A Matter for Ma'at

 

 

 

Chapter 1

 

 

2258; Starfleet Academy Hanger 1

 

“...USS Neutral, Uhura, USS Farragut, Petroski, USS Antares. Go to your stations and good luck.”

Uhura could hardly believe what she was hearing. Spock had been her boyfriend for nearly two months now and he was doing this to her? Damn it! He knew what it meant for her to be on the Enterprise! She had been working her ass off to be the best of the best in the Linguistics Departments graduating class so that she could get that posting. Spock had no right, absolutely no right at all, to do this to her! She deserved to be on the Enterprise not the fucking USS Farragut! Damn it, that ship was hardly more than floating waste it was so old.

Gaila who had been standing next to Uhura smiled widely at her roommate. Uhura was her best friend on Earth and while the USS Farragut wasn’t really the posting either of them wanted they would still be serving on the same ship. However, her smile faltered as she looked at Uhura, who had a dour expression on her face. Galia wasn’t stupid, she knew Uhura would be upset about not being posted on the Enterprise, but surely she understood that these were emergency postings and not their assigned postings after graduation? Graduation wasn’t for another couple weeks yet and the final grades and tests weren’t to be taken until next week at the earliest, so the teachers didn’t have enough info yet to determine which ship they would be most needed on.

Uhura’s nostrils flared and her lips thinned out as she scanned over the hanger bay looking for someone. Galia sighed and tried not to grimace as she realized whom Uhura was storming after. She didn’t understand why Uhura thought Professor Spock was her boyfriend.  Uhura knew that Vulcan’s were bonded as children and as such would not join in an illicit affair, especially not one with a student of theirs. And certainly Professor Spock was serious enough about his career and the career of his students not to endanger either of them being dishonorably discharged from Starfleet for a simple crush. Uhura may believe she loved Spock but Galia knew her well enough to know it wouldn’t last once she really got to know the man. Spock wasn’t what Uhura wanted long term, he was just this stunningly smart no-nonsense man who was unlikely to break her heart the way Uhura’s last boyfriend had. And Spock…well, Uhura wasn’t what Spock would want either. Uhura liked Spock and Galia knew he respected her as a Starfleet officer, but Uhura didn’t want long term. She was far too focused on making her way up the chain of command to the ship and the career she wanted to ever fully commit to anyone. And Spock as a Vulcan would only consider her as a long-term mate. Perhapes one day, years down the road Uhura could be what Commander Spock wanted and needed but she wasn’t that person now.

Shaking her head Galia turned away and headed towards the shuttles leading to her ship. Once Uhura realized that Spock wasn’t going to change something just for her own whims then they could talk.

“Commander, a word.”

Spock looked up from his PADD into the furious gaze of his top student. “Yes, Lieutenant?”

“Was I not one of your top students?”

“Indeed you were.”

“And did I not, on multiple occasions, demonstrate exceptional aural sensitivity, and I quote, ‘an unparalleled ability to identify sonic anomalies in subspace transmission tests?’ “

“Consistently, yes.”

“And while you were well aware that of own qualified desires to serve on the USS Enterprise, I'm assigned to the Farragut?” Uhura pushed her way into Spock’s personal space, glaring up at him with righteous anger, of which Spock did not understand the cause. These were merely temporary orders not the true assignments.

“It was an attempt to avoid the appearance of favoritism.” He wanted to explain that the Admirals were going to look at this as part of their tests and if she went to her posting and completed her assignment as ordered it would do well for her future and a chance to serve aboard the flagship, but her anger was blinding and she didn’t appear to wish to give him time to fully explain. Although she was one of his brightest students and should have been able to deduce all of this on her own.

“No, I'm assigned to the Enterprise.”

Spock had to fight not to pinch the bridge of his nose and sigh in misery at her. In some ways she reminded of very much of his K’diwa, but in others she was so very different. Spock looked to his PADD and realized he no longer had time enough to explain any of this to Cadet Uhura and gave in. He typed in some commands that would notify the other Professors of a change to the rosters and as to the reason. It would be a black mark on her otherwise spotless record and Spock was of the opinion that it could very well cost her a more promising posting after graduation. It was her choice however and he would not deny her the right of her choice at this moment. If her need to achieve her goal ranked higher than the needs of his people, he would remember that in the future. “Yes, I believe you are.”

