Many thanks to my beta for editing this chapter! Woot!
Hope you all enjoy it!
Awareness rolled over Nia slowly, the world around her foggy with the dull aching of her jaw and the distant thunder of her throbbing skull. She blinked slowly and realized she was laying on her side on a cold hard floor.
Instinct kept her from moving as she heard a familiar voice speaking to a not so familiar one a very short distance away. Using the seat next to her, she slowly lifted herself up into a seated position out of the line of view from the cockpit.
Maybe she hadn't been seen yet.
Thousands of miles away, safely tucked away in a NiPila Paladian hospital, another woman was slowly waking up. In an almost lazy fashion, she rolled her eyes open and then closed them when the lights proved to be too bright. Something was off about her reaction time.
Something else was wrong too, but she couldn't place it. There was something she needed to do, something important that had happened or was happening.
Why couldn't she remember?
Even without opening her eyes again to check, the woman knew there was someone sitting next to her. The presence was comforting.
Delicately, she reached out the grab the hand that she knew was resting next to her…
But she only grabbed air.
A small noise of dismay squeaked past her throat and a voice called her name.
"Layla?"
She struggled to lift her head and a hand from the opposite side of the bed slid in behind her head for additional support.
"Easy, Layla. Slowly sit up or you will turn your stomach." A different voice spoke quietly, yet firmly.
Layla wanted to rebel and bolt upright, but her head wouldn't let her. The room seemed to turn on end as she sat up, and her stomach did in fact twist into knots. With great effort, she looked to see who it was that was helping her sit up.
The pregnant Paladian knew the woman at her side.
"Drella." Layla whispered, throat dry.
"Yes, it is me."
"I don't feel well."
"That's normal, but you are fine." Drella reassured her.
Layla attempted to nod, but winced as the room tilted again. "What happened to me?"
There was a moment of hesitation before Makol answered her. "You were sedated for a period of time. It was safest that way. All you are feeling is the after effects of that."
"You and your baby are well." Drella again reassured her.
Thinking processes still struggling, Layla just accepted what they told her. Even as she accepted it and tried to understand, that 'something important' feeling grew again.
The weight of her stomach was a welcome relief, the child fluttering inside. That part was right, Layla instinctively knew that her baby was healthy and not in danger. The weight shifting as she shifted brought to mind her frequent complaint to Nethi that the child was determined to be too big for her to carry. He always laughed, knowing that she was jesting since the babe was growing normally and very healthily.
Layla looked around, frowning. "Where is Nethi?" She asked. Where was her husband? He should be here. He was always hovering now that she was pregnant and hesitant to leave her side for any reason, even the times when she requested it. Was he doing something important?
As she continued to look around, Drella gently sat on the side of Layla's bed. The movement drew the pregnant Paladian's attention to the older woman.
"Do you remember the dance?" Drella gently asked. She wasn't sure what all Layla remembered and really wasn't sure how to answer the question. When Henry had died, Nia had been living alone on Earth. With that kind of emotion, humans wouldn't have been any help, and so she had been left alone without reaching out until it was too late for the child. The guilt that had riddled Nia's being had turned inward and, when coupled with the cause of her husband's death, had turned to an anger Drella had not seen in her daughter's eyes before. It was only after she began her physical training that Nia had calmed down.
Even though McCoy had said no such thing, Drella knew that her daughter was the reason why she was now sitting next to another young woman who had lost her husband at a very inopportune time. And Drella would make sure this woman wouldn't be left alone.
Thinking about Drella's question, Layla slowly nodded. She recalled the dance and watching Nia and the new male, Spock, dancing. She even remembered the argument with Nethi about her tea and whether or not he should return to their home to retrieve it. He'd ended up leaving, hadn't he? But then, he'd come back, right? When everything-?
The blood slowly drained from her face. No, no he hadn't come back. And he wasn't going to. Layla's breath left her in a rush as she began to shake.
