A/N: Posting early on account of the mega snowstorm headed my way and the fact that I might lose power. This chapter is the convergence point for "Forging Her Own Path" and "Being Se'tak" so you might want to re-read the last chapter of "Forging" to familiarize yourself with what's going on. Also, NotesfromaClassroom pointed out the big goof I made in "Forging" and it's one I should've noticed earlier because I was a HUGE fan of 'Star Trek: Voyager' back in the day; anyhow, I claim temporary mental insanity for the slip. In "Forging" I said that the Enterprise was out surveying the Delta quadrant and would be back in New Vulcan's orbit within ~2 weeks. In the Trek universe this would not be the case—they'd actually be decades away. I'd like to beg for everyone's indulgence here and just ask you to go along with my mistake.
And now, as Auluna likes to say, hold onto your helmets!
Anomaly
U.S.S. Enterprise, 2281.363, 1608 hours. She had 52 minutes left until the end of a quiet, tedious shift. Nyota couldn't wait for them to be over; she wanted to get back to her quarters and take advantage of a rare hot water shower to help ease her shoulder muscles. She'd been rather restless the last couple days, waking herself up in the middle of a sound night's sleep for no reason at all, and the disruption to her REM cycle was taking it's toll and making her tense. Leaning back in her chair she took out her ear piece and rolled her neck trying to relieve some of that tension.
With no incoming transmissions to monitor she allowed her mind to wander and she angled her chair to get a better view of the rest of the Bridge. McKeon sat tapping his feet at his station, punching in commands and checking the status of all systems in an effort to stave off the boredom. Umbar was looking out the viewport through half-closed eyes while awaiting orders. Kirk sat in his chair, stylus in hand and one leg crossed to help prop up the PADD in his lap, working hard on…something. A closer look showed it was a crossword puzzle that had captured his attention so completely.
But it was the man beside her that Nyota watched most intently. Spock stood at his station peering down the lens of a microscope totally engrossed in his work—and most unaware of the effect he was having on her. Tall, lean, muscular and with a touch of gray peppering his temples…just the act of watching him work was making her hot under the collar. After 26 years together (almost 22 of them married) Nyota loved him as much as ever but was surprised at how she still lusted after him as if she were a teenager.
Apparently she'd been projecting as Spock let slip across the bond that he was not at all surprised; his feelings for her mirrored her own.
He also showed how he intended to help her get a good night's sleep.
Nyota blushed and momentarily wished she had a hand fan—or at least a cool drink of water.
Suddenly an alarm went off at Spock's station and she watched intently as he set about discovering the cause.
"Anything to report, Mr. Spock?" Kirk casually asked.
"Captain," he replied as evenly as ever, "There appears to be a wormhole opening up 20.8 kilometers ahead of us."
"Really?" His interest piqued he sat up straighter in his chair and tucked the PADD off to the side. "Hank, bring it up on screen."
She plopped her ear piece back in but spun around to watch the display. The rift was small initially but after about 30 seconds it grew exponentially and she briefly worried for the safety of the ship.
"How about we take her back another 15 kilometers just to be sa—…"
"An unidentified object is emerging from the wormhole, Captain."
Kirk gripped the armrest of his chair a little tighter upon hearing that. Practically the entire Bridge couldn't help but draw the comparisons and none of them wanted to think about what happened the last time an unknown ship came out of a wormhole. "Belay that order, Umbar. McKeon, magnify."
Nyota leaned forward in her chair as a cube-shaped ship came into view. She'd never seen anything like it in all her years in space. Turning back to her station she started scanning all frequencies to try and see just who they were dealing with.
"Anything, Uhura?"
"Negative, Sir."
"How about we knock on the door, see if anybody's home?" She took a deep, calming breath, trying to let his little jest slide; she had to remind herself that Kirk was just as anxious as the rest of the team, he just used humor to hide it. "And while we're at it let's go to Yellow Alert just to be safe, eh, Umbar?"
"Yes, Sir."