“Thank you.”

 

 

*~*~*~*

 

 

2258; Starfleet Academy Hanger 1, Medical Bay

 

Bones pushed Jim out of the walk way and further into the hanger bay to where the small medical bay was set up. If he was really going to smuggle Jim on board he would need a good excuse to do so. It wasn’t like he could just sling him over his shoulder and claim him as carry-on luggage. Well…he could but it likely wouldn’t work unless the Lieutenant guarding the shuttle was blind and dumber than a post.

“What are you doing?” Jim watched as his best friend started shuffling though brightly colored vials, grabbing one and shoving it into a free hypospray. Trying no to grimace Jim let Bones pushed him down on one of the stools sitting by the table.

“I'm doing you a favor. I couldn't just leave you there looking all pathetic. Take a seat. I'm going to give you a vaccine against viral infection from Melvaran mud fleas.”

The hypospray made a loud whirring click as it injected the vaccine into Jim’s blood stream. “Oww! What for?” Jim tugged at his collar, the stiff fabric scraping across the now tender spot of flesh.

“Give you the symptoms.” Bones turned away to drop the used hypospray into the medical waste until before grabbing his medical bag, slinging it over his shoulder.

“What are you talking about?”

“You're going to start to lose vision in your left eye.”

Jim glanced down, shaking his head slightly, blinking his eyes open wide and trying to look around the small, cluttered room. “Yeah, I already have.”

“Oh, and you're going to get a really bad headache and a flop sweat.” Bones turned and strode over to Jim, grabbing his arm in both hands and pulling the swaying cadet to his feet.

“You call this a favor?”

Honestly Bones wasn’t sure why he was risking the only career he had left on Jim, but damn if the boys dejected blue eyes didn’t just tug at the heart strings he didn’t want to have.  Shit. It may ruin him but it was the only option he had and maybe some of Jim’s damned luck would do some good for both of them this once. “Yeah, you owe me one.”

Jim was swaying more, his legs going limp as cooked noodles at times so that Bones was certain he would end up sling Jim over his shoulder to carry aboard. Knowing he wasn’t quite strong enough for that he forced Jim to move faster even as the thick scent of sweat began to rise from his friend. Jim was licking his lips, pupils blown wide as he shivered and stumbled along in Bones wake. The other cadets still rushing to their shuttles gave them strange looks at the sight of Jim before quickly giving them a wide berth, obviously not pleased with the sight or smell of the sick cadet.

Bones tugged Jim up the steps to where the rather short Duty Assigner stood by the open hatch of the shuttle. The man looked up and blinked at the sight of them before looking back to his PADD.

“Kirk, James T. He's not cleared for duty aboard the Enterprise.”

“Medical Code states the treatment and transport of a patient to be determined at the discretion of his attending physician, which is me. So, I'm taking Mister Kirk aboard. Or would you like to explain to Captain Pike why the Enterprise warped into a crisis without one of its senior medical officers?”

Jim swayed more towards the floor, his face going red and white alternately. Bones was actually surprised that Jim was still standing and that he hadn’t vomited all over the assigner’s polished shoes. He was breathing in harsh pants and the assigner was watching him with a bit of fear in his eyes.

“As you were.”

Jim blinked at the man and mumbled rudely as Bones tugged him away. “As you were.”

Bones huffed and pushed Jim up the ramp into the shuttle. “C'mon.”

 

 

*~*~*~*

 

 

2258; USS Enterprise


“Jim! I'm not kidding, we need to keep your heart rate down!”

Bones cursed Jim and his own weakness for helping the idiot onto the ship. He had not agreed to be Jim’s friend just so he could get court marshaled for sneaking him on board and failing to keep him hidden ‘cause he had gotten it into his harebrained fool mind to go a gallivanting around the ship with hands the size of grapefruits! Fortunately for both of them the main hallways were nearly empty of people, so they ended up only dodging half a dozen startled crewmen as Jim rushed to yet another terminal.

