Star Trek TOS: Ruse - Chapter Three "Suicide" (standard:Fan Fiction, 3112 words) [4/10] show all parts
Author: Kirk	Added: Aug 05 2006	Views/Reads: 2555/1936	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
The Enterprise receives it's special orders.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

“All this means nothing without you and your engineering crew.” 

“Aye, Sir,” replied Scotty. “I won't let you down.” 

“Now I must reveal our specific orders in this mission.” He handed Rand
another set of copies to be passed around. Before Kirk could speak, 
several eyebrows went up around the room. 

“We are to use the Enterprise to test the defenses on, and if
successful, attack Remus. That planet faces one side to the sun in 
their system. The sunlight side is uninhabitable. The 100-year-old 
intelligence we have shows that the dark side is habitable and is home 
to their ship building facilities. If we make it, we are to use all our 
resources to eliminate all the ship building facilities on that planet 
and in orbit. We will be the only ship sent into the actual home 
system. Romulus will remain untouched, since that's where the seat of 
power resides,” stated Kirk. 

There were a few stunned looks seated around the table. 

“Captain, we would be right in the heart of the Star Empire. There is no
way we are going to get in, accomplish our mission, and get back out,” 
stated a very concerned Sulu. 

“Star Fleet sees us as their best ship and crew to accomplish this.
We've been given the toughest assignment in the entire mission. Even if 
we fail, Star Fleet will have gained knowledge of the Romulan defenses 
of their home system. The rest of the fleet can continue their mission 
without us,” replied Kirk. He let that sink in a moment. They all had 
stunned looks on all their faces in the room, except for Spock. 

“Yes, this ship is considered expendable if need be. Star Fleet gave us
this mission with the confidence that we will complete it, where others 
would fail. We all know our jobs people. Stay focused, discuss our 
orders with your staff, and report any problems with me. Mr. Sulu, I 
want efficiency ratings after every drill. Are there any questions?” 
asked Kirk. 

“One sir,” stated Uhura. “Do you really believe we will survive this
mission?” 

“What I believe is irrelevant, Lieutenant. If we all stay focused, and
do our jobs at the level we are capable of, we have a good chance,” he 
said, trying to raise their spirits. “Anyone else? No? I want regular 
status reports given to the Yeoman. That's all,” said Kirk, as he 
stood. 

“Captain. May I have a word with you?” asked Scotty. 

“Of course, Mr. Scott,” replied Kirk, as he and Scotty waited for the
room to empty. 

“I know I told you that you could count on us. I just want you to
remember that there is only a finite amount of power I can feed through 
those crystals and the warp core. I will have all energizers, 
batteries, and phaser banks fully charged when we leave. If we go into 
battle, maximum warp plus full shields and full phasers will last only 
as long as the reserves hold out. After they are exhausted, we will 
only be able to maintain low warp, some shields and some phasers, 
unless we are able to stop using one of the three,” said Scotty, like 
he was doctor breaking the bad news to a patient. 

“I know Scotty,” said Kirk in an understanding manner. “That's why I
feel that you and your engineering crew are the most important part of 
this mission. Get us there, and whatever happens, happens. I know, that 
if we need to turn tail and run, you'll do whatever you can to make 
that happen.” 

Scotty grinned from ear to ear. “Thank you, Sir,” he said, as he spun on
his heels and left the room. 

The Bosun's whistle was heard over the Comm system. 

“This is a drill,” said Sulu's voice. There was silence, and then the
red alert siren went off. 

“Battle stations! Battle stations! All hands to battle stations!” 

************ 

Kirk was in his quarters taking a nap. 

“Bridge to Captain Kirk,” came Sulu's voice over the Comm. 

Kirk went to his desk and pushed the response button. Sulu's face
appeared on the small screen. “Yes, Mr. Sulu?” 

“I have the analysis of the first drill, Sir.” 

“Go ahead,” said, Kirk, rubbing his face. 

“80 percentile, Captain,” he replied, with the sound in his voice hoping
that the Captain wouldn't shoot the messenger. 

Kirk started at the monitor. “Did I just hear you right, Lieutenant?” 

“Yes, sir. All stations performed in the high nineties, except weapons.
We still are waiting for a status of green from them,” replied Sulu. 

Kirk closed the channel to the bridge and hit the call button. 

“Kirk to weapons. Mr. Chekov, report to my quarters!” Kirk snapped the
channel shut and started pacing in his small stateroom. 80 percent. 80 
percent! The ship would be gone before anyone knew it! There was a 
chime at the door. 

“Come!” shouted Kirk. 

The door opened and a very exasperated Chekov stood in the doorway. He
took a step in and the door whooshed shut behind him. 

“Can you explain to me why we just went into battle with no weapons, Mr.
Chekov?” asked Kirk, with a vein or two popping out on his forehead. 

