"Is that…?" The enemy ship hailed them. Jamie could hear Bones but she was too focused on the man on-screen.
Pike addressed him, "I'm Captain Christopher Pike of the Enterprise. To whom am I speaking?"
The Romulan looked smug, "Hi Christopher. I'm Nero."
Nero. The man who has hunted her nightmares since she figured out who he was. The man responsible for her father's death. The man who shaped her life from the very first moments of it. Pike must've known what she was thinking because he looked at her before looked back at the screen.
"You've declared war against the Federation. Withdraw and I'll agree to arrange a conference with Romulan leadership at a neutral location..." Pike told him.
Nero looked at Pike, "I do not speak for the Empire. We stand apart. As does your Vulcan crew member. Isn't that right, Spock?" Huh? What the hell did they want with Spock. He was the most logical and honest person she knew.
Spock stepped forward, "Pardon me, I do not believe that you and I are acquainted." Nero glared –yes, glared- at Spock.
"No, we're not. Not yet. 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 your armada, you have no choice. You will man a shuttle and come aboard the Narada for negotiations. That is all," the Romulan told them. There was silence on the bridge of the Enterprise after the transmission cut out. Jamie took a deep breath and stood from her seat.
"Sir, they'll kill you. You know that," she told Pike.
Spock walked over to stand next to her, "Your survival is unlikely."
"We gain nothing by diplomacy. Going over to that ship is a mistake. It's suicide," she told the man who spent the last decade looking out for her.
Spock backed her up, "I agree with Kirk, you should rethink your strategy."
Pike looked at them, "I get it. You two agreeing with each other is scary, by the way. Mister Sulu, you're with me. You too, Kirk." She nodded as Pike turned to Uhura, "Have Engineer Olson meet us in the shuttle bay. Chekov, you have the con."
The young Russian nodded, "Aye, Keptin." Jamie touched Bones hand on her way past him.
"Get back to medical," she whispered to her fiance.
He nodded, "Be careful, Jim." She gave him a sad smile and followed Pike into the turbolift.
"Without transporters, we can't beam off the ship. We can't assist Vulcan or the other crews. We can't do our jobs. Miss Kirk, Mister Sulu and Engineer Olson will space-jump from the shuttle. You'll land on that machine they've lowered into the atmosphere that's scrambling our gear, you'll get inside, you'll disable it and then you'll beam back to the ship. Mister Spock, I'm leaving you in command of the Enterprise. Once we have transport and comms back up, you'll contact Starfleet and report what the hell's going on out here. Kirk, I'm advancing you to first officer," Pike told them.
Jamie laughed, "You're kidding, right sir?"
He shook his head, "I'm not. No one on this ship has your experience, I'd leave you in charge if I could but the Admiralty would have a fit." Jamie decided that it wasn't worth arguing over but he knew what she was thinking.
She looked at him, "We take out that drill, what happens to you?"
He smirked, "You'll have to come and get me. Be careful with the ship, Spock, she's brand new." The doors to the lift closed and took the three command officers to the shuttle bay.
Jamie, Sulu and Olson were pulling on the environmental suits for their jump. Something was nagging Jamie, "Sir… Chris."
Pike looked at her, "Yea, kid." She hasn't called him Chris in almost ten years.
"I never thanked you for finding me… both times." Jamie remembered that night in the bar like it was yesterday. The thing about feeling worthless; was that most people didn't even bother trying. He was one of the few people who cared enough to say something.
"That bullshit doesn't work on me, kid. I know better. Is this what your father died for or Hoshi. I mean, you walked away from that hell for what. So, you went to school like you promised, but what are you gonna do with it? Waste it fighting in bars? Enlist in Starfleet." Jamie laughed, "Why would I do that, I hate Starfleet." He shook his head, "Except you don't. You wouldn't talk to me if you did. You wouldn't work here at the yard if you did. It's what you want everybody to think." She glared at him, "They'll never see me. It will always be about the great George Kirk. I'm just good PR." Pike looked at her, "You want them to see, you have to make them see. Show them the Jamie Kirk that I know, the brave, brilliant girl who would do anything to protect people. Make them remember that you are more than his name, because you are. You are too good to waste your life this way. My shuttle leaves at oh-eight hundres from hanger four. Your father was the captain of a starship for twelve minutes. He saved eight hundred lives, including your mother's and yours. I dare you to do better, Jamie."
Pike smiled at her, "Best thing I've ever managed to find, if I do say so myself." She was scared that he was gonna die and she told him as much. Pike touched her shoulder, "I'll do my best to stay alive, kid."
