The Devil's Due Stardate 2259.216

The holodeck was officially open to the crew. However, there were strict rules to be followed and there was an official sign up and time limit on use. This was to ensure that no one person was hogging it since they knew there would be a rush. Crew were allowed to make their own programs, but nothing inappropriate would be allowed. There was a time in the morning that was always blocked off for Amara's use and then a time every other day for Elyse's training in the evening. Amara would get up early and use the holodeck to train and burn off extra energy. Sometimes Nathan would join her and they would train together. Nathan was interested in learning some of her fight moves and so she had been showing him.

The holodeck opening was the most exciting thing to happen on the Enterprise in the last few weeks. There was so little happening that most days Leonard would come to the bridge. Spock and Scarlett kept themselves busy and Scarlett continued to teach her Yoga class. She had begun teaching Spock too, but in their private quarters. Amara and James were still on the lookout for the Section 31 sleeper agent, but he or she had not made themselves known yet. 

Things between Elyse and Kal had not returned to normal yet. They still didn't chat on the bridge and Elyse finally decided to extend an olive branch. She walked down to his quarters one day after their shift was over and she pressed the door chime.

Kal was working on another Holodeck program using the Hologram matrix though he had had to start from scratch. Fair Haven was not going to happen now, all of his base models were on the data disk that Elyse had taken from him as if he were some kind of common thief. He hated Elyse for the way she made him feel. And she would not listen to him. Now he found out she was taking the Command training. For coming out of the academy the same time he did, he resented her moving so fast. He knew why she ascended so quickly. Elyse was ‘daddy’s little girl’. God forbid a ‘Turner’ have to earn their own way when the Admiral, her father, could make things happen for her. When he saw who it was he immediately snapped to attention and his face firmed.

“Yes Commander Turner, is there anything I can do for you Commander?” He asked looking straight ahead.

Elyse had to force herself not to roll her eyes at Kal when he opened the door and addressed her so formally. "Yes, there is Kal. You can take back your programs," she said as she handed the data chip to him. "I'm not going to apologize for what I did though. You betrayed my trust and could have gotten me into very serious trouble after I did a huge favor for you. You have spoken about wanting to command your own ship. You have to learn though that you can't always bend the rules to meet your wants."

Karl’s expression darkened by what Eleyse said and she had taken on a lecturing tone. “Permission to speak freely,” Kal said. Another formal response to ask to be able to speak his mind to a superior officer. Kal was being an ass but he was upset and he missed how things used to be. He felt Elyse was at fault for that.

Elyse looked at Kal. She watched his expression darken and she saw him tense up. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like what he was going to say. "Granted."

“I don’t need a lecture. 6 Days then the holodeck was open. We’re out in the middle of nowhere,” Kal said though he hadn’t moved. She hadn’t given an ‘at ease’ command.

“I recorded the code so the responsibility was mine alone. I would have said I recorded it without your knowledge and you would have been off the hook IF, something happened. But we’re out here in the middle of nowhere and the risk was very low. You decided to pull rank on me like I’m some kind trouble-maker or repeat offended. We went through the academy together, I helped you with Stellar Cartography. I thought we were friends, then you pull this shit? Well, obviously I don’t have an Admiral for a father who can pull strings to help me push through the ranks,” He said. “But it’s clear to me now what’s important to you,” Kal said. “I recall what you said about your father and now, it appears you’re going to be just like him,” he added.

Elyse's eyes widened at Kal's insult and for a moment she grappled with what to say. "Ok, first of all at ease. And second of all my father has absolutely nothing to do with my Commander Training. I was recommended for it by Kirk and Spock and it was solely my decision to do it. Had either one of them caught you in the holodeck instead of me you would have received a much harsher punishment Kal. It doesn't matter that we're out in the middle of nowhere. It's the principle of the matter." She sighed and rubbed her face out of frustration. "You're better than that Kal." She looked up at him. "You are an amazing pilot and you have incredible potential and I know you are going to do amazing things in your career. I'm trying to help you...even if you think I'm not. I expect more from you than everyone else. I want to get you into Commander Training, but if you keep pulling stuff like this then they're not going to consider you and you very well could lose your Commission."

Her voice had softened and Kal would be able to see how much she cared about him as a friend and colleague.

