Chapter Text
Hopes & Fears
Just as Spock and McCoy were taking a moment to digest the FO’s groundbreaking discovery, a very excited Lieutenant Uhura called from the bridge. She was working the Gamma shift with Sulu when they detected the energy field as well. Unable to raise Mr Spock in his quarters, Uhura finally managed to track him down in the conference room, only to find that the first officer was already aware that the mysterious energy field had reappeared. Spock ordered her to call Captain Kirk and all key personnel to an emergency meeting. He had to inform them of his discovery immediately and they urgently needed to discuss how next steps.
As Spock briefly summed up his discovery for Uhura, the communications officer didn't attempt to hide her joy and reinvigorated hope.
"Mr Spock, if the probe has really been transported to another galaxy through a wormhole, it could take longer for the probe's signal to reach us. Scotty... and the landing party..." Uhura's voice broke, strained by her mixed emotions.
"Yes, Uhura, Scotty and his men might still be alive after all", McCoy joined the conversation from his seat next to Spock, his gentle Southern drawl soothing Uhura and Sulu's worries. Just as the doctor was following the conversation next to Spock, so did the helmsman who was standing next to the communications officer’s station. Sulu exchanged a worried look with his friend – could they dare to hope?
"Even if we do receive a signal from Lieutenant Commander Scott, Lieutenant Brown and Lieutenant Monet, which would confirm that they are still alive, it doesn't mean that we will ever be able to retrieve them."
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Bones’ knowledge of astro-physics was rudimental, but the implications of Spock's baffling discovery were obvious even to him. The doctor was on his way to Kirk's quarters to pick him up for the emergency meeting which the first officer had scheduled at 0500 hours. Carrying a flask of freshly brewed coffee for himself and the captain, Bones hurried towards the turbo-lift that would carry him up to deck 5.
On his way to Jim's quarters, the doctor recalled what he knew about wormholes. Granted, his knowledge on the subject was limited. However he was very familiar with one of the most striking Starfleet tales known, which happened to concern this mysterious phenomena.
In 300 years of humanoid space exploration only one apparent encounter between an observer and a wormhole had been recorded on file. But the story of this strange occurrence was more of a Starfleet fairy-tale than proven scientific fact.
150 years ago Captain Amir Azar was transporting provisions between Earth and Vulcan with his freighter, the Mercury. The crew consisted only of himself, a pilot and an engineer. The two Federation control outposts on Vulcan and on Earth registered the Mercury's sudden disappearance halfway into the journey. But no attack had been detected and no wreckage was ever found. Furthermore, there had only been seemingly insignificant abnormalities in the space-time continuum in the vicinity where the freighter had disappeared. At the time, those abnormalities had been attributed to a recent solar flare.
Wild conspiracy theories followed the Mercury's mysterious disappearance, including tales about abduction by Vulcan dissidents, a Romulan act of terrorism and Klingon pirates. None of those theories were ever proven. After two years of reviewing the case over and over again, Starfleet finally stored the incident in their 'unresolved' file and ended their enquiry.
Shortly after, Azar reappeared on Rigel 7, literally out of nowhere.
Bones knew this famous piece of Federation folklore so well because one of his tutors at the Medical Academy had been a trainee doctor on Rigel 7 at the time and had encountered Captain Azar personally. This popular tutor, a man already well into his 80's, often shared his personal memories of Azar's incredible story with his students.
The man that had turned up at the Starfleet control post on Rigel 7 was unrecognisable. Always known for his calmness, his precision and reliability, Amir Azar had changed significantly. His neat appearance had been replaced by the look of a tramp - ragged clothes, long hair and a full beard. The change in his character was even more disturbing. Azar was aggressive, angry and extremely nervous. Furthermore, he seemed to have lost his touch with reality completely. However, he was in relatively good physical health, as he claimed that while being lost for several months, he had survived on a diet of fruit and vegetables. As the Mercury was stocked with enough oxygen reserves and a freight of several hundred tons of Terran vegetables and fruit, Azar's story was believable up to that point. It was the second part of his story that lacked credibility.
