Work Text:
First contact with a seemingly warp capable species was an opportunity it was impossible to pass up on. It carried a kind of weight that didn’t come often, even for a ship like the Enterprise. New civilizations meant new alliances, new risks, and the thrill of the unknown, even if that often had a tendency to bite back. The ship itself had complicated things from the start, away from any inhabited planet, possible life signs, and a design entirely unfamiliar. But they communicated with the Enterprise, the Universal Translator eventually parsing their speech with Uhura’s help. They wanted to meet.
The ship was shielded in a way that didn’t allow for the transporters and communications were spotty, so meeting meant a shuttle trip over. Given the importance of the event Captain Pike and Commander Una were traveling over personally, ferried over by Erica who had eagerly jumped at the chance to pilot a shuttle again.
“I get why I was your first choice,” Erica joked, hands light and familiar on the controls as she guided them in. “Best shuttle record on the ship.”
Una glanced at her, an elusive flicker of humor in her eyes, “You have no such record.”
“Fair…,” Erica allowed as she casually adjusted the course. “But they all worked out.”
Pike huffed a quiet laugh at that. “Assuming this isn’t a secret Gorn ship in disguise, we’re fine.” His focus remained on the ship in front, there was something elusive to it. It was unlike anything they had encountered and structured in a way that had a sort of indescribable illogic to it, at least by his standards.
Erica adjusted the approach slightly, moving to the docking port at the side of the ship. The shuttle slowed as she guided it into position, careful, controlled.
The ship didn’t respond.
“I’m getting no guidance signal,” she explained. She couldn’t dock without their instruction, at least not easily.
“No communications either,” Una stated as she continued to attempt contact, her calm tone slightly tightening at the edges.
Pike leaned forward slightly, studying the vessel through the viewport. “Am I alone in thinking the ship looks weirdly unresponsive the closer we get?”
Erica didn’t hesitate. “Already thinking the same thing, increasing distance.” She pulled them back, easing off the approach just as unease began to settle in more firmly. They didn’t get a chance to reconsider.
The explosion was instantaneous.
One moment the ship was there and the next gone and a blinding flash that filled the viewport. Not blasted apart, vaporized. Heartbeats after the flash the shockwave hit them like a wall. Erica’s hands clamped down on the controls as the ship lurched sideways as the shuttle was thrown into a spin, the delicate balance of their orbit around the class P planet collapsing in an instant.
“Status?” Pike yelled, moving to an access panel at the back of the ship.
“Working on it!” Erica stated through gritted teeth as she struggled to wrestle control back. The response lagged, then overcorrected. “Thrusters are lagging. Still trying…”
“Enterprise is not responding,” Una said sharply. The words cut through the chaos.
Erica risked a glance up as the shuttle spun, stars streaking past in disorienting flashes. She saw just a glance as the Enterprise came into view.
Dark.
Una saw it too.
It was wrong, not dimmed, not damaged. Dead in a way that suggested complete failure. For a second Una’s mind rejected it. Maybe it was the distance, seeing from afar, but the Enterprise didn’t drift without power. It didn’t go silent.
“No…” Erica breathed.
Pike knew he needed to pull her back. “Ortegas, status report.”
“We’ve lost stable control. I can’t hold the orbit.”
“Options?”
“Class P planet,” Una answered, pulling up data fast. “Limited scans confirmed the glaciated surface atmospheric conditions are not optimal, but not immediately fatal.”
“Erica, do what you can to get us at least not spinning,” Pike said, continuing to attempt an override with the auxiliary controls. “I will see what I can do from the panels in the back, maybe we can stabilize the power.”
“I always knew the test pilot thing would come in handy,” Erica tried to joke. “But I’ll take anything.”
Beside her Una tried the comms again, “Enterprise, this is Commander Chin-Riley. Do you read?” There was nothing.
Below them the planet loomed. The surface white with streaks of blue ice veins and jagged black outcroppings. It was rushing up to meet them worryingly fast.
Together they wrestled the shuttle back from the worst of the spin. Erica adjusted their path in short, controlled bursts. It was something. But the descent continued, fast. “Come on,” Erica muttered under her breath as she did what she could to glide them to something flat looking. “Work with me.”