Arms wrapped around her and a face pressed against hers as yet another pair of arms embraced her from the side. Her eyes scrunched tightly as she slumped against Drella.
The older woman's tears hit Layla's shoulder as the younger woman's grief struck across the connection Drella initiated. This kind of sharing did not cheapen the emotion. It did not belittle the grief or decrease the importance of the events or people in question.
Instead the connection formed when grieving was supposed to ease the pain and suffering of those living on and living without. It's supposed to provide support and acknowledgement of hurts. And, the connection decreases the potency of strong emotion and gives a way for rationality to take hold in the grief-stricken mind.
If Nia had had this, many things would have been different. It was something Drella was uncertain if she could ever forgive herself for.
STSTSTSTST
Kirk strode from the transporter room with an urgency many of his crew recognized. It was an urgency some had seen only once, but the memory was not something they would soon forget.
In comparison to the devastation of the previous event, this incident was more shocking and alarming. Instead of an entire planet destroyed and another in danger, the Enterprise was faced to deal with arson fires, prisoners escaping, subterfuge, and kidnapping. It was a testament to the remarkable professionalism of the crew of the Enterprise that there was no ensuing panic, or chaos amongst the officers or the Paladian medics.
Work was done quickly and fluidly, if a bit late. Lieutenant Casey had regained control and cleaned out the hacker's programming to the best of her ability, but she couldn't be certain she was fully successful. Not after this happening for the second time. Michaels was fuming and working in the lab with Lieutenant Jenkins after discovering that much of the equipment had been trashed.
Uhura was navigating through the communication to and from the starship with the grace of a woman with ten years of experience. More officers were working and doing their part than could be considered and Kirk, as he worked with that same urgency, knew it.
This was going to get taken care of.
They came on to his ship, they killed members of his crew, and they took a civilian from his ship. This game of cat and mouse, of finding the single thing that didn't fit in a picture of a thousand pieces, or finding the proverbial needle in a haystack was going to end.
Now.
Since he already knew the bridge was in capable hands, Captain Kirk headed straight to the brig. When he arrived, he found both the head of the Enterprise security and his First Officer standing guard in front of the cell housing a very familiar Paladian.
Or, at least, the head of security was standing guard. With the wide berth given the pair, Kirk could easily see that most of the other officers were not convinced that the First Officer was also standing guard. The Vulcan was staring at the Paladian male with a steady and blank gaze, dark eyes catching every movement and twitch of the man before him.
Without turning to look, Spock acknowledged his presence with "Captain."
"Commander." Kirk replied. He came to a stop next to Spock and also watched Mig for a moment.
The male was giving very little away, something that screamed training. It seemed Mig also knew that the gig was up and was no longer attempting to portray the patient medic that had gone to school and grown up with Nia.
At some point in time, Mig had taken a different path in life, gone a different route than that which was expected of him and had been trained to skillfully infiltrate even a Federation starship.
Kirk had no doubt that Mig was the one Pike warned him might be on board. He also had no doubt that Mig was the one behind the reprogramming of his shuttle and the subroutine that had worked its way through the Enterprise firewalls and defense software. Proving it was going to be another matter, one that they could handle at a later point in time.
With one last look at Mig, Kirk turned to the other two gentlemen. "I'm guessing he hasn't said anything."
Mr. 'Cupcake' Hendorff grunted. "Not a word."
Kirk nodded. "And the others?"
"They posses no vital information." Spock answered.
"And the one who might have known something and been convinced to tell us had gotten away," Kirk sighed. "We have any idea where he went yet?"
The corners of Spock's lips turned down very slightly. "Negative," he told him.
"Then let's find him. Before Sargent kills him and crashes the shuttle." Kirk then addressed Hendorff. "I'm trusting you to keep the brig in order."
"I'll put my best on duty, sir."
"Do that. Commander, if you would follow me." Without waiting for a reply, Kirk spun on his heel and left the brig.
Spock followed without protest.