The captain claimed that the Mercury had entered some kind of energy field that had suddenly appeared in front of them en route to Vulcan. At first they had crashed into the field, and then after a few more rocky encounters, they had seemingly drifted inside it. An excellent navigator with extensive knowledge of the wider astro-geographical space including the Local Group (see footnote 1), Azar claimed that they found themselves in the Andromeda Galaxy, 2.5 million light years from Earth, when they exited again. He identified the galaxy with 100% certainty due to the constellation of certain stars, which he recognised to be part of this neighbouring galaxy of the Milky Way.
Bones had always listened in wonder when his tutor told them this amazing story. They discussed the case often - had Amir Azar been traumatised by some unknown event en route to Vulcan that resulted in mental disillusions or was he actually telling the truth, although it seemed illogical? Even with today's technological advancements it would take a starship that was travelling constantly at Warp 8, 98 years to reach the Andromeda Galaxy. And no starship in this galaxy was capable of travelling at such speeds for that duration of time. Azar could not have been right. His story became even more tragic when he insisted that his two shipmates had committed suicide when they realised where they had ended up, not able to cope with the knowledge that they would never be able to return home. Azar claimed that he was close to killing himself, too. But he came to the rational conclusion that if he had somehow ended up in this galaxy, it could somehow be possible to return to his own. Furthermore, his love for his wife prevented him from giving up. According to Captain Azar, he never gave up hope that he would see her again and stayed alive.
After supposedly drifting several months in space on the edges of the Andromeda Galaxy, the energy field the Mercury had encountered appeared again, seemingly out of nowhere. According to Azar, the ship first crashed into the field, and then drifted inside it, like it had done before. This time though, the field appeared to be far hotter than before and the colossal energy heated the freighter up so significantly that the interiors of the ship caught fire. Seeing no possibility to survive the situation, Azar opted to beam himself into empty space as a way of painless suicide.
He re-materialised on Rigel 7.
Bones had always belonged to the group of students in his class that believed that if such traumatising events had really occurred, they could have changed a man's character as fundamentally as in Amir Azar's case. He somehow didn't believe the man was acting or making up stories. However, Azar's astro-physical claims couldn't be confirmed. Many scientists believed that Azar had indeed been trapped in an unknown area in space - but in the Milky Way galaxy. However, there was a small group of scientists from all over the Federation who took Azar's claims serious and analysed them further. But there was no data to support his story, just the captain's personal accounts. Bones' tutor recalled how Azar always told his story with a desperate voice and with fearful eyes, appearing like a man tormented by an incredible trauma. But no scientist was able to confirm his claims to be true. Wormholes were deemed theoretically possible. But until this day, their existence had never been proven.
The sad irony of Azar's story was that because of his changed character, his wife divorced him and he lived a lonely life at Rigel 7's medical facility until he died an old and lonely man. Until his last breath, the captain maintained that his story was true.
McCoy shook his head in amazement as he remembered the sad ending. He was just entering the corridor that was leading up to Jim's quarters. The doctor wasn't surprised to see Spock and the captain were already coming his way. The first officer must have had the same idea and stopped by Jim’s quarters to pick him up for the meeting. Grinning, McCoy bounced on his toes as Kirk smiled warmly at the flask in his hand.
If Spock has any common sense, he got us some doughnuts, McCoy thought, smiling to himself. But of course, the Vulcan hadn't. Kirk interpreted the grin on the doctor's face as a reaction to his own longing look at the flask.
"Good thinking, Bones", he said with a nod towards the flask as the three of them entered the turbo-lift.
"Someone 'round here has to keep an eye on what's essential", McCoy chuckled, his eyes not leaving Jim's face. Spock just lifted an eyebrow.
While they rode towards deck 1, Kirk directed a meaningful look towards McCoy and Spock.
"I have recalled Chekov on duty. He is attending the emergency meeting."
McCoy nodded, his support for the captain's decision reflected in his eyes.
"I want to keep the ensign involved throughout this rescue operation", Kirk continued.
McCoy was more than just a little relieved that Jim called what they were doing a 'rescue mission'. His thoughts returned to the start of this long night when he had been lying in his bed, wide awake and disturbed by dark thoughts of what had happened to Scotty, Brown and Monet and the resulting implications for the young Russian.
