Chapter Text
In the pale early morning light, Spock paused before he woke Uhura. She lay on the small bed next to El, and the child had huddled closer to her against the cold. He had maintained a light meditative state through the night, which enabled him to rest and also watch them both sleep. Now, more than ever, he was driven to keep her safe. Until a few days ago, he had not understood the true gift of intimacy, the pleasure two people could bring one another. The possibilities were endlessly fascinating, he decided. He longed to be alone with her, somewhere safe and warm, to explore this new reality between them.
But the day ahead would be filled with danger: Dartan was still searching for them; higher up the mountain it would be much colder, and the terrain filled with hazards from carnivorous plants to the unstable slopes. And added to that, unless they were able to beam out before nightfall, Teht-yen would be a problem.
Something ancient and powerful stirred within him. He would get them safely off this mountain, he swore it. He had not saved one of Kehoe’s children only to lose another. And he was not about to lose Nyota, not now. Not ever.
He bent over, hand on heart, and placed a kiss on her lips to seal his vow to himself.
She opened her eyes and her face seemed to light up. “Good morning,” she said, her voice soft with sleep.
“We must depart,” he said.
Uhura sat upright, and then gently shook El. “Time to get up.”
The girl groaned and turned over onto her side, away from them. Uhura shook her again. “We have to go, El. Wake up.”
“It can’t be morning yet,” she complained.
Spock opened the curtains to let the early morning light flood in and then he unlatched and opened the door. The morning was cool, the air fresh and clear. Although Spock had heard nothing, Hafren had clearly been back, because there was a bucket of clear water, some packs containing more of the fruit he had given them last night, and what looked like strips of dried meat beside the bucket. Spock filled the drinking bottles with the fresh water and drained one, before filling them again for Uhura and El. None of them had consumed sufficient hydration yesterday and they had a long day ahead.
When he took the water and food indoors El was sitting bleary eyed on the side of the bed, Uhura next to her with her arm around her shoulders. On a closer look, it seemed the girl had been crying.
“You have been really brave, El. We just need you to carry on a bit longer.”
“Sorry,” El sniffed. “I miss Mama.”
“Of course you do. And you’ll see her soon. We promise, don’t we, Spock?”
“Indeed. You should consume these,” Spock said, handing her the bottle and fruit.
They ate quickly and prepared to leave. Hafren was still nowhere in sight.
“We have nothing to repay his kindness with,” El said as they cleared up their gear. “Mama always says pay kindness with kindness.”
“I think the best gift we could give him would be to get ourselves off the mountain, and leave him and Teht-yen in peace,” Uhura said as they closed the door behind them.
Spock led the way, the blanket bag over his shoulder, striding out up the rough path to the summit.
“It’s going to get colder,” Uhura said, looking up towards the white capped peak. “How far up do we need to get?”
“It is difficult to be precise. I suggest we attempt short transmission every hour. We must balance the risk of Dartan intercepting the message against the probability of rescue.”
“I wish we knew if the Enterprise received the coded message I sent when we were on the beach. They might be on their way. Or already here, in orbit.”
“Your friends are up there?” El looked to the sky in wonder.
“Perhaps,” Uhura said. “We’ll know when we get high enough.”
They set a brisk pace though the grey early morning light, and although the sun rose the temperature dropped as they ascended. The path narrowed until it could barely be called a path at all, and the grass fields gave way to barren, rocky slopes with patches of euphorbia clinging to the sides of the hills. The plants seemed to track them, pale green leaves pulsing as if in a breeze, although the air was quite still.
As they walked Spock pulled the transmitter from Uhura’s pack and tried to send a message. Again the signal failed to transmit.
He raised an eyebrow at Uhura, but said nothing.
#
They walked on, climbing the rocky path that got rougher with every turn. El heard it first this time. “A ship!” she said, pointing back along the path. Whole swathes of countryside stretched out below them. What yesterday seemed a hard walk now looked flat. A sleek, black ship—one of Dartan’s—swept methodically back and forth across the lowlands. Spock wondered how much longer Dartan would search. The logical thing for him to have done would have been to stop before now: they had nothing of his and had done him no harm, beyond wounding his pride. Perhaps that was enough for some men. Or perhaps he had bigger secrets.
