Fic: "Crossfire" (15/19)
Nov. 5th, 2010 05:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mijanTitle: "Crossfire, Part 15"
Author: Mijan
Series: ST: XI
Character/Pairing(s): Kirk&McCoy, Pike, Scotty
Rating: PG-13
Author’s Notes: This story is part of the Academy-era story arc, which includes “Convergence” and “And All the King’s Men.” “Crossfire” is a direct sequel. Several things in this story will not make sense unless you’ve read AAtKM first.
Summary: Jim Kirk and Leonard McCoy are on top of the world at the academy until it all comes crashing down around them. Trapped in their own mystery of politics, sabotage, and possible murder, it quickly becomes impossible to know who to trust. Worse, Jim might still be a target. With a dangerous criminal on the loose and Academy leadership not doing enough, Jim and Bones have to get their lives back together and find out what happened... before it happens again.
*********
CROSSFIRE, Part Fifteen
The shuttlecraft touched down on the floor of the hangar bay with a delicate clank, and Jim turned to Okoru with a grin. “Better this time?” he asked hopefully as he discreetly plucked off the sensor Bones had given him and dropped the device neatly into his pocket.
She smiled back softly. “Better, Kirk.”
He felt a flush of pride. “I’ve been working on it. Thanks for not telling Captain Tanner last time.”
“We know you well enough by now, and I figured you’d work this out on your own.” She initiated the power-down sequence. “You’re not the type of person who gets scared or nervous, but... I know if I’d been the one who’d come out of that crash, I’d be scared shitless to get back in a shuttle. It’s not easy to come back from something like that, and we all respect you for it.”
“Especially Thaleb,” Jim said with a chuckle as he ran the post-flight checks. “I swear, he’s been amazing about... well... working with me and all.”
“Andorians are fiercely protective of their families,” Okoru said, smiling but not looking away from the control panel. “I think he sees us as his family. And don’t take this as a blow to your ego or anything, Kirk, but he’s been insanely protective of you since the crash.”
If it had been anyone else, Jim might have felt embarrassed, but something about Thaleb’s straightfoward loyalty and blunt affections towards the whole team... it didn’t bother him at all. “It’s not a blow to the ego. It’s actually quite an honor to have an Andorian accept you so strongly. I like being on a team with him.” Jim let loose a short laugh. “Besides, it would take a lot more than that to deflate my ego.”
Okoru shook her head. “Why am I not surprised?”
“You know me too well,” he said lightly. The automated post-flight checks started spitting out results, which he uploaded to the central flight computer for Captain Tanner to review later. “So, it’s Wednesday. What are we doing after class?”
This time, Okoru looked over at him, sporting a surprised-but-pleased look on her face. “We were wondering when you’d be up for that again. Freeman nominated a tea house on the far end of the Marina. Tea from all over the quadrant, with tapas pairings. What do you say?”
“Oh, you mean the Golden Leaf? I’ve been meaning to check that place out.” He chuckled. “Bones isn’t much of a tea drinker so I haven’t had an excuse to go. And tapas aren’t quite his thing either. He complains that it’s half the food for twice the credits.”
Okoru unfastened her harness and stood, stretching. Her hands barely reached the ceiling of the shuttlecraft. “How is McCoy doing anyway?”
Jim frowned as he took off his own harness. “What do you mean?”
“He just seemed really tired the last time I ran into him.” She activated the hatch and started to climb down.
Jim was right behind her, speaking in low tones. “He’s doing okay, but yeah, he’s had a lot on his plate, too. They pulled his research project – those bastards – but he’s got a new one. He’s doing okay.”
She looked back over her shoulder at him. “I’m glad. He seems like a nice guy. Good friend.” She looked ahead to where Freeman and d’Eon were climbing out of their shuttlecraft. Thaleb was already standing by the computer terminal with Captain Tanner, who had filled in as the extra co-pilot. “Come on, let’s get through the mission review so we can go try the tea. I hear Denobulans have a tea blend that will make your toes curl.”
Jim leaned down and spoke in an undertone. “I hear the Betazoids have a tea that will make everything curl.”
Okoru elbowed him neatly in the stomach, laughing lightly as they circled up around the computer screen, and Captain Tanner began the review.
It went well. Simple as that. It hadn’t been a complicated mission, but they were on track, and by the end of the month, Captain Tanner expected them to be back ahead of the other flight squads in their level. It was exactly the boost they all needed. By the time Tanner dismissed them, the entire team was smiling and laughing. It was almost like old times as they made their way out of the hangar and towards the end of Crissy Field. A chilly evening, but the warmth of good conversation kept the chill at bay as they walked the bike path towards the Marina.
Jim looked around at his teammates wistfully as they slipped through the gate at the end of the field. Tambe wasn’t here, true, but she’d be happy to see this. The team was still together. They were going to make it.
But tonight wasn’t the time for over-thinking it, Jim realized as he pushed open the door to the tea house. Tonight was for relaxing with his flight squad.
The lights were dim in the tea house, and there were a variety of seating areas and options available. High tables, low sofas, booths... something for every taste. Judging by the enormous scroll menu on the wall listing tea varieties by the star system, there was something for every palate as well.
They settled on a low table with small ottoman-type seats placed around the table in a cluster, partially hidden by carefully arranged privacy screens. Just right for an evening when you needed to focus only on the people you came with. When the first round was served, Jim stopped them. “A toast, guys.”
They all nodded and raised their glasses, and d’Eon asked, “To Tambe?”
Jim hesitated, then shook his head. “No... because that’s not what she’d want. Not for tonight.” He looked around the table fondly. “To Nova Squadron. May we live up to the hopes of our fallen leader... for each other and for her.”
“To Nova Squadron,” came the solemn replies.
An hour later, after five rounds of tea – and yes, the Denobulan tea really did make your toes curl – they were starting to wrap it up. Jim was feeling thoroughly relaxed for the first time in ages. Bumping shoulders with Freeman, flirting shamelessly with d’Eon (mostly so she could continue to reject his faux-advances), and giving Thaleb openings to mock him... which Thaleb never took, to everyone’s amusement. It was normal. It was good. It was comfortable. It was –
“Guys, before the evening is over... we need to talk about finding a sixth pilot for the squad.”
The unspoken protests showed on everyone’s face, but Jim couldn’t hold back. “Now, Okoru?”
“Not right now. But by Monday. We’ve go to talk about this, guys.”
“Why do we need to? We can make this work with five people,” Jim said stupidly, knowing that his protest wasn’t going far.
“We can’t, Kirk,” Okoru said softly. “Not really. If we want to advance into next year as an established flight team, we need a six-person squad.”
Slowly, everyone else nodded, and Jim felt himself nodding too before he stopped and shook his head. “Can’t we give it a bit more time? It just feels... too soon to replace her.”
A cool hand rested on Jim’s shoulder, and he turned to see Thaleb’s solemn features looking back at him. “Your loyalty to Cadet Tambe is admirable, Kirk, but you are aware that she would encourage us to find a new teammate... before our flight squad is dismantled, or assigned a new pilot who is not of our choosing.”
Jim sighed. “I know. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t feel wrong.”
Thaleb dropped his hand from Jim’s shoulder. “We share your sentiment. But Tambe was a warrior, and would want our team to remain strong in her absence.”
At that, Jim couldn’t hold back a smile as he shook his head fondly. “That’s one of the great things about you, Thaleb. You’re impossible to argue with.”
The Andorian shrugged – a mannerism he’d picked up from Freeman. “I do what I can.” That phrase, Jim noted with some pleasure, he got from me.
“You do pretty well.” Jim sighed and turned back to Okoru. “So... picking a sixth. How do we start?”
Okoru pressed her lips together grimly. “I already got a list of candidates from Captain Tanner. I’m going to send some data to your message caches tonight. Several possible applicants. Go over their profiles, and see what you think. We’ve got the whole weekend to consider it. And on Monday, we’ll meet with Captain Tanner and discuss our preferences.” She took a sip of her tea. “Any questions or concerns?”
“What if nobody fits with us?” Freeman asked. “It’s not as though we’re the most orthodox squad on campus. And we wouldn’t much want to be, either.”
There was a murmur of agreement around the table.
Okoru nodded. “Then we ask Captain Tanner for more options. We need to pick someone, but we’re not going to ruin what we have here.”
Freeman seemed to relax at that, just as d’Eon piped up. “Are candidates restricted by their flight aptitude scores and levels? Or are we drawing from the whole pool?”
“We’d obviously like to find someone who can be expected to advance to Level 3, Single Pilot Craft training next semester, but if we find someone who fits with us, and who wants to join, we’ll get them trained up.” She grinned deviously. “Besides, if someone can fit in with our little pack, we’ll make sure we don’t leave them behind.”
“If a person has decent aptitude, skills can be trained easily enough,” Jim agreed with a grin, thinking of the fact that even Bones could learn to fly a shuttlecraft. “If we find someone who works with us, we’ll take care of the rest.”