“I ah, goofed, Sir,” he said, trying to give a small chuckle. 

“I don't see this as a laughing matter, Ensign,” snapped Kirk. 

The small smile disappeared from his face and he stood at attention.
“Vhen the alert sounded, I entered the command to pover up the phaser 
banks. At least, that was what I thought I did, Keptin.” 

“Explain!” barked Kirk. “Vhat happened was, I told the computer to take
the veapons array off line and run a lewel one diagnostic. I'm afraid 
it's still going. I can't owerride the order once it's giwen, Keptin. 
Only a command officer can do that.” 

“Why didn't you inform Mr. Spock, Scott, Finney, or even Sulu, of what
occurred? They could have ordered a halt to the computer from their 
command stations,” huffed Kirk. 

“I didn't know that's what I did until ve vere so far into the drill,
that the ship vould have been destroyed. It von't happen again, Keptin. 
I svear it on my Russian Grandmother's grawe...” 

“At ease Ensign.” groused Kirk. “We may as well allow the computer to
finish the diagnostics. It can't hurt. I remember my posting at 
weapons. The command for a level one diagnostic is similar to the 
command for full power to weapons. I want you to go back to weapons 
control and reprogram the commands to be something that will make it 
difficult for someone to mistake the diagnostic command for the power 
up command. Make sure all the journals are changed and send it to Spock 
so that he can enter it into the computer permanently. Do it quickly, 
the clock is ticking on zero hour.” 

“Aye, Keptin,” said a very relieved Chekov, as he headed back to weapons
control. 

************ 

Captain's Log, Stardate, 1730.4, preparations are well on their way for
our mission. As it is custom for the commanding officer to tour his 
ship before battle, I have begun mine on the lower decks. 

ENTERPRISE: 

Kirk checked in with Mr. Scott and found everything ship shape in
engineering. He joked with the crew for a few minutes and gave them a 
brief pep talk. He was heading for the computer core, when be bumped 
into Spock, exiting the room while reading a piece of paper. 

“Sorry, Spock,” begged the Captain. “Have you learned anything new about
our adversaries?” 

“There is no need to apologize, Captain, I was not looking where I was
walking. Indeed I have found a bit of information in the archive,” 
replied Spock. 

The Bosun's whistle was heard over the Comm system. 

“This is a drill,” said Sulu's voice. There was silence, and then the
red alert siren went off. 

“Battle stations! Battle stations! All hands to battle stations!” 

Kirk and Spock watched as doors opened and crewmembers ran off to hall
ladders and the turbo lifts, heading for their assigned stations. To 
Kirk, it sounded like a stampede. 

The alarm sounded five times and went silent, leaving the red warning
lights flashing, mutely. 

“Orion smugglers have had some dealings with the Romulans over the
years. They ceased, when it became apparent to them that the Romulans 
rarely lived up to their side of a bargain. The Orions regard the 
Romulans as deceptively dishonest and unable to deal in good faith,” 
replied Spock. 

“That may be very useful when it comes time to talk,” said Kirk, as the
Bosun's whistle went off. 

“Bridge to Captain Kirk.” 

Kirk walked to the bulkhead and punched the Comm. 

“Kirk here.” 

“Sulu, Captain. I have the latest drill rating.” 

Kirk glanced at Spock, “Go ahead.” 

“99 percentile, Captain.” 

“What kept us from getting that last percent, Mr. Sulu?” asked Spock,
from behind the Captain. 

“A shield generator blew a circuit at power up. Mr. Scott has already
replaced it,” replied Sulu. 

“I'm sure he has. Thank you Lieutenant. Well done,” Kirk replied, as he
closed the channel. 

“Captain, Ensign Chekov has given me the code words he wants to use for
ordering a level one diagnostic as well as powering weapons to full,” 
said Spock. 

“Did you enter it into the computer system permanently?” asked Kirk. 

“No Sir.” 

Kirk gave a quizzical look. Spock always followed orders. 

“Mr. Chekov has chosen less then desirable commands for the computer,”
replied Spock. 

“Can they be mistaken for one another?” asked Kirk. 

“No Sir. Impossible.” 

“Then what's the problem?” 

“The diagnostic command is ‘Bend over and say ‘aahhh'',” stated Spock. 

Kirk fought to contain a laugh. 

“The full power up command is ‘See you in Hell'.” 

Kirk turned away from Spock to regain control of himself. “Enter the
commands Spock. That's the head of the weapons department just 
following my orders.” 

“As you wish, Captain,” replied Spock, as he headed back to the computer
core room. 

Kirk headed up a deck to the science labs and stellar cartography, still
suppressing the urge to laugh. He found Ben Finney studying long-range 
sensor sweeps of Romulan space. 

“Ben, how are you doing?” asked Kirk. “I'm okay, Jim. Jamie sends her
regards in the last letter I got from her,” replied Finney. 