They stayed low until the ship went passed out of sight and then they pressed on. The day passed in that gruelling fashion, trudging up the mountain, colder with every step, and then periodically they would run and hide when one of Dartan’s ships flew overhead. Once, they lost almost an hour hiding in a damp cave as a ship scoured the area intensely.
Spock saw El’s exhaustion, and the concern growing in Nyota’s eyes every time they tried and failed to contact the Enterprise.
“How much further?” she asked him.
He wished he had an answer. “I do not know.”
“At least Dartan seems to have stopped. It must be an hour since we heard anything.”
Spock nodded, hoping her conjecture was true. There were other possibilities, though. There were plenty of places on the craggy mountainside to land and conceal a ship.
He scouted ahead, checking each outcrop they passed for signs of disturbance, but as the light dimmed that became harder. A chill wind picked up, tugging at their clothes and biting their skin, and El began to shiver. Uhura got the blanket from the backpack from her backpack and offered it to El, who pulled it tight around her shoulders. Dark clouds rolled in from behind them, covering the sun.
They pressed on against the wind in the low light. He raised his voice in order to be heard over the buffeting gusts. “We should try to contact the Enterprise again,” he said.
Together they fumbled the transmitter from the backpack. Her icy cold hand brushed his. Her body temperature must be falling rapidly, her uniform offering her little protection against the freezing wind. He took her hands between his, and blew on them.
“You are extremely cold,” he said. He knew his physiology would allow him to endure much more than she could. He felt something keen and sharp inside his chest. To care for her so deeply, he realised, brought pain as well as joy. As her pleasure thrilled him, her discomfort made him ache; was this the benefit and burden of love?
“Nyota,” he said, his voice soft, “will you attempt to contact the ship while I disassemble this bag?” He passed the transmitter to her while he removed the rope from the makeshift backpack. The supplies it had held this morning were long gone and the blanket would be better used to keep her warm.
She activated the transmitter. “This is Lieutenant Uhura to any Starfleet vessel. Any Federation vessel—”
Spock looked up sharply as he heard El scream. She had been standing close by, he was sure of it, but now he couldn’t see her at all.
“El?” Uhura called out, hastily shoving the transmitter back in her pack.
“Nyota!” El called, her voice high with fear.
Spock dropped the blanket and drew his phaser, heading quickly towards the sound. Ahead was a wall of grey, shadowy rocks that Spock quickly realised were not rocks at all, but the outline of a squat ship. Dartan stood in front of the vessel. In the low light, Spock could see that Dartan’s eye was a mottled black where his punch had hit home three days ago. Dartan held El around the neck, his gun pressed to the side of her head. He heard Uhura gasp in horror.
“Well, you’ve sent me on a merry chase,” Dartan boomed. “But I can’t have you two telling tales to the council.”
Instinctively, Spock pulled the Nyota behind him. She had no weapon. “The child has no part in this,” he said. “Let her go.”
“But she does,” Dartan said, stepping forward. “You’ve made me look weak. And do you know what happens to weak men? They lose face. Then they lose power. And before you know it, no one respects them.” He gave a sickening smile. “But this is a pretty game. Perhaps I’ll take her.” He moved the gun clumsily along El’s cheek. “You’ll respect me, won’t you?”
El whimpered, and Spock felt Nyota step forward. “You can’t be serious,” she said, in disbelief. “She’s a child.”
Dartan leered. “True. I’d much rather take you, Starfleet. Tell you what, you come with me and I’ll let her go.”
Spock gripped Uhura’s arm, before she could even think trade herself for El, for he feared this must be in her mind. This man could not be trusted to keep his word.
“Respect is not won by cheating and abusing those under your power, Dartan. Only a fool thinks so,” Spock called. His throat tightened. Anger began to simmer in his chest.
Dartan laughed a cruel, sneering laugh. “Then I am a fool. But I’m a fool who gets what he wants. What’s it to be?”
