Naruto: Infinity Divide

The Warp Theorem

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Star Trek

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This chapter we'll have a bit more space combat (this won't be a regular thing every chapter) and Naruto will be in the Captain's chair. Enjoy!

Port = Left

Starboard = Right

Last time:

Day Four

"Personal Log of Samui Schrodinger: It seems that this training that Lieutenant Franz set up as a torture session has turned into a meeting of the minds. As our group is bored, we set about modifying the 'Queen of the Desert' to be a bit more comfortable. Since we all brought our tablets with us, we are catching up on all of our homework and reading up on our next section in Planetary Survival which is Underwater Survival. Our biologists have been studying the native flora and fauna so we can eat something aside from rations."

"As it turns out, Cadet Brisco is quite gifted in the culinary arts and has prepared a virtual feast using the bare utensils we have. Our entire crew is quite pleased to have food to eat that doesn't taste like sawdust bricks (or rations as Starfleet calls them). I have this feeling that Lieutenant Franz is going to blow a gasket when he finds out…"

Day Seven

Lieutenant Franz got off the shuttle expecting to find a bunch of exhausted, starving Cadets glaring at him with pure hatred in their eyes at the horrors they'd endured and maybe bordering on dehydration. Instead he found a climate controlled area surrounding the 'Queen of the Desert' and the smell of something delicious cooking. "W-w-wh-what in the hell is going on here?!" he screeched red in the face.

"This is supposed to be desert survival, not a vacation damn it!" echoed across the landscape…

…

Chapter 13

Stardate 2271.327, Starfleet Academy, San Francisco, Planet Earth

Naruto was sitting in Lieutenant Cross's Class, Starfleet Sciences and was rather distracted by the situation with T'Lyra. He'd gotten back from Planetary Survival in Iran just yesterday and hadn't been able to contact his mate…T'Lyra left a message that she was going to be off planet training for three weeks. That was all the blonde really knew. Naruto supposed he was rather depressed when a human Ensign with an engineer's uniform entered the classroom and passed a data pad to Cross. The Lieutenant's eyebrows shot up and he looked directly at Naruto. "Cadet Naruto; on the orders of Commander Montgomery Scott, you are excused from Class. Go with Ensign Powell."

Naruto stood up and replied, "Yes, sir." He made eye contact with M'rella and the Caitian female nodded and motioned that she would take notes for him. As the blonde gathered his things he pondered, 'I heard the U.S.S. Enterprise returned from her last five-year mission and was in dry dock. I haven't had contact with Chief Engineer Scott in years other than the occasional well wishing. He's a very busy man of course…'

Ensign Powell introduced herself as she led Naruto along. "I'm Ensign May Powell; it's nice to meet you, Cadet Naruto. Commander Scott seems very excited to see you. He asks that you bring your data on your warp theorem. We are to meet him in the Engineering Hall once we've retrieved it. You are in Dorm F, correct?"

Naruto nodded and said, "Yes, I'm in room 125-F. I can retrieve the data, but a standard tablet won't handle it. I have an entire extended memory module dedicated to the Curved Transitional Warp Theorem."

She raised her eyebrows. "An entire extended memory module?" She chuckled. "That's a huge amount of space. What is it, a warp field design for an entire starship or something?"

The blonde simply stated, "That's precisely what it is. I've been developing it for years. Didn't Commander Scott tell you?"

The Ensign's eyes goggled, "Are you serious? Aren't you just a Cadet?"

"I am a graduate of the Vulcan Science Institute with two Doctoral degrees." said Naruto "One is in Astrophysics and Astrodynamics."

"And the other?" May asked curiously.

"Genetics and Xenobiology." replied the blonde. At her incredulous look he simply stated; "I have wide interests."

"I guess you do." she replied in an impressed tone.

