Space: The Final Frontier | Star Trek

Chapter 24

I waited and waited for the blast to come, but as time ticked by, nothing happened. Slowly, I opened my eyes again and looked around at the room of equally scared and confused people.

"Their weapons have powered down. Sir." Sulu looked down at his con.

"Enterprise! Can you hear me?" A familiar Scottish accent sounded throughout the ship.

Jim's face lit up when he heard his friend's voice. "Scotty!"

"Guess what I found behind Jupiter."

"You're on that ship!" Jim cheered when he realized what was going on. Somehow, someway, Scotty was on Marcus' vessel.

Scotty kept his voice low as he spoke, presumptuously to remain undetected by the other crew members. "I snuck on. And seeing as I've just committed an act of treason against a Starfleet Admiral, I'd really like to get off this bloody ship. Now beam me out!"

"You're a miracle worker." Jim praised the former Enterprise engineer. "We're a little low on power right now. Just stand by."

"Stand by. What do you mean, 'low on power'? What happened to the Enterprise?"  There was a pause and then a faint noise in the background. "Call you back."

With that, Scotty was gone. Turning back to the rest of the bridge, Jim jogged over. "Spock. Our ship, how is she?"

"Our options are limited, Captain." Spock laid out what we had to work with. "We cannot fire and we cannot flee."

Jim nodded as he took a moment to process the information. "There is one option. Uhura, when you get Scotty back, patch him through. Mr. Spock, you have the conn."

As Jim headed for the doors, Spock and I walked after him onto the turbo lift. "Captain, I strongly object-" Spock started.

"To what?" Jim asked as the lift doors slid closed. "I haven't said anything yet."

"Since we cannot take the ship from the outside, the only way we can take it is from within." Spock used his deductive reasoning. "And as a large boarding party would be detected, it is optimal for you to take as few members of the crew as possible. You will meet resistance, requiring personnel with advanced combat abilities and innate knowledge of that ship. This indicates that you plan to align with Khan, the very man we were sent here to destroy."

As the lift doors opened again, the three of us stepped out and began to make our way to the med bay where Kahn was. "I'm not aligning with him, I'm using him." Jim corrected. "'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'"

"An Arabic proverb attributed to a prince who was betrayed and decapitated by his own subjects." Spock pointed out.

"Still, it's a hell of a quote."

"I will go with you, Captain." Spock volunteered himself.

I nodded in agreement. "As will I, should you require my assistance." 

"No, I need you on the bridge and you in the med bay." Jim refused us both. 

"I cannot allow you to do this." Spock grabbed Jim's shoulder to stop him. "It is my function aboard this ship to advise you on making the wisest decisions possible, something I firmly believe you are incapable of doing in this moment."

"You're right!" Jim snapped. "What I'm about to do, it doesn't make any sense, it's not logical. It is a gut feeling. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. I only know what I can do. The Enterprise and her crew need someone in that chair that knows what he's doing. And it's not me. It's you, Spock."