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alaylithTitle: The Possibility of Affinity
Artist:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ileliberte
Author:alaylith
Rating (both art/fic): art - G / fic - PG13
Genre/Pairing: Gen
Word Count: 15.829
Warnings: a little bit of blood, language
Fic Summary: An apparently easy mission leads to a dangerous flight for Kirk, Spock and Uhura as nothing is as it appears. But it also leads to a fateful decision concerning the possibility of a very special affinity.
Link to Art: Art Master Post
Link to Fic: @My Journal
~~~ Part 2 ~~~
Jim doesn’t know how long they’ve been running already, but it feels like an eternity. He gasps and the pain in his side blazes with every step. They are surrounded by trees and it’s so dark that you can only see shadows and outlines. It’s Spock who leads them with his superior senses through the thick forest.
The lake with the crashed Pertho lies behind them and there a no more sounds of pursuers. After a few minutes Jim sees how Spock and Uhura slow before him and he also slows down. Uhura bends over and presses her hands against her thighs as she slowly regulates her breathing. Jim wipes some perspiration from his forehead and tries not to breathe too deeply because it's hurts his side.
Slightly envious, Jim notices out of the corner of his eye that Spock isn’t breathing any faster and there isn’t even a drop of sweat on his brow. 'Damn cheating Vulcan biology,' Jim thinks and chuckles slightly, prompting the other two to look at him.
"I say the negotiations were a success," Jim says.
Uhura rolls her eyes. "Why so?"
"We’re still alive!" Jim grins.
Uhura has to laugh lightly, then stands upright again and takes a deep breath. "That's really something..."
Jim can feel Spock's eyes on him and looks to the Vulcan. It’s too dark for Jim to see Spock's expression, but he just knows that Spock is frowning at him. "What's the matter, Spock? I can hear your eyebrows frowning from here."
A stunned silence demonstrates Spock lack of appreciation before Spock turns around and activates his tricorder. "We must decide where we will go next."
"Any idea how we’ll decide that?" Jim asks and looks around. "We don’t know where we are or where we should go."
"But there might be a way...," Spock murmurs and continues to work with his tricorder. "Captain, back on the Pertho you said that we were heading north?"
"Yeeees," Jim answers slowly, not sure what Spock is getting at.
"I am able to detect one of the greater flow lines of the radiation." Spock puts his tricorder away and turns towards his companions. "The entire planet is covered by several flow lines where the radiation is the strongest and only a few are notably greater than the others.
I studied our charts of these flow lines and only one of the greater flow lines passes through the north. This flow line is right in front of us and if my calculations regarding our actual position are correct than there should be a location to the east where the radiation is low enough for us to use our communicators."
"And how were you able to calculate our position?" Uhura asks.
Jim smiles, something like wonder in his voice. "There are not many lakes on this planet and mountains are rare, too. Spock studied the maps and must have recognized the lake we crashed into and the mountain range we were able to see through the window. Combined with the knowledge that we are in the north and his detection of the flow line plus some super logical Vulcan thinking should enable Spock to quite accurately determine our position."
Spock leans back slightly, the darkness hiding the surprise on his face. "Quite right, Jim."
Jim feels a small ball of warmth in his chest quite different from the warmth of the blood on his side. Spock only rarely calls him by his given name even after weeks together on the Enterprise and every time he does Jim feels silently pleased.
"Then we should go east now?" Uhura looks from one man to the other, noticing a subtle shift in the atmosphere.
Jim shakes himself mentally and nods. "Yeah, it's the best we can do." He takes one step to the side, but the twist of his upper body pulls painfully at his wound and he cringes a bit.
"That's the right direction, Captain," Spock says and if Jim hadn’t been so focused on his pain he would have recognized the edge of humour in Spock's voice. Now he takes small breaths to control the pain and turns his head slightly to the others.
"You go first, Commander. You can navigate through this darkness better than I can. I'll take the back."
Spock and Uhura look at him, surprised, for a moment, but then Spock nods and walks forward. "Yes, sir," he says. Uhura follows him with a last questioning look at Jim.
Jim waits a moment before he presses one hand to his side and grunts slightly.
He can feel fresh blood coating his fingers and he takes another few breaths to calm himself. Then he quickly follows his officers, thankful that the darkness is still able to hide the wound and the others haven’t noticed anything.
That they will see the blood as soon as the sun rises doesn’t register in Jim's mind.
xxx
A deep frown mars Scotty's face, while he tries to work on some machinery. Loud steps resonate behind him, exactly ten steps to one side and then ten steps back.
"Doctor!" Scotty yells finally, crawling back out from under the machine and looks up at Bones. Bones ignores him and continues to prowl from one side to the other.
"Will ya stop it?!" Scotty growls and wipes his hands on a cloth. "Time's not going faster this way and ya get on my nerves."
"Damn it, Scotty, you said yourself that you have a bad feeling about this," Bones says, finally stopping in front of the engineer and folding his arm across his chest. "There is something wrong with this mission. And as long as Jim's down there I can't stay still."
"Our Captain can damn well take care of himself." Scotty rubs his head, not really believing his own words. "And Spock and Uhura are with him. I’m sure they’re fine."
"And if they weren’t they wouldn’t be able to contact us!" Bones explodes, throwing his arms up. "Such a mission can only go straight to hell."
Scotty sighs. That their Captain is not able to contact them if anything were amiss is what troubles him the most, too. They will only notice any trouble if the Captain doesn’t contact them at the time they agreed on and by then it could already be too late to do anything.
"What shoulda do, Doc?" Scotty says tiredly. "There is nothin' for me to do other than to wait."
Bones looks at him with a lost expression on his face, not knowing what they could do. But his churning gut alarms him and he can’t stay still as long as he doesn’t know that everything's alright.
"Can't we scan the planet, Scotty? If anything should go wrong they’ll know that their only hope is the places without the radiation. We could check those and those places with less radiation if we are able to find them. It's better than nothing..."
Scotty thinks about it and as he looks into Bones' eyes he recognizes the same hidden fear and anxiousness he himself has been feeling since their friends beamed down to the planet.
It may achieve nothing, but as Bones says - it is better than doing nothing.
"Aye, that we can do."
xxx
The sun's already rising when Spock, Uhura and Jim reach the edge of the trees. Spock and Uhura stop right at the edge, the orange glow of the morning sun illuminating their outlines. Jim remains in the shadows of the trees, taking slow breaths. The wound stopped bleeding a while ago, but it pounds painfully with every breath Jim takes.
The only reason Jim remains on his feet is his iron will to see his people to safety. He can rest as soon as they are safe.
Spock checks his tricorder while Uhura looks around for any sign of their pursuers. She points ahead.
"What is that glistening patch?" There is a huge glistening mass in front of them and it glows faintly in the sunlight.
"That is snow," Spock answers and puts his tricorder away. "There are several places which are covered by snow and ice. As we are not able to scan the surface of the planet we do not know how such cold places can exist in the middle of warmer regions. It may be possible that the radiation causes the difference in temperature."
Spock slightly turns back to look at Jim, a small frown drawing his eyebrows together. Jim's behaving peculiarly, but Spock can't determine what is wrong with their Captain. "We are going the right way, Captain. Just behind the patch of snow should be a place without radiation. There we should be able to contact the Enterprise."
"Great, with how this mission has gone so far I would not be surprised if we met the Yeti," Jim grunts and Uhura chuckles a bit, while Spock raises an eyebrow. "Do not ask, Commander, just lead the way," Jim sighs.
Spock watches him thoughtfully for a moment before he walks on. Uhura follows and Jim takes another breath. 'Almost there...,' he chants over and over again in his head while he takes one painful step after the other.
xxx
Conscious that the Medomai might be looking for them using another ship, they hurried over the open landscape until they reached the small snow covered mountain. The mountain was not very high, but it was wide, so they wouldn’t be able to circumnavigate it. The snow is knee-deep and cold winds are whipping around.
Spock stays in the front, his superior strength allows him to easily walk through the snow and create an alley for the humans to walk through. Uhura has one arm wrapped around her upper body and with her other hand she shields her face against the snow.
Jim embraces himself with both arms and concentrates on the footsteps in front of him. He feels dizzy and his vision is starting to go grey at the edges. His head pounds in time with the wound where fresh blood sluggishly flows over his hand. He carefully tries to stifle his faster breathing; the cold air stings his burning lungs.
'Keep going...,' Jim thinks. 'Keep going... We have to reach the Enterprise...' A cold wind almost topples him over and he stops for a moment, but then continues. 'If I am this cold, Spock must be freezing. We have to leave the snow... Keep going...'
Jim concentrates so much on his mantra that he never notices when the blackness grows and the snow disappears from his sight.
'Keep going...' is the last thought he registers before everything turns black.
Spock stops as his ears pick up the sound of a faint thump over the howling wind and he turns around to look for the source. He sees Uhura right behind him, but he can’t see Jim.
"Captain?" he calls and Uhura turns as well. As she takes a step to the side Spock is able to look beyond her and they both see the Captain lying in the snow. "Captain!"
Both hurry back but Uhura reaches him first. As she bends down to touch him she sees the bloody snow at his side. "He's wounded!"
Spock kneels at Jim's side and carefully turns him over. Jim's breathing is harsh, one of his hands still pressed against his side where fresh blood drops to the snow.
"When did this happen?" Uhura asks, horrified.
Spock frowns darkly. "The only possible opportunity for him to have received such a wound was when he was caught by the Medomai. It appears the Captain withheld important information again."
Uhura pulls Jim's hand away and looks at the wound. "Looks like he was stabbed with a knife. It's mostly clotted, but there’s some fresh blood. He’s already lost a huge amount of blood."
"The winds are growing stronger, I assume a snowstorm is approaching. We have to find shelter and bandage the wound somehow. Also we all require rest. We still have too far to go. I am unable to carry him all the way right now," Spock explains, his voice slightly tinged with pain and anxiety. But there is also a little bit of guilt. Uhura is only able to recognize the emotions because she is trained to do so and she is one of the persons who know Spock best. She also feels guilty for not realizing that their Captain and friend was hurt.
"Maybe we’ll be able to find some kind of hole or cave in the snow," she suggests and Spock nods.
"Let's go."
xxx
The first thing Jim notices is the sound of a fire crackling besides his head. After that he feels the warm glow and for a moment Jim believes that everything was just a dream. But then he feels the sharp pain in his side and curses lowly.