“Computer, locate crew member Uhura!”

Bones yanked the white hard cased medical bag open and began pulling out hyposprays to try and get Jim’s hands back to their normal size. It wasn’t good at all that they had reacted to the vaccine by swelling like that. Fuck, but Jim was always had the most random allergies! “I haven't seen a reaction this severe since med school.”

As he finally got the hypospray cartage loaded he looked up only to see Jim running off down another corridor. Cursing his luck and Kirk’s in general he snapped the case shut and went running off after his stowaway best friend.

“We're flying into a trap!” Jim didn’t even look back at him as yelled to Bones.

“Dammit Jim, stand still.” It took a few minutes of running deeper into the heart of the great starship before Jim slowed down enough for him to catch up and jab another hypospray into Jim’s neck, making the blond cadet jerk his head away with a pained gasp.

“Ow! Stop it!” Jim turned to glare at Bones before looking down the narrow corridor between…well, Bones didn’t rightly know what those large steel containers were or why the xenolingustics desks were there by them. Jim ran through, ignoring the rather odd layout of the deck, pushing people aside and darting between others as he closed in on where Uhura had been stationed.

“Uhura, Uhura,” he called out over the sounds of the crew.

Uhura turned around at the sound of her name and was startled to see James T Kirk standing behind her waving his hands like a mad man. “Kirk, what are you doing here?”

“The transmission from the Klingon prison planet, what exactly was...”

Uhura glanced down at Jim’s hands as he gestured with them, and gasped, stepping back from him in shock. “Oh my god, what's wrong with your hands?!”

While Jim was busy trying to get Uhura to pay attention to what he was trying to say and not to his ridiculously swollen hands, Bones snuck up behind him and began scanning him. He needed to know what the hell had caused such a sudden and violent reaction and to see if it had caused any non-visible problems.

“It-it-it... look, who is responsible for the Klingon attack? Was the ship Romul...” Jim stumbled over the words as his tongue began to swell and go numb in his mouth. Was nothing going to go right?

Uhura gave Jim a confused look and glanced over his shoulder at Bones. As much as she disliked, perhaps even hated Kirk, she didn’t want to see him all swollen and gasping for breath. It was far too disturbing to look at and it may have, just a little, caused her to feel bad for him. “Was the ship what?”

Jim’s eyes widened in frustrated and he waved his hands around as he glared at Bones over his shoulder. “What's happening to my mouth?”

“You got numb tongue?” Bones winced and cringed at the sight of his friend. So hypospray number 2 had been a bad idea s well.

“Numb tongue,” Jim tried to scream.

“I can fix that!” Bones darted away from Jim and Uhura and back to where he had set his medical bag on Uhura’s station.

“Was the ship what?” Uhura closed her eyes and shook her head, annoyed by the whole situation and by the fact that once again James T Kirk was stalking her and badgering her about God only knows what.

Mumbling and irritated, Jim tried to make his speech more recognizable, “Romulan!”

“What?” Uhura shook her head again and closed her eyes, trying to block out the sounds of all the other people talking around them.

“Romulan!”

“Romulan?”

“Yeah!” Jim nodded wildly, pleased that she had finally understood what he was trying to say.

“Yes.” Uhura was still confused as to why a conversation she had overheard and already reported prior to his academic hearing had lead to this rather strange moment.

“Yes!” Jim was practically bouncing in his excitement. Now he just needed to get her to the bridge with him and he could keep them all from certain death.

Bones snuck behind him, a third hypospray in hand. With one last glance at the dosage Bones shoved it into Jim’s neck and set the injection. Jim cried out and jerked away, glaring daggers at his best friend. “Ahh... dammit!”

As quickly as it had come the swelling and the numb tongue vanished. Not wanting to waste any further time, Jim turned and began to run out of the bowls of the ship to the nearest turbolift that could take him up to the main corridors and onto the bridge. Bones cursed and grabbed Uhura forcing her to run along with him.

Uhura glared and pulled her arm free but didn’t stop running. Whatever was happening it was going to be big and she didn’t want to miss it. Especially since it seemed to involve a transmission she heard.