Due to the unclear circumstances of the incident, he doubted Starfleet would actually punish Chekov in legal terms should the three missing men be confirmed dead after all. But due to his crucial role during the event, he could face degradation and could end up with a desk job in the lower regions of Starfleet headquarters. And if that wouldn't be punishment enough for the young man, his guilt, justified or not, would possibly torment him for the rest of his life. That thought alone was enough to enrage the doctor again. It reminded him how angry he had been with Spock when he had left his quarters to retrieve the brandy from the conference room. In typical Vulcan manner, the blasted elf had then managed to distract him from his anger with a revolutionary scientific discovery!
But that was then and Bones still had to pick a bone with the FO.
When they hurried down the corridor towards the conference room, he couldn't help but give Spock his piece of mind regarding his treatment of Chekov. The Vulcan had just stated that the chance of receiving a Hoffmann 7 signal from another galaxy lay between 89.87 and 128.40 to 1. McCoy felt a strange urge to laugh out loud and cry at the same time. Their chances were extremely slim, they knew that already. So why on earth did Spock have to be so goddamn accurate all the time by translating the realities they were confronted with into cold, harsh data.
"I regret, Captain, that I haven't been able to conduct a more precise calculation in such a short period of time." Spock was strutting along the corridor determinedly, his head tilted slightly towards Kirk who was walking in the middle with his two friends at his side.
"Your calculation is precise enough to leave at least a little room for optimism, Mr Spock", Kirk replied with a small smile, "and this is more than I dared to hope for only a few hours ago."
And goddamn Jim for always appreciating Spock for being...Spock!, Bones raged in his mind.
The CMO knew he was going to lose his temper, but in all honesty, he just didn't care anymore.
They were about to turn into the short side corridor that was leading toward the conference room, when McCoy quickly got in front of his superiors and blocked their way.
"Forget your blasted numbers for a moment, Spock! I wanna know why you haven't apologised for insisting to put Chekov on heavy duty on his first day?", McCoy fixed his eyes on the Vulcan who met his glare without blinking.
Kirk knew what the CMO's icy expression meant. He wouldn't back off until he would get some kind of admission from Spock. The captain looked on with undisguised concern but decided to stay out of the discussion for the moment.
"Why would I apologise for a logical decision, Doctor?", Spock didn't back off an inch. He calmly clasped his hands behind his back, "Indeed, it would be illogical to do so.”
The calmness in Spock's voice made McCoy feel his control gradually slip away. Youcold-hearted,green-bloodedsonofa...The doors of the turbo-lift opened and Lieutenants Kyle and Mendelson passed them with a nod as they headed towards the conference room. Bones bit his lip and Spock walked on, following the officers towards the meeting room. Kirk gave the doctor a scolding look and followed his FO.
But McCoy couldn't suppress his anger any longer. He rushed after Spock, stepped in front of him again and put a hand on the Vulcan's broad shoulder, which stopped Spock and Kirk in their tracks, just outside the conference room.
"You cold-blooded hobgoblin, can't you stop thinking about logic for just a damn minute?", McCoy spitted out. Spock didn't move an inch and stared straight through the CMO, as if he was transparent. Only his slightly raised eyebrow indicated that he was listening.
"It was you who insisted to hand the navigator's post to the boy on his first day, even though we had just embarked on a difficult rescue mission! And now look what happened!"
"Doctor McCoy, may I remind you that I acted out of necessity."
Spock now fixed his eyes firmly on the CMO, a look that was totally controlled unlike McCoy's raging glare and the doctor had trouble holding the Vulcan's gaze.
Kirk had seen this dark look only a few times on Spock's face before. Usually it was bestowed upon an enemy they were encountering, as a means to intimidate him. Even with their constant bickering, he had never seen Spock direct that look towards McCoy. The Vulcan was getting dangerously impatient with the CMO.
"And may I also remind you, that there is still the slight chance that Ensign Chekov hasn't committed a mistake after all, that his coordinates were correct but were interfered with by the wormhole. He would therefore be free from any guilt. In this light, I suggest you do not longer judge the ensign's capabilities. If you would clear the way now, the Captain and I are scheduled to conduct the emergency meeting that also requires your presence."
Spock tried to walk around McCoy but his enraged opponent wouldn't let him. He kept his hand firmly pressed against Spock's left shoulder. Kirk watched on with concern. If Bones wouldn't stop this senseless debate, he would have to interfere any second now.
