Bombay

Bombay, Chapter 5

Spock decided not to wait for Nyota’s class as he was too curious about James T. Kirk to adopt his usual amount of patience.
He tried to pretend to himself it had nothing to do with how uncommonly attractive Kirk had been. At least in Spock’s opinion.
And there was the added fact that Bombay’s eye color seemed to be an exact match for Kirk’s. A coincidence of course but it made Spock all the more curious.
After doing some preliminary research, Spock decided to contact George Samuel Kirk, the older brother and seeming spokesperson for the family. He requested communication with him if it was permitted.
It was a few hours later when Jim Kirk’s brother contacted him.
George Samuel Kirk, he told Spock the family called him Sam to distinguish him from George Kirk, resembled George Kirk more than he did his younger brother, Spock thought.
Sam leaned back in a rocking chair and stared rather sourly at Spock.
“What is it you want exactly?”
“To make inquiries about your brother’s disappearance.”
“Don’t you mean death?”
Spock shook his head.
“Your Starfleet has declared him dead.”
“I am sorry. But you and your family have doubts.”
Sam snorted. “You bet we do. They never found a body in the wreckage. Nothing like that.”
“What did they find?”
“It’s all a matter of record,” Sam said with no hidden disdain. “They found the burned out crashed shuttlecraft and the remains of Doctor Helen Moore, and her two medical assistants, Ensign Allen Luras and Ensign Inid Harr. The door of the shuttle was inoperable and there was no sign it was ever opened after the crash. They found no trace of Jim’s remains, though there was evidence someone had used the seatbelt in the co-pilot’s seat beside Helen Moore.”
“And they are certain Commander Kirk was on the shuttlecraft when it left the Endeavor?”
“Yes.”
Spock nodded. “Do you have any theories?”
Sam hesitated, then slowly shook his head. “Other than someone must have abducted Jim. That’s always been our belief.”
“For what purpose?”
“How should I know?”
“And how would they have done so when the door was inoperable?”
Sam’s lips thinned. “There was a hole in the door.”
“How large?”
“Large enough for Jim,” Sam insisted. “But there was no sign of him on the planet anywhere. Or so they said.”
“You don’t believe it?”
“No, I don’t. Jim’s alive. I can feel it. And someone has him. I don’t know why they haven’t come forward. But my family hasn’t given up no matter what they tell you. Starfleet may have decided Jim’s dead, but he’s alive.” Sam frowned. “I gotta go.”
And then the screen winked out and Spock was left staring at nothing. HE couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something Sam was not telling him. Some elusive clue.

February 17, 2023

Bombay, Chapter 4

5 Years Earlier, Starship Endeavor

“Report.”

Jim Kirk looked up from his PADD into the questioning face of his commanding officer, Robert April.

“It’s currently too dangerous to use the transporter, Captain.”

“Damn. Rigel 9 really needs those medical supplies.”

Doctor Helen Moore bit her lip and shook her head. “Agreed. They’re really dealing with something down there. What about the shuttlecraft?”

“With that Ion storm that’s going to be risky too,” Jim stated.

“Less risky than trying to do the transporter though,” Dr. Moore said. She turned to April. “I’m a pretty good pilot, Bob. I only need a few medical personnel with me. Just two. I’m willing to risk it.”

“Helen—” Jim began to protest.

“Jim, I know what you’re going to say. But the citizens of Rigel 9 are dying and without this needed medicine, they don’t stand a chance.”

“We wail for the storm to pass,” Jim maintained.

“And that could be days. They might be dead by then! Bob, I can do this.”

Captain April pursed his lips. “Okay, Helen.”

“Captain—”

April held up his hand to cut Jim off. “Your protests are duly noted, Jim. But Helen’s right. Rigel 9 needs these supplies. But I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to go along with the party, Jim.”

“What?” Helen exclaimed. “No!. Captain, I don’t need to endanger unnecessary personnel. Commander Kirk—”

“Will accompany you. I’m not going to have a team of only trained medical crew members go into a potentially hostile situation. Commander Kirk’s an exemplary negotiator and well-trained in combat.”

“But—”

“You both have your orders. Doctor, Commander. Get your team together and the supplies and head out.”

