September 2257

Amanda

"I think he likes me." Jamie and Hobelia invited her to join them for lunch, they had finished eating and baby Charlie was the center of their attention. Jamie smiled at her son, who was in Amanda's arms.

"Maybe he's figured out that you're Spock's mom. Ever since he was born, he's been Spock's little buddy." She found that to be the cutest thing, Spock wrapped around this small child's finger. She was on-planet to attend diplomatic functions with Sarek but she enjoyed getting to spend time in San Francisco. "You know, he's getting promoted. Between his work on the Kobayashi Maru, his performance on the Yorktown's last tour and the multiple classes that he's teaching, he's a rock star. I'm surprised it took the brass so long to do it." Jamie told Amanda that Spock should've been promoted before her but Spock disagreed, "You saved many lives, Jamison. Your promotion is a reflection of those actions."

"I agree with my son," Hobelia nodded at Amanda's statement, Jamie had been there to save her ship multiple times, not promoting her would have caused an up-roar, even with the Vulcan Ambassador. She may not have realized it, but Sarek was interested in her career almost as much as he was with Spock's. After the dinner they shared, Jamie looked at Spock and Sarek and said, "It's not worth it, avoiding each other. I would kill for five minutes with my parents and my brother, Sam. They're dead, I won't ever get a chance, don't waste yours." Spock and Sarek spent a lot of time after that burying their issues with each other, it wasn't perfect but they were talking to each other again.

Amanda was pulled from her thoughts by Hobelia, "We have company, ladies." She watched as Jamie did a quick scan of the room with her eyes.

"Reporter at the bar, I see him," the young woman said calmly. The three women took care of the bill and got little Charlie ready to leave. Jamie shared a look with Hobelia, who took the small child. Jamie walked over to the reporter. So, this is what Gary meant when he said she was 'silently vicious.'

Jamie

She kept calm as she spoke to the man, "If you took holos of my son, delete them now. You even think about releasing them and Starfleet will bury you. As I'm sure you've figured out, that's the Vulcan Ambassador's wife, you do not want problems with them either. You can say you saw us at lunch all you want but my son is off-limits by the Federation mandate protecting children from media exposure." The guy just looked at her, Jamie was hoping he wasn't an idiot. After a moment, he nodded and deleted some holos on his PADD. "You want to know what we were talking about?"

The guy looked like he won the lottery, "An exclusive, really?"

"Well, I don't know how exclusive this is. We were discussing Spock, the Ambassador and Lady Amanda's son. He and I were classmates at the academy, he's also a friend and colleague. He's getting promoted today and his mother is very proud of all the things that he's done. We were also talking about his interactions with my son, Spock is teaching him to speak Vulcan. That's all, nothing earth-shattering."

"I hate to break it to you Lieutenant Commander Kirk, but just about everything you do is news," he told her. It saddened her to think about that.

"There are more important things in this universe then me." With that she left the reporter and joined Hobelia, Amanda and Charlie outside.

January 2258

Chris

Chris was in heaven. Jamie went back to teaching at the academy while the Enterprise was in its final stages; she went to Riverside a few times a month but she was usually home to tuck Charlie in. Chris loved to watch the two of them interact. Charlie was so much like his mama, walking and talking, always trying to learn stuff. To him, it sounded like his son was just speaking gibberish but Jamie just smiled and told him it was a mix of English, Standard and Vulcan. Chris thought about having Spock or Jamie help improve his Vulcan, at this rate, he's going to be the only one that doesn't speak it well.

At two years old, Charlie didn't sit still for very long, except when Spock was around. It was normal to spend a Saturday running around with Charlie and his 'big cousin' Joanna. Watching the two of them was like Jamie and Cody 2.0. The little girl wouldn't let anybody mess with Charlie on the playground, even though she was five years older than him, she liked playing with him more than kids her own age. He even watched as McCoy turned into a ball of mush when the kids were around, Chris was sure that's what he looked like too.

Baby Charlie's birthday was epic in its awesomeness; everyone went out to the house in Mojave. Jamie, Cody and Zane ran around by the lake with little Charlie and Joanna, while Chris, big Charlie, McCoy, Hobelia, Spock and Scotty watched from the patio. "That laddie is a mini-version of his mama. Ye watch, he'll be a genius just like she is." Everyone had to agree, Chris was already beginning to see it, Charlie was the smartest two-year-old he'd ever seen, not that he'd been around any other two year old. Jamie saw it to but she refused to have him tested, "I want him to have a childhood, we can test him in a few years. He won't ever get this time back, neither will we." As much as he wanted to argue with her about it, he couldn't; she had a very valid point, if their son was as smart as they all thought, they could wait a little while to get him in school.

"…goodnight stars, goodnight air, goodnight noises everywhere." Jamie kissed the sleeping child on the head, turned the lights down and made her way to Chris who was standing in the hall.

"Why doesn't he fall asleep that fast for me?" he asked.

Jamie chuckled, "I don't know, maybe it's because I have an effect on Pike men." That was true, his dad adored her, he's always been in love with her and baby Charlie was a mama's boy.

