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 Six: Attacked.

"Get us back on the Enterprise!" Kirk bellowed into his communicator.

Alianna braced herself on a nearby railing as another barrage of phaser fire struck the Lithgow. Light whipped around her and the rest of the away team and they reappeared a second later on the pad in the transporter room, the effect of having one's molecules scrambled fading as the away team moved as one towards the turbo lift and up to the familiar bridge. As the doors hissed open, Alianna all but lunged forward to her console, Sindari doing the same on the opposite side of the Captain's chair, the girls' fingers moving blur-like across the screens as they called up the information they would need.

"I can not detect the ship, Keptin," Chekov said as Kirk settled into his post.

"No ion trails? Nothing?"

Alianna brought the sensors scans onto her screen and absorbed the information quickly. It was the science officer's job to read the scans, yes, but a second pair of eyes couldn't hurt, even if the science officer was a Vulcan and incredibly intelligent. There was nothing detectable. Spock confirmed the assessment, and there was an exasperated sigh from the command chair and the tension on the bridge escalated quickly. The ship shook sharply and the lights flashed. Several of the bridge crew were tossed forward into their consoles.

"Shields are holding, sir," Alianna informed Kirk, unsure of the desire to relay positive information to the man. "I don't think they're trying to hurt us yet."

"Yet being the key word. Somebody find me that ship!" Kirk was sitting on the edge of his chair and looked like he was going to throw himself forward at any moment. The ship shook again, and he gripped the arms with white knuckles, eyes narrowing dangerously as he fought to remain in his chair. "Come on! Why can't we find this thing? Are they cloaked? Are they staying cloaked?"

"Yes Captain," Spock answered. "I detected a small amount of the ship when they fired last, but I see nothing there now. Their cloaking technology must be incredibly sophisticated."

"Transfer the coordinates to Lieutenant Lordeck's console Mister Spock. Lordeck, fire on those coordinates."

The bridge officers followed the orders quickly. Bright red phaser beams shot out into seemingly open space. Half the barrage kept going, but a couple shots exploded against something invisible, something cloaked. The shields on whatever was attacking them glowed momentarily and then faded again. There were excited yells from some of the crew, but the majority of the officers remained silent, waiting to see what would happen next. Would the ship de-cloak? Would they hail the Enterprise? Or would they just continue to attack, invisible to all eyes? After a minute or so of waiting, there was no response and the tense air on the bridge relaxed somewhat. Kirk ordered another round of fire in the same coordinates, but there was no reaction. The tension skyrocketed again. Kirk rose from his chair and strode up to the viewer, glaring out at the stairs. Minutes passed. Nothing.

"Why would they leave?" Alianna whispered.

Kirk turned to face his security officer, and for a moment said nothing. "I don't know. But we should take advantage of the situation and get as far away from here as possible. If they can stay cloaked while firing, there's no way to know when or where they will come from. Lieutenant Uhura, send a message to the nearest Starfleet ship. Tell them to wait a few hours before approaching the Lithgow and tell them to bring back up. We don't need anyone else getting shot at," he said. The young captain returned to his chair. "Mister Sulu, take us back to Federation space."

"Aye sir."

Alianna relaxed slightly as she felt the warp engines engage and the ship move away from the site of attack. Subconsciously, she moved one hand to the DeFalco's ring on the chain around her neck, but stopped the motion as soon as she realized she was doing it as she wasn't supposed to be wearing the thing, but more so because she didn't want anyone to catch her moment of weakness. She was unsuccessful. Sindari looked across at her with sympathetic eyes; she could tell her older sister was feeling guilty about leaving the ghost ship floating there in space with the threat of attack still looming. What if they had had to leave the Marissa and her crew? Alianna sighed and trained her eyes on the faintly glowing touchscreen in front of her, studying each button and readout thoroughly. The ring weighed heavily around her neck.

The ship slowed to impulse as soon as they were safely back inside the boundaries of Federation space and away from the Klingon Empire. Kirk pressed the button on his chair for ship-wide communication and waited for the beeps to grab everyone's attention.