“Hear, hear,” the squad chorused.
“I’ll drink to that,” Thaleb said firmly, lifting his tea and taking a sip.
“I love it when you use Terran phrases,” d’Eon said with a grin, lifting her own cup, as did everyone else around the table.
Okoru tapped her empty tea cup with her spoon. “One more toast, guys.” The team fell quiet as the teapot was passed around one last time and drained, and cups held aloft. “To Kirk,” she said, barely audible, “for coming back to us alive.” She met his stunned gaze. “Don’t argue with me, Kirk. We needed you back. If we’d lost both of you, I don’t think the rest of the team would be sitting together today.”
He wanted to protest, but this time, it was better not to. “Okay,” Jim said roughly, hoisting his own glass.
“To Kirk,” came the soft toast from around the table. Glasses clinked, and tea was drained.
“So,” Okoru broke in softly, “are there any more questions or concerns on the agenda?”
Jim raised his hand. “Mind if I go to the bathroom? All this tea hit me a bit suddenly.”
And just like that, the solemn spell over the table broke, and the whole team was laughing again. Okoru shook her head in amused dismay. “Kirk, you’re a jackass. Go. Then we should all head back to campus. It’s almost 2000 hours.”
Jim stood, stretching. “Sounds like a plan.” And truth be told, aside from wanting to break the tension, he really did need to take a leak. He ambled away from the table, still enjoying the warm buzz that had hit him halfway through the third round – a drink called Saurian Fire Tea. He really needed to bring Bones down here. For all the guy swore he wasn’t a tea drinker, he clearly hadn’t tried enough non-Terran varieties to judge fairly. Maybe he’d make it his choice for celebrating after he passed his Assistant Instructor test.
Now that was an idea. He hadn’t been sure when to push for his Assistant Flight Instructor test, but after today’s successful training mission, he was feeling confident in a shuttlecraft again, so... Why not?
He pushed into the restroom and locked the door behind himself. But before he undid his pants, he pulled out his comm unit and tapped out a quick text message to Captain Tanner. A formal request to take the Assistant Flight Instructor exam. His finger hesitated over the “send” button, but thinking about his squadmates gave him the surge of confidence he needed. He grinned broadly and sent the message. No going back now.
He was still grinning when he came back out of the restroom. He was so lost in thought about the Assistant Instructor testing requirements that he only caught half of the snippet of conversation... but what he heard almost made him stumble.
“... impossible to get a Epsilon-model shuttlecraft engine to do that!” That was the high-pitched voice of a woman. “You want to talk about crash and burn? If you completely rerouted the secondary power conduits like that...”
The words could have been normal engineering babble, but something in the woman’s tone of voice didn’t sound right, and alarms were going off in Jim’s head. Attempting to look casual, Jim continued past the booth where four humans in dark jumpsuits were talking, and he slid into the booth next to theirs. He grabbed a menu and pretended to read it.
“No, Hong, take another look. If you attach it at this point, you’ll get the power diversion you’re looking for.”
What the fuck? Jim’s grip on the menu tightened.
“But then the efficiency rating will be too low...” Another voice. A low growling noise. “We’d never get it past them. One inspection would blow the whole thing.”
“Then what do you propose?” The woman again.
“I propose that you stop worrying about hurting people and get down to business.”
Oh hell no.
“That’s a bit heartless, even for you, Rick.”
“Well, you know what we’re up against.”
“I know.” A pause. “Shit, you’re right. So... what’s the plan?”
“We try again.”
Jim had heard enough.
He couldn’t confront them – not here. Not alone. That would be asking for trouble. But dammit, he wasn’t going to let this go either. Cautiously, he folded the menu again and slid out of the booth. He walked across the restaurant to his team’s table, carefully keeping his face turned away until he was seated and hidden behind the privacy wall.
“Guys... I think we have a problem.”
Instantly, the whole team was huddled over the table, looking at him intently. “What’s going on, Kirk?” Freeman asked.
“I... I can’t be certain, but I just overheard a conversation that...” He hesitated. If he was wrong, he was accusing people of being terrorists. But if he was right, he could stop something horrible from happening. “There’s a group of people at that table over there, talking about shuttlecraft engines... efficiency ratings, power fluctuations. But it’s not what they were saying, it’s how. I think they might be involved with sabotaging shuttles.”
Everyone’s faces froze with horror. Okoru finally spoke. “Are you sure, Kirk?”
“No!” he hissed under his breath. “I wish I could be sure, but I only overheard bits and pieces.”
“If Kirk believes that someone is a possible threat to the Academy, I would not doubt his assessment,” Thaleb said forcefully. “We must report this.”
“What can you report, Kirk?” Freeman asked. “I mean, what exactly did you hear?”
“That...” He hunkered in even closer. “They’re trying to modify shuttlecraft engines, and they want to get something past the inspections. Something that would cause engine efficiency to drop. And... one of them told another one to stop worrying about hurting people because they know what they’re up against.” He looked around at the faces of his teammates. “Come on, guys. What do you think?”
Okoru looked up and over her shoulder as subtly as possible, then ducked her head back down. “I think we need to report this. Now.”
They tapped their ID’s against the credit reader on the side of the table to settle their tab, then as subtly as possible, slipped out the door. As they walked away from the tea house, Okoru flipped open her comm unit, then shook her head. “Kirk, I think you should be the one to report this. But... who should we report to?”
“I know just the guy,” Jim said flatly. He grabbed his own comm and flipped it open. “Cadet Kirk to Captain Pike.”
A minute later, as they hurried down the Crissy Field bike path, Jim noticed the stark contrast to their earlier walk to the tea house. The light-hearted banter was gone, and the chill of the breeze didn’t feel quite as refreshing. Deadly serious, they jogged in a tight cluster down the bike path, following Okoru – who was surprisingly fast for having such short legs. Jim couldn’t help but notice that Thaleb was shoulder-to-shoulder with him, and he had to admit that the reassurance helped. He was pretty nervous.
On the far side of the field, the hill of the Presidio rose above Crissy Field and the hangar, crowned with the lights of the main campus. Pike was meeting them in Archer Hall. And Jim hoped like hell that he’d listen.
*********
Increased security, Jim thought bitterly to himself as he stormed into the hangar. You call this increased security?
Pike had promised to relay the message to the Security and Intelligence departments, as well as the Administrative staff. Jim had tried to get him to relay the information to the investigation group, only to be succinctly informed that the investigation was over, and the group no longer existed. If nothing else, he’d promised that they’d heighten security, and be on the lookout for any unapproved access to the hangar.
However, the two security guards at the main hangar entrance didn’t seem to be paying enough attention for Jim’s comfort. Nobody in any of the shuttle bays seemed any more vigilant than usual for a Thursday afternoon. He’d mentioned it to some of the cadets in his Tactics class, but nobody seemed overly concerned. In fact, one of them suggested it was just a bunch of cadets doing a damned engineering project! That was ridiculous. They had been talking about hurting people, and Jim was certain he’d never seen them on campus before. He might not know every cadet personally, but he was pretty sure he’d seen pretty much every cadet on campus at some point, at least in passing. And he was pretty good with faces. No, it was just wrong, and Jim wasn’t about to ignore his gut instinct.
However, as he approached the shuttlebay with the shuttlecrafts for Level 2 flight trainees, he tried to push it out of his mind. Captain Tanner had contacted him that morning, confirming his request to take the Assistant Flight Instructor exam. Tanner had two hours that afternoon free, and had scheduled the test already. No going back now.
Whatever else might be going on, he’d made a promise to himself. Now that the time was here, he had a test to pass, and he wasn’t about to let anything else distract him. He needed to do this. For Tambe, for Bones, and for himself. Fucking saboteurs – Terra Prime or whoever they were – had already taken too much from him. They wouldn’t take this. He wouldn’t let them.
As Jim rounded the corner into the familiar shuttlebay, he saw Captain Tanner standing by the waiting shuttlecraft. A twinge of nerves twisted his stomach slightly, but it was normal to be nervous before a test like this. Sure, he could re-take it, and it had no impact on his grades, but it felt more important somehow. Bigger.
With a smart snap, he rendered a salute, which Captain Tanner returned before waving him into the shuttlecraft. The door sealed shut behind them with a resounding clang.
*********
The comm unit chirped, and Leonard looked up from the charts he was analyzing. It was only preliminary data, and he’d need a much larger set of test subjects for this project, but Jim’s biofeedback records were off to a good start, as were his own. He’d have to compare other approaches to treating aviophobia, but a classic technique like this would provide an excellent baseline data set for the project.
“Kirk to McCoy.”
But now, it looked like the subject of his project was paging him. He grinned and flipped open the communicator, still perusing his data. “McCoy here. What’s up, Jim?”
“Bones...”
There was something pained and drawn out in Jim’s voice, and Leonard put his PADD aside immediately. “Jim? What’s wrong?”
