When they arrived at Nibiru a few days later, they did some preliminary scans of the planet. None of them had expected to find anything very troubling, because they never had before. That's why it was all the more shocking when scans revealed heavy seismic activity. From Spock's best guess, the planet had at most a week before the large volcano exploded and covered the entire planet in lava, ash, and debris. Almost immediately, Spock recruited her and Scotty to help him in creating a cold fusion device that would render the volcano inert. It had been difficult to get the process started, and at times Kate regretted every taking any engineering classes to give her this knowledge to help Spock, but they soon got use to working together and were able to complete the device. Just in time, too, as it seemed like the planet was becoming more and more unstable as the days progressed.
Finally, the day arrived for them to actually enact the plan to save the planet. Jim and Leonard were going to go down to the planet as a distraction to keep the natives focused on them rather than any activity that would be happening around the volcano. Sulu would fly the shuttle and take Spock to the volcano, and Nyota insisted that she join them so that she could help with communication between Spock, the shuttle, and the Enterprise. Since so many of the high ranking officers were off ship, this was going to leave Kate in charge of the Enterprise while they were all away, and this was not something she was comfortable with.
Things were already tense, as Jim had the ridiculous idea to hide the Enterprise in one of Nibiru's oceans. Ever since Jim suggested it, Scotty insisted it was impossible, yet there they were: underwater in a spaceship. Kate took a tentative seat in the captain's chair and felt entirely wrong doing so. This was never something she aspired to be, so she hoped everything went smoothly on the planet. Mostly because she wanted everyone, including Leonard, back safe, but she also knew she would never be able to handle the responsibility of being the ship's captain full time. At thinking about Leonard, Kate thought back to Chris's words to her a few weeks ago. It had been two weeks, and she still wanted to be transferred off the Enterprise. She hoped, as soon as this mission was over, to be able to contact Chris again and try to make him see that it would be the best thing for her.
But, there were other things to worry about right now. She had requested that everyone on the shuttle and on the planet keep a line open to the Enterprise so she would be able to communicate with them quickly if need be. She grew nervous, as she wasn't really sure what Jim's plan was to distract the natives. The longer she sat and waited to hear something from them, the more concerned she grew that something was going to go wrong.
Her apprehensions were not eased as she heard Jim yell out in surprise and heard a phaser fire. She questioned, "Jim, what happened? Are you alright?"
Instead of hearing Jim respond, she heard Leonard yell, "Dammit, man, that was our ride! You stunned our ride!"
Jim sighed audibly and said, "Well, great."
Since they had begun talking, the line was open for them to hear, and Kate could hear the sounds of the natives growing louder, so she said, "Guys, I don't mean to be a backseat driver, but it sounds like you've got to get out of there!"
She heard Jim yell, "Run," then heard the sounds of labored breathing as she assumed they both began running away from the natives.
Leonard questioned Jim in between breaths, "What the hell did you take?"
She could almost see Jim's bemused expression as he replied, "I have no idea, but they were bowing to it," then he directed his attention toward her and said, "Kate, we've lead the natives out of the kill zone. Make sure the shuttle knows!"
Kate nodded and replied, "Will do, Jim. I've got to cut your line for a moment. Don't do anything too reckless in the meantime," and didn't give him a chance to reply before opening the line to the shuttle and saying, "Locals are out of the kill zone, Spock. You're cleared to neutralize the volcano."
She heard Spock's calm voice question, "Did the indigenous life forms see the captain and Dr. McCoy?"
Kate rolled her eyes as she said, "I don't know Spock."
To which he quickly replied, "The prime directive clearly states there can be no interference with the internal development of alien civilizations."
Kate didn't get a chance to reply as Sulu exclaimed, "We've got to do this now, Spock. This shuttle's not built for this kind of heat!"
Kate felt the pit forming in her stomach again as nerves returned. She nodded, though they couldn't see her, and said, "Sulu's right. You can worry about the prime directive later. Right now, activate your device," then closed that line so she could tune back in to Jim and Leonard to check on them.
