Visitors

VII

"You look like you're meant for the Captain's chair." Kirk admired, leaning on the back of Mac'hla's chair.
"Well, I am the Captain, this is my chair..?" Mac'hla said, not quite understanding what he was saying.
Jim smirked and patted their shoulder, "I know, Maggie. It's good to see you in action."
"Thank you, sir. "
He leaned closer to her, "You can call me Jim, you know."
"You are my commanding officer, sir. It would be inappropriate."
"You sound like Spock again." he laughed.
"That is very kind, sir."
"Captain..." Andromeda said, "I was scanning through the empty frequencies, and I think I'm picking something up on one of them."
"What is it?" Mac'hla inquired, turning to face her.
"I think it's Klingonsese, sir."
Mac'hla rose to her feet and quickly strode over to the communications console, "May I?"
Andromeda nodded and handed her an unused earpiece, "You know more Klingonsese than me."
Mac'hla plugged in the earpiece as Kirk approached.
"Adjust the tuning, Commander. There is too much interference for me to decipher anything."
Andromeda fidgeted with the controls until the words became clearer and they could finally decipher what was being said.
"...DIvI'Duj... HoD Tirok Mac'hla...puq Fek'lhrdaj."
Andromeda looked over at Mac'hla, eyebrows furrowed, "Did you hear that?"
"They know my name...and it seems they have given me a not-so-kind nickname." Mac'hla whispered, "Commander, are you picking anything up?"
Camari scanned over the surrounding area, "I'm not seeing anything sir."
"They could be using nuclear fission engines as opposed to dilithium... try setting your scanners to pick up traces from engines powered by Uranium."
Camari flicked some switches and typed some codes in before squinting at her screen. The color seemed to drain from her face and she turned to face her Captain.
"I'm picking up three Klingons battle cruisers, sir."
Jim bit his lip, "We need to leave the area."
"I have found that Klingons are like cats... they will always chase what runs. Helm, maintain the current course."
"Mac'hla..." Jim warned.
"Admiral, I need you to trust me on this."
"gagH legh maH. chu'So'wI."
"They're activating their cloaking device. They think we have detected him."
"We need to move, now." Jim said more urgently.
"No, we do not. If we continue moving on they will assume that they have gone unnoticed. They do not seem to have any plan of attack, I believe they are simply watching."
"Captain, I am telling you–!"
"Admiral!" Mac'hla said sternly, "You have two options. First choice: you order me to leave the bridge and you take the chair. Second: you allow me to do what needs to be done. You may have been my Captain in the past, but this is my ship and my crew. I make the orders, and I expect them to be followed. If you cannot stand to watch, then you are welcome to leave. I have given you your options: now choose."
The bridge went silent and the air filled with electricity. Did she really just say that?
"Third option: You shut up and I order you to divert course!" he said angrily.
"You heard the Admiral." Mac'hla said bitterly, "Turn us around and head the opposite direction. We are tucking our tail between our legs and running."
Sivna and Ejhisseh looked at each other nervously. Kirk may be the Admiral, but they knew Mac'hla more. Mac'hla, thus far, had never been wrong about this sort of thing, and hearing her take someone else's advice, or order in this instance, made them nervous.
"Aye sir." Sivna said, plotting a new course.
Mac'hla and Kirk stared at each other, tension in the air. Kirk thought he was right, but Mac'hla knew she was. But if the Admiral believed in himself so much, then she had no choice but to follow his orders.
She handed him the earpiece, "You may listen to our downfall."
Jim took it, glaring daggers at her.
Andromeda watched him out of the corner of her eye, a little annoyed by his argumentative behavior. Yes, he was their superior officer, but when exactly was the last time he had a hostile encounter with the Klingons? Three, maybe four years ago?
Mac'hla sat in their chair and crossed their legs, waiting for the inevitable fire of the Klingons cruisers.
Kirk listened intensely, wishing Mac'hla hadn't given him the earpiece. He didn't know a damn word of Klingonese.
