I do not own Star Trek or anything to do with said franchise. However, I own Alianna Lordeck and co-own Sindari Lordeck and this plot. This fic is based on the new movie, and thus, takes place in the alternate universe of the movie. It's rated for lots of bad language and some sexual scenes (let's face it, it is Captain Kirk we're talking about), and violence and some drinking. You know, standard stuff. Should be lots of fun and I apologize in advance if any of the information about Star Trek is wrong. I've tried to do research, but hey, with eleven movies, five live-action shows and one animated show, along with multiple books and such, getting all the facts straight is kind of hard. Anyways, enjoy.

Ain't No Rest for the Wicked
Chapter Two: Chicky Can Kick Ass.

"Where are you going? It's late."

Alianna kept her eyes forward, looking at her reflection in the mirror as she secured her dark hair in a bun at the back of her head. Her rather severe face stared back at her, marred by bruises where it had struck the floor of the Orion cargo bay hours before. Along her cheek bone, faint triangle-shaped cuts could be seen where the textured floor of said cargo bay had split her skin. She brushed her fingers lightly across the abrasions. "Does time really matter in space? Where there's no light or dark? No night or day? Where's there's no shift in daylight? Time doesn't matter here…" she muttered absently, running her fingers around the bun, wishing she had the silver hair sticks that doubled as weapons she normally would have finished her outfit with.

"What's got you so philosophical all of a sudden?" Sindari was lying on her side on Alianna's bed, her head propped up on her hand. Her short red hair was flung in haphazard ways from her shifting positions, and her black Starfleet dress was rumpled; the boots lay forgotten on the floor at the end of the bed. Alianna knew, as soon as she left the privacy of the quarters, Sindari would be at one-hundred percent; she would be the perfect Starfleet officer, put-together and presentable to even the strictest of rule abiders and inspections. That was the major difference between the sisters: where as Sindari could turn her formality on and off as needed, Alianna tended to either be completely formal or completely informal at one time; she had very little concept of balance. "So, are you going to tell me where you're going all dressed up?" Sindari asked. "You haven't looked this well-dressed since before we went to see Mom and Dad."

"To see the Captain," she replied, completely ignoring the mention of her parents.

"Excuse me?!"

Alianna fixed her sister with one of her trademarked glares. "To apologize." She crossed the room to sit on the bed at Sindari's feet and looked at the floor. As she pulled her boots on, she said, "You were right. I already have one black mark on my record and I don't need any more. Since I'm pretty sure we're going to end up on the Enterprise for a while at least, it seems the best course of action to apologize for my behaviour." With her feet back in the familiar-feeling boots, Alianna looked up at her sister, the corner of her mouth twitching in a smile. "I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"Hey, I'm used to it, but you're making the right move in apologize to Captain Kirk." Sindari's face filled with faux-sadness and she waved her hand in front of her face, fighting off imaginary tears. "You're growing up so fast—I'm so proud of you!"

Alianna's mouth bunched as she swatted her sister's leg. She missed these moments, where she and Sindari could act as sisters and nothing more. They had been more frequent when they'd been cadets at the Academy, and when they'd been younger, but as soon as they'd been assigned to the U.S.S. Marissa, they had had to grow up fast and the time to play—the time to be sisters—had all but disappeared. While they were both silently freaking out about the possible state of their ship, they were dealing with their emotions in the only ways they knew how: diverting attention and trying to keep their minds from jumping to the worst conclusion. Alianna and Sindari knew they might have to accept the deaths of their friends and crewmates, but they weren't prepared to deal with that loss unless they absolutely had to. So, until they knew the truth, the complete truth, they let the dark ball of thoughts fester in the back of their minds while they both attempted to carve out a place on the Enterprise.

"You should get some rest," Alianna said as she pushed herself to her feet, the hem of the dress swishing around her thighs. She walked over to the computer console in the wall. "Computer, locate Captain James Kirk."

"Captain Kirk is in his quarters."

"So should you," Sindari said after the synthesized female voice finished speaking. "Get some rest, that is."

"I'll be fine, Sin. This is something I have to do now, before I loose the guts."