Chris kissed her neck and whispered, "Wanna have an effect on one Pike man, right now?"

"What did you have in mind?"

March 2258

Jamie

"What seems to be the issue, Cadet Uhura?" Jamie had happened upon the cadet as she made her way through campus.

"It's nothing ma'am," Uhura sighed.

"It's never nothing," Jamie said. She knew that Uhura was a damn good cadet, even Spock was singing her praises as the aide for the advanced phonology and advanced acoustical engineering courses … at least as far as a Vulcan would sing praises.

"I was in the communications lab last night and I detected a message from Klingon space. forty-seven Klingon ships were destroyed by an unknown Romulan vessel near one of their prison planets. The officer assigned to the lab ignored me when I tried to bring it up," the cadet told her. The wheels in Jamie's head began turning.

"That's not nothing, Uhura. I'll bet that you recorded the file," she said to the other woman. When Uhura nodded, Jamie continued, "Can you send it to me?" The cadet entered something into her PADD and a new message lit up Jamie's screen. "There's something here, you did a good job. I'll let you know if I find anything, ok?"

Uhura smiled, "Thanks for listening, ma'am."

Jamie looked at her, "It's no problem, besides, I've been friends with Spock a long time. If he trusts your judgment, there's no reason for me not to."

Leonard

The call to muster came out of nowhere. Leonard made his way to the shuttle bay to get his orders, even though he was sure that he was on the Enterprise. As much as he hates the idea of space, Jamie was his best friend, he figured he could handle being up there if she was around. There had been some major changes in his life in the last few months, the biggest was the fact that he had custody of Joanna.

Jocelyn got remarried and –surprise!- the new guy didn't like kids, so instead of dumping the guy, she tossed her daughter aside. He was so glad that Jamie was on his side because when she found out, she was beyond pissed, "How could someone not love Joanna? She's not even my kid and I would do anything for her." That cemented their friendship.

Between her and Chris, they helped move him into a bigger place, got Joanna into school and if he was working while she wasn't in school, there was a list of people that volunteered to babysit; Joanna being with one of the Pikes, Jamie's cousin, Scotty or Spock was common. Right now, she was with Cody and Zane, who were also watching baby Charlie. He was pulled from his thoughts by the shuttle officer telling him what he already knew, he was going to the Enterprise, so were Uhura, Gaila, Riley, Sulu, and Chekov.

"Did you know? Where we were assigned?" Gaila asked as they made their way to their assigned shuttle.

He shook his head, "Me, Riley,Chekov and Uhura, yes. You and Sulu, no."

Chris

"Commander Kirk?" he didn't have to be specific, she knew what he was asking.

It was time to get out of here, the emergency signal from Vulcan meant that all the ships at Starbase One were being sent. All officers in the area were recalled and the first and second class cadets -third and fourth year- were all activated. Chris tried to keep tabs of where everyone went. Jamie, Spock, McCoy, Scotty and Kevin were here with him but Big Charlie was on the Hood and Gary was on the newly repaired Farragut.

"Sir, Engineering reports ready to launch," Jamie notified him from the tactical station.

"Thank you Ms. Kirk." He made an address to everyone on the bridge, "Ladies and gentlemen, the maiden voyage of our newest flagship deserves more pomp and circumstance that we can afford today. The christening will just have to be our reward for a safe return. Carry on." Chris hit the control that allowed him to talk to the whole ship, "All decks, this is Captain Pike. Prepare for immediate departure." He looked to Sulu, "Helm, thrusters."

The young pilot responded, "Captain, dock control reports ready. Thrusters fired. Separating from space dock." Kid was doing a good job, for a rookie. "The fleet's cleared space dock, Captain. All ships ready for warp."

Chris issued his order, "Set course for Vulcan."

And Sulu responded with an "Aye-aye, captain. Course laid in."

"Maximum warp. Punch it." He was ready to go, but nothing happened. He looked at Sulu, "Lieutenant Sulu, What's the problem?" Hikaru looked confused.

"I'm not sure what's wrong here, sir," the pilot said.

"The external inertial dampener," Jamie and Spock said at the same time, if it wasn't for the situation, Chris would have laughed. Jamie looked at the helmsman.

"They're new for this ship, you have to disengage them," she told the other officer. Sulu turned back to helm control and punched in a sequence.

"Thanks, ma'am. Ready, Sir," Sulu said.

Chris smiled, "Let's punch it."

Jamie

"Sir, we should slow down, this isn't a natural disaster." Jamie listened as Chekov read the report from Vulcan, this fit with the conditions of her birth and Uhura's audio from the lab made a lot more sense. Chris looked at her but Spock spoke up.

"What do you mean?" the Vulcan asked.

"The only other instance of a lightning storm in space, happened the day I was born when the Kelvin was attacked by Romulans. That ship, which had advanced and formidable weaponry disappeared and hasn't been seen in twenty-five years. The attack on the Kelvin took place on the edge of Klingon space, at twenty-three hundred hours last night, Lieutenant Uhura intercepted a transmission, forty-seven Klingon vessels were destroyed by a Romulan ship, a massive ship, near Rura Penthe, their prison colony. I think this is the same ship that destroyed the Kelvin, if I'm right, and I usually am, Vulcan is under attack." Jamie could see the wheels turning in the officers around her; Chris was a damn good tactical officer himself who studied the Kelvin and Spock was logical, almost to a fault.

