"Hey Dad, it's Charlie," Charlie said over the communicator in the officers' mess hall of the Enterprise. "I need your help."
Kirk exchanged a look with Chekov. Although the two didn't normally react to each other in regards to Charlie, both knew at that moment that they were witnessing something that neither had seen before. Charlie rarely talked about her family and when she did it was in the utmost confidence that details were not to be repeated. When Kirk saw that Chekov's eyebrows were raised in surprise at the person that Charlie had contacted on her communicator, he knew that the Russian didn't know that she was going to call her father. Kirk also didn't know why she would call upon her father to help the Enterprise put the Klingons in a trap – if they were to follow at all.
Chekov watched as Charlie listened to her father for a small moment before speaking again. He noticed that she didn't look up as she spoke to her father.
"I know," Charlie was saying into the communicator. "I realize that, Dad, but I really need your help right now. If you could do this, I would be eternally grateful. You wouldn't just be helping me. You'd be helping the entire crew of the Enterprise. Yes, from Starfleet. I know, Dad. No, you'll be fine. Trust me. All they want is our help. Okay. When? Good. I'll talk to you later. Bye."
Charlie turned off the communicator and finally looked up from the table to see everyone staring at her.
"They're in," she said. "We need to sort out the plan and then get back to them. They're going to need to be in constant contact with us once we start heading back."
"We can do that," Kirk said. "This is your family you're willing to risk to help us out."
"I know," Charlie said. "And if they weren't the best at what they do, I wouldn't have bothered getting them involved. Trust me; I would never put my family at risk if I wasn't completely confident in them."
"Let's get to planning then," Kirk said, standing up. "We'll go to the bridge and plan there. Chekov, bring the vodka. We're going to need some inspiration for this crazy scheme." Chekov nodded and grabbed the bottle.
"I'll put this in your room," Sulu said, referring to and packing up the chessboard.
"Good," Kirk said. "Then meet us on the bridge. Spock, get Uhura, Scotty, and Bones up to the bridge. Charlie and Chekov, you're coming with me now."
The crew went their separate ways. Charlie and Chekov followed Kirk side by side as they walked up to the bridge from the mess hall. Once Kirk exited the elevator he walked over to the computer board behind the captain's chair that Chekov spent frequent time at. He grabbed a pen from beside it and started pulling up documents that described the ship's inner workings and dimensions. Charlie and Chekov stood on either side of the captain and studied the numbers and drawings that were coming up on the screen.
"If we can get to warp speed four point three by the time we need to warp out of here, we could have a slight advantage on them," Charlie said. "But I have no idea what kind of warp their ship is working on."
"Could you do it soon?" Kirk asked. "I'm talking a matter of minutes or hours as opposed to days."
"We're very close," Charlie said. "We would have a very strong warp speed of four point three in about two hours, but it's that last push to the next speed that is the hardest. If we can get both Scotty and I working on the warp speed then we can do it. That means that no one can beam on or off the ship in the course of this. We can't have anyone coming on board or going off."
"Scotty did a very impressive beam while this ship was going at warp," Kirk said. Charlie nodded.
"I know," she said. "He told me about it, but if you're changing speeds while warping, then you can't do any beaming. The math would be off." Chekov nodded.
"She's right," he said. "We can't do that."
"Wait," Charlie said. "We can't do that, but someone else can." Charlie pulled out her communication pad and dialed another set of coordinates. She set the pad down as it dialed and programmed it to be projected on the bridge screen. The face of a young man about Kirk's age popped up onto the screen. Charlie walked around to face him.
"Charlie?" the young man asked. "What's going on?"
"I need your help, Josh," Charlie answered. "We've got some trouble here on the Enterprise. We were involved in an accident that was set up by a Klingon warship and will most likely be attacked again. I need to know how you're doing on that transportation pad."
"You know," Josh said, pointing a finger at the screen. "Mom told me about your call to Dad. I know you're all high and mighty in the Starfleet system and what not, but come on, Charlie. Come home and do freelance work."
"You're being heard by a lot of people that work on this ship right now," Charlie mentioned to her older brother as the lift opened and the rest of the crew stepped onto the bridge.
"I'm not really concerned," Josh said. "Andy's a dad again." Charlie's glare at her brother softened.
