FIC: Divergence 10/?
Title: Divergence
Rating: Mature (violence, language, adult themes)
Pairing: pre-slash nu!K/S, kid!K/S
Cast: ensemble, plus Pike, W. Kirk, A. Grayson, and nu!versions of TOS random crew
Keywords: long multi-part fic, kid!Spock, kid!Kirk, time travel, badass!crew, epic friendship
Notes: as a fill for this plotty PROMPT from the kink meme.... LOTS of Bones in this one --- in this one they escape from Starfleet detention... hope you have fun with this part
BETA status - i left it unbetad for now... this is a long fic and we all needed the break, it's for fun anyway so blah!
back to: part one / part two / part three / part four / part five / part six / part seven / part eight / part nine /
Planet-side: Earth, Starfleet Academy, year 2246
The lighting was at fifty percent to mimic night as there were no windows here. This all added to the atmosphere of the holding cells being deep underground, utilitarian and slightly creepy. Jim Kirk pressed himself flat against the wall and peered around the corner quickly before jerking back. There were three guards posted in front of McCoy’s cell. Pike tossed him a phaser. Jim almost dropped it in surprise when he caught it; it was almost twice the weight of what he was used to! Admiring the older design, he gave a huff of amusement.
‘God, I forgot how heavy these things were.’
Pike simply gave him a withering look and switched his phaser to stun. Jim took another look around the corner. All of the officers had their phaser guns hoisted except for one guy, but they were actually all paying attention. ‘Why does he get all the extra security?’ Jim muttered, frowning as he pulled back to press himself against the wall. ‘He’s a doctor. The only thing he’s dangerous with is a hypo-spray.’
Pike cocked an eyebrow, ‘He’s also got a temper and knocked out two of interrogators.’
He stared at Pike for a long moment, trying to figure out if the man was being serious. Pike’s expression didn’t change. Okay, that sounded like Bones - he supposed it was a good thing for those two interrogators that it’d only be Bones’ fist and not a hypo-spray; Bones could do a lot worse with a hypo-spray. Jim looked down at the phaser, making sure it was on stun. ‘What’s our plan?’
‘My plan is for you stay here while I go and talk to them.’
Just then, someone came around the far corner, startling them. Quickly Jim hid the phaser between the wall and his body and pulled at his cadet uniform with the other hand. Pike adopted an intimidating pose with his arms folded. He raised eyebrows, mouthing the word “Pretend” and Jim threw the man a smirk, getting the message. ‘Cadet, if I find you drunk in public again, there will be consequences.’
Jim almost started laughing. He didn’t know how many times he’d heard that before - in almost exactly the same tone. ‘Yes sir.’ He said, ducking his head to appear repentant.
The security officer walked by them with a quick nod and smile for Pike, only sparing Jim a brief glance of passing interest. The Commander nodded back at her with a smile.
‘Is she gone yet?’ Jim murmured, not raising his head.
Pike waved for him to be quiet. He glanced behind him. The woman rounded the next corner.
‘All clear. Let’s do this.’
Jim frowned as Pike quickly darted into the nearby office and came out bearing two PADDs.
‘What are you doing?’
The Commander shot him a wry smile, as he quickly pried the back panel of one of the PADDs open and pulled out a wire. ‘Watch and learn.’
------------
‘Can I help you sir?’
‘I’m here to see the prisoner.’
Opening his eyes at the familiar sound of Admiral Pike’s voice, Leonard McCoy sat up and felt a nervous frisson run through his stomach. Oh great, just what he needed - another creepy link to a future they were probably stampeding into amoeba with the way Jim was shooting off delusions of grandeur. “Saved the Federation” my ass! He got the shit kicked out of him by a Romulan while that pointy-eared bastard blew up the drill.
‘Sir, I’m under strict orders by Admiral Johnson that no one is allowed to see him.’
There was a sigh, followed by a slightly exasperated, ‘Lieutenant… see what I’m holding here?’
What was he holding? McCoy tensed in anticipation, focusing all his attention on the conversation through the door.
‘You’re holding a PADD, sir.’
‘Hmm,’ Pike made a gravelly hum of speculation, dry as bones - nice to see that he knew how to put junior officers in their place even fourteen years ago. ‘And I guess it didn’t occur to you that orders releasing the prisoner into my custody could be on this PADD?’
There was a short silence and McCoy stood up, preparing himself to meet the Admiral - sorry, Commander - with exasperated silence; he honestly didn’t know how many more damned hours of interrogation he could put up with. He was already dangerously veering towards several Temporal Prime Directive violations that were starting to look very attractive and he honestly didn’t need any more incentive.
The doctor peered through the thin slits that allowed him to talk to the guards (good God, this was primitive - in the case of a real medical emergency, the guards wouldn’t even know someone was dying in here choking on their own idiotic tongue! He’d have to see something done about this when they got back, if they got back) and saw Pike hold out one of the PADDs he was carrying. The security officers looked at one another, expressions changing as they considered their options.
Finally one of the guards took the device and touched the button to activate the screen. Arcs of electricity erupted from the PADD; the security officer twitched and then shook violently in a seizure before collapsing in a heap.
The second security officer leaped back in shock, ‘what the-‘
There was the sound of a phaser discharging and she jerked abruptly before tumbling to the floor, stunned. There was the shout from the third officer who quickly started running the other way. Raising his phaser, Pike shot him without blinking an eyelash - what in blazes was happening!
With a few beeps, the electronic lock turned with a harsh whirling noise and his door opened. Leonard McCoy barely had time to gape before being immediately assaulted with a bear hug. ‘Bones! Bones! How ya been!’
McCoy rolled his eyes, but patted the younger man on the back, ‘Should’ve guessed it was you! Couldn’t you have done this the quiet way?’
‘Ah, actually this was his idea.’ Jim muttered, jerking a thumb at Commander Pike who was already stripping phasers and communicators from the unconscious officers. McCoy glared at the man. He was starting to understand why Jim Kirk had a few bolts loose if this was his shining example. Pike raised an eyebrow in response to his accusing look and grabbed the body of the nearest security personnel under the arms, maneuvering the unconscious woman into the holding cell.
‘You boys mind doing some work before we start the congratulations.’ Pike said roughly as he half-pulled half-rolled the stunned body up and onto one of the cots.
Suddenly, it occurred to McCoy that three people had just been electrocuted and stunned on his behalf and he hadn’t even thought about their well-being. All Jim’s bad influence, no doubt - so much for his medical degree. He rolled his eyes, as these days he spent half the time being locked up by angry natives, grumbling till Spock nerve pinched someone or Jim seduced/slugged someone to get them out.
‘Gimme a look at her!’ He snapped and checked the unconscious woman over manually. The stun seemed to have been on a low enough setting that he wouldn’t have to worry about her. Satisfied that she’d be right as rain after she slept it off, he turned to the man who’d been electrocuted - hmm, pupil reactions were fine… ‘God knows what you did to the poor boy when you gave him that booby-trapped PADD -‘
‘Relax, Doctor, all I did was-‘
‘All you did was electrocute him!’ Heart rate was a little fast but still within parameters… hmm, nothing blocking his airways… ‘Where do you get off on-?’