"Senior officers report to the observation deck." As the communiqué ended, the yellow-clad man turned to face the bridge. "Mister Sulu, Mister Chekov and Lieutenant Lordeck, you come as well. You were all part of the away teams. Uhura, you have the bridge."

As he rose from his chair and left the bridge, the officers fell into line. Alianna kept her eyes firmly on the wall ahead of her while Sindari stared at the floor passing beneath her boots, trusting her sister to steer her clear of any impending obstacles; it might not have been the best idea at the time, as Alianna's mind was more than a little occupied by the thoughts of their attackers running through her head.

The observation deck was a large room, one the largest on the ship and it sat at the far end of the saucer on deck five, with the quarters of the captain and the senior crew. There was a table sitting to one side of the room, and it was at this table that Kirk sat, prompting everyone else to settle into one of the swivelling chairs as well. Somehow, Alianna ended up sitting at Kirk's left while Spock was at his right. Once the rest of the senior officers had piled in and taken a seat, Captain Kirk set about explaining what they had seen on the Marissa and the Lithgow and let McCoy share his findings about the deaths. Alianna didn't pay much attention, as she wasn't keen on hearing about the horror and she wasn't keen on picturing Joseph's decaying body in her mind, but when the recap session came to an end, she was the first to offer any input.

"I don't think they're Klingons," she stated, bringing a circular debate to an end. "For one, they don't have the technology to stay cloaked when they attack and they wouldn't have just left us there. Klingons are warriors and they had the upper hand in that situation. If it had been Klingons, they would have just wiped us out."

"What if they're working with someone else?"

Alianna looked at her sister like she'd grown another head. "Seriously? The Klingons work with someone else?"

Sindari shrugged as her cheeks flared to a brilliant shade of red. "It's not so farfetched. If they found someone else who hated the Federation and could make them stronger, why wouldn't they form an alliance?"

"She's got a point there," Bones said.

"I just don't think it's the Klingons, and if this meeting has dissolved to speculation, I'd like to return to the bridge. Captain?" She turned her bright green eyes to her left.

Kirk nodded once and she left the table. Several of the other officers took that as a cue to leave as well, clearly more interested in whatever work they were doing before the meeting than speculating on what it was that was taking out Federation ships. James Kirk on the other hand, thought speculation sessions like this were a good way to get new ideas into people's heads and perhaps, come up with a feasible answer or course of action. As the doors hissed shut behind Alianna and the others, he turned to address the rest of the table. "While Lieutenant Lordeck makes some valid points, Commander Lordeck's argument can be backed by witnessed fact about the Klingons. Does anyone else have any ideas about who could be doing this and how?"

"I haven't got any new information about the way they died, other than it shares similarities with death by phaser fire. I've never seen a phaser that could wipe out an entire ship at once before though." Bones sighed and settled farther back in his chair. "We're facing some dangerous enemies here, Jim. They've got technology we've never seen and that Starfleet doesn't eve have in development."

"Logically, it would have to be someone the Federation has already come into contact with, for any feelings of animosity to exist," Spock stated in his usual level voice.

Also in usual fashion, Kirk quickly provided a counterargument. "Not necessarily. It's possible whoever is taking out Federation ships is doing it on principle. You know, against what the Federation stands for."

"That is highly unlikely Captain. It would be prudent to go through the logs and make a list of those races we have not had successful first contact with in recent history, and then decide which of that list would be capable of producing the technology we are seeing. Perhaps someone who has relations with the Klingons or the Romulans? Those are the only two races we have encountered who employ cloaking devices."

"Good plan, Mister Spock. Do let me know what you find out." Kirk offered a cheeky grin to his first officer before turning to the Lordeck left at the table. "Lieutenant, would you examine the fragment we found aboard the Lithgow? Compare it to documented weapons and see if you can make a match. We might get an idea of who we're dealing with then. Bones, keep on those medical examinations. Mister Scott," Kirk said, turning his chair so he could face the Scottish officer standing to his immediate right. "have a look at the reports Chekov and Sulu made when they examined the ghost ships and see if you can come up with anything."

