Disclaimer: not mine!

After he left Chris' office, Jim took a few minutes to cool off before he headed back to his friends. They were still sitting at the same table in the cafeteria.

Gaila was the first one to notice his arrival, and she excused herself from the others for a moment, meeting him by the entrance. "You all right?" she asked quietly, coming up to his side.

Jim nodded shakily. "Yeah," he replied. "I just kind of lost it in front of Chris. And I think I just told Jon and Richard about…" he cut himself off abruptly. Even though Gaila knew more about his past than the others – besides Pavel – she still didn't know details.

Gaila nodded understandingly, touching his arm comfortingly. "It's all right," she said, smiling gently. "I'm sure everything will work out."

Jim nodded, trying to compose himself some more, before the others caught on and asked questions he didn't want to answer. "Yeah," he replied. "I didn't mean to let it all out, I just couldn't stand there and let him rail at me for making a joke out of a 'staple in the Command track'. He should know by now that I don't do things for no reason." He couldn't hide the hurt in his voice.

Gaila winced, knowing that it did hurt him, that the Captain wouldn't think his reasoning through before laying into him. After all these years of knowing him, he should know that Jim always had a reason.

Jim sighed, trying to let it go. "Come on," he said, leading her back to the table and the rest of their friends. "Let's just relax tonight. If I get kicked out, I get kicked out. Hopefully, at least I made a point."

Gaila shook her head. "If you go, I go, Jim. I had just as much a hand in it as you did."

Jim looked over at her sharply. "I'm not giving you up, Gi-Gi," he protested, using his nickname for her, a name he usually only used in the bedroom.

Gaila glared at him. "I knew what I was doing, Jim. I won't let you protect me. If you go, I go."

Jim sighed, but couldn't keep arguing, as they reached the table at that moment, and both sat down, integrating themselves into the conversation with ease.

"So, did Pike ream you out for cheating?" McCoy asked, just a little bit hopefully.

Jim rolled his eyes, stealing a French fry off the doctor's plate. "Show me the rule I broke, Bones."

McCoy growled and moved his plate further away from Jim, but the younger man just grinned.

Nyota shook her head. "How did you do it?" she asked. "There's no way you should have won."

Jim shrugged. "Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies." He tried to sound mysterious, but by the way his friends all looked at each other, he didn't think he pulled it off.

Hikaru reached around Pavel and plucked an apple out of the bowl of fruit they had sitting in the center of the table. "I heard it was pretty badass," he grinned. "I wish I could have been there."

Jim smiled back, glad that at least someone wasn't breathing down his neck for an answer.

Scotty nodded, agreeing. "Aye, Admiral Archer was in a right fit this afternoon, when he heard. Couldn't tell if he was mad or admiring, actually."

Jim shrugged. "I think they're all a little bit of both, to be honest." He leaned back in his seat. "Mad at what I did, but impressed as hell that I pulled it off." He and Gaila shared a look, that didn't go unnoticed by Nyota. He shrugged again. "I looked through the rules at least five times. Trust me, I didn't break a single one. Bend a few?" He snorted. "Yeah, you could say that. But I didn't break any of them."

McCoy watched his friend and roommate closely as he spoke. He could tell that Jim was on edge. There was more to this whole test fiasco than just wanting to show up the system. He didn't know what it was, but he knew there was more to it. Unfortunately, he didn't know what it was. But Jim was looking pretty worn, and he probably wanted the conversation to move on.

It was few and far between, but there were times when McCoy actually dropped an issue. He turned to Hikaru and asked him about a lecture they had both attended the week before.

The conversation broke up from there, and Jim was relieved to see it diverted from him.

He was content to listen for a while, and he was so tired that it took him longer than it should have to notice that Nyota wasn't participating either. He frowned when he finally did see that detail, and turned towards her.

She was seated across from him, and was leaning on the table, her eyes drooping slightly. "You all right?" he asked quietly, trying not to draw attention from the rest of the group.

Nyota looked up, startled. "Hmm?"

Jim smiled slightly. "Are you all right? You seem a little tired."

Nyota returned the smile, and shrugged. "I am," she replied. "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night," she explained.

Jim leaned forward. "Did something happen?" he tried not to sound too worried.