‘Okay, enough, Bones,’ Jim bit out, slinging the remaining man’s arm over his neck, ‘We need to go so if you want to be a doctor, make it fast - Commander, a hand please?’
‘Wait a damned minute here,’ McCoy yelled, ‘Why are we running at all! The auto-beam is in like three hours - we’ll be able to get outta here while sitting pretty, so what’s with the space cowboy act?’
‘Because they’ll realize we have a ship in orbit,’ Jim said, grunting as he and the Commander maneuvered the man into the room, ‘Do you want them to get their hands on Romulan cloaking technology they shouldn’t have? And what’s to say the cells aren’t shielded?’
‘Cloaking technology?’ Pike said in alarm, ‘Isn’t that unstable? Only Klingon are crazy enough-’
Abruptly the sound of klaxons screamed through the compound, making everyone jump in fright and McCoy grimace. Jim looked up and around like he didn’t know what was going down, an expression of “oh shit” coming over his face. McCoy just knew this was going to happen. This stuff always happened. Jim swore under his breath and quickly dragged the remaining officer’s unconscious body into a corner with Commander Pike’s help.
I swear, Jim, you are the human incarnate of Murphy’s Law…
There was rumble coming from further down the corridor and around the corner, and McCoy frowned, trying to place the sound. Pike gave them both a grim look.
‘Security teams, it’s standard procedure to sweep the area.’
‘Oh well shit!’ Jim said in his unhelpful way. Without a word of warning the younger man seized him by the arm, and shoved him towards the cell cot. ‘Get under the bed.’
‘What?’
‘Good idea.’ Pike said with a tight smile, ‘I’ll head them off.’
With a nod, Jim dropped down on his knees and quickly started burrowing and twisting his way into the narrow area under the holding cell cot. Realizing what he was attempting to do, McCoy quickly followed, lying flat on his stomach and wriggling himself in with a mix of movements from his elbows and knees. He felt like a catfish doing the dog paddle. It was a tight fit, he could hardly lift his head off the floor more than a few inches, and the whole place smelt like his grandmother’s mothball closet.
‘Can you see?’ Jim hissed.
Not well; he could see Pike’s leg but that was about it. ‘Shut up.’ He whispered back and then held his breath as he felt a suspicious tickle up his nostrils. The security team must have seen Pike because someone was running over. Besides him, Jim tensed.
‘Sir!’ A new pair of legs came into view, dressed in the standard grey Academy uniform and a pair of boots for a size eight in women’s.
‘He’s gone already, Lieutenant.’
‘Sir, are they okay?’
‘I’ve called medical. Focus on the search for the escaped detainees, Lieutenant, I want a sweep of all hallways, especially three and seven. Exits are there, make sure you cover them.’
‘Aye-aye sir!’
The boots disappeared down the corner followed by a flurry of shouted instructions for people to pan out and secure exits along corridors 3A and 7E. Pike’s feet turned in their direction.
‘All clear.’
Struggling out from under the cot, McCoy took in a deep blessed breath of clean air and promptly sneezed. Jim straggled out behind him, his purloined cadet uniform looking a little rough for wear, with dark stains down his back and along his calves. McCoy wriggled his nose in disgust, ‘the heart of the Federation Council and we still can’t remember to clean under the bed - this could be a major health hazard you know.’
‘Your complaint is noted.’ Pike said dryly, glancing at the doctor from the PADD he was studying.
What now, he thought - the hallways were packed with security officers after their heads and Pike had just ordered them to go ahead and protect the exits! Suddenly he noticed Jim in the corner, stripping off one of the men’s uniforms. ‘What in blazes are you doing Jim?’
Jim grinned and managed to pull the jacket off the unconscious man, ‘Getting you something else to wear - what? We can’t exactly keep a low profile with you walking around in civvies.’
McCoy made a disgusted face. He knew exactly the hundred and one germs he could come into contact with just from wearing someone else’s clothes, but - the doctor glanced heavenwards in exasperation - he supposed he’ll just hypo-spray himself with a cocktail of preventative antibiotics when they got back to the ship. He took the offered jacket, and started to strip off his own, ‘The things I do for you, Jim.’
------------
Jim kept his head down and followed Pike, who was striding quickly and confidentially ahead, giving off the impression that he had somewhere to be right this moment so no one better stop him. They were out of the holding cell blocks and had just passed some gyms which appeared to be for hand-to-hand combat training. Security block - figured it’ll be so close to the holding cells. He’d taken his combat course with the rest of the Command track in the gym closer to their block so this was all new territory.
‘How much longer till the automatic beam-out kicks in?’
He glanced at his chronometer. It was still stuck on 1409 hours - he winced - which meant that it was broken again and he’ll need to get a new one off Requisitions. Spock was already practically snarling with every uniform he managed to mangle, he could just imagine the expression on the Vulcan’s face when he put in yet another request. ‘Bones, what time?’
‘Another three hours or so…’
‘Not terrible, not great, but sounds feasible.’ Pike said tersely, and tapped a few more commands into the PADD he held. ‘So all I have to do is keep you boys off the grid for just over three hours.’
Jim craned his neck and peered over the man’s shoulder - maps and mass transit timetables and routes - it looked like they were going on an excursion. In the background behind them, the sound of the red alert klaxon in the holding cell area continued to cry shrilly, echoing against the dark polymer flooring. The security team would pan out as soon as they finished securing that area and this was the next place they’d look. Damn.
‘Yeah, should be enough.’ Jim tensed as a cadet walked by them with an armload of PADDs. Thankfully she gave them a cursory glance of interest but otherwise took no notice of them. One of the turbolifts opened ahead of them, and a team of engineers streamed out, all talking loudly in their confusion. Jim kept his head down and murmured a sorry when he bumped shoulders with a few of them. The yellow alert had extended to this part of the Academy by now, the lights flashing on the walls and arching over the polished floors.
Pike acknowledged the attention given to him as a senior officer with a small nod, ‘Intruder alert, cadets. It’s standard procedure so rendezvous with your squad leaders.’
There was a chorus of “aye-aye sirs” and the team of engineers dispersed, jogging down the corridor, each to their own destination. As soon as they were out of earshot, Jim turned to the Commander, ‘What are we going to do now? Wander around the Academy till we get beamed? We’re going to get seen or caught sooner or later.’
‘I know,’ Pike grumbled under his breath with a slight hiss, nodding at another passing Academy staff member who was trailed by several Ensigns all bearing phasers. ‘We should get off campus as soon as possible. Security is tightening.’
‘Radius spread from a zero point; the exit points closest will be locked down first, and so on in a domino effect.’ He said, remembering the standard Intruder Alert Protocol from back at the Academy. He’d never had much use for that piece of information except as an answer on a test back in First Year. Most intrusions upon the Academy were usually nipped pretty quickly before they even got into the solar system never mind the actual Academy grounds.