Jim watched Captain April depart, then he turned to Helen. “It’s okay.”

“It is not. I never intended to make you part of this, Jim.”

He drew her into his arms and held her against him, kissing her forehead. “I would have wanted to go.”

She sighed. “They really do need that medicine.”

“I know. So let’s get organized and do this. We’ll be back home before you know it.”

Jim woke feeling pain everywhere. All around him the shuttlecraft filled with smoke from the fire that had apparently started the minute the shuttle had crashed. He unconnected his seat belt and scrambled from his chair.

He checked Helen, who had been in the pilot’s seat next to him. Half of her face had been battered in from the crash. There was no pulse.

“Sorry, Helen,” he whispered.

A quick check of the others revealed he was the only survivor. He knew he had to contact the ship but his first task was to remove himself from the shuttlecraft before he succumbed to smoke inhalation.

His left leg was bleeding pretty badly and his head was killing him, but he made it to the door, which was twisted and bent. There was a hole at the top not big enough to fit through. Jim, coughing and wheezing, tried the controls and then manually to open the door.

Nothing.

“Damn, damn, damn.”

He glanced up at the hole, feeling weaker by the minute. He had no choice. He’d have to use his last strength to do it.

A moment later, he shifted into cat form, leapt on to the bar of the twisted door, and then out the hole, onto the planet.

February 10, 2023

Bombay, Chapter 3

“There are some options with regard to your leg.”

Spock looked up in surprise as he carefully got down from the exam table. “Options, Doctor?”

Leonard McCoy shrugged slightly as he studied his medical tricorder with Spock’s latest results on them. McCoy was the CMO at Starfleet Hospital in San Francisco. It was located directly beside Federation HQ.

“I was told there was nerve damage and nothing could be done.”

“There coming up with new treatments all the time, Spock. In fact, a Doctor M’Benga has extensive knowledge of the physiology of Vulcans. I would recommend making an appointment with him.”

Spock took in this information and ventured to ask, “Where is this doctor located?”

“On Vulcan at the moment,” McCoy advised. He lowered his tricorder. “How’s the pain in that leg?”

“Manageable. On cold days it gets stiff. And when I do too much walking.”

“I’ll write you a prescription that should help with that. Vulcan friendly.”

“The earliest I can plan to see M’Benga on Vulcan would be the next break between semesters at the Academy,” Spock said.

“I understand. Just think about it. It’s possible he can’t do anything, but if he can, it’s worth looking into, yeah?”

“Perhaps,“ Spock acknowledged.

Spock departed and headed for his apartment. The walk was a little longer than his typical walk to the campus, but in some ways Spock thought exercising his leg might be good for him. He’d possibly be sorry for it later.

When he made it home, just as a light drizzle began, the cat was waiting for him by the door. He appeared to want to dart out of the apartment into the drizzle, but Spock got the door closed before Bombay could make good on his escape.

“I can see how you must have gotten away from your care giver,” Spock remarked out loud as he moved into the kitchen to prepare himself tea and feed the cat.

As Spock spooned out the smelly food into a dish, the cat rubbed against his legs. He put the food down, made himself tea and a bean burrito and headed to his terminal to grade tests.

He’d only been sitting there five minutes when Bombay leapt into his lap and settled down there.

Rather than fight a losing battle where Spock made him leave only to have him return, repeat, he just allowed the furry pest to remain.

When the cat stared at him while he ate his burrito, Spock even began to share little bites with him. He made a mental note to check with the veterinary’s office to learn if anyone had come forward to claim Bombay.

Once he finished his grading, he signed into his Academy email account and found an email from Nyota.

“If you’re interested in my class on the disappearance of James Kirk, the class will be next Thursday at ten in the morning. It’s kind of a strange case and I thought you might be curious. I’m surprised you don’t know more about the details but then again you were on active duty on the Enterprise when it occurred. Attached is a picture.”

Spock clicked on the link and a very good-looking young Human male appeared on his screen. And yes, Nyota had been right. He had incredibly striking blue eyes.

Bombay uncurled from Spock’s lap and stared at the picture. Then to Spock’s surprise he raised paw and put it on the picture and meowed loud.

Most strange.