“I... I tested for assistant instructor today. Or... tried to. I kinda bombed it.”
Leonard’s mouth fell open, and he looked back and forth between the PADD on the table, still displaying Jim’s data sets, and the comm unit sitting in his hand. “You what, Jim? Good God, kid, you weren’t ready for that! What were you thinking?”
“I thought I was ready, Bones. I could have been. I wasn’t scared. Not of this. I... I just... I thought I could do it. Tambe’s waited long enough for some sort of justice, and she wanted to do this. It was the least I could give her.”
Leonard shook his head. It was all he could do not to growl aloud. “She wouldn’t want you to push yourself past the point you could handle! Do you know how easily it could have been the other way around, Jim? With her as the lone survivor, trying to do something to remember you by?”
“Yes.” The reply was rough and harsh.
“And would you want her to do this to herself?”
“No.”
“Okay, now that we’ve established that...” Leonard sighed. “Where are you, kid?”
“I’m still at the hangar. Could you meet me in the flight sim facility?”
“Are you planning to run a sim?”
“No.”
“Good. Don’t. I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”
“Thanks, Bones. And remember your ID. They’ve allegedly ‘heightened security’.”
“Jim, we always need ID to get into the hangar.”
“I know,” he said, voice laced with bemused irony. “Isn’t it great?”
Leonard sighed. “I’ll be right down. McCoy out.” He closed the comm unit with a flip of the wrist and groaned lightly. Jim was going to give him gray hairs before his time.
It was a crisp but pleasant evening outside. The stars were almost invisible against the city lights and the moon that was already peeking above the bay. Leonard jogged lightly down the lamp-lit path from the dorms to the flight hangar.
Really, he almost didn’t need the lamps. He’d traveled this path quite a few times in the past several days to meet Jim, work with Jim, help Jim, and to help himself, too. They’d worked on it every day, going a bit further each time. They’d skipped last night because Jim had his regular flight session with his team. He’d worn the sensor, and had even rigged his own PADD to send results to Leonard’s PADD instantly. He was doing so well. And now, he had to go and pull a stunt like this. Leonard would ask why, but he’d known Jim long enough by now that the question wasn’t even necessary. The answer was simple: because it was Jim.
The security scanner let him through the main door to the hangar, and he showed the ID to one of the two security guards inside the door. They waved him through with a disinterested nod, and Leonard understood why Jim wasn’t so impressed with the security if this was supposed to be heightened. However, he didn’t see why they needed to increase security around the hangar anyway. Especially at this hour of the evening. The hangar was almost deserted.
Still, he had bigger things on his mind as he hurried across the hangar floor. A flash of deja-vu hit him, and he hoped he wouldn’t have to pry Jim out of the simulator again. But no, he got the sense that tonight would be a bit different, and would probably end with bourbon instead of cocoa.
He swiped his ID badge across the sim facility checkpoint and entered. Although there were several simulators active, Leonard didn’t even need to guess which was held Jim. The door was open, and Leonard could see Jim’s foot swinging back and forth from the pilot’s seat. Shaking his head sadly, he walked over to the sim pod and leaned on the frame of the open hatch. “Bad day, kid?”
Jim was sprawled in the seat, head tilted back against the headrest, staring at the ceiling. “Still a master of understatement, Bones.” He turned his head sideways, just enough to be able to look at Leonard. “What was your first clue?”
“Well, let’s see,” Leonard said dryly as he sat down in the entrance to the sim pod, cocking one leg up and resting an elbow on his knee. “You called me without making a single wise-crack, just to tell me what happened. Then you asked me to come and meet you here, and as upset as you are, you didn’t cuss once.” He thumped Jim’s dangling leg lightly with his fist. “At least, those are my first clues. I won’t mention the bloodshot eyes.”
“Good idea,” came the toneless response. “I’m too pretty for bloodshot eyes.”
“It’s late, kid. How long have you been sitting here?”
Jim glanced over to check the pod’s chrono. “A bit over three hours, I think. My test ended at 1900.”
“Shit, Jim! And you’ve just been sitting here all this time?”
“Yup. Nobody kicked me out.”
Leonard sighed. “Listen, Jim, I know that you wanted to –”
“Bones, stop. You don’t know. Not even half of it. So let me tell you.” He reached up and folded his hands on top of his head, fingers woven together. “I told you why I was busy last night and couldn’t run a sim, right?”
“Yeah?”
An uncomfortable smile quirked the corner of Jim’s mouth. “The flight went great. I’m doing better, Bones, and my team can see it.”
“I know, kid. But what’s going on?”
“We went to the Golden Leaf,” Jim continued evenly. “The flight team. We used to go out for drinks and snacks after our Wednesday flights. No, not usually booze, in case you’re wondering. We try to pick different places if we can. Team-building time, ya know? It was always fun. And you and I should go to the Golden Leaf sometime, Bones. I know you say you don’t like tea, but some of this stuff is amazing.”
“Jim, get to the point. What are you trying to tell me?”
He pulled his hands down from the top of his head and scrubbed them roughly over his face. “While I was there, I overheard something. These people... four of them, sitting in a booth. They were in civilian clothes, but they almost looked like uniforms of some sort. Jumpsuits. And they were talking about modifying shuttle engines.”
Leonard frowned. “A lot of people are talking about that, Jim. In case you forgot, that competition for the new impulse engine design is heating up.”
“They didn’t sound like engineers, Bones.” He grit his teeth, then shook his head with a low growl. “They were talking about trying to sneak something past inspections... and hurting people. Fuck, I can’t remember the details, but it wasn’t right, Bones. I know they were up to something!”
“Easy there, Jim,” Leonard said, slapping him lightly on the leg to get his attention before he riled himself up any more. Maybe Jim was right, but maybe he’d overheard something innocent, and some vestiges of his paranoia were getting the better of him. Either way, he had to get Jim back on track. “Easy. I believe you. Really. But what’s that got to do with this? Taking the test? And –”
“And failing the test,” he said bitterly. “Simple, Bones. After a few nice rounds of tea with my flight squad, I had decided I was going to take the test today. Sent off a text request to Captain Tanner immediately. I overheard that conversation right after that. And by the time I got here for my test today, I couldn’t get that conversation out of my head.” He lightly punched his own thigh a few times in frustration. “I couldn’t focus. Couldn’t keep myself calm.”
Leonard nodded in sympathy. “And so you panicked in front of your instructor.”
“Not that simple, Bones. Not what you’re thinking.” He looked down with a pitifully bleak expression. “If you want to be an assistant instructor, you’ve got to be the best. You have to be ready to lead when something goes wrong.”
Understanding dawned on Leonard. “Something went wrong.”
Jim nodded. “Starfleet sure knows how to hit you where it counts. Captain Tanner apologized afterwards, but he said his own senior officer insisted. The actual flight portion of the test went fine... I actually did great in the real shuttle. I think you would have been impressed. But when we got to the simulator... they programmed an engine failure.”
Leonard sat sharply upright as if he’d been shocked. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Jim shook his head slowly, and choked out a pained laugh. “And even better, they had the sim instructions take us past Mars. It wasn’t an engine failure within the planet’s gravity well, but still... high pressure leadership decisions. That’s what they were looking for.”
This was the sort of shit that made Leonard furious at how the Command and Security training was designed. The psych side of the training... they had no sense of how far was too far. “You can’t blame yourself for that, Jim! Stop and think for a moment. I know you’re an over-achiever – ”
“I just want to be good enough, Bones.”
“Dammit, Jim, you are! And listen. You pushed too far today. Accept that right now, okay?”
Jim leaned forward in his seat, looking like he was ready to protest, but Leonard glared at him, and he wilted. “Okay, I pushed too far.”
“Good. You didn’t know how far was too far. And you didn’t know what they were going to put into the sim part of the test.”
“I should have known, Bones. They test you for your weaknesses.” He rested his elbows heavily on his knees. “This was unavoidable.”
“Then take it as a lesson.” He gave Jim what he hoped was a challenging stare. “Get yourself out of that sim pod, pick yourself up, go through the biofeedback program the way we laid it out, and then come back and take the test when you’re ready.”
Jim looked at him bleakly. “When’s your flight test for your class?”
“Doesn’t matter. Your timetable doesn’t depend on me, or anything but your own progress. I’ll go for my test with whatever instructor I get assigned. You just need to worry about your own comeback.”
“I need to pass this, Bones.”
“You will.”
“I failed.”
“You tried.” He grunted as he leaned forward and stood, once again leaning against the frame of the sim pod hatch. “You only fail when you give up. And somehow, I don’t see you as the type to quit on anything.”
Jim snorted at him. “When did you become a fucking self-help manual?”
“Brat,” Leonard said, slapping his arm lightly.
“Yep. And I’m not going to stop trying, Bones. I told you, I don’t –”
“Believe in no-win scenarios.” Leonard sighed. “I know, kid. You don’t know how to give up either. And that’s why you’re going to win at everything you decide to do... and go as far as you want to go.”
