Jim Kirk stood on the Bridge of the Enterprise looking towards Delta Vega. He was already dressed in his electro-suit. He thought of the time he was on Delta Vega. For a while, he had wondered if he would come off that planet alive, especially after he was chased by hunger-driven creatures that had probably not seen a human out there like that until he showed up. He hoped they could avoid any creatures like that this time. However, they would have to come down to the planet a distance from the installation. Otherwise, someone would see them before they got a chance to do anything.
"Any indication that they see us?" Jim asked. "Any activity?"
"Nothing," Sulu replied. "We are detecting a security perimeter. Several guards it looks like and even maybe some sort of droids."
"Droids?"
"Yeah. Not like anything I've seen so far."
Jim looked at the scan on the screen. "So, they've created some sort of tiberium-enhanced droids? Just great."
"That's not all…the scanners are detecting some sort of technology inside them, but it looks like they're humanoid."
Michael Burnham was on the bridge now. She walked over to Jim. "It could be Control," she said. "If it is, and he has a bunch under his control, you cannot win."
Jim looked at her. "We're sure going to try."
"Admiral…"
"We already discussed all this. Artie and the others have created a way to defeat them."
"But how many are there. You're only taking a small team."
"It's enough."
Jim went over to Sulu, who was curious about that conversation. "Sulu, I'm leaving you in charge of this ship," Jim said. "Be ready to get us out of there at a moment's notice."
"Yes Sir," Sulu replied.
"If you see any ships leaving here, let me know immediately. We don't want them to escape."
Jim left the Bridge, followed by Michael. Everyone else who was going met Jim in the transporter room, all dressed in their electro-suits, including Anakin, Bones, Solan, Ajah, Carol, McNeil, Spock, and Michael. Jim had chosen out a team, not everyone he could have taken along, but he also had Korax holding another team in case they needed them. "If I call you, you know what to do," Jim said.
Korax slapped his chest with his fist. "I will be ready," he said.
Jim and his team stepped onto the transporter pad and got their weapons ready. "Energize."
They were soon down on the planet, but the suits were working because they could not feel the cold. "The facility is that way about a quarter mile," Jim said pointing toward the north. "Let's hope we don't run into any hungry creatures."
They started their trek across the frozen landscape. It looked like it did the last time Jim had seen it. "I still can't believe you stranded me on this ice cube," he said to annoy Spock.
"Admiral, as you know, I was emotionally compromised at the time," Spock replied.
"Plus, you flirted with his girlfriend, and he just wanted to take all his frustrations out on someone and you were handy," Bones added.
"You mean you threw him off the ship because he flirted with your girlfriend?" Solan asked.
"That is not quite how it happened," Spock said.
"Yes, it is," Bones argued. "He was just the one who got the brunt of your frustration at everything that was going on at the time. He beat your test and aced all his classes after staying out half the night."
"Bones, do we have to go there?" Jim asked. He looked at Carol who was smiling. "You think it's funny."
"Don't worry, we all know you're more responsible now," she said.
"More responsible now," Jim mumbled. "If I wasn't incredibly responsible, we wouldn't be out here walking across the frozen ground to attack some aliens who came and tried to take over Earth. What do you say about that?"
"I think they just can't get anyone else to do it," Bones said.
Everyone else but Jim laughed at that. He frowned. "Fine," he said. "Just remember, I'm a fleet admiral now, so I can pull rank on you even more."
"No you can't. I'm a doctor. I can put any of you down."
"Hey, I'm a Jedi," Anakin said. "I can put all of you down."
"Ajah and I can beat all of you," Helek declared.
"Is this a power struggle?" Carol asked. "Perhaps I will discover a weapon in this facility and just tell everyone it was an accident."
Michael laughed at that. "I assume this is stress relief?" she asked.
"Of course," Jim replied. "You don't think we're really angry, do you?"
"No. I suppose I'm still learning about this group."
"Me too," McNeil said. "But I've heard worse."
As they were coming to a hill, Jim said, "It's just over that rise there. Let's keep silence until we're there."
They came to the hill and stayed low to look over it. They could see the facility, which now had a wall around it. "Great," Bones said. "How come we couldn't see that before?"
