Dr. Leonard McCoy sat in a chair in Enterprise's mess hall, feeling both annoyed and (secretly) amused at the raucous source of amusement both his scowl and the statement which had caused it were providing to his dining companions. Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott was chortling over his plate of Haggis (the plate being the far more disturbing of the two sights to the doctor), while Lieutenant Nyota Uhura was gripping the table to keep from sliding off her chair in between her giggles. While he knew Commander Spock would rather jump into a live volcano than laugh out loud (the former being from painful experience), McCoy knew the Vulcan well enough to see the laughter in that blasted eyebrow.

"Don't go putting words in my mouth you pointy-eared hobgoblin!"

"I do not believe I took any such action, Doctor. Furthermore considering the non-physical nature of words I would find said action most difficult had I any desire to undertake it. I merely stated the comparison between your expressions upon learning of Captain Kirk's priority summons to Starfleet headquarters and the Ilvarian announcement of their intention to execute him."

"Yeah, well at least the Ilvarians were honest about it."

As Scotty and Uhura broke into another round of guffaws Spock simply regarded him with the eyebrow.

McCoy was saved from another scathingly logical retort by the whistle of the intercom.

"Bridge to Spock."

All four turned to look at the wall unit that sounded with the voice of Uhura's second, Carolyn Palmer. Spock rose to his feet and moved towards it.

"Spock here."

"Mr. Spock, the Captain is on his way back from the surface. He's commed us with orders to get the ship ready for emergency departure."

McCoy, Scotty, and Uhura looked at each other worriedly. An urgent summons to Starfleet command followed by emergency departure? That never meant anything good. Spock, as usual, was unflappable.

"Status of shore parties, Lieutenant?"

"Most crewmen were already back onboard awaiting our new orders. Captain Kirk reported that he was rounding up the remainder of the shore party to return on his shuttle."

"Issue emergency departure warnings to all departments and call all hands to stations. I am on my way to the bridge."

"Acknowledged, sir."

Spock turned and strode briskly out the door, his three friends on his heels.

McCoy stood on the bridge, watching the crew at their posts. After checking in with sickbay to ensure they had everything on hand, McCoy had come up to the bridge and was watching the controlled chaos as he awaited Jim's return.

It occurred to him that it was a good thing Sam had left the previous day. The last thing the Kirk brothers needed was for their time together to be interrupted prematurely without warning. Their two days together before Sam had had to return to Deneva had been a whirlwind of stories from their years apart. It wasn't anywhere near all the healing their relationship needed, but it was an excellent beginning. They'd parted with promises to talk when they could and for Jim to come meet Sam's wife and child at some point soon. McCoy had liked the effect the reconciliation had had on Jim- he could've sworn he could see one or two inches of the shadows under his friend's eyes receding.

Speak of the devil. McCoy snapped out of his reverie as the starboard side doors opened and Jim Kirk burst onto the bridge in a blaze of his own personal brand of type-A personality. Yet something was off. Kirk was usually a bundle of energy, but long experience allowed McCoy to read the agitation in his walk, in the way he put one foot in front of the other as though he was racing to keep ahead of something he couldn't outrun.

"Status, Mr. Spock."

"All stations ready for departure, Captain."

Kirk nodded to Spock's report as he passed him on his way to the command chair the Vulcan had just vacated. Rather than sitting down, though, Kirk remained standing next to the right arm of the chair and turned back to look at his communications officer.

"Lt. Uhura, Spacedock?"

The slim woman turned to answer the question. "Yard control signals ready, Captain."

McCoy could see something in Jim, in the way Jim seemed to stand a little straighter. There was another recent development in his friend's life Leonard was happy with. He'd long suspected there might be some deeper feelings there for the confident and beautiful communications specialist, but he didn't really want to butt in, especially given his own past experience with romance. But he had noticed the quiet strength his friend had drawn from her during the mess with his stepfather. He could see the almost imperceptible smile in his eyes whenever she walked into the room. The doctor just hoped it kept going.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Mr. Sulu," Kirk turned to the helm, "retract all moorings."

"Aye sir."

The long docking clamps tethering Enterprise to Spacedock pulled away. Under Sulu's expert hand the majestic starship pulled away from the dock and slid smoothly into open space.

"We are free and clear to maneuver."

"Thank you, Mr. Sulu. Mr. Chekov, plot a course for the Azure nebula."

McCoy could see several spines straighten at the mention of their destination. He wondered what the hype was about. After all, he was a doctor, not a navigator.

"Course plotted, sir."

"Laid in, Captain."

"Warp 6, Mr. Sulu. Punch it."

On Kirk's order, Enterprise shot off into warp, leaving Earth far behind.

"All senior staff to the briefing room. Lt. Uhura, contact Mr. Scott to join us."

Five minutes later the senior officers were ensconced around the conference table, looking to their captain for answers.

"As you're all aware diplomatic talks have been ongoing with the Romulan Star Empire in order to settle the issue of our little tap dance with those birds of prey. Starfleet has just informed me that the talks appear to be breaking down. Command is anticipating an outbreak of hostilities sometime soon."

A stunned silence greeted Jim's announcement. The last Romulan war of a century earlier had been a veritable bloodbath. Nobody wanted to guess what a new conflict could inflict.

"Vhy now?" piped in Chekov.

Spock as usual jumped in to field the question. "As you may recall, Mr. Chekov, Starfleet operations and tactical readiness have been somewhat hindered by the separate actions of Nero, Admiral Marcus, and Khan. A Romulan attack at the current time will find them facing a weakened Starfleet."

Not a pretty thought at all….

"Exactly, Mr. Spock. Starfleet is doing its utmost to prepare for the upcoming conflict."

Jim's words did not sit well with Leonard at all. "Hang on a minute! You sound as though Starfleet has already decided this war is going to happen! There must be some hope to stop it!"

Jim turned to me with a weary smile that scared me right down to the bone.

"Hope, yes. One hope, in fact. And therein lies our mission. We are the one hope Starfleet sees as a realistic possibility for averting this conflict."

Whoa. No pressure. Now McCoy knew where the heaviness he'd seen in Jim had come from.

"With all respect to Starfleet, what is our destination that our mission could possibly effect such an outcome on a large Romulan war effort, sir?" came the question from Spock.

Jim regarded us with that spine tingling smile, the one that he used whenever he was getting to the punch line of a joke- usually at our expense.

"An old stomping ground of ours, Mr. Spock."

That smug little midget was enjoying this. Damn him.

"The Klingon homeworld."