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Captain Pike stepped onto the Bridge and took a deep breath. To hell with the alert, he was going to take a moment to savor the feel of his Bridge. He had been waiting for years for this very moment and nothing was going to spoil it for him. A glance to the Helm console to the left of the Captain's chair showed him Chekov was acquainting himself with the panels. Looking to the right, he frowned. That wasn't who was supposed to be there.
"Whoever you are, you are not Lieutenant McKenna."
"No, Captain Pike. I am Hikaru Sulu. Lieutenant McKenna is at the hospital with a case of lungworm and was unable to report for duty."
Sulu was still having trouble believing his luck. He'd paid off one of the medical students to give McKenna an infection to knock him out of the fencing tournament and now that move had ended up getting him out of the Astroscience department and into the Helmsman position. The only thing keeping him from feeling completed triumphant was the fact that he had only piloted an Excelsior class before which was nowhere near as technically advanced as the panel before him.
Pike started to question Sulu's piloting experience more, but was distracted when Kirk came onto the Bridge. A faint smirk crossed his lips as he gave a nod to his protégé and pointed him to the Tactical station. Shortly thereafter, Spock exited the turbolift and moved to the side of the Captain's chair as Pike sat down in it for the first time. He immediately turned his gaze to Spock.
"What was the delay in getting our last shuttle off the ground, Mister Spock?"
"Merely a last minute adjustment to the rosters, sir."
Sensing something was a bit odd with the way Spock was evading eye contact, Pike made a mental note to come back to that later. Right now, they were already behind the rest of the ships responding. The turbolift doors opened again and Uhura stepped out. The frosty look sent in Spock's direction didn't escape Pike's notice either, but he didn't comment on it as he directed her.
"I want you to give Lieutenant Chaplin a hand on the communications board. With seven other ships as well as Vulcan to listen out for, it's likely to be more than one person can follow."
"Aye-aye, Captain Pike."
"You were aboard the final shuttle."
"Yes, sir."
"In that case, since everyone is finally aboard, let's get this show on the road, shall we? Mister Sulu, get us away from the space dock."
"Aye, sir. Moorings are retracting and applying reverse thrusters now. We are clear of the dock."
"Set course for the Eridani system. Take us to the outer edge. With so many ships going in at once, I want to get a good overview before we move in."
"Aye, sir. Course laid in. Ship ready for warp."
"Then let's not leave them waiting any longer. Set her for maximum warp and punch it."
When absolutely nothing happened, Sulu became slightly flustered and relooked over the unfamiliar controls. Pike's spoke up, voice heavy with sarcasm.
"Forget to refill it with fuel after taking her out for a joyride?"
"No, sir. I believe that I -"
There was a heavy hint of patronizing tone in Spock's voice as he commented.
"You are, I believe, more familiar with older technology at the Helmsman station. I would suggest that you try again after disengaging the external inertial dampener."
Trying to hide his embarrassment, Sulu found the correct sequence then looked back to Pike. Pike just chuckled.
"Make a note, Mister Spock. When we return, I need to tell the Academy that they should be briefing the cadets on all the latest gear as well as the stuff that's been around since the instructors were children. Mister Sulu - get us on our way."
"Aye, sir."
This time, the Enterprise shot into warp and Pike leaned back in his chair in satisfaction.
"Engines now at maximum warp speed, Captain."
"Thank you, Mister Sulu. Mister Kirk."
"Yes, Captain?"
"Call up the mission statement at your station and do a shipwide broadcast."
"Aye, sir."
Kirk quickly called up the statement, not bothering to read through it first.
"Attention all hands. At twenty-two hundred hours, an anomaly in the Neutral Zone was detected by telemetry. The anomaly was said to resemble a lightning . . , storm."
Kirk's voice trailed off as he quickly read the rest of the message to himself before remembering what he was supposed to be doing and continued the broadcast.
"Shortly after the anomaly was detected, the Vulcan High Command relayed a distress signal to Imperial Starfleet Headquarters reporting that their planet has begun experiencing unprecedented seismic activity. Our mission is to access the level of threat to Vulcan, provide additional observations on the anomaly and, if necessary, lend assistance in the evacuation of Vulcan. That is all."
Turning off the shipwide system, Kirk turned around.
