Star Trek (2009)
Zlata watched the aliens leave her ship, holding Starfleet money, technology and weapons. She knows Jim has already alerted the nearest three starships, two to chase the aliens, one to give them assistance but it still wounds her pride to have to rely on others. Plus, they are now stranded in the middle of the Arivarra Galaxy, one that has no planets with intelligent life.
All other crew members and their dæmons leave the bridge slowly, trickling off to their rooms. The sheepdog nods to all of them in turn, brushing once against Wikus, Nabigeta and Geniy. Jim merely smiles at Uhura, Sulu and Chekov as their dæmons interact. Spock and Lohiko are the last to leave, moving past without saying anything, still not understanding Jim's choice to give over the cargo.
'It's not like there was a gun pointed at Chekov, is it? Or Bones, or Scotty?'
Jim's words are bitter, thinking about the moment one of the aliens walked in, weapon placed to the Ensign's forehead. Video-links to the rest of the ship had shown several different crewmen in similar positions, each unable to say how they had been beaten.
'There was nothing you could do, Jamie.' Zlata says, using their mother's old nickname. They'd stopped going by it when Frank had moved in. The first time he said it had ruined it and, from then on, he was Jimmy, not Jamie. 'It's fine.'
Jim shakes his head, pressing some buttons on his chair. He's checking on Chekov, Scotty, Bones and the others who had been held hostage, checking all of them are safe and happy. Scotty is passed out in his room, Chekov is winning a drinking competition against some older crewmen and Bones is still in the med-bay, seemingly completely stoic of it weren't for Manggagamot clinging to his shirt.
'We made a mistake.' Jim mutters, leaning down to stroke Zlata's back. 'I have to fix that.'
'You have fixed it. Calm down.' She whines.
He nods, standing up. 'I'll get over it, eventually. C'mon, we've got to get Bones to take a break.'
Lohiko watches the screen, eyes unblinking, seeing the footage played over and over again. Every new station in the universe is reporting on the destruction of Vulcan, each asking different questions. Was it a natural event? Who was a fault? Will it happen to other planet? Where was Starfleet when it was needed?
The norsehlat, similar to a Terran wolf, shakes her head, leaving the rec room and heading back to the bridge to find Spock. Vulcans, like Terran witches, have an abnormally long link, meaning Lohiko can be on one side of the ship, assisting Manggagamot in the med bay or helping the engineers' dæmons, while Spock in still in control on the bridge.
As the Vulcan dæmon enters the bridge, Wikus flies over, resting on her shoulders for a few seconds. The skylark nudges her head, trying to provide some comfort. Lohiko shakes her head and Wikus flies back to his human. Nyota looks up as he lands, smiling sadly at the norsehlat.
Lohiko walks over to where Spock is sat, leaning back in the Captain's chair. Geniy looks over Chekov's shoulder, mouth open to offer some from of apology or consolation. She shakes her head at the mouse, causing the smaller dæmon to burrow back into her human's shirt.
Spock moves his hand slightly, letting it brush against the top of her head. His fingers barely graze her fur, the half-Vulcan torn between comforting his dæmon and behaving as stony as ever.
Sarek looks over, Cthia tilting her head beside him. They are stood a good foot away from each other, not from dislike or disagreement but pure lack of affection and each preferring to stand exactly where they had chosen to stand. Vulcan dæmons find no joy from being in close proximity with their men, or even with other dæmons they are related to.
Lohiko sits back, head coming up to Spock's arm. She turns slightly to look at him, as he continues to give orders.
'How are you managing?' She asks, worry hidden behind emotionless words.
'I will be fine.' He smiles slightly. 'Eventually.'
Manggagamot jumps on Zlata's back, trying to keep the sheepdog in the medical room. As always, the bigger dæmon just shrugs her off, running out of the door, shouting at Jim. Bones is trying to pull the Captain back down onto the bed but the younger man pushes him away, following his dæmon to the deck.
'One day, those two are going to get us killed.'
Manggagamot laughs slightly, allowing Bones to pick her up and place her around his neck. The ermine looks at the PADD, analysing the few results they managed to get off Jim before he made his spectacular escape.
'They're fine, for now, Leo. Don't get yourself worked up.'
He pinches her tail and she digs her claws into his shoulder. The two glare at each other for a few seconds before grinning, Bones flicking through the PADD to see how their other long term patients are doing. By long term, they mean people whose health they follow closely and check up on at least twice a month and by patient, they mean anyone who has been on the ship for more than a month.
'I hate xenobiology.' Manggagamot mutters as they look at the different stats, having to remind themselves each time what the stats should be for that person's species. 'Too many planets, too many species.'
Bones laughs. 'You just hate space and anything to do with it.'
'Yeah, well you hate flying, bless your heart.' The ermine smiles. 'Looks like we're both screwed.'
Bones smiles, resting his arm on the table so she can scurry down and rest. He sits and the two relax, pulling over another PADD to write notes. Manggagamot places her paws on Leonard's non-writing hand and grins.
Space is horrible and dark but the Starship Enterprise is alright.
