Uhura watched as Faaren vanished around the corner of a collapsed building. She herself set the large phaser rifle over her shoulder, about to head off in the opposite direction.

"Now just wait a minute, you got some explainin' to do," Bones stepped in front of her, his face set in a nasty scowl. "I mean first we're running all over hell's half acre trying to rescue you and it turns out the man who kidnapped you isn't the bad guy after all and that some mind controlling aliens are gonna try use a magic box to destroy the universe. Now just what in the hell is actually going on?"

Uhura nodded, leaning down and grabbing a belt of stun grenades from one of the fallen attackers. "That pretty much summarizes it," She told the confused doctor.

Bones nodded. He still didn't understand half of what was happening, but he realized there wasn't much that could be done about that. "Well when you put it like that, of course it all makes sense now," He mumbled sarcastically.

Chekov was standing by a low crumbling section of wall, using the flat surface to take apart the tricorder and one of the communicators. He held a small tool awkwardly with his broken hand as he meticulously worked on taking apart the pieces of equipment.

"You sure that'll work?" Bones asked the young navigator. Science officer Mayama watched them as she leaned against the doorframe, her dark eyes on the verge of sinking closed.

"With this, I think I can boost the signal to contact the Enterprise," Chekov replied in an excited voice. "It will only take a moment!"

Uhura had already started walking away from them. "Now where in blazes do you think you're going off to?" Bones called after her.

Uhura turned and looked at him, her dark eyes filled with determination. "They need to be stopped."

"You can't expect to do that by yourself! Wait till we get a hold of the ship, then Spock can send down some backup!"

Uhura shook her head. "It could be too late by then," She told him. "You haven't seen what they're capable of."

"Which is why you can't go alone!" Bones told her. "If there's anything we've learned over the years, it's that we're stronger together! We're better together! "

Uhura looked back at the two remaining crew members, her gaze finally coming to rest on the doctor. "Then tell them to hurry and get their asses down here," She said, turning away and continuing down the empty street.

"I almost have it," Chekov said, carefully transferring a small electronic component from the tricorder into the inside of the communicator.

"Once you contact the Enterprise, I want you to lay low." Bones told him, setting a hand on his shoulder. "And take care of her," he added, nodding at Mayama.

Chekov hesitated for a moment, before he continued his work."Aye, sir."

Bones nodded, somewhat surprised. He had expected at least a little resistance to his leaving them. Not that it would have stopped him from going. It just would've felt kinda nice, considering it was most likely going to be a suicide mission. "Don't get all teary eyed on me," He muttered under his breath.

"Doctor?" Mayama struggled to sit up straight. "Be careful, please?" She told him with a small smile.

Bones looked into her eyes, returning her warm smile. "Yes, ma'am." He said, giving her a small halfhearted salute, as if he were nodding with the brim of a hat, before he turned and headed after Uhura.

"Hey! Wait up!" He called after her.

Uhura looked at him as he approached a small smile on her face. "Faaren said they would have headed to the temple." She explained, taking off into a sprint.

"Temple, right." Bones mumbled, already out of breath. "And how far is that again?"

Thank you so much for reading this chapter of Star Trek Oblivion! Feel free to leave a vote/ comment as it helps out and means a lot!

Live long and prosper,

↠ Ellie