There was only one way to find out.
He studied the door’s spastic openings and closings until he thought he had the timing down. He couldn’t delay too long; McCoy or Chapel or somebody might come checking on him at any moment, although he was hoping they had their hands full elsewhere. Shaun decided that he was ready. Bracing himself against the foot of the bed, he tensed his leg muscles, glad that Kirk had apparently gotten plenty of exercise. He counted down the seconds.
He pushed off from the bed, launching himself at the stuttering doorway. Gliding through the air, he feared for a moment that he had timed it wrong, but then the door
He moaned groggily. “Not the captain… don’t tell…”
Shaun gathered that the guard had been let in on the big secret that Kirk wasn’t actually Kirk these days. He wondered how many crew members knew the truth.
“Not the captain…”
“Nope,” Shaun agreed. “Not by a long shot.”
A glance around the sickbay confirmed that they had the place to themselves. Shaun guessed that McCoy and his staff were probably dealing with medical emergencies all over the ship, although it probably wouldn’t pay to stick around. Checking on the guard, he determined that the man was just dazed and not seriously injured. Shaun figured he’d be okay where he was.
“Hang on,” he told the guard. “The doctor will be with you shortly.”
An array of beds, similar to the one he had just abandoned, faced what looked like the main exit. The doors opened at his approach, and he ventured cautiously into the corridor outside, where he encountered a scene of frenzied activity and chaos.
Warning lights flashed. Sirens blared. Men and women in bright, primary-colored uniforms scrambled to deal with the emergency, whatever it was. Tendrils of smoke wafted through the hallways. Vapors gushed from broken conduits. Damage-repair teams fought to bring sparking panels under control, although they were hampered by the lack of gravity, which they were obviously unaccustomed to. Frustrated crewmen bounced awkwardly off the walls and one another. A lost tool, whose function Shaun couldn’t begin to guess at, drifted past his head. He couldn’t help smirking at their clumsy efforts. These Starfleet folks might be more than two centuries ahead of him, but they had clearly been spoiled by their artificial gravity.
He effortlessly navigated the confusion, only to realize that he had no idea where he was going. Pausing to get his bearings, he had to duck a boot that came spinning toward his head. “Whoa!” he called out. “Easy there!”
The boot was attached to a leggy crew member in a short red dress, who was somersaulting through the air. He grabbed her ankle to halt her uncontrolled tumble. She anchored herself to the ceiling.
“Sorry, Captain.” She was an attractive black woman who looked to be in her early twenties. A beehive hairdo seemed curiously retro. “Guess I need to brush up on my zero-g maneuvers.”
He was used to dealing with McCoy, and it took him a second to remember that everyone saw him as Captain Kirk. Perhaps he could turn that to his advantage.
“No problem,” he said confidently, in his best mission-commander voice. He pretended to grope for her name. “Miss. ?”
“Voss.” She didn’t seem to find it odd that the captain couldn’t immediately place her. A ship this size probably had a substantial crew. “Yeoman Celeste Voss.”
“Right,” he said, as though it had simply slipped his mind. Thinking ahead, he decided that he wanted to be at the center of the action. “Do you know where I can find Mr. Spock?”
“On the bridge, I assume.” She looked him over uncertainly. “Are you all right, sir? I understood you were injured.”
“Nothing to worry about,” he assured her. “Please accompany me to the bridge, Yeoman.” He gestured chivalrously. “After you.”
She just looked more puzzled. “Er, the bridge is
“Of course it is.” He smacked his forehead in mock dismay. “That rollover must have spun me around a bit. Maybe you’d better lead the way, just in case.”
He spoke lightly, trying to palm it off as a joke. Did Kirk josh around with his crew like this? Shaun hoped so.
“Aye, sir,” she said, a trifle uncomfortably. “This way.”
Pushing off from the ceiling, she led him down the busy hallway to a bright red door that opened to reveal some sort of elevator compartment. They floated into the elevator, which impressed Shaun with its size and convenience. Back on the
The door closed behind them. Voss looked expectantly at him, and Shaun wondered what he was supposed to do. After an awkward moment, she took hold of a handle jutting from a rail at waist level. It chirped at her touch.
“Bridge,” she announced.
The elevator surged into motion.
The trip was short and smooth. Within minutes, the elevator came to a stop, and the door
Before he could exit the elevator, the gravity came back without warning. He dropped deftly onto his feet, avoiding a clumsy fall. Voss stumbled slightly but managed to land on her feet, too. He grabbed her arm to steady her.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Anytime, Yeoman.” He flashed what he hoped was a winning smile. “Time to put our best foot forward.”
He strode onto the bridge.
Twenty-four
2020
“So, is this it?” Zoe asked. “Are we screwed?”
“Not on your life,” Kirk said. He had never believed in no-win scenarios, and he wasn’t about to start now. “We still have five hours to take back the ship.”
“Er, in case you haven’t noticed, we’re locked up in maximum security.”
“Hardly.” He glanced around the compartment. “This is an airlock, not a brig. It wasn’t built to keep people in.” He inspected the hatch leading back into the habitat module, while mentally reviewing the specs he had studied earlier. “In theory, there should be a manual override.”
She shook her head. “You disabled it, remember?”
