My Star Trek One-Shots

Scotty - Impulse Power PT 2

The day after their unexpected night together, Lieutenant Montgomery Scott found himself whistling while realigning EPS conduits in the port nacelle. And that was saying something—Scotty never whistled on duty. It was inefficient breath control. But with Teyla Zire floating in his mind like a star in a binary orbit, he couldn't help it.

That warm, lingering morning in his bed still replayed behind his eyes.

She hadn't run. She hadn't mocked. She'd stayed.

But Scotty's moment of peace was shattered hours later when the red alert klaxon screamed through the corridor.

"Engineering to bridge," he called into his comm. "What's happenin'?"

"Unknown vessel just dropped out of warp—Kellerun markings. Shields raised. No response to hails," Lieutenant Ortegas replied, her tone clipped.

Kellerun. His heart clenched. That couldn't be coincidence.

By the time he made it to the bridge, Captain Pike's jaw was locked in a neutral line. On screen, the angular silhouette of the Kellerun gunship hovered like a bird of prey.

"Still no reply?" Pike asked.

"None, sir," Nyota Uhura said. "They're jamming standard channels."

Commander Chin-Riley turned to Scotty. "We may need you to find a workaround."

But Scotty wasn't looking at the viewscreen anymore. He was looking at Teyla, who had just entered the bridge, her expression unreadable.

"They're here for me," she said.

The room went still.

Pike nodded once. "Explain."

She stepped forward. "The Vraxen. It's a military vessel—Kellerun High Command. My former betrothed commands it: Commander Soreth Dahn. He doesn't accept that I've moved on from Kellerun or from him."

"An ex with a warship," Ortegas muttered. "Classic."

"I defected from the Kellerun Defense Corps six years ago," Teyla continued. "When they signed the tentative ceasefire with T'Lani forces, I believed there was a better way forward—through exploration, not destruction. But Soreth . . . he always saw defection as betrayal. Especially from me."

"Did he know you were here?" Pike asked.

"I didn't tell him. But he may have tracked my transfer orders."

Spock tilted his head. "A romantic grudge intersecting with military politics is an . . . unfortunate blend."

Pike stood. "I want full shields and evasive maneuvers on standby. Scotty, see if you can disrupt their jamming signal. I want to know their intentions before we have to guess at them."

"Aye, Captain."

Teyla turned to go, but Pike stopped her.

"You're not off this mission, Lieutenant Zire. I want you working with Ensign Scott to find a communications bypass. And if we can avoid a firefight, we will."

She stiffened. "Understood."

As they entered the adjacent systems lab, the air between her and Scotty felt charged—far more than it had in his quarters.

"You all right?" he asked gently.

She didn't look at him. "I thought I'd escaped that part of my life."

Scotty hesitated. "You don't have to explain—"

"Yes, I do," she interrupted, turning to face him. "Soreth and I were matched in a military bonding program—strategic unions meant to produce tacticians and war leaders. We trained together. Served together. I didn't realize until years in that he saw me less as a partner and more as his. When I left Kellerun space . . . I never looked back. Until now."