Just as she opened it, her heart nearly stopped. She heard Leonard exclaim, "They're trying to kill us! They're trying to kill us, Jim," and had to close the line again.
As she looked around the bridge, Kate took a deep breath to steady herself. Everyone on the bridge was following her lead. Right now, she was the captain. So she had to act like it and not lose her cool because too many of the people she cared about were putting their lives in danger to save this planet.
She opened the line to Sulu, Nyota, and Spock again. They were the priority right now, even though her heart wanted to follow how Jim and Leonard were doing. If Spock didn't succeed, the planet and all of it's natives would die. That was the activity she should be following. As she opened the line, she asked, "How's it going?"
Nyota's voice answered back, and she sounded hurt as she said, "We lost Spock. He's down in the volcano. I'm about to suit up so I can go down to get him."
Kate was about to argue against it, but Sulu beat her to it saying, "We have to abandon the shuttle. Captain, the engine's down because of all the smoke and debris."
Kate squeezed her eyes shut and said quickly, "Sulu, Uhura, get yourselves out of there."
Nyota argued, "We can't just leave him behind," and Kate's heart broke for Nyota. Nyota and Spock were in a good place in their relationship, and now she was being told to leave Spock behind in a volcano, likely to his death.
Kate shook her head and replied, "You have to. All three of you will die trying to get Spock out of there. I need you both back to the Enterprise. Nyota, we'll find a way to get him back."
She could hear the resignation in Nyota's voice as she said, "Of course, captain."
Being called captain again reminded her of the strangeness of this situation, but she gathered her thoughts quickly and said, "We'll see you in a few moments. Kirk out," then switched lines to talk to Jim and Leonard again. She bypassed greeting them and said, "Sulu and Uhura had to abandon the shuttle. You two have to find a way back to the Enterprise without them."
Jim's voice sarcastically replied, "Wonderful. Thanks for the good news, Kate."
Since there was nothing further she could do to communicate with Sulu and Nyota, she kept the line open to Jim and Leonard, praying that they would find a way back safely.
They were both breathing heavily as Leonard's voice rang out in almost a panic, "Jim, the beach is that way!" Clearly, Leonard wasn't pleased with the turn of events. He probably regretted ever agreeing to the mission.
Jim replied, "I know, we're not going to the beach."
Kate had no idea where they were heading, but knew that it couldn't be good as Leonard began saying, "No, no, no! I hate this!"
Kate questioned, "Jim, where are you guys going?"
Jim replied quickly, "We've got to get to the ship, and since the shuttle's gone the fastest way will be to jump."
Kate felt a pit form in her stomach, but she tried not to worry too much or think too much about who she was worrying more about as she said, "Be safe, you two," as the doors opened to the bridge.
Sulu and Nyota ran in and both reported to their positions right away. Kate suspected Nyota was trying to reach Spock. Kate said, "Jim, Sulu and Uhura made it back. We're just waiting on you two. Please be safe, both of you." Then cut the line and turned to Sulu and asked, "What's the status?"
Sulu shook his head, "I don't know. We weren't able to communicate with Spock much before we had to abandon the shuttle."
Nyota added in, "He's still alive down there. Kate, we've got to get him out of there."
Kate nodded and said, "I know, we just can't do anything until Jim and Leonard get back."
Nyota turned her attention back to the panel in front of her and saw her talking quietly. Kate's heart sunk as she saw her friend, one of the strongest women she knew, breaking in front of her. There had to be a way they could get Spock out, there just had to.
The doors to the bridge opened again and Jim rushed in. Kate felt slight relief as Chekov called out, "Captain on the bridge," and was almost ashamed of herself when she felt almost all of her anxiety disappear by seeing Leonard follow in shortly thereafter. It didn't matter that Leonard didn't want to be with her, she still was in love with him and couldn't imagine anything happening to him.