“Brace!” She shouted as the ground raced towards them, filling the viewport. The shuttle hit hard, metal screeching against the ice as they slammed down, skidding across the surface before being dragged to a stop. The shuttle shuddered under the strain and then with a final jolt…still.
The silence after the crash doesn’t last long. Settling just for a moment, heavy and disorienting, before the situation began to reassert itself. The crackle of ice outside, the hum of the systems still operating, the sharp insistent tone of an alarm cutting through the fog. But the lights were on and life support was steady. It was something to anchor onto.
Una was the first to move, pushing up out of her seat to assess the situation as she took in the interior of the shuttle. “Status?” She asked as she moved.
Erica was slower to rise. Hands still braced against the controls. After a moment she slowly let go, pushing herself upright, trying to sort through the disorientation of the crash, “Still here more or less. Shuttles…intact…give me a moment to get more.”
But Una didn’t remain near the front of the ship, she was up moving. Any concern about the shuttle drifting away. It was not the immediate problem.
Pike was the priority.
He hadn’t moved from where the crash left him, on the floor of the shuttle, slumped on his side, arm clutched around his chest. Breathing shallow and uneven.
“Chris,” Una said, dropping beside him. Erica glanced over momentarily, before pulling her attention back to the shuttle diagnosis. She knew the situation was bad, but she had her own priorities: stabilize the power systems or they would all be in danger. Ice had already begun to creep up the edge of the viewport. Thin patterns like lace slowly suffocate them. She would need to direct more power to the life support system.
“I’m here,” Pike managed, though the effort behind the words was unmistakable.
“Do not move,” Una replied immediately as she stood to go to the emergency supplies. Her mind was already walking through triage procedures, injury assessment, pain management, and maintaining vital systems. There was a medical tricorder in the kit. It would help.
Pike remained stationary as Una returned. After a moment Una spoke and Erica paused her work to listen. “Cracked ribs and pulmonary contusion, likely with hypoxia developing.”
Pike let out a shallow breath. “Yeah. I believe it.”
Una pulled a hypo out of the med pack, “For the pain. It’ll help you breathe.” She administered it quickly, waiting just long enough to ensure that it began to take effect before shifting her attention again. “Up,” she said, not unkindly, but firmly. “We need you upright.”
Pike didn’t hesitate, part of command means accepting help when you are down, he’d never been one to just reject that. Una took most of his weight without comment, guiding him carefully upright to a more seated position. It was a small adjustment, but necessary. His breathing improved marginally once he was no longer compressing his chest.
For a second Una didn’t let go, not that he couldn’t sit up on his own, but she needed to know that he was steady. Then she let her hand drop, backing away slightly as if it had never been there.
Outside the wind howled, moving across the surface in long sweeps, carrying crystals of ice that scatter and shift in patterns across that surface like a coordinated dance. The scans were right, glaciated, barren, brutally cold, but also somehow starkly beautiful.
“The atmosphere’s breathable,” Erica reported. “But obviously the temperature is…not great. And it is testing the shuttle's life support system to keep us warm. But life support is functional, so…positive.”
Pike gave a faint, dismissive motion to Una with a hand, indicating he is settled for now. Una moved to the comms. “Enterprise, this is Commander Chin-Riley. Do you read?” she repeated. No one answered.
She leaned over the displays to look up at Enterprise drifting and dark in the black sky high above them.
“What happened up there?” She asked quietly, turning to Pike. “Communications with the other ship, then what? A trap? Why?”
There were too many variables. Too many unknowns. The explosion had been instantaneous. No time for analysis or defense. If it had been a trap, it was too quick for them to recognize the threat.
They could all feel it, the dread. Down here, comms silent. They did not know what was happening on the Enterprise. They did not know if the crew was safe, if the systems were recovering, if anyone was in a position to respond.
The isolation settled in slowly, but completely.
Trapped.
Cut off.
Stranded.
The questions remained unanswered.
Una turned back to the console, setting up a rotating distress signal, leaving the comms open and running to receive any signals.
