Previously, on A Mind Occasionally Voyaging…

(I’m actually imagining a whole alternate version of TWOK now with Pike, which perhaps I will write out at length later)

“Captain’s log, Stardate 8130.3. Starship Enterprise on training mission to Gamma Hydra, section 14. Co-ordinates twenty-two, eighty-seven, four. Approaching Neutral Zone. All systems normal and functioning.”

The Commander switched off the log recorded as the helmsman announced their crossing into the next sector. “Project parabolic course to avoid entering Neutral Zone,” she ordered. Her breifing had warned of increased activity in this section.

“Captain,” said Commander Uhura from behind her, “I’m getting something on the distress channel. Audio only.”

“On speakers.”

Even with her sensitive ears, she struggled to make out the distorted transmission. “… Kobayashi Maru… Ninteen… Out of Altair Six. We have struck a gravitic mine…. Lost all power… Hull… Many casualties. Our position is Gamma Hydra, section ten.”

“In the Neutral Zone,” the captain observed, quietly.

“Hull penetrated,” the voice crackled between increasing bursts of static. “Life support… Can you assist us, Enterprise? … Assist…”

She pulled up the registry data on the Kobayashi Maru. Almost four hundred people aboard. Damn. “Mister Sulu, plot an intercept course.”

“May I remind the Captain that entering the Neutral Zone in a time of war…”

“I’m aware of my responsibilities.”

Sulu nodded. “Understood. Two minutes to intercept.” The computer chimed a warning as they crossed into disputed space.

“Stand by transporter room,” the commander ordered.

“I’ve lost their signal,” Uhura warned.

An alert klaxon sounded. At the conn, Lieutenant Commander Mitchell announced, “Romulan warbirds decloaking, Captain. Four of them.”

“Evasive maneuvers,” the commander barked. “Raise shields. Red alert. Uhura, tell them we’re on a rescue mission.”

“They’re jamming all frequencies.”

The Vulcan Science Officer coolly said, “The Romulans do not respect humanitarian aid and will interpret our actions as a sign of weakness.”

“They’re firing!” Mitchell exclaimed. Three of the four ships launched their plasma weapons. Even at this range…

“Brace for impact. Return fire.”

The ship shook and the lights dimmed. Her first officer tumbled to the floor and lay still as the bridge reeled. No ship could withstand that much firepower for long; that Enterprise had survived at all was purely down to Romulan eagerness. If they had remained cloaked a minute longer, let Enterprise draw just a bit closer…

She demanded a damage report, knowing it was pointless. “Can we return fire?”

“No power to weapons, Captain,” said the science officer before his console exploded behind him, sending him to the floor as well.

“We’re dead in space,” Mitchell observed. The fourth ship was closing for the kill. The commander realized that it had held back for this moment; the other three ships would need a minute to recharge.

“Signal our surrender,” said the commander, resigned.

“We’re still being jammed, Captain,” Uhura reminded her.

Between flickers, the viewscreen showed the fourth Romulan bearing down on them. A bright ball of plasma was forming in the raptor-prowl. “Then activate escape pods. Send out the log buoy. Abandon ship. All hands, abandon ship.”

The red alert klaxon fell silent. From somewhere beyond the bridge, a tired voice called, “That’s enough. Open it up.”

With a mechanical whir, the viewscreen slid away. Admiral Pike stepped through the smoke onto the bridge. “Any suggestions, Admiral?” the commander asked.

Pike regarded her with tired eyes. “Keep fighting, Mister Saavik,” he said. “Being taken prisoner by the Romulans is… Worse than death.” She flinched visibly at that.

The science officer and first officer got up from the deck. “No comment on my performance?” the first officer asked.

Pike forced a smile. “I’m no drama critic, Sam.” He nodded to the science officer. “But I thought you were very convincing Mister Xon.”

“Thank you, sir,” he said. “I have been practicing my technique.”

“Permission to speak candidly?” Saavik asked.

“Granted.”

“I don’t believe this was a fair test of my command abilities.”

“Why not?”

“Because there was no way to win.”

Pike looked off into the distance. “There are some fates you just can’t escape, Mister Saavik. The best you can do is…. Move them around.” The deep lines around his eyes seemed to grow even deeper. “It’s important that you learn that now, here, and not out there, not when there are lives-” his voice caught in his throat.

He looked away, back to Sam. “Debrief at sixteen-hundred,” he said. “Oh, and Sam, wish your brother a happy birthday for me.”

“First officer’s log, Stardate 8130.4. Starship Reliant on orbital approach to Ceti Alpha VI, in connection with Project Genesis. We are continuing our search for a lifeless planet to satisfy the requirements of a test site for the Genesis Experiment. So far no success. Who’d have thought it would be this hard to find nothing.”

Commander Ortegas rose from the chair as the captain entered the bridge. “Standard orbit,” he said. “Any change in surface scan?”

“Negative,” said the helmsman. “Limited atmosphere, dominated by craylon gas, sand and high velocity winds. It’s incapable of supporting lifeforms.”

Ortegas cringed. “Does it have to be completely lifeless?”

“Don’t tell me,” Captain Terrell sighed.

“Minor energy flux on one dynoscanner.”

“Damn. Are you sure? Maybe the scanner’s out of adjustment.”

“Maybe it’s something we could transplant?” Ortegas offered.

Terrell glanced over to the communications officer. “Open a channel to Regula One.” He looked back to Ortegas. “You know what she’s going to say, Erica.” He sighed. “But I’m as tired of this as you are. Suit up. If it’s something we can move…”

“Don’t have kittens, mom. Genesis is going to work. They’ll remember you in one breath with Newton, Ramerez, Soong…”

Carol Marcus sighed. “Thanks a lot. No respect from my offspring.”

“Par for the course,” David smirked. “Is grandpa still planning to receive the project update in person?” She caught something uncomfortable in his tone.

“What is it?”

He shrugged. “Every time we have dealings with Starfleet, I get nervous. Even at the best of times, we are dealing with something that could be perverted into a dreadful weapon. And with this war… Remember that overgrown boy scout you used to hang out with? A hothead like that…”

She raised an eyebrow. “Jim Kirk was many things, but he was never a boy scout.”

“This doesn’t make sense,” Terrell said. The cargo module had been kitted out as a survival shelter, but if there had been a crash… “Where’s the rest of the ship?” The place was packed tight with supplies, enough that he was having trouble locating any sort of hull marking. Finally, he pushed aside a copy of Paradise Lost and looked at the bare wall behind it. “One seven zero one. Enterprise,” he read off the wall. “Erica, isn’t that your old-”

Ortegas picked up an old fashioned leather-bound log book and turned it over. She read the name stamped in gold leaf on the front. “S.S. Botany Bay…” A cold chill grabbed her. “Botany Bay? Oh no.” She dropped the book and grabbed Terrell roughly. “We’ve got to get out of here, Captain. Now.”

“Erica?”

“No time,” she barked, shoving his helmet back at him.

Too late. The cargo module’s hatch clicked open.

To Be Continued…