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Charlie was the last to disembark from the shuttle and she got her first real look at the legendary Enterprise. The loading bay was a bee hive of activity; everything was bright, sleek, and shiny. She made to follow Kirk and the other officers but was stopped by a large object being hoisted to the level above.
Charlie had to stop herself from snorting at the design and size of the torpedo, 'men always making things bigger to over compensate.' The torpedo was secured and she was free to follow the group. They hadn't gotten very far, and she watched as Kirk tried to reason with a man in a red uniform.
The man's accent sparked Charlie's memory, the infamous Montgomery Scott better known as 'Scotty' to his friends. She couldn't help but grin as Scotty ignored the weapons officer waiting for his signature, while he complained to Kirk. Charlie could see Scotty getting more and more worked up as Kirk didn't seem to share his opinion on the dangers of having unknown weapons of mass destruction on the ship.
"I'm not signing until I know what fuel these things have but he says," Scotty just points over his shoulder to the weapons officer behind him and the man answers on cue, "It's classified."
"It's classified," Charlie could hear the disbelief and irritation in the engineer's voice as he was being denied the information, "Then they won't be on the ship."
Charlie let Kirk deal with his upset Engineer, while she was no expert she had been there when Khan had been the early stages of designing the torpedoes and she was fairly certain he had been smart enough to build them so they wouldn't cause any problems. Although he probably hadn't planned on them being used to blow he and the planet he was on out to the sky.
Kirk and Scotty moved off and the torpedoes were loaded under Kirk's orders. Charlie scanned the hanger and found her target, a petite blond who was to curious for her own good.
Charlie grabbed the woman by the arm and dragged her away from the torpedo she was scanning.
"Lieutenant, let's have a little chat, shall we."
"Charlie… I mean Commander Archer, what are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing Lieutenant Wallace."
Charlie watched as Carol winced at the name and knew she had been caught.
"I… well I… the torpedoes."
Charlie took pity at the woman's floundering.
"Let's save some time here Lieutenant, you forged your transfer orders and lied to get aboard, all so you could get your scanners on the torpedoes your daddy hid from you."
Charlie must have been more angry than she realized as the blond's eyes got larger and the only she got was a meek nod in answer. Charlie had to decide what to do with the Lieutenant, did she tell Kirk and have Carol hauled off the ship for her own safety or did she let Carol stay, as she could use an ally and Carol's skills? Charlie took a deep breath and blew it out, feeling some of the tension leave her and made the decision.
"Alright this is what we're going to do. I won't say anything and you're going to stay out of the way, unless your expertise is needed. Anything you find in your scans you will notify me immediately. This could be both our asses if you're discovered do you understand Lieutenant?"
Carol quickly nodded and seemed relieved that she was going to stay.
"Now continue to work on the torpedoes and contact me as soon as you have something."
"Yes Ma'am and Charlie thank you."
Charlie rolled her eyes but called after the Lieutenant, "Carol, this mission is suicidal and dangerous for both our sakes just keep your head down, and don't call me Ma'am, it makes me sound old."
Carol smiled and gave Charlie a mock salute and moved off to continue her scans. Charlie just shook her head she would never understand Carol's fascination with weapons and anything that could explode but to each her own.
Charlie could use any and all information Carol managed to uncover, while she had been part of the early design phase Marcus had removed her from the project before the plans had been completed. The torpedoes themselves were almost the same design but much larger than they needed to be and Charlie wanted to know why. She began making her way to the bridge and hoped she hadn't just signed her friend's death warrant.
Charlie had just reached the transporter when a blur of curly hair, swearing in Russian ran past her while trying to straighten a red uniform shirt.
One name popped into Charlie's head, Chekov. It was the only logical conclusion, but why was he moving in the opposite direction of the bridge. Charlie quickly debated, Kirk wouldn't really need her until they reached the neutral zone and the young officer who had almost run her over seemed to be in a slight panic about something, which on a starship was never a good sign.
Charlie followed Chekov to Engineering and it became clear very quickly that he was now in charge. That left the question of where Mr. Scott had gotten too.
Charlie stayed in the background observing as the new Engineering Chief bounced from one side of Engineering to the other, getting reports and giving orders. For someone so obviously young and inexperienced at being in charge, Charlie had to admit Chekov was holding his own.
Charlie checked the engine read outs and everything seemed to be functioning properly. She was distracted when Kirk came over the ship's communications and began to debrief the crew on their mission. He acknowledged Pike's death and Charlie winced in realization that she was allowing an entire crew and more especially friends and colleagues of Pike to think their friend and mentor was dead. She really hoped keeping that secret wouldn't come back to bite her but until both Khan and Marcus were dealt with Pike wasn't safe. With Khan no one was safe until he got his vengeance or he was locked away but with Marcus, Pike had been one of the few higher ranking officers who could and would challenge Marcus's decisions.