‘Exactly,’ Pike said quietly, ‘So I recommend we run - we’re ahead already so we’ll catch up with the security lockdown at the next exit. Let’s go.’
------------
In stationary position behind Charis: USS Enterprise, year 2246
Nyota Uhura raised her hands in the air, ‘Whoa, whoa, Chekov! Slow down!’
Gasping for air and bright-eyed, the Russian Ensign gave her a short nervous laugh and ran a hand through his wavy hair, ‘Oh, right, oh, I’m sorry…’
She raised her eyebrows at his flushed appearance, ‘Are you okay, Chekov? Okay, let’s try this again slowly, okay?’
‘Mr. Scott and I have been thinking of ways to find the Romulan vessel…‘ Uhura nodded and gestured for him to keep going. ‘Now, the Romulans spent twenty-five years, looking for an electric storm in space or any subspace anomalies which might be a temporal disturbance, as well as all subspace transmissions within specific bandwidths!’
‘Okay…’ She smiled in confusion, ‘So… what does this mean?’
Chekov beamed, ‘We can mimic the subspace frequencies of the Vulcan Science Academy in the twenty-fourth century!’
Uhura felt something in her mind click, ‘Subspace frequencies? Which are specific to that period?’
‘Exactly!’ The young man nodded and grinned at her broadly, ‘Only a Vulcan vessel of the twenty-fourth century would use these specific subspace frequencies as they are not part of the preprogrammed range of Starfleet nor any Vulcan vessels in the twenty-third century -‘
‘So if we were to send out coded messages in those bandwidths,’ Uhura met Chekov’s eyes, catching on to what the navigator was attempting to say, ‘They’re going to think we’re from that time - from the future!’
‘Yes! Yes, yes! And,' Chekov held up a finger, a proud grin stretching across his lips, ‘While we cannot duplicate the effects of the temporal distortion, we can create subspace oscillations!’
Uhura frowned, and held her hands up again to stop the speech that Chekov was about to launch into, ‘Okay. Stop there. What does that even mean?’ She narrowed her eyes, attempting to find a frame of reference within her education in subspace communications, ‘Subspace oscillation? I mean, that’s just natural subspace interference isn’t it?’
Chekov gave her an excited smile, ‘You know how to filter it out and distinguish between naturally occurring subspace phenomenon and artificial subspace signals, da??’
‘Yes I know how, Chekov, but…’ She frowned, her mind still drawing a blank, ‘How does this help?’
‘According to our information, in the twenty-four century, subspace oscillations are picked up by sensors as part of standard astrometric telemetry.’ Chekov explained, thrusting the PADD in front of her face. Uhura took it and wiped the finger smears off the screen, her eye curiously raking over the contents. Unfortunately, it was all engineering terms and mathematics, which she found illegible except for the odd Gaelic word - Scotty’s handiwork no doubt. ‘They cause minor gravimetric vibrations and are considered as side effects of disruptions in subspace.’
‘So you mean, they’ll … notice it?’ She asked tentatively, trying to grasp what Chekov was sharing.
‘Aye! It’s a space anomaly!’ Chekov threw his hand up and almost knocked a passing crewman in the head with the mug. Uhura refrained from rolling her eyes when Chekov didn’t even noticed.
‘An anomaly…’ She repeated, starting to smile, ‘Okay, so they’ll come after it.’
‘Exactly!’
Uhura cocked her head to the side, a thought suddenly occurring to her - namely, her Vulcan crewmember: ‘Why are you telling me this and not the Commander?’
Chekov gave her a small embarrassed smile, ‘Mr. Scott was hoping you could help us with the subspace oscillation, to make it as authentic as possible. We also need messages in Vulcan for transmissions.’
She grinned and handed the PADD back, ‘Let’s get started.’
----------
Planet-side: Earth, Starfleet Academy, year 2246
Leonard McCoy ducked behind a tree and felt a hot sizzle along the tip of his right ear. They’d successfully evaded the security lockdown protocols after running for what seemed like a mile, and then just as they were out in the open air, walking towards freedom, someone just happened to catch sight of them and raised the alarm.
Damn Jim and his Murphy’s Law curse!
McCoy peered out from behind the tree, trying to catch sight of where Jim or Commander Pike had gone but all he got for his trouble was another attempt to stun him. He quickly went down into a crouch before attempting to take another look, keeping his eyes peeled for that annoying Ensign who kept aiming for him - oh, just she wait when he got his hands on a phaser!
More Security teams were arriving by the minute. Fortunately they were required to cross the open green lawns of the Academy grounds where there was little to no cover. Even with his lack of tactical knowledge, it was blatantly obvious that he had an advantage over any Security team that would try and approach. Too bad that he didn’t have a phaser, the doctor mused dryly.
McCoy looked around aimlessly. The darkness and the pockets of lit up areas didn’t make it easy to find Jim or the Commander. Suddenly, his eyes caught movement to his right. It was Jim, waving his hand like a maniac while hiding behind a park bench and trading phaser fire with their pursuers like they were in a good old-fashioned western shoot-out. The idiot!! He waved tentatively back and flinched when a phaser fired from behind him, neatly stunning a Security officer who had been about to sneak up on him from the left. He spun around. Winona Kirk put down her phaser.
‘You should be more careful, Doctor.’
‘Tell that to him!’ He said, gesturing wildly at where Jim was taking cover before realizing who had just saved him from a phaser stun and slowly turning back to do a double-take.
‘Here.’ The Commodore said, darting forwards to collect the dropped phaser and throwing it to him.
McCoy caught it on reflex, completely confused by her sudden appearance. The phaser fitted about as good as gorilla gloves - what he’d give for a nice laser scalpel instead. ‘Ah… thanks.’ I think, he silently added, giving the woman who gave birth to the likes of Jim Kirk a few suspicious glances.
Suddenly his attention was drawn to a flash in the dark to his wider peripheral left. Raising the phaser, McCoy spun and fired without thinking. There was a grunt of surprise in the darkness before a female officer tumbled onto the green grass, her phaser falling slack from her fingers.
‘You’re a good shot, for a Doctor.’
McCoy ignored the compliment. The smell of blaster discharge filled the air like burning ion, making the pit of his stomach turn and he really didn’t care for making conversation, even if he felt a bit rude.
‘Winona! What the hell are you doing?’ Pike called out from the next tree over, his back pressed hard against the trunk as the security detail responded with a series of retaliating blasts.
The older woman grinned, mirroring the Commander’s pose. ‘What’s wrong, Chris? Not happy to see me? Don’t worry Commander, I’m just passing through.’
Leonard McCoy rolled his eyes at the hint of teasing in the woman’s voice. She was Jim’s mom alright - to be flirting or whatever it was she thought she was doing while people were shooting at them was just ridiculous, more so because she was a Commodore for Pete’s sake!
‘Why aren’t they trying to kill us?’ McCoy snarled, trying to bring their attention back to the business at hand. He quickly fired off a few wild shots to get them to stop. He didn’t understand why the security personnel were firing stun-setting only. They could have vaporized the trees he was using for cover but instead they were shooting at him with what were essentially blanks. Between the three of them, they could pick off any approaching back up for now, but he wasn’t sure how much longer they could keep it up. The phaser grew hot as he fired again and again.
