Disclaimer: If I owned Star Trek, my life wouldn't be so chaotic.
A/N: Felt like a quick update. I decided to not end this story, because it seemed too short at only fifteen chapters, so I am just going to continue on and post all future sequel chapters here. Kay? Kay.
Now let's get this party started.
Christine entered the bridge carrying a PADD, handing it to the young captain. She looked up at the main screen to find that they were dangerously near Romulan space. She gave the commanding officer a worried look.
"Status?" he asked the helmsman as he signed the small screen.
"Leaving section fourteen, going into fifteen, Captain. Nearing Romulan space, sir," Lieutenant Gary Mitchell replied, scanning the screen on his helms panel.
He handed Christine back the PADD and she crossed the room to sit down at the science station. She gazed into the scanner, squinting pass the blinding blue light that it was emanating.
"All controls on standby. Plot course to avoid entering the Neutral Zone…Are we being scanned?"
"Not yet, Captain. Course entered," Mitchell replied, entering a code on the touch screen.
"I'm getting a distress signal, sir," Lieutenant Nyota Uhura called from the communications helm, touching her earpiece with concern.
"On audio, Lieutenant."
"Aye, sir." A moment later, the message echoed on the deck, with the frequent interception of static. The lost starship alerted the bridge of its position and identification. "We are….nineteen periods…out of Altair VI…We have struck…a gravitic mine…and lost all power…Our hull is…penetrated and we have…sustained many casualties."
"This is the Starship USS Demeter…We can barely hear you! Can you supply us with your coordinates? I repeat, this is the USS Demeter!" Uhura called into her earpiece, doing her best to make out past the static.
"Our position is Gamma Hydra, Section Ten, Captain…Closing in on the Neutral Zone," Mitchell informed the captain.
Everyone turned their heads to face the Captain. A look of uncertainty was on his face, his sweaty grip locked on the arms of the command chair in anxiety. He looked at Christine, but she just turned back to her station, becoming consumed with her work.
"The hull was penetrated, the life support systems are failing," she informed the Captain.
"Data, please, on the ship!" He demanded to her.
"Subject vessel is a third class neutronic fuel carrier, crew of eighty-one, three hundred passengers," she said, scanning the data on the small screen.
"Damnit…Plot an intercept course, Mister Mitchell."
"But sir, it is universal knowledge that if a Starfleet vessel enters the Neutral Zone --" Mitchell informed him.
"Do not tell me how to do my job, Mitchell," the Captain shot back, his voice laced with a mixture of nervousness and irritation.
"Aye sir. Two minutes to interception…And now entering the Neutral Zone and Romulan space."
Christine scanned the screens, looking for any Romulan flagships that may be trying to intercept their course. If they were going to undertake a rescue, it would be prudent to be as invisible as possible to the Romulans.
"We have entered the Neutral Zone." She turned to the Captain. "We are in clear violation of the Romulan-Federation Treaty, sir. We are subject to any punishment that the Romulans wish to issue --" but she was cut off by the Captain.
"Never mind that, Lieutenant…Transport room, please standby to receive injured crewmembers."
"Yes sir," Chief Engineer Wilson answered.
She slowly turned back to her station, agitated that the Captain was not considering the dangers of the mission.
"Captain, we've lost their signal!" Nyota called. "Sir, three Klingon Cruisers, bearing three-one-six, mark four, are closing in on us fast."
"Attention! Battle stations, activate shields!"
"Shields activated, Captain."
"Kindly inform the Klingons we are on a rescue mission."
"Their frequencies are jammed, Captain!" Nyota was beginning to get irritated too, sharing a glance with Christine.
"The Klingons are closing in, sir," Christine said, slowly rising from her seat.
"Retreat, Mitchell, retreat!"
"They're activating their torpedoes and locked us into target," Mitchell said.
"Warp 6, Mitchell, get us outta here!"
"Warp 6, sir," the helmsman answered, typing in the code. The main viewer showed that the ship was retreating from Romulan space and back into Federation-regulated territory.
Christine exhaled deeply, sitting back down in her chair. "The Kobayashi Maru has been destroyed, Captain, along with its three hundred passengers."
The lights on the bridge suddenly brightened, along with all of the systems switching off. The door to the lift opened and in walked Captain James Kirk, tossing an apple from hand-to-hand.
"Well, that could have gone better." He took a bite from the apple and grinned.
Andromeda's Bar and Grill, a popular eating spot for Starfleet personnel due to its close proximity to the academy, was bustling with officers and cadets. Lieutenants Chapel and Uhura were seated across Captain James Kirk.
"I can't wait to get back my ship," Captain James Kirk said, fastening his hands behind his head. "I hope Spock's been treating her like the elegant lady she is."
Lieutenants Uhura and Chapel were seated across from him. Nyota was going through her miniature PADD, while Jim was helping himself to a second glass of beer.
"Do you know when the Enterprise will be docking at the Earth station, Jim? I think they're do for --" asked Nyota, but she was cut off by a sharp gasp from Christine, who was glancing at her digital watch.
She immediately stood up from the table, nearly knocking over her glass of iced water. "Sorry, Commander Hockley wanted me to cover his afternoon subspace geometry class."
She placed a couple of credits onto the table that would have covered her lunch. "Jim, you can have my salad if you want it," she called behind her shoulder as she was halfway towards the door.
"But I hate that vegetarian crap!" he called after her, causing many heads to face her.
Nyota just smiled and waved her onwards. Christine smiled and shook her head as she exited the restaurant.
Christine watched the students file into the classroom from the corner of her eye, but was too busy going through her miniature PADD to look at any of them in the face.
She was more than happy to take the substitute position that had been offered to her when she had arrived back in San Francisco nearly fifteen months prior. Most of these duties meant having to sit in on Kobiyashi Maru scenario simulations, but it proved helpful in the long run when she met Captain James Kirk again, who had been offered to program the test until he was able to reclaim his spot as Captain of the Enterprise. She had also began to become good friends with Nyota Uhura, who was given an instructing position.
Nyota and Christine proved to become very close friends, so much so that the former named the latter godmother of her and Jim's son, who had been born nine months prior, nearly six months after Christine came back to San Francisco. They had named the beautiful baby Mosi Christopher Kirk, and he possessed his father's big blue eyes, while still retaining his mother's glowing complexion and dark hair. Mosi was a Swahili name, meaning "first-born", while Christopher was the male derivation of Christine's name.
The overhead bell began to ring, signaling the beginning of class, forcing Christine to bury her thoughts until the end of the hour.
She stood and addressed the class. "Commander Hockley couldn't be here today, so he asked me to cover for him. I'm Lieutenant Christine Chapel." She picked up the PADD on the desk and began to read out the long list of names. She was barely a quarter of the way through and she found a disturbingly familiar name. Much to her agony, the face that belonged to the name was sitting directly in front of her, smile in tow.
When the long hour of class was over, she approached the young man.
"Chekov, what the hell are you doing here?"
"Vut do you mean, Lieutenant? Zee Enterprise granted us shore leef twenty-vor hours ago."
A/N: Good ol' Chekov, always the bearer of bad news. Heh. BTW, I put up a small playlist on my profile of songs that would go well with this story.