"You? Loose your nerve? Unlikely."

"Still. Get some rest will you?" Alianna walked over to the doors, looking over her shoulder as they hissed open. Sindari shrugged, which was as much of a promise as Alianna was going to get from her sister, and Alianna exited her quarters, entering the black and white corridor and finding it a lot colder than her room. "Damn," she muttered. "They could keep this place a little warmer…" Alianna balled her hands into fists as she strode along the hall, towards the Captain's quarters.

Regardless of what Sindari had said, it wasn't that late, and as she'd seen the Captain only moments ago in the hall, she was fairly confident he would still be awake. And if he wasn't and she woke him… well, that was just one more thing to apologize for. When she reached the doors of the Captain's quarters—only recognizable by the out-of-the-way location of the rooms—she stood just inside the range of the door's sensors and pulled herself into an at-ease position and pressed the button, announcing her presence. After a moment, there was a faint noise and the doors slid open with their hydraulic hiss, closing behind her as soon as she was outside their sensor range. Alianna found herself standing in a very white sitting room with a long couch taking up the entire length of the far wall. There was a low, black table in front of the couch, unadorned except for a large, square plate. The furniture sat underneath the windows with all their blinds open, exposing a wide view of the space outside; Alianna knew they were moving, but since they weren't travelling at warp, it was impossible to tell just by looking at the surroundings. The stars hung as stationary balls of light in the vista.

She remained at-ease with her hands clasped behind her back as Captain Kirk entered the room, still dressed in his full uniform minus the footwear. He stood just in the door to his sleeping area barefoot and leaning on the doorframe. The brace on his nose seemed to stand out even more in the small area.

"Can I help you Lieutenant Lordeck?"

"It's Lieutenant Commander Lordeck, if you please, sir." She bit off the rest of that sentence, forcing herself to be nothing but Starfleet. "Or just Lordeck. And I came to apologize for my behaviour earlier." Alianna had the overwhelming urge to drop her gaze to the floor, but she forced her bright green eyes to stay locked on Kirk's face. Her expression remained as stoic as she could manage; not for the first time in her life, she wished she had had Vulcan emotion-suppression training. Without waiting for Kirk to respond, she pressed on in her explanation, feeling it was necessary. "Visits with my parents never leave me in the best of spirits, sir, and getting kidnapped so soon after seeing them didn't help matters, especially when my sister and I should have been able to protect that shuttle and its passengers and we failed to do so. And, as you observed earlier, Captain, I do have quite the temper, although it will not be a problem any longer. I will keep it in check." This time, she paused, allowing room for him to speak, but Kirk didn't say anything. He just kept looking at her, his usual smirk plastered on his face. Alianna cleared her throat as quietly as she could mange before saying, "And I'm sorry I broke your nose, sir."

"That's quite all right, Lordeck. It'll heal. As for your behaviour…" He pushed himself off the doorframe and crossed the room to lounge on the couch, bare feet propped up on the table. "I'll let it go this time," he said as his smirk broadened. It only lasted a second before disappearing and he looked at Alianna with a calm expression on his face. "I understand you weren't in control of your emotions."

Alianna nodded. "Thank you, sir. Have a good night." She turned sharply and strode back into the sensor range of the doors, pausing as they slid open. After a brief moment of hesitation, she re-entered the hallway, leaving a smiling Kirk behind her.

Sindari hadn't gone to get rest like Alianna had suggested. She was more eager to explore the Constitution-class vessel, which was much different than the Excelsior-class Marissa she was used to, than lay around her quarters unable to sleep. Sindari, who was the weapons officer aboard Marissa, was also very interested in the engineering aspects of starships and would have loved to learn how to fly one. Unfortunately, she had never been very adept at piloting, crashing many times in the simulators at the Starfleet Academy. Sure, she could do it in a pinch, probably make a safe landing or docking in an emergency, but she had always been better at understanding how they flew over the actual actions of flying. Alianna had all the flying skills, but for some reason Sindari didn't completely understand, her older sister chose to head up security over sitting at the helm. Sindari's only theory was that Alianna liked the possibility of fighting and moving around rather than sitting at a console all the time.