"Really?" she asked. "Look, Josh, we can catch up later. We desperately need your help. How is the transportation pad?"
"It's working well," Josh said, adjusting his voice to a more professional tone. "We've got everything working pretty well and have been able to update the beaming distance. We've been able to get a few planets away."
"How do you feel about beaming people on and off a ship that is in the middle of warp speed?" Josh laughed at the question from his younger sister.
"Can't be done," he said. Charlie smirked.
"Has been done," she said. Josh's eyes widened.
"Seriously?" he asked. "That is awesome. Who did it?"
"One of these high and mighty Starfleet employees," Charlie answered. "You remember Scotty."
"Yeah," Josh said. "Fantastic. I think we could be able to make this work. You're going to have to keep me posted, kid."
"Of course," Charlie said. "Get in touch with Mom and Dad to work something out with them. I'll call you back when we've got more information and a solid plan."
"Okay," Josh said. "Talk to you later." Josh hung up the transmission and his face disappeared from the screen. Charlie turned back and picked up her communicator on the way back to Kirk and Chekov.
"Can we do it?" Kirk asked.
"I hope so," Charlie answered and Kirk left her and Chekov to go over drawings on the computer board. Scotty walked over and stood with them, joining in the discussion that Sulu also joined.
Kirk walked over to Spock, Uhura, and McCoy.
"We need to ready Sickbay for any and all injuries that may or may not happen," Kirk said. "We just need to be ready. Uhura, I need you listening for any and all communications and transmissions in Klingon or Vulcan. Spock, you help her and keep an eye out for anything else that you can help with." Spock and Uhura nodded and went off to work as McCoy stayed with Kirk. "Seriously Bones, you might want to work on this right about now."
"We're about halfway prepped already," Bones said. "I've got the ensigns, nurses, and cadets working on it." Kirk nodded and took a deep breath.
***
Spock entered his quarters to find Uhura waiting for him. She was sitting on his bed and he closed the door before walking over to her. He sat down next to her, put a hand on her stomach, and kissed her.
"Hi," Uhura said after Spock pulled away.
"Hello," he replied. He guided Uhura so she was lying on the bed on her back and he was on his side, facing her, his hand still resting on her stomach. Their faces were turned toward each other with their noses barely touching.
"Are you scared?" Uhura asked.
"Of?" Spock tried to clarify.
"This trap that we're throwing the Klingon ship into," Uhura said. "Are we sure that it'll work?"
"The captain seems confident," Spock said. "And if everything goes well on the ground, then we should all be fine."
"I know that," Uhura said. "I'm just worried about Chekov and Charlie. They're sacrificing a lot in this plan."
"I know," Spock replied. "Kirk knows that as well. But he seems to trust their judgment and their plan. He wouldn't be authorizing it if he didn't."
"I guess that's true."
"You're just worried about them, love," Spock said, smiling slightly. "It must be those motherly instincts that are coming through." Uhura smiled broadly.
"I'm worried about how this can affect the baby should anything go wrong," Uhura voiced her concerns.
"I wouldn't worry too much about that," Spock said. "As the baby is part Vulcan, he has some slight advantages over other human babies."
"That is a bit more comforting," Uhura admitted. She shut her eyes briefly and rubbed her nose against his. She turned on her side and ran a finger along Spock's ear, causing him to shut his eyes.
"We can still have intercourse while you are pregnant, yes?" Spock asked. Uhura nodded. "Good." And with that, Spock rolled Uhura onto her back and quickly followed, hovering over her as he kissed her.
***
If one wanted to find a Russian navigator and an assistant engineer all they would have to do would be to look in the command officers' mess hall on the Enterprise. Chekov and Charlie were sitting at their usual table staring at a chessboard. However, this game didn't hold the normal fun or calm atmosphere that their games usually had. This game was filled with a heavy air. There were more deep sighs than deep laughs. And there were more frowns than smiles.
"You're worried," Chekov said to Charlie after he finally decided where to move his knight.
"Aren't you?" Charlie asked, picking up her bishop, one of the few pieces of hers that remained on the board.
"Of course," Chekov said. "I rarely see you worried and it frightens me a bit, especially when most of the plan was your idea."
"It was mostly my idea," Charlie agreed. "But you and I have the biggest and most dangerous parts in it."