“Jim,” cried out Bones as the finally made it up the last stretch of hallway to the bridge. Bones reached out, lurching forwards as he tried to grab a hold of Jim.

“What's going on,” Uhura called out as she ran behind them.

“Jim, come back!” Bones nearly slipped and fell as Jim took a sharp turn onto the bridge. Cursing in his head Bones grabbed the doorway to keep from falling and practically threw himself in after Jim.

“Kirk!” Uhura was starting to cruse all the too smart for their own good farm boys as she slowed down, panting slightly as she came to a quick stop behind McCoy on the bridge.

“Captain,” Jim called out.

“Jim, no!” Bones made one more grasping motion to pull his friend back and missed as Jim darted forward to the Captain’s chair where Captain Pike was sitting with a startled expression.

“Captain Pike, we have to stop the ship!”

Captain Pike swung his chair around and stood up all at once, stepping into Jim’s personal space, his whole demeanor gone tense and sharp with his anger. “Kirk, how the hell did you get on board the Enterprise?”

Bones forced his way in front of Jim, pushing him back several steps and throwing his hand out towards Captain Pike, trying to keep him back fro Jim. “Captain, this man's under the influence of a severe reaction of a Melvaran flea vaccine, completely...”

“Bones, Bones...” Jim pushed at Bones, trying to talk over his friend’s rapid excuses.

“...delusional. I take full responsibility.”

“Vulcan is not experiencing a natural disaster. It's being attacked by Romulans.” Jim tried to ignore Bones frantic attempts to get him to shut up and looked up at Pike with all the seriousness he could, trying to wordless show him the severity of what he was trying to impart.

“Romulans? Cadet Kirk, I think you've had enough attention for one day. McCoy take him back to medical, we'll have words later.” Captain Pike was more than a little disappointed. He had chosen Kirk. Brought him all the way from Iowa and seen him through three years of intense schooling and had him pre-slotted to be posted to a tactical position on Enterprise only to find the kid had fallen back into bad habits and had cheated his way through a major simulation exam.

Bones grabbed onto Jim’s arm again. “Aye Captain.”

Jim shook Bones hold off and followed Pike back to the Captain’s Chair. “Look, sir, that same anomaly...”

“Mister Kirk...,” began Pike.

“Mister Kirk is not cleared to be aboard this vessel.” Spock stepped up to stand between the two. His words coming out fast as he watched the young cadet try to dissuade his Captain from going to aid the Vulcan people. He didn’t understand why this particular cadet could get to him so easily or why he felt the need to harm Spock and his people in such a way, but he would not stand for it.

Jim glared at his once beloved and started to talk over him. “Look, I get it, you're a great orator. I'd love to do it again with you to.”

“I can remove the Cadet...”

“Try it,” Jim yelled into Spock’s face. “This Cadet is trying to save the bridge.”

Spock practically sneered at him. “By recommending a full stop mid-warp during a rescue mission?”

Jim turned away from Spock and looked to Captain Pike. “It's not a rescue mission, listen, it's an attack.”

“Based on what facts,” Spock’s voice was harsh now as if he was trying to hold back his anger and was barely succeeding.

Everyone on the bridge stilled and for over a minute all that could be heard was the soft humm of the technology around them. Jim turned a cold glare on Spock. His K’diwa may have abandoned him and lost his faith in Jim, but Jim still loved him even against his better judgment and he wasn’t about to let them all die when Sarek and Mrs. Amanda needed their help.

“That same anomaly, a lightning storm in space that we saw today, also occurred on the day of my birth. Before a Romulan ship attacked the USS Kelvin.” Jim looked away from Spock and back to Captain Pike, letting the anger drop from his voice. “You know that, sir, I read your dissertation.”

Pike looked away, thinking over Jim’s words and remembering the information that he had gathered about George Kirk and the last battle of the USS Kelvin.

Jim turned to look back at Spock, his voice once again going sharp. “That ship which had formidable and advanced weaponry was never seen or heard from again.” Jim glanced back to Pike, who was now looking between him and Spock. “The Kelvin attack took place on the edge of Klingon space and at twenty-three hundred hours last night, there was an attack. Forty-seven Klingon warbirds destroyed by a Romulan, sir. It was reported that the Romulans were in one ship, one massive ship.”

