"Kep-tin, Kep-tin," Chekov called over his shoulder in panic, "Ve have increased to Varp Factor 5!"

Jim whirled around to Spock who was grasping his scanner as the entire ship continually shuddered under their feet. The wailing of static interference still competed against the signal of red alert, but no one seemed to notice any longer as personnel raced about the bridge, calling out and carrying out commands from everyone else.

Over the confusion, Jim called out, "Spock, anything yet?"

Spock turned to him swiftly. "Nothing, Captain, but we are still waiting on Lt. Takashi's program to block the override."

Jim hunched over the communicator on his chair. "Bones!"

Bones' voice sounded quietly through the racket. "McCoy here."

"I need Lt. Takashi up here immediately!"

"I've already sent her up, Captain. Any news as to what we're heading into?"

"Not yet, but remain vigilant. With the speed we're going – just be prepared."

"We're on alert, Jim. McCoy out."

Jim looked up at the view screen. The stars around them were starting to shine horizontally. "Where the hell is this taking us?" he asked himself angrily.

:::::

"Well, there goes our Lambda 5 vacation." Skylar placed her utility belt on, securing a phaser on her hip and one each on the buckles on her boots.

Scotty cocked an eyebrow at this. "Are you planning on heading into war, lass?"

Skylar eyed him. "We're heading somewhere. You can't trust space, Scotty."

Scotty returned to the computer. "You and McCoy make a fine pair along those lines."

"I believe in a fair fight. Being on a Starship doesn't give anyone that option."

Scotty chuckled. His eyes scanned over screen. "I've tried everything I can do mechanically. I can't take her back. Whatever has us, has us by the digital balls." He leaned back in his chair and looked up at Sylar as she leaned over him. "It's up to Amelia and Spock, now."

"What do you think, Scotty?" Skylar asked quietly. "Do you think Spock's right?"

Scotty sat up, offended. "Right? How can you say that? You are a fine catch –"

Skylar straightened up immediately. "Mr. Scott, I was referring to our predicament, not my personal matters."

"Oh." Scotty nodded apologetically. "In that regard, I suppose there's no other way to explain it. There must be a planet out here, sucking us to it."

Skylar pulled out her communicator and held it up to her lips. "Lt. Martinez, come in."

"Martinez here, ma'am."

"I need parties on every deck. Ensure that everyone stationed is on look out. Try to keep everyone calm. Phasers on stun. I'll be on the bridge to relay the captain's orders for security deck."

"Yes, Lt."

"Pike out." Skylar shut the communicator. She looked at Scotty incredulously. "I can not believe that our ship is out of control on an apparent crash course, and all you can say is that I'm 'a fine catch.'"

"Look, facts are facts. The ship is going somewhere fast. That's a fact. There is a definite chance we could all die in this apparent crash or wherever the hell we're going. The fact is that it may be time to … you know, say some goodbyes. Or reconcile. You know … talk."

Skylar's eyebrow rose on her forehead, her lips pursing. "Talk."

Scotty shrugged. "Hey, we could all die. Maybe you should express how you really feel to 'im. It may very well be your last chance … to … to talk."

Skylar bent over Scotty, who slunk down ever so slightly. Their faces were very close. "Scotty, it is against Starfleet policy to have sex with one's superior officer on the bridge deck. Especially when red alert is the current status."

"There's a very lovely closet right outside the deck 5 turbo shaft – er, lift."

Skylar stood upright. "The only way I would meet with Spock's groin right now would be with my foot on Warp 5, out of control on a positive crash course."

Scotty exhaled in relief and stood. "Well, on that note, perhaps we should return to the bridge. My men can continue monitoring from down here."

They exited Scotty's station, where various red shirt-clad men and women stood at their stations relating information.

"Pressure and heat are rising, sir," called a woman to Scotty.

Scotty nodded. "I want all of ya to keep the pressure off of her the best you can. We don't need any more strain put on her engines or she'll blow for sure."

A few, "yes sir's" rang out as Skylar and Scotty exited main engineering.

:::::

Amelia rushed onto the bridge with a few tapes in her hand. Still wobbly she careened into Spock, who jumped at her touch, and she placed two separate tapes into two ports. Her fingers began to fly.

"There hasn't been any progress in the current programming," Spock said to her.

"I know, I'm giving it more information," Amelia replied, focused on her task. "It has to be a planet. If the system can block the override even for a minute your scanner will be able to secure a location of the gravitational force and then we can calculate exactly where we are going."

Jim approached them. "Would this allow us to slow her down? Scotty's told me the temp is rising much faster now."

Without looking at him, she responded, "Have Chekov ready; at this point we need to be prepared for a small gap in frequency." As Amelia's fingertips pounded against the screen, Bones, Skylar and Scotty walked onto the bridge.

Suddenly, the blaring of the static interference went dead. The entire crew seemed to pause with it as red alert was the only sound in the room. The shuddering also ceased.

"Chekov," Jim called, "Warp 2!"

Both Chekov and Sulu went to work. A loud roar from the engines sounded, but the ship began to slow.

"Captain!" Spock called, bringing Jim's attention back to his station. The blue lighting of his scanner lit up his face. "We are headed directly for a planet."

"Details, now!" Jim barked.

