The USS Lakota Stardate 2258.26

"Take her out, Mr. Sulu, one quarter impulse," Kirk said. "I, sir," Sulu responded. The ship's Impulse drives kicked in and slowly, the ship began to pull back from the Starbase. The ship began to turn and then it stopped and began to move forward. "All ahead full Mr. Sulu," Kirk said as he leaned forward on his forearm. "I, sir," Sulu responded and the ship lurched forward. "Ahead Warp 5 Mr. Sulu," Kirk said. "I, sir," Sulu said. The ship moved into warp.

While everyone was momentarily distracted, Kaia managed to send out a coded message to the Romulans. She let them know she was on board the Enterprise and where it was heading. The message would be almost impossible to detect. By the time she had finished, the Enterprise had moved into Warp 5. She continued to monitor the communications station.

Kirk turned to Spock. "Do we know what the Lakota was doing before it went missing?" Kirk asked. "I believe it was head to Starbase 310 to drop off supplies. It never arrived," Spock said. Kirk rubbed his chin. "Lt. Fox, any record of communications between the Lakota and the Starbase?" Kirk asked.

Kaia quickly accessed the file with the communications from the Lakota. She glanced through them. "There is one Captain. However, it is nothing out of the ordinary. The message is simply alerting the Starbase that they are on their way to pick up supplies. The message was from 9 days ago Sir. There is nothing else after that."

"A mystery..." Kirk said. Spock had already moved to the science station. He was using their long range scanners. "Anything Spock?" Kirk asked. "Nothing as of yet Captain," Spock replied. The ship hummed like a well oiled machine. The sensor squelch was the only thing that made sound as everyone did their jobs in silence. "Sulu, how long before we reach their last known coordinates?" Kirk asked. "3 hours and 20 minutes sir," Sulu replied.

In the next few hours, Kirk contacted the doctor and made certain sickbay was ready just incase they were needed. As the Enterprise began to close on the last known coordinates, Spock detected a nearby ship. "Sir, I've got something," he said. Kirk turned toward him in his chair and his head came up. "Their transponder signal says its the Lakota," He said. Kirk turned to Kaia again. "Contact the Lokata, see if they'll respond, their Captain is Frank Jordan," Kirk said.

Kaia had spent the last few hours monitoring the communication channels, but nothing unusual came up. Finally though, Spock located the Lakota. When Kirk asked her to contact the ship, Kaia nodded and turned back to her station. She pressed several buttons and then began to speak. "USS Lakota, this is the USS Enterprise. Does anyone copy?"

At first there was no response but then someone spoke to them. "Oooo, the Enterprise," A woman's voice came over. She sounded out of it...as if she were drunk or high on something. Everyone on the bridge were looking at one another in confusion. "Are there men there? hahahah!" She said. "We could use a few more!" She said. "Lt. Fox, patch me through," Kirk said. When she told him he was on Kirk spoke. "Lakota, where is Captain Jordan?" He asked. "Who? The Captain? Hahahaha, he's, hahahah, dead," the voice said. And then other voices were over the comms.

"Do it, yeah, yeah, do it! hahahahaha," there were many voice, rolling over one another and then there was a sudden sound of a 'whoosh' as if air were suddenly sucked out. And then there were no more voices. Elyse inhaled and covered her mouth in shock. It sounded as if someone opened the emergency hatch and they all got sucked into space. "Sulu, best speed to that ship," Kirk said. "I, sir," Sulu said but he was obviously shaken.

Kaia was completely unsure as to what was going on on the Lakota. She blinked however when the woman informed Kirk that the Captain was dead. It was what she heard next that disturbed her though. She heard several voices yelling "Do it!" and then there was a whoosing sound that sounded like someone being sucked into space. She glanced over at Elyse and could tell that Elyse was shaken by what they had just heard...everyone was. Kaia could only sit and wait as the Enterprise neared the Lakota to find out what was going on.

"Talk to me Spock," Kirk said as Spock scanned the ship. "Well Captain, it looks like the after part of deck 5 of the ship is depressurized," he said. Kirk frowned and rubbed his forehead. 'How? How did this happen?' He wondered. He knew Captain Jordan. He was a good man and a fine Captain. "Is the bridge de-pressurized?" Kirk asked. "No Captain," Spock answered. Kirk rubbed his chin again as he debated. "I want to find out what happened," Kirk said and activated the intercom.

"Bones, meet us at the transporter for an away mission. Prepare for casualties," he said. He stood and looked around the bridge. "Spock, Lt. Fox, you're with me," he said. "Lt. Turner, you have the con," he said and he stepped quickly down the hall toward the turbo lift.

"Be careful Kaia...please?" Elyse said softly as they passed one another as she moved to sit in the Captain's chair.