She held the ear piece closer. "Unidentified ship, this is Commander Uhura of the U.S.S. Enterprise; please respond." Static. A quick scan showed that the incoming ship's communications array was intact and they were receiving. She sent a missive off to Starfleet apprising them of their discovery before repeating her earlier message to the unknown vessel. Nyota was met with further silence and was about to tell the Captain as much when the ship shook. A phaser blast struck Deck 15 followed directly by an incoming message from the opposing ship. Ignoring the rush of orders and activity behind her she focused on the call. Her heart skipped a beat and the blood rushed out of her face when she heard what they had to say. The voice on the other end was cold and mechanical—and judging by the content of their message they had only one goal in mind.
"Commander, report!" Kirk's voice pulled her back from the icy grip of fear. The Bridge shook again and she grabbed hold of her console to stay upright. When the shaking stopped she spun around to see the Enterprise firing back on the unknown ship. "Are they saying anything?!"
"They…"
"Shields barely holding at 77%, Captain!"
"Go to Red Alert!"
"Their weaponry appears to be far more advanced than our own," Spock declared.
"Jim!" Leonard's voice came up over the loudspeaker, "Just what in the blue blazes have you gotten us into now?! I'm in the middle of something he—…" Kirk cut the call out without so much as an answer and instead shouted for her to relay what she was hearing. Nyota flipped a switch and the message played throughout the Bridge.
"We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile." Pause. "We are the Borg. You will be assimilated…"
All activity ceased. By their tone alone she knew that whoever these 'Borg' were they were no idle threat.
"Futile, eh?" Kirk asked of no one in particular. "Guess that means no negotiations. Keep trying, Uhura; I want to see if we can get through to them instead of both of us tearing each other to pieces."
"Aye, Captain." She knew he lived for this, these jolts of adrenaline in the midst of life-or-death scenarios, but all she could think about was the safety of her family. Still, she trusted him to get them all out of this and he hadn't let her down yet. Another flurry of hits sent everyone barking out orders and scrambling to keep the ship together.
"Shields at maximum!" the Captain cried.
McKeon started to argue. "But Sir…"
"I don't care, Hank, just do it! Spock!"
Her adun's fingers flew over his console. "There is no mention of an alien race identifying themselves as the Borg in our databases. Either there have been no known encounters between them and other members of the Federation thus far or…"
"…they're not from our time or universe," the Captain finished for him.
Elsewhere on the ship…"Suck my dilithium dust, Egil!" He jabbed the booster button hard and manipulated his pod up and over the last hill 'til the finish line was within reach.
"Dude," his friend replied over the headset, "That stopped being funny like an hour ago."
Se'tak didn't care and grinned as he stared at the screen. They'd been playing 'Venutian Death Squad Racers' for hours and he'd beaten Egil 7 times out of 10. As he broke the virtual tape and the confetti began to fall his friend whined on the other end of the line. "You suck."
He laughed. "No I don't. In fact, I'm doing you a favor just by letting you play. It's good practice."
"HA!" Egil cried back, "Shows what you know; I'm the one doing you a favor by giving you someone to play against. No one else wants to bother."
"Psh, whatever, man. Want to go again?" Before he could answer the Yellow Alert went off, followed a few seconds later by shaking.
"Hey, did you feel that?"
He stilled on the sofa and waited to feel another tremor, his mind sifting through the possibilities. It might've been a one-off, a warning shot, or a problem down in Engineering. When there was no more shaking or any kind of announcement Se'tak responded. "Yeah, I felt it, but it's probably nothing. Let's keep going."
They chose new pods and a different course and headed to the starting line to gear up for the next round. No sooner had the flag been dropped then there was another series of tremors and he got thrown clean off the couch. He was in the process of picking himself up when the Red Alert sounded and his heart began to beat a little faster.
"I think we should finish this later."
"Yeah, good idea. See ya!"
"See ya!" Se'tak logged off behind Egil and moved to the access panel near the front doorway to see if anyone knew what was going on. They were, as Uncle Jim liked to put it, out in the 'ass end of space' with this latest mission—there shouldn't be anyone here to fire on them; but the more Se'tak looked the fewer answers he had and the ship began shaking with even greater intensity than before.
"Shields at 58% and falling!"
"Our phasers are proving ineffective at penetrating their shielding."