“And I’m taking you with me.”
“Yeah, kid. I’m going with you.”
Jim finally cracked a hint of a real smile. “How ‘bout your place, for now?”
“Well, I’ve got a bottle of bourbon that needs some attention.”
“On a school night?” Jim laughed lightly, pulling himself out of the sim pod.
Leonard scoffed at him. “As if you were going to do any homework tonight anyway. Beside, I know you. You’re two weeks ahead on your reading and written assignments anyway.”
“Guilty as charged, Bones.” He turned and tapped the power-down sequence for the flight simulator and looked at it sadly as the hatch fell shut with a metallic clank. “I just wish I...” He shook his head. “I dunno.”
“What, Jim?”
Jim looked at him wistfully. “I just wonder what decisions Captain Tanner was looking for during the simulation. If he was looking for the kinds of choices Tambe made... you know... that day. Or if he wanted something different. Or if maybe he was looking for something else altogether.”
“Well, Jim... you know what they say about making decisions when you’re in command.” He clapped his hand on Jim’s shoulder. “Just make one, and then try to catch the chips when they fall.”
“And sometimes, it even works out,” Jim said meaningfully. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
They left the flight simulator facility and began making their way through the main hangar bay. Their footsteps echoed distantly against the high ceilings, and the voices of he few Academy personnel in various maintenance bays around the hangar were muffled and hollow in the large space. As they walked past the Reserve Shuttle Bays, a few of the voices got louder. Jim glanced to the side briefly without breaking his stride, then stopped cold.
“Jim, what’s –”
“Quiet, Bones.” Jim’s eyes narrowed as he took in the view of a couple of people in black jumpsuits working on one of the shuttlecrafts. A few access panels near the impulse engines had been pulled away, and more voices were coming from inside the shuttle.
“No, seriously, Jim – what’s going on?”
“I recognize those people,” Jim said, his voice cracking like ice against metal. “I saw them last night. In the tea house.” His shoulders hunched tightly and his hands clenched into fists. “Those are the fuckers who were talking about sabotaging the engines.”
“Fuck,” Leonard breathed. “We should report this. Jim, let’s get away from where they can see us, and –”
“No time for that.”
“What? No, Jim, what are you –”
Before Leonard could blink, Jim was off in a dead sprint running at the people in the shuttle bay. All he could do was stand there in shock and watch.
The man closest to Jim barely had a chance to see a raging ball of fury speeding towards him before Jim slammed into the guy, sending him sprawling into the ground with a shout of surprise and then a cry of pain as Jim’s fist connected with his jaw. The woman who’d been working with him started to charge towards Jim with a determined yell, but Jim ducked down and neatly diverted her momentum, lifting her off the ground and sending her sailing over his shoulder. Two other men were already coming out of the shuttlecraft, shouting, and Leonard finally snapped out of his shocked disbelief.
He grabbed his comm from his belt and flipped it open. “Doctor McCoy to Academy Security! We’ve got an incident in progress in the shuttle hangar! One cadet actively engaged in an altercation with four unidentified civilians. Send backup immediately!”
A reply buzzed back, and Leonard barely registered that help was on its way as he snapped the comm shut, shoved it into the holster on his belt, and raced towards the fight. “Jim!” he yelled, hoping to be heard over the yelling.
Jim was already in a one-on-two brawl against the men who had come to the fight late. The first man was writhing weakly on the ground, and the woman was already struggling to her feet. Running faster, Leonard blew past her and launched himself into the brawl, not to help Jim, but to stop him.
“Jim! Stop this, goddammit!” A swinging fist from one of the furious men clipped his jaw, and the other guy landed a blow to Jim’s gut. “Stop!” With a desperate heave, he wrapped his arms around Jim’s upper arms and chest and threw his entire body weight into pulling Jim physically away from the other men.
Jim was not pleased with that. “Let me go! Fuck! Bones, let me go! We’ve got to stop them!” He wrenched one arm free and tried to swing back at the two men. “Murderous bastards! You sabotaged the shuttle! You killed Tambe! You fucking terrorists!”
“Stop it, Jim!” He redoubled his effort to keep a grip on Jim, who was struggling desperately.
“No!”
One of the two men who’d been fighting had already broken off to go tend to the guy who was still lying on the ground, groaning, but the other man was standing there, fuming. “What the hell are you talking about? Sabotage?”
“You’re sabotaging the shuttle!” Jim screamed, his voice as wild as his desperate flailing. “You’re trying to kill the engine. Your people made my shuttle crash! It was you!”
The woman had finally staggered to her feet. “You’re insane,” she spat. “We’re trying to perfect our test engine for the competition. We have a week left before the final trials.”
Jim suddenly stilled in Leonard’s arms. “What? I... but I heard you. Last night at the tea house. You said you were going to hurt people.” His voice still held rage and challenge, but it was broken by something small and meek and lost... so lost. “What the fuck was that, then?”
The man replied. “Some dumb kid wanted in on our project. He had this stupid idea to rework the entire energy matrix. Hong didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but we’ve been working on our design for over three years. The kid’s stuff was unstable.”
Jim’s shoulders sagged slightly. “Then you’re not... you didn’t –”
“This is the first and only shuttlecraft we’ve ever touched on this campus,” the woman said in tight, clipped tones. “Starfleet gave us one shuttle to modify for testing. We’re not about to waste it by sabotaging it or crashing it.”
“Guys, you need to shut up and someone needs to call a doctor.” They all turned and looked at the man who was kneeling down next to the guy that Jim had tackled first. “That asshole nailed Jeff pretty hard.”
Leonard all but shoved Jim out of his grasp. “I’m a doctor. Let me see him.” Without a tricorder and medkit, he couldn’t do much, and he mentally cursed himself for leaving his ever-present kit behind in his dorm room. Still, he could start a primary assessment and page the infirmary, and the medics would arrive quickly enough with a kit. He grabbed his comm unit as he checked the guy over as best he could. “Doctor McCoy to Academy Infirmary.”
“Go ahead.”
“We’ve got a man down in the Academy shuttle hangar. Involved in a fight. Broken jaw, suspected grade-two concussion. Contusions, minor bleeding. We need a transport.”
“We’re dispatching the transport now. Infirmary out.”
Leonard flipped the comm shut and finally looked back up at the people around him. The other three people in the black jumpsuits – Civilian engineers, Leonard realized – were all looking down at him, clearly worried about their colleague. The woman was rubbing her shoulder, and Leonard noted that he’d have to tell her to get checked out at the infirmary, too. But standing off behind them was Jim.
Jim looked... shocked. Mortified. He kept shaking his head in small jerks, as if trying to rationalize what had just happened. What he’d just done. The paranoia that had plagued him for weeks, in a moment of weakness, had finally gotten the better of him, and he’d just attacked four civilians. And he knew what that meant.
Footsteps approached quickly – the sound of boots clacking heavily on the plascrete floor. Security guards. “Someone reported a fight?” the taller of the two asked without fanfare.
The female engineer whirled around, pointing a damning finger at Jim. “This cadet came out of nowhere and jumped us! Look at what he did to Lowry. I thought you said the hangar would be safe!”
Jim looked bleakly between the security guards and the woman, then cast one glance at Leonard. There was a horrible look in his eyes. Surrender. Swallowing tightly, he looked away from Leonard and stepped towards the security guards, hands out to his side, palms up. “I made a mistake. I... I thought they were sabotaging the shuttlecraft.” He took a deep breath. “But yeah, I did it.”
The two security guards looked at each other, and the taller one stepped forward. “You know we’re going to have to take you in and write this up.” He looked over to the woman – Hong. “Do you want to press charges?”
She rubbed her shoulder meaningfully, then tilted her head towards Lowry, who was still moaning fitfully on the floor. “What do you think?” she snapped.
Looking almost apologetic, the security guard moved to Jim’s side and took him by the upper arm. “Come with us, Cadet.”
Jim only nodded, still looking shocked and numb at the sudden turn of events. He cast one last look at Leonard – a tight-lipped plea and apology all at once – and then let himself be led out of the shuttle bay, flanked by the two security guards. The defeated droop of his shoulders was the last Leonard saw of him before he disappeared around the corner without a sound.
There was no time to think about it. The medics already were arriving with a stretcher, and Leonard was on his feet and barking orders and helping to load the patient into the waiting transport. He corralled the injured woman into the transport as well, insisting that she get her shoulder checked at the infirmary, and they left the other two engineers behind in the hangar.
As the medical transport sped them to the infirmary, Leonard stared out the window at the campus racing by around them, and wondered what the hell had just happened, and how bad the fallout would be.
*********
(To Part Sixteen...)