Nyota shook her head slightly. "I'm not sure. I was monitoring feeds in the long-range Communications lab last night, and I overheard this transmission. I told my supervisor and he didn't seem too worried, but I don't know…"

Jim sat up straight. "What did it say?" His voice was suddenly urgent.

Nyota looked confused. "The transmission came from the Klingon-Federation side of the Neutral Zone. It was in Klingon, which I'll readily admit to not being fluent in, but what I got was that there was a prison escape. A bunch or Romulans, they escaped on their ship and in the process destroyed forty-seven Klingon ships. Jim?"

Jim stood up quickly, looking much more alert than he had been before. The others all broke off their conversations, looking at him with confusion.

"I have to go take care of something, but I need you to send me a copy of that transmission," Jim said tersely, before making his way quickly out of the cafeteria.

The others watched him leave, not knowing what was going on.

"Nyota?"

Nyota looked at her roommate, and shook her head. "I don't know. I was just telling him about this transmission I overheard, and he just shot up like he'd seen a ghost."

Scotty and Pavel shared a look. The last time they'd seen Jim look like that was when that Vulcan guy had appeared with the cat on the transporter pad a few months earlier. Were the two things related?

McCoy huffed. "Guy's got more secrets than is healthy for any man to carry around. No use worrying about it. It's not like he'll tell us anything."

They all agreed with that, and the group broke up to go get some rest. Nyota sent Jim her notes on the transmission, along with the audio recording, not sure if he could make heads or tails of it. Klingon was not a language many at Starfleet could speak, though she wouldn't be surprised if he could.

That act done, she dropped into bed, ready to get some much-needed rest.

If only.

XXX

Jim immediately made his way from the cafeteria to Jon's office. He knew the Admiral worked insane hours, and Chris had probably gone home by now, so it was his best bet.

As he suspected, Jon was still in his office. The lights were dimmed, and his face was illuminated by the glow of the computer. He looked up as Jim entered, and smiled tightly, trying to get passed the image of this effervescent young man as a helpless young teenager mixed up in that godforsaken clusterfuck that had been Tarsus. He and Richard had decided not to say anything, though, so he forced the emotions aside, and gestured for Jim to take a seat.

"Jim, I'm glad you're here. I wanted to –" He stopped, as it was obvious by the look on the Cadet's face that this wasn't a social call. "Is everything all right?"

Jim shook his head and pulled out his PADD. Sure enough, Nyota had sent him both her notes and the audio file of the Klingon transmission she had overheard. "It's happened."

Jon raised an eyebrow. "What's happened?"

Jim played the audio file.

Jon leaned back in his seat. "You're going to have to spell this out for me, Jim. I don't speak… whatever that is."

Jim set the PADD down on Jon's desk. "It's Klingon. Cadet Uhura overheard this transmission last night during her shift. She didn't know there was anything strange about it, because we were keeping it under wraps, for obvious reasons. She told her supervisor, but I'm guessing he wasn't one of the ones you told either, so he didn't see the significance either."

"But what does it say?" Jon asked, still confused.

Jim bit his lip. "There was a prison break from a Klingon prison planet yesterday. Romulans, who managed to steal back their ship and destroy nearly an entire Klingon Armada."

Jon sat up quickly. "Shit," he muttered, reaching for his comm. "Archer to Barnett."

Over the piece of technology, Richard's voice could be heard. "What's up, Jon?"

"I need you to come to my office, now," Jon replied, not wasting any time. "And see if you can contact our… long distance friend. It's happening."

A moment's pause and then, "I'll be there in five. Barnett out."

True to form, five minutes later, Barnett was there, and they were about to start talking plans, when an aide rushed into the office. "Admirals, I'm so glad I found you!" the aide wheezed, out of breath. "We've got a distress signal coming from Vulcan, they're asking for assistance, I've got the transmission here," he handed the PADD over.

Jon nodded. "Thank you, Ensign. That will be all."

The aide left the office and the three men inside listened to the request. Jim furrowed his brow. A lightning storm in space?

Richard frowned and played through the message again. "That sounds hinky," he muttered.

Jon let out a half snort. "Hinky? Really? Is that your professional opinion?"