Captain Pike leaned in towards Jim, wanting to believe him but not sure if he could. “And you know of this Klingon attack how?”

Jim looked away to where Uhura was standing, nervously watching them. Spock and Captain Pike turned to look at her, waiting for some confirmation or denial of what Jim was telling them.

“Sir, I intercepted and translated the message myself. Kirk's report is accurate.” She might not like Kirk but she suddenly understood exactly why he had chased her down and run through the ship like a mad dog was on his heels.

“We're warping into a trap, sir. The Romulans are waiting for us, I promise you that,” Jim was watching Pike process the information and did his best to ignore the way Spock was now watching him.

“The Cadet's logic is sound,” He didn’t sound particularly pleased to admit it but he did. “And Lieutenant Uhura is unmatched in xenolinguistics, we would be wise to accept her conclusion.”

Captain Pike turned to look at the Lieutenant manning the Comm station. “Scan Vulcan space, check for any transmissions in Romulan.”

The Lieutenant swallowed nervously and glanced from his station to his Captain. “Sir, I'm not sure I can distinguish the Romulan language from Vulcan.”

Pike turned away and moved to follow Uhura as she tried to leave the bridge. “What about you? Do you speak Romulan, Cadet?”

Surprised, Uhura answered, “Uhura. All three dialects, sir.”

“Uhura, relieve the lieutenant.”

Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Uhura nodded and headed to the Comm station, taking the other Lieutenant’s now empty seat. “Yes sir.”

“Hannity, hail the USS Truman.”

Hannity turned to look up at her Captain. Her face was grim as she shook her head, not wanting to think of what this would mean. “All the other ships are out of warp, sir, and have arrived at Vulcan, but we seemed to have lost all contact.”

“Sir, I pick up no Romulan transmission, or transmission of any kind in the area.” At her new station Uhura was working hard to find anything out there that might give them a clue as to what they were warping into.

“It's because they're being attacked,” his voice filled with certainty, Jim looked from Uhura to Captain Pike.

Pike scowled but accepted that they may be warping into in a live version of the Kobayashi Maru. Face hard and filled with a sharp edged determination Captain Pike took his chair and looked out over his still new bridge. It looked like his lady would be tested in fire. “Shields up, red alert.”

“Arrival in Vulcan in five seconds... four... three... two...” Sulu spoke loudly, counting down the seconds over the sound of the Red Alert siren.

While their was no physical jolt as they exited the warp, the visual was enough to shock them all back a step as the rush of stars was replacing by the looming ruins of countless Federation starships. Their hulking carcasses still burning in places as the fell to pieces above the red mass of the planet Vulcan.

“Emergency evasive,” called out Pike in a strong steady voice.

“Running sir,” called out one of the bridge officers.

One by one the other officers began reporting what their instruments were telling them. Their voices rose and fell over each other, panic filling in the sounds as they struggled follow their Captain’s directions. With quick, deft movements Sulu struggled to make the ship dance through the ruins and bodies floating around them. Twisting and turning the ship as if it was made of putty as he narrowly avoided several large saucer sections.

“Damage report.”

“Deflector shields are holding,” called out another officer.

“All stations. Engineer Olson, report.”

The sound of the Engineer was lost in the chaos as Jim watched from the sidelines, his gaze unable to look away from the wanton destruction and death on the viewscreen. He had been trying to prepare himself for something horrific like this since he had first woken up in sickbay and heard the Russian kids announcement. Still, it hadn’t prepared him for the reality of seeing so many of his fellow cadets and their instructors floating in space surrounded by the wreckage of some of Starfleet’s best ships.

“Full reverse, come about starboard ninety degrees, drop us underneath and...”

Sulu grimaced and dipped the ship low, barely getting it under the newest hulk of ruin with only minor damage to the outer hull. As they cleared the debris and looked past the edge of the planet where the sun rising they saw it.