"Well, the way they build stuff, it probably wasn't there," Jim replied. "No way to take out those turrets there without alerting them to our presence, although, since our suits have the black hole technology, we may be able to go undetected."
"Admiral, I am not certain that these turrets do not go by…sight, as well," Spock said. "Especially if they are controlled by Control."
Jim thought about that a moment as he looked through binoculars. "They have guards inside too," he said. "Well, I suppose we just have to use Carol's invention."
Carol took several small devices from her pack. "Don't forget, Artemus helped with this as well," she said.
"Yes. Much too small for it to detect, I'm hoping."
"Surely."
Carol set one of the small charges and sent it towards the first turret they could see, and simultaneously sent the others. Jim watched as the first one arrived at its target. Suddenly, there was a large explosion and the top of the turret fell to the ground outside the wall. An alarm started sounding that they could hear all the way up there. Soon, the other explosives detonated and all the turrets on the wall were destroyed.
"Let's move!" Jim said.
They all went over the hill and ran toward the installation. There were some rocks around the place so they hid behind some outside the wall. Ajah and Helek removed their gloves and aimed at the gates, and they were out of the way too. Next, they took out turrets that were inside the wall. Jim and the others were at the wall now. He watched as Ajah and Helek absorbed the electrical shots from the Tesla coils and shot them right back to destroy them. Then, they were inside the wall. There were more guards, some of which were brutes. Jim and his team had no time to do anything but fire, and then use swords. Carol got to the door of the installation and put in the code Jim had given her. The door slid open, and there were guards inside, but Carol had a surprise for them as she threw a flash grenade.
Jim soon arrived beside Carol, along with McNeil, Bones, and Michael. Spock and the others would continue with the ones outside while they went inside first. They moved down the corridor with their weapons ready. "They may be in the underground facility," Carol said.
"We're gonna see what we have up here first," Jim replied.
"Don't forget about Control," Michael said.
Funny you should say that…
Jim and his team looked up as they heard that voice coming over an unknown source. "What was that?" Jim asked.
"It's here," Michael whispered. "We all have to be careful."
"Warn the others."
They continued down the corridor slowly, and it seemed way too quiet…until they heard the doors slam shut. They whirled around but no one was behind them except the ones Carol had disabled. "Keep moving," Jim said. "We'll worry about that later."
They moved on down the corridor to the area where the engineering room was that kept the place running. Jim looked around the corner of the doorway, but he saw nothing. "Jim, this is looking worse all the time," Bones said.
Jim could not say he did not agree. They went into the engineering area and searched but they did not find anyone. "Control is probably running it for them," Michael whispered. "If he is, there is no way to shut it down."
"He can't keep it running if it's destroyed," Jim declared. He aimed his laser rifle at the power conduit and fired.
The others joined in, and soon, the conduit was smoking and sparking. Suddenly, a small droid came around the corner rolling on wheels and aimed a laser light at them. "Duck!" Jim yelled.
They all moved as a laser fired at them. "Jim, that laser can probably cut through anything!" Bones said.
Carol was arming one of her charges as the laser cut through a console next to them. She let go of the charge and it headed for the droid. It soon attached itself to the droid and blew it up. They then continued to fire at the conduit. The conduit soon started to flash and the lights in the place went off, and then came back on, but then went off again.
"They're obviously in that underground facility," McNeil said. "What do we do now?"
"If their power is out, they will be coming up," Jim replied. "All those power stations outside have to be destroyed." He called Spock on the communicator. "Spock, make sure you destroy all those power stations."
"We have taken out four, but there are three more," Spock replied. "We need the Enterprise to take out this construction yard. You know what it is capable of."
"Watch out for Control. He is controlling this place for them while they work below."
"Yes, Admiral."
Jim called the Enterprise next. "Enterprise," he said.
"Yes, Admiral," Sulu answered.
"We need you to destroy that construction yard out there. It's making it hard for us to shut down the power to this place. They're underground. Must be why they didn't think they needed so much security."
That's just what you think, Admiral Kirk…
Jim looked around them. "This place is being controlled by…Control."