February 3, 2023

Bombay, Chapter 2

Spock stopped briefly on the way home to purchase a pet bed for Bombay as that had not been one of the supplied he’d been given when he agreed to foster the cat. He chose what looked plush and comfortable. At least from a cat’s point of view.
Or Spock thought.
They’d given him a cat carrier too, so once he opened the door to his apartment, he set all the things down and then put the cat carrier on the floor and opened the gate to allow Bombay to explore the surroundings.
The vet’s office had warned him that the cat would likely be skittish and not want to have anything to do with the place at first, but Bombay immediately ran out of the carrier and started checking out Spock’s apartment.
Spock left him to it and went into his kitchen to open a can of cat food to feed the feline. It smelled awful and fishy to Spock and he wondered why any cat would eat it, but with a shrug, he set the dish down for Bombay.
It took a few minutes but the cat came over to the dish and gobbled down most of the contents.
After that Spock sat down at his desk to work on grading tests that he’d required for his students to take. He paid little attention to the cat for some time.
An hour had passed when he decided to get up to make himself tea and when he entered his kitchen he spotted Bombay on the top of the refrigerator. On the floor were several containers Spock had placed there to store them.
“Did you do that?” Spock asked, illogically, as it could be no other.
Bombay meowed.
“Come down from there.”
The cat leapt down right onto Spock and dug his claws into Spock’s stomach when he dropped the cat in surprise. The scratches left across his abdomen stung and were bleeding.
With a sigh, Spock went into the bathroom, removed his now bloodstained shirt, and applied first aid to the marks left by his visitor. He chose a new shirt and went back to his desk only to find Bombay occupying his chair.
“You are determined to try my patience.”
Spock tried to move the cat but he wouldn’t budge more than an inch or so, and therefore, as a means of compromise, Spock occupied about a quarter of the chair, leaving the rest to his guest.

“You adopted a cat?” Nyota Uhura asked Spock the next afternoon while they dined on the outdoor patio of the Starfleet Academy restaurant.
“No. I have definitely not adopted him. I am fostering him until his rightful caretaker can be located and they are reunited.”
“Hmm.” She shook her head and added artificial sweetener to her coffee. She was a friend and colleague at the Academy. She taught communications and languages as well as a course in Federation history.
“What does hmm mean?”
“You did say he spent the night sleeping on your bed.”
“I secured him his own fine and plush pet bed for his use,” Spock said sourly. “He refused to even try it.”
Nyota laughed. “Cats have minds of their own. Anyway, you may think of him as temporary but it sure sounds like he has other ideas. What’s his name anyway?”
“I do not know his real name as he had no collar or microchip but I am calling him Bombay.”
“Bombay?”
“For sapphires.”
She arched her brows. “Like the gin?”
“Yes. Or the Star of India, though lighter. He has blue eyes.”
Nyota smiled and picked up her chicken salad sandwich. “That’s cute. Speaking of blue eyes, we’re covering the old James Kirk disappearance in my class this semester.”
“James Kirk?”
“Don’t you remember? It was about five years ago. Lieutenant Commander Kirk was on the starship, Endeavor. Was on his way in a shuttlecraft with medical staff to drop off supplies to a colony on Rigel 9 but some storm anomaly caused the shuttlecraft to crash on a planetoid near Rigel 9. Unnamed. They found the remains of the medical staff in the crash but never any sign of Kirk.”
Spock nodded. “I do recall hearing about it. I never did have all the details. What does that have to do with blue eyes?”
“He had very blue eyes. Handsome guy. Like all the Kirks. I guess his family refused to give up searching for him for years after. I think they finally did last year. He’s presumed dead.” She sighed. “Anyway he had a fantastic reputation and was an exemplary officer. Very well liked. Sad story. So we’re covering during my history course. Your cat’s blue eyes made me think of it.”
“He is not my cat,” Spock insisted. “He is a temporary guest.”
She ginned. “Of course he is.”

January 27, 2023

Bombay, Chapter 1

A while ago, I did a fic where Spock was a cat, Nine Lives. I don’t remember the exact date. It was so much fun I’ve been itching to do something sorta similar.

So, for the next several Fridays you can expect a new chapter of Bombay. Not sure how long it will be so it may go into months on here before there is a resolution. Once completed it will be proofed for errors and go on AO3. But that’s going to be a while, so for now the place to read Bombay will be here on Fridays.

