“Don’t move!
Hold on! Computing gravitational pull and…gotcha!” Chekov exclaimed.
Jim slammed hard
onto the transporter pad, Sulu right there with him. Sulu blinked at him, then
turned to Chekov.
“Thanks.”
Even as he and
Sulu moved to get up, the doors of the room opened and Spock rushed in.
“Clear the pad.”
Jim stepped down
as Spock stepped up. “Wait. Spock. What are you doing? Are you going down
there? Are you nuts? You can’t do that!”
“Watch me.”
Jaw tightening,
Jim jumped back onto the pad next to Spock. “Then I’m going too.”
“There is no
time to argue, Jim.”
“Then don’t.”
Spock gave a
short nod. “Energize.”
They reappeared
on Vulcan and before Jim could even think about what Spock planned, he was
grabbing Jim’s arm and dragging him toward some ancient looking dwelling.
“The Katric ark,”
was all Spock said.
The ground
beneath them shook violently. Jim ducked falling debris.
There surrounding
artifacts were Spock’s parents and several Vulcan elders.
“Spock! Jim!”
Amanda exclaimed.
“The planet only
has seconds left. We must evacuate now. Mother now!”
They ran for it,
running out of the dwelling, Spock holding on to his mother the entire way.
Right next to Jim a giant statue broke apart and landed on the Vulcan running
beside him.
Outside, Spock pulled
out his communicator. “Spock to Enterprise. Get us out now.”
“Locking on you,”
Chekov’s voice. “Don’t move. Stay right where you are now.”
Jim felt the ground
falling away. Eyes wide, he saw that Amanda was right on the edge.
“Shit!”
“No!” Spock yelled.
Jim lunged at
her, arms ensnaring her waist just as Spock lost his grip on her. The transporter
activated and Jim watched as the others disappeared.
“Jim,” Amanda
cried.
“Hang on.” They began
to fall as Jim desperately clawed for the edge of the cliff. “Don’t let go.”
“Jim! I…”
Suddenly he felt
his particles breaking up and a moment later he reappeared on the transporter,
arms tightly around Amanda. She clung to him.
“Oh, oh my.”
“Hey,” Jim whispered.
“You’re safe. I’ve got you.”
****
“Have you
confirmed that Nero is headed for Earth?” Spock asked Uhura.
“Their
trajectory suggests no other destination, Captain.”
“Earth may be
his next destination, but we have to assume every Federation planet is a target,”
Jim said, sitting in the captain’s chair.
“Out of the
chair,” Spock said curtly.
“If the Federation
is a target, why not destroy us?” Chekov asked.
Sulu glanced at
him. “Why would they? Why waste the weapons? We aren’t a threat.”
“No,” Spock replied.
“He wanted me to see the destruction of my home planet.”
Bones brushed
past Jim to speak up. “How the hell did they do that? Where did the Romulans
get that kind of weaponry?”
“The engineering
comprehension necessary to artificially create a black hole may suggest an
answer. Such technology could theoretically be manipulated to create a tunnel
through space-time.”
“Damn it, man. I’m
a doctor, not a physicist. Are you actually suggesting those Romulans are from
the future?”
“If you eliminate
the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
“Then, what would
an angry future Romulan want with Captain Pike?” Jim asked. “What we need to do
is catch up to that ship. Disable it, take it over, and get Pike back.”
“A rescue
attempt would be illogical. We are outmatched in every way.”
Chekov shook his
head. “The ship would have to drop out of warp for us to overtake him.”
“Then, we assign
engineering crew to try and boost our warp gear.”
“Remaining power
and crew are focused on repairing radiation leaks on the lower decks.”
“Spock, there’s
got to be some way.”
He shook his
head. “We must gather with the rest of Starfleet to balance the terms of the next
engagement.”
Jim sighed in frustration.
“There won’t be a next engagement because by the time we’ve gathered, it’ll be
too late. If you say he’s from the future, he knows what’s going to happen, so
the logical thing is to be unpredictable.”
“You are assume that Nero knows how events are predicted to unfold. To the contrary, his very presence has altered the flow of history, beginning with the attack on the USS Kelvin, and culminating in the events of today. Thereby creating an entire new chain of events that cannot be anticipated by either party. Whatever our lives might have been, our destinies have changed. Mr. Sulu, plot a course to the Laurentian system warp factor three.”
“Spock, no,” Jim pleaded. “Running back to the
rest of the fleet is a massive waste of time.”
“Captain Pike issued orders when he left…”
“He also ordered us to go back and get him.
Spock, you’re captain now. You have to be…”
“I am aware of my responsibilities, Mr. Kirk.”
“Every second we waste, Nero is getting closer
to his next target. I will not allow us to go backwards instead of hunting Nero
down!”
Spock’s jaw clenched as he glared at Jim. “Security,
get him off the bridge.”
The security guards bore down on Jim, who
struck one in the face.
“Jim,” Bones cried. “No.”
Spock approached Jim, hand out, Jim shook his
head.
“Get him off
this ship.”
“Jim, wake up. Sweetheart, wake up.”
