pike.

"Jim! Come back!" Another man and Uhura appeared behind him and froze as they saw the Captain glaring at Kirk.

"Captain Pike, sir, we have to stop the ship!" Kirk cried.

Captain Pike stood up from the command chair, his face stern. "Kirk, how the hell did you get on board the Enterprise?" Spock stood from his console with an uncharacteristic frown on his face.

The man next to Uhura stepped forward and stood between Kirk and Captain Pike. "Captain, this man is under the influence of severe reaction to a vaccine, he's completely delusional and I take full responsibility."

Kirk tried to interrupt him, "Bones, Bones, Bones, please! Ugh, Vulcan is not experiencing a natural disaster! It's being attacked by Romulans."

The pair fell silent and Captain Pike looked between them. "Romulans?" he snapped. "Cadet Kirk, I think you've had enough attention for one day." He turned to the man beside Kirk. "McCoy take him back to Medical. We'll have words later."

"Aye Captain," McCoy said, reaching for Kirk. However, the man ran forward.

"No, sir, that same anomaly-"

"Kirk-"

Spock stepped forward. "Mister Kirk is not cleared to be aboard this ship," he said firmly.

Kirk snorted. "Look, I get it, you're a great arguer-"

It was that point that Zia lost track of who was speaking what. She glanced between the three men, completely confused. Eventually their voices stopped overlapping and because discernible.

"Try it!" Kirk shouted. "This cadet is trying to save this ship!"

"By recommending a complete stop mid-Warp during a rescue mission," Spock grated.

"It's not a rescue mission, listen to me. It's an attack."

"Based on what facts?"

Kirk hesitated. "That same anomaly, a lightning storm in space that you saw today also occurred on the day of my birth, before a Romulan ship attacked the U.S.S. Kelvin." Kirk glanced at Captain Pike. "You know that sir, I read your dissertation. That ship which had formidable and advanced weaponry was never seen or heard from again. Kelvin attacked on a place on the edge of Klingon space and at 2300 hours two nights' ago there was an attack. Forty-seven Klingon warbirds destroyed by Romulans sir, and it was reported that the Romulans were in one ship, one massive ship."

"And you know of this Klingon attack how?" Captain Pike asked, clearly suspicious. Kirk looked at Uhura, an expectant expression on his face.

Uhura gulped. "Sir, I intercepted and translated the message myself. Kirk's report is accurate."

Satisfied, Kirk faced Captain Pike again. "We're Warping into a trap, sir. There are Romulans waiting for us, I promise you that."

There was a pause as Captain Pike glanced at Spock. "The cadet's logic is sound," the Vulcan said, almost reluctantly, "and Lieutenant Uhura is unmatched in xenolinguistics, we would be wise to accept her conclusion." Jealousy burned in the pit of Zia's stomach as he said that.

Captain Pike glanced between the two men and turned to his signal analyser. "Scan Vulcan space, check for any transmissions in Romulan," he ordered.

There was yet another pause. "Sir," the analyser said, "I'm not sure I can distinguish the Romulan language from Vulcan." What use was he as an analyser if he couldn't do that? Captain Pike had the same thought and walked forward to stand beside Uhura.

"What about you?" he asked. "You speak Romulan, Cadet…?"

She brimmed with pride, "Uhura. All three dialects, sir."

Captain Pike nodded. "Uhura, relieve the Lieutenant."

"Yes sir," she nodded, hiding her gleeful smile. She moved to sit at the console and put on the earpiece, tapping at the controls.

"Hannity," Captain Pike called, "hail the U.S.S. Truman."

"All the other ships are out of Warp sir, and have arrived at Vulcan," Hannity said, "but we seem to have lost all contact."

Uhura spoke. "Sir, I pick up no Romulan transmissions. Or transmissions of any kind in the area."

"That's because they're being attacked," Kirk said pointedly. Captain Pike warily crossed the room and sat in his chair.

"Shields up," he ordered, "activate red alert."

