Hailing Frequencies

[allmhadadh]

Or: How to make poor Captain Kirk (the new, that is) go batshit from stress.

After some time -- still he didn't know how long -- Lieutenant Uhura reported back to the bridge in her coveralls.  She looked tired and disheveled (didn't they all?) but there was a gleam in her eyes and he knew right away what it meant.

"All done, then?" Scott asked, relieved to have something to distract him from the tracks of his own troubled thoughts.

"Yes, sir, we are," she replied, repressing a smile. "You know, your division likes me quite a bit.  I might just apply for your job."

"That mean I'll have yers?  Aye, that'd go down well."  He grinned back. "Startin' four or five intragalactic wars because I accidentally insulted someone's mum, nevermind the mess I'd make just with the standard-speakin' civilizations."

"Mm.  You may have a point."  She sat down in her seat, turning towards the panel. "Ready at the order."

The grin faded and Scotty took a breath, nodded to himself and composing the message in his mind.  "Go ahead an' launch the probes."




It took about ten minutes (relatively) for the sensor probes, now acting as something more akin to subspace relays, to align themselves along the temporal band.  But even though they had no proof that the message would be received, there was only about fifty percent signal degredation between the first of the string of ten and the last.  A lot, but still better than he expected it to be, given what they were facing.

"On your mark, sir," Uhura said, as the entire bridge crew sat still and waited tensely.

"Go ahead," Scotty said, then squared up automatically in front of the Captain's chair, even though visual was out of the question.

He took one more breath, then tossed out the message he sure as Hell hoped would be received:

"This is Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott, in temporary command of the USS Enterprise, hailin' the Enterprise we're currently tied to through the temporal anomaly with a message for Captain Kirk.  Our Enterprise is currently runnin' near sensor blind, and repairs cannot be completed without an estimated two months in dry dock at the nearest starbase with facilities.  We have discovered a way to break the temporal band tyin' these ships together and will do so within the next forty-eight hours if this message is not received.  The situation with Doctor McCoy is of a potentially life-threatenin' nature, and we are seekin' orders on how to handle that.  Transporters here are non-operational and will be until repairs are conducted.  Any transport'll have to come from that side, and risks are extremely high.  We'll stand by long as we can awaitin' orders.  Scott out."

And now all they could do was sit back, and pray for the reply.

Comments

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

"Can you record a reply for me?" Kirk looked to her after he listened to the response in silence. "How stable is that connection we have?"

He sucked on his lower lip for just a second, "...Bones' in danger..." He murmured. "And we have their crew here... we just need to send them home, right?" Talking to himself.

[just-uhura.livejournal.com]

Uhura gave an affirmative nod, swivelling back round to her station to record whatever message Kirk wanted her to send back to the other ship. "Of course," she answered, tilting up to look at him and wait for a course of action. "Do we want to risk transporting them over?" She couldn't help but ask, not with everything that was going wrong and Scotty's warning about the high risks.

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

"We might have to. I have a feeling I know what's going on with their Bones... a good feeling." Kirk rubbed his brow slowly, trying to think quickly. "Alright, hit record."

"This is Captain Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise, replying to your transmission, Scotty. I know what's wrong with your Bones, and the only thing we can do is have him back here or the rest of your crew there. If we can send the last of your crew back home to your ship, you can break free and we'll be in our own universes again. Whatever information you have about breaking free, we need it too. Anything you can pass back about how your crew beamed you off the ship we could use too. But your sensors-"

He hesitated, closing his eyes for a moment. What can we do? We can't get over there to help them with repairs because we don't know if we can come back? He thought to himself.

"All we can do is offer parts, and little else. I can't risk sending over members of my crew in case they can't return. Awaiting reply, Kirk out."

[allmhadadh.livejournal.com]

The bridge all listened as the other Kirk's voice replied; there were even more shocked faces at that. Down at the helm and nav, Sulu and Chekov exchanged glances. On the upper deck, even DeSalle turned to watch. Uhura listened intently; some of the message was garbled, but again she pulled a communications miracle and cleared it up.