Kal shifted but didn’t back down. “No I heard your father was there when you were promoted. The rest of us have to scrape out that bar ourselves. And it did matter. If we were anywhere near Federation Space or near any of Federation borders I wouldn’t have done it. Give me some credit why don’t you. Principles? I didn’t know you were all ‘high and mighty’ Commander. And I don’t need you to tell me what I am. I know what I am and I don’t NEED your help!” Kal snapped then got right up in her face. He noticed he had hurt her, bur she had hurt him and his eyes showed it.

“I don’t give a fuck what you want for me, and I don’t need to be friends to do my job so you can go fuck yourself,” Kal said as he snatched the data disk and backed up into his quarters.

Elyse's eyes nearly popped out of her head. She was so angry that she was visibly trembling. Kal was so...frustrating!! He was so smart and talented but he could act so immaturely sometimes and this was definitely one of those times. 

She followed Kal into his quarters before the door could close behind her and she punched him square in the face. Elyse didn't look like she could fight, but she was a lot tougher than she looked and Kal had pissed her off.

Kal was shocked and he blinked at silver spots danced in his vision. And then he lashed out. Before she could hit him or back up Kal punched her in the cheek. As he came in to grapple her she tried to knee him in the groin but his hand was there. She grabbed his head and kept trying to knee him but he kept blocking with his hands and arms until he head butted her in the nose. Blood poured out of her left nostil and in return she head butted him back so hard she staggered him and she heard and felt the distinct snap of it breaking. Blood gushed from his nose but as she tried to back away he tangled his feet into her then kicked her into the right buttock hard with a sweep and she fell foward onto the floor. When she pivoted to her side Kal struck her with his forearm in the mouth at the same time she punched him in the eye. Kal applied pressure on her chin to force her head up as she continued to try and knee him. She got him twice in his stomach but he had tensed up and had been prepared for it. Kal was very strong and a skilled fighter and he had the edge on Elyse but she was so angry it was like fighting a badger that had been tied in sack and poked with sticks then released. Finally she got Kal in the kidney and he winced as he punched her hard in her left breast then again in the stomach which knocked the wind out of her.

Slowly Kal managed to get to his feet and he staggered to the door but not before She jumped on him from behind in a rage and they both fell out into the hallway. There was a black boot right there as they felland they both looked up to see a very unamused Vulcan looking at them with one irritated eyebrow lifted up.

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A little while later they were both in the Captain's quarters standing side by side at attention. McCoy had repaired everything life threatening but Kirk told him to handle the rest later. Kirk was furious and stepped behind them. "A deviated septum...a bruised kidney...A broken orbit bone? So, we're about to make contact with our FIRST warp faring race in a couple of days. It could be big for Starfleet and I'm going to need my best officers for this. What I don't need is you two going at each other's throats! Spock suggested that I throw you both in the brig for a couple of days but I don't have the luxury right now for that or I would, let me tell you!

"Sir it was..." Kal began to say it was all his fault but the Captain stopped him.

"I don't CARE whose fault it is!" He said in a snarl and got up in their faces. "Elyse is more than capable of making her own decisions. You two have been down on one another for the past week! Whatever it is, work it the hell out! Now this finishes it. So finish it! "He shouted. "Dismissed!" He said angrily and Kal let Elyse go first. They walked side by side toward the turbo lift to go back to sickbay. Two crewmen gave them a wide berth as they stepped past. Their faces were both thrashed but McCoy would be able to fix most of it.

"I'm...sorry for the things I said and for taking advantage of you Elyse. I'll never do it again," Kal said in a soft voice and winced as the hobbled onto the turbolift.

Amara was back in their bedroom. Their romantic evening had been interrupted and she winced as she heard how angry James was. Well, so much for a nice dinner and an intimate evening in! 

Elyse was extremely ashamed of herself. She hadn't even been able to look her own husband in the eyes. This was not like her. Kal had gotten under her skin with the things he had said and now she was certain that her Commander Training would be over. If word about this reached her father's ears she would never hear the end of it. 

Elyse was tired of this fighting. It was exhausting and she needed her friend back. She stepped into the turbolift with him and then the tears started flowing. She just leaned against Kal and then she felt his arms go around her. "I've screwed everything up."

"No, I own this Elyse," Kal said though just being held up was nice. His kidney ached badly. The turbolift opened and they hobbled together into sickbay. Leonard gave Kal an angry look. "I ought to let you heal naturally to remind you whose wife Elyse is Kal!" McCoy said as he healed Elyse first. Kal didn't respond he just slowly leaned back into the bed with a groan. "I bet you threw the first punch, didn't you?" He asked softly.