"Don't worry," Chekov said. "I'll get you back to us."
"I have no doubt in you," Charlie said. "I'm more worried about me. I'm worried that if I become too stubborn, I won't follow the plan."
"You need to," Chekov said. "I will get you out of here either way. I'll look after you."
Charlie smiled at him and Chekov could see a hint of tears in her eyes. Chekov threw caution to the wind and leaned across the chessboard, cupping a hand at the back of Charlie's neck and letting his lips meet hers in a brief and sweet kiss. He rested his forehead against hers as they kept their eyes closed.
"Thank you," Charlie said. "I appreciate it." Chekov smiled briefly before kissing her again just as sweetly and sitting back.
"You're welcome," Chekov responded. "I know you would do the same for me." Charlie nodded. "Alright now, it's your turn. Hurry up." Charlie shared a smile with him and then turned back to the board.
Charlie noticed throughout the game that the sighs gradually turned to laughter and the frowns morphed into smiles. Hands and fingers were hit lightly in protest of a move. Jokes, banter, and mild insults were passed over the chessboard. But when Charlie's communicator started chiming, both stopped in their laughter. Both turned to look at the communicator beside Charlie. And both sighed. Charlie turned off the alarm and Chekov started packing up the chess game. They stood and Chekov pulled Charlie into a hug.
"I'll see you later," Chekov said.
"You better make sure of that," Charlie responded. Chekov nodded and smiled. He picked up the chessboard and they walked out of the mess hall.
An hour later, Charlie was running around the engine room as alarms sounded all around her. She and Scotty were having trouble communicating over all the noise and commotion. Pushing past a few cadets as they were making sure a combustion tube was working properly, Charlie found herself at the warp core reactors.
"Now!" she heard and then began to release the reactors. After she had released two of the reactors, she ran back to the cadets.
"Get out of here now!" she ordered. The male cadets took one look at her and left. "Get to a shuttle and get out of here now!" She heard the last of the order echo throughout the ship.
Then she heard Kirk contact her through her communicator.
"Charlie!" he exclaimed. "You need to get to a shuttle too!"
"I know!" she yelled over the noise as she continued to run around the engine. "We're almost there!"
"Charlie! Now!"
"Fuck," Charlie muttered as she ran around the engine, covering her head from the steam and the hardware that were beginning to fall all around her.
"Dammit, Charlie! Get out of there!" she heard Kirk order. Charlie knew that she had to be the last one on the ship. Kirk would have gotten off of the ship with the rest of the crew by now. That had taken a lot of convincing to get Kirk off the ship, but Charlie told him that his efforts would be better served to make sure the ship and the rest of the crew would safely make it back onto Earth. Charlie wasn't quite sure how she had managed to convince him to let her be this stupid, but she and Chekov had been able to let him see the light in the crazy plan.
Charlie bounded up the stairs and around a corner, barely scraping her arm on the wall as she turned. As she sprinted down the hallway, she could hear her brother in her ear.
"You have to hurry, kid," Josh said. Charlie picked up her pace as the muscles in her body ached in protest.
"I'm almost there," she responded as she neared the transportation pad. She made it to the desk of the transportation pad and quickly punched in some numbers into the computer. She ran onto the pad and took quick deep breath.
"Energize," she said. She felt the world blur around her.
The entire Enterprise crew was standing in Hangar 7 waiting. The command staff was standing together and watching a very large empty space in the middle of the hangar.
"Come on," Kirk said. "Where is she?"
Chekov bounced on his heals as he waited, his head looking back and forth at the reactions around him. And then he smiled.
The Enterprise was materializing in front of them. The crew had given the ship enough room to appear in the Hangar, damaged, but in one large piece with no Klingons to be found. Kirk and Chekov bounded onto the ship, followed by McCoy and Scotty.
"Charlie!" Chekov yelled as he sprinted toward the engine floor. After a few minutes of searching the ship, the four men gathered in the engine room.
"She's not here," Scotty said. "We can only hope that Josh managed to get her out."
"And we can't check or send any transmission for how long?" Kirk asked.
"Three days," Scotty confirmed. "The Klingons will be patrolling the skies and we can't allow them any advantage if they are listening for transmissions."