Uhura turned to face Spock, raised her hands to his chest. “Spock, do you trust me?” she whispered urgently.
He looked at her, his mind numb. “I trust you,” he said. And he did trust her, but cold horror curled at the base of his stomach as the words passed his lips.
“Then let me do this my way,” she said.
Turning away from him, she walked slowly towards Dartan. “I’ll come with you. I won’t even fight you. But only if you let El go and leave Spock unharmed.”
Dartan smiled, his teeth flashing white in the dimming light. “Alright.” He shoved El forward and instantly trained his weapon on Uhura.
Spock ground his teeth, his jaw locked. He looked around. She must have a plan. He would be ready.
Uhura walked slowly towards Dartan. El was in between them, so Spock had no chance of a clear shot. His heart began to pound, he felt in pulsing in his temples.
El reached his side.
Dartan had his arm around Uhura’s waist now, the gun to her ribs, and his foul hand on her belly. “I do like to look at beautiful things,” he said, with his cheek pressed to hers. She turned her face away.
Spock’s world turned red. He took a step forward. She raised one finger towards him and her eyes burned him. Wait, they said. Trust me.
Dartan stepped backwards, once, twice, closer to his ship, pulling Uhura with him. Taking the woman he loved. It was so clear in that moment; he loved her and he had for a very long time. How had he ever doubted?
Then in a blur, she thrust her leg back, swung her hips and ducked. She threw Dartan over her shoulder. He tumbled into a patch of euphorbia that Spock had not even noticed. The plants turned in on Dartan, spraying his face with thick, sticky sap. He screamed and clawed his eyes. “Help me!”
Uhura didn’t look back. She grabbed El’s hand and yelled, “Run!” They bolted towards the path and scrambled upwards, and didn’t stop until Dartan’s agonised screams faded into the distance.
They stood panting, catching their breath. Uhura hugged El. “Are you alright? I’m so sorry,” she said.
El was half-laughing, the scared, almost hysterical laugh of a frightened child. “I hope those euphorbia digest him slowly!”
Spock stood uncertainly, watching them embrace, rocked with a rush of emotions. Fear, anger, hate, love, and now pride, all welling up into a confusing morass of feelings. He probably needed to meditate. Instead, he put his arms around both of them and let their feelings engulf him and merge with his own. It was not an unpleasant sensation at all, he reflected.
They continued upwards, the darkness closing in fast now. After another ten minutes Spock stopped and transmitted the message again. This time it spun around for longer. Uhura tapped the top of the transmitter. “That’s a good sign,” she said. “It might mean—”
A familiar voice came from the set. “Spock, what’s going on down there?”
“Captain? Our mission has been compromised. We need emergency beam out. Three to transport.”
“We’ll be in transporter range in…less than an hour. Three to beam out?”
“We have a civilian child with us. Captain, the phasic disturbance we came here to investigate has worsened. Mr Scott might need to reconfigure the transporter.”
Spock heard the captain say, “Mr Chekov, initiate a long range scan of Denab and send what data you collect to Mr Scott.” There was a pause. “Spock, are you and Uhura alright?”
He glanced up at Uhura, her eyes shining in the low light. “Yes,” he said. “We are both in excellent health. But Chief Dartan has shown himself to be…a criminal. He is not to be trusted.”
“Understood. Kirk out.”
#
“What do we do? Wait here where the ground seems quite stable or risk climbing higher to give the Enterprise a better shot at beaming us out?” Uhura mused.
Spock could see El shivering with the cold now, her light clothing unsuited to the higher altitude.
Spock checked the tricorder readings. The waves on the screen, a visual representation of the atmospheric disturbance, were weaker than they had been last time they checked, but it would still interfere with the transporter.
“I believe we should ascend further. These energy readings could still cause the transporter beam to fail.”
“Is it safe, though?” Uhura asked, with a worried glance further up the mountain.
“I am scanning for geological instability now.” He didn’t like what he saw. Hafren had been right, the whole area was unstable. Before Spock could speak, an engine started up in the distance.
“Surely he’s not trying to fly that thing!” Uhura exclaimed, and then she grabbed El’s hand. “I think he is. Come on!”