Elyse nodded a little, though she didn't seem proud of that fact. "Hit him square in the face."

After he had healed them both, Elyse and Leonard went back to their quarters. Elyse dropped down into one of the chairs and looked extremely upset over what had happened. "I acted like a child...not like a Commander in training. Kal just got under my skin and I let my emotions get to me and now...now I may have screwed everything up."

Leonard had healed them both and even repaired the contusions, bruising and damaged cells on their faces. He didn't know what they had fought about but he decided he didn't like Kal now. Whatever Elyse says, she hit him for a reason and he had gotten under her skin for a reason.

"Oh I don't know about that. Spock needs you to test his program. And it doesn't sound like something Jim would do either. I don't suppose you'll tell me what all this was about? In any case, I suspect Kal can get under anyone's skin," he said. "Should I be jealous?" He asked as he took off his shirt and began getting ready for bed. "Are you hungry? I'm not very hungry, I'll just hold out until breakfast," he said as he stepped into the bedroom and tossed his clothes into the hamper.

Elyse blinked when her husband asked her if he should be jealous of Kal. "What? No! Kal and I are just friends. As for what happened...I had to pull rank on him about something and come down on him for something he did and he got upset about it. It's over now and I think things will be better between us. To top it all off though I'm pretty sure Jim and Amara were in the middle of a romantic evening and that got ruined."

"Well...as long as you're sure," Leonard said in that way he spoke when he wasn't certain about something. "I wouldn't worry about Jim. He and Amara spend enough 'romantic' evenings. Missing one will be yesterday's old news," he said as he removed his small clothes and put on light blue, silk pajama bottoms. "You know, if you had hit him just 5 millimetres to the left, you could have permanently damaged his eye," Leonard said. "Remind me not to piss you off," he added as he climbed into bed on his side.

Fiona straddled Kal's back. She had oil on her hands and she rubbed it into his flesh. He was naked from the waist up and she was giving him a back rub. She was in a short, black and pink silk robe. "I really fucked up Fiona," Kal said. "I lied to Elyse and she called me on it. I just wish...I just wish it didn't play out like it did. It felt like I was losing someone important. Now I don't want you to be offended, but I think of Elyse as like a best friend. I think she's the first woman that I could ever say that about," he said as he enjoyed what she was doing. She had no other clothes on, and her and Kal alternated on doing special things to one another. Kal had asked for this several nights ago.

Elyse hadn't even started to change yet. She hadn't moved from the spot where she had sat down. She was quiet for a few moments before she looked over at him. "You don't think that they gave me the promotion they did and that the only reason I'm in Command School is because of who my father is, do you?"

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Fiona listened to what Kal said. She knew that something bad had happened between Elyse and himself, but he had never actually told her what it was. However, it sounded like it had escalated and then tempers had exploded between them. "Well...at least you can admit that you lied to her and if you lied to her then she had every right to call you out on it. Are you guys in serious trouble?"

McCoy didn’t say anything at first. He did think that Elyse had been promoted pretty fast. From what he knew she had conducted herself well on her list assignment but nothing that warranted such a quick ascension. He had to admit that her father being there was...unusual. And it had happened before. But he also knew that sometimes, you didn’t look a gift horse in the mouth and you just dug in. Elyse was certainly someone who took the gift and dug in. There was also that they ‘needed’ her to be a command officer. When Starfleet ‘needed’ something, they got it, usually. The Klingon war had ravaged their stock of command officers. He yawned again.

“You know that’s not true Elyse. Jim and Spock aren’t grooming you just because. They see something in you as does every other officer and crewman or woman on the ship. In fact, word of your...altercation with Kal has gotten around. Some of the crew know Kal and like and respect him. He’s the type of guy that gets along with everyone. They don’t say the same about you. I think they know who you are and they respect you like you’re their commanding officer. There won’t be much transition for you in that regard,” he said and yawned. “Oh come to bed already!
Leonard said as she shifted onto his side as he adjusted his pillow.

“No...no, Kirk just told us to settle it and so, we settled it...I guess,” he said. “In fact, they rew will probably respect her more thinking I got lippy with her and she pummeled me,” Kal said. “I suppose I owe her to say something like that happened...I mean, It sorta played out like that,” Kal said. “She pissed me off and I let my mouth go off on her,” he said. “I told her to go fuck herself and then she punched me,” Kal admitted.