Author: Mijan
Series: ST: XI
Character/Pairing(s): Kirk&McCoy, Pike, Scotty
Rating: PG-13
Author’s Notes: This story is part of the Academy-era story arc, which includes “Convergence” and “And All the King’s Men.” “Crossfire” is a direct sequel. Several things in this story will not make sense unless you’ve read AAtKM first.
Summary: Jim Kirk and Leonard McCoy are on top of the world at the academy until it all comes crashing down around them. Trapped in their own mystery of politics, sabotage, and possible murder, it quickly becomes impossible to know who to trust. Worse, Jim might still be a target. With a dangerous criminal on the loose and Academy leadership not doing enough, Jim and Bones have to get their lives back together and find out what happened... before it happens again.
The shuttlecraft touched down on the floor of the hangar bay with a delicate clank, and Jim turned to Okoru with a grin. “Better this time?” he asked hopefully as he discreetly plucked off the sensor Bones had given him and dropped the device neatly into his pocket.
She smiled back softly. “Better, Kirk.”
He felt a flush of pride. “I’ve been working on it. Thanks for not telling Captain Tanner last time.”
“We know you well enough by now, and I figured you’d work this out on your own.” She initiated the power-down sequence. “You’re not the type of person who gets scared or nervous, but... I know if I’d been the one who’d come out of that crash, I’d be scared shitless to get back in a shuttle. It’s not easy to come back from something like that, and we all respect you for it.”
“Especially Thaleb,” Jim said with a chuckle as he ran the post-flight checks. “I swear, he’s been amazing about... well... working with me and all.”
“Andorians are fiercely protective of their families,” Okoru said, smiling but not looking away from the control panel. “I think he sees us as his family. And don’t take this as a blow to your ego or anything, Kirk, but he’s been insanely protective of you since the crash.”
If it had been anyone else, Jim might have felt embarrassed, but something about Thaleb’s straightfoward loyalty and blunt affections towards the whole team... it didn’t bother him at all. “It’s not a blow to the ego. It’s actually quite an honor to have an Andorian accept you so strongly. I like being on a team with him.” Jim let loose a short laugh. “Besides, it would take a lot more than that to deflate my ego.”
Okoru shook her head. “Why am I not surprised?”
“You know me too well,” he said lightly. The automated post-flight checks started spitting out results, which he uploaded to the central flight computer for Captain Tanner to review later. “So, it’s Wednesday. What are we doing after class?”
This time, Okoru looked over at him, sporting a surprised-but-pleased look on her face. “We were wondering when you’d be up for that again. Freeman nominated a tea house on the far end of the Marina. Tea from all over the quadrant, with tapas pairings. What do you say?”
“Oh, you mean the Golden Leaf? I’ve been meaning to check that place out.” He chuckled. “Bones isn’t much of a tea drinker so I haven’t had an excuse to go. And tapas aren’t quite his thing either. He complains that it’s half the food for twice the credits.”
Okoru unfastened her harness and stood, stretching. Her hands barely reached the ceiling of the shuttlecraft. “How is McCoy doing anyway?”
Jim frowned as he took off his own harness. “What do you mean?”
“He just seemed really tired the last time I ran into him.” She activated the hatch and started to climb down.
Jim was right behind her, speaking in low tones. “He’s doing okay, but yeah, he’s had a lot on his plate, too. They pulled his research project – those bastards – but he’s got a new one. He’s doing okay.”
She looked back over her shoulder at him. “I’m glad. He seems like a nice guy. Good friend.” She looked ahead to where Freeman and d’Eon were climbing out of their shuttlecraft. Thaleb was already standing by the computer terminal with Captain Tanner, who had filled in as the extra co-pilot. “Come on, let’s get through the mission review so we can go try the tea. I hear Denobulans have a tea blend that will make your toes curl.”
Jim leaned down and spoke in an undertone. “I hear the Betazoids have a tea that will make everything curl.”
Okoru elbowed him neatly in the stomach, laughing lightly as they circled up around the computer screen, and Captain Tanner began the review.
It went well. Simple as that. It hadn’t been a complicated mission, but they were on track, and by the end of the month, Captain Tanner expected them to be back ahead of the other flight squads in their level. It was exactly the boost they all needed. By the time Tanner dismissed them, the entire team was smiling and laughing. It was almost like old times as they made their way out of the hangar and towards the end of Crissy Field. A chilly evening, but the warmth of good conversation kept the chill at bay as they walked the bike path towards the Marina.
Jim looked around at his teammates wistfully as they slipped through the gate at the end of the field. Tambe wasn’t here, true, but she’d be happy to see this. The team was still together. They were going to make it.
But tonight wasn’t the time for over-thinking it, Jim realized as he pushed open the door to the tea house. Tonight was for relaxing with his flight squad.
The lights were dim in the tea house, and there were a variety of seating areas and options available. High tables, low sofas, booths... something for every taste. Judging by the enormous scroll menu on the wall listing tea varieties by the star system, there was something for every palate as well.
They settled on a low table with small ottoman-type seats placed around the table in a cluster, partially hidden by carefully arranged privacy screens. Just right for an evening when you needed to focus only on the people you came with. When the first round was served, Jim stopped them. “A toast, guys.”
They all nodded and raised their glasses, and d’Eon asked, “To Tambe?”
Jim hesitated, then shook his head. “No... because that’s not what she’d want. Not for tonight.” He looked around the table fondly. “To Nova Squadron. May we live up to the hopes of our fallen leader... for each other and for her.”
“To Nova Squadron,” came the solemn replies.
An hour later, after five rounds of tea – and yes, the Denobulan tea really did make your toes curl – they were starting to wrap it up. Jim was feeling thoroughly relaxed for the first time in ages. Bumping shoulders with Freeman, flirting shamelessly with d’Eon (mostly so she could continue to reject his faux-advances), and giving Thaleb openings to mock him... which Thaleb never took, to everyone’s amusement. It was normal. It was good. It was comfortable. It was –
“Guys, before the evening is over... we need to talk about finding a sixth pilot for the squad.”
The unspoken protests showed on everyone’s face, but Jim couldn’t hold back. “Now, Okoru?”
“Not right now. But by Monday. We’ve go to talk about this, guys.”
“Why do we need to? We can make this work with five people,” Jim said stupidly, knowing that his protest wasn’t going far.
“We can’t, Kirk,” Okoru said softly. “Not really. If we want to advance into next year as an established flight team, we need a six-person squad.”
Slowly, everyone else nodded, and Jim felt himself nodding too before he stopped and shook his head. “Can’t we give it a bit more time? It just feels... too soon to replace her.”
A cool hand rested on Jim’s shoulder, and he turned to see Thaleb’s solemn features looking back at him. “Your loyalty to Cadet Tambe is admirable, Kirk, but you are aware that she would encourage us to find a new teammate... before our flight squad is dismantled, or assigned a new pilot who is not of our choosing.”
Jim sighed. “I know. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t feel wrong.”
Thaleb dropped his hand from Jim’s shoulder. “We share your sentiment. But Tambe was a warrior, and would want our team to remain strong in her absence.”
At that, Jim couldn’t hold back a smile as he shook his head fondly. “That’s one of the great things about you, Thaleb. You’re impossible to argue with.”
The Andorian shrugged – a mannerism he’d picked up from Freeman. “I do what I can.” That phrase, Jim noted with some pleasure, he got from me.
“You do pretty well.” Jim sighed and turned back to Okoru. “So... picking a sixth. How do we start?”
Okoru pressed her lips together grimly. “I already got a list of candidates from Captain Tanner. I’m going to send some data to your message caches tonight. Several possible applicants. Go over their profiles, and see what you think. We’ve got the whole weekend to consider it. And on Monday, we’ll meet with Captain Tanner and discuss our preferences.” She took a sip of her tea. “Any questions or concerns?”
“What if nobody fits with us?” Freeman asked. “It’s not as though we’re the most orthodox squad on campus. And we wouldn’t much want to be, either.”
There was a murmur of agreement around the table.
Okoru nodded. “Then we ask Captain Tanner for more options. We need to pick someone, but we’re not going to ruin what we have here.”
Freeman seemed to relax at that, just as d’Eon piped up. “Are candidates restricted by their flight aptitude scores and levels? Or are we drawing from the whole pool?”
“We’d obviously like to find someone who can be expected to advance to Level 3, Single Pilot Craft training next semester, but if we find someone who fits with us, and who wants to join, we’ll get them trained up.” She grinned deviously. “Besides, if someone can fit in with our little pack, we’ll make sure we don’t leave them behind.”
“If a person has decent aptitude, skills can be trained easily enough,” Jim agreed with a grin, thinking of the fact that even Bones could learn to fly a shuttlecraft. “If we find someone who works with us, we’ll take care of the rest.”
“Hear, hear,” the squad chorused.
“I’ll drink to that,” Thaleb said firmly, lifting his tea and taking a sip.
“I love it when you use Terran phrases,” d’Eon said with a grin, lifting her own cup, as did everyone else around the table.
