Being a harcore Trekker, it’s not too surprising that my *real* first piece of fanfic would be set in that universe. This is the recently edited version of a story I first wrote in high school (and got an A on, I might add).Disclaimer: Star Trek and all ST-related concepts and terminology used are property of Paramount, and are used solely for entertainment and not for profit.
"KOBAYASHI MARU"
by Eric R. Umali
"WELL, Kara, it's been a hell of a ride, hasn't it?", asked young Ensign Jaredan Aquino as he gazed down at the familiar and beautiful face of his best friend. Despite the commotion that surrounded them, his mind traveled back over the last five years of his life, and at every turn he saw her. Memories of the first time they met, and of every adventure they'd ever shared came rushing back, but in the noise of the ship, one memory in particular was the strongest...
**********
"Two...no, make that three Romulan Warbirds de-cloaking, Captain!" Three Birds of Prey. Even Starfleet's mighty flagship, the Enterprise, was only barely a match for one. I wonder, Aquino thought, if the tactical officer was as scared as Lieutenant Beckett's poorly-masked voice betrayed.
"Damn! Shields up, go to red alert. Lieutenant Etienne, hail them." He had hoped to have escaped Romulan space by this time, but now he had to face the music. "They've already hailed us, Captain," the communications officer answered. "All right then, open the channel." Suddenly, the starry view of the main viewscreen was replaced by the imposing image of a Romulan commander, smug and resplendent in his grey uniform, his heavy brow was set into an expression of confidence.
"This is Captain Jaredan Aquino, of the U.S.S. *Enterprise*. We are a Federation..."
The Romulan cut in, "I care nothing of who you are. In violation of your own treaty, you have entered the Romulan Neutral Zone, and we are prepared to fire upon your ship."
"We are a Federation exploratory vessel," Aquino continued, visibly annoyed,"and we are responding to the distress call of an independent ship which has been stranded here." He could still hear the message they had picked up just an hour ago- "Mayday... mayday...-bzzt-...passenger liner *Kobayashi Maru*...-bzzt-...engine failure...-bzzt-...Tirol sector...radiation leak... -bzzt-...mayday..." The helm double-checked the coordinates, but he already knew- Tirol sector was nearly a parsec inside the Romulan Neutral Zone, but, as captain, it was his decision, and they went in.
"Our sensors register no such ship within the sector, Captain Aquino," the Romulan captain gloated.
Aquino pivoted around to face his tactical officer on the raised platform behind him. "Still receiving the distress call, captain, but sensors no longer scan the ship." A trap, he thought, but we'll never get a chance to prove it.
"Can we outrun them to the border, Lieutenant Lionetti?" Aquino asked her, looking for a way out.
"I think so, sir...oh, no...sir, a fourth Bird of Prey de-cloaking. They've cut off any escape routes." The brown eyes that were always laughing were sad now, and seemed to look back at him and tell him, *I can't help you, either.*
He swallowed, and ordered, "Arm phasers and photon torpedoes."
"Sir, the ships are firing..." The tactical officer's report was cut off by a sudden rocking of the bridge. "Shields down to fifteen percent," was the grim news that was delivered. Before the *Enterprise* could return fire, the Birds of Prey, true to their name, pummeled the ship. First to go were the warp engine nacelles, which took a good piece of the Engineering section along with them. The hull exploded in four places at once, and the bridge was lit by fire, instead of the long blinking red alert status lights.
Aquino looked down at the bodies of his crew, his friends, Kara...thrown around by the ship. He ran to the weapons controls, but the long wooden panel exploded in his face. The lights all went out. The alarms stopped, the fires went out, the smoke was vented, and the turbolift doors opened. A single figure in uniform, with a Commander's rank pins and strange alien features, stepped onto the bridge.
"Computer, end program," he ordered, and the bridge seemed to dissolve around him, leaving them all in a strange black room covered in glowing yellow grid lines. The "dead" crew picked themselves off the floor, dusted themselves off, and, groaning, walked to the exit. Aquino arose from where the decimated tactical panel stood sixty seconds ago, thinking to himself, what did I do wrong?
"Cadet Aquino," said the man, "an interesting performance. You've lost all hands- all one thousand or so."
"With your permission, Commander Braun," the command cadet asked cautiously, "the simulation was both unfair and unrealistic."
"Oh? How so?"
"There was no way to win. We were trapped by the Romulans- four of them!"
