The Mystery Meeting

The Enterprise was two days from Omicron Ceti VII, and the negotiation team was ready to bargain for the rights to the newfound dilithium deposits. Kirk knew this would be a big deal-if he were able to retrieve the dilithium, it would make him more powerful and it would keep him from being sent to engage with the Klingons. The Empire would see him as a more valuable asset than a mere successful warrior officer in the fleet. His prestige would increase, enabling him to ascend to a higher position, even if it meant taking out any admirals who weren't happy about his advancement.

In the meantime, Nyota was unaware that she is being followed by Semek, but she somehow sensed she was being watched. She made sure to always have her weapons at hand.

She called a meeting on her specially adjusted communicator; she sent Tina to Marlena and Janice, and then to Christine Chapel and Running Deer in Sickbay, to tell them to meet in Sickbay. Masters and Brody were already waiting for them at the meeting location on one of the lower decks.

Marlena and Janice were in a good mood, now that they had decided to join the Sisterhood. They had reexamined their odds of retaining their status as Kirk's women and realized their positions were precarious. Chapel and Running Deer had seen the advantages of joining too-having leverage in their department and throughout the ship. They realized they didn't have to do all the grunt work and never receive recognition for their hard work.

Nyota and Tina walked down the corridor toward Sickbay like queens on a mission. Tina had a satchel over her shoulder and hugged it close to her body. When they entered, they were greeted by the other women.

"Hello, ladies," Nyota said. She looked at Chapel: "Is the coast clear?"

"Yes, nobody's here but us, but I wouldn't feel safe here for too long. One of McCoy's flunkies might pop in."

Nyota smiled at them: "No worries."

She turned to Tina and the others and explained how the new communicators worked: "These are modified communicators; the signals are encrypted and they have shields on them so no one can detect us talking to each other. I will take your old ones and adjust them."

The four women looked at each other in amazement while Tina collected their old Empire communicators and exchanged each for one of Nyota's upgraded models.

"Now flip them open and touch the orange button," Nyota said, smiling as she watched them: "Now, ladies, we are going to take a little trip, I'll see you there!"

The women looked at each other in wonder, and then touched the orange buttons on their new communicators. Running Deer and Marlena dematerialized first.

Chapel raised a brow: "Impressive!"

Then Janice and Chapel dematerialized, followed by Nyota and Tina.

The women were all together in a storage area on a lower deck, where Masters and Brody had been waiting for them. Brody had changed the secluded area into a small living space in case someone needed to hide.

"How did you do that?" Janice asked.

"It's Masters' little secret; she's the mastermind behind this new intraship transporter device," Brody said.

"Hello again, ladies. Welcome to the Sisterhood!" Nyota said.

"Everyone has their new communicators, so we're ready to go!" Tina said.

"Well, ladies, since we all know each other, let's get down to business," Nyota said.

Masters reported first: "I recruited Lieutenant Mira Romaine; she's onboard. The two of us are cross-training for each other's jobs. We are also training to handle the stations in Auxiliary Control on deck six. Remember, we are the only two women assigned down there. We would need a couple more women to make it secure."

"I can help, Lt. Commander Uhura!" Tina interjected.

Nyota looked at her new bodyguard and smiled: "I need you to stick by me, but if you want to moonlight, it's up to you."

Tina turned to Masters: "If you need me, I'm willing to help. My previous 'job'-before Lt. Commander Uhura rescued-me was prostitution."

Charlene eyed her closely: "OK, kid, but only when Uhura doesn't need ya. And thanks!"

Eve spoke up: "I have recruited three women from the lower decks who were also being abused. They signed up with no trouble, and they are already doing extra training with me."

"Do they know about me?" Nyota asked.

"No, they think it's my idea."

"Good job! Ask them if they want to work in Engineering," Nyota said, smiling with satisfaction.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. I don't think it will be a problem." Eve made a note on her Padd.

"Yes, I can give them private training modules that they can access in their quarters," Masters added.

Nyota folded her arms and looked at Chapel and Running Deer: "Well, ladies, we are in the recruiting stage right now; everyone and everything can be of help. What can you offer, Chapel?"

"Interesting, I find your organization more and more fun," Chapel said with a smile. "The biggest group of women on the Enterprise are female nurses; Running Deer and I won't have a problem recruiting them."

"Yes, we have twenty-five female nurses attached to Sickbay," Running Deer agreed.

Nyota's eyes widened at the thought of adding so many members to the Sisterhood. Her heart jumped at all the possibilities.

Then Marlena chimed in: "I work in the Science department with five other women; I can recruit them. They are always complaining about being treated unfairly."