Commander Pike dived as a blast got too close, hitting the ground with a pained grunt.
‘Chris!’ Winona Kirk exclaimed, letting loose on a barrage of shots that prevented the man from becoming the immediate target of seven trigger happy security cadets.
McCoy dragged Pike up and behind the tree just as several blasts scorched the grass where the Commander had been. Breathing a little heavier than usual, Pike hoisted his phaser and glanced quickly around the tree trunk at their targets, ‘This is all DTI approved, Doctor.’ He fired a shot before ducking back behind cover, ‘I’m under orders to get you out of here and they’re under orders to pursue.’
McCoy grabbed the Commander by the arm, his mind racing, ‘Wait, are you saying this is a set up? Are you saying Starfleet actually wants us to escape?’ He looked to the Commodore, who was looking at them intensely, obviously eavesdropping, ‘And what about her, huh?’
Before the Commander had a chance to explain, the sound of law enforcement sirens filled the air at an almost deafening decibel. McCoy grimaced and covered his ears in pain. His head snapped upwards to look for the source. Flood lights scorched his face through the branches of the tree. Besides him, Commander Pike swore in Klingon.
‘So did the DTI invite them to this party too?’ He yelled over the clicking sirens.
The older man shot him a dark look, hands clamped over his ears.
‘CITIZEN. PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND PREPARE TO BE ARRESTED.’
The electronic voice resonated across the green lawn, hard and metallic. McCoy grimaced; he could barely see with the glare in his eyes but there appeared to be five - no, six - auto-police units hovering approximately ten meters above them, their engines humming in low pitch harmony. Mindless fucking drones, he thought angrily. McCoy had always thought the Government was moronic for introducing robotic units to do primary police work.
And now I have proof… beautiful, I’ll cite a complaint as soon as I get the hell out of here...
Pike grabbed him by the shoulder and pried his hand away from his ear, ‘When I give you the order to run, run - get Jim and -!’
There was a bright streak of phaser fire from beside him and suddenly, one of the floodlights blinked out. The hit police unit swerved wildly and knocked into two of the others. Alarmed screams filled the air as the unit veered closely to the ground, sending several Starfleet officers diving face down onto the lawns to avoid it. There was another burst of phaser fire, followed by the sound of a small explosion. The damage unit began to spin erratically, its propulsion systems grinding like metal.
‘Watch out people!!’ Winona Kirk yelled over the field, leaving the cover of the tree line and waving her hands for attention, ‘Get out of the way!’
McCoy ran for cover and cursed under his breath at the sight of a young Ensign looking around lost and confused - the idiot was standing straight in the path of the damaged auto-police unit!
‘Get down kid!’ He shouted and tackled the boy to the grass, rolling them swiftly away.
Overhead there was the sound of midair collision, shouting, several people screaming and the harsh fizzle of more phaser fire. He felt the grass tremble as the police unit crashed to the ground some twenty meters away and destructed in a barrage of sparks, smoke and flames. His blood thudded like war drums in his ears and he felt vaguely sick - definitely a doctor, not a cowboy… McCoy pulled away and looked down at the young man he’d just knocked down.
‘You saved my life.’ The Ensign said in a shaky voice eyes wide in shock.
‘CITIZEN. PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND PREPARE TO BE ARRESTED.’
Before he even had time to ask if the young man was okay, he felt someone dragging him up. It was Jim, who was panting heavily, and firing at the flood lights, knocking them out with surprising accuracy. Pike skidded to a stop besides them, his phaser blaring brightly with each shot he fired.
‘Come on!’ Jim yelled, ‘Dammit Bones, get moving!’
There was pandemonium as they ran with Academy security and cadets who’d been caught in the cross fire. The distinct hum of the police auto-units streaked by his head, way too close for comfort. Suddenly Jim stopped running and pointed his phaser into the dark sky, firing at a police auto-unit that was preparing to come about. The unit sharply veered to the left and quickly gained altitude to avoid the blasts. Next to him, the Commander’s phaser fire joined Jim’s. There was a wobble in the unit’s tail lights before suddenly it exploded, engulfed in a large fireball that flared hotly across his face and made the air tremble. The wreckage dropped like a deadweight sending Starfleet officers scrambling for cover.
‘You’re good at this.’ Pike said in disbelief.
McCoy glanced at Jim, who shrugged and gave them an awkward smile, ‘Would you believe that I used to get hunted by these things every week?’
‘Why am I not surprised?’ He snarled, before looking around him and realizing that someone was missing; Winona Kirk, the mother of irrepressible Jim Kirk was nowhere to be seen.
Grinning and at ease, Jim missed his troubled expression. Clapping him on the shoulder firmly with both hands, the younger man spun him around towards the main gates of the Academy grounds some four hundred meters away, ‘Focus, Bones, we’re escaping remember?’
McCoy resisted the urge to punch his young Captain in the face for grinning when they’d spent the last twenty minutes dodging phaser fire, and turned stiffly to face the more mature member of their little escape plot, ‘Commander, have you seen the Commodore?’
Jim blinked in confusion, ‘The Commodore…?’
Yes, Jim had been so busy with his little shoot-out he wouldn’t have noticed his mother. Leonard McCoy opened his mouth to explain what happened when a hovercar roared towards them across the green and descended smoothly while doing a tail-spin turn till it was right alongside of them. For a moment, Jim tensed, grabbing hard onto his arm with the intention of pulling him into a run, but then they all got a good look.
Winona Kirk nodded her head to the back seat, ‘Get in. Who knows how to bypass hovercar security?’ A stunned look still on his face, Jim raised his hand in a jerky move. McCoy had a feeling that it was reflex doing the work and that the younger man’s brain was probably still dealing with the fact that his mom was here in a hovercar, an accessory to breaking the two of them out of Starfleet detention.
She nodded and pointed at a fleet of hovercars nearby in the parking area, all on standby and unguarded in the confusion going on. ‘Get another car, we need to lose them and then regroup - Sector 25, in front of the Betazed Art Gallery. Know where that is?’
Jim nodded curtly, still wide-eyed.
‘Good. Let’s go.’
A slow grin flittered across Jim’s face, and McCoy exhaled noisily when the younger man turned to him with a smirk as if to say - see Bones, my mom is just awesome! His mom was a Commodore who knew how to bypass hovercar security features - his mom was a “carjacker” to use the crude term. The younger man took off at a jog, jumped into a Starfleet hovercar and disappeared from view, no doubt bypassing the security features. The engine gave a low hum as it switched on. Jim waved at them.
‘Is he really a Starfleet Captain?’ Pike asked under his breath.