Wikus lets out a shriek as Zlata and Lohiko run past her, apparently heading off to save some planet or another. Well, Zlata will be running to save the planet, Lohiko will be trying to stop Zlata from doing anything illogical. Nyota is trying to hold Spock back, knowing it is impossible to stop Jim Kirk when he's on a mission. Spock shrugs her off as McCoy rounds the corner, Manggagamot draped over his shoulders. The two men run after Jim, Bones shouting profanities at the younger man.
'When are they going to grow up?' Uhura asks, glancing over her shoulder at the skylark. Wikus tilts his head back once, flying over to Nyota's shoulder.
'The day Jim Kirk matures is the day Spock gains emotions.'
Nyota sighs. 'Vulcans aren't emotionless, they're just-'
'Highly logical.' Wikis rolls his eyes. 'I know. Lohiko's told me enough times.'
Nyota laughs, leaning over her work as Jim comes running back onto the deck, shouting for someone to help him. Pavel is eventually pulled from his work, forced to help Kirk do some calculations.
Wikus smiles slightly. 'Those boys never stop moving do they?'
Nyota smiles, continuing to translate the Klingon directly to Romulan, using it to write up her report for Starfleet's top xenolinguist. She knows that the higher ups always prefer to read reports in their own tongue, so makes that extra effort, hoping to get a promotion of some kind.
'If they stopped even once, they wouldn't be boys.'
Wikus laughs.
Nabigeta rests on Hikaru's shoulder, looking down at the controls as he navigated them through space. The woodpecker, the kind indigenous to Japan, watches everyone panicking around them as Sulu manages to keep a clear head and pilot the starship. She shakes her head, watching Pavel and Geniy take their chair back, scowling at the older crew member who thought she could do better than him.
'What happened?' She mutters in Hikaru's ear. 'One minute we're fine, the next...'
'Our systems are severely damaged. We're flying with half an engine, half a navigating system, half everything.'
'But how?' Geniy says, crawling over the desk, her small, Russian accent pitched with worry.
'Not sure.' The Asian smiles down at mouse for a second before concentrating. 'Might have been a cloud of space dust, nothing really to worry about.'
Geniy nods, scurrying back to her human, crawling up to his shoulder. Nabigeta watches her go before shaking out her wings. 'Space dust? What planet are you on?'
'The one where Pavel is seventeen and got attacked by pirates two months ago. Give it a rest.'
Nabigeta shakes her head but allows Hikaru to go on treating the Ensign like a child. Kirk and Spock strut in, Kirk falling down into the Captain's chair. 'Report Mr Sulu.'
Hikaru tilts his head slightly. 'Engine and navigation are most in danger but we'll get to the nearest planet before they fail.'
Kirk nods. 'Those aliens really did a number on us.'
Hikaru and Nabigeta groan.
Geniy scurried over Pavel's shoulders, trying to control her excitement. Chekov smiles, pulling her down and trying to hold her still. The field mouse just laughs, running across his fingers and swishing her tail. They are getting on the Enterprise, this is the greatest news they ever got.
'Calm down.' Pavel mutters in russian, forcing himself to stop smiling. 'There is a crisis.'
'I know.' She says back, slowing slightly and heading up his arm. 'But everyone knows the Enterprise is the best. Commander Spock is on the Enterprise, so is Nabigeta.'
Chekov nods as she crawls up to his head. Geniy always admires the different geniuses at the Academy, even more if they take an interest in the sciences. 'Does this mean we're on the same level as them?'
Pavel smiles at her excitement, stepping on to the Enterprise with a nod at Uhura. Wikus nods his head and Geniy swirls around, waving her tail around. Wikus, despite the seriousness of the situation, laughs slightly, turning to walk in the opposite direction. Pavel heads toward the bridge, running through all the different codes and passwords he has been given.
'I don't think so.' He mutters, lifting his hand to take her off his head. She is serious now, ready to take on the commanders and captains on the bridge. 'They just need a tactical officer.'
'And we're the best.' She smiles as the sit down in their new chair, pressing buttons to get the ship going.
'Yes, we are.'
Scotty hits the machine, cursing loudly. The people around him look up slowly, used to the engineer's shouts and equally used to not being able to understand a word of it. He kicks the metal, turning to back some orders at the other red shirts. They scurry to get the work done, knowing not to anger the Scotsman.
'Bit much, Monty?' Krashny says, hopping across the machinery to land on his shoulder. 'Ya might need tae calm down.'
The red squirrel brushes her tail against Scotty's neck, smiling slightly. Scotty swears again, throwing a broken bit of metal after one of the retreating engineers. 'What ya talking about? I'm completely calm.'
Krashny laughs, looking down at the machine. 'Ya know there's nothing wrong with that right? There's only a few screws loose and a bit a rusted metal.'
Scotty nods slightly, turning away from the machine and walking towards the mess hall. 'Of course I know that. I just want tae see how quickly they figure it out.'
Krashny laughs again, hoping down onto the table as Scotty gets their food. She nibbles on the nuts as they sit, waiting for someone to run in and tell them that they found the missing screws or they replaced the metal.
Finally, a youthful red-shirt runs in, mockingbird dæmon jumping from side to side on his shoulder. 'Sir, we couldn't find anything wrong with the machine. We were-'
'Cannae find anything?' Scotty starts, eyebrows raised.
'Go look again!' Krashny finishes, laughing.