…

Naruto retrieved his theorem's memory module from a security safe in his quarters he shared with M'rella and soon he and Ensign Powell were at the Engineering Hall. They quickly found Commander Scott entering data into a simulator that was for starship design. Naruto noticed the Chief Engineer of the Enterprise hadn't changed much but was sporting a moustache now.

Scotty turned to face them and gave them a smile that lit up the room and shook Naruto's hand. "Naruto, let me have a look at you lad. You've grown into quite a man since I last saw you, Cadet; or do you go by Doctor Naruto now?"

Naruto raised an amused eyebrow and said, "Either is fine Commander Scott. It is good to see you in good health sir."

The Enterprise's Chief Engineer turned to May and said, "You know warp theory well May. Wait until you see this." He activated the display and said, "Computer, display Command Cruiser plus refit design number 23A, NCC-1701 U.S.S. Enterprise." A holographic display of a newer, sleeker Enterprise appeared on the holographic display ①.

Naruto looked at it with great scrutiny and said, "You swept back the warp engine pylons to eliminate the critical warp buffeting my theory shows at warp factor four."

Montgomery Scott laughed and slapped Naruto on the back. "I knew you'd get it lad!"

May asked confused, "Why are you showing this to a Cadet sir?! This is classified information!"

Scotty grinned and said, "Ensign Powell, Doctor Naruto is a consultant we can trust. Besides, his Curved Transitional Warp Theorem is finally going to be applied for real if I have my way. Naruto, may I apply your theory to this new design for comparison purposes to a standard warp field that has a maximum warp factor of eight*②?"

Naruto took the security lock off his memory module and handed it to Scotty. "This will be interesting seeing the theorem applied in its completed form Commander Scott. By all means proceed."

The Chief Engineer grinned manically and plugged the module into the computer. When it finished loading minutes later Scotty already had a display of the Enterprise with a standard warp field projected from it and another Enterprise above it with no warp field projected. The module beeped and the computer said, "Upload complete."

"Watch this, Ensign Powell. We'll see if I'm right." said Commander Scott. "Computer, apply the new warp field just uploaded to the upper example."

"Working, adjusting parameters." said the computer in an emotionless voice. "Application complete, projecting."

Ensign Powell watched in fascination as a new, tighter, and smoother warp field appeared with a warp factor of one beside it. It expanded to two, three, four and so on until it reached nine and the computer said, "Warp factor nine is the furthest design number 23A's structural integrity can handle. Theorem applied could go faster with increased structural strength however."

"You could break every speed record in Starfleet history with this curved warp field!" gasped Powell in shock.

"Exactly!" said Scotty exuberantly. He beamed at the blonde. "Lad; we need to get your theorem patented right away. Starfleet will owe you a great debt if you allow it to be used. That's a feather in your cap that will open a lot of doors for you in the future."

…

Dorm F, Room 125-F

"Personal Log, supplemental. Today I spent a great deal of time with Commander Scott who has several patents himself. All those years ago when I showed him my basic idea, he said it was brilliant. Though I was honored I never imagined he would design a ship tailored to my theory. With Commander Scott's guidance I found that it was not difficult to obtain a patent with the proper 'connections' as he put it. My new patent is the Curved Transitional Warp Theorem or shortened to Curved Warp Field. I am very excited to see it applied to the Enterprise. It will be 18 to 24 months before the ship is finished so it is something to look forward to…Unfortunately the information regarding the U.S.S. Enterprise is classified until further notice so I won't be able to share anything about it except my theorem is now patented…"

"It has been a fulfilling but exhausting day…"

Naruto finished putting his log entry into his tablet about the time M'rella came back from classes…with Naruto's homework as well as her own.

She purred happily, "Hmmm…so how was your day of skipping classes and who is Commander Montgomery Scott? Our instructors seemed quite impressed that you knew him."

The blonde set his tablet down and answered, "Commander Montgomery Scott is the Chief Engineer of the U.S.S. Enterprise. He is a bit of a living legend. He helped me get a warp theorem patented today that I've been developing over the past few years."

