"Guess what?" Aria cried, flying into the room.

"Whuzzgoinon?" said Bella, sitting up as light flooded the room.

"Guess who i just got a letter from?" Aria sang, grinning.

"Who?" Bella asked, stifling a yawn behind her hand.

"I've been accepted at the Vulcan Science Academy!" Aria squealed.

Bella squealed too and hugged her sister. "Ari, that's great!" she said.

"I leave for Vulcan in half an hour." Aria said.

Bella pulled back and smiled at her sister. "Mom and dad would be proud of you." she said. Aria hugged her sister tighter.

"I'll miss you." Bella said.

Aria squeezed her eyes shut. "I'll miss you too, Bell." she said.

* * * * * *

"The court would like to call James T Kirk to the stand." Bella watched as Kirk went to the front of the room.

"I believe I have the right to face my accuser directly." he said. Bella saw Spock stand up and walk to the stand. She sighed. He was so handsome it made her heart ache. She grinned in spite of herself.

She suddenly snapped back to earth, however, when she heard the judge say "We've just received a priority one distress call from Vulcan. All cadets please report to the main hanger. Court dismissed."

A distress call from Vulcan?, she wondered. She lined up behind some other cadets and waited for them to call her name.

"Bella Collins, you are assigned to the Enterprise, Communications."

Sweet, Bella thought as she headed for the shuttle. She saw Spock standing beside it, checking a clipboard. "Spock!" she called. He looked up as she came jogging over.

"I see you are assigned to the Enterprise." he said.

"As are you." she answered. She suddenly frowned, though. "What do you think is happening on Vulcan?" she asked.

He frowned as well. "I cannot say." he replied. "It could be anything from a minor problem to full-out Armageddon."

She frowned. "Armageddon?" she replied skeptically.

He shrugged, but she could see he was worried. "I shall see you on duty." he said walking away. She smiled and boarded the shuttle.

* * * * *

The Enterprise was beautiful. Large too, one of the largest in the fleet. Bella was heading for the bridge, thinking about Spock, when who should crash into her, but Jim Kirk. "You!" she began angrily. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be suspende..." Then she saw his hands. "Oh my god!" she screamed, jumping backwards. His hands were puffy and swollen, each finger the size of salami. He was trying to speak, but all she could hear was gibberish. "What?" she said desperately. "What are you trying to say?" Just then a man ran up behind him and stabbed a hypo into Kirk's neck.

"Ow!" Kirk yelled.

"What happened to him?" Bella asked.

"He had an odd reaction to a hypo." the man said. "I'm McCoy, by the way. Leonard McCoy."

"Bella." she replied. "Will he be ok?" she asked.

"What? Oh yeah. He'll be fine." said McCoy.

She nodded and continued on her way to the bridge.

* * * * * *

Bella sat down in her seat on the bridge and looked around.

The girl sitting next to her turned and smiled. "Hi." she said. "I'm Nyota Uhura."

Bella smiled back. "Hi Nyota." she said. "I'm Bella."

They both turned to the helm as Captain Pike stood up and addressed them all. "Ok, this is it." he said. "The maiden voyage of the Enterprise." He sat down in the command chair and said "Punch it." Nothing happened. Pike turned to the young, Asian man at the helm. "Where's helmsman McKenna?" he asked.

"He has lungworm, sir." the man replied. "I'm Hikaru Sulu."

"And you are a pilot?" said Pike.

"Very much so, sir." said Sulu turning to his console. "I'm not sure what's wrong here..."

"Is the parking brake on?" Pike asked.

"No, sir." Sulu replied.

"Did you disconnect the external initial dampener?" Spock asked.

Sulu was silent for a moment, and then punched in the correct code. "Ready for warp, sir." he said.

"Punch it." Pike repeated. They warped out.

* * * * * *

It was a graveyard of starships. Burned, ruined starships. "What happened?" Bella whispered.

"That happened." said Nyota pointing at the view screen. A huge ship dominated the screen, easily fifty times the size of the Enterprise.

"What is that?" Bella yelped, but suddenly a light blinked on her console. "Captain, we're being hailed." she said.

"Put them through." said Pike. Bella obliged, clicking several switches on her console. A man's face appeared on the screen. He was Romulan that much was obvious and the tip of his ear was missing. He glowered at them from the screen. "I'm Captain Christopher Pike." the Captain greeted him.