"Aye sir."

"Make everyone delivers all reports to me."

There was another chorus of "Aye sir" and the observation deck emptied. Kirk, Bones and Sindari were the last three in the room, and as the doors hissed shut again, the captain turned to the chief medical officer.

"Bones, can this brace come off my nose yet?" The doctor pressed his lips into a thin line. It was an expression Kirk knew well: it was the face he made when he was trying not to laugh. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing really, Jim. Just that Alianna came to me earlier begging to have the brace taken off her finger in the exact same tone."

A small grin tugged at the corner of Kirk's mouth, but he suppressed it, settling for the grimace the battle turned the expression into. "Well can it come off or not?"

"Not yet. It'll have to stay on for a couple more days at least and then we'll put some tape on for the rest of the healing period. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have reports to get back to." McCoy smiled at Sindari and nodded to his captain before pressing past his fellow officers and disappearing into the hallway, but heading in the direction opposite from the bridge.

"Captain?"

"Yes?"

"What do you think the likelihood of us catching the attackers before they take out another ship is?" Sindari asked, her cheeks and ears darkening again.

Kirk sighed. "I'm not sure. Right now it isn't looking very good, but we're doing everything to change that."

"I know."

The captain took a step towards the door and gestured for Sindari to walk with him; they were headed to same place, after all. "If I may ask, Lieutenant, how are you holding up?"

"Excuse me?"

"I saw how leaving the Lithgow affected your sister. She's feeling guilty and that's got her thinking about the Marissa again. I'm just curious as to how you're doing."

Sindari sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger as they stepped into the turbolift. "I've already told Doctor McCoy this, but I handle things better than Alianna. I always have. Yes, I feel guilty about leaving that ship hanging there, but so does everyone on this ship probably. As for thinking about my old ship… well of course I'm still thinking about it, but no, it's not eating me up inside like it is with my sister. But Captain, if you're worried about our performance on duty, then let me put your fears to rest. Both my sister and I perform admirably under pressure; it's in all our performance reviews, if you care to look it up."

Kirk gave the young woman a half-smile. "I wasn't questioning your abilities to handle your responsibilities, but thank you for that bit of information."

The turbolift reached the bridge and the weapons officer moved to her console to the side of Kirk's command chair. The captain returned to his chair and stared out the main viewer as the ship moved farther into the areas of space considered safe and under the Federation's control. There was a flurry of thoughts running through the captain's mind, mostly centering on who the hell was causing this havoc and how the hell they were doing it. Where they were getting the technology was also a problem, but one to be solved after they were discovered and stopped.

"What's our status?" Kirk asked openly.

"Shields are down to thirty per cent, but they are holding. The starboard nacelle took some damage, as did the docking bay and several of the lower decks," Alianna answered promptly. "There have been no reports of causalities or major injuries and all the damage areas of the ship have been blocked off. Mister Scott estimates no longer than twelve hours at a repair station and we'll be at one hundred per cent, sir."

The captain nodded. "Take us to the nearest repair station Mister Sulu. Lieutenant Uhura."

"Yes sir?"

"Have you heard any other distressing news?"

The dark skinned woman shook her head, her long ponytail bouncing as she did so. "There have been no indications of other ghost ships. Thanks to you reports however, Starfleet is keeping a sharper eye on the boarders and watching extra closely for any signs of hostility."

Kirk nodded. At least they weren't the only ones doing anything about this anymore.

Since docking at the repair station, Alianna's and Sindari's duty shifts had ended and, after getting cleaned up and changed, the sisters had beamed over to the orbiting space station to browse some of the shops. Alianna hated shopping, but Sindari had dug up some excitement and energy from somewhere and what was supposed to serve as mostly a distraction had become a big deal for the younger Lordeck. The station orbited a planet along a heavily used route and was quite busy as a result; moving through the corridors was so difficult at times that Alianna and Sindari had to actually stop moving to wait for a break in the throng.