Oh well, Sindari thought to herself as she rounded the corner to the turbolift. I've never tried to understand Alianna before, and I'm not going to start now. She pressed the button labelled "Engineering" and braced herself as the lift began its rapid descent. The lift stopped halfway there and the doors slid open to reveal Commander Spock. "Good evening, Commander," she managed as the blush crept into her cheeks again. There was something about the Vulcan Commander that flustered Sindari and she wasn't exactly what it was or why it happened. She wasn't sure if she liked it either.

"And to you, Lieutenant. Where are you headed? I would have thought you and your sister would require rest to recuperate from the events of today."

"I can't sleep, sir," she said. It wasn't a complete lie; sure, she hadn't tried falling asleep, but she liked to think she knew herself well enough to know there was too much adrenaline pumping through her veins for her to get any of the rest she needed. I'll just be tired tomorrow, she mentally mused. "I'm headed to Engineering. I thought I might take a look around… See the differences between the Constitution-class and the Excelsior-class." Sindari's mouth twitched in a grin reminiscent of her sister's manner as she looked at Spock, but she quickly brought it under control.

"Are you interested in Engineering? I was under the impression you were a weapons officer."

"I am, sir. I'm just interested in seeing the newest flagship of Starfleet," she said, unable to suppress her smile this time. It was one of anticipation, however, and once she realized it had escaped her control, she felt no need to rein it in. "I've never been aboard a Constitution-class vessel, Commander."

"Would you permit me to accompany you as you explore? Perhaps I could answer your questions and give you some more insight to Enterprise's systems."

"That would be very welcome, sir."

When the lift doors opened again, the first thing Sindari saw was a confusing mass of coloured pipes, twisting and turning, filling the gigantic space from floor to ceiling and corner to corner. Or, what she could see of the room anyway. The second thing she saw was a small alien with a rock-like visage and black goggles covering his eyes. He was holding a strange tool in one hand and had a firm grip on one of the pipes as he ascended through the maze with speed that suggested an intimate knowledge of the layout of the pipes. As her and Spock stepped out of the lift, Sindari watched the small alien, wondering who he was to be down there without a Starfleet uniform and seemingly by himself. Spock followed her gaze upward and raised an eyebrow at the alien in greeting. The alien made some vague gesture and grunting noise before hurrying into the depths of the cavern-like room.

"That is Keenser. He is a companion of Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott, who is the Chief Engineer aboard Enterprise."

Sindari nodded in acknowledgement, but didn't look at the Commander behind her. Her green eyes were firmly glued ahead, peering between the pipes, watching as the dark figures of the Engineering department appeared, scampering back and forth from station to station. She clasped her hands behind her back to keep herself from touching anything as they walked and listened intently as Spock described the improvements to various delivery systems that created and maintained the ship's habitable environment. Keeping her mouth shut as she did whenever she was being taught anything, Sindari's eyes wandered back and forth, following Spock's finger as he pointed to one thing or another and then moving beyond. Whenever the Vulcan Commander paused in his explanations, Sindari would ask a question or make a comment, but more often then not the only thing that came from her lips were noises of astonishment. The Marissa wasn't a very old ship, but the changes that had been made between her creation and the fabrication of the Enterprise were startling. The environmental controls were much more precise and there was a greater variety of settings available, allowing for each crew member to turn their quarters into a paradise with perfect conditions, and the replicators or "food slots" as Sindari had heard them called, produced sustenance at a much higher speed than ever before; Spock demonstrated this by asking for a cup of tea, which appeared in a matter of seconds. As he handed the beverage to Sindari, she smiled, thoroughly impressed.

After the cursory tour of the deck, Spock introduced Sindari to Montgomery Scott, who turned out to be a Scottish man with a thick accent and somewhat eccentric manner; his eyes seemed permanently wide, taking in everything around him. When the Commander and Sindari found the Lieutenant Commander, he was yelling at Keenser to get down off some delicate piece of equipment that, apparently, was not meant for anyone to climb on, small as Keenser was.