Kaia nodded when Kirk told her that she and Spock were going with him. She stood up but paused as Elyse walked by and quietly addressed her. She gave her a little nod and smile and then joined Kirk and Spock in the turbo lift. They were quiet in the lift, but Kaia glanced at Kirk and saw him glance back at her. When the doors opened they stepped out into the hallway and walked down to the Transporter room. Dr. McCoy was waiting for them there.

Spock had grabbed his tricorder as did the doctor. Kirk moved to the weapons locker and removed the new phaser pistols. He handed one to Kaia and kept on for himself. They attach to their uniforms via a magnetic strip in the pants and on the weapon. There was a crewman who manned the transporter.

"Put us right on the bridge crewman," Kirk said as he stepped onto one of the pads. Once everyone was on a pad Kirk nodded at the crewman. "Energize," kirk said and they were transported to the Lakota. They materialized and the ship's lights were flickering on and off. There was an odd smell in the air and the ship was very chilly. Spock began to scan for survivors. The doctor moved and scanned the people on the bridge.

"Kaia, see if you can call up the latest Captain's logs," Kirk said as he stepped up to the Navigation station. There was a communications officer, dead as he laid upon his station's panel. She'd have to shift him slightly in order to get to the logs. "Talk to me Bones," Kirk asked as he pushed a few buttons to call up their navigational logs. "All asphyxiated Jim. Apparently someone was playing with the environmental controls in here. "Captain, there is no one left alive on the Lakota," Spock said in a very neutral tone.

As Kaia examined the logs she was able to pull up several Captain's logs.

Kaia took the phaser pistol from Kirk and attached it to her uniform. She then followed Kirk up onto the transporter platform. She stepped onto one of the pads next to Kirk and when everyone was ready they were transported onto the bridge of the Lakota. Almost immediately Kaia noticed the odd smell in the air. However, that became less of a concern when she saw the dead crew members strewn about the bridge. Kaia got a very bad feeling as she walked over to the communications station. She had to gently move the dead officer in order to pull up the Captain's Logs. 

"Captain, I have the logs pulled up. I'll patch them through the speakers."

She pressed a button and the newest logs began to play.

Stardate 2258.17

"We're responding to a distress signal of the USS Anton, a Science Vessel. We've tried communicating with them but they act as if they're all drunk or on some kind of drug.

"We found one survivor, the Captain, Captain Spencer and we took him right to sickbay so Doctor Brandt can take a look at him.

Stardate 2258.18

"We decided to stay to do a proper investigation. Captain Spencer took his own life, sadly. He locked himself in an airlock then ejected himself. We tried to transport him back but he died in the transporter room.

"Several members of the crew are beginning to exhibit odd behavior. The Doctor has suggest to quarantine them"

Stardate 2258.19

"The entire crew's been affected. Our Engineer damaged our sub-space transceiver and the warp drive. We've been limping along on impulse,"

Stardate 2258.20

"I can't seem to focus, Hahahaha. I mean...I'm the Captain, hahahah, hahaha, THE Captain! hahaha!!!" then the rest was jibberish.

---------------

Kirk listened in horror to the audio logs. "Lets go to sickbay...there's nothing else we can do here," Kirk said. "I'm sorry Jim," McCoy said in a consoling tone. Kirk nodded but clearly he was upset. All these men and women...gone.

Kaia listened as the recorded Captain's logs began to play. At first, everything seemed relatively normal. However, as the logs continued things got stranger and stranger. Kaia could only sit there as she listened. She looked over at James as he listened to the recordings and by the end she could tell he was upset. She slowly stepped over to him after Spock and Dr. McCoy had walked away to head to the sickbay. 

"Are you alright?" she asked him quietly.

"Ofcourse not. All of these people are dead. Without reason. There is nothing to feel right about," he said sharply then followed behind the others. The sickbay was in obvious disarray. The floor was littered with glass and instruments. The beds had been slept in and clothes were strewn about the area. McCoy moved to the man that was in one of the beds. He took a blood sample from him but to do it, he touched the man's skin. Just as Kaia touched the arm of the communications officer with her hand. The team got back to the transporter and the doctor made certain the bio-filters were activated upon their transport. The problem was, unbeknownst to them all, the virus was not known to the bio-filters.

"Jim, I won't know what caused this without doing some tests. I recommend we remain here until we find the cause," McCoy said. Kirk sighed and rubbed his temple. "Alright, but we're short on time. We have our mission," Kirk said. Spock was there as well and Kaia but the 3 men spoke as if she weren't there. Obviously they were all close and friends.

"Jim," Spock said. "There is a reason behind what happened. We'll find the cause," He said. "I'm certain you will," Kirk said as he stowed his weapon. Then he looked back at them. "Work quickly," He urged them then stepped quickly down the hall.

Kaia was quickly left alone in the Transporter room. She looked down at her hip. The new phaser was there and if she took a closer look at it, they might not miss it in the weapons locker for a while. Though Kirk had moved down the hall and was obviously upset. Did he need her?