She stood from the captain's chair and hugged Jim quickly, trying not to think too much about Leonard as Jim asked, "Lieutenant, do we have an open channel to Mister Spock?"
Nyota nodded and said, "The heat's frying his comms, but we still have contact."
Jim nodded and asked, "Spock?"
Spock's voice filled the bridge as he said in reply, "I have activated the device, Captain. When the countdown is complete, the reaction should render the volcano inert."
The anxiety that had left Kate filled her stomach again at the thought of Spock still being in the volcano when the device detonated. Kate was surprised to hear Leonard say, concern in his voice, to Jim, "Yeah, and that's going to render him inert."
Jim shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, and asked, "Do we have use of the transporters?"
Kate shook her head and responded, "No, not with the magnetic fields due to the volcano. Not to mention being underwater."
Jim squeezed his eyes shut for a moment then said, "I need to beam Spock back to the ship. Give me one way to do it."
Chekov volunteered tentatively, "Maybe if we had a direct line of sight. Or got closer."
Scottie didn't let Chekov finish that thought as he interrupted saying, "Hang on, wee man. You're talking about an active volcano," then turned to Jim and said confidently, "Sir, if that thing erupts, I cannae guarantee we can withstand the heat."
Sulu shook his head and said in agreement, "And I don't know if we can maintain that kind of altitude."
Spock took the opportunity to chime in, "Our shuttle was concealed by the ash cloud, but the Enterprise is too large. If utilized in a rescue effort, it would be revealed to the indigenous species."
Kate took a deep sigh before saying, "Spock, we know we can't reveal ourselves, but there has to be something," desperation creeping into her voice. Spock was the very first friend she made at Star Fleet, though it probably took him longer to consider her a friend. She couldn't imagine working for Star Fleet without him.
Jim sent her a sympathetic look and said, "No one knows the rules better than you, Spock, but there has got to be an exception."
Spock took almost no time to respond, "None. Such action violates the Prime Directive."
Leonard, growing frustrated with Spock's refusal to cooperate, exclaimed, "Shut up, Spock! We're trying to save you, damn it!"
Spock replied, "Doctor, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
Kate looked over at Nyota and they both had the same look of fear on their faces. Kate realized, listening to Spock, that he had made the decision and accepted the fact that he was going to die in the volcano, and Nyota must have realized the same thing. Kate crossed over to her and took her hand and squeezed it tightly, hoping to provide any sort of comfort possible in this unimaginable situation.
Jim was growing frustrated with Spock as well and said, "Spock, we're talking about your life."
Spock replied, "The rule cannot be broken..." before the signal began breaking up and they lost him entirely.
Nyota covered her mouth with her free hand, tears threatening to spill over in her eyes, as she thought she had just heard her last from Spock. Jim turned toward Kate and Nyota and said, "Try to get him back online!"
Nyota nodded and squeezed Kate's hand before taking off and trying to get a line open to Spock again. Kate walked back over to Jim and Leonard as Jim asked quietly, "If Spock were here and I were there, what would he do?"
Chekov called out, "Ninety seconds to detonation," as Leonard replied to Jim's question, "He'd let you die."
Kate wanted to argue, to tell Leonard that he was wrong, but she knew that Leonard was right. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to not cry before saying, "Jim, if you save Spock, he's going to be pissed that you broke the Prime Directive. He won't be grateful, he'll be concerned that you broke a Star Fleet regulation."
Jim turned to her, surprise etched in his features, as he asked, "Are you really telling me to let Spock die?"
All eyes in the bridge turned to her and she realized the way her words must have sounded. That wasn't what she meant at all. Kate shook her head and said, "Jim, I'm telling you that you should save him and be prepared for him being upset about it."
That seemed to be all Jim needed, so he commanded, "Sulu, get us out of the water. Mister Scott, we're going to the transport room. We've got a first officer to save."