"He's waking up," a soft voice murmurs and Jim feels someone lean over him. Normally he would tense, but he recognizes the smell of the person.
"I can pretend that I am still asleep and you would have to give me a kiss so I’d wake up," Jim murmurs and gets a slight slap on his forehead. "A guy can dream..." He opens his eyes slowly and looks up at Uhura with a light grin. She rolls her eyes and looks at something Jim can’t see.
"He’s going to be okay."
Jim turns his head slowly and sees Spock approaching. " 'lo Spock...." Spock raises one eyebrow and then kneels at Jim's other side opposite from Uhura.
"You did a very foolish thing, Captain."
"Again?" Jim asks tiredly and Spock shakes his head. Jim looks around. "Where the hell are we?"
"We found a small cave at the side of the mountain," the Commander answers. "There is a snowstorm outside and we needed to take cover."
Jim frowns for a moment and then tries to push himself up. "Well, after my little sleep it is now my turn to keep watch. You both can rest."
Two different hands grab his shoulders and push him back down and Jim blinks up to his officers surprised. "Ehm..."
"Aren't you forgetting something, Captain?" Uhura asks pointedly.
Jim rolls his eyes upwards trying to think. "As I am prone to forgetting things it is quite possible that I’m forgetting something right now. Can't be too important though, so..."
He yelps when there is a light pressure on his wound and he grinds his teeth painfully. "Oh, you mean that..."
"Yes, that, captain." Spock says disapprovingly. "Why did you not tell us that you were hurt? You could have died."
Jim sighs and closes his eyes. "It's not such a bad wound and we had no time to play doctor. We have to get back to the Enterprise..."
"That is no excuse to hide your wound!" Uhura explodes.
Jim cringes slightly, but then he opens his eyes again and looks at them with serious eyes. "Maybe not an excuse, but it is a reason. It is my priority to ensure the safety of my crew and I will be damned if I allow anything to happen to those under my command. The Medomai will kill you both if they catch you, so I had to get you as far as away as possible.
If that means hiding a wound from you and bleeding all over this damn planet - then I will do so." He tries to rise again. "Now let me see how bad the storm is and if it’s possible for me to still reach the place without radiation to call the Enterprise." He groans and falls back again, pain flaring at his side.
Uhura lays a cool hand on his brow. "You're starting to run a fever and you’ve lost too much blood. You can't move, Captain."
"We will wait until the storm is over and then continue on our way," Spock explains and he stands back up. "Rest, Jim. We will keep watch now."
Jim looks up to him and Spock is surprised by the endless trust he can see in Jim's eyes. Spock doesn't know what he did to earn this deep and limitless trust and it always unsettles him to see Jim direct it towards his own person. He does not deserve it, this mission proves it.
Spock knew that there was something wrong with Jim, but he ignored his instinct and followed his logical Vulcan mind. And it resulted in Jim's breakdown and Spock can't stop the guilt that fills him as he looks into Jim's trusting eyes.
"Do not look at me like that," Spock murmurs and turns away.
Jim looks after him for a moment, before he closes his eyes and falls back asleep. Uhura waits a moment for Jim's breathing to calm and then worriedly looks after Spock, not understanding what exactly had happened.
xxx
Uhura walks over to where Spock is standing near the entrance watching the storm outside. His shoulders are stiff and Uhura recognizes the signs of distress. Whatever is going on between those two it is more than just the wound. Uhura stands at Spock's side and also looks outside.
"Let me keep watch for a moment, it’s too cold here for you. Go back to the fire." Go back to Jim, she silently adds. Spock opens his mouth to counter, but then simply turns and walks back into the cave.
He knows Nyota well enough to realize that she will not deter from her decision and the best he can do is to follow her lead.
When he returns to the fire he can see that Jim's panting softly, his face full of pain. Spock walks to him and looks over the wound, but there is no fresh blood. With a short look Spock sees that the fire is burning low, but there is nothing they can do about it. They were only able to find a few branches outside and their phasers were able to create enough heat for the fire. It will not take much longer for the fire to die, but hopefully the storm will be weaker then and they will be able to move on.
"Spock..." Spock looks back down to Jim who's watching him. His cheeks are flushed and Spock can see the pain and exhaustion in his eyes.
"You have to rest, Captain."
Jim shakes his head a bit, stubbornly holding on to his consciousness. "Earlier... you said... I shouldn’t look at you... like... like what?"
Spock keeps silent, thinking about whether he should just leave or try to change the topic. But he realizes that neither are options. If he tried to return to the entrance Nyota would chase him back and Jim, even though he is hurt, cannot be easily persuaded to drop a subject he wishes to talk about.
That leaves only one way...
"Like you trust me," Spock answers slowly.
"I do trust you," Jim says and Spock shakes his head a bit.
"You trust me as your Commander, yes. But how you look at me... How you treat me... There is something more. I do not understand why you look at me like that."
The confusion turns to pain and Spock looks away, not understanding why it pains him so to admit the truth. "I do not deserve it. I am not what you are seeing in me."
Silence fills the cave and the flickering fire casts dancing shadows on the snowy walls. Then there is a light touch on his wrist and Spock looks down surprised at Jim's hand. Jim was always careful about touching him, he only did it if it was needed and Jim never touched his bare skin. But now Spock feels the warmth of Jim's fingers on his skin and their slight trembling. It is such a small touch, but it shocks Spock.
Through the contact he can feel an echo of Jim's emotions. Most prominent are pain and exhaustion, but beneath that Spock is able to feel what he always saw in Jim's eyes. Trust, fondness and deep down something else, a warmth he somehow always connected with his mother. If Spock were not so confused by human emotions he might call it love.
"You do know... about the old Spock, don't you?" Jim asks slowly and Spock returns his eyes to Jim's face. He nods mutely and Jim looks to the ceiling. "Did you know... that he used a mind meld... to show me the truth?" Spock recoils slightly, aghast at this information. But he stays silent as he realizes that Jim is not disturbed by the transgression, but that his face even appears wistful.
"In this mind meld... I didn’t only see the truth about Nero and so on. Deep down... I saw something else. I saw the other Jim Kirk, the Jim Kirk of this other reality. And I saw him through the old Spock's eyes."
Jim closes his eyes and a small, sad smile graces his lips. "It was incredible. I can’t really describe it, but the way Spock sees his Jim... Even though that Jim is already dead... There was so much love, so much longing. Joy and sadness, warmth and pain. I never thought it possible that one person could feel so much about another. Too much for me to even comprehend."
He looks back up to Spock, his eyes full of hope and longing. "To see what could be possible, to see what we could be able to reach... To think that maybe we could have the same...
Spock, they were soulmates. I can’t give it any other name and even that name isn’t enough. If that is a possibility for our future... it would be an honour to achieve it. I would give anything to see someone like that - and to be seen so myself. And I hope that it will be you."
Spock is shocked and unable to form any coherent thought. What Jim describes is illogical, emotional and impossible.
And beautiful.
Spock staggers to his feet and stumbles from the cave, past a surprised Uhura and out into the weakening snow storm. The cold wind bites into his skin, chasing the lingering warmth of Jim's fingers away and he looks up into the dark stormy sky, trying to forget the expression in Jim's eyes.
Jim wishes to walk a road Spock is not able to take.
He tries to ignore the pain and disappointment this realisation brings with it.
xxx
Worriedly, Uhura watches the dying fire, one of her hands resting on Jim's forehead. His temperature is falling, but she knows that he still has a fever. But the coldness claws at him and he is not able to fight it. The storm is still too strong and she and Spock are both still tired. They are can’t leave, but it is dangerous to remain.
She looks toward the entrance, but Spock is not visible. She worries about him, but he can take care of himself. Jim can’t. So she remains at her Captain's side, her hand combing through his hair and she murmurs from time to time so he is able to hear her voice. "Not long and we are able to leave. Then we will call the Enterprise and go back home. Everything's going to be alright."
The fire is almost gone and she leans closer to Jim when he shudders slightly. "Shhh, Captain, everything's going to be alright."
She is so focused that she doesn’t hear the silent steps and she jumps when new branches are thrown into the fire. Spock is covered by snow, but he has an armful of new branches. After a few moments and the use of their phaser the fire starts to grow again and new warmth fills the small cave.
Uhura searches Spock's face, but his expression is completely neutral and she shudders slightly, though not because of the cold. Whatever happened between Spock and Jim it did not go well.
She looks back down to Jim and notices that his temperature seems to be still falling. "He hasn’t gotten warm again," she murmurs and looks to Spock for guidance. Spock watches Jim with dark eyes, not saying anything. He just sits down at Jim's other side, so near that his hip touches Jim's shoulder and Uhura perceives the hidden message.
Careful of the wound, she lays down beside Jim, her body covering half of his. She rests her head on his shoulder, lays her arm over his chest and snuggles close. With her ear on his chest she is able to hear his heart pounding and it calms her.
< It is my priority to ensure the safety of my crew and I will be damned if I allow anything to happen to those under my command. >
She remembers what Jim said earlier, the warmth she felt to hear him say those words. But just like Jim sees it as his task to protect his crew, his crew sees it as their task to protect him as well. Nyota and Spock will do everything to protect Jim and no matter what happens she is sure that they will be able to do so. Because, as his friends, it is their priority to ensure his safety.
And they will be damned if they fail.
With this conviction burning in her heart Uhura falls into a light sleep.
When she awakens the first thing she realizes is that it is very warm. The next thing is that she is not lying down anymore, but somehow sitting up. She opens her eyes and looks up, startled. In her sleep Spock had manoeuvred her and Jim to a half sitting position leaning against his chest. He has one arm around Uhura's shoulders to hold her and Jim close and the other lies around Jim's chest right besides her own arm.
His head rests on top of Jim's and his eyes are closed. His face is relaxed and content and Uhura feels a small flutter in her chest. Spock opens his eyes and looks deep into her own and a happy smile graces her lips. She doesn’t know what Spock and Jim discussed earlier or what troubled Spock after that, but she can see that Spock has made an important decision. And the way he holds her and Jim and the warmth in his eyes indicate that it was a good one.
She hopes Jim will be happy when he wakes up and sees it for himself.
xxx
Scotty arrived on the bridge one hour before Jim was scheduled to contact them. He was walking from one station to the other, never once taking the Captain's seat. Scotty can feel his heart pumping and he nervously drums his fingers on the railing. It’s almost time...