Spock led them a zigzagging route up the mountain side, avoiding the areas the tricorder warned were unstable, until El paused, panting.
“I have to stop,” she gasped. Spock turned just she was about to lean against a towering pile of loose rocks.
“Don’t!” Spock lurched towards her, grabbing her just in time to stop her dislodging the slag pile. He looked up, and so did she, trembling a little. “Mining debris,” he explained. “Unstable.”
They hurried onward. Lights, and low buzz of an engine grew closer. Suddenly it bore down on them out of the gloom, swerving and veering.
“He must be flying close to blind!” Uhura called, pulling the exhausted El along with her.
They ducked as the ship skimmed overhead, cannons blasting, illuminating the darkness with a green glow.
Spock fired three times at the ship’s underbelly. One beam hit, the others vanished into the night sky. The ship rolled hard left, its wing skimming the slag-pile, sending a spray of rocks shooting into the air
“Look out!” Spock yelled. With a deep groan, the pile of mining debris shuddered. The ship spun wildly, rocks battering the sides in a deafening crash.
Spock leapt to his feet. He’d lost sight of Uhura and El. He ran through a storm of battering rocks and choking dust, barely able see one foot ahead of him. He paused in confusion, blinded, the roar of the engine and the grinding of metal and rock filling the night. He shouted for Nyota, but her name became a scream, as the world fell away under his feet. He scrabbled madly for a handhold, but slithered and slipped downwards, mud and roots tearing away in his hands, until he landed, hard, feet first. His head jerked backwards and his spine jolted, sending a roaring pain up his back. He staggered, but managed to keep his feet. He looked around. He was on a narrow ledge, his phaser gone.
“Spock!” Uhura yelled from above.
“Down here!”
“Spock! Are you hurt?”
He surveyed his position. No hope of climbing up that sheer wall of crumbling mud. The ledge led back down the mountain, how far he couldn’t tell.
“I am not incapacitated.” He rubbed his neck. Pain shot down his spine, but he could walk. “I will double back and re-join the trail lower down. You keep moving.”
“Not without you!”
“When you reach the Enterprise, you can send assistance if I have not caught up.”
She hesitated. He could sense her reluctance to leave him. But she had to go. If Dartan survived the crash he was still a threat.
“Alright, alright, just hurry!” She paused. “I love you,” she said.
He wanted to tell her, tell the universe that he felt the same, that he could love her back, that he did love her back, there was no doubt in his mind now. But the words died on his lips, and his reply felt weak to his own hears.
“I am aware,” he replied. “Please get to yourself and El to safety.”
#
“He’s right. He’ll catch up. He’ll be okay.” Uhura said outloud, mainly to reassure El. She desperately hoped it was true. She didn’t know how far he had fallen, or if he was really hurt. Would he have lied and told her to go if he was lying at the bottom with broken legs? Her stomach turned over at the thought, and she wanted to run back. But he was right. She should get El to safety and then get help for him. Is this what it felt like for parents, she wondered, tearing their hearts out to keep everyone safe?
As the dust cleared a little she could see the ship smashed into the rocks, smoke pouring from the hull, flames licking from the crumpled front. She couldn’t find it in her heart to care if Dartan got out before it blew.
“I hope you burn,” she muttered. “Come on,” she said to El as they started off up the mountain side. “I’m going to show you our spaceship.”
#
Spock stumbled along the mountain path. The air was thick with dust, he could barely see, and the pain in his spine jolted with every excruciating step. He could hear rocks rumble and fall periodically, but couldn’t see far enough ahead to know where they were falling. The smell of aviation fuel was thick in the air, and he saw flames in the distance. Somewhere from lower down the mountain, a mighty, aching roar rang out. Teht-yen. The dark man was truly disturbed now. Spock ran on.
#
Uhura fumbled with the transmitter. “Uhura to Enterprise,” she said, aware her voice held barely concealed panic.
The ‘transmitting’ signal looped slowly around. The transmitter shook in her hands. El covered her hands with her own and they held the device steady together.
“This is the Enterprise. Situation report, Lieutenant,” came the captain’s voice.
