still no news

"Mr. Sulu, how much time back until we're at Starbase 238?" I ask, looking around the bridge. Everyone seems tense, like they're just waiting for something to go wrong, and there are not as many people as usual. The bridge isn't too chatty, a few different ones going on, but nothing like it usually is. Many people run around the bridge manning multiple stations at a time- they have to.

"Four hours and 35 minutes, sir," Sulu answers.

"Thank you," I reply.

A few minutes of silence pass.

"Captain," a voice sings. It's soft, like it's just whispering in my ear, and no one else seems to hear it. "Captain. Oh, dear Captain Kirk. Come find me in your quarters."

I don't move, looking around to see if anyone else has heard the voice. It feels familiar, but I can't identify it. No one else seems to hear it, or if they do, they pretend they don't by continuing with their duty.

"Captain James Tiberius Kirk," the voice continues, louder, "no one else can hear me. Come find me in your quarters. I promise I will not hurt you, your ship or anything. But I cannot promise others will hold to the same promise."

I stand up and walk into the turbolift, headed to my quarters, only to run into Carissa again. "Captain Kirk."

"Lieutenant Maynard." I nod, stepping off before she does, headed to my quarters. I open the door, and see a beautiful girl standing there.

The girl is transparent, like she was caught in a transporter beam, and there's even a little golden light circling around her. Her dress reminds me of a ghost girl's- long, white and simple. She has chocolate brown hair in a high ponytail which ends a little past the base of her neck. She also has green eyes- fern green eyes. She's like a girl from someone's dream: seemingly flawless.

"Captain," she greets, giving me a small nod of her head.

"Who are you?" I ask, instantly thinking about my phaser and how this girl got aboard our ship.

"No need for a phaser, dear captain," she says, smiling. "I'm not going to be the one to hurt you. And I got aboard your ship by transporter, except I can't fully materialize. You get what I'm saying? Like remember when your old friend Spock on Delta Vega gave Scotty his beam equation? He's still working on his, since he forgot the exact one Elder Spock gave him, yet we know it."

"Who are you?" I repeat. "And who is we?"

"I cannot tell you now." She sighs, folding her arms. "But I can let you call me something else. How about Clarissa? It's similar to that Carissa girl you had a one-night stand with... similar to the girl who is in love with you."

"Uh, sure," I answer. Clarissa nods and walks over by my window, watching the stars go by.

"You're not going to get out of the Neutral Zone," she begins. "That ship you detected? It's the Romulans. They have a cloaking device, and they're also jamming your communications. You're on your own."

"How do you know this?" I walk over by her, also watching the stars, when she faces me.

"I'm from another species, and some of us have powers at birth, such as power regeneration, freezing time for a few seconds or minor detection. You have no reason to fear me- I can't even tell if you do." Clarissa runs her fingers on the wall. "I can tell there is at least one Romulan ship, cloaked. I do not know how many more, if there are more."

"You can see the ship. Can you help us?" I ask, walking towards her.

"I can't interfere. Like with your prime directive, I'm not allowed to interfere. And like you, I hate the prime directive." Clarissa smiles slightly. "They'll be catching up to you soon. Goodbye, James T. Kirk. You will be needed on the bridge."

"Wait, can't you tell me anything more?" I ask, but the golden beams of light around her start to look more like transporter beams, and she beams off the ship.

Suddenly my com buzzes. "Sulu to Captain Kirk."

"Kirk here," I answer, flipping open my communicator.

"The ship is Romulan, sir," Sulu says.

"I'm on my way."

Slapping my communicator shut, I shove it in my back pocket before running up to the bridge and taking my seat back.

"They'll be here in a few minutes," Sulu says.

"Great," I mutter, walking over to Carissa. "What did Alana's sister look like?"

"Why?" she asks.

"I thought I saw something, maybe her," I answer. "Just what did she look like?"

"I honestly don't know. It was a long time ago," she replies. "I only met Alima- er, Alilla- once, and that was just a 'hi I'm Carissa' and 'hey I'm Alilla' thing. We both worked in engineering. If I had to guess, she'd be a blonde with blue eyes like Alana is."

"Thank you, lieutenant..." I walk back to sit in my chair as the ship jolts. "Shields up, Mr. Sulu. Red alert."

"Shields up, red alert," Sulu repeats.

"Mr. Chekov, weapons status?" I ask, glancing over.

"Phasers and photon torpedoes ready at your command, sir," Chekov answers.

Another jolt hits the ship, and then their ship disappears again.

"We're like sitting ducks!" Sulu exclaims.

"How much time until we're out of the Neutral Zone?" I ask.

"Three hours and 37 minutes," Sulu answers.

"Fire," I order, right as they disappear again.

"Missed!" Chekov groans.

"So for the next three hours and 37 minutes, we've got to hold them off..."