They divided tasks without speaking. It happened naturally, an unspoken coordination that came from so much time working together under pressure. There was no need to assign roles, they each knew what needed to be done and where they would be most useful.
Erica continued to diagnose the systems, each minute slipping by feeling a bit like a failure, but she knew that rushing would be unwise as well. Eventually she pulled herself up from the console with a small, controlled movement. Her knee immediately screamed at her and she grimaced with a pain that she knew she couldn’t hide. She paused, jaw tightening, then tested it again. It held. Enough for now. But as there was no possibility of leaving the shuttle for much walking, the injury would wait.
She limped slightly as she moved to the back of the shuttle. She knew Una was likely watching her to diagnose her as well, but Erica knew she would agree that the injury wasn’t an immediate issue. The secondary control panels offered more direct access to the internal systems. They were less intuitive, but bypassed some of the processors that seemed damaged.
The comms remained functioning, which left Una where she needed to be. With Pike. Her focus was unwavering as she walked him through exercises to control his breathing, trying to keep it steady and deep. “Deeper breaths,” she instructed. “In. Slow. Then all the way out.”
Pike followed the direction, but the effort showed. The pain was still there, lingering enough that every breath pulled.
“Again,” Una instructed.
He did.
Across the shuttle Erica works quietly, bypassing the damaged systems, the sound oddly grounding as the wind howled outside.
“Erica, report.” Pike called out as his breathing somewhat settled, maintaining command as much as possible given the strain. They were cut off from the ship, but they needed to do what they could to aid in the situation.
Erica turned back, glancing over her shoulder. “Life support is steady,” she explained. “It is not an immediate issue though not infinite given the power draw, but we should be good for days.” She leaned to the side, moving the weight off of her injured knee. “The shuttle’s not badly damaged. Structurally, she can fly just…” she paused, trying to think of a simple comparison of the issue. “You remember when that ship ate the Enterprise? Helm couldn’t talk to the thrusters. Same problem. The shockwave shorted those connections. Crashing likely didn’t help. I am hoping we can make a direct connection to the helm controls to bypass the damaged relays, but…”
“The shuttle isn’t really set up for that,” Pike finished, breath catching slightly between words.
“Exactly,” Erica replied, already back to her fixes.
She leaned into the work. It was a distraction, that is what she needed. Trying to not imagine her friends, their ship, silent. Dead. The thought slipped into her head, unwanted. She desperately wanted to be up there, knowing what was happening. She pushed it back down, harder this time, focusing her attention to the task at hand. “Fix what you can,” she told herself silently.
Una watched Pike for another moment before she reached into the emergency supplies again, pulling out a thermal blanket and draping it over his shoulders without comment. Pike didn't argue, he knew better.
“You need to keep taking deeper breaths,” Una said, counting his breath rate which was too high. Her tone left little room for option. “It will help maintain lung function.
“I am,” Pike countered, though it comes out thinner than he intended.
“Not enough,” she countered.
He exhaled, then forced another inhale, slower this time, following her rhythm rather than instinct. Una nodded once, approving.
She needed the focus, the problem to solve. Chris was her problem right now. Something she could attempt to fix…at least to some degree. Her mind however refused to stay entirely contained. It reached upwards to the Enterprise.
The ship was out of communications. But Spock was there in command. Reliable.
Pelia, Scotty would be fixing the ship using some likely non-regulation plan. If they could access engineering, if it could be repaired, they would be well on the way to doing that.
Uhura would be working on reestablishing communications, if it was possible she would make it happen.
La’an would be tracking, assessing, already searching for the shuttle using whatever tools would operate,
They were not helpless, she knew it. It was something she could hold onto. Una wanted to be up there, desperately, to be solving the problem, but for now she had to work on theirs.
“Number One,” Pike said, sensing her quiet. Somehow he always seemed to know what she was thinking. “I will be fine. You should be helping.” There was something under it, guilt perhaps, at taking her attention, at being the problem she was solving rather than the one beside her.
Una met his gaze briefly, shrugging away the concern she knew he felt. “And get in Erica’s way? The comms are up, if we get a message I will be there.”