Richard glared at his friend.

Jim reached out and took the PADD, causing both Admirals to look up.

"Something catch your interest?" Jon asked.

Jim nodded absentmindedly. "A lightning storm in space," he replied, looking back up. "I don't know if either of you have actually read Chris' dissertation, but if you have, you'll know that that phenomenon has occurred once before."

"When?" Jon asked, and then winced as Richard's elbow dug into his side.

"My birth day," Jim replied simply.

"Ah," the Admiral replied, understanding dawning.

"We need to mobilize the Fleet," Richard said. "We've got eight ships ready to go here, including the Enterprise. The rest is in the Laurentian system, so it'll have to do. We don't have the manpower for eight ships, so we'll have to send out the third and fourth year Cadets." He looked at Jim. "You should go get changed, get yourself ready to go. Expect a Call to Muster within the hour." He turned back to Jon. "Let's get started on assignments."

Jim nodded, and left the Admirals to it, returning to his room to find McCoy passed out on top of the sheets. He hated to do it, but he knew his roommate would be woken up soon. A Call to Muster was one of the more serious alarms the Academy had. It basically woke everyone up by turning on all of the lights and setting off alarms on all parts of the Academy.

Jim knew McCoy would probably appreciate his wake up call more, so he picked up a shoe that was lying on the floor, and tossed it at the doctor.

McCoy shot up quickly, letting out a sound that was most definitely not a yelp. "What the hell!" he ground out. "Jim!"

Jim chuckled. "I thought you'd like my wake up more than –" he was cut off as the lights all flared up, and an alarm started blasting. "That," he finished.

McCoy grumbled, but got out of bed. "Call to Muster," he muttered. "We learned about it at Orientation, but when was the last time they actually used it?"

"2154," Jim replied. "Romulan conflict, not as bad as they made it out to be at the time, but it's the last time Starfleet's used this particular alarm."

McCoy rolled his eyes. Of course Jim would know that bit of information. "Do you know what this is about?" he asked, getting dressed.

Jim nodded, exchanging his dirty clothes for clean ones. "There's a situation at Vulcan. I can't really give you a lot of details, but it's not going to be a picnic." He sighed, sitting down on his bed and pulling on his boots. He snorted. "Ironically enough, it's Romulans again."

McCoy frowned. "Romulans? How… I know we're not on the best terms with them, but they don't usually cross into Federation space for no reason."

Jim sighed. "Like I said, I can't give you details, at least, not yet. It's classified. But we've got to go."

He stood up, and McCoy followed him out of their room, where they joined up with throngs of confused Cadets making their way towards the large hall where they would all receive assignments and placements. First and second year Cadets would be assigned to take over duties for those who would be placed on ships going off to deal with the situation over Vulcan, while the junior and senior classes would be filling out the ranks of enlisted officers.

Jim knew where he would be placed, and he was fairly certain he knew where his friends would be going as well, but he didn't say anything as he and McCoy somehow managed to find Chekov and Sulu in the mass of red entering the building.

Scotty was nowhere to be seen, but the Lieutenant had received his official offer to join the crew of the Enterprise several weeks earlier, so he was no doubt already on board preparing for takeoff.

Jim slipped into a seat next to McCoy, with Pavel on the other side and Hikaru next to the Russian. Looking around, he saw Nyota and Gaila sitting in the row below him, a few seats down. Gaila turned slightly in her seat, caught his eye, and smiled, waving at him.

Jim nodded in reply, but didn't say anything, as Richard entered the room, Jon following closely behind him.

The other, older Spock was also there, but he stayed by the door, so not many noticed his presence.

Richard quickly called the room to attention. "Cadets, may I have your attention." The voices soon dropped into silence. "Here is the situation as it stands: a short while ago, we received a distress call from Vulcan. A rogue group of Romulans sporting unknown advanced weaponry was seen above the planet, and is messing with the atmosphere. Your orders are to go assist Vulcan and deal with the Romulans." He looked around the room, and nodded decisively. "Report to the shuttle bay. You will receive a message detailing your specific group, and upon arrival at the bay, you will be informed of your ship assignment. Dismissed."

The noise level rose as the Cadets all stood up and made their way out of the room, heading to the shuttle bay.