"I've never seen anyone with purple skin before," Sindari whispered as she peered around her sister's shoulder to look at one of the passer-bys.

"Stop staring Sin. You may be off duty, but you're still a Starfleet officer." Alianna adjusted the sweater she was wearing and then, for about the fifth time in ten minutes, pushed the sleeves up. The station wasn't overly warm, but Alianna didn't like standing still. So she fidgeted.

"Sorry if I'm a little excited to be off the ship. I'm glad to be back on assignment and all, but I could have never expected it to be so stressful so quickly. A little enthusiasm over new races instead of worrying about getting shot at isn't a bad thing Ali." Sindari climbed up onto the base of a support pillar to better observe her surroundings and those walking through them. "Come on Ali! Aren't you even a little bit excited to see all these people?"

Alianna rolled her eyes and sat by her sister's feet. They had only been on the station for a few hours, and the elder Lordeck wasn't looking forward to spending the rest of the "daylight" hours wandering around the shops. She wasn't feeling up to working out or anything, so she'd have to either suffer through hours of her sister's company or find something else to do. As Sindari plunked down beside her sister, Alianna answer her question, "No. Not really. We're not conducting any first contact missions here. Plus, none of them seem very interested in us."

Sindari shrugged. "Want to go look at clothes? You only have like, two outfits that aren't uniforms."

"So?" Alianna had never shared her sister's enthusiasm for shopping, but lately, there wasn't any excitement to spend on anything. "Look, Sin, I'm only down here because Bones ordered me off the ship to relax while we have a moment. Don't push me."

Sindari hopped off the pillar base and stood in front of her sister, hands on her hips. The more exuberant sister was apparently determined to get her older sibling to smile when she was doing something other than working. Now, Sindari wasn't stupid. She knew Starfleet was her sister's life, hell, it was her life too, but the difference was that Sindari had room for other things and Alianna didn't. When one needs something as much as Alianna needed Starfleet, it takes a lot to bring anything into that life if it wasn't already involved with the military. All of Alianna's friends were in the military. With the exception of a few books on her data PADDs and her miniscule wardrobe, everything she owned was inspired by or taken from the military. Sindari grabbed her sister's wrist and pulled her towards the nearest clothing store, determined to get her to relax a little bit.

"Please Ali? We can go to the bar afterwards."

Alianna rolled her eyes again, but submitted to Sindari's will, all the while silently hoping something would happen to call them back to the Enterprise. Sindari moved around the store, picking out clothes for Alianna to try on, and tossed them into her sister's arms. When the pile was very nearly obscuring her vision, the bitter officer stomped into the back of the store and began to try clothes on, muttering about how you'd think someone would have invented an easier way to try clothes on by now. Thoroughly amused by her sister's discomfort, Sindari settled herself on a bench outside the cubicles and waited, a smile plastered all over her smug face.

"Have you matched that fragment to anything yet?" Alianna asked, raising her voice to be heard through the muffles of fabric and walls.

It took Sindari a moment to realize what her sister was talking about. She rolled her eyes, but acquiesced to her sister's need to work. "No. I've set up a program to run the image through the database while we're down here, so hopefully there will be some answers when we get back."

"Hopefully. It would be nice to have something useful to report to the Captain for once."

"Huh. You seem awfully concerned with delivering good news to Captain Kirk," Sindari jibed as Alianna opened the door, revealing her dressed in a pair of tight black pants and a flowing purple shirt. "That outfit looks nice."

"It's all right. Are you suggesting something?"

"About you and the Captain? No, not at all…"

Alianna shot her sister a look and then closed the door. "There isn't anything there. Is it so weird to want to make a good impression to my new Captain?"

"I suppose not, but you weren't even this obsessed with getting good news to Joe."

