Yay new chapter! Alright, last chapter I said I was going to start giving out hints about my new fic. Here is hint number 2(and this one is kinda a give away):light cycles...O:
Enough talk! On with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek...I only own Lara Sheppard
"All stop. In three…two…one." The Enterprise came out of warp into the foggy gasses of Titan. "Give me one-quarter impulse bursts for five seconds, I'll do the rest with thrusters on my mark." Sulu said calmly.
"Aye," Chekov said his hands hovering over his console.
"Fire." Sulu said and Chekov followed his order. The young ensign gave impulse bursts for exactly five seconds and Sulu expertly raised The Enterprise out of Titan's gasses. The ship was hovering safely behind the planet Saturn, waiting for action.
Transporter room, we are in position above Titan. Sulu's voice said to Scotty who was sitting at the transporter console.
"Really?" Scotty said cheerfully, "Fine job Mr. Sulu well done."
The doors to the transporter room swished open and four of the Enterprise's officers walked in. "How are we Scotty?" Jim asked the engineer.
"Unbelievable sir, the ship is in position." Scotty answered. Jim stopped at the engineers console and opened up a comm. link with the bridge. Lara stood next to him as he sent his message to the pilots,
"Whatever happens Mr. Sulu, if you think you have the tactical advantage you fire upon that ship even if we're still aboard. That's an order."
Yes sir, came Sulu's reply.
"Otherwise we'll contact when we're ready to be beamed back."
Good luck.
Lara and Jim turned to step onto the pad. Lara quickly adjusted her holster and then checked Jim's, when she was satisfied she went to stand on her platform behind Jim. They both stood there waiting for Spock's go ahead. That's when Lara thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She turned and raised an eyebrow when she saw Uhura and Spock…kissing? She and Jim both looked away, trying to give the two as much privacy as possible.
"I will be back." Spock said to her as they rested on each other's forehead.
"You better be," she said to him, "I'll be monitoring your frequency."
"Thank you Neyota." Neyota? Lara thought to herself. We've been friends for three years and she's never told me her first name…
Uhura kissed the Vulcan one last time before stepping off the platform. A slightly awkward pause followed then Jim turned to Spock, "So her first name's Neyota?"
"I have no comment on the matter." Spock said calmly. Lara couldn't help but laugh at their interaction.
"Okey Dokey then," Scotty said from his chair, "If there's any common sense in the design of the enemy ship I should be putting you somewhere in the cargo bay, shouldn't be a soul in sight."
"Energize." Jim said from his spot. Lara watched the white lights dance in front of her eyes. Good, we can sneak our way up and find our way to Pike. Standard stealth op…hopefully without being dete—
Lara stopped her inner train of thought as they came onto the Romulan ship and she heard a lot of yelling. This is really busy for a cargo area…wait, this is…oh great. She thought as her Jim and Spock all realized Scotty had accidently transported them to…the bridge.
"Move move!" Lara shouted as she pulled out her phaser and began firing. Spock and Jim did the same as her and all three began to run across the bridge, avoiding fire and taking out as many Romulans as possible. "This…was supposed to be…a stealth op!" Lara shouted between shots as she led Jim and Spock to a place for cover.
All three took cover and began taking out the rest of the Romulans. "Jim we need to stun one of them!" Lara shouted over the fire.
He nodded and moved forward slowly, searching for his target. When he spotted his target, Jim set his phaser to stun and fired. Lara and Spock moved up behind him. "I'll cover you," Jim said to the Vulcan.
"Are you certain?" Spock asked him.
"Yeah we've got you." Jim said to him. Spock went toward the knocked out Romulan while Jim turned his phaser back to kill. Lara watched Spock kneel down and make a link with the fallen Romulan. She started to make her way toward him with Jim watching her back. When she got closer to Spock she saw a lone Romulan start to aim his weapon at the Vulcan.
Lara quickly ran up to the Romulan, stomped on his toes, and then punched him in the throat. The Romulan reeled back, shaken and out of breath. Lara took her chance and sent a solid elbow to the side of his face knocking him down. She was about to turn away when she heard a phaser shot. She flinched, expecting the worst but when she looked down she saw that the Romulan had been shot.
"Jim." She said turning to look at him.
"Hey, I just saved your life," he said kissing her quickly then walking up to Spock, "Do you know where it is? The black hole device?"
"And Captain Pike." Spock said standing up. Lara and Jim followed after him.
"It's this way," the Vulcan said starting to jog toward his destination. His companions followed and they eventually came to what didn't look to Lara like a device, it looked like a small ship.
All three entered the ship, "I foresee a complication," Spock said looking over the layout of the ship, "The design of this ship is far more advanced then I have anticipated."
Lara urgently looked around the ship noting that yes, it was very advanced. In the middle of the entire ship was a giant red sphere. Voice print and face recognition analysis enabled. Welcome back ambassador Spock. They all heard a computerized female voice over the ships comm.