"Hi Christopher. I'm Nero." the Romulan said.

"Why are you doing this?" Pike asked him.

Nero ignored this. "You are to come aboard our ship via shuttlecraft. If you refuse, we'll destroy your ship."

Pike considered this for a moment. "Why are you doing this?" he repeated.

"Why don't you just ask your science officer." said Nero.

Bella was suddenly aware of the shock on her face. The others mirrored her look of shock. Except Spock. He was his usual calm self. "I don't believe we're acquainted." he said.

"We're not." said Nero. "Not yet." And then he was gone.

"Keptin!" Chekov shouted. "They're drilling into ze planet!"

"How long does the planet have?" said Spock.

Chekov looked at him sadly. "Meenutes, sir. Meenutes."

Bella felt like an ice cube had dropped into her stomach. Aria was down there. Unless they could get to her, she would die along with the rest of Vulcan.

"Can we transport onto the drill and destroy it?" Pike asked.

"No, sir." said Chekov. "Ze transporters are being scrambled by ze drill."

"Very well." said Pike. "We'll have to have a team jump onto the platform and disable it." He turned towards them. "Does anyone have advanced combat training?" he asked.

"I do sir." said Sulu, jumping up.

"Come with me." he said. "You too, Kirk. You're not supposed to be here, anyway." Spock went with them. When he returned, Bella turned to her console, biting her lip. This better work, she thought.

* * * * * *

Twenty minutes later, Bella was getting bored. And worried. Captain Pike had gone aboard the ship. They hadn't heard anything from him since. Or from Kirk and Sulu, for that matter. She was just considering contacting them when she heard Kirk's voice issuing from the speakers on her console.

"Beam us up!" he yelled. "We're falling without a chute! Beam us up!"

An ensign jumped up and ran to the transporter controls. "I can't get a lock on them." she moaned. "They're moving too fast."

No one noticed Chekov's head snap up. "I kin do zat." he whispered. "I kin do zat!" he said louder. Everyone looked round at him. "I kin do zat!" he yelled, running off the bridge. "I kin do zat!" Bella watched him go. She turned around to her console and ended the communication. She turned back to Spock just in time to see him walk out the door.

"Where are you going?" she asked, running after him.

"The transporter room." he replied.

She paused momentarily, and then ran to catch up. "The transporter room?" she asked.

"I'm going to beam onto the surface." he said. "I must find the elders to insure our culture is not lost. My parents will be among them." he added quietly.

She looked deep into his eyes and said "I'm coming with you."

He looked away. "You can't." he said.

"But my sister's down there!" she cried. He stopped and looked at her for what seemed like forever.

"Very well." he said.

* * * * * *

It was absolute chaos. The planet heaved and cracks that would rival the Grand Canyon opened up. Bella ran as fast as she could towards the VSA. Or what was left of it, at least. "Aria!" she cried. "Aria!"

"Bella!" she heard. She turned and saw Aria running towards her. Suddenly a fissure opened directly in front of her. Aria teetered on the edge for a moment, and then fell.

"Aria!" Bella screamed, diving for her hand. She caught it just in time. "Aria!" she cried. "Hold on! I've got you!"

"Bella!" Aria screamed. Bella could see the panic in her sister's eyes. A sudden convulsion rocked the ground. Aria's hand slipped out of Bella's and she fell down into the bottomless cavern.

* * * * * *

Spock ran to the cavern where the elder's had taken shelter. He ran into a large stone cavern. And there they were in a circle around the statue, their eyes closed. "We have to leave now." he commanded. They ran for the way out. Suddenly Bella was running beside him. He looked at her face and said quietly "I'm sorry." She nodded, unable to speak. "Enterprise, we're ready for beam-up." said Spock into his communicator. The light swirled around them as the transporter started its work. There was a sudden splintering sound as the rock his mother was standing on broke and she fell. "Mother!" he yelled, stumbling forward. Bella grabbed his arm to stop him from going over, too. Suddenly Vulcan was gone and he was standing on the transporter pad, reaching towards nothing. Bella reached up and touched his face. He nodded numbly. They watched in helpless rage and frustration as Vulcan imploded.