The ship was massive. Large than any description could prepare them for. Jim had never seen anything like it. It was like some horrible monster from an old Earth B Movie, all sharp jagged edges and spires. It sat there watching as the Federation ships died around it. It was something truly horrible beyond Jim’s childhood nightmares. There was something horrifying about it just waiting there as if they were all nothing. It wasn’t a living thing but looking at it Jim felt like he was back on Tarsus IV looking into the eyes of Kodos the Executioner.

“Captain, they're locking torpedoes.” Spock looked away from the ship that was planning to destroy his people, trying to banish the sight of it from his mind.

“Avert auxiliary power from port nacelles to forward shields,” ordered Pike.

The ship rocked violently as two torpedos slammed into the shields. “Sulu, status report.”

“Shields at thirty-two percent. Their weapons are powerful, sir. We can't take another hit like that.”

“Get me Starfleet Command.”

“Captain, the Romulan ship has lowered some kind of high energy pulse device into the Vulcan atmosphere. Its signal appears to be blocking our communications and transporter abilities.” Spock looked to his Captain all his emotions burning in his eyes.

“All power to forward shields. Prepare to fire all weapons.”

“Captain, we're being hailed,” called Uhura.

The scene of death and the red haze of Vulcan was suddenly replaced by the image of a man. His face was strong and covered in rich black, thorn like tattoos, his scared and curved pointed ears standing out and proving that it really was a Romulan staring back at them. His eyes were as dark and devoid of life as the open expanse of space. “Hello.”

“I'm Captain Christopher Pike. To whom am I speaking?”

The Romulan nodded his head towards Captain Pike. “Hi Christopher, I'm Nero,” his voice was pleasant, taunting them with false kindness.

“You've declared war against the Federation. Withdraw. I'll agree to arrange a conference with Romulan leadership at a neutral location.”

“I do not speak for the Empire. We stand apart, as does your Vulcan crewmember, isn't that right, Spock?”

Spock stood from his chair at the Science Station and moved closer to the screen, watching the Romulan called Nero very closely. He had never met a Romulan before and could not image why one would know of him. “Pardon me, I do not believe that you and I are acquainted?”

“No, we're not. Not yet.” Nero watched Spock move around the bridge getting closer to where his Captain was sitting. “Spock, there's something I would like you to see. Captain Pike, your transporter has been disabled. As you can see by the rest of your armada, you have no choice. You will man a shuttle, come aboard the Narada, for negotiations. That is all.” Nero reached out and pushed the camera away from his face as it shut off.

Yet again the bridge was held in stillness and silence as its officers watched their Captain trying to see what would be required of them. Pike gazed at the screen his eyes unfocused as he sat in though. His head tiled and he seemed to come to some resolution. Standing he left the Captain’s Chair, moving away only to have his attention drawn away to where Jim was standing behind his chair.

“He'll kill you, you know that.”

“Your survival is unlikely,” Spock cut in over Jim.

“Captain, we gain nothing by diplomacy. Going over to that ship is a mistake,” Jim was watching him with eyes that reminded Pike very much of George. There was hidden strength in this boy and something intangible that Pike knew would make him a Captain who could lead his troops into the depths of Hell without fear. He realized then that although they thought Jim had failed the Kobayashi Maru he had not. He understood fear and accepted it in a way that few did. Pike had to admit that he was suddenly in awe of this young man yet again.

“I, too, agree. You should re-think your strategy.” Then there was Spock. His ever logical First Officer. They would make a fine pair, these two. They could balance themselves and complete each other in a way few Captain’s and First Officers could ever hope. Looking at them, he knew what he had to do.

 

*~*~*~*

 

 

Thirty Minutes Later, Bridge, USS Enterprise

 

Uhura looked up from her station to where Spock stood. “The jamming signal is gone. Transport abilities are reestablished.”

“Transporter control is reengaged, sir,” called out Chekov.

“Chekov, run gravitational sensor, and I want to know what they are doing on the planet.” Spock glanced down to the young human.

“Aye commander, ack, Captain. Sorry, Captain.”

“Do you copy Enterprise,” came Jim’s voice over the Comm.

At the sound of Jim’s report the bridge flew into a flurry of activity. Officers all over beginning to send out emergency transmissions back to Earth and the other ships further out in Federation space.