"I want all auxiliary power diverted to shields, now!" They were getting battered, the Borg ship was closing in, and he was running out of options. Kirk clenched his armrests and stared doggedly at the screen while running through various ideas. They were at a severe disadvantage here, going up against a ship with technology far more advanced than anything they'd seen since the Narada, but dammit they'd bested that ship and he would try like hell and fight this one off too. His family and crew's survival were at stake.
"Shields at 53%—Captain, there isn't anymore power to draw on!"
He turned to face his First Officer. "Spock, any ideas?"
"We may call upon the reserve power from the secondary life support systems; however, if the primary system should be breeched…"
"Then we're dead," he finished grimly. He certainly didn't like that suggestion. Jim knew they couldn't well turn off life support but what if they didn't need to cover the entire ship? He stopped thinking and just reacted, punching in the code to Engineering on his communicator. "Scotty?"
"Aye, Sir. Gettin' tossed around a wee bit, are we?"
He ignored the jest and pressed on. "I'm about to order a temporary emergency evac of the ship; once your people have cleared the area I want you to transfer all control of Engineering to the Bridge then get the hell out of there, do you hear me?"
"Cap'n, is that really necessary? Cannae we just…"
"That's an order, Mr. Scott." He cut the call then activated the all ship alert. "This is the Captain. By executive order 192583 I am hereby initiating an emergency evacuation of the ship. You have five minutes to clear the area. Report to your designated escape pods immediately. This is not a drill—I repeat, this is not a drill. Kirk out."
Jim leveled his gaze on the Bridge crew, ignoring their gawking faces of disbelief. "The instant I give the word I want you all to clear out, is that understood?" There was a moments pause and then a few weak "Yes, Captains". He nodded. "Spock, figure out a way to re-direct all life support power to the forward shields."
"Yes, Captain."
"Jim?" He turned to Uhura whose eyes were wide. She didn't have to ask it, he saw the question right there on her face, plain as day. He smiled at her but the grin didn't quite reach his eyes. The evac was a temporary solution to the problem at hand but there was no way to predict if it'd become permanent. "If it comes to that then I'll be right behind you, Uhura, I promise. No way I'm ready to meet this Borg up close and personal just yet." Again she said nothing yet he already knew. His trademark bravado fleeing, he added in a much lower voice, "And if something happens and I don't make it you tell Taline and the kids that I know it's not enough but I'm sorry and I love them."
Her eyes grew a little misty. "Yes, Captain," she replied before returning to the task at hand.
"This is the Captain. By executive order 192583 I am hereby initiating an emergency evacuation of the ship. You have five minutes to clear the area. Report to your designated escape pods immediately. This is not a drill—I repeat, this is not a drill. Kirk out."
Not a drill? Se'tak balls out panicked for a good twenty seconds, clinging to the doorway to keep from getting tossed about. He'd gone through the drills 4 times a year every year for as far back as he could remember and could probably get to his pod in his sleep but knowing that this was the real deal…
"Yes, this threat is very real," he heard Sa-mekh shout across the bond, "Now leave everything, collect your brother and evacuate immediately!"
"But you and Mama…"
"We will be right behind you—now get off this ship!"
Se'tak leapt into action and emerged from his quarters into a hallway full of chaos. Smoke was pouring out of a vent overhead and people were carrying on and screaming, some clutching desperately at open wounds. His heart thrummed in his side as he tried to keep his wits about him. He knew that Selas was 2 decks down in the Rec with his friends and it would be unwise of him to try the turbolifts so he headed for the nearest Jeffries Tube.
Eric and Riley—along with everyone else in the Rec Room—had already fled save for him and Rebecca. She tugged hard on his hand. "Selas! Selas, come on!" The attack—and the evacuation order—had both come out of the blue. Selas was as scared as she was but Sa-mekh told him to stay put and that is exactly what he intended to do.
"I cannot come with you; Se'tak is coming for me and if I leave it will only confuse things."
But she was not listening to him and instead tried to pull him forward with both hands. "Come on, we have to get off the ship!"
"Go, Rebecca. Se'tak is coming for me and I will not leave without him."
That time she seemed to hear him. Although he had his shields in place, from across the skin-to-skin contact he still felt her concern for his well being as well as her own indecision over whether or not to go. Gently he pushed her away toward safety. "Go." She reluctantly let go of his hands and fled the room.