The elevator opens suddenly and Bones walks towards him. "He should call any moment."
Scotty nods and then looks to Chekov, who sits at Spock's station and intensely studies the readings of the computer. "Anything, Chekov?"
Chekov looks up with troubled eyes. "No, sir. I keep checking all the locations without radiation in the vicinity of the meeting point. There is no hint of them yet." Bones grinds his teeth and Scotty sighs a bit.
"There is still time. They should arrive soon."
"They better or their check-ups are going to be hell," Bones growls and Scotty grins a bit.
Tense silence fills the bridge, the whole crew silently doing their work as if any sound could drown out any message from the planet. It’s Sulu who turns in his chair after a few minutes.
"It is now time for the Captain to make contact."
"Chekov?" Scotty asks and Chekov shakes his head.
"No one's at any of the locations."
"Jim may not always be punctual," Bones says. "But Spock is a walking computer and he would never allow Jim to miss such an important task."
Scotty watches the planet visible on the screen for a moment, his brows drawn together and his lips tugged downwards. "We’ll give them 15 minutes, there could be any reason for a delay."
"Yeah like they're dead," Bones mutters darkly and Scotty looks to him, before he turns back to Chekov.
"Expand the search to the regions near the capital. There should be some places without radiation there as well."
"Yes sir."
Scotty turns back to Bones, his expression serious. "If they don’t call in the next fifteen minutes I have to contact the Admiralty."
Bones nods slowly and then looks towards the screen. "Damn it, Jim, you always get into trouble."
xxx
Scotty tugs his tunic slightly and takes a deep breath. Their Captain didn’t call and Scotty contacted the Admiralty to report. He awaits their call in the conference room feeling completely out of his element. He’s an engineer, he works with machines not with some stuffed up admirals.
A beep signals the incoming call and with a last deep breath he activates the screen. A table with several admirals greets him and he can only recognize Admiral Pike, who has a dark look on his face. Looking at the other admirals Scotty gets the feeling that maybe he isn’t the one bearing bad news.
"Lieutenant Commander Scott," one admiral greets him and Scotty nods silently. "What do you have to report?"
"Sir, Captain Kirk, Commander Spock and Lieutenant Uhura beamed to Vahan over ten hours ago. Due to the radiation on the planet we were unable to maintain any contact with them. They did not call back at the arranged time and we were unable to find them at any of the locations we are able to scan."
"So you report your commanding officer as missing," says another admiral and even though Scotty knows that it isn’t a question, he still feels prompted to answer.
"Yes sir."
The admirals exchange several dark looks before they return their attention to him. "Very well. Take course to Starbase 26 immediately."
Scotty looks up surprised. "Eh, sir? The Enterprise shall leave?"
"Yes, those are your orders," an admiral says.
Scotty takes a slight step forward. "But we don’t know what happened! We could beam down several teams to look for Captain Kirk and..."
"The answer is no, Lieutenant Commander," interrupts one admiral and Scotty falls silent. "We have to assume that Captain Kirk is either a prisoner of the Medomai or dead. The fact that they have not contact you to state their demands yet indicates that they were not able to capture him. We don’t know the exact abilities of the Medomai and we cannot risk the Enterprise. The Enterprise will leave the orbit of Vahan immediately."
Scotty blinks, confused, then looks to Pike for a moment. Pike's expression is neutral, but Scotty can see the anger in his eyes. And with a jolt Scotty realizes that the Admiralty isn’t surprised, that they already assumed the Medomai were playing foul. And they’ve ordered him to leave their Captain behind and Scotty knows that as soon as the Enterprise leaves the orbit, Jim and the others will be lost forever.
Scotty opens his mouth to curse the admiral's orders to hell, but then he remembers Jim's words before he beamed down.
< I’m serious, Scotty. You have your orders and I demand that you follow them to the letter. >
Jim must have known that there was going to be problems; that's why he was so vehement about his orders being followed. And Jim ordered Scotty to do as the Admiralty demands.
"Do you understand your orders, Lieutenant Commander?
Scotty balls his hands to fists and grinds his teeth. Damn it all.
"Aye, I understand."
xxx
Bones paces the conference room from one end to the other and Chekov and Sulu follow his movements with their eyes, but are too afraid to say anything. Since Scotty went to talk with the Admiralty the doctor has been in a foul mood and it would be suicidal to approach him in this state.
Both can understand McCoy's reaction, they are all worried about their friends. Any mission is a risk, but if you are unable to contact the members of the team it is always so much more dangerous. You never know what is going on and your friends are unable to call for any help. If anything goes wrong, you'll know it too late. Such missions are always the worst no matter what.
All three jump when the door opens and Scotty enters the room. Chekov and Sulu share a look as they see the dark expression on Scotty's face. It can't be good...
"When will we start the search for Jim and the others?" Bones demands to know.
Scotty shakes his head. "We got new orders from the Admiralty. The Enterprise is to set course to Starbase 26. Immediately."
"WHAT?!" Bones shrieks and Chekov pushes his chair back in surprise, almost toppling over. "You can't be serious! What about Jim and the others?!"
Scotty shrugs his shoulders and holds his palms up. "The Admiralty believes that they are already dead or are captured by the Medomai. Their priority now is to get the Enterprise to safety."
"Wait a moment," Sulu says before McCoy can open his mouth. "Why should the Admiralty believe something like that? Just because the Captain didn’t call?"
A deep frown mars Scotty's face, anger burning in his eyes. "It appears that the Admiralty already had their suspicions about the Medomai. They awaited trouble and were not in the least surprised that our Captain is lost."
"They KNEW!" Bones shouts hoarsely. "They KNEW there were dangers and they said NOTHING!" He throws his hands up and curses loudly about what the Admiralty should do, causing Chekov to cringe slightly.
"I don' think that' possible, Doctor."
Bones growls at him, then turns and looks at Scotty with burning eyes. "What do we do now?"
Scotty sighs and rubs his head. "I accepted the orders and I intend to follow them."
"WHAT?!" shout all three now.
Scotty cringes back. "They are our ORDERS after all!"
"I don't care if we got the order from God himself!" growls Bones. "We don't know what's happening down there and as long as I don't see their bodies I don’t believe that they’re dead. They NEED us and you want to leave them behind?!"
"We can't just go, we have to do something," Sulu supports the doctor and Chekov nods.
Scotty rubs one hand over his face. "I know tha' myself, but I have to follow the orders."
Sulu frowns bemused. "Why do you? Wouldn't be the first time that we interpret their orders how we like."
"Because it ain't the Admiralty’s orders I follow," Scotty murmurs and looks at his friends, his shoulders hunched and his eyes dark. "It Jim's..."
< "Scotty."
Scotty looks up surprised to hear the voice of his Captain right behind him. Jim stands there, his arms crossed and a light smirk on his face. "Do I want to know what exactly you're doing there?"
Scotty shuts the lid of the machine and grins. "Not really, sir."
Jim chuckles and shakes his head, but then looks up again. "With Spock and me leaving it’ll leave you in charge as you are the third in command, Scotty."
"Can't the doctor do it?" Scotty whines.
"Nope, I want the crew to continue their work, not hide beneath their beds in fear of the doctor's wrath." Jim's eyes are alight with laughter. Scotty grins, salutes, and starts to turn back.
"There’s something else."
Scotty is taken aback by the sudden serious tone and Jim's face is grave as a statue. "I've got orders for you."
"Aye?" Scotty is bemused. He didn’t think that this mission would elicit special orders for him. He thought he just had to look after the Enterprise like usual. "What are they?"
"That no matter what happens you are going to follow orders," Jim says, his voice deep and strong, his eyes full of command. Scotty blinks and Jim rises to his full height, the perfect picture of a relentless Captain. "Do you understand, Mr. Scott? You will follow any order you are given - no matter the circumstances."
Scotty doesn’t understand what exactly Jim's meaning is, but he recognizes the Captain's full use of his authority and that there is only one answer he can give. "Aye, Captain." >
"I follow our Captain's orders," Scotty says tiredly. "And his orders I'll always follow..." Sulu and Chekov lower their heads, knowing exactly how Scotty feels.
"And our captain is an idiot!"
All three turn to Bones surprised, who looks at them with an angry grimace. "Don't you see? For Jim to give such an order means that he knew something was wrong, too! He knew that there would be trouble, he knew that the Admiralty knew that as well and he knew we would get the order to leave him behind. He manipulated us all the way." He growls deeply. "And I am not going to let him get away with it."
He walks up to Scotty and stops right in front of him, so near their noses are almost touching. "We are all loyal to Jim, but our loyalty has two sides. On one side we are loyal to his decisions and commands, doing exactly what he wants us to do. On the other side we are loyal to Jim, believing in what he is and what he does and we protect him at all costs. Sometimes these two sides will clash and it is up to us to decide which loyalty is the stronger one.
I know the balance of my loyalty - now it is time for you to decide which loyalty is the more important one. Jim's orders or Jim himself?" McCoy challenges, his eyes burning deeply into Scotty's. Chekov and Sulu both hold their breaths, waiting for Scott's answer.
Scotty returns the look for a few moments, but then lowers his eyes, his decision visible on his dark face.
xxx
Finally the storm calmed and they were able to leave the cave and continue on their way. It doesn’t take long to leave the snowy mountain and to reach the edge of another forest. Spock, who carries Jim on his back, walks carefully over the last bits of snow and ice and sighs silently. He turns his head towards Uhura beside him, one of her hands on Jim's back. "We should leave the field of radiation within the next moments. Try to contact the Enterprise."
Uhura immediately takes out her communicator and activates it. "Enterprise, Lieutenant Uhura here, please answer me. Enterprise, please answer." Only white noise answers her and she shakes her head. "Nothing, we still have to go on."
"Or perhaps they have left," Spock says quietly.
Uhura looks up, startled. "Why should they leave?"
Spock looks forwards, a slight frown on his face. "If the Admiralty already suspected that the Medomai may do us harm, they would have assumed that something happened to us as soon as Mr. Scott informed them that we have not called. If they had cared about the safety of the Captain they would have warned him beforehand, but they did not.
Believing that we are captured or dead, the Admiralty’s greatest endeavour is the safety of the Enterprise. So when Mr. Scott informed them they very probably ordered him to leave with the Enterprise."
He looks over his shoulder at Jim's pale face. "I think the Captain thought so, too and that was why he hid his wound. So we would be able to reach the Enterprise in time."