“Captain, gravitational sensors are off the scale. If my calculations are correct, they're creating a singularity, that will consume the planet.” Chekov spun his chair around to face Acting Captain Spock, his voice dropping as he realized he was reporting the eminent death of his new Captain’s people.

Spock looked away into nothingness as he processed the report, his mind freezing at the realization that the lives of his entire race were suddenly resting on his shoulders. “They're creating a black hole at the center of Vulcan?”

“Yes sir.”

“How long does the planet have?”

Chakov shrugged sadly. “Minutes, sir. Minutes.”

Spock shot up from his chair, swiftly moving over to where Uhura was standing by her station. “Alert Vulcan command center to signal a planet wide evacuation on all channels, all frequencies.” Spock quickly glanced at another officer as he rushed to the exit of the bridge. “Maintain standard orbit”.

“Yes, sir.”

Even knowing she shouldn’t be leaving her post when there was no one to replace her, Uhura couldn’t just let Spock go. He needed her. “Where are you going?”

“To evacuate the Vulcan High Council. They are tasked with protecting our cultural history and my parents will be among them.”

“Can't you beam them out?” Uhura shook her head, not understanding how Spock could be leaving her and the ship now.

“It is impossible. They will be in the katric ark. I must get them myself.” Spock looked over Uhura shoulder to where Chekov was still sitting at his station. “Chekov, you have the conn.”

“Aye. Uh, yay.”

“Kirk to Enterprise. Beam us outta here,” Jim’s voice once again filled the bridge, the sound slightly ruffled with static.

The transporter chief cursed as the signals for Sulu and Kirk shift out of her grasp. “I can't lock onto you. Don't move. Don't move!”

Another minute passed as she continued to swear, her fingers moving like crazy over her consol as she tried again and again to get a lock on the two signals as they dropped towards the planets surface.

“Kirk to Enterprise! We're falling without a chute! Beam us up!”

“I'm trying. I can't lock on your signal, you're moving too fast.” Worry began to fill her voice as she realized she wasn’t skilled enough to save them.

“I can do that. I can do that! Take the conn!” Chekov stood up calling out to another officer as he dashed out of the bridge.

“Aye, sir.”

“The black hole's expanding. We won't reach minimum safe distance if we don't leave immediately,” called out another officer in a worried voice.

Uhura looked at her and tried not to cry as she realized she might never see Spock again. That they were failing to save Vulcan and Sulu and Kirk might die down there with the rest of the Vulcan people.

Chkeov ran as fast as he could, dodging people and running into corners as he tried to turn the corners at a full run. “Move, move, move, move, move! I can do that, I can do that! Move, move, move move!”

Chekov spun into the doorway, gasping for breath. Without pausing he rushed to the transporter consol and pushed the technician out of her seat. “Give me radio control, I can lock on!”

“Beam us out! Enterprise, where are you?”

“Hold on, hold on,” chanted Chekov as the moved the dials, tracking the wild drop of his fellow crewmembers bodies.

“Now, now, now! Do it now! Now, now, now!”

“Don't move! Hold on! Computating gravitational pull and... gotcha!” The transporter chimed as it locked on and began the beaming process.

Chekov looked up at the glowing light as it filled the room. A second later the light vanished and Jim and Sulu, still tightly wrapped around each other crashed to the floor.

“Oh! Yah-my-oo!” Chakov shoot up, smiling widely at the two figures groaning and struggling to a standing position.

“God,” moaned Jim.

“Thanks.” Sulu winched as he moved his bruised ribs.

“No problem.”

Jim glanced up as Spock rushed into the room pulling on the holster for a phaser. Jim wanted to stop him, realizing exactly what Spock was planning to do, but he knew he couldn’t. He couldn’t deny Spock the chance to save his parents when Jim knew he would do the same thing in Spock’s position.

“Clear the pad. I'm beaming to the surface.”

He had to let Spock go but he needed Spock to stay. If Spock went down there and didn’t come back…Jim wasn’t sure what he would do. What he would tell his son. “The surface of what? What, are you going down there? Are you nuts? Spock, you can't do that?!”