Charlie smirked as Kirk paused and then contradicted the orders from Marcus. She couldn't help but feel satisfied, trust Kirk to follow his heart with a little bit of Spock's logic, to do the right thing.
"Alright, let's go get this bastard."
Charlie began to analyze the data on the planet and the last known location of Khan. There was very little chance they would manage to get in and out undetected and that meant they would have to fight. Charlie began forming plans and back up plans and back up plans to those plans, with her knowledge of Khan, Kirk, and her uneasy that Marcus was up to something left Charlie with the distinct feeling that nothing was going to go as planned and she would need to be ready.
Charlie decided she needed to talk to Kirk to tell him some of her ideas on how to capture 'Harrison' and to get a read on where his head was at, justice or revenge.
Charlie had just left Engineering when the Enterprise gave an almighty lurk and dropped out of warp. Alarms shrieked and steam billowed from several places. Charlie hauled herself up off the ground and ran back to Engineering.
"Chekov, did you break my ship?"
Charlie checked the read outs, there was a major breach coming from somewhere but the computer could not pinpoint it. Chekov must have dropped them out of warp to prevent the engine from going critical.
"Shit."
It was not a coincidence that the Enterprise had a malfunction and that they were now stranded in Klingon space. Whatever was wrong with the engine Charlie would bet Marcus had something to do with it. She quickly turned the alarms off, she couldn't hear herself think with them going off let alone communicate with anyone.
"I'm sure Mr. Chekov will have us ready to go by the time we get back."
Charlie was trying to find the breach when she realized what Kirk had said. She shouldn't have been surprised that he would continue with the mission even with the Enterprise sidelined, but damn it, she couldn't be in two places at once. She quickly called one of the engineers over and explained what she had been doing, giving them instructions on how to complete the scan, and how to stop the breach from expanding once they found it.
"Do you understand Ensign?"
"Yes Ma'am."
Charlie nodded and rushed off to find Kirk, she may not be able to stop him from doing something stupid but she could at least go as back up. With the Enterprise stranded until the breach could be secured, their only hope was to go in with a shuttle and hope they found and subdued Khan before the Klingons found and blew them out of the sky.
"Captain, I would like to volunteer."
"I think we're all full up there Commander, why don't you see what you can do to help in engineering."
Charlie couldn't be sure if Kirk was being truthful about the shuttle being full or trying to prevent her from coming because he didn't trust her skills. Either way it pissed her off.
"Listen Kirk, you have no idea what its like down there, you have no experience with Harrison, how he thinks, how he fights, and you have no experience in dealing with Klingons. Quite frankly, I call bullshit, and whether you like it or not I am your best chance at capturing Harrison alive and escape the planet without being blow out of the sky by Klingons. Now where can I find suitable clothing?"
The look on the Captain's face made it very hard for Charlie to keep a serious no nonsense look on her face. It was very evident that Kirk was not used to someone calling him out and turning the tables on him. His mouth was open slightly and his eyebrows were raised in what Charlie could only assume was disbelief and perhaps amusement. He seemed to come to a decision and passed Charlie a bag. She opened it and pulled out a pair of leather pants, a corset top, and leather jacket in her size.
Where Kirk had got the clothing Charlie was pretty sure she didn't want to know, but it was clear that Kirk had planned on her coming with but had wanted to see what she would do when he denied her. The clothing was good quality and would protect her from the elements but still allow her to move comfortably. Charlie stuffed the clothes back in the bag and nodded her head in thanks to Kirk, moving off to change.
Charlie was strapping herself in to one of the three seats in the back of the shuttle when she heard Kirk telling two men to change out of their Starfleet uniforms. When they were attacked, there was no if, but when, there could be nothing linking them to Starfleet. Not only to protect Starfleet but also the Enterprise, which was sitting defenseless in the middle of Klingon space. Charlie approved of the method to Kirk's madness. To everyone who didn't know him, he was a wild card, making plans as he went and flying to the seat of his pants, but Charlie could see the intelligence and strategy that Kirk used. While he was a bit of a wild card, who followed his heart and gut more than his head, he also wasn't stupid enough to ignore the talents and skills of his fellow officers. Kirk might be the Captain but each and every crew member had something to contribute and Kirk would use it to his advantage.
Charlie nodded to the two huge men as they crammed themselves into the back of the ship. Kirk, Spock, and Uhura taking the controls at the front, Charlie had to stop herself from smirking, the brain, the heart, and the woman who keep them in check. The shuttle took off and Charlie shook her head, she needed to focus if they were going to capture Khan and make it out alive.
Charlie looked out the shuttle window as they left the docking bay of the Enterprise, and her only thoughts were, 'Into the darkness, into the deep. May they all come back whole on the other side."
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