‘I wonder that every damn day,’ Leonard McCoy admitted grudgingly as they climbed into the flitter, staring hard at the woman who gave birth to Jim Kirk, ‘Is she really a Commodore?’
part eleven
next: Chekov and Scotty's idea is put into motion, and we catch up with what's happening on the Narada with the kid!Spock and kid!Kirk
Rating: Mature (violence, language, adult themes)
Pairing: pre-slash nu!K/S, kid!K/S
Cast: ensemble, plus Pike, W. Kirk, A. Grayson, and nu!versions of TOS random crew
Keywords: long multi-part fic, kid!Spock, kid!Kirk, time travel, badass!crew, epic friendship
Notes: as a fill for this plotty PROMPT from the kink meme.... LOTS of Bones in this one --- in this one they escape from Starfleet detention... hope you have fun with this part
BETA status - i left it unbetad for now... this is a long fic and we all needed the break, it's for fun anyway so blah!
back to: part one / part two / part three / part four / part five / part six / part seven / part eight / part nine /
Planet-side: Earth, Starfleet Academy, year 2246
The lighting was at fifty percent to mimic night as there were no windows here. This all added to the atmosphere of the holding cells being deep underground, utilitarian and slightly creepy. Jim Kirk pressed himself flat against the wall and peered around the corner quickly before jerking back. There were three guards posted in front of McCoy’s cell. Pike tossed him a phaser. Jim almost dropped it in surprise when he caught it; it was almost twice the weight of what he was used to! Admiring the older design, he gave a huff of amusement.
‘God, I forgot how heavy these things were.’
Pike simply gave him a withering look and switched his phaser to stun. Jim took another look around the corner. All of the officers had their phaser guns hoisted except for one guy, but they were actually all paying attention. ‘Why does he get all the extra security?’ Jim muttered, frowning as he pulled back to press himself against the wall. ‘He’s a doctor. The only thing he’s dangerous with is a hypo-spray.’
Pike cocked an eyebrow, ‘He’s also got a temper and knocked out two of interrogators.’
He stared at Pike for a long moment, trying to figure out if the man was being serious. Pike’s expression didn’t change. Okay, that sounded like Bones - he supposed it was a good thing for those two interrogators that it’d only be Bones’ fist and not a hypo-spray; Bones could do a lot worse with a hypo-spray. Jim looked down at the phaser, making sure it was on stun. ‘What’s our plan?’
‘My plan is for you stay here while I go and talk to them.’
Just then, someone came around the far corner, startling them. Quickly Jim hid the phaser between the wall and his body and pulled at his cadet uniform with the other hand. Pike adopted an intimidating pose with his arms folded. He raised eyebrows, mouthing the word “Pretend” and Jim threw the man a smirk, getting the message. ‘Cadet, if I find you drunk in public again, there will be consequences.’
Jim almost started laughing. He didn’t know how many times he’d heard that before - in almost exactly the same tone. ‘Yes sir.’ He said, ducking his head to appear repentant.
The security officer walked by them with a quick nod and smile for Pike, only sparing Jim a brief glance of passing interest. The Commander nodded back at her with a smile.
‘Is she gone yet?’ Jim murmured, not raising his head.
Pike waved for him to be quiet. He glanced behind him. The woman rounded the next corner.
‘All clear. Let’s do this.’
Jim frowned as Pike quickly darted into the nearby office and came out bearing two PADDs.
‘What are you doing?’
The Commander shot him a wry smile, as he quickly pried the back panel of one of the PADDs open and pulled out a wire. ‘Watch and learn.’
------------
‘Can I help you sir?’
‘I’m here to see the prisoner.’
Opening his eyes at the familiar sound of Admiral Pike’s voice, Leonard McCoy sat up and felt a nervous frisson run through his stomach. Oh great, just what he needed - another creepy link to a future they were probably stampeding into amoeba with the way Jim was shooting off delusions of grandeur. “Saved the Federation” my ass! He got the shit kicked out of him by a Romulan while that pointy-eared bastard blew up the drill.
‘Sir, I’m under strict orders by Admiral Johnson that no one is allowed to see him.’
There was a sigh, followed by a slightly exasperated, ‘Lieutenant… see what I’m holding here?’
What was he holding? McCoy tensed in anticipation, focusing all his attention on the conversation through the door.
‘You’re holding a PADD, sir.’
‘Hmm,’ Pike made a gravelly hum of speculation, dry as bones - nice to see that he knew how to put junior officers in their place even fourteen years ago. ‘And I guess it didn’t occur to you that orders releasing the prisoner into my custody could be on this PADD?’
There was a short silence and McCoy stood up, preparing himself to meet the Admiral - sorry, Commander - with exasperated silence; he honestly didn’t know how many more damned hours of interrogation he could put up with. He was already dangerously veering towards several Temporal Prime Directive violations that were starting to look very attractive and he honestly didn’t need any more incentive.
The doctor peered through the thin slits that allowed him to talk to the guards (good God, this was primitive - in the case of a real medical emergency, the guards wouldn’t even know someone was dying in here choking on their own idiotic tongue! He’d have to see something done about this when they got back, if they got back) and saw Pike hold out one of the PADDs he was carrying. The security officers looked at one another, expressions changing as they considered their options.
Finally one of the guards took the device and touched the button to activate the screen. Arcs of electricity erupted from the PADD; the security officer twitched and then shook violently in a seizure before collapsing in a heap.
The second security officer leaped back in shock, ‘what the-‘
There was the sound of a phaser discharging and she jerked abruptly before tumbling to the floor, stunned. There was the shout from the third officer who quickly started running the other way. Raising his phaser, Pike shot him without blinking an eyelash - what in blazes was happening!
With a few beeps, the electronic lock turned with a harsh whirling noise and his door opened. Leonard McCoy barely had time to gape before being immediately assaulted with a bear hug. ‘Bones! Bones! How ya been!’
McCoy rolled his eyes, but patted the younger man on the back, ‘Should’ve guessed it was you! Couldn’t you have done this the quiet way?’
‘Ah, actually this was his idea.’ Jim muttered, jerking a thumb at Commander Pike who was already stripping phasers and communicators from the unconscious officers. McCoy glared at the man. He was starting to understand why Jim Kirk had a few bolts loose if this was his shining example. Pike raised an eyebrow in response to his accusing look and grabbed the body of the nearest security personnel under the arms, maneuvering the unconscious woman into the holding cell.
‘You boys mind doing some work before we start the congratulations.’ Pike said roughly as he half-pulled half-rolled the stunned body up and onto one of the cots.
Suddenly, it occurred to McCoy that three people had just been electrocuted and stunned on his behalf and he hadn’t even thought about their well-being. All Jim’s bad influence, no doubt - so much for his medical degree. He rolled his eyes, as these days he spent half the time being locked up by angry natives, grumbling till Spock nerve pinched someone or Jim seduced/slugged someone to get them out.
‘Gimme a look at her!’ He snapped and checked the unconscious woman over manually. The stun seemed to have been on a low enough setting that he wouldn’t have to worry about her. Satisfied that she’d be right as rain after she slept it off, he turned to the man who’d been electrocuted - hmm, pupil reactions were fine… ‘God knows what you did to the poor boy when you gave him that booby-trapped PADD -‘
‘Relax, Doctor, all I did was-‘
‘All you did was electrocute him!’ Heart rate was a little fast but still within parameters… hmm, nothing blocking his airways… ‘Where do you get off on-?’