Alarms rang out and Zia leapt into her chair, holding on tight. Were they really going into a combat situation? She had no training at all. Please let it be a fluke…

"Arrival at Vulcan in five seconds," Sulu announced. "Four, three, two-"

The Enterprise dropped out of Warp and into a graveyard of Starships. Zia whimpered as evasive manoeuvres were activated and gripped the sides of her chair, tearing her eyes away from space and towards her console. She didn't notice Spock climbing into his chair, but she noticed when he reached across and grabbed her hand. Everyone shouted, alarms blared, and the ship groaned as debris impacted the exterior.

Then they saw it.

Much larger than the Enterprise, the Romulan ship hovered just above the Vulcan atmosphere with an energy device inserted into the planet. It was huge. Zia took a deep breath and Spock tightened his grip on her hand and he stared out at the ship.

While they still moved, the world seemed to pause for a moment as they stared at this huge, huge threat.

Suddenly Spock's console beeped, and he glanced at the screen. "Captain!" he cried. "They are locking torpedos!"

Captain Pike started shouting orders, and seconds later missiles from the Romulan ship impacted the Enterprise. Uhura was tossed from her chair hit the console behind her, and Zia landed beside her. There was so much noise and confusion! Everyone shouted, steam hissed from control valves, alarms blared like crazy. It was hectic.

"Goddamn," Uhura said breathlessly, attempting to climb to her feet. Another missile hit the ship and the two were jerked across the ground and onto the raised platform where the Captain's chair was. There was a lapse in fire and they used that time to scramble to their feet.

"Captain," Spock said, "the Romulan ship has lowered some kind of high-energy pulse device into the Vulcan atmosphere. Its signal appears to be blocking our Transporter and communication abilities."

"All power to forward shields," Captain Pike ordered, "and prepare to fire all weapons."

Uhura grabbed Zia's arm and dragged her back to their seats, stumbling as the ship tilted. They both slammed into their chairs and braced themselves for the next impact. Uhura's screen beeped suddenly and she stared at it in shock.

"Captain, we're being hailed," Uhura shouted, standing.

The forward window glazed over, like a screen, and a face appeared on it. He was distinctly Romulan with the whole facial tattoo thing done, the bald head and everything. "Hello," he said. Zia blinked. She expected him to sound deep and gravelly. Not casual.

"I'm Captain Christopher Pike. To whom am I speaking?"

"Hi Christopher, I'm Nero."

"You've declared war against the Federation. Withdraw, and I'll agree to arrange a conference with the Romulan leadership at a neutral location."

"I do not speak for the Empire. We stand apart, as does your Vulcan crewmember, isn't that right, Spock?"

All eyes flew to Spock and Zia, seated right next to each other. Slowly, Spock stood and walked forward. "Pardon me. I do not believe that you and I are acquainted."

"No, we're not." Nero spoke in a dangerously low voice. "Not yet. Spock, there's something I would like you to see. Captain Pike, your Transporter has been disabled, as you can see by the rest of your armada. I had no choice. You will man a shuttle and come aboard the Narada for negotiations. That is all."

Nero disappeared from the window, leaving behind him a stunned silence. All eyes turned to Captain Pike and Spock and Kirk spoke over each other.

"He'll kill you, you know that-"

"Your survival is unlikely-"

"-Captain, we gain nothing by diplomacy. Going over to that ship is a mistake."

"-I too agree, you should rethink your strategy."

Captain Pike shot them a hard look. "I understand that." He stared around the room. "I need officers who have been trained in advanced hand-to-hand combat."

Sulu put his hand up immediately. "I have training, sir."

"Come with me," Captain Pike ordered. "Kirk, you too, you're not supposed to be here anyway. Chekov, you have the comm."

"Oh, aye, Keptain," Chekov nodded. Captain Pike, Kirk, Sulu and Spock all left the Bridge. Once they were gone silence descended and Zia glanced at Uhura.

"Will they be okay?" she asked softly.

"I don't know," Uhura sighed, adjusting the earpiece on her ear. "Help me with signal scanning," she said.

Nodding, Zia took her own earpiece off its stand and moved to put it on. Problem was that it was designed for a human ear. Even on the largest setting it still wasn't big enough, so she abandoned hope and slipped it back into the stand, instead looking for physical anomalies like ships and signs that the Narada was powering up weapons. Her eyes scanned the screen continuously and her mind focused on the job. She didn't want to think about almost four-hundred cadets dying… or the imminent destruction or Vulcan… or the loss of all those good people… no! Snap out of it!

