CHAPTER 3 Captain's Log - Stardate 8051.2 The Enterprise has just completed a mission taking her dangerously deep into Klingon space. Due to the delicacy of the mission, the details must remain classified. Commendations to all crew members, especially Commanders Sulu, Chekov, and Scott, Captain Spock, and Doctor McCoy for bravery in the face of life-threatening danger during a beam-down mission. These commendations will be forwarded to Starfleet Command upon our arrival at Starbase 43 for debriefing. "Captain, nearing the edge of Federation space," reported Commander Sulu. "Mister Chekov, any pursuers?" "No, Keptin. Sensors detect no wessels following us out of Klingon space," reported the Russian navigator. "Kirk to Engineering. Scotty, are you there?" asked Kirk, depressing the intraship communications switch on the arm of his command chair. "Aye, I'm here," replied the burly Scotsman. In the background, Kirk could hear the deep, rhythmic pulsations of the Warp engines. "What shape are the engines in, Scotty? Did they sustain much damage? They did take a lot of punishment." "Don't ye worry, sir. Between you and the Klingons, they've been takin' quite a poundin' lately, but they're a lot tougher than I make out. They'll work at their usual 110%, just like always." "That's good to hear, Mr. Scott. Kirk out. Anyone have anything to report?" Kirk asked the Bridge Crew. When no one answered, he said "I'll be down in Sickbay if you need me. You have the Bridge, Spock." Kirk entered the Turbolift as Spock left his Science Station and sat in the center seat. "Sickbay," Kirk said as the Turbolift doors closed behind him. The Turbolift moved both horizontally and vertically in order to reach Sickbay. At one point, his Turbolift car had to pause for a few seconds in order to avoid a collision with another car. When he finally left the Turbolift, he walked slowly to Sickbay. As the doors slid open, he heard Doctor Leonard "Bones" McCoy say "Dammit! Every time things calm down and I try to get my equipment operating properly, Jim goes and tries to get us killed!" "Problems, Doctor?" Kirk asked. "Hell yes, Jim! We're none of us getting any younger, of course we won't get any older if you don't calm down! You're not a Captain any more. Go back to your job with Starfleet Intelligence. As your doctor and your friend, I'm telling you to --" "Bones, calm down. What's this all about?" "I'm sorry, Jim. It's just that I lost five patients, all of them fresh out of the Academy." "Bones, it's not your fault. They were in pretty rough shape to begin with. They never should have tried to complete the mission on their own. We were too busy to notice their departure. Next thing I knew, they were in a crossfire between us and the Klingons. We were lucky to beam them aboard just before the shuttlecraft exploded. They were pretty far gone when they were brought back. Don't blame yourself," said Kirk sympathetically. "I just can't believe that, Jim. I'm a doctor. I should have been able to save them." "Bones, listen to yourself. You've never been like this before. Remember, like you would say, you're a doctor, not a miracle worker. Have a drink to calm down. My job is harder. I have to tell their families why their sons and daughters aren't coming home." "Jim, a drink won't change anything. And you think your job's tough? I have to live with the fact that they might have been saved if I could have begun treating them 30 seconds sooner. If you don't mind, Jim, I'd like to work through this by myself." "Of course, Bones. I'll be in my quarters." "Jim, before you go -- I'm sorry I snapped at you. It wasn't really anyone's fault. I just need time to convince myself of that fact." "I understand, Bones," said Kirk, who left Sickbay feeling very depressed. He entered the Turbolift at the end of the corridor and said, "Captain's quarters." The Turbolift went up and over from G deck to E deck. As Kirk entered his quarters, the ship shook violently. Kirk ran to the communications panel on the wall and anxiously asked, "Kirk to Bridge. Spock, what's going on?" "My apologies, Captain, but our navigational deflector was damaged. A small meteor came too close to ensure that we would miss it. I ordered Commander Chekov to destroy it with a photon torpedo as it was too close to use the phasers. Fortunately, the shields came up in time to absorb the majority of the blast. No damage to the Enterprise occurred," reported the Vulcan First Officer in his typically emotionless voice. "Be careful, Spock. McCoy's on the warpath. Any more incidents like this and he's liable to lead a mutiny and force us all to walk the plank," Kirk said, laughter in his voice. "Captain, could you please explain your last remark. I do not think such a revolution would be successful and I see no significance in Doctor McCoy's forcing us to walk along narrow pieces of wood," Spock said in a tone approaching confusion. "Never mind, Spock, never mind. Kirk out," said Jim, closing the channel. "I've got to find a way