"Wow that's weird," Jim said walking off toward the helm of the ship. Lara raised an eyebrow and slowly walked up to Spock who had a questioning look on his face as well.
"Computer, what is your manufacturing origin?"
Stardate 2387. Commissioned by the Vulcan Science Academy. "Whoah…" Lara said when she heard the date.
Spock made his way to the helm, followed closely by Lara, "It appears you have been keeping information from us."
"You'll be able to fly this thing right?" Jim asked changing the subject.
"Something tells me I already have."
"Good luck," Jim said turning to leave. He walked up to Lara and placed a hand on the small of her back.
"Jim," they heard Spock from behind, they both turned to face the Vulcan, "The statistical likely hood that our plan will succeed is 4.3 percent."
"It'll work." Jim said triyng to reassure him.
"In the event that I do not return please tell Lieutenant Uhura…"
"Spock," Jim said urgently, "It'll work." He and Lara both turned to leave and quickly made their way out of the ship.
Spock sat down in the helm's chair which automatically turned forward for him, "Fascinating."
Jim and Lara were quietly making their way toward where Spock had said Captain Pike was being held. They each had their weapons out and were moving through a dark tunnel. They exited the tunnel and came into what looked like a command room.
Both officers looked around and spotted Nero standing on one of the top platforms in the room. They each pointed their weapons at the Romulan captain and Jim said to him, "Nero order your men to disable the drill or I will—ah!" he was interrupted by one of Nero's officers hitting him in the head with the butt of their weapon.
Jim fell over and dropped his phaser over the side of the platform. "No!" Lara shouted as she turned to engage the Romulan, but he was too fast. He dodged her fists and hit her upside the head, causing her to fall down as well. Groaning, she was about to get up when she felt a strong pair of hands grab her arms and pull her up. Nero's officer held her hands behind her back tightly while Nero ran down from his platform to stand above Jim.
"I know your face," he said when he reached his target, "From Earth's history," he bent down and lifted Jim up only to throw him back down again.
Lara watched in horror as Nero proceeded thoroughly kick Jim's ass. She began to struggle against her captors hold but was stopped when she felt a hand on her throat.
"Lara Sheppard...the beautiful left hand of the great Starfleet captain," he tightened his grip on her, "Why you decided to live in his shadow has always intrigued me…can you tell me why?"
"Because I love him…you bastard" she coughed out. Nero looked almost surprised when she said that.
"You keep your hands off of her you son of a bitch," Jim said panting and trying to stand up.
Nero, with a snarl, went after Jim again. He knocked him down and grabbed his throat, choking him to death. "James T. Kirk was considered to be a great man, he went on to captain the USS Enterprise. But that was another life, a life I will deprive you of just like I did your father."
"No! Stop! No James!" Lara screamed at the top of her lungs as tears began to fall down her cheeks. She tried to break free of her captors hold but he was too strong, and she couldn't get away. She watched Jim kick his feet and try to get out of Nero's hold but he just wasn't strong enough. Lara was now reduced to just screaming and crying; she was so terrified she could hardly think straight.
And just like that a miracle happened, Captain Nero! The Vulcan ship has been taken, the drill has been destroyed.
Nero released his grasp on Jim and started shouting to the air, "Spock! Spock!" then jumped down to a platform that was at least ten stories down and ran off quickly. Lara took this moment of distraction to break free of her captors hold. She elbowed him in the stomach as hard as she could then ran over to help Jim stand up. They both looked back and saw that Nero's officer was mostly unaffected by her attack.
Reading each other's minds, they both turned and did exactly as Nero did earlier. Lara hit the platform and did a tuck and roll. All though no bones were broken, she could definitely tell that she would be covered in some very serious bruises. She lay on the ground, writhing in pain and didn't notice Jim struggling on the edge of the platform until it was too late. Nero's officer was already there.
He lifted Jim up by the throat with ease and said, "Your species is even weaker than I expected." Jim tried to speak but couldn't. The Romulan grinned evily, "You can't even speak."
Jim tried again but still couldn't make a sound, the Romulan pulled him closer, "What?"
"I got your gun." Jim said pulling out the alien's gun and shooting him in the stomach. Jim was immediately released from his hold and fell on the edge of the platform again. Lara got up and helped pull Jim up. They both caught their breath for a moment. Then Lara crushed her lips to his.
When she released him she said, "What did I tell you about never scaring me like that again?"
"Yeah but…I always get a good reaction out of you," they both smiled at each other, "Come on, we need to save Pike."
They ran the whole way there, Jim with a Romulan phaser and Lara with her standard issue silver phaser. Entering the room they saw Pike strapped to a table that was surrounded by various machines, Lara could only imagine what Nero had done to him. Jim and Lara moved further into the room, back to back making sure the area was clear.