Jim and his friends all stuck together, Nyota and Gaila joining on as they left the room.

"Do you know where you'll be posted?" Hikaru asked the others, looking at them curiously. "We've all been thinking about it, but I know I didn't expect to really have to worry about it for another couple of months.

"The situation's a bit unusual," McCoy reminded the pilot. "I doubt the posting will hold after it's all over."

Hikaru shrugged. "Still."

Nyota looked at Jim. He met her gaze and nodded, just once, letting her know that her guess was probably right. She grinned, excited.

They were all in the same group in the shuttle bay; it took several minutes for the Lieutenant to read off the thirty odd names of the Cadets in their group, but all of Jim's friends were pleased that they were on the Enterprise.

"Can you believe it!" Gaila beamed, leading them towards the shuttle that would take them up to the ship.

Jim smiled back, happy that she was happy.

Nyota nodded, not saying anything, since it wasn't that much of a surprise to her, ever since that conversation she had had with Jim the year before.

Hikaru and Pavel were just as excited, but McCoy was not pleased to have to go into space again.

"Disease and danger," he muttered.

"Darkness and silence," Jim finished. "We know. You really should have picked a different career path if you wanted to stay out of space, Bones."

The doctor glared at him as they entered the shuttle and strapped themselves in. "I didn't have anywhere else to go. Besides, I was drunk."

Jim snorted. "So was I, but at least I don't regret it."

McCoy shook his head. "Yeah, but you were born without a fear gene."

Jim shrugged. "Only way to go." He reached out and fist bumped Hikaru, who agreed wholeheartedly with the sentiment.

McCoy growled. "I might throw up on you."

Jim rolled his eyes. "You didn't last time, and you won't this time," he replied fondly.

The trip up to the Enterprise was relatively short, but breathtakingly beautiful.

As soon as they disembarked, they were accosted by Commander Spock, who studied the Cadet his Captain thought so highly of. "Cadet Kirk, Captain Pike requests your presence on the Bridge as soon as you change."

Jim looked down at his Cadet reds, and then back up at the Vulcan, before he nodded.

The Vulcan then turned to the rest of the group. "Cadet Sulu, your presence will also be required. The pilot who would normally take Alpha shift has come down with lungworm. Your resume is impressive. Helmsman McKenna believes you will do well in his place."

Sulu gulped and nodded. "Yes, sir."

Spock nodded to them, before turning around and leaving. Jim looked at the others, and then Sulu. "Come on, Hikaru. Let's go find us some yellow shirts. We've got to report to the Bridge for duty."

They left their friends there, and once outfitted properly, they made their way up to the Bridge, to find the undocking procedures underway.

Spock looked up as they arrived. "Cadet Kirk, the Captain wishes to speak with you in his ready room." He nodded to the room in question, and Jim immediately made his way over.

Chris looked up as he entered, and smiled tiredly. "Jim, you look good in yellow."

Jim smirked, but it was a shadow of what it could have been, had the situation not been so dire.

Chris gestured for him to take a seat, which he did, leaning back gratefully; it had been a long day already, and he had a feeling he wouldn't be getting a lot of downtime in the near future.

"I wanted you on the Bridge because I think you've got a good mind for this," Chris explained. "You OK with that?" Jim nodded readily. Chris sighed. "About our… discussion… argument… earlier… I was out of line. I'm sorry, Jim."

Jim shook his head. "I was obvious about it for a reason, Chris. I thought by now you'd know that there's always a reason."

Chris nodded ruefully. "I do know that, Jim. Once I calmed down, I thought about it more, and I realized why you did it. And to be honest, I don't think we can punish you, because I don't think you cheated."

"I didn't," Jim replied. "I may have bent a few rules, but I didn't break any of them."

Chris snorted. "You just love to bend the rules."

Jim smirked. "I'm all about living in gray areas."

Chris sobered. "I talked to Spock, and I don't know what he was going to do, but this whole fiasco kind of upstaged everything."

Jim shrugged. "If he makes a fuss, he makes a fuss. The test is wrong, and someone needed to make that point."