"Captain Pike, this is anomaly sounds very familiar, sir. A lightning storm in space was what was described in the last transmissions from the Kelvin. A huge Romulan ship emerged from that storm."
Uhura's head snapped up at that and she turned around immediately.
"Begging the Captain's pardon, permission to speak?"
"Go ahead, Miss Uhura."
"The night prior to the Review Board, I was monitoring deep space transmissions and picked up one from a Klingon outpost. They were reporting some sort of Romulan ship emerged from a space storm and destroyed an entire Klingon armada that was in the area. A full forty-seven ships."
Pike's full attention was on Uhura now.
"You're sure of this? Did you report it?"
"Yes, Captain. Our instructor was of the opinion that it was some sort of drill that the Klingons were doing. He didn't think it was feasible that one ship could have taken out that many Klingon ships by itself."
The words from Uhura solidified the danger in Kirk's mind.
"Captain, we're headed into a trap."
Stepping forward from the Science station, Spock spoke up.
"With the information at hand, I would have to agree that caution would be advised, sir."
"My guts are agreeing with all three of you. Mister Sulu - alter course slightly Drop us out of warp before we enter the Eridani system."
"Aye, sir. Entering course adjustment now."
"Lieutenant Chaplin, monitor for any transmission in Romulan and get me the ISS Hood."
"Captain, distinguishing between Vulcan and Romulan is nearly impossible."
"Really, Lieutenant? Miss Uhura, can you distinguish between the two?"
"Yes, Captain."
"Then you take the main panel and monitor. Mister Chaplin, concentrate on contacting the Hood."
"Captain, I am not picking up transmissions of any sort except from the planet Vulcan and even those are garbled."
"Captain, I can't raise the Hood or any of the other vessels."
"Let's err on the side of caution, shall we? Mister Kirk, raise the shields and sound the red alert. How long until we drop out of warp, Mister Sulu?"
"We will arrive at the outer edge of the Eridani system in two minutes, sir."
"Very good. Once we drop out, I want long-range viewers on. Let's get a good look at what's going on."
"Dropping out of warp in three. . . two. . . one. Viewscreen on."
There was dead silence on the Bridge for the first thirty seconds and then Chekov's voice came out as little more than a whisper.
"Chyort voz'mi."
The Romulan ship was enormous beyond anything they could have imagined and debris from the other ships was everywhere. Still, Kirk couldn't help making a remark to Spock as the Vulcan returned to the Science station and began his own set of scans.
"I think we've found the real Kobayashi Maru."
"For once, I am inclined to agree with you. Captain, the Romulan ship appears to have some sort of probe emitting a high energy pulse lowered into Vulcan's atmosphere. It would seem likely that it is what is causing the reported seismic activity. From the frequency, it will also be very likely to interfere with our communication and teleportation capabilities if we draw any closer."
"We have to knock out that device then. Mister Spock, would the frequency interfere with the operation of a shuttle craft?"
"Not from the readings that I am getting, Captain."
"Good. I'll be piloting one to it. Kirk, I know you're decent with hand to hand - you're with me. Anyone else on the Bridge trained in advanced hand-to-hand?"
Sulu turned and nodded.
"I've been trained in it, sir."
"Good - you're with me as well. Give a good showing and I might skip the booth session over that earlier slip-up."
Sulu straightened and met Pike's eyes. Pike didn't let a smirk slip, but he could give grudging admiration to someone that at least had the balls to look him in the eyes.
"I will, sir."
"Good. Spock, you'll be taking the chair while I'm gone. Remember, she's a new ship - any scratches on her will be coming out of your salary."
The smirk did show when he noticed Spock was taking that warning seriously, but he didn't take time to stop and explain.
"Miss Uhura, call Ensign Tavers to the Bridge to take over the helm and Mister Reilly to take over Tactical."
Kirk had been going over the scans of the probe when the silence from Uhura drew his eyes to her. She always responded immediately to a command, but now? Uhura's head was slightly lowered as she spoke.
"I will call Ensign Tavers, sir, but I am afraid I cannot call Mister Reilly."
"And why not?"
Neither Kirk nor Pike missed the way that her eyes cut briefly toward Spock.
"Mister Reilly was aboard the ISS Hood when it was destroyed, sir."
Pike was out of his chair and turning toward Spock instantly.
"You changed his ship assignment? You went against my orders?"