‘Okay, enough, Bones,’ Jim bit out, slinging the remaining man’s arm over his neck, ‘We need to go so if you want to be a doctor, make it fast - Commander, a hand please?’
‘Wait a damned minute here,’ McCoy yelled, ‘Why are we running at all! The auto-beam is in like three hours - we’ll be able to get outta here while sitting pretty, so what’s with the space cowboy act?’
‘Because they’ll realize we have a ship in orbit,’ Jim said, grunting as he and the Commander maneuvered the man into the room, ‘Do you want them to get their hands on Romulan cloaking technology they shouldn’t have? And what’s to say the cells aren’t shielded?’
‘Cloaking technology?’ Pike said in alarm, ‘Isn’t that unstable? Only Klingon are crazy enough-’
Abruptly the sound of klaxons screamed through the compound, making everyone jump in fright and McCoy grimace. Jim looked up and around like he didn’t know what was going down, an expression of “oh shit” coming over his face. McCoy just knew this was going to happen. This stuff always happened. Jim swore under his breath and quickly dragged the remaining officer’s unconscious body into a corner with Commander Pike’s help.
I swear, Jim, you are the human incarnate of Murphy’s Law…
There was rumble coming from further down the corridor and around the corner, and McCoy frowned, trying to place the sound. Pike gave them both a grim look.
‘Security teams, it’s standard procedure to sweep the area.’
‘Oh well shit!’ Jim said in his unhelpful way. Without a word of warning the younger man seized him by the arm, and shoved him towards the cell cot. ‘Get under the bed.’
‘What?’
‘Good idea.’ Pike said with a tight smile, ‘I’ll head them off.’
With a nod, Jim dropped down on his knees and quickly started burrowing and twisting his way into the narrow area under the holding cell cot. Realizing what he was attempting to do, McCoy quickly followed, lying flat on his stomach and wriggling himself in with a mix of movements from his elbows and knees. He felt like a catfish doing the dog paddle. It was a tight fit, he could hardly lift his head off the floor more than a few inches, and the whole place smelt like his grandmother’s mothball closet.
‘Can you see?’ Jim hissed.
Not well; he could see Pike’s leg but that was about it. ‘Shut up.’ He whispered back and then held his breath as he felt a suspicious tickle up his nostrils. The security team must have seen Pike because someone was running over. Besides him, Jim tensed.
‘Sir!’ A new pair of legs came into view, dressed in the standard grey Academy uniform and a pair of boots for a size eight in women’s.
‘He’s gone already, Lieutenant.’
‘Sir, are they okay?’
‘I’ve called medical. Focus on the search for the escaped detainees, Lieutenant, I want a sweep of all hallways, especially three and seven. Exits are there, make sure you cover them.’
‘Aye-aye sir!’
The boots disappeared down the corner followed by a flurry of shouted instructions for people to pan out and secure exits along corridors 3A and 7E. Pike’s feet turned in their direction.
‘All clear.’
Struggling out from under the cot, McCoy took in a deep blessed breath of clean air and promptly sneezed. Jim straggled out behind him, his purloined cadet uniform looking a little rough for wear, with dark stains down his back and along his calves. McCoy wriggled his nose in disgust, ‘the heart of the Federation Council and we still can’t remember to clean under the bed - this could be a major health hazard you know.’
‘Your complaint is noted.’ Pike said dryly, glancing at the doctor from the PADD he was studying.
What now, he thought - the hallways were packed with security officers after their heads and Pike had just ordered them to go ahead and protect the exits! Suddenly he noticed Jim in the corner, stripping off one of the men’s uniforms. ‘What in blazes are you doing Jim?’
Jim grinned and managed to pull the jacket off the unconscious man, ‘Getting you something else to wear - what? We can’t exactly keep a low profile with you walking around in civvies.’
McCoy made a disgusted face. He knew exactly the hundred and one germs he could come into contact with just from wearing someone else’s clothes, but - the doctor glanced heavenwards in exasperation - he supposed he’ll just hypo-spray himself with a cocktail of preventative antibiotics when they got back to the ship. He took the offered jacket, and started to strip off his own, ‘The things I do for you, Jim.’
------------
Jim kept his head down and followed Pike, who was striding quickly and confidentially ahead, giving off the impression that he had somewhere to be right this moment so no one better stop him. They were out of the holding cell blocks and had just passed some gyms which appeared to be for hand-to-hand combat training. Security block - figured it’ll be so close to the holding cells. He’d taken his combat course with the rest of the Command track in the gym closer to their block so this was all new territory.
‘How much longer till the automatic beam-out kicks in?’
He glanced at his chronometer. It was still stuck on 1409 hours - he winced - which meant that it was broken again and he’ll need to get a new one off Requisitions. Spock was already practically snarling with every uniform he managed to mangle, he could just imagine the expression on the Vulcan’s face when he put in yet another request. ‘Bones, what time?’
‘Another three hours or so…’
‘Not terrible, not great, but sounds feasible.’ Pike said tersely, and tapped a few more commands into the PADD he held. ‘So all I have to do is keep you boys off the grid for just over three hours.’
Jim craned his neck and peered over the man’s shoulder - maps and mass transit timetables and routes - it looked like they were going on an excursion. In the background behind them, the sound of the red alert klaxon in the holding cell area continued to cry shrilly, echoing against the dark polymer flooring. The security team would pan out as soon as they finished securing that area and this was the next place they’d look. Damn.
‘Yeah, should be enough.’ Jim tensed as a cadet walked by them with an armload of PADDs. Thankfully she gave them a cursory glance of interest but otherwise took no notice of them. One of the turbolifts opened ahead of them, and a team of engineers streamed out, all talking loudly in their confusion. Jim kept his head down and murmured a sorry when he bumped shoulders with a few of them. The yellow alert had extended to this part of the Academy by now, the lights flashing on the walls and arching over the polished floors.
Pike acknowledged the attention given to him as a senior officer with a small nod, ‘Intruder alert, cadets. It’s standard procedure so rendezvous with your squad leaders.’
There was a chorus of “aye-aye sirs” and the team of engineers dispersed, jogging down the corridor, each to their own destination. As soon as they were out of earshot, Jim turned to the Commander, ‘What are we going to do now? Wander around the Academy till we get beamed? We’re going to get seen or caught sooner or later.’
‘I know,’ Pike grumbled under his breath with a slight hiss, nodding at another passing Academy staff member who was trailed by several Ensigns all bearing phasers. ‘We should get off campus as soon as possible. Security is tightening.’
‘Radius spread from a zero point; the exit points closest will be locked down first, and so on in a domino effect.’ He said, remembering the standard Intruder Alert Protocol from back at the Academy. He’d never had much use for that piece of information except as an answer on a test back in First Year. Most intrusions upon the Academy were usually nipped pretty quickly before they even got into the solar system never mind the actual Academy grounds.
‘Exactly,’ Pike said quietly, ‘So I recommend we run - we’re ahead already so we’ll catch up with the security lockdown at the next exit. Let’s go.’
