Stick to the Plan

She smoothed the scanty standard uniform issued by the Empire. Her hair was long but drawn up high on her head into a ponytail. She was considered desirable as a Vulcan woman: her body was long, slightly muscular, and a bit curvy. She did not mind that parts of her body were displayed; nudity was not an issue with Vulcans, as they are comfortable in their skin. So when the S'haile requested her by his side for duty, it was not a problem. She was here to do a job, a job she regretted agreeing to. She had made a big mistake by sleeping with Stonn. T'Pring had done it out of spite against her family, and it backfired. S'haile Spock was more distant than ever and she saw his family's position in a new light. If they bonded she would be considered his equal, especially in power on Vulcan. But his attraction to the brown human female made matters worse. T'Pring was aware of Uhura's muscular body and her beauty, as well as the fact that the majority of the human males desired her. But T'Pring could not see the logic of Spock's attraction to her, she was a typical Terran. But the fact was that her man, the man to whom she should have been bonded, had other plans for their courtship. Spock did not hide his attraction to Uhura, although he never discussed it. But when she was present, his eyes frequently followed her, and most of his assignments were coordinated around Uhura.

T'Pring stood patiently, waiting for her orders. She glanced at Stonn, who was now more interested in her than she had expected. He had attempted to engage with her multiple times since their copulation. They had almost bonded during their liaison; if she had bonded with Stonn, it would have brought more shame on her family and led to failure in her assignment. She was now prepared to bond with S'haile Spock (especially when his time came). It would bring her honor and improve her family's standing. She realized that she must find another way to win his favor, but the human Communications officer was in her way. T'Pring slid her hand around the handle of the blade hidden in her high boot, imagining slitting the throat of the woman who was hindering her mission. She needed to find a way to get rid of her and fulfill her assignment.

Meanwhile, Spock had a lot on his mind, more than a lot. He had been calculating the probabilities of the different scenarios to keep his plan in place.

Shath had entered his private rooms and brought up the issue of T'Pring:

"S'haile, T'Pring has mentioned your interest in a human female. Is there a problem?"

Spock turned swiftly at Shath's comment, his eyes burning into the healer. That others were aware of his attraction-and worse, that they dared address him directly about it-was unacceptable!

"That is no concern of yours, Shath!"

"I am sworn to you, Spock. You are a son to me, and I am loyal to your father. I am here to guide you and advise you about any concerns that affect this ship and our mission!"

Spock took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes to calm his emotions and gather his thoughts: "My apologies, Shath. Captain Kirk has made the situation complex."

Shath approached him: "If you seek this female as a mate, she must be purified."

"I am aware."

Spock left his private bedroom with Shath trailing behind him and stopped to glare at his team.

"Stonn?"

Stonn bowed his head: "The Captain has been entertaining his women during the night; no new reports, S'haile."

"Continue your duties."

Stonn quickly bowed and left. Spock stared at T'Pring, inspecting her up and down, and then left to take his post on the bridge. Semek and T'Pring followed. Spock stared forward as he rode the turbolift. His people knew their responsibilities; he seldom had to give them orders. The doors opened, and Spock proceeded to his station. T'Pring followed and glared at Uhura, who was working at her console, unaware of her adversary. She took her post below Spock's station.

Kirk turned from his chair to glance at the new member on the bridge. He looked at her and then Spock and grinned.

"Can't you stay away from your woman, Spock?"

Spock slowly turned from his console, arched a brow at Kirk, and ignored his question: "I have the latest information about sector 5... if you are interested, Captain."

That took the smile off Kirk's face, which morphed into a sinister glare. He quickly went over and leaned on the console next to Spock. "Well?"

"We have two options: We can continue with our present course to pursue the dilithium crystals. Or we can track the rogue ship that attempted to take over the Enterprise."

Kirk folded his arms, thinking about those options.

"Either one will earn you recognition from the Empire; the rogue ship might have something to offer," Spock said.

A crooked smile formed on Kirk's face; he was getting greedy:

"I want both, Spock; make it happen! We could do a hostage negotiation. I have plans for those dead weights hanging out in the brig."

"As you wish, Captain."

"Come on, Spock! You know you always get an equal percentage," Kirk said, noticing Spock's lack of enthusiasm. "How long will take us to get there?"

"Approximately 72 hours, if we change our speed to warp 6 and maintain that course."

"Do it. We'll discuss the details later."

Kirk then went to Uhura at the Communications station:

"Uhura, get the team together for a meeting; there's been a change of plans."

Uhura paged the Omicron Ceti VII team and ordered them to meet in the conference room.

Kirk clapped his hands together and laughed as the plan formed in his head.

When Nyota got off duty, she quickly changed her uniform, draped a small tote bag over her shoulder, and headed out to meet her team leaders. It took her 20 minutes to make sure she wasn't followed. She had to be careful; she couldn't afford to be caught. When she reached Deck 15, she started to relax. She pointed her communicator at the door, and it opened to a dark room. Eve Brody turned on the lights with a concerned look:

"What took you so long?"