Selas groped his way forward and held tight to the doorframe. Se'tak is coming, Se'tak is coming, Se'tak is coming…
He informed Nyota of his instructions to the children then re-focused on his work. Engineering relinquished all control to the Bridge with 3 minutes and 21.6 seconds remaining in the Captain's countdown and by his estimation 66.9% of the ship's crew had disembarked.
Throughout it all his countenance did not betray how apprehensive he was—though he did privately and freely acknowledged that he had not felt such trepidation since the day they lost Vulcan.
"The Borg ship is 8 kilometers away and closing in, Captain."
"Understood, now get started on re-configuring that life support…"
The ship suddenly stopped rocking and appeared to be frozen in place. "Helm's not responding!" McKeon shouted. "They've locked a tractor beam on us, Sir!" Slowly the Enterprise began moving forward toward the cube.
Jim pounded on the side of his chair. "G-dammit!" Spock looked to Nyota and saw the abject terror on her face. Above all else he was determined that she and the children would get off this ship…
The Captain was beside his console within 11.7 seconds. "Can we break the beam without blowing the Enterprise to pieces?" he asked under his breath.
Mentally he underwent the necessary calculations to deduce whether such a scenario could occur successfully; once that was done he turned to his console to bring up the systems that would be required to bring it about. "The energy needed to generate the shielding as well as maintain it on a constantly rotating frequency to prevent further immobilization is greater than what is presently available. Also, even with an influx of power we would be unable to hold off the tractor beam indefinitely."
"How long would it last before the circuits overloaded?"
"2 minutes and 25.7 seconds."
Jim clapped him hard on the back. "Then go ahead and give me that and when you're through you're dismissed."
In that moment he was of like—mind with his adun'a in that this encounter would not end well for James T. Kirk; Spock also had a few privately-held misgivings about his own survival. "Captain…"
Jim cut-off his protestations with a sideways grin. "That's an order, Spock."
Very well then. Now that he had his orders he quickly set about putting them into effect so that he could give his friend every possible chance of escape.
The climb down was easy but Se'tak found himself pushing against the throng trying to get to the Rec Room. He figured they only had about 2 minutes left when he finally got a hold of Selas.
"You came," his brother said with some surprise.
Se'tak frowned and grabbed him by the wrist, not wasting any time dragging him out into the fray. "As if I'd leave you behind." They were running fast now and the further away they got the fewer people they encountered.
"I did not mean that; I only thought that you would be unable…"
A fresh blast rocked the ship and the panel beside them exploded out of the wall. He had just enough time to grab his brother and pull him close, shielding him with his own body before the wall and ceiling came crashing down around their heads. Dust filled his nostrils, his head was ringing and he tasted the copper tang of blood in the back of his throat…but they were alive. When he thought it was safe to move Se'tak tried to lift the debris clean off of them but couldn't; his left arm hung, painful and useless, against his side.
Caught in an awkward crouch between the panels and lifting with his one good arm he was able to shift enough of the wreckage away for Selas to crawl out. "Go," he ordered, nudging his brother in the right direction with his foot. Once he was clear Se'tak followed at a much slower pace and when he was free he paused and took a good look at their surroundings.
They were about as far away from their designated escape pods as they could possibly be and the nearest Jeffries Tube was blocked off thanks to that last hit. He had no idea where to go.
Frak. He swallowed hard and forced himself to stop shaking. Frak, frak, frak, frak and frak.
Selas slipped his hand in his. "Se'tak?"
He squeezed back hard. "Everything's going to be fine."
"You do not sound certain of that fact."
"Well I am!" he barked back. He only turned 16 a few months ago, he'd barely begun to live and he didn't want to die…
Like a bolt of lightning inspiration struck. "Come on!" he yelled, tugging his brother along.
Selas tried to keep up, tripping periodically on the detritus scattered on the floor. "Where are we going?"
"The Shuttle Bay."
"Everybody out." Jim looked up to see that not one of them had moved. "NOW!" His officers moved in an orderly fashion toward the door until only he, Spock and Uhura remained. "Set it up, Mr. Spock."
"Aye, Captain." The half-Vulcan typed in the commands on his console and only when he was satisfied with his work did he step away.
