2233

"Richard, you know I'm seriously happy that you got command of the Kelvin," Christopher said, as he and the newly promoted Captain Robau sat on his couch and shared some tea. "The only thing I will miss is that I can't refer to you as 'Pierre, the handsome Frenchman" anymore….That and I will miss your humor."

Richard nodded, "Yeah, I'm pretty stoked to be taking command of the Kelvin," he replied, taking a sip of his tea. "I can't believe that George Kirk, of all people, is gonna be my first officer, though. The man has a pregnant wife and a younger son to think of. Why would he want to suddenly go off into space?"

"Ah, you know George, always seeking after an adventure," Christopher said, quickly draining his cup. "It's lucky for him that Winona got a science officer posting on the Kelvin, or she probably wouldn't have allowed George to accept your offer…."

Richard chortled, "By all rights, friend, the Kelvin should have been yours," he gently replied. "Starfleet Command had you pegged for the Captain's chair until you got wrapped up in your own little adventure."

"Being a father is certainly an adventure all right," Chris commented, as he rose from the couch. "Speaking of which, I need to go and check on her. Got a minute, Richard? I left her napping in her playpen."

Richard nodded and rising, he followed Chris into a nearby spare bedroom that was now used as Arianne's nursery. Right away, Richard gasped as he saw Arianne not in her crib, but hanging on the curtains.

"Arianne, how in the world did you manage to get up there?" Chris, who, despite his shock, walked over to the curtains and gently pulled Arianne into his arms, asked.

Richard, quickly seeing a hole in the playpen, sighed, "Looks like she chewed through the playpen, crawled across the floor, and climbed up the floor-length curtains," he explained, secretly amused.

"Dada, I wuve you," Arianne suddenly said, as she put her tiny arms around Christopher's neck and smiled.

Widening his eyes, Chris stared down at Arianne and then back up at Richard, "Arianne's not only chewing through her crib, crawling, and climbing, she's talking. It's absolutely incredible!"

"It's amazing, Chris, it really is," Richard replied, knowing full well that the child obviously had some developmental delays that Chris didn't want to talk about. "Anyway, did you want to bring Arianne to watch the launching of the Kelvin? It launches in the morning from the orbital spacedock."

Chris nodded, "We wouldn't miss it for the world," he replied, cuddling his daughter.

Peering up at the digital clock that was above the doorway, which read 23:44, Richard sighed, "I should be going home, Chris," he stated, gazing at his friend. "The Kelvin launches at 0600 tomorrow."

"Take care of yourself, Robau," Christopher said, as Richard waved and quietly left the house.

Months later, Christopher entered the front room of his home and sank to his knees, filled with shock.

After encountering a strange vessel in the depths of space, the Kelvin had been mercilessly attacked and Captain Robau had been taken hostage. After an unknown exchange, Robau had been killed and in evacuating surviving crew, George Kirk had died on the Kelvin while allowing others to escape.

With the Kelvin in pieces all over space, surviving shuttles had returned to Earth, including the one holding a emotionally battered Winona Kirk, and her newborn son, James Tiberius Kirk.

From what Chris knew, Winona had taken James and returned to Iowa as soon as she returned to Earth. She had subsequently remarried and was, despite both of her sons needing her, she was currently seeking to get posted to another ship bound for space as soon as possible. She couldn't wait to escape Earth it seemed.

The strange ship that had attacked the Kelvin had somehow disappeared from sight since, but, for all Starfleet personnel, the horrific memories would remain within the survivors.

Additionally, as the current senior officer in Starfleet, as the Admirals were at some conference in Brazil trying to establish a Starfleet presence in South America, and Jon had retired the year before, choosing to take Porthos and go off exploring space, Chris now had to travel to Iowa and visit the Kirk family.

It had been Winona's request that Chris be in attendance at George's funeral, despite there not being anything left of George to bury. Per his duty, Chris had arranged for transport to Iowa and decided to leave Arianne, as she hated travel, with friends of his who lived in Africa, with the surname of Uhura.