"What are we going to do if you're right?" Uhura asks silently, her voice strong and determined.
"Let us think about that once we are sure that the Enterprise is not here anymore," Spock answers, his voice as strong as hers.
They continue for a few more moments, when suddenly several Medomai appear between the trees and corner them. Uhura turns around to run back, but already there are Medomai moving in from behind as well. She takes a step to the side to directly shield Spock's back and Jim's body and Spock tightens his grip on Jim's legs.
"We were finally able to find you," one Medomai says and steps forward. Spock recognizes him as the commander of the Pertho. "I never thought that you would be able to hide this long. Especially as I had deliberately hurt the Captain to hinder his escape."
"It seems that you underestimated us," Spock unknowingly repeats the commander's own words, desperately thinking of a way to get out of this situation.
"The hunt ends now," the commander growls and Spock and Uhura get ready to fight.
' Right you are, you bastard. '
There is no time to react to Scotty's voice as in the next moment Spock and Uhura are covered by transporter beams and the last thing both hear is the angry scream of the Medomai as they disappear from the planet's surface to the safety of the Enterprise.
xxx
Bones' worries increase as he is only able to recognize two persons in the lights of the transporter beams. But a few seconds later they materialize and Bones discovers Jim on Spock's back.
"Got'cha!" Scotty yells happily and Bones immediately jumps up on the platform.
"What happened?!" he asks loudly, carefully cradling Jim's head when Spock gently lowers him to the ground.
"He was attacked and wounded by one of the Medomai," Spock says calmly while Bones scans Jim. "He lost a lot of blood and lost consciousness a few hours ago. We were also exposed to extreme cold during the last hours."
"You're not kidding when you say he lost a lot of blood," Bones growls and turns to Chapel. "Chapel! Get the stretcher up here. We need to get him to sickbay NOW." He then looks up at Spock and Uhura, quickly assessing their conditions. "You both accompany us. I'll have to check you, too."
Both nod and follow him and the stretcher. The crew members carrying the stretcher are careful not to jolt their Captain and everyone in the hallways immediately steps aside to let them through. Murmurs and worried glances follow the group and several members happily greet Uhura and Spock, expressing their joy about their safe return.
Uhura happily returns the greetings, smiling and waving to her friends and comrades, while Spock concentrates on his Captain's still form, only half noticing the behaviour of the crew.
When they reach sickbay, Jim is carried to his own private ward, which Bones reserves for him for all the times when Jim has to be treated. He waves Spock and Uhura to two beds then follows Jim. Both sit on their beds, worriedly looking after Bones and listening to the sounds coming from the ward.
"He is going to be alright, isn't he?" Uhura asks lowly and Spock lowers his eyes. After a moment he raises his head again, determination burning in his eyes.
"Yes, he is."
Uhura looks up and sees the same expression in Spock's eyes she already saw in the cave. She smiles lightly and looks back towards Jim's ward. "Yeah, he’s way too stubborn to die so easily."
xxx
"You disobeyed a DIRECT order!" an admiral yells, enraged, but Scotty refuses to cringe. It was the right decision to remain and Scotty will never regret it. The safe return of their Captain, Commander and Lieutenant Uhura are proof and reward enough.
And the happy face of Admiral Pike and the pleased expression of several of the other Admirals confirm that.
"We gave you the order to leave with the Enterprise immediately," the angry admiral continues, his face glowing red with his anger. "This is an act of treason. Do you have anything to say for your defence?"
"If we did not remain and scan the possible places where the Captain and the others could turn up," Scotty says slowly. "We would have never been able to detect their signatures and to safely beam them back aboard. After intensely studying the available information about the Medomai and their technology I felt secure in the knowledge that there was no immediate danger to the Enterprise."
His emphasis of the word 'available' is not lost and the admiral frowns darkly, a hint of warning in his voice. "Is there something you wish to add, Lieutenant Commander Scott?"
Before Scotty can answer, another voice growls from behind him: "He may not, but I definitely will." Bones steps up beside Scotty with his arms crossed in front of his chest. "You knew that the Medomai may be dangerous, but you neglected to inform the Captain of this. If he knew that there was any reason for suspicion he would have been able to make the necessary decisions to protect himself and his crew members. You deliberately sent him into a life threatening situation!
He almost died down there and we could have also lost Commander Spock and Lieutenant Uhura. If we had not remained, they would have been killed! So be happy that we did and everything's alright again after the mess you created."
"Lieutenant Commander McCoy, you are forgetting to whom you are talking! Kirk may allow such disrespect, but we do not accept such behaviour!" the admiral says dangerously.
Bones growls lightly. Scott at his side also bristles, not only in McCoy's defence, but also because of the slur to Kirk.
Pike at the back of the gathered Admirals looks up then smiles a predatory smile. "Is there something you wish to add to the official report as to why the Enterprise remained?"
Scotty blinks then opens his mouth to answer, when another cool voice interrupts him. "Yes, I would like to add something." Scott and Bones both jump around surprised as Spock steps up to them and looks at the screen with the admirals. "I am sorry that I was not able to report earlier, but I had to await my dismissal from sickbay," Spock smoothly says, clasping his hands behind his back and standing at full attention.
"With the Captain's and my absence I am sorry to inform you that there was a slight delay with some of the reports. And not only that, but Lieutenant Uhura was also not aboard to oversee the transmissions of the last hours. This way you were not yet informed about the mechanical faults we have in engineering. Lieutenant Commander Scott was to repair these faults while we were on Vahan, but as he had to take command he was not yet able to.
As soon as these mechanical faults are repaired the Enterprise will be able to continue her journey. Do your last orders about our destination to Mr. Scott still stand or are there new ones for me?"
He coolly watches the admirals who are all staring at him dumbfounded - only Pike grins proudly. Scotty and Bones are both also bewildered, neither able to form any words.
The admiral leading the debriefing looks angrily at Spock, but is unable to say anything against the Vulcan. With a short look at the other admirals he recognizes that they all are willing to accept Spock's words and he growls in defeat.
"Very well, Commander, as soon as these mechanical faults are removed set course to Starbase 26. And we will await your final reports."
"Yes sir," Spock answers determinedly and the screen goes dark. He looks at the screen for another moment, his eyes dark and then turns to Scotty and Bones at his side. "Mr. Scott, I rely on you to establish these mechanical faults within the next ten minutes and then send me the matching reports. I would also be much obliged if you were able to delay the repair for a while until Doctor McCoy believes that the Captain will be recovered as soon as we reach Starbase 26.
Now if you will excuse me, gentlemen."
Spock turns around and silently leaves the room. Scotty and Bones follow his movement with their eyes and as soon as the door closes behind him they look at each other.
"Wow," Scotty murmurs. "Did that just happen or had I too much to drink last night?"
"No, it really happened," Bones answers. "Even though I am not sure what really happened."
"It seems to me that our Captain has had a bad influence on our Vulcan," Scotty says and both stare at each other for a moment longer before both start to laugh loudly.
xxx
Jim stares moodily up at the ceiling, his fingers drumming on the blanket. It's already a few days after the events on Vahan and they are on their way to Starbase 26. But even though Jim is fine, Bones insists on keeping him in sickbay. Jim sighs, remembering Bones' last tantrum when Jim tried to sneak out and he rubs the lump on his head where Bones' scanner had hit.
"Stupid Bones," he mutters and stares at the ceiling again. A few seconds later he sighs again and just as he starts to think of other escape routes the door opens. Jim cringes and looks up guiltily, but heaves a sigh of relief when Spock enters the room.
"Don't scare me like that, Spock, I thought you were Bones," Jim says and then curiously looks at Spock as he sets down a set of chess on the small table at his bed.
"I did not think that Doctor McCoy was such a scary apparition," Spock says calmly and pulls a chair over to the bed. "But I do understand the sentiment."
Jim laughs, but then holds his side. "Don't make me laugh, it hurts. And then Bones will never let me leave."
"There is no hurry, Captain," Spock says as he starts to prepare the chess game. "Everything is in order and everyone is fulfilling their duties with the utmost care. We will reach Starbase 26 within the next 74.6 hours and there you will be able to get your next orders."
Jim nods and then slowly sits up on his bed. "Say, Spock, what are you doing?"
"Setting up the chess game of course," Spock answers.
Jim shakes his head slightly. "I can see that, but why? Normally I’m the one asking for a game. You see no sense in playing me, because I’m so bad."
Spock freezes for a moment, but then continues setting the pieces. "That was poorly expressed by me, I fear. There are very interesting aspects in your style and some of your moves may appear completely absurd, but I am beginning to see great potential in them."
< To see what could be possible, to see what we could be able to reach... >
"I do think if we play a few more games you will be able to expand this very interesting strategy. It will be fascinating to watch your progress."
< If that is a possibility for our future... it would be an honour to achieve it. >
Spock looks deeply into Jim's eyes and Jim is struck speechless. He remembers the expression of the old Spock's eyes, the way those wise eyes had cherished him. After learning about the other Jim Kirk, that this other Kirk knew his father and that this other Kirk was held in such high regard by an honourable man like the old Spock, Jim always felt a bitter jealously.
Now for the first time he sees the same regard, the same admiration, fondness and warmth in the eyes of his own Spock. Jim smiles happily, his eyes glowing and Spock feels honoured that he was the one to create that expression.
"Well, I am a slow learner," Jim says finally, his voice full of warmth. "It may take some time for me to perfect my interesting strategy."
"We have all the time in the universe," Spock says warmly and Jim glows faintly with happiness.
"There is a name for what you meant when you talked about our alternate selves," Spock continues, relating to their talk in the cave.
"Yeah?"
"It is an old Vulcan word, which is no longer used. The concept behind the word is so illogical and unlikely that no one believes in it any longer. But what you said about the other Spock and Kirk, I believe it may be right to give their connection this name."
< They were soulmates. >
"T'hy'la."
Spock and Jim look each other in the eye. "T'hy'la...," Jim murmurs, frowning as he tries to pronounce it right. "What does it mean?"
"It means exactly what you saw in the other Spock and Kirk," Spock says slowly and takes a chess piece. "Something illogical, something incredible, something beautiful. And something impossible."
He sets the piece on the board and a small smile curves his lips.
"But I have already learned..."
< And I hope that it will be you. >
"... that for you nothing is impossible, Jim."