"Oh, Commander Spock. What brings you down ter Engineering?" he asked, seemingly taking no notice of Sindari at the Vulcan's side.

"A tour of the ship's facilities Mister Scott." Spock gestured to Sindari before retuning his hands to their normal position, folded behind his back. "This is Junior Lieutenant Sindari Lordeck of the U.S.S. Marissa."

"Aye, one of the ones rescued earlier," he said, acknowledging her with a nod of his head and then shaking her proffered hand. "It's nice to meet ya, lass."

"Likewise, sir," Sindari said, smiling. Her first impression of Montgomery Scott was that she quite liked him. "This is a fascinating ship."

"Isn't she though?" He looked around him, with a wide smile on his face. He spoke of the ship with a sort of reverence and admiration Sindari had never heard used in reference to a ship before. It was clear how much he enjoyed serving on the Enterprise and his enthusiasm for the vessel made Sindari grin.

"Commander Spock to the Bridge."

The tall Vulcan grabbed Sindari's attention with nothing more than a look. Understanding the invitation, she bade farewell to Mister Scott and then followed the Commander back out into the hallway, into the turbolift and up to the Bridge. As the doors sighed open, Sindari let out a small gasp. The Bridge was something else to behold: bright and inviting at the same time it was definitely a command centre; its white walls brought all attention to the main viewer at the front of the circular room, where a wide vista of stars as well as the writing on the front of the hull could be seen. The faces of one or two of the seated officers turned to nod to Spock as he crossed the bridge to stand in front of the empty centre chair, behind the helmsman and the navigator. Sindari recognized the navigator—the Russian—as having helped rescue them, but the helmsman was a stranger to her. The Communications officer, a slim, dark-skinned woman with wide brown eyes and dark hair pulled back into a slick ponytail, rose from her console and came to stand beside Spock, a touch of confusion on her face as she noticed Sindari at his side.

"There still hasn't been any response from the Marissa," she said with a brief glance at Sindari.

"You have informed the Captain, I trust."

"Of course. We're maintaining the course and repeating hails on all channels. We'll reach the ship in approximately three hours."

Sindari turned slightly in order to better look at the woman, eager for any more information pertaining to her ship. The woman returned the gaze, prompting Sindari to extend her hand again. "Junior Lieutenant Sindari Lordeck," she said.

"Lieutenant Uhura." The confusion in her face magnifying as she retuned her gaze to Spock. "I was not aware the officers rescued were permitted on the Bridge, sir."

There was a moment before Spock responded, in which he maintained a level gaze locked on Uhura. "She is with me, Lieutenant," he said calmly. "I was attempting to explain the workings of the Enterprise to her when you summoned me to the Bridge. Under the circumstances, her presence is permitted on the Bridge, and as she is a Starfleet officer, I see no harm."

Uhura's lips thinned into a frustrated line. "I apologize, sir."

As the Lieutenant returned to her station, Spock turned to face Sindari, one of his pointed eyebrows arched, bringing a inquisitive air to his features. However, he asked her no question or made any indication to what he was thinking. Instead, he gestured towards the navigation panel. "Why don't you join Ensign Chekov and observe the controls? The main weapon controls are under his purview and I am sure he would be more than willing to answer any of your questions."

After a lengthy period of wandering the halls, Alianna found a recreation area on one of the lower decks, complete with a punching bag and necessary self-protection equipment. Pleased, she headed back to her quarters, committing the route to memory. She changed from the Starfleet uniform into the black pants and white tank top she had been wearing when rescued, but left the uniform-issue boots on her feet, finding them more comfortable than the sandal-like shoes she had been wearing before. And, as her small bag of possessions had been destroyed in the chaos of the kidnapping, the two pairs of footwear were all she had. Once she was changed, she made her way confidently back to the gym, which, to her pleasure, was still deserted. Ignoring the hand and foot protectors, she approached the canvas punching bag and kicked off her boots, falling instinctively into a battle-ready position.