Okoru tapped her empty tea cup with her spoon. “One more toast, guys.” The team fell quiet as the teapot was passed around one last time and drained, and cups held aloft. “To Kirk,” she said, barely audible, “for coming back to us alive.” She met his stunned gaze. “Don’t argue with me, Kirk. We needed you back. If we’d lost both of you, I don’t think the rest of the team would be sitting together today.”
He wanted to protest, but this time, it was better not to. “Okay,” Jim said roughly, hoisting his own glass.
“To Kirk,” came the soft toast from around the table. Glasses clinked, and tea was drained.
“So,” Okoru broke in softly, “are there any more questions or concerns on the agenda?”
Jim raised his hand. “Mind if I go to the bathroom? All this tea hit me a bit suddenly.”
And just like that, the solemn spell over the table broke, and the whole team was laughing again. Okoru shook her head in amused dismay. “Kirk, you’re a jackass. Go. Then we should all head back to campus. It’s almost 2000 hours.”
Jim stood, stretching. “Sounds like a plan.” And truth be told, aside from wanting to break the tension, he really did need to take a leak. He ambled away from the table, still enjoying the warm buzz that had hit him halfway through the third round – a drink called Saurian Fire Tea. He really needed to bring Bones down here. For all the guy swore he wasn’t a tea drinker, he clearly hadn’t tried enough non-Terran varieties to judge fairly. Maybe he’d make it his choice for celebrating after he passed his Assistant Instructor test.
Now that was an idea. He hadn’t been sure when to push for his Assistant Flight Instructor test, but after today’s successful training mission, he was feeling confident in a shuttlecraft again, so... Why not?
He pushed into the restroom and locked the door behind himself. But before he undid his pants, he pulled out his comm unit and tapped out a quick text message to Captain Tanner. A formal request to take the Assistant Flight Instructor exam. His finger hesitated over the “send” button, but thinking about his squadmates gave him the surge of confidence he needed. He grinned broadly and sent the message. No going back now.
He was still grinning when he came back out of the restroom. He was so lost in thought about the Assistant Instructor testing requirements that he only caught half of the snippet of conversation... but what he heard almost made him stumble.
“... impossible to get a Epsilon-model shuttlecraft engine to do that!” That was the high-pitched voice of a woman. “You want to talk about crash and burn? If you completely rerouted the secondary power conduits like that...”
The words could have been normal engineering babble, but something in the woman’s tone of voice didn’t sound right, and alarms were going off in Jim’s head. Attempting to look casual, Jim continued past the booth where four humans in dark jumpsuits were talking, and he slid into the booth next to theirs. He grabbed a menu and pretended to read it.
“No, Hong, take another look. If you attach it at this point, you’ll get the power diversion you’re looking for.”
What the fuck? Jim’s grip on the menu tightened.
“But then the efficiency rating will be too low...” Another voice. A low growling noise. “We’d never get it past them. One inspection would blow the whole thing.”
“Then what do you propose?” The woman again.
“I propose that you stop worrying about hurting people and get down to business.”
Oh hell no.
“That’s a bit heartless, even for you, Rick.”
“Well, you know what we’re up against.”
“I know.” A pause. “Shit, you’re right. So... what’s the plan?”
“We try again.”
Jim had heard enough.
He couldn’t confront them – not here. Not alone. That would be asking for trouble. But dammit, he wasn’t going to let this go either. Cautiously, he folded the menu again and slid out of the booth. He walked across the restaurant to his team’s table, carefully keeping his face turned away until he was seated and hidden behind the privacy wall.
“Guys... I think we have a problem.”
Instantly, the whole team was huddled over the table, looking at him intently. “What’s going on, Kirk?” Freeman asked.
“I... I can’t be certain, but I just overheard a conversation that...” He hesitated. If he was wrong, he was accusing people of being terrorists. But if he was right, he could stop something horrible from happening. “There’s a group of people at that table over there, talking about shuttlecraft engines... efficiency ratings, power fluctuations. But it’s not what they were saying, it’s how. I think they might be involved with sabotaging shuttles.”
Everyone’s faces froze with horror. Okoru finally spoke. “Are you sure, Kirk?”
“No!” he hissed under his breath. “I wish I could be sure, but I only overheard bits and pieces.”
“If Kirk believes that someone is a possible threat to the Academy, I would not doubt his assessment,” Thaleb said forcefully. “We must report this.”
“What can you report, Kirk?” Freeman asked. “I mean, what exactly did you hear?”
“That...” He hunkered in even closer. “They’re trying to modify shuttlecraft engines, and they want to get something past the inspections. Something that would cause engine efficiency to drop. And... one of them told another one to stop worrying about hurting people because they know what they’re up against.” He looked around at the faces of his teammates. “Come on, guys. What do you think?”
Okoru looked up and over her shoulder as subtly as possible, then ducked her head back down. “I think we need to report this. Now.”
They tapped their ID’s against the credit reader on the side of the table to settle their tab, then as subtly as possible, slipped out the door. As they walked away from the tea house, Okoru flipped open her comm unit, then shook her head. “Kirk, I think you should be the one to report this. But... who should we report to?”
“I know just the guy,” Jim said flatly. He grabbed his own comm and flipped it open. “Cadet Kirk to Captain Pike.”
A minute later, as they hurried down the Crissy Field bike path, Jim noticed the stark contrast to their earlier walk to the tea house. The light-hearted banter was gone, and the chill of the breeze didn’t feel quite as refreshing. Deadly serious, they jogged in a tight cluster down the bike path, following Okoru – who was surprisingly fast for having such short legs. Jim couldn’t help but notice that Thaleb was shoulder-to-shoulder with him, and he had to admit that the reassurance helped. He was pretty nervous.
On the far side of the field, the hill of the Presidio rose above Crissy Field and the hangar, crowned with the lights of the main campus. Pike was meeting them in Archer Hall. And Jim hoped like hell that he’d listen.
Increased security, Jim thought bitterly to himself as he stormed into the hangar. You call this increased security?
Pike had promised to relay the message to the Security and Intelligence departments, as well as the Administrative staff. Jim had tried to get him to relay the information to the investigation group, only to be succinctly informed that the investigation was over, and the group no longer existed. If nothing else, he’d promised that they’d heighten security, and be on the lookout for any unapproved access to the hangar.
However, the two security guards at the main hangar entrance didn’t seem to be paying enough attention for Jim’s comfort. Nobody in any of the shuttle bays seemed any more vigilant than usual for a Thursday afternoon. He’d mentioned it to some of the cadets in his Tactics class, but nobody seemed overly concerned. In fact, one of them suggested it was just a bunch of cadets doing a damned engineering project! That was ridiculous. They had been talking about hurting people, and Jim was certain he’d never seen them on campus before. He might not know every cadet personally, but he was pretty sure he’d seen pretty much every cadet on campus at some point, at least in passing. And he was pretty good with faces. No, it was just wrong, and Jim wasn’t about to ignore his gut instinct.
However, as he approached the shuttlebay with the shuttlecrafts for Level 2 flight trainees, he tried to push it out of his mind. Captain Tanner had contacted him that morning, confirming his request to take the Assistant Flight Instructor exam. Tanner had two hours that afternoon free, and had scheduled the test already. No going back now.
Whatever else might be going on, he’d made a promise to himself. Now that the time was here, he had a test to pass, and he wasn’t about to let anything else distract him. He needed to do this. For Tambe, for Bones, and for himself. Fucking saboteurs – Terra Prime or whoever they were – had already taken too much from him. They wouldn’t take this. He wouldn’t let them.
As Jim rounded the corner into the familiar shuttlebay, he saw Captain Tanner standing by the waiting shuttlecraft. A twinge of nerves twisted his stomach slightly, but it was normal to be nervous before a test like this. Sure, he could re-take it, and it had no impact on his grades, but it felt more important somehow. Bigger.
With a smart snap, he rendered a salute, which Captain Tanner returned before waving him into the shuttlecraft. The door sealed shut behind them with a resounding clang.
The comm unit chirped, and Leonard looked up from the charts he was analyzing. It was only preliminary data, and he’d need a much larger set of test subjects for this project, but Jim’s biofeedback records were off to a good start, as were his own. He’d have to compare other approaches to treating aviophobia, but a classic technique like this would provide an excellent baseline data set for the project.
“Kirk to McCoy.”
But now, it looked like the subject of his project was paging him. He grinned and flipped open the communicator, still perusing his data. “McCoy here. What’s up, Jim?”
“Bones...”
There was something pained and drawn out in Jim’s voice, and Leonard put his PADD aside immediately. “Jim? What’s wrong?”
“I... I tested for assistant instructor today. Or... tried to. I kinda bombed it.”
Leonard’s mouth fell open, and he looked back and forth between the PADD on the table, still displaying Jim’s data sets, and the comm unit sitting in his hand. “You what, Jim? Good God, kid, you weren’t ready for that! What were you thinking?”
