Jamie

"I know that you and the captain are… close, Doctor Kirk but I cannot allow you to go on an away mission, even if it's only to another ship." Commander One must have some nerve, pulling people off of Chris' list for approved personnel to go to the Hernandez. Jamie wasn't blind and she knew the older woman had her sights set on the captain; she can't really blame her. "We have engineers slated to assist with the Hernandez's repairs. I'm sorry if this inconveniences you in some way, but we lost officers on that ship and letting civilians go over there to socialize is out of the question," the older woman continued. Dr. Loh, who was standing next to Jamie, glared at Commander One's implication.

Before Jamie could speak, Chris entered the room. "Commander, that's enough," Chris' voice left no room for argument, he was not happy. Boyce had come in behind Chris, taking in the scene; the doctor looked at One and shook his head. The engineers that were waiting with Jamie seemed to have let out a collective breath. "If you have an issue with Doctor Kirk being assigned to MY away team, you take it up with me. You don't pull her off the roster; you sure as hell don't do it without my knowledge." The look on his face was one that Jamie had never seen before; it was a mix of commanding and pissed off; it was hot.

"Well, with all due respect, sir. When it comes to Doctor Kirk, you don't think very clearly." Everyone did a double take; she really shouldn't have said that.

"Lieutenants, Ensign, give us the room for a moment. Doctor Loh, you can stay if it's alright with Jamie." Boyce instructed the two engineers and two transporter techs. The four officers looked at their captain and first officer before making their way out of the room, Loh looked at Jamie, who told him to stay. Boyce was clearly there to play referee as he moved to stand between the two senior officers. For a moment, no one said anything.

Chris

"There must be a really good reason that you changed the roster for my away team without notifying me and I can't wait to hear it, Commander." Chris was pissed off; he had noticed her advances and the way she looked at Jamie when she thought they weren't paying attention. He never said anything because she maintained her professionalism, until today.

"Doctor Kirk's presence on the Hernandez is unnecessary, sir. They have enough to deal with over there without having to play host to your girlfriend and her friend." Jamie and Loh did their best not to look offended but he could tell that they were; Chris really wanted to strangle the Starfleet officer in front of him.

"That was not your decision to make. Doctors Kirk and Loh are among the best in their field, which is damn impressive considering that they are both under 21 years old. The issue on the Hernandez involves the ship's warp core. What kind of idiot would I be if I don't let the warp specialists help with the repairs? They volunteered to go over there so that Shran didn't have to send all of his best people." The look on One's face told them all that she didn't consider that. "You went against my orders without even bothering to let me know. What's more, you let your personal bias affect your professional judgement. What Doctor Kirk and I are to each other is none of your business." He took a deep breath, "And not that you needed to know, Commander, but Doctor Kirk is expected on the Hernandez anyway for her mother's memorial."

"There aren't any Kirk's listed as casualties, sir." One can't be that dense, can she? Chris could tell that Jamie was fed up, she rolled her eyes and spoke.

"My mother got remarried when I was a kid. Her last name hasn't been 'Kirk' for ten years. The Hernandez planned to have her service yesterday but Admiral Archer told them that I was on the Yorktown, so they decided to wait for me. As for my relationship with the captain, all you had to do was ask. I've known Chris for a long time; he would never put his personal feelings above his duty to the ship or the crew. Obviously, that's not the same for you." It's not like Jamie to jump into a conversation between Chris and One when it involved the ship, but since this was apparently about her, Chris let her continue. "I get that you don't like me but to be fair, you never gave me a chance. You don't really know me… or Chris. Now, if that's all, the Hernandez is expecting us. You're right, they have a lot to worry about over there; us not showing up shouldn't be one of those things."

"Boyce, tell the others to come back in. We will have words later, Commander. Dismissed." One left the room as the engineers and techs returned. Chris was upset at his first officer but he had a job to do.

"You know, that whole angry commander thing you got going on right now is really hot, Chris. Just saying," Jamie whispered as she stepped on the pad. He couldn't help but laugh when Loh stood next to Jamie.

"I thought you were kidding when you said she wanted your man. Hell, if he played on my team, I would want him too," the other engineer whispered just loud enough for Chris to hear.

Jamie

Winona's memorial was sad for the crew members who knew her. Jamie spoke with some of them and heard stories about her mother. Chris stood next to her the whole time as they listened to people talk about the honorable, brave and dedicated Starfleet officer that her mother was. As soon as it was over, Jamie made her way to engineering to help Loh and the other engineers with figuring out what happened to the warp core.

"How the hell did this happen?" Jamie and Loh looked at each other in confusion; the ship's antimatter containment system went off line but they couldn't find any trace of a malfunction, the system had been turned off. The whole ship was lucky as hell that Winona caught it when she did, the radiation would have eventually killed everyone on the ship, as opposed to only five of them.

"Something ain't right, Kirk." Loh was scared, Jamie could tell just by looking at him, "We should tell the captains."