Artist:
ileliberte Author:
alaylith Rating (both art/fic): art - G / fic - PG13
Genre/Pairing: Gen
Word Count: 15.829
Warnings: a little bit of blood, language
Fic Summary: An apparently easy mission leads to a dangerous flight for Kirk, Spock and Uhura as nothing is as it appears. But it also leads to a fateful decision concerning the possibility of a very special affinity.
Link to Art: Art Master Post
Link to Fic: @My Journal
~~~ Part 2 ~~~
Jim doesn’t know how long they’ve been running already, but it feels like an eternity. He gasps and the pain in his side blazes with every step. They are surrounded by trees and it’s so dark that you can only see shadows and outlines. It’s Spock who leads them with his superior senses through the thick forest.
The lake with the crashed Pertho lies behind them and there a no more sounds of pursuers. After a few minutes Jim sees how Spock and Uhura slow before him and he also slows down. Uhura bends over and presses her hands against her thighs as she slowly regulates her breathing. Jim wipes some perspiration from his forehead and tries not to breathe too deeply because it's hurts his side.
Slightly envious, Jim notices out of the corner of his eye that Spock isn’t breathing any faster and there isn’t even a drop of sweat on his brow. 'Damn cheating Vulcan biology,' Jim thinks and chuckles slightly, prompting the other two to look at him.
"I say the negotiations were a success," Jim says.
Uhura rolls her eyes. "Why so?"
"We’re still alive!" Jim grins.
Uhura has to laugh lightly, then stands upright again and takes a deep breath. "That's really something..."
Jim can feel Spock's eyes on him and looks to the Vulcan. It’s too dark for Jim to see Spock's expression, but he just knows that Spock is frowning at him. "What's the matter, Spock? I can hear your eyebrows frowning from here."
A stunned silence demonstrates Spock lack of appreciation before Spock turns around and activates his tricorder. "We must decide where we will go next."
"Any idea how we’ll decide that?" Jim asks and looks around. "We don’t know where we are or where we should go."
"But there might be a way...," Spock murmurs and continues to work with his tricorder. "Captain, back on the Pertho you said that we were heading north?"
"Yeeees," Jim answers slowly, not sure what Spock is getting at.
"I am able to detect one of the greater flow lines of the radiation." Spock puts his tricorder away and turns towards his companions. "The entire planet is covered by several flow lines where the radiation is the strongest and only a few are notably greater than the others.
I studied our charts of these flow lines and only one of the greater flow lines passes through the north. This flow line is right in front of us and if my calculations regarding our actual position are correct than there should be a location to the east where the radiation is low enough for us to use our communicators."
"And how were you able to calculate our position?" Uhura asks.
Jim smiles, something like wonder in his voice. "There are not many lakes on this planet and mountains are rare, too. Spock studied the maps and must have recognized the lake we crashed into and the mountain range we were able to see through the window. Combined with the knowledge that we are in the north and his detection of the flow line plus some super logical Vulcan thinking should enable Spock to quite accurately determine our position."
Spock leans back slightly, the darkness hiding the surprise on his face. "Quite right, Jim."
Jim feels a small ball of warmth in his chest quite different from the warmth of the blood on his side. Spock only rarely calls him by his given name even after weeks together on the Enterprise and every time he does Jim feels silently pleased.
"Then we should go east now?" Uhura looks from one man to the other, noticing a subtle shift in the atmosphere.
Jim shakes himself mentally and nods. "Yeah, it's the best we can do." He takes one step to the side, but the twist of his upper body pulls painfully at his wound and he cringes a bit.
"That's the right direction, Captain," Spock says and if Jim hadn’t been so focused on his pain he would have recognized the edge of humour in Spock's voice. Now he takes small breaths to control the pain and turns his head slightly to the others.
"You go first, Commander. You can navigate through this darkness better than I can. I'll take the back."
Spock and Uhura look at him, surprised, for a moment, but then Spock nods and walks forward. "Yes, sir," he says. Uhura follows him with a last questioning look at Jim.
Jim waits a moment before he presses one hand to his side and grunts slightly.
He can feel fresh blood coating his fingers and he takes another few breaths to calm himself. Then he quickly follows his officers, thankful that the darkness is still able to hide the wound and the others haven’t noticed anything.
That they will see the blood as soon as the sun rises doesn’t register in Jim's mind.
xxx
A deep frown mars Scotty's face, while he tries to work on some machinery. Loud steps resonate behind him, exactly ten steps to one side and then ten steps back.
"Doctor!" Scotty yells finally, crawling back out from under the machine and looks up at Bones. Bones ignores him and continues to prowl from one side to the other.
"Will ya stop it?!" Scotty growls and wipes his hands on a cloth. "Time's not going faster this way and ya get on my nerves."
"Damn it, Scotty, you said yourself that you have a bad feeling about this," Bones says, finally stopping in front of the engineer and folding his arm across his chest. "There is something wrong with this mission. And as long as Jim's down there I can't stay still."
"Our Captain can damn well take care of himself." Scotty rubs his head, not really believing his own words. "And Spock and Uhura are with him. I’m sure they’re fine."
"And if they weren’t they wouldn’t be able to contact us!" Bones explodes, throwing his arms up. "Such a mission can only go straight to hell."
Scotty sighs. That their Captain is not able to contact them if anything were amiss is what troubles him the most, too. They will only notice any trouble if the Captain doesn’t contact them at the time they agreed on and by then it could already be too late to do anything.
"What shoulda do, Doc?" Scotty says tiredly. "There is nothin' for me to do other than to wait."
Bones looks at him with a lost expression on his face, not knowing what they could do. But his churning gut alarms him and he can’t stay still as long as he doesn’t know that everything's alright.
"Can't we scan the planet, Scotty? If anything should go wrong they’ll know that their only hope is the places without the radiation. We could check those and those places with less radiation if we are able to find them. It's better than nothing..."
Scotty thinks about it and as he looks into Bones' eyes he recognizes the same hidden fear and anxiousness he himself has been feeling since their friends beamed down to the planet.
It may achieve nothing, but as Bones says - it is better than doing nothing.
"Aye, that we can do."
xxx
The sun's already rising when Spock, Uhura and Jim reach the edge of the trees. Spock and Uhura stop right at the edge, the orange glow of the morning sun illuminating their outlines. Jim remains in the shadows of the trees, taking slow breaths. The wound stopped bleeding a while ago, but it pounds painfully with every breath Jim takes.
The only reason Jim remains on his feet is his iron will to see his people to safety. He can rest as soon as they are safe.
Spock checks his tricorder while Uhura looks around for any sign of their pursuers. She points ahead.
"What is that glistening patch?" There is a huge glistening mass in front of them and it glows faintly in the sunlight.
"That is snow," Spock answers and puts his tricorder away. "There are several places which are covered by snow and ice. As we are not able to scan the surface of the planet we do not know how such cold places can exist in the middle of warmer regions. It may be possible that the radiation causes the difference in temperature."
Spock slightly turns back to look at Jim, a small frown drawing his eyebrows together. Jim's behaving peculiarly, but Spock can't determine what is wrong with their Captain. "We are going the right way, Captain. Just behind the patch of snow should be a place without radiation. There we should be able to contact the Enterprise."
"Great, with how this mission has gone so far I would not be surprised if we met the Yeti," Jim grunts and Uhura chuckles a bit, while Spock raises an eyebrow. "Do not ask, Commander, just lead the way," Jim sighs.
Spock watches him thoughtfully for a moment before he walks on. Uhura follows and Jim takes another breath. 'Almost there...,' he chants over and over again in his head while he takes one painful step after the other.
xxx
Conscious that the Medomai might be looking for them using another ship, they hurried over the open landscape until they reached the small snow covered mountain. The mountain was not very high, but it was wide, so they wouldn’t be able to circumnavigate it. The snow is knee-deep and cold winds are whipping around.
Spock stays in the front, his superior strength allows him to easily walk through the snow and create an alley for the humans to walk through. Uhura has one arm wrapped around her upper body and with her other hand she shields her face against the snow.
Jim embraces himself with both arms and concentrates on the footsteps in front of him. He feels dizzy and his vision is starting to go grey at the edges. His head pounds in time with the wound where fresh blood sluggishly flows over his hand. He carefully tries to stifle his faster breathing; the cold air stings his burning lungs.
'Keep going...,' Jim thinks. 'Keep going... We have to reach the Enterprise...' A cold wind almost topples him over and he stops for a moment, but then continues. 'If I am this cold, Spock must be freezing. We have to leave the snow... Keep going...'
Jim concentrates so much on his mantra that he never notices when the blackness grows and the snow disappears from his sight.
'Keep going...' is the last thought he registers before everything turns black.
Spock stops as his ears pick up the sound of a faint thump over the howling wind and he turns around to look for the source. He sees Uhura right behind him, but he can’t see Jim.
"Captain?" he calls and Uhura turns as well. As she takes a step to the side Spock is able to look beyond her and they both see the Captain lying in the snow. "Captain!"
Both hurry back but Uhura reaches him first. As she bends down to touch him she sees the bloody snow at his side. "He's wounded!"
Spock kneels at Jim's side and carefully turns him over. Jim's breathing is harsh, one of his hands still pressed against his side where fresh blood drops to the snow.
"When did this happen?" Uhura asks, horrified.
Spock frowns darkly. "The only possible opportunity for him to have received such a wound was when he was caught by the Medomai. It appears the Captain withheld important information again."
Uhura pulls Jim's hand away and looks at the wound. "Looks like he was stabbed with a knife. It's mostly clotted, but there’s some fresh blood. He’s already lost a huge amount of blood."
"The winds are growing stronger, I assume a snowstorm is approaching. We have to find shelter and bandage the wound somehow. Also we all require rest. We still have too far to go. I am unable to carry him all the way right now," Spock explains, his voice slightly tinged with pain and anxiety. But there is also a little bit of guilt. Uhura is only able to recognize the emotions because she is trained to do so and she is one of the persons who know Spock best. She also feels guilty for not realizing that their Captain and friend was hurt.
"Maybe we’ll be able to find some kind of hole or cave in the snow," she suggests and Spock nods.
"Let's go."
xxx
The first thing Jim notices is the sound of a fire crackling besides his head. After that he feels the warm glow and for a moment Jim believes that everything was just a dream. But then he feels the sharp pain in his side and curses lowly.