Jim gasped and sat up straight.
Amanda smiled. “There you are. Back with me?”
Jim looked around the hospital room, breathing heavily.
“Deep breath, Jim. Let it out. Inhale, exhale. There you
go.” She squeezed his hand. He hadn’t realized she was holding it. “Better?”
Jim nodded, swallowing.
“Bad one?”
“A memory dream.”
She perched herself on the edge of his bed. “You said my
name. Spock’s too.”
“I was dreaming of when I rescued you before Vulcan was
destroyed,” Jim admitted. “And after.”
“Understandable. Humans have to process these things
somehow, don’t we? I’ve had a few uneasy dreams lately myself.” She paused. “Some
where you were not there and I fell to my death.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It is no matter. You haven’t been taking care of
yourself. Here you are in the hospital.”
“I’m being released today.”
“So I have been told. You’ll come stay with us, of course.”
Jim shook his head. “No.”
“Now, Jim. There’s no point in arguing with me.”
“I agree. Amanda, I guess you haven’t heard, but, uh,
Spock and I aren’t…we’re not together anymore.”
“What?” Her hands went to her face. “You-you broke up with
him?”
“Huh? No. No. He…well, I mean. Sorta. But he was going to…”
“Spock wouldn’t have ended your relationship,” she
insisted. “He loves you.”
“Maybe he did once. But he woke up.” Jim paused. “Or I
did. Whichever. The point is, Amanda, the events surrounding everything Nero
did, well, it-it was too much for Spock. He’s resigned from Starfleet.”
“What?”
“Yeah. Pike told me. Not Spock. And he’s going to go help
with the Vulcan colony.” He moistened his lips with his tongue. “I can’t even blame
him.”
“Well, I can. None of this makes any sense, Jim.”
“How can it not? I’m sorry. I am. I really really wanted
us to be a-a family for-forever, but it’s just, it’s not going to happen.
Sometimes love doesn’t survive something like this. And it hasn’t now. I mean,
I’m always going to care about him. So much. But surely you can see that it does make sense.”
Amanda stood. “What I’m going to do is bring Spock here.”
“Please don’t.”
“Jim…”
“Please?” He pleaded with her. “This is all hard enough on
him as it is. He’s lost so much and I don’t want to add anything else to his
pain. So, please, don’t bother him. Okay? Not about me.”
She bit her lip and Jim could tell she wanted very much to
argue with him. But instead she sighed, and nodded, then moved forward to give
him an all too brief hug.
As she pulled back she said, “Are you sure you don’t want
to come home with me?”
He smiled. It was forced. “I’m sure. I’ve got the apartment.
I’ll be fine until the Enterprise goes out.”
“Okay.” Amanda walked to the door of his room. Then turned
to fix him with her motherly stare. “And I don’t care what you say or think,
Jim. I know my son. He loves you.”
As soon as she left, Jim got out of bed and got ready to leave.
Bones had said he’d be by later in the day to release him, but Jim figured he
was okay to release now. He didn’t need Bones mothering him anymore than he’d
needed Amanda. He was going to be fine on his own. He’d been that way before
and had lived through it.
The hover cab pulled up in front of his apartment building.
Jim’s hand went to his throat.
“Come on, Spock.
Your whole planet was just destroyed. We barely rescued your parents. Some of
the elders we tried to help died. Your own grandmother was killed. You have to
feel something about all of that. You’re not a robot despite what others say.”
“I will not allow
you to goad me into some emotional outburst.”
“Are emotions so
shameful? Do you even love me? Spock, your mother is human. Don’t you feel love
for her? She’s got to be devastated and you’ve not even said one word to her
since you came back to the ship. I’m starting to wonder if you even love her or
anybody. Maybe they’re right. You aren’t even upset. Did you see his ship? Did
you see what he did?”
“Yes, of course.”
“You’ve said
before that fear is necessary for command. Are you afraid or not?”
“I will also not
allow you to lecture me on the merits of emotions.”
“Then why don’t you stop me, Spock? What is it like not to feel heartbreak or anger? Does it even compute to you how close you came to losing her? Losing both of us?”
“Back away from
me,” Spock said coldly.
“You don’t love her!”
“Mister, we’re here.”
Jim realized the cab driver had been trying to get his
attention for a while.
“Oh. Thanks.” Jim smiled. Hit the pay with his credit
chip, added a tip, and got out of the cab. He stood on the sidewalk, watching it
leave.
Nothing lasts
forever, except memories.
He entered the building, walked up the stairs instead of
the lift, and then headed to the third floor where his apartment was.
He swiped his hand across the scanner and the door popped
open. He was about to take out his communicator to let Bones know he’d left the
hospital when he saw someone standing by the sliding glass door to the balcony.
Jaw dropping open, Jim stared at the broad back, clad in a
charcoal gray sweater. “Spock?”
Spock turned then to face him. He looked…wrecked. Dark
eyes wet. Something was clutched in his hand though Jim could not see what it
was.
“Ashaya,” he whispered.
Spirk (with a small dose of Pinto) 