It was true. And yet, even if the situation were different she was not sure she could just leave him to struggle alone.
As the hours ticked by Enterprise continued to drift, dark and still above them. It had become a constant presence, impossible to ignore even if they wanted to. It had been too long, but no one was willing to say it. Right now they were stuck, down on the planet, grasping to their own safety, but alive. Though likely not getting off of the planet any time soon.
“How’s it going,” Una asked eventually. Her voice had quieted a bit, the edge of command softened, but not gone. The structure hadn’t disappeared as much as adapted, switching to what they needed. Una always made careful decisions in how she wanted to present.
Erica gave a small shrug without turning. “Progress,” she says, the words tentative. “But…” She turned to face Una and Pike. “Okay so I have it so that it looks like the thrusters will respond directly to the control interface now. But I am not confident without testing. Testing means pushing the shuttle. If it doesn’t hold and we come down hard again.” Her eyes lingered on Pike for a moment, deciding how direct she should be, and then embracing it. “I am worried about Pike getting more injured if we landed hard again.”
“What about you?” Una asked quietly. It was not a casual question. Pike was resting against the bulkhead, though Una was sure he was awake despite the closed eyes. She knew the guilt he must be feeling stuck down here. She felt it too. The absence of benign up there, the weight of being in the unknown. The responsibility he couldn’t act on.
“I’m up, I’m moving-”
“Your leg,” Una interrupted.
“Will be fine when Doctor M’Benga looks at it, just sore for now,” she asserted.
Una doesn’t challenge it because she knows, ultimately, Erica was right. She turned her attention to the environmental readouts, scanning through the data they’d been monitoring. External temperature, wind speed. The numbers were harsh, but consistent. “We could stay out there for approximately fifteen minutes. If I took Chris would you be comfortable testing?” There is an unspoken request, they both know it, no unnecessary risks because it would endanger all of them.
Erica doesn’t hesitate. “Absolutely.”
“Then we will proceed.” Una turned to Pike before turning back. “You are absolutely where you need to be, Erica. Right now, we need you.” It is not reassurance, it is directive.
She didn’t wait for Erica to respond before moving to Pike’s side. “Captain, we’re going to take a short, cold walk.” There was the briefest pause, just long enough to meet Una’s eyes, checking for something unspoken.
Pike gave the briefest nod and then exhaled, the sound catching slightly as he managed a wry smile. “I feel like I am not being given a choice.”
“Not so much unless you want to go command on me,” Una replied. It earned the smallest hint of something light from him, something closer to his usual self despite the strain. Pike reached up his arm so Una could help him stand, his body wrapped in the emergency blanket.
“Erica,” Pike directed as he moved to the hatch. “No risks. Just test what needs to be done to know if this thing will fly.”
“Yes sir,” Erica replied immediately. She meant it. Because too much risk meant not just damaging the shuttle, but leaving them out there as well. And that was not an option she was willing to accept.
The hatch opened and the howl of the wind outside made its presence known. The air was cold, biting. All warmth from the life support system sucked away.
The ice beneath their boots was uneven, but steady enough. Una adjusted slightly, keeping Pike steady, one arm firmly around him. Then she looked up, the Enterprise on full display, unchanged. It has been too long. The thought landed harder out there, with nothing to protect them from the reality of it. She felt that in her gut. Power should have been restored. They should have heard something. But she knew the thought would not help and didn’t linger. Instead she tightened her grip slightly as they increased their distance from the shuttle, anchoring her in the present.
As the shuttle hatch closed Erica’s hands moved across the controls with practiced familiarity. She ran through the flight sequence quickly, but methodically, forcing herself to trust the process, to not rush even though the situation demanded urgency. “Come on,” she muttered to herself as she engaged the thrusters.
For a moment, success. The shuttle lifted, not smoothly, but it lifted. Rising ten…fifteen…thirty feet. It was working. But the lift was just the first test. She attempted a correction, to test maneuverability, when both thrusters cut simultaneously with no warning. Just gone. The shuttle dropped.