Kirk watched over the next few days the effect that Charlie's absence had on the crew. It wasn't a large change, but a change that made a difference. While jokes and laughter were still had, there was one laugh that was missing from the crowd. Kirk noticed Chekov's smile wasn't as bright and he was often seen playing chess games alone, or sometimes with Sulu, but he played nonetheless. Uhura spent more time with Spock, having lost a female confidante.
"Can we try now?" Kirk asked Spock and Scotty over lunch two days after the Enterprise was beamed into the hangar. Scotty and Spock shook their heads in the negative.
"It's still way too soon," Scotty said. "We can't do anything that will possibly bring harm to either party. We put both the Academy and her family at risk by agreeing to and going through with this plan. I'm sure she's fine, Kirk. We would have heard otherwise by now."
***
Chekov was sitting calmly on the steps of the Academy, leaning back on the steps and watching the stars appear before him. The end of the day called for a calmer presence in the San Francisco based school. Chekov pondered all around him and when his best friend would show up again. He promised to get her back and he wondered if she was at all angry for him failing to do so. He knew that Kirk had been disappointed when she had not turned up on the ship, the most ideal conclusion to the plan. The only hope Chekov held now was that she was safely with her brother, Josh. There had been no distress calls from the family, so he assumed that she was fine and that they were all safe.
He hummed a song that sounded slightly like what he had hummed the night Charlie had had the nightmare about him getting hurt. Or was it a premonition? Chekov wasn't quite sure. He maintained that it was merely coincidence that she had foreseen him ending up in the ward. He watched the horizon and the sky as he lost himself in thought.
He stood as he saw a figure walking to him and getting sharper in focus with each passing minute. The figure was short, had its hands in the pockets of its jacket, and was striding toward the Academy. Chekov smiled to himself and bounded down the steps of the Academy. He skidded across the wet grass and tumbled into the figure, gaining an "Oof!" in response. They fell to the ground laughing. Chekov looked down at the figure he was pinning to the grass and smiled. The figure smiled back up at him.
"I save your ass from Klingons and you tackle me," Charlie said. "That's mildly disappointing."
"I'm just glad you're back," he said. "Three days? Were you getting back at me for being unconscious for three days?"
"Well, it only seemed fair," Charlie responded. Chekov hugged her as best he could and rolled so he was on his back. He was able to get his arms all around her and he held on tightly.
"Do you want to go see the crew?" Chekov asked. Charlie sighed and laid her head on his chest.
"Can we wait a bit?" she asked. She vaguely felt him nod. "But we can get off the grass. Want to go back to the steps?"
Charlie sat up, straddling Chekov and he sat up as best he could. He looked at her for a minute before answering.
"Aye," he said. "Let's go back to the steps." Charlie stood up and held out a hand to Chekov to help him up. He took hold of her hand and pulled himself up to standing. They walked over to the steps and sat down near to where Chekov was sitting before. They sat close enough to lean on each other.
"I'm sorry for not getting you back," Chekov began. Charlie clamped a hand over his mouth.
"No," she said. "No apologizing. I told you before that you weren't allowed to apologize for anything not going according to plan. I'm alive and back here. Okay? No apologizing. Promise?" Chekov nodded as they looked at each other, Charlie's hand still over his mouth. She removed her hand. "Good. How's the ship?"
"Damaged, but nothing irreparable," Chekov said. "We can get started soon if you like."
"Can we put that off for a bit?" Charlie asked. "I need to visit home for a bit." Chekov nodded in understanding.
"How'd he do it?" Chekov asked, knowing Charlie would know he was referring to her brother.
"I don't know," Charlie said. "We were both surprised when I appeared in his lab. He sincerely thought that he wasn't going to be able to get me out of there and that I would be stuck between trying to get to you and to him. He wasn't sure which base would have more pull over me, or if I would go with the ship based on the sheer force used to get the ship to the hangar."
Chekov looked at her and then smiled.
"Do you want to go play some chess?" he asked. Charlie laughed.
"That's all we do," she said. Chekov shrugged.
"I know," he said. "We can go for a drive later." Charlie's eyes brightened at the suggestion. She stood up and watched Chekov as he made to follow her up the steps to the Academy.
"You get the set and the vodka," she told him. "I'll get the food." Chekov jogged slightly to catch up to her and they jogged together through the halls of the Academy, laughing and then splitting up to get things together for the match.