The door to the Bridge opened and Spock marched through purposefully, ignored everyone and headed straight for the Captain's chair. He sat down in the chair and tapped the comm. "Doctor Puri, report." There was a pause. "Then you have just inherited his responsibility as Chief Medical Officer."

This time Zia made out the annoyed response from McCoy: "Yeah, tell me something I don't know!"

Spock hesitated before standing and moving to the console beside Zia. "Miss Abbott," he said softly, "soon it will become very busy in here again. I suggest you take this moment to contact your parents and let them know that you are alright."

She nodded and smiled, meeting his eyes. "Yes." For a second she was frozen in place by that hypnotic gaze, but she glanced away, and the moment was over. "Where would I find a communicator?" Spock considered her question and tapped a compartment under his console. It popped open, revealing a communicator and he handed it to her. "Thank you. Hey, what's with you sitting in the Captain's chair?"

He tilted his head and stood. "I am Acting Captain until Captain Pike returns." Placing his hands behind his back, he went back to the Captain's chair, sat down and spun in it once for her benefit. It earned him a smile from her and she shook her head before she headed out into the corridor. Once she was in a secluded spot, she dialled her parents' number and waited.

"Hi, this is Giana, Patty and Zia. We can't answer right now, but please leave a message."

"Mum, dad, it's me. I'm not at the Academy right now. I'm on a Starship and in the middle of a rescue mission, but I am safe. Please don't worry, and please don't call back. It's crazy around here and I won't have the time to answer. I was lucky to get a moment to call in the first place. I love you both."

She ended the call and sighed. They were going to freak out when they got that message. She rushed back to the Bridge and sat back in her seat, pressed the screen and zoomed in on an area of space. She clearly saw three figures falling through Vulcan's atmosphere.

"What's going on?" she asked Uhura.

"Kirk, Sulu and Olson are space-jumping to deactivate that space drill, so we can get our Transporter abilities back," Uhura explained. "Keep watching."

Nodding, Zia heard an alarm sound and turned to see the altitude for all three men lighting up the front window. The alarm continued to beep away ominously.

"Avay team is entering ze atmosphere," Chekov said, "Tventy-sousand metres… approaching ze platform at fifty-eight hundred metres…"

"Kirk to Enterprise; the distance to target is five-thousand metres."

"Forty-six hundred metres from ze platform," Chekov stated.

"Forty-five hundred metres to target."

"Four thousand metres."

"Three thousand metres."

"Three thousand metres."

"Two thousand metres."

"Pull the chute!" Sulu cried.

"Ten thousand metres," Olson yelled.

"Come on, pull your chute Olson!" Kirk ordered.

"Not yet, not yet," Olson begged, "Five thousand metres!"

"Olson pull your chute!" Kirk shouted.

Olson let out a great yell of delight; "One thousand metres!" He let out a gleeful yell, followed by a scream, and his life-sign dropped out.

Chekov blinked in horror. "Olson is gone, sir." He watched the controls and turned back to Spock. "Kirk has landed, sir."

As Chekov said that, Zia felt a spike of annoyance pierce her head. Only it wasn't hers. How come Spock was annoyed that Kirk had landed? Well, they might have a past, but even though Zia didn't like him she certainly wouldn't want him to die… especially with the fate of Vulcan hanging in the balance.

There was a tense wait as the entire Bridge observed Kirk and Sulu on the platform. For a few minutes it seemed like they had failed.

Uhura, still monitoring her console, spoke suddenly and loudly. "The jamming signal is gone. Transporter abilities are re-established."

"Transporter control is reengaged sir," Chekov added.

"Chekov," Spock said, "run gravitational sensors. I want to know what they are doing to the planet."

"Aye Commander- Keptain, sorry Keptain," Chekov stammered as he got to work.

"Kirk to Enterprise, they just launched something into the planet through the hole they just drilled. Do you copy Enterprise?"

Everywhere around Zia people were shouting and working frantically at their consoles. What could she do? She was only a first-year cadet with no knowledge of how a Starship operated-

"Keptain, ze gravitational sensors are off ze scale. If my calculations are correct, zey are creating a singularity zat will consume ze planet."