The impact reverberated through the ice, a jarring shock that Una felt through her boots. The sound carried, metal protesting against forces it once again had to absorb. Una’s instinct was immediate. Move. Get to the shuttle. But Pike was there, she couldn’t leave him. The best she and Pike could do was hobble over, Una supporting him along the way. The hatch opened as they approached, a small relief. Erica was okay. The warm air of the life support system immediately started to thaw their skin. Erica was already moving, pushing herself from the controls, and yet braced heavier than she was before. “Okay,” she said, breathing slightly unevenly, but clearly trying to be casual. “Not my best.”
No one responded. The silence that filled the space wasn’t empty, just understood. The test gave them their answer and it wasn’t the one they needed. Una helped Pike back to a seated position, adjusting the blanked again. That is when she noticed that Erica hadn’t moved. She was still near the controls, hunched in position.
“And you are?” Una’s tone was even, but edged with concern as she walked to the front of the shuttle.
Erica exhaled with a hitch. “Sore. Everywhere. But…” She shifted slightly and immediately regretted it. “It’s my knee. Did something to it in the first crash now…I can’t move it.”
Una nodded, giving Erica a moment. She studied the readings in front of her, then the comm, then the power distribution again. At least the ship, the basic life support systems were undamaged. When she spoke her voice was measured, “We may need to reconsider our priorities. Attempting lift-off with our current thruster instability is not going to succeed,” Una said.
“Yeah,” Erica muttered. “I am in agreement there.”
“We shift focus.”
“To what?” Pike asked, his voice quieter now, the strain more noticeable with each word.
Una turned to him. “Communications. Even if we can’t reach Enterprise, we can boost the signal.”
Erica considered that, then nodded slowly. “It’s not a bad idea.” It was the only one they had.
Una moved forward, giving Erica a hand to move back to Pike. As she sat her movement was slower, more deliberate, her injured leg extended out in front of her as she settled beside Pike. She propped her leg up with a slight wince before glancing to Pike. “I believe I am in charge of reminding you to breathe deeply,” Erica stated, her tone lighter than the situation deserved, but close enough to her normal that it almost works. She leaned against him slightly, grounding them.
“Temporary assignment, you’ll be back at the helm.”
“Not just temporary,” she said firmly. “I am here until you are back on the bridge as well.” There was more confidence in the words than she really felt, but she said them anyway.
For a moment none of them spoke. There was nothing left to fill the space that wouldn’t sound hollow. Erica leaned her head back briefly, following the sound of Pike’s breathing. Then she glanced toward the viewport. The angle had changed. She hadn’t noticed before. The Enterprise was no longer visible from there. Just the black sky and the stars. It felt further away now.
At the comms, Una worked in silence.
Her hands moved steadily across the console as she rerouted power. Each adjustment was calculated to not strain the life support system. It was a delicate balance.
“Attempting transmission,” she said after a moment. The comm crackled faintly. Then nothing. She adjusted, trying again. “Enterprise, this is Commander Chin-Riley. Respond.” Her words were clear, measured, emotionless. They were met with silence.
“Breathe deeper, Captain,” Erica reminded gently as her gaze shifted. She couldn’t decide which was worse, the comms attempts she was sure would end in silence or the empty viewport.
And then something changed, a glimmer in the corner of the viewport, subtle and easy to miss. Dark against the night sky, just another star at first. Erica leaned forward, then slid closer despite the protests from her left. Her focus locked onto a single point in the distance. “Captain.”
Pike couldn’t see it yet, but he heard it in her voice, knowing before it entered his view. Una looked up. A flicker at first, a light, a star maybe, but moving. Then another. The dark shape of the Enterprise moved forward, coming alive. More lights came alive along the hull. And then as it entered the viewport completely, the bright glow of the nacelles.
“They did it,” Una stated, leaning forward to get a full view before dropping back down into her seat at the comms panel. Una could be stoic, but there was a slight break in her voice as she spoke.
This time she isn’t the one to reach out, “Shuttle, this is the Enterprise, do you read?” Uhura’s voice crackled over the comms.
“Yeah, we read you,” Una replied.