"He's waking up," a soft voice murmurs and Jim feels someone lean over him. Normally he would tense, but he recognizes the smell of the person.
"I can pretend that I am still asleep and you would have to give me a kiss so I’d wake up," Jim murmurs and gets a slight slap on his forehead. "A guy can dream..." He opens his eyes slowly and looks up at Uhura with a light grin. She rolls her eyes and looks at something Jim can’t see.
"He’s going to be okay."
Jim turns his head slowly and sees Spock approaching. " 'lo Spock...." Spock raises one eyebrow and then kneels at Jim's other side opposite from Uhura.
"You did a very foolish thing, Captain."
"Again?" Jim asks tiredly and Spock shakes his head. Jim looks around. "Where the hell are we?"
"We found a small cave at the side of the mountain," the Commander answers. "There is a snowstorm outside and we needed to take cover."
Jim frowns for a moment and then tries to push himself up. "Well, after my little sleep it is now my turn to keep watch. You both can rest."
Two different hands grab his shoulders and push him back down and Jim blinks up to his officers surprised. "Ehm..."
"Aren't you forgetting something, Captain?" Uhura asks pointedly.
Jim rolls his eyes upwards trying to think. "As I am prone to forgetting things it is quite possible that I’m forgetting something right now. Can't be too important though, so..."
He yelps when there is a light pressure on his wound and he grinds his teeth painfully. "Oh, you mean that..."
"Yes, that, captain." Spock says disapprovingly. "Why did you not tell us that you were hurt? You could have died."
Jim sighs and closes his eyes. "It's not such a bad wound and we had no time to play doctor. We have to get back to the Enterprise..."
"That is no excuse to hide your wound!" Uhura explodes.
Jim cringes slightly, but then he opens his eyes again and looks at them with serious eyes. "Maybe not an excuse, but it is a reason. It is my priority to ensure the safety of my crew and I will be damned if I allow anything to happen to those under my command. The Medomai will kill you both if they catch you, so I had to get you as far as away as possible.
If that means hiding a wound from you and bleeding all over this damn planet - then I will do so." He tries to rise again. "Now let me see how bad the storm is and if it’s possible for me to still reach the place without radiation to call the Enterprise." He groans and falls back again, pain flaring at his side.
Uhura lays a cool hand on his brow. "You're starting to run a fever and you’ve lost too much blood. You can't move, Captain."
"We will wait until the storm is over and then continue on our way," Spock explains and he stands back up. "Rest, Jim. We will keep watch now."
Jim looks up to him and Spock is surprised by the endless trust he can see in Jim's eyes. Spock doesn't know what he did to earn this deep and limitless trust and it always unsettles him to see Jim direct it towards his own person. He does not deserve it, this mission proves it.
Spock knew that there was something wrong with Jim, but he ignored his instinct and followed his logical Vulcan mind. And it resulted in Jim's breakdown and Spock can't stop the guilt that fills him as he looks into Jim's trusting eyes.
"Do not look at me like that," Spock murmurs and turns away.
Jim looks after him for a moment, before he closes his eyes and falls back asleep. Uhura waits a moment for Jim's breathing to calm and then worriedly looks after Spock, not understanding what exactly had happened.
xxx
Uhura walks over to where Spock is standing near the entrance watching the storm outside. His shoulders are stiff and Uhura recognizes the signs of distress. Whatever is going on between those two it is more than just the wound. Uhura stands at Spock's side and also looks outside.
"Let me keep watch for a moment, it’s too cold here for you. Go back to the fire." Go back to Jim, she silently adds. Spock opens his mouth to counter, but then simply turns and walks back into the cave.
He knows Nyota well enough to realize that she will not deter from her decision and the best he can do is to follow her lead.
When he returns to the fire he can see that Jim's panting softly, his face full of pain. Spock walks to him and looks over the wound, but there is no fresh blood. With a short look Spock sees that the fire is burning low, but there is nothing they can do about it. They were only able to find a few branches outside and their phasers were able to create enough heat for the fire. It will not take much longer for the fire to die, but hopefully the storm will be weaker then and they will be able to move on.
"Spock..." Spock looks back down to Jim who's watching him. His cheeks are flushed and Spock can see the pain and exhaustion in his eyes.
"You have to rest, Captain."
Jim shakes his head a bit, stubbornly holding on to his consciousness. "Earlier... you said... I shouldn’t look at you... like... like what?"
Spock keeps silent, thinking about whether he should just leave or try to change the topic. But he realizes that neither are options. If he tried to return to the entrance Nyota would chase him back and Jim, even though he is hurt, cannot be easily persuaded to drop a subject he wishes to talk about.
That leaves only one way...
"Like you trust me," Spock answers slowly.
"I do trust you," Jim says and Spock shakes his head a bit.
"You trust me as your Commander, yes. But how you look at me... How you treat me... There is something more. I do not understand why you look at me like that."
The confusion turns to pain and Spock looks away, not understanding why it pains him so to admit the truth. "I do not deserve it. I am not what you are seeing in me."
Silence fills the cave and the flickering fire casts dancing shadows on the snowy walls. Then there is a light touch on his wrist and Spock looks down surprised at Jim's hand. Jim was always careful about touching him, he only did it if it was needed and Jim never touched his bare skin. But now Spock feels the warmth of Jim's fingers on his skin and their slight trembling. It is such a small touch, but it shocks Spock.
Through the contact he can feel an echo of Jim's emotions. Most prominent are pain and exhaustion, but beneath that Spock is able to feel what he always saw in Jim's eyes. Trust, fondness and deep down something else, a warmth he somehow always connected with his mother. If Spock were not so confused by human emotions he might call it love.
"You do know... about the old Spock, don't you?" Jim asks slowly and Spock returns his eyes to Jim's face. He nods mutely and Jim looks to the ceiling. "Did you know... that he used a mind meld... to show me the truth?" Spock recoils slightly, aghast at this information. But he stays silent as he realizes that Jim is not disturbed by the transgression, but that his face even appears wistful.
"In this mind meld... I didn’t only see the truth about Nero and so on. Deep down... I saw something else. I saw the other Jim Kirk, the Jim Kirk of this other reality. And I saw him through the old Spock's eyes."
Jim closes his eyes and a small, sad smile graces his lips. "It was incredible. I can’t really describe it, but the way Spock sees his Jim... Even though that Jim is already dead... There was so much love, so much longing. Joy and sadness, warmth and pain. I never thought it possible that one person could feel so much about another. Too much for me to even comprehend."
He looks back up to Spock, his eyes full of hope and longing. "To see what could be possible, to see what we could be able to reach... To think that maybe we could have the same...
Spock, they were soulmates. I can’t give it any other name and even that name isn’t enough. If that is a possibility for our future... it would be an honour to achieve it. I would give anything to see someone like that - and to be seen so myself. And I hope that it will be you."
Spock is shocked and unable to form any coherent thought. What Jim describes is illogical, emotional and impossible.
And beautiful.
Spock staggers to his feet and stumbles from the cave, past a surprised Uhura and out into the weakening snow storm. The cold wind bites into his skin, chasing the lingering warmth of Jim's fingers away and he looks up into the dark stormy sky, trying to forget the expression in Jim's eyes.
Jim wishes to walk a road Spock is not able to take.
He tries to ignore the pain and disappointment this realisation brings with it.
xxx
Worriedly, Uhura watches the dying fire, one of her hands resting on Jim's forehead. His temperature is falling, but she knows that he still has a fever. But the coldness claws at him and he is not able to fight it. The storm is still too strong and she and Spock are both still tired. They are can’t leave, but it is dangerous to remain.
She looks toward the entrance, but Spock is not visible. She worries about him, but he can take care of himself. Jim can’t. So she remains at her Captain's side, her hand combing through his hair and she murmurs from time to time so he is able to hear her voice. "Not long and we are able to leave. Then we will call the Enterprise and go back home. Everything's going to be alright."
The fire is almost gone and she leans closer to Jim when he shudders slightly. "Shhh, Captain, everything's going to be alright."
She is so focused that she doesn’t hear the silent steps and she jumps when new branches are thrown into the fire. Spock is covered by snow, but he has an armful of new branches. After a few moments and the use of their phaser the fire starts to grow again and new warmth fills the small cave.
Uhura searches Spock's face, but his expression is completely neutral and she shudders slightly, though not because of the cold. Whatever happened between Spock and Jim it did not go well.
She looks back down to Jim and notices that his temperature seems to be still falling. "He hasn’t gotten warm again," she murmurs and looks to Spock for guidance. Spock watches Jim with dark eyes, not saying anything. He just sits down at Jim's other side, so near that his hip touches Jim's shoulder and Uhura perceives the hidden message.
Careful of the wound, she lays down beside Jim, her body covering half of his. She rests her head on his shoulder, lays her arm over his chest and snuggles close. With her ear on his chest she is able to hear his heart pounding and it calms her.
< It is my priority to ensure the safety of my crew and I will be damned if I allow anything to happen to those under my command. >
She remembers what Jim said earlier, the warmth she felt to hear him say those words. But just like Jim sees it as his task to protect his crew, his crew sees it as their task to protect him as well. Nyota and Spock will do everything to protect Jim and no matter what happens she is sure that they will be able to do so. Because, as his friends, it is their priority to ensure his safety.
And they will be damned if they fail.
With this conviction burning in her heart Uhura falls into a light sleep.
When she awakens the first thing she realizes is that it is very warm. The next thing is that she is not lying down anymore, but somehow sitting up. She opens her eyes and looks up, startled. In her sleep Spock had manoeuvred her and Jim to a half sitting position leaning against his chest. He has one arm around Uhura's shoulders to hold her and Jim close and the other lies around Jim's chest right besides her own arm.
His head rests on top of Jim's and his eyes are closed. His face is relaxed and content and Uhura feels a small flutter in her chest. Spock opens his eyes and looks deep into her own and a happy smile graces her lips. She doesn’t know what Spock and Jim discussed earlier or what troubled Spock after that, but she can see that Spock has made an important decision. And the way he holds her and Jim and the warmth in his eyes indicate that it was a good one.
She hopes Jim will be happy when he wakes up and sees it for himself.
xxx
Scotty arrived on the bridge one hour before Jim was scheduled to contact them. He was walking from one station to the other, never once taking the Captain's seat. Scotty can feel his heart pumping and he nervously drums his fingers on the railing. It’s almost time...
The elevator opens suddenly and Bones walks towards him. "He should call any moment."