"Scan Vulcan space. Check for any transmissions in Romulan." Chris had turned to the communications officer, Hawkins.

"Sir, I'm not sure I can distinguish the Romulan language from Vulcan," the lieutenant told him.

"Call Lieutenant Uhura up here. Kirk, your Romulan and Vulcan are both good, help him until she arrives," Chris ordered. Jamie nodded and went to assist Hawkins, ignoring the shocked looks that some of the crew threw her way. Chris continued to give orders, "Hannity, hail the Farragut or the Hood." Soon, Jamie's last ship was on-screen, Chris didn't give them a chance to speak, "Chenowyth, you need to drop out of warp right now. It's a trap." The other officer looked at Chris, he was fit to argue, but seeing Jamie, stopped him. He didn't get a chance to issue the order.

"Too late, we just got here. Oh my G…" Chenowyth stated but the communication cut off.

"Shields up, red alert," Chris ordered. Jamie really hated being right.

Chris

"Captain, we're being hailed," Uhura called from behind him. Shields were shot, there was damage to multiple decks, if this ship was going to kill them, get it over with.

He nodded, "On screen."

"Hello," The Romulan appeared on the screen. Chris was not in the mood.

"I am Captain Christopher Pike. To whom am I speaking?" he asked.

"Hi Christopher. I am Nero." It's like this Romulan doesn't have a care in the world. This was the same captain that destroyed the Kelvin. Chris glanced at his wife and she was not happy.

"You've declared war against the Federation. Withdraw and I'll agree to arrange a conference with Romulan leadership at a neutral location," Chris said. No matter how bad he wanted to just kill this person and get it over with, he had a job to do.

Nero looked at him, "We don't speak for the Empire. We stand apart. As does your Vulcan crew member. Isn't that right, Spock?" Everyone on the bridge was shocked by that. If this guy knew anything about Spock, then he would know that the young Vulcan wasn't even close to being alone. Spock stepped away from his station.

"Pardon me, I do not believe that you and I are acquainted," Spock said.

"We're not. Not yet," Nero said. Huh? Chris didn't know what to think. The Romulan continued, "Spock, there's something I would like you to see. Captain Pike, your transporter has been disabled. As you can see, by the rest of the armada, you have no choice. You will man a shuttle and come aboard the Narada for negotiations. That is all." Nero cut the transmission. The silence on the bridge was deafening.

Jamie

"He wants something. He's going to torture you, then he's going to kill you. But you know that," she said with as much calm as she could muster. There was so much she wanted to say but she couldn't do it here. Chris looked up at her, she had moved to standing next to the chair. "We can figure something else out, sir." It didn't help that Spock agreed with her.

"Your survival is unlikely, sir," Spock said. As she watched Chris think, no doubt, about their options.

Jamie continued, "We gain nothing by diplomacy. Going over to that ship is a mistake." Chris stood up.

"We have officers with explosives training, who aren't you?" he asked her.

She nodded, "Olsen is one of Scotty's guys. Hendorff is in security. Those are my top two." Chris looked to the helm.

"Mister Sulu, as I understand it, you have advanced hand-to-hand combat training," Chris said,

The lieutenant nodded, "Yes, Sir."

"Uhura, have Olsen and Hendorff meet me in the shuttle bay with demo gear," he told the communications officer before looking at her, Spock and Sulu, "You three are with me. Chekov you have the con." Jamie knew how Chris thought, if she had to guess, he was going to drop a team on that drill while heading to the other ship. What if he doesn't come back? Fear gripped her that she may never see him again. His voice brought her out of her mind. "Without transporters we can't beam off the ship. We can't help Vulcan, we can't do our jobs. Sulu, Olsen and Hendorff are going to space-jump to that drill and disable it. As soon as it's down, beam them and anybody else we can up. Contact Starfleet and let them know what's happening." Jamie had started a scan for life-signs when they dropped out of warp, as soon as the transporters were ready, there were a few dozen people already locked in.

"Kirk, I'm leaving you in command." What?

She looked at him, "The brass is going to fucking love that."

Chris shook his head, "You let me worry about them. It's you or Spock and you have more experience. Spock, I'm advancing you to XO. You'll keep her from doing anything too crazy." A thought was nagging at her.

"What about you?" she asked.

He smiled, "You'll come get me," he paused, "If you can't, then you do whatever you have to do to get home to Charlie."

"Understood, Captain," she whispered.

"I'm not the Captain, you are," Chris said. The doors closed, her husband on the other side of them. She looked at Spock.

"Go to the transporter room. As soon as they're on-line, go get your family. I have a very bad feeling about this," she told her friend. Spock nodded and made his way to transporter room one while she headed back to the bridge. "Don't die on me, sweetheart," she whispered while in the turbolift.