Ty Mira Black-Snape for beta
Warning: language.
Translation of foreign language in the final notes. Thanks to internet xD
Kirk was on the bridge in his seat reading through some reports when Sulu started: "Sir, I am receiving some weird reports from the console. It appears we have a shadow." Getting everybody's attention, the helmsman added fast: "It is approximately 200.000 km from us. Steady, nothing more nothing less, and it's been going for the past 5 minutes."
Thoughtfully, the captain asked: "How far are we from the Klingon board?" Turning to face his first officer he said, "Spock, are the sensors picking up something?"
"We are still in Federation's space, over 30 lightyears from it, Sir."
"Sensors show there is indeed an object following us, captain." Came the replies. After giving the PADD back to his yeoman Rand, Kirk got a better position in his chair, calculating in his mind every possibility in front of them.
"Ok Uhura, yellow alert. Open a ship channel. Here is Captain James Kirk, all hands ready, there is the possibility that we are being followed. Get ready to battle. Kirk out. Chekov, take us to warp 6 for 1 minute, then jump back to impulse, let's see if that 'thing' will pass us." The captain was sweating, his heart was like climbing from the thoracic cavity to his throat. He didn't like waiting. Elbows on the armrests of the chair, his hands were hiding his mouth, in fists, allowing him to massage the back of the hands, worrying. It seemed an eternity. /Stupid hormones! I hate this! / Kirk sent through the bond. Spock turned to face his CO, brows rising in surprise.
"The mass has passed us."
"Mr. Chekov, send out a communication sensor at 200 km from the mass at 3654.2985, and a scientific one at 3864.2564, let's see what happens."
"Sensors out, Sir," the Russian boy replied.
They all waited, looking on the main screen two lights moving from the ship. But three seconds later, the two probes exploded, and the ship rocked to the left, hit by something. "Report!" Yelled the captain.
"Shields down at 98 % Sir!" Came from the navigator.
"Red alert! It's not an exercise! All hands ready to battle! Arm photons and the phaser's bank! Scotty, keep up our shields!" Kirk was in battle mode, all his focus on the problem in front of them. "Spock, tell me where those fuckers are!" Without leaving his sigh from the main view, searching for something. Another hit and the Enterprise shacked.
"Shields at 95 %."
"Send 3 torpedos at the last coordinates you saw!" But nothing came.
"THERE!" Yelled the commander.
"Look at the stars Chekov… We damn have Klingons in our space! They were cloaked! Search for the discrepancy on the screen." It seemed forever, but it was mere seconds when the pilot, Sulu, yelled, "I see it! Coordinates locked, Sir."
"Uhura, all channels. I'm Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise of the Federation. You trespassed the Federation boards without permission. Uncloak and shields down, I want to know the reason of this breach."
"No reply, Sir," said the woman at the communication console. "Repeat it, all channels, in Klingon this time, all the dialects."
"I've got something, Sir."
"On the screen."
"NuqneH? qoH! I am General Dor'ka. YOU are the Qatlh who trespassed our boards. Prepare yourself to be boarded!" The screen went blank, and the ship was hit again. The captain, pissed off, asked angrily, "Spock, can you use the last equation Starfleet managed in finding cloaked ships? I need it now."
"Yes captain, however, we will need 3.2 seconds after each hit to get a breakthrough on their shields."
"Send it to Chekov. Kid, get ready to shoot a 5 seconds blast with the phasers." Another hit, the younger man furiously clicked commands onto the console in front of him, and a laser could be seen on the screen. A Bird-of-Prey came in front of them.
"Their shields are down at 80 %, they are ready to shoot again."
"Evasive manoeuvre Alpha Tango Kirk 7 Sulu. Target the warp core if possible, 4 photons." In the last two years, Kirk managed to prepare 10 more manoeuvres to be used in an eventual battle. The Enterprise moved on the right, and 4 luminous points went directly to the enemy vessel.
"Their shields are down at 50%."
"Uhura, hail them again." On the screen, they could see once again the Klingon, and smoke in the back. "General Dor'ka, this is the last warning I'm giving you. Leave now, or pay the consequence. Your ship is old, it can't stand our weapons. Unlike you, we do not appreciate taking lives for pride. There is no honour in that."
"bIjatlh 'e' yImev, Hab SoSlI' Quch! Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam."
With a perfect accent, Kirk replied. "quvHa' Hegh SoH vIneH. y'nt yalagochukof." And the Klingon once again closed the contact. And more shots hit the Enterprise.
"Shields at 89 %, Sir." Chugging, Kirk ordered. "Phasers and 3 more torpedos on them. Let's finish this quick. Not that they left us any other option. Damn stupid Klingons."
"Aye, Sir." The vessel on the screen exploded, the wave shocked the Enterprise.
"Status, guys."
"The Bird-of-Prey is destroyed, Sir. No survivors."
"Our shields are at 78%, Sir."