“She's got to be getting to be a big girl now,” stated Kirk. 

“Yeah, she's pretty much all grown now. That's the major drawback about
being in Star Fleet. You're kid's lives just shoot by without much help 
from you. I always think it's a miracle she remembers me at all when I 
get a chance to visit.” 

“I see you're looking over the star charts. Do you think you can set a
course without me having to run it though my chair first? We're going 
to need every edge we can to live through this. If I say ‘evasive', or 
‘let's get out of here', can I count on you choosing the correct 
heading without hesitation?” asked Kirk. 

“Of course, Jim. I know I made a minor screw up once that landed in my
service record. That's why I'm still a Lt. Commander instead of a full 
Commander or possibly a Captain at this point in my career. But that's 
water under the bridge. I'll choose the correct course for The 
Enterprise, if the situation arises.” 

Kirk knew exactly what Finney was talking about. He had put that write
up in Finney's file when they were both Ensigns on board the USS 
Republic, over a decade ago. It has dogged Finney on every promotion 
review since. 

“Thank you, Ben, I knew I could count on you,” Kirk said, as he headed
up another deck to weapons control. 

“Mr. Chekov, report!” barked Kirk. 

“All systems at full readiness,” replied Chekov with bags under his
eyes. 

“When was the last time you slept?” asked the Captain. 

“I don't remember, Sir,” was his reply. 

“There are only ten hours left before we begin our mission. I am
ordering you off duty and you are to report to your quarters until 
06:00, when you will report back here. Do you understand, Ensign?” 
asked a concerned Kirk. 

“Aye, Keptin,” replied Chekov. 

“You are dismissed Ensign,” said Kirk, as he watched the young officer
leave. “Carry on the good work,” he said to the rest of the weapons 
crew, as he headed to sickbay. 

He was halfway there, when he saw Janice exit a turbo lift. 

“Captain! I have the latest intelligence from Admiral Komack and the
reports from the battle drills,” she said, stopping just short of him. 

“Thank you, Yeoman,” he said looking at the data Komack had sent. He
initialed them and handed them back to her. “Send these to the rest of 
the department heads. Thank you, Yeoman,” he said, continuing to 
sickbay. She watched him until he rounded the end of the hall. 

“He has a great ass,” she said to herself. 

As Kirk approached sickbay, he said, “She has a great ass,” to himself.
As he reached the doors, they swooshed open and revealed a state of 
bedlam. McCoy was nowhere to be seen as chaos prevailed. 

“Nurse Chapel!” he shouted over everyone, as he saw Christine come out
from the office area. “What the hell's happening here?” 

“A drill!” she shouted above the din. Just then, he saw McCoy pop out of
the lab area, fully covered in radiation gear. Dr. M'Benga was with 
him, zipped up as well. McCoy saw Kirk and shouted, “Time out! Time 
Out! Hey, shut up! That's better. Hi, Jim.” 

“What the hell is this, Bones?” asked a shocked Kirk. 

“We were simulating a hull breach resulting from a radioactive weapon.
We're doing well, too. We have an 80 percent survival rate, even in the 
worst case scenario,” stated a very proud McCoy. 

“Excellent, Bones. You may want to give yourself and your staff some
time off. We are fast approaching the hour of our mission,” Kirk 
replied. 

“We were ready to break it off now, Captain,” replied, M'Benga. 

“Very well, report for duty at 06:00,” said Kirk as he left. 

He stopped off on the last few decks before the bridge, giving words of
encouragement and telling the crew to get some rest, leaving behind a 
skeleton crew. He finally reached the bridge. He found Uhura, still 
hunched over her console listening to the intercepted Romulan 
communiqués received on their last mission. 

Kirk slowly walked up to her, not wanting to scare her. “Lieutenant?” he
said, as he held her arm gently. 

She jumped a fraction until she saw who had touched her. “Oh, Captain,
I'm sorry. I'm still working on this,” she said, looking at him very 
fatigued. 

“Have you made any progress?” 

“No, Sir. Their encryption is unique,” said an extremely tired Uhura. 

“Go and get some rest. That goes for you too, Mr. Sulu,” Kirk said,
turning to look at his helmsman. 

“Aye, Sir,” they said in unison. 

Kirk wandered to his chair and punched the ‘all call”. 

“Kirk to Spock.” 

A moment and then, “Spock here.” 

“I am going to my quarters for a few hours. I know Vulcans can stay up
and alert for many more hours than humans, but if we get bogged down 
into a long drawn out affair, I want my first officer alert, even if 
I'm not. Report to your quarters until 06:00 and try to rest,” said 
Kirk. 

There was a brief moment of silence, and then, “Understood, Captain,
Spock out.” 

Kirk turned the Con over to a junior officer and headed to his quarters.


Next: Chapter Four - "Into the Breach..."


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