Chris nodded. "You're right, Jim. I think we're all so used to the status quo, we never really stopped to think about it like that before, but you are right. And when we get back, I'll make sure someone does do something about it."

Jim inclined his head. "That's all I ask."

Chris was amazed at how he managed to sound both serious and mocking at the same time.

He stood up from his desk. "We need to get going. Here's the information as I have it," he passed the Cadet a PADD, as they exited the room into the busy Bridge.

"Engineering reports ready for launch," Spock informed the Captain as they entered.

"All right," Chris called the attention of the officers to him, moving to his chair. "Ladies and gentlemen, the maiden voyage of our Flagship deserves more pomp and circumstance than we can afford to day, so the christening will just have to be our reward for a safe return."

Jim separated and went to his station several computers down from Spock's. He noted with interest that Pavel was also on the Bridge now, and wondered how the kid had managed that.

Chris opened up a shipwide comm. "All decks, this is Captain Pike, prepare for immediate departure. Helm, thrusters."

Sulu took a deep breath and steadied himself. Just like he had done a million times before, he told himself. He typed in the commands, pushed the buttons. "Moorings retracted, Captain, dock control reports ready. Thrusters fired. Separating from space dock." Slowly, he navigated the ship away, keeping them in formation with the other seven ships. Just a few degrees off, and he would cause a deadly crash, so he had to be diligent.

A few minutes later, they were all set. "The Fleet's cleared space dock, Captain," he reported. "All ship's ready for warp."

"Set course for Vulcan," Chris ordered.

"Aye, aye, Captain," Sulu replied, laying in the course. A moment later, he turned around. "Course laid in."

Chris nodded. "Maximum warp. Punch it."

Hikaru turned back and pushed a few more buttons. Around them, the other ships were jumping to warp as well. He typed in the commands, pushed the lever down… and nothing happened.

Hikaru tried to keep his face from turning red as everyone on the Bridge turned to look at him.

He looked at the console in front of him, trying to figure out what was wrong.

Behind him, Chris rested his chin in his hand. "Where's Helmsman McKenna?"

Hikaru turned around, glancing over at Spock for confirmation. "He has lungworm sir, he couldn't report to his post. I'm Hikaru Sulu."

"And you are a pilot," Chris clarified.

"Yes, sir," Hikaru said, feeling even more like an idiot. "I'm not sure what's wrong," he turned back to the computer console.

"Is the parking brake on?" Chris asked, trying not to let his amusement show.

"Ah, no," Hikaru stuttered, pushing a few buttons.

"Have you disengaged the external inertial dampener?" Spock cut in from his spot at the Science station.

"Otherwise known as the parking brake," Jim muttered from his station, amusement heavy in his voice. A few people who heard him chuckled.

Hikaru stopped what he was doing and pursed his lips. He pushed two more buttons, and, not looking up, he reported, "Ready for warp, sir."

Chris allowed himself a small smile. "Let's punch it."

Hikaru typed in the necessary commands, and pushed the lever again. Thankfully, this time, it actually worked.

Once they were on their way, Chekov broadcast a shipwide message letting them know the situation above Vulcan – the edited situation, of course.

Chris moved over to the Communications station. "Lieutenant, are you receiving any Romulan feeds?"

The Lieutenant looked up. "Sir, I'm not sure I can distinguish the Romulan from the Vulcan."

Chris held in his sigh. "Cadet Kirk, I need your assistance over here." Jim stood up and made his way over. "How's your Romulan?"

Jim raised an eyebrow. "I haven't practiced it in years. If you want really good, I'd get Cadet Uhura up here. I can assist until she arrives, of course."

Chris nodded, and jerked his head at the Communications Lieutenant. "I want Cadet Uhura on the Bridge, now."

The Lieutenant immediately bent his head down and called for Uhura to report to the Bridge, while Jim began monitoring feeds. He furrowed his brow, fiddling with a few buttons.

Chris leaned over slightly. "Something's wrong." It was a statement, not a question.

Jim looked back at the Captain and inclined his head, but Uhura arrived at that moment, interrupting anything Jim might have said.

He looked relieved to see the Communications Cadet there. She was filled in quickly, and immediately took a place at the console.

Jim stepped back and returned to his station, and Chris went back to his chair, standing beside it rather than sitting down.