Jamie nodded as they loaded up on the shuttle. Jamie sat down and listened as Scotty's voice came over the comms, shuttle eighty-nine, you are clear…"
She looked at Olson, "You got the charges, right?"
He smiled, "Oh yea. I can't wait to kick some Romulan ass." Jamie nodded, at least he's enthusiastic.
Sulu nudged her, "You good, Jamie?"
"Crazy Romulan who killed my father is doing something to Vulcan and is about to do something to Pike. I'm just peachy," she said.
"It'll be okay, Pike's tougher than we are," Sulu said to her.
"Hiri, if this goes south…"
He cut her off, "Then we're going down together, sister." They bumped fists, and smiled. Pike called 'pre-jump.' The three officers secured their helmets and stood.
Jamie heard someone from the other ship over the comm, "Shuttle commander, you are clear from Enterprise..."
Pike spoke over it, "Alright, lady and gentlemen, we're approaching the drop zone. You have one shot to land on that platform. They may have defenses, so pull your chute as late as possible. Remember the Enterprise won't be able to beam you back until you've turned off that drill. Good luck." Pike released the hatch and launched them towards the planet. This was a wild ride and Jamie was keeping track of their descent.
"Olson, pull your chute," Sulu told him.
He was being an idiot, "No, not yet. Not yet." Damn.
"Olson, pull it," she called. He was too late and he got pulled under the drill, Jamie landed a second after that and she promptly found herself fighting a big, ugly Romulan. Don't fall off the drill, don't fall of the drill, don't fall of the drill. No matter how many times she said it, it didn't work. She took the guy over but she was left hanging on to the ledge.
"Gimme your hand," Sulu reached over and pulled her up. He looked at her, "Olsen had the charges."
Jamie nodded, "I know."
"So, what do we do?" Sulu asked her. Jamie ran the options through her head, she picked up a riffle and pointed it at the drill's components and started shooting.
"This." Sulu followed suit and eventually, they killed the drill. Jamie and Sulu took a second to breath before something came hurling past them, "Kirk to Enterprise. They just launched something at the planet through the hole they just drilled. Please tell me that you copy Enterprise?"
Uhura's voice was the best thing she's ever heard, "I hear you, Kirk." Jamie and Sulu smiled.
"Beam us out of here," she said knowing the comm attached to her suit picked it up.
Whoever was operating the transporter came over the comms, "Stand by, locking on your signal." Not fast enough because the drill started moving and Sulu got knocked off.
"Hiri!" Jamie did the only thing she could think of, she jumped for him. "Hold on," Jamie caught up to him and wrapped her arms around him. "I gotcha, pull my chute." Sulu hit the controls for her parachute to open but it wasn't built to hold this much weight and the whole thing snapped. Jamie could hear Chekov in her ear but she wasn't paying much attention to what he was saying, "We're falling without a chute, get us outta here."
"Gotcha!" was Chekov's voice as Jamie and Sulu hit the transporter pad.
"Oh, Pasha. I love you," she told the kid in his native language. The Russian smiled.
Sulu looked at her, "Thanks."
She chuckled, "Going down together, remember." He nodded and smiled.
"Clear the pad. I'm beaming to the surface," they both looked up to see Spock heading their way.
Jamie understood what he was doing, "You're going for the Elders?" He nodded. Jamie looked at him and whispered in Vulcan, "Go with care, brother." She could've argued or tried to talk him out of it but Spock is a very logical person and if he had reason to go down there she wasn't going to stand in his way. Jamie started to pull pieces of her suit off, and looked at the other officers in the transporter room, "Who has the con?" Chekov shook his head, he just handed it off, he wasn't sure who he gave it to. Jamie comm'ed the bridge, "Uhura, how are we doin' up there?"
The communications officer gave her a status report and Jamie told her to take the con. Vulcan only had minutes left, they had to do something. Jamie looked at the man sitting next to Chekov, "Kyle, I need you to start beaming people over from the other ships, the most critical to medical, everyone else to the transporter rooms. Can you do that?"
He nodded, "Yes, ma'am."
She looked at Sulu, "We need to get out of this gear, checked out by medical and then back to the bridge, go, I'll be right behind you." Jamie heard Spock over the comm ordering them to beam him and the High Command up from the surface.
Chekov got right to it, "Locking on, don't move." He had a lock on all but one, "I'm losing her! I'm losing her. I've lost her. Kirk, I lost her." Spock was still reaching for his mother when they materialized on the pad, she wasn't with them. Jamie looked at the assembled Vulcans and she could feel the heartbreak.
The command officer stepped closer to the group, "I grieve with thee."