Pike's hands were clenched tightly enough that his knuckles were white as he reined in his temper.
"You are damned lucky that I don't have time to deal with you right now, Mister. Kirk!"
"Yes, Captain."
"I still want you with me on this mission, but on your return, you will be taking over the position of First Officer. Mister Spock, you will still have the chair for now, but once that probe is destroyed, you will be assuming the position of Science officer. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Captain Pike."
"Miss Uhura - call in Miss Kavela to take over Tactical and then call Chief Olson to meet me at Shuttle Bay Dock 2 with demolitions gear. Spock. keep the ship out of range until that probe is knocked out, then move in and beam our people back off. I'll be standing by with the shuttle, but removing them with a teleport will be safest. Kirk, Sulu - with me."
As Spock moved forward to take the chair, he was aware that all remaining eyes on the Bridge were on him. All probably wondering if he was going to turn on Captain Pike now that he was in the chair. That was not an option. Vulcans were still a wildcard so far as the Emperor was concerned and only Pike's forceful personality had gotten Spock a position on the Enterprise. Looking back, he could see that he underestimated Pike's response. It wasn't the value of the crewmember that Pike was angry with, it was that Spock had gone against Pike's expressed wishes. Doubtless, some time in the agony booth would be coming to him for that and he accepted that it was fair as he had not logically thought through the fact that he was disobeying an order.
On the Narada, the Romulan captain, Nero, was puzzled. The Federation had apparently changed over the years. The ships were built more like battle cruisers such as the Klingons tended to use. Even with the ambush, destroying the ships took more that he had expected and the Narada had even taken some damage herself. Still, the drilling operation was going well and soon, the cursed planet Vulcan would be no more. He was looking forward to that and hoping his old foe would enjoy the show. Ayel spoke, interrupting his thoughts.
"Lord Nero, I am picking up another vessel."
"Another starship?"
"No, sir. It would appear to be . . . a shuttlecraft. Shall we destroy it, sir?"
"Not yet, Ayel. I want a better view of this flea that dares to approach this closely. Put it on the screens and magnify."
When the registration on the shuttle became clear enough to read, Nero rose to his feet.
"She is from the Enterprise? Why was I not told that the Enterprise was among the vessels we destroyed!?"
"But Lord Nero, the name Enterprise was not on any of the ships we fought against.'
Nero's eyes narrowed as he looked at the shuttle again.
"ISS? I though all Federation ships began with USS. No matter. Let the flea continue on to Vulcan for now. They can go down with the planet. Prepare to launch the red matter."
Onboard the shuttle, the three men were getting ready to space jump from the shuttle to the platform on the probe,
"Be ready for anything, men. We have no idea what we're dealing with. Show no mercy, take no prisoners."
"Aye, Captain."
Easily the most blood-thirsty among them, Olson was first out of the door. He was also the last to deploy his chute, which made him first to reach the platform. He had barely gotten his bearing when a Romulan disruptor rifle hit him square in the chest, knocking him backwards and off of the platform. Kirk hit the platform next, retracting his chute immediately to help him dodge fire. Still in the air, Sulu had a harder time dodging and began to go off course when his chute was hit. Close enough to risk it, Sulu disengaged his chute and dropped the remaining twelve feet to the platform.
There were a couple of close calls, but Sulu made use of a retractable sword that he had brought with him while Kirk made use of both his hand phaser and anything else he could get his hands on. Both men were obviously used to fighting and fell into sync almost naturally until they were the only two left standing. Sulu glanced over the edge of the platform.
"Olson had all the explosives, didn't he?"
"Yep."
"So - what do we do?"
A smile formed on Kirk's face when Sulu automatically turned to him for an answer. Picking up one of the fallen disrupter rifles, he handed it to Sulu before picking up one himself.
"We ad-lib."
As they turned. they both saw a case shoot past them, heading for the hole that had been drilled into Vulcan's surface.
"And we start ad-libbing now. I don't want to be standing here when whatever that was goes off."
Both men began firing, not stopping until what had been the ever-present high pitched whining of the drill died. Kirk tested immediately, relieved when he was able to contact the shuttle and the Enterprise.
"Kirk to the shuttle and to the Enterprise. We have disabled the probe, but the Romulan ship fired something into the planet's core before we completed our mission. Enterprise, can you beam us aboard?"