Spock pressed a few buttons. "The databank is syncing. It is a M-class planet –"

"Shit!" Amelia hissed as her screen – and the entirety of the ship's electricity went out. As if on cue, the static sounded and the lurched forward again. A few screams in Uhura's direction sounded. Inertia backhanded everyone on the bridge as the ship gained speed. The frequency suddenly ceased and the all of the equipment turned itself back on. On the view screen, where an endless void dotted with stars used to be, came green. Green and brown of land masses and scattered white of clouds; the white began to take over the screen as the ship headed directly toward it.

"Reverse! Pull out, Sulu!" Jim commanded, picking himself up from the ground.

Sulu and Chekov's hands flew across the helm. "I can't, Captain! There's no response from the helm!"

Scotty, with Skylar in tow, pulled himself up to his computer. "Her engine's are off, sir!"

"Get them online, Scotty!" Jim commanded.

"That'll take thirty minutes!"

"Captain – approaching planet's surface in five minutes," Spock called out.

"Shit!" Jim ran to his chair. "This is the captain, prepare for impact, repeat, prepare for impact!" His voice rang out over the red alert.

The next five minutes on the bridge seemed to go by in slow motion. Sparks rained down in spurts as the computer systems cried out their firework display in confusion. It was almost beautiful as the lighting flickered, pulling everyone in and out darkness. Somewhere in the confusion, someone – probably Jim – called out "Brace yourselves!" and everyone did just that. As flashes of red and blue from computer consoles acted as strobe lights against the splashes of sparks, Bones found his way to Jim's command chair and took hold of it, the Captain himself backing into his seat. Bones looked over at Uhura who had her arms wrapped around her chair, her ear freed of its ear piece. Her eyes were closed tight, he noticed, as a spark flew past her face like a shooting star, illuminating her copper skin. Bone's eyes trailed to Amelia, who sat on the floor beside Spock; she had her arms around his and he clasped onto her tricep. Bones saw the Vulcan pull his gaze away from the view screen everyone else was so entranced by. He turned his head back across the bridge to Skylar, who stood against Scotty's station, her knuckles white as her fingers clung to the machinery mercilessly.

Spock was very well aware that despite her fierce bravery in every situation she was faced with, Skylar Pike was the most terrified out of everyone on the bridge. She had told him when she was his student that she had no intention of ever being on a Starship. He remembered that day.

"I'm sorry, Commander, I can't do the Kobayashi Maru. It overlaps with the shuttle to a bounty hunter seminar that I can't miss," she explained, standing before his desk in his office.

Spock held her term paper in his hand. "This thesis of yours is absolutely excellent."

"That's not what your grade says, sir."

Spock looked up at her. She was clad in a red cadet uniform, her hair slightly shorter but still pulled up in a high, full pony tail on the back of her head. "Perhaps I need to physically see your weaponry skills. Complete the Kobayashi Maru exam for this Cadet Kirk, who insists on taking it for a third time. If you prove to be as versed as your thesis states, then I shall grant you an exceptionally high grade. The highest in the class."

Skylar thought about this. "If I pass the Kobayashi, I'm eligible to be assigned to a Starship."

"That is correct."

"Spock," she said softly, "My mother died in combat on a Starship. That's not the way I want to go out. I have no intention of going into space."

Spock stood and walked around the table, setting her paper on his desk. He stood before her. There was an urge to touch her face. He had already experienced her body against his that time at the Club, despite her drunken demeanor and the fact that she had thought he was someone else – that Cadet Kirk. He had already kissed her since then. But somehow he could not find the will to execute his desire to touch her … fascinating.

"I will see to it that you are removed from the list and are giving a transport to a future seminar, Cadet." He paused. "You are very intelligent in your field, Skylar. You will perform efficiently on the Kobayashi Maru. And I will be disappointed to see you go."

Spock blinked as a spark flew past his eyes. Scotty was backed into Skylar defensively, almost like he was dancing as a the humans did in the tavern. But his face was anything but the happy-go-lucky drunk he typically would be in the tavern; he was acting as one of his beloved shields in front of Skylar, who now caught Spock's stare. Her lips were parted and her eyes shimmered in the light; he was sure she could cry at any moment.

Skylar's heart raced. She wanted more than anything – a time machine, repentance, survival – to be Amelia.

On the helm, Chekov's hand enclosed around Sulu's wrist tightly. The young man looked to Sulu, who looked right back just as wide eyed.

The ship's hull collided with a mixture of white and green and brown and black. The Enterprise roared in pain as the hull made impact, sending all of its inhabitants forward as the ship made a brief stop as it hit the planet's surface. As though someone has bewitched them, the personnel on the bridge seemed to levitate momentarily before flying forward. Sulu and Chekov were thrown over the helm toward the screen, Jim and Bones not far behind. Though nobody was interested in the moments to follow, on the view screen the ship continued on its crash course on the ground, destroying all of the forest and vegetation in its path. The bottom of the ship screamed under the absence of space as it was drug over trees and rock, digging with the motion a long trench. The Enterprise continued its grounded route for a matter of minutes before the land finally grabbed a hold of it and slowed it to a halt.

On the bridge, the only thing that could be heard was the soft hum of the panels that had not shut off. Silence blared over that.