Kaia blinked at Kirk's sharp response, but she assumed he was just upset over what had happened. She said nothing else as she followed behind him to the sickbay. She watched as Dr. McCoy took a blood sample from one of the victims. With the sample collected, the team was transported back to the Enterprise. Kaia felt better knowing that Dr. McCoy had activated the bio-filters for their return. She didn't want whatever this virus was to make its way onto the Enterprise. 

In the transporter room on the Enterprise, Kaia stood awkwardly by as Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy spoke. They all ignored her presence and she sighed and looked a little bit more closely at the new phaser. She decided to hold onto it for now. Something in the back of her mind told her that she might need it. She watched as Kirk walked away. He was clearly upset and she decided to follow him.

Kirk moved down the hall then got into the Turbo lift. He saw Kaia coming toward him and he held the lift for her. "Deck 10," he said and the Turbo lift started.

"I didn't mean to snap at you..." Kirk said but then couldn't find the words to say he was sorry. "How are you holding up. I know it's not easy to see...that," Kirk said as he looked at at her. He stayed where he was but he wanted her to put his arms around him or his around her. He didn't move though.

Kaia got into the turbo lift after Kirk and she stood next to him as the lift began to move. They were alone in the lift and she looked over at him as he apologized. When he looked over at him, their eyes met and she reached over and pressed a button to halt the elevator. She moved closer to him and she paused a moment before she slipped her arms around him. When he didn’t pull away, she rested her head in the crook of his neck.

"I don't like coming into it and there is nothing I can do. The damage has already been done," Kirk said softly. The feel of her. The warmth he felt, her touch, her scent. Kirk wanted to lose himself in it all. In her.

"We've had one hell of a first day haven't we?" He said. He tried to add a little mirth into his voice but it was difficult.

“Shhhhh,” she whispered softly to him in a soothing voice as she gently caressed the back his head and neck. She breathed in his familiar scent and it made her head spin a little. She then slowly pulled back enough to look into his eyes. “You don’t always have to be strong James. I’m here when you need me,” she said softly.

"Well, what if I do need you? I was about to go to the bar," James said. "Will you join me?" he asked. But, for a moment, he considered asking her to accompany him to his quarters. Not a smart thing to do but Kirk didn't really care right then. He could use a drink. And it was all he could think of besides taking her to his bed.

Kaia nodded when he asked her to go to the bar with him. “Of course,” she said. She started to reach over to hit the button that would get the elevator moving again, but she paused and then turned back to him. She leaned in and gently kissed him. She then slowly pulled back and reached over and hit the button. The elevator began moving again towards the 10th level.

Kirk had his favorite place to sit and when he came into the bar the two crewmen that were there promptly got up and moved to the next table. Kirk ordered their drinks. "2 Andorian Ales," He ordered and the bartender set out 2 glasses then poured a blue liquid into the glasses. Kirk brought them to the table and sat across from her.

He took a sip. Andorian Ale was a strong drink. Next to beer, Kirk drank it often. Kaia hadn't liked it at first but she developed a taste for it. It was a rare spirit but Kirk always found a way to get it anyway. "Cheers," he said then took a test sip form his glass.

"You know, this does feel like old times...though it kinda feels odd saying that. Its only been...what? Not even 2 year," he said. "I really missed you Kaia," Kirk said honestly. "And I thought about you alot. I wondered what you were doing. Wondered if you were happy or with someone," he said. "When I saw you...again...for the first time. I thought I might be dreaming...for a moment, I mean," Kirk said.

As Kaia sat there with Kirk drinking the Andorian Ale, memories of herself and Kirk back at the Academy filled her mind. She remembered them drinking Andorian Ale after making love at his place. She remembered it was the drink they were having when Kirk told her he was leaving. Strange, mixed emotions plagued Kaia. She didn’t understand why she was feeling them. She was also feeling...warm. She decided that must be from the ale.

“I thought about you too James,” she told him. “I was with one guy after you left, but I just wasn’t happy with him. He couldn’t compete with you.”

Kirk wasn't certain how to take that but he knew Kaia. She was like a storm. Impossible to predict or control. "Well..I meant...more than just that," He said with a grin. "We told each other everything. Like that sim..the Kobiashi Maroo. It was unwinnable, designed to 'test' how we handle death and defeat. A no win scenario. I didn't like the thought that there was such a thing so I reprogrammed the test and made it winnable," he said as he took her hand. He lightly drew his finger across her knuckles as he looked into her eyes. "You're the only one I told about that. Until they figured it out. You were worried they were going to expel me," Kirk said with a smirk as he took another sip of his drink. "And instead they gave me an accommodation. For original thinking," he said. He hadn't noticed how warm her hand was or the way she was looking at him just then. He just wanted to talk to her. To confide in her what he was feeling.