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Pike strode onto the bridge, jaw tight. Una was nowhere to be seen. Erica immediately felt something was wrong.
“Spock. Erica. Join me.”
They followed him into the ready room without question.
Pike didn’t sit at his desk, rather he stood behind it, hands flat on the surface as if needing to hold himself up.
“Una’s been taken into custody by Starfleet Security.”
The words hit Erica like an impact, her breath hitched. Disbelief. The silence that followed was almost physical. Shifting, tensing from his normal poise.
The ship already felt hollow. Hemmer gone, La’an on leave. And now Una.
“For what? She'd never—” She stopped, seeing the look of anger in Pike’s eyes.
“For being Illyrian,” he said, voice low and rough. “For not disclosing it.”
Erica’s voice cracked, “You’re kidding.”
Spock’s voice was calm, but unusually subdued, “The Federation’s laws regarding genetic modification are absolute, regardless of circumstance.”
“Circumstance? She is one of the best officers in Starfleed,” Erica couldn’t believe it, “Arresting her for just being who she is...”
Pike drew in a slow breath. “I know. We’re en route to Starbase One for debrief and repairs. I’ll be speaking with Command the moment we arrive. But make no mistake…” He met both of their eyes, steady and burning. “We are not abandoning her.” It wasn’t a reassurance, it was a promise he had to make to keep them all going.
Erica’s hands tightened as she tried to control herself, “La’an, Hemmer, now Una… I feel like we are losing the whole ship.”
Pike finally looked up, meeting both of them with raw determination. “We are getting her back. Do you understand me? We are.”
The three stood there for a moment, the silence weighted with absence. Outside the viewport, the stars stood still constant, indifferent.
“Right now,” Pike said, pulling himself back to command. “We need to hold the ship together. Rumors will spread. I need calm on the bridge. I need professionalism.”
“Yes, sir,” Erica said. Her voice was steadier now, but her jaw was tight, her voice was tight. “You’ll have it.”
Spock inclined his head in silent agreement.
He dismissed them, and they stepped back onto the familiarity of the bridge. Spock moved to the science station, silent and precise. Erica went to her seat at the helm.
For a moment, she didn’t sit. The pilot’s chair suddenly felt wrong. Starfleet, her starfleet had arrested one of the best people she knew.
Pike took his seat at command, “Erica, set a course for Starbase One, top speed.”
“Aye, Captain.” She sat down, the familiar hum of the ship beneath her hands, grounding her just a tiny bit. They would get Una back, in her mind there was no other possibility.