Uhura almost wanted to cry, thank god, out loud, but she took a breath and spoke calmly.
“We have become separated from Commander Spock. Request emergency beam out. Two from this location. Commander Spock is—”
“We’re working on it, Lieutenant. Mr Scott thinks he can reconfigure the Heisenberg Compensators to deal with all the layers of disturbance down there. He said it would help if you got higher.”
“Of course it would,” Uhura muttered wearily. Then she straightened up, glanced at El, and said. “Understood, sir.”
#
Spock half ran, half stumbled back along the path, searching in the gloom for the way back to the trail they had taken just a few minutes before. It had to be here. If the moon showed its face from behind the clouds, he’d stand a better chance. Frustration built in his chest like an angry wasp, buzzing to get free. He tried to still his mind, but pain from his spine invaded his awareness with every step. The thought of Dartan somewhere on the hill returned to his mind. The man’s pathologic pursuit of them defied logic. Unless he had something more to hide than syphoning off top grade letrinium crystals.
The orange glow of the crashed ship shimmered in the distance, which meant he was on the right track. He increased his pace, despite the pain in his back, despite the heaviness in his lungs from the dust and smoke in the air.
Flames from the stricken vessel licked into the night sky, painting the moon orange, and as he got closer smoke hung in thick clouds. He pulled his shirt over his mouth, his eyes watering, and forced his legs toward the ship.
Its side hatch lay open: Dartan had made it out.
Something simmered in Spock’s belly, an emotional reaction he didn’t try to contain, for it drove him forward. He realised with a jolt that this is exactly what emotions are for. They drive a man to protect the things he cares for. Logic can do that, but love does it faster, makes a man run harder, jump further. Because to protect the things he loved, Spock realised, he would never, ever stop.
Spock blundered on through the blinding smoke and dust with the crook of his arm against his nose, eyes streaming.
#
The mountainside had become too steep to climb much further, Uhura realised. Rocks were dislodged with every step they took, sending scree skittering down the slope that was not only likely to give their position away, but also in danger of taking them with it.
“We should stop here,” Uhura said, panting, when they found small area that was relatively flat with a decent sized boulder for cover.
“Do you think we’re high enough?”
They couched together, El opening the blanket to let Uhura closer and share what little warmth it provided. Uhura could feel the girl trembling, and she didn’t think it was just from the cold. She put her arm around her shoulder and hugged her close.
“Well, Mr Scott is on the case. Do you know what we call him on the Enterprise?”
El shook her head, her teeth chattering now.
“We call him the ‘miracle worker.’ If anyone can get us off here, it’s Montgomery Scott.”
“I’m going to see your spaceship, aren’t I?” El’s voice was faint, through the cold, or dehydration or sheer exhaustion Uhura didn’t know.
“Hey, stay awake. I need you to help me contact my captain.” She dug the transmitter from her backpack, and they held it between them. “Look, use this button here.”
Uhura opened a channel. She looked up sharply a roar rang out in the distance.
“He won’t come up here, will he?” El mumbled.
“Lieutenant Nyota Uhura to Enterprise,” she said urgently, aware of the tremor in her own voice now. “Enterprise, come in.”
“I read you, Lieutenant. We’re almost there. ETA seven minutes. Is Commander Spock with you now?”
“No sir, he’s still lower down the mountain.” She had no idea how Spock would find them in the darkness.
As she spoke, a flashlight appeared, swinging back and forth on the slope below. Her first irrational flush of hope that it was Spock dissipated quickly. He didn’t have a torch. Only one person up here would conceivably have a torch. Dartan.
The beam settled on the scattered path they’d made scrambling up here. A cold chill gripped her chest. The tracks would lead him directly up here. She forced herself to take a breath. He was a big, angry man, but he was also half-blind, he had to be after falling in the euphorbia like that and flying so erratically. She’d dealt with him once and she could do it again. To hell with him! There had to be something she could use as a weapon up here. No sticks. She fumbled on the ground for a rock, a stone, anything.
The light swung back and then jerked up the slope. Uhura looked up wards. Perhaps they should go further up. They had to be able to move faster than he could. How many minutes? Maybe six now. They would have to risk it.
