Commander

Chapter 1: Lieutenant Commander

"We haf come into orbit around Wulcan," said Chekov from the control panel. Uhura was busy talking to some Vulcan over the communications board, while Kirk was lounging in his chair, staring intently at the screen before him, stroking his lower lip.

"You look-- god forbid-- nervous, Spock!" came a voice from behind them, Bones, who was leaning casually against the wall with his arms crossed, remembering the last time when they were here, the time when they were nearly murdered by rampaging Klingon pirates. The Vulcans had actually helped that time, and together they drove the Klingons back to their border, but it had been Spock who had assured the crew there was nothing wrong before approaching the planet. Kirk was doing the same, remembering, and by looking at Spock, it seemed as if he were as well.

"You alright, Spock? You don't look okay--"

"I am fine, Jim. Simply... remembering. Old times."

"We all are, Spock," said McCoy. "No need to blame yourself."

Spock cleared his throat, but Uhura spoke up before he could.

"Just got clearance from Vulcan. The shuttlecraft is on it's way."

"Good. Let's go meet our transport. Sulu! Man the bridge!"

"Yes, sir."

Choice crew-- Kirk, Spock and McCoy-- rose and left the bridge. They weren't wearing their formal uniforms, as this was not a 'special' pickup, they were only transporting a Vulcan from the planet to Starfleet. She was a Lieutenant Commander, and she had just finished mandatory personal leave on her home planet before being assigned to a starship. According to Starfleet, when they had informed the ENTERPRISE of their transport mission, the Vulcan was stubborn and extremely good at arguing.

"Much like another certain Vulcan we know," McCoy had commented, raising his eyebrows to look at Spock, but Spock had not understood what he meant.

The three crewmembers that had been assigned to welcome the transport aboard walked quickly down the hallways, until they slid to a stop at the shuttlecraft landing pad. After a few moments of waiting, the white space box flew into view, and landed neatly on the pad it was assigned.

When the door opened and everyone was surprised to see a young woman stepped out. She looked around eighteen, nineteen at the most, with waist-length, perfectly straight black hair and thick bangs, pointed ears that just stuck out from underneath her hair, and dark, slanted eyebrows over big amber eyes.

The Vulcan stepped out of the shuttle and onto the landing platform. She wore an all-black jumpsuit, and black boots with a small square heel. Picking up her bag, she walked up to the group of waiting officers and stopped, facing the Commanding Officer.

That was when Spock spoke, before Kirk could get a word in. They began speaking in Vulcan, speedtalking back and forth with more emotion than inquired for a couple of Vulcans. Eventually, the girl stopped, took a deep breath, and nodded at Spock. Spock nodded back, and they shook hands. Kirk wasn't sure-- he must have been hallucinating-- because he thought he saw a small smile on both the Vulcans' faces as they gripped hands.

The girl then turned to Kirk and held out her hand, which he took.

"My name is Lieutenant Commander Zhi'Rev," she said, in vaguely-accented english. "But most call me Rev. I can tell by the look on your faces that you're surprised-- yes, I am related to Mr. Spock. I am his younger sister."

Then, in a huge lapse of Vulcanism, the right side of Rev's mouth quirked up in an amused smile at the audiences dumbfounded faces, a smile that she wasn't even trying to hold off. It disappeared in a few moments, however.