Behind the door of the changing cubicle, Alianna stopped moving, but it only lasted a second, and then she was moving again, pulling on another outfit as she contemplated her sister's accusations and tried to think of something else to say. While she was adamant that there was nothing beyond loyalty and friendship in her feelings towards the young Captain, it was hard for even her to explain her desire to relay good news to Kirk and not darken his day further. Shrugging it off as she had before, she opened the door to display her new outfit: a long black dress.

"Why the hell did you put this in the pile?" Alianna demanded once she was facing Sindari.

"Why did you try it on?"

Alianna frowned. The truth was, she'd been so busy in her own thoughts that she hadn't even noticed what she was pulling on. "Well whatever. I'm taking it off now."

"It looks really nice, Ali. You should get it. You can keep it in the back of your closest."

"When am I ever going to wear it?"

Sindari shrugged. "I don't know, but you don't have anything nice like that aside from your dress uniform, so it might be a good idea to keep something just in case."

Alianna rolled her eyes for the third time that day before disappearing into the changing room again. Half an hour later, Alianna had finished trying on all the clothes she was going to, and with her sister sufficiently appeased, she purchased a select few, including, at the urging of Sindari, the black dress. As Sindari ducked into the change room with her own wardrobe, Alianna's communicator beeped and the young officer sighed with relief as she pulled it from her belt and flipped it open.

"Are you and Sindari ready to come back?" asked Bones' voice.

"I'm ready. I'm sure she could stay down here for hours. Is something the matter?"

"Not exactly. Sindari's program pulled up a few possible results, none of which are very comforting. I already relayed the information to the Captain, and he wants to discuss it with you and Sindari."

"All right, we'll be there in a couple minutes." She closed the device and knocked on the change room door. "Hurry up Sin. We've got to get back to the ship."

There was an annoyed grunt and then the door swung open. Sindari adjusted her shirt and headed over to the owner. Once the girls were both in possession of their new clothes, Alianna flipped open her communicator again and, in a matter of seconds, they were standing on the transporter pad on the ship, Bones standing in front of them, waiting with his usual frown on his face.

"Where's the Captain?" Alianna asked.

"He's in the observation room where the biggest screen is."

Alianna started walking immediately, Sindari and the doctor falling in step behind her. As they walked, Alianna twisted her hair, which had been hanging loose around her shoulder and waist, into a bun and pinned it in place with the hair sticks she had had in her pocket. In the observation room, Kirk was standing in front of a large view screen, arms crossed across his chest and a puzzled look on his face. There was a magnified image of the fragment from the Lithgow on one side and five smaller images on the other side, three of which were immediately recognizable as Klingon weapons. Alianna, Sindari and McCoy grouped around the Captain and stared at the screen as well, all trying to process the same information.

It would be logical to conclude their attackers were Klingons, since the metal shard was most likely to have come from a Klingon weapon, but there was that nagging fact of the Klingons not have technology sophisticated enough to wipe out two Federation ships completely, and it was unlike Klingons to do it with so little mess.

"What if the Klingons really are working with someone else?" Sindari suggested just as she had earlier, only this time with more conviction in her voice.

"I still don't think that's possible." Alianna's voice, on the other hand, sounded much less confident.

Kirk turned to face the other three officers. "At this point, it's the best lead we have. We haven't been able to connect these murders to anyone else, and with this new information," he gestured at the screen behind him, "the Klingons do seem the most likely. Of course, we're not going to report anything until we're more than just speculating."

"Has Mister Scott come up with anything?" Bones asked, remembering the task the chief engineer had been assigned.

"Not yet." Kirk sighed and went to pinch the bridge of his nose, but stopped as his fingers hit the coarse material of the tape, settling instead for running his fingers backwards through his hair. "We've got to stop this…"

Author's Note… I'm not apologizing for the amount of time between updates, but I am apologizing for the fact that nothing much happens in this chapter. I needed some filler between things, and there is some vital information.

And, by the way, I know money doesn't exist in the Federation, but whatever. Maybe they had to purchase the clothes because they used foreign fabrics that had to be purchased or something…

Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter.

Next Chapter: Logic.