Scotty bowed his head, thoughtfully, back to pacing again. But after a moment, he stopped. "Send this back, Lieutenant, if ye could?"

"Ready."

"Captain Kirk: Given the nature o' the temporal distortion, ye may have better luck pulling our McCoy back to yer ship than tryin' to send our Kirk and Spock back here. Less people, less risk. I dinna remember much o' what happened while I was over there, but I should have left notes and yer own chief should be able to piece together what I was doin'. Ye may be able to have him get a lock on through the subspace relay we jury rigged here to communicate, if we equip our McCoy with a high-band communicator, but until our sensors are repaired, we willna be able to pull him back. It's still a mighty risk, but less risky than tryin' to beam two than one."

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

The bridge listened in turn, all turned towards the communications console. Kirk closed his eyes, letting out a breath. He gestured lightly for Uhura to record again, searching for the words.

"Scotty: If you send him here, the only thing I'm worried about is that all of this could suddenly stop and they would be locked over here without any way home. I think your Captain would absolutely lose his mind if it happened. How likely do you think it'll be that you'll get your transporters back up and able to transport all THREE of them home."

[allmhadadh.livejournal.com]

Well, obviously there were no guarantees. Still, at this point, there was also no way to do anything more than to ease as much risk as possible. And although the entire crew winced almost as one at the idea of losing Kirk, Spock and McCoy to another universe...

Scott nodded to Uhura and replied:

"No guarantees, sir. Provided this temporal anomaly doesna dissolve, should we be able to repair our sensor arrays and get back, we likely could pull them back. But if one of 'em dies in transport over there, I'm told we'll lose them all anyway. The safest thing we can do is send McCoy, and hope for the best. Regardless, sir, so long as the three of them survive, then at least there's a possibility they can return in the future, even if we lose this particular anomaly."

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

Everyone seemed to be holding their breath, waiting for his decision. Kirk's eyes opened, and he let out a sigh. Dammit, no matter which choice he made, lives hung heavy in the balance. If he had Bones come back, he could die on transport and they would lose all three. If he made it, they might never get home. Scotty was right, though. If they were here, they lived. They had a chance at least.

Another nod to Uhura.

"Send him, Scotty. It's the chance we've got right now with the lowest risk. Just tell me one thing. If something happens, and they're here for good... can you handle it? Staying as Captain?"

[allmhadadh.livejournal.com]

The last question actually made Scotty blink in surprise. He wasn't expecting it, not at all; partly because most people never did think to ask that kind of question, and partly because... well, it just never occurred to he himself that anyone might.

It didn't help that his crew was watching him expectantly, either.

After a moment, he nodded, corner of his mouth creeping up slightly at the reassuring smile Lieutenant Uhura offered to him.

"Aye, Captain, I can. I dinna know if Starfleet would allow it, but I can. This'll take us probably about two hours; if ye could ask yer Chief Scott to please be standin' by on yer end for our signal to pull him through, we'll do our best to help here." There he paused briefly, then added, "And if ye could pass along this information as well as our regards to our own Captain Kirk and Spock, I'd be in yer debt. Tell 'em we'll do our best to get 'em home as soon as we can."

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

A grin tugged up at the edges of Kirk's lips with that reply. "Good, Scotty." He whispered quietly. "Good man."

"Two hours. I'll tell Scotty soon as we're done here, and make sure everything's ready to go. And you know I'll tell them everything that's going on..." A hesitation of his own, "...When Spock wakes up. I know it has something to do with whatever the three of them have going on, but he's unconscious. He needs Bones. His Bones. After I tell Scotty, I'll go talk to your Kirk."

[allmhadadh.livejournal.com]

The answer was a simple one:

"Thank ye, sir. Scott out."

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

Kirk sat back from the console and gave a small smile to Uhura. "...Thanks." He said quietly to her, then rubbed his chin. "I'm going to go talk to Scotty." A wink to his beautiful lady manning the console, and he quickly headed off the bridge to go find Scotty.