to make him loosen up. A project I'll give Bones when he's feeling up to it," he thought to himself. Kirk took off his red uniform shirt and slung it over a chair. He sat down on his bed, rubbing both hands over his eyes. Jim Kirk realized that he was more tired than he had thought. He lay down and after awhile fell into a troubled sleep, haunted by the faces of the five dead cadets. He felt guilty over their loss, too. For an hour he tossed and turned then settled down into a peaceful slumber. "Bridge to Captain Kirk. Bridge to Captain Kirk." Uhura's voice woke him from a deep sleep. "Kirk here," he answered groggily. "What is it, Uhura?" "Sorry to wake you, Captain, but I have a message for you from Starfleet Command." Kirk walked over to his personal viewscreen and was welcomed by the words "Starfleet Command - Highest Priority" superimposed over the United Federation of Planets insignia. "Computer, this is Kirk, Admiral James T." "Voice pattern match. Prepare for retina scan," said the female voice of the ship's computer. A circle of white light lit up Kirk's right eye. After a few seconds the computer said "Identity confirmed." The computer terminal's viewscreen changed to show Admiral Nogura, supreme head of Starfleet. "Admiral Kirk, I have some good news for you. Please sit down, as this may come as a shock to you. "Firstly, the Enterprise is to return to Earth immediately, where she will repaired and become a training vessel for Academy cadets. "Secondly, you will be reinstated as head of Starfleet Intelligence with the same powers and responsibilities you had before the V'GER incident. "Thirdly, inform Commander Pavel Chekov that he has been assigned to the Reliant, where he will be the Science/First Officer. "Lastly, the rest of your Bridge staff will become instructors at the Academy because of their wealth of experiences under your command. "Please inform your crew. Congratulations, Admiral. Nogura out." The viewscreen went blank, but Kirk sat there. He stared, disbelieving, at the viewscreen. Kirk was unable to accept the reality of Nogura's orders, even though they came from a man second only to God as far as most people were concerned. It was thirty minutes later that he arrived on the Bridge. Spock vacated the command chair and reported "All systems running normally." "Thank you, Spock," Kirk said flatly as he sat down heavily in the center seat. "Is something troubling you, Captain?" Spock asked. "That obvious is it? I had hoped to tell you this later, but as long as you're all here... That message was from Admiral Nogura. This will be our last mission together." Everyone on the Bridge was startled and showed it. Most by gasping, but Spock very eloquently raised an eyebrow sharply. "Let me explain. I am resuming my post as head of Starfleet Intelligence. The rest of you, including Mr. Scott and Dr.McCoy will be instructors at Starfleet Academy. The Enterprise herself will be used as a training ship for Starfleet cadets," explained Kirk. Kirk rose from his chair and walked around in front of Chekov's control station. "Congratulations, Pavel. You are the new science officer and second-in-command on the Reliant. You'll be serving under Captain Terrell." "You mean it, Keptin?" "Yes, Chekov, I mean it." Returning to his command chair, he said, "These orders take effect immediately upon our return to Earth. Uhura, please inform Scotty. I'll talk to the good doctor myself." Everyone waited until the end of the duty shift to congratulate each other. Once off-duty, Kirk went down to Sickbay to talk to McCoy. As he walked through the doors, Kirk called, "Bones, it's Jim. Where are you?" "I'm in my office, Jim. Come on in." Jim stood in the threshold and asked "Is it okay to come in or do I need to call Security for a bodyguard?" "Everything's fine. Sit down and have a drink." As McCoy poured himself a glass of blue Romulan ale, illegal in the Federation, Kirk said, "You certainly sound better, Bones." "All it took was a look through my records, Jim." "I don't follow you." "I saw the list of all the people I'd saved while on the Enterprise. The list was so long, I lost count. Then I looked at the list of people who died under my care. It didn't even fill up one screen on the computer. I must be doing something right, Jim." "I'm glad you have high spirits. You'll need them once I've told you our new orders." And Kirk told him. McCoy was outraged. "They can't do that, Jim. You're the best damn captain in Starfleet. Reinstating your command of the Enterprise was the best thing they ever did." "But you said--" "I know what I said, but I didn't really mean it. I was 'letting my human emotions get the best of me.'" He said the last sentence in a toneless voice, one eyebrow raised. This brought a smile to Kirk's face. "I hope you're going to fight this, Jim. I'll make a recommendation in my Medical Log if you think it'll help. I can say that a desk job would be detrimental to your physical and mental health." "Thanks, Bones, but there's no way