"I'm not judging Chekov, I'm judging you, Spock", every word was accentuated in the doctor's thick Southern accent, "Not your ability as a science officer, but your personal judgement!", McCoy matched Spock's dark look with an ice-cold stare, refusing to give in.
Spock exchanged a quick look with Kirk. The Vulcan was not at all bearing any blame and maintained his aloof posture. Jim read in his FO’s eyes that he would not debate the matter further. A moment of deafening silence past between them.
Kirk took a deep breath, preparing himself to order his CMO to control his temper. But then Lieutenant Uhura stepped out of the conference room.
"Captain, the meeting can commence, we're all ready."
Kirk shot a quick, sharp warning look at McCoy before turning to Spock with a more encouraging look. Bones’ hand dropped from the Vulcan's shoulder. Whenever Kirk was forced to use his razor sharp 'no nonsense' look to shut the doctor up, he knew he had no other option but to give in. At least for the moment.
Jim sighed a silent breath of relief, but his eyes maintained their serious expression. He turned to his communications officer who was waiting by the door for a reply.
"Very well, Lieutenant, so are we."
The captain turned on his heels and entered the conference room. McCoy and Spock followed quietly.
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At 0505 hours the meeting consisting of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Sulu, Lieutenants Mendelson and Kyle commenced. Chekov had also been ordered by the captain to attend even though the navigator wondered why. What on earth could he contribute to this meeting? He had failed them all.
Without a word, Pavel took his seat next to Sulu and stared at the floor.
But then he lifted his head in surprise. Just before the meeting started, Captain Kirk came over and quickly summed up Spock's recent findings that indicated that, after all, he had probably transferred the correct coordinates to the transporter computer but that they had been interfered with by the wormhole. Kirk wanted to break those encouraging news to the ensign straight way, even before Spock started his report. But Kirk also reminded Chekov that the incident would only be fully resolved, and his responsibility regarding the disappearance of the landing party confirmed or denied, when the transporter computer banks had been fully repaired.
Pavel allowed himself a small sigh. He agreed with Captain Kirk that this were promising news indeed and vowed to be of assistance in recovering the missing men to the best of his abilities. But as Kirk took his seat next to Spock and started the meeting, Chekov withdrew into his tormented mind again. Deep down inside his heart he knew, regardless if he was proven to be responsible for what had happened or not, that he would only be able to sleep in peace again if the three men were found alive.
At 0525 hours, Mr Spock finished the report about his baffling discovery that the energy field in the local vicinity of the ship was a wormhole. The attending officers had exchanged surprised and amazed looks throughout his report.
Everyone was allowed to ponder for a moment the implications of Spock's discovery. Kirk felt it was comforting to know that the puzzle was starting to take shape. At least they were beginning to understand the power they were confronted with.
Then, just as he wanted to direct the discussion towards possible ways of action in the light of this new development, Lieutenant Riley called from the bridge. Kirk knew immediately that something had happened. The young Lieutenant didn't even attempt to control his emotions as he shouted into the com unit.
"Captain, Hoffmann 7 has replied! It just signalled us the officer numbers of all three landing party personnel plus the brand-new turbo-lift programming code only Mr Scott and myself are familiar with!"
For a few seconds, one could have heard a pin drop in Conference Room 2. Then jubilation and cheers erupted as officers hugged one another or pat each other’s shoulders, accompanied by a cacophony of laughter and exhausted sighs of relief.
With unseeing eyes, Chekov slowly turned to Sulu who had just exchanged a strong hug with Uhura. The helmsman could read the desperate question in his friend's eyes: What now?
1 Here's a little background information: Andromeda is the largest galaxy of the so-called 'Local Group' which consists of the Andromeda galaxy, the Milky Way, the Triangulum galaxy and about 30 other smaller galaxies. Andromeda is a spiral galaxy and takes its name from the constellation Andromeda.
Due to the enormous size of the Milky Way – a diameter of 100.000 light-years - nearly all Star Trek episodes and movies are set in our 'home' galaxy. As a guide to the relative size of the Milky Way, imagine if our solar system was reduced to the size of a US quarter (approximately 2.5 cm in diameter), the rest of the Milky Way around it would cover an area of 3.286 million square kilometres- the total area of India! Fascinating indeed!