Spock's voice came across.
"We will be within range for teleportation shortly. Stand by."
Chekov turned, shock evident on his face.
"Mister Spock, whatever the Romulans shot into the planet is starting a reaction. Gravitational forces are off of the scale - if my readings are correct, sir, the planet is going to implode from the stress. Almost as if a black hole is forming at it's core."
"Captain Pike, did you copy that last?"
"I did. Move in to alert the High Command. I'll get the men off the platform."
Spock turned back to Chekov.
"By your readings, how much longer does the planet have remaining?"
"Minutes, sir. Just minutes."
"Miss Uhura - open communications to Vulcan High Command."
"Aye, sir. Channel now open."
"Vulcan High Command, this is the ISS Enterprise. By Imperial Command, you are to order an immediate evacuation of the planet. We estimate that the planet has only minutes to go until total destruction."
"Imperial orders acknowledged, Enterprise. However, we must inform you that the Council of Elders are inside of Katric Ark and cannot be reached in time."
There had only been a few occasions in Spock's life when the desire to indulge in the Terran habit of cursing was strong. The realization that his parents would be with the Council of Elders and that none of them would be able to be teleported off of Vulcan from where they were was quickly added this to that short list.
"Mister Chekov! Take control of the transporter from the Bridge and beam me down immediately to these coordinates."
"But Mister Spock, the planet doesn't have much longer before -"
Spock moved to an open area, kneeling down to help himself balance against the planet's death throes.
"Then I would advise you to stop wasting what little time remains. You have the conn, Mister Chekov. Energize."
While Spock did want to get the Vulcan Council and his father off of the planet, the one he instinctively moved to was the only one that had ever accepted him as he was - his mother. He brought her out of the Katric Ark - if the rest didn't follow, their fates were on their own heads. When they were finally out and in an area where the teleporter could pickup their readings, Spock looked around and noted that all the others had followed.
"Enterprise - lock onto our signatures and beam us aboard."
Even as he said the last word, another violent shudder ran through the area and the ground beneath his mother's feet crumbled. Forgetting everything else, Spock lunged forward and managed to grab his mother's hand.
What passed next took both an instant and an eternity. In her terror, all of Amanda's carefully erected mental shields were toppled and, for the first time in his life, Spock viewed the world through his mother's eyes. Her meeting with Ambassador Sarek at an event - Sarek's infection with a common Earth virus - the unlooked for side effect of the anti-virus causing early onset of Pon-Farr - the attack on Amanda and her subsequent kidnapping to Vulcan when her pregnancy was discovered - the years of being treated as an odd mix of exotic pet and courtesan, married only to legitimize their son - insulted to her face and insulted even worse behind her back. Her only solace being her son - the son who she now locked eyes with.
With a lurch of his stomach, Spock realized the one thing his mother wanted above all others - to be free of it all. As he felt the beginning tingle of the teleport, he loosened his grip and felt as her hand slid out of his. At the last touch of their hands and minds, he heard her parting words.
~I will always love you, Spock. Thank you.~
He began to dissolve even as she began to fall. His hand was still outstretched as it had been while holding her as he rematerialized aboard the Enterprise. Sarek moved over to him angrily.
"Why did you let her go?"
When Spock looked up with his dark eyes cold with hate, Sarek took an involuntary step back.
"Believe me that if such had been within my powers, she would not have been the one to have fallen, 'father'."
In what proved to be extremely bad timing, Puri had sent McCoy and one of the nurses to see if any of those rescued from the surface were in need of medical aid. Spock unleashed his anger at his father on McCoy, grabbing him and literally jerking him off of his feet.
"You! You are not supposed to be aboard this ship."
Ignoring the protests from both the nurse and his father, Spock shoved McCoy against the bulkhead, knocking the air out of the doctor.
"Mister Kyle, call Security."
As several members of Security were always stationed near the Transporter room, response was almost immediate. Spock loosened his hold on McCoy just long enough to make use of a nerve pinch before allowing McCoy to collapse to the floor.
"I want this man ejected off of the ship immediately. For every minute of delay, you will each spend two minutes in the booth."
The two men grabbed McCoy up and quickly disappeared with him. Spock regarded the now silent Council of Elders briefly before moving to one of the intercoms.
"Spock to Lieutenant Vicklan."