Uhura frowned as she fiddled with the buttons. "Sir, I'm not picking up any chatter on any frequency in the area, Romulan or Vulcan."

Chris' frown deepened. "Hail the Farragut."

Uhura nodded and turned back to the console. She bit her lip as no response came, and looked back at the captain. "Sir, I'm not getting a reply. It's like they're not even there."

Chris glanced over at Jim, who returned the look and nodded slightly. It was like the Romulans had brought with them some future weaponry that knocked out their communications.

Chekov called out from his station, "Dropping out of warp in thirty seconds, sir."

Chris nodded. "Shields up at maximum. All crewmembers to your stations. Prepare for attack."

"Ten seconds," Pavel reported, trying not to let his anxiety show.

Next to him, Hikaru also felt the apprehension curl in his stomach, as together, he and Pavel maneuvered the ship out of warp. It was pretty amazing, how well they worked as a team, but he would think on that later. Right now, they had more important things to worry about.

"Dropping out of warp in three… two… one…"

It was like a battlefield.

The ship rocked immediately as they dropped out of warp and Hikaru immediately had to drop the ship down to avoid some debris.

Chris clutched onto the back of his chair to remain standing.

The ship rocked again, and they all caught a glimpse of the Romulan ship. It was massive; shaped something like a cone, almost, narrowed to a point on one end, with many spokes that made up the outer part of the ship. Something was lowered down from the ship, and had disappeared into the cloudbank that obscured their vision of the planet.

The Romulan ship fired on them, and Hikaru maneuvered them to the left, trying to get some cover while still avoiding smashing into the debris all around them.

"Shields at sixty percent and dropping," Jim called out, concentrating on his console.

A particularly large piece of a ship floated in front of them and Hikaru felt his heart drop. He gulped, and was already moving the ship as Chris began barking out orders.

"Drop us down forty five degrees and take us under it, Sulu."

They made it but just barely. All felt the hull of the ruined ship scrape against the top of the Enterprise.

"Shields at thirty percent," Jim reported.

Another hit knocked half of them out of their seats.

"Damn it," Jim cursed, as he straightened himself out.

Chris looked over at him, and the Cadet explained.

"Lucky hit. One more like that and we're done. Unless we've got some miracle workers down in Engineering, our shields are gone. Scotty's good, but he's not that good, and we don't have enough time. We've also just lost most of Deck Six."

Chris opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, the screen blurred, and a shot of a strange Bridge appeared in front of them.

Several Romulans were staring at them, all wearing smirks as they saw the damage they had caused.

Chris straightened up. "I'm Captain Christopher Pike. To whom am I speaking?"

The Romulan in front widened his smirk. "Hello, Christopher. I am Nero."

Out of the corner of his eye, Chris saw Jim tighten his jaw, his fists clenching. He mentally cautioned his young friend not to do anything. They all needed to keep their heads.

Chris tilted his head back slightly. "Nero, you have just declared an act of war on the Federation. If you wish to open a forum, we can meet somewhere neutral with the Romulan government –"

Nero interrupted, "I do not speak for the Romulan government. We stand apart. Much like your Vulcan crewmember. Isn't that right, Spock."

Spock stood up slowly from his spot at the Science station. "Pardon me, I do not believe that we are acquainted."

Nero smirked again. "Oh we aren't. Not yet, at least. Now if you'll excuse me, there's something I would like for you to see." He turned back to Chris. "Captain Pike, you will board a shuttle and come aboard our ship. If you do not, I will not hesitate to kill your crew. You have thirty minutes."

He cut the transmission.

Chris took a deep breath, and looked over at Jim.

Jim knew what the Captain was asking. "He'll kill you, you know that."

Spock jumped in, "I agree, your survival is unlikely."

Chris held up one hand, silencing them. He looked at Spock. "What do we know about what they're doing to the planet?"

Spock reported concisely and accurately, knowing time was of the essence. "The Romulans appear to be drilling into the core of the planet. The device they are using seems to be blocking both transporter and communications capability."

Chris nodded, and looked around the room. "I need officers who have training in combat."

Hikaru raised a hand shakily. "I have training, sir." He wasn't sure why he had volunteered, but he wanted to help. And he was pretty good with a sword.