On the way to the ready room, the two men were intercepted by an agitated Jenkins.
"Captain." She said.
"Lieutenant." Kirk replied. "What seems to be the trouble?"
Jenkins sighed, jaw clenching momentarily as she attempted to speak calmly. "Sir, Dr. Sargent's lab was ransacked. Crewman Michaels and I have cleaned up a majority of the mess and were able to turn on the computer." She sighed again. "Sir, someone cleaned all of Sargent's data from the mainframe. I checked over the security feeds and found Mig. Sir, was he trying to sabotage the effort to save Palad?"
"Most likely." The captain told her in short. "Did Sargent have any back up files?"
Jenkins shrugged thin shoulders. "I couldn't tell you, sir. If she did and they were on that computer, then they are gone. None of the material was considered classified enough to warrant additional back up procedures or security."
Nodding, Kirk began to walk again. "Thank you, Lieutenant."
As the men continued down the hall, the blond man muttered to his companion "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"If you are thinking that Mig meant to gain access to the data Dr. Verde previously had in her possession, then yes, I am thinking what you are thinking."
"I'm glad Verde came to us with it when she did. According to the security feeds, Mig never attempted to come to the ready room. The data should have been safe." Kirk told Spock.
The Vulcan gave a brief nod of acknowledgement.
Only stopping for a moment in the ready room, Kirk retrieved the small data chip. He assured himself that it was the same one and the information was unaltered before he and the Commander boarded the bridge.
"Uhura, I need you to contact Starfleet Command and update Admiral Pike of our condition. Give him only the basics; I don't know who else might be listening." Kirk ordered. "Mr. Chekov, how far are you on figuring out where our shuttle went?"
"Close, sir." Chekov responded. "The tracking systems were disabled on the craft, but I should be able to remotely get the back online. I have a general bearing."
"Good. Inform me the moment you have anything else." He smirked grimly. "We have a scientist to fetch."
"Yes sir."
"What's our weapons status?"
"All are online, Captain." Sulu responded. "They seem to have been unaffected by the subroutine."
Kirk nodded, the accessed his com system "Scotty, report."
"Everything's fine here, Captain. All you need is to give the word." Scotty reassured him.
"There was no tampering in Engineering?"
"Nae, sir, they'd not come down here." There was a pause. "Any word on the girl?"
"Yes, but not the right girl."
Scotty was confused. "Sir?" He didn't get a response.
Addressing the bridge crew, Kirk stated "Alright, we are going to go after our shuttle and retrieve Dr. Sargent. Since the shuttle is a short range craft, we can guess that Nikolai means to be picked up by either Chancellor Narsow or someone working for Chancellor Narsow." Sitting down in the captain's chair, Kirk leaned forward, rubbing his hands together. "We will assume they have fire power and will be willing to use it. They may even try to placate us with statements of peace and treaty." He paused, and then dropped the biggest bomb on his crew. "It may even be a Federation starship."
Sulu frowned. "Sir, there's someone dirty at Starfleet?"
"Unfortunately, Mr. Sulu," Kirk leaned back, "it seems there is."
Spock stood silently at his station, running and rerunning the data and figures Chekov was also working on. He idly wondered why the captain had not yet given the order. The fires down below had been brought under control and Starfleet personnel were no longer needed for aide.
It seemed that Kirk knew what his XO was thinking when he stated "We will be underway as soon as our CMO and his high priority patient beam aboard."
"Yes sir." Sulu responded.
Turning from his station, Spock spoke to the captain. "May I inquire as to whom Dr. McCoy's patient is?"
This time, Kirk's smirk wasn't so grim.
STSTSTSTST
As she rested a moment, the distinct lack of attack confirmed that she hadn't been seen. Nia wondered how many of them there were on board. She'd watched Nikolai duck through the doorway and he was almost followed by Rebecca before Nia's temper got the better of both women.