She hissed to El, “We’re going to have to…”
El was staring over her shoulder.
“What?” she said, with a fear clutching at her chest. She imagined she felt hot breath on her neck. If she turned around now…
The roar rumbled so deeply it shook the scree and sent rocks skittering down towards Dartan.
El’s eyes were wide with terror. Uhura turned around slowly. Just meters away Teht-yen stood framed against the dark sky. His bear-like muzzle filled with sharp teeth, white in the moonlight, his shaggy coat as black as coal. He was at least twice Uhura’s height, and he stood on his back feet, his arms hung by his side, cruel claws at the end of his huge paw-like hands.
“Okay, El. I think we’ll…” They scrambled to their feet, El still clutching the transmitter.
They backed away from Teht-yen, who stood as if marking his territory.
Uhura’s heart pounded as she clutched the rock tight in one hand. The light was still moving erratically below. If they could get behind him they would stand a better chance.
“Come on!” She led El to the left, hoping with Teht-yen would distract Dartan enough to let them slip away. Another outcrop of rocks was just visible in the shadows. “Over here!”
As Uhura took a step the slope moved under her feet. She slid away from El, careening down still on her feet at first, and then she jerked sharply backwards, caught up in a small avalanche of rocks. She skidded down the slope directly towards Dartan. She clawed furiously at the ground, but everything she tried to grasp slipped away. The light blinded her. She crashed into Dartan. In a tangle of legs and arms they both twisted and tumbled to the ground.
Uhura tried to move. Something pinned her legs. She opened her eyes to see Dartan’s face: his blue skin blistered and peeling around one bloodshot eye, and the other swollen and closed tight. She turned her face away from his leering breath.
“Not quite what I pictured,” he said, pinning her. “But it will do.”
She closed her fist tight around the rock in her hand. “How dare you? How dare you use your size and power this way? You’re more an animal than that creature up there!” she spat in disgust.
He brought his big, ugly hands around her throat, pressing her windpipe. As a reflex, she shot her hands straight up and out, crashing against the insides of his arms. At the same time she swung her knee sharply up and to the side, wedging it against his chest. In one smooth move she slid away from him, propelling him in the other direction.
While he lay grunting, she gained her feet, the rock still clutched in her hand.
#
Spock heard the sounds of a struggle and Nyota cry out. He ran, faster than he ever had, scrambling up the slopes, pushing the pain in his back out of his awareness, caring for nothing but reaching her.
He stumbled into a flat area and saw her, standing crouched in a defensive position.
“Nyota!” he gasped.
“Spock, watch—” she began.
A hand gripped Spock’s ankle. Then all he knew was a sensation of falling and fumbling, knees and elbows, scuffing and punching. The pain in his back, already severe, jolted him with electric-like shocks down his spine. Then Dartan shoved something at his face. A searing pain burned his eyes. He cried out, clawing his face, thrusting leaves Dartan had shoved there away. The world blurred. He felt hands closing around his neck.
For a moment, Spock heard nothing but the sound of his own pulse pounding in his ears.
Then Dartan screamed. A loud, angry, guttural sound. Spock forced his flaming eyes open, and saw Dartan clutching the left side of his head and rolling away. Uhura must have struck his temple with something, Spock surmised, but it was like it was all happening underwater, too slow, sounds muted, his vision blurred. He could do nothing. Spock had not felt so helpless since he stood on the cliff on the day Vulcan died, watching his mother slip through his fingers.
He realised he should get up, move, do something, but the fire in his eyes drilled into his soul, robbing him of the power to move. Hazily, he saw Dartan on all fours, his teeth white, grinning, or snarling, ready to pounce. Spock could not force his limbs to co-operate. He couldn’t see Nyota at all.
Before his word faded from blurred to blackness, the last thing Spock saw was a petite Starfleet issue boot, slamming full force into Dartan’s stomach.
#
El clutched the transmitter. She hid behind the rock Nyota had pointed at before the landslide took her. Seven minutes the man said. It must be that now. She tried fiddling with the dial like Nyota had. The set crackled. Teht-yen prowled back and forth on the slope above. Spock, Dartan and Nyota were struggling below.