M'rella smiled and winked an amber eye. "Why do I get the impression there is a lot more to the story than that? How did you meet him to begin with?"

Naruto spent some time explaining how he'd been allowed to visit the U.S.S. Enterprise as a boy a few years ago and how he met Mister Scott and the various members of the crew. After that Naruto tackled his homework at full speed…

…

Zero-G Training Center, Phobos, Moon of Planet Mars

T'Lyra was really enjoying being in space. Being in zero gravity was scary at first but after a day or so of getting the hang of it the young Vulcan woman had taken to it like a fish to water. The only downside for T'Lyra was she hadn't been able to contact Naruto as he was 'marooned' in Iran training for Planetary Survival when she was picked to head out to Mars. The only choice had been to leave a message. There weren't that many communications relays on Phobos given it was a tiny moon (only 27km across at its largest diameter) orbiting Mars. Only priority communications went to or from Phobos; talking to your loved ones was NOT considered priority.

The brunette beauty was also learning how to pilot a Work Bee*③ which was a single seat service shuttle used for maintenance and utility work on the outside of ships and bases. Its controls reminded her very much of a speeder bike, so it was easy to adapt. There was nothing glamorous about the little utility vehicle, but the simple, robust design appealed to T'Lyra because of how logically it was made and laid out. It could act independently with manipulators for handling materials, welding, drilling, etc. The little vehicles could also attach to trams and other devices via magnetic lock to tow or move materials much larger than themselves. Aside from the fact Work Bee was ponderously slow it was fun as far as the Vulcan girl was concerned.

'I wonder what Naruto is doing at this moment.' thought T'Lyra to herself. 'I'm sure he's back at Starfleet Academy by now.' She was currently maneuvering her Work Bee through an 'obstacle course' of building materials. It wasn't difficult but if you did crash into something the little utility craft was tough enough that all it did was ding the paint. That's when she saw another Work Bee go tumbling apparently out of control. As it spun by, she saw her dark haired classmate Brea Mathuin at the controls looking panicked.

Brea's voice came over the com link and the dark-haired Irish girl was cursing up at storm before she called out, "T'Lyra; help me! This piece of cac is –stop spinning, caich ort! I'm gonna get sick!"

T'Lyra said calmly, "Your aft thrusters are in the fully down position, and they are making you spin. Turn off all your thrusters and I'll catch you." 'I didn't understand half of what Brea just said…perhaps it's best that way.' The young Vulcan woman waited until the thrusters on Brea's vehicle stopped and then caught her careening comrade with the manipulators on her Work Bee which brought the other vehicle to a sudden halt. "Are you alright Brea?" asked T'Lyra.

"Shite that was close." whispered the young Irish woman. She sighed. "Thanks, T'Lyra, I owe you one! Remind me to buy you a drink when we get back to civilization."

"Work Bee Five and Seven, what the hell is going on up there?!" crackled a male voice over the com link.

Brea roared, "This is Seven! The aft thrusters on this bloody hunk of junk are stuck in the downwards position! …Er, ummm, sir."

T'Lyra nearly face faulted at Brea's lack of tact. "This is Work Bee Five. I am preparing to tow Work Bee Seven in via magnetic lock as there may be a malfunction with that Work Bee."

The controller's voice suddenly sounded a bit tired. "Proceed Work Bee Five. Bring Work Bee Seven back to the repair hanger where we can check it out."

"Roger that." said T'Lyra as she backed her Work Bee in front of Brea's and activated her towing magnets.

There was a dull 'clunk' noise and Brea said over the com, "Docking complete. Take us home T'Lyra."

…

Soon T'Lyra and Brea Mathuin were before their training Officer who was giving Brea a royal ass chewing for disrespecting a superior officer. T'Lyra fought the urge to face palm as their superior had a bipolar mood swing and praised T'Lyra for handling things properly before he dismissed them. The dark-haired Brea looked a bit sheepish but was unrepentant for the most part. She grinned, "Say T'Lyra; how'd you learn to fly so well? You handle that Work Bee like a professional."