Jim saw a Romulan guard and shot him, "I think we're clear," he said to Lara. She nodded and turned, making her way to their captain quickly.
"What are you doin here?" Pike asked the two.
"Just following orders," Jim said beginning to release the straps that were holding down Pike. Lara worked on the straps by his feet while Jim worked on the straps around his torso. She was about to stand up when she heard two phaser shots fired. She turned to her right and saw two Romulans hit the floor. Lara looked up and saw Pike holding Jim's gun.
Lara grinned to herself, admiring her captain, then stood as she finished releasing all the straps on his legs. Jim quickly helped Pike stand, supporting his weight on one side while Lara moved around to support the other.
"Enterprise now!" Lara shouted into her communicator. She watched the lights dance in front of her eyes and closed them hoping for the best. When she opened them again she was standing in the transporter room of the Enterprise.
Jim breathed a sigh of relief and smiled when he looked over to see Spock standing next to him, "Nice timing Scotty." He and Lara stepped off the pad still supporting Pike's weight.
Scotty raised his hands in triumph, "I've never beamed four people from two targets onto one pad before!"
Bones ran into the transporter room followed by several members of his staff and relieved the two of Pike. Uhura came in as well, quickly greeting Spock when she saw him, a look of relief on her face. She led Spock, Jim, and Lara out of the transporter room and toward the lift.
"That was pretty good!" Scotty said after them, still excited over his amazing transporting abilities.
Jim, Lara Spock and Uhura walked onto the bridge quickly. Uhura returned to her seat and Lara went to stand at her console. "Captain! The enemy ship is losing power, their shields are down sir." Chekov reported excitedly.
"Hail them now," Jim said moving to stand in front of the view screen with Spock at his side. Nero's distorted face came up on the view screen and he didn't look happy. "This is Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise. Your ship is compromised; your ship is too close to the singularity and needs assistance which we are willing to provide."
There was a small pause then Spock turned away from the view screen and spoke to Jim quietly, "Captain what are you doing?"
Jim turned and spoke quietly as well, "You show them compassion then maybe we can earn peace with Romulus. It's logic Spock, I'd thought you'd like that."
"No not really," Spock said thoughtfully, "Not this time."
I would rather suffer the end of Romulus a thousand times. I would rather die in agony them accept assistance from you. Nero spoke to the two, his words burning with hate.
"You've got it," Jim and Spock turned away from the screen and went to their chairs, "Arm phasers, firing everything we've got." He said as he took his seat.
"Yes sir." Sulu said and began firing. Lara brought out the larger phaser cannons and Sulu used them without question. Nero's ship was soon turning into complete rubble now that his shields were down and that he was being sucked into a giant black hole.
Lara felt a sense of relief lift off her shoulders only to be replaced with a sense of dread as she read the incoming reports on her screen. Then the view screen showed a warning sign, they were too close to the black hole. "Sulu let's go home." Jim said to the pilot.
"Yes sir!" he said as he and his Russian co-pilot began turning the ship around. "Why aren't we at warp?" Jim asked Lara.
"We are sir." Lara said as her eyes quickly read over the codes on her screen.
"Kirk to engineering, get us out of here Scotty." Jim said staying calm despite his racing heart.
You bet your ass Captain! Came Scotty's voice over the comm. Captain we're caught in the gravity pull, it's got us!
"Go to maximum warp, push it!" Jim ordered.
I'm givin her all she's got Captain! Lara felt her hands begin to shake. Her computer was reporting that they were at maximum warp, full power and still nothing. She flinched when she heard a loud crashing sound. Lara looked up to see the ceiling of the bridge begin to crack under the immense pressure.
"All she's got isn't good enough what else you got?" Jim said, still calm and not showing how scared he was at the moment.
If we eject the core and detonate the blast could be enough to push us away, I can't promise anything though!
The glass of the view screen began to crack in several places, "Do it! Do it! Do it!" Jim shouted as he felt his hands begin to sweat. Lara watched, heart racing, as her computer reported each ejection of the core. She looked up at the view screen and watched each core fall into the black hole. There was a pause then bright white light as each core exploded and was amplified by the black holes massive power.
Sulu used the explosion and began to move The Enterprise away from the black hole as best as he could. They couldn't see a thing for several seconds, only bright white light. Then in a flash, they were away and safe. Lara felt her knees go weak as she heaved a sigh of relief. They had just survived being crushed to death by a massive black hole.
All the officers looked around at each other, smiles and quiet laughter following. Jim locked eyes with Lara and smiled at her brightly. I shouldn't do it, I shouldn't do it…oh screw it. Lara went to Jim at his chair and fell onto him, holding him as best she could while he was still seated. She was smiling and felt tears of pure relief come to her eyes. Jim wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek gently, he felt a grin come to his face then. They were finally going home and they were finally going to be together.
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