------------
In stationary position behind Charis: USS Enterprise, year 2246
Nyota Uhura raised her hands in the air, ‘Whoa, whoa, Chekov! Slow down!’
Gasping for air and bright-eyed, the Russian Ensign gave her a short nervous laugh and ran a hand through his wavy hair, ‘Oh, right, oh, I’m sorry…’
She raised her eyebrows at his flushed appearance, ‘Are you okay, Chekov? Okay, let’s try this again slowly, okay?’
‘Mr. Scott and I have been thinking of ways to find the Romulan vessel…‘ Uhura nodded and gestured for him to keep going. ‘Now, the Romulans spent twenty-five years, looking for an electric storm in space or any subspace anomalies which might be a temporal disturbance, as well as all subspace transmissions within specific bandwidths!’
‘Okay…’ She smiled in confusion, ‘So… what does this mean?’
Chekov beamed, ‘We can mimic the subspace frequencies of the Vulcan Science Academy in the twenty-fourth century!’
Uhura felt something in her mind click, ‘Subspace frequencies? Which are specific to that period?’
‘Exactly!’ The young man nodded and grinned at her broadly, ‘Only a Vulcan vessel of the twenty-fourth century would use these specific subspace frequencies as they are not part of the preprogrammed range of Starfleet nor any Vulcan vessels in the twenty-third century -‘
‘So if we were to send out coded messages in those bandwidths,’ Uhura met Chekov’s eyes, catching on to what the navigator was attempting to say, ‘They’re going to think we’re from that time - from the future!’
‘Yes! Yes, yes! And,' Chekov held up a finger, a proud grin stretching across his lips, ‘While we cannot duplicate the effects of the temporal distortion, we can create subspace oscillations!’
Uhura frowned, and held her hands up again to stop the speech that Chekov was about to launch into, ‘Okay. Stop there. What does that even mean?’ She narrowed her eyes, attempting to find a frame of reference within her education in subspace communications, ‘Subspace oscillation? I mean, that’s just natural subspace interference isn’t it?’
Chekov gave her an excited smile, ‘You know how to filter it out and distinguish between naturally occurring subspace phenomenon and artificial subspace signals, da??’
‘Yes I know how, Chekov, but…’ She frowned, her mind still drawing a blank, ‘How does this help?’
‘According to our information, in the twenty-four century, subspace oscillations are picked up by sensors as part of standard astrometric telemetry.’ Chekov explained, thrusting the PADD in front of her face. Uhura took it and wiped the finger smears off the screen, her eye curiously raking over the contents. Unfortunately, it was all engineering terms and mathematics, which she found illegible except for the odd Gaelic word - Scotty’s handiwork no doubt. ‘They cause minor gravimetric vibrations and are considered as side effects of disruptions in subspace.’
‘So you mean, they’ll … notice it?’ She asked tentatively, trying to grasp what Chekov was sharing.
‘Aye! It’s a space anomaly!’ Chekov threw his hand up and almost knocked a passing crewman in the head with the mug. Uhura refrained from rolling her eyes when Chekov didn’t even noticed.
‘An anomaly…’ She repeated, starting to smile, ‘Okay, so they’ll come after it.’
‘Exactly!’
Uhura cocked her head to the side, a thought suddenly occurring to her - namely, her Vulcan crewmember: ‘Why are you telling me this and not the Commander?’
Chekov gave her a small embarrassed smile, ‘Mr. Scott was hoping you could help us with the subspace oscillation, to make it as authentic as possible. We also need messages in Vulcan for transmissions.’
She grinned and handed the PADD back, ‘Let’s get started.’
----------
Planet-side: Earth, Starfleet Academy, year 2246
Leonard McCoy ducked behind a tree and felt a hot sizzle along the tip of his right ear. They’d successfully evaded the security lockdown protocols after running for what seemed like a mile, and then just as they were out in the open air, walking towards freedom, someone just happened to catch sight of them and raised the alarm.
Damn Jim and his Murphy’s Law curse!
McCoy peered out from behind the tree, trying to catch sight of where Jim or Commander Pike had gone but all he got for his trouble was another attempt to stun him. He quickly went down into a crouch before attempting to take another look, keeping his eyes peeled for that annoying Ensign who kept aiming for him - oh, just she wait when he got his hands on a phaser!
More Security teams were arriving by the minute. Fortunately they were required to cross the open green lawns of the Academy grounds where there was little to no cover. Even with his lack of tactical knowledge, it was blatantly obvious that he had an advantage over any Security team that would try and approach. Too bad that he didn’t have a phaser, the doctor mused dryly.
McCoy looked around aimlessly. The darkness and the pockets of lit up areas didn’t make it easy to find Jim or the Commander. Suddenly, his eyes caught movement to his right. It was Jim, waving his hand like a maniac while hiding behind a park bench and trading phaser fire with their pursuers like they were in a good old-fashioned western shoot-out. The idiot!! He waved tentatively back and flinched when a phaser fired from behind him, neatly stunning a Security officer who had been about to sneak up on him from the left. He spun around. Winona Kirk put down her phaser.
‘You should be more careful, Doctor.’
‘Tell that to him!’ He said, gesturing wildly at where Jim was taking cover before realizing who had just saved him from a phaser stun and slowly turning back to do a double-take.
‘Here.’ The Commodore said, darting forwards to collect the dropped phaser and throwing it to him.
McCoy caught it on reflex, completely confused by her sudden appearance. The phaser fitted about as good as gorilla gloves - what he’d give for a nice laser scalpel instead. ‘Ah… thanks.’ I think, he silently added, giving the woman who gave birth to the likes of Jim Kirk a few suspicious glances.
Suddenly his attention was drawn to a flash in the dark to his wider peripheral left. Raising the phaser, McCoy spun and fired without thinking. There was a grunt of surprise in the darkness before a female officer tumbled onto the green grass, her phaser falling slack from her fingers.
‘You’re a good shot, for a Doctor.’
McCoy ignored the compliment. The smell of blaster discharge filled the air like burning ion, making the pit of his stomach turn and he really didn’t care for making conversation, even if he felt a bit rude.
‘Winona! What the hell are you doing?’ Pike called out from the next tree over, his back pressed hard against the trunk as the security detail responded with a series of retaliating blasts.
The older woman grinned, mirroring the Commander’s pose. ‘What’s wrong, Chris? Not happy to see me? Don’t worry Commander, I’m just passing through.’
Leonard McCoy rolled his eyes at the hint of teasing in the woman’s voice. She was Jim’s mom alright - to be flirting or whatever it was she thought she was doing while people were shooting at them was just ridiculous, more so because she was a Commodore for Pete’s sake!
‘Why aren’t they trying to kill us?’ McCoy snarled, trying to bring their attention back to the business at hand. He quickly fired off a few wild shots to get them to stop. He didn’t understand why the security personnel were firing stun-setting only. They could have vaporized the trees he was using for cover but instead they were shooting at him with what were essentially blanks. Between the three of them, they could pick off any approaching back up for now, but he wasn’t sure how much longer they could keep it up. The phaser grew hot as he fired again and again.
