Brystal drummed her fingers on the armrest on the captains chair. Her posture poised with her back straighter than a toothpick. She stared into the murky depths of the alien planet while everyone maintained their posts. Few people were missing after being ordered by Kirk for an away mission, making her become the captain for the time being.

She began recalling the argument she had with Jim and Spock before Jim had the cocky idea of putting Spock in the volcano. Nor had she liked the idea of Bone going with them. Having the three most trusted officers on the ship going onto a planet was risky.

She was worried about Uhara and Sulu who were tasked with dropping Spock in the volcano. He would be supplied cold-fusion bomb that would freeze the volcano from exploding. The planet of Nibriu was already doomed to extinction before they had arrived. The civilization wasn't even close to inventing the wheel or any instruments that they had made at Starfleet.

She was now the daughter of two high-ranking Admirals to Starfleet. She couldn't afford to mess up or even put her parents to shame. Or even her brother Kit, who would equally have the same number of consequences as her, if  he was in this situation.

"Jim, I really don't think it's safe that you're putting Uhara's life and Mr. Spock's in danger. The danger is quite inevitable." She had made Jim try to listen to her.

"You do realize I'm risking my life too." Jim chuckled, sending an urge for her to roll her eyes.

"I'm serious though, Jim. You're leaving me to command the ship while you send Spock into an active volcano to save a race born to die. My father even specifically stated we were here to observe and not to intervene. If you find it so vital to interfere, do not put my best friend, Nyotas life on the line of death. This mission is doomed to fail and I'm not sure how I could possibly explain this to my father or the council."

"Look, Brystal. If this matters to you so much, the you should've totally asked your father about commanding this ship. Go the talk to Uhara to see why she's going anyway. And if we all die, at least you'll be the next captain."  Jim said, "Miss me already?" 

"In your dreams." Brystal smiled, before Jim  disappeared off with McCoy.

"Dammit, Jim! Can't you do anything, but shot your ride." Brystal grinded her teeth as she heard  McCoy over the comm shout at Jim. She was looking into the deep emptiness of the Alien sea while gearing the mission going over the comm.

"May I remind you you're speaking to the captain?" Jim asked her.

"We'll your: off ship, Spock's at the volcano, me: I'm in charge for the moment. So don't forget about that key part."

"Point taken. You know you should've really been a captain." Kirk chuckled through the com, "Can you try to get our coms through to the shuttle? Kirk out."

"Oh don't make me regret my decision of staying on this ship," she looked over to where Scotty, Callum, and Olivia stood, "Have we made any contact yet with the shuttle?"

"Aye, lassie...I mean, Captain!" Scotty gaped at a big slug like creature that last the ship.

"You don't quite have to use those terms on me, Mr. Scott, Sulu do you read?" Brystal spoke through the comm.

"Loud and clear, captain." Sulu's voice came over the comm. Olivia smiled at Mr. Scott over a wire she had fixed to get communications working.

"You may want to hurry this up, we don't have much with what Kirk has given us." Brystal commented, "The longer the Enterprise sits here, the acids will soon start effecting controls. We'd be going down good then."

"Captain," Spock's voice came through on the comm, and by captain he meant Jim, "Did any of the indigenous life forms see you?"

"Knowing Kirk he probably did." Olivia commented to Brystal after walking up to her. Brystal half-smirked at the comment whi Olivia hovered over her.

"No, Mr. Spock." Kirk's voice rang over the comm, "I know the rules! I'm literally wearing a costume through theses jungles! I might've missed a few details here and there in class." Scotty and Olivia exchanged a smirk at the comment.

"You might want to get a move on then. Pipes are already starting to get flooded by these seas, even though there are risks for you all of burning, crashing, but don't forget the rest of us are down here and could drown thousands of miles in water. I suggest we start putting the ice cube in the volcano before we cause anymore interference," Brystal clicked her voice on the comm before turning to Olivia, "Mr. Scott and Ms. Hale please get down to engineering to get that leaking fixed."

"Aye." Scotty answered, running off with Olivia towards the elevator. A sudden sound of beeping came from Sulu's side of the comm as soon as he dropped Spock in the volcano. Brystals eyes lit up with distress, turning her comm back on.

"Mr. Sulu?" 

"I can't hold us here much longer. Actions a-r-re become m-more v-violent, the stabilizers are malfunctioning, Spock I need to pull you up!" Sulu spoke through the com.

"Negative, Mr. Sulu. We must stay on track." Spock said before the snapping of the cable cut through. 

Brystal eyed over towards Chekov who was frantically picking up the signals beeping. Her eyes didn't show terror, but more of a distress. She could see why she hadn't taken the chance of being captain on another starship. 

Kirk was always calm in the captains chair, but he had put her in a position of danger. She was allowing her colleagues to go out on a dangerous mission to save a doomed species. Instead of a calm and cool exterior she wanted, she felt inches of distress for her friends. Listening to her friends conversation, tightened her fingers on the armchairs.