Jim and Scottie took off running as the Enterprise began lifting out of the water, followed closely behind Leonard. Kate was surprised to see how much Leonard cared about getting Spock back on board, but let the thought pass as she went over to sit with Nyota. She took Nyota's hand and said, "We'll get him, you know that, right?"
Nyota nodded, but didn't seem convinced, and said, "Kate, he didn't want us to save him. He didn't want to fight, not even for me." Nyota's eyes filled with pain as Chekov counted down to the detonation of the device. They could hear, even in the Enterprise, the volcano as it began to erupt, but was stopped in it's tracks by the cold fusion device she had helped Spock make. Kate realized that both she and Nyota were breathing heavily, both anxious and wanting to know if Spock made it out or not.
Kate gave Nyota a sympathetic look as Nyota called the transporter room and asked in desperation, "Bridge to Captain Kirk."
Jim replied, "Yes, Lieutenant?"
Nyota took a deep breath and asked, "Is Commander Spock safely on board, sir?"
Kate breathed a sigh of relief as Jim replied, "Safely and soundly."
Nyota closed her eyes and Kate could watch the relief flood through her, but Nyota couldn't disguise how upset she was as she replied, "Please notify him that his device has successfully detonated," then cut the line and threw her communicator down on the panel in front of her before standing up and leaving the bridge.
Kate wanted to follow her, but she knew that Nyota needed to be alone right now so that she could have time to cool down. Kate stood up and left the bridge as well, but reported to med bay as she knew that the five crew members who had gone down to the planet would need medical exams soon to clear them after returning from the planet. Examining Nyota, Sulu, Jim, and Spock would be easy. It was Leonard that was going to be more difficult.
She hadn't changed her mind about wanting to transfer off of the Enterprise. Every day she was around Leonard was a challenge, so she knew it was the right decision for her, she just worried about if Chris would actually approve it or not, and, if he did approve it, how everyone would react to the news. It really would be better for her in the long run, to not be around Leonard every day, pining after him, but it would be difficult to leave Jim, Spock, Nyota, and the rest of the crew behind. They had become like a family in the short couple of months they had been on ship together.
She gathered all the things she would need in med bay and began calling them in one by one. She called Jim in first and he didn't take long to get down to her. As he walked in, he smiled and said happily, "Well, sis, you'll be glad to know that we're returning to San Francisco for a while. I know you'll be glad to have your feet on solid ground."
Kate smiled and said, "Absolutely, though being on a star ship is not as bad as I thought it would be all those years."
Jim hopped up on a exam table and she began scanning him, making sure that everything still matched his last medical exam. As she concentrated on scanning him, he said, "You were right. Spock wasn't happy about being rescued."
Kate smiled softly and laughed as she ran the tricorder over his forehead and said, "I know my friend, Jim. Somewhere, deep inside, he is grateful to be alive, but he can't express that right now. Right now, he's too concerned about the natives seeing the ship. He'll come around...maybe."
Jim laughed and shook his head as he admitted, "I don't know how you're such good friends with him, Kate, but he is growing on me."
Kate smiled as she finished her scans and began comparing them to his last exam. Satisfied he was in perfect health, she nodded and said, "He does that. Have you figured out yet that he really does have emotions?"
Jim shook his head and said, "I don't think I'll ever believe you on that one. Am I free to go?"
Kate nodded and said, "Yeah, just send Sulu down after you."
Kate got through her exam on Sulu, Nyota, and Spock without incident. They were all in perfect health, just as she expected them to be. The planet didn't really seem like a dangerous place, other than the natives and the volcano, but it was standard procedure to examine anyone returning from a mission to a strange planet.
Med bay doors opened a few minutes after Spock left, so Kate assumed that Leonard was here for his medical exam. She turned around and saw Leonard hesitating to come over to her at the exam table. She took a breath to calm her nerves and said, "Come on, let's get you checked out."
Leonard nodded and seemed nervous himself as he sat on the table in front of her. She began scanning him and her close proximity to him made her nervous, so she knew she wasn't going to be able to work in silence. Trying not to look at him and focus on her exam, she asked, "What was it like on the planet?"