"Lieutenant Vicklan, sir."
"Standby to assign guest quarters to the evacuees from Vulcan. Meet the first group at the Transporter room immediately."
"Aye, sir."
On the Bridge, Chekov had been brooding ever since teleporting Spock to the planet surface. It wasn't as if he had been close to Reilly, but still, the man's death was directly attributable to Spock being a sore loser over the Kobayashi Maru. He silently vowed to himself that if there was anything he could do to make the Vulcan's life more miserable, he would.
That opportunity was about to come quicker than Chekov could have imagined.
On the Narada, Ayel turned to his captain.
"Lord Nero. The chain reaction has reached critical. The planet is doomed."
"Excellent. Tell me, how many are aboard that shuttlecraft."
"Our sensors show only one, sir."
"Bring him aboard. I find that I have questions I want answered."
"At once, Lord Nero."
"Khoal, retract the drill."
Pike was speaking to Kirk and Sulu over their communicators.
"Be ready. I'm nearly in position. Alright, now I - what the hell?"
Sulu was at the right angle that he could see into the shuttle's cockpit, so he witnessed as Pike disappeared from the pilot's seat.
"Jim! The Captain's been teleported!"
Pilotless, the shuttle began an uncontrolled decent to the planet, leaving Kirk and Sulu stranded.
"Kirk to Enterprise. Did you just teleport the Captain off of the shuttle?"
Chekov responded immediately.
"Negative, Mister Kirk."
"Well, someone teleported him away before Sulu and I could -"
Even as Kirk was speaking, the entire drill probe jerked, Both men were jolted, but Sulu's position was too near the edge of the probe and he went over. Forgetting that he was still speaking to Chekov, Kirk yelled.
"Sulu!"
In the type of move that often had McCoy questioning his sanity, Kirk leapt off the platform in pursuit of Sulu, hoping that they wouldn't hit a speed that would cause his chute to fail before he reached him.
Immediately grasping what must have happened, Chekov linked to the signals from each man's communicator even as he was doing the math in his head to determine the terminal velocity of their fall while factoring in the additional gravitational pull that was coming from Vulcan.
Kirk managed to get within reach of Sulu and the two men locked forearms. Once Kirk was sure of his grip, he deployed his chute. It jerked them both, but it only held for a few seconds before ripping away.
On the Enterprise, Chekov cursed briefly as the chute deploying skewed his calculations, but he soon readjusted and activated the transporter beams.
"Got them!"
Then he turned slightly and met Uhura's eyes.
"And since Mister Kirk is now back onboard, Mister Spock is no longer in command of the Enterprise as per Captain Pike's orders."
Uhura's tight smile of approval was all Chekov needed to see.
"Good work."
In the Transporter room, Kirk and Sulu were taking a moment to catch their breath and the feeling of still being alive when Uhura's voice came over the intercom.
"Captain Kirk, you are needed on the Bridge."
Eyes going bright at the sound of that, Kirk got to his feet, offering Sulu a hand up.
"Come on, Sulu. We're both needed up there."
Nero was leaning back in his chair as two of his men dragged Captain Pike in front of him.
"And who might you be?"
"Captain Christopher Pike of the ISS Enterprise. And you are?"
"Nero. Captain of the Narada. Turn around, Christopher. Enjoy the glorious fruit of my labor."
The Romulans holding him forced Pike around toward the viewscreen. As he watched, a blue light seemed to form at the center of the planet's mass and then, the planet crumbled like a cookie being crushed by the invisible hand of a child. The crumbs quickly began to vanish into the blue glow until nothing remained but what looked like a dust cloud hanging in space as the blue began to dim.
"Lord Nero - we have located the Enterprise just outside of this system."
As his men tightened their hold on Pike, Nero smiled.
"How very convenient. Don't bother to engage in battle with them, simply fire on them as we depart. We have another planet to remove from the universe."
Not very far away, a pair of old, but still sharp, eyes were staring at the sky and watched the ring of dust as the blue at its center slowly faded to nothingness.
Once it was gone, he closed his eyes and shuddered as he remembered the feeling that had washed over him as literal billions of souls had died. Pulling his furred hood back over his head, he began to walk in the direction where something had landed on the planet. It might be nothing or it could be a survivor of his now-extinct planet. Spock wasn't going to rest until he found out.