A Relentless Pursuit (Star Trek: Jim Kirk/OC)

Chapter 11

It was the silence that struck Farrah. She had never truly done this type of thing in anything but a simulation. And in those if you were about to die, the instructors would turn it off.

The free-falling emptiness had no sound, except for the pounding in her chest. Vulcan was rushing towards them at an incredible rate and she was tempted to pull her shoot then, but knew she couldn't.

Only seconds after they dropped, they found themselves shooting along side the large tether that connected the plasma drill to the Romulan ship.

They were plummeting to the surface much to fast for Farrah to get any good details, but the ship above them and the drill had a considerable leap in technology then what the Federation possessed.

Some things were familiar to her, like the high energy pulse device that they were using to drill a hole inside of the planet. But other than that, the entire ship was far more advanced than it should be at this point in time.

How had so many scientific and military developments gone unnoticed and unreported? The Federation had reliable contacts within the Romulan Empire didn't it?

"Away team is entering the atmosphere, sir, Twenty thousand meters," Chekov announces to Spock on the bridge.

"Approaching the platform at fifty-eight hundred meters," Chekov announced again.

"Kirk to Enterprise. Distance to target, 5,000 meters," Jim said over the comm.

"Forty-six hundred meters from the platform," Chekov counted.

"Forty-five hundred meters to target," Sulu announced.

"Four thousand meters," Farrah announced this time.

"Three thousand meters," Olsen counted down.

"Two thousand meters," Jim announced.

"Pulling chute," Sulu said before doing so, followed by Kirk and then Farrah slowing their descent immediately.

A gleaming red blur shot past her, heading directly for the looming drill platform below them.

Realizing who it was Jim called into the comm, "Olson, pull the chute now, now!"

"Two thousand meters!" Olsen said into his comm with laughter in his voice.

"Pull your chute Olson!" Jim yelled out into the comm looking down at Olsen as he continued to drop.

"No, not yet! Not yet! 1,500 meters!" Olsen shouted again this time laughing.

"Pull your chute!" Farrah yelled out to him.

"One thousand meters!" Olsen shouted still laughing before he pulled his chute and slowed down.

But not slow enough.

He hit the platform hard but was still alive, his drop suit had protected him. The impact had only knocked the wind out of him and sent him flying sideways across the metal platform.

Stunned, he scrambled for a handhold on the sloping surface as he slid toward the edge. Still deployed, his chute had caught air and was dragging him backward. Reaching out, he hit the button to retract the fabric. As he did so, he lost what grip he had and tumbled off the edge.

His angle of descent sent him spinning toward the column of plasma energy. Before he could reopen his chute, he made the slightest contact with its white-hot energy.

Incineration was instantaneous.

"Olson!" Jim shouted down.

"Olsen is gone, sir," Chekov told him looking at the readings in the screen which no longer had a red dot for Olsen.