The young Vulcan woman said, "I used to ride speeder bikes and drive hovercraft back on Vulcan. It just comes naturally to me."

"Slick!" said Brea. "I guess I should have learned to drive back in high school. It just didn't interest me."

"How did you travel then?" asked T'Lyra curiously.

Brea smiled. "I mainly used public transportation or horseback. My hometown is pretty rural, and we like it that way."

The Vulcan girl was puzzled. "Why did you join Starfleet then? If you like living in a rural community Starfleet seems like an illogical choice."

"My Grandpa was in the service and told me since I was a little girl that I should follow in his footsteps and go into space." said the Irish girl. "It's not the fairy tale I'd imagined but I like it anyway."

…

Dorm F, Room 125-F, Starfleet Academy, San Francisco, Planet Earth

Naruto had a pair of shadow clones help him finish his homework while M'rella slept. Somehow the blonde managed to keep his shadow clones a secret from his roommate although there were several close calls.

"Personal Log; Stardate 2271.328: Today we are going to M'rella's least favorite class, Basic Self Defense. Given the fact that Caitians abhor violence in any form it is very difficult for her to participate in class. She is quite good with a phaser though and considers it a tool as much as a weapon. At any rate I am helping her by teaching her a few moves from Ponn-ifla which are purely defensive. She is flexible enough to use the style despite the differences in physiology. I've been told that I belong in the advanced class except for phasers and marksmanship. Cadet Samui Schrodinger and a few others are in the same situation I am so our instructor Lieutenant Kaufmann has us spar with her or help to train others, so we don't humiliate them…"

The blonde hybrid finished his log entry and set down his tablet. 'I wonder how T'Lyra is doing this morning…I wish I could contact her.'

…

Physical Education Hall

Naruto stood on the mats facing his opponent, Samui. They'd never faced each other up to this point and many of their classmates had running bets on this match. Their instructor, Lieutenant Jenny Kaufmann said "Begin!" and both combatants exploded into blurs the moment that the word was said. Samui thought that Naruto had the physical strength of a normal Vulcan but was taken off guard when he had twice that strength.

'Damn! He's stronger than I am.' thought Samui sweating. 'If I'm going to win I can't hold back.' Samui took the offensive and found that Naruto changed gears and was in a totally different fighting stance than his usual V'Shan.

Naruto switched to Kareel-ifla and thought to himself, 'Samui is unexpectedly good. I believe she's been holding back on the others all this time.'

The two blondes exchanged several blows before Samui launched a brutal combo and followed up with a roundhouse kick to Naruto's face…or that was the plan until Naruto caught her kick and stopped her mid motion. The young woman's ice blue eyes widened in shock as an unmistakable glint of pure mischief filled Naruto's azure pools. Changing his grip on her foot, the blonde hybrid flipped the young augment woman right out of the sparring ring and ended the match.

Lieutenant Kaufmann called the match and thought to herself, 'Note to self; never seriously take on Naruto or Samui bare handed.'

Their classmates were sitting there baffled as most of the fight had been too fast for most of them to even follow. Samui's hair was all over the place when she got back in the ring. She was a bit dizzied and looked very sweaty and disheveled. The two competitors bowed to each other and said, "Thank you for the spar."

Soon the medics were fixing up both of them and got rid of the various bumps and bruises. Samui looked at Naruto and said, "You know, tossing me out of the ring like a ragdoll was rather uncool."

Naruto gave a tiny smile and said, "The traditional Kareel-ifla counter would have been to break your ankle and send you spinning in the horizontal plane. Logically I did not wish to do that. Our objective was a spar, not a death match. You are very good. I had no idea you had that kind of physical strength."