This is an AU. You won’t see most of our usual friends in their accepted roles. But you will see most of them.

This isn’t exactly how Bombay looks but use your imagination! LOL

Chapter One: A Companion

Spock had taken an apartment close to the Academy Campus where he worked full time as a professor.

Prior to his employment there, he’d served aboard a starship under Captain Pike, but after an injury to his left leg caused him to have a permanent limp, Spock had been retired from active duty.

For the most part he found his present position fulfilling. He kept in regular touch with his mother and had a small circle of friends he saw occasionally.

As most Vulcan children had been, Spock had been preliminarily bonded to another Vulcan child. Subsequently, T’Pring, the Vulcan female, had discovered her desire to bond with another and Spock had not objected to having their link dissolved. In any event, Spock had already come to the conclusion that he preferred males.

Despite his limp, which the leg itself only pained him on certain damp days, Spock chose to walk from Campus to home. The apartment itself was on the ground floor, to the left of the cactus garden area just as one passed the double entrance doors into the courtyard.

On this particular Wednesday, he had returned from teaching early as he only had morning classes and he felt slightly under the weather so he didn’t linger at his on-campus office.

Standing in front of his apartment door was a cat. It cried loudly on Spock’s approach.

The cat was mostly white but had orange patches on the top of his head and on his paws. And he had the most striking blue eyes on a cat Spock had ever seen.

“Hello there.”

The cat rubbed against Spock’s legs, purring. He lolled around the complex, guessing the cat belonged to one of the tenants there. He wasn’t sure which one.

“Go home to your caregiver, please, and do stay out of trouble.”

Spock went into his apartment and did not think further about the cat for several days.

****

It was on the very next Wednesday, perhaps an hour or two later, when Spock saw the cat again. What Spock saw was alarming.

The cat was outside the front of the apartment building and a man Spock did not know pulled back his leg and kicked the cat very hard, knocking the cat to the ground.

“Stop!” Spock yelled.

The man ignored Spock and kept on walking.

Spock was torn between pursuing the man and showing him what it would be like to be kicked by someone else and rendering aid to the likely injured feline. Spock’s concern for the cat won out and he approached the poor creature.

By now it had pulled itself to its feet and hidden behind shrubbery. Spock saw its big wide blue eyes staring fearfully at him.

“It is all right.” Spock crouched down. “I will not harm you. I promise.”

After a few more moments of hesitation, the cat came out and sniffed warily at Spock’s outstretched hand. He mewled.

Spock picked up the cat and stood. “I’m afraid it’s off to the veterinarian for you, my friend.”

He knew of one a block or so away and though he didn’t really relish the walk in the windy afternoon, he had no choice. He did not own a hover car and the cat needed to be seen.

About an hour later, a Dr. Chapel examined the cat.

“Well, the good news is he’d just a bit bruised and sore in the spot where the nasty man kicked him.”

“He? So the cat is a male.” Spock had not actually examined it that closely before taking it for care.

She smiled quizzically at him. “Isn’t he your cat?”

“Negative. I don’t actually know who he belongs to. He hangs around my building and I saw the man kick him. I suppose he must be microchipped.”

Dr. Chapel shook her head. “Surprisingly no. If you don’t know where he lives I guess I’ll have to get one of the girls here to watch him. I want to see how he reacts overnight and I’d like to give him some pain medication. Once he’s okay we’ll try to find his owner. If we can’t find them soon though he’s going to have to go to a shelter?”

Spock frowned. “If it is acceptable, I will take him home with me and can watch him. I am able to give him medicine. I can foster him until his caregiver is found.”

Her smile broadened. “That’s wonderful then. I’ll make sure to get you a care package of food, medicine, a litter box and litter of course. I’ll be back shortly.”

And she left Spock with the cat who was now sitting up looking at him curiously.

“I will need to call you something,” Spock said out loud. He recalled seeing a particular shade of blue in an alcohol one of his friends drank. Bombay Sapphire. “Bombay. I shall call you Bombay.”

January 20, 2023

Spirk (with a small dose of Pinto)

Fan Fiction and Personal Ramblings

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