"I work with fifteen female yeomen; I don't think there would be a problem recruiting them either," Janice added.

Nyota leaned back against the wall and looked at her Sisterhood, thinking about all its networks. If she could just keep them loyal and true, they would have a great deal of leverage against Kirk and his crew.

"You know what did it for me, Uhura? The way we handled Chekov and Reilly-that was the turning point for me and the others to feel liberated," Eve said.

The women chuckled about how the prostitution ring had been taken down.

"Okay, ladies! Secrecy is the key at this point-no men can be trusted. We need to get the upper hand first. Do you all agree?"

They all nodded and said yes.

"We've covered most of the departments on the ship, with Security being the exception," Nyota said.

"I can train the yeomen to act as security," Janice said, "but it would be tough going up against Sulu and his men. He runs his department strictly and keeps his men at a high level of readiness."

"Then we need a plan to deal with them. How can we get rid of their phasers?" Nyota asked.

Masters stepped up with a grin, holding a small device: "Glad you asked! Mira and I have improved the device that I've been working on." Charlene gave Tina a phaser and pressed a button on the device: "Fire the phaser, Tina."

Tina was reluctant at first, so Nyota gave her a nod to proceed. She aimed the phaser at the wall, and it didn't work.

Nyota was fascinated, examining the phaser: "This is great; it shuts off the whole power pack! Does it work over long distances?"

"Yes, with this hooked into the main computer banks, I can render any weapon in the armory useless. This small one I have here is good for about a thousand feet."

"Good, that is our weapon of last resort. Great job Charlene! You have increased our safety factor by a hundred percent," Nyota said. "Now for the reason we are here: The mission on Omicron Ceti VII is a big credit bag. If Kirk gets the rights to those minerals, he will gain more power and move up in rank. The Empire will give him any position he wants. According to the geologist's report, there are rich seams of dilithium ready to be harvested. It will make Kirk one of the richest men in the galaxy. My gut tells me that once he has that planet, the rest of us will become expendable-because we know too much. We will be loose ends. Somehow, we need to attain control of the mother lode before he does, or it will be the end of us."

Christine shifted her hip and then said snarkily: "I think you should wait on trying to steal that prize."

Nyota leaned back against the wall and folded her arms: "Why is that?"

"First, you don't have enough crew to pull it off, or at least you don't have enough trained crew. And where are you going to hide the stuff once you get it?"

Nyota cast a glance at Eve but addressed Christine: "I have the shipment covered, but you're right about the manpower. I will delay confiscating the shipment as long as I can, but you ladies need to recruit the extra female crew we need."

"How are you going to hide it?" Running Deer asked.

"Don't worry about that. It's important that some things remain hidden so that one person can't rat out the others. Plus, if interrogated, they would be telling the truth that they don't know, so they won't be caught in a lie. It would also protect the other women," Nyota said.

"The thing is, Kirk has dreams of grandeur," Janice said. "He has his eye on Admiral Komack's position and then Fleet Admiral Nimitz's position."

"I can see that," Nyota said. "Then he would be co-ruling with the Empire with the galaxy at his feet."

Charlene smacked her hands together: "The bastard!"

"Kirk has always loved power; it lets him sleep nights," Marlena said.

"Remember, everyone is expendable, unless you have a purpose," Running Deer said.

"That's why we need leverage, ladies. And this mission can get it for us," Nyota said. "We don't have much time; we need all the intel from all departments. I'll have the planet's communications down; I have to make sure that they are not cheating Kirk."

Marlena laughed: "Nobody cheats Kirk!"

The rest of them laughed.

"Okay, ladies: The last item on our meeting agenda is to get all the women on the ship on our side," Nyota said. "It's a win-win. We'll be unstoppable. We will have leverage in all departments. We're strong if we stick together. If you can't reach me, reach out to the person next to you. You're the leaders of your groups and can decide how they will be run. But you answer to me in meetings like this. We don't need to challenge each other for any position; I'll take care of that! We need to trust each other! Are you all in?"

The women nodded their heads in agreement.

"This calls for a celebration!'' Eve announced. She opened a cabinet, pulled out a bottle of wine, and held it up.

"You're my kind of girl, Eve!" Christine said.

They passed out cups and got ready to drink.

Nyota looked around at her new leaders-her own personal crew-and could not stop smiling: "To the Sisterhood!"

"TO THE SISTERHOOD!"

Meanwhile near Sickbay, Semek was patrolling, waiting for Uhura to emerge. He finally stepped into the Sickbay lobby and found it empty. He looked around and could not find a single nurse or doctor. Then Stonn entered Sickbay and found Semek looking around. They stared at each other in confusion:

"Where did they go?"