The bridge crew watched the viewscreen anxiously.
From the dark emerged three Klingons battle cruisers in pursuit of The Revival.
"They're arming phasers!" Camari warned.
A blast of red shot towards them and The Revival was struck head on with the full force of the phaser.
The crew were blasted back and sparks flew from the ceiling. The lights flickered as the ship tried to compensate for the damage.
Mac'hla leapt to her feet, "Shields up!" She slammed the button on the arm of her chair, "Everyone to battle positions! Damage report, Rushim?"
"Hull breach on decks six, seven, and eight! Life support is still functioning and the autoseal is in place, sir."
"Evacuate those decks, Commander."
Camari patched into the ship wide comm, "Decks six, seven, and eight, evacuate to the lower decks!"
Captain Spock entered the bridge and looked around in confusion, "What has happened?"
"Ask the Admiral." Mac'hla said stubbornly. They very rarely got angry anymore now that they had gotten a better grip on their emotions, but at this moment they were on the verge of losing control.
Jim ground his teeth and turned to Spock, "I went against their decision and completely screwed us over, that's what happened!"
"I believe I am missing some details." Spock said, and gripped the Communications console as they were all rocked to the side from another blast.
"Shields down by thirty percent!" Camari warned.
"Captain, may I make a suggestion?" Spock offered.
"I am done taking suggestions." Mac'hla spat, "From now on, I will make the decisions."
"You are allowing your emotions to–" Spock began.
Mac'hla turned and stared at him, eyes blazing with rage. Spock decided not to finish his statement.
"They have battle cruisers, they are considerably smaller, however their phasers are strong–" she was cut short as another blast struck the shields.
"Sixty percent! Should we return fire?"
"Absolutely not! It will only instigate this fight further." Mac'hla said, grimacing at the thought of her ship becoming so damaged.
Mac'hla watched as the ships weaved in unison with each other, "Admiral, earpiece."
Jim, now fully open to listening to Mac'hla, tossed it to her.
She closed her eyes and listened intently, "They are communicating formations– relying on each other to find the way to position themselves to inflict the most damage."
They looked around frantically, trying to think of the best way to interrupt their cooperation with each other.
"I need you to send something through their frequency. Generate a pitch, about 25,000 hertz. It will disrupt the frequency and effectively block their transmissions."
Andromeda nodded and began to adjust the frequency, frantically swapping between pitches to gradually reach the desired frequency.
"Spock, Strivok, cover your ears. Andromeda, take out your implants." Mac'hla ordered.
Humans and many other humanoid species can only hear up to approximately 20,000 hertz, but Vulcans could hear up to nearly 30,000. Andromeda's implants allowed her to hear extreme pitches as well, and the four of them would be subjected to extremely damaging frequencies.
Andromeda removed her implants, "Ready, sir?"
Mac'hla pulled out their hearing aids knowing that without them they wouldn't be able to hear it. They watched Camari's screen, examining the cruisers' positioning.
"Wait..." Mac'hla signed, knowing Andromeda couldn't read their lips while they were facing away.
They were starting to shift positions. The communications needed to be severed before they could decide where they were going.
"Now!" she signed.
Andromeda flicked the switch, and the communications line was immediately flooded by the deafening pitch.
Even with their ears covered, Spock and Strivok heard it and doubled over in agony. The rest of the crew appeared completely unaffected.
Suoh stood and rushed to Strivok, putting his hands over his to block out the sound more, and Jim did the same for Spock. It was a desperate attempt, but any help was enough.
"Arm phasers!" Mac'hla demanded.
The Klingons cruisers were now lost without communications, and would easily be taken out without the defense of the others. Mac'hla's arming of the phasers was a gamble, but she knew that the Klingons would not take the risk of being shot down. As brave as they may be, they wouldn't be willing to fall because of a simple communication error– that simple mistake was not an honorable way to die.
One by one, the cruisers lifted their cloaking devices, and Mac'hla watched Camari's screen as they flew away. Now it was them tucking their tails and running.