"You are good yourself." said Samui. "Considering I really didn't want a broken ankle I guess everything is cool."

…

The Andorian philosopher Shar leaned over and said to his Trill friend Rafi and said, "That was positively insane. They were unbelievably fast and the sounds of their hits impacting made me cringe."

Rafi rubbed her chin and got a calculating look on her face. "I'm going to have to get those two to show me some moves. I had no idea they were that good. I could hardly keep up."

For her part M'rella was glad that round was over. Such explosive violence didn't appeal to her at all. She found it frightening. 'As long as they are unhurt; that is the main thing.' thought the peace loving Caitian girl.

Soon Basic Self Defense Class was over, and everyone had showered off. After that the group went to the Mess Hall for lunch.

…

Mess Hall

"Tomorrow Commander Jackson is going to throw us into god knows what in our next starship simulation." said Rafi. "Mark my words; the crazy look in her eye can't be good."

Shar said, "Perhaps she'll take it easy on us considering we just got back from the desert."

"Don't kid yourself Shar." said Samui. "Since our group got back from Iran they've started calling the fast track students' The Think Tank. Commander Jackson will probably handicap us in some way. Who knows?"

M'rella set down her fork beside her salad and said, "Commander Jackson may be called the 'Meat Grinder' but her grading was very fair. She commended our first mission simulation."

"Fair or not I expect the difficulty to go up on the next simulation." said Naruto.

No one disagreed with that…

…

Zero-G Training Center, Phobos, Moon of Planet Mars

T'Lyra was working on the thruster alignment along of Work Bee Seven with her friend Brea Mathuin. The two of them in their space suits in a zero-g repair hanger. "Here's the problem." said T'Lyra. "The right lockdown on the aft thrusters is fused. Give me a plasma cutter Brea."

Brea handed over the tool and said, "How did you figure that out so fast?"

T'Lyra pointed at the fused lock mechanism and said, "It's melted. We'll cut it in half and then torque the halves loose with a torque wrench."

The two young women soon had the junked halves of the right lock removed and T'Lyra tested the left lock that made a grinding noise of metal on metal. "This one is gone too." said the young Vulcan woman. She looked at her tablet and said, "We need a WB-24AL Thruster Lock and a 24AR as well." She highlighted the needed parts and handed the tablet to Brea. "I'll get this left one removed if you could requisition the parts."

Brea took the tablet and said, "Okay, I'll be back in a few minutes."

A Chief Warrant Officer soon came over and saw the slagged lock floating near T'Lyra and said, "Was this the thruster's problem recruit?"

T'Lyra turned to her superior and said, "Yes Chief Casper; that one failed and the left one is 90% gone."

"Let me see." said the Chief. T'Lyra handed half the left thruster lock over to the Casper and he whistled. "This is a goner. Well spotted recruited."

"I suspect that the right one failed some time ago and the left on has been bearing the load for some time." said T'Lyra. "When was Work Bee Seven inspected last?"

Chief Casper spun the worn-down part in his hand and said, "Just last week. This should have been caught. I'll have to look into that."

T'Lyra removed the other half of the left thruster lock and said, "This was out of alignment as well."

'This girl is good.' thought Casper. The Chief said, "Once Mathuin gets back I'm going to show you both how to do a full inspection on this Work Bee recruit T'Lyra. We're going to see what else was missed. I have a feeling Work Bee Seven got skipped."

"Understood Chief Casper." said T'Lyra. 'This Work Bee is a mess. It's going to take some time.'

…

Simulation Hall, Starfleet Academy, San Francisco, Planet Earth

"Ship's Log; Stardate 2271.329. Captain Naruto of the Imperial Klingon Vessel IKV Darkslayer reporting. We are reconnoitering the Klingon/Kzinti Border in the Klingon Theta E 1 System in case any Kzinti vessels are violating the ceasefire. Our objective is to destroy and or capture enemy vessels within our territory." said Naruto into the speaker on his Command throne/chair.