Scotty nods and then looks to Chekov, who sits at Spock's station and intensely studies the readings of the computer. "Anything, Chekov?"
Chekov looks up with troubled eyes. "No, sir. I keep checking all the locations without radiation in the vicinity of the meeting point. There is no hint of them yet." Bones grinds his teeth and Scotty sighs a bit.
"There is still time. They should arrive soon."
"They better or their check-ups are going to be hell," Bones growls and Scotty grins a bit.
Tense silence fills the bridge, the whole crew silently doing their work as if any sound could drown out any message from the planet. It’s Sulu who turns in his chair after a few minutes.
"It is now time for the Captain to make contact."
"Chekov?" Scotty asks and Chekov shakes his head.
"No one's at any of the locations."
"Jim may not always be punctual," Bones says. "But Spock is a walking computer and he would never allow Jim to miss such an important task."
Scotty watches the planet visible on the screen for a moment, his brows drawn together and his lips tugged downwards. "We’ll give them 15 minutes, there could be any reason for a delay."
"Yeah like they're dead," Bones mutters darkly and Scotty looks to him, before he turns back to Chekov.
"Expand the search to the regions near the capital. There should be some places without radiation there as well."
"Yes sir."
Scotty turns back to Bones, his expression serious. "If they don’t call in the next fifteen minutes I have to contact the Admiralty."
Bones nods slowly and then looks towards the screen. "Damn it, Jim, you always get into trouble."
xxx
Scotty tugs his tunic slightly and takes a deep breath. Their Captain didn’t call and Scotty contacted the Admiralty to report. He awaits their call in the conference room feeling completely out of his element. He’s an engineer, he works with machines not with some stuffed up admirals.
A beep signals the incoming call and with a last deep breath he activates the screen. A table with several admirals greets him and he can only recognize Admiral Pike, who has a dark look on his face. Looking at the other admirals Scotty gets the feeling that maybe he isn’t the one bearing bad news.
"Lieutenant Commander Scott," one admiral greets him and Scotty nods silently. "What do you have to report?"
"Sir, Captain Kirk, Commander Spock and Lieutenant Uhura beamed to Vahan over ten hours ago. Due to the radiation on the planet we were unable to maintain any contact with them. They did not call back at the arranged time and we were unable to find them at any of the locations we are able to scan."
"So you report your commanding officer as missing," says another admiral and even though Scotty knows that it isn’t a question, he still feels prompted to answer.
"Yes sir."
The admirals exchange several dark looks before they return their attention to him. "Very well. Take course to Starbase 26 immediately."
Scotty looks up surprised. "Eh, sir? The Enterprise shall leave?"
"Yes, those are your orders," an admiral says.
Scotty takes a slight step forward. "But we don’t know what happened! We could beam down several teams to look for Captain Kirk and..."
"The answer is no, Lieutenant Commander," interrupts one admiral and Scotty falls silent. "We have to assume that Captain Kirk is either a prisoner of the Medomai or dead. The fact that they have not contact you to state their demands yet indicates that they were not able to capture him. We don’t know the exact abilities of the Medomai and we cannot risk the Enterprise. The Enterprise will leave the orbit of Vahan immediately."
Scotty blinks, confused, then looks to Pike for a moment. Pike's expression is neutral, but Scotty can see the anger in his eyes. And with a jolt Scotty realizes that the Admiralty isn’t surprised, that they already assumed the Medomai were playing foul. And they’ve ordered him to leave their Captain behind and Scotty knows that as soon as the Enterprise leaves the orbit, Jim and the others will be lost forever.
Scotty opens his mouth to curse the admiral's orders to hell, but then he remembers Jim's words before he beamed down.
< I’m serious, Scotty. You have your orders and I demand that you follow them to the letter. >
Jim must have known that there was going to be problems; that's why he was so vehement about his orders being followed. And Jim ordered Scotty to do as the Admiralty demands.
"Do you understand your orders, Lieutenant Commander?
Scotty balls his hands to fists and grinds his teeth. Damn it all.
"Aye, I understand."
xxx
Bones paces the conference room from one end to the other and Chekov and Sulu follow his movements with their eyes, but are too afraid to say anything. Since Scotty went to talk with the Admiralty the doctor has been in a foul mood and it would be suicidal to approach him in this state.
Both can understand McCoy's reaction, they are all worried about their friends. Any mission is a risk, but if you are unable to contact the members of the team it is always so much more dangerous. You never know what is going on and your friends are unable to call for any help. If anything goes wrong, you'll know it too late. Such missions are always the worst no matter what.
All three jump when the door opens and Scotty enters the room. Chekov and Sulu share a look as they see the dark expression on Scotty's face. It can't be good...
"When will we start the search for Jim and the others?" Bones demands to know.
Scotty shakes his head. "We got new orders from the Admiralty. The Enterprise is to set course to Starbase 26. Immediately."
"WHAT?!" Bones shrieks and Chekov pushes his chair back in surprise, almost toppling over. "You can't be serious! What about Jim and the others?!"
Scotty shrugs his shoulders and holds his palms up. "The Admiralty believes that they are already dead or are captured by the Medomai. Their priority now is to get the Enterprise to safety."
"Wait a moment," Sulu says before McCoy can open his mouth. "Why should the Admiralty believe something like that? Just because the Captain didn’t call?"
A deep frown mars Scotty's face, anger burning in his eyes. "It appears that the Admiralty already had their suspicions about the Medomai. They awaited trouble and were not in the least surprised that our Captain is lost."
"They KNEW!" Bones shouts hoarsely. "They KNEW there were dangers and they said NOTHING!" He throws his hands up and curses loudly about what the Admiralty should do, causing Chekov to cringe slightly.
"I don' think that' possible, Doctor."
Bones growls at him, then turns and looks at Scotty with burning eyes. "What do we do now?"
Scotty sighs and rubs his head. "I accepted the orders and I intend to follow them."
"WHAT?!" shout all three now.
Scotty cringes back. "They are our ORDERS after all!"
"I don't care if we got the order from God himself!" growls Bones. "We don't know what's happening down there and as long as I don't see their bodies I don’t believe that they’re dead. They NEED us and you want to leave them behind?!"
"We can't just go, we have to do something," Sulu supports the doctor and Chekov nods.
Scotty rubs one hand over his face. "I know tha' myself, but I have to follow the orders."
Sulu frowns bemused. "Why do you? Wouldn't be the first time that we interpret their orders how we like."
"Because it ain't the Admiralty’s orders I follow," Scotty murmurs and looks at his friends, his shoulders hunched and his eyes dark. "It Jim's..."
< "Scotty."
Scotty looks up surprised to hear the voice of his Captain right behind him. Jim stands there, his arms crossed and a light smirk on his face. "Do I want to know what exactly you're doing there?"
Scotty shuts the lid of the machine and grins. "Not really, sir."
Jim chuckles and shakes his head, but then looks up again. "With Spock and me leaving it’ll leave you in charge as you are the third in command, Scotty."
"Can't the doctor do it?" Scotty whines.
"Nope, I want the crew to continue their work, not hide beneath their beds in fear of the doctor's wrath." Jim's eyes are alight with laughter. Scotty grins, salutes, and starts to turn back.
"There’s something else."
Scotty is taken aback by the sudden serious tone and Jim's face is grave as a statue. "I've got orders for you."
"Aye?" Scotty is bemused. He didn’t think that this mission would elicit special orders for him. He thought he just had to look after the Enterprise like usual. "What are they?"
"That no matter what happens you are going to follow orders," Jim says, his voice deep and strong, his eyes full of command. Scotty blinks and Jim rises to his full height, the perfect picture of a relentless Captain. "Do you understand, Mr. Scott? You will follow any order you are given - no matter the circumstances."
Scotty doesn’t understand what exactly Jim's meaning is, but he recognizes the Captain's full use of his authority and that there is only one answer he can give. "Aye, Captain." >
"I follow our Captain's orders," Scotty says tiredly. "And his orders I'll always follow..." Sulu and Chekov lower their heads, knowing exactly how Scotty feels.
"And our captain is an idiot!"
All three turn to Bones surprised, who looks at them with an angry grimace. "Don't you see? For Jim to give such an order means that he knew something was wrong, too! He knew that there would be trouble, he knew that the Admiralty knew that as well and he knew we would get the order to leave him behind. He manipulated us all the way." He growls deeply. "And I am not going to let him get away with it."
He walks up to Scotty and stops right in front of him, so near their noses are almost touching. "We are all loyal to Jim, but our loyalty has two sides. On one side we are loyal to his decisions and commands, doing exactly what he wants us to do. On the other side we are loyal to Jim, believing in what he is and what he does and we protect him at all costs. Sometimes these two sides will clash and it is up to us to decide which loyalty is the stronger one.
I know the balance of my loyalty - now it is time for you to decide which loyalty is the more important one. Jim's orders or Jim himself?" McCoy challenges, his eyes burning deeply into Scotty's. Chekov and Sulu both hold their breaths, waiting for Scott's answer.
Scotty returns the look for a few moments, but then lowers his eyes, his decision visible on his dark face.
xxx
Finally the storm calmed and they were able to leave the cave and continue on their way. It doesn’t take long to leave the snowy mountain and to reach the edge of another forest. Spock, who carries Jim on his back, walks carefully over the last bits of snow and ice and sighs silently. He turns his head towards Uhura beside him, one of her hands on Jim's back. "We should leave the field of radiation within the next moments. Try to contact the Enterprise."
Uhura immediately takes out her communicator and activates it. "Enterprise, Lieutenant Uhura here, please answer me. Enterprise, please answer." Only white noise answers her and she shakes her head. "Nothing, we still have to go on."
"Or perhaps they have left," Spock says quietly.
Uhura looks up, startled. "Why should they leave?"
Spock looks forwards, a slight frown on his face. "If the Admiralty already suspected that the Medomai may do us harm, they would have assumed that something happened to us as soon as Mr. Scott informed them that we have not called. If they had cared about the safety of the Captain they would have warned him beforehand, but they did not.
Believing that we are captured or dead, the Admiralty’s greatest endeavour is the safety of the Enterprise. So when Mr. Scott informed them they very probably ordered him to leave with the Enterprise."
He looks over his shoulder at Jim's pale face. "I think the Captain thought so, too and that was why he hid his wound. So we would be able to reach the Enterprise in time."