She switched the transmitter on. “Hello? Is that Nyota’s spaceship?”
“Aye, this is the USS Enterprise. Can you put Mr Spock or Lieutenant—”
“No, no, I can’t. I think you need to do the beaming thing now!”
“Ah, lassie, would you be the civilian child—”
“Just do the thing!” El yelled at the device.
“I need a signal to bounce back off, lassie. Can you get this transmitter close to all three of you?”
“They’re fighting! And there’s a big, growly beast of a monster here too!” El said. Her heart rattled so hard she thought it would burst right out of her chest, and yet her feet were like stone. It was just like being back at the lake, only this time there was no one else to rush into the water and save the day.
“I can’nae get a fix on all three of you through this phasic interference. You are going to have to be brave, lassie.”
Teht-yen roared into the night and lumbered down the slope.
Young El screwed up every last ounce of her courage and raced downwards, slipping and sliding until she barrelled into Nyota’s surprised arms.
“Is that close enough, Mr Miracle worker?” she screamed at the transmitter.
“Aye, that it is.”
The transporter beam wrapped them in a golden caress, lifted El and Spock and Uhura from the cold, dark mountain, and brought them safely home.
#
As the tingle of the transporter faded, Uhura clutched Spock’s hand, squatting by his side.
McCoy was on the transporter pad in moments. As he scanned Spock, Uhura turned to the transporter control station. “Mr Scott, can you beam one more up from those co-ordinates?”
“Aye, if the signal’s not scattered already…”
“Then get a security team in here. Place Dartan under arrest as soon as you beam him up.”
McCoy was frowning rigorously as he looked at the readings from Spock’s scan. “What’s he been exposed to?” he barked.
“Euphorbia sap,” El said.
“And what the hell has he been doing to his back?”
“Doctor, it is a long story,” Uhura said. “Can you do something for him?”
“We’ll see,” McCoy snapped.
As McCoy’s team took Spock to sickbay, the captain came into the transporter room with questions, and the security team barged in, Uhura suddenly felt bone weary. She put her hand to her throat where Dartan’s thumbs had pressed into her windpipe. She needed to regroup, gather her thoughts.
She looked at El, who was standing uncertainly in the corner of the transporter room.
Uhura embraced the girl. “You were incredibly brave.”
#
Doctor McCoy assured Uhura that Spock was in safe hands, although he would be in a healing coma for hours and in sickbay at least a few days. Uhura showered and quickly grabbed something to eat. She wanted to be the one to take El back to her parents.
Nodding at the officer on duty outside the guest quarters, who was there to make sure the curious visitor didn’t wander off and get lost, she knocked on the door.
El was at the window, staring out into space. She turned as Uhura entered.
“Nyota! This is…it’s amazing!”
“You were amazing too, El,” Uhura said.
El blushed, her cheek’s deepening blue. “For a moment, my feet were stone. But I found my courage after all.”
“Yes you did,” Uhura said, hugging the girl. She would miss her a great deal. “We should get you back to your family. The Captain has assigned us a security detail, just in case any of Dartan’s men are still around. He’s already spoken to the M’bai council. They’ve formally requested assistance in the investigation and the captain agreed. It seems Dartan is in trouble for a lot more than what he did on the mountain.” Uhura looked closely at El. “He must have terrified you.”
El nodded. “He did. He was horrible,” she paused, and then grinned. “Will you show me how to do that?” she said, mimicking throwing an imaginary Dartan over her shoulder.
Uhura laughed. “Let’s get you home to your parents first. But if they agree, we’ll come back up here and in our gym. We’ll be here a few more days, so there is time.”
#
Three days later, Uhura brought El into sick bay. Spock’s skin was not so pale now, and his eyes less glassy than they had been. McCoy had him on extended bed-rest to ensure his full recovery, in spite of Spock’s protests.