Charlie was very relieved to find an empty mess hall at her disposal after she had separated from Chekov in the halls. She had been relieved to not run into anyone on the way around the Academy as well. She knew that she should have visited the captain, or at least Scotty, when she got back, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She wanted to have some time to herself and Chekov for a bit. She gathered some food that they could munch on while playing the game and returned to the seating area of the mess hall. She smiled when she saw that Chekov was setting up the board when she got there.
"Did you run into anyone on your way here?" Charlie asked. Chekov nodded.
"Just Sulu," he said. "He asked if I was going to play by myself again." Charlie's eyes softened at the mention of Chekov's lonely games of chess.
"Hey," she said. "It's okay. I'm back now." Then she narrowed her eyes at him. "You better not have put those on the tally."
"I didn't," he said, laughing. "You know, in honor of your return, we can play strip chess. I still think Sulu's idea was a good one." Charlie laughed.
"Only if you're very lucky," she said. Chekov looked at her intensely.
"I've been lucky before," he said, his voice deepening. Charlie looked up from arranging her pieces with wide eyes. She swallowed a bit before answering.
"We'll see," she said. "You start." Chekov nodded and contemplated his first move.
The game ended up lasting longer than they normally did. Charlie wasn't sure if it was because they had taken longer breaks between moves to eat and talk, or if it was because they secretly wanted to prolong their time together before they absolutely had to head off to bed. She didn't complain however. They talked about how she and her brother had properly caught up in the past three days. Josh had dropped her back off near the Academy after they had spent those three days talking about family and what the future held for both of them. Chekov had told her about the slight changes her absence brought about. There weren't many but they were there, he had told her. Charlie was genuinely surprised at that reaction from the crew. She thought that the three days would fly by without any significant changes, but she knew that she felt the sense of loss without the crew.
She reminded herself of the sense of loss she had felt as she walked down the officers' quarters' hallway to a door familiar to her but one that she had not seen behind. She stopped before the door and read the name of the person it belonged to: Captain James T. Kirk. She contemplated what she should be doing in front of the captain's door at half one in the morning. He had always said that he was available to any member of his crew whenever they needed him. As she stood there, she could start to hear certain noises that she realized she probably shouldn't be hearing. As she heard the moaning and giggling coming from the room, she stared at the door with wide eyes and unconsciously raised a hand to her mouth to cover her surprised open mouth.
She backed up from the door and let her hand drop, her open mouth curving upwards into a smile. She laughed quietly as she walked back down the corridor and found herself by her room. She could wait to tell him she was back. Perhaps he could use a bit of a scare during breakfast in the mess hall – if he would be up in time for breakfast. Or she could start work on the Enterprise with Scotty and they could surprise Kirk in the hangar. Either way, she was not going to interrupt what was going on in his room. She laughed to herself again and entered her room, still plotting how best to announce her return.
Kirk panted as he rolled off the green woman beneath him. He turned to face her and kissed her. He rather enjoyed the way that the green of her skin brought out her blue eyes. Her red hair was also something that he quite enjoyed. And he didn't know it, but for the first time in a while, he wasn't thinking about his assistant engineer. The green woman rolled on her side and Kirk sidled up behind her to wrap an arm around her and drift off to sleep. He didn't dream of pale skin that night, but green. And he wondered in his dream if he was beginning to get over the young woman that assisted Scotty and had risked a lot of lives to get the ship back to Earth.
But as Kirk walked into Hangar 7 the next morning, he knew that he had been mistaken in his thoughts the night before. He stopped upon seeing Scotty and Sulu standing with Charlie in front of the ship. She was in her usual coveralls, zipped to the waist with the arms tied around her. The wife-beater she wore was still black and her shoes were still the black Converse she adored. Her smile was the same and her blue eyes still twinkled with a bit of mischievousness. Her hair was still always in that messy bun she preferred. Her hands were covered in grease and oil as she held onto a rag and a wrench. She and Scotty were going over the drafts of the warp core reactor that Sulu had brought to them.
But it felt like a kick to the gut when Kirk watched Chekov walk up to them and throw a casual arm around Charlie's shoulders as he looked at the plans for the reactor. That was when Kirk realized that she was someone he would have a hard time getting over.