Then, after she'd thrown Rebecca, Mig had shown up behind her. He'd been very angry. Very angry. Almost like he wanted to…
She'd felt a brief burst of pain before everything went black, as black as the one time that she had fainted. Then she'd woken up in the shuttle. Mig most likely dragged her into it, or caught her after knocking her out. Something happened that made her end up in the shuttle.
Yet, something felt off about that. If Mig had followed her, someone would be guarding her right now. With at least two male, and one of them Paladian, there would have been enough manpower to keep watch over her. Instead, she was left in a heap on the floor.
She'd woken up in that heap, relatively undisturbed. Nia shook her head. She couldn't have been out very long, could she?
Making up her mind, Nia pulled her feet underneath her and stood up quietly. As she stood, she realized she was still wearing her dress from the previous evening. Besides a little rumpling and a vague scent of body odor, it was none the worse for wear.
Nia ran a hand over her hair. There was no telling what shape her hair was in. It felt mostly tame, with only a few strands having sprung free from the style. Oh well.
Carefully, Nia stepped around the seats and tried to silently make her way to the cockpit. From the open doorway, Nia could see the back of Nikolai's head. The copilot's seat was empty.
So, it was just Nikolai. There weren't enough places for a person to hide on the shuttlecraft, so Nia felt safe in assuming that she and the human male were alone. And that he was most likely unaware of her presence.
So her, a Paladian female, up against Nikolai, a human male? This shouldn't be difficult at all.
As she was standing there, thinking, the computer announced an 'M' class planet the shuttle was near.
With more confidence than she felt, Nia walked to the copilot's seat and sat down.
"Hello, Nikolai." She said.
He started and fluidly held up his phaser, set to kill.
Crap.
Of all the stupidest… She forgotten the possibility that he could be armed. She'd just arrogantly thought that she could frighten him with her mere being and that would be enough.
So she sat next to him, thinking one look at her and he'd turn the shuttle around. Her jaw began to ache. Maybe Mig had hit her harder that she realized. That or the rattling of her brain was enough to cause swelling that impaired her common sense. Either way, it didn't matter.
I'm screwed. If Spock finds out about this, I'm going to be training for the rest of my life. She winced as a worse thought hit her. If Kirk finds out, I'll never live it down.
Nia glared at the phaser aimed at her.
"So, Mig got you onboard, but got captured himself? Maybe I have to give the bastard some credit." Nikolai said, his tone impressed.
"What?" Nia asked, not following his train of thought at all.
Nikolai grinned. "Mig? That medic who used to be a friend of yours?"
Rolling her eyes, she snapped "I know who Mig is, Nikolai."
"I know. It just looks like your brain got shaken a bit, if that bruise is anything to go by." Nikolai gestured to it with his phaser.
Ruefully, Nia rubbed at the aching spot and grimaced as tender area sent a jolt of pain through her. "Yeah, he hit me pretty hard. He seemed pretty upset."
"Well, you did have to be best buds with the thorn in Narsow's paw."
"And that makes you what? The mouse offering to pull it out?" Nia replied. She honestly wondered how Nikolai had gotten involved with a Paladian Chancellor.
Nikolai looked at her with an air of suppressed surprise. "Very astute. Yes, my team and I stepped on the wrong toes during a job recently and so, we owe Narsow a favor."
Frowning, Nia stated "It's pretty brazen of you to be throwing Narsow's name around."
He snorted. "You won't be getting free. We'll be meeting with a Starfleet ship soon enough. Then even your precious Enterprise won't be able to do anything."
Nia snort matched his. "Yeah right. You don't know that crew like I do. Talk about thorns. They make up a briar patch, all on their own."
"Think what you like they won't be able to do anything." An alert drew his attention. His glance was smug as he said, "We're being hailed. Would you like to do the honors?"
"I'm fine." Nia declined.
With a snarky grin, Nikolai answered the hail. "This is Morozov."
"Morozov, this is Captain Meyers. What is the number of your party?"
"Myself and one captive. All others were taken as prisoners."