"We're locking onto the construction yard now," Sulu said. "You need us to do anything else?"
"Not at the moment."
"That thing knows where we are," Bones said. "Why is it letting us destroy this?"
"Because it has something else planned," Michael replied. "It's a distraction."
"For what?" Jim wondered out loud.
Anakin had been concentrating while all this was going on. "They are underground," he said. "Not sure what they're doing but they're anxious."
In the underground facility…
"We must flee and test our technology now," Petrova said. "They will find us."
"Is it ready though?" Kane asked. "We must be successful."
"We will be. It is ready. Once we are in the Scrin domain, they cannot stop us."
Kane turned to their new recruit. "You will distract your former friends," he said as he spoke to Mac who had been taken over by Control.
"What friends?" he asked.
Kane laughed. "You will distract them while we escape. We must be triumphant, and we will find you when we return."
"I will do my part."
As Control walked out of the lab, Kane turned back to his motley crew. "Shall we embark on our journey?" he asked.
They had a ship ready to flee which was hidden underground as well. They began loading all their essential research.
Jim and the others were making their way around to the lift that could take them to the underground lab, but they would take the stairs. "We have to be ready for anything," he said.
Just as they came to that area, they realized someone was coming up in the lift. They hid and waited to see who would come out. They were surprised to see Mac come out of the lift. Jim started to say something, but Anakin said, "Wait!"
"What?" Jim asked.
"There's something wrong."
Jim looked towards Mac again. He had come out of the lift and just stood for a moment. "He may have been taken over by Control," Michael said. "Why would he be coming up like that?"
Jim frowned. "Then he's here for a distraction," he said. "They may be escaping."
Just as Jim said that, he got a transmission from the Enterprise. "Admiral, we're detecting a ship," Sulu said.
"Where?"
"It's beneath you, but it looks like they have a hangar that lifts to the surface."
"Let us know when they move to the surface. Have you heard from Spock?"
"Yes. They have entered the building now."
"Contact him and beam them back to the ship. We have a problem here."
"Yes sir."
"If he's been taken over by Control, you can't save him," Michael said.
"We can try," Jim replied.
"Admiral, I told you, once Control has them, they're no longer there…it's just their body he uses."
Jim was not sure what to do. "Admiral, I'll take care of this for you," Anakin said. "I wouldn't want you to have to destroy a friend."
"I want to talk to him first," Jim said. He stood up. "Mac!"
Mac looked toward him. "Admiral, I'm glad you're here."
"How did you get away from them?"
"They let me go. They're planning their escape, and they don't want any prisoners."
Jim frowned. "You don't seem like yourself."
"Let's just not play games anymore, Admiral Kirk," Control said. "You know what has happened to your friend, and he will never be again. I must say, I like his metal hand."
Suddenly, Control launched himself at them, but Anakin's lightsaber was activated in an instant, and Control no longer had a head. Jim just stood there as the body fell to the floor with a thud. That had happened so fast, he barely saw what happened. However, they could see that the body had become an android as sparks flew out of the neck. Michael stood beside Jim as they could see it was not Mac who was killed. "I'm sorry, Admiral," she said.
"We have to stop them," Jim said. "Enterprise, beam us up."
They were soon back on the Enterprise. Jim and the others hurried to the Bridge. "Have they launched yet?" Jim asked.
"They're about to," Sulu replied as he was back at the helm.
Spock was also on the Bridge. "Admiral, what happened?"
"We don't have time to talk about that right now," Jim replied. "We have to stop them. It's a lot worse than we thought. If they are able to perfect that technology with the Scrin, they will be able to take over any planet they want."
"They're launching," Sulu said.
Jim and Spock stood beside each other like they had so many times and looked at the viewscreen. "Fire on them!" Jim commanded.
The Enterprise fired on the ship as it came out of atmosphere, but they were able to avoid it. "Follow them!" Jim said.
They pursued the ship until it came to the outer area of the Vulcan system. "What are they doing?" Jim asked. "Are they about to go to warp?"
Suddenly, the ship fired what looked like a giant stream of light that opened a portal in space. "Follow them!" Jim said. "Get closer!"