Fiona was shocked by what Kal told her he said to Elyse. “Well no wonder she punched you! I would have punched you had you said that to me! Ok, but it’s over now. Do you think that everything is settled between you guys now? It’s been really weird on the bridge lately with you guys not saying anything to each other.”

Kal sighed. “It is, she just...frustrates me sometimes,” he said.

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The next evening Elyse had to deal with another holodeck command problem where she had to deal with an underskilled crew. She had not realized how pampered they were having competent officers and crewmen on the ship. The event had been frustrating and Spock once again, used models, voices and personalities of their crew. She had to relieve Fiona because she had disagreed with her commands and had become insubordinate.

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The evening after they arrived at Ventax II, a world that had just recently developed warp drive. Starfleet had put an observation blind down on the planet to study Ventaxians, but when they did their first successful warp test, Starfleet had decided to have Captain Kirk conduct a First Contact meeting.

“Kal, standard high orbit,” Kirk said then turned to Amara. “I’m certain we’ve been detected by now, Amara, can you locate the best place for us to make first contact?” Kirk asked. Ventax II had large continents like Earth did but who knew if they had a Planetary body that served as the leaders of the planet or individual nations. First Contact on Earth occurred in the United States but after that, after they found out that they were no longer alone in the universe, the thought of individual countries had dissolved.

Things between Elyse and Kal weren't entirely back to normal, but tensions between them were not nearly as high as they had been before. It was just going to take a little time for things to go back to the way they had been before. Thankfully, Spock continued her Command Training, though the second module had frustrated her a little, but also opened her eyes to how lucky they were onboard the Enterprise to have such a competent crew. 

Amara had begun studying Ventax II as soon as they had arrived. She discovered that, much like on Earth, there were large continents and large bodies of water. Working with Spock and Scarlett they were able to determine where there were larger populations. They had no way of knowing where their central government was located, but finding an area with a higher concentration of beings seemed the logical place to start with first contact.

"This seems like the best area," Amara told James after they had called him over. It was on one of the larger continents, located near a large body of water and had a large number of beings in that area.

It took some time for Amara to sort it all out but there was indeed a world council and they had a leader called a Prellate. His name was Prellate Sorkis and the council chambers were located in a large city called Fallon Tor. There was also something happening on the planet from what Amara could tell. She had discovered that they had 3 main dialects of their main language and over 80 other languages on the planet. Luckily, almost everyone seemed to know this common language and working with the UT, she had discovered the main one used buy them. They also had a military and planetary defense force. She was able to get someone who worked at the defense force. Castror Holarsi ran the main planetary communications service.

“Hello, this is Castror Holarsi and you’re on a restricted channel, who am I speaking to?” The voice asked as Amara put her on the main speakers.

“Hello Castror Holarsi, My name is Captain James Kirk. It is an honor to speak to you. We’re sorry to be contacting you on a restricted channel but we’ve just arrived here and are unfamiliar with your protocols,” Kirk said with a grin. He was looking at Fiona as he spoke but wasn’t ‘really’ looking at her. He was focusing on what the woman said and what he said.

Holarsi had never met a Captain before and even though this was just audio she fluffed her long, blonde hair instinctively. The Ventaxians were humanoid with darker, grayish skin, an over-sized area on top of their heads that curved back and their eyes were slightly wider apart. They had bulbous ears that were nearly the same shape but they had an exotic sensualness to them. The females had breasts and a similar body shape as humans did but they were slightly shorter than most humans.

“Oh? Are you from a different Province Captain?” she asked excitedly and Kal had to stifle a chuckle. “Well, you could say that. I am on a starship orbiting your planet. I represent The United Federations of Planets and I am here to make first contact with your people,” Kirk said.

“Orbiting...our planet?” she asked as she stood up. She was gesturing and waving to those outside of her office. She was near to panic. “Is this some kind of joke? Did Doralis put you up to this?” She asked. Kirk smiled as did everyone else on the bridge.

“No, my ship is called the Enterprise and we are in a high orbit over your world. If you could get us in touch with Prellate Sorkis, who we believe is your leader, We’d like to beam down for a visit,” Kirk said.

A woman appeared in Holarsi’s office and she covered up the phone. “Get me the Prellate’s secretary!” she whispered. “Ma’am?” The woman said in puzzlement. “Now!” Holarsi said.

Eventually Kirk was able to get a hold of Prellate Sorkis and he agreed to allow an away team to beam down in the courtyard of their main Government Hall. Kirk selected Amara, Scarlett, Elyse and Nathan to go down. When they materialized there were several Ventaxians near them and their sudden appearance had obviously shocked them.