“I thought I was ready, Bones. I could have been. I wasn’t scared. Not of this. I... I just... I thought I could do it. Tambe’s waited long enough for some sort of justice, and she wanted to do this. It was the least I could give her.”
Leonard shook his head. It was all he could do not to growl aloud. “She wouldn’t want you to push yourself past the point you could handle! Do you know how easily it could have been the other way around, Jim? With her as the lone survivor, trying to do something to remember you by?”
“Yes.” The reply was rough and harsh.
“And would you want her to do this to herself?”
“No.”
“Okay, now that we’ve established that...” Leonard sighed. “Where are you, kid?”
“I’m still at the hangar. Could you meet me in the flight sim facility?”
“Are you planning to run a sim?”
“No.”
“Good. Don’t. I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”
“Thanks, Bones. And remember your ID. They’ve allegedly ‘heightened security’.”
“Jim, we always need ID to get into the hangar.”
“I know,” he said, voice laced with bemused irony. “Isn’t it great?”
Leonard sighed. “I’ll be right down. McCoy out.” He closed the comm unit with a flip of the wrist and groaned lightly. Jim was going to give him gray hairs before his time.
It was a crisp but pleasant evening outside. The stars were almost invisible against the city lights and the moon that was already peeking above the bay. Leonard jogged lightly down the lamp-lit path from the dorms to the flight hangar.
Really, he almost didn’t need the lamps. He’d traveled this path quite a few times in the past several days to meet Jim, work with Jim, help Jim, and to help himself, too. They’d worked on it every day, going a bit further each time. They’d skipped last night because Jim had his regular flight session with his team. He’d worn the sensor, and had even rigged his own PADD to send results to Leonard’s PADD instantly. He was doing so well. And now, he had to go and pull a stunt like this. Leonard would ask why, but he’d known Jim long enough by now that the question wasn’t even necessary. The answer was simple: because it was Jim.
The security scanner let him through the main door to the hangar, and he showed the ID to one of the two security guards inside the door. They waved him through with a disinterested nod, and Leonard understood why Jim wasn’t so impressed with the security if this was supposed to be heightened. However, he didn’t see why they needed to increase security around the hangar anyway. Especially at this hour of the evening. The hangar was almost deserted.
Still, he had bigger things on his mind as he hurried across the hangar floor. A flash of deja-vu hit him, and he hoped he wouldn’t have to pry Jim out of the simulator again. But no, he got the sense that tonight would be a bit different, and would probably end with bourbon instead of cocoa.
He swiped his ID badge across the sim facility checkpoint and entered. Although there were several simulators active, Leonard didn’t even need to guess which was held Jim. The door was open, and Leonard could see Jim’s foot swinging back and forth from the pilot’s seat. Shaking his head sadly, he walked over to the sim pod and leaned on the frame of the open hatch. “Bad day, kid?”
Jim was sprawled in the seat, head tilted back against the headrest, staring at the ceiling. “Still a master of understatement, Bones.” He turned his head sideways, just enough to be able to look at Leonard. “What was your first clue?”
“Well, let’s see,” Leonard said dryly as he sat down in the entrance to the sim pod, cocking one leg up and resting an elbow on his knee. “You called me without making a single wise-crack, just to tell me what happened. Then you asked me to come and meet you here, and as upset as you are, you didn’t cuss once.” He thumped Jim’s dangling leg lightly with his fist. “At least, those are my first clues. I won’t mention the bloodshot eyes.”
“Good idea,” came the toneless response. “I’m too pretty for bloodshot eyes.”
“It’s late, kid. How long have you been sitting here?”
Jim glanced over to check the pod’s chrono. “A bit over three hours, I think. My test ended at 1900.”
“Shit, Jim! And you’ve just been sitting here all this time?”
“Yup. Nobody kicked me out.”
Leonard sighed. “Listen, Jim, I know that you wanted to –”
“Bones, stop. You don’t know. Not even half of it. So let me tell you.” He reached up and folded his hands on top of his head, fingers woven together. “I told you why I was busy last night and couldn’t run a sim, right?”
“Yeah?”
An uncomfortable smile quirked the corner of Jim’s mouth. “The flight went great. I’m doing better, Bones, and my team can see it.”
“I know, kid. But what’s going on?”
“We went to the Golden Leaf,” Jim continued evenly. “The flight team. We used to go out for drinks and snacks after our Wednesday flights. No, not usually booze, in case you’re wondering. We try to pick different places if we can. Team-building time, ya know? It was always fun. And you and I should go to the Golden Leaf sometime, Bones. I know you say you don’t like tea, but some of this stuff is amazing.”
“Jim, get to the point. What are you trying to tell me?”
He pulled his hands down from the top of his head and scrubbed them roughly over his face. “While I was there, I overheard something. These people... four of them, sitting in a booth. They were in civilian clothes, but they almost looked like uniforms of some sort. Jumpsuits. And they were talking about modifying shuttle engines.”
Leonard frowned. “A lot of people are talking about that, Jim. In case you forgot, that competition for the new impulse engine design is heating up.”
“They didn’t sound like engineers, Bones.” He grit his teeth, then shook his head with a low growl. “They were talking about trying to sneak something past inspections... and hurting people. Fuck, I can’t remember the details, but it wasn’t right, Bones. I know they were up to something!”
“Easy there, Jim,” Leonard said, slapping him lightly on the leg to get his attention before he riled himself up any more. Maybe Jim was right, but maybe he’d overheard something innocent, and some vestiges of his paranoia were getting the better of him. Either way, he had to get Jim back on track. “Easy. I believe you. Really. But what’s that got to do with this? Taking the test? And –”
“And failing the test,” he said bitterly. “Simple, Bones. After a few nice rounds of tea with my flight squad, I had decided I was going to take the test today. Sent off a text request to Captain Tanner immediately. I overheard that conversation right after that. And by the time I got here for my test today, I couldn’t get that conversation out of my head.” He lightly punched his own thigh a few times in frustration. “I couldn’t focus. Couldn’t keep myself calm.”
Leonard nodded in sympathy. “And so you panicked in front of your instructor.”
“Not that simple, Bones. Not what you’re thinking.” He looked down with a pitifully bleak expression. “If you want to be an assistant instructor, you’ve got to be the best. You have to be ready to lead when something goes wrong.”
Understanding dawned on Leonard. “Something went wrong.”
Jim nodded. “Starfleet sure knows how to hit you where it counts. Captain Tanner apologized afterwards, but he said his own senior officer insisted. The actual flight portion of the test went fine... I actually did great in the real shuttle. I think you would have been impressed. But when we got to the simulator... they programmed an engine failure.”
Leonard sat sharply upright as if he’d been shocked. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Jim shook his head slowly, and choked out a pained laugh. “And even better, they had the sim instructions take us past Mars. It wasn’t an engine failure within the planet’s gravity well, but still... high pressure leadership decisions. That’s what they were looking for.”
This was the sort of shit that made Leonard furious at how the Command and Security training was designed. The psych side of the training... they had no sense of how far was too far. “You can’t blame yourself for that, Jim! Stop and think for a moment. I know you’re an over-achiever – ”
“I just want to be good enough, Bones.”
“Dammit, Jim, you are! And listen. You pushed too far today. Accept that right now, okay?”
Jim leaned forward in his seat, looking like he was ready to protest, but Leonard glared at him, and he wilted. “Okay, I pushed too far.”
“Good. You didn’t know how far was too far. And you didn’t know what they were going to put into the sim part of the test.”
“I should have known, Bones. They test you for your weaknesses.” He rested his elbows heavily on his knees. “This was unavoidable.”
“Then take it as a lesson.” He gave Jim what he hoped was a challenging stare. “Get yourself out of that sim pod, pick yourself up, go through the biofeedback program the way we laid it out, and then come back and take the test when you’re ready.”
Jim looked at him bleakly. “When’s your flight test for your class?”
“Doesn’t matter. Your timetable doesn’t depend on me, or anything but your own progress. I’ll go for my test with whatever instructor I get assigned. You just need to worry about your own comeback.”
“I need to pass this, Bones.”
“You will.”
“I failed.”
“You tried.” He grunted as he leaned forward and stood, once again leaning against the frame of the sim pod hatch. “You only fail when you give up. And somehow, I don’t see you as the type to quit on anything.”
Jim snorted at him. “When did you become a fucking self-help manual?”
“Brat,” Leonard said, slapping his arm lightly.
“Yep. And I’m not going to stop trying, Bones. I told you, I don’t –”
“Believe in no-win scenarios.” Leonard sighed. “I know, kid. You don’t know how to give up either. And that’s why you’re going to win at everything you decide to do... and go as far as you want to go.”
“And I’m taking you with me.”
“Yeah, kid. I’m going with you.”
Jim finally cracked a hint of a real smile. “How ‘bout your place, for now?”
“Well, I’ve got a bottle of bourbon that needs some attention.”