Everybody relaxed after the adrenaline of the battle started to wear off. Kirk had his eyes closed. He never enjoyed taking lives.
"Cut the alarms, Uhura. I want a full report on the damages ready in 3 hours. Spock, please make sure we have no more…" When no more words came from the captain, most of the bridge crew turned to face him. They could see his Adam's apple moving up and down quickly, sweat running down his face.
Spock was moving from his console to reach out for the captain. He felt anger coming from the bond, but there was more… Sorrow… And uneasiness. But he wasn't fast enough. With horror, they all saw their CO lean left, then slide forward, violently hitting the bridge, face first. "JIM!" Yelled the Vulcan, kneeling beside his husband. "Call McCoy!"
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McCoy was fixing a young ensign's shoulder when the call arrived. "Bridge to McCoy! You are requested on the bridge! The Captain fainted!"
"Shit! Christine, hurry here. I want a stretcher up there. Computer, override turbolift priority McCoy Zulu Delta 1 from Deck 5 to the Bridge." He picked up his tricorder and the med bag for Jim, exiting the medbay in a rush. He was trying to think about what could have caused his friend to collapse this time. Running along the ship's corridors to the nearest turbolift, his heartbeat was in crazy mode… When the lift arrived at deck 1, he entered the bridge, scanned the area quickly, finding where his friend was.
"Move Spock," he said, already scanning the body on the ground. Blood pressure 200/150, heartbeats 150. He could also see a bump was yet forming. He selected the proper hypospray and injected the man fast.
Earring the turbolift opening: "Move that damn stretcher over here, we need to take him down NOW!" Medic staff apart, all the others were frozen in place, looking at the boneless body to be moved and taken away. "Mr. Sulu, you have the con." Spock stated as he followed the medics.
In the turbolift, McCoy asked, "What was the red alert for? Did something happen to Jim?"
"We were attacked by a Klingon vessel and the captain managed our victory. He hit nothing, he was asking the status report when he stopped talking and fell down the chair. I was not fast enough to catch him." Spock lowered his glance to Kirk.
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Hours later…
Beside Kirk's bed, Spock retraced the event while clasping the hand of his beloved.
Could he have done better? Be faster? He felt incredibly sad to see Jim so pale, IV stuck in his other hand. Vulcans don't have emotions. Bullshit, would have said Jim. Vulcans HAVE emotions, they just decide to not show them. And in a T'hy'la couple, those emotions were three-time stronger.
The door opened, revealing McCoy. "Don't you have a ship to run after an attack like this?" The doctor said while noting Jim's vitals.
"I am where I am needed, doctor. I read the reports and submitted the requests I received for the repairs." Putting down his PADD, the doctor stroked Jim's hair.
"Look, Spock. The stress from the battle didn't help. But Jim is 11 weeks and he is only 128 lbs (58 kg), he lost 12 lbs (5.4 kg) in 5 weeks despite our efforts. The fetus had his part of stress. I don't really think Jim can keep the pregnancy going, it's too dangerous, for both of them anyway. Jim doesn't want to reason with me. You need to talk to him. There are other ways for you guys to have babies." The intercom biped.
"Scott to doctor McCoy."
"Yes Scott?"
"I sent one of mine with the last bracelet and the controls. It's nearly perfect. If you need to program it more just lemme know. Scott out."
McCoy went in the main room collecting the item and returned to the room. He had three items in his hands. He gave one to the Vulcan. "Take this. Scotty and I have been studying a medical bracelet to put on Jim, to allow us to help keep track of his vitals." He wore one, showing the display. "These two are the remotes, one for me and one for you. It will signal if one of the stats is out of the normal range. Blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation, temperature, even the basics for copper and plates. We are still working on trying to add more, hoping to get something for the baby too, but to begin with, that is enough. If something is wrong, we both get the signal so the nearest one can check on Jim. At the moment the gap is not too big. For example, if his BP gets more or less than 130/90, we get a small signal and the stat. Of course, I will not come running for that, but if it keeps going, we get more annoying alerts. This," pointing to the last one, "Is Jim's." and he put it on Jim. "It is discreet, it should be hidden with the uniform. At least I won't have to yell at him to come here nearly every day. The IV is almost done, as soon as he wakes up, he's free to go, bed rest for three days, light duty for 2. And don't forget to knock some sense into him when he's up."
"Thank you doctor for your effort, we appreciate it."
"You are welcome. You know, Jim is my friend, I will not allow something to happen to him. See ya later."
Stubborn as ever, the family's talk didn't end well, leaving a frustrated Vulcan out of the sleeping area for the night.
Notes: NuqneH? qoH! – What do you want? Fool!
Qatlh – Slime devil
bIjatlh 'e' yImev – Shut up
Hab SoSlI' Quch! – Your mother has a smooth forehead!
Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam - Today is a good day to die
quvHa' Hegh SoH vIneH – Literally dishonourable death to you I would like
y'nt yalagochukof – Go Fuck yourself
Notes: next in 10 days ?