Leonard groaned and replied, "It was awful. Your brother stunned the creature I found for us to ride to escape from the natives more quickly, so we ended up having to run away form them on foot."
In spite of the awkwardness she felt, she laughed softly and said, "It sounded like it only got worse from there."
As she continued to scan him with the tricorder, he said, "You're not lying. I didn't even really want to go on the damn mission. Don't know why I let Jim talk me into it. I'll promise you this, I'm never going on a mission with him again. Especially if there's every another chance for jumping off a cliff."
Kate held the tricorder up to his face and began scanning there as she asked, "Was it as awful as you thought it would be?"
Leonard raised an eyebrow and said, "Worse, lucky we didn't hit those giant rocks at the bottom."
Kate finished up her scans and began comparing this exam to his previous one and said, "Well, we're all alive and we're headed back to San Fran, at least for a while. That should make everyone here happier."
Leonard shrugged, "I suppose it'll at least get me out of this tin can we're flying through space."
As Kate decided that everything was normal, she laughed at Leonard and said, "It's really not all that bad. I'm afraid of flying too, and I don't hate being on a star ship."
Leonard nodded, but countered, "It's just all the adventures that come with being on a star ship," and looked at her with sadness in his eyes.
Kate felt the awkwardness returning as she caught the double meaning in his words. Being on the Enterprise was an adventure, every single day, but he was also referring to the rocky relationship the two of them had developed ever since that fateful day when she kissed him.
She cleared her throat as she looked away from him and said, "You're healthy and clear for duty, Leonard."
Leonard hopped down from the table nodded as he said, "Yeah, I'll see ya, Kate," then left her in med bay.
Kate felt her hands shaking and took a deep breath to calm herself. She looked around med bay, satisfied that it was organized enough, and put up her equipment so that she could return to her room.
Arriving at her room, she sat down at her communicator and dialed the number for Chris's office. It had been a little over two weeks since their first conversation about her transferring off the ship, so she hoped he would be willing to have an actual discussion about this now.
It rang a few times before she heard Chris's voice say, "Pike here."
Kate smiled at hearing his voice and said, "Hi, Chris. It's Kate."
She could almost hear the smile in his voice as he replied, "Kate, it's good to hear from you again! How are things going?"
She nodded as she said, "Good, we're just wrapping things up here at Nibiru and Jim said we're heading back to headquarters for a while."
Chris replied, "That's good to hear. How did things go there?"
Kate hesitated for a moment, not sure what to say. Her hesitation did not go unnoticed, and he asked, "Was everything okay? Did anything happen?"
Kate shook her head and tried to come up with something to say that wouldn't be a lie. She thought quickly and said, "Everyone is fine. We're all here and the planet is fine too."
Chris sounded relieved as he said, "Good. Now, what can I do for you? I assume you're calling about what we talked about last time?"
Kate nodded as she replied, "Yes, sir. I still want to transfer to a different ship, if you're willing to approve it."
She heard Chris sigh on the other end and said, "Kate, I can't get a good read on you over long distance, but I know something more is going on than what you're letting on. I can't imagine you wanting to leave Jim, Spock, McCoy, or Uhura."
Kate sighed and said, "Sir, I..."
But he cut her off and said, "You'll be back home in a few days. Why don't you come to my office on Wednesday after you get back. How's ten in the morning sound?"
Kate swallowed, accepting the fact that he wasn't going to approve this now, and said, "It sounds good. I'll see you then, sir."
She went to end the call, but Chris said, "Kate, don't be too mad at me. I just want to get a better read on the situation and see you. We'll discuss it seriously then."
Kate nodded and said, "Thank you sir, I'll see you soon," then ended the call. She sat back in her chair and sighed. She knew it would have been too easy for Chris to just agree to it, but she had hoped it would happen nonetheless. She supposed she would just have to wait a few more days to see if she would finally be able to get away from Leonard or not.