It felt good to feel the canvas scraping against her flesh as she landed punch after heavy punch and kick after fierce kick. She enjoyed using the punching bag as opposed to any of the newer technology, as she revelled in the force exerted as the bag swung back into her hands, threatening her balance and stance. At some point in her sparring, she was aware of someone standing at the door watching her, but she paid them no mind, too focused on taking all her anger and stress and worries out on the canvas skin of the bag; too focused on the pain as the canvas skin tore at her knuckles and the tops of her feet, grating off the top layers of skin and bringing blood to the surface. Alianna thought whoever was watching her attempted to speak at one point, but she didn't pick up any of the words spoken, nor did she care. Eventually, her breaths became laboured and her attacks slowed. Sweat dripped into her eyes, stinging and drawing her attention. With her next punch thrown without her full focus, a sharp crack filled the gym and the familiar pain of a broken finger shot up her arm.

She dropped to the ground, feet stuck out in front of her and her left hand, the one with the broken finger, clutched tightly in her right. Laboured breathing turned into gasps and tears leaked out of her stubborn eyes.

"Let me see." Blinking furiously, trying to keep herself from crying, she nodded and extended her hand towards Bones. The scruffy doctor took one brief look at the digit before pulling it back into place with another resounding crack. Alianna screamed and shot her most furious glare at Leonard McCoy, who just stared back at her with a calm face. "Come with me to sickbay and I'll put a brace on it."

Alianna wiped her face with the heels of her hands and nodded. Bones helped her to her feet and they headed to the turbolift, the Starfleet boots tucked under her good arm and her bare feet echoing on the hard floor. As the lift was descending, Alianna pulled her hair out of the bun, which had become quite dishevelled in the process of beating up the punching bag, and shook out her sweaty hair until it fell down to hover around her waist. She ran her fingers of her good hand backwards through the dark locks, pushing the bangs and shorter pieces that fell around her face out of her line of vision. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in a reflective surface and realized there was something Vulcan-like in her appearance when her hair was down; her severe cheekbones adding the most to that aspect.

In sickbay, she climbed onto the nearest empty table, dropping her boots on the floor in front of her. "How long will this take to heal?"

"It'll heal fully in a month to three months—"

"What?!"

He hushed her with a look. "For you, it'll most likely be a shorter healing time. Just keep the splint on it for a few weeks and keep checking in for scans. I'll let you know when you can take it off."

"Oh. OK. Thanks… sir."

"You don't have to call me sir, Lordeck. We're the same rank." He fitted a metal brace onto her left forefinger and middle finger and tightened it until he drew a wince from her. "Only take it off to wash it and don't leave it off very long. That should help it heal faster. I'll give you some painkillers to deal with the pain. They should allow you to go about your life normally."

"Ha. Normal."

Bones looked at his patient with his eyebrow raised, but didn't press the issue. He slathered something over the torn skin on her knuckles and feet, which instantly took away the burn and the sting and then wrapped the wounds with gauze. She sat on the table for a moment longer before hopping off and landing harder than anyone would have thought possible on her injured feet. Bones ran his tricorder over her. "Everything is normal, aside from your adrenaline levels."

"Well of course my adrenaline is elevated, Bones." She stretched her arms upwards, her shoulders popping. "I had to get through two weeks with my parents, then I was kidnapped and tied up—which I hate by the way—and I just broke my finger. Why wouldn't my adrenaline levels be elevated?"

"Just calm down, Lordeck, or you'll start to hyperventilate."

Alianna took a few, long and deep breaths, keeping her eyes on the doctor. When she had calmed down, she gestured to the doors. "Can you take me back to my quarters please, Bones? I'm not sure I can remember how to get there…" She felt stupid, especially since she'd spent the time committing the route from the recreation area back to her room to memory. But it just wasn't coming, no matter how hard she tried to recall the twists and turns. Alianna smiled sheepishly when she looked up at Bones again, but the doctor nodded. "Thank you," she whispered as her bare feet struck the black floors of the hallways again.

"Aren't your feet cold?"

Alianna laughed a bit and shook her head.

"Can I ask you a somewhat personal question Lordeck?"

"I guess."