"Cadet Aquino, you should learn that real life can't be predicted by a computer and rehearsed on a holodeck. No-win situations exist, and you will have to face them. If, God help us, you're given your own command, remember this test." Seeing the wound in the young man's pride, he went on to explain.
"The *Kobayashi Maru* simulation is _meant_ to be a completely no-win scenario, and is meant to test your reactions and decisions. Even if you disregarded the distress signal, it would have been a Cardassian raid, or even a Ferengi smuggling ring. Don't worry, Jaredan," he consoled him, "you did exactly what I did thirty years ago." Commander Braun walked off, and Jaredan felt a soft hand on his shoulder.
"C'mon, Jay. We may be dead, but that doesn't mean we can't have a good time, does it?" Kara always knew how to cheer him up. "Now take a shower, and I'll meet you at The Dutchman so we can show San Francisco how to party, all right?"
"Okay, love, but the first round's on you."
She kissed him on the cheek, turned, and waved.
"Aye-aye, captain..." she said, and walked away. The memory began to fade away, and, try as he could, he could not hold on. Then it was abruptly ended.
**********
It was the sudden rocking of the floor beneath them that shook Jaredan Aquino out of his reverie, and as the beautiful face of the past faded from view, it was replaced by its current state. Bruised, darkened by smoke, and with a trickle of blood down her temples, she was still as pretty as day one.
The last three hours were a blur, until the sharp pain in his side that informed him of a broken rib focused his mind. Their class had been assigned to the U.S.S. *Aurora* for a training voyage, and were supposed to have been mapping the frontier world of Lorrah IV, over three parsecs from the furthest Cardassian frontier. A solar flare storm had tossed the small Excelsior class starship into the next system, near Himon I, where they were caught in a Cardassian raid into Federation territory, a day from any assistance. The Cardassians were one of the most savage and dangerous races the Federation had yet encountered, and were not known for their hospitality or mercy.
It didn't seem to matter that the Aurora was barely armed, that she was on a purely scientific mission, or that she was crewed solely by cadets. The Cardassians opened fire upon her; the shields buckled in seconds, and, if the alarm system was working correctly, Aquino guessed there may have been a boarding attempt.
Kara groaned as Jaredan finally managed to pry the small bit of bulkhead from off of her legs. The medical sensors of the tricorder he had found in the wreckage told him that she was definitely still alive, but her legs were broken, and she'd die if she didn't make it to sickbay immediately. Gingerly, carefully, he lifted her up and away from the debris that was leaking radiation as well.
When he had staggered the two meters to a main corridor, he struggled to get his arm around to tap the communicator badge on his chest. When he heard the familiar beep, he called for help. "Ensign Aquino to Sickbay. Request direct medical transport for two to sickbay emergency facilities."
"Ensign Selden here," a young woman's voice answered, "We've got your coordinates, but you'll have to wait a minute. We're a little backed up."
"Understood, doctor. Aquino out. Dammit!" Jaredan slowly sank down to the floor again.
"Hang on, Kara... It'll just be a minute before we're safe. I'm not leaving you," he assured her, "not ever. Just wait. We'll get through this hell, and we're gonna light up the town with the biggest grad party the Academy's ever seen. Even better than that night after the *Kobayashi Maru*, when we got put on probation for..."
"Goddammit, energize!"
His words were cut off by the transporter's shimmering blue light around them both, as they disappeared, and rematerialized, holding each other, into a horribly bustling Sickbay, buried by a deluge of casualties. Dr. Ecklar helped him lay her under more sensitive sensors to examine her injuries. "Legs broken in four places, some internal hemorrhage, broken rib or two- she'll be fine now that you've brought her here," was her diagnosis, and Aquino had every intention of staying by her side for the duration of the battle.
"Will the following personnel report for bridge or security assignments: Ensigns Beckett, Lee, Etienne, Tyler, Aldrich... and Aquino." The slightly garbled announcement over the ship's intercom caused relief in those cadets not chosen, and fear in those names on the roll. Jaredan had yet to move from his vigil.
"You heard the order, Jay," Kara whispered, struggling.
"Yeah, I heard him, Kara. Go to sleep now." And she closed her eyes for what he hoped would not be the last time.
It was stay in sickbay with Kara, and quietly fade into mediocrity, not to mention court martial, or report to Commander Walgren, and accept one of the two most dangerous assignments on the ship. Every rational synapse in his body screamed for him to stay. It was a no-win situation, his own *Kobayshi Maru*, that had to be faced _now_...
"Ensign Aquino reporting for duty, sir."
THE END.