“El wanted to see you on our way to the gym. I’m going to show her a few moves,” Uhura said. The leanest flicker of a smile twitched for a moment across his face. Uhura grasped his hand lightly. “Mr Scott beamed down to M’bai with a supply of pure Letrinum crystals, which improved the phasic disturbance rapidly,” Uhura explained. “Kehoe and Fetia were greatly relieved, as you can imagine.”
“And Dartan?”
“The science department turned up some interesting results when they cross referenced his DNA against unsolved crimes in M’bai. Turns out his DNA is linked to several violent assaults, and more than one death.” Uhura lowered her voice. “Including a woman called Piria, more than ten years ago.”
“Hafran’s wife?”
Uhura nodded. “I went up to the mountain again. Told him he could go back, but he didn’t want to. He said he and Teht-Yen are used to one another now.” She sighed. “But at least now no one thinks he was responsible for his wife’s death. He seemed at peace with that.”
Spock nodded, very carefully.
Uhura gently kissed the side of his mouth. “I’ll come back and see you later,” she said.
#
After a workout session with El, where Uhura showed her most of the moves she knew, and Misha Jeb, the unarmed combat specialist from security showed them both a few new ones, Uhura said goodbye to El.
“Thank you. Thank you for everything,” the girl smiled and waved as she disappeared in the gold light of the transporter beam.
Uhura sighed, returned to her quarters to shower, and then hurried to sickbay.
“Commander Spock?” McCoy grumbled when she asked where Spock was, “I discharged him an hour ago. Glad to see the back of him.”
Uhura rushed to Spock’s quarters. No answer. Frustration simmered in her chest. Had he gone on duty already, without contacting her? Dejected, she returned to her quarters. He hadn’t been able to say he loved her back on the mountain. They hadn’t spoken much while he was in sickbay, what with him being in his healing trance most of the time, and McCoy hanging around. Had Spock changed his mind about them?
She opened the door to her quarters. Soft music was playing. The lights were low, and on the table at the side of the room there was a vase of flowers. She blinked several times, and there he was, standing uncertainly in the corner of her quarters.
“It is my understanding that we had a date scheduled,” he said, awkwardly. “In your quarters.”
She stared at him, hard. He shifted his weight slightly from side to side.
“Are you…nervous?” she asked.
“If I were nervous, that would imply I am unable to fully regulate my emotional state on this occasion, and that would be…” he paused, as if weighing his answer, before he finally said, “that would be true. Have I stepped beyond the parameters of our implied arrangement? ”
She felt her whole heart smile, a rush of happiness that verged on giddiness, but she didn’t care. “No, not at all,” she said. She walked over to the flowers, shooting him a coy glance on the way. “These are beautiful.”
“So are you, Nyota.” He walked slowly over towards her. “It is fascinating, how the spectre of loss throws things into sharp relief.”
“Is it?” she said, her eyes sparkling now. “What things?”
“The fragility of life. The importance of holding on to the people we value.” As he spoke, he brought his hands to her waist, curling his fingers around her back.
She raised her lips to him, but stopped just short.
“The people we value?” She could feel his body pressed hard to hers, feel the strength of his need for her.
“Value. Desire,” he said the words slowly.
“I can feel that,” she said. “But is that all?”
“I pledge myself to you.” Spock said.
“And I to you, Spock. But is that all?” a hint of impatience leaked into her voice. She needed to hear him say it.
He pulled her closer. “I have feelings of deep affection and respect for you.”
“Spock,” she said, “What does that mean?”
He considered for a moment. “It means, in human terms, that I love you.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but she could not, because his lips were on hers again, hungry and raw. She had waited a long time to hear those words.
“Are you feeling alright? Your eyes, your back?” she whispered.
“Doctor McCoy had me in sickbay quite long enough. He reported himself pleased with my progress,” Spock said. “That I am out of sickbay, and that you and I are finally alone, pleases me very much.” As he spoke he guided her backwards towards her bed.
“You know what doesn’t please me?” she said, pulling at his shirt. “All these clothes.”
“Then I trust that we can find a solution to this dilemma?”
Uhura smiled, her heart singing as she looked up into his serious Vulcan eyes. “Yes, Spock,” she said. “I trust that we can.”