Despite Arianne's reluctance to be left in a strange land for a few days, the nearly three year old girl, who could talk up a storm if given the chance, was now excited, as the Uhura's had a daughter that she could befriend and spend time with, named Nyota.

After transporting Arianne to the Uhura's home, Chris had immediately left for the plains of Iowa.

Now, the morning after she was dropped off, Arianne found herself sitting on a small bed, across from the bed that held Nyota, who was a bit younger and still asleep. It was only four a.m. after all.

After turning in at sundown the night before, as she was tired from travel, Arianne found that she was unable to sleep any longer and only wanted to get on with her day.

Climbing out of her bed, she toddled over to Nyota, "Ny, let's get up and go exploring," she said, gently shaking her new friend's shoulder. "I wanna see what's outside of your house."

With a tiny groan, Nyota opened her eyes and gazed at Arianne, "No, the bad guys are still out there," she replied. "The goons will kill us and eat us if they catch us outside before the sun comes up."

"I'm not afraid," Arianne replied defiantly. "I have to pee, anyways, and I don't know where to go."

Rolling her eyes, Nyota, who was wearing a long nightdress, climbed out of bed and put a robe on, "Follow me," she said. "If we see the goons, don't talk, just run for the nearest building."

Arianne nodded and followed Nyota from the room, ensuring that she had her father's knife, which she had stolen before she came here, on her. When she was one, she had practiced with it on very fat worms.

Hopefully, everything would be just fine.

"Are you finished yet?" Nyota said, as she stood in front of Arianne and peered around for the goons that patrolled their area for stray people. "It's getting too dangerous to be out here."

From the bush she was squatting at, Arianne sighed, "I am not," she replied, exhausted. "Almost, though."

A few seconds later, Arianne was done and grasping each other's hands, her and Nyota began to walk the cracked stone path that led back to the Uhura dwelling.

"Well, well," a grave voice suddenly spoke out from behind the girls. "Stray human children…"

Freezing in their tracks, Arianne and Nyota turned around and gasped in horror.

With a menacing growl on its face, there stood a tall, heavily built, feral-looking Klingon. Continuing to growl, the Klingon quickly picked up the girls and ran into the dying darkness.

"Please, let us go," Nyota asked, as the Klingon carried the girls along, each step taking them further and further away from the Uhura house. "We had to use the bathroom."

The Klingon growled, "Young girls should not be alone outside, especially during the dark hours," he snapped, as he thrust the girls to the ground. "For this misdeed, you will learn a harsh lesson."

Ignoring the pain radiating throughout her body from being dropped, Arianne slipped her hand into her pocket. She could feel that the knife was there, but when would be the right time to use it?

Snarling, the Klingon turned his attention to Nyota, "I think you will make a sufficient playtoy," he said, advancing on the young Swahilian. "The other one will be dealt with later."

Full of a sudden anger that she had never felt before and did not understand, Arianne quickly pulled the knife from her pocket and quickly climbing up the Klingon's back, she began to stab him wildly.

"Run!" Arianne yelled, as she continued to stab the Klingon, who was moving around wildly, trying to get the vicious child off his back."

Her eyes wide, Nyota nodded and quickly began to run back towards her home, hoping her parents were awake. This was an incredibly dangerous situation and they obviously needed help.

Without warning, the Klingon suddenly collapsed to the ground, bleeding heavily.

Feeling herself flying, Arianne quickly passed into darkness as she hit the cold dirt, the knife flying away.

"I don't know HOW this happened," Chris murmured to himself, numb with shock as he stared down at Arianne, who was laying unconscious on a Starfleet Medical biobed and covered by many blankets.

Chris had just finished attending the funeral and was going to spend the night in Iowa before returning home when he had suddenly gotten a call from Mrs. Uhura, who sounded frantic.