She felt Spock's worry and it was stronger than hers. A bubble of uneasiness simmered away at the base of her stomach and Spock's worry added to that. "They're creating a black hole at the centre of Vulcan?" he asked, his voice betraying only a little bit of the horror he felt.

"Yes sir," Chekov said apologetically.

"How long does the planet have?"

"Minutes sir, minutes," Chekov shrugged. Spock leapt to his feet and passed by Zia and Uhura.

"Miss Abbott, come with me," he ordered without turning. "Lieutenant, alert Vulcan Command Centre to signal a planet-wide evacuation on all channels all frequencies."

"Spock wait!" Uhura called, racing after them.

"Please maintain standard orbit," he told her, standing in the turbolift with Zia beside him.

"Where are you going?" Uhura asked.

"To evacuate the Vulcan High Council, they are tasked with protecting our cultural history. My parents will be among them."

"Can't you beam them out?"

"It is impossible. They will be in the Katrik Ark, I must get them myself. Chekov, you have the comm!" The doors closed, and the lift activated. "Miss Abbott, I require your help to retrieve the High Council. Only Vulcans can access the Katrik Ark and I need you with me. Do you understand?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I understand."

The doors opened, and Spock barely refrained from running as they headed for the Transporter pad. They made a quick stop at the armoury to grab a utility belt each and didn't bother putting them on as they speed-walked to the pad. Upon entering, Zia saw Kirk and Sulu lying on the pad looking a bit worse for wear, but they were alive. Kirk gave her a funny look as she strapped on the belt and he glanced at her slim legs.

"Clear the pad," Spock ordered as he strapped on his own belt. "We are beaming to the surface."

Kirk blinked as he stood, "The surface of what? What, you're going down there?" He and Sulu left the pad. "Are you nuts? Spock, you can't do that!"

Spock and Zia both knelt. "Energise."

They were engulfed in a beam of white light and the next thing they knew, they were on Vulcan. All around them rocks crumbled and the ground shook. Spock peered around once and pointed to an entrance in the mountain in front of them. He grabbed her hand and together they raced up the huge mountain, holding tight to each other. Rocks slipped from under their feet but when Zia slipped, Spock pulled her up and they kept on going. Closer… closer… okay, they were in! The entrance tunnel was dingy, but since it was sacred it didn't matter.

Spock and Zia burst into the chamber, panting heavily. The Ark was massive! It must take up the entire core of the mountain, and there were some cool statues dotting the area. Half a dozen Vulcans stood around a large statue right in the very middle. Spock and Zia raced up the stairs, shielding their heads from falling debris, and stopped in front of the High Council.

A woman stood from where she knelt. "Spock?"

"The planet has only seconds left, we must evacuate!" Spock shouted. The panic was obvious in his voice, but who was Zia to judge? The other Vulcans glanced at her, glanced at each other, and moved towards the exit. "Mother, now," Spock told her, holding out his other hand. Zia rushed over to the other Vulcans and ushered them into the tunnel. An older man lagged, unable to run, and a statue fell onto him. She grabbed the jacket of the one Vulcan behind her and tried to pull her along, but she lost her grip and rocks fell onto the unfortunate Vulcan.

The remainder of the High Council burst from the Ark and Zia brought up the rear and came face-to-face with the destruction of Vulcan.

Spock grabbed a communicator from his utility belt. "Spock to Enterprise, get us out now!"

Zia glanced around at the other Vulcans with them. Their faces showed no emotion, but they huddled close like frightened children. Rocks showered down from the mountain and rolled like miniature asteroids. She would have liked to come here one day, perhaps to meet her real parents. But they were probably dead.

Probably dead… yes, they probably were.

White light slowly formed around each of them as the beam activated. But it was too slow. Zia's heart pounded, and blood rushed to her head. The ground beneath her weakened, she could feel it. Spock's mother turned and looked him in the eye, pure terror on her face. Zia knew what was about to happen a second before it did. She shouted out, but the ground beneath Spock's mother collapsed, and she fell, screaming.

"NO!" Spock yelled, his arm flying up as if to grab her. Then they were on the Enterprise, safe from the destruction.

But it was too late. She was gone.