"Where were you when the Romulan Nero attacked? There were seven Federation ships destroyed; seven ships with cadets aboard. You're the same age as the Captain. How did you and your sister survive?"

"That's not really a personal question, Bones, but I will answer. You see, Captain DeFalco of the Marissa had taken a group of cadets out for hands-on flying experience. Sindari and I were in the Laurentian system with the rest of the fleet, leaning the ropes." She closed her mouth tightly as she remembered. When she continued, her voice was quieter and her eyes had dropped to the floor, watching her feet slap against the shiny black floor. "I wanted to help. I asked—begged—Captain DeFalco to take us into the fray, but he declined. We had been ordered to stay in the system, and when we heard the reports of the devastation, he said there wasn't any point in risking the rest of the main fleet against an enemy we knew almost nothing about." She looked back up at McCoy, a small smile twitching at the corner of her mouth again. "I was jealous when I heard of the cadets on the Enterprise… even more so when I heard James Kirk had taken control…"

"I can just imagine your reaction. Did you break anyone's nose then?"

Alianna glared, but her mouth was still smiling. "No. I didn't. I'll have you know I'm usually quite in control of my temper."

"I'll believe that when I see it."

Alianna could have thought up several clever comebacks, but she settled for another glare as they reached her quarters. The doors hissed open and she stepped inside. "Thank you for your help Doctor."

When the doors had hissed closed again, the young Starfleet officer dropped onto her bed and wished she had a book to read instead of staring at the ceiling. She was getting anxious. They would be reaching the Marissa's coordinates soon, and she had no way to distract herself now that she'd torn her knuckles to shreds. All the fears she'd suppressed over the last few hours were bubbling to the surface again; her breaths became laboured once more. She tried to calm herself down, but with nothing to focus on, the measured breathing wasn't working.

"Lieutenant Commander Lordeck to the Bridge."

She sat up and ran out of her quarters without a second thought. Her hair flew out behind her like a banner and her eyes were wide with panic and fear. There was only one reason she would be called to the Bridge on a ship that wasn't her command. They had reached the Marissa. The turbolift didn't rise fast enough. Her vision was blurring because she couldn't get a deep enough breath. When the hydraulic doors finally opened onto the Bridge, she stumbled out, steadying herself on the back of the command chair before she could fall down the one step. Kirk rose out of the chair and look at her, concern on his face.

"Breathe, Alianna," he said.

She took a deep breath. And then another one. Suddenly, she realized she was standing on the Bridge of the Enterprise, barefoot, in civilian clothes, with her sweaty hair hanging lose around her, and bloody and bandaged. She pushed the rather embarrassing thought aside. "What is it? Is it the Marissa? Are they OK?" she asked.

Kirk didn't say anything. He gestured for her to move forward, around the chair. As she did, Sindari appeared at her side.

The Marissa hung suspended in space at full stop. There were no lights on. Nothing to indicate power or activity or life. It was eerie that a ship of that size, that had housed as many people as it had, could be so silent.

"There hasn't been any response," Kirk said from behind her. "And there are no life signs. I'm sorry."

Author's Note… Thank you so much for the overwhelming response to this story! It makes me so proud to know people like my stuff. (hugs for all)

I hope this chapter is better than the first and I hope it serves to explain some things about the OC protagonists and why they are the way they are. Or Alianna at least, who is clearly the more disturbed of the two. Sindari, like Shauna who co-owns the character, is the more rational and put-together of the two. And yes Shauna, I actually think that way about the two of us. For those who don't know, Shauna (Lunn Lady of Angst here on ) and I are best friends and share love of most of the same fandoms, Star Trek and Batman being at the tops of our lists. That's just a little side-note.

Watch me cleverly side-step all the techno-babble that I'm terrible at… (shifty eyes) And before anyone jumps down my throat, I decided to use the term "replicator" instead of "food slot", because, let's face it, "replicator" sounds a lot cooler and more sci-fi. At least, I think so… And I'm the author of this story so HA! Plus, they never actually make any reference to the device in the movie, so… Yeah, I'm just going to call it a replicator, m'kay?

Next Chapter: The U.S.S. Marissa.