“On a school night?” Jim laughed lightly, pulling himself out of the sim pod.
Leonard scoffed at him. “As if you were going to do any homework tonight anyway. Beside, I know you. You’re two weeks ahead on your reading and written assignments anyway.”
“Guilty as charged, Bones.” He turned and tapped the power-down sequence for the flight simulator and looked at it sadly as the hatch fell shut with a metallic clank. “I just wish I...” He shook his head. “I dunno.”
“What, Jim?”
Jim looked at him wistfully. “I just wonder what decisions Captain Tanner was looking for during the simulation. If he was looking for the kinds of choices Tambe made... you know... that day. Or if he wanted something different. Or if maybe he was looking for something else altogether.”
“Well, Jim... you know what they say about making decisions when you’re in command.” He clapped his hand on Jim’s shoulder. “Just make one, and then try to catch the chips when they fall.”
“And sometimes, it even works out,” Jim said meaningfully. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
They left the flight simulator facility and began making their way through the main hangar bay. Their footsteps echoed distantly against the high ceilings, and the voices of he few Academy personnel in various maintenance bays around the hangar were muffled and hollow in the large space. As they walked past the Reserve Shuttle Bays, a few of the voices got louder. Jim glanced to the side briefly without breaking his stride, then stopped cold.
“Jim, what’s –”
“Quiet, Bones.” Jim’s eyes narrowed as he took in the view of a couple of people in black jumpsuits working on one of the shuttlecrafts. A few access panels near the impulse engines had been pulled away, and more voices were coming from inside the shuttle.
“No, seriously, Jim – what’s going on?”
“I recognize those people,” Jim said, his voice cracking like ice against metal. “I saw them last night. In the tea house.” His shoulders hunched tightly and his hands clenched into fists. “Those are the fuckers who were talking about sabotaging the engines.”
“Fuck,” Leonard breathed. “We should report this. Jim, let’s get away from where they can see us, and –”
“No time for that.”
“What? No, Jim, what are you –”
Before Leonard could blink, Jim was off in a dead sprint running at the people in the shuttle bay. All he could do was stand there in shock and watch.
The man closest to Jim barely had a chance to see a raging ball of fury speeding towards him before Jim slammed into the guy, sending him sprawling into the ground with a shout of surprise and then a cry of pain as Jim’s fist connected with his jaw. The woman who’d been working with him started to charge towards Jim with a determined yell, but Jim ducked down and neatly diverted her momentum, lifting her off the ground and sending her sailing over his shoulder. Two other men were already coming out of the shuttlecraft, shouting, and Leonard finally snapped out of his shocked disbelief.
He grabbed his comm from his belt and flipped it open. “Doctor McCoy to Academy Security! We’ve got an incident in progress in the shuttle hangar! One cadet actively engaged in an altercation with four unidentified civilians. Send backup immediately!”
A reply buzzed back, and Leonard barely registered that help was on its way as he snapped the comm shut, shoved it into the holster on his belt, and raced towards the fight. “Jim!” he yelled, hoping to be heard over the yelling.
Jim was already in a one-on-two brawl against the men who had come to the fight late. The first man was writhing weakly on the ground, and the woman was already struggling to her feet. Running faster, Leonard blew past her and launched himself into the brawl, not to help Jim, but to stop him.
“Jim! Stop this, goddammit!” A swinging fist from one of the furious men clipped his jaw, and the other guy landed a blow to Jim’s gut. “Stop!” With a desperate heave, he wrapped his arms around Jim’s upper arms and chest and threw his entire body weight into pulling Jim physically away from the other men.
Jim was not pleased with that. “Let me go! Fuck! Bones, let me go! We’ve got to stop them!” He wrenched one arm free and tried to swing back at the two men. “Murderous bastards! You sabotaged the shuttle! You killed Tambe! You fucking terrorists!”
“Stop it, Jim!” He redoubled his effort to keep a grip on Jim, who was struggling desperately.
“No!”
One of the two men who’d been fighting had already broken off to go tend to the guy who was still lying on the ground, groaning, but the other man was standing there, fuming. “What the hell are you talking about? Sabotage?”
“You’re sabotaging the shuttle!” Jim screamed, his voice as wild as his desperate flailing. “You’re trying to kill the engine. Your people made my shuttle crash! It was you!”
The woman had finally staggered to her feet. “You’re insane,” she spat. “We’re trying to perfect our test engine for the competition. We have a week left before the final trials.”
Jim suddenly stilled in Leonard’s arms. “What? I... but I heard you. Last night at the tea house. You said you were going to hurt people.” His voice still held rage and challenge, but it was broken by something small and meek and lost... so lost. “What the fuck was that, then?”
The man replied. “Some dumb kid wanted in on our project. He had this stupid idea to rework the entire energy matrix. Hong didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but we’ve been working on our design for over three years. The kid’s stuff was unstable.”
Jim’s shoulders sagged slightly. “Then you’re not... you didn’t –”
“This is the first and only shuttlecraft we’ve ever touched on this campus,” the woman said in tight, clipped tones. “Starfleet gave us one shuttle to modify for testing. We’re not about to waste it by sabotaging it or crashing it.”
“Guys, you need to shut up and someone needs to call a doctor.” They all turned and looked at the man who was kneeling down next to the guy that Jim had tackled first. “That asshole nailed Jeff pretty hard.”
Leonard all but shoved Jim out of his grasp. “I’m a doctor. Let me see him.” Without a tricorder and medkit, he couldn’t do much, and he mentally cursed himself for leaving his ever-present kit behind in his dorm room. Still, he could start a primary assessment and page the infirmary, and the medics would arrive quickly enough with a kit. He grabbed his comm unit as he checked the guy over as best he could. “Doctor McCoy to Academy Infirmary.”
“Go ahead.”
“We’ve got a man down in the Academy shuttle hangar. Involved in a fight. Broken jaw, suspected grade-two concussion. Contusions, minor bleeding. We need a transport.”
“We’re dispatching the transport now. Infirmary out.”
Leonard flipped the comm shut and finally looked back up at the people around him. The other three people in the black jumpsuits – Civilian engineers, Leonard realized – were all looking down at him, clearly worried about their colleague. The woman was rubbing her shoulder, and Leonard noted that he’d have to tell her to get checked out at the infirmary, too. But standing off behind them was Jim.
Jim looked... shocked. Mortified. He kept shaking his head in small jerks, as if trying to rationalize what had just happened. What he’d just done. The paranoia that had plagued him for weeks, in a moment of weakness, had finally gotten the better of him, and he’d just attacked four civilians. And he knew what that meant.
Footsteps approached quickly – the sound of boots clacking heavily on the plascrete floor. Security guards. “Someone reported a fight?” the taller of the two asked without fanfare.
The female engineer whirled around, pointing a damning finger at Jim. “This cadet came out of nowhere and jumped us! Look at what he did to Lowry. I thought you said the hangar would be safe!”
Jim looked bleakly between the security guards and the woman, then cast one glance at Leonard. There was a horrible look in his eyes. Surrender. Swallowing tightly, he looked away from Leonard and stepped towards the security guards, hands out to his side, palms up. “I made a mistake. I... I thought they were sabotaging the shuttlecraft.” He took a deep breath. “But yeah, I did it.”
The two security guards looked at each other, and the taller one stepped forward. “You know we’re going to have to take you in and write this up.” He looked over to the woman – Hong. “Do you want to press charges?”
She rubbed her shoulder meaningfully, then tilted her head towards Lowry, who was still moaning fitfully on the floor. “What do you think?” she snapped.
Looking almost apologetic, the security guard moved to Jim’s side and took him by the upper arm. “Come with us, Cadet.”
Jim only nodded, still looking shocked and numb at the sudden turn of events. He cast one last look at Leonard – a tight-lipped plea and apology all at once – and then let himself be led out of the shuttle bay, flanked by the two security guards. The defeated droop of his shoulders was the last Leonard saw of him before he disappeared around the corner without a sound.
There was no time to think about it. The medics already were arriving with a stretcher, and Leonard was on his feet and barking orders and helping to load the patient into the waiting transport. He corralled the injured woman into the transport as well, insisting that she get her shoulder checked at the infirmary, and they left the other two engineers behind in the hangar.
As the medical transport sped them to the infirmary, Leonard stared out the window at the campus racing by around them, and wondered what the hell had just happened, and how bad the fallout would be.
(To Part Sixteen...)
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Date: 2010-11-07 04:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-07 05:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-07 05:15 am (UTC)(Everyone should be slashing hobbits. I love that)
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Date: 2010-11-07 05:26 am (UTC)And yes... slash the hobbits!
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Date: 2011-02-21 05:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-21 06:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-22 01:12 pm (UTC)Oh, I also meant to tell you that I loved the biofeedback idea (Jim being able to keep control of his body and progress is perfect) and Bones helping himself by helping Jim. That's a cool twist!
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Date: 2011-02-22 02:01 pm (UTC)