"Shame we have to be Klingons." said Shar from the navigator's position. "Their seating is quite uncomfortable…I'm not too fond of someone constantly looking over my shoulder either." he added as he looked up at Naruto looming over them in his 'throne.'

Samui looked up from the Science station and said, "Shar, I wouldn't be complaining. First, we have a D7C command cruiser which is quite powerful. Secondly, we have Naruto in command and he's the best at Klingon tactics among us. It could be much worse."

Rafi asked, "How did I end up in the Communications position?"

"The same way I ended up at the helm; we drew straws." replied M'rella.

"Eyes on your stations." commanded Naruto. "There are two planets and an asteroid belt to hide in here. A Kzinti ship or ships may be hidden out there…or Federation for all that matter."

"Bingo! Two Kzinti light cruisers in an antipodal orbit around Theta E IB" said Samui.

"Why would they be in antipodal orbits opposite from one another?" asked Rafi. "That makes no sense tactically because they can't support each other with a planet in between them." The Trill girl looked seriously puzzled.

Naruto said, "They are in that formation to maximize their scanning. They are likely to be looking for something –like us." Naruto pivoted his 'throne' to face Samui. "Can you identify the light cruisers Samui?"

Samui focused on her sensor setup and said, "The warp signature of the ship on the north side of the planet is Kzinti Hegemony Ship KHS Mystic and the one to the south is KHS Warlock. They don't appear to have seen us."

Shar said, "Shall I put in a course for one of them? If they don't appear to have spotted us…?"

The blonde Vulcan hybrid rubbed his chin and said, "They will see us soon enough. Maintain course and prepare for silent running."

M'rella's amber eyes widened. "They will still spot us at warp speed Naruto. We have to be at sub light speed for silent running to work properly."

"I'm counting on that M'rella." said Naruto. "We'll power back up before they can reach us."

The group was sweating as they plodded along at warp 2 with their active sensors in passive mode.

"Warlock turned and is headed straight for us at warp factor 5!" said Shar as he turned to Naruto. "They've fired two drones*④ which are also moving at warp 5."

"They are at 200,000 km and they've already thrown down the gauntlet." Naruto suddenly grinned, much to Shar's shock. "Red Alert; power up the tractor beams. Power up all weapons and shields starting now. Have our Marines ready for transport."

Samui reported, "Warlock is opening fire. At this range they'll be lucky if they do much damage." There was a slight shaking as the green Kzinti Disruptor bolts grazed the front shields of the Darkslayer. "Shield damage is minimal at 4%." said Samui.

Shar looked back again at Naruto who said, "Steady as she goes Shar, trust me." He turned to Samui and said, "Has the Mystic reacted yet?"

Samui nodded. "The Mystic is slowly trailing the Warlock at 250,000km at warp factor 4. Warlock will reach us long before Mystic can intervene even at maximum warp."

M'rella said, "Warlock is still closing rapidly; they are at 100,000 km." The crimson color of the Kzinti ship was visible on the view screen by now.

Naruto said to Rafi, "Begin Maximum ECM. Send out a coded SOS to Klingon Imperial command that the D6 heavy cruiser Havoc is requesting help."

Rafi did so with a puzzled look on her face and said, "Our transmission was jammed but…Wait! If the Kzintis think we're a heavy cruiser when we are a much more powerful command cruiser…"

"Exactly." said Naruto. "It's the same hull type. Hopefully they won't figure things out until it's too late." He turned to M'rella. "When the two enemy drones reach 20,000 km lock onto them with our forward tractor beams. Shar; standby on all forward firing weapons. Our alpha strike will be a split salvo, disruptors first, then phasers second."

The crew carefully watched between their stations and the Warlock speeding in for the kill. "Warlock is at 50,000 km and still closing rapidly." said Samui as the light cruiser grew larger and larger on the view screen. "They don't appear to be slowing down at all from their head on course."