There was a frown in the man's voice. "Did you complete your mission?"
" All information pertaining to Palad was wiped from the Enterprise mainframe, Dr. Verde is dead, and Dr. Sargent is my captive."
"Very good." The frown was gone from the man's voice. "Well done, Morozov. Prepare yourself for transport momentarily."
"Yes sir." Nikolai responded, then hesitated. "Sir? My team?"
Captain Meyers said "Ah yes, your team. Rest assured, they will be taken care of."
Nodding, Nikolai said "Awaiting transport."
Quiet for barely a second, Nikolai asked, "Did that seem odd?"
Nia looked at him, instinct plucking at her. When transport didn't start immediately, full alarm bells started clanging in her head. "Nikolai, get us out of here. Now."
"Already on it." He snapped back and the shuttle's thrusters fired up.
Just in time, the small craft moved enough that the phaser fire merely grazed the hull and wasn't a direct hit.
Nia sat back as Nikolai scrambled to keep the shuttle moving. They waited for a second hit, but it never came. Hails for communication popped up, but Nikolai ignored them. Instead he aimed the handicapped shuttle at the planet below.
Nia, realizing what he was planning, asked "Are you going to be able to land this thing?"
Nikolai shrugged, hands not leaving the controls. "Maybe."
Leaning her head back, Nia took the time to quickly put on the safety harness. "If you get us killed, I swear…"
"You swear what?" Nikolai asked distractedly when her sentence dropped off.
"I don't know. I can't think of anything both horrifying and plausible." Nia clenched the armrests tightly. Since she wasn't a pilot of any kind Nia was going to be no help in this situation, not until the shuttle landed, or crash landed as was more likely.
I'm gonna kill him. I'm going to kill him. I'm going to KILL him. The mantra in Nia's head continued as the planet loomed ever nearer. The only thing ensuring her current sanity was the expectation of venting once everything was over. After all, logically she couldn't kill the man who had a hand in the death of her best friend before he saved both their lives.
Feeling a tad hysterical, Nia's mind jumped to the subject of Spock. She idly wondered how Spock was handling her disappearance. Since Kirk was already captain, there was little reason for him to lose control or be made to lose control. Wryly, she realized the commander might not even be compromised. After all, Nia wasn't on the same attachment level as his mother had been, nor did she have the same significance that the entirety of his people did.
Nia hoped she'd get the chance to achieve that with him. The green-blooded, emotion-repressing, incredible-science-brain had wormed his way into her heart, just like she had been expecting him to.
The unknown planet's red and grey formations grew ever clearer as her thoughts toyed with what his reaction might if he knew the strength of her affection.
Oh who was she kidding?
He probably already knew. If he didn't figure it out on his own, then Kirk would have and probably gleefully told the commander one night over chess.
Nia started feeling light headed and suddenly realized that she'd forgotten to breathe.
As her lungs rapidly expanded for a much needed gulp of air, the shuttle touched down none to gently, sending up a cloud of red dust and sediment. Something sparked and Nia heard Nikolai yelp before swearing.
Another something shattered and Nia felt a piece of whatever it was slice just under the left corner of her lower lip.
Gradually the shuttlecraft began to slow down and the rumbling as the metal hull grated across rock died down. The shuttle finally came to a complete stop. For a few moments, there was complete silence in the cockpit as both occupants waited for a last minute shift.
When there was none, Nikolai let out a bark of laughter. "Woo-hoo! Yeah! We good, baby!"
Nia nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden burst of sound and stared at him as if he were a mad man.
"No fire ball for us! There aren't going to be looking for our crispy bodies!"
Fire ball? Crispy? That son of a…
Despite her safety still being unconfirmed, Nia lost it.
A/N: Alright, now is the time for you to tell me what you think! The goo and the bad please, since I can't fix the bad if I don't know about it!
Thank you so much to deantaco, and ilovemedia18 for your lovely reviews. :)