She had to admire how hard it must have been for her parents and how they had handled this pressure. Being calm and firm at the same time seemed to be their specialty. Something she had hadn't quite picked up on in that moment.

Jim and Bones entered in the room with the sound of water on their dull gray water proof suits, "Thank god! Mr. Spock's cable just snapped, the shuttles spinning out of control, and Olivia better get them back on!"

"At this point we won't be able to get back on the ship!" Sulu told Uhara.

"No! We can't just leave him!" Uhara begged.

"We don't have a choice! The longer we stay, the more likely we will godown," Sulu outranked her.

Jim ran up to the captain's chair, flicking open the comm, "Get the comm through to Spock, Chekov."

"I'm trying Keptin. I really am," Chekov told him, frantically pressing buttons. Uhara and Sulu ran in their water proof suits, standing next to Brystal as the comm began to send sounds of glitching.

"Lieutenant Uhara, check if all commas are open. We need to have communications up with Mr. Spock," Kirk ordered Uhara.

"The heats distorting the connection. But I have a limited one. I'm going to use it." Uhara told them, taking a seat at her small station. She pressed a few small buttons, flicking switches.

"Spock? Report?" Kirk asked through the comment. Silence came within him asking through the comm if Spock was there. Soon the silence was interrupted by the static of a voice.

"I have activated the device captain. Just awaiting the countdown. The geothermal reaction should render the volcano inert." Spock's voice came over the comm, Uhara bit her lip, nervously.

"Ve need to get Mr. Spock out of there before the volcano inserts him." Chekov truned to Jim.

"Can we use the transporter to get him out?" Jim asked.

"Negative," Brystal told him, "No more than we last could. The toxic fumes, water leaking, and toxic gases are conflicting with transporter abilities. Even the volcanoes hyperactive signatures of high heat are messing with transporter abilities. The risk is of having the transporter being thrown off by several millimeters, which could be fatal to anyone if we used the transporter. I'm afraid the situation hasn't changed."

"There has to be a way around that. We need Spock on this ship! We need a way where those consequences interfere with our engineering and transportation."

"Captain, that's impossible. Unless, we let those aliens see us. But we all know we can't interfere." Brystal told him, only realizing she gave him a bad idea.

"Why don't we do that?" Jim asked.

"Ms. Pike is right. That decision is unacceptable. We would never be able to conceal our selves from the native species. The ship is too large and noticeable." Spock argued through the comm.

"Screw the prime directive." Jim muttered.

"There is no exception, captain. Not in this instance. Revealing superior technology presented by the Enterprise is a violation to Prime Directive."

"Dammit, Spock! We're talking about your life." Bones shouted.

"He's right and then he's wrong." Brystal muttered.

"The needs of many outweigh the needs of the few. We can-not br-bre-e-a," Spock's voice went dead on the communications.

"Ninety seconds to detonation." Chekov told them.

"What would Spock do if I were in that volcano?" Kirk asked himself. Brystal didn't dare to answer knowing worse things could happen.

"He'd let you die." Bones finally said.

"That's helpful." Brystal gave him an angry look, "To say I'm reckless is an understatement when I say, I'd port and get him out of there. He's not dying, not today. And don't you dare use the words I'm an admirals daughter on me."

Jim snapped into action, "Pike, get down to engineering and alert, Mr. Scott, Sulu, raise the front screens, full thrusters."

"Aye," Scotty told her as he took a seat in the transporter room. 

"Get that up and running. I'm not losing anyone today." Brystal told him, looking back at the transporter. The ship roared to life as the thrusters bursted to life. Water began to recede away from the ship as it lifted up into the atmosphere.

Callum came into the room, clogging up another leak that was above their heads. Water had sprinkled his hair from the pressure pipe that was covered in water. His hands grew sore from all the repairing.

Brystal could imagine just how shocked the species would be looking at the ship. A species that hadn't even invented the wheel seeing an enormous shape in the sky. She already regretted, accidentally suggesting the idea to Jim.

"Sure hope, your dad doesn't find out about this." Olivia commented, flicking through buttons.

"I'm not even going to write this in the report." Brystal told her. She knew quite well that her father and the council would be pissed at them for going against the Prime Directive. She was the daughter of now two Admirals and their legacy was on her shoulders. This account of her recklessness would definitely not go well.

"I have a lock on Mr. Spock." Scotty told them, pulling down a few switches.

"Get him back." Brystal ordered. White ribbons of light began to spin around the beaming platform. A figure in a suit to withstand the fire of the volcano began to emerge from the white light.Jim and Bones rushed in to see that Spock was now standing on the platform. 

Wearing the crimson orange spacesuit, that was supposed to protect him from low volcanic pressure. Another small mistake they had made on the mission. If that pressure got to high, who knows what damage could've been done.

Spock looked to see he was back on the ship. "You alright, Spock?" Jim asked.

"Captain, you let them see us." Spock stated.

"He's fine." Bones waved a hand at the Vulcans statement. Brystal felt a surge of anger in her body. Not that Spock had made it out was what made her angry, it was the fact the Jim put his First Officer in that postion.