'Fools.' thought the blonde hybrid. Naruto asked Samui, "How far out is the Mystic?"

Samui's eyes flashed over the scanning screen and she said, "The Mystic is still 150,000km out."

"Warlock is at 40,000km." said M'rella. "The drones are at 20,000 km Naruto."

"Activate the forward tractor beams and capture those drones." said Naruto. "Rafi, drop the defensive ECM to half and begin offensive jamming on the Warlock."

"Both drones are captured Naruto." said M'rella.

"Warlock is firing phasers at 30,000 km!" said Samui.

"Hold on everyone." said Naruto. There was a huge shock as the Darkslayer was slammed by every phaser and disruptor the Warlock could bring to bear. Electricity arced as the front shield withered under the blue and green lances of death from the Kzinti light cruiser.

"Forward shield down 73%" reported Samui. "Warlock is at 15,000 km and closing."

"Impatient, aren't they?" asked Naruto. Then he said calmly "Shar, you may open fire now."

The Darkslayer suddenly lit up with the power of four green disruptor bolts and a second later; five blue phaser beams. The Kzinti light cruiser's front shield buckled as the disruptors plowed into it and the five phasers cut clean through into the crimson-colored hull of the Warlock causing massive damage.

"Lock the aft tractor beam on the Warlock." said Naruto. "Drop the forward shield. Beam over the Marines; boarding parties go."

"Transporters active…Boarding parties away!" said Rafi. "Our Marines are aboard the Warlock at vital points."

"Raise forward shield." said Naruto. "Give me an update on the Mystic M'rella."

"The Mystic has increased her speed to warp 8; she is at 120,000 km and closing rapidly." said M'rella from the helm station.

Naruto nodded. "Cycle the phasers and turn to port so our shield facing the Mystic is the number two shield. Ready the waist phasers as well."

Rafi said, "Reports are coming in. The auxiliary and emergency stations on the Warlock have been seized. If we can capture engineering and the bridge the Warlock is ours."

"Turn us away from the Mystic and let's tow our prize out of here." said Naruto. "Turn us hard to port; warp factor 3 M'rella."

"The enemy drones have lost their guidance and gone inert." said Samui. "It appears that the Warlock is ours."

Rafi said excitedly, "Our Marines just checked in. The Warlock has been captured."

Naruto exhaled and said, "Drop the tractor beams on the drones. Roll a nuclear space mine out of the shuttle bay doors. It should be active and be right in the way of the Mystic when she arrives. Once we've travelled 10,000 km roll out the other one. The Kzinti's have to get the Warlock back or they are facing a diplomatic disaster."

The IKV Darkslayer quickly turned away from the Mystic with the captured Warlock in tow and started slowly accelerating away. They felt the shockwave as the careening Mystic blundered into the first mine and then stumbled into the second. "View screen aft." ordered Naruto.

The Mystic was badly damaged and at a full stop. Samui said, "Their facing shield is down Naruto; Mystic is dead in the water. I advise we fire our waist phasers and finish her off…"

Two seconds and two phaser bursts from the Darkslayer later; the Mystic ceased to exist…

…

The lights changed back to normal and "SIMULATION ENDED" came up on the screen. Everyone relaxed a bit as Commander Triella Jackson entered the simulation room. She said in her usual gruff manner, "Cadet Naruto; you are a damn good Klingon."

"Thank you, Commander." said Naruto.

As the group of five followed their Commander back into the classroom Triella said, "I'll have your full performance evaluations next time. Come up to the desk for your detailed evaluations of your mission on the U.S.S. Burke last time. After that you are dismissed for an early lunch. You earned it."

…

Commander Jackson was soon in the Observation Room with Rear Admiral James T. Kirk who was laughing as he watched the simulator. "Did they live up to your expectations Jim?" she asked with humor in her voice.