"It's been an honor and privilege serving with you all these years," he said, looking first to Spock, then to Uhura. "Both of you."
"And you as well, Jim," his XO replied. He held one hand up in the ta'al while clutching his wife's hand with the other.
"See you on the other side."
Uhura pointed a finger at him. "You better!"
He chuckled in the face of her threat and watched as Spock tugged her out the door.
He urged her on down the hallway. "Hurry, k'diwa."
"I am!" She was moving as fast as her feet could carry her but it just didn't seem to be enough. Wall and ceiling panels had been blown out and were scattered across the floor while sparks from live wiring went off like little firecrackers all around them.
"We must…" but his words were cut off by a fireball barreling toward them down the corridor. Spock shoved her hard out of the way so that she ended up several meters behind him on her backside seeing stars. In a daze she struggled to get to her feet only to discover her adun flat on his stomach on the ground, the whole right side of his body charred.
"SPOCK!"
They arrived in the Shuttle Bay with little time to spare. Holding his brother firmly by the wrist Se'tak looked about for a ship to carry them off the Enterprise. Almost all the other shuttles had already departed or were sitting about in various states of repair—but there was one Class 3 shuttle sitting in the far corner, it's door open, that looked like it still worked.
He raced over and trudged up the ramp, surprised to see several other bruised and battered people on board. Mr. Grimes, his physics teacher, was seated on the bench directly in front of him.
"Why haven't we taken off?" he shouted.
The man was too petrified to speak and resorted to pointing toward the cockpit. He dropped Selas' hand and made his way forward, opening the door without so much as a knock. Sitting in the pilot's seat and fumbling with the controls was a young ensign whose name he didn't even know. "Why haven't we taken off?"
"I…I just…I'm having…I can't find…" As she spluttered the girl inadvertently toggled the torpedo switch on and a warning voice announced imminent detonation. Se'tak slapped his hand down to disarm it and felt all his fear suddenly bubble up into unchecked rage.
"IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU'RE DOING THEN GET OUT OF THIS COCKPIT BEFORE YOU BLOW US ALL TO KINGDOM COME!" She practically flew out of her seat and slipped out the door as he stuck his head out to find his brother. "Selas! Get in here!"
Now he had no doubt he could fly this thing but at the moment he had only one good arm…and there was only one other person on board he trusted as much as himself. Selas stepped forward and Se'tak quickly got him into the co-pilot's seat, rushing around trying to strap him in.
"What are you doing?"
"We," he replied as he jerked tight on the band across his brother's lap, "Are going to fly this shuttle out of here."
It was the most out of sorts he'd seen him since he picked him up. "What?!"
"Listen, this shuttle is full of civvies who don't know port from starboard, let alone how to start-up a Class 3 flyer. I know how but my arm's busted and you need 2 good hands to get her going and keep her level, so…"
"…you want me to be your arms?" Selas finished for him.
"Yes. Now let's get the heck out of here…"
Looking down at the timer Jim saw he had 53 seconds left in the evac countdown; meanwhile the Borg were steadily reeling them in.
52...
51...
Spock didn't say anything but Jim knew he knew. He wasn't getting off this ship. Instead, he was finally going to confront his own Kobayashi Maru.
As the seconds ticked by he couldn't help but think about the strange and wonderful life he'd led; it'd been such a twisted journey but one he wouldn't have traded for all the riches in the galaxy. He had a family he adored, a great career and friends and crew he loved like family—in short he had it all. Jim knew his sacrifice would allow them to live, just like his father had sacrificed his own life for him all those years ago, and that knowledge steadied his resolve.
Almost 50 years later and he finally understood the great George Kirk's motivations that fateful, long ago day.
"All personnel are safely underway," the computer announced.
He marched smartly over to the helm. "Re-route all power from life support to forward shields and initiate Commander Spock's shield frequency scrambling program."
"Acknowledged."
"And commence Executive Order 110786, countdown 2 minutes, on my mark. Voice print confirmation Kirk, James Tiberius."
"Voice print analysis confirmed. Executive Order 110786 will begin on your orders."
Jim didn't hesitate. "Now."
He rose from his seat and looked out the view screen; there was a field of stars before him but no Borg ship in sight. He re-directed his attention to his helmsman. "Mr. Data, report."