"Stop." Mac'hla ordered, signing to Andromeda to end the transmission.
Andromeda broke it off and reattached her implant, "It worked!"
Mac'hla slipped back on their hearing aids, "Disarm phasers."
Suoh let go of Strivok's hands, and he looked at him gratefully, "Thank you, Lieutenant."
"Your ears," Suoh gasped, "They're bleeding!"
"I know. I do not believe any severe damage is done, but I will report to sickbay as soon as–"
"You will report to sickbay now." Mac'hla interrupted, "You as well, Captain. I will not have you losing your hearing because you were too stubborn to receive help."
"Aye sir." Strivok said, wiping the blood away from his face.
"I'll go with him." Jim said, grabbing Spock's shoulder.
"No, you will not." Mac'hla said adamantly, "You will go to my ready room and wait for me there."
Kirk looked to the ground. Technically, he could say no and walk away. He is an Admiral, but clearly disobeying Captain Mac'hla had disastrous consequences.
He trudged away, preparing for the reprimanding of a lifetime.
"Casualties, Mr. Suoh?" Mac'hla asked.
Suoh stepped over to the science station, "No deaths, but we have twenty-five injuries, six of which are in critical condition."
Mac'hla nodded, "Ensure that they are all in or on their way to sickbay. Begin repairs on the damaged decks immediately."
"Yes sir."
"Miss Rushim, you have the bridge."
Camari took the chair, and the entire bridge anxiously watched as Mac'hla disappeared into their ready room.
Kirk stood by Mac'hla's desk, arms folded behind his back, looking mildly terrified.
"Twenty-five injured. Six in critical condition." Mac'hla said calmly, "Three decks and the shields were damaged. Do you know how this could have been avoided, Admiral?"
"If we had continued on our course."
"And what did we not do?"
Kirk swallowed, "Continue on course."
"Your actions were driven by emotions. They were illogical."
"It wasn't driven by emotions." Kirk defended, "I thought–"
"You were basing your decision on previous encounters you have had. You feared the outcome, and you believed wholeheartedly that you were correct."
"I recognize that I was wrong, Mag–" he realized that the nickname would not be appreciated at the moment, "Misses Tirok."
Mac'hla sighed, "I know you do. I know you feel remorse. I know all humans make decisions on emotions, and I cannot blame you for doing what is in your nature. However, I do request that in the future, should anything like this happen again, you allow me to make the decisions."
"Gladly. I'll be honest with you, I think I'm a little rusty." he chuckled nervously.
Their face softened, "Not rusty, sir. Things have simply changed."
Jim stepped towards them and grabbed their shoulders, "I knew you would make a great Captain. I knew you'd make the right choices."
Mac'hla, uncharacteristically placed her hand over one of his, "Sir, I am going to request that you return to your quarters for the time being. We need time to repair. It is not personal, it is simply a request that you–"
"Stay out of the way?" he smirked.
"Yes."
"Understood, Captain." he smiled and left the ready room.
Mac'hla sighed and followed.
"You know, I'm a little surprised you didn't give me a good clip on the nose when I shouted at you."
Mac'hla tilted their head, "Sir, I no longer resort to violence when in a hightened emotional state. Perhaps a few years ago I might have... but not now."
"And I'm certainly grateful. From what I hear you pack a serious punch." Jim smirked.
Spock had told him about his and Mac'hla's first... and last sparring match. Mac'hla might be a little clumsy, but their aim was absolutely flawless and after one well placed blow to the chest, the match had to end and Spock had sheepishly retreated to sickbay with a cracked clavicle.
Mac'hla raised an eyebrow, "That is only because Vulcans are naturally stronger than most species."
"The point is, I'm impressed that you kept your cool."
"Kept my cool?"
"Never mind, Maggie."
Mac'hla brushed against Kirk's shoulder in a friendly gesture and excused themselves to go to sickbay and care for her injured crew.
25 casualties... they were lucky there weren't more.