No More Hiding - A Spock (Star Trek) Fanfiction

Chapter 8: A Plan

 I sat in my quarters, staring out the window. I had a full view of Starfleet Headquarters. I watched as the maintenance shuttles zoomed about, fixing the damage caused by Harrison. I let out a shaky breath. Thoughts of the previous night were still fresh on my mind. The sight of Kirk sobbing over a dead Pike was burned into my mind forever. I jumped when I heard my communicator go off. I grabbed it and flipped it open. "Hello?" I said in a monotone voice.

 "Penny, I need you to meet Spock and I. It's important."

 Kirk. What could he possibly want? Wasn't he still mad at me?

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 I ran beside Kirk and Spock to the meeting location. We were asked by Scotty to meet him right away.

 "Captain! I found this in the crashed jumpship, sir. This is how the bastard got away," Scotty shouted while running up to us.

 "What do you mean?" Kirk asked as we approached Scotty.

 "It's a portable transwarp beaming device," Scotty explained.

 "Well, can you figure out where he went?" Kirk asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

 "I already did, sir. And you're not gonna like it," Scotty stated as he hit a button on the device. The coordinates '43.89.26.05' appeared on the small screen. "He's gone to the one place we... we just can't go."

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 "Admiral, sir, he's not on Earth," Kirk breathlessly said, interrupting the Admiral's meeting. "He's on Kronos, sir. I request my command be reinstated  and your permission to go after him."

 By this point I was out of breath. Not only from the constant running, but from the shock of Harrison's location. I was breathing embarrassingly fast, my chest rising and falling rapidly.

 "Give us a minute," Marcus said to the people at the meeting. Everyone rose from their seats and walked out. He turned back to Kirk. "Kronos?"

 "Yes, sir," Kirk said while Marcus walked to his desk. We closely followed.

 "So Harrison's gone to the Klingon homeworld. Is he defecting?

 "We're not sure, sir."

 Spock interrupted. "He has taken refuge in the Ketha Province, a region uninhabited for decades."

 Kirk interrupted back. "He's gotta be hiding there, sir!" Kirk exclaimed while coming to a halt. "He knows if we even go near Klingon space, it'd be all-out war. Starfleet can't go after him, but I can. Please, sir." Kirk pleaded. Spock turned his head and looked at Kirk.

 Marcus turned around and looked at his desk. Behind it was a long table with models of flying vessels, dating back from the Wright Brothers airplane to Starfleet starships. "All-out war with the Klingons is inevitable, Mr. Kirk," Marcus explained. "If you ask me, it's already begun. Since we first learned of their existence, the Klingon Empire has conquered and occupied two planets that we know of and fired on our ships half a dozen times. They are coming our way."

 Marcus turned around and faced us. "London was not an archive. It was a top-secret branch of Starfleet designated Section 31. They were developing defense technology and training our officers to gather intelligence on the Klingons and any other potential enemy who means to do us harm. Harrison was one of our top agents."

 Kirk, Spock, and I walked over to his desk. "Well, now he's a fugitive and I want to take him out," Kirk growled.

 Marcus glared at Kirk. "Pike always said you were one of our best and brightest. You should have heard him defend you. He's the one who talked you into joining Starfleet, wasn't he?"

 Kirk hung his head. "Yes, sir."

 "Did he ever tell you who talked him into joining?" Marcus asked.

 Kirk looked up at Marcus and stared at him. I glanced at Kirk, and Spock just stood there observing the scene.

 Marcus shook his head. "His death is on me. And yours can't be."

 Kirk raised his voice. "Sir, please. All I-"

 "Mr. Spock," Marcus interrupted, "You said the province where Harrison is hiding is uninhabited?"

 "Affirmative, sir," Spock said with a slight nod.

 Marcus glanced at all three of us. After some thought, he walked around his desk and hit a button. "As part of our defensive strategy, 31 developed a new photon torpedo."

 A hologram of a torpedo levitated above his desk. It was oval shaped with four holes in the back for propulsion.

 Marcus continued. "Long-range and untraceable, it would be invisible to Klingon sensors. I don't want you hurt, but I want to take him out. You park on the edge of the Neutral Zone, you lock onto Harrison's position, you fire, you kill him and you haul ass."

 "Permission to reinstate Mr. Spock as my First Officer," Kirk said. Spock looked over at him with a confused look on his face.

 "Granted," Marcus said.

 Kirk then turned to me. His look said it all.

 "Admiral, sir. I would like permission to be demoted to Lieutenant," I asked with no hesitation.

 Marcus looked at me. "Granted."

 "Permission to reinstate Ms. Lane as my Chief Assistant Science Officer," Kirk quickly added.

 Marcus gave a smirk. "Granted."