Jim looked over and raised an eyebrow. Hikaru shrugged, but Chris didn't hesitate. He nodded decisively. "Kirk, you come too." He leaned over his chair and opened up a comm. to Engineering. "Engineer Olsen, I need you to bring a set of charges to shuttle bay in five minutes." The Engineer confirmed, and Chris then commed Medical. "Doctor Puri, report."

There was a pause, and then McCoy answered. "It's McCoy. Doctor Puri was on Deck Six. He's dead." McCoy sounded a little worse for the wear, which was to be expected, considering what the ship had just been through.

Chris grit his teeth. Puri had been a good friend, and there would be time later to grieve, but for right now, he had other things on his mind. "Consider yourself promoted, Doctor."

"Yeah, tell me something I don't know," McCoy groused. "Why the hell were there only two doctors on board this ship in the first place? Do you have any idea how many wounded we're dealing with here? I'm maxed out as is, and I haven't even gotten to –"

Chris interrupted him. "McCoy, I'm sure you have more important things to do than talk to me, so I will leave you to it. Do the best you can."

The doctor grumbled a bit more, but didn't complain, and Chris closed the comm.

He jerked his head, and Jim, Hikaru, and Spock followed him off the Bridge. As they headed into the 'lift, Chris explained further. "Without transporters, we can't beam off the ship, we can't assist Vulcan, we can't do anything. Kirk, Sulu, and Olsen will space jump from the shuttle to the drill. You will get inside, you will disable it, then you will get back to the ship. Spock, you're in command of the Enterprise. Once we have communications back up, report back to Starfleet, tell them what the hell's going on. And if all else fails, fall back and regroup with the rest of the Fleet in the Laurentian system."

They reached the level that lead to shuttle bay at that moment. Chris, Hikaru, and Jim stepped out while Spock remained in the 'lift.

Chris looked over at Jim. "Jim, I'm promoting you to First Officer."

Jim raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Spock also felt some confusion. "Captain? I admit, the complexities of human pranks often escape me –"

Chris smiled. "It's not a prank, Spock. And I'm not the Captain, you are."

Jim looked over and met Spock's gaze. He lifted one shoulder in a half shrug as the 'lift doors started to close, and then turned to look at Chris. "Sir, after we knock out that drill, what happens to you?"

Chris glanced over at him. "Well, I guess you'll just have to come and get me."

They began to walk towards shuttle bay and the vessel that would take them on their journey.

Jim nodded seriously. "You're not allowed to die on me, Chris. Don't gamble with your life."

Chris snorted. "This coming from someone who went rock climbing up Devil's Canyon without safety gear?" Jim looked sheepish, and Hikaru looked away guiltily. He had been there as well. Chris looked at Jim sternly. "Oh yeah, McCoy told me."

As they walked through the doors to the bay, Jim lightly touched Hikaru's shoulder, pulling him back behind Chris. "Fencing, Hikaru? That's the combat training you think qualifies you for this?"

Hikaru shrugged. "I started studying when I was four. I'm pretty good," he defended.

Jim shook his head slightly. "I never said you weren't. But…" He sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to make it sound like I have no faith in you. I'm just worried."

Hikaru smiled lightly. "I know. Don't, though. I've got a great blade. We're gonna kick some serious ass."

Jim grinned. "Let's do this."

They caught up to the Chris quickly, and met up with Engineer Olsen next to the shuttle they would be taking.

They boarded the shuttle, and quickly changed into their space suits. Chris didn't waste time in taking off, and roughly five minutes later, they were in position.

Chris' voice came over the intercom, informing them that it was time. "Gentlemen, we are approaching the drop zone. You have one shot at this, so good luck. They may have defenses, so pull your Shute as late as possible."

Jim and the others were getting their helmets on, and standing up as Chris spoke. Bars descended from the ceiling, and they held on as the shuttle locked up, preparing to open and launch them out into space.

In the cockpit, Chris took a deep breath. "Jim… you're not allowed to die on me either."

Jim grinned.

Shaking himself off, Chris counted down. "Three, two, one." He pushed the buttons, and the door opened, launching all three men out into space.

Please review!