"This Think Tank group is outstanding." said Kirk with a chuckle. "To think Lieutenant Commander T'Ara's son would be so unorthodox and tricky when she's so by the book. If they are this good on their second combat simulation, then I can't wait to see what they're like in a year. Work them hard Triella but other than chain of command discipline I see little problem with their performance." He smiled. "I'm eager to see what they do next. Keep me in the loop on their simulations."

"Will do sir." replied Jackson.

…

Mess Hall

Once again, the Fourth Year upperclassmen sitting a table over from the Think Tank griping and carrying on about their latest loss…

"I don't believe this Otome!" said a female human Fourth Year to her friend. "We were in command in the Mystic and those fucking idiots in the Warlock broke ranks and attacked recklessly. It's no wonder we lost. Even worse they got captured."

Otome replied, "I agree Jackie. We were at a huge disadvantage after that, but those space mines were just adding insult to injury. I can't believe we got taken out so quickly. I still can't accept the enemy fooled the Warlock into believing it was the D6 Havoc when it was the D7C Darkslayer. By the time they realized their mistake they'd already been crippled. God damn it!"

"Just keep your heads low. They are seriously pissed." advised Rafi. Everyone else just nodded in silence.

"Well, well. We meet again pussycat." said Cadet Joseph Kirov to M'rella out of nowhere. He was at the opposite table from the angry Fourth Years.

Samui saw M'rella cringe at the name and said, "M'rella's a Caitian; not a pet cat."

Not missing a beat, Kirov said, "And hello to you gorgeous!"

Samui rolled her eyes and was about to say something in retort, but the Fourth Years pounced first. The female human growled, "Kirov, you jackass! You and your team of idiots on the Warlock fucked up everything!"

Kirov smiled weakly and said, "Ummm, honestly Jackie. We really thought it was a D6 heavy cruiser we were facing. Hehe, it was just a simulation."

"Just a simulation?!" shrieked Jackie. She practically had steam coming out of her ears. "It's our grades here! I ought to wring your scrawny neck Third Year!"

"It not a big deal beautiful!" said Kirov in a frightened voice. "No need to pull rank or anything."

"Bastard, your group broke ranks and we could have won!" roared Jackie. "Get them guys!" The Fourth Years charged over the Think Tank's table and began pummeling Kirov and his Third Year compatriots.

"We're out of here! Let the Marines deal with this mess!" said Samui as the Think Tank cleared out of the fighting.

A wild brawl broke out but somehow the fast track Cadets made it out of the Mess Hall unscathed as the Marines moved in to break it up…

…

Shar sat down looking a bit disheveled (He'd crawled out under the tables). "Samui, you and Naruto could have taken them all."

"One must choose one's battles wisely Shar." said Naruto sagely.

Samui sighed. "That and we don't need demerits for fighting. There are enough issues to deal with as it is."

"Good point." said Shar. Rafi and M'rella nodded in agreement…

…

POSTSCRIPT:

*①: This is the redesigned Enterprise from Star Trek: The Motion Picture from 1979. Not the 2009 reboot.

*②: The top warp speeds are confusing as hell in the various series. In TOS the top speed was around Warp 8 but some episodes were in the double digits (which should have torn the ship apart). In The Next Generation things were redefined where the absolute top speed was Warp 10. Suffice it to say the top speed for a standard ship is Warp 8 to 9 (TOS) for this fic's purposes.

*③: Work Bees can be seen working all over on the U.S.S. Enterprise in the first movie.

*④: Drones are essentially guided missiles. Theoretically they should be fired in waves to overwhelm enemy defenses.

Hopefully this chapter didn't have too much technical jargon. The Think Tank is two for two in the Simulation Room. T'Lyra is busy doing repairs on Phobos and Naruto is busy on Earth avoiding fights. We also got to see some familiar faces from Star Trek: TOS and Naruto's warp theory is being put into actual use. See you next time. Blue out. 9/20/23