"What are we going to do if you're right?" Uhura asks silently, her voice strong and determined.
"Let us think about that once we are sure that the Enterprise is not here anymore," Spock answers, his voice as strong as hers.
They continue for a few more moments, when suddenly several Medomai appear between the trees and corner them. Uhura turns around to run back, but already there are Medomai moving in from behind as well. She takes a step to the side to directly shield Spock's back and Jim's body and Spock tightens his grip on Jim's legs.
"We were finally able to find you," one Medomai says and steps forward. Spock recognizes him as the commander of the Pertho. "I never thought that you would be able to hide this long. Especially as I had deliberately hurt the Captain to hinder his escape."
"It seems that you underestimated us," Spock unknowingly repeats the commander's own words, desperately thinking of a way to get out of this situation.
"The hunt ends now," the commander growls and Spock and Uhura get ready to fight.
' Right you are, you bastard. '
There is no time to react to Scotty's voice as in the next moment Spock and Uhura are covered by transporter beams and the last thing both hear is the angry scream of the Medomai as they disappear from the planet's surface to the safety of the Enterprise.
xxx
Bones' worries increase as he is only able to recognize two persons in the lights of the transporter beams. But a few seconds later they materialize and Bones discovers Jim on Spock's back.
"Got'cha!" Scotty yells happily and Bones immediately jumps up on the platform.
"What happened?!" he asks loudly, carefully cradling Jim's head when Spock gently lowers him to the ground.
"He was attacked and wounded by one of the Medomai," Spock says calmly while Bones scans Jim. "He lost a lot of blood and lost consciousness a few hours ago. We were also exposed to extreme cold during the last hours."
"You're not kidding when you say he lost a lot of blood," Bones growls and turns to Chapel. "Chapel! Get the stretcher up here. We need to get him to sickbay NOW." He then looks up at Spock and Uhura, quickly assessing their conditions. "You both accompany us. I'll have to check you, too."
Both nod and follow him and the stretcher. The crew members carrying the stretcher are careful not to jolt their Captain and everyone in the hallways immediately steps aside to let them through. Murmurs and worried glances follow the group and several members happily greet Uhura and Spock, expressing their joy about their safe return.
Uhura happily returns the greetings, smiling and waving to her friends and comrades, while Spock concentrates on his Captain's still form, only half noticing the behaviour of the crew.
When they reach sickbay, Jim is carried to his own private ward, which Bones reserves for him for all the times when Jim has to be treated. He waves Spock and Uhura to two beds then follows Jim. Both sit on their beds, worriedly looking after Bones and listening to the sounds coming from the ward.
"He is going to be alright, isn't he?" Uhura asks lowly and Spock lowers his eyes. After a moment he raises his head again, determination burning in his eyes.
"Yes, he is."
Uhura looks up and sees the same expression in Spock's eyes she already saw in the cave. She smiles lightly and looks back towards Jim's ward. "Yeah, he’s way too stubborn to die so easily."
xxx
"You disobeyed a DIRECT order!" an admiral yells, enraged, but Scotty refuses to cringe. It was the right decision to remain and Scotty will never regret it. The safe return of their Captain, Commander and Lieutenant Uhura are proof and reward enough.
And the happy face of Admiral Pike and the pleased expression of several of the other Admirals confirm that.
"We gave you the order to leave with the Enterprise immediately," the angry admiral continues, his face glowing red with his anger. "This is an act of treason. Do you have anything to say for your defence?"
"If we did not remain and scan the possible places where the Captain and the others could turn up," Scotty says slowly. "We would have never been able to detect their signatures and to safely beam them back aboard. After intensely studying the available information about the Medomai and their technology I felt secure in the knowledge that there was no immediate danger to the Enterprise."
His emphasis of the word 'available' is not lost and the admiral frowns darkly, a hint of warning in his voice. "Is there something you wish to add, Lieutenant Commander Scott?"
Before Scotty can answer, another voice growls from behind him: "He may not, but I definitely will." Bones steps up beside Scotty with his arms crossed in front of his chest. "You knew that the Medomai may be dangerous, but you neglected to inform the Captain of this. If he knew that there was any reason for suspicion he would have been able to make the necessary decisions to protect himself and his crew members. You deliberately sent him into a life threatening situation!
He almost died down there and we could have also lost Commander Spock and Lieutenant Uhura. If we had not remained, they would have been killed! So be happy that we did and everything's alright again after the mess you created."
"Lieutenant Commander McCoy, you are forgetting to whom you are talking! Kirk may allow such disrespect, but we do not accept such behaviour!" the admiral says dangerously.
Bones growls lightly. Scott at his side also bristles, not only in McCoy's defence, but also because of the slur to Kirk.
Pike at the back of the gathered Admirals looks up then smiles a predatory smile. "Is there something you wish to add to the official report as to why the Enterprise remained?"
Scotty blinks then opens his mouth to answer, when another cool voice interrupts him. "Yes, I would like to add something." Scott and Bones both jump around surprised as Spock steps up to them and looks at the screen with the admirals. "I am sorry that I was not able to report earlier, but I had to await my dismissal from sickbay," Spock smoothly says, clasping his hands behind his back and standing at full attention.
"With the Captain's and my absence I am sorry to inform you that there was a slight delay with some of the reports. And not only that, but Lieutenant Uhura was also not aboard to oversee the transmissions of the last hours. This way you were not yet informed about the mechanical faults we have in engineering. Lieutenant Commander Scott was to repair these faults while we were on Vahan, but as he had to take command he was not yet able to.
As soon as these mechanical faults are repaired the Enterprise will be able to continue her journey. Do your last orders about our destination to Mr. Scott still stand or are there new ones for me?"
He coolly watches the admirals who are all staring at him dumbfounded - only Pike grins proudly. Scotty and Bones are both also bewildered, neither able to form any words.
The admiral leading the debriefing looks angrily at Spock, but is unable to say anything against the Vulcan. With a short look at the other admirals he recognizes that they all are willing to accept Spock's words and he growls in defeat.
"Very well, Commander, as soon as these mechanical faults are removed set course to Starbase 26. And we will await your final reports."
"Yes sir," Spock answers determinedly and the screen goes dark. He looks at the screen for another moment, his eyes dark and then turns to Scotty and Bones at his side. "Mr. Scott, I rely on you to establish these mechanical faults within the next ten minutes and then send me the matching reports. I would also be much obliged if you were able to delay the repair for a while until Doctor McCoy believes that the Captain will be recovered as soon as we reach Starbase 26.
Now if you will excuse me, gentlemen."
Spock turns around and silently leaves the room. Scotty and Bones follow his movement with their eyes and as soon as the door closes behind him they look at each other.
"Wow," Scotty murmurs. "Did that just happen or had I too much to drink last night?"
"No, it really happened," Bones answers. "Even though I am not sure what really happened."
"It seems to me that our Captain has had a bad influence on our Vulcan," Scotty says and both stare at each other for a moment longer before both start to laugh loudly.
xxx
Jim stares moodily up at the ceiling, his fingers drumming on the blanket. It's already a few days after the events on Vahan and they are on their way to Starbase 26. But even though Jim is fine, Bones insists on keeping him in sickbay. Jim sighs, remembering Bones' last tantrum when Jim tried to sneak out and he rubs the lump on his head where Bones' scanner had hit.
"Stupid Bones," he mutters and stares at the ceiling again. A few seconds later he sighs again and just as he starts to think of other escape routes the door opens. Jim cringes and looks up guiltily, but heaves a sigh of relief when Spock enters the room.
"Don't scare me like that, Spock, I thought you were Bones," Jim says and then curiously looks at Spock as he sets down a set of chess on the small table at his bed.
"I did not think that Doctor McCoy was such a scary apparition," Spock says calmly and pulls a chair over to the bed. "But I do understand the sentiment."
Jim laughs, but then holds his side. "Don't make me laugh, it hurts. And then Bones will never let me leave."
"There is no hurry, Captain," Spock says as he starts to prepare the chess game. "Everything is in order and everyone is fulfilling their duties with the utmost care. We will reach Starbase 26 within the next 74.6 hours and there you will be able to get your next orders."
Jim nods and then slowly sits up on his bed. "Say, Spock, what are you doing?"
"Setting up the chess game of course," Spock answers.
Jim shakes his head slightly. "I can see that, but why? Normally I’m the one asking for a game. You see no sense in playing me, because I’m so bad."
Spock freezes for a moment, but then continues setting the pieces. "That was poorly expressed by me, I fear. There are very interesting aspects in your style and some of your moves may appear completely absurd, but I am beginning to see great potential in them."
< To see what could be possible, to see what we could be able to reach... >
"I do think if we play a few more games you will be able to expand this very interesting strategy. It will be fascinating to watch your progress."
< If that is a possibility for our future... it would be an honour to achieve it. >
Spock looks deeply into Jim's eyes and Jim is struck speechless. He remembers the expression of the old Spock's eyes, the way those wise eyes had cherished him. After learning about the other Jim Kirk, that this other Kirk knew his father and that this other Kirk was held in such high regard by an honourable man like the old Spock, Jim always felt a bitter jealously.
Now for the first time he sees the same regard, the same admiration, fondness and warmth in the eyes of his own Spock. Jim smiles happily, his eyes glowing and Spock feels honoured that he was the one to create that expression.
"Well, I am a slow learner," Jim says finally, his voice full of warmth. "It may take some time for me to perfect my interesting strategy."
"We have all the time in the universe," Spock says warmly and Jim glows faintly with happiness.
"There is a name for what you meant when you talked about our alternate selves," Spock continues, relating to their talk in the cave.
"Yeah?"
"It is an old Vulcan word, which is no longer used. The concept behind the word is so illogical and unlikely that no one believes in it any longer. But what you said about the other Spock and Kirk, I believe it may be right to give their connection this name."
< They were soulmates. >
"T'hy'la."
Spock and Jim look each other in the eye. "T'hy'la...," Jim murmurs, frowning as he tries to pronounce it right. "What does it mean?"
"It means exactly what you saw in the other Spock and Kirk," Spock says slowly and takes a chess piece. "Something illogical, something incredible, something beautiful. And something impossible."
He sets the piece on the board and a small smile curves his lips.
"But I have already learned..."
< And I hope that it will be you. >
"... that for you nothing is impossible, Jim."
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Date: 25/06/2011 13:05 (UTC)Btw, your icon's awesome. XD