As the other ship went into the portal, it started to close but the Enterprise was able to go through as well. "Fire!" Jim said.
The Enterprise fired on the other ship, which caused it to wobble off course, and then both ships emerged into another part of space…or it looked like space. "Where are we?" Jim asked.
Sulu was working on that while he tried to get the ship under control again. "It looks like we're at Parnassus Beta," he said. "There's a lot of activity going on around that planet."
"What kind of activity?" Jim asked. "And where did that ship go?"
"Admiral! That is a Gorn ship!" Uhura said.
Jim looked closer and could see the unmistakable shape and markings of the ship. "Have they detected us?" he asked.
"I really can't tell," Sulu said. "There is a lot of interference."
Spock looked at Jim. "You know that the Gorn always create a field of interference that traps their prey," he said. "It is their way of being triumphant."
"But what's going on here? Why are they here?"
"We're being hailed," Uhura said.
"On screen."
Jim stood dumbfounded as he saw who appeared on the viewscreen. Although he looked a little different…it was Christopher Pike. He looked just as surprised. "I'm Captain Christopher Pike of the USS Enterprise," Pike asked. "Who are you?"
"I'm…"
"Admiral, I do not believe you should disclose that," Spock said.
"Why?"
"This is clearly not the Admiral Pike that we knew before."
Jim realized what Spock was saying now. "Answer me now or we'll consider you hostile," Pike declared. "Spock?"
"Oh well, I guess that throws that out the portal," Jim said.
"We will be violating the…"
"I don't want to hear about the Prime Directive. We are way beyond that."
Jim looked back at the viewscreen. "I'm Admiral James T. Kirk," he said.
Pike was silent a moment. "Admiral?"
"Yes. What's going on here?"
"Wait a minute."
"We don't have a minute. A ship just came through that portal over there and it contains a bunch of hostile beings who are bent on taking over the galaxy."
"We already have hostile beings trying to take over. So you brought more?"
"No. I didn't bring them. They…we're getting off track here. We have to stop them. They're trying to get to the Scrin universe, and they got sidetracked to here…wherever here is."
"What is the Scrin universe?"
"We don't have time for that. We can discuss that later."
"We have our hands full with the Gorn."
"This is a bigger threat than the Gorn."
"There's something worse than the Gorn?" someone on the Bridge asked.
"We have people down on that planet being killed by the Gorn," Pike said. "We don't have time to think about anything else."
"You better start thinking," Jim replied, not believing that he was talking to Pike that way. "Look, these beings can travel from one universe to the other and in between. They are trying to take over. They want to perfect the Borg and the Scrin…"
"Did you say Borg?"
"Yes."
Pike was silent a moment. He had heard of the Borg. "If what you're saying is true…"
"Admiral, there's a ship coming in," Sulu said.
"From where?" Jim asked. "Is it Gorn?"
"No. It…it's Federation, and it's coming out of…I don't know. Looks like some portal."
"What is this? A convention?" Pike asked. "When did you become an Admiral?"
Just then, the other ship came out of the portal and seemed to know right where it was going. It was the oddest looking ship they had ever seen, with four nacelles. The communication between Jim and Pike was cut off. "Admiral, our communications are being jammed," Uhura said.
"By whom?" Jim asked.
"By that ship, and we're being hailed."
Just then, another person who looked familiar appeared on the screen. "Admiral Kirk," he said. "I am Admiral Perry Hopper of the USS Murdoc. I'm an ambassador with the Temporal Federation. You are violating the Temporal Prime Directive."
"Wait a minute!" Jim said. "Who are you?"
"I just told you."
"Don't give me that. I have your counterpart in my Brig."
"They too have violated the temporal prime directive and will be dealt with. You must return to your own time and universe."
"They're getting away!"
"They're doing no such thing."
"Look, I do not know you, and the only one I know of you is a criminal."
"Admiral Kirk, you must comply."
"I must do nothing of the sort."
"Admiral, you cannot argue with them," Spock said.
"What are you going to do about those we chased here?" Jim asked.
"As I said, they will be dealt with. Now, lower your shields. I will take your prisoners and put them back where they belong."
"Hold it! You're not taking anyone. End transmission!"