"I had to take a lot of detours; I can't afford to be followed. I have several targets."

"Your friend, Sulu?"

"Yeah: him, Scotty, and Boma!"

Charlene Masters stepped into the light with her tricorders draped over her shoulders: "Really? That many men chasing you?"

Nyota arched a brow at Charlene and said, "Come, ladies! Let's get to work."

Nyota opened the tote bag to reveal the new communicators and handed one to each woman.

"I adjusted them so that we can communicate without being monitored, plus, once we choose a location, we can program it to open most secure doors."

"So that's how you got in; impressive!" Charlene noted.

Eve pulled out her Padd and projected the schematics of the Enterprise on the wall:

"I designated certain storage areas as hiding or meeting places. If you notice, the walls have been adjusted to make it appear that the rooms are empty. I also created a panel that allows us to enter the secret room to hide if need be. No one will know that we are there. Plus, it's soundproof, and I can create a projection so that everything appears normal if someone uses sensors to check the room."

"It's like a hologram. So the next time I walk in here, I can hide behind that wall, and no one will notice me? Excellent!" Nyota said.

"Correct," Eve replied.

"Good job, Eve!" Nyota said.

"My turn!" Charlene chimed in, pulling out a device the same size as her Padd: "I've created an intraship transport beam that is undetectable. I can move our meetings to another place on the ship, or, if we are endangered, I can transport at least two people at a time to almost any area of the ship."

Nyota, impressed with the invention, walked over to look at it more closely: "This thing will save our lives if need be. Wow, Charlene! Great job! Let's try it out!"

Charlene adjusted her Padd: "Where do you want to go? Just remember that we need to keep this a secret, so you can't beam to an open corridor or an unsecure room."

"Send me to my quarters."

"Done!" Charlene said, inputting Nyota's deck and room number." Charlene pressed a button, and Nyota disappeared.

Eve stepped closer to Charlene: "Wow! That's amazing!"

Charlene got a peep on her Padd and rematerialized Nyota.

"That is great! Now I don't have to play hide and seek to get to our meetings."

"Mr. Scott doesn't know I've been working on this. He tried his own version, and then he abandoned it. He didn't realize that the transporter beams need to be adjusted for the ship's movement through space."

"That reminds me: I'm on his sh$t list. I think he will try to hurt me for calling him out during a staff meeting," Nyota said.

"That sucks!" Eve said, folding her arms.

"I know how to handle that broken-down Scottish freak!" Nyota snarled. "Let's move on; do we have anything else on our agenda?"

"Eve gave me your armband, and I etched an "S" for "Sisterhood" into the jewel. This will allow us to identify other members of the Sisterhood after we recruit more members," Charlene said.

She handed over the newly designed armband to Nyota. She examined the jewel embedded in the gold band; the "S" was subtle and visible only from certain angles.

"Great job! We are moving in the right direction; how is our recruiting going?"

"I've got Yeoman Tina Lawson on board. I took her to the gym for more judo lessons, as well as weightlifting to help her to gain strength. She gave me the names of two crewmen who've been harassing her. They're trying to make her part of their sex trade."

"You mean one of their bit$hes for credits!" Charlene snarled.

Nyota paced the room for a moment, then placed her hands on her hips: "I will give her training in some of my techniques. She just needs to contribute information that will benefit our cause. Good job, Eve! Who are the crewmen who are bothering her?"

"Ensigns Kevin Reilly and Chekov-those two perverts."

"Then we need to pay them a visit to teach them the lesson that women need to be respected."

"Ladies, what form of punishment should we provide for their first lesson?"

Sinister smiles formed on Eve's and Charlene's faces, and then Eve responded: "Jewels. I think Tina would like their jewels."

Nyota agreed with the idea and said: "This way they will be more careful about where they put their jewels."

The three women laughed and chanted together: "Jewels it is!"

Later, in Spock's quarters:

"You lost her?"

"Yes, S'haile. She clearly intended to evade any tail."

"Did she see you or become aware of your presence, Semek?"

"No my, Lord. I was discreet!"

Spock sat silently with his fingers steepled, thinking: "Did she find out about the software program in her computer? Is there another male I must contend with?" Then he addressed Semek again:

"Did you find her?"

"Yes, my Lord. I found her in corridor 12, walking toward the turbolift."

"Did she look as if she had engaged in a liaison?" Spock demanded to know, not caring to hide his fury at the thought.

"No, my Lord. She was gone one hour and seventeen minutes. Her appearance has not changed."

Spock leaned back in his chair, feeling frustrated about not knowing Uhura's whereabouts:

"Leave me."

Semek left at a quick pace; he did not know how his lord would react. The female Uhura has left Spock perplexed, almost obsessed. But if Uhura were his choice of mate, she was better than the one the Vulcan Council had provided. Semek was aware of T'Pring's mission. Spock had asked him to wait for the Council's plan to play out. It bothered him that Lt. Commander Uhura had evaded him. Spock was at all not pleased. Semek was driven to discover how she eluded him and whether there was another male she was attending. Semek was impressed that she had been able to elude him, but now he had to think of a way to track her.