“Good to hear your voice, Commander. Systems are still coming online. Is everyone…”
“Captain Pike and Lieutenant Ortegas are also present,” Una answers, already moving onto the report. “Captain Pike could use an immediate transport to sickbay.”
“We will have you in a moment.”
Behind her Erica exhaled as if something she had been holding onto for far too long began to release. The shuttle itself felt different.
For the first time since the explosion they were not alone, their ship was there with them. Una allowed herself another look out the viewport. The Enterprise was fully visible now, light restored, systems coming back online. No longer a silent, drifting shadow. No. It was present and alive. And so were they.
---
The moment they rematerialized in sickbay the first thing they noticed was the warmth. Despite the life support system running, down on the surface there was a chill that seemed to permeate. But the cold calm of the ship was quickly replaced with light, sound, and motion. Controlled urgency as the medical teams moved in.
They were not alone there, whatever impacted the ship had clearly injured the crew as well, some of them at least.
“Chris, it is a relief to see you all walking, more or less,” Doctor M’Benga stated as he walked over, taking Pike from Una to lead him to the biobed.
“We can say the same,” Pike replied between breaths as M’Benga helped him to the biobed.
“Yeah, engineering had a hell of a time getting the systems back up, still not completely sure what happened,” M’Benga explained as he began his scans.
“Bridge?” Una asked, though it was more of a statement.
“Go,” Pike agreed. Una paused for a moment, checking that things were settled before turning to the urgent state of the ship and determining what went wrong in the first place.
Next to them Christine Chapel helped Erica onto the biobed, both of them avoiding moving her knee more than needed.
“It really isn’t that bad,” Erica explained. “Probably just need to rest it.”
“Let’s confirm that,” Christine said with a smile.
M’Benga helped Pike place a nasal cannula with oxygen in his nose. “Ribs are cracked,” M’Benga explained after a quick scan, voice calm. “Pulmonary contusion causing mild hypoxia, but already improving with the oxygen. We’ll keep you on oxygen for a few hours and work on deep breathing exercises.”
“That’s it?” Pike asked slowly.
“For you? Yes. With monitoring and light duty only.”
Next to Pike Christine’s smile dropped as quickly as it came. “...hm. Okay,” she mumbled mostly to herself
Erica looked over at her. “That tone feels unnecessary.”
Christine ignored her, turning instead to M'Benga. “Do you want the summary or the full report?”
“The full report,” M’Benga requested, not looking up from Pike’s readings.”
“Why’s that the answer?” Erica groaned as she leaned back with a wince she hadn’t admitted to before.
Christine looked down at her with a sympathetic nod. “Torn right knee ligament. She’ll need surgery to repair it.”
“Wait. What?” Erica didn’t let her finish. She pushed herself back up on her elbows slightly, wanting to feel more part of the conversation. “Why can’t you just…” she waved her hand over the injured knee. “...use the regenerator or something.”
M’Benga finally looked over, glancing at the report. “Because it’s not connected.”
Erica frowned. “That seems fixable.”
“It is,” He explained evenly. “With surgery.”
Christine continued, unfazed. “Minor hip fracture. Fractured wrist. Soft tissue bruising of the lower back-”
Erica interrupted again, “It feels overly thorough. Except for the knee, we can leave it there.”
“-and,” Christine continued checking the scan again, “two sprained toes on her right foot.”
Erica looked down at her foot. “That seems excessive. They feel fine.”
“They are probably just held stable enough by your boot or the pain from the knee is distracting from that pain,” Christine explained.
Pike turned to her, not so much amused by her injuries, more her objecting to it. “You said you were fine.”
“I was. I am,” she shot back. “I mean I knew I hurt my knee. I think we all knew that. Other than being a bit sore everything else is news to me.”
M’Benga stepped over, leaving Pike who was stabilizing. “You will remain in sickbay until we repair your knee. Everything else can be treated non-invasively.”
Erica leaned back again, resigned. “I leave for one shuttle trip.”
“And crashed twice,” Pike stated.
“Captain, next time I volunteer for a shuttle, just send me to the brig.”