Jim stumbled off the transporter pad with Sulu. Still Spock ignored him. For him nothing existed but his parents and the need to save them.

“Energize.”

“Spock,” cried Kirk as the golden light of the transporter surrounded him. “Spock…be careful.”

It was chaos on the surface. The planet was burning, shaking and swallowing itself right out from under his feet. Still he had to make it. Running as fast as he could he dashed up the side of the cliffs leading to the Ark. It took longer than he would like to make it inside and to herald the evacuation of his parents and the Elders. The Ark had collapsed around them as they ran, the walls and grand statues of Surak falling and killing several of the Vulcan elders before they made it outside to the ledge.

“Spock to Enterprise. Get us out now!”

“Locking on you,” responded Chekov. “Don't move. Stay right where you are.”

They stood there and watched as the valley that had surround the Ark for millennia vanished into flame and darkness. His Mother let out a horrified gasp at the sight.

“Transport in five... Four... three... two...”

Spock looked away from the destruction to his Mother as she spun around to face him. Some strange emotion filled her face and for a moment Spock felt the icy hands of dread clutch at his heart as he watched the golden light circle her, the doom of his planet playing out behind her. Suddenly the cliff began to crumble and with a blood-curdling scream his Mother fell into darkness.

“No, no,” It was not Vulcan but Spock did not care. He let his loss and fear fill his voice as he reached out for her one last time as the golden light of the transporter whisked him away.

“I'm losing her. I'm losing her, I'm losing her! No, I've lost her.” Chekov slumped in his seat as he watched the group of Vulcan’s appear with his Captain, hand still outstretched for his Mother, appeared on the transporter pad.

The room was silent, no one able to speak at the sight of Captain Spock’s raw grief. It was only one loss out of billions but somehow it hit them all much harder.

 

*~*~*~*

 

“Acting captain's log, stardate twenty-two fifty-eight point four two. We have had no word from Captain Pike. I have therefore classified him a hostage of the war criminal known as Nero. Nero, who has destroyed my home planet and most of its six billion inhabitants. While the essence of our culture has been saved in the elders who now reside upon the ship, I estimate no more than ten thousand have survived. I am now a member of an endangered species.”

Spock sat there unsure what to say or what to do. In one day his whole world had been shattered. He had lost so many of his people, so many innocent crewmates and fellow officers and he had watched as his planet swallowed itself into darkness. He did not know how to continue on. The grief was ripping him apart and he found that he desperately wanted his Mother or his Jim there with him now. He wanted his Jim to be here at his side to grieve with him. But she was not. She was waiting for him, somewhere on Earth. He had to survive. He had made a promise nine years ago that he intended to keep. He had lost his Mother and he could not afford to lose his K’diwa too.

Not able to stand sitting there in his Captain’s chair he stood and walked to the turbolift. Uhura who had been watching him closely since his return stood and left her post, following him into the turbolift, her gaze filled with emotion. As the doors closed she reached over him and stopped the lift, watching him.

She should not be here. She had a duty to perform and she could not do it here. She knew that but she knew Spock needed her more. She did not understand how he could not be breaking down as he had just watched the destruction of his home and family. He needed comfort and she was the only one who could comfort him.

“I'm sorry. I'm sorry,” she whispered, eyes filled with sadness.

He did not know what to say in response to her grief, but his silence seemed to give her permission to reach up and touch his face, cupping it in her hands as she moved closer to him. “I'm so sorry.”

Before he could respond she pulled his head down to hers and leaning up kissed him gently on the lips. Pulling him closer still she placed more kisses upon his lips and over his jaw and cheekbone, her lips just brushing his meld points.

“What do you need? Tell me. Tell me.”

He wanted to fall into her embrace but it did not feel right. She did not feel right. She was his best student. The closest person he had to a friend on campus besides Captain Pike. But she was not his K’diwa. She was not his Jim and letting her hold him and touch him in the way only Jim had did not feel right. He let her pull back and looked away, unable to face the looks of sadness and…love? He reached over and pressed the button the start the turbolift.

“I need everyone to continue performing admirably.”

Uhura looked up at him with a confused look of sadness and disappointment. “Okay.”