"Yea, we might want to give the Yorktown a heads up, too." As they made their way out of the Hernandez's engineering department, Jamie grabbed her PADD. She set up an external encryption for the ship's warp systems. Then she sent a message to One.

To: Commander One, Jennifer. NI082-7266NDO. XO. USS Yorktown
From: Jay T. One
Designation: Personal

Hey Jenn, I know I told you that I would comm but we had an issue at work today. Something happened with the system we were working on, it's like someone is just trying to mess with us. There is no way that any of this should have happened. I think John and I can figure it out, but I'm not sure that whoever is in the system is done yet.

Anyway, I was talking to Erika today. I think she got herself in a bit of trouble with some new guy; you know how that goes. Maybe you should ask mom and dad to talk to her. I better get back to it. Hubby is busy but he says hi.

Take care of yourself and the kiddies.

Love you, sis
Jay

"You think she'll read it. I mean, she doesn't actually like you," Loh couldn't help but ask.

Jamie chuckled as they entered the turbolift, "that's why I used one of Chris' codes and sent it to the bridge. Even if she wanted to, she can't ignore that, she's too good of an officer."

Jennifer

"Commander, there's a message coming through the ship's priority system." The communications officer notified her.

"Send it to my PADD, Lieutenant." Jennifer read the message, she had no idea how this seemingly personal missive was sent through the bridge, or why it was addressed to her since she was an only child. It was when she noticed that it was encoded with Captain Pike's electronic signature, that she reread it and understood want the message meant. According to Kirk, the warp system malfunction was intentional and the Hernandez is in danger. Judging by the wording of her message, it was done by someone with access to the ship's systems; a traitor. As much as Jennifer wanted to chalk this up to Kirk starting a hoax or a joke, she knew the daughter of two dead Starfleet officers wouldn't consider this funny, "Lieutenant, get me HQ."

Chris

"What are you trying to say, Doctors?" Abbott asked. Chris could tell that the other captain didn't believe the young engineers when they told them that the ship was in danger. "What makes you so sure that it wasn't just an accident? I know your mother died but you can't go blaming one of my crew members."

"What happened with the warp core is impossible." Chris watched on as Jamie spoke, "All six, independent systems were shut down at the same time, the only way that could happen is if someone did it on purpose. Even in battle, something like this happening to the containment systems would never happen, that's the whole point of the system's design. I'm telling you, someone with advanced engineering and computer programming knowledge turned them all off."

"The fact that the engineering consoles on the bridge weren't alerted also adds credence to our suspicion." Loh looked Abbott in the eyes, "Those alarms are ingrained into the ship. They can't even be disabled, someone had to write a code to turn them off. We may be young, Captain Abbott, but we are the best at what we do." Before anyone could say anything else, the room was plunged into darkness. When the emergency lights failed to activate, they knew they were in trouble.

"Guess this means you owe them an apology, Abbott," Chris muttered. Getting out of the captain's ready room was a simple affair; Loh popped the magnetic lock and pushed the door open.

"Sit rep, Lieutenant Commander." Captain Abbott's crew hard at work trying to get power back.

"Life Support and sickbay are online but they have their own power, everything else that isn't portable is dark. No shields, no weapons, and no communications," the officer reported.

"Am I to assume that we're sitting ducks out here?" Abbott asked his first officer. He looked at Chris in the dark, "We have no way to give Yorktown a heads up."

"Already done. Sent One a coded message before we got up here," Jamie said with a small amount of smugness. Chris smiled, that's his girl.

"We're all alive but I think it's only because the person who did this needs us to be," Loh stated into the dark. Chris thought for a few minutes, whatever the reason for disabling the ship; the person responsible wants them alive for a reason. He or she has to be here somewhere.

"Engineering," Chris, Jamie, and Loh all said at the same time.

Abbott didn't understand, "What about engineering?"

Jamie answered the captain's question, "That's where this person is, has to be. It's the only place, aside the bridge that has access to everything. If I was going to take over the ship, that's where I would work from. You can gain access to everything, including flight control." Everyone on the bridge took a moment to absorb what Jamie had just told them.

Captain Abbott broke the silence, "Have any idea about how to get control of my ship back, Doctor Kirk?"

"I might have a few."

Jamie

The plan was simple, use the Jefferies to get their team of five to engineering, Jamie and Loh would turn everything back on while Chris and two security officers would arrest the traitor. Once they got to engineering, they realized that it wasn't one person but three. Carver and Salinski were engineers and Thomas was a computer programmer. The trio had become disillusioned with Starfleet; they had sent the Hernandez's location to the Romulan Star Empire, hoping to show their alliance with the R.S.E. and defect. Salinski and Thomas surrendered but Carver put up a fight. Everything was alright until he got the upper hand on Chris and pulled a knife.