“So it’s true,” The Prellate murmured. “Kirk smiled as he looked around them. “Hello, I am Captain James Kirk,” Kirk said then gestured to the others. “And this is Commander Elyse Turner, Lieutenant Scarlett Wright. Lieutenant Nathan Quinn and Lieutenant Amara Kirk,” he said and Sorkis moved to each one and gave them a small bow.

“We are honored to be here Prellate Sorkis and we have brought gifts for you and your people,” Kirk said and gestured to Amara. He took from her a large, book. “This is the Federation’s Charter, and we can discuss membership at a later time,” Kirk said. “This is a hologram of Earth, our human homeworld and this is a disc of a stellar map of Federation Space,” he said though just beyond them there were hundreds of people in a group. They were on their knees and seemingly praying or mourning? THey sounded pained and desperate as they prayed to the sky.

“I’m sorry, if we interrupted something?” Kirk asked. The Prellate frowned and sighed. “Well Captain, if you must know you come to us on a day of bad tidings. Arda, one of our gods of old, though few pray to him these days, is due to return today. Or so it says in the ancient texts,” he said. “Today is a day of atonement Captain but make no mistake, we are very pleased to meet you. Please, come,” he gestured. “We’ve prepared a feast in your honor,” he said.

Amara was thrilled at the opportunity to be apart of a first contact with a planet such as Ventax II. Though she had initially joined Starfleet for the sole purpose of spying on the Federation, she was now truly apart of Starfleet and she was honored to meet the Ventaxians. Thankfully, they seemed to use a common language, though there were many others used around the planet as well. The UT picked it up quickly and Amara began to study the language herself. Any opportunity for her to learn a new language she was going to take it. She felt it was more personal to get to know another species' language and speak to them directly instead of through a UT.

She and James had discussed bringing gifts for Prellate Sorkis and his people. They brought a copy of the Federation's Charter, as well as a hologram of Earth, and a stellar map of Federation space on a disc. She hoped that they would eventually decide to join the Federation. It would give her a better opportunity to study their culture.

Elyse was polite, but cautious. None never knew how a new species was going to react to strangers coming into their space. Scarlett was absolutely fascinated. The Ventaxians were clearly highly evolved and intelligent if they had discovered warp drive, but that contrasted greatly with the hundreds of people they witnessed that were on their knees seeming to be praying. When she learned that they were praying to a god her fascination only increased. 

As they walked towards the feast, Scarlett walked along side the Prellate. "Prellate Sorkis, do you mind if I ask what Arda's return is supposed to mean?"

The Prelate turned and looked at Scarlett a moment and nodded to her respectfully. "I could show you...if you like?" he said and gestured toward where the people were gathered praying. They were all in red with gold runes on them. They murmured softly. In the center of the square was a raised platform of metal and glass. The pedestal was round and he brought them up to it. Inside of it was a long, piece of parchment flattened out and very old. "This is the contract of Arda, written by one of our ancestors long, long ago. It dates back over a thousand years," he said. "it says that..." he began but then there wad a flash of fire and smoke and suddenly a man appeared. He wasn't one of the Ventaxian's but he was humanoid. He was tall and well built with flowing, long black hair and violet eyes. His flesh was pale and he wore a robe that looked like fire. His headdress was horns of fire that spiraled up high on his head. "That after 1000 years of prosperity, you, this planet and everything within its orbit, belongs to me!" The man said with a very devilish smile.

His appearance brought about cries of fear, wails of sorrow and men and women running as if they were on fire. Even the Prelate looked half out of his wits in fear. He rose a shaky hand and pointed at the man. "Arda!" He wailed. Kirk just looked at him as he tried to figure out what he was really looking at.

Scarlett walked with Prellate Sorkis over towards the pedestal. Everyone else followed behind them. She saw the piece of parchment and it appeared to be very old and had writing on it. However, just as Sorkis began to explain that it was a contract between the Ventaxians and Arda, there was a flash of fire and smoke and a man appeared. He appeared humanoid and had long, black hair and violet eyes. Amara was startled by the robe he wore that appeared to be on fire and his headdress that was horns of fire. Clearly, this was Arda...or was it? Amara couldn't be certain exactly what was going on. 

Scarlett remained calm and was fascinated by what she was looking at. "Are you Arda?" she asked.