to fight Nogura and win. He IS Starfleet, after all." "I guess you're right, Jim. I don't like it, that's all." "You're still mad at him for forcing you out of retirement." By now, Kirk had finished his drink so he bid McCoy good night and went back to his quarters. He cleaned up his breakfast dishes and ate dinner. When he was done, he worked on some of the paperwork involved with commanding a starship. Funny, he thought, that in this day and age of computer tablets, it's still called paperwork, even though no paper is involved. Kirk worked for a couple of hours, until his vision started to blur. He noticed that he was only about half done. "Maybe Bones was right," he said to himself. "Maybe I am getting old. Used to be, I could get through a pile of paperwork this size in one night. Oh well, there's always tomorrow." He rose slowly and began getting ready for bed. Then he sat on the edge of his bed and thought about his experiences aboard the Enterprise. Countless battles with the Klingons and Romulans. The discovery of Khan after centuries adrift in space. First peaceful contact with the Horta and the Fifth Empire. Redjac. The salt vampire. Harcourt Fenton Mudd. The Gorn. Tribbles. V'Ger. He'd had a full career, boldly going where no man had gone before, but it was all over now. He called up to the Bridge but nothing had changed, so he went to bed. For the second night, his sleep was troubled, this time by a nightmare. Admiral Nogura was laughing at him. Then he dissipated and coalesced into Redjac and enveloped Kirk in a bright red mist. Kirk collapsed to the ground and Redjac became a single tribble which fell on his chest and began reproducing. Soon he was buried under an infinite number of tribbles, their ever increasing weight pushing him deeper into the ground, suffocating. Kirk awoke in a cold sweat to find himself tangled tightly in his blankets. He unwrapped himself and went over to his mirror. He looked terrible, his face pale and covered in sweat. He knew immediately that retirement from the command of a starship would not agree with him. Kirk went back and lay down, staring at the ceiling above his bed. Other than his vast experience, he could see no reason that he should remain in command of the Enterprise. Besides, Nogura would say that that experience was why he should head Starfleet Intelligence. Eventually he fell into a half-sleep. The red alert klaxon brought him abruptly awake. He hurriedly dressed and ran for the Turbolift. He burst onto the Bridge and Spock immediately filled him in. "Captain, Starfleet has picked up an intruder well within Federation space, headed for Klingon territory. Starships of the Enterprise and Reliant classes are giving chase. We, also, have been ordered to intercept. Our course is laid in and we are awaiting your command to initiate pursuit," reported the Vulcan. "By all means. Mister Sulu, maximum warp. Make any necessary course changes to intercept the intruder." "Aye, sir. Accelerating to Warp 12," replied Sulu. "Kirk to Engineering. Scotty, can the engines maintain Warp 12 for any length of time?" "Scott here. Yes, sir. The engines will be able to take it." "Thanks, Scotty. Kirk out." For hours the Enterprise gave chase, Uhura relaying sensor readings from the other pursuit ships to Sulu, who made the appropriate course changes. Finally Uhura reported, "Captain, the other ships report that they have lost track of the intruder." "Do not be alarmed, Captain," spoke up Spock. "The intruder is now within our sensor range. The vessel has slowed to a stop. Scanning. There are over 1,000 lifesigns aboard, predominately human, but many Vulcans. Fascinating." "What is it, Spock?" "There is at least one Klingon aboard." "Not Klingons again. We just got through dealing with the Klingons. Scan their energy levels and weapons systems." "Jim, their power levels are so high that they don't register on my scanners. As for weapons systems, they outgun us nearly thirty to one. In addition, their ship is of a design similar to ours, but eight times our mass. A confrontation would not be advisable." "Thank you, Spock. Recommendation noted. Mister Sulu, bring us out of Warp when we're in visual range. Mister Chekov, as soon as we drop out of Warp put out shields and deflectors at maximum." "Aye, sir," both helmsman and weapons officer acknowledged in unison. As the Enterprise dropped out of Warp, the stars on the viewscreen shortened from streaks to pinpoints of light. In the center of the viewscreen sat an alien vessel that bore an uncanny resemblance to the Enterprise. It looked as if someone had taken Kirk's ship, enlarged it to four times the height and twice the length and then squished the saucer, engeneering section, and engine nacelles flat. "Commander Uhura, open hailing frequencies, visual communication." "Frequencies open, Captain." "This is Admiral James T. Kirk commanding the United Starship Enterprise. Intruder, please identify yourself within five minutes or we will open fire with all weapons."