Jamie didn't even think about it when she grabbed Chris' phaser from the ground near her feet and shot the traitor, the weapon was on stun but since Carver was standing too close to a ledge, he fell over the railing behind him into the main shuttlebay and died. She wanted to feel bad that she killed this man but she couldn't, Jamie had killed on Tarsus to protect herself and her kids, there was no way she was going to feel bad for killing someone to protect Chris.

They were all grateful that they had managed to get everything back up before the enemy ship showed up. The Yorktown headed the Romulans off and the Hernandez backed them up. Together the two ships drive the Romulan vessel back into their space.

"I was wrong, doctors. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you sooner." Well, hot damn, Abbott really did apologize. "Your mother's effects have already been sent over to the Yorktown. I think she would be proud. On behalf of everyone on the Hernandez, thank you." Jamie didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything. Would her mother be proud? Did she know anything about Jamie at all? Jamie's thought were cut short when Chris walked over to her.

"Let's go home, J."

Jennifer

"I owe you an apology." Jennifer felt like such a bitch after the incident in the transporter room a few days ago, and she felt even worse with the issue on the Hernandez, "I was out of line and disrespectful. I'm sorry for my behavior. I'm also sorry about your mom, I'm sure I didn't help matters." She sought Kirk out and found her in one of the Jefferies tubes hard at work. After a talk with Captain Pike and a quick rundown of the events on the other ship, Jennifer spent the last couple of days thinking about her thoughts and actions towards the younger woman. Kirk made a valid point; Jennifer never gave her a chance. "I know you don't have to forgive me, but if you'll give me a chance, I would like to try to get to know you."

Kirk looked at the older woman, "Commander, I already forgave you. Life is too short to hold petty grudges; I know that better than most. I'm still a little upset, but only because you questioned Chris' character and he's one of the most honorable people I've ever met; gets it from his dad." Jennifer shouldn't be surprised that Jamie knew the captain's father. Jamie continued, "I was going to head to the lounge later; you're more than welcome to join. Loh and Hauser are going to play a game of chess, I play winner."

Jennifer smiled, "I'd love to. I didn't know you played chess."

A smile crossed Kirk's features, "Yea, a friend taught me when I was eleven. I have a game with Charlie, Chris' dad; it's been going for a year, who knows when we'll finish it."

"Can I ask you a question?" Jennifer waited until Jamie nodded before she continued, "Why did you send that message to me? You could have sent to Boyce or Shran, they wouldn't have questioned it." Jamie put down the tool she was working with and faced Jennifer.

"Because you're a good officer, I knew once you realized what i was saying but not saying, that you would do whatever you could to protect your captain and the crew of your sister ship."

Charlie

"Hey, old man." Charlie was happy for a chance to talk to his son.

"Long time no speak. How's life out there? I have it on good authority that you had an interesting week."

Chris chuckled at his father, "Let me guess, Jamie talked to Hobelia."

"Yep, you know them, they talk about everything. Everything." Charlie watched as his son put together his meaning.

"Oh… ooh. Do I even want to know what she said?" When Jamie comm'ed and asked to talk to Hobelia, Charlie didn't think anything of it. The two women reminded him of an aunt looking out for her niece; talking about everything you wouldn't tell a parent. Everything was normal until both women let out uncharacteristic squeals.

"I didn't ask for details, son. What you and Jamie get up to behind closed doors is between you two." The look of mortification on Chris' face was priceless. "This isn't why you comm'ed me, is it? What's up?"

Chris

"A man can't talk to his old man? I just wanted to hear your voice. Its been a crazy week, Jamie's mother was K.I.A. and her ship was almost destroyed by traitors and Romulans with us on board." Chris could tell that his father wasn't sure which topic to address first.

"What happened?" Charlie listened as Chris explained how Winona died and what Jamie had said when he told her. Then Chris told him what he could about what happened on the Hernandez.

Charlie leveled a look at Chris, "If you don't marry that girl one day, I'll kick your ass, son."

"Why is Charlie gonna kick your ass?" Chris looked up to see the topic of discussion walk into the room. "What did you do, Chris? Hey, Charlie." she said as walked over to Chris and sat on his leg; he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"I didn't do anything, yet," he told her.

"Just asking his intentions, is all, kiddo." Jamie says she could see where Chris got all his charm from every time she talks to Charlie.

"Shouldn't you be asking me what my intentions are; I mean, he is your son?"

Charlie laughed, "Usually, but for you, I can make an exception."

"What would I do without you, Charlie?" Jamie asked with a smile.

"Hey now, no teaming up on me. You have Hobelia, dad, you can't have my girl too." Charlie and Jamie shared a look before bursting into laughter, Chris eventually joined in.

"You know, Hobelia is Team Jamie too, so I guess you're out of luck son. Now, as much as I miss talking to you both, it's morning here, I have to get to HQ. I'll talk with you later. Love you, kids."

They both smiled at Charlie, "Love you, too."

Chris looked at Jamie after closing out his console. "I'm gonna go take a shower. Wanna waste water with me, J?"

"Lead the way, Captain."