Two Captains

Chapter 12

"Jim! I'm not kidding, you need to keep your heart rate down!" Bones calls out as we run after Jim through the hallways. Jim stops at a screen and keyboard built into the wall.

"Computer locate crewman Uhura." Jim says, ignoring us.

"I haven't seen a reaction this severe since med school." Bones says, preparing a med in another hypospray just as Jim runs off.

"We're flying into a trap!"

"Jim! For God's sake!" I call, and run after him.

"Damn it Jim, stand still!" Bones grabs his shoulder, stops him momentarily, and injects the syringe.

Jim cries out and turns to Bones. "Stop it!" Then he turns back and weaves himself in between people, rushing over to Uhura.

"Uhura! Uhura-"

"Kirk," She stands up. "What are you doing here?" She says the same time as he speaks.

"Transmission from the Klingon prison planet, what exactly did it say?"

"Oh my God what's wrong with your hands?!" She cries out as Bones examines him again.

"Who is responsible for the Klingon attack-"

"What?"

"And was the ship Romu..." He continues, but then his speech starts to be not-understandable.

"Was the ship what?" Uhura asks.

"Whath's...whath's happening thoo my mouth?" Jim asks Bones.

"You got numb tongue?"

"Numb thongue?!"

"I can fix that."

"Was the ship what?" Uhura asks again.

"Lthomulan."

"What?"

"Lomulan."

"Romulan?" She guesses.

"Yeah."

"Yes."

"Yeah, yeah!" Jim says, and then McCoy injects yet another syringe in Jim's neck. "Sthop ith!" He says to Bones.

"Jim!"

"What's going on?" Uhura asks, running after us as Bones and I run after Jim.

"Jim, come back!" Bones says.

"Kirk!" Uhura says.

"Captain!" Jim runs onto the bridge and stops right before Captain Pike. "Captain Pike, sir, we have to stop the ship!"

"Kirk, how the hell did you get on board the Enterprise?" Pike asks, standing from his chair. "How did you get on board too?" He asks me.

From the corner of my eye I see Spock standing up, looking at us, and the Russian guy swivel in his chair to look at us.

"Captain, this man is under the influence of a-" Bones starts, his hand in front of Jim to stop him from coming any closer to Pike.

"Bones, plea-"

"He's completely delusional and I take full responsibility."

"Vulcan is not experiencing a natural disaster it's being attacked by Romulans."

"Romulans? Cadet Kirk, I think you've had enough attention for one day, McCoy, take him back to medical, we'll have words later." Pike looks at me. "You stay here. I need to talk to you." He turns away from us.

"Aye Captain." Bones answers, he tries to grab Jim's arm but Jim steps up to Pike and Pike turns back around to face him.

"Sir, that same anomaly-"

"Mr. Kirk and Miss Adams are not cleared to be aboard this vessel, Captain." Spock says the same time as Jim speaks, stepping over to Pike.

"Look you're a great arguer, love to do it again with you some time-"

"I can remove the cadet-" Spock continues.

"Try it! This cadet is trying to save the bridge."

"By recommending a full stop mid-warp during a rescue mission?" Spock asks, looking at Jim.

"It's not a rescue mission, listen to me, it's an attack." Jim says to Pike, looking at him.

"Based on what facts?" Spock asks.

Jim looks at Spock. "That same anomaly, a lightning storm in space that we saw today also occured on the day of my birth. Before a Romulan ship attacked the USS Kelvin." He looks at Pike. "You know that sir, I read your dissretation." He looks back at Spock. "That ship which had formidable and advanced weaponry was never seen or heard from again." He looks at Pike. "The Kelvin attacked a place on the edge of Klingon space. And at twenty-three hundred hours last night, there was an attack. 47 Warbirds destroyed by Romulans, sir. And it was reported that the Romulans were in one ship, one massive ship."

"And you know of this Klingon attack, how?" Pike demands. Jim turns to Uhura.

"Sir I intercepted and translated the message myself. Kirk's report is accurate." She answers.

"We're warping into a trap sir. The Romulans are waiting for us. I promise you that."

"The cadet's logic is sound." Spock says. "And Lieutenant Uhura is unmatched in xenolinguistics, we would be wise to accept her conclusion."

Pike hesitates before he orders. "Scan Vulcan space, check for any transmissions in Romulan."

"Sir I'm not sure I can distinguish the Romulan language from Vulcan." A man answers Pike.

"What about you? Do you speak Romulan, cadet?" Pike asks Uhura, stepping towards her.

"Uhura." She answers. "All three dialects sir."

"Uhura, relieve the Lieutenant."

"Yes sir." She answers, and walks over to the man to take his place.

"Hannity, hail the USS Truman." Pike orders.

"All the other ships are out of warp sir and have arrived at Vulcan," A woman answers. "But we seem to have lost all contact."

"Sir I pick up no Romulan transmission, or transmission of any kind in the area." Uhura says to Pike.

"It's because they're being attacked." I speak up. Pike looks at me.

"Shields up." Pike says, sitting down in the Captain's chair. "Red alert."

"Arrival at Vulcan in five seconds." Sulu says. "Four...three...two..."