Mrs. Uhura had explained that a feral Klingon had ambushed both Nyota and Arianne around four a.m., when they were outdoors relieving themselves. She had gone on to explain that despite the Klingon nearly killing the girls, Arianne had somehow climbed the Klingon and stabbed him with a knife she had on her.

At the mention of the knife, Chris realized that Arianne must have stolen it from his private collection.

Immediately following the call, Chris had quickly gotten in contact with Dr. Boyce and after explaining the situation, he had been on board the Starfleet Medical shuttle sent to Africa to retrieve his daughter.

Now, nearly 5 hours later, Arianne was still unconscious, despite not having any other physical injury.

"Oh, my little girl," Chris said, well aware that Boyce was watching from his nearby office. "I can't believe you risked your own life to save Nyota. I can't believe you stabbed a Klingon to death. Please, wake up."

As if she had heard him, Arianne blinked and suddenly, her eyes opened, "Daddy," she said, very tired and weak from her adventure. "I thought you were in Iowa…"

"No, Arianne, you and I are both in the patient bay at Starfleet Medical," Chris gently said, relieved that Arianne was awake. "I was in Iowa, but, when I heard you had gotten hurt, I wanted to be there for you."

Shaking, as she was still scared, Arianne began to cry, "Daddy, that big monster was gonna make a playtoy of Ny," she said, quickly sitting up. "I know it was bad to steal your knife, but I needed it."

Letting out a small sigh, Chris pulled the sobbing child into his arms, "It's all right, Arianne," he said, holding his girl tight. "You saved Nyota and for that, Mr. and Mrs. Uhura sent me something to give you as a special thank you for dealing with the situation like you did."

Feeling her tears stop, Arianne nodded, "I was scared, Daddy," she admitted. "I thought I was gonna die."

Stroking his daughter's hair, Chris released her, "I thought you should know that I talked with some Admirals about what happened and they want to thank you," he explained, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. "They decided to give you a commendation and the Uhuras sent you a necklace."

Smiling, Chris opened the box and revealed a tiny Starfleet medal and a small African necklace surrounded by cotton and tissue paper, "I'll help you put it on if you'd like," he said.

Arianne nodded and remained quiet as Chris took the necklace out and fastened it around her neck.

'I'll keep the medal safe for you to wear on special occasions," Chris explained, as he replaced the lid and put the box back in his pocket. "No doubt that reporters will want to talk to you about what happened."

Shuddering, Arianne sighed, "I don't wanna talk to people about it," she replied. "Killing is bad."

"Arianne, listen to me," Chris said, feeling horrible that the girl had to learn this lesson so young. "Sometimes there will be beings in your life who will want to hurt you or others. When you are older, I will teach you to defend yourself against such beings. Self-defense is the purpose of what I will teach you, but in dangerous enough situations, you may have to kill to save yourself or others from certain death."

Arianne lay back, as she felt tired, "Yes, Daddy." she softly replied. "I wanna go to sleep for a little while."

Chris nodded and took a seat on the bedside stool that Boyce had provided, "I'll stay with you while you sleep, kiddo," he said, taking her little hand in his big hand. "You'll be safe. Daddy is right here with you."

Arianne nodded and quickly fell asleep, relieved to have her daddy with her.

As he watched his little Arianne sleep, Chris sighed. It was nothing short of luck that she had survived.

This child, who was both a blessing and a major responsibility, seemed to have nothing but adventure placed before her. Chris often wondered about where the child had come from and whether or not the ability to get out of troubling situations with ease ran in her biological roots.

Frowning to himself, Chris quietly scoffed. Forget biology, it was definitely not important.

Ever since he had found the child crying in the woods, Chris knew that he, Christopher Pike, was Arianne's father and as her birth parents were dead, that is how it would forever remain, as he had legally given her his surname and along with it, opportunity to grow and flourish in the stability of Starfleet.

Everything would be all right eventually, Chris thought, as he continued watching his daughter sleep.