The transmission ended. "Sulu, get us away from here," Jim said.
"Admiral, I have heard of the Temporal Federation," Spock said. "If he truly is…"
"Yeah, that's a big IF, and if he's not, he could be just trying to free these prisoners we have, and we're not going to let that happen."
"We're being hailed," Uhura said.
"By whom?" Jim asked.
"It's from the other ship…the other Enterprise."
"On screen."
Captain Pike appeared on the screen again. "What's going on, Admiral?" he asked.
"Some guy claiming to be an ambassador with the Temporal Federation…"
The transmission ended again. "What happened?" Jim asked.
"We're being jammed again," Uhura said.
Suddenly, Admiral Perry Hopper appeared on the screen again. "If you won't go willingly, we will use force. This won't hurt…much."
The next thing Jim knew, he was waking up lying on the floor. He looked around him at everyone else who were also unconscious. He thought a moment and then jumped up. He looked at the viewscreen which was showing nothing. He hurried over to the console and activated the viewscreen. They were sitting above Earth close to the space dock. He could see the moon in the distance with the green glow of Tiberium still on it. He got over to Spock and shook him. "Spock, wake up," he said.
Spock moved and then opened his eyes. "Admiral. What has happened?"
"I don't know. We're at Earth."
Spock got up and went over to the communications area where a light was flashing. "We're being hailed," he said. He pressed the button and Admiral Perry Hopper appeared on the screen.
"I know you're confused about where you are," he said. "But you're back home, and all the others have been returned to their own time and places, including the prisoners you had in your brig. You'll find you have new prisoners. Good luck."
The message ended. Jim and Spock looked at each other and then hurried down to the brig. There they found Kane, Petrova, and their other entourage, but the overlord and his bunch had been returned to their own place. "How did they do this?" Jim asked.
"I do not know," Spock replied. "But I suggest we just refrain from asking too many questions."
"I suppose we can talk to Admiral Winston and see if he knows anything about this."
By the time they got back to the Bridge, everyone was awake. "We thought you were gone for a moment," Sulu said, sounding relieved. "What happened?"
"I don't know," Jim replied. "All I know is, we're back home, and all those others are back where they belong too, and Kane and his bunch are in the brig."
"Who was that guy? Where were we?"
"I'm not sure, but I think we were in another universe like the Terran universe except this wasn't that."
"Maybe the original where the older Spock came from."
"Maybe, but it's over now." Jim frowned. "That was Captain Pike. I wish I could have talked to him more."
Just then, Admiral Winston came onto the Bridge. "Admiral Kirk, what just happened?" he asked.
"I'm not sure," Jim replied. "But we're back home. We have to go back to New Vulcan to retrieve our families."
"Why do you not know what happened?"
"All I know is that we chased that ship through a portal, and we were in another universe or something…another timeline, and some guy showed up saying he was with the Temporal Federation, and we were breaking the Temporal Prime Directive. Who do they think they are?"
"And what happened to Kane and his bunch?"
"They've all been returned to their timelines and Kane and his bunch are in the brig."
"So, the Scrin are out of the picture, but it's not over."
"I suppose you could say that, Sir."
"I believe I will stay on Earth while you return to New Vulcan. I'll take care of things here."
"Yes, Sir."
Jim looked at Spock. "Will you take care of that?" he asked.
"Yes, Admiral."
Carol walked over to Jim next. "That was quite a surprise," she said. "What are we doing next?"
"I don't know. I feel a little confused, but I suppose Section Thirty-One is no more."
"I wouldn't bet on that."
"Wishful thinking. We have to go back to New Vulcan to get the kids."
"Are we going down to the planet?"
"We could. I think I'd like to see the planet."
"I would too. Do you think everything will settle down?"
"We have a whole lot of criminals in our brig that we're going to have to deal with." Jim frowned. "Someone has to deal with that Control thing too. Who knows whether Cabal is still around?"
"Will this never end?"
"I don't know. I think we've stopped it for the most part."
Soon, they were on their way to New Vulcan, after everyone who wanted to leave the ship was off, including Sulu, who went back to his own ship. Jim had asked him to check into some more things while they were gone.