Commander Pike dived as a blast got too close, hitting the ground with a pained grunt.
‘Chris!’ Winona Kirk exclaimed, letting loose on a barrage of shots that prevented the man from becoming the immediate target of seven trigger happy security cadets.
McCoy dragged Pike up and behind the tree just as several blasts scorched the grass where the Commander had been. Breathing a little heavier than usual, Pike hoisted his phaser and glanced quickly around the tree trunk at their targets, ‘This is all DTI approved, Doctor.’ He fired a shot before ducking back behind cover, ‘I’m under orders to get you out of here and they’re under orders to pursue.’
McCoy grabbed the Commander by the arm, his mind racing, ‘Wait, are you saying this is a set up? Are you saying Starfleet actually wants us to escape?’ He looked to the Commodore, who was looking at them intensely, obviously eavesdropping, ‘And what about her, huh?’
Before the Commander had a chance to explain, the sound of law enforcement sirens filled the air at an almost deafening decibel. McCoy grimaced and covered his ears in pain. His head snapped upwards to look for the source. Flood lights scorched his face through the branches of the tree. Besides him, Commander Pike swore in Klingon.
‘So did the DTI invite them to this party too?’ He yelled over the clicking sirens.
The older man shot him a dark look, hands clamped over his ears.
‘CITIZEN. PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND PREPARE TO BE ARRESTED.’
The electronic voice resonated across the green lawn, hard and metallic. McCoy grimaced; he could barely see with the glare in his eyes but there appeared to be five - no, six - auto-police units hovering approximately ten meters above them, their engines humming in low pitch harmony. Mindless fucking drones, he thought angrily. McCoy had always thought the Government was moronic for introducing robotic units to do primary police work.
And now I have proof… beautiful, I’ll cite a complaint as soon as I get the hell out of here...
Pike grabbed him by the shoulder and pried his hand away from his ear, ‘When I give you the order to run, run - get Jim and -!’
There was a bright streak of phaser fire from beside him and suddenly, one of the floodlights blinked out. The hit police unit swerved wildly and knocked into two of the others. Alarmed screams filled the air as the unit veered closely to the ground, sending several Starfleet officers diving face down onto the lawns to avoid it. There was another burst of phaser fire, followed by the sound of a small explosion. The damage unit began to spin erratically, its propulsion systems grinding like metal.
‘Watch out people!!’ Winona Kirk yelled over the field, leaving the cover of the tree line and waving her hands for attention, ‘Get out of the way!’
McCoy ran for cover and cursed under his breath at the sight of a young Ensign looking around lost and confused - the idiot was standing straight in the path of the damaged auto-police unit!
‘Get down kid!’ He shouted and tackled the boy to the grass, rolling them swiftly away.
Overhead there was the sound of midair collision, shouting, several people screaming and the harsh fizzle of more phaser fire. He felt the grass tremble as the police unit crashed to the ground some twenty meters away and destructed in a barrage of sparks, smoke and flames. His blood thudded like war drums in his ears and he felt vaguely sick - definitely a doctor, not a cowboy… McCoy pulled away and looked down at the young man he’d just knocked down.
‘You saved my life.’ The Ensign said in a shaky voice eyes wide in shock.
‘CITIZEN. PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND PREPARE TO BE ARRESTED.’
Before he even had time to ask if the young man was okay, he felt someone dragging him up. It was Jim, who was panting heavily, and firing at the flood lights, knocking them out with surprising accuracy. Pike skidded to a stop besides them, his phaser blaring brightly with each shot he fired.
‘Come on!’ Jim yelled, ‘Dammit Bones, get moving!’
There was pandemonium as they ran with Academy security and cadets who’d been caught in the cross fire. The distinct hum of the police auto-units streaked by his head, way too close for comfort. Suddenly Jim stopped running and pointed his phaser into the dark sky, firing at a police auto-unit that was preparing to come about. The unit sharply veered to the left and quickly gained altitude to avoid the blasts. Next to him, the Commander’s phaser fire joined Jim’s. There was a wobble in the unit’s tail lights before suddenly it exploded, engulfed in a large fireball that flared hotly across his face and made the air tremble. The wreckage dropped like a deadweight sending Starfleet officers scrambling for cover.
‘You’re good at this.’ Pike said in disbelief.
McCoy glanced at Jim, who shrugged and gave them an awkward smile, ‘Would you believe that I used to get hunted by these things every week?’
‘Why am I not surprised?’ He snarled, before looking around him and realizing that someone was missing; Winona Kirk, the mother of irrepressible Jim Kirk was nowhere to be seen.
Grinning and at ease, Jim missed his troubled expression. Clapping him on the shoulder firmly with both hands, the younger man spun him around towards the main gates of the Academy grounds some four hundred meters away, ‘Focus, Bones, we’re escaping remember?’
McCoy resisted the urge to punch his young Captain in the face for grinning when they’d spent the last twenty minutes dodging phaser fire, and turned stiffly to face the more mature member of their little escape plot, ‘Commander, have you seen the Commodore?’
Jim blinked in confusion, ‘The Commodore…?’
Yes, Jim had been so busy with his little shoot-out he wouldn’t have noticed his mother. Leonard McCoy opened his mouth to explain what happened when a hovercar roared towards them across the green and descended smoothly while doing a tail-spin turn till it was right alongside of them. For a moment, Jim tensed, grabbing hard onto his arm with the intention of pulling him into a run, but then they all got a good look.
Winona Kirk nodded her head to the back seat, ‘Get in. Who knows how to bypass hovercar security?’ A stunned look still on his face, Jim raised his hand in a jerky move. McCoy had a feeling that it was reflex doing the work and that the younger man’s brain was probably still dealing with the fact that his mom was here in a hovercar, an accessory to breaking the two of them out of Starfleet detention.
She nodded and pointed at a fleet of hovercars nearby in the parking area, all on standby and unguarded in the confusion going on. ‘Get another car, we need to lose them and then regroup - Sector 25, in front of the Betazed Art Gallery. Know where that is?’
Jim nodded curtly, still wide-eyed.
‘Good. Let’s go.’
A slow grin flittered across Jim’s face, and McCoy exhaled noisily when the younger man turned to him with a smirk as if to say - see Bones, my mom is just awesome! His mom was a Commodore who knew how to bypass hovercar security features - his mom was a “carjacker” to use the crude term. The younger man took off at a jog, jumped into a Starfleet hovercar and disappeared from view, no doubt bypassing the security features. The engine gave a low hum as it switched on. Jim waved at them.
‘Is he really a Starfleet Captain?’ Pike asked under his breath.
‘I wonder that every damn day,’ Leonard McCoy admitted grudgingly as they climbed into the flitter, staring hard at the woman who gave birth to Jim Kirk, ‘Is she really a Commodore?’
part eleven
next: Chekov and Scotty's idea is put into motion, and we catch up with what's happening on the Narada with the kid!Spock and kid!Kirk