Work Text:
Piloting the Ship
The bridge of the Enterprise seemed to disappear as Erica meticulously steered the ship through the asteroid field. It was a high attention task, the kind that demanded absolute precision, but also offered a kind of clarity. She knew what was expected and knew she could execute it.
The hum of the impulse engines, the vibration of the ship under her palms, the subtle shifts in inertial dampeners, all of it translated into the language she knew best. Just her and the ship speaking to each other. Knowing how the other responded… thought… moved to become almost a single entity.
“Steering without mapping relays is no easy task. Ensign Hsu can relieve you if you need a minute,” Pike offered from the captain’s chair.
Erica smiled, not taking her eyes off the viewscreen, “Actually, I enjoy flying manually. Feels like the ship and I are in deep conversation. You know, like a third date.”
She heard Pike’s low chuckle, warm and distant. She didn’t turn back. Her world had narrowed to the readouts, the flicker of light off the asteroids, and the faint pull of her own instinct. Every micro-adjustment felt like trust between her and the ship.
They slipped between two asteroids. Erica leaned into it, feeling the inertial shift, the Enterprise breathing with her. Then, just past the next asteroid, something reflected back at them.
A shape. A hull. Her pulse kicked.
The third colonial ship.
Captured
“Battle stations!” Una called out as the pirates stormed the bridge.
Erica’s training kicked in before her thoughts could. She dropped down behind her chair and console, finding what cover she could as phaser fire sliced across the bridge. With practiced precision her hand found the emergency phaser clipped under her seat.
She was worried, but focused.
She’d seen little direct combat during the war; most of her time had been at the helm, watching battles unfold through sensor readouts instead of smoke and fire. Or in a shuttle, ferrying others into battle. But the training stuck. The rhythm of duck, locate, return fire. Her pulse hammered, but her hands were steady.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a flash, Una taking a hit and going down hard. Erica didn’t even have a chance to react when a searing blast struck her in the side. The shock hit faster than pain, a white-hot punch, and then the world went black.
When awareness returned, it came in fragments. Pressure on her shoulders. Hands dragging her upright. Her arms pulled painfully behind her and bound together. The room tilted, her head buzzing.
She blinked hard, forcing her vision to clear. Una was there as well on her feet, eyes sharp. Still exuding command even in captivity. The rest of the crew followed her lead.
That confidence steadied Erica. She pushed down the panic trying to claw its way up. Follow orders. Don’t make yourself a liability.
As they were herded off the bridge, she locked her eyes on Una’s for half a second. No words, just a flicker of mutual resolve.
We’ll get through this.
Pirate Ship Bridge
Erica stood at the controls of the pirate ship, hands steady. Pike was steering the ship behind her, his calm confidence a tether she clinged to during their capture. Una moved to disable the Enterprise’s systems. Their plan had been insane, chaotic, yet somehow brilliant. Watching the two of them coordinate the mutiny…Erica felt a surge of awe and trust as they inspired absolute confidence.
“Fire to disable impulse thrusters, but gently,” Pike added with a wince.
“Aye sir,” Erica responded, her fingers dancing across the controls. She sent two carefully calibrated shots to each nacelle, shutting them down with as much care as she could muster.
“Hey. I said gently,” Pike replied after seeing the hits.
“What does firing gently even mean?” Erica asked, but a small smirk tugged at her lips. Even in this chaos, they had a sense of humor.
The Enterprise remained still. Erica exhaled, allowing herself a small measure of calm, though her eyes darted to the viewscreen again. They were cut off from their own ship, with the mutiny still unfolding, and growing more chaotic by the second. The pirate vessel was becoming even less of a safe space. But, she trusted Pike to steer them through the danger. She trusted Una to control the chaos. She trusted herself to execute the plan.
“Did we win? What happened?” she asked, her voice betraying just a hint of uncertainty, despite the confidence swelling in her chest. She needed an answer.
“Pike to Enterprise. Is everything okay over there?”
Spock appeared on the screen, sitting in the command chair. “Yes, Captain. The pirates have surrendered. We are preparing to beam the crew back to Enterprise.”
A phaser blast shot through, just missing Pike. Erica flinched, instinctively ducking a little lower.
“Oh! Uh, before you do, any chance you could get us out of here first?” Pike asked.
“We might have taken over the bridge a little prematurely. Our mutiny is still in progress.” Una’s voice was calm, collected, but Erica could sense a sharp spark of urgency behind it.
“Sure would be easier to deal with this crowd from over there,” Pike added.
“Right away captain,” Spock stated.
Moments later, Erica felt the familiar tug of the transporter. The chaos dissolved in a rush of light, the pirate ship’s bridge fading around her. She blinked, disoriented for half a heartbeat, then found herself back on the Enterprise.
Relief hit her in waves, but underneath it was something else: a quiet, reinforced confidence. They had executed a crazy, dangerous plan, and come out of it alive. Watching Pike and Una, Erica realized she was seeing more than leadership in action; she was seeing the embodiment of trust and teamwork. A team that she was part of.